Acculturation

[Kalli]

The hours spent exploring the Nexus were left unknown to the soldier, her brain dawdled with questions that could never be answered. At least not as of now, she was alone, restricted to isolation in a land of one mere color and portals of strange colors and worlds. Kalli couldn't dare herself to take any more steps in walking into these places, she was underequipped, unprepared, there was no civilization for her to cooperate with. If she was fortunate strange figures would appear in and out of few on the other side, but such things would shortly disappear. Were they people, or something much worse? Like her thoughts, there was to be no answer.

With another click and clack with pouches of ammunition rustling, she strolled up to another gate like the rest, gawking at it with awe instead of curiosity or fear. Her eyes did not widen in panic, instead they would stare deeply into the lights beyond the portal, towering structures that poured with gold lighting, structures of elegant design and alien in nature, and creatures with strange legs strolling about casually. Kalli couldn't think, confronted with the world before her she merely stood in awe.

And was quickly shoved.

"Prime?" Dressed in white armor, shimmering like plastic and holding a gun of black in contrast with the uniform, there was nowhere to see through the helmet, the black eyes only reflecting Kalli. "What?" She would ask cocking her head in confusion, a heavy sigh followed by the creature in armor, he looked at another that looked the same, their height was off by a few inches. The other one shrugged before the alien in armor looked back at Kalli. "Did you come from the fountain?" The guard questioned, nodding to the place behind her, Kalli merely replying with a "Yes." before the soldier lifted up a hand, pointing a single digit toward the portal behind him. "This is Coruscant, home of the Empire. In order to pass, you need to submit to a security scan before being allowed to walk on Tier 1. If you have any relation to The Kingdom or Camelot, your items will be confiscated and you will be thoroughly searched. Any questions?" He lowered his hand again, placing a firm grip on the gun at his stomach.

"What type of species are you?" She would ask curiously, eyes squinting at the helmet, the stormtrooper sighed at the question as the other chuckled at Kalli's question, before looking out into the white of the Nexus again. "We're called humans, and there are a lot more other kinds of "species" you'll find. Which is why you need to a submit to a security scan. Now, move along before you start up a line." He moved back to the left side of the gate, as the other stood on the right, the two merely standing after all that occurred. Kalli followed as told, walking though hesitantly to see what the guards- supposedly humans, whatever that meant -were protecting from the so called "Kingdom".

Atmosphere, temperature, the time of day, the noises, the smells and the gravity...It all changed in a mere footstep. She had walked on through the portal with ease, only to be left stunned at the sudden change in herself and her surroundings. It was as if she had landed on a whole new planet, with only mere seconds to adapt before the soldiers in white would say "Move along." with Kalli having to move along to a nearby checkpoint, the soldiers surrounding the area with their black coated rifles and masks that hid their faces. It had a hint of familiarity to it, like her home, something about the militarism and the constant paranoia...It was awakardly warming. Very awkwardly.

"Its not like this one is a Copper Eye, do we really need to scan her?" One of the soldiers asked behind a glass, pushing numerous buttons as red beams appeared at the checkpoint, moving back and forth. The soldiers shoved Kalli in roughly, the beams humming as they ran through her with ease. "Yeah well, the Copper Eye will prop back up if we get lazy-" before the other voice could finish behind the glass, their radios buzzed with a voice, one of them noding. "Copy all, over." he stated, looking up at Kalli before deactivating the scanner. "You're clear, move on through!" He yelled past the glass, the soldiers behind her quickly moving up to make sure she wouldn't stall.

And the first tier would come into view, many primes seeing it before, and many to see it after, a mass of skyscrapers and glimmering windows with shining beauty and elegance uncompared to Kalli's memory. If only she knew the more darker traits of the Empire, she would be leaving in disgust in an instance rather than intrigued by the beauty. But, that would never quite seem to occur with all her gawking.

[Kalli]

With every stroll she would look upward at the skyscrapers that loomed overhead. Observing them with intrigue on what was inside, those without windows were to be studied on their shape, size, width or the materials that they were made up of. Large quanities of Kalli's time was spent on understanding the people around her, listening to the chatter and bicker, standing out like a sore thumb as she walked all adorned in some military uniform that was more than unfitting. It seemed impossible to adapt to such a sudden change, the only place she found civilization to be, for safety to be, was filled with people nothing alike to her, she was left strolling in confusion as the sunlight rained on her feathers and claws.

A see-through wall of information shimmered in the light, suddenly appearing in front of Kalli while others stared at it as well- a holographic map of the so called "Tier One". The surrounding area perfectly mapped for all of the passing civilians, Kalli left staring at it baffled before looking at others as they spoke and moved along. As they left, she looked back up at the holographic board in silence, the voices distant and alike to the floating cars and their engines, adding to the sea of background noise. She tapped the hologram name, "Tier One", the hologram suddenly covered itself with another large rectangular board, with others tiers listed. Out of curiousity, Kalli clicked "Tier 2", the map suddenly shifting and spinning, revealing a small lift. Red lights flickered from the lift on the map all the way back to where the map was, leaving her to look beyond the hologram, seeing the yellow handles of the lift in the distance as civilians carried down boxes covered in metal.

Taking a few steps back, she soon began moving again around the hologram, jogging toward the lift and her claws clacking against the ground. As soon as she was aboard, a small wall lifted up at the entrance of the lift, and it proceeded to go downward, shaking as it started up.

"What is that?" She could hear the whispers next to her, two workers looking with curious and at the same time, suspicious, judging eyes. "Somethin' new, probably as bad as those Tier 3 refugees flooding in for jobs...Lets move before we catch a disease from it." The lift suddenly stopped, opening up and revealing a street, the buildings still raised high with the sun of the sky above. "Sun? Here? But this is underground..." She walked out onto the street looking up, baffled by the environment before her. Floating cars dotted the sky above like flies as they went back and forth, forming entire lines of vehicles above, as if the sky itself had roads. The skyscrapers hummed with the sound of voices, commercials displayed on them, job offers, clothing, food, all sorts of things to buy for the people walking and running about below and above. Quickly lifting up her claws, Kalli kept moving, inclined to forget the confusion of The Nexus and understand this world...This "Coruscant".

[Marcus Wright]

The Shadow Marshall had questions rolling around in her head. Not only did she get snatched off a place where she was supposed to be, she was now a supposed leader of a orange creature, blue haired man and talking..mask. Not the weirdest thing that could possibly happen, right? Boy she even missed Rico's and Gregor's fights over nothing, and that was an annoyance in itself.

Her thinking was interrupted as a few white armored soldiers started at her, asking her "I assume you must've come from the fountain, right?"

Luger's mind was focused in other directions. The white soldiers gun's only attracted her attention once they clicked.

"Move it, Prime... We've had a string of attacks here and we aren't going to take some new prime's shit right now"

Luger turned looked at the Stormtroopers and frowned "What attacks?"

The men aimed a gun at her and frowned "None of your business, we need you to submit to a random security check before moving on to Tier 1. You're in Coruscant. Anything else?

Luger looked annoyed "Last time someone shoved me, there was somebody's blood on my hands. So don't touch me."

The Stormtrooper sighed and growled "Primes...everytime.. I swear.."

Luger's figure disappeared from the stormtroopers view..

The two stormtroopers looked around and said "Hey... wait FUCK! Where'd she go?"

Before anyone could notice she was gone, she was right past the scanner area unseen.

She was already far into Tier 1 before she faded back from Stealth.

"Men... every time.."

She was staring at skyscrapers and before she knew it, she crossed paths with another creature... not human from the like of it.

She already had her hand on the sub-machine gun.

[Kalli]

Tier 2 was, relating to stormtrooper presence, much lower.

Though that didn't really mean much. They still strolled about on the catwalks, observing the population, questioning the individuals they would walk into. Kalli kept herself lit with intrigue as she stepped about with delicacy, caught up in looking through windows. Halting didn't seem on her mind, instead, only answering her curiosity on what things were. The feathers of her head pointing upward with surprise, she, aside from her race, would appear incredibly lost in the crowd like before, rotating about with observations. For anyone, this probably looked beyond weird, but perspectives vary. Like Kalli's running thoughts.

[Kalli]

In twenty minutes, she had moved through at least twenty buildings. It was impossible for her to understand the prices of everything, more so the reasons why all these things existed in the first place. Well, aside food, food was always a nessecary contribution to life, and shelter, with these two thoughts running through her mind there was a settling in panic. Where was she going to sleep? More precisely, how was she going to find such a place? This Tier was coated in rich, advanced skyscrapers, to her mind that meant expensive, prices she wouldn't be able to meet in a years worth of money back in her origin universe. And how about getting home? She was still alone in this universe. with no single idea where to begin.

"A base of operations..." She thought to herself, walking through the crowd. "Too many armed guards watching. I need a place more unknown, less populated...What of the other tiers?" Yes! There were other Tiers, she remembered now, Tier 3, Tier 4, those were places where she could find some abandon warehouse to set up in. Or maybe a room in an abandoned apartment complex, it was perfect. She began to push through the crowd, walking in her own direction with actual inclination to reach a conclusion and to stop asking questions. Confident, she moved up to another one of the maps, seeming more degraded than Tier 1's, but shimmering in the public space with all sorts of buttons to press. With a few odd looks from the public, Tier 3 appeared, and the red lights appeared on the map. She knew just where to go.

But it still wasn't enough. The holographic pictures of Tier 3 were littered with monitoring, less guards on the rooftops for sure, but it wasn't enough for her to find something abandoned. Skipping through, she reached Tier 4, which still had some form of monitoring in place. "This is a police state..." Kalli muttered to herself, coming to recognize the Empire's cameras and soldiers, there was little comfort in the recognition. She clicked on Tier 4 and moved on her way, moving through the crowds and heading into a gritty, abandoned elevator-like room with the sign "Tier 4 Departure" on top. Little people dared approach, and those few whom were around seemed to be stormtroopers at the least.

The elevator doors suddenly sealed, the elevator itself beginning to push downward as the metal grated against metal, it continued to move steadily with the hum of engines outside. After five minutes of waiting inside the elevator, the doors opened once more, revealing a landing pad crowded with arrivals and those who were leaving. Vehicles lifted off, others landing, some big, some small, others painted in graffiti. There were tunnels ahead, holes in the ground as well, leading downward. The entire place seemed to be nearly in another dimension, surrounded by smoke and black, with the wall across from the pads and elevators leading to hundreds of tunnels. Metal, steel, puffs of factory smoke, was it even safe to breathe?

"Tier 4, leaving for Tier 4! You, you called down the elevator, get on in." The yellow vehicle hovered, the driver a man in his fourties, looking irritated and tired. The door next to him opened, motioning to Kalli to enter. "I don't got all day." He yelled out, the hum of engines somehow not drowning out his nearly raspy voice. Kalli hesitantly approached as the man grumbled, the door soon closed as she entered and the man pulled a lever, turned a dial and pressed a few buttons in what Kalli could only see as a random order. The air blew into their faces and the vehicle was off, suddenly blasting down oen of the tunnels, taking a downward spiral, moving up, taking another downward movement...

"I have no idea why you're going to Tier 4, but seeing as you look confused as hell, I'm not surprised if you don't have any credits to pay me with." Other vehicles screamed past, driving around in the tunnels, Kalli staring at them baffled at how there wasn't any collision before talking to the driver. "I don't have any credits, and what do you mean by "hell"?" the question only irritated the man further, but he didn't show it, taking the Prime as a pitiful soul. "Well then I get paid enough to drive through this shithole...Right, I've met your kind before, Prime right? Fresh out of the water? New fish to the scene? Well lemme describe something to you. Coruscant is a horrid place."

The car suddenly took a turn left, passing right under a massive truck-like craft that beeped it's horn. "Stormtroopers shoot you, the gangs shoot you, or you end up died by the lack of shooting. 'Cause you'll only get paid to shoot. I don't know why you're going to Tier 4, but the gangs have a good hold there, fucking killers demanding tax on any land they can grab. You finding a place to settle down and die?" The man finally finished, asking while looking through the window of his taxi-like craft with a plan expression. The tunnel growing slightly dimmer as they began to pass degraded signs saying "Tier 4" on them. "I'm looking for a place to hide, somewhere to call home here." Kalli replied plainly, looking out the window with a worrisome expression.

The man laughed, taking out a rolled up paper with one hand on the wheel. Putting the paper in his mouth, he used the off-wheel hand to grab a lighter, lighting it, and blowing a stream of smoke out the window before putting both hands on the wheel again. "You're gonna' find a lot of good real estate...That is sarcasm by the way, in case you didn't know. Anyways, you know what I suggest? Find a place called the East Sign Bar, cute little thing in the midst of all the hell. Mm, good drinks too, but they'll probably drop something in yours to kill ya'. If they don't kill you, well...Lets just say I wouldn't want a body like yours." The craft started to speed up, the dial behind the wheel flickering as a door began to open at the end of the tunnel, vehicles nowhere to be seen.

"Here comes Tier 4, the projections in the sky show a night time, at ALL times. Again, don't trust the bartenders." The vehicle began to slow down, slipping through the opening gate and revealing Tier 4. The night letting the neon signs and old buildings show themselves, windows lit with yellow lighting, flickering with shadows of people. "Why should I trust you?" Kalli asked, looking at the man as he vehicle began to move toward a landing pad above an abandoned alleyway.

"You shouldn't. I'm just giving you some ideas on where to go. Now get out of my car before your feathers start flying everywhere." The craft hit with a 'thunk' on the metal pad, the door suddenly opening. Kalli got out, sighing as she smelled the rotten air and hearing the distant gunshots, a camera from the Empire focusing in on her as she began to move. The car behind her suddenly lifted off, flying away into the night sky, disappearing into the wall's many tunnels.

[Kalli]

There was the sound of shattering windows and barking animals, strange figures walked about the streets, others publicly displaying weapons for the sake of selling. The streets were dark, cars passed by every now and then, the skys a tad bit more clear, it was gritty, and for every abandoned building was a packed street, for every packed street was many different ways to be harassed. Kalli didn't dare halt, looking for "East Sign Bar" as she pushed through the crowds and kept away from the supicious individuals. Windows displayed intriguing clothing or holographic dancers, she looked for a moment before moving on, such things seeming intriguing, but all too seedy. Neon lights flickered in every direction, each of the glaring colors displaying all sorts of names. Hotels, apartments, theaters, corporate offices. All of these variations shoved up together as if no choice was presented.

One neon sign flickered on and off, hanging uncomfortably with wires preventing it from collapsing onto the concrete streets. It hummed with the noise of clashing glass cups and cheers of the drunk. A hundred men and women of all variations put together with each other for the sake of a few drinks. East Sign Bar, it was as big as a two story house, lacking windows and any sort of proper lighting. A drunk remained asleep at the door's right, muttering and mumbling, wiggling his hand into the air as if to push away someone, before suddenly falling asleep again. Kalli walked on in...

The dancers showed off their assets to the crowd, money being tossed about as the more colorful lights were on display, as well as the dancers. Exotic apparel laid lazily about as sloppily dressed people watched the show with excitment. Kalli passed on by with disgust, going towards the counter of the bar while individuals talked and yelled, the walls covered in strange liquids and what she could only guess to be excrement...The smell of the place was horrendous. Even worse by the breath of those who went here.

Taking a empty seat, Kalli folded her arms, staring blankly at the surface of the counter with confused eyes. She had little idea of what to do next, why even go here? To forget the past? The driver was as wise as a newborn child, this wouldn't lead her to anything good. Sighing, she leaned back in her chair and looked about, making sure no one was getting too close. The bartender walked over, shining a glass. "We ain't providing free seats, got money, buy somethin', 'else you can get on out of here. 'Course unless you're here because of the fact we're hirin'." The man said, a large fellow with a apron on, under it was a white, thick sweater and cargo pants. His face seemed tattered, marked with scars of the past, tattoos lining up from his hand to his face.

"Hiring?" Kalli asked, leaning forward. "Yeah, hirin' strippers, 'we're already packed with security guards." The bartender replied, Kalli looking at him in disgust, which he simply glared back. "Well if you ain't buyin' or joinin', then like I said, out of the seat, we don't give 'em for free." He added, Kalli quickly sighed and got up, brushing her back off before finding a corner to hide in as the waves of people shifted in and out. While the chaos of a brawl ensued, she quickly stole a chair, pulling it to a corner table and sitting in it, watching the commotion ensue...The two however were quickly dragged out, by the same bartender she had met only a mere few minutes earlier. The entire scene had barely evolved beyond a mere brawl before he pushed the two to the ground and pulled them by their collars out.

The music didn't dare stop for a second and neither did the people, they all treated the brawl as common as air itself, excited in their talk, the movement, the array of colors. And Kalli merely sat and watched with observant eyes...

[Kalli]

The bar went on as it did, Kalli swiftly stole a drink from one of the sleeping drunkards, as well as a few credits to buy her own cups of alcohol. Sitting at her table, she watched with a slight smile at everything, she was getting tired, but today had certainly been one of education and understanding Coruscant. Maybe she could live here, find a way through the rot and actually find new purpose, maybe the old world she existed in had no purpose for her? Maybe this was her reason for existing, to understand these new worlds. The drinking was certainly making her life a lot happier, easily disappearing into distant thoughts.

And then, silence.

A loud bang echoed through the streets, another followed by insane howling as smoke puffed up, a car scratching against the concrete, sparks flying with leather jacket wearing gangsters stormed in, shooting the ceiling. Dust rained down from the bullet holes as people hit the floor, a few individuals quickly shot to pieces as their hands held guns. Kalli kept herself frozen, watching as the gangsters moved in silently. More and more walked in, women sobbed, men howled and the gangsters cruely smiled. Chains rattled as one particular man walked in, holding onto nothing more than a long machete with his cybernetic arm, head scanning the room while people hid and crawled away. The bartender however simply stood, watching the other man with angry eyes.

"Where is my money, Buck? Tax is today, you know how I feel about late payment. Especially in my territory..." Without any effort, he tossed the a table into the wall, Kalli flinching as the table slammed right next to her. The bartender merely glared, his hands slowly being placed onto the counter, hiding something in his right hand. The man with the machete raised his weapon, just tapping the bartender's neck. "Give me the credits, Buck." He demanded, the two glaring for a long time, the silence even left a few gangsters unsettled as they looked with worrisome eyes. Before long, the bartender dropped credits onto the counter.

"Here, take 'em, and leave my families bar alone." The bartender frowned, still looking angry while the man with the machete sheathed his weapon and smiled. "Good doing business with you." He turned about, motioning to his gangsters as they began to walk out, people easing as they looked up. "And next time..." The machete wielding man came to a halt, turning about. "I'll think about-"

"Running?" The rifle clicked loudly as a shell landed against the floor.

Everyone gasped, Kalli held onto her rifle glaring at the gangsters, the bolt hitting the end of the rifle as it was unjammed, the barrel pointed right at the one with the machete. "Well look at what we have here, a pretty lady with a gun." The man with the machete reached for the hand of his pistol, opening the leather and holding tightly onto the handle of the gun. Kalli kept glaring silent, watching as the rest of the gangsters slowly raised their rifles. "This is a place of thieves and whores, probably like yourself, I suggest you don't protect them for the sake of your skin." The man stated, pulling his pistol out and keeping it at his side.

"I'm not here to protect people, I'm here to make sure I don't need to run into a little fuckwad like yourself every time I walk into a building. You should know well not to talk to a woman with a gun, especially if she is a prime." There were gasps at the word, the man with the machete merely squinting with supicious eyes as the gangsters began to place their fingers on the triggers. "A prime? Down here? You trying to find a purpose or hiding from your own? Bet you wouldn't even be able to enter Coruscant again, probably being hunted down by the Empire right?" The man with the machete questioned, his voice filled with curiosity before he raised his pistol, growing angry. "I'm here to live my life, you primes always get in the way thinking Omni praises you. You're worthless you bitch. And I'll prove it by killing you until the end of time."

In a second, the entire bar filled with screams and a running crowd, the gangsters opening fire, liquid spilling, glasses shattered, blood raining down upon the floor like as if the ceiling itself was a storm of red. The bartender was nowhere to be scene, and the rest of the people were busy trying to escape through multiple doorways. The gangsters merely standing there as they kept firing. Kalli hid behind a flipped over table, grunting as the bullets rained down upon her piece of cover, metal sparking while she took grip of her rifle tightly.

"Kill that whore!" The man with the machete quickly ran out of the building, the sound of a engine turning on echoing into the bar, the gangsters quickly spread out to flank Kalli as she remained hidden behind the table. There were a total five of the armed henchmen, all with rifles of some sorts, sights on her. Proping herself up on her knee, Kalli got up and fired from the table, barely getting close to one of the gunmen as they hid behind a chair. She dived back under the table again, hitting her side with a sharp pain...

The dome shield! The small device was in a pouch on her side, the light flickering, it was still operational and ready to go. She clicked the button and slammed it onto the floor, the blue light shined in the dimly lit club, bullets bouncing off the shield as if they were hitting some form of impassiable metal. Kalli slowly began to rise up, looking at where each of the gunmen were. "Hope you boys like lead..." She muttered, slowly poking the rifle's barrel out of the shield and firing, one of the gangsters quickly hit the floor with a chest full of holes, the rest diving for cover as their college gurgled his last few words.

Landing on her knee, she picked up the device, deactivating the shield. One of the gangsters quickly appeared from behind another chair, firing toward her, as she got up. A gush of red and a thin puff of smoke came off her clothing, she fell onto her shoulder, quickly pointing her rifle at the gangster. Another shot echoed from her gun, the gangster's blood painting the wall as he too hit the floor with a thud. "Die bitch, die!" Hearing the clicking noise of a gun out of ammo, she turned to see one of the gangsters equipped with a bayonet, pointing the sharp knife right toward her. Rolling as soon as the gangster slid to a halt and jabbed, she grabbed her own knife, getting onto one foot and tossing herself onto the man, the two scrambling for control as they hit the floor.

The red seeped from the flesh as a red line formed on his neck, the teeth of the knife forming a perfect cut. Tiredly, Kalli got up, feeling the pain of another shot go through her shoulder, she had been shot and she didn't even know it. The man whom shot her was in a panic, he too was out of ammo and was quickly scrambling for a clip. Lifting up with rifle, she pulled the trigger, another thud echoing through the bar. "Come on out." She stated, both hands gripping the rifle now, her head scanning the room as the last few civilians rushed out.

He ran, and Kalli fired, the chairs flipped over as the man pushed his way to the door, bullets sparking as they hit the wall. Kalli soon stopped her enraged trigger pulling and chased after him, to only find the dark streets filled with cars turning about and going off down the street. The gangster in particular already in a moving vehicle, the drive with a bullet in his head and laying on the street. The vehicle soon disappeared, moving around the corner of the street...

"Son of a bitch!" She yelled, staring at the night sky before falling onto her knees, feeling the blood drip from her body. "Son of a bitch..." She muttered once more.

[Kalli]

"You can't stay here." The voice was familiar, yeling out once more "The Empire will be all over this place soon, you need to leave!" The bartender! He lifted her up and pointed down the street "Find a place to hide, you can't stay here in the open. Someone will catch you and that'll be the end of it." He turned about and rushed back before Kalli could say a word, the doors locking and the lights turning off on the inside. She turned to look down the street, limping along as she bled from her wounds. The lights of the streets faded in and out as people made way to watch the wounded alien limp and stutter in her step. It was a pitiful sight.

Stormtroopers could be heard, their armor clattering, rushing down the streets or dropships flying overhead, the firefight's location covered in soldiers before a full ten mintues passed. She kept moving, gun on her back, her vision fading, anywhere to find some decent sleep. The people themselves slowly disappeared, the crowds moving away, fading from sight, the noises they made long gone. Soldiers too were disappearing, only stray animals chased each other through the ruins of crumbling apartment blocks. Grabbing ahold of a scissor gate at an apartment entrance, she pulled it open in the dark of night, the lights of the street being the only things providing her with some decent vision.

The gate slide open, the door behind it creaking as the handle turned, nothing but dust moved on the inside, the scutter of mice fell distant in the walls while old wallpaper remained torn and ruined. They were peeling off, with rotten wood behind each layer, inhabitated by who knows what while the small critters feasted on the insects that found home here. A insect. Thats what Kalli felt like, so minor and pointless, the best she got for risking her life was a warning and a finger pointing in one direction. What was the reason for all this pain on a first day?

How long has it even been? A day? A week? Mere minutes? She had just woken up at a fountain on her first minute in this universe, and now this moment felt like her last. It was never boring at least, and hopefully she'd find more interesting things to learn that wouldn't try to kill her. Limping through the halls, she clambered up the steps, from what she guessed she had climbed onto the fifth story before slamming open one of the doors. Finding a mattress, covered in stains and nearly torn apart, Kalli slid off the rifle's sling, the gun bouncing and hitting the wooden floor. She soon slammed onto the bed, and quickly fell asleep...

[Storyteller]

Running past the security checkpoint, the befuddled stormtrooper looked around the glistening pathways. But his efforts were in vain — amidst the crowd, he couldn't see a single trace of the person that disappeared right in front of him. Somehow, she had managed to give them the slip.

The guard cursed under his breath. How was this even possible?! The gateway area not only had a large security detail assigned to it, there were numerous detection and defence systems in place precisely to avoid these kind of occurrences. Not even an ant should have been able to get past them without their knowledge, let alone an adult woman! Those damn Primes....as if the city wasn't in enough turmoil!

Wasting no more time, the soldier promptly reported: "HQ, this is Bravo Team. We have an unauthorised Prime roaming about Tier 1. A young adult human female, wearing a black suit with a green harness. She has exhibited optic camouflage capabilities, so use of stealth detection equipment is advised."

A female voice responded to his communique: "Acknowledged, Bravo Team. We will notify all Tier 1 patrols. Please remain alert and report any sightings of the unauthorised Prime."

"Understood. Bravo Team, out," the stormtrooper completed his dispatch. He firmly grasped his blaster rifle, barely able to contain his anger and frustration. What the hell was the problem with these Primes?! Was going through a routine security check that much to ask for? And that wasn't even getting into all the unprovoked attacks his comrades experienced. It was almost like these people had gotten into their heads that they can do whatever they please just because the Man in White thought they were special....

The guard returned to his post with a heavy sigh. Lieutenant Colonel Brandt was going to have their heads for this spectacular failure.

[Dave Strider]

After quite the long walk, the ragtag group found their way through a gate. Once inside, they were met with a bustling city, and a checkpoint in front of them. Crash scratched his head in confusion. What was all of this for? Aku Aku didn't seem to know either, as this world was new to both of them. It did remind Crash of his experience jumping through time with Cortex's time machine, but it wasn't as huge or busy as this. They were then approached by some guys dressed in white armor. Crash was suspicious of them, and he didn't like them. He furrowed his brow as the aggressively at the white armored guard that confronted their female friend. What was their problem? Before he realized, the woman disappeared. Where could she have gone, and why did she leave us?

Either way, this guard was going to get a taste of some wumpa fruit. Crash dug in his pockets for some wumpa fruit in his pockets, giving a sinister smirk before hurling one at the confused guard.

"What the- Hey! That's assault of an officer, Prime! Do it again and you'll be arrested! The guard seemed pretty pissed, most likely giving Crash a scowl before returning to talking on his radio.

Aku Aku, slowly lowered himself to Crash's ear. "Crash, it might not be a good idea to anger the- FLOOP Another wumpa fruit found its mark, smacking the trooper in the back of the head.

"Damn these fucking Primes! Arrest that hoodlum with the orange fur!" On the guard's command, three more white armored men showed up, guns raised at Crash. "Surrender with your arms above your head!

Crash raised an eyebrow. Surrender? What does that mean? Well, it didn't matter. Whatever it meant, he was ready to start smashing some faces. With a quick step, Crash began to spin, causing the soldiers to fire upon him."He's turned aggressive, FIRE!" To their surprise, the lasers bounced right off of Crash, returning to their owners from a short range. The troopers fell to the floor as the bandicoot stopped, charging the last guard that had ordered the men on him.

"Get back prime!" The troops began to fire, but Crash took a giant leap towards his target, until he was directly above him. "What the hell!" For a second Crash seemed to freeze, until he slammed down, crushing the trooper under his stomach. After slowly dusting himself off, Crash took the liberty of doing a victory dance over his groaning opponent. Suddenly, more alarms went off, alerting more guards.

"Now look what you've done Crash!," Aku Aku scorned the orange animal. "Well, now we have to run! Let's go!"

Crash was already speeding down the streets as fast as he could.

[Stuart Gillman-Street]

Meanwhile, yet another being found himself in Coruscant- Stuart. When Stu would look back on this moment, he wouldn't remember much of it, just staring at the portal, followed by a mix of sounds and colours he couldn't quite make out. and then being practically on the floor when a white figure approached him.

"You another Prime?"
"A- a what?" Stu squinted as the figure became more distinguishable.
"Prime. Did you come from the fountain back there?" The suited man pointed at the portal.
"The f-yeah, I did. Why? Where am I?" Stu rested his hand against his forehead, his voice croaking slightly.\
"Coruscant. Now, g-" Before the armed trooper could finish his instructions, Crash & Aku zipped past the two of them, apparently in some sort of rush, followed by a whole group of stormtroopers. (Trainspotting, much?) Not wanting to miss out, and with a sinking feeling he wouldn't get anywhere from obedience, coupled with the fact that the troupe of troopers would find it more difficult to chase down two, Stuart cut ahead of the pursuing armoured men and called out.

"Craaash!"

Stu just about about heard a 'Hey!' from the trooper talking to him earlier as he too engaged in pursuit.
"In retrospect, this may not have been that good of an idea" He thought to himself. Oh well, it was too late now- no-one was going to forget the orange marsupial and blue haired man running down the streets of a crowded city.

[Marcus Wright]

Luger's figure was hidden within Stealth. She squeezed her M32 Combat knife and her flash suppressed submachine gun all while hearing stormtroopers scream that she went missing.

She was on her own now, and Crash and Stuart had gone missing. What had happened to them anyways?

That is after her ears perked that a stormtrooper was calling for backup.

"Damnit..."

It was time to move quickly or risk being found.

She pushed past several Coruscant people and moved toward the small areas of Tier 1 and near the shadows.

She'd have to lay low for a while.

She took to finding a small dark area underneath a building.

She was blending in with the dark space, and the stealth concept helped a lot while she placed her night vision goggles on to detect movement.

[Stuart Gillman-Street]

Stu had fallen behind Crash, and in despair, let his guard down to regret his mistakes. That was, in itself, a large mistake. Feeling himself slipping further away, Stu landed in the grasp of the agitated stormtroopers.
"We have you now, Prime!"
"You're in for a world of trouble."
Oh lord. If ever there was a time in his life to wish for a lucky escape- and there had been many- this would be it. Stu struggled hard to escape, tugging and pulling, but he couldn't even get his feet on the ground. But, wait- Stu may have found a lucky escape. Being a man, Stu knew the soft spots of the man... and the harder ones. Flailing his legs, he looked behind him when he felt a metallic clink to see both of his feet were hovering over the chestplate of a trooper. This was his time; Stu forcefully pushed against the plate, knocking the trooper over and launching himself away. He needed to run, and fast. When he finally had time to think, Stuart noticed his speed. As he darted through Tier 1, he saw he was running so much faster than he usually would, faster than any burst of adrenaline would allow him. He felt like he could run a mile a minute.

That was, until he began to slump. Stuart felt himself really tire out once again and he needed to take a rest. Resting his hands on his legs and beding forward, there was a strange lump in his trouser pocket. He took out the object- a revolver. How the hell did that get there? Someone must have put it there... like that Omni. Stu put the gun away so as to not arouse suspicion, and began to walk through the tier, using what little strength he had yet to periodicaly yell.
"Crash? Luger?"

[Marcus Wright]

Just then, a streak came and grabbed Stuart pulling him down and dragging him toward her. Once she was confident Stuart hadn't started to yell, she covered his mouth and dragged him with her under a dark spot.

"Think you can keep your mouth shut, Stuart?

Once she was quiet again, she faded out under the guise of darkness.

Not only did one member of the party disappear, two were now hidden from view.

[Stuart Gillman-Street]

"Christ! The hell, Luger?" Stu whispered angrily. He thought he knew fast- hell, is friend Sage could probably run half the speed of sound if he tried- but the sheer shock of the movement startled Stu more than a bit.

[Marcus Wright]

Lugers eyes moved toward Stuart and whispered back "If you don't realize it already, we all have bounties on our head, not sure what for however. Looks like the police figures around here aren't all too friendly with attackers."

[Kalli]

There wasn't a sense of rotation, no movement, not a singular twitch. Frozen on the insect littered mattress Kalli continued to slowly awaken. Every muslce in her body ached, and even worse were her wounds, burning like as if they had been stabbed by a ray of sunlight. With a hand on the mattress, she pushed herself up, feeling the old, torn cover of the bed once more as she fell instantly. Trying once more, she got to her feet, groaning as the wounds would burned more and more with every waking nerve. The night had remained on Tier 4, to no surprise the room itself seemed pitch black, the rifle being the only thing in the room that wasn't dried up and old. Well, along with Kalli, though she certainly felt dried up and old.

Grabbing ahold of the rifle while staggering in step, she moved to the door of the abandoned apartment building, walking through the hall with a creak every step of the way. The old apartment was certainly creepy, no light, scuttering from insects and small rats, blocked off doorways. The metal bars prevented a door from being open on the outside, or inside. Not wishing to get a feeling of dread, Kalli quickly moved down the steps and out the door, back into the activity of the night. A few individuals were in the streets, seeming to be homeless, dealers, or some sort of social outcasts. Little seemed to belong to the crowds elsewhere, the clothing of those whom hid on this street were tattered and certainly unorganized. And Kalli was too, bandages wrapped up around her, messy clothing and feathers, a lack of proper bathing in a long time...

Ignoring her condition, Kalli took a step down the apartment's steps, before hearing a voice. "You, alien lady, message." A boy no more than sixteen walked on up, dressed in some mixture of black, orange and red, covering his face in a cowl-like hood and a scarf blocking his face nose down. He handed out a small paper, Kalli hesitantly grabbed it, looking at the boy before looking down at the paper. The words were written in some form of thick, black ink, scribbled with a singular mistake in grammar. Its words, as she interpreted, were "You killed five of us We wont let you die like them, they were given mercy, we have much more in store for a prime like you. Our eyes and ears are everywhere."

"How did you-?" Kalli asked, cuttering herself off as she noticed the boy was nowhere to be seen. She looked down the street, left and right, then proceeded to crumble up the note and toss it away. Muttering curses under her breath, she began to move again, seeking somewhere crowded, somewhere with less holes. Someplace safe.

[Dave Strider]

Crush found his way up a few building, jumping off the walls and avoiding fire from the stormtroopers below. He then found himself on a apartment balcony of the 4th floor. Luckily the room was empty, or else whoever would've been there would have been freaking out.

"I believe we have lost them for now Crash...I bet we we will have a hard time showing our faces around here now."

Crash nodded as he caught his breath, leaning back with his hands on his sides. This as a crazy place, and hose guys had some sweet guns. He then wondered where Luger and Stuart were, and if the troopers had caught them.

Not too far away, the two had managed to find their way inside the same building.

"This way, come on." The woman ordered.

"Hey, where are we even going?" The blue haired male replied.

"I think I saw him land on the 4th floor, let's move."

Crash made his way through the room, examining the polished furniture and fancy decorations. After admiring such elegance, he opened the door, coming face to face with his two acquaintances from before. He gave a smile and a thumbs up before asking where they were going with his hand motions.

"Good to see you guys made it, but it looks like we should find a way our of this place as soon as possible."Aku Aku spoke up.

[Marcus Wright]

Luger bent down and slipped on her thermal goggles and nodded "Exactly" "Now let's see how many we are up against to get out of this joint..

She clicked on the goggles and a reddish greenish blue glare showed where the nearest stormtroopers were.

"I like to make my kills silent...I think I can knock off the nearest stormtroopers with a few silent shots, if you guys can cover me.

Her goggles showed the heat signatures of a few stormtroopers walking past the building.

Luger bent down and placed the suppressor on her sub-machine gun on. She bent down aiming carefully at the heat signatures heads and aimed, letting a single shot hit a helmetless stormtroopers head from a distance. As the stormtrooper fell, another silent shot flashed and hit another stormtrooper.

[Stuart Gillman-Street]

"Only problem, my gun doesn't look like the silent type, so unless you mean a different 'cover', I'm pretty much chopless here." Stu sheepishly pulled the Red Revolver from his pocket and placed it in both hands, one hand grasping the grip and turning the gun sideways yet with hid finger off the trigger, and the other clenching the barrel.

NB: Fegensulan Slang
chopless => unable to help