Target Objective: Dr. Llewellyn Coleman.
Target Location: The Old River Mines
The River Mine Myth
Ruby gripped the side of her left arm, a short jolt of pain pulsated through it, reminding her what was at stake when her luck ran out. Over the last few weeks Ruby had racked up more than a lifetime of death sentences by Confederate ruling and she knew the lucky escapes she'd managed during her missions had to be running out soon. But still, Ruby was persistent and if she was going to die, she reasoned it might as well be in a blaze of glory and entertainment leaving a hole the size of the earth in the Confederate army ranks. Although she wasn't entirely sure Miss Reese was acting objectively seeing as this mission and the last one resulting in Alexander’s dismissal had seemed biased, Ruby didn't question her leader and so now here she stood, outside the solemn entrance to the River mine.
The mine was at the bottom of a large quarry to the south of the Flats, only half a mile from the Diando River - the birthplace of the River Mine company and the founding fathers of this mine for which it was named after. The bottom of the quarry was hardened and like an oven. The blaring heat of the Flats, even at this time of year seemed to growing harsher and harsher as the days went on. Ruby almost pondered if it was ominously reflecting the situation of the Flats itself.
Ruby eyed the entrance for the fourth time in a row. Getting out of the Workshop was what she had been itching to do, but after Miss Reese had removed Ruby's tactical ban until the heat on her lessened slightly, she hadn't anticipated it would be, to be sent down another hole in the ground. Ruby clenched her teeth and took a deep breath. The other factor that she was being assigned to rescue some Confederate scientist also didn't sit too well with her. But the fact of the matter was, Alexander had absconded the White Group and Miss Reese seemed extra flustered lately, and the least Ruby felt she could do for Miss Reese was at least one favour. So Ruby sucked it up and took a deep breath. She knew the stories of this old mine, she knew what she had to do, but in truth, she didn't know what to expect. So Ruby sucked it up and made the first steps into the deep decent of the River mine. The entrance was largish in it's own right, but the light from outside made it seem pitch black from the get go. It was when Ruby was only about twelve feet in that she suddenly went light headed and before could process what was happening, she collapsed.
The Truth About the River Mine and the Disappearance of Colonel Autumn
When Ruby groggily began to come to, she had no idea how long she'd been out for, but it felt like she had been unconscious for quite a while. Ruby rubbed her head gently and quickly checked herself over, realizing she was unarmed. The realisation her guns had been taken alerted Ruby to glance her surroundings and it was then she realised she was in some sort of holding cell. It was formal looking too; three walls were smooth concrete albeit cracked here and there, but nothing significant. The fourth wall of course, consisted of metal bars with a sliding door pulled shut and locked tight. In her cell Ruby had a concrete slab, possibly supposed to be a bed and a toilet with a basin, that after trying, did not work. Ruby felt a twinge of pain radiate up her arm suddenly realising it was grazed on top of the gun wounds. She grabbed her arm releasing she must have been dragged here as suddenly a voice broke her confusion.
"Ah! Y-you're awake! T-t-that's good! I thought Colonel Autumn was going to kill you to be honest... he was blabbering about h-h-how you deserved to die!"
Ruby rubbed her arm as she turned around to look out her cell and across the way into another cell where an averaged height man stood gripping the bars. He had ruffled light brown hair, a few days worth of beard growth and tired looking blue eyes. He looked to be around his late fifties, dressed in some pretty hardy looking clothes, but on the shoulder of his jacket Ruby could see the obnoxious symbol of the Confederacy, a five pointed star circled by several other stars. Ruby knew each small star circling your center star stood for your rank within the confederacy. This man seemed to be fairly high up, and yet he was in a cell like Ruby and talking about Colonel Augustus Autumn.
"Y-you, I've h-h-heard about you... It t-took Colonel Autumn all but t-two seconds to recog-g-gnise you!"
Ruby moved to the bars in her cell, resting her forearms of the support horizontal beam, leaning into the bars as she stared ar the man across what she could now see was a hallway lined with more cells,
"First of all, who the fuck are you? Second of all, where the fuck are we? And third of all, what the fuck is going on? I was in the River Mine near the Diando River and suddenly wake up here after some sort of bullshit..."
The man across the way sort of smiled pathetically, giving Ruby and empathetic smile before explaining everything to her.
"W-well. You can call me L-Lew. I work for - did w-work for the Confederacy, but unfortunately for me, we don't s-see eye to eye on some things... As f-for where we are... Well, technically you are i-in the R-river mine... But y-you're actually in an o-o-old world facility of some kind... It was discovered only a week ago by accident! Some Confedearate researchers accidentally broke a wall of t-the mine shafts in the mine... I-I think it was used as an emergency facility... They u-used it as a means of last resort! Y-you see, I think there was some k-kind of-"
"Cut to the chase Lew!” Ruby interrupted,
"Oh, s-sorry... I get rather carried away d-don't I! Anyway, This old world facility.. It was used to store things... Weapons and m-more to be precise. That's why the Confederacy is here... T-that's why I am here too, researching the old world a-artifacts found here spec-"
"Specifically any weaponry found here is that right?" Ruby interrupted "And you're Doctor Llewellyn Coleman aren't you?"
Dr Coleman nodded, Clearly surprised that Ruby knew who he was. Ruby wasn't wasting anytime either. Shed guessed she'd fallen into some sort of trap by the Confederacy and the immediate name drop of Autumn made her uneasy.
"T-that's right, how did you know?"
"I was sent here to rescue you Dr. Coleman. Your daughter has been worried."
"She's alive? and she's ok?!"
Ruby shot him a look of confusion, trying gauge what this man was all about. Clearly he was Confederate, the markings on his clothes suggested it, although they weren't exactly formal like usual, but then Ruby remembered to expect that. She sized him up again, now she understood what Miss Reese was talking about; Dr Coleman for all intents and purposes was nothing but a Confederate tool.
"Why wouldn't she be? Having her daddy as a high up in the Confederate Army? I'd be positive that would secure anyone within a family like that a lifetime of security.."
Dr Coleman's face dropped from relief to concern and sadness,
"T-that would only be if the family member within in the C-Confederacy was cooperating Miss Doom.."
"What do you mean? You've been researching old world tech for the confederacy for years haven't you?"
"T-true Miss Doom... That was until I learned what I was doing was being u-used f-f-for."
Ruby cocked an eyebrow, this man was something more than Ruby had anticipated and to be honest, she was starting to question exactly what the Confederacy had planned since her parlay of Joland Grey had returned half-cryptic clues, but worrying clues nonetheless.
"Alright, Alright, you need to step back a moment and start making sense Dr. Coleman. I was sent here to get you by your daughter as a favour to someone close to her. I was told you were a researcher into old world technology for the Confederacy... Now normally i'd ignore what you're saying and assume the Confederacy is just running it's usual bullshit oppression, but you know what? You wouldn't be the first person in the last little while to be questioning their beloved country and people... So what the fuck is happening? What is going on down here?"
Dr. Coleman raised his head when Ruby began speaking about his daughter again, a look of relief crossing his face as Ruby seemed to talk about her freely, as though she was under no constraints, then his eyes widened again when she spoke of other Confederate insiders confiding in her their doubts.
"So she is definitely alright? T-thank the heavens.. I-I am a researcher for the Confederacy Miss Doom. I was researching old world weaponry for the Confederacy... Well, a-at first I wasn't...At first I was looking into improving our transport-trans-transportation technology... I w-was led to believe that there was o-old world artifacts here. I came down here when it was confirmed this bunker w-was here and that it had been untouched for c-centuries."
Dr. Coleman brushed a hand through his hair and sighed,
"T-that was just a ruse though it seemed! Y-you know that I was the one who managed to perfect the r-rail system back at the p-peaks!? I was t-told there was a strong possibility of old world vehicle technology down here... That was a lie! There is nothing but weaponry... This place was some sort of military bunker back in the old ages! They brought me down here to help recreate all this old weaponry! You wouldn't believe what was down here! It's c-c-cruel and horrific what they want! When I t-told them how I felt, that I r-r-refused to further their cause for m-murder... Colonel Autumn had me thrown in here... Told me I h-had to help them understand these weapons enough so the Confederacy c-could m-make them on their own or they'd kill my family... They said they had my daughter imprisoned back at the Peaks under suspicion of conspiracy with some group known as the B-b-black Hornets.."
Ruby raised an eyebrow in suspicion; it was still hard to swallow how openly Dr. Coleman was being. But then again, hadn't Joland Grey openly divulge how heinous he found the Confederacy? For a moment Ruby began to wonder just how strong the Confederacy was internally... Sure they had organised power. But it seemed their methods were less than agreeable to at least some people within it's confines. Was there perhaps a wedge which Ruby could manipulate under the right circumstances?
"Well Dr. Coleman, that's a load of bullshit." Ruby said matter-of-factly.
"I hope you're right Miss Doom!"
The First Meeting of Ruby Doom and Colonel Augustus Autumn
"Ah, our guest is finally awake..."
A few hours had passed since Ruby and Dr. Coleman had introduced themselves and discussed his daughter. The two had quietened down and Ruby had taken to quietly planning her next moves when
suddenly Colonel Autumn came into view and Ruby stepped back as she caught sight of the man. She had never formally seen the sadistic fuck, so this was the first time in her life she was allowed to lay eyes on him. Ruby felt herself staring blankly at Autumn as he stopped outside her cell. She wasn't scared so to speak, Ruby rarely felt the dread of actually being fearful, but the demeanor of this man was cold and calculating and enough to make Ruby wary.
"We're gathering quite the little party down here aren't we Dr. Coleman... I do hope you're showing Miss Doom Confederate hospitality. But I do also hope you're aren't jeopardizing your work efforts either..."
Dr. Coleman seemed to stay put, clenching to the bars of his cell as he glared wildly at Colonel Autumn,
"Y-y-you are a liar! My daughter is s-safe!"
"Of course she is Dr. Coleman. I'm not heartless... Well... Anyway, it's true, I haven't detained your lovely daughter. But you and I both know you weren't going to make the amazing breakthroughs you were making without some encouragement. And look what you've achieved too in the few short days you've been down here too. Two weeks ago you were wandering the flats making no progress and, I might add, resisting progress for the Confederacy.."
"I've told the General time and again Colonel Autumn. War is not the answer in the Confederacy's progress. Knowledge and peace encourages progress..."
Colonel Autumn laughed sarcastically. Ruby gritted her teeth as she watched Autumn taunt Dr. Coleman.
"Now Dr. Coleman, you've managed to secure us the knowledge on recreating a type of handgun, how is your research on reverse engineering us a usable rifle? What ways can we maneuver around old world tech to recreate it?"
Dr. Coleman looked Colonel Autumn in the eyes and turned slowly to move to a desk in the corner of his cell Ruby had barely noticed before. He picked up a small notebook and a torch he'd been using as a light, holding it near the book,
"You can't make me Autumn. You have no hold over me when my daughter is safe!"
Ruby was surprised that Dr. Coleman's stutter vanished when his confidence shone through, but she knew Dr. Coleman was a fool to think his daughter was completely safe.
"Tsk, tsk Dr Coleman. It's true we don't have your daughter under duress right now. But are you really that ignorant to think we haven't been keeping eyes on her... That her current position couldn't be changed within a week if I wanted it to. So Dr. Coleman, those notes on the rifle we've been talking about? Then you can get started on the other munitions we've found. Oh Dr. Coleman, you have no idea about the stuff we've found!"
Dr. Coleman looked sick to the stomach as Colonel Autumn spoke so coldly to him. Ruby was back at the bars in her cell and looking down the hallway trying to gauge her surroundings while Autumn was distracted with Dr. Coleman. Suddenly another voiced filled the air and Colonel Autumn's attention was turned to the young Fed man running towards him.
"Colonel Autumn! Colonel Autumn! Urgent message from a carrier bird! A Mr. Grievous Wylde and a support group will be arriving later today! They've apparently intercepted your message back to the Peaks and are wanting to meet with you here!"
Colonel Autumn seemed shocked by the news but dismissed the young man with a nonchalant wave while a displeased scowl replaced the shock and irritation clearly set in. Ruby couldn't be sure, but it seemed to her that to some degree Colonel Autumn had to submit to whoever was coming.
"Seems you've got more unwanted visitors Autumn!" Ruby chided,
Autumn turned towards the exit of the hallway, coldly speaking behind him as he moved to leave,
"Miss Doom, I assure you, you may think that you've got the upper hand. You may think you're going to get out of this. But the Confederacy has you right now, at a site we have guarded quite heavily. You didn't realise just how deep in shit you were. You didn't realise what was at stake coming down here. It also seems you don't realise what it means to be in your position right now. To use your own words Miss Doom, you are fucked."
Autumn left the hallway and rounded a corner leaving Dr. Coleman and Ruby to their own devices for the moment as Ruby scrambled to make sense of what was happening around her. It was only after she realised she had no idea how to get out of her current situation that she saw Dr. Coleman pacing erratically.
"What's the matter Dr. Coleman?"
"My daughter! S-s-she's doomed unless I keep making these infernal w-w-weapons! And now the arrival of Grievous Wylde!"
"Why does it matter who's here now?" Ruby asked.
"Because, if it's the same man I've heard about Miss D-D-Doom, we had all better be s-scared... we won't be alive much longer when G-G-Grievous Wylde is done with us... The Confederacy is growing darker than I expected it could ever grow..."
"Dr. Coleman, did I hear correctly when you Autumn said you'd only managed to reverse engineer one type of gun for them? How far are you being able to produced a rifle?"
"Yes, Miss Doom. They have the knowledge on how to recreate a type of revolver. As for a rifle, that is more complicated and takes a lot more time... But I am not far from unlocking the secrets of an old world rifle... And I'm afraid i'm going to have to finish the job. My daughter..."
Dr. Coleman trailed off, sitting on the bed in his cell with his hands covering his face. Ruby moved back to her bed, sitting down while trying to figure out her next move and decide what she was going to do with Dr. Coleman once he was out. There was no logical way he was going to be able to blend in. He was far to obvious a character. Ruby, for the first time in her life felt a sense of dread fill the bottom of her stomach; maybe this time she'd gotten in over her head.
The Bombardment of The River Mines
A few hours passed and Ruby stood by the bars of her cell silently watching Dr. Coleman work away, tinkering at an old world rifle and making notes by torch light. The Confederacy had managed to get some sort generator that was left behind from the old world, and while it's repairs meant lighting for this bunker, it was a stretch to say it was comfortable.
Ruby had tried several different ways to shift the bars in her cell, but so far nothing seemed to even give her a glimmer of hope for progress. Every now and again a guard would come by and check on the two of them, but they never said anything. Ruby had managed to probe Dr. Coleman a little further and although he clearly wanted to finish his notes for the sake of his daughter, Dr. Coleman had indulged Ruby when she showed more interest in the bunker this time... Apparently, according to Dr. Coleman's theory, this bunker was some sort of old world underground military base that was used as some form of prison/storage for important personnel. It supposedly currently housed hundreds of old world weaponry, but because of time, a lot of it seemed to be unusable... There had been a lot of documentation too, but again time had taken it's toll and so Dr. Coleman only had what was physically left to go off of.
Initially Dr. Coleman had been told there was great interest for him here in regards to an old world vehicle like no other. When he arrived he'd discovered he was lied to and was expected to reverse engineer the old world weapons the Confederacy had found. Immediately Dr. Coleman had refused any part in creating something that would kill others, and that was when Colonel Autumn had appeared, warning Dr. Coleman of his daughter's imprisonment and danger if he didn't cooperate.
More time passed and Ruby was beginning to grow restless. Guards how now been stationed at the end of this hallway, Dr. Coleman had withdrawn further into his own world now, hastily unlocking the secrets to this rifle. Ruby had exhausted all her efforts in trying to escape. It seemed this underground bunker the old world military had created was meant to be totally impenetrable for the most part. Wherever she was, she was sure it was at the bowels of this place, and she was still nervous as to get out of the actual place and mine itself since she'd fallen unconscious just trying to enter... She reasoned they must have some sort of gas trap enabled towards the mouth of the cave; how else would they have gotten the better of her? How the hell was she supposed to get past that?
Suddenly a deep quake shivered through the base. The shock waves were enough to cause Ruby and Dr. Coleman to their feet, looking towards the ceiling in the dim light that flickered as another shake erupted, causing the makeshift lighting system to falter. Dr. Coleman shot Ruby a quizzical glance, as if to silently ask what was going on and Ruby replied with a silent shake of her head. Suddenly a shouting voice echoed down the hall and although Ruby couldn't make out what was happening it was a moment later a burly looking man was unlocking Dr. Coleman's cell door, and then Ruby's.
Dr. Coleman followed obediently with his notebook clutched tightly, shooting Ruby another look as if to say, comply with them.
The two seemed to rushed around bends and corners and Ruby barely had time to appreciate or understand the place around them. It had a stagnant feel, something she quietly found amusing; it must be perfect for Confederate asshats. Dark-grey, smooth concrete walls, with bare minimum décor. Ruby almost wondered if this was what the Workshop might have looked like before the White Group took hold. It was only a few minutes later Ruby found herself chaperoned with Dr. Coleman into what looked like a mess hall of sorts and told to wait while the burly man collected his superiors.
The man left and as soon as he was sure, Dr. Coleman grabbed Ruby by the arm surprising her totally as he pulled from his person a small leather bound book. He shoved it into Ruby's inner pocket of her jacket, while pulling out another small leatherbound book from somewhere else on him. Ruby watched with a concerned look as he turned around and bent over a rusted table and started to scrawl all over the pages.
“Y-you must take that book to my d-daughter! She'll understand everything in it!”
Ruby pressed her hand to the pocket in her jacket, cottoning on to what he was saying,
“Dr. Coleman, you can take the book to her yourself..”
“D-don't be kind M-miss Doom... I know w-when my time it up. I d-don't expect to live past this... and i-if there's one t-thing I can d-do... It's s-stop more blood shed...”
Ruby watched as Dr. Coleman kept writing,
“I'll g-give them this copy!”
“What'll be in that?”
“A-a-a a lot of poems I used to read Alexia when she was younger...”
Dr. Coleman turned to Ruby and smiled.
“I used to love my people. T-trust them wholeheartedly.”
Ruby felt a sense of dread overcome her. Dr. Coleman really didn't plan on leaving.
“B-but somewhere along the way w-we, well most of u-us have lost our way... A-Alexia hasn't though. In that book I gave you... I-it has my research on the old world rifle Colonel Autumn h-has been making me work on... I've taught A-Alexia everything I know... P-pass that on to her with my sincerest apologies Miss Doom... and she'll know w-what to do...”
Ruby nodded as she listened. Another rumble shook the bunker and part of the ceiling in the mess hall collapsed away allowing dirt to sift into the room, an earthy smell now filled Ruby's nose.
“I-I've never been one for war Miss Doom... P-progress yes.. But at the expense of b-blood – no. I don't know if that makes me a c-coward or a h-hero... I can't on my c-conscious make any more weapons to aid in the destruction of innocent people... N-no matter how far it takes the Confederacy... My daughter is s-stronger than I am... She will make the right choice as to w-what to do with my knowledge... P-pass on the information I have given you Miss Doom and I am confident Alexia w-will make the right decision.. Just promise me, that in me trusting y-you with this information... You won't let Colonel Autumn g-get his hands on it...”
“I promise Dr. Coleman.” Ruby said sternly, her eye contact with Dr. Coleman strong and determined.
“I-I'm serious Miss Doom.. The Confederacy has b-big plans... I only k-know a small part of it... But I do know if they get their h-hands on my knowledge and my dear Alexia... T-there's no stopping them...”
Suddenly the door to the mess hall banged open and there in the doorway stood Colonel Autumn, taught and serious as he glared down Ruby and Dr. Coleman.
“Dr. Coleman, it seems we are under attack. By my information, the Black Hornets are here looking for trouble...They're actually tossing dynamite down the quarry to the entrance of the Mine. Have you finished your notes?”
Dr. Coleman looked nervous, but nodded his head solemnly as Colonel Autumn, smiling held his hand out expectantly.
“Good, hand them over.”
Colonel Autumn nodded his head to behind him and two men shuffled in past him and headed towards Ruby and Dr. Coleman. Suddenly Ruby found herself restrained as Dr. Coleman handed the notes over and Autumn smiled. He flicked the through book but didn't take any particular noticed of any one page.
“Ah. Good. You've really helped the confederacy a great deal Dr. Coleman, we will never forget your servitude. I'll make sure to send your daughter your best regards...”
Autumn turned on his heel,
“She must be at your level of expertise nowadays at old world reverse engineering am I right?”
Dr. Coleman whimpered,
“Yes that's right Dr. Coleman. We know all about little Alexia's talents. That's why we will no longer be needing your help with the Confederacy's progress. Suddenly Autumn turned on his heel and withdrew a revolver from his side, shooting Dr. Coleman in the chest, collapsing him to the ground.
Suddenly Ruby had a flash back to the basement of the hotel Roland Grey was running in New Mesa. The piles of bodies. The crumpled heap of a young man dying as Joland Grey whimpered over him. Ruby found her blood boiling and her insides silently screaming as she witnessed first hand the kind of evil Colonel Autumn was comfortable with.
“Time for us to leave Miss Doom.. I believe you and I have some talking to do. You're still of importance to me. Then you have an appointment with a colleague of mine coming a long way to speak with you.”
Ruby felt something within her shift and suddenly the two men restraining her were on the floor as she twisted from their grip, bringing a leg up to connect with the face of the man to her right and then ducking down to kick the feet out of the other man who was standing. They hit the floor fast and before they could process themselves, Ruby had grabbed the gun from the first man and pulled the trigger into the men's chests.
She scrabbled to her feet and was out the door of the mess hall and into the hallway of the bunker just in time to take a pot shot in the direction of Colonel Autumn as he turned a corner. The arrogance of the man was astounding to Ruby as he merely turned around and fired once in her general direction before shooting her a disgusted look and moving forward.
Ruby took chase after Autumn and was rounding the corner within seconds to only duck just in time as a silver sword swung out to try and decapitate her. The sword clinked against the wall and Ruby pushed from her feet bringing her body up swinging her fist as she rose to upper cut Autumn, reeling him back stunned. Autumn took a moment to adjust himself, and Ruby glared coldly as the man realised he wasn't walking away as easily as he thought.
Ruby pulled the gun up to point blank range but just as she went to pull another rumble from above coursed through the bunker and a portion of the ceiling between Ruby and Autumn collapsed, catching Ruby off guard and giving Autumn enough time to escape. Ruby quickly composed herself and saw the haste in Autumn's run. She made her way over the collapsed rubble feeling another shockwave travel through the underground base again. What the fuck were the Black Hornets doing!? They were going to collapse the whole damn bunker! Or was that their plan?
Ruby rounded another corner just in time to see Autumn making a bolt towards a door where two lower Fed's were motioning Autumn to hurry. Ruby shook her head and blew a curl of hair out of her way and double timed her chase for Autumn. It was obvious he was no different to any of the Confederate fucksticks Ruby had dealt with in the past... Running as soon as Ruby had any notion of an upper hand.
Autumn was almost through the door when Ruby realised she wasn't going to catch him if he got through clear. She aimed the stolen hand gun up to eye level and pulled the trigger twice dispatching the two guards ushering Autumn through. When the guards dropped to the floor Ruby almost had to smile at the pace Autumn now seemed to running at. She continued her pursuit and was through the door after him chasing the man once again through the halls. Every now and then Autumn would stop to take potshots back in Ruby's direction, but the ferocity of the fight up top coupled with his exasperated emotions meant Autumn was too flustered to get a proper connecting shot in. Ruby however was reveling in the chase at hand. The loud noises, the shockwaves, the anger coursing through her veins... They were all boiling up to a climax Ruby was ready to confront.
What seemed like hours of chasing Autumn through the bunker suddenly sped up as Ruby realised Autumn had taken her straight out of the bunker and was leading her into the actual River Mine and out to the surface. It was as the bunker opened up to the actual cave that she noticed all around the two as they raced towards the surface were Confederate soldiers running back and forth trying to salvage old world weapons and any men who had fallen.
No one seemed to be taking any notice of Ruby or Autumn at this point, but in reality, as far as she was concerned Ruby could only see herself and Autumn in the cave. She failed to noticed the other men and woman fighting to get to the surface. She failed to see the mine start to give way and she didn't even notice as they reached the mouth of the cave the bodies of Confederate soldiers and other men and woman dressed in black and yellow laying limp in the mouth of the mine too.
As Autumn ran through the mouth and into the open Ruby noticed the man falter in his sprint and collapse to his knees just shy of freedom. As she gained ground on Autumn she suddenly began to feel faint herself – like she had when she first entered the cave... That's when she noticed some sort of contraption just up head of her.. It had been pumping some sort of gas into the mouth of the cave.. That had been how the Confederacy was keeping tabs on who was coming to the cave... Unless someone wearing some sort of protective mask operated it, no one got in our out without passing out.
Ruby made a bee-line for the gas-tank, shooting wildly when she realised she wouldn't make it to it. A shot made contact and the tank exploded, luckily it seemed whatever gas they were using wasn't too flammable as it created a large but mainly localized explosion. Ruby kept up her pace but noticed two more tanks stood in her way she assumed were spilling the incapacitating gas. She shot out towards them, but her sight was weakening and soon she had no bullets.
The Showdown in the Quarry and Reunion of Ruby Doom and James Squire
It seemed Autumn had made it to the outside and he was on his knees breathing heavily, trying to take in fresh air so he could get away. Ruby gritted her teeth and upped her ante one more time, calling on her last reserves of energy as she bolted forward through the noxious gases. She felt everything within her body click into place and it was as though she was a steam-train within a small woman. Without notice she rocketed through the mouth of the cave screaming as she tackled Autumn, rolling the two out into the wide open as another explosion halfway up the quarry caused a small rock slide down to their location.
The dust flew up around, blocking out the light around them, pluming halfway up the depth of the quarry. Ruby managed to maneuver herself on top of Autumn landing a punch to the man's face causing Autumn to collapse back. Ruby brought her fist back up again but stopped short when Autumn bucked underneath her flipping her off to the side. Suddenly Autumn rolled all his weight to his side and brought his right hand backwards into Ruby's stomach winding her. Ruby coughed hard as Autumn stood shakily to his feet,
“I don't know who you think you are... But you are - “
Colonel Autumn was cut off just as he withdrew his sword. Punched to the side of the face. Ruby's head reeled as someone began to fight on her behalf. Autumn fell backwards and suddenly Ruby's savior kicked the man in the gut, causing Autumn to take a few steps backwards. Ruby clambered to her feet, heaving to take in a breath and watched as the man who was saving her seemed to have the upper hand on Autumn. Ruby's savior punched twice to Autumn's face and suddenly had Autumn incapacitated. Standing over him the mystery man called out over the raucous of the dropping dynamite from somewhere above the quarry.
“Well, fuck me damned. Colonel Augustus Autumn. I wasn't expecting to see you here to be honest.. Just your fuckin' baby pricks... What a pleasant surprise!”
Ruby recognized the voice immediately from her last interaction with him.
“James Squire!” she called out.
James turned away from Autumn when he heard his name being called out, and looking upon Ruby's face smiled wryly,
“Well, I told you I'd be seeing you again Ruby Doom.”
Ruby smiled but the moment was short lived when suddenly another explosion rocked the quarry and rocks began to fall around them. Ruby had to maneuver herself out of the way as a largish boulder rolled down passed her, just narrowly missing James and Autumn.
“Fuck! What is going on!?” Ruby called out,
“Just a bit of Black Hornet camaraderie with the Confederacy... We got a hold of some info that said these fucks-” James motioned to the crumpled heap of Autumn “Had some fuck workin' for them makin' old world weapons! Can you believe it! So we thought it was best to get our asses down here and show them just what they can expect when they try to get sneaky!”
Another explosion and more rubble began to roll down the quarry.
“You're gonna bury the mine squire!”
“That's the poi-”
Suddenly out of nowhere James hit the floor cold, rolling towards Ruby. She moved to his aid, but kept her eyes upwards to see who had knocked him around through the dust. That was when he stepped through the debris and Ruby felt a cold shiver run down her spine.
The Introduction of Grievous Wylde
He was cold, calculating and his demeanor was nothing less than heartless... At least that was what Ruby felt looking at him. He wasn't particularly tall, but he was robed in something that made him look more imposing. He looked to Ruby, but seeing her crouched over James he moved to the heap of Autumn that was getting to his knees.
“Get up Autumn.” he said coldly and slowly over the explosions.
Autumn looked up through the dust and Ruby suddenly felt colder than ever before when Autumn said with relief,
“Grievous, you're just in time.”
Ruby got to her feet, dragging James with her while Autumn and Wylde were distracted with their conversation.
“Wake up James, we gotta go!”
James came to as Ruby pulled him into the safety of the dust, but tripped when another loose slide of dirt and rocks came down. James mumbled something and Ruby had to ask three times what his plan for escape was when he pulled out some sort of flare gun.
“Fire it straight up...” James groaned.
Ruby took it and aimed to the sky and fired once watching the flare go through the dust. A few moment passed when suddenly a rope dropped through the dust in front of Ruby. She didn't question it and tied it around the waist of James and tugged once as she held on tight as suddenly the two were lifted through the dust and out of the quarry. Ruby looked to the ground below and saw as Grievous Wylde watched them ascend. The two came out above the dust and Ruby caught sight of the battle that was raging above the dust.
It seemed the Black Hornets had stolen two Confederate airships and painted black silhouettes of a hornet on their outsides. Ruby could see as on each deck at the stern of the airsips men and women were lighting sticks of dynamite and dropping them blindly into the quarry while other's aimed old world rifles at Confederate soldiers on the visible ground and at an enemy Airship.
On the airship Ruby and James had been pulled to, there were more than ten men to the starboard side firing across the sky to the Confederate airship. The scene was something out a story Ruby thought as she watched the small war waged.
Ruby turned to James, he had gotten to his feet and held a hand out to her helping her up. She looked to him with a concerned eye but before she could speak her attention was diverted when suddenly something shot up to the railing of the airship and all of a sudden Grievous Wylde was leaping onto the ships deck effortlessly. The man pulled on the skyhook gun he'd used to get onto the ship, holstered it and turned towards James and Ruby.
“We need to have a little chat.”
Ruby moved fast as Grievous spoke coldly to her, stepping forward and ducking down then kicking off the deck to bring herself up so her elbow connected with Grievous' chest. But the man was faster than she was and stepped back causing Ruby's weight to move forward giving Grievous the chance to bring an elbow up and hit Ruby to the face sending her rolling across the decking. Jame's leaped just after Ruby and he was more successful in landing a punch, but for all it did, Grievous seemed unfazed.
Ruby was back at her feet and suddenly she and James Squire were working together in unison. One would duck, faux hit at Grievous and when he was distracted the other would make a connecting hit. It was working for a while, but Ruby and James were drawing to the end of their energy. Grievous at that point, began to fight back more. He dodged an attempt from Ruby to kick him in the gut and twisted her leg forcing Ruby to the ground. James tried to swing his weight back into a reverse hit, but again Grievous was able to floor James shortly after.
Grievous moved to James while Ruby wheezed to catch her breath, He picked James up by the collar and whispered something to James that caused his eyes to widened. Ruby saw the look of horror on Jame's face but took the opportunity to take a chance at downing Grievous. She ran forward with everything she had and grabbed Grievous on either side of his head and brought her knee up to his connected square to his forehead.
Grievous stumbled back and Ruby smiled in triumph as finally they'd managed to make the seemingly unstoppable man truly falter. Ruby went to help James up quickly but suddenly Grievous was kicking James in the gut and grabing Ruby across the bullet wounds and grazes on her arms. His grip was so tight it forced Ruby to her knees as Grievous hissed at her,
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You wouldn't happen to part of the reason I'm down in this pathetic excuse of a cesspool would you?”
“Go fuck yourself...” Ruby grunted.
“This must be the flatlander hospitality I've heard so much about...”
Grievous pulled a large knife from under his cloak,
“You and I have some things to discuss, so let's make this short shall we...”
Ruby felt the knife press to her lip and watched as Grievous coldly stared into her eyes. The pressure of the knife was growing and Ruby actually began to worry for the first time. But just the knife point began to draw the first drop of blood James had tackled Grievous to the ground, forcing the two across the deck and toppling a man wielding live dynamite.
“OH SHIT!” James shouted!
James and Grievous were both out of harms way before the dynamite exploded, but the explosion was big enough to break the stern of the ship. It was only seconds after the explosion that the airship started to tilt. Ruby found her body sliding towards the rail of the deck as the ship headed towards the ground. She grasped wildly for anything to hang onto but it was seconds later that she found herself being grabbed by James Squire and him shouting something intelligible as he was directed her to jump from the falling Airship and landing, only just, on the second commandeered airship.
The ship began to turn as the last of the dynamite was dropped and Ruby watched in awe as Grievous Wylde swung from the crashing ship to the ground with ease using the skyhook, meeting Colonel Autumn and four other cloaked figures on the ground. Autumn motioned to the Confederate airship that was on his side, and Grievous looked up to it too, Ruby guessed they planned to follow them and turned to James,
“They'll follow us if we don't stop that Fed ship!”
“On it!” James shouted.
He ran across the deck and seemed to operate some sort of catapult on the deck of this airship. He loaded it with dynamite, lit it, and sent it sailing through the air in the rough direction of the enemy ship. The dynamite made contact though and before Ruby knew it, she, James and the last survivors of this attack were flying off in the distance.
Ruby couldn't help but look to the ground below as they left the quarry behind. On the ground below, looking at them, sending a shiver through Ruby was a nonplussed Grievous... It was Autumn in fact who seemed more than angry while he and Grievous and his companions watched them leave, but Ruby was thankful that they had survived.
The 'Wise Words' of Ruby Doom...
Ruby lost track of how much time had passed when the airship was finally docked at Skycove. She watched James sell it for a hefty sum of money and then donate half that money to some orphanage at Skycove. Ruby quietly wondered how far money would go on anything that was remotely good in Skycove, but chose to appreciate the sentiment of the Black Hornet's donation – perhaps was even just a publicity stunt to gain loyalty?
It was shortly after that Ruby had made her own arrangements to get back to the Workshop that she managed to get James alone and speak to him,
“What was all that?” she asked sternly
“What was what? The thing at the River Mine? Black Hornet business...”
“Bullshit.” Ruby said
“It was”
“No way Squire... Black Hornets don't attack like that...”
“What would you know Ruby? The Black Hornets are a resistance group...”
“But you guys haven't killed unless you needed to... and I KNOW not all of those men were civilised!”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I could see they were tribal James.”
“And we needed to kill back there... we were after something and we knew the Fed's had it...”
“You were after Dr. Coleman... and you didn't need to kill.”
James looked at Ruby suspiciously, and honestly she found it odd she was speaking against murder... Especially killing Confederates. Ruby was usually the first for killing a Fed. But she couldn't deny that all the knowledge she'd managed to obtain in regards to the Black Hornets and James Squire... They didn't... and He didn't sound like the type of people who killed just because... that was someone elses influence.
“Yeah, That's right... How did you know?”
“James, you need to separate from Gretch befo-”
“Hey hey hey, that ain't any of your business...”
“None of my business? Bullshit!”
“Hey, you barely know me... barely know the Black Hornets.. You don't get to talk about shit you know nothing about..”
“I saved your ass James Squire! I saved your people too back in New Mesa from that sick fuck Roland... I sent you a trustworthy Fed your way too... When I met you James you told me about your plans to Unite the fucking Flats.. and now you've thrown in your shit with a psychopath like Gretch?
James went quiet,
“You were fighting for something worth fighting for Squire... I know this because I saved you... Because Sarah Hawthorne trusts you enough to die for your cause... But you're contradicting everything you stand for the longer you throw your shit in with Gretch... He won't save you... He won't help you once you've been used get what he wants... James, he is a fuckin' monster! God damn it! He sent you down to the River Mine didn't he?”
“He gave us a tip...” James retorted
“Yeah... I bet he did... Gave you a tip to get Dr. Coleman... Then what were you gonna do after you got Dr. Coleman? Huh? Give him to Gretch I bet?”
James was completely silent now.
“It's up to you how far you take this James Squire. I ain't disputin' the Feds are bad. I know better than anyone what they're capable of. But you also gotta know, It's not all black and white! And uniting the Flats, making a change... It ain't gonna start with random killing, of anyone.”
That was something Ruby had learned from the White Group.
“Joland Grey should be proof of that for you...Whatever he's doin' for you, you gotta know he ain't bad... I wouldn't have sent him to you if that were the case. And I ain't sayin' people aren't gonna die before anything gets better.. But that blood... that blood you spilled already... has that been for the freedom of the flats? Or has that been for Gretch?”
Ruby cocked her head upwards, staring James down. When the conversation went no further, James gritted his teeth and breathed out heavily, solemnly talking to Ruby,
“Stay outta my business Ruby...”
“I'm only gonna tell you this once, cut your ties with Gretch James. I promise you that's not an investment you want to make.”
“Is that a threat?”
“I don't want it to be...”
“Thank you Ruby Doom...” he said sternly
James turned away, walking to the small group of Black Hornet's he'd brought back with him, Ruby watched as they melted into the crowd, noting Joland Grey wave half-heartedly acknowledging her, prompting Ruby to nod back and call out as they melted away,
“I'll be seeing you again James Squire!”
The Return to the Workshop and an Unexpected Visitor
Ruby double timed her trip back to the Workshop. She'd already spent too much time traveling the Flatlands already. She was nervous to be carrying around the notebook of the late Dr. Coleman and she wanted to tell Miss Reese everything she'd seen in last week or so and offer her assistance in getting to Alexia Coleman before Autumn and that Grievous man did.
It was late at night she made it back to the Workshop, but she didn't waste anytime in getting the information to Miss Reese. She woke the woman up and the two spent the entire night discussing what Ruby had seen, trying to figure out what was happening next. Ruby wasn't sure where she wanted to take the conversation... So many things hinged on the opinion of so many people and the reality was, there wasn't much anyone could do but to try and persuade people to listen to them. When Ruby gave Miss Reese Dr. Coleman's notes she hesitated at first, not sure how to proceed with the information... On the one hand, it would be certainly beneficial to have Miss Reese's friend from the Peaks here, helping to decipher her fathers notes, but then again... Were the White Group opening themselves up to something that should be left alone?
That was when Miss Reese stopped Ruby there and took her to a room of the Workshop Ruby had never taken notice of before. She knocked once and soon after a woman around Miss Reese's age answered the door. She was short, blonde with long wavy hair and wearing tight burgundy pants with a white frilled top and some sort of magnifying goggles on her forehead. Miss Reese spoke first before Ruby felt her gut drop when she realised who they were talking to and the news she was about to deliver,
“Alexia... We have a few things to discuss, it really can't wait...”