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Requiem for a Driver, the tale of Brandi Burks

4saken The 4saken Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 2,282 Joined: Jan 1, 2008 No one paid much attention to the beat up red Phoenix pulling into town. The chassis had clearly taken some abuse but the patchwork of mid-grade armor was fairly new, and it was clear this was a car barely repaired from salvage except for the fresh 4.0 sticking out through the hood. No weapons. A poor man's runner. Somehow it had made it through the badlands. Brandi Burks had made it all the way from Somerset in this thing. It had seemed a ridiculous assignment at the time and now that she had arrived she knew for sure that it was. She asked a few questions around town, checked up on prices and availabilities, and dutifully wrote these in the journal she had been assigned. Then rather than brood in the bar or attract any unwanted attention she got one to go and sat in her car and drank. Gone was the bubbly eager girl of a few weeks ago. She had wanted "in", and this is what she got. A fool's errand. Some cruel initiation. But she would show them. But first, she would have to make it back. It would be rough going. It occured to Brandi that her chances were slim, that she was in real danger. The bandits here were many, and their cars were better equipped, as she had noted in her journal. The only thing between her and death was a 4.0, her wits, and her resolve. She had beaten death getting here and after she slept off her buzz it was going to be time to do it again. She had made it here in one piece, and she damn well knew when she made it back to Somerset alive a few people were going to lose some bets. [ more to come. this part of the story actually happens in the badlands, but the story ends here in gateway. i am posting it in its entirety here. i'll break it up into postable sized chunks. ] ......................... vet combatL1 wv1,0,0 Posted Feb 12, 2008, 1:32 pm

4saken The 4saken Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 2,282 Joined: Jan 1, 2008 Not far out of the gates and a few upstarts were after her. Three to one odds, old news. They fired a few shots but this was not a new game to her anymore. She tightened her grip on the wheel and had the Phoenix up to 138 before she let off. Her pursuers were long gone. Miles and hours later the fatigue was starting to set in, but there was no time to rest or stop, except for a brief journal entry. She was heading up on an odd spot in the road, where it seemingly ended in a ravine. As she pulled up closer she was about to stop the car and have a look when they sprang. A quick assessment showed no fewer than 5, and the color flushed from her face when she saw that three of those were fast movers, two Phoenixes and one even faster, a Vampire. Unlike her car these had weapons. Clutch out and car moving she looked frantically for an out. The terrain was too rough ahead, and she had no time or speed with which to turn into them. They would be close enough fire soon, the five of them. She was trapped. She had no choice but to head to the edge of the penninsula that was once a road, but there were still no outs and she did not yet have the speed to hope to turn into them. The drop was almost vertical, and here she could see pools of an univiting liquid seething below. Rather than turn and be killed outright, she opted to extend her life by a few adventurous seconds. Like some mythic siren, she went over the grade into the ravine, hoping to lure a few with her to their deaths if they were foolish enough to follow. She felt the ground come out from under the car as she headed over. 'This was a bad idea', she thought for a moment. But during the few seconds of freefall as the car plummetted straight down into the ravine she knew this was the way to go. If you're going to do it, do it in style. She just wished the guys at home could see her now. She withheld the instinct to call out a triumphant holler, somehow aware in the back of her brain that if she survived the impact she might bite off her tongue. She clenched her jaw tight and braced. The tranquilness of the freefall was rudely interrupted, inevitably, by a sudden --- ......................... vet combatL1 wv1,0,0 Posted Feb 12, 2008, 1:40 pm

4saken The 4saken Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 2,282 Joined: Jan 1, 2008 Jolt. By fate or skill the nose of the car dug in and the back went down and not over the top. She struggled frantically to control the wheel. Now all she had to do was get up the other side. From up top it had looked like about 45 degrees, something barely possible to accomplish with enough speed. From here it looked like a cliff wall. She took it. The car crashed into it rather than climbed it at first but she didn't let that stop her. She rode it up as far as it would go, to within a car-length of the crest, until inevitable physics took over. The last of her speed used, the car started to slip to the side. A rock next to her exploded into a pile of debris as the first car rifle round barely missed her. And there were more, many more. She turned the wheel and gathered momentum down, turning back into them. It was shallower of an angle that way, and she could see that some of them were indeed foolish enough to have followed her. They wanted blood. But the Earth herself wanted its own share of blood it seemed, and the terrain extracted a heavy price. One of their cars was smoking already and several of them had fared worse than her fighting the rocks on their way down. She went right into them. She dodged most of the enemy fire but many of their weapons found their mark. It was only a matter of time. By the time she passed through them she had almost no armor left except for the front. The driver door was gone, and her blood was spattered on the inside of the windscreen. The 4.0 was smoking, and she was unsure how much of her current speed was just left over momentum. It was a painful few seconds longer than she would have liked but the car finally made it over the crest. A quick glance over her bloody left shoulder and she could see paired car rifles facing her down, barely 30 meters away. She turned what was left of the rear of the car in that direction and laid her foot down. The blood was rushing through her so fast, drowning out everything else, that she didn't even know if they fired a shot at her. In her mind everything was starting to run together in a chaotic ball of twisted steel, blood, adrenaline and gunshots. A few seconds later, realizing she wasn't dead yet and had been forgetting, she took 3 quick breaths, then glanced behind her. The steep terrain had broken just enough line of sight for her to get some distance and the sputtering 4.0 was building some small amount of speed. She was alive. For now. ......................... vet combatL1 wv1,0,0 Posted Feb 12, 2008, 2:30 pm

4saken The 4saken Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 2,282 Joined: Jan 1, 2008 With some distance the pain of her wounds became a dull throb. She had smeared the blood off the windscreen enough to drive, but it was time to find a safe place to pull over and assess the car and herself. She pulled off more or less at random and drove until she found a low spot and tended to her wounds. The car would live and she would too if she could find a doctor before too long. She was unsure what to do. She was past the point of no return, so it was closer to Gateway from here. So many dangers on the way, though. With the car crippled she would be lucky to outrun anything and she doubted the armor would survive even one hit from enemy weapons. Waiting was no option either. The auroras here were a deep frightening blue, and she only had enough food and water for a couple days. Then what? And if she died out here who would tell her tale? Did she drive her way into and out of a ravine against impossible odds only to die of exposure hiding in the wilderness in fear? She grabbed the journal off the passenger seat and started writing. The story of the fight. Her feelings. A list of unfinished business, regrets, wishes. Her last will and testament. If she died it would probably end up in the hands of pirates, but there was some chance at least that one of them might know her story, her trials. Maybe it would make its way back to town, one day, a posthumous story of adventure and perserverance. Or maybe she would get to tell the tale herself. She set her resolve and wrote the words "To Be Continued" and the end of her last entry. Against all odds, she was determined to make it. A few last minute patches to the car and she was off. If she was to die, it would be with her boots on, behind the wheel. Hours passed on the road. She took every nook and cranny she could, staying off the main path and staying hidden. Every mile was a labor, but every mile drew her closer. She started to recognize the terrain around Gateway. She was getting close. Coming around a corner the walls of the town loomed into sight. She gave it some gas, only slowing when she was almost upon it. Thats when she noticed the dust behind her. She could barely make out what it was. A Symphony was deadly at this point. She hit the gas and noticed with horror a second car in front, closing in, probably a Desert Flame. The gate to the town was so close she could see people in the towers. They could surely see her. There was a shallow hill between her and the oncoming car. And she used it for what cover she could get, but the car was between her and the gate. She pressed the gas to the floor and the engine belatedly responded. Cresting the hill she managed to avoid being rammed and passed the car on the right before he could draw a bead. She was close enough to make eye contact with the driver as they passed. He looked like something from a nightmare, out for nothing more than blood revenge against anyone from town he could find. She could hear his car tyres protest as he skidded the car around for a shot. A few heartbeats more passed and she pushed what was left of the engine to get her around the next hill, hoping to break his line of sight. She cast a glance behind, said a quick prayer, then looked up helplessly at one of the wall guards. You can't fight fate forever. The first round ripped through the car like old newspaper, the second hit the back of the drivers seat with the force of a sledgehammer, passing through it and her easily and splattering her guts all over the inside of the car, just like that. High up on the wall the guard could do nothing but watch the grim spectacle as the pirate pulled away, its goal accomplished. Another driver killed, this time right in front of him. Another life, washed away. 'Like tears in rain,' he thought, quoting an old movie. The car finally rolled to a stop below, the driver hanging through the ruined windshield like a rag doll. He looked for motion, some hint of life, but the only movement was from a book of some sort thrown up on the hood, its bloody pages flapping in the howling, remorseless winds. "Like tears... in rain." ......................... vet combatL1 wv1,0,0 Posted Feb 12, 2008, 9:41 pm

4saken The 4saken Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 2,282 Joined: Jan 1, 2008 OOC: sadly, it ends like anyone who has ben through this part of town with a driver fresh out dexters knows it has to end. i have screencaps. btw, the terrain was so bad one of the cars was demoralized trying to chase me. i think their engine was destroyed. the events of brandi's combat are not terribly embellished. in fact i kept the story as short as i possibly could. the real story of the combat was much more hopelessly, frenetic and desperate than i described. and the final combat at least as remorseless. BANG. Combat ending in 30 seconds. the fulitly of the whole thing really struck me, all that work, that heroism, just to have a car rifle strike you center of mass in the back, end of story. this combat haunted me the rest of the day at work, and i knew i had no choice but to tell the story. "All these moments will be lost, like tears in rain." i'll never look at my characters the same way again. reply if you want to. if you want to stay in character fine, if not, fine. the journal will show up in dexters, because thats where my gang is located. we'll be having services. no more unmarked graves. ......................... vet combatL1 wv1,0,0 Posted Feb 12, 2008, 9:51 pm

Serephe Collision Force Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 3,496 Joined: Dec 9, 2007 OOC. Wow. That was an amazing story. I look forward to reading more of them in the future. ......................... vet wv paintladder ww0,3,0 Posted Feb 12, 2008, 10:12 pm

4saken The 4saken Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 2,282 Joined: Jan 1, 2008 OOC: i should write it up "for real" some time. it took so much out of me just to do that, though. ......................... vet combatL1 wv1,0,0 Posted Feb 12, 2008, 10:25 pm

Monty Black Rock Racer Renegade Group: Members Posts: 215 Joined: Jan 6, 2008 It is very good written and very touching story. Keep the great work. It is real pleasure to read it... ......................... vet northernsummer wv Posted Feb 12, 2008, 10:34 pm

*JD_Basher* Gearjammers Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Marshals + Storytellers Posts: 2,728 Joined: Feb 11, 2007 Charles "Otto" Baughn of the Gearjammers backed the Apache nicknamed "Gatecrasher" out of the armored Gates of Gateway. He backed up to the front of the hulk where it came to rest with the lifeless body spread on the hood, half in, half out of the cars smashed windscreen. If there were any pirates around, they didn't show themselves. This Apache was armed to the teeth and ready to dispense the kind of justice deserved for a killing so needless of a fellow Trade runner. Shirley Muldowney got out, inspected the terrain for dust clouds and connected the tow chain to the shot up chassis. The driver door had been shot off so Shirley had easy access to the frail looking dead female inside. Moving her was easy.... She didnt even weigh 100 lbs. "Why would they waste such a young girl to the wastes of Darkwind?" Shirley thought as she eased the body into the passenger seat and covered the pale face with a Jacket embazoned with the words "4Sakens Hellions" on the back. Shirley thought to herself as she sat in the now empty drivers seat. "You don't just get a Gang Jacket GIVEN to you!... She must have meant something to them." Shirley whistled a high shrill pitch and waved out the shredded chasm where once a door had been. A single index finger to the sky turning circles.. "Lets GO Otto!" The chain tightened slowly and gave a tug as both cars moved toward the 'safety' of the town gates. "This poor girl" Shirley thought, "I'll make sure the Gearjammers give ya a proper burial in your car My Dear" "Step on it Otto!" Shirley screamed to no one in particular... "We have a funeral to attend!" Otto couldn't hear her. ......................... vet marshal wv cont Posted Feb 12, 2008, 10:38 pm

*JD_Basher* Gearjammers Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Marshals + Storytellers Posts: 2,728 Joined: Feb 11, 2007 The hole was big enough for the Phoenix to just fit snugly at the bottom of the 12 foot deep pit. The carefully shrouded body of Brandi Burks sat in the drivers seat. The door had been replaced, and holes repaired. A new HMG barrel shone through the gleaming grille of the now clean Phoenix. Shirley Muldowney had INSISTED on Brandi having a gun in the afterlife. "For when she meets them Bastards that done that to her" "I'll see to it they get a proper introduction!" They knew from the look in Shirleys' green eyes, She meant every word... And no one disagreed with Shirley when she looked like that! The headstone was as wide as the burial pit. The biggest in the cemetary. It read, "Brandi Burks, A 4Sakens Hellions Scout, A TRUE Hellion at heart!" "For those unknown, will be known forever more. All these moments will be Lost Like Tears in the Rain." The surprisingly large gathering had dispersed save for a lone person. Shirley looked up from the fresh mound of dirt to a darkening sky. It hadn't rained in more than 8 months. The rain fell on Shirleys up-turned tear stained face as she held the book with the last words of Brandi Burks. ......................... vet marshal wv cont Posted Feb 12, 2008, 11:07 pm Last edited Feb 13, 2008, 7:51 am by JD_Basher

4saken The 4saken Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 2,282 Joined: Jan 1, 2008 Herman Pelletier had watched whole thing. When he heard the other Phoenix had arrived he ran up to the gates only to see the mangled car being brought in. As a member of 4saken's Hellions it fell upon him to go through the pieces. The blood-soaked journal haunted him. He was a newbie himself, without even a jacket. Across the lot from the bar was a another battered Pheonix, just like the one he had seen brought in. He was lucky, he had only been tasked with watching the market in Gateway. He was present at the funeral. It touched him how much the people here cared for the fallen stranger, someone they only knew from a journal entry. Standing in the ranks with the others, he arrived at a decision. The next day he went to Mezcal's. "Chuck, I need you to hold the fort." "Hmm?" Chuck Norris, yes, Chuck Norris, poor bastard, looked up from his crossword puzzle. He was in the same boat. The gang leader had said they were too green to scout, so they stayed parked in the bar, with a few grand in spending money in case a gatling showed up or someone worth hiring at Mezcals. "Hold onto these, they're just copies." Herman tossed a satchel to him. He had a logbook, covered in dried blood, in his other had, and this he kept. "This... this is going home." "Hold the fort? How do I hold the fort?" "Same as you have been, Chuck. Same as you have been. I'll be back in a week, if I make it." Chuck sat at the bar table looking through the copies, wondering what the hell Herman was talking about, when he heard the 4.0 fire up outside. He ran to the door to call out. "Herman! You can't! He told us to stay!!" Too late, Herman was out the gate, for better or for worse. ......................... vet combatL1 wv1,0,0 Posted Feb 13, 2008, 5:59 pm

*sam* The Salthill Sluggerz Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Lead Developer Posts: 16,780 Joined: Jan 19, 2006 OOC: Very nice piece of writing. Look out for it in a future Gazette edition (thanks for agreeing to that 4saken)  ......................... marshal vet deathrce1 paintladder combat1 wv ped1 cont slay2013 Posted Feb 19, 2008, 1:51 pm Last edited Feb 19, 2008, 1:51 pm by *sam*

*JD_Basher* Gearjammers Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Marshals + Storytellers Posts: 2,728 Joined: Feb 11, 2007 OOC: Make sure you get the rest of the story in Dexters forum. ie: "No more unmarked Graves" ......................... vet marshal wv cont Posted Feb 21, 2008, 2:56 am Last edited Feb 21, 2008, 2:58 am by JD_Basher

4saken The 4saken Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 2,282 Joined: Jan 1, 2008 OOC : i could really just go on indefinately. i figured out how to host and thumbnail! the setup: yes, thats the setup. i'm facing into what never even had a bridge, 5 cars behind me, i have no weapons. "event starts in 1 minute" and remember when i said the hill looked like a cliff? trying to make it up the other side: sorry no pics of me sliding back down. here's 3 of me running the gauntlet of cars on the way back. combat aftermath: but it's not over: the inevitable conclusion: sorry it took me so long to get around to these, had to learn how to do a bunch of stuff. ......................... vet combatL1 wv1,0,0 Posted Mar 2, 2008, 3:58 am Last edited Mar 2, 2008, 4:02 am by 4saken

Serephe Collision Force Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 3,496 Joined: Dec 9, 2007 Hmm... your poor driver... you did remember to tell them that they could drive their car through that little puddle there right? ......................... vet wv paintladder ww0,3,0 Posted Mar 2, 2008, 5:33 am

4saken The 4saken Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 2,282 Joined: Jan 1, 2008 to be honest i had no idea what the yellow stuff is or what would happen if i drove through it, but yes, looking at the screencaps i can see someone else drove through it. i do remember while i was trying to make the hill one of the enemy cars had become demoralized. ......................... vet combatL1 wv1,0,0 Posted Mar 2, 2008, 1:18 pm

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