SKYWARD MIRACLES - IC Thread

[RedArmyShogun]

​

Listening to the various replies and concerns voiced to the Captain, none bordered insubordination and really did not acquire her attention, though a couple of things did catch her ear.

First was when Shinobu pointed out the flaw in her suggestion in regards to Seven, while she had initially meant having him stop the ship or disrupting sabotage attempts, she would have also supported just sending the ship crashing. Though it seemed it's capture rather than Yellow Beard's death. Regardless the woman then went on to question other things, or her preference on who was left behind, when the Blood Devil was about to speak up one of the fighters in question responded, a bit fiery this one was.

Grinning at the response, at least this one had some spine. Next was the Captain, having served under her for awhile now, it still brought a smile to her face, she at least understood War. And she had let Sorina do as she pleased within the confines of orders a few times now, encouraging her to save her spirit for the enemy and flashing a smirk that much matched her own, at odds with the girl's normally kind and upbeat features, but one who's meaning the young Blood Devil approved of. Clanking her fist to her breastplate as was her custom in Salute she gives a short acknowledgement.

"Oh but of course my Captain, your enemies are mine, and shall be torn asunder."

Next the Captain addressed other questions and concerns, adopting one of Shinobu's suggestions, even as she overturned the others, the following replies did not really interest her all that much, the girl in the armor, for some unknown reason always irked her, which stirred her attention to Wukong's question, though she agreed with the girl's sentiment on the best part of the operation, plus she was at least an Infernal, though her dress reminded her of the Youkai.

"Any elaborate plan for us five or do we work with what you've provided us?"

@Crow

This she had to speak up in regards of, at least partly. "At the very least me and you should be guarding the transports, we are expected to take the frontline in accordance with the Captain's plan. If we are far away how can we.. Ah but I'm sure the Captain will also address this."

Next the fellow she earmarked to use to spring the traps left, with a bit of an awkwardness to him.. Ignoring it for now, the words of the next man to speak Irked her, while coaxed carefully, she felt his own opinion on who he would follow was a soft stab directed at her. Allowing her Crimson eyes to dwell on him, baring her fangs briefly as if to hiss at him. Ending her little display this human, Drayton was very guarded with his words, to challenge him would be baseless.

In place Sorina turns once more towards the Captain, bowing her head lighty. "Captain, I'll be in my Cabin or on the upper deck preparing. I'm afraid I need some fresh air." Turning on her heels, the armored fighter quickly leaves the room, and true to her word heads for the corridors leading to the ship deck.​

 

[Villamvihar]

If she was honest with herself, Ádalé was a little frightened when she first stepped onto the Lughanta a couple of weeks ago. This whole flying and living on an airship thing was completely new to the knight. There were several occasions when she could not sleep properly or felt nauseous enough to stay in her room for a while when the ship experienced turbulence. At times, she was just on the verge of asking the captain to let her off the ship because of her insecurity. However, she reminded herself that this was for her future as a free knight of the Order and as such, she persevered. This turned out to be a really good idea as the weird feelings she got disappeared in a couple of days. Even the slight rumble of certain decks because of the Magitek engines became familiar to her.

Fortunately, the captain had not belittled her for not doing too much work in the first couple of days, which she more than made up for in the following time. Ádalé made no secret of her training, nor her honestly awe-inspiring strength. The first thing she did as an act of kindness for the crew was carrying a heavy crate of food to the kitchen in what was apparently record time on the airship. To add insult to injury, it normally took five men to carry the crate or it was divided into smaller portions to make it easier on everyone. From then on, the young knight's strength became a little bit of a rumour amongst the crew. This was not helped by the fact that she demonstrated it whenever she thought that it was necessary.

And her strength was further driven home by her practice sessions, during which she used a massive hammer.

Despite any misgivings the crew may or may not have had about her, Ádalé found her place really quickly. She often helped out with the moving of heavy objects and she attented the daily practice sessions of the soldiers. There, people quickly learned that it was very hard to keep up with someone who could overpower them whenever she liked. This resulted in an entirely new exercise being designed around taking down Ádalé to make the soldiers more proficient against opponents physically stronger than themselves. She was not offended; such a thing was standard practice back at her home and she enjoyed the exhaustion that came with fighting multiple opponents at once.

Her days settled into a rough routine which was suddenly broken up by an announcement to assemble in the mess hall. Experience told her that some sort of great thing would be revealed there, so Ádalé wrapped up her current job as fast as she could and headed there as quickly as possible. She was still one of the last ones to arrive and she had worked up some sweat because of her work. Luckily, her face along with her disheveled state was hidden by the crowd.

The announcement itself took Ádalé by surprise. She had heard the rumours of course, but she did not expect them to be true; she did not think the Lughanta would be famous enough to attract the attention of the Doge himself and have it be assigned to a mission that included a well-known pirate. She was even more surprised that Agatha called out her name, summoning her to the War Room in an hour. That... was a little unpleasant. Ádalé still had a daily routine that she would have liked to work through, but orders were orders. There was no time for dilly-dallying as she had to eat, shower, get dressed in something passable, then show up for the meeting. Such was life, but some advance warning would have been really nice.

---

In the end, she managed to be one of the first to arrive. Now in a much more presentable state and wearing the more casual, white-and-black clothes of her Order, Ádalé took a stand near the front so she could pay attention to what was being said. She made sure to bring a few pieces of paper along with a piece of sharpened graphene so she could take notes and paid attention to the briefing. She did not understand the specifics of airship combat at all, so she made sure to write down the little details that others brought up with that. However, as the meeting went on, she grew more concerned about the boarding itself and how that would go down.

First of all, they did not have a plan of the enemy airship. She did not know much about the construction of such things, but she assumed that it was nothing like the Lughanta and they would be practically blind. That did not suit her all too well. Then there was the fact of Agatha's boarding party being massive. There was no way they could work as a coordinated unit, not even under the captain's command. If they went together like that, it could also result in them being too concentrated to capture the airship quickly. Granted, there were other boarding squads as well... But Ádalé's instincts told her there was more to the mission than Agatha let on. Why else would they be briefed separately? Something was definitely going on and after everyone had voiced their opinion, Ádalé also raised her voice.

"Please excuse me, Captain," she spoke up, her voice cutting through a moment of silence. "But I'd like some more details about the boarding operation itself. May I ask what we will be targeting and if we know where it is located in the airship? I also have concerns about the size of our boarding party. There are so many of us that we could be split into two squads to handle two major goals at once. We'd be able to disable the airship faster that way and everyone would take less damage. Thank you for your time, Captain." She did not mention the hidden goal part yet as she did not know if it was a good idea to speak up about it in the open. It might be something that Agatha wanted to keep a secret.[/hr]

 

[Izurich]

@Skyswimsky

The Inquisitor's presence was a welcome respite, sure the Blood Devil also backed up her arguments but Laura did it in a more... orthodox and polite way. She welcomed the two really, felt nice to have both sides of the Divine One rooting for her. "That is precisely the plan, Laura, we'll flank the Golden MIdas with our superior speed and maneuverability." The brunette was aware that Laura didn't like having her 'status' paraded around, something about humility and all that. As such, the captain just nodded as if saying 'My thanks, Inquisitor'

<----->​

@Crow

The Infernal who tried so hard to be a Monkey Youkai... and actually successful at it finally spoke her mind. Her golden eyes sharp and mischievous as always, there was much ferocity hidden behind that cheerful grin. Whether Wukong realized it or not, she wasn't that far off from Sorina, they both loved to battle. "And crash things you shall, Wukong."

Elaborate plans, huh? "Well, let's see... I am confident in your abilities to adapt based on the situation. However, guarding the transports first until we are close should be a good course of action. After that, go wild on those pirates."

<----->​

@Weisenhart

"Aye, Herman, you'll be making sure that our armory is ready for the upcoming battle." Agatha nodded at the - slightly - inebriated tanned man. That was a rather interesting name he gave for his signature tonfas. "It looks like 'Rocky 'n Road' will be put to use soon." Agatha was about to continue addressing her other crewmates when Herman suddenly garnered her attention once more. "Yes, Herman?" A small smirk curled at the side of her lips, "Ha, is that so? You have been with me for... what, two years now? It's time for you to get out of your shell and do something glorious for once." She chuckled, "We'll take care of each other, aye? So long."

<----->​

@EmperorsChosen

Short, simple, effective. There wasn't much to say about Drayton Vance. He preferred to let his twin swords do the talking. "You'll have plenty of pirates to stab. Ha, unless you count me as suicidal and a yapping blue-blood, you have no worries." She knew who he was jabbing towards. Boisterous and powerful she might be, Sorina wasn't exactly... ready to lead, not yet at least. She was too young.

<----->​

@Beowulf

The second Youkai in the world, Taka the White Owl Youkai finally inquired her, tho... there was something odd about his request. "Echirus? You mean 'Erchius', right? I suppose you can take some, sure." There was no possible way he could fit an airship engine full of Erchius into his bottles and pockets anyway.

<----->​

@RedArmyShogun

"Of course, Sorina." Agatha couldn't hold back an amused chuckle, it didn't take a magitek engineer to know what she meant by 'fresh air'. "Just don't drink too much." Still, she was impressed that the Blood Devil didn't take offense at Drayton's little jab. Agatha was already expecting her to explode and she'd have to defuse the situation. Fortunately, it didn't happen. Being on the airship must have taught her a sense of camaraderie even if she didn't realize it.

<----->​

@Lstorm

The Knight of the Truthful Voices, another fine addition to the Lughanta Company. Her titanic strength made Adale rather popular amongst the crew. Indeed, ever since the dark-haired woman lifted up a crate that'd otherwise take five able-bodied sailors all by her lonesome. The crew found themselves a new mentor of sorts, one that could take on several of them at the same time with apparent ease. Agatha tried taking her on once, safe to say, one good smack from Adale was enough to send her flying. Sure the brunette loved to fly, but not across the mattress and landing unceremoniously on her back.

Yes, Adale?" Agatha turned towards her, "Certainly. We will be targeting the Golden Midas. If Yellow Beard is there, which he's most likely will, we must locate him ASAP and take him down, dead or alive. Up next, we will rip his flag and then raise our own, claiming the ship as ours. This will shatter the morale of the pirates. By that point, it's just a matter of moping up the rest." The young woman put one hand near her chin, pondering, "Actually, while we don't have exact details about his ship, it's bigger than ours, battleship-class. We can't take it on alone so that's why we're flanking it as our allies keep it busy."

She nodded, "Of course, I suppose I can split us into three squads. Two boarders and one flier squads.. I will personally lead one, Shinobu will lead the fliers, and..." She surveyed the room, "Laura, you will lead the boarders as well."

 

[Ehb]

Seven internally sighed as the various personalities in the room vouched to have him join in on the mission one way or another. Ultimately though, considering the Captain wished to see how he'd fare outside of menial duties personally, he didn't have much choice but to silently resign himself. The more and more he thought about it, the more he began to realize that Miss Nightngale's marine complement were composed of more... unique characters on the ship. Put most any person from the galley, hold, or from the service department next to practically anyone here and the peculiarities would stick out like a sore thumb.

He didn't want to get conscripted into any of this. He wasn't gifted in combat, and he was pretty sure he was at about as far as he could get in terms of improvement beyond being a front line trooper. Of course, he had to pretend to be a complete novice in front of everyone here as well.

It was just a whole lot of extra work. He wanted to avoid being known by anyone of note on the ship. But in the end, it looked like he probably should've just gone the way of being a complete silent loner. But, that was a bit too grating even for him to try pulling for such a long assignment.

In any case, Seven decided he'd perform at a sub-par level so Agatha could forget about him. He just had to prevent getting maimed or seriously injured for this assignment. But, he had to be careful not getting caught off guard. Fighting on the cramped quarters of a ship deck in the sky was different from the ground. Even he wasn't particularly used it.


Looking just a step away to his side, he saw Yumi. One of the few faces in the room he actually sort-of knew. Only on the account that, like him, she'd been pulled out from the service department into this... situation that was currently unfolding. He could understand her being chosen to come here, given even he could see potential for her to grow in some of her sparring matches however, at the same time...


@☆Luna☆
"Yumi. Word of advice. Pick someone who looks strong and just shadow them. If the upcoming battle is anything like it's looking like it will be, you won't want to be among those trading the first blows outright. You'll want to get a feel for how a battle of this nature goes, before trying to take the lead all on your own."

..he was a bit concerned. The same words couple apply to himself as well. He had no intention of letting himself be lulled into a false sense of security thinking he could get by by simply being passive enough to avoid any real danger.

Not anticipating a reply from her, he returned his attention to the ongoing conversation.



It was more discourse and discussion. By the sounds of it, people were still unfamiliar with one anther's capabilities. There was speculation about what they all could do, but no hard boiled confidence. Seven could only expect this to be one big mess. Hopefully, the people at hand would be able to just outright overpower the pirate crew - or that the infamous Banana Beard's crew had an even greater level of disorganization.

"Ah, I'll have to explain this to Miss Elaina later... I don't think she'll be happy to lose two of her kitchen hands right before dinner." He mumbled to himself.

 

[Izurich]

After everyone had said their piece, Agatha readjusted the figures on the map according to her crewmates' requests. "Alright, let us recap." She cleared her throat, "The time of the battle will be most likely night. We will cruise at a lower altitude than our allies. Our aim is to ambush Yellow Beard, but I say he'd be ready for us. Assuming such, we'd let our allies engage the enemy first. Locate the Golden Midas, we'll speed around them, flanking the battleship from behind. From there, we will launch the airboats to board the pirate's flagship. The first party, led by myself, will fight through to take over the Bridge, disable the ship's weapons. The second party, scour the Midas, locate Yellow Beard as quickly as possible, capture or end him. Fliers, escort the boarders, after that, do whatever you deem fit. When everything is done, we will replace Yellow Beard's flag with ours. Assuring victory." With a confident nod, Agatha gave the crew a big grin, "You are all dismissed. The Divine One be with you."

<----->​

@Lstorm

During the way back into her cabin, the brunette captain encountered one of her personal squad, the Knight Adale of the Truthful Voices Order. The dark-haired young woman with mismatched eyes was clearly onto something judging by her gestures and hushed tone. She was curious, but the nature of her question was quite sensitive so she couldn't ask Agatha in public. "Heh..." The twintailed Venesian chuckled a little after Adale expressed her suspicions, "You're sharp. Yes, I suspect Yellow Beard has spies lurking amongst my crew. I chose you and the others as I know these people can be trusted. It might not be able to completely eliminate information leakage, but still better than nothing." After giving her a pat on the shoulder, the captain returned to her cabin, Adale was free to prepare for the upcoming battle.

<----->

The dominion of Luna begins,
As the night sky reigns,
The Crimson Phoenix spreads her wings,
Soaring through the ocean of stars.
​

2 days later, The Skies above Hindia Ocean

Before anyone knew it, the day of reckoning loomed just ahead. For some, it was their first momentous mission, a chance to shine, make an impact to the company. For others, it was just another day at the job, complete the objectives, get paid. Only the pay would be quite handsome indeed as the Doge was personally financing the endeavor. Whatever their motivation might be, fame, money, or justice, one thing for sure, they were about to face a powerful enemy. "All crews ready for battle stations." Agatha's voice blared from the various voice boosters strategically placed in various spots of the airship. The captain put down the transceiver as her reddish brown eyes surveyed the bridge. Everything seemed to be in order. The night sky was rather cloudy, making it a perfect moment to ambush... "Or be ambushed... we must stay on our guard." Under her watchful eyes, no sneaky pirate would jump on the Lughanta.

The crew could hear the hum of Engines from their right as a row of no less than five other airships cruised side-by-side with them. One of them, in particular, was noticeably larger than the Lughanta. It was the Draconus, the battle-airship of Captain Camus of the Draconus Merc Company, also the flagship of this particular group. Now that they could see just how many companies the Doge hired for the mission, perhaps it would prompt even the most carefree of the crew to at least be serious. The synchronized altitude didn't last long as the Lughanta began descending, positioning itself on a significantly lower altitude than the others. "Don't fret, they know about this." The Captain's voice echoed once more. It seemed Agatha had spoken with the other captains about this seemingly odd maneuver.

A few hours later, they were approaching the spot where Yellow Beard's hideout was located according to the scouts' reports. A small island nestling between Venesia and the Armerium Council, a perfect spot for criminals to hide under the watchful eyes of the law. Now they had to descend to strike the unaware pirates, blast them to smithereens in their sleep... only for the Lughanta's Magitek radar to detect Erchius use just up ahead of them, the signals were rather faint and unmoving. "Just as I thought, they are waiting for us. Making their airships stationary, slipping in-between the clouds. Smart, Yellow Beard, but not smart enough!" Agatha quickly picked up the voice received, pushed the button, and shouted into it, "This is your Captain speaking! All crews, battle stations!" Soon after that, alarms rang throughout the corridors. Time to abandon whatever task one was doing, then grab weapons and arms!

---

---

Just up above, the crew could see the clouds parting, revealing a horde of around seven airships positioned in a crescent formation, aiming to surround and overwhelm the merc companies. There, floating at the very center was the leader of the pack, the alpha. The Golden Midas.

Golden Midas

Large and in charge, menacing, The golden-tinted humongous airship stood proudly. It didn't shy away from the Venesian dogs as it took the initiative of charging up the distinctively-shaped rune cannon on top of its deck. The gigantic Magitek orb hummed with power before it unleashed a bolt of golden lightning towards the Draconus, striking the merc airship's shield. It was a message, a taunt, a declaration of war, "Come get some!" the Midas shouted, undaunted. As the swarms of airboats were launched from the both the mercs and the pirates among exchanges of Rune Cannon and musket fire, the battle was adjoined.

"Alright, men!! Clear the deck and hang onto something!" It was an urgent signal, Agatha meant it unless one wanted to just fall off the ledge. "Final checks. Engine operational, Erchius flow normal... all set, Captain!" Reported one of the engineers working on the bridge. Now Agatha needed to do was to give the order. "Alright... Ring of Fire! Engage!!" She pointed forward with a confident index finger.

"Aye aye, Cap'n! Engaging Ring of Fire!!" With a loud hum of its custom-made engine. Erchius flowed from the reservoir to fill up the distinctive ring built around the airship's body. A purple glow shone from the visible crevices before they burn red, red as the fiery feathers of a Phoenix. With a blast, the whole ring was lit up, creating the aptly-named ring of fire. The strain of Magitek Engine echoed within the Lughanta as it blitzed forward, faster than any other Cruiser airship could hope to achieve, matching the swiftness of airboats. The air was violently parted by the Lughanta's rampage through the sky, leaving behind trails of fiery crimson and grayish smoke. The airship gradually ascended as it sped forward. "Increase our angle by fifteen degrees!" Under Agatha's meticulous management, the Lughanta swooped under the main battle line, then ascended behind the Golden Midas with just enough distance to allow swift boarding. Now, boarders, go go go!" She signaled for the assault, "Aster! You take command!" She shouted for the blue-haired bridge crew as she grabbed her Magitek staff, "I'm going in!"

<----->​

Arriving swiftly into the airboat bay, Agatha caught up before her own group. "Alright, everyone, board one of the airboats and we'll smash them right in! Control your speed, go too fast and you'll trigger the shields, go too slow and you'll be picked off." She turned her head towards the white-haired Inquisitor, "Laura! You'll be my second! Now, let's go!" She jumped into the open-air vehicle which very much looked like a speedboat with a single Rune Cannon attached at the front. The thing could fit at most ten people along with their equipment. Laura's squad will be in another airboat. "Everyone in? Good!" With a quick hum, the airboat floated a few inches above the ground before it flew towards the opened bay door into the open night sky... and enemy airboats as some of the Golden Midas' crew managed to spot them, but if they moved quickly enough, they'd land before getting swarmed. Under the fire of Rune Cannons and muskets, the brave warriors of the Crimson Phoenix flew onwards! Yellow Beard's head and The Golden Midas shall be theirs!

<----->​

@ERode @R-9 Pilot @Crow @RedArmyShogun @Mahou-Shoujo @Click This

Speaking of which, Shinobu and the fliers already took an airboat beforehand and advanced ahead of schedule. If anything, this was the perfect moment to strike!

 

[Ehb]

Seven pulled on his new gauntlets. Finger-less gloves with metal knuckles stitched onto them. They were relatively expensive for someone working as a cook (he expended about a week and a half's worth pay on it) but they were a good fit. They didn't look all that grandiose, but it was made with a gi quality leather, and the crewmember hocking it off thankfully didn't know the true value of it. This glove could be relied upon for battle and for many battles to follow.

The rest of his equipment, just what he had on him and a pair of slightly used boots from the armory. Again, not as flashy or expensive as the gear that the others were holding, but the most comfortable and reasonably maintained. This was about as ideal a set of gear as he could get himself with what he was supposed have. The most expensive thing he had on him were the Magitek Rings he brought with him as well as his suit. Finally a leather satchel bag on loan for him to perform what he was supposedly intended to do.

But, his knowledge of using barriers and him even having those plain outdated pieces of Magitek were supposed be unknown to the crew. So he had to bear the snide chuckles and laughs of some of the armory staff who scoffed at the idea of going into battle without a sword.

Looking back, he probably should've just done that. So he'd at least look more generic. He probably should've also thrown some scraps of armor available in the armory as well. But, he was probably just overthinking things - he concluded. Just have to avoid getting hit and dying. That was about as easy as... picking someone to arbitrarily follow after.


@☆Luna☆
But before that Seven glanced around, looking for the fellow kitchen-hand who was also roped into this. But to no avail. He couldn't spot her in the crowd immediately. It was for the best. He would undoubtedly feel obligated to help her out if he saw her in a pinch.


The options of people to follow, was either the white haired Laura, or Captain Agatha. Under the watch of Agatha, Seven would likely be thrown into the fray. As for Laura... he probably shouldn't be too showy before her either - he had an inkling of a feeling that she was someone who knew.

Of course, using tether to latch onto one of the fliers was out of the question. He didn't even really know any of them. But the thought did cross his mind.


Laura it was. The ultimate deciding factor was because she was easier to look at.
Thusly, the act began.

@Skyswimsky
Approaching her, he spoke in a resigned voice. Exhausted from the anticipation of fighting his first 'real' battle ever.

"...I brought a satchel with some medical supplies from the infirmary, as discussed in the meeting, I'll prioritize tending to the wounded until a healer can get to them. Otherwise, I'll be sure to keep out of everyone elses' way."

Briefly reporting to the team leader, Seven dropped in with the rest of those assembling just as quickly as he had approached. He lazily - or maybe even timidly took a spot among others were also assembling.

As a combat medic. No one was going to expect him to actively try engaging anyone. But it was appropriate. Even if he did know his way around Miss Elaina's Kitchen, there wasn't anyone who'd trust a greenhorn with their life. But it seemed like Seven had a good understanding of his place. There was room to grow no doubt if he survives.

 

[ERode]

The pirates had many reasons to be confident, really, from the fact that their own fleet outnumbered those of the mercenaries, and from the fact that Yellowbeard, their commander, had such a glorious infamy that it must have been unimaginable, the possibility of them losing to the Doge's dogs. Against the Imperium's fleet, perhaps the pirates would have decided to make their escape, but against a rag-tag group of mercenary companies that had just been slapped together quickly? Why, that shouldn't be a threat of all!

That baseless confidence was utterly inane, even if it came from a figure as mythic as Yellowbeard.

Having departed early from the Lughantha aboard an airboat, Shinobu lead her fliers towards sea almost immediately. A dark blue tarp served as visual camoflague for the boat and Erchius consumption was kept at the bare minimum to ensure that the refitted fighter could travel ahead of the larger airships while still remaining fairly hidden. The magical detection system of the enemy fleet would be a pain, and they hardly had the resources to deal with Imperium-level early-detection systems…but the pirates hadn't even bothered to send out recon airships.

So instead, the group of five women floated over the sea for two hours, rocking away in the choppy waters. Shinobu remained at the helm, compass and map the only things that kept them on course when the sky was blocked by improvised camo, as she did her best to ignore the rest of the lot that were to be under her charge. The bloodthirsty Sorina, the noble Charlotte, the naïve Helen, the simple-minded Saki, the overconfident Kong. No doubt at least some harbored ill will due to being forced out of the comforts of the Cruiser-class airship early, but Shinobu didn't really care. Their mission, after all, was to ensure the safe boarding of everyone else, which meant that they had to get into attack range of the Golden Midas much earlier than the rest of the Lughantha.

Another check on the compass. Another counting of her bullets. Another furtive glance over the tarp, searching for enemy fighters sent to dispatch them.

Nothing.

And soon, the airships were in sight, all lined up and practically waiting for the arrival of the mercenaries. Even from sea-level, the ostentatious design of the Golden Midas could be seen, sunlight sparkling off its yellow frame, and Shinobu clicked her tongue in irritation. Ugly AND useless, that color scheme was. All bloated pride and pointless panache.

"We're going up now," she stated, "Limit Erchius consumption if that applies to you, and ascend slowly. Slide past the speed barrier as slowly as possible. I can see two separate landing bays from here. Sorina, Charlotte, and I will take the port side one. Saki, Helen and Wukong, take starboard."

A deep breath left her, one finger tapping against the Erchius core positioned on her solar plexus.

"Stay hidden until the Lughantha is in position. I recommend finding a place beneath their landing bays. Use cloud cover during ascent. Their airboats will generally be cleared out by the time the Lughantha arrives, so when it's time, take control of the landing bays and cover for the airboats."

Another check through her ammunition, before Shinobu loaded up her Thunderwave rounds, thunderous blasts that were devastating in the close quarters she expected to be in.

"Work hard."

Because luck and blessings were pointless amongst these monsters.

With a soft hum, Erchius flowed through her suit and brought her skywards.
~
No, that wasn't quite right. There was some degree of luck involved, in the fact that none of the airboats that blasted out of the Golden Midas when the battle had begun bothered to check the hull of their own ship, where three beings had positioned themselves on each side. After all, there were more pressing matters that demanded their full attention, from enemy airships blasting out massive arcane beams to enemy fighters turning the skyscape into a deadly fireworks show. Indeed, their focus was centered so much on the approaching Lughantha and the meteor-spewing Draconus that it would have been too easy to blast them apart as they left their main airship.

But the destruction of airboats had no value, and Shinobu held her fire, hoping her undisciplined allies would do the same. Held it even as the Lughantha flew underneath, breaking apart the waves with its speed. Held it all the way until it began to ascend, as the pirates realized what exactly it was doing and were preparing reserved airboats to launch and counter the close-range boarding attempt.

"OPERATION START!"

Fiery lines traced over her suit as Shinobu released her grip on the bottom of the landing bay, gravity taking her in its jaws for just a moment before the painful forces of high-speed flight sent her upwards in a blink. Twisting her body as she did so, the human didn't even have time to properly aim as she shot a single round into the bay.

Accuracy didn't matter anyways. Not when your weapon was meant to have enough explosive force to tear holes into airship walls.

The crackle of lightning and the roar of thunder encompassed a large portion of the bay, clouds of smoke shrouding everything as eardrums were ruptured by the unexpected blast. Any pilots who had intended on boarding their ships were promptly tossed away by the shockwave. The smoke cover would last for a few seconds, at best, but that would be more than enough time for her bloodsucking comrades to make their arrival next.

A cartridge was discharged, falling off into the blue abyss as she landed, crouched, and loaded up her standard anti-fighter rounds next.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Helen fiddled with her sleeve nervously as she sat in the air boat, waiting for the order to board the enemy ship and begin fighting.
She had spent the last two days making sure her wings were in top condition but that wasn't quite enough to calm her, after all while her wings could be devastating in close combat, she herself was rather frail... and even with all her work, the Seraphic Liberators were highly experimental and though she hadn't had any major issues on a mission... There was a first for everything and they could of course sustain damage in battle.
A glass cannon seemed to be a fighting description of her in a combat sense.

Her clothes were different than normal for this operation, rather than a dress she was wearing a somewhat snug blouse and pair of trousers, not exactly combat equipment but at least somewhat practical.
As she began to check her erchius reserve for the fifth time, the order to begin operation was given and she launched herself out of the boat, wings unfolding and propelling her upwards with a burst of energy, as she did the familiar rush of taking flight hit her and all her nervousness about the mission disappeared,if she could soar on her own wings then how hard could this job be?

Helen had at first thought about asking which hangar she should go to... As it seemed that she had been forgotten in the planning and left to her own devices.
But instead just assumed it would be starboard to make the numbers even and began flying towards her target, falling only slightly behind the other two.
Limiting her energy use was hard... But she managed to at least limit the propulsion required by using wind magic to add lift... A less controlled option but fine for moving in one direction.
As soon as Helen was level with the entrance to the hangar, she forced a wave of fire into several enemy crew who seemed prepared to shoot down the invaders and flew inside.
She may not have had the skill of a trained warrior in combat... But her wings gave her a distinct advantage over the pirates as she flew around lobbing fire balls and occasionally lashing out with a wing.

 

[Crow]

"OPERATION START"

Or so that was said. It was time. To remain hidden? A challenge, but manageable.

Wukong had entered what was referred to as starboard by Shinobu, alongside her colleague Saki

"You can count on me~" the Infernal Wukong scattered and crawled.

"For real though," Wukong attempts to strike a conversation with Saki, "who paints their stuff one colour? Couldn't at least slap some platinum on the thing? Use solid magic fuel as a fancy decoration? I don't think piracy is the only crime they're going to jail for..."

Wukong spots a few mooks chilling about. With a grin, she rushes towards them at high speeds, spinning a rotating, growing, Ruyi Jingu Bang at them. The propulsion blast blocked their attacks as the circular spiral of doom hurt their faces rather significantly.

"Alright Saki, your turn~ Wukong laughs before she grabs a crate of something. "I'm just going to throw this at something soon."

Near-immediately, Wukong finds another mook, ready to attack. She simply tosses the crate at him, full strength.

"Did I overdo it? I guess it makes up for my next ten attempts," Wukong laughs.

@R-9 Pilot

 

[LowDefinition]

​

Silva listened to Agatha's response to her objection. A fine answer it was, Silva calmly nodded. As Silva already knew what she would do even if she didn't object. "Thanks for the clarification." Silva said. She continued to listen to whatever everyone's have to say. Taking note on the people that are in the boarding squad. After all, She's yet to know much about everyone that's in the boarding squad apart from some select few. It surprised Silva that the man named Seven who've yet to prove his combat capabilities are called to be part of the squad. Then there's Herman, the crew's smith that to Silva is a talkative smooth talker wannabe. She's worried that Herman might need some protection.

Some of the people in the boarding squad have been quite reassuring to Silva. Marumei seemed to be able to handle herself and can give some first aid to the wounded. Sorina looks like she's tactically sound, considering her counterspeech on John's complaint. Then of course some worried Silva, the lack of proven capabilities in Herman, Yumi, Helen, Seven, and some others. But overall, the boarding squad looked quite fine that Silva won't have to worry too much about their safety, save for some few individuals. After things looked clear for her on everyone in the boarding squad, Silva stood up and look at everyone. "Looks like I've got all my questions answered, I'll be taking my leave and prepare my bullets for the mission." Silva said as she turned around and leave the room. "Don't worry, I'll keep you all safe with this." Silva gestured to her Widowmaker as she said it. She left the room afterwards.

---

During the two days of preparation, Silva have been making some few special bullets for her Widowmaker. As she's expecting that she'll be taking down the Golden Midas' shield. She's also prepared some bottles of Erchius liquid with her, along with some ordinary bullets. She packed them all in a box.

When the alarm rang for the crew to get into battle station, Silva moved herself just so that she'd be able to access the deck quickly. Knowing that the Lughanta will flank the Golden Midas utilizing the Ring of Fire. Silva approached one of the crew member "Hey, I want you to help me carry this box to the deck." Silva needed help to get herself in position quickly after the Lughanta got into position to flank the Golden Midas after all.

After the Lughanta reached it's position, Silva looked at the crew member she asked help "Come on, no time to waste!" She urged. Silva ran out to the deck and get into her position, immediately loading an ordinary bullet to her Widowmaker. She looked at the crew member that helped her put the box nearby and gave him a nod before taking aim. She immediately take aim towards one of the enemy's airboat that are the farthest from the Lughanta, specifically at the Rune Cannon. Immediately firing it to destroy the Rune Cannon. After succeeding in destroying it Silva waits for a few seconds to let the rifle cool down before reloading. She continued in providing covering fire to disable the enemy's airboats ability to fire into the friendly's airboats. Saving her special bullets when everyone who's boarding finally gets aboard the Golden Midas.[/HR]

 

[RedArmyShogun]

​

For the next two days Sorina mostly kept to herself minus the occasional visit to the ship Galley and Armor to polish her armor. On the second day things really started to pick up the Draconus had arrived, plus a few other ships, though lacking in size and armament of the mighty Dreadnought before them. She really hoped that ship wouldn't attempt making a mess of them and focused on whatever else that Yellow haired fellow had.

"My, my, what an impressive ship.. I do hope they don't forget who is a friend."

For the next two hours Sorina relies on her training and standing to keep calm, truthfully while missing the comforts of the ship was a minor thing, being on a tossing bopping ship did not sit well with her, terrible creatures could be lurking just below them after all. Keeping her cloak closed tightly, Sorina doubted highly Shinobu would approve of her glistening armor giving the group away, though that seemed a mute point as a gaudy freighter with two large landing bays on it's side and haphazardly placed, if not powerful weapon emplacements. Typical pirates, if not somewhat typical and rich. And the other ships in the fleet didn't look much better.

Hearing the tongue click the leader of the five women seemed a bit peeved, not that she blamed her, if you were going to be flashy you at least should do so to form and function. "I would say he is of peasant birth, but even they have better sense in aesthetics. Why I'm surprised it simply can fly and hasn't broken apart." She states to no one in particular, simply somewhat both amused and disappointed in the ship.

With the sights and sounds playing out overhead it seemed the battle had started or was about to. Shinobu then proceeded to tell them the plan which was sensible enough, watching as the girl's suit powered up, Sorina focuses her own racial trait, blood that looked unnatural flowing from her body as if an aura and forming an almost crystal like structure that was very flexible, judging by how it flapped and flex as if a natural pair of wings. Following behind Shinobu the Blood Devil keeps to the clouds, passing through the shield with little difficulty and clings to the underside as well. With a smirk she watches as small fighters left, wasn't much she could do, unless she wanted to fly closer and stab them. Which seemed like a stupid idea, fortunately the enemy didn't seem all that alert.

Suddenly the Lughantha appeared from below as the Flagship began it's firestorm of a barrage on the opposing fleet, watching waves part in the ships wake, they were starting to come upwards at a speed that showed why the ship was so stripped down for a cruiser, musing on the situation and wondering how fun it would be to be aboard, Shinobu suddenly announces the start of the operation with a yell

"OPERATION START!"

Watching the girl letting go, gravity takes over in a brief freefall, until her suit kicks in with impressive speed. "Ehehehe!" Letting go as well she didn't fall at all so much as glide. The squad leader would be first for sure, but Sorina wasn't aiming to make a poor showing, focusing her speed into a few mighty flaps, she twirls in the air lining up with the bay as a thunderous roar booms and scatters throughout the bay, smoke obscuring the view for the most part. Having time to briefly see what the human weapon had fired at she had a brief glimpse at what was within. The door out of the hangar would be her objective, the assault must not be slowed.

Thrusting her way forward the Blood Devil allows forward momentum to carry her as her wings leave a swirl in the smoke behind her. With the red Aura from before focusing in her left and right hand, a much more sturdy blood object begins to form, a long pole, a bit taller than she, with a barbed arrowhead sharp tip, a lance. With a devilish grin eyes that match the weapon and wings dwells on a group of four men, with an assorted amount of gear and weapons she lands among them, twirling the lance with strength know to crack walls from a punch amongst them. Given her shortness, the blade strikes out at heads and necks for the most part, angling the blade as it comes back around to ensure a hit. Four of the five fall, with the fifth falling on his back, scurrying for the door and none to concerned with the safety of the rest.

With her wings dissolving and the fifth rushing the door in a back pedal, pilot or marine, it didn't much matter, reaching belatedly for a hand cannon on his belt. The small girl, with a Child like grin shows off sharp teeth worse than a Vampire's through parted lips. Before he can do much else, the figure before him starts to cackle, delivering a one handed thrust into his midsection crossways. from nearly atop him.

"DIE!"

Retching the blade side to side he has time to let out a blood curdling scream as he's disemboweled. Turning her attention back to the original four men, giving each body a quick stab to be sure they were dead, and while she may not admit it, to get the blood flowing over the floor more.

"Ehehehe! Show me what you got!" Eyeing the rest of the hangar in search of fresh targets, she hoped that her two cohorts had left her something, though she had to keep an eye on the door. If not she would have to wait patiently for the chance to venture into the ship. For now all she could do was help deal with problems here, and keep that door from being closed, least they have to blow their way in.

Calling out she wasn't sure either ally would hear her, but it was worth a shot. "I've secured the door!"​

 

[EmperorsChosen]

The hiss of the Devil met with the sellsword's smirk in reply. Though he didn't exactly care for nobles typically, they were fun to keep around on account of their easy aggravation. Turning his attention back to the captain, Drayton waved his hand dismissively at her response. "Nah. You seem fun, and I ain't hoping for much from a guy called Yellowbeard." At the very least, the guy might have some strong crew on board the ship.

Nodding in response to the woman's final words. They were told when the attack would take place and dismissed. The next two days would be filled with lazing about, drinking, swindling and the occasional flirting with some of the opposite gendered crew.

The time of attack was announced by the captain's voice booming through the ship, bringing the crew to high alert. It was time for the assault and Drayton would be one of the first to the hanger, equipped in his usual armorless apparel and twin blades. As the others of the boarding team trickled into the bay, followed suit by the captain, the crew boarded their respective airboats with Drayton entering the second team's. The thief's logic was nothing greater than if the pirate captain was worth a damn, he wanted to fight him—and if he wasn't, he'd probably have some strong guys protecting him. Either way, he got some fun.

Glancing around, there were a couple others in the boat aside from himself and the squad's leader. One was the kitchen staff that was surprisingly drafted by the captain. Chuckling a bit, Drayton wasn't sure what Agatha's angle was recruiting him for this. Even if the guy had potential, dropping him into a kill or be killed warzone was likely to get him executed. Then again, if he lived, he'd be stronger for it. That, or scarred mentally. Who knew?

"Hey, Sev," He called out to the squad's medic. "Just try to stick behind Miss Paladin 'n me. You'll be fine. You know, probably." Drayton figured he'd say something on the off chance it made the cook feel just a little bit better. At the very least if he made it out, this would give him some added survivability should the Lughanta ever get sieged and boarded—or if the captain drafts him again.

With a smirk, the swordsman looked outwards as the operation truly began. The airboat cruised forward through gunfire and fighter flight towards the gold-plated airship. Their wasn't much he could do prior to landing, but once the boarding ship closed in on the enemy vessel, the usually lax swindler hopped into action with a grin.

Launching himself from the boat prior to the team's leader even giving word, Drayton drew Tempest, landing down on a pirate taking aim with a rifle and piercing him from above. As an ally of his charged from the side with a blade in hand, the thief ripped the katana out, twisting and pointing it towards his oncoming attacker. As the cutlass came down, Drayton batted the cutlass with the side of his own weapon before piercing it into his foe's abdomen, churning it, then tearing it out to expunge the blood of the defeated pirate. Spinning around at the sound of an explosion, a shell of led cuts across the mercenary's cheek. Yet the Lughanta's new swordsman retaliates with a horizontal swipe of his blade, the inscription on the metal flashing as a crescent outburst shoots out towards the gunman, opening a wound in the pirate's gut and causing him to drop.

Straightening himself out, Drayton tilts his neck from side to side, cracks emanating each time. From the grin on his face, it would seem Lughanta's thief yearns not only for gold, but also the thrill of a fight.

 

[Villamvihar]

​

After the briefing was over, Ádalé took down a couple of more notes, then she wiped her hand on the cloth she had brought with herself for this exact purpose. She quickly excused herself from the room so as to prevent her from being tangled up in the ensuing stream of people filtering out, following Agatha for a while before she made her presence known.

"Captain, may I have a word?" asked Ádalé, then she looked around to check for others on the hallway. Fortunately, they were in a relatively abandoned part of the ship. There was no one nearby who could listen in, but even so, the knight has kept her voice quiet so as not to risk being discovered. She was not doing a good job of concealing the fact she was suspicious or that she wanted to keep whatever she was doing a secret. At all. But she continued on. "May I ask why you called us personally? I don't want to be nosey, but I think there's more to it than you let on, Captain. I apologise if it was only my imagination." She kept her voice quiet and polite as she spoke.

Frankly, she did not expect the response that she got. Spies... on the Lughanta. The separate briefing fell into place as soon as Agatha mentioned that and Ádalé responded with a court nod.

"I will not breathe a word of this, Captain." She may not have uttered a sacred oath in the name of the Divine One, but this was an important matter. She did not know the specifics of spying, but she did know that having enemies in one's own ranks was a really bad thing. With this in mind, Ádalé made sure to be extra sure of herself. She even decided to take a couple of lessons from the more experienced crew in the use of parachutes, grappling hooks and the Lughanta's safety equipment to supplement the basics she had been already taught.

---

When the day of the assault came, Ádalé was ready. She had chosen the squadron of Laura, because she believed that her strength, along with her talents were better suited to serve the purpose of capturing Yellowbeard. Hopefully, something like that could be done. Hopefully, it would not be a complete slaughter. Violence was nothing new to the knight, of course, but she had never killed someone before with her own hands. As soon as she realised that, she turned nervous in the face of the coming assignment. She had not even thought to bring this up with the Captain, because she was so engrossed in being part of a mission, but she found herself afraid.

What if the Divine One forfeited her for what she did? All were equal in Its eyes, after all. And while it could not be denied that Yellowbeard and his gang caused a lot of suffering, she found her heart unsure. Perhaps it was because she was nervous. Perhaps because she did not know what it would feel like to take a life. But in the end, Ádalé found solace in a little bit of prayer to the Divine One before the mission, asking It for guidance and forgiveness if she ended up infringing on what It intended. Hoping against all hope that the forces from beyond would tell her what she was to do, Ádalé boarded the attack boat with a somewhat heavy heart.​

 

[Skyswimsky]

Deeper inside the Golden Midas
"T-They're all dead! W-We're screwed!" A young looking pirate cried as he entered what seemed to be some sort of lounge. Rather than being met by his drunken companions, everybody seemed rather serious. After all, Yellow Beard wasn't so stupid to give his underlings free reign of alcohol when an important battle was to come.

"Oy! What are yah doin'-" The new recruit cut the older, more experienced, pirate into his words. "THEY boarded us! I-I did not sign up for this! I-It was a goddamn slaughter... I thought, being new and all, we would be cut some slack b-" - "Oh shut your mouth and keep quiet for a second before I rip it out myself." A voice interrupted the crying freh meat. It wasn't the older pirate from before. In fact it seemed to be someone...younger, a woman, a horned girl with a scaled tail and wings.

Sitting on one of the many tables the attention of every pirate was now on her. Certainly, despite her looks, she had earned some sort of respect. Giving herself all time of the world the girl let out a big yawn before standing up and walking towards the very same direction the young looking pirate came from. "Alright boys." She finally spoke up. "Kenrich, Melvin, Parker take half of those nobodies here and make haste towards the Port Hangar. Jim, Jamy, Jimmy, take the rest and get to the other Hangar." While everybody in the room was clearly itching for a fight, the moral seemed rather low. The dragon youkai clicked with her tongue. "Right, I forgot, I'm working with a bunch of morons... MOVE YER ASSES TO THE HANGARS AND SHOW THOSE NOBODY MERCS WHAT YELLOW BEARDS PIRATES ARE MADE OF!... ARRR!" With that, pirate sounds could be heard resounding through the belly of the Golden Midas... .

Finally, as the room was empty except for the Dragon Youkai and that one new recruit, he spoke up again. "U-Urm...your name was...Ruu, right? What am I-" - "Don't speak to me you trash, I am thinking. I couldn't care less what you're doing. Clearly, you aren't cut out for this job anyways. So just go ahead and do us all a favour and kill yourself." With that random outburst Ruu herself left the lounge too.

"Tzch, if thinks keep going south I might gotta bail..."

---

Sometime earlier, before the landing...

This was it. Her first trial. Blessed by Israfil the Divine Knight had no doubts inside her mind. Yellow Beard had to be slain. Such was the divine decree.

Still, while Laura received some basic training in how to command a group she was still only just a low-ranking member of her Order. She lacked experience. So why, just why was Laura chosen as the commander? Even more so of actually executing the Assassination on Yellow Beard himself. Every time doubts started to cloud her mind the white-haired Inquisitor told herself that all was by Israfil's will. She had to trust her Guardian Angel. She had to trust herself. She had to trust those around her.

Her eyes wandered to Seven. Trust. "Say, Seven..." Wait, no. What was she doing? What was Laura even supposed to say? Especially before such an important battle. For now, the Inquisitor had to let it rest. "...stay safe, okay?" Before things went any more awkward the armored Knight now spoke to her entire group.

They were still in the air, the Golden Midas coming closer and closer, as the created chaos by the flyers and a certain sniper made sure their short journey would be as safe as possible. "Comrade-in-arms, fellow soldiers." Laura started to speak, giving a quick prayer to shed herself of the nervosity she was feeling. "I... we... barely know each other..." Fuck, doing it in front of a mirror was way easier. "...and yet, here we are. United under one banner. Under one purpose. Together, on the battlefield. Here, right now, it does not matter if you were born to a noble or grown up on the street. Here, it does not matter if you're human or otherwise. We may not be friends. We might even be enemies. But right now, right here. We are united. I want all of you to treat your fellow soldiers like you would treat your own life. I want all of you to treat this like your life depended on it." She gave a small pause. Just how awkward was this? But... if she wasn't convinced of her own speech how were the others supposed to? Shedding even her last doubts Laura held up her weapon.

"UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL! MAY THE DIVINE ONE BE WITH US."

The speech was not amongst the best Ádalé had heard, but she joined in with the chorus of voices at the end anyways. It was good to boost everyone's confidence before the attack was actually executed. It was even better to see crafts being showered with bullets around them and Laura's speech seemed to have clicked the last piece of the puzzle in place. Morale was high. The soldiers were spirited, sparking conversations readily with each other. However, Ádalé had other plans and instead of joining in, she approached Laura.

"Good work." The knight of Truthful Voices had a genuine smile on her face as she spoke. Hopefully, she did not surprise the other woman, but that was practically impossible with Alris on her back. Her steps had been most definitely loud enough to hear. "What do you say to us taking the lead?" she suggested. With Laura as the de-jure leader of this squad and Ádalé being relatively well-known amongst the soldiers of Lughanta, it would boost morale even further. She was also reasonably confident in her ability to take on whatever force was in the hangar, especially with help.

Despite the Divine Knight's speech, they still had to formulate at least a rough plan. Just as the white-haired woman was about to basically tell the more unexperienced ones to stay behind the Vanguard, she was approached by the other female Knight. Giving Ádalé a nod, Laura agreed before speaking to the rest again. "Alright, whoever is confident enough in their own abilities will be the Vanguard with Ádalé and me. The rest stays close behind us and provides support!"

With that settled, everything should have been taken care of.

---

The ship was growing more and more close by the moment. Ádalé could practically feel the blood in her veins call out for action as adrenaline took hold of her body, drowning all of her insecurities. Everyone was waiting for the word of Laura so they could begin boarding the vessel, but at an inopportune moment, one of the soldiers decided that this was close enough and bridged the gap with surprising speed. She forced her lips shut and looked at Laura, who seemed to be thinking the same as her. A momentary understanding of purpose flashed between them, then Ádalé all but exploded forwards in a blur of motion as all of her hesitation disappeared.

Temporarily turning her strength into speed and momentum, as well as using the grappling hook she had been provided with, the knight landed in the bay with a resounding thunder of metal against metal. She did not wait for the enemy to recover from their surprise; she closed the distance between the ones in the back and herself in seconds. Then, instead of reaching for her hammer, she straight up grabbed one of them. Lifting the poor man off his legs, Ádalé tossed the pirate into the rest, knocking them down. Only then did the knight allow for her hands to find grip on Alris.

Giving it a small sigh, wings out of pure bright energy appeared on Laura's back. "CHAAARGE!" More like being forced to give the command, Laura closed the distance to her enemies simply through flight.

With the pirates, already shaken by Shinobu's squad prior, they weren't expecting yet another flier from one of the airboats: giving the Divine Knight an easy time to cleave one of the pirates from top to bottom in half before he even realized what happened.

Taking a chance, another pirate rushed towards the angel-winged human as her blade was still on the ground. Using her wings Laura once again took flight, together with her weapon, before coming crashing down onto the second pirate.

Clearly thinking it was a good idea trying to defend against her obvious attack, the young pirate held his own blade upwards in both hands: the flat side ready to deflect Laura's weapon. The sheer momentum and quality-gap of their weapons however made quick work of him also.

Meanwhile, the pirates backed off from Ádalé, coming to the correct conclusion that it was better to engage such a strong foe at range. Unfortunately, they did not count on her skill or the size of her weapon. Her hands wrapped around her hammer's grip and at the same time, she shifted her balance forward while she removed it from its holder. The motion was fierce and quick enough to obliterate several pirates' arms, fracturing bone after bone with a sickening crack. The knight was no longer wearing her smile either as she disengaged, leaving the helpless sods in favour of a more well-organised group.

Shit, were those riflemen? Ádalé immediately changed course. The other pirates were not much of a challenge, but she had seen a couple of rifles like those. They were dangerous. Zig-zagging in a crazed pattern so that the pirates would not be able to take aim at her properly, Ádalé closed the distance once more. A couple of bullets grazed her armour, but the pirates lacked proper firing discipline and her hammer slammed straight into a ribcage. The freshly-made corpse collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut and Ádalé continued to wreak havoc amongst the riflemen.

As sophisticated as the magitek constructs may have been, they could not match the sheer blunt force of Alris. They exploded in one show of light after another, showering Ádalé in a mixture of shrapnel and blood. Somewhere along the line, the knight adopted grim expression, the knuckles of her hands whitening on Alris' grip. There were so many dead already and the fight was only getting started.

 

[Beowulf]

Taka nodded in appreciation when he was told that he could take as much erchius, his way of saying it sounded better in his opinion, as he could carry. That meant that he'd need his bags. And Buras would help him. Well, forced to help. The poor owl knows that smashing crystals containing magical energy is fairly dangerous and doesn't want the person he is bonded to, to die from one. But at least he'd help Taka, and that's all that really matters. To Taka at any rate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next few days was filled with business as usual. The erchius paste he had been working on was completed and had a few trial runs. It proved to work, but couldn't really release any energy. However, this slow leak produced some light that you could navigate by. And his test sample was still glowing just as brightly as when it started two days ago. But glowing paste would be next to useless in a fight. And speaking of, he needed to go get his rifle. That boy Herman had been polishing it up and getting rid of any gunk. Walking into the armory, he immediately spots his rifle and picks it up. The lever action was the smoothest it's been since he's got it. The only sound it made was a soft click when a round was in the chamber and when the chamber was sealed, the lever hitching ever so slightly as the mechanism latched into place. And it transformed into a one handed sword flawlessly, with no grinding between parts. Even the few scratches had been removed.

Sweeping his one wing back as if it was a cape, he strokes his mustache and appreciates the attention to detail Herman had put into sprucing up his rifle. He should thank the boy. Now where was he? Ah, there, sound asleep. "Herman, wake up boy. It's almost time for us to be on our way. Come on, get up." Well, perhaps he'll thank him later. After they don't die in this fight and get paid. Then he'd actually have something to give him.

That done, he quickly stops by his room to get Buras. Being a nocturnal creature, Buras often slept in. However, he'd be awake for this fight, and he'd make sure Taka didn't die. As usual. And once Buras was sitting on Taka's shoulder, Taka hurried to the boarding vessel he would be a part of. "Captain Agatha, a pleasure to be in your company." he said as he took a seat by the boarding vessels lesser rune cannon. He'd be tasked with firing the abomination to ward off any fighters that thought to pick them off as they crossed the void between the Golden Midas and the Lughanta.

 

[Izurich]

@Everyone who decides to join Agatha's group

With the support of fliers, particularly Shinobu, Sorina, and Charlotte, Agatha's group would have a landing bay mostly cleared out of hostiles. However, getting to the bay itself was a challenge on its own. "Kuh!" The Captain's hands gripped on the airboat's steering wheel as she dodged yet another rune cannon fire from the Midas. "Hang on tight!" She made a sharp turn, preventing a collision with one of the pirate's fighters. They still had the element of surprise but it wouldn't last much longer.

"Taka, keep that cannon firing!!" While their main goal wasn't engaging the Midas' airboats if the Owl Youkai could get a shot or two of them would be better than nothing. Fortunately, the airboat approached the Midas' Port bay with only grazes and burn marks on its hull. "Steady..." The brunette captain adjusted the speed as the small vessel phased through the battleship's shield. "Alright! We're in!" She pumped her fist before making a rough landing, they had to move as swift as possible.

"Everyone, go go go!! " The twintailed Venesian jumped off the airship, Magitek staff already in hand brimming with Wind energy. "Ha!" With a powerful slam, she touched the bay floor, expelling a powerful wave of winds to disorient the pirates around her before her crew finished them off. Spotting the three fliers, she gave a nod, "Shinobu! Sorina! Charlotte! We'll take it from here!" But if they wanted to follow her group in taking over the bridge, that was fine too. "Let's go, men! To the Bridge!" The Captain announced as she made a wild dash towards one of the doors leading to the battleship's upper levels. It would be an intense trip all the way to the bridge, but she was confident they could do it.

<----->

@Everyone who decides to join Agatha's group

Well now~ this was interesting indeed. Marumei was quite thrilled to see so many men and women hyped up for the glorious battle ahead. The Lilim would make sure that these lawless bastards would get what was coming to them... and look out for these cute boys and ladies while she was at it. Preparing her Guardian Cards, the Witch with flashy clothes disembarked from the airboat soon after her Captain jumped down.

Her cards quickly formed into a circular shield, blocking off magitek musket fire from some of the pirates, "How rude~ two can play that game!" before she unleashed them like a swarm of razor-sharp bees, buzzing around then, cutting at their faces and necks, leaving them wide open for her comrades. "Aye, aye, captain! Come on, boys!" Returning her cards, she made a single twirl as she followed behind Agatha towards the bridge.

<----->

@LowDefinition

Meanwhile, back on the Lughanta.

"Aster! They're boarding us!" Shouted one of the bridge crew. True enough, the blue-haired male could see some of the Midas' boarders managed to reach the Lughanta, phasing through their shields. Their numbers weren't that worrying... but he knew that if those in the Midas take too long to complete their objectives, the tables would be turned against them. "Damn it..." One particular person came into his mind, Silvania the Sniper. She was the only one possessing a rifle capable of penetrating airship shields. Losing her to these boarding pirates would be a huge setback to the operation. "Jakes, I'm going to hold off the invaders, you take command!"

"Aye, aye, Sir!" With a confirmation from his crewmate, the warrior-engineer dashed out of the bridge, heading to the top deck.

"Arrrr! Yaaarrr!" The distinctively accented battle cries of the hooligans resounded all over the Lughanta as the pirates made their landing, immediately clashing with the mercs stationed on the deck. Swords clashing against cutlasses, muskets, and pistols were fired, a chaotic situation to behold. One particular pirate jumped off his airboat, his eyes locked solely onto the white-haired sniper, cutlass raised, ready to end her life right then and there.

"Watch out!!" If not for the sudden intervention of a young man wielding a literal fiery claymore. "Ha!" The pirate was taken by surprise as the flaming blade cut into him from between his legs up to his chest. "Tch!" Aster kicked the scum's lifeless corpse away before facing Silvania. "Don't get distracted! I'll cover you! Keep your eyes on the Midas!"

<----->

So... they had come, the Doge's dogs. How foolish, thinking they could defeat the mighty Yellow Beard. He was a man, a warrior through and through, he'd not shy away from these pathetic sellswords. He'd show that bastard Enrico just how pitiful his hired help was. If he won this fight - which he would - Venesia's treasure would be ripe for the picking. He'd strike a blow so mighty, the merchant nation would have no mercenary left to protect its cargo and treasure airships. All pirates in Bumi would come under his banner and by Luna's will, he could form his own nation in Azura. A free nation where every man could live without the tyrannical oppression of the Doge, Empress, nor Divine Queen.

With his second-in-command, the Dragon Youkai Ruu, handling the boarders in the landing bays. He was free to be with his men, lead them to glory! "Filthy Florin dogs!" The built man, muscles ripping with strength, charged into the top deck. In his left hand was a magitek cutlass matching the size of a greatsword, brimming with golden electricity. Held in his right was a magitek hand-cannon which was basically a miniaturized version of an airship's rune cannon. "Get 'em all, boys!! Arrrrr!!" His stomps made small tremors as Yellow Beard charged into the fray, smashing the filthy boarders of the Draconus Company. "Hyaaah!!" With a powerful swipe of his cutlass, he unleashed an electrocuting golden wave, smashing away multiple men. Cleared of opposition for the moment, his eyes narrowed towards an approaching airboat, taking aim with his hand cannon, "Die, cur!!" The pirate captain unleashed a golden fireball, the size of a watermelon. The raging sphere slammed into an airboat's hull, exploding it into smithereens along with its occupants.

"I AM YELLOW BEARD OF THE GOLDEN MIDAS!! COME 'N FACE ME!!" He roared.

As for a certain sniper, Yellow Beard's position on the deck was blocked off by the massive Magitek Rune Cannon and the myriad of mercs and pirates, making it hard for her to get a decent shot. That and the boarders couldn't be ignored either.

 

[Weisenhart]

---

>>> The morning prior to battle <<<

"...Whew. We're finally done with the requests, aye?"

"Yeah. I highly doubt you'll be able to finish all this work on your own, man."

"No shit, sherlock. Tell ya' what, if we make it through this, drinks are on me."

"WE'LL BE COUNTIN' ON DA' PROMISE, BOY!!"

"Yeah, yeah! Now, buzz off! Scat! Leave me ta' mah own devices, now!"​

Two almost-sleepless nights have passed, and Herman was finally done fine-tuning and overhauling of majority of the crew's weaponry and armour. While some of them preferred the leisure of maintaining their own weaponry such as Silvania, the undeniable fact lingered; if they didn't have Herman, they'd be fighting to the death with nothing but their bare hands.

"Hoo, boy..."​

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, the tanned young blacksmith inched closer towards the messy wooden workbench before finally setting down his trusty mallet. He took the freshly-brewed coffee with his grubby mitts, glugging it down before slamming it on said workbench. He was tired, way too tired to even do battle at this point. He shouldn't even be on that battlefield with them in that state. But alas, everyone's gonna have to rise arms if they wanted to prevail. Of course, that included his lazy ass. There was no escape nor break for poor Herman.

He took a breather by slumping over on the chair across the table, cocking his head towards the wooden ceiling. Peace and quiet, peace and quiet. It was definitely a necessity for him right about now.

"Dat fucktard* must'a be wooing dames all day... Lucky bastard." *sigh*​

After a moment of deep-thought regarding the anomalies and worries that may occur during the upcoming struggle, Herman couldn't keep his pupils open. To be fair, his exhaustion was justified. Eventually, he fell into a deep slumber.

---

"Herman, wake up boy. It's almost time for us to be on our way. Come on, get up."

"OI! HERMAN, WAKE THE FUCK UP, BOY! THE SHOW'S ABOUT TO START!"

"Nnnnn... Such heavenly bosoms... UWA!!"​

A half-asleep and reddened-on-the-cheeks Herman's dreams were shattered the instant he heard his companion's booming yell, which was in heavy contrast with Taka's calmer baritone, dropping from his chair in surprise.

"Ngh...! You could'av... oh... I dunno... WOKE ME UP WITHOUT SHOUTING YER ASS OFF!!"

"THE FUCK WERE YOU DREAMIN' ABOUT THERE, JUNIOR? THERE'S NO TIME FOR THAT! THE BOSS IS CALLIN' FOR YER' ASS! EVERYONE'S ALREADY PREPPIN' UP! GET IN GEAR, PRONTO!"

"A'ight... A'ight... Ah, ol' man Taka. Your rifle's ready ta' rock. I'll be up in a jiffy."​

Herman's much more muscular comrade stomped off along with the owl Youkai with their polished weaponry without waiting for him. Rubbing his skull, he slowly rose up. As he did so, Agatha's voice was heard through the airship's speakers, one of which was deliberately close to his workshop.

"Ah, shite... It's already startin', huh...?"​

After a quick wash, Herman approached his personal wardrobe, spreading its doors open. Stacked inside were a pair of customized tonfas, his signature weaponry. He calls them Rocky and Road. It's been through naught but only a few bouts and battles, but Herman's proficiency at using them got him into accepted into the company in the first place. Incrementing to its worth is the fact that the smith refined their Erchius storage capacity, meaning he could fire a few more rounds of explosive ammo before reloading.

"Sorry, buds. Looks like I'll hafta wake ye up from yer deep slumber once more."​

With a hint of exaggerated self-regret, Herman bore Rocky and Road. But that wasn't all. Below the weaponry mount was a pair of Erchius boosters. A gift from his dear father for adventuring purposes, he had barely used them due to his hermit tendencies. However, its maneuverability and controls were very fluid, allowing for Herman to use it with little worries apart from checking Erchius steam usage. With this pair of Magitek footwear, Herman was, as he proclaimed himself, a mobile kick-ass machine. As he suited up, he boasted:

"Golden Midas an' Yellowbeard, was it..? We're comin' for ya."​

---

As he set out, Herman found himself and the Lughanta along with five other airships, one which was the towering Draconus. On their front was a much more numerous seven, lead by...

"The Golden Midas... So they really were prepared, eh..."​

He grabbed on to one of the wooden poles as the Lughanta boosted itself, lowering in altitude and separating itself from the rest of the mercenaries. Hugging it as if life depended on it, he cursed.

"Ah shit, shit shit shit!!"​

After recuperating, Herman finally reached the airboat bay, where the best-of-the-best were gathered, in near full attendance. Like last time, he was the last to arrive. Go figure. He noticed that some of them were missing, then realizing that the female sniper and the fliers were already on standby.

"Ahahaha! Sorry about that. I'm here now. Let's do this shit."​

He had to choose between boarding Agatha's "Take control of the bridge" airboat or Laura's "Find and hunt down Yellowbeard!" airboat. Regardless, they'll be fighting for their lives. But knowing his limited capabilities, Herman decided to go for the Agatha route. With their airboat taking off into the dusky skies, Herman could feel the rush of air through his being.

"Hoo, wee~!!"​

It wasn't long until their position was compromised, muskets and poorly-aimed Rune Cannons spraying in their general direction. Firmly clutching on his weaponry's grip, Herman could see that they are still ways yet from reaching their destination, the port side of the Golden Midas.

"Ah, shit. They just keep comin'! The fliers aren't giving us much breathin' room!"​

Prepping his weapon, Herman fired a couple of preemptive explosive rounds at the muskets located at the gunwale of the behemoth. He hits and misses some, his accuracy faulty due to their airboat's constant dodging and weaving of Rune Cannons. Eventually, their backchasers were dealt with by Shinobu and the other fliers while the front was dealt with by the owl Youkai's manning of their sole Rune Cannon, therefore easing their struggle and making his aim less defective.

They inched ever so closely at the Port side... expending their strength and resources, and they haven't even arrived yet. How much more until they run out and be at the mercy of their enemies? No, pessimism won't bring them anywhere but the deep blue. Herman doesn't have much faith in religion, but may he pray now that The Divine One or whatever it was would be watching over them.

After what felt like forever, they had finally arrived at the Port... with a bang! With just the right speed, their airboat phased through the battleship's shield, their captain leaping straight into battle with a shockwave that sent their welcoming committee packing. Herman and the others jumped off the airship in unison, backing Agatha up with a couple of now well-aimed shots. Now in the vicinity of their much more numerous opponents, Herman had no choice but to go all-out.

"Watch over me, uncle. Ya get front row seats to awesomeness."​

Rocking back and forth, Herman awaited his adversaries as they came lunging one after another. Anticipating their movements, he dodged and countered with a series of swift kicks that knocked the pirates down one-by-one. The pirates' numbers were enormous, but his element of surprise made it slightly comforting for Herman who was expecting death at any moment.

"AWOO! Come 'n get me, fellas!"​

His earlier anxiety has now completely molded into thrilling excitement that craves for more. Whether it was good or bad for him didn't matter, he was clearly enjoying this now. Herman pondered:

"Man, I really should go out more often."​

The Port was eventually cleared out, knocked out bodies of inexperienced pirates scattered across the metal flooring of the ship. Agatha ordered him and the rest of the crew to continue with their mission: take control of the bridge. Giving a waving salute towards the flier trio, the tanned smith & brawler followed right after her, running towards the upper levels of the Midas. So far... so good. Herman has full hope that he could say the same for the others.

---

Notes:
* - Herman was referring to Drayton < EmperorsChosen >

 

[ERode]

The sky was set ablaze by the fury of the battlefields, fire and lightning streaking through the azure. Airboat frames were shredded, men sent tumbling through the skyies, their fall too erratic for their parachutes to save them. Steel ringed against steel as Erchius-infused blades bit into each other, sparks flying on top of torn wooden decks. Chaos was abound, even as captains attempted to rein in that terror.

But aboard the Golden Midas, Shinobu remained calm. Each bullet was too expensive to waste on missed shots and she bound to securing the landing bay rather than being free to chase down enemy fighters with her superior speed and maneuverability. This was not a situation in which she could allow herself to be swept up by chaos and haphazardly take shots.

Behind her, Sorina and Charlotte were reveling in the bloodbath, Sanguine Arts making a scarlet mess of the disorientated pirates. Agatha's party boarded soon after, but the Harukayaman woman hardly paid the reinforcements any attention as another shot rang through the skies, grazing an enemy airboat before exploding in a fiery ball. It wouldn't be enough to destroy the complex Erchius circuitry that kept it afloat, but the destructive force would be more than enough to knock out the men operating the vessel. There was a degree of satisfaction, watching it spiral into the sea far below.

"Gull to Bridge," Shinobu said, rerouting the flow of Erchius in her suit to her communications crystal, "Nightingale has landed. Portside landing bay is clear."

A pause.

"Close Lughantha's landing bay. We won't need it."

Three smooth actions ejected the current clip of Fireburst rounds and replaced them with the anti-personnel Thunderwave rounds once more. She stood up, flicked a strand of hair out of her eyes, and took stock. Agatha, Taka, Sorina, Charlotte, Herman, John, Yumi. Primarily frontliners then. Bad situation for them in terms of fighting in corridors. Could Sorina soak enough magitech bullets for everyone else to get past?

Shinobu's gaze hardened.

She'd have to.

Their twintailed captain was already on the move, rallying her small group and bursting into the door that had just been secured by Sorina. Shinobu clicked her tongue at that, and at the heavy munitions fire that soon followed. Lances of ice and fire shot out from the pirates that were no doubt positioned on the other end of the hallway that the door lead to, and Shinobu made a quick decision.

"Sorina, Charlotte, we'll be assisting Agatha's team. Same dance as before. Charge as soon as I fire and tear them apart."

Back pressed against the wall adjacent to the opened door, Shinobu counted to three before shouting, "DOWN!"

At close quarters, Thunderwave rounds were absolutely devastating, the sheer force of the concussive blast being able to devastate any individual's personal defenses, but the intention here wasn't to take the barricaded pirates down. It was simply covering fire. A blue streak scattered into tiny pieces, before they all flashed and exploded in the same violently, flashy manner that her first round did, filling the narrow hallway with dust, smoke, and the stench of ozone.

How long would it take before those pirates regained their senses? How long would it take before the smokescreen was dispersed?

Sorina and Charlotte were aware of the plan, and hopefully, those two monsters should be enough to stall those pirates long enough for the bevy of melee specialists to charge in and join the fray.

With a ka-chunk, Shinobu discharged the cartridge, the ringing of the canister sounding above the chaos of battle.

She could tell she was going to have to make more of those once the battle was won.

A wry smile emerged.

Work never ends.

 

[ShiroKiyoshi]

MORNING: BEFORE THE BATTLE​

John woke up early in the morning on the day scheduled for the attack. He carried on that day, doing his usual activities, and pondering over the plan, however he did not train today. Instead he did a few stretches every few hours, trying to keep limber for the upcoming battle and avoiding early fatigue. He looked to the sky imagining the fliers swooping down and beating up baddies, but then the horrid picture of Sorina popped into his mind and he shivered at the thought. Looking over the ship's edge he sighed.

"What a vile woman. She has no filter for that mouth of hers." John said to the clouds, as if they would reply in some manner.

The rest of the day before the attack went like this. He stayed in one area, keeping it under a watchful eye and scanning the horizon, in case an early attack came. He doubted it would, but if they had sought out a battle with the Lughanta he knew the whole operation was screwed. As he thought about it he wondered why the pirates didn't consider a preemptive attack on the mighty ship. Was the Lughanta really that fast?
Nonetheless, John stood there, he was a stone only able to be moved by one asking for help with a task near him. Otherwise he kept his one thousand yard stare and his lax stance on the railing of the ship. His hand surprisingly no where near his blade despite his readiness to use it, mostly out of want to not use it, but despite this he knew he would. The outside world turned out to be pretty brutal when all you could do was fight. At least that's what he had learned about it so far. Not many advantages of the sell sword life had been presented to him.
​

EVENING: BATTLE TIME​

Soon, enough the sky turned dark and John pushed off the railing and made his way to the hangar, waiting for takeoff. There he saw the Drayton character eager for battle. He gave a short smile to the man if he had happened to look his way and then resumed his resting face, just listening at this point. He was anxious now, having spent so much attention on watching out for a ship, hoping the ship would come early, and then, on top of it, nothing happened. Then he let go and put his focus on the coming battle. Agatha's voice then boomed through the speakers and John breathed out.

"Alright, finally. Let's get going already." John said as he hopped in a boat and gripped his sword handle.

Agatha, like magic, had made it to the hangar in no time flat hopping into the boat John boarded, commanding the others to hop in to the two prepared for Agatha and Laura. John failed to notice he had been paired with Agatha, his attention was focused on what he would encounter out there, and it did not take long to find out. The boats shot into the air and John looked up to see the cannon fire; it was brighter than any festival he had seen, almost pretty, but that was interrupted by gunfire directed at them. Stray shots and aimed shots missing the boat or even skimming it. John didn't know whether to call Agatha a good pilot or the pirates terrible shots.

"That's a pretty big ship! And... golden?! I see why they call him Yellow Beard then!" John tried to shout over the crossfire. "Uh, we're getting pretty close!"

John stood up as he said this, hanging on to whatever he could, as the ship screeched across the enemy hangar. Agatha was the first to hop out and stun the pirates with her staff, without any hesitation, John was the next. He charged at an enemy swordsman, but didn't draw his own blade. He merely pulled out his amulet and shouted "Ignite!" as he passed the men on knockdown by Agatha. Their bodies created a terrible odor as they burned alive.

"Moving up!" John shouted as he rolled past a burning corpse, using his amulet to soak up its flames for energy, unintentionally keeping him alive to suffer. Those not affected by Agatha's attack had made their move, John was able to take care of the few swordsman that challenged him. Initially one came at him and they were taken down with a parry and stab, but then two more came and he had to hop back to avoid one then counter followed by a blast from his amulet letting them burn. That's when an icicle grazed his shoulder and he dove to cover to avoid taking another hit.

"What the?" John said. He had never encountered a gun like that.

John then took his amulet and tossed it in the air. "Light!" A bright light flashed his enemies as it fell down harmlessly to the ground. Taking advantage of the moment John jabbed his sword into one man, disarmed him, and used his sword to kill another running at him. Then as the one running at him fell, he kicked the one he held onto an oncoming group before killing them off with his pistol and tossing it aside. He then bent down to pick up his amulet as around this time his group had done their share of the killing to.​

"Blood, just the way I want to end my night..." John said with a sigh. "This seems ridiculous. Everyone else alright?"

As John scanned the room he noticed everyone chasing after the captain. Not waiting for answer to his question he continued onward. He had to remember that he was no longer a Guardian, he was on the attack. The battle showed no signs of calming down as gunfire hailed down from above onto enemy gunners at the other end of the hall. John couldn't be sure if the shots were effective in taking the enemy out, but he could see her: that vile woman.

"Loving my night so far." John said with his sword ready.​

​

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Saki took off with the others. She may not be able to reach the same speeds as some of the mechanical contrivances, but she had a few advantages, such as not needing any magic to stay aloft, or otherwise being dependent on something as ungainly as magitech, just to fly. It gave her a sense of smug satisfaction that so many of her peers in this little group were only imitators in some way.

She took up position with Helen and Wukong, and settled in to wait for their chance to get in and start causing trouble. "Yeah, pretty tacky," she replied to Wukong's question. She casually scraped at some of the golden decorations with a hard, claw-like fingernail, in no way testing to see how easy it might be to take any actual gold with her. "Ah well, we're taking them down anyway."

The start of the fighting didn't seem to phase Saki much. It was just a quick and brutal shift from whatever business as usual was for the pirates to dealing with a trio of beautiful women who happened to be armed to the teeth. Saki wasn't the sort for particularly heavy armor, notably because she had to get it custom made and fitted to accommodate the wings. Still, she wore an appreciable bit of leather and steel, rather than just fight in only her clothes. She was tough, and her scaled hide wasn't quite as easily cut, but she wasn't invincible.

Keeping her sword sheathed at her side, the dragon youkai girl settled into an easy fighting stance. Her movements were far more graceful than her Infernal companion's. She practically flowed from opponent to opponent, her blade flashing out to strike and return to its sheath in single, bright instants.

By the time Laura and her team had arrived, the remaining pirates were still disorganized by the sudden assault, and just beginning to regroup. The second wave from the Lughanta hit them hard, and saki did her best to form up with the others and keep the fight moving. "So, what's the plan from here," she asked during a lull in the battle.[/CENTER]