Gobo heard the destruction before he saw it. There was a rumbling on the ship that reminded him of the great worms that attacked on nights of the full moon. Back when he was a part of the tribe. Back when he was a simple guard.

Realistically, his current situation wasn't that much better. He was stuck in the vent of a flying box. Something Caleb had called a spaceship. There wasn't anyone else on the vessel, but Gobo wasn't about to take a chance.

The rumbling of the ship made him rethink his position. The vent was a small, cramped space. Which meant no room for movement if something attacked him. Much better to be out in the open, even if it meant getting caught.

With care, Gobo crept through the vent and towards the grate leading to the open room that Caleb had been in. He dropped down on silent feet and rolled over behind a chair, checking to make sure nothing was in the room with him. Another rumble shook the air, making him duck behind the chair in fear.

He only peeked out when the rumble stopped. The room was empty and dead save for the blinking machinery on the wall. On the other wall stood shelves. Shelves that were filled with those amazing blue crunches from the big spaceship. Gobo's stomach rumbled and he couldn't resist creeping towards the delicious snack.

The hiss of an open door sounded when Gobo was halfway across the room. A panicked alien ran inside, freezing as they saw Gobo. Gobo froze in kind. He channeled his entire being into becoming furniture. He was a decoration, and ornament for the room. The alien didn't buy it, screaming and running back the way they came.

Confused, Gobo channeled his inner chair for a second longer before realizing the alien had run from him. What in the world did that mean? His stomach gurgled in answer, distracting the goblin from his train of thought. He looked back over to the shelves of snacks and smiled at the smorgasbord of food.

Greedily, Gobo ran over to the food and opened the closest packet. Blue chips spilled out onto the floor and Gobo eagerly ate them up. The bag was empty before he knew it. Lucky for him there were plenty more.

His feasting was interrupted by another rumble, this one much stronger than the last. In a panic, Gobo grabbed as many bags of snacks that his little hands would carry and booked it behind the chair to hide. The rumbling continued, so strong the entire floor was shaking. And then the roof split open. Gobo crouched even lower behind the chair.

Four hands had punctured the roof and were in the process of prying the ship open as if looking for a pearl in an oyster. The roof split in two and a cone-ish head poked through the opening, filled with all manner of eyes, ears, mouths, and noses. The eyes turned every which way, searching throughout the ship. Gobo became one with the chair.

The noses on the creature sniffed, and Gobo saw the thing turn towards the snack shelf. Meaty hands reached out and clamped down on the sealed packages, crushing the contents inside. The monster grabbed one of the crushed bags in another hand and shook it up and down in confusion. Then, with a moment of clarity, the thing used two hands to grab each end of the bag and pulled.

Flakes of food flew outward in a blizzard. The monster grabbed at the storm, coating its hands in the delicious snack. The thing brought mouths to hand and licked off the food. Mouths curved upwards in delight and the creature grabbed at another snack to devour.

Once again a storm of chips flew through the room. And again a hand reached out to collect the debris. Gobo watched as his entire stash of chips disappeared in a whirlwind. The monster greedily taking all of it.

Soon there were no more bags and the monster was left with only crumbs. Gobo willed the thing to go away, but the thing was immune to Gobo's will and looked down at the crumbs littered on the floor. The giant hands came down, sweeping the floor to pick up the remaining deliciousness. The monster bent over, placing its head inside to eat quicker. This had the unfortunate effect of placing Gobo in the line of sight.

The little goblin channeled his inner chair but the creature was having none of it. The noses sniffed the smell of chips on Gobo's hands and clothes and reached over with a hand. Gobo dove out of the way and made a beeline to the open door. Four hands swiped at him, but the monster had placed itself in an awkward position and couldn't accurately strike at the goblin.

Gobo dodged left and right as hands swiped down at him. His heart was pounding in terror, these were some of the biggest goblins he'd ever seen! Plus they had four arms, each corded with muscles. As each came down they dented the floor and forced Gobo into the air for a bit.

As gobo neared the door the big monster tried to twist its torso to block the door. But it was slow going, the thing hadn't made a perfect hole in the roof. This meant that the creature's torso stuck to the rent metal for precious seconds before the muscles pushed the mangled edges smooth. It gave Gobo enough time to dive past the last swipe and through the door.

The goblin sprinted out of the ship and onto planet Varnoss. Sorossa's vessel was still parked in the golden courtyard next to the government building. Only now instead of golden robed officials, soldiers were facing off against the giant monsters. Squads of the aliens would stand their ground against one creature, only to get thrown back from a swipe of the arms.

"For the Emperor!" Someone yelled. "We must not let these Jora live any longer!"

Light flowed forth from the soldiers, a mix of red and brown as they charged into the fray. Gobo ran away from the fighting. His mad dash brought him next to a long canyon. Buildings in various stages of destruction surrounded and some of the debris had fallen down into the chasm. It was the perfect spot to hide.

The goblin rushed over to the edge of the canyon and started to climb down with all haste. Rays of light illuminated the area in patches but Gobo couldn't see the bottom of the fissure. He used the darkness to his advantage as he made his way down, scuttling around to keep out of sight. There was no telling if those monsters called Jora were down here but he wasn't about to take chances. Speaking of which, Gobo paused in his descent and tossed the snacks from the ship. Next, he covered himself in the dust from the rubble to mask his smell. He'd remembered the way those noses picked out the food.

Eventually, the patches of light turned to pinpricks and then finally died out altogether, leaving Gobo alone in the darkness. Gobo reached the canyon bottom shortly after. It took some time for his eyes to adjust to the new environment. Outlines of broken buildings appeared in his vision and the silhouettes of twisted bodies sharpened in clarity.

Gobo made his way through the silent graveyard, heading no direction in particular. The first thought on his mind was to find a good hideout, something near water and food. He wished he hadn't had to toss the food from earlier, but if his nose could pick up their delicious smell those Jora would find him in a heartbeat.

Gobo made his way along the canyon floor, alone with his thoughts, until the rubble thinned out. Ahead of him was a smooth slope leading upward in a gradual arc. He now had a decision to make, continue on with nowhere to hide, or head back to the rubble where and risk getting found by the Jora when they came down. In the end it was simple, certain death lost to possible death every time. So Gobo made his way up the slope.

Gobo didn't know how long the trek was, as there was no way to measure time and the walls looked the same. He only knew he was going up the slope. Over time, he noticed the walls were shrinking ever so slightly. Maybe that meant he was reaching the end.

A scraping up ahead caught his attention. It sounded like something was rolling down the slope, albeit in a very slow roll. Periodically, the sound would stop, only to start again a second later. Gobo crouched low and stilled, doing his best to meld into the floor.

A stick rolled into his limited dark vision. Wait, not a stick, it was that weapon Caleb carried! Gobo stood, rushing over to the weapon. It was slowly rolling down the slope, a pendulum of metal descending towards Gobo.

The goblin rushed to grab the weapon, wondering what could have happened to Caleb if he left it behind. As his clawed hand wrapped around the leather, words appeared in his head.

Caleb's Bat

Unique Weapon

Durable

Effect: Emits a slight aura of fear and respect. The more it is used the stronger the aura.

Using this bat causes one to hear voices in their head.

Repeated exposure leads one to believe the bat is alive and can talk.

Gobo felt the words in his head explain their exact meaning to him. This was Caleb's bat! And it apparently made people a bit crazy?

More than just a bit.

The words appeared in his head again. Gobo started and let go of the bat. It clattered to the floor and continued its slow roll down.

Panicked, Gobo grabbed at the bat again. He didn't want to leave his only link to Caleb behind. As his hands clasped the bat more words appeared.

Caleb's Bat

Unique Weapon

Durable but a bit miffed at getting dropped.

Effect: Scares goblins

Using this bat causes one to hear voices in their head.

Repeated exposure leads one to believe the bat is alive and can talk.

The words were different now. And hey he wasn't scared! Just surprised.

Sure you were.

Gobo almost dropped the bat again but held on through stubbornness. He wasn't about to let this thing talk to him like that!

How would you like me to talk then? I'm not all that practiced at it, considering the circumstances of my creation and all.

What did that mean?

Can't exactly talk to a guy when you can't get into their head.

Gobo still wasn't quite getting it, but he guessed that the bat wasn't able to talk to Caleb before for some reason. The bat shook in his hand, causing the little goblin to jump in surprise.

I can do that too! Oh this makes things so much easier!

The bat jigged in Gobo's hands. The goblin held on with both as his arms jerked around from the dancing sports equipment.

"Where Caleb?" He said, unable to wait any longer.

Our good friend has gone and got himself captured by those green freaks. Bat answered.

Gobo paled, his lips curling upward in fear. Did they kill Caleb?

Oh no, he's not dead. Well, he might wish he was. It was a very embarrassing set of events after all.

Gobo had no clue what Bat meant. But Caleb was alive! He had to help his friend. But he couldn't fight against those monsters! He'd barely escaped the first time!

Hey don't worry about a thing! I'll help you out.

Gobo paused, it would?

Bat twisted around to point its smiling face at Gobo.

Of course! I want him back too. After all, I'm Caleb's Bat.

But what could Bat do to help him out?

In answer, Bat started to shake. Gobo felt something envelop him, a sort of manic energy. He felt his limbs shake and his heart rate increased. A white pinstripe uniform appeared on Gobo. Followed by gloves on his hands and shoes on his feet. Finally, a helmet of some kind rested on his head.

Only the best in baseball for you! Bat said in Gobo's head.

Images of the uniform flashed through Gobo. The gloves were batting gloves, the shoes cleats, and the hat was a baseball helmet. The number three blazed blue on the back of the uniform.

Batter up!