The first leg of the race for the Tailwind ended hours before any other ships came into view of the next terra. As they are restocking fuel crystals, it turns out in the two days that they had been flying, one of the sky knight's cruisers had engine trouble and was forced to make an emergency landing and be disqualified from the race. It was a big embarrassment for the sky knights, but Dustin only said, "Only one? I figure more would have trouble as they are all using old engines."
The other crew members behind him just stare at their captain as he watches the crystal being loaded onto the Tailwind. "Is it me…or is he being heavily cynical?" Daria asks, particularly to no one.
"He isn't wrong, though," Condor adds.
"Alright next leg," Dustin says, getting everyone back on the ship.
As they took off and started to fly away, they got a glimpse of a cruiser coming into view from the horizon but was too far away to identify which ship it was. "And…" Condor calls as the clouds hide their view of the terra when the ship lands, "it's gone. Okay, we are gone from sight."
"Setting to cruising speed. Everyone takes turns on shifts; this will take a few days before we get to the next checkpoint," Dustin announces into the tubes.
The second leg of the race took nearly three days as it was the endurance leg. The crew at the checkpoint did their job well as the Tailwind got on its way in record time compared to the last one and even compared to other ship teams. They also missed the rest of the ships by almost a few hours as the Tailwind got onto the final leg, which was infested with sky sharks.
Dustin raises an eyebrow as the bridge crew watches the pods of sky sharks fly through the air in a large cloud formation. "Well…who wants dinner?" he jokes and then is surprised by cheers before smiling. He then starts to remember that the raptor tribe is aboard the ship, and they must be salivating to hunt some sharks to show off and eat. "Okay, guys. Head down to the cargo bay. Viper, watch over them, and lower the pads only a tad so they can skewer them. Oh…and give them the new weapons we made from just the scrap," he orders before smirking.
Viper chuckles as he leads the group of raptors to the cargo ramps before going to the weapon rack on the wall. "New weapons? Is it like a cyclonian staff?" one of his tribemates asks.
Viper grins, showing his teeth, before sliding open the cover and shows off the metal spears that look to be made from the same material as the Tailwind and yet look brand new. "Crystal is optional," he informs and taps an opening in the spear before grabbing and tossing one of the spears to one of them. The raptor catches it before weighing it, finding it is relatively lighter than weighty like other regular scrap metal.
"This doesn't feel bad," the raptor observes as he taps the pointed spear with a claw before walking to the pad. The rest of the raptors grab their own off the rack and join the first.
"Everyone get ready. Oh, and please hang on. We haven't tried wind speed yet for us," Dustin calls over the pipes as Viper starts to lower the pads.
When the pads cross into the opening, a rush of wind batters the raptors as they grab onto the pillars, holding them up or stab their claws into the metal under their feet. As more air is exposed, the full force starts to rake across the cargo bay and slow them down slightly. Sky sharks begin to notice the large cruiser and fly towards them, intent on eating them apart. But when they see an opening, they swim and dive for it before being skewed by a cheering raptor as they stab or slice the sky sharks coming for them. After seeing their opening is useless, the sky sharks go for another opportunity and notice the windows. An immediate turn for one only makes them crash and plaster themselves on it before they hear a sigh from inside.
"Sky sharks. Can't live with them. Can't live without them," Dustin remarks as he wipes the sharks away with a large window wiper that flies across the view, sending them flying away as they continue, picking up speed as Viper brings up the pad. "Viper, please bring them to the kitchen. I don't want a campfire in the cargo bay."
"We are not that nomadic," Viper retorts into a pipe, half amused and half annoyed. But he repents and leads the happy lizards to a vast kitchen that they all drool at. It would seem this ship is made for a much larger crew than just ten members as there are many countertops and stoves to cook with. "Enjoy," he says, walking away to get back to work.
"Navigator, how long until we see the finish line?" Dustin asks.
Condor traces their path along with the map before doing a few calculations on the racing map. "Around a few hours. We should be fine as we are far ahead of the others."
"If nothing happens. We will be smashing the Condor's record on this race," Dustin points out as he switches off the windshield wipers.
"Well, that's if we don't hit the rocks on the way. It seems they choose a high ground of the wastelands so we can dodge pillars of molten rock," Condor notes while peering closer at the map to take more accurate measurements.
"Oh, hey, look. Is that the sky whale?" Dustin says, making Condor look up from her papers.
"Sky Whales?" she asks in confusion.
Dustin smirks as Condor rushes to the nearby window and plants her face against the glass she stares at the giant whale that seems to have joined them. It sings and echoes throughout the ship as it slowly swims through the air. 'At least she can be excited by the prospect of meeting stuff like this.'
"Someone get a picture of this!" Condor orders as Dustin continue steering the ship.
Cyclonis hums to herself as the ball goes on. She was stuck here watching this, but at least tomorrow, it would be over, and she can return home to Cyclonia. The main topic was of the unknown ship design the exploration guild had sent. Many would love to know how it's hull had withstood that maneuver it had pulled at the start of the race. Not only that, but it also brings into question what the engine must be like to prove its fuel use and speed. Even the ball, which would typically be about the trade talks, is now only questions and speculations about this new ship and what it could mean if the Free Atmos gets their hands on the design. Even the trade on Atmos's side and not theirs.
In Cyclonis mind, she is reminded of what the younger adventurer that saved her alluded to. 'If either side gets a big enough advantage, then they will restart the war then, despite if they have the manpower and resources in place,' Cyclonis thinks. She sighs as she wonders if she can get in talks with the designer of the cruiser, but he would probably be near the merchant guild, watching the race. Already, she has sent a few men to find the said person and see if a meeting can be arranged. Cyclonis didn't like this. She knew Cyclonia wasn't ready for the war to start up again. The Talons were not as numerous as they needed to be yet, and the quality of their troops nearly made her sick when she thought about it.
"An announcement, everyone!" a Talon crier calls, getting everyone's attention and bringing Cyclonis out of her musings.
"A cruiser has been spotted," the talon announces to everyone's astonishment.
Cyclonis slowly walks to a nearby window and watches as the ship that is the talk of the nations arrives, coming to a fast halt on the finish line landing platform, blowing anything away as the rush of air makes some people fly off or the cargo to fly and crash against walls and rocks. All before coming to a hovering stop until it lowers itself and releases the landing pads to stay in plays. 'Now, I am more interested in this one,' Cyclonis notes, her greedy dominant side taking over for a single moment.
"Snipe, Ravess," Cyclonis orders for her two guards. The two immediately came when called. "Let's go greet the winners, shall we?" Cyclonis informs, starting to walk off as the rest of the ball was shocked at what had just happened.
"We have to figure out the leftover wind behind our draft," Dustin observes as he peers through the window at the smashed cargo and people picking themselves up off the ground. "Otherwise, we are going to have a lot of problems with crazy drivers."
"Someone break out the record books as we beat the best time the race ever had by a day," Condor informs.
Dustin smiles while everyone on the ship cheers and celebrates. Though, he has a feeling that the victory meal will be a lot of sky sharks. "I think we can let the officials handle that. For now, I rather see how the engine is holding up after all this," he says before walking off the bridge and through the halls.
"Control, this is engineering," Daria calls.
"What is it engineering?" Dustin asks, stopping short of a tube.
"We will need to replace some wiring down here. We have a few faulty ones," Daria calls back.
"We seriously need to make our own versions to handle this," Dustin mutters to himself. "Okay. Get the same ones for now. And Daria, see if you can find a way to make some specifically for this ship and the shortest lines possible."
"You got it," Daria informs as Dustin sighs.
"Rorack, go collect our winnings from the bets. It should help us pay off the debt so we can work towards outfitting the Tailwind and making more modifications," Dustin informs.
Rorack laughs heartily, especially that they made it this far. "Your designs will never stop, will they?"
Dustin didn't answer as he wondered how long till the rest made it to the finish line. The longer they take, the more the Tailwind shows up both sides. "No…" he says quietly before continuing, wanting to see the engine with his own eyes.
"Captain," a voice on the voice tubes came.
"Yes?" Dustin asks, sighing.
"The Cyclonians sent someone to congratulate you. I think you will want to meet with them," the voice informs.
"Fine…I will meet them on the bridge, escort them there," Dustin instructs, seeing he will have to leave the job to the engineers for now. "Engine crew. Document everything. Don't even leave a single thing off the page. If something has changed, mark it before fixing it," he calls into a tube before walking back to the main lift.
Dustin waits on the bridge for the officials. They would exchange some pleasantries. They would make an offer, and he would make some agreement that doesn't commit to anything to get out of it. Then he can head down to the engine. This was Dustin's thoughts as he waited on the bridge. But it wouldn't stay that way.
The doors to the bridge slide open and Dustin sighs without looking, eyeing the gauges as he takes a guessing measurement at the moment. "Welcome to the Tailwind. Yes, it's big. No, we are not making it smaller, and…" he stops as he turns back to see Cyclonis and two guards walking towards him. "…why was I not informed we would be hosting princess Cyclonis?" Dustin asks with a glare leveled at the crew member escorting them.
The crew member chuckles nervously before rushing off, not wanting to face the wrath of their captain or the princess. The door shuts closed as Dustin massages his oncoming headache. "Apologizes Princess Cyclonis. If I were informed we would be hosting you, I would have had the Tailwind presentable for you," Dustin says, trying to be formal for appearance sake as he wondered if she even remembered him.
Cyclonis's eyes widen. She knew that way of speaking and tone even if the voice had changed a bit. This was the same boy that had saved her life years ago. Cyclonis composed herself, noticing neither Ravess nor Snipe had seen the moment of her royal facade breaking as they were too busy marveling at the deck or this very alien design ship. "It is fine. I am more interested in talking to you and congratulating you and your crew than adhering to protocol."
Dustin shrugs. "I would rather continue working on this ship than keep up talks as I fear even the metal shrinks after what we went through. There is a lot of work to be done after that race."
"Oh?" Cyclonis asks, interested. "I would have thought a ship of this caliber already has risen to the fullest possibilities and best the competition as well."
"You see, the Tailwind isn't truly complete yet," Dustin informs, stopping all three cold. "Yeah. And I doubt I will even be able to make another one for a while. I don't also want to allow a commission of something unfinished and have it break mid-flight. That's something akin to a company suicide," Dustin shrugs at. He seems to be rambling while the three try to comprehend what they have seen with this cruiser and its capabilities that it would just need repairs at this point. "There are a lot of things from the engine, the hull, the wires even. If it affects something small and minuscule like a wire shorting out, then eventually, that wire has to be replaced, especially if it runs the whole length of the ship. And it can be as crazy and simple as a piece of metal from the hull flying off and exposing something which I am sure a few did on ours. Course, we were only on half-speed," he muses to himself to the side.
"Half…" Ravess starts.
"Speed?" Snipe finishes in utter shock.
Dustin scratches the back of his neck in some confusion. "Or it could be less. We had to save some fuel when we were fighting the sky sharks, and so the crew doesn't get blown open when we lowered the cargo pads," he thinks out loud.
"I would like to hear more about this ship," Cyclonis informs, thinking this would be an excellent excuse to talk to Dustin about away from her guards.
Dustin hums and rubs his chin in thought. "Maybe later. Sorry, but I have a lot of stuff to deal with in terms of the ship being fixed up."
"Then join me tonight after the ball," Cyclonis informs, extending an invitation that Dustin couldn't turn down.
Dustin strokes with his forehead as he tries to think up his timetable now. He needs to find a way to get out fast. After a while, he relents. "I will come after the ball."
"Excellent. Ravess, Snipe, we are returning to allow them to do maintenance," Cyclonis informs.
"Wait? What?" Snipe counters, trying to figure out why they can't even stay to look around.
"We are returning to the ball," Cyclonis informs him, giving him a 'do you want to argue' look.
Dustin raises an eyebrow as the two don't argue and quiet down. After this, Cyclonis turns and walks away while Dustin watches them leave. Only to spot that Cyclonis leaves him an envelope on the table near the door before they exit and is led off the ship. "Man…what is with leaders sometimes?"