The commotion in the town square made Lena take pause as she peered between the buildings to see what was going on, someone was crawling put of tbe rubble of the destroyed town hall and too Lena's surprise she saw the mayor himself crawling out and getting on his own two feet. Mattaus had said he got blown straight through that place, she was honestly surprised to see he was alive. But his triumphant survival was about to be short lived as she watched the Commander who was a mage about to move his band in a cutting motion, a technique she recognized as she often used it herself in her own magic. It was about to he ended when suddenly all the soldiers stopped and turned, raising their rifles somewhere Lena could not see, she had to move to a better position and from there she saw a face she never thought she would see again, Weston was standing there, with those two massive swords on his back, Lena knew him from the League meeting she attended with her father. The man was at everyone and she could never forget him because of intimidating he looked but how kind he was to her when she was little. She was honestly surprised to see him here which meant that the freighter that crashed... she could not believe it, that was the Free Wind. There was no way these Crucible soldiers would be here otherwise. Great and now Weston was challenging the Commander, with how many soldiers there were she did not care how good Weston was, there was no way he could take on that many on his own. Thankful that she was so thin Lena squished herself between the buildings and down the small alley to cut towards the town square, she had no doubt that he could kill the commander easy but if those soldiers grew a pair and started shooting he was screwed.

Just a few moments after she told Toroto to remain quiet, her path became blocked by a child who came and called out to her as he stopped in her path. This caused her to come to a sudden stop, and she just barely managed to keep her balance in front of the kid. He appeared to be fairly young, and Nakako figured he was about eight or nine years old. He asked for help in finding his parents and also described what was going on in the town square, or what he saw anyways.

Nanako thought about it for a few seconds. If she were to go and help the kid, she would be risking being captured by the Cruicble, which would mean she would be losing Toroto as well as losing her freedom. On the other hand, this kid's parents were missing, so taking him away would most likely be a bad idea. She just met him, but he already served more of a problem then she though. She thought about what she will do for a moment, noticing Toroto didn't give a very eager to help look to her "Listen kid, its not exactly the safest of things to go looking for your parents, so I'll help you out, but we can only look for them for a few minutes. After that, we'll need to head to safety, and after this whole mess is done, I'll help you look for them properly, if we don't find them before." She told him.

After looking at the direction of the young man from before, was now headed away in a different direction, she looked in the direction of the town square for a moment before looking back at the young boy "Lets start with your house. Where do you live?" Nanako asked, and then realised she was slightly impolite "And my name is Nanako, by the way. What's yours?" She asked while waiting to see where will the boy lead her off to.

Vallence smiled at the loud and aggressive response. That meant they weren't Cruibellian, that was a relief as they tended to be far more up on protocol than anything. He nodded thanks toward the crew member that effectively said maybe and rustled around his luggage before pulling out a large bag filled with various money. "If money's an issue... I can pay."

He then pointed over his shoulder in the direction of the town. "The town's going through the Crucible right now... Not really something I want to stand around for. I can offer my services on top of my money if needed. I'm a musician and storyteller. I imagine your crew wouldn't mind something to take their minds off of whatever stress they might have."

He scratched the back of his head. "I imagine you need repairs, I happen to know about someone called... Fixit... From what I know he can do whatever repairs are needed."

With eyes screwed shut and the palms of her hand pressed against either side of her cheeks, Emery conjured up an accurate map of the island in her head, highlighting routes that would prove useful to their objective. She needed to account for Aubrey's mom's conditions; there could be no harsh terrains, and elevation and obstructions should minimal. Due to their current dilemma, she also had to mark off ones that passed too closely to the town center and avoid any winding ones that would only slow them down. It took all of a second for her to pinpoint the perfect route—a mostly straightforward path that started across from Aubrey's house and cuts through the lake— but Aubrey had moved faster than her and he was already running home before she could tell him.

"Hold up!" Emery broke into a sprint and beckoned for Isaac to follow them. As she ran, her steps were uneven and staggering, but the momentum kept her upright for the time being. She trailed after the blonde frenziedly, her mind a jumble of worries. What about the others who can't hide? What will the Crucible do to them? What if she, Isaac, and Aubrey get caught? There were so many things to consider, so many things that could go wrong. Somehow, part of her remained obstinately hopeful; after all, have you seen their mayor? Vladimir Maximus would never let anything happen to his people, and she believed there was hope so long as he and his Rift Hunters were standing.

Emery arrived at Aubrey's house half a minute after he had. She waited for Isaac before she went inside, seeking solace in his presence. Isaac always seemed to know how to make things better; surely he can figure out how to help Aubrey out. "How are we going to get Auntie Mel out?" she asked after she'd taken a moment to catch her breath. Her hands absently fiddled with her skirt, clenching and unclenching in order to calm herself. "We need to take her to the alley past Nora's bar and go north from there. It's the safest way out of here."

Varren silently followed Weston in his tracks, staying to the side of the giant. Citizens who had the intentions to flee from the island passed the duo, heading in the direction of their ship. Though one of the ship’s jobs was to transport people, he was unable to think of a reason for their departure until they were closer to the town. He was barely able to make out the top of a Crucibellian Interceptor, which had landed near a port in the town. Varren let out a sigh of distress, ”Great. They’re here?” He thought to himself frazzly, as if the situation could have worsened more. From the looks of it, the Free Wind was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. ”We landed here on annexation day, just grand.” Varren unholstered his firearm and reached into his backpack with his free hand, feeling through the contents of the bag. He pulled out a suppressor and spun it around the muzzle of the tecpatl, then switched off the safety.

"Go and search for a mechanic, we need to have our ship running in less than thirty minutes." With a wave of dismissal, Varren nodded and spat out a “copy that” before breaking off into a sprint. With the Crucible here, he would need to act as fast as possible. He checked every corner before rounding it, though as he proceeded through the city, he noticed something odd. It was like a ghost town, chances are, people were either at the town center or had boarded themselves up in their homes, waiting for this to be over. Yinyues had seen the cycle too many times, colonies which were conquered in a matter of days, some even in a span of hours. Those who were taken over by the Crucible were forced to give members of their community to the ranks of the army. This late into the game, it was an unbeatable strategy, since those who remained against the overlords were spread out and weakened by previous encounters. Ten minutes had gone by, and Varren hadn’t found a single being, not even a mechanic at that. “I need to get a little higher.” He muttered to himself, he scanned the area for an employable bird’s eye view. The young adult smiled when he laid his eyes on a medium sized building, outlined in metal, surrounded by a courtyard. After opening the gate and passing through the yard, he planted his feet on the exterior of the building and scaled it.

From his vantage point, he had a good overlook of the town. He stared down at the gathering of soldiers, all of which were in a circular formation next to the remains of a large building. Varren grabbed onto a rail and leaned away from the building to get a better view. From the rubble rose a man, with a warhammer in hand. ”Must be the town mayor. A pretty strong guy for such a small settlement.” Though, perseverance wasn’t enough to save the old man, as a Crucible officer approached him, ready to finish him off. Just before he swung his arm down, there appeared the most feared man within the Crucibellian Empire. A grin formed on Varren’s face as he watched the soldiers loosen their formation, shocked by the development. There stood the most wanted man in the whole entire region, Weston Bright. “Give them hell sir.” Personally, Varren thought it would have been better if Bright had kept a lower profile. The Crucible had only sent a small annexation unit, probably of three ships. With such a highly renowned man here, they would send a larger battle fleet in response. Though if Varren operated in the allowed time frame, they would be off the island before the ships arrived.

Rather than staying to enjoy the show, Yinyues already anticipated the outcome. He casually walked down the side of the tower which had been built into the building, then descended until he reached the ground. He stretched out a bit, as he was sore from hanging by his skinny arm. As he was about to exit the courtyard, he caught a glimpse of two helmets, peaking over the fence. Though the soldiers weren’t looking his way, they were most likely a small sentry unit, patrolling the surrounding area. Varren clenched the firearm tightly in his hand as they continued down the street, he took cover behind the fence, waiting for them to walk into his field of view. He had the PDW aimed at the opened gate, a perfect firing angle for close-quarters shots. He listened as the footsteps got closer and louder, he held his breath until he saw the white cloaks fully appear in his sights.

Two shots. Two bodies.

The young man let out a sigh of relief as the soldiers went limp, he made clean shots to each of their heads. He stood up and separately dragged each body into the yard, then performed a field strip. He picked up one of their assault rifles, and all of the magazines the men were carrying. Varren instantly noticed the weight difference between his sub-machinegun and the extensively heavier assault rifle. “Damn, this thing is chambered with 7.62x51? That’s insane, this thing could punch a hole through a person in an instant.” Yinyues found it surprising, since the round was usually used for marksman rifles, yet here it was, developed to be used by full-automatic firearms. The militaristic power of the Crucible was definitely frightening, the gun felt heavy in his hands. Overall, Varren was a considerably skinny individual who lacked muscle mass. He was only able to actively use his tecpatl was due to the fact it was a low caliber and barely had any recoil. If he didn’t fire with caution and awareness, the kickback could easily shatter his shoulder. “Alright, got nine magazines, perhaps Heizo could use this.” Even though his comrade wasn’t too fond of the conventional bullet, since the man was already used to weapons with high recoil, it would be best to leave it in his hands. It would be best employed in tight situations where a good amount of bullets would need to be put down range.

Before he left, he tore their dog tags from their necks and nicely folded them onto their chests. Though they were the enemy, Varren had natural compassion for all living beings. The one-sided engagement only last a couple of minutes, since Yinyues was short on time, he quickly shoved his tecpatl into his backpack and left the courtyard. As he continued to proceed through the town, he caught sight of a young boy with blonde hair, who he barely recognized, “Right, he’s from the forest. But what is he doing?” He didn’t have time to ponder his reasoning, but he was the only person he had seen who was openly running through the streets. Keeping his distance, Varren tailed the boy, ”Perhaps I can barter with him. He could give me the location of a mechanic, and he and his friends get a ride off of this to be hellhole.” From where he was standing, he was unable to see the face of the individual. ”I’ll have to lower my firearm, no way he’s a threat. I hope he won’t be scared, it’d be nice to have a chat with somebody new.” He flicked on the safety and aimed the firearm to the ground, then stood out into the open. ”The soldiers will notice a breach in their sentry units soon, hopefully Mr. Weston will keep them distracted for a little while longer.”

A few moments before the arrival of the others:

After the boy realized he was being followed, Varren quickly put on the friendliest smile he could meager, “Um, hello. Sorry if this is a little sudden, but could you please direct me to a technician or mechanic? My ship is currently in need of repairs. It would be very much obliged, we’ll even be able to offer you a ride out of here. Though, we don’t have much time, as I’m sure the annexation unit has already called for backup. I’m anticipating a full-fledged fleet to respond in the next thirty minutes or so.” He was now able to get a good look of the blonde individual. “Oh, I’m Varren Yinyues of the Free Wind, employee of the Free Wind Transport Service. Pleased to meet you.” The young man loosened the grin and let out a sigh, ”Holy shit, Yinyues. There are ways you greet people, and one of them is most definitely not with a loaded assault rifle in your hands. This is why people shoot you.”

The boy seemed to remember Varren as well, ”Sure, I have a friend of mine who is a mechanic. Look, we need to get my mother out of here, and my friends as well.” The guard gave the boy a nod of agreement, and followed him after he made a motion with his hand. The two entered the house and went up the stairs, then rounded a corner and entered a bedroom. Yinyues entered the room and looked at its contents, there on a bed lied an older woman, most likely the boy’s mother. As he was waiting, Varren heard other footsteps from the first floor, “Friends of yours’?” The blonde gave a nod and focused his attention on his mother. ”We have to go soon. Not sure how much more time Mr. Weston can buy us.” He thought to himself as he listened to the footsteps rising the stairs.

Isaac was thinking on the fly as he chased after Aubrey with Emery. Already the girl had solved the first part of the problem, picking the ideal route for them in a matter of seconds. However, carrying a sick woman all the way across the island would be no easy feat. He wasn't even sure if Aubrey's mother would survive the run, or if they would be able to evade capture. Plus even if they made it to the ship, then what? Would the crew just so happen to have the medicine she needed? Either way, Isaac had no control over any of that, and he wasn't about to suggest that Aubrey leave his mother behind. What he could control was how they carried her. "If we had some kind of gurney it would be a lot easier..." A mental image of his garage flashed before him. "A gurney! Emery, go meet up with Aubrey. I'll be back in a flash, I promise!"

Without wasting another second, he dashed over to his garage with two supplies in mind: a pair of steel pipes that were lying against the wall, and a roll of duct tape. He grabbed the pipes under his right arm, and took off with the roll of duct tape in his left, then prayed to any gods or goddesses that he could think of that no Crucibelian soldiers would intercept him on the way to Aubrey's house.

"Alright, I'm here!" Isaac called as he pushed through the door to Aubrey's house and began racing up the stairs, supplies in hand. Upon finding Aubrey, though, Isaac did a double take, seeing his friend in the company of another boy that seemed to be armed to the teeth. He wasn't wearing a Crucible uniform, though, and he wasn't pointing the guns at anybody, so he figured he would ask questions later. He laid the two pipes on the floor and began ripping off a few pieces of duct tape as he explained what he was doing. "OK, we're making a gurney. It'll be the safest way to transport her. Use her blanket, and tape it to the pipes. It'll be a bit rickety, but it's a hell of a lot better than having her ride piggy back on somebody." As quick and concise as his instructions were, he still spoke calmly and clearly. It was a pretty simple project and they shouldn't have any trouble getting it built in a minute or so. Isaac was already taking the blankets off the bed and seemed to expect the others to start taping.

When Summer yelled at someone below deck, Heizo glanced down, and sighed. The person seemed to be getting on Summer's nerves, and if he had to make a shot later the person might distract him. "Should I focus on the Crucible?" Without waiting for a response, Heizo began zeroing his rifle for longer ranges, and put his sights over the town. He adjusted the scope to improve its zoom. The questions was rhetorical more then anything else. He slowly set his sights and could barely see an entourage of what looked to be Crucible soldiers. Unfortunately if he did decide to shoot there would be a very high chance that the bullet would hit a tree limb and be knocked off target. "No clear shots on the Crucible. Should I just make sure no one else approaches the ship?"

"Well, y'see... Nanako? Yeah. Y'see, Nanako, I live in town, right outside of the town square." Benny crossed his arms behind his back and kicked at the dirt nervously. "I woke up from my nap that I was having, and I was really happy, but my parents weren't in our house, so I went out to look and... They're probably in the town square." He looked back up at the newly met friend. "The problem is, I'm not sure where I could hide, or if they even got out of there before those meanie Crucible guys showed up, and looking for my parents would be hard... Why don't I follow you to where you were going?" Benny smiled cutely, a little oblivious to the situation. He didn't truly have a good grip on what exactly was going on. He hadn't ever heard of the Crucible before this, but judging by what they had done and how this girl was talking about them, he knew they were trouble. He just didn't know exactly how much trouble they were. "Oh, and I'm Benjamin. People call me Benny, though. It's nice to meet you~." At that point, Archibald had caught up with him, landing on Benny's shoulder lightly, hooking it's needle-like legs in to his shirt for balance. "There you are, Archy! Pocket, please, it's dangerous right now." At the command, the mechanical butterfly folded it's wings up and detached itself from Benny's shirt, falling right in to his pocket. "Thank you, Archy." He looked back up at Nanako, grabbing her hand, ready to be led to wherever she was going. "So, I guess I'll be your hiding buddy until those guys leave~."

Aubrey made it to his house with Emery, but an unfamiliar face appeared. In fact, it was one of the two he saw before, only this time he had an even bigger gun. Now that everyone had gathered outside his mother's bedroom, the hallway was a bit crowded. But the teenager didn't mind much as he opened the door. Stepping inside, he saw his mother was already sitting up in her bed, looking out the window. She didn't have a clear view to the town square, but she was aware of what was going on.

"Mom," Aubrey spoke up to her, motioning with his left hand for the others to wait for him in the hall. As he stepped in, her attention went back to him. "We need to get out of here." The look on her face was something that seemed... sad. Not frightened, but sad. His mother let out a sigh, before slowly rotating around to let her feet touch the floor. "Wait! Mom, you shouldn't be walking. Isaac came up for a plan to carry you." But his mother shook her head. "It's okay, Aubrey." Slowly and carefully she got to her feet. The lack of muscle in her legs made her wobble for a moment, but she remained standing.

Immediately, Aubrey moved over to support her and prevent any sudden collapses. "You're too weak to be moving around. Isaac and I can carry you on that thing he's making. We've got to be fast. The Crucible is here." As they reached the doorway to the hallway, there was a loud banging sound resounding from the first floor. Someone was banging on the door. "I know, Aubrey." As they stepped out into the hallway, Melanie freed herself from her son's support and began walking to the stairs on her own. First Aubrey looked to Isaac and Emery for some kind of support, before looking back at his mother.

"What are you doing? That's them outside. You're already walking around when you shouldn't be and we really need to go and-" Aubrey silenced himself as his mother raised her hand. Though she faced away from the youngsters, she turned her head to be able to see them. "I saw it, Aubrey." For a moment this confused him, but she quickly continued. "I saw them coming. A long time ago, I saw the Crucible coming. Krukow is done. Kuiper will follow within a few hours. They've begun, and you need to leave."

Her words were confusing, and in his pause she continued down the stairs. Aubrey glanced at the others again before rushing down the stairs after his mother. Once he reached the bottom, he saw she was slowly heading toward the front door. Before he could speak, there was another pounding at the door. "Open up!" someone outside shouted. "What are you doing mom?" Aubrey had to whisper, barely loud enough for her to hear. She turned around and gave Aubrey a smile. "Allowing you and your friends to escape. Go through the back door." As she reached for the door handle, she stopped suddenly. "Wait..."

---

The blonde-haired man dashed toward Weston, with his right hand pulled back like he had claws. Though he was fast, his adversary was faster. Weston dodged his strike effortlessly, leaning out of the way. And in Lieutenant Strong's vulnerable pose, Weston found a weak point. He brought his knee up into the officer's midsection with tremendous power. However, upon impact, there was a powerful reverberation through the air. The cobblestone beneath them shattered. Then Weston's leg bounced off the man's body with force, sending Weston into a spin.

Weston managed to put his hands up and springboard off the ground after that impact, but it let Lieutenant Strong have breathing room to laugh. "Ha! Even the great Weston Bright is useless against my Bounce Magic. All your power is for nothing! Both magic and weapons alike bounce off my body," the blond explained, before letting out another laugh. "I'm untouchable!" As he stood up to full height, Weston shot a glance toward Captain Storm. The man was smirking with his arms crossed over his chest. He was quite confident that his Lieutenant could beat Weston.

With a sigh, Weston reached up and grabbed the larger of his two swords. As he slowly drew it, the Lieutenant before him kept laughing. "You idiot. A sword won't work on me either. I can reflect all forms of attack." Weston spit on the ground, before looking the man directly in his eyes with his one eye. The dead gaze sent a shiver down the officer's spine, but he still stood before the infamous criminal. "The stronger the attack, the more it bounces back. You're liable to kill yourself if you attack me with a sword." Still Weston said nothing in response.

There was a brief staredown, before Weston suddenly shot forward with the blade to his side. As he prepared to slash, the Lieutenant grinned and pulled his hand back with the intension of hitting Weston while he reels from his own attack. Just as the two were upon each other, a blue energy surrounded Weston and his sword. In that split-second, Strong had a look of confusion. Then Weston swung his blade.

Storm looked on in shock as Weston stood back up to his full height, holding the giant sword to his side. The two halves of Strong collapsed to the ground almost noiselessly. The captain choked back some fear, staring directly into Weston's eye. "Eh..." he began, trying to find the words. The soldiers that surrounded the fight were already intimidated, but now they were even more afraid. "Uh... Damnit! Shoot him!!" As if snapped out of a daze, most of the soldiers raised their guns again and aimed at Weston. As Storm also aimed his hand at Weston like a pistol, the man in the center of it all jumped into the air. Just in time, too.

---

Aubrey heard a volley of gunshots from the center of town. His mother looked back at him. "Now. Go now. Take your friends and go to the ship that crashed. It cannot fly now, but Isaac can get it in the air. The people on that ship can save you." Aubrey was confused for a moment. Tears were welling up in his eyes. "How do you know this? Why can't you come with us?" A slight smile formed on his mother's lips. "It is already decided. If I go with you, we will be caught. Please, go now. I will find you later, Aubrey."

The teenager gritted his teeth, before wiping the water out of his eyes. With a grunt of frustration, he turned away from his mother. "Come on guys, the back door is this way." Now that he was complying, his mother smiled again. Outside the door, she heard two men start debating something. Perhaps they were discussing if it would be best to go examine the gunfire or if they should continue their rounds of searching houses. Either way, Melanie knew what she was going to do to distract them. All she had to do was keep them in front of the house for a few moments. All she had to do.

---

As Weston dodged the volley of gunfire, many of the soldiers had incidentally ended up shooting each other. As they began to recover from the confusion, they all looked up to see Weston in the air. Storm was growing more and more frustrated. "Shoot him out of the air! Bring the Interceptor around to obliterate him!" Now Weston reached up and grabbed his other sword, holding one giant sword in each hand.

As the soldiers adjusted their aim again and began to open fire, Weston started swinging both the blades around at high speed. His arms were only a blur. But over the sound of gunfire, the clanging of metal bullets striking the blades could be heard. As gravity set in and he descended to the ground, he continued deflecting the bullets. Almost all at once, the gunfire stopped. All the soldiers had exhausted their magazines at the same time and had to reload. In that moment, Weston stared at Storm again. "You should all think about what you are doing," Weston finally spoke. This created a silence as another wave of intimidation swept the town square.

All the soldiers had stopped reloading and were staring at Weston, unsure if they should continue or not. Before Storm himself could decide, he felt a presence behind him. Turning around, Vladmir was holding his hammer in both hands and was mid-swing. As the giant hammer slammed down, Storm dissipated into a gust of wind, letting the hammer pass through harmlessly as he moved to the side. Once he reformed, he pointed his finger at Vladmir's face. But just as he fired again, Weston was upon him. With a downward swing of his blade, he sliced the wind bullet in two. As the attack was near invisible, it was difficult to see what happened.

But across the courtyard from the fight, two houses suddenly were impacted and began to crash down. It then became evident that Weston disrupted the attack. As he prepared another swing, a look of fear was on Storm's face. He quickly turned into wind again and began to flee, stunning his subordinates that were still in the square. "Bah," the mayor spat out. "I didn't need your help, outsider." Weston looked up at the mayor with his one eye and a wave of intimidation swept over the older man. "Don't think that I'm helping you."

---

The green-haired woman scowled at his offer. But then the scowl disappeared as she thought about it. If he was paying, then there wasn't really an issue of transporting him. "Hmm..." she thought aloud, before glancing around the trees. It seemed he was the only refugee so far, but more would likely come. If the Crucible caused a panic, then more people would flee into the woods. Then Summer realized something else.

"Weston's in there!" she exclaimed furiously, stomping her foot on the deck. "He's going to get us all in trouble! Argh!" After she kicked her ship again, she leaned over the railing to look at Vallence. "You can come aboard. I'll lower the entrance for you in a second." The sudden change in mood was likely a bit surprising, but Summer played it off flawlessly. As she headed back to the command bridge, she stopped by Heizo. "Shoot any Crucible that are at risk of discovering us. Also be on the lookout for Weston and Varren. Once those two are back with a mechanic, we can get the hell out of here." With those instructions given, she walked into the bridge that overlooked the deck and hit a button. Along the base of the ship, two doors opened up and a ramp extended out toward the ground. Though, because the ship wasn't perfectly landed, the ramp was a few inches short of reaching the ground.

"...gonnahavetaputaroundintheirsoddingleadersskullforthisshit...." A trail of cursing and muttering was left in Nora's wake as she made her way through the forest. Lugging this suitcase through such rough terrain was hardly easy, and she wasn't the type to enjoy a nature hike. She had her shotgun loosely supported in one hand in anticipation of the possibility of Crucible soldiers coming up from the rear. Not that she expected to go toe to toe with them and come out alive, but she wasn't about to die without shooting back. Eventually, her flight took her to an unintended location. It was the area that airship from earlier had landed. She had considered the possibility of searching for it purposely, but she didn't think they would necessarily be very charitable about this. After all, if Nora was in the same situation, she wouldn't be inclined to let people on board willy nilly. But here she was. And now that she took a look, it seemed they were letting someone else on board. Clearly they weren't planning on icing out everybody. After weighing the possibilities, Nora figured if nothing else, it was worth a shot to try and get on board as well.

Slinging her shotgun over her back, so as to not appear all that threatening, she emerged from the treeline waving her hand to signal the people on board. "Hey! Let me on too! I can pay!" She had quite a bit of money saved up. More than enough to buy passage on a ship in Kuiper for brighter horizons. Of course, if she was in this position, she would be sorely tempted to gouge people for all they were worth, especially since they weren't likely to be repeat customers. She could only hope she wouldn't have to part with her whole purse, but if so, she knew no amount of money was worth anything if she was dead. She was a little torn between whether she would be pissed at the idea of being extorted, or admiring of their good sense of opportunism. She would cross that bridge when she got there. Right now, she needed to get on that boarding ramp with the other guy or get the heck out of here.

"No!"
Lena yelled from the alley as the soldiers opened fire on Weston after he cut down air bullet fired at him, watching as he leaped into the air and dodged most of the gunfire, the soldiers who had not shot each other adjusting their aim at him but he deflected the bullets with his swords until they all ran out of ammo. The commander was distracted by Weston but Lena's little outburst had attracted the immediate attention of the soldiers near the alley and two of them turned to investigate, seeing the young women standing behind them her eyes went wide as she reached behind her and grabbed her hammer out of it's holster,running towards them as they finished reloading and aimed at her she leap up onto some crates, getting a running start as she jumped off of them and leapt into the air, her hammer unfolding to it's full length she brought it up and swung downwards, landing on top of the first one her weapons concaved his skull, his head exploding in a bust of skull and brain matter she would have been more worried about getting sprayed by the mess if she did not have to use her arm to strike the other soldiers gun upwards, making him fire into the sky and gather even more unwanted attention. Not able to get her hammer around in time she dropped it and quickly drew her revolver, blasting the man in front of her point blank in the chest she saw another soldier behind him raise his rifle and she quickly put up a barrier to block the volley of bullets, wincing as a stray round caught her arm but she had no time to see the damage, immediately having turn around completely and fire her revolver into the the next two soldiers behind her. This was becoming a situation too overwhelming for her, as the soldier who where not in Weston's immediate vicinity were not turning their attention to her, forcing the mercenary to retreat back into the alley grabbing her hammer on the way. Climbing up onto a the lowest hanging roof, clambering up onto the roof tops she ran along them while some soldiers fired at the building to try and get her.
By now she had probably gathered the attention of everyone but Weston, the Mayor and the Crucible Commander as she ran along the roofs with her pistol in one hand and the hammer in the other, firing back when she could while trying to stay ahead of the soldiers gunfire. she had to maintain a constant shield to keep herself from getting riddles with bullets until she found a building with a lip on the roof she could duck behind and take cover. She had literally gotten through all of that with pure luck and now she needed an actual plan to get out of this situation or at least turn it to her favour.

Val smiled charmingly as he was told to wait for the ramp to come down. "Excellent well." He felt happy to be on the road again, and to avoid the trouble that was the Crucible. Hopefully things would be well and good soon enough. He looked over his shoulder as he heard Nora calling out. "It'd be nice to have the company of a familiar face. I remember seeing you around town, Nora... right?"

A small town like that meant everyone knew everyone and newcomers were easy to notice and easier to remember. Val turned his attention back to the ramp that had now lowered and lifted his luggage the few inches necessary for him to carry his stuff. "I imagine they don't have a whole lot to gain for taking on too many refugees, but first come first served." He would have gestured toward the upper end of the ramp, but his hands were occupied by his luggage and instrument cases. So instead he just walked right up the ramp and onto the boat.

He had to admit. . . The strangers were getting his attention and his goat. Heizo wondered if it would be too bad of an idea to shoot one of them and then claim he thought they were Crucible. He sighed and shook his head, before he started scanning the tree line further, watching for the smallest bit of movement. A small light quickly flashed across his face, and Heizo winced in pain. He suddenly ducked beneath the railing of the ship, and yelled out a quick "Duck," as a bullet flew past the spot he had been in. Heizo quickly peaked up again, and followed that by immediately ducking as another shot rang out. In that short time he had spotted the shooter, and started trying to calm down. He slowly crawled across the ship, and soon reached the opposite end, before he raised up and took aim. The shooter was a Crucible foot soldier, and was still focused on where Heizo had been. The man slowly turned to face towards Heizo before Heizo fired a fatal shot to the throat. The soldier fell over clutching his throat in despair. A small sigh of relief escaped Heizo as rested his head against the deck of the boat. "I got 'em," He called out in a relieved tone, "But he may have reported our position," Heizo continued.

Varren was half-tempted to stop the woman before she even left the room. Though, such a handicap would force quite the hindrance on the group’s mobility. He wouldn’t have been able to carry her, since the boy wasn’t strong overall, and Isaac’s contraption would be spotted in a matter of minutes. Though he resented himself for doing so, he respected the woman’s noble sacrifice, if one could even dub it that. Though, this seemed to be the only option. Varren could have easily just kicked open the door and gunned the soldiers down, before they even knew what happened. But the remaining sentry units would hear the shots and collapse on the house, ensnaring the group. He let out a quiet sigh, it was a sight that one could never get used to. Families split apart in a span of seconds, torn away from each other’s embrace, forced apart with such ease. Even though the Crucible was armed with weapons of mass destruction, and had almost completely dominance, their true power lied in their ability to inflict fear amongst the hearts of millions. Yinyues placed a hand on his shoulder, giving a light yank from the stairwell which his mother proceeded down to. He glanced back at the other two, a young adult who he deduced was named “Isaac”, and a younger teen whose age was challenging to pinpoint.

Whether it was a hallucination or the truth which the woman prophecized, Varren felt contempt in leading the trio out of this hellhole. He perked up at the sounds of gunshots in the distance, probably discharged from rifles similar to the one he was gripping tightly in his hands. ”...Thirty separate firearms…” Being able to pick up and decipher each rifle’s firing, the amount of soldiers was frightening. “My comrade can keep them distracted for a little while longer. But we have to move. Fast. Don’t worry, they have no reason to take her into custody.” Yinyues whispered to the three, knowing the Crucible’s standards from past experiences. They only sought out those who could be drafted into their ranks, increasing the power of the government. “We’ll have to take one of the far routes cutting through the town. Unfortunately, they are all perpendicular to the town square, so there’ll be one point where we will be directly in the line of fire.” He spat out quickly, trying to move with haste. He fickled with the hoodie strings with his free hand, then gripped the assault rifle tightly. Taking point, the group quietly moved out of the back exit, basically tip-toeing on the creaky wooden deck. The two soldiers were too preoccupied with their mindless debate to notice the group sneaking by them. ”Those bastards could have been dead by now. Though, they’d probably notice the chink in their formation and respond quickly.” Varren lead them down the road, checking every corner to make sure the coast was clear. As they progressed towards the city center, the chance of running into Crucibellian soldiers got higher and higher. It was only a matter of time until they ran into trouble.

Varren made a motion for them to stop, raising his hand for a group halt. He peeked around the corner and set his eyes upon two sentries walking down the road towards them. The one on the right was armed with the same rifle as Varren, meanwhile the other only had a metal rod, which was probably electrified. “Wait a moment.” He murmured to the trio as he slid his pack off of his back, then began rummaging through its contents. Once the boy found what he was looking for, he retracted his arm and readied the tool in his hand. It was a smaller baton which had the same properties and use as the rod wielded by the soldier. “I’ll be right back.” His acquaintances’ gazes followed him as he rose, probably thinking that the boy had gone mentally insane. ”Let’s hope that the soldiers in the center are too busy getting demolished to care about these two.” Varren thought as he hid the baton behind his back, he then stepped out from behind the corner and wore his usual greeting smile. “Hello, dear soldiers. Looks like you are doing quite the job cleaning out this town. It’s about time they got rid of that mayor, the senile fool.” Though he didn’t look anything like a commoner, the soldiers bought it.

”Hm, he might be useful. Surprised he isn’t hiding like the rest of these rodents.” Varren playfully laughed off the insult to the natives, ”Look, we just need to bring you back in restraints, you have no reason to not comply.” The eighteen year old cocked his head to his side, debating his options. The boy was naturally good at putting on facades, this was just a temporary face, “Ah, yes, of course. Here, I’ll even hold out my arms.” In a few seconds, the soldiers were standing in front of him. Though, Varren only had one arm held out, ”Hook. Line. Sinker.” One of the soldiers was about to ask a question, though the man was interrupted when his knee was kicked inwards. Varren readied the baton and forced it onto the rifleman’s arm, the nerves controlling his muscles were given a sudden jolt. He then elbowed the man in the stomach, and placed his hands on the trigger, aiming the firearm towards his comrade. The soldier with the rod wasn’t even given the chance to react before a round was sent through his chest. The man’s body flopped to the ground, his rod clanking next to him.

”One down. One to go.”

Varren turned his attention to the rifleman, who was still in a daze from the electricity he received earlier. Though, the man had the instinct to clench onto his firearm, and refused to let go no matter what pain was forced upon him. Yinyues quickly twirled the firearm, its user’s arm following suit, and brought his elbow downwards on the soldier’s joint. The man let out a cry of pain, but was quickly silenced by his own weapon, yanked from his hands. Varren dropped the firearm and sighed, evading yet another close brush with death. He stared at the two men who died on the job, fulfilling their role until the very end. The boy followed through with the same procedure as earlier and tore their dogtags from their necks, then folded them gently on their chests.

Varren quickly stood back up and sprinted back around the corner, sliding to a crouch. He swung the backpack over his shoulder, grabbed the assault rifle and nodded, “Let’s get going. Are you three alright? We’ll have some food on the ship, and a nice lounge to calm down in.” The three who had probably never seen bloodshed in their lives, had just witnessed two men killed in less than a minute. “Sorry if that was a little bit…” He trailed off as he nodded for them to proceed. As they reached the road intersecting with the town center, the shots rose in volume and consistency. Varren look to his side, running out in the open. He was able to get a clear view of the human tank in action, standing in the middle of enemies, relentlessly ending lives with the swing of his blades. Though he appeared completely focused on the fight, Weston’s eyes met Yinyues’ for a moment, the boy gave his comrade a nod as the group crossed the street. “Come on, let’s get to the forest. We’ll be able to move to the ship under the protection of the treeline, and hopefully pick up any citizens who want to vacate the island.” The group rushed into the forest, roughly ten minutes away from haven.

It felt disgusting leaving Aubrey's mother behind, but the woman had made the choice herself and their odds of escaping would dramatically increase without her. So, Isaac just silently grit his teeth and followed Varren out the back as they tried to make their escape. Once he saw that they would be darting through the streets and around corners, he made it a point to grab hold of Emery's hand and hold on tight; the last thing they needed was the poor girl stumbling into a guard and getting them all caught.

It soon became obvious that Varren's guns were not just for show. In a matter of minutes he systematically took out a group of guards with a chilling display of professionalism. Isaac had seen dead bodies before -- working on major aura generators in Kuiper wasn't exactly what one would call "safe" work, especially in some of the older buildings -- but he had never been unfortunate enough to see one person willfully kill another. He just averted his eyes and tried not to think too much about what had just happened, or about the kind of people they would be taking refuge with. Instead, while Varren was taking care of business, he glanced over to Emery and Aubrey to see how they were doing. He wasn't sure what Aubrey had seen over in Kuiper, but he was pretty sure that everything that was going on was pretty shocking for Emery.

Finally, they managed to pass through the chaotic town square and slip in the woods. "Emery might know a hidden path to keep us out of sight," Isaac suggested before Varren plunged them into another firefight.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. Isaac had a plan; she had their path all picked out so he and Aubrey could carry Auntie Mel out, and they were all going to find refuge somewhere in the forests. She didn't know who the other guy was, but she saw he had a big gun with him. He could have protected them, helped them get out of the town safely. But in the end, none of that mattered. Emery could hardly keep up with what Aubrey's mom was saying. There was something too surreal about the absolute certainty with which she spoke, and it made her terrified. She looked to Aubrey, panicking as she tried to think of how to avoid the situation, and noticed the anguish apparent in his visage. No, no, no. They still had a chance. The mysterious man with the gun can help them. Aubrey wouldn't look like that unless… unless… her stomach dropped at the realization.

Emery couldn't quite remember what happened next. All she knew was the man, the mysterious man whose identity still remained unknown to them, was leading them somewhere. Right across the town square, she thought he mentioned. If it were any other day, if she hadn't been so frenetic, she could have offered a different path. One that avoided dragging them into the line of fire. But as it were, she could hardly think straight. Her instincts took over and her feet moved on its own, going by her intrinsic knowledge of the town more than anything. The streets passed her by in a blur, and she was lucky Isaac took hold of her when he did, or she would have likely taken a fall and endangered everyone by now.

She didn't want to cry—not when she knew everything was a hundred times worse for the blonde—but it was hard to keep her frazzled emotions in check. The sound of gunshots echoed across town, keeping her on high alert, and it was never ending. Emery tried to cover her ears with her hands, but it did little to drown out the ringing of gunfire. To make matters worse, the mystery man had just engaged two Crucibellian soldiers in combat. Despite him luring them away from where the three of them hid, they were still within their sights. She tried not to look as he took the first one down, tried to ignore the other one's cries, but she found herself in a state of shock. Emery could only look on in horror, and she shrank behind her two companions when the mysterious man returned to speak with them, afraid to get too close to him.

Again, the man led the way, taking them through the town square. For once, she was glad that she was too out of it to pay attention to the chaos unfolding there. She barely registered when Isaac asked about a hidden path, but she surprised herself with an immediate answer: a rarely trodden path wedged between thickets. It ran parallel to the lake and forked in the middle, its leftmost path leading straight to the northern woods. With the Crucible forces roaming about the island, she couldn't be certain that they wouldn't come across anyone there, but it was their best chance. "Over there," Emery pointed the way to Isaac and Aubrey and stuck close to them, still frightened to be near the white-haired man.

Jarvan struggled through yet more underbrush and adjusted his glasses as came out again heading straight toward the town... again. Jarvan sighed, he had never been in the forest by himself before and realized he had no idea how to find his way through. Jarvan had figured he would just walk in a straight line towards the crashed ship but he hadn't counted on how difficult it was to navigate the forest. Well even if he could find the ship before the town's annexation was complete the logical part of his brain had already decided that nothing there would be helpful and he was just grasping at straws, straws that were very hard to get to. Jarvan decided he would have to fight the Cruciable no matter if he failed he would be ashamed to say he hadn't even tried to fight them off. He wasn't even sure how well he could fight them, since he had never fought any people before, only rift monsters.

Jarvan ran back into the outskirts of town and climbed up to one of the nearby rooftops to get a better view of what was going on. It appeared as though something was still going on in the town center but he wasn't close enough to make anything out and it looked as though the Cruciable troops had spread out and and were trying to take care of anyone running away.

Jarvan climbed down from the roof and raced towards the town center, which was where most of the commotion seemed to be, as he came around the corner he ran straight into two more Cruciable soldiers. Jarvan quickly stabbed into the nearest one's stomach and ripped his spear back out spinning it around to strike the other soilder, the second soldier managed to fire his gun breifly and one of the bullets pounded into his armour, somehow his armour held up, and another bullet was swatted aside by Jarvan's spear and the soldiers body followed suit. Jarvan stood there for a second unable to feel anything except the pounding of his heart.

Jarvan looked around and saw some poeple he recognized from school, Issac, Emery, and Aubrey, being lead by a dangerous looking man, he followed them briefly and watched with a bit of envy as the unknown man dispatched three soldiers with ease while Jarvan had barely been able to take out two, it was obvious that Jarvan was severely lacking in combat experience when fighting humans especially comprared to the stranger leading the group. The group appeared to be heading into the forest towards the downed ship; Jarvan ran after them excitedly, the guy leading seemed to have a lot of experience fighting maybe he there were more people like him on the ship and he could get them to help!

Jarvan got close enough to make contact without yelling at them which probally would have attracted unwanted attention, and he slowed down as he came closer, "Hey Issac, i see you're well on your way out of here with your new friend here" Then turning to face the man whose name he didn't know, "My name is Jarvan thanks for helping my friend, mind if i tag along with you?"

So the kid's name was Benjamin, and he wanted to first go to safety before finding his parents. Well, that was both comforting and slightly worrying. She had no idea if they will be able to go look for his parents afterwards, but decided that if that was his choice, then she wasn't going to argue with it. The moment she noticed the small mechanical butterfly come to him and do as he was ordered, she took a glance at Toroto. At first, the chameleon appeared to think it was a proper bug, until it noticed the metal movements it had, even if it was flying like a proper bug. She sighed out of relief before feeling Benjamin's hand grab hers, and she looked at him as he said they were hiding buddies for now.

"Uhm... Right. I was heading towards the crashed down ship, because it..." She slightly hesitated now, because she didn't want to involve a young kid in such matters. Deciding to come up with a different reason, she let out a cough "Because it fell in the direction away from the town square and they might need help." Nanako said. It was true the ship crashed in the direction opposite of the town square, but she wasn't heading there to give help, unless it meant hitting them with a frying pan on the head. Looking in the ship's direction, she ensured Benjamin's grip of her hand was tight "Lets go. We shouldn't stay here any longer." She said and then begun running lightly, to ensure the young boy had no trouble keeping up with her.

Benny nodded enthusiastically as newly met Nanako explained where they were going, the both of them starting in to a steady, easy jog. He didn't know what she meant when she said the "crashed ship," due to him sleeping through it, but it looked like the pair were heading right for it. "Cool, a ship!" Benny exclaimed. "I've never seen one up close before... Ooh, this should be cool to see!"

As they ran, there wasn't much conversation naturally. Breathing took priority over it, especially for Benny, who wasn't as fit as Nanako despite his constant walking. But a few minutes in, Benny started to get bored. He looked up at Nanako, studying her features more carefully than he had before. She looked nice enough, so she couldn't have been affiliated with the Crucible. Besides that, something else caught his eye: the green lizard perched on her shoulder. "Hey, Nanako," Benny said as he ran, "what's that lizard doing on your shoulder? Is it your pet?"

The mayor was paralyzed as he looked into the foreigner's one eye. Though his appearance wasn't frightening, he could see something in his eye. The look of a man that has seen many things, and not many pleasant. As their staredown continued, the soldiers that had been focusing on Weston had split up to chase down someone that attacked several. By the time Weston looked back around, he could only see fleeing soldiers. He looked around at the few that remained before sheathing both his swords across his back.

"That's good enough," Weston noted to himself as he began to walk away. With his words, the mayor was suddenly snapped out of his fear. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked, pounding the handle of his hammer against the cobblestone street. Weston didn't even respond as he continued walking away. Before Vladmir could get more worked up about it, the remaining soldiers all aimed their weapons at him. But before any shots could be fired, the Rift Hunters that had been standing idle realized they now had the upper hand. In a loud uproar, the locals brought up their arms for a much less overwhelming battle.

---

Another one? Summer thought to herself with a scowl. A second person, this time a woman, approached the Free Wind. I'm not just going to give everybody on this island a ride. That's a pointless plight. It's pitiful enough as it is... The green-haired woman smacked her forehead, before pushing a button to activate the ship's PA system. "New girl," she said first, directed to Nora. "You can come on board also. Both of you are to report to the top deck immediately. You will find stairs immediately to your left upon entering. At the top of the stairs, take two rights and the big door leads onto the deck."

"I expect you to have all your money out and in your hands by the time you get there." Though her words were greedy, there was no smirk or grin on her face. Only a look of anger and contempt. Whether it was toward the ship, her crew, the newcomers, or the situation in general, it was obvious the captain was far from pleased. "And put any weapons on the floor. The man with a gun will assist you in disarming yourselves." As she let go of the PA button, she kicked the wall beneath the controls. Quickly realizing she forgot something, she turned the PA on again.

"We cannot fly at this time. One of my guards and my first mate went into the town to get a mechanic. We leave as soon as they return, regardless of where you are standing or how comfortable you think you aren't." With that, she released the button again and kicked the wall again. And of course they are taking their sweet time when the Crucible shows up. The longer they take, the more vagrants will come aboard. What am I going to do with them, anyways? Hmm...

---

After running out the back door with the others, Aubrey took one last look at his house. He couldn't hear if his mother opened the front door yet or not. He didn't think they would kill her, but he had a sinking feeling that she would be... gone. Or am I the one that is about to disappear? Aubrey realized. Almost absent-mindedly, he bumped into Isaac when the gun-wielding man stopped everyone. This brought his attention to the Crucible soldiers that Varren proceeded to take care of.

The teen didn't say a word, but as they continued on, he stared at the bodies. It was strange. Almost like the next step. He had seen many brawls in Kuiper, and the loser would often be laying on the floor unconscious. It was almost like that. But worse. He figured he should feel disturbed by watching them be killed, but he didn't. Only morbid acknowledgement. His mind was still occupied by leaving his mother behind. At her own request, even. Did she just not want to carry on anymore? Aubrey wondered as the small party entered the forest.

He was snapped out of his daze when Emery finally spoke up. Hearing a familiar voice brought him back to reality, and he also noticed another person had shown up. It was one of the Rift Hunter kids. Aubrey didn't know him well, but he saw him around. While others their age went to school, Aubrey never did. But he could remember seeing him through the windows, or seeing him at Maximus headquarters. Looking ahead at the gun-wielding man, Aubrey frowned. Those two have something in common. They can survive in situations like this. People like Isaac, Emery and I... He glanced back over his shoulder one last time, looking back at the town as they plunged further into the forest.

---

Despite the chaos around him, Weston walked rather casually. It took a moment, but he had managed to walk out of the town of Krukow without a problem. The remaining soldiers were too occupied to bother chasing him. Not that any would if they had the option. As he walked, he heard the Interceptor start powering up and glanced over his shoulder. The white, sleek ship took to the air rather quickly and immediately turned hard left. Whoever was onboard, likely that wind mage captain, wanted to retreat to the safety of the Magellan battleships. Battleships always accompanied Interceptors on annexation missions.

Weston let out a sigh before turning his gaze forward again. Though, after a few seconds he suddenly stopped. He looked to his right at an open field. The wind moved the grass ever so gently, but there wasn't even a flower in sight to dot the permanent green. "Yeah, I feel it too," he mumbled. He continued to stare at the field for a moment, before a tiny speck appeared in the air several meters away. Weston watched a moment as it slowly grew in size, soon reaching the size of a coin. "Hmm..." As the Rift continued forming, Weston continued walking again. Though he kept his gaze on the black Rift portal. Though it was growing rather slowly, he knew the problems that were about to arise.

---

Summer didn't get a chance to leave the command bridge before she saw some movement in the trees from out the window. Stopping to look, she saw Varren leading a group of teenagers to the ship. With a scowl, she kicked open the slightly opened door and stormed down the stairs. Once on the top deck, she stomped over to the railing and leaned over it. "Varren!" she shouted down at the incoming group. "Where the hell is Weston!?"