While the Probes continued to diligently work harvesting debris, I sat in my bunker wondering what might show up.

  The night sky, as seen through my monitors was beautiful. Even the vibrant blue glow of the Pylons did nothing to diminish the magnificence of gazing at a curtain of stars. Though the moon had not yet shown it face, the sheer amount of starlight made it easy to see.

  It would truly be a shame to spoil this night with troubled thoughts. And yet...

  I had no idea what state the rest of Azeroth was in. What if the rest of the world had fallen to the Burning Legion or the Scourge? While both outcomes would likely be obvious even from orbit, it didn't mean we weren't at the start of their occupation. Disturbing to contempte, but my former universe had taught me many harsh lessons.

  I shook my head. "Nah, it's not going to be that way. I didn't come all this way to see that kind of bullshit." While I wasn't a fan of the power of positive thinking. I wasn't into expecting everything to fall apart either. At least until I'd seen evidence of event going that way.

  A loud crackling boom rang out. Followed by screaming. Sibint screaming. I recognized those screams. From countless encounters on beaches and isnds. Battles hard fought under the seas.

  Naga. The corrupted depths dwelling cousins of the Night Elves. Always plotting to recim what they thought was theirs. Their scales were a bright green in color, with a yellowish underbelly. I tried to remember which fvor of Naga that made them, but came up empty. Knowing their cn might let me understand which tactics they would employ.

  It was a good thing that my monitors could use the Pylons as observation points. I got a look at my new foe. Their rge serpentine forms darting to attack the cannon again. Another bst bore down on them. Any that were touched by the energy, disintegrated.

  I almost grinned, tridents and scimitars were no match for the shields of the mighty Protoss, but I knew these Naga were just the males. As big and fierce as they could look, they were mostly expendable cannon fodder for a Priestess, or Sorceress. Those terrible creatures heavily favored water or ice magic. And they were often still in possession of centuries of wicked knowledge, and dark secrets.

  Not an enemy to underestimate.

  The Photon Cannon didn't care about any of that, it was programmed to continue firing at its best speed until the enemy was dust. As it prepared to fire again, the build up of energy was a swelling thrum. An obvious warning.

  That the Naga ignored.

  "Ah ha! There we go." A wall of ice rose up before the next wave of the Naga assault. The icy shield shattered at the impact of the cannon's bst, but the energy was successfully deflected. Though the look on the Sorceress's severely twisted face was priceless. She hadn't expected to need to cast more Ice walls. She was stumped. Fbbergasted even.

  "Hahaha." I couldn't help but ugh at her dismay. A creation only hours old was about to end a life that possibly spanned centuries, maybe even millennia. I suppose she could have been spawned more recently than that, but survival amongst a specie as cruel and viscous as the Naga favored experienced treachery over youthful exuberance.

  If she'd been their only caster, the next bst from the cannon would've been game, set, and match. However, a sneaky snake-like priestess emerged from the darkness to call forth some sort of shield of dark light. Thanks to her, the next energy round cimed no victims. However, the wretched sea scum had been forced backwards by the force of the bst and many tumbled off the switchback.

  Now I could clearly hear their foul nguage, a twisted form of the Kaldorei tongue. Harsh and hissing. While I understood not a lick of it, the snakes began slithering away. Seemingly giving up.

  I knew better, the Naga for all their faults do not give up, nor were they cowards. They would return and in greater numbers. I'd have to prepare a very warm welcome for the cold-blooded bastards.

  I smiled my warped smile. Eager to prove once again, that I had the right to continue my existence. I certainly wouldn't be bothered by sying every snake scum that washed up on the beach. I was going to teach them this isnd had an owner, and he wasn't interested in sharing with the likes of them.

  Before I was even sure that the sea dwellers were gone, I left the safety of my bunker. I called the Probes over, they had continued to harvest materials through the scuffle. We went over to the top of the switchback, though I was careful to stay within the shields of the cannon. I peered down.

  [ You are responsible for the death of 5 Hatecrest Myrmidon, 2 Hatecrest Serpent Guards, 3 Hatecrest Wave Riders, and 1 Hatecrest Warrior, do you offer up their corpses? Y/N ]

  "Yes! Lets go!"

  The bodies I could see disappeared, but things were left behind. While I had one Probe start on a new Pylon and one to start on a new Photon Cannon to shore up the defenses here, I had the rest of the Probes zip down to collect the items left behind.

  [ There are new factors in py.

  Only the first instance of an sacrifice may grant a stat bonus, past the first offering of that type of enemy, other rewards will be granted.

  You are offering up multiple sentients in possession of equipment and goods, only the corpses are taken during Sacrifice. The rest will be left behind.

  Items may be offered in Sacrifice. Value and amount of the Items affect the rewards given.

  Some types of rewards are only given for offering Unique Items. ]

  [ You have received 1 gold per extra corpse for 7 gold. ]

  A coin pouch appeared and fell to the ground. I swiftly picked it up. This information was all very good to know, however, it was still a bit unclear. Is it the first Naga offered that I get the bonus for, the first Naga offered for each cn, or the first Naga for each css. Well that was easy to check.

  [ Subject: GhY25d76-Z649

  Species: Hybrid (Human, Night Elf, Protoss)

  Path: Sacrifice

  Css: none

  Level: n/a

  Profession: none

  Level: n/a

  Characteristics: Physical 15 / Mental 12 / Social 5 / Mana 2 / Psi Resonance 2

  Abilities: Locked

  Skills: Hand to Hand 1, Evasion 2, Swimming 2, Firearms 1 ]

  Whelp, 4 shiny new points in Physical gave the answer, and I was quite happy with that answer. Or at least the part of it I'd gotten. What if I offered up a different Naga cn's Warrior, would I still get a point for that? Hmm. More testing needed.

  I also had no real idea how my stats stacked up against others. Sure, I could jump really well, but was that because of my stats or my species?

  Not that it really mattered for my current purposes, any extra stats were welcome, I just liked knowing the best way forward. Forewarned is forearmed.

  The Probes were back with all the goodies. A bunch of pouches of fish, a red liquid in a fancy bottle, a few silvers, and a bunch of equipment I wasn't even going to think about putting on. I wanted nothing that had touched their skin. That was a good way to get a weird disease, or get corrupted.

  The st item caught my attention though. An egg. I could feel something interesting about that egg.

  I waited until the new cannon was finished building, before reaching out to the egg.

  When I touched it...

  [ You have found A Sprite Darter Egg. Will you hatch it? Y/N ]

  Are you joking? Of course, I wanted a little fairy dragon pet. "Yes!"

  The egg vanished and a little butterfly winged blue scaled dragon appeared. It fluttered over and nded on my shoulder. It rubbed its tiny little head against my face like a cat would.

  Now, I fully admit I'm an asshole, but that melted even my cynical, bckened heart. I gently reached up with a single finger and used my cw to give it the very lightest of scritches. It squeaked out a soft sound of happiness. I could feel its mind slightly, a warm and curious presence had entered the world.

  This little girl was hungry. But I had severe doubts that a dragonling would be fond of my pudding rations.

  Perhaps the Naga themselves had provided a solution. I rifled through the pouches of fish. I'd no idea what kind of fish these might be, but I took out three of the least weird looking ones. Each fish was as big as my new little friend was. I gave them a sniff. I'd never really liked the smell of fish, but these didn't smell particurly odd.

  Taking them over by my Bunker I id them upon the ground. Using a cw, I gutted and descaled the fish, having a Probe zap the waste. Then I stood back and pointed to the fish, while thinking, 'Food.'

  The little dragon chirped and swift as an arrow fell upon the fish. Her small bites in no way stopped her from finishing the first fish in record time. The second fish disappeared almost as quickly. She took more time with the third, but seemed to have no trouble finishing it. The way her tiny head darted forward and snagged a bite before she raised her head to swallow it down was so... cute.

  I had no idea where the fish even went because her belly hadn't swollen in the slightest. She was sleepy now, so I gave her gently single finger pets as she drifted off.

  Once she was fully asleep, I took the Probes over to the edge of the Pteau over looking the beach. A could see plenty of movement down there. That wouldn't do.

  Four of my robotic builders where tasked with building new Pylons and Photon Cannons, along the cliff's edge. They'd build each Cannon about thirty yards apart and one new Pylon for every two Cannons. The st Probe was tasked with ferrying minerals.

  I left them to it, while I went back to the pile of items. I stopped on the way to check on the little dy, and she was curled up tightly, and her little mind was resting peacefully. I separated out some of the best looking fish, transferring them to a single pouch. I saw no need to keep anything else.

  I pointed to the rest of the goods.

  "I offer these items for Sacrifice." I didn't know if that was the way to start, but it seemed appropriate.

  [ The System accepts your offerings... ]

  [ You may choose your reward.

  One Basic Css Orb

  or

  Two Basic Profession Orbs ]

  That got my mind spinning. At this stage the Professions would in many ways be more immediately useful. Especially if something like Fishing was on offer. So that I'd have a way to feed my little dragon. Maybe myself.

  Yet the call of a Css was terribly tempting, and if the Naga did find some way past my defenses, I'd needed every advantage in the fight.

  Then there was the Portal. Eventually the salvage from the crashed Protoss ship would be exhausted, especially since I wanted to keep the Protoss in stasis alive. There might be natural resources on the Isnd, but the Naga would always be a threat. Forcing me to spend many of my resources on expansive defensive lines. That was ultimately an untenable position. It was better to concentrate on defending this ground.

  Provided I could travel through that Portal freely, and get back, then it was the most likely solution to my current predicament. Having a Css, would be a key element to my survival.

  "I could go with this, or I could go with..." I sang quietly to myself. A habit I never quite kicked. It had gotten me in trouble more times than I cared to remember.

  "I'll take the Css Orb."

  A scintilting orb materialized in my hand.

  [ You have accessed a Basic Css Orb

  Please Choose

  Warrior

  Shaman

  Druid

  Mage

  Priest

  Hunter

  Warlock

  Rogue ]

  Ha, no Padin... wouldn't that have been funny. A bastard like me, wielding the power of the Light.

  Oh I could argue with myself about this all day, but I knew what I was going to pick. No sense in dragging it out.

  "Hunter." My go to favorite, for all the years I'd pyed. Though I had a suspicion that like many other things so far, the css would function differently from my expectations.

  That said now my status had been updated with,

  [ Css: Hunter

  Level: 1

  Abilities: Steady Shot 1 ]

  The same, yet different.

  Now does Steady Shot work with my Gauss Rifle, or the pistols for that matter? I lifted the rifle to try to see if it would work, then hesitated before I pulled the trigger. I looked over at the sleeping form of my little dragon. Her adorable snorts and snores audible from here. I smiled, though this smile hurt my face for some reason. Okay testing could wait.

  I gnced over at the first Pylon, it was about half charged. It would probably take the rest of the night to finish charging. I sat quietly next to the little dragonling and rested my back against my bunker.

  My eyes grew heavy...