Topic: The Kethama Protocol

Ru

Date: 2014-12-26 00:50 EST
November 29th

"Altitude: dropping. Pressure: critical."

"Ooooooh no. I get it! I get it, stop telling me and do something about it!" The little elf flailed her arms in the air as she skittered from station to station, trying to do the job of four all by herself. Her crew was gone, having vanished into thin air. She could smell smoke, a thick haze having permeated through the bridge until each breath taken was harsh and labored. Ru pitter pattered back and forth, jerking levers, twisting knobs, and spinning wheels to try and keep the airship aloft. The Peacebringer listed hard to the left and she went tumbling sideways until she crashed into a plated glass window with a thud. Clawing her way back up to her feet, she bent her knees and pushed off from the window to try and climb back up toward the helm.

"Altitude: critical. Pressure: critical. Landing gear: damaged."

"Argh! Help me!" Ru cried out, grabbing at anything she could get her hands on. She only succeeded in pulling free a chair from the deck and it smacked her full on in the chest, sapping the air from her lungs. Sinking back against the window with a groan, she thanked the stars above that it held her slight weight and as she rolled out from under the chair, she found her face pressed to glass and an expansive panoramic view below. It was unlike anything she had seen in Adradoria, the kingdom in the sky that was evidently long behind her. If she squished her face to the left, she could catch just the faintest glimpse of the deep black plume that trailed behind the sinking ship, dancing flames celebrating their victory over the dirigible. To the right, lay the city below, expansive and sprawling, a mix of old and new.

"Altitude: critical. Pressure: critical. Landing gear: critical. Thirty seconds to impact."

"Engage slow fall! Launch parachutes! Kethama protocol go, go, go!" Fingerless gloves pressed to the window and she heaved herself up. The ship was going down and if she didn't act quickly, there would be a very pretty elven pancake in the field three kilometers south of the city (if her trajectory calculations were correct). The deck underfoot rumbled with instability but with a precarious hold shifted with each inclined step, she managed to get herself off of the bridge and to the outer deck. The air was crisp with winter's first chill, not that she could use that to her advantage or anything, the fire still whipping up a violent frenzy along the ship's aft. But they weren't falling as fast as before, billowing safety chutes having opened from the few undamaged portals that remained.

"Kethama protocol engaged. Fifteen seconds to impact."

"If I make it through this, I swear I'm picking a nicer sounding voice for you next time around." Ru promised the air around her, getting no response from the ship's system as she pulled on a pack pulled from a supply closet. The cupboard's remaining contents quickly escaped and tumbled right off the edge of the deck much to her chagrin. The ground was approaching quickly and she took a deep breath in.

"Ten seconds to—"

Ru didn't hear the rest as she leapt from the edge of the ship and immediately pulled the cord on the pack. With a sharp whoosh, her chute opened. Thank the gods. She didn't have nearly enough time to plan a safe landing though and as she floated toward the ground below, she quickly scanned for somewhere, anywhere really, that would work.

"Geronim' oh no!" Crash! The impact of the ship hitting the ground blew her off course and she found her landing in the form of dense shrubbery at the edge of the forest. The suspension lines tangled with branches barren of leaves and with a huff, she came to the unfortunate realization that she was stuck.

"Hmm. That can't be good."