Golden Bee
The cool guy of online
High, Wide, Handsome, and Burnt
“Come with me,” Ivo said, extending a hand. “Or that Filipino will kill you.”
October, 1935. Two Billings law enforcement officers have been found murdered in as many days. The ZSS have been hired by Zachary Left Hand, a policeman with the Office of Indian Affairs who lives on and patrols the nearby Crow Reservation. Having testified against both of the deceased officers earlier this year, the BPD has named him a person of interest, and Zachary believes it’s only a matter of time before they coordinate with the OIA and FBI to arrest him. Meanwhile, he has a job to do as one of only three officers patrolling a 3,500+ sq mile range that serves some 1,700 residents on tribal land. He needs the ZSS to help him prove his innocence and avoid the hangman’s noose for crimes he says he didn’t commit.
***
It’s all JP Diamond can do to hold the group together. Calvin Davino is looking for a fight, Ivan “Ivo” Kochev is looking for a payday, and JP’s boss Devika is a temperamental, yet super-friendly egomaniac.
The group arrives in town as police investigate a third officer’s murder. Ivo sneaks in, and finds out that the cops are rounding up a posse for mob justice (against Zachary Left Hand). Instead of a car chase though, Devi ‘lets the telephone do the running’, finding out their contact is out of office on local business.
The group speeds through big sky country, marveling at the beauty while driving as fast as possible. When they arrive, a Crow addict, William, has his mother at knifepoint. Zachary tries to talk him down. Not one for subtlety, the former goddess of the Red Jasmine cult employs her mesmerism. As strung-out Billy crumbles to the ground, the group introduces themselves… and note the giant dust cloud on the horizon.
Our heroes flee vigilante justice and stash Zachary until he can be exonerated. From there, it’s a journey through high society and tribal bureaucracy. It’s not just white versus native: even Canadian Cree are involved, hoping to get laws changed so they can drill for oil on the Crow rez.
The foursome has to split up repeatedly, which goes well and not so well. JP is up to the task of interviewing a local rummy; Calvin and Ivo, tasked with ‘talking to the son of a prominent witness’, engineer an unnecessary kidnapping. Lies stack upon lies, until JP intervenes. The detective gets the suspect alone, a few minutes after the suspect starts a morphine drip. From there, New Orlean’s toughest PI scares a confession from the addled user. Devi helpfully types up the confession and has the guy sign it.
Then, they bring the other two along, using the confession to trade up the chain. The next crook reads it… And rips it into pieces. While Devi argues that what he just did was a felony too, Calvin jumpkicks the guy in the head.
The ZSS tracked the killer to the Billings police station. (Not before Calvin beat up someone else unreasonably, he's "made for action".) It turned out the police killings were the work of a mystic revenant, looking for justice the oldest-fashioned way.
The building was filled with smoke, and the trio of adults was happy to fight through the panicking officers. Devi’s eyes emerged from the smoke, glowing purple.
The teen boss interposed herself between the killer and their intended victim, the jerk police chief. Reluctantly, Devi made the argument that revenge killing was one of those things that you start and you never stop. The argument was only partially convincing, until JP shared his experience as someone who had traveled to the land of the dead, and back, then there and back again. The killer relented when she found out that her quest would lead to the hanging of Zachary Left Hand, the territory’s best lawman.
Because the entire police force was involved in the conspiracy, the group had to bring in federal authorities and start a media circus.
[Just look how many aspects ended up on the table. Busy session!]
“Come with me,” Ivo said, extending a hand. “Or that Filipino will kill you.”
October, 1935. Two Billings law enforcement officers have been found murdered in as many days. The ZSS have been hired by Zachary Left Hand, a policeman with the Office of Indian Affairs who lives on and patrols the nearby Crow Reservation. Having testified against both of the deceased officers earlier this year, the BPD has named him a person of interest, and Zachary believes it’s only a matter of time before they coordinate with the OIA and FBI to arrest him. Meanwhile, he has a job to do as one of only three officers patrolling a 3,500+ sq mile range that serves some 1,700 residents on tribal land. He needs the ZSS to help him prove his innocence and avoid the hangman’s noose for crimes he says he didn’t commit.
***
It’s all JP Diamond can do to hold the group together. Calvin Davino is looking for a fight, Ivan “Ivo” Kochev is looking for a payday, and JP’s boss Devika is a temperamental, yet super-friendly egomaniac.
The group arrives in town as police investigate a third officer’s murder. Ivo sneaks in, and finds out that the cops are rounding up a posse for mob justice (against Zachary Left Hand). Instead of a car chase though, Devi ‘lets the telephone do the running’, finding out their contact is out of office on local business.
The group speeds through big sky country, marveling at the beauty while driving as fast as possible. When they arrive, a Crow addict, William, has his mother at knifepoint. Zachary tries to talk him down. Not one for subtlety, the former goddess of the Red Jasmine cult employs her mesmerism. As strung-out Billy crumbles to the ground, the group introduces themselves… and note the giant dust cloud on the horizon.
Our heroes flee vigilante justice and stash Zachary until he can be exonerated. From there, it’s a journey through high society and tribal bureaucracy. It’s not just white versus native: even Canadian Cree are involved, hoping to get laws changed so they can drill for oil on the Crow rez.
The foursome has to split up repeatedly, which goes well and not so well. JP is up to the task of interviewing a local rummy; Calvin and Ivo, tasked with ‘talking to the son of a prominent witness’, engineer an unnecessary kidnapping. Lies stack upon lies, until JP intervenes. The detective gets the suspect alone, a few minutes after the suspect starts a morphine drip. From there, New Orlean’s toughest PI scares a confession from the addled user. Devi helpfully types up the confession and has the guy sign it.
Then, they bring the other two along, using the confession to trade up the chain. The next crook reads it… And rips it into pieces. While Devi argues that what he just did was a felony too, Calvin jumpkicks the guy in the head.
The ZSS tracked the killer to the Billings police station. (Not before Calvin beat up someone else unreasonably, he's "made for action".) It turned out the police killings were the work of a mystic revenant, looking for justice the oldest-fashioned way.
The building was filled with smoke, and the trio of adults was happy to fight through the panicking officers. Devi’s eyes emerged from the smoke, glowing purple.
The teen boss interposed herself between the killer and their intended victim, the jerk police chief. Reluctantly, Devi made the argument that revenge killing was one of those things that you start and you never stop. The argument was only partially convincing, until JP shared his experience as someone who had traveled to the land of the dead, and back, then there and back again. The killer relented when she found out that her quest would lead to the hanging of Zachary Left Hand, the territory’s best lawman.
Because the entire police force was involved in the conspiracy, the group had to bring in federal authorities and start a media circus.
[Just look how many aspects ended up on the table. Busy session!]
