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Damn You Villains!

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 Edward Teach (Blackbeard) - "Damn you villains, who are you? And from whence came you?" Saul reviewed the scene, working hard to live up to his nickname of 'Steady' - at least to outward appearances. Having completed their business in Somerset and settled himself that the governance of the gang was on an even keel, he had led the southern contingent in convoy back to badlands along with the All Stars. Most of the journey had been plain sailing, however as they had approached their home turf, once again there was what appeared to be a targeted hit, with real focus paid to eliminating the command vehicles. Unfortunately none of the attackers had survived questioning long enough to provide much useful intel. Saul was now contemplating two important questions - One: who was behind these attacks if not Ruth? Saul knew there were plenty of groups unhappy with the activities of the All Stars/HDA group in Badlands - but if he could identify who was behind these very specific attacks then perhaps direct action could be taken to take the heat off. Two: would it make things a bit harder for attackers if a more uniform colour scheme were applied to the Buzzers? While having specific markings for the command crew aided his gang members during combat - perhaps that advantage was outweighed by the rather large hint it was providing his enemies. Clearly a description of his own vehicle was now widely circulated among their enemies. This second issue was clearly the easier of the two on which to make some headway in a short time. - The morning after their return to base, Saul wandered over to the gang barrack-house and on pushing through the steel & plas entryway saw that a number of the gang members were in residence. A couple were dozing in the late morning heat, but some were cleaning hand weapons, reading or - as in the case of the scout know as Desert Fox and a few others - engaged in a boisterous card game at the far end of the barracks. Crossing to the table, he saw that no-one was particularly far ahead in the winnings, so the game would likely stay amiable for a while yet. "Sorry guys, can I borrow Kevin for a few minutes?" As the next hand was just about to begin it was agreed to simply put the Fox's place on hold for now and deal him back in again later. "What's up, boss?" asked Kevin as they walked from the table. "Oh nothing much - I just wondered if you knew if any of the group was particularly 'artistic' ?" "I didn't think you got much involved in the private lives of the crew, Boss." Kevin replied with a slight frown. Confused for a second, Saul quickly realised the Scout had misread the question - seeing a euphemism where none was intended. "I'm just looking for someone handy with drawing or sketching." Saul clarified. Immediately Kevin's frowned cleared. "Oh, right! You'll want to talk to Smiler." - 'Smiling' Steven Johnson was by far the most sour-faced non-mutant Saul had ever had worked with. The man was seemingly incapable of any facial expression more pleasant than an irritated grimace. Saul persevered with him though and after an hour of sketching and several pages of precious paper, a design of the gang's Buzzers emerged that made them easy to identify on the battlefield but without marking out any specific vehicle within the group. Heading across to Jet Black's, Saul reviewed the sketches - confirming which he preferred and trying to gather his arguments to keep JB's price as reasonable as possible. Entering the garage, he noted that the head mechanic was at his 'desk' - in reality just a long board across two workbenches with a large toolbox drawn close to serve as a seat. "Hey Saul. Come to make me rich today?" "I hope not." The gang boss replied, dropping the sketch onto the cleanest portion of the desk he could find. "We're looking for a redesign of our Buzzers - here's the kind of thing we were considering." The mechanic looked at the sketch for a moment or two before calling over one of his staff - covered head to toe in tiny dots of coloured paint and wearing a breathing filter. "Jay! Take a look at this for us?" The painter took a look at the sketch, touching up a few lines with a pencil nabbed from the desk. "Give me till tomorrow, aye? I'll try to turn it into a complete design." Saul sighed, knowing this was just postponing the inevitable question of cost - but had no choice but to agree and with a nod to JB he headed off to grab lunch. ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Apr 21, 2015, 10:53 am

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 'Jolting' John Chesney was living up to his nick-name once again as his car caught yet another second or two of flight time. The ridged off-road terrain south of Badlands Truckstop would not have been his first choice of route, especially since he was not currently driving his normal Voyager, but a Vampire with a 5 litre engine under the hood. The Vampire was a competent enough chassis on the road or race-track and could even handle itself off-road on rolling hills - but as he fled from the mutant gang chasing him he speculated that the little sharp ridges littering this area were just a bit too much for it to cope with. Thinking back, Saul's instructions had been plain enough - as had the rationale for bringing the muscle car instead of his usual scout vehicle - but that didn't make John any happier right now. "We need to know where these attacks are coming from, John." Saul had said. "Since we know the area to the north pretty well and have that covered with teams and roving scouts, the obvious thing is to expand our network south a bit and see if we can uncover and hints. At the same time we should be open to opportunities further south to expand our range of activities." So John had been sent out with a car that could be turned into a capable fast combat vehicle by the simple addition of a weapon. Unfortunately the space that weapon would occupy was current filled with bright red fuel cans that sloshed alarmingly at every sharp turn or bounce - and which would quickly turn this car into a blazing inferno if the armour took enough damage to allow enemy weapons fire through. As his car bounced down the ridge into the dry river bed and hared off at right angles to his earlier course, he could finally see the chasing vehicles giving up and turning back to their home camp again. Next stop - Shantyville! ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Apr 21, 2015, 11:55 am

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 Sky above! John truly hated this place! He had known from descriptions that Shantyville was a run-down sort of town - but nobody had prepared him for this. He had approached town without anyone pursuing him for once. So he had plenty time for a leisurely appraisal of the place from the outside. It was not his idea of a good time. Shantyville squatted between two massive rock ridges like a slimy reptile hiding from the sun under a rock. His approach led to a town wall made from garbage - old shipping cartons, sheets of rusted iron and moldering wooden planking - a clear sign to any raiders that there was nothing here worth stealing. The 'gate' was simply a hole in the wall slightly wider than a single car, across which a ramshackle patchwork barricade was hauled in case of attack. John later discovered a very similar arrangement at the other end of town. He passed through the gate unchallenged - and only when he had parked did an elderly hunch-back come limping over to take his gate fee and note down his - fictitious - gang affiliation. Enquiring about lodgings for a few nights, John was simply told "Ask 't bar." And with that the hunchback lurched off to resume whatever task had been interrupted by a visitor's arrival. The building indicated as the bar, was itself a loathsome looking place. The walls were stained with rust, fungus and other - thankfully - unidentifiable substances. The door was strips of plas sheeting hung from nails driving into the outside of the wooden lintel. Two mutants were brawling outside the building - and as John approached he could see they were tussling over a chunk of mouldy bread. With a hard slap from an arm that looked more like a tentacle, the shorter of the fighters gained a second of respite and shuffled off with the food firmly grasped under another 'arm'. The other gave chase leaving an odd trail in the muck, not footprints at all. This however, thankfully cleared John's passage inside. ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Apr 21, 2015, 1:34 pm

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 Three days later John gladly shook the dust of Shantyville from his boots on his way to Texan. He considered himself to be a man who was not particularly squeamish, but the way the hand-sized mutant cokroachs in his dingy flop-house room had squealed when they were killed had filled him with revulsion. It was a sound he was sure would stay with him for a long time. Despite spending every waking minute in public areas and even socialising - spinning wild stories about running battles against the terrible HDA - he had learned nothing of value about the repeated assasination attempts. So with considerable pleasure, he had packed his gear into the Vampire this morning and rolled through the narrow town gate. On rounding the first corner of the road south-east to Texan, he realised his mistake. There - in a line abreast across the road, with guns already trained - were four combat vehicles in the colours of a local mutant gang. John swore harshly and hauled the steering of the powerful car over - at the same time stamping hard on the gas pedal. The ensuing cloud of dust as he turned back to town must have been at least slightly responsible for the fact that the bullets and rockets fired by the waiting cars all went wide of their mark. It was only then that he saw with shock - the gate was closed! Someone in town had tipped off this gang - and he had a pretty shrewd idea who it had been. Executing another wild turn, his car still picking up speed, John put a ridge of rock between himself and the guns of his ambushers - who were still busy trying to get their cars moving from a standing start. His car fishtailed wildly as John piloted it at high speed around the miserable little town and barreled through the opposite gate, losing some paint to the pathetic town wall as he did so. The attackers roared past the gate, but clearly thought better of taking their tussle into the town itself, where others might feel compelled to take heed. Muttering dark oaths to himself, John slowed his car till the engine was nothing more than a muted purr and rolled slowly through the streets - back towards the now closed gate he had driven out from just minutes before. Sure enough, as he came in sight of the wall, he spotted the old hunchback peering over the top of the wall into the wilderness. No doubt hoping to see the carnage his betrayal had wrought. John rolled out again from Shantyville an hour later - this time knowing full well that there was no-one alive who had passed information of his departure to his enemies. ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Apr 21, 2015, 2:08 pm

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 The HDA bunk-room at Badlands was crowded and noisy as the driver stumped in, his leathers still covered in road-dust and beaded with sweat from his latest courier run. "Message for you, Saul." said 'Mad-man' Armando Speth. He was turning away, heading for a bath and some food, as Saul opened the sealed letter. Saul stopped him with an oath as the text on the page hit him between the eyes. 'Saul. Advised in camp RE of special rates for gangs contributing Mechs. Can arrange discounted purchase of two Mortars. Must be collected from camp RCH, north of Gateway Truckstop. Please confirm. Justin' Saul could hardly believe it. Vehicle mortars were rare pieces of equipment, needing to be mounted on a large platform - such as the gang's trash truck. It wasn't just the size of the weapon itself that mattered, but the ammunition reloads were also bulky and heavy. However against a packed group of cars the mortar was without peer as a tool for demoralising opponents. "Armando - I'm sorry, but you've got 8 hours then you're headed back out. I'll get someone else to run the message to Rapture's End - I need you to head back north to camp RCH. You've got to bring us a very important cargo. Now go sleep - I need to send a message to Ruth and get another courier coming down from Somerset as well." The courier pretended to grump as he left for some food and rest, but since he was only really happy on the open road he couldn't keep the act going - and nobody had believed it anyway. Saul quickly penned two notes - one to go by the next courier to Justin at rapture's End, confirming that he should arrange the purchase. The second would be sent by pigeon, north to Somerset - to arrange another courier to collect the second Mortar. The weapons being so bulky, only one would fit in a Voyager even with the bare minimum of fuel and equipment required for the trip. Having set things in motion, Saul headed for the roof to engage in what seemed to be his main occupation these days - fretting over how his plans would play out in actuality. ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Apr 22, 2015, 9:56 am

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 Brittany Wyckoff was in trouble - and she knew it. The run from camp RCH to Gateway Truckstop had gone without incident, but this was the third time cars driven by the same mutant gang had found her on the road to Badlands - and she was getting fed up. Behind her, four Phoenixes tried to close, their powerful 4 litre engines were usually no match for her v8 equipped Voyager - but her cargo was weighing her down more than normal and her poor little car just couldn't accelerate like she used to. At every corner in the road she was having to slow more than normal and regaining her speed more slowly. She was driving through one of the areas known collectively as the Scattered Grounds and as she drove she scanned the sides of the road, and her memory, considering options. As the road curved slowly right around a small hillock, the evil grin that had earned her the handle of 'Wicked' flashed across her face. Ignoring the road, she turned harder right, slowing a little as she did. The hill would protect her from gunfire and a single wrong move here could spell disaster. The terrain ahead appeared to simply vanish at a point some fifty metres from her slowing car and a roiling mist was all that could be seen from there. 'Wicked' knew that there was a sharp falloff coming up - and if she carried on for a few hundred metres more a rise would take her back to the road again. The dangerous short-cut would cut more than a kilometre off the route if she had followed the road - and unless the cars on her tail knew the terrain as well as she did, they might be in for a nasty surprise. As her car tipped over the edge and accelerated sharply down the nearly vertical wall, Brittany feathered the brake and steered slightly right - aiming for a part of the cliff base that offered a gentler return to the horizontal. Despite that precaution, the impact with the valley floor was bone jarring and she was aware of a portion of the front armour being damaged as well as an alarming creaking from the heavy crate secured behind her. It was over in a second however, and soon she was accelerating away across the sand, back towards the roadway. Moments later the grin returned as a pall of smoke rose from the area where she had executed her dangerous maneuver. At least one of of pursuers had been less skillful than she and their car was clearly on fire at the base of the cliff. Her other assailants would think twice now and she settled in for an easy escape. ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Apr 22, 2015, 11:58 am

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