New Images

Well,

I am back from Japan now. Not much has changed over there. It is still the Japan I remember other than the TV celebrities are a little different and younger.

While I was there I worked on two images. One was an update of Rick and the other was a possible rendition of Maria. I took two photographs of models I felt had the feel and looks that I was going for and them modified and recolored them in Photoshop.

Let me know what you think.

Here are the two the images of Rick and Maria

various characters that the brothers know

One of the most interesting characters that the Brothers have know is Sang, a tall chameleon ninja. Having been a early friend of theirs from the military base, Sang came and lived with them right after they got back together the first time. Not much is known about his history or past, there was some talk about a long boat ride to the land of the Rising Sun ( Japan ) and back, but beyond that he kept himself a mystery. They all lived in a small apartment above the garage they worked at, in a dirty and run down neighborhood in Sacramento. The area was more like present day palestine, there was a government and some law and order, but the local gangs and militia's held more influence and power on a day to day basis. Barett ran into Sang on accident not long after they started up thier business at the garage, he was sleeping in the back alley, by the dumpster. Sang carried around swords and a AK-47 plus various other weapons and tricks ( he was dead serious about the ninja thing ). On more than one ocasion he would jump from one moving vehicle to another, and attack the occupants in direct hand to hand combat. He lived with them off and on traveling around the west coast and into the southwest as the Brothers moved from place to place, then one day he decided to leave, not much has been heard from him. Barett says that he gets bits of info off the various spy networks about him, and has seen him off and on over the last few years.
Another personality from the past is Joe Beef, a wolf mix with gray hair. Joe was an over the top, sports car driving, state trooper. Having work with the Brothers in the first " Unification War " and generally participating in anarchy and partying in the down time, he floats in and out of thier lives. He lives by himself and spent most of his time after the War living in the " Spook " world ( he did counter espionage for the government ). Always a good source of info, Barett would contact Joe about potential clients and various people looking to kill them, in return Barett would turn over info about people or situations that they ran across not pertaining to thier job. At times there was no contact with Joe ( like when they were wanted men ) as he really didn't want to arrest them. He carried twin 1911 colt .45 cals and keep a m60 machine gun in the trunk of his car, " Go big or go home !!" was Joe's motto.
Mellisa is another person that floats in and out of the Brothers lives. ( due to the nature of their jobs and the constant violence and destruction that surrounds them, people tend to not stick around long.) They first meet Mellisa on the Canary islands off the coast of California, almost killing her. A helicopter pilot by training ( ex-military ) she dated Barett off and on over the last couple of years. Being a Ringtail cat mix herself and liking the thrill of adventure like the Brothers she tends to stick around longer than the rest. There is some speculation that Barett and her are very serious, but they don't talk about it, to each other or anyone else. A muscular build and dark brown hair with hazel eyes, Mellisa is a very attractive women, yet for some reason finds that her looks do her more harm in the world of pilots. She spends a lot of time practicing and studying over her stunts and tricks, trying to prove she is better than the other fly boys. One of the reasons that she likes the Brothers is that they don't judge her by her looks or background, just on her skills and abilities, and she is one damn good pilot.
Billy the Kid, a greyhound mix, with partial looks, is a friend of Barett's. Having meet when they worked for the government in the spook world, Billy kept in touch with the Brothers. Naturally ambidexterous, he worked the shooting competition circuit for a few years till he got a job with a weapons manufacturer. After a few years the N.S.A. offered him a job training recruits how to shoot and work a little counter espionage. He took a real liking to the undercover work and did some out of country work ( he is very vauge about what ) but after his return, he lost his taste for the Government. Now he spends his days doing private security work and teaching shooting classes. Barett suspects that all this is a cover for his spy work, allowing him to get close to corrupt business leaders and government officials, seeing that the people Billy works for are the bottom of the barrel. Billy shoots twin colt pythons, slung low cowboy style, when he does competitions. Know to pack more than one or two guns at all times, he shoots equally well with either hand. Unmarried or even attached he lives the classic bachelor life. Keeping a small apartment in the city and a cabin in the hills, Billy spends most of his time in hotels, moving from city to city, following jobs or competitions. He still has lots of contacts that the Brothers use to keep tabs on jobs they are doing, but fear he may turn on them one day.

Ricks adventure part #5

Rick and Barett having set the trap with the dummy ( the body dressed as Barett ) and prepared the sight in as quick a time as possible, part ways. Barett heads up the hill after the sniper, Rick attempts to run his decoy as long as possible. Not long after Rick has secured himself in the forest, he senses movement down the river just south of the dock. The fires having died down at this point, leaving a dull glow in the background, clouded by the thick smoke from the smoldering trucks. The smell of burning oil and rubber stings your lungs and burns your nose, you hope that this will hurt the "doggies" sense of smell. The radio clicks and crackles to life " Well, well, well....so we get meet finally." says the voice. "I think there is a score to be settled". You see Maria emerge from the forest, shuffling forward, just enough so that you can see she is strapped with explosives, her legs and hands are tied. " I think that you owe me something...something big, but first I will make you suffer, what do you think ?" Barett speaks into the walkie talkie then, " I don't think that you have balls big enough to face me in person, mano e mano, you dip-dunk, pus nut, s..t for brains, blankity blank blank licking, butt sniffing, b...h. Come out and fight me, I'm already wounded, I'm sure that you could take me, or not...what .........are you afraid of one little kitty cat, you blankity blank blank." Using his trust and intimidate to draw the Doggie in to the open, he hopes. The down side to this kind of bluff, if Mr. Murphy decided to come along for a ride, is that they would blow up Maria. That is the risk that Barett is willing to take, but is hoping for the best, given the situation.
There is a slight pause then two quick shots, one from the hill Barett is slowly making his way to, the second from the dark just behind Maria. The muzzle flash giving away their locations. The first strikes at the dummy in the left leg, the second shot goes at his right arm, knocking him down and shaking the gun loose from his hand. Barett screams in to the mike, pretending to be in pain, as Rick works the rope making the dummy rise and fall, moving against the tree. The decoy, poorly done and hastily attached, did it's job, from the river two more figures rush in, guns drawn and ready, dropping a few more rounds into its legs. When they get close to the decoy Rick lets the booby trap go down. Pressing the button for the remote explosives on the body, and ducking down to cover himself he waits for the pop and spray...nothing...s..t thinks Rick, what happened. The two doggies have reached the decoy now and have looks of surprise on their faces. Rick looks down the at the detonator and sees the switch is broken, touching the wires together he lets the full effect of c4 at close range be felt by the two doggies as they turn to run.
The high pitch crack of explosives and spray of dirt fills the air, knocking down the two doggies. Rick rolls to the right and sprays the area behind Maria where the shot came from. Then he hears the crack of the .50 cal, as dirt sprays across him, stinging his face and hands, it's followed by a series of shots from Baretts rifle. Rick comes up into a running position and bolts for the shadow figure behind Maria covering the distance in short measure. Two shots come from the dark figure as he weaves and dodges toward the "doggie" in the dark, one nicks Rick across the ribs leaving a burning feeling, the other bounces off the spare magazines on his hip. leaping the last few yards, feet forward Rick slams into the chest of the doggie.
Rick comes up on top, swinging with brutal force he punches at the throat of the female " doggie " her leg wrapped up in a splint. She tries to fend off his attacks but his fury is total at this point and he rips into her with no restraint, pummelling her throat and face with knife hand attacks, and kicking at the wounded leg. She collapses in a pool of blood and fur, the last gasps of air gurgling from her lungs. Rick spins and comes up with the detonator to Maria's explosives vest, keeping the trigger clear, he moves toward her shaking figure.
Using his training in explosives and electrical knowledge he starts un-wiring the explosives, only a few seconds into it he sees one of the two " doggies " on the ground raise his gun at him. But before Rick can react the crack of Baretts gun finishes off the "doggie". Removing the vest from Maria and tossing it in the river, Rick pulls her tight to him, kisses her on the cheek, then drags her into the forest for cover. The radio crackles and the dark voice you've been talking to comes on again, "I've got one more trick up my sleeve you blankity, blank s.o.b.'s..... since you leave me no choice the whole camp goes f..... boom in sixty seconds.....big f...blankity, blank boom enjoy your last moments...you blankity blank, good for nothing, greasy blankity blank cats....". then the radio goes quiet.
Barett yells " we've looted now lets scoot." and makes a run for the river.

Ricks Adventure #4

The problem with dogs is their sense of smell. It is just too damn good. They have a way of snifing out a trap when the idea is still being formed. Even if you tried to confuse them by throwing a kaleidoscope of smells at them, they still usually figure things out.

A secondary expostion ripped throught the dark jungle night as a canister compressed gas reached its limits of structural integrity, showering the two brothers with mud and burning earth. Barett turned to Rick, telling him once again with a look that it would be a whole-hell-of-a-lot easier if they just slipped away down into the river and disappeared into the night. Rick's look spoke volumes. Yes, it would be easy to just leave and his sense of reality agreed that they would have a much better chance at getting out of there in one piece. After all, there is no real shortage of female cats in the world. But the problem was that he liked this one. He had brought her down here and such being the case, he fel obligated to get her out too.

As the last bits of debris rained down, Barett saw the familiar look of Rick's mind working out some plan.

Rick took the gun from Barett but then using his hands, makes the sign for wait and sniper.

Barett smiled at this. He wants that gun anyway.

Getting it was almost as good as a reason to stay as Rick's cat friend. He knew there was a dog with his gun out there setting up a shot that covered the river bank. Where would he be? Rolling, Barett scanned the adjacent areas and calculated where he would go to set up the shot. To his trained eye, two possible options became clear, one to the left that would give the best cover and the cleanest shot but would be difficult to reach without being spotted. That was unless the dog was already in place. The other was straight ahead about the mine compound on a short ridge. This was a big gun that could take them both out in a matter of seconds.

Which place? He would have to gamble on that.

Turning back to Rick, Barett signed the locations of 10:00 and 12:20 o'clock. Rick gives him the thumbs up an he pulled off the local's barrowed poncho and hat. He signs back. Rope. Tape.

With the clothing off, Rick pulled out his tanto, the blade giving a dull flash as it reflected the burning glare from the camp. They had less than two minutes to pull this off.

Favorite Adventures

Among the brothers' many adventures there are a few favorites of mine.

The Snoopy adventure holds a place in my heart for several reasons.  First, it was just plain funny.  Using the beloved Peanuts' characters was great.  A religious cult led by a Beagle is a stroke of genius.  Furthermore, having his opposition be Lucy-fer is equally hilarious.  To jog your memories, the brothers were hired as a security detail to protect the Beagle's caravan.  As it turns out, the beagle ended up being the baddy.  I believe Utah Blaine ended up confronting him.  Lucy was set free with Dave advising her to seek other options of Faith.  Dave had Utah give her a Book of Mormon for starters.

The road trip to New Orleans is another great one.  This is where Dave met Fisher, joined a punk rock band, and escaped from a small town jail.  This particular adventure helped craft and shape Dave's character.  I really got into the zone on this one.  If you remember, Utah was dating the human singer, Rachel.  The brothers acted as security detail on her tour through vegas and to New Orleans and back.  This had a lot of side quests including Utah Blaine taking part in an iron man boxing and strength feat competition.

I recall another adventure wherein the brothers were sent to retrieve a young lady that had been abducted and put out as a prostitute.  As the brothers went undercover to the brothel, most entertained themselves in the obvious fashion.  Dave, however, requested as many available girls as possible and tried to spring as many as he could.  Some resisted (a deer dominatrix stands out in my mind).  It turns out the local sheriff was involved.  He tasered Dave but Dave resisted.  Dave finished the sheriff by jump kicking him in the head while simultaneously leaping over the hood of the patrol vehicle.

The brothers go to the Drive-In is another favorite.  Dave met his first girlfriend, Kimberly (a russian blue cat).  Utah and Rick fought over the last slice of pizza.  I believe the movie was Nosferatu.  This little subplot adventure had a lot of character development and role-playing elements which makes it stand out in my mind.

Those are a few adventures that stand out prominently in my mind.  Should I remember any others I will post them.  What were some of your favorites?

Ricks adventure part #4

Rick runs through the chaos, scanning the dark shadows for Maria, she was to be on the far side of the camp. Its a small mining camp at the bottom of a gorge, with a swift but narrow river at the bottom, this is the only wide spot for several miles. He had sent her to the right over by some equipment and gas lines, it being the least guarded, and hopefully the safest if that could be said. I mean here they are, surrounded by heavily armed, well armored, highly trained " Dogs of War" or "Doggies" as Rick called them. Soldiers for the Empire, these "doggies" were the best at what they did, kill for their masters. But just like the cat he was Rick knew how to torture poor "doggies", and drive them nuts. His senses on fire, Adrenaline rushing through his veins, he covers the short distance to the River bank by the exploded dirt separator still smoldering from the bomb. Looking around and taking cover behind some rocks Rick runs the channels on the stolen headphone, 2-way radio. "Hello, ....hello out there my blankity blank little kitties ....says a voice, are you still listening in.......well no matter .....I have in my possession one pretty little girl who got lost....I plan to kill her then you...unless of course you present me with a better option.....you have two minutes...." then the radio goes quiet....
Barett moves up next to Rick, and shakes his head,"heard it all bro., thats a real pisser, that blankity blank pus-nut, dip dunk doggie's gonna regret doing that. Give me some time, they only know about me really, I'll do the visual negotiation part, take my .45 with the silencer, and don't get me killed." Barett clicks the button and says " I think what you really want to do is let the young lady go, and kill me, but that is going to take some doing, first you have to find out ....who I'm with and what my mission is, don't you ?" The radio stays silent for a full 90 seconds then clicks back on." Meet me by the river in two minutes, by the dock...." then the radio goes silent.

Rick's Adventure #3

Rick rolls, jumps and lands behind a pile of dirt and rocks, bullets start to go off around you then the fireworks start. Its like the end of a rock concert, loud noises, screaming and lots of explosions. Rick smiles to himself, this is his favorite type of noise, I'd like to see Utah's face when he hears about this one he thinks. Rolling in the dark under some mining equipment and crawling in the dark forest back to the rendezvous's spot he searches for Barett and Maria's shapes. Looking over at the Camp trailer the fire and smoke hiding its real damage he can tell that it blew right in half, the front sitting on its end twenty feet away, well.... part of the front. The truck is burning good now, thick black smoke making your eyes water. Barett saddles up to you and smiles, gives the thumbs up symbol and looks a round, makes the girly figure motion with his hands, then shrugs his shoulders. You wait for maybe thirty more seconds then start to wonder where is Maria ? Things are starting to get hot, people running and shooting wildly, occasionally Barett knocks one down with the .45 pistol, just to stir things up, but no Maria. You wait at least sixty more seconds, but no sign of Maria.

What does Rick do, Barett is making the sign for getting out of there, now.

"She did seem nervous about this little adventure at the last minuted didn't she." Rick says as he rolls over to scan the area. "I can't leave her here."
Rick takes the stolen radio ear-piece and slips it into his hear, listing for the doggies chatter.
"Are you going to help me out?" he asks Barett. "Besides, what is the fun if we run now when there is some much more insane chaos we can inflicted upon these guys."

Rick keeps his head down as he runs out into the night air filled with flying bullets, sparks and fire. He heads over for the area Maria was going to work in looking for any sign of warriors in the action of apprehending someone.

The other side of Barett Coontail

Barett Coontails mother always wanted him to be a doctor, when she would go out to do visits and give shots to the locals, she would take him along. This is where he gained his knowledge of medicine and strong stomach for blood and gore. She liked to take him because he understood things well and didn't mind the mess, his ability to cut with a knife or stitch a wound made him a valuable assistant. But Barett never cared for the medical profession, he didn't like the politics and games played in the hospital, that and he never took to the " book learning" that was required. If being an ambulance driver in a large city was a real potential, he might have liked that more. But alas his lot was to be a real adrenaline junkie, jumping from perfectly good planes, swimming in choppy waters and " shooting and looting". Barett really liked the physical side of training all the running, climbing, swimming.....he would do them because he liked it, more than to get better at them, that was just a added benefit from it, his body really liked the exercise, it helped calm him down. Barett would spend some of his time growing up, down at the base motor pool with his brothers. The old mechanic would show them how to change tires and oil, fix cars and trucks and general mechanical skills, mostly to keep them out of trouble. One day Barett came apon a old Honda 250 scrambler, in bad need of repair. Barett spent a lot of his free time working on the motorcycle, more than he even did riding. But the feeling of freedom and the cool deseret air on his face was a welcome relief from the rigid structure of the military base they lived on.

Dave Crockett

Dave Crockett

Dave Crockett is the youngest of the Brothers Coontail. Once the brothers split up after their parents' death, Dave stayed with his uncle, Bob, until he died from an injury. Dave then lived on the streets and in youth centers until getting a job as a mechanic (and driver) at a speedway. While his brothers are more the strong, silent type, Dave more in line with the artful, elegant hero of Europe. He is charming, witty, and flamboyant. 1980's new wave inspired the character's clothing (narrow tie), accessories (aviator glasses), car (black ABS Scorpion), musical tastes (Punk, Goth, New Romantic), and attitude (selfish and oozing sexuality). Dave is motivated by adventure, valuing experience over money. The weakest of the four physically, Dave compensates with his cunning. Dave is not just about fast cars and fast women, but fast talk as well. He recognizes that his brothers are superior to him in at least one area, which makes him jealous and oddly insecure. Not satisfied with just being the charming one, he strives to improve in other areas. Self-perfection is his goal. He doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and he diets and exercises. His only allowed vice is women. Even then his relationships are mostly monogamous and burn out after a couple of months. His on and off girlfriend is a con woman by the name of Jesse Fisher. While Utah goes after the head of the serpent, Barett goes after the weakest link, and Rick pursues elaborate plans, Dave goes by instinct and approaches an assignment head on.

Quote:
"No, Officer. I don't know how fast I was going. At speeds like that, it really isn't wise to take your eyes off the road. Safety first. Now, if you will excuse me, the car I was following...until you blocked my path...was carrying the mayor's daughter. Yes, the kidnapped one. Escort? No. That won't be necessary, Officer...Dan is it? Well, best be off. Good bye, now."

Rick

Rick

The third son and name sake of their father, Rick is the tallest and best looking of the four bothers. He strives to be fun and playful with his brothers but secretly is a little intimidated by them and their girlfriends. He continually tries to compensate for his lower view to demonstrate that he is just like them but feels he falls short.

Rick ultimately is a man of dichotomy. He doesn’t see himself as the tallest, or the smartest, or the best looking. He looks up to Blaine as the family patriarch and loves each brother dearly but at the same time he is subconsciously competing with each, trying to prove that he can fill the role as well as they can as leader and father figure. He sometimes looks at his brothers and believes them to be overly flamboyant, witty, and overbearing while thinking he is shy and a bit of a recluse

However, Rick is by far the most over the top in appearance of the brothers; not flashy but big. He over compensates his perceived inferiority by being dramatically large is everything. This largeness drives his personality and character. He tries to emulate his brothers in everyway but changes it unknowingly by adding elements which make him look bolder. He is Mr. Shotgun (x3), Mr. big truck, Mr. big ideas. His plans and schemes are large and at times overly complex. When he commits to something he gets very zealous about the idea and has a hard time listening to anyone else. He will work on it until he succeeds or totally fails. He can be obstinate and will only learn by doing things himself.

Finally for those who count him as a friend, Rick is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, cheerful, thrifty, brave, and clean. Almost everything a perfect boy scout should be. But these traits are not extended universally. His enemies find him to be aggressive, violent, underhanded, moody, wantonly destructive, unrestrained, vengeful, and down right mean.

Barett

Barett

The second of twins, he became the iconoclastic," motorcycle bad boy",
with a skill at negotiation because of the conflicts between his
brothers. Barett would rather avoid conflict than engage it for some
personal or moral conviction, however, if it looked like fun or profit
he would pretend to care. Ever the anarchist his skill with fist and
gun was rivaled only by those of his brothers, his personal favorites were
the Colt 45 officers compact, and H & K .308 sniper rifle, black leather
jacket and 1600 cc. motorcycle. You'll most likely find him shooting
pool with his brothers or shooting at someone, with his brothers.

Quote:
" Quid pro quo...what's in it for me? ".

Utah

Utah Blaine

Utah is the fraternal twin brother of Berett.. He has a thick hide and is the strongest of the brothers. He is a survivor, a mechanic, and a warrior. Utah loves hand to hand combat and is trained in Taekwon-Do and Jeet-Kune-Do. He tries to be a leader to his self-reliant and rebellious brothers and has set a moral ideal for himself that he often falls short of. This leads to a bit of insecurity and frustration, resulting in an explosive temper. He struggles most with his relationship with his youngest brother Dave. Still his brothers are his best friends and he cares for them. His visceral nature and temper often get him into trouble. His only artistic outlet is cooking.

Coontail Brothers' History

Coontails

What is the world as the coontail brothers know it? What are the brothers? From reading the book I have, the way I see it is the brothers are an unconventional specialized “special forces” team who have often found that their ‘unconventionalness’ made it hard to remain employed in a conventional system. They had plenty of work while the world was turned upside down but when things normalized their services were no longer needed nor wanted. So the boys struck out on their own in the mad and vastly transitioning world in which they lived. Here they were; highly-trained military roughnecks, tough hand-to-hand combatants, employed from time to time by various governments in irregular fighting and warfare, direct action, foreign infiltration, intelligence collection in deep battle-space areas, sabotage, raiding, and special reconnaissance operations, now finding themselves without a mission or purpose. When the government and society found stability, the brothers found themselves on the other side of the tracks, their methods in direct opposition to the establishment.

So what did they do? They worked as soldiers of fortune. They hired out and did the job moving items that no one wanted to touch and acknowledge existed. They were good at it because they were trained to work as an autonomously group in any environment, be it air, land, or at sea who can used and repair almost any form of transportation they can get their hands on. They were as tough as nails and could typically be found armed to the teeth. In the beginning, their purpose in taking a job was ultimately to earn some badly needed cash, but over time they all seem to have learned that money comes and goes as fast as the hot woman they meet at the local bars and it had about the same results; a night of frolic and fun to awake with realization that your head is pounding, your wallet is missing, a knife is sticking out your back, and you have a funny feeling that you better go get checked for an STD.

So as ‘Americorp’ stabilized more and more, the brothers found it harder and harder to keep doing what they did and stay anonymous from the law. So we find Rick and Utah heading south to try their luck in the land of the Mexican sun, Barett heading up north and finding that he somehow slipped into being accepted into the social establishment, and Dave getting lost to take a deep soul-searching look for some kind of meaning to everything. Utah and Rick pimped out cars on low budget TV show and ran freight when that was done. They made a few friends and one or two more enemies. One thing led to another until Barett and Dave caught wind of their dear brothers’ exploits and decided it would be best to move on down to join in the fun, wax a couple bad guys, and then bust their butts out of there. “Cool copter! Where did you guys pick it up? Ooh, that is why we are hiding. So, is there anyone down here who doesn’t want your heads served on a platter?”

This leads then to what is going on and were are they going? The brothers are in the jungle of Bolivia, attempting to retrofit their stolen helicopter with extra fuel tanks. A group of specialist forces are moving on the area while the brothers are attempting to move arms to a group of rebels for an exchange of silver that they plan to use as payment to the black market for jet fuel. There is also a group of (for lack of a better word or knowledge) eco-terrorist converging in the small town. Likewise, the brothers have learned of a mysterious area guarded by large were-beast and hints of a lost advance technological center with possible historical links to the beginning of bio-engineering. A lot of heavy crap and unwanted attention is converging into this little mountain village.