"Li Xuan? Is that you?"
One of the Guardians had recognized him. Li thought back to what Tavo had told him on the ship earlier.
"Yeah… I'm Li Xuan."
"A-Tier! You're so confident! We're all so thankful you jumped in!"
"Oh… A-Tier, huh, you must have… you might be thinking of the wrong Li Xuan."
"Don't shit on us, come on!"
"No, no. I- trust me. I'm not an A-tier. I just got to C+"
"Is this guy shitting us right now? Look at him, he has more confidence than Ari!"
The Guardian looked to his two friends who were trailing behind; both humans.
"Maria, didn't Li Xuan go missing a few years ago?"
"I don't know. You're the archivist here. I honestly couldn't care less. They're always disappearing or something."
"You're right, we're sorry. One day, you'll be successful like the other Li Xuan! We wish you the best of luck! We're all so grateful for what you did back there!"
"Haha, yeah, no problem."
Li was happy that he was running in the front; the Guardians in the back couldn't see him sweating profusely. The issue was pretty big and there were certainly more people who Tavo wasn't aware of who had tracked him before his disappearance.
The group at the boardwalk looked surprised when Li arrived.
"Where's Aoki and Sari?"
Li stopped to catch his breath, falling into the embrace of the chief's daughter, but the Guardians who he had rescued explained the whole situation. Tavo sighed in frustration,
"You know, the growing issue here is not that we're underpowered; it's because there is a growing resentment for all of us.
Remember the revolt last month that led to the assassinations of two S-tiers? High Command is going to have to find a solution before we all lose our power."
A taller, more lean entity encapsulated in a white quasi-cybernetic outfit chimed in; it's monotone translation reminded Li of the tetrapillid from earlier.
"Tavo, cut the crap. We are maintaining order. They won't risk losing our protection, just remember what happened to the Rejected."
…
That night, as Li sat on the bed, with the chief's daughter, he stared into emptiness, her hands warming his. Thinking of all the things that had happened. It had been long since he had gone back to Earth but he would have to continue struggling for the better no matter what world. He had just finished explaining what Tavo had said, and all the troubles that had presented themselves.
"Li, honey, let's dream of something better together.
"I'll try…"
…
Li blinked, two suns shining brightly in his eyes, rolling to his right, he saw that he was in some large desert. He seemed to be lying on wood or some plant matter that was onboard some large vehicle. Someone was laughing at him from above.
"Li! Don't pretend to be paralyzed!"
Judging by the voice, it was pretty obvious that it was Xiao. The heat began burning his skin. Even though plant matter wasn't the most conductive, he knew that Xiao was right. He had to get up, or he would get burned.
Unlike the other memories, he wasn't in armor this time. Rather, he was in a sticky white tunic with torn, surprisingly bloody pants. Recalling some past biology class, Li hoped that the heat had cauterized whatever wound lay below.
"Xiao?! Help me up bro! It's not funny!"
Xiao laughed more, hesitating to pick Li up. The heat grew, burning Li. He grew somewhat frustrated.
"Xiao! Come on!"
Xiao reached down, hoisting Li to his feet. The hot breeze nearly threw him off his feet. The gravity here was far stronger than Earth and Li struggled to stand for a few seconds. Two large guardrails on each side of the vehicle revealed that this was some large desert skimmer and they were on the deck.
The sky here was bright orange and Li struggled to see into the distance which seemed to blend in with the horizon. Xiao called over a slim feline-like Guardian who took out a comforting aid package and walked over to Li.
The medic spoke a different language yet Li somehow managed to understand that it was asking him to reveal his wounds. Pulling up his ripped pants, he saw that his legs were covered in scars and scratches, with dried blood that hadn't evaporated.
"Xiao! What-"
"INCOMING!!!"
Bits of the ship flew into Li's face; an engraved cannonball had smashed head-on into the cabin wall nearby, taking the medic with it. Shouts from the lower decks indicated that the projectile had hit its target. Within moments, heavy smoke began exiting in plumes.
"Li! Artillery!"
Li limped in pain, trying to stay low as he followed Xiao to the back of the ship, where a large decorated cannon lay. A few clothed beings were already in the process of aiming at the invisible adversary.
Two more projectiles hit the ship, causing Li to fall near the entrance to the lower decks.
"Li! Get down to our cabins! Take the Barge Hunters!"
Li stumbled down the stairs, feeling around in the darkness.
"Li! Where are you!?"
Li started panicking, until he opened the door. Two COG Mk.4 Barge Hunters sat in the corner of the room. Grabbing both, he proceeded back up the stairs, just as an explosion lit up the darkness.
"The watch man says there is a semi-submerged barge just to our right. If we can give them a few hits, they'll subside, just long enough for our pilots to get in the air!"
Li nodded, unlocking the safety lock on his gun, taking aim at the ground in the distance. The watch man was right, in the distance, an unusual plume indicated that there was something large moving through the sand.
"Got the vitals?"
"No… not yet. I don't want to waste our stuff. Let's wait!"
Li nodded, focusing his sight on the ship, activating a few different sight mods to get a better view of the vehicle. A cluster of what seemed to be pipes revealed themselves just above the surface, just for a quick second.
"Xiao! Bottom, near the end scope on the sand line. There's a pipe cluster!"
"Confirmed!"
The cluster emerged a few seconds later and Li took his chance and fired. The pipes burst, red fluid gushing out.
"Get on the plane! I'll cover you!"
"What?!"
"GET ON THE PLANE LI! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'RE COVERED!!"
Li chuckled and remembered that at this point, he was still an A-tier hero. He would be able to take on nearly anything this planet presented. The frequency of hits had decreased and he took his chances, running down the stairs, past the wrecked portion. The hangar was just past their room, on the second to lowest deck.
A small scraped together aircraft covered in broken cloth and charred metal rumbled, a small creature manning the large gun at the rear. Li ran over, squeezing into the small dark compartment, leaving his larger gun with one of the smaller hangar manager creatures. After getting in, he could feel the large engine's rumbling on his back and a small plate near his feet grew red hot which he hoped to avoid.
"TAKEOFF!"
The small creatures in the hold scrambled around, brushing against Li. A large force suddenly pushed Li backwards as the aircraft clanked into the air; the wind rushed in, cooling the small hold. Below, Li could see shots being exchanged between the two vessels, like those small pirate ships toys in the street arcade.
The plane flew around the enemy vessel, then risked a dive, the small gunner in the back carelessly releasing his fiery barrage onto any movement below. As soon as the distance decreased, Li forced his way out of the cramped compartment, landing hard onto the hot metallic surface of the smaller vehicle.
Just like the first tanks of World War 1, the cannons of the vehicle were nearly completely protected by the harsh iron shell. Looking around frantically, Li located a small hatch which he crawled over too.
In the distance, Xiao's glint could be seen and he gestured. Moments later, two large shells hit the hatch, letting it fall to the ground below.
Loud, high pitched shouting could be heard in the darkness of the vehicle and Li hesitated to go in. Using his smaller, he fired a few shots first, before gesturing at Xiao again. Now, with knowledge of the interior, Xiao accurately blew three large holes into the thick hull, the light from the twin suns casting light into the interior of the vessel.
Li jumped in, firing blindly, landing on hot metal. Two critters darted around him. Unlike the others aboard Xiao's vehicle, these critters weren't enclosed in thick layers of cloth.
They resembled extremely aggressive sea otters with interesting stripes but in the blur around him, Li only focused on taking down the vessel, not taking lives.
Clang!
The thicker parts of the hull bent as Xiao attempted to pierce through. Li grasped a few of the small critters and threw them out of the hatch, trying to locate another hatch or door that would lead him to the cannon row or the cockpit. On the ground, in the far end of the upper-holding was a large metallic hatch. It had obviously been sealed from below. Li climbed out the first hatch, gesturing at Xiao again, then falling back in. A few seconds later, the hatch was destroyed, large bits embedding themselves into their surroundings. With his quick reflexes, Li was able to dodge the shrapnel which even surprised him. I guess this is how reckless I used to be.
One of the smaller creatures from the cannon row popped up, launching blistering sparks from some weapon at him.
"Fuck you annoying thing!"
Li turned around, firing his hand gun into its face. Groaning, he picked himself up and gestured at Xiao again, before descending once more.
By God's will, the ship had taken its reoxygenation ascent and Xiao was able to pierce a few holes into the thicker hull. The air-craft that had carried Li went for a final strafe, taking out two cannons before ascending.
This time, Li was confident he could take over. The holes made by Xiao now made it nearly impossible to resubmerge for lengths without sand flooding in.
A few cannon shots rang out from afar. A sick sequence of crashes could be heard below. They had hit their target.
Li took the opening and fired. The cannoneers barely had time to react before he cut through their ranks, moving fast toward the end of the row.
His eyes locked onto a larger, sealed door—most likely the cockpit. A section of the hull was already torn apart, wreckage left behind by Xiao's vessel.
Stepping into the sunlight, Li waved cautiously, then pointed at the damaged section. Across the battlefield, Xiao sprinted toward the cannon crew, throwing a quick signal for Li to fall back.
A moment later, a shot landed dead on target. The explosion ripped through the ship, metal twisting as sand flooded into the cockpit.
The whole vessel bucked and lurched, throwing Li off balance. As he scrambled to steady himself, the world around him darkened—the massive shadow of the ship swallowed the orange sand beneath him.