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

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roushutsu

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In time, Elizabeth was taken out of the train, and standing on her own two feet. They led her to the end of the line, a little ways away from Josephine, but she was close enough for her to see her companion's condition. She appeared to be more awake and alert, and bandaged enough to be able to stand the dangerous outside. Damned villains did something right!

"Sorry fer the slight delay, folks. I reckon it was mighty stressful in there and fer that you have ma' deepest condolences."

"Fuck your condolences!" It was the man who was wounded from before, trying to be brave again. And once again, it had proven to be a stupid thing to do as the captain removed his air mask after prattling on about his various affairs. If two of the rogues didn't step in and get him spare air, he would have died right then and there.

But whether he survived or not was none of Josephine's concern. She had to make sure that they didn't take advantage of Elizabeth in the same manner. The captain went down the line, questioning each noble. Soon she would reach them, and who knew what information the captain had on the Maribel or Basilio households. But as God as her witness, she was not going to let Elizabeth suffer over politics she had no part in.
 

NinjaDeathSlap

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"This doesn't concern you. We agreed to take you with us, so can you not just fuck off and stay out of it for once?"

The Gentleman's mouth was all easy smiles, but behind the contact lenses in his eyes were two cold daggers.

'Place you hand on my person in anger again, and you will sincerely wish you hadn't. My business is with you Captain, and the profit for her will more than cover a replacement engineer. I do not require your approval.'

"Please Gentleman, enough teasin' the poor guy! He really believed he was gonna die fer a minute there, but pointing a gun at him now'll get us nowhere. He already knows he ain't gonna die!"

'Perhaps if you had intervened sooner...'

Rather than continuing that thought though, The Gentleman tucked his pistol away, and smiled at the pathetic, soiled specimen before him.

"My apologies if I added to your stress, good fellow. Rest assured you're quite safe with this lot. If you ask nicely, I'm sure they'll even be able to launder those underclothes for you."
 

ProtoChimp

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An RV drove slowly across the desert. Two Ashcrawlers speeding ahead and acting as scouts while at least six surrounded the RV in a travelling caravan. A man in a long red robe sat atop sunbathing with a gasmask on playing an acoustic guitar. Slowly he strummed on the chords while men and women sat around him with sniper and assault rifles.

"Kids?" Asked the man as he played his guitar softly and slowly.

"Yes father?" Answered one of them, a young girl looking only about 17.

"How close are we?"

"Um..." Another one, a man with struggling facial hair looked through binoculars. "I seeee the scouts ahead are still driving sooooo, wait they're pulling over." He put down the binocs and continued "I can't see it but I think they can, somethings caught their eye at least."

"Get on the horn, see how they're doing." Said Austin as he lay his head back in the sun.

"I got it dad." Said another, a spry young thing, couldn't have been any older than eleven."

The boy got on the radio as Father Austin kept playing his guitar. One of his followers knelt down beside him, looking older than the rest. "Um, dad can I ask you something?"

"Of course Oliver but I think I know what this is about." He sighed.

The boy dropped his head down with an ounce of shame and said "I know dad and I'm sorry... I-its not that I don't want him just... Should we really be giving him a gun? I mean he really doesn't know how to use it he could hurt one of us, or himself."

Continuing to play his guitar looking unphased on the situation the father answered "Oliver he has to start somewhere. And we need to help him. He needs us, and we need him, you should be glad to have another brother.

"Dad I am I just-"

"Just teach him son. We all need to help him. Not just with guns but everything. You saw how he was... Those people who had the gall to call themselves his parents..." Austin strummed his guitar violently and loudly and everyone on the roof of the RV turned their attention to him. He highered his voice to address them all. "You all love me right?"

"Yes of course!" They all said overlapping each other.

Austin spoke out loudly again to stop their praise and draw attention, "then you need to love each other. Its more than just giving affection, you need to teach with that love. Give them the life lessons we all need. Its our duty as family no matter who someone is, everyone is our family. We need to educate our youngsters to be as strong as us. Do you understand?"

Silence stood among them for a moment until a high pitched voice interrupted their thoughts. "The scouts can see it dad."

Austin sat up and turned back to the boy as he peeked his head up through the roof. "Good son, good. Now, everybody get ready." Austin lay down his guitar in its case and pulled out a shotgun. "No survivors this time. They don't get to another dome."
 

Dogmatic99

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It really says something about how the day is going when the high point is watching a man NOT suffocate to death.

Florian sighed behind his mask. Lucky for the poor noble the captain hadn't hired a bunch of yes men and the others acted accordingly. There wasn't much Florian could do though, at least that was what he told himself. If he got into the violence then he was at risk of falling off the wagon. Even then it felt like a lie.

He went back onto the train and found the larger man that the sociopath that had hijacked their hijacking had shot. His face was turning a pale blue as death and the toxic air played havoc with his fading flesh. There was no way Florian could carry him out of there on his own, he'd have to drag him out and that sounded like it would be embarrassing for both of them, maybe more for the dead man. He seemed like a pompus fool in the VERY brief time that the two of them had spoken but no one deserved that. The poor thing had been gunned down like an animal. Now that thought had a whole elvel of personal shame for the priest but hat was something for a later.

He stood over the body and said the old words that he had learned so long ago, closing the dead man's eyes, forever frozen in state of shock. He sat across form the corpese for a time, calming his thoughts and taking everything in. To think that they had hoped this would all go so clean and easy. And then there was the explosions, how many people had Ricky and Smiles killed between them?

But that was enough self pitying for now. Florian pushed himself to his feet and went along the train, he'd seen Aesop wander off while the drama with the nobles was going down and if past jobs were anything to go by there was only one place he'd be.

Florian found him in the common coach handing out their spoils to those that needed it most. "Started without me I see." He quipped, grabbing up a handful of carbon and passed chunks to those stuck at the back of the crowd. "Now this is why I got into this job!"
 

ProtoChimp

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A small campsite lies in the middle of nowhere. Desert in every direction. The nearest domed city was at least a week away by walking. A few spotted tents and pick-a-nick baskets. A few people sat around not making eye contact with each other, but one young man stepped up to a much younger looking boy drawing in the sand with a stick.

"Hey... You okay?" He asked.

Without looking up the boy answered "No."

"...yeah... I know..." sighed the man.

They stayed there silent for a few moments. "What did Dad do to piss them off so much?" Asked the boy.

"Language Randy-"

"Oh fuck off you aren't dad."

"Yeah but now I need to be the next best thing don't I!" Silence again. They kept their eyes locked for a long time before they each calmed their gaze. "I'm sorry Randy... I don't know what Dad could have done to piss them off so badly. It was that fucker in the robe, the other ones were being normal till he started talking to dad."

The voice of a girl interrupted their conversation "He was really nice to me..." The man and the boy both looked at her. "He um..." She continued nervously, "was saying like that he could take care of us before he um... Sorry..."

"Its fine Gina, just... Don't talk to strangers anymore okay? If a man pulls you aside you shout for me or Bailey or Harry or someone. Harry's a dick but he'll help you. Go back inside." The girl nodded and went back into her tent. Looking back to the boy he said "Randy we can't trust people anymore okay? Mom died cos of that fucking duke back home, now Dad's dead cos of Bandits. Once we get to a city with... At least decent nobles, with good air and good cops. We gotta work solo. Get some food down you we're packing up soo-" his thoughts were interrupted, as well as every other function of his brain as it was spread all over the sand.

"JACK!!!" Screeched the boy as he rushed to his brothers side. "Jack! Jack! Fuck no no this can't be happening it can't it can't you can't-" he couldn't continue as two bullets tore through his lungs. The rest of the campers ran out of their tents with a few guns but not enough for all the them. The little girl Gina screamed in horror before she to joined the man and the boy on the bloody sand. A woman screamed out for the girl before she saw two ashcrawlers coming upon them, a sniper standing up through the sunroof in one of them. She fired at the crawler only able to hit the lights of it before her throat was torn out by bullets. Two more people began shooting at the trucks while the last one began running away. The two people screamed in anger as their unkempt guns shot wildly at the ashcrawlers before their heads become craters. The last man, with no weapons at all, ran hurriedly through the desert, panting and breathing hard. The sniper aimed down his sights but was interupted by a voice on his handheld radio attached to his hip.

"Stop! Don't kill him. Just bring him down. I have a plan. No bullets."

"Yes father," he responded as he slammed his palm down a few times on the roof and the crawler's charged ahead.
=======================
The RV made upon a ravaged camp site with bodies strewn across the floor. Austin looked down upon the slaughter with a snarl before turning to see the two ashcrawlers parked ahead. Austin made his way down and out of the RV along with the followers that were on the roof, as well as the little boy from earlier. The ashcrawlers were positioned across from each other while two men savagely beat a man with a long chain and a sheathed machete. Austin looked down at the man as he was being beaten. "Stop." He commanded and thus they stopped. Staring down with ice cold eyes he said "cut off his hand." The man screamed in terror as he tried to scramble away but he was held down as the thug unsheathed his machete and chopped through his wrist. The man screamed and cried to the heavens as he stared at his severed hand and blood spurting wrist, shouting obscenities. "Down swear in front of my children!" He said as he stomped down on the side of his face. "Bring the boy in."

Slowly the other bandits brought the young boy forward and he carried a pistol. Suddenly changing his entire demeanour, Austin said "Son. Remember what we talked about right?" The boy nodded nervously as he couldn't take his eyes off the man's hand. "Son. Boy? Look at me." The boy snapped his head to Austin. "Are you ready?" Though it was phrased like a question, it was not a question. "Good" Austin continued as he pulled the boot of the man. The man snivvled and grovelled as he moaned in pain and the boy found himself stuck. He was frozen, staring at this soon to be dead man, by his hand.

"Son?" He didn't get an answer. Austin sighed. "I think I know what the problem is. He's defenceless." Austin then took a gun from one of his bandits who offered it graciously. He threw the gun a few feet away from the man on the floor. "Now you," Austin looked to the bleeding man with pure hatred in his voice, "you will go for that gun. If you manage to get it and kill my boy here, you can go. Run off to the nearest dome and get your hand re-attached." The boy and the man looked to him in fear. "Now son, you need to defend yourself and kill him fast. If he reaches that gun he will kill you. Go." The man and the kid looked back and forth to each other and Austin standing tall over them both. They locked eyes before suddenly the man squealed and crawled quickly across the floor for the gun. He grabbed it and was turning to take aim at the boy when four bullets tore through his back and two in the back of his head. The boy stood there, quiet as death, as the smoke from his gun flowed up into the air. Austin smiled and ruffled his hair before picking him up and swinging him around before lovingly embracing him. "Ooohhhh son I am so proud of you. You did such a good job." The boy looked pale and looked down into Austins chest. "Son? Is everything alright?"

"... Dad?... Would you have really let him kill me?" Asked the young boy softly.

"Yes son. I would have." The boy was struck with terror and was about to ask why when Austin answered him. "I would have because then you would have failed. Now you have succeeded. Now I know you are strong, and now you truly are part of our family. C'mon son. Let's get you a treat, you earned it." He swung the boy around and got him into a piggyback as he got back into the RV. "Let's head into town kids, get this little munchkin a treat."
 

ProtoChimp

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"Started without me I see." Aesop grinned as he turned to see Florian passing some chunks of carbon around. "Now this is why I got into this job!"

"Me too brother!" Said Aesop in a booming chuckle as he wrapped an arm around Padre's shoulder. "Look at that. All our hard work paying off. Even pocket money for nobles is enough to pay off all these people's mortgages. Fucking love this gig." He then turned to whisper into his ear "By the way um, me and you might need to chat back on the maiden, 'bout the body count? Sorry it got so fucked."
 

ProtoChimp

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Perps were almost in place. Night was as dark as it was gonna get. Cops were around every corner. If things went bad it would become a bloodbath, nonetheless the police would still prevail. The plan was perfect, and Alexandria was sure the only way they would fail is if some outside force interfered or one of her officers broke nerve (one of the ones outside that is, not her perfection squad). With the plan all thought out she had her knife and pistol at the ready, with a .400 Magnum at the ready if things went really really bad.

Weapons at the ready Alex and a small squadrant of cops atop the second floor of an oak wooden storehouse. The perps were trading guns and had paid off the owner of a bar owner in the city to use one of his storehouses to do their deal. It was spacious and offered a lot of cover, both sides clearly paranoid of the other starting an ambush. Alex had been waiting in there with her squad for a good few hours now. A squad of her most trusted and talented officers. They knew when to put duty ahead of all else but also they were adaptable and knew when it was time to stop, to quit, to run, to fight another day, to fight on, to fight until the very last breath and if necessary make it the final day to fight. Any other officer would have come in a few minutes before the perps were intended to show. Not these boys. Others may be sipping the wine until the deal was about to go down. Not these girls. These were the finest cops this side of Yuteni had to offer and she was gonna use them to beat down crime until it begged for mercy, then kick it when its down and punch it below the belt. The squad was interchangeable and thus if one was hurt they could be replaced by another who had proven themselves but these were Sherrif Alexandria North's personal honour guard, her own miniature swat team. If they lives a thousand years earlier you'd see these men fighting with Elliot Ness to bring down Al Capone and be portrayed by Kevin Costner and Sean Connery.

The deal was upon them. The perps were entering the building, suspicious as hell but mainly of each other. They gave the place a brief search to make sure nothing was up, but they kept their eyes on each other out of fear of getting shot with their backs turned. The two main speakers sent their men to scout the area and act as guards to the two story building as the two gangs stood opposite each other with their main force looking intimidating and strong. Alex waited as they spoke their macho bullshit to each other. Meanwhile any guards who roamed upstairs were being discreetly taken out by her men and women in uniform. Alex waited silently as they were nearing ever so close for the words she needed to hear and the sounds of them wheeling in their merchandise. The only gangster who went upstairs to look for trouble who wasn't taken out was Alex's rat who she made a deal with in order to nab the leaders of this deal. He shouted down that everything was smooth sailing.

Finally, after what seemed a millennia of over arrogant, asinine machismo they were rolling in the merch. Two large carts, covered up for now but they all knew what was inside; at least if one side wasn't being fucked over. Saying that would be an understatement. More talk. More fucking talk. Threats if the deal wasn't completed with honesty and the right goods. On and on and on they went until finally she heard it. "Open 'em up." And the carts were uncovered. With the rat looking down and coughing as his signal to clear, the squad moved in, overlooking the balcony with guns drawn.

"FREEZE!" Yelled Alex as every gangster looked up and drew their guns at her and her compatriots. It did them no good as the doors were then breached by dozens of officers, every damn gangster covered and about to get their head blown off if they made a move.

The two leaders looked at each other in shock with repeated cries of "You set us up!"
Replied by "No you set us up!"
They were getting violent and turned their guns on each other before Alex intervened.

"Everybody shut your god damn mouths and drop your weapons unless you wanna add to the Yuteni police body count, cos trust me I'll sleep better than I have in months knowing your dead. So go ahead, fucking kill each other I don't care. But one pull of one trigger and all of you are gonna gain a lot more holes to breathe through but with a lot less breathing! Trust me a cell makes a much better home than hell." Eyes darting from cop to gangster the perps all slowly lowered their weapons and offering no resistance. She had the drop on them. THEY had the drop on them. For each gangster there were at least 3 officers with enough handguns, shotguns and rifles at their heads to know that 3 square meals are better than none at all.

Swiftly officers had cuffed every last one of the perps. One however had a tiny pin concealed in his bracelet, as they were all being rounded up outside he used it to pick the lock off of his cuffs. Though for his expertise in lock picking he certainly was not one for common sense for as soon as he was free he made a break for it. He made it 5 feet away. Alex herself had made sure of that. Whipping out her magnum she took aim between his shoulders. The resulting shot didn't bring an entrance or exit wound-rather a crater in his shoulders were the neck and skull used to remain. She turned her head, her arm still outstretched and aiming at the dead gangster as she turned her attention to the gangsters. "Anyone else thinking of playing runaway?" They looked to her utter lack of compassion in shock, as if she was one of them. "Good."
================================================================================================
Sitting at her desk Alex waited for three young recruits to enter her office. They came quickly.

"Ma'am?" They each asked nervously as they entered. They knew why they was there.

"Can you answer me why each of you allowed a dangerous criminal to escape your watch?" They each gave an answer but were cut short by Alex.

"He picked the lock off his cu-

"We weren't allowing him to escape we would ha-"

"He didn't escape you got hi-"

"No no no no and no you allowed a perp to escape!" They shut up. She stood personally close to them one by one and exclaimed to each, "You Alvares didn't search him properly! You Hardy and You Imgemi didn't keep your guns trained on him! What did you think just cos all the perps were in cuffs that there was time to goof off? THERE IS NEVER TIME TO GOOF OFF ON THE JOB! You wait until they are back at the station, in the cells, off the streets before you make jokes and slack off your duty and SECURELY CUFFED!" She turned back to Alvares at the end there. "I'm glad I chose you as the outside force and not part of my squad. And after tonight throw any thoughts of joining that squad out the window, cos you're all gonna need to do a lot of work to get back into my good books!" Walking calmer behind her desk she sat down and put her gun on the table. "This gun killed the perp. None of yours. I was overseeing every perp being arrested and yet I was quicker on the draw than the three who were meant to be watching him. Docked pay and latrine duty for a month for all of you. Get out of my sight." They all apologised and scrambled out of her office. She re sheathed her Magnum and began looking through reports. Now that the excitement was over it was time for the paperwork.

======================================================================================================

After hours of paperwork it was the early hours of the morning. Sun dawning and blazing piping hot in her office. She could have done this another time but Alex preferred to get this all out of the way as soon as possible. She made her way home having relieved herself from duty and making sure every cop was doing their duty or clocking out to get some well deserved rest. She unlocked the front door of her moderately sized house. Just because she was sheriff she didn't want no super fancy house, just something nice that she could appreciate. She yawned as she went into the living room were the baby sitter had fallen asleep reading.

"Nancy?" Said Alex gently as she softly woke up the teenager. "Nancy wake up."

Nancy rubbed her eyes awake as she looked to Alex with one eye barely open. "Miss North? What time is it?"

"Its almost time for Austin to go to school."

The girl's eyes widened in fear, not of harm but of losing her job. "Oh my gosh Miss North I am so so sorry-"

"Relax Nancy not for another 45 minutes. I just woke you up because I saw your parents on my way home on their way to work. They said they needed you home right away to do some painting?"

"Oh yes," she said, feeling relieved but still looking like she was in trouble, "I said I was gonna be home..." She looked at her watch, "2 hours ago! Gosh I better go."

"Do you want some breakfast before you go Nancy?" asked Alex.

"No I really can't I'll just grab something at my house, thank you." She sped towards the door in a groggy state when Nancy called to her just quiet enough so that her son couldn't hear.

"Wait, you forgot your carbon."

"Oh yes," she said as she stopped at the door.

"I weighed it this morning since I assumed I would be home this late." Said the sheriff as she handed some rocks of carbon to Nancy.

"Thanks Miss North."

"Take care now."

"Thanks I will." said Nancy as she quickly made her way out of the house. With the house quiet Alex got around reading a couple of chapters of the book Nancy left behind, it was Alex's anyway. She began making Austin's lunch and preparing his bag and before she knew it it was time to wake the boy up.

"Austin? Austin time to wake up" she softly awoke her child.

Austin groaned awake and replied "goroonnghhh just a few more minutes mama... Mama!" He exclaimed realising it was her.

Alex smiled and said "Yes baby boy I'm here. And its time for school."

Austin was still happy to see his mother home safe but his enthusiasm was dampened by the thought of education. "Mama can't I just stay in bed a couple more minutes?"

"No young man, a couple minutes becomes a few, then a lot, then an hour and you are not gonna be late. I had to tell off a few police officers last night I don't want my son to be on the receiving end of that by his teacher."

Austin was suddenly abbust with enthusiasm,"Ooh ooh can you tell me how the bust went mama??? Can you can you can you????"

Alex raised her eyebrow, "what's the word I'm not hearing?"

"Pleeaaasseee?... Sorry mama."

"That's better" she said more serious. "I'll tell you when you get home from school, but for now let's get you ready."

"Okay mama" said Austin. He didn't have to hear every detail of the story.
 

Fappy

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Pixie went down the line "interviewing" the nobles one-by-one. Most gave up their information willingly, though some of the more stubborn nobles had to be slapped around a bit. Cranston had radioed Pixie during one such interview to let her know Smiles and Ricky were on their way over and that all remaining soldiers had been neutralized. It was a good thing too. Every extra minute spent out in the open was a calculated risk, especially after the bandito ambush.

Her enemies knew she was out there.

With only a few more nobles to interrogate she barked into the radio, "Maiden, this is yer Cap'm speakin', wer' just about ready fer evac. Get yer sexy ass down here, over."

"---zztt---Roger---zzttt---"

Elizabeth watched this woman as she worked. Brutal was the best adjective she could come up with the describe her, though she had to admit, the idea of a woman leading such a group was interesting in its own right. What was this... "Pixie's" story? How had she come to lead such a vile band? What fueled the hatred within her?

Some part of her almost wished that Pixie would take her prisoner so that she may learn the answers to these questions. Learn what made this woman tick. What drove her to such extreme lengths.

As Elizabeth was lost in her thoughts, Pixie stopped in front of her, her eyes blank, "Lady Maribel?" Elizabeth nodded in response. "You're coming with us." Before Elizabeth could respond Pixie had already moved on to the next noble. In that moment Elizabeth could only think of the trouble this would cause for her family and her fiance.

I'm sorry Dio...

A few interviews later and Pixie had made her way to the last candidate, Lady Josephine, "Yer Josephine, right?" She said as she crossed her arms in apparent boredom. "Look, I got myself four prisoners as it is. I reckon the Maiden's gonna have a mighty hard time feedn' y'all fer an extended period of time, so I'll tell ya what... you give me a good reason not to sell your powder'd ass back to yer folks and I let you walk. Deal?"
 

roushutsu

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Josephine listened to the captain's interviewing, hoping for some kind of information that could be of value to her, but alas there was none. From the sound of it, they were nearly done with their business on the train. The captain then approached Elizabeth. "Lady Maribel? You're coming with us."

"N'er!" she instinctively shouted, but the captain simply moved on. Josephine saw Elizabeth become disheartened at the news, and it wasn't long before she came face to face with the captain.

"Yer Josephine, right?"

"Aye."

"Look, I got myself four prisoners as it is. I reckon the Maiden's gonna have a mighty hard time feedn' y'all fer an extended period of time, so I'll tell ya what... you give me a good reason not to sell your powder'd ass back to yer folks and I let you walk. Deal?"

Trying to bargain for Elizabeth's freedom was going to be challenging, if not downright impossible. But she wasn't going to let her go easily. Josephine locked her gaze with the captain as she stood up straight in attention.

"Lady Maribel sought my council during this ordeal, and nay, I shall not leave her with your rabble. An thou woulds't take her, then perchance you exchange me for the other prisoners. Certes, an arrangement can be made. I am of more value than my fellow lightminded brethren."
 

The Funslinger

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"Lady Maribel sought my council during this ordeal, and nay, I shall not leave her with your rabble."

Ruffles perked up. "Hey, I take offense to that," he said lightly. "I'd say we're at least a motley crew, if not a band of ruffians."

Fiddling idly with the goggles on his forehead, he spoke again, this time seeming to talk to himself. "Rabble... rabble... that reminds me, does 'scrabble' count in Scrabble?"

To scrabble up something. "Oh yeah, right..." he said, again to nobody in particular. Several of the Nobles were giving him odd looks now. He flashed them a dazzling smile and carried on messing with the complex switches and adjusters on his goggles.
 
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"Lady Maribel sought my council during this ordeal, and nay, I shall not leave her with your rabble."

Lilith put her hands behind her head, raising an eyebrow. "Did she just call us rabble?"

"I'd say we're at least a motley crew, if not a band of ruffians."

She chuckled, before the man started muttering to himself. Something about Scrabble? Fuck, she didn't know.

"Hey boss, I say we take 'er with us, mostly 'cause I didn't understand a single word she just bloody said, she may have had a stroke."

She was joking of course. Mostly.
 

Fappy

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"... Certes, an arrangement can be made. I am of more value than my fellow lightminded brethren."

Pixie snickered, "That's some kinda accent you got goin' on there, Missy. Though, I reckon I ain't one ta' talk, am I?"

"Hey boss, I say we take 'er with us, mostly 'cause I didn't understand a single word she just bloody said, she may have had a stroke."

Pixie smiled under her mask, "Sorry Hun, but that's a generous prognosis. This chick's prolly got a severe case of the 'tard'. Not that the rest of these milk drinkn' fucks are any smarter." Pixie looked to Elizabeth who had been glaring at her since she began speaking to Josephine.

The fuck do you know, kid?

As she scanned the rest of the nobles a large shadow began to shroud the gathering. The Maiden had arrived. It was time to wrap things up.

Pixie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Alright Lady, I'll tell ya' what. We'll be taken' you, Maribel and that weezing piece'a shit on the ground over there. Everyone else is free ta' go." The nobles looked to each other in confusion. No one had the courage to make the first move. "GET MOVE'N BEFORE I CHANGE MY GODDAMN MIND!"

With that the nobles scattered. Some ran, directionless, into the open ashlands while others ran back towards the commoner cars. Sprout let out a sigh of relief as they began disappearing one by one. It had been a... stressful day. Hopefully things would be smooth sailing from here on out.
 

NinjaDeathSlap

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"GET MOVE'N BEFORE I CHANGE MY GODDAMN MIND!"

The Gentleman felt another twinge of unease. 'Too many witnesses.' he thought to himself, as the frightened hens fluttered and flapped away into the distance. 'You robbed them blind and made half of them soil themselves, Meredith. There are some among that lot who would gladly spend all the wealth you've left them on hiring thugs to hunt you down and win back their carbon, and their pride. If this had been his show, The Gentleman would have taken them all out into the wastes, just far enough that any search parties sent to recover them would be unlikely to find them again, and give each and every one new homes beneath the ground. He'd make his apologies of course, dig them good, deep graves, and send flowers to their loved ones. The Gentleman did not earn his name from being some graceless animal, after all.

This time though, he kept silent until the Maiden began to touch down behind him.

"Ah, splendid!" he intoned happily, despite the downdraft kicking up a gale full of black ash, half-blinding him and forcing scratchy granules though seemingly ever seam in his clothing. It made no matter, he'd wash as soon as he was settled on the Maiden (his usual cabin would suffice), and after he would change. The Gentleman was more than used to adopting disguises, but this one wore on him. It was ponderously large and too hot to wear by half, not to mention hardly the height of style. He would be much more at ease in his preferred garb, he knew.

The Gentleman lifted his travel case, just as the boarding ramp lowered from the cargo hold. He's wait his turn until Meredith was on board though, as was only polite.
 
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"Sorry Hun, but that's a generous prognosis. This chick's prolly got a severe case of the 'tard'. Not that the rest of these milk drinkn' fucks are any smarter."

Lilith smiled, the woman certainly had a way with... words? Subtlety was never the captain's strongest trait, but that was part of her charm that Lilith admired.


As the Maiden arrived overhead, Lilith breathed a sigh of relief, thanking Lady Luck that they all made it in one piece.

"GET MOVE'N BEFORE I CHANGE MY GODDAMN MIND!"

As the Maiden touched down behind them, Lilith glanced towards the Gentlemen as he picked up his luggage. Well, I suppose I can't have it all my way, she resigned to the heavens.

Lilith turned and began strolling back towards the Maiden, the other guys could handle the nobles. "I need a smoke and a shower. A hot, steamy one, with lots of soap." She commented, as she passed Sprout, smirking under her mask.
 

The Funslinger

Corporate Splooge
Sep 12, 2010
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"I need a smoke and a shower."

Ruffles smiled idly as he took position behind the selected hostages and curried them towards the boarding ramp. "And I could use a drink. Think I'll crack open Valhalla."

Valhalla was the name he'd given a small transport engine he had cannibalized into a still with a filtration system and given a line of power from the ship's (much, much larger) engine. 'Valhalla' was painted on the side in big, flaking capitalized letters. What came out was a clear spirit that tasted like a mixture of rum and battery acid. It was safe to drink, though, and nobody had gone blind from it. So far, at least.

All of the crew knew of the still, though nobody touched it without his permission. God of the engine room, and all. But most people got a lot of joy out of it, though by unspoken word from Pixie, he'd never let Sprout have access to it. At most, he'd gave the boy a nip of the stuff on birthdays for the past couple years, and that was it.
 

Dogmatic99

New member
Jun 24, 2012
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"By the way um, me and you might need to chat back on the maiden, 'bout the body count? Sorry it got so fucked."

"That it did." Florian muttered quietly back to Aesop, keeping his smiley face on for the sake of the crowd, lord knew they'd lost enough face in front of the first class passengers. But it would have to wait a while nod oubt until things (and hostages) had all been put in their place.

"But we got there in the end, didn't we?." The Maiden had trundled up and was ready to high tail everyone out of here. Florian fastened his mask, cringing at the layer of clamy condensation that greeted him inside, he really had to get a new mask. But again that could wait for later. Call it slothful but the various hostage situations within hostage situations had left him feeling drained and it wasn't like he'd need to do anything urgent once they got moving again.

Unless he had to try and calm down the nobles again but after all the bullets that had been flying around only an idiot would try and win them over as a group. No for now all Florian wanted to do was lie down, or maybe pray.

Screw it I can multi task. He thought, trudging back onto the Maiden.
 

ProtoChimp

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Feb 8, 2010
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"That it did. But we got there in the end, didn't we?"

"That we did Padre. That we did." Replied Aesop as he patted him on the back once more. Aesop could hear the Maiden landing outside, ''bout fucking time', he thought. He threw back on his mask and headed towards the door but turned on his heels towards the passengers. "Alas fair people but we must part, but remember who have you this wonderful bounty. When you rest your heads at night and tuck in your children remember the Iron Maidens gave you some pretty bitching pocket money. Farewell citizens of the Ashlands, and take care!" Aesop exclaimed proudly as he bolted out of the door, giving a bow and salute before heading towards the Ship.

He passed a couple of crewmembers on their way back and forth from the cargo cars and nugded one on the shoulder and whispering to him, "Do me a favour, see any cigs on there get 'em for Casino yeah? Oh and don't forget booze for the rest of the crew, and clothes steal us some fancy noble clothes." The man nodded and continued towards the train. Aesop's little crush on Casino was nothing more than finding her attractive, he'd never want to act on it but everybody worked well today, her better than most and he owed her for keeping control while Pixie was gone. 'Least I can do.
=====================================================================
Hannibal stayed in his cell all night and lay gracelessly across his dirty bed. Awaking in the morning the sheriff was knocking on his bars. "Wake up boy." Hannibal shook himself awake and looked up at the man. "Listen kid," he continued, "I'm gonna let you outta your cell but on the condition you stay in the town. You don't seem too bad but I need to keep my eye on you and I need the cell space. There's a hostel on the street so I'm gonna set you up there but no funny business okay? I need to know all about this Gunderson business and I expect you to keep quiet, understand?" Hannibal nodded in response to the man as he put a dish through the bars. "Eat that and then we'll talk some more. After that I'll take you to the hostel, understand." He nodded once more and swiftly ate the gruel of a meal as the sheriff went on his way.

"You tell him a thing and Noah Gunderson'll burn you alive boi" Hannibal tried to ignore him as he kept eating but McGregor wouldn't shut up with taunts of death. "You say anythan' about t' noble?"

"N-No..." Hannibal mumbled.

"What do you know anyway fucker?"

"N-N-Not all that much. The brothers kept things from me in case this happened."

"Good... Good. Lets keep it that way. They lettin' you ou' 'oday huh?"

"Yeah..." Hannibal said scared.

"Alright. You bes' do 'sactly what I say else you be dead in a week. Ain' nowhere on The Rock you can hide from them boi, an' I ain' gon' letchu get me killed too. They'll burn this town to the ash it stands on if if means gettin' them 'splosives."

"Um... okay..."

"Good. Good boi."

15 minutes later. The sheriff returned to let him out of his cell and took Hannibal outside after asking him the same questions from the night before and getting the same answers. He began walking Hannibal to the hostel and telling him the rules of his probation. Hannibal nodded to all of his statements before saying "I'm sorry sir." The sheriff didn't know how to react as he lead Hannibal inside the hostel through the front door. He only needed to be behind the sheriff for a second to show him why he was sorry.

"Okay now your room shoul-" and he was gone. Hannibal had bolted out of the door when he was behind the sheriff and took off like a bat out of hell. The Sheriff ran out and chased after him but in the couple of seconds it took to exit the door Hannibal was already halfway down the street. He didn't like it but clearly the kid knew something, so the sheriff took out his gun and took aim, he could be more dangerous than he looks, thought the sheriff. He aimed down the sights and fired, narrowly missing him and kicking up dirt with the bullet. Hannibal turned almost on a dime and sped through the door of a grocery store on his left and was out the back before the front door even closed. The sherrif gave chase and shouted for others to catch him but Hannibal was far too fast and before he knew it he was out of the town. He regretted escaping and making the sheriff look bad but he knew this was the only way he could survive. He could definitely hid somewhere in this region, maybe the nearest city.
 

roushutsu

New member
Mar 14, 2012
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Josephine held her tongue when the bandits commented on the way she spoke. How could she expect them to know how to speak in the old dialect that was once heavily practiced among the nobles?

"Alright Lady, I'll tell ya' what. We'll be taken' you, Maribel and that weezing piece'a shit on the ground over there. Everyone else is free ta' go."

"Grammercy," she replied before immediately going to Elizabeth's side once more as a massive ship touched down nearby, blowing dust in their faces. The rest of the nobles had scattered, but there was nothing more she could do for them other than pray that someone will find them before they starved or suffocated to death. "God save thee," she muttered.

"Ah, splendid!" spoke the mysterious gentleman before he boarded. The other bandits grabbed the recovering man from before as they led her and Elizabeth in suit. Josephine kept herself close to Elizabeth as they walked, but her mind was also focused on that man. No doubt they will be held in separate rooms and she will have her hands full taking care of Elizabeth, but as God as her witness, she will find that man again and he will give her the answers she sought.
 

Fappy

\[T]/
Jan 4, 2010
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"Alright, alright let's move it, folks! We ain't got all day here!" The prisoners had already been escorted on-board, but there was still plenty of cargo to load onto the ship. Once the carbon had been loaded most of the crew made their way back onto the ship, leaving only a few members behind to loot the remaining luxury goods. Pixie's eyes lit up at the sight of boxes and boxes of rare liqueurs. She knew what she'd be doing tonight.

As Ruffles passed her by, hefting a large container full of booze, she tugged at his shirt. He stopped just long enough to hear her whisper, "Report ta' my quarters once we're in the air." Ruffles knew better than to respond and continued onto the ship after she relinquished her grasp. Pixie stayed on the ground until the last box was brought on-board. After taking one step onto the boarding ramp she glanced at the train behind her.

Someone fucked up here and she intended to find out who.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Sprout helped carry in some of the smaller boxes, but generally kept to himself until they were on-board again. He watched as the nobles were taken to the back of the ship somewhere, catching some glances from Elizabeth as she disappeared into the hallway. He couldn't help but feel bad for the two innocent women they had taken hostage. Sprout found Casino alone, smoking in one of the hallways that connected to the common room, "H-hey, uh... Sorry fer fuckn' everythin' up out there. I--" He stopped himself and stood in silence. He really didn't know what to say.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

As the pair was escorted deeper into the ship, Elizabeth gave Josephine a weak smile, "Thank you for standing up for me out there, Milady. Very few people in this world would do what you did." She grabbed hold of her arm and spoke softly. "We'll make it through this. I promise you."

Cranston rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. You two follow orders and keep out of trouble and you'll be fine, ya'here?" Elizabeth turned to study their captor. An older man, he was completely bald and sported an amber goatee. From the looks of his scars and wrinkles, he'd likely been in this business for a long time. "You're families pay up like they always do and you go home, unharmed."
 
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"H-hey, uh... Sorry fer fuckn' everythin' up out there. I--"

Lilith looked at the boy for a few moments. She knew he had tried his best, but his best had almost got them killed. But still...


She sighed a plume of smoke. "You might not think it, but I was like you once." She stepped closer to the boy. "Look at me." When he raised his face, Lilith cupped his chin "You'll grow up to be better than all of us. I know you will." She smiled softly then gently tapped his cheek a couple of times before crossing her arms across her chest "And don't worry about your old lady, if she asks anything, I'll say it was me that done goofed, comprende?"