Cerberus

[darthauthor]

Location:
Cerberus HQ

The Rift Shifts to a Phantasmal Dimension.

Magic excudes out of the Rift.

Human looking "people" step out and wonder around gawking at the everything and the Dog Boys.

Meanwhile

Location:
The Mining Town

Sir Wyatt asks around town about the last sighting of the Necromancer.
He thoroughly searches the town and looks for foot prints and his scent.
He asks the other Dog Boys in town for help.

Together they lock in on it right away.
Sir Wyatt begins stalking the Necromancer.

The longer Wyatt follows the tracks and scent the easier it is for him to follow.
It has not been so long that Wyatt forgot the scent of the dead Atlanteans Defenders.

He does not catch up to him until after it gets dark.

That's when Wyatt can smell the fire and magic.
Then chicken soup.

He comes about his camp sight.

A flaming skull rest between a couple of stones
Next to it rest a cast iron dutch oven with the smell of chicken soup coming from it.
Wyatt licked his lips and began to salivate.
He had forgotten to eat and is hungry; thirsty too.
The brown robbed Necromancer looked up from the fire and Sir Wyatt could feel his eyes on him.

"Good Evening," Wyatt shouted. "Join you by your fire?"

Wyatt slowly walk over after signalling with his flashlight.

In the camp, Wyatt could see the traps and carefully walked around them.
He notices the seven zombies and the neatly arranged 11 corpses of the Atlantean Tattooed Defenders.

Sitting down on the other side of the fire Wyatt's eyes moved back and forth between the flamming skull and the hooded Necromancer. Wyatt could imagine the assortment of bone necklaces around his neck made him acutely aware over everything going on around him.
Turning his head he could see the zombies were on guard duty.

"Thank you," Wyatt said. "Allowing me to share your fire. It's good hospitality. I didn't think my trip through or I'd have brought food and gear."

The Necromancer moved slowly, scooped a tin cup full of soup and it down before Wyatt.

"Much obliged," said Wyatt. It looked like murky water but smelled delicious without a wiff of poison.

Wyatt thought to himself:
The codes
Respect (and fear) magic.
Respect and honor a worthy opponent.
Treat others like you'd like to be treated. Show cowboys and
travelers kindness and hospitality unless they ain't worthy of
kindness or mercy.
It's a cowboy 's sacred obligation to show hospitality to
visiting cowboys, including sharing food and information.

His Sixth Sense did not go off.

Wyatt set the tin cup down.
"I came here to have a TALK with you. It's about the Tree. The ghost tree or whatever it is real name for what the being is that makes deals. I have bad feeling the Tree wants me to fail to fulfill my end of a deal. I'm afraid about what happens to someone if they don't. More personally, I am guessing the Tree made a deal with both of us. Only something bad would happen to one of us who didn't keep the deal with the Tree. Sort of pits us against each other. Kind of forces a competition so whatever we do one of us losses. The Tree wins whichever way it goes.
In my haste, I never asked you what was in it for you for helping out with the Tattooed Defenders whose corpses you got all lined up over there all neat like.
I have to admit. You pulled your weight on that fight. IF you need or want some sort of reward; I don't begrudge you the corpses. Likewise, your business, with the Tree, is yours. I ought to warn you though, I suspect the Tree pits people against each other.
For me, the deal was for me to deliver all you died from the fight. The last one I killed I took back to the Tree. That's where that one went. After I delivered the one the Tree I had to work out another deal to deliver 11 dead bodies, even if they are not the ones who died in the fight. So that is that.
Now, IF you don't mind my asking, what do you have to deliver to the Tree to clear you of your deal? I'm assuming you have a deal.

The Necromancer sat in silence.

"Perhaps, I can ask a question. Got any corpses I could use?"
The Necromancer made no noise but his body shook like he had laughed.
"Perhaps a trade or sale?"
Looking around at the zombies Wyatt reflected on them and stared at their mask covered faces.
"My master taught me a few things about magic. One of them was the sort of recipe for creating a zombie. She told me the customary invocation has to kill a guy or have a fresh corpse. I recognized that old guy. He died of a heart problem. We didn't have an artifical one or a surgeon to put it in. That was like a month ago. You did the funeral. I know it wasn't the day of the full moon. I guess you worked something out with the Tree.
I knew about the rumors of people making deals with you for services and good. Fixed that one guys bad eyesight with a necklace of bird skulls. Get what you need today for body parts after they die; even sometimes their whole corpse. I also heard what else the rumors said the your customers said. My body, my choice. As long as you didn't have anything to do with their dying, I'll respect their choices."

Picking up the tin cup Wyatt held it near his face. Then he looked at the soup and turned his eyes to the Necromancer's.

"First necromancer I met was in Mexico. Vampire hunter. Real respectable and respected amongst his peer and villagers. Opened my mind about a lot of things. The lesson learned, the magic of necromancy is not Evil. Magic is not Evil. The use of anything . . . magic . . . a gun . . . for Evil . . . that's Evil.
"I'm a Dog Boy. I am Cyber-Knight. Helping people . . . saving them from Evil . . . even destorying that Evil . . . that's what I do.
"Over the years I adopted a lot of codes. Code of the Cyber-Knights. Code of the New West. Code of the Cowboy. Sharing your fire . . . your food. Makes you my host. I can not do harm to you or allow others; this night. Just so all my cards are on the table . . . face up.
"IF you want me to leave. I will. And I won't follow you. Truth of it is . . . I didn't know what I was going to do if and when I caught up to you. A year or so as a law Dog and I find myself chasing mysterious and the answers to question I got stuck between my teeth.
"About the Tree, be careful, it wouldn't surprise me if the Tree pitted someone against you like the Tree did with me."

With that Wyatt drank the chicken soup.
It was DELICIOUS!
He could feel the warm and vitality pour into his body. It was a meal in itself. Sweet. Tasty. Filling.

"Reminds me of Mexico."

[darthauthor]

Location:
Somewhere in the wilderness.

It caught me off guard how the Necromancer ask me to stay.
Well, he didn't word it exactly like that. Something about safer to leave by the light of day.
Now here it is.
I couldn't sleep at all last night.
I'm convinced.
The Tree put someone up to stop or stealing from him.
Why help the Necromancer?
How does that saying go?
The enemy of my enemy.
It feels more like the Tree wants me to make deals with it and fail
The Tree wins no matter who loses.
But what if the ones the Tree makes a deal with all win.
The Tree is NOT excited about that. Doesn't like that at all. I can FEEL it.
The Necromancer, he didn't believe he was doing anything wrong by taking the Atlantean corpses.
He helped me when I needed it. I am returning the favor.
Wyatt, be honest with yourself, he didn't help you, he helped himself. And he got what he wanted.
I'm against the Tree. IF the Necromancer does not keep his deal with the Tree the Tree wins. And I don't want the Tree to win.


The zombies didn't need to sleep or even a break to take a leak.
Smart enough for basic guard duty.

After the sun came up the Necromancer was ordering them to put the palanquin back together (with his direction).
Then they packed the bodies on it.
Loading up we began our march.
The direction we were headed, the Tree.

I took point and forged a path anyone trying to track us couldn't follow, one that twisted and turned through the thickest parts of the forest and swept up behind us to leave no trail.

We set up camp again for the night.
We had gotten lucky in a few spare moments and caught some game.
The Necromancer could cook.
Living alone I guess it was a skill one had to know and eventually anyone would get good at.
Best skinner I have ever seen too.

That's when I felt a presence.
Someone with magic.

Emerging from the darkness of the night the wild looking woman looked at the necromancer as one who knows him.
They embrace.
Looking at me and I take a hike.

The next moring I return.
I can sense magic at work.
The both emerge from a cloud of steam.
I turn around wait for them to get dress.
They actually look and smell clean.
I can't even smell them on each other anymore.
The communicate with each other in whipsers.
It's kind of cute.
I guess love really is blind.
After making breakfast the Necromancer takes off one of his necklaces of bones and puts it around her neck. A gift. Then he hands her some leather clothes he's made for her. Also some fresh animal hides.
I guess spending all your time out here alone anyone who pays attention to you is a welcome.
What with the breakfast, clothes, furs, and jewelry he must look like a rich man to her.
While he's happiest necromancer I've ever seen.

[darthauthor]

Sir Wyatt’s Sixth Sense kicks in.
“We are not alone,” Sir Wyatt said. “I can sense them. They are all around us and incoming. Supernatural.”
Sir Wyatt prepares his energy rifle when done he creates a Psi-Shield over his left arm.
The Necromancer argues with his Fire-Water Elemental Fusionist woman..
“I can’t see them,” says Wyatt. “But I can hear and smell them. They know, we know, they are there.”
The Necromancer picks up the flaming skull and disappears.
The light goes out.
It is pitch black.
The sound of spilled water fills the air.
Instantly, the Fire-Water Fusionist is ablaze in a coat of fire lighting up the scene.
Revealed are the four Shadow Beasts surrounding the camp; North, East, South, and West.
The Fire surprises the Shadow Beasts.
Sir Wyatt, “Unloads blasts of energy on the one nearest him.”
From out of thin air blasts of fire shoot into the back of a Shadow Beast lighting him on fire.
A burst of Blinding light goes off like a flair blinding the Shadow Beast nearest the Fire-Water Fusionist.
One of the Shadow Beasts strikes the Fire Water Fusionists magical fire armor.
One Strikes Sir Wyatt’s Psi-Shield.
Ablaze, a Shadow Beast spins to see what’s burning him and is burned some more.
Striking out of nowhere a magic net entangles the flaming Shadow Beast.
The Fusionist strikes the Shadow Beast burning him.
The Necromancer lets loose fire from his flaming skull on the Shadow Beast who struck his girlfriend.
Sir Wyatt finishes off his Shadow Beast with his energy rifle.
Then turns on the flaming Shadow Beast.
Together the three finish off the one.
Then form a circle facing outwards.
“One’s still on the loose,” said Sir Wyatt. “The one you blinded. He will heal in no time.”
“I can hear him,” said the Necromancer.
“I can smell him,” said Sir Wyatt. Then created a Psi-Sword and motioned in the direction of the Shadow Beast.
“Wait,” said Sir Wyatt. “I can feel him running away.”
The Necromancer blasts a bolt of fire from his flaming skull hitting the Shadow Beast in the Magic Net.
The Fusionist burns him alive.
“NO!” shouts Sir Wyatt. “Let me kill him quickly. Let him die fighting.”
“It’s over,” said the Necromancer.
Sir Wyatt, "I was put together to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”
“Even if they are monsters?”
“ . . . Yes,” said Sir Wyatt. “But NOT if they are bent on harming the innocent. IF it was a vampire it would not bother me.
“It was a Shadow Beast,” said the Necromancer.
“Killing a helpless opponent is . . . I could have given him a good death, fighting on his own two feet.”
“They attacked us,” said the Necromancer as he looked at his woman.
Sir Wyatt, “I agree. You were defending yourself and your mate.” stomping out some dried grass that’s catching fire. “And, it was the heat of battle.”
Wyatt stops, looks up and into the eyes of the Necromancer.
“I respect that your ways are your own, even if I can’t follow them”
“Those Shadow Beasts didn’t respect you, only your power to kill them.”
“You're probably right,” admitted Sir Wyatt. “I’d probably lose my head too if I had a mate with child.”
“WHAT?” said the Necromancer.
“Bay-window, Wearing the bustle wrong,” said Sir Wyatt. “You know. A bun in the oven."

The shocked Necromancer runs to his mate and embraces her.

Sir Wyatt leaves to hunt the Shadow Beast following his scent.

[darthauthor]

Location:
Outside the Necromaner's Camp

Sir Wyatt runs in the dark.
His Dog Boy ability to sense supernatural beings stretches around him in all directions for hundreds of feet.
Wyatt can feel him. Wyatt can smell him with his nose.
Closing in Sir Wyatt uses his inner strength to fuel his psychic sensitive power of "Sense Evil"
Sir Wyatt knows he's within 100 feet.
He knows the direction. He knows the range.
He knows his enemy. The Shadow Beast has no shadow here to hide in. He is one with the darkness.
But he cannot hide his scent; NOT from Sir Wyatt.
Closing within 40 feet Wyatt's instincts begin to overcome him and he prowls.
His keen vision makes out the terrain by the light of the moon and stars.
Sir Wyatt can't see much but he can hear and smell everything.
His natural ability to sense supernatural beings tells him he his prey is before him.
His psionic power of "Sense Evil" gives him the certainty he's within 15 feet of the Shadow Beast.
There is no breeze.
He can hear the crickets.
Sir Wyatt cannot see the Shadow Beast in the darkness but he can 'see' the beast's "scent image," hear the small sounds it makes, psychicallly senses the beasts supernatual presence, and is psionically attuned to it as the only one here that is supernatually evil.
The beast is nine feet tall and several hundred pounds.
Wyatt can feel the beasts foot prints in the Earth.
Prowling upon his prey Wyatt prepared to pounce.

Then he stops.
Turning on his psychic power of Empathy he can feel his opponent is unalert.

Wyatt taps the Shadow Beast on its shoulder before he creates his two Psi-Swords.
The light from them illuminates the area like two Light-sabers would in the darkness.
He can hear the startled Shadow Beast reaction and scrabbling to spin and look back at Wyatt.
On all fours the Shadow Beast is in a defensive position.
He surprised and afraid.
"Because?" asked Sir Wyatt.
"Helpless . . . BAD.
"No backstab.
"Fight fair.
"Now FIGHT!"
By the light of the two Psi-Swords Sir Wyatt motioned for the Shadow Beast to come at him and fight him.
Sir Wyatt can feel the beast's terror, he's held at bay (will not attack, shuffles around confused and frightened) for 15 seconds. Keeps looking around and sniffing the air. Sir Wyatt can feel the beast's eye on him sizing him up.
"Well, I don't have all night," said Sir Wyatt.
Wyatt thought
"Tree?"
Wyatt is prepared for the attack.
His Psi-Sword sever the Shadow Beast right forearm.
The beast howls strikes with its left.
Wyatt easily makes the parry.
Sir Wyatt attacks.
His good right arm and plunges his Psi-Sword deeply through the Shadow Beast's head (natural 20).
The beast appeared to have slipped and mis-stepped into the Psi-Sword (natural 1)
While the Psi-Sword in his hand cuts off the beast's left claw.
Just to be certain, Sir Wyatt, cuts off the Beast's head and cuts out it what he thinks to be its heart and legs.
Vivi-section-ist.
Then starts a fire and BURN baby BURN.
When he's certain, Sir Wyatt walks back to the Necromancer's camp.
They are gone but the zombies and dead bodies are still present.
Wyatt thinks to himself: He wouldn't leave his bones, I mean, corpses behind. He's left or been taken.

[darthauthor]

Location:
Wilderness

SIr Wyatt catches the scent of the Necromancer and tracks him down.
Sir Wyatt, "Why'd you take off?"
The answer becomes obvious.
The woman.
Sir Wyatt immediately begins tracking the woman.
Together they catch up to her.
Sir Wyatt can smell that she is possessed.
He pins her down.
The Necromancer performs an exorcism on the woman and frees her.
Sir Wyatt escorts them back to their zombie entourage.

Sir Wyatt says, "I have to get back to my Dog Boys for the Vernal Equinox but you are welcome to join me."

SIr Wyatt takes off for Cerberus HQ at the Atlantean stone pyramid.

Checking in he is briefed:

The Dog Boys are stretched thin.
They have Boys at the other two ley lines and the mining town.

Ley Line 1:

7%: At 7 PM A Pulsing Rift opens with energy every few seconds (much like a human heartbeat).
Duration : 6 minutes. World Links: In addition to the primary
The Great Machine. The Dog Boys have seen this before. No surprise. The 6 minutes passes.

6%
At 8 PM a Misting Rift Opens. The dimensional portal opens to reveal nothing but white mist and clouds. One can also enter the Astral Plane with their physical body by walking through the portal.
However, once the Rift closes, those in physical form can not find their way back to the physical plane unless they can find or create another Rift to home. Likewise, those whose physical body is inside the Astral Plane can NOT see into the physical world, for they are now an inhabitant of the Astral realm. Duration: 11 minutes.
The Dog Boys take turns with rope tied to them to take a peak and come back.
See a few ghost beings but that's it. Duration elaspses; no harm.

11%
Between 10 to 11 AM. Sickly from the very first, the Rift seems very weak. It immediately starts to gradually shrink in size. Duration:
60 seconds. World Links: 1
Elemental plane of fire.
The Dog Boys fight fire and put it out.

4%
Between 4 to 5 PM This dimensional portal appears only slightly taller than most humans. It persists and is stable. Duration: 4 minutes. World Links: One link to another world. Dimensional Link
Stability: Every minute there is a 01-20% chance that the link will shift
to another world.
Air dimension. Let's in some air. No problems.

Ley line 2

20% Rift opens. 8 AM: Exploding Rift
Dog Boys Sixth sense and fast running speed enables them to escape

06% Rift opens 1 PM: Misting Rift
They see the astral plane

05% Rift Opens 3 PM: Pulsing Rift
The Garbage Pit
Bad smells but not bad happenings.

Atlantean Stone Pyramid

AM
7: roll 72
8: roll 26
9: roll 79
10 AM : roll 15 Rift Opens
Swelling Rift. As soon as it comes into existence this dimensional portal seems to start swelling, growing and expanding. However, it gets no stronger as it expands outwards, and instead, just gets
more and more faded and weak. Eventually, as if it just spread itself too
thin, it will pop like a soap bubble. Anything, or anyone lying in its
path, before it dissolves, will be sucked up into another world. Duration: 4 minutes of expansion. World Links: There will be just one primary world link.
Asgard
Rift Closes before there is any trouble.

PM
2 PM: roll 05 Rift Opens: Yucatan: No trouble. The Rift closes without conflict.
3 PM: roll 11 Rift Opens: Elemental Plane of Fire. The pyramid get hot but the Rift closes.
4 PM: roll 20 Rift Opens:
Shadow Beasts come out. The Dog Boys turn up the lights and open fire. Half the beasts fall; the other half run.
One of the Dog Boys dives in to finish a couple off.
Comes back dragging a carcass of a slain Shadow Beast as a war trophy.

5 PM: roll 08 Rift Opens
Empire of Humanity: A pack of K-9s. They and the Dog Boys feel like they are looking into a carnival mirror of each other. Once they get talking:
Their world survived the catacylsm and from the ashes “The Empire of Humanity” rose up. The government sounds a lot like the Coalition, with a militantly pro-human/anti-mutant stance, mutant dog soldier, and being one of the more technological advanced civilization still around. Unlike the Coalition, however, the Empire has been much less successful in their campaigns.
The K-9 are weary and wounded.
Sir Wyatt provides medical care with his paramedic skills and protein tubes and such.
The Dog Boys share food and fresh water with them. They scarf it down and pack the rest.
Share S.D.C. bullets and guns which the unwounded hurriedly bring back to their side and test.
The Dog Boys related to the propoganda of willing to die for their human “master” but feel differently about it now that they have been on their own for so long. They feel no need for a human Master, just a PACK Dog Boy or human. The Dog Boys of Cerberus now care more then ever about how they and their Dog Boy brothers and sisters are treated. Where in the Empire of Humanity the K-9s are expect to serve and obey no matter how they are treated.
The Rift begins to show signs of closing but the wounded K-9s drag their feet about getting back and the Rift closes before they pass through it. This strands the wounded K-9s on Rifts Earth amongst the Dog Boys.

6 PM Pulsating Rift. The most stable of the random Rifts, it
pulses with energy every few seconds (much like a human heartbeat).
Duration : 9 minutes.
Rift opens to a world that looks like a giant parks and school playground. Kids like the Dog Boys and want to play with them. Climb on top wanting to go for piggy back rides. No adults are around and no ones Sixth Sense goes off.
Before the Rift closes one of the kids was playing hide and go seek and remains on the Rifts Earth side.

7 PM The moment the Rift appears it seems to be completely out of control, snaking and writhing in all directions, with chunks of landscape, objects and creatures being exchanged with their counterparts in other worlds continuously. It will be obvious that it can not last, but while it exists it will explosively expand outward, at a Spd. of 30, overtaking and swallowing anyone in the way. Duration: 17 seconds.
Dimensional Link Stability: No changes in the few seconds of this Rifts' existence

The resulting explosion collaspes the stone pyramid in on itself. Destroying the Cerberus Headquarters.
The Rift that opened from the Winter Solstice and stayed OPEN shifting between dimesions is now gone.
The power of the Ley Line is no loose and operatates without restriction.

The Dog Boys dig through the rubble and salvage everything they can.
Fortunately, the Dog Boys drills, Sixth Senes, Speed made it so they all got out without fatality or much injury.

[darthauthor]

Location:
The Remains of the Atlantean Stone Pyramid.

Fortunately, most of the Dog Boys were EVERYWHERE else:
The two other distant Ley Lines, the Mining Town, and transporting to and from Silvereno.

Sir Wyatt and his squad dig through the rubble and salvage what remains of their equipment, food, supplies, and such.
In the process, they find a broken robot and a humanoid dressed like a cross between a scientist and a doctor.
He is unconscious but alive and stable.
Best guesses are that he got sucked in by the Rift and before he had any idea of what was going on the place went boom!

Sir Wyatt provide the best medical care he can muster with his supplies and paramedic skill.
When he awakens, his facial expresions and eye movement reflect a super genius level of intellect.
He smells of Psychic power.
He can hear fine but does not appeart to understand the language.
He has a mind block up constantly shielding him from empathy and such.
If he can feel fear he hides it well.
He appears to administer his medicine to himself and makes a complete recovery.
He takes in his surroundings and tries something like an alien looking radio that does not work.
Tinkering with it he is only able to pick up the radio chatter of the returning Dog Boys from the other ley line.
The good news, no one was injured or died.
The bad news is they lost their HQ.
Back to boiling water to drink.

[darthauthor]

Location:
The barracks of the Dog Boys.
Sir Wyatt:
"Okay Dog Boys, the hover truck has taken our supplies to the Mining Town.
"We have to hike from here.
"The Hover Truck has a limited charge so we can't use it to take us back and forth like we did before.
"We will carry what we can and come back for the rest."

Together the Boys march until two hours before sunset.
They set up camp and their Northern Gun Tents.
The Boys gathter fire wood and start a fire.
Then they start boiling water to refill their canteens.
Next they prepare their supper from the food they took with them.
The stranger eats out of hunger.
He has the look of one who is accustom to refinement and finer things. He is definately roughing it.

[darthauthor]

Location:
The wilderness between the Mining Town and the destroyed Atlantean Stone Pyramid


The Gene Splicer in silent meditation with his mind block up:
I am marooned on this world without my advanced technology, my spaceship, without body armor or energy weapons or robots.
Inventory: have my advanced intellect and education. The limited scientific and medical equipment on me that is still working.
I am at least three times smarter as anyone around me. I have my psychic powers. I have a handful of gadgets that let me study the environment around me but won’t protect or provide for me.
I am driven by curiosity.
I have a superiority complex.
I consider myself genetically perfect.
I am evolutions Apex.
All other lifeforms are inferior to me.
All differences are super-ficial and environmentally specific.
What do I do now?
Hypotheis: Control everyone around me to ensure my survival and because I know better.
I don’t need anyone but I could save myself years and a lot of work IF instead of doing the work myself I worked others. Others are beneath me to communicate with but my psychic powers will only take me so far.
I NEED water and food and shelter.
The Dog Boys are a primitive attempt as genetic engineering when an intelligent life form on this planet attempted to practice the science in its infancy.
I could wipe them all out with a virus but what would be the point?
They bring me food and water; set up a tent for me.
They make no hostile threats or harm me.
In fact, the opposite. Their mere presence deters others from attacking or making threats.
While their language is primitive as they do not possess telepathy.
They can’t read and have no computer or robot technology.
They do have energy weapons and an appetite for hunting.
They actually remind me of my dog Tri-clops. He was a good boy.
I'll never see him again . . . I suspect I have not tried to escape or harm these Dog Boys because they remind me of my three headed dog and home. Their unit name is even Cerberus (a 3 headed dog).
I am still collecting information about my circumstances and environment but I don’t appear to have any way to return to my home or people or bring a ship to me.
I still don’t know what world I am on and if there is a means of return to be found or made using the resources available to me.
The reality is that I am stuck here for the rest of my life (a 1,000 years?).
Until and unless those facts change or I come into new information changes things (like the way that Rift swallowed me). I must engineer the events around me to ensure my survival and prosperity.
The beings around me will have to do, for now.
Using my psychic powers I can undermine their wills and get them to ultimately do what I want.
So far I have used my psychic powers to conceal them and my thoughts.
I know they know I am doing this. Which means they know I'm psychic or my non-native nature makes me naturally resistant.
Now what are my immediate needs? Water, shelter, food, protection
I have all of these, for now.
The primitive Dog Boys creatures have provided them.
How long they continue to provide me with what I need remains to be determined.
I must control them with my psychic powers. Or become completely self-sufficient. Or come by new servants. I can grow some with the right materials to work with . . . it would take months even years without the equipment in my lab . . . which is in another dimension.
I’m actually getting a little angry.
I have to think about these mundane problems of how to get clean water.
IF I dominate these Dog Boy beings it will exhaust me. I’d much rather have robots. Except I have none here and let’s face it, from the look of their technology this world does not have any.
This canine pack has survived and their methods are strength in numbers. This appears to be the pattern here.
While I am a sociopath. I am good at working for my own survival because I am reward-driven and can judge who is a good investment of my time.
I am certainly a better judge of who would be a valuable investment of my effort then these lesser beings.
I will analyze my problems and overcome them as science dictates, with data and rationality.
As an Ultra-functional sociopath I am superior at executing my efforts than these neurotypical beings.
Though it is beneath me, personally, it is required to attain my short term goals to create an artificial persona with good interpersonal skills and a magnetic personality that brings others to serve me.
I must be calculating and patient when working to get the situation right for me.
Now that I have collected sufficient data, my main goals are to win or con others.

The next night . . .

Everyone Sixth Sense goes off.

The Dog Boys and Sir Wyatt are ready.

That's when the Dog Boys can smell them.

Suddenly a Shadow Beast is trapped inside a Telekinetic Force Field Bubble.
The Dog Boys start to see the rest of them using their Infra-red/therma optics.
They open fire on them.

The incognito Gene Splicer creates a Psychic Body Field around himself.
Then studies the Shadow Beast while it attempts to break out of the globe force field surrounding it.
Sir Wyatt and the rest of the Dog Boys notice.
They also notice that the Shadow Beasts are trying to draw them away from the cold silent humaniod.
Another Shadow Beast breaks off and goes for the silent man.
The Shadow Beast strikes the man force field repeatedly while he gazes at the creature by the light of the fire.
Sir Wyatt creates his Psi-Sword and Psi-Shield while moving up to the Shadow Beast in a clearly protective manner with regard to the "Silent Man."
The Shadow Beast tackle the silent man.
Sir Wyatt knock the Shadow Beast on it's side with his shield but it does not budge.
Suddenly, Sir Wyatt, the Shadow Beast and the silent man are surrounded by a telekinetic force field globe.
Other Shadow Beasts gang up on the force field pounding it.
The Dog Boy destroy one with their energy weapon fire.
The silent man creates a Psi-Sword that pours out light.
The Shadow Beast wrestle with Sir Wyatt in the confined space.
Then the beast stops moving.
The silent man's Psi-Sword begins to radiate a pure white light that makes all the Shadow Beasts squint.
The Psi-Sword (while radiating pure white light) slices through the Shadow Beast inflicting double damage.
So close to the Shadow Beast Sir Wyatt can see a Psi-Sword of brilliant white light does twice as much damage to this Shadow Beast.
Sir Wyatt concentraites and makes his Psi-Sword radiate pure white light.
As the dead Shadow Beasts body falls to the side SIr Wyatt exchanges glances with the silent man.
Then the Force Field Bubble goes away.
Sir Wyatt rapidly strikes with his blade.
Between the Dog Boys, Sir Wyatt, and the silent man the Shadow Beasts are effortless dispatched.
The party spends the rest of the night awake with their back to the fire.

Sir Wyatt ponders how he never heard of the Psi-Sword form of pure light doing extra damage to supernatural being that take damge from light based attacks. Either the Cyber-Knight order does not know this or they forgot to teach us it.
Few Cyber-Knights opt for a pure white Psi-weapon. I guess they never used it against a Shadow Beast or if they did they did not notice the double damage it did.

[darthauthor]

Location:
The Mining Town dubbed "Octavia" in lue of their mayor.

The Dog Boys have returned from Silvereno with a hover vehicle and supplies.

Every body has a sit down and talks to each other.

The Silent Man to attract the right kind of people for him and scare off the wrong sort.
Meditates A LOT!
Goes to Octavia's classes.
After seeing Octavia's hovering tech orb the Silent Man appears to have found a voice of the machine.
He is able to communicate through the Ai of the orb.

The gist of his message, " . . . have treated me . . . one of you . . . . body . . . health . . . you . . . community . . . "

It turns out the Silent Man was a medical Doctor all along.
A D-Bee from another planet and / or dimension.

Sir Wyatt sees how the town reacts to him and he with them.
He rare emotion is impatience
His common one is curiousity.
Inbetween he's modestly contemptuous.
He's a perfectionist.
It would be intolerable except his medical skills are beyond impressive.
The Silent Man is an incredible Psychic Healer.
He both detected and cured a tumor in a man's brain.
He can practice medicine on D-Bees and humans alike.
He appears to be able to remedy any disease or disorder.
He also has some other "things" I have only ever heard about; maybe nano-tech or bio-tech. Whatever it is, he appears to be to able to concoct or breed or grow "stuff" and fixes one thing or another. The town's health is incredibly good right now. Bald man is growing hair. Town's drunk has a new liver; his skin's got 5 shades better looking health-wise. Even the dogs and horses are healthier.
He's collected every insect in town and in the fields.
Assorted every thing that grows in 1 square mile.
Next, like the piped piper he's summoned, without magic, insects to his insect farm. No telling what he does with them. People say he makes them into food or animal feed. Some think he's breeding them.
He's pulled apart the crop seeds and is putting them back together into something new.
Can't quite get the name for it science wise the floating bot came out with something like "Gene-Corn."
Beans and Squash too. Sounds impossible. Some corn that is safe from bugs, diseases, and rot; can grow in a drought.
Between the bot putting out rays or something and some sound wave thing the crops are growing so fast i'd say it was magic if my Dog Boys nose could not smell it. So no MAGIC.
People are excited.
Except, a thrid to half the town is now dependent upon "The Doc" and has to keep seeing him sometime between tomorrow to next week. The crop seed only he knows how to make is taking over the farmland. Everyone is so afraid of being late or worried about "what IF" something happens to him. He's suddenly become the most important person in town.

Even I have been following his instructions on how to practice making my Psi-Sword different colors then PURE WHITE. Things that never occurred to me, counter intuitive, never would have believed or expected the things he's shown me and the results I am getting. He MUST be a MIND MELTER of the HIGHEST ORDER. A Mind Melter who teaches Psychics how to be Mind Melters.

[darthauthor]

Location:
In the wilderness.
Somewhere between the Mining Town of Octavia and the rubble that was once Cerberus HQ.

A third of the town's people have stopped everything and gone with "The Silent Man" on a trip to the Ley Line.
They are afraid of "The Silent Man" not returning.
So the 80 or so humanoids are hiking along with him.
The Silent Man being a Mind Melter is more fit than most expect him to be.
Lightning fast reflexes.
Probably five times as strong as the average man.
Twice as smart too and seldom tires.
He can see in the dark.
Use both hands and feet equally well.
Seems like he is aware of everything that goes on around him.

Between everyone around and staying in motion nothing happens during the day.

My Sixth Sense kicks in and I warn people to prepare for a threat.

Suddenly, I find out something strange. I can see in the dark, with out optic systems.
When monsters come around I defend myself.
My Psi-Sword now does more damage.
When the rest of the pack tries to take a bite out of the people, a Telekinetic Force Fields appears around them with a thought. My thought.
It's instinct.
When did I get this power?
It must be the Tree!
The Tree must have wanted me to stop these monsters. So it gave me this power withut telling me.

The night passes quickly.

With the coming daylight are nerves settle down.
It is slow going but we press on to make the most of the light of day we have remaining.



Common behaviors Sir Wyatt does accoring to the Code of the New West & Etiquette of the Cowboy:

• Treat others like you'd like to be treated.

• Keep your sworn word of honor, "because sometimes all a man's got."

• Kill only in self-defense and in justice. The latter can include acts of
revenge, "eye for an eye," protecting others, using deadly force against
those known to be killers, etc. The only exceptions to this rule are vampires
or other "hellspawn demons." The only good vampire or demon is a dead one.

• Show hospitality to guests, including sharing food and information.

Sir Wyatt (Meaning “Brave in war”)
Alignment: Scrupulous
German Shepherd: Loves to help/work with humans; friendly, and loyal.

I.Q.:15
M.E.:16 (+1)
M.A.:22 (inspire trust 70%; 75% w law/mili.; 90% with CS Dog Boys)
P.S.:23 (+8 to damage)
P.P.:21 (+3)
P.E.:30 (Supernatural Endurance*Mutation Abnormality)
P.B.:12
Spd: 31

Height: Five feet, 10 inches (1.78 m).
Weight: 260 lbs.

Special Abilities:
1. Sense Psychic and Magic Energy:
Sense whenever a psionic ability is used within the range of sensitivity. If the energy is being expended longer than one round, the Dog Boy can trace it to the source with relative ease.
Base Skill: 80% (roll once every melee round). Reduce by half when multiple
sources are scattered throughout the sensing range.
Range: 800 feet (244 m). Roll every 1,000 feet (305 m) Failure means the scent is lost. When powers are not in use his range is 90 feet (27 m). I.S.P. Cost: None

2. Recognize Psychic Scent:
42% to recognize the general psychic scent of a particular race of mortal monster, animal (familiar) or D-Bee.
24% to recognize a specific individual; +10% bonus if the mutant has a bit of hair, skin, blood, or an article of recently worn clothing (4 hours or less) and +10% if it is somebody or something the Dog Boy has encountered in the past and knows well. Bonuses are accumulative.
Range: 90 feet (27 m). Duration: Automatic and constant.

3. Sense Supernatural Beings:
Base Skill: 78% ID type: demons, dragons, shadow beasts, vampires, etc.

Sense the location of invisible wizards or creatures of magic.
Detect whether a mortal is possessed by a supernatural being.
75% when a being is not using magic or psionics.
94% when a supernatural being is using psionics or magic or dragon.
Range: 900 feet (270 m) and 1,900 feet (579 m) when magic is in use.
Automatic and constant. I.S.P. : None

Common scents:
94% to recognize and accurately ID known smells, including gas, food, animals, and the path used by a group of humans, mutant animals, D-Bees or monsters, as well as other strong odors. Range: 900 ft (270 m).

Identify odors:
70% to ID the scent of specific individuals, poisons or drugs mixed into food or drink, unique and unusual scents.
Must be familiar with the target subject or have a piece of clothing, hair, blood, etc. Range: 225 feet (69 m).

Can sniff his way through total darkness if there is a scent (like fresh air, the trail in, etc.) that can be followed, character suffers only half (-5) penalties for total darkness.

4. Psionic Powers:
See the Invisible (4; 9 minutes)
Sense Evil (2; 18 minutes)
Sense Magic (3; 18 minutes)
Sixth Sense (2)
*Empathy (4; 18 minutes)
*Using Empathy for Lie Detection:
Questioning someone while using Empathy will reveal genuine feelings, for example, a person who authentically feels joy at the death of their boss or spouse. Likewise, fear is not always guilt but can be caused by a powerful player intimidating an NPC.

5. Cyber-Knight Abilities:
Psi-Sword (0; indefinite)
Psi-Shield (15)
Meditation (0)
Cyber-knight Zen Combat 9th level
NOTE: Does NOT have cyber-knight armor. Wears MD armor

Psychic Powers Given to him by a *GENE Splicer*:
*Double I.S.P.*
Master Level Cyber-Knight
-Total Psi-Sword damage is now 8d6 MD
New Powers;
-Nightvision (4)
-Psychic Body Field (30; 90 Mega-Damage Protection)
-Telekinetic Force Field (30; 90 minutes; 225 MD)

Hit Points: 65
S.D.C.: 100
I.S.P: 272
P.P.E.: 10

Cyber-Knight O.C.C.Skills:
Language: American, Dragonese, Native American, and Spanish 98%,
Literacy in American 98%
Anthropology: 85%
Body Building
Climbing: 95%/85%
Gymnastics: (balance: 79%, Backflip: 91%)
Horsemanship: Cyber-Knight 98%/88%
Land Navigation: 80% (90% with compass)
Lore: Demon & Monster: 90%
Paramedic: 90%
Swim: 98% (3 x P.S. = 69 yards/meters per 15 second rounds. Guys a torpedo)
W.P. Archery: +11 to strike; 7 Attacks. +8 to disarm; rode with Reid's Rangers.
W.P. Energy Pistol: +5 (armed with C-18 laser pistol)
W.P. Energy Rifle: +4 (C-12 rifle: telescopic sight and night vision scope)
W.P. Shield: +13 to parry
W.P. Sword: +11 to strike, +14 to parry (Psi-Sword 8D6 MD)

O.C.C. Related:
Boxing
Prowl: 75%
W.P. Handguns: +5 to strike
W.P. Rope: +9 to strike, +1 to entangle, +7 to disarm
W.P. Whip: +9 to strike, +9 to disarm, +9 to entangle and +11 to damage

O.C.C. Related Skills:
-Detect Ambush: 75%
-Detect Concealment: 70%
-Field Armorer & Munitions Expert: 85% (Basic: Mechanics: 70%)
-Herding Cattle (Technical skill: Mysteries of Magic Book One): 75%
-Intelligence: 69%
-Taming Wild Horse: 70% (years as a cowboy)
-Track & Trap Animals: 65%/75%

3rd level:
-Streetwise: 44%
-Undercover Ops: 65% (Years undercover as CS Dog Boy)

5th level: (Years spent in the New West fighting duels and gunfights)
-W.P. Quickdraw: +2 to initiative
-W.P. Sharpshooting: Handgun/Energy Pistol:
+1 to strike
+2 to “Called” shot with the one pistol
+1 Attack per melee by pistol if used for the entire round

6h level:
-Interrogation: 50% (time as a town Sheriff they call “The Law Dog”)
-Outdoorsmanship

9th level:
-Fencing
-Leadership*: epresents an NCO's ability to give orders and have them obeyed.
Bonuses: +2 to the M.A. +5% to Trust vs members of the Military; +5% charm/impress. Military Etiquette: 35%
Note: This skill originally appeared in Brandon K. Aten’s fantastic Triax™ Update that appeared in *The Rifter® #55. not a Secondary Skill

Secondary: (8) Free Born Dog Boy (World Book: Lone Star, page 39):
-Dowsing: 65%
-Identify Plants & Fruit: 70%
-Lore: Cattle & Animals (from time as a cowboy): 75%
-Lore: Native Americans: 70% (lived with Natives; knows language & customs)
-Lore: Magic: 70%
-Radio: Basic 85%
-Whittling & Sculpting: 70%
-Wilderness Survival: 75%

2nd Level Secondary:
-Astronomy & Navigation: 65%
-Basic: Math: 80%

4th Level Secondary:
-Law: 60% (worked as a Law Dog; so he's got to know the law). Worked as Sheriff and Justice Ranger in Arzna, Colorado, Mexico, New Mexico, and the Lone Star / Pecos Empire.
-Pilot: Hovercraft: 75%

8th Level Secondary:
-Athletics: General
-Running

*Reid Ranger Rogue Scholar taught Lore Vampires
*Lore: Vampire: 50% @ 6th level.
*Taught by the Wulfen Rogue Scholar Octavia.
*Lore: Galactic/Alien: 35% @ 2nd level. Aliens in the mining town were interviewed and shared their personal stories.

Combat:
+10 on Perception Rolls
+6 to initiative
Hand to Hand: Martial Arts & Boxing
Body flip/throw; does 1D6 damage, victim loses initiative and one attack.
Leap Kick (3D8 damage +8, but counts as two melee attacks),
Critical Strike on a natural 18 or higher.
Back flip and backflip escape (one melee attack/action)

Number of Attacks per melee: 8
Paired Weapons
+3 to strike
Kick (2d6 +8 Damage); Punch 2d4 +8 damage
+7 to pull punches, and +6 to disarm.
+7 to Dodge (+10 with P.P.)
+7 to Parry (+10 with P.P.; +13 with Shield; +5 against bullets/blasts);
+7 to roll with impact
+4 to save vs psionic attack and all forms of mind control
10 or higher to save vs psionic attack (Master Psychic).
+4 to save vs illusions
+13 to save vs disease
+11 to save vs poison
+8 to save vs Magic
+3 to save vs HF

Clothing:
Rugged Survival Clothes; Camoulfage Poncho (water resistant)
Dressed for the Worst Conditions he may Encounter.
Steel Toe Snake Proof Boots
• Silver Cross around neck (7 small wooden cross he keeps as spares)
• Bow and quiver (24 wooden arrows, 12 are silver tipped)
• Sir Wyatt has energy weapons but they are out of charged E-Clips.
• Hoster with Handgun (12 normal, 12 silver bullets).
• Wooden Stakes (4)
• Instead of carrying a Axe or Hatchet or Saw or Survival knife, Sir Wyatt uses his always available Psi-Sword to cut and chop wood and such.

Equipment:
Water-tight Backpack which holds his items:
• 2nd set of clothing.
• Two-person tent:
Folded, it' s the size of a paperback book.
Unfolded it can sleep two people comfortably.
Protection against the cold and rain - keeps people inside warm
The tent has a water collection system to help the user(s) survive in desert climates.
• Compass (4; 150 credit): +10% to Land Navigation rolls. The
compass has a mirror finish on one side and can
use to signal others or send Morse-code messages.
• Short-range radio: 5 mile (8 km) range.
• First-Aid Kit (1): A roll of gauze, 12 band-aids (different
sizes), pocket knife, disinfectant, pain-killers, Cold/Flu meds. Anti-Toxin.
Anti-Botics, staple suture gun, thermometer, tourniquets
• Local Map and Navigation tools (non-electric)
• Duct-Tape
• Candles (12)
• Animal Traps: Cords and Wires, fishing line and several hooks and
pulleys, useful both for fishing and setting snares for small game.
• Fire Starter (1): Primative friction Wood Spinner
• Two-Gallon Pot to boil water in and cook
• Coffee Pot, bowl, cutlery
• Two (2 Liter) Canteens
• Three days of dry food.
• Whistle (personally carved)

[darthauthor]

I

Location:
Running Point in the wilderness.
Mass of people on their way to the remains of the stone pyramid.

Sir Wyatt can feel the power of someone with great magic and personal energy. I smell one of the Atlanteans and the Necromancer. Running to meet him, they greet each other.
His body was not the same.
The muscles in his arms were huge.
Wait.
NO!
The arms were the Atlantean Tattooed Defenders I had killed.
As the Necromancer uncovered them to show them off like a body builder flexing his arms, Sir Wyatt could see, the Necromancer's arms and legs are huge compared to what was before. They had the tattoos and all.
He was a jigsaw man of sorts execept the limb were seemlessly intergreated in this body. It reminded Sir Wyatt of bio-systems only these are real flesh and blood.
He must have replaced his arms and legs with those of the Atlanteans.
How?
Sir Wyatt knew it must have been a trade me made with the Tree.
Was there no end to what one could bargain for with that Supernatural Tree?
I had killed those men.
He had replaced his parts for theirs.
Sir Wyatt had heard of Medical Doctors using other peoples eyes, kidney, liver, lung, and even their heart muscles but this was beyond anything he had ever imagined.
He felt uneasy about it but he had been the one to kill the Atlanteans, in self-defense, and it was sort of the Necromancer's thing to collect the dead and his cut from the fight seems to have been the body parts of the fallen. Suddenly, Sir Wyatt remembered a phase during his teenage years when he collected bones himself.

"My how you've grown!" said Sir Wyatt. "I see you haven't let good body parts go to the grave. I'm actually glad to see you are alive and well. I am heading back for my wounded. Bunch of us from the town are escorting our newest town Doctor to the ley line. He's some kind of Mind Melter from another dimension or planet; probably BOTH. He also acts like he's one of the gods gift to us; if not a god himself. I would think it's silly except, well, his skills are out of this world. He's just about got the whole town believing he can perfrom miracles and ready to follow him anywhere. Figuring he's going to use the powers of the ley line to practice medicine or something. I was going back anyway for the wounded. What about you? On your way back to town?"
The Death Mask covering his face concealed his expression.
"I just remembered. My Dog Boys have a Shadow Beast corpse, it appears to have died in its native shadow dimension so its body stick around and you are the only Necromancer here. It might be worth something to the Tree but I'd we helped each other and worked together than play that Tree's game of pitting us against each other; and no matter which one of us losses, the Tree wins."

Sir Wyatt and the Necromancer speak of recent events and come to some agreements.

[darthauthor]

Location:
Remains of Camp Cerberus

The power of the ley line runs rampant.
The ley line storm brings with it:
Euphoria.
Everybody feels good, happy and cheerful.
Many will start to laugh, sing or act silly, as if intoxicated.
Those who are wounded will have 2D6 Hit Points restored and minor illness will disappear.
The characters feel no fear or hostility toward anything,

The Ley Line Storm passess.

The Silent Man / The Doctor (A Gene-Splicer):
he uses the power of the Ley Line to treat the peoples medical issues.
Then he literally WALKS on water!
Then summons the people one at a time to him.
Placing his hand on their forehead for a few minutes
Sir Wyatt can see "The Doc" meditate the entire period and feel him channel his own psychic energy into the person. Then that persons own psychic energy but to what end Sir Wyatt could not guess. Then they then leave with a refreshed look on their faces.
Motioning for Sir Wyatt to come out to the water he decides to come.
As he approaches the Doc Sir Wyatt turns on his power of Empathy.
Sir Wyatt can feel the Doc's impatience but only for a fleeting moment when looking at Sir Wyatt a smile.
The joy is not born of wickedness but a reminder of something from his past.
Sir Wyatt had seen and felt this in other before. It was when he reminded people of their pet dog.
Then Sir Wyatt could hear some words in his head
". . . believe . . . in . . . me . . . "
A happiness overcame Sir Wyatt and he felt the strongest feeling of faith.
He found himself agreeable, something the Doc appeared to take as agreement.
His hand motioning him to move Sir Wyatt left the water.
Then he could feel it.
SIr Wyatt didn't know how thirsty he had been but now the driness was gone.
He had been pyschically purified, fully hydrated water-wise, even the air his lungs felt like it had been changed into pur oxygen. Feeling his wrists the blood that courses through his veins fells refreshed. Sir Wyatt did not know about these things but he knew what he felt. It was like he had been breathing from an oxygen mask all night long. He was having an oxygen high.

"The Doc's" psychic powers are truly incredible.
Sir Wyatt had no idea such things were possible for a psychic; for any psychic.

That night, as the people settled in, as the Doc was mediating, they are overpowered by a sense of emotion of peace.
The Dog Boys stood guard that night.
The next day, the people got to work clearing the rubble from the stone pyramid.
They salvage every piece that there was to find and neatly piled the stone along the way.
They feasted on the food that was left behind.
That's when everyone noticed how much the Dog pups had grown. They were huge for the age that they were.
Their moms started crying about how their babies had grown up over night.
If they had been human their would probably be between 5 and 7 years old.
Sir Wyatt thought, maybe that's the way they grow up in their home dimension.
Although, their bodies had grown they still had a lot of growing up to do.
The Dog Moms said their pups were the smartest; they remember everything.
They are also starting to develop their psychic powers.
The Doc was leading them in Group Trances and showing them how psionic powers work.

While The Doc was doing this Sir Wyatt took the body of the Dead Shadow beast and carried it off to the Necromancer.

[darthauthor]

Location:

The Ghost Tree.

Present: Sir Wyatt

Sir Wyatt, "Eleven dead bodies. Paid in FULL."
The Tree, "The one you call the Silent Man or The Doc; he is not what he seems."
Sir Wyatt, "You are NOT what you seem."
The Tree, "I keep my promises."
Sir Wyatt, "He heals the sick."
The Tree, "You don't know what he is."
Sir Wyatt, "I don't know what you are."
The Tree, "I can do more."
"You have done enough already" replied Sir Wyatt, "more than enough."
The Tree, "I can bring back one of your Dog Boy brothers who died."
"I'm NOT killing for you."
"Ten. I am offering to give you back 10 of your brothers."
"Why?" Wyatt knew the answer after he ask it but it came out of him anyway.
"All you have to do is go to the Mining Town, Octavia, and wait; stay there for a week."
"I'm not letting you arrange for the town's people to die."
"I don't need, or even want, the town's people to die."
"You want to get your leaves on someones dead body."
"The Silent Man is taking over. It's for selfish reasons. IF he helps others it is only to help himself."
"So do YOU!"
The Tree " . . . . "
"That's it. You want him. He's unique or something; smart. You'll add him to your cemetary. Then he will be your zombie or something."
The Tree is silent.
"He hasn't broken any of our laws or done us any injustice."
The Tree, "He changed you into a higher order of psychic."
Sir Wyatt, "I thought that was you."
The Tree, "Search my feelings. I did not give you your new powers."
Sir Wyatt, "Then I should be thanking him."
The Tree went silent.
"What a great gift and I didn't have to kill anyone for it."
The Tree is silent.
"Let me ask you something. How did you know about my powers?"
Silence.
The Tree, "Will the Dog Girl moms thank him for aging their pups into grown ups?
Sir Wyatt, "No. But how do you know that? How do I know you don't make a deeal with someone; maybe even him."
The Tree is silent.
"That's the thing about you. The deals you make, you don't have to make or make them they way you do. They are always in your favor. I guess you don't like the competition. If 'The Doc' helps people with their problems they won't come to you will they? No deals. As is, I can even find you unless I am returning to fulfill a deal or make a new one. Magic . . . I'll be leaving now."

Sir Wyatt left. He suspected he was being followed or watched but it did not matter.

Return to the ruins of the Stone Pyramid Sir Wyatt waited his turn to see "The Doc."
When he got to him he share with the Gene-Slicer:
"First, I want to thank you for these powers. I also want to thank you for the healing you have performed. No one could do what you did. You are the greatest Doctor in the world. I have just come from a meeting with a supernatural being. A Tree. I don't know exactly what it is or why it does what it does but I believe the Tree means to enslave you by making a deal with someone to get you killed and steal your dead body. How it works after that I don't know. I do believe the Tree has a range limit. The farther you are away from the Tree, the safer you will be. I would rather you were alive and free than a victim of that Tree's schemes or something.
"Last I want to ask you about the Dog Boy kids. Did you age them, before their time, before their childhood was over?
Psychically he was a brick wall.
"We only get one childhood," said Sir Wyatt.
Some words pop into Sir Wyatt's mind, " . many . . . decisions . . . we . . . make . . . for . . . our . . . children . . . health . . . good . . . life . . . long . . . what . . . is . . . done . . . can . . . not . . . be . . . un . . . done . . ."

Turning his head to the next in line Sir Wyatt, not knowing what else to do, moves and stands by 'The Doc's' side watching him.
He uses his powers:
Recharges basic batteries.
Heal medical conditions.
Some how (Bio-Manipulation) he could make people feel the physical sensations of pleasure (The way bio-manipulation can cause people's nerves to feel pain).
He took away peoples fear.
He awakened kids Third Eye opening them up to their latent psychic potential.
Through it all the people, his patients, thanked him for it.

[darthauthor]

Location:
The ruins of the Atlantean Stone Pyramid

The people are in awe as the seeds "The Doc" planted grow into bio-organic structures of plant and crystal material.
"How is this possible?" Most people mutter as the thing grows nearly 10 feet (3 meters) a day.
Most believe it is the Ley Line which makes it possible if not the thing that is doing it entirely.
It feeds off of people's waste and breath and sunlight and everyone believes it is the Ley Line.
At night it illuminates the darkness with a bioluminescence.
The crystals too, they seem to absorb sunlight and store it while emitting it in the dark.
The structure collects water and purifies it. It is suspected that its roots reach down to the water table beneath the ground.
For food, this building appears to produce algae which "The Doc" and the people drink (though without much enjoyment; it is full of nutrients).

Then a platoon of Altantean Tattooed Defenders arrive at the site.
The people fear them. They look like those who took over their mining town and that scares them.
In addition, they look fierce.

They examine the ruins of the Atlantean Stone Pyramid.
Some ask questions of the people who flee or are silent.
When interrogated the people, truthfully say, they were not here when the pyramid was destroyed.
Finally, the Dog Boys, led by Sir Wyatt, confront the Atlanteans.
Sir Wyatt, explains that the pyramid blew up during the Vernal Equinox as a result of a run-away Rift.
He was given permission to defend the pyramid by the Atlanteant who built it, Ictinus.
The man was taken by a Shifter along with one of his human body-guards.
The rest of the bodyguards are on a mission to rescue him.
The Atlanteans psychic abilities confirm that Sir Wyatt authentically believes what he told them.

The Atlanteans make camp with "Sheltering Force" crystal tents.
The Ley Line makes the tent last forever.
They begin an investigation C.S.I. style.
They also want to question everyone present.

Now, they want to know what happened to the Atlantean defenders who came before them.

Sir Wyatt had to think very carefully before he mis-spoke or said anything in any way that would provoke them into a conflict. He surmises that as things are the Defenders have Sixth Sense and the lack of aggression against the Atlanteans has kept their danger senses from going off.
The platoon leader is an old and tall Atlantean Undead Slayer with some experience. He's not a shoot first type of guy but a leader who builds trust among men and cooperation between them.
They have means of Sensing supernatural Evil and sense none of it here.
While under the influence of the Ley Line their magic tattoos have greater duration, power and range.

They begin to show them pictures of the previous Atlantean Defenders.
This frightens the people. They are too afraid to say anything and try to run away but are corralled by the Atlanteans.

"No one leaves until we get answers!"

[darthauthor]

Location:
Ruins of the Atlantean Stone Pyramid

The people present are gaggled together in a group.
The Undead Slayer leader announces:
"The area and everything within 10 miles of it is sequestered by the Aerhiman Atlantean Clan as a crime scene. The land is a sort of Atlantean embassy and as such is Atlantean land. It is the soverign territory of the Aerhiman Clan. The people on it now and the land fall under Aerhiman Miltary Law; subject to Aerhiman Law and Justice. Withholding information or obstructing the investigation is a crime. Each member present will be interrogated and dealth with if they lie or with-hold information. If anyone attacks an Atlantean the punishment will be your death and the death of anyone the one next to you. IF anyone attempts to flee, you will be arrested, thoroughly interrogated and executed as an example to others. This will all be over in a couple of days; a week at the most. As soon as we find the bodies of are murdered brothers most of this will be finished. Then it will only be about the ones responsible for their deaths."

Sir Wyatt step forward and says:
"I am Sir Wyatt of the Cyber-Knight Order. The events that led to the deaths of those Atlanteans was self defense. I came to them with video proof of Ictinus's blessing and permission for me to defend the stone pyramid until his clan's defenders arrived. He didn't anticipate that your Defenders would assume I was a hostile force. When they radio messaged for passwords I didn't know them. I also don't know the Atlantean language. They attacked without warning. There were deaths on both sides. The second team took over the Mining Town. They setup a trap to take my Dog Boys prisoners. I figured their plan was to take as many of us out of the pyramid before directly taking it. They threatened to do harm to my people, Dog Boys, and my people's pups if I didn't surrender both the pyramid and myself to them. I showed them the video. They destroyed it. Said I was a liar and the video a fake. In defense of my life I used a magic scroll that stop magic from working within 1,000 feet or so of the town square. Their ability to fight was no more than that of a human mercenary.
"I ask you to let these people go. They haven't done anything to your people."

The Undead Slayer Leader, "I can't know that is the WHOLE truth. We have heard of Cyber-Knights. I have never heard of a Dog Boy Cyber-Knight. You could be crazy or a liar. I don't know. The investigation has to be thorough. No one is leaving until it is done. I thank you for coming forward and being so forth coming. I will consider your confession in you criminal sentence. IF you are the only one responsible, I can make your execution quick. IF EVERYTHING you say is true then you can take us to the dead bodies of my clans-men."

Sir Wyatt, "It's complicated. We buried the first group. The second sort of got taken by a Necromancer who disappeared."

Undead Slayer, "WE HATE the UNDEAD. That means we HATE Necromancers. You WILL tell us where to find this grave robbing parasite of the Atlantean people."

Sir Wyatt, "I feel you should leave him out of this."

The fury coming off the Undead Slayer is palpable. "IF he took even one piece of my people, he is guilty. No corpse of an Aerhiman clan member may be animated or turned into a zombie. The Demon or Necromancer that does, MUST be destoryed. IF you don't give him to us I will kill your people, both Dog Boys and humans alike."

Sir Wyatt, "I have ideas about where he could be and don't KNOW where he is at this very moment. Tracking people, its is something I can do. It won't be a straight line but I can bring you to him."

Undead Slayer, "Smells like a trap to me."
Sir Wyatt, "You believe what you want. Facts are facts."

The Atlanteans rough up Sir Wyatt and thoroughly interrogate him. They can't use drugs because of his Dog Boy chemistry. Psychic Sensitve powers indicate Sir Wyatt believes what he has said to the Atlanteans. Telepathy of his surface thoughts and feelings show authenticity.

The first demand is that Sir Wyatt take a squad of Atlantean Tattooed Defenders to the graves of the Dog Boys buried them in. They want to test him. Odds are believed to be 50 : 50 the bodies are not there and Sir Wyatt is lying or the Necromancer stole them. Even IF he did there may be trace evidence of their remains.

Sir Wyatt is warned. If he leads the Atlanteans into a trap or if they are killed a Dog Boy, in camp, will be executed for every Defender they lose. Two for One.

Sir Wyatt begs them NOT to do this. Claims he can't control what happens next. Innocent people don't deserve to be punished for the faults of others. They need to be protected.
They smack Sir Wyatt around some with their Supernatural strength and force him to walk point. They tie rope around his neck as a sort of noose / dog collar.

A while later.

Sir Wyatt has lead the Atlanteans Defende squad of 10 to The Tree.

"What is this?" Demands the Atlantean sargaent.
The Tree is a Supernatural being. It has the dead bodies of your Atlantean Clans-men in its grave-yard. I have to warn you. It won't take kindly to give-up the collected corpses. You have to make a deal with it."
Sargaent, "We don't make deals with the undead or supernatural evils."
The sargaent has his men spread out and start digging.

Suddenly a cloud forms over the area.
That's when the dead rise.
The Atlanteans tattoos stop working.
The arms of the dead sprung up for the Earth and grabbed hold of the Atlanteans
Sir Wyatt can sense the magic at work. It is an Anti-Magic cloud or something.

Humaniod servants who appear to be made of roots, come out, dressed in leaves.
They take the Atlanteans weapons and equipment off of them.

It happen so fast.
Sir Wyatt was trapped inside a Super Psionic Force Field faster than he could blink.

A moment later the Necromancer appear to teleport in.

The Tree and he spoke telepathically.

Then the Tree spoke aloud to the Atlantean Sargaent.
"I offer you a deal. Return to your camp and kill 10 Dog Boys. If you agree to this DEAL, I will set you free to do the deed. After they are dead, the 9 you came with will be set free."
The Sargaent, "NO!"
The Necromancer cast the spell Agony upon him.
The arms of the dead release him.
The Sargaent, "Never," screams as he twists in Agony.
The Necromancer gives him a quick death with his knife while the Atlantean Defenders watch helplessly.
Then the Necromancer skillfully carves up the man.

The Tree speaks aloud to the weakest Atlantean.
"I offer you a deal. Your life and the lives of your fellow Atlanteans for the Deaths of an equal number of Dog Boys."
He replies, "No."
He undergoes agony.
Then replies, "I'll kill that liar Wyatt."
"Your life for his. It's a DEAL."
His agony ends.
He is given a sword.
Wyatt's force field ends.
A sword made of roots latches onto both his hands froming wooden swords.
The Atlantean attacks.
A new Force field surrounds the two of them.
After he strikes at Sir Wyatt he can smell the poison on the Atlanteans blade.
Sir Wyatt instinctively stikes back (rolls a natural 20) running him through the chest. The Atlantean dies.

The Tree repeats the deal only adding three Atlanteans to fight Sir Wyatt to the death.
They accept.
They make a run for it. They run into a magic wall.
"Breaking the DEAL is dishonorable."
The three fall into a deep Trance.
While Sir Wyatt is trapped in a Force Field Buddle he strikes to get out.
The Necromancer kills the three men.

The next five Atlanteans are offered a DEAL.
They accept.
Released they charge at Sir Wyatt with desperation and hate.
It is the fight of their lives, for their lives.
Sir Wyatt is cut and beatten but not beat.
Those few who do not die by Sir Wyatt's blade are dispatched by the Necromancer.

10 new graves now fill the Earth.

The Tree seems to be some how taller and more powerful. The trunk is wider.
While the Necromancer appears more powerful in terms of personal energy.
His face, he now wears the face of one of the dead Atlanteans with tattoos on it. Even his eyes are replaced.
Sir Wyatt could feel that the Necromancer was now a supernatural being of Supernatural properties. He smelled more True Atlantean than human. Sir Wyatt had heard of Doctors replacing a liver or lung, even a heart transplant but this was a level beyond anything he had ever imagined.
Sir Wyatt guessed it must have been part of a DEAL the Necromancer had agreed to with the Tree.

He wanted to blame the Tree for EVERYTHING but Sir Wyatt knew it was not entirely true.
Those Atlanteans had a choice.
Sir Wyatt had a choice.
Between their lives and his, he had choosen to save himself.
Now he has to save his own people.
When the Atlantean defender didn't respond by radio or return the Undead Slayer would kill his Dog Boy pack.
Reflecting on how the Tree did things, it could not or would not kill anyone. It put others up to that dirty work.

Sir Wyatt meditated.

When he opened his eyes he saw the Necromancer was dressed in the Atlanteans Defenders armor and gear.
He look just like one of them.
He was toying with his abilities. He could summon a flaming sword. It meant he could use the tattoos on his new body parts.
Using the Atlantean Radio, the Necromancer, called in, he spoke in Atlantean, telepathically Sir Wyatt could hear the voice of the Tree in his head.
Found the fallen. Found Necromancer. Killed.
Reply: "Good. Execute Sir Wyatt. Then return with our dead."

Nine of the 10 slain Atlantean Defenders rise from their graves.
Waves of mystic energy in the form of black lightning struck them closing the sword punctures.
The newly dead looked alive.
Each now held a poisoned blade that looked like tree bark.

The Tree speaks aloud, "Our DEAL is only for the Atlanteans. It's THEM or US."
"Sir Wyatt. No thing is keeping you here. YOU could run to the Atlanteans and warn them. You are faster than any one here. They might not even shoot you on sight. They might stop and listen. They might believe you. They MIGHT not kill your Dog Boy friends, AFTER you tell them their men are dead. That you killed them."
Sir Wyatt, "In self defense."
The Tree, "Yes. It was self-defense AND you heard the radio. They were going to kill you anyway. Care to make a DEAL?"

Back at the Atlantean Camp.

The Undead Slayer hears over the radio of his men's return.
The camp is on alert since their Sixth Sense is going off.
Some sort of attack or Rift or something is expected to happen.
The Defenders are in a defensive position.
Radio checks are on going every minute.
When one minute someone misses their check in.
Just before it happened a Dark Cloud came over the camp.
The Senior Undead Slayers reports, "It's an Anti-Magic cloud. Our tattoos won't work. Fall back to the emergency evac sight. RUN!"

The Undead Slayer counts his survivors.
12 of them made it to the rendevous.
No one else responds to their radios.
19 he considers KIA or MIA.
At least they are alive and unharmed.
Here they have the full use of their tattoos with the bonuses of the ley line.

He does an After Action Review.
We didn't anticipate an Anti-Magic Cloud.
We are up against a mage of great power or at least a magic scroll.
The Ley Line makes their power limitless.
They try their psychic powers to locate their men and find that they are dead.
Recon. We need to do recon. Hide in a shadow and spy on them.
We can go back to the mining town and destroy it.
We need to see our true enemy.
We have confirmation of the Necromancer death. We don't have confirmation of Sir Wyatt's or the safety of our dead.
They use their psychic power to do a Remote Viewing for SIr Wyatt. They see he is ALIVE!
Let's sniper him!
Let's sniper 10 of his men to make up for the loss of ours. He knew we told him we would kill IF any of our men died.
Let's call for back-up.
It is agreed. Unlike the two teams before them, they will send video records of their mission and reports.

• Five are ordered to return with their findings and status.

The Magnificent Seven remaining Atlanteans plan their next move.

[darthauthor]

Location:
Remains of the Atlantean Pyramid.

The Seven left of the Atlantean Tattooed Defenders perform a thorough recon.

A quick head count reveals their men are missing.
The people are talking amongst each other but look relieved.
Scouting around the camp they find boot prints which some sort of recognize and believe are those of their fellow squad-mates.
Tracking roll of 11 allows them to follow.

It takes them until sun down but the team makes it to a spooky looking tree.
Their Sixth Sense gives alarm.
The Defenders for a wide circle activate their magic tattoos and prepare to be attacked.

The ghostly voice of the Tree:
"What do you desire?"

The Undead Slayer shouts, "The destruction of Evils like YOU."
The Tree, "That's not ALL. You want MORE... The destruction of vampires."
The Undead Slayer and his men ruffle at the sound of the word.
"Show yourself!"
"Or perhaps you would like one or even two your lost men back."
"Now I know you are EVIL. NO DEAL. I don't negotiate with EVIL."
"Then you may leave as you came."
"I'm NOT going anywhere without my men."
"You wish to talk about it?"
"I DEMAND the return of my men."
"I did not attack them. They came of their own accord, as you did. I defended my property and territory from their demands. The rest were brought to me. Now, my home is their home. Still, I will release them IF we make a deal for them."
"NO DEALS! I'm taking my men back and that's final. Run away because if you get in my way I'll destroy you."
"You should leave now. I will allow you to go in peace but not return unless it is to make a deal."
"Defenders, Scorched Earth," fire pours out of the men's eyes, it shoots out in all directions.
An Anti-Magic Cloud forms over the area.
Magic Walls of Ice form around the area of the Defenders surrounding them; keeping them from escape.
The Atlantean Defenders fire their energy rifles at the magic wall.
The Undead Slayer directs them to withdraw by climbing over the wall.
That's when they are enveloped in smoke. The men are confident their armor will protect them.
The arms of the dead spring forth from the Earth and take hold of their legs.
The Defenders are overcome by magical terror.
Then one of their own appears only his expression is not the same.
He looks upon his fellow defenders with indifference and cold resolution.
The voice of the Tree, "This is your last chance to make DEAL or someone else will."
"NEVER!" shouts the Undead Slayer as he begins lopping off the arms of the dead with his sword.
The Undead Slayer stares in shock as one of his own stabs him with a poisoned blade. It's been a long time since he as seen his own blood.
The Undead Slayer draws his pistol and fires.
His shot hits a Telekinetic Force Field surrounding the Necromancer wearing an Atlantean Body.
He unloads the clip and reloads.
The poison catches up with him and he dies.
The sight of his animated corpse sends fear into the hearts of his men.
"DEAL or die."
One of the Defenders opens fire on him.
He is shot by the Necromancer until his armor is destroyed, next he follows.
The deaths go on until there are none left.

Seven fresh graves fill the grounds and the Tree was never more powerful.
The Tree, "You have made me VERY happy. You fullfilled your DEAL. Now I have another deal I'd like to make with you. What they knew in life I now know from their deaths. Five of them have left with records of their mission. IF they get through, they will warn their people of my Anit-Magic Clouds. They might also send their most powerful and wisest of warriors. Or destroy the whole area. I want them stopped. IF you accept the DEAL you can track them with their own electronic devices. I will impart in you the knowledge of how to use them. Also, scrolls that will allow you to "Locate" them. I want you to succeed. In addition to what you want I offer you everything you will need, if you agree."

[darthauthor]

Location:
The Ruins of the Stone Pyramind
HQ of Cerberus

Sir Wyatt Present
The Dog Boys are discussing what happened.
To them it seemed like the hostile Occupying Atlantean Defenders up and withdrew for no explaination.
Although the Dog Boys could smell blood, so they thought someone was injured or perhaps killed, there just were not any bodies.
Regardless, the Dog Boys, Girls and pups are alive and free.
The only anxiety is whether or not the Atlanteans will return.
In their hasty withdraw they appear to have left of few of their things behind which the Vagabonds have acquired (Finders keepers rule).
Many things are offered in gratitude to "The Doc."
"The Doc," appears to have meditated most of the time the Atlanteans were around.
Secretly, he was using Psychic Omni-Sight to see everything and everyone one.
He studied the Atlanteans and experimented with his powers on them (Empathic Transmission, Telepathy to read their mind, even Telekinesis to sabotage them).

"The Doc" uses Machine Ghost and Telemechanics to operate the hand computers of the Atlanteans.
He must decypher the Atlantean Written language but he makes use of the Ai of Octavia to assist him with his task. When it is enough he will catch up on what they know with Speed Reading.

The experience has reminded the Gene-Splicer of his position and the dangers he faces on Rifts Earth.
Originally he had hid from the Atlantean with Psychic Invisibility.
It was also his plan to possess one of to control or dispose of the others.
He was just bidding his time while collecting information.
Plus he would have to touch one of them to Bond with their mind to learn their language and such.
The only time any of the Atlantean Defenders touched anyone was to beat them.

The existance of the magic Tree is troubling.
It appears to be beyond the Gene-Splicers control.
He is compelled to run away, hide, or attack it.
From the minds of the Dog Boy Wyatt, any deal made with it favors the Tree.

The coming Eclipse brings with it those beings who can cast spells.
They come to the Ley Line to take advantage of the power boost of the Eclipse.
The Dog Boys form a perimeter around the camp to defend it.

When a random Rift forms
"The Doc" seems to recognize something on the other side (Gateland at center station).
He runs and psionic power jumps through it before it closes.
He has finally made it off this planet.
He did some Math and does NOT like the odds of survival and freedom with Xiticix and Supernatural Trees.
"The Doc" can find his way at Center.
The people feel abandoned by "The Doc" but most of the D-bees "get it" as his once in a life time chance to go home again or at least get to a place that is a better situation than the one he is in.

After Sir Wyatt sees someone has summon some Shadow Beasts in Daylight.
Chaseing after caster, the spell caster uses the beasts to defend himself and see them in action.
Making his Psi-Sword PURE WHITE Sir Wyatt unleashes his sword strikes against them.
First attack, the one he cuts the arm off of retreats.
The rest attack.
He successful parries with his Psi-Shield.
He cuts the arm off another one who runs away.
Two remain; one runs around to outflank him.
The Shadow Beast strike is parried.
Sir Wyatt Strikes back and the beast runs wounded.
The last one runs in fear of Sir Wyatt now that his 3 fellows SB have fled.
The caster is covered in "Armor of Ithan"
Sir Wyat is covered in his Telekinetic Force Field.
Staring each other down the two stand off.
The mage walks backwards away.
The fight is over.
Sir Wyatt's instinct is to give chase but something about the way the spell caster moved away feels like attacking him would be without mercy. A enemy who withdraws without attacking is permitted and preferrable to an enemy who fights to the death.

Sir Wyatt warns his Dog Boys and they go Shadow Beast hunting.

[darthauthor]

Location:
The ruins of the Atlantean Stone Pyramid.

Sgt Wyatt has an After Action Review of the Shadow Beast hunt.
They got one.
Then decided to return to camp before sun down.
Leaving the camp unsecure would be risky.
There are over 70 people here and they aren't really soldiers.

Many people are feeling afraid and racked with anxiety about their health now that "The Doc" is gone and left the building (so to speak).

When "The Doc" jumped into the Rift he left behind his experiments and creations.
The organically grown building is both Alien and impressive.
People like looking at it.
Those brave enough venture inside it and look around.
The Dog Boys sniff around it and pizz on it marking it theirs.

They prepare the camp for night, just in case the Shadow Beasts return.

That night on guard duty Wyatt talks to his Dog Boys about everything.

"Well, another batch of angry Atlanteans got killed again. I don't know but they might send more like the did before. In the past, we stayed around to defend our world from what might and did come out of the Rift. The Rift is gone now. So too is the stone pyramid. It is destroyed. So we have no need to be here any longer. Besides, IF we stay, the Atlanteans of the Aerihman Clan could send more. Besides that there is some kind of twisted supernatural Tree that makes deals with people. It think it tries to get them to do terrible things to others and pits them againt each other. Ultimately, I believe the ghost Tree wants us all dead and buried in its cemetary. All that's left to defend are the humans. We can ask them to leave."

Later that same night...

The Shadow Beasts attack.

The Dog Boys Sixth Sense warns them.
The can smell and sense their presence.
Sir Wyatt lights his way with a PURE WHITE light Psi-Sword.
Killing one the rest run off.

A Ley Line Storm comes after midnight chasing off the Dog Boys and Psi-Stalkers.

When its over they come back.

They find the living building is over energized and expanding.
People are excited and afraid; two out of three want to return to the mining town.
The Dog Boys begin the escort.

[darthauthor]

Location:
On the way back to the mining Town (Octavia)

Attacked by night by the Shadow Beasts Sgt Wyatt and the Dog Boys dispatch another one of them.

A few people get lost along the way. They stop to go back for them.

Some die of a supposed medical condition that only "The Doc" could treat and cure.
They carry the dead back to town with them.

They make it back to the mining town.

Cerberus reviews the mission to return.

A gang had come by the day before to plunder the town while its defenses were at it weakest.

Also, a wondering monter looking for food.

Both are expected to return.

The Dog Boys catch their breath, drink some water, lie in the shade for a moment.
They know how to track. They can track the monster. They can track the gang that is on horse back.
Safest to do one. The Monster ate what it ate. IF it comes back, it will come back for food.
IF they track down the gang they might get their stuff back.
Either case, they expect both will trouble others if they don't catch up to either of them and put an end to them.
The gang is more likely to rob.
The monster to kill.
They should also leave some soldiers to guard the town in case either comes back or something new shows up.
Sgt Wyatt orders the Psi-stalkers to hunt the monster for something to fed on.
Then he orders one squad to come with him and asks for a few of the people to form a posse.
They saddle up and ride.

In the New West, under the vast expanse of an unforgiving desert sky, the twelve converge with a singular purpose: to reclaim what was taken and serve justice to those who dared steal from them.
Led by the seasoned lawman Wyatt, their posse is a diverse yet tightly knit band of determined souls.

Wyatt, with his weathered face and steely gaze, commands respect as he guides his crew through the rugged terrain. His good year of experience as a sheriff and leading posses means this is not his first rodeo. Alongside him ride his trusted brothers in arms, five stalwart Dog Boys whose loyalty to Wyatt is unwavering.

Among them are four men, each with their own stories etched into the fabric of the West. There's Jeb, the seasoned tracker with eyes sharp enough to spot a rabbit in the brush from a mile away. Then there's Hank, the skilled gunslinger whose lightning-fast draw strikes fear into the hearts of outlaws. And alongside them are the others, each possessing their own unique skills and backgrounds, united in their quest to get their stuff back. But the posse is not without its two formidable women. Sarah, with her sharp wit is a force to be reckoned with, her expertise in handling a horse rivaling even the most seasoned of cowboys. And beside her rides Maria, a fierce fighter whose skill with a blade is matched only by her anger.
Together, this determined band of twelve rides out of town, their eyes fixed on the horizon as they follow the faint tracks left by the gang of robbers who dared steal from them. With the sun beating down upon their backs and the wind at their heels, they press forward, fueled by a steely resolve to serve up some justice in the unforgiving landscape of the New West.

Roll 19 for tracking animals.
They are hot on the trail.
Roll 15, they are closing in.
They get a little confused when the gang or robbers appears to have gotten lost and gone in a circle.
Roll 11
The get some clues when the Dog Boys report their Sixth Sense tingling.
Not a bit of magic, psionics or the supernatural in the area.

They get down and prowl their way. Roll 48

Someone else fails their prowl roll and makes some noise.

The gang or robbers spots them and shouts to alert the rest of the gang.
They scramble for their firearms.

Wyatt shout, "Drop it or we'll drop you! Ya theiving varmints!"
Wyatt's voice rang out, his words carrying the weight of authority honed through time as a Sheriff.
"You've made a grave mistake crossing me and my town. You took what didn't belong to you, and now it's time to face the consequences."

His hand rested casually on the grip of his revolver, a silent reminder of the power he wielded. Behind him, his posse stood ready, their eyes hardened with determination.

"We're not here for bloodshed," Wyatt continued, his tone firm but measured. "But make no mistake, we'll do what needs to be done. You've got two options: surrender peacefully and face trial, or face the consequences right here and now."

The tension hung heavy in the air as the two groups faced off, each waiting for the other to make the next move. But Wyatt remained steadfast, his resolve unshaken even in the face of danger.

One Robber opens fire.
Rolls a 3. Complete miss.
Everyone shoots and misses hitting anyone but the ground and trees.
Wyatt jumps out and whips the revolver out of the gang member's hand disarming him.
Then another (Roll 16).
The Gang keeps missing their shots.
So does Wyatt's posse (seriously the rolls are 7s and below)
Wyatt disarms 2 more with the whips in each of his hands.
Wyatt's Posse takes the initiative.
They shoot and miss.
The robbers shoot and miss.
Wyatt whips away and steal a handgun from a gang member with his whip action.
Wyatt's natural 16 vs the gang member natural 1.
Posse misses their shoots again (2).
The gang wound four of the posse and kills Jeb with a shot to his heart.
The Posse in a furious hail of rifle and pistol fire kills one of the robbers and wound 6.
Wyatt uses his whip to disarm (Natural 20) the gang member who shot Jeb dead; now hold the mans firearm.
Scared to death the remaining gang members drop their guns and hold up their arms.

Wyatt and his Dog Boys cuff them.

As the surviving members of the gang surrendered, Wyatt steps forward, his voice carrying a solemn weight.
"Listen up," he began, his tone commanding attention from both his posse and the captured outlaws. "I know Jeb's dead. But we're not murderers."
His eyes swept over his posse, meeting each gaze with a steady resolve. "We rode out here for justice, not vengeance. And that means bringing these men in alive to face trial."
A murmur of discontent rippled through the group, anger and grief mixing in the air like a volatile storm.
"I won't let Jeb's death be in vain," he declared, his words ringing with conviction. "We'll see these men face justice, the right way. Not through a lynching, but through the law."
The posse exchanged uneasy glances.
They reluctantly begin to rope the captured outlaws together.
Wyatt treats the wounded for their gunshot wounds.
They take everyone back to town.
And as they ride back to town, Wyatt's words do little to quell the towns feelings over Jeb's death.
They lock up the surviving members of the gang.
Return the stolen property to the people it was stolen from.
Many say it wasn't worth Jeb's life and that they'd rather have had him back then their stuff.
They record notes of everything stolen, the names of the gang, and what was stolen.
Let people wash up and eat.
Check the wounds.
It isn't the first time Wyatt has treated someone for a gun shot.
Trial is set for the morning.
That night hold a candle light funeral for Jeb.
The Necromancer shows up from out of nowhere.
No one recognizes him anymore but he dresses the same.
"It's only been a few hours. Jeb can still live."
Everyone is uneasy by the words.
The Necromancer looks at Wyatt and says, "The bullet must be taken out."
Wyatt is uneasy before he say, "Already did it... Evidence."
Placing his hand on the corpse of Jeb it appears dead but never to have been injured.
"My price is one life, to save this one," says the Necromancer.
"The one who killed him," whipsers someone from the crowd of those who came to pay their respects."
Wyatt, "There hasn't been a trial yet."
A mourner, "He's guilty of murder, as sure as Jeb's laying here dead."
"Let's have the trial now!" someone else shouts.
"He stole my horse!" shouts another.
Sir Wyatt, "The usual punishment for horse thieves is whipping and fines of up to twice the value of the horse if the animal had been sold."
The crowd shouts demanding an immediate trial.
Wyatt tries to calm them down.
They do as the outlaws are brought out by the posse members.
"We mean to have ourselves a good old trial and some mean old justice."
Wyatt is reminded he is NOT the town mayor or judge.
Octavia steps in and give the people a performance.
The posse riders bare witness.
Even the outlaws turn on each other.
There is some uncertainty between two or three men as to which fired the killing shot.
Wyatt was the only one close enough to tell. They all agree he whip the man's gun out of his hand.
They can tell from the wounds on the hand's of the men who was whipped.
Wyatt tells the truth and points out the one who fired the shot.
The Outlaw, Kord, "I didn't shoot to kill him, on purpose. I was just trying to scare him away. It was an unlucky shot."

After a lot of ruckus, the almost crowd shouts in unity for the death of Kord in transaction for the life of Jeb.
Wyatt is expected to be the executioner as he was the one decided upon the posse, who would ride with him and led them. His fellow Dog Boys look upon him with divided feelings. Working with the Necromancer like this feels like play god or dancing with the devil. They aren't against the execution. The Dog Boys who rode with the posse saw it and swear by it.
Wyatt can see the situation in his head. The crowd is too "Riled up" they will lynch the prisoners if he isn't executed. The towned voted on it. The mayor judged him guilty and sentenced him to death.

A moment later stood with the condemn man's gun. Wyatt explained it was the gun that did the killing. Thought it was fitting it be used as the means of execution.
Wyatt executes him after cooperating with the Necromancer.

A moment later Jeb is breathing air again.

[darthauthor]

Location: The Mining Town of Octavia.

The town's people agree to let the Necromaner have the dead body of the outlaw.
His looks and popularity are better than ever.

The town is all excited about the rest of the outlaws.

They want a show, I mean trial, of the outlaws.

As the morning sun cast long shadows across the town square, tension crackled in the air like electricity. The townspeople, their faces set in grim determination, gathered around the makeshift courthouse, their voices hushed in anticipation of the impending judgment.

Wyatt stood at the forefront, his eyes flashing with steely resolve as he surveyed the scene before him. Beside him, his loyal posse members stand tall, their expressions a mix of weariness, their wounds a stark reminder of the fierce battle that had been waged the day before.

Locked within the sturdy jail cell, the ten outlaws watched with wary eyes, their bravado masking a palpable sense of fear as they awaited their fate. Some whispered amongst themselves, while others paced restlessly, the weight of their forth coming punishment weighs heavy upon their shoulders.

Mayor Octavia, her gaze stern and unwavering, ascended the platform, her presence commanding the attention of all who had gathered.
"My people," she begins, her voice ringing out with authority, "yesterday, our town faced a threat unlike any we have seen before. These men," she gestured towards the prisoners, "sought to steal our livelihoods and leaving destruction in their wake."

A low murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd, mingled with murmurs of anger and indignation.

"But thanks to the bravery and sacrifice of Wyatt and his posse," Mayor Octavia continued, her voice rising above the din, "the perpetrators have been apprehended, and our stolen goods recovered."

A wave of applause erupted from the crowd, punctuated by shouts of gratitude and relief.

"Now," Mayor Octavia's tone turned grave, "it falls upon us to ensure that justice is served. These men stand accused of crimes and it is for us to determine their fate."

The townspeople nodded solemnly, their eyes fixed upon the prisoners who awaited their judgment with bated breath.

Mayor Octavia addressed the crowd once more, "I will hear testimony from those who have been directly affected by the outlaws' actions."

One by one, the townsfolk stepped forward, their voices trembling with emotion as they recounted their harrowing experiences at the hands of the criminals. Tales of stolen livestock, ransacked homes, and shattered lives filled the air, each testimony serving as a grim reminder of the horrors that had befallen the town.

Once the testimonies had been heard, Mayor Octavia turned to Wyatt and his posse. "You and your men risked everything to protect our town," she said, her voice filled with gratitude and admiration. "Now, it is time for us to do our part."

With a solemn nod, Wyatt stepped forward, his gaze unwavering as he addressed the crowd. "These men," he gestured towards the prisoners, "Must answer for their crimes. Though the crimes are the same the men are not. Some surrendered. I'd ask for mercy for those who surrendered."

The townspeople murmured their agreement but their eyes flash with anger.

Mayor Octavia addresses the crowd once more, "we will hear testimony from the accused. Let them speak in their own defense."

A murmur of anticipation rippled through the crowd as the outlaws stepped forward, their faces contorted with fear and uncertainty.

"We didn't mean no harm," one of them stammered, his voice trembling with emotion. "We was just tryin' to survive, to feed our families. We never wanted none of this."

Others chimed in with similar pleas for leniency, their words tinged with desperation and regret.

As the tension in the courtyard reached its peak, one of the outlaws stepped forward, his voice quivering with desperation. "Please, your honor," he pleaded, his eyes darting nervously around, "we're not all cut from the same cloth. Some of us, we never wanted any of this. We were just forced into this life by a bully who threatened us with a gun. Ride or die if you know what I mean."

Another outlaw, emboldened by his companion's plea, chimed in, his voice filled with a mixture of fear and cunning. "He's right, your honor," he said, his words coming in a rush. "We can help you, help bring the real criminals to justice. We know who they are, where they hide their loot. Just give us a chance to make things right."

A third outlaw, his face twisted with desperation, stepped forward, his eyes darting nervously between his companions and the crowd. "I'll snitch," he blurted out, his voice rising in pitch. "Just don't send me to the gallows. I'll tell you everything I know, I swear."

Sir Wyatt’s expression remains unmoved. He had seen their kind before, desperate men willing to say anything to save their own skins.
Sir Wyatt, “Mayor Octavia, your honor, we should listen to what these men have to say. What they can prove could be considered in their sentencing, IF it leads to the return of stolen property and justice for the victims of this outlaw gang.”

Mayor Octavia, her gaze unwavering, looked upon the scene before her. "Your words ring hollow, gentlemen," she said, her voice cutting through the chaos of the courtroom. "But if you are truly willing to cooperate, to help us return the things you stole to those from whom they were stolen and bring real criminals to justice, then perhaps we can work out a deal."

After a moment of tense deliberation, Mayor Octavia turned to address the crowd. "You have heard the testimony of the accused," she declared, her voice echoing across the square. "Now, it is for us to decide their fate."
A murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd as the outlaws exchanged wary glances, their fate hanging in the balance.
The town's people vote.
After the tally, the town are in agreement that they are guilty.
Mayor Octavis, "You have been found guilty by this court. What remains to be determine is your individual sentenceing of punishment for your crimes. Those who cooperate in the capture of other criminals, bear witness to the crimes of others, provide information to the whereabouts of stolen property will have the punishment made less."

And as the sun cast its warm glow over the town square, the people of the mining town prepared to navigate the treacherous waters of justice.

There are rumors that they should give them all to the Necromancer so that he can work magic with them.
Some want to put them to work in the mine.
Some want the Necromancer to make them zombies to work as miners.
Now that the town knows of the magic the Necromancer can work they dream of dead loved ones who might be brought back. Some think someone might die next week and they should keep the convicts around for magical sacrifice purposes like they did for Jeb.

[darthauthor]

Location: Octavia (The Mining Town)

Sheriffs Office


Sir Wyatt stands tall in front of the jail cell, his eyes fixed on the group of outlaws huddled within. With a stern expression, he addressed them, his voice carrying the weight of authority.

"Alright, listen up," he began, his tone firm but measured. "We know you've been busy wreaking havoc in these parts, stealing from honest folks and causing all manner of trouble."
The outlaws shifted uncomfortably, their eyes darting nervously from Wyatt to each other, their looks on with a hint of fear.

"Now, I'm not one to rush to judgment," Wyatt continued, his voice taking on a softer tone. "But I reckon it's high time you started cooperating. We know you've got loot stashed away somewhere, and I aim to see it returned to its rightful owners. So, here's how it's gonna go: you tell us where you've hidden the loot, and maybe, just maybe, we can work out a deal."

One of the outlaws, a burly man with a weathered face, spoke up, his voice tinged with bitterness." And why should we trust you, Sheriff? You and your posse have been breathing down our necks since the moment we set foot in this town. Ain't no reason for us to believe you'll hold up your end of the bargain."

Wyatt fixed the outlaw with a steely gaze, his jaw set in determination. "Because it's the right thing to do," he replied, his voice unwavering. "Because despite what you may think, I aim to uphold the law and see justice served. And because if you don't start talking, things are gonna get a whole lot tougher for you and your friends here."

There was a tense silence as the gravity of Wyatt's words sank in. The outlaws exchanged nervous glances, weighing their options carefully. Finally, one of them spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Alright, Sheriff," he said, his tone resigned. "We'll tell you where the loot is. But you gotta promise us protection. There are others out there who won't take too kindly to us spillin' our secrets."

Wyatt nodded solemnly, his expression grave. "You have my word," he replied. "Now, start talking. Time's running out, and we've got a lot of ground to cover if we're gonna make this right."

Elsewhere, the Dog Boys are helping around town as unskilled labor.
#1210 is recharging E-Clips when he has the inner strength.
Then he resumes mass for the Dog Boys.

No one has heard word from the Psi-Stalkers monster hunt yet.

Everyone is talking and a little shook up about how everything is changing.
The town did not use to have really bad problems with outlaws until they started having things worth stealing.

[darthauthor]

Sir Wyatt eyed the group of outlaws warily as they offered to lead him to the stolen goods in exchange for a reduction in their prison sentences. There was a glimmer of hope in their eyes, but Wyatt couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off.

"You expect me to believe that you'll just lead me straight to the loot?" Wyatt asked skeptically, his hand resting on the hilt of his revolver.

A grizzled man with a weathered face, nodded earnestly. "That's right, Sheriff. We may be outlaws, but we ain't fools. We know when we're beat. And we're willing to make a deal if it means we can shave some time off our sentences."

Wyatt narrowed his eyes, his mind racing with possibilities. It was entirely possible that the outlaws were telling the truth, that they genuinely looked upon their stolen loot as lost to them forever. Why not trade what little time they have left for goods they will never see again? But there was also a nagging voice in the back of his mind warning him that this could all be a setup, a trap laid by the outlaws to get out of their jail cell and lure him to where they wanted to make their escape.

"And how do I know you won't lead me into a trap?" Wyatt pressed, his voice steely with resolve.

The outlaws exchanged nervous glances, their expressions shifting uneasily. "We swear on our lives, Sheriff," the leader declared, his voice trembling slightly. "We ain't no good with maps. We only know our way by sight of landmarks and by ridin' off from a certain place in a certain direction. You gotta believe us."

Wyatt studied the outlaws carefully, weighing their words against the risks. In the end, he knew that he had to trust his instincts. If there was even a chance that they were telling the truth, it was worth the risk.

With a wary eye on the first five outlaws who surrendered, Wyatt made his decision. "Alright," he said, his voice firm but cautious. "Lead the way. But remember, you five are the only ones I'm trusting on this. One wrong move, and you'll wish you had never crossed paths with me."

With a nod from the chosen outlaws, Wyatt followed them out of the jail cell and into the unknown, his hand never straying far from his trusty revolver. As they rode off into the distance, Wyatt couldn't shake the feeling of unease that settled over him like a shroud. But he pushed aside his doubts, focusing instead on the task at hand and the possibility of finally bringing justice to those who had wronged his town.

[darthauthor]

Location:
The wilds of the New West


The sun beat down mercilessly on the barren landscape as Sir Wyatt trudged alongside the outlaws, their footsteps kicking up clouds of dust with each weary stride. Wyatt kept a close eye on the group, his hand resting casually on the butt of his revolver, his senses on high alert for any sign of trouble.

The outlaws, for their part, marched forward with grim determination, their eyes fixed on the horizon as they led Sir Wyatt deeper into the wilderness. But beneath their stoic facades, a silent plan was being hatched, communicated through whispered words and furtive glances.

As they reached a secluded clearing, the outlaws paused, exchanging subtle nods and knowing looks. It was time to put their plan into action. With practiced precision, they began to unload the stolen goods, their movements swift and efficient as they worked to create the illusion of compliance.

But as Sir Wyatt watched from a safe distance, a nagging sense of unease settled over him. Something didn't feel right. He couldn't shake the feeling that the outlaws were up to something, that they were plotting against him even as they pretended to cooperate.

As the tension in the clearing reached a fever pitch, Sir Wyatt's senses were on high alert, every muscle in his body coiled with anticipation. He watched with wary eyes as the outlaws began to unload the stolen goods, their movements quick and purposeful.

And then, in a heartbeat, the truth was revealed. With a sudden flurry of movement, the outlaws drew the handguns they had hidden amongst the loot, their eyes gleaming with malice as they turned them on Wyatt. It was a betrayal, a calculated move to take him by surprise and seize their chance at freedom.

With lightning speed, he drew his own revolver, his aim steady and true as he faced down the outlaws. "Drop your weapons, boys," he growled, his voice cold and commanding. "You ain't getting away with this."

For a moment, the clearing was filled with tense silence, the outlaws weighing their options as they stared down the barrel of Wyatt's gun.
But then, in a heartbeat, chaos erupted. One of the armed outlaws, his eyes wild with desperation, broke into a run as he made a bid for freedom. Wyatt's heart pounded in his chest as he raised his revolver, his finger tightening on the trigger.

But before he could take aim, another of the outlaws made a move, drawing a handgun and leveling it at Wyatt with trembling hands. The air crackled with tension as the two men faced off, their eyes locked in a deadly stare-down.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still as Wyatt and the outlaw stood locked in a Mexican standoff, the sound of their heavy breathing filling the silence of the clearing. The outlaw's hand shook with fear as he held the gun aloft, his finger poised on the trigger.

But Sir Wyatt remained steady, his gaze unwavering as he stared down the barrel of the outlaw's gun. He knew that he couldn't afford to hesitate, acting quickly to protect himself and bring the outlaw to justice. Wyatt tightened his grip on his revolver and fired a single shot, the sound echoing through the stillness of the clearing. The outlaw's eyes widened in shock as the bullet struck home, sending him tumbling to the ground in a cloud of dust.

As the dust settled and the chaos subsided, Sir Wyatt took a moment to catch his breath, his heart still pounding in his chest. The two that stayed had dropped their guns. He knew that he had acted in self-defense, that he had protected himself from an outlaw who threatened him with a gun.

But even as he holstered his revolver and turned to deal with the aftermath of the confrontation, Wyatt couldn't shake the lingering sense of unease that hung in the air.
That’s when he remembered, his "Sixth Sense" did not go off as he would have expected.
Taking the gun out of his hand, Sir Wyatt checked it. He tried to fire it in the air. I would not fire. Ammo was bad.
The two remaining outlaws looked at each other in surprise.
They didn’t know.
That left tracking down the two that had run off with handguns with bad bullets.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the rugged landscape, Sir Wyatt knew that they needed to make camp for the night. The air was growing colder by the minute, and darkness was fast approaching. With a firm hand, Wyatt directed the surviving outlaws to gather firewood, their movements slow and weary after the events of the day.

As the fire crackled to life, casting a warm glow over the campsite, Wyatt set about the task of boiling water and preparing a simple meal for the weary travelers. The smell of cooking food filled the air, mingling with the scent of pine and woodsmoke.

As the outlaws sat around the fire, their faces illuminated by the flickering flames, Wyatt took a moment to address them. "Now listen up," he said, his voice firm but not unkind. "We need to talk about what happened back there, and what's gonna happen next."

The outlaws nodded, their expressions grim as they waited for Wyatt to continue. They knew that they were in deep trouble, and they were desperate for any chance at redemption.

"I need to know where the rest of the stolen goods are," Wyatt said, his gaze piercing as he looked from one outlaw to the next. "And I need to know if this was all part of some plan to double-cross me from the start."

The outlaws shifted uncomfortably, their eyes darting away from Wyatt's gaze. They knew that they were walking a thin line, and that their survival depended on their ability to convince Wyatt of their innocence.

But as they spoke, their words rang hollow in Wyatt's ears. He could sense the deception in their voices, the faint glimmer of guilt that lurked behind their eyes. And as he listened to their excuses and justifications, Wyatt knew that he couldn't trust them.

With a heavy heart, Wyatt settled in for a long night, his vigilance unwavering as he kept a watchful eye on the campsite. He knew that he couldn't afford to let his guard down, not with the outlaws still on the loose and the stolen goods still out there somewhere in the darkness. And as the night wore on, Sir Wyatt reminded himself he is a Cyber-Knight. His duty is to bring them to justice.

[darthauthor]

Location:
Campsite in the wilderness

Present:
Sir Wyatt and three outlaws

As the crackling flames danced in the darkness, casting eerie shadows across the rugged landscape, Sir Wyatt's mind churned with thoughts of the day's events. The outlaws huddled around the fire, their faces illuminated by its warm glow, but Wyatt's gaze remained distant, his thoughts consumed by the task at hand.

He knew that he couldn't let his guard down, not for a moment. The outlaws may have dropped their weapons, but he couldn't afford to trust them, not after what had happened. Their betrayal still hung heavy in the air, a bitter reminder of the dangers that lurked in the wilderness.

As the night wore on, Wyatt's senses remained on high alert, his ears attuned to the slightest sound, his eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of movement. He knew that the two outlaws who had fled into the night could be lurking out there somewhere, waiting for their chance to strike.

But despite the looming threat, Wyatt refused to succumb to fear. He was a Cyber-Knight, a warrior of honor and duty, sworn to protect the innocent and uphold justice.

As the first light of dawn broke across the horizon, Wyatt knew that it was time to act. He roused the outlaws from their restless slumber, his voice firm and commanding as he issued orders for the day ahead.

"We're going after them," he declared, his eyes blazing with determination. "We're gonna track down those two outlaws and bring them to justice. And then, we're gonna find the rest of the stolen goods and make sure they're returned to their rightful owners."

The outlaws nodded in reluctant agreement, their expressions grim as they prepared to face the challenges that lay ahead. They knew that they had a long and dangerous journey ahead of them, but they also knew that they couldn't turn back now.

With a renewed sense of purpose, Wyatt led the outlaws out into the wilderness, their footsteps echoing in the silence of the dawn. They knew that the road ahead would be fraught with danger and uncertainty.

[darthauthor]

Location:
The wilderness of the New West

As the first light of dawn cast long shadows across the rugged landscape, Sir Wyatt stood alone. The events of the previous night weighed heavily on his mind, but he knew that he couldn't afford to dwell on past failures. With a grim determination driving him forward, Sir Wyatt set out into the wilderness, his keen eyes scanning the rugged terrain for any sign of the fugitives.
With each step he took, Sir Wyatt's senses came alive, attuned to the subtlest nuances of the natural world around him. The crisp morning air carried the faint scent of pine and earth, mingling with the distant echoes of wildlife stirring from their slumber. Wyatt moved with precision of a seasoned tracker, his every movement deliberate and purposeful as he followed the faint trail left behind by the fleeing outlaws.
As he journeyed deeper into the wilderness, Wyatt's mind raced with thoughts and possibilities, his keen instincts guiding him ever closer to his quarry. He knew that time was of the essence, that every moment brought the outlaws closer to slipping through his fingers for good.

Hours passed in a blur as Wyatt pressed on, his relentless pursuit driving him forward through the rugged terrain. At last, as the sun reached its zenith in the sky, Sir Wyatt caught sight of a faint plume of smoke rising in the distance, a telltale sign of human habitation amidst the wilderness.

Wyatt quickened his pace, his heart pounding in his chest as he closed in on the source of the smoke. As he drew nearer, the sound of voices drifted on the wind, their tones hushed and urgent as they spoke in low murmurs.
With caution born of experience, Wyatt crept closer, his senses on high alert as he prepared to confront the fugitives. Peering through the dense undergrowth, he caught sight of two figures huddled around a makeshift campfire, their faces drawn and weary as they exchanged whispered words.
With a surge Wyatt stepped out from the shadows, his presence commanding as he confronted the startled outlaws. "Hold it right there," he growled, as he leveled his revolver at the pair. "You're coming with me."
For a moment, the outlaws hesitated, their eyes wide with fear as they realized they had been caught. But then, with a sudden burst of desperation, they bolted from the campfire, disappearing into the wilderness once more.
With a curse under his breath, Wyatt gave chase, his boots pounding against the hard-packed earth as he pursued the fleeing fugitives. But even as he ran, he knew that the odds were stacked against him, that the outlaws were determined to evade capture at any cost.
As the chase wore on, it seemed that all hope was lost, for them, Wyatt stumbled upon a hidden cache of stolen goods hidden beneath a thicket of brush.

So that’s why they are over here . . .

Getting up again Wyatt ran after the outlaws.
Running one down Sir Wyatt tackled him.
The man didn't have any fight left in him.
Wyatt cuffed him and brought him back to the camp fire.
Looking at the man he was dehydrated.
He would have died in another day without clean water.
As it is, these gang of 4 are in need of food, water, and to get off the trial.
With the stolen goods in hand, Sir Wyatt made his way back to town.
It is a long walk.
Wyatt had the men dig a grave for their dad outlaw.
He put a marker on it to return for him later.

The rest had to walk and carry with them the loot that they had stolen.
They hated it.
Days later, they arrived dead tired.

Spent the night and the day just drinking water, eating, and resting.
Most believe the escapee, without a loaded gun and survival gear, will die out there if he's not dead already.

[darthauthor]

Location:
The Mining Town

As Sir Wyatt sat in his office, the weight of responsibility hung heavy on his shoulders.
The outlaws he had brought back with him were now locked securely in the jail cell, awaiting their fate.
Leaning back in his chair, Wyatt ran a hand through his hair, deep in thought. He knew that he wanted to reward those few who had cooperated with him, providing information in recovering the stolen loot. Sure it was a set up when they pulled out guns but they still brought him to the loot. He would keep his word even if they went for a gun.

But as for those who had refused to cooperate, who had remained defiant and unrepentant even in the face of justice, Wyatt's heart was heavy with indecision. He knew that he had a duty to the town and its people to ensure that justice was served, but he also couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there must be another way.

Rising from his chair, Wyatt paced the room, his mind racing with possibilities. He considered the option of harsh punishments, of locking the uncooperative outlaws away for years, perhaps even for life.
As the hours passed and the sun dipped below the horizon, Wyatt knew that he needed to make a decision soon. The town was waiting. Taking a deep breath, he resolved to listen to his heart, to follow the path of compassion and forgiveness, even in the face of adversity.
Gathering his resolve, Wyatt stepped out into the cool night air, making his way to the jail cell where the outlaws awaited their fate. As he approached, he could hear their voices echoing through the darkness, a mixture of fear, anger, and uncertainty.
Clearing his throat, Wyatt addressed the gathered outlaws, his voice steady and firm. "I have made my decision," he began, his words carrying the weight of authority. "For those of you who have cooperated with me."
Turning to the cooperative outlaws, Wyatt explained:
“You will work off your debts to society through hard labor, working in the mine, helping to build the town, farm work, road work. It will be hard work but when you have mined enough to repay those you stole from and damage, plus your food, then you can start anew.
“The one of the two that ran away and I brought back, Execution.
“For those who had refused to cooperate, Wyatt's tone grew somber. "Your actions have consequences," he told them, his voice filled with regret. "Triple the time and triple the damages.
“Still ain't gonna be released until you prove you will make an honest living.
“IF I find out someone died because of you, there'll be another trial. Unless you confess now. IF you don’t confess, now, the punishment will be a hanging.”

Wyatt knew the chances were good one or more of these men will be dead before the sentence is finished. He could have them executed and get it all over with but there is a chance one could make it too and some chance is better than none.

Their first official job will be building a gallows for the hanging. Arrangements will be made with the Necromancer.

[darthauthor]

Location:

The Mining Town of Octavia.

The town talked about it.

The hanging was agreed to, none argued against it or for the outlaw to have lenicy.
The only grumbling was about killing him in a way that helped the town with the Necromancer.
The Necromancer claims the spell he cast only works with the recently dead.
While this guy is alive he is eaten food.
No one wants to feed him for free.
The only reason to wait is for the full moon of which the Necromancer says it is a key element in making him a zombie.
The spell will transform him into a sort of robot.
Then, "it" will be put to work in the mine where no one will see "it."
It won't need to eat or drink or even breathe. Doesn't sleep. Doesn't tire. Doesn't complain.
It will work for as long as the Necromancer lives.
It will mine and the profits will be split with the town.
Nothing that wasn't going on before the Aerihman Clan Atlanteans destroy the zombies that were already working down in the mine.

The rest are put to work.
A chain gang.

Sgt Wyatt huddled with his fellow Dog Boys.

They talk about their next move.
The pups are growing up fast.
Wyatt wants volunteers to be a role model dads for them.
Take them hunting.
Teach them manly skills.

He volunteers himself first.
He just has to have a talk with the Dog Moms and pups about who it will be.

Next is their supply issues.
With the hover trucks making deliveries for them they will have to increase protection as they become more routine and predictable.
Still goods will be coming in as the ore goes out.
Getting a E-clip recharger out here will be expensive. And that's if they can get it. It could take years.
They will have to make trips with the Dog Boy #1210.
He can recharge clips with the unlimited power from the Ley Line and the hover truck.

With the mine producing, they will be bandits.

[darthauthor]

Location:

The Mining Town

In the dusty, sun-baked mining town, the air was thick with tension.
The townsfolk had been warned.

The notorious bandit, Black Jack Wilson and his gang had pillaged farms, robbed stagecoaches, and left a trail of destruction in their wake.

With a steely resolve and a heart of gold, Wyatt had rallied the townsfolk and raised a posse to take on Black Jack and his gang.

As the sun began to set on the horizon, the townsfolk gathered at the local saloon, preparing for the battle that lay ahead.

He had recruited who he could from the town:
First, there was Hank "The Rifleman" Johnson, a crack shot with a Winchester rifle who could pick off targets from a mile away.
Then there was Maria "The Viper" Sanchez, a deadly sharpshooter with a pair of Colt revolvers strapped to her hips.
Next came Big Jim O'Malley, a hulking brute of a man with a strength that matched his size.
Doc Callahan, the town's newest resident doctor who had a steady hand and a quick draw.

Wyatt’s regular Dog Boys were escorting convoys to and from Silvereno.
The rest were making a trip to the Ley Line with Dog Boy #1210 to recharge the batteries and E-Clips.

That left Wyatt in charge of the town and only bullets.

But he was ready to take on Black Jack and his gang; with the help of the locals.

The townsfolk lined the streets, cheering them on as they set off on their daring mission. They knew their town rested in the hands of these brave men and women, and they prayed for their safe return.

The journey to confront Black Jack and his gang had fortified their hideout in the rugged mountains outside of town, and they were prepared to defend it at all costs.

As they neared the outlaw stronghold, Wyatt called for a halt, signaling to the posse that the time had come to make their move. Wyatt would not wait for Black Jack to attack the town.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, shattering the stillness of the night.

The outlaws had spotted them and opened fire, raining down a hail of bullets.
Sir Wyatt shield himself and his posse with his Psi-Shield and telekinetic shield.
With the idiot gang firing until they are out and have to reload, Wyatt’s posse returned fire.

In the chaos of the firefight, Wyatt calls for a retreat (to give the outlaw gang a chance to surrender), leading the posse back into the cover and they regrouped.

Wyatt shouts his demands for surrender.
Black Jack shoots at him.
By a miracle Sir Wyatt dodges (even at -10).
Wyatt shoots back and wounds Black Jack.

With the element of surprise on their side, Wyatt and his posse charged the stronghold, catching Black Jack gang off guard. They surrender without Jack at their backs threatening them with a gun.

Black Jack and his gang are defeated, the townsfolk rejoiced, celebrating their victory as they count the loot the posse brought back.

Black Jack's stronghold is filled with a variety of spoils of war, accumulated from his numerous raids and criminal activities. Among the loot found in his stronghold are:

1. Gold and Silver: Black Jack and his gang have amassed a small fortune in gold and silver coins, stolen from stagecoaches, banks, and travelers. The precious metals are stored in chests and safes, hidden away in various rooms throughout the stronghold.

2. Weapons and Ammunition: Black Jack's arsenal is well-stocked with an array of firearms, including rifles, shotguns, and pistols of various makes and models. Ammunition crates line the walls.

3. Supplies and Provisions: The stronghold is stocked with provisions to sustain Black Jack and his gang during their extended stays. Barrels of food and water, crates of medical supplies, and other essentials are stored in the storage rooms, ensuring that they can withstand a prolonged siege if necessary.

4. Horses and Livestock: Black Jack's gang has rustled numerous horses and livestock from the surrounding farms and ranches. Stables within the stronghold house the stolen animals, providing transportation and sustenance for the gang as they carry out their raids.

5. Stolen Goods: Various stolen goods and contraband are scattered throughout the stronghold, ranging from clothing and household items to rare artifacts (bones, old native american stuff) and weathered technological gadgets that have fallen into dis-repair or didn’t work when they found them. Black Jack has a penchant for collecting items, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

Overall, Black Jack's stronghold serves as a veritable treasure trove of ill-gotten gains, providing him and his gang with the resources they need to continue their criminal enterprises.

SIr Wyatt is disturbed by people discussing how the loot will be divided up.

He swings into lecture mode:
As the sun dipped low on the horizon, casting long shadows, Wyatt stood before the gathered townsfolk, his weathered face set in a stern expression. The townspeople had come together in the central square, drawn by rumors of Wyatt's return and the spoils of his recent victory over Black Jack and his gang. Now, as they waited in hushed anticipation, Wyatt stepped forward, his voice ringing out with authority.

"Good people," Wyatt began, his voice carrying across the square, "I stand before you today not as a lawman or a hero, but as a servant of justice"

The crowd murmured in agreement, nodding their heads in approval as Wyatt spoke. But the seasoned gunslinger held up a hand, silencing them with a stern look.

"However," Wyatt continued, his voice taking on a solemn tone, "we must not lose sight of the true meaning of justice. Yes, we have recovered the spoils of Black Jack's crimes, but these treasures do not belong to us. They belong to the innocent men and women from whom they were stolen. They are the rightful owners, and it is our duty to see that they are returned."

A murmur of discontent rippled through the crowd, some of the townsfolk exchanging uneasy glances. But Wyatt's gaze remained steady, his resolve unwavering.

Wyatt continued, his voice softening with empathy. "Taking what does not belong to us, its like a step or two away from stealing it ourselves."

Pausing for a moment, Wyatt let his words sink in, allowing the gravity of the situation to settle over the crowd. Then, he spoke again.

"So I ask you, my friends," Wyatt said, his voice ringing out with conviction, "let us rise above the temptation of greed. Let us stand together as a community, united in justice. Let us return what was stolen and build a brighter future."

With those final words, Wyatt stepped back, his gaze sweeping over the crowd with a mixture of pride and hope. And as the townsfolk began to disperse, each carrying with them both the weight of Wyatt's words and disappointment; they could have gotten themselves a little bit rich.

Others murmur that they should hand over Black Jack and his gang to the necromancers for his magical favor…

Wyatt is beginning to worry…

“That was a one time thing. I executed an outlaw for his crimes and in a manner I thought would magically bring back the victim he had killed. As justice goes, that is better than most people get. I’m not going to allow the murder of anyone without a trial and even then only if it is justice.”

[darthauthor]

Location:

The Mining Town

In the heart of the bustling mining town, the stone courtyard served as the stage for the criminal trial of the captured outlaws. The townsfolk gathered in anticipation, their murmurs echoing off the weathered walls as they waited for justice to be served.

Wyatt, standing tall and resolute, watched the Mayor presided over the proceedings, his gaze unwavering as he addressed the gathered crowd.
Flanked by a small group of trusted deputies, Wyatt exuded an aura of authority tempered with fairness.

At the center of the courtyard, a makeshift wooden platform served as the courtroom, with a sturdy oak table positioned for the accused to stand before their judge.
Black Jack and his gang, now bound and shackled, were escorted to the platform under heavy guard, their expressions ranging from defiant to resigned.

As the trial commenced, witnesses were called forth to testify, their voices ringing out in the open air as they recounted the crimes perpetrated by the outlaws. The evidence presented was damning, with stolen goods and eyewitness accounts painting a vivid picture of the gang's misdeeds.

Wyatt listened intently, his keen eyes assessing each testimony with a discerning gaze. Despite the gravity of the situation, he remained calm and composed, ensuring that the trial proceeded with meticulous care.

As the proceedings unfolded, excitement ran high among the townsfolk.
They like a good show and were getting used to the trials.
Sir Wyatt's steadfast demeanor inspired confidence, instilling a sense of trust in his ability to uphold the law.

Finally, after careful deliberation, Octavia rendered her judgment, her voice carrying across the courtyard with unwavering authority. The outlaws were found guilty of their crimes.

The crowd erupted into murmurs of approval, their faith in their mayor Octavia and Sir Wyatt.
As the deputies escorted the convicted away, a sense of closure settled over the courtyard, marking the end of a chapter in the town's history.

Yet, even as the trial concluded, Wyatt knew that his work was far from over. With the outlaws brought to justice, he turned his attention to the task of trying to keep the town morale.

Black Jack was going to die by hanging on the night of the full moon so the Necromancer could make him into a zombie. His corpse will work in the mines.
Many of his followers will be used to return the stolen goods to their rightful owners.
Then, we will see.
Returning what you stole is not the same as never having stolen it but its a start.

On the way to one of the small villages Wyatt galloped into a ambush.
A gun fight ensued.
Some of the ambushers died.
Some were wounded.
Some surrendered.
Some Wyatt had to run down.
In the end they came back with more criminals then they left with.

They have to have another trial.
They need to build a bigger jail.

[darthauthor]

Location:

The Mining Town


Wyatt stood before the gathered townsfolk, his expression grave. The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the dusty street as the townspeople gathered to witness the execution of the outlaws who had plagued their community for far too long.

With a firm voice, Wyatt addressed the crowd, his words ringing out with authority. "Citizens of this town, we have come together today to carry out justice for the crimes committed by these outlaws."

The condemned outlaws stood nearby, their faces grim and resigned to their fate. They had been given a fair trial, and the verdict had been unanimous – they were to be executed.

Wyatt turned to the hangman, a solemn figure clad in black (the Necromancer), who stood ready to carry out the sentence. With a nod from Wyatt, the hangman stepped forward, his hands steady as he prepared the nooses that would bring an end to the outlaws' lives.

As the outlaws were led to the gallows, a hush fell over the crowd, broken only by the sound of creaking rope and the shuffling of feet. Wyatt watched silently as the nooses were placed around the outlaws' necks, his gaze unwavering as he bore witness to the final moments of their lives.

With a sharp crack, the trapdoor beneath the outlaws' feet swung open, and they plummeted into the abyss below. The crowd gasped in unison as the bodies swung lifelessly from the gallows.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the town in a veil of darkness, Wyatt turned away from the scene, his heart heavy with the weight of what had transpired. Justice had been served, but at what cost?

That night the Necromancer, by the light of the full moon began his ritual to transform the recently deceased to the newly undead.

The zombie of Black Jack rose. It was put to work in the mine.

[darthauthor]

Location:

Mining Town

Sir Wyatt faces a challenging task in returning the stolen goods to their rightful owners. To accomplish this, Wyatt can consider the following steps:

1. Wyatt catalogs the stolen items.

2. Wyatt needs to send a messenger to tell the law enforcement of the nearest towns to ask about returning the stolen goods. Seeking assistance in locating the rightful owners.

3. Claim Verification Process: Upon receiving claims from residents, Wyatt can establish a verification process to confirm ownership of the stolen goods. This involves cross-referencing evidence provided by claimants and using the surviving prisoners to be identified and identify the rightful owner.
There are some claims by people whose stuff was not stolen.
Some claim more stolen things than were stolen.

4. Once ownership of the stolen goods has been verified, Wyatt can oversee the return process. This involves telling owners to collect their belongings from him or arranging for direct delivery to their homes or businesses.

5. Follow-Up and Assistance: After returning the stolen goods, Wyatt can follow up with the rightful owners to ensure they have received their property safely and address any additional concerns or needs they may have.

By following these steps and working diligently to return the stolen goods to their rightful owners, Wyatt upholds justice with neighboring towns.

Returning stolen horses and cattle, however, presents several complications for Wyatt due to factors such as changes in value over time, reproduction, and the animals' health.

Wyatt first needs to assess the current value of the stolen horses and cattle. This involves considering factors such as the animals' age, breed, training, and overall condition. He asks local experts or veterinarians to determine their current market value.

Wyatt must determine the rightful owners of the stolen livestock. This requires tracing brand inspections, or other identifying markers on the animals. In cases where ownership is unclear or disputed, Wyatt tells them to seek legal proceedings to resolve the issue.
No one is perfectly happy but they are happier they got some back.

With the stolen livestock having reproduced since they were stolen, Wyatt considers how to address this. The offspring may belong to the original owners, but determining ownership can be complex, especially if the animals have been intermingled with other herds. Wyatt needs to negotiate agreements with the original owners or provide compensation for the additional animals.

Wyatt also needs to assess the health and condition of the stolen livestock. If the animals have been neglected or mistreated while in the possession of the criminals, they may require veterinary care or rehabilitation before they can be returned to their owners. Wyatt needed to ensure the animals received proper care.

Logistics of Return: Once ownership has been established and the animals' value and health have been assessed, Wyatt arranges for their safe return to the rightful owners. This involves a cattle drive of the livestock back to their original location or an in between point for pickup by the owners. The Dog Boys ensure the animals are safely transported and reintegrated into their home herds.
The Dog Boys have to scare off some rustlers.
Some native americans demand a toll for passing through their lands
Wyatt negotaites with them in their native tongue. Still he has to give up 10% and they cherry pick the best.
Horses are spooked by some scorpions stings.
They take it like a man does a bees sting.
Except it bucked the rider. Minor S.D.C. damage.

Overall, returning stolen horses and cattle requires careful consideration as Sir Wyatt navigates these complexities with sensitivity, fairness, and diligence to ensure justice is served and the animals are returned to their rightful owners.

[darthauthor]

Location:

The mining town.


Wyatt wiped the sweat from his brow as he surveyed the dimly lit interior of the mine. The convicts, shackled together in pairs, toiled under the harsh glow of the magical lanterns lights, their picks striking against the rock with rhythmic precision. Despite the oppressive atmosphere of the mine, Wyatt maintained a steely resolve, his gaze unwavering as he oversaw the labor.

As he made his rounds, checking on the progress of the work, a messenger approached him with urgent news. It was Running Wolf, a member of the nearby Native American tribe, his expression grave as he delivered his message in their native tongue.

Wyatt listened intently, his brow furrowing in concern as Running Wolf spoke of trouble brewing on the outskirts of the tribe's territory. It seemed that a band of outlaws had been encroaching on their lands, threatening their way of life and the safety of their people.
"I'll help however I can," Wyatt promised, his voice firm with determination.
Gathering his belongings, Wyatt made his way to the edge of the mine, where Running Wolf awaited him with a group of warriors. Together, they set out on horseback, riding hard across the rugged terrain towards the tribal lands.

With that, Wyatt and Running Wolf set off towards the Lakota village, where they would meet with the tribal elders.
As they rode through the rugged terrain, Wyatt couldn't help but admire the beauty of the land. Despite their differences in culture and upbringing, Running Wolf and he shared a deep respect for the land and a commitment to preserving its natural beauty.

When they arrived at the Lakota village, they were greeted by the tribal elders, who welcomed them with open arms and expressed their gratitude for Wyatt's willingness to help.
Under Wyatt's leadership, the posse set out into the wilderness, following the trail of the trespassers. Along the way, they encountered various obstacles and challenges, including treacherous terrain and hostile wildlife.

As they rode, Wyatt's thoughts turned to the task ahead. He knew that they would face formidable challenges in confronting the outlaws, but he also knew that they could not afford to fail. The safety of the tribe depended on their success.
Hours passed as they journeyed deeper into the wilderness, the landscape growing increasingly wild and untamed. At last, they reached the outskirts of the tribal territory, where signs of the outlaws' presence were.
Scorched earth and trampled foliage marked their passage, a grim reminder of the destruction they had wrought. Wyatt's jaw clenched in anger as he surveyed the scene, his resolve hardening with each passing moment.
With Running Wolf at his side, Wyatt led the warriors into the heart of the territory, their eyes sharp and their senses alert for any sign of danger. As they pressed forward, they soon came upon the outlaws' camp, a crude collection of tents and makeshift shelters nestled among the trees.

Without hesitation, Wyatt signaled for the warriors to surround the camp, their movements swift and coordinated as they closed in on their unsuspecting prey. The element of surprise was on their side, and Wyatt knew that they must strike quickly if they were to have any hope of success.

As they launched their attack, the air filled with the sound of shouts and gunfire, the clash of steel against steel echoing through the forest. Wyatt fought with a fierce determination, his muscles burning with exertion as he battled against the outlaws.
He pulled out his psi-shield and charged in.

Despite the ferocity of their resistance, the outlaws soon found themselves overwhelmed by the combined might of Wyatt and the tribal warriors. With their leader captured and their ranks decimated, they were forced to surrender, their reign of terror brought to a swift and decisive end.
As the dust settled and the smoke cleared, Wyatt surveyed the scene with a sense of satisfaction. The tribe's lands had been reclaimed, their people safe once more from the threat of violence and oppression. And though the scars of battle would linger for some time, Wyatt knew that they had emerged victorious.
With a nod of gratitude to Running Wolf and the warriors, Wyatt turned to leave, his heart filled with pride and determination. Though the challenges of the frontier would always be many, he knew that as long as he stood by his principles and remained true to his convictions.

[darthauthor]

Sir Wyatt is on the outskirts of the Mining Town, investigating a field of dead cattle.

His investigation reveals that several ranches have suffered the same cattle losses.
At least a quart of the cattle population has been lost over the past two months.

The ranchers believe it to be the work of a demon.
All attempts to locate and destroy the demon have failed.

Several of the towns people have gone missing and are believed to be dead.

After a lot of trackign tracking, taking at least four days.
Sir Wyatt finds the tracks lead to a burrow dug a ways away from the Mining town.

Waiting, in hiding, for the Demon to return, Sir Wyatt waits for his Sixth Sense to go off.

The demon turns out to be, Spiny Ravager.

Sir Wyatt powers up his telekinetic force field opens fire.
He catches the beast by surprise.
The beast charges him.
Sir Wyatt produces a Psi-Sword in each hand.
He strikes.
The beast pounces on Sir Wyatt.
He force field saves him while impaling it with his psi-swords.
He dismisses his Psi-Swords and re-creates them to continue to cut into the beast stabbing it in a fresh direction.
The beast roars in pain and gets off of Sir Wyatt.
Wyatt strikes, cuts, the beast runs.
Out runs Sir Wyatt.
Wyatt goes back for his guns and stalks the Spiny Ravager.