Gunslinger Darius

Chapter One

The engines on the airship roared to life. Dust was picked up by the high speed propellers, creating several large dust clouds that surrounded the air dock. The moment the engines started, the dock became a hive of activity. Groups of men-some in black military coats, some in grey worker tunics-began to hurriedly load crates into the cargo hold of the airship from the train stationed by the air dock. Despite the presence of a railroad line, no one was supposed to know about this air dock, much less that there was an airship launching from it. It had been abandoned for years. However, the men moved quickly under the light of the full moon. In the arid, flat terrain of the Dustpan, noise carried great distances.

As the various dock workers and soldiers moved cargo, three figures walked towards the airship. They formed a loose triangle as they moved. The two in the back wore the exact same cut of uniform, down to the way they buttoned their coats and held their rifles. Even their hair was cut the same way, cropped short, just visible under their metal morion helmets. Unlike the other soldiers, they also wore a metal breast plate and metal masks that covered their faces with only two eye holes for them to see out of. Everyone who saw them knew who they were instantly: the Iron Guard. Which meant the third person could only be one man. The two stars on the shoulder boards of his greatcoat confirmed it. The man was Major General Scott Adams.

Many of the workers had heard of General Adams. His military victories were famous. As was, however, his fall from grace. A few years after his victory during the Battle of Eden Valley, he had been overheard talking about potentially overthrowing the government and creating a military dictatorship to 'better unify the land'. In his subsequent trial, it was revealed that the General had secretly formed his own private army called the Militia of Unity and planned to use it in a coup d'état. Adams was found guilty of high treason, discharged from the military and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he escaped his prison train before he arrived at the military prison. Since then he had been in hiding, spread his message through pamphlets while the Militia of Unity bombed government buildings.

All of the workers believed in the idea of Unity, or else they would not be at this particular air dock. They knew an important officer of the Militia was coming, maybe a Captain or a Colonel, but not the General. A few of the workers stopped what they were doing to look upon the General. His face was more weather-beaten than the earlier images of him. Adams had been noted for not wearing a beard or mustache like many of his contemporaries, and that habit had continued into his self-imposed exile, along with maintaining his dark brown hair at military length. He bore a scar on his right cheek from a knife that was meant for his neck. There was a fire in his blue eyes that all who looked into them could see was unquenchable. This was a man who would obtain his goal or die trying.

As he walked by, those closest to him could hear Adams singing to himself the Battle Cry of Unity.

Unbowed, Unbroken

We Remain

In Unity's light

Till our dying day

The soldiers all touched the brims of their caps in salute as the General and his Iron Guards passed by. As Adams approached the airship, the dock master came up to him.

"General," he said, "The airship will be fully loaded soon. You'll be able to leave in five minutes."

General Adams pulled out his pocket watch and checked it. Five minutes to midnight, right on schedule. "Very good, dock master," he replied, "I am in your debt, as is the cause of Unity. I will repay that debt to you one day."

"Thank you General," said the dock master. He saluted and then left to oversee the final preparations.

After the dock master left, Adams turned and shouted, "Lieutenant Collins!"

Lieutenant Jeb Collins ran up to the General, stood at perfect attention and gave one of the best salutes Adams had seen. "Sir, reporting as ordered," he said.

"Lieutenant," said Adams, "The final preparations for my departure have begun. Begin spreading the men out. My airship leaving is bound to attract Federalist attention. Even though they won't know exactly who it is, I don't want to give them any hints."

"Yes sir, right away," responded Collins. He turned to begin giving orders but was cut short when his throat suddenly exploded into a fountain of blood.

Before Lieutenant Collins' now lifeless body could hit the ground, one of the Iron Guards pulled Adams behind them while cries of "gunslinger!" went out. Soon the air was filled with the sounds of gunfire. Militiamen were firing their repeater rifles off rapidly, not even bothering to aim. The General's two Iron Guards aimed theirs a little more carefully but even they could not hit the figure that was running across the tin roof of one of the air dock's storehouses.

The figure was wearing a military great coat and a wide brimmed slouch hat. An occasional glint of moonlight reveal that the person was wearing glass goggles and the rest of their face was covered by a bandana. The figure was undoubtedly a gunslinger, a highly trained mercenary assassin.

Without slowing, the gunslinger drew a revolver and fired off six rounds in quick succession. Four Militiamen and two workers fell dead. That removed any doubt from Adams' mind. The Federals had hired a gunslinger to kill him; no one else could shoot with that much accuracy while moving. He let a two-shot pistol slide down from his sleeve into his hand; he would be damned if he was not going out without a fight.

The gunslinger now jumped off the roof of the storehouse and landed just in front of a group of Militiamen. They attempted to charge the gunslinger with their bayonets. Moving blindly fast, the gunslinger redirected each bayonet into the chest of another soldier and soon the group lay dead; skewered by their own blades.

Some of the Militiamen had begun to scatter long before the gunslinger had arrived, and now most of the workers had fled in fear as well. Only the two Iron Guards and six Militiamen were left. The gunslinger killed another four Militiamen as he approached the airship and the remaining two fled into the Dustpan.

The two Iron Guards fired at the gunslinger but the gunslinger vaulted over them at the last second, throwing off their aim. What the gunslinger hadn't anticipated was jumping into the barrels of Adams' two-shot. The gun went off with a double crack and Adams saw the two shots impact the chest of the gunslinger. The gunslinger dropped, slid and rolled to the feet of Adams. The Iron Guards instantly had their rifles aimed at the body.

Adams reached down and pulled the bandana off the gunslinger's face, revealing it to be a young male, probably no older than eighteen. Adams had reserved his judgment on whether or not the gunslinger was male or female; his time as an actual general in the Federal army had shown him that both men and women made successful gunslingers.

Surprisingly enough, the kid was still alive. His chest only rose a bit, but he was still breathing and when Adams felt his neck, there was still a strong pulse.

"Sir, what do you want to do about him?" asked one of his Iron Guards, his voice muffled into a dull echo by the mask.

Adams thought about that for a moment. He could just kill the gunslinger, leave the body and be done with it. However, the Federals, who were sure to be on their way, would see the body and just send another gunslinger after him. If they did not find a body, they would assume that the gunslinger was still pursuing him.

"Dump him in a river," said Adams, "The Federals won't be able to find the body for a while so that will buy us some time."

"Yes sir," chorused the Iron Guards and they grabbed the body. There was a small river that ran parallel to the railroad tracks. It took the Guardsmen five minutes to move the body to the river, dump it and come back.

"Let's get out of here before the Federals send anyone else," declared Adams. They boarded the air ship, which promptly took off.

Three hours later, a regiment of Federal cavalry arrived at the now abandoned air dock and found no trace of the airship or the gunslinger.