Friday, July 11, 2008

10 July 2008 Malachi Flattened

Late Spring, TN1919:

Upon returning to Timmins, the caravan was approached by a fellow named John Maddox, who was willing to pay quite well to transport himself and a pallet of "supplies" to a one-Gear town named Malachi Flats.

Though this cramped the Doctor's plans for giving the Granis Cartel a bloody nose following their threats, a mission was planned and executed, with the able assistance of Ben Cantor and others of the former Timmins resistance. In a few minutes, the Granis operation in Timmins was torn out by the root: their collections men dead, gunned down in a hail of gunfire in a saloon, while the offices above a brothel were burned to the ground. All in all, a good night.

The caravan departed Timmins on schedule, and the first part of the continuing journey passed uneventfully. Maddox was a reclusive individual, keeping close to his goods. Too close, really.

Mid-journey, an ambush was detected, and though the caravan suffered some minor damage, the rovers were too poorly equipped to deal with a well-drilled group of hard folk. Quickly driven off, the rovers dropped a message cylinder. A vitriolic earning by the Granis cartel fell on deaf ears; with information from a prisoner captured during the skirmish, the rovers were put out of business...permanently.

Arriving in Malachi Flats, the local folk were discovered to be depressingly uninteresting, if not outright stupid. Maddox refused to leave the truck, and when pressed, revealed that he is carrying medical supplies for a desperate group. The locals claimed never to have heard of him.

1 comments :

Certain Betrayal said...

Message transmitted over Hermes 72 network via remote server to SNS server

Hi Bob,
I got your last message, I know the deadline is coming up, but this story
is expanding in ways I hadn’t expected, and it’s incredible.
At first I went out there because of the rumours of a new Rover gang that
had burned down a small settlement. As you know I got a guide and we found
the remains of Malachite Flats, just some ash and dirt now. Bob, this place
wasn’t just attacked; it was raised to the ground, completely obliterated.
So I started looking for locals, apparently a large number of them were in
town when it befell whatever fate I was there to investigate. My first real
lead was the story of a group of marauding soldiers moving through the
Badlands that the town had got together to fight off, as I collected more
testimony it became clear that this “army” was actually some displaced
nomads that were squatting here for some seasons. I found their old camp
and that raised some more questions, there were a lot of grave there. I
needed my second extension at that point as you will recall, because things
got more confusing. Bob I found a second hand account of someone who had
seen the events. Apparently this mechanic escaped his captors and told my
source about the events of [DATE] The story of the savage and ruthless
rovers in league with the “invading” nomads wasn’t fitting in with the
facts I had. Compelling stuff though: The innocent town folk putting up a
valiant fight against superior numbers from well trained ex soldiers there
to rape and pillage until at last they succumbed to the sheer force of the
assailants. I tell you Bob, it would make a romantic fairy tale and I was
almost sold on it until I tried to track down the mechanic from where the
story originated.

I’ll spare you the details, I found him. He was dead drunk and not so proud
as when he had first escaped from the Immeshen who had condemned him and 3
others to death by the desert (some traditional thing I wager) He was the
only to survive, he came back full of bluster and told the story of the
savage hordes that had sacked Malachite Flats. Somewhat more ragged, tired
and frail with a heavy heart (and, I suspect, more honest) the mechanic
told me another story, one of a town conspiring to mass murder the poor
desert vagrants until this random caravan fall into the web. Frightened
that their deeds will be uncovered, the town folk take the caravanners
hostage to silence them save 5 members. These last few come back to rescue
their party and against the entire town defeat a score of ranchers and the
marshal. They then proceed to execute every one left except the 4 that had
given themselves up. I have watched the account 3 times Bob, the look in
the mechanic’s eyes when he talks about the fearsome Badlander with two
gunshot wounds methodically rooting out every living soul to exact revenge
for the execution of one of their caravan crew, I haven’t seen that look
since the war. They deliver the 4 to the Immeshen for justice and wipe the
earth clean of Malachite Flats as a warning to others.

Bob this is an amazing story, I need more time, I need to exhume bodies of
the Immenshen and do autopsies. I need a forensic team to dig up the town,
this story is too compelling to let go. Get me more time and more money and
I will deliver you an incredible story of malice, suffering and bloody
revenge

Marcus

Marcus Talon
Khayr Ad-Din field reporter
SNS

Reply Message transmitted over Hermes 72 network from SNS server to remote
location via KAD

Hi Marcus,
I read you initial drafts and attached video and audio documentation. I’m
afraid as you editor I am obliged to pull the plug on this story.

Marcus, you’ve lost you way, this isn’t journalism, your last draft,
thought supported by testimony, is obviously more Badlands mythology than
factual events. Get back to KAD and put this all aside as some fiction
project to work on when you haves some time, I need you reporting facts.

Bob

Robert Zwick
Assistant Editor
SNS


 
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