Irbepo was being lost in der thoughts when the bush finally moved. A sizeable dolurue gingerly peeked from it. Irbepo aimed slightly to the right, remembering the old trick of der rifle, when-

WHOMP

something heavy crashed in the distance in a cloud of smoke dissolving in weird patterns. Dolurue immediately bolted to the forest edge.

Irbepo jumped to der feet and approached the crash site, aiming the rifle at it. It looked like one of orbital remnants, so it probably contained a whole fortune. But sometimes these also contained voidspawn, crazed from isolation and malnutrition.

When Irbepo was only twenty meters from the object, which was still covered in smoke, something clicked. A second later Irbepo saw only white and heard a high-pitched whine, through which eventually a voice rised:

"... DOWN! LIE THE FUCK DOWN I SAID! DONT TOUCH THE GUN!"

White receded and Irbepo witnessed dried, cracking steppe dirt. De raised der eyes and witnessed a steel boot unceremoniously kicking der gun away.

"RISE TO YOUR KNEES! NO SUDDEN MOVES!"

Irbepo carefully moved to der knees and looked at void people. They were armed and armored better then any warrior de ever seen. Several kept their weapon trained on Irbepo.

"All right, fella. We won't hurt you. Now, how much other people are there?"

"Er... Me and my mom live over dem hills... hundred, like, in the town... Are you from Mothership? Is something still there?"

"We're from Igs... never mind. We will send an official here to talk to you later. Now, is there some..."

Leader suddenly stopped and moved der head slightly aside.

"Gotta go. Move out, guys, orbital alert!"

Irbepo watched as void people backed into the ship, ship door closed and it impossibly jumped back to sky, leaving Irbepo poor again. Irbepo picked the rifle, stared at cracked butt and walked back from the crash site.

WHOMP

Another ship landed right in front of Irbepo. De immediately dropped the rifle and dropped to der knees. Ship door opened without flashbang this time, and couple void people came out, just as armored but looking different. They had their weapons trained on Irbepo as well.

"We won't hurt you! Did you see the..."

Leader glanced behind Irbepo's shoulder at the weird smoke patters still lingering

"Too late, huh. Well, I assume they didn't stake the planet yet? Well, too bad we don't have a signer. Just a personal thing though: if you're asked about where do you want to be, choose Umamhon federation. The place to be, pal. What did the other ship look like, anyway..."

Leader did the same weird head motion as the previous one.

"What do you mean, chasing? We ain't a fucking border op here... All right, coming. See ya, pal"

Void people packed into the ship and ship jumped high, trails of smoke now making an arc through the sky. They are not going to believe there is nothing left, Irbepo though with despair. It'd be probably better just to leave. Mom can fuck herself. I can live in the...

WHOMP

Another ship landed. Irbepo just turned to face it, remaining on the knees and made sure de is far away from the gun.

A lone voider stepped from the ship. Der armor was much lighter, but de kept der hand on the pistol on the belt.

"You can rise, buddy", voider said, observing the smoke arc. "I see I'm here just at the right moment. How many of you live here?"

"A hundred", Irbepo replied.

"Well, plenty enough. If you sign off the rights on your imagery, I can provide you with enough weapons to hold off for a spell. If you don't fight back, you're gonna start off as the lowest of the low and it's not going to be nice. If you provide enough sport, we can probably manage a nice deal. They are probably going to kill each other first, anyway. Where's the city?"

"Over the hills... past the valley. You can't miss the voidshard."

"Voidshard, huh.", voider made some manipulation over der wrist. "All right, I'll see them. Just remember. Accept the deal from Toimoz freehold. You're fucked otherwise. Now, see you around..."

"Can you..." blurted Irbepo, seeing voider turn to ship. "Some voidstuff"?

"Voidstuff?", voider turned back. "Huh... You mean some stuff from above. Well, I guess it saves me the trip to recycler". Voider tinkered with der wrist for a spell, then with a small "whomp" a metal box landed nearby. "Remember. Toimoz freehold".

Voider waved to Irbepo then backed into the ship, which after a while rose and flew over the hills. Irbepo approached the metal box and opened the lid with der knife.

Finest voidparts were inside. Some glistening with voidoil, some in fancy packages marked with voidrunes, nearly pristine, sacred wires all over the place. Irbepo's dreams of being rich rose again. De closed the lid, slinged the rifle over der shoulder, took the box and started walking back home. "Toimoz, huh. Toimoz it is, then."