- City of Charity
Rolling back to Charity in the damaged Mammoth takes a little longer than the trip up the mountains. Each passing kilometer the team is aware of how far the Skycycle pilot may have gone. In town, Lady Alexandre awaits their report along with the Baron of Charity. As soon as the Baron spots Maxwell he smiles loudly and exclaims, ”Maxy!”The City of Charity is anything but charitable and has become a mockery of its name. It is the newest of the Colorado Baronies, only 76 years old. The mentality of the people here is that life is too short and you are dead a long time, so enjoy life. Unfortunately, this has been taken to the extreme, making this Barony what most people think of as the "Wild West." One or more showdowns, shootouts and backstabbings occur daily, and brawls and robberies occur constantly somewhere in town. Handguns, Vibro-Blades and light weapons, and body armor are all permitted in the city. The city is quickly becoming a haven for drifters, gamblers, saloon bums, outlaws, gunslingers, snake oil salesmen, crooks, and scalawags of all kinds.
The old mercenary gives a smirk and a nod back.
”Little bro.”
Maxwell is surprisingly forthcoming to his brother, who seems unphased by his older sibling’s actions. As the interview wears on, Maxwell reveals as much as he knows.
”We got hired by some smooth talking merc to shadow these fellas and isolate their girlfriend.” He gives Icosa a wink and a little call me hand signal. ”Once she made the appointment with you I, you know, invoked the family name and a few credits to clear out city hall and let the client have at her. Figured they were bounty hunters from back east or something. Doesn’t matter much, Black credits are good credits to me.”
He chuckles, I don’t think they expected much of a fight and got more than they bargained for. As soon as the shooting started my men came back to the gulch. When we got there one of the clients was there, sporting Black Skulls, saying these fine cut throats” Maxwell eyeballs Tex hard as he says the word cut throats, ”Were coming, loaded for bear and revenge, so we dug in to defend ourselves.”
He shrugs, ”We lost, here we are.”
All that seems good enough for the Baron, as if the whole affair was just another day in the neighbourhood. The Baron grins at lady Alexandre, ”I will hold Maxwell and his gang to justice here in the Barony. A fine seems appropriate for their actions.”
Maxwell winces at the thought of parting with his hard earned credits but mostly stands around with a goofy grin on his face as the Baron continues.
”As for your expedition Lady, it seems you have attracted some unwanted attention and drug the Coalition into our town. I hope you will be on your way soon. Whatever they want with you it seems they are quite intent on having it.”
Lady Alexandre looks annoyed but remains calm, she seems resigned to the local politics, despite her distaste for it.
”The Baron has one redeeming point, you have garnered some unwanted attention. I suspect the trail may have gone cold, but we should investigate their last known position before leaving.”
Their earlier data suggested the Coalition might be holed up in the ruins of Denver, but by now they could be long gone, or have immensely prepared for the group.
Maxwell lights up a cigar and pipes up, ”If you need backup my rates are reasonable!”