Nuggets

Original Bodyak's Books page

**Nuggets** is a term in Realm 69 street jargon that refers to all members of a criminal organisation that operates in Realm 88 and other parts of the Old and New Omniverse. They appear as groups of Japanese gangsters (likely different from the Yakuza), wearing mostly bright red clothes, so they can easily be seen from afar.

Nuggets are masters when it comes to combat armed with melee weapons, whether improvised, artisanal, factory-produced or otherwise. They also possess knowledge of several oriental martial arts and can mix them on the go during hand-to-hand combat, which makes it difficult for the opponent to concentrate and choose certain tactics to defeat more than one at a time.

Despite the above, Nuggets *are* mortal (against common belief) and can be defeated by anybody with even the lightest combat training, provided the combatant has enough patience and ingenuity.

## Main tactics

One Nugget never attacks on his own. If one does appear within an area, it nearly always means that starting a fight with such one gangster is equal to stepping on a beartrap. Despite the relatively small number of Nuggets in a group (maximum of 15 per squad), they prefer to attack the enemy from all sides at once, cutting off all possible escape routes for the victim. Before an attack, the group usually releases one or two people forward as the initial bait (and also to scout the territory).

It is known that Nuggets are able to traverse via the public. Whenever an outsider reacts with any of the locals in Realm 88 it sets off a signal to which Nuggets of the **Ka** rank and above respond by creating portals in the vicinity, capable of deploying several squads of Nuggets at once. Tourists are advised to keep interactions with the locals to a minimum so as to not set off an alarm within the Nuggets' headquarters.

## Squad formation

Traditionally, a group (squad) of Nuggets is divided into several classes by their position and ranks.

* **か** (ka) - the leader of the squad. He wears a distinctive headdress and usually two pairs of bladed weapons. Fully manages the squad according to his will;

* **た** (ta) - the highest commanding officer of the squad. Has the right to give orders on behalf of the leader and at his own discretion to lower ranks;

* **な** (na) - also known as the *Gangster* rank. It is given to Nuggets that surpass the lower ranks in their combat skills. Have the right to manage privates and recruits;

* **は** (ha) - an ordinary private of the squad Privates have piercing and cutting weapons at their disposal, unlike recruits (depending on their skills), and also have access to throwing weapons;

* **ま** (ma) - a rookie of the squad. Has no privileges and can only use blunt melee weapons. Often they are not included numerically in the group, i.e. there may be 20 recruits in the group, but there may be a maximum of 15 enlisted men and those higher in rank.

## Known groups

Nuggets have different groupings operating in different areas with different goals. Below is a list of most documented groupings:

* **The Zhu Gang** is one of the older Nuggets groups that also once raided the Shaolin Dojo. They prefer dirty street fighting, use any improvised means as weapons, partially wear camouflage. The most aggressive known group;
* **The Litoz Clan** (once called the *Katana Cult* (renamed 9,000 CH B.C.) is the most strategic group of all. Large piercing and cutting weapons are used, most often swords with elongated blades. They most often use ambushes as means of attack;
* **The Masters of Kungfujinjutsu** are professional in hand-to-hand fighting. A fight with even one Nugget from this group is extremely dangerous. They are able to traverse almost any surface, and can also blend in with the shadows, despite their dark red uniforms. Most often, this group is engaged in theft and robbery, especially at night;
* **The Staffwearers** are a group of Nuggets focused on honing *bodjutsu* skills. Modified bo staffs are used, which are often covered with small spikes to inflict the greatest amount of damage to the victim. According to observations, only armed Staffwearers are dangerous, an unarmed Nugget from this group is practically helpless. This group always moves in squads consisting of at least two people;
* **The Negi Group** is the smallest grouping of Nuggets and at the same time the most dangerous. Members of the Negi group are able to perfectly wield naginata, swords, daggers, throwing weapons, are experienced in hand-to-hand combat, often use the environment to their advantage. It appears to be a blend of all Nuggets groupings while simultaneously being the hardest group one can become a member of.

## Trivia

* It is believed that those Nuggets who bear the recruit rank aren't *exactly* Nuggets, since they don't have the same Japanese appearance as the aforementioned. They are also often clumsy, unskilled and disinterested in their tasks, which might also mean that they were either kidnapped before, brainwashed or something else.