Re: Piracy on the Seven Skies (Sky Pirates IC Thread)

[Senshuken]

Apollo opened his beak in order to say something... anything really, but paused as Vulcan offered a reasonable justification for why just running wouldn't work. Closing his beak for a moment, Apollo looked troubled but nodded his head as he went to pick up the sack that Frisky had offered him. "I don't like it, but we don't have time to come up with something better. I would prefer trying to hit Dreadwing itself through, rather then the Hail Mary but take whatever target you can get that wipe the smug grin off of Reaver's foul features." The name was spat out with a degree of spit that was honestly kind of impressive.

Turning towards the mare that he had picked up from the Hail Mary, Apollo offered her a sad smile as he asked "I know it's not the greatest trip ever, but would you care to join us for a jog through the Everfree? It has to be better then risking Reaver or his black sky monsters catching up with you."

[Espresso]

Purse Flower looks horrified at the notion of a walk through the Everfree with a band of pirates, but there's a roar in the distance all of a sudden, and Vapor Trail frantically throws into the Huntress into a spin to swerve out of the way of a volley of ship-hunting harpoons. Two pillars of steel fly past the ship, terrifyingly close, but one manages to land a direct hit on the ship, smashing the bottom of the shallow sloop apart and sending debris and cargo flying everywhere. Then, The ship shudders, and Vapour Trail shouts, "EVERYPONY FOR THEMSELVES!", leaping offboard and making for the treeline as the Huntress starts to be dragged towards the towering juggernaut of a dragon as well.

That shuts the noblemare up, and she nods meekly to Apollo's offer.

In the distance, small black specks seem to exit the iron fortress atop Dreadwing, swarming around the dragon for a moment before descending upon the Hail Mary. Upon closer inspection they seem to be small craft that can hold one, perhaps two ponies.

[jaguargamma]

In a single motion, Frisky pulls the rest of her pirate outfit off...and as soon as she does, it's obvious why she was wearing it in the first place.

The flesh and fur covering her upper torso is transparent like glass, leaving a clear view of her ribcage and internal organs. The blending of the pink from the parts of her that had been exposed makes it clear that they're also not normal, and covered in something to make them appear normal.

On closer inspection, one can see a pegasus crystal lodged deep in Frisky's inner workings, along with evidence of other foreign objects having ended up inside her at some point.

"Before you ask, it's a long story, and we're trying not to die."

Her cloak flies over and wraps itself around the costume, then the resulting bundle shoves itself into Vulcan's talons.

"My books are in these. Don't lose them."

Then she grabs Trigger and heads below-deck.

[AleneShazam]

Trigger stares at Frisky for a moment, mesmerized by her unique appearance, before she's grabbed by the alicorn and is jarred out of her reverie.

"Well, at least they spared us the effort of having to steer," Trigger quips, glancing at the massive harpoon impaled into the ship's hull.

[jaguargamma]

"Good. Because I don't know how to fly an airship."

When they get to the engines, Frisky takes a deep breath.

"Okay. Wire me up."

[AleneShazam]

"I'm going to be honest, I've never used a living pony as fuel before. I wonder what the explosion'll be like?"

Trigger says cheerfully as she clamps cables around Frisky's wings, and plugs her into the pegasus engine.

"Good luck!"

Mechanics:

[jaguargamma]

Frisky winces under the clamps, then assumes the position and lights her horn.

"Well, if this doesn't fry my brain, guess we'll find..."

Frisky had hoped to push her magic into the engines. Instead, she feels a surge of power coming back through the cables into her. The energy courses through her wings and into her body like electricity, indeed threatening to fry her brain.

Instead, the pegasus crystal in her belly reacts to the incoming surge of power and starts to glow and vibrate.

"Whoa...this feels...so weird..."

In the next instant, the power exuding out from her crystal equalizes the incoming power from the engines, seemingly granting Frisky the connection she was going for.

"Uh...I...think we're good, now...?"

[Senshuken]

Watching as Frisky and Trigger disappeared into the ship while their brave pilot abandoned ship to take off running into the Everfree alone, Apollo shifted his grasp on the sack of what felt like stones so that he was holding it properly before kneeling down a little in order to allow Purse Flower to climb on as she desired. "Time to go it seems Lady Flower. Do hold on tightly."

Taking a deep breath as he waited until Purse was on his back and as secure as she was going to get, Apollo darted for the edge of the Huntress before launching himself off and allowing himself to plummet towards the ground. His usage of his jetpack was more designed to allow him to safely glide towards the ground while taking advantage of the winds that Dreadwing was creating rather then trying to fight them outright (because that would easily backfire badly), the goal being to land safely rather then actually fly any meaningful distance.

However, it quickly became clear that he had to much weight on his person to safely land with himself, Purse Flower and whatever was in the sack. Quickly coming to the conclusion that something had to go, he tried his best to judge when would be the best time to let go of the sack and give it the best chance to land safely on the ground before doing just that, hoping it survived while himself and Purse landed safely.

Dice Rolls:

[Faege]

Vulcan glances at the bundle of flammable cloth in his arms, then at the flaming wings on his back. Then he shrugs, and runs for it as well, taking flight for the forest.

Acrobatics:

[Paper Shadow]

Mori, unburdened with anyone's stuff and frankly surprised he wasn't the one off-ship first, flies off also. As much as he wanted a closer look at the inner workings of Frisky, this was hardly the time...

(Acrobatics: 18 (Roll) + 8 (Skill) = 26)

[Espresso]

Buffeted by the wild winds, Mori and Vulcan still manage to make their way down to the surface safely, with Vulcan making a grab for the dropped sack but the weight jerking the fabric from his claws. Apollo, even with Purse Flower on his back, glides safely down to the treeline after the two. The congregate in the cover of trees, where Vapor Trail is already waiting for them.

The sack with the stones falls like... a sack of stones, landing with a crunch. There's very little doubt that something broke.

Meanwhile, in the distance, Dreadwing gets its claws on the Hail Mary, ripping off the balloon and easily warping the hull metal with its claws. Dreadwing is huge, larger than even most adult dragons, the Hail Mary, despite being a sizeable merchant dirigible, is only barely half his size. The Huntress is fast nearing the dragon as well.

---

The moment a connection is made, the engine's crystal hungrily sucks up Frisky's pegasi magic with a pop. It feels like a lightning bolt in reverse - a powerful static sensation, and then with a loud crack, the magic streaks across the cables into the engine, leaving Frisky feeling drained and her wings drooping. The engine, though, hums powerfully, the dials reading a maximum charge of nimbus energy.

The entire ship shudders as it tilts, parts of the hull falling away as the harpoon lodged through the ship's deck and hull grinds against the metal of the hull. It's time to go.

(Frisky suffers a -10 to flying and all other pegasi magic until a long rest)

[Faege]

"Damn it."

Vulcan unclips his mask, and takes a long, angry drink from his tank. It doesn't take a genius to realize that he's seething with rage - his entire body is radiating heat, and his wings seem to flare brighter. He paces around the edge of the forest anxiously, only to stop by a tree and smash a gauntleted claw into the wood in fury.

"Those Black Sky bastard got me, again... I'll kill them! I'll rid the world of scum like them, I swear I will...!"

He whirls around, glaring at the group in general. "What now? The objective is in the claws of a third party. All we've retrieved is this bag of rubble," He kicks the sack containing the broken rocks. "I suppose the only choice we have is to return to the aerodrome in failure," he concludes bitterly, crossing his arms and leaning tiredly against the tree.

"We should go as soon as the other two get here. It's not safe. They'll have fliers scouring the area for supplies and survivors soon enough."

[jaguargamma]

Frisky unclips the cables from her wings, grabs Trigger, and glances outside through a hole in the ship's hull.

In the next instant, they were safely on a cloud outside the ship.

"See," she says weakly. "Nothin' to it..."

She barely notices the cloud disappearing from under them as they free-fall through it.

[Paper Shadow]

"Not a soul in Port Royale's gonna judge us for losing to Reaver," comments Mori trying to temper the rage of the dragon as they waited for the last two, "I bet we could even tell this story for a couple a' days for food and drink. How many ponies you fellas know survive an encounter with Dreadwing?"

"'Sides, I know a little 'bout rocks, I'm sure I could figure out what those are and sell 'em off. They were loose, right?"

[Senshuken]

Safe and sound on the ground, Apollo took a moment to allow Purse Flower the chance to get off of him... before going over to the sack and having a look inside. Maybe the damage wasn't that bad and whatever it was could be fixed?

[AleneShazam]

"Okay, we're bugging out."

Trigger's hind-guns sputter to life, miniature explosions issuing from the muzzle of the gun like a series of fireworks. She snatches Frisky out of the air, and rockets towards where the others are congregated.

The Rainbow Dash:

[Faege]

Vulcan glances at Mori, still seething but calmed down slightly from his words. "You're looking at one." He says grimly, gesturing at the scars on his body. "That encounter gave me these."

Glancing at the sack, Vulcan nods. "They came in a set of five orbs, but they weren't attached or anything."

[Espresso]

Trigger's guns kick once more into overdrive, and they zoom away from the Huntress just as it comes into range of Dreadwing, the dragon grabbing that with its claws as well, tearing a giant hole in the hull of the ship where its claws punctured through the metal.

There's a sudden crack as that happens, and immediately Dreadwing rears back, surprised, as the Huntress erupts, releasing bolts of lightning and roaring gales around it in a spontaneous thunderstorm. It accidentally crushes the Hail Mary in its claws in the shock of it, the ship splintering into shrapnel and debris that rains down onto the Ghastly Gorge below.

Trigger and Frisky land hard, but after a few tumbles, emerge unharmed, only a few paces from where the others are waiting. Trigger's back legs cough and splutter smoke, the last of her propellant spent. She won't be able to do that again in some time.

When Apollo checks the bag, it's very obvious that the stones have been shattered into shards, a fact which Purse Flower seems considerably distressed about.

(Perception prompt)

[jaguargamma]

Frisky sways lazily as she sighs a weak, "Wheeee! I wanna go again..."

Then she sees what's become of the stones, and her eyes snap wide.

"What did you do?!"

Actions:

[AleneShazam]

Trigger is momentarily distracted by the pretty explosion in the sky, marveling at her handiwork. But just as quickly, her attention is caught by Frisky's words, and she looks down at the sack.

"Evidently, they broke it," Trigger says offhandedly, stepping up to the sack and peering inside. She rattles it around a little, and nods. "Oh yes, there it is; just utterly smashed up."

She examines the shards closely. "I can repair them, if given enough time. Put the shards back together, at least physically. Might take me a couple of days, but it'll hike up the market price a little..."

"Ah well. Whatever happens, happens."

Perception:

[Paper Shadow]

"Can't this wait until after we escape? We're hiding for now but they're gonna search for us."

(Perception Check: 20 (Roll) + 8 (Skill) = 28 (+ Nightwatch))
(Rolling a nat 20 on a check when someone else has already did it, this is gonna bite me on later rolls...)

[Faege]

"Yes, let's go." Ghreham says shortly, ignoring the others and starting to head deeper into the forest. He's not going to wait around for another massacre to unfold. Not again. Never again.

Perception:

[jaguargamma]

Whatever shards have been taken out of the sack snap away from whoever's holding them and toss themselves back in the sack.

Using her magic, Frisky ties the sack off into a large enough knot to bite down on, and then tugs at it to carry/drag it with her. Despite her efforts, she's still not quite strong enough to physically carry the combined weight of the stones, and the sack stays put.

Actions:

[Espresso]

The group spots fliers starting to strafe the area in rigid formation, sweeping the whole canyon's surroundings for any signs of life. In particular, a detachment of five or so splitting off from the formation, heading... straight towards them.

The five jet-ships seem to unload something, dropping them from a height. Frisky and Mori realize after a moment or two of hard staring that the things are ponies. They land hard, but chillingly, seem completely unfazed by the impact, and immediately start galloping in the group's direction.

"Yup, we goin'." Vapour says meekly, before bolting off into the forest.

[jaguargamma]

Determined not to abandon her newly-self-appointed mission of guarding the stones, Frisky grunts and growls as she continues to struggle with moving them. Why she's using her mouth instead of her magic is anypony's guess, but it's clear she's not about to give up her sack.

"Erf...urgh...shonuva...will shomepony get ovuh here and friggin' help me with thish thing?!"

Actions:

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