Rio

 
"Of course it's not my real name!" Rio laughed at Uzbecka as they broke open a pack of quick rations over the fire they had lit. It was fortunate, Rio mused, that the Mantas had enough storage for a few days supplies, including fire starters and a light bedroll.

"But you're not going to tell me?"

"Well, actually... no. But it's nothing personal. It's just more like a... stage name," Rio blushed.

"You're a musician?"

"Okay, yeah... I've got some secrets worth keeping. When we're not work for hire soldiers and air pirates, some of the Cloak members play some classical songs at a few of the places in the Pageant Town, on original instruments. We call ourselves 'The Reflux"... I play a thing called a guitar."

"That's... maybe you should have kept that secret," Uzbecka laughed, but she was finding it hard to stay angry at the air pirate. "Can you pass me that? Thank you, Rio."

"You're welcome, Uzi," Rio replied, handing her the last ration packet. "And you? Look, I'm not saying you're any good, because you're not, but you've flown a Manta before. How was that?"

"Well, I suppose I have secrets worth keeping too, then."

Uzbecka

A break in the dense forest ahead of the pair of battlesuits came into view. Uzbecka was relieved, as she struggled to dodge rogue branches in the shadowy canopy. A few meters above the canopy, the Swirl became too dense to see, so the safest path, other than walking, was to fly just below the canopy, where the forest branches were less dense.

"Actually," Uzbecka muttered to herself, looking at the ominously gloomy undergrowth in the clearing Rio was rapidly approaching, "maybe the canopy is safer than the ground."

Rio executed a precise tight turn, followed by a quick kick to decelerate, and then landed in the clearing with an acrobat's agility, hands on her hips. Or rather on the hip plates of the green Manta suit. Uzbecka continued muttering to herself. Dodging canopy branches as they appeared out of the gloom was one thing; landing on the ground without breaking her neck was another thing completely.

Moving in a straight line was not the hard part, because the Manta's strongest boosters were the ones located in the small of her back, and they could only propel her in a single direction: forward; even so, steering was accomplished by shifting her body weight, particularly her arms, which bore shoulder and forearm blades that were quite heavy, and by repositioning her legs, which had much more precise boosters, which she could use for more surgical adjustments in direction and velocity. At least in theory, and perhaps "surgical" was not the best word to describe Uzbecka's control over the Manta. "Flailing" might be more appropriate.

Uzbecka had been carefully observing the green Manta from behind, how Rio was able to use small adjustments to effect impressive course corrections and changes in altitude; but Uzbecka was not yet ready to emulate Rio's quick kicks and flips. Several times, she had watched Rio pull her limbs together, but not close enough together to activate the transformation to flight mode, and then crouch into a kind of hover, allowing the heel boosters to slow her motion. At the last moment, Rio would slide her legs back slightly, cutting the boosters and alighting on a tree branch. She made it look almost elegant.

This seemed easier than the rolling landing Rio had just executed, so Uzbecka muttered a quick prayer, pulled her legs and arms together, but not close enough to trigger the transformation to flight mode. The heel boosters did in fact slow her down, but the ground was approaching very quickly, and Uzbecka ended up sliding on her backside into the soft earth for about ten meters before coming to a stop, at which point, her remaining momentum rolled her forward onto her arms in a half somersault. Any landing you could walk away from...  

Teaser - Uzbecka

Faster... faster...

She was slowly getting a feel for piloting the red Manta suit. It had not come back to her immediately, and Uzbecka was keenly aware that she was piloting a battlesuit; yes, she was flying at high speeds to keep pace with the green Manta and its pilot, but she had no illusions that about how she might fare in either a dogfight or a fistfight. Hopefully, circumstances would not call for a fight, but they were in unknown enemy territory, and ambush was always a concern in the Swirl.

The other pilot, Rio, was also an unknown quantity. For now, circumstances dictated that they work together, but they could turn on each other at any moment, and Uzbecka fully expected the other pilot to fly into the Swirl and disappear at any moment, which was why she was pushing herself to keep up. Flying the Manta was exhilarating, of course. The suit formed an immediate spiritual connection with its pilot, and with time and speed, that connection was deepening. It felt like a special kind of joy, racing through the fog of the Swirl, which was an essential component in that connection, with the suit filtering the psychic energy of the crackling fog, the same way the Runagate did, converting it into fuel and operational drivers through the suit's spirit weird, which Uzbecka experienced from time to time as a chiming voice that advised her from time to time to gain or lose altitude. Primarily, however, the suit spurred her on.

Faster... faster...

Crike

 

Uzbecka felt a surge of panic, and urgency. She knew they had to act fast, or it would be too late. They grabbed the flux cores, and lifted them up. They carried them to the blasthole in the hull, and prepared to escape. They hoped to find a safe place to land, and to fix the flux cores. They hoped to save the gloomers, and the Runagate.

They looked at each other, and nodded. They were ready to go. They jumped through the blasthole, and flew out of the hold. They saw the Swirl below them, and the tepui ahead of them. They saw the Remoras and the Cloak fighting in the air, and the Runagate falling to the ground. They saw the skywhale above them, and

They saw the skywhale above them, and felt a surge of terror, and awe. It was a colossal creature, bigger than the Runagate, and more powerful than anything they had ever seen. It had a whale-like body, but with wings, scales, and teeth. It had eyes that glowed with a blue light, and a mouth that opened wide, ready to devour them. It had sensed the flux energy, and had followed them. It had waited for the right moment, and had attacked.

It swooped down on them, faster than they could react. It opened its mouth, and unleashed a blast of sound, a sonic boom that shattered the air, and their ears. It hit them with a force that knocked them off balance, and made them drop the flux cores. They saw the flux cores fall, and felt a surge of despair, and guilt. They had failed to protect them, and the gloomers. They had doomed them, and the Runagate.

They watched as the flux cores hit the ground, and cracked. They saw a flash of light, and a pulse of energy that rippled through the Swirl. They saw the gloomer spirits emerge from the flux cores, and fly into the air. They saw them as three orbs of different colors, red, blue, and green. They heard them as three voices, loud and clear, in their minds.

Crike's attention was divided between the battle in the skies, as the Remoras and the Cloak traded blows, and the skywhale above them. It was drawn in by the flux cores, of course. The dec appeared littered with downed Red and Green Mantas, as the nest crew continued to strip pieces of rigging from the Runagate, snaring any sky pirate who got too close to the nest. Most of Crike's attention remained on the Runagate, though. Keeping her aloft would be a challenge, and Crike preferred to avoid challenges whenever possible.

And then Crike watched as Uzbecka emerged from below deck, dragged one of the downed Remoras down the stairs into the hold, and disappeared again.

The skywhale swooped on the Runagate again, faster and fiercer than before. It opened its mouth, and unleashed another deafening blast of sound. It hit them with a force that knocked them out of the air, and sent them plummeting to the ground. Crike felt the impact, and pain. And then they lost consciousness, as everything went black.

They did not see what happened next, as the gloomer spirits left the flux cores to find new hosts among the unconscious crew and passengers. Crike did not see them possess the bodies of the dreamguide, Rielle; the captain, Ariette; and the engineer, Thulia. They did not see the changes that occurred, in their appearance, and their abilities.

They did not see the skywhale drive the Runagate down into the tepui, crashing her into the rocks. They did not see the destruction, and the death.

They did not see the end of their story, or the beginning of a new one.

Harlaan

 "We'll get them out, don't worry," Harlaan said. "But first, we have to deal with them."

He jabbed his sword at the Cloak pirates, who had taken cover behind some crates. They were still firing their railguns, but their shots were erratic and ineffective. They looked scared, and desperate.

"Give up, you scum!" Harlaan shouted. "You're outnumbered and outmatched! Surrender, and we might spare your lives!"

None of this was actually true, but it sounded good.

The Cloak pirates did not respond. They kept firing, hoping to hit their targets. Uzbecka and Harlaan worked together, spreading out and closing the distance. They reached the crates, and leaped over them. They engaged the Cloak pirates in close combat, using spells and blows. Uzbecka found her center and unleashed a liquid blow against one of the Cloak pirates, while Harlaan parried and then tripped the other. They fought with skill and fury, and soon had the upper hand. pinning the pirates to the ground.

They turned their attention to the flux cores and saw that they were worse than before. They saw the cracks widen, and the sparks intensify. The glow of the gloomer spirits was fading and flickering out. Harlaan heard their voices, weak and faint, as he turned to the Cloak pirates in disgust. They had won the battle, but if the gloomer spirits were extinguished, the Runagate was lost.

"Help us... please..." the gloomers said. "We can't hold on... much longer..."

Where had Uzbecka disappeared to?

Uzbecka

Uzbecka felt a surge of adrenaline as she unleashed a blast of wind at the two Cloak pirates who had entered the hold through a large blasthole. She had been guarding the flux cores with the engineer, Thulia, and two passengers, Darius Mann and his scribe, when the green-clad intruders burst through the hull, armed with railguns and shoulderblades. Uzbecka erected a shield of air to deflect their shots, while Thulia grabbed a wrench and tried to fight them off, but the engineer was quickly overpowered and knocked unconscious, leaving Uzbecka alone to face the enemies.

She knew she had to protect the flux cores at all costs. They were the source of the Runagate's power and they contained three gloomer spirits, born out of the magnetic fields of the Swirl. The Runagate used the flux energy to fly and navigate through the Swirl, avoiding the skywhales that lurked within, ghostly airships that fed on the flux attacking anything else they could trap.

The Cloak pirates might intend to bleed the gloomer weirds, or to sell them on the black market. Uzbecka could not let that happen. She had sworn an oath to protect the Runagate and its crew, and she felt a kinship with the gloomer spirits, who had helped her hone her weather magic, helping her learn how to channel the flux energy through her body and mind.

But now, the flux cores were damaged, and the gloomers were in danger. Uzbecka could feel their distress, as they struggled to maintain their connection to the Runagate. She could also hear the sounds of battle outside the hold, as the Remoras, in their red Mantas, attacked the Runagate from above.

Uzbecka knew they had little time left. She had to fend off the Cloak pirates and secure the flux cores, before the Runagate crashed or ran afoul of the Remoras or the skywhale looming above them. If the skywhale got a taste of the flux leaking out the cores, it would come at them, and she feared what it would do when it did.

She centered herself in the present, and the two Cloak pirates advancing on her. She had managed to wound one of them with a blow with a loose timber, but she was unprepared for this. Uzbecka wondered who they were behind their green Manta masks, and why they had chosen to become sky pirates. She wondered if they had families, friends, dreams, or regrets. She wondered if they felt any remorse for the lives they had taken, or the lives they were about to take.

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She could not afford to be distracted. She had to fight, and as the Mantas moved towards the flux cores, they were also driving her towards the hole basted in the Runagate's hull. She raised her hands, ready to unleash a blast of wind, when she heard a loud noise behind her. She turned, and saw a familiar figure emerge from the blasthole. Harlaan was brandishing a peevee pole, and he looked tired, but determined.

"Uzbecka, I'm here to help!" he shouted, as swung the pole at the nearest Cloak pirates. "Are you alright?"

Uzbecka felt a surge of relief, and gratitude. She nodded and smiled. "Harlaan, you're a sight for sore eyes!" she said. "I'm fine, but the flux cores are not. We have to get them out of here, before the skywhale comes back!"

Harlaan nodded and moved closer to her. She saw him frown as he glanced at the flux cores. They knew how important they were, and how dangerous they could be, and the cracks on the sparing metal casings, the faint glow of the gloomer spirits inside, worried him.  When a flux core exploded, this was enormously destructive, and when a gloomer spirit possessed a person, this would lead to madness, and death.

Crike

"They're attacking the flux cores!" Uzbecka hollered up the comm tube from the engineering compartment in the hold. "The engineer is down, I'm not sure if they're trying to sabotage the ship, or steal the core... you need to stabilize the ship and find somewhere to land if the cores go offline."

Crike was handy at the helm, a closely kept secret, because Crike didn't want any more responsibilities around the ship. Peeling potatoes and fetching the captain meals was enough. Under ordinary circumstances, landing the ship would not be a problem.

These were not, however, ordinary circumstances.

Under desperate circumstances, a crew could pull together, but where was Harlaan now? He had been up in the lookout nest, where Crike could now see the two lookouts heaving beams and swinging ropes to foul the remaining Remora in the sky. Harlaan had dealt with at least one more with a peevee pole, before he leapt off the side of the ship. Crike knew better than to underestimate Harlaan's acrobatic prowess, but even so... this was concerning. Were there more of the sky pirates on the deck? Hard to tell. Crike's hands were full with keeping the ship from plummeting towards the ground.

The Runagate's main form of lift was the helix-shaped main skysail, which had recently been filled like a balloon with hot air from a geothermal vent on a volcanic island now far away. The sail would keep them aloft as long as it was intact. Without the flux cores, they would lack propulsion... Crike could steer the airship in a limited fashion using the four steering sails on the hull, but without propulsion, the ship would lose momentum, and steering would become difficult. In this fog, navigation was a challenge, even with the dream-navigator's guidance, and that comm tube was silent. The absense of attendanst was worrisome, and Uzbecka had said that the captain had gone down there to investigate.

Uzbecka and the engineer were in the hold, and there were sky pirates in the hold, and perhaps that was the only thing that mattered right, now, aside from trying to find somewhere to land in the fog, and without the benefit of Harlaan's keen sight, Crike had to admit that they were effectively blind, relying instead on luck to guide them to one of the plateaus or tepuis that they had previously been trying to avoid in the dense fog.

Crike could still see the shadow above and to port of the skywhale, and that was reassuring. It had not closed any distance. The skywhale were not exactly benign presences in the Swirl, but they would not intentionally run into skyships, if intention was even the right word. The Remoras may have been lying in wait for a while behind the skywhale, by the looks of it a large autonomous tanker ship, without provoking any reaction. But at the best of times, skywhales were unpredictable, and this was far from the best of times.

Crike called up through the comm tube to the nest, telling them to keep an eye on the 'whale and to look out for land. They had the Manta snarled up in the rigging, which was one less concern, perhaps, unless the Remora broke free and damaged the balloon sail, but Kimmy was still hurling loose planks and shackes at her, so that seemed less and less likely. Crike also called down the engineering comm tube and the forecabin tube, but there was no answer.