2065
| | Jul/Aug 2065 |
|
Chasity Orth gripped her rocket launcher's handles as Tarantula sped down the slope. Ahead of her, Coyote and Wolf angled slightly to the left, away from the Slavers, to give her and Jose Elson, gunner in Scorpion, better shots on the targets. "Bluebox," she called, and sighted on a powder-blue Box Van on the end of the artillery line. She didn't fire, simply waited as the Recon force closed on its prey. With the Slaver host's full attention focused on the Task Force, the Recon strike had the advantage of surprise. Wait for it... wait for it... A Chomper light SUV, striped in orange and white, suddenly backed out from between two captured lorries, and turned toward the Recon column. Orth swore under her breath and pulled her trigger, sending a rocket flying into the flank of her target, then rotated her launcher's barrel and fired again. And again. Her three rockets rent a hole in the Box Van's flat side and tipped it over, thick black smoke pouring from its wounded flank. Orth snarled and picked another target, a Pickup with a conical artillery-rocket launcher rising from its bed, but before she could fire, the launcher blew out in a ball of red and yellow fury. Its Slaver crew were thrown outward by the force of the blast, turned into smoking ragdolls in an instant. Orth started to pick another target, but 'Devil' in Wolf called "Bandits front!" As Orth turned her launcher forward, she could see her two Phoenixes, guns spraying tracers into a squadron of Slaver muscles. An enemy Voyager faltered, smoke pouring from its shredded front end. Orth hit her radio button. "Right-oh, Squadron, we've got some new playmates. Front half, keep them busy, back half, rip up the artillery." She locked onto an enemy Phoenix and pressed her firing stud. ### Charlie Or'nagh was so happy that the horns jutting from his spine were tingling with anticipation as he watched the Civ left flank fall back in disarray. Not only were the hated Civs being slowly bled dry by his artillery crews, they wouldn't even fire back at him for fear of hitting the trucks full of loot and chattel. Typical soft northerner squeamishness, just like the cross-fondling convoy trucks had surrendered as soon as his comrades had threatened to kill a few of their prisoners from the convoy's escorts. The loads of food and fighting slaves from the convoy were enough to make every man-jack of the expedition quite wealthy once they got back to Firelight, even without the load of good-quality field slaves from their raid on the Civ hamlet. Now, the Civs had thrown even more high-quality loot and slaves into their arms. As chief of the expedition's field artillery, his share would be quite a bit larger than the ordinary fighters', perhaps enough to buy a volcano-side plantation and retire in comfort, surrounded by slaves. He heard the impact of a rocket on metal, far too close for his comfort, and glanced through his Box Van's right-side view slit, to see the blue Box Van on his flank tip over with black smoke pouring from its savaged flank, and a squadron of the damned Civs racing into the artillery line. Without thinking, he swivelled the heavy machine gun on his right door toward the interlopers with one hand while triggering his radio with the other. "Sky-Fire to White Knight, we've got enemy muscles, We need-" A half-inch slug of lead, courtesy of the Raging Scavengers Stormer Bullit, entered his skull just above his right ear and sprayed Or'nagh's brains, along with his thoughts of loot and his panic, all across the inside of his Box Van. ### From the rear end of the strike, Brooke couldn't see much, just the tails of the two Gray Riders Phoenixes. The captured lorries flashed past, like cliff walls, then a handful of destroyed and smoking Box Vans. Before Brooke quite knew what happened, Mellie had driven her and Kestrel into the middle of a raging brawl. A blue Voyager with rows of spikes on its roof came at Kestrel from the left, its guns clawing at the Vampire's flank, bullets landing on armor a few bare inches from Brooke's head. Mellie deftly jinked Kestrel around in an evasive maneuver, then brought the Vampire onto the Voyager's tail. Brooke pulled her triggers, the Voyager's door tore open, and it shuddered to a halt. Mellie turned Kestrel around again to look for more targets, but bullets started chewing at the Vampire's rear armor. Brooke glanced over her shoulder, and saw that the Voyager had turned, pivoting on its rear wheels to bring its guns to bear on Kestrel. As Mellie jinked to the side, the Voyager's rear end blew apart, sending the sedan flipping burn-over-bonnet across the sand. Hawk roared past the smoking wreck, and Tran called over the radio, "Four, you owe me a drink. Now let's kick some ass." Kestrel covering Hawk's back, the two Vampires plunged together into the melee. A Phoenix perished quickly under their fire, and then Brooke had to reload as they passed through to the other side. Ahead, Hawk turned on the remaining artillery vehicles, savaging a Pickup with a bed-mounted mortar. Brooke yanked back her arming lever and fired a long burst at a Mercenary that was beginning to turn on them. The heavily armored sedan, like a blood-red brick with wheels, rocked back under Brooke's fire, then rolled forward and fired a rocket that screamed past Kestrel. Brooke kept up the fire, scoring the Mercenary's flank until Kestrel's forward speed took the sedan out of her field of fire. No problem, she thought with a bit of a manic giggle, while she put her gunsights onto a Slaver Pickup, it's not like there's any shortage of targets. ### Once the left flank had reorganized, with the addition of a section of SUVs from his reserve, and with artillery support had driven the Slavers' right side back in a bloody repulse, Williams glanced at the rear of the Slaver lines, and noted with approval the large cloud of dust and smoke rising from the Slaver artillery positions. He glanced aside at Lieutenant Dolliger, who noted his glance. "The artillery seems to have been neutralized, sir," she said. "But Recon seems to be in quite a brawl." Williams nodded with approval. Dolliger was working out well as a tactical aide, anticipating his questions and handling minor problems with efficiency. As Iron Duke's main gun roared again, he studied what he could see of his right sections, which were maintaining a long-range gun duel with the Slaver left, and mostly intact. "I'll get the right to advance. Send the muscles from our reserve around to join them, break them out if necessary as soon as the right moves up. Get the rest of the reserves to support the right and center." She nodded and worked her radio, and Williams switched to the frequencies he used to coordinate with his right sections. ### From the chatter on the Recon radio channel, Chasity Orth figured it was about time for Recon to take its gains and bug out. They had been lucky so far, judging from the number of Slaver cars destroyed with no loss, but that luck wasn't going to hold for long. The Legion's muscle strategy was centered on hit-and-run, not long, draining dogfights, and the artillery was a line of scorched and maimed hulks along the flanks of the captured lorries. She and Scorpion killed a Chomper with rocket fire, and the two Voyagers roared past the smoking SUV out of the melee. "Recon, time to break off," she called over the radio as Brown spun the Voyager. The roaring battle on Orth's right side and the silent desert on her left switched places as she reloaded. "Break west, over the ridge." "Command to Recon," a female voice called in her radio, overriding the chatter of acknowledgements on the Recon channel. After a moment, Orth placed the voice as Williams' acting tactical aide. "Reinforcements inbound from the north flank, what's your situation?" Orth slammed a rocket home in her loading slot and switched to the command channel. "We're breaking off here. Can you have the reinforcements get on our channel, and meet up with me north-west of us, over the ridge?" "Roger that, Recon," Williams' aide came back. "Good hunting." Orth switched back to the Recon channel as the Recon cars broke from the melee and raced for the ridge, a few leaking smoke from bullet holes. Brown, like a well-trained Legion driver, slowed Tarantula slightly and straightened out so the two Voyagers could keep the others covered. One Slaver Mercenary tried to pursue, spraying tracer fire at the Raging Scavengers. A pair of rockets from the Legion's trailing Voyagers made the sedan turn back toward the convoy, protecting its smoldering flank. Orth glanced up the ridge and smiled. Her people were closer to safety with each passing instant. "Bandits! Band-" called 'Bird' Flock from Scorpion, before his transmission chopped off. Orth looked over her shoulder and saw the Voyager, mangled and streaming thick black smoke, flipping side-over-side like a toy thrown by a child. Brown slammed the accelerator to the floor and tore up the ridge, twisting the screaming Voyager from side to side in evasive maneuvers. "Recon Two down," Orth called, pushing down a stab of grief as she looked around wildly for Scorpion's killer. Something bright white flashed past the rear-right slit, and Tarantula screamed as bullets ripped through armor. White smoke started trickling from the engine compartment, whipping like a banner in the wind. The Voyager heeled wildly to the left, and Chasity Orth glanced to her right to see Brown slumped over the steering wheel, blood pouring from the back of his head. She undid her restraints and slid over, cramming herself uncomfortably into the driver's seat next to Brown's limp body and grabbing at the steering wheel. Another salvo of bullets tore at the Voyager, and the car shuddered and rocked. One went through the rocket supply and turned Tarantula and Chasity Orth into an expanding ball of fire and debris.  Brenda Pilgrim of Lobotomizers died at Lost Trail: Dead River. Kenny Kenny of Bandicoots died at Somerset Arena. Hanna Dark of Nightelves died at Gates of Somerset. Theodore Chalker of Scarzams Dragoons died at Shantyville. Angel `of Death` Carpenter of Scarzams Dragoons died at Shantyville. Gary `Alto` Sing of Blood and Iron died at Gates of Gateway Truckstop. `Big Time` Brandon Holcomb of Blood and Iron died at Gates of Gateway Truckstop. Nora `Nightingale` Moya of Blood and Iron died at Gates of Gateway Truckstop. `Pollo Hermano` Gustavo Frink of Blood and Iron died at Gates of Gateway Truckstop. Richard Jackson of Raging Death died at Road to Somerset. Walter Smalling of MainForcePatrol died at Ring of Death Arena. William `Yella Belly` Belew of The F-Bombs died at Acid Land. Charles Golden of The F-Bombs died at Acid Land. Margaret `Margo` Berry of The F-Bombs died at Acid Land. Marc `The Hoon` Rooney of Blood Roses died at Gates of Somerset. Jason `Boomer` Wiest of Road Rifters died at Forever Yellow Skies. Robert Mills of Maxxed Out died at Double Down Arena. Patrick `Rachetman` Rentas of Blood and Iron died at Gates of Somerset. Gary `Rayburn` Thomas of Frontline Assembly died at Once Upon a Town. Robert `Runner` Hernandez of Frontline Assembly died at Once Upon a Town. `Adamantine` Adam Amato of Blood and Iron died at Gates of Somerset. Johnny `Pink` Lemon of San Jose Baggers died at Scattered Hills: Bridge Out. Arthur Leslie of Paceys Raiders died at Gates of Texan. Blair Andre of Re-Tired Irons died at Once Upon a Town. William Bond of Raging Death died at Once Upon a Town. Jimmy Curtis of Bandicoots died at Gates of Somerset. Marcos `Golden Eye` Ambrose of Flying Froggies died at Once Upon a Town. Luis Allen of Flying Froggies died at Once Upon a Town. Daniel Plumlee of Paceys Raiders died at Gates of Badlands Truckstop. Gary `Gin Grin` Phelps of San Jose Baggers died at Interstate Mythos. Beverly Davis of San Jose Baggers died at Interstate Mythos. Amber `Deep Tread` Royal of San Jose Baggers died at Highway to Hell. Tania `Pistol Whip` White of San Jose Baggers died at Highway to Hell. Charles `The Ripper` Gross of Chrome Religion died at Under a Bloody Red Sky. Jenna Johnson of MADHAT died at Shantyville. Gerald Mangrum of FunkyMonkeys died at Gates of Firelight. Jackie `Jumping Jack` Janssen of Blood and Iron died at Ring of Death Arena. Leroy Jenkins of Bandicoots died at Lonesome Highway. Donald Bowman of No Aiming Just Shooting died at Via Rupta. Erika `ring my` Bell of Maxxed Out died at Blown With the Wind. Angela `Boy Toy` Roy of Bujinkan died at Gates of Somerset. Aretha Humphrey of Raging Death died at Gates of Somerset. Omar Bradley of Raging Death died at Gates of Somerset. Michael Novello of Raging Death died at Gates of Somerset. Pamela `Queen` Regina of Desert Nomads died at Highway to Hell. Chester Herrera of Maxxed Out died at Gates of Somerset. Gilbert `Moose` Fosdick of Rabid died at Under a Bloody Red Sky. Ginger `Snaps` Torres of Rabid died at Under a Bloody Red Sky. Sonny Ray of The Darkside died at Forever Yellow Skies. David `Derek` Miller of Frontline Assembly died at Pathway to Darkness. Lawrence `Screw` Phillips of Frontline Assembly died at Pathway to Darkness. David Nelson of Frontline Assembly died at Pathway to Darkness. Victor `Bullet Dodger` Garcia of Lord of Rockets died at The Maze. `Holeshot` Delicia Jerome of Blue Giants died at Once Upon a Town. Birdie Bird of Garage Boyz died at Gates of Badlands Truckstop. Larry `The Torque` Torkelson of The Tronophiles died at Once Upon a Town. Merrill Sabo of Blue Giants died at Northern Farm Land. Kerry Corral of Blue Giants died at Northern Farm Land. Jeanine Soto of Blue Giants died at Northern Farm Land. `The Bishop` Cleveland Washington of Chrome Religion died at Highway to Hell. Armando Akers of MADHAT died at Road to Somerset. Gretta Toothaker of Raging Death died at Gates of Somerset. Paula `Easy` Richards of Flaming Engines died at Gates of Gateway Truckstop. Brent Marshall of The Wolfhounds died at Highway to Hell. Louis Thomas of The Wolfhounds died at Highway to Hell. Joel `Recovery` Redmon of The Wolfhounds died at Highway to Hell. `Comrade` Dana Sandoval of The Peacekeepers died at Forever Yellow Skies. Teddy Bare of The Darkside died at Scattered Hills: Bridge Out. Daisy `Is a` Dyke of Cestus Dei died at Gates of Gateway Truckstop. Saul Goodman of Blood and Iron died at Gates of Gateway Truckstop. Jose Killen of The Darkside died at Northern Speedway. Rick Johnson of CryptKeepers died at Somerset Dirt Racing Track. Sherryl Clayson of CryptKeepers died at Somerset Dirt Racing Track. Frank `Fallout` Kreider of CryptKeepers died at Somerset Rally Circuit. Emil `Cabrone` Ortiz of CryptKeepers died at Somerset Rally Circuit. Gary `Top Gun Actor` Johnson of The Angel Smurfs died at Somerset`s Junkyard, Race Track 1. `Drooling` Steven Gurule of Krashed and Burnt died at Interstate Mythos. Louis Jolly of Raging Death died at The Pit. `Comrade` Sabrina Tignor of The Peacekeepers died at The Pit. William Hawk of The Ghosts died at Outback of Nowhere. Eva Pike of Raging Death died at Lost Oasis. Jung Bevilacqua of Raging Death died at Gates of Somerset. Herb Mather of Engine died at Gates of Badlands Truckstop. Gaynell Camacho of The Ghosts died at Toxic Wastes. Brett Fogg of The Ghosts died at Toxic Wastes. Richard Price of The Ghosts died at Toxic Wastes. Norma Penny of The F-Bombs died at Double Down Arena. Elmer ` Fudge ` Todd of v.i.n.d.i.c.a.to.r.s. died at Pathway to Darkness. Walker Macleod of Chrome Religion died at Double Down Arena. Michael `Ammo Can` Bartlett of Rabid died at Gates of Somerset. Troy Sauer of Raging Death died at Gates of Somerset. `Little` Raymond Howard of Raging Death died at Gates of Somerset. `Rumbly` James Chumbley of Hitmen Trucking Inc -CTS- died at Outback of Nowhere. Richard `Funky` Trevino of Hitmen Trucking Inc -CTS- died at Outback of Nowhere. James Fallon of FunkyMonkeys died at Ring of Death Arena. Ronald Coffield of Roams Runners died at Somerset`s Junkyard, Race Track 2. Bruce `Barn Door` Schick of Brassicas died at Once Upon a Town. Donald `Kaboom` Santana of Brassicas died at Once Upon a Town. William Johnson of MainForcePatrol died at Road to Gateway Truck Stop. Dwight Eisenhower of Raging Death died at Northern Farm Land. `Jumpin` Jesus Hubbard of God Killers died at Somerset Rally Circuit. Steve Smith of war mongers died at Road to Somerset. Barbara `Rush` Rushing of Flying Froggies died at Maure Dore. Barbra `Piercing` Horner of Flaming Engines died at Somerset Rally Circuit. Corrina `Not Crystal` Desroches of Cranberries died at Gates of Gateway Truckstop. `Dame` Melanie Westbrook of Road Templars died at The Pit. Fernando Sletten of The Ghosts died at Barren Lands. Eileen Terry of The Ghosts died at Barren Lands. Fernando Salgado of The Ghosts died at Barren Lands. George Acevedo of Raging Death died at Gates of Sarsfield. Eddie Blankenship of MADHAT died at Road to Somerset. Carolina Jefferson of MADHAT died at Road to Somerset. Theodore `Pipe Iron` Moore of Blood and Iron died at Outback of Nowhere. Kendall Singleton of MADHAT died at Road to Somerset. Brent Yamada of MADHAT died at Road to Somerset. Clarence `Wreaking` Rikard of The F-Bombs died at Road to Somerset. Harry Feder of Confusion died at Gates of Somerset. Anthony `Tommy Gun` Leak of Project 43 died at Northern Farm Land. Jorge Teeter of The Wolfhounds died at Smokey Hills. Edythe `Traveller` Wilmoth of The Wolfhounds died at Smokey Hills. Gregory Allen of Raging Death died at Once Upon a Town. Joe Cole of Raging Death died at Once Upon a Town. Patrick Taveras of Raging Death died at Once Upon a Town. `The Gimp` Linda Elliott of sunset samurai died at Gates of Gateway Truckstop. Joesph `Jojo` Aubin of PA Racers died at Oil Slick. Patrick `Pisky` Gonzalez of The Ansome Cousin Jacks died at Road to Gateway Truck Stop. Edgar Self of Bandicoots died at Highway to Hell. Erin Padilla of Produce_Vendors died at Scattered Hills: Bridge Out. Elizabeth Schmidt of San Jose Baggers died at Gates of Somerset. Jay Bashir of San Jose Baggers died at Gates of Somerset. Antonio Rasco of Useless Children died at The Pit. Margaret Orellana of Clan Hammer died at Road to Somerset. Allen Anderson of The Wolfhounds died at Road to Somerset. Tori Black of The Darkside died at Somerset Rally Circuit. David Tucker of Nightelves died at Lost Oasis. `Boy Toy` Floy Weaver of SwordStroke Enterprises died at Road to Morgan. Melvin Ayers of Paceys Raiders died at Bombed Luna Road. Ronald Tanner of MADHAT died at Highway to Hell. Maria `Slasher` Vital of Brassicas died at Northern Farm Land. Anthony `Tony` Ames of Scarzams Dragoons died at Gates of Somerset. Michael `Zippy` Lyons of Road Rifters died at Lonesome Highway. Majorie `Judgement Day` Sadowski of Cranberries died at Somerset Arena. 1. The Renigade Angels (Somerset): $345. The most active gang on the deathsport circuit has been Endurance. Their most favoured type of event has been the combat. Out of town, the most busy squads have been: |
 As the year progresses, here are the leaders of the major leagues: Evan Race Ladder - Axis of Weevils In addition, the leaders of the minor leagues are: Somerset Deathrace League - Flaming Engines The relations between Badlands Truckstop and the Anarchists has fallen due to an attack on a large incoming food convoy.  |