December Hype - Part 1

Frantically he looked around, trying to find his ride. If only he could make it there, he might be able to escape whatever it was that was driving his clan to erupt in mindless, senseless anger. His road captain, only minutes before speaking with the rally group about the safest way back into town, was slavering like a mad woman and gurgling unintelligibly. One moment she was there, and the next she was dashing into the fray of bodies, slicing at Ironworks military with both blades.

This was bad. Very, very bad. He hopped to his one good leg, pulling himself out from under one of the bike crew that he had to put down with two well placed shots in the head. He wasn’t sure if it was broken, but the leg wasn’t holding his weight. Left leg, lazy leg – he could still drive. He propelled himself along as quickly as possible, grasping at the handle of the door and yanking it open. Thank all the Kings, he was safe!

He knew that last thought, lingering in the air like a last gasp of air, wasn’t true. He felt his mind twisting as the door was flung wide. He finally understood that, in the end, everyone had to die by his hand. Grabbing his bladed bat from inside the ride, he turned with a wild look in his eyes. Ironworks soldiers were definitely the right target. He knew that to the core of his being as that lingering thought evaporated.

-----

Action Report: CY-D1121-BV
Raider activity magnified exponentially. Berwyn squad reports Cheesehead encounters have returned, immediate hostility. Aurora squad and Joliet squad seeing mixed sorties, both raider fronts combined effort. Unknown cause of cooperation. Minor casualties to military units. Heavy casualties to militia. Moving to bolster lines.

-----

She tacked the last note onto the board of the Depot, the wild look in her eye belying any calm exterior she wore. She had warned the town for months, most of which was likely unheeded as the poems were just obscure enough to not be removed. Yet it was just enough for those that were paying attention to pick up a few details here and there. She had recognized, slowly but surely, her sanity slipping away at an ever increasing rate. She had been forced to do many things she never wanted, and when she regained her own senses, those thought weighed heavily on her. Those periods of lucidity were becoming less regular, and the awful dread she used to feel was slowly dissipating with them. It was like wearing a well fit glove when her mind took over her actions, and she knew she would soon succumb to the raiders’ demands. Those fucking Haze clan. She was losing her last war without having any way to combat the onslaught.

Maybe they will listen this time. Maybe they’ll do something to help themselves. She had to try one last time.

-----

Action Report: CY-D1201-FZ
Haze raider activity confirmed. Stallis and Racine squads suffered heavy casualties. Squads reported lost by survivors. Immediate threat eminent. Multiple mass harm tactics employed; toxins, radiation, and explosions most prevalent. Need ways to avoid chemicals. Send reinforcements.

-----

“It’s as bad as they’re reporting,” said the young man, his chest heaving for breath as he stood in the small circle at the edge of the dim firelight.

The air around the small crowd immediate grew tight and tense, and all face dropped slightly. It was not the news they were looking for. It was not what they wanted for themselves, for their home, or for anyone that shared these aspects with them.

After a few moments of silence, a seasoned veteran of the forests spoke with an air of resignation. “It seems everything comes full circle. We will help where we can, from the edges and the lines, but we must prepare to move out of the immediate area. We cannot have any more taken from this blight, especially the young and hearty,” he said softly with a deep sigh following.

The few heads that could be seen from the shafts of light nodded in agreement, knowing what this meant for themselves and their families.

“Make contact with the town,” the shadowed man said, choosing his words carefully. “They need to know there are some out here that can help, but our number has grown small. It is up to them to stop this once and for all.”

-----

Military Radio Transmission – Channel 17D:
THIS IS AN EMERGENCY BROADCAST. FORWARD POSITION DELTA OVERRUN. REPEAT, FORWARD POSITION DELTA OVERRUN. ALL COMMUNICATION LOST. THIS POSITION COMPROMISED. THIS MESSAGE WILL REPEAT.

Hey, Did You Hear? - December's Rumors

Things in the mists, clowns, faceless people.  Weren’t we just saying something about the lack of an apparent Nemesis season?  Did they take it as a challenge?

Did you see the bear?  NO!  Not a regular bear, a fuck off kind of radiation bear!

Raiders testing the borders.  Raiders attacking.  Raiders… coming to chat about other raiders?  I can’t make this shit up.

So is Fuckstart bad now, or is it that Twelve by Two DJ that’s offer her rocker?  Are they both raiders?  Either of them?  I just want my farm back, and this isn’t helping.

Sounds like someone was suggesting the Bray Beast was part of Bloom Industries.  Why does their name keep coming up?  Ace who?

So, it seems like planting near the warm waters is working this year like we started hearing from last year.  We may just have enough food for the winter season from now on, if the shore can stay warm enough to keep things thawed.

I caught a glimpse of a list of names while I was in the depot.  DeWalt, Bells, Coleman Corvid, Cass, and some others.  I didn’t want to get caught staring, but what do those folks all have in common anyway?

I’ve been looking for the Hooch Bird for weeks!  I don’t know how, but every time I turn around, I’ve lost another bottle of hooch, and yet I still can’t find the damn thing.  I don’t know how many more weeks I can stay drunk to see this sucker!

People keep going missing when they get too far out of town.  I hear the RPM may have even stopped some of their runs up north to avoid the trouble.  That’s got to be some serious issues.

 I thought spiders went inside for the winter so they could survive?  What do you MEAN frostbite spiders?!  You’re joking, right?

…Right?

Sounds like one of the booming businesses of the Wastes is headed along the shore to pick up new fighters.  Could be a lucrative business if you like fighting and want to make it in the circuit.

With all these raiders piling down on the military and the town, did anyone ever really take stock of what happens to dead people after they truly expire?  I’d hypothesize we are going to see quite the deluge of zed in the near future, and I’m not sure anyone wants to be in town for a horde the size of this battlefield.

[Found pinned to the inside of the mail stop]

No more poems.  Time’s up.

Hey, Did You Hear? - November's Rumors

Attention all Steel Horse Crossing Citizens: The Ironworks is conducting tests on you!  Someone said it, so it must be true.  Please make sure everyone is aware that you are all science experiments.  Also, robots.

That strange mist that was talked about last month is getting closer and more prominent every night!

Raiders have been testing the town borders, looking for weak spots.  It’s clear that there are gaps in the line, even with the military shifting their concentration to try and throw off any plans that may be forming under Badda’s command.

Well, Fuckstart has been reported more often in skirmishes.  Last one that came through was with a group of Pitstops in tow, seemingly in line with the other cheeseheads.  Aren’t they on the opposite sides?

There are things… things in the forest.

Some kind of pirate was in town, looking for a crew.  Sounds like he’s already been turned in to the Ironworks, and folks should be on the lookout for him or others he is communicating with.  Some Ironworks officials were tossing around treason as a punishment!

Well, the Snowfoot are up to hijinks again.  What’s a Bray Beast?

Looks like no one has caught the man in black yet.  Saw the silhouette of that hat and coat up on a hill and couldn’t have beat feet fast enough.  Fuck that witch.

Any reason there’s been a big fuck off raven flying over the Corvid caravan?  No?  Must want bacon.

Ok, so if I take a well crafted Sweet Georgia and use the brewing station to infuse it with a Black Stout, you’re telling me I not only get great alcohol, but I end up drunk enough to free both my mind and someone else’s?  I don’t believe this for a minute.

[Found pinned to the inside of the mail stop]

This is the last time

That we’ll get to see the dawn

Without holding hands.

I’ve tried to tell you,

But your ears are deaf to me.

Badda will fix it.

Everything is not

Open in the light; the night

Hides some of the truth.

Keep your ears open.

Do not believe everything.

But believe enough

Hey, Did You Hear? - October's Rumors

Early assessments say that the road from Hell to Steel Horse is pretty well tamed between the small military patrols and the regular RPM supply lines.  It was nice to feel some small semblance of civilization out there, but it’ll be nice to get home under more or less safe passage.

Sounds like the various military forces that had been occupying the town while most folks vacated are pushing back to make room for us getting home, but they’ve lost a lot of militia to attrition.  Be ready for some heavy fighting in those pockets.

Badda’s raiders seem to have picked up on using more devastating weaponry.  Chemicals?  Radiation?  What the hell is going on there?

… And then there’s Fuckstart.  I’m so damn conflicted.

Here’s the thing about this nemesis stuff – we don’t see much during this supposed ‘season’.  We just see all kinds of random assery all year, so it’s not that much different.

What’s with the string of interviews lately?  One, sometimes two, a month.  When did we get famous?

Come one, come all, and witness magic!  From the forbidden realms of the Dark Carnival, The Painted Ones come!

A few reports came back down the trail that there’s a dark figure lurking on the edges of town.  Long black coat, black hat.  No one has seen him much more than that.

Isn’t feeding season almost over?  Why haven’t we seen a single blood raven yet?  I’m not sure if I should be happy or worried.

Not quite sure what it is – maybe that old, rotten tree, or the new raider weapons?  But farmers have had some very unusual results when farming around the area.  Perfect timing, with everything about to freeze over.

Isn’t a caravan of Rovers making and repairing boots a bit on the nose?

Not if they’re making money doing it.  Speaking of which, wonder if they have anything in my size.

[Found pinned to the inside of the mail stop]

Hiding among you,

They have been watching your life,

Biding their sweet time.

Did you read the note

Left in the depot last month?

I tried to warn you.

And they came for you,

Slowly seeking their targets.

Are you the next one?

Hey, Did You Hear? - September's Rumors

“What do you mean ‘haven’t ever seen anything like it’?  They’re raiders.  Not long ago, that had thousands of them around here.  How bad can it be?”

“It isn’t the number of raiders…”

Time to start packing up for home.  Rumors have it that there may be some planning and fighting to get back, but it shouldn’t be anything too terrible.  The RPM have kept the routes open, and the Navy has ensured the boots on the ground have kept most of the threat at bay.

Garbage?  Do you want more ants?  This is how you get ants!

That funny Cheesehead fella has been in and out of the area a lot lately.  Someone said the Cheeseheads are helping us get home?  What the hell is going on when we’re not just supposed to kill Cheeseheads?

Snowfoot clan has been poking around again.  Something about a ‘Bray Beast’?  Are these guys just all whackjobs?

Investments: Sometimes you get your monies worth.  Sometimes you get rich.  Plenty end up broke.  Get someone with the right skills, in the right situation, and you could stand to make a lot of money!

Wait, you mean to tell me someone came into town last trade, ate another person, and left without anyone making a real fuss?  Seems like some folks are spending too much time with Lascarians.  Nothing ever went wrong with THAT plan before!

I wonder what the snails do if they’re not trying to mate?  That seems dangerous.  Very dangerous.

I guess the folks that turned in the carnival for being unregistered psions last trade were really trying to get them to not come back.  Pity for them, they were all registered long before it was an issue.  I wonder if the informants get paid out for bad intelligence too?

Badda has to go if we ever really want to get back into a real semblance of life in Steel Horse.  If he escapes, he’s going to end up coming back for what he thinks is his, I’m sure.

[Found pinned to the inside of the mail stop]

Never close your eyes

To the people around you.

Even they can kill.

Did you read the note

Left in the depot last month?

I tried to warn you.

Now your time is up.

They’re here and waiting for you.

And you stopped looking.

Hey, Did You Hear? - August's Rumors

Raiders have been getting particularly vicious.  Some deaths on the outskirts of the ‘dive site, but others are hit and runs with stolen caravan goods.  Do raiders stock up on things?

A small group of folks have been gathering just outside of the main Helldiver’s encampment.  It seems like a bunch of entertainers or something.  I’ve heard they’re some kind of carnival?

“’Fashion consultants’ in the middle of the Northern Ironworks?  It’s got to be a bunch of bored Pureblood bullshit or something.  But, gear that’s cleaner and will hold up better than I got ain’t bad.”
“Sounds like they target folks newer to settlements, and tend to like mid-mornings on High Saturday.  Are they Hedons too?  Free’s the right price in my book.”

Bunch ‘o them farmers walking around with weird, green crap all over ‘em.  Need to find ‘em a shower or so, or they’ll end up turning into them plants they harvest.

Big weird bees, chased around by big green bugs, are makin’ my life a big pain in the ass.

There’s a whole rabble of Remnants complaining about work conditions again.  Didn’t that just happen last year in town?  Why the hell they come out here?

Jona Goodfan is apparently coming to the Helldiving site to write up an article on “frontier etiquette” over the trade!  That’s a fairly big name for such a small space.  The writers coming out this way must be getting great details from us smart folk!

Lot more folks been displaced out here once the Helldive started up for the year.  Locales been hit with raiders and zed alike, and the burners are out in the heat scorching the land.  Sounds like resettlement is the word, but what place needs even more people crowding in?

Badda and his raiders gave been getting more dangerous, and more aggressive, with the antagonism.  Folks been bragging about some blown up pit stop rides, but that’s just been a catalyst to send more hell into town.

[Found pinned to the inside of the mail stop]

Evil lives within

The hearts and minds of many,

Even saintly folk.

An evil presence

Threatening your existence

Fills your heart with dread.

Stained, bloody fingers

Reach for the flesh of your throat

Wanting to feast there.

Hey, Did You Hear? - July's Rumors

“Couple small boomers going on last weekend, eh?”

“Yeah, and the ‘divers have some planned vents coming up towards next weekend for trade.”

“Heard they come some explosives, but not enough yet.  Wonder how that’ll work out.”

“That medical tent setup ain’t a bad idea – keep the troops healthy, maybe even get some of the folks around here some free medicine at a central location.”

“As long as the docs are willing to work it, seems like it’ll stick around a while.”

“Hey Vern, whatcha doin’ with them fish?  Ain’t you got family to feed?”

“Yawp, but them Ironwork folks got some new skinning table come ta town.  More fish come away from the table that just tearin’m up at home, y’know?”

[Posted on a nearby Notice Board]

Ladies Auxiliary Tea to be held Saturday morning.  Refreshment and manners provided.

“I hear Smith ‘n Wesson are bringing their shooting gallery back to town.  Wonder what’s to win this year?”

“Zephyr’s been out a while digging, no?”

“Ayuh, but they always seem to find something.  Wonder what’s up out of the ground this time?”

“Seems some folk are running out in the woods in the tree lines.”

“That wouldn’t be those on fire Lascarians, would it?”

“Could be I spose, but they didn’t look on fire.”

“Either way, there’s a story going around folks are killing them in cold blood.  Surest way to get an invitation sent to the Ironworks when people turn them in.”

“Just when I thought we’d get some quiet, folks up and turn the middle of nowhere upside down and shake it until the ‘works comes out.  Can’t seem to keep out of trouble to save themselves.”

“Snails… why’d it have to be snails…”

Hey, Did You Hear? - June's Rumors

The science of poop studyin’?  Sure, it’s a real thing.  Whaddya mean I’m weird?!

Those adventurin’ types sound like they turned up some bits of stuff that came at a hell of a radiation cost.  But, rumor has it, they’re pointed toward a different site?  Wonder how safe that one will be!

Helldiving, always a good way to put your life on the line.  Seems like things are a bit steadier this year, but those air pockets are still popping up all over the place.

I swore I saw a Lascarian out in the woods, but it looked twisted and deformed.  It choked something at me, like it didn’t have a voice no more, but I didn’t stick around to find out what it tried to say.  Nothing is worth that sight again.

Thought I saw something tracking us on the way into town.  Didn’t seem to be dangerous, at least not with the armed escort and all, but I’m wondering what will be coming out of the woods at some point.  Couldn’t tell if it was a person or an animal, to be honest.

Helldiver’s Society has a signal going for the radio, but it sounds like that area we’re headed to is a dead zone.  We’ll need to set up a receive sooner or later so we can get more information passed along to us.

The Ironworks is sending some interesting things along through the RPM.  Sounds like folks will be able to do a bit more work for extra payout.

The further we get into the weeds, the more crazy shit keeps coming out of them.  Gotta appreciate a town for at least enough activity to keep some of that at bay.

Psions?  Why is it always psions.  If they’re not causing trouble for themselves or someone else, they’re certainly getting us unwanted attention for “hiding” them.  And the more of them that show up, the more zed we get.  What’s the point?  Get rid of ‘em…

Y’hear old Jethro talkin up a storm in hole last night?  I didn’t think he drank enough to start talking about “smart plants” and cows that follow commands.  We need to start drinking what he’s having.

Don’t ask what a Godiva is.  Just hope you never see it.

Hey, Did You Hear? - May's Rumors

“Lots of families are getting desperate with the war going on. It’s almost done killed some whole families out all the way.”

“Looks like the radio tower is up and running on shaky legs.  The Helldiver’s Society got the electric bits going, and have a signal!  Word over the air is that the ground’s going hot up north a way through he raider lines.  Looks like we’ll need a plan to make it northeast, towards the lake!”

“My brother saw one of them Damned Knights walking around behind the lines last night. They's all skulking around, preaching about how we's all in hell and such. Real creepy.”

“Looks like Zell-Ann ain’t gonna get that morgue moved after all.  Wonder how pissed she’s gonna be?”

Printed in a Mill City gossip rag found on the train: The Wasteland's most famous beekeeper, Abbe' Collins has been rumored to be making their way to Steel Horse Crossing to investigate a possible new strain of bees and assemble a team to acquire some for research and development.

“Some scientist was poking around south of town in the foliage.  Said he was from Bloom Industries, looking at some plants?  That seems to be an odd thing to do, running about in a forest poking at random greenery.”

“I sent Little Jimmy out to scrounge up some vittles and he came back with a slimy foot. We ain't no nasty Lasscies, so we dun wanna ate it.”

Hey, Did You Hear? - March's Rumors

Action Report: CY-F0226-UF

Militia lines breaking on western front.  Collateral damage to auxiliary units.  Raider on raider violence increasing to compensate.

The logistics of the area being what they are, even the RPM and the rail lines can’t keep up with the consumption of lead and steel.  Constant flows of material seem the call of the day.

“Best thing I’ve heard come out of the Ironworks for business is the new work orders.  Should get my shop in profit right quick with making and selling some of those pieces they’re looking for.”

“Seems relatively safe, as best as we can expect, for a war just outside the doors.  At some point, the military goes home.  What happens then?”

“One o’ them dragoon types come set hisself up on the front of the house, comfy as you please, leaning like a slab o’ beef on m’wall.  I come out to figger what he’s up on, and he takes off his helmet with a hand as big as a ham, and that face… that face.  It’ll haunt me til I’m gone the last time.  Let that’un sit against that there wall as long as he wanted, to be sure.”

“War is bad for health, but good for trade.  Food has been shipped into the area to keep the chill at bay, and people keep coming and going to head to the front lines.  Means we keep fresh hands and pockets cycling through.”
“Beats the last few years.  Having this much food available means no one is going hungry, which sure as hell I won’t complain about.  Nor the new, full pockets.”
-Overheard at the train depot

[pm fvb jhu ylhk aopz, hzr hil mvy alu sbn] – a note passed around the bar one night

“The Snowfoot clan keeps chattering about the Hodag.  Looks like they may have found the real thing this time.”
“I wonder how many will be dead before the give up on that thing?”

“Sounds like the Helldivers are planning to find a way to clear the radio tower so they can assess the damage and see if it’s still in working order.  Bet they end up having to pour a lot into that sucker after this long.”