Guns Of Icarus Online
Community => The Cantina => Topic started by: BdrLineAzn on July 11, 2015, 01:43:40 am
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The known world is in shock after hearing the news of what has transpired in both the Guild and Empire capitals. Many believe that the attack on Vystorg was a way for the Yesha Empire to expand and eliminate one of the dominating Factions of the region. While both governments try to cover most of the details and state that it was a rouge coalition of marauders that initiated both attacks, the public is close to the truth that they doubt even themselves. But as the month pass on, a cloud of normalcy has drop over the world and the recent attack fades quickly into history of the battle torn world.
4 Weeks Later, Cathedral
In Cathedral, what damage that transpired from the Spring Festival has been patched up and the city is up and running. Down at the docks, by an old, worn building, a man comes out and pins several job availability papers on a bulletin for those looking for a ship, one of them catches many people's attention.
[font=courier]SEEKING WILLING ADVENTURERS
Captain looking for able-bodied men for an expedition to unknown and exotic lands. Funded by a wealthy benefactor, those who apply will be paid a hefty sum of 10,000 gold crowns. We will be exploring the lands south pass the Guild Borders into the unknown just as the Great Gabriel did to thrust us into the Age of Air. The journey ahead maybe mysterious and hazardous, and the weak need not apply, but those willing will be greatly remembered as those who courageous the wild frontiers. To those who want to apply, meet at the center of the city. Located at the Militia Docks, a medium transport will be docked and waiting. [/font]
“An expedition. To the south? Who ever made this posting must be insane," cries out one of the onlookers.
"But look at the amount of money they are offering," says another.
"Bah, I wouldn't risk my life for that in uncharted skies. I'm out."
As several argue about the pros and cons, some shrugs and walk off thinking nothing of it, while a few are taken by the offer. Whether for the money or the spirit of adventure, these individuals walk off into city looking for what lies ahead.
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A man walks to the post board from the docks. A large, well-balanced axe on his right hip, and an old .45 caliber revolver on his right. Wearing a red shirt over body armor comprising of tungsten plating over kevlar, he wears a thigh length black flak jacket over it all. A light grey armadillo helmet on his head, and a sand devil mask concealing his face. A sheath in the small of his back is angled so he can draw a large fighting knife with his right hand, and there are numerous leather pouches on his belt, along with three empty loops designed to carry grenades. A tactical rifle is slung over his right shoulder, and a large duffel bag over his right. By all accounts, he looks like a professional soldier carrying everything he owns.
Silently looking at the post board, he sees the one to head south. Then he silently jogs off down to the center city militia docks.
After seeing the place, he gets in line to apply. Many are being turned down...........
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City's Center, Militia Docks
"This mission sounds ridiculous!"
As a small line forms out in front of the transport, a heated argument erupts inside the main control room. Standing in the middle of the room is the mission's captain, a freelance pilot, Cathedral's Baronies representative, and a Baron Air Navy Commander.
"But Captain Erwin," pleads Councilman Enger, "You readily agreed on this mission."
"I agreed to the money, but seeing the real picture, sign me out."
Giving a heavy sign and pinching the bridge of his noes, the Councilman turns to his liaison, "You have anything to say to change his mind Commander?"
The Baron Commander leans his weight on the cane that he his currently using as he muse over an answer. Suited in the standard blue of a Baron military officer, he has seen better days as his face has a few scars still healing from a recent battle while his left arm is in a sling, followed with a heavy brace on his right ankle.
"Let him leave," he finally answers.
"Commander?"
"Finally a reasonable military stick. Now since I'm taking my leave, how about some partial payment."
"Oh no, you are not seeing a single crown Captain," says Enger as he turn around a points a finger to him.
"An assistant will be in my office to help you retrieve your payment. Now have a good day Captain Erwin."
With a smirk on his face, Erwin leaves the room with a dumbfounded Councilman and a calm Commander in his wake. Limping towards on of the windows, The Commander watches as he steps of the gangplank and is escorted into one of the buildings. Behind him Enger slams his fist onto the control panels.
"Thank you Commander, you just let our only pilot walk off from the job and with the money. What do we do now? The Council is not willing to send any of our officers as well as the Baron Command. Is this expedition worth it?
"Let him go, not like he is going to be any use on this mission, too cocky and ill-mannered," he says as he turns to face the Councilman and motions him to follow.
"And yes, this mission is important, but we are not ready to commit military resources yet."
"So I'm assuming that this is for some speculation? But we need is a new pilot."
As they arrive on the edge of the gangplank, the Commander look out into the line and sees a man in ready.
"I think I have ourselves a new Captain," he says to Enger as he finish assessing the man.
-
Seeing the now ex-captain leave, the man turns to the two men who appear to have some sort of official capacity.
"I saw an old squid for sale down at the docks. If the council will foot the bill, I'll command the job for 2/3 of the set price."
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(Isaac) a man walks to the to the back of the line behind a man in a red shirt and ridiculous amount of arsenal..... he wore a white and black war room suit with it's tassels swinging along side his arm..a mask (avas demon) was on his face making it difficult to see his eyes... a captains hat with a metallic pin shaped like a raven was on the side of his hat. The man was thin and fit and had black trim proper hair. He talked to the man in front of him "...god almighty this line is long huh?"
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(Isaac) sees he's interrupting... "oh excuse me.. "
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"It won't be necessary, I'll pay for the Squid and load her up in he transport" says the Commander to the man in red, "I didn't catch your name, I'm Commander Frey of the King's Air Navy and you are?"
"Commander are you sure about this? Erwin was carefully selected for this mission," asks Enger.
"He was selected by officers who haven't even seen the helm of a ship. I trust this man."
The trio overs hears one of the newcomers behind the man in red.
"Don't worry, we just are about to finish some business. So, how about it ?" Frey asks to the man in red.
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"My own ship, and 10,000 crowns? Deal. The name is Carn, formerly Gunnery Sergeant Alister Carn, of the Anglean Military First Marauder unit." Carn holds out his hand to shake the Commander's. "I'm not attached to the Republic anymore, if that thought was worrying you."
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A sunburned midget strolling by sees the line and decides to see what's going on. He walks over to Carn.
"Hello there, mister soldier! How serious are things around here?"
That question was soon answered by Carn's stern gaze.
"Pretty serious, evidently..."
-
Carn is just staring at the kid until he realizes he is extremely sunburned.
"Oof, here kid," takes out a small tin labeled, burn cream, "You look like you could use this. And yes, this is the signup for an expedition farther south than the known maps."
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"Thanks. Hey, by the way, what's your name?"
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"Carn, if you are interested I suggest you go to the back of the line," Carn points behind to the roughly half-dozen men in line "And you may want to talk to your parents, if they are still around."
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Frey switches the cane fromhis right hand to his left and shakes Carn's hand.
"That's not a problem, they maybe ruthless, doesn't mean they can be gentleman like. Now if you can tell some of the men here where is the Squid, we can load her in the docking bay of the transport."
"If he is going to be the new captain," Starts Enger, "Once you find time to spare, meet us in my office and we will discuss the details. Don't worry about crew yet, it will be a couple of days until we depart."
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Nodding at Enger, Carn turns to the men. "South docks, pier 34, red balloon and a lot of barbed wire. She's got a gatling up front, banshee on the side, and mine launcher on the rear. Owner is an old man without any kids or grand-kids to give it to. A good tune-up from some reliable engineers and she'll be good to go."
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"Before you go," says Frey to the militiamen, he takes out a pen and cheque book and quick writes down the amount.
He rips off the paper and hands it to one of them, "Give it to the man and say that the money shall be in his account in a few days. Fly the Squid back here and have the engineers look over her."
"Yes sir," came the reply as both men walk off to a parked jeep and drives off to the to the destination.
"Councilman, I think we should head to your office and call in for a slight change in plans."
"As you wish Commander. Well Mr. Carn, like I said earlier, meet us in at Council Hall in my office to discuss the detail. For now you can mingle about and maybe help find other members for your party." he says as both he and Commander departs from the docks.
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"Very well, I'll head over there in a few hours."
Turning to look at the line, he then walks behind a desk grabbing a pen and paper.
"Boys and girls, the line begins here now. You should all know the risks, and the payoff. Sign here, along with contact information so we don't have to go digging in the alleyways for you."
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Council Hall
After several minutes of walking through the streets, the duo enters the massive building and heads inside Enger's office. Sitting upon his desk is a thick stack of papers waiting to be signed. With an audible groan he goes behind, takes his seat, puts on a pair of glasses and grabs the first one on top.
"So I'm assuming that you are going to call the Command back at Lord's Leap?" he says without taking his eyes of the building permit.
"Hmm, more or less," Frey replies back as he limps over to Enger's liquor cabinet.
Raising an eyebrow, Enger lowers the document and eyes the officer as he pours a drink, "Care to elaborate the, 'more or less', statement Commander?"
Taking a sip, Frey turns to the Councilman, "I'll be calling my superior, but only him. The rest of the high command are a bunch of sticklers. Even Gregor has some doubts of the new younger officers of the brass."
Frey shakes his head as he lowers his drink as he reminisce the battle, "We lost good men after that coup and their attack on Anvala"
Nodding in agreement, Enger signs the permit, "I was surprise as well when I heard the news, that regime even sent troops to have me be detained here. Well, I have to put my trust in you then, especially since you are the Captain's most trusted adjutant."
"Thank you Councilman. Now where is the radio room?"
"Down the hall to the right, someone can help direct you." Enger says as he continues with his paperwork.
Nodding, Frey exits the room and calls out to a passing intern to help him to room.
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Carn begins to advertise to the young men and women passing along the street.
"10,000 gold crowns ladies and gentlemen, the opportunity of a lifetime! Travel where no one has gone in since Gabriel! Trek through the unknown, fill in the maps of this world, and get rich doing it!"
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"Oh, so that's what's going on."
Koali steps up to the front of the line.
"Sign me up, Mr. Carn!"
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"I'll need your name, and contact information."
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"The name's Koali. No idea how you can contact me, but I can just stick around."
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"Mmmmm, fine, but you'll need to write down your name here anyways. And you should probably talk to your parents first. I don't need a worried mother on the warpath on our tail."
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"Uh, about that... Not sure I ever had any."
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"Orphan then. Perfect, no annoying family members looking for you." squints at Koali "Hell, I enlisted when I was around your age."
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A tall, wiry man in a white jacket and cream shirt, with a black fedora on his head strides up behind Koali. Short, white hair peeks from below the brim, but he looks young, in his early 20s. With a full complement of tools on his belt, and a huge revolver slung on his hip, he looks like he knows more than a little about his craft- Engineering.
"Sign me up, mister. Gaige Horzine, an engineer. You can find me at the Chipped Gear repair and tinker shop."
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Carn slides the pen and paper over to Gaige.
"I just want a roster of any potential crew, and where to find 'em. This isn't a contract by any means."
He eyes the man up and down.
"We could use a decent engineer."
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"I'm a decent tinkerer. I've flown before, but had trouble reaching the guns. To remedy that, I built a little something that I'll go get if you'll excuse me for a moment."
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"So Erwin backed out didn't he?", says a voice through the receiver.
"Yes, Enger and I were briefing him for the mission ahead. Apparently he doesn't like the thought of an aggressor out there wanting to kill him. Not like it stopped us before," finish Frey with a laugh.
"That's because you always go looking for trouble. I'm surprise you survived the last mission."
"Hey, that was your mission. You made me come along that almost had me killed."
"Ok, ok, I'll take the blame for that. So your new captain, he's up for the job?"
"Yes, ready and willing. I also believe that if they do get into trouble, he can get them out."
"Very well, hopefully we can find them this time. Until then, keep me updated on the details Frey."
"Gotcha. See ya Cap."
Ending he transmission, Frey slow gets up from to be chair he was sitting on in front of the radio and exits the room. Stretching out his limbs that are not broken, Frey looks down the hall towards the general direction of the Councilman's office. Pressing his lips together and thinking of wether or not to head back into the office, he walks of in the other direction towards the main lobby. There he goes over to the receptionist.
"Excuse me, would you send a message to Councilman Enger that I'll be out in he city."
"Oh yes sir," the receptionist says as he looks up, "May I ask where you will be if the Councilman asks?"
"I'll be by the Militia Docks."
Writing down the location, he says to Frey, "I'll inform him right away sir."
"Thank you," He replies with a smile as he limps out of the building.
Feeling the wind passing through his hair, Frey takes the slow walk towards the docks. After around 20 minutes, he arrives seeing the prospect crew members.
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"Ehh, your about 4 feet tall. You should be able to shoot a gatling gun. In any event, with your size, experience, and the fact you've already said you've engineered, that's what you'd be assigned."
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Koali reappears wearing steam-powered stilt boots.
"Yeah, four feet, but these boots help me see through the sights."
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"Eh, as long as they don't weigh the ship down. I'm still putting you down as the repair monkey."
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"Can you scratch out 'monkey' and write in... Uh... You know what? Just leave it as monkey."
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Carn shrugs non-nonchalantly.
"Your short, young, energetic, and can engineer. That sounds like a repair monkey. Also if you want PC, don't talk a a former Anglean Gunnery Sergeant."
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"Nah, I just wanted a funnier title."
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Somewhere In The City:
There was a very long list of things Reagan should be doing at this moment befitting her rank as a captain of the guard. At the moment that list was sitting in a waste basket on the other side of the room as she lay there. She had parted with Captain Henley and co a few days before they left town, left was probably a bit much. It was more accurate to say they went about their actual jobs, their jobs being scavengers and hiring themselves out to people looking to recover lost vessels. Honestly she couldn't blame them, after countless weeks of odd happenings, terrorists, political intrigue, city wide battles, and countless amounts of aerial combat.
Honestly she could sympathize with the man, no one needed that kind of action in such a short space of time. Still this left her with an issue, she was bored. As much as her colleagues would like to say this was not much an issue, it wasn't. She had a penchant for making trouble and leaving her subordinates with the paperwork, that was something she kept forgetting to thank Alex for, the man was a master at avoiding paperwork and somehow dumping it on his subordinates while getting off scot free, the bastard. Still this didn't really help that though she had plenty of things she could be doing, things that she was getting paid to supposedly do, she didn't want to do any of them.
She rose from her couch in the apartment she had bought when she transferred in from Firnfeld a few years back, it was a nice place close to the market so there was certainly plenty to do if she put her mind to it, which she didn't. Instead of putting on casual clothes she threw on her uniform before stepping out into the streets amid the hustle and bustle of the mid afternoon. Perhaps on her way to headquarters she would pick up a thing or two for dinner if she took her shift far into the evening. As walked she passed a couple of patrols and guard kiosks, each in turn passing along their greetings and perhaps a few too many cat calls, still it was nice to see that militia forces had finally began recovering, though it had been a few months they never really got into the stride until they had come back with those new vessels, at which point a number of new recruits began popping up in ridiculous quantities.
She passed by the Wild Winds as she usually did, though as per usual few notes actually caught her eye, in this case one.
SEEKING WILLING ADVENTURERS
Captain looking for able-bodied men for an expedition to unknown and exotic lands. Funded by a wealthy benefactor, those who apply will be paid a hefty sum of 10,000 gold crowns. We will be exploring the lands south pass the Guild Borders into the unknown just as the Great Gabriel did to thrust us into the Age of Air. The journey ahead maybe mysterious and hazardous, and the weak need not apply, but those willing will be greatly remembered as those who courageous the wild frontiers. To those who want to apply, meet at the center of the city. Located at the Militia Docks, a medium transport will be docked and waiting.
"Well, I guess that's something isn't it?" Reagan began thinking about the implications as she made her way through the crowded streets to the Militia's Dockyard in the city.
------------------------
And we're back, Alex and Co are still hanging about Cathedral and possibly may pop up every once and a while, Reagan will be taking the spotlight for the most part though a few characters may be introduced, I have no idea yet.
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Looking up at the sky, and sees that there are no clouds in sight, and the sun is at high noon. Grumbling, Carn shrugs off his duffle bag, leaning it against the table, then carefully sets his tactical rifle next to it. He briefly removes his weapons belt, so he can also shrug off his thigh length black flak jacket, putting his weapons belt and rifle afterwards. Then, finally, he removes his armadillo helmet and sand devil mask. Underneath it all he is pale, as Angleans tend to be, with a shaggy mane of dark red hair and steely grey eyes. His arms are corded muscle, patterned with a variety of burn and knife scars.
"Gah, that's better. Bloody heat, I'm going to miss the glaciers."
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"You'll get used to it," Frey says as limps towards the overheated Anglean, "I don't know how long it snows in the Republic, but adjusting from an extreme climate to extreme climate takes awhile."
In the background he sees the young teen going about the yard on his stilts catching the eyes of several workers. Giving a chuckle, Frey turns to the piece of paper on the table.
"Quite a list going I see. You have any thoughts about those who signed up?"
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"Tell me about it. Anyways, the short kid seems to know what he's doing. Pretty energetic, so I'm thinking a repair monkey. That guy," He says as he points to Gaige, "Seems quite proficient at engineering, I'd put him down as my main. Those are the only one's who didn't put down a, maybe. About half a dozen came by and said they'd be interested, I put their names and info on another sheet."
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"Well we still have several days for preparation. Mind if I ask, what is a Maurader doing all the way out here. Usually those in that division are loyal to the core." as he takes the seat next to him.
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"You look like your a professional soldier, not someone who likes politics. I hate politics, but I had a string of COs who were bureaucrats in military uniform. After a few years when it was time to renew my contract, I just couldn't stay. I couldn't stand being stuck with another hopeful senator, getting himself a credible military career. I was trained to seize airships, jump out of a speeding squid and into combat, and a multitude of other things. I couldn't stand the stagnation, and political atmosphere they were steering me to."
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Militia Dockyard, Cathedral City Center
The Militia's own private dockyard was the usual hive of activity, and then some. Hundreds of civilians of a variety of professions came and went, each trying their luck at being accepted. Of course because everyone's attention was on the far more obvious recruiter booths they missed the far shorter and more reasonable recruiter station inside HQ, which Reagan was observing from outside the armory window.
"Sorry about the wait Captain Morgan, here's your equipment." The young man passed her a rugged looking bolt action rifle, a hold over from her time in Firnfeld. He then passed her a bandoleer of ammunition, a pouch of tools, the now standard issue body armor, and her sidearm... at this point she wondered if she should ask for her sword, it had been a few years since she had stuffed it in the armory an she wasn't exactly the most proficient sword user either, still, not best to leave things to chance.
"Not a problem, now could you also grab it?"
"Give me a second to dig it out."
As he went to go dig through the piles of equipment she became aware of a pair of footsteps approaching her, they were heavy enough for someone of average size, however there was the distinct rattle of repair equipment, that meant someone small, possibly small, a slight bounce to their step, which meant-
"Reagan, ma'am!"
"Miss Lockheart," she sighed, turning to see one Amelia Lockheart, "It's Captain Morgan when on duty."
She raised an eye at that, "I'm a civilian."
Reagan mentally rubbed her temples, Amelia had decided that she would join as a civilian contractor, still her ability had surprised those who done her interview, her repair ability wasn't perfect but Preston certainly knew how teach someone how to fix things, even if half of the repairs made no sense to her, that was to be expected of a Firnfeld engineer.
A silence fell between them, Reagan found her eyes being drawn to the recruiters, the idea had some merit. Amelia followed her gaze, though not entirely sure what she was looking at.
"You know," she started, gathering the young woman's attention," I was thinking of skipping town for a while, the city guard can manage without me, not like I was important anyway, and it sounds interesting."
A knock from behind her heralded the return of the Quarter Master, "Right, one blade fit to cut through any unarmored target, be it bandit, rouge animals, or sand worms." Took the blade gladly and attached it to her belt.
"You know what?" She said addressing the young woman.
"Let me guess, you want me to come along?"
"Why not? I could use a familiar face, and we've fought off an imperialistic rebellion together already." She shrugged, "Or you can stay here."
Amelia stood quietly as she thought it over. Reagan found herself examining her, blond hair tied back in a bun, light skin dusted with freckles and short, she was shorter then herself, who was 5' 10" when standing.
"Alright, I'm in! And I call kicking down any doors we find in a foreign city."
Reagan had a vague idea where that had come from.
"If you become anything like that man I'll have to marry you."
"Hah, wait what?"
"Nothing, now come on!"
She led the the two of them up to the recruiter and filled out the paperwork and left, the two of them making their way to the dockyard amidst their now fellow explorers.
- I couldn't stand the stagnation, and political atmosphere they were steering me to."
Oh? Well that was something she had an opinion on. She turned to the voice.
"Well, in Firnfeld there was a saying among the Militia that any day you weren't sent against pirates was a good day." She shook her head, "Trust me, we had enough fighting against pirates among those icy crags."
She ran a hand through her short auburn hair, cropped just below her ears. "Still, politics? Give me a pirate raid any day."
-
Carn turns and sees the woman, hearing her comment.
"I wasn't militia ma'am. Tended to be the one who raided the pirates, instead of the other way around."
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"Militia or not, Firnfeld was full of Officers who thought the best way to catch the pirates off guard was to raid the raiding pirates. You could probably imagine how that went, Which was quite well for a matter of fact. So you boys here for the advent-"
"Captain Morgan," a young officer tapped her on the shoulder, "The Commander wishes to speak with you."
"Is this about my report? Tomorrow."
"Yes Ma'am."
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"And that's one of the reasons why I'm glad I freelance now. Very little reporting, and annoying superiors. In any event, we always had good intel. 3 squids coming out of nowhere in the dead of night, tends to have an intimidating affect on your average pirate."
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"My Commanding Officer back in Firnfeld was a master at avoiding paperwork, no idea how he did it half the time but he did, and shifted it onto the rest of us." She shook her head, "Still he was good at what he did." She held out a hand "Reagan, and this plucky young lass is Amelia."
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Carn shakes the young officer's hand, and nods to Amelia.
"Alister Carn, formerly Gunnery Sergeant Carn, First Marauder unit, Anglean special forces. I think part of the reason why I got stuck with the bureaucrats, was because my record was good. I suppose hopeful senators think that serving with someone who a record like that, would boost their odds in election. Thing is, that's common practice now. I may miss my homeland, but I will never miss the paperwork."
Carn cracks a smile to show he was joking. In the past, people haven't always been sure of when he is joking, and when he is serious.
"In any event, I'm to be the commanding officer on this expedition."
Carn turns over to Frey.
"Any idea on when those men will get here with my ship? I'm eager to get working on her. Some personal touches need to be applied."
-
"You have some impressive scars, Carn."
Gaige removes his fedora and scarf to reveal his entire face, and the large scars raking across most of it.
"I got most of mine from spalling and ricochets, but a few were from some closer altercations. And yes, I am 'proficient' in engineering. I have a full complement of tools, and can shoot almost anything you care to name. I am also familiar with most ships, being as I was a part of the Guild... They're assholes, but hey, at least I have an education because of them. I'm also prone to experimenting with gadgets and such. I've been working on a blueprint for a heavy machine gun, but it's not gonna be ready for at least another 3 years, and that's if the design even works..."
He begins to mutter about gear meshing and recoil stresses.
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"You lose a fight with a lynx or something? I've been through a few explosions, along with a few you thought they could go toe to toe with me using blades. Still, I don't have any scars on my face, and I tend to win. As long as you can work on a squid, then I'm fine with you coming along."
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"So long as we don't run into mythical sandworms we'll be fine, but in any case I'm a pilot and ground officer, so if you need someone to snatch the helm for a moment I'm your women."
She drew her sword and ran her finger across the flat of the blade, "Or you know, if you need someone to get a bit stab happy, anyway you can probably tell Amelia here is an engineer, surprisingly good, considering the fact that she's only been doing it for a couple of weeks."
"Hey!" She felt a light thump against her shoulder.
"Sorry Amelia."
A roar of engines echoed about as The Flying Cloud the militia's resident rocket powered squid soared over head.
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"Always good to have a backup pilot, and more fighters. And I never turn down good engineers. Decent looking blade there ma'am."
Carn unhooks his axe from his belt, twisting the ball of his thumb on the back spike.
"I prefer a more, whirling, hacking, approach myself."
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"I had an ice pick, lost it in a bar fight, a damn shame really, but not much use here." She shrugged, sheathing the blade on her hip.
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Carn put his axe back through the loop on his belt.
"Anyways, we're not set to ship out yet."
He jerks his thumb over to Frey.
"Bossman says its to be a few days at least. But I get 10,000 crowns and my own squid, so I can be patient."
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"A few days huh? Well can't say I expected to be heading out immediately, so know if any other vessels are joining us? Very specifically if any vessels are flying with us, not vessels who just so happen to be doing exactly what we're doing."
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"No idea, if your offering to pilot your own ship, that's one thing, but I was only hired today when the last guy bailed."
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"More like an expedition such as this merits more than one vessel, I've had enough of flying for a few days anyway. Amelia go look around and see what you can find."
She raised an eyebrow "Do I get to steal one?"
"Only if you're up to it." She waved her off.
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"Make sure it's a fast one. I can't wait around for a spire, not for something like this."
-
Lost in his thought of how true Carn's words hold about politicians snivelling their way through power by joining the ranks, especially those involved with the coup. It changes to the times when he and the 13th were sent out to help the Firnfeld militia during several Anglean raids.
"...Some personal touches need to be applied"
Snapping back to reality, Frey notices that the table became slightly more crowded.
"Apologise," he says as he takes a look at his pocket watch, "But by the looks, your Squid should have been here by now. I'll look into it." as he stands from his seat and goes over to a dock master.
"Ah, afternoon sir." the dock master says as he looks up from hs clipboard.
"Afternoon, I was wondering, I was wondering where are the two militiamen I send to retrieve a Squid? Should be under Frey."
"Hmm, Squid, Squid... Ah yes, here you are Commander. Huh, we just got a call earlier that they bought the ship and is on its way here in the next few minutes."
A low humming noise is heard which grows louder by the second.
"Speaking of which, there she is." The dock master points behind Frey.
Turning around, he sees the Squid dropping its altitude as several dock hands guide it in to an empty berthing next to the transport.
"Thank you."
"No problem Commander." says the dock master as he gives him a nod and heads off in another direction to help inventory several crates.
Satisfied, Frey turns back to the Squid where several engineers are being called for maintenance and walks back to the table.
"Well, Mr. Carn, your new ship awaits you. Got a team ready for your overhaul."
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Carn cracks his knuckles and rubs his hands.
"Excellent, I'll start the stencils for what I'll be doing."
-
Letting the man be, he notices the militia officer and offer his hand in greeting.
"Didn't see you there ma'am. I'm Commander Frey of the Baron Air Navy. Is there anything that you need, usually when the city's militia's officers are near they have some business."
-
Carn goes over and grabs some materials, and begins to make the stencil for the ship's new name. As he works he looks up and comments to Frey.
"She said her name is Reagan, the blonde is Amelia. They signed up."
-
Somewhere further along the dockyard, a variety of vessels bearing Cathedral's crest, a majority of them were lighter vessels though a few were most impressive. At the center of the Dockyard CMS Cathedral's Pride hung proudly in the sky, it's main batteries stood out from the vessel, two medium carronades pointed outward from the the vessels castle, ready to strike down flanking vessels that moved too close, on either side of the vessel duo turreted cannons with their barrels pointed up spoke volumes about the ships destructive potential, indeed they were reminiscent of pre-war warships that traveled the oceans, and in the case of more wealthy nations still did. Amelia could only imagine what other weapons it was carrying, but she was getting distracted, she had something to do, and by do, inquire about vessels that might be joining them.
Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a young dock hand pointing a duo of heavily armed to a vessel somewhere nearby. In his hand a clipboard thick with paper was held against his side.
Jack pot she thought.
"Excuse me!" She said, getting the attention of the dock worker.
"Uh, yes? Did you need something?" For Colin this was odd, his friends often called him a strong and that women would appreciate it, but never before had one called to him like this.
She was all smiles as she made her way over, he noticed she was covered in equipment. Maybe she works here? he ignored the thought as she got closer.
"Is that the Expeditionary Registry?"
What? "What?" Figures the pretty ones... "Er, yes, are you looking for your ship?"
"No, I'm looking into other vessels, now if you would please hand it over."
What? "What?"
"I'll need to look through it myself you see, Father always said you shouldn't have to rely on others for this sort of thing, now hand it over."
Oh boy...
Elsewhere
"Captain Morgan of Cathedral's Militia, or the guard as some have taken to calling it, formerly of Firnfeld's naval service. And yes I'm here on buisness I was just meeting my future colleagues. I've been in the need of a change of scenery for a while an I suppose an expedition such as this will help take my mind off things."
She held out a hand, "A pleasure Commander Frey."
-
Carn was about to get back to his task, then he sees the blond girl, Amelia, beginning what appears to be a scene oh hilarious proportions.
"I don't know about your sense of responsibility Reagan, but that girl you were with seems like shes about to start something. Anybody got snacks?"
-
"Well Captain Morgan, I'm surprise that you are joining, but nethertheless welcome aboard." Frey says as he shakes her hand.
Out in the distance, a familiar voice is heard over chatter and work of the docks.
"Commander! Where have you been for the past two hours!" yells out Councilman Enger as he strides down the road.
"Ahh Enger, good to join us. Didn't the receptionist at the front desk told you where I was."
"He did, but I was at several meetings with Councilman Xin before I seen the message at my desk." Enger says as he reaches the group.
"Well since you are here, want to brief our expedition leader, and maybe the Captain here as well since she volunteered."
"Who," starts Enger as he turns, "Captian Morgan? I thought you were on duty for the next month?"
-
Carn carefully puts down his stencil, a capital K in a bold font is all there is so far, then stands up, dusting off his pants.
"A briefing would be nice. I tend to prefer as much relevant intel as possible before I set out."
-
"Well, considering the last few months I think I'm due for a bit of leave, besides I do believe that having someone along to represent Cathedral's interests in the matter might be important don't you think?" She smiled politely, both of them quite aware that she was bull shitting oh so very hard on the matter at hand.
"Ow!" Behind them the tell tale sound of someone hitting the ground reached their ears. Amelia was standing over the young man, clipboard in hand as she skimmed through it.
"Anything?" Amelia looked up at her before shaking her head.
"Nope, nothing's set in stone, maybe in a few days." She tossed the the clipboard onto the ground, the young man's face grew worried at the thought of having to deal with her again.
-
Once he'd gone and grabbed some snacks, Koali jogged back to Carn, his steam boots propelling him forward with a hiss of steam and a light boing signaling each step. When he arrived, he extended the stilts to bring him eye-to-eye with Carn.
"Hey, Carn, I got the food you asked for! ...Oh. I guess I missed the show."
-
"No, I was leaning over a Goldfish engine when it blew, trying to fix it. The thing was totaled, and so was my face."
-
"Ahhhhhh, yeah that would do it. Sorry Koali, looks like the show was less impressive than I thought. Your girl not know how to ask politely or something?"
-
"That was quite a sight," chuckles the Commander.
"Yes, a sight" Enger muse as he rolls his eyes, " But if we going to do the briefing, might as well do it inside the transport. The documents should still be inside from earlier this morning. Captain you can come too, as somehow I can't think of anything to rebuttal that argument."
Walking up the gangplank, he waves for the others to follow.
"Well, can't keep the man waiting. I'll meet the both of you inside." Frey says as he follows.
-
"Might another ship be needed? I have a Mobula and Goldfish, in good shape. I can lend them to the expedition if I get an increased cut..."
-
Carn comments to Gaige as he passes him while following Frey.
"We need enough people to crew the ships you know. A half dozen ships with skeleton crews won't cut it."
After that he follows Frey into the transport, unconsciously standing At Ease, while he waits for the commander to get the documents.
-
"Of course. Two people on every ship isn't going to cut it. I have a friend who might be interested, it just sorta depends on what ship he gets to crew on..."
-
"And once again we begin the crew hunting activities..." Reagan took a flask from her uniform coat and took a hearty swig.
-
Carn catches a whiff of Reagan's drink.
"Whiskey?"
-
"Yup, it was either that or tea, I should have gone with the tea..." She shrugged. "Swig?"
-
Carn takes the proffered flask, and takes a swig.
"Hmm not bad, prefer rum myself, but whiskey is good too."
He passes it back over.
-
"Ah hem," coughs the Councilman as he eyes the two, "Commander do you have the documents?" he says over his shoulder.
"Got them right here." answers Frey as he lay the folders in front of Carn and Reagan to read through.
"Nothing too fancy about this mission; go in, survey the surroundings, and report back so that we can expand our maps. At the moment the number of airships going is still being decided, but this transport here will be the main command center. It will have all the supplies you need and acts as a ship tender if you need repairs in the field. If you need to transverse on land, we also have two vehicles with caterpillar tracks in the hold as well."
"Any questions?" Frey ends.
-
"Just one. What scared the last guy off? I agreed to this, and I always keep my word. But the Baronies wouldn't hire random mercenaries out of Cathedral, to expand their maps, far from their borders. There's a catch here, and I dislike flying blind."
-
Enger fidgets behind the Commander as he looks between him and Carn. Frey leans on his cane as he looks into Carn's eyes quizzically.
"Mr. Carn, how well do you follow the news, not just the big events like what happened in Chang-ning and Vystorg, but the small obscure ones."
-
"I WAS special forces. It pays to know where the next war is coming from. I try to keep my ear to the ground."
-
That was something interesting, something scared off the last pilot?
"This is no ordinary expedition is it?" The whisper so small that no one even heard her.
She had to think, what could have caused the baronies to hire out of Cathedral, if they had wanted to send an expedition they could have just picked out volunteers from their own ranks, why hire when it would be much more efficient to send someone under your command?
"-what happened in Chang-ning and Vystorg, but the small obscure ones."
What could have driven to Cathedral? Something they had in common, which was hard enough, though plenty of trade flowed through, no doubt plenty of trade came in from the fjords.
"-I try to keep my ear to the ground."
There was an idea of course, it was a stretch but it was all she had.
"Enger does this have anything to do with the Galleon during the Rocket races?"
-
"To be fair, last two months I've been out of the loop. Only received big news half a week ago, when I got done my last job. Chaladonian scientist wanted to observe the flora and fauna in the Anglean heartland, and he wanted some security. He refused to go to any town for the entire trip, something about not wanting to scare them with unusual smells."
-
Sighing Enger says, "Yes, the Commander can explain more."
Looking at the two of the Frey starts, "First report started in Anvala over an annum ago, not much a small two ship team went out and destroyed a Galleon and it's fleet somewhere out in the Dunes. Few months later still in Anvala, a failed kidnapping took place which leads to a chase ending in a battle in Yesha whose details are still not fully know by the Imperial public. Even after that, a raid in which the guards and defenders reported of fighting humans with avian features."
"Skip ahead to two months ago when this city was attacked during the Spring Festival, which Captain I assume you were there when the militia found the wreckage of the attacker. Few days ahead, a hidden falsity found by Yeshan scouts which several people are dead. All leading to the last report a month ago where a Galleon has escapeded capture by Baron and Firnfeld ships."
"Do you know what they all have in common?" he ends.
-
Carn's face, already pale due to his northern homeland, becomes as white as paper.
"I have an old friend in Anvala. He radioed me about that attack. I could barely understand him, he was hysterical. But he said something about giant mutant bird people.............."
-
She shook her head, "I was in the air when it happened, not everyone was strictly on duty at the time. The only thing I can of is this groups fascination with birds, the wreckage recovered had the bird emblem on it. So I'm assuming we're hunting down Birdmen?
-
Pulling out a parchment from his blazer pocket, it's the same symbol that he have seen when Melin took him to Izumi for a special mission.
"Yes, and you are correct calling them that. This expidition is one of several being conducted between the Baronies and Empire to find and flush them out for good. Since out location to the far north, we are able to send out own men, while the Empire can hire mercenaries to send to the west while they rebuild. Only reason we are here is that the Guild's government still have some animosity against our government and having Baron military ships fly through may send the wrong message."
-
Carn slowly, and audibly, cracks his knuckles.
"So. They're back? And your paying me, 10,000 crowns, and giving me my own ship, to hunt down these monsters? The same one's who inflicted a highly painful, yet slow killing wound, on my best friend?"
-
Reagan gave a small laugh.
"My old CO would look at you and slap you before accepting, I'm not him of course." She laughed again, "So, hunting down maniacal madmen with the ability to build hidden fortresses, fleets of airships in secret, and somehow create bird people?" She took a long swig from her flask. "Count me in, think we could take the Pride with us?" She took in Enger's face at the suggestion, "I jest of course, but it sounds like there are more assets dedicated to mission then it seems, what else do we have at our disposal?"
-
"We don't know if they are back, the last sighting of them was back in Firnfeld a month ago," replies Frey as he clenches his fist that's in the sling, "but since there hasn't been any incidents, the Baron and Yeshan military assume they went into hiding outside the know borders."
Calming himself he continues, "But this is strictly classified, no one else should know of this. Go about it as an actually surveying/mapping mission. As for assets and resources, until we have a solid lead on their location, this team is going with what it got. The two vehicles are actually a new Yeshan tank and half track, the transport has several weapons mounts in case of a raid and four planes from Anvala stored on the belly. This is it unless you can find a specialise team, bloody or even a Jericho class airship."
-
"What about explosive materials? You get me the raw chemicals, and I can do the rest. One of my specialties is the creation and application of high explosives. That and hand to hand."
-
"We can make space in the transport, so far we only loaded the essentials; food, water, ammunition for the various weapons."
-
You can almost see the explosions reflected in Carn's eye, as he envisions the dose of payback for his friend.
"Good to hear. About these mutants, any intel on the would be particularly useful. Strengths and weaknesses in particular."
-
"So far only two," starts Frey as he walks over to a cabinet, unlocks a drawer, and pulls out another document, "This is all the information that we have on the organisation, their tactics, and mutations. So far we know their heavy mutants have a reaction to copper. One round won't kill these things, so multiple shots are needed. Unless you can shoot them in the eyes, that's a soft spot."
-
"Copper? Don't heatsink rounds use a fair amount of those?"
-
"Doesn't matter if it's heatsink, if need be we'll make our own copper rounds. We'll need to know what we're looking for out there. we can't simply go out there blind." She took the mutant file and began examining it.
"Still this is big, do we have any actual soldiers coming along, or is this all on us?"
-
"I'm afraid that this is for this group, we are stretched in the north and Yesha is still recovering. Like I said, go about this as a surveying mission, we don't know how strong they are or their current whereabouts. Also, during this time try recruiting people you'll think can fight these things if you are concerned."
Looking at his watch, Enger taps Frey's shoulder.
"Commander, Xin wants us in a meeting with him in the next half hour. He wants to know how our team here is doing."
"Very well Councilman," Frey answers, to Reagan and Carn as he points to the papers, "I'll leave these here. You two get acquainted with each other, both of you will have command of this."
Following the Councilman, Frey exits the transport and back onto the street. From the table, the line has gotten longer and the stack of paper taller.
-
Carn eyes a blurry photograph of one of the mutants, then another, this a clear photo of a dead one.
"Muscular structure is different from human. It does look like they have some variation of an Achilles tendon, so if that can be severed then they should be downed."
-
"If they're based off human, which I believe thy are there should be a lot of similarities, even if they're far different to what we're used to." She flipped a page, "How susceptible to fire are they?"
-
"Unsure, it looks like they have thickened skin. That's going to be annoying."
-
"Hmm, what about their senses? How good are they? If their eyes a weak point perhaps we can use some form of area of effect weapon, grenades perhaps. They look brutish so we'll have to careful if we engage them in close quarters."
-
"Thickened skin? Well, if any of us'd care to get up close and personal, we could make good use of blunt force trauma. Carn, you could probably use your head, but the rest of us... Given the materials, I'm sure Gaige and I could come up with some kind of hammer."
After pacing around and rambling for a while, Koali looked up.
"That is, unless that thickened skin is flabby, in which case it'll weaken the blow, necessitating some sort of cutting weapon... Oh, crap, I hope they didn't notice that I was eavesdropping..."
-
"That would be my area of expertise."
Carn taps the aforementioned Achilles tendon.
"Roll behind 'em, two swings one for each tendon. Roll out of the way, then put it straight between their eyes."
He begins to scratch his head.
"A more immediate problem has occurred to me though."
-
"We have a single axe and sword between us, maybe a piercing weapon, a spear perhaps if need be. Wait when did you get here, actually never mind."
Amelia was also sitting in the corner noticed, "A friend of mine once had a saw sword, or as he called it a 'Chain Sword.' Looked kind of menacing."
Reagan raised an eye, "That... sounds interesting."
-
Carn, hears the whispering kid behind him. He quickly turns around and promptly puts him in a headlock.
"Great."
He sees Amelia.
"Now I have to use two doses."
-
"Gah! I *cough* was just... Yeah, I was eavesdropping! But if you guys are gonna fight mutants, you're gonna need gear!"
-
As Koali is quite small, Carn can keep the headlock with only one arm. Using the other, he removes a small capsule from his belt.
"You weren't supposed to hear that kid."
He glares over at Amelia.
"And neither were you, for that matter."
Carn begins to try and get the pill in Koali's mouth.
"Aw relax. It'll just wipe the last hour or so of memory."
-
Reagan pulled out her flask again, "Whiskey for your thoughts Al? Amelia what do you think of this current situation?"
"Other than it's completely mad?" The younger woman laughed, a light chime to it, "Mutants, secret societies? I hadn't believed that the Yeshan Empire would try to take over the guild but they did, but if this is real it'll definitely be a story to tell the girls back home!"
"Good, now" she motioned to the sword on her hip, "You mentioned a weapon unparalleled destruction?"
-
"You really have no issue with the fact we have two eavesdroppers, do you? Aside from the fact, that the orders are that nobody else knows. You may have cushy job with steady pay in the guard, but I work by contract jobs."
-
"I've heard of chainswords- Incredibly expensive, a little bulky, and louder than a pissed off Captain, but they'll shear through Galleon armor within 30 seconds. Useful for boarding actions and getting through heavy armored troops. I believe I have blueprints somewhere, I've just never had the need to use them. Materials are expensive..."
-
Carn just drops Koali, then goes over to pound his head into the metal side of the ship.
"HOW ARE PEOPLE GETTING IN HERE?!"
-
She shrugged, "Might as well," she looked at Frey and Enger, "it was bound to get out anyway, might as well have us all in on it if we're all signing up anyways. Besides the kid here is offering to build equipment and Amelia here knows the values of secrecy."
-
"I was raised in the Guild, damnit. I kept secrets for breakfast."
-
Carn just goes over and slumps in the over stuffed chair in the corner, his BS meter obviously going into overdrive. He begins to mutter to himself about nobody respecting orders, and being unprofessional. A thought strikes him.
"I almost forgot. There's a fairly pressing concern, as far as crew goes. Does anybody have medical training?"
-
"Very basic. I can patch up relatively minor cuts and such, extract a bullet, etcetera, but nothing big."
-
"That's pretty much what I know. Combat and field medicine. Not so much designed to actually result in a quick recovery, as much as get you mobile and back in the fight as soon as possible."
-
"So two people with basic combat first aid... We need a legitimate doc."
-
"Agreed. We've got no idea if there are unknown diseases in the south. Someone who could treat those, would be appreciated. Or at least have a good idea of what to do."
-
"I have no idea where to start looking for a doctor willing to abandon his practice to adventure deep into the unexplored south." Reagan shook her flask, noticing it was mostly empty. She took one last swig before stuffing it back into her coat.
-
"Hmmm."
Carn is annoyed the whiskey is gone.
"In any event, we'll need medical supplies. Bandages, burn cream, adrenaline, morphine. And If I catch anybody dipping into that stuff, you'll soon find a reason to actually need it. We don't have room to accommodate any junkies on this trip.
-
"Psh, really, morphine'd make it a heck of a lot harder to aim, and external adrenaline just leads to recklessness. You'll have no trouble from me in that regard."
Koali spat out the pill.
"And by the way, that thing should be sugarcoated, because by itself it tastes nasty. No way I'm swallowing that."
-
As Frey and Enger exits the room and transports, the Councilman is completely unaware of several people sneaking inside the brief, too much in thought of his busy schedule. The Commander though gives off a hidden smirk as he did notices them enter. Knowing that something this big was bound to have some eavesdroppers, Frey close the door to the command room of the transport.
On the way to the councilhall, he then request two men to be stationed by the door in the transport so no further information can be leaked.
"What was that about?" Questions Enger about the order.
"Just for safe measure," he states, " The less people knowing about this, the less they will know when we are coming."
Nodding, Enger accepts the answer as they enter the hall and head off towards the Yeashan department.
-
Standing up, Carn gets a professional look in his eyes.
"1, nobody here, says ANYTHING about this to anybody else. 2, I need a definite crew for my squid. And so far, there are only 5 of us in total. And I'm the only one whose ship is aboard for now. Whose comfortable with what?"
-
"Like I said, I was raised in the Guild. I grew up on secrets. And yeah, I'll crew on your damned Squid. Tricky as hell."
-
"That's one, First Engineer Gaige. Anyone who crews on it, needs to know how to shoot a mine launcher."
-
"Oh, fuck."
Gaige opens his jacket and reaches inside, rummaging around inside for something, before pulling out a tattered, beat up handbook.
It reads 'An Engineer's Guide to Controlling Mines.'
-
Carn groans audibly.
"We can practice with duds before we leave, for anyone who needs it."
-
"Wouldn't we need a Gunner to make full use of mines?"
-
"Indeed we do, and that's one of my worries. Usually I would gun, but then we'd have no pilot."
-
Reagan, professional or not did not appreciate the burning fire in his eyes as he got serious, still he had valid points.
"I can fly alright, but it is your ship."
-
Carn recognizes that he may be being unfairly harsh, and tones it down a notch.
"My apologies, old habits die hard. I was a Gunnery Sergeant, used to having to be a hardass 24/7. I may need a reminder now and again. But its always good to have a backup pilot. For longer trips we can rotate."
-
"Man, you have ANY idea how rare it is to find mines as the primary means of combat on any ship? I just haven't had much practice."
-
"They aren't the primary. The mine launcher is the rear gun. Used to deter pursuers, along with hit and run tactics. The front and side guns are a gat and a banshee, no brain guns. And don't worry, like I said, we can practice with duds beforehand."
-
"I'll have to mention this one time my old CO flew on a squid, engines were damaged in such a way that it could only fly backwards. Needless to say it was loaded up on mine at all stations, didn't help they were the vessel that feasibly halt a group of pirate raiders."
She shrugged, she remembered reading the report for it. Though Alex's recollection of the events was far more interesting.
-
"I fully know the risks of mines, which is why I'm also also gun racks installed all over the thing. If all else fails, we can try and pick off their crews."
-
Walking over to the door, Carn calls back over his shoulder to the rest of them.
"In any event, we have some time before we leave. Go get your gear packed, this sounds like a long trip."
Going through the door, Carn sees the two men that were posted outside.
"Oh, hello gentlemen, just need to stow some things."
-
Gaige shakes his head to clear it and immediately leaves the area at a brisk walk, heading back to his tinker shop.
-
As the other two left Reagan and Amelia were left with the small child-like man inside the briefing room. Reagan reclined in a chair as she thought everything over.
"We've really done it this time, haven't we?"
Amelia looked at her funny, "Is this normal?"
"You mean thrust into an unexpected battle of life and death?" She smirked, "Always seems that way, Firnfeld wasn't much different in that regard, if far more predictable. Still-" She stood and stretched her arms, "no time like the present, lets go pack out equipment."
-
"Well, if the meeting's over..."
Koali hopped up to his feet and jogged off to find Gaige.
-
Carn goes out to the registry area, and collects his duffel bag and coat, which he then stows in the transport, along with the partially finished stencil. The guard curious as to why the commander only stored one average sized, and rather beat up, duffel bag.
"That all sir?"
"For now, I prefer to travel light, and pick up whatever else I need when I'm in town. I'll be down in the Market if Commander Frey or the Councilman need me."
"Very well sir."
Carn nods, then walks down to the market. Specifically, looking for cheap, but reliable weapons, for his crewmembers who do not have any, beyond a pipe-wrench.
-
Gaige rushes back, spotting Carn and heading towards him.
"Hey! I needed to know whether or not I should start working on the chainswords, or what... Oh, are you going weapon shopping?"
-
Koali skidded to a stop in front of Gaige and Carn.
"Weapons?"
-
Carn looks up and over at Gaige.
"Koali and Amelia do not appear to have any weapons. I'm trying to find at least one thing for them."
Carn picks up a large knife, a bit worn, but still quite usable. He hands the vendor the appropriate amount of silver.
"This should do for the kid. Small, decent heft, and well balanced. It should last him awhile, provided he takes care for it."
Carn looks Shaded dead in the eyes.
"I'll not send someone into a fight like this, completely unarmed."
Carn hands the dagger, in it's sheath to Koali.
"I'll show you some moves later, for now put it on your belt."
-
"Niiice. Where do I put it, front, back, or side? Also, do you mind if I make some modifications later?"
-
"Where you put it, is all personal preference. And what kind of modifications? All it could use is a new handle, but even that's not critical."
-
"I'm talking bells and whistles. But for now, I'll just put it here."
Koali fastened the sheath to the back of his belt.
-
"Hm. A weapon for Amelia? Maybe a saber, some kind of light sword."
-
"Maybe a carbine. She doesn't look like a heavy weapons person."
-
"Hm... Well, if we're going the firearm route a carbine might be a good idea. I'd suggest a revolver, like mine, but as you can see..."
Pulling it out, one can see that the grip is decieving, as the actual weapon is very large.
"Chambered in .45-70 Government ammunition, Colt Single Action Army... Or a Peacemaker."
With a shiny metallic finish, and "Judgement" embossed along the 8" barrel, this is obviously a weapon meant for experienced sharpshooters with the need to take down large targets over long distances.
"Of course, I have a more conventional revolver, another Colt SAA, in .45 ACP, but this is my usual for ship to ship shootouts."
-
Carn pulls out his revolver, Colt, is emblazoned on the side.
"Haven't met anyone else who had one of these. Intact pre-war weapons are a pain to find."
-
"Ooh, nice! As for me, I could probably do with a derringer, or some other small gun. I'm not very good at making guns yet, so I'll have to go with store-bought for now."
-
"A derringer carries 1-3 bullets max. I'd think a short-barreled shotgun would be better."
-
"Break action, right? Short double-barreled shotguns are good because they aren't picky about what you stick inside. I bet I could fire flares from it, too."
-
"Modified salvos are a whole 'nother thing. But it is feasible."
-
"Just gotta get the powder mix right, then you can shoot with full confidence that you won't blow your face off."
-
"Shotgun shells can be loaded with a ton of ammunition. Powder load stays the same, the crap you shove into the space for the shot can be almost anything."
Gaige turns to Carn.
"Let's swap weapons, I look at yours, you look at mine. We can compare notes."
-
Carn holds it out to him.
"I hope I don't have to tell what'll happen if you somehow break it. It holds sentimental value, along with an enormous amount of killing power."
As he hands it over the word, Executioner, can be seen, engraved onto the barrel.
-
"And I hope you know the same applies to you."
Examining the gun, Gaige notes the barrel and calibre are the same length, and the gun is of a similar quality. The engraving intrigues him.
"Y'know, I'd almost think... Where did you find this?"
-
"As a Marauder, I was frequently sent out to deal with pirates. I took that pistol off of their captain. Funny thing, it's designed to be shot from the left, and that's how I shoot."
-
"Sooo... One of you is out for the fight, the other takes both and dual wields for badassery?"
-
Council Hall
"So preparations going as scheduled?" asks the Yeshan Councilman, Xin.
Inside his office, Enger and Frey sits across from him as a map of the world is laid over his desk. On the north and west ends several blocks are placed on the existing borders, another stack is centred on Cathedral.
"Yes, we have two who are going to be in charge of operations; a Mr. Carn and Captain Morgan." answers Frey.
"Captain Morgan you say," a hint of surprise in Xin's voice. Turning to Enger, "I thought we are not sending any of Cathedral's personnel?"
"She found a way around it," Enger says dead panned, "Like she always do. The Captain believes if she accompany the search it would be for the benefit of the city."
"Very well, so do we have any other pilots joining?"
"There are several people in line today that has potential. I'll give the both of you a full roster of who is going. The fleet size will mainly be four escort ships and the transport, so crew size will vary." Frey says.
"That's good," Xin says as he leans over the table, "At the moment the group in the north are about to depart while the west are getting their own brief."
"I still can't believe the size of this operation, especially since we have access to pass through the Guild. Speaking of which, how did you manage that?" asks Enger.
"Because I approved it." says a feminine voice behind Enger and Frey.
Turning around, they notice that the door is open and walks in a female adorned in the light, and fashionable clothing of the Guild. Closing the door behind her, she pulls a chair from a reading table and sets it next to Frey.
"Nice for you to finally join us Councilwoman Alishia." says Xin to her.
"What?" is all what Enger manages to say.
"Don't look foolish Enger, you think something enormous like this going through the Guild will not bring some suspicion to our patrols when we question them."
"That is true, I forgot about that factor." says Frey as he rubs his chin with his finger, "but know that this is a Baron operation, why approve it?"
"Just say, a Yeshan official managed to convince Fyodor and several others to comply to certain agreements a month ago. One of which was blackmail."
A smirk grows on Frey as he knows of the blackmail she was talking about when he was asked to help research a certain marking over a year ago. Seeing the smirk, Alishia rolls her eyes.
"Just be thankful for this favor." she points at them.
"And we thank you," injects Xin as he eyes the three of them, "if there is nothing else. Commander you are free to go while the three of us continue with our discussions."
Nodding, Frey quietly stands with the use of his cane and walks on out. Closing the door behind him, he walks out of the building onto the streets and back to the docks.
-
"In any event, I need to go run some errands."
Carn hands Shaded back his pistol, then holsters Executioner.
"My only recommendation for now, is to arm yourselves. Talk to our employers if you need a slight advance in pay for equipment. They may even just buy it for you, I dunno. See ya guys."
Carn walks off, heading towards the seedy area of town. In particular, for a dingy, subterranean saloon, a frequent place for mercenaries. As Cathedral is a trade hub, with connections to every faction, mercenaries flock here in droves. This particular saloon, in turn, acts as a hub for the mercenaries in Cathedral, and has a radio room.
He begins tothink out loud to himself, as he walks down the maze of alleys and unused sewer pipes,
"Time to check in on the network. Maybe someone I know is in town, or can soon be in town. Be good to have more crew."
Stopping at a door, only differentiated by the others by the light spilling from underneath, he enters. The Bartender looking up, and recognizing him.
"Alister, been awhile. How was that last job of your?"
"Nearly froze my rear off, and that's saying something for me. Anyone I know in town?"
The Bartender pauses for a moment, thinking.
"Two, I believe. Jasper, that creepy Chaladonian doctor....."
"And? Who else?"
"Her."
"Her?"
"Me."
Turning around and sees the new voice. Standing before him is a slim, red haired woman, in the loose practical garb of the Guild. And like just about every patron who has ever been in this saloon, appears to be a walking armory.
"Alison, its been awhile."
-
"Yo, Gaige! Can I use your workshop?"
-
Militia Docks
Walking up to the transport, Frey checks his pocket watch and sees that it is already two in the afternoon. The docks has quiet down a bit as majority of the workers are off to lunch. Looking over to the table the line has disperse only to be left with a single recruiter with a clipboard of papers.
"Afternoon sir." he says with a quick salute.
Frey smartly salutes back and says, "Afternoon, is that for the list for today?"
"Yes, well from this morning. Everyone left for lunch so things are slow at the moment, going to start back up in the next hour."
"Good, just send that to my desk, I'll look over it tonight. You can go out and eat."
"Roger that."
A quick exchange of salutes, the worker stuff the papers into his bag and heads towards the Center. Seeing the current state of the docks, Frey decides to give himself his own personal break and walks off towards the southern end of the city.
-
"Yeah, sure. I wanted to get started on that sword anyway. Follow me, it's not far."
Gesturing for Koali to follow, he sets off at a brisk pace towards his shop.
-
Carn and Alison stare at each other, with the kind of tension only made between exes who have unresolved issues.
"So, what's the big bad Marauder doing down here?"
"I have a new contract, and was looking to see if there was anyone around I could use."
"Oh?"
Alison walks up to him, in an oddly aggressive, yet subtle way. Like a leopard, preparing to leap.
"And just what kind of contract is this?"
"One where I could use Jasper more than you."
Alison makes a face.
"Jasper? What do you want with that guy? Planning a few alterations?"
"Hardly, I could use someone who has medical knowledge. And, I can control him."
"Please, nobody controls Jasper. You'll wake up one day with your stomach opened up, and Jasper's hands rummaging around in there. He only bides his time, and you know it. Anyways, he's in town alright, but in prison. They convicted him of aiding a strange group called the Birdmen. Apparently they liked mutants, and we both know how Jasper gets with that kind of thing."
Carn's face, briefly hardens into a grim expression, then is wiped clean. But not before Alison sees it.
"Oh, do these birdies have something to do with your job? Well your in luck Alister, I'm a licensed combat surgeon now."
"Oh, and when did this happen?"
"Please, its been what, four years since we last saw each other? The point is, I can properly sow your spleen back in you after it falls out, and it sounds like nobody else in your group can. That, along with my other skills, would make me seem like a qualified candidate for your contract, now doesn't it?"
The internal war in Carn's mind is settled. The need for someone of Alison's skillset, outweighs their personal history.
"Fine. Follow me."
Carn walks out, Alison following about five feet behind, with a cat-like smirk on her face.
-
"Right. So I'm thinking of a weapon I read about in some old story about a bunch of people who went around hunting monsters. It's an axe... That turns into a sword! There's one that starts out as some kind of hammer, too, which should be perfect!"
-
"A switch axe is wayyyyyyyyy too big for you to use. Why not go with that dagger? I have a design in mind..."
Corvo Attano's blade, from Dishonored
-
Carn takes the confounding route, through the sewers, then alleys, back to the docks. Alison following, listening to Alister explain the job.
"And this is the transport."
"So, that's explains your mood. I could tell you were out for blood, didn't know why though."
"Your point?"
"You can be more unpredictable when your like this. I can never tell when you'll do something amazingly stupid."
"Gee, thanks. Are you in, or not?"
"It's 10,000 crowns, of course I'm in."
"Then we have our medical officer."
"And infiltrator."
-
"Naw, I've got plans for this knife, and the switch axe would be small enough for me to wield. You don't actually need much weight to cause extreme blunt force trauma!"
(Note: this is actually true. Someone who owned a historically accurate war hammer decided to hit a beer cooler with it. The metal exterior was dented, and the plastic inside was shattered.)
-
Militia Headquarters; Cathedral
"We need to get you a set of survival gear, best to come prepared, even if we don't need it." Reagan lead Amelia through the hallways as they talked.
"And we're here because?" If they were looking for equipment shouldn't they be at the market or something?
"Because even though we can buy everything we need, why buy when we can grab things from storage?"
Reagan opened a door and the two of them stepped out into the storage yard, a number of warehouses in use by the militia stood in rows within the fenced in compound. Trucks entered and exited at will, carrying boxes and personnel. A board stood close by, listing the different warehouses and what was stored in them, similar boards stood at the gates.
"We need warehouse 2, and here it is." She patted the wall that was a few feet from the board. "Lets go."
She opened the door and walked in, Amelia followed soon after and, while not gaping like an idiot, was surprised at the rather high quality of the equipment stored here. Shelves holding numerous boxes and racks of equipment dominated the warehouse floor, a few office workers could be seen taking stock of items and a number of guardsmen were signing out various pieces of equipment. Reagan of course knew exactly what she was looking for, passing her a few odds an ends as they walked passed. The first thing had been a hood sown into a hat with an accompanying face mask, they replaced the worn repair equipment she had with her and also grabbed a satchel and tool belt. They signed all of that out and walked to the armory where they gave her a side arm, a rather light revolver with nominal stopping power.
"It will keep you safe, should get you a real weapon though, still lets go stow our equipment in the transport, probably a locker we can claim for our selves."
The two of them made their way back to the docks where the transport was tethered, they were greeted by the backs of a rapidly familiar man and a walking armory.
-
Carn and Alison are currently having an argument.
"I told you, I'm commanding this expedition, alongside a captain of Cathedral's guard!"
"Oh? Well then, if two of you command, then who get's the Captain's quarter's huh? I think I'll take it, and remove any problems about the situation."
The two, both in essence walking armories, and both red-heads, though Carn's hair is closer to blood while Alison's is more akin to copper, stare each other down.
-
Reagan sighed, she was wondering where the daily argument was, now she was too tired to deal with it, instead she took Amelia by the hand and walked straight through them.
"I take the Captain's Quarters." Smirking as she walked up the gang plank.
-
Alison bristles at that statement.
"And just who are you?"
"She would be your commanding officer."
Carn looks at Reagan.
"If you can pilot the transport, then you can take Captain's quarter's. I don't have enough stuff to warrant that much space."
-
She shrugged, "If our benefactors don't have a pilot in mind I might as well. Besides I have this as luggage." She points at Amelia's face.
"I resent that statement." She made the point clear by lightly punching her arm.
"Still" Reagan said as she approached the pair and in one quick movement drew her blade and slashed through a weapon strap at random, "We're going to get along just fine right?" Of course only an idiot would keep a blade extended and brought it closer to her body. If this had been Firnfeld or Yesha the other would have responded in kind but hadn't noticed a sword on the women's person and wondered how she would react given the situation.
-
Alison just smiles.
"Careful with that,"
She says angling her wakizashi short sword up from where it was, pointed right at Reagan's abdomen.
"Wouldn't want to hurt yourself."
She sheathes the short curved sword in the sheathe on the small of her back, crossed with another angled for her left. And those are above the twin SMGs on her hips.
"I'm beginning to question the sanity of bringing three redheads on one vessel, two of which are women."
Carn grumbles as he sees this unfold.
"Try not to kill each other."
-
Reagan of course looks like she's been given a gift of monumental proportions, before anyone realizes what's happening she draws the other women into an embrace all the while smiling like an idiot.
"Oh you and I are going to get along just fine, juuuuuuuuuuuussssst fine." She releases her in short and straightens herself.
"Captain Morgan, a pleasure." She turns on Al before glaring at the both of them, adopting a serious manner that is seemingly uncharacteristic, "Of course there is another matter at hand of course, I expect the both of you to act professional at all times, and from what I've seen I'm not impressed. Whatever grudge you have against is going to be put aside for the duration of this mission, if not I'll stab both of you and leave you in a closest to sort out the issue."
She turns away from both of them and motions for Amelia to follow her inside, where the the two of them promptly begin laughing.
-
Calling after her, Carn comments.
"You do realize, your not my boss on this job. We are on equal footing here, unless specified by Frey!."
Snorting to herself, Alison says. "And why does she think there's a grudge between us?"
"I believe that would be due to the blindingly obvious hostility your putting out in my direction."
"Oh really? Well what about your arrogant way of trying to shrug me off?"
"I'm trying to act professional here. Believe me, if there was anybody else who could do the job, I would have brought them, not you."
"Hmph, I'm going to check the medical bay."
"Good, I'll be anywhere else."
The two go off in different directions, Alison to the medical bay to inspect the supplies and equipment, while Carn goes off to city hall. He needs to verify what he heard about Jasper.....
-
Of course when given a vessel one must know it inside and out in order to use it effectively. So after dropping their stuff in the quarters they will be using for the duration of the "Expedition" the two of them begin exploring the ship, Reagan in an effort to understand the vessel she will probably be piloting, and Amelia because her new found understand of engineering has given her an appreciation of the vessels that fly through the sky. After finding numerous crew accommodations the two of them stumble upon the loading bay, large enough to store a small vessel or two, and the a fore mentioned Half-Track and Tank, the two of them involuntarily sighed, though it had been a good chunk of time since Vyshtorg it was still rather fresh in their minds, still they at least knew the capabilities of such vehicles. Still Reagan examined the space, two large doors stood on opposite sides, allowing cargo and other items to be carried in from the side while docked. A loading crane lined the ceiling, and it gave her a really bad idea, well, it could probably be considered bdrlinebrilliant.
"Amelia I'll be returning shortly I have some things I need to check on."
She sighed, "Of course, I'll remain on the vessel until you return."
"Brilliant." And with that Reagan sprinted out the cargo doors and onto the dock, making her way to the south docks where Alex kept his warehouse, and hoped they were in.
--Cathedral, South Docks--
Things were finally getting back to normal, which for everyone involved was relief, of course Amelia had run off and ended up joining the guard, which was something that one Alexander Henley could understand to a degree, after living such a sheltered life one might find the current situation dull and unexciting, not his crew, they appreciated the change in pace but it was best that it was only on occasion that a world shattering event happened. At the moment Alex and Richard were cataloging the items retrieved from their latest salvage op, a client had wanted a few items of personal value retrieved from the wreckage of a freighter that had been grounded in a storm. Client had been kind enough to offer anything else on the vessel as payment so long as it could fit in their ship, the Skyrunner, which was currently moored just outside their warehouse. There hadn't been all that much, somethings had already been salvaged, such as weapons, but they did find the items of interest and a few valuable pieces of cargo. Which they had sold at a hefty profit, they had also salvaged some equipment, which was now on the floor in front of them.
"Alex, got to hand it to whoever built these engines, they're tough."
"Richard, if an engine isn't tough it isn't worth much, still we have to figure out what to do with the, we could replace our current compliment but not fully, we could also do... something, I'd have to examine them and draw up some plans."
He thought it over, "Think we could build a-" There was a knocking at the door. The two of them kept switching their gaze from the door to each other before Richard made a move for it, "I'll get it." The person on the other side however was not someone he was expecting to see today.
"Reagan, fancy seeing you here." He stood aside to let her in, to her the warehouse hadn't changed much, though its contents had, a few unfamiliar weapons were organized upon the floor, others were elevated by racks and other dedicated equipment.
"So," Alex approached her with a flask in hand, which she took gladly. "What brings you Captain?"
"I was hoping you'd do me a favor, the rocket craft, I was hoping you'd give it to me for a job."
Both men raised their eyes at that, "A job?" Richard asked, "I suppose this has to do with your current duties?"
"Somewhat, you've probably heard about the expedition, well I joined." She smiled at both of them, "Cathedral needs someone with the city in mind out there, and I was hoping... that the rocket craft could give us a few extra options out there."
Alex spoke up, "It's yours as much as it is ours, still, try not to break it."
She laughed, "I do what I can. So, shall we fly it over?"
--Cathedral, Militia Dockyard, The Transport (Does it have a name?)--
Amelia had decided that yes, she did in fact quite like their home away from home. She was also stuck wondering what Reagan had planned, that was answered a few moments later, as a rocket craft landed in the bay. Three people climbed out of it's cockpit and she decided that she would take a few moments to examine it. In a way it was like a plane, it had two wings, a cockpit (Made for at least three obviously.), the rear of the craft was adorned by a rocket engine, a gatling stood out from the back of the cockpit, and two points on the nose she could see what could only be rocket launchers serving as it's main armaments. The moment she turned her attention to it's pilots she instantly recognized Captain Henley, Richard, and Reagan and waved to them, they waved back of course and went back to discussing what she assumed were old stories.
-
Alison was currently busy taking stock of the medical bay. There were only four cots, so hopefully they won't have five seriously injured people on board at one time. There were enough scalpels, syringes, saws, and other medical hardware so that she won't need replacements. There was also a modest amount or adrenaline and morphine aboard. She may need to acquire more if the crew size increases. In fact she could probably use more just in case anyways. Despite her arguably excessive hostility, she always does her utmost to keep her patients alive. The extra hostility was brought on by Alister, even though it isn't really his fault.
"Why did I agree to this? It's not like I really need 10,000 crowns, not when the job is like this."
Meanwhile at city hall, Carn is talking to the receptionist up front.
"Sir, I cannot grant you access to those files. Not without clearance from the Council."
Gritting his teeth, Alister is currently loosing his patience with the usual red tape.
"And I told you, I was hired by the Commander, who is working in conjunction with the council. And those files are relevant to the mission at hand."
"And sir, I cannot give you access without proper clearance."
-
Back at Gaige's workshop, Koali was busy attaching blades to a shaft.
-
Council Hall
After a nice quiet lunch to himself, Frey finds himself back at the entrance of the Council Hall. Slowly navigating up the steps due to his cane and boot, he enters trough the door only to be met with a scene. In front of him is his new Captain trying to restrain himself from doing something rash to the receptionist.
Wonder what this is he thinks to himself as he approaches the desk.
"Afternoon Mr. Carn, what seems to be the problem."
Carn turns to look at the Commander and points to the receptionist.
Annoyed, the receptionist turns to Frey, "Well sir, this man is requesting to see some sensitive files."
"Files? Don't you have all the necessary files on the transport?" Frey ask Carn.
-
"This pertains to the more sensitive matter of the mission. A Chaladonian doctor, by the name of Jasper Briggs, was recently arrested for having connections to the matter. I know him, and have personal history with him. I would find it.........enlightening, to know more about the reasons for his arrest. This, bureaucrat, is insisting that I need the Council's permission to see them."
-
Frey's eyes widen as he understands what Carn is saying, "Please, we need to see those files."
"I'm sorry sir, but this is is strictly a Cathedral matter. Unless you have permission from anyone on the council, I can't hand the files over."
Groaning, Frey sees a disgruntled Enger walking out the Yeshan department with Alishia chattering away behind him. Walddling quickly to him as fast as his booted leg can take him, Frey is by his side.
"Ah Commander, it's nice to see a friendly, less annoying face," says Enger a little too loudly.
Alishia scoffs at the comment and walks back towards her department. Smiling, Enger now faces Frey fully.
"Good to see you as well Councilman, but I need your permission for some files." Frey says urgently.
"File? What files?"
"Detainment files sometime earlier today, a Chaladonian doctor."
"I honestly don't know of such, I was with you since the morning."
"Well, just give us permission though, the doctor may have information about them"
"Them? Them....ohhhhh Them." says the councilman as he finally piece together what the Commander was saying.
Frey points over to the receptionist desk which promptly walks over to. Looking up from his papers, the receptionist see Enger.
"Afternoon Councilman Enger, how can I help you?"
"I need those papers that these two gentleman were requesting."
"Right away sir, but there may be a problem."
"Problem? How so."
"The files have been taken by an investigator and are being taken to the detention center."
"Thank you"
"No problem Councilman." finishes the receptionist as he goes back to his papers.
Walking back to the duo, both of them goes up to Enger.
"Well good news and bad news."
"What's the good news," groans Frey as he face palms himself.
"I got access, but they are being transported to the detention center."
"Well off we go then." says Frey as he pulls the both of them.
"Wait, I still have meetings", cries out Enger as he is being pulled.
-
"-And the moment we took down the last bottle the entire tavern burst into an all out brawl." The three of them laughed at Alex's tale of bar idiocy.
"Then what?" It was sort of surprising to hear that Richard hadn't been involved, the two of them usually went out together.
"I did the thing any sane man would do."
"Which was?" She already had a feeling about where this was going.
"Picked up my chair and hit someone over the head with it."
She shook her head, "How did I not hear about this? I assume the guard had to have broken up the fighting."
"Oh they tried, but they got dragged into the fight as well." He laughed at that. "Remember that one instance where the three of us had to had to land on that floating tavern in Qinqaachi harbor?"
"Wasn't that the one with the tank?" Richard asked, his own flask in his hand.
"No it was the one with pre-war cultists."
"Oh yeah." Richard took a light swig of his flask. "I can't believe they thought they could summon the forces of the old world with that radio, well to be honest if they were illiterate as I think they were I can't be surprised can I?"
Alex chuckled, "Yeah, well I believe it's time we headed back. It's been a pleasure Reagan."
"Likewise." The three of them had a round of shoulder patting and quiet laughs. "You are going to have to walk back by the way, can't have you fly off again."
"We'll keep feet on the ground, anyways Alex, as I was saying earlier." The two of them walked out of earshot as she patted the rocket vessel affectionately. Amelia took this moment to walk over.
"So," Amelia peeped over shoulder, "This was your brilliant plan?"
"Absolutely, we'll need every tool we can get, and a rocket fighter? That will work in our favor." I think.
-
Once again in Gaige's workshop, Koali has finally finished the Switch Axe.
(http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140717223528/monsterhunter/images/1/14/MH4-Switch_Axe_Render_001.png)
(Credit to Capcom; this is a weapon from Monster Hunter.)
(Aaaand here's a gif for those who are interested.)
(https://31.media.tumblr.com/7374b9c66fef356d07b4938419fbc61d/tumblr_mmptjfVkNn1rhvaxbo1_400.gif)
-
Carn cracks his knuckles as he walks with the Commander and Councilman.
"His name is Dr. Jasper Briggs. A brilliant Chaladonian scientist, with questionable morals. And that's coming from me, a mercenary. I've worked with him in the past, a clinical sociopath by all accounts. He's quite fond of experimenting, but he's figured out a multitude of ways to speed up medical operations on the battlefield. Word on the merc network, is that he was connected to them. If so, it wouldn't surprise me, but he may have relevant information that I may be able to get out of him. He seemed, fond, of me when we worked together. To my knowledge, I'm the only handler he's had, that never had an unfortunate accident."
Meanwhile on the Transport
"I wonder is he still has that little scar on his belly.........No. Snap out of it. You two are done."
((Koali, I'll only allow that if it's smaller. Otherwise, it's going to suffer a nasty accident.))
-
(It's much smaller, so that a normal human being could actually use it. Let's say... 5 feet for the normal ones as opposed to 8 and 4 feet for my smaller one.)
-
((Koali.........This is in the GUNS of Icarus world. Hand weapons, while nice, are not the primary thing here. Tone down the chaos, or it will suffer some sort of irreparable accident.))
-
(Gimme time. I still need to learn more about guns in order to focus on my shotgun.)
"Gaige, I think I've got it. What do you think?"
-
(Keep the ooc discussion to the creative writing discussion in the lounge.)
Reagan found the maps room well enough, Amelia decided to head to their room for the time being to finish stowing their equipment and Reagan, being the "good" Officer she was decided to get things ready.
She started setting out maps of the various settlements and trade routes, piecing together a map of the known world. She then pulled out what maps there were of the unexplored lands, they hadn't been first of course, but the title unexplored still rang true.
Using those very incomplete maps she managed a good picture of they could expect. Like the guild it was mixture of arid desert and sweeping grasslands, there probably a few water sources but none of those had been marked on the few maps they had. It was definitely going to be intetesting.
-
"That will greatly help us if he can give us that information," says Frey, "Let's just get there before the guards here start their interrogation on him."
"Why did you bring me along", Asks Enger as he straighten out his blazer.
"Heat of the moment I guess," Frey answers with a shrug, "Here we are."
In front of them, the only place where criminals are held inside the city looms ahead.
Detention Center, Room AA-23
Inside the white wall room, a table and two chairs are setup in the middle while a single man in a straight jacket sits idle. What seems to be a normal wall, on the other side is a two way mirror where an guard looks over a file that was handed over to him by a man in a high collar trench coat.
"So, he may be affiliated to the group that attacked the race last month?" asks the guard.
"Yes sergeant, when he was apprehended on his person is the same markings from that Galleon."
"You sure about this Detective Arnold? He just looks like a loon."
He and the sergeant looks through the mirror as Jasper attentively watch the lights above him.
Taking the papers from him, Arnold sighs, "Just watch over the proceedings."
As Arnold opens the door, Frey, Enger, and Carn walks on in.
"Oh Good, it haven't started." observes Frey as he looks through the mirror.
"The hell is this!" exclaims Arnold.
"My apologies Detective, the Commander and his associate needs to speak to the detainee as well." answers Enger as he close the door behind him.
"What for?"
"It pertaining our mission in a few days." says Frey.
"That little exploration trip? What does this guy have to do with it. He just some dirtbag loon we picked up this morning."
-
"He's connected to the organization that was behind the attack. He may have valuable information about them." Carn cracks his neck, his facial expression emptying and becoming flat and emotionless. "I've done jobs with him in the past, often acted as a sort of handler for him. I know how his mind works better than anyone alive. I have the best chance of getting the information out of him." Carn begins to further empty himself. His face becoming the equivalent of a blank canvas. "He knows how to get into a person's head. But I'm the only one who has gotten into his before."
-
Frey recognize that type of facial expression, seen it on the veteran's faces from the Guild-Baronies Conflict; cold, emotionless, heartless. He knew that the Conflict took a toll on both sides from the savagery of the warfare, especially during that one month when 50 Guild ships were destroyed by one gunner. He himself was told that he carried the same expression after a rough battle. He is brought back as Arnold spoke out.
"Well I can't let you in there by yourself, I'm coming with you bud."
-
Even Carn's voice becomes flat. "Fine. Just stand in the corner behind him and don't talk. This is a........delicate, process. I'll need total focus."
-
Shaking his head, Arnold opens the door and lets Carn through. As he shuts the door, Frey, Enger, and the sergeant takes seats behind the two way mirror as the pair enters the next room over.
Inside Arnold lays the folder on the table and leans back on the wall looking at Jasper while Carn takes the seat.
-
"Well then Jester,"
"Jasper actually Detective. Dr. Jasper Briggs."
"Whatever, semtax,"
"Semantics, my good officer, Semtax is a form of plastic explosives."
"Well how about this, I'm going to let your okl buddy here do the talking for awhile now."
Arnold turns the seat Jasper is in, so he is now facing Carn in the Chair.
"Alister! So good to see you old chum! I would shake your hand, but they've sadly been put in a bind. Would you mind convincing the constabulary to loosen them?"
"I don't think so Jasper."
"Oh? Ohhhhhhh, I see. You've agreed to go on that expedition to investigate those ruffians I'm charged with aiding. Well, I assure you Alister. I never talked to those avians."
"I never said why I was here Jasper. And nobody said anything about avians."
Jasper is shocked. He never meant to let that slip. Alister somehow always put him at ease, and now that ease is causing him trouble.
"Quite right, well the men who arrested me said it was something about a mark on my arm. A tattoo that I am ashamed to admit, I do not remember acquiring. It suddenly appeared there one morning, after a night of debauchery I had!"
"Hogwash. We both know you never drink so much that you can't remember, and debauchery has never been your style."
"So then, you know. You want me to confess is it? Well fine. I confess to aiding, and advancing science. I confess to working with brilliant minds to further understand and improve the human body."
"And this group, the Birdmen," Carn's voice is slowly rising. Louder and louder, his cadence, tone, and volume, changing into what he almost exclusively reserves for combat orders in a storm. "THE SAME BIRDMEN, WHO ATTACKED ANVALA? THE BIRDMEN, WHO IN THAT ATTACK, ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GUNTAR'S DEATH?!" The last four words are roared at a decibel that makes the two-way mirror shake briefly. Several seconds pass before Jasper responds, during that time nobody moved, nobody even breathed save for Jasper and Alister.
"Yes."
Carn stands, fists clenching over and over, grabbing for weapons not there, as he removed them before entering.
"And I know things about them. About their physiology, and methods. Those sound like things of infinite value do they not? I'm willing to make a deal. I give you the information, I get a reduced sentence."
Carn turns around.
"I'll give you a deal Briggs. You give me the information, and I'll kill you quickly."
He leaves, slamming the door shut behind him.
With a grin that would scare an infant, Jasper comments. "Well detective, I believe that will be all for now. You are dismissed."
"No, your dismissed. I'll be showing myself out." And with that inept comeback, Detective Arnold walks out, quietly shutting and locking the door behind him.
-
Finished, the door to the other side of the room opens and enters Carn and a sheepish Arnold.
Standing, Frey turns to the Detective, "Thank you for letting us be involve with this, we got what we need."
"Um yes, no problem. Is there anything you want to do with him?"
Looking through the mirror again to look at Jasper, Frey shivers as their eyes lock with each other, "Have him transported to the transport ship in the Militia Docks, make sure he is heavily guarded."
"Yes, sir." Arnold answers.
"You sure about this Commander, having a manic on board the mission?" Questions Enger.
"He is our only lead at the moment. I'll be at the transport to make accommodations for our special guest. Until then, Mr. Carn if you like to join me," Frey nods to those in the room as he exits.
-
Carn follows Frey out, barely controlled anger marking his every feature.
"Your not serious. Him? On the ship? It's going to take everything for me not to just tie him to a rope, and lower him into a engine."
-
They arrive to the counter where they store any weapons on their person.
"All you feeling now is just anger. He may be directly linked to the creations on the attack on Anvala, but what is more rewarding; killing him now and get that quick satisfaction or be the person who got rid of them for good."
After signing back his pistol, Frey holsters it and turns to him, "Take a walk Mr. Carn and let some of the steam out. if you need me I'll be at the transport to make ready the brig."
Walking out of the building, he takes a mental note of how far the docks are and decides to call a cab. On the curb, Frey raises his cane into the air signaling for a ride. Soon a vehicle pulls over for him which he enters.
-
Koali goes outside to show off the axe but sees that nobody's around.
"Why is it that I'm always the one who forgets to keep track of where everyone is?"
-
Carn is well aware of the value in keeping Jasper alive. The knowledge however is still hard to balance against the emotion. He decides to go back to the nameless mercenary saloon, under Cathedral. There happens to be a fighting ring there, and there's always someone willing to bet there coin they can pummel his face in...........
-
It had taken her a while but Reagan suddenly realized that she had been far too productive today, leaving her with only her duties that she could perform, either that or get roaring drunk but that was something she would avoid, for now. She sighed, there honestly wasn't much she could think of to do, she could get Amelia a proper weapon but that could wait until later, she could also... get a start on paperwork. She suppressed a light shudder at the thought of it and shoved her hands into her pockets as she once again entered the cargo bay. Activity had died down since the dockworkers had loaded most of the supplies and for the most part had been willing to drag out the work day by sitting about and drinking, not that she could blame them. She made her way over to where the little rocket was resting and sat against it, Amelia had run off somewhere for the time being and she hadn't run into any of the others since meeting Al and that woman, who was she anyways? She hadn't gotten her name at all and now it was bothering her. She leaned back, the light thunk of metal as her head hit the hull of the fighter, thoughts floated through her mind like balloons, she hadn't really felt like an officer for a long time, her duties as Captain had relegated her to a desk job, pushing papers and ordering about the various junior officers under her command. Maybe that was why she was so dissatisfied with how things were going, she honestly felt useless, maybe that was why she had decided to follow Alexander and Richard into the guild, at least then she had done something for the world, done something for the people she was supposed to be protecting. She closed her eyes, maybe a bit of sleep would do her some good here. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.
--South Docks, Cathedral--
Amelia decided that providing engineering services to the various ships currently in the dockyard would be a good way to earn a bit of money. Which was why she was now sitting in front of an engine she couldn't figure out. It was structurally sound, the components seemed to be in fine working order, so what was wrong, the crew of the vessel was loading cargo and taking on passengers as she worked, the vessel wasn't scheduled to leave for a few hours yet but that meant she had a deadline to meet, and this engine was infuriating. She banged a wrench on the casing a few times as she thought, when she heard a response from the engine, not that it had finally decided to work, but that another knocking sound came from within, she reached in to confirm her suspicions on the matter.
"Captain Argyle, I do believe I have found the issue with this engine and rectified it."
The older man came across the deck to investigate what the freelancer had found, she was still leaning in front of the engine when he approached her, she stood as she heard him approach, she turned and he saw a small translucent sack attached to her arm, a number of thin tentacles wrapped around it, thin membrane stretched between them. He watched as she rubbed the sack and heard a slight purring sound.
"Is that what I think it is miss?"
"I do believe so, suppose I should take this with me, it'll do no good to leave it here where it will most certainly cause another engine issue. The agreed upon payment?"
He passed her the sack of crowns for a job well done and she walked onto the docks themselves. She looked to the creature now perched on her arm and gave it another rub, maybe she could keep this. As she walked into the city she decided to see if anyone needed the services of an engineer this fine day.
-
Cathedral Fighting Pits
"NEXT!" Carn roared as yet another man fell unconscious before him.
"Oh come on, that's the fifth guy in a row!"
"And I'm betting the entire pot, about 1,500 gold right now!"
"Nobody's willing to go at you today Alister." The bartender say's from behind him. "It's obvious your venting, and nobody here is dumb enough to continue. Today you've already broken 5 ribs, dealt 2 concussions,"
"Make that 3." Says the bar's equivalent of a referee/medic.
"3 concussions, not to mention you broke the third guy's jaw. We'll be picking up the teeth for the rest of the week. Go Alister, take your winnings and go."
"Fine," Carn tosses the medic a chunk of the pot, 500 gold. "Make sure they're fine." He then hands the bartender another 500. "For the trouble." After that he makes his way back to the transport, which reminds him. He still doesn't know the name of the vessel.
Transport Medical Bay
Alison is currently attempting to organize the supplies and equipment in the med bay. Not that anyone but her would understand the system, but to her, that is job security and a bit of humor.
"Aaaaannnd done. Now, to find a cabin. Hopefully there is one close by. I hate long commutes in the mornings."
-
Despite what she had told the Captain, Amelia really had no idea what funny little creature was. In fact now it was very content to float alongside her as she walked through the streets, gaining a number of stares and confused glances.
"What are you? Hmm?" The creature floated around her and she found two black eyes looking at her, she sighed and held out her arm for it to latch on to. She pet it and once again it let out that peculiar purring sound.
She eventually found herself buying a kabob out in the market and was snacking on it heavily when she felt the creature let go. When she looked at i, it seemed to be eyeing her food! Perhaps it wanted a piece. She tore a chunk off and held it out, watching as one tentacle slowly grabbed it before bringing it to a beak at the base of the tentacles. Small pieces of meat could be seen slowly digesting and Amelia thought it was the cutest thing ever.
-
Militia Docks
The cab slowly arrives to the mainly empty docks as majority of the workers have gone home for the day as the sun has set over the horizon leaving only the night crew. Paying the bill, Frey exits the vehicle as he calls out to those in earshot.
"All of you with me." he says with authority, "We got a special guest coming and we need to make sure his accommodations are prepared."
Hearing the call, five workers quickly run up to him.
"Who is it sir? Sounds like someone extremely important." asks one.
"Is one of the council member coming on this trip." says another.
"I'll go find other to help set the Captain's Quarters." a third says as he is about to get the rest of the crew.
"Stop," Frey calmly says to the man," it is not a council member if you are wondering. All of you go to the brig and make sure it is structurally sound, we don't want the person we are holding to escape."
Seeing how serious but calm the Commander is, the five look at each other in wonder how dangerous this person can be. Running up the gangplank they transverse the corridors to the aft section of the ship, close to the medical bay, where the brig is held. They thoroughly check every inch of the space, from the bars to the bolts, making sure it is inescapable.
Out side, the dock lights finally turns on as Frey waits patiently. From his overcoat, he pulls out a box of cigarettes and his lighter with his good arm. Lighting one, he looks down the road as he hears the sound of several vehicles.
"Sir, the brig is ready." Frey hears behind him.
"Good, you and the others can go about with the rest of your business."
Nothing is said as all Frey can hear is the shuffling of feet and the increasing sound of car engines. Soon a covoy of four jeeps armed with Gatling guns arrive escorting a truck. The extra militia members on the jeeps disembark and flank the back end of the truck. Coming out of the passenger seat, Detective Arnold walk around the vehicle to the back and opens the two doors. Going in Arnold guides Jasper out, still in his straight jacket but now has a mouth mask, of the truck and onto the road. Flanked on his left and right, Arnold orders the group to move inside the transport.
As the group move up the gangplank Frey watches on, however Jasper manages to turn his head to face him. Even if his mouth is under a mask, Frey feels a growing smirk underneath it until Arnold forces his head back forward. Several minutes pass until the group marches back out of the transport. Walking to the truck, Frey stop Arnold before he gets in.
"Thank you Detective, I hope he wasn't much of a problem."
"It was a pleasure since now he is your problem now," he says as he closes the truck door and direct the convoy out.
Knowing fully aware what he means, Frey takes one look at the transport. Thinking wether or not this is a good idea, Frey walks off down the road towards his hotel hoping to straighten things out for tomorrow.
End, Day 1
Start, Day 2
(Ok, day is over, but if you have any night posts you want in go ahead. If not I'll up a day post.)
-
Cathedral Marketplace
As Carn is walking through the market he sees Amelia, and remembers that she doesn't have a weapon. Deciding that solving this issue, via the 500 gold from his fights, would be a much more productive course of action, he goes over to her.
"What. The flying flak. Is on you arm Amelia."
-
Night was always the best time to wander about the market, it always seemed that much more lively, she had made a few more crowns assisting others in tasks befiting an engineer, fixing generators etc. She had made a couple hundred crowns, which was nice. The little creature on her arm was content to stay there for the moment when she saw a familiar face come up to her, and the rapidly growing look of confusion on it.
"What. The flying flak. Is on your arm Amelia. "
She gave the creature a small rub, rewarding her with a subbdued purr. "Ah, Mr. Carn, a fine evening yes? As to your question," she looks at it, "I'm not entirely sure myself, it seems friendly however and I intend to keep it." She then wonders which he approached her, "Did you need something?"
-
Marketplace
"Yes, you need a weapon. Also, convince me to let that thing on the ship."
Transport Ship
As Alison was trying to find a suitable cabin to claim for the night, she hears a commotion. As is her nature is such circumstances, she goes to investigate. What she sees is something of immense, and growing concern to her.
"What, the hell! What the hell do you think your doing bringing him on here!"
"Oh, Alison! How are you my dear? Still quite aggressive I see, shall we talk about that?"
-
Transport
"Watch out miss, this is quite a dangerous criminal," says Anorld as he watches two of his men put him in a cell and removes the jacket.
They exit and lock the iron doors.
-
Transport
"I know who the bloody hell he is!" Alison races forward and punches the cell door, resounding in a deep gonging sound. "I said, what the hell do you think your doing, bringing him on here?!"
-
Transport
Shrinking under her glare, Arnold answer, "It was by the order of the Commander, he says that this man can help with your mission. What ever that means."
-
--Market District, Cathedral--
"I don't have to convince you of anything, other then the fact I'll simply find a way to sneak it on, or it will, it is after all smart enough to lodge itself in an engine without harm, I doubt finding a way onto a ship will be that much more difficult." She smiled at him, "In any case," she said holding up a bag of crowns, "Shopping is that much more enjoyable after a hard days work, wouldn't you agree?"
-
Transport
"Oh don't worry my dear, I promise to be on my best behavior!"
Market
"I could just kill it. Tend to do that to things I find latched on my ship." Carn thinks for a moment. The creature appears to be benign, but still. "You feed it, clean up after it, and if I find it somewhere it shouldn't be, I'm eating it."
-
Transport
Seeing that she is distracted, Arnold motions for his team to exit the transport quickly. On e way out, one man leaves a bag with restraining equipment just in case for the crew.
-
--Market District, Cathedral--
"Afraid you're going to find it waiting for you in bed? A lover's smirk plastered over it's face?" She smiles, "Enough of this," she hooked her other arm in his, "I do believe you promised me weapons, shall we?"
-
Transport
A thought occurs to Alison, a lovely, lovely thought. "Do you know my position on this trip Briggs?"
"I would assume your usual. Getting into places where others are not able to."
"True, but I have another as well. Medical officer. Which means, I am perfectly equipped to poison you."
Jasper's face begins to lose its cockiness.
Market
"I said a weapon. 500 gold price limit, anything beyond that, and your going to have to shell out yourself. First question, do you know how to shoot? And second question, are you any good with a blade?"
-
As the two of them walked she thought about the question, "Passable with a gun, Father insisted that I learn how to protect myself, as for blades..." she gave him a sheepish smile, "I can give someone a good thrashing, provided they don't see me, or aren't trained soldiers."
-
Market
"I saw a used carbine in relatively good condition for about 300 gold earlier. Lightweight, bolt-action, guy was selling a scope for about 50 gold."
Transport
"Yes Briggs. I can kill you, without anyone else knowing. So you just sit still, keep quiet, and stay in the brig, Briggs."
As Alison walks away, Jasper mutters to himself. "Oh I bet you thought that was clever."
-
Western Docks
As the cool night wind blows in, a passenger ship lands into the commercial section of the Western Docks. After having several dockhands help secure the vessel, the doors open as people start to exit with their luggage.
Over the ship's PA system, the captain addresses to them, "Well I hope you enjoy our flight from Anvala, have a good evening everyone. This is your captain signing out."
Stepping out to see the familiar night lights of the city, a young man in his twenties slings his backpack over his shoulders as he takes in the cool air. Taking a step, his left foot touches the gound followed by the squeaking of a spring as his right prosthetic hits as well. Even after a month of having the fake limb, he stumbles foward a little almost into an elder lady.
"My apologise ma'am. New leg hehe." as he chuckles nervously.
"Not a problem my dear, it happens to the best of people. Tish such a young lad to lose a limb to the sands." she replies with a knowing smile.
Running a hand through his hair and with a sigh, "Yeah. Well you have a good night."
"You too sweetie."
The man watches as she walks off towards the center of the city and notices a slight limp in her step. Looking closely he sees that she also has a prosthetic of sort, more advance than his simple spring one. Smiling as know that he is not the o ly one with the same problems, he heads off south down the docks to a familiar inn.
On the way there, he replays a flashback on before he left.
------
Same man is seen upstairs putting several pairs of clothing in his backpack. His doors open and an another man, not much older than him, comes in.
"You going somewhere?" he comments at the bag.
"Yeah, just a small vacation and a slight business trip to Cathedral."
Smirking, the older man leans on the doorframe, "Oh, Cathedral huh. So this business trip, it doesn't involve several people we know, perhaps a female?"
The man laughs as a pillow is thrown at him before a small crash is heard. Concerned, he quickly rush over to his old friend and Guard partner up.
"Jeez can you be more careful? I know it's been weeks since the therapy, but getting use to a prosthetic takes a while."
"I know, but seriously. Everyone thinks I should take a nice vacation, it will be good on me."
"If you insist. So how are you getting there since the ship is still being rebuilt."
"I got a ticket on board a passenger ship. It will be leaving in two hours."
"Well, I'll help you to the ship. Also, tell girlfriend that I said hi."
Laughing again, he ducks under a punch and scurries out of the room.
"We are not dating! We just happen to write to each other!" he yells out.
------
Flaking Charles. he thinks as he continues his walk.
-
--Market District, Cathedral--
"Surely that isn't the only weapon?" It would pain her if it it were. "We'll keep looking, if we find nothing, we can always raid the armory later.
-
Market
Carn halts. As he is in full armor, over 250 lbs, Amelia stops as well. "Are you telling me, that we've had access to the armory, this entire time?"
-
Somewhere in the Western Docks
As he continues to walk down the docks, his stomach grumbles which prompts him to stop and place a hand over it. Looking down the road, he sees that he is nowhere near the Inn and checks his watch.
I knew I should have ate on that flight. Hmm, Several restaurants should be open and I'm in no rush.
He turns left towards the city and starts walking to the Market District to find food venders.
-
Market
"I mean really, because if we do, then everybody needs to be walking out of that place with enough firepower to make Chaladon wet it's pants."
Alister sees a man in his early 20s walking down the street. A twinge of sympathy going out to him, as he sees the prosthetic leg. He's had plenty of men under his command suffer similar injuries, and he knows the strain it can put on a person's life. Still, the young man seems in a good mood, and isn't dressed like a vagrant.
-
"It's not like it's much, and Captain Morgan signed out the equipment, I suppose she could do the same for the rest of us." She said as she watched the man limp by, he looked familiar, and then it all clicked. She looked to the little creature on her arm.
"Alright Andromeda, go get that man's attention."
-
Market District
Stopping, the man smell freshly cooked noodles and panfried chicken at one of the stall. Turning to the source of the smell, his stomach growls in appreciation.
Hearing the noise, the stall's vendor gives out a small laugh, "Look like someone is peckish."
"Yeah, so how much is a bowl of noodles and a side of chicken?"
"That will be 6 crowns total."
Happy at the pric, he takes put a coin pouch and pulls out the amount. As he is about to hand over the man, he notices the vendor giving him an odd stare.
"What? Is there something in my teeth? My clothes? I mean they maybe a little dusty but they are decent when I put them in the wash."
"Umm," was all the vendor can say as he points to the top of his head, "you got something, above."
Curious, the man looks up to be met by a....thing.
"Um, why don't I find this unusual?" the man thinks out loud.
Suddenly it squishes down quickly on his face, startling the man to stumble a little. Floating there until the man regains his composure, it starts flying off into the crowd once he takes notices again. Confused as to being attack by a flying squid, blob thingy, the man quickly follows it until it stops in front of its owner.
"What the?," he starts as he recognises the female, "This is yours?"
-
"Nominally," she smiles at him, "how are you Courage?"
-
Alister just puts his face in his hand.
"I apologize for the behavior of my crew member an her pet."
-
"Besides being attack by that," Courage starts out, "Im doing quite well even with this." He points to his prosthetic.
Courage turns to the other man, "Not a problem, it's almost like I'm still in Anvala with all the shenanigans my friends and I do to each other. Wait crew member? I thought you worked with Alex and the others" he ends facing Amelia.
-
"It was a relationship of mutual benefit." She holds herself seriously for all of a few seconds before bursting into giggles. "In all honesty though, I decided to sign a contract with the guard, as a civlian you see." She smiles just a bit, "But Captain Morgan decided she was going to join an expedition to the south and she asked me to come along, we leave in a few days actually."
-
"And I have joint command of the expedition with Captain Morgan. Anvala you say? You a good shot?"
-
"Yes, was part of the Guard over there. Myself and several others though decided not to reenlist because of leadership changes."
-
"That, is something I can completely understand. Was an Anglean Marauder myself. Politics and politicians convinced me to leave. Been mercing for the last 5 years or so."
-
(Would now be a bad time for me to join?)
-
She looked at both men, "Why is it that all the men I choose to associate myself with former military in some way?" she asked, clearly baffled at the number of them.
-
"Perhaps some deep seated physiological thing, I dunno. Now what does your, thing, eat? And how much does it eat? If it's a lot, then your paying for it, if its only a little, then it's coming out of your rations."
-
"Oh," she holds out her arm for it to latch onto, "I gave Andromeda a small chunk of a kabob earlier, it seemed to be content with that. Also," she gave him a smack on the shoulder, "I resent your previous statement."
-
"Well you asked. And if it only eats that much, then it's definitely coming out of your rations."
-
"I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED!"
A loud revving noise emanates from Gaige's workshop for anyone around to listen, before it intensifies and a tearing, ripping, shredding noise is heard as the workshop door turns into splinters.
"HAHA! It WORKS!"
Gaige hefts the weapon up from the floor. About the size of a bastard sword, with a spiked guard over the grip, a large backing facing towards the wielder to protect them from pieces of the target flying backwards, and a row of ripping teeth.
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7020/6781229565_56c0ab9689_z.jpg)
-
Amelia punched his shoulder, and, adorably enough so did the little creature on her arm, though it was more of a light tap then a punch.
-
At the mere mention of food, Courage's stomach begins to rumble.
"Oh man," he says as he places a hand over it, "Is there anywhere to eat? I'm starving."
-
"Put you hips in your punch next time. You'll get more power out of it, also I AM wearing my armor under my shirt. Your doing more damage to yourself." Carn's stomach growls in sync with Courage's. "Food. Now." Carn sticks his nose in the air and begins to go into what Alison both mockingly and affectionately, depending on her mood, to call bloodhound mode. He begins to walk forwards, tracking some specific food by smell alone. "Seafood. This way."
-
"We could always go to the Wild Winds."
-
"That's a thought, I was just about to head there. Come on, I bet Plasma is still up."
-
Koali and Gaige crossed their swords (in Koali's case a Switch Axe in sword mode) in the air and proudly exclaimed, "WEAPONS!"
-
"And that would be what?" He takes a big sniff, "100 feet down the street, on the right. Shrimp scampi, grilled salmon, crab cakes, tuna steaks." His stomach begins to sound like a Junker engine.
-
"Come along Mr. Carn, do not let your stomach control your thoughts." She motions with the squid arm.
-
"You didn't answer my question though. What is this Wild Winds?" His stomach ratchets into high gear.
-
"... The heck is that noise? It sounds like a really low-flying Junker."
Koali followed the sound to be source and found a very hungry Carn.
-
"Just a simple bar and inn," starts off Courage as he leads the group, "An old friend of my runs it and manages job contracts for captains."
As they continue their walk, the cool night breeze blows pass them. As they enter the Western Docks, they can see the building several meters ahead of them.
"There it is" he points out in the distance, "Hopefully they still got a room open."
Before they continue along, a short sun burned teen goes in front of them.
"Um, hi?"
-
"Oh, I don't actually know your name! We were going to get food, care to join us?"
-
Alister's voice has changed, turning into some deep gravely horror. "Food. Must. Eat."
-
After the exchange of introductions, the group makes it into the Inn. Inside nothing much is going on as there are a couple of workers at the bar. Running the bar is Lia who looks to see who have entered. She recognising Courage and welcomes them in.
"Sorry Courage, Plasma is not in town at the moment if you are wondering. But if you are looking for a place to stay we still got room upstairs."
"Thanks Lia, I appreciate that. Also think you can whip something up for all of us? Im starving."
"Sure. I'll get started." she says as she heads into the kitchen.
The group goes over to an empty table as they patiently wait. Soon the deliciousness of what ever is in the kitchen makes its way to fill up the dining room. After several more minutes, Lia comes up with several trays of steak and places a plate in front of them. Returning back to the kitchen, she brings back several drinks.
Once everyone is served, she takes a seat with them as the people a the bar had already left.
"So what are you doing back in town?"
"Oh just on vacation, Bdr and the others suggested for me to take one. Also just a slight business trip to pick up several weapons here."
"Hmm, business trip," Lia mutters, "So I'm guessing you are not going to the warehouse near the southern end of the city just to visit a certain someone." she snickers at the end.
As he is about to take a sip from his drink, he chokes on some of the liquid at the comment which prompts Lia to laugh.
-
Carn has already eaten half of his steak before he comes up for air. "Sweet relief that's good. Southern dock warehouses? Aren't those favored by scavengers? Cheap and plenty of room?"
-
Amelia also begins giggling, holding her sides as she tries to suppress outright laughter. "Oh Courage, you are not very good with women are you? And for your information the South Docks are actually quite nice and favored by travel agencies as well."
-
Alister shrugs, then swallows the mouthful of steak. "All i know, is that I've been hired as security by a lot of scavengers who are centered in the Cathedral south docks. Put two and two together."
-
Grabbing a napkin, Courage tries to wipe down his dampen shirt.
"How would y..." he starts
"They still come here daily," Lia says, "And you should know she talks about the letters you two send to each other," turning to Amelia, "He doesn't gets it huh?"
"I'm right here."
-
"You know what, I'm feeling like a fifth wheel here. If you guys need me, I'll be stuffing my face over in the corner booth."
-
"Now now, food is best served with company, so you will staying right here!" She pulls him down as he tries to stand, or at least tries to.
-
Alister looks down at the slight blond woman attempting to restrain him. "I was trying to spare you guys the mess. I've been eating slow." Alister lets that implication sink in for them. "First lesson you learn in boot-camp. Eat quick. I've never been able to shake that habit when I get very hungry."
-
Finishing up with the rest of his food, Courage stands from his seat.
"Done so soon?" asks Lia, "Come on now stay for a little bit."
"Naw, I'm heading off to bed, it's been a long trip. Thanks for the room though and it's nice seeing you again Amelia."
Nodding to the others, Courage grabs his bag and heads upstairs one step at a time with his fake leg.
-
Amelia shakes her head as she finishes the last of her food, hopeless, the man is absolutely hopeless when it comes to women, she gives a laughing sigh as she watches him hobble up the stairs. Maybe she's not giving him enough credit but it's not like Dahlia doesn't like him, seriously he needs to come out and tell her one of these days.
-
Getting up and stretching, Alister bids the group goodnight. "All my stuff is on the transport anyways. That reminds me." Carn looks Amelia dead in the eyes. "Under no circumstances, should you ever go into the brig alone. The Commander has seen fit to, gift, us with a passenger. You do not want to meet him, understand?"
-
She seems to think it over for a second, "Is this gift, something a good number of people would rather have disposed of? We might as well send Reagan instead, or that red headed lady who was with you earlier." She takes a drink of... something, but a drink nonetheless. "But I might as, it's not like I have anything to do in the brig."
-
"I'm not going to lie to you Amelia. There is nothing more I would rather do in this city, than strangle him with his own intestines. But he has information we need. Don't go near him, not unless Alison or I am with you. I don't think Captain Morgan knows yet, and she shouldn't have to find out by walking in there without Alison or me. Goodnight everyone." And with that, Alister Carn makes his way down to the transport, to try and find a spot to sleep on. It has been a very eventful day to say the least.
Transport, Brig
An echoing rhyme can be barely heard, whispered from the only occupied cell. "One, two, three, four, someone's knocking at the door. Five, six, seven, eight, the birds have come to seal your fate."
-
--Cathedral, Wild Winds Trading and Acquisitions, Wild Winds Inn--
Amelia finished another drink, the night was winding down and everyone else had gone off to bed or were currently conked out at the table, which was mostly just her and the short boy on the crew who she didn't know the name of. Amelia however was a grown woman and did not allow herself to fall asleep, or drink alcohol, apparently the waitress/bartender could make a decent cup of tea, one of which just appeared to replace the one she just finished. She did however yawn, which signaled that maybe she too should head back and sleep.
Of course this train of thought was halted when she felt two hands on her shoulders and a familiar face appearing next to her. Amelia smiled at the other women, motioning for her to sit. She did, brown shoulder length bobbing as she did, her green eyes shown with mirth, a smile adorning her -comparatively- pale face.
"Hello Lorena, having a good night?" She smiled at one of the few friends she had in this city.
"Good enough," She turned as she gave an order to the waitress who went to go prepare it. "Tired though, we've been working round the clock these past few weeks, always someone looking to reclaim something out in the desert, still they're paying and we can't really say no to money can we?" A plate was set in front of her and she began digging in.
"If you're so tired, why aren't you sleeping?" An eyebrow raised as she asked the question.
"Well, I can't sleep." She took another bite of food, a look of pleasure as if she hadn't eaten all day.
"Truly?"
"Yeah, haven't finished eating yet," she smirked, "If you must know, Dad and Richard having been working on... something, rather loudly in fact. Have been since we pulled into the harbor actually, the two of them bent over schematics when we came to drop off the day's spoils." She shrugged, "So I thought I'd grab dinner, the others are probably about as well. So, how has guard duty been?" She took a drink of... something.
"It's been... Interesting, I'm not truly a member of the guard, but as I worked on their ships I learned that militia engineers are capable of making impossible repairs to equipment that should be impossible to repair," she frowned, "I never knew there were so many ways to keep a balloon intact enough when it should be leaking lifting gas at an unsustainable rate." She shook her head, "It's not all bad, their engineers have given me some good advice about keeping a ship afloat, and I've met some decent people."
"Well, you say that now, wait till you have to regularly chew someone out for breaking the equipment that you have to spend hours fixing." She smirked, "Dad needs to learn that, no, just because we survived that pirate ambush, doesn't mean I'll forgive him for blowing out my engines."
Amelia giggled and Lorena gave her a smile. The two of them traded stories for the rest of the night, only stopping when they had to part ways.
-
Transport Ship
As Alister walks to the door of the transport, the door open and he sees Alison standing in it.
"We need to talk Alister."
Mentally he is thinking, "Oh flak." However, out loud he says. "I'm guessing this isn't something that can wait for morning?"
"No. He's rhyming Alister."
"What?" His voice dropping the sleepiness and switching to full alert. "What's he saying."
"1,2,3,4, someones knocking at the door. 5, 6, 7, 8, the birds have come to seal your fate. He kept humming the tune as well. There may be more to his little poem that he's not saying."
"Just what we need. Our resident sociopath, is making up murderous and ominous rhymes." Alister brushes past Alison, and goes down to the brig door. Hearing the rhyme repeated over and over. He then goes back upstairs and finds a suitable room to sleep in.
"Why does he sleep so easily in the armory?" Alison asks of no one in particular.
-
The Next Morning, Still Day 2
Council Hall
After night of restless sleep, Frey sits in the office that has been provided for him. On his desk is the stack of papers of yesterday's applicants. As he looks through it to find the remaining captains to accompany them on the trip a knock is heard on his door.
"Commander you in there."
Not looking up from his papers, "You can come in Councilman."
The door swings open and enters Enger who takes notice of the papers.
"Still looking to fill up the rest of the ship slots." he asks as he takes a seat.
"Yes, finding crews for them are easy, but finding willing captains is the problem. Plus we need pilots for those four planes."
"Hopefully you can fill them soon. So how was your guest."
Stopping, Frey quietly sets the papers down and looks at the councilman in the eye.
"He has the essence of one of them; cold, cunning, manipulative. I don't like having the expedition going on with him on board."
"It was your order, how are you going about this."
"I'm going with them as well," is the straightforward answer.
"What?!? After that ship leaves the city, you are order to go back to Lord's Leap."
Chuckling, Frey stands from his chair and walks towards the door, "They'll be fine without me, Melin and I do it all the time and the Barons happen to turn out alright-ish. Besides I have prior knowledge on them and would benefit the group as a whole if I join."
"Wait, Commander," cries out Enger as he stands to follow him.
"Don't worry, I'll still have that full roster by the end of the day. I'm off to lithe Militia Docks if you need me."
-
Heading back to the transport with his new gear, Gaige knocks on the door.
"Hello, anyone home?"
-
A loud thump can be heard, along with some quite vibrant swearing and the words. "NO, NO, NO, DO NOT EXPLODE!"
Sighing Alison goes and opens the door, letting Gaige in. "The captain, slept in the armory last night."
-
Amelia woke up in the room she shared with Reagan, who was nowhere to be seen, that didn't bother her of course but it made her wonder what she was up to. Still that was a nonissue at the moment... hopefully. She sat about in bed before deciding it was time she got ready, which she did, in a well practiced and efficient manner. Her kit gathered she set out into the great known, maybe she would run into a few of the others, that said the ship was rather large for such a small crew and wondered if anyone else would be joining them. She passed by the ship's armory when she heard a rather panicked voice.
"NO, NO, NO, DO NOT EXPLODE!" She looked at the door, was that Mr. Carn?
"Mr. Carn? Is everything alright in there?"
-
A series of half-formed swears can be heard from behind the door. "Yeah, I need to find a suitable cabin though." Alister comes out, slightly disheveled, with a stray strand of hair on fire. Pinching it out he turns to Amelia, "Morning. Good news. We still have all of our lochnagar rounds, and thermite grenades. Bad news, all out matches are ruined." A few drops of water fall from his coat, the bottom of which is waterlogged, along with his boots.
-
She peers past him to look into the room, though yes the equipment is unharmed and the explosives currently sitting peacefully in their designated storage spaces, a pipe had burst in the room, and though it was no longer pouring water is was still broken. She sighed, is this going to be a regular thing? Is this what Lorena meant when someone broke things on a regular basis? She hoped not and decided to fix it."
"Mr. Carn, if you could get me some replacement piping it would be much appreciated."
-
"Yeeaahh, sorry about that. It was either I slice it open, or this entire thing blows up. Or at least that room, and I'm rather partial to not blowing up." Carn goes down the hallway, and opens up a maintenance closet. "4 inch copper pipe?"
-
She hears him barely enough to understand the question, she takes a look at the pipe, and notices the 1 inch that had a small nick in it.
"If you could also grab a length of 1 inch piping do so!" She yelled from where she stood, she pulled over a stool and began detaching the damaged lengths of piping and set the against one of the empty shelves.
-
Alister searches briefly before finding the proper pipes. Quickly hurrying back down the hallway he goes into the armory. "You need help?" He pulls out a rather large pipe wrench with suspicious reddish brown stains on the end.
-
She barely spares a glance at his wrench and takes the pipes while flatly stating, "No, that is quite alright Mr. Carn." She quickly replaces the lengths of piping before bidding him a good day and wondering if there is a way to get breakfast on this ship.
-
Shrugging, Alister is about to go down stairs. Then he realizes that he has been wearing the same clothes for the past week. "I need to buy a third set of clothes." He sighs, as he shuts the door and changes.
-
Militia Docks, Transport Ship
Strolling up to the docks, Frey sees that the table is set up again and another line formed. Satisfied that a supply of volunteers won't run dry, he walks up the gangplank entering the ship. Just as he is about to go in, he peeks out at the exterior hull and notices that the ship is still nameless.
Hmm, we need to fix that
Inside the corridors are empty due to the lack of people. Frey assumes that the ships occupants are either still sleeping, doing some maintenance, or out in town. He heads inside the command room and opens the cabinet containing all the files for the mission ahead and sets them on the middle table.
Wild Winds Inn
Already up, Courage adjusts the prosthetic on his leg before pulling down his pant leg. Standing, he rummages through his bag on his bed and pulls out his holster and trusty Guard pistol from Anvala. Strapping the belt around his waist, the holster sits slightly below his waist on his upper thigh which he places the pistol in and secures the weapon.
Ready for the day, he exits and locks his room as he transverse down the stair. At the bar/kitchen is Lia who takes notice of his presence.
"Morning." she says in greetings.
"Morning," Courage replies back as he takes a seat at the bar.
"I see you are all ready for the day. Going out?"
"Yeah, got to get this deal over with and then start enjoying myself."
"Ok, need anything to eat before you set off."
"Naw I'm good, thanks though," he starts as he rise from his chair, "I'll get something on the way. See ya later."
"Seeya."
As the main doors close to the building, Lia goes about the building taking various order. During the process she thinks to herself.
I wonder if he'll man up today? Hmm for having a name like Courage, he doesn't have much with the females.
-
"Hmm, well they aren't too beat up." Carn says as he examines his clean set of clothes. These a dark brown pants and a deep green shirt. He forgoes his jacket due to the heat. Walking out of the armory, he decides to head to the command room. He swore he saw a bottle of rum up there.
-
Transport
Hearing the door open, Frey looks up from one of the folders and sees Carn coming in. He seems to bit distracted a little as he looks into several cabinets looking for something.
"Good morning Mr. Carn, I assume you had a restful night? So how is our guest."
Market District
Walking to a food vendor, Courage manages to order food without having a flying squid attack him. A fried Chaladon cod sandwich, he takes several bites as he heads over to the South District.
South District
Standing in one of the squares, Courage looks down the several streets very confused.
"Ah flak, where was it again?"
-
"Oh hello Commander, I could have sworn I saw a bottle or two of rum here the other day. But to answer your questions, restful I suppose, but I need to actually find a suitable cabin. I slept in the armory, and almost blew it up this morning when I went to turn on the lights. As for our guest, he's secured. I do not know if Captain Morgan has been made aware of him, but I warned Ms. Amelia. Nobody should go down there alone, and nobody should go down there for the first time without me or Alison. She sends her pleasantries on the matter by the way. She also informed me that he's been muttering a rather troubling rhyme."
-
"That's intriguing, but if you are looking for a bottle or two it should be in the galley. Oh speaking of the Captain, where is she? I got something to tell to the both of you."
-
"No idea. Last I saw her, she claimed the captain's quarters. And I swore I saw a bottle up here." A glass like clank is heard. "Found it! Ah, just some worker's bootleg." He stares at the bottle for a second, then uncorks it with his teeth and takes a drink. "Not bad I guess."
-
Reagan woke with a creak in her back, Am I still in the cargo bay? She took a look about, and yes, she was still in the cargo bay and she was bit sore, if somehow well rested. She stood immediately, not wanting to cause any more discomfort for herself for the rest of the day. She gave a few experimental stretches of her body and decided that she would grab breakfast, perhaps this tub has food ready.
Of course there was in fact cafeteria on board, empty, aside from her roommate. Amelia was in the kitchen space making herself breakfast when she entered.
"Making seconds?"
"If you want." She set aside another portion of ingredients and set about cooking. Reagan sat about quietly as Amelia cooked, and eventually was rewarded with an omelet which she dug into.
"So Amelia, we need to get you a proper weapon, I was thinking a light automatic. You don't have to accurate to spray a wall of lead at something after all."
"Mr. Carn wants access to the armory in headquarters. He wants everyone to be a walking armory."
"As if he and his friend aren't?" She took another bite of omelet. "Still, might be a good idea, even if it is a mess of paperwork, I'll get started and turn it in, you should come with me though, so we can give a few ideas a try."
They finished breakfast and parted ways, Amelia wanted to continue looking around the ship and Reagan wanted to finish the requisite paperwork as fast as possible, which she did, and moments later the two of them were headed back to HQ for weapons aplenty. Reagan spending at least a few glances to the strange creature that had appeared on Amelia's arm.
-
"Do you need to tell us at the same time? If not, then you can tell me, and either you or I can tell next we see her. Also, I'm not sure if Jasper's rhyme has anything to do with the mission, but it may very well. Or it could just be him trying to screw with our brains. Or both, it could be any of those with him."
-
"Did... Did I hear thermite grenades? Who the hades thought that was a good thing to have? Thermite is incredibly wild and unpredictable!"
-
Transport Doors
"Not with Alister. He said he got the council to give us a crate." Alison thinks for a moment. "He really does need a cabin, bunking with thermite and lochnagar doesn't seem like a good idea. He was sleep deprived and slightly drunk when he went in there......"
-
"...He slept in a room full of lochnagar? The powder fumes aren't exactly good for your lungs..."
-
Transport doors
"Believe me, with all the explosives he's handled, there's nothing in that room that will damage him by fumes alone."
-
"He should still get that checked out. I could always rig a cot for him, wouldn't be hard."
-
"There's plenty of cabins available. He's just pig-headed. He'll find one before we disembark. Even if its just a hammock in the rafters."
-
"Fair enough. Now... What say you to my new blade, forged of sheer tenacity, savegery, and awesome?"
Drawing his chainsword, Gaige hands it out for presentation.
-
"And just how long does that thing run? And what does it run on?"
-
"It activates with a trigger in the guard, and runs on diesel fuel canisters I have on my belt. They're reinforced with ship-grade steel, so no worries about them being targeted. With about 5 canisters it runs for, oh say... 15 minutes tops with the trigger held constantly? The beauty of it is that you don't have to constantly run it, just pull the trigger when you'll be making a swing. On top of that, even without fuel, it will screw people up."
-
Alison looks at the rather over complicated melee weapon. "I'll stick to these thanks." She pats her SMGs and wakizashis. "Looks a bit to conspicuous for my taste. Not to mention, most people start with guns, rather than blades."
-
"Oh, I realize. This is for toughened targets that simply won't go down with bullets, vehicles, or when you board. This will cut through the struts that support a Goldfish's main engine, and most other ships. Leave 'em dead in the air. Beyond that, I have a bastard sword and a nice revolver. Remarkably like Carn's, if you've seen his."
-
"Oh believe me, I've seen it." Alison blushes slightly, then changes topics quickly. "Now are you going to get inside so I can get something to eat, or are you going to stand there all day?"
-
"I dunno, pretty nice out here. Sun shining, birds chirping..."
-
Transport Door
Alison closes the door, then goes of to the galley to grab breakfast.
Transport Command Center
Carn's stomach is beginning to sound like a ship engine again. "If I see her, I'll tell her that you need to tell us something. But I have to go grab a bite to eat, or else the support beam is going to be missing a chunk." Carn walks out the door to the galley, bootleg rum bottle in hand.
-
Transport, Command Room
Watching Carn leaves, Frey chuckles and shakes his head at his antics. Once he is out of the room, he returns back to the folder at hand.
"I may need to hide my stash carefully if I am coming on this trip." he quietly says to himself.
South Docks Warehouse
After an hour of walking around aimlessly, Courage manages to find the docks. Asking a few workers and being pointed in the right direction he is in front of the warehouse. Going up and knocking on the main door, he waits patiently.
-
"Amelia, I have to ask, where did you get an engine knocker?"
"A what?"
Reagan just looked at her funny, "Engine Knocker, they literally live inside engines from time to time, call it a Sky Squid if you want," she looked at it, not like it wasn't an apt description anyway. "but seriously, why do you have one?"
The younger woman simply shrugged and gave the little squid a pat, "I found it the other day while offering my services as an engineer. Don't know why I kept it, maybe because it's so adorable?" She was lost in thought for a moment, "Does it have a gender? I'd rather call Andromeda something other then it."
"How about Andy?"
"That's more a nickname, but it will do."
They walked and talked a bit more before they finally reached HQ, Reagan went off to file the paperwork and Amelia went to wait by the armory. Or rather inside it, a few minutes later Reagan came back with two large carts, both of which seemed to have been created with transporting weapons in mind, one was two standing weapon racks atop empty boxes that should be filled with munitions, the other was simply a bin, Amelia couldn't find fault in the bin.
"Alright Amelia, we need a little bit of everything here, rifles, sidearms, be reasonable when it comes to choosing, we don't need weapons we only have limited supply of ammo for, granted we do have a limited supply but... never mind just begin throwing things in the bin, carefully."
Reagan set about placing rifles on the racks, followed by carbines and other weapons before filling the ammo crates, Amelia followed her example, grabbing multiples of various weapons and then grabbing sufficient ammo for them, they eventually moved onto explosives and heavy weaponry, the armory was quite expansive and by the time they had finished there was barely a dent in it. She sent two young guardsmen off to bring the carts to the transport, they really needed to learn it's name, and brought Amelia a few weapons and some ammo.
"I said we needed to get you a proper weapon, so here." She passed her a carbine and another weapon, it was shorter and lighter then the carbine with a drum magazine, "We're going to bring these back to the ship for now, stash them the room for now." And with that they went back to the ship.
-
When Alison arrived in the galley, Alister was already there. Currently he was dismembering the carcass of a chicken. "You know, most people prefer EGGS for breakfast, not the egg's mothers."
"Most people do not have my appetite."
She couldn't argue with that one. "Gaige has some kind of mechanized sword contraption."
"Seriously? He actually made it? I wonder if it will actually get any use."
"No idea." She grabs a chunk of bread and an apple for breakfast, eating them in a far more civilized manner.
"How does that fill you up?"
"Well Alister, some of us weren't raised by wolves."
"I was an alley kid ok? If I didn't make enough money in the pits, I went hungry. Believe me, this is a very difficult habit to break."
-
--The Transport, Militia Dockyard, Cathedral--
Corporal Terry Finnegan was not a happy man, neither was his friend, colleague and subordinate Guardsman Will Henric, the two of them having finished bringing aboard the rather heavy shipment of weapons the two of them were rather understandably very hungry, so the two of them decided, both angrily, and commanded by their stomachs, to seek out the ships galley, which they did, finding two people who seemed that they would be the ones to order such weaponry. Though both of them were very aware that it was Captain Morgan who had sent them, Finnegan really needed to vent.
"So it was you two who ordered that pile of weapons!" Henric just looked at him like he was mad, it wasn't like either of them could complain about Captain Morgan, that was stupid, civilian contractors however were fair game, "If you wanted some skies be damned weapons you should have gotten your own! If you want them they're in the cargo bay! Come on Henric, I'm hungry and the Wild Winds is serving breakfast right now." He pulled him along and quickly exited the ship.
--On Deck, The Transport, Militia Dockyard, Cathedral--
Contrary to what Reagan had said earlier they had not stashed the weapons in their room, instead stopping by to grab some items to make into a makeshift firing range on deck, mostly empty bottles which were now standing in front of empty space.
"Alright Amelia," Reagan passed her the carbine, still holding onto the sub-machine gun, "Aim down the sights and fire."
She did, hitting one of the bottles and sent it spiraling off the deck. She cycled another round and fired, missing this time, neither of them sure by how much. Reagan passed her the other weapons, it was still lighter than she had expected but the drum was adding a bit of weight in an odd way. She didn't give her any instructions on how to fire it, so she brought it up and aimed at the bottle again, most of the rounds hit off target but a few found purchase on the bottle and sent it off the ship like the first, she switched between the two, getting a feel for both of them.
"I like them." She said once they had depleted their supply of bottles.
"Keep the both, they both have a purpose after all." Andromeda took this point to come back, having hidden around the corner while they were testing weapons, latching onto Amelia's shoulder instead of her arm this time, she took a box out of her pocket and presented a snack to the squid, giving a purr of delight as it ate.
"So, now what?"
"I need to move the rocket craft to the hanger." And with that she left the two of them for the cargo bay.
-
Alister spits out the chicken bone that was until recently, covered in leg meat. "I think I found a verbal punching bag just begging for it." Standing up, he jogs out of the transport, seeing the two guards less than 100 feet away. Inhaling deeply, he switches to his gunnery sergeant voice. "CORPORAL! AAAATEEEEEEEEEEEEEENTION!"
The two guards, though not going to attention, are nonetheless startled long enough for Carn to close the gap.
"Next time you accuse someone, Corporal, make sure they're to blame! Else wise, they're likely to clean your clock!" It should be noted that Carn has his rifle, pistol, axe, combat knife, and several throwing knives visibly on his person. "In fact, I have no bloody idea what you are complaining about, but I don't give a rat's ass!"
Alison is standing roughly 50 feet away, suppressing a smirk.
-
One would think a guardsman would be smarter but as Henric looked at his idiotic friend he could only suppress a sigh, and a shiver of fear. Honestly he wondered why Terry was promoted before him, maybe it was because when he actually used his head he was very good at what he did, which was very rarely. Still, he was the more reasonable of the pair and that left him to get them out of this mess, though watching Terry get his ass chewed out might make him use his head a bit more often, and so stepped off to the side and watched the proceedings with an internal smirk.
-
"When I was in the military, corporals knew how to use their flacking brains! That includes not pissing off an Anglean Marauder!" Alister's hands move to hover over his axe and revolver, his tone changes from a parade ground roar, to a sadistic and deadly whisper. "Particularly not a standard militia grunt like you."
Alison notices Alister's rapidly rising anger, and walks forward to intervene. "ALISTER! He's not one of your whelps, and your not in the military anymore! Cool it! He's just an idiot." She moves her hands to her weapons, if Alister goes berserk, which he has the potential to, she'll need them.
-
Amelia stood there for a moment, Andy latched onto her right shoulder, holding both weapons and a bandoleer of ammo with 2 additional drums attached to them that fell around her left shoulder and over the right side of her hip, she had to admit it felt odd, unlike the various tools she typically on her person which were just normally heavy, this weight was just... odd. She motioned for Andromeda to move, it was actually rather astounding for how short a time it had taken the creature to learn basic commands, which in all honesty was only a few hours by this point. She slung the carbine over her shoulder and let the sub machine gun hang under her left arm and decided she was going to continue exploring the ship, she knew where most things were but it was probably best to memorize them.
She wandered about the halls, apparently more crew members might be joining them later but she wasn't sure, but it wouldn't be unexpected, a vessel this big would definitely a crew to run it, even with everyone already on board filling in various duties. Trains of thought however never left the station as she heard a rather large amount of yelling from a nearby hallway. She quietly sneaked towards the nearest corner and took a peek. The scene however was not making her very happy, Mr. Carn seemed to be intimidating two poor guardsmen that looked very- Oh they're the ones that brought our weapons back. She watched both parties, that women she had met was standing back and was looking very ready to interfere, the two guardsmen were looking very terrified, and very hungry, she sighed, "Men and their stomachs always getting them in trouble." She entered the hall and very calmly made her way over, no use in being nervous at this point.
"Mr. Carn, I thought you had far better manners then that!" She squeezed in between the two parties and placed her hands on her hips, "Now you are going to apologize for terrifying them right this instant!" She turned to the two relieved looking guardsmen, "And you two are going to apologize for whatever set him off, is that clear."
--Cargo Bay, The Transport, Cathedral--
Reagan walked in amidst another shipment of supplies and found her way to where the rocket craft was sitting, somehow she found it odd they had never named it, they made a joke calling the Saint Rocket and the name had unofficially stuck, maybe it was time to make it official. Still this wasn't the place to decorating it, time to move it to the hanger bay, however she was going to do that. She looked around, finding ideas to get it moving, the cargo crane was a grade idea, maybe she could use the carts sitting off to the side, that's when she realized they were the weapon carts she had delivered earlier, it was good to know they had been delivered, instead of sold off.
-
A vein begins beating in Carn's temple, and he actually begins to growl. Alison gets in front of him and tries to push him back, while commenting to Amelia and the two unlucky guards.
"He was a gunnery sergeant. So low ranking enlisted men with bad manners tend to set him off. And he's had a annoying morning, having almost exploded, not to mention he impulsively had some cheap rum he found in the command room. Sky knows how old it was."
Alister continues his death-stare and growling.
"Alister, cut it out." Mentally groaning at her impulsive and stubborn ex, she takes action. Grabbing onto his shirt, she jumps and kicks both the guards in the chest, sending them flying down the hall. Landing, she uses the opportunity while Carn is slightly stunned by her actions, to get a secure hold and throw him over her shoulder. However, she keeps her hold and continues with him, landing on him and getting him into a choke hold. "Now calm down you ass!"
-
Gaige strolls into the galley, notices what's going on, and stops for a second. A look of intense concentration appears on his face before he shrugs, walks into the kitchen, and grabs another chicken. Striding over to a booth, he sits, kicks his legs up, and eats his breakfast, complete with show.
-
"Now then Alister, are you going to calm down? Or am I going to have to choke you out?"
The muscles in Alister neck begin to bulge, resisting the choke hold. Bringing his arms up, he grabs hold of her wrists and begins pushing them away. His corded muscles, overpowering her more, lithe frame. Through it all, he's red faced, and smiling like a wolf.
Mentally Alison berates herself. Alister has over 30 pounds of raw muscle on her, all of it hard as granite. She has one chance, she spits into his eyes, breaking his concentration and loosening his grip. Quickly, she pulls out a syringe gun from her pocket and presses it against his neck. "Now then, this is filled with either a) high power sedatives, or b) stimulants. You want to gamble on which it is? Or will you calm down already!"
Alister slowly relaxes, his face losing it's reddish hue. He still has the smile on his face, though its more playful, rather than intimidating.
"You should know Aly," He flicks his eyes down quickly then back to her eyes. "The top three buttons on your shirt are undone."
"Don't make me inject you." She quickly gets up, and fixes her shirt before the others can see.
Alister waits till she's off, then handsprings to his feet, walking back down to the galley. "I'm going to go finish breakfast."
-
Militia Docks
Hearing the commotion even deep inside the transport, Frey strolls out onto the gangplank and sees the scene inform of him. Irritated, he switches his cane to his left, unholsters his Luger and fires two shots into the air.
"What the bloody hell is goin on out here!," he yells out.
He sees the two militia guardsman trying to walk away as well as Carn and his associate, "Your four, halt. Answers now."
-
Mentally groaning and quietly muttering under his breathe. "Officers." He turns around and begins explaining what happened. "A couple of grunts, specifically the corporal here, thought it would be a good idea to interrupt my breakfast by accusing me of requisitioning a couple cartloads of arms and armor. Obviously, I don't have the clearance for that, and as I almost exploded right after waking up, i wasn't in a pleasant mood."
"They're fine Commander," Alison says, though she hasn't met him yet, it was obvious who it was. "Just scares out of their minds."
"Is that what you call mule kicking them back 10 feet?"
"I needed room to deal with you. And it got them out of range of your axe."
-
And Melin says that I'm rash.
"Well Mr. Carn I was going to inform both the Captain and yourself that I will accompany on this expedition as another resource, but I may have to add watching out for your outbursts."
Sighing, he holsters the pistol and turns toward the cargo bay, "If you need me, I'll be looking for the Captain."
Southern Docks
Seeing that no one is answering, Courage assumes that they are out on another trip. Going to try again some other time, he turns back towards the Market District with thoughts of buying a new a rifle.
-
Alister walks back to the galley to finish his breakfast, muttering various obscenities about officers. He is perfectly aware that similar obscenities have been said about him, but like all NCOs, he has special ones for officers. Mostly towards junior officers, but some for the higher ranks.
Sighing a deep breathe, Alison looks over to the two guards. "Next time, don't piss him off." She puts away the syringe gun, perfectly aware that it was empty, and relieved he didn't call her bluff. She walks out into town, maybe she can find somewhere to get a stiff drink.
-
"Men, always getting in trouble because of their stomachs..." Amelia sighs, she looked at the two guardsmen who were busy calming down a fair distance down the hall from them, "You two might as well get moving, no use in sticking around."
She decided this was the point to leave herself and decided that using her newly acquired firearms back on deck might be a good idea. She thought about informing the Commander that Reagan had gone to the cargo bay but decided against it and headed back the way she came, only to come face to face with an unfamiliar face as he looked on with a distracted look upon his face.
--Earlier That Day--
Davis Hargrave is a mercenary, the hired help that no one really wants to keep around because it's far too expensive. And he is currently out of work, the last job he had taken had been far more exciting than he had been expecting, far to exciting. So when a friend pointed him at a help wanted ad he decided he would take it. Expeditions weren't really his thing, far too quiet but it would work to balance out insanity that had been happening the past few weeks. It wasn't like he wasn't going to pass up a chance for 10,000 crowns anyway, that was a lot of money.
It had taken him time to gather up his belongings and head over the Militia's own private dockyard, waiting in exceedingly long lines for a chance at the money, it had taken a while but he finally had his papers signed and decided it would be best if he claimed a cabin while things were still in swing. His ship was a large converted freighter serving as a ship tender and he could immediately tell something was off with it, there seemed to be a lot more happening around it then the other vessels, it had the attention of probably a couple dozen militia officers and that meant trouble, he sighed, he could have backed out at this point but he had signed a contract, and he wasn't one to leave things half done.
He traversed the gangplank and boarded the vessel and went in search of a cabin, of course events had a way of finding a way to draw him in.
--Present--
He looked at the young women standing in front of him, blond hair tied in a bun, and shorter than him, but it wasn't the woman who had grabbed his attention, but the squid thing on her shoulder, he quietly stood there taking in the sight and he had no idea what to do. Fortunately she did.
"Are you hungry?" She said as she seemingly sized him up.
What? "What?
"I said, are you hungry?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I guess?"
She sighed, she actually sighed at that statement! Was she disappointed? Did she have something against food?! "Come along then, there is no need to be hungry if you are joining us. You can locate a cabin later."
She motioned for him to follow, reaching the ship's galley, which he was very glad existed at this moment. He was not alone, one man was eating an entire chicken and another was eating breakfast with a disgruntled look on his face, a woman was standing in the hall outside very angrily and the young woman regarded them with a dead look in her eyes that said this was all their fault. If this was something about food he was very glad she had offered and hadn't brought it up himself.
--Merchant District, Cathedral--
"Dahlia I don't understand why we have to go shopping for clothes!" Lorena was never one to really understand why women had to own so many, sure she somewhat understood but that didn't mean she had to! She was perfectly fine with what she owned.
"Lorena you need more then five sets of clothes, look, if you want we'll look at something more utilitarian, but you need to own more!" She sighed, "We can go to the Wild Winds for food if you want but you have to buy something first."
Lorena sighed and picked out a leather vest with a number of pockets, at least it seemed like something that would get some use. She grabbed a couple of shirts and a few pairs of pants, and a wrench that looked really solid before returning. "So, can we get food now?"
Dahlia shook her head, "Fine, we'll get food, and back to shopping."
-
Alister eyes the new guy, hand going to the rum bottle which Alison immediately swipes. He glares at her, and she glares right back silently reminding him of earlier events. Sighing he gets himself a cup of water. "Come on mate," he says to the new guy "We won't bite. Pull up a chair and grab something to eat." Alison is silently drinking from the bottle in the corner, keeping an eye on Alister for anymore outbursts. She doesn't think it's likely, but it's Alister. It pays to know his mood, right now it seems calm, albeit semi-annoyed.
-
Davis is still trying to comprehend the young woman's dead eye glare that didn't so much sweep the room but simply permeated it when the invitation to sit came. He looked at the man who was a walking armory and noticed that much of the dead eye glare was situated on him, didn't seem like he noticed as he distastefully grabbed a cup of water. He looked at the woman drinking from the bottle of alcohol and decided that he liked her, got her priorties straight, keeping the guy who looked like he could take on a bull drunk away from the alcohol while taking it yourself. Still if he was being polite it would probably be best to get to know his future crew members and took a seat. The blond went to the kitchen and began furiously cooking something before returning with something that would put most breakfasts to shame. She hoisted the weapon under her left arm, before leaving, abandoning him to wolves.
"Hi."
-
"You just get signed up?" Alister says. Alison continues to sip the rum in her corner.
-
"Yeah," he took a bite of his food, it was really good. "The money was good and considering my last job, something quiet and easy is going to be appreciated." He almost missed the barely visible change in everyone left in the room, "What? Did I say something?"
-
"Nothing, you'll get the details en route. In any event, I'm Alister Carn. I hold joint command of this expedition, as well as being the pilot of the squid in the hangar. You have a specialty? Alison," he nods at Alison in the corner "Is our medical officer, and infiltrator."
-
Well it was good he would get told... Wait this was the exact same situation that resulted in the disaster during his last job, still, he would take it at face value, for now. Now specialties was something he could talk about a little bit.
Marksman "Pilot." What the hell Davis!? "Uh, and Marksman." He jostled the scoped hunting rifle slung over his back. Much better. He held out a hand, "Davis Hargrave, at your service."
-
Alister shakes his hand. "Always good to have a sharpshooter." A slightly sadistic smile adorns his face. "I'm an explosives man myself, that and melee fighting." The light catches his axehead in a none to subtle way.
"Quit scaring him."
"Says the woman with twin SMGs, and two razor sharp short swords. Not to mention a temper to match her hair."
"Your one to talk about tempers. You have a ship David? I'm the infiltrator by the way, and currently the most qualified to be the medical officer."
-
Transport
Mumbleing to himself about the earlier events, Frey walks inside the cargo bay where he see the large carts of weapons and munitions.
"They fought, for this? Honestly people have very short fuses."
Shaking his head, he goes over to one of the carts and picks up a rifle. An Enfield, he balances the weight on his free arm while visually checking the bolt. Leaning the barrel on the ground and leg, Frey pulls back the bolt and looks down the chamber.
"Man I miss mine. Gotta say never go wrong with a bolt action," he says to no one in particular as he locks back the bolt.
Market District
After walking from the South Docks, Courage enters the guns store he visited a month ago. As the door swing opens and rings a bell above it, the man behind the counter looks up from disassembling a shot gun. Adjusting the glass on his nose, he squint his eyes to see who had entered. After several seconds, he smiles as he recognise the person.
"Ah Courage, I wondered when you will come or order from me again. Please come in," he say as with a wave from his hand.
"Thank you Mr. Zuki," Courage replies back with a smile of his own.
"ah don't call me Mr. Zuki, makes me sound too professional. So what can I help you with?"
Going over to the counter, Courage leans on the top as he looks behind the man onto the gun rack.
"Well Isamu, I'm in town looking for a new rifle. And before you say that I could get a better one back in Anvala, your weapons have a certain feel to them that I like."
Placing his thumb and forefinger on his chin, Isamu turns around to face the gun wall.
"A new rifle huh? Don't like your old Guard rifle back home huh."
"She still have a certain kick to it, but I want something more....me. Something that fires long and fast."
"Fast and long distance him." Isamu mutters to himself as he moves down the racks. Shaking his head, he moves towards a door at the end of the counter and goes in. Courage stands idle as he listens to the various clanks of metal going on in the back. Soon Isamu returns with a rifle in hand.
The stock, upper and lower hand guards covered in dark oak, Isamu places an empty 15 round magazine underneath the receiver and pulls back the bolt. He then hands over the weapon to Courage as he examines the weapon.
"It's a carbine, still fires and kick like a rifle but is semi automatic then it's bolt load counterparts. Can load more than those five clip rifles, 10 rounds more. I made it from an old blueprint I found in an Old War tech book. Called the M1, this should be of your liking."
Bring up the carbine to his shoulder, Courage looks down the sights and pulls the trigger. Hearing the hollow click as the action falls, he looks over to Isamu with a satisfied look.
"You know me well. How much is it?"
"A good 1,500 silver crowns or 2,000 with gold."
"I'll take it. Can I send in payments though?"
"For you, I'll do it. I know you are a man of your word. Here are several more mags and a scope if you want to go sniping."
Slinging the carbine over his shoulder, Courage attaches the rest of the equipment in the empty pouches on his belt. Securing everything, he shakes Isamu's hand.
"Thanks again, I should have the first payment in two weeks."
"No problem hope I see you again."
With a quick two finger salute with his left, Courage walks out the shop while holding onto the strap with his right. Back onto the street he passes by a restaurant which he looks into. Passing the window, he stops and backtracks a little looking through once more. Inside he see two females at a table, one with many bags and another with maybe one or two. Trying to get a better glimpse as people are walking back and forth, Courgae taps the window and waves hoping to get their attention.
-
Never before had Davis been captivated by his breakfast, okay that was a lie but it was an apt description to describe how he was feeling at that moment. He took another bite of it, still, the attention was warranted considering how tasty it was. He was about to cut in when he heard a stream of automatic weapons fire, a very long stream of automatic weapons fire, followed by another, and another. He thought it was over but then the tell tale sound of a bolt action going off could be heard.
--On Deck--
There was something about letting loose with weapons that Amelia found relaxing, perhaps it was the knowledge that everything about it was in your hands, if a weapon didn't fire correctly it was your fault, same thing with engineering, things worked because you worked them. She had set up a pile of sandbags and was firing into them relentlessly, currently she was working the bolt action carbine, cycling round after round and having to load a magazine every so often. Still, looking at the pile of sand maybe it was time to stop before she punctured the deck. Andromeda came back at that point, it seemed continuous gunfire made it/he/she a bit uncomfortable.
She gathered up the fallen mags and stuffed them into her bandoleer and kicked the sand a little just to make sure, satisfied that there was no damage she went to the armory to reload and maybe she would grab her engineering equipment and get some work done around the harbor.
--Merchant District, Cathedral--
Dahlia adjusted the bag in her possession, this hadn't been a day for her so it wasn't really a time to splurge. Lorena on the other hand was performing a balancing act with the numerous bags scattered around their table, it hadn't really been that expensive a day either, a thousand or so crowns between the two of them sure, but that was still only about a quarter of their pay. There was however something interesting happening, off to the side a man was tapping on the window, she really couldn't get a good look at them with all the people around. Still she waved a hand politely in their direction, hoping they saw it.
-
Carn perks his ear up. "Sounds like somebody is practicing." He looks over at the others. "So, are any of you willing to,"
"No."
"I didn't even,"
"No Alister. You want to go pummel heads, go to your beloved pits."
"Knocked out to many teeth yesterday."
"Why does that not surprise me."
"You tell me. I guess I'll just practice my axe work on the deck." Spitting out the leg bone onto his plate, it and every other bone stripped of meat, he gets up and heads out the door. Seeing Amelia coming out of the armory with her guns, he chuckles. So, somebody was playing with their new toys. Good. On the deck, he sees the sandbags. "Hmm, she could use some more work on her accuracy. But not bad considering her level of experience." Going over to a section of the deck, a 20 foot radius devoid of equipment or debris, Alister prepares. Pulling out his axe, he then unbuckles his weapons belt, putting it down to one side. He then takes off his shirt and armor, setting them next to his other weapons. His torso, like the rest of him, is pale skin over corded muscle, a variety of scars adorning it. Considerably less than those on his arms. Taking a wide stance, he takes a deep breathe, then begins to go through the motions. A complex series of looping blows and quick chops.
-
Transport, Cargo Bay
Setting the rifle back onto the cart, he makes a reminder to himself to have these stored in the ship's armory. Walking around he sees a strange craft sitting idle in the middle.
"Interesting," he says as he walks around the frame and engine, "When did you get in here?"
Market District
Pressing his lips together at the distracted wave and a slight huff, Courage goes towards the restaurant door. Entering, he doesn't go far until the frontman stops him.
"Excuse me sir, no weapons allowed in here."
"Huh," he says as he turns to the man.
"Your rifle and pistol. If you want to have a seat I request that you store them in the back." the frontman points to a door behind him.
Really? We didn't do this at the Saloon
Rolling his eyes, Courage complies no goes through the door and stores his weapons in an empty slot. As he exits, he doesn't notice a loose rifle sling on the ground which catches his prosthetic.
With a yelp, he crashes down onto the floor bring the frontman down with him. Both of them groaning, the frontman is the first to come to.
"You alright sir?" he says as he stand up and holds out an arm for him.
"Yeah, better look in there more often for tripping hazards." Courage replies and grabs the offered hand.
Standing back up his prosthetic is still caught in the sling which slides off his stump. Balancing on his one leg and the frontman Courage looks down between the empty space and his prosthetic.
"Ah flak me, can you get it?"
"Suuure." the frontman says slowly as he lets Courage balance on his own.
Grabbing the "leg" he helps Courage hop to a free seat to let him attach it back on.
"My apologise for all this, if you want this meal is on the house."
After adjusting the end to his stump, looks up in confusion as he missed what the frontman said, "Hmm?"
"If you are dining here, the meal is on the house for this inconvenience," the frontman says again.
"Oh thank you, I guess?" Courage answers with a shrug.
Nothing much for his answer, the frontman leaves and returns with a waiter who gives him a menu.
-
Snorting at the obvious attempts of Alister, to get a rise out of everyone, and she suspects her more so. "Honestly, he's not actually stupid, but he can sure act like it when he wants. And that's nothing to say of his table manners." She says, looking at the pile of bones left on his plate.
Meanwhile
Alister is still whirling and cleaving. Subconsciously going back to old battles. Snow, red with blood. Smoke and fire, screams of fear and pain. Gunshots and artillery blasts. Old wounds burn with pain as if he just received them. And through it all, he's smiling."
-
--Merchant District, Cathedral--
Dahlia notices whoever was at the window had gone, of course she was curious about who it was, but that was neither here or there. Still their food had come and the two of them were eating peacefully while talking about various pieces of news and other babble.
"Oh I ran into Amelia the other night, she hasn't experienced repetitive-reconstruction syndrome yet, I feel the day she does is going to lead to an interesting conversation." She drank deeply of the very vast drink before her, "I wonder what it must have been like for Dad's subordinate's when he was still serving, imagine the paper and the repair work it would put them through."
She was nodding at this point, Dahlia was fully aware as she maintained the crew's weaponry, both shipboard and ground side and it infuriated her to no end when they were damage. Thinking on it now Lorena was the most prone to breaking their ship's weaponry, they'd had many arguments and discussions regarding this. Though Lorena did tend to have more pride in her engines than she did in her weapons. She had no idea why this was.
She took a bite of her food, "Which reminds me, what is your father working on with Richard?"
"I don't know," She shook her head, "if I knew what went through their heads I'd be able to avoid most of it."
"It's going to explode, somehow I just know it."
"Still, some of their ideas are pretty good. Which also reminds me, Reagan apparently came by the other day and took their rocket craft, which got me thinking, what did you do with ours?"
"It's at the back of the workshop why?"
"Why is it in the-" There was a very loud crash from the entrance and both of them oriented to get a better look.
--Cargo Bay, The Transport--
With a plan in place to move the craft it was time to return, hijack the cargo crane, and other things that required moving it to the hanger. Plan was cut short when she noticed someone circling around it like a predator.
"Hey, hands off the craft!"
--Galley, The Transport--
"Really? You could have fooled me." He took his last bite of breakfast and sighed. "Still, he's not going to be a problem is he?" He took a few looks around, "By the way is this everyone?" There definitely not enough people to fully crew a ship like this, so where was everyone?
-
Galley
"He is impulsive and hot headed. He already has had an eventful morning to say the least. It also doesn't help, that the old berserker blood is strong in him. As for his table manners," Alison shrugs. "I can't completely fault him on that. His father died before he was even born, and his mom died giving birth to him. His last relative was an uncle, who died when he was 8. A year or two after that, he found his way into the Kinforth fighting pits, which is where he learned his skill at unarmed fighting. Then he enlisted in the military at 15, and was put in a marauder unit straight put of boot camp. He never really HAD anybody to teach him table manners."
-
"Are his table manners the only thing you're excusing?" He smirked at that, "But still is this everyone? I've only seen 5 of us, and that's including me."
-
"No, there's a few more around somewhere. And his table manners ARE the only thing I'm excusing. There's a reason hew was an NCO and not an officer. It was more beneficial for him not to be behind a desk, and instead in the field."
-
"I know of a couple of people who would be better in the field than behind a desk."
-
"Then you understand. He was never an officer because a) he hates paperwork and b) he hates politics."
-
"You say that like there are people who genuinely like politics." He shrugged and stood, taking his plate to the counter and unceremoniously dropped it there. "And nobody likes paperwork, not even the people who like paperwork like paperwork.
-
Alison smiles at the comment. "Perhaps. But he hates them with a burning passion."
-
"The only thing that should be burning are pointless political referendums and the countless piles of statistical reports and inconclusive case studies regarding the use of weapons in general society. Why do we need to study the uses of weapons in society, is it not obvious what they're used for?!"
-
"..............I think you and Alister will get along just fine. Just give him room when he eats."
-
"The only thing that can get between a man and food is a world shattering crisis, I quote my sister on that."
-
"Yep. You two will get along juuuuuusst fine. Hopefully your not a hothead though. There's a dangerously high margin of those aboard, myself included." She remembers a very important piece of information, and addresses tho whole room. "Nobody goes down to the brig. Not without me or Alister. We have a guest. A very dangerous guest, currently booked into the iron-bar hotel."
-
"Let me guess, a highly psychopathic criminal? That doesn't sound safe at all, why are we bringing him? I can't think of any reason that justifies bringing along such a person on an expedition to explore the south." He misses the subtle change in expression on everyone's faces, too absorbed in thought.
-
"I didn't make the call. The Commander did, and he's the one who writes the check."
-
He sighed, "Figures the man paying us is also the guy who gets to make the questionable calls of authority." He shook his head, "So other things to discuss, who else is on this expedition, there's you, me, guy in the corner eating his chicken, Al, the plucky blond who was giving you all a dead eye glare, and this Commander. Anyone else I should know about?"
-
"Captain Morgan, the one sharing the command position. Also, I wouldn't call him Al to his face. Either Alister, or Carn. Mr. Carn if you want to be nice. There's also a short orphan boy who seems to be constantly sunburned. No idea where he is. The Commander has also decided to join us. The blonde's name is Amelia."
-
"Well, if the fact that I'm eating chicken is all you know about me I think an introduction is in order."
Still holding the chicken carcass by it's leg, the man in the corner strides up and sticks out his free hand.
"The name's Gaige. Tinker, airship qualified engineer, crack shot, and verified badass. No, seriously, I have a certificate from the Guild. Not the Mercentile Guild, either."
-
Transport, Cargo Bay
Startled, Frey looks up and sees Regean coming over.
"My apologise Captian, I assume this is yours? I was just admiring it.
Merchant District
Sitting in the chair waiting for the waiter, Courgae remembers why he came inside the restaurant. Turning around he sees several people looking at him with curious looks, two of which are Dalhia and Lorena.
"Hehe, hey guys," he nervously chuckles with a wave.
-
Top Deck
Having finished his routine, Alister puts his gear back on. Then he decides to go to the cargo bay. He still needs to finish the name stencil, and there are a few modifications to make the ship feel like a marauder's ship.
Galley
"Those guys tried to get Alister to join. He laughed, they got mad. He still has his legs."
-
--Cargo Bay--
"Like it? Me and a few friends built it for the rocket race." She approaches him with an aircraft harness folded over her shoulder, "It's seen a few modifications since then," she points out the banshees mounted in the nose of the craft. "Do you want to be useful and help me move this over to the hanger, if you could command the cargo crane we can get this hooked up and ready to move in a few moments."
--Galley--
"Well it's nice to meet you Gaige." He shook his head, "Seems we have quite the crew and- wait did you say Captain Morgan? That wouldn't be a Richard Morgan would it?"
--Some Restaurant--
"Hi Courage." Dahlia wave lightly and smiled and motioned to their table. "Care to sit with us?"
-
Cargo Bay
Alister walks into the cargo bay and sees Commander Frey and Captain Morgan, then he sees the rocket craft. "What. Is. That?"
Galley
"Ah. That would be a no. HER name is Reagan."
-
--Galley--
"Thank the skies above, I don't think I could handle his brand of 'Safe' when it comes to flying again."
--Cargo Bay--
"It happens to be mine, and we're moving it to sit with the rest of the planes we have on board for now." The crane lowered down enough for her to begin attaching the harness. "Thank you Commander."
-
Cargo Bay
"Not a problem, but I would ask Mr. Carn next time." He lifts up his cast arm, "A bit tricky manning the controls with one arm."
"Got to ask, any purpose of bring this along?"
Some Restaurant
Accepting the offer, Courage stands up just as his waiter arrives, "I'm going to sit over there with the both of them, close friends of mine."
"Very well, do you need help going over there?" The waiter ask cautiously.
"What, you think I'm going to fall every two minutes."
He looks down at the prosthetic and back to Courage who gives a slight groan.
"I'll be fine." he says with a slight annoyance in his voice.
Carefully traversing the tight walkway between tables he manages to reach the table with no incident. Grabbing another chair from an empty table, he takes a seat at the table with them.
"Fancy seeing the two of you here. Out shopping?"
-
Galley
"I advise you don't fly on Alister's squid then. He's rather fond of tar, moonshine, and mines. Did I forget the maniacal laughter when he uses all three?"
Cargo Bay
"Interesting design." He goes over to where some leather bags he had ordered yesterday were siting. Pulling out a confusing mass of leather straps, ropes. and iron buckles, he grins. "Time for some, modifications."
-
--Cargo Bay--
"I was thinking we'd need a bit flexibility in the craft we'll be taking along, so I thought I'd bring it along. Also," She smacked away all the items he was holding, "do not modify the Saint Rocket, if anyone's going to do it, it's going to be me! Or Richard, or Alex, but that's beside the point."
--Some Restaurant--
"Yeah, Lorena needs to own more than a few sets of clothing." She sighed, "Sadly we ended up buying plenty of extra materials for ship repairs."
"Hey, someone needs to take care our ship!" She grumbled, "Besides, it's money well spent, it's not like I don't know my ship."
She shakes her head giggling, "So what brings you to Cathedral, it's been a while hasn't it?"
--Galley--
"I'll stick to aircraft then, we wouldn't happen to have planes on board would we?"
-
Cargo Bay
"I'll let that slide this once, Reagan. I've already had a bad morning to say the least. Just so you know, the modifications, happen to be for my squid and not your little rocket. I'm going to rig her up Marauder style. So, if you wouldn't mind, don't go and smack things around that you do not understand."
Galley
"No idea."
-
--Galley--
He sighed, "I'll have a look around later then."
--Cargo Bay--
"Do not. Threaten me." She stood closer to him, "You can try to intimidate me but that's only going to get us into trouble. You should probably get started on whatever it is you're going to do." She takes a step back and turns. "Alright Commander, can you navigate this thing to the hanger?"
-
Cargo Bay
"A remember Reagan, your not my superior on this expedition. So don't act like it. I'll afford you the same amount of respect you show me. Not more, not less." He turns back, and lugs the bags over to begin the first of the modifications. In truth, this won't take an hour."
Galley
"May as well familiarize yourself with the place."
-
--Galley--
"I also need to find a cabin, probably best I do it before we get anymore surprise crew members." He stood from his spot, "Might as go do that now, I'll see you around the ship then." He leaves, hopefully he'll find a cabin before he gets lost and end up somewhere, like the bridge or something.
--Cargo Bay--
She sighed, some people, whatever happens she won't allow him to remain like that, still, probably best to give him a bit of space, not like she's an idiot after all.
--Captain's Quarters--
Amelia did not go about earning money in the harbor, instead building a little stand thing for Andromeda to perch on while she slept. It was a simple thing, four legs that held it stable and a branch to latch onto, maybe she should add a plate in case, that sounds like a good idea. She was interrupted by a knock on the door, was Reagan expecting something? She certainly wasn't, still if they were looking for the Captain she might as well them they're not around. She opened the door, finding the new guy standing there, looking baffled.
Davis just looked down at her, it was certainly within his luck for this happen.
"Are you looking for a cabin?" She was look far less angry at this moment, which was thankful. He looked inside to see what she was doing, seeing the half finished perch sitting on the floor.
"Well, I wouldn't want to take you away from your project."
She shrugged, "There are empty cabins just down the hall. Take the time to find one to your liking, they are empty after all."
-
Corridor
Alison has officially claimed the cabin nearest to the medical bay. She has done this, by hanging a sign claiming that anyone who goes into her room without permission, will receive a boot up their backside. "Alister better claim a cabin already."
Cargo Bay
Alister quickly loses his aggression as he is left to work on his squid. Within 15 minutes he has rigged up 8 harnesses attached to the railing on different parts of the ship. Now for the far more complicated modification. Grabbing another leather bag, as well as a full tool belt, he crawls under the ship.
-
Cargo Bay
With his one hand, Frey moves the lever back lifting the crane up. A lurch is heard as the metal strains a bit from the new weight but manages to hold. A few feet from the ground, he locks the arm in place and turns another lever to move the arm towards the main hanger. A tight squeeze, Frey manages to load the rocket craft inside. Slowly descending the arm, a quiet thud is heard as the craft touches the hull.
"She should be good in there. What you think Captain?"
Restaurant
"It has been," Courage starts, "But Bdr gave me sometime off to go on a vacation. Only thing he needs me todo is to ask your father Lorena for some of the old Anvalan Mercury's you may have in your warehouse."
-
Cargo Bay
Alister crawls out from under the squid, running a wire to an empty are of the helm. Once there, he begins to attach it to a extra lever.
Corridor
Alison sighs, knowing Alister, he'll be to absorbed in other things to fully settle into a cabin before the head out. Making a quick stop in the armory, she grabs his jacket and duffel bag. She then puts both in the nearest cabin, decently sized, if a tad spartan. She then goes off to try and find wherever he is on the ship.
-
--Restaurant--
"We can check, but we did sell a good number of them to the guard," Lorena sits in forward in her chair, "Dad's on a job right now so we'd have to ask later, should be back in a few hours. I know we have a few stored though, and we replaced the old merc on our ship with one only recently. I'll check later though."
Dahlia smiles at him. "It's good to see you again."
--Hanger Bay--
They managed to squeeze through the gap and from a cursory examination the craft looks absolutely fine. She runs through a few things, engine check, oil, surfaces. Things are in good working order and all well.
"Thank you Commander, the help is appreciated. Are you hungry by the way? We can grab something in the galley."
--Davis' Cabin--
It took him a while but he finally found himself a decent cabin where the bed would break his back through repeated usage. The was a desk bolted to the wall and a fair sized footlocker to store valuables, or his weapon, mostly his weapon. He stored a few changes of clothing and decided he should probably get a few more for the journey. It wasn't like these were the only clothes he owned, most of it was back at his residence and he just come back from a job so everything he had was close at hand. Definitely would have to go back and grab some extras, he sighed, he was actually proud of his little house, not especially upscale but it was nice and cozy with 3 bedrooms and a kitchen, a storage space, things a person would need, perks that someone coming home after being away for while on a dangerous job could appreciate, also helps that his sister occasionally came to visit from time to time when taking time off from her studies. He would have to write her a letter, maybe he should inquire about the communication back home if there was any, definitely have to ask that.
--Somewhere North of Cathedral, Wreckage of IAS Winthrop--
The crew had just landed and the ship in front of them was a mess, it didn't look picked over, far too many weapons still sitting about the wreckage, which meant this was indeed as recent as their client had said. Apparently the client had a shipment of rare wine and, while the entire crew thought the entire idea was stupid, was paying them to ensure the safety of the bottles and bring them to him. Alex was looking at a blueprint of the ship on a rock, Richard standing next to him.
"The bottles definitely wouldn't be in the cargo hold though we should check, fine wine would be stored somewhere cool and safe so maybe somewhere closer to the edge of the hull where the wind would keep it cool. Maybe this room here." He circled it on the blueprint. "What do you think Richard?"
"Well," He picked up the blueprint, "I think this man is arrogant and this entire job is a waste of time, lets have the crew begin salvaging the ship and you and I can just search through the rooms one by one. I doubt the bottles would have survived but we make the best of it." He also pulled out his old camera and opened a fresh box of film. "Also there's a place I saw while we were flying that looked it would have a good vantage point, mind if we check it out before we leave."
Alex shook his head. "Sure, try not to take long when we do. Travis!"
Travis came from where he was sitting and walked over. "Yeah Cap?"
"Take Preston and begin scouting out the ship, I want a list of everything we can scavenge. Tell your Brother that he and Phillip are on watch. Me and Richard are going to see if we can find those bottles of wine."
"Aye cap. Hey Reynold-" Alex didn't hear the rest as he and Richard entered the ship, the interior was mostly intact, which meant it was possible that the bottles had survived.
"Alright, lets check this side of the ship and head up a deck and check there, after wards we'll switch sides and head down and check the cargo bay." Richard nodded and the two of them began the search.
Elsewhere Travis and Preston were beginning their search.
"Hey Travis?"
"Yeah?" Travis said as he kicked over a pile of hull plating. Rifle in hand watching for stray beasts.
"If the Captain wants us to begin salvaging, do you think we check engineering first?" Preston was noting items of interest near by and wasn't looking at him. Already a large number of items had been written down, mostly cargo, though a few weapons were also marked down. "I think Lorena would appreciate it if we thought about the vessel a little bit while we're here."
Travis briefly thought it over. "Why not. If the vessel is about to explode at least we'll know right? Come on then, follow me."
"Thanks Travis." He waved up at Phillip and Reynold who were watching from on deck to tell them they were heading in now.
Phillip watched the two of them enter through the hole in the hull, Reynold was pulling his pair of binoculars behind him.
"Hey Phillip, I'll take first watch why don't you sit down, this is going to take some time." And it did, several hours in fact.
-
Transport, Hanger Bay
Climbing out of the Crane's control room, Frey softly lands back onto the floor.
"I could grab a small bite, been in the control room looking over some files that a little break wouldn't hurt." he says as he dust off his uniform.
Opening a door, he leads both of them down the corridor then into the galley. Entering, they notice that several people have been inside as plates are still leftover on the tables and sink.
"Hmm, someone had a field day," he comments at the mess.
Going over and opening a cabinet, he pulls out a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a jar of jelly. Placing them down on the counter in front of him, he struggles to open the jar of peanut butter with his only hand.
"Umm, mind if you can give me a hand?" he asks holding out the jar in front of him ,"oh did you also her, we have a guest on board that we need to keep a special eye out for."
Some Restaurant
"It's nice seeing you as well," Courage replies back with a goofy smile towards Dalhia.
"Order sir?"
Courage shakes his head as he is brought back into reality, "What?"
"I said, 'Order Sir', what can I get for you." asks a waiter standing besides him.
"Oh, sorry, I'll have a Crescent Bright Tuna filet please, and do you have iced tea?"
"Yes we do," says the waiter as he writes down the order, "It will be ready in a few minutes."
Thanking the waiter as he leaves, Courage asks the both of them, "Anything else today besides shopping?"
-
Cargo Bay
Alister manages to connect the wire with only one accidental electrocution. He's not an engineer, but he knows how to make combat repairs, and how to do certain modifications. Pulling the lever, a clanking sound can be heard from the area below the squid that he was working on. "Good. Now for step two." Grabbing the bag, he once again goes under the squid. Drilling and hammering sounds can be heard, along with an indeterminate shanty.
Militia Docks
They are finally signed up. The two brothers, identical twins, had heard that some old friends were crewing on this job. James and John Raven, collectively known as The Raven Twins. Technically, the were related to King Gregor, but were so far out on the family tree, that the didn't bother bragging about it.
"So Alister is on this job?"
"I heard that he has partial command actually."
"Good for him, maybe he'll get that temper under control."
The brothers look at each other and laugh.
"Well Alison is aboard as well, according to the bartender. She can either draw his fire, or leash him."
"I never understood those two."
"We don't have to understand how, just be thankful that she can."
"Excellent point. How much you want to bet that Carn is working on something special."
"It's Alister, if he's not eating, sleeping, or fighting, he's working on a project. I heard that the employers actually paid for a squid for him. So it's likely he's modifying it."
"Ugh. Marauder squids. I hate those harnesses."
"They may be uncomfortable, but you know how effective they are."
The twins head onto the ship both having a sabre on their left hip, a slender parry blade on their right, and a rifle across their backs.
"Judging from the time, he's probably not in the galley."
"To the cargo bay then?"
"To the cargo bay."
Top Deck
On the top deck, Alison sees that Carn isn't their. Sighing she goes back into the ship, she hopes that he's not causing trouble again.
-
--Galley--
"Let me guess," she took the jar and opened it, also moving to open the other, "The psychopathic criminal kind of guest? Are we dumping him out in the desert?" She opens a cabinet and pulls out a knife.
"By the way," she said gesturing to his arm with the knife, "How'd you get that anyway? Seems like a bit of a hindrance if you're coming along."
--Some Restaurant--
"Being tired and not getting enough sleep."
Lorena nodded to this and added, "Dad and Richard have been cooking something up in that workshop of theirs since last night, somehow I doubt they've slept at all but they seem fine and fully functional. But what we've been doing is wondering what exactly it is they're working on."
Dahlia leaned forward in her chair, "The last time they did some tinkering they attempted to build door into the roofing of the warehouse, before that they made some modifications to the rocket craft they built for the race and system to launch it from the ship, and apparently they had a hand in the creation of the Mobula but I'm not inclined to really believe that."
She worked a kink out of her back and yawned, "Still, whatever it is we're interested, if only to know if it's going to randomly explode when we least expect it."
-
Cargo Bay
"Well, there's definitely a squid in here."
"And a familiar looking axe propped up next to it, along with some boots sticking out."
"He's hasn't had her a week, and he's already going at it."
"He already rigged the harnesses."
"Ugh. I don't want to think about those harnesses on a squid. It was bad enough on that junker."
Both brothers turn slightly green at the memory. Then they start to call out loudly.
"Hey, is it true that Angleans have fur between their toes?"
"Of course! How else do you think they stay warm!"
Crawling out from under the squid, Alister calls right back.
"And your great grandpa couldn't keep it in his pants. So I guess not ALL royalty is inbred."
"You know Alister, that hurts."
"No it doesn't. You two try and act hurt every time."
"True."
Alister grins. "James and John Raven. It's been awhile. You two sign up?"
"Yep. Heard you and Alison were on here. And we could use the cash."
"John spending to much time in the brothels and James to much time at bars?"
Simultaneously, they shout. "I AM NOT! BUT HE IS!"
Just outside the Cargo Bay
"Oh no. Not the twins. Between them and Alister," A shudder runs down her spine. "We're going to need extra provisions. And medical supplies."
-
Galley
"No we are not putting him out in the desert," Frey starts as he spread the two toppings on the bread, "he has some valuable information that can help us. As for my arm and leg, got it a month ago from a hawacha blast curtesy of our avian friends. My captain and I were out trying to scout them, but apparently they were watching us the whole time."
"But I'll be mainly here on the transport, looking through what we have and providing the necessary help if we should come into contact with them, this isn't my first time dealing with them before." he finishes as he tops of the peanut butter side with the jelly side.
Taking a bite of the sandwich, Frey goes over to the table as he spaces out while remembering what was left at Izumi of the experiments before they blew up the facility. He clenches his first to the more recent events that almost gotten his and his crew's lives.
"Melin's friend and his allies has started the fight against them, I'm hoping that the teams we are sending are going to end it."
Some Resturaunt
"I wonder how Bdr haven't met Alex and Richard sooner, almost everyone at the docks know of his projects and mishaps, heck the Council even has records of every explosion."
Soon Courage's order arrive at the table and is placed in front of him. Taking his knife and fork he begins to cut into the fish and taking several bites.
Wiping his mouth with his napkin he looks at the both of them, "Mmm, this is delicious, want to try a piece?" moreso to Dalhia.
-
Completely oblivious of the story unfolding around him, Koali sat in Gaige's workshop and sharpened the many switch axes he had built.
-
Cargo Bay
Alison walks in and sees what she had suspected. The twins were aboard, and by the looks of it, signed up. "Great, now we'll need a herd of cattle just to feed you three."
"Alison!" Both of the twins grin and walk over, using large motions indicating a desire to hug her.
"Oh no boys. I'm in a mood." She resumes her death stare, only now it's pointed at all three of them.
"Uhhhh okaaay then." The twins back off.
"Really Alison? They just got on board and your already whipping them?"
"You have no room to talk. Remember those guards earlier?"
"They weren't on the crew, and they were rude, AND they were grunts."
Rolling her eyes at Alister's reasoning, she goes back to the door and calls over her shoulder. "I put your gear in a cabin, the closest to the armory. Your welcome." And with that, she leaves heading out into town.
"Well, she hasn't changed much."
Groaning both aloud and internally, Alister comments. "You guys don't know the half of it."
-
--Galley--
“Well whatever happens, we've got your back. Well, that is unless we're dead, death tends to complicate matters.” She finished her sandwich and joined him at the table.
--Some Restaurant--
She contemplated the offered bite for bare moments before it was missing from the fork. While Dahlia had a look of delight on her face Lorena was shaking her head in amusement before answering.
“Probably due to circumstance, I head Azn was a member of an influential family and Dad hasn't been back to Yesha is years, has no reason to now we know where my Grandparents are living. And we've only set foot in Anvala a couple of times at that so the chances of us having met before the festival would have been minimal at best.”
She took a bite of her food, “Besides, Dad and Richard are less inventors than they are bored, tinkering is only an occasional thing, and only when they have a clear idea of what they want to accomplish, the rocket race is a good example of this. Dad mentioned once at lunch that they had the engine they used stashed away for months before finding a use for it, once they had the craft done they probably treated it like any other machine they've worked on, finding ways to improve it. It's why it now has two banshees and an addition gatling loaded instead of just the gatling for the gunner position. It's also why they haven't done anything to it except general reinforcing.”
--Middle Residential, Davis' House--
The kind of people who live in this part of the city tend to be people with jobs and a stable income, so unlike them Davis lives alone in a building meant to house 4 people comfortably. Not that he really minds after all. He unlocked the door and stepped in, sitting on the couch he dumped a small bag of letters on the coffee table and began to sort through them.
“Lets see, a couple of letters from sis, a few letters from people offering jobs -don't need those right now-, a letter from father...” What?
He tore the damn thing open and began reading through it, his dad never sent him letters, if only because his dad shouldn't know where he lived. So it begs the question of how he got his address. Probably from searching his sister's room, a plausible explanation and one he was willing to entertain for the time being. He sighed, it was a letter asking to come home, that and one reminding him that if he wanted to play soldier he could take a position closer to home, which he wouldn't. Davis had had enough of being stuck in one place long enough during university and that wouldn't happen anytime soon, he'd also need to figure out transport to Chaladon which probably wouldn't end very well.
Still, at least his father was beginning to accept that a sheltered life wasn't for him. Recalling the incident when he told his father that, no, he wouldn't be taking over the family business, and that he would be joining the military, he did after all have a few other siblings that were willing. That never happened and instead he fled the island and became a mercenary, and he enjoyed it for the most part, sometimes however jobs were complete bull, but that was only occasional since he learned what kind of jobs from what kind of people he should be taking.
He began to look through the letters his sister had sent him, the most recent being about 2 weeks ago. If there was one person he actually enjoyed contacting it would be his sister, at least she wouldn't berate him from choosing his own path in life, besides, like him she wouldn't be inheriting the family business either, instead wanting to be a musician, studying music at university. He had heard that she was really good at it and from her letters, he could really tell she enjoyed it. Which was good, it was one of the few reasons he actually supported her, well, aside from actually liking her. Seriously, even though he loved his siblings he only really enjoyed spending time with Catherine. Which was thankful because the rest of their siblings were stuck up and hardly relatable at all, even though his sister got along with them just fine, and for some bizarre reason looked up to him, he could never explain that at all. Still if this letter said that school was out for the time being and coming to stay for a while- Wait what?
Because life sometimes has a tendency to throw things at him out of the blue he- there was a knock at the door.
"Davis are you home!?" Seriously?! What?!
After preparing tea he sat down at the couch with his sister, her long sandy brown hair braided as opposed to his reddish tint which he kept cut short.
"I waited two days for a response you know, when you didn't reply I thought I'd surprise you when you got back, from the dead look on your face I guess I succeeded?" She asked, innocently enough.
"Yes, yes you did." He cleared his throat, "So, how was school?"
She looked at the pile of unopened letters still on the table. "You never read my letters." She pouted, she did that a lot actually. "Okay fine, it's been... alright, I had a recital." She said.
"Oh? And how did that go?"
"Well enough... I invited you." Well, shit. "It's not your fault, I guess you were out on a job huh?"
"Yeah, just got back actually."
"And that means you'll be back for a while right? We can hang out here in the city, grab some food, maybe see if there are any shows in the city."
"I, um, may have accepted a job, today."
"What?"
"Yeah."
She looked at him and sighed. "Oh Davis what am I going to do with you?"
"Well, I mean we don't leave immediately, so... Why don't we grab dinner tonight? My treat, I'll check in tomorrow and maybe we can spend the day shopping, you can use the house when I leave, maybe see if anyone will be willing to host a recital or two."
"Yeah, that's sounds like fun." She smiled. I AM THE CHAMPION! "Just for the record if I decide to have a few friends over when you're gone, I am not holding myself responsible for any damages."
"Please don't damage the house, I actually kind of like this place."
-
Galley
Before going out into town, Alison decides to get something in her stomach besides questionable rum. Upon entering she sees the Commander and the auburn haired woman. Honestly, she can't remember actually introducing herself to them. Aside from being seen fighting Alister, both verbally and physically, she doesn't remember any contact with them. "Um hi. Just grabbing a bite to eat. You Commander Frey, right? I don't believe we've actually been introduced. And I don't think we have either Miss."
Cargo Bay
"So we're going south eh?"
"Yep."
"Seems a lot of firepower just for some mapping, huh?"
"Yep."
"Are you going to tell us why?"
"Nope."
The brother's shrug. They've had missions like this before, and they're both still in one piece.
"Alison isn't the one cooking, right?"
"Nope."
"Thank the sky."
-
--Galley--
"Funny because I remember cutting a weapon strap on you, good times, good times." She took a bite of her sandwich. "Also, you look as if you've seen a ghost, or an ice worm. Is something wrong?"
-
Galley
"Yes, and I remember getting my blade under your armor without you noticing until I pointed it out. But we didn't ACTUALLY catch each others names. And I'd rather not have a feud with a coworker on a job like this. It would be unnecessarily messy, not to mention a liability in combat." She pinches the bridge of her nose. "As for something being wrong, well, two old associates of Alister and me have signed up. Twin brothers each with an appetite to match his. They're good at what they do, don't get me wrong. Some of the most naturally gifted engineers I've ever met, and effective fighters. They both can shoot and fight equally well with either hand. But, they are both 19 and you know what 19 year old guys are like. At least Alister is finished going through puberty, and can act mature when necessary."
Cargo Bay
"So your rigging that squid up in you favorite way, right?"
"Of course."
"Need any help?"
"Considering you two know what your doing, yes. Should be able to get this finished much quicker with you two here."
-
--Galley--
"I thought I hugged you." She looked at the other woman funny, "Well you've already got half of my name, might as well give you another fourth. Reagan, nice to finally make your acquaintance."
She thought for another second, "Also those two sound like a bottle of fun, remind me to bring some leashes."
-
Galley
"Reagan, and mine is Alison. Also they would probably either a) figure a way out, or b) eat them. They're mostly just snarky and slightly rude. They usually don't mean it, when they actually want to insult a person they prefer using other methods." She think for a moment. "Though, there is a high chance they could be rather flirty to that blonde who hangs around you. She seems close enough to their age to pique there interest. Thankfully, I can terrify them, and Alister has always been able to beat the tar out of them until they listen. Last job we all did together, that was a monthly occurrence. He made a bet with them, that if they could either knock him out or pin him for 1 minute, then he'd give both of them his cut of the pay. They never even came close, but they did get better at fighting."
-
--Galley--
"Amelia can take care of herself, I think."
She thinks for second, "Men are a completely different battlefield thinking on it now."
-
Galley
"I have a feeling they think much the same of us. In all honestly, despite his personality flaws, Alister is a much more level-headed person then when I met him. He was 19, and half his personality was a volatile mix of anger, pride, and stubbornness. Now that's only about a quarter."
-
Some Restaurant
"Hmm, the last time I seen my craft was back at the race and the engines....oh the engines," stray off Courage as he remembers that the last time he saw his craft's engines they were strapped to a very large rocket.
"But I'm almost finished here, you guys want to head out? I can help with some of the bags."
Transport, Galley
"Ahh I remember when I was nineteen, hijacked a trainer ship when I went through Officer Candicate School. Best thirty minute chase I have been in. But a pleasure to meet you Miss." Frey starts as he extends his hand.
He stops for a second, looking at Alison's face Frey could have sworn that she looked familiar, even if this is his first time meeting with her.
"Welcome aboard though, and I hope that you can deal with all three from what I'm hearing."
-
Galley
Alison sees the slight recognition on the commander's face. Could he have? No, not possible. "The twins have fairly benign personalities, aside from being cocky and a little to fond of pretty girls. They no where the line is though, and they don't cross it. Alister though," She shudders and gets an odd look on her face. "He was trouble at 19. You got the feeling his commander's were grooming him. Trying to turn him into something else. They encouraged his quick temper, and tried to get him to be more sadistic."
Cargo Bay
"Good grief Alister! the wiring on this is shoddy! How have you not been electrocuted yet?"
"Your think I haven't already?"
-
--Galley--
Reagan caught onto the appraising look her two compatriots were giving each other and sighed.
"I'm missing something here aren't I?" She said quietly as she finished off her sandwich. "I wonder what Amelia is up to at the moment." She said to no one in particular.
--Some Restaurant--
Dahlia smiled at him, "That would be nice, we can talk on the way."
Lorena sighed a breath of relief and saddled him with the bags that simply contained heavy metal components that she would need for maintaining their equipment and skipped out after paying for her meal, that left the two love birds to look at each other, have a shared smile, and left after Dahlia payed for hers.
Lorena was waiting for them outside, "Dad and the others should be back eventually, if you want you can wait with us, maybe check out those howitzers." She gives Dahlia a knowing look before leading them to their warehouse.
--Wreckage of IAS Winthrop--
"You know Cap, I don't think fighting off raiders was in the MO today!"
"I know! Now shut up Richard and kill these bastards!"
The salvage mission was almost complete, they had found the wine with little issue, and had salvaged a good number of items before the raiders had set upon them from the North. On the South side of the wreckage their ship was unharmed, for now at least, if the raiders managed to get through their defense they could, feasibly, strand them in the middle of nowhere, and that didn't appeal to anyone on the crew. Which was why Preston and Travis were currently rigging the ship to explode. Reynold and Phillip were firing down on the raiders with a salvaged gatling and was keeping them down for the most part, though they were running out of ammo and the rifles that Richard and Alex were currently going through the ammo supplies they had brought along like wild fire.
Fire discipline among the Skyrunner's crew however was steady and were downing raiders left and right, there were however quite a lot of them, more than they had ammo for, and while their ship was quite literally meters away, they couldn't make a run for it as the raiders would realize what was going on. And probably run them down, it was probably why they were rigging for remote detonation instead of a timed one.
Up on deck things were going well despite the increasing scarcity of ammo for the gatling, what they had left was currently pooled on the deck next to the gun. Phillip consistently swung the gun across the enemy line, preventing them from moving forward, those that did were cut down by rifle shots from the Captain and Richard who were down a deck. Reynold came back on deck with another can of ammunition and connected the ends of the belt together.
"Phillip," he said calmly despite the ensuing battle. "Why did you have me fetch tape?"
"Because my fingers really hurt." He let go of the trigger for a brief moment before taping it down.
"Ahh, clever. Think my Brother and Preston have finished?"
"Check yourself, I haven't had a chance." He waved a hand in the general direction of the raiders.
Reynold shrugged and walked over to the other side of the ship, Travis was standing at the bottom of their ship's ladder and Preston was climbing up with a coil of cord hanging from his belt.
"Yeah, almost I'd say." Phillip wasn't paying attention and instead was sweeping his gun over the enemy lines again.
He tapped him on the shoulder. "Phillip we should tell the Captain it's time to make a run for it."
"You take over then!" He handed him control of the gun and left.
The fight changed, instead of sweeping over the enemy lines like Phillip had, he had a different strategy in mind, the raiders hadn't come from nowhere and their vehicles were sitting a bit further back, though doubting it could reach that far he gave it a shot and aimed for the nearest truck. It lasted only a few seconds before it burst into flames, drawing more attention to him relieving the beleaguered lower deck. This also had the effect of allowing more raiders through their curtain of fire. Alex sighted down one and fired, the shot slamming into the advancing raiders shoulder and sent him to the ground in agony. He didn't think about it as he sent another round straight through another's kneecap, usually he was better at this entire killing thing. Something crashed behind him and he turned with his rifle up to see Phillip picking himself off the deck.
"Fine day isn't it Captain?" He said.
"If only you consider this lead storm decent weather!" He popped out of cover and sighted in the nearest raider and downed him with a shot to the chest. "Preston finished laying the explosives?"
"He was laying cord to the detonator last we saw."
Alex shrugged and instead of answering tapped Richard on the shoulder and motioned it was time to go. Up on deck Reynold had finished taking out the nearest vehicles and was now sweeping the gun across the enemy lines, hopefully forcing them down long enough for them to make a run for it. Phillip came back on deck and motioned for him to come running.
The raiders decided to stay put, their King having ordered them to hold until the gatling ran out of ammo. Which it inevitably did. Of course he was a smart man and decided to sit before ordering a cadre of his soldiers to enter the ship. He had to give it to those who had held the ship, they were fierce fighters, and clever, which was why they currently weren't storming the ship in anger at having their vehicles destroyed. His personal chariot among them. He watched his soldiers advance slowly, waiting for the fighters on board to rain death upon them, they never did, and he had to wonder if they were dead or if they had decided to run. His question however was answered as the ship burst into flame, showering the cadre of advancing warriors with flaming debris.
"Well, Shit." Said the Raider King.
Reynold climbed onto their ship and watched as the wreckage didn't so much explode as burst into flame. Still, it was spectacular enough he supposed and as they flew away wondered if the wine was really worth the trouble.
-
Striding into the Cargo Bay, Gaige spies the two boys and Carn.
"Ahoy! I presume this is the Squid I signed up to fly on?"
-
Cargo Bay
"Aye it is. Currently fitting her out with marauder modifications."
The twins look at the weird white haired guy.
"Whatever you do, avoid the harnesses."
"It was bad on a junker. Repelling off of a squid at full speed......."
Both brothers turn green with nausea.
"You guys SAID you knew how to repel."
Galley
"I've never met the commander before. Though he might know of the twins. They're related to King Gregor. They're grandfather was the younger, bastard brother, of Gregor's grandfather."
-
"Mm, seen those. Bombs, correct? If you need another pair of hands I'm more than willing to help."
Turning to the twins, he laughs.
"Ever been a soldier on a Mobula? They drop so fast you can let go of your coffee mug and it just about floats. Then, just as you are about to hit the ground, you slow to a stop, and are expected to rappel off and onto the ground and into combat."
-
Cargo Bay
"He's done that too."
"But when your trailing from a hundred foot rope, attached by just leather and a bit of iron. And all this when he's flying a squid a max speed burning moonshine..... "
"Yeah sorry Alister, we'll be happy to help you out here."
"But no way are we crewing on your squid."
"We'd like to keep our lunches."
"Fine, now if you two are done complaining, will you bolt on the cover already? I don't need open wiring in combat."
-
"That'd be fun! Spread your arms and it'd be like you were flying!"
-
Cargo Bay
"If only it weren't for the bullets coming at us."
"And Alister expecting us to land combat ready."
"Aaaaaaannnd done. Now to acquire said packages."
"We are NOT helping you load active explosives."
"Well I still have to get the name on her. So the bombs can wait. For now."
-
"Bullets suck, but just give a few seconds to alleviate the headrush and get your balance, and you're good to go. It comes with experience, believe me."
-
Cargo Bay
Chuckling, Alister goes over and sits near the helm, working on the stencil. "These boys are greenhorns with this stuff Gaige. But they're some of the best damn engineer s I've met. And considering their age, that's quite impressive. They're also both ambidextrous, so they fight and shoot equally well with either hand. Now figuring out which is which is a whole 'nother thing. I can only tell when they fight. They move slightly differently, but that's it."
-
"That's good to hear. So, boys! I'd like a list of your capabilities. I presume I am to be senior engineer on this ship, and I'd like to know what I have to work with."
-
Cargo Bay
"We already said, we're not crewing on it."
-
--Galley--
"So long as they don't give me a good reason to stab them I guess we'll be fine." She sighed, angry bullheaded soldier was one thing, hormonal teenagers is another thing entirely.
-
Galley
"If they get too out of line, just tell them Alister will make them use the harnesses. You wouldn't believe how effective that is. Instant nausea."
-
Transport, Galley
"My apologise if I was staring, but are you relat..." was all Frey got out before the door to the galley opens.
"Commander, there you are! You don't know how long I have been searching for you." yells Enger as he barges in.
With two fingers on his temple, Frey answers, "Councilman, I told you before I left my office that I would be here. What seems to be the problem."
"You are needed back at the Hall, we need to discuss about your decision to join the expidition."
"And by 'we'?"
"Councilman Xin, Councilwoman Alishia and I. Now come they are already waiting."
Enger starts to walk out of the room before he pokes his head back in, "Also, bring a full captain roster. The three of us are interested on who is to fly."
With that final statement, Enger closes the door behind him. Sighing, Frey finishes his sandwich and stands from his seat.
"Well if you can excuse me, looks like I got a meeting to attend. Captain Morgan, Alison."
With a nod to both of them, Frey collects his cane and exits the galley. Frey walks through the Cargo Bay where he sees Carn and several others around the Squid. Not wasting a minute, he strides down the gangplank and to the table set up in front picking up several more applications. On his walk to the Council Hall, he looks through and picks out a few people that stands out to him.
Council Hall
Arriving to the building after several minutes of walking, Frey goes up to the receptionist.
"Excuse me, where is the meeting with Councilman Xin?"
"One moment please," she replies as she shifts through a day planner, "umm it looks like the meeting is being held at his office. He, Councilman Enger and Councilwoman Alishia are already inside."
"Thank you." Frey says with a smile.
Before going to the Yeshan section of the building, Frey heads back to his office in the Baron section to retrieve the instal applicants. With all documents set, he arrives to Xin's office as the three are discussing logistics.
Market District en route to South Docks
"Sure," answers Courage to Lorena's reply after retrieving his weapons. Adjusting his new rifle across his chest, Courage balances the bags as he follow the two.
"So besides working, anything exciting in the last month? Hopefully nothing like fighting off a faction exciting. Ofh, what are in these bags?"
Shifting the weight around, each step Courage takes his prosthetic makes a slight creaking sound.
-
Galley
Keeping control of her face, Alison mentally goes through her repertoire, or curses. Flak, he knows her. This could complicate things, good thing I don't use the family name but still. "Well I came in here for a late breakfast, now it seems like it will be a early lunch. If you will excuse me Reagan, I need to find a suitable meal." She heads into the storage area, and comes out with a large chunk of bread, a chicken leg, and two apples. Very quickly it is all gone, just the apple cores and chicken bones left in the trash. After that, she goes to the cargo bay.
Cargo Bay
"Oh come on boys, I promise not to make you jump near the engines."
"NO!" They both shout in unison, after, one of them sees the rocket craft.
"What is that beautiful thing?"
"That would be Captain Morgan's baby. I forget what she called it, but it uses rocket engines, and it's got a gatling and I think some banshees on it."
"I think we'd rather go on that one......"
"Behave yourselves, she has a young blonde friend."
"Blonde? I love blondes!" They once again cry in unison.
"If I hear so much as a rumor of you causing her trouble, I'll see to it that your dangling from the lines, and with nothing but Alison's cooking."
"That's cruel and unusual Alister....."
"It IS Alister dude, would you expect anything else?"
"Glad to see you you boys know me so well."
-
--Merchants District--
"Oh you know, a few odds and ends." Lorena smiles back to him as she leads them through the crowd.
"She means a very large amount of engineering equipment and maintenance supplies. Probably gave you all of them." She sighed, smiling. "Nothing so exciting, in fact it's been quiet. It's... quite nice actually." She looks at him, "You know I didn't sign up to be a soldier, but for some reason I was willing to follow that boss of mine deep into the guild in order to prevent the take over of an entire nation." She shook her head, "I don't understand it really. Not that I mind of course, he's a good man and he pays well. He takes care of us too so can I fault him if occasionally he asks us to follow him into danger? Skies with my job danger always seems to be around the corner, I bet they ran into a spot of trouble out there on the job today."
"What about you? Life throw any curve balls these past few weeks?"
--Galley--
Reagan suddenly realized she was alone, and with the throbbing question of "Now what?" She sighed, there was probably a pile of paperwork sitting on her desk back at HQ. She should finish that before setting off, maybe she should file in for hazard pay, later pick up some records, a player, and find the observation deck on this ship. That sounded like a good idea. One she was going to put into motion after she cleaned the kitchen here, the bloody pigs.
--Captain's Quarters--
Amelia was bored, laying on the bed she watched as Andromeda peacefully rested on the stand she had finished. It was good her sky-squid-pet-thing was enjoying it. But she had no idea what she should be doing. She still had that bag of money that she accumulated the other day. Maybe she should stock the armory with the weapons they now had on board, they were just sitting in the cargo bay last she heard and it wasn't like they were going to move themselves. That sound like a good idea, perfectly valid reason to get her body moving. She decided to leave Andromeda for now, she placed her rifle over her right shoulder and let the sub machine gun hang out from under her left and strode out of the room.
-
Galley
"Hey! I heard that! My cooking isn't THAT bad."
"Alison," Begins one of the twins, "You could kill a sky whale with cereal."
"Hmph."
-
"THAT I'd like to see. Well Carn, if the twins aren't crewing then who is? I need to get acquainted."
-
In the midst of everything, Koali was setting up a small living space on the transport ship.
-
Cargo Bay
"You and Koali, not sure as yet who the fourth is. She can carry extra crew though, she has the engine s for it."
"I'll crew on her," Alison states with a glare. " You'll need someone who knows how to use mines. And I know your preferred combat style."
"Fine, if we're the main forray team, it makes sense having someone with your talents."
-
--Cargo Bay--
Amelia entered the cargo bay, and immediately saw Carn was talking with a bunch of others, including including two faces she hadn't seen before. Still, this was not a priority, the weapon carts sitting a few meters away were. She walked on over and began to push the bin, and slowly began pushing it toward the armory.
-
Cargo Bay
Seeing the blonde girl, the twins immediately set off, taking the cart. One of them asking, "Where to Miss?" while he and his brother flash her smiles. Dark blue eyes under a mop of black hair, with very white teeth.
"Remember. POLITE!" Alister call after the twins, taking some pleasure in the slight pause in their strides.
"Will they ever learn?"
"In this matter? I doubt it."
-
--Cargo Bay--
Well this was awkward, of course it didn't show on her face what she thought about the situation, she was the daughter of a prominent family! Trained in the art of avoiding potential suitors! Of course that tended to involved dinner parties and exceedingly expensive dresses. Instead she gave a polite nod, stepped aside, and pointed to the weapon cart that looked more custom made for the job of carrying weapons.
"If you could also bring that along it would be most appreciated." without waiting for either of them she turned and began walking off to the armory, wondering if she should make sure her weapons were locked.
-
Council Hall
"To get at least a decent search in, we need at least a months worth of supplies." says Enger as he pulls out a map with different search radius and points to the widest one.
"Even if we have enough supplies, the entire ship fleet wouldn't be able to carry all that. Two weeks of food, fuel, and ammo should suffice." Counters Xin.
"Alishia, how about the Guild? Can they bring replenishment ships out to us if we need it?"
"I don't know, this is a secret Baron/Yeshan operation. i already allowed them access through our borders, sending ships out to the south will bring in suspicion. Plus I don't believe anyone wants to go out into the unknown from there." Alishia replies while twirling her hair, "Ah Commander, good for you to join us."
"Why, yes welcome Commander. About time you caught up." Enger says flatly.
"Thank you Enger, it's my pleasure." Says Frey as he takes a seat at the table. He then places down the files he has in his hands and distributes them around. All three spread the papers out on the table for all to see.
"So Commander this is the entire list?" asks Xin while looking at one of the applications.
"Yes, around forty people. Leading it would be a Mr. Carn and Captain Reagan. The other three ship captains are Alexi Kasparov, Renard Larson, and Ulric Culvin. As well as four pilots for the planes: Davis Hargrave, Farris Moore, Antonio Gonzalez, and Kei Naga. Plus various crew members that will be assigned later." Frey explains.
"This is quite a list," starts Xin, "Enger this is why we should limit the time outside the borders, and with all this people payment will be stretched thin. You even said that the King and several high lords have to pull multiple strings to get this money."
Sighing, "Alright then, two weeks it is then. Well Commander if you are to head out as well, I hope your search will be fruitful."
"Hmm" says Alishia and Xin upon hearing Frey's participation.
"Well I am part the 13th, even if we did became the King's Honor Guard, I'm sure that my skills would benefit with the search."
"Very well, this should be all. Thank you Commander, Alishia, Enger," Xin addresses the three, "This meeting is done, you can go about with the rest of your day."
Thanking the Councilman, Frey says his goodbyes and exit the room. Leaving the building entirely, he then starts his walk back to the transport.
Militia Docks, Transport
Arriving after several minuts, he stops and look upon the bare hull.
Hmm, we really need a name for this ship.
Snapping his fingers, Frey calls over to several dock workers standing idly by. Seeing the Commander, the three briskly jogs to him.
"What can we do for you sir?"
"Just need a paint job for the transport over there," Frey points to the ship, "Need you to the the name Eagle's Shadow and that will be all"
"Got it, let's go boys I'll get the ladder."
As the three go off to get the necessary supplies, Frey looks back at the transport.
Let's see how long you can hide with the Eagles hunting.
En route to South Docks
"Oh nothing much out of the ordinary," Courage starts, "Mainly helping out running with the Saloon since I can't do much hard labor at the moment with my new leg. If not there I'm at the clinic doing therapy. I would say the only curve ball is having to adjust knowing that....it's gone" he ends quietly.
Courage stares down at his feet eyeing his right "leg" each time he takes a step. Countless nights he would wake up having ghost pains of what wasn't there, each time grabbing air where flesh and bones should be. His therapist says its normal to feel that after losing a limb, but it still hurts.
He looks over to Dalhia and force a small smile, "Sorry about that, I shouldn't have bring down the mood."
-
Corridor
For all intents and purposes, the twins act and almost look like two puppies, as they follow this pretty blonde girl. With rather stupid looking, albeit happy, expressions on their faces, they each take a cart a try to subtly flex their muscles. Unlike Alister who is built lean an hard, they are more slim and admittedly have a natural grace when they move.
Cargo Bay
"Well this should be amusing to watch. I heard she's from a rather well to do family, and though they are technically related to the Baronies Royalty, it's through bastardy." Alister ponders aloud as he finishes the last letter of the stencil. After that, he sets it down and goes over to where some black paint and some brushes are.
"Well boys, I'd love to stay here and here you complain about my cooking. But I'll be in town for a few hours."
"Yeah yeah, just don't piss off the guard. After this morning's incident, we don't need the extra flak."
Snorting at Alister's obvious attempt to not admit he overreacted, causing the incident, Alison leaves for town.
-
--Merchants District--
She looked at him, a soft smile gracing her face. Honestly it worried her, not everyone had escaped unscathed, even the captain had been apprehensive for a little while thereafter for various reasons.
She gave him a little elbow bump, "It's alright, you're alive and here. That's all that matters to me right now."
--Corridor--
Amelia however was doing her very best to ignore them, which was working, if only because she had other things on her mind. She was trying her best to remember what her mother had taught her about avoiding men, it was either that or trying to remember what her father had taught her about escaping kidnappers. The former she was blanking on quite heavily, the other involved gratuitous amounts foot to genital contact. She had to stop thinking though and calm down. Focus on the task at hand for now, and then find a corner to freak out in later. It was at that moment she could vividly hear them trying to flex their muscles. Skies, why must I deal with this?
-
Corridor
One of the brothers, James, was beginning to notice that their usual antics were having no effect.
"So Miss, I'm James and this is my brother John. What's yours? Shipmates should know what to call each other after all."
John nods in agreement. James was always the smarter one.
Merc Bar, below Cathedral
Alison walks inside, nodding to the bartender. He motions to a shadowy corner booth where one can dimly make out the shape of a person in a cloak. Nodding back to the bartender and flipping him a coin, she goes over and sits across from the cloaked figure. Upon closer inspection a strand of red hair can be seen from under the hood.
"So, you got in."
"Yes." Replies Alison.
"Any possible problems?"
"Three. Alister for one, he knows more about me and my methods than even you."
"This is expected of course. You also have similar knowledge on him. What about the others?"
"The co-commander, Captain Reagan Morgan. She's smart and impulsive. She may start snooping, but she's the one I'm least worried about."
"And who else is there?"
"Frey. I think he knows, or at least suspects, that we are related. And he is coming as you know."
"Of all three I'd say Carn is the most dangerous. As you said, he's out for blood. If he gets wind of my involvement," a shudder runs through the cloaked figure. "I have no desire for the Headsman of Hanat after me."
"Oh relax sis, your paying me good coin to eliminate any evidence I find. You have worries."
"Glad to see you have such confidence in you skill, little sister. Now I must go, can't be seen here."
The figure gets up and leaves. Muttering under her breath, Alison says. "Good-by Alisha, my dear sister."
-
In the cargo bay...
With some difficulty, Koali managed to carry several switch axes into the cargo bay.
"We got a spare weapon rack for these?"
-
Cargo Bay
Alister looks up and sees Koali carrying several dangerous looking contraptions. "Armory, provided they are weapons. First, show me what it is. After that, I'll need to introduce you to the modifications to the ship." He turns back and finishes the last bit of filigree for the ship's name. "The Kibeth has been modified marauder style. Gaige is familiar with it, I highly doubt you are."
Brig
"Hmm, let me think....AH I know!" Clearing his throat, Jasper begins another of his rhymes designed to demoralize his captors. A ventriloquist of some slight skill, he is able to throw his voice to an empty set of tubes which are used to communicate across large vessels such as these. "One, two, three, four, someone's knocking at the door. Five, six, seven, eight, the birds have come to seal your fate. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, down into fear you shall delve. Twelve, eleven, ten, nine, the days grow short and your minds are mine. Eight, seven, six, five, deep into your psyche I shall dive. Four, three, two, one, the nights are long and your lives are done............."
Cargo Bay
"Dammit!" Going over to the pipe set, Carn bellows into it. "We haven't even taken off yet, and you already are trying me! Keep this up Briggs, and to hell with it all! I'll shove you screaming into and running engine, then detonate it!" Closing the pipe, Alister comes back over to Koali. "Now kid, what are these things?"
Corridor
"Wait, was that Jasper?"
"Sounds even creepier than usual."
"I didn't know he was crewing on this job too."
"Actually, I heard that there's a max security prisoner on here. I think it may be him."
Right after they finish this short conversation, Alister's reply comes through the pipes.
"Yeah, it's definitely Jasper in the brig."
"Briggs is in the brig?"
"Don't. Ever. Make that joke again."
-
With a flourish, Koali activates the mechanism on one of the axes and the blades slide into position in axe form.
"That's not all. It absorbs kinetic energy in axe form, which it then lets out..."
Yet another flourish and the axe becomes a sword.
"In sword form! It's a little heavy to use, so I don't recommend it against an armed, able-bodied human opponent, but against anything else..."
Koali leans closer.
"Like those bird things..."
Koali leans back out.
"It should do just fine!"
-
Cargo Bay
Alister looks at the switch axe, then to his axe. He repeats this process several times, summing up this confabbed contraption against his tried and true brute. "I'll stick with my brute. Put them in a pile over there for now," He says, indicating a spot where the empty leather bags are.b"not on the bags thank you. Then come over here. Your going to receive a crash course in basic marauder squids. If your lucky, you won't actually crash." He says in the sadistic deadpan humor favored by sergeants the world over, when teaching a greenhorn something that is very easy to get injured.
Brig
"Stuff me in a engine, then detonate it? Honestly, not a spectacular threat Al. Ah well, I'll let the good man have his fun for now."
-
Eagle's Shadow, Cargo Bay
Seeing that the deckhands have set up the ladder and beginning to add stencils, Frey walks up the gangplank into the cargo bay and sees Koali with his sword-axe.
"Impressive, just keep an eye on that, we don't want to lose limbs before we set off."
He then turns to the Squid currently sitting idle and takes a walk around it while inspecting the craft.
"Well Mr. Carn, I know their several spec ops that would grapple onto other ships, some of my ships back north being a few, but I never seen the likes of this. Maurader style?"
Then he hears the rhyme coming through the pipes and Remembered that they have a guest on board.
Sighing, "I think we may need to pay our friend a visit, care to join," Frey ask Carn.
Somewhere in the City
Putting on a genuine smile, Courage nudges her back, "Dalhia, do you know that you are amazing person. Thank you."
Looking down the road, Courage wonders how far until they are at the warehouse. Looking up to the sky he sees that the sun is directly overhead, maybe slightly lower to the west.
"We almost there yet? My arms are staring to ache."
-
Cargo Bay
"Certainly sir." Turning back to Koali he says. "Just load them in the armory. I'll show you what you'll need to know later." Alister begins to walk with Frey down to the brig. "Yes, the harnesses are designed so one can repel of the ship in flight. Very useful when you enemies are scrambling to get to their artillery, then there's suddenly a half-dozen heavily armed, and heavily pissed off soldiers point their guns at them. Having leaped over the ship. There's a special mechanism that slows you down, so you have both hands available for your weapons. I've also rigged another modification so it is able to carry, and drop, bombs. Either four, 100 lb bombs, or one 400 lb bomb. I also found the time to get the name on her."
-
Eagle's Shadow
"Better not to tell the rest of the expidition about that feature, we are still under the guise of a surveying fleet. We may have the weapons to go out in an assault, but we don't need it until for sure we located them."
After walking down the long corridor, the two arrives to the door of the brig. Frey opens it and allows Carn to walk on through. Sealing the hatch behind them, Frey takes two chairs from a nearby table and places them in front of Jasper's cell.
"Mr. Briggs, I assume that the accommodations are to your liking?"
-
Brig
"A bit heavy on the Iron Bar motif. I'd personally have gone with a more classical dungeon myself. But military budgets rarely allow for the niceties I know."
"Cut to the chase Briggs. You know why we're here."
"Oh? I've just been sitting here, singing quietly to myself."
"Quietly my sky-kissed butt. You forget, I know you can throw your voice."
"And you forget Alister......I know what happened in Hanat."
"You wouldn't,"
"Did that strike a nerve? Is the Headsman going to return tonight? What a spectacle that would be."
"You whore-son, shut up and answer only what we ask!"
"Very well. What questions do you have for me Commander?"
-
Brig
"Enough," Frey calmly says, "Mr. Briggs, you and I know that your old employers have a tendency to going into hiding and constructing hidden bases. So far we search, raided, and destroyed those within our known boundaries, now do you have any information of their whereabouts outside the borders."
Taking a seat, Frey leans back on the chair as he waits.
-
Brig
"Oh, now that is some interesting information. Yes, I roughly know where their southern base is, and I know of it's design. I could be persuaded to divulge this information, if the Commander would humor me with some tea and intelligent conversation every so often."
-
Brig
Frey sits idly by at the offered proposal, "Very well, but mind yourself Mr. Briggs. I maybe reasonable at times, but play any of your games and you'll see yourself being tied up dangling over the hanger bay 1000 meters off the ground."
Frey picks himself off his seat using his cane and walks towards the hatch.
"I'll be at the command room if you need anything Mr. Carn." he says to him before leaving, "You can stay with Mr. Briggs longer if you wish, but that is all for now."
-
--Lost?--
"Thanks, I try." She gave him a beaming smile but he had brought up a point. She looked around trying to figure out where they were, finding that Lorena was leading them in a massive roundabout path through the city.
"Skies above. Lorena! Where are you taking us?!"
The seemingly forgotten about third member of their party looked back at them, a questioning look on her face, one filled with amusement and mischief.
"Why, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Mock surprise mixed with mock offense filled her voice. She probably would have brought a hand to her mouth if both hands weren't holding bags. She then sighed, "Ok, we'll head straight for the warehouse."
--Armory--
Amelia giggled silently as the trio entered the armory, though the fact they were certainly aiming for her was awkward. It was however, amusing how easily distracted the pair were. Still they had asked her name, it would be rude not to formally introduce herself.
"Amelia," She said, not even looking at the pair. "My name is Amelia, now help me store these weapons."
-
Brig
"Well Alister,"
"If you EVER mention what happened in Hanat,"
"Oh relax Alister. I won't answer any questions unless asked." Thinking to himself, that if the commander asks what happened in Hanat, then he is free to tell him.
Alister senses the loophole, though he is to irritated to pinpoint it. "No more of that drivel you call rhyming, or I'll see about tightening those binds by a couple more pounds." After that lingering threat, Alister leaves.
Whispering to himself, as not to alert Alister, Jasper says, "So, he does not enjoy that memory. Good, that's something I can use."
Armory
"Certainly." The twins say in unison. It's amazing how often they do that, despite that they never rehearse it. They begin filling the weapon racks with surprising speed.
"Alister had us do this crap all the time."
"He timed us. Kept saying that we had to keep up with his standards, if we were on his ship."
"What happened to that old junker?"
"Heard it got blown in one of the old ruined cities in."
"He never did care for it much.'
"Yeah, that squid is more his type."
"So Miss Amelia, do you happen to know the name of that interesting rocket vehicle, and who commands it?"
-
Koali manages to carry all of the switch axes to the armory.
"Yo, twins, would you mind helping me with these?"
-
"Here, Koali, hand me one."
Unclipping the chainsword from his belt, he holds it out to Koali, and extends his other hand to receive a switch axe.
-
Koali hands Shaded a switch axe and takes the chainsword.
"Oof! This thing is definitely not balanced the same as a longsword."
-
Armory
"Did the sunburnt midget just give us an order?"
"It might have been a request, but I've got no idea who he is."
"And I'm definitely not touching those things."
"Agreed. They look like they could fly apart any second."
To the Market
After the conversation with Jasper, Alister wentnin town tonbuy som things. Specifically clothes. As he was by, he sees two women leading a man in a meandering way. Well the one in the lead seems to be directing the other two. The man looks familiar. Glancing down, Alister notices he has a prothstetic leg. "Hey, weren't you the guy from last night? The one seemingly everyone but me knew?"
-
"No, it is not. Heavy blade, light grip. Only way you'll parry with this thing is grabbing the backing and pushing the teeth against whatever you're trying to stop. Neither is this thing, though, oof."
-
Armory
"I'm thinking we stick with our own gear."
"Agreed. I don't like being a guinea-pig for new weapons."
"Especially considering those weapons look like you have almost a high a chance at killing yourself."
Merc Bar
Alison finishes her drink, in quiet contemplation. Alisha was her sister, not that they ever got along well. Alison prefers to use her mother's maiden name professionally. She never got along with her father, and her sister followed in his career path. Guildmasters and council member, pah! She prefered to go out and see the world. Still, Alisha is paying her good money to dispose of any evidence she may find that further connects the Guild to these Birdmen. Pulling it off may be tricky though. She was in no way exaggerating when she said Alister was out for blood, and Reagan is far from stupid. Then there's Frey, he knows Alisha, and seems to suspect their relation. That won't be good if he catches on. Alister may be the biggest threat if she's found out, but Frey seems to be the biggest threat to finding her out. As always when its personal, Alister will get tunnel vision, but Frey. Frey has more restraint than Alister. He'll keep his eyes open for any irregularities.
-
"The only way you'll kill yourself with a switch axe is by swinging it into your own head. With a chainsword, though... I imagine half-swording is out of the question."
-
"Two hands only, yes. Trust me, this is safe. Same safety rules as a regular chainsaw."
-
Somewhere in Cathedral
The trio stops and turn to see who's voiced asked the question. Though Dalhia and Lorena have puzzled looks upon their face at seeing this stranger, Courage's face light up in recognition.
"Why yes, and you are the one in charge of the new expidition with Regean. Amelia said your name was Carn or something? Well I'm Courage and these are my friends Dalhia and Lorena. What brings you out into town?"
-
Somewhere in Cathedral
"Carn is my last name, call me Alister. And what's brought me out, is a need for more than two pairs of clothes. Any of you know a place that sells cheap durable clothes in my size?" This later part of the question is due to the fact that Alister is slightly over 6 feet tall, and has broad shoulders.
-
"I don't know much about the stores around here. You guys know anything?" Courage turns to the two.
-
Alister notes that Courage seems to be bogged down by a number of heavy looking bags.
"You need any help? Those look a tad full of engine parts."
-
His arms straining, Courage gives a huff as he sets a few bags onto the ground.
"Can you? I mean I could handle the weight if we hadn't been walking in a circle," he emphasise the last bit for a certain female, "We are heading to their warehouse at the South Docks to drop it off."
-
Alister lifts both bags with only a slight grunt.
"South is that way." He says, nodding in the direction they came from.
-
Deadpanned, Courage looks at Carn as he walks pass them.
"We were heading north?!?" he questions Lorena, "Ok never again following you."
Catching up to Carn, Cpurage matches his speed, "After we drop these off, I can try and help you find decent clothing. I'm just going to check some stuff inside."
-
"Not to worry. I've essentially been homeless for the last four years. Never stayed in one place long enough to bother buying a house. As such, I travel light. But for a voyage like this, I should probably have at least one more set of clothes." Looking back at Lorena and Dahlia, he smirks then looks back at Courage. "So, is one of these ladies, the one I heard being conversed about at the tavern?"
-
Koali turns to the twins, holding one of the switch axes.
"Nothing to worry about, unless it's being held by someone who doesn't like you. It's an axe..."
(Flourish)
"And a sword."
(Flourish)
-
Armory
"It's that sudden switching that has us concerned."
"We survived Alister before,"
"Though he went easy on us."
"And we have no desire to deal with that. Use it yourself if you want, but we value our hides."
It should be noted that between Alister and Alison over a period of 6 months, James and John were broken of the invincible attitude so frequent in teenage males.
-
Smart men, then.
"Oh, please. I've seen these things tear through armor made from the hide of huge monsters, over 15 meters long!"
(Rather than describing it, I'll just speak in images.)
(http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20150304042813/monsterhunter/images/thumb/f/fd/3rdGen-Barroth_Render_001.png/400px-3rdGen-Barroth_Render_001.png)
-
--Armory--
She lightly thwacked the boy over the head. "Excuse me," she let him recover before moving on, "so long as you're here, would you kindly make yourself useful and begin organizing these weapons on the racks." It was less a question and more an order, she pointed to the two carts worth of weapons and ammo, well, a cart and a bin's worth more like it, and pointed to the empty racks lining walls of the armory. She quietly ignored the impressive amount of explosives that dominated a set of shelves.
Looking at the pair of slightly foppish twins she decided to answer their question. "And to answer your question the rocket craft happens to be Captain Morgan's, though technically it's also Captain Henley's and Mr. Morgan's. They built it together from what I hear. Also I have no idea what it is called, even though they've called it a variety of things." She shrugged. "However, would you all kindly get to work? We can finish this task sooner rather than later if we do."
--Somewhere in Cathedral--
Lorena looked at their now growing party and pouted slightly, "You're all no fun." Yet she followed along anyways.
Dahlia stood closer to her and lightly punched her in the shoulder, ok, maybe it wasn't so lightly.
"Ow! Why'd you hit me!? Ow, stop it!" Dahlia instead giggled and continued hitting her as they finally headed back to the warehouse.
--Militia Headquarters--
Reagan, or, Captain Morgan considering she was currently on duty was currently finishing up the reports that had been piling up the past few days. On one side a neat stack of papers denoted everything she had just finished. Sitting in front of her was the pile of paperwork she was currently working through. It was rather bothersome that this was the only activity she had to do at the moment but, she did have her duties, and this was only a fraction of the paperwork that had moved through her unit in recent weeks, only a small drop in the veritable ocean.
Maybe I should finally stencil in a name for the rocket craft. Should ask Alex and Richard about that, wonder if their radio is up.
-
Armory
While stacking the weapons with surprising efficiency, they ask Amelia some more questions.
"So Captain Morgan is married?"
"Back to the topic, does she need engineers for the craft?"
Cathedral, somewhere
Calling back over his shoulder, Alister remarks on Lorena's comment.
"In a bit of a hurry ma'am. I need a new pair of clothes before tomorrow. And Courage here seems a tad bit weighed down, which is generally not good when you have a prothstetic leg "
-
Koali just shook his head and busied himself with arranging the switch axes on a rack.
-
"Hm. I wonder..."
Boarding Carn's Squid, Gaige busies himself double and triple checking for modifications he hasn't come across. Finding a few, he makes a note to ask Alister and starts to familiarize himself with the ship's quirks, making small tweaks for efficiency every now and again.
-
South Docks
"Well it looked like you had a bit of fun leading us in circles," calls out Courage as he follows Carn.
After a few minutes of walking, he starts to recognise the buildings around him and guessed that the warehouse wasn't far off. During the walk, he finally realised what Carn a while earlier.
"Oh umm, let's not talk about that out loud," he whisper to him as he catches up.
-
South Docks
Alister winks at him and considerably lowers his vocal volume. "I'll take that as as yes then. We here?" Alister stops in front of what he's hoping is the right warehouse. It's in decent condition and has a junker out back. His previous dealings with professional scavengers reminding him they prefer using junkers.
Cargo Bay
Alison had a great many things on her mind when she went on board the ship. All of these went on the mental back burner when she went into the cargo bay and saw Gaige poking around in Alister's squid. She also notices the drying paint naming it the Kibeth.
"For your sake, Alister better not find out what your doing. He's a tad territorial, and he hasn't had his own ship in about three years."
-
--Warehouse, South Docks--
The crew was standing about the crate of wine, wondering what to do about it. Sure they had been hired to retrieve the crate but they had to wonder if the 7000 crown payoff was really worth it. They had a decent amount of equipment and other items they could sell for more than that scavenged from the ship but they might take a dent in their reputation, not that it mattered, they had literally been shot at getting this crate of wine intact.
"Captain, why are we considering this?" Preston said as he passed around a thermos of iced tea. "Shouldn't we just turn it over? We'll get paid right?"
"Preston," Travis said speaking up, "Consider the fact we were shot at to get this wine," He took a swig of the tea, "And because of that we are going to hand it over to a man who couldn't be bothered to get it himself."
"I don't see what that has to do with anything Travis." Preston deadpanned.
"Simple, we earned the damned wine, and I say we keep a few bottles."
Reynold smirked, "I can drink to that." And he did, grabbing the thermos and taking a deep swig.
"I agree," Alex said, "Besides, not like the contract specified a number of bottles. And the crate was broken by the crash, perhaps a few bottles went missing." He looked at the crew. "All in favor?" All hands went up. "Right, take 5 bottles out Travis, there's like 40 in there."
Travis picked out 5 bottles and went to the old office that had been converted into their home. It was at that moment a knock sounded from the warehouse entrance and 4 people entered. Well more specifically, Dahlia, The Captain's Daughter Lorena, A familiar face, and an unfamiliar face with an axe.
--Armory--
Amelia tsked, and went back to organizing weapons.
Children.
-
"I heard that! I think you thought it so hard you actually said it out loud!"
-
"I hope for your sake that was aimed at the twins and not a comment on my height."
-
--Armory--
Instead of giving him an answer she thwacked him over the head again, harder this time.
"Child." She said pointing a finger in his face.
As she went back to work she decided to answer the question the twins had asked her. "For your information, I am not sure. The two never acted as if they were married. Friends or acquaintances yes, but never married. Perhaps you should ask her yourself though I do not believe you will receive a straight answer." She thought for a second, "Oh and I do believe she can handle the craft herself, if not she will ask, most likely, I do believe at least."
-
Warehouse
Whistling, Alister looks around at all the scavenged equipment.
"I know some guy's who'd have a field day in here."
Turning back to the man who just entered, Alister say,
"Just helping out Courage. They had him loaded like a pack mulebhack there."
Armory
Taking a moment to stare at the odd exchange between think pink kid who they don't know, and Amelia, they get back to work.
"Maybe siblings?"
"Or divorced. You never know these days."
"Good point." He thinks to himself for a moment. " I'm thinking we don't piss her off, and don't ask her."
"Agreed."
-
--Armory--
Amelia gives the two of them a shallow smirk, "For the best I believe."
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
Alex's attention was on his daughter predominately.
"Father of mine." She said with a straight face.
"Daughter of mine." He said with an equally straight face, before the two of them broke out in smiles. "Good to see you kiddo, Dahlia," he nodded to her, "Courage right?" He nodded to him, "And... I like your axe. More of a sword person myself." He said, drawing both straight swords from their sheathes for a few moments before sheathing them.
"Dad, Courage was wondering if we still had any of those Mercs we scavenged outside Anvala."
"You mean the Howitzers?" He deadpanned, quite seriously in fact, the entire assembled Skyrunner crew collectively groaned at that statement. Sighing he took a moment to think, "Yeah, a couple I believe, have to look around of course." He waved a hand in a general direction. "More than likely to be over there, Phillip, mind helping him?"
"Aye Captain."
"Now," Alex said turning on the unknown man, "Can I help you with anything? Oh and Richard, catalog the last run we just did."
"Including or excluding the wine?"
"Richard please don't joke about the alcohol, excluding it of course."
-
Warehouse
"Alister Carn. I was just going into town when I saw Courage. Need to get another pair of clothes. Do you know any place that sells decent stuff in my size?$
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"Alexander Henley, now give me a second." He thought for a moment, "Best bet is going to check around the market, the market stalls are hit and miss but you'll find some decent items from time to time. There are a number of tailors as well but they might not have what you're looking for."
He shrugged, "Otherwise you might want to pick up tailoring yourself."
-
"I have 12 years experience on airships, and 16 being a tinker. I am not changing a single thing major thing, just efficiency upgrades. Tweaking blade angle, air/fuel mixtures, which were unsuprisingly perfect already, plate mesh, balloon pressure, just by a tiny bit all around. Carn knows his stuff, everything was nigh perfect, just a slight bit off. Any anomalies that are so off they're there for a reason I'm leaving alone. If he has a bone to pick, he can see for himself what I've done."
-
Cargo Bay
"Just ask before you tinker on his ship. He can be quite territorial believe me. After we started dating, he dangled the first guy who made a pass ate, over a running galleon engine."
Warehouse
"That was my plan anyways. Didn't know if you knew a place though." Alister thinks for a minute then looks around. "Wait a second, Captain Henley? Now I remember, I was hired by some scavengers a few years back. They kept complaining about you. Always got the good loot, and high paying jobs."
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
It was not Alex who responded but Richard, "Maybe, we just got lucky, lucky enough to stay afloat for all these years."
"Richard stop making me feel old."
He shrugged, "In any case, we've come across our fair share of pointless wrecks and useless cargo."
-
Warehouse
"Maybe these guys were just new. They seemed kinda young and inexperienced. They wanted someone who knew how to shoot back at raiders, and they were paying decent coin."
-
The Warehouse
"It's nice seeing you again as well, better than the first meeting when I was in here," Courage says to Alex as he places the bags he was carrying down onto an open table.
Stretching his sore muscles, he finds a chair and starts to take off his prosthetic before he realise there were still other around him, "Sorry, do you guys mind? I been carrying around that load for a while."
Courage points to the bag while giving a stern glare to Lorena.
Eagle's Shadow
Finding himself looking over the same material several times, Frey is bored out of his mind. Even as an officer of the Baron Military which has a image of poise and elgance, he yearns to get out of his stuffy uniform and don his field fatigues.
I hate being the front man for this operation, he thinks to himself as he stands from the chair he was sitting, Why did Melin choose me again? Oh right to allow myself to heal properly since office work is much safer, glad they don't know I'm going.
Walking out of the command room, Frey roams around the transport keeping his off the mission at hand. Passing the armory, he hears several voices which prompts him to look in.
"This is quite a stash in here," he observes as he passes the bulkhead.
-
Warehouse
"I don't mind. I've seen my fair share of missing limbs. Removed most of them, but still."
Armory
"This the bossman?"
"Judging by the commander ranking on the uniform, I'd think so."
-
Armoury
Noting who is currently in the room, Frey recognises the young teen, Gaige, Amelia, and the twins he pass by earlier when departing the cargo bay.
"Yes I'm the one who commissioned this expidition, but I won't be leading the teams. That will be Mr. Carn's and Captain Morgan's decision. And who might you two be?" he asks the twins.
The Warehouse
"Well it is their warehouse," states Courage to Carn. To Alex,"Ypu guys won't mind right? How about you Dalhia?" he finishes quietly to her.
-
Armory
"James."
"John."
And then in sync, "The Raven twins. Descendents of a royal bastard of he baronies."
Warehouse
Shrugging, Alister wanders over to the side to inspect the myriad of equipment.
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"Do what you need to." Alex said nodding to him. Dahlia gave him a smile and nodded.
"Right, now that that's settled," Alex said as he began to rifle through various sections of the warehouse, "Lets find those howitzers." Once again the crew groaned. "I am not letting that go."
"So," Alex said as he passed by Carn, "been in the city long?
--Armory--
"Commander, a pleasure." Amelia said as she finished the rack and moved on to organizing boxes of ammunition. "If I may ask, what brings you here?"
-
Warehouse
"No, only about a week, and we're to set out tomorrow. I haven't stayed in one place for more than a week, for the last four years. Always got a new job. So I don't even rent a place, let alone own a house. The benefits of no permanent residence however," Alister grins a rather mischievous grin. "Is that I don't pay taxes. And I have a nice fat bank account."
Armory
"Hey how is cousin Greg doing anyway commander?"
"We haven't heard much since the failed attempt to overthrow him."
-
"Ahh, you must be the man who put all this together. Pleasure to meet you, I'm Gaige. What brings you over here?"
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
Alex finished sifting through and found nothing. Phillip was still digging through the... back catalog of items they had laying around.
"We've been here... a year or so. Used to be that we'd be all over the place, Chaladon, The Burren, still, a ship's no place to live your entire life and I've already spent enough of my life going from one place to another." He eyed Lorena who was sitting and talking with Dahlia and Courage, laughing at some joke he couldn't hear. "Far too much of it." He said under his breath.
-
Warehouse
"Couldn't have been easy away from your family. Still, you have one. My dad died before I was even born, fighting against a raider tribe who were based farther north than our maps go. Then my mom died giving birth to me. After that, my uncle raised me, but he died when I was seven. I can't blame you for wanting a place to call home."
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
He smirked, "We all apparently lead interesting lives. Should probably annoy Reagan about that."
"Are we still bothering her about nearly getting us arrested?" Richard called over from where he was cataloging the haul.
"Another time." He said, "Still, it was probably worse on my parents, finding that their child has run away from home, chased by the hired muscle of a Yeshan trading house."
-
Warehouse
"You know Reagan?" Alister drags his hand down his face, and groans slightly. "I have to share command with her. Any advice?"
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"Know her!?" Richard said from where he stood, "I was married to her! Best advice, she doesn't take threats well, actually, no one I know take threats well. Don't coddle her, try not to act superior in her presence, she may act like a badass sometimes but really she does things without thinking and hopes that the fallout isn't all that terrible, one of the reasons she had a desk job, that and she's actually really good at paperwork."
Alex laughed, "The four of us served in Firnfeld," He pointed to Preston who was examining an engine for parts, "He's the fourth."
He put some thought to the question though, "She's a good officer but as Richard said, she sometimes acts without thinking her actions through, though this tends to be regulated to out of combat situations. She'll keep her head in combat, though keeping her head may involve charging straight in, she's not a small woman but it does tend to surprise people."
-
Warehouse
"MARRIED?! Good grief. Unfortunately she seems to try and act as MY superior, which until I'm told by the brass otherwise, I won't accept." Alister thinks for a moment, recalling something from this morning. "We're you Captain Richard Morgan? We got a guy who was terrified when we said Captain Morgan. I forget his name....."
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"You might have done something to bother her, you can usually tell when she's joking. Keep an eye on that." Richard said as he finished up his cataloging. Walking over he passed over a notepad to Alex. "And I haven't technically gone by Captain for what? 6 years now? Also I'm not terrifying, am I?"
"Sounds about right." Alex said looking through the notepad, ignoring the question all together.
-
Warehouse
"It's entirely possible I annoyed her. Today has been, turbulent, to say the least. I almost exploded while waking up, almost lost it on some idiotic guards, my ex and I had a fight, mind you it wasn't a verbal fight. Then I have to deal with a traitorous, sociopathic former friend. And I haven't even had lunch yet." Turning back to Richard, Alister adds to his earlier statement. "He seemed afraid due to what you do to engines. Either that or how you pilot."
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
Alex smirked, "Definitely how he pilots, his idea of crag flying is to make sure the ship only grazes the walls, when there is clearly enough space to fly rather comfortably at the center of the crevasse."
Richard rolled his eyes, "Anyway!"
"Not to mention the time he thought that flying below the tree line in Chaladon was a good idea."
"ANYWAY!"
"Captain I found the mer- Howitzers." Phillip was setting up a flag where he found them for later retrieval.
Richard sighed at that, "Anyway, give her some time to get used to you and things should smooth out a bit from there."
-
Warehouse
Outloud he says, "Fair enough." Mentally though he's wondering if anyone has gotten used to him. "Seriously? Below the Chaladonian tree line? What gave you that idea?"
-
Armory
"Oh I'm just out and about, looking over some of the files and I needed some time to decompress." he answers Amelia.
Turning to the weapons cart, he picks up a small sun machine gun and examines it.
"The Raven Twins huh? If you are asking about the King, then both of you must be far from the bloodline."
The Warehouse
Lifting his pant leg over his upper thigh, Courage carefully removes the prosthetic from his stump. Placing the 'leg' aside, underneath the hard plastic cover is a very soft sock and several layers of bangages. Cut right below his knew, Courage begins to massage the area releasing some of the tension.
"Captain Henley, what's wrong with the Mercurys? I know the ones you salvaged were the newer models that Yiski design, but they shouldn't have a problem. Only reason we, well mainly Bdr, are asking you is that we are restricted to what we can receive from the Anvalan weapon storage."
-
Armory
"Our grandfather."
"He was the younger, bastard brother,"
"To Gregor's grandfather."
Warehouse
Perking up his ears, the understanding of what Courage is talking about fully sinks in.
"Anvalan filed guns! You have some?! How much for one?"
-
The Warehouse
"They are hard to come by. Majority of the guns are inside the city, those on our airships are quickly salvaged if the ship goes down so raiders or any faction won't get the technology. Reason there are a few here that after the Baron invasion, the surroundIng area was filled with debris." Courage says to Carn.
Armory
"That's a few generations back, maybe that's why I don't know much of the both of you," Frey says.
Putting back the sub machine gun Frey turns to Amelia, "So miss, I notice your little pet that has been following you around. What is it? I never seen it before."
-
Warehouse
"No kidding they're rare. I know one guy who tried to smuggle some out. Heard he's been put away for 50 years. A tad higher than the usual punishment for weapons smuggling. I'll pay top coin Alex. If it works, then I'll be happy to do business."
Armory
"We only got to go to court a few times."
"Still, why do you think gramps chose the name Raven?'
"Gave him a bit of flare."
"And The Raven Twins,"
"Sound so much better in a introduction than James and John."
-
The Warehouse
"Oh should see the power if any of those guns were to get out. I'll show you with the Merc, once they find it."
Readjusting the prosthetic back on, Courage slowly stands and place some of his weight to his right. Feeling the pressure from the spring, he balances on the fake foot for a moment before stabilising himself.
"You guys need some help? I know the design specs for it."
Armory
"John and James Raven, sounds almost too patriotic for the Baronies. But I digress, I mean my last name is Frey and I been seen entering the Frey quite often for my name."
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"We had several, one is currently aboard the Skyrunner actually." Richard said, careful to avoid referring to the weapon by name. "The weapons should be over by that flag." He pointed it out, "Probably going to an issue to pull them out."
In the background Preston realized he had forgotten something on the ship and left.
"Whatever the case," Alex added, "well get them out, eventually."
--Armory--
"Commander, are you aware that was completely and utterly terrible?"
-
Armory
"Gramps always had a flare for dramatics. Anyways, he and his brother always got along, so he was known for being extremely loyal to his royal sibling."
Warehouse
"I repeat. I'll pay top coin for a working one. Don't happen to have of those specialty rounds I heard about? I'm an explosives man mostly, but I know how to make specialty rounds."
-
(I can't believe it's taking me this long to put the switch axes on a rack.)
Koali fumbled with one of the axes and accidentally dropped it on the floor, where it bounced around constantly switching between sword and axe form.
"Shi- DAGNABBIT!!! I FORGOT TO PUT THE SAFETY BACK ON!!!"
-
Armory
"Yes I am aware of that, what can't I have some cheesy jokes now and again?" Frey answers.
Soon everyone in the room immdedately jump away from the wild sword/axe that have came loose. With its constant switching, the weapon moves uncontrollable as it knocks off several others. Taking cover behind the cart, Frey pulls out his Luger and aims for the spring mechanism. Firing several rounds, the bullets hit the switch point and the axe portion flies out and embeds itself into the ceiling.
Finding the danger has subside, everyone comes out of cover and eyes the teen. While the damage was minimal at best, the wild axe/sword manages to knock several rifles off their racks and much of the equipment.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Frey looks to him, "Careful next time, we don't want to have a death trap on board. Just go about and clean this."
The Warehouse
"Yeah the gunsmiths know the exact powder ratios to maximise the effect on these field guns, besides that we can still load standard ammunition."
Walking over to where everyone on the crew is searching, Courage lends a hand starts looking through the many racks.
"You guys have a bunch of stuff here. I mean how did you guys find this?" from the rack, Courage picks up a Bakelite radio.
-
Armory
When the axe went off, both twins took cover by jumping and clinging to the pipes on the ceiling. The axe-head had buried itself between them.......
"And THAT,"
"Is why we don't want those."
Warehouse
"I mean those specialty rounds. Sunbursts if I remember correctly."
-
The Warehouse
"How you know about those," starts Courage suspiciously, "the new mercs use a modified tungsten mixture that reduces the recoil but pack a bigger punch. There is only one person and gun that use that signature round and know what is in it."
-
"Well, excuuuuuse me, princess, but is it my fault? Yeeeees, but then again, at least the other ones are all safe. Oh, and Frey, could you spare a few coppers so I can go buy a new spring?"
-
--Armory--
"Excuse me you two, but I have in fact fixed those pipes once today already, I would appreciate it if you didn't cause me additional work."
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"You two can discuss who spilled the state secrets later," Alex said as he was attempting to uncover something in a pile. "but for now can we just keep- Aha!" He began lifting something, propping a Merc up on a stray rack, "Found one!."
Richard picked up the slack and helped him set it correctly, "To answer your question Courage, we get contracts from a wide variety of people, and because of that we often find objects of interest which they say we can just keep." He pointed to the radio he had set down, "Though however we found in Chaladon, in a pirate base. Bit of a long story that one."
-
Armory
The twins hop down, glaring at the other axes.
Warehouse
"I'm a professional mercenary, with contacts in every capital and major city-state. Something like the sunbursts gets around. It's not as if I'm asking for the blueprints to bloodbolt."
-
Armory:
"Oh come on you pansies. Trust me, they're mostly safe. And besides, name a single time dropping a weapon ISN'T dangerous. Guns can go off, blades can land in feet or legs, blunt weapons as well... And unless you're totally new, you're never going to hit yourself."
-
Armory
"And when,"
"And it's only a matter of when,"
"It does that in the middle of combat?"
"We'd rather stick to tried and blades."
"Ones that aren't spring loaded,"
"Or have excessive moving parts."
"Keep it simple stupid."
"Words to live by."
Warehouse
"You spend enough time in mercenary circles, you start hearing about certain people and equipment. Sunburst round are one of those."
Turning over to look at Alex, and seeing the mercury.
"Name your price Henley."
-
"You don't have the heart of a tinker at all. For shame."
-
"Quick question! Do I?"
-
"One hundred and ten percent my small sunburnt friend."
-
"Speaking of my sunburn, my Yeshan blood says this'll fade into a nice golden-brown tan. I guess I should put on that burn cream Carn gave me when I came up to the recruitment line."
-
Armory
"WE never claimed to be ruddy tinkers."
"We're ship engineers. And flacking good ones."
"Doesn't mean we spend all our bloody time fixing crap."
"Alister taught us to fight."
"And we're even better at fighting than fixing."
" Alister knows combat medicine, "
"Doesn't mean he's a doctor."
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"Hey Captain, I think he really wants it." Richard stage whispered into his ear.
"Shut up Richard."
--Armory--
"Men." She mutters under her breath.
-
Warehouse
"As long as its an operational, Anvalan mercury field gun. I'm not paying for some standard merc, or a defunct one."
Armory
The twins just shrug at Amelia's comment. They like her, but they have their principals.
-
"Hmmm... I wonder what Carn's up to. Anyone know?"
-
Armory
Alison, who had been standing nearby, silently listening, takes this opportunity to comment. "I believe he went out to get an extra set of clothes. Sky knows he's only had two pairs for the last four years."
-
Armory
Leaving the armory, Frey shakes his head at the current events that have transpired.
I fought against my own countrymen and still lived, but these people maybe the death of me.
Not wanting to stay near the transport, he exits the ship and out onto the docks.
The Warehouse
"Still we are trying to keep Yiski's and the Admiral's location secret. Knowing what gun and ammo they are using and where is one step closer for the council to find them. Their bounties are slowly increasing."
After hearing that they found one, Courage leaves his current rack to inspect the weapon.
"Little battered, but still operational. You can still load normal rounds in these bad boys."
-
"How does he pull that off?!"
Koali slings a switch axe over his shoulder and jogs off to find Carn, or, failing that, a snack.
-
Armory
Alister just laughs. "There's not enough money in the world to make me accept those contracts. I'm good, but they're leagues ahead of me."
Armory
"He wears them for a week straight. He also carry's everything he owns in that dufflebag of his."
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"There are worse things to be doing in life, still, speaking of things that are beyond us..." Alex looks at Courage, "Our group of compatriots are completely and utterly insane."
"That said however, what do you need the gun for?" Alex pulled a flask out of his duster and took a swig. "I'm assuming you're going to use it, for something."
"Ah Captain, radio for you." Preston came back carrying the wireless transceiver to their radio.
Alex looked at it with an odd look on his face, remembering that only a select group of people have that frequency. "Henley here, do you need something?" His eyes lit up, "RICHARD!"
"What?!" He was holding his head, "Skies do you have to be so loud?"
"Reagan needs to name the rocket craft."
"Wait, and she has to ask us about this?"
"Yes."
--Militia Headquarters--
"Yes this is important Richard, you know this as well as I do that a properly named craft is better than a generic designation. Now give me a suggestion or put Alex back on the line." She could hear the two of discuss some suggestions. She pulled out a notepad and prepared for the suggestions.
"No we are not naming it Windings!"
...
"I was thinking Scimitar, wait what do you mean no weapons?"
...
"Vera is... Ok maybe!"
...
"I am not taking that suggestion seriously."
...
"Starlight Seeker? I... No, wait, yeah, yes we'll go with that. Contact you later." She hung up the receiver and placed both feet on her desk.
Well, now that was over with she might be able to get something interesting done today.
--Armory--
Amelia quietly continued to shelve weapons and ammo, though they were really almost finished, which meant she was going to have to figure out something else to do.
-
Warehouse
After watching the interesting exchange, revolving around the naming of the rocket craft, Alister answers the question.
"I can think of many things to use a Anvalan merc for. If nothing else, it'd be good to have another option for my squid. I only have what came with her. A gatling, a hansee, and a mine launcher."
Armory
The twins quickly put away the last of the weapons, excluding the switch axes.
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"Mine Launchers..." Alex shook his head, "Good weapon those, not the most intuitive weapon in existence though. Still, effort requires payment and even I'm technically selling the weapon-"
"Hey Cap I found another one." Phillip hefts another up onto the rack.
"Right..." Alex says looking at, "So, tell you what, because you're in with Reagan, and from what I heard you're also taking along Little Miss Lockheart, 3000 crowns, unlike some of the wrecks around here this weapon is actually functional. You'd actually be surprised how many people buy non functioning weaponry and fix it themselves, we salvage them for parts for our own equipment. Back on topic, I happen to like them, so I'm giving you a discount, because of that I'm also willing to pass you a crate of high velocity AP rounds we salvaged from a wreck outside Anvala during the height of our activities in that area."
--Armory--
Well, shit.
-
Warehouse
"Done. You prefer straight cash, or do you want it wired to your account?"
The reason for Alister's quick agreement is simple. He's had high paying jobs consistently for the past four years. 3000 crowns barely makes a dent in his overall amount.
-
The Warehouse
"You think we didn't know that after the Guild?" Courage laughs, "We were all insane for taking that, but mainly Bdr needs a better one for his Goldfish. Remember, we are restricted on what we can get from the arsenal."
Running his hands over the long barrel, various memories floods his mind. From fighting off Yeshans in the Guild to his time in the Anvalan Guard. The sheer firepower combination of this model and the rounds it used can shoot through the toughest of Galleon armor.
"Got a shooting range?" he says over his shoulder.
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"Either, doesn't really matter actually." Alex thought for a second, "Unless you have the money on you right now, if that's the case we should probably just get it over with."
Looking at Courage, "Not for ship based weaponry, we have one for our own equipment at the edge of the harbor, might be able to do something with that though."
-
Warehouse
"I never carry that much on me. I'll need to stop at the bank."
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
Alex nodded at him. "So," he said looking back at Courage, "firing range?"
-
The Warehouse
"Think you can set it up? Been some time since I shot one. Plus I think I know someone who might want to have some fun." he smirks as he eyes Dalhia.
Militia Docks
With the paperwork finalise, those who were chosen for the expidition start arriving to the transport. Three ships: a Galleon, Golldfish, and Junker, begins their landing procedures besides the medium vessel. Once docked, the respective captains disembark and gather around the gangplank to the Eagle's Shadow.
The first man who owns the Galleon, Alexi Kasparov, a Guildsman, is a veteran of the Guild-Baronies Conflict. Around his late thirties, a soldier of fortune, joined the Conflict not out of fraction pride but the money that came out of it. A blockade runner, he and his mercenary crew fought their way through many Baron defence lines smuggling goods to the Guild front. Over twenty sucsseful mission, he was only to be shot out of the sky but a small fleet of five that set an ambush for him and his crew. A large scar runs down the left side of his face from a stray carronade burst missed the balloon of his ship and hit the helm. He manages to avoid most of the shrapnel, but the blast destroyed the helm as well as blooding his face. Dead in the air, he and one other of his crew were captured and spends the rest of the war in a POW camp. He was then released after the defeat of the Guild, having no ill will against the Barons, he still continues mercenary work to the highest bidder or contract even to various Lords if need be.
Next is a younger captain in his mid twenties who pilots the Goldfish. Renard Larson, an opportunistic adventurer, he mainly roams around the Burren and Middle Plains area transporting people to the various cities and towns of the region. A steady source of income, flying the same skies over and over again become mundane. There maybe the random chance of raiders roaming the area, but with a Goldfish he can easily outruns them with their rudimentary Junkers. After hearing of this expidition when he landed in Cathedral, he doesn't waste a second and immediately signs up, not for the money, but for a chance at newer skies.
The third, a Junker captain, is Ulric Culvin of Ardenna. A Chaladonian, Ulric is a naturist and spends his trips out in the field studying the various plants and animals from various regions. Ever since the Age of Dust, many species have to evolve and adapt to the harsh environment of the past. Now in the Age of Air where the threat of pirates have died down, catalog of new species are popping up around the know world. Wanting to put his name at the newest discoveries, traveling down south is a great opportunity for his todo so.
After taking a walk around the docks, Frey takes in the sight. Besides the new captains, the rest of the expidition crew starts boarding the transport.
Walking to three, he introduces himself, "Gentelemen, welcome aboad. I am Commander Frey, the one who organised the mission."
Alexi simply nods and shakes the Commander's hand without saying a word. Frey gives a mutual nod to his as well.
Going over to Renard, he tries to pat down imaginary dust from his vest trying to look presentable to the Commander. Frey chuckles at the sight seeing the nervousness yet determined look in the young man's eyes.
"Um hello Sir." his voice breaks.
Frey pats his back, "Don't be nervous lad, I'm still a human."
Finally, Frey faces Ulric who immediately grabs his hand with the both of his and shakes it with excitement.
"It's such a pleasure to meet you Commander! I want to thank you for letting me be on this expidition. Who knows there maybe new creatures out there for us to see." He quickly says.
Once his arm is freed, Frey rotates his shoulder from the force of the hand shake.
Clearing his thoat, "I'm glad that all of you came early today. Tomorrow in the evening we are going to be taking off. In the mean time you can go about and finish what ever you need to, but you are welcome to explore the transport. later tonight we'll have a brief with the two command leaders and discuss about crew for each of your ships, until then."
Giving a nod to all three, Frey walks up the gangplank to his room on the transport.
Hanger Bay
As the rest of the ship's crew begins finding cabins to be living in, three are seen in the hanger bay eyeing the four planes. Farris Moore, Antonio Gonzalez, and Kei Naga walk around the body of the Anvalan Monos taking in the perplex design.
"Didn't know the Anvalans made anything else besides guns." says Farris
"I know. I seen several monoplanes, but this gull wing is something else. How about you Kei?" Antonio asks the female pilot.
Silently Kei hops in to one of the cockpits and slowly moves the stick and presses onto the rudder petals. With each movement, the plane respond quickly and smoothly.
"This is high grade equipment we are using for a survey mission. Think there maybe more to this?"
"Hey it's 10,000 crowns from a Baron benefactor, they can acquire things easily. So I'm not complaining." says Farris.
-
Exiting after Koali, Gaige follows, still loaded down with equipment.
"Hey, wait. You wanna stop for lunch on the way?"
-
Armory
"Hold it for me for a bit. I'll go and get the cash, might even find some clothes." And with that, Alister leaves the warehouse. Making his way through the market, he picks up a black shirt and brown pants. Though not a perfect fit, they'll do. After that he heads to the bank.
Cathedral Bank
Before entering, Alister wipes his boots and knocks the dust of his clothes. After that he runs a hand through his hair, noting that he'll need to cut it soon. Entering, he doesn't go to the main line, but instead to a smaller line marked VIP.
"Excuse me sir," A security guard says to him, "But this is only for members with a maximum security vault."
"You dolt!" The bank manager exclaims to the guard. "This is Master Carn! He's been a member with such a vault for over four years!" Turning to Alister, he begins to profusely apologize. "I'm so sorry sur, he's new. I'll have him fired immediately."
Alister holds up his hand, stopping the flow of words. "It's perfectly alright. I know I don't exactly look like the usual VIP, and he's only doing his job. He handled it quite well I may add."
Seeing the look in his eyes, the manager accepts the forgiveness. "Very well sir. You are no longer fired Brutus."
Brutus, the rather aptly named guard, just nods and stares as Carn and the manager walk off to his personal office.
"So Master Carn, what can we help you with today?"
"I need to make a withdraw. 3000 crowns, physical."
"Certainly. Would you like a case to carry the withdraw?"
"Please."
Calling out to a assistant, the managerorders them to bring the case. In under five minutes it is in Carn's possession.
"Will that be all today sir?"
"Yes, thank you."
As he leaves the building, he nods and smiles to Brutus as he passes. Returning to the warehouse, he puts the case on a table and flips it open.
"3000 crowns, hard cash, as promised."
-
Koali turns to Gaige with a silly grin.
"Food?"
-
Cathedral's Streets
"Don't you know it. But where too...?"
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
The crew was bustling about as Carn returned to the warehouse. Having decided to head down to the firing range they were gathering a few items including the Anvalan merc they were giving to Courage, were loaded onto a gurney. Briefcase in hand Carn placed it down on a nearby crate.
"3000 crowns, hard cash, as promised." He said, trying to gain Alex's attention, which failed.
Preston however had finished loading a few thick metal plates on a cart and noticed him, "Ah Mr. Carn, if you'll give me a second I can get his attention." He turned toward where Richard and Alex were fastening the Merc to a cart, "Captain! He's back!"
Alex looked up from his task, he said something to Richard and came over. "Well, I can't say we were eagerly awaiting your return, still," He turned to the briefcase, years of training kicked in and he quickly counted the contents, satisfied everything was in order he looked back at the other man and nodded his head, holding his hand out for him to shake it. "You know, we're setting up a firing range, if you want we can rig your weapon up on a cart and we can give it a few tests to make sure things are working properly." For a second he looked at the briefcase, with his other hand he closed it. Testing its weight he looked to where Richard was standing, a slight grin appeared on his face.
"RICHARD!" And with a deft swing the briefcase is flying through the air, Richard reacting just enough to catch the projectile with both arms and stumble back only slightly.
"You idiot!" The other man calls back from afar.
--Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan was acutely aware of the change in atmosphere as she entered the hanger bay, the crew had arrived, that much was obvious. She adjusted the Duffle bag containing more clothing over her shoulder and made sure her grip on the box of records and the requisite player were solid. She walked over to where her rocket craft was sitting, unsurprised to see three more members of the crew getting to know the planes sitting nearby. She gave them a nod before getting to work, with a deft hand she finally christened the rocket that she, Alex, and Richard had built together. In flowing script Starlight Seeker stood in blue against the aluminum of the vessels hull. She would need a crew for this if she ever decided to take it out, Amelia might make a good rear gunner, who to get for navigation... She would figure that out later.
-
Warehouse
"I would indeed like that. Been awhile since I've fired a mercury, and this is no ordinary mercury."
Eagle's Shadow
After finishing their work in the armory, the twins head back into the cargo bay. Once there, they see a auburn haired woman painting the rocket craft with the name, Starlight Seeker. Running up to her again resembling over eager puppies, they stop and ask.
"Are you Captain Morgan?"
-
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
"Right then!" Alex said suddenly raising a fist in the air, "Finish quickly everyone! We have guns to shoot!"
--Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan became aware of the pair of footsteps quickly approaching her, long before they had addressed her she mentally prepared herself, when they did her brush did not falter in the slightest as quietly finished painting the side of her aircraft.
"Need something?" She said as she examined her work.
-
Warehouse
"I'm good to go when you are."
Cargo Bay
"If you are Captain Morgan,"
"Then we would like to request to crew on this rocket."
"But if you are not her,"
"Do you know where she is?"
-
The Warehouse
"Thanks guys" Courage says as he helps lift the weapons, "Bdr will send the money as soon as I contact him."
Eagle's Shadow
Even though the three have their own quarters on their airships, Alexi, Renard, and Ulric boards the ship looking for their own accommodations. The three go about their separate ways where Alexi heads toward the armory, Renard to the hanger bay, and Ulric towards the sick bay.
Hanger Bay
After hearing the twin's question to the Captain, all three pilots turn their heads.
"Captain Morgan? Isnt that one of the names who is leading this thing?" Farris calls out to them.
Finding his way through the many corridors, Renard finds himself in a hanger bay able to fit at least one of the four airships in. He takes in the group of people situated at different locations.
"Um hello?"
Corridor to Sick Bay
Ulric, being a partial medicine doctor from his knowledge of herbs, walks towards the transport medical bay. Along the way he passes the brig where he hears unusual humming. Curious to see who is already locked up before the trip has started, he enters.
Armory
"Hmm, fascinating," Alexi murmurs as he eyes the vast quantity of weapons on board.
Entering he takes notice of the slight mess that have come about and sees a lone person cleaning.
"Fascinating indeed," he starts, "If you are here and I'm assuming that the name having joint command of this mission is indeed who I suspect. Where is Alister, young Alison?"
-
Corridor to brigg
"He's doing it again." Mutterings this to herself, Alison storms down the hallway, preparing to unleash a verbal tirade on Jasper. Before she gets the chance though, she sees some stranger go into the brig. "Hell!" She breaks into a run to intercept.
Hangar Bay
"Well that's what we're trying to find out."
Warehouse
Alister lifts his new gun over the shoulder.
-
--Eagle's Shadow--
Well, shit. She decides to, instead of answering, finish her painting. She is very aware of another person entering into the hanger bay but strives to finish. Which she does, beautifully. She stands back to evaluate her work, satisfied she turns to find everyone is still watching her. Sighing she places her tools down.
"Yes yes, Captain Morgan at your service. If you have any questions, please leave them till after we set off." She looked at the twins, "As for you two we'll have to see."
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
Alex shrugged, "No time like the present I guess."
-
Hangar Bay
"Alister and Alison can vouch for our abilities."
"We're good ship engineers,"
"And fighters."
Warehouse
With his right hand, the one not balancing the mercury on his shoulder, he picks up a ammo box. "Let's go then."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Reagan looked at both of them, it seemed as if they were desperate to avoid something dreadful, maybe they had annoyed Al about something? That would probably do it. The man could probably throw the two of them off the ship single handed, possibly literally if he utilized a shoulder.
"You two are scared of something aren't you." It definitely wasn't a question.
She might have decided to pay attention to their answer if she hadn't spotted a familiar face peeking in. Renard Larson was a quiet and soft spoken man, still he was a reliable captain, she was certainly glad to have another familiar face on board, even if their interactions in the past had been restricted to customs inspections. She gave him a polite nod, "Renard."
His face looked blank for a moment before he remembered, "Ah, Captain Morgan." He gave her a nod before examining the crafts that were sitting in the hanger.
--South Docks--
With the requisite items in hand the crew made their way to a secluded part of the docks, several pitted metal panels were mounted upon stands near the edge of the quay wall. Working quickly the weapons were mounted and armed, the aging panels replaced and thrown into a pile for... whatever they planned on using them for, probably melt them down for scrap but that's a bit beside the point.
Courage was explaining the Anvalan merc to Dahlia while Alex, Richard, Reynold, and Travis were tinkering with a few hand held weapons. One of which was a semi-auto carbine modified to fire 12 gauge slugs while the other was very clearly something cooked up while Alex and Richard were drunk. It's outward appearance was that of a long wide blade, it's fuller replaced by not one, but an arrangement of three gun barrels. The actual firearm portion of the weapon was condensed into a section of the gun that extended back from the rear handle which extend back to release the drum magazine. Phillip and Preston were relaxing in the sun wondering when they were gonna begin firing weaponry. Lorena was nowhere to be seen, having gone off while everyone was busy working.
--Militia Docks--
While weapons certainly held her attention, it was ships that were her real love, and she really wanted to get a closer look at the vessel that was floating peacefully in the middle of the Militia's more or less private dockyard. There was certainly a lot going on these past few days and while she was curious it wasn't really any of her business, besides she had heard most of it from Amelia already. She was leaning near the railing when she noticed someone familiar on the deck of the large transport. She waved and the other waved back. Moments later Amelia and Lorena were chatting near the Eagle's Shadow, Andromeda floating around the pair of them.
"Lorena, why don't you come aboard and look at the vessel? It's certainly interesting enough."
She looked at the ship and the ship looked back, "Why not."
-
Hangar Bay
The twins turn a pale green.
"Alister,"
"He uses rather,"
"Unconventional and unorthodox,"
"Piloting skills."
South Docks
Alister attaches the mercury to the mount, then loads in standard rounds. "Let's see if this is worth the money." He lines up the shot, then pulls the trigger......
-
"What was that noise? It sounded like artillery fire. I just hope that doesn't stop me from getting food."
-
South Docks
"Mother of Bacon......" After spying they wreckage of the armor plates, Alister has taken out his spy glass and sees the final point of impact. "Worth every crown."
Hangar Bay
"You saw those harnesses?"
"We won't crew on his ships when they have those."
-
Somehow, Koali managed to hear what Carn was saying, but he really only heard one word.
"Bacon..."
With unusual speed for someone of his stature, but justified by his special stilts, he suddenly appeared next to Carn.
"Bacon? Did you say bacon?"
-
South Docks
"What the flak kid? Didn't anyone teach you NOT to sneak up on someone at a firing range?" After this reprimand, he answers his question. "And I was referring to the Holy Bacon, the one true religion."
Hangar Bay
"Dangling a hundred feet,"
"Through active fire,"
"Not to mention Alister burning moonshine and blasting tar."
"And on top of it all,"
"Alison's cooking."
Brig
Alison manages to get herself between this stranger, and the maximum security cell Jasper is in. "Nobody. Nobody talks to him. Not without clearance. State your name and business."
-
"Bacon's tasty and all, but I wouldn't go so far as to worship it..."
-
South Docks
Alister looks with pity upon this unenlightened soul. "Your to young to understand. Holy Bacon is not that which we eat. That bacon is but the way we worship Holy Bacon."
Hangar Bay
"Not to mention,"
"That is a impressive craft."
"We haven't had the,"
"Opportunity to work on a rocket."
"And its a truly,"
"Amazing design."
-
The Warehouse
While setting the sights on the Mercuary with Dalhia, Courage overhears Carn's statement about a religious bacon.
"I've been around some strange people, but bacon? Think it's an Anglean thing?" he whispers to Dalhia.
Once the sights have been zeroed in, he looks through the scope towards a old wreckage. Smiling, he opens the dual field gun's breach and loads in a Charged Round. Grabbing the twin triggers. The mount swivels around it bears as Courage takes aim. With a pull of the trigger, the round escapes the barrel as it flies toward the target. Unlike a standard Mercuary, the Anvalan variant barely had any recoil from the charged round as it was made to withstand a higher powder mixture which is only know in the desert city. The round then impacts the piece of metal and pierces directly through the thick sheet.
Tracking the round, Courage smirks knowing his aim hasn't left him, "If only we had the standard for this. Who else wants to give it a go?"
Hanger Bay
"What a surprise seeing you here. You going on this thrip as well? I just recently got accepted, already met with Commander Frey," Renard says to her.
Back at the planes, their suspicions are correct that she was indeed Captain Morgan.
"Looks like she's maybe another flier," Antonio assumes from her craft and whistles," Look at that thing, prototype engines and all. Think we can handle it Farris?"
"I think I can, I don't believe you would. You may blaze up in a ball of fire." he chuckles.
"Hey! Ok Kei you are the deciding factor, who think can handle that thing?"
Rolling her eyes as the two, she hops out of the cockpit she was in and walks towards the both of them. Ignoring the calls, she approaches the group around the craft.
"Nice to meet you Captain Morgan, I'm Kei Naga, one of the pilots of the scouting planes. I'm just wondering, since there are four planes who is the last pilot?"
Brig
Ulric tries to look pass Alison not the room, but is blocked by her head each time.
During each attempt, he manages to put out a few words, "Well miss I'm Ulric......Culvin.......Captain..... Excuse me...... Naturist....... Can you pardon your head....... and curiosity seeker.....you are persistent aren't you?"
Straightening himself, on his glasses he added several more lenses to see if he can zooming in with them. Seeing that only a glare can be magnified, he readjust the frames back to his normal lenses.
"so who is it that we have on board, a ruffian? Oh maybe an exotic animal? Is it an animal, must be a bird if it's humming, please let me see." unaware of the seriousness of Alison's glare.
Armory
Alexi enters the armory and is fascinated about the quantity of weapons stored. Passing the rifles to the savers, he notices a pile in the corner and a smirk is seen. Recognising several of the equipment stored at the temporary sleeping arrangement he says to no one in particular.
"Well looms like we are on the same job aren't we Alister."
(those reading, disregard the first entrance of Alexi into the armory. -.- )
-
Militia Docks
After having been satisfied with his Anvalan merc, he hoisted it onto his shoulder, grabbed the box of ap rounds Alex threw in. He then glared at Koali, and is now boarding the ship. He notices a familiar looking galleon along the way. "Don't tell me old Kasparov took the job too."
Brig
"Ruffian? Hardly, he has the muscle density of a anemic twig. Animal? Infinitely worse. He's a mentally deranged prisoner, who has useful information. Now I suggest you leave before I take action. It's terribly awkward when I have to patch up the people I injur."
Hangar Bay
"Excuse us!"
"We're trying to secure our positions!"
"You guys already know what your jobs are."
"We don't want to wait and get a crap job."
-
"The heck was that glare for?"
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Reagan gave the gathering circle of people around her craft a look of amusement, "I wasn't expecting this much interest in a dinky little rocket racer, to answer your question," She shrugged, "I have no idea, might want to ask around." She looked at the twins, "To answer your questions, we'll have to see, not sure we'll have a chance to take her out." She gave the craft an affectionate pat, "Officially I'm piloting this tub we'll be calling home," she broadly gestured to the hanger bay, "whatever the case if we do take her out I'll consider it."
--South Docks--
Dahlia gave him a chuckle as she took control of the weapon, "The Captain has mentioned it a few times." She sighted in one of the few intact plates of metal, loading in a standard round from the stores she let her trigger finger hover for a moment before depressing it. She felt a light vibration as the powder ignited, sending the round forward to slam into the plate. Satisfied she smiled at her handy work.
Alex and Richard on the other hand had set up some dummies and were testing the weapons they had been working with. Well more like enjoying themselves as it were. Alex hefted the odd chaingun sword firing an experimental burst before giving the dummy a strike with its blade. Travis exchanged weapons and began a series of actual tests while Alex began to calibrate the 12 gauge carbine.
-
Hangar Bay
Alister has walked in and noticed everyone else crowding around Reagan and her rocket. Including the twins, who appeared to be bouncing on their heals slightly. "Traitors." Quietly said under his breath, and completely devoid of meaning. He does have a job for them to do later though......but it can wait. For now, he stows the Anvalan merc on the Kibeth on a rack hear the armor mechanism, setting down the ap rounds nearby. "Think I'll have her on the back. Those engies didn't seem to be familiar with mines."
Brig
"Now if you wouldn't mind Mr. Culvin, please leave the brig." this time, Alison has delivered her message in a tone reminiscent of a whip. Coupled with the firey look in her eyes, it would take a oblivious idiot to not notice. She prays he's not a oblivious idiot, but so far that impression seems to be fitting.
-
"Hey, is that a rocket?"
-
Koali soon realized that he'd forgotten to actually walk to where everyone was. After joining the group, he repeated his question.
"Hey, is that a rocket?"
-
Brig
"By your tone and facial express, it looks like you are releasing cortisol. Are you stressed in anyway? You know I know several herbs that can remedy that. A mixture of Cortan Lilies and Ucta leaves can relieve that. Also are you aware that Ucta leaves sweat out oil? Several specimens of marsupials tribe off that. I know a story when I encountered this small bear like animal that almost bite me when I was near one of one those trees. Mainly found off the western coast of Chaladon."
Oblivious to Alison's reactions, Ulric continues on with several more facts from his studies.
South Docks
"Great shot." Courage marvels at Dalhia. He couldn't help but stare at her while she was loading a new round and let out an involuntary sigh. Seeing her ears twitch at the slight sound, Courage catches himself staring and quickly looks in the other direction towards Alex and Richard.
"Those are odd weapons they made. When did them came up with them."
-
Brig
A truly terrifying thing begins to occur. A vein begins to beat in Alison's temple, in the same spot Alister's does when he's about to lose control. "Leave. Or I cut you up, then stitch you back together on my medical table." Seeing that it still hasn't fully sunk in, she resorts to more direct measures. She pushes him back, then draws her wakizashi's "Last chance. Leave. NOW!!" Mentally she's thinking that is doesn't get the message at this point, they'd be better off without him. Old habits return and she begins to think of how to hide the body if necessary.
Carn's Quarters
After having secured the merc, Alister returned to his quarters. Reminding himself he still has to tidy up where he slept in the armory last night. He stands in front of a mirror and wash basin, and unsheathes his knife. Razor sharp, he then runs a hand through his hair, which has grown a bit to shaggy for his taste. "Time for a trim." within 10 minutes the shaggy mop has been reduced to a choppy, ragged imitation of a flattop. "That will do." Contrary to popular belief, Alister actually is a decent self-barber with his knife. Though choppy and ragged, its relatively even and he's never cut himself.
-
Back out by the rocket, Koali was busy thinking to himself.
If I keep appearing everywhere without making it clear where I'm going, people might start to get suspicious or confused. For example...
Koali walked past Carn cutting his hair.
Not even I know how I got here, and if Carn catches me he'll probably kill me... Or worse.
Back in the armory...
Oh well, might as well check the switch axes.
-
Giving up, Gaige heads back to the Eagle's Shadow.
"Dear lord these streets are impossible to navigate."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Amelia led her through the corridors on their adventure through the vessel like the pair of puckish rouges they were! Well, not really, but Lorena was enjoying the chance to examine a new vessel, a large one for that matter, the hanger bay was quite extensive, considering it was holding a galleon inside it.
At the moment she was examining the two vehicles sitting about, both definitely of Yeshan make, she'd had enough of Yeshan armored vehicles honestly, being shot at wasn't very enjoyable, still, at least these would be in the hands of people who would...
Ok she had to be honest, with Reagan in command no one here would use these responsibly, more than likely they would use them for personal enjoyment, still, at least there would be no hostile takeovers performed in these... Actually that might just happen, hopefully they kept the guns empty. She looked at Amelia who was examining its internals, she was an engineer after all, so it would probably be her that would end up fixing these. As she continued to watch her mess about with the engine a question appeared and wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.
"Amelia?"
"Yes Lorena?"
"Don't you think a tank is a bit much for a simple mapping expedition?"
She heard her pause with the engine before continuing to work. "Maybe."
Lorena shrugged and went back to her examinations.
--South Docks--
Dahlia took a moment to think, "I would say late night drinking fests, but not all their ideas are maddeningly insane. So honestly I have no idea."
"Also," she said with a smile, "Don't you think I can tell when you're staring?"
-
Carn's Quarters
"All right. Got plenty of crew now. Time to look professional."
Alister changes back into his red shirt and black pants, after putting them through a rather quick washing. The technique is considered a unofficial military secret. After that, he shrugs on his long, black, flak jacket, and his armadillo helmet and sand devil mask. Having done that, he decides to only take his axe and pistol on his belt. He puts his kind in his boot. Done with that, he goes to the hangar bay, where he saw a fair amount of people.
Hangar Bay
"Ms. Amelia, and Lorena wasn't it? You signed on?"
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
"Mhmm." She responded without really paying attention, so focused on trying to figure out what they could possibly need a full sized Yeshan tank and half track for. When she realized that Amelia was looking at her funny she had to ask, "What? Is there something on my face?"
-
South Docks
"What, I wasn't ...oh doh," Cpurage bumbles at being found out. Ugh so this was how Bdr feel when he was eyeing Althea
Brig
Instead of feeling fear, Ulric's reaction is quite the opposite to Alison's threat. His eyes widen in excitement at the thrill.
"Oh a pain tolerance test, I haven't had one since that time when a group of raiders strung me by my feet and left me dangling. No matter how hard they swung the butt of their rifles I didn't flinch. Never did one with blades, sharp objects and I don't tend to mix well."
Alison's anger continues to rise and is about to give a fatal stab until another voice is heard.
"Ah Mr. Culvin I believe that you are needed in the command room. Several people are asking to crew for your Junker."
Both turning their heads, Alison and Ulric sees Frey calmly walking down the cooridor towards them. He passes the pair without a care that Ulric's life is beinging threatened.
"Oh really? That pain test must be put on hold miss, looks like I am needed. Thanks Commander."
Just as easily Alison had him in a grip, Ulric twists his way out and falls behind the Baron.
-
Brig
"He," She says, pointing her blade at Ulric. "Is a liability." She then sheaths her blades, and begins to massage her temples. She feels the vein in her temple. "Flak. Haven't felt that it in a long time."
Hangar Bay
"I said," Alister begins, in a more impatient tone, the mask warping his voice and hiding his face. "Did you sign up Ms. Lorena?" He begins to wonder if they even recognize him. He is wearing different clothes, along with his helmet and mask.
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Lorena looked behind them to see... honestly she wasn't sure, a masked mountain of muscle that stood tall and imposing, probably would have been more imposing in armor but that was beside the point. The being before her was tall! Oh so very tall, much taller than her father who was just shy of six feet. In fact, his height and build reminded her of the man she had met earlier...
"I... uh, Mr. Carn... I-" That was when she heard Amelia laugh at her.
Amelia watched as recognition dawned on Lorena's face, It was rather amusing in fact, Mr. Carn was a rather... distinctive individual that would be hard to mistake for anyone else, change of clothing or otherwise. Still she couldn't keep from giggling in amusement at her predicament and when Lorena turned at her with a pout on her face she gave a full laugh before digging herself out of the engine and putting a hand on her friend's shoulder, this was honestly a breach in her character but she could make an exception for her.
"You must... forgive her," she managed to force out in between bouts of laughter. "But I do believe she is rather taken by your towering disposition!" She felt a light smack on her temple but paid it no mind.
Lorena on the other hand was filled with rather good natured fury, "I think my friend here is rather sorry about her lack of professionalism. I don't believe I've signed up for anything today either," she pretended to think it over, "Actually I think she promised to show me the engines, isn't that right?" Of course Amelia, still finding the entire situation funny, couldn't really give her an answer.
-
Hangar Bay
Alister smiles behind his mask, then lowers it enough so they can see him wink. Readjusting it he says, "The engines are impressive, there's no denying it. I take it your an engineer then?"
Brig
Alison flashes back seven years ago, to the first time she remembers that level of anger. It is also, coincidentally the day she met Alister.
Canyons of Northern Yesha, 7 years ago
Alison swore it seemed like q good idea last week. She had heard these pirates were lazy boozers, and only a skeleton crew was supposed to be here today. She was completely wrong. They were fully sober, on alert, and to top it off, she fell for an old trap. They found her halfway to the vault, under a net connected to bells. Now she was strapped to a chair in the basement, with the pirate captain looming over her.
"So, little miss red thought she could sneak in and scamper off, without even entertaining us?"
A few cronies in the back nod and grin. Alison has a very, bad feeling about their plans for her. She begins to get a headache in her temples, but has no idea why.
"Oho! Look at her lads! That hair of her's doesn't lie! We've got ourselves a fighter!" Leaning in close, he unsheathes a small knife, running it lightly on her thigh. "I will enjoy breaking you."
Alison is sitting there in silent fury, the gag in her mouth preventing the tirade of profanity from ensuing. Suddenly, a massive explosion can be heard, along with screaming and other sounds of combat.
"Damn. Another Imperial patrol, get up there boys and remind them why this is OUR canyon."
The two cronies grab some assault rifles and head out, leaving their boss alone with the girl.
"My apologies, now where were we...."
Suddenly, the sound of the cronies rifles begin. Along with what sounds like a bear.
"What the flak?! They've never made it down here!" The pirate only now realizes that he cannot hear combat from above anymore. "Imperial patrols aren't this good......Who the flak is attacking?!" Drawing his cutlass and pulling out a large revolver, which has the word, Executioner, engraved on the barrel. He then readies himself to the side of the door. After about 30 seconds, the sound of the cronies stop, but the apparent bear continues for a few more seconds. Then it is silent.
In her head, Alison's mind is going crazy. "What the flak is going on? Did Dad or Alishia hire somebody?!"
Suddenly the door is locked wide open, revealing a heavily armed, armored, and masked individual. Alison grumts and motions to the pirate next to the stranger, but to late. The pirate lord has already lunged forward, stabbing him in the chest. Miraculously, it bounces off.
"PAH! You call that a blade?" The figure unhooks a large axe from his belt, holding it near the head. In a interesting move, he punches with it, hitting the pirate in the right hand, then delivers a lighting fast, overhead blow from further down. The pirate, known as the King of Canyons, crumples to the ground.
Into a small radio on from a pocket, the stranger speaks in military jargon. "Target eliminated."
"Well done Corporal, return ASAP."
"Negative. One hostage. Will escort."
After some grumbling, garbled by static, the response is heard. "Cleared."
Putting away the radio, he lowers the mask revealing a surprisingly young face. "Alright miss, I'm going to untie you and escort you out." He then takes out a knife and cuts the bonds on her hands, after which she removes the gag.
"You said UNTIE."
While cutting through the bonds on her feet, he retorts. "You ever hear of the Gordian Knot? It was only untied when a guy chopped through it with his sword."
"Sounds like cheating."
"Miss, there may still be pirates around. Can the bickering wait till we are on the ship?
Well isn't he impertinent. "Fine."
After he's done, the stranger pockets the pirates pistol. "Ready?"
Alison grabs a SMG from the wall. "Lead the way." Her headache passes.
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
"Engineer born and raised!" She said, finally getting her bearings again, "Well, actually, not so much born, and wasn't so much as raised either... Thinking on it now I learned how to fire a rifle before I figured out how to fix a simple appliance." She shrugged, "Not really all that important."
-
Hangar Bay
"Eh, I learned how to snap a elbow, before I learned what a bandage was." He sees the rather alarmed looking expressions on their faces. "I was an alley kid from age 7 ok? If I didn't win the pit fights, I didn't get to eat."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Lorena was less alarmed at his circumstances, having long ago been resigned to the fact that not everyone had a cushy childhood, herself included, no, what she was most distressed about was his lack of medical knowledge. She gripped his arms without thinking, "But medical knowledge is important!"
Amelia on the other hand was sort of lost and distressed at the same time. Not really knowing how to respond to that.
-
Hangar Bay
"Relax. Combat medicine was drilled into my skull at boot camp. And if it's beyond me, that's one of the reasons Alison is here. She acquired a medical license a year or so ago."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
"Who?" Lorena asked with a deadpan.
Amelia, finally gaining her senses cleared her throat, "The vessel's on board physician. Pay it no mind."
-
Hangar Bay
"I wouldn't say that to her face Amelia. She can be, temperamental. Then again, so can I. But yes, unless someone more qualified signs on, she's our doc."
-
Brig
"Not everyone is perfect, we are all a liability. For example, in the field I am rash when it comes into certain situations, and currently my disability restricts me to the transport. Your hostile nature earlier is also a prime example, Mr. Culvin maybe oblivious to certain things he still have skills that you and I don't possess." he says to Alison as he continues done the corridor.
"Oh if you can, inform the other captains, meeting in the command room."
The Warehouse
Going red face, Courage looks off into the desert in embarrassment. "So umm where is Lorena?" he stutters trying to change the subject.
-
Koali got bored and decided to find the transport... And find some snacks.
-
Brig
"Yeah, whatever, but first," Alison grabs a can of red paint nearby, and paints on the door to the brig in large letters. "Unauthorized entries will be shot." Nodding at her work, she walks down the hall, catching up to Frey. "Other captains?"
-
Eagle's Shadow
"Yes, Mr Culvin is one of them," He says to Alison as she catches up, "If you haven't notice, the rest of the crew is on board or arriving. Besides him we have a Mr. Larson and Mr. Kasparov."
He leads her u tip they are at the entrance to the Command Center.
-
Command Center
"Kasparov? Alexi Kasparov?"
-
Command Center
Opening the hatch, he sees Ulric already there talking to several people.
"Ah that is one," Frey then hears Alison, "Yes why do you ask."
-
Command Center
Alison turns to get Alister, calling over her shoulder, "Alister and I crewed on his ship, the first six months after he left the military. They get along, but they can be, rivaling on some matters." After that she heads to the cargo bay.
-
--South Docks--
"I- Uh- Huh." She hadn't actually noticed that she was gone, which meant she wasn't as observant as she thought she was. But that still meant she had no idea where she was.
"Where is she?"
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Amelia tilted her head in confusion, "I don't understand. Is she not the trained medical professional on board? Wouldn't that make her, by status as a licensed practitioner, the ship's physician?" She looked at the two of them, "Isn't that right? Lorena? Mr. Carn?" Her eyes darted between them, "I am correct yes? No?"
Lorena shook her head and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Just stop."
-
Hangar Bay
"Essentially, she can professionally splint a broken bone, or stitch you up. She also knows which drugs to use. The rest only know combat medicine. Meaning I patch you up, then throw you back in the fight."
Alison comes in and starts on Alister, "Command Center, Frwy's orders. Briefing also, Alexi is on board." After that she leaves.
"I guess I should go to the Command Center. Nice talking with you ladies." After that, he heads to the Command Center.
-
Poking his head into the hangar bay, Koali chimes in...
"Nothing a shot of adrenaline can't fix!"
-
Hangar Bay
"Well, not always. But a lot of the time... Yeah."
-
Command Center
Going through the door Alister sees Frey, Alexi, and two others who he assumes are the other captains. Nodding to Frey, he walks up to Alexi, with a look just shy of intimidating.
"So, YOU signed on?"
He breaks the grim expression in moments, and bearhugs the older guy.
"It's been to long since we worked together you old Guild bastard."
He maintains the bear hug for a few more seconds, releasing it when he hears some slight wheezing.
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Reagan was glad when the crowd finally dispersed, though from the looks of it the twins were content to keep watching her as she worked on the little craft's internals. She stayed like that for a while, jotting down various parts that may need replacing, carefully taking apart and reassembling various components, noting every odd fragment of engineering that one could tell that Alex and Richard had been there. It was relaxing, she wouldn't call herself an engineer but knowing the craft she had helped build certainly worked in her favor.
She had to wonder, with all the people joining up, did the birdmen have any agents on board? She remembered the Rocket Race and how they had managed to infiltrate using two vessels disguised in the colors of the guard. Would they be ready for them? There was a very long list of things that go wrong, and not a lot they could do to prevent from happening. Before long she found herself just sitting there wondering what to do.
"Boy, what a mess this is going to turn into."
--Elsewhere--
Lorena looked at the doorway where Mr. Carn disappeared.
"Well he seemed nice."
-
Hangar Bay
The twins hear her saying something about a mess while looking at the engine.
"Something wrong?"
"Is it liable to explode?"
"If so,"
"We would like to redact our request."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
"What? No, no it's nothing." She shook her head, "Nothing at all." she added under her breath. She sighed and went back to the vessel at hand.
-
South Docks
Thinking, Courage snaps his fingers as he recalls what Amelia said to him last night.
"I think I know where she just maybe. Follow me."
As he pulls Dalhia by the hand he calls over to Alex, "Thanks for the test fire, I'll be back for it later!"
Command Center
"Good to see you as well Alister," Alexi coughs, "Sorry dust and age doesn't mix. So how, I see you manage to get this job first eh?"
-
Command Center
Alister grins and explains, "There original guy got skittish and bailed. I happened to be first in the sign up line. I'll be running a squid. Alison is aboard too, and along with her usual skills, she also is the most qualified to be the medical officer. My advice, don't get shot."
-
--South Docks--
Alex pulled the charge handle and fired off a slug into the dummy and waved the pair of them off. As they left their sight Richard gave him an odd look.
"Was the slug really necessary?"
"Yes, yes it was."
He shook his head, "And people call me the silly one."
"To be fair you did kick down a complete stranger's door just to inform me about current events."
"I- True, that statement is completely true." He smirked, "To be fair Captain, you've kicked down your fair share of doors."
"Yes, but unlike you they weren't the doors of plainly decent people. Those doors harbored pirates and all manner of scum, they had those kicks coming."
To emphasize his point he put a hand over his eye, "ARRR! Thar be loot to be taking!" He made an explosion sound and struck a heroic pointing pose, "Stop right there criminal scum!"
"And my point is so obviously proven."
"Shut up Richard."
"Pillock."
"Bastard."
--Cathedral--
Content, that was a good way to describe how she felt, being led through the city streets, their footsteps, slightly squeaky, neither hurried nor ambling. She let him lead her along, it was nice really, just the two of them off on a small adventure. She was happy, that was until she remembered the two of the were looking for Lorena and she had to wonder:
- What is she doing?
- Where is he taking her?
That aside however she did rather like the feeling of his hands around hers. Which she had to assume was currently the only upside to this situation, considering she had dearly wanted another go at that how-Mercury, skies the Captain could really get to you with that. Finally deciding to look around she realized that the unfamiliar cityscape had become familiar, in the shape of the area near the Guard's Headquarters in the city.
"So," She said sweetly. "Where are you taking me?"
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Lorena stood and took a few moments to stretch her muscles. Despite having claimed that Amelia would be showing her the engines they had yet to actually do that. Though she didn't mind all that much. The pair of them had moved onto the tank and Amelia was doing her thing and making notes about it, it was kind of nice to see her take this job seriously, though she knew that it was definitely going to bite her eventually.
She watched as Andy the Skysquid slowly floated around Amelia's head, eventually trying to gain her attention with a slow swipe of he/she/its tentacle. Lorena took this chance and quietly slid her arms around her.
"Amelia?"
"Hmm?" Amelia quietly began trying to pull her off to no avail.
"Engines?" She asked as she turned the smaller woman around to face her. "I would really like to look at those now."
Amelia from the looks of it was trying to figure out a response, her lips parting ever so slightly only for them to close. "I suppose." She said neutrally.
-
Hangar Bay
"Wait,"
"Where did Amelia,"
"Get that floating,"
"Gelatinous,"
"Flying thing?"
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Amelia? Reagan looked over to where the half track and tank were sitting quietly amongst various machines and craft. Sure enough the diminutive blonde was there, Andromeda floating about her head. There was also someone else there holding her close, familiar, that short brown hair reminding her of Alex...
"What is Lorena doing here?" She continued to watch them, perhaps she should channel her inner child and garner their attention somehow? She looked down at the tools and located a small screw driver, giving it a few experimental tosses, she decided, yes, perhaps she should get their attention and threw it.
Lorena was very aware of something flying towards her before actually seeing it. With a deft hand she reached up and caught a small screw driver in her hand. She gave a cursory glance to see a familiar face. A light smile on her face she waved.
"Perhaps the engines can wait a moment." She gave the smaller woman a nudge and the two of them began walking over to a rapidly familiar looking rocket craft, Andromeda floated about the two of them, just happy to be there it seemed.
ANDROMEDA INTERLUDE
Float, float, float.
A jet of gas sent a small translucent mass rocketing into the air. The small creature unfurled it's tentacles and began hunting among the rafters of the hanger bay. Andromeda's keen eyes, as beady as they were, spotted movement, with another jet of gas Andromeda was upon the small rodent, tentacles lashed out, grasping the struggling creature in a comparatively strong iron grip. Feeling elation from the successful hunt Andromeda brought the creature close, beak tearing into the rodent's flesh, it's final death throws finally quieted down allowing Andy to enjoy the meal.
Float, float, float.
A light hiss and Andromeda began descending towards two parked metal creatures, Master/Friend was examining the innards of one while Master's friend stood looking at her. Andy floated over and lightly rubbed a tentacle against Master's head fur, her friend took this opportunity to grapple her from behind, from which she attempted to disengage from, though she did so weakly, as if she wasn't trying. The two of them communicated quietly, eventually resulting in Master being turned to face the other female, she communicated something before turning away slightly, a light change in color evident on her cheeks. Then something whistled through the air. Master's friend extended a limb, catching an object in air, both of them turning to it's place of origin, another familiar being stood there along with another metal creature. Master's friend began pulling her along and Andromeda followed along behind.
-
Command Center
"Already done that," says Alexi as he runs a finger down his scar.
"Ahem" Frey coughs, gaining the attention of those in the room. "Looks like we have the majority of the captains in here. Only one mission is Captain Morgan, you can make aquantice with her at a separate time."
Opening the file cabinet in the room, Frey pulls out the several old maps and charts. Hidden and locked in a secret compartment are the real mission files for those who truly know what the expidition is about. Laying the charts out on the table, Alexi, Renard, Ulric takes a look while Carn looks on behind them.
"As you can see, all of these maps are outdated. Everything we know in and around the six factions haven't change, but lands outside are unknown. Simply we are going south of the Guild and explore that area and chart our findings. All of you are especially chosen to be part of this expedition for the skills that you process. Mr. Culvin you knowledge of fauna and animals. Mr. Kasparov, you survival and combat experience in the field. Finally Mr. Larson your navigation skils. We have various resource at hand to help, from scouting planes to terrain vehicles. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask, if not we are leaving tomorrow in the afternoon."
Without another word, Frey leaves the room to let them to their own thoughts. Ulric, remembering that there are several people wanting to crew for him goes about finding them. Renard simply walks off to his room, while Alexi turns back to Carn.
"So Alister, is this all. I mean I don't mind the money, but what else is there? And who is this Captain Morgan."
Militia Docks
Slowing down, the duo finds themselves at the main docks for the city's militia ships. Remembering that Amelia said something about going on an expedition, Courage assumes that they are going to use a fairly large ship. Scanning the berthings, he spots a medium transport with several ships surrounding it.
"That should be it, I'm betting my new carbine she is in there," he points to the transport named Eagle's Shadow"
(yeah sorry, got hammered with tests.)
-
Command Center
Alister scratches his neck, turning the black gaze of his mask to Alexi. "You should know I don't break contracts. And your the one who drove home, more than anyone else, that my word is my contact. Presently, I can't say much about the mission. I suspect more will come to light once we are well on our way. As for Captain Morgan, she and I share joint command. She's a Captain in the Cathedral guard, and is at least on paper, keeping an eye on the city's investments. Be warned though, she reminds me of a older, slightly milder version of Alison. And yes, she's a redhead, auburn to be precise." He shakes his head and chuckles in a slightly ominous way, "The joint commanders and the medical officer, all are redheads. This could get interesting."
-
Command Center
"I remember, you have grown since you been under my wing. I'll wait and see what's else is to come, I didn't survive this long by always charging in. So where is that squid I heard that you purchased, I assume you already worked on it."
-
Command Center
"She's in the hangar bay, already fitted with bomb bay, and harnesses. Need to actually find, or make, the bombs though."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Amelia let Lorena lead her to the opposite side of the hanger bay, little rocket craft and all, sporting a name as well, well painted by the looks of it too. Also those two foppish twins seemed to be around as well. So long as they behaved themselves...
"Lorena, Amelia." Reagan gave them both light smiles before giving Lorena a look. "Still don't know how your father kept your existence a secret from the rest of us."
"Simple," She said, letting go of Amelia. "Magic, pwooh!" She made flash like movements with her hands, her hair bobbed slightly with the action which made Amelia giggle a little.
"Still, good to see you Reagan." She gave her a light punch on the shoulder. "Noticed you have the rocket powered wonder here."
"Yeah, your father and I flew it over the other day, well, so did Richard but he didn't do any flying."
Lorena tilted her head side to side, "Sounds about right, even if he is the trained pilot.
Reagan raised an eyebrow, "All three of us are trained pilots."
Amelia looked to Lorena who just shrugged, "Well, that aside, who are these two?" She pointed to the twins who were chatting excitably amongst themselves. Andromeda took this moment to land on Amelia's shoulder, she gave Andy a rub that elicited a purr out of the airborn creature.
"These two," Reagan said, "are... actually, I don't think they introduced themselves."
--Militia Docks, Cathedral--
Dahlia, true to form examined the vessel in question and wondered what kind of blind spots it had in its weapon coverage. Though that only momentarily held her attention, for in the distance she could see a large vessel floating peacefully in the harbor. She remembered it well, though only observed it for the short time they were in landmark. The new flagship of Cathedral's civil defense fleet, she couldn't actually remember its name, however that was only a slight issue, as the weapons on that thing looked amazing, turreted cannons akin to those mount on old deep water naval ships. She couldn't tell what size they were, however she could only assume it was something around 5 inches. Anything larger and one had to wonder whether or not it was actually worth to bring into battle. Still, what she would give to examine them...
She only vaguely remembered that she was here looking for Lorena and turned back to Courage, who was once again watching her with interest.
"So Lorena yeah?"
-
Hangar Bay
"James,"
"And John,"
The brothers take a ostentatious, theatre bow. "The Raven Twins."
"Engineers of natural talent,"
"Fighters of brutal training,"
"And devilishly handsome to boot!"
"Don't forget brother, we can dance too!"
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
"Ah," Lorena said slowly, looking at the other two woman standing with her.
"So... you're idiots."
-
Outside, at the marketplace...
Koali was wandering around, checking out all the free samples that seemed to have risen into popularity overnight. He got the idea to radio someone in the hangar bay if anyone wanted snacks. He turned his radio's dial to Carn's frequency and pressed the talk button.
"Yo, they're giving out free samples of what looks like everything out here. Anyone in there need anything?"
-
Hangar Bay
The twins bristle at the insult.
"Hardly madam."
"We hold records in several cities of the Baronies, for our engineering capabilities."
"Just because we may act differently,"
"In no way means we are simpletons."
-
Command Center
"That's going to be eventful. I already saw your handiwork in the armory. Well lead the way, I want to see this beaut."
Militia Docks
"Yeah," Courage says in a dream state sigh before he realise that she is lookin right at him. "Um ah yeah, come on."
Blushing red, he leads them both up the gang plank and into the cargo bay where he notices the two massive pieces of metal.
"What, no way," He starts as he is taken back to a month before.
Latched in place is the Yeshan Edelweiss class tank and Duece and a half land vehicle. Slowly walking towards it, Courage places a hand on the machine that he fought against.
"Ok this ship has some surprises, but you seen her anywhere?"
-
Hangar Bay
"I'd beg to differ, boys. You two definitely seem to think with your other heads the second you see a pretty lady such as the one in front of us."
Tipping his cap to Lorena, Gaige strides past the trio on his way to the armory.
-
Hangar Bay
"We have an interest in beautiful girls,"
"Doesn't mean we're not intelligent."
Command Center
"Alright then Alexi, follow me then." And with that, he heads out to the hangar bay.
-
Marketplace
After several minutes of silence, Koali grew to understand that he was part of something bigger now, and that he couldn't just assume that the first frequency he tuned his radio to was the right one.
"Well, I guess I should straighten out and fly right, then. But first..."
He eyed the various fruits and meats on display.
"I'll just grab some of everything for now."
-
Armory
Striding into the armory, Gaige inspects the current equipment.
"Carbines, rifles, revolvers, explosives, armor piercing rounds, sabres, cutlasses, so many things to choose from..."
Hanging his Chainsword, (Mk.1X) on a rack, he steps out and decides to do another systems check on the Squid before visiting the command centre to see what the next step was.
-
Hangar Bay
Alister leading Alexi, trading stories about jobs, takes him to the hangar bay and to his squid. "And here I present my personal bonus. The benefactors paid for her, and I still get the 10,000 crowns! The Kibeth, modified with 8 repeller rigs, and a bomb bay in the center hull. A gatling up front, banshee on the side, and a mine launcher in the rear." He leans closer making sure no one hears, and speaks in a whisper. "I've also acquired a genuine Anvalan Mercury Field Gun."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Dahlia remembered fighting against these things, not in the same way that Alex and Richard had, she had been on board the ship for the entire battle. But she had been rather captivated by these mobile gun batteries at the time. Still that had kind of been a bad time to examine new and interesting weapons. Right now wasn't the time either, but she could spend a few moments to admire them right? Ok maybe not, now where was Lorena?
"Nope, I've got nothing."
--Elsewhere--
Lorena watched the strange man walk off to skies know where, catching only vague fragments of conversation.
"-beautiful girls," she raised an eyebrow, was that why Amelia was quietly keeping her mouth shut?
--Market District, Cathedral--
Davis took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the market place. It was quite nice being out of the house as usual, of course this time he had a sister to keep an eye over, just in case of course. Catherine seemed to be particularly enthralled by the shiny fashion accessories from a nearby stall, they seemed to be of decent quality and the price was not that outrageous, surprisingly affordable in fact. Still he watched as currency was exchanged and his sister walking away with a smile on her face.
"So, where to next brother?"
"I was thinking fruit, bringing dried fruit along sounds nice." He sighed happily, he quite liked dried fruit.
She shook her head, "Men and their stomachs."
"Men are stomachs," he popped a candied walnut in his mouth, "you know this."
"I suppose."
The two of them began browsing the selection before Catherine split off to inspect something nearby. Davis shrugged and continued examining various articles of fruit. He reached for a ripe looking set of figs when he saw... something out of the corner of his eye. A hand reached out and laid a hand on an orange, with a toss it went up into the air... onto a pile of fruit. Is this a mythical walking fruit creature, assimilating various other fruits in order to advance it's being? It wasn't of course, in fact it was a rather young looking boy also carting about cured meats and the like.
"Uh, can I help you?"
-
Marketplace
"Sure! Apparently free samples are a thing now, so if you could help me stack food in these carts, that'd be great. My name's Koali, what's yours?"
In his peripheral vision, Koali saw a huge cut of meat on an equally huge bone, slowly rotating as it grilled over a fire.
"Hold on for second."
With surprising ease, (he'd been practicing,) he drew his switch axe and converted it into sword form, ready to cut a choice piece of deliciously grilled meat from the bone.
"I know Carn's gonna want some of this."
-
--Market District, Cathedral--
Davis watched as he drew the bladed weapon and began watching the circling meat roast, it smelled good, that was certainly a thing. He turned back to the fruit quickly and snatched up the figs he had been eying amongst other things such as plums. Those in hand he began stacking Koali's rather large quantity of food into the carts he had pointed out... It was a lot of food.
"Ah, right, names yes. I, am Davis and-" he hefted a large bag into the cart, "Skies it's like you're trying to feed an army."
-
"Well, not exactly. I'm trying to feed an Anglean, which is pretty much the same thing, right?"
The meat is almost done...
-
--Market District, Cathedral--
Davis weighed an answer as he lifted another bag. "Eh, close enough."
-
Hanger Bay
"Well, we can look around. I mean we haven't got kicked out yet," Courage says as he looks around.
From the tank, he goes off deeper into the Hanger Bay motioning for Dalhia to follow. Passing several crates, they find themselves in the actually hanger space where the planes and Rocket Craft sits.
"Looks like we are getting close, I recognise that thing," he points to the craft. Courage then eyes the planes in even more confusion as how four Anvalan planes wound up in here.
"The heck?... Nevermind, let's asks around."
Seeing the twins, He goes up to them, "Umm excuse me, you haven't seen an Amelia Lockheart around here?"
Elsewhere, Alexi listens as he follows Carn to his Squid. Being presented in front of the vessel, he blows put a low whistle.
"A beaut Alister, still not my style. I'll take my Red Star any day, she done me well after the Comflict. But an Anvalan Merc you say, got to hand it to you, I'm impressed you manage to get one."
-
Hangar Bay
"I saw her by Ms. Reagan,"
"There was another girl too."
"And some squid thing."
"Now I'm hungry."
"You spend to much time around Alister."
"WE spend the SAME amount of time around him."
"Hmph. Fair point."
Over by the squid, Alister continues catching up with Alexi.
"You know how hard it is to break from old training. Marauders use squids more than anything else. As for the merc, I know a couple of guys I want to look at it."
-
Hanger Bay
"So got you crew ready?" Alexi asks as he grabs one of the harnesses, "Sturdy, nice."
On the other side, Courage is taken back by the syncronization of the twins answers, "Umm Ms. Reagan? You mean Reagan Morgan, she is here as well?"
-
Hangar Bay
"Yep. A short kid who seems a naturally talented engineer called Koali, a tinkerer by the name of Gaige, and Alison. She's my secondary pilot, and gunner."
"Yeah,"
"I think she said she was a Captain."
"She was near her rocket craft."
"That thing is beautiful. Say, wait a minute."
The twins in no subtle way, squint at the new guy.
"Why are you looking for Ms Amelia?"
"You appear to have your own young lady on your arm."
-
Marketplace
Three... Two... One... Ding!
In a flash, Koali brought down his switch axe and... Reconsidered.
"You know what? I think I'll take the whole thing. Carn'd probably find eating meat off the bone to be pretty satisfying, and I could use the bone as a weapon handle later."
And with that, Koali wrapped the meat in butcher paper, hoisted it over his shoulder, and signaled Davis to come with him, picking up a bag of bananas on the way.
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Reagan watched from nearby, shaking her head at Courage's inability to examine his environment, Dahlia was over there giving her a look from the side and both Amelia and Lorena were busy holding in their giggles. Reagan had to wonder, when was he going to notice they were there?
--Market District, Cathedral--
"Uh, hold on a moment." He looked around catching his sister walking towards him with a smile on her face. "Cathy follow me we have food to deliver... apparently."
She shook her head, "Men."
"Stomachs." Davis corrected gently as he began pushing the cart. "So," He ask the short boy with the massive thing of meat, "where are we bringing this?"
-
Hangar Bay
"The only modification I don't have, but want, are silenced engines. But I'm not good enough to make one, and we don't have the materials to make engines. And I'm not about to start digging into the existing ones, or allowing anyone else to."
"Understandable. So what do you want your lads to look at the merc for?"
"Yiski's designs are legend. To my knowledge, this is only one of two outside of Anvala. The twins know how to dismantle and reassemble. And I trust them......"
Elsewhere in the bay, the twins are still giving the stranger with a pretty girlfriend, a heavy amount of suspicion.
-
Marketplace
"Oh, just the hangar bay... Over... There...? Uh... I think I forgot where it is."
Koali pulls out his radio.
"Right, I don't know Carn's frequency, but I might have a trick for this."
Koali holds the talk button and begins slowly twisting the dial, cycling through all available frequencies.
"YO CARN, WHERE'S THE HANGAR BAY?!"
-
Hangar Bay
Alister and Alexi here some static, then a small explosion.
"Dammit. There goes the radio."
"Any idea who it was?"
"Nope. I didn't have the time to figure out the frequency. And my pocket radio busted years ago."
-
--South Docks--
"Does anyone hear that?" Alex asked as they were busy walking back to the warehouse.
Travis took a moment to listen to the sound, "Is... that our radio?" He looked to his brother who tilted his slightly.
"Sounds about right."
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Dahlia was eyeing Reagan who was standing idly amused nearby. The two of them having a silent conversation as the scene unfolded.
Reagan lifted an eyebrow and slightly tilted her head towards Courage. Is he always like this?
Dahlia lightly shrugged, I think it's recent.
Reagan's eyebrow lifted higher, Really?
Dahlia tilted her head back and forth, I think so.
Reagan heard something fizzle slightly and saw the radio in the rocket craft power on slightly, Huh, wonder what that's about.
--Market District, Cathedral--
Davis waited to see if he would get a response for a few moments. "You know," he started, "I don't think that worked somehow."
-
Marketplace
"Yeah, I think you're right. Well, it was a pretty huge place, so I guess we should head towards the biggest thing we can see."
-
--Market District, Cathedral--
"I can name at least several very large objects in this city, namely that." He pointed to the Cathedral's namesake hall, majestically towering over the city. "And that." He pointed off towards the militia HQ. "So... Flip a coin?"
-
Marketplace
"Naw, there were airships in the hangar bay. I'm not sure you'd find those in a cathedral, and not nearly as much custom stuff in a militia headquarters."
Koali pointed off in the distance.
"I mean, there's a giant airship over there, but there's no way there'd be airships inside an airship, right? That'd be ridiculous!"
-
--Cathedral City Streets--
Davis is not entirely sure if Koali realizes he's pointed straight towards the militia's dockyard, that and the massive airship might have only been barely visible from where they were. Still, if there was one thing it was that he had feeling that he knew exactly where they were going. It was a good thing he had bought a lot of extra clothing and some equipment while he was out, he could drop by his room and stash his stuff.
"You haven't been around militia officers for very long have you? You'd be surprised at the things they can get their hands on."
--Elsewhere--
Alex, Richard, Reagan, Preston, Captain Alfred Walker, Commodore William Gates, all sneezed simultaneously from where they were standing.
-
(Haha)
"Well, I actually just signed up today. That line was for the militia?"
-
Hanger Bay
Getting a bit disturbed by the twin's gazes and comment that Courage takes a step back, "Oh I mean I wasn't looking for her for that and we," pointing between he and Dalhia, "aren't. I mean you said by the rocket craft?" he lightly chuckles before he embarrass himself.
Tilting his head, true to the twin's word, there is Amelia and Lorena holding their months while Reagan is eyeing Dalhia.
"Ohh, I wasnt paying attention was I? Dang it, I thought I lost that habit."
-
Hangar Bay
The main doors open, and a galleon is carefully piloted inside.
"Looks like the old girl is in Alister. Where can I have her?"
"Besides my squid, yours is the only ship here so far. Just park her next to my Kibeth."
"Makes sense." Going over about 30 feet to the left, Alexi begins to direct his crew to set her down where he is.
"Hope they brought rope ladders. No easy disembarkation here."
"Well," Alexi looks up. "There is that lovely catwalk. Right about the height of my main deck, wouldn't you say?"
Looking up, Alister sees Alexi's crew mooring the galleon to the catwalk. "Not bad. Your lads certainly know what they're doing."
"Anyone who crews with me does. You know that."
-
--Cathedral City Streets--
"Well, to put it in perspective often a city's guard will... 'Appropriate' equipment from criminals, now due to the very nature of piracy one is never really certain where any of it comes from. Because of this they tend to either throw it into the armory or shove it into a dry dock." Davis shrugged, "Honestly though it really depends on where you are, Cathedral can afford to purchase equipment and ships from actual yards while others have to make do, and by make do I mean steal things... From pirates... Mostly."
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Reagan gave Courage an amused look as the three of them came over, which amounted to walking around the rocket fighter as opposed to walking from the other side of the bay.
Lorena gave him a light punch on the shoulder, "You make me wonder how you even noticed her."
Dahlia raised an eyebrow, "He's not that dense."
"Ah so he is dense!"
"Would you two kindly shut up?" Amelia said from the side.
Reagan took a moment to watch the three of them before turning to him, "I didn't know you were in the city, so how are things in Anvala?"
-
Marketplace... Streets?
"Either way, I wanna check out that giant airship."
And with that, Koali set off toward the transport ship, completely forgetting that it had been his intended destination the whole time.
-
Hangar Bay
Gaige is running checks on the Kibeth, double and then triple checking everything is at peak performance.
"Hey, Carn! While you're here, you wanna go over some stuff with me?"
-
Hangar Bay
"Depends on what it is. Also, don't so much as breathe on the merc stored near the hull. That thing cost me a lot of crowns."
-
Hanger Bay
Giving a nervous chuckle, Courage place a hand behind his head, "Well that's not far from the truth, you should have seen me back in my time with the Guard. But so far everything is going smoothly back home, reconstruction has finished and the Saloon running well. I see that Cathedral got back onto its feet."
He then takes a look around the hanger space, "So, a lot of equipment being taken for this trip, especially planes from Anvala. Got any details that you can say?" Courage asks Reagan
Militia Docks
Outside the transport, Frey walks off the gangplank while being followed by Renard and Ulric.
"So Commander, " starts Renard, "Anything you need from us before we depart?"
"Nothing at the moment, just go out and finalise anything that you need to take care off. Mr. Culvin you requested for additional save for what again?"
Tapping his fingertips together, Ulric eyes widen, "Yes, a decent size room on the transport for housing my equipment and any specimens we discover on the way."
Stopping, Frey is lost in thought as he visualise the transport in his mind, "There is nothing that comes to min at the moment. I'll get back to you once I have an answer."
Nodding, "Thank you sir. Come Mr. Larson, I need you to help me carry several things from the market."
"Why do you need my help? You have a crew who can do it for you," says Renard as they leave e Commander for the Market.
As Frey watches the two leave, he walks back up and into the Hangwr Bay where he spots a rather decent size group. Recognising Captain Morgan and Miss Lockheart, they are several people he is not familiar with.
"Afternoon all, how's the day? Captain Morgan, didn't see you at the meeting, but we should depart tomorrow."
-
"I saw. Genuine Anvalan Mercury. It's a beaut. Didn't touch it, just looked from around the engines."
-
Hangar Bay
"Hmm. What do you need to talk about Gaige?"
-
Outside the Transport Ship
"Y'know, this thing looks kinda familiar, but I just can't put my finger on it. It's as if I would see Carn open a door and yell at me to bring in all this food or something... But why? Why do I remember this? Is it déjà vu?"
-
Militia Docks
Outside the transport, Ulric and Renard spots the teen yelling out. Curious, they both walk towards him.
"What seems to be the problem?" asks Renard.
-
In Front of the Giant Transport Ship With a Grumpy Anglean Guy Inside
"You... I... Bleh. I'm looking for a giant transport ship with a grumpy Anglean guy inside. Know where I could find it?"
-
Militia Docks
"I don't know about a grumpy Anglean," starts Ulric," the one at the meeting seems calm, but there is someone form the Guild that may have a temper of sorts. I don't know, it seemed like a pain test with that glad near my throat."
Looking at his aquantice with started and confused eyes, Renard slowly turns back to the teen, "If you are looking for the ship, it's right there behind us," he points," and if you are talking about Captain Carn, last we saw he was in the Hanger Bay."
-
--Militia Docks--
Davis felt a light jab in his side and remembered his sister was there.
"Hey brother, we're not in trouble are we?"
"Nah it's fine," he said, "civies are around the docks all the time. Anyways, we're moving."
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Reagan thought about it for a moment, Courage was a decent man, but it wasn't like she could outright say what they were about to do.
"Bird watching, and then subsequently bird hunting."
-
Hanger Bay
Frey gives a look to Reagan about her obvious comment to those who know the true intentions of the mission. Courage, looks at her oddly but deep down he feels that he knows what the Captain is talking about.
She can't be talking about....
Courage then hears Frey behind them and turns to face him, "Tomorrow, I knew this ship was departing soon, didn't know it was that soon."
"Yes, got a schedule to keep. If I may ask, I don't believe that several of you joined."
"Sorry, umm," Courage looks at Frey's insignia on his shoulder boards," Commander, just visiting a few friends," he motions to the group.
As Courage takes in the Commander's face, recognition comes over him as he was one of the several Baron defectors during the failed Baron Invasion of Anvala. Frey notices this as well as he eyes the young man.
"Is there something you want to say?"
"Again sorry, but you wouldn't be the adjutant of Captain Melin?"
Taken back on how this man know that piece of information, Frey questions Courage, "Yes, but how dd you know that?"
"Well one of my friends back in Anvala knows him personally, and also I recognise you being with him at the Battle for Anvala. I was with the Guard then," Courage finishes.
Frey remember those three days well, having to fight your faction members can take a psychological toll, but his thoughts is now to who is the friend this man is referring to. He has a strong guess on whom it can be though.
"May I ask, who is your friend?"
"BdrLine, I mean that's his nickname. His real name is Azn Zhao."
His assumption correct, Frey recalls the times where Melin would try to find information for Zhao or would take him on missions that is under the scope. He also recalls that the Zhao's and his accomplices were the first in fighting the Birdman, assuming that the young man in front of him also fought against them.
"May I talk with you in private Mr?"
"Bell, Courage Bell is my name, but if need to say something we can discuss it here."
"Well Mr. Bell, this is something that should be discuses behind closed doors." he then looks to Reagan to help convince him to move else where.
-
HANGAR BAY:
"Just need to go over some final checks and such, nothing big. Tweaks, concerns, things I've noticed... That's all."
-
Hangar Bay
"You want to know about the modifications? Well come on up here then. I have an idea you may be able to help with."
-
Hangar Bay:
"Some about those, some about others..."
Gaige heads up towards Carn, carrying a clip board.
-
Hangar Bay
"Well say it then."
"I'll be seeing to my ship then Alister."
"Alright then. Try not and send to much rust my way."
Alexi roars with laughter as he walks off.
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Reagan gave a Frey a look, Honestly, she thought, If he's going to try and convince someone of anything he should at least try harder before asking other for help. Instead of saying that out loud she sighed and placed a hand on Courage's shoulder and began pulling him along.
"Courage," she said as she pulled him closer to the exit, "There are things that can be said, and things that can be said. Best you follow us."
Dahlia raised an eyebrow, Is everything alright?
Reagan slightly waved her off, Should be.
All the while Lorena stood alongside the twins and Amelia when a thought came to her causing a sigh to escape her lips. She looked around and found a cozy looking corner in the back of the hanger bay, quietly she pulled Amelia along and shortly the two of them found themselves secluded away from the others.
"Is something wrong?" Amelia asked her.
"Actually I just had a really bad idea, want to help?"
Amelia just stood there looking at her with an odd face, "That depends."
"Brilliant, all we need is one of those contracts you signed and a way to get into the warehouse without the others noticing."
(Yes I have just signed her on, and yes this is the last cast member I'll be introducing to the party, so the Quartet of what has been firmly established.)
-
Outside the Eagle's Shadow
After what seems like several minutes, Koali shakes himself and starts toward the ship.
"Yo! Carn! I got food!"
-
Eagle's Shadow Frey's Quarters
Confused as to why he is being lead into a room, Courage enters the sleeping/office quarters of the Commander. A decent size room, all it contains is a single twin size bed, a desk, and two bookshelves filled with various files. Letting Reagan and Courage enters first, Frey shuts the hatch behind him before turning to him.
"You maybe wondering why we brought you here." Frey starts.
"Between the both of you," Cpurage points between them, "Yes. So what is so important that you dragged me from having a simple day."
"Birds," was all Frey says in a grave tone.
If it was a normal person who was in the room besides Courage they would have look at the Commander as if he grew a pair of horns, but Courage is no ordinary person. Hearing the stories from BdrLine and having fought for his life several times against them, Courage understands what Frey is saying which confirms his suspicions ealier.
"It can't be...I was there when we killed off their leadership."
"Looks like they don't die easily from the numerous times they came back."
"Wait, so this expidition..."
"Is a scouting mission to search for them, we have several other teams conductin searches in the north and west."
Going over to one of the booksshelves, Frey retrieves a folder and places it on the desk. Extending his arm, Courage takes the invitation and looks through the files.
As he read through he asks Frey, "Why are you telling me this? Couldn't you ask maybe your Captain, or even the crew from the Saloon?"
"Your friends have done so much already, we wouldn't want to risk their lives again. But this is a covert operation, the less military involment the better."
"Okay, but why me?"
"You are one of the few who have knowledge of this group and actually fought against them. With you we have an edge."
Courage drops into the desk's chair as he takes in the information.
What to do, I'm on vacation for flak sakes. Hmmm, I can accept this since they don't need me back soon, but still my life is going to be on the line again.
Groaning Courage lays his head on the desk that gives off an audible thud. A few seconds pass where he stands up and looks at Frey.
"Can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm in. Just give me time to get ready."
Nodding, Frey lets Courage go as he exits out of the room. Once he is out of earshot Frey says to Reagan, "This is going to be one eventful trip isn't it."
Going over to his desk, he opens a drawer and pulls out a flask which he starts to drink out of.
Hanger Bay
Finding his way back, Courage finds Dalhia. He then pulls her aside, "Something has came up and I need to go back to the Wild Winds and get my belongings. I'll be back."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Frey's Quarters--
She gave a sigh as she sat on the edge of his desk.
"Honestly," she said as she pulled out and popped the top off her own flask, "Were you expecting anything different?" She toasted his flask and took a swig.
"Still," her face took on a more serious look, "If there's one thing I've learned from Firnfeld it's taking out their leaders is only going mildly inconvenience them, we either wipe them out completely or die trying. No inbetweens on this one, no one would be willing to do what they've done if they didn't believe in... whatever it is they're doing."
She shook her head as she stood, "No use in worrying about right now I guess. Commander." With that she left the room and went about wondering what she could to pass the time, probably bring her personal cargo to her room.
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Dahlia wove her arm around his, "Well? Shall we get a move on?"
In a secluded corner of the hanger bay Lorena and Amelia were still talking quietly between the two of the them.
"That can wait until tomorrow though. I have things to do so I'll see you tomorrow."
-
With a small smile creeping, he leads her out of the transport and onto the streets heading towards the Inn. Silently walking, the sun has set over the horizon as the stars starts to sparkle over the Middle Plains. Arms interlock, Courage takes in the sweet bliss of Dalhia being next to him.
Without saying a word the pair arrives in front of the doors of the Wild Winds Inn where they enter. Inside the dining area is filled to capacity as dock workers and those staying at the Inn fill the tables. Seeing who entered, Lia gives a wave to them before going about with orders.
Making their way pass the various people, Courage and Dalhia makes it to the stairs. Relatively clear of the crowd, they make it up and to his room with ease. Inside the bed is made and his baggage still packed, Courage goes over and checks his bags. Satisfied that all of his belongings is still there, he begins to carry them.
"Thanks for the walk, and sorry if I couldn't stay longer. If you want I can walk you back to the warehouse." Courage offers.
-
Hangar Bay:
"Well, I tuned the engines for maximum performance, adjusted the angle of the armor slightly, tightened up helm controls, replaced a valve in the balloon apparatus, and touched none of the modifications. If those could be made clearer, that'd be great."
-
Hangar Bay
"Fair enough. Can't expect you to properly repair something if you don't know it. The tune-up was a good idea. She belonged to an old guy who hadn't taken her out in a long time."
He walks over to the nearest harness, situated by the rear gun and motions for Gaige to come closer.
"I only have the knowledge and resources to make two major modifications. This is the most basic. All it is, is a leather and steel harness, with about 100 meters of cord. They easily are put on like so."
He puts one on and tightens a strap on his chest. It takes about 1 second.
"The cord is on the back and is attached to this little gizmo."
He pats a small box around 12 inches long, 6 inches wide, and 3 inches tall.
"It stops you from descending at fatal speeds, and leaves your hands free. To remove it in combat, you give this strap a quick tug."
He quickly yanks on a short strip of leather hanging by his left armpit. The harness quickly detaches and is realed back into place.
"Cheap and simple to make and repair. They allow for quick insertions, as well as a escape option. The other modification is underneath, near wear the armor control is. It's a bomb bay, able to hold either 4 100 lb bombs, 2 200 lb bombs, or 1 400 bomb. Wiring connects it to a lever on the helm. The other modification I would have done, if I had the ability and resources, are a special type of engine. Silenced, and with the same output as regulars, albeit at the cost of breaking quicker. But engines are delicate enough, and I don't have any extras to experiment."
-
Hangar Bay:
"Hm. Bomb bay is simple enough, hinges, maybe a motor, either that or a gear system. Harnesses I'll leave to you. Silenced engines I've heard of, I can provide one to screw around with if need be."
-
Hangar Bay
"Silenced engines are a delicate design. I can engineer in combat, but building a engine, particularly a silenced one, is a tad complicated. And there are drawbacks to them. In any event, I believe we ship out tomorrow, so it's something I can live without. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go and get some dinner. Went to this place called The Wild Winds, last night. Think I'll go again, good food and a strong drink."
And with that, he heads out. Going out a personnel door, he sees Koali yelling about food to the Hangar Bay door.
"He may need a someone to make sure he doesn't cause trouble."
After that, he heads down the darkening streets to the inn. Upon entering, he takes a seat located by a side door, and where he can see the front door. He motions to the waitress and settles in.
-
Outside the Eagle's Shadow
"Geez, look at him, just passing by like a grumpy Anglean going out to dinner, not even helping me carry... the... food... WAAAAIT A MINUTE, HOLD ON, WHAT?!"
After making sure to secure the cover over the food, Koali grabbed the cart's handle and zoomed off in the direction Alister took.
"Funnily enough, that guy looked exactly like that Carn guy... Caliber, was it? Or maybe Manchester or something..."
Koali managed to follow the same path as Alister for about three seconds before getting completely lost again.
"Well, now what? At least I remember his name now. It's Benny!"
-
Wild Winds Inn
Finding time in the crowded room, Lia makes it over to Carn.
"Hey I remember you. With Courage right? So what are you having."
-
Wild Winds Inn
"Strong rum and a steak, medium rare."
-
Narrator
As the night goes on, things are settling down back on the Eagle's Shadow. With everything finalised, all that is left if for the remaining crew to return and equipment stored. Those already on board head to their cabins and call it a night.
At the Inn, Carn spends his evening alone eating dinner in a seclude spot in the dinner. He doesn't seem to notice Courage and Dalhia wriggle their way pass the crowd and to the front counter. Once full, he simply pays for his meal and makes his way back to the ship.
After a walk under the moonlight, the couple arrives to the warehouse where they share an embrace. Holding each other in their arms, seconds goes before Dalhia breaks it and heads towards the door. Before heading in, she gives him one last smile and closes the door. Smiling, Courage makes his was to the docks to start what seem like another adventure.
End Day 2
Start Day 3
-
Alister's Dream
Burning. Everything around him was burning, yet the night sky still snowed.
"We have one target. Sergeant Carn, and Lieutenant Kor will be taking him out. As for the rest of you, it's a normal raid. Kill anyone who fights back, and capture anything of value." Major Gorm Larson spoke to the marauder platoon filed before him. The roar of "YES SIR!" echoing. The platoon breaks off into squads of four of except the two specifically entioned. Sergeant Alister Carn, large by anyone's standards and with the old berserker blood. Lieutenant Guntar Larson, average size perhaps, but with hands quicker than a snake. Both being groomed, without their knowledge, to be the Senate's elite soldiers.
"We're here. One of us just needs to put a bullet through his head."
"Alister, this guy is dangerous. We don't know,"
Suddenly the man they were looking for is behind Guntar. Only instead of a man, it's a giant bird, one that stabs Guntar through his head.....
Alister's cabin
Alister rolls out of bead, and before he is fully awake, has his pistol pointed at his reflection. Lowering it, he remembers the dream.
"They will burn....."
-
Somewhere in the streets of Cathedral
Once again, Koali was lost in the streets. Looking around, he noticed a steady trail of assorted fruits that seemed to lead to the cart he was pulling. On a whim, he decided to follow it back to the Eagle's Shadow, picking up the fruits and loading them into his cart as he went. Checking his surroundings once more, he discovered yet another trail of fruit, this one leading back to where he ended up lost to begin with. After following the fruit trails more times than he'd like to admit, he finally realized that the trails were, in fact, the result of his many fruits falling through a hole in his cart.
"Huh... I wonder if someone did that in the middle of the night?"
He followed the trail back to where he started, patched the hole, and returned to the Eagle's Shadow, constantly checking to make sure that he wasn't dropping any more fruit.
-
--Militia Headquarters--
A pile of reports sat before her on the desk, for the past few hours she had been reading through them in an attempt to understand the enemy that she now faced. She sighed, since Frey had mentioned that similar actions were happening to the north in Firnfeld she had been a bit... antsy.
The reports in front of her varied in age, some dating back a fair number of years, most were smaller incidents with bits and pieces of odd happenings scattered about the frozen tundra she had called home for many years. Some were familiar, reports she had filed during her tenure with the militia in fact. A majority of the reports were sightings, odd vessels traveling far from established trade routes, strange creatures hiding the wilderness. A few however stood out even more so than others. In her hand she held a report dated back 12 years describing a town being wiped off the face of the map near Kian, at the top of the pile another report dated 7 mentioned the correlation between the sighting of strange vessels and ships going missing between Thula and Ulavaar.
With a sigh she tossed down the report onto the pile and pushed away from her desk. It was times like this she wished she had a stiff drink on hand but, she would rather not be drunk when they set off. After all she was the ship's pilot, and technically its Captain.
A knock at the door sounded before the tell tale click of the doorknob turning, the door opened inward to reveal large person, one would refrain from saying "Hulking," Captain Lars Edwards however was certainly a large man in stature.
"Edwards? Did you need something." She asked politely.
"I believe I've told you to call me Lars when I'm off duty." Indeed he was in his civilian clothes and not his uniform. He pulled a thick folder out of his coat and placed it on the desk before her. "Alfred asked me to bring it, no idea what it is mind you."
Reagan opened it up, it was more reports and a note from Walker.
This was the last of what I could get my hands on, I have to get back to work though.
If you need anything else inquire about it with the communications officer.
~Walker
"It's nothing, he was just doing me a favor." She sat the folder back down, "You know I never did ask, how are the defense squadrons doing?"
"Not much to tell really, William decided to forestall his "retirement" again, apparently he can't leave well enough alone and has taken over training the new recruits and has begun reorganizing everything. My lot doesn't have much to do other than the occasional drill, it's been quiet I suppose. Heard you were going on a little adventure though, care to tell me?"
She shook her head, "Just a little mapping expedition. Nothing too important."
"Often," He said as he moved towards the door, "people say that before leaving on a dangerous journey. So how are things on your end?"
She smirked, "What can I say, we do the paperwork and tell you how to do your jobs."
"Hmph, I suppose you're right, Reagan."
"Edwards." He raised an eyebrow and waved as he closed the door behind him, once again leaving her along in her office. She began organizing and clearing the papers on her desk, quietly shuffling them into a neat stack off to the side. She shifted a panel on the desk to reveal a record player built into the surface. She pulled a record out of a drawer and put it on, she would be heading back to the ship in a while but for now she let the music wash over her. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3wnN_PxUDY)
--Eagle's Shadow, Workshop--
It shouldn't have surprised Amelia that a vessel this big would have a workshop, but it did to a degree. Still Reagan had told her to check on the weapons she was using, most of the equipment they had brought on board may have been maintained but certain items seemed a bit worse for wear.
True to form the spring for the firing pin had been fairly worn out and rusty forcing her to replace it. She was mostly finished though, sliding the bolt back into position. She reattached the sling and slung it over her shoulder along with the smg, it was going to need maintenance too but a bolt action was a simple thing, automatic weapons... not so much, she would have to do it later.
Andromeda floated down from the rafters as she moved toward the door, latching onto her shoulder Andy looked rather pleased, she couldn't figure out why either, still, it might explain the dearth of rats around the ship.
Amelia began a slow meandering walk towards the galley to prepare herself a late breakfast, having skipped out to preform the maintenance, and subsequently getting distracted quite heavily. Upon entering she noticed that a large number of the crew were sitting about, the din of galley, conversations, the scraping of plates, honestly it was odd, just the other day there had been very few people, almost as if they had the entire vessel to themselves. That was to be expected though, they couldn't crew a ship as big as this on their own.
Still being lost in a sea of people who wouldn't recognize you was kind of refreshing, at least she wouldn't be bothered as she prepped her own breakfast. As she did she had to wonder where everyone else was, she hadn't even seen Reagan this morning, she hadn't run into any of the others either. She took a brief look around and didn't recognize anyone in the sea of faces. So she had to ask, what was anyone doing?
-
Alister's Cabin
After quickly performing his morning ablutions, Alister buckles on his weapons belt and heads to the galley. He has decided to opt out of mask and helmet, letting his self cut flat top show, already it's become shaggy. He has also decided, when not in combat, to not wear his armor and only carryhis axe and pistol. Excluding any and all hidden weapons of course.
Galley
Walking in, Alister sees a full galley and quickly notes who iis inhaling their food. They seem to be the majority.
"We're going to need foragers within the week, aren't we."
Heading into the kitchen, he sees Amelia preparing a meal.
"Umm what is that?"
He quietly grabs, and begins to eat, a apple.
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Galley--
Amelia tilted her head at the question.
"It's a quiche Mr. Carn."
-
Command Center
As majority of the crew are at the galley, Frey can be seen at one of the panels sipping his coffee as Renard hovers over him with a clipboard in hand. Being up ealier than the rest, shadows form under Frey's eyes as he takes in the information.
"At the moment all food supplies have been inventoried and stored, as well as the ammunition, " Renard goes on, "oh I have a note that several of the ship's defensives guns and small arms need some maintenance. Currently someone is looking over some of the rifles, may need some help."
"I'll get several people to look them over. Is there anything else?"
Flipping through the pages, and audible umm escapes Renard's mouth until he spots a few more notes, "We are still missing a Davis Hargrave, the flight lead for our scouting squadron and we have several complaints about erie poetry from the brig."
The mention of the last note, Frey suddenly become more alert. He knew that their on board guest would be a problem, he didn't expect for it to be this early when the trip haven't even began.
"I'll check the brig personally, don't let anyone else besides Mr. Carn or Captain Amelia."
"Understood, anything else?"
"Yes, for the weapons go find a Mr. Bell, he is very proficient when it comes to weaponry. Oh and send a note for Mr. Hargrave, we certainly need him, but that is all."
With a nod, Renard exits the room as Frey sits behind finishing his mug. With it empty, he sets it aside as he places a hand over his face. Sighing, he picks up his cane and exits the room and heads towards the brig.
Brig
After a short walk, Frey finds himself at the door where he notices the new sign. Pleased that someone took the initiative to restrict on who enters the room, Frey unlatch the door and sees the only man in the room sitting in the exact same spot.
Closing the door and locking it, Frey turns to him grabbing a chair, "Good morning Mr. Briggs, I see you had an eventful night.
Renard's Cabin
Before going out and send the message to find this Davis person, Renard goes straight back to his room to complete one of his tasks. Since most of the cabins are made for two, eventually Renard knew that he wouldn't be living single for the duration of the trip. Late at night after he returned to the ship with Ulric, a young man around his age. What luck that the person who came in is the same person the Commander sent him to look for.
As he opens the door, Renard sees that his roommates belongings are still spewed all other place on his side of the room and with him still in bed. Shaking his head, Renard walks over to him and nudge him to wake up.
"Nurrg," Courage mumbles out."
"For the love, Mr. Bell wake up." says Renard irritably.
Still in a sleep daze, Courage rolls over and eyes the other man, "You know I told you to call me Courage, but what is it?"
"I'm here to tell you that the Commander wants you to look over the ship's weaponry, apparently they are in a bit of disarray."
"Can't it wait? I just got on." he complains.
Shaking his head, Renard goes over to the door and calls out over his shoulder, "I believe it is best not to defy orders. But I'm off, I still need to find this Hargrave person, best be on it?"
As the door's shuts, Courage eye's shut as well form the noise. Groaning, he swing his "legs" over the side as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes. Sighing, he attaches his prosthetic and rummages through his bags to look presentable for the day. Having found a simple white long sleeve shirt and khaki pants, he attaches a pair of suspenders to the pants and put on his single shoe. Once dressed, Courage rolls up the sleeves and buckles his holster.
Finally ready, he exits the room and stands out in the cooridor wondering where to go.
Dang it, I should of asked him where. Hmm I'll start maybe at the workshop, should have some tools there.
Workshop
With a squeak of his metallic leg, Courage finds him at the workshop where finds a rifle on the table currently being worked on.
Huh, must be several others working to fix this as well. Better check the main weapons, he thinks to himself as he explores to find the ships 8 medium turrets.
-
Galley
"We should probably asign a official cook."
Alister finishes the apple, the grabs a turkey leg.
"Good day Miss Amelia, I need to speak with the Commander about some matters."
And with that, he exits the galley and heads after Frey.
"The brig huh?"
He sticks the turkey leg into a pocket. It has been striped clean. Then he enters, quietly.
-
Galley:
"I overheard something about weapon maintenance?", Gaige says as he plops into a chair and grabs an orange, expertly peeling it. "Where exactly are the trouble spots?"
-
Brig
"Oh, hello Alister!"
In response, Alister deadbolts the door. Sealing everyone out, except Frey, Jasper, and himself.
"Really? Can't we be civil?"
"You tell me. Your the one working with megalomaniac mutants."
"Touché."
Turning to Frey, Jasper puts on a smile.
"He CAN actually be rather intelligent. If it weren't for that pesky temper. Then again, it is why he was..."
He is cut off as Alister surges forward, slamming into the bars.
"Relevant information, and direct questions only Briggs."
-
Brig
Calmly with out looking at Carn, Frey says to him, "That will be quite alright Mr. Carn. I believe that Mr. Briggs here haven't got any breakfast and may be famished, you you kindly fetch hm a tray."
-
Brig
"Yes Sir. I do have another matter to discuss with you later however."
He then turns around and leaves, locking the door behind him.
"Hope you like bland gruel Briggs."
-
--Galley--
Amelia looked over the counter to where Gaige was sitting.
"Are you hearing things Mr. Gaige?" She asked as she popped the quiche into the oven. "But because you asked, Ms. Morgan did say a number of our weapons in the armory need to be checked for damage."
-
Galley:
"That's what I thought. I passed by the Command Centre on my way here, all I heard was "weapon maintenance", so I figured I'd ask. Any mounted guns need looking over?"
-
Still Outside the Eagle's Shadow
"Well, if I can't find a door my size, I'll have to use a bigger one. Specifically, one of those Galleon-sized doors."
Koali strolled over to the door and tried with all his might to shift it, pushing, pulling, sliding, and twisting, until it became clear that it would not open under his own strength.
"(Huff) Well, I guess (puff) I should (pant) figure something (huff) out. If I can't find a door my size, I'll have to make one!"
He rummaged around in his toolbox, found a roll of tape, and started marking out the area he would cut.
-
Port Bow
Having found one of the eight medium turrets, Courage can see why they needed some repair. The first turret on the port side is an aged hawacha, rust can be seen on the joints and bearings and the shine of the metal has dulled away through the years.
Setting down his toolkit, Courage walks around the aged weapon, "You seen better days I bet," he says out loud, "Where in the Skies did they even pick you out from?"
Shrugging, he opens his kit and pulls out a bottle to help remove the rust around hinges and begins scrubbing away. As he goes about the process Courage hears panting outside near ground level of the docks. Curious, he pulls the lever that opens the turrent's bay doors and extends the hawacha out to the elements. Looking down he sees the teen marking a spot on the hull as if he is trying to make a cut.
"The blazes? HEY THEY GLAK YOU DOING!! YOU KNOW THERE IS A GANGPLANK!!" he shouts.
-
Brig
Having gotten the cold gruel, Alister sets it on a table in the room. Mentally having recognized that his presence will just muck things up, he leaves.
"Hmm. He's actually trying to be civil. I only count two hairs in that mush."
Port Bow
Gathering that as Reagan has the helm, Alister decides to command from the Gunnery Deck. As such, he begins on examine them.
"Skies above! Whoever was in charge of maintenance needs to be court marshalled!"
Looking over he see someone yelling over a hwatcha. He goes over to try and get some information on the matter, before he does, he notices that the man in question is Courage. And Courage is yelling at Koali.
"What has he gotten into now?"
-
--Earlier That Morning, Davis' Residence, Middle Residential--
Davis woke up, probably for the second time that morning he wasn't entirely sure though considering the splitting headache he probably had a hangover. Which would explain why the latter half of the evening was a bit blurry for him. Now he had things planned for this morning... What were they again? Oh, right, checking when we leave. Gathering the rest of his kit together he set out towards the militia docks.
--Present Day--
Davis quietly watched as the Koali prepared a location to cut a hole in the ship, for whatever reason... The idiot. Course he wasn't the only to think that as someone was yelling at him from the gunnery deck, shifting the weight of his duffel bag he decided to sit and watch the scene unfold.
--Eagle's Shadow, Galley--
Amelia tilted her head at that.
"I wasn't aware the ship's armaments required maintenance at this time."
-
Brig
With the door locked behind him, Frey sits up straight on his chair as he lock eyes with the other man. For Jasper, his mouth slowly forms into a smile as he is now alone with the Commander and out of the watchful eyes of Alister.
"Lovely morning isn't it Commander? From my only view of the outside," referring to his lone window, "not a cloud in the sky and perfect to launch this expedition of yours hmm."
"Yes it is, leading up to this day I regularly check the weather reports to find the optimal time to get going. Besides the weather, Mr. Briggs, do mind tell me on how you manage to be involved with your employers?"
"Ah blunt and straight to the point, and I rather like that bluntness then they way Alister does it. It usually involves some form of cranial trauma. But please Commander, it is the morning and I haven't gotten my meal yet. Besides we have plenty of time to discuss business as i am likely not going anywhere." Jasper says as he motions his hands to his surrounds.
Annoyed, Frey closes his eyes at the statement and breaths audibly out of his nose, "Very well Mr. Briggs we will wait, but is there anything you want to discuss?"
A moment of silence pass as Jasper, with a smile still on his face, tilt his head and looks around the room, "Oh I don't know, there are many things going through my mind that I don't know where to start. Maybe my first science fair where I brought a human size Venus fly trap that entrapped one of the judges, or to my travels through the Endless Salts, or a certain adventure with a certain Anglean at Hanat. But those are the few on my mind." he ends.
Curious as to the last statement, Frey wants to question Jasper further about the subject but felt something at the back of his mind that it can wait.
"These are very interesting, quite interesting, but I believe at another time. It starting to look like you are quite famished, hopefully Mr. Carn will come by soon with your meal."
Chuckling, Jasper says, "Knowing Alister, he will just go and find Alison to make a meal. Hmm speaking of which I wonder how her sister is doing," he ends quietly but enough for Frey to hear.
"I didn't know she had a sibling," muse Frey, "Neither her or Mr. Carn mention of it. But enought for now, I'll go see about your meal."
Standing up and heading to the doorway, he hears Jasper call out to him before he exits, "Hope we can correspond some time again, maybe over some tea."
With the door shut behind him, Frey makes his way to the galley in search of Carn.
-
"Gangplank? What? Where? I'll have you know, I suffer from chronic situational unawareness!"
-
Port Bow
"Hmm. Think Frey or Reagan would object to me putting him on a leash?"
Having pondered aloud, Alister wonders if this is appropriate as he is technically a officer.
Allison's Room
Something resembling human form shuffles to a wash basin.
Hangar Bay
The twins having just woken up wearing matching overalls and nothing else. Along with rude marks upon their faces.
"Those plane guys,"
"Certainly know how to party."
-
"Yeah, a leash would probably be a good idea."
-
Hanger Bay
Entering the large space, Kei gives out a yawn from having woken up minutes ealier. Already in her flight suit, she wants to be in the air once the transport get moving. Nearing the planes she spots the twins with markings of their foreheads.
The Gods really? Must be Antonio and Farris' work, they can be childish at times. shaking her head, she passes the two to her plane marked number 7.
-
Galley
"Either way," Gaige states, rising from his seat with a leftover chunk of turkey in his hand, "I believe I'll be off to do an inspection of the guns on this behemoth we'll be calling home. Perhaps one on the engines, too, God knows how much of a pain in the ass they'll be to repair..." He exits briskly, walking towards the port side of the ship, up the stairs.
-
Port Bow
Seeing who is behind him, Courage recognises that it is Carn and shrugs at his comment before going back to work.
"Honestly having any restraint on him is a good idea, worst then some people I know. So what can I do you for?"
-
Port Bow
Alister glances at the tools nearby, then to the hwatcha.
"I hope you are going to tell me your fixing the guns. The state they are in is abysmal."
He then leans out the hole and yells at Koali.
"If you cut a hole in the hull, I will personally shoot you out of a flak cannon!"
-
Port Bow
Pulling put several wrenches, Courage tighten down several bolts while talking to Carn, "they can still fire no problem in this state, but their fire angles and reload time may hinder performance. I don't know where the militia even pulled them out and slapped them on this ship."
Seeing that he couldnt do much else without a small crew with him, Courage turns to leave to find the next mount, "If you want, I can use some help. At the moment I'm just removing the rust and tightening things down."
Wanting for Carn to pull his head back in, Courage then pulls the lever that closes the gun port and retracts the platform in. Gathering his materials back into that kit, he goes down the hall towards the stern of the ship.
Militia Docks
Down the road, Enger sees that most of the preparation has been finished and the ships are ready to be launched. Going up the gangplank, he eyes the teen making certain markings and mutters something about adolescents.
Once inside he makes his way to the Command Center where he finds Frey, Ulric, and Alexi sitting around the main table.
"Ah morning Councilman, here to see us off? We will be leaving around mid day."
"Yes, yes," Enger waves as he takes a seat with them, "I'm here to ensure the takeoff will go without a hitch."
"Oh don't worry sir," interrupts Ulric," my partner and I will be in the air before this vessel goes up." as he pats Alexi's shoulder, who grabs his hand.
"Don't you worry, we have everything under control," Alexi says as let's go of Ulric's hand and eyes the naturalist.
Eyeing the two, Enger slowly turn his gaze back to Frey, "I see that the other captains you pick are the cream of the picks."
"They are not the only two ships going up, one more will be in the air."
"Very well, so is everyone on board?"
"I believe so, I heard our flight lead for the squadron has joined, all we are missing now is Captain Morgan"
"Hmm she'll come around, until then I'll go around inspecting the ship then."
Hanger Bay
Moments later Farris and Antonio enters the room talking quite loudly between the both of them as to what had happend last night.
"Ah man those twins are a pair aren't they?" asks Farris.
"Speaking of which, there they are." points Antonio as he waves to both of them.
-
Port Bow
As Koali put on safety goggles and hearing protection, he vaguely heard a voice calling out to him. Thinking nothing of it, he revved up his diamond-bladed grinder/saw.
-
--Militia Docks--
Looking up at the gunnery deck he sighed, stared straight a head and broke into a run. Koali didn't notice as Davis was right on top of him. He reeled back his foot and kicked the saw out of his hand, caught it, shut it down and stuffed it into his pack.
"I'll be taking this." He gave him a thumbs up and knocked on the cargo bay door. Soon enough it opened into the maw of the cargo bay.
--Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan entered the ship from the gangplank, completely avoiding a certain fiasco a stones throw away. She had forwent her guard uniform in favor of... Her Firnfeld militia duster worn open over a white button-up, leather vest and matching pants. A bandoleer and satchel had been added for utility purposes, the bandoleer's pouches had been filled with ammo and a few small tools, the satchel however was empty aside from a handheld radio she had to set to the "expedition's" frequency.
She gained a few looks on her way in, she supposed that due to the fact that a majority of the crew had never worked with her before and wondering why she was acting as if she were their commanding officer. And technically she was, still that wasn't important, dropping the last of her belongings in her room she decided she'd tour the ship and see how the various sections were performing now that they were staffed.
(Lorena will be making her appearance closer to our time of departure.)
-
Port Bow
As Koali went for the cut, he noticed that both the door and his saw had vanished.
"Whaaaat? Oh, DAGNABBIT! That was one of my nice blades, too! Well, as long as the hangar bay is open now..."
Koali finally entered with his cart of food.
-
Port Bow
From an inner pocket, Alister pulls out a large pipe wrench with suspicious reddish brown stains on the head.
"I only have this but,"
He tightens a bolt down.
"It should do nicely."
Med Bay
Having woken up, and dressed in a doctor's coat with a red shirt and black pants, Alison finishes prepping her main work area.
"I give it one day tops before someone comes in about something."
Hangar Bay
"Hey is that,"
"Them?"
The twins look at each other and realize the state they are in.
"Oh flak!"
"We gotta,"
"Clean up!"
And with that, they scramble to their room.
-
Hanger Bay
Watching the twins leave and her wingmates enter, Kei shakes her head at the four men.
How did I get myself into this
Rolling her eyes, she continues to look over he instrument panel as Farris and Antonio approach the planes.
"Up and about I see huh Kei?" Farris says with a yawn.
"It's not even mid morning," Kei acknowledges, "Besides the both of you should have been up ealier if you weren't messing with the twins."
"Hehe, that was some night, they couldn't keep the stuff down and were knocked out after a few," Antonio smiles as he remembers pulling out markers on the passed out twins.
The three turns their heads to the general direction of the cargo bay doors opening near the front. Few minutes later a man walks through the hanger followed by Captain Morgan and a teen with a cart several minutes behind.
"You know who was the first and last guy?" askes Farris.
"Don't know te teen, but I believe that is our flight lead. A Davis Hargrove." Kei recalls from looking at the flight roster.
"Finally we can get going. Hope we can talk to this guy soon, I want to know who is leading us." says Antonio before going to his own plane.
Gunnery Deck
Walking down the deck with Carn behind him, Courage spots the first of the Heavy Flaks on the port side. A small smile creeps upon his face at the sight of his favourite mount. Going over to the turrent, he sees that it is a newer model and let's out a sigh.
"Just can't seem to find flak cannons without them having some type of arming mechanism."
Nevertheless, he pulls the level to test the gun's door and extension platform. Working perfectly, he proceeds to clean of the rust.
"Mimd helping?" he asks Carn.
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
"What?! How did I... Bloody... Uhg nevermind."
Davis stood there staring at the duty roster, while most of the names didn't matter, though he did notice Alister's name listed up there as joint commander with one Captain Reagan Morgan... Thankfully, though not knowing the woman she could easily be as bad as one Richard Morgan, he hoped that wasn't the case, he really hoped that wasn't the case. However that was not the subject of his dismay, rather it was the fact he was listed as the lead element for the expedition's scout group, it's aerial scout group, this meant that he would be flying.
It wasn't like he disliked flying, quite the opposite in fact, skies he was quite good at it, no, it was results of his last "outing" that annoyed him to no end. Davis scout ahead! Davis check out those sand clouds! Davis engage those enemy fighters, don't worry we'll be right behind you! Davis fly into that canyon for no reason and tell us what you see! Davis there's no time to laying about in bed, get back out there! Davis cover us while we make our escape, we'll be back to pick you up if you get shot down... maybe.
The thought of it made him cringe a little, still, it wasn't as if he was the only scout pilot on this expedition, so they would be rotating out every once and a while... hopefully. That was a pretty big hopefully, somehow he felt as if they would be working around the clock, still it listed him as flight lead so maybe he could head that off a little.
They were also occasionally watching him from nearby, maybe he should meet them, there were also 4 planes... oh wait they were bringing a fifth one in, well, that's awkward. He looked around, adjusted his bag and began walking over to meet them.
-
Port Bow
"Hmm."
Alister pulls out a wire brush and begins cleaning the rust off.
"Typically use this to get rust off my axe. But it should do fine. Have any lubricant?"
Twin's Room
Within minutes, the brothers are cleaned and in proper attire.
"So,"
"Are you thinking,"
"What I'm thinking?"
"Banana blaster?"
"Banana blaster."
The twins begin to assemble a odd weapon.
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Galley--
Amelia finally sat down at a table, quiche in hand and piping hot. She supposed she could let it cool for little bit and sat about watching the others go about their meals. Andromeda let go of Amelia's shoulder and went in search of their own meal, supposedly rats and other vermin that would dare infest the ship... whatever those may be.
After a while she quietly dug into her quiche and finished it without complications. Still something was nagging at her, perhaps it was because she was an engineer but she considered what Gaige had said about the ship's weaponry, she stood quietly and made her way to the gunnery deck, once there maybe she could deal with it.
Of course she wasn't the only one it seemed, Courage and Alister had beaten her to it it would seem. Still, not like an extra pair of hands would be harmful.
"Courage, Mr. Carn, a fine morning to be working on the ship's weaponry it seems." She pulled her own set of cleaning equipment and began working on a nearby hwacha.
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Reagan walked along, observing the crew work as they prepared for lift off, earlier she had checked the room the list and noted a few rooms were taken but not by whom, probably wouldn't be an issue she supposed. She felt a light tap on her shoulder, turning she noticed it was Amelia's pet, the peculiar flying squid, the engine knocker as some engineers would call them for their peculiar habit of living in and knocking on engines. Sighing she pointed to her shoulder and watched as Andromeda perched upon her.
"Cheeky thing."
-
Popping up by the port side of the bow, Gaige looks around. "Ah, hello there Alister. Need any assistance?"
-
Port Bow
"Check the last hwatcha. First one is done, and Mr. Bell and I have the flak."
-
"Will do. These are in horrible condition, where in the blazes did the militia find them?" Gaige says, walking towards the last gun.
-
Port Bow
"No idea, but I would love to give the crew in charge of maintaining them a shotgun court marshal."
-
"We need paint, dedicated rust remover, some lube, new bolts, hell, this one's right hatch is seized. You tried to fire this thing, if it's not the new one with the fail safe, and you'd blow yourself and the gun to high holy hell!"
-
Hanger Bay
"Look here he comes," says Farris.
Scooting out under the wing, Kei squints her eyes from underneath the goggles she is wearing and sees that Farris is right. Standing, she takes off the goggles and gloves and start walking towards him while waving a hand.
"You guys coming? We don't want to be rude."
-
Port Bow
With a violent swear, Alister rips out a rusted lump.
"Bloody skies! This is the arming mechanism! What kerosene guzzling imbecile was in charge of these things?!"
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Well at least they're friendly. Davis thought to himself as he walked over. Still, the fifth plane was a bit confusing, there were only four of them, unless there was a fifth pilot he was unaware of. Of course it would be nice to have a spare on hand, the very nature of the unknown meant borked equipment.
None of which helped as he now found himself standing before his crew, neither party speaking for brief moments as they examined each other.
"Sooooo," He said slowly, "Apparently I'm your flight lead, whoever thought that was good idea was sorely mistaken. Anyways, we'll discuss shifts later. Now then, someone explain these planes to me.
--Eagle's Shadow, Gunnery Deck - Port Bow--
Amelia quietly clears her throat and displays how the Hwacha's reloading mechanism comes out over the rocket housing and deposits her cleaning tools atop the lion's head.
-
Gunnery Deck
Courage looks at Carn and the piece of metal currently on the ground. Going between the missing chunk and the heavy flak, he inwardly groans a bit.
Hope that piece wasn't important to the firing mechanism. Or anything important at all.
Still looking at the turrent, he says to Carn and Gaige, "Why don't you do go on the the last hawacha on this side. I'll get the last flak."
Hanger Bay
"Well first off they are Anvalan and it's a design I haven't seen before," starts off Kei.
"Yeah, thought a mono wing was weird, but a mono wings angled down the middle." interrupts Farris as he comments on the gull wing design, "You can have a look for yourself." pointing behind him.
Kei continues, "Single prop, looks like a modified squid engine was used. Rocket racks under the wings, and two guns in either wing."
"For a wired design, those Anvalans sure know how to make a plane," adds Antonio.
-
Gunnery Deck
"That's it."
Standing up, Alister walks over to a in-ship communication rig.
"Bridge? I need a engineer crew down here asap. Who am I? I'm your bloody commanding officer! Two minutes? Good."
And with that, he wipes his hands on a rag and leans against the wall.
"That should do."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
"Right... So... I'm not the only who's getting the feeling that there's something they're not telling us right?" Davis turned and saw the look on their faces. "HAH! Those are looks I'm talking about."
He took this moment to sit on the wing of the nearest plane. "Honestly, I make it a principle to make sure I know what I'm getting into before charging head first into the burning inferno. But you know... money." He patted the wing of the plane, "Now these planes are a bit excessive when it comes to mere academic exploration, probably helps to come prepared but this is very advanced looking equipment, skies I've never seen this equipment before, much less that thing over there."
He pointed to the rather out of place rocket craft that was sitting all nice and shiny in their assigned maintenance bay.
"Right so lets get to know each other."
--Eagle's Shadow, Gunnery Deck--
Amelia continued work on her Hwacha as Mr. Carn and Courage remained staring at the rusted clump of metal that sat on the deck between the two of them. Eventually fixing the reload mechanism and it's utter ridiculousness.
"That's it." She watched as Mr. Carn stormed off to a nearby intercom, eventually yelling at the person on the other end of the line. "That should do." He said with a professional if satisfied voice.
"Do what Mr. Carn?" Another question she could be asking is where Andromeda had gotten to.
--Eagle's Shadow, Med Bay--
Reagan entered the med bay, to little fanfare, not that she was expecting any of course. The sole occupant was sitting in the doctor's chair, everything about the room was organized, the beds were made, work areas prepped and ready.
"Seems like you been busy." She said as she leaned against the near wall. Andromeda taking this moment to detach from her shoulder and float off elsewhere, gaining the looks of a few crew members who just happened to be walking past.
-
Gunnery Deck
"I've called in a engineer team. I only have a pipe wrench and a wire brush. You three are fully tooled, but there are more than a few guns needing attention."
Med Bay
"Ah, Ms. Reagan, you know how these things go. Someone is bound to get injured every day. Too many people for it not to happen. Also I am bored."
-
Gunnery Deck, Port Bow:
"This is actually causing me a great deal of emotional pain, that can only be relieved by beating the idiot who let these deteriorate so much over the head with a goddamn pipe wrench!"
Opening up the loading bay of the Hwacha, he points to a black, oozing mass.
"This? This is dirty chemical spray residue, polluted with oil, dirt, and grime. The fact that there's oil in it means we have a leak somewhere."
-
Gunnery Deck
"Why do you think I called in a full team? Three standard engie, and a old gunner aren't going to get all of these up by the time we set out."
-
Galley
Koali bursts in with the cart of food.
"Yo! I GOT PROPER FOOD! FRESH FRUITS AND MEAT! FLAVOR!"
-
Med Bay
"Anyways, Alister will probably start what he calls, sparring practice, with the crew. To be fair, he does make it worth it if anyone ever wins. 10 to 1 odds, no weapons or armor, and he's even allowed multiple opponents at once. So if he does start that, I'm going to be busy."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Galley--
The entire room stood silent as the gathered crew sat gathered, slowly they turned to face him, and for a while things stayed that way, both parties standing there staring at each other. That was until a single, anonymous cheer went up at the galley. Soon it began spreading, reaching an apex as the entire room was filled with loud, cheering, food loving men and women. As one they surged the young lad, raising him up high, celebrating his forethought and consideration.
FOOD! repetitive in it's nature yet the call went out to crew members who had not been there to witness the new found bounty.
FOOD! The cheer that resonated throughout the vessel.
FOOD! The calling card of the hungry.
FOOD! The epitome of happiness.
FOOD! What one can't work without, the other being ALCOHOL! But that was a different story.
--Eagle's Shadow, Med Bay--
"I really hope he doesn't put the entire crew out of commission."
-
Med Bay
"Oh he keeps them in one piece. I'm expecting the twins will try their luck. Honestly, some people DO improve after a few rounds. And it keeps the crew in decent condition, and prevents Alister from getting bored."
Galley
In unison the twins, who had just entered, storm the cart carrying the cry. "FOOOOOOODD!!!"
Gunnery Deck
Having heard the battle cry of the crew, Alister remarks.
"I'm thinking the kid finally got in."
-
Galley
"Alright, everyone, settle down, settle down. Each of you takes one or two pieces of fruit and a chunk of meat. Then we all come back for seconds!"
-
Hanger Bay
Finding anything to sit around Farris, Kei starts off ,"Well its obvious that I am of Yeshan decent. Born in the costal city of Hongshi Coast. Before you asked, I was conscripted for the military as most of the citizens are. Didn't want to be on a ship, so I opt being a fighter and due to where I lived I patrolled the Flayed Hills area and saw a lot of action with smugglers. After my time was up I got up and became a freelance pilot."
"Well I didn't join or was forced to join the military," says Farris next, "I'm from Cambodon near the Abermar Valley and I wanted to fly ever since I was little. Helped that my folks were crop duster and had plenty of planes to fly. Was in the racing circuit before coming here, so you can say that I'm a adenealine junkie."
Finally Antonio is next once Farris is finished, "Where to start, I'm from Sky End in the Baronies and due to the altitude flying is the main form of transportation. I found that airships were too slow and the freedom of being in your own machine. You maybe wondering why my name is not Fyordish, my folks moved from Dunes and having that climate change was rough."
"So you know some tuff about us, how about you?" ask Kei.
Gunner Deck, Port
Shaking his head, Courage spots the maintenance team coming. Turning the Carn, Amelia, and Gaige he says, "If they got this side here, I'll head over to the starboard side. Amelia want to come? I sure can use the help for initial inspection."
Galley
While he makes the rounds around the ship, Enger reaches the Galley where he hears a loud commotion.
"The King's name?"
Entering he sees a mass of people surrounding a cart full of food and grabbing the contents out. Trying to get around the crowd he spots the ringmaster and briskly walks towards him.
"What is the meaning of this?" he says to Koali
-
Galley
Koali receives a bit of a shock from how official the man sounds, but manages to keep some of his usual attitude.
"When was the last time you had a piece of fresh fruit?"
-
Galley
Placing a hand over his eyebrows Enger replies, "This morning in matter of fact, besides we are in Cathedral where people can get fresh fruit form all six Factions whenever they want. Just because we live by a desert doesn't mean we can't have these. What time is it anyway? Breakfast should have ended."
Taking out his pocket watch, Enger notices that it is around 11 in the morning and his eyes widen.
"If you excuse me I have to find the Commander," he turns to the room, "If you are done getting your fill, we have a schedule to keep. Liftoff in three hours, so finish and get back to work!" he yells outloud.
-
Galley
"Is that guy related to Alister?"
"I hope not....."
Gunnery Deck
A half dozen sheepish engineers enter.
"Someone call for a crew?"
"Hmph. You lads are in for it. Whoever was in charge of maintaining the guns, seems to have forgotten about them. At least the heavy flak's arming mechanism is rusted to hell, the hwatchas are full of some black muck, and the mounts are shot."
-
Gunnery Deck:
"YOU LOT, GET YOUR MALLETS OVER HERE AND LINE UP!"
Immediately corralling the engineering team, Gaige distributes tasks with expert precision, before going back to working on his Hwatcha, cleaning and inspecting each mechanism with an almost religious fervor.
-
Galley
Koali began carving the meat and handing out slices to the people that had stayed in the galley.
"Y'know, this stuff is great! I wonder if it's possible to roast the meat before even butchering the beast? Some kinda rifle that launches burning globs of flamethrower fuel, maybe..."
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Gunnery Deck--
"Alright." She said as she gathered her tools. Stuffing most of them into her toolbelt she stood to follow him as Gaige and Carn began to chew out the engineering crew.
"Courage?" She asked, "Do you think we will have these finished by this afternoon? I would rather not miss lunch."
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
"Well, that's an interesting story isn't it?" He jumped off the wing and began circling the plane. "Bit of a long story, see I-" placing his hand over his heart in a flourish, "am the eldest son of a rather weathly Chaladonion architect. And because of this I had the finest tutors money could hire, which also led to me attending university, see dad expeced me to take over the family business. Not really into that sort of thing. Anyway, needless to say a few things happened and upon graduation decided that I was going to join the military."
"Dad being... well... dad, decided to use his incalculable influence to prevent me from doing so. And because of this I decided to flee the islands, and ended up becoming a mercenary. Really, I know, strange choice in career for a fresh univeristy graduate who had little to no wordly experience, except physics translates really well into firing weapons for some reason. Not that I mind of course, I happen to quite like being able to hit things that are trying to kill me."
-
Gunnery Deck
After several minutes of rising stress levels, as the extent of just how much decay had set into the guns, Alister grabs a rusted lump already deemed useless.
"Right then, lads your first duty is to get the guns operational. If I stay one of two things will happen. Either a) I will attempt to help, which would likely result in bigger problems. Or b) I do nothing, and just yell at you. Instead I will leave, Mr. Gaige, you have command of these swabbies for the duration of this repair."
Looking away from Gaige and back to the swabbies, for their age and ineptitude could only mean that is what they were.
"Fix. My. Guns."
And with that, he crushes the rusted lump between his hands and stalks away. In all honesty, it looked far more impressive than it was. But he had always found fear to be the most effective motivator for a green crew who had yet to work with him. After that he heads to his bunk to clean up, again.
-
"OK YOU LOT OF WORTHLESS SWABBIES, CONSIDER THIS A CRASH COURSE IN WHY YOU TREAT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THESE POOR, NEGLECTED MACHINES LIKE YOUR OWN SON."
Striding up and down the deck shouting orders at the swabbies swarming over the guns, he irritably shoves aside a swabbie to inspect another heavy flak.
"Again? Rip out the arming mechanism, I'll jury rig it later. That damned thing is beyond repair."
-
Carn's Cabin
Having been covered in rust and the mysterious sludge, Alister cleans himself up. Unfortunately now his clothes need cleaning. Going to the small trunk where he has begun to store his personal effects, he pulls on a pair of black pants and a blood red shirt. Then he notices a package in the bottom.
In a clear, neat handwriting all to familiar to him he reads the attached note.
"Alister,
I thought you might want this back. A Commander, even one who must share power, must look good.
Alison"
Opening it, he finds an old and worn jacket. Patches on the shoulders are faded, where his chevrons used to be. A few bullet holes around the bottom, still smelling of gunsmoke. His old dress uniform jacket, removed of all marks of rank.
"She actually kept this thing....."
Making up his mind, he pulls on the jacket and straps on his weapons belt.
"Time for a visit to the bridge...."
He begins to whistle a cadence song as he walks to the bridge.
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Hanger Bay--
Davis did another round about the craft as he got familiar with the equipment he would have to work with.
“Anyways, it's not like I'm that interesting. Right so-.” He said as he came to face them once more.
“Drinks?” Antonio pulled out a bottle from skies know where. Kei choked on whatever it was she was going to say as she gave him a look.
“Antonio!” She snatched the bottle away from him before she began examining it. “What is this stuff anyway?”
“Sparkling cider.” He said with smirk. Farris exploded in a guttural laugh while Davis was trying desperately to stifle the laughter bubbling to the surface. Kei rolled her eyes and took a swig of the bottle before passing it back to him.
--Eagle's Shadow, Med Bay--
“A bored Alister sounds interesting.” She thought aloud. Though the thought was interrupted as three crew members came in, one of them being carried by the others. “What happened?” Skies above how was someone already incapacitated?!
“He uhh… ate too much.” The man who spoke gave her a rather sheepish look.
“What.” It wasn't a question either.
-
Medbay
Sighing, seats the young man down and shoves a bucket in his hands. Before he can react, she then drives her fist up into his stomach, resulting in him emptying it.
"Any other problems boys?"
Bridge
Walking in, Alister looks for familiar faces, sadly he sees none. So he begins to inspect the area, expertly ignoring the odd looks of the resident crew.
-
Gunnery Deck, Starboard
Having found the first Hawacha, Courage starts looking over it loading mechanism.
"Hopefully they don't render this ship defenseless" he says to Amelia. "I don't know who will do the most damage, our own crew or them."
Command Room
Having finishing his rounds, Enger walks on to the bridge and eyes each individual in the room.
"Well, are we ready for departure?" He says curtly
"In a moment Councilman," Coming behind him is Frey, "But beside some onboard repairs we are airworthy."
Frey takes in the crew and notices Carn, "Ah Mr. Carn. Making the rounds?"
(sorry, had finals)
-
Bridge
"After a fashion. I had to get a full engineering team down to the gunnery deck. Whoever was in charge of maintaining the guns did an abysmal job of it. I have Mr Gaige hammering the swabbies in line. In the meantime, I thought I'd be hear. Important things tend to happen at the bridge, and truly important things tend to not be boring."
Medbay
After the poor unfortunates hurry out with the bucket, Alison takes her seat.
"Back to our earlier conversation, a bored Carn may be interesting, but he tends to get.......edgy, when he gets very bored. When he begins making explosives, because he's bored, it tends to not be much longer before he uses them."
-
Koali seemingly pops into existence on the gunnery deck next to Courage.
"Wha- Oh, hey! Have you ever felt what it's like to have some random guy just knock you out of existence with a load of schoolwork?"
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Gunnery Deck--
Amelia sighed and re-affixed the grate to the ventilation shaft.
--Eagle's Shadow, Med Bay--
Reagan sighed at that statement, “Well, if he blows up anything on this ship I'll… Hmm… Blow him up I guess.” She took a moment to think about the implication, “You think he's susceptible to high explosives?” She looked at Alison with an amused smiled tugging at the edges of her mouth before she went to staring at the opposite wall. throughout the ship she could hear the sounds of movement as the crew began the finalizing their departure.
“Though, I suppose I should get back to checking on the crew before I get back to the bridge. We lift off in oh,” She did the mental math in her head, “Two hours I suppose.”
Taking a moment to stretch as she detached herself from the wall where she was leaning. “Best I got out of your hair now. Skies watch over you Alison.” She rounded the corner before disappearing from sight.
--The Warehouse, South Docks--
Three bags sat on the bed, filled with equipment and other items of importance. Lorena ran a check in her head as she made sure that she had everything she would be needing, and then some, it always paid to come prepared. She slung the duffel with her clothing over shoulder and the case that held her rifle over her back. Her tools contained in a bag attached to the duffel that clanked as she moved, not that she minded.
She poked her head out of her room, the place was oddly quiet, she didn't remember anything about any jobs they had coming up so she supposed that everybody was about the city. She took one final look around before she entered the warehouse proper. She probably made it half way across the room before she heard someone behind her.
Dad really? She looked behind her, sure enough her dad was leaning against the wall looking at her. He looked her, forlorn, resigned to some inescapable fate.
“You know my parents said that watching your only child-”
“Dad are you really going to do this?” She rolled her eyes at his antics.
“-And I suppose you can't protect them forever but-”
“Dad you don't need to- Are you reading off a script?!” Sure enough he raised an eyebrow before stuffing the thick stack of papers into his coat.
“Maybe.” The mischievous glint in his eye. “Actually it's a transcript of this speech from a novel I picked up, not that it's important of course.”
“Are you going to give me some worldly advice that I'm bound to figure out the meaning of later?”
“Actually I was going to give you this.” He held out a pistol, it's steel polished and glimmering in the warehouse light.
“Oh.” She took it in one hand, turning it over as she examined every part of it. “This isn't-”
“No it isn't.” He pulled out a matching one from his coat, this one however was worn, but no less glimmering as he held it. “Thought you could use something a bit more personal though. Or you know, a hold weapon, or well, a lot of things really.”
“Thought that counts Dad, thanks.”
“Well, least you could do is come back alive, I'd rather not have to hunt down Reagan for losing my only child.” He gave her a weak smile.
“Promise I'll at least try.”
“That's all I ask. Now, get moving, you'll probably be late if you don't go there now.”
“Well, someone had to stop me before exiting out the door.” She gave him a smirk.
“Well, you know situations like this require a dramatic heart touching moment that sets the tone for the rest of the narrative.”
“Please don't.” She gave him a quick hug. “I better not find this place burned down when I get back!” She said as made for the door, her back to him.
“And you better not come back with a magical sword and a talking cat.”
Lorena stopped at the door before turning back to face him. “No promises dear Father.”
--Militia Docks--
Lorena stood back to examine the ship, not that it had changed since she had last saw it. She took a moment to look around the docks before she entered through the bustle of cargo bay. It was lively, much more than yesterday though she supposed it was due to the fact they were leaving soon. And with that she decided that it was time to find herself a room. Hopefully.
-
Medbay
"And to you as well Reagan......"
Thinking to herself for a moment, Alison ponders Reagan's question. A memory passes over her, specifically the one about why Alister's Junker is gone.
"Grenade barrel......."
-
A demon rises from the ground and knocks Koali through a portal with a bag of textbooks.
-
(Ignore that.)
Koali goes off to find a nice barrel to stay in for the time being.
-
The Eagle's Shadow
Uncapping a marker, Koali strolled around the ship giving everyone a fashionable moustache.
-
Bridge
Upon seeing Koali run in with a marker and begin to give a crewman a false mustache, Alister plucks the marker from his hand and drags him away from the flustered crewman. While dragging him, Alister begins.
"Why?"
-
"Isn't it normal for the ridiculous character to draw moustaches on people when they're unconscious? You guys have been out for weeks!"
-
--Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan stepped onto the bridge, immediately greeted by the sight of Carn staring down at the youngest member of their crew who had his hands on his hips as he stared at the marker Carn held in his hand. She raised a questioning eyebrow at the pair of them before moving towards the intercom station and crewman in charge of it.
She could just pluck the notebook out from in front of him but a degree of professionalism would be required, she could drink them under the table when duty did not call. Except Carn, there were rabbit holes even she wouldn't delve into.
Right, time to be the professional.
"What's the ship's status?" To his credit the comm officer only took a brief look behind him before opening the notebook.
"Most sections reporting green, flight deck, gunnery, and engineering have yet to report in."
She gave a barely perceptible nod. "Patch us through to gunnery than."
He passed her the receiver and set about switching the broadcast channel to the gunnery deck. There was a light crackle before he gave her the thumbs up to proceed. "Gunnery Deck, report status."
There was a light pause before Amelia voice carried over the receiver. "Hello Reagan."
"Ms. Lockheart, we're on duty."
"Err... Of course." There was a slight shuffling about. "We're currently performing heavy maintenance on main weapons, expect weapons to be fully operational by this-" Without any warning there was an absolutely horrifying screech from the other side of the.
"Um, Ms. Lockheart?"
There was a lengthy pause before her voice returned. "It's nothing, we've just suffered... an accident, yes, just a small accident, no one was injured. Excuse me." The line went dead and she shared a fully justified confused look with the equally confused comm officer.
--Gunnery Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
"I don't understand." Amelia said as she looked upon the... weapon that should be a flak cannon if memory served right. The crew that had been working to bring it to operational status shuffled about uneasily as they faced her, eyes downcast.
"I truly don't understand, not even I was this incompetent at first." Which was true, mostly, as she stared at the hwacha loading mechanism jammed into the ammo bank.
"We are most assuredly going to miss lunch." She said to no one in particular.
-
Bridge
Sighing, Alister puts the marker up on a high shelf and directs Koali out the door. Looking towards the Commander officer Alister says,
"Get me Medbay."
The officer pauses for a moment, looking back and forth between him and Reagan. After a brief time, he decides that this is above his paygrade and hands him the comm.
"Alison, Gunnery Deck seems to have had an accident. Prep a bag and meet me down there."
"Already?!"
Various un-ladylike mutterings can be heard for ten seconds then,
"On my way."
Handing the comm back to the comm officer and heads out the door, rolling up his sleeve on the way.
-
Bridge
After making sure Alister was gone, Koali snuck back into the room and hunted for some kind of ladder to retrieve the marker. Thankfully for the rest of the crew, he didn't find one, so he instead decided to go to the gunnery deck and see what was happening.
-
Bridge
Mentally going over the checklist, Frey nods to himself that the vessel is sufficiently ready for takeoff.
"Signal for the control tower that we are ready for liftoff," he says to the helmsmen, "We been here for quite too long."
"Aye Commander." he responds curtly.
Frey turns to Enger as the room fill is filled with radio chatter.
"Well Councilman, I believe it's time for you to leave the ship. Don't want you be late for anything with you on board."
Straightening his jacket and fixing his sweep back hair, Enger hold out a hand to the Commander, "Well good luck on your mission, hopefully we see some results."
Taking the Councilman's hand with his, Frey gives a knowing nod.
Turning to walk put, Enger gives his farewell to both Reagan and Carm before exiting the room.
With the door closed behind him, one of the radioman says to Frey, "Sir, we gotten permission and is waiting on your command."
"Very well, tell they we will lift up in ten minutes. Give sometime for the Councilman to disembark the ship."
"Yes sir."
"Also, call the hanger bay and ask for their status."
"Right away sir."
Pleased, Frey gives the bridge one more look over before turning around for the door. With a hand on the knob, he says to Reagan," Well Captain, it is your's and Mr. Carn's ship now. If any of you need me, I'll be conducting some business."
Frey turns and makes his way to the Brig.
Hanger Bay
As the four pilots chat amongs themselves, they feel a large lurch beneath them.
"Looks like we are leaving, finally." comments Antonio.
On one of the walls, a radio starts to ring and all turn to it. Beening the closest, Kei picks up the receiver and answers it.
"Hello?"
"Hanger Bay, this is the Bridge, what is your status?"
"Oh, Bridge, all planes are strapped down and we are performing slight maintenance."
"Copy, I'll relay this over, Bridge out."
Returning the receiver, Kei, looks back and sighs to herself as her two wing mates just happen to break off an antennae.
Starboard Gunnery Deck
"What is with everyone and food?" Courage comments as he overhears Amelia.
Rolling his eyes, he puts his focus on the Flak in front of him. Feeling the ship move, he opens the turret door and notices that they are slowly rising from the ground.
"Hey, we are leaving." he calls to the others."
-
Hallways, Near Gunnery Deck
Feeling the lurch at take off, Alister braces his legs and settles into his airlegs.
"Finally, underway. Let's go hunting into the unknown lads."
After mentally noting the high amount of melodrama in the statement, and the fact that no one is around to hear, Alister begins to question his sanity. Then he stops after hearing various sounds of mechanical distress from the gunnery deck. Going, through the door he surveys the situation.
"What's the damage and who's injured? Alison is on her way with a medkit."
-
--Gunnery Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
Amelia was taught as a young girl that women did not yell, they quietly and intensely scolded those who have done wrong. That they should bring understanding to their misdeeds, honestly even if she hadn't brought up to subscribe to such a train of thought, she would have been too mentally exhausted due to the situation to yell in the first place. In order to compensate for this lack of fury however, she decided to opt for a more… piercing approach. She palmed the length of her shifting spanner before lifting it high in the air, and bringing it down with an earsplitting crack as it impacted on the already broken hwacha loading mechanism, despite her not being the strongest person in existence, the weight of her tool certainly made up for the loss in striking power.
“I must admit,” she stated as she brought the spanner up again. “This turn of events is both surprising and highly disappointing.” She brought it down once more, the sound of metal groaning in protest at the abuse it now suffered. Her voice taking on that privileged air, as she lectured them amidst her continued assault.
“Had it occurred to you to think about what you were receiving payment-” the spanner struck again, the metal quite visibly distorted beyond repair.
“for? That now you have both duty and responsibility-” She hadn't noticed that ship had lifted off at this point, nor had she paid attention to the work crew's faces as she continued. She also hadn't noticed that Alister had arrived on deck and addressed them, that Alison soon followed suit, that the young boy who had somehow joined the crew appeared behind them.
“to both operate and maintain this vessel at peak efficiency.” She brought down the spanner in one final strike, the mechanism so fractured at this point that it simply fell apart, components scattered upon the deck as she returned the spanner to its place on her tool belt.
She pulled out a maintenance manual from a compartment on the weapon. “You are to study this and retrieve the necessary parts to return this weapon to operational status.” She watched them run off to the workshop, with a slight huff she looked down at her hands.
Now that her adrenaline was winding down she felt how sore they felt, she took off her work gloves, noting that her hands were slightly red and puffy. Nothing felt broken or exceptionally strained so she supposed they would be fine so long as she didn't go about using her spanner as a makeshift club. An effective one at that if the wreckage of the loading mechanism was any indicator.
It was however, at this point she suddenly realized that she was not alone. “Oh... um, well... hello?”
--Moments Before, Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan watched the two of them leave the bridge. Still slightly confused about the marker that Carn had placed on top the high shelf, which she took a moment to retrieve and pocket it, she let the comm officer check in with the rest of the remaining section.
"Hanger Bay, this is the Bridge, what is your status?"
"Oh, Bridge, all planes are strapped down and we are performing slight maintenance."
"Copy, I'll relay this over, Bridge out." He took a moment to jot this down in the log book before the comm slightly startled him.
"Bridge, this is engineering, power plant is coming online momentarily. We'll be to go when you are." The line went dead and the comm officer quickly recorded that as well. Reagan on the other hand stood looking at the station, mouth slightly a gape as she processed the rather familiar voice from the other end.
Well, shit was the only thought she could think of.
--Engineering, Eagle's Shadow--
Lorena hung up the receiver and turned back to the bustle of engineering.
"Right, done over here."
"Well great," The head engineer said from nearby, both hands on a rather large lever. "Help me with this." She grasped the lever from the opposite side and together the two of them shifted it to the activated position. Behind them the power plant hummed to life.
"You know," she said watching it, "I wasn't expecting it to be so..."
"Quiet." It was a statement rather than a question.
"Mmmhmm." She responded.
"Well, it's a modern thing I suppose." He said, "Takes after those old sea going warships, means we don't have to go running about the ship as much to keep things working."
The two of them stood quietly watching it as the rest of the crew went about their business.
"So," she glanced at him, "should we go check the fuel connectors to the engines?"
He sighed, "Yeah lets go."
--Hanger Bay, Eagle's Shadow--
Davis was no engineer, so he helped Ferris and Antonio the only way he knew how. With Duct Tape.
"You really think this is going to hold?" Ferris asked as he watched Davis and Antonio reattach the damn thing.
"Eh, it's duct tape." Antonio said, "You could hold together the entire skies-be-damned Yeshen navy if you had enough of the stuff." Davis nodded in response as if it was the only universal truth in existence.
------------------------------------
Poster's Note:
A while back I rolled for Amelia, somehow ending up as a berserker. Mind you she is neither strong nor fit for that purpose, going to have a bit of fun with that.
-
Gunnery Deck
"Ms Amelia, I believe you are fully qualified for your job. Was not expecting you to have a rant like that in you, well done." Alister gives a informal salute to her, "Now then, is there any injuries at all? Or was that interchange over the comm completely overdone and made things sound far worse than they are?"
Giving an annoyed glare to the recently scolded crew, Alison notes not much more than a few minor scrapes, burns, and blisters. Very common among swabbies. "Any injuries that require my immediate attention. I'm not your mommy, I won't com running to kiss your boo boos."
"I'd listen to her lads, she could prescribe you something with nasty effects if you agitate her."
"I think you boys would like to avoid impotency."
-
Eagle's Shadow
High above even the tallest structures, The medium transport, with it's Galleon and Junker escort, slowly maneuver through the busy skies of Cathedral. Being one of the biggest vessel in the air currently, the Shadow does cast quite a large shadow beneath her. Those on the ground look up in wonder as the ship passes overhead. Stopping and going several times, even for it's size, the transport must give yield to the dozen of ships from the six factions. After an hour of this, Shadow and company have finally reach the edge of the city where clear desert and skies await for them.
Wondering the halls, Renard looks over a clipboard in his hand only to look up as the PA system comes to life.
Attention crew, we are leaving the city's limits. Current heading, Southeast to Sunder and onward to Albys. From there we are crossing the Gulf to the Guild. Station first watch on the Gunnery Deck and launch two scout planes. Bridge out.
"Finally underway," he says underneath his breath. Giving a quick look over on his board, Renard moves towards his room to get some needed rest. With Ulric and Alexi's ships out on escort duty, he assumes that he will take the next rotation with his Goldfish, which may go through the night. The halls of the ship is relatively empty as majority of the crew is out either in the Mess Hall eating dinner or setting up watch. Finally in front of his door, Renard enters to find Courage's half tidied up and said person in heavy clothing.
Having securing his revolver in the holster, Courage turns his head at the sound of the door, "Ah, afternoon Renard. Well you can't complain about the mess now huh?"
"Yes," he slowly says as he sets the clipboard on a desk, "May i ask Mr. Bell...."
Renard is cut off as Courage gives an annoyed glare to his bunk mate.
"Sorry, Courage," Renard corrected, "But whats with the outfit?"
"Well you heard the announcement, got to set up first watch. So I'll being going topside with a small group as lookouts, while the Gunnery Decks man the big guns."
Renard raises an eyebrow at the mention of the Gunnery Deck which prompt Courage to ask, "Whats with the look?"
"Are the main guns fully operational? I mean i saw the reports that there were several problems associated with them."
"Pssh," Courage with a wave of a hand, "Amelia and I Personally fixed them, we just had some complication with the engineering crew. Well I'm off, have a good afternoon Renard."
With the door closed in the small room, Renard sighs to himself, This is one odd crew. he thinks before resting in his bunk
Brig
Having someone to bring in some tea, Frey sits just opposite of the ship's only prisoner. Silence lingers in the room as Frey waits for the tea.
"So Mr. Brigg, willing to divulge any new information?"
Behind him, a knock is herd on the metal door. With a hand, Frey stands to retrieve the beverage. Placing the the kettle and two cups on a small table, Frey pours himself and Brig a cup and offers him one.
Hanger Bay
Attention crew, we are leaving the city's limits. Current heading, Southeast to Sunder and onward to Albys. From there we are crossing the Gulf to the Guild. Station first watch on the Gunnery Deck and launch two scout planes. Bridge out.
Lying down idly on a few crates, Farris and Antonio woke up with a shock at the announcement and commence to fall off their temporary sleeping arrangements. Giving a slight chuckle, Kei moves to one of the strapped down planes and proceed to undo the straps.
Coming to, Antonio sees Kei and goes over wondering what was the announcement.
Before he even have a chance to speak, she answers without even looking up from the current harness, "Got orders to send up two planes to scout ahead, I'll go out as one of them."
Signalling to several crew members in the compartment, she and five others maneuver the plane into a overhanging hook from a crane. Getting into the cockpit, she turns on the many panels and goes over the pre-flight checklist. From her position, she calls out to the two, "Don't know who is going to be the second pilot, you and Farris and decide with Davis, but now... CLEAR BAY 2 FOR LAUNCH."
With that command, red lights begin to flash throughout the the Hanger Bay as the crane begins to lift the plane. The floor beneath it lifts up safety railings to prevent the crew from falling over board as it opens to allow the crane to lower the plane into the environment. Once she sees that he has enough space, Kei lowers the wings from its storage position and fully extends it out. Starting the engine, she allows it to reach maximum thrust before hitting the release button disconnecting her plane form the hook.
Feeling a large jerk, the plane goes into a vertical dive before Kei pulls back on the yoke allowing the plane to come up from the dive. After doing several maneuvers, Kei levels out and flies with the Shadow as she waits for the second plane.
"Bridge, this is Eagle 2 standing by."
Weather Deck
Courage and his group of seven arrives at the topmost level of the transport. Taking up positions around the ship, they watch as the lone plane does its fancy maneuvers before coming into formation with the ship.
"Wow, who is ever in that may compete with the Anvalan pilots." Courage says with a whistle.
-
--Hanger Bay, Eagle's Shadow--
Davis cracked an eye and watched as Farris and Antonio righted themselves. The two of them began looking each other, the unspoken question floating between the pair. Then their eyes landed on him and for a while the three of them shifted their gaze from one to the other. Davis sighed and sat up from the wing of the craft he was laying on.
"Well," he said as he pulled open the cockpit, "seems like I'm taking a second shift today."
He hopped in and motioned for a crew to push his craft of choice to the launch zone as he examined the instrumentation. It was the usual fare plus a few incredibly useful extras, magnetic compass, heading indicator, plenty of useful tools for night flying, which he would most certainly be doing quite often. He located the button to deploy or fold his wings and pressed it, watching as the wings folded upward as the crew pushed his craft over the closed launch bay door.
The whirring of gears alerted him to the presence of the crane above as it lowered to latch onto his craft. The sound of straining metal as his craft was lifted to allow the bay doors to open properly, the sudden lurch as he descended, the blinding light as he found himself outside.
He let the engine warmup as he took in his surroundings, watching the city slowly recede behind them, the sand dunes, the telltale signs of activity on the ground. He checked the engine levels and found them acceptable. He checked the release and took a deep breath.
Welp, now or never.
He punched the release and immediately felt the drop as his craft, almost regretting everything as he continued to drop. Something snapped and he found himself leveling out above the sandy dunes, he blinked and increased his altitude to match that of the fleets. He did a few shallow banks as he rounded the vessel he would be calling home for the next few weeks. Eventually he spotted Kei in the air, watched as she effectively danced among the clouds.
Davis liked to consider himself a decent pilot, but watching her he realized he didn't hold a candle to her. It made him wonder, where all of his wingmates such amazing pilots? On one hand Kei was the quiet professional who seemed to loosen up on occasion, on the other Antonio and Farris broke a radio antenna together.
He decided to shelve that thought for later and keyed his radio.
"Eagle 2, this is Eagle 1. Well Kei, looks like we'll be sharing the skies for a little while. Form up on my wing and we'll head out.
"Alright."
Just please don't show off too much. He quietly added to himself as he keyed the radio to the bridge.
“Bridge, scout wing is deployed and heading south east ahead of the fleet.”
--Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan tossed a marker in her hand as she leaned against a railing. Still confused about why Alister was looking upon the young boy so disapprovingly before the two of them had left the bridge. Probably because he had done something stupid, she wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case.
"-heading south east ahead of the fleet."
"Copy that scout wing, keep us posted."
The Comm officer hung up the receiver and recorded it in the logbook. She took a look around, there was no reason for her to take the helm at this moment, navigation had a complete set of weather reports over the gulf and a course set well till they left the guild at Gura Lupulul. She took out her flask, it's contents replaced with tea for the time being and took a swig. It was most certainly going to be a long day.
-
With the last rays of light disappear over the horizon, the distinct silhouette of Cathedral's skyline blends perfectly with the night sky. Several dots of light illuminate the top most deck as Courage and his team keeps a watchful eye into the darkness.
Weather Deck
Sighing, "Here we go again," he mutters under his breath. A small cloud comes off his month noting the dropping temperature in the desert. Still bearable than the snow front that comes into Anvala occasionally, Courage look to either side of him and notices that several members are donning gloves to combat the cold, releasing a chuckle form him.
"What do you mean 'again' sir?" came a voice from behind.
Raising an eyebrow, Courage turns around fully to see the youngest member of his watch team with a quizzical look on his face before turning back to look out at the sand.
"Oh, nothing just me and my thoughts. Also i don't like the 'sir', didn't join the Guard as an officer, they are uptight individuals." COurage says as he taps the railing next to him.
Accepting the offer, the young man goes over next to him and places both of his arms on the barrier and look out as well, "So it is true," he starts prompting Courage to looks over.
"What is?"
"You were part of the city's militia back in Anvala. Couple of the guys here we were trying to figure out where you were from. Some said Sarrin, some Parrin, but majority of us but our money on Anvala."
Courage gives out a small laugh, "well there is some truth to that, i was born in Sarrin, but spent most of my time in Anvala. Names Courage." he finish with an outstretched hand.
"Theodore, Theodore Cutler," the man responds as he shakes the hand.
As the two continue to converse, the two planes can be seen breaking off their formation with the transport and flying ahead.
Eagle Squadron
"Alright," Kei responds to Davis through her headset.
Forming behind his left wing, She follows closely behind as they put some distance between them and the small ship formation. Holding one hand on the yoke, using her free hand, she turns on the on board radar. With a click, her headset is filled with silent pings verifying that its is working.
"Eagle 1, 2, I just truned n my radar, skies are clear at the moment."
Waiting for a respond, Kei glances out to her left and does a small double take. Looking closely out of the glass dome, she shrugs it off.
Don't get jittery now Naga, we are on the job.
Crimson Dragoon
"Bridge, this is Kasparov. We seem to have mechanical problems," coughs Alexi into the radio
"Captain Kasparov, what seem to be the problem?" a static reply comes through.
"My main engine has overheated and died. My men and I are trying to fix it at the moment, but the smoke is too thick and i don't believe that my turning engines can handle the strain of being the current main propulsion."
Bridge
"Copy, Captain Kasparov, Start heading to the repair bay. We'll send a replacement ship out." says the Communications Officer
"Copy, back to the Shadow."
Looking out the Bridge's windows, those currently in the room sees the large trail of smoke as the Galleon slowly limps back. At one of the panels, one of the crew members pulls back a level as a jolt is felt across the whole transport as the mid-ship bay doors open to allow the Galleon enter.
Though the Communications Officer's headset, a message form the Hanger Bay is received, "Bridge, Hanger Bay, The Crimson Dragoon is secured, you can close the bay doors."
"Copy", and with a nod to the operator, he places the lever back to its original position to close the large doors.
Once done, one of them turns to Reagan, "Ma'am, should we send up Captain Carn or Captain Larson?"
-
Bridge
After leaving the repair crew to the mercy of Alison, Carn makes it back up to the bridge in time to hear
"Send up Captain Carn or Captain Larson?"
"What's going on then?"
Brig
Taking the proffered cup, Jasper takes a sip.
"Mmmm lovely. In regards to information, it all depends on what you wish to know?"
-
Gunnery Deck
Koali awoke, slightly dizzy. He'd forgotten to recalibrate his steam legs to properly grip a ship's flooring and had therefore tripped and hit his head when the Eagle's Shadow took off.
"Aw, crap. If that Carn guy finds out it's this easy knock me out he'll probably just toss me overboard."
He adjusted some dials and walked over to what was left of the flak cannon and the engineers puttering around trying to fix it.
"So, uh... Is there... Is there anything I should do to help, or...?"
-
Gaige, Gunnery Deck:
"Skies be damned, who sold these people those guns? I haven't seen guns that poorly maintained since, god, back when I commandeered an Arashi ship." Sitting down heavily on the seat of the nearest heavy flak, he sinks into the padded chair and pulls off his newsboy cap, rubbing his scalp with his cleanest hand. "Amelia, excellent job having the swabbies soil themselves. Sometimes a more subtle approach with the promise of much violence later is the best course of action. Do you have any idea why these guns look like they were pulled out of a scrapyard?"
-
--Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan looked from where she was leaning to find Carn closing the bridge door behind him.
"What's going on then?"
Reagan gave her flask a few taps and sighed, Running empty. That wasn't the only issue, the tea had gone a rather disheartening lukewarm while on duty, she'd have to grab one of the spare thermoses from the galley later.
"Mr. Kasparaov suffered a mechanical malfunction in his vessel's engines." She said, "Me and Mr. Banning here," she pointed to the comm officer, "Were discussing if we should send you or Mr. Larson up as his replacement, since you're here though..." She gave him a noncommittal shrug, "You might as well do it, if you want that is."
--Eagle Squadron--
Davis took another more look around and spotted something out of the corner of his eye, Well, there's a thought.
"Ok Kei, got another for you." He heard a dejected sigh.
"Ok, one more."
"Ok, I spy something... that begins with s." Again he heard a sigh on the other side of the radio.
"Is it sand?" She guessed for the 10th time.
"No it's ship." He keyed the radio to bridge keeping Kei on the line. "Bridge, Eagle squadron reporting, you have what appears to be a freighter heading your way, adjust course South West 7 degrees to compensate.
"Copy that, continue your sweep, we'll send the next flight out to relieve you."
"Copy that Bridge, Eagle 1 out." He keyed the radio back to her. "Right... so... I've got another, begins with s."
He heard a smack on the other side of the radio. "Is it sky?"
"No it's Skimmer, take a look." He took a shallow dive and rounded around a small region, sure enough Kei saw a small sand skimmer was treading the dunes heading south east as they were.
Eventually their moonlit flight was interrupted as Farris and Antonio came up on their radars.
"Alright you two, having fun out here." It was less a question but Davis answered anyways.
"Eh, you could say that. Come on Kei, time to head back to the barn."
"Copy that, forming up on your wing."
Davis keyed into both Antonio and Farris as all four craft passed each other.
"Right you two, try not to shoot up the countryside while I'm away." Somehow I feel they'd manage it anyway.
"Will do boss man." Antonio answered, Davis would have keyed out right there if it hadn't been for the following exchange.
"Right, so Farris, I thought we'd engage in a time honored tradition among scouts."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, goes a little like this." Davis heard a clearing of throats, "I spy something that begins with...s."
"I'm going to punch you."
"Haha, that doesn't begin with s Farris."
"Silently, you will be punched."
"Now you're not even trying."
--One End of The Gunnery Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
Of the four man crew working on the beleaguered flak cannon, one of them stopped to look at Koali.
"Well it's not like you can help- Hey, not like that really." He panicked slightly when he saw his face change. "Look, see that blond over there?" He pointed over to where Amelia was sitting reading a book as she quietly chatted with Gaige, "She's scary, I feel we got threated with bodily harm if we-" He pointed to the rest of his crew, "don't learn how to personally maintain the damn thing." He patted the flak cannon.
--The Other End of The Gunnery Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
Amelia looked up at Gaige, framed by the open stars shining through the open gun port. The Caronnade deployed to it's firing position. She closed the book she was reading and set it on her lap as she thought.
"I have no idea, it's a bit odd isn't it? Perhaps they thought we'd remain more inconspicuous if it hadn't seemed as if we were funded by a military organization? I can see the logic, however I do agree they could have invested more in our weaponry. Though many of the weapons were not as bad as they seemed..." Which was technically true, they were much worse. Over the entire day Amelia, Gaige, Courage, and the maintenance crews had toiled to bring the ship's main armament to operational status, having replaced a majority of the components, it was almost as if they had replaced the guns entirely, now most guns only had spots of rust instead of being piles of steel fragments and fractured iron.
"I don't suppose these are new models either... Though Courage might appreciate that when it comes to the flak cannons."
--Ship's Quarters, Eagle's Shadow--
Lorena had learned that most of the rooms on the ship either came with 2 or 4 beds, discounting the general quarters which held a great deal of beds for the rest of the crew who were both unlucky or lazy enough to not be able to claim a room. Lorena had learned that the room closest to the Med Bay was only occupied by 1 of 2 possible occupants, and they were female, which was lucky, considering she would rather bunk there rather then the general quarters.
She threw her equipment into the foot locker near the unoccupied bed and popped open the manual the head engineer gave her on the adjoining desk, the ship's engines were of an unfamiliar model yet the manufacturer, an Anvalan based one, was familiar due to her work with the Skyrunner's own engine compliment, even so she wanted to be prepared. As she flipped through, she wondered when her roommate would be returning.
------
Poster's Note:
So, what are the twins up to?
-
Bridge
"No problem, could use some fresh wind anyways. I'll grab some grunts and deploy. I'll be fanning out in a gradual arc in front, and above the Shadow, roughly 500 feet out by 100 feet above."
Turning around Alister heads to the cargo bay. Upon entering he sees the twins trying to start some ball game on the hangar floor.
Hangar Bay
"Alright boys, sadle up I need you two geared for squid duty in five minutes."
Signalling over another engineer who has the marks of competence, Alister introduce's himself and gives the new guy his orders.
"How come Alister is more polite to strangers than us?"
"I supose he's just jealous of our dashing looks."
Despite the griping, Alister's hastily gathered crew is ready.
"Bridge, this is Captain Carn of the Squid Kibeth, we are ready to deploy."
Medbay
Sighing, Alison notices the time and decides to clock in. Going to her bunk, she notices another woman the other cot.
"Well helo, I'm Alison, medical officer. You?"
-
Earlier
"Take a look at her.", whistles one as he lowers his binoculars and pushes his partner awake.
"What where?," his partner grumbles as he sits up.
"There, coming from Cathedral." the first points out in the distance.
"Oh, I see it,' came a sarcastic reply as he eyes the dozen of ships leaving the city.
"I know right, i can only imagine the she is carrying."
Smacking the back of his partner's head, the second one snaps, "You wit, i don't know which ship you are talking about. You said it coming from Cathedral, hundredsof ships come out form that city each week. Now give me those and point out which one."
"You don't have to be mean about it," he says as he hands over the binoculars while rubbing the back of his head, "There, the medium transport with the Galleon and Junker escort."
Scanning the horizon, the second person finally spots the formation. Taking it all in, a small smile forms on his face thinking of the payout.
"Oh, this is juicy. Come on, we need to tell the others to get ready." He says as he throws back the lens and head toward their parked skimmer.
"We sending up our ships to go after them?" catching the thrown object and following.
Starting the engines, the second person puts on goggles and turns to the first, "Not yet, i bet they can pick them up on radar first. Contact the camp to get ready the cannons, we'll try and set up ahead of them"
Eagle's Shadow 2200
Weather Deck
With a yawn, Courage looks down at his watch, Where is our relief?
Just as he is about make a call, the hatch opens and a group of eight exits and sprawl around the entire deck. The man in charge goes toward to Courage as his own team start to head down.
"Finally," he jokes as he shakes hands with his relief.
"Hard to get a few men out of bed, but we got it from here." the man says with a laugh.
"So far the night has been calm, we already pass Sunder. One of the escorts had to come back in for repairs as we are changing he flight wings." Courage informs the man.
"Got it, now you go and get your rest."
With a final pat on his shoulders, Courage follows behind his watch group. Staring out one more time, he sees the first two planes coming in.
Hanger Bay
With his Galleon secured onboard, Alexi, his crew, and a small team of engineers start to inspect the malfunctioning main engine.
"Wow, this one is shot beyond hell." one of the engineers exclaims.
"Sir, where did you find this piece of metal?" asks another.
Opening one of the side panels, Alexi and one of his actually crewmen takes a look inside, "A reward from a Baron after i completed a mission for him. She and i have been together ever since."
Poking his head out and facing the engineer who asks, "Got a problem with that." he says with a glare.
Gulping, the man quickly apologize, "Oh nothing sir, she is a great ship. Tip-top and top notch."
"Good," Alexi says as he goes towards the man and place a wrench in his hands, "Now you are your team fix her while my men and i rest."
With a nod, the engineer whistle to the others as they start.
Smirking, Alexi motions for his crew to get out of the way. Walking off his ship, the red lights start to flash as the drop point for the planes start to open.
Eagle Squadron B
"Antonio, asks me another I Spy question again, I'll personally run this propeller through your fuselage." says an irritated Farris`
Antonio laughs at his partner's dispair, "Come on lighten up just a little or you'll become like Kei. We have a few more hours until morning."
"And it can't come soon enough"
"Okay, okay." antonio backs up, "Well back to our jobs."
Looking down, he sees a land caravan traveling along the same route as them.
Must be trying to get to Brigfern Antonio says to himself.
Fifth Season
"Bridge, this is the Junker," starts Ulric," Where is our second ship?"
"Captain Culvin, please hold just a little longer.
"Copy" he says before turning off his radio.
turning to his crew he excitedly exclaims out to them, "So who wants another lesson on the phases of the moon!" which earns a collective groan as Ulric lecture on to deaf ears.
Trying to tune out his captain, one of the crew members spots the land caravan which stopped.
Must have made camp for the night.
Shrugging it off, he is about to turn his back when he spots several flashes of light from below.
Oh Flak "BRACE, INCOMING SHELLS!!" HE yells to those on the Junker.
"Land Caravan"
"Looks like just one escort," Says the second man from earlier, "Call Thorne to get our ships in the air."
With a lift of his hand, the men around him remove several tarps off their trucks to reveal multiple 88's. With a swipe down, the cannons open fire above.
Bridge
The room rocks as several shells impacted the hull.
On the radio, Ulric voice comes through, "Ambush, raiders directly below"
"No penetrations at them moment," calls out another radioman.
"New contacts coming up on radar, two Squids, a Junker, and a Galleon inbound." cries out the radarman.
Eagle Squadron A
As both Kei and Davis line up to the the hooks that will retrieve their planes, they see the shells impact the belly of the transport.
"BREAK," She yells out avoiding the shells.
Brig
As Frey is about to start his line of questions, he felt the ship vibrate and alarms going off.
"This your doing?" he asks Jasper.
"I have no clue just like you," He says with a shrug.
Exiting the Brig, Frey hurries as fast as his limp can take him and arrives to the Bridge.
"What's going on!"
-
Hangar Bay
Upon hearing the sirens blare, Alister raises his voice to a level that can carry over thunder.
"ALL HANDS ON DECK! EVERYONE TO BATTLE STATIONS! DEPLOY THE SHIPS!"
And with that, he unhooks his ship, sending her into the fray.
"New guy, your front, spray them with the gat! Idiots, decide which of you is on banshee and the other on mines! First target will be that sorry excuse for a Squid!"
Suddenly the Squid in mention hurtling straight towards them.
"Lay some mines! Drogue shoot in 5 seconds! Light em up with the gat!"
-
--Eagle Squadron, Alpha Flight--
"SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT!"
Davis banked hard right as the shell exploded in front of him, he nearly shut his eyes as he heard the screeching and tearing of metal. As luck would have it, only his right wing was damaged. That was still bad, still, whoever was firing at that proceeded to ignore the two shadows dancing against the black of night, well, really it was one dancing and the other limping about as he tested the damage to his craft.
"You alright?" Kei's concerned voice came over the radio as he leveled his craft.
"Alive but my craft has taken one hell of a hit." He paused to look at his left wing, metal panels having been torn off when it passed through the flak cloud, allowing him to see the interior structure. Lucky that I'm still up really. "So what the hell is going on anyway?" The fleet had come under fire from ground based guns to to the south east, no one had noticed them earlier so they had to be a recent development. The freighter he had spotted had also disappeared and somehow he felt the two events were connected.
"Pirate raiders most likely, the Shadow is deploying additional vessels now but we need to buy time for them to deploy. Additional hostiles are approaching from the northwest."
"Right." The ground based guns weren't too effective against the massive transport but given enough time they'd be able to punch through, to the northwest he could see them coming over the horizon. He watched as one of the hanger doors disgorged the docked squid he had seen earlier.
"Farris, Antonio you guys there?"
"Right here boss man.
"We read you, where do you need us?"
"Head back and support the fleet against the oncoming vessels, me and Kei and will handle the ground based batteries."
"Will do, Come on Farris, let's go."
"Oh, and Antonio."
"Yeah?"
"Remember what I said about shooting up the countryside? You can ignore that now."
"Hehe, music to my ears."
--Eagle Squadron, Beta Flight--
"So I was thinking Farris, that we should try and disable that galleon."
"What seriously?" Farris was in slight disbelief at what he was suggesting, it was a galleon after all and as such they were tough targets.
"Come on, we come in high, circle around and take out their engines, they won't even have engines by the time we're done."
"Fine fine, I'll follow you in."
"Just watch how it's done."
--Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
"Ah Frey," Reagan took a long swig of alcohol she found sitting in the navigation room. "Just in time, we're under attack by raiders." She then went on to ignore him as she began figuring things out.
"Right, we'll leave the ground batteries to our fighters, Banning if you would."
"Aye ma'am." The young man gave her a salute as he began contacting the various fleet elements they had available.
"Helm, pass over control to me."
"Aye ma'am." The helmsman stepped aside as she grasped the wheel in her hands, she quietly ran her fingers over the spokes as she picked up the command pipe that sat next to it. Though the crew was probably aware something was happening no one had given a formal declaration.
"This is the Bridge to all sections, all hands to battle stations, I repeat all hands to battle stations."
--Alison/Lorena's Room, Eagle's Shadow--
Lorena looked at the woman who had just entered and introduced herself.
"Ahh, name's Lorena, engineer." She leaned the chair back on it's hind legs and held out her hand just as the sirens began to blare about the ship, prompting her to kick back, time seemed to slow as both of them, Alison watching, and Lorena feeling as she feel towards the floor. The back of the chair hit the deck yet she remained as if sitting in it. She blinked and opened her mouth as if to speak before closing it again.
"We should probably get going." As if to exacerbate the situation the deep thundering of gun fire could be both heard and felt from the above decks. She rolled off and grabbed the kit that was sitting atop her foot locker before sprinting all the way down to engineering.
-
Kibeth
One of the twins managed to lay two mines out before the Alister activated the drogue chute, one of the engineers quickly repairing the damage.
"FULL REVERSE, AND HARD TO STARBOARD! FIRE WHEN TARGET IS IN SIGHTS!"
A millisecond after Alister's most recent bellow, two explosions can be heard as the enemy Squid plows into the mines. With ten more seconds the Kibeth rose, turned, and began to fire upon it with gatling and banshee.
Alison and Lorena's Bunk
"And I just got off shift too!"
Quickly, Alison straps an emergency med kit to her back and preps the medbay. Grabbing a comm she calls the bridge,
"Bridge, this is medbay. Any reported injuries?"
-
Real post incoming later, for now? Well...
-------------------
ANDROMEDA INTERLUDE
Deep within the heart of the ship a translucent bulb clung to a bulkhead, amidst the gunfire and explosions it slumbered, the deafening explosions becoming lulling thumps in the distant, the sounds of automatic weaponry fading into what one might equate to droplets of rain. Of course Andromeda was an intelligent creature, and was fully capable of recognizing the panic of the beings very similar to master as they scurried about their flying nest. Of course this mattered not as bead like eyes scanned for rodents, a meal was perhaps in order yet these thoughts were interrupted as Andy felt a tapping the currently appropriated perch.
"Andromeda," beady eyes turned to stare at Master's friend standing in the middle of the nest tunnel, "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." She patted her left shoulder, "Come on, can't just leave you here all day."
Andromeda detached from the bulkhead and came to rest on Master's Friend.
Sit, sit, sit? Sit, sit, sit.
"Well, aren't you a... good... squid thing." Master's Friend looked thoughtful before jostling both shoulders. "Well, no time to think about it now. Lets go."
I am a squid? I am a squid.
-
Eagle's Shadow, Renard/Courage Room
With a yawn, Courage enters the dark space he shared. Still in his rack Renard shifts his body towards the wall to block out the light coming from the door. Rolling his eyes, Courage proceeds to remove his weapons and sand clothing and place them in his locker. As soon as the first few shells hit the belly of the transport, it caught him off guard which prompts him to fall onto the floor.
Quickly coming too, Renard sits up on his rack just as the room starts to flash red and sirens blazing. Swinging his feet over the side, he steady himself as another shell hits.
"The hell is going on?" he yells over the siren.
I just got off.... Courage inwardly sighs. Grabbing his pistol and carbine out of the locker, he turns to Renard, "Looks like a surprise attack. How did we not see this ealier?" he says the last to himself while hurrying to the door.
"You should get your ship ready," Courage then braces himself on the frame as the shell fire intensify, "We gonna need it."
As Courage runs off, Renard quickly grabs his coat and runs out behind him.
Gunnery Deck, Starboard
Minutes after leaving his room, Courage finds himself at the Starboard Battery. Around him the gun crews are scrambling to open the gun ports to bear the four main guns. Hurrying towards the forward end, he helps them open the gun bay doors and place the Heavy Flak on service.
"Load me up and get the rest of the guns online!" he yells to the crew, "Tell top side to mount Gatlings and Mercurys, need some small gun fire as well."
"Right away." Ame a quick response as a crew member goes to a near by radio to call the Weather Deck of the orders. From the seat of his Heavy Flak, Courage soon hears the familiar sounds of multiple chain and field guns going off. Soon he sees the tracers from overhead flying out in the distance.
Cracking a smile, he then trains his sight on to the Galleon before firing a salvo.
Raider Caravan
"Nice one. We got the surprise on them!" exclaims one.
"Don't let up," the leader snaps, "It only just begun."
He looks through his binoculars and notices two explosion near his Squids. Damaged, the two are still airborne but now a third Squid appeared out of nowhere.
Looks like this ship has a few tricks up its sleeve, hmmm
Moving the lenses, he see the two small ports where Kei and Davis should have hooked onto.
"I want a gun to fire into that breach, the rest handle that other Squid."
A chorus of acknowledgements, the leader goes to a radio and contact the the ships in the air.
"Alright, I want the Junker and our Galleon to set up a firing line on the starboard side of the vessel. Squids, try to get that guy off of y'all, if not bail onto their topside and board them."
Turning off the radio, the leader's ears perk up as two silent engines approach his position. Eyeing the Northwest, he squints but spots the two planes flying fast and low.
"SCATTER."
Eagle Squadron Alpha
Escaping the initial barrage unscatheted, Kei leads Davis as them fly all the way down the length of the Shadow towards the stern. Dropping altitude, she banks left into a wide turn to minimise the stress on Davis's plane. Making a 180 degree turn, the two are just above the sand dunes as they approach the artillery battery.
"Ok Davis, I'm going to fire both racks of rockets, you'll follow in with guns."
"Copy"
Flicking a switch up on her panel, several lights turn on indicating all eight Artemis rockets are armed. Going over one more mound, she sets here sights over the middle of the group hoping to inflict as much damage. Pulling the tigger, the plane shutters as the rockets detach and fly towards its target. Pulling up, Kei turns her head and sees Davis strafing with his guns.
Levelling out at a higher altitude, Kei notices three burning vehicles. Before she can make a report in, her and Davis's plane are surrounded by multiple flak clouds.
"Dammit," she swore, "Shadow we manage to take out a quarter of the ground guns, but are under fire."
Just then she sees a small explosion coming from the bottom of the transport.
Hanger Bay
Finally making it to the massive room, Renard sees the open launch ports for the planes. Time then began to slow for him as he sees three shells enter from underneath.
This is some start Renard thinks before being blown back from the impact.
As the shells impact the Hanger Bay's ceiling, several scaffoldings and metal bars fall as fires start to spread from the high explosive shells.
Ringing in his ears, he sees several crewmen run toward fire hoses trying to fight the fire while Alexi runs towards him.
"You alright?" he asks as he lifts Renard.
"I'm fine, but we are not unless we get into the fight." shrugging off the man's grip, Renard runs toward his Goldfish which has managed to escape damage.
Calling for several others, three sees Renard and hop onto his ship as he opens the hatch and detach the ship.
Eagle Squadron Bravo
Going in a line formation, Antonio pulls his plane up into a 90 degree incline.
"Whoooooo!" he yells as the gees start to take hold.
"You know your are crazy right?" Farris says with a grunt.
"I know. Whoo" Antonio finishes as he levels out. Looking over his right wing, he sees both the Radier Galleon and Junker in a fire line going against the starboard side guns of the Shadow.
"Looks like she need help, ready?"
"As I ever be."
"That's the spirit." he laughs as he manuvers his plane over the Galloen before rolling his plane over and pulling down on the yoke. In the dive, he flicks open the trigger safety as he line up for the shot on the engines.
"Guns, guns guns," he calls out.
Sending out a three second burst, Antonio eyes widens as a flames thrower opens up on it's aft gun. Breaking off the attack and making a hard right, he and Farris barely avoids the flames.
"Looks like they got smart." comments Farris.
"Yeah, Shadow, we need support on this Galleon." calls Antonio.
Instead of Banning, Ulric's voice comes in, Don't worry! We are on our way!
Fifth Season
Coming over the Weather Deck of the Shadow, Ulric manuvers his Junker towards the Raider equivalent. Going at full speed, both ships salvos fly behind the charging Junker.
"Hehe, Brace for impact, and fire starboard guns," Ulric yells to his crew.
A large crunch is heard as both ship collided. With Ulric's Junker hitting the forward end of the ship, it causes the Raider to spin right to block the Galleon's guns and allowing his crew to fire his.
A Gatling and Mortar opens up on its deck doing massive damage to the ship.
-
Kibeth
Soon, the crippled Squid is torn asunder.
"Take that you shites!"
Evidently they couldn't, but another Squid appears and sprays the deck of Kibeth with gatling fire.
"James! Lay some mines then get to the hull!"
"Aye!"
Maneuvering down and out, Alister blasts tar into the engines, followed by the "THWUMP!" of the mine launcher. Seeing the enemy briefly fall back, Alister notices the planes taking fire.
"LADS I HAVE AN IDEA!"
"Oh no..."
"I hate it,"
"When he gets ideas!"
With the manic grin he's known for, Alister guns the ship into a rapid dive, left hand hovering over the additional lever on his helm.
"SPRAY THE CARAVAN, AND PREPARE. FOR HYDROGEN IN TEN SECONDS!"
-
Raider Caravan
Quickly recovering from the bombing run, the Raider Leader looks at the three burning trucks.
"Gonna take more than that!" he yells out towards the sky.
"Boss." one of his men nudges him as he points to the Squid duel. Looking up he sees that his first Squid has been torn apart, but he sees the crew bail out over the transport as the wreckage impacts the top deck. Then a cloud of smoke appears as the enemy dumps tar and damages his second Squid.
"Hmm, tell the second one to bug off and land on the transport, we need to help our guys."
"And the other one?"
"Get the rest of the trucks moving and in a honeycomb formation. Load burst rounds in all of the 88s. We'll have a surprise for that Squid."
"Run and gun?"
"Excatly."
Gunnery Deck, Starboard
After seeing Ulric's charge, Courage can't help as it reminds him of several captains he know that does crazy stunts like that. But his focus is back at the current battle as a Hawacha barrage impact the hull between his gun and the next.
"Flak, someone load me some Charge Rounds! We need to take this sucker out!"
With two of the crew members complying, they both start to lift the round, but they and the round drop onto the floor as a massive crash is heard above. Holding on tight to the controls, Courage rattles in his seat as the transport tilts over the side.
"The hell."
Over the sirens, a panicked voice is heard, "Fire on the Weather Deck, several injured and we are b....."
The message is cut short as a rifle report is heard followed by a thud.
Grinding his teeth, Courage jumps out of the turrent and unslings his carbine.
"Someone keep firing that thing. Five of you come with me, we got to get ride of some pests."
Tranquility
Steadying the helm, Renard bits his lips as to fight his wounds ealier from the explosion. Heading towards the port side of the transport, he notices that none of the main guns are firing and that the caravan group is in a wide spread formation heading Southeast while still firing.
With a hand on the radio he calls in the Bridge, "This is the Tranquility I see the group heading SE, I suggest turning 15 degrees starboard to fire some of the guns."
Bridge
Calming himself, Frey silently takes all the incoming reports in. Trying to decide a course of action with Reagan, one of the reports made him look up.
"Sir, Ma'am, the fire from the Hanger Bay has spread and has now entered into the Engineering spaces. Damage control teams needed." reports Banning.
"I'll go organise a team." says Frey.
"Sir?" Banning gives a questioning look knowing the Commander's current physical demeanour.
"Once the fire has been contained, I have knowledge of this ship's propulsion machinery that I can help expedite the repairs. Now assemble a team to meet me by the Galley."
-
Kibeth
One hundred feet above, and in front of the caravan, a scream rips from Alister's throat as he looses all four bombs, each weighing in at 250 pounds. Half a heartbeat later he sends hydrogen to his balloon, avoiding crashing into the earth below. Cutting of the screaming, Alister circles around, looking at the carnage wrought below and determining his next course of action.
"Sir!"
It was the engineer on the front gatling, he was pointing at the transport where the second enemy Squid is in the process of disgorging boarders.
"JAMES, JOHN! ONE ON THE HULL, THE OTHER ON THE ENGINES! FRONT, STAY ON GAT! PREPARE FOR RAMMING!"
Medbay
After having been thrown around, Alison has decided that she quite dislikes waiting for injured crewmen to make there way to her, and the bridge hasn't responded. So she grabs her wakizashis, and heads up to the weather deck, where she can begin to hear sounds of combat.
-
Raider Caravan
"Gotcha", smirks the Raider Leader as he views the Kibeth in his binoculars. Spread out in a wide hexagon formation, with nine of the trucks forming the tips and the remaining three in a triangle at the center, the formation has already moved from its position driving ahead of the transport and Squid. Giving the order, all twelve batteries focus at the diving Squid as shrapnel rips off several layers of it's armor, smoke becoming visible indicating damage.
From his position in the lead truck, the Raider sees the Squid pull up as it drops four bombs. With the amount of shells fired in the air, two were detonated before hitting the ground, while one hits a truck in the center triangle directly and the other in the ground leaving a sizeable crater. As the Squid circles back towards the transport, the Caravan turns as well continuing to fire t the retreating ship.
Weather Deck
Landing on the deck, the last remaining Squid forms a barrier between the crashed airship and the access to the Weather Deck. With the Squid's starboard gun facing the compartment, they ships crew leaves one to main the Gatling gun while they mop up the rest of the ship's crew members.
Finally reaching the compartment, Courage is about to open the door with his squad, but notices the makeshift bunker and closes the hatch as bullets hit the metal.
Tranquility
Seeing the Squid land and the Caravan moving back to the transport, Renard has a very heav decision on his hand. Before he has anytime, a call on the radio comes through.
"Clear topside, we are coming in with rockets.", cries out Antonio.
Straight off his port, Renard sees the two plane formation unleash a barrage on the parked Squid. Soon an explosion follows as the small craft's balloon explodes and falls onto the deck.
With that problem situated, he then puts his Goldfish to its maximum speed towards the caravan with Hawacha loaded and ready.
-
Gunnery Deck
"Someone keep firing that thing!"
That was all Koali could make out among the explosions. He quickly jumped to his feet and puffed over to the Typhoon, the claws on his mechanical legs digging into the deck with each step. As he hopped into the turret seat, he remembered one of his earlier voyages.
*Fancy flashback effect*
Though Koali had crewed under several other captains in the past, none were as crazy as this one. This captain insisted on flying an old Goldfish of a design that was several generations out of date. Even worse, he refused to associate with "hip" or "modern" pilots who mounted a Manticore on the front of the ship, and wanted nothing to do with the actual smart, competent crowd that had the sense to mount a Hellhound in that spot. No, this captain thought he looked sharp flying what everyone called a Flakfish.
That captain apparently had some unfinished business with some no-name thugs that decided to chase after him on what looked like two halves of a Squid, crudely split down the middle to create two independent (and highly unstable) fighter ships. Well, though they weren't expert pilots, they knew how to use flamethrowers.
Everything was aflame, and the engines were disabled. The thugs were cocky enough to make a final attack run from straight ahead.
The captain tossed Koali a leather bag stuffed full of paper cartridges. "Gunner! Give'em a taste of this!"
Koali loaded a shell into the cannon, then crammed in about ten of the cartridges behind the shell before closing the breech. He lined up the split Squid in his sights, and as he pulled the trigger, he glanced down at the single word written on the outside of the bag:
Lochnagar.
-
Weather Deck
Coming to the recently sealed hatch Alison arrives with a blade in one hand and a medkit in the other.
"Anyone need a medic?"
Kibeth
"SOMEBODY GET THE HULL BACK UP! PREPARE GRAPPLING LINES!"
"WHAT ARE,"
"YOU PLANNING?"
"BOYS, WE ARE GOING TO HOOK OURSELVES TO THE EAGLE, AND CLEAN UP THOSE ROACHES SCUTTLING ON THE SHADOW!"
Waving at the front engineer to come over, Alister asks him,
"Can you fly a Squid?"
Pailing, he nods.
"Good, maintain position while we mop up the scum."
Going over to the nearest rapel harness, Alister straps in, looking back he sees the twins doing the same, albeit with a greenish complexion.
"ON MY MARK! ONE!"
Alister sees friendly fire disintegrate the Squid.
"TWO!"
He still sees a fair number of raiders crawling on the ship, killing who they can.
"THREE! JUMP!"
-
*Still in Koali's flashback*
The split Squid was obliterated. However, so was the Flakfish. The Typhoon was already heavily damaged, and the recommended load of Lochnagar powder was one paper cartridge (which Koali later discovered when he read the warning on the other side of the bag). Koali was catapulted far off into the distance to land somewhere outside the town of Cathedral, the heat of the blast mildly cooking his skin to a shade of red resembling a rather harsh sunburn. The crazy captain, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. Though he wasn't launched, he fell from the sky with the burning wreckage that was once his pride and joy, only to land on a girder that broke his spine.
*Back to reality*
As Koali loaded a pair of shells into the Typhoon, he looked down at the pouch of Lochnagar cartridges.
Soon, but not now. Not until I can practice.
He took aim toward the caravan and waited for an opening.
-
--Eagle Squadron, Beta Flight--
"Hey Farris?"
"Yeah?"
After their run against the boarding squid the pair had given the battle a wide berth as they surveyed battle, they convoy was still running against the fleets and filling the air with general bullshit, the Raider Galleon was still up but had taken heavy damage. but so had the transport.
"You still got those rockets on you?"
"Yeah, why, another plan of yours?
"Well I was thinking, since the convoy is still around, maybe we should give them a piece of our minds."
"Antonio, hold off on that thought, we're forming up." Out of nowhere both Kei and Davis rose to meet them, both craft looked a bit worse for wear but Davis was smoking a bit more than anyone would have found comfortable.
"Uh, boss? You're a bit smokey."
"Oh am I?! I HADN'T NOTICED. Well that's beside the point really, we need to take out that gunvoy and fast before it does anymore damage. So, here's the plan. Me and Kei will hit them from the back, once their guns begin tracking us you two will come in from the side and strike them. Hopefully that'll put em out of commission well enough, or at least make em run for the hills... or dunes as it were."
There was a pause.
"Right, so, uh, lets go then?"
--Eagle Squadron, Alpha Flight--
Kei took a position just off Davis' wing as the pair got into position, she watched as Antonio and Farris continued giving the battle a wide berth as they waited for the signal to begin their run.
"Kei we're going to need to spread out a bit if this is going to work. Loosen formation and we'll get this started."
"Alright." The distance between the two of them grew slightly as they entered the final leg of their approach.
Davis let loose the first missile as his voice came over the radio. "Light em up!"
--Raider Convoy--
All their guns were focused on the transport when he heard the sound of engines coming up from their rear.
"Oh they're back again are they." He picked up his radio and contacted the other vehicles, "Hey those pesky flies are back again, teach them a less-" That was when the first missile hit the formation. Though the barrage of missiles wasn't what one would call accurate, the cannon shells easily found their mark. Several of the lead vehicles burst into flame creating instantaneous obstacles, vehicles broke formation in order to avoid the devastating gun fire. The second plane took this opportunity to hunt down the lagging stragglers as it flew over, leaving him to pick up the pieces.
"Get back in formation dammit! Get those guns on them and swat them out of the sky!"
The convoy diminished but still afloat complied, most had taken a hit even if it was minor. He watched with a satisfied smirk as the flaks began turning to fire when he heard another pair of engines coming up on them.
"Shit, what!?"
The lead craft once again led with missiles, acurrately striking the heavier vehicles as it's partner strafed the field taking out several more of his guns. And just like that they were gone.
"Dammit, where did they go."
--Eagle Squadron, Beta flight--
"Alright boss, we up for round two?"
"It's round three, and no, I don't think we need to."
Farris watched as the port side guns finally opened fire, Flak shells and Hwachas impacting the convoy sending it into a frenzy, what remained broke off the attack and scattered.
"Well that's done, now we can- aw shit."
"Is something the matter?" Kei's voice came over the radio as Davis' craft began to slow down.
"Well it seems I'm running on empty, not yet mind you, but I'm out of the fight at least."
"Hey Kei," Farris remembered that the two of them had taken first shift together. "Aren't you running low too?"
"I... Yeah you're right."
"You two land, we'll take things from here, it seems we just have that Galleon and Junker to deal with now anyway."
"Well I'm not one to prevent someone from doing my job if they're offering." Davis said as he and Kei broke formation. "Just keep Antonio from doing something stupid."
"I resent that statement." Antonio came over the radio, slightly annoyed.
Farris chuckled, "You would Antonio."
-
Weather Deck
After jumping off the Kibeth, Alister unhooks his axe and pulls the snap five feet over the deck. Landing in a combat roll, he begins to carve his way through the raiders, taking out two before the rest turn to look behind where he landed.
"Time to let loose. "
Kibeth
The twins upon seeing Alister jump, finally disgorge the contents of their stomachs. Within seconds the Kibeth passes the drop zone, effectively trapping Alister alone against at least a dozen armed raiders.
Weather Deck
Two raiders close the distance with cutlasses while another circles around drawing his sidearm. The remaining raiders turn to continue their efforts in opening the door Courage sealed.
Batting aside one of the sabres with his axe, Alister draws his revolver and shoots his attacker in the gut. The second one attempts to slash him in the chest, bouncing off his armor. Spinning, Alister smashes into the man's jaw with a backhand, but before he can do more, the third raider fires his semiautomatic pistol. The bullet takes him in the thigh, just under his armor.
"Seriously?! Either he's a good shot, or ridiculously lucky!"
Alister manages to fire another slug, this time into the second attacker's gut. Before he can position his gun to the third, the man realizes that his first shot was quite effective and puts a few more rounds into Alister's leg. Falling to the ground, Alister rolls behind a cluster of barrels.
-
Gunnery Deck
Koali soon tired of waiting for an opening and opted to scan around the battlefield. He soon noticed that Alister was in trouble. He set the arming timer on the shell in the left barrel, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
The shell blasted out of the barrel at high speed, whizzed past Alister, and slammed into the third raider's head, effectively decapitating him. Thankfully, the raider's head wasn't hard enough to cause a premature detonation.
"In about five seconds, that shell is going to make a crater in the ground."
-
Weather Deck
While two of his men hold the door, Courage and the others checks their weapons before making a charge out of the door. While checking his pistol, he sees Alison comes up with her blade drawn.
"Anyone need a medic?"
"In here no, but there maybe several men out there that's need it."
He turns his head to the door as he hears several gun shots, "Now or never."
Cocking his carbine, Courage raises it to his shoulder, "On my mark.....OPEN."
Spinning the wheel that unlatches the door and pushes open, the momentum catches the Raiders by surprises as they stumble backwards avoiding it. With this opening, Courage and two others fires over two rounds each, all hitting and killing the Raiders effectively.
Rushing out of the door, they finally see the carnage that took place. Scattered throughout the entire deck are pieces of what was once the enemy Squids. All that is left now are burning chunks of hull and several able bodied raiders, a few of which are heading towards Carn.
"Find some cover and take em out." orders Coruage as he fires off a round hitting one in the head.
Tranquility
Before even getting into range, Renard has a bird's eye view of the final destruction of the gunvoy. With what ever survivors from that onslaught, they ran off in all directions to escape.
"Finally that is over," he says with a sigh of relief.
The radio then comes to life as Ulric's voice is transmitted, "Heeeeellllp!! We manage to take out the Junker, but the Galleon has us. His rockets damaged our engines and running at the lowest possible speed."
Looking behind him, he notices that both ships are out of the Shadow's gun arcs. Groaning while spinning the helm, the Goldfish makes a quick turn around.
"Watch the engines mates!" Renard yells as he pulls a lever injecting kerosene.
Feeling the sudden blast of wind hitting his face at the sudden change in speed, he manages to be within his Hawacha's gun range. His gunner realising this, he opens fire at the enemy's gun deck, disabling the guns attacking Ulric.
"Thanks for the breather"
"Just repair up and help me," Renard replies. To his gunner, "Load up Burst this time, got to end this for good."
Manuvering his airship above the Galleon to avoid incoming fire if they have fixed their guns, the final click of the weapons is heard and the gun loaded. Deflating his balloon, the Goldfish drops quickly and stops level with the Galleon's hull. An almost blank range shoot, the gunner lets loose and the twin golden lion's mouths open unloading it's payload. With all of its components destroyed, the Galleon is left defenceless as it now starts taking Artemis fire from the now repaired Junker.
"Time to finish this." came a laugh from Ulric.
"Couldn't have said it better than myself." Renard replies as both ships unload.
After several salvos from each ship, the Galleon is scarred black from all the explosions. Wondering how the vessel is still in the air, both ships were ready to fire again until a loud snapping sound is heard. With the stress becoming unbearable, the main mast connecting the heavy ship to its balloon breaks off as the hull speeds towards the ground with what's left of the balloon drifting slower after it.
Hanger Bay
With Alexi leading the damage control, they manage to contain the fire from spreading even further. Even though a few fires are still in the space, they are being dealt with but several crewmen with hoses. With the last few fires being taken care off, Alexi assess the damage. Looking up at the ceiling, he notices that several beams are mangled from the shells that made it through, on the floor countless of equipment is damaged, and scorch marks litter the hanger. Even with all this, the shells didn't manage to penetrate through the ceiling and into the next deck.
As he is about to head over to help move debris, he sees several men go to the plane launching bay and ready the only available hook, where the other three are either damaged or destroyed. Lowering the hook, a few minutes pass and a noticeable strain is seen on the arm. Lifting it up, everyone in the room notice the battle damage on the right wing. The crane operator manuvers the arm and sets the plane down on a clear space while a worker detaches the chain so that it can be used to catch another.
Engineering
As the battle in the skies and Hanger Bay dies down, fire is still raging in the engine spaces. Finally having a team assembled, Frey personally directs the main effort to fight the fire. All members are wearing oxygen masks as these spaces are filled with smoke. Not having the massive doors to vent out the smoke, as soon as the fire spread from the Hnager Bay towards aft of the transport, it didn't take long for the compartments to fill up with the dark clouds.
"Steady men," entourages Frey, "We need to take this out or we will lose propulsion and altitude."
Eden with the thick smoke, he can see and feel the flames of the ongoing fire.
-
Gunnery Deck
Koali lined up his sights with one of the vehicles in the raiders's caravan, set the arming timers on both shells, and pulled the trigger, sending several pounds of high explosives on a collision course with-
The ground, apparently.
"Ah, crap! Forgot to lead the shot!"
-
Weather Deck
One of the raiders comes around the barrel and Alister puts a round through his face. Noticing that his legs is bleeding, he hooks his axe back on to his belt and puts pressure on it. Hearing Courage and his group begin to fire at the raiders Alister calls out to them.
"So, you boys happen to know where Ms Alison is?"
Having grabbed a pistol off a raider, Alison mentally groans upon hearing Alister. Firing on the move, she begins to work her way to him.
-
--Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
"Status report?"
With the raiding vessels universally gone Reagan had set their vessel back on course to the south east, the only issue was the crew was still fighting a number of boarders. Something she was going to deal with sooner rather than later.
"Fighting continues on the top deck, the last of the convoy down below have scattered, hanger crews are working as fast as they can to reclaim our scout wing. The Shadow has sustained heavy damage but the integrity of the vessel remains intact. Expect full repairs in 23 hours if we work around the clock and operational status within 15."
Reagan nodded, "Have Mr. Larson assist the top deck with dealing with boarders if possible."
"Aye Ma'am." Banning returned to his radio as she sighed, What a night. She pulled out the rest of the bottle and downed it before passing the helm back over as she began to make her way topside with whatever idle crew she encountered. A quick stopover at the armory had supplied her with a rifle and she intended to make some use of it. The crew had secured the main hatch to the weather deck and were using it to constantly move the injured out of the battle.
"Right than, lets go!"
With a skip and a hop she was in the middle of things, exchanging fire with raiders was never fun on ones own vessel but it had to be done. She leaned out from behind the stack of crates she had taken cover behind and fired at the nearest exposed raider, taking him through the gut as he attempted to move cover. Courage had taken command over most of the security detachment as they slowly fought forward across the deck. From out of the corner of her eye however she saw Alison cutting her way through to the other side of the deck... To Alister. She sighed and pulled the trigger taking out a raider encroaching on her back.
"Well isn't this great." She motioned to the crewman nearest to her, "Covering fire!"
-
Gunnery Deck, Eagle's Shadow:
Upon hearing the first impacts of the shells, and the ship wide call to battle stations, Gaige had been running around the deck barking orders and repairing guns, and occasionally hopping onto an empty Hwacha, filling the sky with a golden cloud of death. Boarding reports, however, have him sprinting to the stairs to get to the weather deck.
Weather Deck, Eagle's Shadow:
Finally reaching the top, he pulls his signature revolver's smaller, .45 ACP brother "Jury" from it's holster, and opens the door quietly, rolling into cover before popping up. Sighting up the raiders, he lets off 3 shots, one blowing a head into mist, and the others punching fist sized holes into chests. He drops back into cover as the raiders cry out in surprise, peppering his position with gunfire.
-
Tranquility 2300
With the destruction of the Raider Galleon, Renard slumps down and leans his back on the helm. Running a hand through his hair, a jolt of pain in his ribs forces him to stop and place the hand over the wound.
Must be a broken rib. he rationalise after recalling being thrown from the explosion in the Hamger Bay.
Slowly standing up, Banning's voices comes through the radio, "Captain Larson, assistance is needed to clear up the Weather Deck. The boarders have taken positions near the forward end while our crew is slowly advancing from the rear."
Sighing, Renard picks up the receiver, "Copy, Ulric and I will come around and provide fire."
Contacting his ally, both Goldfish and Junker make their way back to the Shadow where they can see the flames, wreckage, and gunfire. Positioning his Goldfish above the deck, Renard's gunner sees a small group behind what was left of a Squid's hull and opens fires on the position. Just slightly to the left is the Junker who's port weapons are giving the Raiders a barrage of Hades and rocket fire.
Weather Deck
Even with him and his men advancing, the group has to stop and find cover quickly as the Squid who landed earlier still has its Gatling gun operating and sprays bullets towards them. Grinding his teeth behind a crate, Courage pops up quickly, aiming to take out the gunner, but was instantly met with Gatling fire. Crouching back down, a few stray bullets gaze his left arm.
"Blasts!!", Courage yells, as he lays his rifle and cover the wound with his hand, Smart knowing that I'm a decent shot, and go after me first.
"Covering fire!", he hears a familiar voice yell through the carnage. Looking behind him, Courage notices that Reagan is top side motioning for several men to cover a moving Alison. Following her path, he barely sees Carn hiding behind some crates just across from him, in front of the Gatling.
Dang it, she may not make it.
Fighting the slight pain, he picks up the carbine again to try and take out the gun position. Just as he is about to peek his head over, dozen of rockets hits the Squid. Looking up, he notices that both the Goldfish and Junker have arrived and are providing support. Turning to the broken Squid, he sees that gun has been destroyed as well as the men in the general area.
"Ok, move up slowly, we don't know how many they have left!" he calls behind him. Slinging the carbine, Courage pulls out his revolver as those around him comes out of cover to follow.
Hanger Bay
After finally retrieving Kei, Antonio, and Farris, the four looks on at the damage that was cause. Right above them they see the tangled metal and dents of where the rounds hit after entering the launch bays. Because of that, their side of the Hanger Bay is in shambles while the airship portion escape without major damage to their launch and retrieval systems, besides the fires that have taken place.
"Quite a first night huh?", comments Antonio.
All three turn to him with a glare that could have burn right through him. Shrugging, Anotonio raises his hands in a "what gesture" before turning to Alexi as he approaches them.
"Good to see all four of you made it back."
"Couldn't have done it without them," replies Farris as he pat his planes fuelsage.
"Those Anvlans sure know how to make a plane," says Kei, "They all took a beating." eyeing all four, especially Davis'.
"If you are wondering about replacement parts, don't worry. The fire didn't spread to any of our cargo. Speaking of which..." Alexi starts.
Turning his gaze, he sees that the last of the Hanger fires have been put out. Going to a rear b radio, he contact the Bridge.
"Bridge, it's Kasparov, all fire is out in the Hanger Bay."
"Copy Captain Kasparov, but we still have fires in Engineering. Send all available men to it, Commander Frey just reported that we will lose flight capabilities if it is not out soon."
"On it," Alexi says as he places the receiver back. To the entire space, in a mighty yell, "ALL HANDS NEEDED TO ENGINEERING, WE STILL HAVE FIRES AND THIS IS CRUCIAL TO THE SHIP!!!"
With reports of acknowledgements, those not being patched up or clearing the debris, majority of the personnel rush out and into the next compartment.
"If you guys are still able," Alexi says to them before joining the others.
Engineering
Finally having some control in the situation, Frey manages to have several men go out and close several hatches around the fire. Compartmentalising it, the team has stop the spread of it, but the existing flames still burn with a fierce intensity.
Behind him, Frey hears more footsteps as three groups of 7 arrives along with Alexi.
"We are ready Commander, just send us where."
"Ah Mr. Kasparov, just in time too. We manage to contain it, but we don't have the man power to fully extinguish the flames." pulling out a map of the ship, Frey points to three separate points, "The bold lines are where we setup our boundaries, I want you and the others to go to these points and fight the fire from there. If we coordinate this we can surround and put out the flames."
Looking quickly at the map, Alexi nods, "We are on it." he says before going back to brief the teams.
Once in position, with the combine force of all four teams, they slowly move in. As time goes on, the flames begins to die as the gap between the teams shorten. Once back together, it doesn't take long to extinguish all the flames.
"Nice work Gents," starts Frey, "I'll report this in, start work on venting the spaces and repairs."
Making his way out, Frey finds himself back at the bridge where he notices Reagan missing.
"Mr. Banning," getting the Comms Officer's attention, "Fire in Engineering have been taken care off."
"Copy sir, I'll note that and have a ship's call for repairs after the battle has finish topside."
"hmm so that's where she is."
"Yes sir," Banning deducing what the Commander met."
-
--Weather Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan watched as Courage began leading the advance up the deck. With the gatling destroyed the shear volume of fire had been halved, lethal amounts of it were being slung about from both sides so Reagan was content to focus down the more dangerous of the remaining boarders from the rear line. Still...
"Men, with me! Time push them off!"
With a cry the nearest crewman began racing forward, already demoralized from the loss of their gatling support and any chance of receiving support from anywhere they began breaking as the cries of victory began coming from the crew, who, as one could guess, were incredibly pissed off.
A desperate raider climbed out from behind a stack of crates and brought his rifle down to strike her. Surprised she managed to get her weapon up to block but she was unable to brace properly and was pushed back.
"Damn bitch." He moved to strike again but Reagan clicked her tongue and quick slashed with her blade. Drawing her blade a bright red gush of blade erupted from his chest as he recoiled back.
She said nothing in response as she steadied herself, blade in hand as the two of them stared down across the deck.
"I don't have to deal with this."
He tilted his head as she pulled a pistol from her coat and shot him in the face.
"Forward!"
-
Weather Deck
With the sound of gunfire dying down and the slow crinkling of the handful fires that is spread over the deck being the main source, Courage, and four others corner the last of the Raiders near the bow. With hands up in surrender, several of them look behind them at the dorp deciding what is the best way to go out.
"Don't even think about it." commands Courage with his revolver raised, knowing what they are thinking. To his men, "Get some irons and put them in the Brig. They ae finished."
With several "ayes", the 4 remaining Raiders are cuffed and escorted down from the Weather Deck to the Brig. Groaning, Courage holsters his revolver and walks towards to Reagan.
"Well interesting first night huh?" hesays to her while covering the grazes.
Bridge
"Hmm, Thank you," Replies Banning, to Frey, "Sir, the battle has won, the remaining boarders have been apprehended are being escorted to the Brig."
"Very well. Mr. Banning you may send out the call to begin repairs, have the wounded be treated, and inform Captain Morgan and Mr. Carn to meet me in my room for a debrief."
"On it."
While Banning goes on the radio to send out the new commands, Frey exits the Bridge and heads towards his room, running around him are men going about with tools and extinguishers. Even though the external hull haven't been compromised, the damage from the shells hitting the Hanger Bay and the fires that came from it crippled the ship's internals slightly.
Okay, Hanger Bay needs extensive repairs and Engineering needs equipment to be replaced from the fires. Damage Control manage to stop the spread from entering our ammo stores as well as our general supplies, so we are still able to continue. Not bad against a few Raiders, but if it were them.... Frey trails off before finding himself in front of his door.
-
Weather Deck
After having arrived to find Alister barely conscious, Alison explodes into work amid a flurry of obscene oaths. Among these include "Ice Brain", "Sky Whale Scat", and "Idiotic Bastard". The last was used with high frequency.
As Courage leads the captured raiders past them, she manages to stabilize him and he comes to.
"Anyone have rum?"
Alison proceeds to inject him in the neck with a strong sedative. Looking down at him, she begins to calculate the weight of a armed and armoured Alister.
"Can I get q stretcher over here!"
Meanwhile on the Kibeth
"We gotta go back!"
"I can't believe you puked!"
"You did too!"
As the twins squabble, the third engineer places a miniscule transmitter in the helm. Walking over to the twins, he runs on his upper arm.
"Looks like the rest of the crew cleared the raiders."
My Masters will not be pleased. These fools know not with whom they meddle.
Setting a course back to the transport, the agent occasionally rubs at his upper arm, on the bird tattoo under his sleave.
-
Brig 2330
What a night, what a night.... Courage groans as he and three others escort the remaining Raiders.
Finally at the hatch, he notices the "Unauthorised Entry Will Be Shot" sign and promptly ignores it and enters the space.
"Oh goodie, new faces. Honestly seeing the same three tends to get boring."
Startled at having a prisoner already in the Brig, Courage looks up and sees Briggs sitting on his bed with his his iconic grin.
"So am I having some new roommates?"
"Get these men I to their own cell," Courage instructs his men. To Briggs, "Who are you excatly?"
-
--Weather Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan had stayed on deck to coordinate with the repair crews as they went about their duties. It wasn't her responsibility to do so but the night's events had gotten her far too worked up to get any rest for the time being. So until she managed to drop dead due to exhaustion she'd continue assisting them with their work.
There had been another reason for her unease however. During her talk with Courage the two of them had pointedly avoided talking about... well, anything of meaning. Content to make useless small talk instead of discussing what was what she assumed was on both of their minds:
Did they know?
Again the thought pierced her mind as she went about her repair work, it was not as if they were subtle about their destination, nor could anyone really overlook their vessel, it was as large as it was public, very. Still, they had not discussed their mission with anyone, only those in charge knew the true details of this job... Not even Lorena knows...
That was not a comforting thought either, that HIS daughter of all people was on board was both a comfort and a disaster waiting to strike. She knew, from the limited time that she seen the two of them interact that Alexander was fiercely protective of her, that he was willing to got any number of lengths to keep her safe. To let her come alone, either that was testament to how much he trusted her or... How much he trusts me...
Another thought that did not sit well with her. Somehow she felt as if he knew too, knew that something was amiss with this whole job and had willingly let her tag along. The young woman had related the encounter with her father in the warehouse, shown her the weapon he had given her, even quoted what fragments of his "pretentious and unnecessary" parting words she remembered.
"Shit this is getting complicated."
"Ma'am?" Behind her a crewman had seemingly appeared, carrying a large beam over his shoulder.
"Nothing, get back to work."
"Uh, yes ma'am."
Now was not the time to get lost on tangents, she and the rest of those "In the Know" needed to have a debrief and figure out where to go from there. She turned and left the deck, much to the bewilderment of those around her.
--Port Side Battery, Gunnery Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
Amelia sighed as she finished the repairs to their guns, somewhere along the way she had gained command of the maintenance crews on deck, perhaps it was her display prior to the night's skirmish that drove home the idea that she was not to be trifled with on matters of maintenance and repair work.
Around her the crews were finishing the larger more important tasks at hand, replacing armor plates and checking the firing mechanisms, the guns were old, well, a number of them were at least, enough that one had to be mindful of the fact after combat, though it seemed it was at the moment unnecessary, having held up well under fire. The crew that had been on the receiving side of her lecture had finished work on their flak cannon quite quickly with nominally satisfying work. Gaige himself was directing the crews while she rested, no one was expected to stay on shift as long as the two of them had, having worked since early afternoon to get the weapons up and running and she was thankful he still had the energy to deal with minor instances of incompetence. She herself was sat against a support beam that reinforced the structure between the deck below and above them, watching as the crew worked, boast and bets had been established as a few crews had opened dialogue between them, in some cases establishing friendly rivalries to see who could repair their weapon the fastest and get yelled at the least.
As she watched a familiar face popped up from the deck's hub, standing as her eyes drifting to the translucent blob that was attached to her shoulder.
"Andy, where have you been?" The small creature detached itself from Lorena's shoulder and shot off towards her with a jet of gas. She gained a few questioning looks from the crews as the creature perched itself on her shoulder. She gave it an affectionate rub witch elicited a contented purr from the small creature, or was it larger? She was honestly unable to tell at this point.
"Thank you for watching over Andy."
"Anytime, also" Lorena pulled out a tin cup and thermos and poured an amber liquid into it. "brought something for you."
She accepted it and took a small sip as Lorena poured herself a cup. "Tea."
"Yup." She drank out of her cup as the two of them sat down against the support. Amelia was more than content to simply sit and listen as Lorena broke into tales about the repair work and levels of annoyance surrounding organization of the repair teams.
"-And it was only after they began retrieving the planes that they told us 'Oh hey, you should probably go clear the landing zones now.' We could've had it done before than if someone had been paying attention and- hey what's so funny?"
Amelia stifled a giggle, "I don't believe I have ever seen you as worked up about something as you are now."
She punched her in the shoulder, "Hey, you're an engie too now, you'll understand eventually."
--Hanger Bay Break Room, Eagle's Shadow--
Davis walked in and promptly fell upon the couch, Kei, Antonio, and Farris shuffled in behind him and shut the door.
"Right, new orders." Davis' voice was muffled by the upholstery of the couch and turned so he was laying on his back. "We're sleeping here tonight." To which he promptly passed out.
Antonio, Kei, and Farris looked at each other before Antonio spoke up.
"Right, I call the pool table."
-
Brig
"Oh, the Commander fails to mention me? A shame." starts Briggs, with a his of fake disbelief, "Anywho, I am Jasper Briggs, Dr. Jasper Briggs at your service."
"Well Dr. Briggs, mind telling me why you are here?" Courage questioned only to turn at the sound of four metallic bangs.
"All locked up, need anything else?" one of his men asks.
"No that will be all. Try to get some rest."
With a nod, he motions to the other two and they quietly leave the Brig. As they leave, Jasper calls out behind them, "You best need it for later, you never know what will happen in the future."
With the door shut, Courage turn his gaze back to Jasper, "That's a little knowing hmmm Doctor. So again why is a man like yourself doing in here. My first guess being a little deranged."
"Not that quite off," Briggs says with a shrug, "Do ask yourself Courage, why am I here? Why is anyone here? That's the question for the universe." he ends with a smirk.
"What did you say?" he asks, "I don't think I said my name at all."
"Ohh I think I said too much. You know after being under fire can tire a man out, even if I was in the frey. I think I should lie down, it is almost midnight you know."
Briggs slowly goes from his sitting position on his bed, to remove the top sheets and starts to fluff his pillow. Slightly annoyed, Courage grabs the bars and yell out to him, "Oh don't you go to sleep, you haven't even answered my question!"
Shutting his eyes, Briggs says slowly and quietly, "You may not know who I am, but we been watching you. We been watching you and your friends after the first encounter. So Courage, why do you think I'm here?"
A thought goes through Courage's mind as soft snoring is hear in the cell. Realisation hits and angry he hits a cell bar.
"You know people are trying to sleep," comments Briggs with his eyes still closed.
With a huff, Courage turn and starts heading to the hatch. Opening it, he stops and says one last thing, "Hope we find and end your entire group."
Slamming the hatch, he didn't notice that a smile form on Briggs mouth before contented going to sleep.
Med Bay
With enough space cleared in the Hanger Bay, Ulric docks his Junker and rush to the Medical Bay. There he sees several crewmen with injuries from burns to gun wounds.
"Time to get to work," he says as he cracks his knuckles and neck, "You how much medical experience do you have?" he quickly asks one who is helping drop off injured crewmen.
"Basic first aid." the man says slowly.
"Excellent!! Quickly round up a few others as well, I need all the help I can get. Oh and do ask for Miss Alison, we will be hampered."
Running, Ulric opens several cabinets and place a variety of viles, bandages, syringes, all shorts of medical equipment onto many counters. Over the announcing system a message is heard as the first man is brought in.
Miss Alison is needed in Med Bay, all injured personnel able to move by their own means is to report there. Captain Morgan and Mr. Carn, please report to Commander Frey's room at your earliest convenience.
Corridor, Somewhere in the Eagle's Shadow
The Commander, he should know what is all this Courage deduces and starts heading in that direction.
-
Corridor
"Hellfire!"
Hearing the announcements, Alison quickly grabs a broken strut and pulls two syringes out. Looking at the crewman carrying the stretcher Alister is on she tells them. "Put him down here. If the Commander need's to see him, then I have to get him moving quickly. And then I have to get to medbay. Do either of you have medical training?" The two nod, "Good, then head to medbay and assist them, tell them I'll be there shortly." The two salute and run off, leaving Alison alone with a sedated Alister. Taking the empty vial, she quickly draws a small amount of blood from his neck, "Time to see if they really did something to you Alister." Putting the vial safely away, she then injects him with the other syringe, this one full of a stimulant to counteract the sedative.
Groggily opening his eyes, Alister feels an sharp pain in his leg, and sees Alison above him. "So Ally, how many?"
"Four Alister, one almost nicked your femural artery. And now," she hands him the strut, and gets him up and using it as a crutch, " the Commander wants to see you and Reagan, and I have to get to medbay." Turning around she begins to walk away.
"What happened?"
"You know, the raiders,"
"No. I mean what happened to us?"
Standing still away from him, Alison just stands there for about half a minute, and then continues to walk away.
Sighing, Alister shifts his makeshift crutch and trudges off in the direction of the Commander's office.
-
Tranquility
"We will have the Weather Deck cleared soon, just wait a few more minutes." says an exhausted Banning.
The only thing that Renard puts out was a groan. With Ulric's Junker inside the Hanger Bay, along with the Galleon, there is not enough space to house the remaining two airships. After the night's battle, both crew are tired, some needing medical attention so the crew is quickly clearing the debris on the Weather Deck to hatch down the two.
From his vantage point, Renard sees the last bits of metal being crated away and the fires extinguished. He turn his head as a new voice comes in.
"Ok Captain Larson," a female voice this time, with a slight southern tang, "This is Belle, I just relieved Banning and I'm here to inform you that both your ship and the Kibeth can land on the Weather Deck. Crew will be waiting to batch the ships down
"Copy." was the only word before he starts manuvering his ship.
With the help from his crew on board, they direct him as near the foreword section of the transport. Waiting underneath are a handful of workers who grab guiding ropes that were thrown over. Turning of the throttle and letting momentum move his ship, Renard pulls a lever that retracts the bottom fins. With a thud, the Goldfish makes contact with the deck and clickips can be heard as the ship is bolted down.
De-boarding, Renard takes a look around before dropping on the deck.
"Quick someone get a stretcher!" was all he heard before blacking out.
Frey's Quaters
While waiting for both Carn and Reagan, Frey has been looking over the reports that have been brought in. He heards the door open and says without looking, "Glad to see that you came as quick as you can...."
He looks up to properly address either Carn or Reagan but stops. In front of him is Courage who is holding his arm from his wounds ealier.
"Mr. Bell, this is a surprise. I was expecting Mr. Carn or Captain Morgan," he starts, "What do you need?"
"Why is there a Birdman already in the Brig?" Courage says slowly.
"Ahhh, so you met Dr. Briggs already. Well he is our only connection at the moment in hopes f finding their hideout."
"Do you know how dangerous it is to have him on!?!"
"I am aware, and we have taken several precautions. If you like, you can sit in the meeting I'm going to have, unless you want to get that looked." eyeing the grazes.
With a huff, Courage sits at one of the nearby chairs, "I'm fine, but I'll wait for them."
-
Frey's Quarters
With something between a groan and a growl, Alister shoulders his way through the door, awkwardly navigating his bad leg, his makeshift crutch, and his own bulk. Standing before Frey in a rough attempt at attention, he tries to focus past the havoc of blood loss, the sedative, and the stimulant. A small part of him is hoping he can sit soon. If he falls over in these cramped spaces.....
"Mr. Carn, reporting as ordered. Would care for it now, or wait for Ms Reagan?"
Kibeth
James taking the helm begins to ratchet the speed down, and navigate the squid to land on the ship.
-
--Eagle's Shadow--
"Miss Alison is needed in Med Bay, all injured personnel able to move by their own means are to report there. Captain Morgan and Mr. Carn, please report to Commander Frey's room at your earliest convenience." The intercomm repeated the message twice more before falling silent. Banning had been relieved if the woman over the intercomm was any indication.
So that's where he is.
There were more pressing matters to attend to rather than thinking of the duty roster. She had arrived at the door to the bridge having thought that was where Frey would be. It wasn't as if his room was that far off anyway but running around had not been her intention either.
She arrived at the room in short order, inside Carn and Courage were waiting for her. Carn looked as if he would rather be sitting and Courage was nursing a few wounds.
"Courage, please tell me you're going to get those looked at."
--Port Side Gunnery Deck--
"So uh... they're asleep."
"Yup."
"Think we should wake them?"
For the past few hours their team had worked tirelessly on their gun, mostly because they had the fear kicked into them the young woman currently sleeping against some engineer. The strange creature was also there perched on her shoulder, thing confused a lot of people and no one could explain the thing. Apparently a lot of the more experienced crew recognized the thing immediately but weren't able to explain what it was, apparently they had a tendency to nest in running engines though no one could explain that either.
The only female member of the team watched as both of her cohorts had their eyes drawn to the spanner on the sleeping woman's tool belt.
"Nope." The first one said.
"Yeah gonna have to agree with him on that." The other guy shrugged his shoulders.
She rolled her eyes, "You guys are no-" That was when they heard a squeak.
"Was that a rat?" She looked around sure enough there was a rat on a horizontal support beam.
Their team leader, who had been sitting on their gun raised an eyebrow, "I think that's the first I've seen on this ship."
"What really?" She stared him in the eye while their two team mates held their pipe wrenches in hand waiting to strike, she and her team leader looked on as well however the 4 of them saw a white blur followed by a pained squeak and a tiny crack as the squid thing was suddenly there hold the the thrashing rat.
The four of them stared in horrified fascination as the small... squid... thing held the dying rat in it's tentacles. The rodent eventually stilled and they watched as the tentacles brought it up to it's beak as it quietly ate it. Due to its translucent nature they were able to watch as strips of rat slowly dissolved until there was nothing left, not even bone. Having finished its meal it darted back over to Their Lady of The Gun Deck and once again perched on her shoulder.
"I think my fear of her just increased again." Their team leader simply said.
--Hanger Break Room--
While Davis and Antonio slept Kei and Farris had taken up residence at a nearby table as they watched the two of them.
"So Kei," Farris said as he took a sip of whatever was in his glass. "What do you think of our two slumbering team mates?"
She raised an eyebrow, "Professionally?"
"Mmmhmm."
"Well..." she looked at Antonio first, "He's reckless and irritating but he's a good pilot at least."
"Yeah, you sort of learn to roll with his faults after working with him."
Kei nodded her head as she looked at Davis, "Not as reckless but he can be irritating as well, still he's a good pilot and has shown that he knows how to handle himself in a fight."
"He's irritating?" Farris looked her with amused narrow eyes.
"He spent our entire shift playing I spy." From the look in Farris' eye the two of them had come to an understanding.
"You too huh?" Farris took another sip. He pulled out a deck of cards from his coat, "So, want to play a game?"
Kei sighed, "Might as well."
-
0000, End of Day 3
Start Day 4
Eagle's Shadow, Frey's Quaters
"I've been dealt worse," was his quick answer while tapping his prosthetic. Keeping his anger, Courage crosses his arms and eyes Frey, flinching as his hand touches the graze, "Better shape then Carn over here."
"Ahem," coughing to gain the attention in the room, the three turn to Frey who lays his papers down, "I called the both of you to discuss the damage we have dealt. The reason Mr. Bell is here is because of our ealier guest in the Brig."
Courage gives a small grunt in agreement making Frey to shift his eyes to him quickly.
"out of the 50 crew members, four are reported dead from the fighting on the Weather Deck, while at least over a dozen are injured. Externally, the transports's hull has taken light damage it the ship's integrity is still intact. Internally is a different story, Engineering needs to replace vital components due to the fire whereas the Hnager Bay needs extensive repairs to the plane section. Even with the damage, our supplies haven't been hit at all. So that is the good news. Any comments about our situation?"
-
Frey's Quarters
"Alison is heading down to medbay, she's probably already there as we speak. The raiders seemed opportunistic, though professional. This hopefully means our feathered prey do not know we are coming. As for the damage, if we are near any Guild cities, Alison and I both have contacts that could aid us. Hell, she's from an old Guild family. As for my ship, some damage, but nothing a day long overhaul won't fix."
Alister grunts as his injured leg temporarily buckles, catching himself on Courage's chair and standing back up.
"Apologies, took four 9mm rounds just under my armor. Alison patched me up, but I've lost some blood, and she injected me with sedatives and stimulants. The stimulants were after the announcement."
Turning to Courage, he explains why Briggs is on board.
"Dr. Briggs is dangerous, but holds valuable information. I know him from my past and can assure you he is a sociopathic, sadistic, medical genius. No one should talk with him without approval."
Looking back to Frey, he adds,
"We may need to put measures in place to ensure others don't speak with him."
Medbay
Pocketing the vial of Alister's blood, Alison grabs a leather apron and opens a medkit, beginning to work on an airman with burns on his left arm.
-
Starboard Gunnery Deck:
Gaige was fighting fatigue, running on fumes as he was. While the engineering team had finished repairs hours ago, there was still much to be done, and he needed some fresh air. "Goddamned Raiders and their fires making my job harder..." Sliding down the wall, he looked out to the night sky, eyes slowly drooping until they closed.
-
Frey's Quaters
"Not a problem," says Courage as he shifts to allow Carn to grab the back rest. "But I agree," to Frey, "At least have someone posted at the entrance."
"Very well," Frey with a tired sigh, "I'll see to it."
As he starts to make a note, his mind goes to a piece of information that Carn said ealier. An old Guild Family? She does have resembles someone familiar....
"As for aid," starts Coarage to Carn, bringing Frey back into the conversation, "We have to go through Vystorg to get to our starting point, right?"
"From the course Captain Morgan charted, that is correct."
Courage looks to Reagan and back to Frey, "Well after our escapade in the Guild, there is a guy who own us a few favors, one Guild master Fyodor."
Med Bay
"Why morning Miss Alison," calls out Ulric as she enters the room. With the help of him and the few others, majority of the wounded has been seen.
From the doorway two stretchers are brought in, one carrying Gaige, the other Renard.
"Hey Docs! Got two more."
"We'll get to them." Ulric says while bandaging another person, "Place them on an open frame and tell me their injuries."
Complying, the four brings Renard and Gaiage to two empty beds. With a slight huff, the two are gently lifted and placed down.
"Well, this one here," pointing to Gaiage," has passed out on the Gunnery Deck. No wounds on him, so they crew assumed it was from exhaustion. The second just landed his Goldfish and just dropped. His crew said that he was in the Hanger Bay when the shells hit. He was thrown very hard but still deployed his ship. Think he may have a concussion and a few broken ribs."
"Ohhh, ohhhh," was all that Ulric can say at the second patient. Turning to see who it was, his eyes widens, "I need help quickly."
Hanger Break Room
With repairs underway, Alexi enters the room, bags clearly shown under his eyes. Closing the door behind him, he sees the four all over the space.
"Hmm seems like I wasn't the only one with the same idea," he says with a small chuckle.
Going to the room's table, he pulls out a chair and leans back on it while placing his foot on the table.
"Must have been an exciting flight and tiring flight to have the four of you in here. Wished I was in that fight, blasted engine had to ruining it."
"If you weren't in there, the damage would have been much more severe and we wouldn't had a place to return," says Farris.
"Hmm, true. Meh we can't all have the glory, I suggest we all rest now." was all he said before going into a deep sleep.
-
--Hanger Break Room--
The two of them watched as the airship captain fell asleep, propped up at the table. Both Kei and Farris stared for a moment before their eyes once again found each other. Kei held up her card hand and Farris responded in kind before the two of them placed their cards down on the table. Kei with a flush and Farris with a two pair.
"Kei you're too lucky at this."
"I know." She said as she pulled together their meager bets.
--Frey's Quarters--
Reagan chuckled darkly at that, "'Escapade' is too mild a term for such a cluster fuck I think. Still-"
She leaned forward from where she was sitting on Frey's desk, left leg over right and elbow on her knees. Her face was one of pensive thought, equally echoed by her entwined fingers.
"The damage to engineering, despite how extensive it is can be repaired using the supplies we have on board. If need be we can machine the parts required down in the workshop. The damage to the hull is the only thing we'd need harbor facilities for and only because I'd rather no stop in the middle of the desert to repair the damage to the outer hull plating. The hanger bay has the requisite equipment to the heavy lifting required to repair damage to the infrastructure though that would dig into our supplies a bit. We can stop at Vyshtorg though I doubt we'll need to call in any favors, just call in some dry dock time in order for the crew to preform repairs while we stock the rest of our supplies."
She went quiet for a few moments to think.
"As for the dead," She continued quietly, "We can't keep them on the ship, if we haven't already throw the raiders overboard. Once we reach Sunder we can offload our own dead and have them transported back to Cathedral."
Her eyes met each and everyone of them as she scanned the room. "If there's nothing else perhaps we should adjourn and get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us."
-
Narrator
With no new discussions, Frey ends his meeting the three quietly exits the room. With a deep yawn, he goes to his radio that is directly connected to the Bridge and relays the orders to drop off the dead at Sunder. Satisfied that it will be met, and the ship already on repairs, Frey changes out of his uniform into his sleepware and let's his eyes close as he slides into bed.
0800, en route to Truth Lake
Medbay
"Ohhhh," groans Renard as he shuffles in his temporary bed.
"Finally, he is awake." says a cheerful Ulric. Writing down a set of instructions to another patient he is working on, he rips it off and gives it to the man before going to Renard.
"What happened?", he asks while slowly trying to sit up. Barely having his head off the pillow, a headache comes in putting him back down.
"Oh no, don't do that. Gonna make Miss Alison angry for someone in your state to be moving."
Giving in, Renard's places a hand on his forehead, "Ok, Ulric just tell me what happened."
"Well from what others have said, you were thrown hard from that explosion in the Hanger Bay. Your crew couldn't believe you flew your ship after that."
"Wait... My ship?"
"You don't remember a thing? I mean you save my ass out there with the Galleon."
"I remember that, it just after clearing the Weather Deck everything is fuzzy."
"Oh, i think that's when it happened. You blacked out after landing and were just going through the motions before doing so."
"That explains it, ugh my head. Got anything for it?"
Going over to a cabinet, Ulric pulls out a pill bottle and shakes out two small tablets. Grabbing a disposable cup, he fills it with water from the sink and goes over to the bedridden man.
"Here, it's gonna fix more that a headache, I'm surprise you don't feel any other pain."
Taking the pills, Renard swallows them and takes a swig from the cup, "Ahh, so what happend since I was out?"
"Hmm," starts Ulric," Well we made it to Sunder around 4 in the morning, on our way now to Truth Lake. We should arrive there by noon. Right now, we are just cruising with Alexi's Galleon out as well as your ship I believe."
"My ship? Why not yours?"
"Don't worry, it's in good hands, besides I'm needed here to help with the injured. Now just relax and think of this as a small vacation."
With a roll of his eyes, Renard watches as Ulric goes off to another patient before the effects of the pills comes in which causes him to go into a deep sleep.
Hanger Bay
With a bandaged left arm, Courage finds himself in front of the four Anvalan planes with their pilots gathered around.
"So why am I here again?" he asks.
"Well we asked around and found out that you were from Anvala." starts Farris.
"We were thinking that since you been around these machines, that maybe you know how to fix them to a degree." finishes Antonio.
"Ok, guys I maybe from the Guard, but the aviation section wasn't my thing. I can help repair them, but I need the schematics."
"Well actually have a copy here," says Kei while holding out a book, "Looks like your people knew what may happen to them, we got the parts as well in the hold."
Taking the book, Courage skims through, "Alright, let's get started then. Starting with that." pointing to Davis' badly damaged wing.
-
--Hanger Bay--
Davis was many things, relatively smart, a decent pilot, a great shot with a rifle, but as he looked on Courage walk them through the repair cycle of the craft he also realized another thing.
I am one lucky bastard.
On the outside the damage didn't look all that bad, yeah the armor plating was shredded in a number of places but it still looked functional enough to serve in fight. In reality that wasn't the case with a number of the control mechanism jammed in any number of locations and the secondaries damaged in ways they shouldn't be. All in all he should have locked up and crashed but he hadn't and for that he was glad.
"Ok, so, explain this to me."
-
Alister's Quarters
After having limped to his room the previous night, Alister crashed facedown into his bed and fell into a deep sleep. Sadly, he woke up in the morning and proceeded to make his way to the galley, still smelling of the battle, and eat breakfast in a severely toned down manner.
Medbay
Having been on her feet through the night, Alison finally manages to get about 10 minutes to herself. Staring at the blood sample she took from Alister, she looks for any irregularities.
I know they did something, but what?
-
Hanger Bay
While Courage and a few others are dismantling the wing, a cart is being drawn with the replacement parts. Whirring of several cranes goes on in the background as the temporary repairs for the bay is coming to a close, one of them hovers it's hook over the cart ready to lift the replacement.
Untightening a bolt, Courage explains to Davis, "From what I read, it looks like that the hydraulics all interconnect to the main body, towards the yoke and rudder pedals. Once taking a significant amount of damage though, like jamming the mechanism or losing fluid, that section is gone but the place can still function without it."
Those working with him gives a raise eyebrow to the explanation given. Feeling their stares, Courage gives a sigh, "Basically if one wing is damaged, the other wing can still function. Just with the plane's manuvability cut drastically."
"How about if we get hit in the tail" asks Farris while hooking the replacement wing to the crane.
Scratching his chin, Courage opens the book and starts flipping through the many pages, "I think there maybe a way to switch it to the ailerons, but just assume you are done and be ready to bail out."
"That's reassuring."
Tranquility
"Sure you'll be alright in the air?", asks a skeptical Alexi.
Carefully manning the helm with his slinger arm, Frey picks up the receiver with his free one and answers back, "Don't worry about me Captain Kasporov, you and I know that we both been through much worse. I just wish I flying a Squid, but a Goldfish shall do."
"Very well Commander.", a hearty laugh comes through, "Hopefully my engines can handle being out in the field after what happned the last time."
"Hopefull. Now if you pardon me, I'll check in with the Bridge."
Switching the frequencies, static comes through the radio as Frey turns the dial. Once he sets the Bridge's signal, a clear steady tone can be heard.
"Eagle's Shadow, Commander Frey on the Tranquility reporting."
"Morning Commander", says Belle, "Can you hold, I'm currently getting turned over. Mr. Allen will be on soon."
"Understood Ms. Belle."
After a few more minutes of silence, a man's voice comes in. "Top of the morning Commander," he says in an Eastern Ridge Highland accent, "Sorry for the inconvenience, but you are clear."
"No worries Mr. Allen, just reporting that skies are clear and that Captain Kasporov and I are continuing ahead."
"Copy that, I relay this."
Medbay
Whistling, Ulric places several blood bags back into a cabinet and notices the vial that Alison is holding. Adjusting his glasses, he squints at the coloration and his mouth forms an o.
"Ohhhh, what is this I see. Is that some new disease that we haven't seen at all. Maybe it's some fatty blood from the yellow puss I see. You know fat in the blood stream is bad, especially a lot of it. Could clog your arteries. Ooooorrrrr, is that a health portion. Can I help Miss Alison, you know I have a hand in this type of field."
-
Medbay
"Ulric, I actually could use your help with this. I took this from Mr Carn while he was unconscious. I'm sure your aware, he was in the Anglean's Marauder program. That particular unit at times, experimented. Alister has berserker tendencies, and freakish strength. Have you seen his armor? It is tungsten plating over kevlar! And he wears it all day! It wouldn't surprise me if they laced his food with a chemical, in some super soldier attempt...."
She looks at him, dead in the eye.
"I knew him several years, and he had a steady rise in physical strength, and bererk episodes, while he was in the program, since he left, the episodes have decreased by at least fifty percent, but his strength hasn't. They HAD to have done something. He was put in at the age of fifteen, and they had him for six years, Ulric. We can see the blood looks odd, but what is it?"
-
--Galley--
Amelia had gotten roped onto the ship's kitchen staff. It wasn't as if she actually minded kitchen duty but rather the fact that now she was obligated to assist in preparing meals for the crew as they woke up. She had put together a breakfast bake with the help of Mr. Banning, who was currently serving plates out onto the counter, and so far the crew had reacted favorably to the bacon, cheddar, biscuit and egg thing that had popped out of the oven. Well, except one.
Her gaze was drawn to Mr. Carn who had come in earlier and retrieved his serving of breakfast but didn't seem to be enjoying it. Or rather that is was as if he was preoccupied by something, perhaps his wounds were bothering him, Reagan had mentioned that he was wounded and he had walked in with a limp. The timer to the oven she was working at dinged and she withdrew the next baking dish and set it upon an adjacent cooling rack.
Perhaps she'd inquire about his condition later but for now she'd continue making breakfast.
--Bridge--
Reagan sipped out of her thermos, thankful that the extras hadn't been claimed by anyone since they had set off. The bridge crew was energetic this morning, though it might have had something to do with their adopted byword.
"Food?" The helm officer asked the navigation officer.
"Food." The navigation officer nodded his head.
Food indeed, whatever the case it wasn't as if energy helped, the course had already been plotted so the helm was currently locked in position, comms were just passively listening in on surrounding radio traffic, and navigation had already finished calculations for the current leg of the flight.
"Eagle's Shadow, Commander Frey on the Tranquility reporting."
"Morning Commander", The young woman at the comm station responded as the radio crackled "Can you hold, I'm currently getting turned over. Mr. Allen will be on soon."
"Understood Ms. Belle."
"Ma'am?" She looked at Reagan.
"You're relieved Ms. Belle." The younger (comparatively) woman gave her a small salute, brown hair bobbing as she came to attention before she left the bridge. The rest of 1st Watch slowly followed suit as 2nd Watch came to relieve them of duty. Reagan gave them a light nod as they left bridge.
Eventually the new comm officer entered the bridge, and older gentleman, clean cut, stark silver hair that could not be mistaken for gray. "Top of the morning Commander," his Eastern Ridge Highland accent coming in thick, "Sorry for the inconvenience, but you are clear."
"No worries Mr. Allen, just reporting that skies are clear and that Captain Kasporov and I are continuing ahead."
"Copy that, I relay this." His gaze went to Reagan, piercing green eyes met hers, "Captain, escorts away."
"Right than." She took a sip of her (thankfully) hot tea.
-
Galley:
An unearthly groan rose above the din of breakfast, stopping all conversation. Some reached for their guns as it came again, as a disheveled looking Gaige slumped his way in to the galley, making a beeline for the coffee. "Foooooooood..."
-
0930
Engineering
"Ahh Dang It!", cries out the Head Engineer. James Crowe, man in his early thirties shakes his hand after being shock on the panel he is currently working on.
Through the night and into the next morning, he and his team are slowly replacing the many fried parts scattered in the space. Having saved the vital components keeping the ship airborne, majority of the damaged equipment connects to non-vital sources around the ship, air conditioning and lighting to name a few.
"Hmm now where does this connects to." he wonders as someone hands him rubber gloves and a toolkit, "Okay I'm cutting the power off to this, hopefully it shouldn't affect the ship."
Pulling out a pair of cutters, James cuts the wires connecting to the panel and starts to unscrew the base of it. Elsewhere the Galley's lights shuts off.
Medbay
Grabbing a vial, Ulric taps his glasses as several smaller lenses magnify his vision.
"Hmm, The Marauders you say.... I heard about that group, reports of a few raids hitting the northern coast of Chaladon. Didn't know they experimented on their own."
Holding it up to the light, he twist the small tube of glass to see if he can make something out of it. Clicking his tongue, he snaps his fingers and starts to head out the room.
"I think I just have something," he calls behind him, "If you can, follow me to my room. The others can take care of the patients for the time beinging."
Hanger Bay
"There," Courage strains as he tightens the final bolt down on Davis's plane, "That should do it."
Standing back, he takes in the gull-winged plane. Having being the most damaged, after the repairs it looks like it just came off the assembly line. In the background, several others are helping the remain three pilots in thier own repairs, not quite as extensive as repairing the first one.
"Well Davis, she should be good. If you want we can fuel her for a test run."
-
Medbay
Catching up to Ulric, Alison continues,
"The Angleans are few in resources and numbers, but more Old World Technology survived there then about anywhere. I wouldn't put it past any of the factions to have a super soldier program, particularly one in their situation. Alister was a young, promising soldier, who already displayed latent tendencies that they liked. Think about it, have a superior officer who acted more like a handler, odd smelling rations, and mission after mission of hard combat. They didn't just try to augment him, they conditioned him....."
"Galley"
Stuck in memory lane, Alister begins to eat, albeit without his normal gusto."
-
--Galley--
The breakfast rush had slowed down as most of the off duty crew had already been fed, amny deciding to stick around and chat with one another before they go on duty. 1st Watch had come to join them, in particular Ms. Belle was assisting Mr. Banning and the issues he was currently having with his oven. Mr. Gaige had stirred things up momentarily but, granted his coffee, he was capable of making coherent sentences.
They are however, only barely coherent.
She had directed him to the same table as Mr. Carn, the three of them sitting together in awkward silence, Gaige being barely capable of holding a conversation and Carn having only barely aknowledged their presence at the table. Still the two of them were in a precarious state, and she would not let it stand.
"Mr. Gaige," her voice taking on airs, "you have already passed out twice today and ended up in the infirmary, please go and get some rest before we make it a second time." She turned her attention Carn, "Mr. Carn, are you alright? You seem to be quite distracted, are you feeling well?"
--Hanger Bay--
Davis looked at the now freshly repaired aircraft. He then looked back to Courage, put on a thinking face, and answered.
"Eh, why not."
-
Hanger Bay
With a whistle, Courage motions for a fuel container to be brought over. Squeaky wheels are heard as two people cart in the tank. Lifting panels on either side of the wings, the fuel tanks are found at the edge near the wing tips.
"Ok, fuel her up," Courage says to the two. Tapping his chin, he also opens the gun panels, "Get some bullet belts here as well."
"Watch it!" a cry calls out.
Turning his head, Courage goes wide eyed as he braces himself as a magazine box is thrown towards him.
"Oof. Careful! Some of us aren't fully healed yet!" raising his bandaged arm, "Bring some more, gonna load her up."
Opening the box, he pulls out the long belt and starts to place them in the slot for the guns.
"You'll never know what is going to be out there. Can't be too careful," he says to Davis.
Engineering
"Umm, this goes where again?" asks one of his engineers.
Shaking his head, Crowe watches on as his team try to repair another panel. Already disassemble and removed the contents, they are currently trying to replace the damaged equipment.
"You know, someone call Lorena. She'll can help us," James says to them, "and keep my sanity..... First the Galley's lights, now the pressure to the toilets," saying the last bit to himself.
Nodding, one goes off to find a radio.
Storage Room Ulric's Quarters/Labratory
Leading Alision just pass the Brig, the pair find themselves at a door leading to another storage space.
"Ah here it is, I'm glad that the Commander manage to find me some space," Ulric says as he opens the door.
Inside the majority of the space is littered with books, beakers filled with different colours of liquid connecting to one another, stuffed animals, and pages plastered on the walls. In one of the corner of the room is a small twin size bead with several drawers and a portable oven.
"Sorry about the mess, I just can't seem to find the time to clean. Haha. Now the blood samples."
Taking the vials, Ulric goes over to a table and slides over the contents to one side. Grabbing a stand, he places the samples in them as he brings out more beakers and a burner. Opening a cabinet, bottles of unknown liquids are shown as he grabs several of them. Picking up the first sample, using a pipet, he draws out a drop from one of his bottles and inserts it in the blood. Mixing the vial, he turns on the burner and notices a change in color.
"Hmmmmm," he takes out a notepad and jolts down something in pencil. Turning to Alison, "You can help yourself to my equipment, this is going to be tough."
-
Galley:
Slurring slightly, but smiling faintly at Ms. Belle. "Dun worry miss, ah've had worse. Jus' a lil' ou' of practice. Gimme 'nother two hourrs sleep, an' I'll be righ' as rain, you'll see." Draining the rest of his coffee, he sets in on his fried egg sandwich, somewhat messily before reminding himself that decorum is called for when in front of a lady. "Now ah'm sure you're wondering wha' could possibly been worse 'an this, but when I don't feel like ah've been rammed by a Galleon ah'll tell you."
-
--Galley--
Now she knew he had to get some sleep.
"Mr. Gaige, Ms. Belle is over in the kitchen, I do recommend you get some rest at least. It'll do no good for you to faint should the events of last night repeat themesleves."
--Alison/Lorena's Room--
Lorena felt the vibration of the radio before she heard what was being transmitted. Since she had woken up on the gunnery deck till... well, now, she had been working with the engineering teams to repair and replace the damage done to the hanger bay and engineering. Of course something would go wrong while she was enjoying the comfort of her own bed.
"-ally need you down here before half the wrench monkeys get their heads chewed off." The man on the otherside was her assistant on the team she led, due to her experience she had been put in charge of one of the few teams that had any actual experience.
She picked up the radio and pressed the transmit button. The engineering teams had their own set of handheld radios to coordinate repair and maintenance efforts.
"Hank could you repeat that." She let go of the transmitter.
"The newbies are screwing up-" she heard a muttered 'like usual' "and the boss man is getting irritated at them."
"So nothing new."
"Pretty much."
"Fine, I'll be there in a moment."
"Take as long as you want-" she could hear the amusment in his voice, "I want to see how far Crowe is willing to go."
--Hanger Bay--
"Right, fuel lines check out. Ammo is registered as loaded." He jostled the control stick about as he looked at his wings. "Control surfaces are active. Ready to go."
He felt his craft lift off the repaired launch bay, the doors lifting over and out to allow space to be lowered down into the skies. Engines warmed he deployed his wings and prepared himself.
"Launching." He punched the release on his control panel and gunned the engine as he fell, pulling up in a steep climb.
Ok, so not dead yet.
-
Galley:
"Ah shit. Guess I am pretty ou' of it." Downing a second glass of coffee, the fog of exhaustion lifts just enough to get out a properly spoken sentence. "My apologies, Amelia. Thanks for your concern, but I really will be fine with a couple hour's sleep. You're skilled, so I can assume experience, but not how much, so forgive me if I sound patronizing here. After a decade or two of practically living on airships, you learn some lessons, first of which is to catch some sleep whenever possible. Just ask Carn. Second is how to run on minimal amounts of sleep. And thanks again for all the help last night, things would have gone a lot worse without two people who knew what they were doing."
Standing, sandwich in hand, he salutes. "Could you do me a favour, and find out how repairs are going elsewhere? When I wake up I would love to know what's going on."
-
Galley
Mr Carn, are you all right?
Snapping out of it, Alister looks up and realizes that Ms. Amelia had asked him a question.
"Yes, my apologies. Old memories is all."
Finally noticing the food in front of him in full, Alister's stomach makes a sound that would startle a Sky Whale.
"Where did this come from? Injuries have a tendency to put me on autopilot while my brain takes a stroll down memory lane."
Ulric's Quarters? Lab?
"On top of the chemicals, there was a psychological element. They encouraged his anger, bloodlust, and sense of duty. However they underestimated his intelligence, so after a few years,"
She mutters quickly "and my pointing out the oddities,"
She goes back to speaking normally "He got out. The exact terms, I do not know. But he has some of the Republic's dirtiest secrets. Also, do you have a plush Sky Whale?"
-
Ulric's Quarter's/Lab
Gasping at her comment, Ulric place the vials into their holders and moves towards the object in question.
"This is not some old child's doll that sits on top a shelve over their bed," picking up the whale, "This happens to be what supposedly is the correct physical shape of these elusive sky beasts. It just happens to that the umm scientists had on them to produce this model are cotton stuffing and soft fabric stitched up together. Just be assured that Mr. Frufru is not just any doll, but a key to research."
With that slip of the tongue, Ulric slaps his mouth shut as he tosses the plushie back onto his bed. Trying to hide the shade of red coming onto his cheeks from embarrassment, he returns back to his tests.
Waving a finger in the air, "Besides him, the rest are professionally done by a taxidermist for further studies," talking about the actually stuffed animals.
"Umm, so would you kindly help me please? You seem to know what to look for." asking Alison to avoid further embarassment.
Galley
"So you had an eventful night." says Belle to Banning with her distince southern drawl while cutting potatoes to be turned into hash browns.
"Oh you don't know the half of it Janet." he says.
On one of the stoves, Charles Banning is frying some more Bacon to accommodate the First Shift coming in for breakfast. He then notices that the hot red of the metal is cooling down back to its original grey.
"What the?", he turns the knob on and off to no effect.
"Something wrong?" Janet Belle asks, putting down the knife and going over to the stove with him.
"I don't know, it was working a minute ago."
Just as he finishes his sentence, the kitchen's lights shuts and then the dining room a few seconds after. Several angry shouts are heard Fromm across the wall, as both Comm Officers look to one another.
"I'll call Engineering." says Banning.
"And I will inform the Bridge." finishes Belle.
Engineering
"WHOA EASY CROWE!!" yells Hank as he holds back a raging man, "You guys can take your break now, hehe. The boss man needs some rest, you should as well," he says to the three others in the space.
"NOW!"
Started by the intensity of the voice, the three swabbies exits the room and towards their respective rooms. Feeling the they have sufficient distance from the angry Crowe, Hank releases the man.
Whistling, "Almost had to write three incident/injury reports. Really a rubber mallet to the head? They must have really pissed you off James."
Having his forefinger and thumb across the bridge of his nose, James hold up his free hand to silence the other man as he tries to calm down.
"I just wonder where these people get their training before signing up for engineering duty on a ship." he says to Hank.
Behind both of them, a radio rings as Banning's voice comes through the receiver.
"Umm Mr. Crowe, we seem to have a problem here in the Galley.
Picking up the headset, Crowe says to him with a sigh, "What seems to be it?"
"We lost all power to this room"
Running a hand over his face, he mumbles a few words, "Ok, I'll find the problem. Engineering out."
Placing the headset back to its original position, Crowe mutters, "They broke the lights didn't they?"
Hearing the comment, Hank shines in, "You know, you were the one working on that panel. So I believe it was your fault."
Groaning he asks, "How long until Lorena gets here?"
Hank just shurgs and follows the man to the panel.
Hanger Bay
Watching the successful release of Davis's plane, Courage is about to turn to asks Kei and the others until his eyes caught the opening to the main Storage Bay where they are carting out the parts. Remembering about the Yeshan Tank and Half-Track that is on board, he puts down his tools and head towards that direction.
Only taking minor armor damage, Kei simply only had to replace the damaged metal. Checking everything over, and with the help of the manual, she found that none of her components have taken damaged during the fight.
Removing the last panel with the help of a female crewmember, she calls to Courage over her shoulder as they unbolt the piece, "So who was the one to design these? They seemed pretty forward. ... ... Courage?" she asks as she turns around.
She notices him exits the Hanger Bay and enters the forward Storage Bay. Wondering where he is going she jumps off the wing.
"Think you can finish Marie?" she asks he mechanic.
"No problem, it's the last panel anyway," Marie answers while waving her wrench in the air.
"Thanks. Just do me a favor and watch over those two." Kei points to Antonio and Farris.
Both heads turn to find the mentioned two in mid joke as Antonio falls over laughing on the wing he is sitting and into tools making a loud clatter. Farris and their mechanics bend over with tears coming from their eyes at the sight.
"Sorry," was all Kei said before leaving the area.
"What?," Marie says as she turns her head to find Kei, "Oh you own me!" she calls to the retreating female.
Storage Bay
After several minutes of walking around, he finally spots the tank. Slowly walking up to it, Courage place a hand on the metal and memories from a month ago flood into his mind. Taking a step back, he finally is able to take a good look at the war machine.
"I see you found the Edelweiss," says a voice behind him.
Startled, Courage is about to place a hand into the grip of his revolver until he recognise the voice. Turning around he sees Kei as she walks up to him and the tank.
"So that's name of these beast," looking at the tank again.
"Yeah. After what happened in both Vystorg and Chang-ning, they got a reputation of being a very durable and dangerous tank. So much unnecessary destruction at the hands of those men who initiated those attacks."
"Oh you don't know the half of it," Courage says underneath his breath.
"You said something?"
"Oh nothing," He coughs, "So you said that it's and Edelweiss class tank. You know the specs of it?"
"Not much, remember that I'm a plane gal. But she has an 88mm main turret.... Fully automated loading mechanism..... Can be ran by around 4 crewmen max... Can use smoke.... Has a mortor for its secondary and a front facing machine gun."
Going through the details in his thoughts, he checks off the the main things that Kei just listed.
Still a wonder how we survived.
"Hello? I said you want to check the inside?"
Snapping out of his trance, he sees Kei on the tank and opens the hatch. Nodding, he grabs one of the hand rails and climbs up.
1000
Tranquility
"Now stay tuned, we got more classic music coming up next."
Turning up the volume on the radio, Frey amplifies the music through the Goldfish's speakers as he and the crew sit around idly. Leaning back in a chair, he turns to the Shadow and notices that a plane has been launched, followed by a second moments later.
On the communication radio, Alexi's voice comes through.
"Commander, just received that a few of the pilots are testing their planes again."
Still sitting, Frey picks up the receiver, "As long as nothing hazardous or dangerous is happening, we are fine. So who is in the air?"
"What I heard its was Davis and Antonio."
"Very well. Just note, we are two hours away until Truth Lake."
"Copy."
Brig
Standing in front of the entrance to the Brig, an armed sentry is stationed preventing anyone from entering without proper approval. Inside, Briggs looks at the four others currently being held with him.
"So what are you in for?" asks the closes Raider next to his cell.
"Oh the usual, murders, stealing, working for a secret organisation bound for world domination. That jazz."
The Raider gives Briggs a very confuse face at the last statement, "What?"
"Oh it's a long story, i won't go into the details. May bore you a bit. But I can tell you if you and your buddies back there help me, I can help you immensely."
The Raider pounders for a moment, as he decides, Briggs signature smirk comes out as the answer is given.
-
A dozen kilometers souther than the galley, right above Truth Lake
A battle was about to happen.
A big Crusader Class vessel was traveling at full speed, followed by two Goldfishes a couple of kilometers behind it.
A voice could be heard on the Crusader, it was feminine, sweet and talking loudly:
"Here's the boatswain speaking, all crew members are advised to reach their battle stations, as the enemy vessels are catching up with us, thank you."
The captain, while handling the wheel was giving a puzzled look at his boatswain.
The woman lowered her voice.
"Don't look at me like that! You know that if I said directly that we are going to be destroyed the crew would have just panicked!"
"You got a point Selly, but still, they are already scared." Replied the man. "We are almost at the edge of the Lake, it's about time we engage them."
The Crusader turned around, facing the hostile vessels and now moving backwards, toward the lakeside.
The Crusader was equipped with two heavy flaks, two cannons and two homing rocket launchers.
Both Goldfish were with two gats and a hwacha: standard killer-disabler setup.
"Captain! We still don't know what they want!" Yelled a crewman.
"When in doubt, burn everything." Answered the woman in the Captain stead.
Then she talked directly to the captain: "What do you think about it Emil? Can we make it?"
"It all depends on who has the best gunners....y'all maggots, OPEN FIRE!" He answered and then yelled.
The whole engagement lasted for a few minutes. The Crusader's crew was tired for the flight and was scared by the two ships that were following them.
On bkth Goldfishes the crews were eager to fight and to kill that nosey man that looked too much into their masters' plans.
Missiles roared, rockets exploded, projectiles flew, flak shot shredded both people and ship parts alike.
But in the end, the Crusader vessel was the one to lose, it's crew tired, it missed many shots and wasn't able to keep up with the repairs. Few survived the ship engagement.
When all of the Crusader's hull was damaged severely, the ship finally broke in half, falling into the lake.
The two Goldfish even shot among the wreckages to kill anyone that survived.
Too bad for them that the two officers were sublime swimmers, and reached quickly the beach, even if burdened by the clothing.
"Apparently their gunners were better." Snarked Emil.
"This armor plates float wonderfully!" Said the girl.
"This is just an example of the superior fjordland engineering" he replied "Now dear, what was the nearest town?".
"Orrington." replied the girl "But that's just small fry, north east from here there's Cathedral, and is only a few days walk."
"Well then, towards Cathedral we go!" Emil said as he started walking, the girl at his side.
And luckily enough, they were on the movement trajectory of the Expedition Galley.
-
"Wait, Selenia, what Lake was this? Was it the one near Dragon town?"
"No Emil, as I said this is.... Truth Lake..."
"Let me guess, we have been walking in the wrong direction."
"Yep."
"Well, where should we go really to be heading towards Cathedral?"
She turned ninety degrees to the left and said with a cheerful voice: "This way! To North-West!"
"Not that I care that we nearly got lost, I am known for it, but this time it could have been extremely annoying, since we are without any kind of airship."
"Hey dear, it was you the one with the wheel!" She kept a very cheerful tone of voice.
"And stop with that cheerful tone! I can't begrumpy if you keep such a cheery attitude."
She smiled towards him.
In the end he smiled back.
"Let's keep walking."
-
Galley
"Hey! What's going on!", yells someone in the dark.
"We are trying to eat here!"
"I just got off, can't I have a peaceful meal."
Inside the kitchen, Belle is making her report to the Bridge while Banning is at the counter trying to calm down the mob.
"We are experiencing some technical difficulties. If you want you can take your meals to your rooms, we don't want to cause a scene."
Several grumbles are heard in the dark as a handful of crew members grab their plates and make their way to the exit. Off somewhere in the middle of the room a crash is heard as someone may had tripped.
"Oh you down it now boy!" cries out one as he goes for a punch.
The one who tripped sees it coming and ducks sending the fist into another person. Soon a fight breaks out in the Galley.
Banning sees a plate flying towards him making him duck underneath the counter, to Belle. "Yeah inform the Bridge of this as well."
Sighing, she makes another call, "Bridge, we may need security here. Fighting has broken out."
Eagle Squadron
Testing his ailerlions, Antonio turns over 180 degrees and flies directly above Davis. Tapping on his cockpit, he waves to Davis as he looks up.
"So Davis, have any manuvers you want to try out." Antonio says on the radio before he breaks away and forms up on his wing, "I want to know how hard we can push these things."
Ulric's Quaters
Turning back to his work, Ulric starts to add several chemicals trying to figure out the odd white coloration he found ealier. Adding two drops of a liquid, Ulric puts it over a burner and soon the blood and white liquid starts to separate from eachother. With the liquid floating to the top, he sucks out the liquid and places it into e petri dish and under a microscope.
"Hmm interesting...Alison, do you know anything about the Maraduers using adrenaline?" he asks while motioning her to the scope.
-
Galley
With a sigh heavy with exasperation, Alister says in the generally direction of Amelia,
"Your going to want to cover your ears Miss."
Standing up, he crashes his fist into a girder, and roars in a decibel level similar to a Galleon engine,
"CEASE YOUR SQUABBLING YOU MISERABLE EXCUSES FOR MERCENARIES! SAVE IT FOR THE FIELD! THAT'S AN ORDER DAMN IT!"
Ulric's Lab/Plushie Emporium
Pondering for a moment Alison replies,
"I'm not entirely sure, I've taken resting samples from Alister before, and I've found the drug and marginally higher amounts of adrenaline. I've never before managed to get a post combat sample. He doesn't know I've been doing this."
-
Nearly a dozen kilometers from the expedition, on its movement trajectory
"Do you remember at what distance did a Heavy Battle Airbarge appeared to be a centimeter big?"
"Uhhhhh.... If I am not mistaken, it was around a dozen kilometers. Why do you ask?"
"That thing over there. Is it a mirage? Am I really seeing that?"
"Where?" Then the girl pointed in the general direction of the expedition Galley.
"Hold on" Emil said as he brought out from a pocket a portable spyglass "Well, first of all, it's on our way, now, I'd say it's a super heavy freighter of some sorts, but is less flashy than usual, so it may be one of those first heavy vessels retrofitted for war. It's not sporting any faction flag, so, judging from its shape and movement, it may be coming from either Cathedral or Nalm.
I want to believe it's from Cathedral."
Then he put away the spyglass.
"Selly, tell me you still have that flare gun and that we didn't lose it in the crash."
Smiling, she put her hand in one or her boots and then brought out said gun.
"Atta girl! We'll have to use it when they are within very few kilometers, we are direly in need of a lift right now."
-
--Engineering--
Lorena had taken a while to get back to engineering, mostly because she was still tired as all hell and needed her coffee but also because she'd let them suffer a little before interfering. So, with steaming thermos in hand she quietly made her way down toward engineering. At least that was the case until she had passed three panicked swabbies who ran past back to the crew deck.
She sighed as she watched their retreating forms, "Seriously? Fine, fine..."
She made it to the entrance to engineering in short order after that. She swept open the double doors, thermos in one hand, pipe wrench in the other.
"Alright, fear not for it is I! I have to come to fix and repair things, as stated in my contract."
"Well your highness, could ya stop grandstanding and get to work?" Hank was standing next to Crowe, who was working on a panel.
"Hank."
"Yes?" She walked over to him and lightly tapped him on the knee with her wrench.
"Shut up." He smirked.
"As you order." She turned to Crowe, who was stilling working on the panel. He flipped a switch before addressing Hank.
"Right, all and see if that worked." Hank pulled out his radio and held the transmitter.
"Galley, this is engineering, Banning did that work or not?"
"Uh. Oh, oh there are lights, and the stove, shit the stove! I've got to- Hey, wait, don't throw that!" The line went dead.
The three of them just stared at each other in confusion, the radio between them. Lorena took the first stab.
"Do I even want to know?"
Crowe sighed, "Probably not."
--Galley--
Amelia was quietly sitting behind the counters in the galley kitchen as Mr. Carn and Mr. Banning were chewing out the crew for their behavior. The moment Mr. Carn had warned her she decided to protect herself and with dignified flair dove into the kitchen, Ms. Belle apparently had the same and joined her, despite having been in the kitchen initially and hadn't left.
"Think they're going to be done soon?" Ms. Belle asked her quietly. Amelia peered over the counter's surface to watch.
"I don't believe so- Oh and I do believe security is here." Sure enough a few of the ship's marines entered, probably still expecting a fight, what they hadn't expected was authority and fear to be instilled into the crew who remained standing, a few sat nursing bruises though thankfully no one had sustained anything permanent or serious.
"Well," Ms. Belle looked at her, "Feeling a bit more secure now that they're here."
Amelia looked at her with a flat expression on her face. "Ms. Belle."
"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow.
"You are absolutely horrible."
--Bridge--
"Lady Captain, the situation the galley has been resolved." Mr. Gregory Allen went back to his radio.
"Thank you Mr. Allen."
"Ma'am." Reagan had decided then that Gregory Allen was a consummate professional and that she'd be able trust him to keep a level head when she decided to pull something off that would be impossible circumstances.
"Uh Bridge, scout wing reporting, we've got two downed airman waving an rescue flag- Oh they just fired a flare." Davis' voice disappeared from the radio to be replaced by the other pilot.
"Yeah we can't give em lift, anyone here want to offer a ride?"
--Scout Wing--
"Antonio?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
The two of them spent the next few minutes circling the pair before flying off. Antonio on his left wing.
"Right, so, back to what we were doing, think you can keep up?"
"Boss you wound me!" Davis heard a dramatic swoon over the radio.
"Antonio..."
"Yeah yeah, I'm on your tail."
Davis gunned the engine of his craft before diving close to the ground. He performed a corkscrew as drew closer to the ground, bleeding speed as he began weaving in between the hills and sand dunes. He kicked up sand and dirt, shrouding him in a cloud, Antonio didn't exactly follow but he maintained altitude just above him, circling around the growing cloud of dust. Using it to his advantage, Davis continued to maneuver in the blinding storm, using his altimeter to stay just above the highest of the dunes. He pulled back on the stick and pulled into a steep climb just on Antonio's six, engine screeching as he climbed, becoming a speck on the surface of the sun.
"3-1 Me, Antonio."
"Right, screw that, my turn."
-
1100
Tranquility
Overhearing the conversation, Frey chimes in from his radio, "Don't worry Bridge,I'll pick them up. I got a visual on the flare and stragglers."
"Copy Commander. we'll standby if you need assistance.' Allen says to him.
"That wont be necessary, I have Captain Kasparov with me for cover. Isn't that right?'"
"I got you six. You are clear for a landing." Alexi acknowledges Frey.
Opening throttles, Frey speeds forward breaking away from the transport towards the downed pair. Coming up from behind, Alexi maneuvers his Galleon and stations himself with his port side guns facing and waiting.
On the Goldfish, Frey decelerates and orders the crew to prepare for a landing. Pulling a lever, air is heard leaving the balloon and soon the vessel slowly descends down onto the dunes.
"Sir, should we ready the Manticore?" asks the gunner.
Eyeing the pair as they move closer, Frey responds, "They don't look like they are a threat, but ready with a rifle."
With a quick "Aye", the gun goes to the locker under the main cabin and removes one of the four rifles. Positioning himself off the bow, he pulls back the bolt and loads a clip in. For the two engineers, they move and ready to throw anchors over the side once they are a few feet off the ground.
Lifting the side fins, Frey extends the landing gears and touch down onto the sand a few meters in front of the pair. With a microphone he calls to them , "I apologies if we seem a little weary," mentioning the armed gunner ,"But state who you are and move slowly towards the vessel."
Ulric's Quarters
"It's a good thing as well," he comments, "If you can take a look, the amount of adrenaline in his blood is 5x the amount a normal human receives. A man under that much goes on a rampage, I believe that they can still fight even after losing a limb."
Taking another vial, he continues several more test and notice two more irregularities, "How long have you been taking samples?" he asks while fixing his glasses.
Galley
With the fighting secured, the Galley is empty as the lunch shift is about to start. Looking at his watch, Banning groans and looks to Belle who is coming out off the kitchen with Amelia.
"If you need me, I'm off to my quarters. My watch starts in five hours, and after this morning, I need to get some rest." With a wave, Charles exit the room as the lunch crew enters.
Rolling her eyes and smirking, Janet waves back to the retreating man, "It seems like trouble always seem to find him huh? So Amelia, you doing anything for the next few hours,cause i got nothing." she asks the woman.
Engineering
Finally closing the panel to the Galley's power, Crowe wipes the sweat from his brow, "I know you worked through the night," he starts to Lorena, "But it seems like nothing is getting fixed with the amount of new engies around here.'
Picking up his toolbox, he motions to the two to follow him as he leads them down to the final room needing to be fixed, "I don't even know if they even read their contract. I mean sheese you will be working, replacing, or repairing things as needed. This isn't some cruise." He continues his rant.
Stopping, he places the box down and opens another panel, "I dont know how you do it, but it seems like you and your team are the few competent ones here,"
Scout Wing
Breathing deeply, Antonio looks in the rear view mirror right above him, and sees Davis following behind.
Let's do this he says to himself.
Opening the throttles, he push the yoke forward putting the plane into a dive. Gaining airspeed, he looks behind and sees that his lead is still following. Pulling up from the dive, he banks right and uses his air brakes to decrease speed as he rolls over the second plane just as Davis sees Antonio pulls up. Still in the roll, Antonio notices Davis breaking right and then an immediate roll to the left to avoid letting him be on his six. Completing the turn, he rolls and banks left as well but notices Davis change direction anticipating Antonio's maneuver. Both planes pass each other as they scissor across for a few turns. Seeing he can't out turn the man. Antonio pulls up quickly and out of the dance. Seeing nothing after his pass, Davis sees the second plane in a steep climb and follow suit.
Hearing the second roar behind him, Antonio taps his yoke for his next move. Eyes widening, he breathes out before cutting his engines, pulling back and extending his air breaks. Feeling the plane going into a stall, he sees Davis still far off into the climb. Soon, the plane loses all forward momentum and is fully turned around from him pulling back earlier, with a "clear shot", Antonio places his cross hairs over the plane for three seconds before turning on his engines and pulling up before hitting Davis head on.
Still breathing heavily, he forms up on Davis's wing, "Whoo, that was something..."
-
The man slowly took off his helmet and attached it to his belt, then he raised his hands to show that he was not hostile. After a few seconds looking at the man who talked from the Goldfish he started smiling with satisfaction.
And then he started talking after he performed a very scenic bow.
"Oh my, lucky me, look who's here!
Captain Frey! Of all the officers that one could find on the the field, I find one of the most honest and hardworking!
You may not know me, but your fame made you quite renown in my section."
"Oh, where have my manners gone, let me present myself:
Emil Ansager, champion of the Cainhurst familiy, guardian of Cainhurst Castle, nobleman of the Fjord Baronies and a captain of the Royal Fleet, at your service, but to avoid annoyances concerning the name and titles, just call me Emil. "
"This fair lady besides me is Selenia, my companion, bodyguard, secretary, and, yeah, basically the one that remembers everything that I forget."
After Emil said that, his face became suddenly extremely serious.
"We also may have something important to give and tell you." Then looking around he added "In private."
-
--Scout Wing--
"Yeah," Davis took in a deep breath. "Kei would still kick both our asses."
"Yup."
There was a lengthy silence as the two of them circled about in the sky. Eventually Tranquility and the Crimson Dragoon passed them by on their way towards the downed airmen.
"Well, come on lets head back."
"Right behind you." Bit to the left there Antonio.
--Hanger Bay--
Davis and Antonio touched down on the deck in relatively short order after their mock dog fights. The hanger crews began working on their craft as the two of them went over to where Farris was... most definitely sleeping. The two of them shared a look before nodding with horrible grins on their faces.
--5 Minutes later--
Farris woke up from his short nap. It was then, he noted with absolute horror, that both Davis and Antonio's planes where sitting in their maintenance hanger. He sighed and brought a hand up to his face to feel what stupid prank they'd played, typically Kei was the professional of their group, of the few days they'd known each other at least. Still, Davis and Antonio had hit it off in ways one would expect two idiots to get together. Which was kind of insulting, Davis was a rather intelligent guy and despite his personality Antonio was a sharp one as well. His hand made it to his altered visage and he let out an even deeper sigh as he felt the fluffy beard on his face.
"Really?"
"Yes.""Pretty much yeah."
He looked back to see the two of them sharing a meal on a maintenance cart. The two of them smiled at him before going back to their food.
"Uhg." That was when he realized, "Wait, where's Kei and Courage."
The pair stopped eating, looked him, then to each other, the three of continued trading glances until Antonio shrugged.
"Eh." He held out a third sandwich. "Want one?"
--Galley--
"I have no duties right now." Amelia offered her arm out.
Ms. Belle was confused until she saw a familiar translucent blob float down from the ceiling. Andromeda grasped onto Amelia's upper arm before migrating up to her shoulder. Her dropped quietly as she addressed her.
"Shall we?"
-
Ulric's Lab
"Fighting after amputation? It wouldn't surprise me. This is the first sample I've been able to take since we separated, roughly four years. Before that, over a period of two years I was able to get two dozen samples. I first noticed the irregularity after patching him up, his blood had that odd look. Unfortunately I didn't have the education, nor the equipment to take and examine a sample. This is the first post combat sample I've acquired, all the rest were taken at rest."
Galley
"And if you idiots ever do this again, then I will personally join in! Dismissed!"
After having chewed out the miscreant crew, Alister heads up to the bridge to discuss this with Reagan.
The crew is idle, they're itching for a scrap and are undisciplined. We need to divert that kind of energy, or there will be more incidents.
Hangar Bay
James and John roar with laughter at the sight of Faris.
"That's brilliant!"
"But we'd,"
"Have gone with,
"A more creative color."
-
Tranquility
Emil Ansager...hmm, Frey in thought as he eyes the man up and down, Oh code named Strayed from CRIES, no wonder he thinks I'm a Captain, deviated from missions one too many maybe he deviated from the briefings as well.
"Well welcome aboard Lord Ansager," he finally addresses the man, "Well escort you and your companion to our main ship where we can discuss your situation."
Waving a hand to the gunner, he places his weapon to safe and proceeds to unload it. One of the envies tosses a ladder over board where Emil and Selenia uses to climb.
"Captain Kasparov, I picked up two new passengers. We are going to head back to the Shadow." he says on the radio.
"Understood Commander."
"But don't worry, I'll send another ship out."
Laughter is heard as Alexi tries to make out his next sentence, Me worried, you Barons have a funny sense of humor."
Giving a small chuckle, Frey changes the frequency to the Bridge, "Bridge, Tranquility, Mr. Allen we retrieve the stranglers and are proceeding to Hanger Bay to dock."
"I will inform Hanger Bay for your arrival. And I assume you want a second escort out?"
"You know me too well."
"Copy, at the moment Mr. Culvin is available. He will be up shortly."
Satisfied, Frey lifts the Goldfish off the ground and follows Alexi's Galleon back to the transport.
Hanger Bay
After being informed of the details of the tank and actually be inside the vehicle, Courage and Kei return only to find a fully bearded Farris and two smug face pilots holding their laughter.
"And I thought my friends pranks are bad,mow do you manage with them?" he asks Kei.
"Yes how do you manage them Kei," says an exasperated female voice coming down the bay.
The pair turn and sees Kei's mechanic, Marie, walking toward them.
"Oh I don't know," Kei shrugs, "Someone must be the adult at times."
Galley
Catching up to the female before she exit the room, Belle asks the female, "Shall we what?"
Ulric's Quaters
Before continuing with more tests, the PA system turns on, "Captain Culvin, you are needed to relieve one of the escorts. I repeat, Captain Culvin you are needed to relieve an escort.", says Allen.
"Whooops look like I'm needed. You can try to find out but this is all I can do at the moment."
-
1120
Eagle's Shadow
As Frey nears the transport from its port side, the Hanger Bay door on this side opens and emerge a Junker. As the two ships pass, Ulric on the Junker waves to Frey who gives a simple two finger salute. Entering the transport, he soon cuts the throttles to allow the Goldfish to coax in slowly and be handled by the waiting crane operators. Several loud thuds indicating the ship as been latched properly, the massive doors start to close as the cranes manuver the ship into its holding berthing.
Once secured, Frey dismisses his crew with a nod and starts to de board the airship.
"Lord Ansager, if you and your acomplice would follow me. We have some things to discuss in my quarters." he calls behind him.
Frey's Quarters
After several minutes of walking from the Hanger Bay and to the living compartments, Frey shuts and lock the door behind him as he gestures to the seats in front of his desk.
"So why in the bloody skies are two CRIES operatives doing out here." he starts as he takes his seat.
-
Frey's quarters
While Emil remained standing up beside the chair, Selenia accepted the offer and sat down.
Crossing his arms on his chest, Emil simply answered:
"It's... complicated."
Selenia then started talking in Emil's place:
"I believe you know that C.R.I.E.S. stands for Corps of Recon and Intelligence Ex-State.
So not only when we're deployed in missions it is always out of the Baronies.
Hell, even when not on mission we must stay as far away as possible from the fjordland!
Except for a few days when every year we must report our discoveries to the HQ.
Our vessel got shot down on our way there.
Nodding in approval, Emil then added:
"Now, as she said, our current objective is to report our discoveries in any and every field to a CRIES royal high ranking officer, but, since it is far renown of your loyalty towards the Baronies, and you work too in an intelligence section, I'll have to give you this"
He said while bringing a little scroll out of a pocket.
Selenia then said, with a serious tone of voice:
"We fully trust that you already know about this organization known as the Birdmen.
This organization was born in Yesha, and then hunted out of it, for the fact that it was causing many troubles.
It's just a rumor going around deep in the underground, but it says that after the Yeshan Civil War, the Birdman have regained power."
Then Emil again added:
"Being the Arashi the natural enemy of Yesha, they know quite something about this sect, as we believe that they have fought against it many times in the past.
Apparently, they have indeed risen again recently,and even
some of our operatives have entered in direct contact with a little number of them while scouting.
We had a 100% casualty rate, so my intelligence section doesn't know much by first hand."
He then redirected the attention to the scroll: it had marks of burns and some little cuts.
"This little scroll had quite an adventure. In here are written the tribal stories that I managed to gather.
I actually don't know what is written exactly in here...
Because most of it is in Arash tribal language.
The last time I asked someone to translate it they tried to shoot me and then pushed my ship into an ambush. So that's also why I was in the middle of nowhere."
"Now, I notice that you are no longer a captain, and you have indeed been promoted, Mr. Frey, and I'd also like to ask what are you doing on the field too."
"Can we join your expedition?" Intromitted Selenia.
Emil facepalmed.
-
Frey's Quarters
"I'm afraid you are confused about my rank," he starts towards Emil, "I never been a Captain, I'm not do for a board promotion for that rank until the end of this annum. As for being in the field in my current state," motioning to his left arm in the sling and right leg in a boot," it was an in the moment desicion. Even my superior, Captain Melin approves of, speaking of which."
Eyeing the scroll, he carefully takes it from Emil and inspects the markings, "I can try to make work on what's on this. If not, I'll have this shipped to Lord's Leap where both our divisions can work on it."
"But as for the League," he continues, "If the Arasi had some conflict with the Birdmen, then I can see how the Guild would open their borders and accept them. Those two factions has been at end with each other, and having an someone who fights against the League is a friend to them."
"Finally about your request, it seems like you had another experience with your partner in another situation. You two would be a benefit to our crew, our last incursion dropped our numbers slightly, plus the both of you have experience out in the field. Which we may need to shape these people."
Placing the scroll back onto the desk, Frey walks around them and towards the door, "I'll let you decide what todo with the scroll, I need to check in with the Bridge to see how to handle our personnel discipline. And do make yourself familiar with the ship and find an extra berthing."
With that Frey leaves his room.
-
Frey's office
After Frey went out of the office, Emil instructed Selenia.
"Very well then, it's time to find our accommodations, Selly, go around the ship, inspect the hangar and see what assets do they have here, of you find somewhere to eat, come and find me.
I 'will' try to reach the gun decks and see what kind of guns are there, this ship looks like an old model, the guns may be too."
"Aye"
Before Emil could start walking, she added:
"Randevous is on the upper observation deck, two hours from now."
"Aye" This time it was Emil that answered.
Fighter launch bay, Hangar
Looking around himself, Emil realised he ended up in the hangar bay.
"Typical."
Then he noticed some light aircrafts in a zone of the hangar.
Emil had always loved planes.
"Well, I got to check that."
Gunnery deck
Selenia looked around herself, and seeing only engineers working on big guns she sighed.
"Typical."
While Emil had more theoretic knowledge about the various guns, she had more practical knowledge and she was in fact the best marksman among the two.
"You are no marksman, you are a markswoman!" She smiled as she remember the obvious joke he made all the time.
The engineers were working like someone was holding them at gun point.
"Someone must have scared them a lot."She thought.
Then, trying not to be noticed by anyone, she went to check one of the unmanned guns.
When she found out that the gun was a heavy flak, the first model produced, the one that had only two shots but had a terribly high armour penetration, she hugged then gun, and then, wrench in hand, she started to see if anything could be done to improve it.
After a while, Emil and Selenia thought of each other, understanding that they both got lost.
Again.
-
Bridge
At the door to the bridge, Alister sees Frey come out of his office and come towards the bridge.
"Ah Commander, perfect timing! I was about to discuss with Ms. Reagan about the crew. Engineering had a small mishap, and power went out in the Galley. A few toes got stepped on, and there was almost a all-out brawl. Mr. Banning and I were able to restore order quickly enough, but a crew that is that ready for a brawl? They need something to divert their energies."
Ulric's Lab
"So, what do you think? Any adverse side effects? Anything that requires monitoring?"
-
Hangar bay
Emil walks a few times around one of the planes located there, then he climbs on a wing and then looks into the cockpit to inspect the controls.
"Yeah, this definitely is an Anvalan inspired design."
"I wonder if I could take it for a fly."
Then he turns to face one of the engineers in the hangar.
"Oi man! Yes, you there! Whose plane is this?"
Gunnery deck
After toying a bit with the heavy flak she found, Selenia spent a bit of time looking at the other engineers, that were doing stuff with other guns, she was not impressed, none of them looked like someone with experience. So she decided to start roaming around the ship, as she had also the feeling that Emil ended up in the the hangar.
Walking quickly she roams trough the ship.
Engineering
"Sorry to bother, what place is this?" She asked, peeking behind a corner.
A surprised swabbie answered surprised: "E-e-engineering."
"It looks like a mess." She commented before going away.
Galley
"Sorry to bother, what place is this?" She asked, peeking behind a corner.
A man that was peeling a potato answered: "Galley."
Selenia's eyes brightened: "Can I have some food?"
"It's not lunch time yet."
"Pretty please!"
The man looked at her for a second, then took an apple and passed it to her.
"Very well, here you go."
"Thanks a lot!" She said while leaving the galley.
On her way out, she saw some people with grumpy faces and behaving like being very annoyed.
Brig
She saw a sign affixed on a door "Brig- restricted area, only allowed personnel can enter".
"Huh, so this is a restricted area." She thought "W Lloyd, this is none of my business, it's Emil's job nosing around."
She then left the brig.
Bridge
"This must certainly be the command bridge." She said to herself as she approached the room.
She looked around, and saw that man, Frey, being approached by a bulky mass of muscles.
Actually, that mass was a man, a very big, awe inspiring man.
She heard him talking to Frey about some crewmen being brawl ready and that they should need something to distract them.
She approached the two talking men, but preferred to not interfere in their conversation, at least not yet.
-
Bridge
Eyeing the young woman coming up to them, Alister realizes she wasn't on the ship before.
"Heard some talk about downed airmen, didn't know we picked them up."
Nodding to the young woman, Alister continues with Frey,
"I can think of a few things that might help. We could put all the swabbies under our capable engineers for field training. I can referee sparing matches if anyone is interested. We could also hold marksmanship competitions. The crew has excess energy, we need to do something with it."
Ulric's Lab
Turning around, Alison realizes that Ulric left, and that she has been conversing with the plushies. Glaring at the skywhale, Alison remarks,
"Well he said I can use his equipment. He also said you help with research."
Going over to the blood sample, Alison begins examining the chemical they extracted.
"Well Mr Plush Skywhale, it appears to be a substance that encourages rapid release of adrenaline in high amounts. Wonder where those icebrains got it, probably from some pre-war tech."
-
Bridge
Opening the door for both of them, Frey allows for Carn to walk in, "I heard about this mishap when I docked. Saw several men looking disgruntled as I walked to my office."
"I was thinking about the same thing about having events to help train the crew and pass the time. We can make space in the Hanger Bay for your training. Maybe make a range ontop of the Weather Deck for shooting." Making suggestion as he is about to head into the space.
Before closing the door, he hears Carn's comment and notices Selenia approaching them.
"We did, as you can tell. I'll inform you about the details later" to Selenia, "I see you are touring the spaces, hopefully your partner is having a decent time as well" , he says while holding the door for her to go through.
Once inside the Bridge, things haven't been busy as several of the team are chatting amongst themselves. Several of them notices the Commander walking in and gives a small nod, which he returns.
"Besides a Galley brawl, seems like a quiet morning." Frey says walking up to Reagan.
Hanger Bay
Courage and the others notice Emil enter their space of the Hanger as he walks around Kei's fighter.
"He seems... interested," Antonio starts.
"Is that the guy you two spotted stranded in the desert?" Asks Farris towards Davis and Antonio.
The group heads a metallic thud as Emil starts to climb onto the plane.
"I don't know who he is but if he breaks anything on that bird" Marie says in a low growl as she eyes the man, "Took almost the whole morning replaced by the armor. "
"Oi man! Yes, you there! Whose plane is this?", Emil yells to one of the many in the space.
"it's mine," Kei calls out and walks toward her craft, "And you are?" She asks stoping in front of the propeller.
-
Bridge
Selenia pointed for a few seconds at Carn, her face showing her struggle to remember something.
Then she exclaimed:
"AH! I think I know who you are! You should be that mercenary that wherever he goes beats up everyone in the taverns!
...
I... Don't remember your name!
Oh, well, nice to meet you, I'm Selenia."
She looked around her for a second, then remembered something else.
"I heard about your insubordination problem with the crewmen. My partner told me about some methods used in the Baronial army:One is that they get a ton of extra work to do for a while. The other is that they get to sword fight each other, and their opponents usually are expert swordsman, so they get a beating to learn the lesson.
I'd personally opt right now for a sword fight tournament, maybe it could raise their morale."
Hanger Bay
"I, am Emil Ansager, Lord of the Baronies, Champion and Protector of Cainhurst, master swordsman.
..."
Kei was looking at him with a unimpressed look.
"I'm just an eccentric nobleman who likes to wander in these gods forsaken lands.
I saw this air fighter, and I am impressed by it, as it is a very rare event to see outside of Anvala such a plane design!"
Then he patted in the cockpit.
"Is there any spare plane that I could take for a ride?"
-
Bridge
Raising an eyebrow at the remark about beating people up in Taverns, Alister elaborates,
"I never start the tavern fights, however I do frequent pit-fights, and do have a reputation for winning in them."
Continuing on Alister explains his idea,
"Sword fighting would not be optimal. We don't have many trained soldiers here, and no blunted blades. I can referee sparing matches, give the lads some pointers, make sure they keep it friendly. I can poach gauze wrap from the medbay for makeshift gloves."
Alister shifts a bit, testing his injured leg. Wincing slightly, he confirms that he should not spar just yet.
"I can fight if needed, but I won't be sparing myself until my legs seals up a bit more. You have no idea what will spew out of Alison's mouth if I tear it open."
Hangar Bay
"Hey did he say,"
"Eccentric Baronies nobleman?"
James and John quickly asses the man, gauging whether or not they are at all related.
-
--Engineering--
Crowe and Lorena watched the strange woman leave their station with confused looks on their face.
"Skies was that about." Lorena just stared at the bulkhead she had exited through. It had been a bizarre moment in a sea of bizarre moments that she affectionately called My Entire Life as Written by Lorena Margret Henley.
Crowe shook his head, "I've encountered my fair share of strange people aboard airships. Airmen and woman tend to be the strangest people you'll ever meet."
"Don't we know it." She shifted her spanner and tightened an interlocking seal on a segment of piping. "Think that worked?"
Crowe checked panel next to the pipes, eying the gauges as they... didn't change whatsoever. Crowe sighed, "Really hoping we can find the issue here in engineering." He stroked his beard in thought. "What haven't we checked?"
Lorena pulled her engineering notebook and flipped to the marked page. "We've just checked the water intakes from the condensers top deck, doesn't appear to be an overflow issue so we can rule out the reservoir as well. Could be an issue with waste disposal and composting, lots of food scraps gumming up the system at a key junction..."
Her voice trailed off as she thought about the implications. The system would not backup, it was designed to prevent material from returning to it's origin point, and it was a well designed system as well, but with the events of last night it's possible something had gotten into the system and causing issues all over the ship. She was really wishing Hank was here, with her arrival the actual experienced members of engineering decided to split up and deal with the issues the ship was facing, Hank was leading the rest of her team in assisting with the last of the major damage over in the hanger while the others were dealing with damage around engineering. Leaving Crowe and her to deal with whatever issue cropped up during normal ship operations.
Crowe sighed and pulled out a pair of long rubber work gloves and put them on, then he pulled out a second pair and held them out to her.
"Work gloves?"
She took them from him and began putting them on. "Work gloves."
--Hanger Bay--
While the group was standing around and either chatting or eating, they had all failed to notice the small device that was sitting in Antonio's lap. Then it suddenly beeped, on queue it released a white cloud of foam that snaked its way up to envelop the sandwich in his hand. Antonio simply stared at it blankly before a look of despair came over him.
"Oh, my sandwich."
The rest of the group promptly burst into laughter, Marie simply rolling her eyes and Kei giving a light chuckle at the expense of her colleague.
Eventually they all quieted down, moving to tasks in their general area, Davis was busy rearranging tools in the various toolboxes while Kei was talking to Courage and... the woman who seemed to look at Antonio, Farris, and He with annoyed glances. That was until a rather unusual figure entered their maintenance bay and began circling about the craft under maintenance before settling on Kei's.
"He seems... interested," Antonio starts.
"Is that the guy you two spotted stranded in the desert?" Asks Farris towards Davis and Antonio.
"Well it's one of them." Antonio sighed, arms crossed.
They all heard a metallic thud, heads turning as Emil started climbing onto the plane.
"I don't know who he is but if he breaks anything on that bird" Marie says in a low growl as she eyes the man, "Took almost the whole morning replaced by the armor. "
"Oi man! Yes, you there! Whose plane is this?", Emil yells to one of the many in the space.
"It's mine," Kei calls out and walks toward her craft, "And you are?" She asks stopping in front of the propeller.
"I, am Emil Ansager, Lord of the Baronies, Champion and Protector of Cainhurst, master swordsman..."
Kei gave him an incredibly unimpressed look, one Davis echoed from his spot next Farris and Antonio.
"I'm just an eccentric nobleman who likes to wander in these gods forsaken lands. I saw this air fighter, and I am impressed by it, as it is a very rare event to see outside of Anvala such a plane design!"
Then he patted in the cockpit.
"Is there any spare plane that I could take for a ride?"
Davis really wanted to sigh, Please go away. He pointed off to the far corner to the rather convenient 5th craft they had on hand, well, technically it was the 6th but no one dared touch the Seeker at this time.
"Hey did he say,"
"Eccentric Baronies nobleman?"
Davis stopped to stare at the twins and Davis decided that, no, he would not be surprised if the three of them were somehow related.
--Bridge--
Reagan Herself ignored the exchange between the three but offered her greetings anyway.
"Frey, Carn." She nodded at the two of them before addressing the newcomer.
"And I suppose you're one of our guests." She gave her a light bow, "Captain Morgan, at your service."
--Somewhere on the Ship--
Amelia and Juliet ended up wandering the ship together, running into Mr. Crowe and Lorena who looked as if something had burned down the ship, resigned to their fate and rather annoyed at that, the two of them said hello before storming off with a map of the ship's plumbing systems.
"So Amelia," eventually in their explorations Belle decided to voice an idea, pointing at the two weapons the younger (comparitively) woman had on her person, the carbine slung across her back and the smg which down at her side. Honestly Belle had to admit, the girl was kind of adorable with that look, squid thing not withstanding, compensating for her rather feminine features with weaponry that wouldn't look out of place in the middle of the various border skirmishes the numerous factions often got into.
"Yes Ms. Belle?" She tilted her to the side as the two of them rounded a corner.
"You want to go shoot something on top deck?"
Amelia stopped to think for a second. "Alright."
-
Bridge
" 'Tis a shame you can't fight yet, my partner would love surely to take part in a sparring event spar , he is quite proficient with swords.
Are you by any chance an Anglean?"
Selenia heard Captain Morgan bowing and talking to her.
"Captain Morgan, at your service."
She quickly bowed back to Morgan.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance Ms. Morgan, I am Selenia."
She replied while smiling friendly.
Hangar bay
While waiting for an answer from the serious looking pilot, Emil notices in the distance two men looking at him, they are identical in every aspect.
"Where did I already see those two...?" He thought, almost mirroring the questioning face the two men have.
*snif*
Smelling something in the air he then thought while grinning for a second.
"If I find whoever is around here with a hot sandwich, I going to bite their hands off." He thought
-
Bridge
In a dry tone, dripping with sarcasm, Alister answers Selenia.
"What gave it away? The extremely pale skin, or the accent?"
He adds a slight smile at the end to indicate no malice.
"And I was referring to unarmed sparing Ms. Selenia. I don't use swords often, hence why I carry the rather large axe."
Hangar Bay
"These guys,"
"Are good. Think we should,"
"Not with Alister and Alison aboard."
".....Good point, they'd know,"
"And they'd personally handle us."
The twins turn an odd shade of pale green.
"Allison's cooking,"
"Squid harness."
"We restrain ourselves."
"Agreed."
-
Bridge
Selenia reflected for a few seconds about Carn's answer, and then replied:
"Unarmed sparring you say? Well, in that case is better not to involve Emil, he's quite an asshole when unarmed, always aiming low.
Oh, and I presumed you were anglean mostly by thinking "How would this man look like in heavy armour?". Both me and my partner have already met angleans, never unarmed tho, so it's quite a strange event for me to see one without armour, and that isn't aiming a gun at me."
She then looked on a wall, towards a wall clock.
"My my, look at the time! Goodbye mister, I got to save the sanity of my partner!"
Then she ran off towards the hangar, as she strongly suspected that Emil was still there.
Hangar bay
He noticed the two men leaving.
The pilot was still coldly looking at him.
Emil in general was quite a gentleman, but that look she was giving him was extremely annoying.
While in fact when Selenia was around him he was almost perpetually in a good mood, when left alone he could be extremely lunatic.
"Then? I am still waiting for an answer."
His tone was getting very lordly and annoyed.
"Kindly."
He added.
He put a hand inside his duster, the other holding to a side pocket.
-
Hanger Bay
Still looking at Emil, Kei calls out behind to her mechanic, "Marie, how many of the launch bays did the engineering crew fixed from the battle?"
Looking over to the middle of their section, Marie notices that two of the bays are clear, while one is still damaged and the last one being finished at the moment.
"We got two up right now. A third being brought back to service in a few moments. Why do you ask?"
Walking towards her craft, she motions to Marie who comes forward, "Get Ansager here a suit and ready the fifth plane. I'll be loading mine into one of the bays."
With a sigh, Marie acknowledges the pilot and heads into the break room to the spare lockers.
In front of her plane, Kei says to Emil, "Well, it looks like you are going out. Now if you excuse me."
Getting on the wing, she walks around the Baron and opens the cockpit. Sitting in the seat, she goes over her controls before yelling to Farris, "You better get your bird ready as well. Still need to test it out."
With everything in order, Kei hops out and motions for help to get her plane into position.
"Looks like you are going out with the new guy," comments Courage as he walks towards Farris's plane.
"Don't remind me," he groans, "Hey where are you going?" after spotting the man.
"You heard Kei, preparing you plane. Sheesh you have a hearing problem as well?"
Rolling his eyes, Farris follows behind Courage who is already having fuel and ammo being loaded into the craft. Once topped off, they manuver their plane into the adjacent bay right next to Kei's who is all hooked up to the crane. Soon red warning lights and an alarm comes in as the floor underneath the first plane opens and the crane lowers the craft dropping it.
"She's out. Now hope you have a fun flight." Cpurage says to Farris as he enters the seat.
"Yeah yeah, just hook me up."
As Courage latches the hook on, Marie comes back from the break room with another flight suit and walks towards Emil.
"Here, you can get changed over in the break room," pointing to the space foward of the compartment," once you come out we'll have it ready."
Once Farris have been launched, Courage return back to Davis and Antonio. Wiping his brow, he sees the rest of the team move the third plane.
"So, when was the last time you guys shot a rifle? I'm going to practice on the Weather Deck, want to give it a go?
Bridge
1200
From his post, the navigator looks down on his map and out of the ship and notices a lake coming into view. Turning around in his chair he informs the three, "Looks like we just reached Truth Lake. From our current course and speed, we could reach Albys by the end of the day."
"Thank you Mr. Martin." says Frey. To Reagan, "Looks like we are moving along on schedule. But I do believe that this should put the crew's mind elsewhere until then."
"Umm Sirs and Ma'am," starts Martin, "You want to see this."
Intrigued, Frey walks towards the navigator and looks out of the window. There he notices a burning wreckage on the sand dunes just north of the lake.
"Looks fresh, might be Lord Ansager's vessel. Mr. Allen"
"Yes Commander."
"Infrom either Kasparov or Culvin to retrieve anything of value on that wreck."
"Will do." the man answers before dialing in the two escorts.
Crimsom Dragoon
"I understand," says Alexi on his radio, "Culvin and I will inspect the vessel."
"Thank you Captain Kasparov" was the final thing Allen says before cuttin out.
"So you heard all that right? Cause I'm not repeating that again." the older Guild man says to his partner."
"Yes, yes. Go down and check it out. It seems like some people underestimate my intellect."
Rolling his eyes, Alexi guns the throttles on his Galleon and slowly picks up speed to catch up to theJunker who is already ahead.
-
Bridge
Pulling out a spyglass, Alister zooms in on the wreckage.
"There appears to be people scuttling around in the wreckage. Possibly the one who downed them. Radio Alexi and Culvin to arm their men."
-
Hangar launch bays
Emil, with an eye twitching and a hand still in the coat, starts walking towards the change room.
Like a white glint, a figure dashes trough the room, reaches Emil from behind and supplex him.
With a thud, Emil head and shoulders impact on the ground, finally taking out of the coat his hand.
"You seriously need to be more relaxed when I'm not around."
I was actually Selenia who supplexed him.
"Ugh. Just. Let. Me. Go."
"What are going to do now?"
"Change in a pilot suit and take a plane out for a try."
"Take care."
In a few minutes Emil takes off his whole suit of bulletproof armour, and wear a pilot suit.
After coming out of the change room he directly goes for the aircraft that had been assigned to him, opens the cockpit and gets in.
That plane was clearly anvalan: various, yet intuitive, indicators were everywhere, the cockpit granted a quite large field of view, yet it wasn't too much exposed.
The radio system wasn't difficult to find either.
"Bridge, Lord Ansager here, aircraft 5 is ready to take off and waiting for permission."
He readied the craft's engine and the take-off catapult.
"Roger... ehm..." Chatter could be heard on the bridge, surely the operator was informing himself about who this man was. "..Lord Ansager, you are clear to take off."
"Taking off."
Engine roaring, the craft was shot in the air.
Quickly doing a low yo-yo to gain speed, Emil then flew straight for a few seconds, and then started climbing, trying to retain as much energy as he could.
He heard the chatter on the bridge radio about a shipwreck.
"Have we come near the wreckage of my Barricade?"
"Uh, yes, and there are scavengers around it."
"Nobody. Touches. My. Ship." He thought angrily.
"Does this craft any weapons?"
-
--Bridge--
"And our lives get that much more difficult." Reagan sighed.
"Helm, rig for flank speed, Mr. Allen get on the line to engineering, have them give everything they've got. Perhaps we can scare them off." She reached for the other transmitter. "Lord Ansager, be advised we're unsure what else the scavengers have in the area, take care." She switched frequencies to the Hanger Bay, "Hanger bay, do me a favor and make sure he doesn't get himself killed, launch scouts."
"Scouts already launching ma'am."
"Oh, well that's ok then."
--Hanger Bay--
The hanger tech, Hank, Davis had to remind himself, walked up to them from the intercomm.
"Let me guess, we're going up?"
Hank shrugged, "Yeah, try not to let the lordling get himself killed."
"Figured, come on Antonio." He turned to Courage, "Guess we'll join you up there later, save a few targets for me."
Moments later the two of them dropped out of the launch bays, pulling up to join with Kei and Farris, Lordling was nowhere to be seen but his instincts told him that the receding speck was him. Kei formed up on his left wing while Farris and Antonio took position on his right.
"Alright, so, our job, keep him from getting himself killed. I have a rifle and I had the engineers rig up some water skis, I'll land in the lake and pick off the scavengers. Kei watch my back and keep whatever they have away from me. Farris, Antonio, you'll be our first line of defense, if they come out to play I need you to engage, don't need to take all of them down, if there are any, but I have no doubt it'll be much issue for you two. Alright, let's get-" A rather loud sound came from nearby, they all turned their heads to watch as the engines on the Shadow began straining, they watched as it's speed increased as it charged straight ahead.
"Well, guess we should get moving."
-
Fighter craft 5
"The ships that followed us were a couple of Goldfish class ships, both with using a disabile-strip-kill setup, both with a hwacha and two gatlings." Said Emil to the radio.
"Thier gunners were really good against a ship roughly the size of a galleon, now I want to see how they behave against a fighter craft."
"Current altitude 2000m. Beginning attack manoeuvre."
The craft points its nose down towards the water, reaching a greater speed, then raising the nose to 0 degrees when he is a few dozens of meters from the water level.
Flying low, he brings himself behind the Goldfish.
When he is a few hundreds meters far he opens fire.
The machine guns crackle as dozens of bullets are shot.
Many reach the intended target: the engines.
An engine simply explodes, another starts smoking and the propeller from the last one just falls off.
He then aborts his strafing run by pulling up the craft, using the energy and the speed it had accumulated during the dive to regain as much altitude as he could before reaching critical speed.
Before reaching stall speed, he levels the plane.
"I remember being chased by TWO Goldfish, here's only one, the other may have gone away to report my felling to their masters."
"Gods bless Anvala, sure this planes are a joy to drive."
He then notices that the plane is not even and it's slightly pending to the left.
Looking around him, he notices the he got some holes on the left wings.
"Uh, apparently their gunners know quite well their jobs."
He knew his job too, only that years had passed since he actually piloted an airfighter.
He had to get an airship because those past years the climate in his field of operation got very harsh and he needed something sturdier than a plane.
And then he also met Selenia.
"Well, I lost the element of surprise, I'm waiting for backup."
-
--Eagle Squadron--
"Ok, you know that horrible idea of a plan I had? Yeah that's being scrapped, riiiiiiiiiight, now!"
Kei watched a Davis dove towards the rising Goldfish and went in after him. Honestly, he's almost bad as he is... Kei had to admit to loosing sight of their objective before spotting him hanging back in the clouds, smoke trailing behind. These guys...
"Davis..."
"Kei, no time, ready rockets and fire on my command." She formed up on his wing, two birds screaming as they descended from on high. The call of their engines altered the vessels crew before the two of them were in sight, gatling fire peppered the approach yet with their immense speed their gunners were unable to track them effectively, spent rounds glanced off their armor or missed entirely.
"Davis?!" What is he thinking!?
"Steady!"
The two of them soared past the ascending vessel, closer and closer the water's surface loomed as their dive continued, Davis pulled hard and Kei followed, pulling hard on the stick she strained to keep her craft straight as the two of them leveled out over the lake, their propellers raising a trail of water behind them. Davis rounded back and Kei mirrored him, the two of them crossing as they pulled into a steep climb beneath the vessel, it's lightly armored keel before them as they rose to meet it.
"Oh hey you remember those rockets? FIRE!"
She immediately complied, loosing four rockets as Davis challenged the vessel with his cannons, armored rounds piercing the vessel's vulnerable underbelly, shredding components and punching large holes in the vessel's deck. Her rockets followed moments after, finding purchase within the vessel's hull the goldfish shuddered before it burst apart in flames, it's balloon, freed of it's weight ascended further into the sky before disappearing out of sight.
"Alright I've decided, Kei and Davis are complete show offs. Couldn't have left something for us could ya?," Antonio's voice was replaced by Farris.
"Antonio, what am I going to do with you?
"Buy me a drink is what."
Both wings formed up again Kei on Davis' right with Antonio and Farris on his left.
"Hey, uh, boss man?" Antonio broke the moments silence.
"Yeah Antonio?"
"Tail's smoking."
"Wait, are you-"
Kei turned her head towards Davis' tail, sure enough several holes punctured the rear of the craft's fuselage, vertical and horizontal stabilizers were dented and sluggish when he tested them.
"OH COME ON!"
All three wingmen watched his cockpit in amusement, his fragmented resentment at the situation over the radio reflected beautifully as he waved his arms at his tail, his confusion at when he his craft had been lamed and his failure to notice. Kei also wondered, confused at how she could have missed it seeing as he flew lead the entire time.
--Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
"Hostile vessel destroyed Captain."
Reagan let out a relieved breath, quick and easy, just how she liked it. She took out her own spy glass as she scanned the skies.
"Any sign of the other vessel Mr. Allen?"
"Negative, no other vessels in the area." She sighed.
"Right, stand us down from combat stations, have the crew on deck keep an eye out, they could be lurking nearby."
"Aye Captain, relaying orders."
-
Fighter craft 5
"Ansager returning to base."
Doing a spiralling descent, he tried to reduce his speed as much as he could.
Then, cutting the throttle to 50% he pointed towards the hanger bays.
On the radio, it could be heard Emil uuuhing for several seconds.
"I may need some instructions about how to land this thing.
I was used to land on airfields, an this is no airfield."
-
--Eagle Squadron--
Davis sighed, Davis sighed really hard. He took up his radio and keyed the other craft as he pulled up on his wing.
"Right, ok... We're going to do a thing, form up on my wing and I'll walk you through it." Davis waited until the two of them were next to each other before he began giving instructions, "Right, reduce your airspeed to 1/8 as you near the underside of the ship, then look to your dash, you'll see a button labeled LHOOK, press that and look above your cockpit." He pointed to the loop of metal atop his craft. "You'll need to land that onto the hook they'll lower from the launch bay. At 1/8 speed it should be easy... ish. J-Just watch me do it."
He flew ahead to one of the few bays beneath their vessel, red and green lights directing him to his designated bay, hook deployed he circled about before going for it, speed rapidly dropping as he neared, eventually he the straining of metal as the hook caught the loop. Letting out a relieved breath he shut off his engine and stowed his wings before the crane lifted him back into the heart of the ship. Once safely in the landing bay he opened his cockpit and hopped out as the hanger crews transported his craft back to their maintenance bay. He pulled up a nearby box and sat, waiting for everyone else to finally get back.
-
Fighter craft 5
"Roger that."
Mirroring Davis' moves as much as he could, Emil directs his plane towards his designated bay.
He ends up being too slow and pending on the left side.
Emil turns left, looking to his wing that was hit.
"Damn you!" He waves his fist.
He was about to reach stall speed.
"Flak it."
Giving a boost to the engine he sends it at full speed to quickly close the distance between his craft's landing hook and the ships' one.
*clang*
The hook gets attached.
Immediately after he cuts power to the engine, while his plane is dangling.
As the craft is raised into its bay he says:
"For being the first time landing like that, I say it was good."
He then climbs out of the cockpit and sits near the plane, looking at it.
He then pats it on the side.
"Good boy."
-
Gunnery Deck, Port Battery
After hearing the order for the scouts to mobilise, Courage hurries up to the Gunnery Deck and ready the main guns. On his way the cooridors are filled with crew running to their stations with several running with him to the Port Battery. Once on station, the maintenance team has already loaded and place the guns into their firing positions where Courage hops into the front most Hawacha.
"Not another dull moment is it?" says a voice behind.
Turning, Courage recognises that it was Theodore Cutler bringing up a cart of rockets.
"Never is, " he replies as he turns back to get a glimpse of the skirmish.
Due to the angle of the gun and how massive the ship is, there is no way in telling what's happening in front of him unless the transport turns to starboard. After several minutes, a call over the PA systems orders e crew to stand down the Gunnery Deck and place a watch team topside. Sighing, Courage pull a lever by the side of his seat which reposition the turrent back inside the vessel and closes its hatch. With the help of Theodore, the pair unloads the Hawacha. With the last casing removed, Theodore carts the munitions away as Courage heads towards his him.
"Hey meet me up on the Weather Deck once you are down with that." he calls back.
"Where are you going?"
"Just getting a few things... Just get a team and meet me there."
With a shrug, Cutler continues on his way to store the cart and begins to muster their watch team from last night.
Renard/Courage's Quarters
Entering his shared space, Courage notices that his roommate haven't returned.
Man, he must have gotten hit good, he thinks to himself before going to his locker.
Opening, he retrieves his carbine and straps on the ammo belt across his waist. On his weapon, Courage also retrieves the scope for it and attaches it on the left side of the receiver. Sastisfies, he loads in one of the magazines and heads out to the Weather Deck.
Fifth Season
"Skies are clear at the moment, but proceed with caution to the wreck" comes the order from Allen to both escorts.
After the destruction of the Goldfish, both crews on the Galleon and Junker are on alert with their ships weaponry at the ready.
"That was quite a show. Thank goodness they are on our side," pipes Ulric to Alexi.
"Yeah, but keep your head up. Remember we are in the dunes, the sands always change and nothing is as expected."
Still going their speed and coarse, the pair arrives over the wreck. From their position, they notice that the hull is split in two and that some of the pieces are in the lake itself.
"Hmmm," Ulric goes while pondering the situation. Grabbing the radio he tunes in to the Bridge, "Shadow, we are over the wreck. So far the coast is clear and are landing to investigate."
"Copy Mr. Culvin. We are approaching the position as well."
Looking over his shoulder, he sees the transport flying at almost its maximum speed towards the two. Nodding, he switches channels back to Alexi.
"Think you can handle the wreck on the coast? My ship is equipped to make water landings for I'll check the lake."
"Sounds like a plane." was the response.
The pair breaks off where the Galleon slowly descends to the ground bellow. Ulric does the same but over the body of water where he pulls a lever next to his helm where two two long balloons inflate on either side of his lower hull. By the main engine, a rudder is lowered as cogs and pipes start to connect it to the helm.
"If you guys are still below deck, come up. Gonna be wet soon." he says to his crew.
Soon the Junker touches down, and with the inflated pontoons, float right on the surface of the water. Making sure all systems are responding properly, Ulric starts deflating his main balloon and securing both turning engines.
The crew stands perplexed as how an airship transformed into what is essentially now a boat. Seeing their confusion, Ulric manuvers the craft towards the floating wreck and calls to them, "Perks of being a researcher on an island."
Hanger Bay
Once all the planes have been retrieved, Marie and several others on the maintenance team goes up to the five planes sitting idle. Face palming, she notices the damage on two of the planes.
"We just fixed one this morning and already the spare is damaged." she mutters under her breath.
-
Bridge
"I'll prepare my Squid to launch. I'll maintain a high altitude circle over the wreck, and keep the swabbies on lookout. After we're done, I'll swap with Alexi."
Turning around to leave the bridge, Alister makes his way to the hangar bay.
Hangar Bay
Walking up to the Kibeth, Alister surveys her state.
Not to bad, hull integrity is sound and armor is patched. Wish I had time to prep her with more bombs, but the decrease in weight should increase my speed.
Climbing aboard, he looks around for idle crew members, spying a cluster he calls out.
"Going out in five minutes! Any of you been on a Squid before?"
Roughly a half dozen hands go up. The owners of all but one, looking rather green. The remaining one happened to be the engineer who took the helm before. Mentally sighing, Alister signals him, and two others to join him.
I really have to get his name. He seems to be one of the few who has any idea of what to do.
-
Hanger bay
"Mhhh...Uh? What the...?" Emil looked around himself, he found the plane where he left, but he could only recognise the engineers, everybody else seemed to have gone away.
Yawning he looked around.
He found Selenia sitting next to him, checking, disassembling and then reassembling an SMG of hers.
"Oh, you are awake! I never thought you of being capable of taking a short nap."
Emil answer is largely incomprehensible and uuhed.
"I mean, you either don't sleep at all or you sleep like you are dead."
The uuhing continues.
"Your flying looked a bit rusty."
That comment totally woke up Emil.
"Oooh! Excuse meee! Sorry I didn't live up to your expectations Ms. Ace-fighter-pilot!"
"That's more like you now.
You wants to eat something?"
Emil tilts his head and grins.
"You found the galley?"
"Yeah, and it's almost official lunch time."
"Good, very good."
"You know, you should change out of that suit." Pointing at the pilot suit.
"Willco"
A minute later he comes out of the changing room wearing his usual duster and heavy anti-bullet armour.
"Lead the way dear, I swear that right now I could eat an entire galleon."
-
Engineering:
Striding into engineering looking remarkably refreshed, he takes a look around, suprised that most of the damage is nowhere to be seen. Grabbing a swabbie and dragging him along, he says, surprisingly pleasantly, "So, tell me what needs to be done, and whether anything was damaged in that last attack. I'm raring to go, here."
-
Hangar Bay
"Alright lads, we're going to circle over some wreckage awhile, then begin our shift. Keep your guns loaded, and your spyglasses out."
Pointing to the engineer from before, Alister asks him his name.
"Otto Smith sir."
"Well Mr. Smith, as I know you are capable, you get to main. Keep the mine launcher loaded with lesmok."
Pointing to the other two, Alister tells them their stations.
"You take front, keep greased rounds in the gatling for now. And you take the side, load the banshee with burst. Standard repair kits, aside from Mr. Smith who will be taking buff. Any questions?"
"No sir."
"Nope."
"What are the harnesses for?"
The last question was from the youngest engineer.
"Lad, those are for repelling off the ship. At full speed. While being shot at. Any more questions?"
All these shake their heads.
"Good, set up. I want to be in the skies in less than five minutes."
-
Crimson Dragoon
With a massive thud, the Galleon touches down onto the level ground just a few meters from the wreck. The crackeling of a fire is heard and any semblance of the craft is mangled as metal is strew everywhere.
Going down the stairs to the compartment directly below, Alexi stands in front of a wall
Inked with lockers and starts to open two. Coming from the gun deck, his crew stands idle waiting for orders. What they didn't expect was to be thrown a rifle by Alexi as pulls them out to all three. Same with a backpack and ammo belt to the three, he grabs the same armament and equipment before closing the metal container.
"Alright," Alexi says while turning around and unbolting the rifle. Loading a clip, he returns the bolt back to its original position and starts down the stairwell, "Let's go, we are burning time."
Dropping a rope ladder down the aft end of the ship near the turning engines, the four climbs down quickly and is soon by the wreck in 15 minutes.
Grabbing his portable radio, Alexi calls in on all frequencies to conduct the search, "Kasparov here, my men and I are at the land wreck. Anything of value that I should find?"
"I agree.", comes Ulric, "I made my way to my portion and it looks like some of it is underwater. I'm suiting up to dive in."
Eagle's Shadow, Bridge
"Umm hmm, wait one." came Allen's reply.
Turning his chair around, the faces both Reagan and Frey, "Sir, what are we finding?" to the Commander.
"Have all scouts been retrieved?" Frey asks.
"Yes just a few moments ago."
"Make a call to have Lord Ansager to come to the Bridge, he'll should know."
"Roger," giving a small salute and turning back to man the PA system ,"Lord Ansager, you are needed at the Bridge. I repeat, Lord Ansager, you are needed at the Bridge."
Weather Deck
Finally having everything situated, Courage arrives topside to find his team all on the starboard most forward end of the transport. Curious, he makes his way to the small crowd and see what they were staring at. The Transport turned slightly to port to make the starboard guns ready to cover the ground team as they have a wide view of the area.
"Looks like you made it on time," says Theodore who finally notices the man.
"Yeah...anyone has a spyglass?" he requested.
Brig
After much deliberation between his three other raider compatriots, the one next to Jsaper's cell agrees to join and help escape.
"Goodie, we must wait for the right time..."
Jasper stops mid sentence as it looks like he is trying to feel something. The four others notices it as well and are about to asks but is cutoff by a hand. Placing his other hand to the bulkhead, Jasper listens tentatively by placing his ear onto the metal. Feeling no vibrations, his eyes goes wide with joy.
Grinning, he looks at his new partners, "It maybe time yet." finishing with a grin.
-
Galley
"Lord Ansager, you are needed to the bridge. I repeat, Lord Ansager you are needed to the bridge."
While munching a piece of meat Emil turns to face Selenia.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"Maybe they want to ask about the wreckage of the Hammer."
"Uh, right, the ship. Well, I should get on my way..."
He starts walking, then stops on its track.
"Do you know where is the bridge?"
"Yeah, follow me."
Bridge
"Lord Ansager reporting. What am I needed for?"
-
--Weather Deck--
"Ms. Belle?"
"Yeah?" Janet swept her hair back again, the wind blowing it into her face every so often. Amelia, with her bun, didn't have this issue.
"How is it that things would end up this way?" Amelia set her carbine against her shoulder as the two of them leaned against the ship's railing. Both of them adjusting their coats as the wind picked up again.
"What the watch duty?" She reached inside her coat and pulled out a cigarette, "No idea."
Silence fell between the two of them as she lit up, blowing a puff of smoke that dissipated shortly afterward.
"Hey Amy?"
"Amelia Ms. Belle."
"Well Amy, did you see that?" Amelia turned to see her companion staring intently out into the distance.
"Ms. Belle?" Amelia tried staring into the distance but saw nothing but the endless expanse of sandy terrain.
"Ms. Belle, what do you see? Janet?"
"Amy, do you see it?"
Amelia raised an eyebrow. "What am I searching for?"
"Well, it's just that..." Janet turned to her, "I see something out there, and it begins with s."
--Engineering--
Marcus Graham was having an interesting day, since he woke up he had been terrified by the head of engineering, the incredibly muscular and bearded James Crowe. Since then he had been creeped out by a strange women who came as soon as she went, which was very he reminded himself. Being dragged about by another engineer who seemed to know his stuff? Wasn't half as weird as the other stuff.
"Well, nothing was scratched during the last 'battle,'" he did air quotes with fingers, "if you could even call that a battle, word going around the ship is our scouts are a bunch of showy badasses, no idea though, haven't seen them fly." The two of them continued through engineering, him reading off the points of prominent strain on the system.
"Captain had us at full power for a bit, some of that strain caused a few minor ruptures, some areas are still being worked on from last night."
He closed the notebook, "Other than that, since 'Our Lady of Engineering' has awoken things have been going pretty smoothly, not to say things didn't previously... but... well... ya know, swabbies being swabbies..." That was when he and Gaige spotted Crowe and Tucker standing before the furnace, two pairs of gloves on a shovel poised at it's entrance.
"Any last words Lorena?" Crowe looked at the gloves solemnly.
Lorena, hand over heart, furnace light reflecting off her skin, looked at the gloves. "They did their duty to the last. Toss em." The two of them chucked them into the furnace and shut the door.
--Bridge--
Reagan maneuvered the Shadow into a holding position high above the wreckage of the vessel. She had decided to let their escorts deal with salvaging the vessel while the Shadow remained alert. Someone had to after all. With their vessel at a stand still she could feel the slight sway as the wind buffeted the vessel. A vessel of this size wouldn't be affected all that much but it was one of the telling signs they were still in the air, as much as they had to worry about that at this moment.
Lord Ansager entered through the bridge door, his traveling companion having returned with him, thankfully he didn't seem all that much worse for wear. Something she could be thankful for, it would probably be a mess of paperwork if something happened to him. She gave the two of them a slight nod as she continued about her duties.
-
Bridge
"Ahh greetings you two," Frey acknowledges as Emil and Selenia enters the Bridge, "As you already know we are above your wreck and currently searching it. Is there anything of value that is worth retrieving?"
Weather Bay
As Courage eyes both teams on the ground, he can't help but overhear a conversation a few feet from his position. Turning he sees both Amelia and another female, most likely someone who worked for the Bridge.
"I see something out there, and it begins with s," the female says.
Tilting his head with a huff, he eyes the pair, "Really?"
-
Bridge
While playing with his moustache, Emil thinks, while blankly staring at a wall.
''Worth retrieving eh? Well, there are some heavily modified Typhoon flaks, mhhhh, a couple of guided missile launchers, the Heyokas.
If it's still intact and retrievable, the prow armour could be useful, it's quite sturdy, if one wanted they could ram in the face a pyramidion and come out as the winner...
Am I forgetting anything Selly?''
''My stash.''
''Oh, yeah right, under the prow armour there was a little space where roughly two dozens of guns have been stored by Selenia, some are LMGs, others are SMGs, but mostly SMGs.''
Selenia leans her head on Emil's shoulder with a thinking expression.
''We had some crates with every component needed to build some Apollo Guns, but I'm almost totally sure the lenses necessary to make the ray gun were destroyed during the crash.''
Putting a hand on his face Emil groans.
''I had a bottle full of that anvalan brew! No! What a waste!''
Crossing her hands on her chest, Selenia shrugs.
''Nah, Mr. Frey, don't mind that, he had two crates full of bottles and he only used them in stead of lochnagar rounds.''
''They were even better than loch rounds!''
''In any case, my weapon stash, the prow armour, the Heyokas and the Typhoons are the only thigns worth recovering.''
''MY BREW!''
''Shut up already! You never even take a sip of that!''
''You got a point.''
-
Bridge
"That's quite a list," Frey says with a cock of an eyebrow, "Mr. Allen report that through both escorts."
"Roger Commander, " says the older gentleman as he turns back to his station.
Back to Emil, Frey with slight emphasis in his voice, "Is there anything else document-wise persay? One that can help with our surveying mission."
Fifth Season
"Oh boy." was the only words Ulric responds to Allen.
Currently he and his crew are near the bow of the Junker towards the entrance to the lower half of the ship which is underwater. The three helps Ulric into a diving suit and was about to place the helmet with the air hose on when the call came in.
"Hopefully I don't have the bow, there is no way we are getting those flak and armor up." he says to his crew.
Locking in the help with the suit, Ulric turns a knob and air comes through the hose. Taking a breath, he turns another dial connecting to the radio.
"Ok, if I find anything, I'll call and the three of you get the crane ready that is over the front gun."
With quick nods from the crew, Ulric takes a step over the side and into the lake. If a person were to go swimming normally on the surface, with Truth Lake's location in a desert, the temperature will be cool to the touch as soone as you get in. Not being too hot or cold, it's an ideal swimming location for many travellers. Diving deeper is where it's different, the deeper you go, the colder it gets and may be dangerous for a human without proper insulation suits to protect you. Fortunately for Ulric, his suit is designed for extended amount of time in any temperature of water and soon he finds himself at the stern section of the wreck.
Walking around the bottom, he notices the lack of heavy guns and several crates scattered. On deck there seems to be a light weapon of some sorts which he deduced was the missile launcher. Pulling out a wrench from a pocket, Ulric begins to unlatch the few guns. As he is doing this, he switches on the radio to his ship.
"Looks like I found several things. Right now I'm removing some light guns, bring down the crane so I can attach them"
After ten minutes has passed, the first Heyoka has be released and the craned lowered. Slinging the hook around the gun, Ulric notify to have it brought up. Over an hour has passed to complete the entire operation of bringing the crates and guns.
Crimson Dragoon
Arriving to the scene, the crew notices the amount of damaged. Metal debris is scattered and a heavy flak is destroyed beyond repair. Looking at the front, several panel armor still look decent making them salvageable.
"Alright, open your bags. We should have some torches in there. Two of you get what ever armor you can cut out. The last will go with me and get that flak. I need two to go back with me once we are done to the ship so we can lift the material onto the deck."
-
Bridge
Emil starts uuhing with a worried face.
Selenia interrups his uuhing:
''There was a safe in the lower section of the ship, I believe it is still intact, in it there are several documents regarding weather patterns in the souther regions, also, there are others regarding the favourite airways taken by Arashi raiders and by Guild patrols.''
She then sighs.
''Unfortunatley, the key of the safe, which Emil entrusted to me, was lost during the engagement, also, the patrol schedule of the Guild ships are considered extremely illegal.''
Shrugging she adds.
''It's your choice whether you will use them or not, but in any case you will need either the most precise demo-man in the world, or a very skilled lock-picker to open that safe.''
With a sarcastical tone then Emil says:
''Oh, and don't mind the fact that it's also surrounded by strongboxes filled with HE rockets! Ten goofy people out of ten don't say anything about it.''
Assuming an extremely serious face the he adds:
''Because they are all dead. So, were I in your place, I'd say leave that thing alone, because nobody wants to be shredded by tens of kilos of rockets. I had to pay for the damage dealt ot multiple warehouses on my way here too, so I'd prefer not to take any useless risk: I don't want to have you write multiple letters of condoliances for such a petty situation.''
Selenia was looking with such a surprised look that, with a little of imagination, you could hear her saying:
''That's brutal.''
-
Bridge
Thinking a second Selenia adds:
''Actually, this whole storage area was moved to the stern aromoured section, in order not to explode in case of explosive hits.''
Replying with an accondescent voice Emil says:
'True, too bad that the shots the Hammer recieved hit right in the middle of the ship, severing it in half. I would bet my hand that that section is the one that sunk into than lake deeper than the prow one.'
Still, Crusader class airships are tough nuts to crack, with enough lift one could be able to take it to the surface.''
Now Emil crossed his arms.
''My dear Selenia appears to be in favour of such operation, but I, unless you find a volunteer crazy enough, would not recommend such an action.''
-
Engineering:
"Smashing! I have something to distract me from the fact that I missed a lot of action. Would you please lead me to the trouble spots? Two pairs of hands would make things go faster, too..."
-
Kibeth
"Kibeth to bridge, we are out of the hangar, and are elevating to flight ceiling and will maintain a holding pattern."
Putting down the radio, Alister brings the Kibeth into the beginnings of a wide circle, and eyes his current crew. Otto was up by the main engines, surveying the area. The other two were considerably less than professional. Jimmy, the youngest, practically had a death grip on the front gatling. Greg, the last one, at least had his spyglass out, though he did not seem to have much experience with it.
We seriously need to get this crew in shape, there's maybe three greenhorns for every vetran, at least!
Brig
Pulling away from the bulkhead, Jasper smiles to his next cell neighbors.
"We seem to have stopped young men, and I have a most clever plan. Now then, in a few minutes, I will call to the guard under a pretense. He keeps his keys on his left hip, and standing in front of my cell, that is well within your reach. Follow me so far?"
The brigands nod, silently wondering what this seemingly harmless, scarecrow of a man is in the brig for.
"The rest is simple, we stealthily make our way to the hangar, blend in with the crew, and appropriate a suitable vessel. I will contact friends of mine on a secure frequency, and we will be free."
One of the inmates raises a hand, unconsciously imitating a schoolboy.
"And if anyone rumbles us?"
An expression comes over Jasper's face. Something like a smile, but colder, crueler. And he replies in a whisper,
"Break them, mind, body, and soul."
-
Bridge
1300
Hmm weather patterns in the south. If there are any anomalies, maybe we can trace them back. Flak, if it weren't surrounded by that many explosives we can really use them. Good thing they are at the bottom of the la.....
Eyes widening, Frey turns to Allen, "Mr. Allen, who is currently salvaging the sunken section."
Before the elder gentleman can answer, he places a hand onto his headset as a transmission comes in.
"Understood , I'll pass the word." he finishes and looks to the Commander, "Captain Culvin's crew reporting in, says that they have retrieved the light weaponry from the stern and is about to head back up but came across what looks like a safe."
"Tell him to abort and surface, that thing is linked with high explosives. If they are still armed, they can explode and the pressure wave. it creates underwater can kill him and his crew."
Outside they hear a muffled explosion. Rushing to the nearest window, the Bridge crew notices a tall water column formed on the surface before dropping down.
"Any eyes on the Junker or word from its crew?" demands Frey.
"Working on it sir!" Allen replies, "Captain Culvin do you read? Crew of the Fifth Season respond. Anyone, hello."
Weather Deck
"Whoa."
"Jeeze, what set that off."
"Damn."
Was the collective response on deck following the explosion. On the rails, Courage uses his carbine's scope trying to find any semblance of the Junker.
"Hey, don't just stare! We have some guys down there who maybe in trouble. Now I recommend using those eyes and find any trace of them!" he yells at the crowd.
With quick "yes sirs" and "ayes" his current them pull out their own scopes and spy glasses and scan the lake. After several minutes of searching, Theodore notices bubbling in one spot.
"Courage, you may want to take a look." he nudges the man and points in the direction.
Fifth Season
After removing and retrieving the missile launchers, Ulric gives the wreck one final look over and radios in to his crew topside.
"Looks like we are done here. Start reeling me back up."
"Copy captain."
While he waits for his air hose to go tight, Ulric sees a glint of what seems like a lock.
"Hold upm hold up, hold up. Give me some more slack, I think I found something else. Just check in with the Bridge."
Acknowledging him, the crew stops reeling in the air hose and begins giving him more line. Satisfied that his crew have given enough for him to walk the distance, Ulric makes his way. Entering a tight corridor, he bumps into several crates along the way, unknowlingly those crates contains high explosive rounds and the small bump is just enough to arm the timed fuses. Once at the safe, Ulric takes a look at the small metal container.
Must be important. Better take it, thinking to himself as he grabs the box.
As he is about to leave, he hears a small whistle like noise. Perplexed, he follows the sound to one of the crates. Opening it, his pupils dilate as several rounds pins are spinning quickly down.
Running as fast as he can underwater, he picks up the safe and calls in topside.
frantically yelling into his headset, "BOYS! Get the ship moving and pull me up! We got live explosives down here!"
On the Junker, the three man crew scramble as one starts the motor to reel in the air hose, another to the helm starting the ship and getting the balloon on service, and the last on standby to retrieve Culvin.
Still running, Ulric's body is then pulled upward as the motor finally gotten the slack. Holding the safe tightly, he looks up to see how much distance until the surface. As he breaks through, the man waiting pulls him out and onto the lower deck helping remove the helmet.
Gasping for air Ulric turns to him, "Jim, what's the status?"
"Peak has already started to move us and is trying to get the balloon up." he answers.
Trying to get out of the diving suit, the man at the motor comes down.
"Captain need anything?"
"Yeah, Arnold. You take Jim and tie everything down. Once tha is done, help with the balloon, I don't want to be down here when it goes."
Just as he takes the last piece of the suit off, an explosion is heard. Looking over the side, Ulric glimpse the quick red of the explosion and the white pressure wave coming up. Turning over the balloon pump is still not working.
"HOLD ON LADIES AND GENTS." he yells to the three as he hugs the nearest pole. Since Peak already moved the junker from the center of the blast, the energy if they were still there breaks the surface and not the hull. This causes a massive water column to be formed, lifting the smaller airship. Screams can be heard as the crew hold on as they ride it up. Once they reach the top, a feeling of weightlessness comes over them as they immediately begin to decend. Hitting the water, the large volume that brought them up has submerged the Junker several feet under with the force popping the pontoons. Now the weight of the Junker is brining her down.
Holding his breath, Ulric swims towards the balloon and sees all three still on. Wasting no time, he points to the pump and to a lever. Nodding, the combined strength of the four pulling down moves its position and soon the pump starts to run. Exerting much of his breath on the pull, Ulric eyes the balloon as his sight goes in and out. Soon his back hits the deck as there is enough air in to allow the ship to go up.
Breaking the surface, the Junker's balloon is almost full as it hover over the surface. As the four are sprawled across the deck, the radio sputters as it tries to come to life.
"Cain Cul do read? ew of the Fifth Sea pond. Anyone, hello."
Slowly moving towards the radio, Ulric cracks his back and picks up the receiver, "Yeah, we are fine. Just a little hiccup."
"A little hiccup?,replies Alexi instead of the Highlander, "My friend we watched the whole thing from our position."
"Sont worry, we are fine. My crew and I are now heading back."
"Very well, try not to strain your ship then. I'll inform the others" replies Allen.
Smiling, Ulric hangs the receiver and goes to the helm. Leaning back, a slight pop is heard as he tries to crack his back.
Bridge
"Well good news Commander," Allen turning around his chair, "Captain Culvin and his crew survived."
"That's good, and I'm assuming both are heading in."
"Yes."
"Good, well Lord Ansager, look like we have you papers."
-
''Well... That's a... fortunate event...? I'm surprised no one died actually. You truly have assembled quite the competent crew I see, Mr.Frey.''
Said Emil with a voice with a mixture of surprise and satisfaction.
While Emil and Frey were looking at each other in the eyes, like they were still inspecting each other, Selenia pops in the staring contest.
''Sorry to annoy you Mr., but I found that the Brig was a restricted area, may I ask why? Is someone there being...'' She coughed ''...how can we say... interrogated?''
As she was talking to Frey and by the way she said ''interrogation'' she clearly hinted that she may referring about the intellignce departemnet way of interrogation: torture.
-
--Hanger Bay, Eagle's Shadow--
“Alright lads, clear a space and get ready on those clamps! Bay door opening in 5...”
Hank tuned out the crew chief as he readied on his clamp, watch as the bay doors parted to allow the Fifth Season entry into the vessel, a few scorch mark marred the lower part of it's hull but damage didn't appear to be anything serious, an hour or so with the buffer and a hammer would do the trick. He attached the clamp to the hull as they laid out the hammock they would be using to suspend the balloon as it deflated, after all you couldn't have a balloon independent of the transport floating about in the hold, that was just silly.
“Hey Friedan, help me with this?”
Hank sighed and accepted the rotary chain that had suddenly appeared before him.
“Yeah yeah.” He turned to the other man as he began pulling on his chain, Ewan Carmichael was a short man, older than him as well, the two of them served “Her Lady of Immaculate Engineering” as members of her team, neither of them were entirely sure how most of the experienced engineers ended up there but none of them were complaining, considering the… other engineers that were onboard.
“So Hank man, how're things down in engineering?” He grunted as he began raising his corner of the balloon hammock.
“Eh, same as usual.”
“So the swabbies huh?”
“Yup.”
“Sucks.”
Hank snorted, “Could be worse I guess.” There was a clunk of metal as the hammock locked into place, the crew chief called for the valves to open up as they siphoned off the lifting into the storage tanks off to the side of the hanger. Each ship carried it's own reserve in order to quickly inflate their balloons but anything already in the balloons had to be taken out so there wasn't an excess in the system once the on board tanks were refilled.
“How so?”
“Well,” Hank looked the man up and down… well, mostly just down, “You could've been there.”
“Yeah and showed you up.” Ewan laughed as he saw something behind him, “Hey, Jimmy Jims!”
Hank looked up to Jim Alcott disembarking the ship carrying a rather hefty looking safe, it wasn't large but any engineer worth his salt knew that any solid metal containers were usually heavier than they looked.
“Hey Jimmothy whatcha got there?”
“Uhh, a safe.”
“And?”
The young man looked at both engineers questioningly. “And what?”
Hank raised an eyebrow. “What's in it?”
“Oh,” He paused for a moment thinking. “Papers I think, the Captain wanted me to take this to the bridge so I should probably get going.” He gave both of them a respectful nod as he headed off.
“So Hank man, now what?”
“I suggest we avoid the scout hanger, apparently they went and damaged their craft again.”
“What seriously? Man I'd hate to be around Marie.” Both their eyes were drawn to where the aircraft were being stored, Marie could be seen working up a storm as she tore off damaged plating in front of her assistants who looked borderline terrified.
“Which is why we're heading back to engineering, come on there's still some stuff that needs doing.”
-
Hanger Bay
"Not even 2 hours since we fixed your plane," says Marie in a loud manner that almost everyone in the space can hear, "you go out and manage to blow more holes into it."
With a wrench in hand, she unbolts the last screw holding the tail. Behind her, the maintenance team stands back quite a distance as she threw multiple sheets of armor precariously behind her. Clanks and several close calls of being hit by the flying metal are heard. In the back the four watch on as the women continues the operation as she orders for a replacement tail to be brought in.
Whistling and with his hands in his pockets, Antonio slowly backs away while pulling Farris along with him.
"You know, looks like we had a thing todo before we scrambled. Really important thing that Farris and I need to deal with. Isn't that right bud?"
"What do you mean? The last thing you did was prank the hell out of me."
Pulling him closer to him, Antonio whispers, "Do you want to be here while Kei's engine goes crazy and lecture us to death?"
Farris looks at the female who is starting a blowtorch in her hand and shakes his head no.
"Good." To Kei and Davis, "well if you need us, we'll be out finding Courage and take up on that shooting offer."
With a wave, the duo quickly walk to the nearest ladder well out of the space while the remaining two pilots watch on.
"That was one way to say 'we don't want to be here." comments Kei, "If we don't have anything to do at the moment, I'll be in my room if you need me."
Walking off, Davis is about to go before Marie yells out to him, "OH NO YOU DON'T! You broke your plane, you are going to fix it. Now get over here."
Bridge
"Why would we interrogate a bunch of raiders," says Allen overhearing the conversation, "Those four were nothing but wee scoundrels looking for a way to make a quick buck."
Picking up on Selenia's tone, Frey knows exactly what she ment. For the most part, majority of the crew only know the four raiders that were captured ealier. Only a handful of the upper chain and a few accomplices knew of the fifth prisoner.
"Mr. Allen is correct, we don't need that here. Just a bunch of lowly criminals wanting to be transported behind bars. Reason we have it secured so that the crew can focus on their work. Nothing bad can happen anyway, we have it all under control." says Frey.
Brig
"HELP, HELP! We got a man passed out here!" yells someone from inside the Brig.
The single guard posted out side the door quickly enters after herring the plead. There lying on the floor in his cell is Brigs face down and looking away from the bars. Seeing no movement, the guard takes out his keys, open the cell door, and moves towards the body. Kneeling, he waits a few seconds as he tries t feel a pulse.
"Flak," was all he says as there is nothing being felt.
Standing, the guard moves from his position to the radio in the room to call Medical. Reaching for the receiver, he doesn't hear movement coming up behind him. With a quick snap and a crackle, the guard drops dead with his neck broken as a body stand above him.
Dusting off his hands, Jasper picks up the keys from the body and proceeds to unlock the rest of the cells.
"Now time to catch a ride. I believe there should be a ship on standby in the Hanger Bay. Keep to the shadows, don't look suspicious and we will make it put."
-
1330
Eagle's Shadow
Quietly exiting the Brig, Jaspser and his new acquaintances walk silently through the halls. Two of the raiders are armed with the rifle and pistol of the downed guard and are in the lead checking every corner. For the most part the corridors are empty due to half of the crew on standby on the Gunnery Decks, little under a half in the Hanger Bay, and the rest either on the Weather Deck, Engineering, or the Bridge.
Seeing the coast is clear, the five man team reaches a ladder well going down to the massive space. Reaching the bottom, the quickly hide behind several crates as the survey the scene.
"Hmm, well boss looks like majority of them are on that Junker while the rest fixing them there planes. The Goldfish looks like it's unguarded." Observes one.
"Perfect. We'll make our way to that one." Says Jasper. Before they move he has a thought, "I believe that these people haven't seen our faces before, they only know that they have prisoners, but they don't know how we look. So just ack natural as we walk towards the fish."
With nods of understanding, the four raiders stand from their hiding spot and walk behind the deranged man. Cutting the distance, several crew members pass them and give weird faces before going about their business, even though they haven't got caught yet the feeling is in their gut. Finally at cooking distance, one by one they board Renard's ship and begin looking over the controls. Finding the lever to inflate the balloon, the giant sack inflate drawing the attention to many in the room.
"What the?"
"Are they allowed todo that?"
"You fool, you gave our position away!" Screams Jasper.
Crouching back in fear of what is going to happen to him, the raider accidentally trips over another lever that opens the doors underneath them. Lights and sirens begin to blair as many run from the opening panels.
Looking over the side, Jasper sees open dunes, "Looks like we found our way out. Pull the lever!"
The same person who trips open the bay doors acknowledges and pulls the emergency drop lever. With several loud clanks, the Goldfish quickly falls.
Crimson Dragoon
"Just wait patiently Captain Kasparov, we are figuring out how to make space for your ship", transmits Allen to the Mercantile, "This ship was designed for two Galleons max in he Hanger Bay, with the Junker and Goldfish in, the fitting is tight."
Placing his tumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose, Alexi only sighs at the timing of this. Before he is going to respond, he sees the Goldfish making an emergency drop from the belly.
"Looks like Renard came to and wanted to be out in the air again. Mr. Allen inform the bay to prepare for my landing."
Bridge
"Looks like Renard came to and wanted to be out in the air again. Mr. Allen inform the bay to prepare for my landing."
Confused by this statement, Mr. Allen tunes to the Hanger Bay, "What the bloody flak is goin on in there?"
"Mr. Allen, what seems to be the problem?" Frey asks.
"Well Commander, looks like the Goldfish made an unexpected departure. The crews in the Hanger Bay are figuring out what happened."
"Goldfish? Mr. Larson's? Last I check I personally docked that ship and he is still currently in MedBay."
Placing a hand to his headset, Allen hears a frantic call and goes pale, "Sir, one guard is found dead in the Brig as well as all prisoners have escaped."
"What!" Frey exclaims, looking out he spots the ship just a few degrees off heading south, "Mr. Allen to all stations, shoot down that Goldfish."
-
Bridge
"Well, those prisoners certainly know how to make a surprise escape." Snarked Emil "Since it's giving us its back, unless that Goldfish has some secret aft gun, I say that we scramble our available air-fighters."
"Better if you bring our ship about and let the broadsides work, even if a few shots reach it, their engines just need a few hwacha rockets and they become sitting ducks." Selenia advices instead.
"Gods, I wish my ship was something more than scraps right now." Commented Emil while thinking about his downed vessel.
-
Kibeth
"Bridge, I see the Goldfish deployed, shall I pursue?"
The side engineer pulls out his spyglass and scopes in on the Goldfish.
"Mr Carn! The fish is not piloted by Mr Larson! It appears to be crewed by some roughs, and captained by a scrawny looking man!"
"Bridge! Check the brig! We have a possible escape!"
-
Bridge
"It's already been noted Mr. Carn," starts Allen, "The order has been given out to bring down that ship by any means necessary."
Finishing the conversation, Allen then proceeds to hit a red button on his dash starting the General Order siren. Red lights flash through out the transport as multiple sirens goes off.
"All hands ready to fire upon the Goldfish. Any means to bring her down"
Entering the Bridge, Jim stops short through the doorway as the events start to fold.
"So umm Commander, is it a bad time for this safe?"
-
--Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
Well there goes my lunch break. "Bringing us about." She imagined the engines humming to life as she increased the throttle, sadly her current ship was not a small corvette like she had commanded previously and so did not feel the rumbling of engines underfoot. Still she had gotten used to the vessel's lumbering size and the amount of power held within and planned accordingly, slowly bringing their long range weapons into arc as their main engines warmed up.
"Mr. Allen is the gun deck online?" She turned to her current radio officer.
"Negative Captain, crew is moving to their positions as we speak."
Reagan sighed, "Can't you tell them to hurry up? Also, remind all gunners and ships to prioritize disabling the vessel rather than-" The radio cackled to life as another voice joined the fray.
"Eagle 1 here, ready to gut the bastards twelve ways towards Monday."
Reagan turned and gave him a slight nod.
"Bridge to Eagle 1," Gregory adjusted his headset, "orders are to prioritize disabling the vessel. Do not destroy unless absolutely necessary."
"Gotcha, Eagle 1 out."
--Hanger Bay, Eagle's Shadow--
Davis did not like this, he really didn't like this. He felt the glare against the back of his neck as he refitted an armor plate to the tail of his craft.
Don't think about it, don't think about, just get it done so you can get some sleep and not have to worry about it. Sadly this was harder than it looked when the engineer standing behind him was currently the very embodiment of rage. It wasn't his fault that gunners were capable of doing their jobs, also that Lord Ansager damaging their spare was also not his fault. Totally not his fault.
He sighed inwardly as he bolted the plate into place. The good thing was that he would be done soon, except...
"-And once we're done we're going fix the number 5 aircraft." She said with smug satisfaction in her voice.
Yeah no, he had to find a way out of this mess.
"Hey, watch where you're going."
"..."
Davis turned to where 5 men entered the hanger bay, one of them had bumped into an engineer as he followed the others. He had a strange vibe coming from all of them yet he couldn't exactly place why.
"Hey, you listening to me." He felt a slap against the back of his as he was thinking. "Keep working, we haven't got all day."
"... Isn't this your job?"
"Yes." The two of them stared at each other, Marie narrowing her eyes the longer the two of them continued.
"What the?"
"Are they allowed to do that?"
"You fool, you gave our position away!"
What? He turned to where the 5 men were prepping the goldfish for launch. Aww great.
The hanger light turned green and the craft dropped from it's mooring.
"Shit!" He jumped and climbed for his cockpit, he pulled out a rifle and bandoleer, making a run for the now empty docking bay, popping two stripper clips into the breach of his rifle as he came upon the bay doors. Peering over the side he saw them slowly rising as the balloon continued to inflate, he quickly took aim and fired off a few shots before realizing that what he was doing was useless. He shouldered his rifle and made a sprint for his hanger, rather than jumping into his plane, which was still damaged, he made a beeline for Antonio's craft, popping open the cockpit as the siren to general quarters played over the intercom.
"Come on! Hurry up!" He motioned for the launch crew to begin launch prep, attaching the crane to his plane as the launch bay opened. Come on come on come on come on, HURRY UP! Eventually his craft was poised over the launch bay and was lowered down into the blue yonder. Unfolding his wings the moment he cleared the outer hull.
He took a moment to key his radio to the bridge, "Eagle 1 here, ready to gut the bastards twelve ways towards Monday."
The light on his dash switched to green, "Launching." He pressed the red button and he once again found himself falling towards up before pulling up in a steep climb.
"Bridge to Eagle 1, orders are to prioritize disabling the vessel. Do not destroy unless absolutely necessary.
"Gotcha, Eagle 1 out." Now where did you go? He scanned the skies before spotting the retreating goldfish rising above the ship as the Shadow turned to bring it's weapons to bear.
"Right, time to get to work."
--Weather Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
Amelia continued to avoid listening to Janet as the two of them finally got around to setting up the firing range, with Courage's help, she unsurprised to learn that he had had similar ideas to the two of them, though she was glad that he had refrained from engaging Ms. Belle's game of "I Spy."
Janet herself was stacking a pile of sandbags, a supply of which was nearly limitless in the desert but rather inconvenient to maintain aboard a flying, until something made her ears perk.
"Ms. Belle?" Amelia looked at her companion, tilting her head at the sight of her.
"Did you guys hear that?"
The other men and women on deck paused for a moment listening before a goldfish suddenly appeared in view before beginning it's run away from their ship. It was at that moment the siren to general quarters was sounded aboard their vessel, a few crew members lounging on deck stood, startled by the sudden change in atmosphere as they a rush for the stairs and ladders leading to the lower decks.
"To the guns! You two with me!" Theodore Cutler motioned for two other members of the watch to join him on the gunnery deck as he was climbing down the nearest ladder. Antonio and Farris chose that moment to make their arrival on deck, rifles in hand and bandoleers of ammo around their shoulders.
Farris sighed as he saw the Goldfish making a run for it. "Well Antonio, you wanted target practice," He point his outstretched arm towards it palm up, "there's your target practice."
"Nice of them." Antonio made of a show of taking aim, face contorted in deep concentration, and fired. Everyone still on deck was quiet for a second as they looked at him, "Yeah I can't hit that."
Farris and Antonio watched the fleeing craft when another thought hit the two of them.
"Farris?"
"Yeah?"
"Where's the boss man?"
Before he could answer the roar of another engine caught their attention as one of the ship's aircraft soared overhead moving to intercept the Tranquility.
"Hey wait a minute, that's my plane!"
"Shut up Antonio."
--Davis Hargrave, Eagle 1, Flight Lead--
Davis had decided that quietly flying and talking to himself was not a good idea, so he had keyed the bridge again to throw ideas around with the radio operator.
"Right so I can't gut the bastards because we want the ship intact."
"That is correct." Gregory Allen's accent came in thick over the radio.
"So... that means no rockets."
"Correct."
Great that's one plan down the drain. "I'll think of something. Eagle 1 out." He keyed his radio to one of the other ships currently in the air, "Hey you guys wouldn't happen to have anything that can snipe those engines do you?"
--Med Bay, Eagle's Shadow--
Lorena stumbled in with a yawn, tired as all hell, James had shifted her off duty saying he'd be able to handle the rest of the work until she awoke and she was glad for it, still, she was too tired to make it to her room and the med bay was closer. She took a brief look around, whoever was in charge here wasn't around, still, she doubted they would mind if she took a nap in one of the beds.
She nearly managed to lay down when the siren to general quarters sounded throughout the ship.
"Come on! Why can't I get any sleep around here!?"
She bolted upright, awake as ever as she unconsciously began checking her gear as she made the sprint to engineering.
-
Weather Deck
"Well what are you waiting for?" orders Courage as he feels the transport starting to turn to bear its port battery, "Unlock and setup the Mercuries and Artemis."
Scrambling, those still on deck rush to the aft compartment where it leads back down inside and stores the assortment of light weaponry. Four of either weapon are hauled out and locked into their mounts. Grabbing a field gun, he notices Antonio and Farris carrying ammo boxes for the fire team.
"Well, looks like you get to practice, you two load me up and man one of the other guns."
Dropping the supplies, pair race towards an empty Artemis. Looking at the weaponry, they scratch their heads at the weapon.
"Do you know how to use this?" asks Farris.
"Don't look at me, i only know how to fire these off our planes."
"All hands, aim to disable,"orders Courage across the deck, "Fire at will."
A chorus of rockets and explosions fill the air as multiple tracers and rockets fly towards the fleeing Goldfish. It soon escalate as the main battery starts to open fire.
Tranquility
All around the raiders and Jasper explosion and flak rock the small ship. A loud explosion is heard as their port turning engine gets hit.
"Someone get that, we are dead if we continue in this barrage." snarls Jasper.
Looking at the assortment of levers around him, he notices one with a cloud symbol on it. Pulling it, s large tar cloud starts to form from the engines and cover behind them.
Hmm. "All hands on repairs, time to disappear."
With several pulls, Jasper places the ship on full power and continues with the tarring. Quickly rising and descending, he makes a largetar cloud hiding the rear end of the ship. Leveling out, he sees the rockets and rounds fly all around the ship trying to find him.
"Well that worked," comments a raider.
"Of course it did, now continue with the repairs.
Bridge
"Blast, where did they go!" says Frey as he notices the tar cloud forms.
"Eagle's Shadow, this is Eagle 1. I see the cloud and is close enough to engage." says Davis over the intercom.
"Eagle 1, careful when you do. They are heavily armed." Allen replies.
"Don't worry, i have your back", another voice comes in.
"Ms. Naga? Well good thing you are up, help coordinate with Mr. Hargrove."
-
Kibeth
Through the radio, Alister hears the order, "aim to disable ".
Well, good thing I have a banshee....
" Lads, strap in those harnesses! I want a man on the banshee at all times. Orders are to disable, so blow out their engines. The others are on repair. "
Quickly strapping into his harness, Alister spares a moment to make sure the rookies do so. Satisfied, he kicks the engines into full throttle.
"Kibeth to bridge, we will pursue at high altitude. If the opportunity arises to board, what are my orders?"
Every airman knows the risks of boarding a vessel in combat, but Marauders train for it to the point of second nature.
Before the order comes through, the Goldfish belches a large tar cloud from her damaged engines, and visual is lost. Then, Alister sees a sliver of the balloon.
"They are rising 20 degrees West of their original trajectory, I'm going in!"
Alister cuts the engines speed drastically, and deploys chute vents, angling the banshee right behind the Goldfish.
"FIRE!"
Medbay
After hearing the order to general quarters, and securing her samples, Alison rushes to the Medbay and quickly washes and throws on a fresh medical apron. Then she methodically lays out her equipment.
Engineering
"Why,"
"Are we,"
"Here?"
The twins were mystified, as they had been swept in a rush to engineering after the alarm.
-
--Gunnery Deck, Port Side, Eagle's Shadow--
"Right, weapons check!"
"Number 1 flak ready."
"Flak 2 is ready to rumble."
"Hwacha loaded for full rocket fire."
Theodore Cutler turned to his own weapon, the Lumberjack, calibrated for whatever distance he was going to need it for.
"Lumberjack ready." He stood behind and readied himself. "Right, roll out the weapons! Orders are to disable the Tranquility, so try to restrain yourselves."
On his mark the gun ports opened and folded inward and the guns rolled out on their tracks as the top deck began firing. The Goldfish was still making a run for it with their escorts tailing behind. A single solitary aircraft was closing the gap, for the moment the perfect shooting conditions.
"Aim for the engines!"
Flak shells went out and for a moment things were going alright. That was until the tar went out, obscuring their vision of the target. Unsure of where the ship was within the cloud and afraid to hit anything of importance fire was sporadic, with the few shots fired plummeting out the other end of the cloud.
"Can't see shit Theo, now what?"
Theodore took a moment to think as the sound of another engine, an additional aircraft, joined the fray.
"Hold on, got an idea." He searched through a nearby storage closet and was rewarded with an old radio which he immediately fiddled with.
"Testing, testing, scout craft are you receiving?"
"Uhh, yes?"
"Oh, hey it works. But listen, the lads on the gun deck can't see shit, we need you to spot for us."
"Well, it would probably be easier IF WE COULD ACTUALLY SEE THE DAMN THING!"
"Could you?"
There was a pause on the other end. "Yeah yeah, oh shit!"
"What? What's going on!?"
"Check, they're rising and making a break 20 degrees west of their original position."
"Thank you scout wing! Gunners take em down!"
--Scout Wing--
"Kei, on my wing we're going in!"
"On it!"
Got ya now bastards, if I could actually hit something.
He fired a few more shots into their engines, a majority missed but a few found their mark. The Shadow's gunners opened fire moments later, shells barely missing their target.
"Well this is going nowhere fast, hold on our squid is up to something."
"I see it, breaking off the attack."
Both Kei and Davis dove away from the target, curious as to what they had planned.
-
Kibeth
The side engineer fires, the banshee screaming, demolishing the engines on the Goldfish.
"Captain I think we, HURCK!"
Alister whirls around, seeing a knife suddenly protruding from the man's back. Glancing around, he sees Otto throw a second knife at the front engineer, taking him in the right shoulder.
"MY MASTERS SHALL FLY AGAIN!"
Drawing a short sword, he hurls himself at Alister. Managing to dodge the swing, Alister pulls out a combat knife and thrusts it under the man's ribcage. Looking back at the helm, he sees it is wrecked. Then back to the Goldfish where all but one of the captured raiders are busy repairing the engines. The last is lifting a rifle and aiming for Alister.
Time seems to slow, as what feels like fire courses through his blood. A loud noise and a hard impact to his chest make him stumble. The engines on the Goldfish sputter to life, and Alister looks up to see Jasper waving goodbye.
Unhooking his axe from his belt, Alister runs across the deck of his Squid, harness still attached, and leaps for the Goldfish.
SNAP!
Just as his axe was about to bite into the hull, the cord on his harness draws tight and Alister is left dangling almost ten feet over the side of his ship.
A mad cackle is heard and Otto shouts out, "He will aid my masters! They shall spread their wings once more!"
Then, his body plunges over the edge of the Squid, falling to the ground below.
-
Bridge
"Send a message to Carn to disengage and scratch the boarding plan," Frey orders to Allen.
From their position in the Bridge, he watches as the Squid flys towards the tar cloud with banshee firing. Soon it takes an unexpected turn into the cloud.
"Commander, we lost communications with Kibeth" informs Allen.
"What?"
"All communications is lost. Nothing in or out."
"To our scout wing. Enter and figure out what is going on. We can't lose that ship!"
-
Kibeth
For a brief moment, Alister watches Otto's body plummet into the water below, then the immediate issue of his situation reasserts itself. With a grunt, Alister begins to pull his bulk up the line, and back onto the ship.
Upon reaching the deck, Alister hears the roar of the Goldfish's engines, as the ship begins to speed away.
"Oh no Briggs, your going nowhere."
Quickly aiming the banshee, Alister unleashes a clip of greased rounds which obliterate the engines.
Hearing a moan, Alister quickly finds the front engineer. From a pouch on his belt, Alister quickly wraps the young man's shoulder and torso with a clean bandage, making sure not to remove the knife.
"Listen lad, our helm and radio are trashed, but they know where we are. That's the good news, the bad news is that the uglies who caused this, are floating about 75 meters from us. I've done what I can for your shoulder, but now I have to see if I can help our allies."
The young man nods and also turns around heading to the hull armor. As he passes the body of the other engineer, he quickly closes the man's eyes. Then he turns to his secret weapon.
"My dear, these are not the most ideal circumstances to become acquainted, but they will have to suffice."
Alister, almost reverently, takes the Anvalan Mercury Field Cannon from it's storage space.
-
Earlier
MedBay
Ughh, what is that ringing?, Renard says to himself as the General Quarters starts to blast thought the ship. Shifting in his temporary bedding! He sits up and notices the flashing lights as one person runs out of the room while another comes in. Swinging his legs over the bed frame, a jolt of pain races throughout his sides. Winching, Renard immediately goes back into his original position.
"Um excuse me," he asks the one who came in, currently preparing her equipment, "Are we under another attack?"
Current
Bridge
Frey looks towards to Jim as he makes his announcement.
"Just place it on the center table, we'll deal with it later. We have some more pressing matters to attend to."
Complying, Jim crosses the room and places the safe down. Looking out, he spots the pair of planes racing towards the tar cloud.
"Is there anything that I can help with?" Jim asks.
"They are already out of our gun's range, Captain Kasparov's Galleon has too much weight to pursue and the state of the Junker is in question. We can try and chase, but the damage in Engineering is extensive from our ealier encounter." Frey lists off
"Hmm, I can see what my crew can do. Ulric can be crafty in different situations." Jim offers as he speeds past Frey and the others back towards the Hanger Bay.
looking at the safe, Frey turns to Emil, "So, you wouldn't happen to have the key."
Weather Deck
"If you actually hit the target, then we would have actually capture the Goldfish," Farris mouths off to Antonio.
With a groan and a roll of his eyes, the latter looks at his partner, "Well you didn't have as much luck as well huh? 'Deadeye' " air quoting the Deadeye bit.
"Oh will you two stop that." sighs Courage, "Just be ready to start shooting once we spot them again."
"But Mr.Bell," Janet chimes in, "Aren't we out of range?"
With a small smirk he answers, "Not if I'm shooting."
In the background, you can almost see Amelia shaking her head at the man.
Engineering
After several minutes finding his crew, Jim leads Ulric, Peak, and Arnold towards the aft end of the transport where the Engineering spaces are held. With tool kits in hand, the group arrives just as Crowe is handing out stations. Nearing the Head Engineer, the man looks up at the group.
"Who are you four?" he asks.
"Well we are one of the crews assigned to the escort ships. We are down here to see if we can help." Replies Ulric.
"An actuall ship crew huh." Crowe says under his breath as hope scratches his chin. Snapping his fingers, he waves his pointer in the air, "We are stretched with dividing our more experience members to monitor over the swabbies. But with you four, we can handle some of the more serious components. Go and find a Loreana, she can help you with some of the finer details."
Looking past Ulric, Crowe hears and sees a crash as two of his men are on the ground with parts strewn all over.
"Ughh, go find her...I'll have to deal with this." walking past the four.
Looking at the retreating form of the Head Engineer, Ulric looks at all three of his men before stating, "So ummm, how does this Lorena look like?"
"Beats me."
"Don't know."
"Sounds like a female."
Came their replies. With a shrug, Ulric starts walking off in one direction waving a hand behind him motioning them to follow.
-
Bridge
"As my partner said, Mr. Frey, the key was lost in the crash, you need either a good lockpicker or a demo expert in precision explosions.
You could order your men to try to use the Heyoka, it's range is amazing and the missile are guided, they may slow down the fleeting vessel."
-
Medbay
Turning around, Alison sees Renard on the cot.
"Honestly Mr Renard, I have no idea."
Kibeth
While carrying the gun up on deck, a sharp pain spreads through Alister's chest, causing him to stumble and fall.
Unknown to Alister, the chemical compound in his blood stream has put a heavy strain on his body.
Laying where he fell, Alister sees the Goldfish begin to sputter back to life.
They'd have been out of arc anyways...
Then fatigue takes him, and he slips into unconsciousness.
-
Tranquility
Several pings and a blast, Jasper stumbles at the helm as he turns and finds the remaining engines destroyed.
"we are trying to escape, having those engines down is counterproductive is it not?", he asks calmly, but his eyes are slowly going red from anger.
"Yes boss. My pal and I are on it." one of the raiders quip as he pulls his buddy.
The pair shrink under Jasper's stare as he follows the two to the aft end. Rolling his eyes, he proceeds to turn the vessel with what propulsion they have towards a southerly course. Flying low to the water, he spots an incoming sandstorm and his iconic smile comes.
"Hope you four like sand."
Bridge
"My apologies, Lord Ansger. During this engagement it slipped my mind." Frey says to Emil.
Looking at the safe,he approaches the small black box and examines the exterior.
"Maybe Engineering may have something to open this. But as for the missiles, that is not a bad idea. If Me. Culvin retrieved some of the projectiles, we can set them up quickly."
Turning away, Frey looks to Allen, "Back to the matter at hand, Mr. Allen, the status of our scouts."
MedBay
"Well, if we don't know what is happening, you can have someone take my ship for extra help." Renard offers.
Another wave of pain goes up through his side making him lie back down on the bed, looking at Alison, "Think you have some real pain meds? Ulric gave me something that knocked me out the last time."
-
--Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
Gregory tapped his radio at the inquiry, "Bridge to scout wing, status report."
"Oh just fine, squid's out of commission though," There was a pause, "Squid's REALLY out of commission we've got more wounded for med bay, seems someone's still up and about though and they're bringing the ship home."
"Copy that scout wing."
Reagan sighed as the engines continued building towards full power, she wasn't going to immediately push it all the considering the complaints she had gotten from engineering earlier. Still, that sandstorm rolling in wasn't going to do them any favors...
--Scout Wing, Eagle 1--
Davis did a flyby of their squid as it began flying towards home, from the looks of it 2 members of the crew were down for the count, and whoever had fallen off earlier was more than likely dead. All this for some mad escaped prisoner... With the sandstorm coming for them...
"Hey Kei, I've got an idea."
"You always have a idea." He could just feel her shake her head at him, "Alright, what is it this time?"
"We fly into the storm after them and spot for the gun crews?"
He thought he heard something on the other end of the radio, there was a lengthy pause as the Goldfish slowly began inching it's way towards the storm with the scouts on their tail.
"That's..."
"What? Bdrline brilliant?"
"Simple..."
Another pause came between them as the storm engulfed them.
"Lets just do our job."
--Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
Moments later, a plan had been devised and put into motion, simple and quite honestly, probably the best chance they had for the moment.
"Gunnery deck this is the bridge," Reagan spoke into her intercomm, "current bearing is 213 degrees south by south west."
"Aye captain. Scout wing did you catch that?"
"Yup," the man in charge of their scout wing popped up on the receiver.
Reagan nodded, "What's their current bearing?"
"163 degrees south by south east."
"Right, adjusting guns."
The plan, as it were, required a lot of math. The bridge would have to keep the gun deck appraised of any and all course changes in order for them to compensate. The scout wing would be trailing their wayward ship, relaying their bearing to both the gun crew and the bridge. Helm (That being her) would have to juggle keeping their weapons in arc with keeping them in range, lesmok would alleviate the range issue to a degree but that still meant keeping them in range.
This'll teach the bastards a lesson for stealing our ships. "Give em hell."
"Right," she could feel the smirk on the other end, "Firing."
Satisfied she turned to Mr. Allen.
"And Alexi?"
He simply nodded. "Continuing their pursuit."
The Crimson Dragoon was the final part of the part, if either the scout wing or the gun crews managed to peg the Tranquility it would be Kasparov's duty to hold them until the Shadow arrived on station, whether or not the escapees would survive however...
Well, somehow she doubted they'd be filling their cells this time around.
--Engineering, Eagle's Shadow--
James Crowe had hit his stride, through hard work and perseverance the engineering crews had slowly and surely worked through a list of issues, he couldn't guarantee full power at the drop of a hat but the engineering plant was certainly capable of it. With the assistance of a few of the more experienced engineers things were beginning to run smoothly, still...
"The hell is Lorena Hank?"
Hank shrugged, "No idea, hope she gets here soon though."
He sighed, "Ewan, are you finished yet?"
The shorter man atop the piping above them waved them, "Give me a few moments, sheesh I've almost got it." He tightened a few bolts and banged the pipe with his mallet. "Done."
Crowe nodded in satisfaction, that was until the doors to engineering exploded inward.
Exploding might have been an exaggeration, but it was adequate as Lorena Henley stormed in, dragging Ulric and his crew back into engineering before immediately getting to work.
The scientist adjusted his clothing as he addressed the head engineer, "We uh, found her."
-
Tranquility
Entering the massive, raging dust cloud, the Goldfish buffers against the high winds and sand but stay her course. Jasper and his renegade crew muster what ever goggles or thick cloth they findto combat the storm. As they continue their direction south east, a thought crosses the madman's mind as he listen out against the high winds. Downshifting the throttles and descending down until they are covered in one of the most dense part of the storm and over the lake.
As the wind picks up more and visibility drops down to barely a foot from either direction of the his, the crew notices the move, "Boss why we stop? Aren't we trying to escape, being in here i don'tthink we can keep up with the repairs."
"Quiet," Jasper snaps, "Something is not right. You four, do you hear anything?"
"Nothing but these damn high winds." comments one over the roar.
Simple mined people,and they are the only ones whocan help me now, Jasper to himself as he rolls his eyes. Dismissing the comment, he slowly tunes out certainparts of the store and hearsa slight sound of engines.
hmm, too few and weak to be an airship... must be some planes, and they are in here trying to fins us.
"Ready the hawacha, I'm turning the ship about. Just fire 15 degrees up and 5 degrees right, load in burst shot and wait for my word." he orders and he idles the Goldfish and turn a full 180.
Not questioning their new boss, the crew quickly loads the main gun as they repair the vital components of their ship in a decent state. Loaded, the gunner makes the necessary adjustment to the sights calls out as soon the gun is ready.
Waiting, Jasper hones in to the source of the sound as his prey comes flying closer.
Crimson Dragoon
Alexi is in a sour mood at the moment having to fly out into the storm while his ship is still loaded with the weapons and armor from the downed Lord's ship. Still able to maintain a speed that won't hinder her battle performance, the Galleon enters the tan cloud of sand.
"Get some tarps and cover our newly acquired loot. Still need them back in a suitable condition." He orders to his crew. Turning to the radio, he calls in, "Bridge, this is Kasparov, my men and I are in the storm and we need last known position of the Goldfish."
"Captain, this is Eagle 1, we are currently tracking him now. they are heading bearing 163 south east....hold on, where they go?
"Eagle 1, what do you mean where did they go." Gregory on the other line asks.
Groaning, "Bridge, I'll move to their last know position. Eagle 1 see if you can find them again."
Disconnecting the signal, Alexi places a cloth over his mouth and goggles as he steers his ship deeper in the storm.
Scout Wing
"Kei, did you see them at all?" Davis asks his wingman.
The pair are currently flying side by side close enough where they can have visual contact with each other but far enough to avoid collision if the winds buffer them too much where they lose control. The winds buffer the planes as sand flies over the cockpit as the storm begins to build momentum.
"I saw them still in the same heading before they disappeared. We need to fnd them fast, I don't know how long until the sand start to affect our systems"
"I agree. Antonio won't be happy if he finds his plane covered in sand."
Banking slightly to his left, Kei follows suit as they lower to the Goldfish last know height and direction. Keeping the course, the only thing they see is sand and no sigh of the stolen craft. Unknown to them, the said Goldfish is in waiting below them still several meters in front of the scouts. Before breaking off for another search pattern. The pair hears the roar of a hawacha going off in the storm as rockets appear in front of them exploding all around. Caught off guard, both planes takes damage to their main structure as the rockets explode on top of them. Smoke can be see coming from their engines as several holes where the shrapnel with litter the craft. Warning lights fill both cockpits as they lose fuel,oil and hydraulics.
"Bridge, we have taken fire! Goldfish is still near the 163 bearing a few meters off form our position. We can't keep trail as suffered heavy damage and returning to ship." Davis calls out frantically trying to stabilize his craft.
Alarms are still blaring as both planes back off the pursuit, trying to keep stable, Kei calls in ,"Davis, I'm losing fuel fast. Looks like they manage to hit my line."
"Keep with me, Once we are out of the storm we can worry about the other stuff." A new alarm comes in on his panel as he notices that he too is leaking fuel.
Blast, i don't think this maybe enough to get us back. We need to bail out soon, but it maybe suicide in this storm. Looking up, he notices a small break from the raging sand, That maybe our only hope.
"Kei, do you still have some control?"
"Sluggish, but yes."
"Follow me, i don't think we can make it back to the Shadow. We are bailing out and i see where."
He hears a sigh over his headset before she speaks, "I think i can make it. i still have enough."
"We don't know how big this storm is," Davis tone getting serious, "We need to get out while we have a chance. Besides these things are replaceable, its getting the pilot back alive counts."
"Copy, I'm on your six" After a few seconds of silence.
Satisfied, Davis banks towards the lull in the storm/ Nearing it, he feels the pressure of the wind dying down.
This is as close as we can get, he thinks before calling the Bridge, "Bridge, this is Scout Wing. My wingman and I have taken severe damage and bailing out. Request to send out a rescue team."
Before Gregory can answer, Davis pops his canopy and unbuckles his harness to the seat. Climbing out, he lets the wind catch him as he is pulled from the plane. Pulling the chute, he notices that Kei has done the same and watches as both planes plummet to the ground below.
Bridge
"Lady Captain and Sir, we just lost our scout wing" Allen reports, "They need a rescue team to retrieve them."
"What?" Frey says in bewilderment, "How about the escapees?"
"Apparently they are still in the current heading, but we can' thave proper conformation until Captain Kasparov reports in."
"Is there any other craft we have on here that is fast enough to retrieve our pilots and help with the search?"
Engineering
Groaning, Crowe looks at the four and Lorena, At least they are in one piece and no reports of any damage.
"Well since you five are now here, we need you guys to check the actual engines and shaft line for the propellers. If we want to have maximum speed, those need to be optimized."
Ulric gives a two finger salute to Crowe, "Right away, we are on it'"
As he starts to walk off in one direction, Ulric's crew stays behind as they notices Lorena's stare.
"Cap, i think you are heading in the wrong direction." Peak calls out.
"Huh?" He says as he turns around. Looking he sees Lorean pointing down another corridor.
Sheepishly laugh ,"Umm right, miss, lead on."
-
Engineering:
Pulling a radio from one of his many pockets, already keyed to a command frequency, Gaige asks, "What the bloody hell is going on? It's freaking chaos down here!"
-
Seeing that nobody is answering, Emil gets near a radio and answers.
"The Shadow is pursuing a stolen ship full of fugitives, if you are an engineer, go and keep the engines up, if you are a gunner, aim better."
An annoying looking radio officer is glaring at Emil.
Shrugging Emil replies to the glare.
"What? We are being slow! Can you make this thing go faster?"
-
Looking around for an answer to his question, Emil, looks very nervously trough the Windows of the bridge.
"We can't let that ship flee! That's a heavy blow to our combat capabilities!"
Looking around himself, still hearing no answer, Emil points to the steering wheel.
"Pilot, get this vessel to full speed ahead! Our engines are strong enough to withstand some sand!
...although I already feel sorry for the engineers..."
-
--Engineering, Eagle's Shadow--
What is this feeling...
Lorena felt something nagging at the back of her mind, it was akin to that of hatred, hatred of her father when he decided to do something stupid that more than likely involved the use of her engines. She shook her head and turned to address the airship crew now in her employ, hoping that the feeling was nothing and someone was not planning something stupid.
"Right! Follow my commands to the letter and lets get this done. You two!" She pointed to Jim and Peak "Check the drive shafts and belts for the number 1 engine, and you" she pointed to both Ulric and Arnold, "Check the fuel lines to both engines, we'll circle about to the rest once we're done here!"
Crowe was glad she was around, though she'll probably crash once they were done here, still, competence was enforced through shear force of will and he wouldn't have to deal with the swabbies who were too scared to touch anything important. Still, there was another thing. He looked at the twins standing bewildered in the middle of engineering.
"Are you two alright?"
--Bridge, Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan didn't know whether to be impressed or annoyed at the man giving orders on her bridge.
"The title is Captain, still-" she tipped the brim of her cap, "you're not wrong. Helm!" The young helm officer who until now had been standing off to the side jumped in surprise, Reagan patted the ship's wheel for them to take. "Mr. Allen tell engineering to rig for flank speed and tell the hanger bay to prepare my craft for launch."
She took a moment to look out into the storm, "Like hell we're letting them get away with this."
She turned and began making her way down to the hanger.
--Deserts of Kharak,Dune,Tatooine The Storm Coast--
Davis held onto his rifle as he hit the sand. It wasn't exactly pleasent but at least stand nominally shifted upon impact. He let his parachute drop to the sand before detaching himself from the mass of cloth. Kei came down moments later, landing with trained precision befitting an army pilot. The two of them shook out as much sand as they could before stuffing them back into their packs before eventually sitting together in the sand.
"So..." Davis turned to his fellow downed pilot, "doing alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. A few scratches but nothing serious."
He nodded, "Ah, good." There was a pause, "Don't suppose you have any food?"
"No."
"Damn." There was another pause, "Think they're going to be long."
"Probably."
-
Weather Deck
The gun crew stands idle as they wait for the order to recommence firing. Looking through his scope, Courage feels the transport jerk alone with everyone else. Behind them, the engines spin to life as they slowly gain momentum.
Towards the bow, he notices the ship is changing direction and heads towards the raging storm.
"Ah flak, all hands don sand gear," he yells out, "We are going in."
Following the order, the team heads toward the Observation Deck to retrieve the equipment when the Shadow gives a slight jerk. Overcoming the sounds of the engines, a loud roar is heard as Regan's rocket craft races towards the storm.
Engineering
Following her orders, Ulric's team split up to their respective positions. On the starboard section of the massive Engineering space, Peak and Jim finds themselves in shaft alley for the No. 1 engine.
Peak Whistling, "Bigger than a Junker's engine."
"Yup," Jim answers with the same stunned expression.
A bit forward of the first pair, Ulric and Arnold quickly finds the cross connected tanks for the engines.
"Don't think we are going to run out any time soon." Ulric observing the nearly full tanks.
"Nope, come on, we need to see if they aren't leaking."
Somewhere in the Storm Coast
Quickly covering their faces and any exposed parts of their body, the downed pilots try to navigate out and back towards the Shadow. Durning their walk, they manage to see darken clouds in the tan.
"You think those are our planes?" asks Davis.
"Maybe. If they are we can salvage what we can see if the radio works." his partner answers
Nodding, they slowly approach the wreck. With rifle out, the pair approach it cautiously not taking any changes with what the desert offers. A few feet out, it is indeed one of the two downed planes. On top of it are two Sand Slugs. With two rounds, Davis quickly dispose of the slugs and through them away from the plane.
Smuggling around, he notices that it is the one he borrowed from Antonio, "Hmm he his not going to be happy since I crashed his plane huh?"
"Nope, but did you find anything."
Rummaging in the compartment behind the seat, Davis pulls out a small backpack. Opening it, inside contains a few containers of water and several ready to eat meals.
"Think we are good for the moment for food," showing Kei his findings, "You get the radio to work?"
"Nope," sh answers as she tries to tune in, "Busted, must have been after the crash."
"Well, I think we should just stay put here," he sighs," Once this blows over, they should be able to spot the wrecks."
Hopping off the cockpit, he moves under the wing to get some cover from the sands. Following suit, Kei jumps down and uses the either wing for hers.
"How long until they send out a search party?" she asks."
"Knowing the Captain, she'll send one soon."
As he finish, he is able to hear the sound of an engine coming towards them, "And I believe that is her now. Hear it?"
"Yeah. I do. Got a flare? I don't think they can spot us in this dense sand.
Going through the bag, Davis finds a pull flare. Twisting and pulling the cap, the flare glows a bright red. Soon a bright light is shone through the sand as the engine noise becomes increasingly louder.
"Wow she works fast," comments Kei as she shields her eyes from the bright light.
"Yeah." Davis says as he does the same.
Soon the ship stops right in front of them with their light still shining.
"Glad to see you here Captain Morgan, mind dimming those lights." Davis request.
"Oh of course," says a male voice. Both Davis and Kei look at eachother as something is off as the light goes off and standing next to the armed hawacha is Jasper with his men armed with the ship's rifles.
"Now, I you value your lives, which you both do, lower your weapon. Looks like now I'm taking prisoners."
At an impasse, Davis reluctantly lowers his rifle as two of the raiders jump down and binds the two. Loading them on the Goldfish, a satisfied Jasper looks on as they bring them to the lower cabin.
Hmm, I wonder how the serum works on actual pilots.... I'll test it once I'm back at the base.
"Time to get out of here before they find us," he orders to his men, "Give us a southerly direction, we need to make it to the Guild and beyond." to the nearest one at the helm.
-
Kibeth
Awakening with a groan, Alister hooks on his mask, cursing the sandstorm. Dragging himself over to the remains of the helm, he cuts power to the engines and starts them into a slow decent.
"You still awake lad?"
"Yes sir," the engineer at the front replies, "my name is Jacob sir."
"Well Jacob, can you still move around?"
"Yes sir."
"Good, try I'm going to try and keep us under the storm. Try and see if you can rig the radio."
"Yes sir!"
The two begin with their attempts to contact the Shadow .
Medbay
Going to her medicine cabinet, Alison finds a fast acting painkiller tablet. Bringing it over to Renard with a glass of water she tries to make smalltalk.
"So, where are you from?"
Somewhere within the bowels of engineering
"Hand me a number five ratchet!"
"That's already on your belt! Anyways I have my hands full with this pipe! Do you have a clamp?"
"It's by the door."
"I have to keep holding this thing!"
"Then you'll have to wait until I finish!"
-
Engineering:
Gaige tosses the clamp to the distressed engineer as he moves through the bowels of the ship, overseeing the whole thing. Satisfied the engines weren't going to shake apart all of a sudden, and the engineers dealing with the sand clogging them, he sets off for the gunnery deck, taking the stairs two at a time. Seeing that it's even more chaotic up here than down belowdecks, he asks a passing gunner carrying a box of ammunition the situation.
-
Day 5, 1200
Vystorg
Communications Building, Military Docks
"What do you mean he escaped!", came Enger's booming voice from the radio.
Retaining himself from yelling back at a superior, Frey taps the table in front of him. The last three days has been disastrous. The search for Jasper has been unsuccessful, the loss of a ship, another badly damaged, and several crew members either dead or missing. On top of that, putting the Shadow into nearly full capacity blown one of the main engines. Currently the Medium Transport is docked within the capital's Military Docks being serviced by its workers.
"We severely underestimated Mr. Carn's old accomplice. Even though Mr. Briggs escape is a major set back, it is actually helping us."
"Hmm, how so."
"We already submitted a report that the Goldfish has been stolen once we docked. Within an hour several captains came to us about seeing the craft heading in a southerly direction as well."
"You're saying that he is heading back to their hideout."
"One of their bases was at Izumi, so it is plausible that they have hideout further south"
"Well for your sake, fine it! The other teams are in their search area and your team is behind schedule! If we don't get results, well, since you did accompany on this mission it's on your head. Do I make myself clear."
"Yes councilman."
"Good." with that, Enger cuts the line leaving Frey in the small room. Slamming his good hand on the table, he lets out a loud groan before exiting. Outside the door is Courage leaning on the wall waiting for the Baron. Hearing the door opening, he looks up and start to keep pace with the Baron.
"That didn't sound good. So do we have some more support." the young man ask.
"He didn't even let me have a chance to ask. Enger can be stubborn at times, if Melin was on the line he would have gotten maybe a small squadron for us."
As the two walk down the cooridor they manage to find the building's lobby and exit the Military Dock's Communication Building. Outside, Vystorg's skyline is lined with cranes as after the failed takeover the city is slowly rebuilding itself. In the docks, Guild airmen eyes the two from afar as they make their way to the Shadow.
"Well, if you let me, I can request to see Fyodor for supplies. He does own myself and my friends several favours."
"You can try, but we are not going to be here for long. Once repairs are done and maybe after recruited several more men to replace our numbers we are going underway."
"Going to be a while after that engine explosion."
"Yeah," sighing," at least our engineers are having a breather and the dock workers are overseeing the repairs. Mr. Bell if you would excuse me, I need sometime to think."
Nodding, Courage continues forward to the Shadow as Frey limbs behind slowly.
Eagle's Shadow
Hanger Bay
"YOU DOLTS, CAREFUL!! THESE PLANES ARE IRREPLACEABLE!" screams Marie to the Guild workers.
Besides work being done in the Engineering spaces, the Hanger Bay and the ships associated are under repairs as well. Even though all the work is being done by Guildsmen, Marie sees fit to watch them carefully while they are in her space. Behind her sitting on top of two crates, Farris and Antonio look up from their train of thought at the screaming woman.
"Relax Marie, they are doing the best they can. Just rest a little." Antonio says as he hops off his crate and walks towards her.
"I won't relax until everything is perfect and we are back up in the air." turning around and pointing a finger to the man.
Brushing the hand out of the way, Marie doesn't show any sign of fighting back as Antonio goes into a hug.
"I know you want to find them as well, but we all need our rest. We can't function if you are brain dead and can't fix our planes."
In a low voice, "I haven't lost a pilot in my entire carrer. I make sure all the maintenance is done perfectly so that they come back."
"Hey it wasn't your fault. It was the hand that was dealt durning that storm."
"Don't worry," Farris' voice coming in now, "We'll find them, Frey said that they had confirmation they ejected out safely. Mostly likey they are being held prisoner."
"Is that suppose to make me feel better?" Marie ask the second man."
"Dude, not helping," Antonio says releasing the hug.
"What?" Farris shrugs as he is stared down by the both of them.
MedBay
"Finally some news about my ship. So where is those bastards heading?"
Still bedridden, Renard sits up as Ulric comes in with news of Tranquility being spotted heading south. Standing behind the medicine cabinet, Ulric pulls out several bottle and shake out a pill from each.
"You seem ecstatic. Really want your ship back huh?" Ulric replies as he hands Renard the pills, "Still broken but ready to fight."
Taking the pills, Renard downs them individual before being handed a glass of water, "Well she is my first ship that I bought. Been with me for the last three years."
"I hear yeah, the Season is my own creation. Glad she is still air worthy after that explosion."
"Yeah, one helluva story."
Going back to the cabinet, Ulric peers in and start moving bottles, "Huh, looks like we are running low on several things. Renard, who has been using our stores?"
"Oh, Alison has been using them. With how many are wounded, she has to use a good chuck of it."
Turning around, "Know where she is."
All Renard does is give a shrug.
Galley
Sitting at one of the tables, Alexi is seen casually drinking as the three Communications Officers are off in another part of the room.
"What a start huh?" starts Janet.
"A start is an understatement young miss. What we had is a whirlwind of misfortune," Gregory adds.
"It's starting to look up now right? We did make it to Vyshtorg."
"Not without some losses." this time Charles adding in.
"Didn't know we were having a party in here."
Turning to see whose the new voice belongs to, the trio waves as they realise it is Courage. Taking a seat with them, he grabs a glass from the tray in the middle of the table.
"So what are you guys discussing?
"Well Mr. Bell..."
"Janet, you know I don't like being called that, sounds too formal." Courage interrupts.
"Ok. So Courage, we were just talking about the last few days."
"Yeah I know, I had a talk with Frey."
"What did he had to say?" Charles asks while taking a sip from his glass.
"That once repairs are done we are heading out."
"A man of initiative. Always like that man." Gregory comments.
"Mr. Bell, Ms. Morgan, and Mr. Carn, please report to my office." came Frey's voice over the intercom.
"Well looks like I have to go."
"Don't worry, it's not like we are going anywhere." says Janet as she waves Courage off.
-
Medbay
"Right here boys,"
Alison walks into the room with a mug of coffee.
"We are severely depleted on medical supplies due to recent events. However, we happen to be in my home town, so I'm calling in some favors to get us resupplied, and then some, as cheap as I can. By the way Ulric, when you have a free moment, I want to talk to you, it concerns that sample I showed you."
A worried look passes over Alison's face for a moment before she pops an energy tablet and washes it down with coffee. Sighing she goes over to her desk,
"So what is the final tally on injuries?"
Carn's Quarters
Groaning, Alister opens his eyes and shifts out of bed upon hearing the intercom.
Seems I can't get enough sleep after the battle. Seems like it took forever to get Alison to let me out of the medbay
Alister did not remember much after the battle. He remembered going in and out of consciousness trying to repair the helm, then waking up to an enraged looking Alison who promptly sedated him. He couldn't get her to tell him everything yet, as usual, but she said he was severely exhausted and she wanted to run tests.
No rest for the wicked Alister. And with your record,
He decided to not finish that thought and make his way to the meeting.
Frey's Office
"Reporting for duty sir. Mind if I sit?"
-
--Weather Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
"I hate everything."
Lorena was on the weather deck, since arriving in Vyshtorg the engineering crew had been working in shifts to repair the damage done to the various pieces of equipment during their unprepared bouts at full power. The engineering crews, despite their usual work ethic had taken to lazing about outside, the fresh air a welcome reprieve from the stuffy atmosphere they were used to.
"Oh come on Lorena," Hank sat down next to her with a cup of coffee, "here, have a cup."
"Don't want coffee, just want to sleep." She rolled over into the shadows that dominated the deck.
He shook his head as he lifted her from her resting spot, "Come on, Oh Glorious Overlady, lets get you into bed, you can fix the engines later."
She yawned as they began shuffling off deck, "Swabbies better not touch my engines."
He rolled his eyes, "Can I touch your engines?"
"No."
Oh? "How bout Ewan?"
"He can't either." By now the resting engineers began to take notice.
"Crowe?
"Nope."
The others were beginning to snicker now, "What about you?"
"Go shove yourself up the fuel lines."
He shrugged as the others burst into laughter, Ewan raised a bottle of wine at his misfortune, "You tried Hank."
"Shut up Ewan."
--Gun Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
Amelia was checking the manuals for the weapons on deck, she had never claimed to be experienced but the situation demanded someone take responsibility and get the crew into the shape. With Lorena essentially claiming engineering as her domain Amelia needed a place to be of use, that place was the gunnery deck, where the more... Green engineers had be shifted to.
She continued her rounds, ensuring that the crew was at least learning their equipment and not horrendously breaking things. The events of the past few days weighed heavily on everyone, Amelia herself had stooped to not thinking about it and whilst effective, there was only so much work that could occupy her.
"Um, excuse me, Ms. Lockheart? If you could check our weapon?" One of the engineers was looking at her expectantly.
She sighed, as befitting a head engineer. "Very well, a moment should suffice."
--Navigation Room, Eagle's Shadow--
"Alright, what do you have for me?" Reagan had gathered the nav team and set them on putting a search pattern that would allow them to cover the greatest area in a limited amount of time without putting them into further risk. Goals were locating their lost pilots and the stolen ship, whatever else they found would be a bonus but hell if she was going to let the bastard get away with it without shattering his skull it a million pieces.
"Ma'am, if you would take a look at the map." Several markers had been placed, prospective canyons, deep river valleys and mountain peaks were selected as possible locations for a secret facility, most of the crew had already begun guessing what was going on and Reagan wondered when they were going to officially tell them.
"Mr. Bell, Ms. Morgan, and Mr. Carn, please report to my office."
She sighed, "Alright, finish up here and I'll be back it a bit."
She picked up her coat from a nearby chair and began making her way to his office which wasn't all that far considering. She opened the door, coat over her shoulder as she sat down in a nearby empty chair.
"Alright, so, what's the plan."
--Somewhere--
"Hey, Kei?"
"Yeah Davis?"
He squirmed a little in his bindings "Think you have a way to get out of this?"
She tilted her head and struggled against her own ropes, "Nope."
He hung his head in defeat, "Well, think they're coming to rescue us soon?"
She smirked, "Probably."
He rolled his eyes, "This is called me desperately hoping you're right."
-
Frey's Quarters
"Aside from the obvious, catching Briggs and recovering lost crew, we need to resupply and possibly hire on more crew. I can put out the word on my local contacts, though Ms Alison has considerably more here. I've heard she's trying to get our medical supplies restocked for as reasonable a price as can be managed. Do we have a list of damages and casualties yet, or are we still estimating?"
-
An Anglean engineer knocks on Frey's door.
"An old friend I grew up with was in town and I know we need crew. He's been around. He was on his way back from Arashi when I saw him. He has been enlisted as a cook, engineer, gunner, and marauder. . . Oh almost forgot if his lordship is still around, err, well, my friend did once steal a ship from him." Engineer
"Well don't stand outside my door jabbing about him. Get him in here." Frey
The two Anglean engineers step inside.
"Sign here. Mr... Owl. Have I heard that name before, Alexander Owl?" Frey
"The Owl cheese factory perhaps. It bares no relation.". Alexander
"You've been down south recently so I 'm assigning you to the city season." Frey
"Thank you Sir." Alexander
-
An inn, Vystorg
''I heard once or twice the name of every member of that crew, many of them hadn't a nice past.''
A man -legs crossed on the table in front of him- said.
After taking a sip of whatever he had in his mug, he stared blankly in the air for a few seconds.
''All a nice bunch to work with, really. Only I felt like I was in there out of a random even-''
''Stop with the drama and focus for a second, this in an important matter, Emil.''
Interrupted a silver haired girl.
''We are after what could be the last cell of what is the terroristic group that had such a large part to play in the Civil War. You also swore to avenge the Cryer, remember?''
''And if the is the problem..''
She smirked.
''...is feeling in there out of a random event, why don't you just apply officially?''
The man stood there with a surprised look on his face for a few seconds, then he quickly stood up.
''A vow's a vow.''
He whispered as he remembered the events that had happened during the Great Baronite Civil War.''
Putting his hat back on and throwing behind himself his mug along with some coins, the man started walking out of the inn.
''Very well, let us go!''
he said beckoning the girl to follow him.
On the streets of Vystorg
''We are gonna need something to apply for tho...''
The man glanced at his companion.
''I guess you'll go for the gunnery deck, since you have a natural talent.''
The girl nodded.
''But where could I go? Mmmhhh...''
''Why don't you apply as deck aide? You are quite the cartographer, and can handle quite the pressure.''
''Sely, I know I'm a good strategist, but i'm also the worst tactician I know.''
''Then why don't you go for the cook?''
The question was met with much surprise from both.
Both started giggling from the prospect.
''Now, I say I'm going to apply as armsman, backup pilot and cook. I may not be the best man for any of those tho. Mmmhhh.''
''Nah, that'd be just you being you: jack of all trades, master of none.''
''Well then, it's decided. Now I just need to find a proper pen to write and some wax to apply the official baronite sigil and our application form is good to go!''
-
--Frey's Quarters, Eagle's Shadow--
Reagan raised an eyebrow at the person she hadn't noticed earlier, Who the hell is this wierdo?
Shaking her head she got back on track."Damage was limited to hanger spaces and various components in engineering, it's extensive but nothing we can't fix with the facilities we have here."
She flipped through the compiled report on Frey's desk as she spoke, trying to memorize what was in there for later. "In addition to those we lost earlier we can add Greg Walden and Otto Smith," she didn't pay attention to Carn tensing at the time as she continued, there was much more for them to cover. "There's also the matter of our missing pilots, whatever they plan to do with them we need to get them back. I have navigation working on a plan to locate them but that can wait till later."
-
Frey's Quaters
"Welcome you three," Frey starts behind his desk. Scatterd about are the reports from the dockyard workers about the ongoing repairs, the recent sighting of Tranquility, and several maps further south of the Guild. "Thank you for coming in quite a short notice. Especially you Mr. Carn in your current state."
Shuffling though the papers, he picks up one of the sightings with his slinged arm and circles Guru Lupulul with the other.
"After dockyard clears us, restocked, and fully manned, we will continue as planned. So far our guest is traveling south to where we were planning to start our investigation. From there our remaining escorts and fighters will further explore the new territory. Looking for any anomalies."
"Speaking of fighters," Courage interrupts, "Are we only going with our remaining two?"
"Well three, Lord Ansger is a qualified flight lead. He has a history with one of my military's fighter squadron. Until we find our missing pilots, he will be lead."
Courage again, "Well if we need supplies, I can call in the favor I told you about ealier."
"Try to, we are at a point where anything helps. So any questions?"
-
Frey's Quarters
Alister nearly gives himself whiplash upon hearing the new guy, noting a hint of an Anglean accent.
"Who? Where? ....... What do we pay the guards for Commander?"
Turning to the new guy he continues,
"Back up for a second lad, are you wanting to sign up with us? Do you know what our job is?"
Thinking of a question, he turns back to Frey while trying to keep an eye on the other guy,
"Do we want to hire on more muscle? There's never a short supply of mercs."
-
Frey's Quaters
"I though I already dismissed you?" Frey questions the two. With a wave of his hand, "You two out. Strictly private meeting at the moment."
As soon as the door shuts behind them, Frey turns to Carn, "Like I said, anything helps at the moment. As for pay, the crew is still getting the same amount they signed up for initially. No changes whatsoever. Still wouldnt mid for more skilled workers in the different bays.
Gunnery Deck
Having heard of new personnel being transferred to the fire teams, Theodore Cutler finds himself at the Port Battery where Amelia is surrounded by books and swabbies.
"Need any help miss?" he ask, "I can call someone to help if you need it, at the moment he is in a meeting."
Guru Lupulul
Tranquility
"Are you sure we are not being followed."
"Yes, skies has been clear for the past two hours."
"Good," answers Jasper as he turns the helm. On the compass, it slowly rotates until it points directly south, "Since you four been quite loyal, let me tell you about where I'm from. Have any of you heard about the Birdmen?"
Down below, Davis and Kei's ears perk up at the name.
"Oh no." Kei says with a slight fear in her voice.
"Bird what?", Davis whisper.
"Thought they were finally gone," she continues.
"Kei what is he talking about."
"Davis, we need to escape and warn the others."
"How we are trapped, and seriously Bird what."
"OI, QUIET YOU TWO!" yells one of the guards from above.
""I'll explained later, we just need to escape."
-
Frey's Quarters
"Alright then, after this I'll head into town, see if I can't scrape some cannon fodder out of the bars. We may want to start screening if we take on any more, considering Otto. By the way,"
Alister digs a smashed looking bit of wires out of his coat pocket and puts it on Frey's desk.
"Found a pocket transmitter when I was rebuilding the helm of the Kibeth, not sure how long it was there, but they were tracking the position of the Kibeth, so it seems safe to assume that they know we are coming, whether or not they know we know, I don't know."
Galley
The twins drag themselves into the galley, and prostrate themselves before the kitchen staff,
"Please have mercy,"
"Just a cup that's all,"
"The Lady of Engineering is driving us to death!"
"Please grant us mercy!"
In practiced, unison pity they exclaim,
"Can we have coffee?"
-
Leaving Frey's Quarters Alexander gives the guards a smile. "You really can get anywhere as long as you know you're supposed to be there. Any way before you go can you point towards Ulric's room."
"Just over there."
"Thank you"
Outside Ulric's Quarters
Alexander waits for his return.
-
Eagle's Shadow dock
Looking around himself, Emil found that actually many a man was trying to apply there.
Some crewmen were standing near one of the ship entrances. They had really annoyed faces and many papers in their hands, suggesting that they were the ones that took all the applications from the various would-be crewmen.
Putting up his most lordly face, Emil reached the annoyed crewmen and gave them the letter with his and Selenia's official application.
As he gave the letter, he also put in the man's hand some coins and added:
''This is a very important thing, now you go and give it to Mr. Frey, okay?''
The crewman, a bit of light flashing in his tired eyes, nodded and walked towards the ship's interior.
As Emil was walking away, he saw a man, thin, with no other particular characteristic, walking like a drunk towards one of the ship's less guarded side entrances.
''Oi you!'' cried Emil as he walked towards the man.
''Who, me?''
''No, your uncle!'' Emil joked.
''Ah, ok.'' The man turned around and kept walking away.
Emil reached him and took him by the scruff.
''What's your problem man?'' the man whimpered.
''That's a restricted area.''
Emil's face was dead serious.
He was answered with a drunky smile.
''I just wanted to apply!''
Emil then threw the man towards the direction of the application dock he pointed at it.
''There. To apply, you go there.''
The man was still smiling.
''Ok, thanks.''
And he kept walking and wobbling towards the direction pointed by Emil.
After the nobleman went away, the thin man changed. Nobody was near him, to see, but he suddenly stopped walking like a drunkard and assumed the demeanour of a businessman of sorts. He was no longer smiling.
''Hello.'' He said as he approached makeshift counter used to register the applicant. ''I'm Fritz Iljic, I'd like to apply as engine engineer.''
-
--Gura Luplul, Tranquility--
The voices over head continued, Davis was watching as Kei fiddled around with her bindings.
"I hope you have a plan Kei, cause I don't." With Kei's reveal and unwillingness to back down Davis was dragged into a nonexistent plan.
"Hold on... give me- just a little- Ha!" Her bindings snapped, rope falling to the deck as she massaged her wrists. "Here, let me get you."
With the two of them freed they had to come up with a plan.
"They're still talking up there."
Kei nodded as she examined their surroundings. "I see your rifle."
Davis perked up. "Really, because I'd rather not buy another one."
She nodded again, "Starboard railing. Think you can grab it?"
He smirked, "Try and stop me. What's the plan?"
"We jump off the ship."
He raised an eyebrow, "What, that's it?"
"Yes," she turned to face him. "They're in hiding, they won't cause a commotion if they can help it, if we get off the ship they'll either have to reveal themselves or let us go, I doubt they want the first."
"Yeah..." He stroked his chin, "If we do make it, we can take a ship to Vyshtorg, get us there within the day, either we link up with our ship, or we radio Cathedral about what happened." He took a deep breath. "I'll go for the rifle, you just make it off ship."
She nodded, "On three?"
"Yeah, no. Just go!"
Without waiting for a reply he sprinted right out of the cabin space, immediately he sighted the rifle sitting near the fore end of the ship. He shifted his body and made his move, in an instant he heard his captors yell as he came into sight beneath the command post, he ignored their cries as his rifle was finally within reach and turned just in time to watch as Kei threw herself from the port side onto the harbor, at least, he hoped it was the harbor.
Come on Davis just think of it as throwing yourself from the highest tower! You've done that before... sort of. If one neglected to mention the highest tower was a playground structure.
He steeled himself and charged, vaulting over the railing as Kei righted herself, running for the nearest pile of crates. Davis hadn't realized his mistake until he hit the ground hard amidst startled pedestrians and surprised dockworkers. He got to his feet seconds later and followed suit, panting as he rounded the crates. Kei was waiting for him, taking deep breaths, hand on her side as rested.
"Bad fall?"
She smirked at him despite her state, "Not as bad as yours."
He rolled his eyes at her, "Right, lets just find a ship and get out of here so I can get my answers."
--Frey's Quarters, Eagle's Shadow--
...Shit.
"Shit." She shook her head."I had wondered..." She took a deep breath.
"The confirmation though is alarming, but we can't worry about it now." She took this moment to right her chair and sit in it properly. "We're going to need more people, though with our previous experiences we need to be more careful about who we hire but we need to be prepared above all else."
She sighed, "We should also look into getting more aircraft somehow, we can't just keep working with so few craft and if we loose what few we have left we'll be stuck." She turned to Courage, "Maybe we should call in those favors."
--Galley, Eagle's Shadow--
Hank was in the galley after dropping Lorena on her bed, she had passed out on the way forcing him to drag her the rest of the way, and despite not being heavy he was still hungry enough to grab lunch. That was when he saw the twins drag themselves in, it was a comical sight, almost pitiful really, still, with all the work that needed to be done, on the orders of both Crowe and Lorena the engineering crews continued working despite yard workers that were assisting them. He watched as the pair of them begged for coffee and kitchen staff was... well, they were working to contain their giggles.
Hank himself was also doing his best to keep from laughing, and so apparently were the Comm officers, If one discounted Gregory, though despite his calm demeanor Hank noticed the amused glint in his eyes. One of the kitchen staff managed to regain their composure and directed them to the coffee machine in the back of the kitchen.
Hank stood and made his way over to the gathering bridge crew, a few of the helm officers and navigation team members had joined the table and everyone was having a drink or a meal of some kind.
"Mind if I join you?" One of the helmsmen gestured to an empty chair and he sat down with his food. "Thanks."
"Hey engie," one of the helmsman, a woman with blonde hair had called to him from the other side of the table. "Think we'll be done here soon?"
"Uh... Probably? Those two weren't lying when they said Crowe and Lorena were working us hard, hell she passed out herself, we'll probably be done within the day, so tomorrow before noon I think." He shrugged, "Don't take my word for it, something could come up and we do need to resupply still."
--Gunnery Deck, Eagle's Shadow--
"Hmm?" Amelia turned from her work, despite her inexperience there was one thing she was sure of, with adequate instruction one could do their job just as well as any other. Because of this she had decided to ensure that the maintenance crews knew their weapons from a technical stand point.
"No I believe I have this under control, if you wish to assist me that would be generous of you."
-
MedBay
Going over to a hanging clipboard, Ulric shakes his head at the numbers.
"I count at least 6 dead and double that wounded. No wonder we went through these supplies."
Replacing the board back, "As for the samples, I've been looking them over... You know what, follow me, I'll show you."
As he motions for Alison to follow, Ulric calls back in, "Renard, you'll be fine by yourself right?"
"Good so far, few minutes alone won't hurt," the young man responds.
Satisfied, Ulric walks out with Alison in tow.
Ulric's Quaters
"I just found something extremely weird," he begins as the pair walks down the cooridor, "It seems there is something in the blood, that when adrenaline is mixed in, causes a chain reaction that amplifies the muscles in the body. Since its been a few days, the sample you gave me return back to a normal red color."
Once they reach his room, he notices the new man.
"Um, hello? You are?"
Frey's Quaters
"I agree," Frey nods," if they have been tracking the Kiebeth, then they may have been tracking the Shadow's position as well. Once we pass Guild borders, we must expect a surprise attack."
"Well if we are done," Cpurage starts as he stands, "I'll see myself out and head into town. Meeting with Fyodor may take a while."
"Very well. If that is all, you are dismissed."
Gunnery Deck
"Well I'm the one who just fire the guns, Courage knows most of the weapon systems. But doesn't mean I can't learn."
Walking over to her, Theodore picks up one of the manuals and opens the page.
"Oh, so that's how the Hawacha loads it's rockets." he says intrigued.
Guru Lupulul, Tranquility
"Sir they got away." one of the raiders inform Jasper.
Struggling to control his temper, he barley whisper out a response, "I can clearly see that. If they find a ship or radio tower, they will inform the Shadow."
Pinching his nose, Jasper walks across the top cabin before stopping at the radio. Changin the frequency, he points to one of the raiders, "You, drop a rope, climb down, and follow the pair. I don't have time to change course."
"What am I suppose todo once I find them?"
"Dispose of them. Once that is done, contact me back on this ship's frequency, got it? I got to make a call so quickly be fore we lose them."
Complying, the man rushes back downstairs and grabs a rifle, pistol and spare ammo. With help from another raider, they toss off a rope where he quicky slides down.
Back at the helm, Jasper waits patiently until a click is heard from the other line, "Master, seems like we may have a problem.
-
Ulric's Quarters
"Interesting, it certainly explains a lot, isn't it likely that after the adrenaline dissipates, and the muscles return to normal proportions, the subject would suffer sever exhaustion?"
Glancing at the new guy, Alison amends what she was about to say,
"After recent events the, subject, suffered a severe bout of exhaustion. What do you think the long term effects could be, or after an event which causes a significant amount of the compound to flood the system?"
Frey's Quarters
"I'll head into town then, see if I can't get some mercs to sign on, I'll try to make an emphasis on engineers with more than a year's worth of experience. Might be better for us long term."
Heaving himself out his chair, Alister makes his way into Vystorg,
Vystorg
Now then, did they relocate after the Yeshan Incident?
Alister begins to navigate through the city, orienting himself with the new buildings that have cropped up since the attack. Wherever a large enough population of people exist, you can always find a certain type of establishment.
Bingo, and only a few extra bullet holes since last time,
Walking through the door, Alister surveys the drinking mercenaries.
"Gentlemen! Have I got the job for you!"
-
Ulric's Quarters
"The name is Alexander Owl. I believe your my captain. My skills are varied where do you want me? And no one has explained what you've just been through."
-
Ulric's Quaters
"huh, didn't know I was getting a new crew member?" Ulric ponders while stroking his chin, "But never the less welcome aboard. Currently my ship is under some repairs in the Hanger Bay from the incident I had a few days ago. Go over and find Peak, he can help you more."
Opening the door to his room, "At the moment I have some things to show Ms. Alison here."
Hanger Bay
Walking through the busy space, Courage finds himself having to dock and weave as people and materials are being passed around. Soon he stands in front of the two pilots and mechanic sporting amusing grins.
Giving a deadpan stare, Courage says, "You try walking through that with a fake leg," as he lifts it up.
"Hey we needed a good laugh," chuckles Antonio, "So what are you doing down here?"
"Well I'm going out to try and get some new planes for ourselves. I mean we can't survive with only three left and dwindling parts."
"So you are asking if we can join you to review them before we take them." Marie deduces.
"Yup, so how goes?"
The three looks at one another before giving a unanimous shrug.
"We are in," Farris says for the three, "So we taking the half track that's been sitting out front in the Storage Bay."
"Umm, I don't think the Guild would like seeing that thing put in the streets," Courage slowly puts out, remembering how the two machines in the forward space were involved with the Yeashan Incident.
"We just have to call for a ride," he suggested.
"Ok then," I'll put a word out. Getting stuffy in here anyway," Says Marie as she heads off the transport.
Frey's Quaters
Neatly stacking the papers, a knock is heard on his door just as he places them away in his locked drawer.
"Coming in," he calls while dusting off his uniform.
"Afternoon sir," one of the crew who was outside recruiting came in, "Looks like this was sent to you."
In his hand is the letter that Emil has written which Frey retrieves from the man.
"This all?" he asks as he breaks the seal.
With a nod the man turns away as Frey reads the letter.
Thinks he isn't part of the crew already, he chuckles as he reads it through, Well, time to make it official I suppose.
Pulling out a drawer, he retrieves a stamp and marks the letter with a green check mark. Folding it, he stands as he makes his way out and towards the Bridge.
Galley
"You two must have pissed someone off." Charles says as he sips his drink with a hidden smile.
"Here, this might help." Janet moves from her seat and retrieves two plates of egg, bread and Bacon.
Guru Lupulul
After their initial fall, the crowd surrounding Kei and Davis opens up surprise at their drop. Quickly looking around, they head off towards what seems like the north towards the main square. Soon the lone raider slides down a few minutes after.
"Where should we look first?" asks Davis who is trying to keep up with Kei's pace.
"Maybe a communication center, we need to get a message out."
Behind them, they hear several grunts and yells as several people are pushed down to the ground.
"I think one of them is trying to track us. We need to hide or change out of our flight suits," Davis suggested.
-
"Sir, before I go should I be concerned about being drugged? What's this with the blood?"
-
Ulric's Quarters
"A confidential matter that is way above your pay grade. Relax, your not in danger of getting it."
Galley
"Coffee,"
"Nectar of the skies,"
"Wait,"
"Did we piss someone off?"
Vystorg, Merc Bar
"Is that Carn?"
"I thought he was dead?"
"Really Greg? That guy has the constitution of a skywhale."
"Lads, there's a large ship in dock, bound for an expedition south into uncharted skies. I happen to be high on it's food chain, and have been approved to hire on some more muscle."
"Hit Raiders and expecting worse?"
"Probably at least a dozen dead."
"Worse, that plus only a handful of engineers who know what they are doing."
"Which is where we come in, right Alister?"
"Exactly, well lads, its 10,000 crowns. Are you in?"
-
Ulric's Quarters
"Can't be that bad, your security is horrible. Don't worry I know when to forget. Just saying these walls have ears. They were built to fly and not much else."
-
Ulric's Quarters
Shrugging, Ulric leads her in to the workbench. Sitting on top are the several samples from when Carn berserked.
"See, normal red. And to answer your question, after undergoing something that extraneous there are bound to be bouts of exhaustion."
Galley
"By how tired both of you look," starts Janet as she places the plates down, "It's either you two are out of shape or someone in Engineering is putting out more work to be finished. Which I'm assumming is this 'Lady of Engineering'."
Hanger Bay, Fifth Season
1300
"Ok, bring the crane around slowly," Peak calls out to Jim.
Attached to the hook is a new poonton for the port side of the Junker. The starboard one has already been replaced, making the Season seaworthy again. Still the amount of hull damage is extensive and majority of the armor has to be stripped as they took most of the force coming back down onto the water. Using hand signals, Peak guides it in where he and Arnold bolts it in.
Frodor's Guildhall
After an hour long ride, the first 40 minutes has been waiting for a cab, the four finally arrives in front of the massive building. Being the last one out, Courage pays for the fare before the car drives out.
"There goes 40 crowns... What a rip off," he mutters under his breath before almost hitting Antonio.
"Huh?," the pilot turns, "Opps sorry Courage."
"Yeah, yeah. Why did you guys stop?" before looking up to where their gaze were, "Seriously, you stop to gaze at the building?" deadpanned.
"I'm from a small town in the Dunes," start Marie, "and this is like a manor."
"It's just one of the big trade hubs here. Besides, I seen one bigger..." Before it was blown up. omitting the last part to himself.
Walking forwards, he motions the three to follow him inside. As they reach the main door, many types of people buzz around them, from businessmen to farmers. With Slava out of the picture, Fyodor's hall is the next prominent one within the capital. Entering, they are met to an large, open main lobby. In the center sits a very ornate fountain. On the far wall houses a weird billboard with numbers that changes ever so often. On the right are small cubicles where a line is formed with several businessmen while the left are halls leading to the rest of the building. Stopping in the middle of the room, Courage looks over the cubicles and spots one that looks more official than the others.
"there, " he points out, "Must be his personal secretary."
"Well what are we waiting for." Farris says as he starts to make his way over.
Looking at one another, the three quickly fall in behind him as they make their way to the desk.
-
Fyodor's Guildhall
As the group approaches the desk, they see the see the secretary typing away on her typewriter. Glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose and sitting siffly upright, she barely looks away before acknowledging them.
"If you are here to meet with Master Fyodor, there is a month long waiting list."
Finger in the air, Courage's mouth hangs open amazed at he perception. Closing his mouth, he straightens himself, "Excuse me, but this is rather urgent. You see I happen to know the Guild master on a professional note and...."
"Yeah you and everyone else," She interrupted. Lowering her glasses, he stops typing and looks at the group, 'If you really want to see him, I'll write you up on our nearest opening. Either then that, if you can please remove yourself from the premise before i call security. Thank you."
As she resume typing, Courage pulls the three back with a annoyed look upon his face.
"That went well." Marie sarcastically says, "Thought you knew the guy?"
"Know him," He emphasis, 'But we may not see eye to eye."
"How so," Farris questions.
"Long story, had todo with the Yeshan Incident, but we are going to see him no matter what."
Confused, they quickly figured out what he ment as he start to run, awkwardly with the prosthetic, towards the different halls.
"You guys following?" he yells out behind him.
'HEY YOU THREE, STOP RIGHT THERE." a security officer calls the them as he and the restof the lobby watches on.
"Ah Flak me, you heard the man. RUN!!!" Antonio ordeers while catching up to the Anvalan.
Eagle's Shadow, Bridge
Entering, Frey notices the lack of crew manning the different stations. Since docking, they relaxed the rotation and only necessary personnel are working when they are needed. Currently the navigation team is just storing the maps that were out earlier.
"Afternoon sir," a young female acknowledges the man, the two others simply nods.
"Afternoon, Ms. Knightly, Mr. and Mrs. Holmes. So how is our course?"
"Well, we have several locations that are a point of interest to begin our survey" says Mrs. Holmes with a hint in her voice that suspects that this isn't a surveying mission at all anymore.
Picking up the hint, Frey doesn't change his expression, "Very well, does Captain Morgan and our other Captains know?"
"Well Captain Morgan requested us to make this a map," Her husband replies, "But we ill informthe rest once we depart."
'Very well. One last thing. Put out a call to have all hands have the rest of the night and tomorrow off. After what we have been through we deserve this."
Complying, Ms. Knightly goes over to the Comms Station, "Attention all hands, Liberty has been granted for the remainder of the night and all of tomorrow, that is all."
-
Docks
Whistling, Alister makes his way up to the Shadow. Behind him, crudely march about a half dozen veteran engineers, and a dozen or so seasoned riflemen, and one grizzled old gunner.
"And here we are, we plan to head south, chart the skies and land, and wreck anything that tries to stop us. Along with a payment of 10,000 crowns. We have four airships inside, a few planes, a tank, and a half-track. Think you like our odds boys?"
"Aye sir!"
"Good! I'll lead you fine gentlemen of fortune to the Hangar Bay, where you will sign your contracts. After that, don't cause any trouble, unless otherwise ordered to do so."
Turning around, he adds on,
"And for those of you who know her, Ms Alison is a part of the crew. She's the Chief Medical Officer, and the only one on board with any kind of serious medical knowledge, is one of the pilots. So I recommend you lads stay healthy, and keep certain comments to yourself."
A few of the infantrymen pale, while the old gunner grins.
Galley
"The Lady!"
"She's a demon with a spanner!"
"There's always more work!"
-
Catfish Bar, Grill, and Betting house. Radio log 1900.
Mr. Owl: Message for Ivan Smith: I am need a third rate. Contact William, send him south. If you have any presents they are well appreciated. I might have something unusual soon keep in touch. I put 40 Clunkers and 5 Shineys on Dave McDawl.
-
--Fyodor's Guildhall--
"You three, get the west corridor. I'll take another team to the east. Find those intruders!" screamed the head of security.
A chorus of of "Yes Sirs" come from the three as they pull out their night stick in one hand and a radio in another. Since their scene in the lobby, Courage and his ragtag group are running wild in the massive building trying to find it's owner. There were several close calls with the guards who happen to be in the area unknowing of the situation. After picking up one of their radios, Farris overhears a transmission.
"Double up the patrols. These maniacs need to be caught" came the rough voice of the security head.
"One thing for sure, we are maniacs." Farris agrees, "Why did you talk us into this?"
"Hey he owns me and several of my friends big time. Besides he will agree oncei tell him the purpose of why we need them." Courage calls back while still running and closing in on a door.
Behind him closely, Marie catches up and pulls his collar stopping him, "All this trouble for scouting planes for a surveying mission. I don't think that is a valid reason."
Letting him go, she crosses her arms and wait for Antonio and Farris to catch up, "Before we continue, what is really going on? I should havve suspected something as you, out of the entire crew, keeps being called by the Captain for meetings. And you are some ex guard of sorts."
Hearing the yells of security coming down the hall, Courage looks at the woman and over her seeing the shadows coming around the corner, "Ok, this is not a surveying mission per say. There is more to it, I'll explain once we are back to the ship. Right now we to find Fyodor and not get caught."
Grabbing the handle, Courage pulls and tries to walk in before falling over someone.
"What in the world is this!!" came an familiar voice, "Ohh, you again...."
Rubbing his head, Courage tries to stand up before being detained by the buildings security.
"My apologies Master Fyodor, these four where seen trying to break in. Don't worry we'll take them away." The head of security explains.
Sighing, Fyodor says to the man, "Release them." earning several huh's from security and Courage's group.
"This young fellow here is Mr. Bell, a very close associate of one of the Zhaos." he explains, "If he is here, then he must have something important."
With a smug smile on his face, the security lets him and his group go before saying one last apology. Once gone, Fyodor turns to the group.
"Well if you are here, follow me. Must be really important if you are willing to cause my security to go on a wild goose chase." He says with a wave before going through the door Courage opened.
"You know a Zhao?" whispers Anotonio to him.
'Yeah, he is a friend of mine. Azn Zhao, lives in Anvala." he answers.
Inside the office, Fyodor moves behind his desks and motions them to take a seat, "So if you are here, I'm assuming you are with the transport that the Councilwoman allowed to dock within the Military Docks? So is it supplies you need?"
"Yes and some more, we have a small plane squadron on the transport that have taken quite a beating. We only have three functional planes and handful of spare parts."
"So you need a new squadron of planes," the Guild master deduces.
"Yes," Marie spoke, "These two and myself are part of workforce of maintaining the planes. We are here to evaluate what you have in stock." Courage nodding along.
"How about this, just got a shipment form Chaladon. New plane that we acquired from one of their factories. Dubbed Spitfire for the amount of fire it outputs."
"You have them here?" Asks Farris.
"Yes, I can take you to the airfield and show you." Fyodor offers.
"Well Chaladon haven't made a bad plane yet." Marie debates, "I want to see them myself."
"Very well," Fyodor stands, "I'll make a call to arrange for us to go to the field. If you can wait out in front of the building."
Nodding, Farris, Antonio, and Marie stands and exits the office. Still sitting, Courage watches as Fyodor finishes his call.
"That easy to get planes? What are you trying to pull?" He asks.
Walking around his desk, He retrieves his coat and suitcase of one of his cabinets, "You don't think I know the reason that transport is here? I got several recon reports of two more groups in the North and West. So apparently the Baronies are trying to hunt down the last of the Birdmen and you need more supplies because you manage to get into a mishap with one."
"That's spot on." Courage standing up amazed.
"I told your friend Zhao that we are trying to cover up our association with that group. I am willing to to help... to a degree. So are you coming or what?" holding the door for him.
--Air Field--
1400
After an hour drive, they manage to get to the city's lone air field. Already on the tarmac are two Spitfires being serviced by several maintenance workers. Sporting forest camo, they stick out to the tan of the desert. Stopping the vehicle, the chauffeur opens the door to let them out. Walking towards the planes, Marie quickly walks ahead of them and start looking over one of the planes.
"She is very enthusiastic," Fyodor observes, "Well these are your to test. There are suits over in the hanger and the planes are ready to go."
-
Hangar Bay
"And here we are gentlemen, sign up and your good to go."
"Alister, what happened here?"
It was the old gunner, a grim look on his face he continues,
"There aren't as many vessels as you said, and one of them has a wrecked helm. I'm seeing a crew run ragged, and enough firepower to start a siege. Lad, it looks like your going to war with one big ship."
"Gus, I'm not at liberty to discuss this. But if I was going to war, I wouldn't mind having you covering me."
Gus gives a small smile and gets back in line, eyeing over the Shadow's crew.
Turning around, Alister heads to the galley for an early lunch.
Galley
Walking in, and seeing the twins trying to both grovel and drink coffee, was not what he was expecting.
"James. John. What are you doing?"
"She's working us to death!"
"If you can summon enough energy to grovel like that, your not dying. Now, finish your coffee and grab some food. I'll do the same and then I'll poach you two to help me run some repairs on the Kibeth ."
"Well,"
"He's not as cruel a taskmaster in dock,"
"Fine,"
"We'll go."
The twins start to finish up, seeing the lifeline Alister is throwing at them, meanwhile Alister manages to poach a chicken leg and a apple from the cooks and begins to eat.
-
--Somewhere, Gura Lupulul--
“Why didn't we just take a ship? We could've been half way to Vyshtorg by now...” Davis sighed as he leaned against the alley wall.
“Davis please shut up,” She peered around the corner, “I think we've lost him, come one lets go.” She motioned for him to follow as she exited the alley way.
“Yeah, lost the psychopaths in the endless tide of people,” he adjusted the strap on his rifle as he followed suit, “So, what do we do? He's gonna keep searching for us and I'd rather he not get the drop on us.”
“I don't know.” Kei scanned the crowd of people, hoping to spot something, finding nothing she turned to find Davis staring off into the distance. “Davis?”
Her companion pointed to a row of buildings further down the street, “Weapon shop, I have an idea.”
He pushed through the crowd, halting for nothing as Kei followed in his wake, apologizing for her wayward companion as she passed. Eventually the pair made it, opening the door to the space within, most of the merchandise held behind glass cases or held on racks behind the counter. The man at the counter looked up from his book, revealing a scraggly beard as he appraised them.
“Need something.” It most certainly not a question.
Kei sighed, Davis had gotten enthralled by some of the items for sale that he had forgotten why he'd brought them here. She elbowed him in the side, grabbing his attention from the wares.
“Huh?” He blinked, confused before remembering what he was doing, “Oh, right.”
He made his way to the counter as he unslung his rifle, setting it on the counter before him, “You wouldn't happen to have anything for this would you?”
The store manager reached out for rifle, cycling the bolt to peer into the chamber before setting it down. “I can sell you a box for 50 and throw in a package of strip clips for 5.”
“Done.” The two men shook hands as Kei joined him at the counter.
“Well, are you gonna tell me what this plan of yours is?”
“Yeah,” Davis turned to her as he pulled the requisite crowns from a hidden pocket in his coat, “what do you think about being bait?”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Shit, where'd they go?” He'd followed them as far as he could through the city, but they'd gotten a head start on him and quickly managed to loose him in the crowd and he was pissed. He looked around the street and grunted when he couldn't find anything.
He'd been wandering aimlessly for the past hour hoping to find some sign of them with no luck. It was either kill them or bring them back, and truthfully, he was feeling right vindictive about the trouble they'd made him go through.
They wouldn't get away, he'd make sure of that.
Of course the prospects of him actually finding them continued to fall as he wandered through the streets, no one gave him a second glance, armed mercenaries weren't uncommon after all. His irritation grew as he crossed into a quieter part of town, Eh, no way they'd hide here. Or at least that was his thought until he saw someone dive into an alley.
He unslung the rifle on his back as he drew closer,“Heh, gotcha.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kei turned into the alley, certain their pursuer was making a beeline for their position, Davis was at the other end, finishing his task of stacking crates for cover as she came up beside him. “He's here.”
Davis nodded and picked his weapon off the ground and nodded, situating himself behind them as Kei fell in beside him. Eyes on the wooden platform above the alley.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He rounded the corner into the alley, rifle gripped tightly in his hands as he scanned the space before him, the alley extended deep behind the row of buildings, plenty of things to hide behind, crates, old vehicles, dumpsters, barrels. He checked behind everything as he passed him, they wouldn't get in behind him if he had anything to say.
He checked the myriad of doors lining the alley, most of them padlocked to prevent unwanted visitors, others rusted, unmoved for quite some time. He creeped deeper into the alley, into the shade of an errant cargo platform.
A single gunshot filled the alley followed by the sound of rope as it sheared. Above him the wooden platform buckled, dumping the barrels and crates it held onto him, he dove away but a glancing blow by a rolling barrel loosed his grip on the rifle, the weapon clattering away from him as he fell.
Footsteps echoed as he tried to right himself, a kick to the head sent him sprawling against the nearest wall. A hand held against his skull as it throbbed in pain.
“Hands behind your head.” He spared a glance, the barrel of a rifle bearing down on him. Shit… The other escaped prisoner stood several feet in front of him, at this range he wouldn't be able to quickly tackle him before he got another shot off, and at this distance he was sure to hit.
He complied, slowly placing his hands behind his head, he knew how these things went.
“On the ground, now.” He didn't point with his rifle, instead motioning with his eyes, again he complied, kneeling to the ground, watching as the former prisoner slowly circled around to stand behind him.
“Sidearm, throw to the belt to the side.” He slowly reached down the right side, clicking the buckle he pulled it off and tossed it further into the alley.
“Kei! Grab his weapons.” The other prisoner appeared from behind a pile of crates and quickly crossed the distance, picking up both his rifle and the discarded pistol holster. She circled around him, probably to stand next to her cohort.
“What now?” He asked.
“Oh, very simple.” Things were silent for just a second, What is he-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Oh, very simple.” Kei watched as Davis faltered for just a second but continued to hold his rifle level at the raider's head, What is he-
The rifle barked once and the Raider slumped, dead before his body hit the ground. Davis stood there for a moment, staring at the body that lay in the expanding pool of it's own blood grim faced, rifle gripped tightly in his hands.
He breathed, letting the tension left unnoticed in his chest fall. Relaxing his grip on the rifle he slung it on his back as Kei continued to watch him.
“Lets… lets just find a radio station.”
-
--Eagle's Shadow, Frey Quarters
0000, Day 6--
Leaning on the door's entrance, Courage, with tired eyes, watches as Frey shifts through the manifest he was given. In the corner the Baron's radio is on playing classical music from his homeland.
"So Master Fyodor just simply gave us a whole new squadron of planes?" with a hit of surprise in his voice.
Yawning, Courage covers it with a hand, "Well after various checks with the Aircraft Mechanic, she passed the Chaladon build and he approved the whole shipment and even oversaw the delivery."
"That's some good news. You should get some rest, if you haven't notice I gave the crew today off. We'll be departing in the next 24 hours though."
"It did seem quiet here. Well I'm off then, today has been long." with a two finger salute, Courage leaves the room as Frey over looks the papers again.
--Fyodor Hall--
"I hope this mission you help sponsor will pay off, I already paid to have a squadron of Spitfires be delivered to their ship." in his radio room, Fyodor is rubbing his forehead stressed out.
"Don't worry, the Captain Frey is on that voyage, shoud be fine. Besides we need that stain out of our history, any help that we can provide is priority." a female voices comes through.
"Still don't know why you are there and not me. Aren't I the most qualified and have our Factions best interests?"
"And that is why you should be there still. After the Yeshean Incident, the public needs someone to trust to look after them. I'm just the next qualified and available to be here in Cathedral."
"If you say so Councilwoman. Ugh it doesn't even suit you."
"Come on Uncle, dont be like that." laughs Alishia.
Sighing, "Does even your father know about this? Robért is a tough man to negotiate at times."
"Oh no, oh no, he doesn't not know at all, and he shouldn't. If he found out I gave access for a Baron military vessel this deep within our borders, he will go mad."
"Still distrust them. I can see that. If that is all, just keep me updated."
"Will do Uncle."
Hanging the receiver, letting out another sigh, Fyodor looks to the table next to him and pours a shot of rum that was there ealier.
--Eagle's Shadow, Weather Deck
0600
"That's a little low." says Courage though a scope.
"How was that low! It is dead center!" cries Theodore.
In the early dawn, Courage, Theodore, and several others are topside with a makeshift range set up. Using Courage's Defenders Pistol and revolver, several of the onlookers snicker at the younger man's dilemma.
"Just because you used to be an Anvalan Guardsmen, doesn't mean you all godly and accurate. That last shot is dead on I'm the center."
With a smirk, Courage takes the revolver from him, "How about a bet, if I can make a center shot, you are buying my lunch."
"And if you don't, then you pay."
"Deal." he agrees with a hand extended.
Shaking it, Theodore looks him in the eye, "You know, I feels like steak."
Smiling and without breaking eye contact, Courage lifts up the revolver and fire a single shot.
"Steak is fine, and I believe you are paying."
Confused, Theodore and another rush over to the target and an audible groan is heard.
"It is just 1 mm under my shot...."
-
Security guard's report from dock 21 B.
I was doing my rounds as usual. It was about 2:10, 2:15, somewhere in there. I saw a man in a long coat, and a cap. He looked like an airman for sure. I started toward him I planned to get him for suspicious loitering and trespassing. Then I was hit on the side of my head. I fell and reached for my pistol. I couldn't see the face of the gal who had hit me, but I heard her voice because she said don't shoot. I realise now that that saved my life it wasn't intended for me but the man in the long coat. With one arm she pinned my pistol with the other she forced a liquid down my throat.
Notes: The ship at that dock was a type B pyramidion bound for Yesha. It was searched and nothing out of the ordinary was found save a spy glass found in the kitchen, which was later lost.
-
Some dark alley.
"Damit, they will recognize the red herring as exactly that. They will still cover there bases but still. They have the man power, and on top of that they know I am here." Pauses. "I should have killed him." A man's voice.
"Alexander." A woman's voice.
"What, it's bad." Alexander.
"Not as stupid as your 'uncharted skys ' idea of an escape. You could have the law looking for you too." A women's voice.
There's no choice now, and that should let us get away clean. You will need to stow away, there is no time to arrange a job." Alexander.
-
In the cargo hold of The Eagle's Shadow
One of the barrels gave a slight wobble. A muffled "the hell?!" sounded from within.
-
Day 7
Frey's Quaters
All is quiet on the Eagle's Shadow as the crew enjoy their last day of leave in the Mecantile capital. That is until a pair of boots running through the empty halls ringing through the silence. Paper in hand, Charles takes a deep breath before knocking.
"Enter." came the muffled reply. "Ah, Mr. Banning what a surprise," starts Frey from his papers, "Thought you would be out with the rest of the Comm officers?"
Without a word, Chales walks toward the Baron and lifts the piece of paper for him to see. Puzzled, Frey takes it and reads the message.
"Recall the crew," Frey orders, "I want us in the air in the next three hours."
Nodding, Charles rushes out the office towards the Bridge.
Day 11
Eagle's Shadow, Location Unknown, South of Guild Border's
After receiving their message and leaving port promptly, a day after and both downed pilots are rescued after flying through Gura Lupulul. The next two days left Kei and Davis under medical supervision and a debrief with Frey. During the time, Frey announced the true intention of the mission to them and the rest of the crew. Now all hands are aware of the hunt to snuff out the remaining Birdman resistance with Briggs being the main target.
Weather Deck
Staring out in the vast unknown, Courage sits on several crates with his rifle by his side. Coming and sitting besides him Lorena stares out as well.
"So secret is out and we have all of this to comb through to find them. What a mission huh?" turning her head towards him
Without breaking his gaze, "After all the things they done, I hope we find them."
Birdcage, Location Unknown
After landing the stolen Goldfish within their secret hideout hidden amongst the ruins of an ancient city resting on top of a mountain. Jasper departs and is quickly escorted deep within the facility. Outside a pair of giant doors, they open to reveal a desk and chair behind a wall of numerous screens.
Walking and stopping right before the chair, Jasper looks up and notices that the screens showed different parts of the city. A cough is heard bring him back to the chair, "Apologise, but it looks like Frey and his band are now aware of our last location."
In a cool female voice, "Well, we should welcome they when they come. It would be rude of us not too."
-
Carn's Quarters
While performing routine maintenance on his equipment, Alister allows his mind to wander.
So, we are over the edge of the map and are flying to fight monsters. It's like some old story.
Suddenly the twins barge into Carn's room.
"Alister,"
"The crew,"
"Is getting,"
"Disgruntled."
Sighing softly, Alister quickly finishes then quickly runs a comb through his hair.
"Tell the men to meet me in the hangar bay. Keep everyone off the bay doors, I'll speak to them."
Nervously looking at each other, the twins run off to gather the disgruntled crew members.
Alister finishes his attempts to make himself look more presentable, and grabs his weapons belt with his pistol and axe.
Can't say I blame them, they had no idea what they really signed up for.
Hangar Bay
The twins have successfully gathered the troublesome crew members into the hangar bay. Standing to one side they assure the crew that Alister will explain things.
Entering, Alister is bombarded by shouted questions. Ignoring them all, he quickly climbs up the catwalk, the twins at the bottom detering any followers. After reaching a halfway point, Alister unhooks his axe and begins clanging the flat of the blade onto the metal handrail until the crew is silent.
"Men and women of the Eagle's Shadow, I know you have questions and concerns about our mission."
A grumbling assent can be heard from the crowd.
"I believe I have a satisfactory answer to your questions. We are mercenaries. We are paid to kill and be killed. What does it matter if our enemy is human or not? We go to kill monsters, to win fame, glory, and loot. But if any of you would like to leave, you are welcome to."
Alister smashes a button on the wall which opens the bay doors.
"Sadly we cannot afford to set you down, nor can we offer you a parachute. We are miles south of all charted skies, if you survive the fall you will have to walk back to Guild territory. You'd be easy targets for raiders and sky knows what else, any takers?"
The crowd looks at the opening in the floor and all step back.
"Good," Alister hits the button again to close the door, "We go to war. The odds are good that the enemy will strike at us in the future, so we may as well hit them first. Are you satisfied?"
After a few moments the crowd shouts out their affirmative.
"Good, keep your equipment in good condition, keep training. As the information begins to flow, I'll see about trying to disperse more information on our enemies. Dismissed."
Med Bay
Having taken the samples of Carn's blood back to the med bay, she continues to examine them periodically while tending to the crew.
The strain on his heart and lungs is enormous, yet it seems to have some compound to relieve them as well. However created this was amazing, but why? How did they plan to use this in the end?
-
--Weather Deck--
"Well, it's not exactly the worst of plans." Lorena said, shrugging despite it all.
"Still," She continued, "we're going to beat their faces in one way or another." Her forehead creasing in thought at her own statement.
"Well, that's the idea at least."
--Hanger Break Room--
"And that's yours, again..." Davis shook his head as the cards stared up at him, the sound of Kei sweeping the paltry change to her side of the table accompanying his disbelief, "Why do I keep playing you?"
"Because you're bored with nothing to do?" She raised an eyebrow at him as she shuffled and dealt the next hand.
"Right," Davis sighed as he checked his new cards, "so, since we're in it for the long haul how much do you want to bet that this entire fiasco isn't going to work?"
"I don't take a fool's bet." Her blunt response getting a chuckle out of him.
"Yeah I suppose you're right," Davis replied, nodding at her response, "kind of miffed they tried to kidnap us though, looking forward to dealing with them."
"'Kind of miffed' he says," She rolled her eyes at his choice of words, "and if they had actually experimented on us?"
"Well," He said, face scrunched up in fake contemplation, "maybe a bit annoyed."
The two of them shared a quiet laugh before a comfortable silence settled between them, only broken by the sound of shuffling cards and sliding coins. Davis leaned back in his chair as he lost the 9th hand, quietly content as Kei dealt the next hand. Antonio and Farris would be back soon from their flight, and it would be his turn to take to the skies.