Chapter Eleven- An Alliance
Their departure had, understandably, been moved back to nearly noon of the next day. The sun was fully up in the bright and balmy Mid Ocean skies, and the Delphinus was ready for departure. As usual, the enormous metal battle cruiser sat hovering besides the island passively, her sleek and modern profile jutting into the sky and casting a shadow over a part of the village. Vyse stood in the central courtyard of the island, taking one final look around as the crowd gathered to see off their prodigal son and his ragtag crew on their journey.
"Hey, Vyse." Rodgers' familiar voice called out to him, and he turned and smiled at his friend. The girl still wore her trademark black trench coat, and was only one of two female Blue Storm raiders on the entire island now that Aika planned to leave again. She flecked a lock of black hair out of her eyes and walked up to him.
"Hey," He replied. "How've you been? I haven't seen you much lately, you know, with all the hectic adventures and all that."
"We've all been working hard to rebuild," Rodgers said. "Captain didn't give us time to get sad about our loss, but instantly set us about to recovery. I was... um..." In an uncharacteristic display, she faltered, and looked to the grassy ground under her black boots.
"What's wrong?" He felt concern at seeing this rarely-revealed nervous side of the pirate girl.
"Do you need another swordarm? I'm not that much as a sailor but I can fight, as you know." She looked up again, into his eyes, and her usual quiet determination was back.
Vyse didn't need even a moment to decide. "Of course! I'd love to have your combat skills. Moons know there's enough Valuan asses that need a sound kick. You can come aboard the ship as a 'Marine'. Heh." A cool-sounding name seems only natural.
She grinned. "Glad to hear it." Rodgers was one of the several teenage Blue Storm pirates that Dyne had been developing, an orphan like Aika who showed an unusual aptitude with Silver magics. She, along with Aika and another pirate, had been on the initial boarding parties that had raided the Cygnus at the outset of their adventures.
"Hold up. You think I'm going to let you, Aika, and Vyse go without tagging along? No chance." Luke the Raider appeared on the walkway above them, leaping down and landing perfectly. He resembled Vyse but for his longer, pony tailed hair and his all red attire. He smirked. "Guess you have two Marines now, your royal Captiousness."
"I'll count myself lucky," Vyse said. "C'mon. Everyone's waiting." Making their way over to the Delphinus, the crew was indeed waiting amongst the crowd near the large iron boarding ramp which would take them aboard the waiting flagship.
Dyne looked over the three teenagers and easily guessed what their intent was. "I see there's no stopping the hemorrhaging of my best people. At least you'll all still be together, fighting for what you believe in." He gave a fatherly smile and Luke glowed under the praise, while Rodgers turned just a little bit pink. "Son... thanks for stopping by. I know you're pretty sick of praise by now, so I'll keep it brief. You're going to go fight Valua to free Nasr, word says. With this fine ship you can do it. Fight hard, and never give up." Vyse nodded.
Martha approached him with teary eyes. "Come back again, this was much too short," She entreated him. "I wanted to see you some more... but I suppose more pressing events are happening. Good bye, until the next time we meet, Vyse." She hugged him and he hugged back.
"Don't worry about us, mom," Vyse said. "We're going to be just fine. After I save the world I'll come back and autograph your bonnet, alright?" He smirked and she managed a teary smile, the teenager walking past the crowd and up with his friends. "Alright. Well, I hate prolonged goodbyes. Everyone on the boat! Time to keep fighting Valua again!"
"Aye aye," They replied as one, and turned, beginning the trek across the long ramp up to the main deck of the Valuan ship.
"... Vyse?" The small voice of Lyndsey got his attention, and he turned around, to find her and two other kids standing besides the purple Huskra named Pow. She smiled shyly up at him. "Good luck. We... we wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead." Vyse put his hands on his hips and gave her an encouraging look.
"We want you to take Pow along," The slightly older of the two boys said. The Huskra barked several loud times, as if voicing his assent. "So that, wherever you go, you'll remember us. And if things ever get sad, Pow can be there for you."
The teenager blinked. "... take Pow along, huh? Are you all sure? I know everyone around here loves the little guy."
"We're sure," Lyndsey confirmed. "We talked it over. Vyse... will you come back again?"
"Of course," Vyse said. "What, I'd never forget about my favorite place in the whole wide world, and the coolest kids ever, huh? I'll bring back Pow safe and sound, and we'll all be back before you can notice we're gone." He motioned to the canine, which bounded gleefully over and began to follow Vyse. "Goodbye."
"Bye," The three kids said at once, and the cheers from the pirates around them began. The propellers mounted at the back of the ship switched from hovering station-keeping into active formation, the enormous fan blades whipping around the air and gaining more power as the reactor fired up and Lawrence prepared the ship to detach. Blue Storm pirates cut the anchors and lines securing the Delphinus to land even as Vyse sprinted up the retracting boarding ramp.
He stood out on the deck, waving back at the mass of people while Pow bounded off into the insides of the large metal ship to begin exploring his new home. Drifting apart from Pirate Island, Enrique's royal airship turned it's long and curved hull back, and the prow now pointed into the clear blue sky.
"Time to leave the nest again..." Stepping forward onto the deck, he planted one of his boots onto the railing and leaned forward, drawing his pirate cutlass from it's sheath. "Delphinus, full speed ahead! Set course for Nasr!" Lawrence could hear his command, because he gunned the throttle, and Vyse felt the ship rumble under him with nearly unchecked energy. Slipping forward into the air, it quickly distanced itself from the small island and headed towards the north.
"We're here, Captain Vyse," The cheerful female voice proclaimed, and Vyse looked over from the control panels of the bridge. Belle and her gunnery team entered from the doorway, closing the gold bulkhead behind them and bounding up to him.
Willing his eyes to focus above her neckline, he put on a smile. "Hey, Belle. Clara told me you all were gunners... how good are you?"
"We're still learning," The girl replied. "But! We know the basics, and we're all real quick learners! We can handle the work, sir!"
"No doubt you can. However, aside from the Moonstone Cannon, we haven't actually tested this ship's arms." He chuckled. "I think it's time we see how much damage this hunk of steel can do, huh? You up for it?"
"Yes, sir!" All three replied, jumping into the air. Vyse indulged in a little staring, then sent them down to Fire Control, a room embedded deep within the ship's core and where all the main and secondary guns were used from. They made their way down into the center, and reported in via the talking tube to the Bridge. "All the controls are pretty simple."
"The ship is equipped with telescopic sights and computer interfaces," David recited. "Look to the glowing panels, and type in the password: 'Justice'." They did so, gasping in amazement as the large screens lit up with life-accurate imagery from cameras mounted on the hull, showing them a view of the blue sky. "Alright, that should do it. We're getting some feeds up here, too. Load your cannons."
Automated components ground and rolled through the batteries of the ship, shoving fresh and deadly Valuan shells into the barrels of the main and secondary cannons. The torpedo launcher was also fitted with explosive ammunition, and within a very short time they were without a doubt fully loaded.
Mid Ocean had billions of unexplored, lifeless chains of floating islands, and Vyse picked one at random from the Moonstone Sonar display next to the helm controls. "Lawrence, slow the ship and point us at that rock formation. Belle, get ready. Can you see the target?"
"We have it," She replied. "All systems ready to rock! Man, this is going to be so cool."
"Wait, first let's give people a fair warning," Vyse ordered, remembering the kickback from the ship's ultimate weapon when they initially stole it from the Grand Fortress canal. He pulled a lever, and a klaxon began to sound across the ship in a specific order. Yellow lights flashed, bathing the occupants in the electrical hues of Yellow Magic.
Enrique looked up from his position- bent over the rail out on the main deck of the ship. He frowned and groaned. "Oh, no. This isn't going to be good for me... uuugh..."
He counted off to ten, and then said, "Torpedo launchers, fire!" Four hatches on the top of the ship's prow blew aside, belching fire and sending four advanced explosives soaring up into the clouds. The ship shook, but not enough to upset anyone, even Enrique. Everyone watched the skies for the Valuan torpedoes, and moments later they came plummeting back down through the air, their wide fiery contrails like moonstone meteorites.
All four impacted on a wide teardrop rock formation, and exploded nearly at the same instant. The entire island was engulfed in fire, and when the light cleared a massive chunk of the solid stone was vaporized, with a curtain of smoke and steam wafting upwards. Vyse let out a whoop and grinned. "Hey, someone get Aika up here. She'd love this shit. Secondary cannons, get ready!"
It was time for the cannons to make their showing. The Delphinus' secondary cannons contained long magnetic coils that accelerated the shells to speeds well over those achieved by bigger, more traditional gunpowder or moondust cannons. Mounted three to one of the large block turrets, they stood to mount at least as much power as the torpedo volley. Swinging with the hum and whine of moving mechanical parts, they quickly all honed in on the reduced island.
"Here goes," Belle said, pulling two levers at once. "Forward batteries firing!" The ship thundered and rumbled as the power of it's guns was loosed. Flashes of light spat small twirling bits of metal that hit the island, boring deep into it with the shells' armor-piercing tip and vast acceleration and making large craters. With each shot the turrets recoiled from the force, absorbing most of it to lessen the difficulty on it's crew.
Small splinters and fragments of stone began to fall from the sky like dust as spiderweb cracks appeared in the scorched surface of their unfortunate target. "Alright," Vyse chuckled. "Time for the main guns."
"These are Valuan prototypes," David noted. "They use a small forge to heat air and store it as molten gas in tanks, and then use that air to push the shell outwards at the same time the gunpowder explodes from the launcher. The practical effect is that these explosive shells have extra firepower than conventional tech. Man, this ship really is top of the line."
"Brace yourselves," The girls cheerily advised the bridge, setting off the main guns. The deck shivered under the titanic force of their own cannons, and they watched the fireballs streak through their lethal arc over to the nearly obliterated island. Landing, each one set off a firestorm that enveloped the abandoned island.
Staring intently, they watched the entire rock face melt or shatter, and within moments the only remainder of their target was several small bits of white-hot rock floating uselessly in the air, each about the size of a regular ship. Vyse blinked, zooming in on the destroyed island and whistling. "Wow... a broadside from us is like having one of those Grand Fortress mega-cannons aboard. Combine this with the Moonstone Cannon..."
"And this is the most powerful ship in the world," Lawrence acknowledged, staring at the smoldering rock chunks. Even he was slightly moved by the sheer force displayed by the ship's still-incomplete weaponry.
With a whistle, he turned back to see Aika being escorted by Marco up to the bridge. Apparently she had arrived in time to see the destruction. "Amazing," She remarked. The street urchin beside her could only nod in pure shock. He had seen Imperial ships before, but nothing that was ever like this.
"Well, I think we've confirmed it," Vyse said, clapping his hands once. "Set course for Nasrad again, and resume full rudder."
0-0
"Admiral, the scout teams are reporting in. The enemy has rebuilt the cannon emplacements on the city walls, and put fresh artillery and gun crews in there. Baker's entire force is sitting at anchor in the harbor, but their crews are on readiness alert. That sly bastard must feel we're going to attack him soon." As his Vice Admiral made his report, Karzhai reclined on the rich couch and put his boots up on the fine wooden table in his personal ready room aboard his flagship, the Rabia Desierto.
Karzhai was now the highest-ranking official in the defeated Nasr Kingdom, the Nasultan and most of the royal ministers and nobles being killed in the attack or brought to Valua and publicly executed. Despite this, he refused the crown and continued with his commission, rallying patriotic Nasrians to revolt against the puppet regime of the Nasr Confederation, and Vice Admiral Baker's army which occupied Nasrad.
The man had the bronzed skin of the desert people, with keen ocean-blue eyes and jet-black hair tied back in a short ponytail and flecked with very minor streaks of gray. Looking up, he nodded. "Very well... do you think our strike teams can successfully silence that harbor artillery? Our fleet will be unable to return the enemy's fire, so unless we can stop the source our entire attack is doomed."
"The men can do it, sir," The subordinate replied. "Everyone's ready. Each day the Valuans infest the sacred sands of our kingdom brings out more of the Red Moon in the hearts of all men. We've assembled all our forces. The decision is yours, now."
"You've always known my choice," Karzhai replied. "Better to die fighting then cower against these villains. However, we must learn from what put us in this desperate gambit- our hubris let the enemy take us completely off-balance. Such failures won't happen again, and I intend to show the Valuans their failings. We're going to end this war now, before it becomes a quagmire like the last."
A junior officer ran into the room. "Sir! Sir! The Atacante reports that a ship is approaching the fleet from the southwest. The ship looks Valuan, but isn't any type we've ever seen before."
"More Valuans?" The Admiral rose to his feet. "To the bridge. Tell Captain Isem to send us the profile right away, and get the crew to general stations. This might be more of Baker's infamous trickery." The two men ran off to obey his orders, and he started towards the ship's command center as well, walking calmly.
His infamous calm could only be perturbed by a very small number of things, like, say, the flagship of Valua's Prince Enrique flying right for them unescorted and at cruising speed. He was one of the few to know what the Delphinus looked like, having had access to Nasultan-level intelligence reports by the many sympathizers within the Valuan armed forces. When he saw the print-out on a roll of parchment of the distant but unmistakable form of that royal cruiser, he did a literal double-take and looked up out the viewport into open sky.
"Is there something wrong, Admiral?" One of the pilots said, looking back to find his surprisingly bewildered leader still staring at the black dot that was the approaching ship.
"I'm fine," He replied. "Just a little curious." More than a little. I heard Vyse the Valiant stole the ship and kidnapped the young prince. If so, that Valuan battleship might not be here for a fight... this changes a few of my plans. Turning, he began to make his way down to the hangar, where an empty space was being cleared at once.
Onboard the ship, the entire crew was gathered on the large bridge, watching the impressive Nasr fleet. Over forty battleships floated in professional formations in the sky, their large rust-red armored hulls sporting thousands of combined cannons, stocked with professional sailors. Vyse blinked, looking over to Aika, who was beside him. "Well, they're not shooting at us yet, so I assume that's an invitation. David?"
"That one, dead center," The second officer replied, pointing to the middle of the squadron, where a larger than average ship hovered passively. "Karzhai's flag is on that one. I'll go with you, Vyse. The skiffs can hold three, so choose who else you'd like to take along."
"I'll take Aika," He replied with a smile. "Fina, you should stay here and tend to his Royalness..." Eyes went over to the Prince, who looked positively horrible. Large black circles were under his half-lidded eyes as he hunched over, his entire frame wracked with illness and fatigue. He looked like a shadow of his own shadow. The Silvite had been attending him with every Silver magic known to humanity, but nothing seemed to cure that pervasive air sickness.
"Ugh... good luck," Enrique said to Vyse, bowing slightly. "Tell the Admiral I regret... regret not being able to meet him this time. I... I'm down with the flu. The Flu," He emphasized to a mischievous looking Aika, embarrassed about his wretched condition.
"The flu," She echoed in confirmation, winking at him and giggling. "Well, let's get going. I want to meet this guy who's going to save his country. Sounds cool."
Luke nodded. "Bring me back a souvenir. And ask him when we get to kick some Valuan ass."
They set out to the lifeboat hangar, taking out one of the many metal skiffs and guiding the small boat out into the sky. Passing along the large form of the Delphinus, they entered the formation, heading for the ship that David had pointed out. One of the hangars of the ship was open, and Vyse expertly took the lifeboat in for a controlled landing.
The metal skiff easily took the vacant iron rails of an old Nasr wooden lifeboat, the designs being quite similar in many ways. Locking down the controls and turning off the single engine, he turned and leapt out of the boat.
Karzhai was waiting for him on the deck, flanked by officers but with no troopers in sight. He stepped forward and looked over the three pirates before speaking up in a clear Valuan dialect. "Welcome aboard the Rabia Desierto, head of Nasr's freedom fighters. Vyse Dyne, I presume?"
"Admiral," Vyse said, putting out his hand, which the elderly man shook. "It's nice to meet you. I've heard tales of your actions against Valua in the past."
"The same could be said of you," Karzhai retorted with a chuckle. "And who is this? David LeCroix, if my memory serves, of the Claudia? Do you still work for Gilder the Unfettered or have you moved on to join this young man's crew?"
"A little of both, sir," David replied.
"I'm Aika, Vyse's Vice Captain," The redhead chirped, leaping out of the boat last. "Tongue twister, huh? Either way, it's a pleasure to meet you. Cap'n Dyne speaks highly of you whenever we hear something new about how you're kicking Valuan cans up and down the skies."
"We're here to offer our services to Nasr," Vyse said, interjecting on her. "We don't exactly love the Empress, either. That's why we took her son and her best ship and busted that joint. We want to go with you on the attack to take back Nasrad." He gave him the thumbs-up sign. "Even Baker's Spectres are no match for the original and mold-breaking design. With our combined power we can crush the Valuan army here."
"All allies are welcomed in our jihad," Karzhai replied. "You have the eternal thanks of the Kingdom for this, and all your other attacks on the Valuan Empire. You Blue Rogues are trouble. Just the right kind of trouble we need to save Nasr."
"It's kind of our thing, trouble, and freedom," David noted. "So, when is the attack going to take place?"
"Dawn," The Fleet Admiral said simply. "We'll move out at sunset today and position ourselves to hug the Great Barrier Reefs twenty leagues away from the South Dannel Straight. Come dawn we charge in with all of our strength and attack. We beat back the enemy defenses, and begin our assault on the harbor proper, and start landing our transports. We have more than twice as many soldiers ready to liberate our city as the enemy does to enslave it."
"All of this is happening so quickly," Aika remarked with a frown. "It was only a few weeks ago that Ramirez conquered the continent."
"The Nasr people wish a quick end to this deadlock," Karzhai replied. "After seven years of bloody nothingness, we want quick and decisive. We'll get quick and decisive on the morrow. The stakes of our liberty are on the line, and with you fighting by our side we must take the day." He balled his fist. "I will coordinate my ships with your own. Do you have radio?"
"Yes," David replied. "Our frequency is... 34.63 hertzios, by Nasr metric. We can communicate whenever over that open channel." He looked around. "Well... no offense, but I'd rather be getting back to my ship now. We both have lots of work to do to prepare for the battle. We can talk more once this is decided."
Karzhai nodded. "Then let the Red Moon protect us both in the coming fight. Good luck, and thank you again for your support. I feel it will be key." He bowed to them and watched them take off again, turning around to one of his aides. "Alright, let's get ready to move out. Put the Delphinus in the center. Their speed and firepower make them a good tip for the spear."
Vyse watched the Rabia Desierto began to shrink as they approached their mothership again. The Delphinus Putting the lifeboat to rest with it's brethren in the hangar, they rushed up passages and stairwells to the bridge, where their crew eagerly awaited their return.
"Well?" Rodgers asked, looking to Vyse for news.
"Get some good rest tonight, everyone," The teenager ordered, giving them all one of his supremely confident smirks. "Tomorrow at sunrise we're going to war." This caused the expected sensation throughout the gathering of people. Everyone attempted to speak up at once.
Lawrence's voice was first heard. "I'll stay on post a while longer and follow the Nasr fleet until they anchor at the reefs, then shut it down for the night."
"Good idea," David nodded. "Alright. We'll all need some killer luck come tomorrow, and I'm not speaking figuratively. I just hope we make it through this." He sighed, looking up into the sky dotted with Nasr warships.
Before anyone could say anything else, Vyse had left the bridge, and the gathered crew began to disperse to their various jobs and duties. Belle and the girls went down to take a full inventory of all the explosive shells, making sure not to drop any this time, while David stayed with Lawrence on the Bridge to help navigate, Luke and Rodgers took a walk on the deck, where Marco and Pinata had begun swabbing and Enrique was busy hurling up his light lunch, Polly was cooking diner in the galley, and Pow was busy somewhere marking coolant pipes as his territory.
Fina reached the final step, emerging into the long hallway with sealed doors on either side that was D Deck, where crew quarters were all located. By now David and Marco had put up signs identifying everyone's rooms, and their memories served well enough if the slightly misspelled script of the urchin failed.
Aika was at the end of the hall, looking out the flawless glass window that afforded a view of Karzhai's fleet, which was shifting it's formation and already preparing to move out to their waiting point on the reefs. In a meditative thought with her arms crossed, she didn't notice Fina come up behind her, and only felt her gentle arms encircle her in a hug. "Hey," She said absently.
"Aika," She said, slightly flushing red from her own bravery. "Are you thinking about the battle that's going to happen?"
"Yeah," The redhead replied. "I mean, by now, I shouldn't be worried at all. We've already been through so many fights, and beaten everything that's gotten in our way... we've been incredibly fortunate."
"Yet despite all of that..." The Silvite ventured, resting her head against the warm shoulder of the other girl, "You're still nervous, right?"
"I should be brave," She admitted. "Even if I feel this way I have to keep up my tough impression to give everyone some confidence. Vyse does it, more than me. Even when he's given up hope, he still smiles and grits his teeth and sets his shoulder to the wheel. He puts up the overconfident appearance because he cares about us."
"How could I not care?" Vyse's voice made both of them look back- Vyse was leaning against the frame of the ajar door to his room. He smiled slightly and continued, "After all, you're both the most beautiful, strongest people I've met in my life." He walked up to his two friends. "Who wouldn't be nervous? This is war we're talking about. But I know we'll get through this alright. We have to. I'll never let anything happen to either of you while I'm still alive." He pulled them both into a warm hug. "Now go sleep. And not with each other. You're going to need that energy for the Valuans... actually, don't use that energy on Valuans. Your hybrids would be horrid... what? Did I say something- OW!"
"Asshole," Aika growled.
Fina glared. "Sometimes you're not a very nice person, Vyse. Down, Cupil." Cupil ceased chewing on the teen's mop of brown hair. Vyse frowned sadly. At least they've still got the fire in their bellies. Tomorrow, that clown Baker better watch himself. The Blue Rogues are coming to kick him back to Valua.