And we're back at it again!
We return to the absolute chaos that is this runaway Sea Train, there's no brakes and I'm plowing through any common sense.
As I've mentioned in the Discarded Blade chapter, several things have been changed in the previous fic chapters. The list of changes include:
1- The entire solo Saga part in Chapter 5
2- His title, powers and physical appearance
3- Some lines of speech
These changes were made after a lot of feedback from CV12Hornet, Patient One and Spoken, who donated some of their time to help me with some criticism. This also influenced a LOT of decisions for both immediate AND future plots, which now are very different from their original plans. And honestly, I'm very happy with this, because that allowed me to realize how edgy some of this shit was. We're talking OW THE EDGE levels of stuff. Some of the reviews have also influenced that decision.
In summation: Charge the Heavens has a now different heading, and I feel it'll be better overall for it. And I have writers and readers to thank for it. So, thank you all :)
Now, enough melodrama. We're here for bad SIs! So let's get to it.
~O~
Seventy-two hours.
Seventy-two hours was the time it took Gears to go over the entire ship, quite literally down to the nuts and bolts, and give his report of its condition.
Well, technically forty-eight hours. The other twenty-four were spent drawing up drafts, sketches and lists of all the stuff we'd need to help repair the Spirit of Freedom, plus some minor clean-up of the ship's insides.
We needed a lot.
And he hadn't even talked about it yet, that was just from me looking at the scarily large pile of papers he had set in front of him.
"So… Are you done?" I asked in a tone both of dread and hope as I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes, while the young engineer stood across the desk with his arms crossed. We had set up a table right outside the ship, in front of the warehouse storing Brave Soldier, with a few wooden crates for a makeshift wall and privacy. And after a long pause, Gears gave a non-challan shrug, followed by a nod.
"Pretty much, yeah. Prydwen took me through the whole ship, plus I could make some educated guesses myself on the stuff," he said, pulling a large rolled up paper, that he quickly unfurled atop the table. A quick look showed that he had drawn a diagram of the Spirit, with several red circles around points of the ship and technical jargon written beside it that honestly, I wasn't even going to bother trying to understand. "Bluntly? It's a miracle how intact your ship is… Internally, I mean. The frame itself and structure are completely untouched, no wear and tear at all, so no fear of having it breaking in two in the middle of the sea… That's where the good news stops, though."
"Alright, how bad?"
"Hoo, boy, where do I even start… Okay, piece by piece: hull needs to replaced, completely. If we get into a shootout with another ship, even glances will punch through that old thing. The interior rooms need to be rebuilt too, have the debris cleaned out, refurnishing… The works. Fresh coat of paint too." As Gears spoke, he pointed to every part with a telescopic rod that he apparently called the "Cool Stick", something that I had to really fight not to laugh at. "Cannons themselves are intact, but their firing and movement mechanisms are wrecked. That cool submarine feature that I found? Busted, the ballast tanks are ruptured, and the pump system's wrecked. Engine's working, but it's damaged, so the ship's running at about half power. The rear hangar's trashed too, plus that weird catapult… Seriously, where did you find this thing? A relic dumpster?"
"What about the materials we got in the hold already? Can't you use those?" I asked, ignoring the rib at my perfectly okay choice of seafaring vessel, to which Gears' reply was to pull a paper from the pile and hand it over to me. This one I could actually read, and listed all the crates and boxes that had been inside the cargo area, with the contents neatly noted under each numbered crate.
"Not enough to work everything. And there's still two other problems to deal with."
"What now?"
"First, the money, obviously," and I couldn't help but cringe at that. "Yeah, there's that little problem. We're gonna need a ton of it to pay for everything, so that's definitely a priority. However we do it, we have to do it… My suggestion is clapping some idiots in the seas and cashing in their bounties, but we'll see."
"Okay, we'll burn those ships when we get there. What about the other problem?"
"That would be a working place. And before you say anything," he interjected, just as I opened my mouth to speak. "We can't work here because they don't have a shipyard properly equipped to handle an iron-clad, much less heavy engineering like this. I need a better port, better space… Not the tools though, those I have with myself."
Left unspoken was the warning Soku had given us two days ago, right after Goto was shipped for his court martial: we had, at most, four days before the Marines came knocking for me and Gears, plus Prydwen probably for being an "associate" or some made up crap. We had already burned forty-eight of those hours.
In other words? We had to skedaddle. Quick.
With a sigh, I threw the paper into the table, scratching my head in annoyance. "Okay… I'll have Prydwen ready the Spirit to leave tomorrow morning, first thing. We need a heading, though. Any recommendations?"
"Hmm… I can think of a few places that would be peaceful enough and have proper installations…" muttered the engineer, before shaking his head and rolling up the paper again. "But let's leave it for tomorrow. More peace, more time, less people knowing where we're going…" A yawn escaped the boy's lips, and he rubbed his eye tiredly. "Huh… Coffee must have run its… course…"
Before he could fall over and hit his head on the table (which I'd very much allow to happen, mind you, because it'd be hilarious), an armored arm wrapped around Gears' torso, with Prydwen carefully picking him up on a bride carry.
I still didn't understand how she could be this fast and this quiet, but it made for a novel experience, at least.
"I will take engineer Gears to his quarters, captain Saga," said the centaur quietly, to which I simply smiled and nodded. And with that, she trotted back towards the Spirit, carrying in her arms an utterly exhausted young genius-slash-mecha pilot.
… You know my crew was off to an amazing start.
Unfortunately, I also felt my sleepiness crawling up my back, so it was about time to call it quits for today. Taking all the paperwork and throwing it into one of the wall crates, simultaneously hoping that I hadn't ruined all that hard work, I began shambling off into the ship as well…
"So you're leaving, huh?"
Right up to the point a young, determined voice called out from somewhere behind me. And lo and behold, behind me was Matsu, his face covered in dirt and expression as threatening as a kid could make. I could see his clothes being dirty as well, some scuff-marks on his arms and legs, and even a… Band-aid across his nose? Huh… Oh right, should probably reply.
"Hey there, Matsu… What you doing out here so late?" I managed to yawn out, feeling my tiredness clobber me over my head with every word I slurred.
"I came here to see how our 'glorious savior' was doing. And you look like crap," snarked the boy, punctuated by me yawning loudly at his words. "That probably explains it too. Haven't slept well?"
"You can say that again… That's not your full reason though, is it?"
"… Yeah… Listen, I—"
"You can't come with me, Matsu."
"But why not?!"
"Because where I'm going is no place for a child," I replied coldly, feeling my drowsiness vanish to whatever place Zoro's sense of direction fucked off to. "You could have gotten hurt badly back there, and this was just with that weakling captain. The rest of the sea won't be as easy, and the Grand Line even less so. I'm only taking those that can fight back against whatever the sea throws at us."
It certainly didn't make me happy to see Matsu standing there with his teeth clenched hard, head lowered and fists shaking, but it had to be said. Calmly, I knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "The day you can go to the sea will come, but not now. And besides… Someone's gotta keep things safe here, don't you think? And who better than you for that?"
For a moment, the kid didn't move, and I found myself hoping I hadn't crushed his dreams or something nasty. Thankfully, after a short moment, Matsu looked up at me again and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and pinning me with a fierce glare.
"You… Fine! But you better believe I'll keep getting stronger! And when I find you again, I'll kick your ass something fierce, ya hear me?!"
"Heh… Alright then. It's a promise."
-O-
Aboard a Marine IA ship…
"Damn him… Damn the Hermit!"
Inside the brig, shackled and stripped of all but his underwear, Goto growled and ground his teeth to dust.
His greatest chance… His path to glory, ruined by a brat and a bum! How dare they!
Still… Kokoko… You won't get away unscathed, damn Hermit… The Marines were not my only buyers… And you will taste soon of their revenge!
-O-
The following morning…
I did not expect this much celebration.
The townsfolks were all gathered in the docks, cheering and waving goodbye as the Spirit of Freedom readied to leave port. Behind the mob, the Marines stood at the ready, just in case anything bad went down. And right at the forefront, in the same pose as he always seemed to hold, was the commodore, with his ever-present pipe hanging from his lips, standing across from me, Gears and Prydwen. Atop the deck knelt the Brave Soldier, its glass eyes dull and lifeless, with ropes tying it securely in place.
"It would seem this is farewell, young ones," said Soku with a smile, smoke wafting from between his lips. "Though the circumstances of our meeting are less than pleasant, I am hopeful that our paths may cross at a later date in more pleasing positions."
"Likewise, commodore," I replied with a smile of my own. "Glad to see not all the Marines are lost causes."
"Hmph… I also hope your opinion of the Navy betters itself throughout your travels."
"With respect, commodore… I highly doubt that."
"How about we leave before you two punch each other or something?" asked Gears, his voice muffled due to the chocolate bar held between his teeth. "Big ocean out there and what not, we got a lot of water to cross."
"I concur with engineer Gears, captain Saga," added Prydwen, her posture just as regal as always. "Commodore Soku, we take our leave now."
"Then to all of you, safe travels."
And with those final parting words, we climbed back onto the Spirit of Freedom, quickly making our way back onto the bridge. Now cleared of most debris, all that was left was the damaged instrument panels, a few old seats, and the steering wheel right in front of the large glass windows, granting a wide view of everything ahead of the ship, and the intact levers and pulleys surrounding it.
Calmly, Prydwen took hold of the metal wheel and pulled back on one of the levers. With a low groan, the ship's engine came to life, pulling the sea water from below the metal vessel and pumping it out the hydro jets lining its sides. And as gracefully as it had arrived, the Spirit of Freedom began sliding out of the dock, raising small waves up as its multi-ton body returned to the sea.
"So… Our destination, Gears?" I asked the engineer, who promptly threw a map of the West Blue onto the ground and used his Cool Stick to smack one island of many.
"Revolv Island. Grandiose mercenary and bounty hunter haven, with plenty of shipyards to use, and golden opportunities to make money."
BOOM
"… Assuming we make it out of here, of course."
"Goddammit, why can't shit be easy for once?!"
As me and Gears clambered down back towards the deck, Prydwen expertly maneuvered the ship and shut off the engines, using its pure momentum to turn the Spirit out into the sea before dropping the anchors to keep it still. And indeed, as soon as we reached the deck, we caught sight of our attackers: two large ships, with fish head Jolly Rogers emblazoned onto their sails, Marine ship turrets bristling at their fore and looking like someone took massive skeletons and bolted them onto wooden hulls.
"Who the hell are those guys?" I asked aloud, just as another plume of water rose from a missed cannon shot rose into the air and splashed both of us with sea water.
"Oh, so that's who Goto was offering the robots to…"
"… And you didn't mention them before because?"
"Hey give me a break, I had about a dozen other things that took priority then some no-name criminals, including fixing your boat!" shouted back the engineer as he glared at the ships in the horizon. "Dammit, and I haven't fixed the Soldier yet… Got any plans?"
Yet before I could even think of a sarcastic reply to that, we were almost deafened by a loud booming sound, followed by a blast of air almost throwing me and Gears off out feet. And once more, the commodore appeared right next to us, as calm as ever even as I tried to not yelp like a dying seal.
"Allow me to assist you with your woes, Hermit," he spoke in a cheerful tone, bouncing a large cannonball on his right hand. "Consider it a return for your public services."
And as another cannon volley fell around the Spirit, Soku grasped the cannonball tightly, reared his arm back…
"Mach Cannon."
And threw it.
The ball parted the sea beneath it, a cone of air forming around it as it flew towards the left ship. Without any chance to dodge the oncoming projectile, the ship was torn from bow to stern, sending broken wood and unfortunate pirates flying in all directions. Its twin, apparently realizing that a change of tactics was needed, immediately began moving towards us, still firing its cannons at our immobile ship. The fact they were moving, however, proved to be a detriment to their accuracy, and so their shots began missing even further than before.
"Well, half of your job is now done, Hermit," said Soku as he stepped back and cast a sidelong glance to me. "Please handle the other half diligently." And with those parting words, he vanished again, reappearing at the edge of the pier just as smoothly as he had landed aboard the Spirit.
"Well that's great… How do we hit the other one?"
"Allow me, engineer Gears."
The boy turned towards the back of the ship, just in time to see Prydwen stride forward from inside the hangar, her anchor spear and shield already in hand. The centaur stopped between us and stared at the approaching ship with the same stoic expression she always seemed to hold before striding past and forward. "In my duty as ship guard, I will fell these foes."
… Oh… Oh-ho-hoh… Oh, this was gonna be good.
"Hey, Prydwen!" I called out as she trotted towards the bow of the ship. And when the centaur turned to face me, I gave her a thumbs up and a wry smile. "Make it flashy!"
"As you wish, captain Saga," she replied as calmly as ever before turning to face the oncoming pirate ship. Prydwen stared at the oncoming vessel, her face a mask of pure serenity, before raising her anchor lance into the air.
Just as the pirates fired again, several cannonballs aimed straight at the Soul.
The centaur drew in one breath, closing her eyes…
"Aegir."
And waved her anchor down.
And ahead of the Soul, a wall of water rose from the ocean, striking the cannonballs and tossing them into the sky like pebbles, where they exploded harmlessly.
The moment after, Prydwen turned her anchor-spear and gaze towards the pirate ship, as a roaring lance of water coalesced around her weapon. The enemy, seemingly unable to see the attack coming, stayed their course.
A fatal mistake.
"Poseidon's Lance."
And like cannon fire returned, the spear shot forth, parting the sea beneath it as it raced towards the pirate ship that only now had begun turning. The attack gored through the wooden hull, punching a hole from one side to the other and tearing a chunk of the vessel's keel. As the ship buckled under its own weight and began to collapse into itself, Prydwen calmly trotted back, holstering her anchor onto her shield.
And me? I just watched it all, casting a sidelong glance at Gears so I could marvel at his shocked expression. Though I couldn't really make fun of him for it.
I had the same reaction when she had told me of her ability all those years ago, and the fruit that had given it.
The Spout-Spout Fruit.
"Alright, we're clear! Let's blow this popsicle stand and split!"
-O-
On the coast, the gathered masses watched as the red iron-clad resumed its path away from Nissus Island, while further in the horizon the two wrecked pirate ships began to vanish beneath the sea, with their passengers already scrambling for their longboats.
But most of all, Soku watched in grand amusement as his newest "acquaintances" left his island, his pipe carefully held between his teeth.
"Well, well… So this is the reason you failed in your assault of the ship, hm?"
"Yes, commodore… Unfortunately so."
"Quite a powerful fruit indeed… Well, I suppose it was an unexpected situation. For now, Private Mester, take a few ships and fetch me those pirates before they drown. I believe their interrogation will be… Most fruitful."
"At once, commodore."
-O-
Two weeks later, West Blue open waters…
"Alright now give me the screwdriver case."
"Coming up."
"Hup… Okay, thanks. Keep the hammer and wrenches close too, might need a bit of help with the servos."
"Already in hand."
Did I ever mention that travel time sucks? Because it does. It really, really does. Especially when nothing happens.
Well sure, nothing happening means at least that the Marines or pirate crews weren't actively chasing us, something that had become a massive priority now that Gears had joined me. Sure, the Navy had far more powerful stuff than a mecha, but I knew the tech would be something Vegapunk would most definitely use in his Pacifista project, or whatever other monstrosity the World Government forced him to build. That also played into our current predicament: finishing the repairs to the Brave Soldier, now inside the cleaned up hangar, plus making the adjustments for it to fight in marine conditions.
A.k.a, let the thing have some hover capacity just in case something tried pushing it into the ocean for an easy kill.
Coupled with that was the more basic repairs Gears had been running on the insides of the Spirit. Nothing key, just clean up and repairs of the rooms. On one hand, it ate up some of the material storages we had: wootz steel for the doors and locks, electronics for repairing lighting and control systems in the bridge, a type of metal alloy called "Knock Iron" that was apparently highly shock-resistant for the interior like hallways and ceilings…
Plus a few more… Unique materials. Like Liquor Iron Ore for the turrets' mechanisms, something called "Volt Ore" that he could use to upgrade the hydro-engine to generate more electrical energy… And the main enchilada…
xOx
"Volcanic Steel?" I asked, looking at the small dark-grey rectangle he was spinning in his hand.
"Yup. That's the stuff the hull's made of, but this one's aged and battered. Whoever abandoned the ship never fixed or replaced the plating, so it stayed broken," answered Gears, tapping the rectangle against the wall behind him, causing a surprisingly deep gong-like sound. "Replacing the whole thing is the best solution now."
"So what makes that steel so special?"
"Oh you know, it's just the metal equivalent of the Adam Tree, no biggie." The way he snickered when he saw my eyes widen was probably golden to him, but I was busy trying to keep myself from dropping my jaw. "Yep, it's pretty damn strong. Course, no one's tried to build one out of the thing cause it's so damn rare."
"… How rare?"
"Rare enough. The ore needed for this stuff, Magma Stone, only happens in places with extremely high temperatures, like volcanoes or magma deposits… Hence the name. And we can forget about buying it, half a ton of the stuff costs four hundred million beris at the lowest, so we're gonna have to dig it up somewhere… And it just so happens I know rumors of a place… In the Grand Line."
xOx
Bottom line? We were dirt poor still, still needing a crew and with a mighty need for resources to make the Spirit of Freedom Grand Line-worthy either in the Blues, or at the immediate entrance of the Line. If we took too long, we'd run the risk of losing the Spirit mid-way through the journey.
And I wasn't going to have her end up like the Merry, no fucking way.
"Alright, gimme the hammer. Just gotta finish the knee joint."
My musings stopped once I realized Gears had called me out again, his hand outstretched and awaiting the requested tool. As I passed the requested hammer, we both felt the entire ship lurch, the Brave Soldier listing slightly against the chains holding it in place, before coming to a halt with a loud, metallic groan.
"Holy-!"
"Whoa, whoa!"
Both me and Gears braced with whatever we could hold onto, unsecured tools tumbling into the floor in a cacophony of clangs, though thankfully the big-small mecha did not decide to break the chains and flatten the two squishy humans currently healing him.
"Captain Saga, engineer Gears, we have encountered something," called out Prydwen as… Somehow appeared in the hangar, nevermind the fact she had been in the bridge, helming the ship.
"Okay, that was her…" grumbled said engineer as he climbed down from the Brave Soldier, an old man scowl in his face. "Saga, tell your ship guard to drive smoother."
"Noted… Prydwen, what is it?"
"There is a ship in the horizon, port side. Its flag is not pirate, but is still… Unique."
Unique flag? Wonder if it could be some other free crew or something like that… Worth taking a look, maybe.
"Gears, how ready is the Soldier?"
"Ready enough," replied the boy, giving the mecha a tap on the leg. "Big guy can shoot and fight at least."
"Alright… Let's see that mystery ship then."
So we stepped out onto the deck, Prydwen passing me a spyglass as we did so before pointing to a specific direction at our port side. So I opened the spyglass, put it to my eye, and…
" … Prydwen… You said their flag was 'unique'."
"Correct, captain Saga."
"You could have warned me about the naked girl, you know?"
"Apologies, captain Saga."
"… Well… Might as well do this. Gears, get inside the Soldier. We're gonna meet some neighbors."
-O-
"Hey chief! Take a look there!"
"What is it, ensign?"
"Got a weird ship off to our starboard coming closer. Over there, see?"
"Hmm… Yes… I see it."
"What you want us to do, chief?"
"Gather up the crew… And warn the Boss."
"You got it, chief."
"Chief? Something wrong—Ooo, we got visitors?! Excellent! I'll go make preparations!"
~O~
There we go.
A shorter chapter, but more light-hearted. Our introduction is done, so now we move onto the big process of getting all the shit we need for the Grand Line! Nothing like a fetch quest sequence to make things fuuuuuuuuuuun.
Still, I'm mostly proud of this one. I had half a mind of adding more, but honestly it'd feel artificial at best.
In a more positive note, damn, I wrote this in 8 days? That's honestly a surprising record.
Now, I was planning on starting work on the next Meister of your Future. But I caught myself in a very good mood, and also caught myself in a very… Specific mood.
I could say… I want to get my game on~
Stay tuned, folks~ New project oncoming, let's see how it fares.
