Overcoming Destiny

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Wireless communications"

Ch 17

The Lusitania hovered up toward to the underside of the island of Albion within the fog that perpetually surrounded it. "Haul in the yards." The captain called, his order echoed by the first mate.

Leischia looked over her unit, who were anxiously waiting to land.

"I hope Jabber-wok shows some restraint." She turned to watch the docking procedure.

Sometime later the captain came up to her. "We're ready for you to disembark ma'am."

"Aright, you heard the man!" Leischia told her unit, who proceeded to leave.

"We appreciate your aid." She told the captain.

"The pleasure was mine." The captain answered bowing.

"Jabber-wok had better show restraint." She looked worriedly in the general direction of the Silvana.

OOooOO

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Elim asked the captain of the ship, no, it was more like a barge.

The captain blinked at the blunt question. "How could you know that?"

"I watched Last Exile and I'm sure you died in the last episode, leavin' your beloved Silvana to Sophia while you died a tragic death." Elim said certainly.

The captain blinked before turning and looking at the large guy standing behind Elim. "What's she talking about?"

"In an anime she watched, there was a character who looked a lot like you, by the name Alex Roe, who died the way she said." Jabber-wok said.

"How did you learn my name?" The newly introduced captain asked coldly.

"You are?! I'm one of your biggest fans!" Jabber-wok exclaimed in a burst of emotion as he grabbed Alex's hand. "I'm especially impressed with how you command your crew to shoot, with that calm emotionless voice."

Alex's response was to look at the fairy with a blank expression before turning to his communications officer. "Fire." He ordered simply.

"Yes! Exactly like that!" Jabber-wok cried giddily, only to be interrupted by a BOOOOOooom. "That. Was. AWESOME!" Luckily only Elim was present to witness Jabber-wok's odd behavior.

OOooOO

"Ok people, is everybody here?" Sinon asked as she looked over the fifty odd Fae that were in front of her.

"No, I don't think Everybody is here. But I can go look for him." Smith said.

"Fine, whose not here?" Sinon asked in exasperation.

"Everybody, that's who you were asking for right? But that's certainly an odd name." Smith answered.

Sinon slapped him upside the head, for being an idiot, knocking him out. "Is everybody that we've brought here over the past few weeks present and accounted for?"

"I-i-i-i believe so." Tiffania said as she moved to the front of the crowd.

"Good because the extraction team is on their way now." Sinon said to the room.

"Are we going as well?" One of the children from Tiffania's orphanage asked worried.

"Of course you are we wouldn't leave you to fend for yourselves under these conditions." Sinon answered kneeling down to the boy level so that she could look him in eye.

OOooOO

It was pandemonium at the docks of Liverpool as they tried to assess the damages caused by the cannon fire from the mysterious rebel ship.

"A'right, time to cause some chaos!" Jabber-wok cried as he flew off the ship, followed by the rest of the demolition squad.

Most of the people on the docks were running willy-nilly, just adding to the chaos. The eight different levels were congested with people running around as they attempted to get back to their ships so that they could leave which led to a traffic jam as ships either ran into each other, or the rock walls of the gorge surrounding the port.

"This island just looks wrong." Jabber-wok said as he watched the ex-demons causing mayhem and major destruction after landing back on the Silvana. "Like it's missing something." He added as he entered the captain's quarters to look at the map laid out on it.

"What would that be? If I might ask." his personal attendant Rindeblum asked.

"Ireland. Do you know where Ireland is?" Jabber-wok asked looking at his attendants.

"If I had to make a guess." Kirin said as he looked at a map. "It'd be over there." He pointed to a fissure running through Albion.

"So we need to start blasting." Jabber-wok pointed on the map. "Here."

"That sounds 'bout right." Kirin said. "But I doubt Louise would authorize the use of explosives just to get the world right."

"I have an idea that just might work." Jabber-wok said after a short period of contemplation.

"Heaven help us." Quetzalcoatl said. "He's thinking."

Jabber-wok glared at him before heading outside.

He stuck his hands out in front of him like he's holding a ball.

"He's not doing what I think he's doing, is he?" Quetzalcoatl asked worriedly.

"Ka. Me." Jabber-wok as he brought his hands to his side, still holding a ball.

"He knows that won't work, right?" Kirin asked quirking an eyebrow.

"Ha. Me." Jabber-wok continued as a pinpoint of light appeared in his hands steadily getting brighter.

"He's doing, he totally doing it." Quetzalcoatl stated his mouth starting to hang open.

"HA!" Jabber-wok yelled thrusting his hands in front of himself as a beam of light left his hands impacting the far end of the gorge blinding anybody looking at it momentarily. Shortly thereafter Jabber-wok cut power killing the beam as the sound dropped to nothing.

"Well that was anti-climatic." Salamander said sighing after the light show concluded. "Guess that wa-." He stopped as they heard a rumbling building and rocks falling followed by a great grinding as the gorge started spreading. "What do you know it worked." Salamander stated in awe.

While the rumble of the island splitting apart was heard all of the occupants of the gorge heard a faint. "Jabber-wok!"

"Somebody's in trouble." Elim said in a singsong tone from where she was sitting by the railing.

"Don't worry." Basilisk said laying a hand on Jabber-wok's shoulder. "I'm sure you can find some hole to hide in until she cools down."

"Yeah, no I'm dead." Jabber-wok said in resignation.

"She shouldn't be too upset." Yata said. "After all, we caused a major disturbance, and we even fixed the geography."

"If you say so." Yinglong said.

OOooOO

"We. We will resist and bite. Bite hard. Cause we are all in sight. We take up arms and fight. Fight hard. Resist and do what's right." After playing some notes on his gittern, Echo finished his song.

The crowd in the tavern was silent, too in awe by the Pooka's song to even acknowledge he'd finished.

The silence was broken by a lone clapping of hands, by a petite girl with long purple hair, creating a chain reaction as the whole room broke out into applause.

Echo stepped off the platform, making his way to the girl.

"Hey Imp. Here for another gift?" Echo asked in greeting to her.

"I'll have you know that calling what I ask of you as a gift is uncalled for." Argo mumbled from the bar stool she sat upon.

"Might be, but I'm giving it to you without asking for payment and that's the definition of a gift, no?" Echo said jovially as he sat down across from her.

"Why would I pay you?" Argo asked before rubbing her temples and holding up her other hand. "Wait don't say anything. In the grand scheme of things I'm a co-worker not your employer."

"That'd be correct. But I'm sure Kyoko won't mind if you stopped by for a visit. After all, she does like visitors." Echo stated as he handed her a roll of parchment along with a second smaller roll.

"Does this request have anything to do with the fact that your wife is due in the next week or two?" Argo inquired taking the scrolls.

"Might be." Echo shrugged. "But she does get lonely."

"Of course she does. You really should be there to support her though."

"This job needs to be done, and I'm the best for the job." Echo looked off to the distance. "Actually, what do ya say the chances of being able to sneak there and be back by the end of the week?"

"You're insane. We can't be too conspicuous." Argo deadpanned.

"That's what I thought." Echo said as he made to leave. "See ya round, Imp."

"Stop calling me an Imp!" Argo yelled after him before stomping out of the establishment.

"I wouldn't tease your lady friend too much it'll cause problems later." The owner of the inn said as the door slammed shut. "And fix the door she ripped the hinges."

"I don't know what you're talking about Desmond." Echo said as he went to retrieve the necessary items to complete the task.

"I think you do." Desmond mumbled before stating louder. "You'll never know what you have till it's gone."

"SHE'S MY SISTER, DADGUMIT!" Echo yelled turning on his boss. "Quit with the insinuations!"

"..." Desmond had nothing to say to that as he blinked at Echo owlishly.

OOooOO

At the same time as all this other was going on, within a dimension that can't be accessed by man; the weaver contemplated his work before sending a silent apology as he lovingly ran a finger over a certain russet thread followed by a blue thread that was near it.

Louise was a haggard wreck at the moment, unwilling to leave her husband's side ever since he had entered the stage of dementia. 'LordsFire' had explained that it was the final alteration that the blood flowing through her would render upon those that had already completed puberty and the most painful. She was brought out of her tired musing as another blood curdling scream rent through the air. He may have physically been larger than her even in dragon form but there was nothing that was going to get her to leave his side at this time since she was one of the few that could be around him while his magic fluctuated wildly. The only reason the building they were in remained standing was because Louise had, had magical barriers placed on the building for all of the elements by mages that she trusted. "Hang in there it'll be over soon." She encouraged tears tracking down the fur on her face as Klein let out another strangled cry of pain.

OOooOO

Kirito sat outside of the temporary home of his son and daughter-in-law, glad that it was finally over as he watched his son sleeping next to a blue dragon that was easily three to four times Nagisa's size. Tiredly he wandered home, dreading the emotional exhaustion that would occur when Lizbeth reached this stage in her transformation.

OOooOO

Leischia looked in the direction she'd just yelled in, panting heavily.

"Can you yell a little louder? I can still hear out the other one." Vritra called to her.

"I swear." Leischia steadied herself best she could as she started staggering toward the warehouse where they were informed that the Fae trapped on Albion would be holed up.

"Y'all can come out now!" Leischia called as she opened the door. "That would have sent every soldier from here to London running for cover."

"Who are you and what is your purpose?" Sinon asked her voice dripping with venom as she held a tomahawk at Leischia's throat.

"You're the leader?" Leischia asked, ignoring the weapon.

"Who's asking?" The Cait Sith asked calmly her eyes glowing with an ethereal light.

"Leischia, head of the Albion Fae extraction unit and, unfortunately, supervisor of the cause of the earthquake that's racking Albion at the moment." Leischia said aggrieved.

Sinon's ears were twitching as she maintained vigilance while she lowered her hawk. "Everybody get your arses moving, we're getting out of here!" She yelled causing everybody to start scrambling.

"He- Shin-, -id I ever tell ya that blue is an excellent color for ya?" Smith lisped as he came to.

"Less dreaming, more marching!" Sinon yelled as she forced Smith upright before giving him a swift kick to the backside.

"I was sleepin' there." Smith groaned as he helped someone else get up. "And it was a good one too."

"And I don't give a darn!" Sinon yelled.

"Oh, that's our shortstop!" Smith exclaimed earning a flat look from Sinon. "You know baseball. Ah forget it nobody listens to the classics anymore."

The exodus of the Fae was interrupted by musket fire as the tremors came to a stop.

"That can't be good." Tiriel said as she went outside to look and possibly deal with it.

Tiffania slashed an arm towards the building the shots were coming from, cutting a line in the wall causing the building to collapse. "Sorry about this!" She called as she continued running.

"She's good." Leischia observed.

There were a couple injuries from lead balls by the time they made it to the ship but nothing life threatening.

"All in all, an excellent operation." Pamiel said as she looked over the recovered Fae.

"That it was." Leischia looked over to a Fae crying out.

"I am hurt. I am very hurt." Smith cried as he held the bullet injury while rocking on his back.

"Quit whining you big baby." Sinon said as she flipped him onto his stomach flipping up part of his kilt, leaving enough to preserve his dignity.

"A little hasty, aren't we?" Smith commented as she ejected one of her blades and proceeded to start digging the ball out of his left cheek.

"Oh. You cruel, cruel woman." Smith whined as she cut out the ball.

"Can you believe this drama queen?" Sinon asked as she looked at Leischia as she pushed the blade in a little further.

"Hey! I resemble that!" Smith cried out indignantly as he flinched in pain.

Leischia shook her head in amusement.

Sinon sighed as she fished out the ball.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Smith exclaimed as he looked over his shoulder at the bullet.

"This is no cannon ball buddy." Sinon growled.

"You weren't the one it was embedded in." Smith snapped.

"I got hit twice you numb skull."

"Well, not all of us A-ow-re freaks of nature!" Smith hissed as she bandaged his injury.

"I know, I know, I'm the wolverine. What else is new?"

"Actually, I think you're more of a cute kitty cat. Looks kawaii and adorable, but with hidden claws. Literally." Smith squeaked fixing his kilt as he stood up. "Oh, that's what you meant. Gotcha!" He stated giving Sinon a thumbs up.

"Y'all make an adorable couple." Lunana said.

"We are not a couple!" Sinon and Smith yelled in sync.

"I mean, not that I would mind having a totally adorable Neko girl as a girlfriend." Smith said waving his arms around frantically before covering his face in embarrassment.

Sinon flamed red in embarrassment as steam rose from her ears causing her shake uncontrollably before backhanding Smith

"Ow." Smith stated as he blacked out.

"If that doesn't clinch it." Lunana said to Leischia, who smiled as she watched.

The captain chuckled as he listened to his passengers antics before handing the helm to the first mate.

OOooOOooOO

Ah 'Resist and Bite' by Sabaton, good song.

It's different, I'll give you that.

I wonder if it's so different, just the shock value made the Romanians listen to it?

That could be part of it.