The Island of Evolution Mission, The Beginning of the Extreme Salvage Team

Chapter 9 Cheyenne, Colorado ♥

Lt. Col. Arthur Fallon

March 28th, 1865

Mr. Mason Watts was pacing the train station platform when we pulled into the station. I braced myself when Nibaw and I went over to talk with him. He was beaten up pretty well, there was a black eye, a limp in his right leg and he was holding his left arm close to him. However, his clothing was brand new, not a spot of dirt on it. His breath stank of alcohol, and there was a stumble in his step. I asked where the dinosaurs were and then came the excuses, flowing like water from a broken dam.

"My workers are currently unwilling to transport them for me and I'm only one man, ya see? You can't possibly expect me to bring several adult Parasaurolophus down by myself now can ya? My men just turned on me and said they would only sell to the CSA and that the Union was going to fail anyway. They barricaded the ranch and are turning it into a rebel outpost, they already sent for a CSA garrison to come take over!"

"What do you mean they just kicked you out!? What were you doing to get them so angry!? How the hell did you let this get this bad!? You moron, why didn't you reach out earlier! Screw this, get out of my sight, my crew will get the dinosaurs ourselves." I shouted before turning back to the train and marching off. Watt scampered off with his tail tucked between his legs. I took a deep breath, trying to remind myself that everything will work out and we will get through this. A yawn escaped my mouth before I could catch it.

"Barcara! Get Chirrut going! I've got a mission for you! Our dino contact has lost his herd, and we must get it. According to Watts, they have contacted a CSA garrison to come so times a ticking. Nibaw, keep track of that bastard Watts and see where he goes. I don't trust him." I ordered out while marching back to the train. Barcara saluted and ran towards the cargo end of the train. His crews followed him and were quick to unload and get moving.

We let Chirrut lead the way, her armored body and cannon turret should be enough to break the fortifications. I didn't expect much in terms of combat, most dino hands don't have much means for weaponry. They'll have whatever for self-defense, but the ranch will provide the firepower to bring down the large stuff. While the Rebels use some dino hunting rifles as anti-tank rifles, Barcara says it's because the old models had thinner armor. Current armor practices increase the effectiveness of rendering them only usable by snipers.

When we got close to the ranch, Barcara noticed a range finder flag. It was marked on the extreme edge of an anti-tank rifle, but he wasn't worried as Chirrut's armor was thicker than most. He pulled it out before continuing to the wagon dragged across the road. Chirrut easily crushed it and didn't even hesitate to do so. I groaned as we'd have to pay and do more paperwork for crushing it instead of going around it.

After the wagon, there was a tall pile of logs, to which Chirrut stopped. She sat there for almost 10 minutes, just idling. I attempted to raise them over the radio but got nothing. Then there was a crackle over the radio, and Barcara told me that Lydia had scouted out the place, and they were going to try diplomacy for a change. He then asked how much money we had on hand.

"Turns out that they haven't been paid in months, some have been waiting seven months for their pay. Apparently, they are all CSA deserters and Watts has been using that as blackmail to keep them in line. I knew something was suspicious, now we know. They said just want their money then they'll leave us for good. They want nothing with the war and were draftees." Barcara informed me.

When I asked how he knew that, he told me Lydia has a magical pterodactyl skull that allows her to transform into any pterosaur. She flew over, snuck past the guards, listened in on some conversations, and then got distracted by a dragonfly. I just sat there in disbelief, when the hell did she get that? What all happened down in that maze they found? Magnus nudged me back and I radioed back.

"Okay, so how many of them are there? So that number times $120, then times by seven months, okay. So as long as there are less than forty, we should be good. Do you think you can handle them? I'll have Magnus run the cash over, but then we'll have to take off to deal with another problem." I calculated out. Magnus grabbed the case of money that I kept hidden in Bulldog and ran toward the ranch. He's pretty fast on his feet for being a large guy.

I sat in Bulldog, fury raging through my brain. I had tried to give Watts the benefit of the doubt, but now his true colors are showing. They might have been CSA soldiers, but if they had been telling the truth, then they would have been forced to fight, and they would have left as soon as they could. I don't blame a man for not wanting to fight, it's a horrible business that should never exist, but that would go against the natural man.

Once Magnus returned, I floored it back to Cheyenne, where Nibaw was waiting for me to return to our train. He had tracked him to a bar where he started drinking and was currently passed out. Nibaw paid the bartender $5 to keep an eye on him, so Watts should still be in the bar. I came to a sliding stop in front of the saloon and respectfully opened the front door. I might be angry, but I know where to direct it.

Watts was still passed out drunk in a booth, at least twenty shot glasses were there. I grabbed his drunken ass out of that booth, dragged him across the floor, then tossed him into the water trough. When he didn't immediately wake up, I ordered Magnus to wake him up. Magnus grinned as he pulled Watts out and up to his face, then started growling. That got Watts awake as the vibrations shook his whole body. I calmly walked down the steps, reviewing the evidence against Watts.

"MASON WATTS! Quite your rambling! You've got some explaining to do and you're going to do that as we take a nice slow trip down to the bank, where you're going to be paying everyone out what you owe. Magnus, take this snake to Bulldog, he's your new ride buddy." I sternly stated before getting into the driver's seat. I was willing to bet that Mr. Watts here owes more than just his ranch hands money. Clearly, he can pay off his bar tab well enough, but needs...a helping hand to fulfill his other dues.

I accidentally drove past the bank the first time and missed it completely. The other nine times were to allow Magnus and Watts to get to know each other better. Watts threw up a couple of times from the rough ride. Once we entered the bank, we didn't need Magnus to make a hole for us; the smell did that for us.

"We want to make this quick, we just need to make a full withdrawal of all of Mr. Mason Watts's money, unless it's a negative." I rushed out, not wanting to torment these innocent patrons for too long. The teller came back with $127,000, and a 5-pound bag of gold. I gave a look at Watts as the teller slid over the money. I thanked the teller for their time and then pulled Watts out of there and threw him into Bulldog again.

"You can keep 10k of that, the rest will be spent paying off your debts. I bet the IRS will love to see what you've been up to. I bet you owe Uncle Sam a lot of money." I scoffed as we drove around town, stopping at every store to see where his debts were. The money quickly dwindled as debt after debt was paid off.

By the time we stopped at the sheriff's office, Watts was silent and blank-faced. He went silently into his cell as I had him booked for theft of labor, extortion, harboring deserters, conspiracy, and unlawful detention. He scoffed at that last one, which got him cuffed by Magnus. The sheriff was thankful for our help, as the ranch was a fortress that they couldn't do much about.

We left him in his cell and headed back to the train station. When we got back, Gerrad was still there. His train should have left already, so why is he still here? When asked, Gerrad asked if we had vetted the train line before buying a ticket. I admitted that I didn't, my suspicion rising.

Gerrard then explained that the line I wanted to send him along was also the one that supplied the ESCV for everything. Needed unmarked guns? There the next day. Low on T-bone steaks? A whole herd of cattle and a professional chef were brought in. This line also had secret CSA ties, being used as a way to secretly move supplies and troops along the front.

I asked him if he was willing to be a double agent for us, to which he nodded no. He was a cryptologist, not a hero. I nodded, then shrugged, nothing ventured nothing gained. I wished him luck getting back East and handed him a peace pipe Nibaw had. That should help buy him safety if he needs it. I figured we'd deal with the train line at a later date, for now, we need to focus on capturing Lady Hillington.