Home on the Range

 THE TOWN OF NEW DEADWOOD

Despite the location in the middle of the Ulimaroan badlands, New Deadwood had shown itself to be more resilient than some people had expected. There was a growing, steady population. Sure, it was only about seventy people at the moment, but for a town that had only been founded a few months ago, with the express purpose of trying to recapture a time long ago, it was impressive.

Riding through the gates, Johnny McGraw takes in the sights of the main street. It hadn't looked like much when he first planted a flag, but now everything from a saloon to an inn dotted the central street, with a few bunkhouses tucked behind for people to sleep. If he had the time today, he'd have gladly spent hours just observing the whole town, seeing it go about its day. He had a job to complete, though, so Johnny rides up to the stable. Tying off his horse, he starts to head for the large, central building - Town Hall.

As he expected, when he gets close, a huge, beefy figure shifts to block the door.

"Nobody passes without the boss's say-so." 

"Don't mess around, Asterion. It's me, McGraw."

"Doesn't matter. No say-so, no pass."

"Listen. I'm glad David's got someone stubborn to watch out for him, but we don't need to play games. I got a report for him."

"McGraw, you know the rules. Unless the boss-"

"Awww, just let him in!" comes a loud, rollicking voice from the inside. Asterion grunts and shifts aside, Johnny tipping his hat and walking in. A sense of dismay rose up as soon as he heard that voice, and the sight of the two men inside the meeting room confirms it.

"Well, here we are! Johnny, you're back, and I'm sure you've got some good news for me!"

Boss Davenport, the man who'd bankrolled David's wild plan. He'd presented himself as just a man who wanted to bring back the wild west, but Johnny had his suspicions. Nobody did something for nothing.

"What's the news, Johnny?"

David Hill, on the other hand, was a man McGraw would trust with his life. He still would, their days as the cowboy thieves running through Los Angeles never far from his mind. But at the same time, it had been a long time since the two of them had been together, after David's stint in prison. On some level, Johnny wasn't sure if David was the same man from twelve years ago. On the other hand, he wasn't sure if he was the same man, after his own experiences.

Questions he didn't want to ask himself, and so he let them lie. Instead, it was time to report.

"No argite there, either. It's looking more and more like it's only in Argo and the general vicinity. Quite a ways from New Deadwood."

"Well, what about other stuff?" asks Boss Davenport.

"It looked pretty clean to me. We might be able to make use of it with some heavy technology - radar, deep scans, that sort of thing - but surface level? There's nothing much there."

"Well we can't just have that!" Davenport says, frustration evident in his voice. "New Deadwood's gotta be self-sufficient! That means resource extraction! What, do you want this little experiment to go the way of the Dry Country?"

"I think we're better situated." says David. "It's not like we're dependent on any particular income yet. Most of New Deadwood's just our own funds, and we've got plenty left."

"I, for one, don't want to throw my money down a hole forever. We need to start locating the long-term investments that can be found around here. For the good of the project, of course. New Deadwood is something I want to see succeed as much as you two do."

"For now..." David says. "Let's talk about a couple other options. The two of us. Sorry, Johnny, but do you mind?"

Getting dismissed like this hurt. But at the same time, while it hurt more coming from David, it was only the fact that David asked that got him to play along - Johnny would have told Davenport to shove it. So he simply nods and rises to his feet, exiting the hall as David starts posing long-term ideas to Davenport.

Maybe he'd see how the new saloon was coming along.

A Day at the Links

 THE ARGO MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSE

Ah, the golf course. There really was a lot of empty badlands out there. Why not use it for something? As we saw last year. Katharina Richter has made it to the driving range, needing some time away from Ulimaroa Central and indulging it with the links. She looks over the driving range, currently painted in beautiful stripes of a grayscale gradiant that extends back to the farthest targets.

"Huh. I wonder which artist did this one."

Putting it out of her mind as an expected consequence of golf in Argo, Katharina drops a ball and sets up her club. Shamelessly latching on with all four arms to provide increased force, Katharina draws back for her backswing, and-

"RUMBLE BUDDY!" 

"GYAH!?"

Katharina's swing goes completely off course, and she clips herself in the side with her golf club. As she stumbles and her arms discoordinate, her mouth catches up.

"What in the everloving goddamn- oh, it's you."

Looking back and seeing Agent Carmine there, Katharina regains her compose and her self-control. She takes in the chipper, cheerful agent, clad in her golf outfit and bouncing on her heels. Next to her, Francine Fauvergue looks awkwardly at Katharina. "My apologies. She really wanted to say hi."

"Yeah! I mean, how could I possibly forget my cool Rumble buddy after all THAT, huh?" Carmine says, laughing a bit. "That was a hell of a showdown!"

"It certainly was, wasn't it." Katharina says.

"And now the Echolux is all hyped up about me! Heheh, maybe Margit will pick a fight? ...Would you have joined the Echolux if you won?" 

"I would not have. A fighting career is not really conductive to the image I want to project to Ulimaroa." 

"Excuse me, but in that case..." Francine asks. "Why join the Rumble?"

"It was a promotional stunt. A way to bring attention to the railroad companies through my personal appearance. Apparently, we've been getting increased attention since my second place finish. Though I think some of that is because I got out of hand."

"Don't put yourself down! You were SUPER cool out there!" Carmine says, grabbing Katharina's hands and shaking them with gusto. "And now I find you like golf too! What a great time!"

"I have to admit, though." Francine says, snickering a bit. "I didn't think about a four-sleeved golf shirt. I take it you need those custom-made?"

"Yes. And if you plan to buy me anything with a slogan and say I can't give it away because of the extra sleeves, I'll smack you."

"Heheh. Shame."

"Well, I hadn't thought about it, buuuut maybe I'll figure out when your birthday is!"

"Don't."

Katharina tries to give a grumpy stare to both women, but neither one seems that bothered by it. Carmine just pipes up again. "So! Wanna join us?"

"In what, golf?"

"Yep! We were about to start a round, but I saw you! I thought you'd love to come along! We're a whole Rumble team now!"

"I barely interacted with Katharina in the Rumble." Francine says. "I think we're less a Rumble team and more a two-ended trio. If that." 

"Agreed."

"Weellll that's still good enough! And we can MAKE it a golf buddies team of three with a good round, right? Right!" Carmine nods vigorously. "So! Come on!" Grabbing both Francine and Katharina by the arm, she starts dragging them towards the clubhouse to set up.

"Is she... always like this?" Katharina asks.

"She is. It really grows on you, though." 

"Hmmm. That reminds to be seen.

...I may as well give it a shot, though." 

ONE ROUND OF GOLF LATER

"That... was much more intense than I was expecting." Katharina says, looking down at her scorecard. She'd only come out third, while Carmine was in second, and a very smug-looking Francine in first. 

"Riiiight? See! It's a great time!" Carmine says, eagerly tossing her club from hand to hand. "It's funny, I picked up golf on a whim and I ended up thinking it was really fun. Isn't it cool how it works?"

"Hmm. And here I just took up golf to placate some of the business leaders I had to deal with when setting up Ulimaroa Central. It has admittedly turned out to be an effective way to settle deals. Though now I'm curious how a waitress becomes fond of golf."

"Ahaha, well." Francine laughs at the memory. "Whalestrand's Waitress, you know? Everyone paoches me, so for a few months I was working at the golf course's clubhouse. I did caddying for a few people as a side part, and took the chance to play some golf too, and... well, turns out it's not too bad when you're doing it with friends. And not a bunch of rich idiots."

"Hear hear!" Carmine says. "Plus, wilder courses!"

"That too. It's more fun when the course is a bit of a fight."

"Hmm. I suppose I still prefer long drives, though I'll admit to a bit of capability bias in that."

"A bit?" Francine says, giving Katharina a look of knowing what she's onto. 

"...Okay, a lot."

"Didn't do much on this course, though?" Carmine says.

"No, I suppose it didn't." Katharina shrugs. "Hitting it hard doesn't matter when badlands rock sends it skidding away into the distance. Maybe next time I'll do it with two arms held behind my back."

"Which two? Upper or lower?"

"I'd have to think." 

"Either way..." Francine says, trailing off as she takes in the sights of the golf course. "This was nice. I'd be fine with doing it again."

"I would as well." Katharina says. "I enjoyed my time with the two of you."

"I DID IT! Golf Buddies... REAL!" Carmine says, throwing her arms around the other two. "Okay! That means... we need to get drunk!!! Silver Neelsen told me that's the MOST important part of a really good round, and he's 105 and still golfing so he's onto something!" 

"You know something? That's a real good justification." 

"Indeed. I have nothing else to do tonight... I may dull my efficiency without an issue."

"Right! Off we go!" 

Carmine leads the way, Francine following and Katharina behind her. Seems like this little team will persist for a while longer.

Riders in the Sky

 THE WILDS OF ULIMAROA

Four horses ride by. The badlands vanish beneath their hooves, the horses thundering towards the middle of the desert. Johnny McGraw checks his watch - they were making good time, the rendezvous approaching quickly but the horses approaching quicker. One of his fellow riders pulls up alongside him, the horse moving a bit faster. 

"We're on track to get there faster than I thought. You think the town'll have something to do yet?"

"Doubt it." McGraw replies. Grant Mason was a skilled hand with a gun, and had a strong history as a county sheriff, yet he often got jittery when he sat around too long. It was going to be hard to keep the man satisfied until the town got more established. 

Cracking a slight smile, McGraw keeps his thoughts to himself. Yet here he was, the ex-thief and ex-con, working side by side with a sheriff. Well, it'd be worth it, if all went according to plan. Besides, Grant was one thing. It wasn't like he was working with that damn skunk, Jake Marshall.

"All I need's a good customer base. I'll be happy with that!" 

"What'll you even sell?" asks Johnny. 

"You know, the staples. Tools, guns, explosives..."

Knoq'oth was one of the more surprising members of their group, and had nearly spooked half the posse the first time he'd shown up following their messages. They'd eventually learned he was from a small group of aliens that had crashed in the Old West after a solar flare. Knoq'oth had "gone native", finding he enjoyed living among the humans and embracing their ways and clothes. Even after most of the aliens had left, he had remained, and chosen to stay as a cowboy.

As long lived as his species was, he'd simply kept it up to the present day, going about more openly after aliens became more accepted in the world. It had taken some discussion, but the posse had chosen to accept him in the crew.

"I think we should have enough people to get a store going now. Not sure about entertainment.

I can ask David when we get there to prioritize that next time. Movies, maybe?"

"No need to strain yourself." says Johnny. "I think we can make do without that."

"Nah, it's not a big problem. You know he'll listen to the two of us more than just you."

It was true, Johnny reflected. David Hill had been a changed man when he got out of prison the previous year. He'd contacted Johnny with his ideas, and the concept had sounded absurd. A cowboy town? There were many across the American West. 

Then he'd gone more into detail. Something more than a cowboy town. Something deeper and truer. Johnny still wasn't sure about how well this would work out, but he'd wanted to see how it played out. He was sure the same was true of everyone with him.

Especially the younger sister. Eliza Hill, the only other person besides his old partner who could convince David Hill of anything. At least she, like Johnny, was a grounded person. He was counting on Eliza to help him rein in David if it came to that.

At this, Johnny can't help but crack a smile. When had he become the grounded man, and David the dreamer? Times had changed a long time since Jake had broken them up. 

The four horses keep riding on, towards the town of dreams. Towards New Deadwood.

COMING SPRING 2026:

THE NEW WEST