It was supposed to be a world where the warring factions of the galaxy could compete and build something together, even if they didn't come together the planet would still be a place where they would live peacefully.
The planet was advertised as a world filled with vegetation, and abundant wildlife, its rivers and seas were supposed to be filled with all sorts of fish.
Unfortunately, it was all a lie.
The planet was dead, its rivers were non-existent and nothing grew on its surface or beneath it.
As for the people sent to it, they were far from the best, criminals, misfits, and undesirables, it was a planet where the worst of society were sent.
Everyone knew that the worst kinds of people were going there, if a person wanted proof, they just had to look at the weapons that the colonists were using, every sword, gun, and club is made of whatever they managed to put together.
No one thought that the people going there were worth keeping, so no one even considered giving them anything that they could use.
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The bar was silent as the representatives of each empire spoke with the Guild Leaders, the tension could be felt by everyone both on the planet and of it.
No one argued about who would get the right to do what or who wasn't allowed where, no that would come later, what mattered was keeping the ship in orbit.
"So do we have a deal?" Heathcliff asked the leaders of each group who looked at one another as they silently agreed that what the Players were offering was the best that they could hope for.
"Deal," they all said at once
The loud boom that was followed by the blast of wind and shaking of the ground, which usually happens when a meteor or asteroid falls into any planet made them rush outside.
No one said anything, not even when the cold blast of wind, something that didn't exist on this planet blew past them and shook the building that they had just been in.
The silence around them seemed to grow despite the loud music of the bar, all of the colonists held their breaths as the sounds of wings moving reached them, but before any of them could say anything they found themselves staring at something that should have been impossible.
Birds, insects, and all sorts of flying creatures covered the sky in numbers so great that it was impossible for anyone who looked up to see the sky.
Another burst of cold wind brought them back and once again they were left speechless as the skies began to darken and the sound of rain followed.
Everyone on the planet could only stare in disbelief, they had all seen terraforming technology before, but it had always been at a distance and no one ever dared to set foot in a world that was being changed in such a way.
And yet something deep inside of all of them began to react, it started small, maybe it had been one of the representatives, maybe it was one of the colonists, but before anyone knew it they were all laughing.
No one cared about what race they were or what empire they were supposed to serve, they didn't even care about walking back inside and not getting wet.
They just wanted to enjoy this moment.
It had been long since any of them felt anything even close to hope, it didn't matter what kind of hope it was for the feeling had become so distant that it was barely a memory.
The moans and roars of beats reached them and while they couldn't see any of them, they could hear the creature's feet moving as they tried to escape the rain and find shelter somewhere.
"Excuse me!" they heard someone say to them as the figure of a young man who couldn't have been older than fifteen or sixteen years old.
"Yeah!" the Klingon representative answers the young Human.
"I'm Kirito and this is my wife Asuna." the Human who has identified himself as Kirito says to them before a young woman who has yet to grow into true maturity bows to them.
Everyone present looks at the oddly dressed humans who don't seem to be bothered by the rain or the freezing air that must be entering their outdated armor.
"Greetings, I'm here to negotiate what amount of room will be available to us now that we are going to be living with you." Asuna says to them.
The hears of everyone present begin to bat faster as the thoughts of what they could obtain in the years to come fill their minds.
"Come we have much to talk about." the Human representative of the Federation of Planets says to her, before leading them inside of the bar.
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Sometime later
Asuna walked down the endless continent, the once endless desert was still a desert, but it was quickly changing.
She ignored the giant worms that moved beneath her feet, the creatures were native to the planet and while they were completely harmless they had a habit of making people trip whenever they walked.
She didn't understand why they did it, but Kirito told her that they might have thought it was funny.
She stopped walking, her help screen didn't pick up any threats, and there weren't any aliens or monsters nearby, but her instincts told her that something was wrong.
She looked for anything that might have been out of the ordinary, but there was nothing, no footprint, no sound that wasn't supposed to be there, not even a random rag or bone, and yet she knew that something or someone was looking at her.
She began to run, each step she took dug into the ground as she called for more of the power that she had been granted when her avatar became her her true body.
She needed to keep moving, there was a difference between killing criminals and natives, and like it or not if she killed anyone now then she would be the one that was in the wrong.
the sound of the wind howling in her ears made it difficult for her to hear anything, but she didn't care about that, she could already see the border of Paradice City.
More importantly, she could see the lights of Midgard, the town of Adventurers, she just needed to reach one of them and she would be safe.
The ground behind her exploded but thankfully she was already far away from it, so the blast didn't do anything to her.
The ground next to her and in front of her exploded, as whoever was shooting at her was trying to keep her from reaching the town and the city.
She turned to look for any signs of her would-be killers, but there was nothing there.