Pirate Solidarity Thread.

[Storm Rider]

Admiral Dimitri Karkov looked out of the Armoured glass of the bridge of the Potemkin his powerful binoculars in hand. " Sir message from comrade Stalin" a naval rating handed him a slip of paper. he Sped read it " we are to push forward with the pirate fleet. the Potemkin will be resupplied soon but the fleet must advance now with the Pirates" he runs a hand down his chin thinking. "

[Bellono]

Bellono didnt comment on the Colonels thoughts, these men had the same destructive capability of Bellono but the difference was they had no feeling about it they just did it.... cold and calculated. These were men to be feared they were not any easy opponent Bellono wouldn't want to fight more then one of them, these were a true challange to fight these men were worthy foes... He had to find a chance to relay a message to the abandon and fast

[Storm Rider]

Pavlov moved his men to the cargo hold. There in the center of the hold stood a three meter by three meter shipping crate lashed down onto the floor. The Legionnares stood around the hold securing the doors and checking over the crate itself. " So Bellono what do you think of how we do things?" Pavlov inquired as he walked into the hold. The Legionnare commanding officer was in conference with his radio man." colonel we have orders from Comrade Stalin and Admiral Karkov. We are going to transfer the package to Comrade Stalin's cutter the Buran and rush it to the Potemkin. The cruiser and fridgate will remain to guard the caravan and move it to the fleet at best possible speed. The fleet will move to maximum speed when the Potomkin receives the package." the officer says from behind the blast plate of his helmet his eyes not even visible in the dark eye slits. Pavlov nodded and his men readied the crate to move. A soldier lowers an access hatch in the side of the hold and waiting for it is the Buran. A large hatch is open just behind it's cockpit revealing a cargo space. A hook lowers from the hold's ceiling and the process of transfering the cargo is under way. " I geuss you should acompany the cargo, Comrade Yastrab is onboard the Buran aswell" Pavlov says watching his men

[Sir Nikolas Vendigroth]

The IFS Joyeuse settled onto its landing pad on one of Vendigroth's aerodocks. The fleet's newest, most advanced warship had completed its first reconnaisance mission without incident. Looking at the throng of airships in the sky, Zufar couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. They were all obsolete. Even the behemoth superdreadnoughts were inferior to his agile, fast, heavily armed ship which was unencumbered by a lifting envelope. The IFS Joyeuse, in fact, was almost completely streamlined, with the anti-aircraft guns recessed into hte smooth black hull amidship.

"Well, they wouldn't scrap them, would they?" He mused, gazing at the assembled force. "Just for being out of date?"

"Nope, cap'n." Said his executive officer. "'S not like the Authority to scrap something useful just 'cos its a bit behind. Ships like that are cheaper and more reliable than this one, anyway. Them up there'll still be in use thirty years from now or more. That said, I heard the shipyards here had fifty more like ours comissioned recently, and twenty even larger ships. Makes you wonder where the money's coming from, really. I reckon the Authority's made some sort of deal, contractin' us out as mercenaries, or summink. Not that I mind."

"David, your introspection never ceases to amaze me." quipped Zufar, drily. "Secure the ship and appoint a watch, then let's get down below."

Meanwhile, a thousand feet below, a pair of quartermasters were having a little exchange of views.

"Companion to the FFAR, y'say?" said one, opening a bottle of beer.

"Yup. Great stuff. An automatic shotgun, who'd have thought?" Said his companion, taking a drink from his own bottle.

"And you've got the new armour piercing round?"

"Certainly have. We tested in on a one-inch steel plate. Behind which we put the carcase of a goat, from one of the abbotoires. About half an inch into the plate, the round fragments. Leading to quite a bit of shrapnel damage, I'm sure you'd agree. Damn' goat was all but minced."

"...And we've got this one to play with." He clinked his bottle against his freind's. "A toast. To the FFAS"   

[ShredsnPatches]

Shreds had, by now, given up on talking sense into Burnside, and decided to divert him away from stupid mistakes by misdirection if needed.

I wonder what Chiaves is up to?

[Bellono]

"Senior, i need to get back to my own capitano, i do appreciate the abilities you men posses, your fine soldiers all of you" He was addressing the grenadiers it was true they were fine soldiers not up to the legionnaire status they were like many men that Bellono had fought alongside. He offered his hand to the Colonel.... after which he starched his stubble while doing so he tapped on the microphone in his lapels using Morse code "trying to return....stop.... will communicate shortly...stop.... big news....stop"

[ShredsnPatches]

The radio buzzed, and a series of taps came through the receiver. Shreds jumped, and began to note down the tapped message. When she had finished, the notes she had made looked something like this:

- .-. -.-- .. -. --. | - --- | .-. . - ..- .-. -. | ... - --- .--. | .-- .. .-.. .-.. | -.-. --- -- -- ..- -. .. -.-. .- - . | ... .... --- .-. - .-.. -.-- | ... - --- .--. | -... .. --. | -. . .-- ... | ... - --- .--.

Picking up her scrawled Morse code key, she quickly translated the message.

trying to return stop will communicate shortly stop big news stop

"Captain?! Message from Chiaves!" she yelled into the intercom, hoping that Burnside might listen for even a second.

[Storm Rider]

Pavlov shakes Bellono's hand " I hope we both come out of this whole thing in one piece. I will see if we can get a cutter to take you back to your ship. though I wold have thought you would liek to see the Ptomokin's advance engiens lighting up?" Pavlov smiel adn gets Gregor to call for a less advanced cutter to be assigned to carry Bellono back to the Abandon

[Bellono]

"Grazi senior your a fine body of men i hope we meet again" Bellono liked these soldiers and genuinely hoped to see them again he had yet to drink with them.... However he was not the man to show an engine too, he was a fighter not an enginer mac would have known what every little thing was and did Bellono wouldn't have the slightest notion of what to report even if he had seen it..... He was grateful to these men they had given him some new toys to dapple with and an over view of just how deadly they were. It would be best if he delivered his message in person but as soon as he had a moment on his own on the cutter he spoke again to the reckless "These men are some of the best fighters ive ever seen i will give details on my return, im on route at the moment tell the capitano these men are vital to our success but we should try to keep friendly with them they are killers and not good enemies il be back inside of 4 hours roughly..."

[ShredsnPatches]

"Copy that, see you in four hours Chiaves."

Shreds wrote up another report, and sent it to Burnside's cabin.

[Storm Rider]

(( the cutter speedily returns Bellono to the Pirate fleet))
The Buran rendevous with the Potomkin where the massive battleship waits using it's small diesel engines  instead of it's main drive. Yastrab quickly boards the Potomkin, his entire protection force of thirty two Legionnares following him to the Admiral's board room. The Admiral waits for him " comrade Stalin it is good to see you well, the Ferrum is being loaded into the main boilers. Soon this vessel will truly be whole" Ferrum while extremely heavy, was capable of burning at extreme temperatures for long periods of time. The designers of the Potomkin had run into a problem with it's massive size. Any fuel fired boilers in the size that the Potomkin would need to acheive a decent speed would be massive taking up far to much space in the hull of the ship. But an explosion in one of the foundries in the ship yards of Arkhangelsk had deliverd there answer to this problem of making a small powerful boiler. Ferrum a super heavy element found in the Urals had burnt for days at incredible heat after an explosion where it was being tested in being used to make armor plate. So the designers created a new boiler built from a Tungsten alloy with ceramic heat sheilding. With high presseure water feeds this Ferrum boiler would be a quater the size of the comparitive oil boiler, plus without the need of the massive fuel tanks the space for munitions and weapons coudl remain in what was desired for the ship. Two secondary oil driven boilers were installed as a back up though as Ferrum was a rare element and hard to purify. It was decided that if she couldn't use her main engin she could still mvoe atleast but at a reduced speed. Deep within the Potomkin five heavy bars of Ferrum are being stacked within the boiler. At a word the engineers charge the combustion chamber with hig presseure air. Then an ignition charge of Thermite was lit. Within seconds the Ferrum begins to burn. Within 10 mineutes the great steam turbines turn. The main drive props turn increasing in speed. Yastrab and Karkov stand togther on the main bridge " Signal the fleet  All Ahead Full!" Admiral Karkov growls and the Potomkin steams forward with the great battle fleet of Open Sky flanking it. They were heading to war moving out from the massive cloud cover they had hid in.

[Bellono]

Bellono stepped onto the familiar deck of the Reckless Abandon and felt like he'd just gotten home.... "WERE IS THE CAPITANO???" he bellowed as he stormed across the deck his load lighter with the loss of ammunition however he had the shotgun in one hand the ppsh-41 in the other, deck hands knew better then to get in his way and scuttled aside as the large Italian former Mercenary burst his way towards the bridge "BURNSIDE!?!?!"

[Sir Nikolas Vendigroth]

"Sir, I see the armada. One hundred miles out to the north-west. Approximate altitude of two thousand, five hundred feet, approximate speed of fifty miles per hour."

"Very well." said Peregrine, looking at his orders one last time. "Transmit the following message on all frequencies. Messsage begins."

"To the commanding officers of the combined fleet, this is admiral Sir Micheal Peregrine, commanding officer of the city of New Babbage. On the orders recieved from my leader, I am to request parley with you. The procedure is as follows:

The combined force is to take up a position thirty-five miles from the city, out of weapons range. You will put three officers aboard a small unarmed airship, staffed by a skeleton crew and dock on the docking promenade. Come unarmed. I will meet you there and we will negotiate. You may then return to your ship and your fleet with your conclusion. Peregrine out."

"Repeat that until we get a reply.

[ShredsnPatches]

Shreds took a sip of tea and sighed contentedly. One of the deckhands had done a runaround, and she now had a strong, sweet brew.

The radio idled, the other ships focusing on the business of getting to Vendigroth at full speed. Bored, she practiced tapping out messages in Morse code with a pencil, before doing a sweep of all the frequencies to see if she was missing anything interesting.

swee... bzzzt... commanding o-bzzzt- New Babbage

Shreds jumped to full attentiveness, and reversed the dial. Eventually she got a clear signal, and listened to the full message over and again until she had it written out in full. Then she flicked the switch to Burnside's personal intercom.

"CAPTAIN!!! They want to talk! They want to talk!!!!"

Then she turned her attention to the radio.

"Admiral, this is Ms. Shreds of the Reckless Abandon. Your message has been received and a response from our leaders will be forthcoming soon. Shreds out."

[Bellono]

Bellono walked past the active radio room on his storming to the bridge "ciao seniora...... BURNSIDE WE NEED TO TALK!!!!???!!" and on he went in search of the Reckless's Capitano

[ShredsnPatches]

"Ciao, Chiaves! - wait a minute - Chiaves!!! Get Burnside up here PRONTO!" Shreds yelled after him, returning to the radio.

[Sir Nikolas Vendigroth]

"Admiral, this is Ms. Shreds of the Reckless Abandon. Your message has been received and a response from our leaders will be forthcoming soon. Shreds out."

"Understood, Abandon. Reply on this frequency. Please follow the transmitted procedure to the letter."

[ShredsnPatches]

"Understood, Peregrine. Over and out."

[Gentleman-Adventurer]

Managing, with sheer exercise of will, to drag himself back to the world of the sane, Burnside gradually reduced speed while listening to Shreds' eager proposal.
"Right. I think these fellows may genuinely wish to talk, but only so they can say how badly they can mess us up. I have no intention of being intimidated or swayed. After all, Mac and Sarah are still out there. We don't go armed, but we leave orders for every ship to unload on them if anything happens to us. Tell someone to get a skiff ready, Shreds, and then buckle yourself in. Chiaves and I shall be along in a moment."

[Storm Rider]

Yastrab reads over a transcript of the First Fleet message. Quickly he orders the Buran to be readied " Admiral advance us to thirty miles not thirty five. I want to show those Fleeters they are not in the place of greater power." turning he orders his radio operator to update Burnside and tell him that he will be going to this talk. In only a few moments he is sitting in the padded leather chair of the Buran siting in the passanger compartment set below and back of the cockpit he begins to think. If anything happens in the next few moments....these fleeters will burn.. As an after thought he has a signal transmitted to the fleet stroking his chin.

[Sir Nikolas Vendigroth]

"Admiral, the armada's slowing to a stop. Hang on..." The officer manning the ÆDAR scope concentrated for a moment. "Sir, I have one contact detatched from the armada. It's closing at sixty miles per hour."

Five minutes saw the solitary ship cover as many miles.

"The contact's stopped, sir. Thirty miles. Chances are we could destroy it."

Peregrine spoke slowly and deliberately: "No-one touch anything. No communications, no helix, no acknowledgement. Whomever is in charge on that ship wants a fight. I don't intend to give him one. Alert me if it comes any closer or if the armada closes to the same distance. When the negotiators transmit that they're on their way, guide them to an empty aerodock."

[ShredsnPatches]

Shreds checked her hair and wrapped her scarf around her face again. She was very, very scared, but had hidden a small radio on her person and left a deck hand in charge of the radio with Burnside's orders firmly drilled into his skull. She had sent a message to Peregrine, confirming that his directions would be followed, and radioed Yastreb.

"Yastreb, Shreds calling from the Reckless Abandon. Request that your fleet pull back to the limit set by the First Fleet, we want to keep this civil."

Then she boarded the skiff and strapped herself in, biting her lip nervously.

Adjusting the skiff's radio to the frequency specified by Peregrine, she flicked the microphone on.

"Shreds calling from Reckless Abandon. Shreds calling from Reckless Abandon. Negotiators en route in ten minutes, ETA half an hour. Shreds out."

[Storm Rider]

The Russian Fleet has pushed to the thirty mile mark the Potemkin sits in the middle of the fleet. It is massive even in comparison to the first fleet Dreadnoughts. it's main guns have been carefully sighted that once it reaches he twenty six mile limit of it's range its first volley of super heavy Tungsten rounds will obliterate the closest Helix emitter. Admiral Karkov had been shocked at the signal that had been routed from the Buran back too the People's citideal in Otkrytoe  Nebo. But he was now commited to his task at the present time. He watched as the Buran headed for New Babbage.

[Bellono]

Bellono sat in between the other nagotiators... he was low on ammunition but he had enough to blast an escape route and he had himself to use if there was an emergency... Though valuable to the crew bellono had no problem laying down his life if it ment the others could live, he had no fear of death... secretly he wished to be sent to join his family

[ShredsnPatches]

Shreds couldn't help but feel a little less frightened when Bellono sat in beside her. The big Italian had a calm, focused expression and a look of absolute fearlessness that was in sharp contrast to how she felt. One problem with his presence was that this brought home again to Shreds the risk they were taking by meeting with the First Fleet at all.

"Chiaves, where's Burnside?" she asked.