Dustin takes a deep breath and sits in the captain's chair. He has just come back from negotiating with the merchants of Atmosia. It makes him consider just doing business with Cyclonia as they are so resistant to buying something that is not traditional.
"Guess a night with that girl didn't help," Daria remarks, walking by with some papers.
"That was weeks ago, and those merchants are close to the blacklisting for us," Dustin informs.
Viper groans as he carries a heavy cargo on his back. "Deal no good? What's wrong? Bad price?" he asks, walking past his chair and drops the box next to a console.
"They didn't want it at first," Dustin informs.
Viper looks back at him in some interest. "At first? Something changed, and they gave a worse price?"
"Twisted their arms and let them know Cyclonia bought this for a pretty penny basically," Dustin informs.
Daria lets out a laugh once before grinning. "So what's the price from them?"
"I scammed them a bit for their crap. We won't be getting royalties from them, but we are going to be getting down payments for a while," Dustin informs.
"As long as we keep them too," Daria points out, gesturing to herself and her new blue and black styled uniform, which everyone is wearing. All of them have variations for mostly but the body, but the design is the same—all with hardly any stitching.
"I got to say we are getting a lot of looks in town because of the new uniforms. They think we are rich or something," Viper comments.
Dustin scoffs. "Why else? No one can have these kinds of clothes that easily. It's a miracle if you do. Now, I delivered it," he says the last part to himself, having a smile on his face.
"Captain to the testing room. Captain to the testing room," a call comes over the pipes.
"Seems R&D has something they want to share," Dustin says.
"I would hope so. You have been spending a lot of money on them and giving them a lot of materials after all," Viper comments.
Dustin smiles as he grabs a few papers. "I expect results from good workers. An excellent reason," he adds while catching a spare weapon from the cockpit as they needed more weapons to use.
"They wearing our colors yet or still wearing Cyclonian red?" Viper asks as he leaves.
Dustin shakes his head as he walks down the hallway. "They do that; it is only because of different departments. But never red. Red clothing is always wrong to use on a ship, though," he says to himself as he makes his way through the ship, eventually coming to a room that was initially intended to be a storage room in the blueprints.
Dustin walks inside to see something similar to his anti-air weapons, but small enough that a single person could pick it up. It is now strapped to a table facing a target on the other side of the room with some people waiting by it and tinkering with it.
"I am here. What do you have for me?" Dustin asks, making himself known as he sees some of the workers and researchers in the new uniforms while others are still in cyclonian red and dark green.
Condor grins as she pats the weapon on the table. "Your future standard weapon for the crew," she exclaims while looking excited towards the target.
"The prototype, however," Angus informs, with protective goggles on.
Daria chuckles as she hands her captain another pair of goggles. "Yeah. Prototype. So it might explode in our faces."
"How m…we don't have a medical officer, do we?" Dustin contemplates as they prepare to fire the weapon as a demonstration.
"Ha! No," Angus guffaws before turning his voice into a flat one.
"Medical officers and staff are next on the list. Also, Daria, planning room later tonight. Need to discuss plans for the Tailwind," Dustin informs as they ready the weapon for firing.
Daria smiles and nods as they watch the gun. "Yeah. Sure. After this, though. I am wondering how this baby performs."
"Firing now!" Angus calls after everyone is behind cover in case of explosions. The weapon starts lighting up red, showing they are using red strike crystals before a shower of red shards explodes out of the end, and the blast shreds the wooden target into several pieces as a lot of it is vaporized.
"I think a bit too much power. It's more like a cannon still," Dustin observes.
"The crystal is also almost completely drained of energy," Conder says, looking at it with some device.
Dustin sighs and takes off the goggles. "Well, you never get it right the first time anyway."
"It is a good test case, and we might be able to do something with it later. Maybe a mobile cannon or AA weapon for terra forces or deployable defenses on a ship," Angus says, his mind already raising with possibilities.
Dustin sighs as the team picks up and looks at the weapon by hand now. "Maybe. But we have to consider what ship and how to work it in. Not as simple as me to bolt it to the hull or ground," he warns.
"Uh-huh," Angus says, writing stuff down in his notebook now.
Dustin slowly shakes his head before waving him off. "So you guys are good here? Anything else you need?" he asks, eyeing the gun and supplies he brought in the corner.
"We are good here," Condor informs as the rest of the R&D members start to go up to the weapon and check it out.
Dustin nods as he walks out of the room, leaving the team to do their own thing. He sighs as he runs a hand through his hair, also trying to figure out how to make this weapon work. For now, only someone like the raptors and Rorack would be able to wield this thing by their hands only. Or the ship. He would have to make sure the process and research don't get leaked and go out of hand.
"Not to mention, I also make preparations for that," Dustin mutters to himself as he makes his way to his room to get out the blueprints for the Tailwind. Not the incomplete blueprints of the current state of the ship, but the ones on the final product.
Dustin slowly unrolls the paper before running his hand across a particular part. A set of hulls that has more detail than usual on other ship blueprints. He sighs as he taps his finger against it, wondering how he can make this particular piece work, but he is coming up with nothing at this moment. He can make a rough mockup, but it would buckle when tested. It's only useful for showing off. So how can he find a way to make this detail up properly…
"Boss, we are coming up on the terra," Viper informs over the pipes.
Dustin looks up at the pipe, and he sighs. "Skip the main landing zone, Viper. Head straight to the tribe and land nearby. We hardly have any cargo anyway," he orders and receives a confirmation hiss from him as the engines start to growl with more power. Dustin looks back at the blueprint before groaning. "Nothing is ever easy," he mutters while rolling the blueprint back up again.
"Boss, you wanted me to see me?" Daria asks as she walks through his doorway.
"Yes, after we are done with our business here, we are heading to Cyclonia to use their shipyards. We will be refitting the Tailwind to take high pressures," Dustin informs.
"Are we seriously taking that Terra Deep job? I know it's a high reward, but also high risk with the Murk Raiders that live there," Daria reminds.
Dustin smirks and gives a few chuckles. "That's why it's good even to bother—a great way to test to see if the retrofit can take it. After all, you don't want a ship to go down into those areas of the wasteland as expensive as this thing and have it be crushed into useless scrap," he points out.
Daria nods before sighing. "I hate it when you make too much sense against my arguments not to do something," Daria replies, rubbing her fins.
"Yeah, we also have saved up a bit from bringing in rogues and selling what we have scavenged what we had no use for. So we have a good enough reserve to do this now instead of working," Dustin informs.
Daria groans and rubs a little harder at her fin in slight nervousness. "Can you at least make sure we get the right materials over there? I don't want to be cheated and use something that would break with one fist pound."
"I have already made calls for that. Don't worry, the Cyclonians are very interested and invested in seeing the Tailwind being finished," Dustin assures.
Daria rolls her eyes amused. "I have a feeling they might offer an entire terra to pay for it."
"No price will be discussed. That much Cyclonis herself and I have agreed on," Dustin assures, getting up.
Daria taps her finger against one of the file cabinets as Dustin packs away the blueprint in one of them. "Were they able to find something suitable at least? Because I feel as if the current ones available would make our ship worse."
"Been thinking about that too. We may need to go to the drawing board again. The thing is trying to find a material that doesn't mean we need to keep adding too many hulls and make this a hardline battleship or too thick even to use or work on," Dustin informs, pondering away.
Daria sighs, feeling the headache of just the list of materials to work with, on top of how to handle them. "Looks like you need to come up with your version again."
Dustin smiles at the thought. "Dustin Style. The most efficient thing you can own," he playfully gives as a slogan.
"Here is a better one. 'Our designs are so good, we leave the rest in the dust,'" Daria plays along, swinging a hand through the air.
Dustin shakes his head. "Too generic in that way. We'll figure it out," he waves off before sighing as the ship shudders upon landing. "I wonder how they view this airship?"
"Ah, boss…it seems we came in while most of the tribe is out hunting with a few of the other tribes. Apparently, Repton himself hosts it and is looking for members to join his gang," Viper informs, having come back from the village.
Dustin groans and massages his head. "Were you able to find some at least? It would be a wasted trip otherwise," he notes while looking at the tribe camp as most of the raptors from before that he saw are hardly there. Even then, only a few guards are around, taking the main entryways.
"Not right now. They will be returning soon. Repton usually doesn't choose many. He will most likely be by as he likes to see how the raptor lands are doing," Viper informs.
Dustin hums as he keeps looking over the camp before seeing someone peeking around one of the tents. "Viper, I think your sister wants to see you," he notices, pointing to where Salv is, and Viper looks over.
Viper sighs before shaking his head. "Might as well visit. It will be a while," he says, walking towards his family tent as Salv runs back to it. Dustin smiles as he walks behind the raptor, taking in the mostly barren sight around them.
As they enter the tent, Viper is not giving a happy smile as Salv seems to be the opposite way. "Hello, brother. So how was your trip around the Atmos?" Salv asks, holding a crate of food and flowers as she seems to be organizing and cooking.
Viper shakes his head before sitting down in front of the cooking fire as Salv works on the small pot of food. "It's not all glim and glamor, sister."
Dustin chuckles as he watches the two interact. "And he's still cleaning the floor," he speaks up, earning an annoyed growl from the hunter. "But don't worry. I am not putting your brother in harm's way," Dustin reassures, getting a soft smile from the girl.
"Then you're not doing your job right," Salv informs, in a playful scolding tone.
Dustin then smirks and gets another growl from Viper, as if the raptor is sensing what he is about to say. "Oh. He puts himself in danger. I can not stop that. And he keeps the ship alive too," Dustin corrects.
"How have things been?" Viper asks.
Salv sighs, working on the pot of food. "Well, it's been quiet, as always," she starts to list off, enjoying the personal company again. "The usual hunts, some requests from other tribes, oh," she perks up, smiling. "We just had another clutch born—a pair of handsome boys," she informs, smiling brightly. "Their mother is so happy."
"If you are so bored, why not come with us? I mean, you know how to heal," Viper says.
Salv smirks as Dustin takes another look around the tent and the many items either hanging or placed on shelves. "A fair offer, brother. I guess this is because you need my help and not because you miss me?" she teases, and Viper hisses in annoyance. Salv giggles before sighing content. "Sure. Even the hunting trials haven't been coming up as much as before, so I am not even needed. It would be good to get out and stretch my legs," Salv happily notes before seeing Dustin looking over a lumpy rock. "Curious, captain?" she asks, starting to grab some bowls.
Dustin nods as he looks over the craggy and lumpy ore with some yellowish discoloration in some areas. "Yeah. I was thinking of my plans currently. And the biggest one is to remake the hull to take high pressure, such as the Terra Deep. Not easy when you make everything on the ship almost custom instead of mass-produced," he laminates, tossing the rock around, still rolling his current ideas in his head.
Salv looks at him with some pity as she gives the two some bowls of food. "Well, maybe some food will help. I am going to be working on the airship after all. We don't want to be suddenly squeezed down and crumbled like paper," Salv almost imagines and giggles at the shocked reaction of her brother and the curious one of her new captain. "What?" she asks innocently.
Dustin shakes his head, amused now as he puts the rock down and grabs the bowl. "So where do you find most of this stuff? It doesn't seem like normal trophies," he asks, eyeing the other wares and trinkets on the walls and shelves.
Salv gives off a hissing hum as she picks up the rock and tosses it around in her hands. "Some of them are from my silly brother, who tried to hunt early."
"We agreed to never speak of that!" Viper interrupts and gets ignored by the two.
Salv keeps smiling as her eyes glow, and she brings up the rock in her view. "And the rest is me. I tend to see things differently, such as this…aura off of the items. Crystals tend to do the same thing, but this stuff seems extraordinary. It is almost as if this rock here is a crystal itself," she explains, twisting it around and showing the whole piece to Dustin. "That's how I know some kills are real, and others are not. Fake trophies you can buy are not able to give off the same aura. Real ones have a hint of the hunter and the hunted. So I merely compare the two to the one that brings it in. You will not believe the amount I found out that were stolen kills in the beginning," Salv laughs at the memory and the shocked and angry faces of the raptor hunters. She then calms down and sighs. "After that, no one bothered to cheat again, thanks to me."
Dustin hums as he eats away while thinking partially about what she said. 'Aura? Strange way to put it. But that is useful to them. Maybe she can help us find a material to help,' he thinks as he goes for another bite before stopping midway and choking. Salv and Viper look surprised as Dustin pounds his chest to clear his throat. "Salv…" he says hoarsely while looking at her. "Can you tell rock and metal apart?" he asks, starting to come up with new ideas if this pans out.
Salv now blinks, confused. Dustin was choking on her cooking one second and is now asking her about her sight. "Well, they do have faint auras. That much I can say. It never came up for me to look at it closely, to be honest," she admits, wondering where this is going.
Dustin now formulates another set of ideas as some become discarded. "And if the metal and rock are molded into something, do they show something? Like high pressure?" he presses, his mind brimming with ideas.
Salv nods, thinking back to an event. "There was that one time a sword broke during a duel. The aura around it started to act differently and even match the fractured edge. I assume it would be similar since…it is hard to explain, but…waves of aura I can see radiating off of objects and living beings," she tries her best as she uses her hands to mimic the waves.
Dustin slowly nods as another set of ideas are cleaned and sorted out. "So this rock…what's so special about it?" he questions, wondering why as he assumes that even regular ship and weapon material is found on this terra.
Salv shrugs as she picks up the rock and looks it over. "Well, it is that the aura I see is a much darker color, like thicker. Even if I try to chip it off, as I did getting a piece where I found it, the aura retains a strong original shape. I just thought it was interesting. I even thought I would be able to sell it even," she then sighs a breath of air. "But the marketplace didn't want it. They called it useless. It couldn't even mold very well if a blacksmith tried heating it. So I kept it. It was much different than anything else I saw," Salv ends with a smile before gasping with a hiss as Dustin takes the rock and looks closely at it, but he is way too close for their sake.
"Salv, you have just found the answer to our problems," Dustin says, excited as he hugs her and gives her a small kiss to her lips that stops her cold. A little red blush forms on her cheeks as a low growl fills the tent. Dustin, still in his excited state, goes back to looking at the rock closely. He is no doubt getting a good idea.
"Sister…" Viper starts, slowly grabbing the spear off his back. "Where would you like me to 'poke' our captain?" he questions threateningly as he pushes his spear close to Dustin. Dustin doesn't even notice as he studies the rock carefully to see if he can understand more just by sight and feel.
Salv slowly comes out of the trance and sees the situation in front of her. She quickly grabs the spear and shoves it away, giving a small glare at her brother. "He was excited, Viper. I would think he meant it as a thank you for finding an answer to his problems. Besides, he would wreck your tail if you tried."
Viper growls before Dustin spins around, knocking the spear away by him in the process as he doesn't notice. He only looks at Salv and holds up the rock. "Show us where you found these," he asks, still enamored by the item.
"Do we have to worry about this one?" Daria asks, wearing a set of goggles with Dustin doing the same. However, the raptor beside them isn't even wearing one. She is looking directly into the heating forge as it burns hot enough to make them feel it across the room. But the sparks and some bright lights is enough to stop them in their tracks. "She has been staring at the forge without flinching."
"She doesn't see the bright light that much," Dustin explains as they watch the raptors try to heat the rock and more ore that was found. "So you don't have to worry," he reassures before smiling at Salv. "How is it looking?"
Salv tilts her head as the rock slowly morphs down into a flattened shape. The only objective for the forge team is to heat the ore and reshape it into a flat piece. "The aura is still mostly the same. The others didn't fare this long," she describes, standing by other flat parts of different colors and styles on a table on the side of the room.
Dustin sighs in relief, happy that he might have found the answer to his pressure problem. "If this holds up, we might use this ore for the hull and some of the important structure," he informs, feeling some sweat roll down his arms and face.
"We are approaching max," one of the researchers says, very impressed.
With a resounding hammer smack, the forge raptor breathes out some hot air as the other holds up the flat piece of metal. Dustin was about to speak up and ask Salv what she is seeing before the raptor turns toward him and smiles. "It is holding a different shape than a flat one. It is more like an egg. And it is slowly moving around. I am guessing it is trying to find its new shape," she guesses; a gentle shrug with a swish of her tail comes from her as Dustin smiles.
"Now the fun part," Dustin proclaims, looking right at Daria, who seems to grin at the suggestion he is making.
"Oh. That metal will bend to me," Daria promises, almost loving the challenge.
"Don't hold back," Dustin instructs.
Daria scoffs as if she would. "Maybe while I get the trials going, why not show our new crewmate around?" she suggests, nodding her head towards the curious raptor as she looks at the now cooling forge.
"Keep me updated," Dustin instructs.
Daria snatches the tongs holding the metal before walking off with the deep red piece. Dustin slowly looks at Salv as the forge raptors show off each part and how things are done differently. They even try to get closer before Dustin taps Salv's shoulder before she notices.
Salv looks at Dustin as he nods his head towards the door. "Have to show you to your new room and workplace. Unless you want to see the entire ship first?" he asks, smirking at how long that could take.
Salv smiles, pushing the two other raptors away. "Sure. I guess it would be best to see what I have to deal with if I am the one healing everyone," she admits, and Dustin starts to lead her out of the room. "Where are we heading first?"
Dustin notices Rorack carrying a large box past them, walking towards the bridge. "Say hello to the bridge. Where the biggest danger is just fires, depressurization, and some stray shots," Dustin lists off as they walk onto the bridge where a couple of people are working. They then notice Rorack walking by someone while a loose piece of metal falls out of his box and onto the Cyclonian's head. "And sometimes bad cargo that doesn't listen to us," Dustin finishes.
Salv giggles as the Cyclonian complains toward Rorack. "This is the most common?" she asks humorously.
Dustin nods as another crewmate groans and holds his foot, hopping in pain. He then kicks the box he walked into with his other foot, groaning in more pain and holding his other foot. "We are still trying to place stuff around. Come on. Mess hall next," he says, leading the raptor back into the hall. "Food-related accidents, sometimes food poisoning, and cooking accidents. So expect burns from them," he informs, stopping at a door that opens to a large hall where the crew is eating and chatting away.
Salv hums as she looks around, trying to spot any potential injuries. "Well, I can expect the least here," she says happily. Dustin lightly grabs her hand and leads her down the hall again, letting go of her hand in the process after grabbing her attention. "So we have the bridge and mess hall. We have the forge that I have seen and am impressed by. What else?"
Dustin walks down a set of wide stairs while Salv notices a smooth out portion on the side that has specific yellow and black markings on the top and bottom of the stairs. "Well, we have a cargo area, but the most significant problem in that area is the cargo. It is just hitting or falling on us. So you can expect almost the same as the bridge. But there is the armory," he points out, walking down another long hall while Salv sees the windows on the wall that overlooks the sandy desert. She even notices some of the crew mining the ore in carts for potential use.
Salv enters the guarded room behind Dustin and finds racks on racks of spears and staves while some of the crewmates go around and manage them. "I expect a weapon-related injury," Salv notes, watching how the crew is handling the staves and spears.
Dustin nods as he looks at the weapons, also in a state of repair and disrepair. "Yeah. Straight forward enough. Also, crystals too. Can't forget our ammo," he adds, gesturing to the boxes on the side of the room filled with said crystals, one blue and the other red.
Salv smiles. "This, I can handle quite easily. Though, I do have to consider your scaleless bodies," she adds, poking Dustin's arm and makes him rub at the spot, annoyed. "So don't worry about that part."
Dustin sighs before walking out of the army and down the hall again. "Further down, we have the research labs and testing areas. I had to make them simply because the old storage closet was getting cramped," Dustin explains as Salv can see a 'Testing In Progress' sign hanging from the door. "This one would be a wildcard. You would have no idea until seen or told," he warns as they keep walking. "So fair warning in advance," he adds while they approach a large door, and it slowly opens.
Salv blinks and slowly looks around, eyeing the many cargo boxes and people roaming around while three sets of four pillars grab three platforms along the middle of the room. "Cargo area," she guesses.
Dustin softly breathes out, almost finished with their tour. "Yep. Should give you an idea, especially where you need to go in case of emergency," he informs before turning back into the hall. Salv watches for a bit more before rushing towards Dustin to catch up. "And finally, your infirmary," Dustin proclaims, gesturing to the door with the red cross before it opens to a spotless looking room.
Salv slowly walks in and takes in everything. She sees the smooth, clean metal floor, a desk lying near the entrance with some papers and files on top of it, a set of windows on the other wall with a door next to it. Salv slowly walks up and opens the door, letting her see a large metal table where some crates and bright lights hang overhead as Dustin turns the lights on. She steps around, seeing every tool and instrument before noticing another door in the back of the room. As she walks towards it, Dustin smiles and watches as she opens the door to find another office but more furnished, this time with a large number of shelves and filing cabinets filled with folders and papers.
Salv laughs a little as she feels this is a bit much before noticing one last door on the other wall. She walks over and opens it, expecting a storage closet, but instead sees it's a bed that greets her sight. She slowly looks around, seeing a table in the corner of the room with seats all around and a couch on one side. The bed sits pleasantly on one side of the room, with shelves and bedside tables near it. An open door in the corner shows her a tiled bathroom, and she smiles before turning around to see Dustin standing in the doorway.
"So that's the tour. I hope you enjoyed it," Dustin finishes with a shrug.
Salv smiles and looks around again at the clear bedroom she is given. "Yes. And thank you for telling me what I might expect from this ship. Anything else I don't know about, though?" she asks curiously, her tail waving behind her. "Maybe anything about any potential danger where we are going or who might be after us?"
"For now, we are going to a friendly port. So just get used to your station and get to know the crew," Dustin assures.
Salv nods a little before seeing if anything extra came with her room. "Then I guess I would have to settle in first. Can't leave my things behind after all," she points out, and Dustin takes a look at her form as she gestures to herself. His face becomes one of understanding as he looks at her stitched outfit that gives her a modest covering. "But, if you give me a uniform in due time, I can also make due," she says teasingly with a smirk.
"See the quartermaster. They will begin that," Dustin informs.
Salv hums content while watching him turn and walk away. "I will do that," she calls, watching his purple aura waver and fill the air. Every piece of the ship has his aura color all over it as if he touched every nut and bolt on this ship. A real captain, to be sure.