Western RP: play thread

-BANG!-BANG!- (I hit the ground...)

((sorry, yuna... he did warn ya... ))

The crowd is startled and confused, Sanders is hushed and stares with the crowd up at the hotel roof, as Lily starts to expose more of the truths.

Unfortunately, one of the girls takes two bullets at very close range...

Fortunately( for yuna), it is not Lily... ((psyche))

Unfortunately, for her, and for Buddy, AND for the assassin, if Buddy ever gets his hands on him, it is Catori who takes the shots, stepping in front of the assassin's pistol as he fires, saving Lily's life, by sacrificing herself...

Catori collapses onto the street, and the crowd screams and scatters.

Steve Sanders roars. "RENO?!! NOOO!!!" and steps to the hangman's lever, pulling it with a grunt, sealing the fate of the innocent Native girls, and further adding to the chaos of the moment...

Luis swears again, this time more loudly. He excuses himself, nodding once to Cavendish. He disappears into the crowd, blending soundlessly into the confusion. Gripping the pistol more tightly, he weaves through the group, till he sees his target. A man on the roof of a nearby building, his gun now trained on some other victim. Luis spots a well-placed wooden ladder, apparently there for maintenance.

He scrambles up it with the agility of a cat, and leaps off onto the roof. He cracks his knuckles just as the man turns and sees him. If he can do this neatly...

Luis doesn't want to kill the man, only to get his weapon and his spot on the roof.

((More suspense. . .)) When looking at her Lily notes iy is really not Catori.Catori was still in the hotel as backup. Staring more closely it is Vic who is hit for her own stupid words.

In that instant of penultimate insanity and confusion, one Native girl lay dead in the streets of Abilene, while 2 more dangle at the end of a hangman's noose, their hangman, Steve Sanders and the United States Army regiment commanded by Geoffrey Jericho.

Sanders skinned pistols and ducked on the gallows, using the remaining 2 'Reno's Renegade' imposters as shields; they were still shackled and gagged, and could do little to resist as Sanders took aim and fired upon the hotel roof.

As if things couldn't get worse and more confusing and horrifying all at once, just then, the gallows began to give way, creaking and moaning, crackling and finally cracking in half, at the T bar intersect, sending the dangling damsels to the safety of the pit beneath the staging area...

Buddy aimed but could not fire back down upon Sanders, for fear of hitting an innocent civilian. The square was essentially clear of townsfolk then, but many still scrambled in the background outside and away from the square. Only Catori (it has to be Catori, because Vic came up form behind them both when the blue-suit assassin arrived... but don't worry...it is still more suspense...) and Lily and Vicotria remained, along with the blue suited bad man, who likewise was now scrambling for some semblance of cover and concealment.

Cavendish and his cavalcade also fled the square, making way back to the hotel in great haste.

((ok I'm changing my last post... so this goes before all that shizzle))

Luis swears again, this time more loudly. He excuses himself, nodding once to Cavendish. He disappears into the crowd, blending soundlessly into the confusion. Gripping the pistol more tightly, he weaves through the group, till he sees his target--Catori's apparent assassin. He places the end of his gun on the man's temple, whispers something in his ear, and fires, ending his life.

Luis catches him by the collar of his shirt and lowers him gently to the ground in an attempt to avoid drawing undue attention to himself. After all, there is gunfire coming from all over--a small shot from a single revolver will hardly be noticed.

Seeing Cavendish and his associates fleeing the square, Luis stays mingled with the crowd to avoid being noticed by him.

Leo quickly whipped his guns out of their holsters and fired a bullet at each of the ropes attatched to the two womens heads. As ever his aim was true and the girls fell forwards onto their knees, giving Leo a clean shot at Sanders. He then trained his gun on him.

Several Sanders men (plain-clothed mercs, not soldiers) scramble for position on Buddy and the roof-top renegades.

"It's over, Reno!" Sanders shouts, from behind the MALE impostor-shields, and a few of his own mercenaries. "You were right! It was a farce! A farce to think you could get away from justice! That justice is at hand!"

"HELP US!!" the cry came from the pit below the gallows, as a bloody brown hand clawed at the stage floor from below. The women, now free of their nooses thanks to Leo's quick shots, were still struggling for their freedom.

-BANG!-BANG!- Sanders took a moment to finish off the murder of the innocent Native women. "Free at last..." he sighed, with a smile, then turned back toward the hotel, still and again sandwiched between the Nat and Luis look-alikes...

"You, and your Army cohort, Commander Jericho, are finished in this region, Reno!!"

Jericho gaped, at the sudden revelation, and townsfolk poked their heads out from the buildings and listened to the drama unfold.

"What is this insanity, Deputy Sanders?" Jericho shouted back across the square. "What is the meaning of all this?"

"You tell us, Commander!" Sanders continued. "IT was the incompetence of your men that brought the gallows down, leaving me little choice but to kill the savage girls, to end their suffering in the pits below..."

the twisted lies just kept on spewing from the power-mad maniac...

"That's a lie and you know it Sanders!!" Leo shouted, "I know it was your doing. Just as it was your doing to bring all of those bandits into town! And YOU will be the one who will pay for all your indecencies...not Jericho!" His guns were aimed on Sanders, one on his head, the other on his heart.

Lily stood up and staggered as she started to stand. "Buddy!" she cried and rushed to aid him. Bringing out a silver gun she stood beside him.

Sanders continued. "It was also utter incompetence of the military security forces that allowed every single one of our captive renegades to escape!

Ahhh, Lily, dear sweet Lily.." he almost purred, looking down on his sister and her dead friend, as Leo spoke up from his place near the square "... and Leo... Leo, the Lion... Lamb is more like it, according to your brother... aint that right, Wolf?"

There, on cue, came Wolf Raines from the Marshall's office, both his pistols trained on his little brother Leo.

Steve Sanders made another proclamation and power-play, then and there, while his men held the Army and Reno's Renegades at bay. "Under section 8 of the Abilene city charter, as ordained by the great Marshall Horace B. Thoroughgood, marshall of Taylor county and surrounding areas, including Abilene, I hereby wrest control over all law enforcement agents and agencies in this region...

Stand down, Commander Jericho..."

the silence in that moment was deafening. Nobody apparently knew what to do, what to expect, or what might happen next...

City deputies were squaring off against Sanders and the Army, the Army against Sanders and the city deputies, Sanders men against Reno's Renegades and the Army, essentially ignoring the deputies...

and, stuck in the middle of it all were Reno's Renegades!

If things went just right, Sanders would die and Reno's Renegades would be imprisoned by the Army as murderous scum... if things went bad, Sanders would oust Jericho, Jericho would die, and Reno's Renegades would be hanged as enemies of the people, by the people, and for the people, as long as the people were for Sanders... if things went from bad to worse, Sanders would rule, Jericho would join forces, and Reno's Renegades would be shot to death in the town square...

...in mere moments, all would be decided...

If only some sort of LAW could be found amidst this lawlessness and chaos... if only...

As if on cue, a scream went up from the looky-loos behind the gallows area.

"Oh my goodness!!!" the townsfolk cried, as the body of the 'Buddy Reno' stand-in flopped from the gallows, his burlap mask flitting away in the breeze.

"It's the marshall... That's Marshall Thoroughgood!! The deputy shot the Marshall!!"

(too bad, the law man was quite dead... -GULP!-)

(((Okay, I am so fraeking confused so I am shooting blindly. If the post is not okay get Ush to delete it)))

Catori stood at a window in the hotel. (not necessarily hers) She took aim on Sander's hand and let the arrow fly. It hit Sanders hand piercing it as it jerked him forward nearly tearing his hand off. She then took aim on one of his other men. She was not going to let them win.

"Steven Sanders, STAND DOWN!" Commander Geoffrey Jericho demanded. "For the public murder of Marshall Horace B Thoroughgood, there will be justice!"

"Justice?" Sanders laughed. "For just us!! Commander Jericho, YOU CAN GO TO HELL!!" he turned his pistols on the Army Commander, and his loyal mercenaries opened fire upon the Army soldiers.

-click-click- Unfortunately, Deputy Steve Sanders time as a power-mad crooked law-man, as well as his bullets, had run out.

-RAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT!-
the 50-caliber Gatling gun repeater spit out a rapid volley of fiery death upon the gallows area, shredding and utterly decimating poor Steve Sanders where he stood. Whatever was left of Sanders body collapsed into the hangman's pit, and further into the pits of Hell and damnation itself...

While the mercenaries and the Army men fought it out on the streets of the city, Commander Jericho turned his attention to his old nemesis.

"Reno..." he spat, clicking up the Gatling-gun locking clamps and wheeling the weapon toward the hotel. Trouble was, the gun was nowhere near the proper upward angle to aim and fire upon the roof.

"You there, you men... knock down that wheel, NOW!" Jericho ordered a few of his troops to the back side of the wagon, where they drew out their sabres and whacked the wheel and axle, until the wagon collapsed, disabled, and the Gatling-gun angled slightly upward...

"REEENNNNOOOO!!" Jericho roared, above all the gunfire and insanity.

Buddy Reno looked up from the rooftop of the hotel, where he had been watching and mourning the loss of his 'beautiful flower', taking note of his impending death at the hands of his former commander. In that last second off his life, what could Buddy do?

On the ground, in the square, Catori stirred, and groaned, blinked, and sat up, helped to her feet by Lily and Victoria, dusty, and battered, but very much alive!!! Amazingly enough (or not) her diamond-stone gift necklace was still around her neck, though now chipped and scarred had deflected the close-range blasts at her chest, saving her life...

... seeing this, seeing his flower live and bloom before his eyes, inspired Buddy Reno once again, and he responded the only way he knew; he saluted his former commander, and flashed a cocky smile, before ducking from view, retreating from the rear of the roof...

"DAMN YOU, BUDDY RENO!" Commander Geoffrey Jericho roared.
"This is not over! Not by a long shot!"

and with that, The Execution of Buddy Reno was over... really! 😎 😛 💃

Lily helped Catori start to walk as they got out of all that chaos and confusion.

With all the deputies facing off against the Army, and the Army facing off against the deputies, and Sanders men stuck between both real law enforcement agencies, it was pandemonium for a few long minutes...

plenty of time for Reno's Renegades to get clean and get clear...

...especially with a crew of blue-coat cowboys to wrangle the entire crew's horses and equipment, in a wagon train out of town.

Blue-coat cowboys rode in, scoped out, and scooped up each of Reno's Renegades who would go with them. Buddy and Greg found a ladder, manned by a blue-coat, with an assist by a pretty girl (The prostitute from Cavendish's suite), and a carriage awaited all who would be wrangled.

(Luis and Greg would recognize the carriage as the one from the storm that morning...)

Any one of Reno's Renegades who doesn't wish to flee town under the watchful security of Cavendish Unlimited Enterprises International, can suffer the sh!t-storm as the Army and the mercenaries and the city cops and the townfolks sort out who out-smarted who, and for what reasons...

Buddy's onboard, Steve Sanders is dead, and Commander Geoffrey Jericho has settled one score, but still has at least one more to go....

Lily and Victoria lifted Catori up and then got up themselves.

Catori smiled. "thank you." she told the two. It was obvious she was shaken.

The Cavendish carriage trots thru the town square, and Buddy leans out the open door, calling to Catori, Lily and Victoria.

"Let's go, ladies..." he summons.

Catori gingerly got into the carriage. She gently sat beside Buddy. "G..glad to see you a...alive." she says forcing a very shooked up smile.