Chapter 7 The Sky Pirates
Vaan eyed the stranger with caution. He was a tall man, slim yet broader in the
chest and shoulders than expected. He wore very fine clothing, a silk white shirt,
black trousers made of some exotic material, a pair of leather pouches on his
belt and a garment over his torso that was made of black leather and looked a
little like a waistcoat. It was also laced with brass, armour he presumed. He wore
multiple rings on his fingers and expensive looking black boots, his face was sharp
and ruggedly handsome and his brown hair was in a short crew cut. The man stood
by patiently watching Vaan make these observations as if enjoying the attention.
"Well as much as I enjoy being admired," He said in an Archadian accent. "I'm afraid
that little bang will have alerted out pursuers. Fran!" He called out. "The magicite."
Before Vaan could respond he heard footsteps from behind him. He wheeled round to
see a woman step out of the shadows. She was much taller than the man, though this
may have been due to her rabbit like ears that added a foot to her height. Vaan gasped,
she was a vierra. Her dark skin contrasted her white hair which was tied back in a long
and rather messy ponytail. Her armour, made of black steel looked bizzare, for it looked
as though there was only enough to cover a quarter of a person. What little there was
was focused around her torso, it also seemed to be the only thing she was wearing
other than the wired helmet nestled between her ears.
"Now then, I'll take that." She said. Her voice was soft, yet powerful in its own way and flowed
like a forest stream. In the sight of these strange new characters Vaan had almost forgotten
he was being challenged.
"No you wont." He managed pathetically, snapping back to reallity. "I found it, it's mine."
The pair didn't look bothered. The man reached over his back and pulled from it's harness
a rather nasty looking gun. At the same time the vierra slipped a longbow off her back
and strung an arrow.
"And then,when I take it from you it'll be mine." Said the man simply. Vaan's left hand clutched
the stone tightly, with the other he reached for the handle of his knife. Both sides froze, waiting
for the other to make a move. And then, a loud crash sounded on the other side of the hidden door.
Vaan thought it was a shield, the pair thought it sounded more like a ram but the end result was the
same. The Imperials were trying to break the door down. That door was designed for secrecy not
security and the man knew this. He looked one last time at the stone, weighing his options. Then
he sighed, defeated.
"Exit stage right."He said sadly. As quick as a whip they were gone out of the door they had just blown open.
Vaan burst through a set of double doors at the top of the stairs. What was going on? The palace was crawling
with guards, he had run into a few on his way back but instead of arresting him they simply attacked. He had
only just managed to get away. The palace was in chaos, there were Imperial soldiers running
everywhere. Vaan reached the top of the east wall then he had to stop, he stood leaning on the edge of
the wall when he noticed the courtyard. The green and stone of the yard was now stained with red,
and a battle raged between two forces. One he recognised as the cold steel of the Empire but
the other bore colours of gold, brown and green. The colours of Dalmasca. The resistance.
"Hold it boy!" Vaan jumped. A soldier had emerged from the doorway at the end of the passage with his
bow pointed at his head, there was nowhere to run or hide, he was wide open. Vaan shut his eyes.
Bang!
Vaan's eyes snapped open again to reveal the soldier slumped on the floor with a hole in his helmet.
Without waiting for his good luck to run out he started to run again but was stopped buy a low rumbling noise.
He looked left and right, trying to find the source of the noise, all too soon it became obvious. He cast his gaze
skyward. Like a ghost an enormous airship surged out of the churning clouds. Dreadnaught class, 145 guns,
856 souls, a great lion painted on its bow. The Ifrit. Vaan fell to the floor as the primary gun
fired with a blast that shook the whole city. The blazing fireball shot behind the wall and out of sight, Vaan
was showered by debris from the impact bellow. He knew he wouldn't like it but he dared another look
over the edge. The battle had ceased, everyone down there was dead or dying, Archadian or Dalmascan.
The fireball had struck the very center and had rained flaming death upon all those around. Vaan closed his eyes and
turned away.
"The Ifrit eh?" Came a sudden voice. Vaan whipped round to see the intruder. He still hadn't given up. "That's
quite an entrance." He said admiring the airship. Vaan realised it was he who had shot the guard, though he was
disgusted that he had taken none of the dead in the courtyard into account. "Impeccable timing. If I didn't know
better, Id say they were waiting here all along." He continued thoughtfully. Vaan thought of running, but the gun
was still in the man's hand. Vaan examined the weapon, it was a standard musket gun designed for two hands
with two shots. A killer at close range and this thief was no more than twenty paces away.
His salvation came from an unexpected source. Without warning the Ifrit let of another round right into the wall between
him and that gun. There was a cloud of dust and Vaan took his chance, he had to put as much distance between
them as possible. He heard the man shouting after him but he kept going. He'd done it, he got away, he was going to
make it. Then something very bright rocketed by him. Vaan blinked in the brightness and saw as it passed him that it
was some kind of skif bike, his heart sank when he saw the vierra astride it.
"End of the line." Came the man's voice from behind him now clearly annoyed. Vaan was caught between the two with nowhere
to go except over the edge. Suddenly there came a guard's shout.
"More this way, move!" The man turned to see a platoon of soldiers charging towards them. He cursed
and ran.
"Fran, let's move." He barked. The vierra pulled the bike over the edge of the wall and began rocketing towards them.
Vaan was so busy watching the spectical that he didn't see the man approach him from behind. He was promptly grabbed
round the waist, lifted into the air and hurled off the wall. It was a curious sensation, not feeling anything under your feet. It was almost
enjoyable if you couldn't see your imminent death rushing up to meet you. Vaan screamed as the ground rocketed up to
greet him, but then he was snatched away as he felt something grabbing onto his foot. The man had jumped off after him,
landed on the passing bike, and grabbed his ankle. If he hadn't been hanging by his foot fourty feet in the
air, he would have been quite impressed.
"Let me go!" He yelled up at his rescuer who gave him a scathing look.
"Keep this up and I will." He snapped. Vaan decided to shut up, at least he was getting a lift. Speaking of which, the bike
didn't seem to be going as smoothly as it had looked. In fact when he listened to the spinning skystone it sounded very unhealthy,
the man seemed to sense it too.
"Fran, what's going on?" He roared over the battle and cannonfire. The vierra struggled to maintain control of
the craft.
"I don't know," She shouted back. "It's not heeding me." the man's usually calm and composed face now had
a look of exasperation over it.
"I don't have time for this!" He yelled. More to himself than any of his passengers. The bike continued it's bumpy ride
down towards towards the battle and slaughter. To be down there meant certain death, if a sword didn't get you,
the airship would. All three of them knew it, they would need a miricle. Then the Ifrit saw them. It fired a blast at them
landing just in front of them. The vierra saw her chance and dived for the hole. All three held on for dear life as the battered bike
plunged through the hole that had just been made, and into the underground of Rabanastre.