Mallory continues to move deeper into the fog, flanking around the other side of Doc, and heading towards the center of the mist. She was thinking that it would only be a matter of time before they boxed Jack in when Ben's gun went off, and the killer grunted with.. pleasure?
The next sound she hears is a taunt . She whips towards the sound of Scalping Jack paying pain back on Ben tenfold, and fires a single shot deep into the mist. She's already loading another cartridge into the gun before she knows if it hits.
Mal's aim is perfect, and goes clean through Scalping Jack's torso. But the bastard is evil incarnate and tough to boot. If he was hurt by the second bullet, he doesn't show it.
In fact, he begins to laugh disturbingly.
"Are you still there, my little Angel? Do you still dream of me at night?" he said in a sing-song voice, before chuckling again. "They all dream of me, before the end."
Putting a hand against the cabin wall, Leland begins to cross the cabin, making a move to try to stop the train.
Ben gasped for air - he'd been wounded before, but never gut-shot, and now that he felt it, he didn't like it much.
Holstering his pistol, he took his blade in both hands and slashed at the cause of his pain. He may be a nightmare, but he's one you can fight, Ben thought a tad desperately.
"If you-all mean to come a-runnin', I won't have a bad word to say against you," he called to the others.
Ira continues his litany.
Scalping Jack chuckles at Ben's ineffectual swing. He then swings his morningstar in retaliation.
Scalping Jack growled when his own weapon was expertly parried by Ben's sword. But the force of the blow was enough to make Ben's teeth rattle.
Despite the laugh and taunts from Jack, Mallory knows in her gut that her bullet found its target. Gritting her teeth, she fires another shot into the mist, before reloading and trying to keep herself hidden from Jack's piercing gaze.
Doc continues his diagonal path until he reaches the wall of the car, then follows it forward.
Leland will continue to move around the outside of the car, looking for the forward door.
Blinking residual blood out of his eyes, Ben had the sinking feeling that he may have bit off more than he could chew. He tried not to think about what would have happened to his head had that morningstar hit, and edged along the wall of the car, his fears of the train jumping the tracks temporarily overcome by fear of Scalping Jack crushing his head like a melon.
You have a mean swing, I'll give you that, Ben grunted as he slashed at the nightmarish figure again, keeping him at bay. His dialect slipped a bit in his fear, revealing a more cultured diction, with the accent of the Lotus Empire. But I don't have the time to be dancing with your sorry carcass. You go on and take a swing-round with the Hangman instead!
Leland finds the forward door but notes that it has been locked. He'll need the key that Mallory is carrying.
Ira finished his litany, and then inched along the wall. When he came across Ben he invoked the Hangman to offer him some divine guidance.
---
Scalping Jack sneered at Ben and drove his morningstar towards him. It would have crushed him, but luckily timed shot from Mal hit the killer's shoulder, causing his weapon to fly wildly at the last moment.
Blood dribbled from Scalping Jack's lips.
Having reached the end of the car, Doc moves along that wall to reach the door, which he discovers Leland has already reached.
Grabbing the knob and finding it locked, he looks at Leland. "Key?"
He scans the area while waiting for a reply, but can see nothing but fog. Somewhere within it, he hears grunts... gunshots... cursing... preaching... the metallic clangs of battle...
"Can you shut off the dousing magic?"
Feeling the tremble of the train under his feet, Ben realized that this fight was all or nothing. There may be a priest ready at my side, but I'll cheat the Hangman yet!
He lunged at Scalping Jack, his blade whipping out in a pattern of quick slashes. "Hear that preacher behind me, Jack? That's the Hangman comin' for you!"
Just as a frustrated Loveless asks for someone to do something about the daggone mist...
A fierce battle is waged between Ben and Scalping Jack with neither gaining the upper hand, until finally Ira, delivered the blessing of the Hangman.
And just like that, Ben could feel the righteousness of this fight. Some folks need ending.
He taunted Jack and pressed his attack, when suddenly he knew to slash at just the right moment...
Scalping Jack screamed as his hand was severed at the elbow, his morningstar hitting the floor with a heavy thunk.
"Damn you all straight to Perdition! I'll rip your flesh from your bones, and defile your corpses!" he screamed.
Mal hears Scalping Jack rant, rave and scream. She can suddenly envision him perfectly. She doesn't think. She just closes her eyes and pulls the trigger.
Scalping Jack's head explodes.
The magical mist simply fades away, revealing the gory sight of Scalping Jack, the Terror of New Oasis, headless and somehow still standing. A brief moment, bordering on forever, passes and the corpse falls to its knees and then slumps over.
As Doc stares into the featureless mist, it suddenly thins and fades away. For the first time, his eyes lock on Scalping Jack, facing off with Ben.
A headless Scalping Jack. One forearm missing. Blood fleeing from his body. Dead and a half, just not realizing it yet.
Doc's jaw slacks a little and he stares, motionless, as the standing corpse eventually sinks to its knees and then falls over.
His eyes flick from the dead body to Ben, to Ira, to Mallory, to Jack again.
"Tarnation!" he breathes. Then a malicious grin crawls slowly onto his face and an evil glint flickers in his eyes. He shakes his fist at the fallen madman. "Impressed yet, son? Dream of yer own dayum self 'before the end,' did ya, BOY!"
The gnome's smile fades. "Now somebody GET THIS GOL-DURN DOOR OPEN! We got us a train to stop!
When the smoke dissipates, Mallory's arm is still outstretched, her smoking gun aimed at the place Jack had been standing. A grin spreads across her face as she lowers the weapon, quickly reloading it before dropping it into the holster.
Mallory tosses the key over to Doc. "I'll catch up in a second." She saunters over to where Ben is standing covered in blood that is both his and Jack's. Completely ignoring the wounded man, she drops into a squat and begins to search Jack's corpse, looking for anything that she might be able to use to claim the bounty.
Doc grabs the key out of the air, spins to face the door, jams the key into the lock, turns it, and yanks the door open.
Heart still pounding away, Ben didn't immediately respond to the Doctor. Instead he nodded to Ira, touching the brim of his hat. "Much obliged, preacher." Somehow he managed to lean on his curved blade, watching Mal search Jack's body. "And to you too," he added a bit more grudgingly.
Wiping the blood off his face, he gingerly felt his stomach where Jack had touched him. Glaring at the corpse, he landed a good, hard kick on its side. "Told you, Scalpin' Jack. You have a meetin' with the Hangman. Looks like I got the gift of prophecy." Then he joined Mal in the search, only he was looking for anything worth selling or keeping. His quick fingers rifled through the nightmare's pockets like flipping through a book, either long practice or harsh necessity speeding his work.
Mal and Ben search the corpse quickly and efficiently -- almost as if they've done this once or twice before.
They find:
- 110 GP
- Wand of Some Sort
- Scroll of Some other Sort
- MW Hide Armor
- MW Morningstar
- MW Backpack
- Everburning Torch
Meanwhile Doctor Loveless opens the Service Car leading to the Engine. And for a horrifying second, he really wishes he hadn't.
A beautiful Scorching Eye rises in the East, it's hot gaze illuminating something right ahead of you. The Forsaken Crossing a railway bridge over the Forsaken Ravine, the very beginning of the Big Drop and what gives the place it's name.
It don't take no scientist to know if you hit that bridge at this speed, you'll soon be joining Scalping Jack in the Hangman's Courthouse.
"Nice shooting!!
With the door open, Leland squints into the morning brightness,
"Oh sweet tap dancing crap! We need to slow this train down right now!"
With that he dashes towards the engine.
Doc leaps after Leland, sticking close but staying out of the way. We're in his domain now.
After stuffing what he could grab into his pockets , Ben pulled himself to his feet and moved after the gnomes. Squinting in the sudden light, his eyes suddenly went wide at the impending lesson in mechanical flight.
With a heartfelt curse, he looked around for trouble, then yelled to Leland, "What do you need, little fella? Talk to us! Should we run on back for the emergency brake?"
Doctor Loveless doesn't waste another moment. He uses the key to open the door to the engine.
The Engine of a train is a marvel of gnome engineering, arcane might, and divine intervention. But Scalping Jack must have gone wild with his mace in here, because it looks beat to Perdition and back.
Gauges, controls, struts, gears -- nearly everything has been smashed to pieces. But at least the Boiler is intact. Thank the Brakeman for small miracles. Of course, had the Boiler been done in, none of you would have been around to tell the tale of it.
There are two gnome-sized bodies scattered about that have been drained of all life. If not for the uniforms, Leland would have never realized that they were the First and Second Conductor.
They had been friends.
There are two controls at the helm that could help you. The Brake Switch and the Accelerator. It's probably best to throw them both. But they have been smashed in. It'll take some muscle to get them working.
(If the boiler had been "done in" wouldn't it just have lost pressure and we'd have coasted to a stop by now?)
Mallory steps into the Engine room behind Ben, and her eyes go right for the window. Seeing the ravine fast approaching, her first instinct is to shove the others out of the way and get the hell off the train. But she's smart enough to know that they're going too fast, and she'll be dead the second she hits the ground. 'Ain't the way for a Slinger to go out.'
Her eyes move to the smashed machinery throughout the room, and everything just looks completely destroyed. Even when it was together it was unlikely that she could make any sense of it, but now there was no chance at all of it. From where she was standing she couldn't see the gnome's faces, but Ben looked as uncertain as she did. 'Poor kid.' she thought.
'Well,' A peaceful sort of smile spread across her face. 'An explosion of metal and fire ain't a bad way to go, all things considered.' She shook her head. 'Nope. No surrender. Not even in the face of Armageddon.'
As her eyes swept across the room, still not seeing anything of value, she broke the silence that seemed to have settled over the room as everyone's minds worked, trying to process the situation and come up with a plan. "Y'all got 2 seconds give me a task 'fore I just start shootin'."
Feeling impatient Ben took his sword to try to leverage the Brake.
The leverage seems to help quite a bit, and for a moment it starts to give. The train shakes, rattles and convulses violently. Those looking at the sides can see massive sparks where the brakes are starting to apply.
It's -- it's working!
Ben gives a mighty heave, and the train slows a little more. But then something horrible happens.
A sound unlike anything you have ever encountered. A loud twisting, bending noise, that might as well be the Mouth of Perdition opening to swallow you whole. And then, to your utter horror, there is a loud snap.
The train is tossed violently, and you're thrown along with it. When you get back to your feet. You can see a flashing light.
The train has indeed slowed down. But it's not hard to see that you're still going too fast.
Our five heroes are beaten, battered, and bleeding. But they are not broken. Not by a long shot. All five do the same mental math in their heads. The Cars are a chaotic mess. And running back there would just take far too long -- unless...
All five turned to look behind them, at the connecting platform. Specifically, they look at the ladder leading up to the roof of the train.
Mallory looks at the light in disgust, and looks like she's about ready to pump a few bullets into the speaker. As the ladder catches everyone's attention, she looks between the others, trying to gauge each one. Ben is stronger than she is, but doesn't seem as quick on his feet, and the gnomes, well, forget them. "Right." she says and, shoving her gun back into the holster, begins walking towards the ladder.
Not about to let his fate rest in anyone else's hands (and reasoning that if he ended up having to leap off the train, the back was the place to do it), Ben sheathed his sword and ran for the ladder as well. "You gnomes best throw that other lever!" he yelled, climbing on Mal's heels.
A growl emanates from deep in Doc's throat before he turns and bellows at Leland. "WHAT IDJIT EXCUSE FOR A GNOME DESIGNED THIS THING!" he shouts while gesticulating wildly at the cab in general and the warning light in particilar. "If you can trigger a light and a Magic Mouth YOU CAN TRIGGER THE DANGED EMERGENCY BRAKE!"
Fuming in anger, he catches motion from the corner of his eye and snaps his head around to see Mallory and Ben scrambling up the ladder. "WHAT?! GET YER SORRY CARCASS BACK DOWN HERE, HALF-BREED!"
Spewing obscenities, he turns back to the smashed controls. "Preacher! Grab this here Johnson bar and haul on it like yer closin' the gates of Perdition!" So saying, Doc positions his cane between the throttle lever and the panel, its butt against the firewall as he pulls back on its other end for leverage.
Mal continues to climb, the Doc's yells being more and more drowned out by the sound of the wind. Nearly losing her hat, Mal pulls it closer against her head, and angles her perspective downward a bit as she looks down the length of the train. 'You're too old for this, girl.' She reminds herself. She catches a glimpse of Ben climbing up behind her, and frowns. 'Don't you try to catch him,' she tells herself. 'Man falls, he's on his own. Way of the world.' But she doesn't sound as convincing as she wanted to.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Mal and Ben hit the roof. There’s a brief moment of doubt in both their minds. But then they take off running. Ain’t no time for nonsense like that.
***
Loveless and Ira manage to shut off the accelerator. There’s a terrifying quiet all of the sudden, as the Boiler sputters dead. Poets might make meaning from something like that. But these three have a train to stop.
Leland manages to force open the paneling under the Brake and Accelerator. There’s a mess of wires and doodads that might make most folk think twice. He dives right in. A split moment later, Loveless joins him.
The two gnomes work tirelessly. Tossing ideas back and forth, until they notice it. The rear brake wasn’t getting any energy to it. Unless they rerouted power, Mal and Ben could jump up and down on the brake all day and it wouldn’t do diddly.
They both curse in rapid-fire Gnomish. And get to work.
Danggone longshanks better appreciate this.
***
Mal and Ben run like the Hangman himself is after them. And for all intents and purposes, he might as well be. They leap one gap after another, hardly pausing, and certainly not thinking.
A goblin tried to jump in front of them, and Mal absently pistol-whipped him. Ben took the falling Goblin’s spear and threw it at another down the way, skewering the little varmint like he was nothing.
They plowed through a couple others, not bothering in the slightest with finesse. Weren’t no time for that.
Ben slipped once, and nearly tipped over, but Mal reached behind and steadied him. Nothing was said.
Mal misjudged one of the jumps, and nearly met her end. But Ben, jumping a second after, put a hand to her back and guided her momentum back to the train. Nothing was said then either.
They reached the final car and spotted a roof entrance leading down. It had a couple of padlocks. Two gunslingers opened fire, and suddenly there weren’t any padlocks. They lifted the top and jumped in.
***
Few in this life or the next would classify these five as “good folks”. But there’s something that Gods know that many forget. Folks don’t need to be good to be great.
***
Ira viciously ripped open a panel heeding, Leland’s instructions. All the while, he says a prayer to the Hangman. In very floral language it simply says the following: “Not yet, you bastard. Not yet.”
***
Mal and Ben dove straight into Perdition. Goblins, Goblin Dogs, and even another Bugbear. The Gunslingers reloaded and then opened fire.
And The Hangman got himself a few more souls.
***
Leland and Loveless crowed in triumph when they finally finished rerouting power. They flipped the switch.
Nothing happened.
***
Dead goblins lay everywhere, as Mal laid down covering fire. She picking her targets, keeping them honest. She risked a moment to look behind her and found to her dismay that Ben was yanking for all he was worth. But the brake wasn’t budging.
The two locked eyes and realized there was little more to do. Perhaps they should just jump?
Ben glared at the switch and kept pulling anyway. He thought of dead children. Fire. Smoke. Blood. He screamed in defiance and pulled.
Mal turned round and saw the Goblins mounting a charge on their position. She thought of Vincente, a dwarf, a fellow gunslinger - dead for trying to bring medicine to some folks that needed it.
A hero.
A dead hero.
She drew Vincente’s Pepperbox Pistol from her belt. A gunslinger’s piece only worked for them. Every gunslinger worth their salt knew that. But somehow she knew that The Shooter wouldn’t mind just this once.
She fanned the pistol, unleashing a prayer to the Shooter penned in fire, grit and lead.
***
Leland and Loveless yelled at each other and at their makeshift engineering marvel. It wasn’t working. But it damn well should be. Finally, in frustration, Loveless yelled and smashed the panel with his cane.
There was a click. Then all hell broke loose.
***
Ben pulled and pulled until he swore he felt his shoulder rip -- but nothing. And then suddenly there was a whirring noise, and the brake started to give. He yelled in pain, hope and anger.
Then all hell broke loose.
***
There was screeching and sparks as several hundred tons of machinery tried to stop on a copper. The train hit the bend right before the bridge and nearly tipped over.
Neary. But didn’t.
The train crossed the bridge as it slowed down.
***
Ira threw himself on the gnomes and shielded them from the debris around the Engine as the train lurched to a stop. A heavy cable fell on his back, that took the breath out of him. He held on anyway.
***
Mal and Ben were thrown violently to the floor. She hit her head on the wall, while Ben dislocated his shoulder as his body was wrenched one way then the other.
***
Finally the train slowed, and then stopped.
The few Goblins looked at the Gunslingers who even now were rising again.
“Demons!” they shouted, and ran for the hills. They ran past a water tower that had something painted on it.
"Thank the Brakeman."
Leland sinks down to the floor of the engine, exhausted. Literally shaking as the adrenalin leaves his bloodstream, for a long time he just sits there.
"Well I guess those two crazy longshanks didn't end up so much red jelly along the tracks. Damned lucky fools. Welp, let's go see how everyone is holding up."
He gets to his feet makes to head back down the length of the train.
Ben groaned, rising to his feet as the train coasted to a stop. He glanced at Mal - he'd seen her hit her head pretty hard, and was vaguely wondering if she had anything worth looting, but it looked like she was going to pull through after all.
Holding his tender and bulging shoulder with a scowl, he managed to holster his bizarre pistol with a little effort. He watched the goblins pass the water tower in silence, then shook his head. "I guess the preacher and them gnomes managed to do somethin' useful after all. Will wonders never cease." Calculating the odds of claiming a reward for himself, he sighed. Too many witnesses knew he'd been with the party. No use tryin' to knock the party off, either - too many.
Turning his wary stare on Mal, he said, "I belive I owe you a drink. But if... we are going to get any kind of re-ward out of this, we'll need them passengers to make a fuss about us. We'll need to see that they get to town. The gnomes, too," he added reluctantly.
Then he slammed his shoulder into the wall, snapping it back into place with a grunt.
Mal opened her eyes, and shook her head, trying to clear it. Pain radiated down her spine and she wondered if she'd have been better off just letting the train go off the rails. She sat up, not yet ready to stand, and looked around.
Ben was talking but she couldn't make out the sound over the ache in her head, and all she wanted to do was shoot him, but doubted she could raise her arm that high. She shook her head again, forcing herself to her feet, as he started talking about drinks and rewards. His usage of we perplexed her, causing her to first think (and nearly say) 'There is no we'. Then her second thought was that maybe he wanted to bump off the gnomes and claim the reward just the two of them. When he finished, she realised that he meant to escort everyone back. 'Ain't no place for heroes.' she muttered.
She cocked her head at him, trying to decide what to tell him. Finally she nodded. "Saved my life so I'll cut you a break. Gnome who had this on 'im" she held up Vincente's pistol, wincing as she did so, "Escortin' box of medicine. Reckon it might well get us even more cash than the survivors thanks."
Doc sits panting alongside Leland. Something nags at his mind, but he can't quite put his finger on it.
He laughs at the other gnome's comment. "Too many tallfolk around anyways, losin' a few ain't gonna upset me none. 'Specially that half-breed, somethin's loose in that boy's noggin. But they's firepower and we might be needin' 'em yet, so I reckon it's best if they both made it."
He stands and starts to follow the summoner back into the train. "Nice skills back there, brother. I'd'a worked it out in time, but we was a might short on that."
Glancing out the side of the engine cab, his eyes fall on the water tower and he starts laughing uncontrollably.
"You reckon we made it here a bit ahead'a schedule?" he manages to choke out between guffaws.
But then, something started to coalesce. Water tower... boiler... smashed controls... Leland's efforts. Suddenly it comes to him. Laughter abruptly ending and eyes growing wide with shocked understanding, Doc spins on his heel and dives through the panel opening back into the guts of the engine.
His voice, muffled and metallic, filters out through the opening. "Where... I know I saw... that's the dagblamed key... control, all about control... yes, yes... that circuit was... and then this modulates..."
Ben stared at Mal for a long moment, trying to figure why she'd tell him about the medicine. He doubted it was for his pretty face; she seemed cut from the same cloth as Ben, and he didn't trust her an inch. The pain in his shoulder made it harder to think fast. Reckoning it was for the same reason he'd told her about his plans for the passengers, he finally nodded. "I'll bet you're right," he offered by way of thanks. "Can you walk? Let's have a look at that medicine, and then tell them passengers what to think."
He broke into an evil-looking grin. "I ain't never been a hero before. Think it comes with plenty of gold?" He sighed again, thinking how much more gold there might be if he could just trust the other 'slinger to keep her mouth shut if he bumped off the gnomes. The preacher, though... well, he didn't want to tempt the Hangman that badly, and the preacher would talk. Ah, well.
"I'm Ben. You got a name, girl?"
After a bit of searching, Mal locates one of the boxes containing medical supplies. She recognized Vincente's Mark, a Revolver crossed with a Crescent Moon.
Before Mal and Ben can do anything else, a battered gnome enters wielding a hand crossbow.
"Oh, my! Are you hurt? We're bringing the wounded to the front."
Suddenly his eyes widened.
"Did -- did you hit the brake? You saved us! Quickly, quickly, follow me. Everyone will want to meet you."
He excitedly ushers the two gunslingers to the front of the train.
"The Brakeman bless you!" he says over and over again.
***
Ira, Leland and Loveless returned to the Diner's Car to find Hamish issuing orders to a few of the surviving gnomes and some of the more able-bodied passengers.
Even at the lowly rank of Apprentice Conductor, he was the only member of Senior Staff not murdered by the madness of Scalping Jack or a vile Goblinoid.
Miss Wen however is tending the wounded using her powers. She looks on the verge of collapse, but keeps going anyway.
Ira was probably a bit surprised when Doc's legs, protruding from the opening in the engine's firewall, began convulsing to the sounds of pained grunts and curses... but it was over before he could do very much.
The Hangman only knows what the preacher thought when the gnome who emerged looked less feral and more like the gnome he remembered from Car #8. Although... a gnome who was uncharacteristically quiet and reserved.
Doc was grinning when he crawled out of the hatch, but that grin quickly fades as the two move through the carnage they had so recently dealt with.
He scans the disaster that used to be the dining car, which had apparently been turned into a rallying point and triage area. He spots most everyone from their passenger car and nods approvingly. Like them or not, there's no point to senseless death.
His eyes fall on Jade, looking nearly exhausted. Walking over to her, he drops his backpack on the floor of the car next to her and begins rummaging through it.
"You know Miss Wen, a healer isn't much good to her patients if she's unconscious. Your own condition is every bit as important as theirs... arguably more so, in fact." As he talks, he mixes ingredients pulled from his backpack, then drinks the glowing contents of the vial before placing a hand on the woman's shoulder.
As Mallory searche around through boxes, she shakes her head at Ben's question. "There's the rub." she says. "Bein' a hero, folks 'spect you to give the gold away. They can turn on you right quick, think you ain't what they believe you to be."
She looks away from the crates towards Ben, and gets a really good look at him, finding how strange it was, the age difference between them. Weren't many gunslingers lived to be much older than Mallory was. She turns back to the boxes, searching through them, figuring that the least she could do was try to pass on some of what she learned.
Reaching out a hand, she touches Vincente's seal on the medicine crate briefly, before standing up. "S'why rule number one is 'don't get involved'."
If Ben had a response, she didn't wait for it. She'd buried too many boys younger than he was to want to make a big deal of it. She hoped that walking away made it clear, that after the job was done, they went their separate ways.
Without turning around, or even breaking stride, she replied "Name's Mallory. Mal."
As she nears the door, the gnome bursts through it and she nearly blows him in half, before shooting an irritated glare through him instead. As he half-leads, half-drags them towards the front, through the carnage and remnants of chaos, praising them all the way for bravery and heroics that Mal wasn't sure she possessed, she wonders what in Perdition the goblins were doing on the train in the first place.
Upon getting a dose of Doc's healing magic, Miss Wen smiles appreciatively. She still looks a bit frazzled, but seems much less wan and pale than before.
With a bloodstained gloved finger, she pushes up her spectacles. Loveless notices they now sport a crack in one of the lenses, possibly a result of the impact.
"Thank you, Doctor."
***
Hamish approaches Leland, he is limping a bit, but looks better than he did earlier. And yet there's a look in his eye. A part of Hamish died in this train.
"Did you kill the bastard? Is he dead?" he asked in a hard voice, Leland has never heard the young gnome use.
***
Mal and Ben walked into the Diner Car to find Loveless, Leland and Ira.
"If there are no opticians or magic menders where we're headed," Doc says absently as he digs out a leather-bound journal and writing instrument, "those spectacles will have to wait until I've a proper lab again."
So saying, he settles on the floor cross-legged, opens the book, and begins writing in a crisp and tidy script. "Must get this down before the details escape me..." he mutters.
"Aye, we put him down like the rabid dog he was. You've done a good job handling the situation here. Don't let anyone wander into the forward cars, it's really bad up there."
Leland runs a hand through his hair, "I'm really not looking forward to writing this report."
Seeing Mal and Ben walk ing, he waves them over. "You magnificent bastards! Just when I thought you'd lost your religion, you pull the whole thing off! Damned miracle, really."
Miss Wen smiled.
"Thank you, Doctor. I have a mending spell I can prepare tomorrow. All things considered, I think I got off lightly. I would speak more, but I have other patients I must attend to now."
She stands up, and straightens her clothes a bit as she takes a deep, calming breath. She turns to leave, but then hesitates. She turns back to Loveless, bends down and places a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you for saving our lives, Doctor Loveless."
She smiles again then turns to her patients, not waiting for the good Doctor's response.
***
Hamish nods at Leland upon hearing that Scalping Jack is indeed dead.
"Good," he said coldly. "And thank you," he said a bit warmer.
***
The next few hours are a hustle of activity as the train is repaired enough to limp along to it's next stop, Outpost 7.
The Railroad puts all the passengers in hotel rooms for the night and offers them reimbursement, along with another ticket to their original destination or back to New Oasis.
The Heroes are treated to free drinks that night wherever they go in Outpost 7 - known locally as Last Hope. Everyone wants to hear the tale of your thrilling heroics. How much you choose to share, however, is up to you.
The Railroad also decides to pay you each the full amount of Scalping Jack's bounty. It turns out he did have one. Who knew?
They also let you keep whatever you want off of Scalping Jack's corpse.
- Scalping Jack's Bounty - 400gp
- Ticket Reimbursement - 5gp
But, sadly, Ira decides to ride back to New Oasis along with some of the other passengers. He gives you all his thanks, and hopes he can meet up with you again in the future.