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28 Days in Elmsfield, (on the perils of too much leisure)

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 Gwen Cummings: "I am having a bad day! The worst damn day of my whole damn life! If it is not too much to ask will you all just back the f*ck off!" ---- Saul 'Steady' Stewart was working on the monthly wages in his cubby when a row from the main bunk-room disturbed him. "Not again." he muttered to himself, pushing his chair back as he went to see what the trouble was. Since their usual running-mates, the Blood Roses, had taken some time off to resolve technical issues, the Badlands contingent of the HDA had been largely left to their own devices. Despite the occasional run with other gangs and some in-town events, the extra free time was starting to be too much and cabin fever was setting in. As he crossed into the main sleeping area, Saul saw John George and Richard Minor, two of his best crew-men, about to come to blows in what seemed to be an argument about one taking too long to read a magazine the other one wanted to see. Recently childish squabbles like this had been flaring up more often but this one was looking particularly bad. "RIGHT!" he bellowed to be heard over the noise of the argument, and the onlookers heatedly taking sides "You want something to fight? You got it!" As everyone turned to see their usually calm boss enraged, he continued, "I want Dreadnoughts 1, 2 & 3 - Fireships 1 & 2 - Bomb Ketch 1 - all fully crewed and ready to roll in 30 or it's your asses!" Once loot drivers were included, that left only two of the most junior gangers unaccounted for and he rapidly set them to loading detail and to prepare the gang lockup for their return. As the crews jumped excitedly into action, Saul signalled to Kevin 'Desert Fox' Trejo, the group's scout. "Not you Kevin - I'll take the wheel of DN1 today - I've got a little surprise for you." Saul talked as they walked out of the barracks. "I've been spending some time thinking about what Mad-man said to me the day we lost him. I've decided that keeping you couped up in a Buzzer ####pit is a waste of your skills - so I wanted your opinion on taking a new tack." Rounding the corner of the building, they approached a Dustup parked there. The small jeep-like car was painted in camoflage colours and although equipped with only a single machine gun, the engine was so large that the armoured bonnet had been cut to make room for the inlet manifold. "We looted this a few weeks ago and I've had it fixed up - your very own scout car. I know it's almost unarmed and the armour isn't great - but she'll climb like a spider and can take just about any terrain. I want you in this and keeping an eye out - but do NOT engage the enemy. If everything goes wrong you are to escape and make your way back here as best you can - understood?" Kevin was nodding as he eyed the small vehicle with an eager look in his eye. "Sure thing, Boss. Whatever you say." "Okay" said Saul "Get acquainted. We're rolling shortly." ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Jul 24, 2015, 2:54 pm

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 Saul had taken the crews out, telling Kevin to find them a trader convoy to hit - and frankly he didn't care which faction they found. If the gang didn't see some action pronto then it was all going to fall apart on him. Before long the Desert Fox call-sign on the short-wave radio indicated that Kevin had found them a target - and sure enough the dust-cloud on the horizon told the tale of a convoy making it's way through the area south of Badlands that had become known as the Lonesome Highway. Arranging his cars into battle order, Saul ordered the attack - and as they swung into action he noted the insignia of The Pressurizers on the cargo vehicles - a thuggish group of Anarchist traders, known for bullying and using violence to get better prices and trade concessions. No-one would miss these guys. Saul quickly called for an artillery barrage, with Napalm on the road to slow any response from the convoy escorts - allowing more time for the heavy gunners to do their work. Soon the heavy thud of mortars and napalm guns rung out across the wastes and the trader convoy started losing rubber and even taking some significant hits to top and bottom armour - where cars were often weakest. Within minutes the convoy escort was retaliating - but the pounding from the HDA artillery was keeping them confused and panicky, resulting in less than one shot in ten finding a target. Kevin had followed orders to the letter, keeping his scout car well clear of the battle and heading into terrain likely to deter even the most eager of pursuers. "So far so good." muttered Saul as the sound of heavy gatling gun and car cannon fire joined the artillery. As the gangers smoothly executed the same maneuvers they had practiced a hundred times in partnership with the Blood Roses, enemy damage mounted rapidly and enemy vehicles started to quit the battle, their demoralised crew bailing out and running for cover. Still, something was not right and Saul struggled with his mirrors to try to spot the problem. "Fireship 2!" he barked into the radio. "Watch your targets!" He had noticed the shooting from one of the napalm guns on Fireship 2 was unpredictable and had crept closer to the line of combat Buzzers engaging the enemy. His warning came to late however as several things happened at once. A stray shot from the Napalm car landed smack-dab on the roof of Dreadnought 3, leaving Saul to watch in horror as the car ignited. That was the last shot from that weapon and while the other gun kept firing, the driving of the vehicle became erratic - Saul could see some sort of struggle taking place inside the car. The crew of Dreadnought 3 meanwhile had engaged the emergency brake - and covered by their colleagues in DN 1 & 2 were running to get clear of the now blazing Buzzer. Saul noticed that the trader convoy was desperately trying to escape and again took to the radio. "All cars Cease Fire! I say again, Cease Fire! Artillery vehicles move off slowly - DN 2 engage e-brake and get out the fire control gear. We're not losing a Buzzer today." Saul parked up his own buzzer, Dreadnought 1, and instead of aiding the fire control efforts he ran to the slowing Fireship 2 to find out what had gone on. The view which greeted him on arrival was truly bizarre - most of the Buzzer's crewed were barely managing to hang onto the final member - Gabriel 'Soylent' Green - who was single-handedly fighting them and almost winning. With Saul's help they finally restrained him using an old shock harness and bundled him out of the car, where he lay on the road spitting and shouting. "I'll take you all - one at a time or all together - come on you cowards!" he ranted. William 'Jesus' Crist, the driver of FS 2 turned to Saul. "He's out of his face on something, Boss - probably Zerk by the look of it. When your radio call came through we had just noticed him mashing the weapon controls wildly and starting to drool." Saul shook his head - this was all he needed - drug use among road gangs was not uncommon and in many cases of mild habits could be safely ignored - but Zerk was not such a case. Zerk was a pycho-active drug that would cause insane courage in a user, driving them beserk and finally leading to wild paranoia. Looking up, he saw the buzzer fire had been extinguished with some significant engine damage, but no serious effect on the vehicles weapons or chassis - and thankfully before the flames had reached the ammo lock-boxes. Time to see what they could salvage from the trader convoy to make this nightmare pay off - or at least break even. "Okay, shift the spare ammo in Fireship 2 onto his seat and stick him in the cargo area. Let's get ready to head home." ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Jul 24, 2015, 3:40 pm Last edited Jul 24, 2015, 3:44 pm by DirkNotSoGently

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 By the time the HDA vehicles rolled back into Badlands Truckstop, along with a pitiful amount of salvage from the trader convoy, Gabriel 'Soylent' Green had passed out in the cargo compartment of Fireship 2. Coming down from a Zerk high could cause an almighty crash and usually left the user weak as a kitten for hours after. The gang had never needed any sort of holding cell or similar before, so he was lugged into the make-shift infirmary - still bound like feast-day roast in the shock harness. "Let him sleep it off." Saul told the disgusted gangers as they placed him - none to gently - on a bed. "I need to talk to Ruth about this before deciding what to do." In his cubby, Saul had a more powerful radio set - capable of communicating all the way north to Somerset, but without the option of scrambling that was possible on the car to car radio sets. That meant that only code names could be used and generalities discussed safely. He would also normally only try this sort of communication at night when the sun's radiation would not be so harsh - making this call all the more difficult. Powering the set and selecting the gang frequency, Saul keyed the mike. "Steady man to Spanners. Steady man to Spanners. Can you read me?" Pausing for 15 seconds, Saul keyed the mike again. "Steady man to Spanners. Steady man to Spanners. Come in please." This time a faint response could be heard above the static created. "Steady man, this is Rapid-Fire. Repeat this is Rapid-Fire, receiving you. Over." Saul smiled as he heard Margaret's voice. "Roger Rapid-fire. I need to talk to Spanners - is she available? Over." "Wait one Steady man. She is incoming. Over." came the reply, indicating that Margaret had already sent someone to fetch Ruth from whatever she was doing. "Roger Rapid-fire. Will hold on the channel. Over." A couple of minutes passed in silence, with Saul using the time to work out how to approach the subject. "Spanners to Steady man, still there? Over." came the reply shortly. "Roger Spanners, still on the channel. Sorry to contact you out of pattern, but we've got an urgent issue down here. I reckoned the crew were up to a little solo action and despite it going fairly well we had a friend suffer from a voluntary disablement. Normally we'd deal, but he endangered other friends in the process. He's currently sleeping it off, but I need advice here. Over." There was a pause as Ruth considered the information. "If this is an issue with Zerk use, we've had something similar recently. Tell your hazardous friend the same thing I said up here - get clean or get out. If they make the right choice I'm sure our Jumping friend can make delivery to the drying rack - maybe picking up Red Sands on the way. She has already chosen. Over." Saul nodded, keying the mike again. "Understood Spanners. Thanks for the advice, I'll ask our friend the question and let you know during one of our regular schedule calls. Over" "Roger Steady man. Nice talking to you as always but I gotta dash - SCL event coming up. Over and out." "Out." replied Saul before shutting down the radio set again. he would wait till Gabriel had slept off the Zerk and have a serious talk. Re-hab in Elmsfield was expensive and the trip there from Badlands long and dangerous, but if Ruth said he was to get the option then so be it. Saul could only hope he made the right choice - losing his skills would be a hard blow for the HDA. ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Jul 24, 2015, 4:15 pm

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 'Jolting' John Chesney prepared his car with mixed feelings about the journey ahead. While the run through the badlands towards Gateway Truck-stop was always a challenge, it was one he relished as a test of his skills - and a chance to hone them further. He also had high hopes for the success of the little toy he had requested for his car. Since this run was to be a taxi affair, he would have a fair bit of space free - so he had asked the town mechs to install a Flaming Oil Jet he spotted in the gang lockup. The oil jet would spray patches of thick, slippery oil and tar onto the road behind the fast moving Voyager, igniting it with a small burner flame as it did so. While the actual effect of a car hitting one of these patches was quite considerable, wrecking tyres and damaging the underside of vehicles, the psychological effects could be far more worthwhile. Most drivers would go out of their way to avoid a burning pool of oil on the road ahead, and their wild maneuvering would make avoiding combat much simpler. If placed in tight quarters the oil would either destroy tyres through multiple contacts or cause an enemy to swerve wildly enough to crash into his friends or into surrounding scenery. The skill was in making use of the tool correctly. So much for the fun part - here came the down-side in the form of a gloomy Gabriel 'Soylent' Green, walking across the lot with a knapsack containing everything he would need for what might be an extended stay in rehab. The word around the barracks room was that Saul had gone through him rougher than a fricasseed swamp-rat, largely shocking those who had 'accidentally' over-heard with the strength of language used. Before that conversation there had been a surprise foot-locker inspection, with Saul checking for evidence of any others using the dangerous 'Zerk', so not only was Gabe out of favour with his boss - but with all his other bunk-mates as well. While none of them were Zerk users, nobody liked having their personal effects pawed through in front of all his mates - and one or two minor embarrassments had resulted. If that wasn't enough to hack him off, he was already long enough from his last fix that he was starting to feel it - and Saul had made damn sure that there was nothing even remotely like 'chemical consolation' in his knapsack before allowing him to leave. By the time they reached the rehab center in Elmsfield, several more days would have passed - by all reports Gabriel was only a light user, but even so he would be twitchy and irritable for a large part of the journey. Saul's foresight and discretion was evident once again, as he had provided an additional water canteen with a discrete mark on it. This one was laced with a mild soporific and was to be used sparingly when Gabe was at his worst. Getting him to drink it should be no problem, as cotton-mouth was a common a side effect of Zerk withdrawal. So, despite his foreboding, John welcomed Gabe with a smile and helped him get his gear stowed before doing a last vehicle check - "Here we go then." he muttered before opening the driver door and sliding behind the wheel himself. ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Jul 27, 2015, 12:10 pm

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 Gabriel wasn't sure quite what he had expected from rehab, but it hadn't been this. Images of hospital wards, painful detox and suffering had briefly crossed his mind on the journey north from the Badlands - but not wind-surfing! As his board skimmed lightly in the breeze across the surface of one of the many crystal clear lakes around Elmsfield, he saw a few others from his therapy group doing likewise and gave a cheery wave. As well as medication to reduce his cravings and anxiety, the rehab also included individual sessions with a therapist about the reasons for his abuse and group sessions sharing experiences of use. He thought that many of the other patients had more serious addictions than his - but maybe to substances with less risk of damage to those around him than the psychotic 'Zerk'. Another part of the treatment involved channeling his feelings and urges into positive activities rather than destructive - some patients had chosen art or literature, but that wasn't for him - sports, however were much more his thing. When his body was physically active - whether he was playing basketball in the yard or out here on the cool, quiet lake - the urge for a fix faded almost completely and he found a peace inside himself that he had never known before anywhere in this scorched world. It didn't hurt that Elmsfield was also a very secure-feeling town. The town had been settled for so long that the countryside had been purged of most danger - combined with the fact that the town itself was protected by water on all sides and was largely self-sufficient in the necessities of life, this meant Elmsfield was somewhere a person could relax more than anywhere else in Evan. From where he was now, he could see a few optimistic fisherman in places where the banks overhung the lake, providing the dusky spots many fish preferred - and on the bank nearest the town some there were even some people just casually strolling and chatting with no concern of attack from either raiders or mutated wildlife. Those thoughts made Gabe compare Elmsfield with life at the Badlands Truck-stop, where he had been born to and raised by a female gang member until her death under the claws of a giant mutated insect. Shuddering, he nearly lost control of the board - and did lose his calm mental state, glancing anxiously around before deciding to finish up for the day and look for Doctor Hibbert, a jovial fellow assigned as his therapy specialist. ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Aug 13, 2015, 2:20 pm

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 Having sat through a final passing-out lecture about not being 'cured' of his addiction - simply 'recovering', Gabriel climbed into the Voyager waiting in the courtyard of the rehab center. Frankly he could have done without the speech as his nerves where already stretched tighter than the skin on a racing slick at the thought of returning to the outside world, but he guessed these were points they stressed on saying goodbye to all of their patients. He had received word a few days ago that rather than returning to Badlands, he would lay-over in Somerset - cross-training his skills there for a while before finally being assigned a permanent billet. The news was not surprising and hadn't fooled him one bit - this was so they could keep an eye on the unreliable types. Any relaxation he had felt at staying in the north-lands a while longer was greatly outweighed by the knowledge that there had been a loss of trust - and the worry that he could still be expelled from the gang if he screwed up again. As the car sped south across the bridge out of turn and hooked left to follow the road west to Somerset, the fields giving way to the wide and dangerous expanse of rock & sand between the towns, Gabe glanced behind and sighed - no-one had promised this would be easy. ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Aug 13, 2015, 2:22 pm

DirkNotSoGently Holistic Detective Agency Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 261 Joined: Nov 11, 2011 In the depth of the night, Gabe lay alone on his bunk. "I can't do it. I just can't do it." he muttered to himself over & over. The adjacent bunks were empty now, their occupants gradually relocating when Gabriel's night terrors had kept them awake and since word had got around no-one new wanted the places. This meant there was nobody to see and hear his tormented tossing and mumbling. Gabe had re-integrated with the gang gently, spending his time in the workshop and on the gun ranges for the first two weeks, aware that he was never left alone for long - always a senior gang member would have some pretext to be within sight or hearing, giving him plenty of space and trying to be unobtrusive, but always watching. Tomorrow he was scheduled for his first foray outside the city walls as part of an escort detail for a cargo convoy. They were taking fuel and ammunition to a newly joined camp west of Somerset, as well as escorting a combat vehicle and crew to assist the camp garrison. His skill with ballistic weapons had 'won' him a place in the napalm car for the escort duty - a position usually more secure than crewing one of the combat vehicles, unless the squad were ambushed in which case being located in a slower vehicle with little ability to defend itself could be a death sentence. He spent the night tormenting himself with images of the day to come - remembering always  that there were far worse things than dying under the guns of raiders. Escaping into the wilderness from a vehicle too badly damaged to escape would leave you alone with only hand-weapons to fend off the mutated horrors of the wastes. Or there was always capture by slavers, who would force you to enter the Firelight arena to fight against captured creatures over and over for the chance to win your freedom in a town hundreds of miles from home. Tossing and turning all night, he dozed fitfully and when dawn broke over the town he felt no more rested than he had at lights-out the night before. In the light of day he felt better able to face the challenge - but decided he wanted better coffee than the bunk-house slop and made his way across to Dexter's. In the early morning light the town was  still coming awake, the street almost empty except for a few fellow early risers. Regardless of the early hour, Dexter's was open of course - getting ready for the breakfast shift - and the coffee was already brewed. Gratefully accepting the rough cardboard cup of steaming hot wakefulness, Gabe turned for the exit - and only then did he see the small figure seated at a booth in the shadowy corner. While he could not make out details of the person's face, he recognised the behaviour. Staying firmly in the shadow, the figure was constantly aware of the room and paying attention to everything going on. With another glance around, Gabe approached the figure, sliding into the opposite seat and lowering his voice in an act that had been almost instinctual not so very long ago. "Can you hook me up?" he asked quietly - his eyes darting to the entryway to make sure none of the HDA came in. "The figure leaned forward and for the first time he could see more detail. Beneath a flak jacket and hood was a smallish woman, of fairly early years. A curl of mousey brown hair poked from under the hood and across one eye and her face bore enough scars to tell the story of another child of Evan who had seen too much pain already in her life. "What's you poison?" she asked, her gaze never leaving the face of the nervous ganger. Gabe hesitated for a moment before saying "Zerk. Just one hit. Just to get me through." The pusher leaned back into the shadow to hide her smile, knowing full well how addictive the drug was - both physically and psychologically. Here was a new steady customer if she could make sure he got good and hooked. "Tell you what." she said "It's a rough world out there and a little courage boost never hurts, so I'm gonna do you a deal - two-for-one, just this time." Saying that she slid two small packets of the drug across the table, watching them quickly pocketed as the payment was made. "Nice doing business." she said by way of dismissal, as she once again moved back into her obscurity. As Gabe crossed the street to the now awakening bunk-house, cooling coffee in hand, he fought hard against the feeling that everyone knew exactly what he had in his pocket. ......................... vet wv deathrce1 pvp5 pvp1 pvp2 circuit3 circuit2 Posted Aug 13, 2015, 3:15 pm

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