The Skies have no Limit

[BdrLineAzn]

Anvala

Entering the Burning Skies, Althea and BdrLine sees that the three were inside at the bar along with Allen and John. The group of five are talking with one another about their different experiences during the Festivals of the two cities.

Allen
"Tommy, you should have seen how crowded the docks were this time. John and I barely had any space to move or work with the amount of people."

John
"Thats just the docks, imagine the rest of the city. Whoo"

Joining the group, Althea and BdrLine grabs two seats next to the others.

Althea
"You two think got it bad, remember who had to run this place during this time."

BdrLine
"Alright, you guys were very busy. Sorry about leaving you guys, but look at the ordeal we went through."

BdrLine then points to himself and to Tommy, Courage, and Charles. The three nods in agreement that they had it a bit worst since the lot of them were near the attack site.

John
"Yeah I heard what happen. Didn't think that the Rocket Race can be more chaotic."

Courage
"You don't know the half of it. I was in the race and wreckage starts to fall all around me. One almost hit the craft that I was racing in."

Allen
"Well I also heard that they shot down the guy who was behind it. So did those people in Cathedral execute them?"

The four who arrived look at one another before BdrLine spoke.

BdrLine
"They got away, and because of that we are going after them. Reason we are back here is to resupply and retrieve our equipment."

Althea
"Wait so you are just going after those people. Are you crazy?" *Points up a finger as BdrLine is about to speak* "Don't answer that. But why?"

BdrLine
"If we don't, then the world as we know it might be in jeopardy."

Allen
"Why do you guys sound like the world as we know it is really at stake, weren't the attack group a bunch of pirates?"

Charles
"The group who attack the race weren't pirates."

Courage
"Bdr says that they are an old group or something and that dealing with they is very serious."

BdrLine
"Plus I already dealt with them before, don't know if they gotten stronger or weaker, but we have to go after them."

Taking it all in Althea sits with a finger tapping her cheek in thought. She stands up and moves behind the counter to the wall where she removes BdrLine's custom rifle and toss it to him. Moving to the back, she calls out

Althea
"Well if you are going, then you better bring me as well. No ifs, ands, or buts."

She returns and holstered to her waist are her dual pistols that she wields.

Tommy
"Well if you are going, then I'm staying. Sorry Bdr, I would love to help, but..."

BdrLine
"Don't worry, I understand. So since I can't persuade Althea to rethink. Charles, Courage, you two still in?"

Charles
"As always."

Courage
"Count on it."

BdrLine
"Ok we are set. Tommy, you four know what to do, run my docks and the saloon, and try not to blow anything up."

Tommy
"Bdr you know you can trust us, we'll be fine."

BdrLine
Alright. Ok let's get back to the ship. If you need anything, my warehouse is always open."

Waving Tommy and the others off, BdrLine and his crew sets off to the docks. Arriving there, BdrLine notices that his Goldfish is almost ready as workers double checks the weapons and componets to bringing down the different ammo for the three guns. Having some spare time, he moves to his warehouse and opens the door. During the reconstruction, his warehouse was quickly rebuilt, but now it functions again as a storage and testing building instead of the funhouse it was before the battle. Moving to his work tables, he moves around a few papers and parts in order to find something. Straightening back up and scratching his head, BdrLine moves to a pile of boxes next to the table and opens one.

BdrLine
"Ah ha, there you guys are."

Getting back up, BdrLine pulls up his sleeves and adjust two arm guards unto his forearm. Satisfied with the fitting, he clenches both arms and blades extend from the two arm guards. Happy that his device still works, BdrLine rolls down his sleeves and leaves for his ship again. Already on board, Charles and Courage are securing the fours rifles in the cabin for easy access if needed. Standing at the helm, Althea looks on out in the distance readying herself for the adventure. Looking at her, BdrLine smiles as he boards the ship and helps untie the lines with the other workers. He moved to the helm and behind Althea as he puts her inbetween him and thw wheel. Resting his head on her shoulder, he manoeuvre the Goldfish out and into Anvalan airspace heading south back to Cathedral.

Chang-ning

The three trucks arrive to the street labeled on the shipping form. Driving down the road passing by many mansions, the Birdman in the first truck talks to the other drivers on the dashboard radio.

Birdman
"Here is the plan, the trucks with our friends goodies will enter the courtyard. The third truck with the mercenaries hold back a block until we give the signal. Don't want them suspicious do we now. Once we are in and have the Zhaos, the third truck will come in to cover us. Got it?"

Truck 2 Driver
"Yes Boss."

Truck 3 Driver
"I hear ya."

Tapping the Birdman, the first truck driver points out in from of him.

Truck 1 Driver
"Sir almost at the address."

Birdman
"Ok third truck hold back now."

Pulling to the side, the truck full of mercenaries sits idle as the first two arrives to the front gate. Going up to the first truck, one of the mansions security goes to the driver side.

Security
"State your business."

Truck 1 Driver
"We have a delivery for Mr. & Mrs. Zhao. Items bought for them from Cathedral."

Looking at the clipboard he has on him, he sees that in fact that the family was expecting a big delivery. Signalling to some other guards, two goes over to the back of each truck and lift the tarp and confirms that they do have the items. Tipping his hat, the security guard opens the gate for them.

Inside the first truck, the Birdman smirks as how smoothly everything was going and soon they are at the front steps of the mansion. Standing at the doorway and coming down the steps, Liu Zhao claps happily that the things her son have sent haved finally arrived. Getting out of the trucks and towards the rear to start removing the items, Liu is right by the disguised Birdman as he oversees the removal.

Liu
"Oh thank you for delivering this. I've been waiting for this for a few days now. I could have sent some of my trading ships to pick ip up, but I still have no contract with Cathedral as of now."

Birdman
"It was a pleasure Ma'am. Shipping is what we do. May I ask? Where is the man of the house? I'm certain he would like to see the good s as well."

Liu
"Why yes, he should indulge on what our son has bought for us. Oh where are my manners, come in and have a small drink. I made some tea, and I bet you and your men might be parched."

Liu walks towards the house as she says the offer to him. With an evil smile, the Birdman follows behind.

Birdman
"Why thank you, a little drink would suffice."

Entering the building, he notices how simple, yet elegant the interior was and felt disgust on the inside. Hiding it, the Birdman turns to see Liu returning with a tray followed by her husband, Shen. Going up to the Birdman, Shen extends a hand to him.

Shen
"Thank you for making this delivery, it must be a hassle."

The Birdman extends his own and shakes hands.

Birdman
"Was fairly easy if I were to say. Clear skies and no attack during out trip. Would you care to see the items?"

Letting go, Shen fixes his glasses, and with a hand, gestures to the Birdman that he would love to see them. Nodding, the Birdman leads the pair out in front where half of the items were unloaded. Setting the tray down on one of the crates, both Zhaos walk as they inspect the inside of crates already open. Unaware to them, the Birdman then looks to his men and nods his head. Understanding, two men goes back to one of the trucks and grabs a bottle and two cloths. Dipping the cloths, they go up behind the couple and places them over their mouths. Startled, the two try to fight from their assailants grips but soon passout. Going to the limp bodies, the Birdman looks at the pair and smirks.

Birdman
"Good, now ties them up and load them in the trucks. And get that junk out of them as well."

Rushing to get the order done, the men who knocked out the couple moves the, to the first truck where they ties off the wrist and legs. Unknown to the, the ypu get son, Huan, moves to the front door to see what arrives.

Huan
"Mom , Dad, so where the stuff Azn boug..... Um.... Hi?"

The group out from sees him as Huan waves a small hand at them before quickly slipping back inside and closing the door. Inside, Huan then goes to a panel on the wall and presses a button. Sirens then blaze around the estate, as the mansions security converge to the front. Outside, the kidnappers look at one another until the Birdman barks at them.

Birdman
"Hurry up you dogs, the security will be here any moment. Ditch the stuff and get in the trucks."

Going back to the first truck, the Birdman reaches for the radio and calls the one waiting outside.

Birdman
"Get your asses here now, we are caught."

Turning on the engine, the third truck then drives towards the mansion. Approaching the gate, the guards sees a oncoming truck heading straight at them. Getting into a firing position, they try to shoot at the truck until they jumped out of the way or get squashed in the process. Breaking through, the third truck sees guards going to the courtyard. Stopping, the mercenaries get out of the back and start to fire on the incoming security. Pinned down, most of the guards move to cover to avoid being hit and blind fire at the kidnappers.

With the couple secured in the back, the Birdman and his men quickly start their trucks and race out of the drive way with the third truck in tow. Coming out from their cover, the guards then run to their vehicles to chase them down. As the security moves to the front gate, a small object falls from the third truck and explodes hitting the first security vehicle, blocking the path.

Looking behind, the Birdman gives out a mechanical laugh as that his plan worked to a degree and now two of the most prominent figures in the Empire are under his control. Driving away from the district, the three truck moves back to the docks where the Birdman boards his Galleon, and heads back to his hideout with his prize.

[Plasmarobo]

--Venucian Might, Wild Winds Private Hangar, Northern Docks--

Plasma sits brooding in a nest of wires, metal plating, gears, and fuel lines. He stares critically at the dual propeller of the engine before violently taking a wrench to the bolts holding it in place. Eventually it comes loose, falling into the piles of mechanical detritus. The clockwork spider clicks balefully from it's perch on his shoulder. Plasma looks at it for a moment, then scoops it up and places it on the empty shell of the engine. It skitters off along the frame and out of Plasma sight.

After a few hours of tinkering with the engine components the system is largely reassembled, now sporting several extra input tubes and pressure gauges. Plasma is thoroughly covered in oil and grease. He fails to notice, as he absently attempts to wipe the stuff from his hands, that the rag he is holding is filthier than he and simply applying more of the stuff to his skin. Something leaps from the guts of the engine onto his arm and he starts, nearly knocking over an open can of lubricant. The clockwork spider chirps from his sleeve.

The door to the hangar opens suddenly and he wheels around, blinded by the sudden glare of the sun from behind the door. His vision resolves a tall man wrapped in sand-toned cloth. The wrappings obscure most of his face, in fact, only the eyes are visible. He stands motionless against the agonizing backdrop for a moment, then steps forward over the threshold. He continues to hold open the door.

_Plasma
"You again. What do you and your 'dust' want now?"

_{Man of Dust}
"You are running out of time. You no longer have the luxury of waiting. The time to strike is now, and only now. Hesitate and your quarry will be forever lost to you. I bring this message with friendship."

The man sweeps back through the door, and is gone by the time Plasma sprinting full out reaches the door frame. He bites his lip, thinking hard. Then returns to the engine, replacing the last few parts and checking all the bolts. He finds a clean rag and wipes much of the grease from himself. Then he grabs a funny little radio, and flicks the dial to a specific frequency.

_{Plasma to Radio}
"Newt, send my crew down to the docks would you? I need them ready to go in an hour. If BdrLine returns by then, tell him to meet us outside the city if he can, and at that place if he can't. Looks like the deadline for this job just got pushed up."

--Some time later--

Newt sent over the group from the Bebop, Spike, Jet, and to Plasma's surprise Faye. He glances at Spike, opening his mouth but stops. He closes it, leering slightly at Spike. Then he catches sight of Emily and the leer immediately transforms into knowing sympathy.

_Plasma
"Alright crew, sorry for the sudden bump in departure time. Check your weapons, make sure you've got all your gear and we're off. I'm hoping BdrLine will meet us outside the city, but if not, well, I just hope he catches us eventually."

He leaps aboard the ship and takes the helm, performing a final check of fuel level and mechanical links.

[Gryphos]

--Dragontown, warehouse 2G--

Zardis
"Who are you, and what do you want?"

Gareth
"I'm Gareth, and this is Lyre, Michael and Lionel. We want to help you."

Zardis
"How do you know who I am?"

Lyre
"There's a bounty on your head-"

Zardis cocked his shotgun.

"-But we're not going to take it!"

Zardis
"Why not?"

Gareth
"Because you have dirt on the Yeshan authority, and I'll fight tooth and claw to keep that kind of leverage safe, even if I'm not necessarily the one who has it."

Zardis said nothing but stared at the group individually, appearing to size each one of them up. A good ten seconds went by before he and his henchmen lowered their guns.

Zardis
"Come in."

He took them to the end of the warehouse, passed various chest-high brick walls.

Lionel
"Why the walls?"

Zardis
"It's cover in case of a firefight."

Michael
"Is that likely to happen?"

Zardis
"I've remained hidden here thus far, but you can never be too cautious."

Gareth
"So this is the fabled letter."

They had arrived at the end of the room where, on a table, lay the letter, along with various papers and a magnifying glass.

Zardis
"Yes. I stole it from the Tiger's office directly. Had to call in about a dozen favours and bribe or kill twice as many guards. But I got it."

There was a knock at the door, and Zardis turned to two of his henchmen.

Zardis
"Go get that, would you."

The two henchmen nodded and walked off toward the front end of the warehouse.

Lyre
"So, what's in the letter that can be so important?"

Zardis
"Well, that's actually what I'm trying to figure out..."

Gareth
"What?"

Zardis
"I don't actually know what it says. It's written in some sort of code. Top secret stuff, no doubt it would be."

Gareth
"Then how do you know it's actually anything incriminating at all?"

Lyre
"I think the fact that they have such a large bounty on him proves that, don't you think."

Zardis
"Either way, I stole this with reason, and I'm certain it's got deep, grimy, secrets in it. I just need to uncover them. Then, who knows what kind of power I'll have."

The henchmen had arrived at the door. One of them reached for the handle and opened the door, leading to a massive explosion.

[BdrLineAzn]

Starlight

Just like the trip out of Cathedral, the trip come back was the same, uneventful and boring. Even flying at maximum speed, the journey back still took hours. Staying on the top deck in the cabin and near the helm, the four crewmen takes shifts piloting while the other three lounge around.

Trying to past them time, BdrLine goes over to the rifle rack on the cabin's wall and remove his weapon. Going over to a corner, he sits and starts to disassemble his rifle for cleaning. Few minutes pass as he removes the many metal parts and places them in front of him on a rag. Once fully apart, he goes through the process of cleaning and oiling. Sitting besides him, Althea watches tentatively, wanting to know more about the inner working so the custom rifle. Across from them on the other wall, Charles lies on a makeshift pillow of his bag taking a nap and hugging most of the wall. With the three in the cabin, Courage stands at the helm making minute adjustments to their course.

Later in the evening, BdrLine is now at the helm and over the horizon, spots the glowing lights of the central city.

BdrLine
"Heads up, we are almost here."

Peaking their heads out of the door to see how much distance they have left, the rest of the crew joins him and crowd around the helm. Taking a spyglass from BdrLine's belt, Althea extends it and looks at the metropolis.

Althea
"So this is Cathedral, this is much bigger than Anvala."

Courage
"You're Right about that. Place is enormous."

BdrLine
"We can sight see some other time, right now we need to find Plasma. Maybe he is in the air waiting for us."

Althea
"Alright ill look around."

As Althea scans the surrounding area for any signs of a waiting ship. The radio insides start to beep as it receives a signal. Turning around, BdrLine looks at the door and at Charles who understands and moves to the helm while BdrLine gets the radio. Inside, he grabs the headset and places it over his head. Looking at the dial, he notices that it's his family's personal frequency and dials in.

BdrLine
"Hey guys what's up?"

Chang-ning, Earlier

After the escape of the Birdman and his crew with the Zhao couple, emergency vehicles arrive at the residence. Putting out the fire of the smouldering security vehicle, men pushes the wreck to the side and try to make sense of what happen. Inside the mansion, officers question part of the security team and Huan about the recent events.

Huan
"Ok my mother has called up to me saying something about a delivery that my older brother has sent. At the time I was doing my studies and thought I needed a break. Heading down the stairs and out the front door, I was asking her about what he bought and came upon two men putting clothes over their mouths."

Officer
"How many people total did you see?"

Huan
"Maybe around 5-6. They all turned when I came out and just stared at each other before I ran in and sounded our alarm."

Officer
"Is this all?"

Huan
"Yes officer. Sir, what will become of my parents?"

Writing down the statement on a pad, the Officer looks up at him after the question.

Officer
"Well son you, your parents, heck even your whole family are know around the Empire. With that in mind, I suspect that the kidnapper will demand for a ransom of sorts and need them alive. But don't worry, we'll track and find them, and once we do, Gods have mercy on them. As for now, I will place some of my men and integrated them with your security."

Out in the front door, a mans voice goes over the officer.

Man
"That won't be necessary."

Huan and the Officer turns and sees Ny-Lee and Roland with confusion upon their face, next to them is another man in an Emperor Elite uniform. The Elite then goes to the Officer.

Emperor Elite
"I am 2^nd Lieutenant Chong of His Majesty's Guard. When he heard of the kidnapping, I, along with my team, were sent to protect the remaining immediate family."

Officer
"Very well then. My men and I will be on our way then to investigate this. Lieutenant, Masters Zhaos."

With a whistles, the Officer motives to the rest inside to start heading out. Finishing up with the rest of the statements and documenting evidence, the police team then leaves the property.

Going over to Huan, Ny-Lee and Roland starts to bombard him with questions. While they go and converse with each other, Chong and nine more Elites move inside the building.

Chong
"If I may interrupt, my men and I will speak with your security team here."

Ny-Lee
"Alright, but can you talk with them in another room."

Chong
"As you wish Ma'am."

With the group gone, Ny-Lee turns back to her little brother who just finished answering her husband.

Ny-Lee
"Well at least you're safe. I can't believe this happened to mom and dad. What did they do to deserve this? I know there are some politicians and military leaders who hates father's polices of peaceful expansion and would disobey them and do their own way. And mother have her competitors trying to out do her and her humanitarian acts. But why, they all know it's foolish and would get them killed if caught and found guilty. Uggggh I soo want to get my hands on the ones who did this."

As the two men watches her, they notice that with each passing word Ny-Lee gets angier until she grabs hold of a vase and was about to throw it down. Quickly moving to her, Roland catches the vase before it hits the floor and places it back. Wrapping his arms around Ny-Lee, he tries to calm her down.

Roland then turns to Huan
"Huan, I think you should call BdrLine, I think he would know this as well."

Huan
"If you say so."

Huan moves away from the couple and into the mansion's radio room and puts in his older brothers frequency. After waiting, he hears his voice.

BdrLine
"Het guys what's up?"

Huan
"Umm Azn, you're not gonna like this."

Huan then explains the situation to him over the radio. After he finished, Huan waits for an answer but silence was all he heard.

Huan
"Azn, you there still?"

BdrLine
"Sorry, but damn them."

Huan
"What? Damn who? Wait, you might know who is behind this?"

BdrLine
"I definitely know who is behind this. Huan go to Ny and Roland and just say that we have a bird problem again, they'll understand."

With a look of confusion, Huan agrees and cuts he and his brother off and returns to his sister and brother-in-law.

Huan
"I just told Azn, and he says he might know who kidnapped mom and dad. All he said was that 'we have a bird problem again' you guys know what that means?"

Roland
"Bird problem? Again? What does he mea..."

Roland then receives a nudge from his wife and turns to see the look on her face. Reading her eyes, it takes a moment for the words to sink in and realisation hits.

Roland
"Oh Flak."

En Route to Hideout

Changed back into his normal attire, the Birdman smiles to himself at a job well done. Not only has he retrieved the engines he needed, he has now leverage over the Empire.

Everything is falling into place, soon the Birdmen will make a comeback. All we need now are the engineers finishing building and hold a meeting with the other members. Soon, soon.

[Piemanlives]

--Warehouse, South Docks--

He didn't have much to do, with his crew out and about and still not back like they promised, Inn regulars having some major op they have going, and with the Festival over, he had no idea how to spend the next day or so.

Alex
"I should probably take a look at the craft, might see what damage was done during the race."

He was taking stock for what they had stored, several chainguns, a few mortars, and a few relatively new howitzers, the Hwacha still sat in the corner, having not received a price for the damn thing it just sat there. His work station sat at the other side of the room, a varitable see of tools and dismantled machinery, mostly guns. He walked over and opened the door near it, the craft he, along with Richard and Reagan, flew during the rocket race sat on the other side. A fine mess that was, it was a simple blunt thought on his part but true nonetheless.

Alex
"Let us see what the damage is."

He took a tool box from his work station and began looking over the various components, a few slashed wires here and there, the fuel tank had a horrible gash along its under side, a few holes in the armor here and there, and the blood stains from when he got hit by that carrionade. Here and there were some other minor damages, scrapes, burns, more blood stains (His obviously),  all in all nothing that couldn't be repaired, of course he would need materials to do so, then again he owned a salvage warehouse, of course he had the materials, now all he had to do was find them in the various crates, boxes, piles, shelves, ruined equipment and other large amounts of places they could be.

Alex
"Yet again, my work is cut out for me."

The door behind him opened.

Reagan
"I thought I might find you here."

She leaned against the door frame, he looked up from his work to see her, in a guards captain uniform, and flanked by 2 city guardsmen.

Alex
"Ok, I'll bite, what the hell did you do, or rather, what the hell did I do?"

Reagan
"Nothing really, these two just follow me around, making sure I don't get into trouble, again."

Alex
"You made a lot of trouble for us in the past, and by that I mean the time me and Richard had to flee Firnfield."

Reagan
"That wasn't my fault, was it?"

Alex
"Only partially, well it wasn't that serious, all we really did was hide out in a cave fortress I found, that was what? 8 years ago now? You two were still married, now begs the question, what happened to the shy dock worker that used to work with you?"

Guardsmen 1
"Excuse me sir, is there a point to this visit?"

Reagan
"Ruin the fun will you? To answer your question she got promoted a few years back, she still sends me letters."

Alex
"Of course she would, she was always a bit dependent on you, even when you were a new recruit into the militia, hard times that was."

Reagan
"I swear back then a few guys I served with thought she had fallen for me."

Alex
"She was, or rather still is married, she is married still right?"

Guardsmen 2
"Sir, we places that we need to be."

Reagan
"Hold on, we are still reminiscing."

Alex
"Why don't you two make yourselves useful and bring that Hwacha over here."

The two of them looked at each other before shrugging it off and heading over to attempt to bring it to them. They watched with amusement as they continued.

Alex
"Anyways, where were we?"

Reagan
"You were asking about her marriage, she has 2 children now, pity they still live in Firnfield, a harsh place to raise children.

Alex
"That it is, glad Lorena was already 12 when we arrived."

Reagan
"I must know how you managed to keep her a secret from all of us for so long."

Alex
"By not really thinking about it, of course I care about her, but I can't spend every waking moment worrying, by then she had already grown, doesn't mean I wasn't there for her when she needed it."

Reagan
"Anyways I came with a message for you."

Alex
"Oh? Who from?"

Reagan
"Not sure who exactly-"

A crash echoed about the room, looking over, the Hwacha was on its side and both officers were wondering what the hell to do about it.

Reagan
"Anyways, here it is, tell me what you find, I'm curious as well."

Alex
"Why did they send you though?"

Reagan
"Because they want me to actually do something, I may be a captain but I have no real duties aside from paper work."

The two guardsmen managed to haul the thing next to the door, they saluted before taking their places behind her.

Guardsmen 2
"A pity really, she's a crack shot, compared to the rest of us that is."

Guardsmen 1
"I take that as an offense, saying the rest of us are bad shots."

Guardsmen 2
"You have to admit though, a decent amount of the guard are horrible shots, can't even hit the broadside of a galleon."

Guardsmen 1
"To be fair, Ships move in many directions. Besides most of those people are relegated to other duties, like policing the rough housers and what not."

Guardsmen 2
"Yeah but think about it this way-"

Reagan
"Are you two quite done yet?"

The two of them shot each other a look before falling silent.

Reagan
"Anyways, there was another thing."

She pulled out a Sword, well his sword to be frank.

Reagan
"A few members of the guard confiscated this, seeing as they had no idea what to do with it they just left it in the armory."

He took the sword from her hands and took a look over it, it was fine as it would seem.

Alex
"Appreciated, anyways, I'll forward anything I learn from the letter."

Reagan
"Where is the rest of the crew anyways?"

Alex
"Richard didn't tell you? They went out to do some salvaging yesterday and haven't come back, I wonder what's keeping them."

Reagan
"I'll post a memo for the city watch to keep an eye out for them."

She and her followers began to walk out of the warehouse when something hit her.

Reagan
"Wait, what do you mean it was only partially my fault you had to flee the region?"

He gave a small laugh.

Alex
"You really don't remember do you?"

Reagan
"Of course I don't, I would remember making 2 of my superiors flee the area."

Alex
"Lets just say  you had horrible paperwork skills."

Reagan
"W-w-what?!"

He just laughed as he waved at them as he exited the warehouse, which immediately led to him walking back in.

Alex
"Why the hell was I leaving!? This my warehouse."

--Tattered Facility--

They stopped in a relatively cleared room. They hadn't eaten since the flight over, and after countless hours fighting off these dog like creatures, they deserved a break. They broke out packs of food and passed them around.

Richard
"We must be getting close, there are more of those damn things around every corner."

He took a bite of his dried meat sandwich. Preston was heating up some soup, it was cold down in the labs. Travis was watching the hallway and Dalhia was cracking open some nuts she brought with her.

Travis
"Exactly, how the hell do we get back, we could get trapped down here, or worse, eaten alive by these damn things."

Preston
"Not exactly a pretty site to behold is it?"

Travis
"Damn right it isn't!"

He made a show of thumping the hand held chaingun on the floor, Preston just went back to heating up the soup.

Dalhia
"How is the soup, stew, whatever the hell it is going?"

Preston
"A few moments, I almost have it at the consistency I want it."

Richard
"Anyways, how big do you think this brood mother is?"

Dalhia
"I have no idea, who's ever seen one of these things before anyways?!"

Preston
"Well obviously the people who worked and or lived here once upon a time."

Dalhia
"I mean in recent memory."

Preston
"Exactly, we have no idea when they fled this place."

Richard
"The stew Preston."

Preston looked at him for a moment before testing the stew.

Preston
"All good, grab a bowl I'm serving."

--Tattered Air Dock--

The three of them weren't hungry, yet they wished Preston was around, seeing as the guy could make something delicious from just about anything.

Lorena
"See anything yet?"

Reynold
"Nothing, not even a-

He yawned, still obviously tired.

Reynold
"Not even a bird."

Phillip
"Look, I'd rather have something come along then nothing at all."

Lorena
"Here here, hey do you hear that?"

The all remained silent for a moment. They heard rumbling engines in the distance, though they seemed to be growing fainter and fainter, either they were flying away, or they were slowly powering down their engines.

Phillip
"Permission to be worried?"

Reynold
"Granted."

[Gryphos]

--Dragontown, warehouse 2G--

The explosion rang in everyone's ears as the entire wall on which the door was placed came crumbling down. The force of the explosion instantly killed the two henchmen at the door and the rest of them were shot down by the influx of Yeshan troops flooding into the warehouse.

Gareth
"GET DOWN!"

The remaining living people, including only Zardis and Gareth's group, took cover instantly behind their respective cover. Only Zardis did not dive for cover immediately, instead he dashed over to his desk and grabbed the letter, along with a few note-filled papers, before stuffing them into his pockets and diving for cover by Gareth, barely avoiding several fatal shots.

Gareth
"Are you insane?"

Zardis
"Trust me, this is worth more than I am."

Gareth
"If you say so. Personally, I'd rather we kept both."

Gareth peered over cover and fired a shot into an approaching soldier. In all the smoke that still filled the entrance, the eagles both slipped out undetected and flew off. Gareth tried to look out again but was suppressed.

Gareth
"Hey, Lionel! Give us an opening!"

Lionel pulled out a grenade and lobbed it over his head. It exploded and took out a group that was advancing, but it wasn't enough, as more were coming in every moment.

Lyre
"How many men do you think they have?!"

Zardis
"I think the technical term is a 'shitload'. But I got something."

He pulled out a small remote control as Gareth fired another shot.

Zardis
"This is hooked up to my ship, way off o the other end of the docks. Watch this!"

He pushed the button and nothing happened. Gareth looked at him, puzzled. He looked over a Lyre, who only looked back at him and shrugged.

Gareth
"Err, was something meant to ha-"

Just then a whistling noise could be heard getting closer. Then, a lumberjack shell came careening through the air and exploded on the ground of the newly opened warehouse. Luckily, none of Gareth's group were out of cover and so were not hit by the explosion of flechettes that shredded almost all the attackers.

Zardis
"GO!"

They took this opportunity and all leapt over cover and advanced up to the entrance of the warehouse, firing shots all the while. Gareth, Lyre and Zardis took cover on one side of the wide hole in the wall, while Michael and Lionel took cover on the other side.

Zardis
"See, I always take precautions."

Gareth
"Any more up your sleeve?"

Zardis
"Ahh, no. The ship's unmanned, my crew is now all dead and the Lumberjack was set to hit that exact point. If I fired it again it would hit us."

Lyre
"That's great, because I'm out of ideas."

Gareth peaked around the wall and saw yet more Yeshan soldiers behind barricades, while a commander stood on the deck of a ship in the dock with a megaphone.

Commander
"You are surrounded! We have men planting demolition charges on the other side of the warehouse as we speak! Give us Zardis and you will not be prosecuted for your crimes! If you do not, then you will be killed!"

While he was saying this a group of soldiers had started setting up what appeared to be a machine gun turret.

Lyre
"Who let the Yeshans do all this? Where's the city authority?"

Zardis
"The city has no authority. Dragontown is already dangerously close to the Empire's territories. An incident like refusing to turn a blind eye would only lead to an attack."

Gareth
"What do we do?"

Lyre
"Whatever we do, we'd better do it fast cause if they come in from the rear and they get that gun up and running..."

--Griffinheart, a bit earlier--

Hector
"Twenty bottles o' moonshine on the wall, twenty bottles o' shine..."

Roc landed in front of him on the helm.

Hector
"Oh, hi."

Roc was flapping his wings wildly and took off and swooped around in the general direction of the warehouse. Hector followed with his gaze and saw, in the distance, the flashes of gunfire and a Lumberjack shell's explosion. Kay, who was also looking in that direction, ran up to the helm, where Hector stood.

Kay
"I don't like the look of that."

Hector
"No, neither do I."

He Grabbed hold of the wheel and set off.

Kay
"Err, can you even fly?"

Hector
"Let's find out."

Kay
"We're doomed."

Hector
"Just... Get on the port harpoon."

--Warehouse 2G--

The machine gun was almost fully set up and the troops behind cover kept up a continuous stream of suppressing fire.

Lionel
"We're done for aren't we."

Michael
"Yeah, looks like this is our last st- Wait, what's that?"

Gareth
"What the flak?!"

The Griffinheart came flying over the Yeshan ship, but not before a harpoon was attached into its hull. The Griffinheart then gave out a burst of moonshine and tugged the ship into the dock, dragging it over the ground and crashing it into the turret. The Griffinheart crashed into a building and made a wild bank back around and landing on the dock, leaving the Yeshan ship crashed into that same building.

Gareth
"Now's our chance! GO!"

In the ensuing confusion, they all dashed around the wall and dispatched the confused soldiers just as they heard the sound of an explosion at the other end of the warehouse. They ran as fast as they could towards the Griffinheart and leapt aboard. Gareth was lagging behind a bit and was tripped up by the Yeshan commander, who must have abandoned his ship when it began being fragged. The commander made to stomp on Gareth's face but he rolled out of the way just in time, rising to his feet. The commander swung his fist but was blocked by Gareth, who then kicked him in the stomach and drew his knife, before slashing him three times across the chest. The commander fell down and Gareth leapt aboard the ship as it cast off away from the dock and into the sky, being peppered with desperate shots all the while. Michael ran up to the helm and took it from Hector.

Michael
"That was some insane flying, good job! But I think I'll take over for the return journey. We're headed back to Cathedral, burning moonshine!"

[Plasmarobo]

--Somewhere over scrubland--

Plasma stands with on hand on the helm, and the other tightly gripping the aged and weathered map. He squints at the crude symbols and lines, then glances down at the terrain below them. A river could match that squiggle, the rounded bumpy thing could be that hill. He tucks the map safely in a pocket and swings the wheel to the right.

A indicator glows softly on the mess of wires and dials next to the helm. He scans the horizon behind him for any approaching ships. No sign of the Starlight yet. The radio beacon emits a pulse every few seconds. A fading trail of electromagnetic breadcrumbs to follow. Then again, beacon locators were rare and expensive. He could only hope that the Starlight was equipped with one.

The light was fading fast as the sun began to take it's graceful exit from the day. They were nearly there now, if this map was accurate. It would be somewhere in the hills up ahead. They would need to find somewhere to anchor the ship. He glances over the crew.

_Plasma
"I want eyes out for a potential landing site. We're going to make the final approach on foot. Hopefully we can get there before the light quits."

It's another few moments before they set eyes on a suitable clearing. The Venucian Might floats from the sky as Plasma wrestles with the wheel and engines. Trees rear up before them, then fall back as the ship clumsily dips into the trees. Spike, Jet, Emily, and Faye leap from the ship, each gripping a rope. Soon the floating ship is roughly secured between the trees, a fly caught in a spiderweb of it's own creation. Plasma checks the radio batteries, and leaves the signal beacon on. The Starlight might not be able to land in the same clearing, but at least it would be able to follow them.

He takes out the map again as the rest of the group checks their weapons. They set out into the hills cautiously. The place was isolated, no sign of civilization for miles and miles. But paranoia and criminal organizations often went hand in hand. It isn't long before the group is trekking in near complete darkness. The brilliant while glow of the moon gives them little light to work with.

_Jet
"We ought to stop for the night. We're not likely to find much in this dark."

_Plasma
"You might be- wait. Up ahead. Light."

The group stalks towards the flickering glow reaching through the gaps in the greenery. Several rough looking men sit around a campfire in a wide clearing which terminates at a cliff. A rough, piecemeal airdock has been assembled and holds several ships. Plasma notes the Cathedral colors and banners on two. He makes a series of complicated gestures at the others who stare at him blankly.

Right, I'm the only Ex-Anvalan.

He hisses at them instead.

_Plasma
"Everyone pick a man. We've got to do this silently."

He takes out a long knife to punctuate his point, moving into position. A beat later and they step from the bushes as one. The knife flies from Plasma's hand, tumbling end over end through the air before coming to violent rest in the throat of the furthest man. Jet elects to take down his target a bit more violently, with a crushing blow to the windpipe followed quickly by a elbow to the nose. Plasma doesn't see the rest take down their targets, but turns to see Emily cleaning blood from an ornate dagger.

Moments later they are rifling through the equipment of the men. Plasma checks their radio frequency, then the group drags the bodies into the brush, and advances towards the door into the mountain. They halt at the large steel portal and Plasma glances towards Emily.

_Plasma
"Now would be the time to turn back, should anyone feel so motivated."

She stares him down, face set in a determined grimace. Plasma slides the large door open.

[Piemanlives]

--Tattered Facility--

They had been wandering the halls again, picking up a few useful items here and there, some fairly decent tools, key cards, even a machete (Which Dalhia took an intense liking to). Trying to find something specific in this place must have been hell, especially when it was inhabited, with things being moved from place to place. Richard adjusted the strap to his satchel, the explosives nestled carefully inside it. Taking out his time piece, he took a look at it. It was already well past nightfall and into the twilight hours, Alex was probably worried about them, with the note he left for him making things worse. He placed the time piece back in his coat, it was like the captains but bulkier, his being a newer model considering, the captains was a pre-dust model, meaning it would probably fetch a fairly good price but was so unassuming that no one really cared for it. A howl swept through the halls again, the hounds were back.

Richard
"Ready up!"

Travis
"Got it, Dalhia, I need you to pick off the ones further down the halls, I'll pick off the ones that get close."

Dalhia
"Well, it's a plan, much more then we had going into this mess."

Preston
"Oh dear, again really?!"

A pattering of paws drew closer and closer, Richard checked his revolver, loaded and ready as it would ever be. He swept his eyes about, they were at a t section, meaning that there would probably be only one way back, and that would be the way they came, if that got cut off, they probably wouldn't make it. The pattering continued growing closer when something from the shadows pounced.

Preston
"Shit!"

He took a shot at it with his carbine but the creature was quicker then he was, on the ground he opened his eyes slightly, finely getting a look at his dreaded enemy, the hound was like all the others, dripping with some sort of viscous material, it's eyes were blank as if drawn into a rage, its claws digging into his shoulders, It's teeth barred at him as he stared at it, his eyes widening in terror as the realization dawned on him, he felt pain, increasingly so as the thing began tearing at him.

Richard
"Damn it! Get it off him!"

He kicked it off him before sending several shots into it, more pattering could be heard, retreating, but it was there. He took a look at his crewman, he was lucky the thing didn't go for the face but he was in no condition to continue at this rate. he torso was bleeding profusely, he would live, but he would need some serious medical attention when they got back.

Preston
"Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod I'm dead, it killed me, I won't live to see another-

He picked him up and propped him on a table as he pulled Preston's now ruined coat off as he took a closer look at the damage. It wasn't as bad as he first thought, though the damn beast left some really deep cuts in his flesh, there would definitively be some permanent scaring but at least it didn't damage anything important, though he would probably be in shock right now through shear terror. He was still in a state of babbling nonsense though and probably would be for several hours.

Dalhia
"So what's the prognoses?"

Richard
"He'll live, though he'll probably have nightmares, poor kid."

Preston
"Remind me to put out the laundry......"

Travis
"Want me to carry him?"

Richard
"No I'll do that, I need you keep that gun of yours handy as we-"

He felt a slight tug on his sleeve, he saw the younger man gripping him in support as he tried to sit up.

Preston
"Am I... Am I dead?"

He was out of it definitely, his face was pitiful as he was trying to comprehend everything.

Richard
"No no, you're very much alive, you just need to rest."

Preston
"Oh, ok."

He slumped up against him as he finally gave up trying to stay awake.

Richard
"This will be a tale for him to tell, give me a few moments."

He set about tending to his wounds as best he could using the medkit he kept on his person, making sure the wounds didn't get any worse and making sure he set the bandages properly. Finishing his work he put his coat back on him and put him on his back as he carried him off.

--Tattered Facility, yet another massive door--

Richard
"You'd think they'd have run out of these."

Travis
"Brood mother, or the nest, or both are probably through that door."

Richard
"Best be careful then."

Dalhia
"Should we leave him here? It's probably not safe for him."

She pointed to the unconscious form on Richards back.

Travis
"I'd personally wouldn't like to leave him alone."

Richard
"Lets move then."

Dalhia walked over to the control panel on the side and typed the code in again, not working, she checked the various key cards they had gathered, one of them beeped and the control panel lit up again asking for the code, she typed it in and the door opened with little fanfare.

Richard
"Right, we should move quickly and get this over with."

The group walked through the door and the wonders that awaited them, well not really wonders more like strangeness in such a way they would have been expecting it, and by strange I mean eggs, eggs everywhere.

--Inside the place of eggs and strangeness--

Richard
"Is this place getting on anyone's nerves?"

Travis
"I'm going to say yes, for both of us."

Richard
"Right, one moment."

He placed an explosive charge in the largest cluster of eggs and the nearby clusters.

Richard
"Right, I've set these for 3 hours, with this it will make it possible for us to escape this mess."

They explored further into the nest, old skeletons littered the floor, scratches in the walls ran deep and wide, scorch marks littered the halls.

Dalhia
"Place is seriously giving me the creeps."

Richard
"It's giving everyone the creeps, now lets find that brood mother, and kill it."

They continued through the infested halls, passing more offices and labs as they continued on. A door to their right some ways further was inscribed with Observation Hall.

Travis
"Going to assume this it then."

Richard
"Yup, get that chaingun on the door and be ready to shoot."

He pulled out the chain gun he'd been saving for a veritable hoard of creatures, seeing as it had a limited ammo supply.

Richard
"Ready?"

Travis
"Ready."

Dalhia
"Ready."

He slowly opened the door, it was amazingly empty considering where they were.

Dalhia
"Right, look for a control panel of sorts."

They searched around the room, finally finding a flip up terminal on a desk.

Dalhia
"Ok, let me type in the code and lets get out of here."

She typed on the, amazingly, still functioning board.

Computer
"Hello, it would appear you would like to set the self destruct, is this what you would like to do?"

Richard
"Seriously?"

Travis
"Sometimes I....... Yes, we would like to set the self destruct."

Computer
"Very well specify count down timer."

Dalhia
"Three hours."

Computer
"Very well, timer set, enjoy the rest of your stay, good day."

The computer turned off and was replaced by a timer.

Richard
"So much for that, lets move!"

They ran, they ran as hard as they could out of the nest and shut the door behind them.

Dalhia
"Right, lets get out of the labs and into the air, there are a lot of stairs to cover."

Travis
"The problem is, can we make it?"

the crew was jogging through the halls, back the way they came, or rather, following the trail of beast skeletons they had left in their wake. However their luck didn't last long as they heard a very audible howl, they were in a one way hallway, if they got trapped they were doomed.

Travis
"You remember how that vent we found was forced open?"

Dalhia
"Yeah?"

Travis
"I think, and this may sound crazy, they're in the damn walls man, game over man, game over."

Richard
"Right so that means we should-

A banging echoed throughout the hallway, they looked around, only to see a segment of wall bent and misshapen.

Richard
"RUN!"

And so they ran, behind them, the walls collapsed as a sea of creatures chased after them, strangely they were faster and managed to out run them just barely, they passed through the first massive door however the control panel was out of power and so they kept running through the lower level labs, they wouldn't be able to keep up the pace for much longer, they had enough time to stall and look back, the distant patter of paws had grown to that of a legion as they charged towards the door.

Travis
"I'll hold them off, we should probably back up slowly as we do this."

The chaingun whirred to a standby mode as the barrels spun, the legion still charging forward as they backed from the door and onto the staircase.

Dalhia
"Just so you know, it's been a pleasure."

Richard
"Pleasure's all Lorena's."

Dalhia
"You flatter me so."

Travis
"We have one shot at this."

The creatures were visible, hounds folding over each other, some bit at each other, killing a few of their numbers, though it was just a drop in the bucket. The chaingun blazed for the first time as rounds spewed forward, cutting down beast after beast, they recoiled, hesitating long enough for them to make to the top of the stairs, the 3rd and final door as they finally reached the main level. Richard pulled out his time piece, the time lollygagging had cost them nearly two and a half hours.

Richard
"We have to move, now!"

The ran for the exit, finally feeling the night air as they shut the door behind them, another ten minutes had passed. Walking over to their ship they were greeted by worried faces.

Phillip
"I saw you guys exit the door, where's Prest-

He saw the limp body against Richards Back.

Phillip
"Shit, did they-"

Richard
"He'll be fine, we need to get him looked at though."

Reynold
"Orders?"

The other two were gathering themselves as they slumped against the railing.

Dalhia
"Get us... Out of here."

Reynold
"With pleasure."

He set the engines to full as they pulled away from the dock. The facility lights came on, before suddenly being engulfed in a towering explosion, shattering the night with a brilliant flare, before subsiding. At least they had some new tools.

[BdrLineAzn]

Birdman Hideout

The Man, the Birdman's second, stands in the control room overlooking the main hanger of the hidden falcility. During the Birdman's escapade into the Yeshan Empire to kidnap the Imperial couple, the Man has already radio the five other ranking members of the Birdmen organisation. As he watches the construction of the Birdman's secret project, the Man is flustered as the patrol he sent out to the east observation post hasn't reported back. Clenching a microphone connected to a radio, he dials in their signal again.

Man
"Patrol 7, where the hell are you guys!! Anyone? Answer dammit!!"

In anger he slams the microphone onto the desk which startles a messenger as he enters the room. Eyeing him, the Man pinches the bridge of his nose.

Man
"Hope this is good."

Messenger
"Umm yes sir. I'm here to inform you that the boss is almost back. His galleon has already passed Ho Tower and is 15 minutes away."

Taking in the information, he looks up at him.

Man
"His mission went well?"

Messanger
"Yes, they have the two Zhao's in their hold."

Man
"Good, at least something good is happening. Go and prepare two holding cells for them. Also prepare five room as well, the other memebers are coming, I don't know when, but get them ready."

Messanger
"Yes sir, on it."

The Messanger leaves the room to go and round up some workers to fulfil the order. As the door closes behind him, the Man goes over to a wall of monitors and notices something. On one of the monitors shows a hallway leading from the main hideout to the eastern observation post. Inside, he sees a group of individuals, none of which looks like they work for the organisation, walking through the halls with weapons drawn. Scratching his chin with a hand, the Man thinks

Hmm, maybe these pests are the reasons I can't contact the men on the east end. By the looks of it, some of the, have their radios. Hmm.

With his other free hand, he presses a button on the table and leans into an intercom speaker.

Man
"Security room."

Some shuffling can be heard from the other line and soon a gruff voice comes in.

Guard
"Yes sir."

Man
"Voxx, we may have a little problem on our end. I want you and a squad of 8 go over to the hallway leading towards to the eastern observation post and set up a barricade. Chain guns, rockets, any firepower you need, just makes sure you welcome our guest."

Voxx
"What do you want us to do with the intruders?"

Man
"Bring them in, I'm sure the boss will have something up his sleeve to deal with them."

Voxx
"On it."

Man
"Oh, go radio silence for this. I assume they have obtain our frequencies. Don't want them to over hear this plan."

Voxx
"Understood. Out"

As Voxx readies his small squad is encounter, the main hanger opens as a galleon flies through the steep cliff side and landing in one of the docks. Hearing this, the Man turns around and sees multiple figures departing the vessel. Two figures he notices are being carried away and are bounded by their hands and feet.

The boss guest I assume, well time to update him.

The Man leaves the control room and into the hanger.

Starlight

BdrLine
"Any sign of what looks like Plasma's ship?"

Althea
"Nope, I'll bet they left and are long gone."

BdrLine
"Damn, I should have gave him my frequency. Flak."

Circling around Cathedral Airspace, the crew on board the Starlight have been searching for any traces of Plasma and his Venucian Might. After finishing a second pass around the city, BdrLine stops his ship in mid air to converse with his crew.

Courage
So where do we go now? We dont know the heck they went."

BdrLine
"I know, I think we should start by going west towards Chang-ning."

Charles
"Why the Yeshan Capital?"

BdrLine
"Well, its the most recent Birdman sighting, plus he also kidnapped my parents."

The three of them are stunned to heard this and are speechless for a moment.

Charles
"What? Ok hold on, first they attack the Festival and steal jet engines for a secret project, now they have something to blackmail the Empire. What are they planning?"

BdrLine
"I don't know, but I do know that the faster we get there the sooner we can figure this out. Hope we meet Plasma on the way though."

Althea
"Ok, so what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on gents!"

With the outburst, the three men scramble to get up. BdrLine goes back to the helm and restarts his engines and puts it on full throttle and injects the fuel lines with moonshine. Soon the Goldfish speeds through the desert landscape towards the Endless Salts.

During their flight, Charles is up at the cabin of the ship talking with BdrLine and mindlessly thinker with the radio set.

Charles
"So how are we going about this?"

BdrLine
"I don't know, maybe just wing it? Because I have nothing right now. Hey Charles what are you doing?"

BdrLine looks back and sees him opening a panel off the set.

Charles
"I don't know, like you said just winging it. Oops, what the?"

BdrLine
"What did you do...tell me if i finally lost it, but you hear beeping?"

Charles
"No you are good cause I hear it as well."

BdrLine
"Here grab the helm and let me look."

With a switch, BdrLine kneels down to look at his ancient radio set. Following the wires and tinkering with the wires, he finds the source of the beeping and which leads to the set second antenna.

BdrLine
"So that's what this antenna is for."

Charles
"Great, but what is it?"

BdrLine
"by the looks of it and the faint and slow beeps, I think this is a tracker of sorts."

Charles
"So do we follow it?"

BdrLine
"Guess so since its going the same direction we are going, maybe it'll leads us to Plasma."

Charles
"Or the Birdmen."

BdrLine
"who knows, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Follow the beeps we go."

[Plasmarobo]

--Birdman Hideout--

Plasma cowers behind the bit of brick wall. The bullets frying through the air shatter the wall behind the small group and the very cover currently saving his life. He glances back at Spike and the others. Suddenly the storm of bullets abates. Plasma blinks, and takes the opportunity to  glance around the column. The distant business end of rocket launcher stares back at him.

Flak.

A single shot echos over his shoulder and he feels the ripple of air spread across his face. The round sinks itself into the loaded ammunition and the end of the hall becomes a sea of fire. Plasma glances back at Spike who gives him a quick grimace. He stands, pistol sighted down the hall as they rest of the group advance.

The door at the end of the corridor seems to feed into some kind of hangar. Plasma glances through it into the large open room. Several ships, including a galleon docket and apparently un-crewed. A small army seems massed at the other end of the room as evidenced by large number of red dots glimmering through the darkness.

Apparently nobody told these idiots that cigarettes are luminescent.

The group skirts the edge of the darkened room. Plasma makes a series of complicated gestures to the rest of his team before giving up and signing the universal "follow me".  The group ascends the catwalk to the galleon. A few moments of silent knifework later the group is alone on the large ship, below decks, quietly waiting.

The small army gathered turns suddenly in alarm to the broadside of the large ship. There is a moment of confusion, then the rockets issue from the lions mouthes. The scene makes the sea of fire in the hallway look like a candle. With reduction in enemy forces complete, Plasma cuts the fuel lines to the engines on all the ships in the hangar, then the band makes their way down, to the next door into the bowls of the base.

[Piemanlives]

--Skies Over Burren--

The Sky Runner was flying home, they had a few things to show for their expedition, namely tools, some paintings, and some scrap they found around. It wasn't what they were expecting but it was something at least, not a lot, but something. Behind them a dull light shone from a distant canyon, a raging inferno engulfing the lone canyon, the facility with its lone air dock in flames. The crew sat at a bubbling stove pot, dirty, battered and tired. Richard had the helm while the others rested, so far everything was going well, they hadn't run into anything since escaping the facility, and hopefully it would stay that way. He looked around the ship, the crew was serving bowls of soup to keep them warm throughout the night, Preston was sleeping by the fire, his upper torso bandaged, he was luck to be alive, for now however he had to focus on getting home. He saw Travis walk up to him with a bowl of soup, steaming hot.

Travis
"You need to eat, can't have the pilot die of hunger."

Richard
"Yeah, can't have that can we?"

He took the bowl from his hands and jammed the helm on its present course, he spooned some soup, it wasn't half bad, considering what they had to work with.

Travis
"You're still worried about him aren't you?"

Richard
"Yeah."

He looked over to Preston's sleeping form by the stove. battered and bloody, but holding on to life.

Richard
"My fault he's this way, it's not like I can do anything about that now, but hope he hangs on long enough to get home."

Travis
"He may not look like it, but he's a tough kid, he'll make it."

Richard
"I can only hope you're right."

Something out in the distance caught his, a vessel, specifically a goldfish was flying way from them, or towards something, who knew other then the crew themselves.

Richard
"Doesn't that ship look familiar?"

Travis
"It does actually, doesn't one of the Inn regulars own it?"

Richard
"Yup, wonder what they're doing out at a time like this, not like we're going to ask, we have to head home, and fast."

Travis
"I can drink to that."

They went back to their posts, Richard unjammed the helm as he took command once more, as they flew back to Cathedral.

[TrueQuaggan]

-Back at the Wild Winds Inn, just before dark-

Quaggan tried not to scream as the pain in his leg rushed up, stinging every bit of his flesh. He could spot a door in front of his eyes. Above it, a sign read "The Wild Wi.....""The Wil.." "The....." He was too tired. He could barely see. He couldn't be asked with reading. He limped towards the door, and opened it slowly. He entered what looked like an inn. The innkeeper looked at him for a while, then rushed to help him, as he was about to fall. After that, Quaggan's mind cleared, to make way for the most important memories.

Quaggan's mind cleared, to make way for the most important memories. He lost his ship. He lost the rest of his crew. He was the only one lucky enough to not die in that fight. He knew that Nova was safe and he knew he needed to get her back to Golden Island. Everything else was blurry. He felt Nova's beak gently pushing him and he heard the innkeeper's scream as he looked up to see the 7 feet tall, bright blue bird.. Quaggan gathered all his forces to mutter the words: "Don't hurt her...She's...my friend...Please get me somewhere I can rest.." Then, he fell asleep, under Nova's golden beak, reflecting the light in the inn. There was nobody else there, but Newt. The bird looked at him expectantly. As the innkeeper carried the body to a bed, the bird followed. That night, she sat there and slept near Quaggan, ready to jump up and help her master, like she always did. The cuts still hurt, but it wouldn't be a problem. She never had to use her wings to kill. Nobody ever survives the first blow. 

[Gryphos]

--Skies over Middle Plains--

Michael stood steady at stern of the Griffinheart with his spyglass at hand, regularly taking a look behind them at the distant horizon. While Gareth stood at the helm and Zardis sat at the table with Lyre. The rest of the crew was by the front gun playing cards. Zardis had removed the letter and his notes from his pocket and laid them on the table, a little crumpled from the haste that they were shoved into his pocket.

Lyre
"So you have no idea what the letter says, so how did you know in the first place that it was worth stealing?"

Zardis
"I got an anonymous tipoff."

Lyre
"That's no reason to put your life at risk."

Zardis
"I won't lie, it's only now that I realise that. I don't know what I was thinking, but the tipoff turned out to be right, this letter is full of secrets... if only I knew what they were."

Lyre reached over and grabbed a page full of Zardis' notes.

Lyre
"But you must have made some progress at least."

Zardis
"Yes, I've got some of it worked out. But very little, and much of that is not due to deciphering the code."

Lyre nodded at Zardis and urged him to go on.

Zardis
"Well, I stole the letter from the Tiger's office, so it's probably something to do with the military. And, while I have not deciphered most of the words, the signature at the bottom is known to be that of the Deer, so it was sent by the Deer, meaning it also concerns matters of trade. And I have discerned one word, or a name, the name of a city."

Lyre
"What city?"

Zardis
"Vyshtorg."

Lyre
"What does the Empire want with the Guild?"

Zardis
"No idea, and I'd rather wait until the letter is fully discerned before taking action."

Lyre
"Understandable. Well, you should have all the time and resources you need back in Cathedral."

Gareth
"We should be there tomorrow."

Gareth had apparently been listening in all the while. Lyre's thoughts were now taken up with the three pieces of information they now knew: military, trade, Vyshtorg. Those three words started circling around her head even as she lay down on her sleeping bag for the night.

[Plasmarobo]

--Birdman Facility--

The group continue to descend through the facility which stretches far underground. Creative use of bullets, explosives, and bladework send many of the mercenaries either running for the exits (for at the end of the day, dead men don't get paid). The few that do remain are expertly cut down, shot, stabbed, kicked, punched, blasted, incinerated and eviscerated.

A few flights of stairs later and the group enter the bottom of a massively tall, but surprisingly narrow room. Plasma stares at the behemoth within. The room is busy with engineers, a large scaffold has been erected around a tall cylindrical device, topped with a gently tapering cone. Much of the device appears to be complete, with the bottom section still under construction. Large tail fins are being fitted to the bottom of the structure along with...

...the experimental rocket engines. The group stands, silently contemplating the towering weapon, at least twice the height of a Galleon. Plasma swallows, and levels his pistol again.

_Plasma
"It's...it's a giant rocket. If that was loaded with explosive...it'd be impossible to aim though...I wonder if...if they have more..."

Spike taps him on the shoulder. And points at a glass wall several stories up on the far side of the room, some sort of control room. Plasma nods and the group advances along the edge of the cluttered floor. Plasma slinks across the group, eyes scanning back and forth, gaze sweeping like a lit lighthouse. Suddenly he stops and gesticulates frantically at the others to hide themselves. They dive under tarps or behind barrels of something that smells like rocket fuel. Plasma searches frantically for a hiding place of his own, finding an empty box missing a lid and pulling it over himself. Two of the engineers round the corner.

_{Engineer 1}
"We've got the trajectory down, but I'm worried about the engine prototypes. We've got the schematics copied out, but all of the actual systems are on the test rocket. What if we can't replicate them?"

_{Engineer 2}
"If we can't replicated them, we don't get paid. Dare I say it, we probably won't live long enough to complain about it. The boss is working on it, but that man, the bird guy, he insists that we perform a test launch against Anvala. I dunno about you, but pissing off a city of the best gunners doesn't sound like my cup of tea..."

The two continue on, and Plasma lifts the box off him. The rest of the group forms up, and they sneak across the stacks of box, barrel, and tarp to the opposite stairwell. The alert looking guards lean against the frame of the door, unfortunately placed next to some packing crates. Plasma pops up from behind one of them quickly, arm coiling like a snake then striking the throat of the unfortunate man. Emily slides around the other, briefly running the knife along his neck. They both fall and the pair are left staring at each other.

Plasma breaks the gaze first, and cautiously charges up the stairwell. Emily hot on his heels with the rest of the group ensuring they aren't followed or noticed. They reach the third floor, and Plasma rushes down the long corridor to the control room. Bursting in and is met with an odd scene. The chief engineer staring at blueprints for the experimental engines, and an unfamiliar figure in a bird mask calmly gazing over his shoulder. The Birdman lightly presses a button and a steel portal slams shut in the door frame behind Plasma, cutting off Spike and the rest of the group. He speaks as Plasma whirls back towards the door.

_Birdman
"Emily, dear, if you'd be so kind as to restrain our friend."

The knife slides easily between Plasma's ribs. The startling blue eyes bore into his, full of a sort of apologetic regret, but mixed with nearly apathetic determination.

_Emily
"I did ask you not to go." 

--End of Day 8--

--Start of Day 9--

--Birdman Facility--

The Starlight comes to rest outside the Facility after sighting the Venucian Might in a clearing. The blasted front door and carnage form a trail of breadcrumbs to the inner facility.

Plasma lies in the control room, breathing heavily and trying not to bleed too much under the vicious, watchful gaze of Emily as the Birdman and chief engineer discuss the launch plans for the Long Range Tactical Rocket. Something they seem to affectionately dub the LoRTaR.

Spike and the rest seem to be trapped outside, with another wave of Mercinaries advancing on their position. Somewhere below the launch room, in a makeshift prison waits an older Yeshan couple, wondering what all the noise of gunfire and explosives mean for them.

--Wild Winds Inn, Cathedral--

The next morning Newt ascends the stairs in the Wild Winds. He carries a tray with coffee, eggs, bacon, and well buttered toast. A bag of birdseed is slung over his shoulder. He turns the handle on the door and slowly opens it up, staring at the gigantic bird.

_Newt
"Well aren't you a wonder now. Careful. I'm playing nice, see?"

He slowly places the bird seed on the floor, opening it up and sliding it over to the bird. Nova emits a barklike chirp and begins to ravage the bag. Newt carefully moves to Quaggan, placing the tray on the table and briefly checking his wounds. The bird, which had a moment ago been engrossed in the seed, suddenly squawks and launches itself at Newt, headbutting him away from Quaggan.

Newt recovers from the blow immediately and backs away from the agitated animal, arms held up.

_Newt
"Alright, you giant featherball, he's all yours!"

Newt backs out of the room and closes the door, shaking his head as he returns to the common room of the Wild Winds. 

[TrueQuaggan]

-At the Wild Winds Inn-
Quaggan was downstairs with Nova. He felt much better, even if he had to be careful with his leg. The bird's gaze met terrified faces, all looking at her. Every man and woman was ready to jump for their lives at any moment. Some tried to drink, while never loosing eye contact. Their attempts were met with failure and wasted drinks.

Quaggan:
"Are you sure you don't want anything for your troubles?"

Newt:
"I am absolutely sure. I did it to help a fellow in need, not to rob you. I would never ask something in return for a helping hand. Are you sure you can go outside like that?"

Quaggan:
"I can manage. It doesn't hurt as much now. Plus, I need to ask around and see if anyone has seen my ship"

Newt:
"Very well then, you can come back here whenever you please. And...uh...I don't recommend going on the streets with your..companion"

Quaggan:
"Who? Nova? Heheh..she wouldn't hurt anyone..not unprovoked at least... But I do understand your concern. Don't worry though, she is very good at hiding."

Newt:
"Hiding? She's huge!"

Nova gave Newt a short, disapproving look.

Newt:
"I...I mean..uh.. I don't see how.."

Quaggan:
"I know it seems strange, but only a trained eye can spot a young Sereni, especially a female one. I've been in this town for two weeks. Ever heard of a giant blue bird? You would think people would talk about it if they saw her."

Newt:
"But..how..I mean...why..uh..."

Quaggan:
"Look, I know it's strange. Don't worry about it. Oh, and thanks for feeding Nova. I have to get going now. I'll see you soon."

Newt:
"Uh..bye.. Come whenever you need to..."

The door closed behind the female Sereni. Newt's eyes hurt, after staring at Nova's golden beak. He wondered if it was actually made out of gold. Everyone shifted in their seats, as they got back to their lives in the inn.

Newt:
"Did that actually happen? Did I just see a bird bigger than me? Did it hit me with it's gigantic head? Am I going crazy? And why is that man acting so weird... How can such a beast hide? This is too much..." He mumbled some more to himself before someone ordered a drink. He came to the conclusion that it's much easier to just accept it. And so he did. But even so..that bird was so...big.


-In the streets of Cathedral-
Quaggan has been asking around for a blue ship with blue bird crests on the sides for a while now. Nobody seems to know anything.

"Well, it seems like I need a new ship" he said to himself. "I wonder if Newt knows somebody that could help me..."