Director's Note: Read the last few posts of the previous chapter before writing here. I started a new thread because the last one was getting a little long and this appears to be an all-action chapter.

(Edited by Dieter at 9:20 am on Jan. 6, 2005)

Peter watches the pileup behind them; with anger in his face, he grabs his insurance case, draws the Raging Hornet and loads the monster revolver.

"I don't know about you, but I feel the sudden urge to help out our friendly neighbourhood law enforcers."

"There's two and they're armed," Ayumi whispers to Carla. "One has a gun out, the other's got brass knuckles. Aim to maim."

She swings her wakizashis out from her stealth rig and holds them one over-hand, one under-hand, ready to get alternately slicy and stabby.

Artis turns the rig at slight angle to afford Peter better cover when firing downrange.

Quote:

Quote: from Infested Paladin on 8:43 pm on Jan. 6, 2005
"There's two and they're armed," Ayumi whispers to Carla. "One has a gun out, the other's got brass knuckles. Aim to maim."

She swings her wakizashis out from her stealth rig and holds them one over-hand, one under-hand, ready to get alternately slicy and stabby.

Ayumi sees the two men move past the babushka ( and younger woman (Y), approaching their cabin door. The gunman (G1) hangs back to the left side of the door gesturing for the other (G2) to knock.

(Map forthcoming)

Hearing a commotion out in the corridor, a tall, lean man looks up from his newspaper. Setting it aside, he steps to the door of his compartment and opens it for a look out. Just outside the door he encounters a young woman, who's face bears the signs of some beating. The older woman next to her seems to be trying to care for the injury while interposing herself between the girl and two men. The men, meanwhile, appear to be of a rough sort, though now the room next to his seems to have drawn their attention.

"Quick, in here," Jacque says quietly but with urgency in his voice. He gestures at the door to his cabin, extending a hand to assist the young lady inside.

The two women head for the tall man's open door, entering his cabin just as he sees a short blade bust through the adjacent cabin's wall and into the gunman's kidney, immediately retreating back inside.

The gunman shrieks in pain, shouting "Kick in the door!" to his colleague, who promptly boots it in, literally falling into Carla...and her readied blade. Her knife impales him in the leg as both of them crash to the floor in a heap of momentum and splintered wood.

Back on the highway...

Peter prepares a well-aimed shot at the man in the Mercedes, bracing himself on rig's sturdy set of rhino-bars.

Steady...steady.

The Taurus barely registers a kick as the bullet sails downrange with deadeye accuracy, blowing a hole clean-through the driver's-side window and striking the man at center-mass.

(Edited by Dieter at 2:33 pm on Jan. 7, 2005)

Peter cracks a grin.

"Try that with a 9 millimeter."

That said, Peter checks his aim again and sends two more bullets downrange.

Peter sees that the Mercedes' driver has wisely chosen to exit the car through the other side of the vehicle and heads towards the policecar, his approach punctuated by bursts from what sounds like a very illegal automatic rifle.

Bullets dance across the policecruiser's hood, shattering the windshield and driver's-side window, the cop catching one in the shoulder as he cowers behind his door.

Slowly squeezing back the trigger of Taurus, Peter lets off two more rounds. The first goes slightly wide, the second being on-target.

The driver stands straight-up for a moment, as if the bullet had struck his spinal column, then quietly slumps to the ground like a ragdoll.

Peter watches the man go down; at once, he snaps the revolver back and opens the door.

"Grab the First Aid case and a gun. I'll do some tactical support."

That said, he jumps out and begins to sprint for the crash scene.

Jacque winces as he sees the bladed weapon pierce the wall and enter the gunman's thigh. Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark.

Once the women are inside, Jacque closes the door and turns his attention to them. His eyes shift from the young woman to the older and back again. "Is there anything I can do to help? I think I have a few bandages in my bag."

Turning, Jacque pulls a small, very basic first aid kit from his bag. "Here," he says, handing the kit to the older woman. "I'm not a medic or anything, but you might find something in there that will help."

The wound on the young woman's face looks pretty nasty. Jacque thinks he caught a glimpse of brass knuckles on the fist of one of the men in the hall. A shame to do such a thing to an attractive young woman.

The Babushka thankfully takes the bandage from Jacque, applying it firmly to bridge of the girl's nose as both her eyes begin to blacken. Jacque hears the tell-tale signs of an ensuing struggle in the adjacent cabin.

(Panning over and looking through the window of the ladies' cabin)

Ayumi retrieves her blade from the wall just as the man kicks in the door and consequently gets impaled on Carla's knife. She moves to help Carla but sees the business end of a silenced pistol stick itself through the broken doorway.

Seeing the protruding pistol, Ayumi steps forward and slices at the gunman's hand. Her first attack comes up and cuts into the man's palm as she follows through with her other wakizashi, bringing it across the knuckle of his thumb.

The gunman recoils in pain, dropping his pistol to the floor.

Siberian Highway

Peter advances toward the shootout scene with Artis providing suppressive fire, if necessary. As Peter gets closer, he sees the cowering patrolman stand up and move around to the other side of the policecar. The cop reappears, flinging the driver onto the hood of his cruiser, cuffing him just in case.

Arriving within earshot of the patrolman, Peter can hear him calling in on his radio for any available backup. It is at this point when the two men finally see eachother face-to-face.

Peter holds up his hands semi-casually, in the internationally understood sign for "Hey, don't fuck me over, we're on the same side."

As he stands there and waits for Artis to catch up, he begins talk.

"Easy there. You're injured. My partner's on the way with a medical kit. Just sit down, stay calm, and we'll have you patched up in no time."

The patrolman nods, looking at the grazer he took, but seems less than interested in Peter's aid for himself. In lieu of actual conversation, the patrolman puts his pistol on the cruiser's roof, opening the rear passenger door and heaving up his partner into the backseat. The cop listens for any signs of life, checking for a pulse.

"Ah. Good boy, Josef. You're still alive."

Retrieving his pistol from the roof, the patrolman looks at Peter. By now, Artis is almost at the scene.

"Have your friend help my partner. I'm going to check on the Mercedes. There were two men in the car and all I see is the driver. If the driver moves, shoot him."

The cop ejects the clip, popping in a fresh one as he moves toward the wrecked Mercedes with pistol at the ready.

Peter briefly turns around to Artis, pointing over to the injured cop on the ground. That done, he moves over to the downed driver and checks for lifesigns.

Quote:

Quote: from Gatac on 1:08 pm on Jan. 10, 2005
Peter briefly turns around to Artis, pointing over to the injured cop on the ground. That done, he moves over to the downed driver and checks for lifesigns.

Peter sees his marksmanship first hand. Two of his bullets have lodged themselves into the driver's abdomen. Belly shots are the worst bleeders, but if Reservoir Dogs has taught Peter anything, it's that they take a helluva long time to kill you. His third hit caught the driver in the collarbone. The pain from that one must have been blinding as part of the clavical is clearly visable.

Looking at the policecruiser, Peter can see where his shots went clean through one quarterpanel and out the other side.

Krasnoyarsk, outside the clinic

"At least we know she was here recently" is the sentiment shared by Moten and Brian. They leave the clinic knowing they're a few hours off Jess' trail. Pondering their next move, the nurse catches up with them about a block away, tugging on Moten's overcoat.

"Erm. Ex-excuse...Mister. FBI. I re-remember now. They say...take....Take train. Novosibirsk."

The babushka and her young friend / daughter seem to be stable. Jacque pulls his pistol and advances on the man in the corridor who still has his gun (or the more functional of the two, if neither is armed at this point). <"Drop it!">