BETWEEN THREE ROGUES
By Eric 'Erico' Lawson
Forty-Eight: ...And Death Abides
The Deep Sky
353 Days After the (First) Grand Fortress Escape
Early Evening
While the Delphinus shook around him from the impact of another lucky shot, Vyse couldn't help but reflect on the strange, wonderful, terrifying course his life had taken over the past year or so. It had been full of many memorable firsts.
He'd been the first man to escape the Grand Fortress. He and the girls had been the first to see the revival of a Gigas. He'd almost been the first to die by one too. He'd been the first to find Daccat's island and its treasure - well, fine, the girls had been there too, he'd concede that - the first to fly through the Dark Rift, the first to kill a Gigas (Though that had been a team effort, it still counted!), the first to see what lay beneath the Lands of Ice, and the first to see, alongside Tikatika, what the bottom of the world looked like.
Of all of his firsts, though, Vyse would have been happy to forego this one. Being part of the first airship battle in the bottom of the Abyss was not part of his agenda, and something he and everyone else aboard the Delphinus could have done well without. But even if they could communicate with De Loco aboard the Chameleon (Something he wasn't about to try, because signal lamps required an element of calm and stability which combat did not allow and he wasn't about to reveal that Yes, Valua, we've been intercepting your wireless telegraph traffic this entire time, HAHA), the crazed inventor wouldn't be inclined to listen. This was only the second time he'd gone up against De Loco and nothing in the madman's methodology had any hint of civility. Or restraint.
Thank the Moons for Moegi. Once before, she'd created a miracle to shield the ship and everyone aboard her from Bluheim's ferocity. Now she caused a cool breeze to blow through the whole of the Delphinus, dropping the baking temperatures, enervating the exhausted purple moonstones and sharpening their wits all in one. She stood with her hands on the pedestals that fed the heart of the ship and poured magic unlike any other through its veins, Enrique at her back as a grounding, reassuring presence. And nobody batted an eye at the way he held her, at the way his electric yellow aura poured power into her Yafutoman blue one. They looked on and accepted their relationship, their love, without aspersion.
Vyse didn't care what people would think of him when the truth of the love between himself, Aika and Fina would come out, but in his darker moments, he feared ever seeing them belittled or ridiculed for loving each other as much as they loved him. There was so much work to do, so many hearts to change. He had wanted to see the world. Now he wanted to change it so it was a world he and his loves could live in without fear or shame.
Another barked ship status report pulled him from his thoughts, and Vyse scowled and secured his hat, feeling the strength of Daccat and all the generations between them flowing into his body again. "Right. Well, let's see how we can fight mostly blind." He chanced another look to Moegi and Enrique and sighed, realizing there was no way he could ask them to move or stop what they were doing. "And without magical augments or the Moonstone Cannon." He added grimly. The Blue Rogue hit his intercom and sent a line down and forward to Khazim at the fire control station. "Khazim, are you ready to bury this Valuan prick?"
"He wants to make war in the bowels of hell? By the Red Moon, Khazim will be glad to make him burn for it!"
"Happy to hear it." Vyse smiled darkly, and switched over to ring the lookout tower. "Tikatika? Domingo? We're doing this fight the old-fashioned way. We're in your hands."
"We stand ready, captain!" Domingo reassured him.
Vyse hummed and transmitted his next message throughout the whole ship. "All hands, make ready. Kill the exterior lights, let's keep them from seeing an easy target!"
At the sonar station, Fina waited until that order had been carried out before speaking. "Should I shut off the ground sonar, captain?"
Vyse almost said yes, but then he stopped. Thought about it while he blinked a few times. And Aika huffed, smiling weakly.
"I know that stupid look on your face, Vyse. What crazy idea did you get now?"
"Simple." Vyse told his favorite redhead. "If we're not careful, we'll hit the bottom trying to evade De Loco. Of course, he might do the same thing." He waited until Aika caught on, then winked at Fina. "Leave the sonar on. Keep giving us a reading to the bottom every fifteen seconds."
"Moons, I want to kiss you right now." Aika growled, the rumbling sentence drowned out in the noise of the bridge in the middle of a battle. Vyse had to laugh. She was their Valkyrie, an avenging, fiery woman who loved as fiercely as she fought. Fina had chosen her nickname well.
If we get out of this alive, Aika, I'll let you kiss me until I'm light-headed.
Killing the external lights had been a smart play. Vyse didn't hear any echoing pulses of sonar coming from the Chameleon, which he took as a sign that the Chameleon hadn't built a locating system like they had. The opening shots by De Loco had been aimed solely by visual means, and the Delphinus's searchlights did little for long-range identification while making them an obvious target. In the darkness of the deep, sonar was the tool of choice, thrumming pulses that drummed off the hull with heightened volume. That had been a disturbing thing at first, since sound-homing was common for torpedoes but they rarely were so loud. Fina had been able to explain it in seconds during the tail end of their descent, another detail from her seemingly endless bounty of knowledge.
'Air density,' the Silvite had told them. 'Sound travels through denser mediums much easier and maintains more of its energy. In water, it would be ideal, but at this depth, the air is so thick and moist and pressurized that you can hear it much easier. And probably feel it a little, if the pulse is strong enough.'
In practice, what that meant was the four powerful double-barreled turrets of the Delphinus were effective only at short range where they had a definite bearing and had been pointed in that direction to begin with. It was their torpedoes which did most of the heavy lifting, enough that Khazim sent off four members of his gunnery team to assist Belle and her 'torpedo girls' in reloading the six tubes fast enough. Better yet, their torpedo tubes were able to fire off signal flares, brightly burning chemical charges that could aid their spotters. The flares could aid the enemy just as easily though if ignited at short range, if they had spotters of their own stationed somewhere aboard the Chameleon.
Risk and reward, and one that came with the use of limited resources. Vyse thanked Aika and Fina inside of his mind for their decision to mount spotlights on the hull exterior. They might have been able to establish visuals with their signal flare torpedoes before, but they had them now when they were needed. At least, he thought they had.
"Say again, Belle? We have how many?" Vyse asked.
"Just eight remaining, sir. Other supplies took priority at our last stop on Sailor's Isle, and Osman told me that we ran out of funds for 'tertiary weaponry.' Sorry, sir."
Vyse drummed his fingers on his armrests, taking another breath of remarkably cooler air. Moegi and Enrique had stopped talking altogether and were now linked in silent congress with each other and the ship. "Well. We'll make do, Belle. Load up four of them and keep tubes 5 and 6 loaded with those upgraded torpedoes we bought last time."
"Will do, captain!"
Vyse drummed his fingers again and kept his eyes closed. No severe hits yet, thank the Moons, but he couldn't count on that to last. He needed to end this as quickly as possible, and he needed to do it with one metaphorical arm tied behind his back.
"Sixty meters to the floor." Fina called out, steady and strong. That broke him out of his freeze, and he snapped off his orders, cueing the lookout tower and fire control. "Helm, drop us down thirty meters, and watch your trim. Belle? When ready, fire flares from tubes 1 through 4 and aim at bearing 090, 180, 270 and dead on, 500 meter timing fuse. Lookouts, when they go off, you get us a bearing on the Chameleon, it's prowling close."
The shump-shump-shump-shump of four flare torpedoes firing off had nowhere near the body-shaking reverb that unleashing every barrel of the ship's four turrets at the same time did, but Vyse could still hear them going off outside. He could have sworn that a loose shell screamed off overhead, and a shouted curse from Domingo in the lookout tower confirmed it, but it passed by harmlessly. He waited as everyone else did for the flares to reach their altitude and distances and ignite, unseen by the shielded bridge. Waited for the lookouts to peer into the illuminated, superheated darkness of the deep and find a lone green ship, colored like the eponymous lizard.
And they did.
"Got 'im! Bearing 285, distance…"
"Distance 350 or 375!" Tikatika crowed.
"Match range, bearing, and fire!" Vyse snarled, pounding his armrest. And then the big guns thundered, making the ship jump as it always did from the recoil. More waiting followed, and then…
"Hit! Khazim got him! Two, no, THREE impacts! And the torpedoes are…" Domingo cried out, pausing only for a second or two before he laughed. "Both hit! Oh, that ship's got to be wrecked after all of that now! I can see fires on board, belching out smoke! It's hurting!"
"Bring us behind the Chameleon, helm. Khazim, Belle, reload turrets with standard shells and prep tubes 1-4 with warshots, 5 and 6 with flares again. I'm pretty sure that he's going to retreat after that, but let's be ready to bloody his nose just in case."
"Hold on a bit, bridge. The Chameleon's turning about...I think it's trying to ram us! Veer starboard, now!"
Don, bless his heart, didn't wait for the order to be issued by Vyse, he spun the wheel wildly and turned them starboard as quickly as the massive propellor shafts would allow.
"They're turning to port, coming up alongside us, they - WATCH OUT!"
There was no time for Vyse to shout back and demand what they'd seen, no time to even curse how the pressure shutters that were all too necessary to keep back the weight and the heat of the Abyss kept him from seeing what the Chameleon was doing with his own eyes. In the space between moments, there was a terrible shuddering impact that knocked everyone off their feet and sent an alarm to screaming.
"We're hit!" Aika shouted. "Port side, amidships!"
"It's a grappling arm!" Domingo confirmed. "It was mounted on the nose of their ship, I thought it was just for salvage operations!"
"De Loco never misses a chance to build a weapon if he can help it." Vyse ground the words out. From an arm on a hydraulic limb holding a flamethrower, to the prototype of the Delphinus's own moonstone cannon, the forward end of the Chameleon had never been the same twice. The mad admiral was always changing its teeth.
"It's got us held fast! He's got us tethered!" Domingo reported, and the second shudder of the ship gave it veracity. Vyse could see the implications instantly. Here in the dark, knowing where to aim required knowing their location without constant visual tracking. In the absence of sonar, having your prey on the end of a harpoon rope was more than viable. De Loco almost couldn't miss.
Neither could Vyse. It had become a slugfest, and Vyse hated those. He'd grown up flying in wooden ships against the iron-hulled vessels of Valua, after all. Slugfests had always been tantamount to suicide. Sure, the Delphinus was a vessel whose armor was far more impressive than anything the Albatross had ever possessed. It was a ship that they'd configured for the Abyss. But so had De Loco. In this moment, they stood on even ground.
"Aika." He said. "Put together a team, find where in blazes that thing has dug a hole in my ship, and cut it off."
The redhead saluted, Chief Engineer to Captain, and took off running after shouting an order in the intercom for Marco and three people from engineering to meet her portside with cutting gear and welding masks.
One problem down. Vyse settled himself in the captain's chair, spared a glance for Moegi and Enrique still channeling her air-trapping power and cool breezes in and around the ship, and punched the switch.
"Lookouts, give fire control an exact bearing to the Chameleon and remember that their end of the tether's on their nose. Khazim? Let's prove to De Loco that he picked the wrong ship to get in a shootout with. Show me the fury of the guns of Nasrad."
"They will not live past the hour." Khazim growled, sounding angrier than Vyse had heard him sound in months. The lookout tower rattled off a bearing and altitude, and moments later, the massive guns of the Godslayer Delphinus thundered away.
The Chameleon fired back with their own punishing shellwork, the two mighty ships trading blows and bleeding each other at the bottom of the world.
8 Minutes Later
In the quieter periods that would follow their escape from the Abyss, Vyse would reflect on how frustrating time, as an entity, was. It never seemed to be long enough in that precious space of the morning between when he and the girls woke up and when they needed to be dressed and out the door for their duty shifts. They would lose hours when they teased each other and made love without caring a bit about it. But right now, as the Delphinus and the Chameleon exchanged blows, time seemed to slow to a crawl.
He was sure that Tikatika and Domingo would be partially night-blind after this, because neither ship had their running lights on and the only things which illuminated the darkness were the flares of ignited gunpowder when their cannons went off and the explosions of fire when a shell hit. Them, or the enemy. The Delphinus was a mighty ship, though, and it was clear that the Chameleon's standard armaments weren't quite as devastating as the hyperlethal superweapons that De Loco installed in modular fashion. If Vyse had to guess, the projectile which was embedded through and into two decks' worth of hull plating had been modified with Harpoon Cannon technology. That made for a grim irony if ever there was one. For all the trouble that the Little Jack had caused to Valua by using Drachma's Arcwhale-killing superweapon in the first hundred days of their journey, it was strange to think that it might be the thing which brought them down now.
At least Don was proving that his chops weren't any less effective in spite of his age. There really was no substitute for experience, and he kept jinking like mad, altering their elevation and keeping an ear focused in Fina's direction for every time that she called out their elevation above the muddy surface of the Abyss. It spared them a lot of hits they might have taken otherwise, and Vyse was certain that a few glancing blows would have been more severe if not for his efforts.
"For once," Don started before grunting as another impact from one of the Chameleon's secondary guns smacked into the topside armor, "I'm kind of glad that this De Loco's the sort who's more interested in weapons development than anything else."
"Why's that, Don?" Vyse asked loudly over the noise of battle.
"Because that ship of his must handle like a drunk Dhabu. The Delphinus could fly circles around it in open sky, couldn't it?"
Vyse gave it about a half second's thought, recalling the two brief engagements that he'd had with it while aboard the Little Jack. Then the Chameleon had been an indomitable iron behemoth, but Don wasn't wrong. It had been slow to maneuver and make slight course corrections then, and it obviously still was.
They could use that. His wild idea from earlier was much more plausible now, but the timing of it would be key. Vyse punched up the intercom again. "Repair teams, status report. Aika, you there?"
There was a delay while his fiery lover paused whatever she was doing and made for the nearest intercom access. When she spoke, it was in a half-yell over the noise of several blowtorches working away at the metal. "We're still working down here, Vyse. The main spine of it smashed through the outer hull and the first inner bulkhead, but there's four smaller outer flanges wedged in the outer hull pretty tight as well. We've got the main spine sliced half off, but we're having to cut around the damaged hull sections for the flanges. This ship's going to need some serious repairs if we live through this!"
Vyse huffed at the pronouncement. "Aika, leave the main piece of it for last, just get those four outer grapplers free. Once you have that done, let us know. We're going to do something crazy here, and the timing's going to be critical."
"Something involving altitude, if you're still swinging for that crazy idea of yours. It'd better work, Vyse."
"Aika, have any of my crazy ideas ever not worked?" Vyse countered, trying to portray confidence.
"Not the time to be asking that question!" She snapped at him, leaving the intercom up as she stormed back to her work swearing a storm the entire time. Vyse put it out of his mind and focused on Don, and then Fina as he called out both of their names. Don looked back over his shoulder briefly and Fina nodded at him.
"Don. Have you gotten a feel for flying blind yet? I mean," Vyse added with an upraised hand to forestall the remark building on Don's lips, "do you know about how fast the ship can drop and elevate at this depth in combat conditions? If Fina's giving you constant callouts, would you be able to dive until we almost hit bottom and then reverse it faster than De Loco can compensate?"
Don blinked twice, then turned back fully to stare at him. "You want to drive him into the bottom."
"No. I want De Loco to drive himself into it." Vyse said, trying to keep his voice and his emotions balanced. Don kept staring until another shuddering impact made him swear and divert his focus back to the task of flying.
"Not saying we can't, but the numbers have to be exact." The old sailor ground out. "It might just work but if I get it wrong - Vyse, if I get this wrong…"
"You won't." Vyse told him, and meant it. "Don, maybe I could do this. But it wasn't me flying this ship when we fought Bluheim, it was you and Lawrence. It wasn't me flying this ship when we fought Yeligar, it was you. You can do this, because I believe in you. Every Blue Rogue here does!"
In spite of the still present heat, Vyse could see Don's face pinken from a blush. "Guess I'd better make this happen then. Fina?" Don turned back around and stared at the shutters like he could see through them. His hands tightened on the spokes of the telemotor. "Every three seconds at first, then constant when we start this."
Fina didn't waste time with an affirmative, she just started reading off sounding depths and the dance continued while they bought Aika and her teams as much time as possible.
Another two minutes later, the call finally came.
"Okay, Vyse! We've got the hull plating around the outer flanges as cut free as we can, and the main prong's just got about a finger's worth left! If you're gonna do something, now's the time to do it!"
"Forty meters!" Fina shouted. Don risked a glance back to Vyse.
All he did was nod.
"Everyone, hang on to something!" Don shouted, loud enough to be heard by the intercom pickup at the captain's chair. "Go, Fina!" And then the ship lurched, tipping forward.
"Cut it!" Vyse screamed, while in the background, Fina spoke in a loud voice, rattling off the numbers. 'Thirty Meters. Twenty-five. Nineteen. Twelve!'
"Reversing!" Don bellowed, and the Delphinus nosed up sharply with every attitude spinner undoubtedly working overtime from his furious controls. "Come on, don't stick your ass in the mud now, Big D!"
"Nine! Six! FOUR! THREE!" Fina screamed. Vyse gripped his armrests and didn't breathe. He watched as Moegi and Enrique channeled and protected, as the veins on Don's rigid arms popped and his face turned red. Vyse shut his eyes, unable to breathe as his stomach fell to the floor just like the ship was. If they hit the bottom, if this didn't work, if he'd condemned the lives of everyone aboard to a cruel burning death, if, if, if…
Amidst all the noise and the chaos, there was a moment of absolute stillness in his mind. All the world and all his thoughts condensed down into one impulse, one prayer, one wish.
Fly.
As if the Delphinus could hear him, there was a gust of breeze that came like the inhalation of breath. In his bones, he felt a change right after Fina's voice choked off into a shudder. He knew it before she could speak again.
The Delphinus was rising.
"Five meters." Fina gasped out. "Six. Eight." The whole of the ship trembled with a squeal of metal on metal just then and the deck bucked beneath their feet.
"We're loose!" Aika shouted out, triumphant and terrified all at once, cut off by a terrified screaming. "No! Moons damnit, hang on! Damn you, Timmons, DON'T YOU FUCKING LET GO OF MY ARM!"
"Aika!" Vyse cried her name. The sound of terrified shouts and still constant screaming drowned him out.
"Pull us up! PULL US UP! Shit, it tore a hole out of the hull when it fell away, we almost...we almost lost Tim...Oh, SHIT! Vyse, I can see it!"
The Delphinus kept flying up, and there was a sudden noise that echoed through the whole of the ship. A slam followed by the grinding and twisting and tearing of metal, and thundering explosions that silenced everyone. Vyse breathed into the silence, blind to everything and hating it. "Someone talk to me." He pleaded.
"The Chameleon hit the bottom, sir. It…" Tikatika began, and his voice gave out.
"We saw it through the hole here, Vyse." Aika spoke up, more shaken than he'd ever heard her before. "If they tried to pull up, it didn't respond fast enough. They hit the bottom at speed and plowed in, and…" She paused. "I don't think anyone could survive that. And if anyone did, they aren't going to live for long. We're still breathing here, but it's definitely warming up."
"Get everyone out of that part of the ship. Seal the bulkhead doors." Vyse ordered, his heart hammering away in his chest. "Did we lose anyone?"
"...Timmons almost fell out when the harpoon tore away. I haven't heard from the other damage control teams. We'll have to get back to you. We're getting out of here, Vyse."
Moegi whimpered, and Vyse glanced over to the moonstone feeder lines, seeing her begin to slump as the exhaustion of pushing herself so far began to catch up to her.
"Get it all sealed off." Vyse told her again, and killed the intercom. He tilted his head back and sighed, feeling far more tired than he thought he'd be after finding Fina's skyship. His hand trembled when he reached for the switch again and called up to the lookout tower.
"Tikatika? Domingo? Give us a heading. We're getting out of here." And with any luck, they'd be almost all the way out of the Great Vortex by the time Moegi and Enrique succumbed to exhaustion.
Don spun the wheel around, guided by the watchful eyes of their spotters, and the Delphinus nosed skyward as it began a much faster ascent, spinning in tight circles as it went up, and up, and up.
They left behind the Abyss, the land of the dead, having won their prize.
In the hungry depths, the remains of Admiral De Loco and the Chameleon lay - an offering made in exchange.
The Silver Sea, Central Sky
Flying Northwest
353 Days After the (First) Grand Fortress Escape
Late Evening
The damage assessments and the casualty reports had been sobering. In the forward compartments, Khazim had suffered a burn to the side of his chest, arm, and even his face after an impact from a shot and the constant bucking and heaving of their evasive maneuvers had thrown him against one of the loading mechanisms, superheated from overuse and the gunbarrels abovedecks. In engineering, a fitting had broken loose from one of the moonstone reactors' outer piping assembly and sent a shrill, highly pressurized burst of steam into the compartment. It had cost an Esperanzan sailor the pinkie and ring fingers from his left hand before they'd sealed it off and gotten the system locked down again. Concussions, bruises, and blunt force trauma had struck another half dozen of the crew, including Pinta who'd been brained by his own fire extinguisher during firefighting operations. Miraculously, no one had died, and no one would die.
Vyse found little comfort in that.
They had flown up and out of the Abyss and the Great Vortex as fast as their damaged ship would allow, and halfway through it Moegi and Enrique had finally collapsed - her completely, the prince flagging but hanging on. The temperature had risen, but out of the depths and with the damaged sections of the ship sealed off, the revitalized cooling systems had been able to keep up until they broke free of the eternal storms and passed into the Lower Sky again. The cooler air was ventilated inside and everyone breathed in relief. From there, they made for the Central Sky and fled northwest as fast as they could, evading a singular Valuan destroyer which had been circling the Great Vortex. The wireless telegraph intercepts indicated that it had been there as a sentry, waiting for the Chameleon to appear, and it had been completely blindsided by the arrival of the Delphinus.
Vyse had gone first to investigate the damage that they'd taken, and then once he'd finished that, his second stop had been to the infirmary where Ilchymis was doing his best to patch everyone up. Khazim had given him an easy grin in spite of the moisturized bandaging and Belle weeping over him, and Vyse had stared at his wounds. If Khazim hadn't been wearing his goggles he might have even lost an eye. Even with magical healing, Ilchymis had made it perfectly clear that the man would carry a scar from the experience, though Khazim weakly boasted that it would only make him more handsome. Vyse hadn't said much of anything at either stop beyond what had been expected, and the words had come out wooden and forgotten.
Afterwards, he'd...wandered. That was a good word for what he'd done, just circling around the mighty ship that had once again proven itself and looking into the faces of the tired, the exhausted, but the undeniably proud Blue Rogues under his command. His Blue Rogues. His crew. And when he couldn't look at them anymore while keeping the straight face he needed to, he'd wandered away from everyone. Out onto the foredeck in his favored coat with his captain's hat left behind on the bridge, Vyse went and surveyed the damage to the armored hull as far along the ship as he could see. Countless grazing blows. More than one outright hole where successive hits had been able to penetrate through. The Delphinus was in desperate need of serious repairs to make it battle-worthy again. He sat down on the deck with his back pressed up against the superstructure and watched as the sky went from light blue, to pink, and then to a midnight blue dotted with stars as the Silver Moon hung in the sky.
The sound of the hatch opening was noisy and jarring, and given that it was Enrique who stuck his head out and looked around before catching sight of him, it was meant to be. The exiled prince of Valua seemed relieved and gave him a nod before stepping out and closing the hatch behind him.
"Wouldn't want to let all the warm air out, it's going to be chilly tonight." Enrique started off cheerfully. It was meant to make Vyse laugh and he did, if only briefly.
"After we were all sweating our balls off earlier today, I think I can handle a little cold air."
"Is that why you're out here being blasted in the face with this crosswind out of the south?" Enrique questioned him. "Or did you just need some air for the other reason one does?"
"You gonna keep standing there when you're grilling me?"
"Heavens, no." Enrique walked over, leaned back against the wall and allowed himself to slide down the surface until his head was resting against his knees. "The girls were looking for you. They asked me to find you."
"Are they…?"
"They're both tired and they're worn out, but they have each other, even if they wanted you with them as well when they went to bed." Enrique sighed. "To review; We won today, Vyse. We found Fina's ship. You buried the Chameleon in the Abyss and killed off De Loco."
"The man was insane." Vyse said numbly, lolling his head to the side to see Enrique looking back at him from the corner of his eye. "How did he ever get promoted? How, by all the Moons, was Galcian ever able to stand him?"
"I've often wondered that myself, over the years." Enrique conceded. "Uncle Gregorio often had things to say as well about it all. On reflection, I think that his promotion under Galcian's tenure as Lord Admiral wasn't a concession. It was a muzzle." That made Vyse sit up and blink, and Enrique did the same, sighing and tipping his head back against the superstructure's armor plating to look up at the night sky. "I imagine you've heard the phrase, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer.' Gregorio once mentioned that De Loco was put where he could do the least damage. The man was a brilliant inventor, but has always been completely devoid of morals. Or precautions. He was the Admiral of the 5th Fleet, you know."
"Which means…" Vyse said leadingly, and Enrique held up a closed fist, slowly extending his fingers.
"The 1st Fleet was the Vanguard, the one sent as the primary response of the Empress's will. The 2nd under Gregorio was the Home Fleet, charged with the defense of the Empire. The 3rd...Well. You know Vigoro, you can piece together what his was meant for."
"Shock tactics."
Enrique nodded and kept on. "The 4th Fleet specializes in communications and...investigations. But the 5th Fleet was new. Until my 18th birthday, there were only 4 Fleets. The 5th was Galcian's idea, just as the 6th under Ramirez was. The 5th Fleet's duties were always less clearly defined, the ships within it less numerous. Galcian allowed De Loco to use the vessels within it as a testbed for his new weapons, but the leadership role meant that De Loco was unable to venture far from oversight. He was always crazy. Galcian made it so he could be...contained.."
"Like a mad dog on a short leash." Vyse put it together. Enrique nodded, and his mouth quirked up.
"Honestly, I think if De Loco hadn't stumbled onto us and forced us to end his life, Galcian probably would have killed him in short order. He has no use for weapons he cannot control. Or people."
"Great." Vyse shook his head. "I hate to think that we did that gray-haired bastard any favors, though."
"Who knows, Vyse?" Enrique hummed. "With luck, we just deprived him of a valuable asset and ruined his timetable. Today was a great victory for the Blue Rogues." Vyse bit his lip and didn't say anything, and Enrique proved his ability to read the room once again. "So why are you sitting out here in the cold and the dark by yourself, as if we'd failed?"
"You know why." Vyse forced the words out, and felt hollow when they'd left him.
"Nobody died, Vyse."
"But they could have." Vyse pointed out, looking up into the stars. "People could have died. We almost lost Timmons."
"Old Tim-Tim?" Enrique raised an eyebrow. "I didn't see his name in the injured list."
"He was on Aika's team, cutting away the harpoon that the Chameleon speared us with. After it pulled free, he almost fell out of the ship. We would've lost him if Aika hadn't near wrenched her arm out of its socket holding him until the others could pull him back in."
Enrique didn't speak immediately. Vyse waited for him to speak, but the prince didn't, and the silence finally caught up to him.
"I could have killed us all." Vyse whispered. "The only reason we didn't all burn alive was because Moegi pulled another miracle out of thin air, and you helped her sustain it."
"I still feel a little peaked, honestly." The prince admitted. "Moegi is still out cold. But it was worth it, Vyse. You took the opportunity she gave us and won. You came up with another one of your brilliant ideas and took the day."
Vyse shook his head. "We were so close to losing this time, Enrique."
Enrique huffed and squared off to face him. "Why are you so shaken by this, Vyse? We've gone up against impossible odds before, remember? When we escaped the Grand Fortress together in the Delphinus, just five people against the unbreakable wall? When we survived the coup of Yafutoma and beat back the Armada? When we fought Bluheim and killed it? We've had darker days, this was nothing but a very traumatic skirmish! You have always taken refuge in audacity, it's your greatest strength!"
Vyse brought a hand up into his hair and let the sweat-soaked, messy locks run through his fingers. "Taking risks before never seemed to bother me as much. Now, though?" He let out a short laugh. "I've never had so much to lose before."
Enrique looked over at him. "I wish Uncle Gregorio was still here, Vyse. He could explain this so much better than I could." The mention of the only decent admiral in the Admiralty made Vyse flinch a little, but Enrique reached over and gripped his shoulder, forcing him to turn and look back. "You are feeling the weight of responsibility. But you're letting it paralyze you."
"I've never been this close to losing people before!" Vyse snapped. "This is different than anything else we've ever done!"
"Why?" Enrique asked him, as flatly as the slightly older prince could ask him. "Why was today different Vyse?"
Vyse opened and closed his mouth so many times as he tried to put it into words. Was it because of the Moon Crystals? Because nearly everyone he cared about had been aboard and at De Loco's mercy? Because nobody could rescue them if it had all gone wrong?
Yes, to all of those. But that wasn't all it was.
"Because today, all of this was on me." Vyse admitted quietly. "I - I finally realized just what I signed up for. The weight of responsibility? Yeah. I guess that'd be a good way of putting it. I'm the captain, and everyone here took the Oath of the Blue Rogues. They swore their loyalty to the cause, and - and to me." Vyse dug his fingers into his scalp. "What if I'm not ready for this? What if I screw up, and get everyone killed like I almost did today?"
"Was your father ready?" Enrique demanded, and the mention of him made Vyse freeze up. "Dyne was the First, after all. Had anyone been ready to rebel against the course that Valua was taking before he did? There had been no alternative, no rulebook short of outright piracy before he mutinied with Centime and the others. Surely he must have felt like you do now, that everyone had placed their lives in his hands and he felt unworthy of them. Fearful that he might make a mistake and doom them all. But he didn't. And somehow, he still found the time to be a husband and a father. Even with all of his responsibilities, he still managed. Did he ever not make time for his family? For you?"
"Yeah. But he's more than my dad. He's Dyne, The Blue Storm." Vyse said with a trace of bitterness. "He's the Blue Rogue everyone looks up to."
Enrique leaned away, examining him. "No. He isn't the role model anymore." In his stare came the unspoken words. You are, Vyse.
"I'm not ready…"
"The hell you aren't." Enrique narrowed his gaze, bristling a little. "Dyne made it up as he went along. The Code of the Blue Rogues you inherited, you've been adding to. You have taken what he created and built on it in ways he could have never dreamed. You've been a thorn in Valua's side for a year, and in that time you have done more damage to my mother and Galcian's Imperial ambitions than your father did in twenty. You've taken the Code of the Blue Rogues and you started adding to it, improving it. If Dyne could manage being the Blue Rogue...then so can you."
Vyse wanted to believe in those words and accept the faith that Enrique had in him - the faith Enrique insisted everyone had in him - but something still held him back.
"Then why am I so scared of losing?"
"You aren't scared of losing, Vyse. You're looking at it wrong." Enrique pressed him. "You're not terrified because you have so much to lose, it's because you have too much to live for and look forward to. So change it around. Don't let it be a source of fear. Allow it to drive you, don't ever give up. Finish what you've started and reach for that future you see."
Vyse blinked, mustering a weak laugh. "What? What are you talking about?"
Enrique smiled back at him. "Something I've thought about for a while now. Your father's Code? The one which we swear to as our Oath? It's a good Code to fight by. The lines you've added since? They're something to live by." He poked Vyse in the arm and his smile went to a smirk. "You still don't see why people follow you, do you? Why a Prince of Valua is glad to be called your brother? Why the King of Ixa'taka and the Prince of Yafutoma calls you friend?"
Vyse rubbed at his arm. "I'm overthinking things, is that what you're saying?"
"You're at the end of a very long, stressful day." Enrique said. "A little panic and worry wouldn't be amiss. Just don't let yourself drown in it. Not when everyone who calls you Captain is here to share the burden. Not when those two wonderful women are waiting for you to warm their bed. Not when there's so much left to do, and no reason to mourn."
Vyse felt his eyes begin to sting, and he let out a watery snort as he rubbed at them. "When did you get so smart?"
"When I started listening to you, brother." Enrique laughed. Vyse rolled his eyes, but he finally felt the gnarled fingers of fear around his heart begin to loosen. "Oh, I have no doubt there's a great deal of work left to be done, repairing the ship. But you and the others can manage it. You'll rebuild the Delphinus. You'll repair Fina's skyship, and you'll take the Moon Crystals to her people. And I? I'll return home, inform my mother of Galcian's treachery, and summon those loyal not to blind ambition and power, but to what Valua once was. And will be again."
Vyse exhaled, pushed his hands against the deck and finally stood up again."I still think it's a crazy idea, you leaving us and returning home." He said, holding a hand down to the exiled prince.
"I know. I still have to try, though." Enrique huffed, taking his hand so Vyse could help him up. He stood with a sweeping, graceful movement, ever the master fencer. "The Empire must end, but I have to believe that Valua is worth saving. I'm ready for this, Vyse. You showed me what true courage looks like, you showed me what love looks like. You even - you even showed me what a good man looks like."
Vyse knew his eyes were watery. He found he didn't care. "You'd make a shit emperor, you know?"
Enrique rolled his eyes. "I'm aware, captain."
"...You'll be a good king, though." Vyse added softly, and watched as Enrique's lip went to quivering. Vyse held out his hand for Enrique to shake, but the prince pushed it away and dragged him into a bone-cracking hug.
Vyse awkwardly patted his closest friend's back. "We're really gonna hug this out?" He squeaked.
"Yes," Enrique got out brokenly, "we are."
And they did.
Sailor's Island
354 Days After the (First) Grand Fortress Escape
Mid-Afternoon
Their trip to Mid-Ocean's busiest neutral harbor was not without incident. A few hours out from it, the weary spotters of the Delphinus sighted a ship bearing the familiar skull and crossbones of the Black Pirate closing in on them. It was Baltor the Black-Bearded, up to his old tricks. The moment the pirate got close enough to make a positive identification of them, however, his ship immediately veered off and headed east. Of course, it might have been the message that Vyse ordered the signals officer to send with the signal lamp; We killed Adm. De Loco yesterday Baltor. If you want to die today then keep coming. They could have likely dropped the Black Pirates easily, but Vyse didn't like taking his ship and his crew into a battle when they were still damaged and recovering from their previous engagement. Especially now when the 'weight of responsibility' that Enrique had talked of still lingered so heavily on his thoughts.
The Sailor's Guild was more than happy to hand over a substantial sum for a glance at Vyse's Discovery logbook, which included not only his detailed notations for everything that they'd observed of the Deep Sky and during their descent, but also a beached metallic longboat on the edge of the Great Vortex and a series of moaning stone chimneys jutting up from the depths that they'd flown by during their Lower Sky fly-around to avoid Valuan patrols. It almost covered the crew's wages, once all the parts needed for ship repairs were purchased. The profits made from Osman pawning off the stone that they'd chipped away from the surprise find of Velorium as 'Deep Sky Souvenirs' covered the rest. Including a bonus for Osman herself, which she spent on a gaudy umbrella and a new scarf. Vyse even checked the Valuan bounty board and was surprised to see two changes. His name was now at the top of the list, with four stars. 'The Angel of Death' had vanished from the list entirely.
Underneath all their tasks and the minutiae of a Sailor's Island stopover was the lingering specter of Enrique's departure. Miss Polly and her husband Robinson dragged Enrique and as many off-duty crewmembers as they could to the family tavern, where their daughter helped prepare a rousing farewell lunch. Vyse popped in when he could, but his duties as captain pulled him in a dozen different directions. At least Moegi and Fina were able to stay with Enrique the entire time, and keep the party from going completely off the rails, and they did keep it going. None of the crew, it seemed, was terribly keen on letting 'their prince' fly off into the darkened skies of Valua.
Vyse wasn't either but he'd accepted it. Enrique was going with the best of intentions, and it would be an opportunity. If Enrique could take hold of the reins, re-establish himself in Valua and turn the Armada against itself by commanding a Loyalist faction, it would give all of the Blue Rogues and their allies some much needed breathing room, buy them time. Time enough to get Fina's skyship working again and get the Moon Crystals clear.
If he pulled it off. If he convinced his mother and the Armada stationed in the Grand Fortress not to strip him of his title and throw him into the brig. Unsurprisingly, when the scope of his plan, or lack thereof came to light, Moegi was resistant to letting him go on his own. Enrique was resistant to anyone else going with him.
"Take the Setsu sisters, at least!" She demanded. "You cannot go alone!"
"I have to, Moegi." Enrique pressed her, unmoved by her pleas. He stood along one of the smaller docks in the harbor with the captain's runabout from the Delphinus hovering behind him. He'd wanted to take one of the smaller skiffs, but Vyse had insisted on giving him a boat that wouldn't have any trouble making the journey. "Nobody else would be safe. My status will offer me some protection, even if it only lasts long enough for me to be dragged before my mother. Any other Blue Rogue who came with me would be killed on sight, and you know it. I will not take Kirala and Urala." He took hold of her shoulders and stared into her eyes. "Their duty is to you, my love. Let me go knowing that you are safe, that you will be protected."
She sniffed, and standing between Aika and Fina, Vyse unconsciously reached for their hands, needing to touch them just a little in the charged moment. "Promise me, Enrique." The Yafutoman princess begged him, wiping at her eyes with the back of one of her sleeves. When she spoke again, it was in her mother tongue, and Vyse struggled to follow with the speed and soft solemnity she used. Fina squeezed his hand and translated for himself and for Aika.
"Come home to me, she said." The Silvite stated, and Vyse nodded. Home. How appropriate those words were. Home was often not a place. Home was where your heart belonged. How long ago had Fina first confessed to him and Aika that her home was with them, and not back among her own people?
Enrique took Moegi's face in his hands and held her gently as he kissed her, then pressed his forehead to hers. "I will always come back to you." He vowed, and the growl in his voice sounded like the rumble of low thunder. "I do not ever want to be parted from you, my dark-haired dearling. If there was any other way, I would take it."
Moegi said something back to him in a quiet whisper she clearly meant only for her lover's ears alone, and Enrique's face softened even further. This time, she angled her head up to kiss him, and he gratefully returned it a moment later. When they separated there were tears in her eyes. Enrique smiled and brushed them away with his thumb, then grasped her hand and laid it flat on his chest.
"My heart beats for you now."
"It beats for Valua." She argued, and Enrique winced at the detail that wasn't entirely wrong.
"Valua's welfare is my duty." He corrected her, keeping her from pulling her hand back. "You are all of my happiness." Moegi let out a muffled whine at that, and Vyse found himself taking pity on the two royals. They would keep this up forever if they could, for their ability to rest next to each other and burn away an afternoon was legendary back on Crescent Island. But Enrique had places to be. So did they.
"What, no room for your friends?" Vyse jested. The flippant remark made Enrique turn and look back to Vyse and the others with a raised eyebrow.
"I think I could spare some room in my heart for you three." Enrique retorted flippantly. "Ten percent, perhaps?"
"Ten?!" Aika snapped, coming up onto her hackles a little in feigned outrage. Vyse wondered who would break first, and it was Enrique who let out a rueful chuckle and shook his head.
"Well, perhaps twenty. But you'll forgive me if I leave the lion's share to my Lady."
Aika let go of Vyse's hand and folded her arms, sighing. "Well. I suppose that's fair."
"Oh, Aika." Fina giggled a bit, smiling over at her. Vyse rolled his eyes and focused back on Enrique. The exiled prince had turned solemn in moments.
"Vyse. If I might make a request…"
"We'll look after her, Enrique." Vyse cut him off. "Until you get back." Outwardly, he showed no doubt, like a good captain would. Rain would fall, the sun would rise, and Enrique would return to them.
Enrique nodded. "It has been - it's been my greatest honor to serve with you, Captain Vyse."
"Don't bother with a big farewell, all right?" Vyse said. "You're coming right back to us. You promised."
Enrique inclined his head slightly. "Yes. And so I shall. But if I could leave you with one final bit of advice?" He waited until Vyse made an affirmative gesture. "A day will come when sacrifices will have to be made. Uncle Gregorio knew that all too well, and taught me the same in my youth. The lesson didn't sink home until he - until Dangral Island." Enrique's blue eyes bored into him. "Do not be afraid of spending the lives of those committed to your cause. We all know what's at stake, we walked into this knowing the risks. Just be sure that they are spent well. Spent wisely."
"Gregorio's sacrifice was spent wisely then?" Vyse wondered aloud. There was pain in Enrique's face, but somehow he managed a nod.
"Yes. Because we're still here fighting. So don't stop now." Enrique held out his hand for a farewell handshake. Vyse considered it for a bit, then let go of Fina's hand and stepped forward, pulling him into a hug.
"Blue Rogues never give up without a fight, remember?" Vyse murmured. Enrique laughed a little.
"Yes." The exiled prince paused before smirking. "So, we're really going to hug this out?" He asked, turning Vyse's words from the night before back on him.
"Guess we are." Vyse gave him another squeeze for good measure, sniffed, and stepped back. Impulse made him reach for Enrique's beret and tug it down over his eyes. "Do yourself a favor while you're back in the capital city. Get a new hat."
Enrique scoffed and reset his headwear. "We aren't all so fortunate as to own Daccat's legendary hat, Vyse. But I'll see what I can do." His eyes flitted over Vyse's shoulders, and the Blue Rogue knew he was looking to Aika and Fina. "Take care of them."
"Always." Vyse promised, because that was also True. He could no sooner not look after his loves than they could walk away from him. "Don't make me break you out of the Grand Fortress. I will if I have to, but I'll hate it."
"What, and have you go through that business a Third Time?" Enrique huffed. "I think not. Your head's swelled enough as it is."
There were no words left after that, just the doing. Enrique didn't dare look at anyone else as he turned around and moved to the helm of the captain's runabout. Taking hold of the wheel, Enrique started up the engine and raised the ship up away from the dock before starting the engine. He kept his shoulders straight and his head pointed to the north, where the dark stormclouds of Valuan territory lingered on the horizon. As the ship flew away, Enrique didn't look back. Vyse suspected he couldn't, because one more look at Moegi, at all of his friends, and he might break and turn around.
For the sake of Valua and all the innocent lives there, Enrique kept on flying until his ship was a tiny silver speck in the distance. Only then did Moegi let out another sob and bury her face in her hands, and Fina and Aika swept to her sides, holding and soothing her.
"He's coming back." Fina reminded the princess. "He promised you. Enrique always keeps his word."
Vyse breathed in slowly, and breathed out slower still.
"Let's go." He said, pulling all the Blue Rogues around him back into the present. "We have some Moon Crystals to deliver." Not waiting for a response, he turned and started back for the runabout further along the docks that would take them back to the Delphinus.
Enrique had places to be, Vyse thought again. So did they.
