"STEAM LONDON" Game Thread

[Nigel Wetherby]

"Now, its become a matter of finding the boheme!" Patrick exclaimed, slipping the Aetherphones over his head.
"George, can you hear me? We gave Project hellghast what for!" Patrick cheered into George's ear, which caused him alot of displeasure.

"Amazing, the monkey actually did it!" George exclaimed almost triumphantly to the rest of the crew.

[Stella Gaslight]

"You may have to wait for pick up. Some kid hijacked the ship and crashed it.  We are working on repairs but we are in the middle of a frozen bit of nowhere so it might take a while." George shook his head this whole thing was terribly inconvenient. 

Their wasn't enough pipe but if there was any thing that Emma was spectacular at was improvising and soon the melted pipes were repaired and streamlined. Emma wiggled out of the wall looking like the cat that found the cream.  "I patched it up now all we have to do is get the pumps up and going and it should be toasty warm in no time." She beamed quite pleased with herself.

[Nigel Wetherby]

"Well bloody hell..." Patrick grumbled, folding his arms and reluctantly looking over the beautiful German cityscape.The scent of fresh chocolates and flowers caressed his nostrils and wound the young warrior down. The wrecked drilling machine tettered akwardly after a pidgeon perched itself atop the silver monstrosity in a game of balance. The pidgeon won and the wreck which housed the skeleton of Heironimous black toppled over, burying the bones of the captain beneath a mountain of metal, springs, and busted phnumatics.

Jen however, was less than calm. The boy she would marry had just walked away from facing the terrifying brunt of an industrial drilling machine. The orange sunset gave the whole world a candy-colored glaze about it. Jen noticed that in this light, Patrick seemed surpisingly more than his normal self. He resembled something ascended or transformed. Not human, but something slightly more. She was only able to make out the faintest hint of pearl-colored glyphs and marks that streaked his pale skin like scars.
"Patrick, what happened to you?" Jen asked, concern tensed her lilting voice. Patrick refused to answer, he ran a hand across his deus arm. "We all should get some rest. Cain, why don't Ye and Angel go out and enjoy some chocolates? They got some good ones in germany." Patrick seemed to be doing his best to ignore jen's question, which annoyed her even moreso.
Then it came to her.
Patrick was just as scared as she was.

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss excused himself, and went to stand on the other side of the ship. He looked around, slowly, looking for any anomaly in the uniformity of snow-covered ground. The snowstorm having abated, any tracks ought  to be easy to find...THERE! Dreyfuss decided to practice that mental speech thing, and try to contact george to tell the others what he was doing. George... Can you hear me...? He gave a start and a yelp when George literally and loudly Pop!-ed up beside him. They both chuckled, and George told him he had very loud thoughts.

"I'm sorry, George, I'm trying to learn to control it, but i'm afraid I just have no idea what I'm doing in that regard." George asked him what he'd wanted.
"I think I've found that boy's tracks. I'm going to go and see if I can find him."
"do you want me to call for someone to go with you?"
"no, you and Trip are about the only ones who might be in any shape for that kind of job,and you both need to stay here and help Emma. I'll Aether-call you (?) if I need help or get in a tight spot."
george nodded, and floated off to tell the others. Dreyfuss began to follow the tracks in the snow; they looked to be barefoot and boy-sized., and apparently he had drawn blood after all, because little spots of it stained the snow at irregular intervals. Wounded quarry, he thought, and forced him self to remain wary... and whipped around, pulling the Paterson , cocking it and pullingthe smaller .454 as well, turning to face the boy, who stood not 5 feet way, holding a branch as if he had intended to smash Dreyfuss' skull with it...

[Stella Gaslight]

"Yay chocolate!  You will like this One I promise."  She took Cain's hand and One's walked between them and swinging their hands to a little tune she was humming. The streets were full of sounds now like the city was just waking from a nightmare.  Children crowded around them reaching out to touch their wings and One's blooms.  "What are they saying Cain?  I don't know those words."

Emma had been so hopeful but the pumps were only working at half power and that could only make it warm enough they wouldn't freeze but it would be far from comforable. She cursed that boy once again and George decided that telling Emma that Dreyfuss was hinting the boy would only end in violence so he remained quiet.

[MWBailey]

"Well, boy?" Dreyfuss taunted. "Are you gonna kill me or whistle "buelle Preusse?" The boy lowered the branch, and Dreyfuss relaxed-- just a bit, and was ready when the kid brought the branch up again, clearly expecting to catch Dreyfuss off-guard, but The old man simply brought the smaller of the two guns up, and fired it; the boy felt the impact as the bullet struck... the branch? he cried out in surprise and frustration. The impact stopped the branch, and caused the boy to lose his footing and slide on the slushy trodden snow, to fall on his rump. He sprang back up again, but Dreyfuss had used the extra time gained to twirl the Paterson into a non-lethal grip around the cylinder (not an easy maneuver, for the Paterson had no trigger guard to twirl it by), and short-punched the boy between the eyes. The boy went down in a heap, knocked out cold.

Dreyfuss fished the large-diameter sisal string from his bag, and trussed the boy up, making it easier to take him across his shoulders, yet still incapacitate him and keep him from attacking effectively, should he wake up en-route.

George... I have the boy and am coming back to the ship with him. He is well-trussed-up, and on my back, so he will need to get warm when I get him there, before he can tell us anything. No reply. "Well, dammit," Dreyfuss said, "hope you don't freeze before we get back, lil bit."

[E.A. Claringbold]

Irene looked to Ella and smiled amiably.

“Roving about as I shouldn’t be doing on that fine beauty of mine there. Doing dastardly deeds as a woman can do,” she said in jest, “Got that from my grandfather you know?”

Irene pointed to the vessel and smiled with true pride as false as the inheritance was. A different lie for each person. It sounded so natural, but each lie was crafted in a way that it sounded like a tale reasonable enough. The one where she finds it abandoned in a jungle full of cannibals was always garish, but it was a good tale, stretched from nonexistence as it were.  She watched Dreyfuss as he walked away, turning her attention back to the rest of the crew and her tank when he was out of sight. She tensed slightly when she heard the gunshot, but brushed over her demeanor with an almost nonchalant curiosity well kept in check.

[Stella Gaslight]

George had a very good reason for not responding, Emma's skirt was on fire.  Apparently Jimmy had left some tricks for anyone that tried to fix the damage he left behind. After a quick roll on the floor and a lot of angry mutters from Emma the heating system was back up to speed.  

Sorry about that Dreyfuss. You had better keep him far from Emma when he comes back. He just ruined her best skirt and she looks about ready to rip him to bits.  George laughed very glad she wasn't angry at him.

Emma pushed her anger aside for a moment and went out to meet the others.  "I got the heater running again the ship should be nice and toasty in about a half hour."  While they talked Pzemysł drew closer to the downed airship, knowing he could not run from this battle.

[MWBailey]

Te kid had come round, and dreyfuss was beginning to wish he hd gagged the little snotnose.

"You think you've won, don't you? well, my masters are almost here, and they'll make mincemeat out of you adn your crew, you bastard! PUT ME DOWN!" Dreyfus did put him down, then, and held him up to eye level via the ropes. "Whats that you said? your MASTERS?  Which ones, boy?" he shook him and cocked the Paterson and shoved it up into the boy's lower jaw. "talk, or else, kid." The boy's eyes widened in fear and shock, and Dreyfuss realized he had sent that thought. "Pzemysn. The clown," the boy said, abject terror in his eyes and voice. Dreyfuss Grimaced. HE hated doing that, and the thoughtthat he had forced teh kid's mind... he wanted to retch in shame and dismay. But, to keepup appearances and hold a level of control , dreyfuss forced himself to grin, and dropped the kid into the slushy path. He put fire into the thought, and sent ELISHA. GEORGE. EMMA. Commodore incoming. The boy let slip that it's the clown, at least. repeat, COMMODORE INCOMING!.

[Stella Gaslight]

"Blast." George muttered to himself.  "We had better get ready for unpleasant company.  It seems another commodore is headed this way to take advantage of out weakened state. It is the clown this time. He has been week in the past but don't get cocky who knows what he has been up to since we last met." 

"The new heat cannons better not be messed up in the slightest." Emma nearly growled. 

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss shouldered the boy again, and strode back to the ship. he arrived just as Elisha and Roland were about to try to get the Boheme off teh ground, or upright and standing, at least.

"Elisha, did you receive my message?" Dreyfuss asked, urgently, "Little Mr. Un-Fix-It here says the clown commodore is nearly here."  he took the kid farther upinto teh ship, halfway hoping that Emma did tear him to shreds. If any of teh Boheme's crew are killed or maimed in th ecoming battle, he thought, I might help her do it. "Miss Emma, we have a guest for the nonce. keep a close eye on him, will you? or, lets just just hang him on a coathook 'til we have tim etotalk to him." and he did, in the broom closet, in the Galley, and locked the closet door.

"Is miss Frost about?" Dreyfuss asked on his return to the engine room,"she really ought to see to her tank, lest some enemy scout commandeers it. I'll escort her if need be."

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Pzemysł frowned as his fleet drew closer. The Boheme was down - and the constructs were absent. This was the perfect time to attack. He hoped that Tobias could hold them off a little longer. But he was still concerned. He knew that something could go wrong. But dispite what he had been told - he would rather escape than die. Even if he had to...cancel his current employment. But what really frightened him was Brian. That bastard was sneaky - and truly soulless.

"Right you slimy things from beyond! The enemy is down. First Squadron, drop and surround the ship. Second - stay above with me and start bombardment and deployment."

He grinned.

"Oh. And let the wyrms go. The poor beasts have all been so...distraught since Tiamat died. She was like a mother to those lost children. Let them have their...consolation."

He waited and watched. This was to be done carefully...

------------

Elisha ran past Dreyfuss, heading outside. Ella was still out there.

"I'm real sorry...but I'll need that coat...I have some...things in there." He threw Ella a shawl - and the shell launcher. He had already donned the curiass. He put on his coat, the cold wind blowing the bullet torn edged. Then, with the same grim purpose as a knight taking his helm, he placed the gashelm on his head. His breath came in echoes.

He turned to Irene. "I'd advise you to take cover. This is going to get very messy, very soon. Ella, stay behind me."

He heard laughter. He turned to see a grin on Jimmy, blood running down the boy's nose.

"See Ella? I told you you picked the wrong side. All these people are going to die. Every. Last. One. Of. Them. All you need to do is prove yourself to me and I'll get you out of here. We could be immortal, if we gain enough favour. This is only going to get you killed. Come on. Kill your creep friend in the gasmask. I've seen you with him. He's but a death machine. Come with me...or it won't be pretty for you."

Elisha turned to Jimmy. The gashelm let no emotion, no subtle face movement through. But the message was clear in the echoed voice.

"If you harm her in any way, I will kill you. In a very unpleasant way. I promise."

Elisha slipped a heat round into his rifle. Now was the time to protect.

-----------

Tobias watched in horror as the citizens of Germany were freed. Damn! He'd been so close with the airships...his damn uncle had messed this project up. He took a vial, taking a long drink. He felt his senses heighting, his adreneline rushing.

'Sir..." said a robed occultist..."The...slaves..."

"I know. No matter. Tell the airship to charge. Drop the Arbiters and bring them to bear on the constructs. Have the Centaur Tanks readied to crush the General. And...if you see the witch...bring her alive. To me. Don't let her blood spill.

He pulled his goggles over his face, drawing up his kercheif over his mouth. He gripped his sword. His wings emerged.

"Morana..." he whispered. "I won't fail you this time."

He leapt from the airship, plunging downwards. He would not let these four escape and make it back to the Boheme. His only hope was to keep them seperate, here. He had one last chance.

[E.A. Claringbold]

Irene took a step inside the Boheme once she heard Emma say that their heating was fixed and was up and running.  Not having been on an airship before, she was intrigued. She could hear the crew stirring about, fixing the ship and talking about something, but she could not hear exactly what the subject was about.  Following the voices, she eventually heard her name.

“I think I’ll be able to take myself there without any problem. At the moment, does anyone  need an-“

Another crew member rushed by with purpose bristling. As soon as she heard his advice her mind jumped to her tank. She was not sure as to what was happening, but she could tell it was going to be bad. Peering over to the bloody boy who seemed to be an enemy, she slightly frowned. She hoped the ship wasn’t too high for her yet to jump down back into the snow. Without a word, she moved to seek an exit to get back to her tank.

[Stella Gaslight]

Jimmy received a very hard kick from Emma's pointy steel toed boots.  "If you ever try and mess about in my ship again I will blast you to pieces." The edge to her voice told him she wasn't lying.  Emma was very happy to note that the heat cannons were untouched. She turned them on one by one until all four were humming a song that meant destruction for the cold ones.  The ship lifted up off its belly in to the air but it was pined in the trees unable to take to the sky.  They would have to hold them off from the ground for now.  Emma adjusted her goggels and gave quick lessons on how to fire the new equipment.  She saw the first wave of tentacled beasts fall from the sky and head for the ship.  She hoped Miss Frost wasn't too scared of their enemies, with some of their strongest fighters gone they could use all the help they could get. 

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss went to the laboratory and grabbed something that looked like a very-small-caliber microwave gun, except that it had a magazine attached that held hundreds of small iron balls "Iron? whateve works, I guess."

He slipped the sling around his shoulders, much the way that one would with a gatling carbine or aether blaster, and took it to one of teh gunports and pulled the trigger. he was shocked by the sudden BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG! as the bullets left the barrel, each making an instantaneous line of smoke and flame from the gun to the target -- one of the wyrms, which was apparently very ticked off about being blasted to pieces in such a rapid manner.

He turned around and nodded, grinning his death's-head grin at Emma, and then manned one of the huge cannons. He was glad, now, that they had made the azimuth arc so large. Any smaller, and the workout the guns'd get today would wear out the mounts in short order and make them unmanageable. He powered up, charged the capacitors, and loosed a white-hot bolt at another wyrm, which simply vanished in a cloud of steam and slime-shot smoke, the wings falling separately and almost comically to the ground. "Miss Emma! Trip! YOU"RE GENIUSES!"

then, up in the smoke-wracked sky, he daught a glimpse of the winged clown, and raised the coil carbine, took aim, and fired three slow, measured shots, the firelines of all three rounds striking the clown squarely in the right shoulder.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Abe heard the commotion outside and saw Miss ... Frost, was it? running toward the tank. he looked around, trying to find the cause of the disturbance. He heard flapping up above, looked and saw the flying clown, and cursed.

"Rosie." The huge cobra had already tracked him with her eyes, her head following suit. she looked up at him demurely. "Rosie, please, it's too cold out there for you. Please stay here in the tank and help Miss Frost. Do whatever she tells you to do, and above all, protect her if this vessel is boarded -- but let her fight as she chooses, also. He leaned down, and gently hugged the huge serpent, who lifted her tail and wrapped it around his shoulders, returning the hug.

"Hiiissssisssiiiiisisiisssspp... "I know you will, Rosie.  Good Hunting." and with that, he opened the hatch just as Irene clambered up onto the hull, letting her down inside, and explained about Rosie, saying that she was not evil and in fact seemed to like it in the tank. "She'll help you," he said "just tell her what to do, she's smart, and will undertsand you. Good Hunting." and with that, the apparently Neanderthal man was gone up the ladder, out the hatch, letting it swing closed,and was across to the airship just as the first of the tentacled horrors began to drop to the ground.

[ShredsnPatches]

Jen wrapped her arms around Patrick's waist and laid her head on his chest, working her hardest to allay his fears with a song. When she felt him calm down, she kissed him on the cheek.

"Patrick... it's going to be all right. But we have to get this job done, and freeing Germany is only the start."

Suddenly she pulled away and looked hard at him. She tweaked aside a flap of torn shirt, revealing the Deus metal that had covered his chest. In a very different voice she asked "Patrick. What's this?"

[Nigel Wetherby]

Patrick exhaled a sigh, this was by far the hardest thing he had to do.
"Well...Remember when me arm was sliced off, and the Deus terminal from Angel's tomb replaced me arm with a fragment of itself? Well, apparently, the fusion took longer than that. It wanted to make Jen it's next herald, but when I pulled her free during the tomb and exposed it to me white fire, it saw i was perfect.

"Others with the white fire came to the tomb before me, but they didn't have enough and they became drained. The Deus says I have a boundless supply, meaning I and it will be able to fuse into something greater. It knew you were turning into a bright one, and so it made me your protector.
"The whole purpous of the Deus terminal was to create a guardian for the bright ones, and give it knowledge of the cold ones and the history of the bright ones on Earth. All I can know about them is that they're beyond just beings from another planet, and their more than Angels.
"It teaches me in me dreams, it shows me the bright one's actions from the past and who the makers and the dissasemblers and the protectors were.
"Jen, somethin's chosen me to defend you fer a very, very long time...."

[ShredsnPatches]

As Patrick spoke it all fell into place. Jen nodded slowly, accepting what he said as truth. One question, however, remained unanswered.

"Why didn't you say anything about it?" she asked softly.

Patrick hesitated.

"I didn't want to worry ye," he replied.

[E.A. Claringbold]

She saw now, as she was outside, what everyone rushed helter-skelter for. Her eyes widened and her lips partially dropped open as she, for a moment, froze. “Ohmy-“ was all she allowed herself to breathe out before her feet moved her forward. Running to her tank, she saw Abe running out.

“I-“ was all she got out before he rushed his sentences out and left her with the tank and snake. Inside, Irene unbuttoned her  long green coat as she ran to a wood paneled wall and lifted up the wood sliding. Behind the wood, various arms were revealed. Taking a short sword and securing it to one of her belts, she took two hand guns with one cartridge of extra amo. She looked over to Rosie and nodded. She was so sure that each could handle their own. Afterwards she rushed herself to the head of the tank and turned on a screen which seemed to float in midair. She had never had to use this, but she knew well enough what it did. The shells that she had were loaded with shrapnel and once it was fired, it was sure to do its fair amount of damage.  Driving her tank backwards from the same trail a bit to give some distance from the Boheme, she looked to the screen to make sure her general target. Righto, ugly monsters.

“Here we go-“ She said with a shaky breath as she pulled a lever. Even from the front she could hear the mechanisms clank along and with a blast, the shell was off. It hit a wyrm and following right after it was another explosion blowing out hot, sharp metal pieces sure to sink their vicious selves into any solid opposition.  Shrieks pierced the air as they found homes in foreign flesh. Bits and pieces of smoking tissue and tentacles steadily dropped off from where they might have been torn off from. Artillery: not too unlike from deadly single-minded fireworks.

[T.Taylor the Third]

trip was in his room humming a cheerie dity looking through his trunks .."ah...here we go." he said pulling another large gun out of the box
he went up on deck his humm turned to a wissal and he started firing controled ion pulses at the attacking fources..

[Stella Gaslight]

The new cannons were performing wonderfully and Emma was feeling smug, they worked just as her dream told her they would.  They were making short work of the cold ones when the snow beneath them began to shift oddly. It was a very good thing The Boheme was able to make it up off the ground because a spayder digger breached the snow below them where the cannons could not reach and left a tunnel that six arbiters forced their way in to.  The huge crab like things started to climb on one another to reach the ship dangling enticingly above them.  George heard the scrapes and thumps and warned the others.

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Elisha leaned out one of the windows. He was tempted to rush in. To lose himself in battle, in blood and fire. But he was going to stay here. Beside Ella. He fired methodically from his rifle. Take your time with your shots and each will be deadly. A heap of Cold Ones began to grow outside.

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss leaned out beside him. "You stay here, Elisha," he said, "those stitches are only a couple of days old, and I 'd hate to have to rip 'em all out and re-do 'em; So would you, believe me." He grinned. "I'll show you my own long scar someday...if we live through this."

With that, he hooked the cane over the windowsill, threw out the rope he had tied to it, and clambered out and began rappelling down the side of the ship, until he reached the loops he had tied in the rope before he deployed it. Dreyfuss stuck his hand through the first loop, grabbed the rope on the other side with the same hand, then grasped the other loop firmly, and yanked it free -- and fell to dangle about seventy feet further down, right about in the right place to hang horizontally with his feet braced on the hull, and fire at the Arbiters and the digger with the electric carbine, each bullet striking home and somehow causing small explosions inside the armor of both the digger and the arbiters.

The digger suddenly exploded, its burning fuel splashing onto the arbiters, whose teetering column fell over, the arbiters screaming their oitherworldly screams and their armor popping like shells on flash-broiled crabs. These didn't run free once their shells burst, but lay there, twitching slightly.

[Nigel Wetherby]

Patrick kissed Jen's cheek innocently. His lips were still the same, warm lips she knew and loved.
"I guess we'll be changin' together, eh?" Patrick chuckled, giving her a smile that told her it would all be alright, though he himself was unsure if it would be.
"Ya know, so long as we're here...." He began, looking at her with pleading eyes as he casually pointed to a German bar. With the population restored to their normal selves, and the boheme's arrival a matter of time, he believed he needed a drink. Jen sighed and agrreed, they would need something to toast their victory to, after all.

[Stella Gaslight]

The arbiters suddenly exploded with motion looking very much like Dreyfuss was a pinata at a party.  Soon he was trying to doge and fire while swinging wildly beneath the ship.  The creatures were smarter than most would give them credit for ans started to bat at him, trying to hit him in to the others powerful swings.

It looked like the was going to take a sold hit to the head and then George popped out of the ship standing upside down on the hull and wielding Emma's older model microwave gun.  He fired not killing the thing but managing to make it fall to the ground and roar with rage.  "It looks like you could use some help."


"They are speaking German." Cain said and when it became obvious Angel had no idea what he was talking about he elaborated. "It is another language, they use different words than the ones I have been teaching you."

Angel nodded finally understanding.  "I don't know what that word means but my nose says there are sweets in there." She said pointing at a shopfront.