"No time like the present I suppose. I've been keeping track of what we need and what we could use more of." He made sure to follow as Sheska began back down into the lower areas of the ship. Already going back over his mental list of all the items he needed and wanted for the health of the crew.
Isaac nodded once as Sheska gathered the group together and stepped forwards to fall in with them.
As he drew closer Sheska frowned and put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Damn, Izzy, you didn't get much sleep last night? Again?"
Isaac smiled faintly.
"Oh, you know how it is. Mug of java I'll perk right up." he held his tin mug up for emphasis and took another gulp.
He wasn't entirely sure why Sheska had asked him to come along. He wasn't exactly the first crew member you'd come to to assess a ship or its take. But hey, he didn't exactly have much to do until they knew their next heading, so he might as well try make himself useful.
She glanced back when they each responded and huffed. Isaac was amiable enough, as was Samuel, while Jason promptly brandished the prosthetic arm they were planning on grafting onto what used to be her left shoulder.
"Well, as much as I'd love to, I don't have much time to run inventory. If you really need somebody from the engineering department, just head to the engine room and drag Fry with you. However, I do need a brief word with Beth. So, lead on.".
She shuddered once and rubbed her wound, which was more than a little sore at the moment. "I'm not looking forward to what it'll take for you two to get that thing attached to me. Anyway, Jason, Fry is your lackey. I'm the First Mate, so I might as well go to the top of the engineering food chain as it were. Besides, I figure you already know what you need. If you don't, you'll find out regardless. You have initiative.", she said with a small smirk.
"Oh, you know how it is. Mug of java I'll perk right up.".
She stopped on the stairs and looked back at him, an eyebrow quirked up. "Izzy, that stuff can't possibly be good for you. What you need, is rum. Proper pirates drink.", she said, jabbing her finger in his direction before continuing down the stairs and murmuring to herself, "Of course, I'm not one to talk when it comes to shitty sleep.".
"You know, whilst this sunrise may be beautiful, its nothing in comparison to you. I'll always defend you, no matter what." Garrett whispered in her ear before returning her kiss. She smiled in return, playfully jabbing her elbow into his side, whispering back "Quite the romantic aren't we Mr. Corvus. I knew I kept you around for a reason." she offered back. There were plenty of reasons she kept him around beyond the one mentioned and he knew it. She would list them, but she wanted to dock the Invincible sometime today.
She glanced around; still safe. It was a dangerous game they were playing, but at least it was fun. none the less, the crew would be awake soon, so getting back to business seemed a prudent choice of actions. Besides, their game could wait a bit.
"So, how came your up early then? Come to get a gorgeous view of Helium City before we dock?" Garrett said, after making a more personal statement. Adrianna sighed at the reminder, then began her explanation. "Hardly. I'm trying to keep an eye out for the Mermaid; it was headed in this direction and I don't want to have another conflict in Helium airspace; the Helium trade is too great a risk. There's a veritable ships graveyard on the ground due to Imperial laws forbidding conflict in Helium airspace." she said, a definite annoyance in her words. Too many privateers used the less-then perfect relations between the Empire and Helium to raid Imperial ships. Admittedly, they were mostly cargo ships (not IAN Frigates) so there was less of a threat to them, but it was one of the many reasons trade in the Empire was so limited. With the Empire all but declawed in Helium space, the flight into the city was always a headache.
Adrianna, always the type to try and turn a weakness into an advantage, was also looking for another reason. While they couldn't fight the Mermaid directly, they could track it, watch it, gather info, and sabotage it with almost supernatural ease in Helium; so long as the citizens of the city remained unaffected. If Adrianna wanted anything, it was information on the ship that dared attack an Imperial Frigate and escape. Information won wars and battles, on the sea, in the air, on the ground. It gave the weaker combatant every advantage.
And Adrianna wanted every advantage.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Time passed as the ship made its final approach. By this point, the crew was in full force, alive with excitement at visiting the city (read: tavern); even if it was a dirty Sky-city by trade. Through it all, The Invincible and Adrianna kept an eye on the city for the Mermaid. She'd thought she'd spotted it some time ago, but couldn't be certain until they came around again. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your perspective, the approach would take them well within eyesight. Knowing the way Pirate leaders thought, even if they were out trying to sell their ill-gotten loot or sleeping, there would be a skeleton crew protecting the ship. If they had any sense, they would be keeping as much an eye out as she was, meaning there wouldn't be much of a surprise. Still; if nothing else, they could confirm if the ship WAS the Mermaid or not without the shadow of a doubt.
The Invincible came around the tower at a slow crawl, losing speed so they could dock safely. As they made the turn, Adrianna spotted it; the lightning gun, the cannon damage, the ugly figurehead; all identical. It even looked to have the same gaudy paint job from their battle before (clearly no proper maintenance done since the battle). Adrianna couldn't help but smile in contempt of the ugly little vessel. It had given them a run and taught her a few lacking elements of her own ship; for that it would receive an "honorable" sinking
In the very near future if she had any say.
Though cut from the final version of this post for not being very "in character" for Adrianna, the following was such a fun idea I had to leave it here for others to see.
NOTE: THIS DOES NOT ACTUALLY HAPPEN
All she could do was maintain the unbalanced smirk as they began sailing past it. She spotted a few crew hands aboard the vessel, clearly recognizing the Invincible. Having had plenty of warning and coming in close enough for the effort, she tossed a broken, beaten up automaton arm - from one of the constructs destroyed in the battle, with an Imperial insignia carved into the shoulder - across onto the enemy deck, with the word "replacement" carved into the side.
She might not be allowed to attack them, but she was allowed to gloat.
END
Unless Tips posts, I'm going to use this if/when I take control of Exeter
"Anyway, Jason, Fry is your lackey. I'm the First Mate, so I might as well go to the top of the engineering food chain as it were."
"I'm serious, Sheska. If I'm gonna have this arm done on time on top of overseeing repairs and upgrading the ship, I don't have time to go traipsing around a new ship when one of my subordinates would work just fine." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to their capture with annoyance starting to show on his face. "Look, Fry may be a lazy, insubordinate shit, but... Well, let me put it like this - I; the most anal, finicky, and competent engineer you've EVER had the pleasure of working with, frequently leave him in charge of MY engine room. That counts for something - at the very least, it counts for being able to tell you what's what with a ship that small."
"Besides, I figure you already know what you need. If you don't, you'll find out regardless. You have initiative."
Jason couldn't help but crack a smirk at that. "Really? YOU are lecturing ME about initiative? I'm sure the Captain would have plenty to say about your initiative." With a laugh, he gestured to the galley plank, making a point to keep eye contact with a smug grin. "Well, with all that initiative, lead on, First Mate. In either case, we don't have all day."
She stopped on the stairs again and turned fully when Jason replied with obvious annoyance, but she kept her expression blank, and her hand relaxed at her side as she stared at him.
"I'm serious, Sheska. If I'm gonna have this arm done on time on top of overseeing repairs and upgrading the ship, I don't have time to go traipsing around a new ship when one of my subordinates would work just fine. Look, Fry may be a lazy, insubordinate shit, but... Well, let me put it like this - I; the most anal, finicky, and competent engineer you've EVER had the pleasure of working with, frequently leave him in charge of MY engine room. That counts for something - at the very least, it counts for being able to tell you what's what with a ship that small.".
"I wasn't questioning his competence, Jason. I'm just saying that I know you better, and trust you that much more. Besides, I don't want you looking at the capture, I was hoping you'd at least give us a list of what we need for The Mermaid.", she said evenly, though it was taking quite a bit of patience on her part to keep it that way.
Then Jason spoke again.
"Really? YOU are lecturing ME about initiative? I'm sure the Captain would have plenty to say about your initiative. Well, with all that initiative, lead on, First Mate. In either case, we don't have all day."
Her eyes widened, then they narrowed dangerously into a death glare that she locked onto his own gaze. While she and Jason didn't get along all the time, they were friendly enough. Then there were times like this when the smug son of a whore was a massive bug up her misbegotten ass.
"You'll have to explain that one to me, Jason, and I'd be careful at what you say.", she said softly, stepping forward with her clenched fist at her side.
"Quite the romantic aren't we Mr. Corvus. I knew I kept you around for a reason." Adrianna said back with a smile, playfully jabbing Garrett in the side with her elbow afterwards. Garrett smiled at this remark. They both knew that there were more reasons to keeping him around. This game they played, was one of the most enjoyable that Garrett had played for a while; the thrill, the excitement, the omnipresent danger of being caught, it was oh so delicious, that he wanted to eat it up. But alas, duty called and their game was to be put on hold for now.
"Hardly. I'm trying to keep an eye out for the Mermaid; it was headed in this direction and I don't want to have another conflict in Helium airspace; the Helium trade is too great a risk. There's a veritable ships graveyard on the ground due to Imperial laws forbidding conflict in Helium airspace."
"Of course, one missed place shot could cause all sorts of trouble. But no doubt you want to serve the Mermaid a slice of revenge for what they did to our proud vessel." Garrett remarked as he saw the proud Chase Tower come into view. As they slowly came into dock, Garrett could see a familiar sight.
"Would you look at that Adrianna, our target is here. Though I can see no sign of her Captain." He added, pointing out the Mermaid.
She looked at the spoons he showed her, at first she had thought he had pulled knives or some sort of weapon. Which was why she had laid one of her hands on the chain sickle hanging around her waist.
"Digging?" Beth assumed that was how he had escaped from a change cage city, since they hadn't found any holes in the ship. "How crafty of you."
They kept walking, she hated these damn stairs. People of different origins passed them and walked behind as well. It wasn't a safe place to talk by any means, and even if pirates were welcome in the city she didn't feel comfortable talking among so many unknown ears.
"What do you plan on doing now? The crew you flew with before will be released later."
As soon as I've sold their airship. She couldn't release them before that. They could go to the authorities or try to take their ship back alone. She'd rather see it fly away before she released them.
They finally arrived at the bottom of the tower, but Jack were busy talking with others who had anchored to the tower and a line had formed. She sighed yet again, and placed herself at the end of the line. Outside the tower she could see the bustling crowd, and she was stuck in the tower.
"Look I'd rather not have to add more bandages and painkillers to my list so how about we all just calm down?" Samuel said somewhat jokingly as he stepped between the two.
"Jason she is our superior and if she says she wants you to come along, I'd come along. There will be time to work on Sheska's arm later, I still want to practice the surgery a few more times with the one you gave me anyway. Sheska, just remember his rather abrasive personality and remember he means well. He's probably busier than most of us as of late and I would suspect he is getting less sleep as a result, seeing as the man is obsessed with his work and on this ship there is always plenty." He then shot Jason a look sending a message along the lines.
If you open your mouth again and she hits you do not expect me to waste morphine on your poor decision
Her glare only moved from Jason's gaze to wheel around and lock onto Samuel's as he spoke.
"Look I'd rather not have to add more bandages and painkillers to my list so how about we all just calm down? Jason she is our superior and if she says she wants you to come along, I'd come along. There will be time to work on Sheska's arm later, I still want to practice the surgery a few more times with the one you gave me anyway. Sheska, just remember his rather abrasive personality and remember he means well. He's probably busier than most of us as of late and I would suspect he is getting less sleep as a result, seeing as the man is obsessed with his work and on this ship there is always plenty.".
When he finished, Sheska had deflated, then sighed, nodding once when she looked back at Jason.
"Sam's right. We've been running ragged since the Laughing Gull, and meeting with those Imps only made things worse. I lost an arm, you have more work, and we've all lost friends, which is the worst of it.", she said quietly, before addressing Jason more directly.
"I'll get off your case Jason, not only because Sam made a good point, but because you're my friend, and want to help me with a new arm. That deserves some consideration. Just, don't push your luck. I'm out of rum, and I'm irritable.", she added, refusing to go too soft, even to a friend, and she punctuated it with a quick-but-light smack against Jason's shoulder.
She hated being considerate. It just wasn't piratey, but when it came to friends, she was at least a little less reluctant to let a few minor things like personal spats slide. Besides, if nothing else, she could respect Jason for being one ballsy Skyfolk bastard.
When she turned she huffed, and she was noticeably settling in to her usually bad-tempered self. If nothing else, it was a sign of some normalcy. In fact, in the time it took for them to finally reach the bottom, her fuse on her temper was starting to run short again as she practically shoved sailors of all kinds out of the way, and rewarding the ones that turned back to protest with one of her best glares and a truly feral snarl.
Stepping off the stairs, she was only mildly relieved to be done with it, and was unsurprised to spot Beth near the back of the queue to pay old Jack. What did surprise her was the fact that she was accompanied by another misbegotten: A tall, slender man with six arms, wearing one of the rattiest suits she could imagine.
Leading the small pack behind her, she pushed her way to the Captain and nodded when she reached her side.
"Cap'n. The Mermaid is moored, and a skeleton crew is keeping watch, as well as assessing what damage we couldn't check while sailing. I've also got Izzy, Sam and Jason here with me.", she told her, before jerking her head at the newcomer and asking, "Who the hell is this?".
"Would you look at that Adrianna, our target is here. Though I can see no sign of her Captain." Garrett said as they passed the Mermaid. "So it is." Adrianna responded smiling - it was a great opportunity, and by the looks of it no one aboard had yet noticed the Invincible; the ship was all but unmanned by the looks of it. It was a true golden opportunity. Were it not for the pressing concerns with refitting their ship, resupplying, and meeting with the Imperial Liaison and the new Engineer, she'd have set about sabotaging the vessel within the hour. Alas, such a venture would need to wait for the moment.
"Mr. Corvus." she said, getting back to business. "please report to Dr. Roque - he's leading the resupply mission." she said, as she prepared for docking. She turned to go and take care of the docking procedure. Before she left however, she paused, turned around, and added "and stay safe Garrett."
As the Invincible moored, a Helium official came aboard to deal with all the formalities - such as payment, reason for docking, length of stay, etc. Unlike the pirate hoards, the Imperial vessel needed to give such information to remain in port. Not that Adrianna objected; the formal rule set made such encounters between the notoriously cool-related governments tolerable and it made them better then the hoard.
That said; more paperwork was never described precisely as enjoyable
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
While the Invincible was docking, the lone figure made its way down the tower toward the dock; intent on boarding the Invincible as soon as possible. After all; sitting in a boring Imperial consulate was hardly as much fun as fixing a ship. Besides all that; she had a job to do and it was a particularly important one.
"Mr. Corvus." Adrianna said in a more formal tone after smiling at the sight of the Mermaid. "please report to Dr. Roque - he's leading the resupply mission." She then added, as the ship prepared for final docking. Before she left however, Adrianna turned round and spoke to Garrett once more. "and stay safe Garrett."
"Rest assured my lady, I will keep it in our best interest to remain safe; after all, what kind of a bodyguard would I be if I can't keep myself safe." Garrett remarked with a smirk as he saw a Helium official come aboard to deal with the formalities and other dock business. Whilst he never had to deal with them personally, Garrett did find the sound of their job to be rather dull. He then made his way to below deck, and towards Vasco.
Eddie sighed as they pulled into port, tired of docking, he went to the normal space he could be found, at the highest point reachable on the ship. There he sat with his legs locked around the rigging, his dirk and hand cannon his only weapons. These places weren't safe on the best of days, and this certainly wasn't the best day.
"What do you plan on doing now? The crew you flew with before will be released later."
"Hmm" He wondered what he would do as well, "I guess I could become part of your crew. Romance, intrigue, skulduggery," He said as he theatrically waved his arms around, "They all fit a person like me." Ending his little dramatisation with a sly smile.
Behind the façade of confidence he was't sure what he would actually do a member of the captain motley crew, he was a thief that was all, not a navigator, nor was he a fighter fighter, or a tactician. The scope of his skills were small, just like his understanding of the world outside of the blocks; he doubted there would be many opportunities for pick pocketing during a raid on another ship. But if he didn't take this opportunity he would be stuck in Helium city with no means of leaving than smuggling himself onto another ship and hoping it wasn't heading back towards the territories the empire controlled.
"Who the hell is this?".
Well time for him to introduce to himself to who he assumed was a member of Beth's crew, "I'm Hector, pleasure to meet you"
Vasco blinked as the morning sky and Helium City came into view. Underneath gloved hands were vast stretches of blue paper lined with white - all possible prototypes of the breathing apparatus for Annis. He sank his head into his hands. Dr. Roque had been a very busy man, all night he had toiled over matter medicinal and more. With a quick flick of the wrist, he released his face from the metal mask and proceed to wash his face. He stared in disdain as his haggard features came into view in the mirror. No wonder he kept it hidden. Face wiped and hair combed, he put the mask back on with a sigh of relief. It was something of comfort as well as concealment, that mask of his. Vasco wondered if Annis ever thought the same of hers. Probably not.
He checked the time. Mr. Corvus was running a few minutes late, but he was as well. Vasco had planned to have an early morning chat with Annis about the prototype that would replace the older one, but fatigue had crept upon the doctor and he found himself slipping into sleep. No doubt he would have to have a proper rest soon, no one can handle going more then two days without sleep after all. But that would have to be at a later date. The things he saw... Well, what did it matter? They were just dreams after all, but they managed to shake him, somehow. Taking his mind to brighter things, he tidied up his quarters in preparation for the Rear Admiral's bodyguard and quickly jotted down a list of needed supplies. Going into Helium City would be interesting at least...
Garrett carefully made his way through the corridor, making sure he tread carefully as to not wake up other members of the crew. There were a few that passed him, bleary eyed from just having to wake up, but they seemed to be in relatively okay spirits given the time of day. He eventually reached Dr. Roque's quarters, and could hear someone moving about inside. Garrett gently knocked on the door.
"Dr. Roque? It's Garrett, I've arrived for the resupply mission we're scheduled to go on whilst we are here in Helium." Garrett said, hoping he hadn't disturbed the good doctor; despite the odd appearance, he gave the man credit for his medical skills where it was due. He then patiently waited a response.
Isaac had watched the argument unfold with barely a word. He felt that maybe he should have intervened, but by the time he thought of what to say Samuel had already chimed in. He was glad to see that Sheska was willing to let the matter drop. After all, Jason had most definitely touched a nerve with his comment about the captain.
Isaac disliked it when the rest of the crew bickered. Back in the old days his team had no choice but to work together, so they put differences aside from the get-go. If you had a problem with someone in the unit you took it to the taskmaster and he's see what he could do. All this directionless arguing felt... messy.
He held his silence. It's what he did best after all. He followed the group down the gangplank and over to where Old Jack lazily sat, accepting docking fees from anyone planning on staying. He could see the captain from here, stood with a rather curious looking misbegotten man.
Sheska got straight to the point, asking who he was. Isaac just watched.
He looked theatrical. Not an actor necessarily, but he'd built himself an image. A "gentleman" of some kind. He hid it rather well but his stance was flighty. Like he could give you slip and be off running within less than a second. A thief then. A thief that very clearly wanted to join the crew. Ah, but he was a nervous one. Unsure of himself and trying to cover it up with a mask of confidence. Well, Isaac had no problems with the man. If Beth was happy with him being aboard, then he'd be welcome to it. Isaac decided to stand slightly back from the others and watch, half keeping an eye-out for any hostile looking parties. Even in Helium City it paid to have a modicum of caution.
A knock on the door. It was Garret. Vasco quickly scooped the vial out of the hidden compartment and placed it in the inside pockets of his jacket then went over to the mirror for a final once-over. With a few adjustments done, he opened the door tentatively and slowly, to reduce noise. He welcomed the 'tame pirate' with kind words, "Forgive me, I seem to be a little... out of sorts this morning."
So much to be done, yet he had hardly scratched the surface of the workload. At least the trip could be seen as a break of sorts, even when it would just probably end up being a trip to market. Dr. Roque was no haggler, he would have to rely on Mr. Corvus on that matter. Nevertheless, it would just be a little break in the endless cycle of shooting down pirate vessels and stopping at port to refuel.
Not that Vasco was in a position to complaint. Being shifted to the Invincible was a warning in itself and sent a very clear message: "You are in a precarious position due to your actions and... eccentricities. Behave on this assignment and prove us otherwise or you will be booted out." He grabbed his cane from its usual postion by the door and awaited with impatience, probably a result of his tired state of mind.
Sheska responded in about the manner Jason expected to his slight - with a threat and a snarl. As usual, he saw no reason to back down - even if Sheska snapped now, she wouldn't be stupid enough to kill him, not within the bounds of the city. And he VERY much doubted she would harm him at all over a personal grudge when he was likely the only person in a hundred leagues capable of fixing her arm and repairing the ship within the week. Seeing the tension rise, Sam cut in, calming Sheska down by reminding her everybody was on edge after pushing themselves for the past week. She seemed to let it go, being sure to give a swat to Jason's arm as she left. He rolled his eyes dismissively and followed her down the gangplank.
What Sam had said about their current mental state stuck with him, though. In the four days since they'd left High Tortuga, he'd only gotten about ten hours worth of sleep. Even by his workaholic standards, that was pretty extreme. He cursed himself silently - if he was starting to feel the effects, the rest of the crew, Sheska included, must be at the extreme edge of their limits. 'I suppose now isn't the time to nurse my ego.'
They approached the captain, who was speaking with old Jack. She was accompanied by an odd-looking misbegotten, a lanky six-armed man wearing a ratty old suit. 'Ah, crap. Here we go again...' In the years he'd been a pirate, Jason had seen and worked with plenty of strange characters, but one of the most common archetypes amongst green recruits was a notion that piracy was a noble, romantic venture. He could see that same naïveté painted all over the boys' face. 'Well, if he's smart, he'll wise up before he kills himself. If not, well... in either case, he's Sheska's problem. I'd be willing to bet my left arm that guy doesn't know anything about airship mechanics.'
Samuel let out an audible breath when the situation defused. The last thing that needed to happen was a fight with at least a few imperials around more likely than not. It would be bad for them if reports of strife on the ship made it up the chain to the Invincible. He left his thoughts just in time to hear Hector introduce himself.
"Samuel, a pleasure to meet you as well." He said as he held out his hand to the man.
Like everyone else he hadn't gotten much sleep. Tending to the crew of the Mermaid after the run in with the invincible, tending to the people of the skyfolk ship, and practicing the surgery required to attach the robotic arm to Sheska in a way that would work had taken a lot of energy out of him and left him with a little time to relax. Not to mention having to take stock of what medicines he did have and what he would need for an extended journey.
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