Lana’s mouth and eyes were as big as saucers. “How did he do that?”

“Look at him closely,” Nori said grimly.

Lana narrowed her eyes, examining the alien.

??, Kordlin, Level ??

“I can’t see his name or level!”

Nori nodded, “He must be masking the information, or perhaps he’s just too high level for us. Either way, it's clear he’s much stronger than he looks.”

The alien looked back at the downed monster and took a step toward it, lifting his club. His own spaceship thrummed to life and started hovering a few centimeters off the ground. Seeing that, the alien abandoned his prey and ran back to his ship. The pipes shifted again, closing the entrance behind him. Then the ship took off slowly, hovering above the downed one.

Several cables extended, connecting to the cylinder on top of the downed ship. The ship flew upward and the entire cylinder was hoisted away from the downed ship.

“So that’s what it’s all about,” Nori said.

Lana gave her a questioning look.

“This guy wanted the first ship’s cargo. They probably shot it down and came down to retrieve their haul.”

“Why do you have to be so pessimistic?” Lana objected. “It could be that the two are working together, and the alien came to their rescue.”

Lana shook her head. “The two ships are of completely different designs. The first one was on fire when it got down, while the other wasn’t, suggesting it was shot and forced to land. I’m pretty sure we just witnessed a space heist.” She chuckled humorlessly. “It’s comforting to know that the rest of the galaxy is just as depraved as we humans are.”

Lana frowned. “I don’t know about that. Even if you’re right, it doesn’t mean all other aliens are like that. If they’re really like us, there’ll be good and bad ones.”

Nori shrugged.

“So, now what?” Lana asked.

Nathan rubbed his hands and pointed at the ship. He looked animated and his eyes were full of excitement.

“The kid’s right,” Nori said. “That alien left the door wide open. I for one always wanted to see the inside of an alien spacecraft.” She got up and started walking toward the ship.

“But it could be dangerous!” Lana protested behind her.

“You can stay here if you’d like.”

Lana and Nathan exchanged glances. The young man gave her an apologetic look and hurried after the tall woman. Lana sighed and got up. “Wait up for me!”

3 - Level Up

The three companions crossed the demolished square towards the downed ship.

As they approached, they could clearly see the mangled form of the Warped that had been clubbed by the alien.

Lana grimaced at the sight, then raised her hands to shield her face. “The ship’s still hot!”

“Everyone, walk back, nice and easy,” Nori said with a casual tone.