"11 miles to RhyDin rift and 42 to coast and probable impact, altitude eleven thousand feet and falling. We figured out how to lock out further input from the Professor's virus but that means guaranteeing we're locked out too. We've got to get someone into the reactor room, kill ship propulsion from there manually and control a water landing if we're lucky... but that steam it's jetting isn't just hot," Isamu Rodovic conceded with a grimace, narrowing his eyes at the chaotic chamber beyond the heavy lead-lined door and shielded glass window. "It's irradiated, of a type and level none of our gear can mitigate. So all of you, get back to trying to hack the outer defenses. Best-case scenario?"
Isamu raised his bushy eyebrows. "We manage to evacuate the ship before the Port Authority has the good sense to blow us all to kingdom come. Jet, you stay with me -- I wanna try and figure this reactor thing out... I might come up with something. After all... I'm a Rodovic."
* * *
"Sweet Maria to all emergency services, airship inbound to North Stars End Harbor and may crash, large quantities of nuclear material and hazardous chemicals on board. Two hundred plus innocent civilians aboard in full lockdown, be advised, automated defenses are active. Will attempt to regain control. Over." Sergei tapped his headset and checked the horizon ahead of him. Tartarus was growing larger by the second; soon those automated defenses would open fire on his plane.
He lifted his dogtags to his lips, mumbled a prayer, and started to close the gap between his plane and the airship.
* * *
The Halban Imperial Airship Aurora had been following the Tartarus along a parallel path, the bridge a hive of activity. Elara Draleth stood next to her helmsman, watching the scene unfold on the green glow of the panels above his controls. Tartarus would have been listing dangerously, were it an ocean-going vessel, its mainmast broken, the sail dragging and heavy with saltwater.
"Captain," the comm panels burst into a flurry of noise represented by flashes of light over the controls, and the officer plugged into the port had called out in a tight voice. "We're getting a lot of noise from the other side of the portal. They're planning an ambush to shut it out."
The helmsman spoke up. "The smaller vessel is closing in on Tartarus."
* * *
The wound on Jet's back was giving her some trouble. She had refused to allow Isamu to tend it, opting instead to have one of the others to use some tape-like material she had found to adhere some bandages to the wound and staunch the bleeding. The claws had dug to bone, going from the top of her right shoulder down and nearly to her spine. The twin scars that ran down her back, starting two inches below her shoulders to just below her rib cage some four inches on either side of her spine said that she had received dire wounds like that before but she had been less depleted when she received other such wounds and her extraordinary healing seemed to be suffering from the lack of sleep and using her technomancy so extensively the past week.
She didn't have the time to worry about it now so she didn't. "As you wish, Snow Petal." She knew Isamu didn't want her there for her knowledge on nuclear reactors, which was minimal at best but she was pretty sure that she wasn't going to be of much use elsewhere, so keeping an eye on Isamu was a good alternative. She avoided making eye contact, she could feel the silver dancing through her green eyes. He might not know for a fact this was a bad thing but he was smart enough that she didn't want to have him ask.
"You have communications open now? My phone is dead, I think I accidentally hip dialed when I was dancing with the Professor."
"Markus?" Isamu asked the nearby engineer, who nodded and explained, "The radiation's interfering, but one of the, ah, original ship's antennas is built for cross-realms communication which definitely helps. The Sweet Maria, your grandson's plane, it's right behind us -- just called the Port Authority, let them know we're coming!"
Isamu frowned at the news: the sooner the Port Authority knew, the sooner they were likely to be blown out of the sky. "Original ship's antenna... This class is equipped with landing thrusters, right? Not enough to have gotten us all the way home, but enough for thirty, maybe forty miles if we're lucky?" His eyes gleamed, and the engineer nodded. "Get to it, down to the lower levels, pronto! Jet..." He turned to her, pressing what appeared to be a communications interface into the palm of her hand. "Get a call out to Sergei, using that antenna. He needs to get the Port Authority to call off any attack, we can stop this thing! I'll get at those reactors somehow..." His eyes narrowed at the window and the humming metallic cylinders beyond, considering their growing threat. "Maybe I can slow us down, buy us some time... Hurry!"
The problem with pretending you weren't bothered by a wound was that people would say things like 'Hurry!' and expect that it wasn't an issue. She calculated her reserves and figured she could waste them all now because it was probable that she was about to die in a horrible fire. "As you wish, Snow Petal." Taking the interface and turning, there was little in the way she moved to indicate the pain she was in and she set off at a sprint.
There were spots that were impassable and she had to reroute on the fly through a ship she wasn't really good at navigating. Reaching one dead end she got a bit frustrated and decided that using her particular skills to create herself a hole through the floor was more expedient than finding a new route was an appropriate use of her resources. Each level she tried sending a message. "Jet to Sunflower Fox, if you could sweet talk those Port Authority guys to not shoot us down it'd be a fine welcome home gift for your gramps. Snow Petal is fine." She waited only a few moments for a reply before heading down a level.
* * *
Eventually it worked, and the pilot nearly whooped with joy at the sound of Jet's voice crackling through his radio: "Jet this is Sergei, I'll let them know! Be safe, I'll be there soon. Over." Dakka-dakka-dakka! One of the dozens of anti-aircraft guns bristling across the surface of Tartarus' ablative armor opened fire on the Maria, and Sergei rolled her dizzyingly across the sky to avoid the bursts of shrapnel. The pinging sounds he heard told him he hadn't avoided all of it.
"Port Authority, Sweet Maria, hold any attack on Tartarus. Civilians are regaining control, hostile Halban Imperial airship in close pursuit, I repeat, hold any attack. Confirm it with the Governor. Over." Another burst exploded nearby, rocking the plane violently. He grimaced and backed out of range again, holding her steady while he reached for the gear crammed beneath his seat...
* * *
Draleth's fingers tightened on the back of the helmsman's chair, her knuckles going grey with the pressure. It was the only sign of agitation she showed.
"He's transmitting through the portal!" Comm broke in suddenly. "Translating now..."
Elara Draleth didn't need a translation to tell her what the Maria was saying or who it was communicating with. She spat out a curse. "Swing behind Tartarus and take that dalharuk d' natha elg'caress out before he brings them all down on us. I want that ship and I'm not letting them have it."
* * *
Jet paused when she got the response, not quite knowing what to do next. There was an irrational part of her brain that wanted to tell Sergei to turn around and get somewhere safe. That would never happen, she knew it, but she still had the urge to do so. It was about then she realized she should have confirmed she could communicate with the guys up top. She tried anyway. "Yo ho and a bottle of rum, Snow Petal, can you hear me?" She sank down to the floor to rest a moment while she waited for a reply.
"Loud and clear," came Isamu's raspy reply. He sounded short of breath. "Sending everyone to the lower levels, we're gonna blow the ablative armor. Ship's slowed down to... fifty knots. Gonna get bumpy, so hang onto something tight, and make sure someone's brave enough to go outside and man the thrusters once it comes time."
"That's so cute, you think I know what ablative armor is." The floor was starting to feel nice, which meant she had to haul her rear up before she couldn't. "I think you owe me dinner when this is done, Snow Petal. Not sure if I'm brave enough, I am dumb enough." She started heading toward where she believed the thrusters would be and aimed to be prepared.
* * *
"Reverse thrusters," the Aurora helmsman confirmed. "Changing course 3-aught-six-point twelve lee."
"Gunnery locking on target in five... four... three... two.... one... Target locked!"
Elara Draleth released the helmsman's chair, straightening to cross her arms in front of her. Ahead of them, Tartarus hobbled determinedly, the Maria closing in on her flank.
"Fire!"
Three torpedoes erupted from the belly of the Aurora, speeding toward their target.
* * *
Sergei Rodovic was an exceptional pilot, as he showed by the barrel roll into a steep bank that successfully evaded the first two torpedoes. However the gunners had been smart enough to vary the timing between the second and the third, and Sergei's attention was in too many places. The third exploded right next to the tail of his plane: it spun once, then began to plummet from the sky.
"Mayday mayday mayday, North Stars End Harbor, Sweet Maria -- damnit!" There was no time to finish the call. The Maria exploded over the water, while a tiny shape -- impossible to see on radar -- streaked back up towards the Tartarus, intercepting its determined hobble to the coast.
* * *
"Where's Rodovic?" Markus panted as he spilled into the communications room with Jet. "Just got the last of them... belowdecks... charges on the ablative armor connectors are primed and ready, just waiting for his word but I can't raise him."
The communication device in Jet's hand sputtered and she heard Sergei's message and she pushed the button hard enough to jam her finger. "Sergei! If you die I will hunt you down and kill you. Do you read?"
Sergei's reply came through, moments later. "I read, holy gods it's good to hear your voice. Lost the Maria, there's a damn Imperial airship on your tail, I think you're next on the menu! Am maintaining pursuit EV. Over."
"Hunt. You. Down. I swear it." She growled at the device in her hand. She heard the engineer Markus come into the room, but she had other things on her mind. Her boyfriend was acting suicidal (this was a terribly funny thing for her to be thinking as it was usually her that took that role in a relationship), and her knees were threatening to buckle from loss of blood. Finally she turned to Markus.
"I can't find Rodovic," Markus stammered when she looked his way. "Just got the last of them... belowdecks... charges on the ablative armor connectors are primed and ready, just waiting for his word but I can't raise him."
Jet narrowed her eyes, the silver color now drowning the last of the green in them. "Where are the thrusters? And where was the last place you saw Snow Petal? Quick!" she barked at the man.
* * *
A cheer broke out on the deck of the Aurora as the smaller vessel went down. It was short-lived. "Closing on the RhyDin portal in twenty," the helmsman reminded them.
"Target Tartarus," Draleth commanded. "Bring her down. I'll be damned if we're giving them what's ours."
* * *
Aurora's big 110 mm guns spat fire and seconds later, much of the first volley landed on the large, slow-moving target that was the Tartarus, rocking it dangerously in the air. Smoke plumed from the jagged black armor. "On the outside of the original ship," Markus stammered as he pulled himself back to his feet, "controls are near the prow but we need to blow the armor to get to them. And Rodovic was by the reactor chamber last time I saw him."
There was a triple boom as the Aurora's guns fired again.
The reactor chamber, Jet felt pretty sure she knew were that was at. "Fine, I'll go try to find Snow Petal. If you don't hear from me in two minutes blow the armor." She heard the triple boom and corrected herself. "One minute." Then she was running down the hall and toward the reactor chamber, talking into the communicator as she went. "Snow Petal come in. Gave orders to blow the armor in one minute, need to get your ancient bones someplace safe, come back with your location."
* * *
Shrapnel flew and flames gouted from a wound in the bristling black ship, but the armor was holding. The Aurora weathered a cloud of flying debris. "Mark," confirmed the gunner.
"Fire," came the unflappable command.
There was no reply, only another string of explosions as the Aurora chipped away at the thick layer of armor, but she was listing now.
* * *
The anteroom to the reactor chamber was empty but for one person -- Isamu, slumped against the wall with the hood to his radiation suit cradled in his lap: the steady humming of the reactors beyond the door had stopped. He was unconscious, but still breathing.
"What is wrong with you Rodovics? You're going to be the death of me." Jet moved over to Isamu and unceremoniously hefted him up and over his shoulder. This promptly brought her to her knees as a bolt of searing pain ran down her back. "Oh for the love of -- !" was followed by a string of very creative curses. Jet pushed herself back up and raised the communicator. "Snow Petal is in hand, though how such a tiny man can weigh so much... moving toward the thrusters now, over."
* * *
Boom. Boom. Boom! Another break of cannons blasted away at the hull of the failing ship. "Stay on their tail, Mister Gragon." Draleth rocked with the roll of the deck as a shock wave trailed back in the wake of their guns.
"Mark."
"Fire."
* * *
Speeding thousands of feet over the ocean, Sergei tried not to think about why Jet had to carry his grandfather. He streaked along on a course parallel to the Tartarus, watching another volley fired from the Aurora as she moved close to the wounded vessel's tail... very close. Sergei narrowed his eyes and punched his radio: "Tartarus, hold on blowing that armor! Hold for my mark, Aurora's closing on your tail!"
* * *
"You catch that last? Hold for his mark," Jet breathlessly instructed Markus as she returned with Isamu in tow. She felt it too, her lungs were about to go on strike. She gently laid Isamu on the ground and anchored herself in a way that would shield him during the blast.
* * *
The blasts were relentless. It was a testimony to the Tartarus's defenses that the armor shielding the ship hadn't yielded yet. But it was close. Close.
"Captain. Hearing some noise from beyond the portal. Someone's getting anxious. We may have company soon."
"Mark," the helmsman said on the heels of that.
"Fire," Draleth ordered, calmly.
* * *
"You clear?!" Sergei yelled into his helmet as another blast struck the Tartarus -- close, much too close to where he was. He banked through the thick plume of smoke to get a better visual on the Aurora. (d)
The reply came without hesitation: "You should hurry up and give that mark, Sunflower, don't think we'll have much left if we don't go soon."
"Mark," Sergei said as he moved clear of the Tartarus, and switched frequencies. "Sergei Rodovic to airship Aurora, please put your captain on, over."
* * *
"Helm, move in for the kill. Ahead --"
"Captain! We're being hailed. It's Rodovic."
The helmsman's hands moved over the panel, waiting her to finish the order. "Hold," she clipped with a staying hand on the man's shoulder. "Put him on."
"Am I speaking to the Captain of the Aurora?" A young man's voice filtered through the speakers on the bridge. "Because I'd like to tell you something."
"I am all ears, Mr. Rodovic," Draleth answered dryly. "Please, do share your thoughts."
Ahead of them Tartarus rocked violently as explosions went off throughout the ship, but these didn't come from the Aurora. "In the immortal words of a man named Finn... alley oop."
The ablative armor gave way as the Tartarus detonated her charges, hurtling giant plates of iron backwards into the Aurora's path.
Garnet eyes widened as Draleth realized what he was doing. "Abort! Helm, evasive maneuvers! Fire at will! Don't let them get away!" Shock waves reverberated through the Aurora as flying armor hit their shields. Distress alerts began ringing in from the lower decks.
* * *
Jet wound up nearly crushing poor Isamu as her strength gave way momentarily and her body couldn't absorb the shock. Her breath was forced from her lungs as she struck the floor and him and it took her a moment to recover. First things first, she checked Isamu, palm placed to his chest, over his heart, she directed some of her nanites to scan his vitals. "Just a bit longer Snow Petal and we'll have you someplace safe," she whispered as she waited for the information to be sent back to her.
Isamu's vitals were weak and slipping. Radiation exposure from the reactors had done irreversible damage to his frail body.
She whispered something in her native tongue as she received the information regarding his status. Death was a natural part of life, she accepted that, but she was having a hard time accepting that she had gotten so close to getting Isamu off this damnable ship alive and it looked as if she was going to fail. With her hand still pressed to his chest she poured nanites in through his flesh: hopefully she could keep him alive long enough to see his grandson one last time...
* * *
Sergei wound his way through the flying debris, zipping between two armor panels flipping through the air. The Tartarus as it had once been suddenly came into view as the last of its twisted ablative armor fell away: a sleek sky carrier once more beautiful than even the Aurora. Beyond it airships lined the Stars End coast, Port Authority by the look of them: he knew they might still fire if they got too close. "Jet, this is Sergei, what was that about thrusters?!"
"Need to use the thrusters... to land, get us the rest of the way."
"Copy that." Sergei scowled over his shoulder at the Aurora's form still pursuing them as he sped along the top of the Tartarus.
* * *
Aurora veered off-course to evade more damage from the debris. "We have ships incoming form the direction of the portal. Four... no, five. On us in less than ten," comm informed them. Meanwhile, damage reports were still coming in, the most serious of which was: "Rear thrusters are compromised, Captain."
Draleth spat out a curse and slammed her hand down on the edge of a panel. "Maintain course!"
* * *
"Jet, how are you holding up?" Sergei asked into his radio as he spotted the landing thrusters' auxiliary controls near the prow of the ship. Tartarus's slow descent was a steady course at least. This was his best chance. "Hello, Jet? Come in."
"Don't have the energy to come up with a witty retort just now... the truth can wait." Her voice sounded pained and laden with exhaustion.
"Jet? Stay with me, baby, alright?"
She laughed weakly. He never called her 'baby.' "You tell Pumpkin Duck that he failed for me, yeah? He did not keep you out of trouble."
"That's my fault for running where he couldn't follow. Tell me what we're gonna do to him... Jet?" No answer. "Come in, Jet! Damnit!" They had to get back on the ground, and fast. Sergei banked in closer to the small control platform, unwinding a hook from the harness in his suit. He lashed out with his arm and snapped the hook onto a railing, and in the same moment angled the thrusters on his jetpack. He landed unceremoniously, entangling his arms to keep himself steady as wind whistled past his body.
Pain seared through the muscles in his legs, he'd come in too hard, but with his hands on the railing he pulled himself over to the controls. "Okay... let's land this thing."
* * *
"Captain! Tartarus has changed course. Orders?" The helmsman looked back at her expectantly.
Draleth stared at the screen, scowling as her prize moved further and further from her reach. "Xsa lu' chath!" she exclaimed. "Evade. Turn around. We will find Mr. Rodovic another day." She was not giving the RhyDinians her ship, nor the proof her presence there represented.
"Captain?" The helmsman sounded like he hadn't understood.
"Run," she told him plainly.
* * *
"Phone. Fio," Sergei instructed his helmet. It dialed.
"Hello," the answer came on the fourth ring, and the sounds of her house on a typical Saturday night clamored in the background. Music from whatever game Steve was playing with Raza, roars from them both, the barking of a dog.
"I'm crashing an airship into the desert ten miles west of Cadentia, right by the water. Two hundred scientists on board plus Jet, she needs medical attention, I'm guessing many more do too. Impact in about..." Sergei squinted at the looming coastline, the he had underestimated how much the ship had already slowed with the reactors cooling off. Reaching the Cadentia airfield would be too hard, so he aimed for a stretch of sand dunes along a wide, empty beach. "Four and a half minutes," he reckoned.
There was silence for ten seconds. "I'll alert the spaceport." Fio walked toward the back of the house, where it was quieter. "Stay on this line. I'm going to push you through to them."
"Got it." One of the port thrusters went out with a mighty lurch, and he scrambled to cut starboard to compensate, bringing Tartarus level again. "Come on girl, you got us this far... almost there..."
* * *
The first emergency vehicles arrived when Tartarus's massive shadow loomed over the beach. There was just enough fuel in the landing thrusters to bring her nose up when her vast underbelly crashed through the first line of dunes.
Sergei yelped as the impact slammed him into the control panel and sent him to his knees, but his harness and his grip kept him on the controls. There was nothing but thick clouds of sand that he could see, kicked up between the ship's thrusters and her heavy impacts as she dove through the dunes, but he knew what he had to do. He angled the thrusters so their final sputtering coughs would slow the ship's path across the desert.
He could feel it stopping, but only in the heavy vibrations through his limbs -- he'd stopped feeling pain moments ago, and dimly realized that the controls looked as blurry as the sand clouds ahead of him. He saw lights flashing through the dissipating dust, red and blue, and laughed out two words before darkness took him:
"Made it."
((Adapted from live play with Draleth and Jet's players, with thanks!))
