Everywhere around Amadeus was a city, like some of the ones he'd seen playing the games with Jasmine, the ones set near the last age of the old Homeworld. The landscape, familiar as it was, was populated with creatures that simply didn't fit. The things were staring at the human who had fallen from a hole in the sky, some with curiosity, and others with hatred directed at any intruder into the natural flow of their world.
"Okay, so home this isn't," commented Amadeus to himself, looking around the city and finding a large number of the local creatures to be bipedal humanoids for the most part, with two arms and legs, though various other forms including what looked like huge insects had either multiple legs or arms, or were walking on all fours. Each one stirred memories buried deep within Amadeus, memories of the games he'd played with Jasmine that had been set on Old Home Terra, and the myriad lifeforms he'd seen that had lived there. Every creature that he could see had some root of a one of those long lost species, though each one was much more human in form than anything he'd seen.
"Maybe I should try talking with them. At least see if they know what planet this is," he told himself, stepping forward, to the obvious dismay of some as they backed up. Intriguingly, he noticed that it was only those who seemed to have been based off herbivorous species who backed up when he got closer, while those who ate more than plants seemed to puff up, as f expecting him to attack at any moment.
It was then that Amadeus recalled he was wearing the fur cloak from his game with Jasmine, and looking at the blood stain on the front he had to admit he must have been an odd sight to those in front of him. Holding up his hand to indicate that he needed a moment, which surprisingly the anthromorpic population seemed to understand, Amadeus undid the belt clasp that held the cloak to him and shouldered it off before reaching up to his neck and peeling back the connector for the helmet, and then throwing both fur and metal mesh helm to the ground he stood before the throng of onlooking creatures as a human, though wearing the gray, polymer fiber suit which was common to the Combine.
"Ba Wee Grana Weep Mini Bong," he said to the crowd, holding up his hands to show he bore no ill will towards them, despite the fact that he was armed. The universal greeting, something used in first contact situations where one is at a disadvantage to the alien race, was designed to throw the new contact off while the contacter, in this case Amadeus, used the time to collect his thoughts and figure out exactly what he was going to say.
Collecting his thoughts Amadeus finally began to notice that the cars and vehicles that had probably been in motion only seconds before his arrival were now stopped dead in their tracks, and that despite the fact that the place around him looked like a city street he couldn't see a single light on in any of the nearby offices, which looked like dark foreboding tombs. Everyone else seemed as baffled by the lack of activity as he himself, though they obviously were willing to blame it all on the new comer who'd just fallen out of the sky.
Thinking about it, Amadeus could guess that his entrance to the world really had resulted in the loss of local power. After all giant holes in the sky usually caused massive EMP fields, which had probably also had something to do with his Terminal's problems before he'd been sucked in, and the field had been strong enough to send a MultiDimensional Terminal for a loop then it probably flipped every circuit on the planet.
"Okay, so my first impression is pretty bad, doesn't mean the natives won't be friendly and understanding," he said to himself quietly, just before a small explosion detonated from the crowd and a lead projectile flew right for him. Dodging the bullet which hadn't been all that well aimed in the first place Amadeus looked at the crowd to see someone emerging from it holding what looked like a small golden shield in a leather carrying case. It took him only a moment to realize that he was staring at a badge, and that the dogman holding the gun was the local constabulary.
"On the ground. Now!" shouted the creature, and Amadeus was startled to find that he understood that thing's language, which was exactly like the old American English he'd used when playing the games with Jasmine. That thought brought him back to his question of where exactly in the universe he was, and to the conclusion that he might not even be in his universe anymore.
"Now sir, I know this looks bad, but I thin if we talk this out we can come to some-Hey!" shouted Amadeus, having walked towards the dogman, whom he now could place as being of the German shepard breed of dog, he reached out his hand, only to get shot at again. Luckily the bullet had been aimed for his shoulder, and the polymer mesh of his suit caused it to bounce off, but the impact still hurt, and Amadeus saw the dogman aim the next shot for his head.
"On the ground!" ordered the dogman again, and this time Amadeus decided to forgo the attempts at contact, and took off as fast as his legs would carry him, which wasn't as fast as he would have liked thanks to the climbing boots which he still wore. The police dogman fired his entire clip at the fleeing human, but Amadeus was now wary of the bullets, turning to the side at every sound of a gunshot causing all the bullets to miss, though barely.
Running through the city proved easier than Amadeus had suspected, but that was actually due to the fact that most of the inhabitants moved away from the strange looking man who'd fallen out of their sky just after the power went out. He didn't know whether to be glad that they weren't trying to kill him, or disappointed that no one was trying to talk to him and get his side of the story. Looking back over his shoulder Amadeus saw that his dogman of a police officer had friends, and they were all chasing after him, and they were all armed with the same small pistols as the first one.
"Oh for the love of stars," swore Amadeus as he ducked into one of the alleys that stood between the buildings of the downtown area. He had thought to run into an adjacent street and try to escape into one of the buildings, but his plan came up short when he found that the alley he'd entered dead ended after turning to the right, and he was now staring at a brick wall which kept him from going forward, while at the same time he could hear the impacts of his pursuers' feet on the alley floor coming up behind him.
Trapped he had a few options that he could choose, the easiest of which was simply to give up and hope the planet he was on had some contact with the Combine that he hadn't been able to see on the street when he'd arrived.
Another was to use the climbing boots to ascend the wall before him, though he'd be a slow moving target for the guns that the dogmen held, and he wasn't entirely certain the polymer mesh of his suit would hold off a steady spray of fire as easily as it had a single bullet.
Looking about for anything else Amadeus was pleased to find a door in one of the walls before him, which he could bust down even if it wasn't unlocked. The only problem being that he'd be trapped in the building exactly as he was now, only with even few options.
The final option, and one he would not ever consider under normal circumstances, was to turn and face the police dogmen with all guns blazing. His Startec pistol was more than a match for their pathetic weapons. Of course, using his weapon was strictly forbidden by the Combine, as you were not supposed to use high tech weapons against primitives unless no other options remained. But he saw only a few other options, and they weren't exactly what he would call good ones. So what does he do?
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