[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250324/b71cf5ab5cebec9b4e857200f7c42a8b.png[/img]

[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250324/dc185f5e06aa08f3af9fbb79b4040da5.png[/img]

[color=EBA536][b]Location:[/b][/color] [color=E579FF]Engine Control Room[/color]
[color=E579FF][b]Race:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536]Dark Elf[/color] & [color=E579FF]Human[/color]
[color=E579FF][b]Class:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536]Artificer[/color] & [color=E579FF]Rogue[/color]
[color=EBA536][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] [@Helo] Ezekiel; [@Princess] Callandra
[color=E579FF][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] 
[color=EBA536][b]Equipment:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
Medical bag
Tinkerer's kit
Arcane spindlelock (shortened) musket
Spindlelock pistols x2
Hand axes x2
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
First-aid bag
Tinkerer's kit
Spindlelock pistols x2
Steel daggers x2[/hider][color=E579FF][b]Attire:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
Dark brown, knee-length coat
Black waistbelt
Grey button-up shirt
Dark brown trousers
Heavy leather boots
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
Off-white shirt
Red ribbon tied around left arm
Brown hooded coat
Brown trousers
Leather boots
Goggles on her head[/hider][color=EBA536][b]Gold:[/b][/color] 101
[color=E579FF][b]Injuries:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
NA
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
Shallow cut on her right side, just below the ribs[/hider]
[/center]

It was a gradual process, and certainly not a simple one, but step-by-step; flipped switch-by-flipped switch; activated breaker-by-activated breaker; rotated dial-by-rotated dial, and pressed button-by-pressed button, calm returned to the [i]Stormrider[/i].

Or at least, as much calm as the vessel’s dire condition would allow.

Erratic vibrations, some strong enough to rattle loose even the most securely-fastened fixtures, still rippled through the engine control room’s floor, ceiling, and walls. The savaged airframe, torn and more likely than not only just holding itself together, still made itself known every so often—almost as if it were worried that it would be forgotten—with strident cacophonies of tortured metal and struggling machinery. Echoing dully from afar and ringing clearly from anear, such sounds, along with the airship’s irregular, jerky movements, were hardly a comforting experience for most aboard.

[color=EBA536][b]Scaerthrynne[/b][/color] thought otherwise, however. As far as he was concerned, things were…

Well, they weren’t well, not by any stretch of the imagination, but they were definitely less-than-disastrous, and that was good enough for him, for now. The fire elemental had stabilised—the wild energy that’d filled the control room was gone, having since receded like an ebbing tide back through the hatch leading to the core chamber. With a bit of creative engineering, Vallena and he had even managed to reopen the arterial line powering the [i]Stormrider[/i]’s aft. That likely gave the helm the additional control it needed to level out the airship, and pull it out of its uncontrollable dive. 

And so, Scaerthrynne allowed himself one extended sigh of relief.

But only one.

The airship was, for the moment, safe, but it wasn’t saved. It [i]couldn’t[/i] be saved—Scaerthrynne had known that from the very start. Buying time was the best he could manage, and he’d done just that. With only four engines operational, the [i]Stormrider[/i] would be able to stay aloft for a while longer, but it wouldn’t be able to fly far. Certainly not to its intended destination. A quick check of the gauges told him that the engines were already close to their breaking points, just trying to keep the [i]Stormrider[/i] controllable. 

And it wasn’t as if there was that much control left. Scaerthrynne had hoped to return power to, at the very least, the aft flight control surfaces, but the power lines were too damaged to even manage that. A rudder, four ailerons, and two elevators—a mere fraction of the aft control surfaces—was as much as Vallena and he could revive without forcing the elemental into yet another frenzy. 

But of course, those were small problems compared to the main issue: the hull itself. 

As damaged as it was, Scaerthrynne couldn’t imagine it holding together for much longer. That it’d stayed more-or-less in one piece for as long as it had was already a miracle, and he’d never been one to rely too much on such things. The airship had to land immediately.

[color=EBA536]“Well done, Val,”[/color] he called out. [color=EBA536]“But that’s about as much as we can do with the breaker board. Go to your quarters and start packing in case we’ve to make a quick exit!”[/color]

[color=E579FF]“Okay, Scratch! Is my book–”[/color]

Scaerthrynne didn’t let her finish. [color=EBA536]“I’ve got it! Just hurry up! And Eyepatch, if Venn can walk, get her on her feet. If she can’t, you’ll have to carry her again. The two of you can head back up to the main deck first.”[/color]

Then, he hurried over to the intercom. [color=EBA536]“Engine control to bridge, engine control to bridge,”[/color] he shouted into the transceiver. [color=EBA536]“You have to land the airship as soon as possible. I say again, you have to land the airship as soon as possible! Either get us to the nearest safe harbour, or find a flat piece of land. The engines we have left aren’t going to last much longer, and the hull’s on its last legs as it is. Elemental core is stable for now, but we can’t power anymore flight control surfaces without risking another meltdown.”[/color]