"STEAM LONDON" Game Thread

[sir charles of tayle]

"I am saving you and that should be enough"Charles replied.
 "Grab you things"He siad in a commanding voice, Emma did as she was told,"Thats everything, lets go"Emma suggested
"Very well this way" He said gesturing to some steps.  They ran up the steps and into a very dark room,"whys it so dark?" Emma asked. 
"I dont know"Said charles looking around.
Suddenly the lights flipped on to reveel at least 20 gaurds standing in front all pointing guns directly at Emma and Charles.
Charles looked at the light above them touching hit rist a dart shot out of his hat shattering the bulb emman felt herself being thrown to the ground and a slight breese as charles lept over her and into the crowd of guards.  Gunshots were heard all around as weaved in and out of the blinded crowd of guards moments later the gunshots all stopped and charles provided a flame for light. Emma was speachless as she looked around at all the guards lying on the ground unconcious as they ran through a door and out onto the roof,"How did you...?" Emma managed
"Not now" said Charles as he pulled a strange contraption out of his coat and pushed a button stiggering a rope ladder dropping down from his ship as the clamberd up and into  the ship Charles was silent.

[Stella Gaslight]

Emma fallowed him up the ladder.  "Thank you.  I have a ship I need to contact but as soon as those guards wake and notice me gone they are going to start hunting for me."  A bell started to ring echoing up from bellow and shouts soon joined them.  "So much for waiting for the guards to wake. Lets get out of here."  As they lifted up and a way from the jail Trip grabbed the rope ladder not about to let Emma be taken away again.

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Elisha was quite proud of his ability to keep from laughing at Patricks attempts to get arrested. He followed him at a distance, watching, holding his walking stick and looking innocent.

"Look Patrick, I think we need another plan to get into the jail, not involving you getting arrested."

"Yeah, well what's your great plan?" retorted Patrick.

Elisha plan first involved the two of them walking directly into the jail.

"Hello, we are a defense team sent here for a Ms. Lighton." said Elisha, perfectly calm.

After being screened for weapons they were both let into the jail, a guard escorting them.

"Defense lawyers, entering cell block, convict Lighton!" called out a guard.

"Calling me a lawyer..."muttered Patrick

Suddenly a man walking down the hall spun around. "What? But, I'm the defense team for Ms.Lighton! These men are imposters!" Elisha punched their guard in the face, with his metal arm. He collapsed. Patrick tackled the real defense lawyer, knocking him out. There were guards scrambling from both sides of the hallway. It looked like they were trapped. An alarm sounded.

"I think my plan was better" said Patrick

[ShredsnPatches]

Jennifer was tired of waiting.

"George? Do you know what the others are up to now?"

"Well, it looks like the monkey has gotten himself and Elisha trapped, Emma has gotten herself rescued and Trip is gallantly following her into the sky."

Jen almost swore, then started to laugh.

"How could I have forgotten?"

She ran back to the aetheric communicator, and twiddled with the dials until she had it right. Then she spoke.

"Ciao. Give me Papa Gianni"

There was a delay of a few seconds, before a lazy Italian voice manifested.

"Papa Gianni - who is this?"
"Little Seniora Sheehan. I'm back in town, and I need to call in that favour. How would you like to really pull one on the British police?"
Laughter.

"Where are you, we shall meet up."

Jennifer told him where the Boheme was moored, and grinned.

"If anyone can help us, Papa Gianni can, and will."

[Nigel Wetherby]

Patrick swung back and forth by his ankles on the shackles attached to the celing, his wrists being attached to the floor made this predicament all the more uncomfortable.
"Can ye beileive some marquis though this was arousin?!" Queried the young man, finding no part of this in any way fun.
"SHUT UP!!!" Shrieked an emaciated man in the same position as Patrick, who looked as if he had seen far better days in bed with a flesh eating virus.
"Well 'scuse me fer makin' a conversation! Howsabout a little eye spy then? I spy with me little eye....something flat and grey!"
"THE BED!!! THE BED YOU DOLT!! FOR THE LAST 50 TIMES IT'S THE BLOODY BED!!!" The thin man shrieked.
"Well now ye've gone and upset me, ye can expect no words from me!" Sneered Patrick, offended by the man's ravings.

"OI!" Snapped a familiar in the cell next to theirs. "I'm trying to get some sleep, and it's hard enough with the loonie in the bloody dress staring at me and humming to himself!"
Elisha was not having as much fun as Patrick was.

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Elisha had enough of the ravings in the cell beside him. He had behaved when captured and thus was unshackled. He positioned himself parallel to the bars, wedging his left leg between them, then slowly extending it. This created a hole large enough to crawl through. He found himself outside. Now to rescue Patrick. He began banging on the cell door with his left hand, denting it. If he could just destroy the lock...

He felt himself being bodily picked up. Two massive Russian guards had appeared behind him and held each arm. He had failed. A small, fat Chinese man with greasy hair and fine clothes grinned up at him. "Weellll....mechanical prothetics...quite amazing. You almost had us there."
He laughed. Elisha was silent.

"Now...you said you were here for a Ms. Lighton...well I think since you decided to escape...perhaps I could arrange an execution for the young lady?" Elisha had no way of telling the man was bluffing.

"No. Look, good sir, I do promise I won't try to escape again. Please leave the lady out of this." Elisha wouldn't see anyone killed for his actions.

"Hmm..so noble....but there is no way to guarentee you will not try to leave....Ohhhh...but maybe there is" The fat man was grinning like a shark. "Guards...take him to the surgery...I think we can consider his metal limbs dangerous weapons...and as such they must be removed. Forcibly."

Elisha felt his stomach go cold. This was not good. One of the guards brought out a wooden club, smacking him over the head before he could struggle.

He awoke tied to a table in a white room. He was blindfolded and gagged. This was not good at all...

The first wave of pain hit and he struggled to remain concious. This couldn't be happening...

[Stella Gaslight]

Charles set course for the docks as Emma wandered to the back of the ship watching the jail but careful to stay out of sight. After the first bell things had calmed down and it made her wonder what was going on.  "George says the Monkey and Mr. Kettel have gotten themselves in trouble."  Emma whirled around to find Trip smiling at her Patrick's aetherphones in his ears.  She returned the smile and took his hand.  "How on earth did you get up here?  And what about Patrick and Mr. Kettel?"  She went a bit pale in the face when he told her what was happening to Mr. Kettel.  "I have to get Charles to turn around. I can't let him be hurt like this because of me."

Black glared at the head of the prison with an anger that had surpassed words.  "What do you mean she escaped!" 

"She must have snuck out as those fake lawyers came in. We think they were her accomplices." The small, fat Chinese man was sweating hard under Black's gaze.

"Fake lawyers?" Black asked in a tone that made it very clear if he didn't like the answer someone was going to die.

"Yes we detained them, It was a man with metal limbs and a Irish boy." The head of the prison gripped the edge of the table hard so his hands would stop trimbling. 

Black smiled and it was a horrible sight.  "Bring me the boy."  The man practicality ran from the room.  So the little mouse thought she was clever, well he was smarter still. All it would take was the Flea's screams to sent her running back. 

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

"NED! Oh GOD Ned! My leg! I Can't move ned! Go! my ar..!"

Elisha awoke in a cold sweat. He had experienced feverish nightmares. For a moment, he thought he was back in Unalaska, raiding the Russian Yellow Fortress...back when the cannon had hit him. Lord...he had only been fifteen then...and blown to pieces...

He realised he was no longer tied down. He sat up on the bed. The Chinese man was sitting on the floor, looking thoughtful, across the room from him. In front of him, spread out on a cloth was a collection of metal. Elisha began to feel sick as he began to make out an arm and a leg....a foot.... He lifted his left arm up to his face. A short leather stump had replaced his beautiful craftsman arm. He looked over himself. The same everywhere. He felt sick, and like he was about to laugh; the warden had even taken the two fingers on his right hand.

The warden looked up. "Very amazing work...I don't think I could replicate this....they must have given you much power." 

Elisha felt like he was going to vomit.

"A Mr. Black was asking about Ms. Lighton". Elisha didn't know the name. The warden seemed to read this from his face. "Quite a disgusting man...bossing me around like most British do. Now....if I had this beautiful arm...surely he would treat the name of Sergei Wong with more respect!"

Elisha half felt he was dreaming. This man was insane. "Are you going to cut your own body up just to steal mine? You're a little short" Elisha gave a short cackle. Maybe he was going insane. He began to feel pain from phantom limbs and winced.

"Hmmm..I'm sure these could be modified...and the pain would be worth the power I could wield...Tell me, did your Ms. Lighton make these?"

"No." The warden seemed to think he was lying.

"Hmm...I see. Probably was her, or one of her friends...If I could replicate these...I could be a man of steel...no weakness! No fear! I could make a factory! Supply an army, slowly rebuilding them too perfection! No other force could stop them...not even that blasted Black! Not even you!" The Two Russian guards entered, interrupting the sick dreams of Mr. Wong. 

"Clear the room" barked Wong."I will be requiring it shortly. Go and shackle the prisoner." He grinned. "Although I doubt he is in any shape to escape." As the guards pulled him out, Elisha heard Wong say. "Keep him in his cell. Mr. Black will be coming to...play...with the other. When Mr. Black is satisfied, execute them both."

In his cell, Elisha hung by his one hand from the ceiling. The situation now looked hopeless. He had always thought of his metal parts as an inconvience...now he realised how useful they would be here. He looked up at his hand...only three digits to call his own. He listened. He could not hear Patrick. Had he been moved? He couldn't tell.

He thought it ridiculous that the first thought that came to him here was how mad Lily was going to be. Those limbs had taken quite awhile for her to design. He doubted that he could retrieve them now. Who knew where that madman was going to take them? He would have to deal with himself like this...until he could get to London. One of his crewmates was probably there. They could help him get back to Vancouver....Lily was the only one who could do replacements. He sighed. The journey seemed to stretch longer before his eyes. Of course, nothing would matter if he didn't get out of here. He looked down. But how? He had no feet to speak of...would he crawl out of here?

He steeled himself. If it came to it he would bloody well crawl. He looked around again. They hadn't shackled the stump of his left arm, or his right leg. His mind raced. There must be a way out....

[Nigel Wetherby]

Patrick was walked down the empty halls of the prison to the captain's quarters, forced onto a chair before the merciless captain. The young man could only smile. "Well if it ain't me former captain...Still pinin' fer somethin' ye'll never get?"

"Patrick..." The captain sneered, "You have not lost an ounce of your pretentiousness..."
"And ye've still got some beats in that withered turnip ye call a heart I see." Retorted Patrick. He had no real fear of this man, he had seen so much work in his jobs upon leaving the star.
"I aint afraid of ya anymore Blacky, tha sniveley little engineer ye kicked around is gone. Yer just an old hound what's lost his teeth." Teased Patrick, a grin across his face as he stared into the eyes of the captain which blazed with rage.
"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now!!" The captain snarled, drawing his pistol and holding it firmly between Patrick's eyebrows.
"Because I know where Emma is, and yer not the kinda guy who let's a guy like me off with a bullet in the brain, yer the kinda guy who does somethin' worse, and ta be honest, I could care less!" Patrick laughed.
The captain turned to a pale, thin, bald man with greased eyebrows and a devil's smirk. "Make his life hell...."

[ShredsnPatches]

'Papa' Gianni Rodolfo stretched and beckoned to a large Chinese man in traditional dress.

"Round up the dockers. Have them go to the prison with the Standard Device. Send Stefano in to me."

The man bowed and hurried out, swiftly replaced by a statesmanlike Italian in an immaculately cut suit. Everything about him spoke 'Lawyer' and hinted at a dangerousness that was something more.

"Stefano. We appear to have some gentlemen imprisoned for... spurious reasons. A red-haired Irishman and a man with mechanical limbs. Find out where they are being held and let the Boys know. It's time that prison had an inspection, don't you think?"

Stefano nodded once, and hailed a rickshaw to the prison. Once there, he flashed a card at the guards, and was admitted instantly. A warden approached, demanding to know his business.

"Ah, I am with the prison inspection service. I am here on a routine check. You will show me around, yes?"

"Of... course..." The warden, satisfied that everything was in order, became much more gregarious as his tour went on, pointing out newly refurbished areas of the prison, the various torture chambers and the much maligned Pit where the more troublesome prisoners were thrown.

Passing a cell, the warden peered in, as did Stefano. A miserable looking man hung by one arm from the ceiling.

"New arrival. Had legs and an arm made of metal, very odd indeed... Sir, are you all right?" - as Stefano bent over suddenly, clutching his side. As he did so, he flicked one of  his elaborate cufflinks, sending an aetheric signal to his accomplices outside.

"Fine, fine, a stomach ulcer, nothing more. Continue."

A few dank metres away, and the pair encountered a pale, bald man leading two hulking guards and a thin red haired boy into one of the torture chambers. The boy was sneering, but his pale face belied his fear.

"Hngghh! Ah, that was a bad one! My apologies, friend" said Stefano. He now had a fix on both of the men he'd been sent to find. Papa Gianni would be pleased.

He swiftly concluded his tour of the prison, telling the guard that everything was in order. Then he left and took a rickshaw back to Gianni's house.

[ShredsnPatches]

Outside the prison walls, dozens of labourers in overalls and widelegged trousers sat around their toolboxes, eating noodles or rice and smoking hand rolled cigarettes. They sat at every corner of the prison, seemingly oblivious to the stench.

A rickshaw pulled up and a man in a suit entered the prison. Seeing this, the labourers sat up a little straighter and hurriedly finished their food.

Each group pulled out a singularly odd brass instrument, and began to wind it up. A length of brass, inlaid with glass bulbs. Suddenly, one of the devices began to hum, and all of the bulbs lit up. The man holding it stood and walked up and down quickly until the bulbs went out one by one. When one bulb was left illuminated, he grinned.

"Got a fix, boys!"

The labourers stood, walked over to where he held the device and left their toolboxes in a line along the wall. Each one giving their box a kick, they wandered out of sight.

Around the corner, the scene was repeated.

Ten minutes later, as Stefano left the prison, two large explosions ripped through the building and two walls collapsed. The labourers ran to the holes left, grabbed Elisha and cut him from the shackle before running and melting into the crowd.

Patrick was strapped to a table, the thin bald man lying unconscious beside the smashed remains of a brazier. As the Boys cut the straps, he jumped up, kicked the man very hard in the head and was about to run when one of the labourers called out to him.

"Seniora Jennifer sends her regards."

Patrick stopped and turned.

"What did you say?"

[Nigel Wetherby]

Patrick grinned to himself and looked down at the bald man, giving him a swift, hard kick to the head. "Thats fer havin yer flunkies ruin me faveorite shirt!"
"Th-that was captain black...." Groaned the surgeon.
"Yes but yer tha only facimile!" He stomped off, following the trail of destruction behind his saviours. He managed to grab himself a rifle and a cutlass from a guard who was knocked unconcious by the blast. Something told him he would need them.

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Having the wall explode and then being carried off by a gang of burly Italians had not been Elisha's first plan of escape...but it seemed to be working quite nicely. He grimaced as he looked down at where his leg and foot should be. He guessed he could make some non-moving replacements...enough to allow him to walk with a walking stick.

He looked back towards the prison. There was a small explosion on the roof and he saw what seemed to be a hot air balloon rise up and out. He saw to his dismay, that it was Mr. Wong making his escape. Now wearing his own metallic parts. Elisha hoped that Wong would not be able to find an engineer capable of replicating them...it would be disasterous if the Russians learned their secrets...

[ShredsnPatches]

Mr Wong's balloon didn't have time to go far. One of the men carrying Elisha noticed his furious expression, and gestured towards the sky. A shot rang out from the rooftops and the balloon deflated, sending the basket off balance and tumbling to the ground fifty yards in front of them. The street cleared in seconds, and the team of dockers ran up to the basket. Inside was a stunned looking man with poorly fitted metallic limbs.

[sir charles of tayle]

"Turn around?!" Charles asked in a suprised voice,"Why?"

[Nigel Wetherby]

The click of a rifle was soon heard as Patrick stepped to the aisian man, his boot planted firmly on the man's chest. "Alright ya pork pie, yer gunna tell us who jailed up 'Em, Where she is now, three reasons I shouldn't place a ball o' lead in the center of the circumference of your skull, and the what the hell Black has to do with all this!" His foot pressed down a bit harder as he pressed the cold buisness end of the gun against the stuttering man's forehead.
"Ye have ta tha count o' three...
One....
Two....."

[Stella Gaslight]

(I hope this is coherent, derby practice really kicked my butt tonight.)
"My friends are back there getting punished for my escape.  I can't leave them. I know I am asking a lot of you but please let me go help them.  This is my fault."  Emma looked at him earnest and pleading. Charles sighed and turned the wheel. "Thank you." Emma said beaming at him. 

They had turned around as the walls tumbled down.   Emma ran to the front of the ship fearing the worst but Trip was smiling.  "They are out.  I don't know how but apparently Jennifer got it done."  Trip got caught up in a bout of joyful jumping from Emma.  She started waving while hanging over the rail trying to attract their attention.  Some one on the ground noticed but not who she wished.   

One didn't remain a pirate for as long as Black without knowing what battles to let go.  As long as Patrick was being protected by the mob he was out of reach .  Black didn't have the man power to fight the mob and chase Emma at the same time but if he played his cards right he might be able to avoid that entirely.  He looked at the police's speedy nimble ornithopter parked beside him on the roof and smiled, if he could snatch her off the ship he could be gone before the boy on the ground even had a chance to react.  This time he would make sure she could not run away.  He chambered a load in his gun and waited for the ship to come in range.

 Mr Wong sputtered under Patrick's gun.  "We got a dispatch from St Petersburg that gave us the evidence and told us what ship to look for.  Black said he was acting as an agent for the Russians and he was willing to pay me a generous finders fee from the large price on her head if I would just hold on to her until he could come pick her up.  I don't know where she is."  He stopped as a single gunshot rang out fallowed by a woman's scream.

Black had aimed carefully to cripple but not kill.  "You brought this on yourself for defying me my pretty." He muttered as he pulled the trigger.  Emma looked at Trip for a moment stunned and then she fell limply across the rail with a scream.  Her left leg was a useless bleeding bundle of pain.  He had shot her just bellow the knee. Black launched the ornithopter and caught Emma as she fell from the ship above and flew off like a shot.

[Nigel Wetherby]

"BLOODY HELL!!" Patrick ducked as the ornithoper buzzed over their heads and snatched Emma up like a falcon. He aimed his rifle carefully, examining the make of the ornithopter. "Russian Krusnik model. Discontinued model. Fast mover, weak armor..." He smirked and aimed carefully for a fuel line. His analytical mind worked like a flash of light, allowing him to make his mark and fire while the craft was in range. The bullet from the prison rifle was designed to hit a running convict, not a flying plane. The bullet could only dent the armor and pinch the fuel line.
"DAMN!"

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

The Italians all looked up at where the screaming was coming from. Elisha noticed Wong trying to use the oppurtunity to escape. Elisha suprised the two burly men carrying him by pushing off them. He fell to the ground, but had got far enough to grab Wong's leg. The mismatched Wong fell clumsily to the ground. Elisha then quickly got his arm to Wong's neck and began to strangle him. He laughed. He was angry, but he was enjoying this.

"Well Wong, all those pretty parts and this wreck of a man is still able to beat you!" He flipped on top of Wong, his three fingers digging into his throat.

"You must have forgotten. A man can make machines, Mr. Wong. Machines can never make a man."

He noticed the Italians grouping around him. "I've got him. He can barely use those limbs"

He leaned in close, smelling the fear on Wong's skin. "Now Wong...where was Black's intended destination? Before he returned?"

Suddenly, shots ricocheted off the street. Black was shooting at them, with some sort of rapid fire gun. The Italians picked him up and cleared the street. He looked back and saw Wong stagger to his feet, alone in the street, desperatly trying to master his new parts. He soon crumpled. Black had managed to hit him, the single target. Elisha saw some of the Italians try to put out some covering fire. He heard Patrick yell "Be careful for hell's sake! You'll hit Em!"

[ShredsnPatches]

"You must have forgotten. A man can make machines, Mr. Wong. Machines can never make a man."

OOC: Oh, that's very good! *applauds*

[Stella Gaslight]

Emma thrashed in Blacks grip half in pain, half trying to keep him from firing the gun again.  He pulled a small steel tube from his pocket and pressed it against her side.  A spring loaded needle punched through her clothes and in to her flesh injecting her with something that burned through her vanes leaving her exhausted.  "Sleep and soon you will be back by my side where you belong" He said tenderly draping her limp body across the seat.

Black should have flown to the back to his ship waiting at the private airfield on the outskirts of town but Patrick yelling in the streets below was such a tempting target.  He swung the ship around in a tight banking turn and opened fire.

[ShredsnPatches]

The 'dockers' had come prepared for a fight. When the ornithopter wheeled around, they drew their guns and opened fire. On a rooftop near the prison, marksmen waited for their chance, and as the craft drew within range, the most skilled took careful aim. The shot was a beauty, not enough to blow the craft up, but enough to send it to the street without killing the occupants.

On the Boheme, Jennifer bit her nails. She'd heard nothing from Papa Gianni since Stefano had reported the walls being breached, and was starting to worry that something had gone horribly wrong.

[Nigel Wetherby]

Patrick grinned. Black always did let his emotions get ahead of him. He took careful aim at the windowpane of the ornithopter, diving for cover behind a fruit stand.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Sang black cheerfully as he looked over the area, seeing a familiar mop of red curls. He opened fire and the fruit stand exploded with juice, fragments of peel, and splinters of wood. The flea was dead!
The ornithopter slowly touched down as the captain emerged from the fruit stand, his intent to examine the corpse of the defiant engineer.
Patrick snuck up to the ornithopter, using the chaos of the destroyed stand as cover. He snuck into the ornithopter. Now a simpler man would have just taken Emma's unconcious body and slinked off. But after Patrick had Emma secured the only thought he had was 'FREE ORNITHOPTER'.
Black's fury was unmatched when he found a styled toupee lying atop a pile of evicerated blood oranges.
His fury was multiplied when he saw his own ornithopter flying off in the distance, the laugh of his engineer ringing through the skies.

[ShredsnPatches]

Jennifer, pacing along the gangplank impatiently, raised her head. A small shape in the sky was growing larger - a damaged ornithopter came veering crazily and landed on the dock below. A familiar red-headed figure bounded from the craft, and ducked back inside to gently lift out an unconscious Emma.

Jennifer was already moving. Ignoring the creaky lift in favour of the rope-and-pulley, she leapt from the gangplank and swung down to the ground.

"Patrick! You're all right! Where's Elisha? And what happened Emma?" The words tumbled from her lips in an uncontrolled flow, as she helped Patrick to lift the unconscious woman into the lift and set it heading up towards the Boheme.

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Black's string of curses was ended by a shot that went over his shoulder. Elisha, had taken a pistol from one of the Italians and was firing as they carried him to cover. "If I had my other two fingers I would have blown your head off!" Elisha screamed. A hail of bullets went over their heads. This Black fellow was holding his own...but they should be able to overcome him with numbers. Elisha hoped that Patrick would be able to get the ornithoper back to the Boheme, or somewhere safe.

Suddenly there was a rumbling from the street past Black. Elisha was shocked to see paving stones begin to fly into the air. The ground buckled and formed a hill, finally bursting out to reveal a huge digging machine, shedding dirt and belching steam. Was this a plan of Black's? Elisha trembled. He recognized the design - the lobster-like crawling leviathan, with the two massive front claws. It was the military device that the Russians called an Omarsmerti. A hatch in the head of the machine popped open. A man in ornate Russian officer dress emerged. He looked with disdain at Black.

"Well, if it is not Mr. Black?" said the officer, accent thick. "I did not expect to find you here. Still failing at attempting to get the Boheme airship I see."

Elisha noticed Black trying to keep his patience. "Look you bloody Russkie! I don't work for you directly! Get that into your head. And if you would stop to look, I am fighting sympathizers of the Boheme and her crew! The ship is still docked in town! If you hurry, you can still catch it!"

The Italians made good use of the distraction. Soon they were off, running down the alleys, carrying their wounded, Elisha and the corpse of Wong. Elisha began to relax, but soon froze in terror. There was a rumbling and he saw buildings begin to sway and topple. The Omarsmerti was charging right through the town after them! Elisha hoped that the buildings and terrain would buy them enough time to make it to the Boheme. He hoped that everyone else made it too. Where was the captain? He heard shots as the gunports on the monstrosity began to open fire. The surroundings began to become familiar...they were almost there...