Ruben was in the process of finishing his third sandwich when the broadcast began. He never got around to finishing it. The transmission killed what was left of his appetite. Who were these people? Was this some kind of joke to them? He was under the impression that the mission he was on was more important than human extinction, and he was going to be working with, if not led by, a handful of aggressive, smart-mouthed, childish adults, one of them apparently being the President? The whole thing seemed almost surreal. At least the man on the screen wasn't the President of the US where Ruben came from, so he let out a quiet sigh of relief knowing that his Earth had, as far as he knew, not been destroyed. Ideally the same would not happen to the one they were being sent to.
The scope of the mission was a bit...broad. Dragons and magic? How was he going to fight against something like that? Sure, the XCOM initiative was formed to deal with unknown threats, but at least the aliens he had encountered were small and squishy. He glanced down at his rifle, doubting it had the stopping power to penetrate dragon scales, and his standard-issue body armor may not prove too effective against an actual dragon. Not to mention the "gods of steel," whatever that meant. The cartoonish individual giving the briefing referred to it as fishy, but Ruben had a feeling that he was making an understatement. Sure, he had never actually seen, much less attacked, a dragon, but if the aliens who invaded earth were as deadly and vile as he had expected, the dragons would be worse. He didn't know what allies would be waiting for him in the new universe, but he had a feeling that they were more ill-equipped than he.
He glanced around at his team for the first time. The first member was a tall, graceful woman with blue hair. From a physical standpoint, she seemed completely unfit for combat, especially in her choice of armor. Back in XCOM, everyone suited up in body armor, boots, and kneepads. She brandished an elaborate weapon, but she appeared to be just as human as himself, which meant she was just as vulnerable without protection. But who knows, maybe her dress and sleeves were knife-proof. Or maybe she had supernatural abilities, since apparently magic was both real and viable. The other two were robotic. One was clearly entirely mechanical, which would be interesting in combat. He was well-trained in the art of patching up humans, but machines? Not even the Medikit could help with that. If the robot took some sort of damage, he wouldn't be able to do much. The other was some sort of human-mech combination. Or perhaps it was a human wearing a very elaborate form of armor. It certainly looked durable enough for a fight, and he nodded in approval at the visible sidearm. If anyone was ready for a fight, it was that one.
He kept quiet as the other three asked their questions, suddenly remembering that they hadn't made introductions. He made a mental note to introduce himself and find out what their name and rank was after the briefing. Personally, he wondered just how big and intelligent these dragons would be, but he kept it to himself. He was suited up already and had brought his only weapons and equipment. If that wasn't enough to keep him alive, he didn't belong in this fight.