Chapter 69 (Giggity): Pirates of the High Skies.
Jay was awoken early by loud shouting and what sounded like the ship's bell being frantically rung. As he snapped awake he could hear panicked shouts and the thundering of hooves on wood as the crew ran about frantically.
No sooner had he sat up than Ketra sat bolt upright just in time for the door to burst open and Ava to appear in the doorway in her full armour holding her sword.
"Sorry to break up cuddle time but things are about to get seriously rough and we need all hands on deck!" she exclaimed.
"What's going on?" Ketra demanded not bothering to cover herself before her Blessed sister, though she did make sure that Jay was hidden from her view with her body.
"The Captin informs me that pirates have been sighted on the horizon, it looks like we are about to be robbed," Ava said and Ketra smirked evilly.
"Aren't those thieving bastards in for a shock when they find out that this ship not only has a full complement of knights but two Blessed Knights not to mention a Clan Mason Saviour aboard?" she said and Ava mirrored her smirk.
"Mirrored my thoughts there dear sister, so hurry up and get your armour on and let's get on deck, I want those pirate fucks to know exactly who they've tried to pick a fight with," Ava said before vanishing and from the shriek and frenzied movement next door Ova had just received the Ava alarm clock as well.
Both Ketra and Jay quickly got their armour on each helping the other to be as fast as possible, once they were geared Jay checked his weapon, the plasma tank was full and the battery was still good, suddenly he was super glad that Matriarch Sela eleth had brought the attention of battery life to the science hive's attention so the weapons could be fitted not only with energy recyclers which made use of both waste energy from each shot but also used the heat generated to top up the power cells.
The results were power cells that lasted an incredible amount of time compared to the originals plus thanks to the solar strips mounted atop of the gun leaching power from the sun these weapons were as efficient as the hive could make them.
"Now if he'd had his Saviour armour on this would not have been a problem as their armour had recharge ports where if your powercell ran dry you simply swapped it for one in your suit like a magazine, the one then clipped into the armour would charge up of the armour's powercell.
But in this case, Jay was simply going to have to make do and be very careful not to overdo it, otherwise, he'd be stuck using his sword which while he was fine with melee combat he far preferred to have range on his side.
As the pair stepped out into the corridor Ova and Xao appeared both armed and armoured as well.
Ova was in the middle of checking over Xao's armour and patting him down to ensure it was tight and wouldn't shit throwing his weight off should the fighting start.
As soon as she saw Ketra Ova snapped to attention and quickly nudged Xao to do the same, "Knight Ova and Squire Xao reporting in Ser Ketra, we're ready to kick so pirate tail!" she said proudly slamming an armoured fist into her equally armoured chest with a thud and a rattle.
"Good to hear Ova, hope your human isn't to warn out to fight?" Ketra said jokingly as Xao tried to smooth his over-ruffled hair down, he seemed to be developing quite a cow's lick to his hair.
"No more than you I'm sure," Ova shot back with a grin and Ketra bellowed a braying laugh before slapping her sister on the shoulder.
"Yes, they are like Reis's honey crackers, aren't they? The more you have the more you have the more you want," she said and now it was Ova's turn to bray a laugh while nodding her head.
"You got that right blessed knight," she said with a grin.
"Alright, let's get up on deck and show these fuckers exactly what's awaiting them should they take leave of their senses and try to board," Ketra said and the group headed up onto the deck.
"Do you really think they'd attack us?" Xao asked Jay as the pair looked off into the clouds behind the ship and spied the four black-sailed pirate ships chasing after them.
The ships were not as large as the one they were currently on and this made them faster and it was obvious that's exactly what the pirates flying them had in mind, they obviously wanted them fast enough to chase down their prey so they could hook it and board it.
Each of the ships had black sails with large crude skulls painted on them in both red and white along with the same done on their black side sails.
"Most likely, they probably think we are nothing more than a passenger vessel carrying some affluent lord or lady to an important meeting, or maybe rich land owners travelling on business to one of the other kingdoms," Ketra said answering before Jay could as she lowered the spyglass that the Captin had given her.
"I've heard of this group they call themselves the Brothers of the Clouds, from what I've heard they have a hidden base that is constantly on the move, apparently it was supposed to be a flying navel port for all sky ships to dock at without ever touching the ground so they could either offload goods or restock on fuel etcetera, but only three days after it's launch it was hit by pirates who stole it and it's been missing ever since, they somehow figured out how to not only fly it but to keep it hidden," Ava said leaning on the railing.
"A flying port?" Jay said in surprise and Ava nodded.
"It was supposed to be the crowning achievement of some of our scientists who were going to usher in a new age of sky ship flight, but when the port was taken the six of them disappeared most likely kidnapped by the same pirates who took the port so they could show them how to fly it and modify it," Ava said bitterly.
"How long ago was that?" Jay asked.
"About two years now," Ava said.
"Their closing! If they keep this pace up they are going to get into Balista range!" the captain yelled to the group and Ketra nodded at him acknowledging his words.
"Jay will that weapon of yours be able to hit them at that range?" she asked and he nodded.
"Oh yeah with ease," he said.
"Will it do much damage to something that size?" Ava asked.
"You kidding?" If I dial up the power a bit the slugs will go right through it and if I hit them with plasma it will turn the ship into a flying bonfire, armoured outer hull or not, failing that I could just aim for the balloon and send them straight down into the sea," he said confidently as he raised his weapon sight up to his eye.
Ketra was about to say something when there was a panicked yell from the lookout high above them on the side of the balloon where the were lookout points mounted on all four points of the oval-shaped balloon.
"Ambush to port and starboard! Rising up from bellow!" he yelled and all of them looked over the side just in time to see the two smaller craft breaching the clouds on either side of them.
"Jay cripples those ships, we'll take care of this lot, knights on me!" Ketra roared drawing her sword to a thunderous cheer from her comrades.
Jay was able to get one last shared glance with Xao before Ova grabbed him and dragged him along with her to the sides to repel boarders as they threw grappling hooks over their guard rails to attach the ships together.
Jay's first instinct was to drop both ships to their side's but then a cold realisation hit him, if he dropped those two then they would drag them down as well when they went plummeting downwards, no he had to trust in Ketra and her knights as well as his friend to repel the invaders, instead he had to focus on the chase ships behind them, a fact that was further hammered home when a hiss above him sounded the opening shot of their first salvo.
The huge Balista bolt had not been aimed at the balloon as even the pirates were not stupid enough to drop a shit anchored to two of their own, no they were trying to either cripple her or kill as many crew as possible, a point that was made very well by the screams of the sailor the bolt had nailed to the foremast.
As the sailors frantically tried to cut through the mooring lines that had been thrown over the sides Ketra, Ava and the rest of the knights fought to repel the Beledon boarders dressed in raggy-looking clothes as well as leathers while supporting all kinds of face paint to try and psyche out their opponents that swung over the sides.
Jay hoisted his rifle to his shoulder and looked through the scope at the closing ships, he could easily see the crew's lining the decks holding a variety of absolutely vicious-looking swords and spears, not to mention bows and crossbows all ready to join their brothers in the assault.
Jay adjusted the power level of his weapon and checked the charge, he was still running at over 90% so it was good to go for the time being, so switching to railgun mode he tried to pick his target aiming for the centre of of the lead ship.
The crack from the weapon as it fired the hypervelocity slug was absolutely tremendous and thanks to the thermal vision mode of his scope he could see the location of the boiler room quite easily thanks to the red heat bloom right in the centre of the ship.
The slug slammed right into the bow of the ship with a bright flash as the tungsten slug hit the metal of the outer hull armour and instantly liquified sending a molten jet of white-hot tungsten into the bowels of the ship like a mini sabot round.
This had the secondary effect of lighting any wood that it came into contact with on fire within the ship, a fire that was made worse by his second and third shots which were both plasma which not only slagged the hull armour on contact by setting fire to the inner hull.
Only moments later smoke was pouring out of the side portals along the sides of the ship while sparks and flames were being belched along with black smoke from the chimnies atop of the ship causing it to list and slow as the fans slowed to a crawl, it seemed that Jay's slug had hit true and had damaged the engine and by the growing heat bloom on his scope, it seemed that the ship's internals was most definitely on fire.
"One down three to go," Jay said glancing back at the chaos behind him, everywhere he looked there was vicious hand-to-hand combat as Ketra's knights did battle with the boarders along with the crew of the ship.
As much as he yearned to jump in there and fight alongside his beloved one Jay steeled himself as he knew that his comrades and friends were counting on him to thin their numbers down, so he turned back to his gun just in time to hear a heavy thud as a large bronze coloured ballista bolt slammed into the hull next to him, they were aiming for him in order to try and stop him shooting back.
The wicked-looking bolt was longer than he was tall and it stuck right up out of the hull with a slight left tilt which meant it had been fired from one of the ships to the left, so spinning around Jay levelled his weapon on the closest ship to his left, this time he didn't even bother aiming for the engine he simply fired three shots right into the balloon.
Now given that the balloons were not filled with a flammable gas the shots should have simply burned right through, but that's the funny thing about plasma because it was so hot that when you contained it in a space it had a real nasty habit of either setting the oxygen in the air on fire or simply vaporising it which released all that energy outwards, which is exactly what happened here.
The balloon flashed and exploded as the third raid shot punched in, for a brief moment it glowed bright gold as the molecules that were comprised of flammable gasses like oxygen ignited, this caused it to swell to double its intended size before simply exploding in a giant ball of fire that went upwards while the ship itself screamed downwards towards the sea far below them, not that Jay could see that because of the cloud bank.
"Two down mother fuckers who's next?" Jay growled turning his weapon towards the next ship in the line.
It was obvious that the pirates had bitten off a fair bit more than they could chew here and they were swiftly beginning to realise it, but that didn't deter them from still pushing the attack even as Jay ignited the third ship with a series of well-placed plasma shots to the hull that turned it into a raging inferno in a matter of seconds but it was when the heat hit the boiler that things really got spicy because it simply caused the large tank to explode within the ship.
The explosion split the entire ship clean in half sending shrapnel in every direction as the two halves of the hull swung away from one another still suspended by the balloon and making it look like one of those executive stress toys that Jay had seen that involved a series of swinging metal balls that clacked against one another.
The fourth ship clearly got the message of what was going to happen and they peeled off trying to retreat but not before Jay was able to put a few shots through the rear of the hull and one of the side sails setting the ship ablaze from the inside as well as the outside but now it was time to truly get in the fight.
Given the distance between them Jay didn't dare set fire to the boarding ships as it could easily spread to their own ship so instead, he quickly secured his rifle to his back after making it safe and he drew his sword after pulling his large shield from his back and mounting it on his left arm, then he jumped over the railing down onto the deck where his friends fought for their lives and one another.
It was both easy and hard to see both Ketra and Ava as the pair were like energized balls bouncing around the place, they would flash into existence and hit an unsuspecting pirate with enough force to usually send them screaming over the side of the ship and into the ocean of clouds below them.
Jay saw Xao alongside Ova as the pair fought against three large Beledon males dressed in patchwork clothing and leather dusters that were covered in both sewn-on patches and large stitching lines from where they'd obviously been repaired.
Jay decided this was time for some Clan pride and be sucked in a huge lung full of air before unleashing his best battle roar and charging forwards towards the three, suddenly he understood exactly why the Yautja insisted on doing this as not only did it fill you with confidence and the power of the pride in your Clan but it channelled your anger directly at your foe throwing them into momentary confusion, which was doubled for the massive Beledon males who first heard and then saw the small armoured human charging right at them with both his shield up and his sword high.
The first one to react swung a rather large cutlass-like sword at Jay which thanks to both his size and training he saw coming a mile off. He twisted his body and despite the man's obvious advantage in the strength department, Jay was easily able to deflect upwards off his shield as he ducked under the blow and popped up inside the strike all while swinging his sword up across his body to cut the man in a vicious slash that cut right through his armpit.
Two jets of blood spurted from the man's armpit as Jay severed his artery with expert precision, he might not have been trained as a Knight before Ketra got her big hands on him but Saviour blade work training was nothing to be sniffed at in the slightest and when you were training with the Yautja who were all pretty much born with a set of wrist blades mounted to their arms you always had to be on your toes or you'd be on your ass.
As the two other men turned in shock to see their comrade felled in a single stroke by the little odd creature Ova took full advantage of their distraction and bellowing a war cry of her own she smashed her large tower shield into the nearest one with such incredible force that she drove him right back into the railing while Xao darted in and hit him in the back of the leg with a quick stab which buckled him and allowed Ova to pitch him clean over the side thanks to her massive body slam.
The large Beledon woman turned to face their final opponent with both Jay on one side of her and Xao on the other all three glaring at the man who now did not look so confident as he aimed his shaking sword at the three of them and his fear laced eyes darted from one to the other as they advanced.
The three fanned out to cut off the pirate's means of escape and Jay could see that the man's eyes were darting between himself and Xao obviously indicating that he was going to try and get past one of them rather than try to face down Ova as he saw them as the weak links.
Jay dropped into a low stance and spread his feet apart to give himself a wide stance to either check any potential charge or to be able to have the stored energy in his legs to move quickly.
The pirate saw this and obviously recognised the training because he chose Xao which ironically enough was possibly the worst choice he could have made, but then how he to know that Xao was the most beloved one of the angry Beledon knights facing him down?
The man had only taken two steps towards Xao who braced himself for the impact when out of no-where Ova hit the man in the side like a furry shuttle, it turned out that she too had realised that he was going to go and there was no way in hell she was letting him get to her beloved one.
This time she didn't only hit him with her shield she hit him with her sword using her body weight to pin him to the railings with the shield while plunging the sword through his chest with a bellow that any battle-hardened Yautja would have been proud to call their war roar.
As the man's eyes widened with fear and then began to glaze as his life slipped away Ova leaned in close, "No one touches MY male but me," she hissed in a voice as hot as hell fire before pulling her sword back out of the dying man and using her shield arm she flipped him over the side adding a bit of extra fear to his final moments as he plunged towards the ground head first.
Ova snorted then immediately spun and began to check Xao over, "You are not hurt are you my love?" she asked spinning him around and checking for wounds or blood she seemed to freeze up when she saw blood on the front of his tunic and armour.
"I'm fine big girl, it's not mine just someone who tried to get behind you and didn't notice me, it seems all that time I spent staring at your back came in hand twice eh?" Xao said jokingly and Ova snorted but smiled.
"Well then continue to watch it, my love, the battle is not done, come humans we have pirates to slay!" she growled and they all turned to see that the remaining pirates were now cornered.
It seemed that the ship's crew had finally managed to cut free all the mooring lines and the two ships were struggling to try and maintain their distance so they could try to latch on again.
"Jay take them down!" Ketra bellowed from somewhere at the front of the advance.
"With pleasure," he growled and turned to Ova and Xao.
"Keep me covered I'm sending those fucker into the sea," he said making both nod and drop in behind their shields putting themselves between him and any potential threat as Jay sheathed his sword in its scabbard and pulled his gun out again.
A quick check of the battery showed that while some of the charge was depleted it was barely anything significant, so hoisting the weapon up he lined up and fired a quick three-round burst into the main body of the ship on their port side.
He had thought about shooting the balloon but he figured that if it exploded like the last one that might cause some issues but hitting their own balloon so he deliberately aimed for things that were just going to light the ship up rather than cause it to explode, it worked beautifully.
The superheated plasma ignited everything it touched, starting multiple fires around the ship and the best part was it wasn't just at the impact site but at all the sites the shot passed through till it ran out of energy.
Almost immediately smoke began to pour out of the portholes along the side of the ship and it veered off wildly trying to put some distance between them.
Jay spun on his axis and did exactly the same to the one-off their starboard side putting these shots through the side of the ship but he got the feeling that he hit something rather vital by the way the heat bloomed so incredibly quickly and the chimney began to belch black smoke.
"Hard to port!" he bellowed to the pilot who upon seeing where he was pointing spun the wheel like a man possessed trying to put as much distance between them as he could which given the ship exploded in a shower of shrapnel only moments later was not a moment too soon.
While some of the shrapnel did strike them the armoured hull took the hits without any real issues though one of their side sails did get torn to shreds causing them to list slightly as the pilot fought to keep them on course.
"Nowhere to go now cowards, surrender and you will be shown mercy," Ava snarled pointing her sword first at the fleeing burning ship and then at the black mushroom cloud that had been their other boarding ship only moments ago.
The ten remaining pirates looked around themselves and then at their leader who snarled at Ava and stepped forwards, "Never we will die before..." he began only moments later to have a large cutlass burst from his chest.
No sooner had the man slammed into the deck face first than the other pirates threw their weapons at the knight's armoured feet.
"We surrender, we don't want to die here," one of them said getting down on his knees and putting his hands in the air.
'Take them and search them thourally, I don't want a single hidden blade slipping through, once you are done clap them in irons, let's see them cut though those with a stilleto," Ava snarled as she flicked one of the long thin daggers out of one of the pirate's hair before slamming a large hoof down on the thin pointy dagger snapping it in two before the man's face.
Then she leaned down before him and looked him right in the eye, "I am a Blessed Knight, so too is my sister here, if you believe for a single moment that you can slip away from us in the night and use one of our own parachute escape rafts to escape us you are very much mistaken," she said and that man's mouth dropped open.
"H-H-How..." he began but then one of the other pirates piped up.
"Blessed Knights!? Oh by the stars above we're doomed, they can read your fucking mind Gall they know what you are thinking!" he exclaimed and Ava smirked at him.
"Seems your friend has heard of us, you really picked the wrong fucking vessel to rob you cowardly fuck," she said and before the man could even begin to move in response he found the tip of her sword at his throat pressed against his Adam's apple.
"Give me an excuse," she said coldly and Jay actually thought that she was going to stab a defeated man for a moment till he felt a large hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Ketra by his side shaking her large beautiful head.
The man snarled and gave up as both his hands and his feet were slapped in manacles, "This is Verrexi steel cur and these locks are Swindelin, you won't be breaking out of these trust me on that one, the best part is there is quite a nice bounty on pirates where we're heading, should pay for a new sail for me ship and compensation to me crew for wounds suffered me thinks," the Captin said yanking the man to his feet and when he realised he was going to spit at him he quickly headbutted him causing him to collapse into a heap.
"Take these curs below and if they give you any trouble kindly inform them that we'll pass along their complaints to one of our two Blessed friends here, or maybe even their little ship killer friend there, I'm pretty sure he can come up with a creative use for that weapon of his like oh I don't know shoving it up their tail hole and pulling the trigger a few times," the Captin snarled to one of his crew who saluted and organised a guard party.
"Think that was a coincidence that they rolled up on us with such numbers or is this something worse?" Ova asked looking between Ava and Ketra.
"Worse, much worse, follow me we have much to discuss my friends," Ava said gesturing for the knights to follow her below decks.
They gathered in the mess hall and grabbed a stool each, both Jay and Xao found themselves pulled into a large lap before they had the chance to grab a stool of their own and Jay got to smile at Xao as he was planted on Ova's massive thighs and she began to run her fingers through his hair after removing his helmet, it reminded him of one of the Tamer girls back home who loved to keep Fire Tigers at the temple, you could always see her and her Draconis husband surrounded by them.
Well she loved to pet the cubs just like Ova was doing to Xao and while at first, it seemed to exasperate him he very quickly seemed to accept it as the stroking seemed to send him into a bit of a trance as her nails raked over his scalp gently.
"They were hunting us deliberately," Ava said and Ketra looked at her curiously.
"During the fight, I was able to infiltrate the mind of one of the high-ranking officers and I saw what he saw, they were hired to hunt us down, more specifically those two," she said pointing at Jay and Xao.
"Us?" Jay asked and Ava nodded.
"His memories were quite clear, they were hired by a mysterious benefactor that they had never met before who was offering them quite a decent bounty for you both which he would double if alive," she said and Jay sighed heavily.
"So you are saying there is a price on our heads?" Jay said and Ava nodded.
"Yes though as to why I do not know," she said and Jay sighed heavily.
"Why are they hunting us?" Xao asked with a hard note of fear in his voice.
"It's got to be to do with the Nightmare Assassins, it's because I'm Clan Mason and they know it, they are probably scared that I will report them to the Clan and our Grand Patriarch will come down here with his Seekers and curb stomp the lot of them," he said.
"So they are hunting me because they are hunting you?" Xao asked sounding confused.
"As far as they are concerned you are human and that makes you Clan Mason though to be fair once the Clan gets here you will be so I suppose they are right in a way, but for now it's guilty by association," he said and now Xao sagged but was instantly hugged tightly by Ova.
"I will die before I let them harm a single hair atop my Xao's head!" she snarled.
"Yeah that's kinda their plan I think," Jay said.
"Well then I believe we are going to have to up our guard if they are going to be hunting us we must redouble our efforts to reunite Jay with his people because I believe we are going to need the help of his people to drive them off our world," Ketra said.
The rest of them nodded, "And this simply proves what Jay has been saying all along, it is obvious that these Nightmare Assassins fear his Clan above all others because they actively stand against them so we need their assistance and we are going to need both their weapons and their expertise in these matters," Ava said and Ketra nodded in agreement.
"I'm going to go and have a word with the Captin to ensure that we are at full speed because I get the distinct feeling that this is not the end of this," Ava said getting to her feet and heading towards the door.
"This could be really bad, couldn't it?' Xao said and Jay nodded.
"Yeah, to be honest, I fully expected them to send someone after us after we kicked them out of the Festival of Flowers, but it seems that they are pulling out all of the stops to stop us from reaching our destination because the Nightmare Assassins understand that while any Clan Member alone is strong together united we are pauking unstoppable, in a way I take it as a compliment because it proves to me exactly what my Grand Matriarch and Patriarch have been preaching since the Clan was founded, it really shows me the power of the oath that every single member of the Clan swears because now I truly see just how much those who stand against us fear the mere idea of us," he said and Xao cocked his head curiously.
"What oath is that?" he asked and Jay smiled.
"Strength through unity, unity through togetherness, togetherness through pure love, a love so pure it burns through all who hears its call, and hear its call we do, and answer that call honestly we do, humbled by its power we are, humble and proud we stand, shoulder to shoulder, these are my brothers and my sisters, they stand for me as I stand for them, I am never alone for wherever I am I carry my brothers and sisters with me as they carry me, my strength is theirs as mine is theirs, together we stand proud and free for we are Clan Mason and we stand proudly together now and always," Jay said with such fire and passion in his voice that it actually brought tears to a few eyes of the knights gathered including his beloved Ketra.
"Wow that's... that's beautiful," Xao said looking at Jay and he smiled at him.
"It's usually spoken by the whole Clan so I'm sorry if the potent power of the words is watered down by it just being me but when you are officially welcomed into the Clan you will see the truth behind it because you will see the intent behind it because it will be spoken by all together which is done to show the unity of the Clan as a whole, but it is almost always started by either the Grand Patriarch or Matriarch and trust me when I say this when you meet them you will see why the whole Clan stand with them, because they stand for every single member of the Clan regardless of who they are, it is a mentality we all share," Jay said with a proud smile.
"I have seen the place that he calls home in his beautiful mind and I will say this, my Jay lives in paradise, there is no crime, no strife, no struggle, the Clan takes care of its own and lifts up every single member to show them who they are and who they can become, I can tell you know if I am given the chance to join these beautiful people I will be taking it," Ketra said and her knights looked surprised.
"You'll be leaving us Blessed Knight?" one asked and Ketra asked and Ketra nodded.
"Yes, my place is at my beloved husband's side and I would be a complete fool not to take the chance to better myself and I am under no illusions that can only be achieved among the Seekers of Truth of Clan Mason, so yes I will bend the knee to the Grand Patriarch of Clan Mason and hope that he will be willing to train me," she said.
Jay reached up and stroked her horns gently making her turn towards him, "My love you are already a member of the Clan, you gained the protection of the Clan the moment you took me as your husband all that remains is to make it official in the Clan's eyes, so all we have to do now is actually reach them which given all of the shit that is going to be hunting us now thanks to this bounty on our heads is going to be far easier said than done," he said.
Ketra hugged him tightly against her and he felt the warmth of her body seeping through his armour, "Do not worry my beloved one as long as I breathe they will not take you either from me or this world," she said and he reached up and kissed her in response.
"I feel exactly the same my Ketra as long as I breathe I will be stood at your side ready to face down what comes, whatever or whoever it is," he said before suddenly finding himself in the air dangling over her shoulders.
"Please excuse me, sisters I umm have to deal with the fall out of a human's most powerful weapon, their silver tongue," she said and with that, she hurried off towards their room though from her shoulder he could see Xao in the same position on Ova's shoulder bouncing along with a 'Whatcha gonna do?' look on his face.