Anthony, Engine Deck
Anthony looked at the valve and nodded in sympathy. "Before working on the fix check to see how deep it's rusted. That thing can't reach -that- far or they wouldn't have bothered trying to blow up the ship when they could just rust it out from under us. If it isn't too deep, you're looking at a simple replacement job. If it spread from the internal workings of the valve to the walls then you're looking at a couple hours at least."
Anthony had some experience with such, though it had been a device of his own making during one particularly bad rainy season. When he heard Aziels voice upstairs, the constable said in a lower tone. "Might be doing it without me too. Seems like we're about to have more company."
Fitz nodded at Anthony. "I think it's just a valve repair job. Probably means cutting out the pipe, which is a pain, but I'm not worried about structural damage to the deck above." Now that he was back in his element- fixing things instead of fighting them- the weedy young man looked much more confident. [b]"I'll get it done, sir."
He had just started to turn back to the rusted valves when a halfling flew down through the hatch and landed on the deck with a sound sickeningly like a sack of potatoes. When Anthony went over to investigate he found that she was, unsurprisingly, out cold.
In position and hanbo readied, Ralf gave Jaelyn a curt nod.
Once Ralf and the marine were ready, Jaelynn nodded.
When the door opened, Jae tapped Ralf on the shoulder, signaling her companion to go first. Once he was through the door, she followed, ducking to the opposite side. Seeing the fire sprite, she let fly with a blast of cold, even as the hatch shut with a clang behind her.
Unfortunately, the fast movement, the slamming door, and the swirl of bodies led to her attack flying high, into the ceiling.
Bursting through the door as quickly as he could manage, Ralf skidded to a stop and took a moment to assess the situation.
One small fire... thing... with Aziel engaging it. Despite the tension, he chuckled to himself: It wouldn't last long. To the right, two rapidly dissipating puffs of smoke near Shane. One eyebrow went up; had Sangster dispatched two of the things?
And the Kata Master himself, bleeding badly from a gash in his forearm. Leaving the opponent to Aziel and Jaelyn, Ralf trotted over to Shane to place a hand on his shoulder, then hissed through his teeth at the adopted pain.
Aziel/Jaelynn/Ralf/Shane, Berth Deck
The marine nodded at Jaelynn and spun the lock open then slammed the door shut behind the two of them as they charged the open deck. Jaelynn missed with her ray in her excitement, but Ralf jogged over and was able to heal Shane.
Ralf jogged over and was able to heal Shane.
Unable to take on more of the monk's pain without a risk of knocking himself out -- at which point he'd be of no help to anyone -- Ralf turned his attention inward to accelerate his own recovery.
"Shane. Am needing link to you. Is better healing that way. You are willing, aiwa? Aziel already has done this."
"Shane. Am needing link to you. Is better healing that way. You are willing, aiwa? Aziel already has done this."
Shane was focused on the remaining sprite, but he nodded assent before moving away from Ralf.
Shane having approved, Ralf focused his mind as the monk moved to engage the final sprite.
Aziel/Jaelynn/Ralf/Shane, Berth Deck
Aziel stabbed at the last remaining fire sprite but the nimble nuisance darted out of the way. Shane slid forward and slashed at the little monster, too, but this sprite was either luckier or quicker than its brethren and it dodged his sword as well.
The sprite spun as it flitted away from Shane's sword and rolled over the blade to claw at the constable's arm, but was unable to keep up with the monk's deceptively languid moves.
Jaelynn moved to a point where she had a clear shot at the sprite.
Unfortunately, even though the sprite couldn't keep up with Shane's fluid movements, it moved enough that Jaelynn's spell sailed past it, harmlessly.
Shane attempted a parry and reposte move with his temple sword, but he was not in position to leverage the flaming creatures attacking energy into an effective cut.
Anthony ties up the halfling the moment she lands and puts her with the rest. Then he draws his hammer and shield and positions himself to where he could look up the stairs and see the prisoners with a simple turn of his head. He was ready to defend against anyone that might come down and pounce on those that might try and escape. He couldn't quite hear the commotion going on but Aziel had run off, most likely to help the others. Something was happening and part of Anthony felt a little useless standing here. Another part knew it was necessary. Not every job would come with heroics. As a Constable it was his responsibility to guard the prisoners and keep the engineer safe until things settled down.
Aziel/Jaelynn/Shane/Ralf, Berth Deck
The sprite slipped away from Shane's riposte and managed to slash his neck with its burning claws, coming within a hair's breadth of opening his jugular. The last sprite was proving to be a surprisingly dangerous opponent.
Shane's neck burned and bled, challenging him to keep his focus on the bizarre flaming imp before him. His earlier success at dispatching two of them had perhaps made him overconfident. The wounds now served as painful reminders of his kata master's teaching: do not think of the opponent you just defeated. He exists no more. Nor think of the opponent you will face next, for he does not yet exist. Think only of the present moment, the only thing that exists.
Shane focused on the flame in front of him and began to dance. That is, he stepped in time with the sprite's own movements, timing his shifts so that he did not expose himself to another, potentially fatal, attack. He tried to position himself opposite Aziel, to divide the sprite's attention and gain some advantage both for himself and Aziel.
When in position, after moving no more than a few paces, he delivered two attacks and prepared a parry and reposte should it target him for another attack. Somewhere in his mind, he sensed the presence of Ralf behind him, but also as if he were peering over Shane's shoulder, warm breath on his neck.
His first blow swished and swirled the air near the beastie, but did not connect. However, the creature did not anticipate a second swing so soon after the first and was in the path of the oddly curved blade.
Ralf wasn't yet experienced enough to sense Shane's health over the newly-forged psionic link. But he didn't need to be: He saw the vicious slash to the monk's neck, the bright red line, the oozing blood.
Unaware of how close Shane was to losing consciousness, Ralf nonetheless reached out with his mind to take some of the man's pain.
Alarmed by the danger the little sprite represented (and more than a little impressed that Shane had taken down two alone), Aziel carefully circled the creature along with Shane until they were flanking it.
"Alors, you think you will merely be banished when we are through with you? We will see you frozen to a crisp!" she threatened, mainly trying to distract it towards Jaelynn as she closed with her rapier. Her tail moved sinuously around her, darting at the sprite now and again to aid in distracting it.
Aziel/Jaelynn/Ralf/Shane, Berth Deck
Between Shane's speed and Aziel's precision the two quickly dispatched the last sprite before it did any more damage. In a moment the deck was quiet and still.
After nudging the spot where the sprite had vanished in a puff of soot, Aziel nodded to Shane with a salute of her rapier, and returned to the open hatch below. "We seem to have dealt with the problem for the moment up here. Anthony, Fitz, how go the repairs? Any trouble from our prisoners?"
Fishing in her pocket for the rust monster antennae, she muttered, "Merde, my spare change!" With a sigh, she examined a handful of circles of rust. Glancing back at her unit, she quipped, "Ashes to ashes and rust to rust, no? Hahaha."
Shane grinned in spite of his painful wounds at Aziel's threat to cause the sprite to be 'frozen to a crisp.' He returned her salute and sheathed his sword before saying, "Who ... or what summoned those things? And what is the state of the boiler room?"
Without waiting for an answer, he began walking fast toward the stairs down which he had come to this level, saying, "The designer of this ship is ... or was at the top of these stairs. I may have to drag him down, but if anyone can identify problems and suggest solutions, it's he. Delft and the ship captain know there is a problem of some sort, just not exactly what."
All
When Shane went to check on Masarde, he found the engineer asleep at the top of the stairs. It took vigorous shaking to wake him up.
Down in the engine room, the prisoners had given Anthony no trouble. With two of them unconscious, this wasn't saying much. Fitz was busily sawing through the port side exhaust pipe near the rusted-through valve.
Anthony called up to Aziel from the hatch, "Fitz is a skilled one. He'll have the repair done soon enough. Doubt it'll be perfect, but no fault of his, rather the type of sabotage is to blame. The prisoners are..."
He briefly looks at them, then grins a little. After a whistle and a pointed finger Scrapper, who had been at the base of the stairs, moves over to stand in front of the bound prisoners. "They're secure. Scrapper can cover them while I cover the stairs and they're sleeping anyway. Has the ships security been alerted? The captain?"
Aziel relayed Anthony's questions to Shane, then told Anthony that those matters were in hand.
"I do not like it. Someone must have summoned those sprites, and done it from closeby. If the prisoners are out, we may still have an enemy lurking about. Be wary, mon ami," she said, her gaze growing distant as she listened hard for footsteps or other sounds that might indicate another invisible foe.
Shane had one foot on the step, about to head up to find Masarde when Aziel reminded him of something he had made a mental note to ask the others when he saw them next while he had been pacing the main deck of the ship. "Duchess Ethelyn and her handmaid! Has anyone seen them below decks? I saw them descending some time ago and never saw them return. Jaelynn was with them last I saw." He looked back toward the elf. Without realizing it, he was glaring at her almost accusingly.
"Duchess Ethelyn and her handmaid! Has anyone seen them below decks? I saw them descending some time ago and never saw them return. Jaelynn was with them last I saw." He looked back toward the elf. Without realizing it, he was glaring at her almost accusingly.
Jaelynn frowned. Not at Shane's look - she was used to people giving her dirty looks - but at the realization that she hadn't thought to look out for the Duchess.
"We left them in the cabin the Duchess requested - with a guard, of sorts - on the gun deck."
If she'd been the kind to play stupid social games - which she wasn't, unless it was for a reason - Jaelynn probably would have pointed out that the gun deck was the deck through which Shane had traveled several times, and might even remind him that he was the member of the unit currently closest to said deck.
Fortunately, Jaelynn wasn't that kind of person, and so she merely pointed up the stairs behind Shane. "Midshipman Rilen assured me that if anyone went in or out that room, he'd tell me about it. Of course, that assumes he survived the event."
Shane climbed the steps two at a time and emerged next to the sleeping figure of Masarde. At first he feared the engineer had been attacked, but then he heard a rumbly snort that extended into a gentle snore. Shane looked up and down the gun deck before calling out, "MIDSHIPMAN RILEN! SOUND OFF!"
Then he ran moved aftward listening for a response and looking for anyone in the dim light. As he moved he drew a couple of shuriken.
Jaelynn sighed as Shane went bounding up the stairs, yelling his head off.
"With the majority of the threat seemingly neutralized," she told the others, "we should really be trying to minimize the disturbance topside. The only thing Delft would be angrier about than us panicking the guests during an emergency, would be us panicking them after the emergency has been handled."
That said, she quickly followed Shane up to the gun deck herself. Once on the deck, she headed directly towards where they had left the young Midshipman, guarding the Duchess.
Anthony rolled his eyes a little when he heard Shane running off, but otherwise didn't say anything. "Ms. Charbonneau, I'll stay down here and guard the prisoners, as well as assist Fitz if he has need. I doubt he will honestly. If you come across anymore prisoners you know where to throw them."
Ralf regrouped with the others but kept his opinions out of the discussion. For some odd reason, people seemed to grow annoyed when he spoke up, and he wanted to stay free of distractions as he did a little additional patching up from the recent scuffle.
Sucking air sharply through his teeth as he absorbed the remainder of Shane's wounds, Ralf wobbled slightly and then focused his attention inward.
"Anyone else is hurt?" he asked when there was a break in the conversation.
Aziel saluted Anthony without her usual sarcasm in the gesture, and glanced over at Ralf with concern. "Nothing that requires immediate attention, mon ami. But you, you look as though you could use a drink. Come, let us go above and see if we can get you one. And should we pass our unit on the way, well, it is only right that we should ask if we are needed, no?" Her golden eyes gleamed as she took Ralf's arm and steered him toward the stairs.
Ralf eyed the tiefling, trying to discern if she had some ulterior motive. "Am thanking you for concern, but is from taking others' pain, nothing to worry." His eyes roamed the area. "To worry is, can only do a few more times today."
"Am really needing to master mind-talking," he grumbled as he followed the gunslinger.
Aziel/Jaelynn/Shane/(Ralf?), Gun Deck
Shane climbed the steps two at a time and emerged next to the sleeping figure of Masarde. At first he feared the engineer had been attacked, but then he heard a rumbly snort that extended into a gentle snore. Shane looked up and down the gun deck before calling out, "MIDSHIPMAN RILEN! SOUND OFF!"
Then he ran moved aftward listening for a response and looking for anyone in the dim light. As he moved he drew a couple of shuriken.
Shane ran aft and into the observation room to find the young man in a deep sleep, just as Masarde had been.
While Shane confirmed the midshipman was still alive, Aziel and Jaelynn caught the briefest glimpse of something out an open observation port in the stern. While it sounded crazy, both constables were sure they just saw the Duchess and her handmaiden on the back of a giant squid descending into the ocean alongside a woman who could only be described as some sort of water-loving fey.
Shane rouses the midshipman if he can and checks over the observation room to make sure no one is hiding anywhere. He'll also keep an eye out for anything they may have left behind that might indicate their activities or that might connect them to the events of the evening.
When the midshipman is conscious, he'll ask him or her what happened.
Aziel skidded to a halt, plastering herself to the observation port in astonishment. "Sacre-! Do you see that?"
Shane quickly woke the young midshipman. He shook his head. "I don't know, sir. One minute I was watching the Duchess's door, the next you were waking me up."
While Shane is searching the room, Aziel fires out the open aft observation port. With the distance and the movement, the markswoman misses cleanly. The Duchess doesn't even seem to notice having been shot at. The watery-themed fae, however, turned and looked over her shoulder straight at Aziel, as if she saw the tiefling clearly in spite of the distance and darkness. It didn't stop the descent of the squid into the dark water, though, and in a moment they were all out of sight.
"See what?" replied Ralf, glancing around and then jumping at the sound of Aziel's pistol.
"What, what!" he barked while crouching instinctively before quickly hauling out his crossbow and loading it.
Aziel gazed out over the water, trying hard to convince herself that she'd seen what she'd just seen. "I believe the instigator of this mess just escaped... into the ocean. On a squid."
She turned back to Ralf with an embarrassed look. "It was the Duchess, with some kind of water-fey. I hope Delft does not take too much heat because I shot at her... Merde! Who is going to believe this?!" She remembered the look the water-fey had given her, and frowned. I will not go swimming anytime soon, I think.
"Water... fey?" Ralf responded with a frown of confusion. "Duchess? Squid? What?"
Dinilo shesti!
Jaelynn had seen all that Aziel saw. She hadn't wasted energy or resources on attacking the Duchess - she'd quickly surmised that doing so would be fruitless. But it would be equally fruitless to chide Aziel about it.
"Yes," she confirmed. "The Duchess just made her escape on the back of a giant squid. The only way that could be possible is with the help of a fey creature of some kind."
She turned from the hatch.
"Let us secure the engine, the magazine, and the prisoners. I suspect we have seen the end of this attempt. Whoever put the Midshipman and Masarde to sleep may be the halfling, or may have escaped topside. Either way, a guard on each compartment, I think, and I will go quietly inform Delft of what we've encountered.
Shane helped the midshipman up and said, "You were evidently put under a spell as was another nearby. For now, stick close and continue to monitor this room. Help the constables secure the area and remain on high alert. There was an attempt to sabotage the ship."
He returned to the group discussing the next move. Upon hearing about the duchess and the others escaping on a squid, he gave no expression of surprise, saying "I saw the creature briefly while I was topside. I notified the ship's captain, but they evidently could not see it in the dark. I also notified Delft already about the sabotague effort underway and the ship's captain was likewise notified. But he should get an update about the new developments. I'll take Masarde down to see if he can spot any other problems or suggest how to repair what was damaged."
Ralf listened closely to the information Shane and Jaelynn shared, quite amazed.
"So this was... how you are saying it... 'kidnap?' Or Duchess person is mixed up with sabotage somehow?"
The vitalist shook his head. "Too complex, is not making sense. Who would think of plan like this, explode boat, kill dignitaries, drug people, kidnap Duchess."
He began ticking off points on his fingers. "Water fey. Fire sprites. Giant squid. Rust monster... is big bankroll or far-ranging plot. Amria, what is going on here!"
Anthony spent most of his time looking between Fix, the prisoners, and the hatch above the steps. He stood at the base of them, letting Scrapper stand near the prisoners ready with it's miniature hammer. The thing needed direction to act, but it was still akin to Tony being in two places at once.
"How go the repairs?" Anthony asks, his voice calm. Fitz seemed a capable engineer, but he had been incredibly skittish when the fighting started. Being calm as he was now would hopefully help the man relax and understand that all was under control.