Community > The Cantina
Burning Skies Saloon
Skyraider:
As Sky turned to pick on the lone Junker, he switches to HE Incendiary ammo, and aims directly at its powder magazine. Once he was at the tip of the dive he carefully aimed his shots and fired. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. The dive was complete and he pulled away from the Junker. At first, nothing happened. Then a fire broke out around where the ammo is stored. Then a deafening explosion rips the Junker into two pieces, which then collapse apart. Sky responds.
"Well that went up! Sadly I am running low on cannon ammo. I ne-"
He was cut short as a flak shot explodes close to the rudders of the plane. The plane begins to spin out of control towards the ground.
"I've been hit, hard!"
"Focus, or this can cost you your life."
Instead of trying to correct the plane, he relaxed and was tossed around his cockpit helplessly, then the plane straightened out. He managed to pull up just in time before hitting a sand dune. He took a deep breath and said.
"I just mowed my lawn, I meant to do that."
Yiski:
--M'Naghten Returns--
Yiski and the other on the ship see Skyraider barely pull up before crashing. Lauren yelled over the radio.
"I don't think we've met yet, but thanks for the assist and takedown."
Lauren then pulled one anchor up and gave the ship a hard port turn. The now buffed engines and wind started spinning the ship around to have the back facing, then port. When Lauren finally dropped the anchor again, the front lumberjack was finally facing front. The downside to her maneuver was it made the ship much more susceptible to the strong winds and would make shots harder to aim.
"Yiski I hope you can still manage shots while in a hellhole!"
Yiski pulled the cover off the lumberjack and jumped in the seat with lesmok rounds preloaded. The remaining two junkers were roughly 1.5 kilometers out. Seeing three of their ships sink without landing a single shot, the remaining two attempted to turn tail and run. The narrow profile of the retreating junkers just made it more difficult to hit now.
Yiski took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Same wind speed, distance 1.5 kilo and gaining, account for arc, account for muzzle velocity, and..."
Yiski rang out the five shots loaded. The first three shots veered and missed completely, but the last two shot hit the closer of the two junkers. With the earlier shots landed by Shink and Paradox, the junker's balloon gave out. The tattered remains got caught in the winds and immediately slammed the junker into the ground.
Before either ship could get a decent marking on the last junker, it had already left the ships' effective engagement ranges.
Now with one danger down, Lauren had to fight against the wind again. The ship was broadside against the wind which started causing the ship to drift, dragging the two anchors. Lauren quickly adjusted the anchors again to position the ship in a state with minimal drifting.
While the rest of the crew were still keeping the engines running, Yiski went up to the helm and called over to Zill.
"So should we avoid sayin' said line?"
"Flak Yiski. What do you think?"
Yiski doesn't react to the sarcastic comment and turns to Lauren.
"Not bad."
Yiski couldn't tell, but the comment made Lauren heart skip a beat.
Skyraider:
*Sky barely manages to regain his lost altitude and flies toward M'Naghten Returns. Glad he didn't become part of the ground he responds.*
"Wait, who exactly are you, and what are you doing with Yisk's boat? Choose your next answer carefully."
*Sky flies around the ship in a circle, waiting for an answer.*
Yiski:
--NARRATOR--
Yiski watches Skyraider circle overhead M'Naghten Returns and head immediately for the helm.
"Sky... before you do anythin' idiotic which could lead to the loss of my ship, let me introduce you to Lauren. Long story short, we were together once and I thought she was dead, but isn't."
"How do I know she isn't forcing you to say that?"
Yiski was pinching the bridge of his nose and said the following calmly.
"By the skies Sky, if you so manage to place a single scratch on my ship, I will somehow get myself in front of your face and strangle you."
Skyraider thought for a moment.
"Alright, I believe you."
"Good. You might want to head back to Parrin and get fixed up. Don't think you'll last much longer in this storm."
A few moments of radio silence before Yiski saw Skyraider break off and head back towards Parrin. As Skyraider was gaining distance...
"Save a spot for me on the cruise ship."
Yiski laguhed.
"Will do."
With Skyraider dealth with Yiski had other concerns. The sandstorm wasn't letting up and the light was fading. If there was one thing all crewmen were taught was this: Never stay in the skies at night during a sandstorm. There were horror stories from crewmen and pilots ranging for all experiences under this topic. An overnight sandstorm keeps the entire crew awake and a tired crew makes mistakes... fatal mistakes.
Yiski and Zill had a choice to make: Risk the storm or fly back to Parrin. While flying back to Parrin would be the most sensible option, the two men did not have the best reputation there, something about wiping out a portion of the town population because it was a haven for raiders.
Yiski calls over to Zill.
"You know we gotta go through right?"
"Flak... I know."
Yiski yells over to the entire crew.
"I need all crews to keep the engines alive! We're forcing our way through! Get the guns covered and brace for sand!"
Zill relayed similar instructions on Then It Was Fixed Again and soon the two ships found themselves in the middle of a raging sandstorm. Even with the additional clothing cover, many crewmen had to duck and cover in whatever shelter could take the brunt of the flesh-rending sandstorm.
Minutes felt like hours as Lauren and Zill flew blind. The engineers on both struggled to keep the engines running. Over the screaming and whistling winds, one could almost hear BdrLine screaming at how much damage the engines were taking.... almost.
Over the course of an hour, the two ships managed to find themselves on the other side of the sandstorm. With some additional luck absent earlier, they found Nalm within sight. Yiski called down to determine whether there were any injuries from flying through. Fortunately, a handful of crewmen had small bleeding cuts and the worst had a open gash on his leg. Zill had similar reports on his end.
Another thirty minutes and the group find themselves finally docked at Nalm. Given their large numbers, they disembarked the ships and held up in a nearby inn. The injured crewmen got treatment and turned in for much needed and well-deserved sleep. Eventually, the others would turn in as well... except for Yiski.
Something was bothering him, but he didn't know what.
"Sure, the sandstorm was one thing, but the engagement seemed too convenient. Skies, I hope I'm overreacting."
Yiski didn't notice Lauren standing next to him while in deep thought. When Lauren tapped his shoulder, Yiski flinched a bit and turned to face her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Silver coin for your thoughts?"
Yiski shrugged. He couldn't tell whether this was another of her attempts. Feeling tired himself, he starts walking away from Lauren.
"Will you ever forgive me?"
"It depends on whether you can forgive yourself."
Yiski headed upstairs leaving Lauren on her own. She turns and looks up to the night sky with a tear in her eye.
I can't.
--NARRATOR END--
--END OF DAY 97--
Yiski:
--START OF DAY 98--
--NARRATOR--
The crew of both M'Naghten Returns and Then It Was Fixed Again didn't get much sleep. Before sunrise, the crews were working on clearing all the sand which accumulated on the ships with the main priority being the engines. By the time the ships were okay to depart, roughly 300 lbs. of sand was removed from M'Naghten Returns and almost 800 lbs. from Then It Was Fixed Again.
Yiski and Zill weren't all too happy. The sandstorm and battle had costed them too much time. Assuming clear skies and smooth sailing, the group would arrive at Yannock by late Thursday. Zill had a solution: lots and lots of moonshine. While Yiski and Lauren didn't mind the plan, they weren't the ones who were going to be keeping the engines functional.
The ships depart and begin moving double time with the moonshine. While the majority of the crews on both ships maintain the engines, Roland and Ny-Lee are exempt from any maintenance because one, they're getting married tomorrow, and two, Yiski would probably throw someone off the ship if they were to assist because they're getting tomorrow.
The engaged couple sit at the front of the ship. Ny-Lee is embracing Roland from the side and has her head resting against this chest and Roland has his right arm draped over her.
"I can't believe we're getting married tomorrow."
"I does seem like everything has moved quickly, but I am glad because I do not think I could wait any longer."
Ny-Lee blushes at the statement. Roland smiles and gives her a kiss on the forehead.
From the helm, Lauren sees the young couple and wonders about her own future romance.
--NARRATOR END--
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