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Skies of Arcadia: The Ruins of Tal'Kalen
Chapter Two: Alliance of the Blue Rogues
Gilder took in a deep breath of fresh air. This was the good life he'd been searching for, traveling all over Arcadia and taking in the beautiful scenery and women. "Ah, Claudia. I think you're the only girl I could ever love," Gilder said as he patted the wheel. "Well, in a non-physical way of course. Though I don't know what lengths Clara would go to. She might start following me into the bars and slipping stuff into my drinks and marry me while I'm liquored up. But I don't know if she would do that or not."
"Liquored up! Liquored up! Squawk!" Willie cawed from Gilder's shoulder.
"Yeah, I know you like loqua. You don't have to remind me."
"Cap'n Gilder! Look dead ahead. It looks like a desert funnel, but it's a weird color. It looks bright red," called one of the Claudia's crewmen.
Gilder pulled out his telescope and peered through it. "Well, that's something I've never seen before. Quite odd actually," Gilder put the telescope down. "What do you say boys, should we go check it out?"
"Hold on Cap'n!" cried the lookout.
"Huh? What is it?"
"I think we should stay put for right now. There's some Black Pirate ships headed this way...I can't see how many though."
Gilder brought the telescope back to his eyes. "One, two, three, four, five, six..." Gilder counted to himself. "I see six of them. Now what the hell do you suppose they'd be doing out here? This certainly doesn't look like a heavily used route."
"What the hell! What the hell! Squawk!"
"Yeah, we know Willy. I think you might be right. We'll turn around and watch them, try and figure out what they're doing here."
"You got it Cap'n."
The Claudia slowly decreased its altitude and away. The ships were still within sight, but the Claudia was hardly noticeable.
"How long should we wait them out, Cap'n Gilder?"
"We'll wait until sundown. If they aren't gone by then, we'll just take our business elsewhere."
This desert really is beautiful, Aika thought as her scanned across the dunes. She had a perfect view from the crow's nest of The Journeyer. She began to stretch her arms out and yawn, thinking, Yes, this certainly is as good a life to lead as one could ask for- She stopped in mid-thought as she took a closer look out the port side. She saw a ship headed in the same direction as The Journeyer.
Fina sighed as she longingly looked at Vyse. Maybe now was the time to talk to him about it. Aika wasn't within hearing distance of them, and Vyse seemed quite at peace when at the wheel. The more important part was that Aika wasn't around. Fina loved her dearly, but this was something that she knew she wouldn't want to hear.
Of course, they were on a mission right now. She really didn't want to queer their chances of finding Tal'Kalen. ...No. This was it. This was the time.
Just as she was about to open her mouth, Vyse spoke up. "Isn't this great, Fina? The clear skies, the picturesque desert, and the mystery of these ruins."
"Yes, it certainly is."
"And there's no one around but us three-"
"Vyse!" Aika yelled down from the crow's nest. "Look! Off the port side, another ship. It looks like it's heading the same way we are."
Vyse squinted his eyes as he looked out towards the other ship. "I can't see the flag on it. But what the hell would they be doing out here anyways? This isn't a trade route, and the closest city is Nasrad, and that's in the opposite direction. Unless..."
"What the hell would they be doing out here anyways? This isn't a trade route."
"I dunno Cap'n Maiev. I can't make out the flag on the ship yet," said Angela.
Maiev went back over to the sound tube and spoke through it. "Jade, can you make out the flag? I want to know if we're going to have a fight here or not."
A few moments later Jade's voice came from down the tube. She had an excited tone in her voice. "Oh, Cap'n Maiev, the flag is that of Blue Rogues for sure. I don't know what crew, but definitely Blue Rogues."
"Well, when you can make out the symbol, be sure to tell me," Maiev said, turning back to the bridge. "Angela, Tyrande. Who do you think it could be? Are there any other Blue Rogues who could know about these ruins?"
"Is it Morgan's ship?" asked Angela.
"No, he boasted about his ship when he told me about this. The Red Dawn it's called. I saw it in the port in Maramba, looked fairly junky is you ask me. That ship has some very fine craftsmanship."
"Well, could Morgan have shot his mouth off to other pirates?" asked Tyrande.
"I dunno. He could have. But the way he talked, he seemed like we were the only ones he'd told."
"Well, never mind with all of that. They'll be within radio distance soon, we can contact them then," Angela said. Maiev and Tyrande nodded.
Aika gave a cheerful laugh. "Haha! Vyse! That ship belongs to Blue Rogues!"
"It does? Well. At least we won't have a fight on our hands," Vyse sighed. "What do you think, Fina? Should we close in and talk to them?"
Fina nodded. "Yes, maybe they know a little bit about the area. They may be able to help us out."
"Alright, it's settled then," Vyse said as he gave the wheel a spin and headed towards the iron ship.
"Look Cap'n, that ship is turning towards us!" Tyrande cried.
"Cap'n, we have company. I can see their flag," Jade called from down the sound tube.
"Well, who is it then? We still can's see the flag from here," Maiev said slightly agitated.
"Well, look your best girls. Unless I'm sorely mistaken, that's the flag of our legendary Blue Rogue Vyse."
Maiev, Angela, and Tyrande remained silent for a few moments on the bridge. "Could it really be them? I mean, all the way out here?" Tyrande squeaked.
Maiev leaned forward, squinting her eyes, staring as hard as she could at the flag as the ship drew closer. "Skull...cutlass...eye-patch..." Maiev mumbled to herself. She coughed and the straightened up. "Well girls, it appears to be Vyse's ship alright," she said with a joyful laugh. "Angela, go down and tell the rest of the crew about our visitors. I want them all ready. We'll go out to meet them."
Angela nodded and disappeared into the lower decks for a few minutes until she came back. Tyrande carefully eased The Vashj up to the side of The Journeyer, which was mimicking the maneuver. "Alright. Tyrande? Angela? Are you ready?" They both eagerly nodded, and the trio walked onto the deck of The Vashj. Vyse and Fina were walking onto the deck as well, Pow eagerly bounding at Vyse's heel.
"Oh...wow, he's even cuter than I'd imagined," Tyrande swooned.
Maiev nudged her side. "Keep your composure ladies. It's not everyday you get to meet the people who vanquished two of the greatest evils in Arcadia history." Angela and Tyrande just nodded.
The trio walked to the end of the deck and leaned upon the ships' railing, face to face with Vyse and Fina. "Well, I must say, it is quite a pleasure to meet a crew of your standard. It isn't everyday that you get to meet the people that saved the world from evil's claws," Maiev said, her voice silky smooth.
"You make us sound like we were immortal or something," Vyse said with a laugh.
"What? You mean you aren't?" Maiev replied with her a laugh of her own.
"Well, I guess by your reaction we don't need to introduce ourselves. But just in case, I'm Vyse, captain of The Journeyer. This lovely woman here is Fina, that lovely woman up in the crow's nest-" Vyse was cut off by the sound of Aika's boots hitting the deck. She'd slip all the way down the ropes leading to the nest. Vyse chuckled. "The lovely woman who is now standing beside me is of course Aika. Our friend Kirala is below deck." A bark came from below the ship railing. "Oh, right. And down here is our scoundrel husky Pow." Pow barked again. "Now, what are the names of you fellow Blue Rogues?
Maiev smiled. "My name is Maiev, and I am captain of this ship, The Vashj. It's one of the finest ships you'll see around Arcadia."
"It is a very nice ship," Fina said with a smile.
"Yes, the craftsmanship is excellent. Whoever built it new what they were doing," Aika said, her voice with a sound of slight admiration."
"You have my father to blame for that," Maiev said with a giggle. "Now, the rest of m crew. Standing to my right is my tough-as-nails second in command, Angela." Angela smiled and pushed her golden blond hair behind her ears. "And to my left is the best helmswoman in all of Arcadia, Tyrande." Tyrande waved and pushed up her glasses.
"Well, it sounds like you're just trying to auction us off to them, Maiev. For shame, auctioning us off and not even mentioning me."
Maiev turned around and saw that Jade had come down from the crow's nest. Maiev laughed cheerfully. Pointing back to Jade she said, "And that is our lookout Jade, whose mouth is sharper and than her eyes."
"Hey! That's not very fair. My brain is sharper than both," Jade said playfully as she walked up beside Tyrande. Everyone shared a laugh at that.
"The rest of my crew is below decks, but they're pretty much like us," Maiev said. "Well, except for Apoc. But we don't mind him, and you shouldn't either when you meet him," Maiev said to the laughter of her crew.
"Well, it certainly seems like you're one of the friendlier bunches around. So what are you doing this far out in the middle of nowhere?" Aika questioned.
"Ah...just a second." Maiev pulled Angela, Tyrande, and Jade away from the railing and they went into a huddle. "Well...what should we tell them? Should we tell them the truth or make something up? I feel this should be a group decision," Maiev whispered.
"Well, it's not really a group decision if the other girls aren't here tough, is it?" whispered Tyrande.
"That's not the point. They would surely agree with us," Maiev pointed out. They all nodded.
"Ah hell. Just tell them we heard word of some ruins out here, and that they sparked our interest. Besides, we probably look really stupid huddled up like this," Jade said.
Vyse glanced over to Aika and Fina. "What do you think they're talking about?"
"Call me crazy, but I think they know about the ruins too," Aika said with a slight frown. Fina nodded knowingly.
The four girls turned back around, and resumed their positions. "Well, we heard rumors of some ruins out around this area, and it sparked our interest. We decided to come out and look for them," Maiev said, smoothness and reluctantly fighting for control of her voice.
Fina nodded. Vyse sighed slightly. "Looks like Kirala's insider info wasn't so inside."
Aika slumped her shoulders a bit. "If they know, then who could guess how many others do? These ruins may have well been looted already. It looks like another legend won't be paying out."
Maiev looked about to her crew with a look of bewilderment. She looked Vyse dead in the eyes. "You...you know about Tal'Kalen?" Vyse nodded. Maiev looked down and a feeling of rage rose in her. "Morgan," she growled angrily.
"That son of a bitch!" Angela shouted angrily.
"I can't believe he would do something like this," Tyrande muttered.
"I told you he was a jerk. Watch, the ruins probably don't even exist and he was just being a dick telling us about them," Jade said angrily. "And we were dumb enough to fall for it."
Maiev angrily pounded her fist against the railing of the ship. She looked up at Vyse, a seriousness filling her eyes. "Kirala...would you happen to know who she got this information from?"
Vyse shook his head. Aika spoke up. "I don't think she caught his name, but she said he was a Blue Rogue too."
"Hell. It must've been him then," Maiev said, her voice trembling with anger. "If and when we find him, we are going to show him not to-"
"Are you guys going to keep dwelling on the fact that you hate this Morgan so much, or are all of you ready to see if the ruins still exist?" Fina cut in. She pointed dead ahead. "Right there, the fluorescent twister. If the ruins exist anymore, that's where they'd be. Now, are we going to let some foul notions and misguided rumors stop us from finding out what's really down there, or are we going to just let those Black Pirates flying above it find out first?"
Aika smiled and gave a laugh. "Hah! Now you're talking my language Fina! What do you say, Vyse? Maiev? Let's go show that air scum that we came for the ruins, and won't let anyone stand in our way!" Vyse nodded. Maiev did so as well, with quite a bit of eagerness flooding into her.
"Well alright then! What're we waiting for? Battle stations!" Fina called and ran towards the bridge.
Maiev and her crew ran back, ready to take their stations. Aika smiled joyfully. "Fina is becoming quite the air pirate, isn't she, Vyse?" Vyse only laughed as they ran back for the bridge.
"Oh...oh my head hurts like hell. Where am I?" Domingo asked himself as he groggily sat up inside the bridge of The Discovery. He looked around the bridge and slowly took in his surroundings. He rubbed his eyes as he stood up. "Oh, right."
He blinked a few times and looked out towards the horizon. The ship's autopilot had brought him somewhere in the Nasr desert. Peering through his telescope he muttered to himself, "I'm probably lost out here. Imagine, me, The World's Greatest Explorer, lost exploring the world." He sighed as he put down the telescope and reached into his pocket, finding a half-empty bottle of loqua and a loose cigar. He pulled the cigar out of his pocket and lit it. He puffed on the cigar slowly as he looked back through the telescope.
Dead ahead. He almost missed it, but he caught the tail end. Straight ahead a great red twister spun about over the desert, and two ships bearing Blue Rogue flags were engaging a pack of Black Pirates. He looked closer at the flags. Domingo gave a loud chuckle as he saw the flag of Vyse's ship, The Journeyer. "Vyse, old friend, back to your roots I see. Well, it looks like you could use a bit of help," Domingo elevated his voice to a shout. "And I plan on helping you!" Domingo laughed again as he put The Discovery at full speed, charging towards the fight.
"Fire!" Vyse shouted. Aika released the main cannon, and the shot slammed into the hull of one of the Black Pirate ships. Before the battle had started, the Black Pirates had fired off their usual introductory insults. But this battle was a little more interesting than your usual Black Pirate fight. Baltor was with them, and with his newly revamped Blackbeard 3. "Fire!" Vyse shouted again. Another main cannon tore through the ships hull. Vyse then immediately took on evasive maneuvers to try and shake the other Black Pirate ships off of his tail. They had only taken light damage from cannon fire, but it would eventually build up if he wasn't careful.
Maiev's eyes searched the skies intently, looking for her next target. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead and into her eyes, but she merely blinked them off. "Tyrande, conduct some evasive maneuvers. We don't want to take on a lot of damage," Maiev said before bursting out, "Fire!" Alexia, Raze, and Teresa all let loose with the ships light sub cannons. The rounds peppered the hull of a Black Pirate ship, but didn't cause a large amount of damage. Next she called out "Alexia, cast a wevlen spell at that ship." Just as she finished her statement, the hull of The Vashj was rocked by cannon fire. The wevlen spell retaliated against the ship quite nicely, knocking it well off balance.
Jade was the only one left on the outside of the ship. She stood in the crow's nest with a rifle, trying to pick off any stray crewmembers that wandered into her firing range. One pirate stepped just a little too far out onto the deck, and was met with a bullet to his shoulder. Jade gave a sigh and muttered to herself, "Keep 'em coming." Being a lookout didn't mean her eyes were the only steady part of her body.
The Journeyer let loose another round of cannon fire, severely damaging one of the enemy ships. It paid the price however as it took another direct hit to its hull. "Vyse wiped the sweat from his forehead and called out, "Let's finish that ship, it'll be one less enemy to worry about."
"You got it, Vyse," Aika replied. A moment later the boom of The Journeyer's cannons sounded again, and the round smashed directly into the enemy ship's hull, splintering the armor away and sending the ship into flames. "Haha! One down, five to go," Aika yelled before the ship was hit with another round of cannon fire.
"Vyse you pathetic dog, today I shall finally slay you! You have no chance for survival this time!" Baltor screamed at the top of his lungs. "All gunners, open fire on The Journeyer! We shall be destroying Vyse for good today!"
The Black Pirates never saw The Claudia rise from the sand behind them. Gilder gave a lighthearted laugh. "Alright men, get to your stations. It looks like Vyse needs us to save his butt again!" Once his crew left to go below deck, Gilder spun the wheel and gritted his teeth. "You mess with my friends, and you mess with me. And when you mess with me, you mess with Claudia! Fire!" The cannons of The Claudia opened up in a crescendo of flame. The rounds smashed against three of the Black Pirate ships, scoring direct hits to their back ends.
Vyse laughed triumphantly. "Well, what do you know. Gilder has decided to come and help us out. Fire!" The Journeyer rocked again as the main cannons slammed into another enemy ship.
"Who the hell is that?" Angela said as The Claudia came into view.
"Who cares? Whoever it is, they're on our side," Tyrande noted.
Maiev nodded and focused. A green circle surrounded the ship as she cast Sacres, healing the ship back to nearly full repair. "But we're not out of the water yet," she growled.
The ship battle continued to rage on as the ships continued trading blows with one another. The Vashj looked in decent health, The Journeyer not nearly as great, and the Claudia barely even scratched. All of the Black Pirate ships had been hit pretty hard with the exception of Baltor's. But Baltor never saw what was coming right behind him.
Domingo chuckled and downed the last half of the bottle of loqua. "Here goes nothing!" He screamed as he swerved and rammed the hull of the Discovery into The Blackbeard 3. Baltor's ship took the full force of the blow, and the engines cut out. The Discovery flew on, the treasure chest flag flapping wildly in the wind.
The Blackbeard 3 started to sink below the battle, and right into the desert cyclone. Baltor could be heard screaming bloody murder about getting his vengeance on Domingo right after he killed Vyse.
Vyse laughed again. "Well, all of our old friends want to join the party I guess."
"Vyse, we have to repair soon. We can't take many more direct hits," Aika called up, a hint of urgency in her voice.
"Alright, I'll use a repair kit on the next turn. Let's hope Kirala can keep the engines cool enough."
Maiev stared in amazement as The Blackbeard sunk into the cyclone, and the medium sized wooden ship flew past them. "Who the hell was that?" Tyrande cried.
It was Maiev's turn to answer. "Who cares? Whoever it is, they're on our side." An explosion rocked The Vashj just as Maiev finished her statement.
Christina yelled up from the bottom deck. "Cap'n, they're launching torpedoes! We're taking some extra damage from them. What are your orders?"
"Keep firing back at them! Give them everything we've got! Tyrande, let's keep The Vashj in the air. Evasive maneuvers, fast as possible." Tyrande nodded and bit down on her bottom lip in concentration.
Another torpedo rocked The Vashj. Jade almost took a tumble from the crow's nest, but ended up planted face first on its floor instead. "Damn it all. Moons, please help us out here," Jade whispered to herself, readying for the next bombardment.
Kirala ran about the engine room releasing all the steam valves, trying to keep the engines from overheating. "Pow! Bring me a wrench!" she cried over the noise. The purple husky bounded across the engine room with a wrench in his mouth. "Good dog, good dog," Kirala mumbled as she went back to work.
A blue orb surrounded The Journeyer as Vyse used a repair kit. it was enough to keep her in the battle, but she was still feeling the sting of cannon fire. "Aika! Fina! Let's try and blast them right out of the sky. One of you cast crystalen, then pyrulen."
"You got it Vyse. I'll cast pyrulen, you have crystalen, alright?" Aika said urgently. Fina nodded and focused for her spell. A moment later a blast of purple magic exploded from the ships cannons, slamming into the hull of an enemy ship, freezing it in place. A second later, the fireball of pyrulen hit the ship and dropped it into the sand below. Aika laughed with excitement and high-fived Fina. "Yes!" they cheered at the same time.
"That's another one down, three more to go. Well done, ladies," Vyse called smugly. "prepare for another round of cannon fire!"
Gilder laughed heartily as he saw the twin magics down another enemy ship. "Let's finish this now," he muttered, a hint of anger in his voice. "Fire all cannons!" The Claudia opened up on a Black Pirate ship, blowing massive holes through it. The ship slowly sank to the sands below, engulfed in fire. Only two ships remained.
"Look! The enemy is retreating!" Vyse shouted as the last two ships took off. They both launched a pair of torpedoes as a going away present. The torpedoes smashed into The Journeyer, and knocked her off balance. The Vashj and The Claudia were both out of position to fire at the escaping ships, and Domingo could only ram them without a crew to fire off The Discovery's cannons. Suddenly, a cannon round tore through the back end of an escaping ship. The Red Dawn flew right past it, watching as the ship dropped to the sands. "Who the hell is that?" Vyse said. "Well, whatever. As long as they're on our side."
Jade stood up from the crow's nest and screamed with delight as the last ship sputtered away. She fired a bullet into the back end of the ship, but really only to show her pride in their victory. She held the rifle with one hand over her head and cheered.
Maiev wiped the sweat from her brow and fell back into a sitting position on the cabin floor. "Well, that was a little too close for comfort." Angela and Tyrande giggles with relief. "But...whose ship was that last one...wait." The realization of who it was dawned on Maiev. "Bastard!" she screamed.
Angela glanced down at Maiev. "What? What is it?"
"That ship! That last one, that's the Red Dawn. It's Morgan's ship!" Maiev growled as she quickly got to her feet. "I'm going to give him a piece of my mind." Angela and Tyrande nodded.
Aika gave a sigh of relief and dropped to her knees. "Well, that was fun," she said, the adrenaline slowly leaving her body.
Fina sighed. "Yeah it was. Come on, let's get up on deck." Aika nodded and the two ran up to the deck.
meanwhile, down in the engine room, the trouble was just beginning. "Oh no. Oh no. Shit. We're in a real fix now," Kirala muttered urgently. The engines were about to cut loose, and they were right over the red cyclone. "Well, there's nothing left that I can do." Kirala took a few deep breaths and screamed at the top of her lungs. "Vyse! Aika! Fina! Brace yourselves, the engines are about to cut!" She hoped that they had heard her. She sat down on the floor and grabbed onto a pipe running across the floor and called Pow over. "Come on boy, get ready."
Aika and Fina stopped in mid stride going up the stairs. "Did you hear Kirala?" Fina asked, a nervous tone to her voice.
"Oh no. Damn. Quick, get back down below. I'll get Vyse down too-" she was cut off as the engines gave a lurch, their power slipping away. "Go, now!" Aika yelled, and Fina fled back down the steps. Aika raced up as quickly as she could and ran head long into Vyse. They sat on the floor rubbing their heads in pain and surprise. "Come on Vyse, we have to hurry." The engines lurched again. "Grab onto something and hold tight," she called. They ended up hanging onto the wheel in the bridge. The engines lurched for a final time, and The Journeyer started to descend into the red cyclone, its speed increasing with every foot it dropped. Aika looked deeply into Vyse's eyes as the ship started to fall. "Vyse...if we don't make it...I want you to know...that I love you. As a brother, a friend, and as more than one." Then she grabbed one of Vyse's hands and shut her eyes as tight as she could, waiting for the final impact of The Journeyer into whatever lied at the bottom of the cyclone.