First Reply What an Epic(a) First Day Out

[Morwenna Asterielle-Valewyn]

What an Epic(a) First Day Out

<Creepy Green Light>
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Interaction{s} • Open

The moment my boots crossed into Epica City, I had to wonder if someone in the galaxy had looked at a map and simply declared, "Let's name this place Epica because subtlety is for cowards."

I could respect that level of confidence.

The city rose toward the heavens in shimmering towers stitched together by glowing skybridges while speeders hummed overhead like oversized insects with expensive taste.

Holographic advertisements danced across polished walls, vendors barked over one another in a dozen languages I only half recognized, and the air carried the scent of sizzling meats, strange spices, engine lubricant, and enough perfumes to stun a bantha.

Compared to our old quiet farm on Naboo, where my greatest daily challenge had been convincing stubborn shaaks that fences were not merely polite suggestions, this place felt like someone had taken the entire galaxy, shaken it violently in a cargo container, and dumped the contents into one city block.

Every direction held another mystery, another oddity, another being with enough tentacles, horns, or suspicious robes to make me quietly appreciate how wonderfully ordinary my childhood had actually been.

Yet beneath the excitement, the Force whispered with restless tension.

Threads of anxiety tangled around thousands of strangers brushing past me, brushing against one another, creating a constant tide of emotions that left every instinct in my body standing at attention. I found myself keeping one hand just a little closer to my satchel while my eyes refused to stop scanning the crowds.

Eventually I drifted toward a street merchant whose table overflowed with curious relics, polished crystals, battered datapads, antique trinkets, and several objects that I was fairly certain were either priceless artifacts or someone's kitchen utensils.

I was busy trying to determine whether one oddly shaped metal cylinder was an ancient Jedi relic or an aggressively artistic soup ladle when a sharp voice split through the marketplace.

"Stop them! Thieves!"

I turned just in time to see a frantic woman pointing toward three young men sprinting through the crowd with remarkable enthusiasm for individuals who clearly had somewhere they were not supposed to be.

My brain connected the words theft and robbery with the fleeing trio at roughly the same speed a malfunctioning protocol droid solved advanced mathematics.

I folded my arms. "Not my problem," I reminded myself. I had arrived on Epica all of twenty minutes ago. Surely getting involved in local crime statistics wasn't listed anywhere in the official itinerary for naive farm girl explores the galaxy.

Then my parents' voices echoed somewhere in the back of my mind about helping people, respecting your elders, and doing the right thing even when nobody was watching. I let out a long, theatrical sigh worthy of an overworked moisture farmer.

"I blame good parenting," I muttered to absolutely no one.

My feet, apparently having entered into a conspiracy with my conscience, launched into a run before the rest of me had formally approved the decision, and I found myself chasing after the fleeing trio through the crowded streets of Epica City.

 

[Atrios DeVylen]

"Stop them! Thieves!"

Atrios cursed under his breath. It had been a good morning. It was quiet, it was peaceful, it was...all for nothing now. He reached up, and tightened the strap across his chest to secure his satchel. He turned, brow furrowing as he looked towards the noise. The headache was nearly instantaneous as he attempted to focus. He began to weave his way through the crowd, unwilling to wait for target identification to begin pursuit. That's how thieves got away.

As he moved, he drew a breath and closed his eyes. Amidst the crowd of people, Atrios couldn't rely on the metal contrivance on his face that offered guidance on what his under developed ocular organs could barely perceive. So, he called on what he could rely on. The Force surged around him as he allowed himself to slip into it, just as his father had taught him.

His movement eased. Not that the crowds parted, no. Instead, he began to see the holes where people would soon cease to be. Detecting gaps that would linger for but a moment longer, but could still be exploited if acted upon immediately. And there, just at the edge of his perception, he could see four figures weaving through the crowds. Three running in reckless formation. And another pursuing at distance. Atrios could only surmise she was also attempting to apprehend the men. Atrios pushed himself faster, vaulting over carts and weaving through people staring after the fleeing suspects. As he drew near, he called out to the woman ahead.

"Friendly behind! Stay on them, I'll try to flank!"
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Morwenna Asterielle-Valewyn

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[Morwenna Asterielle-Valewyn]

What an Epic(a) First Day Out

<Creepy Green Light>
​

Interaction{s} • Atrios DeVylen


The distance between us finally began to shrink, though only by stubborn, hard-earned inches. The three thieves clearly had no intention of making my life easy.

One vaulted across the hood of a parked cargo hauler while another kicked over a stack of supply crates behind him. The third, apparently convinced that public property was merely decorative, slammed over a speeder bike into my path.

"Really?"

I spat out loud toward the men, springing upward as the speeder skidded beneath me. "I'm starting to think you three don't appreciate enthusiastic civic volunteers."

Midair, I heard a man's voice carrying over the chaos behind me.

{"Friendly behind! Stay on them, I'll try to flank!"}

Without looking back, I threw an exaggerated thumbs-up over my shoulder before landing in stride. "You've got it!" I called, trying very hard to sound like I chased criminal trios through marketplaces every other Centaxday instead of silently wondering if my lungs had filed for resignation.

My eyes snapped back toward the fleeing trio as I grinned. "Hey! That wasn't nice at all! Dirty fighting it is, then!"

I reached into the Force, letting it flow through every hurried breath before nudging a sharp pulse of unseen energy toward the rearmost thief.

His foot caught nothing at all, and somehow everything.

He lurched forward with an undignified yelp, arms pinwheeling wildly before crashing into one knee. The thief beside him grabbed his shoulder at the last second, hauling him upright before he could eat the duracrete entirely.

Noble of him, really.

Unfortunately for them, the rescue stole precious seconds, their pace faltering just enough for me to close the gap while giving my newfound ally time to swing around for his flank.

"See?"

I shouted with entirely too much satisfaction.

"I can play at not being nice too!" My grin widened as the Force hummed eagerly around me and I accelerated another few strides. "Oh, do I have a surprise for you three!"

 

[Atrios DeVylen]

Atrios frowned as one of the thieves tripped over nothing. He'd felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. The Force. That still made him uneasy. He wasn't blind to the irony, which in itself was ironic, that he was a Force Sensitive leery of other Force Sensitives. But he didn't allow that to slow him down. He'd deal with the consequences later.

Atrios drew a breath, then another, then his brow furrowed as he concentrated. Seeing the path appearing before him, he stepped, jumped, pushed off a cart, then a low flying droid, before landing on a balcony, then hurling himself upwards in a tall arc. He flew over the roof of a building, his back catching on the corner that he hadn't quite cleared. He cursed as he fell, landing hard on the ground. He didn't let that stop him, rolling to the side with his bleeding momentum and launching himself back to his feet, now coming at the thieves from the side.

He was going to be just barely too slow. At his current speed, he'd maybe catch the trailing member of the trio. But that wouldn't do. He needed to get the first. Create an obstacle. So again, he called upon the Force. His feet struck the ground in quickening succession. No reason. No finesse. No technique. He emerged from the alley just in time to collide with the lead thief, right on schedule. It sent them both sprawling to the ground, Atrios's satchel being knocked loose in impact. He landed hard, the thick fabrics of his rough traveling tunic and jacket doing little to dampen the blow.

But Atrios was no stranger to being thrown around. He was struggling back to his feet in record time, a stun baton clearing its belt holster as he rose, poised ready for a fight...
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Morwenna Asterielle-Valewyn

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