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Burning Skies Saloon Quest: Past, Present, and Future

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BdrLineAzn:
*BdrLine is on the flak shooting covering fire as Yiski reversed*
Ah Shoot, Ah shoot, come on come on

*Around the M'Naghten merc and flak rounds are flying at them from the remaning Galleon and the dual Pyra's*

hope the Gods this works
*BdrLine loads in lesmok rounds and starts aiming at the gun deck of the galleon*

*His shots are erratic as some hits the hull, or passes through the balloon*
*One shot was a one in a million, it hit the power magazine on one of the galleon's flak cannons. When it went off, it destroyed the port side guns*

Yiski Galleon's port is disable, can't say much on the sniping pyra's. I lost them during the retreat.

Yiski:
--NARRATOR--

Thanks to the cover fire provided by Paradox, Shink,  BdrLine, the team manages to escape among the chaos and wreckage of the Birdmen's blockade. The team managed to slip away behind an incoming storm system.

When the enemy lost sight of the team, Yiski turned the ship and faced the southwest toward Truth Lake. Eventually, the M'Naghten caught up with Then It Was Fixed. Zill saw Yiski pull along and radioed to him.
Yiski? The M'Naghten doesn't look all that well? You think you'll be able to make it to Truth Lake?

There was a momentary silence before Zill got a response.
Yeah, my ship's definitely seen better days. How are you engines?

Took a good shot to the starboard engine. It's functional, but it'll slow us down a bit. Once we get to Truth Lake, I got a few friends who'll help patch us up.

Before Zill decided to maintain radio slience.
How's Roland?

Alive, but that's all I could tell. Dammit, I could have gotten him killed. Maybe I should've left him back in Anvala.

We both knew Roland would be in danger if he was with us or in Anvala. At least if he's with us, he'll have a better chance to survive. Alright, let's maintain silence till Truth Lake.

As the team limped toward Truth Lake, Yiski muttered to himself in response to Zill.
Maybe.

Meanwhile below deck in the M'Naghten's hull. Roland was sitting against the side, shaking uncontrollably with his eyes wide open. The mercury shot which almost hit him wasn't anything like what happened before. Had the shot landed a another six inches back, Roland would've died instantly.

Ny-Lee sits next to him and embraces him, but his shaking doesn't stop. It actually gets worse. Ny-Lee whispers into Roland's ear.
Roland, you're okay now. We're going somewhere else. We're safe now.

Roland couldn't hear a word Ny-Lee said. All that ran through his mind was how close he came to death within a short period of time.
I'm not ready. I'm not ready. I'm not strong enough yet....

BdrLine, joined the two below deck and looked to Ny-Lee.
How is he?

Ny-Lee only responded by slowly shaking her head in the negative. It was going to be a long night for everyone.

By the time the team reached Truth Lake, it was well beyond midnight. Fortunately, Zill radioed the port ahead of time and were expecting both ships to be heavily damaged. When the team did dock, Zill got off first and met with his friend.
William, it's been awhile. I kinda wish we would meet under better circumstances.

Agreed.

William takes a look at both ships and whistles.
Damn, looks like you two took a hell of a beating.

More so than you think. Did you manage to get us a few rooms? I'll pay more for what I usually do given our size.

No, the usual applies. You guys look like you could use a breather. We'll have both ships repaired by this time tonight.

Zill and William shook hands and Zill contacted his crew and Yiski's crew to hop off and head into town.

Truth Lake was a larger town, but not large enough to become a major city. It's greater town size could be attributed to the fact it was (and still is to some extent) considered a resort town. The fresh water lakes and rivers made it a moderately popular visiting site. Even though it was the dead of night, the team could see plenty of empty stalls and other shops and plenty of inns.

Zill lead the team into the inn which was prepared ahead of time.
Okay. Jun'ko and Ny are in a room; Paradox and Shink; BdrLine and Roland; and myself and Yiski.

In the girls' room, Ny-Lee was silent. Jun'ko approached Ny-Lee.
Ny? What's wrong?

Roland. I fear he may have seen death more times than he wants to and I have no idea how to help him.

Jun'ko sat next to Ny-Lee and gave her a hug.
If anything I learned from being with my Admiral is that you can only stand by him and give him support when he needs it.

Ny-Lee smiled.
Thanks Jun.

BdrLine attempted to talk to Roland, but Roland was already curled up in bed.
Damn, I'm not sure how much more the kid can take.

Paradox and Shink were restless in their room. Paradox checking on all his parts to make sure everything was in order and Shink was just pacing back and forth.
Calm down, you're making me nervous now.

"I don't see why you aren't moving as well. If you stay still any longer, you might rust."

The two threw verbal jabs at each other for most of the night. It was the only way to get over the feeling of near death and worse, defeat.

Yiski sat quietly staring out the window with Zill sitting at a desk and taking a drink from his flask. Zill knew Yiski's expression was of anguish.
Gold bit for your thoughts?

Yiski let out a small sigh and didn't respond.
Assuming the Birdmen didn't realize we ran this way, we should head to Whitesea then Albys or we could try for Troydon.

Still no response from Yiski.
You know this planning stuff would be easier if you weren't moping so much.

Nothing still. Zill got angry and quickly approached Yiski and went to grab Yiski by the shoulder. Yiski preempted Zill and Yiski grabbed Zill's reaching arm.
We don't know whether the Birdmen haven't already set up blockades at both Albys or Troydon. Even if those routes to the Guild haven't been used since the Baronies-Guild Conflict, they're still viable.

I'm aware of that.

So what? Rush head long and almost get blasted out of the skies again?

I got a plan. Remember when I said I had friends here? Some owe me some very large favors and I aim to call them in.

Tell me in the morning. We need our sleep.

Tomorrow would be a day for the team to lick their wounds and reassess their approach to Izumi.

--NARRATOR END--

--END OF DAY 2--

RearAdmiralZill:
-Start of Day 3-

-Narrator-

The sun rose quickly over the Skies of Truth Lake. Zill and Yiski were already getting themselves ready for the day ahead. They still needed a solid plan for getting past the Birdmen blockades.

Zill sat down at the desk looking at a map.
You ready to talk now or are you still broken from yesterday?

Yiski just sighed. This time he spoke however.
You dont understand what it was like seeing Roland like that.

Youre right, I dont. But I dont have time to worry about one person. We all need this to happen.

You really do sound heartless sometimes.

Commanding fleets can do that.

Yiski went over to the desk and they discussed awhile. Apparently Zill had an old captain, Nova, who owed him a lot from past endeavors. Her group consisted of three Squids and a Junker. Zill knew they were outgunned but they could fly circles around a blockade.

Zill wiped his face. It was a rough situation.
I can get a transmission to her and get her to recon Whitesea. Then we make for Abyss. We can make it to Starostrog but we'll need fuel there. We can let the kids get it since Im sure there is a wanted poster of us somewhere.

Yiski's face was fairly grim.
Not much choice eh? Its what we've got.

Meanwhile in the other room, Jun'ko and Ny-Lee were getting prepared as well. Ny was still visibly upset due to Roland's state.

Jun'ko gave her a hug.
Don't let it get you down. He needs you to be strong, even if you arent sure you can be.

Ny sighed.
I know. Just seeing him like that tore me apart. I felt helpless.

Its a new day. Maybe he's doing better.

In BdrLine and Roland's room, it was completely silent. They got themselves ready. Roland had stopped shaking but was still visibly shaken by his near-death experience.

PapaP and Shinkurex generally grumbled at eachother for bathroom space. PapaP took forever greasing his gears and Shink was rather impatient with it.

Our group left the Inn and headed to the Port. Zill found William and noticed the repairs on the boats.

They sure aint lookers but i have faith the repairs are good as new. You do good work William.

Anything for an old friend. Id be hauling tar barrels if it werent for your business. *Laughs.*

The two shook hands and the crews got on their boats. Zill hailed Nova and she agreed to assist. As luck would have it, they were already spending their spoils in Whitesea and could report no Birdmen ships. The group was relieved to hear it and set off.

-End Narrator-

Yiski:
--M'Naghten--

*Yiski was sitting at the helm as the team made their way to Whitesea. The trip would only take on hour to meet up with Zill's friends with moonshine and another two hours to reach Albys without to allow the makeshift fleet to stay together.*

*Roland and Ny-lee were working the bottom deck engines and BdrLine was on top. Roland was still silent. While his whole body didn't shake, he couldn't keep his hands steady enough to work the engines properly. Yiski noticed the slight lisp and radios Zill.*
I'm going to cut moonshine off for a bit. I'm going to have a talk with Roland.

*Yiski turns to BdrLine.*
Take the helm.

*Yiski makes his way to the bottom deck engines and sees Ny-Lee working both engines, while Roland sits against the railing.*
You want to talk about it?

...

It doesn't help to keep it all bottled up.

...

You goin' to mope the entire time and let Ny-Lee do all the work?

...

*As much as he loved Roland, Yiski walked over to Roland, picked him up by the collar, then slapped him across the face. The action surprised Ny-Lee. Roland was even more surprised and hurt. Yiski let go and Roland fell back on the deck.*
What... what was that for?

You think you're the only one having a rough time!? We're all tryin' here to end this knowin' what'll happen if we don't and you're sittin' around doing nothing, but feeling scared and sorry for yourself.

*Roland stood up and yelled back.*
I know we are all in this and you are right I am scared. Actually, I am terrified of dying because I am not nearly as strong to do this myself!

Alone? You really think you're the only one sufferin' from this? What about Ny-Lee? Remember how she reacted when you were shot? She nearly killed a man because of you! And me? I about decided to burn down Anvala because of you!

*Yiski grabbed Roland by the collar again and put his face mere inches away from Roland's and spoke softly.*
Plus, you don't have to solely depend on your own strength. This is why we have friends. Luckily for you, you have a girl willin' to kill any number of people in order to stay by your side.

*Yiski let go of Roland and started walking back up to the helm, but stopped and said one more thing.*
Roland, you'll learn everybody's weak and that we all need someone to help us.

*Yiski went back up to the helm.*
You think that got through to him?

We'll see.

RearAdmiralZill:
-Then It Was Fixed-

*Since moonshine wasnt an issue for the Galleon, the crew were pretty relaxed despite past events. Shink and Papa were playing cards on the bottom deck. Jun'ko was just sitting on the bow watching the clouds roll by. Zill kept a hand on the helm, his mind wandering.*

What a mess this is. Its like the Council knew we'd be going into our deaths. I really wouldnt be surprised if that was the case.

*The wind shifted and Zill had to compensate. He took a deep breath and could smell the ocean. Coastal front was moving in. He hails Yiski.*

Be ready for rain when we hit Whitesea.

With these Skies? Youre drinking too much of your moonshine.

Just do it.

*Zill tells his crew to be ready for the coming weather. This could work to their advantage in Abyss.*

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