SKYWARD MIRACLES - IC Thread

LowDefinition · May 2, 2017

Not seeing any other immediate threats to the Lughanta, Silva aimed at Yellowbeard once again. Steadying her sights onto Yellowbeard's head, Silva is ready to kill the pirate leader. After taking a deep breath to steady her aim, Silva shoots.

. . .

The shot hits, although it doesn't kill Yellowbeard immediately as it hits his right arm instead of his head. "Got him." Silva confirmed that she got a hit on Yellowbeard. "Not fatal, but disabled his right arm." Silva explained the shot result to Aster. Silva then looked at the Midas, noticing a glow on the Midas' rune cannon. "Better brace for impact!" Silva warned as she slung her bag of fuel and ammunitions to her shoulder. Silva also strap her rifle to her back. But she didn't manage to brace herself for the impact from the Midas' cannon. Resulting in her being sent flying after the impact. She would've fall to her death if not for Aster grabbing hold of her hand. "D-... don't let go!" Aster pleaded as he kept holding her hand, which Silva also hold to not let it slip. Silva grunted as she kept hold of Aster's hand.

Silva then saw that the same rune cannon is charging up again. She knew surely that if that blast hits again, she would take the plunge to her certain death. "So this is it huh..." Silva said silently as she watch the cannon powering up. But it only fired briefly before it suddenly stopped.

But, even if it's brief, it tilted the ship enough to make Aster and Silva fall down off the edge of Lughanta. Silva kept silent and closed her eyes as she falls down. But then she felt a force pulling her upwards, noticing that Aster is holding her and is using a grappling hook pistol to an airboat. Silva holds on Aster's shoulder as they were pulled upwards. Silva also noticed that Aster blushed red, before noticing that her chest were pressing against him. ". . . Don't let your imaginations run too wild." Silva said, looking away slightly annoyed with that fact. She then saw that they're heading towards Lughanta. "Least we're going for safety." Silva said as she reload her rifle with only one hand. It took her longer as she's more used to reload using two hands.

When they land on Lughanta, Silva immediately take aim at the Midas, looking for immediate threat. Before Silva aim at the Yellowbeard, Aster relayed an order from Shinobu. She turned her scope to where Shinobu wants her to shoot, a dragon youkai who is currently held by Sorina. "Tch, really risky shot. Can't promise I won't hit Sorina but I'll try." Silva then focused her rifle sights on the dragon youkai's wings. Particularly on her right wing. Taking a deep breath, Silva steadied her aim. "Sorina, Sorry in advance..." Silva then pulled the trigger.

R-9 Pilot · May 2, 2017

The battle with the pirate captain was going quite well. Saki enjoyed her little dance, but it was still far from over, even after the sudden back-up on both sides. It meant the Lughanta Company wasn't taking all the glory for themselves, but it kept the stronger fighters focused where they needed to be. Not that it wouldn't stop Saki from making her own contribution to keeping the battlefield clear.

She leapt into the air, using her wings for extra lift and control, and momentarily flipped to look down on the crowd and Yellowbeard. Time to teach his crew why you don't pick a fight with a dragon. Her breath was blast of frost, billowing out to cover the area below her and chill any caught within to the bone. The clammy mist quickly dissipated, revealing a layer of rime on the deck, and fine flowers of ice beginning to grow even on the combatants' armor and weapons.

Landing once more, Saki spun around to once again face the battle, and quickly drew her sword, unleashing a colossal crescent-shaped wave of energy from the blade. The wave screamed toward Yellowbeard, streaking along near waist level. Though, given the difference in stature between Saki and her target, it was more likely to only cut his legs out from under him.

Ehb · May 2, 2017

The Engine Room Was Rocking from the Vibrations of explosions and misery of the fierce battle occurring outside. It was a worrying prospect for Seven. He was still certain that his comrades, as overpowered as they were compared to the average pirate on this ship, were still winning. However, they were going all out to the point that a small part of him was worried that this engine room would end up becoming his coffin.

From in that putrid smelling engine room, it seemed like the ship was getting utterly torn apart without any reservation by the boarding crew. But for as bad as it sounded, seven had to remind himself it still was an airship - it wouldn't get ripped apart so easily by the boarding crew, especially when it was in the process of being captured.

The possibility rejoining his companions was there. However, there was a multitude to things that could go wrong. He could get mistaken for one of the pirates and get blasted, he could end up getting ambushed by the pirates on his way up, or the crew here in the reactor room would immediately undo everything he had achieved to get this room locked down.

Indeed, staying put until then was probably the best option. Seven thought of this as he piled the two dead pirates by the door, further propping up the blockade.

In the room, the engineers could be seen in various states of disgust at the smell in the room. A couple covering their mouths and noses. Others, backs heaving as they dryly hurled. The situation in the engine room was atrocious. But, with the two dead pirates and the man who killed them with his bare hands standing at the door, there wasn't much hope in trying to overpower him. All they could do was wait until they'd be allowed to leave.

Seven leaned on the wall by the bulkhead door. Keeping vigil over it and the rest of the room. He drew out the sword he had taken from the other pirate earlier, and idly made jabbing motions in the air before him. Causing some minute winces from the more cowardly engineers.

"What in the world is going through his mind?"
"..."

Not wanting to breathe in the toxic air, the engineer shrugged dismissively in place of a reply.

The two were involved in cleaning up the spill by the vent. All they really did was throw some of the loose clothing of the now deceased pirates atop it. Unfortunately, as they would find in a couple of moments, the stank from pirates who rarely ever bathed while out at sea was about to join the symphony of smells in the room - having been rejuvenated by the toxic mix to make a potently pungent cocktail of disgust.

Seven didn't particularly mind any of this. He already had to get over bad smells by working as a Janitor. He couldn't name the faces of the crew-mates attacking Yellowbeard above, but he intimately knew how good they were at clogging the Lughanta's plumbing.

Skyswimsky · May 3, 2017

@LowDefinition
@RedArmyShogun

Annoying.
Annoying. Annoying. Annoying.

Who the hell did this bitch think she was? And how the hell did Ruu end up like that anyways? Despite her dragonic strength the difference in size between the two worked to Ruu's disadvantage. Disadvantage enough that the Dragon Youkai didn't have an easy time trying to break free - for now.

To top it all of, the cursed Blood Devil decided to let her mouth run again. Talking sentimental crap just as some sort of facts.

The Bloodsucker wasn't that wrong though. Looking around, Yellow Beard was finished. Which pretty much meant Plan B: Get as much of his expensive stuff as possible and then get the fuck away.

Before she could do that, however, Ruu had other stuff to deal with. She didn't need the Bloodsucker telling her about the 'supposed-to-be-plan' of shooting her. Ruu was just as aware of that. The only question was: How lethal would it be? Did they intend to sacrifice their own ally? Considering how her opponent talked about their own crew they were way too much into that stupid family crap to make a sacrifice.

Unless their shooter had some form of powerful artifact or was skilled on a level that did not deserve serving under a bunch of mercs. In that case she was most likely dead but… if he or she was able of such precision then why go through the trouble of locking her down in the first place?

Based on that, Ruu ruled the possibility of a sniper being so highly-skilled out. It was just as the woman said: Both of them would get shot. Most likely non lethal or… her wings, the part of her body that was most far away from the Infernal were her own wings - not too mention they were actually the least armoured part of her body.

A hole through that wouldn't exactly cripple her in a sense of pain or blood-loss but it would put her at a serious disadvantage in an aerial-battle. Not to mention Sorina could continue completely unharmed.

"Pshaw." Ruu finally roared back as her wings retracted - making her an even smaller target.

"Is this now the part where you keep talking bullshit and I go all 'Oh, you're right Ms. Flat-chest, let me join your happy family and we live happily ever after.'?" A spit in the face was all the Youkai could do for now - wanted to do for now.

"YOU wake up! Do you really think I'd be that stupid to keep fighting a losing battle? The plan is as follows:" Now, Ruu tried to give Sorina a headbutt - Dragon Youkai had pretty though skulls. "I'll kill you to death before I take whatever riches I can and piss off! Sounds great, doesn't it?!" That, however, didn't seem to be all Ruu was doing as the air around them, very slowly, began to turn colder.

~~~

"Heh? You join us? I'd sooner see you dead! Ehehehe! Well fo-" What an ungrateful bitch.. Feeling the spit on her face, Sorina had rather not wanted to kill this one, she had value, but that was now lost. Between the mixture of the headbutt coupled with Sorina's own desire to let gravity take the Youkai straight to hell, was taking hold, glaring angrily she still had her orders to follow, as she snarls, crimson eyes more matching the Youkai's, as with the previous encounter with the pirates a bit of a nerve was hit.

"In place of killing me to death, maybe you should take up some classes, learn to dress you filthy peasant! To think I would offer you a helping hand..you may be a good fighter, but the company you kept turns me sour." Aware of the changes in the air between them, there wasn't much else she could do but wait for the bullet, using her own wings to adjust their path slightly the Blood Devil keeps her grin and haughty attitude. "Oh? Killing me may be harder than you wager, and if you do, you think you'll just escape? Sorry, but there is where you fall, vermin."

~~~

"Are you stupid or something?!" Another headbutt. "We're enemies. Why in the Divine One's name should I keep you company?!" This time, Ruu wouldn't let her feelings get the better off her.

A grin appeared on her face. "You seem pretty sure about me dying. Too bad I have way too much to accomplish before I kick the bucket." Another headbutt followed as even Sorina could now clearly feel it was unnaturally cold.

~~~

"You're the one dressed in ra-AHHHRGGGH!-Little Bitch!" With each hit the Aristocrat gets more and more angry, where in the hell was that shot? She could tell there would be no point in explaining to this girl that the killing wasn't personal, or it was the job of soldiers. That was the thing really, she realised on the next headbutt. This girl wasn't a soldier, she had no right or reason, no direction short of her own selfish ends. In part the Aristocrat pitied her. But mercy was a luxury of the weak, this girl would be trouble if allowed to carry on with this path. Raring back with her own head the blood devil gives a headbutt in turn, smashing her head headlong into the others, while still maintaining her hold. "Things to accomplish! Ha! Likely acquiring more wealth and slaughtering children in their beds! You are no warrior and you have shit for honor!"

In truth she doubt there was much time to say anything else, and she wanted this..creature gone. "Your friends behaved like animals and I slaughtered them like they deserved, you have such skill with a blade, yet nothing else...what goals can such a life have.." Glaring her eyes into thin slits, her headcount easily surpasses the thirty second mark, and truthfully she would be grateful to be separated from this hold. Even as blood dripped from her head, her wings flapped to keep them both up, this was tiring, but her own House's Honor demanded she not let this foe go unscathed, if she lived maybe she would learn a lesson from it. But hopefully she would fall and stay fallen..

~~~

"Stop running your stupid mouth!" Was the girl's head made out of metal or something? It really didn't seem to bother her much. Regardless, the Blood Devil had managed to enrage Ruu once again. Much to her disadvantage. At least the air returned to normal temperatures. "Shut up!" Another headbutt. "Shut up!" Another one. "Shuuuuuuut uuuuuup!" And another one. This time, Ruu, heavily breathing, remained in place. Her forehead on Sorina's as she calmed down, just a bit. "What do yo-"

And, just like that, it happened. Silent. Deadly. Without a warning. A bullet that could Black Out the Sun. Ruu's eyes widened. Her left arm flew a good 10 metres to the ground before she realized what just happened.

Something just blew off part of her shoulder.

The pain came sudden and hit her like a truck. Ruu closed her eyes. Was that it? She was scared. Would she die now? Hit the bottom of the ocean like a rock? Though, even in all of this, she wouldn't give the Blood Devil the satisfaction of crying out in pain. No. Fucking. Way. Never.

No. This couldn't be. The Dragon Youkai still had things to accomplish. Places to be. Kin to punish. In fact, Ruu had been through worse - once. The one time that ultimately forced her into the current situation in the first place. She had to survive. Survive. Survive. Survive.

Opening her eyes again, not even a second had passed as Ruu rekindled her resolve. Giving the Blood Devil, who had to fight with her own survival, a smug grin before she used her reminding strength to loosely push herself away from Sorina… .

@Miya
@Laura's Group
It was like a strange dream Laura witnessed. Just mere minutes ago their situation had looked rather grim: The cannon that spelled her death was disabled by some sniper. The Magitek Shield and Rune Weaponry of the Golden Midas ceased to work. The pirates around them got obliterated by a close-range Orchestra of Death - yet careful enough to not hit their allies. Yellow Beard himself was beaten down by the combined power of her team. While Laura... did what? She just sat there, recovering from her initial wounds.

She was, in the end, still weak. Too weak. Even as some pirates eyed her as easy prey her body refused to move much further. She couldn't count on her Last Resort either. Israfil would never approve of that ability in face of such a minor threat.

In the end, it took another sacrifice to secure Laura's life: Cera. While her wound was most likely just temporary it would hinder her own fighting abilities just that much more.

"Thank you." Laura replied before adding after a small pause. "You... didn't need to do that." Laura scolded herself for a second, clearly she had been out of practice in regards to real combat. There had never been any need to be scared of death. After all, everything went after Israfil's will.

Strengthening her stance now, Laura finally lifted her weapon from the ground. Her whole body still hurt, but she had to endure. Soon, this was over. "You can rest now. I shall protect you." She gave a smile to Cera before turning towards the Mercs on Deck. "DON'T LEAVE YELLOW BEARD ANY ROOM TO RECOVER! VICTORY IS IN SIGHT! KILL HIM NOW!"

For a moment Laura thought about joining their battle but rather than caring about Cera but, in the end, with her wounds she would probably be just in the way. Not to mention the Divine Knight remembered too well when she killed her first bigshot of the heretic Moira Cult. The glory and feeling of immense satisfaction that came with it. After all the hard work they did, she did not intend to rob her allies of such a similar feeling.

Around that time some object, a winged one-armed body, fell from the sky. Crashing right into the primary deck. Garnishing it with yet another hole. Though in the grand scheme of things, chances were that it most likely went unnoticed outside of the poor unfortonate enough standing close to it.

@Ehb

The sound of wood crashing.
The painful cry of a young, girlish voice.
The smell of piss and crap.
The light humming of the few engines that still kept the ship afloat.

Just how many decks did the Dragon Youkai crash through? It was a miracle she was still alive. It was a miracle the ice that she created to close the open limb did not break. With her arm gone - but attended to - and her Draconic Endurance the wounds she received weren't that bad though. At least not if she got some time to lay low and recover.

Buried between wood and other small debris, a smile appeared on her face as she whispered to herself. "Screw all of you. It's time to grab what I can and bail." For now, Ruu simply felt happy about the mere fact she was still under the living. Buried by wood but alive nonetheless. Enough gaps for the ~~fresh~~ toxic air were present too.

As silent as Ruu was, the Engineer's that dodged the crashing girl last second heard her whispering voice nonetheless. Looking into each others face for a second they were probably thinking the same: That was the Dragon Chick, right? We're.... saved? We're saved!

Of course, they did not know for the status of the Dragon Youkai as she was buried there. Though while they were aware that she would, sooner or later, free herself from all the crap, getting on the favourable side of the hot-headed tomboy was never a wrong idea.

It took them a few more suspicious seconds of silence before one of them looked towards Seven. "Quite the battle, eh? Want us to clean that rubble too?!"

The other, also still sitting on his buttocks thanks to jumping back from the sudden impact, now stood up and went closer to the pile of rubble. Clearly looking up the hole that went all the way to the primary deck.

"Ruu, that's you, right? Be silent for a second, we're getting you out of there!" He whispered before continuing, suspiciously loud. "Quite the hole! Lucky it didn't hit any of the engines. I kept telling the captain to reinforce this place better!"

"Shut up and piss off! I'm done with all of you idiots." Was all Ruu could muster in annoyance. This time loud enough for even Seven to hear. Clearly not aware of the Janitor's presence she completely disregarded any warnings her allies had given her. All she wanted to do, after all, was to rest for a while.

RedArmyShogun · May 3, 2017

Gritting her teeth, this Dragon Youkai was insufferable, between her unrelenting headbutts, then she had the gal to point out Sorina's own shortcomings, to say she should shut up, then repeatedly slamming her head into Sorina's own, truth be told it hurt. Her vision was actually starting to see double, but sense of duty and adrenalin remained, keeping her awake. It seemed the girl had something else to say, a question of some sort, but a sudden numbness had gripped Sorina's right shoulder, passing down through her arm, as the most curious of sights passed her vision, the Youkai's left arm was carried off into the sky, falling into the gravity of the world below.

"wh-.." Noticing the girl's smug look as she was pushed away, Sorina's own wings dissolve. Falling towards the sea and away from the ships, Sorina can now see the wound as even her lance dissolves, it was then as her enemy was able to part ways that the pain began to flare, a rather large hole that spilled blood had torn through her shoulder armor, passing at an angle out of the upper arm. While she would heal from it, her battle for today was more than done. Most damnable of all was that Youkai may even have the ability to regenerate that arm of hers in time, being the damnable lizard she was... "Troublesome bitch.."

Coupled with the other wounds, this all hurt rather badly, never mind the headbutt, looking down at the sea below. With an expression that was surprisingly calm, if not a bit angry, she grits her teeth looking at the Youkai she was now falling away from, this battle was left unresolved, half wondering if she should buy a helmet, or if she was going to impact the surface and die before Charlotte would catch her in time, her thoughts were that of someone resigned to fate.

But as if clockwork, the halfbreed, as the Aristocrat would refer to her as time to time arrived. Catching her, it actually caused the smaller girl to somewhat wince. Biting on her tongue even if the sniper did apologize, that was a horrible weapon she had, she would not soon forget this. As it stood until her natural rejuvenate abilities took hold she couldn't even use the arm. With adrenalin wearing down and fatigue setting in, Sorina grimaces slightly to work up a reply.

"...just enough..I'm tired..hungry. And thanks half-, no, Charlotte. Take me to the ship.. I'll try stopping the bleeding as best I can..well wherever I'm not." Glumly using her power to make something like an armored band around her arm, the more minor wounds could be left to bleed as they were, she knew repairs would be needed on her armor. Maybe in part because of the pain, genuine gratitude, or the near fainted state she was in, she was being rather civil in regards to her fellow flyer and racial cousin. Not really caring to trigger her communicator, she just wanted to be placed somewhere to rest, she more than earned her pay this day.

@Click This @Skyswimsky

EmperorsChosen · May 3, 2017

Drayton's blades made contact, gouging the Captain's hip. Unfortunately the man was a tank and the thief's strike came at the cost of an elbow to his own torso. The impact to his chest stole any oxygen the swordsman held in his lungs as it launched him back, slamming onto the deck. Coughing as air reentered his chest, Drayton slowly pushed himself back up. His injuries in total were starting to take their toll, but his adrenaline pushed him on. He could rest when Yellowbeard was dead—or he was, but hopefully the latter wouldn't come to fruition.

Suddenly, Drayton heard rallying screams. Yellowbears pirates were beginning to regroup and aimed to pelt the group with ranged fire. Gritting his teeth, there wasn't much he could do to deal with an entire volley of marksmen. Thankfully, reinforcements came from Camus which effectively muted the pirates, save for a few that managed to get some shots off. "...Tch... Will you and yer damn guns give it a rest!" Drayton drew Tempest with his offhand and sent another elemental crescent swing in the direction of one of the gunmen, the wave effectively batting away the man's projectile and continuing on to impact him in the chest.

Turning his focus back to Yellowbeard, while he had gotten smacked around, the others had managed to get a few good hits in. By now most of his armor was done and limbs crippled or damaged in someway. Then there was Saki's incoming attack. It wouldn't take the giant down, but it gave a huge opening to anyone who would strike as it hits. Grinning, Laura shouted out commands to finish him off as Drayton charged the large pirate, the blades in his hand held in a reverse grip. Leaping forward, Drayton raised his weapons up before thrusting them down towards the Captain's back. This could be it, either the death of Yellowbeard or further injury for himself.

Crow · May 4, 2017

Captain Yellowbeard was close to defeat.

Close.

The Captain continued to stand - or rather - kneel tall, with blood dripping from his mouth. Even after all that, he was still standing. Most impressive, one might say.

But not impressive enough!

Seeing Saki fire a crescent-shaped blast at Yellowbeard, Wukong decides to strike as well. Spitting the Ruyi Jingu Bang from her mouth, its diameter was reduced to that of a pin, but its length was maintained. With its fair share of bending about to avoid Yellowbeard's army, who would target more obvious things, it would be aimed at Yellowbeard's shoulder, piercing through it before it began to expand to its regular diameter of 5 centimetres

"Master will not be proud..." Wukong comments, before she used her prehensile tail to deal with a fair share of pirate mooks, slapping them around, before this tail slammed right into Yellowbeard's face! During this, Wukong would use her tail to extract the Ruyi Jingu Bang from Yellowbeard's shoulder.

"... neither should you, Yellowbeard. Heehee~."

That was when he came to help. Captain Camus and the folks of his...

Villamvihar · May 4, 2017

Fortunately for the knight, she felt armour along with flesh give away under her strike. At the same time, a shiver of nausea went up her spine. Her sense of duty braced itself shoulder-to-shoulder with her training to withstand the onslaught of guilt that welled up in Ádalé. Merciless fingers of doubt wrapped themselves around her hands to make her hesitate for a crucial moment. A thunder of rifles rung out the next moment, not concentrated enough to form a firing line, but more than enough to pepper the young knight with bullets. As the one who caused the most damage to Yellowbeard, she had been the most obvious target.

A quartet of projectiles whistled through air, then bit into armour. One hit its target at an odd angle that allowed the plates to harmlessly bounce it off, but the others found their mark all too eagerly. Sharp pain exploded across Ádalé's whole body, causing her to retreat from her strike as quickly as her pain allowed. There was no follow-up attack, only a desperate scramble for some semblance of cover from the ranged strikes to save her skin. Except there was no such thing around here other than some hastily erected barricades, so she grit her teeth in an effort to scramble backwards... only to notice the pirates being broken up by ranks of soldiers.

With a pained grunt of effort, the knight stopped herself as the wound on her leg made its presence known a thousand times over. She could still move with relative ease, so that meant they did not nip anything vital, but she could not afford to take more shots like that. Fortunately, she did not need to as the deck devolved into a chaotic, brutal melee. With Yellowbeard on the retreat, not to mention the approach of Camus, the pirates' morale was starting to break. Though Ádalé was still too young to notice the expressions of despair, she could read the atmosphere and if she had any misgivings about what was to come, Laura ended all of them.

The shout was strong enough to be heard from her position. In fact, it was strong enough to make her ears ring from this close, but Ádalé obeyed reflexively. Almost as if she was a puppet on the strings of her master, the knight started forward again, hefting her hammer as she suppressed an expression of pain. Her arm had also gotten hit and her hit was likely not going to be at full strength, but she was going to try her best. Resolve strengthened for the moment, she recovered the distance she put between herself and her victim. Then, she raised Alris, the hammer's head coming to her right shoulder...

Only for her grip to shift all of a sudden. Though not sharpened into a fine point like a bladed weapon, the less businesslike end of Ádalé's hammer still represented a threat as it came at an unexpected angle, right towards the pirate's legs. Her hands screamed with pain from the sudden movement as muscles pressed against the place of her wound, but she had more than enough willpower to carry on with this one strike. Hopefully, it would land the enemy exactly in the hands of her team-mates or if it did not, it would give her an opportunity to strike with her hammer again.

Izurich · May 10, 2017

@Weisenhart

Shinobu's explosive bullets might have cleared the dozens of pirates clamoring behind them, however, there was no guarantee that they would be the last of these scums. "Guys... hah..." The blonde witch forced a smile through her exhaustion, "I used up all my grimoires, if this barrier fails, we'll be exposed." It seemed Marumei's concern was first answered by none other than the smith. After a small banter between Herman and one arrogant brutish pirate, the tanned man reacted with something so out of character, it managed to turn heads toward him, including Agatha's.

"Errr... Herman?" The brunette captain quirked an eyebrow, she was rather worried that the shock of battle had snapped the smith. By The Divine One, should she just have left Herman out of combat duty after all? He kept snickering even as the pirate raised his oversized cutlass! "...!? Watch out!" Agatha was just about to push Herman out of the way with a gale but all she managed was halfway pointing with her quarterstaff before an explosion erupted from the elite pirates' location.

"Guh... cough!" Agatha held her mouth with her arm, coughing as smoke and debris filled the corridor. Even through her clouded vision, she could see the telltale glow of a Magitek device being powered then a familiar voice followed. "Herman?" What transpired next blew her out of her mind, the usually happy-go-lucky smith revealed his hidden fangs, turning into a fierce agile warrior as he skated around the pirates, throwing them into disarray. In the end, Herman achieved his sweet revenge by blasting the previous pirate point black with his magitek tonfa, turning him into burnt pieces and ashes.

"Fuck..." The captain blinked her eyes, was that... was that really Herman?! Sure she predicted he had warrior potential in him, that was why she picked him in the first place just like Seven, but by the Divine... she didn't know he, even if just briefly, could match Sorina in ferocity.

@Beowulf

With the elite pirates surrounded and in disarray, it was the prime time to strike. The white-haired Owl Youkai might have preferred ranged combat but sometimes certain situations demanded otherwise. The armored pirate who kept deflecting and dodging his shots was quite a worthy foe and thus deserved to be honored, specifically in the form of three custom magitek musket rounds and its hidden blade. Locked and loaded, the Youkai marched dauntlessly just like the bird of prey he embodied.

The first shot was expected to glance off the damned brute's shield, a little psychological tactic as pirates were often full of themselves. "Harr harr! Wha' do ye expect, birdman?" His gambit worked as his opponent went on the offensive, most likely underestimating Taka's rifle as a mere peashooter. He couldn't be further from the truth as the musketeer made a clean hit on his hip. "Arrrgh?!" From that point on, the battle was virtually decided. The combination of surprise, pain, and awkward positioning made his attacks ineffective and left him open for counters. Slammed, slashed, stabbed, and finally finished off with a headshot.

@ShiroKiyoshi

The Guardian of Swiss didn't miss out on a slice of the action either as he engaged the rather talkative pirate, humoring the bandit by mimicking him. They said imitation was the highest form of flattery but obviously the pirate was too stupid to appreciate that. The two dueled, blade against blade, witty remarks against witty remarks, dancing violently between the cramped space of the corridor. They were mostly equal up until John used his rather unassuming accessory. A versatile magitek device disguised as a mere amulet, the sudden small explosion caught the pirate off guard, allowing John to finish the 'banters' with one final execution.

@☆Luna☆ @Mahou-Shoujo

Thanks to the dynamic partnership of the halfbreed and Lilim duo, the rest of Shinobu's group could safely focus on their main task which was supporting Agatha. The two well-equipped pirates were stronger than the rabbles from earlier, likely possessing the same experience as the ones blocking the bridge. They struggled, brushing with death more than a single occasion during the two versus two close quarter combat. However, they emerged victorious in the end. Spent and tired, they deserved their rest.

@Agatha's Group

"This is it! Chaaaaarge!!" With the way towards the bridge free of any pirates, Agatha led the assault into the bridge as she barged the door open with a wind-powered slam of her quarterstaff. The group would come face-to-face with the crew assigned to bridge duty, they weren't frontline fighters, heck, some of them were more qualified to be engineers than warriors. It should be obvious what transpired next...

With the bridge secure, Agatha could take a deep breath as she surveyed the room. Exhaling, the Lughanta captain went over to the control panels of the Golden Midas, quite well-made... for pirate standards of course. She assessed the status of the ship, surprised that the weapon and shield systems were already down. Who was responsible for this? One of Laura's Group perhaps? The brunette pondered as she fiddled with the buttons, activating the voice transmitters all across the Golden Midas.

"Attention, Crew of the Golden Midas!" Her voice boomed true, confident and prideful, "This is Captain Agatha Nightingale of the Lughanta speaking!" Through this revelation alone, even the dumbest of pirates would know what already happened. Whatever the case, they would have the luxury of hearing the tomboyish voice of Miss Nightingale rubbing it in. "We have taken over the bridge! Your weapons and shield are down! You have lost, pirates! Surrender now and we may show mercy!!" As she did, some of the Lughanta boarders got the message and took the initiative to begin replacing Yellow Beard's flag with the Lughanta's. Victory was assured.

<----->

@Laura's Group

His airships taken over, his airboats falling from the skies, and his forces were crumbling all around him. Yet, despite all these, the proud pirate captain of the Golden Midas stood, refusing to even so much as kneel to the Doge's hounds. If he must go down, he would take as many curs as possible with him! Charging what Erchius remained in his great cutlass, Yellowbeard was prepared to face his end in battle!

@R-9 Pilot

Though already pushed back by the Draconus mercs, there were a few pirates who managed to spot the radiant winged figure hovering above them, Saki the Dragon Youkai whereas their own dragon was nowhere to be seen. The foolhardy pirates took aim at her with their muskets, hoping to at least bring down another of these sellswords. However, they soon found themselves chilled down to the very bone as Saki unleashed her debilitating frost at them. Their teeth clattered, muscles shuddered, their aim faltered as they slipped on the forming ice, positively incapacitating them.

As for Yellow Beard himself was just done charging his magitek cutlass when the frost white dragon unleashed a huge energy wave raging towards him. "Hmmm?! Harrr!" Acting on instinct, the pirate captain countered Saki's wave with his own, the two waves of water and lightning crashed but due to the nature of the elements, Yellowbeard's won out, the weakened wave crashing into Saki's form. She might have lost the clash but Yellow Beard used the last of his erchius with that strike... and it left him wide open for further assaults.

@EmperorsChosen

"Hmrrrrgh!!!!" The pirate captain felt massive pain throbbed from his back as the twin swordsman embedded both of his swords there. "Hrrraaah!!" Through sheer force of willpower and herculean endurance, Yellow Beard suppressed his flinch, quickly recovering to deliver a bone-crushing head slam to the pest clinging on his back. Drayton was thrown back with a massive headache, his vision blurry, his consciousness threatening to slip, but Tempest and Steelrune were now firmly lodged on the giant's back. They definitely hurt Yellow Beard as the pirate coughed more blood, his knees buckling but still, he stood...

@Crow

...only to be attacked by the pesky monkey floating on a cloud! "Yaaarrrgh!!" The behemoth of a pirate roared in excruciating pain as Wukong's flattened staff pierced through his shoulder then expanding inside, tearing muscle and flesh. In a display of agony-fueled fury, the dying pirate grabbed Wukong's tail when she decided to slap him with his trembling right arm, his cutlass dropped for the moment. "Arrrrgh!!" Sparing no restraint, Yellow Beard used the monkey's tail against herself as he slammed Wukong down onto the floor, then heave her up before faceplanting her to the deck again. Up, down, up, down, he rewarded Wukong's insolence with brutality before he threw her away, her body crashing into a group of mercenaries.

@Lstorm

"Ha... harrr..." Coughing and heaving, the old pirate picked up his cutlass, feeling his fingers failing him now. He raised his head just in time to see Adale charging at him, hammer raised high. "Hrrrmm..." Yellow Beard closed his eyes for a brief moment then opened them in one last burning defiance against imminent defeat as he swung his cutlass, clashing the two oversized weapons together! The sheer shockwave of the impact was enough to send those in close proximity reeling. The two held their ground for a moment... until little by little, Yellow Beard was pushed back, his grip on the cutlass faltering, resulting in Alris slamming straight on his unarmored torso. "Guh...!"

@Laura's Group

"Hmmmrrrgh..." Yellow Beard stumbled back a few steps, breaths weak, eyes half-closed, body marred with wounds and blood. He looked all around him... at the Golden Midas, the mercenaries, and finally, his crew. Ah... it looked like this old sky dog's journey was over, "To the sky... I go." With a final deep exhausted grunt, the pirate captain fell on his back at last, staring at the open night sky. Along with a final exhale, his tired eyes closed for the last time...

<----->

@LowDefinition @RedArmyShogun @Click This

Together with Silva, Aster detached from the airboat as it circled above the Lughanta. The two landed on the deck. The blue-haired man kept an eye on the remaining pirates until Shinobu talked to him through the communication device, "Yes, she is, over." then she gave a rather unorthodox order. Wait... didn't this mean Silva will be risking Sorina's life with the shot? Was it worth it? This was a difficult decision and urgent enough that there was no time to ask Agatha about it, he'd have to make this decision as second-in-command. The Blood Devil seemed to be fine with it judging from what he could see up above. With a heavy sigh, he gave a nod to Silva, "Do it."

The shot was taken, resulting in the enemy youkai losing her arm while Sorina was pierced through her right shoulder. The Blood Devil lost her strength and fell through the night sky. He narrowed his eyes in concern and was about to command one of the fliers himself when he spotted another chiropteran-winged individual made a beeline towards the fallen Devil. "Good work, Charlotte, bring her here." Once the Nosferatu arrived with her half-dead escort. "I'll treat her." Aster took Sorina from the vampire's arms and immediately went into the airship, heading towards the Lughanta's sick bay.

With the Yellow Midas taken over and the death of Yellow Beard, the battle was already won anyway, the crew could take care of any remaining boarders on the Lughanta on their own.

<----->

@Ehb

If the reason Seven stayed in the engine room was to wind down, he would be sorely disappointed as a small dragon youkai fell through the ceiling. Her missing arm would be painfully obvious to the kitchenhand, now what should he do about this turn of events? But of course, the man decided to 'fuck it' and just slipped away into the shadows as if he was a Rothmer. Where to? No one could guess but himself.

<----->

@Everyone

Shouts of victory erupted from the mercenaries as the sight of the Lughanta's flag waved high on the Golden Midas and the news of Yellow Beard's death spread from ship to ship. "Victory is ours. Round up the stragglers, men." Captain Camus announced from his airboat as his crew immediately went about the order. "Captain Nightingale, this is Camus." He spoke through the transmitter, "Good work, you and your men deserve rest, we'll take care of things from here. Go inform the Doge of our success... after you find 'it' of course."

"Roger that, Captain Camus." Agatha heaved a huge sigh of relief. It was finally over, they had won, another job well-done. The Doge shall be pleased to hear this as she delivered the Midas' flag and Yellow Beard's head. However, she supposed her crew could stay for the moment, poke around the Midas, take any valuables they might need. After all, what the Doge truly wanted from the treasure airship weren't florin, gems, or erchius crystals. A letter, an important one, was stashed among the treasures in a lockbox. This was a personal task from the Doge to the mercenary captains.

"Aster, Shinobu, Laura, tell the crew that they are free to loot the Midas and other pirate ships of any valuables, just don't be too greedy, we have to give something back to Doge as well. Over." Of course, this also applied to her own group. Giving them a salute, the captain began her search. Now then, the most likely places were either the Midas' vault or Yellow Beard's cabin. Since Yellow Beard was rather smart for a pirate. Right, captain's cabin it is.

Weisenhart · May 11, 2017

*huff* *huff*

The scruffy bastards have all fallen down, as the smith intended. And now with the others from the ceiling giving their full support against the en masse of pirates, this gives Herman enough time to recuperate once more. Hearing his captain's resoundingly determined roar, he rushed in tandem with the other mercenaries and finally arrived on the bridge. As the remnants of the opposition that resided on the bridge were mostly engineers and technical lackies, taking over was a hell of a lot easier than getting there.

"Whew... Finally over, huh? Heheh..."

Herman dropped on the metal flooring of the bridge, a relieved smile on his lips as the smith's gaze met the ceiling.

"I'll be headin' back now."

Aimed at some of his compatriots, Herman's Erchius footwear glimmered, a bag filled with metals and Erchius crystals rested behind his left shoulder. Normally, it would be against his principles to steal from the fallen. However, these pirates took from them and people from across Bumi. It was fair game. With the bare minimum of what he can carry, the smith took off, towards his secondary home, the airship Lughanta.

RedArmyShogun · May 11, 2017

Wincing at the hand off, Sorina forces her eyes to focus on what, or rather who was now carrying her. Being a bit of a shock, the Blood Devil's first instinct is to jump down, he was a senior officer, this wasn't to form or even proper. Least to her own training it was not. Being unable to move her right arm, and drifting in and out of consciousness, it was a half-hearted attempt at best.
"Eh… Vice Captain.. You should have someone else do this.. The battle still rages, does it not?" Using the utmost of her lingering strength to carry out a conversation she did feel some respect was worth showing to the man at least, even while her lesser wounds continued to bleed, the Sanguine arts covering up the most major one to preserve it for treatment.

~~~

The blue-haired human male navigated through the Lughanta corridors, expertly weaving through the busy crew, quick yet careful enough to not accidentally worsen Sorina's condition. Her condition was urgent, however, Aster was confident that the Blood Devil would pull through this. Proof? She was so tough, the purple-haired armored girl woke up even before he reached the sick bay. "Please save your energy."

Seriously, he was both flattered and curious that she still cared about hierarchy in this situation. "The battle is pretty much over anyway, Yellow Beard is slain and our flag waves on the Golden Midas."

At last, he arrived at the Sick Bay where rows of bunks were set for wounded and sick crew members to be treated by the ship's medical personnel. Giving a quick survey for an empty bed, Aster carried her there and carefully placed the shorter girl on the bed. Her armor made the furniture creaked from the weight. Now then, time to get a doctor… and unsurprisingly, everyone was busy treating the crews who were in critical condition. Well then, looks like he had to be the one who provided first-aid, get her wounds closed was first priority.

"Right, I'll be your doctor. For now at least." He huffed as he pulled the covers surrounding the bed. "First, we need to take off your armor."

-----

Not having much say in the matter Sorina complies with the situation that lies before her, keeping her mouth shut through most of the trip, judging from the sights and sounds that she caught glimpses of or heard, more than a few of the crew were laid up for treatment. The human ones would be more difficult to treat, and that likely was where the Doctors were she reasoned. Though the next bit was far more worse. Being laid upon a bed, she had to admit it was not very comfortable, though the Aristocrat didn't much like Aster's next words.

"W-what?... Very well.." Pausing for a bit, she did have a small problem, not so much with removing the armor, or a male being her caretaker, but for the fact she really couldn't take it off. Least not till her arm healed up. "...Well don't just stand there Vice Captain.. I don't have use of my right arm for now." Half wondering if she would need to walk him through the care she needed, with luck maybe one of the Doctors would make rounds soon.

Using her left hand to loosen the straps she could reach herself, she relies on the blue haired officer to get those on her right. Shifting her weight slightly so the man could retrieve the plates from beneath her, the Blood Devil had on a simple undersuit. In various places blood had soaked through, though thankfully the fire elemental rounds had cauterized most of what they had hit. The Ice rounds that hit through the joints or towards the end had made punctures or dents in the plates on the other hand bleed freely, if not somewhat minorly compared to her arm. All-in-all the armor seemed to have done it's job with only a small handful of rounds breaking through.

"..Is that all?"

~~~

Without her armor in the way, he could see her wounds better. Blue eyes examined each cuts, bruises, and dried blood on her skin. Clearly, the most grievous one was the hole on her right shoulder due to Silva's Widowmaker. He picked up a potion with bluish contents from one of the shelves along with clean bottled water, napkins, salves, and bandages. "Here, drink this. It'll lessen the pain and helps with recovery." He gave her the potion while he prepared the napkin to clean her body before bandaging it.

Once she was done drinking, the lieutenant blinked his eyes once, examining her undershirt, "I need to bandage your torso so..."

-----

"Ehh, potion huh.. I rather prefer blood.." Taking the flask in her left hand and lifting her head up slightly to have a drink, the purple haired girl winces, as she gulps the potion. Throwing the container aside, it had at least woke her up, making an almost childlike facial expression she sputters and spits slightly. "That was horrible! Ugh.." Turning her attention back towards Aster, what he said next displeased her.

"Really?" Getting a nod in return, she ponders how best to remove the top, she couldn't just pull it off, least not without harming her arm more. Surprisingly having a chest around the same size of Marumei, Sorina crosses her left arm, glaring, then sighs. "Well at least find me a gown.. And don't stare, you damn human.. Vice Captain.." Pondering how best to handle this situation, she at least had some undergarments up, but removing clothing like this, even if it was part of her training, still was awkward for reasons of class. Well it was a little embarrassment or bleeding to death. The potion would help, but she needed proper care, thankfully the potion seemed to have some pain killing aspect to it.

"Alright.. Find a knife or something, I can remove my left arm from this, but the chest and right sleeve will need to be cut away. I don't think I have any wounds on my legs at least.." Glaring a bit with her crimson eyes she seemed to begrudge the situation but would comply. "And please get me some blood.. I've lost a lot, I would just use my powers to cut this myself, but that would mean releasing the band I put on the wound." Motioning with her head to the crystal like substance clinging to her right arm, her normally pale skin seemed all the more so.

~~~

Aster gave her a rather deadpan look. Well, of course, did he look like he was kidding? He could understand her position somewhat since he knew she was of noble blood… or something like equivalent to that in the Blood Devils' society. "Yeah." He shrugged a bit as he procured a medical scissor instead, the proper tool for cutting off clothes from a wounded patient actually. "Course, I'll fetch the blood for you. In your cabin, right?" A rather rhetorical question, where else it would be?
"No, I'll do it, you just stay still." The blunette began working immediately, carefully cutting away Sorina's undershirt, stained with her dried blood, the fabric came away easily as Aster tugged them off. He didn't seem all that disturbed by her, the man had enough decency to respect a lady's privacy. However, he admitted that having Silva's chest pressing against his own was… difficult to shrug off.

Putting away the cut clothes, Aster began cleaning her body, particularly the dirt and dried blood around her wounds. This done, he applied cool greenish gel on the wounds before taking the bandages. Wrapping them around her arms and chest were easy enough, he left her right shoulder alone as the doctors would want to attend that. "Alright, that should be it. I'll be back in a moment."

A short moment later, Aster returned with two packs of blood from Sorina's minibar back in her room. "Here you go." He put them on the stand next to her bed, "Would that be all? I'm off to help the others then." He was about to leave when he paused, looking at her with the corner of his eyes, "Hey, Sorina… you did good out there." then finally left, leaving the Infernal noble some time to rest.

-----

Letting the man do his work in silence, he at least was gentle with it. Treating her minor wounds, well relative to the gaping wound in her arm, Aster did a well enough job, cleaning and treating the wounds. Well at least he wasn't being perverted or taking advantage of the situation, he really was a professional, huh? Feeling the bandage tightening around her, at the least it would help coupled with the gel. Her armor laid scattered at the foot of the bed in a heap, as the Executive Officer vanishes to retrieve her blood bags, returning with them soon thereafter he offers up a token of praise. Though with all the damage she sustained it might be time for a helmet, or to rethink things at least. Twitching her jaw slightly she mouths a bit of a reply for his efforts as he takes his leave.

"..Thank you.. Aster."

Mouthing that word as she uses her left to grab one of the blood packs, she bites into it, draining the contents quickly. Suddenly one of the ship doctors makes his way to her, explaining the situation the man uses some sort of Magitek device to examine her wounds and bones, letting out a low whistle, he begins to administrate a few other tools.

"Several fractures, right arm has shattered bone, bruised tissue.. if you weren't a Blood Devil this would all likely be the end of you." Motioning for her to release the blood seal on her right arm, it begins bleeding again rather massively, reaching into the hole with a pair of tweezers and some of the green gel from before, snipping and clamping can be heard as he moves another tool in. Oddly, or maybe thankfully the Blood Devil didn't feel a thing thanks to the early potion.

"Even with your healing factor, I recommend you stay in here for a day or two, after that no combat or strenuous activity for a couple more days, a week or two would be ideal.. But knowing the Captain that may not be an option. Keep to bed rest and light activity only, I'll give you some gel to apply on the cuts for today. I sincerely hope you don't have a death wish, I'll have some of my helpers come around and change your bandages, help you into a gown. Keep drinking that blood as well, you lost a bit. I've clamped the broken arteries shut, your body should regenerate them as well. Well back to the slaughter house for me, I have others needed patching, your situation is urgent but not critical. Get some rest." Turning his back as he rubbed his chin, the Doctor pulls a divider curtain after wrapping her shoulder up, allowing Sorina to rest in some form of peace. As time continues to pass it wasn't long till she had a white gown, laying back in the modest bed, the pain was still there if just slightly and she felt to exhausted to move, short of her left arm to grab another blood bag.

"...tch..may have killed the most, got hurt the most, and they get all the loot from the ship. This stinks.." Not really expecting anyone to bother come seeing her, the young noble reflects on just how much her armor and cloak repairs would cost, grumbling some under her breath. Wondering if she could at least have some wine in here, she could at least return to her room soon and so dismisses the thought as boredom and drowsiness set in.

ERode · May 11, 2017

Post-battle, in the Lughanta's Captain Cabin...
"Come in." Agatha raised her head from her desk as knocks on the door announced the arrival of an individual, "Shinobu." the particular individual with dark hair and a slim figure, the ex-imperial veteran. The twintailed captain stood up from her seat as Shinobu closed the door behind her. "Right… Let's cut to the chase." A heavy sigh, "Why did you blatantly disobey my direct order?" She narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the taller woman.

She had expected this, all things considered. Punishment, perhaps, or just getting outright fired. Regardless, Shinobu showed up early, her dark hair tied back in a ponytail. Her gaze flickered from various objects within Captain Nightingale's office, before centering on the woman herself. Was an excuse necessary? An explanation? Agatha had proven herself to be tolerant before, and seemed to be fine with other mercs that had a streak of disobedience in them, but perhaps Shinobu had been too quick to take control of the situation.

An explanation then.

"Momentum had to be preserved," she stated, "It would take too long if we were to spend time discussing tactics, giving the pirates time to reinforce their position. Recall the arrival of the pirate reinforcements. Time was of essence, and I was not placed under your command, Captain."

And yet, she still bowed her head in apology.

"However, that was in the heat of the moment. Retrospectively, I should have waited for your approval instead of going through with my plans, and for that, I am willing to submit to whatever punishment you see fit. Disobedience should be punished, regardless of the results garnered through it, lest others learn from this example."

Well there was quite unexpected, Agatha had the assumption that Shinobu was going to directly protest her, insult her capability as a leader, and perhaps threw in a couple of Brendonian insults at her. Perhaps she saw the pilot in a wrong light. Whether Shinobu shaped her tone genuinely or deliberately to avoid riling up the captain, it was appreciated.

"Your plans were sound, that's why I agreed to them, but the way you expressed it leaves things to be desired." The brunette sighed, "I still remembered the first words you said to me when I gave you the order. 'This is where we part ways'... Now I don't know how things worked exactly back in your division but I am sure that's no way to speak to your commanding officer, no?" Sure, this was a mercenary company but some form of command chain must be maintained, hell, even the pirates had some form of ranks.

"You weren't in my squad, but I own this company, Shinobu and you are a member of this company." Agatha rubbed the back of her neck. "Punishment…?" She blinked her eyes, "Funny that those words came from the offender herself, but you are correct, this is why I called you." The brunette shook her head slowly, "A week of transfer into cleaning duty should get you straight. Next time you want to express disagreement to me, do so in a less defiant manner. For now, go and rest, starting tomorrow you shall be scrubbing the latrine." The captain crossed her arms. "You are dismissed."

"Understood," Shinobu replied, before turning away and walking out.

Janitorial work tomorrow, was it? Guess that meant spending time with the hidden hero of the Golden Midas Suppression mission. A week wasn't long at all, considering how she usually wouldn't have been doing anything at all, but perhaps this was Agatha's way of acknowledging that her rebellion brought positive results this time around.

Or maybe Nightingale was just soft.

Villamvihar · May 12, 2017

With others having inflicted grevious wounds on Yellowbeard, Ádalé's job should have been really easy. As tough as the enemy might have been, his ribcage was shattered, there were two swords sticking out of him and he sported an impressive amount of wounds on his body. But no. He was still standing strong, retaliating against others and Ádalé was next. Bracing herself for impact even before her strike had the slightest chance to hit home, the knight felt steel met steel as a tremor of pain ran through her arm. Her wounds kept her from using her true strength as agony lanced through her muscles, inserting a white-hot barb of poison into her flesh. As such, she could only match the pirate instead of overpowering him.

For seconds that seemed to stretch into eternity, Ádalé locked her weapon with Yellowbeard's sword, all too aware of her situation. She could not keep at this for too long as she felt her grip weaken the longer she held out, yet at the same time, she really did not want to yield. That magitech weapon in Yellowbeard's hand was more than capable of piercing through her armour. Even if she did manage to unbalance the pirate, she would still be leaving her back open to a lethal attack. Fortunately for her, the contest of strength ended long before her flesh had the chance of exerting too much influence on her: she gasped in surprise as the sword yielded all of a sudden and her strike hit home.

Yellowbeard stumbled back from the force of her blow. Instead of following up, though, Ádalé paused in surprise as she witnessed him collapse, then breathe his last. Unlike what some part of her was expecting, it was without ceremony. It was empty. Meaningless. A little slower than the other deaths she had dealt during this skirmish, but just as transient. Of course, there was only so much time she could spare for an opponent before her instincts took hold again and the knight ducked for cover before the enemy had too much of a chance to aim at her. Scurrying behind one of the hastily-erected barricades, Ádalé kneeled to reduce her form...

Then she almost collapsed in relief as she heard Agatha's voice ring through the ship.

"Divine One be praised," she found herself saying as the tension of battle evaporated from her body, "We were victorious." A short pause. A relieved smile. Proper stance dropping into something unrecogniseable as she let up on her discipline. "This humble servant called Ádalé hopes that she served Bumi's balance today." Indeed. For that was what she could cling to at the moment. There was nothing else to occupy her attention save for her conscience and her aching wounds.

Astoria · May 13, 2017

"Oh?"

Carrying the wounded blood devil down below, the golden-haired vampire made a small smile to herself. Though Charlotte cared not in the end, it was rare to see Sorina call her by anything other than a vaguely derogatory name in their short time working together. "Well, there will be plenty of blood to drink after this battle~" Swooping down to the decks with a gentler descent, she moved towards the blue-haired healer, transferring the bloodied and wounded girl to Aster's care.

With another kick, she took off again into the fray, or at least what was left of the quickly faltering resistance of the pirate crew.

"Ah, I blew my cover again…"

Half-disappointed by the potential loss of at least a month's worth of quality entertainment for her, she sighed to herself as she landed once again onto the bloodied decks of the Golden Midas. Casting away her chiropteran wings, she blinked once, her ruby-red eyes turning color to a milder emerald-green in-between. Blinking several more times, she looked about on deck, the call of victory having already spread out between the two opposing crews.

Loot? Well, Charlotte wasn't really interested in any of it. She had grown out of her gold and precious stone interest probably a decade or so ago.

No, Charlotte headed to the ship's stores. More specifically, the area of that where the alcohol and spirits were kept. If there was something that was always different over the ages and regions, it was the wine. What sort of fantastic or plebeian vintages did the late Yellowbeard hold? It would be a mystery the great detective Charlotte would solve. For herself.

It would be a terrible bore if they were all from her own vineyard.

She quickened her pace. It would also be a damn shame if some sailors beat her to the stores and drink themselves silly.

Crow · May 13, 2017

The aftermath of the battle was brutal, but the quest was accomplished. That was what truly mattered.

Yellowbeard had not only fallen, but died, died by the efforts, hands, feet and tails of the mercenaries and Lughantans. It took teamwork to defeat a single man, and even then, they were barely beating him, which was sheer evidence of how formidable he was.

Floating about was Wukong, resting on a pile of gold coins and treasure that was laid out on her cloud-like levitating structure, the Douyi Yun. Her tail wrapped around the Ruyi Jingu Bang, curling about it.

"I can't even feel my legs anymore..." Wukong whined as she hovered about lazily, damaged from the fight. The coins and shiny spheres rolled down from the pile, one by one as the mystical disguised hoverboard shook about, leaving pieces for others to collect and grab. One of these spheres turned out to be an Erechius bomb that let out an explosion, shaking Wukong off her pile of moola and caused her to roll onto the floor.

Wukong let a sigh out, before lowering the Douyi Yun, getting on it, and allowing it to rise again.

"To infirmary and beyond..." Wukong chuckles, before feeling her bones hurt.

"Meeeedic~" Wukong opens the doors to the infirmary. If it was locked, she probably punched it open. She saw a little interaction between Sorina and Aster. "Oh~ Am I interrupting something~? I suppose I- ow!"

Sorina and Aster would see Wukong at the door, lying on a pile of shiny that was placed on a gold-hued cloud.

"Did I need to arrange an appointment?"

@RedArmyShogun

Miya · May 13, 2017

Using her magitek sword as a crutch, Cera stood alongside with Laura as she gave the final order to bring down Yellowbeard. With only one usable arm and the other pirates were occupied with Captain Camus's men, Cera merely observed the battle in front of her from a distance. She also heard something crashed through the deck. By the time she turned to the direction of the crashing sound, the half-Infernal could only see a hole on the the deck. Whatever that is, it has Cera's sympathy.

Then comes the voice of Agatha Nightingale through the speakers around the Golden Midas, asking the remaining pirates to surrender. It also means that they have taken the bridge.

With the final blow dealt to Yellowbeard, the burly pirate crumbled to the ground, signifying the end of the battle for Golden Midas. The men rejoiced at their victory, before they proceed to... explore the ship. As for Cera, she decided to head to the infirmary as soon as possible instead of joining the others in looting the ship. With several wounds including her injury at her left shoulder, the half-Infernal felt light-headed, even it was just moments of inactivity when she was observing Yellowbeard's fight.

While regrouping with her fellow mercenaries, Cera noticed that Ádalé was limping. She noticed that the free knight has an injury on one of her legs, hampering her movement.

"Here, let me give you a hand." Cera said as she approached Ádalé, offering her help. "Just don't touch my left shoulder…"

Ádalé allowed herself a moment of rest in an attempt to gather her strength. At the same time, she closed her eyes and reached out for the threads of magic around her, gathering the gift of the Divine One to her chest. A mote of warmth filled her chest as she shaped her minor spell to soothe her wounds, sterilising them as well as accelerating their mending. She also managed to slip in a brief pain relief to make sure that she would be functional, but that was about the limit of her skill. She would still have to haul herself back to the Lughanta to get treated properly as well as think about what transpired today.

She had taken her first set of lives and it left… mixed feelings in her at best. Ádalé understood intellectually that she had no choice. The rules of the battlefield were to kill or be killed. Her instructors had drilled that into her with such strength that her first instinct was always to act rather than think about the consequences. But was it the right thing to do? Would the Divine One smile upon her for what she had done today? She was not sure about it. The feeling of having crushed many ribcages with Alris refused to leave her hands. In retrospect, the blows felt heavier than they should be, more impactful.

The knight resolved that she would need to visit a temple as soon as possible to pray to the Divine One in the proper way so that she may get some guidance. She lifted herself up with careful movements, carefully managing her posture while she placed her hammer back into its holster and started on her way back to Laura. Much to her chagrin, however, now that the adrenaline had settled in her system, she could not help but limp with her injured leg. This fact did not go unnoticed by one of her team-mates either and she offered to help Ádalé with the injury.

"Thank you, but I'll be all right. I don't want to keep you from your treatment," she spoke in response, deliberately shying away from the helping hand.

"It's okay." Cera responded after hearing Ádalé's response. "I'm injured too, so might as well lending you a hand to the infirmary. Should be a short trip."

"No, I really shouldn't." Insistence was met with insistence as Ádalé sized up Cera's fairly obvious shoulder wound. If it was the knight alone, it would be easy to support her, but with the added weight of Alris on her person, it was a wonder that Yellowbeard's ship did not collapse under the pressure. "I'd be too heavy. Here, let me help you instead," she offered, extending her hand. As before, motes of magic gathered around her fingertips, easing pain as well as helping tissue heal to some extent. It was about enough to lessen the impact of the wound and perhaps speed the recovery process by one or two days. Nothing more, nothing less.

With a surprised expression, Cera wanted to respond only to experience that her wounds were being healed. Once the effects of the healing magic was over, the numbness on her left arm was subsided and felt minor relief. Cera wanted to try moving her left arm, but it is better to leave it as it is. At this moment, she was unsure on how to respond aside from saying thanks.

"Wow, thank you Ms. Jertan. I never knew that you have basics in healing magic."

Then, Cera remembered…

"Too heavy eh…"

The half-Infernal took out her magitek sword with her right hand, which is roughly as tall as herself, although the width is shorter than a typical broadsword.

"If I can lift this with just only one hand…" Cera played around with the Scarlet Princess. "Should be fine, no?"

"I'm sorry, I think I'm at a disadvantage," admitted Ádalé with an apologetic expression on her face as she realised that she did not recall Cera's name from the roster. She was familiar, yes, but she could not quite put her finger on the half-infernal. "Could you please introduce yourself? And thank you for your offer, but I really shouldn't burden you when you're worse off than I am." Really, Ádalé's wounds were not anything serious according to the knight. Just a couple of elemental projectiles that managed to pierce her armour, then imbue themselves deep in her flesh. They likely ruined large groups of her muscles based on the pain and dug themselves deep. Perhaps her only fortune was that the holes in Ádalé's steel plates did a good job of hiding the true extent of her problems and as such, she could play them off as relatively minor.

Once again Cera was surprised, as the knight in front of her asked for an introduction. She remembered that she was paired with her in the past while holstering her weapon to her back

"Oh." She instinctively responded. "I'm Cera Reginer. I previously served in a mercenary outfit before they disbanded due to internal strife."

At this point, Cera decided to respect Ádalé's decision, though she felt a bit ashamed however. She ended up being helped by the knight instead of assisting her.

"Very well. I'll leave you be then." She did a sheepish smile. "Shall we go to the infirmary?"

"Also, good job in taking down Yellowbeard." Cera congratulated her.

"It is nice to meet you," replied Ádalé with a small, modest smile. She was a little embarrassed about forgetting Cera so readily, but then again, there were a lot of crewmembers she had interacted with previously. She was bound to forget someone. "I'm sorry for not remembering your name. But yes, let's go. I believe both of us need to be tended to." Now that, she did not argue against. It was an undisputable fact that she was wounded and that she needed to be bandaged up. So with Cera taking the lead, they started to head towards the infirmary.

"And really, I think Yellowbeard was a team effort. I… just landed the killing blow." The pause there spoke of much more than modesty, hinting at her mixed feelings when it came to killing these people.

The black-haired mercenary sensed Ádalé's mixed feelings as they went past a few mercenaries exploring the Golden Midas.

"The killing blow matters as well!" Cera joked. "But, if it makes you feel better, you can try taking the non-lethal route." She said with a sincere expression, before continuing on. "However, if the situation requires you to kill to save yourself, then don't hesitate."

Ádalé had to exercise a great deal of self-control so as not to flinch when Cera brought up the issue she had been thinking about out of nowhere. Had she really been so transparent? She did not mean to worry the other woman even though they had just met; she was sure Cera had her own set of problems. Nevertheless, the knight took a deep breath to steel herself for the conversation to come. She did not know if she wanted to talk about the in-depths of murdering people, but Cera seemed like she may have some much needed pieces of advice for Ádalé. Or perhaps a reassuring word.

"I didn't hesitate," said the knight with some reluctance as she recalled her first strike that killed another living being that was her equal. "And I killed a being precious to the Divine One." That was about as close as Ádalé would come to admitting her vulnerability and the murky thoughts which she put in the back of her mind for the time being. It probably did not say much to Cera, though.

For the half-Infernal, she felt that she has stepped a bit too much on the knight's boundary. As such, Cera decided to lighten down the topic. Before she would change however…

"You surely didn't as you plowed through their ranks like they were made of paper." Cera lightly smiled. "But please don't forget that Ms. Delain took that fireball for you."

The half-Infernal hoped that the last sentence did not come too heavy for the knight.

Yes, she did plow through the pirates' ranks. And that was part of the problem. She just unquestioningly tore through the enemy as if they did not matter even though the teachings of her order explicitly told her that they were her equals. Therefore, it did not feel right. Yes, these people were her enemies, but to slaughter them like that? That was the source of her insecurities. It simply did not sit well with her to carelessly plow through people like that. She had been thrust into the thick of it as her first mission; it was not a surprise that she was feeling queasy about the whole thing.

"Yes. I should visit her in the infirmary too," replied the knight after a small pause that she used to get her thoughts in order again. Laura had protected her against Ádalé's own foolishness and the knight owed her an apology. A bit of healing magic too, given Laura's condition, or perhaps something more, but Ádalé did not feel up to lifting another human right now. "She lead well and she protected her men," ventured Ádalé as she reflected on the flow of the battle.

Cera was glad that she did not receive any backlash from her words, considering that she tends to be direct at situations that normally involve lives of her fellow comrades.

She nodded and smiled. With that, she changed the topic to…

The two eventually arrived at the Lughanta's infirmary, realizing that several others were there, namely Aster, Sorina and Wukong.

"Hello…"

Cera greeted them. When she was about to take another step, she nearly stumbled. The half-Infernal quickly held to the nearest object to regain her footing.

"Dang it. I guess this is worse than I expected..."

R-9 Pilot · May 13, 2017

Well, the battle's finally over. Saki breathed a sigh of relief as she wiped the blood off her sword and sheathed it for one last time. "All right, time for looting~" She happily joined the others in looking for money and other goodies. She helped the others collect a fair share for themselves, particularly in picking out what was really valuable. She had a knack for appraisal, which was pretty useful.

Once she got back to the ship, she returned to her quarters briefly enough to collect some things, mostly a blanket. Then, she retreated to the ship's hold to find a suitable pile of money. It was far, far easier than it was to try and pile money u pin her own room, and beside that, nobody complained too much about having a guard readily available in case of unexpected boarding or attacks to the Lughanta. She took off her weapons and armor, leaving them where they would be close at hand, and settled down on a pile of gold for a nice nap.

RedArmyShogun · May 13, 2017

*FOR NOW NAMELESS DOCTOR FACE/NAME HERE*

Being preoccupied with tending to the variety of wounds Aster doesn't notice the monkey tailed fighter, Sorina for her own part was in no mood to do more than shoot an icy glare. Considering how covered in blood she was, be it her own or others, Sorina was not in the middle of anything as the girl seemed to think. "tch.." Thankfully before she can turn her attention towards her fellow Infernal the Doctor who was busy tending to scores of others notices the commotion at his door.

"What in the Infernal Hells... Ah Wukong.. You little ape.. I haven't forgotten about those beakers you broke with your last pranks. "

Noticing the girl on her cloud with a pile of coins, it seemed her legs had given out, her arms as well. And she likely would cause problems to just leave her there.

"Yes, you need an appointment, come back five hours later. No you don't need an appointment you Infernal Monkey. But I won't keep an eye on your loot."

Looking at the cloud it would be very problematic to have that in his section of the ship. Crossing his arms Sorina was a much more serious case, but Aster seemed to know what he was about. And he didn't want that stupid monkey blocking up the entrance or ramming things with her cloud. "Alright, get in here, and get rid of that damn cloud, or at least get it to your room, I can't have it cluttering my halls."

Leading Wukong towards the back, the Doctor goes to work at examining her, having the Infernal get off of her cloud for proper medical treatment. Using the magitek tool to scan her his diagnosis.

"Wukong huh?.. I'm starting to think the only Emptiness about you is in your head.."

Whistling, this would be more trouble than it was worth. "Fractures, breaks, dislocations, in legs and arms, some sign of light percussion impact to spinal regions, where you sitting on a bomb or tossing around cargo crates?" While he liked his job, he didn't like when patients did things purposely to damage themselves, it meant that would be back again, so a little berating was in order.

"We'll reset the dislocations, but you in splits and slings for a couple of days, between potions and your healing ability that should be good enough.. Don't want the bones rejoining improperly, in your case the damage is spread around. If it were localized then just some bandage wrap and a setting would be good enough." Running his right hand under his chin as if lost in thought the Doctor soon gets to work on setting the bones, relocating any dislocations, then finally wrapping a thick amount of bandages around her limbs, setting the arms up in slings around her neck, giving her some of the bitter potion to drink, putting her on a bed, he looks sternly at the cloud.

"Get that out of here, or out of my way or I will." With Wukong's rather helpless state it wouldn't hurt to pay the Monkey back for all the problems she had caused with her tricks, some bitter medicine could be good. Grabbing a Banana he points it towards her making a jabbing motion. "We may have to have you front and center for the other patients moral, after all you'll be needing spoon feeding for a day or two, and what better for a monkey than a Banana.. Anyways don't cause any problems in my office. Because if you do I just may need to amputate.. Well I'll see how you are healing up in a day or two, then give more instructions."

Wheeling her over to a corner, he now had to take care of Sorina, she was in a bad way in part. Finishing up with her and questioning if she had a death wish, he then goes back to his other duties as an orderly wheels Wukong's bed next to Sorina's out of the way. The Aristocrat notices this while starting on her second blood bag, frowning, while Sun was from the same homeland, her sort were more of bumpkins given to leaving the realm and adventuring about, few ever returned. Remembering the girl's early remark and purposeful implications on her medical care a bit of an insult was well within order.

"Oh? I wondered where the stench of ape was from.." Turning to look at the girl, she laughs bitterly as she yawns, covering her mouth with her left hand in a slow deliberate action. Hopefully she at least wouldn't make a lot of noise, all Sorina had wanted to do was sleep.

"Oh my, at least I still have an arm I can use, I would offer you a drink but I'm just a bit too tired to move. Plus I rather doubt you care much for blood. Though I do wonder how Shinobu and the others faired after I went through the Airship. It's nice to see as broken as you were your first instinct was to take gold, but I guess that is to be expected.."

Mahou-Shoujo · May 14, 2017

Helen had spent the final phase of the battle hiding in a crate within the cargo hold, having exhausted both her magical endurance and the erchius fuel in her Seraphic Liberators which she had hidden under a pile of bodies, fortunately she had successfully evaded any other pirates that may have been left, (not that any pirate would really have time to search crates during the slaughter that the mercenaries dealt them) and judging by the sounds she could hear, the battle had ended in her allies favor.

Popping the lid of the crate off, Helen climbed out and stretched thoroughly, it seemed the battle was now over and looting had began, which meant she now had several things to do, the first of which was collecting her previously discarded wings, which was easy enough and took only a few minutes.
After that she went searching for a different prize, the pirate's erchius fuel supply, not only was it an extremely valuable resource which would financially support her research, but with any luck it would literally fuel her experiments.
She also had another task to do... Or rather something to put off as long as possible. Helen knew she had disobeyed orders, several times, and there would undoubtedly be some sort of punishment involved, she the young Lilim intended to evade the captain for as long as could possibly be excused, and only submit to punishment when she ran out of valid sounding excuses.

ShiroKiyoshi · May 14, 2017

HE LIVES!

John surveyed the room, but Agatha's command to charge quickly got his attention and he just ran. He followed the sound of her voice, recovering from the blast as he did so, and held his sword ready to chop down any foe that came too close. They reached the bridge and after dealing with its operators, proceeded to take over the Golden Midas, completely shutting it down. John sighed and sheathed his weapon, crossed his arms, and turned on his heels.

"I'm sweaty, hot, and I left something back down the hall. I also reek of blood." John said as he walked out the room.

He made his way down the hall, back to the room where they faced Ruu, and where he left a burnt man unconscious, or possibly dead, on the floor, and looked for his opponent's blade. Upon entering the room John was able to see just how much mayhem they had cause and he noticed the man had managed to sit himself up against a wall. John let out yet another sigh of relief and approached him, taking his blade from beside him, and sitting himself down. The man opened his eyes when John took a seat.

"Put that down!" He shouted.

"As if you could take it from me, you couldn't pick up a mug let alone a sword with those burns." The pirate turned his head away from John and closed his barely open eyes. John then examined the blade, it was still intact, rather undamaged really. He had noticed earlier, but his brain hadn't caught up with his body then. "Is this one of those special weapons I've heard about? Like my amulet?"

The pirate turned his head back to John as if to see if he was joking. "You're serious?" John looked around and then nodded his head. "Divine One have mercy on this child... you ain't ever seen a magitek weapon?"

"I have, it'd be a lie to say I haven't." John replied holding his amulet to his face. "But only if someone tried to kill me with it. I don't often loot the bodies of my opponents." John explained.

"Why are you here? Who the hell are-" The pirate coughed as he tired to shout anymore. "Who are you?"

"Name's John and I came to grab this off you, but you seem pretty adamant about keeping it, so here." John laid the blade in his lap and stood up, about to take off. The pirate stared at the blade and then at John.

"Why didn't you kill me?" The pirate asked.

"If I'm being honest? I thought I did." John then started walking to the door, waving to the man behind him. "We're not all brutes, I don't kill needlessly, this operation is over. Some of the crew should come through here. If you want to live, I'd suggest making your move now. See you around."

"Wait!"

"Hm?" John paused to look back.

"M'name be Spartan. I will remember this John of the Lughanta!"

"Right." John said with a smile. "Good luck."

John then took his leave from the room. He didn't think much about what the pirate said. He just kept walking, he hadn't seen the sky, or felt the breeze for what seemed like years. He almost felt claustrophobic in the halls of the Golden Midas. Upon taking his first step outside he was able to overlook the battlefield and look straight to the sky, but when he dropped down and looked at the death before him he held his amulet in his hand and muttered to himself.

"Rest their souls... I need to get back to the Lughanta. I'm tired."

John then just leaned against a wall, awaiting his next order.

SKYWARD MIRACLES - IC Thread

Yes, I die a lot

Edgeknight

Literal No One

Nien Scheiße!

Runs with Axes

Victory through derp

Whatever, Bullfrag is awesome.

Man of Questions

Pikaface

Weisenhart

Guest

Runs with Axes

Shadow and Truth

Man of Questions

Gloriana

Whatever, Bullfrag is awesome.

"If you survive this, meet me where Heaven falls."

Edgeknight

Runs with Axes

Useless Goddess

Neko Smasher of Iwaku's Walls