As the team set out about it's mission the stealth pair from before had much of the same idea again at odds with their mercenary comrades, the pair were focused on infiltrating the compound, making there way into the interior for information, personal gain and the location of the Princess. Using the utmost of his stealth abilities, Seven overheard a conversation between a pair of Cultists walking the halls, speaking to one another;
"So the Boss wants us to pack everything up?"
"Yeah, we've already got everything important aboard the Maridius. The Boss should be on the way soon."
"Oh so both items of cargo are aboard?"
"Yeah, anyways tonight for dinner I thi-"
As the pair carry on with their talk, Sonya would run across a pair of Mercenaries carrying out a conversation much the same.
"Yeah the Cult Boys pulled everything out, been packing up a while since the Captain got spooked, putting us all on alert. I heard there's some fighting going on in the receiving Bay."
"Fighting huh? I wonder what those robe fanatics are up to now.. And heh the Captain sure knows his stuff huh? Good thing we helped them stash that freighter in the rear refinery."
"Yeah, say what you will about those dreamers, it's ugly as sin but it's a proper warship, the Cabal is going to be in for one hell of a Surprise when she launches."
"Yeah, anyways think it's time we cut our losses and-"
Regardless of the side conversations both groups let spill very important information, Whatever this ship was, it was being kept in the rear of the facility and the cultists were preparing to retreat aboard it, be it of greed or curiosity the two would advance towards the location. Among it's processors, blast furnaces, presses and conveyor belts, was an ugly monolith of a ship, with three notable weapon emplacements, she was smaller than the Lughanta but far more heavily armored and armed. With the shape and general design of the ore freighter still showing through, she had been considerably reinforced and modified with metal plating, two large guns belonging to a Dreadnought class ship were notable from her top, with a smaller dual mounted gun on the lower level, and yet another sort of weapon in the maw of her bow.
She was ugly as sin and old, but likely a formidable warship in and of itself, the Maridius would come as a total shock to any that dared stand in it's way. More so her main armaments, the Cabal seemed to have no idea something this powerful laid to strike at it's heart of power.
Catching sight of one another, the pair would link up to observe the situation and search the ship out, to discover just what this cargo was that these allies of Shinobu deemed so worth the rush and protection. Plus with luck, if the others failed wouldn't the Princess be brought here?
As the two observed the production floor taken up mostly by the larger ship it seemed to be a beehive of activity as the cargo bays in the stern and bow were loaded, the upper decks awash in magitek wieldings fast at work finishing the armored plate or performing checks on the ships weapons, some doors and hatches were open here and there, but overall the security seemed rather light. As with most of the base the majority of Cultist and Mercenaries seemed to be elsewhere, though a good number seemed to be here, getting the ship ready for flight and battle.
While the key systems were heavily guarded or being worked on the cargo decks and base entries seemed to be rather poorly guarded all things considered.
~~~
Saying that Sonya was interested in following after the Blood Demon -that probably caused that crash she heard earlier- was probably the same as electing to put herself into a one on one fight. No thanks, she'd rather not visit the doctor. She'd probably have to sooner or later, but she'd rather not do that.
A quick survey of castle revealed that.... well they had a really, and she meant
really ugly warship. Well-armed, well armored, and totally capable of tearing their ship apart. If that thing took off they'd be screwed even if they managed to get the princess back.
Ugh, this was already looking bad because now she had to be more trustworthy than usual and not just book it for where those crazy people kept their valuables. She'd just have to stick to pick-pocketing wallets or looting as they left. Which was not nearly the same as breaking into a vault, but it would do. She wanted some more money just because it was
weird to just be handed money as though she's earned it. Which... she had. Sonya wasn't sure how to feel about that still.
But the ugly ship had the potential for the princess to be on board. Sonya could play -ugh- the hero and rescue the princess, maybe get some praise for breaking into the base alone -or with Seven if he showed up- and then get out of this craziness. A former thief once-assassin rescuing a princess? What fictional book had this plot?
Sonya managed to link back up with Seven briefly, smiling with ease at the idea of her comrades pulling all the attention.
"So what say you that we trash that nasty boat of theirs and then call ourselves heroes for wrecking their getaway vehicle?"
"Hey," Sonya said with a sly smile.
"We might even get to be the dashing hero who swoops in to save the princess too. But I gotta say, I make a better hero than you. Better looking, and all. Suppose that would have to end up a race to see who gets to say they just managed to save the princess again and managed to keep her, though."
Of course Sonya was blissfully unaware of any relationship Seven had with the Imperial Princess, because why would a shady guy like him know such a high ranking woman? Plus, Sonya still knew he was hiding something, what with the 'thing to live for' comment and all. Mercenaries were people who were running from something. Boredom, normal life, heck in her case it was the Doge. Happy people were not mercenaries make.
"So... any thoughts there on the ship, Mister Number?"
~~~
"If that atrocity were a headpiece I'd say it do much to enhance your so-called charming features, certainly." Seven said plainly.
"But, stopping the ship would be immensely beneficial. There's a couple of ways of keeping that ship from leaving off the top of my head. 1: Take over wherever the bridge is. 2: Sabotage the engines so they won't be able to get underway. 3: ..."
The young man took a look up towards the roof of the complex, contemplatively.
"Nevermind. We wouldn't want to have the entire place crashing down on us even if we had the equipment to do so."
Looking back to the drow, it was apparent what the first step was.
"First, we're going to have to get into the ship. We'll decide how to go it after we've managed to do that." Seven said as he inspected a course of which to take.
The security through the cargo loading area was certainly lighter. SNeaking from box to box for cover was possible. But there was a faster alternative. The tall standing structures for the ship supports as well as loading apparatuses could be utilized. Additionally, they were about the correct distance from one another for Tethering.
If time was of the essence, he was going to make use of the fastest method he had on him.
Immediately, Sonya felt her personal space, violated mercilessly as Seven hauled her over his shoulder like cattle.
"Whatever you do. Don't start panicking and making noise."
....
...
..
.
After waiting for the most opportune time, Seven landed upon the shoulder of a guard by one of the base entryways. Knocked to the ground, Seven took hold of the back of his head, and slammed it into the ground. Knocking them out before he could even be aware of what was happening.
Moving low, he took up the guard and made his way inside. The immediate entryway had no one patrolling, so he was able to move in.
Just above this scene, from where Seven had come down from, Sonya was hanging from a pole. It was harrowing, but it was not nearly as much of an adventure as it was to be swinging from place to place. She had been left there to follow after Seven after he cleared the guard.
Putting the unconscious guard behind a stack of shipping boxes against the wall, Sonya saw Seven give a thumbs up. 'All clear,' it meant. She was safe to land and regroup after him.
~~~
The sack of potatoes grab and drag around was just revenge, wasn't it.
See if I save your life after you throw a bomb again, jerk.
Sonya waited for the sign then swung down using her grapple. Once she landed and inspected the goon to make sure he wouldn't go anywhere fast, she turned to Seven.
Clearly indignant,
"you know I could have done that myself. If anything it was safer than letting you swing me around on your shoulder."
She sighed.
The pay wasn't worth any of this. The ability to say 'hey I saved the world' wasn't worth this. Plus, he'd insulted her hat. Sonya was feeling if only a little destructive towards this stupid ship and her companion.
"I wanna destroy this dumb boat. Besides, I can rationalize it all I like but this ship is ugly and seems to insult my good taste. I want it to never fly again," Sonya moved ahead of Seven, grinning.
"Plus imagine the look on their faces when this ugly thing they're so proud of is nothing more than a hunk of junk."
Now that would be fun. Too bad they didn't have any explosives on hand, because then it would be the previous mission on replay. But this time they'd actually be successful. Not to mention there was the potential of sweet, sweet revenge. But no explosives so finally being able to destroy the engines of a ship would probably do.
"So come on, I think we should probably get going before yet another guard stumbles across this one."
~~~
As the pair carry out their amusing conversation at the expense of one another over the collapsed guard, while the pair talked about destroying the ship that would be more than a little difficult with what they had on hand. Which was to say nothing but their hands.
Though disrupting it's full capabilities or launch should be theoretically possible if the ship's control or drive systems were to be damaged. As luck, good or bad seems to chime in, the fallen guard is called for from within the entryway.
"Eh Heinrich! You better not be fucking sleeping again! Your break ended three minutes ago, now hurry the hell up, It's my turn to get to some fresh air from that godsdamned welding. And go bring the little shit in the holds her meal would yah, who knows when our Dear Leader will turn up here, or that Bloody Orc."
With a bit of a pause the figure calls out, walking into the entryway with a wrench in his hands, a human from the looks of him, looking at the ground as he rubs oil off his tool, he hadn't taken notice of the pair in front of him, but no matter how oblivious he was that couldn't not see them much longer as his head lifts up for a look around.
"Hein- Who the fuck are you two! Heinrich!?"
~~~
Speaking of engines and engineers who may know how to wreck an engine...
"The kind of people with sharp, sharp knives," Sonya said, leaping forward to grab the man by the collar.
"And a penchant for making engines work no longer. So if you'd like to help us, we can promise no more godsdamned welding."
Sonya pulled the man in close and pushed the knife against his neck, smiling the whole time. Sonya liked to think that sort of thing was unsettling.
"If not you get to join your friend in... ah where would you end up? With Luna? Sol? What do you think, Numbers? Also any suggestions for where I cut first? I'm thinking in the leg. Painful, and have you ever seen a man try to run on one well-off leg and one... well after that I can't call it a leg? Because I have."
"So play nice and help us out. What's the best way to make sure this boat never flies again?"
~~~
Seven found it questionable about certain aspects of the drow's personality but regardless, she now had a handle over another hostage and was in the process of extracting information of of them.
There were some questions he had himself, but Sonya did have the right idea. Stopping this ship from taking off was the top priority and they had to do it fast. At the moment, the interrogation of this person was her game. Seven didn't feel it to be in his place to intrude on someone who had a knife on someone else's throat.
At best, he kept his senses keen, on anyone else who might be approaching.
~~~
As the pair question the rather helpless Mechanic, the man seemed rather world weary to not really care what was said and done, he had just talked poorly about a superior afterall just moments ago.
"Well unless you kill me Princess I'll have to weld back any bloody damage you do. And yeah go ahead and stab me, I'll scream and everyone will come running. And I'm a bloody Mechanical Welder, the hell do I know about ship systems? She's a compartmentalized cargo hauler too so damage won't spread across sections unless you really try."
"Anyways I would like to go home.. All I know is the ship is being prepped to leave the City, we loaded some cargo and some mess of a er.. guest, you could try taking out the fuel lines or muddling with the bow cannon I guess. Piss all if I know that will do anything but piss em off, I'm just hired on with Orksens Mercs, they don't just let me run around exactly though I work with em. That's all I got to say, so slot me or knock me out, I ain't got time for your bullshit Drow."
The main offers his information dryly though on face value none to valuable it could perhaps be useful in an expected manner.
~~~
"Oh hoh? A guest?" Sonya smiled even wider. She could screw them beyond just wrecking the ship. If that was possible from what this engineer said.
"Well then, never mind on the destroying the ship part."
If it wasn't the Princess they could still get both the Princess and the person so important that they had to go on the heavily armored ship. It was a two for one sale. That is, if this engineer was telling the truth. Most workers didn't tend to be able to lie on the spot, but this guy was still level headed enough to threaten to scream.
"You wouldn't happen to know where that guest might be, would you?" Sonya pushed the knife closer. After this question she'd probably just knock him out too and then head right for the guest. It'd be more annoying to drag along someone else, but it would be worth it to confirm a hunch or two.
"And I'd answer those questions quick. You see, I've got a schedule to keep and I have people to see. Mostly about destroying your base and killing your leaders, but you know how those demons are. All bloodthirsty."
~~~
"Well my friend there was going to feed her, so fuck no I don't know where she is. And blood thirsty so says the one holding a knife to another's throat."
He chuckled at the remark on the base, if they couldn't piece together what was happening then it was none of his fault. Nor was he going to help them out more than he had to.
"Er, anyways I can't just tell you everything you know that right? She's in cargo hold, we set her up in a storage bay on D-deck, E Room, she should be getting her meals and sedatives right now though. No point asking me about security down there, even if I knew I'm not about to help you stab any of my comrades. I just know we're having to patrol a lot more as we get the ship ready. Just some blonde haired girl, seems to be a mess. And no, I don't know where we were set to go. Look I'm in my forties and I've been doing this a long time girl.. I'm a metal worker, not a soldier. I don't have a reason to lie, nor care to. But I'm not about to vouch for you what's down there, nor to tell you she's for sure in that room, dunno why you're so interested in her either, don't care. We done?"
~~~
"I see.."
Suddenly the man with red hair spoke up.
"I'll promise you you'll wake up next to Heinrich there later if you can answer me one last question. Could you please tell us where the ship's powerplant or engine room is located?"
The man with red hair, appearing to hail of Brendornian descent, was curt and to the point.
"The drow and I aren't planning something as preposterous as what you think. But I do belive stopping this ship here will result in less of a death toll than it being eventually blown out of the sky. You can be as skeptical as you want - but believe me. If this ship takes off with you two knocked out in here, I can promise you'll never set foot on the ground alive."
Did Seven know something that Sonya and the other weren't told about. Was this really a suicide mission after all? There was nothing in Seven's expression that betrayed any sort of dishonesty. He seemed to be returning the favor the welder had given them.
"This drow and I are plan A. Plan B will blow up this ship soon after it flies through the hangar gates with you, me and everyone else aboard in it. The only reason we want to stop plan B is because we want the girl. That's all."
~~~
"Hmm.. Like I said they don't let me run around that often, the design of this ship is pretty old though, back when we first starting making them, my father likely worked on birds like her.. She has four reactors, still slow as a sonovabitch in spite of all that energy. Maybe a fifth. Those two side bolter sections are where the drive engines are, an auxiliary in the tub towards the rear, one more in the bow for that gun up front, then the fifth I think is on the upper floors, never seen it, maybe they just use the bulb reactor to power the main guns but I doubt it. And unless your plan'n to bomb the hangar, ain't no way you're stopping this hunk of shit. The Cult boss calls her a Pocket Battleship. She might be sunk one day but I ain't planning to be on it."
Looking at the pair he frowns, staring at the pair.
"You two sons of bitches lying, I'll come back and haunt you. That's all I know, theoretically you might can get to one or even two and aggravate the power systems, but if that will stop it or not I'm not say'n I'm a welder and mechanic, not a bloody engineer."
~~~
"We were specifically picked for our honesty certainly. You can see it all over my colleagues dagger, most certainly."
As he said that, the gears in Seven's mind tried to process the options.
So they did choose choose and out outfit this freighter for a reason. There was enough redundancy in the power systems that just knocking out one wasn't going to put the whole thing out of commission. Such a thing was typical for any good ship of the line. That line of thought was already in place during his academy days. Knocking out the engines was going to be a long way of doing things. It would have to be a miracle or particularly shoddy maintenance or engineering if one core being knocked out would stop the ship entirely.
"One last question. I promise."
If he couldn't knock out the ship's engines... Then what if they knocked out the brains?
"So suppose this ship's bridge was neutralized. Wherever that is. Would they have any other way to operate the ship? Like a secondary bridge?"
~~~
"Well I don't know how you'll do it, pretty large bridge.. But it does have smaller strom bridge. It's out near the main gun, above it rather in the stack, the main bridge is below it. Most of the duty staff is there getting the ship in order. Would be better off going after the steering rudders, but I rather doubt you and your friend care to hang off the side of the ship clear as day to everyone to jam it. It wouldn't stop the ship but it would play hell with maneuvering. And yeah, regular fucking saint you got there…"
Answering the question it seem the worker didn't judge it worth trying to attack the ship at all, but it's systems did have some vulnerabilities that at the least would make useful information in either case.
~~~
This guy had quite a bit of lip. Of course, Seven had to swoop in and promise not to kill the guy. Sonya rolled her eyes at him, he had to go and ruin the intimidation she had. She really wanted to throw this guy off the boat now. Either Seven or the worker.
Who she had assumed knew something about engineering this dumb boat, but it was quickly becoming apparent to her that the two jobs were different. At least she had where the Princess was being held. Blonde and probably tortured? Princess or Princess-adjacent, and the sedatives were wearing off since they had to use more. That meant saving some effort on their part.
"Awww, you flatter me. Never been called a saint before," Sonya said.
"Ah, but the saint that I am, I guess I'm just gonna have to say goodnight to you and go on my way. Thanks for the help!"
With an expert hand she aimed to knock out the worker. Once she did that, she moved him over to where Seven's knocked out worker was and scavenged for some nearby rope. It wasn't a lot, so she just ended up tying their legs to each other. At the very least that would slow them down. Sonya also took the liberty of looting them for money on the sly.
"Okay, it'll be faster to split up and attack different places. I vote myself for Princess. I can do locks easily and you seem to be good at ruining engines. I mean, most people are. If we can even slow this thing down that would be good. I don't want it chasing after us. Meet back here when we finish, and then we can get out of here on some of their spare airboats or something. Sound like a plan?"
~~~
Somehow, Seven couldn't help but feel like he was being given the short end of the stick. But, that feeling was shrugged off relatively quickly The sword that he brought with him was proof of it. He'd be lying if he was to say he came in not expecting the eventuality of a bloodbath.
"I'll take that as a vote of confidence. Fine. Be careful after you've retrieved her."
~~~
As the pair set about their respective tasks Seven was more than a bit reluctant to let Sonya handle what he considered one of his duties, more so with his personal connection to the Princess. But in this case his training made him more suitable to the task, deciding to accompany Sonya part of the way the pair momentarily lose their breathe in stunned silence as alarms and red lights begin to flash throughout the ship, a older male voice coming over the Erchius powered speaker system.
"Attention all crew! Prepare to receive the Mistress! The Signal has been set! All hands make ready for deployment! Glory to the Word! Glory To Darius! Glory and Freedom to us! Let us light the fires of Revolution in Somnus and beyond!"
Damn, so did we really take that long questioning that welder? Or maybe it was just inevitable. Seven thought to himself. No matter, this isn't changing anything. The reason why we're here is definitely to get her out.
He pressed on.
Throughout the ship thunderous roars of crewmen could be heard with the clattering of tools and weapons against bulkheads on purpose. It seemed the ship had a mission and the main boss of this operation was about to show, if they were to recover the princess then the plan to disrupt the ship would be heavily hampered if not outright ruined… But they had to do something to at least slow the monstrosity down..
Wandering through the ship with a mixture of luck, and skill, Seven seeks out and finds the central reactor's power supply lines, fortunately electrical feedback wasn't a major concern, given the heavy security however this was the only option he had as the ship shudders, spoiling up. Borrowing a nearby fire axe, this went against most common sense or his training, axing the couplings in a few locations. It wasn't as potentially devastating as destroying the reactor outright, but it had one similarly desirable set of effects. Causing a distraction, at the very least. He escaped the area before the crews could arrive.
Meanwhile true to the Mechanic's word the Princess was where the all too talkative mechanic said she would be. Sliding up to the locked door, Sonya slides her hand over the lock and it clicks open, but Olivia already seemed to have had her meal upon entry, barely lucid, she seems terrified upon seeing Sonya, calming down only after a few reassurances and mention of the Lughanta and Seven. With a bit of luck and the rush to deal with the damaged power couplings, the trio manage to sneak off during the mad rush, with Olivia being carried between the pair. Judging by first impressions the girl would be in need of medical examination. With Seven at the back with her legs and Sonya at the front with Oliva's arms, they needed to get the hell out of there and the Princess was in no condition for a piggyback ride.
Just Sonya's luck that she had to deal with a crazed Princess.
~~~
Meanwhile elsewhere, as the trio make tracks between them, the ship and the raging inferno a lone figure in white armor takes notice of them from the deck, Shinobu. Leveling her Canister Launcher she takes aim and fires as a motion jerks her right shoulder, missing high. As the pulse round explodes, brickwork, metal and rock fragment scatter. Pelting Sonya with the worst of it.
Most of it hit the center of her back, which would have been avoided if she figured that making sure that the unconscious mass of Princess she was holding would have preferred to arrive at the Lughanta full of brick and metal.
Pushing on at full force, Seven ignores the dust and particles, trying to shield Olivia from whatever fragments came her way. To varied amounts of success. In truth, it seemed that the drow managed to do the most work in that regard.
He chuckled, even as his breath heaved.
"I heard your people have this concept called Karma. This is how it's supposed work, I presume?"
"Hey Numbers..." Sonya said, gritting her teeth to breathe through the pain. God, her back was on fire, but the princess was too drugged to walk so working through the pain it was. She just had to keep moving.
"If anyone was gonna get karma... wouldn't it be you what with being shadier than I am? At least I have a real, godsdamned name."
"Let's leave that aside for now. There's not much you can steal off of me anyway. Even if you knew anything about my wretched history. All it would do is waste your time." He said. It was hard to tell from the chaos going all around whether his self pity was genuine or wholly sarcastic.
"Pffft, I learned early on not to mess with people who were scarier than my parents or their employees. I wouldn't steal from you even if the fate of the world depended on it. Which, for once since going on the boat, I'm glad it doesn't." If she had the capacity right now, she probably would have slapped him for the self pity but her hands were full and she was pretty sure she probably would have passed out like the Princess the second she wasn't focusing.
"You people and your saving the world nonsense."
"As far as I'm concerned this is all just to have food and a place to sleep. Think as you wish, Drow. For now, we need to get out of here and bring our VIP back to safety with our allies."
As the pair continue their talk and back and forth, Oliva groans as if not fully aware of their situation or presence.
"I-i will be thwa-empress, pissants..ugh..plee..se not again..l-let me.." Not finishing her sentence she seemed to be fast asleep in spite of the chaos around her.
Loading in a new round and ignorant of what stopped her, Shinobu is shocked as then it was made more clear by a firm grip on her neck. Looking at the trio, the red eyed infernal leader smiles and waves a single hand. As if to just be saying hello or to be shooing them away.
Feeling a sensation piercing into his back. Seven glanced back for just a moment. Catching a glimpse of the traitor and, someone who seemed to have already had the upper hand on them. For just a moment, the person - or rather, the infernal whom had Shinobu in their grips most certainly fit the definition of-
Seven instinctively turned away, as a chunk of metal flew past him. There were people who had their vendettas against Shinobu, certainly. One person in particular - and understandably so after what had happened due to her betrayal. For now though, they had the princess. They had to get out.
Mersha Kharlan was a secondary objective for them anyway.
Sonya couldn't help but look back and see the creepy infernal waving at them. Well, that could have been better. At least she wasn't aiming a bow or gun or or assorted weapon. Shinobu was there too, and while Sonya couldn't feel betrayed by a teammate she never knew, she could sense there was gloating there. Plus the giant cannon she had hinted at who just gave Sonya her backache.
With a shake of her head to say no to Shinobu and a large smile on her partner's face, the Imperial Commando was more than a little confused by this demanding an answer. What in the hell was she doing?
