[IC] Exceed the Dawn

[Kristia]

Lian Territory | Wilderness | The Sanctum Avenger


Taking the map again, Lia made some mental claculations as she traced the scroll with her mechanical finger "Hm.. we got some space if we make a diagonal landing around here "she pointed to what looked like a canyon in the map "the ore resources would be just a simple walk through the park and " she smirked at this point. "We got the rocks as natural defence so our dear pilot can take a break since we can dock and let Cecilia not get cranky" she received a glare from the blonde.

The engineer spoke then "I have to be careful with you Myura, I trust Xander and his reactions when flying, but my baby has nightmares of a certain redheadŽs routes" she pouted and threatened the soldier with a wrench "But IŽll let you off the hook since IŽll be on the ground team too, my girls also like to be appreciated" she lifted one arm and flexed it, showing the muscle.

"Actually.. if we can dock, why donŽt we let Xander come with us? the more the merrier" the blonde offered

[Alayosho]

Lian Territory
Wilderness
The Sanctum Avenger

"Docking requires an actual dock. I'm not jimmy-rigging this to a cliff side." Xander grumbled. "No telling what those rocks can and can't hold. We can certainly check the place out, though."

Xander smirked at Cecilia's display before adding, "While I appreciate you wanting me close, I'd be a wreck if we had some sort of problem. Also someone's gotta watch the ship. I know I pass out half the time, but still, someone's gotta be here." Xander took a glance toward the map, peering at it, "So where am I going?" He looked back toward the sky, a lot happier that the topic was shifting to flying and drifting from getting into fights.

[WriggleRid3r]

Lian Territory
Wilderness

---

It's been a good month of constant flight for Reisen as she ventured above the skies in pursuit of certain someone. Her crew was rather ragtag; made up of mercenaries and independent contractors stuffed on a "borrowed" military scouting ship. Then again, what can you do when you're limited to standard military salary with no support at all?

She regurgitated upon what that homeless man told her about their target of interest when she was in the port city of Ber Rosa a month ago. According to him, he witnessed Karliah and a group of explorers asking about a rare ore that only spawns within the highest of cumulonimbi and other larger clouds. The altitude in which the ores spawn also happen to be the habitat for dragons, wyverns, sky jellies, and other aerial predators, making the ore rare and dangerous to obtain... but therefore also very pricey. Whether Karliah was seeking to sell these for money or to forge them into ingots to create something out of it is unknown, but it told Reisen that Karliah has definitely put her hands out of military business. If only Reisen knew the reason why...

The ship took up in altitude, giving Reisen a bit of lightheaded feeling which she hoped to alleviate with a quick gulp of water. Her ears felt pressurized, but Reisen was used to it from all the military training. Her crew members fared a little worse than her, but it didn't really stop them from reaching the desired altitude as their ship ascended high into the skies. It wasn't long until they could faintly see the target ship.

"That has to be her." Reisen said as she observed the ship from the distance with a telescope. She could not tell who was on the ship, but she was certain that it was Karliah's. Who else would be so high up in the clouds? "If we approach too quickly, she might be suspicious and hightail out of here. Let's get closer, but slowly."

[Tewi_Inaba]

Lian Territory | Wilderness | The Sanctum Avenger

Karliah got serious for a moment, she didn't know what it was, but she had a gut feeling that they might be in danger. She didn't show or say what she was thinking. Rather she just went along like nothing was happening. Turn off the rear thursters and take us lower. We should have more than enough speed to keep us going. Lia, find a spot for us to land, the more cover we have the better. Cecilia, keep an eye out for enemy ships. I'll watch the bow, you cover the stern. We're in dangerous territory."

[Kristia]

Lian Territory | Wilderness | The Sanctum Avenger

All the fun and relaxed mood vanished as both females got to work, Lia was focusing her gaze on the map and the world below them "As I said earlier, I suggest we use the canyon to have the rocks as a protection. Judging by what I can read it is a perfect spot to dock" she said and showed the map to Xander, tracing their current route with her finger to a circled spot on the scroll.

The blonde engineer went outside with a telescope at hand, she made a preliminary check up on their weaponry, making sure they were armed and oiled "Weapons and defences are in optimal state" she spoke outloud while going higher on the ship. Looking with the telescope, Cecilia took her time to see their surroundings until she spotted a flying vessel on the horizon. Not hesitating, she yelled "We got a ship on the horizon, too far to identify any marks or faction"

[Alayosho]

Lian Territory
Wilderness
The Sanctum Avenger


"Really? I think we're fine since we're so high up...." Xander shrugged at Karliah's request and began to descend slowly. Xander stole a glance at the map as Lia presented it, following the direction and turning the ship toward the canyon.

The next moment would play out pretty regularly, and overall there would be nothing to note. Karliah would take a firm, commanding position somewhere behind Xander, attempting to look like she was doing more than telling the people who actually knew what they were doing and generally when to do it what to do. Until they landed, though, it was pretty boring to be a captain. Cecilia would then go to the systems and weapons, checking them out to make sure they were mostly functional, saying "Weapons and defences are in optimal state" right on que. Then she'd go to the top of the ship and say "We got a ship on the horizon..."

Wait...no that wasn't right.....

"... too far to identify any marks or faction" She finished.

"Damnit...." Xander Grumbled. "Captain? If i go down into the clouds we wont be able to see anything for at least half a minute. They wont either but its not like we have the ammo to fire at them blindly." Xander glanced back at Karliah, looking for his next order.

[Tewi_Inaba]

Lian Territory | Wilderness | The Sanctum Avenger

The caption took only a few moments to think about how she would retaliate. the ship was still unidentified so there was a chance it wasnt' hostle. It could have just been another crew after the ores. Of cores it was her job to assume the worst and keep the others alive. For that she took her roll very seriously. She looked over at Xander before speaking. "Take us into the clouds and put the rear thrusts at max. Then get ready to dive. it's unlikely anyone would be out this far looking for us specificly, but we'll know it if they give chase."

She then walked over to the front of her ship and took control of the forward firing guns. "If they do end up following us we're gonna take em for a ride. After you dive I want you to circle around the mouton. Cecilia load the high explosive rounds and get ready to fire. We won't get a second shot at this."

[WriggleRid3r]

Lian Territory
Wilderness

---

"They're trying to take off." Reisen observed with her telescope, able to see blurry figures in the distance. For a brief moment she could identify a red haired girl strutting across the ship, who she could only guess as Karliah. "Captain, we need to get closer. Disarm all cannons, however; we want to appear safe."

"There's a problem, lass..."

Reisen turned around to see what the captain was saying to find catastrophe. Most of the crew members were trying to combat strange jellyfishes that are latched onto every metallic parts on the ship, corroding them away. In fact as soon as Reisen turned around, the jellies have finished eating off the engine, which exploded into a violent flash of fire that knocked some crew members out of the ship.

"Wha- what are those things?" Reisen exclaimed with a pinch of panic.

"Goddarn air jellies!" The captain grabbed his machete and started slicing the jellies away; but they were relentless in their pursuit for the metals on the ship; to them, the ship was a hearty buffet passing by their habitat. "I shoulda known those goons didn't coat the ship with Gulaggan Oil- whoa!"

The ship lurched, tilting forward and losing altitude fast. Those that anticipated this, including the captain and Reisen, held onto something on the ship. Other were thrown overboard, hurling into the deep seas below. The back of the ship was practically ablaze as the wooden portions of the ship started catching fire. The ship roared, plummeting down below with a mighty flaming tail behind it.

"Captain-" Reisen shouted, the pressure of the air as the ship fell too much for her to keep a straight face. She grimaced, the razor sharp wind beating at her like little daggers. "What- do we do?"

"Just hold tight lass!" The captain of the ship growled as more men lost their grip and fell off. When the ship pierced the clouds, continuing down, everything was wet and miserable; but the fire still raged on. "Maybe the gods will let us keep our lives."

"I don't believe in gods, captain!" Reisen said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I need you to tell me what we can do to survive!"

"Lass there's nothing we can do!" The captain bellowed. The ship continued falling. "Ya'd think I would've done it if there was something we could do!"

"So you're telling me to just pick a god and pray?" Reisen asked in disbelief. The captain nodded as he closed his eyes and murmured to himself. Unable to salvage any more responses, Reisen rolled her eyes and stared down into the deep blue that is the ocean below, awaiting what fate lies beyond.

[Kristia]

Lian Territory | Wilderness | The Sanctum Avenger


Running to the armory, Cecilia quickly picked up the explosive ammunition and went to each of the weapons of the ship, loading the rounds and arming each of the weapons by herself, making sure each of them was prepared for the possible battle "Explosive rounds locked and loaded captain" she spoke already going to the engineering section of the ship. The blond was now in her altar as she picked up her tools and started working on everything that she could find to keep the core of the ship intact "Come on my young steed, today we will be ready for whatever that comes to us"

[Alayosho]

Lian Territory
Wilderness
The Sanctum Avenger

Xander nodded, trusting Karliah to lead them to victory (Or at least not a horrible, painful, flaming death), and proceeded to lower the ship into the clouds. Clouds were generally safe if you got past the fast you couldn't see. Unless there were high mountains, you likely weren't going to run into anything aside from some sky jellies who were just as blind as you were. He prepared himself to dive the ship, something he'd grown used to from flying for Karliah. He didn't want to power through the clouds however, his piloting instinct told him that going as fast as you could through an area you couldn't see in was a terrible idea. He did, however, get ready to shoot out of the cloud cover in the event that they weren't about to run into anything that would kill them.

"Loosing vision soon. Breathe gently and hold your nose." Xander reminded the crew you can't breathe clouds as they descended into the foggy abyss.