The Ashlanders - Chapter 6: The Blind Man's Last Gambit (Closed, Started)

[The Funslinger]

"You got something up your sleeve Ruffles?"

"Uhhh..." he edged over to the old grey duffle bag that housed his tools. "Maaaaybe!"

A few seconds spend rooting around and he sat up with a slingshot and something that could loosely be called a ball about the size of a tangerine. A warped amalgamation of tin and plastic. Through the somewhat transparent parts, some powders and grits could be seen shaking around.

"This is just in here by chance. Had it in my bag because I was gonna test fire it, but then I got told about the job and forgot. Fairly simple, and it should work fine. No time like the present to test it--" he stopped, aware that he was rambling. "Right."

Setting his repeater on the floor, and slinging his shotgun and duffle over his back, he placed the smoke bomb into the shallow rubber pocket of the sling and pulled back. "Take me in, Aesop. Be ready to get back if he fires blind, but I gotta jump." His belly was fluttering madly, but he thought he hadn't sounded to nervous.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"I have a question. Do you take us for fools, that we will be pacified by the empty promises of a false priest, while your brothers-in-arms cower behind you? A dog in a white collar is still an animal, I do declare it sir!"

"A fine declaration sir, if somewhat hurtful. But look around you!" Florian spread his arms wide and motioned around himself to exagerate his point. "Do you see any fools here? No, I see a lot of people with very varied and valid educations. I see a group of people, some by choice, some by circumstance, all stuck on a speeding train together. Like it or not leaving is not a happy option here, especially considering you are not the primary targets. No Sir! Sir, a fool would be a person who went about seeking bloodshed when none is called for."

Florian's eyes met those of the large blustering man. He hadn't blinked once during his little retort and now his cold blue eyes were locked on the pompus blue blood like a stern teacher, telling him to sit down or else Florian would be very disappointed.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Aesop kept driving as Ruffles rambled on. He looked back to see he was getting a-wait a slingshot? "Is that a slingshot? You do realise we have guns righ- ohhh I see." Aesop noticed the floating ingredients in the ball in the slingshot and assumed it to be a smoke bomb or something similar at least.

"Take me in, Aesop. Be ready to get back if he fires blind, but I gotta jump."

"Wait don't you think you're jumping the gun a a bit? Alright fuck we'll proved covering fire." Aesop eased the ashcrawler nearer into the engine car. The soldier couldn't get a good shot but it was obvious he was trying to line one up. Aesop got as close as he safely could before yelling "Ready?"

 

[Fappy]

"... I humbly suggest you cover your eyes when the fighting starts."

Elizabeth's eyes widened when she noticed the gun. Now she was convinced this woman wasn't nobility, but then... who was she? It was at this time she noticed the large man who'd been shouting the entire trip get out of his seat, barking louder than ever.

"I have a question. Do you take us for fools, that we will be pacified by the empty promises of a false priest, while your brothers-in-arms cower behind you? A dog in a white collar is still an animal, I do declare it sir!"

She couldn't see them over the heads of the other passengers, but she was certain there were intruders in the car now. While many other nobles were panicking and ducking under the seats, Elizabeth's innate curiosity had gotten the better of her as she stood up from her seat to get a better view.

A priest of some-sort was trying to talk down the large man. She thought that maybe he was just another passenger trying to calm everyone down... that was until she noticed the two younger bandits. One dreadfully dressed woman and a young man of similar apparel. They were well armed and the woman seemed like she had done this a few hundred times at least. The boy, however...

His weapon was at the ready and he was glancing around the cabin nervously until his eyes founder her own. Their eyes remained locked for a long time. There was something... almost familiar about this boy.

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"How're you holding up?"

Sprout shrugged and winked at her, "I'm fine... but not as fine as you." His attempts to mask his anxiety were trivial at best, but a bit of humor managed to lighten the mood. The two of them followed closely behind Florian as they entered the cabin, weapons ready. As the preacher spoke to the people in the cabin Sprout's eyes darted all around, looking for what he wasn't sure.

His eyes eventually found their way to those of an attractive noble woman near the front. He stared at her glimmering golden eyes for what seemed like an eternity. She appeared calm despite the circumstances. Then that changed. If he hadn't noticed the sudden distress in her eyes he wouldn't have reacted in time to dodge the incoming hail of bullets. While he'd been lost in her eyes two soldiers had opened the door behind them. Casino took point behind Florian and it had been his duty to watch their backs.

So much for that. Sprout dropped to the floor only managing a minor graze to his arm. Disoriented, he didn't know what had happened to his allies... he was too busy trying not to die himself. He spun around onto his back and tried to bring his shotgun to bare but the massive boot of the soldier was too quick as it stomped down onto his chest, knocking the wind out of him. He stared up at the faceless man in black body armor, the barrel of his rifle pointed squarely at his forehead.

Was this the end?!

No, it couldn't be! He was still a virgin!

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"Take me in, Aesop. Be ready to get back if he fires blind, but I gotta jump."

Pixie grinned, "Well, I knew you was a crazy fucker, Ruffles, but you really think you can do this?" She grabbed hold of the top of the windshield and pulled herself to her feet, bracing herself and her rifle against it. "Well if yer gonna do it you've got Mister and Misses Monroe watching yer back!"

 

[The Funslinger]

"Well if yer gonna do it you've got Mister and Misses Monroe watching yer back!"

Ruffles grinned. "If I don't make it back, you get full custody of the baby," he said, meaning the Iron Maiden. He'd always been average with firearms, but when it came to slingshots, he was skilled in a way only childhood delinquents were. Standing, he swept the slingshot round, putting his teeth to the smoke bomb. They came away with the waxed paper tab separating the ingredients clutched between them. The gunner was trying to get a lock on them. He took aim and loosed.

He'd compensated for the movement of the Crawler and the train the only way he could. The bomb bounced off the corner of the carriage, jarring the heat-brittled tin section of the shell, and the pressure of the chemical reaction burst it further. As it sailed through the air, the first wisps and tendrils of smoke streamed out. The gunner looked around in bafflement and was hit in the face by the ball, just as the full effect erupted, rapidly covering the topside of the carriage. As Aesop swooped in, a blind fired plasma bolt arced over the roof of the Crawler, causing an explosion of dirt and stone to ding the side. Ruffles hitched up his equipment, and moved.

"Tell Ricky I owe him a pot of gunpowder. Stole it on the sly." Then he sprinted, yelling, "three, two, one... black-tion!" and jumped. For a moment, he hung in free fall, then came down on the edge of the carriage walkway. For a moment, he teetered, the weight of his duffle pulling him back, but then he reached and managed to snag the overhead railing and pulled himself forward. Hauling open the carriage door, he barreled inside, shotgun raised. This turned out to be a good thing, as in the confined space, a guard lurched towards him, sidearm drawn. Ruffles' shotgun went off in his face. Blinking sprayed blood out of his eyes, Ruffles moved over to the engine, and crouched in front of it.

He recognized the model, as it was also used in groups of two or three as backup engines on smaller ships. The Rio Zephyr 619. This one didn't look to have been particularly well cared for; it was filthy and dented and the vents needed replacing, but for now it was holding strong. He heard a gunshot go off from outside, followed by a thud. Nice work by Pixie. But for now, he ignored it. Removing a wrench from his duffle, he began removing the bolts from the panel, then removed the screws they were clamping. It still wouldn't come off though; held on by a thick crust of dried grease and engine oil. Grumbling about lazy mechanics, he wedged the handle end of his wrench under the panel and levered it off.

Clawing at the radio on his chest, he thumbed to Pixie's frequency. "Engine's pretty full, captain. The carbon's lumped together because of the heat, but the mass is still mostly intact. About half a kilo; musta just been refueled. I'll grab it when I shut off the engine, but for now I'll slow her down so's Ricky can detach the other carts."

Taking a screwdriver from his bag and clamping the wrench under one arm, he unscrewed a small back panel to reveal the valve that focused the chemical reaction gas into the rest of the engine that resulted in motion, creating power. Setting down his screwdriver, Ruffles applied his wrench and loosening the large valve by about a third. There was a juddering underfoot as the train slowed.

Suddenly, Ruffles was on his back, his shotgun pinned underneath him and the wrench spinning from his grip, a stubbly face close to his own. What the fuck? Another guard must have stayed hidden when he came in. He couldn't have come from outside, as Ruffles would have heard the door open. The two wrestled furiously as the guard tried to get his pistol under Ruffles' jaw. Eventually, among a tangle of headbutts, scratches and punches, the gun spun away. But then the guard got his arms over Ruffles' and put them about his throat, beginning to strangle him. With the door closed, Pixie wouldn't know what was going on and couldn't help him if she did.

An ache was building in his head and his vision was blurring.

Spoiler: music during the kerfuffle

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Viola could see that McGregor was trying to struggle underneath the choke hold he was in, but that was she put a little more pressure onto him. A large gentleman briefly stepped out, and came back in a moment later with the grey haired lad who had run away earlier, and shoved him towards Viola.

"Ah, just the man I've been looking for; I'll need to have a word with you about this little incident here. But first... barkeep, two more of what I was having earlier please. One for myself and one for the gentleman here." Viola said and the barkeep brought out two bottles of beer and put them on the counter. It was then that a rough mustachioed gentleman dressed in what looked like a fine suit with a tin star on the right lapel wandered in. The patrons in the bar looked at him with suspense. It was none other than Sheriff Patrick "Pat" Garrett.

"Alright, alright, settle down here folks. Now then what seems to be the problem?" Garrett asked as he tried to calm the people down.

"This gentleman be the problem Sheriff Garrett." Viola said as she stood up with McGregor in front of her and still in a hold.

"Ah, Miss Greaves, a long time it's been since we last met. I seem to recall it was the Cullen brothers that our paths last crossed. That was what, two, three years ago?"

"It was two sir, but that's besides the point. Mr. McGregor here was going to be making a rather explosive scene, with those components in that bag." Viola gestured towards the sack on the floor. Garrett took a moment to examine the sack and its contents, before walking towards McGregor.

"Ahhh sweet holy hell McGregor, I thought after that last stunt you pulled, it would be the last time I would see you behind bars; but I guess somethings don't change. Alright then, I'll take him off your hands Miss Viola; he'll be heading up to the Marshall's office in the morning." Garrett said as he put handcuffs on McGregor.

"How exactly did he get these components Miss Greaves?"

 

[Redryhno]

While the rest of the crew had found there ways onto the train, Smiles and Ricky had gotten into position on their car, the soldiers being more interested in the crawler that was shooting at them, not noticing theirs until they'd already gotten off of it. Putting his bag over his shoulder, he looked around the cargo car, nothing really worth taking from what he saw, but then again, almost everything was in some kind of crate or steel box. With a sigh, he pulled the mask off his face and wiped his brow. Beginning to whistle a merry little tune that he really had no idea where it'd come from, he put his mask into the bag and pulled out five fist-sized bombs, they'd work well enough for detaching the cars, plus give the bandits a bit of leverage if any of the passengers decided they'd...see some of the bandits dead.

After making sure the remotes worked, through a clicking of the button and seeing that the little light he'd put on them blinked once, he attached them to the explosives. Putting his mask back on, he went back out and stuck two of them to the sides of the car that held it to the next, those two should be enough to make anyone in the train know the sudden loss of weight and the tremor it'd cause.

Still having three prepped and ready to go, he put them back into his pack, making sure to switch their frequencies off. The last thing he wanted was to have them blow up and send bits of himself into his own ass.

"Redy Smiles,"He said,not really waiting for an answer before a wide grin of glee spread across his face, pushing Smiles down behind a steel box and setting off the explosion. With a great WHOOSH, small ball of flame, and a sudden face-hitting-hard-object syndrome, the train and cargo cars were now two separate entities. Not realizing it until slightly too late, he thought about if one of the crew were in the middle of some kind of fight? Nah, they seemed like they could take care of these nobles, not like they had soldiers or something on this train right?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"I'm fine... but not as fine as you."

Lilith shook her head, a smile on her face. "Christ, you are so bad at this."

Casino fell in behind Florian, her revolver held low, so as to limit any intimidation, she scanned the carriage. A lot of people to keep an eye on in here, she thought, best we takeover quickly, 'fore they start getting any ideas.

Florian was going through his little speech, when a rather plump gentlemen chimed in.

"I have a question. Do you take us for fools, that we will be pacified by the empty promises of a false priest, while your brothers-in-arms cower behind you? A dog in a white collar is still an animal, I do declare it sir!"

Lilith glanced over the man, he was all talk, he wouldn't do a thing. That's when her glanced rested on the man sitting beside him. He's too calm, something isn't right here....

Her attention was drawn away, when a noble woman got to her feet, just another pampered cow, ready for milking. She seemed to be staring at something, Lilith followed the woman's gaze as it appeared to be resting on Sprout.

It was then that she heard a noise behind her, moments before the door crashed open, 2 armoured guards came through. Before she had time to think, one of the guards brought up his rifle to aim at her, she quickly raised her own weapon, shooting the guard in the knee. The guard stumbled in pain going down onto his uninjured knee, it was during this moment that Lilith quickly closed the gap, pulling a combat knife from her belt, she kicked the weapon out of the man's hands, and then proceeded to knock him onto his back. Casino then raised the knife and brought it stabbing down, pinning the guard's right hand into the floor of the carriage. The man cried out sharply, as Lilith placed her booted foot tightly on the man's neck.

During this scuffle, Sprout has managed to get himself pinned, the second guard's weapon aimed squarely between the boy's eyes.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Lilith said solemnly, her revolver aimed at the second guard's head. From this angle she could see Sprout's face, the boy was terrified.

"Axel, look at me." She used the boy's name, her pale blue eyes unmoving from his, a gaze that very few men would ever see. After a few moments, her expression softened, and the corner of her mouth curled. The last thing she wanted was the boy to panic and do something stupid.

"Put your guns to the ground, or I swear, I will kill this crook!" The Guard shouted, "All three of you are under arrest!"

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have to be in a position of strength to arrest us?" She asked, tightening her foothold on the guard beneath her. "The way I see it, I could have killed this man, but I didn't come here today to hurt anyone, so why don't you get off the boy, put your gun to the ground, and calm the bloody hell down?"

The guard paused, as if in thought, for a passing moment, he seemed to loosen the grip on the trigger of his gun. Lilith saw her chance and shot the man in the back of the knee, he called out in surprised pain, Lilith took a step towards him, hooking her arm around his neck and burying the barrel of her gun into his unarmoured lower back.

"Drop your gun." She said quietly, a very threatening edge to her voice. "I don't want to kill you or your pal there, so please, don't give me a reason to." After what seemed like an eternity, the guard dropped him gun, grunting with defeat.

"Get up kid." She told Sprout, "Grab the rope from my belt and tie up this gentlemen's ankles" The boy obliged.

"Good, now grab both those guns and throw them in there." She nodded at the weapon in front of the guard she was holding, and the weapon she had kicked away from the first guard, then nodded at the room behind them.

As Sprout quickly obeyed, Lilith kicked the feet from under the guard she was holding, putting him onto his stomach and using a portion of rope to tie the guard's hands behind him. She then stood over the first guard, "Are you going to give me any trouble?" She asked, the guard shook his head and whimpered in pain. She then proceeded to remove the knife, but not before binding his ankles. She then binded his arms and rolled him next to the second guard, resting him on his stomach.

She then silently stood beside the Padre, removing her blunted cigarette, she let it fall to the floor and proceed to put it out with the heel of her boot. In the confusion, the Padre had been forced to bring out his own pistol to overwatch the carriage.

 

[Fappy]

His life flashed before his eyes in the short time it took Casino to neutralize the guard. He'd fucked up bad, but she managed to clean up his mess. Sprout sighed to himself and silently obeyed Casino's orders. As he was bringing the rifles to the backroom the train was suddenly hit by a massive shockwave. He stumbled forward, dropping the rifles and falling flat on his face in the process. After struggling to get back to his feet he looked back into the cabin, "What d'ah hell was that?"

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"If I don't make it back, you get full custody of the baby..."

Pixie grinned a devil's grin, "Don' you dare leave a young woman like myself to care fer such a beautiful child all by her lonesum'!" She and Aesop watched Ruffles do his thing. For an engineer he wasn't half-bad at the whole bandit thing.

"... three, two, one... black-tion!"

Though it was hard to see through the miniature ash storm being created by the train, Pixie managed to make out Ruffles' silhouette as he moved into the engine room. Still mounted against the windshield, she kept her eyes focused on where Ruffles had entered when a shadow suddenly crossed over it. Before the man atop the train could aim up on her his brains blew out the back of his skull and he went tumbling over the side.

That was weird. That fell'r wasn' dressed like a soldier...

"--zzttt--About half a kilo; musta just been refueled. I'll grab it when I shut off the engine, but for now I'll slow her down so's Ricky can detach the other carts.--zzztt--"

Good man. Pixie grabbed the radio and barked into it, "Good job Ruffles! I'll check in with Ricky and give you an ETA!" Before she could change the frequency strange noises started coming in through the radio. Grunts, rustling, groans. Ruffles kept his radio near his chest... something was going on in there, "Hey, Ruffles! Ruffles?! Ruffles, you copy!?" After a moment of silence she threw the radio against the dashboard. "SHIT!"

She nudged Aesop aside and commandeered the wheel, "Ruffles' is in deep shit! I need you in that train!"

 

[The Funslinger]

Darkness was creeping in on the edges of Ruffles' vision. He was half aware of chattering in his earpiece. He managed to slug the man in the gut but with his disorientation and the fact they were squished together anyway, the body blow had no power. On top of that, the man was wearing kevlar. His other arm flapped around wildly, looking for something; anything. His fingers touched the cold metal of his wrench handle, and he managed to tease it a little closer. Grabbing it, he nearly dropped it. His fingers were getting thick and clumsy. Squeezing tight, he brought it around in a flailing swing that hit his assailant in the temple with a dull thunk. The man's hands were jarred away, and Ruffles swung again. Crack. This time, the man slipped off him, landing on his side and Ruffles kicked away from him, taking deep, gasping breaths. The man was still awake. He noticed his shotgun strap had broken in the fight, too. Shit, shit shit!

Glancing around, he noticed one of the pistols the guards had used. His muscles were screaming from oxygen starvation, and it was hellish effort, dragging himself slowly across the floor. Behind him, he could hear the guard moving, and swearing. Finally, Ruffles' hand closed around the Glock and he flipped himself onto his back, shakily raising the gun in an arm like lead, but too late. The guard was sat against the wall, blood running thickly down one side of his head, pointing Ruffles' own shotgun at him. "Lights out, you criminal fuck," spat the man.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Hannibal panicked as the sheriff and bounty hunter talked about the explosive parts and McGregor. "How exactly did he get these components Miss Greaves?"

Oh God, oh God I'm screwed I'm screwed.
==============================================
Aesop's eyes darted constantly between the ash in front of them he was driving on, Ruffles, and the soldier from before. Ruffles hit the mark dead on, cracking the smoke bomb right in the face of the meddlesome guard as the engine was enveloped in smoke. Aesop laughed and howled. "Good fucking work Ruff!" he yelled as he swooped in closer to the train, the guard firing blindly at the ashcrawler.

"three, two, one... black-tion!" he heard Ruffles say with excitement as he leaped onto the train. Aesop grinned widely and kept his eye on the 'road' ahead. Ruffles and Pixie talked over the radio as the plan seemed to be going according to plan. However suddenly there were sounds of a struggle, grumbling and grunting.

"Hey, Ruffles! Ruffles?! Ruffles, you copy!?" Said Pixed down the radio. Silence. "SHIT!"

She nudged Aesop aside and commandeered the wheel, to which he co-operated. "Ruffles' is in deep shit! I need you in that train!"

"I'm on it ma'am!" Edging over to the back seat of the crawler, he could hear Ruffles clearly in some sort of fight. He stood up as Pixie got him closer to the train. With no flair or grace, no need to try and act cool Aesop flung himself onto the train car. Pulling out his twin revolvers he shoulder barged into the door and quickly fired off two shots the second he saw the situation; a guard with Ruffles's own shotgun pointed at him. The shot hit the man in the shoulders making the shotgun move but he still pulled the trigger. "Ruffles!" yelled Aesop, however the blast had hit the engine and the man was in to much pain from the gunshots to ready up anther shot as Aesop unloaded two more shots into his face. The situation... somewhat clear, Aesop helped up Ruffles. "You alright man- wait the engine!"

 

[The Funslinger]

Ruffles sat up, coughing. "You gotta get me over to the engine. If the carbon in there's on anything more than a slow burn, it'll blow, and it's..." he doubled over coughing, again. "it's a delicate job to make sure nothing sparks in there."

With Aesop roughly supporting him, Ruffles made his way to the engine and crouched down by the opening he'd made before being interrupted. Rifling through his duffle, he removed a complex, metal plated set of engineer's goggles and pulled them on, following up with a pair of scuffed leather gloves. Finding his screwdriver, he leaned into the rapidly heating engine, using his wrench to remove a section of piping, then unscrewing a grate, unveiling a harsh orange glow and releasing currents of blistering heat. Reaching in, he swiftly pulled out a knobby glowing orange mass of carbon and drew it away from the engine, being careful not to strike it against any metal. Heated as it was, it was extremely spark vulnerable.

When it was safely deposited on the floor, he flapped his hands wildly to dispel the intense heat from his gloves, then pulled out a flask of engine coolant from his duffle, pouring it into the rock. The harsh steam went harmlessly over his jumpsuit and goggles, but Aesop had to step back to avoid being scalded. When the huge chunk of carbon, about the size of a man's head, was no longer glowing, he stowed it in the duffle, and got shakily to his feet.

"We're safe. Well... we're only quasi-endangered, instead of riding the shit-your-pants line to Hell. Still everything else to worry about." As he said that, the carriage rocked in tandem with a distant boom.

"Maybe I spoke too soon. The hell was that?"

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

The Gentleman smiled inwardly as Casino's gaze lingered on him for a few moments, suspicion written on her face.

"She recognizes me, she just hasn't put the pieces together yet. Casino was always one of the cleverer ones."

When the fight broke out, even The Gentleman couldn't help but be a little surprised. Perhaps the crew of the Iron Maiden hadn't expected the train to be so heavily guarded, and that was why they hadn't properly dealt with any resistance. Not like them, to make such a miscalculation. Still he remained seated, casually sipping his wine as the two guards were disarmed. Sprout was the weak link. That had been clear from the start, and it was all he needed.

In this time, Giles had wasted no time in cowering back down when the fighting had started, and he now sat silent, somewhat paler than he had been before, in their compartment. As the shock wave from an explosion further down the train reach their carriage, he spluttered in response.

"God blazes! What in the name of-"

The second was halfway between a cough and a gag; and now, in the space of a few short minutes, Giles' face would have gone from red, to white, to blue. As he wheezed more, realizing that his reaction was not connected to the explosion, Giles Dufraine's eyes found the empty glass of wine, still in his hand. They bulged, the penny finally dropping inside his head, and he looked across to the man he had known as Harris Rosby, his face stricken with horror.

That man's face, while the features were unchanged, now seemed to look entirely different somehow, as he leaned across the table, as if to check Giles was alright, and whispered quietly.

"So dreadfully sorry old chap, but I needed a distraction. Foreman Hansen sends his regards."

Giles was now foaming at the mouth, and beginning to convulse violently. When The Gentleman spoke next, his voice was loud and quavering.

"My God! My associate here is choking!" he cried, looking towards the bandit team, the priest in particular. "Somebody help him!"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"How exactly did he get these components Miss Greaves?" Asked Garrett as he started to leave the Silver Dollar with McGregor in tow.

Viola took a few deep breaths before letting out a sigh.

"It was the work of this gentleman here Sheriff Garrett. He was bringing in the parts to McGregor, for what reason I don't know; but it was probably related to making a profit. Some of the components look to be of high quality."

"I see, in that case I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to come with me as well son; there'll be some questions I need to ask, and you'll be staying in the cells until I decided what to do with you." Sheriff Garrett then turned his head so it was facing the saloon doors.

"OLINGER! BELL! Get your sorry asses in here!" In an instant, the Sheriff's two deputies entered the saloon. Olinger was quiet a broad shouldered gentleman with a mean look on his face, and an even meaner looking double barreled shotgun; I mean he cradled the damn thing like it was a baby. Bell on the other hand was a rather tall looking man, who looked more professional than his fellow deputy, with his attire looking more cared for.

"I want you to take McGregor here and put him in a cell. Meanwhile, I'll be having words with this gentleman here in my office."

"I'd like to have words with him as well Sheriff, I'm curious to find out why he was working with McGregor. And here, let him have this, after what has happened, he's probably quiet shaken up." Viola said as she handed a bottle of beer over to the man in question.

"Why of course you can question him Miss Greaves, but after I'm done with him. You can wait outside till I'm finished."

"Thank you. Also you may want to put these two in separate cells, there is a bit of bad chemistry between them. And, have your deputies on patrol, as the Gunderson's might come looking for their explosives."

"I see. Well Miss Greaves, I'll take that into consideration. Alright you two, let's take these gentleman back." Spoke Garrett as he led his deputies with the prisoners in tow.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Ruffles sat up coughing. "You gotta get me over to the engine. If the carbon in there's on anything more than a slow burn, it'll blow, and it's..." he doubled over coughing, again. "it's a delicate job to make sure nothing sparks in there." Aesop helped him up and supported him over to the engine as he worked his magic. He jumped back at one point to make sure his face didn't get scorched off. Aesop kept alert for any guards wanting to creep on them and before he knew it Ruffles was done. "We're safe. Well... we're only quasi-endangered, instead of riding the shit-your-pants line to Hell. Still everything else to worry about." As he said that, the carriage rocked in tandem with a distant boom.

"Maybe I spoke too soon. The hell was that?"

Aesop sighed as he reloaded his revolvers, "Who do ya think?" Aesop got on the radio to Ricky Ticky. "Ricky was that you back there? The engine had to get pulled out earlier than we wanted those soldiers are gonna still be a problem, can you and smiles take care of it or do I need to save your asses?"

 

[Fappy]

"My God! My associate here is choking! ... Somebody help him!"

Between the firefight, the explosion and the choking fat man, Elizabeth had no idea what to do. Strangely however, she did not panic. She just stood there watching it all unfold like some kind of great drama. What would happen next.

She turned to Josephine to gauge her reaction to the scene, "What should we do milady?!"

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Pixie drove alongside the engine car trying to get an idea as to what the hell was going on in there. She heard gunshots upon Aesop's entry, but nothing after that. A few moments later an explosion echoed through the ashlands and shook the train side-to-side. Pixie gritted her teeth. This was bad. Communication was shit at the moment and the blast wasn't coordinated at all. She still had no clue what was going on in there, "Ruffles, I repeat, do you copy? What's your status!?"

Before she could continue a bullet whizzed by her and severed the wire connecting the radio to the console, "Uh oh." Pixie flipped on the cruise control and turned to face the train, resting her right arm atop the steering wheel. Not an ideal way to drive, but when a girl's got to multitask...

"You gone'n done broke my radio! Now you fucked up!" Pixie shouted over the wind and ash. Three men were crouched above the engine car, rifles in hand, raining down a hail of bullets on Pixie. She returned fire. Mr. Monroe howled it's monstrous war cry as hollow point rounds shot out from its barrel and into the soft, weak flesh of Pixie's enemies. After a brief exchange the three men's limp bodies toppled off the train in different directions. The crawler had been dinged up pretty badly, but Pixie had survived with only a few scrapes.

Anticipating further resistance she quickly turned back towards the "road", supporting the wheel with her knees as she reloaded her rifle. That was when the crawler suddenly lurched backwards followed by a loud "thud". Instinctively, Pixie dropped the unloaded rifle and drew her sidearm. Just as she'd brought it to bare the pistol was slapped out of her hand by an unknown assailant (obviously someone insane enough to jump from a moving train). The attacker brought its own pistol up to Pixie's head, but was disarmed before the trigger was pulled. The two of them struggled in a grapple, as the crawler--now without someone to control it--veered away from the tracks and flew straight over a hill.

The crawler came crashing down on the other side, ejecting Pixie across the dirt and ash. After a few rolls Pixie's momentum finally slowed, leaving her in a heap a few yards from the crawler.

Fuckn'... ouch, God damn...

After a few moments Pixie had summoned the strength to lift herself off of the ground. She was still disoriented, but she was alive at least. She inhaled deeply to spit blood on the ground, readjusted her mask and slapped herself on the side of the head to regain her composure. She got to her feet, drew her backup-backup pistol and began scanning the area for her assailant.

She turned, pointing her pistol at the crawler when she heard a loud metallic noise echoing from the site of the crash. Her attacker was staggering out of the wreckage. As the twin suns shone their blistering bright light across the surface of the attacker's body, she could finally make out who he and his buddies were.

Banditos...

Or more formally, the Santiago bandit family. Rivals of course, though they were probably here for her bounty rather than for revenge of any kind. It would definitely explain why they would go to so much length to take her out specifically. Pixie kept her pistol trained on him. Her body was beaten and bruised from the crash, but she wouldn't let him know that. She had enough bravado in her to account for every bandit on this rock, "What's yer name, amigo?"

The man, with a shaved head and dressed in a now tarnished poncho, said nothing. His hand sat over a revolver strapped to his side, "By the time you draw yer gun yer'gonna have a helluva hole in between yer eyeballs. Plus, ya know mine's got fifteen shots'n yers has six. Not all that fair, huh?"

She reached into her jacket and produced an enormous bowey knife, almost comically large when compared to her wiry build. The light of the suns glistened off the blade as she tipped it in his direction. If there was one thing a Bandito couldn't resist, it was a knife fight. The man smiled and unbuckled his belt, dropping it in a heap on the ground. Just as soon as he did, Pixie pulled the hammer back on her pistol offering a smirk as she did.

The man went white realizing what he had done. He had let his pride get the best of him. Pixie laughed, "Wow, yer a fuckn' dummy. Didn' they tell ya I ain't got no honor!?" The man scowled like a rabid animal starring down the barrel of a gun. "Relax, hombre. If I was gonna shoot ya I wouldn'a bothered talkn' all this time. You lucked out this time. I'm actually in the mood for a little tussle!"

The man, unsure of what to think, drew his blade in anticipation after seeing Pixie drop her pistol on the ground. The pair began circling each other, both looking for an opening to gut the other. Pixie's heart was racing. A primal blood-lust, hijacking all other thought processes. The bandito made the first move...

Spoiler

 

[The Funslinger]

"Yeah, I shoulda figured," replied Ruffles, shrugging. "I didn't think he'd blow his load this soon, though."

Sticking the pistol into the belt on his jumpsuit, Ruffles picked up his shotgun, and slowly stood. He gave a cough, and then said, "alright. Ready as I'll ever be. It isn't safe to fire up that engine again, and I doubt a train like this has a backup so when the momentum puts out, that'll be as far as we go. Gotta hope it's enough. Nothing for us to do here, buddy. Let's join up with the others."

Shouldering his duffle bag, he moved to the door, thumbing his radio. "Captain? Caaaaptain? Pix, ya there?" Looking back at Aesop he scowled. "Pixie's gone off the radar." Opening the carriage door, he swore, "fuck! Her Crawler's up and vanished!"

Resolving to find the others, Ruffles gingerly began moving, heading down the walkway along the side of the train's cart, and then hopping onto the back of the next carriage, and opened the backdoor.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Hannibal was almost completely tuned out of the conversation as he was taken into the Sheriff's office. He was sat down in a chair in front of the man's desk as he sat opposite him. The desk was covered in papers and various bits and pieces, Garret seemed to be rather proficient at whittling as little figurines were spread across the edges of the desk.

"Alright boy, how come you had enough explosives there to put a damn hole in the world?" asked the sheriff. Hannibal was silent for a few moments. His mouth wouldn't allow him to speak out of fear. "Boy?" Hannibal's attention was snapped to the sheriff. "At least tell me your name kid."

"Um... H-Hannibal. My n-name's Hannibal." he stuttered.

"Hannibal, alright Hannibal, why were you carrying, and I assume smuggling explosives for McGregor?"

"I can't say..." he said fearfully.

"Why cos of the Gunderson's?" Hannibal nodded in response. "Ah kid they ain't no threat, we done ran them outta town a bunch of times you got nothing to worry about."

Hannibal's hands began shaking. "You're wrong, oh man you have no idea what they've been doing. They've been expanding out west and up north. Fuck man they've been getting bigger and bigger and bigger-" Hannibal rambled on and had to be interrupted by the sheriff.

"Woah woah calm down boy, are we talking about the same Gundersons here?"

"I'm sure we are."

"From Feroxi?"

"Yes."

"Vandals who terrorise towns?"

"They have gone far beyond that."

The sheriff sighed and began writing all that was said down. "Okay okay but we still haven't gotten as to why you had explosives."

There was a silence before Hannibal spoke. "...They hired me. I don't know why but they paid me some good carbon to smuggle some explosives to McGregor and they said he'd take it from there."

The sheriff audibly sighed. "Well sorry kid but with smuggling I gotta put you in." Hannibal sighed in response and went to the cell without struggle. He was put 3 cells away from Mcgregor, who thankfully didn't know he was so close by. Hannibal sat down on the cot in the cell. He looked down at the floor and sighed. This was actually his first time in a cell. He wondered how long he'd be here.

 

[Dogmatic99]

The rapid onset of violence that followed was short but sweet as Lilith went about dismanteling their attackers with bloody efficency. And she had to do it alone. Much like Axel, Florian froze, caught between the desire to act and the restraint that had kept his body count down to zero since he joined the crew. It was all over so fast but every instinct in him was screaming out to place a bullet between the guard's eyes as he held the rifle to Axel's head. Apparently even his old self liked the boy enough to want to see him safe, maybe it saw something like a kindred spirit in him. Luckily Lilith had everything under control. The two guards were left crippled in a pool of blood on the floor... and Florian the priest was left back behind the steering wheel.

This was exactly what he was hoping to avoid. They didn't leave us any choice. He repeated that to himself until he believed it. That was when he looked down and saw he's drawn his gun. Florian didn't even remember doing it. Oh God... He'd never even let the others see he had one before! This was bad, he's seriously slipped up here. Calm down, they can't be that suprised, look at where we are, it's stranger not to have one...

Florian scanned the weapon over the carriage, half heartedly, so as to look like he was keeping the passangers under control. Lilith and Axel were quickly finished binding the guards and getting things back under control. No one had died, that had to count for something. He gave a firm nod to Lilith as she took her position beside him. Florian did his best to look like he was in control. Things seemed to be calming down and he put his pistol back in it's holster with grim resolve. Aaaaand then the train threw them all around like ragdolls.

This is not the smooth run I was hoping for! The force almost threw Florian and Lilith to the ground, it would have left them in a tangled mess if the two of them hadn't managed to grab ahold of the tightly packed seats and steady themselves.

"My God! My associate here is choking! ... Somebody help him!" Came the call from the back of the carrige.

Florian rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth, trying to remain calm but even his fuse had it's limits. "I'm on it." He grunted to the others and paced over to the man in need. It was the fat fellow from earlier. The one that called me a dog. Florian's trigger finger itched. The fellow wasn't looking good though, that was plain. Florian tucked his bible back into his jacket and leant over trying to get a better look.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Ruffles shrugged as he realised Ricky had gotten a little too excited with his bombs. Getting his shit together he coughed and said "alright. Ready as I'll ever be. It isn't safe to fire up that engine again, and I doubt a train like this has a backup so when the momentum puts out, that'll be as far as we go. Gotta hope it's enough. Nothing for us to do here, buddy. Let's join up with the others." Aesop sighed and nodded, but just as they were about to leave the carriage Ruffles tried to contact Pixie. "Captain? Caaaaptain? Pix, ya there?" Looking back at Aesop he scowled. Aesop was worried and pulled out his revolvers again. "Pixie's gone off the radar." Opening the carriage door, he swore, "fuck! Her Crawler's up and vanished!" Aesop panicked and looked around, leaning over the edge and peering around for her. He saw a few dead guards, obviously taken care of by pixie, but she was nowhere in sight. What the fuck were they gonna do without her? He noticed Ruffles had began moving on ahead down the side of the train's cart, and then hopping onto the back of the next carriage, and opened the backdoor. Aesop swiftly caught up with him.

"Let me take point man you're all banged up." Aesop walked in front of Ruffles, guns at the ready through the train cart. No guards yet, they must me... "Fuck! They're going to the noble cart!" Aesop charged through the cart and booted the door in, and sure enough there was a contingent of guards making there way to the first class. Some still had their backs to him, to which Aesop unloaded three bullets each into the backs of four guards. They went down like flies but there were... a bit more than anticipated. Aesop jumped back into the cart he was just in for cover as a flurry of bullets went their way. "Hit the deck!" he yelled as Ruffles took cover. Aesop reloaded his revolvers before switching over to his pistols. More bullets is always better. "Um... you got a plan? They seem really really angry."