The Original Beefcake

Germany, near Munich. Two days before the start of their next raid the teams got together on the military base next to the portal, to prepare for the departure.

"Yes, yes, yes, YES!" Janette shouted, and ran towards the giant machines inside the massive hangar. Marcus followed behind her with the rest of the raid. "You promised!" Janette shouted, while hugging one of the massive tires, each larger than her. "Yes, you will drive one of the trucks, as promised. But you will be in the last truck, following the others," Alistair said, and rolled his eyes.

Marcus chuckled and moved closer to inspect the machines himself. Four years and a lot of money had made a great change. The expedition trucks they were using for the raid were a lot more advanced than anything they had before. Armor, sensors, stability, electrical power, everything was improved. But most importantly, they used an alien energy cell as a power source which allowed them to run for half a year without stopping. "How do you like them?" Carlos asked, and Marcus nodded fervently.

Marcus could understand Janette's hype, these machines were awesome. The idea to control one of them… but he never got his driver's license. "But do we really need three of them?" Marcus asked Alistair. "I would rather like to stay on the side of caution. We ran out of provisions two years ago and I don't want a repeat of that. We don't know a lot about our target. Extra provisions, parts and in the worst case wheels to get home, seem prudent," Alistair explained, and Marcus saw the wisdom in his words.

"Don't ask him how much they cost. He might start crying," Rita joked, but Marcus could see some pain in Alistair's eyes. "We better bring some nice artifacts back from this one. With the capacity we have, we might even be able to transport larger pieces or even alien machines," Alistair said. Marcus was reminded that this wasn't just some fun ride, but a real economic operation. Life is expensive, especially the life of a high level class holder, Marcus thought.

They started to load the trucks and by the end of the day they were already finished with most of the large cargo. Marcus invited the whole raid to eat in Munich, in a high quality Italian restaurant. "This is really great stuff, but should we not eat typical German food instead of pizza, if we are in Germany for once?" Carlos asked, who shared a jumbo pizza with Rita. "This is typical German food, believe me," Marcus said, and protected the remnants of his own pizza against the little demon, who was nicking food again. Alistair held a little speech and they all raised their glasses, "To Adventure!"

This is exciting! To charge into the unknown, to find treasure and fight powerful foes. Oh how I miss the time of my youth.

Did you not say something about being in a horrible civil war?

Even I needed to grow stronger at some point. How I envy you all for the thrill of danger.

You know, if I die you are also done for. You should be thrilled too!

You are right! Your feeble abilities make even simple challenges very exciting.

Now you are mocking me on purpose.

I was found out!

Grrrrrrr.

The next day started out busy and saw the arrival of their civilian companions with all their special equipment. Carmen was very much the same and instantly hugged Marcus as they met. She wanted to talk about so many things with him and had a lot of questions about his odyssey. The man who gave him a hearty hug next was a stranger to Marcus, until he spoke and Marcus realized it was Malcolm.

The softhearted biologist had turned into a different person thanks to the woman next to him, his wife Bianca. Malcolm had lost at least thirty kilograms weight and had built up a good amount of muscle. He also had managed to grow back some hair on his head, a feat many men dream of. Bianca was still as introvert and quiet as he remembered her, but she smiled a heck more than before. Marcus promised the scientists they would spend ample time talking over the course of the expedition.

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That night at 11:00 PM (exactly, this is Germany after all) the convoy of three super heavy trucks passed the portal and started their journey towards an unknown alien ruin. Marcus had joined Janette in the last truck to keep her company, while the rest of the raid was divided between the other two machines. They had to pass two planets before they would reach their target world, a journey of over 1000 kilometers just to get there. It wouldn't take them too long anyway, the path up to the last portal was either well maintained or easy to access.

The convoy moved at a decent pace through a desolate landscape under a setting sun. The giant machines left a dust cloud behind, which could be seen for kilometers. "There is something deeply satisfying about controlling this much raw power. Feeling the vibration of the engine, how the tires grip into the ground, and how the weight of the machine crushes everything underneath," Janette said, with a wicked grin on her face and Marcus laughed. In spite of her words, Janette steered the truck calmly behind the other two, and showed no signs of her mad driving skills. Marcus shared some potato chips with his friend and they spent the time gossiping.

"Do you think Vivian is already with the ginghi?" Janette asked, and Marcus denied it. "The transition should happen in a few days. Azaa and the Elders have prepared everything for her, but she also needed time to take care of her own business. A lot of people are depending on her, she couldn't just walk away without a warning," Marcus said, and Janette looked thoughtful. "What if the USA or the Block get wind of this? If they try to stop her?" She asked, and Marcus laughed. "They better bring a lot of troops then, because the ginghi are very excited to get an Artificer, especially one that gets special knowledge from Xeen," Marcus replied, and now Janette grinned.

"Does she know about Xeen yet?" She asked, and Marcus shook his head. "Not yet, but I will tell her once we are back from the raid. I need her to support the clan and that means making Vivian aware who is teaching her. I believe it is a mutually advantageous partnership," he explained, and Janette agreed.

"Talking about the old man, have you two finished your little side project?" Janette wanted to know. "The modified Eshfa device? We did, but just barely. My father wasn't able to pick it up in person, so we handed it to Gamma, who delivered it to the UN Research branch. Now we need to wait until 'unexpected and ground breaking discoveries' are made," Marcus laughed, but Janette looked serious. "This will shake up the world quite a bit and you are to thank for it," she said, and Marcus felt a bit shy.

"How is Cherry doing?" Marcus quickly asked, to move on. Janette made a face and said, "The night terrors are mostly gone. Her hair is long enough now to drop the wig and pretend she wanted to go with a short cut for some time. Besides that she is fully occupied rebuilding Cerberus' numbers, which is going well. They have gained a lot of fame, and a large number of high level class holders want to join them." Marcus nodded and was happy to hear she was doing better. They hadn't spent enough time together lately, and he was contemplating inviting them for a weekend to Azaa's place. Getting away from it all might be a good thing.

"They are still working through the data from the organization, by the way. Well, Sleeping Sky is, but they haven't found a link to the Source yet. Maybe you can ask your BFF Kim about it," Janette said, and Marcus understood the hint. He would talk with Ye-jun once they got back from the raid. Marcus wanted to close that chapter as soon as possible. The thought of that crazed killer running around, murdering people all over the world gave him stomach aches. "Chocolate?" Janette asked, and Marcus nodded, "Chocolate." He took out a large chocolate bar from his reserves. Sometimes you need chemical reinforcement against the evils of this world.

They continued their path through the night with light banter until Janette suddenly exclaimed and turned her head back, "SHIT!" A second later she was on the truck's com system, "Monsters incoming! A large group of monsters is catching up to us from the rear!" She shouted, and Marcus jumped up from his seat and charged into the back of the truck. "How many, and how close are they?" Rita's calm and professional voice came from the speakers.

"I would say about 30 to 40 basic monsters based on their aura. They are still about 500 meters away, but they are closing in on us," Janette explained. They waited several seconds for an answer, while Marcus brought Janette her weapons. "We don't think we can outrun them in the night, so we will fight. Prepare to form a defensive circle!" Rita said, and moments later the other two trucks stopped next to each other. Janette maneuvered her truck in position, forming a rough circle or triangle. Powerful flood lights on top of the trucks illuminated the night and created the arena for their battle. Marcus and Janette opened the door and jumped out to the rest of the combat troops.

Grace shouted orders and the ranged class holders took position on top of the trucks. There was a good chance that the basic monsters had no ranged attack, which would give them a massive tactical bonus. The melee class holders, Marcus, Grace, Carlos, took position to welcome the horde. "What about the auto cannon turrets?" Marcus asked over com and Rita answered, "We hope that we can save the ammunition for something worse in the future." Marcus grinned, 40 monsters charging at us doesn't count as something worth using the big guns.

Of course not, this amount should be nothing to you alone. Not to talk about the people with much higher levels than you.

While Xeen still spoke, Marcus could see little lights rushing towards the trucks. The eyes of the monsters reflected the lights like cat eyes. A second later the first wave of monsters rushed into the light and revealed slender bodies with streamlined forms and sharp teeth. Before Marcus could get a better look, the first wave of monsters was mowed down by the combined firepower of the ranged raid members. The joy over the easy victory didn't last even a second, as twice as many monsters jumped over the torn bodies and charged right into the defenders.