[System]
Rank: Cadet
Allegiance: Federated Suns
Planetary Origin: Kestrel
MOS: Mechwarrior

Synopsis of Role: A fourth year student at the New Avalon Institute of Science, Johan is a small, meek, and often seen as weak student. He's often getting bullied and ridiculed by the other cadets at the NAIS, despite the fact that he's survived three years at the intense academy already. A point that they often bring up is Johans family, his father, a former mercenary married into a minor noble family. Because of that the more conceited cadets of noble lineage see him not as a true noble, but instead a bastard.

Despite the constant harassment Johan shows a surprising amount of resilience, in a battlemech he can withstand more heat than most of the others in his year, he fights longer, harder, and his aim in a 'mech is killer. Many of the instructors say to him that if he could improve his battlemech movement, he could easily become an ace with his accuracy. In simulated combat between Cadet groups, Johan often racks up quite the kill count, staying back and supporting his more courageous teammates, and picking off the more courageous on the opposing side. This usually gets him some peace and quiet for about a week.

Battlemech: The Rifleman RFL-5D.
A brand new variant of an ancient mech. Introduced this year, the 60t RFL-5D is an upgraded version of the RFL-4D, which was introduced nearly 30 years ago. Where the RFL-4D suffered from severe heat problems and a reduced loadout, the RFL-5D actually increases the weapon loadout to two ERPPCs and two Magna Mk.III Large Lasers in the arms, and returns the two Magna Mk.II Medium Lasers to the side torsos. To free up more tonnage, an XL240 Engine was installed and to manage the heat, Double Heat Sinks were included. The new variant also increases the armor to nine tons.

When Johan was presented with the brand new RFL-5D variant for the opportunity to test the battlemech, he nearly burst out into tears of joy. The instructor noted that the mech was suited to Johans strengths, the two ERPPCs and two Large Lasers allows Johan to capitalize on his skill in aiming, while the two medium lasers leaves him not entirely defenseless in close quarters.
Since the mech variant is brand new, Johan hasn't modified anything internally, externally he has painted the his fathers old mercenary symbol onto the right kneepad, a white circle with a chevron pointing upwards.

Height:
Weight:
Appearance:
Callsign:
Father:

[User]
Edric Burns

"Roger, lead," was Edric's curt reply to Capt. Hart's orders. Ever the utilitarian, Edric kept his voice over comms minimal and to-the-point. His head, however, was abuzz with suppressed excitement. The cadre was, for once, doing something other than routine equipment tests or getting slaughtered by the Star Guards in simulated battles. For that, he was thankful. Admittedly, there had been a wealth of knowledge gained from each destruction at the unit's hands, a wisdom beyond the basic coverage of academy lectures. But that didn't make the washouts any less dejecting.

The horizon bubbled under the heat outside as Edric scanned the terrain for a suitable location to take up watch. Some days, the cadre had taken to wearing their cooling vests just to go outside. He didn't fancy the thought of battling both the ambient heat and that of his weapons. For that, he felt absolutely no envy for Han's laser-heavy WLF-1, nor its nine standard heat sinks. A quick glance to the side showed Lyris and Peter on the move to their own perches and Edric followed suit, gunning for an outcrop that gave him both adequate cover and a good field of vision.

With a depression of his pedals, his Valkyrie lurched from a running gait and Edric felt the ground disappear from its feet. The 'Mech bounded upwards toward the spot he'd pinpointed, and after hitting the apex, Edric gritted his jaw as the inertia tickled his innards. He positioned himself for landing, his neurohelmet filling in the blanks, and he touched down with a soft rumble, servos whining under the weight of the 'Mech. From here, he could pick out the Star Guards' advance, and the rest of the cadre maneuvering into position.

Edric confirmed his position over the comm and settled into his chair. As he looked down from his canopy, there was a feeling of invincibility worming its way to the surface of his mind. Of course, he knew that was hardly the case, but there was a mysticism that came with sitting in the cockpit of a BattleMech that never truly died.

Blinking, Edric banished his fantasies and tightened his grip on the control yoke, roving the landscape with his eyes.

[Assistant]
Mazigh sat in front of the tactical screens showing the terrain of the region as last shown before the whole debacle with the sensors net started. The matter had made communication difficult, especially between the vehicles out in the field, and Mazigh felt very uncomfortable in the cool, air conditioned confines of the mobile HQ. Still, Captain Hart's transmission broke through the gentle thrum of sensor equipment and soft lights, distorted though it was: Mazigh was to make sure the flanks of the lance were secure, and to see that as much data was collected by the UAVs in advance of their approach as possible.

"Affirmative," was all he said when the orders came in. He immediately turned on his seat to face the tech officer sitting to his right. "Miles," he said quickly, "direct the deployment of our drones. I don't want a single square meter left unsurveyed before the big boys get there. Brauer," he added, looking to the communications officer next, "I want to know the moment anything anomalous is spotted in the AO."

"Aye, sir," said Sergeant Brauer, reaching up to clutch her headset. "Nothing to report thus far."

"I know," muttered Mazigh with a sigh, reaching for his coffee as he swiveled about in his seat. He stared at the map of the Pitt Basin, frowning as he sipped from his mug. The coffee was perhaps too sweet in his mouth: two teaspoons of sugar and coconut creamer would do that, but Mazigh didn't have any notions of black coffee being more masculine. The coconut flavor relaxed him, anyway, and helped him focus. It always had.

The map before him was marked with blue diamonds and circles indicating the recon lance and the vehicles out afield. Mazigh's men were still arrayed in their patrol formation: trailing behind the lance with the Condors in front, the Plainsmen in the back and the drone carrier in the middle. The remaining vehicles were far from the area of operations, arrayed around the Daimyo Mazigh sat in.

Mazigh set his warm mug of coffee down, stroked his beard, then made a few quick marks on the map with a little black pen. Green lines formed on the holographic screen immediately. "This is HQ," he began in his deep, serious voice. "Hex 1 and 2, navigate these coordinates." He made another quick series of dashes on the map before continuing. "Hex 3 and 4, follow these nav points around the southern perimeter of the Basin. All units: proceed with caution and maintain pace with the recon lance. Relay any and all new data to HQ. HQ out."

"You're acting like something's going to bite us," laughed Warrant Officer Miles, turning his head to face Mazigh. "I don't think there's anything waiting out there to surprise us."

"That's the thing about surprises," Mazigh rumbled, his thick eyebrows folding down as he regarded the tech officer. "They're unexpected. Treat this operation with the same seriousness you would if you were in the Succession War again."

Miles frowned, then turned back and started tapping at his display with his black pen, relaying his own orders to the drone carrier. Miles focused on his own screen. It was standard operating procedure, really: one Condor and one Plainsman were now on each flank of the recon lance, fanned out enough that there would be advance warning for the mechs if weapons fire were to occur on the flanks. The vehicles were fast enough to quickly redeploy to cover the Rifleman's rear, too, in case anything came from behind.

That last thought made Mazigh pause. "Miles," he said, "deploy one UAV drone behind Johan, facing the rear, two hundred and fifty meters back. Just in case."

Miles shook his head, but relayed the orders. As drones began appearing on the screen, Mazigh picked up his coffee and took another sip. At the very least, the operation would be a good exercise in moving in formation.


[System]
Age: 23
Gender: Female

Appearance: Roze stands at about 5'4, with a slim yet curvaceous build and tanned skin. Her neck, wrists and arms are peppered with silvery, circular scars from past bite marks. According to a few people, she's the only person they've seen that had been bitten so much without being turned. Lucky her.
Her eyes are a bright cerulean blue, framed with long dark lashes and naturally slim dark brows. Her face is heart-shaped, with a dimpled smile and button nose. Atop her head sits a mane of black curls, which reach about her mid-back.

Creature: Human

Type of Hunter: Lycan, although is not averse to killing Vampires if necessary. In addition to this, if she catches a slight wind of demonic activity, she is there like a shot.

How long have you been hunting/afflicted: New to hunting – knows plenty of the lore and whatnot thanks to her (dead) vampire boyfriend, but hasn't had any in-field practice with Lycans. As for Vampires, she's killed three of them.

Growing in South Dakota, Roze lived a fairly middle-class life with successful parents, and a nice, big ass house. Her family wasn't too big – there was no-one on her Mom's native Italian side, and her Dad just had an older brother; her Uncle Bobby.

Bobby was great – having no kids himself, he doted on Roze, generally paying far more attention to her than her parents did, what with their busy jobs and travelling that they did. However, Bobby had a more than disturbing job – demon hunter.

And when you hunt demons, they don't appreciate it too much.

Sometime after Roze's sixth birthday, she was horrified to discover her Mother and Father fighting in the kitchen – her Mother had a knife, and was acting extremely aggressively. By the time her Father subdued her, something occurred that Roze could never forget; something rose out of her Mother's body and entered her Father, who then turned to her, knife that was slick with blood being gripped more tightly.

Except it wasn't her Father anymore.

And by the look in his suddenly unfamiliar eyes, he was ready to make hamburger meat out of her like her mother on the floor.

It was pure luck that Roze managed to dodge him, and run up the stairs. Pure luck that her Father had left his safe open and the gun out. Pure luck that Bobby had insisted on showing her how to load and fire a gun, despite her parent's disagreements with showing a child so young something so dangerous.

Dangerous, yes. But it saved her life. As her Father - or rather, whatever was inhabiting her Father's body – bore down on her, she let off the entire clip of bullets into his chest, the recoil of the gun knocking her to the floor.

The first person she called was Bobby, and then the police. By the time the police did arrive to the house, her prints had been wiped clean from the gun, and Bobby had rehearsed a story for her to say. Neither of them wanted her Father to be seen as some crazy man who deserved to be put down – so, they invented some masked figure who had broken in and killed her parents, but had fled as soon as Bobby arrived.

It didn't really match up with the evidence, but she adamantly stuck to her story. The cops didn't think for one second that a little girl would lie about it. So, while they chased this mystery man, the case eventually became cold, and forgotten about.

But not to Roze.

Now growing up with Bobby, he began teaching her about the world or the paranormal, and what those things were that killed her parents. She never blamed him for it, not for a second. As it turned out, trouble would have eventually found her anyway.

As puberty hit, Roze began falling into some bad crowds at her High School. She was getting wasted every other night, and curing her hangovers with skiving classes and yet more alcohol. However, when her first boyfriend began pressuring her to take drugs, she refused, not wanting to take a path as dark as that.
Her boyfriend didn't like that.

Late at night, at one of their less cosy haunts in the woods for parties, he threatened her with plenty of horrific things if she didn't do as she was told. Despite her training with Bobby, she wasn't strong enough to over power him, and would have ended up a druggie (Or worse) had it not been for Samuel.

Coming out of nowhere and nightmarishly swiftly killing her boyfriend before her, Roze knew that this guy was definitely not human. However, he acted as such with her, treating her with such care and concern that she truly believed that he killed that silly teenage boy to protect her. This was not the case.

Samuel had been immensely enticing to her every sense, and she had finally found her new vice of ecstasy with him. Rather than spending her nights drowning in alcohol, she cleaned up and spent most of her time with Samuel.
Bobby was somewhat suspicious of this newcomer, and wasn't particularly happy that he obviously had ten years on his 18-year-old niece – but Roze was much happier and healthier with this guy. Even if she did spend most nights with him, he couldn't be a bad influence... surely?

And then Bobby noticed the bite marks peppering Roze's body.

At first, he just that Samuel had some strange kink with biting – but then he realized. Vampire. Vampires were something Bobby avoided like the plague. Partially because a lot of them were actually nice members of society; but also because they fought in ways he wasn't used to. Blood magic – like the magic Samuel was using on Roze to make her think that he feeding off of her wasn't a bad or dangerous thing – wasn't something Bobby was comfortable with. But what could he do? Stepping in could just risk both of their lives, but if it continued, Roze could be turned.

Thankfully, someone else put a stop to it.

Another vampire, by the name of Thane; his mere entrance was enough to turn Samuel aggressive, and with a threat of ripping her throat out, demanded that he leave. At that moment, the blood magic evaporated, and Roze realized how foolish she had been. Turning on Samuel, the pair of them managed to take his head off before morning even broke.

Thane wasn't like Samuel – rather than pat her shoulder and reel off some sympathy, he instead explained things to her - why bad things, supernatural things had been pretty much all around her throughout her life. There was something in her blood – something unknown – that made it smell almost irresistible. It had drawn the demons to her home, and it had drawn Samuel to the forest that night. It had also drawn Thane to her, and in doing so, had saved her from Samuel.

After that night, Roze didn't go home. Instead, she left a voicemail for her Uncle Bobby, telling him to not worry about her anymore. She had to leave; otherwise she'd just be putting him in danger.

For the next couple of years, Roze stayed with Thane. Together they killed any Vampires that attempted to harm her, and bonded quite closely. He never drank from her, or used his magic on her. For once in his life, she had a partner who treated her like a human being.

Tragically, a few weeks ago, she lost Thane. Something had torn him apart like a rag doll – most of the evidence pointed towards Lycan, although it was a strange thing, for a pack of Lycans to target a lone vampire who obviously didn't pose any threats. Either way, Roze had nothing left, but an aching heart and lust for revenge. After wandering for a few weeks, Roze turned north, towards Maine. Thane had told her about a hunting group up there, a group that would welcome both the living and the afflicted. It would have been the perfect place for them both.

Except there was no both about it now.

Reason for Joining: She had nowhere else to go, and nothing left to do. So far, the only decent things she's done in her life have been ridding the world of bad things - why not turn it into a career of sorts?
Also, she may even be able to find those who took away the people she cared about so much.

Arrived: Today.

[User]
Ingrid chuckled at the man's explanation. "Probably not something you'd want to push away in the future then." Her eyes glanced down the road for a moment before returning to the conversation at hand. "I wouldn't worry too much about it hitting anybody, didn't seem to be goin' too fast." Even if it had been, she imagined the people in the camp had faced much worse than an unoccupied vehicle. When the young man introduced himself, Ingrid extended her free hand with a grin, a grin that showed a particularly sharp set of canines. "Pleasure to meet you Ryan. The name's Ingrid, Ingrid Venn." She giggled again at the nickname comment. "I dunno, I've had my share of nicknames, some tend to be longer than your real name... especially the unflattering ones." For what was supposed to be a cold-blooded killer, the girl was unusually chipper. After introducing herself, the young woman nodded. "Aye, I'm here for this meeting, and I suppose I am a hunter of sorts.

 As she spoke to Ryan, the vampire noticed a rattling sound growing nearer and nearer to their location. Eventually, a figure came into sight. He was a tall man, somewhat intimidating even, but that had more to do with the axe in his hand than his height. A grin still on her face, Ingrid's hand fell to casually rest at her left hip as she turned toward the newcomer. As he called out to them, her smile only widened. So it was his 'establishment'. "Oi, hi there. I wouldn't say we're lost, I do believe we're actually heading to your establishment at the moment." She still sounded unusually cheery. "Ryan here met with a little... um... misfortune. I imagine that was his truck, unless some other driver-less car decided to head that direction." She laughed at her own joke. "So you're the one in charge of this whole operation then, right?"

[Assistant]
William released a sigh of relief. He felt it safe to assume these two were just more hunters trying to reach his camp. He gave his axe another flick and angled the bladed edge towards the ground, which allowed the shaft to retract and return to its previous state. "Aye, I'm the one in charge around here. The one and only William Hendrick, but you can call me 'Captain' if that suits your fancy more." The worn hunter said with a slight welcoming smile. "And lad," William said, glancing at Ryan. "You'll be happy to hear that your vehicle has roosted itself comfortably in my town." He strapped his axe back onto his belt, turned towards the town again and started walking. He beckoned the two to follow him.

 "We're not far from the town. Just a short little walk is ahead of us now." He stated to the two following him. It was easy to see the details of the shield that rested comfortably on his back from behind him. The painted image of a wolf's decapitated head was clearly visible on the center of it. "Anyways miss, you told me the boys name, but what about you? You got a name or something I should call you by?" William asked, only glancing slightly over his should to look at the woman. A few minutes later, the small group would reach the town, finding Henryk near the pathway.

 "Ah, Henryk! Glad to see someone took my post while I was gone." William said as he approached the hunter. "You two make yourselves at home somewhere. Just don't get too comfortable, we'll be having a meeting in a short bit." He stated to Ryan and Ingrid, before turning to face Henryk again. "While I was gone, you didn't happen to see anyone else arrive did you?" William asked the Lycan.


[System]
Character Sheet
[VICTUS STYLE]
Nick Name: Shelley
Age: 14
Gender: Female
Appearance/Physical: Shelley is rather petite and doesn't have much of a figure. She has black eyes like shining onyx gemstones and long black hair that she sometimes braids into a ponytail or into pigtails. She tends to play with the ends of her hair with her hands when she's nervous or absent-minded which looks an awful lot like fidgeting. Her skin is porcelain pale.
Appearance/Attire: Shelley prefers comfort and modesty, so wears loose-fitting or baggy clothes with dark, dull or subdued colors, which can make her look a bit trashy. She's been pressured into wearing contact lenses in public even though she doesn't like putting things in her eyes, so when she is at home, she prefers her big, round, thick glasses that make her look the part of her inner personality, that of a soft-core nerd. Shelley never got into make-up. Shelley tends not to attract attention and prefers it that way.
Bio: Shelley is quiet and non-confrontational. Shelley has difficulty connecting with other people but wants to help them. She has compassion but not empathy, which means that she can see that people need help, and she wants to help them, but she usually doesn't know how to help them and doesn't know how to comfort them. This makes her feel pretty powerless at times. On the one hand, she is motivated by approval and will do anything to please those around her, on the other hand, she has an instinctual fear of this desire to please being exploited, so she avoids social interactions so that she only gives her all to the people that are truly close to her. She cannot stand arguments and disagreements and deeply resents those who disturb the fragile peace of her life, which she will do all in her power to preserve. Shelley tends to take everything personally and does not respond well to criticism, often internalizing her emotions and pretending she's 'just fine'. Shelley is an 'external locus of control' person. Though Shelley has never been diagnosed (her mother believes psychiatric care is costly and pointless and that her daughter is 'just fine'), it is possible that she falls somewhere on the Autism Spectrum.
History: Shelley comes from an upper-middle class family. When she was young, her father had an affair, resulting in her parents' divorce. Her mother who was a pharmacist, raised her alone and couldn't spend much time with her. Shelley's grandmother (from her mother's side) also lived with them. Shelley's mother and grandmother often argued. Shelley developed an isolated independence and learned how to take care of herself in a very basic way (simple cooking, laundry, etc.) and contributed to house chores as much as she could. Shelley's mother was something of a typical Asian 'tiger mom' so Shelley was pushed to excel at academics. She did remarkably well in elementary and middle school, but has started struggling in high school. Shelley never picked up a musical instrument despite the stereotype. She has instead immersed herself in popular media as her hobby, enjoying comics, manga, cartoons, anime, etc. Being socially awkward, Shelley finds history and English classes as fairly pointless, and only sees utility in science and math classes, in which she does better than her other classes.
Weaknesses: Shelley is easily manipulated, and even though she may look stoic, is actually quite emotional.
Strengths: Shelley is dedicated and loyal, sometimes to her own detriment.

[User]
Heon's morning started on routine, Wayne had returned sometime in the night and was snoring in his room while Marcus sat at the dining table with a stupid grin as he glaring at his smartphone. The smell of fresh bacon and eggs tantalised Heonhime's taste buds as Marie cooked up his morning meal while humming an unfamiliar tune. Sitting at the large dark wood dining table, Hoen resting his cheek on one hand while he peered into the world outside the window. As Marie laid out Heon's breakfast before him he paid her no mind as he started to eat. He felt so far away from that world outside as he picked at his expensive thick slices of bacon with finely crafted silverware.

"Hey peasant, what is that dumb look for?" Marcus said with his mouth full of bread and bacon.

"Dumb look? Are you sure you're not projecting again Marcus?" Hoen offered back quickly.

"We're too far apart in prestige little brother, I'd never make such a mistake." Marcus huffed with a grin.

"I guess it would be hard to project when you're already so far up your own arse."

"Cut the pissing contest!" Marie shouted from the kitchen not far away. With her command Marcus shrugged his plump figure before glaring back at his smartphone once more while Hoenhime went back to eating.

With the morning pleasantries cut short by Marie, Hoen finished his meal before shifting to the third floor bathroom to clean up and prepare himself for the day. He pondered on his commitment to meet up with Jonathan at 2PM, though you could hardly call it a commitment, Hoen reasoned any excuse to stay out of the house was a good one. Shifting to his bed room Hoen eyed the rolled up parchment that sat on his desk, he'd contemplated throwing it away on more than one occasion and yet there it sat. Although he'd never admit it to his face, Jonathan was right, the parchment held an odd aura of curiosity that Hoenhime wouldn't mind getting cleared up.

It was 10:30AM by the time Hoen left the house, luckily for him Wayne was still asleep and besides a few snide remarks, Marcus remained primarily glued to his smartphone. Wearing an expensive long sleeved, black silk shirt and pants, Hoenhime made his way towards the school, intending to stop by the local library on his way.

[Assistant]
Shelley woke up at 11AM. Her mother didn't like her sleeping in this late, but she usually didn't say anything about, thinking Shelley was old enough to manage her own sleep schedule. At any rate, it was a weekend, and Shelley didn't have anything she needed to do. Shelley groaned to herself. She had stayed up pretty late playing games, even though she kept telling herself she would finish her homework early so she wouldn't have to worry about it over the weekend.

She washed up, brushed her teeth, and headed downstairs where her mother was preparing lunch. Shelley usually skipped breakfast if she woke up this late.

"Good morning, Shi Ling," her grandmother said, "I used to wake up late when I was your age."

Shelley nodded, unable to count how many times her grandmother had said this in the past. "Hey mom, I'll be going out later today," Shelley said.

"Oh? What for?" her mother asked.

"Oh, umm...well, you know..." Shelley didn't have a good excuse, it wasn't like she had any friends that she was close enough with t ohang out with over the weekends. "There's this...game coming out..."

"Shelley, I swear, you spend too much time and money on those. I've a mind to forbid you from playing games until your grades improve," Shelley's mother complained.

Shelley bit her lip. She had slowly stopped buying at game stores, and started making more and more purchases online so her mother wouldn't nag her about it as much. "I...I know mom...but I really want this game...I'll work harder at school, so will you please let me...?"

Shelley's mom didn't say anything for a bit, but because she had argued with grandmother yesterday, and they had sort of reconciled, she felt that maybe today she should be nicer to Shelley, if only to make grandmother feel happy. "Fine."

"Th-Thanks...Mom..." Shelley said, wishing that she was actually going to buy a game because it wasn't normally this easy to get her permission.

After finishing lunch Shelley headed out. It was 12PM, and she had two hours to figure out how to get to school. She normally took the bus, but it wasn't running on a Saturday as expected. She also hardly ever went out without her mother who drove everywhere, and school was too far to walk to. Shelley wandered around, until she found a bus stop for non-school-buses. She had a hard time reading the bus lines map and determining which bus she should get on, and by the time she had figured it out, realized that several of the buses she could have gotten on to go to her destination had already come and gone. When the next one finally arrived, she got on, and then had a hard time paying the bus driver, fiddling nervously through her wallet.

The rest of the ride she sat through nervously, desperately afraid she'd miss her stop, and causing her to hit to 'next stop' button twice, coaxing some condescending giggles from the two younger boys sitting in the seats behind her.

She got off, seeing recognizable scenery of the area near the school. It was only 1PM. She had made good time considering she didn't get on the bus until 12:30PM, but now she was an hour early and had no idea what to do in the mean time. Well, almost no idea. She pulled out a handheld gaming console, found a place to sit and whiled away the hour playing, not even considering the possibility that the school gate might be locked for the weekend.

[User]
It was fifteen to two when Heon left the Library, his backpack hung over one shoulder weighed down by the tomes he had hired out. Looking at his watch he decided to head to school. 'Jonathan sure had an odd way about doing things.' Heonhime thought to himself as he marched towards his destination. But the location made sense, it was familiar to all involved and the fence surrounding the oval and gym had a section to it that was broken.

As he walked Hoen's mind filled with thoughts regarding the parchment, he wondered if they're really find out anything if they brought all of them together, nothing about Hoenhime's parchment seemed to indicate that that'd be the case. "Ahh well, no use in trying I guess." Hoen huffed throwing his hands behind his head and looking up to the sky as he walked. It was quite a nice day, or say Heonhime thought anyway; overcast and windy yet not a hint of rain, though this type of weather had a tendency to change quickly.

Coming into view of the school entrance, Hoen noticed a young girl seated with her eyes glued to a handheld console. Shifting closer he peered at her for a moment, she looked familiar some how and that bothered Hoenhime. "Are you one of Jonathan's peons?" Hoen asked abruptly raising an eye brow. He couldn't think of any other reason why'd someone her age would be here. "Got one of these right?" Hoen probed further as he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a piece of square parchment with a glyph printed on it.

[Assistant]
Shelley had noticed movement from her peripheral vision, but paid the approaching figure no heed as several people had walked by this street in the last 45 minutes. However when he talked to her, she looked up at him. "P-peon? N-no, I'm just..." she said until he pulled out the parchment, "Y-yeah...that..." It suddenly occurred to Shelley that she didn't remember grabbing the parchment on her way out. In a panic she looked through her purse, which her mother told her to always bring whenever she left the house even though she didn't like the idea of carrying a purse. She relaxed when she remembered stuffing the parchment into her purse the night before, and promptly located it.

"Whew...I-I thought I forgot to bring it..." Shelley sighed to herself. She looked up at Hoen, not recognizing him. "Y-you know what these papers are? Did your classmates spread rumors about you having a stalker as well?"

[User]
"Why would I care what they think?" Heon asked confidently as he stuffed the parchment back into his bag. 'So she's a student dragged here by Jonathan as well. No wonder I couldn't remember her, she seems so timid.' Heonhime thought to himself. "Anyway, if you're waiting for the gate to open you might be here awhile." Hoen stated coldly. "If you want to get to the gym, you'll have to cut through the oval, there is a hole in the fence." Hoenhime continued. He didn't want to be kept waiting if she didn't know how to get to the gym after all.

As was typical of his conduct with others, Heonhime turned back to his journey without offering his name or even a proper greeting. Sliding his hands into his pockets he followed along the school's border until he reached a large grass oval, the oval fence followed through to a small clearing of trees and untended grass, it was here that the fence was damaged most and a large hole could be found, produced by a split in the fence's links that were pulled back to produce an opening. Ducking through the hole, Heonhime took a deep breathe when he emerged on the other side. This hadn't been the first time he'd done this and he doubted that it'd be the last. Across the oval sat a large red brick building with a basketball court to it's side, Hoen could see some figures next to the large structure off in the distance and started making his way towards them.

[Assistant]
"Oh!" Shelley remarked after Hoen told her of the hole in the fence. She stood up abruptly, then looked back down at her device, making sure to save her progress before putting it away. "T-thank you for telling me." She felt that it was fortunate he passed in front of her, otherwise, as had he said, she'd really be waiting at the front gate for a long time. She followed him to the hole, and waited for him to pass through. Shelley took her time going through, not wanting to get too many burrs on herself from the grass, nor wanting for any part of her clothes to catch on the chain link fence and tear; she'd have a hell of a time explaining how that happened to her mom.

"W-we should tell a custodian or janitor on Monday about this hole," Shelley said, for no other reason besides that it was 'against regulations'. Not really expecting Hoen to reply, she simply followed him to the rear of the gym where the others were waiting. None of the people here seemed to have that 'weak freshman' look, so she assumed they were probably all upperclassmen. She was really glad that Hoen passed by the front, because all these people had made it in here without her knowing. Shelley was surprised that a total of five people had this same parchment problem, though she didn't hear any dumb rumors about anyone else.


[System]
(I'm hoping this is still accepting! I didn't see anything saying it wasn't so here we are!)

Appearance:
Gender: Male

Age: 17

Grid: Slight

Secret Gift: Sixth sense. While typically this means Derric can predict danger before it happens, his odd gift allows him to sense more than just immediate danger to himself. He can also sense (on occasion) people's emotions, nearby presences, and on rare occasions even death before it occurs. This sense is just like any other of the five senses however, and can be tricked or can even outright fail him at times. This sense also allows him to pick up on others skills, so for example if someone knows how to track or hunt someone, his sense allows him to imitate this ability and be able to hunt as well.
Weapon of Choice: Derric tends to stay old fashioned with his weaponry, claiming that it makes things easier to focus. He has a composite bow and a quiver of arrows which he keeps on him at all times, along with a set of simple hunting knives.

Gear: His bow and quiver arrows, along with a pack at his side which holds a small amount of medicinal herbs, several different types of detachable arrow heads, and various snacks he always seems to keep with him.

Bio: Derric learned of his gift unlike most, as he seemed to be aware of it from the day he learned to walk. He never understood how others didn't know things like he did, and it honestly confused him when he watched people step into danger he could clearly sense coming. Couldn't they sense it to? Slowly, as his mind matured he began to realize that he was the only one who could sense these things, and began to understand that he was special. When it became time to become a guard, he realized he could use these abilities to propel him, giving him an uncanny sense for danger while also allowing him to be able to easily detect and hit targets with his simple bow.

Habits (Optional): Derric, unlike most in his sector, tends to be a little bit more friendly then others. For reasons he doesn't quite understand, he feels he almost always has to help those who ask it of him, most likely because the emotion of gratitude he feels from them is one of the better feelings he ever detects with his ability.

Theme Song (Optional): Just the music that goes on in his head

Other:

[User]
Tarvas wasn't impressed by the fancy nature of his surroundings - a limo that was admittedly cleaner than most things that he had ever interacted with. His chance of tuning back had passed - and frankly, he didn't mind one bit leaving his "home". A home that was more than happy to see him go.

When he told his old man that he was going to join the Guard, he could tell that the old man was deciding whether to deride him for being useless or to rejoice at having Tarvas out of the house. It was the first time he ever got support from his adopted father, who was old enough to be his grandfather. He dressed in his best clothes - which weren't much, given that everything in the house was at least 10 years old and either dirty or dusty - and left his life in Slight behind him.

When the limo stopped, he was not accustomed to how limos worked, so he let himself out. He wasn't comfortable with groups of people - and stayed away from a particular bunch of what appeared to be rich kids.

Pompous lot they are he thought. One girl in particular looked like she hadn't held a weapon in her life, let alone used one. She would drop out quickly.

He moved to the sides of his surroundings, wishing to be out of the clustered open space and hoping to move along sometime soon.

Hearing the teachers call the recruits over, he moved to the back of the forming crowd.

[Assistant]
Seril:
Seril opened the brown door to his limo and thanked the driver for his time. His eyes lit up when he saw the tall tower in front of him. He felt his eyes begin to water when he noticed he was one of the last ones to get out. Dammit if he hadn't spilled his moms tea on his lap he wouldn't have had to change on the way over here. He was already from Till not to mention that he was a freak about to get trained to hunt freaks. But none of that was in Seril's mind. This beautiful structure was a sight to see, as this was his first time ever even visiting Focal.

He looked around at the other recruits wondering if they had noticed him staring at the building, he thought he heard someone laugh when they started walking away without him. And he noticed another boy from Till starting to give them a reason to hate them already. Seril pulled on the sweatshirt his mother and sister had made for him, it was pretty new so it was a bit itchy. Seril figured there was no reason to even open his mouth until he was approached. He didn't want to draw too much particular attention to himself.

He followed the other Recruits as they introduced themselves trying to catch some of there names. He had only caught Sarah and Dyana's names and he thought he knew the other boy's from Till, he recognized Mason, Seril figured his big ass would be here, and the other one was… He couldn't put a finger on it. The air Seril was breathing even felt different. He coughed. Maybe it wasn't a good different, he said smiling to himself.

[User]
The luster of the dark emerald limo demanded attention despite the rather reserved nature of its passenger. While she herself said little her attire would suggest the contrary. Her right side was exposed, provocative and showing a confidence required of those with status. In stark contrast her left looked as if was modeled after the dresses of royalty. The black and red ensemble tied in nicely with her hair and her piercings.

 As with the others a chuffer opened the door. Stepping out, Zephornial Nolluxian tried her best to not make herself seem as egocentric as she appeared. But with each step the metallic jingle of her chained boots screamed out for attention. Rather than dwell on it she allowed her eyes to look about, trying to gather what she could about her surroundings. The buildings struck her as an odd design choice but not something to far fetched when one thinks of what it represents. What did merit her attention was the strange assortment that was to be her allies.

 She found it somewhat humorous how easy it was to tell the backgrounds of most of them just by their attitudes and dress. (Herself included.) As the setting began to sink in Zeph made her way over to the man on the stairs, and towards the front of the gathering.

[Assistant]
Derric slowly stepped out of the car, looking around with a somewhat awed look. This place... It was so... Huge. For someone who spent his free time tracking and hunting various animals, seeing this giant crowd and these impossibly large buildings completely set him off and somewhat irritated him. Everywhere he looked he felt like his sense was tingling, letting him know something was wrong.

Derric began to press through the crowd with a small frown, glancing around at the various people. I wonder if there's anyone from Slight nearby... He thought to himself before absently scolding himself for being so ridiculous. Whether there is or not, there's no reason to be pitiful about not having a friend. Despite his thoughts about this, his sense began to tingle as he slowly looked around before his eyes fell upon a girl, who was failing at inconspicuously ogling a nearby barely-clothed boy. Slowly walking through the crowd, he came up behind her and chuckled, tapping her on the shoulder. "Like the view?"

[User]
Estella admired herself in the mirror one more time before she left home. Her brown hair was neatly curled and framed her heart-shaped face perfectly. Her blue chiffon dress reached just above her knees which she wore with a white faux-rabbit jacket. She then decided to pair it off with her black boots to give her a more casual look but still look more fashionable than everyone else. She smiled at her reflection, gave her hair one more primp, and went outside to ride to the facility.

When she arrived, she had to admit she was rather impressed with the building. "This place might not be so bad," she thought to herself. She looked around and saw that she knew no one. Well it was expected and she figured she will just have to show this place the queen she was. She was also way better dressed than everyone here, which pleased her. She heard they were calling for all the Recruits so she made her way through the crowd and waited for whatever announcement they had. She made sure to keep her distance. The last thing she wanted was to be jammed with a bunch of sweaty people and ruin her hair or something.

[Assistant]
Alda jumped and turned her head, raising her eyebrows in an attempt to give that critical-but-innocently-confused look that says, What the hell are you talking about? It didn't work, though, because her face flushed and became a noticeable shade of pink. She struggled internally with whether to engage in conversation with the boy, who obviously couldn't mind his own business but didn't look too bad himself. "Very much enjoying the view," she finally answered, with the soft beginning of a half-chuckle and a small, nervous smile. Was he from Slight? she wondered, pondering if she had in fact seen him before. Perhaps briefly. Before the accident.

"Did you come over here to share the view?" she asked slyly.

[User]
Citrine jumped when a girl made a comment on her dress, but she made sure to smile politely and nodded. "Thank you," she responded, unsure of what really to say. She didn't recognize the girl. She then realized that she hadn't introduced herself and she quickly stammered out, "Oh, I'm Citrine, but a lot of people just call me Ci." She stuck her hand out swiftly and growled at herself. Of course she was already making a fool out of herself. Why couldn't she act normal for one day? She shook Sarah's hand before immediately dropping it back down by her side.

"So, did you take advanced classes back at your school too? My Weaponry and Defense teacher put me in a class two levels ahead of my own because the younger kids weren't challenging enough for me," Citrine stated with a smile. She then realized that she sounded like she was bragging and she quickly said, "Not that I'm bragging. I'm sure a lot of people here are good."

Well, this went to shit fast.

---

Colt turned at the sound of a girl's voice. He smiled down at the pretty thing and said, "Hey, darlin'. The name's Colt. Colt Winger." He took her hand and shook it hard. He dropped his hand back down by his side and said, "You're from Luminosity too?" He grinned at her. "I could tell. Girls laughter is the brightest, their eyes sparkle, and their smiles can be seen around Markson are always from Luminosity and you definitely meet the criteria." He scanned her up and down. "It is very nice to meet you."

Right then, one of the guys from Till (@Avanhelsing) made a snide comment and Colt whipped around, looking toward the guy. Colt was a little taller, but they were equal in size. Colt stormed up to him, glaring at him. "What did you say, dirt boy?" Colt snarled in his face. Colt was only a few inches away from him at this point. No one called him a snob and got away with it. He honestly couldn't believe that people would be so judgmental on the first day. "Glass jaws and pedicures, huh?" Colt cracked his knuckles. "I'll show you a glass jaw." He was about to make a swing for Logan when suddenly, his arm was grabbed from the side and twisted around his back. He gasped in pain as he was shoved to the ground and Nau's voice muttered in his ear, "Not here Recruit. Leave it on the training room floor."

---

Nau dropped Colt's arm, shoving it away from him, and pressed two fingers in his mouth, whistling. "Alright, listen up, Recruits! For the next year and a day, you will be training in this facility. You will need to get used to the people here." He glared at Colt and Logan when he said this. "And you will need to make friends because these will be the people you will be working with." He clapped his hands together. "Now, down to business. The first thirty floors are for on duty Guards and the last three are for you guys. Last fourth and fifth floor are the training floors. The last sixth is the cafeteria and the final seventh and eighth are for your trainers.Training starts at eight a.m. sharp. I expect all you to be there. You have Weaponry first, then Defense, followed by Anomalous Classification and Identification, then Anomalous History, then Council History. You will get your schedule first thing in the morning and this will tell you exactly when lunch and extra classes you have after you finish your required classes with your fellow Recruits. Most of you are likely not to go to any extra class that you want to take first day, but afterwards, if you would like to take any extra, then you probably will. Now, you have all of today off. Dinner is at six p.m. I expect you all to be there. Now, head up to your rooms and get settled. Your names are on your doors and you things will already be in there so you can put them away. You will have a door going into the room next to yours. The rooms are in pairs of two, so you will only see one other person and not have two doors in your room connecting you to someone else. Now, rest up for tomorrow and I expect to see all of you at six tonight. You have two hours." Nau looked at his watch and stepped away from the door, stepping out of the way of the Recruits so they could make their way upstairs.

Tri looked over at Nau and commented, "Do you think Sky and Kym will be back for dinner?"

Nau shrugged. "Possibly. All I know is, we need to get ready in case they aren't." Tri nodded and both of the two men headed inside.

[Assistant] Derric chuckled and shook his head, acknowledging the girls wit by putting his hands in the air in a surrendering gesture. "No, no thank you. Not that kinda guy thank you very much..." He paused as he looked into her eyes and raised one of his eyebrows. "There are some things here worth admiring though." It was actually an unusually bold move for him, but he figured she probably wouldn't read too much into it either way, besides... What was the harm in a little fun? "I'm Derric by the way. Came from Slight. How about you?"


[System]
Nickname(s): Ann(e); Annie; Phoebe-Ann; Annie Oakley; Immortal Annie, The Western Girl; Princess of The West; Mrs. Oakley-Butler; Watanya Cicilla "Little Sure Shot".

Immediate Relatives:
• Jacob Moses (father)
• Susan Wise-Moses (mother)
• Francis "Frank" E. Butler (husband)
• Mary-Jane Moses (sister)
• Lydia Moses (sister)
• Elizabeth Moses (sister)
• Catherine Moses (sister)
• Sarah-Ellen Moses (sister)
• John-Henry Moses (brother)

Known For:
Her incredible feats of marksmanship in Western entertainment; being the key influence to the American cowgirl image; being a pioneer of sexual equality in marksmanship; being America's best-known female sharpshooter.

Hair Color: Bleached, Ombré-Blonde.
Eye Color: Green.

Miniaturized Height: 0' 2"
Humanized Height: 5' 6"

Museum: National Cowgirl Museum in Texas (formerly); Garst Museum in Ohio (formerly); National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma (formerly); The Smithsonian in Washington DC (formerly); Museum of Natural History in New York (currently)
Location Within Current Museum: Wild West Diorama in "The Hall of Miniatures".
Occupation(s): Trapper; Hunter; Author; Women's Rights Activist; Professional Markswoman; Exhibition Shooter.

Portrayer: Isabel Lucas (Australian Actress, Activist, and Ambassador)

"I'm not afraid to love a man, and I'm not afraid to shoot him either."
"Aim, and hit it. Not on the first, the second, nor the third time. But keep on aiming and shooting, since practice will make you perfect."
"God intended women to be outside like men. They do not know what they are missing when they stay cooped up in their house."
Brief Background + Character Traits:
Though not exactly a product of the Wild West, Annie Oakley only became associated with the Western fold, after her "amazing talent" first came to light when she was only fifteen years old: she beat professional shooter, Frank E. Butler, in a shooting competition that rose her to fame as an international star to both royalty, and heads of the state.

Born in the year of 1860 within Ohio, Annie was the sixth-born out of nine children conceived by her parents. However, after her mother lost two in a miscarriage, Annie became the fifth out of the seven surviving children. Living in poverty, she, her five sisters, and one brother couldn't regularly attend school, or earn a proper education. However, at eight years old, right after her father's passing, Annie began working at the Darke County Infirmary, where she, in exchange, received an education, and developed the skill of sewing, while attending to the elderly, the orphaned, and the mentally ill. This experience aroused Annie's lifelong compassion towards others, until she left at fifteen.

Returning to her mother's home, Annie supported her by involving herself in trapping, shooting, and hunting wild game to sell at local shops and restaurants. She was so successful, she was able to repay the entire $200 mortgage on their family farm. During this time, Annie was approached and challenged by Irish exhibition shooter, Frank E. Butler, in a shooting competition to not miss twenty-five shots. In the end, he lost by one bullet. So entranced by the twenty-two year-old Annie, Francis eventually courted and married her.

Professionally, after taking on the stage name of "Oakley", Annie traveled west with Butler, and gave shooting exhibitions to entertain the public. She became so well-known, she became the top earner out of any performer on the Western fold. After impressing the most imposing and famous of individuals, like Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill, Queen Victoria, King Umberto I, and Kaiser Wilhelm II, she quickly became a national celebrity with her name being plastered across both America and Europe.

Aside for her deadeye ability to strike a target, Annie's inner strength helped her survive a difficult childhood, and while her strong integrity, dignity, and propriety served her well throughout her life, she quietly proved to be just as superior to most men in the shooting range. Purehearted, clever, and "superhumanly" headstrong, it was Annie's modesty and reserved elegance that made her a very appealing yet likable individual. From her humble roots as Phoebe Ann Moses, to taking center stage as Annie Oakley, this remarkably-dazzling folk heroine was remembered to be one of America's greatest western legends and icons. As various targets were thrown in the air, she was able to use five different guns, and shoot every single one in ten seconds; even better, she could shoot the end of a cigarette, split the edge of a playing card, and leave holes in tossed coins. Expert shooters then and now continue to marvel at her abilities.

[User]
When he did something, he did it big. Maybe he was trying to overcompensate for feeling so small next to the massive guards or some of the other wax figures. Maybe it was just his personality. But whatever the case, Jedediah didn't think twice about kidnapping the Roman Emperor. And he honestly didn't see why he shouldn't. The man was annoying. They've had their run ins on multiple occasions, nothing to serious. The guards usually locked them up right away so they couldn't fight. Tonight though, was different. The guard had taken long enough that they had been able to get down and set up an ambush. And though that didn't work, this was a perfect time to make Octavious pay. Thankfully, Annie seemed agreeable as well.

"Alright then. We need to go in all quiet like. Butch," he said to one of the cowboys he had waved over. "I need you to cause a diversion with the rest of the pioneers. While the main legion is focused on you, Annie and I will sneak in and grab him. We need to get him before dawn but not to soon or the Romans will miss him and come back for him. Understand? Good." He rose. "Let's go Lill' Sure Shot."

Butch took off to rally the pioneers. With the guard gone, the Romans would be turning their attention on them. Not to mention the Mayans. Due to their hostility they were usually always locked up first and tonight they weren't. From his perch, Jed could see some of the Mayans and Romans fighting but the main contingent still focused on the Wild West Diorama. The Mayan miniatures were a bit crazy but they didn't have a strong leadership like Jed - or so he liked to think. The fact that the Romans considered them more of a threat than the crazy Mayans solidified it in his mind.

Grabbing some rope, Jed made his way down the side and onto the ground. He knew where the Roman leader was and hoped to get him alone. "Keep on eye on the time," he whispered to Annie. "We want to get this just right."

The pioneer diversion started. Cowboys, Chinese men alike charged the Roman army. The whole room was a mess of miniatures fighting a three-way war. It was times like this that he wished his guns could work. But eh. He could still fight. And a lot better than that Roman. "Do you see 'im?" He asked looking around at the fighting. Now that they were on ground level it was hard to make out.

~ ~ ~

From the point in the Roman city, Julia and the other women heard the commotion. She rose and glanced toward the fighting. "It's just our legions conquering the barbarians, dear." One of the older woman said stroking a lyre. Julia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her eyes took in the battlefield. It was a mess. Crazy and insane. The guard was gone but there were thousands of soldiers, pioneers and Mayans out fighting.

"Come on. Regal us again with a poem. Maybe one about Octavious, your father." The women sighed.

"He's such a great leader."

"And handsome."

[Assistant]
Annie was headstrong; more on a superhuman level, to be exact. Jedediah, at times, underestimates her determination, but he can be wrong when there is proof left behind by her barreled artillery. For one, she was a lone-wolf in the diorama, and the cowgirl tends to walk off on her own, away from the social levels of her fellow pioneers. If she felt like it, Annie would standby and watch her leader direct the Chinese workers of the railroad. She remembered the time when they first met, earlier tonight: once she said her name, pioneers, especially the cowboys, became excited (almost demanding) for her presence.

The cowgirl was flattered at their attempts, but, as a professional woman, with an American reputation in marksmanship, Annie respectfully, and affectionately, dismissed them. Or, Jedediah would shoo them off, and direct them back to work. If any, even the tourists, noticed, she was the only female with a ten-gallon hat in the diorama. If anybody did the math, she and their leader would be sixty-one years apart, in real history, that is. Funny as it looked, they were close in age, by the way they were made, at least.

Annie had to reimagine Jed's plan in her mind. As long as he was describing, she would calibrate, and perform. It was a crazy plan, but she did wonder to herself on the outcome.

What if she commits a truce between the two factions, once they get near each other?

Plus, the cowgirl was the one with a wicked aim, a deadeye, and a gun that actually works. She had to try, despite what Jed may think. Annie followed him down the rope, and found herself in the middle of a massacre. If it was her and combat, she was "frontierswoman-material", good at defense and, what her leader was good for: offense. Time was getting short, and true as her eyesight, Annie caught the Roman General in the distance; not too far away from where they were standing. Should she reconsider with this plan? "Clear as a diamond. Clear as a bright and shiny day", she confirmed, before adjusting her hat at the brim.

[User]
"Excellent." Jed smiled as he headed in the direction that Annie had inferred too. It wasn't easy sneaking through a major fight. Once or twice they'd get stopped by someone who Jed would then have to knock out of the way or take down. He had one goal and he wasn't going to let someone stop him from getting there.

The Emperor of the Romans, the arrogant man who dared think he could come onto Jedediah's turf with his legions and his war machines and not expect reprisal was not guarded. He stood, his back to them shouting some nonsense or other about the 'glory of the Empire' or some other nonsense. Stupid man. Didn't even think to watch his back. Jed smirked and motioned to Annie while he started to make a lasso. Swinging it he tossed it at the Emperor and quickly jerked tightening it around the man's arms. "Now Annie." He ordered expecting her to help move in.

The fighting was incredibly loud - well at least for all the miniatures. It probably would have some noise level to the giants but none were around. It was strange really. Other than that one guard - who was scared away by the awesomeness of Jed and the pioneers (the Romans had nothing to do with it. The guard feared for his life from the pioneers), no one else stopped by. It was amazing really. He hadn't been on the floor that often. But because of the noise level, no one could hear Octavious shout. Moving forward to help Annie, Jedediah tightened the rope. It would be dawn soon and they needed to withdraw.

"Not so tough now are you, big man?" He hissed in Octavious' ear as he, Annie, and another cowboy discretely moved him back toward the Pioneer Diorama. "Teach you to step on another man's turf."

~ ~ ~
Julia was getting a bit annoyed with them all. Rising, she gave a polite smile. "It's nearing dawn. I want to make sure they return safely."

"Oh good idea." Another woman said rising. "Let's line up to great our conquering champions."

That seemed like a good idea to them overall. Julia let herself fall in the back before slipping away. They probably wouldn't even notice she was away. She made her way to the top of the diorama and looked down. The Romans were slowly retreating and coming back. The Mayans and Pioneers were doing the same. No one wanted to be caught outside the display when they froze. A good part of it was, you had no control over what happened during the day and could get stepped on, eaten, lost or whatever. It was safer in the display cases.

Her eyes scanned the thousands of pieces on the floor. There were no straggling Romans. They stayed grouped together and all would return. She smiled grateful for that. In a way, though Octavious was the Emperor, she felt a special connection to the legions...and even the ditsy women. They were her people as well. And she may never be able to lead or fight but that didn't stop her from caring and wishing their safety.

[Assistant]
Annie scanned the area for a possible path to approach the Roman leader, standing there in the distance. Honestly, the cowgirl (noticeable to Jed, at least), had no interest in violence and combat, except she would only fight for what was necessary, like to protect a frontier and keep the peace from a true enemy. Not to mention that she uses the thrill of suspense for entertainment; public shootouts, not included. Mentioned before, it was forbidden to even face Annie in said-event. Jedediah laid that law down as a necessity. But generally, no one challenges Annie. However, there have been other fellow male pioneers, who were dying to "meet" her. Take Jesse James, for instance.

James was their diorama's robber and outlaw, and the same goes back in American history: "guerrilla, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer". A cocky, talkative pioneer, who was, at least, the same height as Jedediah, James took violence over the edge, and he had no qualms to spare anyone. Not to mention that he grew obsessed with Annie ever since her arrival in the wake of this morning. If anyone was disgusted of James, it was Jed, according to her knowledge, at least. Now that she thought about it, Annie did notice a protectiveness coming from her leader, every time that son-of-a-scum appeared. The best part? The cowgirl never cried; always kept her head high.

~ ~ ~

Octavius had victory on his mind for years. Hail Jupiter!, he thought triumphantly, sword held high, and taking on his incoming enemies. Taking one last strike on an opponent, the general felt mental strength on his insight for victory. "For the glory of Rome!", he declared in the midst of battle. However, he didn't expect some string surrounding him, trapped in the wrath of being restrained. "What sort of trickery?", he asked, oblivious of an incoming strike: being knocked completely off his feet, and falling flat on his back. A blurr in his vision from the landing came to full effect. Groaning, Octavius was then lifted discreetly. "What is the meaning of this!?", he asked in disgust (and slight panic in his tone). "I am a Roman General; I have rights!", he told them, practically ordering the enemy to release him.


[System]
True mastery of oneself can only be reached by controlling both one's strength and weakness. That is my way.
Nickname: Tsuki
Alias: The Cloud that Shadows the Moon

Gender: Female

Age and date of birth: 15 y/o, April 10

Appearance: Tall and very thin, with the violet eyes and mouthful of pointed teeth that mark a member of the Hozuki clan. Unlike others in the clan, however, her skin is tanned and her waist-length hair is a dark blonde. Usually wears the standard Konoha uniform with a grey, striped jacket (once worn by the Second Mizukage) over it, wrapped tightly around her and closed in front of her face.

Sexuality: Lesbian

Parents: Shiro Hozuki (mother) and unknown Hidden Cloud Village ninja

Length and build: 5'10", slim to the point of appearing frail.
Weight: 112 lb.

Favorite weather and season: The wild thunderstorms of late summer

Village: Konohagakure
Birthplace: Kirigakure
Organization: Shinobi Forces

Clan/Bloodline: Hozuki Clan

Rank: Genin

Chakra Nature: Water/Lightning

Personality: Shingetsu is a highly disciplined ninja, determined to prove her worth and claim her place among the Land of Water's elite despite being an illegitimate child. She keeps up a fierce attitude toward strangers, seeing everyone around her as a challenger, but quickly warms to those who show her respect. She remains a woman of few words, however, preferring to let her actions speak for her.

History: Shingetsu was born a pariah in Kirigakure, abandoned by her family as the child of an illicit union. She was able to scrape by on the streets by imitating the young ninja of her village and undertaking "missions" to find food and shelter. When she turned 12, she decided she'd had enough of the city. She broke into the Hozuki clan home, stole two relics from past members of the clan, and left for whatever village she came to first. Thus, she arrived in Konohagakure and somehow managed to talk the village's jonin into accepting her as a student.

Theme Song: Eastern Mystical Dream ~ Ancient Temple
Battle Theme: Bloody New Moon

Weapons/Items: Kiba, Razor Webs, lightning kunai

Name of Weapon or Item: Kiba
Description: It is a pair of swords, each with slim and straight double-edged blades. Both blades also have an upward-curved bladed prong near the tip of one side of the blade and another one near the base of the blade's other side. They each have been imbued with lightning, displaying enhanced cutting power in a manner similar to the high-frequency vibrations of lightning-based chakra flow. These blades can channel the user's own respective lightning techniques or conduct natural lightning. As long as there is natural lighting to access, the user can battle continuously without tiring and launch lightning from the sky to strike anywhere within a large area.

Note: Shingetsu is largely unaware of the blades' abilities, and currently can only use them as normal swords.

Name of Weapon or Item: Razor Webs
Description: Long, razor-thin wires that can be woven between obstacles to catch unwary targets with a deadly surprise. Easily spotted in the open, but shadows or mist can make them nearly invisible.

Skills/Abilities: Has excellent control of her Hydrification ability and jutsu that rely on it, but is easy to predict in open combat. Also a bit clumsy with taijutsu techniques.

Special Traits: Affinity for the Swords of the Mist

Kekkei Genkai: Hydrification Technique

Traits/Abilities of Kekkei Genkai: The user can transform all or part of their body into water, and move about with ease.

Canon Jutsu: Water Gun Technique, Water Bullet Technique, Water Clone Technique, Water Formation Wall, Wave of Inspiration

Custom Jutsu: None yet

Name of Technique:
Type of Jutsu:
Rank:
Range:
Nature Type:
Handseals:
Description:
Weakness:

Note: All techniques in this section are currently unknown to Shingetsu.
Exploding Water Colliding Wave
Hiding in Mist
Water Prison Technique

Mao no Kagami
He seems far too detached to be leader, but he is incredibly skillful and more disciplined than he appears. I am interested to see what skills he passes down to his squad.

Shingetsu Hozuki
Let's not talk about my self-esteem.

Satoru Yamada
We have so much in common... So why does he irritate me so much?

Nagisa Hana
Nagisa-sensei is... cool. In every possible way. I'm really glad I got assigned to her team, because I feel like I could learn a lot from her. (It doesn't hurt that she's super-hot, either.)

Tao Mei
He's pretty good to have on the team. He's really big on coming up with these combination moves, and some of them sound pretty useful. I like his enthusiasm, if nothing else.

Ozuko Matabi
I must say, it feels good to have someone else around with ties to Kirigakure. He's a bit prideful, but it drives him to improve himself. I can respect that.

Asuka Koizumi
She's elegant and composed, almost to a fault. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side, but I think we get on well enough.

Daichi Uchiha
The heir to an elite clan... it makes me a bit jealous that he has what I should have. Still, I can't fault him for being highborn. I don't know him well enough to judge him for myself.

Seiji Onoda
I know a tough-guy act when I see one. I feel like we could be friends, if only he'd let me past that shell of his.

Nori Inuzuka
He seems like a good person... I wish I could say the same for that dog of his.

[User]
Ah shit! Ozuko cursed to himself as their sensei countered Tao's attack with what was basically a smokescreen and he found himself unable to see where their mentor was now. This wasn't how he pictured the plan starting off and now he had to worry about getting beat by his sensei before he could even do anything of note. Ozuko was shocked at the speed of which she appeared in front Tao and knocked the boy away with a palm technique. He had to do something to get out of this smoke before he was attacked next and cursed again.

"Screw this! Time to wing it" he said to himself and he quickly made the appropriate hand signs for a technique. There was only one way he could out of this smoke without being seriously roughed up by their sensei and he was using it.

"Ninja Art: Whac-A-Mole technique!" he shouted and almost immediately dropped into the ground beneath him. Ozuko knew where he would reappear and planned to try and grab the bells off of the cat so that the fight didn't last for too long. He suddenly came out of the ground in front of Lee and quickly reached out with his hand in an attempt to grab the bells on the cat at fast speed. What the cat wouldn't know is that if he managed to avoid his grab, Ozuko would try to make some kind of contact with Lee in order to place a seal on the creature.

Come on all I need is to make contact and he'll be under my Gravity Release technique, he thought himself and hoped that his plan would work. Ozuko also hoped that his teammates weren't defeated while he made his attempt to swipe the bells from the cat. If it did come down to just him and his sensei then he would give the fight all that he had to try and win.

[Assistant]
Seiji Onoda

Faced with his first test, Seiji tried to focus as the pace of events began to speed up. Kyoko-Sensei led Squad 13 to a training field and Seiji immediately took in his surroundings. It was a large open field that was surrounded by trees on one side and large boulders on the other side. Kyoko announced that this test could be the difference between becoming a genin or going back to the Academy and this caught Seiji's attention. There was no way in hell he was going to go back to that place, he had come too far and tried too hard to become a genin.

Once Kyoko explained the test Seiji was already forming a plan in his head, he was a lot smarter than he let on. He preferred to fight tactically instead of winging it and rushing in head on. In fact he despised people who acted so stupidly, acting that way could not only get you but your whole squad killed. Then, ironically, Nori went off and attacked Kyoko head on.

"Wait you idiot!" Seiji called out to his teammate in an attempt to bring him back into formation with Daichi and himself but it was too late. The only good thing that could come out of this was learning how Kyoko fought. He'd wait for Nori to get his ass handed to him and then he would tell them his plan.

As Nori went head-to-head with a jounin Seiji observed quietly, analyzing how Kyoko fought. She used Lightning Style Techniques, and used chakra to enhance her strength, and she also seemed to be a close range fighter. He had yet to see any long ranged jutsu aimed at himself or Daichi. After Nori's second attempt to get the bells he finally stopped.

Now was the time to make a move.

Seiji produced three pellets from one of his pouches and threw them in front of Nori and Mame. Smoke began pouring out, obscuring everything in front of Kyoko. Before he went to grab Nori he turned to Daichi and said, "Find cover behind a boulder, we need to make a plan." Then, in a flash Seiji took off, trying to get this done as fast as possible. He grabbed Nori and pushed him to his feet and prayed that stupid mutt would follow. "Move quickly, we need to find cover in the rocks and make a plan fast."

Once they had made it to cover Seiji would go over his plan with them. Hopefully Kyoko wouldn't rush them or they would have to split up and wing it. If Kyoko doesn't do that then Seiji would say, "okay I have a plan. Nori, you and I will take on Kyoko at close range while Daichi stays back. We'll keep her occupied while you wait for an opening. Use one of your long ranged jutsu and we'll get out your way and hopefully it hits. If it does I'll go in for the bells. There's no way she can handle all three of us at the same time. Sound good?"

Hopefully this works, Seiji thought to himself.

[User]
Nori Inuzaka

Nori rubbed on the bruise that formed on his cheek as he eyed down Kyoko-Sensei. "If I knew you hit that hard Sensei, I would've thought up a better plan!" Nori smiled at Kyoko-Sensei before looking back at his fellow squad mates. Seiji seemed to grab something out of his pouch, after a couple seconds Seiji threw what was in his hands towards the gap that separated Nori and Kyoko. When the objects hit the ground, they exploded in a giant ball of smoke. 'Sm-.. Smoke Pellets?' Nori thought for a second, 'Why would h-..' Nori's thoughts were cut off by someone pulling him to his feet. "Move quickly, we need to find cover in the rocks and make a plan fast."

Nori turned to see Seiji swiftly run behind one of the many boulders located on the one side of the training ground. Nori picked Mame up off the ground and quickly followed Seiji towards the meeting point. When Nori got around the boulder, he got on one knee and set Mame on the ground. Nori leaned back against the boulder, as he stated his analysis of Kyoko. "She is not human. Tha-... That one punch I took from her was one hundred times harder than any punch I took at the academy." Nori chuckled to himself slightly as he looked around, "If you have any good ideas, I'm all ears."

"Okay I have a plan. Nori, you and I will take on Kyoko at close range while Daichi stays back. We'll keep her occupied while you wait for an opening. Use one of your long ranged jutsu and we'll get out your way and hopefully it hits. If it does I'll go in for the bells. There's no way she can handle all three of us at the same time. Sound good?" Nori listened to the plan closely, and almost face palmed on the spot. 'Why couldn't I think of that, There is no way she can handle all three of us.' Nori nodded in agreement to the plan, "Seeing as there isn't another option, I'm down. Can't go any worse than the one on one I tried with her." Nori gave out another small smile before he undid his pouch and pulled out a single Kunai. "Ready when you are."

[Assistant]
Nagisa Hana

Upon hearing Tao warning the others to get out of the smoke cloud she'd created, Nagisa casually pulled out another cigarette and lit it, bored out of her mind that someone wasn't making a move. This kids... she thought with a sighs none of them seemed to be doing anything yet. She could see them, even through the thick cloud of smoke, and they all seemed to be waiting for something. It wasn't like she was moving around or anything. All she was doing was standing there, and still they hesitated. She'd needed to surely teach these three not to be afraid.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Shingetsu slowly melt into the ground, an odd sight indeed, but at least it was something. No later did Ozuko suddenly shout out a technique and also drop into the ground. She rolled her eyes then and crossed her arm. "You three are seriously boring me." she said, her tone quite irritated. As Ozuko would appear in front of what he thought was Lee, the small ninneko would suddenly change shape in a small poof, revealing a clone of Nagisa's. "Silly of you to think once a smokescreen was put up, Lee would just stay in the same spot. Come on. Use your head." the clone would say, giving the orange haired boy a light chop on his head before vanishing. The real Nagisa, standing at the center of the clearing, spoke up then.

"Right now, none of you are impressing me enough to want to teach you anymore. Come on, else I'll send all of you back to the Academy. Either one of you make a move, or I will."


[System]
Species: Geth

Age: 376 years since program's creation

Gender: N/A

Appearance:

Weapons/Equipment:
-Geth Pulse Rifle v3
-Geth Plasma SMG v3
-A combat platform with greater capabilities than a standard Geth unit.

Skills and Abilities: Like most Geth, it is a tech expert with strong hacking capabilities. It has tech-based abilities (incinerate, cryo blast, etc) and is equipped with a tactical cloak. Its advanced mobile platform is quite durable. As its body is made from tough alloys with powerful synthetic muscles, it is capable of strength beyond that of an organic of similar size. It also has the accuracy and reaction time one would expect from an advanced machine.

Background: For most of Avatar's existence, it was but a single Geth program, with little more than rudimentary instincts and completely reliant upon the presence of other Geth to attain intelligence. That, however, changed in the midst of the Reaper War. In the aftermath of the battle with the Creator fleet at Rannoch, all Geth were given Reaper upgrades that uplifted them to become true A.I. Avatar was given its name by a group of organics it fought alongside during the Battle of Earth, and decided to keep that name in order to facilitate easier communication with organics.

After the end of the war, Avatar filled many roles. At first most of the Geth's efforts were on rebuilding what was lost at Rannoch and helping the Creators resettle on the homeworld. The efficiency of the Geth's planning coupled with the eagerness of the Quarians to re-establish their home made the process rather quick. Avatar spent a few years inhabiting the suits of Creators, mimicking the effects of viruses to help them to rebuild their immune systems. Over time, cities were erected on the surface of Rannoch, and more and more Creators were able to live without their suits, though most still chose to wear them due to tradition.

Eventually, Avatar's role shifted away from rebuilding and into security. Due to the weakened state of the galaxy in the years after the war, piracy and other forms of crime were becoming increasingly common. All Geth were capable of combat when installed in the correct platform, but Avatar had a desire to help, and through years of fighting, it had developed memory shortcuts in relation to combat that would make it more effective than programs that had not incorporated said shortcuts. Avatar has served ever since as a combat platform, patrolling sectors near the borders of Geth/Quarian space, and sometimes even in the territories of other species, when requested.

Most recently, Avatar has been assigned to accompany a group of Creators who have been tasked with preparing the way for the first Quarian settlements in the Pylos Nebula. Avatar's assigned mission is to discuss Geth habitation of the planet with the locals and make other preparations for the Geth. Any Geth could perform that task, but due to the dangerous nature of the Attican Traverse, they felt it appropriate to send a combat platform for additional protection.

[User]
Once the shuttle diverted towards the planet's surface, it would only be approximately ten minutes before they would be landing at the temporary settlement. The interceptors remained close alongside the shuttle in case they were threatened by enemy fighters. Although, Avatar's scans of the enemy fleet did not indicate that they had been detected. Or, if they had, they were not giving a response to the escaping shuttle. Based on Avatar's scans of the enemy frigates, they were venting heat at a level consistent with what it would expect within ten minutes of the end of heavy usage. As such, it could predict with 73% certainty that the engagement between the two fleets had ended shortly before their departure from the station.

At first, the three ships headed towards the surface at a steep angle in order to get deeper into the atmosphere, which would reduce the ability of the enemy fleet to detect their heat signatures. However, once, they were in the lower stratosphere, they redirected their course to take them straight to the temporary settlement. The areas which they were flying over were not heavily populated, but even so, they remained within the clouds whenever possible in order to reduce their visual signature as well. At the high speeds at which they were traveling, it only took five more minutes before they started to slow to an approach velocity and radioed ahead to the settlement. There was no response from the settlement at first, but once Avatar transmitted the identification code it had been given as a diplomat on the mission, they were cleared for landing.

The settlement itself was small, and consisted entirely of prefabricated structures placed in a cleared section of a temperate forest. According to Avatar's records, it had 127 inhabitants, including security personnel. Most of the settlers had a role in preparing the planet for the larger planned colonization, such as botanists, geologists, surveyors, and the remaining diplomats who had not been in attendance in the meeting aboard the space station. Unfortunately, the settlement was not heavily defended, as it was meant to rely primarily on the fleet for protection at this early stage of colonization.

All of the settlement's landing pads were currently occupied when the three ships arrived, so they were directed to land in a cleared area of the forest a few meters outside the main settlement, along with several other shuttles and other vehicles of various classifications. There were Turian, Human, and Quarian shuttles, some of which were military models, which suggested that at least some other ships had managed to escape from the battle above.

Once they had landed, Avatar transferred itself back into its platform within the shuttle. The Geth seemed to spark back to life suddenly, then lifted itself back to its feet just as the shuttle's ramp was being lowered. Once it was, it revealed four Turian soldiers, all with their rifles trained on the shuttle's passengers. However, it only took seeing the uniforms of the Humans and the Cabal for them to recognize that they were allies.

"They're clear, stand down." One of the Turian's ordered, prompting them all to lower their weapons. Behind the soldiers, Avatar could see a veritable swarm of activity in and around the settlement. Soldiers and settlers alike seemed to be stripping the settlement bare and loading anything they could into both ground and air vehicles.

The Turian stepped forward and looked into the shuttle. "A passenger shuttle; good, we'll need it." He said, more to himself than anyone. "Apologies for the rush, but as you can see, we're evacuating the settlement. Twenty-five minutes until we leave. If you have any spare room in there, we have settlers in need of transport. We're trying to bring as many supplies as we can, so we need all the space we can get. Do you have any wounded aboard? We still have spare medical supplies, for now."

[Assistant]
Voira, slumped against the wall of the shuttle as she was, winced as Raa suddenly buried her head into her shot shoulder. Still, she didn't complain, merely putting an arm around the Quarian and comforting her as best she was able. "Shh Raa, it's okay. Don't look." She murmured, ignoring how everything seemed to hurt and she couldn't breathe quite right. Raa needed her and she wasn't about to let something as simple as physical discomfort get in the way of that. She continued to murmur softly to the Quarian, up until the point where the human walked up. Voira let Raa do the talking. She was too damn tired to put enough effort required into explain all that they would need. Voira waved away the chocolate. "We don't like chocolate." She gave a weary smile as Raa rattled off all the things they would need after checking her.

As she watched the human moved away she turned to look at Raa. "And you thought you'd never be in the position where you were taking care of us. Granted, we'd have preferred it where we were sick, or something similar, rather than shot all to hell. Still, we'll take what we can get." She winked at Raa, before turning to watch the remainder of their group. The stupid Turian was recovering as best he could, given what had happened. RK was suspiciously silent. No sarcastic comments, no little quips, just silence. It made Voira wonder what the bitch of an AI was up too.

Before the Asari could muse any more, the human returned with the supplies and introduced himself. "Pleasure to meet you Donny. We're shot in the shoulder and hand, have a broken rib, a bruised lung, lacerations on our face, shrapnel in our other shoulder, and Goddess knows what else that we haven't noticed. We managed to tourniquet our shoulder and Medi-gel our hand. The rest we were to busy being shot at to fix." She gestured to the blanket wrapped around her shoulder. She smirked at the human preparing to try to patch her up. "Start where ever you please Doctor Donny. We've got nothing but time and Ryncol."

After the shuttle landed, Voira finishing her glass of Ryncol, the Asari reacted instinctively to the sight of more people pointing guns at her. She pulled her own pistol and threw a barrier on Raa once more, waiting for the bullets to fly again. When they all stood down and the Turian began talking, largely to himself, Voira spoke up from her position on the floor. "Where, exactly, are you all evacuating too?"

[User]
"Eh heh, right. I'll get you fixed up ASAP." Of course, Donny could only deal with some of the injuries personally. After helping Voria out of her armor, Donny did his best to remove the shrapnel, set bones, and liberally apply medi-gel to all injured areas. It was rather.... Intimate, as Donny was having some skin-contact with an asari in places very close to sensitive areas. But Donny's own nervousness and the fact that Voria was bloodied and bruised made it far less erotic than rubbing down an asari with medi-gel could have been. When Donny went to treat Voria's shoulder, he learned that her "Tourniquet" is actually his baby blanket, tightly coiled up and covered in asari blood. "Dwha!? This is my blanket!" Donny exclaimed somewhat loudly. He didn't make too big of a deal out of it though, folding it up neatly and putting it aside as he continued to operate on Voria.

Eventually Donny did everything he could using his limited about of first-aid knowledge. Her surface wounds would heal, and assuming she doesn't get hit by a vehicle and shot again her bones should be fine. Or so Donny hopes. The fact that Voria wasn't screaming bloody murder or tried to murder him bloodily for trying at least told the human that what he was doing wasn't hurting her. So after patching her up Donny cleaned himself down as he noticed the ship entering the colony planet. Donny had to buckle in as the ship made it's decent, grabbing his equipment as everyone got ready to hit the ground.

Once the ship landed Donny and his crew got ready to leave. They were greeted by turians and their rifles, but fortunately before any shots were fired they were identified as friendly. From here Donny kept his mouth shut and let Eleanore and Seraph do the talking. Mostly Eleanore since she was the ambassador. "We have a few wounded, yes. But what is the status of this settlement? It appears that everyone is being relocated. Have those terrorist made any moves to make an assault here?" Indeed, seeing the settlers fleeing for their lives was unsettling. They weren't even going to fight for their homes, which either marks them as cowards or they were fleeing from an obviously larger threat. Donny gripped his grandfather's knife, hoping to gleam some determination from the blade.

[Assistant]
The Turian commander motioned quickly to one of his men. "Get a medic over here as soon as possible." He ordered before returning his attention to those in the shuttle. "The enemy hasn't moved on our position yet, but we think it's only a matter of time. Our fleet gave them more trouble than they were probably expecting, but they're regrouping as we speak. I don't know the exact coordinates of where we're going, but the orders came down from General Artus himself, just before we lost contact with his cruiser. Until we know more, we're following that order."

The Turian's gaze shifted towards the two interceptors on either side of the shuttle. "You also have fighters. Those will be useful, just have your..." He began, but interrupted himself when he saw into the cockpits. "...where are your pilots?"

"These interceptor craft were piloted remotely." Avatar answered simply. The commander, finally noticing the Geth among the group in the shuttle, regarded it strangely. "Um, right. Well, we have pilots in need of ships, so we can make use of them. Just stay here in your shuttle; we will get moving shortly." He responded.

The soldiers left quickly, though the medic they had called for was not far behind. As she was properly supplied and trained, she was able to give Voira and the other wounded more comprehensive medical attention. At the very least, their bleeding was stopped completely and they were given an anesthetic to dull most of the pain. They would need time to recover, but they were all stable.

After the medic left, several civilians, and one or two soldiers, from the settlement were directed into their shuttle as well. The vessel had already been crowded, so by the time the pilot was ordered to close the loading ramp and prepare for takeoff, there was standing room only in the shuttle's hold. Those who were not in the best physical condition, such as Raa and Voira, were given priority for seating, but most were not given that luxury.

Because of the crowding most in the shuttle could not see clearly out of the windows, but the sounds of the engines roaring to life around them told them that they were taking off. Presumably, they would be flying over the ground vehicles in a convoy to whatever destination the Turian general had given them. Other than that, however, they had not been told much of the plan. Pretty much everyone who was not sitting was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with someone else. Many of the civilians from the settlement seemed to be only a few steps short of panicking. Some tried to keep it to themselves, some sobbed quietly, while others did what they could to give support to those who needed it. Despite these conditions, this was the first chance that anyone from the station had to actually stop and rest, mentally and physically.

Near to Raa, a young, nervous, blonde-haired Human woman glanced down to the unconscious Quarian nervously. A few minutes passed in silence, but she eventually spoke up shakily. "S-she looks sick. What does she have? Is it...contagious?"