“Uh, yeah,” Alan replied.

“Do you know what the Predecessor’s purpose in coming here is?”

“Um, why do you want to know?”

“My brother and I wish to test our might against this warrior, and bring glory to the Three.”

Alan was pretty sure that the Haxlard was grinning widely as it made this statement.

“Oh, okay," he said. "It’s a bonus round for the survival test, I managed to catch its attention while I was running a search for nearby players somehow. I’m supposed to try to defeat it in battle, that’s all I know.”

“Very well, let us face this warrior together. Is this acceptable?” the Haxlard asked.

“Yeah, sure!” Alan said excitedly. Having two assassins would definitely help.

“Agreed, then. Let us wait for the Predecessors arrival.”

The Haxlard sat down on the ground, crossing his legs, staring up at the sky. Alan glanced at the countdown. There was a minute remaining until the Predecessor arrived. He wondered what the Haxlard was doing, maybe some sort of pre-battle meditation? Maybe he should try to take advantage of the situation—

“It comes,” the Haxlard solemnly intoned.

Look up, Eve sent. Alan looked up, simply seeing the grey sky above.

Eve highlighted a tiny, glowing white light in the sky. It slowly grew larger as Alan stared at it.

Wait, is that—

Yes, it is the Predecessor. Be quiet, let me calculate its trajectory and anticipated landing speed.

Alan stared at the light in the sky. Was this some sort of spaceship? Where was the Predecessor coming from? The light grew larger, looking like a falling meteor. The light was so bright it was almost unbearably painful to look at, yet Alan continued to stare up at it at Eve’s command.

Wait, is that the—

YES. JUMP OFF THE BRIDGE NOW. FEET FIRST.

Without hesitation, Alan followed Eve’s command, leaping feet first off the edge of the bridge into the water below.

SECURE YOUR RIFLE THEN PENCIL DIVE. A series of actions formed in Alan’s mind, which he quickly replicated. Alan attached his plasma sniper rifle to his armor, ramming it in place as hard as he could. Then, he pinned his arms to the side, legs together, pointing downwards. Alan felt an exhilarating rush as he fell towards the surface of the ocean. Then he realized this was going to hurt. A lot. At Eve's command Alan looked up, and saw that the Predecessor was a few seconds away from colliding with the earth, showing no signs of slowing down.

Alan crashed into the surface of water as his breath was knocked out of him. The remaining energy of his power armor vanished as various lower portions of the armor shattered, cutting into Alan’s skin. A few of his bones shattered as well, his health halved in an instant. It was mind numbingly cold as well, yet before Alan could even get over the initial shock, there was a resounding crash as a sudden, immense force pushed Alan back, away from the city. It felt like being blown away by a tornado, multiplying the pain Alan felt in his legs immeasurably. A few seconds later, when the force pushing him backwards through the water subsided, a message popped up, which Alan was barely able to read as he struggled upwards, desperate for air.