From his seat on the bridge of the starship Icarus, Byron Jones watched the view of the planet Jamaki Four as it approached.

Scarlett's chrome skin gleamed by the light of the sun as she sat in the pilot's chair, working the controls. "I just wanna go on record, and say I think this is bullshit."

From the captain's chair, Byron shook his head. "No, it's not. It's work."

Scarlett flipped a switch with a quick, angry gesture. "Yeah, shitty work. You've got a whole galaxy out there with aliens and robots and evil empires and pirates, and we're stuck hauling boxes around like fucking FedEx."

He sighed. Her outspoken attitude made her interesting to be around but didn't make it easy to work with her. "Scarlett, if we're gonna get credits, we have to take missions."

She snorted. "Yeah, and I hate fucking grinding."

In the co-pilot's chair, Chetaara flattened her pointed ears and flicked her tail below her seat in annoyance. "The Master knows of what he speaks."

He nodded at her. "Thanks for your support, Chetaara."

She gave him an encouraging smile.

Her beautiful breasts had stripes on them just like the rest of her body, which only made them more exotic to him. The nipples were erect, pointing at him as if in agreement or cold, he wasn't sure. She seemed to note his attention, because she brushed a hand up her stomach to tease her left nipple. His cock throbbed at the sight of it.

Scarlett either didn't notice or didn't care. She stuck her tongue out at Chetaara. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer. I'm not sayin' it's all bad. I'm just sayin' I can't wait until we're kicking ass again."

She snapped off a salute to him. "But your wish is my command, Cap'n. Let's make it happen."

He glanced over at Xana working on a nearby console. She had become the ship's engineer by default, and done a great job, too. In the hours since they had picked up the medicine and headed to Jamaki Four, the ship's engines had become quieter and the vibration in the floor he hadn't even noticed had disappeared.

More than that, she maintained a quiet presence aboard the ship that contrasted well with Scarlett's outspoken manner. It was nice.

She looked back at him and gave him a little smile. He smiled back.

As the Icarus drew closer to the planet, Byron realized they might be putting themselves in danger. He didn't know anything about alien diseases. "Is this plague contagious? Like, can we catch it?"

Xana shook her head. "Um, yes and no. The plague is contagious but not to us. The disease only infects species with a specific gene that's extremely rare throughout the Galaxy. Unfortunately, the gene is hereditary so entire races are vulnerable to it. Whole planets like this one can be infected quickly and wiped out. Fortunately, with the right medication, the plague can be treated."

"Then it's high time we gave them the right medication."

The communication screen lit up with the face of a feathered alien. It said, "This is a warning to all species approaching Jamaki Four. This planet has been identified as a carrier of the Choroba Plague. If anyone aboard your ship carries the N1CPQ mutation, it is highly advised to avoid contact. Please confirm if you have carriers of the mutation."

"I'm sending the all-clear." Chetaara tapped keys. "We have clearance to deliver the medication to Govagi City, capital of the nation of Govag, Master."

Byron held out a hand, feeling like the captain aboard the USS Enterprise. "Make it so."

Scarlett snorted. "Who are you, Jean-Luc Fucking Picard all of a sudden?"

He put down his hand. "Just let me have a little fun and do it."

Scarlett smirked. "Okay, okay."

The Icarus plunged into the dark clouds over a large brown continent on the planet. When it broke through, it flew over a bleak and dry desert. At the heart of the desert, the Icarus sailed over a broken city. Buildings had shattered windows and streaks of black on them, like they had been through a fire. As his spaceship made its way to a tower with lighted spikes, only one or two other ships came and left in formation.

The Icarus shuddered as it settled, and Byron unbuckled himself from his seat. "Let's save some lives."

Scarlett unbuckled herself and hurried over to run her hands down his chest. "You need any help putting on your armor, baby? Or taking it off?"

Her hand dropped down to rub the bulge in his crotch.

Chetaara giggled. Even Xana covered her mouth and smiled.

He felt his face grow hot. "Uh, not right now. I think I can handle it. We have a delivery to make."

OBJECTIVE: COMPLETE DELIVERY

REWARD: 100 XP

Scarlett's full lips dropped into a pout. "Oh, poo. You're no fun."

He did put his armor on, watching his stats jump up as he got them on. Chetaara put on her armored suit as well. Scarlett said she didn't need armor because of her metal skin.

When he asked her, Xana shrugged. "I, um, don't like confrontation. I'm fast and I can go invisible, so I tend to stay out of the line of fire."

She touched her necklace, and the black liquid that formed her body suit peeled off and flowed up into it. He had a wonderful view of her naked body and perky breasts before she vanished.

He felt soft lips brush against his in a quick kiss.

Her voice seemed to come from his left as she said, "I'll just follow you."

"Okay." Byron headed for the airlock as he turned to Scarlett. "You have the cargo?"

She patted the gray metal box tucked under one arm. "All present and motherfucking accounted for."

He tapped the keypad and the airlock swung open.

A foul smell hit him as the outside air flowed over him. It smelled like trash and rotting flesh. The city outside looked even worse than it had from the air.

All around the Icarus, small aliens with gray skin and black eyes sat or lay on sidewalks and against walls. They coughed, sneezed, and some threw up. On a corner not far from the landing area, a pile of alien corpses smoldered as men in hazard suits threw more bodies onto it.

"By the goddess," Chetaara whispered. "It is worse than I ever imagined."

Xana nodded. "And this isn't even the worst of it."

"Shit," Scarlett muttered. "This is fucked up."

A group of smaller, younger Jamaki aliens came running up to the Icarus, draped in ragged clothes. They began wailing and pleading in an alien language.

Chetaara knelt down to their level. "They are asking for food. The plague has caused a great famine."

Byron knew they only had a little bit of food left, but he couldn't just watch children go hungry.

He took their three remaining food packets and held it out to the children.

The children snatched the food packets out of his hands, bowed and said something happy in their language, then began tearing open the packets to dig out the contents.

Byron turned away to look around the city. "Where do we take the medicine to?"

Scarlett looked down at a tablet in her hand. "Uh, Kabace General Hospital, right over there."

She pointed to a larger building just across the street. Jamaki aliens limped, crawled and staggered to the front doors, but he didn't see anyone leave.

Byron and his crew walked inside to find sheer chaos. Besides the sick and dying aliens lying on floors and leaning up against walls, more aliens in white coats and wearing masks scurried to wheel patients in and out of rooms, yelling at each other. It looked a lot like a hospital in the midst of a zombie epidemic he'd seen in movies and TV shows, except the sick people weren't getting up and attacking people.

Through it all, a thin gray-skinned Jamaki alien stood in the center of the floor. His calm smile seemed out of place. The doctors and nurses all worked around him, but paused to give him nervous glances.

"Greetings," the alien said. "I am Moden. You must be here for the delivery."

Byron nodded. "Yes, we have your epzirotene."

Moden clasped his hands together. "Excellent. Just in time, as you can see."

He reached into a pocket and held out a metal card. "Here are your credits."

Byron reached for the card, but Scarlett held out a hand to stop him.

"Whoa, back the fuck up," she snapped. "That's only five hundred credits. The delivery was for two thousand credits."

Moden gave her a wince that looked forced. "I'm so sorry, but the plague and quarantine has left us low on funds. This is all we have."

"It's fine. We're not doing this for the money." Byron reached for the card again.

Scarlett took a step back and held the metal box closer to herself. "No, it's not fucking fine. The deal was for two thousand credits."

Moden's smile vanished. "You will give me the epzirotene."

"Like shit I will. Something's fucked up here."

One of the doctors behind Moden suddenly rushed forward, yelling, "No, don't give it to him! He's--"

Moden drew a gun out of his coat and shot the doctor.

The doctor collapsed with a smoking hole in his chest.

Byron reached for his Scorpio pistol when he saw another Jamaki standing in a doorway behind them. The alien didn't look like a patient or one of the hospital staff. Instead, he had a cold glare and held a rifle.

When Byron looked to his left, he saw another armed Jamaki with a rifle aimed at his head.

Two more Jamaki with guns walked up to Moden's side. They kept their weapons trained on Byron.

Byron tapped his bracelet to check their stats. All the Jamaki gang members were level three, but they had their guns out and Byron's team had no weapons drawn. It was a total ambush.

Moden allowed a brief smile to flicker on his lips. "A shame you could not simply give me the medicine for the five hundred credits. Now we will take the medicine. And if you're lucky, you will leave with nothing but your lives."

Chetaara bared her teeth as she snarled, "Gangsters. They will take the medicine to sell on the black market while their people die."

"To the pirate clans, to be exact." Moden shrugged. "And yes, the people will die. Death is a part of life. But profit? Ah, that is another story."

Byron saw something behind Moden that almost made him smile.

He shook his head as he tightened his hands into fists. "We won't let you take the medicine."

Moden laughed. "And how do you plan to stop us, eh?"

A sword came up behind Moden, floating in mid-air. It rammed into the alien's head, pinning it to the wall next to him. His health bar vanished immediately.

The gang members next to Moden turned their weapons and fired at where the sword had been, but Xana had apparently moved, because they didn't hit anything. But they weren't aiming at him anymore.

That moment was all Byron needed.

His hand whipped down to draw his gun. He fired at the gang member on Moden's left. Two shots hit the gang member in the chest and head, knocking his health bar to zero. The gang member collapsed, but not before hitting Byron in the chest. His armor absorbed most of the impact.

+100 XP

At the same time, Chetaara held out her hands and fired lightning bolts that struck two of the other gang members. The gang members jerked and fell as they were stunned.

When they hit the ground, she leaped at them and tore into their faces and throats with her razor-sharp claws. Their health bars collapsed as they screamed.

Scarlett had her guns out and fired at the gang member next to her. The Jamaki gang member fired back, but the bullets bounced off her leg and chest with sparks flying. Still, her health bar dropped by a third, and she gasped while clutching her leg.

Byron spun to fire his pistols into the remaining gang member. His remaining health vanished and the gang member fell to the floor.

+100 XP

Xana appeared next to him, her bare breasts heaving as she spun knives on her hands. "Is that all of them?"

Byron looked around in a circle with his guns aimed ahead of him.

He saw no more weapons.

The nurses and doctors came out of adjoining rooms and hallways, looking at the fallen gang members with wide eyes.

One of the doctors approached Byron. "Thank you. Those men have been holding our hospital hostage for months, taking the epzirotene as fast as we could order it. So many have died from the loss of the medication, we lost count. I just-how can we ever repay you?"

Scarlett raised a hand. "With two thousand credits?"

Byron held out his hand to stop her. "No, it's okay. You people have been through enough. Give it to them."

She pouted, but handed the medicine to the doctor.

As the doctor took the box, game text appeared in front of Byron.

OBJECTIVE COMPLETE

+100 XP

The doctor passed the box on to a nurse who ran into an operating room with it. He turned back and thrust a metal card at Byron. "Please, good sir. Take it. You have earned this and more."

Before Byron could protest again, Scarlett limped forward and snatched the card out of the doctor's hand while saying, "Yoink!"

MISSION COMPLETE

+5000 XP

+2000 CREDITS

LEVEL UP!

YOU ARE NOW MARINE - LEVEL 4

Byron looked around the hospital. The bodies of the gang members had faded away. Some had left small boxes behind of in-game loot. He searched through them.

Most of them only had a couple of credits and four medpacks, but a few had pieces of level one armor and guns. One box lit up as he opened it.

+10 CREDITS

+1 AMYGEN GLOVES

He pulled out the gloves.

AMYGEN GLOVES

LEVEL REQUIRED: 1

+0 ARMOR

COST: 15 CREDITS

Byron tossed the gloves to Scarlett. "Want 'em?"

"Fuck yeah!" Scarlett slipped the gloves on and made a jerking motion. "Now I'll get more friction when I jack you off."

Chetaara giggled. "You are terrible."

Byron clapped his hands. "Okay, that's our cue to leave."