Jacob first got into contact with the control tower of the docks. His engines required some time to start up, and at the very least it would take 5 minutes before they gave the all clear to take off. "Control tower this is the Rusty Shadow at dock 7a, requesting permission for take-off." He spoke, walking to a large panel full of levers and buttons and knobs as he did. He pulled several knobs out a few centimeters, causing a few dull clangs to come from the bottom of the ship. Those were some valves opening which would let steam pass through to power the propellers of the ship. "Roger that Rusty Shadow, stand by for further instructions." He heard from the radio as he worked on the rest of the console. He pulled several levers one at a time, which caused a lighting mechanism to light the fire around the sy crystal. This in turn made the ship's pipes creak a little because of the heat. Then after waiting a minute or two he slowly started to adjust a dial next to the levers, listening closely for what sound his ship made as he did. This one was for adjusting the fire's intensity. Once he was satisfied he finally nodded to his little friend. "Your turn Peanut." He spoke, at which the little creature squeaked, jumped on the desk next to the console, and jumped on one of the buttons. Jacob could see the ship's two propellers start to turn slowly, so he quickly moved to a large lever next to the steering wheel. He slowly adjusted it until the propellers were turning at a good idling speed.

After waiting for another half a minute or so the same operator as before spoke over the radio again. "Rusty Shadow, you're clear for take-off in one minute. Be ready by then." "Roger." Jacob replied. He wondered if Rei was done settling in yet, so he called downstairs. "Hey Rei, you done yet? You should come up here, it's always a great sight to see islands from a small distance!" All the floating islands had always looked best to him when they were a decent distance away. They'd look peaceful, sometimes even tranquil. Contrary to what you'd usually find on them, like this city filled with thugs, outlaws, and plenty of other shady types. Not to mention the steam and smoke rising up from buildings everywhere.

As the man walked back to the steering wheel he reached into some drawers in the desk to his right and took out some dog treats for his pet, before putting them on the ground. "Here you go Peanut. No hiccups with the start up so another job well done~" He spoke with a slight chuckle.

Once the minute was up, and Jacob saw two dock workers untie the ropes that held his ship in place, he pulled the lever all the way back. The propellers roared to life with powerful streams of steam coming out of the exhausts, and slowly but surely the ship started moving backwards. Luckily this ship had a reverse at all, otherwise he would have had to pay extra to have his ship towed out of the docks, and he really didn't have the money to spare most of the time.