34

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Gunfire crack the night air as the wagons of the Dutch gang race ahead of the Lemoyne Raiders chasing after them. The gang has been taking back roads and trails to avoid their raiders who are after the man and woman in the middle wagon. During the last couple of miles to reach the city of New Orleans the road was blocked off by fallen trees and they were ambushed by the raiders.

"Just aim for the horses," Hosea shouted out as he shot out a horse underneath one of the Raiders sending the horse and rider falling. 

In the back of the middle wagon, Charlotte "Lottie" LaBouff is shielding Charlie Brown Norton's body as bullets fly over them. She had grabbed whatever was near her to build a barrier of two wooden chests and bags to help shield her and Charlie from the bullets. She was given a gun to use if it comes down to it, but she put it aside as she never fired a gun before and is scared that she might hit someone by mistake.

The gunfire suddenly halted as to the Dutch gang the raiders chasing them on horse back suddenly disappeared off the backs of their horses. They could only make out a blur that flew through the air, making the raiders disappear. Whatever it was, Dutch could make out two blurs taking out the raiders too fast for him to see clearly. Soon there was no one chasing them, only horses who lost their riders. 

"What was that?" Arthur asked on his horse.

"Don't know," Dutch said not seeing what happen. "Let's just get to the city." 

The gang rode on heading to the city and where they would be richly rewarded for saving the crown prince. Flying high above them are Supergirl and Perfect Man who using their super speed quickly flew down south and spotted the fleeing gang with Charlie Brown Norton being chased by raiders. They quickly took care of all the raiders before they knew what hit them. 

"Ok so do we just kill all the raiders?" Prefect Man ask. They had place all the raiders in a metal cargo container that has an opening on the top with the doors on the ends both locked.

"No we hand them off to the justice department," Supergirl said.

"Yeah that sounds better, the prisons here are brutal," Prefect Man said.

"Come on we need to search and gather all the raiders," Supergirl said scanning the swamp with her super vision to look around the area.

"Right," Prefect Man said as he and Supergirl began flying at super speed grabbing all the raiders left in the swamp, made easier as they're wearing Confederate uniforms. 

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New Orleans -

In the local hospital empress Barbie looks down at her son Charlie who was brought in by the Dutch gang as promise. The protectron she had brought with her once switch to Doctor mode help the local doctor, Mr. Edwin in the operation to remove the two bullets from her son. He's been bandaged up and now he's resting, with a blood bag on an IV stand giving him fresh blood to replace what he had lost. 

The operation taproom had been prepared for Charlie with the Protectron cleaning up the room, and sterilized the equipment. Barbie wasn't taking any chances with the health of her son, her other selves had always taken care of their children's health issues, from dental, to check ups, to small operators over the years. As she knows about how the standards of medicine is and having clean tools and good hygiene isn't one of them. (1)

"Rest well son," Barbie said she already having a heavily guarded train car to come and take Charlie back home. Till then she and Charlie will be staying with the LaBouff's, as Charlotte has invited them to stay with them, as thanks for Charlie saving her.

She walks out into the hallway leaving Charlie under the watch of the Mr. Handy and the two Protectrons guarding the door, making her way to the lobby. The room doesn't have a window, making it harder for anyone to get to him. In the lobby of the hospital Dutch and Hosea are waiting, along with Charlotte and her father. 

"My son will recover," Barbie said.

"Thank god," Charlotte said.

"Mr. LaBouff you and your daughter can go home, I have much to talk about with Mr. Dutch and his friend," Barbie said.

"Of course," Mr. LaBouff said leaving with Charlotte.

"Now for your payment as we agreed on," Barbie said to Dutch and Hosea.

"We kept our end and had to shoot our way here," Dutch said.

"Your payment will be paid in a few days. The banks in the city are still being connected to the country's banking system and having the amount of money sent in will also take time. You and your group will be housed in a hotel in the meantime and I have already made the arrangements. As for your bounties, as promise your gang are no longer wanted but any crime committed by any member of your group will have them wanted again," Barbie explains.

"That sounds fair," Hosea said. 

"How long will it take for our payment to arrival?" Dutch ask.

"A week at most if you want it in cash. Days if you want it to be put into a bank account in Wells Fargo and you be able to take out what you need with any of the bank's branches or wire money to whatever bank you want," Barbie explains. (2)

"Alright, I tell the others and let them decide how they want to get their payment," Dutch said as he turns to Hosea. "So I guess this is it then."

"Yeah, the life of the outlaw is over for us," Hosea agrees.

"You all get a chance to live a normal life now thanks to the event taking you to this world and you having committed no crimes in the land that came from your old world. You all get to leave the outlaw life and start anew. Not many who live that kind of life have been able to leave it like you all are getting to do. Don't waste it," Barbie said.

"On our way here we were attack by the raiders who kidnapped your son. We were fighting them off when the raiders chasing us just disappeared off of their horses. All I could make out was a blur, but I'm sure there were two of them. Know anything about it?" Dutch asked.

"My sister called in for some help. They're now making sure the remaining raiders are taken care of," Barbie answers. "Now excuse me, I'm going to be with my son."

Barbie walks away returning to her son's room, where she would sit by his side. Watching over him like she use to do when he was younger. 

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The Grave-Hoard -

When the order came out to dismantle all the FAS-BOR7 Horus machines or Metal Devils, all the military units across the country that has one of the massive machines in their region. Were sent out to tear the machines apart, hiring locals to help in the dismantling of the machines while the soldiers defended them from the animal machines. Locals that use to me miners, blacksmiths, builders, and engineers were sought after in the dismantling of the massive machines. 

Boomtowns soon sprang up as word spread of the government hiring people to dismantle the massive squid like machines, reminding many of the boomtowns of the gold rush. Which it was in many ways as the massive machines have tons of precious metals in them. Not to mention all the metal that has already been refined and once cut to small pieces can be sold to metal refineries, where it be melted down and recycled at a lower cost compared to mining raw ore. Many mining companies are lobbying to be given the contacts to mine the Metal Devils, which would take years to break down, thanks to how strong the metal alloy is. 

Smaller companies are also getting into the action, as well as a number of salvagers who pick clean the rusted out wrecks found on the battlefields around the Metal Devils. The towns are wild like the old boomtowns but because of the military presence, kept most of the crimes down. The towns at first were just tents before houses were built to houses the workers and soldiers, before people began coming in to open up businesses. In the boomtowns most of the businesses that open up are saloons, gambling halls, and other entertainments designed to get the newfound wealth of the residents into the business owner's pockets.

The main business are the recycling centers that brought valuable scrap and materials from the salvagers. Buying the salvage and parts that are brought in and selling them to buyers looking for a cheaper source of metal than the cost of buying the raw ore that needed lots of refining before it could be used. Causing a boom in the local economy as money poured in and shipments of goods came into the boomtowns and shipments of scrap came out.

The army who are station around the Metal Devils are also paying top dollar for any engines, power cells, weaponry and CPU processors found in the massive Metal Devils. Which are printed with pictures so that salvagers know what to look for, as well as to look out for any Corruptor or Deathbringer that are found inside the Metal Devils and more than once turned on and attack the salvager who found it. The real mission for the entire setup is to dismantle the Metal Devils so that they could never be turn back on. Which is why all the main generators, power cells, and CPU processors were rip out at the start. The salvagers picking the remains are there to make sure the Metal Devils couldn't be repaired or any backup systems couldn't turn it back on.

With one Metal Devil that is located between what the Old Ones called Hallet Peak and Flat Top Mountain, above Dream Lake, in Rocky Mountain National Park in the state of Colorado. The army group sent to handle the dismantling of the main components of the Metal Devil, discovered a military bunker underneath the massive machine. They called it in and more units were sent to handle the find. 

The ruin is a vast underground bunker built into the mountain. Astride it is the derelict FAS-BOR7 Horus or Metal Devil. The entrance to the ruin is via a diagonal shaft. The entrance was blocked by a wall of stalagmites and stalactites; however, army cleared the formations in order to access the ruin. The head of the Horus and a number of its tentacles jut through into a large, open chamber where the colossal war machine evidently broke though into the bunker. Immediately inside are the bodies of the 9th Mechanized Response Brigade, lying where they died in defense of the mountain during Operation: Enduring Victory.

Using Protectrons and Mr. Handies the bunker was open and cleaned up allowing the researchers sent to the location to study the still intact and working technology. They found many data pads that held information and data that prove useful in painting what happen during the final days of the old world. As it's a race to discover what is Zero Dawn and how to make sure that HADES wouldn't end the world again.

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The Pentagon -

FROM: General Herres

TO: Elisabet Sobeck

GENERAL HERRES: Dr. Sobeck. As projected, the Wichita salient has collapsed. Five Horus-class Titans have broken through. We predict contact in 34 hours.

ELISABET SOBECK: Everything is in position, General. It took a few shortcuts to pull everything together, but Zero Dawn is functionally complete. Good to go.

GENERAL HERRES: Then Enduring Victory served its purpose, after all.

ELISABET SOBECK: Yes. If we'd had even one day less...

GENERAL HERRES: I've sent you an encoded file, Doctor. Please do me the favor of archiving it.

ELISABET SOBECK: I'll... see what I can do. What is it?

GENERAL HERRES: A brief statement. An allocution of crimes, I guess you'd call it.

ELISABET SOBECK: To what are you admitting guilt?

GENERAL HERRES: Over the past sixteen months, Doctor, I have presided over the greatest wholesale slaughter of military personnel and civilians in the history of... history. Genghis Khan, Hitler, Stalin, Sorabella - add'em together, they don't even come close.

ELISABET SOBECK: You didn't do the killing, General.

GENERAL HERRES: Not directly. But I didn't wind up the highest military commander in the United States by resisting efforts to automate the armed forces. Even before the swarm, Doctor... I was helping death along. So instead of letting what I've done sink into the murk, forgotten... I've sent a file with all the details. Let posterity judge my actions with clear vision.

ELISABET SOBECK: I'll do as you ask, General. But you should consider that, were it not for your actions... our actions... there wouldn't be any posterity to judge us.

GENERAL HERRES: Perhaps. 

GENERAL HERRES: Dr. Sobeck.

ELISABET SOBECK: At ease, General. And goodbye.

(Sobeck exits)

GENERAL HERRES: Hell of a thing -

Intelligence Barbie shut off the recording and turn to the screens that show the other heads of Safeguard. Zed, Nick Fury, Amanda Waller, General Hawk and Hunter Gathers. 

"Using what we discovered at the bunker, the location for the Zero Dawn Project Facility is located in what is known as the city of Sunfall. The heart of the land under the control of the Shadow Carja, who we're trying to have peace talks with. We don't need to have anything that could spark a full scale conflict right now," Intelligence Barbie explains. 

"So a stealth mission to find out what Zero Dawn is," Hawk said.

"Yes, in and out before anyone knows that something happen. I'm also keeping this hidden from my son Diego's team. Hearing about the underground base underneath the capital city of the Shadow Carja, Aloy will try to get inside and my son will follow her. I nearly lost Charlie, I won't have my other son risk himself like that," Barbie said. She like her other sisters were all besides themselves as they awaited news of Charlie. She had sent both Prefect Man and Supergirl to help in his rescue. Which did save him as the raiders chasing the outlaws transporting him and the girl he's with to safety.

"Any ideas how to get inside?" Gathers ask.

"Get the best people in our departments who aren't on assignment and have them work together to get inside," Waller suggested.

"That's plan B," Barbie said and turns to Zed. "Do you still have those alien drones that can turn invisible?"

"Yes," Zed answers.

"Send two to Naruto and Lila. They use them to check out the base, once the locate a way in," Barbie stated.

"I hope this won't be another dead end," Fury said as he's itching to find out how the old ones as they're called had stop the machines who would be hard to put down even for the supers of his world to deal with. Thanks to how many there are and easily replaceable, and how shutting them with computer codes would still take years to do it even with his world's super computers.

"No this place is where the people who are recruited for the project were sent to. We will find out how the machines were stopped," Barbie said. 

"From how the people acted when Sobeck told them the plan, it's one of those arm or life things. Where you either give up something very important or you die," Fury pointed out. 

"Which is why we need to find out so we can avoid it," Barbie said. 

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San Francisco - 

Jade was startled gasping for breath as she cling to life as she walk across the desert she found herself in, after she had ran away from those government agents. She kept walking as she came across a cactus, beating it open with a rock to get at the juicy cactus meat inside. She force herself to eat the horrible tasting cactus meat. She fought to keep herself going as... 

Jade gasp as she woke up from another desert nightmare, and huddle into a ball holding herself. Even now after being save from dying in the desert, she still has nightmares about it. Both Tom and Tara only experienced being alone for a couple of days before... Ms. Norton found them. She on the other hand, been there in the desert for months before she was found and nursed back to health. 

She isn't the same as she was before. When she had learned that she was in another world, she thought she could handle herself on her own. She was so wrong on being able to survive on her own, thinking it would be like back home. She couldn't survive on her own in an unknown place, especially when she had made her escape by jumping off the train she was being transported on. The only reason why she had survived for so long on her own was because of her survival training she went through. 

Jade remembers what she had looked like, skin burnt by the sun and clinging to her body that was skeleton like. They had stayed in that town with the animal people for a month so that she would be well enough to travel. And once everything was done in Yellowstone, she, Tara and Tom were flown to their new home in San Francisco. 

Empress Barbie took them in as her wards, and hopefully she'll be their new mom. Barbie was just making sure that they would get along with her remaining children who still live with her. Lincoln and Vanellope who are the only ones who are still children and around her age. There is Sunset but she's already an adult and is the heir to the throne. 

Empress Barbie is letting them take their time in getting use to things and settle down. As they have to deal with living in a new world, one set in the past where many of the things they're use to in having are either rare or not around yet. There is also the huge culture shock that they all have to deal with, not just the events bringing people and places from other worlds but also the racism, culture and the treatment of women of the time period. 

Jade look around the room that she shares with Tara and Vanellope, both of whom are sleeping in the same bed as her. Because of limited rooms, many share the beds with others as it's the custom of this time period. Sunset had told her how she use to sleep with Lila when both of them were younger and up till she moved out. And how she and Charlie use to sleep with their mom on the same bed. and she use to sleep with grandpa Norton when she was younger as they shared one room with each other. 

Jade looks at Vanellope who is sleeping in the middle of the bed, she's the youngest at 10. Then to Tara who is sleeping up against the wall which the bed is pressed up against, she 12 like Tom. Jade herself is 13 like Lincoln who is the oldest of the royal children. Jade, Tom, and Tara have been living with the royal family for nearly a year now, with Barbie getting things ready to officially adopt them into the royal family. Which has all the other members of the family coming together to see it happen. And seeing what's going on with the machine animals, and how Charlie was kidnapped and is recovering from being shot. That's going to take awhile for that to happen. 

Jade feeling shaken got out of bed and exited the room as quietly as she could. Dress only in a shirt and shorts, she walk down the hallway that's only lit by the moonlight and street lights outside from the windows. She stop in front of the door to Barbie's room, and like the scared child, which she is opens it and walk into the small room. (4)

The small room that use to belong to belong to grandpa Norton, has remain mostly the same. Barbie has kept some of the things that had belonged to her father as something to remember him by. Walking over to the bed where Barbie slept, Jade reached out to lift the blanket and slips herself under, only for the blanket to lift itself up.

"You had the nightmare again?" Barbie asks looking at Jade. 

"Yes," Jade said.

"Come here," Barbie said as she reaches out and pulls Jade into bed with her. 

"Thank you," Jade said as she clings to Barbie who smiles and hugs her to her body.

"You two can come in and join in," Barbie said to the door that's crack open. 

Both Tara and Vanellope came into the room having been awaken by Jade. They hop into bed with their mom who place herself in the middle with Jade clinging to her on her right and Tara and Vanellope on her left. The girls feeling safe and comfortable fell back asleep, feeling the warmth and softness of their mom's body. 

For her part Barbie smiles as her children clung to her in their sleep. Her older children have all done this when they were younger. Now her five youngest are doing the same, needing someone to help them in this strange world they had found themselves in. And she'll be there to give them comfort when they need her, no matter how old they are. 

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Author's Notes -

1 - Medicine has come a very long way and while there is the whole limited resources and tools. The idea of cleaning the equipment and keeping the person as clean as possible is a new idea for the time frame the story takes place in.

2 - The first money transfers took place over 150 years ago when telegrams came into force. Transfers were sent via telegram, and it was in America that the first monetised telegram was sent. Western Union is a well-known name in the world of finance, and they were the first company to send money via a telegram.

A customer would give the telegraph operator an amount of money (plus whatever fees it cost), the operator would telegraph a station in the other country, then the other operator would pay out the funds to the recipient. Hence the modern expression to wire money and it became known as a wire transfer.

3 - You can eat a cactus from the hedgehog plant family. First, cut off the  top of the cactus and skin down the sides, cutting off the cactus  spines. Cutting the cactus will not hurt it because it can heal itself.  The cactus meat will be like a sticky cucumber. Try to avoid the central  core because it is stringy but you can eat the cactus meat. Wrap the  meat in a bandana, squish it and wring it out to extract the water from  the cactus. You can also eat the berries on a cholla cactus.

4 - Tenements in 1900s American cities for those who are poor, often have many people living all together in one small room. From a family or even more then one family all living together in one room, sharing the rent together.

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