Evening approaches the badlands, "Wyatt" Gene Starwind, along with Swanzo, Fred Luo, Twilight Suzuka, Ikee Katchin and Shimi arrive at the wagon station in Blue Heaven to prepare for their final fight in the Hayphong Corral.
"The rest of us are five months out of Hayphong but we are from Blue Heaven originally." The wagonmaster said.
"Blue Heaven, really? I am from Farfallas." Gene said.
"Another Farfallas man! Practical nieghborhood! Step down, Marshal Starwind and have a feed."
The wagonmaster's son sits at a nearby coach, staring at Gene while he rolls breaddough, slendid as ever. Just finished telling his side of the story, Gene sits by the campfire with the wagonmaster and several others. They shaked their heads. "Do not have law, do not have anything. Only thing between us and the animals. It always the way it goes, though. Only way to down a Farfallas man from the rear, the Kei Pirates do not dare face them. President O' Malley, Vash The Stampede, now your band of law. Farfallas men all and all downed from the rear by disgusted democracies. I guess an ordinary man would be out for revenge but I do not figure that will answer here. It is a reputation you are after."
"If my father is my friend." Gene said.
"Let not your heart be faint, let your arm be stone---that is all you need of your father." the wagonmaster said. Gene pauses, nodding, suddenly understanding the truth of it all. Looking up, his eyes meet those of the wagonmaster. He smiles, wiping flour from his hands. Gene smiles thoughtfully, moved by this unexpected encounter...
Dawn approaches the camp. Fred Luo gallops into the camp with Swanzo, Suzuka, Ikee Katchin and Shimi, exchanging greeting with Gene who leads him over to the center of the camp. "You do know why you are all here?" Gene asked.
"Way ahead of you, Gene. You want us to help you get the McDougal Brothers and Clyde Biehn. Everybody knows they are the ones responsible for James Hawking's death and Aisha's lost arm."
"Clyde and McDougal are nothing. They are nobody. I want the Kei Pirates. All of them. I mean to break them up and drive them out of territory." Gene said.
"Are you out of your mind?" Ikee Katchin said. "What on earth would make us--"
"I will pay you 1000 wong each in advance and I will mount you on those." Gene takes out a wad of wong bills and points to his 6 magnificent whites tied nearby. They look them over as "Wyatt" Gene Starwind takes out a stack of warrants. "What I have here is a shelf of federal warrants. Being in the territories it is up to our discretion how they are served. That means we got the Kei Pirates without quarter. The red flag, guys. No prisoners, no surrender, no mercy and no escape, amen."
"1000 wong... in year's wages. And I never even saw a stallion like that." Shimi said to Ikee Katchin.
"Are you crazy? It can never be done." Ikee said.
"It might be done. If we hit the campsites through the northern dragoons, the waterholes in the corral, we could take them on in pieces, run off their faces." Swanzo faces Gene. "Keep your wong, I will show you where those waterholes are. Just promise us you will finish it. No matter what happens you will see it through to the end. We will have your hand on that." They shake hands as Shimi and Ikee confer in whispers. "We come through this in one piece, can we keep the stallions?" Shimi asked. Gene nods yes. Shimi nods to Ikee Katchin who crouches down with a pair of dice. He makes a pass, two passes, and finally. "Crapped out again. Okay, we are in." Katchin agreed.
Throughbreds are saddled and waiting, each with a castor rifle in a scabbard and a double-barrel castor shotgun across the saddle fork. The wagonmaster's son looks on with gathering awe as "Wyatt" Gene Starwind's men, each carrying castor pistols, face their leader. "The minute we start we will be going local and county law. If we fail the Government will not be able to lift a finger to help us. Nevertheless I want you to understand we carry the full force and authority of the law of Sentinel." Gene explained as they exchange glances, each man feeling a little shiver at the magnitude of what they are about to attempt. Gene faces them. "Raise your right hands. Do you solemnly swear to uphold the laws and constitution of the city of Sentinel and to protect it's citizens to the best of your ability, even at the cost of your own life?" All of them say "I swear to heaven itself", except for Fred Luo who rolls his eyes. And finally: "Oh... all right. I solemnly swear." Gene hands them all a Federal Marshal Deputy's badge while Fred waves his away. "You know why I am here. My hypocrisy only goes so far." Fred said. Gene shrugs. They mount up and about to begin their showdown. "Wait!" The wagonmaster runs up to Gene, reaching up and tying a red and silver silk scarf around his neck. "Your colors, Marshall." Gene nods his surprised thanks as the wagonmaster steps up. "Good luck, guys. And give those Kei Pirate bastards some hell!" They shake hands then Gene motions to his men. They take off at a graceful lope, riding through camp toward the deadfall and the desert badlands beyond. Unable to contain himself any longer, the wagonmaster's son bounds up onto a wagon, waving and shouting, spurring them on with a spontaneous frontier toast."To "Wyatt" Gene Starwind, the two castor gun man, whistling death and murder! Gene the Legendary Lawman, avenging and bright, poison on horseback with fire and lightning in his eye and thunder in his heart! Gene and his men, holy terrors and true, Five white centaurs blowing fire and brimstone! Ride out and charge and shoot and strike and cleave and hack and thrust home! Do not let up and give no rest and never call retreat till the last Kei Pirate is smashed and smote and running for cover. Best them all and break them up and bang their heads together in a bunch and give no quarter though they be eight times eight thousand!" Gene turns in the saddle, sweeping off his hat with cavalier's flourish as he and his men take the deadfall in a single bound and pass into the desert. A farming father grabs his infant son, lifting him up. "What are you doing?" the Hayphong mother said.
"Someday he will be able to say he was there when the legendary "Wyatt" Gene Starwind rode out to bring the law to his hands." the Hayphong father answered. Gene and his men ride through the desert, 5 abreast on their charging stallions, glossy black coats shimmering in the sunlight, hoofbeats pounding in unison. "All right, let us wring them out!" They break into a dead run, streaking across the badlands to the northern dragoons. As they crest a rise the ground drops from under them and for a perfect moment as if they are airborne, flying across the skies like the legendary four horsemen of myths. Katchin turns to Shimi, laughing at the sheer joy of being alive. "Like flying, son. Just like flying." Katchin said.
The sun starts to dip behind the near end of the ridge overlooking the campsite where on one side Unak and several Kei Pirates sit in a circle, playing poker while others recline on bedrolls, laughing and drinking wine. On the other side of the campsite, at the foot of the ridge, Hanmio,Hitoriga and two other Kei Pirates crouch over a campfire, cooking. Suddenly the cattle nestled under the far end of the ridge start bleating. Hanmio turns to Hitoriga who shrugs. "Maybe they smell a coyote." Hitoriga said as Hanmio turns to one of his men.
"Go up there, take a look and see what is pissing them off." Hanmio ordered. The Kei Pirate mount a pinto stallion and lopes up and over the far side of the ridge. Hitoriga and the others continue cooking. Moments later a crashing sound comes echoing over the ridge like lightning. The Kei Pirates look up, startled. Hitoriga points out. "Look!" The stallion gallops riderless back over the ridge. The Kei Pirates exchange confused glances, all attention focused on the far end of the ridge. Then the seven black horsemen ride out of the sun, gliding like apparations up and over the near end of the ridge and bearing down on the unsuspecting campsite with the speed of a flame. They are within a few yards of the fire when Unak suddenly spots them. "Look out!" Unak shouted. Hanmio and the others turn and just have time to gasp before Gene and his horsemen slam into them with terrifying impact, the bodies disappearing under their horses' hooves. The Kei Pirates recoil in total shock, jumping up from bedrolls, stumbling in confusion, scrambling to get the hell out of Gene's way as the posse plow through the fire and roar into camp, castor pistols blazing in air, horses rearing and snorting. "Sentinel III Marshals! Charge!" Everyone freezes. A worried-looking Unak shrinks back behind the others, trying not to be spotted. Meanwhile Fred Luo leans down and pokes his castor pistol into a nearby Kei Pirate's forehead. "Say something witty." Fred said. They herd the Kei Pirates over to one side of the camp, shouting, "Get over there!", "Move it!", etc. But Unak brazens up to Gene. "Hey, you cannot come here and takeover." A loud crack as Gene's quirt lays his face open to the bone. "One more word and I will blind you. Now get over there!" Gene said.
"Hey Swanzo, what are you doing?" Hanmio said.
"I am not your flesh and blood, I am not none of your damn flesh and blood brothers, Now move!" Swanzo said. Fred and Gene cover the Kei Pirates while the others scatter their herd with castor shots. Indignant, a Kei Pirate sneers at Twilight Suzuka. "Bastard! Insolent Bastard! Like to eat your blood raw!" A mean look in his eye, Suzuka dismounts and faces the Kei Pirate. "All right, prick. Dig in." And then Suzuka drills him in the jaw with a straight left hand. The pirate drops like a stone. Suzuka hauls him up by the hair and hammers him left and right and left, steps around, lifts him up and swift kicks the Kei Pirate to his groin. He topples back into a seated position then rolls over a moan and passes out. Meanwhile, seeing his chance, Unak ducks down and makes for the remuda as Fred looks down at the beatened up Kei Pirate. "It appears he missed an excellent chance to keep her mouth shut."
"Felt his ass go on that last one." Suzuka faces the Kei Pirates. "Get him to a doctor or he will be dead in a few hours." At the remuda Unak leaps on a horse and gallops off bareback. Swanzo points, pulling his rifle from it's scabbard. "Unak! He is getting away!"
"Drop his horse." Gene said. Swanzo draws a bead on the retreating Unak with his '85 Castor and fires. 125 yards away, the bullet hits Unak's horse in the shoulder with "thump". It drops, tumbling end over and plunging Unak face-first into the ground. He leaps up, spitting out a mouthful and starts running. Gene leaps on his black stallion and it streaks forward, closing the distance in seconds Unak gasps and runs faster, pulling out a castor pistol from his black sash, Gene almost on top of him. He turns and fires on the run. A branch next to Gene's head explodes. Gene keeps coming, drawing his 'peacemaker' rifle, impervious, and unstoppable. Unak turns for another shot just as the stallion piles into him, sending him flying and tumbling him down an embankment. He scrambles to his feet as Gene dismounts, starting toward him with deliberate step, eyes blazing, long-barreled shotgun held in front of him. Unak backs up in terror, gun at his side, shaking his head. "I did not kill James Hawking! I do not even know the bastard. I was only lookout. It was for wong, they gave me two-hundred wong! It was wong!" Unak cried out.
"A human being's life. Two-hundred wong." Gene nods, still coming with cold-blooded murder in his eyes. Unak screams, raising his rifle. "Go to hell!" Gene fires, blasting Unak to the ground. He advances, firing over and over, emptying his rifle into Unak...
The Kei Pirates watch as Gene gallops up, dragging Unak's bullet-riddled body behind him. He reins up, un-dallying the rope. The corpse flops at their feet as they horrifyingly jump back. "Look at him. That is how you will end up if you do not get it through your skulls: it is over, The Kei Pirates are finished. Forever. So tell the others and get out of this territory because next time I leave no Kei Pirate alive. Understand? None of them. You been warned." Gene turns to his men. "All right, burn it! Every part of Kei Pirate territory!" As Gene's men prepare to burn the camp, several Kei Pirates move to pick up Unak's body. "Leave that trash where it lays." Dusk arises as Gene and his posse ride through the blazing camp, the flames lighting up his eyes like a hellraising demon... Now the possemen crouch by their fire at nightfall. Fred Luo sits shivering miserably by himself as Shimi turns to Ikee Katchin. "You know, we might just pull this off." Shimi said.
"Not so sure. Something tells me it gets harder here on. We should have held out for more wong." Katchin said. Meanwhile Gene and Swanzo confer over a map. Gene points to a specific point on the point interesting him. "I know that cut. You mean there is a waterhole near the northern dragoon?" he asked.
"But this time they will be prepared." Swanzo said.
"We will see about that."
Now what is interesting Gene is the same mountain cut where he and Valeria Marcus met. Hitoriga and a group of eight Kei Pirates ride through the deserts 250 yards from the mountain cut, pushing a herd. "Keep your eyes open for Starwind's posse. Swear to Hazanko, they are not going to get the drop on us this time." Hitoriga said.
"Riders up ahead! ...four, five, six, seven! It is them all right!" They look. "Wyatt" Gene Starwind and his horsemen stand waiting at the mouth of the mountain cut. They tense, the first Kei Pirate squinting against the sun. At the cut, Gene and his men poise themselves, Fred nodding and said. "They saw us. Here they come." The Kei Pirates charge forward, outnumbering them better than 4 to 1 and only 65 yards away. The possemen choke up on their reins, alerting their stallions for action. "Wait.. wait.. steady..." 55 yards and the first shots ring out, richochetting off the walls of the cut. The others blanch but Gene stays cool, waiting, 35 yards... 20 yards... till they can see their eyes. "Now!" They whirl around and disappear into the mountain cut. The Kei Pirates keep coming. Gene's group reaches the small trail leading up the wall of the cut he used to avoid Valeria. They clamber up the side of the cut at a bounding gallop, unseen, as moments later the Kei Pirates gallop by and continue through into the desert on the other side. Gene's posse careens up and around the high mountain wall as if on a amusement park ride, following the narrow path at a breathtaking clip, the trail finally plunging them back into the draw behind the Kei Pirates. They speed up to the opposite mouth of the cut, drawing their castor pistols as the Kei Pirates gallop into the desert before them, unaware. "Charge!" Gene shouted as they charge forward. Seeing the empty desert badlands ahead, the Kei Pirates pull up, looking around in confusion. Suddenly a volley of castor gunfire hits them from behind, knocking several from the saddle. They spin around just as Gene's group slams into them head-on, rifles blazing, Kei Pirates tumbling from the saddle left and right, horses rearing and toppling over backwards. "Retreat!" Hitoriga yelled out as The remaining Kei Pirates turn and dash into the desert. "Come on!" Gene shouted as his posse charges, the thoroughbreds closing the distance in seconds. Shimi stands in his stirrups, roaring like a lion as he plunges into them, swinging his quirt like a saber and lashing a Kei Pirate across the face, making him tumble to the earth and bounce over the rocks like a stuffed doll. Swanzo closes with another, throwing an arm around him and jerking him from the saddle, snapping his neck. Fred Luo and Twilight Suzuka overtake a third, Suzuka slashes him with her bokuto and Fred jams his rifle into his face and fires point-blank, blackening his face with soot and blowing out the back of his head as he falls. Reins in his teeth, shotgun at his shoulder, Ikee Katchin comes up behind a fourth and fires. The Kei Pirate's head vanishes in a cloud of red vapor, the body dropping like a large stone... "Wyatt" Gene Starwind bears down on Hitoriga at a dead run. Hitoriga turns in the saddle and fires at him. Both sides feel a surge of breathless exhilaration as Gene swings out of the saddle like Commanche and ducks his body down against the side of his stallion, hiding in it's knee. Hitoriga turns for another shot only to see an apparently riderless stallion overtake him. But in the next instant Gene darts around under his stallion's neck and fires, blowing Hitoriga head-over-heels off the back of his horse. Gene bounds back into the saddle as Swanzo McMasters rides by, drawing a bead with his rifle on the lone survivor, the first Kei Pirate. Only a few yards in front of them, he whips his horse frantically, trying to get away. Swanzo is about to fire when Gene rides up, deflecting the shot. The Kei Pirates make it over a rise and disappear. "What did you do that for?" Swanzo asked.
"So he can tell the story." Gene answered.
Ron McDougal studies a map-drawn in the dirt, listening with his brother Harry, Marx, etc. while the first Kei Pirate describes the battle. "It did not make any sense. One minute we are chasing them, next they are right on top of us. We could not stop them, they got everybody. Just everybody!"
"Easy now, it is only five men. They been having it their way because they been surprising you. Hitting the waterholes and that prick Swanzo is showing them right where they are. Pretty damn touching. But nobody is touching as me." Ron points to the dirt map and continued. "Next up is Black Jack. But that punk Starwind will say no, that is where they all expect us to hit, we will hit the one after another. Metallic Springs. That is where they show next. Only I am going to be there first. And throw a little crossfire." Ron McDougal grins, his coarse face radiant in the firelight...
Fred Luo sits by the campire at night with Twilight Suzuka by his side, shaking and shivering and sweating. Shimi comes up and tries to cover him with a blanket. "Do not touch me!" Fred said.
"Sorry..." He pulls back. Fred wraps himself in the blanket. After a beat. "You really look awful." Shimi said.
"Not half as bad as I feel."
"Then why in the hell are you doing this? You should be in bed, not fighting."
""Wyatt" Gene Starwind is my friend." Fred answered Shimi.
"Hell, I got lots of friends." Shimi said as Luo turns, and glares at him.
"I do not." Meanwhile at the other side of the camp, Gene and Swanzo huddle over the map, Swanzo walks up. "Maybe you should have a talk with Fred, Gene. I do not know if he is going to make it."
"There is no reasoning with him." Gene said as Swanzo points to the map.
"Next waterhole is Black Jack. We could be there by mid-afternoon."
A camp near Metallic Springs with 3 Kei Pirates crouched by the campfire, sipping hot cocoa. Gene's men ride up to the rocks overlooking it and dismount, unseen. "There they are. No herd though."
"We will go around that way, come up on foot." Gene said as they pull their castor shotguns from their saddles and start down over the rocks on foot, creeping up on the campsite, seemingly undetected. But suddenly the Kei Pirates by the fire dive behind a log. "Ambush! Get down!" Swanzo shouted and suddenly the deadfall on the opposite side explodes in castor gunfire. Shimi takes a graze and drops with the others, hugging the rocks. A castor shell richochets into a rock at Shimi's head, biting his face with fragments, making him wince. "Shit!" Hunched behind the logs on the opposite side with 20 more Kei Pirates, Ron McDougal raises his head, grinning and shouting. "Hey, "Wyatt" Gene Starwind! How the hell are you?" Gene and his posse react to Ron's voice. The fire continues. Suddenly they see a movement in the rocks above them. "Look!" Fred pointed out.
"I got some boys working around those sides of the waterhole behind you. Another five or ten minutes, we are going to have you in a crossfire! How do you like that?" Seeing the spot they are in, Swanzo turns to the silent Gene. "He is right. They get set up on those rocks it is the end for us." And now for the first time the Kei Pirates see fear in Gene's men, actual naked fear. But Ron McDougal laughs, having the time of his life. "Of course you could give yourselves up and we could have a party! Then what larks!" Ron said. Crouched by Ron McDougal, the first Kei Pirate chuckles. A confident ripple of laughter goes through the Kei Pirate line-- they know they have them surrounded. On the other side, Shimi shakes his head grimly. "You are not taking me alive, damn it!" Swanzo looks at the still silent Gene, shrugging helplessly. "Think of something fast or we are cooked." he said as they really are at the end of their rope, all looking to Gene for a solution. He remains silent. Then suddenly, in this supreme moment, a strange, almost supernatural calm seems to come over him. "No..." he simply said.
"What?"
"No.." And now they can hear the ether ringing their ears as Gene takes his castor shotgun and, while the others look on in horror, rises to his feet. "Gene!" Fred and Suzuka said as Bullets whiz around him. Fred jumps up to grab him but a richochet drives him back down. Gene advances quickly across the clearing, walking right into the teeth of their rifles. "No..." Gene repeats as his clothes jerk and ripple as bullets pass through, but he just keeps coming. Seeing this, Ron McDougal also stands, a weird, psychopathic elation coming over him. He hoots and howls. "Look at that! Yes! Come and get some, boy!" Ron McDougal waves away his men's fire and walks toward Gene, Castor Shotgun in one hand, .45 colt magnum in the other, blasting away at Gene. "Let me, Let me, yes! Die, you bastard..." Ron continued.
"No..." Gene repeated as Ron McDougal fires again. Gene's hat flies off. He fires again, digging a gash in his boot heel. Now Ron takes dead aim with colt magnum and --click-- it is empty. He tosses it aside. Suddenly a sharp wind gusts up, making the tails of Gene's duster swirl around him like a halo as he advances. Eyes wild with battle rage, Ron McDougal quickly raises his shotgun. "Die! Son of a bitch! Die!" Ron continues firing. Gene's coattails evaporate into swirling shreds as he takes deliberate aim with his mighty 'Peacemaker' shotgun, hissing through clenched teeth. "No!" And with that, Gene let's go with both barrels. Ron McDougal's groin vaporizes, the huge double-charge of shotgun shot ripping him in half. The other Kei Pirates flinch as they are sprayed with flecks of blood and gore. "Holy shit!" The Kei Pirate shouts out. Eyes burning like twin hell demons, Gene pulls his 'Peacemaker' and fires. The Kei Pirate doubles over. Gene fires again and the pirate drops. The others recoil, their faces looking as if they are living in a waking nightmare as Gene advances on them, still firing. Another goes down. Fred Luo leaps from the rocks, castor gun in hand. "Come on!" Now the rest of the posse rise and open fire, advancing seven abreast, a wall of gunfire driving the remaining Kei Pirates off, running for their horses. Gene keeps snapping his empty rifle as the others run up. Beside himself, Suzuka helps Gene to a nearby rock, sitting him down and examining him, running his hands all over his body. The others fire at the Kei Pirates retreating on horseback. "Gene, my goodness! You are shot to pieces!" She said.
"No..."
"Yes, you better run, you bastards!" Shimi said as Ikee Katchin turns to Suzuka.
"How is he?" he said.
Suzuka looks up, amazed. "I do not believe it. He is clean!"
"What? But I saw them--"
"I am telling you, there is not a mark of blood on Gene." Twilight Suzuka interrupted. They look. until then, "Wyatt" Gene Starwind, drops his rifle and begins to tremble...
"The rest of us are five months out of Hayphong but we are from Blue Heaven originally." The wagonmaster said.
"Blue Heaven, really? I am from Farfallas." Gene said.
"Another Farfallas man! Practical nieghborhood! Step down, Marshal Starwind and have a feed."
The wagonmaster's son sits at a nearby coach, staring at Gene while he rolls breaddough, slendid as ever. Just finished telling his side of the story, Gene sits by the campfire with the wagonmaster and several others. They shaked their heads. "Do not have law, do not have anything. Only thing between us and the animals. It always the way it goes, though. Only way to down a Farfallas man from the rear, the Kei Pirates do not dare face them. President O' Malley, Vash The Stampede, now your band of law. Farfallas men all and all downed from the rear by disgusted democracies. I guess an ordinary man would be out for revenge but I do not figure that will answer here. It is a reputation you are after."
"If my father is my friend." Gene said.
"Let not your heart be faint, let your arm be stone---that is all you need of your father." the wagonmaster said. Gene pauses, nodding, suddenly understanding the truth of it all. Looking up, his eyes meet those of the wagonmaster. He smiles, wiping flour from his hands. Gene smiles thoughtfully, moved by this unexpected encounter...
Dawn approaches the camp. Fred Luo gallops into the camp with Swanzo, Suzuka, Ikee Katchin and Shimi, exchanging greeting with Gene who leads him over to the center of the camp. "You do know why you are all here?" Gene asked.
"Way ahead of you, Gene. You want us to help you get the McDougal Brothers and Clyde Biehn. Everybody knows they are the ones responsible for James Hawking's death and Aisha's lost arm."
"Clyde and McDougal are nothing. They are nobody. I want the Kei Pirates. All of them. I mean to break them up and drive them out of territory." Gene said.
"Are you out of your mind?" Ikee Katchin said. "What on earth would make us--"
"I will pay you 1000 wong each in advance and I will mount you on those." Gene takes out a wad of wong bills and points to his 6 magnificent whites tied nearby. They look them over as "Wyatt" Gene Starwind takes out a stack of warrants. "What I have here is a shelf of federal warrants. Being in the territories it is up to our discretion how they are served. That means we got the Kei Pirates without quarter. The red flag, guys. No prisoners, no surrender, no mercy and no escape, amen."
"1000 wong... in year's wages. And I never even saw a stallion like that." Shimi said to Ikee Katchin.
"Are you crazy? It can never be done." Ikee said.
"It might be done. If we hit the campsites through the northern dragoons, the waterholes in the corral, we could take them on in pieces, run off their faces." Swanzo faces Gene. "Keep your wong, I will show you where those waterholes are. Just promise us you will finish it. No matter what happens you will see it through to the end. We will have your hand on that." They shake hands as Shimi and Ikee confer in whispers. "We come through this in one piece, can we keep the stallions?" Shimi asked. Gene nods yes. Shimi nods to Ikee Katchin who crouches down with a pair of dice. He makes a pass, two passes, and finally. "Crapped out again. Okay, we are in." Katchin agreed.
Throughbreds are saddled and waiting, each with a castor rifle in a scabbard and a double-barrel castor shotgun across the saddle fork. The wagonmaster's son looks on with gathering awe as "Wyatt" Gene Starwind's men, each carrying castor pistols, face their leader. "The minute we start we will be going local and county law. If we fail the Government will not be able to lift a finger to help us. Nevertheless I want you to understand we carry the full force and authority of the law of Sentinel." Gene explained as they exchange glances, each man feeling a little shiver at the magnitude of what they are about to attempt. Gene faces them. "Raise your right hands. Do you solemnly swear to uphold the laws and constitution of the city of Sentinel and to protect it's citizens to the best of your ability, even at the cost of your own life?" All of them say "I swear to heaven itself", except for Fred Luo who rolls his eyes. And finally: "Oh... all right. I solemnly swear." Gene hands them all a Federal Marshal Deputy's badge while Fred waves his away. "You know why I am here. My hypocrisy only goes so far." Fred said. Gene shrugs. They mount up and about to begin their showdown. "Wait!" The wagonmaster runs up to Gene, reaching up and tying a red and silver silk scarf around his neck. "Your colors, Marshall." Gene nods his surprised thanks as the wagonmaster steps up. "Good luck, guys. And give those Kei Pirate bastards some hell!" They shake hands then Gene motions to his men. They take off at a graceful lope, riding through camp toward the deadfall and the desert badlands beyond. Unable to contain himself any longer, the wagonmaster's son bounds up onto a wagon, waving and shouting, spurring them on with a spontaneous frontier toast."To "Wyatt" Gene Starwind, the two castor gun man, whistling death and murder! Gene the Legendary Lawman, avenging and bright, poison on horseback with fire and lightning in his eye and thunder in his heart! Gene and his men, holy terrors and true, Five white centaurs blowing fire and brimstone! Ride out and charge and shoot and strike and cleave and hack and thrust home! Do not let up and give no rest and never call retreat till the last Kei Pirate is smashed and smote and running for cover. Best them all and break them up and bang their heads together in a bunch and give no quarter though they be eight times eight thousand!" Gene turns in the saddle, sweeping off his hat with cavalier's flourish as he and his men take the deadfall in a single bound and pass into the desert. A farming father grabs his infant son, lifting him up. "What are you doing?" the Hayphong mother said.
"Someday he will be able to say he was there when the legendary "Wyatt" Gene Starwind rode out to bring the law to his hands." the Hayphong father answered. Gene and his men ride through the desert, 5 abreast on their charging stallions, glossy black coats shimmering in the sunlight, hoofbeats pounding in unison. "All right, let us wring them out!" They break into a dead run, streaking across the badlands to the northern dragoons. As they crest a rise the ground drops from under them and for a perfect moment as if they are airborne, flying across the skies like the legendary four horsemen of myths. Katchin turns to Shimi, laughing at the sheer joy of being alive. "Like flying, son. Just like flying." Katchin said.
The sun starts to dip behind the near end of the ridge overlooking the campsite where on one side Unak and several Kei Pirates sit in a circle, playing poker while others recline on bedrolls, laughing and drinking wine. On the other side of the campsite, at the foot of the ridge, Hanmio,Hitoriga and two other Kei Pirates crouch over a campfire, cooking. Suddenly the cattle nestled under the far end of the ridge start bleating. Hanmio turns to Hitoriga who shrugs. "Maybe they smell a coyote." Hitoriga said as Hanmio turns to one of his men.
"Go up there, take a look and see what is pissing them off." Hanmio ordered. The Kei Pirate mount a pinto stallion and lopes up and over the far side of the ridge. Hitoriga and the others continue cooking. Moments later a crashing sound comes echoing over the ridge like lightning. The Kei Pirates look up, startled. Hitoriga points out. "Look!" The stallion gallops riderless back over the ridge. The Kei Pirates exchange confused glances, all attention focused on the far end of the ridge. Then the seven black horsemen ride out of the sun, gliding like apparations up and over the near end of the ridge and bearing down on the unsuspecting campsite with the speed of a flame. They are within a few yards of the fire when Unak suddenly spots them. "Look out!" Unak shouted. Hanmio and the others turn and just have time to gasp before Gene and his horsemen slam into them with terrifying impact, the bodies disappearing under their horses' hooves. The Kei Pirates recoil in total shock, jumping up from bedrolls, stumbling in confusion, scrambling to get the hell out of Gene's way as the posse plow through the fire and roar into camp, castor pistols blazing in air, horses rearing and snorting. "Sentinel III Marshals! Charge!" Everyone freezes. A worried-looking Unak shrinks back behind the others, trying not to be spotted. Meanwhile Fred Luo leans down and pokes his castor pistol into a nearby Kei Pirate's forehead. "Say something witty." Fred said. They herd the Kei Pirates over to one side of the camp, shouting, "Get over there!", "Move it!", etc. But Unak brazens up to Gene. "Hey, you cannot come here and takeover." A loud crack as Gene's quirt lays his face open to the bone. "One more word and I will blind you. Now get over there!" Gene said.
"Hey Swanzo, what are you doing?" Hanmio said.
"I am not your flesh and blood, I am not none of your damn flesh and blood brothers, Now move!" Swanzo said. Fred and Gene cover the Kei Pirates while the others scatter their herd with castor shots. Indignant, a Kei Pirate sneers at Twilight Suzuka. "Bastard! Insolent Bastard! Like to eat your blood raw!" A mean look in his eye, Suzuka dismounts and faces the Kei Pirate. "All right, prick. Dig in." And then Suzuka drills him in the jaw with a straight left hand. The pirate drops like a stone. Suzuka hauls him up by the hair and hammers him left and right and left, steps around, lifts him up and swift kicks the Kei Pirate to his groin. He topples back into a seated position then rolls over a moan and passes out. Meanwhile, seeing his chance, Unak ducks down and makes for the remuda as Fred looks down at the beatened up Kei Pirate. "It appears he missed an excellent chance to keep her mouth shut."
"Felt his ass go on that last one." Suzuka faces the Kei Pirates. "Get him to a doctor or he will be dead in a few hours." At the remuda Unak leaps on a horse and gallops off bareback. Swanzo points, pulling his rifle from it's scabbard. "Unak! He is getting away!"
"Drop his horse." Gene said. Swanzo draws a bead on the retreating Unak with his '85 Castor and fires. 125 yards away, the bullet hits Unak's horse in the shoulder with "thump". It drops, tumbling end over and plunging Unak face-first into the ground. He leaps up, spitting out a mouthful and starts running. Gene leaps on his black stallion and it streaks forward, closing the distance in seconds Unak gasps and runs faster, pulling out a castor pistol from his black sash, Gene almost on top of him. He turns and fires on the run. A branch next to Gene's head explodes. Gene keeps coming, drawing his 'peacemaker' rifle, impervious, and unstoppable. Unak turns for another shot just as the stallion piles into him, sending him flying and tumbling him down an embankment. He scrambles to his feet as Gene dismounts, starting toward him with deliberate step, eyes blazing, long-barreled shotgun held in front of him. Unak backs up in terror, gun at his side, shaking his head. "I did not kill James Hawking! I do not even know the bastard. I was only lookout. It was for wong, they gave me two-hundred wong! It was wong!" Unak cried out.
"A human being's life. Two-hundred wong." Gene nods, still coming with cold-blooded murder in his eyes. Unak screams, raising his rifle. "Go to hell!" Gene fires, blasting Unak to the ground. He advances, firing over and over, emptying his rifle into Unak...
The Kei Pirates watch as Gene gallops up, dragging Unak's bullet-riddled body behind him. He reins up, un-dallying the rope. The corpse flops at their feet as they horrifyingly jump back. "Look at him. That is how you will end up if you do not get it through your skulls: it is over, The Kei Pirates are finished. Forever. So tell the others and get out of this territory because next time I leave no Kei Pirate alive. Understand? None of them. You been warned." Gene turns to his men. "All right, burn it! Every part of Kei Pirate territory!" As Gene's men prepare to burn the camp, several Kei Pirates move to pick up Unak's body. "Leave that trash where it lays." Dusk arises as Gene and his posse ride through the blazing camp, the flames lighting up his eyes like a hellraising demon... Now the possemen crouch by their fire at nightfall. Fred Luo sits shivering miserably by himself as Shimi turns to Ikee Katchin. "You know, we might just pull this off." Shimi said.
"Not so sure. Something tells me it gets harder here on. We should have held out for more wong." Katchin said. Meanwhile Gene and Swanzo confer over a map. Gene points to a specific point on the point interesting him. "I know that cut. You mean there is a waterhole near the northern dragoon?" he asked.
"But this time they will be prepared." Swanzo said.
"We will see about that."
Now what is interesting Gene is the same mountain cut where he and Valeria Marcus met. Hitoriga and a group of eight Kei Pirates ride through the deserts 250 yards from the mountain cut, pushing a herd. "Keep your eyes open for Starwind's posse. Swear to Hazanko, they are not going to get the drop on us this time." Hitoriga said.
"Riders up ahead! ...four, five, six, seven! It is them all right!" They look. "Wyatt" Gene Starwind and his horsemen stand waiting at the mouth of the mountain cut. They tense, the first Kei Pirate squinting against the sun. At the cut, Gene and his men poise themselves, Fred nodding and said. "They saw us. Here they come." The Kei Pirates charge forward, outnumbering them better than 4 to 1 and only 65 yards away. The possemen choke up on their reins, alerting their stallions for action. "Wait.. wait.. steady..." 55 yards and the first shots ring out, richochetting off the walls of the cut. The others blanch but Gene stays cool, waiting, 35 yards... 20 yards... till they can see their eyes. "Now!" They whirl around and disappear into the mountain cut. The Kei Pirates keep coming. Gene's group reaches the small trail leading up the wall of the cut he used to avoid Valeria. They clamber up the side of the cut at a bounding gallop, unseen, as moments later the Kei Pirates gallop by and continue through into the desert on the other side. Gene's posse careens up and around the high mountain wall as if on a amusement park ride, following the narrow path at a breathtaking clip, the trail finally plunging them back into the draw behind the Kei Pirates. They speed up to the opposite mouth of the cut, drawing their castor pistols as the Kei Pirates gallop into the desert before them, unaware. "Charge!" Gene shouted as they charge forward. Seeing the empty desert badlands ahead, the Kei Pirates pull up, looking around in confusion. Suddenly a volley of castor gunfire hits them from behind, knocking several from the saddle. They spin around just as Gene's group slams into them head-on, rifles blazing, Kei Pirates tumbling from the saddle left and right, horses rearing and toppling over backwards. "Retreat!" Hitoriga yelled out as The remaining Kei Pirates turn and dash into the desert. "Come on!" Gene shouted as his posse charges, the thoroughbreds closing the distance in seconds. Shimi stands in his stirrups, roaring like a lion as he plunges into them, swinging his quirt like a saber and lashing a Kei Pirate across the face, making him tumble to the earth and bounce over the rocks like a stuffed doll. Swanzo closes with another, throwing an arm around him and jerking him from the saddle, snapping his neck. Fred Luo and Twilight Suzuka overtake a third, Suzuka slashes him with her bokuto and Fred jams his rifle into his face and fires point-blank, blackening his face with soot and blowing out the back of his head as he falls. Reins in his teeth, shotgun at his shoulder, Ikee Katchin comes up behind a fourth and fires. The Kei Pirate's head vanishes in a cloud of red vapor, the body dropping like a large stone... "Wyatt" Gene Starwind bears down on Hitoriga at a dead run. Hitoriga turns in the saddle and fires at him. Both sides feel a surge of breathless exhilaration as Gene swings out of the saddle like Commanche and ducks his body down against the side of his stallion, hiding in it's knee. Hitoriga turns for another shot only to see an apparently riderless stallion overtake him. But in the next instant Gene darts around under his stallion's neck and fires, blowing Hitoriga head-over-heels off the back of his horse. Gene bounds back into the saddle as Swanzo McMasters rides by, drawing a bead with his rifle on the lone survivor, the first Kei Pirate. Only a few yards in front of them, he whips his horse frantically, trying to get away. Swanzo is about to fire when Gene rides up, deflecting the shot. The Kei Pirates make it over a rise and disappear. "What did you do that for?" Swanzo asked.
"So he can tell the story." Gene answered.
Ron McDougal studies a map-drawn in the dirt, listening with his brother Harry, Marx, etc. while the first Kei Pirate describes the battle. "It did not make any sense. One minute we are chasing them, next they are right on top of us. We could not stop them, they got everybody. Just everybody!"
"Easy now, it is only five men. They been having it their way because they been surprising you. Hitting the waterholes and that prick Swanzo is showing them right where they are. Pretty damn touching. But nobody is touching as me." Ron points to the dirt map and continued. "Next up is Black Jack. But that punk Starwind will say no, that is where they all expect us to hit, we will hit the one after another. Metallic Springs. That is where they show next. Only I am going to be there first. And throw a little crossfire." Ron McDougal grins, his coarse face radiant in the firelight...
Fred Luo sits by the campire at night with Twilight Suzuka by his side, shaking and shivering and sweating. Shimi comes up and tries to cover him with a blanket. "Do not touch me!" Fred said.
"Sorry..." He pulls back. Fred wraps himself in the blanket. After a beat. "You really look awful." Shimi said.
"Not half as bad as I feel."
"Then why in the hell are you doing this? You should be in bed, not fighting."
""Wyatt" Gene Starwind is my friend." Fred answered Shimi.
"Hell, I got lots of friends." Shimi said as Luo turns, and glares at him.
"I do not." Meanwhile at the other side of the camp, Gene and Swanzo huddle over the map, Swanzo walks up. "Maybe you should have a talk with Fred, Gene. I do not know if he is going to make it."
"There is no reasoning with him." Gene said as Swanzo points to the map.
"Next waterhole is Black Jack. We could be there by mid-afternoon."
A camp near Metallic Springs with 3 Kei Pirates crouched by the campfire, sipping hot cocoa. Gene's men ride up to the rocks overlooking it and dismount, unseen. "There they are. No herd though."
"We will go around that way, come up on foot." Gene said as they pull their castor shotguns from their saddles and start down over the rocks on foot, creeping up on the campsite, seemingly undetected. But suddenly the Kei Pirates by the fire dive behind a log. "Ambush! Get down!" Swanzo shouted and suddenly the deadfall on the opposite side explodes in castor gunfire. Shimi takes a graze and drops with the others, hugging the rocks. A castor shell richochets into a rock at Shimi's head, biting his face with fragments, making him wince. "Shit!" Hunched behind the logs on the opposite side with 20 more Kei Pirates, Ron McDougal raises his head, grinning and shouting. "Hey, "Wyatt" Gene Starwind! How the hell are you?" Gene and his posse react to Ron's voice. The fire continues. Suddenly they see a movement in the rocks above them. "Look!" Fred pointed out.
"I got some boys working around those sides of the waterhole behind you. Another five or ten minutes, we are going to have you in a crossfire! How do you like that?" Seeing the spot they are in, Swanzo turns to the silent Gene. "He is right. They get set up on those rocks it is the end for us." And now for the first time the Kei Pirates see fear in Gene's men, actual naked fear. But Ron McDougal laughs, having the time of his life. "Of course you could give yourselves up and we could have a party! Then what larks!" Ron said. Crouched by Ron McDougal, the first Kei Pirate chuckles. A confident ripple of laughter goes through the Kei Pirate line-- they know they have them surrounded. On the other side, Shimi shakes his head grimly. "You are not taking me alive, damn it!" Swanzo looks at the still silent Gene, shrugging helplessly. "Think of something fast or we are cooked." he said as they really are at the end of their rope, all looking to Gene for a solution. He remains silent. Then suddenly, in this supreme moment, a strange, almost supernatural calm seems to come over him. "No..." he simply said.
"What?"
"No.." And now they can hear the ether ringing their ears as Gene takes his castor shotgun and, while the others look on in horror, rises to his feet. "Gene!" Fred and Suzuka said as Bullets whiz around him. Fred jumps up to grab him but a richochet drives him back down. Gene advances quickly across the clearing, walking right into the teeth of their rifles. "No..." Gene repeats as his clothes jerk and ripple as bullets pass through, but he just keeps coming. Seeing this, Ron McDougal also stands, a weird, psychopathic elation coming over him. He hoots and howls. "Look at that! Yes! Come and get some, boy!" Ron McDougal waves away his men's fire and walks toward Gene, Castor Shotgun in one hand, .45 colt magnum in the other, blasting away at Gene. "Let me, Let me, yes! Die, you bastard..." Ron continued.
"No..." Gene repeated as Ron McDougal fires again. Gene's hat flies off. He fires again, digging a gash in his boot heel. Now Ron takes dead aim with colt magnum and --click-- it is empty. He tosses it aside. Suddenly a sharp wind gusts up, making the tails of Gene's duster swirl around him like a halo as he advances. Eyes wild with battle rage, Ron McDougal quickly raises his shotgun. "Die! Son of a bitch! Die!" Ron continues firing. Gene's coattails evaporate into swirling shreds as he takes deliberate aim with his mighty 'Peacemaker' shotgun, hissing through clenched teeth. "No!" And with that, Gene let's go with both barrels. Ron McDougal's groin vaporizes, the huge double-charge of shotgun shot ripping him in half. The other Kei Pirates flinch as they are sprayed with flecks of blood and gore. "Holy shit!" The Kei Pirate shouts out. Eyes burning like twin hell demons, Gene pulls his 'Peacemaker' and fires. The Kei Pirate doubles over. Gene fires again and the pirate drops. The others recoil, their faces looking as if they are living in a waking nightmare as Gene advances on them, still firing. Another goes down. Fred Luo leaps from the rocks, castor gun in hand. "Come on!" Now the rest of the posse rise and open fire, advancing seven abreast, a wall of gunfire driving the remaining Kei Pirates off, running for their horses. Gene keeps snapping his empty rifle as the others run up. Beside himself, Suzuka helps Gene to a nearby rock, sitting him down and examining him, running his hands all over his body. The others fire at the Kei Pirates retreating on horseback. "Gene, my goodness! You are shot to pieces!" She said.
"No..."
"Yes, you better run, you bastards!" Shimi said as Ikee Katchin turns to Suzuka.
"How is he?" he said.
Suzuka looks up, amazed. "I do not believe it. He is clean!"
"What? But I saw them--"
"I am telling you, there is not a mark of blood on Gene." Twilight Suzuka interrupted. They look. until then, "Wyatt" Gene Starwind, drops his rifle and begins to tremble...