The New World

[The Corsair]

-Nigel-

Garrow took one of the Implacable's short-range flight suits to make the hop over to the Caroline. He needed to command the battle from his best weapon and if he were to meet miss Jiroux he wouldn't have time to take a standard transport airship. He had barely arrived at the bridge and negotiated his way through the tirade of "cap'n","cap'n","cap'n" from the rest of the Caroline's bridge crew before miss Jiroux appeared on the bridge. She looked stiff, like she had just come in from a harsh winter's day. Her lips were a fairly unhealthy-looking shade of blue which began to give way to blots of tentative purple and red as she moved them and spoke.

"Lieutenant Jiroux." He responded, properly acknowledging her before launching into serious discussion. "Now what exactly is coming this way, how much time do we have and how can you help us?"

[MWBailey]

Aboard the Caroline
"Sir." 'Bella unbuttoned the inner stormflap of her parka and slid the cutlass adn the Colt on the left hip more toward the back of her outer harness, then pulled the dispatch case around and produced and unfolded a map of the Eastern Seaboard, and withdrew a nav pencil from her uniform tunic breast pocket, adn marked a circle around Harper's Ferry, Newport News and Southern West Virginia, marking the  military bases with x's.

"Yesterday, at approximately 3 am, the Aerodrome at Harper's Ferry was infiltrated by the AWOL Captain David Hildebrandt and crew of the MOFF buoyancy dreadnought COVAS (That's Commonwealth of Virginia Air Ship, begging the Cap'n's pardon, sir) Demologos II. They killed the guards at the gate, two more at the storage hangar where the Demologos was being held for dismantlement according to treaty, and then took control of the vessel, provisioned it with the ammunition and materiel that had been stacked in the hangar, and used it to nearly annihilate a security battalion sent to capture them and secure the Demologos. During that debacle, they also rammed and sunk the air dreadnought COVAS Ticonderoga; I believe she was the same class as the dreadnought next to this one."

"After departing Harper's Ferry at roughly one-third full speed, The Demologos and crew commenced systematic bombardment and strafing Of the Newport News Military Base and Aerodrome, completely destroying almost the entire base on the southern bank of the river. A large portion of our materiel and personnel were annihilated in that attack. It made no difference whether the targets were on the ground or engaging her in the air, but I must report that, somehow, I managed to drop a grenade down her funnel (I was returning on my aqirbike from a rest period in town when it all broke loose), but all thegrenade did was to create a very smoky Demologos, as if I had damaged some ...internal flue, or something. I barely escaped with my life, and in fact was under heavy gatling fire when Captain O'Flaherty and his crew showed up in the Raptor."

Bella went on to describe the use of Raptor's coilgun,  Raptor's and her boarding action and the escape of the Demologos. "She is known to have turned to the Northeast and to have prceeded out over the Atlantic at high speed, well over standard Flank. It is Captain O'Flaherty's opinion that she will have already turned in a zigzag toward the Northwest, and that the Demologos will try to slip through New York sometime in the next," she checked the time on the bridge's clock, "Four to four and one-half hours from now."

"Captain Garrow, sir, the Demologos does not use gas to stay aloft, and her buoyancy MOFF units are located in several separate arrays behind heavy armor. It's only my opinion, but I think that the only way to damage her at all seriously with standard weaponry is to bombard her at close range with everything we have. Failing that, a coilgun like Captain O'Flaherty's would be ideal -- but. Captain Hildebrandt is notorious for his unorthox methods. I would not put anything past him, including using innocents as shields and worse."

Township of Edison, South of New York City, Four Hours Later.
The drone of electric aviation engines and a powerful steam powerplant echoed through the air over the town as the AS Sarah Stuyvesant, with the Demologos hidden within, muddled slowly along. Inside of the ramshackle envelope, hammers and armor panels rang, blowtorches dazzled, and orders were shouted as the finishing touches were made on repairs. If we're lucky, Hildebrandt thought, the NYC Townies'll be too busy licking their wounds to care much about a tramp zeppelin. If we're lucky.

As the Sarah Stuyvesant passed the makeshift Spotter's Tower, the officer and attendees on duty noticed several oddities about the craft; clanging noises from inside and odd flashes of light now and then lighting up the envelope in the early morning shade, not tio mention her rathe rerratic handling, made for an odd spectacle for the spotters to watch. Not wanting to strain their city's facilities, they simply waved the weird ship through, but called in the info and advised that it be passed on to the New York City Defense detail...

[Ella, Aerial Musketeer]

“Hugo is the first man i rescued i also managed to reck my wings in the process. I took him to a place like this and then left to find a place to sleep and parts for my wings of corse i forgot to keep a map in my head of were i was going and yea found that other man.”
Ela looked at him “so whats your story?"

[The Corsair]

-Nigel-

"If he's notorious for having innocents as collateral then I'm keeping him well away from New York at all costs, including, if necessary, my own men and myself." He responded, somewhat distantly he realised. There was a severe disconnect between saying the brave thing and viewing it as reality, accepting it might come to pass.

Ensigns and Privates alike were ordered into position across the small fleet at the slightest utterance from Garrow and he accompanied Lieutenant Jiroux back to the hangar she boarded from and met her back aboard the Implacable. Without waiting for them to reach the bridge he began discussing with her once more the upcoming engagement. He had half a mind to contact Skarssen and press him for more ships.

"You must have a gauge of what this small fleet is capable of and as the only one with first-hand knowledge of the Demologos' capabilities I have to ask you this most serious of questions. Do we stand a chance?"

[MWBailey]

"Armament of the Demologos is heavy," 'Bella went on, aboard the Implacable. "Two topside turrets fore, one aft, two on the nadir (bottom) all carrying two breechloading seven-inch repeating guns, capable of firing high-yield penetration rounds." Bella took a drink from her glass; the pitcher was nearby, holding down one coner of the map and papers. "She completely devastated and downed the Heavy Armored Aircruiser COVAS McClintock at a range of nearly 1000 yards with just the topside turrets, and the gatling empalcements. I'm not sure why, but Hildebrandt seems to set great stock by those gatlings; it seems like he tries to use 'em to soften up a target, or demoralize its crew, before he brings in the big guns." She mused.

"She also carries twelve casemated half-turrets bearing three-inch guns in two rows from stem to stern on each flank, plus various 90-caliber electrically-driven Gatling emplacements in deck-level wing turrets, and several portable ones as well. Two rocket tubes forward, one aft. Now, remember: she doesn't use gas for lofting, and her MOFF units will lift several times her entire weight, so it's unlikely she'll run out of ammo anytime soon during a battle - but she hasn't been able to resupply since Newport News as far as we know."

"Um... one more thing, Captain," 'Bella said, somewhat unsure. "Just as an example of the way Hildebrandt seems to think..."

"During a mock-battle training execise over a three-week period a few years ago, Hildebrandt commanded a small 'flying frigate' zeppelin. When he captured a larger vessel, and it was damaged 'accidentally' (No one is sure about that, still) in a storm, he gutted the larger vessel, basically roughshod-riding over her commader and crew, and using his ship's repair and salvaging tools, broke the airframe of the larger ship into two sections lengthwise, and braced his zeppelin inside of it, binding the whole together with cable and a few easily-removable stabilizing struts. It made for an ungainly behemoth of a thing, but since the wind was favorable, he managed to drift it close to the headquaterters of the opposing force, then dropped the halves of the fake envelope and captured the Headquarters." She paused for breath and another sip of water.

"As I said, he's extremely unorthodox and will literally try almost anything."

At that moment, Hildebrandt and crew were gingerly beginning to navigate the Sarah Stuyvesant with her deadly cargo around the Naval Patrol that suddenly loomed up as they approached the Northern limits of Edison. "Steady as she goes, lads, spotters, keep us informed, and helm, instant course correction as received. We have to make this look legitimate..."

But suddenly, as the Moff units began another supercycle, the increase in electricity porvided more power to the engines, which automatically caused the steam powerplants to lower output. The Chief engineer ordered the crew to increase the steamplants' idle, which in turn caused a weird and very loud coughing noise, and a huge gout of smoke to exit the contrived funnel. This startled the spotters, who ordered a faulty course correction, which was immediately corrected -- but the resulting movement was extremely erratic and attention-grabbing...

[Stella Gaslight]

Isa sat furiously cleaning praying to both Orisa and Mary.  Let them not see me, let them not notice. I am a spider in the corner of the room. I am nothing.  She had lived through many a hard time since being herded aboard the Lime Cutter surviving by the sweat of her brow and being indispensable labor but now things had changed the leaders were dead and it was every man for himself.  They had two captains in under a week the last winning his place through slaughter and now the food was running out.  More throats would be slit and Isa was doing anything she could to make sure hers was not one of them.

She paused momentary to rub her hands together the wounds that had popped up after the bombing were itching more than ever. Hopefully that meant they were healing but she did not dare take off the gloves to check.   Isa had wondered if her hands would ever work again after the intense pain she felt that ill fated day. The soreness was still there along with the stiffness but she had come to accept that she was damaged and working through it was becoming less horrible. The new captain was one of the ones driven half mad by the bombing and he wasn't the only one there had been things in the streets that should have never happened, rocks flue, visions and sourceless voices attached the senses as fire rained down.  They only got out by the skin of their teeth and for half a day they stewed in nightmares unlike any they had seen before.  Captain Nico was found the next morning apparently bled to death via his eyes during the night and then there was more violence as the remaining pirates fought over his position.  Jacobi had won and started killing any he thought of as weak to keep his place through fear.  It worked well.  Isa knew a wounded deckhand would be an easy target.  She wished again that she had jumped off the ship with a few of the others that had been pressed in to service but she had been scared and waited too long losing her chance.  Isa had thought about running now while the pirates dozed but there was nothing here, no people for miles, she would be found. No for now she had to work and be silent, lighting candles in her mind and praying helping hands in troubled times.

The Lime Cutter shuddered bucking Isa nearly in to the wall and causing a string of curses to echo down the halls as pirates were rudely woken.  Jacobi's voice rang from the walls like a lion growling in a tin can. "I am tired of this hiding. i think it is time we show this broken stink hole of a city who it's true master is.  Buck up boys we are taking all we can find." He must be mad, Isa thought, the city is nothing but a home for the dead now.  What could he find there worth taking?  It was madness but even still it lit a little flame of hope in her heart. if they flew low over the city she could escape and hide.  If she made it too much of a hassle to bring her back they might just leave her and then she could find some way out of the city to her freedom. For the first time in a while she smiled perhaps her prayers were heard after all.

[MWBailey]

It started as a simple, routine check on a ship that seemed to be in some kind of distress. Patrol Zeppelin PZ-78, a vessel so small that it didn't even have an actual name, and was almost laughably armed with four 2-inch guns and three keel-mouted electric gatlings that bristled from her hull and control car, sped up and caught the ship, and then sidled up alongside the erratically-maneuvering Sarah Stuyvesant, her comm officer calling out over the Loudhailer, "AHOY! Sarah Stuyvesant! You are in a restricted area and maneuvering in a hazardous manner; do you require assistance?"

There was no apparent response other than an oddly loud and urgent ringing of an electric bell  and what sounded like a klaxon from deep within the ship. An odd and eerie hum sounded from within the envelope that had nothing to do, at far as the PZ-78's captain and crew cuild tell to do with answering teh hail. They were wrong. The spotters on the larger ship's hull all quicklly headed for and disappeared into various openings in the envelope.

The gig was up, and Hildebrandt knew it; the PZ-78's officious fool of a patrol captain would insist on boarding, and would manage to raise the alarm anyway. He had no choice. "Helm, steady as she goes." He reached over and picked up the speaking tube for Engineering, blew and said, "Chief Harker, prepare to release cables and struts."

" Comm, Sound the Battle Stations bell, but make no announcement. Just the bell, and the 'midships klaxon. Pass the word quietly for port midships spotters to stay on station."

"Aye, sir." A few minutes later, the news came: "all spotters secured, sir."

"Very well, ensign. Fire control, request coordinates from spotter for location of enemy vessel. full gatling barrage, combined with exploding shells from turrets Topside Two and four.

"Aye, sir."

After the ordered salvo was delivered, and the remains of the tiny patrol craft plummetted flaming to the snowy debris-strewn fields below, Hildebrandt gave the order to "Release cables and struts," and the halves of Demologos' disguise divided lengthwise down the center of the Hull, and the husk that had been the spurious Sarah Stuyvesant followed the wreckage of the patrol ship to the ground. "Helm, all ahead one-half, original Northwest heading. Sound Battle Stations once more, Number One."

"Aye, sir."

Hildebrandt looked aroud the bridge. "We won't escape without a fight, I think," he said. A wicked grin lit his features, showing his white teeth, "Let's go hunting, shall we, Ladies and gentlemen?"

--------------------------------------------
A Short Time Later

"Sir, Forward Nadir spotter station reports a medium-sized, apparently armed craft, the Lime Cutter, ghosting it about the ruins. They seem to have noticed us, sir."

"Hell, every ship within a hundred miles noticed the gunfire just now, I'll wager," answered Hildebrandt. Lime Cutter, he thought. Could that be that devil Jacobi, all the way up here? The madman had been a piratical thorn on the side of the COV and had eluded capture and destruction so often that weird little legends had sprung up about him and his ship. But the Naval dreadnoughts occupying New York City were a far bigger concern at the moment.
"steady on course, Helm. Inform all spotters to keep eyes peeled for the city's defenders."

"Steady, Sir, aye." Comm sent the message to the spotters.

"We have bigger fish to fry, Number One," he continued, "But if that pirate tub tries to give us trouble, you know what to do."

"Aye, sir, that I do --!"

"Sirs! Lime Cutter is moving to intercept!"

"Very well, Comm." The Red Alert klaxon went off, and firing instructions were given to the turret and casemate gun crews. The Starboard gatlings spoke, and little puffs of debris and shattered envelope sheathing exploded away from the hull of the Lime Cutter before she even managed to run out her guns.

Within, her crew and slave workers screamed and died as the sudden hell of hundreds of large-bore solid rounds per minute slashed through bulkheads, cells, and decks. And then the Demologos' Number One forward turret spoke, followed by all twelve starboard casemates. Lime Cutter shuddered brokenly at the multiple impacts and detonations, and Captain Jacobi thundered for "RETURN FIRE! I AINT GOIN DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT!" As the crew rushed about trying to both take cover and simultaneously follow that order, it was a perfect chance for a stealthy young woman to attempt an escape.

As the Lime Cutter reeled drunkenly too close for comfort to a relatively-intact brownstone rooftop, she stumbled to one of the gaping shell-holes in the hull, and made her move... and none too soon, for at that moment, an incendiary round from Demologos exploded next to a lofting cell, and the Lime Cutter's Hydrogen cells began to burst and burn. Screaming and crying at the painful heat that pursued her out of the ship as she jumped, she suddenly realized that she was much farther above that rooftop than she had realized, and she frantically tried to think of what to do -- and just as suddenly, something happened to her physical makeup as she fell, and she blacked out -- or thought that she had, for one minute it was as if she hung, suspended in time and space hundreds of feet above the rooftop -- and then she lay on the rooftop, surrounded by gossamer filaments of unknown origin, unhurt as she watched the Lime Cutter's death throes literally next door. The back of her clothes were scorched and burnt, and she had light burns on her back and the backs of her legs, arms, and neck, but otherwise she was unscathed.

Callously, The Demologos clanged its bell for Stand-Down, and turned and made its way at increasing velocity toward New York City Proper, leaving ironically-righteous death and destruction, mixed with tragedy and dastardly evil, in its uncaring wake...

[Stella Gaslight]

Isa was half dazed as she watched the Lime Cutter burn.  It had been so simple when the time came, you just ran and let the world take care of things and then you were free. She sat up brushing the gossamer strands from her shoulders. Her gloves were gone and much to her surprise there were no scars on her hands except for some strange marks on the end of each finger. In fact they felt better than they had in ages like some internal swelling had gone down.  To her delight they moved, falling back in to  complicated weaving patterns just like they had before the bombing with no pain.

Carefully she got to her feet only to have her legs tangled up in a strand of the strange silk. Isa tried to brake it but it was too strong.  "Ahha." she said pulling out some small snips triumphantly she cut at the thread only to have the shears brake in two where she touched the thread.  Very confused she sat  down the warm sun  and leaned back on some half toppled chimneys while she untangled her feet and took stock of her situation. She was burned in a few places but it wasn't too bad in fact the salve she kept in her belt pouch for blisters might help some of she was able to find somewhere safe to remove her burnt clothes and perhaps something better to put back on than the rags the pirates had given her.  Isa looked out among the wreckage and rubble there had to be somewhere out there where people were this was the land of opportunity surely all of that had not changed even if the city was gone. 

But the first thing was to get off this roof  and perhaps in to the building below and then in to the street or what was left of it. Tugging on a knot near her ankle she broke in to a smile these little strands could be braided in to perhaps a no5 trim pattern (which was the simplest one she knew of without needing a loom) Then she could use it to climb down the strands seemed strong enough bit her only worry was if she had enough. The work was soothing and soon it didn't seem so bad to be on a roof top deep within a city she had never been to before with nothing to her name than the clothes on her back. It looked like the trim would be far too short  and the frowned at it.  Then things got designedly odd.  A silvery strand seemed to appear from nowhere and get caught up in her movements and soon there were more making a intricate braid.  Isa tried to shake them off but found they were rather firmly attached  to the tips of her fingers she pulled and pulled but it only caused more of the silvery stuff to come out. Isa was rather unsure if this was a blessing like manna from heaven or some strange curse but at least it made a long enough strand to get her down to the street and if she warmed the strands in her hands the became quite sticky to everything but her skin.

The rope was surprisingly simple to climb and she made it to the windows with little effort only to be disappointed. The house had been gutted by fire and there was nothing she could salvage.  She made it to the ground and tugged on the rope hoping to get it to detach but it was firmly stuck. Ah well she could allays make more.  Down on the ground level the city was huge and everywhere she had no idea where to go but then an airship passed in her line of site it was an official looking thing obviously going somewhere.  Isa decided to follow it, airships meant people so there had do be someone alive here to keep them in the air.

[The Corsair]

-Nigel-

At 4:29 pm news came to the bridge of the USAS Implacable that an explosion had been spotted on the south-western fringes of New York. By 4:36 the whole small fleet had been mobilised and was flying in formation toward where Nigel now expected the Demologos II to be with requisitioned forces consisting of the three corvettes, Jacqueline, Esther and Lilly, seven frigates, Mogul, Havoc, Mercury, Jouster, Glory, Nocturne and Siren, and an extra dreadnought, the freshly repaired Inferno set to rendezvous with them close to their destination. By God they were going to be as ready as they could.

At 5:03 they arrived at the RV point where the formation was re-established, aetheradio equipment was distributed and the fleet continued for a further 17 minutes. Within a minute of their arrival a limping airship identified as the Sarah Stuyvesant was spotted. Garrow called Lieutenant Jiroux to the bridge for a third time.

[The Corsair]

-Francis-

The Visual Obscuration was turned off and the Roxanne fired a set of warning shots, attempting to make some space between the two other ships so the black vessel could be cleanly engaged without causing a threat to the Harlequin's Wife. It was probably the finest piece of strategic captaining Francis had ever managed. When the plan, however short and shallow it may have been, succeeded, Francis had no choice but to break his forced 'captain's face' and let himself smile and let out a quick laugh of shock, joy and victory.

The Jennifer then wedged her bulk between the vessels while the Harlequin's Wife drifted further away from the danger.  broadside was fired but poor timing meant many of the shots went wide. A few did hit though and it was enough to wound the black ship enough for it to turn about. Before another shot was fired, the ship revealed a frightening secret. Neither Francis nor Walter had seen the ship move in or out of any clouds until it turned up in front of the HW and it was now that they learned why. Just like the Roxanne and Jennifer, the mysterious vessel had a cloaking device on it and suddenly it was gone, purely invisible.

The HW was collected up into the small hold of the Roxanne and was put under repairs while the crew of two did their best to clean up the jumble that had been created by the shockwave. Most alarming was the absence of a third crewmember. Nothing intelligible could be discerned on the matter from the young girl, who was mostly hysterical, and she was promptly given quarters where she was put to bed in the hope that she would be more sensible and helpful after she awoke. The older gentleman aboard, Gebbert, was considerably more helpful, though he couldn't recall any particulars. He only seemed to have watched the third crewman, the half-mythical Falko, leap from the ship and soon after the flying bomb exploded without impacting the ship. His whereabouts or even whether or not he was alive was completely unknown.

[MWBailey]

As teh Demologos' cloaking device activated, Hildebrant and the rest of the bridge crew hardly dared to breathe; it had been tested before in low-pressure stuations and it had always worked, and it had worked perfectly after the battle with the Raptor. However, there haqd been the incident with the Ticonderoga at Harper's ferry, when the switch was thrown, but power had failed to connect, making a ramming attack necessary for the sake of a quick escape. Then had come the request that they decimate the forces at Newport as much as possible. Promises of a repair and refit dock "North of the Canadian Border" had been the last contact with their new masters. And now, here they were, confronted with the closest thing to a punitive sortie  that Demologos had yet faced. "Damn their gunnery," Hildebrandt muttered.

After a few moments, it became obvious that the opposing vessels could neither see nor detect them, and Hildebrandt, always looking for a way to get the better of an opponent, ordered "All ahead slow, and come about eighty-seven degrees to Starboard." He leaned down so that his face was level with the helmsman's, and pointed to the scene in the perisope's viewfinder, saying, "Now, see that little one, the smallest dreadnought there, on the left flank of their formation?"

"Aye, Cap'n, I see 'er."

"Bring us in line with that one, ensign, and let me know when you're all lined up."

"When we're lined up, aye, sir."

"Gentlemen and Ladies," Hildebrandt addressed the bridge crew, "We are about to attempt to scare a small fry out of the way. Fire control? Hold fire until we drop the cloak, or until 800 yards if we fail to do that."

"Aye, sir."

"Number one, order Engineering to position the shielding baffles on the rear ducts so as to deflect any shots fired from the rear, and prepare to deliver full thrust on our order."

"Aye, sir,"

"Sir, All lined up; we are slightly below the target, sir."

"Good," Hildebrandt answered. Now, increase speed slowly from current to Flank; we want flank speed at 400 yards, Ensign," Hildebrandt said sharply,  "Not before. Number one," Hildebrandt said, with an eye on the airspeed indicator gauges, "on my mark, order full thrust."

The Fire Control officer announced at 800 yards of distance and closing, "Commencing raking gatling fire, Sir."

"Aye, Number four, make it so"

Crewmen on the smallest USAS dreadnought's outer catwalks and observation posts yelled and dove for cover as, seemingly out of nowhere, large-caliber rapid-fire rounds began striking the ship, accompanied by a crescendoing humming roar that grew nearer and nearer at an alarming rate.

On the Bridge of the Demologos, The helmsman brought the speed telegraph around to FLANK, and Hildebrandt ordered, "On my mark, number one! ... Three, two, one, MARK! and the First officer yelled for full thrust over the engineering speaking tube. Hildebrandt, at the same moment, slammed his hand at and over the cloaking mechanism's knife switch, and the cloaking field dropped as the ship suddenly shot forward like a bolt from a crossbow.

"CASEMATES! FIRE AS YE BEAR!" The Fire Control officer shouted through the relevant tube.

The USAS dreadnought's Bridge crew then had a sudden, very stressful moment as they were confronted with the ram on the bow of the Demologos suddenly appearing and then tipping up toward them as the black mechanical devil suddenly leapt forward and struck their ship a glancing blow on the nose of their envelope as it shouldered past and streaked by, firing a quick broadside into their hull and that of their neighbor as the behemoth passed.

"Re-engage cloaking device," Hildebrandt ordered. "Helm! head for that block of flats over there to Port; I want us behind 'em and goin' Due North within the next thirty seconds!"

[Crickity]

"So what's your story?" asked Ela.
"Uh, short and boring," laughed Kyle, "I was a courier here before it was all quite so... flat. I like running, and it's about all I can do, so I turned it into job. Now, seeing how I'm one of the few people with no injuries and no commitments, I run deliveries between the shelters."
While he was saying all this he was affixing missing person's notices to a prominent wall while Ela handed them to him. They were a mismatched collection of recent photos, re-printed on cheap paper and with scraps of description scrawled around them. Every so often there was a disturbingly heartbreaking plea on one, which made Kyle twinge inwardly. He and Ela chatted for a few minutes as he slowly wore down the sheaf of posters. They had nearly finished when a dull boom rolled through the air with the unmistakable, casual nonchalance of a distant explosion. The dull murmur that permeated the shelter escalated slightly, and several people outside gasped or gave small screams. Kyle and Ela immediately stopped what they were doing and strode from the building, gently moving aside the infirm in their path.
With their gazes focused sternly on the horizon, they saw a black shape appear from nowhere and lay waste to a pair of airships. Though they were distant specks, the smoke trails from the descending wreckage made it very clear that something untoward had taken place.

[MWBailey]

"That Bastard!" Bella exclaimed. "Oh no you don't, Mr. Captain David Hildebrandt! I swear when I catch you I'm gonna fillet you like a damn swordfish!" she raged, as she made her way from the bridge to the vehicle hangar in the hold, closing up and binding, buttoning and tying her clothing and cold-weather gear, and her weaponry on her loud and blasphemous way through the ship toward the Hold.

Without waiting for authorization, or even for very much clearance between herself and the blimps, she yanked the lofting lever for the still-idling MOFF unit on her airbike to just above neutral, the 'bike rose and she unhooked it from the berthing armature, and was down and through the slowly-shutting opening before anyone had a chance to do more than loudly protest, Screaming a wordless warcy and manipulating the levers and switches that controlled the craft's weapons, and threw it into high gear and maximum thrust, streaking out across the snow-and-dirt-speckled ruins. "If I know David bloody Hildebrandt," she fumed into her facemask, and thus over the aetheradio, hopefully so that Garrow could hear, "he'll be headin' for that stand of ruined apartmets over there, and usin' it to cover himself while he makes a low-altitude dash for the border. If I can catch him and drop a couple grenades on his arse..."

She broke off as something flashed in her face from beside what looked like a small fire at a corner where two broken walls met and formed a fair windbreak, or looked like they did. Damn, she thought, gotta concentrate on catching Hildebrandt before he  gets away--!"

THUMP! SCRRRRAAAPPE... The bike glancingly impacted what looked like air, then like scratched paint, then like air again, then like a huge Gatling gun covered with blue electric arcs, and she veered away suddenly, shouting into the facemask receiver, "She's HERE! Watch  my grenades!" as she pulled the lanyards that ignited three fuses, and lobbed three of her glass-and-lead-shot grenades at what looked like empty air. They stopped, impossibly rolling down in a curve in a place where nothing appeared to be, and then detonated, throwing off a thick cloud of smoke and small shrapnel. Screams and blood-spatters from the gatling crew served to punctuate the moment, and futher mark the location of the cloaked ship, as did the trail of gatling busts from apparently nowhere that followed the airbike as 'Bella sheered off and corkscrew-climbed, grabbing altitude as she had done before back in Virginia. This is gettin' ridiculous, she thought to herself. I just keep on throwin' pebbles at this damned rogue 'gator of a warship...

[The Corsair]

-Nigel-

The Sarah Stuyvestant had gone behind some clouds by the time Lieutenant Jiroux made it to the bridge. Before any discussion could be had, Garrow saw an unmistakable stirring in the nearest clouds to the fleet. It was like a large ship was passing there, yet none could be seen.

The instant he understood what was going on occurred only slightly before the instant in which his theory was proven. An 'invisible' ship was in fact there and in seconds it had fired on the Inferno before briefly appearing and ramming the poor ship. The Inferno had seen only a few hours of fit-for-service life since the battle of New York.

A flurry of reactionary salvoes flew out from every ship that had seen the incident, including a few shots from the Inferno herself, but most seemed to hit nothing but clouds and the shots fell harmlessly to the ground or detonated somewhere mid-flight on their timers. The Demologos II had eluded them.

It was in those initial seconds of head-hanging defeat that a transmission from the Inferno came through. Garrow guessed it was just a damage report and possibly a request to stay still or move at half speed while they repaired and he had half a mind to retire to his quarters for an hour or so before guessing where the Demologos would appear next, if he decided to give any more time and effort to it at all. It could perhaps be considered lucky, then, that Garrow did decide to hear the transmission then. It seemed he was not the only one to have seen the disturbances in the clouds and one man had noticed it long enough before him to ready himself for easily the most audacious plan of his career. Nigel Garrow was told, in a perfectly serious tone, that a man named Oliver Sykes had jumped from the Inferno and was presently clinging to the back of the Demologos II with a stolen personal aetherradio attached to his belt.

Garrow had within seconds sent his single order across his fleet.
"Follow the transmission signal from Sykes' aetherradio as fast as we can manage with the damaged Inferno with us. The Demologos II won't get any more blows to it's name if I have anything to say about it."

[Crickity]

Kyle stared at the distant carnage for some time before he whirled around and searched for an eyeglass or a telescope. Ela stayed glaring at the scene with determination flickering in her eyes. Eventually he managed to procure one from an airship captain who was stopping over at the shelter. He extended it and beheld the scene in greater detail. He could see explosions blossoming in the air and bending oddly, never filling some predetermined shape in the sky. It took several of them for him to piece together the outline of an airship, specifically the one that had just punctured New York's defenses. A tiny figure on an airbike was buzzing around it angrily, presumably the source of the explosions. He saw lines of spitting light trace after it as the invisible ship returned fire with some sort of automatic weapon. Having avoided the salvo, the airbike pulled around again for another volley of grenades. Kyle folded up the telescope and passed it to Ela.
"Running, fighting or flirting," he whispered to himself, then turned and shouted to crowd at large, "can anybody lend me an airbike? A glider? There's only one chasing that monster and I'm not about to let the odds stay that way."
In the hubbub that followed he turned to Ela.
"Any chance you can fix those wings really quickly?"

[MWBailey]

"Them things're Commonwealth of Virginny-made, bub," said a voice from back among the wounded, "and expensive as rock oil in winter. But you can borry mine, I'll never fly 'er again. A man in Military-ish bloodied clothing came limping out of the shadows and sat on the head of a fallen gargoyle, handing a set iof oddly-shaped keys to Kyle. "Name's Starlight, lad. Hiram Starlight. She's a good 'bike. She's under the tarp over yonder," he said, pointing at what looked for all the world like a pile of rags held down by fallen bricks. "Yank the striker line for to light th' boiler, it's a yellow pull-cord that won't come loose. Then wait 'til the safety valve whistles, and turn the red lever to the right 'til it locks. When she rises up low off the ground, she's ready ta fly. prop and gatling controls are clearly marked. loftin' lever's green, pull it up 'n forward to rise, back and down to go back down. white click lever besid ethe green'un locks the loftin' to the handlebars so 's all ye have ta do is steer an she'll go where you want, BUT MIND YOUR MOMENTUM!" He coughed, hard and painfully, then continued, "wherever --" the man, older but not really old, stopped and hacked out an even worse cough, holding his bloodied side, then continued, "wherever the saddlebow's pointin', that's where the bullets'll go. Th' gun don't move around unless th' 'bike does. Her wings're set where they are, but they'll fold in or outs, or extend a little." Hiram stopped, seemed to falter, and then groaned loudly and continued in an urgent, though weaker, voice, as he handed Kyle a pair of silver wings on a pin.

"Go on, Lad, fly out an' seize the day. Seize ...the day--" He slumped over, and a rivulet of blood stained the gargoyle's head on which he sat. Hiram Starlight was dead.

[Stella Gaslight]

It was cold down in the shadows out of the sun and the wind that was picking up chilled her but she continued walking toward the ships having no idea where to go.  The rubble started to pile high as she got further in to the city and nearer to the big buildings that had crashed to earth. Instead of letting that turn her away she figured out a way to make handholds from the silvery stuff still flowing from her hands and climbed on. It was tiring tho and she had been hungry for days and this was not making it any better. Isa found a valley in the chaos that looked to be made of splintered shops.  There were bits of furniture and metal broken and scatted with window glass.  She picked her way over and started gathering wood This would be a good place to stop for a while and after she had a chance to warm up she could climb the large wall that was the only upright piece of a large building and perhaps be able to signal at one of the ships. One of the things she had learned on the Lime Cutter were common light signals for distresses airships so they could lure other ships in then finish them off. She uncover a broken mirror causing a burst of reflected sunlight right as a strange engine passed above.  Isa took a bit of mirror and wrapped it in a scrap that had once been a chair and stuck it in her belt then recovered the rest.  The pilot above perhaps had seen her so she would stay close to her little valley in case it came back. Isa was sure the ships above were not pirates because she had never seen pirates behave for long in large groups like that.

Isa lit a small fire and when she had it going she went to explore the rest of the ruins in her little valley.  There was plenty more wood and scraps of fabric that had once been furniture for the wealthy,  some clothes in worse shape than hers  and much to her delight a few apples that had some shards of glass stuck in them but she didn't care much.  Using a small pin knife that was the only belonging the pirates had let her keep when they had taken her(they thought it was rather funny with her small stature) she cut away the glass and enjoyed her first meal in a while. While she was sitting she spotted something red under some plaster and went over to investigate.  It was a thick red velvet curtain that was a little stained and burnt but when she tied it over her shoulders it was wonderfully warm.  She heard booms that were not thunder and fortified by food and warmth Isa started to climb higher and higher and saw what looked the flying bike from before flitting around and exploding things in thin air.  What a strange place this city was.

[MWBailey]

'Bella heard the reports of a man clinging to the back of the Demologos. "Daft, if you ask me," she muttered, "he'll get filleted for sure if they find him aboard."

Hildebrandt  was informed by the Radioman's Mate almost immediately of the supposed stowaway. "Sounds like a diversion to me," the captain growled, but he ordered a guard sortie anyway. "If they find anybody, they're to bring him to the bridge, pronto," he snarled, and turned back to the task of threading a way through the wrecked buildings of New York. When Albany was sighted off to Starboard, he ordered the Helm to drop the cloak and head for high altitude. "We'll see if they try to follow us," he said. "And if that stowaway is still outside, maybe the cold'll make him give himself up."

Back in New Your City, 'Bella fumed and fussed to herself about failing to bring down "that damned rat Hildebrandt." Soon, though, she turned the airbike around and headed back toward the last location she remembered for the Caroline and the Implacable. On the way, she passed by the ruined building where she had seen the huddled red-cloaked figure and the fire. She was feeling cold, and the thought of somebody out here all aone and huddled in the ruins with only a meagre fire struck straight through to her heart.

She sideslipped to port, then starboard, quickly shedding altitude (the airbike was not suited to rolls, except in dire need, as such tended to slosh the boiler). She stopped just shy of the northern edge of the ruined corner, and slowly inched forward until the bike was able to land on a patch of linoleum that had somehow survived the ruination of the house. After she landed, she went over and peeked around the edge of the remains of a partition and found the figure of a rather pretty younger girl, who seemed to be of Spanish or perhaps Portuguese descent, judging by her face. "Hello, there," she said. "It's a bit could out here, would you like to come with me to a shelter? I'm Arabella, I'm with the Courier Corps."

[Stella Gaslight]

The wind was horrible and it tried to pluck her from the wall twice before the could make back down to her fire.  It felt like the cold was in her bones now and Isa shivered and ate the last apple.  She would have to find food somewhere and shelter but most of all she wanted people that would treat her like a fellow being and not some replaceable part. When Isa finally decided to pack all she could salvage and keep moving she heard the strange air bike above again and it was getting closer.  Isa broke in to a smile as she recognized the emblem she had listened to Jacobi's rants about pirate hunters enough to know that if they were his foes they must be friends. Isa stood and extended a hand to Arabella, it was like ice. "Si please.  I am Isabell Magdalene I was brought here by The Lime Cutter they took me from my ship.  That big black ship shot us down and it burned."  Isa was very unsure how much she should say.  There were a few places which would hang people like her along with the pirates.

[MWBailey]

"Isabel, huh?" 'Bella nearly giggled when she heard the girl's name; it was almost as if they had the same one -- but she was taken aback by the name of the ship that Isabel had escaped from, and the fate that it had suffered. "The...The Lime Cutter, here, in New York?" She stammered in near disbelief, tucking a scarlet tress behind one ear absently, an old nervous habit. "You mean Cap'n Jacobi's Lime Cutter? You poor kid, that man was a bastard and no mistake -- uh... 'scuse my lingo, hon, It's been a rough day."

She studied the girl, feeling there was something she wasn't saying, but she felt she might know most of it already; Jacobi and his ilk were famous for their enslaving tactics with prisoners."Made you work for 'em, did they?" she said, thoughtfully, "but you escaped when you had th' chance, so you're probably not feelin' beholden to 'em." She made up her mind, then. "Let's get you out of this cold and to a warm place quick, OK Isabel? wait here a sec," She said, as she picked her way back over to the airbike and lifted the saddle, exposing a smallish storage compartment stuffed with a spare greatcoat and ewefleece-lined pigskin flying suit, a tightly-folded and tied tarp and three extra revolver cylinders. She put her Colts in the compartment just in case (She still had the peppermill in its hiding place, and her cutlass).

She came back with the suit. "Here, hon, put this on over yer clothes," she drawled, her Virginian accent thick as molasses. "It gets even colder 'way up in th' air, an' your hand feels like yer too cold already. You'll warm up once yer on the saddle with me, though, the boiler's hot an' I'll fly a little slower'n usual." She waited as Isabel put on the flightsuit, and then closed the storage compartment, straddled the saddle, and pulled Isabel up to sit behind her on the saddle. "Hang on tight, 'n put yer hands in my suit's waist pockets." She opened her coat to allow the girl to do as she instructed. Then , she adjusted and locked-in the lofting lever, and the bike rose into the air. When they were roughly level with the roofline of the ruined buildings, 'Bella pushed forward on the throttle and eased the bike forward, slowly increasing speed until a light breeze whipped by at their passage. "Won't be long now, Isabel," she said.

[Stella Gaslight]

She was wonderfully warm inside the suit and the bike was rather fantastic looking.  Isa had looked at many flying craft both whole and in flames and this was nothing like them. It had no lofting cells but it flew wonderfully.  Miles and miles ahead of the ham fisted way The Lime Cutter moved. The breeze caused her heart to race as subconsciously she used her silk to make sure they were both firmly attached to the saddle. "This is amazing!  The city is so large how did people ever get around it? " Isa saw the swelling of the sea just beyond the city and was full of wonder and hope at her new land for the first time since stepping on the boat months ago.   

[MWBailey]

Bella was surprised, and truth to tell, a bit alarmed when the strange silky substance suddenly appeared, apparently out of nowhere, and bound her and Isabel to the saddle. She was noticeably warmer where the stuff covered her suit and coat, though, so she let it go until she had located one of the shelters close to the Military quarters and barracks, where the airship and other crews stayed when not on board their ships. She landed the bike in the marked lot, and began to try and struggle free. After a few moments she said,"Now, where'd you get this...stuff... Isabel? It seems to work fine for binding, but how d'you get it off?"

[Stella Gaslight]

"I make it in my fingers I think." Isa had not questioned it much and perhaps she should.  It took her a moment to warm the strands up and free her hands. "The bombs changed everything.  Two of the other press ganged went mad, they saw things that weren't there and ran off in to the fires and my hands hurt like they had burned away.  So maybe that is the cause but I don't know.  It hurt until I fell from the ship but then it stopped but I don't know why that is either" She worked the strands slowly and carefully in to a ball and kneaded it like bread dough picking all the remaining strands from Arabella's clothes and bike until she had a mass that filled her hands.  "It doesn't seem to stick to me and it stays soft until it cools down then it is like a rock.  It is very strong.  I used it for climbing up the walls." 

[MWBailey]

"Coo, that's not half curious," 'Bella said, using an old family saying. "Well, let's get you checked in and fed, senorita Isabel."

They asked around until they found the shelter; Bella used her uniform and rank to serve as vouching proofs for the girl's legitimacy as a shelter inmate. "She's brand new, just fell out of one o' the ships what that big monster that just blasted through here shot down," she explained,"So she's as much a victim as any City resident." 'Bella wondered to herself, for a moment, Where she herself would be sleeping;  would Cap'n Garrow'd let her billet on one of the airships, or would she have to try at the barracks? It might be best to just sleep here, until the future was a bit more certain.

She felt she should report back to Garrow at some point, and return to Virginia and maybe even join O'Flaherty. She didn't want to get separated from her 'bike by much -- but she didn't want to let Isabel slip through the cracks, either. She felt that maybe Cap'n O'Flaherty might have a use for the girl, since she seemed to be a Special, like him. She couldn't really explain it, but she felt responsible for the dark-haired girl, at least as far as seeing her off to a better life. Best to get her started in service or some gainful thing to be doing, she thought.

"Yeah, ok, I'll be stayin' too, just to keep an eye on 'er," She told the harried clerk. "I got some people I'd like ya to meet after you've rested a bit, Isabel. OK?"

"Yeah, ok, ok, just sign here, and have the girl sign one of 'er own. You can sign, can't you pretty senorita?" the clerk said, obviously trying a bit too hard for comfort to be friendly and ingratiating.

 'Bella rolled her eyes and her hand itched to clout the idiot. "Of course she can sign, just let 'er do it, ok mister?"

[Stella Gaslight]

Isabel signed with a flourish, she might have a shaky grasp on grammar but what she did have was style.  She yawned deeply and blushed more tired than she thought. "I will go wherever you want to.  You saved me from being lost in the cold"  Isa beamed happier than she had been in a long time. With 'Bella looking out for her Isa felt like she had a guardian angle.  She would have to work hard to find a way to repay her.