The rock bounced several times before rolling to a halt in the middle of the dirt road. Walking along the dirt trail next to Lake Krukow, the blonde teenager found some entertainment in kicking a small stone. The sun was high in the sky, though it wasn't exactly hot. It was never "hot" in Krukow. Nor was it ever really cold. The temperature fluctuation was minimal, no matter the season. It was just as boring as this dirt road. Aubrey gave another light kick, watching the pebble bounce across the road further. However, it came to a rest near something that at first looked like another rock. As Aubrey drew near, he stopped and examined the small object. It was a wooden butterfly, slightly larger than the pebble next to it, with some kind of thin lace. A necklace of sorts. At first, it seemed plain odd. Then Aubrey's eyes widened. "An Aeva?" he thought aloud, bending over and picking it up. Holding it by the lace, he looked at the necklace intently for a moment. "Hey." The wooden object remained silent. "Helloooo?" Still silence. "If you're one of those Aevum I've heard about, you better not be messing with me..." The staredown continued a moment longer before Aubrey let out a sigh. Shrugging his shoulders, he tossed the necklace into the nearby lake. "I bet someone thinks they're real funny..." With his hopes now crushed, Aubrey kicked the rock again. This time, it made a sharp turn to the left after the first bounce, landing right in the lake. Now mildly disappointed that there was no form of entertainment for the rest of his walk, he paused to watch the ripples along the lake surface. But as the ripples died out, he began to hear a rumbling sound. The water of the lake began vibrating, creating small ripples across the entire length. Confused, Aubrey turned around to face the source of the low rumble. Frighteningly low in the sky, there was a large airship. Heading directly towards him. "Whoa..." As the large ship, an open-deck freighter by the looks of it, passed overhead, Aubrey rotated to keep his eyes on it. "Don't see too many of those pass by... That jackass was flying really low..." Suddenly, an idea came to his mind as he watched the ship disappear over the trees. "I bet everyone in town saw that too!" The teenager broke into a brisk run, no longer caring about neither the stone nor totem that had his attention moments before. He had a story to tell his mother. --- "Vladmir..." A tall man with black hair and obnoxiously large glasses stood in front of a desk. Behind it was the Krukow mayor, Vladmir Maximus. Not only was Vladmir tall, he was also wide. Though he was grey haired and wrinkled, with a trimmed grey beard to boot, his size came from muscle rather than fat. Intimidating to look at. Hilarious to listen to. "I know, I saw it too," a surprisingly high-pitched voice came from the big man. The assistant adjusted his glasses. "It would seem that the freight ship that passed dangerously low has landed on the north side of the island. It was likely an emergency landing. Should we send a search party or...?" The older man let out a sigh. "We never have ships like that come through this region of the world. There are no major routes nearby. This is suspicious..." As the overly-large glasses seemed to keep slipping, the tall man had to adjust them again. "I do not believe that ship was Crucibellian, Vladmir." "Of course not. It was too old to be a Crucible freighter. But things like this... they are a bad sign..." There was an awkward silence around the mayor's office for a moment. "Alright. We'll send a search party. Gather some of my men from Maximus, just in case." Before the assistant could even agree to the plan, the double doors to the room slammed open. "Vladmir!" Another young man, barely an adult, had barged in. The sudden burst enraged the mayor, and he jumped to his feet. Now standing at full height, he seemed even more intimidating. "What did I tell you about kno-" "Three Crucible ships have been spotted coming from the south-east!" There was a tense silence in the room. As angry as Vladmir looked a moment before, he now looked scared. With nobody saying anything, the newcomer decided to continue. "Two Magellan-class ships and an Interceptor-class. The Interceptor will be here any minute!" The mayor shook his head a few times and his angry expression returned. He pointed at the bespectacled man, whom was frozen in fear. "Gather all of Maximus. We have more important matters than the other ship. Go around the town and try to get all the women and children to the north-west part of the island. We need to get them on the skiff to Kuiper, fast." The assistant snapped out of his daze. "But sir... the skiff won't fit all of them. If you're planning on confronting them, you still won't be able to buy them enough time." A scowl formed on his face. "We have to try. But we can't have a panic... Ugh... Change of plans." The other two in the room seemed surprised by his sudden change in tone. "Gather all of Maximus. But we won't be fleeing. We have to disarm ourselves and take what's coming. This way, we won't lose as many lives..." The youngest spoke up again. "But Vladmir! You've heard the stories. These people aren't going to be nice, even if we do just roll over and give up. Your Rift Hunting guild is strong, and many of the men that work at the lumber mill are strong too. We can fight!" "No, we can't. The Interceptor's crew alone will be too much for us. And those Magellans... Those are battleships. If we put up a fight... they will annihilate us..." --- Aubrey closed the front door behind himself surprisingly gently, considering how excited he was. Rather carelessly in a rushed fashion, he threw his small backpack on the living room couch. Despite the fact that his mother was hardly able to get out of bed, the house was incredibly clean and tidy. Perhaps it was Aubrey that managed it. "Hey mom!" he called out, rushing down the hallway and taking a tight turn through an open bedroom door. Laying in the bed, under the covers, was a black-haired woman. Though her eyes were closed and her skin was pale, as well as being on the thin side, she stirred. "A huge ship passed over the island a few minutes ago. I'd never seen such a big airship around here before," he told her, going down on his knees next to her bed. His mother's eyes opened, revealing they were brown. "I've never heard of it either," she responded, giving him a smile. Aubrey grinned a bit, before pulling something out of his pocket. "I got paid today." He held up his hand, showing her the thick wad of cash. This caused her to chuckle. "That's good. But we have enough groceries for the week. I think you should hold onto that." This seemed to surprise Aubrey. "Are you sure? Can't think of anything else to get with it? Are you running low on your pills?" His mother shook her head slowly. "We're all set. Thanks to your hard work." A grin formed on Aubrey's face as he put the money back in his pocket. "Now why don't you go and find your friends. You deserve to have your fun for the day." Aubrey stood up to full height now. "Sheesh Mom. You still talk to me like I'm a little kid." This made his mother giggle a bit. "You always will be my little boy. Now run along. Make sure you're home by suppertime, and don't get into any trouble. None of your friends need to know how much money you have." Aubrey chuckled, before nodding his head. "Love ya, Mom." He walked out of the bedroom now, and with her son gone the woman rested her head and closed her eyes again. Now with everything done for the day, Aubrey walked into the kitchen. Before heading out, he needed one thing. A pair of sunglasses rested on the dining table, and the teenager quickly snatched them. After checking his reflection on the back of a clean spoon, he determined he looked cool enough to wander around town. With a grin on his face and money in his pocket, Aubrey headed out the front door. Upon closing it behind himself, he took a look around. The town seemed too quiet and boring for his taste. Before he could even decide where to start searching for people, he saw several Rift Hunters walk by. It was obvious who they were, as they wore the Maximus uniform. The teenager watched as they walked by. Though it wasn't uncommon to see them around, as they lived here, something seemed off. The two men seemed almost suspicious. Aubrey watched as they walked down the street and turned the corner, likely heading for the town hall. Their boss worked his day job there as the mayor, after all. Despite the strangeness of that event, Aubrey shook it off and the grin returned. Time to find some friends.

Sweat beaded down her face, dotting her forehead like ad diadem of diamonds. Her lungs squeezed in her chest with every lumbering step she stole and her shoulder seared with a hot, fiery pain. Yet still she trudged on through the woods, the front of the log resting on her shoulder. Behind her, a man of forty years panted as he carried the backend of the dead tree. The sounds of their exhausted coughs created a melody of hard work and their tensing muscles were a graceless dance of labor. Every step was hell, but they continued to carry the burden proudly. It was only when they reached a small house that they stopped to rest. It was a modest house on the outskirts of Krukow, Krukow and was surrounded by the woods. On the porch, in her favorite rocking chair, was Merrybeth, the slaving girl’s mother and the slat-and-pepper haired man’s wife. In her lap was a thick book detailing court laws and was torn, bended, and generally overused. Though, it didn’t matter how used it was, as Merrybeth almost never had the opportunity to put the knowledge to good use; they lived in a small town, on a small island, after all. Upon seeing them, Merrybeth waved her hand elegantly, tan appendage that swayed like the wind, and beckoned the duo over. “You’re back from Kuiper already, mom?” The girl inquired, though the answer was evident, and flicked a russet lock from her just-as-red eyes. “Obviously.” Merrybeth answered with a wry twist of her lips. “Why don’t you fix me some tea, Enna?” The now named Enna frowned, but moved towards the door anyways. Merrybeth mad an ‘ah’ sound and Enna halted, glancing at her mother in question. However, Merrybeth wasn’t looking at her. The tan woman fixed her ruby eyes on her husband and crooked a finger at him, gesturing excitedly towards a book that lay next to her on a small table. “Jack, dear, I got you a book for arming.” Merrybeth announced, before smiling a smile that Enna knew well. It was the fox-like demeaning grin that Enna had learned to duplicate so well. “Now, you can do something actually useful.” Like a well-done bomb, Jack blew up. His face became an aggravated purple and his veins bulged from his neck, like bridges on flat land. Muscles once tired became reenergized as he flexed them irately. “Merrybeth,” he warned, his voice a deep, guttural growl. “What?” Enna’s mother asked innocently, cocking her head to the side. Enna bit her lip and decided that it was not to be part of this quarrel. “I’m going to hang out with my friends, bye!” Despite her uncharacteristic squeak, her parents paid her no mind and she rushed from the house and into the distance. The town of Krukow was only a couple minutes time from her house and Enna arrived in just five minutes. While she excused herself to hang with friends, the truth was that Enna didn’t really have any. What can she say? She was a temperamental, judgmental bitch. She got it from her mother. While Enna wishes she could say that Merrybeth hasn’t always been like that, she couldn’t because she has. As long as Enna has known her – her whole sixteen year long life – Merrybeth has been picking fights left and right. If her opponent just happened to be her husband, Jack, she got bonus points. Merrybeth just loved being in the center of chaos, thrived in it, and maybe that’s why she was lawyer. It didn’t necessarily make her a bad person – she was just DIFFERENT from the regular bunch of saps that lived in the little town. To Enna, her mother was a great character. Yes, Enna hated chaos. Yes, Enna hated their fights. Yes, Enna generally didn’t like conflict. But, damnit it all, her mother was amazing. Since she’s been born, Enna wished to be her mother. Someone different and unique. Maybe that’s why Enna imitated her aggravating habit of picking fights until, somewhere along the line, it became her own personality. When someone fell, Enna had to laugh. When someone said something extremely stupid, Enna had to point it out. Who was she to disappoint her soul’s inner desires? Maximus Hunters rushed past Enna, knocking into her aching shoulder and nearly tipping her sideways. “Oi, bastards!” Enna shouted in as strangled voice, caught off guard. She shook an angry fist at the two and even flipped a rather nasty gesture at their backs, but they didn’t bother apologizing. “Damn it all.” She muttered under her breath, glancing around the town and attempting to rub off the anger that surged with in her veins. If she inherited her mother’s bitchiness, then she inherited her father’s anger.

Pansy slowly laid the dough onto the flour-coated table and began his work. He kneaded it with his hands, pressing and stretching the damp dough with the heel of his hand before folding it over and flipping it over, sprinkling some flour on top and beginning the process again. It was monotonous but not in a way that bored him. It relaxed him. Along with spending time with his plants, kneading bread was one of the only times he could be alone with his thoughts. In the back room of the bakery, where he was alone for hours at a time with just a bowel of dough and an oven, was where he was probably happiest. The dough flipped for the third time and now that he was satisfied, he carefully placed the floury dough on a peel. Being careful not to drop the bread, he tucked it neatly into the third row of the oven. He rubbed his hands on a spare cloth, removing the flour and excess dough and carefully looking around the small room that he spent most of his days working. A wooden work table lined the longest wall, covered in flour and pieces of loose dough. The floor was paved in tiles, which made most messes easy to clean. The walls above his work table were lined with pots, pans and almost every kind of cooking utensil you could think of. Behind him was a blank wall, it's only feature a wooden door that lead out into the main shop. Ovens covered the remaining wall and due to the constant baking that went on within them, it was always rather stuffy. It was because of the heat that he left the window opposite the ovens ajar and rolled his sleeves up completely. A cool breeze wafted into the room, bringing with it the sounds of the town. Except, there were no sounds. Pansy frowned. He was used to the sound of the town winding down towards the end of the day but he was not used to the deafening sound of silence that had befallen the town. He dropped the cloth onto the work table and strode across to the window. He pulled it open with a slight grunt and stuck his head out of it. He was immediately hit by the mild temperature, that was a cool shock to a face that had sweated in a hot baker for several hours. The street outside his window was completely devoid of all life. Not a sound echoed down the street. Where were the cheeky children who shouted through the window, asking for scraps? Where were the housewives of Krukow who strolled up and down the street, gossiping about politics? Or the workmen, who seemed to have no difference to their inside and outside voices? He grunted in confusion and slammed the window shut behind him. "Hey, Carmena!" he called from the window. From the other side of the door, he heard a shuffling and the door swung open. It was his boss, an older woman known only as Carmena. She handled the business side of the bakery but was still covered in flour and wore an apron. Her salt-and-pepper hair was tied in a tight bun with a hairnet placed tightly above it all. Her skin was a creamy-brown colour, a colour that almost matched her eyes. She was a kindly woman who had employed Pansy for almost 10 years now and he had grown to become a good friend to her. She looked at him expectantly. "Is there something going on?" he asked, gesturing towards the window. "Oh...I don't know, Panny" she said, confused. Panny was a nickname she had developed for him over the years ("I'm not calling you Pansy!") and as far as he knew, she was the only one who used it. She walked up the window, cracked it open and peered out. "Hm" was her only response. Her brow furrowed as she held her ear outside. "Tell you what, Panny. I've got a few deliveries to make but if you'd like, you can do them for me, get some fresh air and maybe try to find out what's going on. Staying in that small room all day isn't healthy!" she smiled. "Okay" he nodded as she led him out to shop. It was rather bare. Behind the counter sat rows of bread and a set of two doors, one of which lead to Carmena's living quarters and the other to the baking room. Apart from the bread on display and the counter, it was an empty shop. Recent events had hit the local economy hard and her shop was no exception. "Here" she shoved a basket of bread into his hands. "Take them to the Simmon's household. And find out what's going on!" With a quick nod, Pansy headed out the door, which tinkled as he opened and closed it. He was in the streets now. And the streets were empty.

It was quiet and listless, as though time stood still and stretched each second into forever. Days like these were the worst. Emery swung herself higher on the makeshift swing she had fashioned out of an old cushion and some leftover rope from a previous repair, a drawn out sigh escaping her lips. Not a wisp of cloud dotted the sky, robbing her of even the most boring source of entertainment. Outsiders, not that they would get many of them nowadays, would argue that every day in a small town like Krukow must be spent in similar indolence, but that usually wasn't true. Although today was certainly up in the dull meter, there were many fun things that could be done, if you looked hard enough. Like swimming in the like, or fishing in the lake, or having picnic by the lake. Exploring the island was among her favorites—it helped her unwind after a busy day of fixing things—but not many shared the sentiment. There were the occasional Rifts that needed closing, and she supposed some would consider that fun, though she tended to stay far away from those. Of course, Kuiper was always more fun, but she hasn't visited their neighboring island since she always went with her sister and— Ouch. Emery fell from the swing with a thud, landing face first on the grassy knoll. She rubbed her nose frantically and scrunched her face to keep imminent tears at bay. Falling didn't hurt at all, but the pang in her chest certainly did. This was why days like these were the worst. Without work to keep her busy, or friends to keep her company, she was left alone with her thoughts, and that was usually not a good thing. It ended with her wondering why she was still in Krukow when her sister was out there somewhere, calling for her. Two weeks have passed since she received the message, and yet she was no closer to finding her. Before she descended into another hour-long self-berating session, a low rumble echoed from a distance, effectively distracting her. Emery jumped on the swing to get a better view, instinctively pulling out the goggles out of her skirt pocket and donning them after she spotted something large in the horizon. It disappeared in between the trees before she could get a proper look—she didn't get the chance to start recording—but she saw enough to glean a bit of information. Judging from its size and dimensions, it was most likely a freight ship, although it flew lower than what she thought was the standard. She lifted a finger to trace the path it took; if it maintained its downward trajectory and speed, then it would have landed somewhere in the northern part of Krukow. Now the question was, what was she to do with this information? Emery tugged at the ribbon on her hair, as she was wont to do whenever she pondered over a decision. Should she go or not? She knew a shortcut to the northern area; she could get there and back before anyone realized, pursue the mysterious ship to alleviate her boredom. But it was a little scary. Maybe she should get someone to come with her? Aubrey seemed like he was always up for this kind of things—in fact, this was more his forte! She would feel loads better if he accompanied her. It was only then that the small brunette realized her mistake. With her hands off the swing ropes and nothing else to keep her balanced, it took only the gentle morning breeze whizzing past to tip her off the cushion. For the second time that day, and just minutes after the first, Emery fell from the swing. Only this time, she proceeded to roll all the way down the knoll, ultimately landing on her rear. Grass clung to her hair and clothes, and dirt stained her forehead and cheeks, but the girl remained impressively unfazed by it all. Emery immediately shot straight back up as though nothing happened and headed out to the town as planned, too accustomed to such accidents to be affected any longer. She ran past the bakery, where she stopped long enough to wave at and hurriedly greet the only other person out and about the streets, before rounding the corner. Once upon a time, the mere sight of Pansy Spitz would have sent her running the other way in a blink of an eye, but she has since learned that it was his sister that should be feared. To this day, Emery was still intimidated when forced to work with Tulip. Down the street was Aubrey's house, but of course, it wasn't like her to arrive at a destination without tripping at least once. As she spotted the blonde with his signature sunglasses, a distracted Emery took a faltering step that could have ended with a small bruise. Luckily, she righted her position before another fall, and although she ended up sort of skidding the rest of the way, she reached her friend without sustaining another accidental self-inflicted injury to add to the tally. She grinned at Aubrey in greeting, her arms flailing about in all her excitement and her words spilling out of her lips in a rush. "Aubrey, hey! I saw a big freighter just now land somewhere in the northern forest. Wanna go investigate?"

The skies were clear, the sun was shining, it was quite a juxtaposition to the kind of craziness Katherine had to endure getting to the relatively remote island. The young adult sat next to her aircraft, landed in a meadow, resting against the warm aluminum body enjoying the calm weather. Any other day Katherine would have taken this opportunity to practice some maneuvers she had been toying around with in her head, but after such a long and tiring journey, a day or two of rest was all she wanted for now. Only a day or so earlier had the arrived at the rural community of Krukow. Her arrival in the makeshift, homegrown machine she called a plane was a slightly eventful one, as the island's small community wasn't exactly used to strange looking aircraft suddenly landing in their cleared fields. Though with Katherine's trademark genuine open friendliness, the farmer whose field she had landed in didn't mind her presence. He hadn't planted anything in that particular field nor was planning on doing so any time soon. Katherine had learned a bit about the island, but not a whole lot. The girl had only just flew out of a storm just to get to the place for some rest. Her pet Kulca, Ava, nudged at her arm, eventually pushing it aside so it could stretch itself across her lap. "Hey, shouldn't you be flying about and enjoying this weather?" Katherine inquired to her pet, now lazily sunbathing on her lap. Ava only gave a shrug of her wings in response before continuing its nap. Katherine simply sighed, muttering about how her lazy pet had simply slept through the whole storm anyway. Suddenly, a low rumble permeated through the air. Katherine opened her eyes and quickly stood up, causing poor Ava to roll off her into the grass with a surprised squeak. "Whoa...." A large freighter airship glided overhead on what looked like a one way ticket to the ground. "Wow, that's a older design with..... no way... it couldn't be! Come on Ava, we gotta go see where that landed!" she said quickly dashing off in the direction the airship went with Ava flying in annoyed pursuit.

"Goddamn... piece of shit... hunk of metal..." Various curse words were grumbled up and down the large freighter. The massive, outdated ship had crash landed on the outskirts of a clearing, sliding into the trees. The dirt on the ground was turned over, the resulting trench indicating the direction and distance it went from the initial landing, and there were dozens of trees flattened underneath the hull. The ship wasn't even on its landing pads and rested at a slight angle. While the underside was visibly scratched, the majority of the damage appeared as if it had been there for a lot longer than a few minutes. The green-haired captain was pacing up and down the top deck of the freighter, paying no mind to the not-so-horizontal floor she walked upon. "And of course it had to be in the middle of nowhere. Stupid rails. Damn things are solar and still manage to fail." As she continued cursing to herself up and down the ship, one of the doors to the top deck opened and revealed the intimidating first mate. "Aura generator is shot too," he updated her, earning a shout of frustration in return. Before she could begin swearing again, the first mate spoke up again. "This island isn't uninhabited. Perhaps we can get assistance from the locals." The young woman thought about it for a moment, though there weren't very many options to begin with. "Alright, alright. Take Varren and go find someone that can fix the Aura generator. We can worry about the solar rails when we get to somewhere more advanced. The generator should get us to Kuiper. Though with my luck we'll all just die in the middle of the ocean..." Ignoring the captain's pessimism, the first mate turned back towards the open door. "Varren! Top deck!" He turned to face the captain again as he waited for the guard to arrive. "You need to stop taking your anger out on the ship, Summer. Maybe we should invest in updating it rather than maintaining it. I have to admit... she's seen better days..." The captain, Summer, didn't take kindly to his suggestion. "If we had the money to get the job done right, I would've had it done already. So shut your trap, Weston. I'll throw you overboard." A smile formed on Weston's face as he walked towards the edge of the deck, looking out into the clearing. "Yeah, yeah. I know you will..." Some of his hair fell down over his good eye, prompting him to brush it aside. "I'll leave my swords here. Communities like this are usually older and wouldn't appreciate some outsider walking around armed." By now Varren would've made it to the top deck. "Alright, we're going to the town south of here and seeing if we can get some mechanical assistance." Hardly waiting for the soldier-like guard to agree to the objective, the first mate casually jumped over the edge of the deck and landed gracefully among the fallen trees several meters below. "Let's get a move on." --- Aubrey hardly made it down the street before he heard someone running up to him. By the time he turned to see who it was, Emery had already tripped and slid most of the way, causing Aubrey to take a few seconds to look down and notice her at his feet. She was always clumsy, to the point of being funny, but she was his friend so he usually didn't bring it up. Usually. "Nice distance on that one," he joked light-heartedly. It seemed that she noticed the freighter from earlier. A grin formed on his face. "Yeah, I saw it. I was at the lake when it flew by. Thought it was going to crash into the town for a moment." Aubrey lifted his sunglasses up and rested them on the top of his head. "I was just going to go check it out myself. I just got back to town a bit ago. Today's already an interesting day." Behind the two more Maximus rift hunters walked by, toward the town square. Aubrey looked over his shoulder briefly and watched them as they went. "Something seems fishy though, Em," Aubrey said, his grin vanishing. "The town got real quiet after that ship flew over. I haven't seen anyone out and about but you and the Rift Hunters... I think we should check that out f-..." Aubrey looked past Emery into the sky toward the south, stopping mid-sentence as a sleek, white ship flew low over the island. --- The new ship was much quieter than the freighter and vastly smaller, though it was clearly large enough for long-distance travel. It appeared almost like a flying knife, having no top deck and a single solar rail across the top that went down the entire length. Most notably, however, was the paint job. Fresh and slick, it was mostly white with the exception of the red insignia near the bow on both sides. The insignia of the Crucible Navy. The ship flew low over the town, only emitting a faint humming noise. It halted above the lake before descending and hovering only a few feet off the ground. A door opened along the side of the ship and a walkway stretched down over the water and met the edge of the lake perfectly, creating a dry path for the line of soldiers that began marching out. After several dozen filed out, they all formed ranks in three lines along the lakeside path. Two officers stepped out of the ship, one being short and bald while the other was of average height but with an incredibly muscular build and a scar over his right eye. "Secure the town," the short officer, the highest ranking, instructed casually. The soldiers began marching forward, holding their automatic rifles close to their chest with discipline. The two officers walked between the three lines, keeping themselves in the middle. The lines on the right and left diverted as they reached the town, splitting up to start searching homes. The middle line and the officers continued into the town square, stopping in surprise. A crowd of Rift Hunters had already gathered and a pile of weapons was already formed in the center of the square. A sly grin formed on the short officer's face. "Excellent. They know what is best for them..." The same old man from before, Vladmir, stepped out of the crowd and stood before the two officers. "My name is Vladmir Maximus, the mayor of this town," he greeted, giving a polite bow. The short officer chuckled in amusement. "You are for now. My name is Captain Storm. This is Lieutenant Armstrong. You seem to have been expecting us. That will make this much quicker and far less painful..."

”What the-?!” Was all the boy could think before being thrashed off of his mattress, exposed to the open air with his boxers as his only defense. Sure, he has had some pretty rough awakenings in the past, usually caused by his fellow guardmates, yet this surely took the cake. Varren would have rather landed facefirst into such a delicacy, yet was instead met by the cold metallic tiled flooring. Of all people, he was rarely allowed to get a wink of sleep. Upon the Free Wind, he was one of the few who fell victim to this no shuteye policy. As such, rest was a rare commodity, one which he always loved to ascertain. It took a few moments for the boy to realize that the ship was making an emergency landing. Summers could hold her liquor like a queen, which meant this haphazard descent wasn’t on her terms. ”Alright, first… Crash landing guide! Where’s my tablet?!” As soon as he managed to get a decent footing, his personal device suddenly flew at him. Varren’s eyes instinctively homed in on the airborne object and caught it in the palm of his hand with grace. After a few hurried pecks at the screen, the precautionary guide conjured up by his group leader popped up. ”Alright, step one… Tie everything down with your nonexistent rope. Step two, get all the boozes for me. Step three, pray to your go- What kind of guide is this, Dabrowski?!” The ship shuttered again and forced the gunner off balance. Varren was flung around like a ragdoll for a while longer before the ship finally came to a stern halt. He had seen the world in an entirely different perspective, an upside down one at that, given the fact that his back was against his bed, and his shoulders were propped up on the floor. The tired boy let out a groan and managed to get himself dressed. Generally unconventional and bland apparel was his style. It was most definitely more low profile than the armour Weston was always draped in. A dark grey hoodie, jeans, and small backpack of concordant coloring. Varren ran a sluggish hand through his hair and turned himself to face his armament desk. It was the only thing in his room which he was scrupulous about. It was its own realm of organized sanctity, in comparison to the disorderly room surrounding it. He opened each drawer with ease and set upon the flat surface his Tecpatl and a couple of loaded magazines. The boy hooked two onto his belt then shoved the rest into his backpack. Yinyues hid the belt under his hoodie, and lastly, slipped his feet into his magnetic boots. He firmly fastened the metal-coated straps into placed, and with a nod of affirmation, set off towards his beckoning. Chances are, the rest of his fellow cargo guards were still writhing in bed. At their Free Wind’s previous stop, they had some sort of cuisine which churned their stomachs into a turmoil of dietary disfunction. Luckily Varren was quite the picky eater and evaded such a painful fate. Whilst jogging through the monotonous halls of the ship he quickly checked the magazines he had packed. Most of them were less-than lethal rubber rounds, yet if a certain governmental party was involved, there wouldn’t even be a hint of doubt before switching into dangerous chamberings. But at the moment, Varren had no idea of who inhabited this island, what was on it, or where it was. As the guard made his way to the deck he could already hear his captain’s… colorful vocabulary, accompanied by a solely-performed symphony of clanking and kicking of machinery. ”About time this happened… Wondered how long we would get before that thing finally called it quits.” WIthout even seeing the perpetrator of their crash landing, Yinyues already knew the generator had failed. He could recall countless occasions where he was forced to perform hull repairs and other forms of maintenance, forced upon him by his lazy guardmates. The boy had been lost in his thoughts yet again, Weston’s bellowing tugged him out of the daze and dragged him to the top deck. The guard picked up his pace and broke into a sprint, his silenced SMG and other gears bouncing inside of his bag as he sped his way to his higher ups. The youngster finally arrived at the location and gave a stoic salute, something he had mastered back in basic training. ”Sir! Ma’am! Good morn-” He was cut off mid-sentence as he gazed out to the landscape they were submerged in. A horizon of green topping, and at its center lied a small, secluded town. ”So it is inhabited…” He mumbled with hope. There was a chance that somebody out there could repair their ship and get them back on schedule. Of course Summer was still allowing her anger to ensue upon the ship she loved and loathed at the same time. Weston remained the voice of reason and was quick to reassure her. At times like these, Varren simply remained quiet and awaited his orders, which were soon issued by the first mate. Shortly after, the man threw himself off the ship and landed perfectly. The boy grinned and nodded to his captain, then followed suit. His boots began to eminate a light hum and glowed an incandescent blue at their heels. The guard lugged himself feetfirst over the railing and planted his feet on the hull, which he quickly sprinted down and hopped off of in a flawless fashion. ”Copy that, let’s split off when we get closer to town. We can cover more ground that way.” And with that, the two ventured into the depths of the forest, towards the town.

Enna wasn’t the oblivious sort, but she couldn’t always have her eyes trained on the sky, now could she? So, of course, she missed the rinky dinky freight ship and so her mind was clear of worries. Until her eyes idled upwards and she was met with the silent flight of the Crucible’s ships. Thoughts ran through her head, swirling and twirling in her mind until she was emotionally dizzy. What could she do? There was nothing that poor Enna could do to stop a damn invasion! Thoughts of her parents dying flashed before her wits and blood splattered across her heart: damn it all. Without another thought to be had, Enna pivoted on her foot and sprinted as fast as she could into the direction from which she just came. Like a bullet, she flew and like a gun, she pushed. Her aching muscles were burning corpses, shriveling up and transforming into ash, and her energy slowly left her. Still, she pushed harder and harder and harder and harder and harder – Whack! Enna grasped her throbbing forehead as she plunged downwards and onto her rump. Above her loomed a shadow and, peeking through her eyelashes, Enna saw ebony muscles and long dreads. It was that scary guy, uh, what was his name? It didn’t matter at the moment. Enna shoved herself onto her knees and glared up at the man through her bangs, pointing an accusing finger at him. “Who do you think you are, you-you pansy! Do you have any idea who I am? Running into me like that! Ha! I should show you what to run into!” She scowled, ignoring the obvious fact that she was the one who ran and she was the one who bumped into him. Because it didn’t matter – Enna was always right and the other was always wrong. Enna fumed and crossed her arms, her knuckles turning white as they pressed into her forearms. And then, like a hammer, she remembered exactly what she was doing. Suddenly, an insecurity took hold of her – insecurity over her future and her parents’ future: it was the damn Crucible! She hoped that the small flicker of dying fire inside of her didn’t show and to prove to herself that it wasn’t there, she straightened her back and puffed out her chest. “Didja see those Crucible ships, huh, beefcakes? We don’t have time to be dawdlin’!” As if to emphasize the moniker she gave him, Enna slapped one of his muscles with the back of her hand and rocked back on her heels in case he would move to hit her. "Damn it all."

The afternoon air was cool on Pansy's face, which had become quite flushed in the back room of the bakery. He clutched his basket of bread close to his body and stopped a moment, listening hard. There wasn't a sound for miles - not a bird sang, not a child shouted and it seemed as though the whole town held it's breath for something. He walked cautiously down the street, as if terrified that something bad was happening. He had walked this street millions of times over course of his life but never had it felt so silent and tense. The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps around the corner made him jump slightly. A short, light-haired girl covered in muck and grass gave him a quick wave and a "Hello!" before continuing past him without breaking her run. Pansy recognised her, somewhat vaguely - it was Emery Cooke, the girl who worked with his sister, Tulip, at the mechanics. By the time he had caught on to who she was, she was already out of earshot down the street. "Oh, Emery!" he began, taking a step back towards the bakery. "Ohhh....never mind, then". A paranoid part of the baker said she was running from something and judging by the state of her clothes and face, it could be believable. But the friendly greeting and wave said otherwise. He shook his head, wondering where she was off to and continued towards the Simmons' household. It wasn't that far, theoretically, anyway. The Simmons' were a local family unit. Two children, a father and a mother made up the close family unit. There wasn't particularly anything strange about them. They were a rather plain yet happy family that were famous for the brown hair, brown eyes combination that was in every generation. They were also one of Carmena's favourite customers, hence the reason she delivered much of their bread. Ah, bread. The smell of freshly-baked bread still had an almost drug-like effect to Pansy, even after nine year working in a bakery. As a child, his mothers bread had been delicious and one of Pansys goals in life was to some day reach the same level of bread-making as his mother, who refused to hand down her secrets. Although, Pansy was almost sure she hid the recipes in her journal under the- A quiet hum came over head as a sleek, silver ship flew over the town. Pansy's eyes widened at the sight and the bread basket fell to his feet, instantly forgotten. This was no normal trade ship or even a pirate ship - it looked much more powerful than that. For years, the crazy men with signs on Kuiper had often shouted in his face about invaders from outer space. At the time, he had laughed off their ideas as silly or unrealistic. But now, seeing a sleek silver ship, with no deck, not to mention the strange insignia, set his heart racing. Emery running. A sleek ship. Everyone disappeared. It all made sense. Krukow was being invaded by aliens. Horrible things came to mind just at the thought of aliens - green men with guns, people shot, injuries, the way of life ruined forever and worst of all, death. The stories told in the Kuiper newspaper, that his mother had often read and believed, told story of skiffs, completely abandoned, washing up in docks with no signs of struggle and they often suggested aliens. Pansy gulped as he saw the ship lazily turn and land somewhere behind him. His heart rate increased, his tongue became dried and heavy in his mouth and he could feel his left leg beginning to shake. These were the first signs that he was scared. So he did the thing he always did when scared - he started running to find his mother. He set off at a lumbering pace but got faster as thoughts of aliens with laser guns killing his entire family drowned out all other thoughts. A small part of him said to scream for help but then he realised that was probably what everyone else in town had done. And he couldn't see any of them. He ran full pelt for several minutes, his heart feeling He slowly trotted to a stop at a corner and leaned on it with one arm on his knees, panting hard. "Oh my Gods...Oh my Gods..." he murmured between breaths, his heart rate nearing that of a marathon runner. His chest felt tight and the muscles on his legs burned He glanced into the sky behind him, wondering if aliens would spare a black man and his small family if he offered to cook bread for them. Something hit him straight on in the chest, almost making him jump out of his boots. It bounced harmlessly off him, thankfully. He still gave a small yelp as the girl who had run straight into him hit the floor in front of him. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry" he said, covering his mouth with one hand in shock. The girl shoved herself to her knees, a scowl on her face and pointed a finger at him. A frightened look crossed his face as she did so. Was she an alien about to kill him? Or even worse, anally probe him? Although... "“Who do you think you are, you-you pansy! Do you have any idea who I am? Running into me like that! Ha! I should show you what to run into!” she snarled at him. "Bu-but you ran into me..." his voice trailed off to nothingness as she crossed her arms and fumed. She looked rather familiar. Pansy had seen the girl around town several times but he couldn't put a name to her face. And Pansy Spitz knew everyone on Krukow worth knowing about. “Didja see those Crucible ships, huh, beefcakes? We don’t have time to be dawdlin’!” she said suddenly. "Crucible ships? But those are obviously-Ohhhhh, gosh, I'm such an idiot!" his sentence ended in a short laugh, ignoring the nickname she had thrown at him. He was silly to believe such stories - green men from outer space would never invade a small island like Krukow. But this relief was short lived when he remembered that while an imaginary threat wasn't, a real threat was. To emphasize her point, the smaller girl gave him a slap on the bicep. Pansy flinched, even though it didn't hurt him (much) but she seemed to do the same, almost hopping back to avoid his reach. "Damn it all." she murmured to herself. Pansy looked slightly uncomfortable and rubbed his arm, pouting slightly. "Erm, okay. The Crucible is here, are they? Well, that's bad..." A chilling gunshot echoed through the empty streets from the centre of town, confirming Pansy's theory. The Crucible were here and it was bad. Very fucking bad. "Oh, my gods..." he whispered, his eyes meeting the girls and widening in fear. "Le-lets get out of here". He set off on a jog down the road, careful not too make too much noise. The gunshot set his pulse racing and all sorts of theories raced through his head to it's source. Who had fired a gun in this town? More importantly, who had they fired it at? The Crucible seemed like the obvious answer but still more questions spun in his mind. What were they doing here, of all places? What would they do to the inhabitants? Why here? Why Krukow?

Of course, Aubrey had seen it too. Emery beamed; she knew she could always rely on him to be on top of fun things like this. She nodded as he voiced her thoughts, about the misleadingly boring day proving instead to be an interesting one. Sixteen years she'd been on Krukow and nothing like this had ever happened before. "Great! I know exactly where to… go…" Emery drifted off when she spotted the rift hunters walking by, tilting her head curiously as they made their way to the town square. It wouldn't have seemed so strange—rift hunters came and went all the time—if it weren't for the way Aubrey watched them. The wariness that she glimpsed in his eyes made her believe she was about to hear some bad news. A strange sense of foreboding racked her frame and she edged closer to the blonde unconsciously. Her hands clenched in apprehension and her fingernails dug into her palms. Aubrey was right. She had paid it no heed earlier, but other than him and Pansy, she had encountered no else out on the streets. Krukow was a small and peaceful town, but this was bordering on too quiet. There should have been some morning buzz, kids playing out the courtyards or peddlers badgering others with their wares. Anything but dead silence. Aubrey stopping midsentence only exacerbated her worries. She wasn't one to immediately assume the worst, but when even Aubrey was stunned to silence, she knew what was in store could be nothing good. "W-what is it?" Emery could feel her heart starting to race at the decidedly ominous atmosphere that settled upon them. Never could she have anticipated the day taking a turn like this. Hesitantly, she followed his line of sight, looking up and to the south, and all but felt her stomach drop when spied it. For the second time that day, Krukow would receive unexpected visitors. Only this time, it was an unwelcomed one. This ship was considerably smaller, and unlike the old freighter that barely managed to land, the sleek aircraft looked to be in perfect condition. Its faint buzzing sent a shiver down her spine, and the bold red insignia it brandished caused her heart to skip a beat. What on Aurelia was the Crucible Navy doing in their little town? Just the thought of the empire left a bitter taste in her mouth. Her sister had wanted absolutely nothing to do with them, and stories of the empire's brutality justified this abhorrence. Arden had warned her countless times to never get involved with them, and she had always been scared to find out what would happen to those who did. With shaky hands, Emery donned her goggles, swallowing nervously as she waited for the system to initialize. She fumbled her way on top of a low wall that fenced in a nearby shop for a better vantage point and braced herself for what she would discover. As expected, the ship had landed along the lake. Emery zoomed in as far as she could, zeroing on the ship's main entrance as it door slide open. A walkway extended to the right side of the ship, granting safe passage across the lake for the soldiers that marched out. She expected the line to break after the fifth soldier, but she was way off mark. On and on they marched, until several dozen had littered the edge of the lake. A Crucibellian army this size could only mean something horrible was about to happen. Emery relayed the information unto Aubrey as best she could in her frantic state. "Aubrey, there's a lot of them and they're coming. We have to run before they get us." She hopped off the wall carelessly, nearly crashing against him in the process, and started to tug at his arm. If they run for the northern forest, they might be able to seek refuge there. It was far enough from town, and they could stay there until Mayor Vladimir fixes everything like he always did. But before she could even flee, a thought struck her and she gasped in horror. "No, wait! We have to warn everyone else. Mr. Johnson's all by himself and—" Emery's eyes flicked down the street, to where Aubrey's house was, and the words died on her lips. And as if to punctuate the dread that overcame her, a gunshot echoed through the streets.

Katherine had been walking through the forest now for some time, gradually making her way towards the crashed airship. Her theories and ideas of what had become of the airship buzzing in her head. "Maybe its empty and I can loot it for a new engine! Or batteries! Or.... well anything I need! That may have been an old model, but it definitely will have stuff way better than what's in the Songbird... Or maybe the the whole crew as infected! Turning the ship into a flying grave that eventually drifted onto this island!" She paused for a moment at the thought. Ava gave her a curios look, unsure why she had suddenly stopped. "....Nahhh.... its probably something boring like generator failure or a punctured ballast of some sort and they were just smuggling something..... Oh well." Katherine sighed at thought of the most likely scenario. Still, regardless as to how they got here, Katherine was excited to potentially see the infamous ship that has evaded the Crucible for so many years. "The Free Wind", a ship that has been a thorn in the butt for the Crucible for years. Katherine had heard of the ship through her travels. One pirate had even said the ship's hull may be old, even rusted, but bares no marks of ever being hit. One pirate she had sat with even speculated that it might have some sort of invisible technology of some sort, allowing the ship to literally disappear into thin air. Speculations from half drunk pirates aside, Katherine was excited to learn about it in person. Though before she was close enough to see it, she spotted some people. She noted they were armed, but most definitely not on guard... or at least expecting any threats. Thus, deducing they were most likely part of the crew of the ship, she decided to cautiously approach them. "Hello there! Are you, perhaps, from that airship that made that elegant landing over there?" Katherine shouted to them, revealing her position.

The first mate turned to face the girl that approached him. It was surprising running into someone already, given he and Varren hadn't reached the town yet. "Yeah, that's our ship," Weston answered, crossing his arms over his chest. "The solar rails finally gave out and the aura generator hasn't turned on in years. We coasted for miles to make it here and survive." Weston motioned for the girl to follow him as he continued walking toward Krukow. "Would you happen to know any mechanics or people who know a thing or two about generators?" he asked as the party exited the woods and began crossing a grassy field. "I can pay, though sadly not much. Thankfully it isn't a rush job." As the three walked through the field, Weston stopped and looked to his left as if he heard something. For a few seconds he continued staring at the ground several meters away but soon relented and continued walking. "As I was saying, we aren't under any pressure to-" The sound of a distant gunshot echoed across the field. It was hard to hear, given the distance from Krukow, but the low ambience let it carry easily. Weston paused when he heard it and looked to Katherine. "That came from the town," he commented. "Is everything okay here?" --- The assistant with thick glasses fell over, grabbing his side. The gun in his hand clattered to the floor harmlessly. The other Rift Hunters around the square looked on in shock, surprised to see the assistant try to attack the Crucible officers. Lieutenant Armstrong stood over the assistant menacingly, cracking his knuckles. The captain began to chuckle, bringing his attention back to Vladmir. "That was rather foolish. I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to try and shoot me," Storm taunted. The mayor's expression began to contort in anger. He was livid. "Looks like we have a volunteer. Lieutenant, finish him." The Rift Hunters began shouting in complaint, some even stepping closer to the weapon pile with the idea of preparing a surprise attack. The scary Lieutenant grabbed the assistant by his head with one hand, lifting him entirely off the ground before standing him upright. Apparently that itself was painful too, as the bespectacled man winced when he was lifted. Now that his target was standing, Armstrong brought both his fists together at the man's neck. Blood leaked from the man's lips as he made a wheezing sound. When he hit the floor his glasses bounced off his head and landed almost perfectly on top of the gun her dropped earlier. The crowd drew silent, surprised to see a man killed right before them in such a simple and brutal fashion. "Men, take positions." The soldiers behind the captain and lieutenant fanned out across the town square, creating a circle around the crowd of Rift Hunters and aiming the rifles towards them. "If any of you have any hidden weapons, I'd throw them on the ground if I were you. Wouldn't want to find out what happens to people who have knives or guns on them..." "We have already gathered all of the town's weapons." The two officers looked surprised to see the mayor speak up so suddenly. His expression didn't hide his feelings either, and the captain raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I hope you don't mind a thorough search for illegal items then if you're so confident. Most of my men are already doing that." A vein began throbbing on Vladmir's forehead now. "We have done everything we could to keep this peaceful. Already you are breaking into our homes... killing our people..." His gaze went down to the fallen assistant nearby. "This isn't an annexation. You're getting your kicks out of our misery." The devilish smirk vanished from Storm's face. Instead, he now looked offended. Then furious. The short man shaped his right hand like a pistol and pointed it towards the mayor. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that very well. That almost sounded to me like you were insulting me..." --- Aubrey rushed after Emery, joining her by the wall where she used her goggles to get a better view on the ship. She only confirmed what he feared it was. He had only ever seen that red symbol before in Kuiper, he couldn't remember where but he knew what it stood for. This ship was undoubtedly from the Crucibellia Empire. "Oh no..." The teenager had never imagined the Crucible would come to Krukow. It was far out of the way from the major trade routes. There were plenty of sovereign islands they could take, but why Krukow? "We..." He couldn't think of what to do. He wanted to get his mother but he knew she wasn't going to be able to run away. And where would they run to? The skiff at the north, maybe. That could take them to Kuiper. But if Krukow was being annexed, Kuiper would surely follow. Possibly even on the same day. "We have to do something..." His last words were more of a mumble than actually talking to Emery. The teenager held back his fear and a look of determination suddenly appeared on his face. "First I need to see if I can get my mother out of here," he said. "I've heard stories of what they do to sick people that can't afford medicine. I have to at least try to get my mom on the skiff to Kuiper. We need to see if there is anyone else that can be evacuated. Then we need to get out of here too." Aubrey rushed back towards his house and burst in the front door. Faster than he ever had before he ran up the stairs and screeched to a halt at his mother's bedroom door. "We don't have much time," he began. His mother sat up slightly, but didn't seem the least bit surprised. "The-" "Yes, I know." Aubrey was surprised by his mother's interruption and suddenly lost all his steam. "The Crucible is here. You and Emery should leave. Go to the ship that crash landed, Aubrey. The skiff can only take you to Kuiper and you know that island will be taken by the end of the day too." The teenager was surprised by his mother's insight. How did she know all of this? It would've been impossible to hear the Crucible ship from inside the house and a single gunshot doesn't mean they are being annexed. "How do you know?" To further his surprise, his mother rotated around and slowly got to her feet, standing up entirely of her own power. Granted it seemed she was having a hard time. "I've seen it, Aubrey. I saw it a while ago." Her explanation hardly answered the question. Was she psychic? "Don't worry about me. I'll be just fine. But you must hurry. Once the soldiers see you... you won't have a chance at leaving." She walked over to Aubrey and gave him a light shove, to get him to start moving. "Go straight north. You can-" "Wait. Hold on. This is going too fast. You have to come with us. It might be hard to move but we can go slowly and sneak our way over there." His mother ruffled his hair. "I'll only slow you kids down. And besides, it's better this way. If I stay here I can distract the soldiers rather than be a moving target." By now they had reached the front door, mostly by Melanie pushing her son towards the door. They stopped right next to it and there was a moment of silence between them. "Don't worry, Aubrey. We'll see each other again someday. Have faith." The older woman embraced her son in a hug. Aubrey was so confused and felt several emotions inside. He came here to try and rescue his mother but now she was bombarding him with information and commands and in the end she wouldn't be leaving. Once she released him from the hug, Aubrey simply stood there. "Now go." Aubrey's eyes watered slightly as his look of determination returned. He nodded his head and ran out the door. "Emery, I have a new plan," he told the girl, after wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "We need to get whoever we can and head north. Not to the skiff, but to the ship that crashed earlier. That's our only chance at making it out of here."

"Seems even the wind decided to sleep in today." It was true the the normally bustling island was oddly quiet today. Instead of being outside and enjoy the rather nice day, the townspeople stayed inside, or at least out of sight. No kids played in the streets causing elders to trip over their feet. To say it was odd was an understatement. But what was even more unnerving than that was the fact that even the forest was silent. Not a single sign of life came from any direction, and Iris sat high in a tree in the dense part of the northern Kurkow forest. Today she had planned to do some routine target practice with good old SLIM, her sniper rifle. That idea was quickly tossed aside when she realized she grabbed a half empty set of rubber bullets. There was no point in wasting them, and for some reason, the atmosphere just wasn't right today. It seemed like everything was hiding from something. But... what was it? Iris decided she was content with just lounging around like a cat. Stretching her legs out on the limb of the tree and propping her gun on an adjacent tree limb, her eyes closed and she basked in the odd silence. It was not too long later that that the wind blew through the area and the leaves began to rustle. It kind of felt good as it rushed through her pink hair. That was, until it got more forceful and threatened to toss her off the branch she was on. Sitting up and pushing the hair out of her face, a large object passed just over the tops on the trees, humming loudly and disturbing the silence of the woods. Her eyes bulged out of her head as she watched it land a few hundred feet away from her. The ground shook at the impact, and she nearly fell over. What the hell was that thing? Some kind of airship was the only obvious clue. Grabbing SLIM and setting her sights on it, she watched the crew of the ship bustling around from a safe distance. It was a few minutes later that she figured the people were not out to kill anyone, so she quickly and quietly slipped from her tree perch and made her way into town. Somebody else had to have seen that and know what it was. Slinging her arm through the strap to carry her sniper rifle, she started at a fast jog into town in the direction of her family's shop. As she maneuvered through the streets, she noticed small groups of Rift Hunters running into town. Everything about the day seemed so odd, hopefully she'd be getting some answers soon. Unfortunately that was not the case when another ship flew overhead. It stopped her right in her tracks, causing her to do a kind of comical skidd. This time, there was no mistaking what she was seeing. The symbol plastered so proudly on the hull was something that was bored even into her memory. "The Crucible." Urgency began to come over her and Iris began racing at a full sprint to where she knew her parents would be. This was bad... really bad... The three of them could go away for life with the amount of illegal weapons stored in their shop. She had to warn them, before it was too late.

Few words were exchanged between the coworkers as they made their way through the dense forest. The grogginess which clouded the guard’s head had now evaporated. In the apathetic sloth of a morning person’s place was a youthful adult. Eyes peeled, finger on the trigger, and fully alert. They silently progressed towards the village, checking their rear and sides every few meters. They acted like an autonomously coherent unit. Although Varren had only been an employee of the Free Winds for roughly a year, he departed ship more often than his fellow cargo guards. Given the fact there is virtually nothing unique about him, in addition with his choice of attire, he’s a perfect candidate for stealth transactions with such a low profile. Words were a medium Maximus and himself had long abandoned. If any verbal communication was to ever arise, it was quickened and succinct. After all, in the shipping business, time was money. Neither of which could be squandered. The boy kept his eyes trained down the fluorescent iron sights as they trudged through the rugged terrain. He flinched a little with every twig snap, as the sounds were possible indications of their positions. Such a dangerous job had the tendency to bring with it its slew of mishaps and groups out to gouge their hearts out. Of course the personnel of the Free Wind were generally neutral and were never the ones to fire the first shot. Competing shipment companies which refuse to bump their fees on par with Summer’s had those which vehemently sought revenge. From what he had seen back on the freighter, the town itself was extremely isolated. The kind of lifestyle where every day was recurring and failed to differentiate with the preceding one. The townsfolk were probably caught off guard by their abrupt landing. But hey, it was something to go down in their history, right? Varren’s innate ears picked up the crumpling of rotting leaves nearby, the boy instinctively fixated his firearm in the sound’s general direction. The two were face to face with the unknown, an individual who they knew nothing about, a complete need-to-know basis surrounded the three. She was obviously a local, her attire led Varren to believe that her profession was that of a pilot. With blonde hair and a charasmatic demeanor, one which happily inquired the Free Wind’s untimely and haphazard arrival. Varren himself up until now had no idea why they landed on this island. After all, he was abruptly woken up and beckoned for in the blink of an eye. The boy lowered his firearm and let out a sigh, he quickly replaced his serious persona with a warm nod of greeting. ”Good afternoon, miss…” Was all he could muster, as Weston took the reigns of the conversation by passively asking if the girl knew of any mechanics. Since the first mate was the one who controlled the flow of cash, he continued to let him talk on their behalf. Yet the decorated veteran was cut off midsentence when a gunshot echoed from the town, the boy instinctively flinched slightly. With a moment’s grace he reasserted his guard, given the fact that a life could have just departed from this plane of existence. ”...Maybe somebody’s out hunting?” Surely locals hunted wildlife, Varren hadn’t spotted a landing dock upon their hastened landing. It seemed like a sound explanation. ”Sir, I’ll move on ahead and try to find a mechanic. I’ll move through the forest faster and draw less attention to myself. We can also cover more ground if we’re split up.” Weston took a few seconds to dabble internally before giving the readied guard a nod of affirmation. The boy took in a deep breath of clean air before speeding off, his SMG flowing fluently in conjunction with his arms. Varren slowed down when forest discontinued and transitioned into cobblestone. He hinged the tecpatl to the shoulder-strap hidden beneath his hoodie before proceeding into the town. The first factor he noticed was the disconcerting lack of activity. No kids were playing in the streets, windows and shop displays were shrouded by curtains, there was even the lack of street corner pro- ”Wait, not every town had those. Only the major cities. I guess I can be kinda glad the latter is absent. Those women are too straight-forward, it’s just blatantly frightening.” Aside from women who would provide indecent services, all in all, it was a ghost town. Varren didn’t have the slightest idea where the gunshot originated from, nor did he exactly want to scout about for the source. The boy had his own way of finding himself in trouble’s clutches, there was no need to search for such a harmful force of a maiden. He progressed through the town at a brisk pace, quickly checking every corner and picking his crossroads wisely. It was truly a down-beat village, perhaps all of the residents were nocturnal and developed night vision capable eyesight? Anything was possible in unknown territory. But the commotion near the town center drew the guard’s attention. Of course being an outsider, he couldn’t simply storm right in and catch an eyefull for himself. Instead, he though of a more… passive solution to gain intel. The boy peered around for any tall structures in the general vicinity and set his sights upon a chapel a block over, with metallic plates covering its roof. Varren grinned as he quickly sprinted over to the complex, vaulted over the gate and soon spanned the distance to the highest point of the building’s tower. His boots were firmly attracted to the metal casing of the roof, granting him the ability to hang his body completely off its side. ”Let’s see what we got here…” From a distance his figure would appear as a small-framed silouhette, with the shrouding and difraction of light as his assistants, he scanned the town until he finally focused on the town square. It was quite the sight, to say the least. Varren’s mouth was left agape as his mind processed the presence of white and red cladded uniforms. The governing force which had been hunting them down for years was present on this rock, of all places. Judging from what he could see, the town was in the beginning stages of annexation. First came the disarmament of its residents, then what followed was overall domination, then re-education. His heart sank faster than the rate he sped his way down the building. It was time to move, and a fast rate at that. His will to complete his primary objective guided him away from the formation of Crucible soldiers. The only appearance of free life caught his eye, two teenagers running down the street on the outer portion of town. They fled their way in a generally normal looking house. Varren wasn’t sure whether he should enter himself, but instead relented to calling out to whoever was inside. ”Um, hello?! Anybody in there? Or possibly know a mechanic?” The boy was aware that he had a few minutes to spare before the landing party would begin to dispatch patrol parties. Time was of the essence.

“H-hey!” Enna called out once she saw Beefcakes racing away. Seriously? What a pansy. Still, considering his, well, considerable mass, he was the best shot that Enna had. “Wait for me!”

If Enna is being totally honest, as well, she kind of didn’t want to be alone. Part of her was worried about her parents, but the other part of her was pretty sure that Merrybeth would just exasperate the Crucible so much that they would just leave. Enna bit her lip and, in order to keep up with the running black guy, grabbed a slip of his shirt.

“We can’t just run, Beefcakes! We need to come up with a plan!” Enna panted, flicking hair out of her face with a whip of her head. “Like, like, I don’t know – finding somewhere safe. We can’t just run! We’re on a damn island!”

Well, maybe he could fly? Enna could just float on his back until they get to Kuiper and catch a ride to somewhere else, right? Okay, maybe not the best plan, but Enna’s blood was rushing to her legs and her lungs were being squeezed under her chest as she ran and that wasn’t really good thinking conditions, okay?

"Damn it all!"

Due to the unforgiving weight of SLIM strapped on her back, Iris had been moving slower than she would like. Reaching her family's warehouse took twice as long as it should. Not all the blame could be set on that however, because by the time she rounded the street and the building came into view, Crucible soldiers were already pouring inside. She had to wait until the coast was clear before she could approach safely. There were two guards who stood outside the front of the building, so Iris had to take a detour. Reaching into her clothes, she took out Dusty and placed him on the ground. "Dont fail me now. Go." she said, giving him a little tap on the behind, causing him to run towards the guards. Iris took this time to move around the perimeter of the warehouse and sneak up on the two. With the back of her handgun she pulled out of her boot, she hit both of them on the back of the head while they were distracted, and they fell like heaps of rice to the ground. Meanwhile Dusty was being adorable, cleaning his face with those tiny hands. Figuring he'd probably be safer out here than inside, she left him by the door as the new guard and slipped inside. The large one room building was filled with various boxes and containers of every type. Thousands of rounds of ammunition and gun parts, hundreds of ready to be sold firearms were just a few of the things stored there. Crouching through the row of things, Iris was able to see her parents at the back wall, pressed right up against it with five soldiers surrounding them. "We can make this easier and a lot less painful for the two of you if you comply with us." said a voice that didn't come from one of the soldiers. Another man was there, and as he came into view, Iris frowned and aimed the sights of SLIM right on his head. "I'm going to offer you a deal. Give us the names of your buyers and those who supply you with all of this..." He gestured around at the rows of crates that lined the walls. "And well, we can just take you in, lock you filth up for the rest of your lives instead of doing it my way. The way where you don't get out of here alive." On that, her father stepped to protect her mother who was shivering in fear behind them. This changes things. If Iris killed this guy outright, his goons would just shoot her parents right then and there. Time for plan B. Iris set SLIM down against a crate and pulled out her small, less than intimidating hand gun once again. She hesitated a long moment, gathering up her courage to go out there and talk. Moving fast on her feet, she approached and cocked her gun, the light noise causing all five gun sights once trained on her parents to turn on her. That's exactly what she wanted. With her gun aimed at the head of the guy who was in charge, she shifted on her feet, clearly appearing to be nervous. "H-how about we do things my way? Where you guys leave my parents alone and get out before... before I shoot you." Iris hoped he was falling for her trick. Her studdering and shaking hands were all acts in to getting him to think she was all talk. Harmless. Where in fact she was taking in her surroundings, ready to make her move in just a moment. The man turned towards her, now with all the attention on her, it was perfect. A smirk began to form on the man's face just before he let out a bark of a laugh. "Well this is just... fantastic! I didn't think they had a daughter. Welcome to the party." He saod, taking a few steps towards her. She backed up and pretended to stumble when he did. "I hope you are smarter than your parents over here. Why don't you talk to them? Convince them to give it up before you die along with them." She glanced behind him at her parents who already seemed to know what her plan was. Her father nodded and gripped her mother's hand before the two dashed off to the right, heading for the back to a door that lead to an escape route. Just as the six unwelcome guests turned away from her, Iris raised her arms and fired two shots at the light above them. It blew out, causing the rest of the lights in the building to flicker and turn off as well. She didn't wait around to move her position and meet up with her parents. Her nearly perfect memory allowed her to maneuver through the building with ease, and she reached her parents. Her father smiled and hugged her tightly and her mother did the same. "That was a hell of a crazy thing you did there." Her dad said. "Are you alright, Iris?" Her mom asked afterwards. "FIND THEM! NOW!" Iris looked behind her then back at her parents, the angry voice making her uneasy. "Go. I will be right behind you." she said before going back and making some noise in the opposite direction. She heard footsteps and gunshots behind her and she quickly ducked to the side. Her heart by now was racing in fear, and she tried to think rationally on how she was going to get out of here. Soon that idea was gone when the crate next to her was shot. She stood and ran in the direction of the entrance, still holding her hung in in one hand. She didn't fire any shots in fear that she would be found out, and instead made her way towards the door. She felt around and grabbed SLIM, fitting him onto her back and opened the door, causing light to stream in. "THERE! GET HER!"was all she heard before a flurry of bullets was shot towards her As she slipped outside. Two shots hit her, both grazing her left shoulder, but it didn't slow her down at all. Reaching down and picking up Dusty, she ran as fast as she could back towards the forest where she came from. That would give her some cover if they still wanted to persue her. She just prayed that her parents got out of there safely. There was nothing more she could do."Please be safe..."

The sharp crack of the gunshot still rang in her ears, long after it passed. In an attempt to keep calm, Emery worked on isolating its source. It wasn't too far away, and it seemed to come from deep within the town—ah! The square! That's where the rift hunters from earlier were going, wasn't it? She chewed on her lower lip anxiously, trying not to rely too much on this newfound tiny sliver of hope, but ultimately failing. If the rift hunters were there, that means Mayor Vladimir had anticipated the Crucible's arrival, and that in turn means he must have a plan, right? Still, Emery couldn't help but be overly wary. She jumped at every little sound: at the store's metal sign clanging against the breeze, at the faint chirping of some bird perched atop the wall they'd just climbed, and even at Aubrey's voice when he spoke again. It took her a beat longer than normal to process what he had said, and by then, he was already scurrying off. "Okay! Go! I'll stay outside and keep watch!" Emery beckoned for Aubrey to hurry, but there hadn't been a need to. He'd had that resolute look on his face already, one that gave even her a boost in confidence. She remembered seeing that same look when she first saw him racing in Kuiper; he'd won even though the odds were stacked against him. Emery nodded to herself, finding solace in his determination. However worried she had been for Auntie Mel, she knew Aubrey was a hundred times that. There was no way he would let anything happen to his mother. What she had to do now was help them in however small way she could, and that meant steering clear as Aubrey helps her out the house. The last thing they needed was her stumbling about and slowing them down. Before she caught up to him, Aubrey had already disappeared inside. She could hear his heavy footsteps as he zoomed up the stairs, loud in the silence that draped over the streets once more. The quiet was unnerving now, but she refused to succumb to it. Instead, Emery grabbed the broomstick she found lying along the front of the Marshalls' house and held it close to her. She remained rooted to her spot by the front door, shaky hands gripping the makeshift weapon tightly, and waited for the two to come back down. With the help of her goggles, she would know when someone was coming from miles away. To keep herself busy, she laid out the best route they could take to the skiff waiting for them using her her accurate mental map of the town. They needed to take the least crowded path, but they also couldn't go anywhere with a steep incline, or Auntie Mel would have trouble. Emery had narrowed her choice down to two—one winding around the southern edge of the town, the other going straight through the woods—when Aubrey came back out. Alone. Where's Auntie Mel? she thought to ask, but somehow she already knew. Emery fought against the stir of dread at the pit of her stomach and forced herself to remain calm. She nodded absently as Aubrey told her the new plan, processing his words even though she felt like she hadn't heard anything said. It was as though she ran on autopilot. Her mind had been caught in a daze, but her body hadn't, and it compelled her to move. "I know the fastest way to get there," she said automatically. They'd barely moved when a red warning sign popped up in her goggles, blinking rapidly as it locked onto a moving target that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. A closer look showed her a brown-haired boy, probably not much older than them. He was approaching them! Unlike the soldiers she'd seen marching from the lake, he didn't wear a uniform, but that wasn't enough to placate her. Emery tightened her grip on the broomstick and stepped in front of Aubrey protectively. Odds were against them but it wouldn't be like her if she didn't try. What the mysterious boy yelled out caught her off guard, though. A mechanic, he'd said. Why was he looking for a mechanic at a time like this? Didn't he know they were in a brink of a possibly violent annexation? Emery looked to Aubrey for guidance, the confusion on her face blatant enough for him to pick up. Should they trust him? He was a far better judged of people than she was, and until he said so, she wouldn't be dropping her guard. "Who are you?" Emery tried to sound forceful, but her naturally soft voice didn't exactly allow her to sound menacing. She pointed the tip of the broomstick at the boy in a final, desperate attempt to look intimidating. "Why do you need a mechanic?"

She was right. They couldn't escape the island without a ship of some kind. Pansy licked his lips nervously and stared into the younger girls face. She was just as scared as him. He looked around him briefly, terrified that a man with a gun would jump out from behind a corner before revealing a crude plan he had come up with moments before "We need to get out of this town and hide somewhere. If there are...men with guns around, we can escape into the countryside or something until it dies down, then we can go to Kuiper and get help. We can't stay in Krukow town, though. It's much too dangerous, especially for people like you and me".

It was a silly plan and he could already see several flaws in it. But it was the best they had. Escaping the island was an issue, though. If they could get to Kuiper, where Pansy's mother worked, perhaps they could escape the entire archipelago together and set up shop somewhere else. Pansy, like everyone else, had heard stories of the Crucible and their harsh treatment of dissent on the new islands. Something else scared the baker more about the Crucible, however. It was rumoured that their treatment of people with black skin, such as Pansy and his family, was a lot rougher than with people with lighter skin. Whether this was true or not, Pansy didn't want to find out. Now that the Crucible was here, he needed to escape.

"My Mum has a shop in Kuiper. When we make it there, we should be safe" he smiled weakly, trying to calm both his nerves and hers. "Now come on...." He paused, realising he didn't know the girls name yet. He shook those thoughts out of his head. They couldn't waste anymore time. "Come on, follow me. I know a way out of the town" he whispered, darting down a nearby alley.

Pansy just hoped they could escape before they were caught.

"Yeah, that's our ship," the more older of the two guards answered, crossing his arms over his chest. "The solar rails finally gave out and the aura generator hasn't turned on in years. We coasted for miles to make it here and survive."

"That's quite an astounding feat for an older model airship." Katherine said with a genuinely impressed tone. The crew may be living up to the rumors and legends after all to sail a powerless, more ship than air vessel and make a... controlled landing.

The man motioned for Katherine to follow him as he continued walking toward Krukow. "Would you happen to know any mechanics or people who know a thing or two about generators?" he asked as the party exited the woods and began crossing a grassy field. "I can pay, though sadly not much. Thankfully it isn't a rush job."

"Oh sadly I can't help you there. You see, much like you and your group, I am not a native of these lands. I'm simply a wandering pilot, seeing what the world has to offer."

As the three walked through the field, the man stopped and looked to his left as if he heard something. Katherine tilted her head slightly, pondering what he may have heard. For a few seconds he continued staring at the ground several meters away but soon relented and continued walking. "As I was saying, we aren't under any pressure to-" The sound of a distant gunshot echoed across the field. It was hard to hear, given the distance from Krukow, but the low ambience let it carry easily. The man paused when he heard it and looked to Katherine. "That came from the town," he commented. "Is everything okay here?"

Katherine gave a nervous shrug. "I wouldn't know. It was quiet when I left the place... There was a sleek looking airship coming in for a landing while I was heading towards you guys..."

One of the younger guards who had remained relatively quiet the whole walk volunteered to scout ahead. Almost right as he left did her pet, Ava, return, flustered and distraught. "Ava! Calm down, calm down. What's up?" The panicked Kulca motioned and pushed Katherine in the direction of her plane, now somewhat visible as they neared the outskirts of the town. "Uh oh... Um sir, usually when my friend here wants me to get to my plane as soon as possible, we can safely assume that something terrible has moved into town. I'm gonna go get my plane started if you don't mind! Wish I could help, but I'm no good with aura engines bigger than a dog, so best of luck!" With that, Katherine gave a short wave and began to jog towards her aircraft in a field next to the town. She now had a better view of the airship parked over the town and her eyes began to widen. "The Crucible...."she muttered aloud, staring blankly at the airship as she ran towards her own aircraft. "Dammit! I really need to get the hell out of here!" she thought, now sprinting towards her craft.

Aubrey was about to break into full-sprint alongside Emery when Varren appeared. Like Emery, he also stopped and grew suspicious. The blonde teenager was moderately surprised to see Emery get defensive so fast, particularly that she was protective of him. Her courage had to be repaid. Aubrey stepped past his female friend and approached Varren. Though this outsider was older and noticeably larger than him, he kept his face of determination. "You aren't one of them, are you?" he asked, pointing at Varren for emphasis.

This man was clearly an outsider, as Aubrey didn't recognize him and the community was relatively small. His inquisition for a mechanic was particularly odd. "Wait, are you from the ship that went down earlier?" Suddenly his tough attitude seemed to fade away as an optimistic facet took hold. "That ship is our only way out of here." He looked back to Emery. "This guy's our ticket." He looked back at Varren with a grin on his face. "We might not be the best mechanics but with our lives on the line I'm sure we can get that thing flying." While Aubrey had some mechanical knowledge, it was Emery that was the superior mechanic, unquestionably. But his confidence was too high to make an immediate distinction between the two.

---

The one-eyed first mate watched silently as Katherine and Varren took off in their separate directions. It was clear to Weston that the Crucible had sent an annexation regiment to this part of Aurelia. "Damn," he muttered to himself as he began walking towards the town. "Should've brought my swords." He scratched at the stubble on his chin as he casually walked into the town, making his way to the densest part. The town square.

---

"It is one thing to acquire new territory for your country, but to be so malicious in the process is completely unnecessary and I will not tolerate it." The mayor looked rather intimidating, considering his grizzly appearance and large stature. But the small officer only chuckled at his words. "You won't tolerate it, you say?" He steadied the aim of his hand, pointing his finger at Vladmir's chest. "I suppose you won't be mayor of this hamlet any longer."

Storm's hand recoiled like a gun, though no noise was made. A blast of pressurized air slammed into the mayor, sending him flying backwards like a rocket and crashing into the town hall. In fact, the impact was so powerful it entirely brought part of the building down. The Rift Hunters in the square did not approve of this, and it appeared the crowd was about to riot. The lines of soldiers all took aim at the Rift Hunters, preparing for imminent combat.

"Do not worry, people. We will assign a new mayor in due time. But first..." The sound of shifting rubble interrupted the captain. Turning around, he saw Vladmir picking himself up from the wrecked town hall. He was clearly hurt and breathing heavily, but alive. "You survived? Well then, I hope you're prepared for seconds." As Captain Storm began to take aim at the mayor again, the sound of footsteps broke the silence that had fallen over the town square.

All eyes looked towards the newcomer. Weston continued walking until he was only a few meters away from the Captain and Lieutenant. "You..." the captain said, bringing his hand down. The mayor let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't about to be attacked again, but he felt uneasy about the newcomer. "If it isn't the man himself. I recognize that face anywhere." While the officers and soldiers seemed excited now, Weston seemed almost entirely uninterested.

"I wouldn't have guessed you would hide in some backwater town like a scared dog but I suppose it is fitting for scum like you, Two Hand. For having the highest bounty in the world it would only make sense to hide here and hope we never come. Why-" "Are you ever going to shut up?" The interruption seemed to stun the Lieutenant and all the soldiers. Storm looked furious. And all the while, Weston seemed to hardly care. "I would've taken you alive but now you're asking for it! Lieutenant! Kill him!"

The large man, Lieutenant Armstrong, dashed forward in the blink of an eye. With both his fists raised over his head, his arms began to glow blue as he swung them down in a smash. His attack only hit air as Weston stepped to the side with impressive speed but casual form. Before Armstrong could get another chance to attack, a fist came up into his chin, sending him flying into the sky. The Rift Hunters and the soldiers looked stunned as Weston stretched his fingers out. His eye settled on the captain now, who looked moderately frightened.

After a moment of silence, Lieutenant Armstrong landed on the ground with a thud and stopped moving. "Uh..." The captain began stuttering for words. "What are you fools waiting for!? Shoot him!" As the soldiers began aiming their weapons at Weston, a strange sensation swept over the town square. A wave of intimidation spread across the yard, freezing the soldiers in place. While their weapons pointed at the man, not a single soul fired.

Even the Rift Hunters in the square felt the fear and couldn't take their eyes away from Weston. "You picked a bad time to visit," Weston spoke up. "I happened to be in town." Fury overcame his fear and Storm swiped his hand in front of him like it was a blade. Weston ducked low and grabbed the gun that the mayor's assistant had dropped earlier. The invisible attack from Storm sliced a building in half across the courtyard, and as it began crumbling down Weston made his move.

The glasses that had rested on the gun were flung forward, pelting Storm in the face and distracting him briefly. With that opening, Weston aimed the weapon at the man and fired two shots. As the gunshots echoed across the square, Storm smirked. "You must not know who I am," Storm said. The two bullets were floating in the air in front of the captain, slowly losing their spinning motion. "Guns can't overcome my power. I am one of the world's strongest Wind Mages. I can harness the power of the very air around you and slice you to rib-"

The bottom of the gun smacked into his forehead after leaving Weston's hand. While Storm stumbled backwards, Weston grabbed him by his collar and tossed him at the pile of weapons that were in front of the Rift Hunters. "If you spent less time talking you might actually get a point across one day," the Free Wind's first mate commented. While Storm began picking himself up, he noticed he was surrounded by Rift Hunters. And they all looked at him threateningly.

Weston stretched the fingers on his hand again before turning around to leave. Vladmir, however, stopped him. "I don't know who you are, but you might've just gotten Krukow into more trouble than it already was in," he began. "Your intervention wasn't helpful at all." Weston's eye looked into both of his and he too became paralyzed with fear. "Your town was in more trouble than you think, buddy."