Smash [Complete]

[The Future Warrior]

The remaining journey to the gate that lead to Coruscant was uneventful, with only a few more questions asked courtesy of the ever-curious small blue passenger to break the monotony. The gate had scarcely come into full view and clarity before Stanek held up one hand, issuing a halt. "Now then. Before we move on any further..." He turned about, looking at Sisto and his passenger. "Apologies, but this is where you should..." He waved a hand lamely. "...well, get down, I suppose. Can't go setting a bad image of an Empire soldier playing carrier for a new arrival, even a Prime."

Graowr just blinked slowly, staring, unnervingly, at the sergeant with a look somewhere between incomprehension and disinterest. Then it finally registered in her head what exactly the problem was, and the ding of recognition was almost audible. "Oh! Okay." And she quite readily unwound her arms from about Sisto's neck, planted them on his shoulders and pushed up, hopping up and away, and landing with...remarkable grace on the ground a few paces back. "Gotta walk the rest of the way so it doesn't look like i'm taking advantage of you guys or something like that, yeah?"

Stanek just stared for a moment, the sudden display of coordination and agility a surprise after the general clueless demeanor and lack of mental acuity up until now. But then, everyone who came through here was always good at something. And all those comments about not being as strong as she used to be, and the fighting she'd done back home — wherever that might have been — suddenly made so much more sense. You didn't need to be a genius to be good at fighting, or look the part of a tough, grizzled veteran to actually be a tough...well, veteran of combat, maybe. Not so much 'grizzled' in this case.

The brief pause before his answer as he ruminated over something was not lost on Graowr, for once, and she tilted her head slightly to one side in confusion. "Did I...did I not get that right, or something?" she finally ventured. She turned aside to look at the others. "He do this often?" she asked, to which she was met with an unresponsive stare from Jayce, his helmeted gaze looking from her to his sergeant, and a not-very-helpful shrug from Sisto.

Stanek coughed once, clearing his throat. "Yes...yes, sorry. That's exactly right, though." He turned about on one heel again, back toward the gate. "Well, let's get a move on then. Coruscant awaits."

Arriving at the gate proper, the trip through it was definitely...an odd one. Graowr stumbled, and nearly introduced her face to the ground, though a quick handspring kept her upright, if a little unsteady.

"Ah, yeah...probably should've mentioned that little detail," Corbinian piped up from behind, just a trace of amusement in his tone. "Can be a little disorienting, the first couple of times you go through the gates. Sudden shifts in scenery, ambient noises and weather...sometimes even minor shifts in other things. Can really throw you for a loop."

A shaky thumbs-up was the only response from the out of sorts little prime signifying she got the message. It wasn't all that unlike the strange portals she used back home, during her trips through time to get from place to place. Of course, she'd had the benefit of being airborne and flying back then, so a lot less of the worry of the whole "tripping and faceplanting onto the ground" thing. After a few moments she was back up on her feet and looking around in wonder at the new surroundings, taking in Coruscant as a whole.

Stanek nudged her in the shoulder to get her attention. "Now, over there is where you'll want to go," he said, indicating a line of people passing through a building a short ways off. "They'll get you signed in and your arrival registered, and can point you in the right direction to get you started on your work for the EPD. We'd go along with you, but got a report to get to. Just make sure to..." He fished in a pouch at his belt for a moment, before producing a small card. "...give 'em that. It'll let 'em know we're the ones who found you. Credit where it's due and all that, y'know?"

Taking the proffered card, she just looked at it dubiously for a moment. "....okay. I can do that." She nodded, and slipped it securely into one of her gloves, looking back up to see the merry bunch that had met her at the fountain already heading quickly off in the opposite direction she'd been directed. A little sad, but she could grasp the basic idea that work never really did let up. That seemed like it was a constant.

Turning around, she headed off to the matter at hand for herself.

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 words

[The Future Warrior]

....only to be immediately sidetracked as she finally, fully, registered the immensity and sheer shininess of the city-verse. She'd been paying attention and trying to process the descriptions of the place she'd gotten on the way here, making every effort to form up some image in her head and get some kind of idea of what she was in for. But she had been spectacularly unsuccessful in such regard. All she'd really managed to envision was something vaguely like Toki Toki City but...bigger.

Her imagination was not very good, you see.

But now she just slowly sort of...inched along, in more or less the right direction she'd been directed by Stanek, though her eyes were anywhere and everywhere but paying attention to where she was headed. It was therefore very fortunate that she did not quite walk right into the backside of the individual standing in the line ahead of her. Stopping just short of doing so as her view was obstructed by a rudely looming shadow, she blinked to snap out of her daze. Oh. She was here already. Now there was nothing left to do but to...to wait. Wait in line. Patiently.

She was not very good at being patient.

When finally it was her taking the place at the front of the line, she could only stare at the sight of many more of the...the guys... The ones in white armor. Something troops. Bad weather...storm? Stormtroops! Yes, that was definitely what they were. There were a bunch more of them, with more of their...guns? That was what they were. She'd never really used any sort of weapons, and had...kind of just drifted off when they had tried to explain how they worked. Beyond the basic 'it shoots stuff', she didn't really get it. Or want to get it, for that matter.

"Welcome to Coruscant," the lead Stormtrooper said, sounding extremely bored and more than a little tired. The monotony of his task was no doubt starting to wear on him already. He beckoned the little blue creature over, indicating for her to halt when she was close enough. "Stand right there and hold still for scanning."

"....scanning?" she echoed, her tone blank.

The stormtroopers exchanged a look that, even masked by their helmets, was quizzical. They were used to all sorts, but boy oh boy, was a new arrival to the Omniverse always plain as day. "Yeah. Every new arrival to Coruscant is scanned and IDed, and they're filed into the system for easier setup later if they decide to become a more permanent resident."

"Oooooh..." Graowr just tilted her head slightly to one side, her eyes wide at the thought of that. It did sound like it would make it easier. Kind of. "I think I get it. Okay!"

One of the stormtroopers approached, holding something quite different from a rifle. "Hold still, now," he spoke up as he passed it over her body, swinging it around her small frame. "....okay, then. That'll do it." He stepped back, checking over the readings on his, apparent, portable scanner. "Nothing too out of the ordinary, really." he nodded, clipping the device to his belt and stepping back.

"Nothing out of the ordinary?" she spoke up in return, frowning lightly. "Guess I do have a lot of work to do to get back to as strong as I used to be..."

The lead stormtrooper couldn't help but shake his head. Oh, boy. Another one only thinking about fighting and getting stronger. Plenty of those around here, lately. "Well, long as you don't go starting any fights to try and help you in doing that in the streets, there shouldn't be any problems."

"Oh, I don't like fighting in the streets if I don't have to. There's too many people around, usually. And too much property!" She nodded sagely, looking suddenly quite thoughtful. "People could get hurt."

That just caused a cloud of silence to settle collectively over the assembled empire forces for several seconds. "....riiiiight," the lead trooper finally spoke up. Maybe he'd been a little off the mark on this one. "Well, let's get you set up and on your way, then..."

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Graowr suddenly spoke up, and tugged at her glove urgently, producing the card tucked away in it. "The guys who found me at that fountain back in the...the, uh..." She stopped dead in her tracks, words deserting her. "The...the Nexus! Yeah, they said to give you this." And she held it out.

The lead trooper took it slowly, looking a little wary. Just what was up with this kid...? Looking down at the card, though, he couldn't help but chuckle. Now it all made sense. "Oh. Right. This'll be noted." He tucked it into a small container on his belt. "So then. If that merry bunch is the one who picked you up, I assume they've got you all fired up to join the EPD and do your part to help keep Coruscant nice and beautiful, or something like that, then?"

She just nodded. "Yep! They said I could do some good for people, and it would probably help me get stronger, too. It sounds like a great idea!"

Well, she was eager, if nothing else. That wasn't something that could be entirely discounted, especially not with some of the crazy types they'd had coming in lately. That...that Lord Zeta character he'd heard about, just recently completed his entrance mission for the force. Now there was one unpleasant guy, if half of what he'd heard was true. "Well...I think we can help you out with that." He turned to one of the other troopers nearby, beckoning them over. "Take our new friend here to go see Sergeant Sull about a recruitment mission. Tell him we've got a real live one, this time. Good and eager to be a fine, upstanding citizen."

"Yes, sir," the other trooper responded smartly. Turning back to Graowr, he nodded politely. "Follow me, miss. I'll show you to the Sergeant."

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 + 1043 = 1888 words

[The Future Warrior]

With a hop and skip to catch up to the comparatively much larger stride of the trooper, Graowr was dutifully following behind her sudden guide down a series of strikingly similar hallways in the building — which really hadn't seemed this large from the outside; maybe they'd gone down a level or something when she wasn't paying attention? — and to a relatively unassuming office, the door of which stood open. The trooper knocked twice on the doorframe. "Sergeant, got a new recruit who needs assignment. We've got a live one, this time."

The sole occupant of the small office, his helmet currently sitting on the desk before him, looked over a terminal at the trooper, his eyes briefly flicking this way and that. "I don't see any recruits, trooper." Graowr's hand suddenly rose into view, just into the bottom edge of his field of vision over the terminal's screen, causing him to quirk one eyebrow as he leaned forward slightly to peer over the screen to get a look at whatever this was. To say he was nonplussed would be an understatement. He just stared for a moment, sheer dumbfoundedness lending him the constitution to match the unblinking stare of the — to his eyes, at least — strange little blue-skinned child standing in his office.

Finally he sighed and sat back, looking back up at the trooper. "I'm going to assume this isn't some kind of elaborate joke. I'll take care of this, head back to your post." With a simple nod and "Sir!" for response, the man turned on one heel and strode back the way he'd come, leaving Sull and the little blue...individual alone. "....so. You want to join the Empire Peace Division, is that right?" He pushed his chair over slightly, so he could see over his desk more clearly at the new prospect. He gestured at a seat across the desk. "Have a seat. Just got a few questions before we get you all sorted and set up with a test assignment." As she happily clambered into the indicated seat, he turned back to his terminal, shutting down the few windows of inane busywork he'd been tending to, and pulling up other, more relevant information.

"Just some quick fact-checking here. You just recently arrived in the Omniverse? Fresh Prime?" At a nod from the child-like creature, he went on. "Good, good... You were met at the Fountain of Infinity by...Empire Fountain Watch 41-F-8. Stanek and his merry bunch of questionably sane and competent folks, yeah?" Another nod, with a brief "they were nice!" thrown in, and Sull couldn't help but chuckle. Poor thing just had no idea if she thought anything to do with Stanek, of all people, was anything in the ballpark of 'nice'. "So, you're wanting to join up with the EPD so you can...get stronger, and do it in a way that can help out Coruscant and the Empire as a whole, that about the size of things?"

"Yep!" She leaned forward eagerly, hands on her knees. "I found out when I was on the way here that getting weakened when Omni brings you here isn't so weird. I mean...it is pretty weird, but it isn't that out of the ordinary! So I shouldn't be too bummed out, and just focus on getting strong again! And if I can try and help keep people safe, and maybe try and do something good while I'm at it...yeah! That can't be a bad thing! Or...well...things, I guess." She sheepishly rubbed at the back of her head with a light shrug. "Maybe I can learn some more about the place, too. It seems...pretty different than back home."

The sergeant just nodded slowly, leaning back in his chair. Boy, they really did have a live one, here. It wasn't that rare to get someone so eager and willing to help, and it wasn't THAT odd to get someone so generally heroic and on the up-and-up, willing to help out just for the sake of doing the right thing. They'd had a couple of those in recent memory. There was that one...that Protagonist guy. Made a name for himself coming back alive from Dante's Abyss. Sull swore he saw him in the F-Zero race recently. Didn't quite manage to catch the end of that one. Crime never slept, after all.

But getting someone in that was just so...so malleable. That didn't happen too often. There was every chance they could feed this poor kid just about anything and she'd buy it, if they used enough big words and described it too complexly for her to fully understand. She seemed naive, and...well, more uneducated, than lacking in intelligence, but she seemed pretty easy to fool, if it ever came to it. Sull could already feel the gears turning in his head, and the perfect candidate for a test assignment for the little thing came to mind. "Right. I think I know just the job for you. Get you used to working for us, see if you've got what it takes to make it. And get you used to working with us, to boot. We like to give new Primes a crash course, see how well they can handle things on all sides of the issue." He turned to his terminal again, and set to typing rapidly, sending out a notice for a few resources and stormtroopers to be gathered together for the upcoming mission. Graowr just leaned forward slightly, trying to peer around and see what he was up to, blinking curiously at the intense typing.

He finished a moment later, rising up to stand. "Now then... Got all that set up. If you'll come with me, I'll introduce you to your partners for this little task, and get you the information you need to get started."

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 + 1043 + 1022 = 2910 words

[The Future Warrior]

Sull was out of his office door and off down the hall almost before his little blue recruit had managed to hop up from her chair and get after him. As she hurried to catch up and try to match his pace, if not his stride, he took the time during the walk through the miraculously similar-looking halls to offer a little insight into the nature of what the assignment he had scrounged up for the newcomer was. "It's a fairly simple job. There's a guy down in the middle tiers that's been giving us issues, making crazy schemes and sending his trouble topside, to the higher tiers. We know about where he is, but don't have the luxury of searching for him thoroughly. Not exactly welcome down there, and it'd tip him off with a big old red flag. You follow?"

She really didn't follow it all, but she got the general idea, and so just nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. Bad guy down below. You guys can't get to him because he set up in the best worst area."

Sull just shook his head at that. It wasn't exactly wrong, but... "Well, that's certainly one way to word it. He's set up shop somewhere in an area too spread out for us to do a quick search or smash and grab, and he knows it. And on top of that, he knows the area, and has everyone for blocks either in his pocket, or on his good side." He chuckled grimly. "Doesn't make him untouchable, but makes him a real pain in the ass to deal with."

"This doesn't sound like it's gonna be easy," Graowr commented, in a stunning moment of clear thought.

"Oh...it probably won't be. You'll have the general advantage of him and his goons not knowing who you are, so if you go about it smart you should be able to handle it well enough." He knew almost as soon as he said it that 'playing it smart' probably wasn't in the girl's vocabulary. He was already dreading the report he was going to get on this one, whether it ended up successful or not.

"Right. Play it smart. Okay!" She nodded cheerfully, flashing a thumbs up at the sergeant. "I got it!"

It didn't do a terribly large amount to inspire confidence, but he offered a mostly-genuine smile, if for nothing else than the enthusiasm she displayed. "Right... Well, let's get you set up with your teammates." And he finally came to a halt near a closed door, upon which he knocked once before opening it and standing back, gesturing for the little blue recruit to head on in first.

She did so, and was rather surprised to see a familiar face, along with a...not-so-familiar face. The towering, silent form of sergeant Jayce loomed behind a couch set in the room, a datapad in one hand, apparently having been in the midst of looking over some information or other. He was now looking toward the doorway, and nodded upon seeing Graowr.

The other individual currently sitting upright was...much harder to get a read on. Not wearing stormtrooper armor, for one thing. He looked extremely...rugged, and out of place in the otherwise sleek, borderline-military environment. Clad in regular clothes, the only thing marking him as something more than a civilian in the wrong place entirely was the increasingly-familiar sight of the blaster rifle tucked carefully into his jacket.

Sull spoke up, standing in the doorway. "You already know Sergeant Jayce. He's volunteered to be your contact and get you any information you might need. I hear he was quite skilled at explaining things to you on your trip. This won't be a permanent assignment, but until we see if you can handle it it works out well enough." He gestured to the other man, who sat up a little straighter, leaning forward to look at Graowr as if just now noticing her. "And this will be your ally out in the field, Private Elliot Hunt. He's still fairly new to the EPD, but he's passed his training with decent marks all around and is skilled at undercover work."

Hunt grinned, bringing two fingers to his temple in a mock salute. "Yo. Recruitment and initiation's a bit different for a prime than it is for folks like us, but I promise not to slow ya down. Should even be able to help ya out a little."

"Hunt will be along to provide backup in case things get out of hand, and to point you in the right direction as you head down into the lower tiers. Jayce will be on-call to give you any information you need, and provide directions or other information-based assistance as needed or in case of emergency." Sull folded his arms behind his back as he went on. "But remember, this is about seeing how well you can work out there on your own, so try and not let 'in case of emergency' come to pass. That generally mean things have gone wrong."

"And we much prefer for things to go right, whenever possible," Hunt piped up with a chuckle. "I won't steer ya wrong, but I ain't gonna drive for ya, if you catch my meaning."

Graowr just blinked, the comparison flying well over her head. "I didn't know we were driving," she said bluntly. "....I can't drive."

The atmosphere of the room went suddenly very still, and even the unflappable Jayce paused in his incessant work to look briefly up, and almost crack a smile, before Sull and Hunt burst out laughing. "I believe that was a figure of speech," the stoic sergeant noted. "Meaning he will offer advice, but not outright direct you as to what you must do."

"Ooooh!" She nodded at that, understanding that much. "Okay, yeah, I get it." She lightly smacked one fist into an open palm. "This is supposed to be like...like a test. So I can't let other people do it for me, right?"

"You got it, blue!" Hunt mused, giving a lazy thumbs-up.

Sull paced slowly into the room, gesturing for everyone involved to take a seat around the central table. "Now then, as to the target you'll be tracking down for this mission..." He produced a datapad and dropped it on the table. "It should be an interesting little job for you."

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 + 1043 + 1022 + 1107 = 4017 words

[The Future Warrior]

Graowr was still confused at all this, even as she waited patiently on one of the elevators leading down from Tier 1 to the lower levels. They were supposed to go find and app...appruh... Get this guy and bring him back so he could be locked up, or something like that. But they were really making it complicated. She got the basic idea, that just charging in blindly was probably not a good idea, but they were just being silly and making it way too much trouble. He was a smart one, they kept reminding her, so regular old brute force tactics wouldn't work. They'd tried that before, he just got away and kept laughing at them.

Of course, in a rare moment of surprising competence, she had pointed out they'd also been using stormtroopers. And they kind of stood out. If they were supposed to be the guys representing law and order in this place, it'd be kind of silly for anyone not in their good graces to not recognize them instantly and clear out. So maybe it was less him being smart and more just him...having the rare shred of common sense?

That had been just a little disquieting to hear, and think over. It had put just the tiniest crack in the building image of this new recruit as a naive, slow-on-the-uptake child, but when right after that she went back to being confused over basic concepts — like what an elevator was — it was forgotten almost immediately. The basic information was given to her, naming her target and where he primarily loitered and did his business, and after a bit of clarifying her many questions and reminding her to get some means of communication up and running, that was all there was to it.

Except now, as the elevator slowly ground its way lower, she was wondering if this was going to be anywhere near as easy as she'd originally thought. The initial rush of excitement at something so new had by now worn itself down and been tempered, crudely, by her attempts at being professional. And at the sudden realization she had no idea what to even do. And she was, apparently, supposed to be the one in charge here. At least as far as this 'mission' went. She was used to working alone, or at least only having to worry about herself and actively following people from point A to point B. This whole having to find her target beforehand was a bit uncomfortably new.

"Heyhey, now. You worried?" The voice of Private Hunt, leaning lazily against the side of the elevator, drifted over to interrupt her from her thoughts, such as they were. "Nothin' to get yourself all bent out of shape over. I'm here ta get you where you need ta be. After that, ya got free reign. Track down the guy quietly and subtly, smash your way in and grab 'im...or whatever else." He shrugged. "Long as you get him back alive, you got nothin' but options."

"I'm not worried about that. Just about...actually finding him." She shook her head, looking distinctly...ruffled about the prospect. "I'm not good at finding people. Usually I know exactly where they are and just have to get there. And most of the time I got dropped off right nearby." She huffed, hunkering down with her arms wrapped about her knees. "And I'm not used to having other people around to worry about maybe getting caught up in things."

Hunt couldn't help but laugh. "Man, you really are just too precious for this place... Listen, people down here aren't stupid. If shit hits the fan, they're gonna de-ass the area with quickness you'd normally only expect on free beer day, alright? If they aren't one of the Shark's personal mook squad, they're gonna be making it priority number one, two, three, and five to get the hell outta Dodge. And wherever the fire starts flyin', well, plant a flag, 'cause that's Dodge."

Graowr just slowly lifted her head, blinking dumbly at the out of uniform stormtrooper. There were several questions she had in response to that one, but the one that actually voiced itself was perhaps the one that had her the most curious. "....what...what's priority four?"

Hunt, for his part, just laughed again, leaving the majin very confused.

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 + 1043 + 1022 + 1107 + 754 = 4771 words

[The Future Warrior]

Whatever priority four was would have to remain a mystery. Soon enough the elevator ride ended, and with Hunt leading the way they stepped out onto Tier 3. "Welcome to the lower levels, hopeful agent," he drawled, waving a hand around nonchalantly. "Still a pretty nice place, all in all, but not as overwhelmingly beautiful and shiny as up top. Or as heavily patrolled, for that matter. And it's not even that bad here. Gets waaaaay worse even just on the next level down." He laughed, continuing to lead the way. "Which, coincidentally, is exactly where we're headed!"

"I guess it makes sense. He wouldn't want to be sticking to where there's people after him hanging around even part of the time." Graowr just nodded, thinking that was the extent of it.

"Well, yeah. He's also got more options to gather allies and underlings down there. Crime gets more and more common the further down you go, but things also get more and more shitty the further down you go. Tier 4 is right in the....well. Let's call it the 'middle ground' for now. Where it's just lawless and crime-ridden enough to make it easy to go about your work, but still just barely respectable enough that if you're careful you can still cultivate some business and partnerships on the higher tiers." Hunt just waved one hand about as he explained, stepping on board another elevator that headed down. "And the Shark is, as has been said, nothing if not careful. He's more cunning than out and out smart or clever, but sometimes you don't have to be smart to be successful. That's what's scary about him, if anything is."

She just slowly nodded, taking all that in and plopping down on the elevator floor to ponder over all this. With what she'd heard about this guy — the Shark, and what a name that was — the more she didn't really like him. He was a thinker, and a schemer, but not a fighter. Back home, even the ones who did all the scheming and thinking and planning and coming up with ideas did some fighting now and then. Usually, they were pretty good at it, too! Had all kinds of crazy techniques and strategies they pulled out of nowhere. They usually weren't as strong in terms of pure strength, but boy did they make up for that. And sometimes, they were actually really, really strong, and really, really good at fighting, because the ones who did all the planning were the leaders. And everyone knew the leader had to be the strongest!

But this guy...he didn't sound like that at all. As they boarded the next elevator to continue heading down, she could help but grumble at the thought of dealing with someone who'd rather run than fight. Not that she didn't understand why. If you were in a fight you couldn't win, then running was probably the smarter option. But it didn't mean she had to like it. Not one bit. And from what she'd heard — and read, though that wasn't really very much at all — the Shark never even let it get to the 'fight' part of all that, much less the 'fight you couldn't win' part. He just ran off before trouble could really catch up to him. And that just made her mad.

"Fourth floor. Neon signs, broken down vehicles, assorted vagrants and discarded detritus," Hunt intoned as the elevator came to a halt, the doors slowly opening. "Let's go, my great blue little leader. We got us a seafaring predator to track down."

Graowr just let the oddity of that comment pass her by as she hopped up to her feet, heading on out into the streets. "Well...here goes nothing," she muttered.

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 + 1043 + 1022 + 1107 + 754 + 661 = 5432 words

[The Future Warrior]

"So...where should we start looking?" came the obvious question after a few minutes to wander and get the general feel for the area. The general feel was not a pleasant one. It didn't feel very nice down here. Not that it was a bad place, really...in that there were probably much worse places. But it just didn't sit right with her. Maybe it was just why she was here, but it still didn't make her feel any better.

"Right, that...lemme see here." Hunt pulled out a datapad and flicked through the stored information quickly. "Data we got says the last place that the Shark was spotted doing business was a bar...lovely little establishment called the Moment of Peace." He sighed. "Of course it is..." He stowed it away again. "That was a couple days ago. He likes to hang around his business deals for a while, make sure they go down without a hitch. And if he's not there, we know where his main headquarters he likes to hole up in when he's not hiding from the law."

Well, that sure sounded like it was...going to be pretty easy. "Okay then. We know where he is...or where he was. And where he'll be if he's not where he was." She nodded, accepting that as fact. "Now we just have to get there and catch him." She paused, turning to look at Hunt. "Uh...you know how to get to these places?" Her answer was a brief chuckle, and Hunt producing his datapad again.

"Here, lemme upload something to your little eyepiece there, kid..." A few quick button presses later, and there was a notification on the lens of the scouter she'd summoned up after a bit of walking through how that worked from Sull, back in the recruitment office.

She brought one hand up to it, and after a bit of fiddling, pressing the buttons blindly — she had never really messed with the settings or buttons on these things, back home; just left it up to the default settings — and eventually brought up the received data. A map of tier 4, with their current destination marked and highlighted. "Oh. That should come in handy!" she noted cheerfully.

"Yeah. Got it set up so that it'll guide you there. When we get there and leave again, it'll have a toggle between his other lair and the nearest elevator back up, pending whether he's there or not." Hunt stowed his datapad away again. "So what say we get going and track him down, eh? Time's a wastin'."

With her destination now clearly marked, Graowr suddenly felt very confident. She'd been fearing aimless wandering, or having to follow some memorized directions. Or just having to follow at a much slower pace as someone lead her there. Now she had a trail leading her right there, and she could go at her own pace. "Right!" And her own pace was to break off in a run, going from standstill to full-bore dash in the blink of an eye, and leaving Hunt quite literally in the dust.

"H-Hey, hold up!" he shouted after her, rushing to try and catch up. He was quick, but with that start there was no way he was catching up unless she slowed down to let him. If nothing else, at least he could keep her in sight. But more than that, he was groaning inwardly about this stunning lack of restraint or subtlety. Supposed to be a stealth mission; get in and out quietly, with the Shark. Sprinting down the street was not a good way to go about that. There were, admittedly, always other things to take attention away from it, and most people would probably write it off as just another random occurrence, given the typical goings-on of tier 4...but still. "Should've worn my running shoes..." Hunt complained, already feeling his breath start to come a little sharper from the sudden exertion. "Should've never blown off that regular assignment for this job today...just stuck to routine patrol..."

For her part, the new empire recruit wasn't thinking about anything so negative. She didn't really have any complaints. Aside from the unpleasant feel of the area, she was glad to actually be doing something. A little...small, compared to what she'd gotten used to in the Time Patrol, but there wasn't a lot that could compare to literally saving time from being re-written and possibly destroyed. But hey, even that hadn't started out all big and fancy and important. And it hadn't always been what she was up to. She'd just been a regular fighter, nothing really special, long before that. Now she was here, though, in this Omniverse place. Just suddenly arrived, and been dropped in a strange situation way beyond what she'd ever anticipated, and lead into some new organization to complete a task that would hopefully see her helping in setting and keeping things right.

It was all starting to feel kind of familiar, really.

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 + 1043 + 1022 + 1107 + 754 + 661 + 866 = 6298 words

[The Future Warrior]

After what felt like an incredibly short dash for Graowr, she finally slowed to a halt as the destination came into view. Didn't look like much, from this distance, just a regular building. It probably didn't help that she had no idea what a 'bar' was to provide any context, so really she was grasping at straws here. But she was fairly certain that the sign there said 'Moment of Peace'. Or, well...most of it. It was missing the 'of' part. But she was still just about positive it was where she was supposed to be headed. The little indicator on her map was pointing right toward it, after all.

Slowly staggering up next to her, the incredibly winded Private Hunt came to a stop, immediately kneeling over, hands on his knees, and tried to catch his breath. "Y-You cant just...run off like that without any warning..." he wheezed. He wasn't in bad shape by any means, but he couldn't do that fancy ass 'zero to fucking sprint instan-fucking-taneously' trick that some of these damn primes or higher ranking folks around the place could. He had to plod his way up to a running pace the same as everyone else. It took him at least a second to get up to full speed on a good day, and he was already almost thirty meters behind by that point. Keeping up hadn't been the hard part — he'd guess that, everything else equal, they'd have been more or less the same speed — but trying to do that and keep an eye out for anything that wanted to come and jam its nose into their business, since his speedy little blue pal clearly wasn't doing that, that was where the difficulty came in. That and being forced to dodge around various obstacles and people, in some cases, that she just hopped and flipped over kept him hard-pressed to really keep up.

After this he was taking his name permanently off the available roster for these sorts of missions. He'd take routine patrols over this insanity.

Standing up, he leaned back, sucking in a lungful of air. 'You...you gotta let your teammates know when you're gonna just go running off like that. We...we gotta be able to keep up, y'know?" He turned to face her, only to see her staring at him intently, looking..confused? "Wha...what is it?"

"Why are you breathing so hard?"

That was when it finally registered to him. She wasn't even breathing hard. Like, at all. As if she hadn't just run for who knows how many blocks, leaped over at least a dozen bricked vehicles and at least four people. "Why...why are you not breathing so hard?!" he countered, a little more aggressively than intended in his sheer dumbfounded, irritated state.

She just tilted her head slightly, looking confused. "...I don't breathe," she finally answered, just blinking at him. "It never really came up, I guess, but, y'know...don't really need air."

Hunt just sputtered at that, shaking his head and turning away. "Don't breathe...of course; of course not, of course you don't. Why am I even surprised at this point..." he muttered. "Right! Okay! That aside, we're here." He took a deep breath and turned back, waving a hand at the 'establishment' across the street. "What's your plan, here, chief?"

"I'm bad at plans," she stated bluntly, folding her arms over her chest. It looked like she was really trying to think of something, as she focused her gaze on the building in question. "I don't think we should just go and smash our way in...easy as it would be. This Shark guy would probably run at the first sign of that..."

"Well...not really. Maybe." Hunt suddenly looked thoughtful. "He's run in the past because he knew it was the EPD coming after him. Like you pointed out, stormtroopers kind of stand out. But someone like you..." He took a step back, giving his impromptu leader a once-over, thoroughly looking her over from top to bottom. "...well, you don't exactly look like EPD material. You go and smash in there, get everyone's attention. Break a few heads, knock out a few teeth, whatever it is you do. Call out the Shark, and if he's there he'll either answer that call, or go running. If he does run, I'll be waiting to hopefully take him down, or keep him occupied so you can catch up to us."

"And if he does answer..." Graowr lifted her hands, both clenched into fists. "...I can take him down!" She had caught on remarkably quickly.

"It isn't a pretty plan, and it sure as hell ain't one that would win any commendations for subtlety, but it'll be effective, at least." He left out the implied 'hopefully'.

"Well, sounds great! We got our plan, let's go!" She suddenly seemed very eager, and ready to pounce into action.

"Just remember, call out the Shark as soon as you smash your way in. Say you're here for a fight, or that somebody doesn't like his business or something. Just don't say you're with the Empire." Adjusting his coat, Hunt jammed his hands in his pockets and moved off. "I'll keep in touch via communicator, let you know if I spot him. Just don't get shot to pieces or anything in there."

"Not a chance!" And she was off and running, across the street, right for the main doors of the building.

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 + 1043 + 1022 + 1107 + 754 + 661 + 866 + 963 = 7261 words

[The Future Warrior]

She moved quickly, darting right across the street, eyes locked on her goal: the doorway, on which she rapidly closed in. Her right hand drew back, and a pale glow of energy grew in her open palm, barely noticeable at first but quickly growing into something the size of a large sphere, bigger around than her hand. It was instinctive, making the thing, and it didn't even cross her mind that just a few minutes ago she couldn't do it. But with one last quick burst of speed, she went from the curb to in front of the doors, and shoved her hand forward, letting fly with the orb of energy. It smashed into the doors with a terrific crash, sending splinters of wood and the metallic hinges flying like a bomb had gone off.

The regular noise and bustle within the building died almost immediately, all eyes swinging to settle on the doorway. And there, framed in the glare of the light from outside — intense, compared to the smoky, dim illumination of the building's interior — Graowr stood, hand still outstretched from making her explosive entrance. Normally she would be a little unsettling, with her expression (or lack there of, perhaps) at most, maybe getting a few odd stares here and there. Normally she would just be an oddity, quickly written off as just another person going about their business, odd as she was.

But there was something about standing there, looking ready to smash someone's face in, among a slowly-settling cloud of dust and splinters, cast half in shadow from the glare of exterior light, the illumination harshly glinting off the scouter over one eye, that made even her unassuming forty-four inches of height inspire quiet awe. She let the silence go on and the tension build, as much so she could formulate her words and strategy carefully as to let the occupants grow more unsettled, before finally speaking. "Alright! I'm here looking for the Shark!" she shouted, and the sudden words brought a flinch to everyone in the room, who all quickly looked away, going back to their business. "I got a message from some, uh...business rivals!" The momentary stuttering over her words had probably not helped her cause, but the message seemed to have gotten through.

"You's lookin' fer tha Shark, little girl...?" The voice that spoke up after several tense seconds of silence made her jump. She didn't have a spine for a shiver to be sent down, but that was about how it made her feel. Slowly, the floor in front of her started to ripple like disturbed waters, frothing angrily before the peak of a fin made its presence known, jutting out of the churning 'water'. It was followed shortly by the arch of a man's back, clad in an almost obnoxious gray suit, and then the entire upper torso as he hefted himself out of his overblown spectacle of an entrance. Reclining against the edge of his little 'puddle', the man surveyed the strange little blue interloper. "Well. Ya found him. So, what's this message you got from my, ah..." He grinned, showing off a maw full of pointed teeth. "...business rivals, eh?"

In response, Graowr just lowered her arm, letting it drop to her side. This wasn't at all how she'd pictured things going. "Well, uh..." she faltered, lost for words. She'd always been easy to throw off with even minor upsets to her expectations and plans, and this was a bit more than minor.

"Look, I'm a pretty busy man here, doll. I can give ya another minute or two 'fore I gots ta be headin' on out. I got another fool who thought he could pull one over on me I need to chew out." He snapped his teeth aggressively, producing an almost metallic schink, before he grinned. "And I do mean that literally."

"....oh. So I should hurry this up, then?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to one side.

"That's the general idea, yeah. So, what's got ya here?"

"Oh. Well..." In response she just drew back one arm, hand clenched into a fist, and with a sudden motion she snapped it forward. Her fist didn't stop at the end of her punching motion, though. Like some ridiculous mass of putty, it just sailed forward, the blue 'skin' it was attached to rippling and stretching seamlessly to cover the distance and keep the momentum of the blow strong. The Shark was left momentarily surprised, and his eyes snapped wide open, before her gloved fist smashed right into his face, nailing him right between the eyes.

"Gffwuh--!" He was sent flailing backward, thrown out of his odd little puddle in the floor and sent sprawling over the cold, hard, dirty ground, both hands clutching at his face. "Y-You...you little..." He slowly got back up, one hand clutching his face where he'd been hit, while the other swept around at the rest of the room's occupants at large, and then pointed a finger at the majin, her arm rapidly withdrawing to its normal stature. "Get dis crazy alien bitch!"

"Fight time, Shark! No running away!" she called out, a blaze of mirth in her eyes. All things considered, he'd taken that sucker punch pretty well; maybe this was going to be a fun little fight after all?

"Ya crazy little..." the Shark just laughed, taking half a step back. "Tell ya what! You manage ta beat all my boys here, then I'll give ya a fight, ya crazy broad! How'sat sound?!"

Both of the former time patroller's hands clenched into fists, as she squared her stance off, dropping low and ready to spring into motion. By all accounts it was an incredibly unprofessional, non-combat ready stance, but then again, just about everything about her fighting was unorthodox and unprofessional. "Sounds just fine to me! Bring 'em on!" In her sudden delight at actually having a fight, she didn't consider just how poorly this could possibly go for her.

Or she just didn't care. It was honestly pretty hard to tell.

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 + 1043 + 1022 + 1107 + 754 + 661 + 866 + 963 + 1046 = 8307 words

[The Future Warrior]

For all her confusion up until now, finally Graowr was back in her element. There was no confusion to slow her down, nothing to leave her stumbling and struggling with a new discovery or any silly 'thinking'. Now it was just fighting. She was back in her element! And it was good she was so ready and eager, because she was outnumbered about forty to one. She wasn't that good at math, but even she knew those were really, really bad odds. Little bits and pieces of information she'd picked up told her that primes could only summon a few really powerful secondaries, and that they couldn't summon anything more powerful than themselves. And the Shark didn't really seem...that strong. So anyone summoned by him was bound to be even less strong, and not a real threat in a straight fight. Against anyone here, she could probably come out on top in a fight without much trouble.

....the problem was, of course, it wasn't going to be anyone here.

She was already forced to move, darting forward and sliding through the legs of someone meaning to introduce a pool cue to her face. She wasn't really sure what it was, but it looked enough like a staff — or a good old beating stick, really — that she figured it would be best not to get a close look at it. She hopped back up, and leaped up, sailing several feet off the ground and with a blur of movement, the heel of her boot impacted the side of the man's face as he turned around to see where she'd gotten, with a meaty-sounding crunch, sending him staggering out the door and toppling over, dazed but not out of it just yet. The moment of distraction left her open, though, and as she alighted on her feet again she felt a pair of arms close around her from behind, lifting her bodily off the ground. She yelped in surprise, flailing against the sudden grapple, but was kept pinned by sheer size more than anything.

At least until her head suddenly snapped around one hundred eighty degrees and stared into the face of the man who'd grabbed her. "Lemme go," she said plainly, and out of sheer surprise he did just that, stumbling back with wide eyes. "Thank you!" Landing on the ground, one leg snapped back, stretching much like her arm had done earlier, and impacting the surprised man's gut, sending him toppling over backward. Almost immediately, it snapped back forward, rebounding like a rubber band and going in the complete opposite direction, hitting the knee of another of the bar patrons and sending him falling over sideways, howling and clutching the damaged joint.

"Gods...you all are fuckin' useless!" the Shark suddenly bellowed. "Just...just keep her occupied, will ya?! I'm outta here!" The frantic pounding of footsteps on the wooden floor drew her attention to the well-dressed form of her target making a hasty exit, weaving through the crowd toward the rear entrance.

".....oh. That's just rude," the little majin whined. "He said he'd stay here and fight after I dealt with you all!" In her frustration, she was unprepared for the sudden blow that struck her in the back of the head, sending her flopping to the ground. "...ow..."

She didn't get the chance to get back to her feet, finding herself hauled up by the ankle and held in the air by a particularly large gentleman, his towering bulk putting him a full head and shoulders above the rest of the occupants in the building. "Well, ain't you just somethin' else, ya crazy little thing. Thinkin' you could fight alla us by your lonesome?"

"Could you put me down?" she asked flatly, arms just dangling over her head, toward the ground. The answer was a fist the size of a dinner plate slamming into her gut. It certainly didn't feel good, and it made her sway comically back and forth, like a pinata. "Ow...don't do that; I can't fight if you don't let me down!" She tried to gain some momentum to swing up and grab hold of the hand holding her aloft, to break the grip, but couldn't manage it with him swinging her around.

"Alright, boys; go wild! Beat some sense into this stupid little bitch!" the giant man hollered.

"...okay. I'd like it if you didn't do that." Her left hand came up, palm facing at the man's face. "Gonna ask again. Lemme go!"

He just laughed mockingly at her. "Whatcha gonna do? Slap me around, like you was doin' before? I'm tougher'n any of these goons. Shark summoned me personally!"

"Oh. Okay. Then this shouldn't hurt you too much." And the brilliant glow of ki flared to life in her hand and impacted the man's face. It threw up a brief cloud of smoke, just long enough for her to bring her other hand to bear, and follow suit with a second blast. And then several more, from each hand. Individually, they probably didn't do much more than sting, but a dozen of them was another story altogether. And when his hamfisted grip loosened around her ankle, she knew she was right on the mark. She wrenched her leg out of his grip, and shot both arms out to grab onto his shoulders, bringing both of her legs up and down. Right on his head.

There was an almost comical, reverberating crash of metal, and the massive brute just froze in place, hands still half-lifted to go for his smoking face. And then slowly, ever so slowly, he tipped backward, falling in virtual slow motion, and seeming to shake the entire bar when he hit the ground. Graowr flopped down, landing in a sitting position on the man's stomach, letting out a quiet "Ooooow.....what was his head made of....?"

"Jeez, man; she took out Hammerhead, just like that?! Hell with this!" The sound of several pairs of feet making a hasty exit sounded, and when next she looked up it was a much more manageable dozen or so people still standing, ready to fight. "Buncha cowards, the whole damn lot of 'em....if we hold this crazy blue bitch off, the Shark'll be real grateful-like. Probably give us a promotion; up from this shithole bar to some place with actual business, see?" He flipped open a switchblade, dropping into what might generously be called a combat-ready stance.

"Yeah! We still got her outnumbered here, like, twelve-to-one! We got this!" Another man adjusted a pair of brass knuckles on his fists.

"....I'm gonna start hitting you all now," Graowr said flatly, and in the blink of an eye she was in the air, curled into a ball and smashing into knife-man like a cannonball, knocking him flat as she flipped back, landing on her feet. "Numbers don't really mean much if you're this weak, you know. Even I know that!"

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 + 1043 + 1022 + 1107 + 754 + 661 + 866 + 963 + 1046 + 1208 = 9515 words

[The Future Warrior]

"Yo! Blue!" The voice of Hunt suddenly crackled to life in her ear, the communication answering automatically as it always had. "I got eyes on the Shark! He's makin' a run for it! Whatever you're up to in there, hurry it up and get out here! I'll keep him busy long as I can, but I don't know how long I can keep up with him!"

"I know, I know!" Graowr responded, a faint whine in her voice. "He said he'd stay behind so I could fight him if I could deal with the rest of the guys in here, but then he ran away when I started fighting!" Her arm whipped out, coiling around the neck of one of the remaining goons in the bar, and yanking him closer, right into a solid impact with the fist of her opposing arm. "It's just not fair!"

"Yeah; yeah, it sure ain't fair," Hunt agreed, the intense sarcasm in his voice lost on the majin. "Just-- Just hurry it up, in there!" And the line went dead.

She huffed at that, and set about pulverizing the remaining goons until they were all groaning and whimpering on the dirty floor. "And stay down!" she grumped, dusting her hands off. They'd been reasonably tough, all things considered. She was actually a little tired after dealing with them all at once. Just gonna have to catch up and take out the Shark quick, then, before things got too rough. She headed for the back door quickly, hopping over an unconscious thug on the way, and shoved the door open, emerging out into a trash-strewn alleyway. There were exits on either end, which made her decision arduous, at best. She could guess...but that would leave her relying on dumb luck.

"Hey! Listen, if you head toward the marker for the elevator on your map, you should catch up to us!" Hunt's voice blared in her ear again. "Doin' my best to herd him that way, but hurry up! I think he's wising up that somethin' ain't right about this!"

"Got it!" And she was off and running. She didn't breathe, but she just knew that if she did, right now she'd be panting heavily, trying to keep her breath steady. All the running to get here, then that crazy bar fight, and now another wild foot chase on top of all that? Yeah, she'd be pretty out of it, alright. She was already gonna be pretty tired when this was all over.

Her mad dash through the city streets, following the marker laid out on the lens of her scouter, eventually lead her right to where she was headed. She rounded a corner, and was met with the sight of Hunt being bodily hurled across the street, into a wrecked car. The loud, pained, "D'ah, FUCK!" he let out signified he was still alive (if not exactly well), but that wasn't entirely good news. The Shark, looking a little battered and very, very pissed off, was stalking after him.

"Knew it couldn't be that easy...no way. Some crazy little shit like that just smashin' down my door, strollin' in and lyin' through the fuckin' teeth she ain't even got yet... Nah. It don't add up. And especially not when we add YOU into the picture!" He stopped in the middle of the street, lifting one hand to remove his hat and run one hand through his hair. "So how's about we do it like this... You tell me who yer workin' for, and I don't tear off your legs and feed 'em to ya."

"Fuck you..." Hunt growled, and with a surprisingly deft movement, drew out his still-concealed blaster and leveled it at the Shark, snapping off a series of three quick shots.

They only grazed the gangster, burning holes in his suit as he threw himself away and to the side, coming up in a predatory crouch. "Wrong answer, ya daisy lookin' fucker..." He slowly rose back to stand. "Was gonna let ya off easy. Maybe break a few ribs...now I'm gonna have to tear ya limb from limb. Hope you's ready ta take the big sleep, 'cause you--"

He never got to finish his threat, as the pounding of footsteps interrupted him, drawing his attention away from Hunt just in time to have a gloved fist smash into his face, hitting him square in the nose with a sickening, crackling crunch and sending him staggering drunkenly backward, toppling to the floor.

"Ready for that fight now, Shark?!" Graowr shouted at the downed gangster, cracking her knuckles. "'Cause you're not gettin' away without one!"

"Things were goin' great...when that fuckin' jasper, Joon-Yi got nabbed by the Empire...things was hittin' on all eight." The Shark smacked the ground with one fist, before sitting up, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "Scratch one crazy, leave an opening for someone else to move in and pick up on his business." He was back on his feet, glaring daggers at the majin. "Ain't lookin' like I'm gonna get the chance to follow through on that though. I got you fingered now, though, girlie... You's with the coppers. EPD finally sent one o' their fancy new primes down here after me." He cracked his knuckles, baring a grin full of pointed teeth. "Well, seein' as how's I missed my earlier engagement anyway, and I can't very well let ya go and be gettin' away...let's have dat fight, eh?"

"I'm gonna knock you flat!" she said in response.

Hand of the Empire quest progress: 845 + 1043 + 1022 + 1107 + 754 + 661 + 866 + 963 + 1046 + 1208 + 970 = 10485 words

[The Future Warrior]

"I don't usually bothah much with gettin' my own hands dirty, if I can avoid it...dat's what I got my boys for. But sometimes, ya just got ta get involved personally..." The Shark casually pulled his hat off and tossed it aside, before slowly pulling off his jacket, likewise throwing it aside. "And there ain't much like a good old-fashioned punch-fest to let off some steam..." He cracked his knuckles as he spoke, baring his teeth in a snarl. "...especially when dealin' with some upstart prime weaselin' their way into the fuckin' Empire's good graces."

"You talk a lot," Graowr noted, looking thoroughly disinterested in his rambling.

"Tch...well, let's just cut to the chase then, eh?" And without warning, the ground under his feet rippled, bubbling and roiling angrily, and he bent at the knees, diving forward...and vanishing under the road, splashing into it like water. It rippled for a moment before going still, all trace of the gangster disappearing.

"That's just not even fair," the little majin complained, her eyes darting this way and that, trying to catch some sign of the Shark's presence.

No such sign was evident, try as she might to pick one out, until it was too late. A single, burbling plop was all the warning she got, before the ground right under her feet exploded upward in a shower of liquidized rock, splattering and all but blinding her. And right in the midst of it all was the Shark, an inhuman, predatory gleam in his eyes. A wicked glint flashed off his sharpened teeth, his jaw spreading far wider than should have been possible, and closed on his target with a vicious bite, the momentum of his arrival carrying the both of them several feet into the air, before he gave his head a swift jerk, throwing the new EPD recruit away and dropping down to land in a crouch.

Graowr hit the ground heavily, rolling several times before coming to a stop, laying on her side. A large chunk had been torn out of her vest, and the deep, shredded gouges of the powerful chomp were clearly visible in the skin there. "Ow...ow ow ow..." she groaned, one hand slowly wrapping around the injury as she stumbled back up. "Okay...you're... You're stronger than I expected..." she managed to get out. "Or at least...you're better at giving a hit than you are at taking one..."

The Shark, meanwhile, was busy picking bits of the blue alien out of his teeth, and completely ignored her comment. "Not gonna lie, girl...you taste fuckin' awful. No meat; no blood; no substance. The hell are you?" He spit off to one side. "Gotta give ya some credit, though...most people'd be missin' a big chunk outta their side after a chomp like dat. You still bein' in one piece is pretty remarkable. I'd be impressed, if dat didn't mean dis is gonna take dat much longer to finish ya off."

It was with a sudden serious cast to her eyes that the former time patroller slowly lifted her gaze back to focus on the Shark, staring him down. "Don't...don't tell me that's your only trick."

He laughed. "Please. It ain't my only trick, but it's the only one I need. More than good enough for the likes o' you."

She just sighed in disappointment, shaking her head. "Lame."

That took the smile right off the Shark's face, replacing it with an ugly snarl. "Oh...okay. I get it now." The ground under his feet once more rippled, bubbling and frothing up as he slowly sank down into it. "Then let's just get this over with right away so as not to bore you anymore." Another few moments, and he was gone, the ground closing over his head and ceasing its liquid movement.

And Graowr's eyes remained locked on the location he'd been standing, staring intently at the ground where he disappeared. "That...that sure is a neat trick he does," she muttered, slowly nodding her head.

"Don't just stand there!" Hunt called out, having finally managed to extricate himself from the wreckage of the car he'd been thrown into. "You're just gonna be an easy target when he strikes again!"

"Nah...I don't think so." She just nodded again, more enthusiastically this time. "I got him figured out, now. I know what he's up to, and how he's doing it!"

"You...you what?" the stormtrooper just stared, in clear disbelief. "How did you...I mean, already?"

"Well, I guess...I don't really understand how he's doing it," she admitted after a moment, shrugging slightly.

"Hey, whoa, behind you!"

Immediately she reacted, leaping straight up, just as the ground behind her erupted in a spray of water and still-solid earth, the Shark sailing out in what would have been a mighty chomp at neck-level if she hadn't avoided it. The arrogant gangster instead got a mouthful of nothing, and hit the ground rolling, springing to his feet lightly and staring up at the airborne alien. "Pretty quick on the jump, there...lucky for you."

"Not just quick on the jump!" she answered, before flipping forward toward the ground. "I just learned a new trick!" And she sailed back down toward the ground, headfirst, not even attempting to secure a proper landing...and vanished under the road's surface with a splash.

Both the Shark and Hunt were left flabbergasted, staring at the still-rippling ground where she'd disappeared. "Wh-What in the?!"

"That wasn't in the report on her abilities!" the stormtrooper shouted.

"Bitch copied my secret trick!" the gangster snarled.

Further confusion and anger was halted as a gloved fist suddenly exploded out of the ground, impacting the Shark's chin and shutting him up quite effectively. It was shortly followed by a spinning kick sweeping his legs out from under him, and a second punch hitting him squarely in the chest as he briefly hung in the air, driving him to hang airborne just a moment longer. And then Graowr fully jumped back up to the surface, and delivered a vicious headbutt to the gangster's face, sending him flipping ass over teakettle and sprawling out on the ground, flat on his back.

And the little blue alien just clutched at her bite wound, letting out a whining "Ooooow...." as she alighted on the ground again.

"...okay. That happened," Hunt muttered, just shaking his head. "That...that just happened."

[The Future Warrior]

The trip to the elevator to head back up to the upper levels and turn the unconscious Shark over to the EPD was uneventful. Both Graowr and Hunt were in no small amount of discomfort from the various injuries sustained in the final confrontation, even as well as it had gone. And with the former time patroller keeping herself occupied with one arm stretched several times around the beaten gangster to serve as a rudimentary binding, she was too busy marveling over how well it had gone, even with how weak she was here compared to back home.

And Hunt was just silently bemoaning both his current physical state, as well as the sheer absurdity of what he'd just witnessed. Primes... Everyone always said they were quick learners. But to actually see just how quick first-hand like that was still a bit of a shock. Just like they always said, even back home, and here, in the Imperial Academy...big difference between knowing about something and actually knowing something. And seeing someone just pull something completely new out of nowhere, after just watching it happen a few times? That definitely qualified as his requisite "holy shit" moment for the month. Possibly even the year. He was hard to impress, but he was also just a little concussed and far more easily surprised after having his everything used to remove the door from a vehicle.

"So...don't suppose you're gonna volunteer any information on just how you did that little trick back there?" he finally spoke up as they hit tier 2 and slowly disembarked from the elevator. Like always, they'd have to transfer to another one to get back to tier 1. Only being able to jump between two tiers at once was a security measure...only in emergencies (or if you were a damn good hacker, maybe) could you get an Imperial override to go further. Made things nice and simple when you were tracking down fleeing criminals, but a real pain when you were just trying to get somewhere.

"Oh...I dunno." The little blue majin just shrugged, adjusting the load of the unconscious passenger slung lopsidedly over her shoulder. How she was managing to support the weight, given both her small stature and current state was a marvel. "I just kind of...got the basic idea of it after I watched him real close. It wasn't that hard." She paused for a moment. "...but I think I forgot how to do it, already..."

Hunt just sighed, shaking his head. "Of course..." So it had been less learning something new just that quick, and more just pulling a copycat. That still raised all kinds of questions — he was fairly certain you couldn't just copy a trick like that just by 'watching someone real close' while they did it — but he wasn't going to press it. He already had a headache. "Well...however you did it, it was pretty impressive. And at least we bagged this crazy bastard." He clonked the Shark on the back of his head, grinning faintly as they hit the elevator to tier 1. "So I'd call that a success, one way or another."



"Sergeant Sull. That new recruit you sent out with Hunt is back."

The voice lifted Sull's weary eyes from his otherwise monotonous work. "Already...?" he muttered, sounding ever so slightly surprised. "They bring back their target?"

"They were still waiting on a scan when I left to inform you, but visual identification confirmed it was the Shark."

Sull just nodded. "Right...well then." He rose from his desk. "Better go and see what the final word is. 'Cause we might have a new agent on our payroll." And he strode around his desk, out of the office.

"...and then I just kinda...copied his little ground-swimming thing, and hit him really hard while he was all angry and surprised!" Graowr said enthusiastically, smacking one fist into an open palm. "He...he just kinda didn't get back up after that. I think I hit him too hard."

"Or just hard enough, as they case may be," the trooper doing the scan mused. "He's not a very tough one...much harder and you might have done some serious damage. As it is he's just got a few cracked bones. A missing tooth or two. He'll be juuust fine to answer some questions when he wakes up." He stood up just as Sull entered the room, and gave a nod, clipping the handheld scanner to his belt. "Well, Sergeant...our new recruit just caught us a shark. And it was this big." And he gestured at the beaten, unconscious gangster on the floor.

"Remarkable. That was relatively quick, all things considered." He nodded approvingly, nudging the Shark with his boot. "Well then." He turned to the little blue majin. "I'd like to formally welcome you to the ranks of the Empire Peace Division, and thank you for a job well done." He extended a hand, which after a moment of puzzlement was grasped in return. "Let's hope you continue doing such good work."

"Well...I sure plan to try!" she said cheerfully.

"I'll get this mess taken care of, and get everything filed officially to get a place set up for you to stay, and for your service in the EPD." Sull dropped his hand back to his side. "You're free to do what you like, for now. We'll be in touch if we need you again."

She just nodded. "Okay then! I'm just...probably gonna go...heal. And stuff." One hand went back to the still-aching bite wound in her side. "Shark bites don't feel good."