Burning Skies Saloon

[Honeybadger]

-- Concert Ship --

*Honeybadger picks up the mic slightly worn out*

Honeybadger: "Thank you everyone for listening. Tell your friends about the new wave!"

*Honeybadger approaches Dylan as the remaining crowd disperses*

Honeybadger: "We should do this more often."

Dylan: "Whenever you like. Oh yeah, if we are a band, we should have a name."

*Honeybadger thinks for a second*

Honeybadger: "I'll get back to you on that. For now, lets check if the saloon is open."

(OOC: Is the saloon open? I can't tell anymore.)

[BdrLineAzn]

--Saloon--

Ny-Lee thinks for a minute. She then turns to Lauren.

"I may have just have a thing, but we have to involve Roland in it as well. But tonight, I will try to convince Roland to tell Yiski to have a day to themselves tomorrow, like a guy to guy bonding or something. You and me then 'watch' the saloon for the day, but we will go out and get some things to help between you and Yiski. What I'm saying, we convert the saloon for a one night dinner for the two of you."

[Yiski]

--NARRATOR--

Lauren gets up and gives Ny-Lee a hug. It catches Ny-Lee off, but soon she's returning the gesture.

"Thank you. It's nice getting to know you Ny-Lee."

"Well, if you stay, I'll soon be your unofficial niece-in-law."

"Oh right, you and Roland are getting married! With everything that's happened in his life, I'm glad he's found someone to be happy with."

"Yes... I believe you know what happened to his..."

"I do. I still remember the two days we lost Micheal and Maria. But I'm glad Roland's turned out the way he has. I suppose Yiski makes a better father figure than I thought."

Ny-Lee chuckles at the statement. It was true. It was hard at first glance to believe Yiski being a good parent, but Yiski did managed given the circumstances.

Eventually the two girls talked the night away. When they realized how late it was, they shared a laugh and decided to call it a night. Ny-Lee went upstairs first and when she walked in her room, she saw a sleeping Roland. Yesterday's Festival still wearing on him. Ny-Lee giggled and slipped in right next to him.

Lauren went to go check up on Yiski. He was still awake.

"You're not going to bed?"

"Can't. Gotta make sure the stills don't blow up and take the district with it."

"You think you'll be open tomorrow?"

"Probably not. While my brews will be done by morning, the usual distributor won't make enough till end of tomorrow. They say technical issues, I call it laziness."

"You want any company?"

"I'm good. You should get some rest though."

Even though Lauren and Ny-Lee had plans set for tomorrow, Lauren still wanted to see how much Yiski will yield. Turns out... very little. Not in the condition to press any further, Lauren bids Yiski goodnight and heads upstairs.

The trick for tomorrow: How to get Yiski out of the saloon for a full day?

Lauren doesn't realize, but it'll actually be easy with some issues.

--NARRATOR END--

--END OF DAY 80--

[Yiski]

--START OF DAY 81--

--NARRATOR--

Ny-Lee woke up before the sunrise arrived. Under a working assumption, if one wakes up early, the other does too. This meant Roland was also up before sunrise. He gave a quick yawn which was meet by a kiss by his future wife.

"Good morning love."

"Morning darling."

"Why are we up so early?"

Before Ny-Lee could answer, there was a knock at the door. Ny-Lee opens it and in the doorway was Lauren. The two ladies then looked at Roland who tilted in head in part confusion and part sleepiness.

"Darling, could you do us a favor?"

Ny-Lee then explained to Roland what she and Lauren had planned for Yiski and needed his help to get Yiski out of the saloon until the evening.

"Do you think you can manage darling?"

"I think I have an idea of what I am going to do."

All three of them went downstairs and to their surprise (or not), they noticed steam coming from the back. The small group peeked in and saw Yiski already up working on the stills. Yiski turns and notices them.

"Up early aren't we?"

Roland responds.

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Of course I did. Got a few hours. Woke up early to get all these fresh brews into the barrels. Should take an hour or two."

Without asking, the three tenants went in and started helping with filling the barrels. Yiski was going to protest, but the lack of sleep made sure Yiski couldn't. It takes thirty minutes to complete the task. Yiski gives a yawn.

"Thanks for the assist."

Yiski takes a deep breath and immediately realizes he has yet to shower. Everyone else also takes pause and realize they're in the same position. An hour and a few gallons of water later, the four reconvene at the main floor. Roland turns to Yiski.

"So are we staying closed today?"

"Yup. I don't like openin' when I don't have everythin' in stock, why?"

"I was hoping you could give me a few lessons in rifle training."

"Well, usually I'd be happy with just your pistol trainin'... but considering how much trouble seems to follow us around, it's probably a good idea. When do you want to start?"

"Today."

Yiski puts his hand up to chin and thinks. He then nods.

"Alright, let's go. You ladies good for the day?"

Lauren and Ny-Lee look at each other then together at Yiski and chuckle. Yiski then gives a look of mild confusion. Lauren speaks.

"Yes, Ny-Lee and I have some plans."

Yiski shrugs it off and he and Roland head out for the Academy. Lauren and Ny-Lee made sure the two were well out of sight of the saloon before the girls close up and head to the markets to gather materials and ingredients.

--NARRATOR END--

[BdrLineAzn]

--Docks--

The sun is already up and both Liu and BdrLine are down in his kitchen eating breakfast. A sudden knock comes from the door and John's voice can be heard.

"BdrLine, open it. Do you know what today is?"

Both Liu and Bdralne look at each other with a confused face.

"Azn, do you know what he is talking about?"

"I don't know, let me just go and check."

He gets up from his seat and goes to the door. Once open, he sees the usual three people in his group surrounding his front door.

"Umm, can I help you guys?"

Tommy comes forward and pokes his head in.

"Sorry to intrude Mrs. Zhao, but can we take your son?"

"Be my guest, he needs to get out since yesterday"

"Mother!"

Liu chuckles as she continues eating. But BdrLne follows the three out the door outside.

"Ok, what is it that is so important."

The three of them just look at BdrLine. Allen to him.

"Don't tell me you forgot."

"Forget what?"

"Today is the Anvalan Boxing Championship. Winner goes on to Cathedral to fight the reigning champ"

BdrLine eyes goes wide as he start to remember.

"Holy smokes, how the flak did I forget?!?"

"Yeah we know. Come on, we already bought the tickets. We need to get to the stadium in the Center before the line gets long."

All four starts to head towards the Center, until BdrLine stops and to them.

"Wait, doesnt the main event start later in the evening?"

Tommy.
"Yeah."

"Then why are we going this early?"

"To see the other fights, and to get better seats"

"Well alright, let's go then."

The four the continue on their way again.

--Market--

Lauren and Ny-Lee arrives to the Market, since the day was still early, not that many people are wandering about and shop and stalls are still opening.

Ny-Lee leads them both to an open shop that supplies dining ware. There, Ny-Lee picks out fine china plates and sterling silverware. As they head out the store, Ny-Lee does a checklist.

"Ok dining materials, check. Next, hmm candles for lighting? And finally ingredients for the dinner. Lauren, you know what would be special for the both of you?"

[Honeybadger]

-- Docks --

*Honeybadger scratches his head tired*

Honeybadger: "I wish we had bedding on that squid..."

Dylan: "I'll keep that in mind. But while we're up, you wanna go check out the market? It's probably better than the one we have back home."

Honeybadger: "Hmm, I never went to the market before." Then again lately most of my diet consisted of bar nuts and booze...

*Honeybager thinks for a second*

Honeybadger: "Alright, lets go."

[Yiski]

--Academy--

The training grounds were relatively quiet for the most part. There were a couple trainees doing drills, but the rest were still in their barracks nursing hangovers. The semi-deserted grounds make it easy to find a spot on the range.

Yiski had set up multiple targets at different distances, elevations, and covers. The closest was 150 meters, the furthest was 350 meters. Yiski had two standard issue rifles, one for himself and Roland. Yiski took position.

"Alright the first thing you have to learn is how to control your breathin'. When you have a target you need to slow your breathin' and shoot between heartbeats."

Yiski demonstrated the technique and fired at the 350 target, hitting it dead center.

"Alright, your turn. Go for the close target out in the open."

Roland got prone and slowed his own breathing. He soon felt his heartbeats slowing. When he got the rhythm, he fired a shot. It was during a beat and the shot landed a few centimeters north of center. Yiski nodded his head.

"Not bad. You just gotta practice more in shooting between beats."

A few hours pass by when a couple of gunsmiths spot Yiski and approach him.

"Commander."

Yiski turns and the expression he gives is one of annoyance.

"This had better be good for you to bother me in givin' my son lessons."

The gunsmiths became nervous.

"Well... um... you see... the tungsten rounds... they're..."

"Oh for the love of clear skies, get out with it!"

"We were working on the rounds when we realized a few of us were deviating from the the design. The rounds look fine, but are duds when fired."

Yiski facepalmed. While he didn't want to be bothered with work and continue with helping Roland, the last thing he wanted were useless rounds. He sighed.

"Fine. I think I can fix your screw ups." Yiski turns to Roland. "Sorry, but it looks like I have to take this. You think you'll be fine on your own?"

"I think I will take a few more practice shots and call it a day. Do you think you will be long?"

"Depends on how badly these fools messed up."

Yiski gives the gunsmiths a look and they all avoided his gaze. Yiski shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay. It looks like it's that bad. If that's the case, I'm not sure when I'll be back."

Roland hesitated for a moment. He wanted to tell Yiski to be back at the saloon by evening, but Roland didn't want Yiski to get suspicious. Roland decided it was best to let Yiski go without mentioning tonight.

When Yiski left, Roland also left and headed back to the saloon.

"I have to tell Lauren and Ny-Lee we may have a problem."

[Captain Lockheart]

(OOC: sorry about not posting today something personal came up, will return to normal tomorrow )

[BdrLineAzn]

--City Center--

The four guys finally made it to the city's boxing stadium. As they entered, they notice that it was still empty. They head near the front rows for seats.

BdrLine:
"Ok, So when is the big fight."

Allen:
"Won't be until later tonight, right now its just some amateur fights and small belt bouts."

BdrLine:
"Well, alright. So who is up first?"

John:
"Some two new comers in the circuit. No onereally heard of them yet."

Out in the middle of the ring, an announcer come up.

"Welcome all, for our first fight. It will be against two new gloves. In the red corner, all the way from the sleepy town of Fallow, Julio 'Lighting' Ramirez. Here in the blue corner, a home town native, please welcome Marc 'Swifty' Anthony.

After the announcements, the announcer leaves the ring and the two fighters go at it. Soon after many different fights, the stadium starts to fill up and more prestige fights are starting.

--Market--

Ny-Lee to Lauren.

"Lauren you know what, I'll cook for the two of you. I may just know what dinner to prepare for the both of you."

Ny-Lee then grabs Lauren by the wrist as she guides her to different food stalls.

[Yiski]

--City Center--

It's late afternoon. Roland searched the area to see if he could find either his 'aunt' or his soon-to-be wife, but there was no luck. Even though a few businesses and stalls were still closed, there seemed to be no shortage of people crowding the area. Roland stands looking off in the distance when a familiar voice calls for him.

"Roland?"

He turns to see Lauren and Ny-Lee with bags of groceries and materials for tonight.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be keeping Yiski busy?"

Roland sighs and takes a few bags from Ny-Lee.

"Yes, but it appears something came up at the Armory. By the sound of things, it was serious. He told me he was not sure when he would be back."

The three stood in silence before Ny-Lee broke it.

"We might as well prepare as if he's coming back in time."

Lauren turns to Ny-Lee.

"And if he isn't?"

"As long as you don't plan on leaving, there'll be other chances."

"I suppose you're right."

Eventually, the three got back to the saloon and started preparations.

--Armory--

Yiski wasn't having a lot of luck. When the gunsmiths said they messed up, Yiski found that to be the understatement of the year. To him, things were FUBAR. If capital punishment were allowed in this situation, Yiski would've had all the gunsmiths face the firing squad using the rounds they'd fucked up. Instead, Yiski gave a long sigh.

"Dammit. It'll be a miracle if I can get back by midnight."

[BdrLineAzn]

--City Center--

It is the last fight before the main event, and the whole stadium is packed. BdrLine and the other three are waiting anxiously for the main event.

"Ohh so close..... When is this fight over."

"Just calm down Bdr, we all want to see this..... OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH, Look at that Knockout!!!!"

On que, the bell rings and on the floor is one of the boxers. Then the announcer comes on to declare who is the winner and workers set the ring for the final fight.

Once everything is set, a bell rings to get everyone's attention and the announcer come out again.

*Ding-ding-ding*

"Ladies and Gentlemen, can I have your attention please. Welcome all to the Anvalan Stadium, and we like to present you all for tonight's main event. In the red corner, our challenger for tonight weighting in at 205 lbs. all the way from Qinjuru 'The Desert Scorpion' himself, Kiro 'Stinger' Jo."

Spotlights turn on as it shines to a corner and Kiro comes out towards the ring

"And in the blue corner, our reigning regional champ, two time champion, weighing in at 203 lbs. Ladies and Gentleman 'The Wind of The Grasslands, Michael 'Hurricane' Sanchez of Trysi."

Again, more lights and comes Johnson towards the ring. Once everything is set, both boxers crew exits the ring and a bell rings for the start of the fight.

At ring side, a radio announcer is calling all of the action.

"Welcome one and all folks, broadcasting live from Anvala, the semi-final fight between Jo of Qinjuru and Sanchez of Trysi. The winner of this fight goes on to face our reigning world champ in Cathedral. Tonight will be a twelve round fight, and it will be an exciting night as these are two of the greatest fighters in the region. ..."

With that, the fight continues as the whole stadium goes ecstatic from hit after hit, to close calls as either one of the two are stuck in a corner.

"After ten rounds of fighting, it looks like neither of the boxers will let up. And as we start the eleventh round, if you have been following our broadcast, our scorecards reads 95 each for both boxers. If this keeps up, we may have a ti... oh wait... looks like Jo gives off a few good jabs... Sanchez returns with the ole' one-two...Sanchez throws in a right jab, over extends.... Jo dodges, see an opening.... OHH Jo unleashes a massive barrage of punches, Sanchez is falling to the ropes, he is cornered arms up trying to block out the force of the onslaught. I don't know how long he can keep this up, Sanchez's arms must be taking a beating as they are getting lower by the second....*Crack*...*Thud* WHOOO KNOCKOUT KNOCKOUT KNOCKOUT. Ding-ding-ding goes the bell and the champ has fallen, after a massive barrage of punches from Jo, a powerful uppercut has found its way past Sanchez's defense and hits him squarely on the jaw. Now lets take it to back to the ring for to announce our winner"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, after ten rounds and two minutes and sixteen second of fighting in the eleventh, we have a new winner 'The Desert Scorpion"' of Qinjuru and moving on to our championship fight in Cathedral Kiro 'Stinger' Jo"

Jo goes to the middle of the ring as the stadium goes wild after the KO. Eventually everyone heads towards the exits and BdrLine and his group are pumped with adrenaline as they discuss the exciting parts of the days fighting.

[Yiski]

--NARRATOR--

By the evening, Roland, Ny-Lee, and Lauren have the saloon transformed into a decent looking restaurant. While the group believes it to be five-stars, objectively, it's about 3 1/2. The dinner Ny-Lee cooked was a standard three-course meal with a dessert. Roland would be the waiter.

Thirty minutes pass with no sign of Yiski.

And soon an hour passes.

And another.

Lauren puts her head down in depression. Roland walks over in an attempt to comfort her.

"I am sorry for this. If I had not suggested Yiski take me to the Academy, this might not have happened."

Lauren puts her head up and forces a sad smile.

"It's okay. The problem would have found him somehow. All problems do."

The group decides to call it quits and start cleaning up. Ny-Lee takes the meal she cooked and wrapped it up to be eaten later. Roland and Lauren reset the main floor to its original state.

In about thirty minutes, the saloon is back to normal and the food properly preserved. Then, out of cruel karma, Yiski walks into the saloon. The three who prepared the romantic evening just stared at him, but Yiski didn't know why. Yiski gives a sigh and stretches his back.

"Those gunsmiths know how to ruin an idiot-proof design. How this city hasn't been taken over because of their incompetence is sheer dumb luck."

Yiski then starts heading into the back, but is stopped by Lauren her face and voice were annoyed.

"I waited for you."

"Waited on me for what?"

"Dinner."

"Just the two of us? I don't think we planned that?"

"Yes, for the two of us and no, it was going to be a surprise."

"Did you think a dinner between us would've made things better?"

"It would have been a start."

At this point, the tension between the two was rising... fast. Sensing the pending danger, both Ny-Lee and Roland decide to go stay at BdrLine's place. It maybe crowded when they get there, but it was certainly safer there than here. When the two left, neither Yiski nor Lauren noticed them gone. Yiski then started increasing his voice.

"You know what would have been a start? You tellin' me you were alive for the past eight years!"

"I did it to protect you!"

"Yeah, and look how well that turned out! You took everythin' we had together and threw it to the side because thought you knew better!"

"But..."

"No buts! I didn't need protecting and you know it!"



Lauren stood in silence. She couldn't answer because she did have one. Yiski was right. Despite his advice, most decisions Lauren has made usually end up backfiring in some way or coming back to haunt her. Tears started welling up in her eyes and she sat down to cry.


Looking at her state, Yiski had enough and headed into his room.


Lauren's idea of things improving between them seemed impossible now.


--NARRATOR END--

--END OF DAY 81--


_{Okay, the thread will be locked until the end of my finals on May 11th. Wish me luck... I'll need it.} 

[Yiski]

--Summary of Days 82-96--

--NARRATOR--

The past two weeks were peaceful, or at least there was a distinct lack of mercenaries and hit-men after the group. However, there were no shortages of the group still managing to find their own trouble.

Zill and Jun'ko had been busy overseeing the refitting of the entire fleet with Yiski's new mercury field rifles with the new tungsten rounds. Zill had to be careful in how many field rifles were given and how much tungsten ammo provided. The Council had ordered the new gun and rounds top secret to minimize the possibility the guns and ammo could be salvaged off a sunk or captured vessel. Though many field rifles and ammo were available to Zill, he supplied them out sparingly and to vessels he knew could handle themselves.

BdrLine had been busy implementing a new armor plating style based on the late M'Naghten. After the events dealing with the Birdmen, the late M'Naghten's armor had been the difference between life and death at Lu Tower. If the new re-plating wasn't enough for BdrLine to keep busy, BdrLine also was refitting the fleet with the new engines and helping Skyraider with his project.

Roland and Ny-Lee passed the time between running the saloon while Yiski was at the Armory and spending time together when Yiski kicked them out into the city. Ny-Lee had gotten word from her mother, Liu, the cruise ship was finished and preparations for the maiden flight were being set for the couple's wedding. While Roland was happy to be married to his soon-to-be lovely wife, he hid his excitement much better than Ny-Lee who had been giddy since she learned the cruise ship was ready. Fortunately, Ny-Lee wasn't alone in her excitement. Jun'ko also slipped out every once and while and the two girls spent time discussing their respective partners.

Paradox spent most of his time at the DLTC HQ doing paper work. He'd stop by the saloon a few times and, as always, managed to draw everybody's ire towards him. Eventually, the saloon got used to Paradox's antics.

Yiski and Lauren were still in limbo about their future relationship. Despite, Lauren's genuine efforts to fix their standing, Yiski stood adamant against her attempts. What's worse, her efforts were far and few between. When Yiski's at the Armory, she's usually at the saloon and vice versa, but with Lauren training pilots. Over the past two weeks, the group had gotten concerned with these two, mainly just to avoid the tension spilling over to the other. (Let's be honest, the group knew what affected one, always effected the others.) Fortunately, their drama was well-overshadowed by the eventual wedding.

Despite the fanfare for the wedding, how much smooth sailing was left?

--END NARRATOR--

--End of Summary--


_{Normal posting starts tomorrow.}

[Yiski]

--START OF DAY 96--

--NARRATOR--

-Chang-ning-

Liu and Shen are at Dragon Port looking at the completed cruise ship Tengshe. It is a massive cruise ship about a quarter of the size of Paradox's Jericho, but nearly twice as large as a Yeshan galleon. A tear comes to Liu's eye and her husband embraces her, knowing the implications. Liu looks up to him.

"Our little girl is going to be married."

"She is, and she couldn't have found a better husband."

"When can the Tengshe depart?"

"Immediately. We should arrive at the neutral ground around Thursday and that would give us a day to prepare for Friday."

"Well then, we should probably relay the coordinates and time to both Azn and Yiski."


--Anvala--

Today was one of the rare days where both Yiski and Lauren would work at the saloon. The reason for this was Zill's decision to hold war games to keep the fleet prepared for a number of situations. It was even a rarer day when Roland and Ny-Lee decided to stay in, mostly because Ny-Lee's excitement was beginning to take it's toll on Roland. Even though he's improved his physical stamina, he's nowhere close to keeping up with a hyperactive bride.

Despite the difficulty, Lauren was still determined to at least get back to amicable grounds with Yiski to where their conversations didn't end in yelling. How she was going to accomplish it was an entirely different matter.

Yiski was in the back checking the stills when he heard a radio transmission come through.

"Yiski... Yiski... This is Shen..."

Yiski walked over to the radio and responded.

"Yiski here. Haven't heard from you in awhile. How's Liu? Did she get back safely?"

"I'm doing fine and Liu is here with me as well. How soon can you get to Yannock?"

"Let's see... given a few new improvements to our engines... I'd say we'd get there by Thursday."

"Excellent. The cruise ship Tengshe is ready for departure and will arrive at Yannock by Thursday. We would hold the wedding the day after. Is that acceptable?"

"I don't see why not. The town would give us a nice view of the Chill Sea."

"Then Yannock by Thursday it is."

"I'll run it by the others. Yiski over and out."

When the transmission over, Yiski walks out into the main floor where he's met with a few faces. Roland to Yiski.

"Who was that on the radio?"

"Ny-Lee's father, Shen. We have a location and time for the weddin'."

Ny-Lee's eyes went wide and rapidly approached Yiski. Yiski (and anyone else) could tell she was ecstatic.

"AH! Where are we going?!"

"Easy now. We're headin' out and arriving at Yannock, hopefully, on Thursday where the Tengshe is at and have the weddin' on Friday."

Lauren looks at Yiski.

"Yannock. Isn't it a bit far from here? Wouldn't we have to leave today to reach there by Thursday?"

"Usually that'd be the case, but thanks to the new engines BdrLine's been installin', we can leave tomorrow."

Satisfied with his explanation, Yiski walks over to the door to open the saloon for today.

...

...

...

Nobody enters the saloon at first. More moments pass by and there are still no patrons entering. Yiski and the other stand confused. There were always a few patrons to enter at the opening. Suddenly, Yiski stamped his foot to the ground and yelled. Roland was the first to ask.

"What happened?"

"Dammit. I forgot, with the war games today, almost all the folks are going to watch them."

Today was going to be a slow day.

--NARRATOR END--

[Shinkurex]

*the door creaks open, and a familiar stranger is standing in the doorway. He notices the Saloon practically empty, and walks up to the bar*

"Has your milk gotten any better, or should I stay with hellfire?"