Capitalization

[Simon]

The squad of Stromtroopers on the other side of the Coruscant-Nexus gate were ready for Dante's arrival, witnessing him through the watery window of the portal. Like the guards on the outside, the soldiers here flanked the motorcycle's path in single file, but with triple the numbers. At their head, blocking the way, was who Dante assumed was the particular commander for this squad of soldiers, for the intricacies and decorations upon his armor design. He quickly stopped his bike, responding to the commander's open palm.

"New Prime?" The decorated suit of white padding spoke, bearing a harder voice than his associate on the other side of the gate. "State your name and business."

"I hear there's a certain someone out there bearing something akin to my likeness. I'd like to ensure I'm not associated with him," Dante announced clearly. While he may look different enough now, dressed with his black vestment over his longcoat, he'd rather not take a risk before he could solve it.

The commander looked at him with the same blank stare upon his helmet, while his posture stood unflinching. "...Your name, Prime."

Dante nearly smacked himself over that detail. Though he did so anyway, in reality, to actually buy time to deliberate over what name of his to actually use. Better safe than sorry, he decided. "Tony Redgrave." His human persona was generally a lesser risk, except when he was on a major mission and it became irrelevant.

The soldier pulled out some digital device and tapped away at it for a few moments. Registering the name, probably. This 'Empire' clearly liked their security, if they were taking note of every person that passed through their gates. And from the quick glances Dante was able to sneak at the city around them, it was for good measure: the place was practically a utopian metropolis. Towering buildings, floating highways of hovercars, a brilliant sunlit sky shining down, and not a single person who looked less than upper class. It made Dante wonder what secrets this city had tucked away to make this topside look so presentable.

"Alright, Redgrave. You mentioned something about a terrorist looking like you?" The squad commander asked, a couple of moments after finishing whatever he was up to with the data device. Tired of sitting on the running bike, Dante cut power from the engine and parked the cycle, heaving a leg over to dismount. He adjusted the weight of the silvery sword on his back, and then finally looked back.

"That's right. I don't want to get any cases of mistaken identity when I'm walking down the street or anything like that," Dante coolly explained, shifting his tone away from the firm, serious one he held prior. "So, anything special I can do to prevent that kind of problem?"

A certain 'hrm' emitted from the commander, seeming to consider Dante's words carefully. Meanwhile, the Stormtroopers dispersed somewhat, returning to posts stationed around the gate rather than flanking the entryway. Two troopers remained on standby near the commander, however. After a few seconds of pondering from the leader, he answered, "I suppose there are several ways. You could obtain an official citizenship for Coruscant, as a certain identity to protect you from false accusations. You might enlist in the ranks of the Imperial military-" this earned a cross of the arms and a more defined frown from Dante, "...Or perhaps, if you're feeling personal about it, you could register yourself as a bounty hunter and eliminate the threat yourself."

The half-devil's serious visage remained. The latter option did hold more appeal to him, certainly, and for a lot of reasons. One was that Dante didn't submit well to higher authority. Like the sword bound to him, the Son of Sparda was an irrepressible soul that would sooner punch a cop in the face than even be turned in for questioning. Obviously, that was a factor he had grown out of somewhat, but the basic urge still remained - he wouldn't submit to a higher power, and he would do whatever things he wanted in his way - within logical reason, of course.

Another reason, related to the first, was Dante's perceptions of this 'Empire'. The name they wore so proudly, the soldiers clad completely in universal white armor, the largely utopian feel of the above-ground of this city; it all rung as something off-kilter to Dante. They obviously had a lot of power and resources to even get this advanced, and the thing with empires was that there was always typically a ruler at their head. Maybe that ruler here was benevolent, and maybe not. He didn't exactly pressing to know right now, and he didn't want to find out when he was already strung up into his services and loyalty.

In any case, his question wasn't exactly answered. "...So how do I go about any of that?"

[Simon]

The commander of the Stormtroopers stationed around the Gate turned back to one of the subordinate soldiers at his side. "Reid," the superior barked, causing the man in the white armor to snap up straight, throwing a free hand into a salute. "-Show this Prime to the Imperial Consultation Office."

A quick "yes sir" from Reid, a retraction of the salute, but as the soldier was about to move the commander thrust a hand out to stop him. "But before that..." The hand came forward to acknowledge Dante, pointing at him. "We're gonna need you to stow that sword of yours."

The half-devil cocked his head for a moment, as if still confused at the commander's words. "Okay..."

"Ah, right-" The adorned helmet looked down a bit, then back up, "You're a Prime, brought by Omni, so just focus on something you can use to hide that sword. Just summon a case for it, or something."

Dante's head tightened itself. So being a Prime meant he was summoned specifically by Omni? That's right - that silhouette said that anything he desired could become true if he willed it so. Maybe that was a special power of the Primes that anyone else summoned here couldn't use. Dante quickly began to try and put the ability to use, narrowing his eyes and holding out a hand as if dangling an appropriate sword case in it.

There was a fair bit of strain involved, and Date soon discovered that trying to summon something from scratch was very involved. He kept turning over the image of the case in his head, making sure he was able to summon it properly and functionally. After some elongated amount of time passed, a swirling orb of liquid Omnilium pooled in his outstretched hand. It stretched and molded itself into the shape of a large and long rectangular prism, then began to take upon the intricacies and details of the case as the Son of Sparda recalled it.

The chromatic swirls of light from the Omnilium faded, and Dante was left holding the case by its handle, the familiar black shell and lining striking out to the demon hunter. Taking a hold with both hands and popping open the latches on the ebony container, he carefully dropped the case to the ground, letting it flop open. Dante's hand rose to grip Rebellion, removing the sword from it's common housing on the clasps behind the red longcoat. The demon hunter dropped to one knee, lay the fine metallic sword within its velvet fitting in the case, and then took the other side of the case and pulled the thing shut on it's hinges, affixing the latches once more.

"That'll do, Prime," The Stormtrooper commander said as Dante picked up the closed sword case, his voice ringing with some satisfaction. To witness a Prime summon any object like that always seemed so amazing, as much as he didn't want to let it on.

But Dante himself was a bit concerned with the summoning process, actually. It meant he wouldn't exactly be able to call upon any sort of aid he wanted in an instant without first summoning it to the Omniverse. But at least he knew the relevance between Dante needing more Omnilium to grow stronger - everything in this universe was made, or at least formed or sustained, with Omni's mysterious substance. By obtaining more Omnilium, Dante could also reform more of himself, his powers.

"Well, then if we're all ready," the half-demon mercenary said, waving a free hand to gesture to the present Stormtroopers, then stopping to refer to the one called Reid. "Let's be off, then." Nodding to Dante (but more accurately, his commander), Reid turned and began to walk out of the plaza housing the Gates, the red-coated man following behind.

The other trooper aside the squad leader came aside him and commented, "Uh, sir? Isn't he forgetting his vehicle-?"

"Confiscate it. Have it broken down," the commander promptly ordered, the subordinate pausing in his speech before falling back to relay the orders, pushing the bike away from the Gate. Dante wouldn't miss it.

[Simon]

So began the trudge of half-devil mercenary and white-clad imperial trooper, their aim being towards the Consultation Office. It was going to be a long walk, now that Dante realized they had left his motorcycle behind. Oh well - it was kind of a loud clunky thing, anyways. Maybe that loss was more of a good thing, considering the somewhat crowded nature of the Coruscant streets, many people and vehicles moving and buzzing about.

The Stormtrooper leading Dante, however, seemed to bear some degree of prominence or priority, as every man and woman moving by bore the sense to sidle out of the soldier's way. That was another key of a dastardly empire, Dante remarked to himself. Authority that is not to be messed with under any circumstances.

But behind that mask had to be some sort of person; he already knew his name was Reid. It just wouldn't be like Dante to not try and pry away that mask. The demon hunter increased his pace slightly, moving up right behind and alongside the trooper.

"So!" Dante said, a tiny bit louder than he was quite meaning, to get the Stormtrooper's attention. Reid glanced back to the new Prime, but just as soon returned his gaze forward and said nothing. A curt smile formed on Dante's face, "I never really asked, but... what's it like, y'know, being a soldier like you?"

"An official at the Consultation Offices would happy to list the benefits," Reid said plainly, his radio-receiver voice barely different than the last few troopers Dante heard. The Son of Sparda rolled his eyes some.

"That's not what I asked," Dante said coolly, averting a more exasperated tone like he was about to segway into. "What's it like for you? What's your stance on all of this?"

No response. Dante was getting a few odd looks from some of the bystanders. He was banking on none of them recognizing him in any way.

"Oh, no wait, I get it-" Dante burst out, with slightly less volume than his initial conversation starter. "There's a certain courtesy you're supposed to follow that means you can't answer that kind of question, right?"

A pause, except for the hustle and white noise of the crowd blended with the shuffle of their feet. "...Less of a 'courtesy' and more of a 'tradition'."

Dante cocked his head again mockingly for his next statement. "Really? I guess we wouldn't want to paint your Empire in a bad light-"

"I see what you're doing, Prime, and I'll ask you once to stop," Reid suddenly announced, turning his head to face the pestering half-devil. And with that, turned back, resuming his trot.

His own face having suddenly twisted back into a surprised, then non-accusing frown, Dante finally followed up with, "Alright, fine. No personal questions, got it."

Silence, again except for the surrounding commotion. "Let me put it this way, Prime," Reid suddenly spoke up after a moment, "Would you like to meet our Emperor?"

The red-coated man shrugged and said, "Why not?"

"I'll tell you why not," Reid responded back. "Because you don't meet him, he meets you. Less of a 'meeting' and more of an audience with his most elite, absolutely trusted subordinates. You have to be worthy. Because our Emperor, he was one of the original Primes. He created this city, this Empire, that spans an entire verse and then expands it's presence into the other verses. Do you understand how much power that would require? So much, that he doesn't even want to speak with you unless you have gotten a very significant fraction of his power. That is the only way you even get a chance to see him properly. Because if you try anything else, you be killed if he's merciful - or otherwise be put into some fate far, far worse than death."

"...Okay, I get it," Dante finally replied, with some shock still permeating on his face. A lot more eyes were looking at him strangely now.

Reid 'hmph'ed, then said, "Then you'll follow my order to be quiet." When Dante said nothing, the trooper punctuated, "Good."

The rest of the trip was short and uneventful, and throughout Dante felt a bit more sullen... and with that, a lot more bitter about this place. Definitely not the good flavor of empire, to be run by such a tyrannical fist and to have such fury infect it's enforcers. Which meant there was definitely some sort of underbelly to be found, an underground either seedy and/or rebellious. Perhaps he would go and take a look for himself.

At last, however, the large building loomed ahead, not much different than many of the other structures expect for the plain sign and the presence near some sort of inner wall within the city. Meant to close off the main citadel of the Empire, Dante presumed, and so loaded to the teeth with elite guards. Tempting as it was, the Son of Sparda had to keep himself in check- this was a much different world than what he had come from, a modern world full of questionable authority and puny humans. And Dante himself was much weaker, too, upon this...

The pair stopped at the door. "Inside, ask the receptionist and they'll guide you to an expert of choice," Reid explained sharply, still rather cross with Dante's resistance.

"Guess I'll catch you later then," the Son of Sparda quipped in parting, flashing a finger-gun point at the Stormtrooper. The expression on the helmet didn't change, but Dante could swear the man beneath was quite displeased with the gesture and the implications. He didn't break away his vision until the automatic double glass doors closed to separate them.

[Simon]

For all the futuristic influence present in the design of Coruscant, the interior of this building looked surprisingly modern. Well, modern in the sense of shining white linoleum tiling, plain beige-colored wall, and the minimalist and curvy design choices for layout and furniture. At least the front desk seemed to be manned by an actual person, though.

After walking up to the receptionist's desk and communicating his intention to apply for being a bounty hunter, Dante's quest got notably more complicated. At first he was outright rejected, with the claim that Dante was to be registered as not just a qualified citizen but as a military-capable individual, which was some complicated stuff that he'd really rather avoid getting into. His next idea was to simply lobby for the position, to try and convince someone that he was a capable individual for this kind of job. It was met with skepticism, but Dante was nevertheless pointed towards a specific office.

After some searching (it's like they somehow make these buildings non-euclidean, sometimes), the demon hunter approached what looked to be the correct door, D-203A. He had been told that he currently shouldn't be occupied with any others meetings, but that kind of vague statement didn't retract Dante's skepticism. He raised a knuckle and tapped hard on the door several times, getting a gruffly "come in" in response. Dante obliged, opening the door.

The office was a bit cozy, to put it lightly, but there was still enough room for everything that needed to be there - desk in the middle, a couple of chairs opposite, a single ceiling lamp to give more light than a noir firm, and a single large potted plant off in the corner. Oh, and of course the person sitting behind the desk: a short-haired square-jawed man who looked like Clark Kent gave up trying to disguise himself and sounded vaguely like the Punisher.

"So you're the one looking to try your luck as a bounty hunter, eh?" The man asked, somewhat rhetorically. The name tag on his desk read 'J. Norberg', upon closer inspection.

Dante closed the door behind him, dropped his sword case between the two chairs in front of the desk, and held out a hand to shake. "Tony Redgrave. And yes, I am." Mr. Norberg didn't respond, turning back down to the papers strewn across his desk in subtle refused of the handshake. At this, Dante pouted a bit before taking a seat.

"I'm sure you got the point earlier that we don't let just any Prime fresh through the Gate become an bounty hunter here," Norberg spoke again, after a bated moment of silence. "And I hope you can understand exactly why."

The demon hunter shrugged, and took a stab in the dark. "You want to make sure the hunters are still loyal to the cause, right?"

"It's more than that," Norberg retorted. "The Empire has a quite powerful law enforcement and boasts a substantial standing military for most any operation. But there are just some things beyond the Empire's reach of power. The kind of criminals that Stormtroopers just aren't equipped to deal with, the ones that stay silent and well out of Imperial range," The man explained, arms crossed and leaning forward to stare Dante right in his burning eyes.

"Those are the kinds of filth that get on the hit list, Tony. They wouldn't be there if they didn't require the likes of only another Prime to take them down. And what should happen if such a Prime decided they don't want to hand the sap over?"

"Then we have two rampant Primes on the bounty list," Dante declared, his head bobbing in understanding nods.

Norberg gave a single nod of his own, and flashed a finger point at Redgrave. "You get it. So now, lemme tell you this: it's completely possible to hunt down a bounty without even getting a license or registration. But when it comes down to getting a payment out of it, don't expect us to just fork over a reward just because you killed a certain someone."

"Oh, actually," Dante piped up, looking to lay down the reason he came here in the first place, "I'm actually looking to solve something more of a personal matter." With a questioning grunt from Norberg, the demon hunter continued:

"You see, I caught wind of there being a certain someone out there who looks somewhat like performing terrorist actions. And, obviously, I wouldn't want to be mistaken for that specific person whenever I walk around Imperial territory, right?"

"Right," Norberg stated, a little absent, as he was clacking away on his desktop computer in search of some sort of records.

"And I mean, call me barbaric, but I just want to take care of this guy myself. The way I see it, it's two birds with one stone - I get reputation as a good guy, I bring this other guy to justice, and I can actually display the difference between him and I," Dante explained heartily. There was a brief pause, and then, "Okay, three birds, but you get the idea."

"Sure," Norberg said, still facing his terminal but no longer clacking away at his keyboard. "Is this the man you're looking for? 'Ragna the Bloodedge'?" He pulled his monitor on a swivel to show Dante.

There were a couple of blurry, zoomed-in pictures from various security footage of a figure with spiky white hair, a big red coat, and a massive sword. The records stated he managed to slaughter an entire squad of Imperial Stormtroopers, among various other casualties. However, he had not been seen since he entered the freight elevator for Coruscant's lower tiers. So there was lower levels after all...

"That seems like the one," Dante hesitantly declared, putting up an act to cover his intrigue over the supposed lower levels of Coruscant. That was something he'd definitely have a look at himself. He furthered his act with a genuine sneer and a chuckle, "'Ragna the Bloodedge'... what kind of a name is that?"

"Don't ask me- it's what the man called himself," Norberg shrugged, seeming to sympathize with Dante for a moment. "Still sure you wanna try hunting this guy down?"

"Why not?" The Son of Sparda chuckled again, "I say it makes a good challenge. It's not like I'm gonna die, right?"

"About that," Norberg interjected, and Dante whipped back around to listen. "You see, Primes aren't exactly exempt from death here in the Omniverse. But, unlike Secondaries, they don't stay dead forever. About 72 hours after you die, you'll come back again in the Nexus, next to the Fountain. Exactly where you first emerged here."

Dante took a couple of moments to process that, then resumed with, "Oh, so like a three-day respawn period. I get it."

"Yeah. Of course, if you can help it, you wouldn't die in the first place. Because that's painful."

"Uh-huh," Dante agreed. "So, anything else? Should I still have a license or card or something-?"

"Actually," Norberg held up a finger in a 'hold on' gesture, and scooted his chair back to open a drawer and root through his desk. He came back with two objects - a pair of electronics that looked like two different PDAs. One was smaller, looking something like a smartphone, and the other was larger and thicker, like a data pad.

"A Communicator, and a Mobile Dataverse Device," Norberg pointed out the objects respectively. "The latter connects you to the Dataverse, where you can get most any files or documents you could want, as well as connect with anyone else on the Dataverse. The Communcator is basically a phone, if you've heard of those." Dante nodded in confirmation.

"There's a hotline number listed on your Communicator's contacts. Call it when you've finished the job, and you can arrange a pickup if you've managed to get him alive. Either way, you'll still need to come to the office to claim your reward, if you still want it."

"Thanks," the demon hunter said, pocketing the two items and picking up his sword case. "Thanks for the info, too. I'll see if I can't find this 'Ragna' and give him a piece of my mind."

"Just be careful," Norberg insisted, "Coruscant's lower Tiers aren't exactly known for being savory places to stay."

[Simon]

Exiting the building at last, Dante was already fooling around with his Dataverse device in one hand while still dangling his case in the other. It was pretty much the Internet, Dante noted, bar none. Various messageboards and video sites and social netowrks, but none of those caught Dante's attention just yet.

As he paced through Coruscant's streets again, alone this time, the Son of Sparda was able to get the basic lowdown on Primes and the Omniverse via a handy document a few people had put together. Basically, the Omniverse was separated into the Nexus, eight main verses, and a bunch of other 'hidden' verses off to the side. The major organization present was the Empire, having spread out into the Endless Dunes and the Vasty Deep, while the other primary organization was the kingdom of Camelot.

Dante was able to verify all of the benefits Primes like him had: the ability to naturally gather and weave Omnilium, using it to bolster themselves or summon other people and objects to their aid. Basically stuff Dante had already known in some form, but was now able to summarize.

The last thing that captured Dante's interest, however, was something completely different. A certain link by a certain Prime, who was looking for someone to call a wielder...

If you followed the link here human, demon, shinigami or whatever the hell you are, you are probably wondering one thing, "What am I invited for?"

I'll keep this short... : If you want to wield a sword of immense strength and power... seek me out. You'll find me to be a powerful asset.

The Son of Sparda couldn't help but absorb himself into the offer. To already obtain a mighty weapon to rebuild his arsenal of Devil Arms? The posts were recent enough to be still valid, and whatever 'catch' there was to it... Dante was sure he could handle it. He quickly typed out a response, and set out for the portal from which he entered this city.

He hoped to catch Reid again, but it looked like there was a different squad on shift this time. Bummer.

To a brief interlude in the Nexus...