Post by <> MetaWulf <> on Nov 23, 2013 1:04:58 GMT -5
[ The Badlands, Midnight ]
The diesel steam engine's horn pierces the night air, echoing for miles over the broken landscape. Dark smoke billows from it's twin smoke stacks, becoming a deathly cloud in the midnight sky. The hulking metal train is incredibly swift, and navigated the hills without need of a track. Twin moons watch the engine race across the pale dirt and sand, the spines of it's steel wheels leave a trail of small, conical holes and rising dust behind.
Compressed steam is purged from the machine's system. The purged gas scorches the dirt and leaves behind dark gouges in the earth it has passed. The engine releases a final bellow from it's horn, then continues rolling across the dirt and debris.
A man in a fine suite stood on the roof of the train, near it's rear. He held his hat in his hand to keep it from being carried off by the wind, and his salt-and-pepper hair blew wildly across his forehead. The gentlemen leaned on an ivory cane, topped with a silver plated sphere and capped with a sturdy silver tip. Leaning back against the roof's railing, he placed the fine hat under is right arm. He then uses his freehand to find his silver pocket watch and flip open the engraved casing.
"12:00." the gentlemen says aloud and above the wind. He gives a disapproving nod to his watch, then replaces it into his pocket.
As the gentlemen looks up from his pocket, he gasps out loud. Before him stands a tall man with high cheek-bones and long, black hair. The man is wearing a heavy, black, Victorian styled coat. It is adorned with small, silver inlays and bears various patches and graffiti to which the gentlemen could not decipher. The dark man's coat whips violently in the rushing gusts. The gentlemen nods to the new arrival, then turns to watch the shadows roll past the train. In the distance, light can be seen from a crooked mountain summit.
"You really shouldn't creep up on people in such a way, it's rather rude. Not to mention dangerous. I had half a inkling to shoot you, I'll have you know." the portly gentleman says above the rushing wind.
"We both know you aren't carrying your gun, Winston." the new arrival replies. The fair skinned man walks beside the gentlemen, placing his long fingers on the brass hand-rails of the steam engine's roof. Rocks and debris fly under the engine, and the rumble of machinery below can be heard even over the rushing wind.
A moment of silence passed between the two men while both of them watch the dead lands slip past. Occasionally, the train would bound over some rubble and cause the two to sway back and forth. This went on for minutes, until Winston finally spoke again.
"Do you know where you're heading?" Winston asks while producing a cigar from his breast pocket.
"No." the man in the coat replies quietly.
Winston chuckles as he produces a heavy, steel device. Twisting the handle, a green flame is seen from the top of the cylinder. The gentlemen uses this to light his cigar ( to which the wind makes difficult ). Replacing the metal cylinder in his pocket, Winston turns to the taller man, tobacco smoke rolling from his nostrils before being carried away by the wind. "You're going to the City of Gears. Do you know of it?" he asks nonchalantly above howling gusts.
"Yes." the man in the coat responds, never turning to meet Winston's gaze. "Aegis." he adds.
"Yes, yes. Aegis. That's your destination." Winston continues, handing his companion an envelope. "Everything is in there."
The man in the coat takes the envelope without looking, and stuffs it dexterously into a hidden pocket. He turns and begins to walk towards the front of the train.
"Oz." Winston calls.
Ozwald stops just before the ladder, his black hair assaulted by the wind. "What?" he asks as one of his coat-tails wraps it's self around his thigh.
"Let's keep things quiet, shall we?"
"We'll see what happens." Ozwald replies before descending the ladder into the train car below.
The diesel steam engine's horn pierces the night air, echoing for miles over the broken landscape. Dark smoke billows from it's twin smoke stacks, becoming a deathly cloud in the midnight sky. The hulking metal train is incredibly swift, and navigated the hills without need of a track. Twin moons watch the engine race across the pale dirt and sand, the spines of it's steel wheels leave a trail of small, conical holes and rising dust behind.
Compressed steam is purged from the machine's system. The purged gas scorches the dirt and leaves behind dark gouges in the earth it has passed. The engine releases a final bellow from it's horn, then continues rolling across the dirt and debris.
A man in a fine suite stood on the roof of the train, near it's rear. He held his hat in his hand to keep it from being carried off by the wind, and his salt-and-pepper hair blew wildly across his forehead. The gentlemen leaned on an ivory cane, topped with a silver plated sphere and capped with a sturdy silver tip. Leaning back against the roof's railing, he placed the fine hat under is right arm. He then uses his freehand to find his silver pocket watch and flip open the engraved casing.
"12:00." the gentlemen says aloud and above the wind. He gives a disapproving nod to his watch, then replaces it into his pocket.
As the gentlemen looks up from his pocket, he gasps out loud. Before him stands a tall man with high cheek-bones and long, black hair. The man is wearing a heavy, black, Victorian styled coat. It is adorned with small, silver inlays and bears various patches and graffiti to which the gentlemen could not decipher. The dark man's coat whips violently in the rushing gusts. The gentlemen nods to the new arrival, then turns to watch the shadows roll past the train. In the distance, light can be seen from a crooked mountain summit.
"You really shouldn't creep up on people in such a way, it's rather rude. Not to mention dangerous. I had half a inkling to shoot you, I'll have you know." the portly gentleman says above the rushing wind.
"We both know you aren't carrying your gun, Winston." the new arrival replies. The fair skinned man walks beside the gentlemen, placing his long fingers on the brass hand-rails of the steam engine's roof. Rocks and debris fly under the engine, and the rumble of machinery below can be heard even over the rushing wind.
A moment of silence passed between the two men while both of them watch the dead lands slip past. Occasionally, the train would bound over some rubble and cause the two to sway back and forth. This went on for minutes, until Winston finally spoke again.
"Do you know where you're heading?" Winston asks while producing a cigar from his breast pocket.
"No." the man in the coat replies quietly.
Winston chuckles as he produces a heavy, steel device. Twisting the handle, a green flame is seen from the top of the cylinder. The gentlemen uses this to light his cigar ( to which the wind makes difficult ). Replacing the metal cylinder in his pocket, Winston turns to the taller man, tobacco smoke rolling from his nostrils before being carried away by the wind. "You're going to the City of Gears. Do you know of it?" he asks nonchalantly above howling gusts.
"Yes." the man in the coat responds, never turning to meet Winston's gaze. "Aegis." he adds.
"Yes, yes. Aegis. That's your destination." Winston continues, handing his companion an envelope. "Everything is in there."
The man in the coat takes the envelope without looking, and stuffs it dexterously into a hidden pocket. He turns and begins to walk towards the front of the train.
"Oz." Winston calls.
Ozwald stops just before the ladder, his black hair assaulted by the wind. "What?" he asks as one of his coat-tails wraps it's self around his thigh.
"Let's keep things quiet, shall we?"
"We'll see what happens." Ozwald replies before descending the ladder into the train car below.
