Exodus: Guns And Gore 34 Maelstrom Prison

QJ stretched in place, taking a moment to remove the ceramic discs from his temples. "Up we go." He rolled over in bed and grabbed his running gear before heading out the door for a morning run.

An hour later when he returned, Jo Hall was sitting on the curb at the end of the Hall drive.

"Hey Jo." QJ didn't know the oldest Hall sister very well. She had the perfect body of a dancer and long black hair that hung down to her waist.

"Hey." Jo didn't smile like most people when she greeted others. She had an old tennis ball in one hand and was rolling it back and forth in her hands.

"Missing a dog?"

She gave him a blank look. "What?"

"I mean I can fetch, just don't throw it far. I'm a bit tired." QJ felt himself sinking fast, the oldest sister was a tough nut to crack.

Jo frowned at him, "not really in the mood for jokes."

"Oh... well that's a surprise." QJ smiled pleasantly and walked away.

"What's that mean?"

He didn't bother to turn around. "Figure it out crab apple," he muttered under his breath.

Anna was sitting at the Island when he walked in, she froze in place like she had been caught doing something. "Hey QJ."

"Nan... you doing something bad?" QJ grinned when the pretty lawyer's face turned red.

Anna shook her head, she had a Tobie's box in front of her. Tobies was a local bakery that specialized in Cinnamon Rolls. Quinn had a weak spot for them and would grab a box of four on occasion. "Nope."

"Dad went to Tobies?" QJ didn't really need to ask, the box was labeled very clearly.

Anna hung her head on the island counter. "I ate one, they smelled so good."

QJ laughed at her and grabbed the last one from the box. Anna liked to eat healthily and would always say no to them. "They are too tempting, right? Welcome to the club Nan."

"Oh G.o.d, it was so good QJ." She eyed his roll and licked her lips, "bite?"

QJ nodded and held it up so she could take a bite, she closed her eyes as she chewed.

"So yummy, I've completely lost."

QJ tried not to laugh at her while he grabbed some water from the fridge. "I'll tell dad I ate two."

Anna cheered, "yeah!! Tell him that!"

**********

Welcome to Guns and Gore the Phoenix Server.

One Problem Guild Keep 7 AM, Current Server population 25,090. Your current level is 28.

System Message: Your Command Statistic has reached 20, you may now recruit up to five followers.

"Hmm... That's interesting.

QJ took the Keep Portal to Laredo and quickly made his way to the Ant & Bee Cavern. Chainy was waiting patiently for him by the time he arrived. He took a few minutes to initiate the Keku/Queen Bee trap for her. All she had to do was wait four hours and the Circa/Sajana sp.a.w.ns would give her the Kingslayer t.i.tle along with a small stat boost and some levels. In GnG, you received the boost regardless of whether or not you equipped the t.i.tle. Ringo wanted to keep the raid a secret, so QJ was the only one who displayed it.

QJ activated his 'return to keep icon' and took a seat on the Keep steps. No one was around yet, so he took out the parchment he had received from Chancellor Ivy. It was a list of his Rights and Duties as a Viscount of Maelstrom. He was reading down the list, most of them were ceremonial things that he couldn't be bothered with. Halfway down the list, he encountered something interesting. 'May pardon Criminals, as long as they aren't accused of capital crimes.'

He stepped onto the Keep portal and chose Maelstrom as his destination. A moment later he stood in the Capital City. "Sweet Georgia..."

Even the Market Square was impressive. Every shop was a three-story monstrosity. He marked the City Prison on his map and took Market Avenue to Main Street. It was still early in the morning, many of the shops hadn't opened for business. Main Street was lined on both sides with Restaurants, shops of all kinds and Saloons. The city roads were made of a reddish color brick, most of the buildings were wood.

The Prison was easy to find, there was no guard outside but when he walked in, a Desk Sergeant greeted him. QJ used his hud to display his Rank.

"Viscount QJ, what can I do for you this morning?" The guard was a burly blonde haired man with an impressive handlebar mustache.

"I want to see a prisoner, someone who has been here a while and knows what is going on."

The blonde guard seemed to think about it for a few moments. "Gillispie would be the man, follow me sir."

QJ followed the guard as he opened a set of barred doors and then went down a dark pa.s.sage lined with torches. After descending several flights of stairs, they finally turned into a hallway and stopped in front of a cell. It was a small cell with only a single occupant. He was remarkably well groomed for someone in a dungeon, although his clothes had definitely seen better days.

"This is Gillispie, he's a notorious Con-man. He's been down here for four years." The guard kicked the cell door, causing the prisoner to stir. "Only six left, right Gil?"

QJ brought up his hud, as a Viscount, he had access to criminal records. "Leave me with him. Come back in Ten minutes."

The guard nodded, "Yes Sir, call out if you need a guard."

QJ waited until the guard left then he turned back to face Gillispie. "Your record speaks for itself, although you are strictly small time." QJ glanced through his record.

"Your mother is small time."

QJ laughed loudly, "c.r.a.p... that's funny. Want to work for me?"

Gillispie sat up carefully, "doing what?"

QJ lowered his voice, "information, spying, that sort of thing."

Gillispie frowned at him. "This is a joke?"

QJ shook his head. "Why would I joke? I want to start an information network."

"This is very odd," Gillispie muttered. "You don't just ask people to join a spy network."

"Oh... How should I do it then?"

Gillispie stared at him, his pale face turning slightly red, "well... I guess I don't really know."

"Choose four people to bring with you, I'll give their names to the guards."

"s.h.i.+t... I can't tell if you're serious." Gillispie looked down the hall in the direction the guard had walked. "Fine... four names. Lightfinger Lonni, Ugly Kate, Fat Alice and Dave the Baker."

QJ brought up their records and paged through them. "Lonni is a street thief?"

Gillispie nodded, "pickpocket and lockpick. One of the best."

"Ugly Kate and Fat Alice? They are in for embezzlement."

"They are Saloon girls, both have real card skills, they can work at any casino. That's where all the information is."

QJ sighed and turned to the last name. "Dave the Baker is in for indebtedness. What's his talent?"

Gillispie shrugged, "he makes good cakes. Sorry, I added him in because I only know the three."

QJ laughed and closed his hud, "Dave the baker it is then."

"How is this going to work?"

"There's a hotel on Main Street called the Lone Gunman, I'll book two rooms. I'll leave five thousand credits for each of you. Get cleaned up and buy whatever you need. I want the five of you at Briar Rose tomorrow."

"We're criminals. How can you be sure we will won't take the credits and run?"

QJ shrugged, "I can't. Running is an option, I certainly won't go after you."

Gillispie stared hard at QJ, not saying a word.

"See ya soon."

Several minutes later, QJ walked out of the Maelstrom prison. By the time he had given the Desk Sergeant the names, it was nearly time for the guild's morning meeting. He stopped by the Lone Gunman Hotel and booked two rooms. After setting up the necessary deposit he walked over to the weapons store across the street.

The b.l.o.o.d.y Hand was a mid-tier weapon store specializing in both melee and handgun weapons. The first gla.s.s case he saw displayed all the stores handguns. QJ whistled, a few of them were fairly nice. The old shopkeeper approached him while he admired the work.

"See anything you like sir?"

QJ nodded, "pretty much everything. Have them all packaged up for me and delivered to the One Problem Keep."

"One Problem Keep? You're one of the ones who saved Princess Lilly?"

QJ extended his hand. "One of them. I'm QJ, the Vice Commander at the Keep."

The old man shook his hand, a smile creasing his wrinkled face. "I'm Earl, this is my shop. I'll have these delivered right away."

"Thank you. Got any quality spears?"

By the time QJ wrapped up his business in Maelstrom, it was nearly 8AM. He immediately activated the Return to Keep Icon and stepped into Guild Hall.

Ringo waved to him when he walked in. She had been talking to Breeze and Junz. "Thought you may have been captured by vampires again."

QJ laughed, "who was captured? You guys invited yourself. Me and my Majordomo would have cleared that nest out easy."

Breeze threw an arm around his shoulders, "thanks for sharing that xp with us."

Ringo grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the front. "Find your seats everyone." She motioned for QJ to take over.

"Right... Great job on yesterdays Raid. I'm not sure what all the benefits of a Level 2 Keep are yet, but we will put that information out shortly. These kind of Guild events are great opportunities for us to work on our teamwork."

Ringo nodded from the side and activated the Hall Hud. "This is what the Server Leaderboard looks like now. To say I am impressed with this guild's current progress would be an incredible understatement."

Top Guild Level: 1) One Problem 22.5 2) Old Skool 19.9 3) Chupa Lupa 17.2

Cla.s.s Leaderboard: Range Rider: Junzo-Lvl 22, Gunfighter: Ringo-Lvl 25, Brave: Laffy Taffy-Lvl-21, Tracker: Carlotti Hottie-Lvl 21, Shaman: Three-Tails-Lvl 22, Field Medic: Suga Pie-Lvl 22, Wrangler: Kingslayer QJ-Lvl 28, Scout: Sato Lvl 22, Commanchero: Breeze-Lvl 23, Cavalry: Iron Lou-Lvl 20, Raider: Devil Woman-Lvl 20, Gambler: Pinnacle-Lvl 22.

Top Five Ranking: 1) Kingslayer QJ, 2) Ringo, 3) Oldman Crane, 4) Lotte, 5) Breeze

QJ read out the names of the Top Five. "Our hard work is paying off. Not only that, but the Main event Quests and the Guild Quest are making an impact in Maelstrom."

Ringo nodded in agreement. "My new rank ent.i.tles me to own three shops in Maelstrom. Anyone interested in running a business, please let me know. That's it, have a good morning everyone."

Lotte and Breeze caught up with QJ as he was going up the stairs. They asked him to head into one of the Keep Instances, but he turned them down.

"Tonight we'll group up, I've got some things this morning." QJ continued up the stairs and down the hall.

QJ opened the door to his shop and walked in. There were already several packages waiting for him. "d.a.m.n, they work fast."

The door to Robin's office opened and she peeked in. "Hey QJ." She had two cups of coffee in her hand. She sat one down for him.

"Thanks Robs." He let the coffee sit for a moment and walked over to heavy metal barrel filled with water. "Know what this is?"

The Songbird shook her head. "No... but if you undress and climb in, I'm going to follow you."

QJ laughed, "it's a shooting barrel. Has a lot of really good a.n.a.lytics involved." QJ bent his arm suddenly causing his hide-out gun to spring instantly into his palm.

Robin smiled in appreciation. "Slick."

QJ fired one shot into the barrel. Then he carefully handed Robin the gun. "Try to shoot a round into the barrel Robs."

She took the small handgun and carefully pointed it into the water. The soft bang a moment later caused her to jump slightly. "Not as loud as some I've heard."

"I'll make yours extra quiet." He took the gun back and carefully reequipped it. Since she was interested, he took a moment to show her how the mechanism worked.

She took a sip of her coffee and headed back to the door. "I'll leave you to your work QJ.'

"Thanks for the coffee Robs."

*************

An hour later, a half dozen handguns had been carefully disa.s.sembled and placed on QJ's workbench. He had taken them apart, rea.s.sembled and then taken them apart again. He found several imperfections in each gun.

Your Gunsmith ability has increased to 39.

Taking weapons apart and rea.s.sembling them caused his gunsmith to climb rapidly. He also noticed his XP bar was rising.

QJ pulled down the focus light that was attached to the workbench. It was the kind of thing a jeweler would use. A round magnifying gla.s.s mounted in a circular lamp. It was specifically made for working on small components. He placed the six components of the trigger housing under the light and then rummaged through his drawers for identical parts.

"I'll replicate each component, remove the imperfections and then build the new piece."

He worked steadily for the next hour. "Hmm... not complete c.r.a.p I guess."

You have created a weapon.

Your Gunsmith ability has increased to 46.

QJ compared the original handgun with the replica he created.

Pistol: Revolver

Medium Grade

+ 2 Accuracy

Pistol: Revolver

Fine Grade

+5 Accuracy

Crafted: QJ

QJ grabbed the revolver he had made and removed the barrel. "I could put a slightly longer one on." He replaced the six inch barrel with a nine inch and placed it in his vice. "There's no rifling on the original, so this is an easy upgrade."

He grabbed a rifling rod specically designed for 40 caliber barrels. "Let's try something." He turned on the burner and adjusted the flame to about three inches, then he accessed his inventory.

Earlier in the morning he had taken Chainy to the Ant/Bee Cavern, he had stuffed his inventory with several large pieces of wax. He placed them in a bowl and waited for them to melt. After it was liquified, he dipped the rilfling rod in the wax and then carefully screwed it through the barrel. He repeated this process several times over a few minutes.

"Not really effective, let's try heating." He let the rifling rod sit in the burner until it started to glow red, when he dipped it into the wax it sizzled loudly in protest. Carefully he screwed it down the barrel again.

*Ding* Level 29

You Gunsmith ability has increased to 51.

QJ spent a few minutes repeating the process before cooling the components down in the water barrel.

Pistol: Revolver [Silenced]

Fine Grade

+5 Range, + 10 Accuracy

Crafted by the gunsmith QJ

"Interesting... QJ removed the barrel and walked over to his drill press. At the end of the barrel he drilled a dozen small holes, then he carefully smoothed them down with his jeweler files. He was a.s.sembling the final product when Robin walked in.

You Gunsmith ability has increased to 55.

You have created Unique Weapon. Please name the piece.

"Little Bang."

Little Bang [Sound Suppression]

Six Gun: Unique

Description: Crafted by QJ for silent

operation and low kickback.

+10 Accuracy, +10 Range.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, the scent of flowers lingered in the air as Robin bent over his shoulder and examined his work. "That's really nice QJ."

QJ wiped the sweat from his brow and leaned back against her. "It's okay for now, I'll do a lot better."

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed the top of his head. "Can I have it?"

"Really? I'm going to make you something way better eventually. This is just the first of many."

Robin nodded, "it will look good in my office."

QJ laughed, "a paperweight?"

Robin moved around him and slid nimbly onto his lap. "Want to have lunch with me today?"

"At the Songbird?"

"Yep, havn't talked to my sisters much lately." Robin bent her head for a quick kiss.

"Come with me to Briar Rose quick, I want to drop off something for Aji."

"Who is Aji?"

"Oh... She's my MajorDomo."

Robin pursed her lips, "what's a MajorDomo?"

QJ shrugged, "it's like a butler, mostly I just like saying it."

Robin laughed, "fine, I'll come."