Lucille Rose's Story

Yuki had made an effort to keep exercizing, keep training and push herself harder day in and day out. What was sort jogs at first turned into long runs and soon she had mixed in push ups. The city roads were too short and too cramped for her to really stretch her legs, so out of the city she went, running along all different trails and tracks after school. Anything was better than going home. But unfortunately she ran into a harsh case of reality, that sometimes things sucked.

"Hey, give it back!" she shouted in protest against the man who now held her back pack up in one hand, examining it.

"Yeah whatever kid, your phone and purse in here?" he asked as he turned his back to step away. He went by the name Captain Rex Dread, but not many people knew him or his crew so far, and while he held the title of 'Captain' they were more bandits than pirates.

As Yuki stepped to pursue she was suddenly cut off by a blade thrust in front of her path, held by the newest member, Analise, who appeared to have taken an asian influence into her style and choice of weaponry. In fact all of them seemed like an odd grouping. A ships navigator who had a tablet carried in one hand like a tome, a thick and heavy brute with a frightful mask and a heavy axe, and lastly a knight, at least it appeared based off her armour, crest and weapon.

And they were happy to commit petty theft of a teenagers school bag.

Great. Three dudes bullying a little nekojin girl...and they had weapons. Still, training with the now defunct UCON military had given the old street fighter some valuable lessons in escalation of force. First, he rounded the corner to better assess the situation.

"Hey! Give it back to her, you punks!" He let his rifle be visible to lend extra force to his words, but he didn't level it against them just yet. Having been pushed around by various occupying forces, as well as bigger and stronger squad mates, the last thing old Pegleg could stand was a bunch of bullies.

The leader lifted his head and turned it around to stare at Tobias for a moment, regarding him and his gun, then slowly turned around to give his new potential adversary a good look at what he had. Rex was adorned in the clothing of a highwayman, a thick and heavy coat that kept most of him hidden, but sported plenty of room for flintlock pistols to be easily drawn from. Over his shoulder was a slung rifle of some kind, likely equally primitive, and a sword dangled from his belt. He jostled and jangled with the sound of metal buckles and the like on his clothing as he moved.

A grin slowly grew across his face.

"And who are you, huh? Her father?" he quirked an eyebrow up before he added, "...Boyfriend?"

Yuki too had stopped to look at Tobias, and his gun. That seemed like a whole different ball game to her. It wasn't just a tool for fighting, it was a tool for killing. While she appreciated the help, it definitely made her nervous.

"I'll handle him," boasted the lady with the sword casually, stepping past Yuki who she deemed not worth the time and effort, and putting herself between Rex and Tobias.

Rex shrugged.
"Sure, if he thinks its fair. How about that, hero man? You beat up our girl, and your girl can have her stuff back."

"How about this? You put your weapons down and nobody has to get perforated today. Do it or I start shooting."

Tobias leveled the rifle at the sword woman, making sure to keep enough distance between them so that she couldn't get in a leaping thrust before he could squeeze off a shot.

"Do it!"

This was what Yuki was scared of. Not so much frightened, but worried. The world was violent and she-

"Whaddya gonna do? Shoot us over a backpack? Might wanna put the sword away, Ana," called out Rex, rudely interrupted Yuki's inner monologue.

"He threatened to shoot me," said the swordswoman, body tensed, all but frozen.

The mood of the other gang members had changed. The permanent grimace on the face of the axe-wielding brute disappeared as his lips pulled tight. The spear-wielding knight had also tensed up, though her eyes were averting looking at Tobias, as if trying to hide her nerves. The last of them, the finely dressed man, had tilted his head down to the tablet he had, brushing a finger along it, scanning through information.

"Sheesh, where are we Alexander?" asked Rex.

The man looked up and simply said, "Terra."

"Geez! He might actually do it! Better put your sword down Ana!" called out the bandits leader. But strangely it almost seemed like he was egging her on. Out of all of the group, he was still utterly calm, casual, practically mocking the situation.

Yuki twitched an ear as she looked between the group who had bullied her and the man with the gun. God she just wanted to go for a jog. Where was Vegeshin when you needed him to break up a fight?

He did it.

The mad Terran actually went and did it.

A couple of warning shots embedded themselves in the pavement right in front of where Ana was standing.

"I'm not gonna say it again. Put down your weapons and give back the rucksack. Next bullet's coming for center mass."

Analise scooted back two steps with her sword raised slightly, not held in his direction but off to the side. The Dreadnoughts had some pretty clear rules for engagement, Rex had always drilled them into the crew, but right now the casually slouched leader was ignoring all of them. It was like he wanted to see something go wrong. The man with the tablet had finally reacted at the sound of gunshots, tucking his tablet into his satchel bag and pulling one arm behind his back. Those sensitive to magic and mana would be able to pick up that something was being done in secret.

But it wasn't any of the Dreadnoughts gang that tried to stop Tobias.

It was Yuki.

At sixteen she was full of dumb decisions and this was about the dumbest she had ever tried. She put herself right in front of Tobias gun, inhaling bravely and putting arms out to either side.
"Mister I don't know who you are but I can't let you shoot people!" she declared, full of teenage drama and gusto.

Analise actually dared turn her head around to look to her other team members, seeking advice.
Finally Captain Rex met her gaze and gave the nod of approval.

"Well, I can't just dive into that mob where I'd get skewered. There's rules of escalation for this sort of thing, miss. I agree that this isn't worth anyone's life, but I still have to follow protocol to make sure there aren't any...accidents." Tobias couldn't believe he had to explain this to Yuki, but now that she was in front of him, there was a useful screen...and an opportunity.

Slipping around Yuki, the old veteran turned his rifle around horizontally and used it to force Ana's sword down before reaching up and trying to smack her in the face with the stock.

Yuki had felt Tobias missed her point, and was about to voice that when things suddenly went... very awry.
Analise had been on the exact same page as Tobias, nodding to her leader, but as she turned back around she found the incoming gun, one blow sending her blade to the ground, biting into the dirt, and a moment after the stock coming from her jaw. It connected alright, but her reaction seemed...
Well it was hard to judge. Her head snapped back and she stumbled a step to the side, but she was almost immediately back in the same. Her blade whipped across the ground stirring up soil as she took one step towards Yuki and hooked an arm around the girls body, as if about to take a meat shield, then with a sudden and sharp pivot of her body there was a Judo-style toss, and the nekojin was sent hurling away from the pair with more force than seemed likely from such a slender woman.

Analise remained in very close quarters to Tobias, one foot sliding wide to keep her center of gravity low, blade tip dragging along the ground between them, trying to get to her right (his left) so it could lift off the ground. Currently the blunt side was aimed up and wouldn't be able to do much. But again there was something in Analise's eyes that said she was watching, constantly reading the situation, almost a little too quickly.

Rex in this time tipped his head back and covered his face with his hat so that he could speak to the finely dressed man without their exchange being seen, to which Alexander responded; "Yes," never once breaking eye contact from the fight and with a hand still tucked tight behind his back.

This was not the best place to be. The sword was coming up on his left. Good thing that since he was right handed, he used the right hand to deliver the stock strike, leaving the barrel free to defend his left hip. His weapon met hers with a metallic CLANG, but he couldn't let her slide along his length. Not without buying him dinner first.

Reaching out with his mighty mechanical monstrosity of a prosthetic right leg, he delivered a mighty kick to the back of Analise's left knee to hamper her footwork.

Analise leg folded under the force, buckling almost painfully, but rather than bring her sword up she jammed the tip down into the ground, using it to push herself back up. Her entire body pivoted and spun on the spot with uncanny speed, a moment later her sword joining her in what was intended as a flashy sideways swipe at him, but it was interrupted too soon.

It was Yuki, who had apparently landed right back on her feet what with being at least part feline, and she didn't take too kindly to being tossed. The half-nekojin came hurtling in along the ground like a steam train of vengeance with one leg outstretched on a collision course with Analise, smashing the woman's legs out from under her.

It was almost as in slow motion. Analise' body was off balance and tilted from Yuki's slide tackle. Her legs left the ground and gravity was slow to catch up as she ended up all but horizontal in front of Tobi, descending shoulder slightly-first for the ground.

With reinforcements on the way and Analise down, Tobias glared down at his opponent. "Now if you all are quite finished fucking around, I need to get home. To my wife. Who I love very much." He leveled the rifle at Analise to make sure she stayed down.