Aubrey had barely left his house. And already people were running into him. Literally. The impact knocked him off balance, but unlike the girl he remained standing. [b]"Hey, watch where you're..."[/b] he began, before seeing who bumped into him. He looked down at Nanako for a moment, before adjusting his sunglasses and crossing his arms over his chest. [b]"Hey."[/b] A grin formed on his face, before he noticed the chameleon she had with him. With that realization, he also realized he had never seen her before on Krukow. Another oddity for the day? The grin vanished as he began to think about it. But down the street, in the same direction Nanako was standing from him, he saw two more familiar people. It would seem everyone was abuzz with the low passing of the freight ship before. [I]Today is definitely a special day,[/I] he thought to himself, before glancing at Nanako. [b]"What are you rushing so frantically about?"[/b] he asked, keeping his arms crossed and his false cool demeanor. He intended to make it a quick conversation, as his friends weren't too far away and he'd rather be with them than someone he didn't know. But the girl hardly had a chance to explain herself. A faint humming sound swept over the small town. Aubrey casually looked toward the source, lifting his sunglasses up. [b]"Another one?"[/b] he questioned aloud, trying to spot what sounded like an airship. After a few seconds, his suspicion was confirmed. But this ship was different. A white, sleek airship of a much smaller size glided over the town, before hovering directly over Lake Krukow. It looked much newer and fancier. While Aubrey had seen plenty of airships around on Kuiper, none had looked this advanced. But something on the port side got his attention more so than anything else. A red emblem of a sword and shield. As it hovered low over the water, close to the bank, a door opened along the port side and a ramp extended to the ground. Though this was distant and difficult for Aubrey to see, it was clear that people were filing out onto the land. [b]"It can't be..."[/b] --- In the center of town, in front of the town hall there was a large open square. There used to be a tree in the center of it, but it was cut down as the popular belief at the time was that it would look better without it. This created a very open space for the village to gather in should the need ever arise, such as during festivals. Presently, many of the Rift Hunters from the guild Maximus had gathered. And as the white ship passed slowly overhead and landed nearby, they all grew nervous. The town mayor and leader of Maximus, Vladmir Maximus, stood in front of the town hall. In his right hand was a large hammer, even bigger than he was. He had a particularly angry expression on his face, but not a word escaped him. While his men seemed anxious, they were unsure if they should be afraid that their boss is so mad or use it as motivation. They were uncertain of what was about to happen. They only knew one thing, and it was confirmed as the white-suited soldiers marched into the town in rows of two: the Crucible Empire had arrived. Though there were plenty of average citizens in the square, upon seeing the Crucible military, armed to the teeth with guns and weapons of various sizes, they decided to vacate. But the Rift Hunters remained, looking about equally armed. But heavily outnumbered. The soldiers surrounded the entire square, preventing any escape for those gathered. Many regular villagers were standing behind the line of soldiers, watching to see what will happen next but staying a relatively safe distance away. Once the soldiers stopped marching, an eerie silence took hold of the town. Then the sound of two sets of footsteps. From the line of soldiers, two officers stepped out. And rather than politely walk around the gathered Rift Hunters, the two walked straight through the mob, forcing them out of their way as they walked. One of the officers stood fairly tall, with a sleek figure and blonde hair long enough to cover one of his eyes from under his white beret. Also notable was his right hand was gloved whereas his left hand was not. The other man, who looked to be of a higher rank than the blonde, had spiky silver hair and no headgear. He was shorter and clearly older, though seemed to have a slightly stockier build. They both walked with utmost confidence, stopping before Vladmir Maximus. [b]"My name is Elijah Storm, captain of the Seeker. I am here on behalf of the Crucibellian Empire to annex the island of... eh..."[/b] the silver-haired man spoke, before looking to the taller one. [b]"Krukow,"[/b] the blonde assisted. [b]"Yes, the island of Krukow. I would like to speak with the man in charge of this town, if you would so kindly move away from the door."[/b] Vladmir pounded his chest, mildly surprising the two officers in front of him. [b]"I am the mayor of Krukow, Vladmir Maximus."[/b] A sly grin formed on Captain Storm's face. [b]"A strong name. I guessed you were in charge of this Rift Hunting guild, but to also be the mayor? This place really is the boonies."[/b] He began laughing while his partner kept a straight face. His wording and outburst seemed to irritate the Rift Hunters, but they held their tongues. As Storm slowly calmed down, he set his sinister gaze back on Vladmir. [b]"As a part of your annexation, we shall be appointing our own officials to govern this island. And since you run the Rift Hunters here, we also control those too. So this is really convenient for me."[/b] The captain pointed his hand at Vladmir like it was a handgun, with his pointer finger aimed directly at his chest. This confused the majority of the crowd, but Vladmir realized what was about to happen. The hand recoiled backwards, mimicking the recoil of a gun, and a powerful jet of air blasted toward the mayor. At first, his body lurched around the impact point, which was only as small as Storm's fingertip, before he was sent careening backwards into the town hall. The force of the impact made him crash entirely through it, destroying the foundations. A collective gasp of shock was heard from the Rift Hunters as the town hall itself collapsed, with the mayor inside. With this done, Storm and the blonde officer turned around to face the crowd of Rift Hunters. He could see beyond his soldiers that much of the town had gathered. And now they were frightened. [b]"You are all now employed by the Crucibellian Empire. You are all to be inspected to see if your practices and Hunters are up to code. Then you all shall take a licensing exam in order to determine if you keep your jobs. And all of you are now citizens of the Crucibellian Empire!"[/b] --- [b]"Shit! Fuck! Damnit!"[/b] A dark-haired man in his late thirties leaned against the rails on the top deck of the freight ship. He let out a sigh as he could hear the profanity coming from below deck. [b]"This piece of...! Ugh! Weston!"[/b] Upon hearing his name, he let out another sigh and stood upright. He walked over to the door that led onto the deck, but before he could reach the door it had already opened. Standing in the frame was a smaller woman, standing a whole head and shoulders shorter than the man named Weston. She had green hair and an angry expression. [b]"The generator won't start back up. We're grounded. Until we can either fix the solar rails or the Aura generator, we aren't going anywhere."[/b] Before she could shove past him, he skillfully stepped to the side. It was evident now that there were two very large swords strapped to his back in an X shape. [b]"I figured as much,"[/b] he answered simply, following the younger woman as she walked to the railing. Looking over it, it was evident that they had more or less crashed into the forest. Many trees were knocked over or shattered under the bulk of the Free Wind, though the hull of the airship was hardly scratched. [b]"Thankfully this island is inhabited. There is a village somewhere around here. Considering Kuiper isn't too far away, there may be a mechanic somewhere in there."[/b] The older man nodded. [b]"Find a mechanic. Got it, Summer."[/b] Without waiting for her to confirm the command, he casually jumped off the ship. Despite the fall being easily forty feet, he landed unharmed and began walking. [b]"Wait a minute! Argh!"[/b] But he was already walking away from the ship, ignoring the captain's shouting. As he disappeared from her view, Summer let out a sigh and facepalmed. [b]"Why do I even bother with him...?"[/b]