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. 

Harlaan

Crike was yelling something about the hull at Harlaan, but Harlaan had his hands full, hanging from a peevee pole from the side of that hull, and was quite concerned about the likelihood of falling when the explosion happened. By some luck, he was able to hold on as the ship lurched to starboard, falling away beneath him, and then again as the bosun pulled the ship back on course. Taking stock of the situation, Harlaan could see two red Mantas above him on the deck of the Runagate. One had fallen after the explosion. Below, he could see a smoking hole in the side of the Runagate's hull, far back, and two green Mantas, perched on one of the steerage skysails, below the hole.

Making a quick decision, Harlaan leaped from his perch at the bow of the skyship, landing on another skysail, making his way back to the green Mantas. "They've blown the hull!" He called out to anyone who might hear him. "A rival skygang! They must be after the core! What the flux is happening?"

Through the fog, he could one of the green Mantas slip through the breach in the Runagate's hull and disappear into the darkness. The other, hearing his approach, had turned to face him, precariously poised on the aft skysail. Because Crike was still trying to keep the skyship on course, Harlaan assumed - perhaps Crike had given up on keeping the skyship headed straight, or abandoned post - in any case, the steerage sails were in motion as the two combatants faced each other.

This was going to be tricky.

Harlaan gripped the peevee pole tightly, staring down the sky pirate perched on the opposite skysail. The wind whipped his hair and clothes, making him feel exposed and vulnerable. He could see the pirate's eyes gleaming behind the faceplate of her Manta suit. For a moment he marvelled at the sleek and flexible flightsuit that allowed her to glide through the air like a giant ray. He would have to contain her ability to launch away from the skyship if he was going to gain any kind of advantage.

From behind the faceplate, the pirate taunted him. "Just you and me then? Come on, show me what you've got!"

Harlaan ignored her words and focused on his breathing. He had trained with various weapons, learning how to use them as an extension of his body. He could swing the pole, thrust it, hook it, and even throw it with deadly accuracy. This was not the first time he had to fight a sky pirate.

He knew he had to act fast, before the pirate decided to take off and attack him from above. He was also determined to protect the Runagate, and the flux core, a powerful energy source that could power a city for a year. Two gangs of sky pirates had somehow tracked them down and ambushed them, unlikely this was a coincidence. 

He had to stop them, no matter what.

He took a deep breath and leaped from his skysail, swinging his peevee pole at the pirate. She dodged the strike and countered with a slash of her wing, leaning in her shoulder and barely missing his throat. He landed on her skysail and stepped back to avoid another swipe, followed by a punch. 

They exchanged a flurry of blows, parrying and dodging each other's attacks. Harlaan was surprised by the pirate's agility and skill, but he was not intimidated. He had the advantage of reach and strength, and he used them to his favor. Keeping her back against the hull was the only way he could prevent her from becoming airborne easily. Harlaan swung the peevee pole with force, aiming for her head and chest, and then raked past her legs. He forced her to retreat and defend, looking for an opening to finish her off. 

He found it when she stumbled on a loose rope and lost her balance. He seized the opportunity and hooked her wing with his peevee pole, pulling her towards him. She gasped and tried to free herself, but it was too late. As he swung the pole against her legs, she lost her balance and fell, crashing backwards into the hull with a sickening sound, and then sliding off the skysail and disappearing down into the fog.

Harlaan looked at the hole in the hull of the Runagate, wondering what was happening inside. He hoped the captain and his crewmates were okay, and he knew he had to join them, and help them secure the ship. Perhaps now he would at least have the element of surprise.

He jumped off the skysail and ran towards the blasthole, hoping he was not too late.

Uzbecka

 "I don't have time for this," Uzbecka muttered to herself as she laid the prone second attendant beside the other attendant. The small magic that she wielded was nascent, and primarily allowed her minor manipulation of the wind and rain, which was useful enough on a skyship, but she had also learned a few techniques that could come in useful when a drunken fight broke out around the card table. In a pinch, she could cause temporary loss of bladder control, or give someone a bad case of brainfreeze, and after exercising this second option on the smaller attendant, Jaella, and then holding her face up to the air coming through one of the portals, Uzbecka was fairly sure the fugue state had passed. "And what was all that about?" Uzbecka continued to mutter to herself, as she checked on the captain and the dreamguide.

Everyone in the cabin appeared to have been affected by the rosy miasma that had filled the room, but that had now cleared. The two attendants may have got the worst of it. Their eyes had glowed pinked, and they had been unusually aggressive. Presumably they had attacked the captain, and possibly the dreamguide, but why? Probably a distraction, diverting the crew's attention.

Uzbecka felt a strong sense of duty, to the captain and the dreamguide especially, and she ministered to their needs as best she could, but there was little she could do. She was about to head above, back on deck, when she paused for a moment to better consider the situation. Harlaan would have a handle on anything that was happening above deck, but perhaps what had happened in the dreamguide's cabin was not the only distraction.

An explosion shook the Runagate. They were being shelled, or someone was setting off blasting charges.

"I really don't have time for this," Uzbecka cursed as she ran down the hallway to the much larger ship's hold, which held two passenger cabins, the ship's cargo of trade goods, and the massive flux engine core that provided the ship with additional lift when the balloon sail emptied during a long flight.

She reached the end of the narrow corridor and opened the door to the passenger cabins. There were only two rooms, one on each side. She knocked on the first one, hoping to find someone alive. She heard a deep muffled voice from inside.

"Who is it?" the voice asked.

"It's Uzbecka, the first mate. Are you okay in there?" she replied.

The door opened slightly, and a pair of eyes peered out. They belonged to Darius Mann, a wealthy merchant who had booked a passage on the runagate. He was accompanied by his scribe, a young woman with a hooded cloak and a quill in her hand. Uzbecka had seen them before, but she knew nothing about them. She had heard rumors that they were members of the Proclive, a shadowy organization that manufactured technology that was immune to the effects of the glooming. She didn't know if it was true, but she didn't care. She was just glad they were alive.

"We're fine, thank you," Darius said. "What's going on out there?"

"We're under attack, pirates I think," Uzbecka said. "They're trying to board us. We're doing our best to fight them off, but we need your help."

"Our help?" Darius asked, incredulous. "What can we do?"

"You can grab a weapon and join the fight, or you can stay here and lock the door. It's your choice," Uzbecka said.

Darius looked at his scribe, who nodded. They both stepped out of the cabin, and Uzbecka handed them each a pistol. She hoped they knew how to use them.

"Follow me," she said. "And stay close."

She led them to the other cabin, where she knocked again. This time, there was no answer. She tried the door, but it was locked. She kicked it hard, and it burst open. She entered the room, followed by Darius and his scribe.

The room was a mess. The furniture was overturned, the windows were shattered, and the floor was covered with debris from the explosion. The family had boarded the Runagate at the last minute. Uzbecka didn't know their names, or their story. She only knew that the man lying broken against the hull was dead, and the rest of his family were unaccounted for.

She felt a wave of anger and sadness wash over her. She had failed to protect him. But she would not fail to protect his family, or the Runagate. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"Who did this?" Darius asked, horrified.

"Pirates," Uzbecka said. "They set charges, probably trying to blast into the hold to steal the core."

Through a door at the end of the narrow corridor was a modest lounge and galley. There was no sign of the mother and child. Moments later, Uzbecka, the Proclive artificer and his scribe opened the door that lead to the Runagate's hold and engine room.

She searched the room for any clues or signs of life. She found nothing. She turned to leave, when she heard a faint noise from the closet. She opened it, and found a woman hiding inside. She was the artificer engineer, who maintained the engines and other mechanics of the Runagate. She was a short and stout woman, with goggles and a wrench. She looked terrified.

"Thank the flux, you're alive," Uzbecka said. "Are you hurt?"

The engineer shook her head. She crawled out of the closet, and hugged Uzbecka.

"Thank you for saving me," she said. "I was working on the engine, when I heard the pirates. I ran to the nearest cabin, and locked myself in. I was so scared. I thought they would find me. I thought you were them."

"They won't hurt you anymore," Uzbecka said. "You're safe now."

She introduced the engineer to Darius and his scribe, and explained the situation.

"We need to get to the engine room," the engineer said. "The flux core is unstable. If it explodes, we're all doomed."

"Then let's go," Uzbecka said. "We don't have much time."

She led the group to the cargo hold, where the engine room was located. She hoped they would make it in time. She hoped they would survive. She hoped the Runagate would stay aloft.

Crike

Crike cursed as the Remoras emerged from the fog, their Mantas shifting from sleek jets to agile wingsuits. Too busy admiring the Skywhale, a massive metal hulk floating out of the fog above them, Crike had always wondered what it was like to fly one of those, to soar through the skies without a care in the world. But now, they had to focus on keeping the Runagate alive.

The Remoras were not here to negotiate. They were raiders, who preyed on weaker ships and stole their loot. Crike counted six Mantas, each armed with a harpoon gun and a grappling hook. They swooped down on the Runagate, firing their harpoons at the ship's hull and rigging. Crike pulled the Runagate hard to starboard, trying to avoid the projectiles, but some of them hit their mark, tearing holes in the sails and embedding themselves in the wood. Crike heard the laughter of the nearest Remora, mocking their poor flying skills.

"Is that the best you can do?" she called out. "You're no match for the Remoras, queens of the sky!"

With gritted teeth, Crike reached for a nearby flare pistol. The Runagate had a few defenses but none conveniently near Crike. Their was a sonic cannon on either side of the Runagate, but up close like this, they were less than useless. Crike let off a flare, hoping to blind the Remora, but the raider easily avoided it. The Runagate reeled as Crike fired again. 

"Damn it, this thing is useless!" Crike muttered, trying to stabilize the ship.

Crike looked around, hoping to see some sign of help from the crew. The Runagate had a dozen people on board, but most of them were busy fighting off the Remoras as they boarded the ship. Crike saw flashes of gunfire and blades, heard screams and shouts, smelled blood and smoke. The Remoras had used their grappling hooks to latch onto the ship. They were ruthless and brutal, bringing down anyone who got in their way.

The only one who seemed to have any luck against them was Harlaan. The veteran sky sailor had served in the navy before joining the Runagate, and now, armed with a peevee pole, he was slashing at the two nearest Remoras from his nest in the rigging. Their Mantas were fast, but cumbersome up close, even transformed into body armor, and they had trouble dealing with Harlaan's speed and skill. Crike watched him leap from the rigging onto one of the Mantas hooking the other with the peevee pole,causing them to collide. The Mantas spiraled down, missing the deck completely, crashing into the swirl, as Harlaan used the pole again, this time connecting with the side of the Runagate, saving himself from a similar fate.

"Way to go, Harlaan!" Crike cheered, watching the scene and pulling the Runagate hard to port.

Joy short-lived, Crike noticed something else. A small group of figures, suited up in green Manta armor, approaching the ship from below. They had used the cover of the fog and the noise of the battle to avoid detection. Crike recognized their colors as the Cloak, a rival sky gang. Apparently they had a different goal than the Remoras. They were not after the ship's cargo, but something more valuable. They were after the ship's core, the heart of the Runagate, the source of its power and life.

"Harlaan, we have a problem!" Crike shouted over the melee. "The Cloak are on the hull! If they're settings charges to blast their way in, they'll blow the core and kill us all!"

Harlaan

Harlaan climbed the last few steps to the lookout nest, where Kimmie and Sharra were scanning the horizon with their binoculars. The sky was a dull gray, filled with swirling magnetic fog that obscured everything beyond a few hundred meters. From the top of the nest, Harlaan was keenly aware of the manifold dimensions of the fog. Reaching out with an inner sense, he did a quick scan through the fog, then fired off a series of quick instructions the other two crew members in the nest.

"Anything?" Harlaan asked, hoping for some good news. "Kimmie, you thought you saw the skywhale?"

Kimmie shook her head. "Nothing but fog, sir. We've been flying blind for hours."

"Show me where you felt it's presence, and focus on that area. Sharra, you keep an eye in the other direction, behind us. I know it's hard to tell which way is fore and which way is aft in this haze, but we need to make sure we're not blindsided, even if we think there is trouble up ahead."

"Sir! The tube has been blaring at us, sir! Sounded like Uzbecka, hard to make out what she was saying."

"She's on helm, and she's probably panicking. You two keep your eyes on the skies and I'll coordinate with the rest of the ship."

Sharra pointed to a faint shape in the distance. "Wait, I think I saw something. There, do you see it? A dark spot in the fog. A sort of shadowy something above us on the port side, and I swear, I heard voices echoing through the fog."

Harlaan squinted and followed her finger. He felt a surge of dread in his chest. He knew what that shape was. A skywhale. "I don't know which I'm more concerned about, a rogue skywhale or a skyful of Remoras," Harlaan sighed.

He reached for the communication tube and routed it to the helm. "Uzbecka, this is Harlaan. We have a problem. There's a skywhale ahead of us."

The voice that responded, after a long pause, was not Uzbecka's. "A skywhale? Are you sure?" Crike called back.

"Damn it," Harlaan muttered. "That's not good. That's not good at all.

"I can see it with my own eyes. And you know what that means."

There was a pause. Harlaan could imagine the bosun's face, trying to cover fear with an outward veneer of laziness. Crike knew what skywhales were, technological ghost ships, abandoned by their original crews, with their nascent programming and algorithms taken over by malevolent spirits. They roamed the skies, wreaking havoc. No one knew where they came from or how they worked, but they were feared by all skyfarers.

Crike gulped. "We're in big trouble. How far away is it? Oh, and Uzbecka went to check on the captain and now they're both missing."

Harlaan checked his compass. "About two kilometers, sir. And closing fast. Damn it! We can't outrun it in this fog. And we can't fight it either. Those things are indestructible. We need to avoid it. Change course, now. Turn starboard, full speed. I'll check on Ariette and Uzbecka. Maybe the communication tubes are tangled again."

"Aye, sir. Turning starboard, full speed."

The skyship Runagate groaned and tilted as it changed direction. Harlaan hoped they would lose the skywhale in the fog, but he had a bad feeling about it. His second sense could not penetrate the magnetic fog very far. He leaned heavily into it now, trying to sense any danger ahead.

He gasped. He did sense something. Something big, big and metal. Moving fast and hostile.

"Port side! Incoming!" He called out to the other two in the nest, and down the communication tube.

"What? What is it?" Crike called back.

Harlaan recognized the shapes. He had seen them too many times before. 

"Remoras! Sky pirates. They're here, dropping down on us in their manta suits."

"Mantas? Those wenches!" Kimmie screamed out. "How did they find us?"

Harlaan had a theory. He thought the skywhale was a decoy, a lure, a trap. He thought the Remoras had somehow allied with the skywhale, or hacked it, or controlled it. Perhaps they were using it as cover, and to draw them in, ambushing them from the other side.

No time to explain. This would make a great case study later, but now was time for actions Harlaan saw the mantas emerge from the fog, like giant metal stingrays, with wings, engines, and projectiles. There were maybe half a dozen of them, dropping down in formation, ready to attack.

A harpoon projectile slammed down on the Runagate, hitting the nest, and then another hit the deck. Harlaan ducked and covered his head, grabbed the communication tube and shouted. "We're under fire. We need to fight back. We need to defend ourselves. We need all hands at battle stations, now!"

"Prepare for some exitement, girls. Do your best up here, and one of you keep an eye on that skywhale.I need to get to the midmast." He looked back at the skywhale, still looming in the fog. He felt a surge of anger and fear.

He swore. "Damn you, skywhale. Damn you, Remoras. Damn you, mantas. You won't get us. You won't take us down. We're the Runagate. We're the best. We'll fight you. We'll beat you. We'll make you pay."

But the reality was, the Runagate was completely outmatched by even a half dozen Remoras, and likely there were more, and Harlaan had no idea what had happened to Uzbecka and Ariette.

Uzbecka

The first thing Uzbecka saw when she reached the dreamguide's cabin was the captain, stretched out on the floor, unconscious, apparently not bleeding. The second thing she saw was the dreamguide, also unconscious on the floor. Her eyes darted around the cabin. The dreamguide's attendant. Where was the dreamguide's attendant?

She ducked as the attendant swung a fist at her, growling harshly. The burly attendant was enveloped in a rose-coloured light, as if she were emitting steam after unexpected rain on a sunny day. Or something.

Uzbecka knew something was wrong when she saw the rose-coloured miasma swirling around the attendant's eyes. She had heard stories of how a miasma like this could corrupt and control people, turning them into mindless puppets. She had to act fast, before the attendant could harm herself, the captain, the dreamguide, or anyone else.

She grabbed a glass of water from the table and threw it at the attendant, hoping to wash away the pink aura. The attendant, Liara, perhaps, dodged the water and lunged at Uzbecka, her fists clenched.

"Snap out of it, Liara!" Uzbecka shouted, as she ducked under a punch and kicked Liara in the stomach. "You're not yourself!"

Something was bothering Uzbecka about this whole situation. Ariette had come down to check on the dreamguide, and very likely had an explanation for the attendant's malicious behavior. The captain and the dreamguide both needed quick attention. But that was not the reason for Uzbecka's concern. 

Liara grunted and swung her arm, hitting Uzbecka in the face. Uzbecka stumbled back, feeling blood trickle from her nose. With a finger, she swiped the droplet from her nose. Then she whispered a word, and the droplet of blood evaporated, forming a glowing haze around her.

Was that what she was trying to recall? Was the aura around the dreamguide's attendant related to some sort of blood magic? Of course, Uzbecka's own magic was elemental. She was merely utilizing the moisture in the droplet of blood to form a shield. There was no way she could control another person with a spell like this, and the burly attendant Liara was definitely not in control of her actions. Just the other night they had been drinking and arm-wrestling together.

Liara slammed into the shield, but bounced off. She growled and tried again, pounding the shield with her fists. Uzbecka felt the shield weaken with each blow. She had to end this quickly, before Lara broke through. Liara had handily beat her when they had arm-wrestled, and was now forcibly backing her around the starboard wall of the cabin, away from the unconscious captain, sprawled on the other side of the dreamguide's bed.

She focused on the air around Liara, trying to lower its temperature. She felt a slight chill, but not enough to affect Liara. She cursed under her breath. Her elemental control was limited, and she was not used to fighting in such a confined space. She needed more room, more air, more water. 

She looked around the cabin, searching for an escape. The small portholes were open, but tiny. The door was blocked by Liara. She saw a lamp and a bowl of water, but they had both been broken when they fell from the dreamguide's bedside table, presumably when Liara had knocked out the captain, if that is how events had proceeded. Uzbecka could see very little on the other side of the small cabin room. Ariette must have entered the room, seen the unconscious dreamguide, and then the attendant had attacked her from behind as the captain had called for medical attention.

Liara threw another massive punch at Uzbecka, and then another. She was running out of options, and she needed to end this now. She dispersed the shield, hiding her actions as she stepped back towards the bed, collecting the water from the spilled bowl around her hand, and sending a swirling liquid sphere straight at the attendant's eyes.

The blow knocked Liara back against the cabin door, and she slumped down, unmoving. Avoiding the broken shards of pottery on the starboard side of the cabin floor, Uzbecka vaulted past the bunk to rush to the captain's side.

"Shit!"

During all the excitement, Uzbecka had neglected to recall the protocol that, due to her importance to ship's navigation, the dreamguide should always have two attendants. She hadn't noticed the second, much smaller attendant on the other side of the bed,  blankets frwho now rose like a wraith from the pile of blankets beside the bed.

Crike

Crike was actually better at taking the helm than Uzbecka, but Crike would never tell Uzbecka that, nor anyone else, and especially not Harlaan. As the only male member of the crew, Harlaan seemed to always want to to take on the responsibility of training new crew members, or encouraging them to improve their skills, or take on new responsibilities of. Wherever Harlaan was, he was probably explaining to someone how to do something she already knew how to do. Right now, he was probably also cursing "this is all wrong!"

Where was Harlaan?

Crike had enough responsibilities already. Lazing about in the rigging, ensuring the food was good, helping the captain select her favourite vintage... this was all time-consuming enough, without a lot of extra work. If Harlaan ever found out that Crike had been running skyships almost single-handedly back home in a small port on the far side of the Swirl, he would definitely start pushing them to improve their skills, but that was Crike's secret to keep.

As it stood, or more often than not, curled up taking a nap, Crike would have been much happier peeling potatoes, but this was no time to argue semantics, and Uzbecka was a truly terrible sailor. Hopefully Uzbecka didn't pay too much heed to the confidence with which Crike stepped up to the bridge.

"No problemo, chief. I've got the helm."