It’s convenient that you had an observer, a spotter, on the nearby hill to keep an eye on the action. I can’t see from behind his eyes, but from a step to his left this is what went on.
Jute’s gang pressed forward, streaming into the courtyard, through the gap Rex smashed in their gate. Bunko’s down, though his shell toppled Mazy and Pang’s bikes and blew the shit out of the road before Kai popped him.
A pipe bomb came whipping into the courtyard. The gang’s armor mostly handled it (though Higgs or someone is going to be busy pulling a bunch of small shrapnel out of calves and thighs). Jute, though, was deafened and staggered like he was concussed – his shouts were slurred. Fortunately, his group doesn’t look to him for every little action; they raced around the courtyard, snapping off shots to keep Dustwich’s people too scared to expose themselves for a good shot.
Still, things weren’t going much to plan, until Rex fired up his chainsaw and rushed the trade cabin door. Skiff leaped out the manufactory door, screaming and spraying his Uzi right at Rex. His construction sign armor took most of it, but he’s also made a date with an Angel. It was good for Skiff that his clip burned through so fast, because Kai downed him as the Uzi bucked empty, two seconds later.
While Kai kept an eye out for more suicidal fucks, Valentous Rex grabbed up his crowbar and chainsaw, fired it up, and jogged at the cabin door. He gashed a long diagonal scar in those timbers, then kicked it in… to no resistance. The back door swayed a bit, and when he crossed to the back and took a careful lookout, he saw Parcher and Millions belly crawling through a gap in the chain link fence behind the place.
Kai spotted them too, as they crawled into behind a cleft in the hill. She tossed Higgs her rifle and fired up her bike, racing down the hill and around the fence after the two fleeing shopkeeps. She was zero silent, so as her bike burst across the gap she took a nasty hit of buckshot. But her return fire was deadly; Parcher sprawled out, food for the beetles.
She closed in on Millions; the pox faced boy in the shop smock near shitting himself as death drew near. Kai told him that the next time they crossed paths, he’d die… he’d better reconsider his life and pick a smarter path. She made a git out of here gesture, and he got.
The gunfire was all from the gang, ringing around the courtyard, chipping the concrete walls of the manufactory building, keeping them down. The gang circled like sharks, not pausing to make anyone too nice a target. Rex circled from the back door of the log cabin shop to the roll up rear door of the manufactory, backed up by JJ and Kai. It was locked, but that doesn’t stop Rex. He got the door a couple of feet up and wasn’t greeted by gunfire. He stuck his head around the corner, no defenders, but a lot of equipment, parts, bubbling beakers, vats of battery acid, piles of charcoal and a trough of piss and hay. They swept up some valuable looking oddments and noticed a metal lid set in the floor. Rex was careful opening it – and there was no answering spray of gunfire.
Below was a 3’ square concrete shaft six feet deep, then the shaft turned and went horizontal at the bottom. Reluctant to leap into such an obviously deadly kill zone, they called for anyone down there to surrender. They lit off a few pipe bombs to clear out any lingerers, but decided that chasing after Dustwich’s gang down that tunnel wasn’t their thing.
Meanwhile, we saw Rose getting the Ranch ready for the evening’s entertainment. Lamprey was drinking heavily when Rose emerged after prepping chickens for the night’s crowd. She’d arranged for Grum to hold his title against all comers tonight—should be a good crowd draw.
We sketched out and saw a bit more of Rose’s setup. A big basement, with a floor to ceiling cage in the middle. The ground floor is open with railing, so you can watch the cage fights from the drinking floor. There’s some bleachers down in the basement against the walls for crowds to get up close to the entertainment.
A little before dark five people from Warlord Krin’s holdfast rolled in, marked by lime green patches, paint, and sleeves. Since it was a 20 mile or so run, Rose made small talk; they were here for the fight, nothing more. They did say that Grum had been one of theirs; he fucked someone he shouldn’t have and got tossed out by Krin, but no hard feelings.
Rex, JJ, and Kai all rolled up to The Ranch that evening. JJ was hot from the adrenaline of the afternoon, purring and rubbing herself over Rex while he was at the bar. She bragged proudly that every bit of Rex was big to everyone who got within arms reach of her.
Kai went in the back door and wiped off the blood and sweat of the afternoon in Rose’s bathroom. She decided to strip down and go on a spirit walk, but it didn’t go well. Her ancestors were there, but stayed smoky and drifted away as she approached them. Rose caught Kai’s body wandering in her rooms, naked, but didn’t take advantage of the situation. She brought Kai back and covered her up before anyone barged in.
In the main room of the Ranch, Lamprey was being an annoying shit. He tried to move on Rose, but she was having zero. She pulled a wicked sharp scissor blade, held it to his throat, and told him to clear the fuck out. He cleared.
