Junior Technician 3rd Grade, Harben Deathchill,
Wonderful news! Our ever-diligent goblins have had a breakthrough with the X-52 Nether-Rocket. Our top engineers have successfully launched the first manned rocket into the Great Dark. You're probably thinking, "So? This doesn't affect me." Well, that's not true.
Besides the giant leap for goblin-kind (hmm, that's good) we have made, we have constructed the X-53 Nether-Rocket. It is designed with the purpose of discovering and landing on new worlds, and you have been selected to act as protection for the brave souls who will be piloting it against the new world's dangers. Now you're probably thinking, "What if I don't want to be a part of this?".
I thought of that, and have a contract, with your signature on it, that states that you are to aid us in any capacity B.O.O.M requires of you. We require a guard, and you are it. Please arrive in Area 52 in a week to attend the launch.
Sincerely, Rocket-Chief Fuselage
"Damn goblins," Harben Deathchill growled as he crumpled up the letter he had just received, "Contract my ass! They probably drew that up at the last minute and faked my signature. Rotmaw, get in here!" There was a growl outside of the room he had rented, and the door flew open. "Master want Rotmaw?" the ghoul babbled. "Eat this." he threw the paper ball at the ghoul, who happily gobbled it down. "Thank you, Master." I have more important things to do than risk exploding in some goblin's contraption. I don't give two coppers about dying, it would be pleasant in fact, but I prefer the idea of dying in battle against Arthas over dying as a result of a someone's mad scheme. Regardless, I have no choice if I want to maintain my reputation. If I don't report for that launch, those idiots will spread word that a Death Knight was scared of something as mundane as flying, and I will not be known as a coward for any reason. He stood and grabbed PlagueRend "Rotmaw, grab my pack. We are heading out."
The day of the launch,
"I really should kill you, Fuselage." growled Harben. "Now now, you wouldn't be here if you hadn't signed that contract. Don't blame me for something you did. Look at it like this; you are about to embark on a journey of legendary proportions. Don't adventurers like you live for this sort of thing?" "I don't live for adventure; I live for vengeance, and if I die on this mad venture, I will come back from the grave, again, and kill you." The goblin was remarkably unintimidated, "Then don't die so you don't have to. Now, get in the X-53. It's almost time for liftoff." Harben grumbled and stepped into the slightly undersized rocket. Rotmaw's parts were stuffed into a sack to save space, but Harben would be able to bring him back easily if they landed and didn't explode in the process. "3..." If I live through this, I swear I will never doubt goblins again. "2..." I'm doomed. This is how fate decided to end my unlife. "1... LIFTOFF!"The rocket shuddered and a massive explosion forced the vessel upward, into the Great Dark Beyond
Day 1 of the X-53's flight,
We've made it into the Great Dark Beyond. The goblins piloting this thing are actually rather sociable for insane inventors. They said that the main reason I was chosen for this mission was that I didn't need to eat, sleep, or breathe since food and oxygen were in short supply. How they can expect to survive for an extended period of time is beyond me…
Day 27 of the X-53's flight,
The goblins are less chatty than before. I think it is because they can't stand each other anymore. While the silence is a pleasing change, it also makes the long hours inside this ship unbearably tedious. I'm tempted to raise Rotmaw just to have something to beat up; I would use the goblins, but I need them to pilot this thing…
Day 130 of the X-53's flight,
Even serving Arthas would be preferable to this torment! I sit here day in and day out, doing nothing but staring out the window. I've killed Rotmaw repeatedly just to vent my frustration. I swear if those one of those goblins even breathes too loudly…
Day 236 of the X-53's flight,
I'm going mad! I know because those goblins' ghosts haunt me. They cackle as they witness my suffering within this metal tomb. Rotmaw is the new pilot, and he claims he knows where he's going! He knows nothing!
Later that same day…
"Master! Rotmaw sees something!" "WHAT IS IT?" Harben snapped. He had no patience for the soon-to-be-dead-again ghoul. "A giant ball with water, Master." Harben shot straight up from where he was laying. "A planet? Do you mean it? If you are lying, I'll kill you again!" "Rotmaw doesn't lie, Master!" He stared out the small circle of glass that was his window and saw the ghoul hadn't lied. There was another world before them! What luck that they were drifting towards it! Harben began to thank every divine power that could possibly exist in the universe. By the Light, those goblins were right! There were other worlds out here! If Rotmaw hadn't eaten their corpses, I'd raise them just to thank them!
Long-silent alarms began sounding as they neared the planet. Red warning lights flashed and a electronic voice suggested strapping in to prepare for the landing. Harben rushed to comply, lest the ship decide to change direction and damn him to the cold emptiness of the Great Dark Beyond again. The ship began to rumble as they began entry into the planet's atmosphere. The ship's vibrations became shudders, which became violent tremors as they neared the ground. The rocket threatened to explode from the intense heat of entry, and Harben began to suspect he would die before standing on land again.
When the ship crashed, it exploded, sending Rotmaw into oblivion again, and Harben into a tree. The last thing he saw before giving into unconsciousness was a beautiful lake.
What in the world was that? Raki thought as an explosion rang out through the trees. "Hey Clare, shouldn't we see what that sound was?" Clare had obviously heard the noise too, but was less interested in it than he was, "It wasn't a Yoma, so it isn't my business. If you want to find out what caused that explosion, you can do so yourself. I will remain here until morning either way." It is a good thing we just settled down for the night. he mused as he set off in the direction of the noise. What he found surprised him, to say the least. A man was laying by a tree that had nearly broken in two from some impact, probably one the man had made, shards of metal were scattered around a spot of blackened earth, and various half-decomposed body parts were scattered about the site. What happened here?
Raki ran back to their camp, "Clare, there's someone over there. I think he was in the middle of that explosion and got hurt pretty badly! Come see!" Clare reluctantly stood up and followed her charge to the site of the explosion. Raki ran over to the unconscious man and kneeled in front of him, "See this guy must be hurt pretty badly. Oh my god! He's not breathing!" Clare kneeled next to the stranger and examined him briefly. He was young, maybe thirty at most, but his hair was like snow. He was obviously a warrior, no one else would be in full armor and he had a massive sword in a death grip. She removed one of his gauntlets and gripped his wrist for a moment. "He has no pulse. Whoever this man was, he's dead now." Raki looked distraught, "We should at least bury him, right Clare?"
Harben became aware of two things as he returned to the world of the living. One he was alive, and, two, there was someone, no, two someones, beside him. "… bury him, right Clare?" The fact that he could understand the voice that he had woken to hear didn't register so much as the fact that he was going to be buried if he didn't do something. His eyes shot open, making the young man in front of him jump backwards. "He's alive!" Harben groaned as his broken bones made themselves known, "I am, in a sense," his hollow voice echoed in the small clearing the X-53 had made, "frankly I'm amazed that I am." He looked at the woman beside him and back at the boy, "Who are you two? I hardly expected to see humans here of all places."
Saki and Clare stared at the not-dead man with different thoughts on their minds. Clare was interested in how a human, she could sense he wasn't a Yoma, could survive an explosion and subsequent collision with a tree and live, and Saki was disturbed by the man's glowing eyes and ghostly voice. Saki was the first to speak, "My name is Saki, and, actually, I'm human, and Clare is a Claymore. I'm surprised you didn't recognize her." "A Claymore?" Harben turned his head towards Clare, "I've never heard of a race being named after a weapon. This must be another world." He coughed up some blood, "I think I've broken all of my ribs, if not every bone in my upper body."
Clare examined the man from head to toe, "You must be in considerable pain. How a human could survive such injuries, and be conscious, escapes me." Harben choked out a laugh, coughing up some more blood as he did so, "That's the thing you see, Miss Clare, I'm not exactly alive. I've been dead for a few years now." He forced himself into a kneeling position and used Plaguerend as an improvised cane to lift himself the rest of the way. "Can I ask you two a favor? Do you see those body parts scattered her and there? Gather them up for me would you?" Saki made a face that suggested he'd rather eat mud, but began gathering the parts anyway. Clare simply watched as he went about the morbid task. It took only a few minutes, and Saki nearly threw up as he dropped them in front of Harben. "I think that's all of them. Excuse me!" He ran off, likely to vomit.
Harben walked unsteadily to the rotting mound and held his hand over it. Dark energies danced around it, and a vaguely humanoid creature formed from the parts. Clare watched the display intently, fascinated by what was happening before her. It was rare that she was interested in anything but her duty, but this was beyond strange. As the creature took stock of its surroundings, it stared at the man they had found and seemed overjoyed to see him. "Master! Rotmaw and Master are alive!" The man frowned, "Sorry Rotmaw, but you are going to die for good this time." He lashed out and grabbed the creature's forehead. With a growl, it exploded in a blast of sickly green light. The man seemed revitalized, and it quickly occurred to Clare what he had done. "You used that thing's lifeforce to restore your own." "I did. It is no great loss though. When I find another suitable corpse, I'll raise another ghoul."
Saki returned to find the man standing much straighter and holding his sword on his shoulder. "Where are those… things you had me collect?" Harben turned to him, his glowing eyes unnerving him slightly, "I used them to great effect. My thanks for the aid." "Since we have found the source of that noise and taken care of its victim, we should go." Clare suddenly said. Harben coughed, "I'm sorry to ask you this, but might I accompany you to the nearest town? I am unfamiliar, to say the least, with the area, and I'd rather not wander aimlessly through the countryside. "That'd be okay, right Clare?" Clare sighed in resignation, "I see no harm in it, but we can't feed you, so you'll have to catch your own meals." Harben chuckled, "I don't eat, so I think I'll manage." She raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't comment, "Our camp is this way."
When they arrived back at their camp, Clare settled back against her sword. "That's the only way to sleep, eh? So you're a warrior, Clare, we should spar in the morning then. A little fight in the morning is always nice." Clare stared at him flatly, "You wouldn't be able to cross swords with me. Humans can't compete with my kind." He shrugged, "Humor me." "Very well. Tomorrow." She shut her eyes and promptly fell asleep and Saki followed suit. Harben just sat next to a tree and stared into their fire.