"Tensions are rising swiftly. Find a way to quell the flames, before the world is consumed by the inferno."

River stepped outside into the dense morning fog. She carefully stepped across the charred, uneven deck, and stepped out onto the completed hull of the battleship. She descended the stairs into the bridge. She held her breath and flipped a switch. The vessel roared to life, and the turrets spun to face the mountain. Markus joined her at the helm.

"Think this thing is combat ready? It certainly doesn't look very tidy."

"If we swap the railgun over to HEAT shells, yeah. Otherwise we're one turret down. Take the wheel, I'm going to grab a few things."

"Alright."

River returned in her armor, which now had a strip of leather in place of the left pauldron. She was carrying the modified CRAM shell attached a short pipe with a handgrip suspiciously similar to one of the numerous pistols stashed around the fort. She set the weapon on the desk in the back of the room.

The cruiser cruiser slid through the morning fog, creating little more than a ripple in its wake. They rounded the island, and continued on until they found another, much large island, with a simple mining rig built in its rain shadow. A worker appeared on deck with a rather large rifle in his hands.

"Let us pass, we have no quarrel with you."

"And there's a huge bounty out for the both of ye! Nothin personal miss, but I could use the cash."

The massive turret batteries spun to face the rig.

"I said, let us pass. Or do you want a weapons test? That looks like an awful lot of crude oil you have there, would be a shame if it all caught fire."

"Alrighty, sure thing, whatever you says, miss."

The cruiser continued eastward until late afternoon, when they came across a vast expanse of desert, with a small coastal town dotted by ships anchored offshore, beached at the water line, and even a small airship stashed in a gantry between the dunes.

"Think we should stop here for the night?"

"Yeah, the base is too far and the cruiser is still a work in progress. We don't have much of a choice. Leave everything on the ship, but carry a gun. You never know what might happen around town in these waters."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think? If it's a crime in the steel empire that you won't get executed or jailed for life for, it's probably acceptable business practice here. That's the general rule. The one exception is to never board someone else's ship without either their direct permission or the permission of a pirate lord. Punishable by death, and enforced by those who profit most from thievery."

"That's a load of bull. So the pirates just take what they want?"

"Yep. no one can do anything about it- except us. This ship could probably take on the pirate lords. We can topple the tyrants, one by one. What d'ya say?"

"Are you saying we have the potential to make an impact on thousands of lives?"

"I'm saying we have the potential to change the world, for better or worse. Let's change it for the better, shall we? For starters, that ship over there, the lopsided one with the giant cannon. The patchwork, it belongs to one of the lesser pirate lords, he's probably going to ambush us in the town."

"So what do we do?"

"Spring the trap."

River pulled a hood over her head and stepped onto the dock. Mark tentatively followed, carefully picking his way around the workers and the clutter of the boardwalk.

"Where are you going? Wait up!"

"I'm looking for a something, keep up and watch for tails."

The pair made their way to a wide, mostly vacant side street lined with open buildings, ending in a pier over the water.

"Take this rifle, go talk to the bartender, wait for a signal in the upstairs window. Don't miss."

"What are you going to do?"

"Something big. Whatever happens, it's all part of the plan."

What have I gotten myself into?