Cyclonis hums as she sits in her new office. For the past several weeks, she has taken over the Master of Cyclonia position because of her ailing grandmother. She has just met with some nightcrawlers as they informed her they had assassinated the nobles who were using this as an opportunity to try and assassinate her again. Cyclonis is starting to wonder how many attempts would be made, and the ones behind them die before getting the message.
It has pushed her work back significantly. After several days of thinking it over, she abandons the idea of making the storm engine into a weapon after meeting with many of those who oversee their development of skimmers and airships. They informed that if the storms were neutralized as she inquired, they could greatly expand the drydocks and work on more cruisers and destroyers on the capital instead of spreading out production to other terras. The supply lines would shrink; thus, more parts would be able to get to them faster. Of course, they were mostly humoring her as none of them even thought that was possible. In the long run, Dustin's input would turn out to be the best as more ships mean that their forces would be better outfitted and grow. Especially since with the weapon Dustin has created, this war would be the end of the age of the Sky Knights, and it would become the age of the navy.
"Thinking of that, I should go check on the Tailwind. They have been working on it for weeks. So they should be nearing completion," Cyclonis says, getting up and starts heading to the dry dock; the nightcrawler guards instantly escorting her.
Along the way, she notices the vehicles that Dustin has sold the designs to them had already been made, and a few were going around lifting a lot of cargo, supply, and munition boxes. If anything was added for her, she gets lazy workers and soldiers as a byproduct. Maybe she should ask Dustin for a way to get them off their asses and back into gear.
As she enters the hanger bay, her view is filled with the famous Tailwind holding on the far bay. Personnel move between it and the marked resource area in another part of the hanger feed supplies to refine them. Workers either stand or hang on parts of the ship to rework the plating and find any change Dustin should know about. As Cyclonis walks along the walkway, which luckily isn't a gantry that goes up but a catwalk that extends flat from the ship, she sidesteps cargo lifts carrying supplies and personnel following like a street in a city.
The Tailwind looks different now, a bit sleeker, and the texture is also different. Cyclonis looks questionable at this as she examines the ship. Her hand runs along with the plating near the doorway and feels how smooth the metal is. But when she looks in the door, she sees how thin it is and wonders how this ship can take a beating and handle extreme pressure when needed. A list of questions she would need to ask Dustin when she gets to it for sure.
"We are ready to start installing them. Everyone get clear of the upper section of the Tailwind!" someone calls out.
Cyclonis stops herself from entering and looks to the front of the ship. There she sees the crane system carrying a large harpoon that is slowly moving to the exhaust looking hole in the middle of the split forward prongs. She leans over, hanging on the edge of the walkway to see the base of the harpoon enter the hole before hissing sounds out and then a loud clunk as the harpoon shakes from being locked down. At which point, she hears some heavy deep thunks and looks under the bow end of the ship to see smaller harpoon launchers like on fishing boats being locked into place. Another set of noise makes Cyclonis look up at them to notice another location being installed as same as the bottom. Her questions mount as she works her way into the expansive hallway of the interior.
"Testing rotation of our main weapons now," one of the engineers calls out.
Cyclonis hums as she looks around the personnel running around in noticeable uniforms that Dustin must have designed. She then looks at the signage in front of her on the wall before turning and walking towards the bridge, thinking if they are installing all the new weapons, he must be watching the integration from there. When she arrives, she becomes confused as she sees no sign of him anywhere besides the first crew members he had when she rode with him after the race. "Where is your captain?" she voices and startles Daria and Rorack, looking out the window. Almost everyone on the bridge freezes as they see the Cyclonian royal standing near them while chatter comes through randomly on their radios.
"Ah…he is at the top weapon platform, probably overseeing the handling of the weapon," Daria says, more than a bit nervous, having been taken completely off guard.
Cyclonis slowly nods before raising an eyebrow. "Would someone care to lead me so I don't get lost?" she asks politely, hoping this nerve goes away with Dustin and the crew.
"Viper, show her the way. You have been complaining about not being at one of them for this anyways," Daria instructs the raptor on the bridge.
The raptor mentioned above looks up from the crate of supplies to see the Cyclonian leader and crew looking at him. "Shoot. Fine," he grumbles before walking away and leading the acting leader to the top of the ship. "So that you know, Dustin may be very into his work at the moment as this installation is important."
"I know his work habits well. I had the pleasure of sailing with him on two occasions," Cyclonis recalls as her guards took notice of the corridor and how easy it would be to barricade for defense.
Viper hisses a response before moving to a doorway keypad and presses a code in. "And if you ask, I am sure he will give it. But he may not since you will become a ruler," he adds as he looks back at her. "A security risk nonetheless," he finishes as he notices the guards start to watch him wearily. "He's up there," Viper informs, nodding his head to the smooth ramp behind the slow opening doorway. "Good luck," Viper offers while standing to the side.
"Pressure at sixty, torque at fifty-five. Not enough. Find the problem and address it. This needs to turn quickly if it is to fight beasts, not ships," Dustin's voice was heard.
Cyclonis keeps walking up the ramp while finding a room amid construction and renovation. Material lying around with many tools in the waiting. In all honesty, it would look like an observation room at best if fully furnished. But the weapon cannons on the far end tell a different story, and the ammo racks on the wall nearby. "Making a place to watch the clouds roll by?" Cyclonis speaks up, seeing how the windows are as both curves and turn sharply in the left far corner.
Dustin immediately turns around, finally having a small break from work. "Cyclonis…I didn't expect to see you so soon. I expected the nobles and officials to keep you bogged down with meaningless work. At the same time, some plotted your assassination," Dustin comments when seeing her before turning back to the crew and starts barking orders at them to make notes of every change they make.
Cyclonis smiles as she watches the captain send out orders like a true leader. "Most are done. The rest can be done in passing. And I wanted to see my investment reaching its full potential," she partially jokes.
"Hum…you know there is a problem we are having that could use your expertise," Dustin says, seemingly out of the left field.
Cyclonis becomes interested, wondering how much insight he needs from her. "And what would that be?"
"We are trying to improve on the shield system we installed, but insight from crystal experts will help with that," Dustin says.
Cyclonis chuckles before smiling. "Of course. Where shall we discuss this?" she asks, thinking this should be much more comfortable than political or money trouble.
"Come with me. I will show you. Also, if you idiots do anything stupid, it could cost you your arm!" Dustin yells at the engineers before leading Cyclonis out of the platform room.
Cyclonis keeps looking around the many hallways and people running around. Her mind wanders before remembering to ask something. "How do you handle all your crew members?"
"A comprehensive hierarchy system," Dustin answers.
Cyclonis nods before smirking. "And you are also adding the possibility of being dropped off wherever you are or at the next terra if they fail or cause trouble?" she asks, wondering how far Dustin will go with punishments and law.
"We can't do that. They all signed a contract, and they know too much about the ship. Which I don't want getting out," Dustin informs.
"So death," Cyclonis adds in a joking tone.
"…it can be on the table," Dustin admits after a bit.
Cyclonis chuckles as they walk to the generator room. The air is becoming hotter as they approach a set of large metal doors. "Reinforce shielding doors?" she guesses while Dustin moves to the control panel and presses the code in. The door creaks and moans as they slowly move into the door housing. Cyclonis's eyes slowly see the central core of the entire project and the main draw of what makes the Tailwind work.
A large generator sits in the middle of the room, suspended by struts and wires that sit around a spherical space. A walkway goes around the sphere-like generator as wires connect to terminals and other machines sitting around on the walkway. Crew members mill around, taking note of every part of the system while guards stand by the doors and extensive walkways.
"I know it isn't much to look at. But we are planning to go to Terra Deep and need to know if the generator is up to snuff to handle something like it. If you recommend the changes, then we can apply it to the others as well," Dustin explains while not noticing the shocked face on Cyclonis.
"Where is the shield system?" Cyclonis asks, not seeing it in the generator or its controls.
Dustin looks around, seemingly trying to remember where that is. "Oh yeah. I made it the entire room. And then, there is each crystal piece inside the generator having its very own shield system that is individually controlled. Yes, I know. Expensive," Dustin apologizes and sees her shocked expression. "Another problem?"
"Are my eyes deceiving me, or is that one's eyes…?" Cyclonis questions, making her guards look over to Salv.
Dustin looks over and sees Salv covering her eyes while picking up crystals and looking away. But then they see her eyes glow while she opens them again and notices the yellow glow in them. "Yes. Crystals for eyes. Or instead in them. She can tell a better story if she wants to," Dustin explains before noticing Salv tilting her head and crystal around a lot. More so than a studying gaze.
"Shit scales," Salv mutters, annoyed, and throws the crystal onto a nearby work table before walking away. She doesn't even notice the two leaders as she walks between as she rubs her eyes. "I will be taking a day or two off, depending."
Dustin sighs as he watches the raptor leave before turning to Cyclonis. "Okay. This I will need to deal with as well. Sorry. But the techs can help further with any questions you have. We need the power and endurance to go into high-pressure areas. Is that okay?" he asks, looking concerned to Salv as she exits the room.
"How is that possible?" Cyclonis asks very inquisitively.
Dustin shrugs. "Raptor strength? Toughness? Maybe it applies to their eyes since they are used to a desert climate?" he guesses before groaning in annoyance. "Damn. She almost told me. Yeah. I am going to have to go. Sorry," he apologizes before walking away, following where Salv went.
"Right, let's see what they have going," Cyclonis says. 'And get a bit of insight on their tech.'
"Salv?" Dustin calls as he enters the infirmary. "What happened?" he asks, looking around for the raptor. He scans the whole room and finds Salv standing in front of one of the operating room's mirrors.
Dustin becomes worried as he sees her peering closer at her eye while holding a set of tweezers up to her eye. Salv then notices her captain behind her and sighs. "Sorry about that. But it looks like I have to change out the crystals," she apologizes before returning to trying to pick at the shard in her eye.
"You have to change out your crystal?" Dustin asks, surprised.
Salv hums as she finally grabs the piece, gasping as she pulls out the yellow dimly glowing shard. "Yes. Like all crystals, they will run out of energy. Our shaman specially made these. Of course, he also did this every month," she explains as she turns to him. Only now, Dustin is a bit fearful as her now dead eye looks almost as if a black void is there. "Can't see, of course. So I have to do this one by one. Good for emergencies. Bad for a quick moment like the job I was doing," she explains while placing the shard to the side and opens a box next to her. Yellow light spilling out as Dustin approaches and sees a few sets of crystals around the same type and size wrapped in a soft cloth.
"Hum…you are the only one who knows how to handle these onboard?" Dustin inquires.
Salv scoffs, moving some of her hair out of the way behind her. "Of course. What kind of doctor do you think even want to try this sort of thing? Unless you want to take a crack at it since I saw your work with the sculptures?" she asks, almost amused while opening one of the clothes. Salv carefully reaches down and tries to grab one of the pieces, but it keeps missing. Dustin immediately holds her hand and stops her before grabbing the tweezers out of them. "You guessed the apparent problem of me doing it alone?"
Dustin hums as he grabs a piece and adjusts it. "Your depth perception is off. You have almost to guess. Also, we are getting you attendants. You will be training them, and no, this isn't up for discussion. It's an order," he explains while Salv sits down and leans her head back.
Dustin moves over before looking carefully at the eye left behind and slowly lowers the piece in, keeping a hand steady on her head. "I guess you don't want to take the blame for this if something goes wrong," she guesses while her tail twitches and flicks behind her. Dustin then touches her eye and sees the tail become stiff and bend around, but no other reaction comes from the girl. He keeps pushing the shard in and is about to let go before Salv pokes his chest. "This is the hard part. You have to turn it, so it faces almost flat in my eye," she warns.
"No wonder it's only good for yourself in emergencies," Dustin remarks while slowly adjusting as carefully as he could. He does have good steady hands from his experience working with his sculptures so that he won't have a problem that big. But it would be what she sees that he has to make sure. "Okay, tell me once you see a good vision," Dustin asks while twisting and turning the piece around.
Salv smiles while her eye flairs in familiar pain. But the missing vision slowly returns and turns itself around to see the world. "Well, I see a handsome captain making sure his crew is okay," she jokes and gets a light tap on the side of her head from a finger. "Now the other, please?" she asks as Dustin makes the final adjustment and pulls the tweezers out, making her blink rapidly to get rid of the feeling.
Dustin sighs as he walks around and holds her eye open. "You were about to tell me the story the first time we met you. Want to finish, so it is not so quiet here?" he asks, starting to reach in.
Salv takes a deep breath while she tries to relax from the noticeable pain. "Well, being born blind in a tribe isn't easy. You have to rely on smell, sound, and feeling most of the time. But you could hardly pass a trial either since most of the time; you hunt to win. I can handle the smell, but the feeling is the problem. I couldn't have made good hits when I practiced. Until the shaman came forward with an idea," she recites before gasping as Dustin pulls out the shard, leaving her blind in her eye. "Damn," Salv curses as he puts the fragment down and goes to grab the last remaining piece.
Dustin frowns as he adjusts the piece in the metal grip before looking at the raptor. "Putting crystals in your eyes so you can see again. How did he ever come up with that?" he asks, wondering what led that old raptor to reach such a conclusion.
Salv gives off a wry smile before leaning her head back again. "Simple. He looks through it. He noticed how the view is very different on many crystals. The shaman thought that if he can find the right one to use, I can have another chance. And these are it. Typically, these crystals are used for detecting various other crystals, but now they are my eyes, literally," she explains while he starts to push in the shard. Her tail involuntarily smacks against the ground hard, and Dustin finally notices. "Yes. It hurts. Hurry up," she silences his next question while staying still. "Anyway, he broke the crystal into pieces before he placed them in my eyes. For the first time, I can see. You can imagine my brother being thrilled for me. The chief even allowed me to have my trial be that. Because I was taking a hair-brain slim chance at having my senses back. I became an honorary raptor tribe member after the whole thing. Ever since, I have been helping out and making sure other trial takers don't cheat," she chuckles but stops when he taps her head with a finger to make her stop moving. "Thanks for putting up with this, though. Means a lot," she appreciates as he starts to turn the piece around with her vision returning. Not as dim or less colorful than last time.
Dustin smiles as he pulls the tool out of her eye, and she slowly leans forward, hunching over. "You are a valuable member of the crew. We wouldn't get far without you considering you are the only one who can see what is good and what isn't," he notes while looking into the box of her eye crystals. He looks over the small tools and other wrapped pieces lying inside, wondering how much the shaman gave her when she left. He eyes the raptor as she stays hunched over before she reaches up and rubs at her eyes with her fingers.
"Glad to know how much help I am besides metal checker," Salv jokes and looks up to see him smiling at her. "Back to work," she sighs, pushing herself to her feet.
"You also got the soon-to-be empress of Cyclonia's attention with those eyes of yours," Dustin warns.
Salv giggles and winks at him. "I'll be careful. Besides, she can't steal me away that easily, captain," she points out in a teasing tone.
"We should get back. We left her alone with the shielding tech. She agreed to help us improve on it a bit, not do it all herself," Dustin says, smiling.
Salv reaches up and taps his nose. "Then let's not disappoint. We could lose whatever benefits we have," she jokes while walking past him. Her tail even bumps against his back and makes him stumble. "Make sure you don't fall face first, captain," Salv warns as she walks out the door.
"So what did you think?" Dustin asks as he and Cyclonis talk after dinner.
Cyclonis hums as she drinks out of her cup. "I wish I had you here to redo our entire empire. From that single room and ship, I can tell it is one of the most advanced systems I have seen in my life. And that's saying something, considering you just made a brand new ship, mostly. I doubt you would give it up, though, to us," she voices while he idly eats at their meal in her office.
"We have an understanding about that one. But to do that would require a significant overhaul of all your ships, and if you do that, you might as well heed my advice I gave you already about scrapping most of your skimmers," Dustin points out.
Cyclonis sighs and leans on an arm against the table between them. "That would require displacing many pilots and fighters. None of them would like it."
"Well, we both know how skilled they are anyways. They aren't much of a benefit unless they have like a twenty to one advantage in numbers. Mostly with the overhaul, I would say you retrain all your Talons as well, as it's kinda an embarrassment," Dustin informs bluntly.
Cyclonis snarks and smiles, looking to the side. "Now you are making us an embarrassment with our go-to fighters," she jokes, smiling before sighing and leans back in her seat. "Won't you ever join us? I can provide very well for you. Even give you a large salary as others do know you are this important."
"I decided not to take sides in the war, but with things going the way they are. This war will end with this generation with or without me. You know what I believe will happen already but post-war. Well, someone will need to help with rebuilding, and…how many do you actually trust with such a task?" Dustin inquires.
Cyclonis shrugs while tapping her fingers on the arm of her chair. "Only the people in their homes for their homes. Here, the government, me."
"When the time comes, contact me, and I will probably have more ideas to implement," Dustin assures.
Cyclonis smiles. "Do they involve me spending a lot of money at once?"
"Maybe, start saving money in some secret accounts, though. Rebuilding isn't going to be cheap. Especially since you will also be overhauling your entire navy as well," Dustin reminds.
Cyclonis raises an eyebrow now. "Will you be offering your ships then?" she asks, visibly trying to be sneaky about it.
"Yes, post-war. We might finish refining the Tailwind by then," Dustin confirms, not dancing around it to Cyclonis's surprise.
"So soon? Do you have not that many improvements left?" Cyclonis questions, thinking his improvements on one ship will go on forever.
"I said post-war. It will be a grinding conflict again. It won't be over quickly," Dustin clarifies.
Cyclonis eyes him carefully. "You make it sound like it is."
"That will depend on many factors. At least half will be out of your control too. We also might have something to upgrade the talon's arsenal themselves as well," Dustin informs, reminding Cyclonis of the report she got about them developing a new weapon.
"So that harpoon weapon…?" Cyclonis trails off as she eyes the airship out her window.
"It's a trial weapon mostly. We are trying out different ideas, and that is one for beasts, not ships," Dustin clarifies.
"Color me skeptical for not seeing it as an animal weapon," Cyclonis quips as Dustin then recalls that pirates do use harpoons for their ships.
"Yeah, we will see how it works out before we make a judgment call on it," Dustin assures.
"I see. Then it is likely not going to be a part of the final product then," Cyclonis remarks.
"Sounds like you have experience with that," Dustin says.
"Years ago, one of our military equipment companies thought they had come up with a new main cannon for our destroyers. It was a single mega crystal cannon. During testing, though, they couldn't get enough power to fire it, and when they jury-rigged a solution, it overloaded and lost the entire destroyer and crew. Ever since then, the project has been put on ice and all but scrapped," Cyclonis informs.
Dustin smirks as he leans on his arm. "You want me to take a look at it, don't you?"
"No, I don't think even with your power system that your ship could handle it, and the design was massive and would probably be better for an emplacement on a terra than a cannon on a ship. Even with your ship's power able to produce more than our destroyers can. I got sent back the numbers," Cyclonis says dismissively, seeing his raised eyebrow.
Dustin keeps tapping his finger against his cheek. "Let me see it."
"I will forward the blueprints to you later. I will have to send someone or a few to dig through the archives for it. Now then, I worked on your shield, and it was very informative. So if you agree to let us start to use it limitedly, I can get the ministry of defense to pay you for it," Cyclonis offers.
Dustin sighs and starts to look around. "Sure. I will get some paperwork drawn up. Remind me to find someone who can be my accountant and paper pusher."
"I will," Cyclonis says, smirking.
Dustin chuckles before grabbing more food from the side. "So any bigger problems on your end? Maybe another attempt on your life or meddling in royal affairs?" he jokes, smiling before drinking a little.
"You joke, but two are being executed for plotting that," Cyclonis states.
"Ouch," Dustin mutters and looks at her. "Seems like it will never stop for you or your rule. What's to stop them from grabbing the throne while you are outside somewhere, doing something?" he questions.
"Control of the nightcrawlers and most of the talons as many would rather see me ruling than one of their rivals," Cyclonis answers without missing a beat.
Dustin grins as he chuckles. "And that is another reason to keep you around. The snarky humor," he adds on, remembering when he did save her and how she acted initially. "Though, most are looking toward you for your ruthless leadership," he observes, tapping his drink bottle with a finger.
"They think they can take advantage of me because I am young. Thanks to your influence that is not the case anymore," Cyclonis points out.
Dustin smiles and holds up his cup towards her. "To my crazy influence that lets you keep the throne. May your reign last long and bountiful," he jokes before hearing Cyclonis giggle at the mention of him announcing all that publicly. "And that we stay good enough friends that I won't lose a vital repair and port area."
"Now then, how comes the retrofit?" Cyclonis asks.
Dustin hums as he looks out the window, thinking about the progress. "I would say a little more than half. After that, final checks, a small test flight, and we would be on our way for an even bigger test to put it through its paces."
"Where are you heading to next?" Cyclonis inquires.
"If all goes well, we will be taking a job to map Terra Deep," Dustin informs, to Cyclonis's great surprise.
"Map the Terra Deep?" Cyclonis starts to question, now sounding a little worried. "You do know murk raiders are there, and they will love your ship?"
"Yes, one of the requirements to do that job is reaching some agreement with the Murk Raiders. Failing that, the job is not feasible," Dustin assures.
Cyclonis scoffs and leans back in her chair, shaking her head. "Don't come to me when everyone tells you it is crazy to try."
"I have already sent out people to get into contact with them. Besides, if we pull this off, our name will spread like wildfire, and also the reward is one and a half million," Dustin informs her.
"I can see the appeal," Cyclonis says as she wonders where that money would come from.