System Wars: Here Comes the Heroes!-Chapter 40: Hero Recruited

"That...is understandable, Princess Bisma agreed in regard to Gaia Mask's decision. "But before we can exact justice on them, we are still in need of your help."

"Oh?"

SK had a fairly good idea what they were about to ask, but being a smartass wasn't a good thing to be in moments such as these. As such, he decided to keep quiet...for the sake of comedic timing.

"The Salbanbo starship is still in our upper atmosphere, and they still have many of our people captive," Princess Bisma stated as she gestured to the aforementioned ship...that SK remembered that Tin Star was currently infiltrating.

...

[Tin Star, how goes your quest to...hijack the ship?]

[Sabotage, and it's going great. I found the hostages and some possible recruits for the island.]

[Oh really? What are they like?]

[One's a lobotomized and digitized soul, the other is an incredibly fast intergalactic criminal. He's actually making sure the shop doesn't explode until the right moment. Well, when you us to.]

[Beg pardon?]

...

"I know it's too much for us to ask, after all you have already done, but is it possible for you to—"

"Wait for it," SK swiftly interjected.

"Pardon?"

"Just wait for it."

Princess Bisma was incredibly confused by SK's words...up until "it" finally happened.

...

[Okay, now you can blow up the ship.]

[Much obliged.]

[Wait, how are you guys even getting here?]

[You'll see.]

...

KABOOM!

"BY THE SHARDS!"

Precisely five seconds after Gaia Mask had made that ominous statement, the aforementioned Salbanbo starship suddenly suffered a series of explosions all over its chassis as it slowly descended to the ground.

Princess Bisma appeared absolutely shocked as she saw one of the biggest ones of her people's suffering...suddenly exploding into a million tiny pieces.

In all honesty, it felt good; it was just...a lot to process after everything that had happened in the past few minutes.

That is, until she remembered something incredibly important.

"Wait! My people's soul crystals! They are all on-"

"Please direct your attention to the horizon," Gaia Mask interrupted. "If you look closely, you'll see an escape flying in this direction."

"Seriously?"

"Yup."

"Huh..."

Doubting Gaia Mask's words, Princess Bisma focused her vision towards the horizon to see if there was even a hint of truth to it. Evidently, she got all that and more.

"No way..."

Flying towards them, Princess Bisma could indeed make out a Salbanbo surface-to-air vehicle.

Her mouth was left agape as she stood by Gaia Mask and Platiknight, who were both watching the vehicle with a mix of confidence...and wariness.

[So...do you think this recruit of Tin Star would actually be willing to join us?] Gaia Mask asked Platiknight through their mental connection.

[I'm not certain milord. While I'm hesitant on the man being a criminal, he could be like Robin Hood.]

[Hmmm.]

Eventually, the Salbanbo vehicle landed some feet away from the group, with its cargo doors pointed towards them.

The air grew thick with tension as the vehicle landed, only for it all to get blown away as soon as the vehicle depressurized and opened its rear bay doors.

"Hey there, Sheriff! I'm back with a shipment of hostages!" Tin Star said in greeting as he and a strange-looking cyborg with an odometer in his chest exited the vehicle while accompanied by several large floating crates.

"That could've been phrased better."

"Oh! By the way, this is Nitropulse. He helped me rescue them all."

"Hey there."

"Hello."

"My people!" Princess Bisma shouted in relief, forgetting her earlier decorum as she ran up to the floating crates.

"Makes sense for this party to be all yours. Nitro, step to the side with me."

"Huh? Ah, okay."

Soon after Tin Star and Nitropulse stepped away, the Lumenlithic princess immediately went to work in opening the floating crates.

Dozens of crystals of various shapes and sizes were exposed to the open air in this instance, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow.

This exposure caused the other Lumenlithics in the area to explode with activity.

"Our people have truly been saved!"

"Is my boy in there? Which box is he in?!"

"Can we get released now?"

"Ah, right," Gaia Mask sighed in realization once he heard the Lumenlithic people cry. "Platiknight?"

"Yes, my liege?"

"I think now is a good time for letting the people out of the protective bubble."

"Of course, my liege."

Platiknight raised his hand and retrieved his shield from a distance using an unseen force. As the shield returned to his hands, the barrier protecting the Lumenlithic civilians disappeared like sugar candy falling into water.

Now that they were freed, the civilians rushed forward to help their princess unload the crates and free their brethren.

As they did, Tin Star and Nitropulse reunited with Gaia Mask(SK) and Platiknight off to the side.

Strangely, none of the Lumenlithics seemed to notice that Nitropulse was carrying a large, perfectly polished crystal sphere in his arms. Or rather...it would be more accurate to say that it seemed the Lumenlithics were actively ignoring the crystal sphere altogether.

"So...it appears you had a rather interesting encounter on that ship," SK noted as he looked over Tin Star's alien friend and the crystal he was holding. "Mind introducing us? Also, what's with the crystal?"

"Well, Sheriff, this here is Nitropulse. He's a cybernetic speedster with hands, feet, and brains faster than greased lightning," Tin Star gestured to the cyborg vigilante. "As for the crystal...well...let's just say that the people would probably appreciate it if we took it off-world as opposed to letting it hang around here."

"Oh?"

"Nitro here can tell you more, but first, he wants to give an elevator pitch about why you should recruit him."

"Really?"

The aforementioned speedster cyborg looked oddly nervous about having to explain why he would make a good recruit to whatever group Tin Star was a part of. After all, he was a vigilante at best and a petty thief at worst.

Thankfully, he didn't have to say shit.

"Well, you heard Tin Star," Nitropulse tried to start. "My name is-"

*Ping!*

"Ey yo, what the hell?!"

"Oh, so that's how this works."

Interrupting Nitropulse's spiel, a System window appeared before the two of them with a rather straightforward option list accompanied by a character sheet associated with Nitropulse. Funnily enough, Nitropulse could see this sheet too.

"Wait a minute...my Charisma cannot be that low!"

....

[The intergalactic speedster criminal known as Nitropulse wishes to become your familiar. Please review the following before deciding to accept or reject his application.]

[Familiar Name: Nitropulse

Attribute: Electric/Metal

Description: A cybernetic criminal that had angered the Salbanbo Empire due to rubbing against their bureaucratic nonsense in all the wrong ways. Original species is unknown due to all the cyberware installed.

Note: Familiar scaling is impossible to calculate by mortal standards, so a ranking system is used instead.

Strength: B

Endurance: B

Intellect: B

Agility: S

Charisma: C freewёbnoνel.com

Connection Cost: 5

Equipment: Nitro-Heart Engine, Cybernetic Implants (Full-suite)

Skills: Computers (II), High Speed Movement, Bullet Time, SUPREME LARCENY.

Ultimate Skill: Omni-Nitroboost

[Accept/Reject]

...

SK looked over the System window before looking over at Nitropulse, who looked shocked at his own abilities being laid out in such a manner.

As much as he wanted to just hit [Accept], he wanted to make sure if this is what Nitropulse wanted. After all, there was a lot more to this than just a simple job offer.

"You do realize that if I agree to take you along, you probably won't be able to come back here, right? Unless it's under some very specific circumstances."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah," Nitropulse nodded once he realized he was being asked a question. "Ain't much left for me in this star cluster. Most of the people I cared about are either dead or in debtors prison. Wait, can we go and break them out?"

"Maybe," SK tenatively agreed. "You do also realize that you're probably gonna be sent all over reality to do hero stuff."

"What the heck does that mean?" Nitropulse asked with a confused look.

"You know how you and Tin Star took down that giant space ship while me and Platiknight turned the army in charge of it into—"

"NO! SPARE MY LIFE!"

"—the unfortunate victims of karma?," Gaia Mask asked.

"...I see that now."

"Basically, hero stuff is this and worst."

"Ah," Nitropulse nodded in understanding. "In that case, yes. I think I can do this hero stuff."

"In that case..."

Hearing Nitropulse's consent, SK click the [Accept] option on the System window.

As soon as he did, he could feel a weird pulse of energy connecting him and Nitropulse to some unseen force.

Needless to say, Nitropulse felt it too.

"Ah! What the...oh."

In that exact moment, Nitropulse was given the information dumped he needed to know what he had just signed up for.

"Wait...there was life beyond the Veil of Nihility?!"

"Yup! And now, you're part of it."

"Oh boy..."