Nick cursed, as the pickup he’d been riding in hit another bump. He struggled not to lose his footing as he stood on the truck’s bed, looking over the cab toward a field of rising black smoke. It somehow reminded him of a small forest fire he’d seen as a kid. His nose wrinkled at the smell reminding him of singed arm hair and burning gasoline.

The truck's back window opened and a voice shouted through. “Hey I just got off the radio, looks like they're still defending the area.”

“Good!” Nick had been worried, they had been able to radio them earlier, but had been cut off.” Let the other cars know. We should be there in a couple of minutes.”

“Sure thing Boss!”

“So that means’ we’re finally going to answer the lady’s call!” Nick cringed slightly as the nasally high pitched voice. He turned to see a half dozen young men squatting in the truck. The nearest, an uncomfortably close teenage boy had half risen. The young man wore a black tuxedo jacket with tails and a black top hat, this was contrasted by black and grey camo pants. He proudly wore a white t-shirt underneath the jacket, a red heart with rabbit earls coming out the top. Prominently emblazoned on the front were the words, ‘Mad Tea Party’

The other’s in the truck cheered at his words. Most of them wore the white t-shirt or had a white armband with the heart and rabbit emblem.

“Erwin, just remember the plan.” Nick addressed the ‘president of the Mad Tea Party’ , the fan club of Alice, Alan’s little sister. He had to force his clenched fist to relax. Something about the guy's face just asked to be punched. But Nick relented, Erwin’s little club, along with others who responded to Alice’s invitation to come to Kragga were the best chance for Alan.

“Yes Sir, we are ready to serve!” Erwin responded cheerfully, “The Mad Tea Party fan club is grateful that you have given us the honor to act as vanguard on such an important mission.”

Nick held back from rolling his eyes. “Well, thank you for volunteering.”

“We’d do anything for our beloved Alice.” Erwin gushed. Nick cringed again, Alice had decided to share her first name with her fans. Partially as a reward to help fight Kragga, and partially because it was too inconvenient to hide her name. Though she did keep the rest of her identity anonymous. Hence she wore a mask at the picture signing.

Their group was of course pretty small, even considering the ever growing group of social media followers she had gathered. Of course the Mad Tea Party had not wasted the chance to start recruitment for any of the others who had come to fight. They believed themselves the true ‘followers’ of Alice while on Kragga. He just tried to ignore them, as best he could.

“Everyone go ahead and eat your packed meal.” Nick tried to keep the irritation out of his voice as he spoke through a radio.

“Yes Sir!” Erwin offered all too cheerfully. For some reason He and a few of the other followers had treated him with borderline reverence ever since they found out he knew the true identity of Alice and was her friend. It was just another reason to find them irritating.

Looking to his left and right. Nick saw the other vehicles that had been assembled. There were a few other trucks, some with trailers, a multitude of Motorcycles, 4 wheelers and other all-terrain vehicles. There was even a large Winnebago. It wasn’t perhaps the most eye-catching convoy. But what it lacked in beauty, it made up for in raw fighting force. Over four hundred players had decided to make Kragga their home and join the fight. Most were likely just looking for a good place to start as players, a few however did so for just Alice.

On the bright side, the players, like Nick, had selected Genetic Mutations for combat. This was unlike the personnel of Callisto corp. Who had selected most of their mutations to benefit roles as researchers, scientists, and engineers. The people following Nick, or really Alice, he thought regretfully, were fighters. They’d joined cosmos for adventure, and Nick was going to give it to them.

He removed a few cookies from his inventory. Each one had the taste of almond and what could only be described as soft lightning on the tongue, enhancing the flavor of sweetness.

Consumed: Fulminetti Cookies. You have received a 10% boost to endurance and +1 to speed for 2 hours.

Nick felt immediately invigorated. Nick and Reardon had discovered that the bonus only applied to the last dish you ate. So stacking the bonuses was impossible.

Nick’s truck cleared the last rise to see a clear view of the battle before him. The truck halted. It didn’t look good. Flame and Smoke littered the battlefield. The building nearest to them was half covered in bugs, the other half, was wreathed in smoke. There was still gun fire emanating from the upper windows, a good sign if there was any.

“CHARGE!!!”

Wait, what? Who said that? Nick looked slack jawed as Erwin leapt nearly 40 feet from the bed of the truck toward the ongoing battle. Screaming for the others to Join him. Stunned, Nick didn’t even think to respond as hundreds of players eager to join in the battle, forgot the battle plan and zealously joined in combat.

A hover-bike pulled up to the still stunned. Nick.

“I think you’ve finally lost control of your mercenaries.” Cura said somewhat distastefully, as she rode up on a large 2 seater hover-bike, the chassi resembled a motorcycle without wheels. He just stared still a bit dumbfounded at the copper skinned goddess. “Come on, before they all get killed.”

Nick only nodded before he jumped on. Scanning around him, the only others which had the intellect to take in the whole situation before charging were 5 men in black suits which had exited a black land rover. They waved in acknowledgement to Nick, before removing a menagerie of weapons, not least of which was a shoulder launched rpg.

The hover-bike's engine suddenly roared to life, and Nick only had a brief moment to wonder what kind of fans Alice had conjured up.

Looking ahead, the hover-bike quickly overtook most of the charging warriors. Looking around him, he saw one guy with large razor-like appendages for arms while another had turned bright red and seemed to have steam coming off of him. He didn’t have time to admire the various mutations for long because he suddenly found himself in the midst of battle. Cura, selected a small button on her bike which sent out a small shock wave, throwing back an oncoming rush of the bugs. After dawning her helmet she then leapt forward, carrying herself nearly 40 feet into the midst of the swarm wielding a fiery staff, which seemed to emanate blue sparks. In one sweeping motion she crushed over a dozen of the insects.

Nick, unwilling to be outdone, attempted to do the same feat. Only his jump was not nearly so impressive, and his hammer swing became lodged in the skull of one unfortunate insect. Grappling to remove his hammer, he’d barely got it free, just in time to deflect the attack of another bug and than awkwardly follow up to kill it.

From an outside perspective, it looked as though Cura was reaping great swathes of wheat, with every movement. While Nick seemed only capable of going one by one.

The crowd of crusaders went into a flurry, their guns unleashing a torrent of led and plasma. The front liners, swung their weapons relentlessly severing and smashing into the lines of insects. Occasional explosion rock the area, mostly home made pipe bombs and other improvised explosives. The unexpected and insane attack shocked the swarm, they hesitated, unsure of how to react to the new threat. Maddened by the thrill of battle, humanity took advantage to slaughter them mercilessly.

Nick, also caught up in the heat of battle, was surprised at one point when Erwin, donning his top hat, landed only a few feet next to him skewering a fierce looking maggot. He wielded an old antique fire poker in one hand, while holding a hatchet in the other. The leader of the Mad Tea Party only paused briefly before he gave Nick a cheshire grin before he sprung away.

A loud shriek stole Nick’s attention from the high jumper, as a bug the size of truck charged a small group. It had the shape of a beetle, however it had a half dozen appendages sprouting somewhat awkwardly from its upright and elongated torso. For a brief moment it ravaged the group, eviscerating two of its members, whose screams had caught Nick’s attention. He was about to rush and help when a rocket slammed into the beetle leaving a fatal cavity of mutilated flesh.

The heat of the explosion washed over him. Despite the heat, gun fire, and the heaps of torn carapaces, Nick was able to block out most of what would make most people uncomfortable. He’d played enough video games before Cosmos, that a little extra realistic gore and loud sounds were par for the course. It was the smell that seared and penetrated his conscience. No matter how long he fought and how much closer he came, he could never escape. He felt his stomach turn, as bile sought an escape. Perhaps the putrid scent of his stomach content would have been a grateful respite from the battle.

His eyes sought out the research tower, trying desperately to take his mind off the stench by giving him a goal to pursue. The tower still continued to fight. Weapon discharges showering out of the top most floor and roof. He charged forward, attempting to cover the distance. At times the bugs would land on him, their claws and mandibles attempting to pierce his enhanced skin. His arms began to protest from the constraint thumping of his hammer. Raise. Strike. Pull back. Repeat. The screams, yells and explosions, unheard over the pounding of hammer and heart.

Taking a quick breath, he halted just enough to see how far he had come to his goal. He unconsciously sagged slightly, at the distance he had to cover. Grimly determined he prepared to rush and charge again when Cura landed heavily next to him.

“The enemy begins to adapt to the reckless charge of the allies.”

Turning to look behind him, he began to see that the charge of the players had slowed considerably. The fighters were still doing most of the killing even with a few casualties along the loose front. However, the momentum had lagged. In some places it looked as though they were ready to fall back, growing somewhat tired.

“Thanks for the heads up Cura.” Nick cursed himself silently for his lack of attention to those around him.

“You are the leader, such reckless behavior will doom those who follow you.”

The words stung more than the stench of the battle. Removing a radio from his pocket, Nick got on the radio. He hoped the player known as Bullfrog, hadn’t managed to kill himself in the onslaught.

“Bullfrog, you there?” Nick waited breathlessly for a few moments before he finally heard a response.

“I’m Here.” A deep baritone came in response.

“Let’s hear that voice you're so proud of.”

“You got it.” followed by a deep chuckle.

Nick frantically inserted a pair of ear plugs around his neck.

Moments later, a deep sound echoed across the battlefield.

“I can't tell the difference between the enemy and you maggots! Fight!”

For a moment Nick felt a slight surge of adrenaline before it quickly receded.

Voice of Inspiration: Failed due to lowered exposure.

Nick, however, looked around him to see the players suddenly reinvigorated.

Had he been affected, Bullfrog’s genetic mutation to trigger a flood of various hormones through his voice would have caused him to have an increase in strength and stamina. Unfortunately, it had the side effect of decreasing his ability to think as clearly. His fighters were now going berserk. Taking out his earplugs he turned to Cura.

“That should help.”

“Good.” She nodded, her own species was different from a human, so she remained unaffected. “Now, let us see if we can go and support your friends in that tower.”

Nick looked at her confused. They were clearly a long way off from the tower. She grinned at him maliciously, and in one smooth motion took him under one arm, and launched herself toward the tower.

Nick briefly considered struggling, but the mass of writhing bugs below him, changed his mind. He didn’t count the leaps, but in just under a minute they landed just below the tower, and in one smooth motion she leapt up, and flew through the window of the top floor. After which she unceremoniously dropped him.

The defenders, guns raised, had shocked looks at the sight of the imposing woman before them, it was only an afterthought to notice the semi-limp man sprawled on the floor.

“We are here for Alan.” Cura stated matter-of-fact, as she removed her helmet, letting her piercing blue eyes drill into them, completely unconcerned at the guns pointing toward her. At the mention of Alan’s name a few of the defenders lowered their guns. It was at that moment that Nick stood up, brushing off dust, and trying to regain some semblance of dignity after being carried like a woman’s purse across the battlefield.

“Nick, it's about time you got here!” Adrian rushed up to his friend, having just pushed through the small crowd and noticing his friend, rushed to give him a brief hug.

“Yeah, well it took some time to get all our recruits. I would have come sooner if I’d known I was going to have to pull you literally out of the fire.” He grinned. “Seriously though, what can we do to help out?”

“We’re still holding this floor and part of the one below us. It’s unclear how long we can hold on to it, but since your reinforcements attacked, we’ve noticed they’ve stopped attacking as frantically. You came just in time.” Nick nodded, grateful that he’d been able to help in some way. “From the brief radio contact we’ve had, things are going about the same in the other building as well..”

“So where is Alan?” He looked around for his friend.

“We lost contact with him.”

“What?” Nick said with a touch of concern in his voice.

“Last we heard, he had an idea about the Queen and was going after it.” Adrian tried to sound reassuring.

“Queen?”

“The leader of the bugs. Alan believes that if we can take her down, the rest of the bugs will fall.”

“So where is she so we can crush her?” Cura spoke up.

“That's the problem. We haven’t spotted her yet. Alan thought he might have an idea on how to get to her…” A tremor began to shake the building, and the sound of splitting earth came from outside the building. Rushing to the window, a plume of dust covered the street below. As a slight breeze began to blow, a massive silhouette still shrouded by dust and smoke began to form.