Another streak of lightning set the sky ablaze, giving Mona a quick glimpse of her comrade’s faces. Sania was worrying as she usually did, but still eager to be of any help. Ezekiel’s face was calm, eyes locked on the contraption with the focus of a true artisan. Lazulin’s eyes radiated magic power, glowing in a most eerie fashion that persisted even once the rest of him had faded back into the shadows of night. The deafening crash followed soon after, shaking Mona to the core. Her heart thumped rapidly, sensing the ever growing intensity of the storm closing in on them.

“Let's have Sania do it. Charge the lacrima, I mean. Her magic seems to match the energy of this storm near perfectly-“ Mona didn’t catch the rest of Lazulin’s plan, a gale of fierce winds whistling in her ears. What she did hear sounded promising.

“Laz, you legend! What an idea!” Mona began to praise her friend, but was interrupted by Ezekiel who had seemed to come across some revelation when examining the machine.
“That's a good idea an' all, but I think I found tha problem.” Ezekiel explained the issue, revealing it to be a lot simpler than Mona had expected. Sure did make her feel dumb that she couldn’t notice an out of place screw. She knelt down beside the disruptor and sure enough, lodged between the main gears, was the aforementioned copper screw.

Mona cursed like a sailor, though her vulgarity was cut off by another clap of thunder. Reaching in to the machine, she gave the bugger a little twist and yanked it with a frustrated grunt. The atmospheric disrupter sputtered and coughed like a dying animal before whirring back to life with a soft purr. Standing up, Mona couldn’t contain her excitement at the prospect of not being torn to pieces by a vicious wet season storm. She gave Ezekiel a big squeeze and then a friendly punch in the arm.

“Bloody hells! Wish you’d shown up sooner, gear-brain.” She jaunted, giving a polite nod to the three of them for their assistance. After a few moments of running, the disruptor shot a beam of energy up into the sky. It soared above the ships mast a few feet before dispersing; cascading around the ship in a perfect sphere of tessellating blue hexagons. When the sphere connected underneath the ship, it flashed a bright white before fading away. Mona removed her hood and held out her arms. She couldn’t feel a single drop fall onto her. She saw another bright flash of lightning scar the night sky, but there was no thunder to be heard. 

One of the other crew members approached the group. He was a brute of a man, his size rivalling that of Captain Ragnars. He wore a fur pelt around his waist with a pair of scimitars holstered to his hips. His exposed body was covered head to toe in orange fur with black stripes and his face was more feline than human. He wore an eyepatch over his left eye, but the intense gaze from his glowing, yellow eye was enough to send a shiver down your spine.

“’bout time ya worthless knaves did something right. Was beginning to question if yer was even worth ya salt, I was. Get to the barracks, now. Cap’n’s orders.” And with that, Silver Claw headed off in the opposite direction; no doubt to gather up anyone else not present for Captain Ragnar’s address.
“S’pose we better head down there. I don’t want to end up on Silver Claw’s shit list.” Mona suggested. She wasn’t one to back down, but Silver’s reputation as an elite Cloud Chaser and horrifically brutal fighter was known to all across the Free Skies. Definitely someone you would want to have on your side. 

[hr][hr]


Down in the barracks, Captain Ragnar watched as the last few crew members made their way into the room and crammed themselves in like sardines. Silver Claw arrived shortly after the last stragglers, giving him the signal that everyone was present. Slowly, he rose from his seat and cleared his throat.

“Chasers,” he began, his voice deep and powerful in such a way that demanded other’s attention. “The Librarium are preparing to send another shipment of food into the city-state of Keter. Food they have stolen from the good people of Pandora!” He pounded his fist into the table, sending a few empty pints toppling over.

“It sickens me to the core, thinking of those indulgent nobles stuffing their faces at their pompous parties while those who work day and night to feed their gluttony starve!” His words were met with a few outbursts from the crowd.
“Death to the Librarium!”
“I’ll rip their guts out!” He rose a single hand, restoring silence.
“That food belongs to the people! It comes down to us, protectors of the Free Skies, to take back what is rightfully theirs. Crow’s sources have informed us that the food is being transported via freight train along the Banskie Skyline, route fourteen. When it reaches Suphlatus, it will be transferred to one of Keter’s direct lines. Those trains are far too fast for the Chaser to keep up with and are heavily guarded to boot. Our best chance is to intercept the cargo before it reaches Suphlatus.”

Murmers began to rise among the crowd, the faces of sky pirates lighting up with eager, toothy grins. One young lass rose her make-shift prosthetic arm into the air.
“We’re pullin’ off a heist ya mangy currs!” She roared, and the room lit up again with cheers and merry shanties.  The captain joined his crew in the uproar, smashing back another pile of ale while he slung an arm around a drunken Alex. His voice cut through the riot, silencing the rowdy lot.

“These Skies belong to no man! We’ll make sure the Librarium remembers that when we hit ‘em where it hurts tomorrow!” He rose another pint, watching as the crew followed suit with their own drinks. They drank together, sharing this moment and relishing in what it truly meant to be a Sky Pirate. When the crew began to settle, Ragnar sat down and began to move around various pawns on his sky map.

“We’ll be splitting into three squads. Team one will be responsible for infiltrating the Sky Train via gliders. You’ll need to get on board, take out any Knights and bring the train to a halt. Team two will be protecting team one’s approach with their own gliders, making sure they deal with any Librarium resistance. Finally, team three will be heading off tonight to Banskia Central Station. If this mission is to succeed, team three will need to infiltrate the control tower and shut down their comms. Team one and two can’t move out until we’re sure the Knights can’t call for reinforcements.”

There was a buzz of excitement in the air. It had been some time since the crew had undertaken an operation of this magnitude. Ragnar pulled out a last from under the map, beginning to read off the names of the various squads. First was team one,
“… Laz, Adelyn…”

Then the second,

“… Ezekiel, Amara, Silver Claw…”

And finally, the third team that was to depart tonight.

“… Huangdi, Mona and Sania.”

There were a few pirates disappointed that they weren’t being sent to Banskia Central. It was one of the finest stations among the Hierarchical Realms with the most expansive network of Sky Routes. But more interesting was the Banksia Bazaar, a marketplace teeming with black market dealings and wondrous treasures. What so many wouldn’t give to get a chance to trade at such a renowned network of merchants.

“The rest of you will stay behind and tend to the ship with me. Alex, you take a few into sick bay with ya and be ready to help the wounded. Team three, meet me in the landing docks in one hour.” And with that, Captain Ragnar stood up from the table and made his way through the crowd, returning to his chambers while the excitement of tomorrows mission still lingered in the air.

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