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Down down, Deeper & Down, (apologies to Status Quo)
DirkNotSoGently
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Texan at last!

After paying the town gate fee, 'Jolting' John Chesney rolled his Vampire over the bridge spanning the ravine that protected the only route into town and considered how different Texan looked compared to his last port of call.

Unlike the ramshackle buildings of Shantyville, thrown together from whatever unwanted material could be found - Texan was a town of apparently well-made adobe brick buildings. The fronts were a mixture of the natural clay earth-shades and those painted or whitewashed by the owners.

Some of the buildings even had covered walkways or balconies running in front and here & there John saw people relaxing and sipping drinks in the dying heat of the early evening.

Rolling his car to a halt under the canopy at the garage, John took a moment for a better look around before disembarking.

The first thing he noticed - due to proximity - was the variety of vehicles available for sale at the Mech shop. All the chassis' you would normally expect to see in a well-stocked shop were here, as well as a few rarely seen highlights.

One of these was a blood-red Corghette chassis - generally considered a step up from the Vampire in every way - with a price tag so reasonable that John almost had to act immediately.

Leaving the parked Vampire, he strolled over to the shop, at which point he noticed something else. The mechanic had all the usual trappings of the trade, down to the oily rag hung from his belt - but was also very conspicuously armed.

Handguns were of course not a rarity, given how dangerous Evan could be, but on scanning around John realised that he was the only one in sight not openly wearing some sort of sidearm. John's was still in the cubby of the driver compartment and he began to feel out of place without it - but going back for it now would be way too obvious.

"Hey." He addressed the mechanic. "Nice piece of metal."

The grease-monkey had looked up from working on a carb at John's approach and replied. "Yeah - she's not bad - with the right fit-out and driver of course." And he smiled a question.

"I might have been interested," John tried to sound casual, "But that colouring would stick out like a sore thumb in the wilderness - and I don't have time or funds to buy cars as toys."

Seeing what was afoot, the mechanic put aside his work completely to try to make the sale. "This little baby will take a 5 litre v12 plant under the hood and still have space for a driver and a heavy gun. Of course v12s are pretty rare - but if you put a small v8 in here you'll still get excellent speed, 2 guns and 2 crew - and even have some space for a reload or two."

"Yeee-aah." John drawled. "But the Vamp there does most of that anyway. So where's the benefit."

""Ah, you're right of course that the Corgie has the same engine and armour options as the Vamp, with just a little more space inside. But while the Vampire does nicely on the smooth, it can be a bit tricky on rougher terrain. The Corgie here - with the suspension set right - will let you race towards, or away from, your enemies far faster than most raider builds can risk." The mechanic was clearly, warming to his subject now.

"Still - that colour. A bit like laying out a welcome mat, no?"

"Tell you what," said the mech putting a friendly hand on John's arm "Let's take a look at your Vamp and see what kind of deal we can offer you - I'll even throw the respray of the corgie in for free."

And so John found himself in town for only half an hour before the Vamp was history and the new Corghette was promised for delivery tomorrow with his 5 litre engine and MMG transferred as well.
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Posted Apr 29, 2015, 10:33 am Last edited Apr 29, 2015, 10:36 am by DirkNotSoGently
DirkNotSoGently
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As the convoy rolled south from another successful trading trip to Somerset, the vehicle crews recognised from the terrain that they were close to Gateway and another welcome pit stop on their journey.

The run from Somerset to Gateway Truckstop had already been broken up with a stop over at the oddly named camp, Redneck Coalition Headquarters. There they had loaded on additional vehicle-mounted mortars, fresh from the factories, for use in the areas south of Badlands - finding that the combination of a powerful artillery presence with deadly firepower was a winner.

The vehicles the HDA had sold on the Somerset market had left them with crew packed into every vehicle, so tempers were more than usually strained by the over-crowding - particularly among the six crew riding alongside the mortars in the spartan interior of the 2-axle lorry.

The convoy was only a kilometer from Gateway when a sudden string of curses erupted on the radio, followed by a more coherent report from 'Mad-man' Armando Speth, the lead scout for the HDA who was travelling in the lorry - under considerable protest.

"Dammit, I warned you boss! I can't see a damned thing from the cab of this monster. We have multiple contacts on all vectors - we're boned!"

The gang leader, Saul took a moment to confirm the action report before passing it on - in a calmer manner to the rest of the convoy. Conferring with the leader of the Blood Roses contingent the decision was made to hit the gas and try to plough through the enemies ahead and then engage the ambushers with the rear-mounted heavy weaponry.

"All cars floor it towards gateway - repeat, full speed ahead. We have multiple inbound enemies at all points. Stay on the road, keep your speed up and engage targets as they come to bear."

The biggest concern for the convoy was the cargo vehicles and the two trash trucks acting as artillery platforms and fuel/ammo tenders - the combat vehicles could take quite a pounding before seeing difficulty and the crew were hardened veterans from many Badlands sorties, but the larger vehicles were easy targets for the raiders and nowhere near as tough.

The drivers of the lorries and trucks struggled to accelerate the heavier vehicles while the combat Buzzers were already smashing into the half dozens vehicles on the road ahead - swerving wildly to avoid raider cars with ram-plates attached and opening fire as soon as viable targets presented themselves. The thud of machine guns and car cannons tore the air apart as engines revved and tyres screeched.

Racing across the dunes the two lorries from the Blood Roses managed to start to separate from the ambush and the HDA trash truck was cocooned within a wall of protective Buzzers making steady progress - unfortunately not everyone was so fortunate. As rocket after rocket from the assailants slammed into their flanks, both the Blood Roses trash truck and the lorry from the HDA steadily lost ground. Buzzers from both sides valiantly took hit after hit while trying to destroy enough of the attackers to allow the slower, more vulnerable vehicles to break free. But their efforts were in vain.

As breaches appeared in the larger vehicles armour and crew succumbed to trauma from their wounds, both gang leaders had to accept that saving them was a lost cause - and reluctantly they forged ahead, forming their tried and tested battle line. There would be retribution for this - every remaining member of both gangs vowed that not a single raider would live another day under the sun.
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Posted May 12, 2015, 12:13 pm
DirkNotSoGently
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Saul stood beside the graves, dug deep and covered with stones to deter scavengers. His brow was creased and an ashen look of grief seemed etched on his normally clear and calm face.

"Goodbye Mad-man. Sorry I didn't listen." he said quietly.

He read again the words he had carefully scratched on the largest stone of the grave directly before him, trying once more to draw some meaning from the words his friend had been prone to singing softly to himself as he had gone about his business.

"This is the story of my life"
"Every chance I get to try"
"Before you know it, Hello it's goodbye."

As he stared once again at the words on the stone, a howl of pain split the desert air. Saul turned with a savage snarl to where one of the few surviving enemies from the ambush was being 'questioned'.

Several of the gang members had given up some of their supply of Neophetamines, amounting to a very large dose of the stimulant and this was being forcibly administered to each enemy before their questioning began. Almost a dozen crew had died across the two gangs, so the questioning was being handled none too gently. Three enemies had died screaming in full view of their friends before the first had provided any concrete information.

So far all that had been confirmed was that the attacked was yet another paid hit on the convoy and that the contract had been agreed in Shantyville. The one who revealed that much had been granted a swift ending in payment. Even under extreme duress, none of those questioned had been able to provide information about who had ordered the hit and Saul was growing more savage as he came to the frustrated conclusion that by now if one of the captives knew, they would have spoken out.

Finally the wails and gibbering of the latest contestant became more than he could stomach and he drew his firearm to end the pain. He signalled others to similarly dispatch the remaining captives as he turned back towards his vehicle.

"Come on, move out." He snarled to those watching. "Let's get this convoy into town - I need to wash some of the bad taste away and we've got a lot of damage to repair."

Crew were already finishing loading up the remnants of the cargo from the destroyed lorry and trash truck into spare space in other vehicles and the sole HDA survivor from the cargo vehicle was carefully place in the back of a buzzer along with the best medic available. It might be weeks before the mortars, now badly damaged, could be installed for use. After which all enemies of the HDA had better run and hide.

"God." He muttered to himself, not for the first time. "How am I going to tell Margaret."
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Posted May 12, 2015, 1:43 pm
DirkNotSoGently
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A dark red Windsor sedan rolled through the gates of Somerset, the HDA logo emblazoned on the roof and sides barely visible through the battle damage to every part of the car. The rumble of the v8 misfired occasionally and the exhaust was laced with more than the usual amount of smoke.

By the time the car approached the HDA compound, Ruth 'Spanners' Fisher had been alerted. Since the other two Windsors were parked behind her, this could only be one of two things. Either her friend had come back after 3 days in the wilderness, or someone had been foolish enough to loot an HDA car then roll into town.

Several other gang members had weapons prepared, clearly fearing the latter - but Ruth shooed them away as she recognised the figure behind the cracked and dusty wind-shield.

"Ready to talk?" she asked as Margaret opened the car door and stepped out. Apart from a small bandage on her upper arm she seemed remarkably unhurt when compared to the car she was driving.

"Are you ready to send me South?" came back the heated reply.

"No." said Ruth. "For the same reasons as before. I need you here to help with the training and I'm not going to let you go south to throw yourself into one battle after another in some insane attempt to get revenge!"

Changing tactics, she grabbed her friend by the arms and asked. "Is that really what 'Mando would have wanted?"

She felt terrible for doing it as she saw the flash of pain in the eyes of her oldest friend. Even as the barb hit home and Margaret collapsed into a fit of weeping, she knew it would be okay.

This was the first time that she had seen Margaret cry since the note from Gateway arrived 5 days ago, informing them of Mad-man's death and offering sincerest condolences. The note had contained information about the battle and the contract hit - and a vow to take revenge on whoever had ordered the attack. But none of that had mattered to Margaret.

The last time Margaret had seen 'Mando was only a week ago - during the second trading visit from Badlands - and the parting had been even more difficult than before. She had so wanted to tell him about the manipulation of the first visit and how much she regretted it - but their time together had been calm and care-free and there was no time when her guilt overcame the sheer pleasure of his company.

Her other urge had been far stronger, to renew their romantic relationship - or even just the physical. She had wanted to so badly - but had resisted that urge too - and now she would never do either.

And so after two days of raging at Ruth to let her seek out Armando's killers, she had finally cracked and stormed off into the wilderness.

But none of the vehicles in Somerset had a fuel tank large enough to make it to Elmsfield, much less Gateway - and so she had raged in the wild, slaughtering any raiders, pirates or muties she had come across and looting ammo and supplies to allow her to make it to the next battle. She had parked for short periods in sheltered, hidden spots and slept fitfully for only a few hours before racing off to find the release of combat again.

Finally three days of near-constant battle had left her physically and emotionally drained and ready to return to town to be shouted at for her stupidity.

But Ruth had her own guilt. She had some idea of the pain her friend was feeling and how much the guilt of betraying Mad-Man was adding to it - and her own guilt came from having asked her friend to make that betrayal.

So instead of shouting, Ruth just held her while the crying finally poured out and reduced to sobs and the inevitable unpleasant snuffles. Then she led her exhausted friend back to the bunk-house and put her to bed.

Margaret fell asleep almost instantly but Ruth only left her room long enough to grab a chair and a book. She *would* be here when her friend woke up and for as long as it took until she could cope again. It was so very little to give after what Margaret had lost.
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Posted May 12, 2015, 2:35 pm
DirkNotSoGently
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The late afternoon sun was low on the horizon, painting the tops of the jagged grey hills with touches of red, as the weary battle squad rolled the last few miles through the desolation towards the haven of the Badlands Truckstop - their home base of operations.

The recent sortie had been successful, but the combined forces of the Blood Roses and the HDA were still smarting from their mauling outside the walls of Gateway Truckstop - where a number of good friends and valued comrades had died.

The lead cars rounded the curve of a hill, to follow the road along the side of the chasm that surrounds the truckstop on 3 sides when the alert call came across the radio.

"Contact! We have 4 bogies inbound on the road ahead."

"Contact!" came a second call - this time from the rear of the group. "Multiple contacts at the back - inbound hot. We've been ambushed!"

The Blood Roses leader, Toni 'Dee' Cupps held a quick confab with 'Steady' Saul Stewart, leader of the HDA group before announcing to the group - "Okay, we fight our way through the group ahead then slow to destroy them. Select targets as they bear but watch your firing lines."

The Buzzers and Trash Trucks of the combat group were large and heavily armoured - so accelerating them to push through the attackers in front would take some time - and casualties were not out of the question, even from 'friendly-fire'.

Suddenly, from the centre of the pack of cars, a Windsor sedan known as 'Gunslinger' raced ahead. The gunner, Rachel Pearson, was shouting something on the comm about a 'distraction', but could barely be heard over the roar of the much swifter car's revving engine.

Compared to the rest of the cars, Gunslinger was lightly armed and armoured - however the relatively large v8 engine in the chassis and the lighter, more expensive armour grade used was allowing the car to leap ahead of and around the main group, still accelerating rapidly. An additional difference was that unlike the Buzzers, Gunslinger had front-mounted weapons - as the attackers found out when shells started slamming into their cars.

Startled by the sudden break-away from the group, two of the attackers on the road ahead started to swing their cars around to target the Gunslinger while the other two continue closing on the main battle group, their guns starting to fire on the rear-gunned cars. This of course left a gap - for which the main force of ambushed cars eagerly headed.

As the attackers in front opened fire, almost simultaneously the Napalm cars locked onto their target - the arc of the corner where the trap had been sprung, and started to rain their loads of burning destruction onto the road behind. If enough cars were slowed by the flames, the day could be won without losses.

The Buzzers and Trash Trucks could do nothing except weather the storm of incoming fire from the ambushers, and in the confusion of the attack something was going wrong with the line. In the aftermath of the losses during the voyage home, one of the more experienced Buzzer drivers, George 'Collie-Dug' Collins, had been pressed into service to man the second of the two Trash Trucks, which served as the squads Artillery platforms and ammo tenders.

The plan was for the vehicles with ballistic weapons to accelerate and run through the line of combat cars, then pound the enemy with their heavy mortars and napalm fire. The trash truck was a very different beast to and Buzzer though - and because of his unfamiliarity with the handling of the bulky vehicle - especially at speed - Collie-Dug had allowed his vehicle to move too far to the side of the road - and too close to the chasm edge.

As the vehicle started to slide sideways, the inexperienced trucker started to become concerned that the huge trash truck could roll onto the side and be stuck - helpless and at the mercy of their attackers. Right now this was a distraction the battle group did not need. Taking advice over the radio from the more other, more experienced trucker, George hauled the huge steering wheel right - steering into the direction of the slide - and while slamming the hammer down, he desperately reviewed the terrain of the chasm for a route back up. Meanwhile, not wanting to waste the opportunity, the gunners manning the mortars in the back reviewed the new targets their maneuver offered and started firing as rapidly as the auto-loaders would allow.

The driver of the charging Gunslinger, Cesar Bragg, winced again and again as heavy munitions slammed into his car as he struggled to make his way around - or through - the attackers. He was fairly new to the Blood Roses ranks and wondered if this would be his last time running with them, or anybody.

An enemy appeared suddenly on his right front and he braked and turned hard to avoid an impact - but the loss of speed only allowed his enemies more time in their efforts to reduce his vehicle to scrap. Their only hope was to push through the attackers and make it to the rough terrain ahead, where lines of sight would be blocked and their speed and agility would count for more.

Finally the combat line broke past the cars attempting to block the road ahead and the massive car cannons and heavy guns of the Buzzers opened up. As the Buzzers opened fire, Newton once again had his say in the field of battle - the recoil of the rear mounted weapons served to aid the acceleration of the firers, while at the same time those shots which found their targets slowed and bucked the victims - allowing the line to start to open more space. And as the gap grew, more and more guns from the battle group sought out targets among the ambushers.

Meanwhile, the desperate move by the trash truck was paying off. The mad dash down-slope had provided enough acceleration to negotiate the bumps and ridges of the chasm floor - and Collie-Dug was sweating as he worked hard to keep that momentum for the climb ahead. He had chosen a spot that would bring the heavy vehicle out of the chasm far to the right of the battle group - and could only hope that the attackers would be too intent on attacking their line to pay any heed. His was a fine line though, as the route up required a hard left turn that could easily start the bulky truck sliding if taken to sharply or at too great a speed.

As the slope started to rise, the trash truck inevitably started to lose speed and judging his moment carefully, George spun the control wheel to turn the vehicle up and out. Foot by agonising foot the truck moved up the slope, slowing more every second, until finally it crawled from the gully doing no more than 5 miles per hour - but once clear the powerful eight litre engine ran well again - and thankfully the combined guns of the buzzers had kept the road clear of incoming enemies.

The battle group had slowed to a stop on the road now that the immediate danger was past and their guns were taking a fearful toll on the ambushing vehicles, particularly the laser mounted on Gluttire - which was being used with pin-point accuracy by the gunner they called 'Grim' - a name he lived up to as he carefully chose his shots, picking out his targets to devastating effect. Several times a shot would find ammo or fuel in an enemy vehicle, and Grim would smile harshly as the fires started before choosing another victim.

Gunslinger, far back and to the side of the battle was struggling. Their armour was holed in several places and smoke was starting to pour from the engine - both of the crew were worrying more and more about making it out alive. But as the focus of battle shifted, they finally managed to make the cover of the jagged rocks, blocking the line of fire of their attackers. Once the constant weapon impacts stopped, they could finally build momentum and soon they were escaping through narrow gullies, back towards the safety of town.

They passed the battle line on the far left, but given their damage were ordered back to safety immediately while the heavier cars mopped up on the battlefield.

In end, the combined guns of the Blood Roses and HDA left very little alive - but it was hoped that one or two had slipped away to tell of what happens to those who risk their luck in this way. The successful crews emerged stronger and surer from the battle and after looting what little was left intact, they left the rest to burn - and left the bodies of their enemies to feed the mutant monsters of the wastes as night fell.
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Posted May 19, 2015, 1:48 pm
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