Jadefall: Luck's Redemption
By Zephon T'sol


Roscoe Gauss sat in the cafe Astophos, nursing a mug of iced tea. The air today had been warmer than normal, especially for early May. Most of the local cityfolk had chalked it up to the recent jadefall and how it had the potential to screw with weather patterns. As it was, it had been a lowkey morning, one of the first since they had come back from the Comm Tower mission and everything that had happened there.

He sighed, sipping from his cup.

It really *had* all started with those two pucas dropping out of the sky. Kiffin and Cimulus (or, as he had introduced himself to William, Cimmi). Their arrival had ripped a hole in the jade surrounding the planet and had caused the first fall in nearly 15 years. After they had weathered the storm and cleaned out the city, the Council of Three had agreed that finding relevant equipment at the comm tower nearby would help speed the two pucas along their way and out of everyone's hair.

The grey sturmhund kicked one of his legs over the other and stared down the busy street, watching the late morning activites of Wendell City (also known as Wendlin to the surrounding countryside), and kept musing on things. He heard the jingle of armor and sheath and looked up, spying a Skycrest Knight in resplendent white armor walking towards him, one hand on his rapier hilt. 

"Oy, Jason!" Roscoe waved to his longtime friend and the human, smiling that wry smile as he always did, ambled over and sat at the table. 

"Hey man. Where's William?" Jason Jay said, the waitress quickly taking his order of vanilla tea with cinnamon.

Roscoe grinned and took a sip of his own drink. "Will's spending the morning with his father. Y'know, 'courtly grooming' and all that jazz." 

Jason nodded. "Ah. So that's why you're here then?"

"Yup. Can't *stand* that stuff, especially from some of the stuffshirts his dad gets to teach him things. They all view me as a parasite anyways, regardless of my relations to Will and the family," Roscoe said, looking off down the street again and crossing his arms.

Jason nodded again and said nothing. Roscoe knew full well the tensions between the Skycrests and the Council of Three. They tended to not get along very well seeing as how the Knights tended to do things for everyone's benefit while the council focused on their own political gains. Roscoe stayed out of it the best he could, but when you're the best friend of the Captain of the Skycrests AND the lifelong bodyguard of the son of the Mayor and councilman...well...

Politics happened. 

Roscoe regarded his friend for a moment as Jason stood and shucked his sheath and belt over one corner of the seat so that he could relax better. The human stood just over six feet tall, though to Roscoe and anyone else of the Storm, height was relative. Still, the black haired man was built to inspire. He was trained, talented, and, some would say, gifted. Especially since the Commander of the Skycrest Knights was his mother. Still, Roscoe trusted no one more at his side, whether in a fight, or playing a game of Skiff. Jason was as good as his word and better in battle.

"Well, look at it this way, bud," Jason said as he sipped of his own tea, "it could be worse. His dad could be making you take those lessons too on the offchance that YOU would need them." 

Roscoe shuddered and finished off his mug, slamming it on the table a bit more forcefully than he had intended. "Nooooo thanks, man. I'd rather take on ten fanushans in a mudbath." Jason laughed whole-heartedly and they ordered their lunch together.

As they ate, Roscoe checked his datapad, which he'd set on the table to read the uplinks from the news station. The clock indicated that it was nearly midday and that meant...

"Hey guys!"

A bright, cheery voice piped up at them from the entrance to Astophos. Roscoe got up and held the seat out for William Cerulean Sharpear, his friend and ward. The puca hopped up, the seats being big, but still comfortable. The same kitsuri waitress came over and as William gave her his lunchtime order, Roscoe was again lost in thought for the moment.

***

It was sheer luck, really. Blind chance. Destiny wasn't something he'd willingly subscribe to, so it had to be luck. Roscoe had wandered the countryside, roaming during his teenaged years, looking for work. Honest, mercenary...unsavory. It didn't really matter. It gave him practice, gave him experience...and kept him under the radar. He'd been wandering into the city alone when he'd approached the outer markets, looking for work. He'd been much unkempt and hadn't had a bath in ages. 

In short, gutter trash. His battered carbine had been misfiring for so long and he was out of cash to get it repaired. But he'd been determined to make something better of himself and not resort to...well, the less savory ways of getting money. 

The sturmhund watched William plow through a chicken sandwich that was nearly as big as his head, smiling softly. Chance. Luck. Whatever it was, it had brought William to him that day. The young puca had snuck out of his over-protective father's watchful eye and had wandered down to the market to look for something 'nifty'. Roscoe had seen him with a bored and untrained looking Knight following close behind. Will had gone up to a vendor and had bought a twinkling orange Fire-Shard, admiring how it had been set in a necklace. It had cost nearly 200 chips, but Will (who was less than savvy back then) had flashed his massive wallet out and paid for it easily.

Roscoe had seen this. So had the smelly quartet of thugs across the street. Roscoe had known from experience that those people and that look in their eye as they crossed the street, aimed on an intercept course for the young puca. Roscoe looked over and saw that the puca's guard had been flirting shamelessly with the keeper of the stall. Had seen how the pretty human girl was keeping his attention intentionally...and how she had surruptitiously signaled the thugs.

This was a set-up. And the puca, blithely unaware, was in deep trouble. 

He hadn't even thought, really. He'd just acted. The thugs had followed Will and, as he had rounded the corner back onto the main promenade, they'd pushed him over. One of the thugs, a big Ursari with hands easily bigger than Will's head, had grabbed him by the lapels and was just beginning to say something threatening when Roscoe had come running.

The following brawl was short and vicious. After all, Roscoe had been out and about for years and when you're on your own for that long, you learn how to be quick and brutally efficient with your movements. Of course, the numbers had nearly outdone him anyhow and Roscoe had taken his fair share of the beating and was bleeding from one corner of his mouth, a nasty gash over his eye as well. William was on the ground and panting as the Knights had come screaming around the corner and started asking questions.

Everything after that was a blur of motion but eventually, Roscoe had been cleaned up, been washed and bathed, and brought before William's father, Mayor Sharpear. He'd public villified the knights as incompetant and imbecilic, slandering them for nearly letting his son be killed. He'd then named Roscoe his son's official protector and ever since, Roscoe had done exactly that.

***

"WIIILLLIIIUUUUMMMMM!!!"

*Speak of the devil...* Roscoe thought as the occupants of the table all cringed as one. The Mayor was approaching the table at full pelt, arms waving in the air as he always did whenever he was looking for his son. Roscoe sighed and Jason merely busied himself eating his salad.

While the mugging incident hadn't caused the strain between the two sides, it certainly hadn't helped either. Jason and the Knights viewed Will's dad as something between an idiot and a calculating snake. While the truth was better than that by leaps and bounds, Roscoe admitted to himself that the Mayor could be...single-minded at times.

"There you are my boy! You ran off as we were about to have lunch in the main banquet hall! Your instructors will be most displeased, especially Romain," the older puca stated, both paws on the table as William finished his sandwich and looked over at his father.

"Well, dad, m'sorry, but I promised Roscoe and Jason I'd be here and well...you're always telling me that it's good politics to follow up on promises, regardless of anything else!" The blue-haired puca again flashed that bright smile and Roscoe had to bite a laugh back as the Mayor tittered and stammered at his son's impeccable and decidedly lateral logic.

"Well...yes, er...I...I guess that's a good thing." The Mayor then did what he normally would do whenever he was flustered: change the subject. He regarded the sturmhund. "Roscoe, m'boy! Keeping Will here out of trouble?"

Roscoe sighed inwardly. *He just got here, you nincompoop. Not like he's brittle or anything.* 

Indeed, Will was a fantastic Earth aura user, able to do phenomenal things with just his hands and his sharp wit. Of course, Roscoe (and his gun, the Hades Carbine) had Will's back as well.

"Er, no sir. He just arrived and after we get done eating, we're going to meet up at the markets with Kiffin and Cim to-"

"Ah yes, the newcomers. I've been meaning to ask you about them," the Mayor interjected, cutting him off. Jason coughed a bit as he saw Roscoe's face twist into annoyed frustration. Whenever the Mayor was around, this tended to happen. A lot.

"What about them, Dad?" asked Will.

"Well, you see, I was curious about whether or not you boys think that the equipment and technology you brought back from that old comm tower were...well, viable for the city. Do more good for us, that sort of thing, you know," the Mayor added, using his paws for extra embellishment.

Jason regarded the Mayor. "No offense, sir, but the sole reason we went out there was to see if we could get them the parts they might need for fixing their escape pod and maybe locating their ship."

The Mayor didn't even regard the young Captain, still looking at Roscoe. "Yes yes, you all handled that impressively and it was a great day for everyone, lots of fun, so on...but still. Do you think that we should...requisition that equipment?"

Roscoe looked at Jason, who had rolled his eyes and put his face in his hands. William, however, handled his father better than anyone in the city. "Listen, Dad. That stuff we found out there, it's not compatible with any of the city's primary functions. You heard the engineers say so. Hell, even Noish and his father agreed," the young puca finished.

"Yes, well, I was thinking that..."

"Look, Dad, give it a rest. The stuff isn't gonna help you, nor is it going to cement your re-election in three years. Just let it go, okay? The more we help Kiff and Cim, the better off we'll be!"

Roscoe nodded. "I agree. Kiffin may be interested in getting off-planet as fast as possible, but Cim is just a kid. We said we'd help them and that's what we're going to do." The sturmhund leaned over and gave the old puca a grin as Jason stifled a laugh, knowing what was coming. Roscoe whispered in the Mayor's ear, "Besides...think of how it'll look when your son, his guardian, and the captain of the Knights finish a great and epic tale of saving the day and helping the poor and downtrodden. Why, it'll be the stuff that would make the media salivate!"

Mayor Sharpear fell silent for a moment, his eyes growing wide and focusing on something off in the middle distance behind them all. "Why...you're RIGHT!" He clapped his paws on both Roscoe's and Will's shoulders.

"Then it's settled! You boys get right to it and don't you worry about things here." The old puca even gave Jason a begrudging smile before dashing off again, thankfully not with his arms in the air.

The trio at the table silently watched him go again before Jason looked at Roscoe.

"Tell me again, how did that guy become the mayor?"

Roscoe shrugged.

"Politics."


***


After putting the meal down on Will's tab (which was paid for by his exorbitant allowance), the trio began their short walk down the lane towards the market. As Will and Roscoe walked ahead and discussed the upcoming excursion outside the city walls, Roscoe reflected again on the mission to the comm tower.

Kiffin had shown real interest in the place, practically demanding an escort to it upon hearing that it could provide equipment and possibly the location of her downed and freshly mutinied cruiser, the Heartship (otherwise known as Guardian). She'd been adamant about it and since Roscoe and Jason had thought it a better idea to keep an eye on the spirited and easily-angered puca, Will had leveraged his father into agreeing to a joint effort with a squad of Knights, led by Jason at the behest of his mother.

The party had made good time out to the ruined structure, abandoned long ago, and were about to enter it when...

Roscoe stumbled over a ledge in the road, cursing as his toes sung their pain inside his boot. Will and Jason hadn't noticed and he caught back up to them as they turned the corner onto the promenade.

*Why did he have to come back then, of all times?* Roscoe thought bitterly.

Peco Faust. 

Sturmhund.

Thief.

All-around Sleaze.

And Roscoe's old traveling companion. He and Peco had done a number of things together, spending much of Roscoe's youth wandering around and getting into a lot of trouble. True, Peco had taught him how to shoot and how to be a better marksman than anyone around...but it had always been Peco's ideas that had gone tits up and gotten their butts in a lurch. From holding up a traveling van that turned out to be a schoolbus full of terrified preschoolers and one mammoth-sized Ursari teacher, to trying to rob a bank in broad daylight. Roscoe silently thanked the Storm that he'd talked Peco out of that one...especially considering it involved them being hauled into the bank *inside* the bags of cash they were supposedly stealing.

Peco's Get-Rich-Quick-What-Could-Possibly-Go-Wrong attitude had been tempered by Roscoe's growing patience and critical thinking. They did good mercenary work and made some honest livings. But it usually ended up with them running pell mell from whatever city or township they were in as Peco had tried some other phenomenally stupid idea to earn an assload of chips for no work whatsoever.

But the Canyon had been the last straw.

"Hey, Roscoe? Which do you think, the duct tape or the cable rope?" Will asked.

Roscoe snapped out of his reverie, "Murzwhuh?"

"You awake in there? Will asked your advice on gear," the human responded, looking perhaps a bit amused at Roscoe's flustered face. William held up the two spools, one of thick and sticky-looking all purpose duct tape, the other a sample length of lightweight steel cabling that was amazingly flexible.

"The rope. Much more useful if we need to use the jeep's winch," Roscoe responded and the puca turned back to the vendor, inquiring about his selection of cable lengths. Jason regarded Roscoe for a moment, but said nothing, turning back to the stall and browsing through the modest selection of colored Sleepabags.

Roscoe stayed by them, still thinking about the past.

The Canyon job had been Peco's "most brilliant, most triumphant plan *ever*!" He'd heard, while the pair were working at the docks of a seaside port town, that there would be a shipment of cybernetics coming in on a small frigate down the river and through Starside Canyon. Peco had figured that they would cause a small landslide with some explosives and bombard the guards on board. Then, they could kill the guards, take the helm, and pilot the small frigate away even further down the coastline to some smugglers the older sturmhund knew.

Foolproof, he had said.

Roscoe had had a lot of misgivings about the idea. Explosives, rockslides, killing good and honest working men just trying to earn their keep. Not to mention that Peco had been showing signs of growing addicted to his 'upgrades'. Bigger and badder was what Peco had always wanted and this was, to him, too easy and too ripe to pass up.

Roscoe, after some talking, had talked the older 'hund down to "Disable the guards" with Storm-charged ammo. Roscoe had tried to find any description of the boat through casual conversation with the other dockworkers, but aside from having a blue flag hanging off it's rear end, the descriptions had been unsurprisingly confidential. 

Just as unsurprisingly, Peco had forged ahead with the plan. They had waited for three days for signs of the frigate, their charges of det-cable hidden well. At first moonrise on the third night, they spotted a small boat flying a blue flag come around the corner of the Canyon from where they were hidden. Roscoe, using his scope on his carbine, had found there to be only one person standing on the deck at the steering wheel as it came around the bend. It didn't feel right and something was clearly amiss. 

He had just turned to tell Peco that they might want to check closer when the older sturmhund, with a hungry look in his eyes, detonated the charges. The canyon had echoed with a thunderous *WHABOOM!* and rocks had indeed slammed against the ship's hull, ripping off it's port engine and crippling it. As the pair rappelled quickly down and landed on board, Peco had full-on shot the only person standing on the deck, a tallish human male. The round had pierced the man's knee and brought him shouting in agony to the deck floor. Peco wasted no time.

"Where's the goods, man? WHERE ARE THEY?" Peco shook the man hard

Roscoe had swept the deck, but no one else was up there. He'd then rounded on Peco who was currently slamming the man's head against the floor repeatedly. 

"Peco, for god's sakes, the man is nearly unconcious!" he'd shouted, but Peco had come nearly unglued with the thought of fresh cybernetics and easy money. The man who was being pummeled had started begging, stating he had no idea what they were talking about and were only on their way to Starside, the port town nearby. Peco had just drawn his big revolver and was pressing it against the man's temples when there had been a sound nearby. 

Roscoe looked up and had just enough time to see a small child peek out from the nearby door to the cabin area, a soft whimper coming from his lips when Peco, rattled by the noise and by the possibility of this whole thing being a mistake, had slipped. 

The gun had gone off.

The screams of the child still lingered in his head as they had dived overboard and hightailed it for shore and the surrounding cover. Roscoe later found out that the cybernetics had come on a different boat earlier in the week and Peco, as usual, hadn't thought to check the ledgers. The boat they had knocked over had been a family vacationing on a rental boat, coming from upriver and down through the canyon to see the sights. 

They had left town the next day, hastily cashing in their paychecks and leaving before the authorities could be notified. They'd just made it over the hill when Peco had opened his mouth.

"Well...guess we can't win them all. Maybe next time we'll get lucky on it, right, kid?"

Roscoe had responded by whirling around, drawing his carbine, and blowing Peco's arm off with a high-explosive round. As the older 'hund fell to the ground, screaming, Roscoe had leaned down and grabbed him by the lapel, making sure that even in his pain-filled mind, Peco would remember it.

"Don't ever show yourself to me again. Do you hear me? I've had enough of your hare-brained schemes and stupid plans."

Peco stammered, blubbered, whimpered up at Roscoe as the young sturmhund had laid a fully-prepped medkit next to his former friend and turned away.

"But...but, Roscoe...old buddy...y-you can't leave me like this!" Peco tried to raise himself, but Roscoe had started walking away, turning only to regard his former mentor one last time.

"I don't care," Roscoe said. "I renounce you."

He'd been seventeen.

***

As they returned to William's home for the evening, having spent the dinner time planning with Kiffin and Cimulus about their drive the next day, they had walked along the promenade up to the high-class area, parting ways with Jason who had returned to the Skycrest Barracks to ensure his squad would be ready and to convene with his mother on information that would be needed. Roscoe and William returned home ('Wiiiiilllliiiummm! So glad you could make it home!" Natch.) and as they were preparing their gear for the next day, Roscoe entered in the last bits of his own private journal. 


Journal Entry
Continuation of Entry 234

We'd just finished appraising things in the first floor of the comm tower when of all people, Peco showed up at the door. I couldn't believe it. It's been just about ten years since I'd seen him last and he comes up out of nowhere. 

Of course, the bastard tried cozying up to me, stating it'd be just like old times to ransack the place and have a good time while doing so. Kiffin had leveled her blaster at his crotch and he'd quieted down. Leave it to her to get right to the point. 

We found the head engineer's body and some old audio files. Peco, who had helped us crack the door to the place (with the promise that he'd get his fair share of the 'loot') helped me reconstruct the master passcode key from the Assistant Chief Engineer's logs. On a side note, the logs included a really foul French accent, but it did help us find a way to create a 'Z' sound for one of the passcode letters.

We opened the main safe and found a hefty weapons cache, along with some gear and a few software logs about the nearby topography. Nothing that had helped Kiffin, but we got plenty of supplies to make repairs to their ship if needed and if/when we find it. Naturally, Peco had grabbed the biggest & baddest toy he could find, a rocket launcher, while Jason had divvied up the rest to his squad, Biggs and Tycho. 

We'd just started loading up when the raiders had come. They surrounded us, a group of nearly seven with some really powerful tech upgrades. Kiff and Will had gotten in the jeep when they showed up...and of course, that was when Peco had tried to double cross us.

He'd waved around a trigger device, stating he'd placed a bomb in the jeep and that if we didn't give him William as a ransom, he and his 'pals' would kill us all anyways. 

Stupid idiot. He'd forgotten, of course, that I'd been around for that stupid gamble he'd taken once that had gone this same way...except in fueling station. He'd gotten 130 chips for our efforts, but the more important point was that I had helped him make the 'bomb'...which was nothing more than a couple of flash grenades wired to go off together. 

I shot him. Again. This time, I took his left leg out, but since it was one of his precious upgrades, it just put him on the ground. Things got pretty dicey and we nearly lost Biggs, Noish, and Tycho, but we got out of it okay enough. 

Damn...I'm still dwelling on it. 

Peco couldn't have known that I'm Will's protector. Couldn't have known that I really care about him. We've practically grown up together, but shit, this time, I actually grew up right! Between Will and Jason, I've finally had good friends and companions to trust. It's...made the things I've done in life be bearable again. Regardless of living in relative luxury, the real win for me was being lucky enough to finally get friends.

It...I got so angry at him again. Haven't felt like that since the day after the Canyon. I walked up to him as he started his usual bit of bragging about how he'd helped us come through again and how we owed him and all that stupidity.

I shot his other leg out. Didn't care. God, he's just...slime. Samantha, our medic, and Kiffin healed his wound effectively enough and I think I pissed the both of them off because of it. I didn't care.

Fucking Peco. He started that laugh again, saying we'd end up in a bar, laughing this off one day.

I told him if I ever saw him again, I'd shoot him where he couldn't grow it back. He got the point.

We left him there. I hope I never ever see him again. I have friends now that won't turn on me. 

They're practically brothers. Especially Will. Peco couldn't even come close to this kind of friendship. I was always a tool to help him live. I'm glad I never have to see him again.

Though, to be honest, I don't think I would mind crippling his manhood. Maybe then he'd finally learn. 

Probably not. 

Damn! It's nearly 11 o'clock! Will looks worn out and I've still gotta get my stuff together for the trip tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll make good time considering that dead alchemist's map locators. I'll continue writing on the road if I get time.

End Entry 234


***

William snored softly, murbling and turning over in his bed, lost in some dream or another. Roscoe sat at the window and looked up at the sky, relatively clear for now, but with the shroud of Jade still looming.

Things hadn't been easy for the sturmhund. Hell, he'd been on both ends of the social spectrum and had seen many a  things. But when you came right down to it, it was still amusing how luck could still be a big factor in life. Both bad and good. 

He flipped his carbine over, pulling the bolt out of it's housing and checking it for cracks or chipping. Life now really was better. Had been better ever since luck had thrown him into William's path. Luck had shown he could still do the right thing, be the right kind of person.

Roscoe applied a few daubs of lubrication oil to the bolt and slipped it quietly back in the housing, snapping the barrel assembly shut with a soft *shnrkt!*.

Luck had thrown the two pucas at his friends. Had ensured that they would meet and would go to that comm tower. Bad luck had meant Peco would be there. 

He checked down the sights again, sighting off at the flag waving over the Skycrest Barracks, a few lights still on this late. 

Luck had given him the chance to rejoin Peco. Luck had given him the opportunity to validate his new life.

Roscoe started thumbing in fresh pyro-rounds into his extended magazines, listening to Will's sleepy mumbles and the hum of the city at night.

Luck had shown Kiffin that above all else, his friends and family mattered more than some sleazy attempt to make money. She had softened over the past few days to him, both her and Cimmy treating him with more civility than they had upon arrival.

He laughed to himself as he finished his third mag and started the fourth, opening a fresh box of rounds. Cimmy still thought he was 'big and scary-lookin'". Roscoe had taken it as a compliment in the best manner. In fact, William had quipped that even if Roscoe was, at least that meant he was tough and strong and the best protector ever so there! They'd all had a laugh at it.

He paused as he finished his last mag. 

Luck had brought him a new family and new friends. Luck had, in a way, allowed him some small bit of redemption. True, he'd still be earning it for awhile, but at least it wasn't so bad now.

He turned off the desklight, slipped out of his clothes and climbed into the bed across from Will's. 

Nope. Not so bad at all.






The End. 
For Now...


*Author's Notes*

This story combines elements from a current campaign of a tabletop RPG I'm helping my friends test out. Both Alfie and I have been helping them for awhile, but the current story is pretty damned gripping. This evening, Kiffin decided to upload her story of our first few days of the first chapter. I wrote this out in a few hours, deciding to help out, if I could, and tell the other side of the story since she was giving perspectives from her characters point-of-view.

I hope they like it. I really couldn't stop myself. Once my muse gets to cracking, I write and write and write and god help me because Hell if I know when I'm gonna stop.

Characters involved:
Kiffin Lavender Angelpaw - Puca, captain of the Guardian
Cimulus Sky Angelpaw - Puca, Kiffin's son
Roscoe Gauss - Sturmhund
William Cerulean Sharpear - Puca, Roscoe's protected charge
Jason Jay - Human Captain of the Skycrest Knights, longtime friend of Roscoe

Minor Characters:
Peco Faust - Roscoe's old travelling companion and all-around sleaze
Baster Noish - Fanushan, 'Prodigy', and generally unlucky
Biggs and Tycho - Humans, backup members of Jason's squad.
Mayor Sharpear - Puca, on the Council of Three and appointer of Roscoe's position. Also, highly annoying.

Thanks to Kiffin, Nimbus, Blues, Lance, Tacki and Alfie for being hellagood players and damned good friends. I hope our campaign continues because this story practically came as much from you as it did from me.


'Ride the Light'
-Zephon T'sol

Story started and Completed: June 18th, 2011