Fantasy Vampire Corps of Eldergaard

[Scarlett-Wulf]

"I'm not bringing the others...or at least I suggest we take as few as possible, Leo is fast and more quiet than I am" Artorius took his hammer off his back hurling it into the wall. "Captain I suggest just the three of us retrieve the Commander and the others, if anyone gets in the way Leon and Myself should be more than enough to deal with them...." Artorius Removed his coat and paulders laying them over the back of a chair. "Leon I need you you and the captain to be the scalpel and just let me be the hammer...." He said before heading below deck towards his and Nina's room. A few minutes later Artorius returned in heavy black iron plate armor. Holding his helmet in his hand and now brandishing a large battle axe with a silver axe head. "If it goes south.....call for me....no wall is going to stop me from getting to the captain....nor admiral" sitting down patiently waiting for the two of them to come up with the execution of this plan.

~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile Nina had done as instructed, sticking to the shadows as she followed the Commander, getting on board and even managing to get down to cells. Still staying in the shadows but above the doorway she watched as Cyn and Alyx were placed in separate cells. Once the one known as Maksim had left she dropped down so eerily quiet and made her way to to Alyx. "Well now this is interesting....Artorius Didn't rip the Admiral's head off, not to mention what I just watched" blushing as elegantly walked over to Cyn's cell, pressing against the bars. "So what do you need of me?" licking her lips as she eyed Cyn. Commander Alyx, I just want you to know that if anything should go airy that Artorius plans on Massacring anything in his path to get to you, it would appear he put on that blood fueled armor again....but he is only going to do so if ordered by yourself or the Captain, but for now he seems to be letting his anger simmer while awaiting your or the Captains orders using her telepathy to communicate to Alyx. Nina blew Cyn a kiss before returning to the shadows only making that brief appearance, and to tease Cyn a bit, her form wasnt that of a child at the moment but a curvy and well endowed lady dressed in what could only barely be considered clothes due to being fabric and covering more private areas on her body. Her body was one that made men lust after her, although being a succubus that was a given.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leo stiffened at Alyx's wink, but he took a deep breath and gave a barely perceptible nod back at her. She had a plan or some sort. He just needed to trust her, that was all. He could do that. She was a brilliant commander, a very powerful vampire and an excellent schemer. Leo clenched his teeth and fists, but he decided against causing any further of a scene, and let the other team leave.

As soon as the admiral and his group were gone, though, he turned around and kicked the wall with an angry yell. His foot left a sizeable dent, though it wasn't nearly enough to cause any structural damage to the ship. He had no doubt that the captain would get on his ass about it once this situation was over and done with, but for now he could care less. He needed to get his anger and frustration out somehow before their rescue mission, or he would risk blowing everything up. He could not afford to be emotional, or a ticking time bomb.

He scowled as he looked up at Artorius, his fingers twitching as he took several deep breaths to calm himself. He would very much have preferred to kill something, but he was just as good at infiltration.

"I doubt you can convince the lieutenant to stay here, and hopefully we won't need a hammer at all." he said with a glance at Crane. Obviously he cared about the princess, and would not wish to leave her rescue in enemy hands. But Astrid's attitude, at least, reassured him that she and Alyx were on the same page, or at least reading somewhere in the same book. Now they just needed to come up with a way to get onto the ship.

He couldn't think of any that didn't involve blowing a hole in the side of it. Unless...

He bit his lower lip, fidgeting. He had a plan, but it would tip his hand more than he would like, and it would reveal some things to the Allarians that should remain hidden. To try and retrieve a prisoner, would it even be worth it? He turned to captain Leon and bowed his head.

"Forgive me for this, captain," he said before he turned back to Lieutenant Crane. "Your ship has a short transmission radio on it, does it not? Finn Bicksley's mercenary should be following after your ship as a security detail, whether your princess knows about the escort or not. Their craft is about the same size as the lifeboat and should have a cloaking device on it. It screws with magi, fucks up our detection systems. If we rendesvous with them they can get us to the admiral's ship without being noticed, cloud cover or not. Once we get there, we could pry open the refuse disposal hatch and enter that way."

He pursed his lips.

"Of course, that depends on if they'd be willing to work with us." It depended entirely on who the escort was. Camellia would work with them as soon as she knew who Leo was, but Rose might be more difficult to convince. "Captain, this plan relies entirely on me revealing my identity to the enemy, and as such they would gain information about our... military practices. It increases our chances of getting in undetected exponentially, but it has a risk and a price as well. It is entirely up to you. However there is a non-zero chance that if they notice the lifeboat they might intercept us anyways."



Cyn grit his teeth and allowed himself to be manhandled and herded, although he did stiffen when the princess was taken away. He may not have known her personally, but he was loyal to her, and did want to protect her. It was part of his job, and he had always felt like he needed to do his best to take care of those around him. Leaving her alone with captain Leon had been one thing, but there was a harshness to the Admiral that she didn't have, and he had no doubt he would hurt her if he wanted to.

Still, he didn't have a choice, so he let Maksim shove him into the prison, though he didn't like it. As soon as he was gone he glanced to Alyx.

"I trust you. Whatt'ya need me to do?" he said almost immediately, and it was true. Artorius spoke very highly of her, and it was clear that she was strong. She had lied to a higher officer in order to keep the princess from a worse situation, and had paid the price for it. He was sure that she probably had her own motives, but he at the very least didn't think that she would abandon the princess or turn her back on them.

Rose and Finn had always said that he trusted and let his guard down far too easily. They were probably right.

He jumped when Nina appeared again, hardly recognizing her. He felt himself blushing at her state of address, and he quickly looked away. He had always been awkward around that sort of woman, and his embarrassment was clearly palpable.

"S'that, uh, s'that a vampire thing?" he asked, a little curious, because she very clearly had changed form, but then he realized that Alyx probably wouldn't tell him anyways.

Speaking of vampires, though, that brought up an entirely different train of thought.

"Oh, wait, d'you, uh, need blood or anythin'? Either of yous? 'Cause, uh, yanno, I got it 'n' all, 'n' I don' mind sharin' or nothin'. That is, if ya need it. S'that rude to ask?" His face was still bright red as he tried to look anywhere other than at Nina, while also hoping that he wasn't being rude to the people who were trying to help him.

 

[jones573]

Gigi kept her head up and a grim expression on her face as they were walked across to the other ship. The effect was ruined substantially, when one of the men holding her arm went a bit too fast for her round a corner and she tripped, falling onto her hands and knees with a wince. She supposed it was nice of her escorts to help her up, though they were a bit more forceful about it than was polite.

When she was separated from Cyn though, she gave him a firm nod and what she thought was an encouraging smile. She hoped he interpreted it as permission to do whatever he felt was best to get out of the situation, because that was how she meant it.

In the admiral's office, Gigi let her eyes wander- She was impressed that he'd insisted on stuffing so much finery onto an airship, and gotten away with it. She knew there was a variety of ways to propel ships through the air with magic, but they all relied on the same basic principles as the engines of her people. The more it weighed, the more energy it took to move. The desk alone must cost more effort than was really worthwhile.

She returned her attention to the Admiral, and her eyebrows rose at his question. They hadn't tied her hands, so she folded them on her crossed knee.

"That little show back there was quite a lot of effort for a princess whose name you don't even know," Gigi said dryly, but introduced herself after a beat. "I am Princess Georgiana. Which is clearly neither here nor there," she pointed out. They'd been after any princess, not her specifically.


----


Crane was very glad to hear the Eldergaardians were not planning on leaving their Commander behind, and also glad that they began discussing it front of him almost immediately. It saved him a lot of dithering over the right thing to do and how much to say. He had no interest in revealing the princess's plans, especially as he had very little concept of what they might actually be.

"Ay, I'm not leaving Gigi for dead or worse," he told Leo.

"Course we got radio," Crane confirmed. "... Rust damned Bicksley," he muttered. Crane hated the feeling that no one ever told him anything, and it was an annoyingly common feeling these days.

 

[Reynarda]

Astrid glanced at Leo as he kicked a dent in her ship. That would have to be buffed out. Not that she blamed him. If she were not the captain, she would have done the same thing. But then Artorius threw a hammer at the ship. She scowled at the both of them. "Hey, we need to fly in this, you know. Once we retrieve Alyx, the princess, and the engineer, you two are buffing those dents out of my bridge or there will be hell to pay." Or, Alyx to pay, anyway, she mentally amended. She could only make them do so much.

She gave out a few orders and glanced at Crane. Well, Leo was right. The lieutenant would not be staying behind. Alright, so that was four. So that meant--

"The what," Astrid asked. "The scalpel? What? No, no hammers. This is a stealth mission. We can't let the admiral know we rescued them. I'm pretty sure Alyx set it up to make it look like she was liable to attempt to thwart the military by escaping with the princess. We don't want the admiral pursuing us. We're faster, but his guns are bigger."

She was about to give another order about the lifeboats when Leo apologized to her. She turned, fully prepared to yell at him for another dent in her ship, but then he went and did the number one thing he was not supposed to do. Astrid opened and closed her mouth several times before firmly closing it. Did Alyx know how familiar Leo was with some of the higher-ups in Allaria? Possibly. Alyx tended to let them keep their stories to themselves if they wanted to, but she also tended to be keenly observant. Though, she kept her vampires' secrets. Astrid only knew what she had gathered herself or what the vampires had told her.

Also, it was a good plan, but it was gross. Astrid did not fancy a tour through Admiral Jorgenson's crap.

Astrid dropped her eyes to Leo again when he turned back to her. It was times like this that she was glad Alyx held the policy of her vampires having wills of their own. Leo and Artorius were proving to be invaluable. She considered for only a second, and then let out a huff. "Nah, I'm not risking Alyx's life, and I gave my word to Princess Georgiana. We're going to need everything we can get. We've already broken a lot of rules. Might as well break the rest of them. Might satisfy you lot's need for rule-breaking for the next week, at least." She waved a hand. "Let's do this before I change my mind."

Astrid set her hands on her hips. Maybe if she brought the princess in, they would be forgiven for letting out their little military secret. Besides, it could also make Allaria very afraid of them once they knew the truth. That's what she tried to tell herself, anyway.

But this wasn't really about bringing in the princess anymore. She had given her word. Jorgenson would torture Georgiana, and he would enjoy it. Astrid had promised the princess' safety. And Alyx was her best friend. She wasn't letting anyone--least of all some stuck-up admiral--hurt her.




Alyx had an entire speech prepared about why Cyn needed to work with her, but it died in her throat when he announced his trust. All right, then. She nodded. "I can't touch these bars--they're coated with silver and fortified with magic. The magic will only open the door for a commanding officer. You're an engineer, right? Can you do something to get out? Or... perhaps you know energy. I could manipulate the energy in the bars and shatter them, but I'd rather conserve my strength for the actual escape." She tugged thoughtfully at the chain around her wrists. "We may have to fetch your princess. I doubt he'll hurt her up there, but he might not bring her down here until he intends to 'question' her."

Which was a problem. They would need a diversion. She closed her eyes, picturing the layout of the ship. This was not the first time she had been aboard--though, it was the first time she had seen the inside of the brig. She and Astrid were technically part of Jorgenson's fleet, so they had been aboard many times for briefings and whatnot.

"No massacring," Alyx said, her eyes flicking open as Nina appeared. She wasn't using telepathy if she didn't have to. "And leave the poor man alone." At Cyn's question, she clicked her tongue. "No, it is not a vampire thing."

Alyx paused and slid her eyes to Cyn, who was the color of a very ripe tomato. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Well. Most people assume I'm human like the rest of the crew. Not bad, engineer." She paused. "What's your name? It starts with a 'C', yes?" she asked, pronouncing the sound rather than the letter.

Alyx cocked her head, seriously considering the offer. The true answer was "yes", and she had to swallow down the saliva that gathered in her mouth at the mere mention of blood. She always made sure her vampires fed before she did, and blood had been scarce recently. But she was also far better than them at maintaining her hunger. And the princess would probably put a boot through her face if she noticed fang marks on one of her people. Worse-case scenario, she could feed from one of the admiral's human crew. They would have protections against Maksim's vampires, but they wouldn't have protection against her--at least, not protection she couldn't circumvent. "I appreciate it, but I'll be all right for now, and Nina isn't a vampire. Besides, we don't want anyone to know what we're up to. Maksim would notice that in the event he returns to be prickish."

She flicked her eyes to where she could just make out Nina's form. "Nina, have the others come up with a plan, yet? I need to know how much time I have to retrieve Princess Georgiana."




Admiral Jorgenson chuckled to himself as he leaned on his desk. "Well, I don't expect you to understand the complexities of military intrigue," he said, giving Georgiana a patronizing smile.

The name meant absolutely nothing to him. He knew she wasn't the crown princess, but, beyond that, he really had no idea how important (or not) she was. He had completed what he set out to do--capture whichever princess was invading their airspace. And, he had managed to send Leon Junior off with her tail tucked between her legs and had her commander in his brig. All in all, it had been a profitable mission.

"Tell me, girl, what are you doing in Eldergaardian airspace? And don't repeat that nonsense about glowing mushrooms. You're a spy, not a scientist." He snorted and added, "Though, why your military would send a royal is beyond me."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leo took a deep breath. Ok. This was not how he had expected things to go, really, and he was a little bit scared about how they would end up once this fiasco was over and done with, but, well. There was no second guessing himself now. At least Astrid seemed to trust him, and he trusted her too, to the extent that he could trust someone in his position. He was a little bit worried about Crane, but, well, no risk no gain. He gave their captain a small smile, then cleared his throat.

"In that case, I will properly introduce myself to clear things up. My name is Leonardo Vesper. I'm sure, lt. Crane, that you know of my father," he said, unable to keep the subtle wince off his face. Very few in the Allarian military had /not/ heard of General Edward Vesper, after all. Even though Allaria was not a country built on might and military power like Edlergaard was, they did have their war heroes, both from this conflict and past skirmishes. Leo didn't even know what his father had done first to gain his fame; the stories nowadays were so exaggerated that it could have been anything. As it was, he didn't go into the field nowadays, staying back in his mansion occasionally giving orders while others fought on the front lines.

Just thinking about it made Leo's mouth twist into a grimace, but he quickly cleared it away. He glanced back at Astrid as subtly as he could, trying to gauge her reaction. He had given a fake last name when Alyx had turned him, and he had gotten rid of his dog tags when he realized there was a chance he could be captured. He knew that he had the potential to be a very valuable prisoner, and he had not wanted to ever give his real position away like this. But Alyx and Cyn and the princess needed rescuing, and this was the best way to do so.

"I know the person piloting the vessel behind us. If I talk to them, they will likely work with us to ensure the princess and Cyn... The engineer's safety. So I'm requesting to use your radio to contact them."



"Ah, it's, uh, Cyn. Or, uh, really it's Hyacinth, but you ain't gotta call me that, yanno, unless you wanna, I guess."

Oh, thank goodness Nina was gone. Cyn could actually relax a little bit, though even talking to Alyx was a little intimidating. He wasn't really good at speaking the women in general, and his nervousness was pretty obvious.

"Your eyes're the same as those other guys, so I figured, s'all," he explained a little sheepishly. He had to fight the urge to remind her that he wasn't actually smart. He doubted that doing so in this situation would win him any pointers.

He looked back at the bars and placed one finger to his chin, examining them. They weren't too far apart. The soldiers, being mostly vampires, hadn't frisked him for any weapons when he came in. Which, really, he wasn't a soldier, so he didn't have any on him anyways. However...

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device, just big enough to fit into his hand. Flicking the trigger behind the little nozzle in front, a little burst of blue flame came out the front.

"The bars 'emselves're made'a steel, right?This's just for solderin' copper parts, it ain't built for steel, but f'you can control energy 'n' stuff, then you can probably intensify the heat o' a flame right? If we heat up the joints, you could probably break these, right? Ah, I ain't got no weldin' gloves or nothin though. Just a pair o' work gloves. Could you touch the bars with those?" He asked, then flushed a little bit. "Ah, but that's probably still wastin' energy, right? S'hard to really come up with an idea, since the way you guys and we guys do things is so differen't."

 

[jones573]

Georgiana hadn’t really been sure how she was going to play this, but Jorgenson was awfully condescending. So if he was going to treat her like a stupid little girl, she supposed she could meet his expectations. She did feel a bit like one.

“Nobody sent me,” she admitted honestly after a moment, her lip trembling. “But no one believed me, and I thought that maybe if I could find it then- But now everything’s ruined,” she said, tears gathering in her eyes and threatening to roll down her cheeks as if the bravery she’d been trying so hard to project to her crew had finally run out. “And it’s all my fault!”





If Crane had been drinking anything, it would have ended up all down the front of his shirt. As it was, he gave a spectacular splutter that caught in his throat and turned into a cough.

“You’re Vesper’s boy,?” he asked in shock and slight indignation. “How in the blazes did you end up on an Eldergaardian ship- Oh, never mind,” he said, cutting himself off. It could wait. Gigi and Cyn could not. “Aye, you can use the radio. C’mon then,” he said, leading the way. “You gonna need me to show you how to operate it or do you still remember how to push buttons?”

The son of Edward Vesper- An Eldergaardian vampire. He just couldn't believe it.

 

[Reynarda]

To be perfectly honest, Astrid was not sure how this was all going to go. She was trusting in a man who was apparently the son of a Allarian war hero--Astrid knew the name as "Know thy enemy" was a Eldergaardian mantra. How he could go against his own people? He had lucked out a bit--if she had known who he was, she would have turned him over to her superiors. As he was now one of Alyx's vampires, he was untouchable. Still.

Astrid understood why the other commanders tended to erase freewill and personality from their squadrons. Love of country and Allarian ideals would be dangerous--even if what they did to remove those loyalties pricked Astrid's conscience when she thought about it. Alyx claimed that treating them as animals was against vampiric law, but sometimes Astrid wondered if really it just fit some part of Alyx's personal agenda.

They were also putting themselves at the mercy of this "mercenary". She had no doubt they would help for the sake of Princess Georgiana and Cyn, the engineer. But if they took the few people she planned to take, that meant she, Leo, an Alyx would be outnumbered on the return trip. Normally she wouldn't be concerned, but she guessed Alyx would expend most of her energy getting herself and the other two off the ship. Astrid figured she could manipulate the air around the ship--unless they had something that could disrupt her magic. Alyx and Leo would have to keep them off her long enough to get back to their ship.

Astrid suddenly realized Leo could use this as his chance to turn turncoat, but she also knew Alyx had entrusted him with a decent amount of responsibility. Alyx wouldn't do that if she didn't trust him with her life. And so Astrid trusted him to at least make sure Alyx was safe before he did that.

Even if the Allarians decided to be nice, she doubted they would let her keep her prisoner. Then what would she do with the insubordinate commander she had rescued? They were going to have to pull some sort of stunt to get the generals to forgive them for this.

But if she left Alyx, the admiral would take his hatred of the Leons on Alyx. She had no idea what the story with Maksim was--Alyx dismissively waved her hand and said they had known each other since childhood any time Astrid brought it up--but she knew they hated each other. He wouldn't be any help. And if she left the princess, Admiral Jorgenson would torture her and the engineer--and Astrid had given her word.

Astrid sighed and followed Leo and Lt. Crane to the other ship. "I'm going to regret this so much. This is Alyx's fault, so she's getting us out of court-martial." She raised her eyebrows at Leo. "You want to explain how you know the engineer's name? Here I thought you were concerned about your commander, but I'm starting to think your concern may lie elsewhere."




"Hyacinth?" Alyx asked, her eyebrows raised. Her people named their children based on what they thought their personality would be, and she could see how Cyn's parents might think a sweet-smelling flower would fit their child. "I can call you whatever you wish. I'm not challenged by syllables if you prefer Hyacinth."

She smiled at his nervousness, chalking it up to her being a vampire. "That's more observant than many others. You don't give yourself enough credit."

Alyx tilted her head, watching the engineer as he removed something from his pocket. Typical Maksim--not being thorough. He had frisked her enthusiastically--so much so that Alyx had almost had to remind him that she was going willingly by putting her boot through his groin. All her knives were gone.

She jumped slightly, forgetting that Allarians had devices to make fire. "Yes, they're just coated with silver. The core is steel." She cocked her head, humming as she thought. "Intensifying the flame will not take much energy." She fluttered her fingers and the flame from his torch brightened to a near-white flame. "No, that will work. It will greatly reduce the integrity of the metal--I might be able to bend it rather than shattering it. That would take a lot less energy."

She paused, eyeing the bars. "Well, this will take us a few minutes. Shall we begin?"


Admiral Jorgenson glanced behind Georginana as his commander returned and leaned on the door. He had intended to use Maksim as intimidation, but the princess had started crying without any prompting.

The admiral just stared at her. This was not his area of expertise. He wasn’t really sure what to do when a prisoner started crying. Screaming, pleas, curses, those he was used to. Crying, not so much.

Fortunately for him, Maksim was subtler. The commander strode over to Georgiana and crouched next to her chair. “Don’t get upset, love,” he said, his tone surprisingly gentle. He passed a handkerchief to her. “Believed you about what?”

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leo gave Crane a wry smile, seeming to enjoy his shocked reaction.

"It is a bit of a long story," he said, although he supposed it wasn't really, more like a medium-sized story. Not that they had time for those either, at the moment. "And I know how to work a radio. I'm no engineer or anything, but I'm not a luddite," he grumbled.

He did linger behind a little bit though, keeping pace with Astrid. Truth be told, he was a little bit nervous. Now that his position had been revealed, she could totally turn him over to her mother if she wanted to. He wanted to trust that she wouldn't, but he couldn't help himself from fidgeting, just a little bit. Normally he was a lot better at concealing his emotions, but honestly, he was... a little scared, really.

"I apologize for lying to you," he mumbled, unable to really meet her eyes. Their relationship had always been a professional one above everything else, but Leo had always been bad at not getting attached to people, as much as he hated and tried to hide it. He was a bit startled by her question, though, and his cheeks turned a bit pink as he tried not to show his panic on his face. Hadn't Cyn introduced himself? Maybe Leo had just assumed he had.

"It's-- Obviously my loyalty is to my commander," he said quickly. "And I will put her safety above all others. I'm not even, I mean... The engineer and I were... We knew each other as children, is all. I haven't seen him in person in around ten years or so, and he didn't recognize me or anything, though I guess now that doesn't really matter anymore."

He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath as he tried to sort things out. He obviously cared about Cyn's safety, as well as that of the princess. He didn't have ties to Allaria anymore, but he wasn't a /monster/, and the two of them were pretty innocent. Still, he had his own allegiances now, as well as his own self preservation. He would never do anything to deliberately put them in danger, but... This was war, and during war, everything got a little bit murky, morally.

"My father did not reveal much of military importance to me, and all the information I have is two years out of date," he explained slowly, then lowered his voice to a whisper so that only Astrid would hear it. "However I will advise you, no matter what negotiations happen, or what Bicksley's mercenary tries to pull, make sure you keep both the princess and the engineer as hostages. He isn't actually important, not in the way that the princess is, but he'll give you a lot of leverage over certain people with a lot of power."

He hesitated for a second, his eyes sliding down to the floor as he fought the urge to bite his lower lip.

"I just ask that you not... hurt him... is all. But I realize I don't have the position to be making demands."



Cyn flushed a bit.

"Oh, uh, Cyn's fine. Hyacinth ain't really a name for a guy, yanno, and... Sorry, 'm not really all that good at, yanno, talkin' to women. I mean, 'sides my sister. I mean... 'm probably kinda ramblin'," he explained awkwardly.

He did seem quite proud when she praised him, perking up a little bit, although he didn't seem to notice it. He was always happy to know that he was actually helping, especially with a situation as important as this one.

He watched the flame with open fascination, obviously as impressed and startled by magic as Alyx was by the simplicity of a butane torch.

"That's, uh, really cool," he said in awe, before realizing that he actually said it outloud, and then quickly clamping his mouth shut. He nodded his head vigorously as he began to heat up the bars where they were structurally weakest and easiest to bend.

 

[jones573]

Georgiana took the handkerchief and honked loudly into it, satisfied at the amount of snot she managed to get into it before handing it back with a wet sniffle. Learning to cry on command had truly been time well spent.

"Thank you," she mumbled. "Oh, you won't believe me either," she told them fearfully, her face red with shame. She tried to recall if they had locked the door behind her. She was pretty sure she hadn't heard anything 'click' at least.

"It's just supposed to be a myth, but- Um, maybe- Do you have a map of the area," she asked Maskim with a sniffle. The admiral's ornate map cabinet seemed to boast an impressive selection, and more importantly, it was behind the desk. Hopefully the admiral thought to well of himself to bother getting up from his comfortable and authoritative chair when there was a lesser officer in the room to do it for him. "It might be easier if I can show you..."

---

Crane started up the radio, fiddling with the dials a bit to make sure they were on the correct frequency.

"Whenever you're done gossiping about how fine I look, please take your time," he groused at the lagging, whispering pair. Of course he wanted to know whatever they were discussing, but so long as things continued in a mostly princess-and-engineer-rescuing direction, he thought it best not to push too much. "But we're ready to make contact at your leisure, so."

 

[Reynarda]

Astrid glanced down at Leo as he dropped back to walk with her. She was a little taken aback by Leo's apology. She would have done the same thing in his position. In fact, she fully planned on giving a false name to this mercenary. After a few silent seconds, she snorted. "Don't worry about it, Leo."

She watched as he fidgeted. What was he so worried about?

At his explanation, she shook her head. "You people and knowing people when you were kids." Still, she relaxed slightly at his declaration of loyalty. Good. They were both on the same page. "Well, as long as I can count on you to get Alyx out, that's all I ask."

"Leo," Astrid started as he began to talk about military secrets. "I'm not--" She cut herself off as he continued. Why was he telling her this? Was he really more loyal to them than his countrymen? Astrid wondered if maybe they had treated him better than the Allarians had or something.

Astrid ran a hand through her hair. "I would love to hang on to both of them--but they're going to have the three of us outnumbered and Alyx is going to burn up what energy she has to get to us. It might be just you and me trying to retain our hostages."

Aw, dang. Alyx was going to be so ticked when they collected her in an enemy ship.

Realizing what Leo was saying, Astrid raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I gave my word, Leo. I have no intention of hurting him. You know torture isn't really my style."

Astrid glanced over at Crane as he spoke up. She gave Leo a little nod. "Here goes. Let's hope this works."




Alyx dipped her head. "Cyn it is." She wasn't really sure what he meant about it not being a guy's name, but she shrugged. Perhaps Allarians did not name the same way her people did. She tilted her head at him, a small smile on her face. He was more worried about her being female than her being a vampire. "How is talking with women any different from talking with men? You have a sister?" She asked, hoping to put him at ease. "Younger or older? I have a younger brother. He'll be turning ten soon."

Alyx shot him a small smirk when he called her magic cool. "Thanks."

She watched as the bars began to heat. When the metal began to warp, she nodded. "Could I borrow your gloves?" Standing, she looked the bars up and down. Too bad she wasn't stronger. A larger vampire might have been able to bend the bars without expending any magic. As it was, she would have to push a bit of energy into them to bend them.




Maksim took the handkerchief back gingerly. That was going in water as soon as he got out of here.

The commander eyed the princess as she explained. A myth? She was hunting some Allarian myth? That didn't sound quite right. Weren't they all about science and such?

He glanced at the admiral, expecting a similar wariness on the man's face, but Admiral Jorgenson just jerked his head towards his maps.

"Sir--" Maksim started, but he was cut off by a glare from the admiral.

"Get the map, Grivvin."

Dipping his head to hide the flash of sharp teeth, Maksim rocked to his feet. He would have normally tried a bit harder to express his concerns, but he was still stinging from Alyx accusing him of grovelling. He strode over to the cabinet and began pulling the map of the immediate area down. While his back was turned, he allowed his neutral expression to drop as he rolled his eyes and twisted his lip into a sneer. The princess was up to something, but if the admiral was going to silence him, let her try whatever she was going to try.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leo glanced at Astrid, giving her a thin smile.

"Don't worry about the numbers, I've worked with these people before. I know how to deal with them." He didn't know if he'd say that he had a concrete plan, because there were too many variables at this point to really come up with one, but he had an idea. Whether it was a good one or not would just have to wait to be seen.

He turned to Crane and rolled his eyes as he stepped up to the radio.

"We can't help it, you're very handsome for somebody your age, Lieutenant," he snarked, looking at the frequency and adjusting it to a channel that was not normally used by the Allarian military. He stared down at the console for a second, then took a deep breath and pressed the call button.

"Attention Nighthawk, this is the Louisa," he said, then waited for an answer. For a long moment there was only static on the other end, and Leo found himself frowning as he pressed the button again. "Attention Nighthawk, this is the Louisa, the ship you've been following for the past day or so. Please respond." Again, there was silence, and Leo was starting to look very annoyed. He was pretty sure he knew who was piloting the Nighthawk now. "Attention, Nighthawk, if you don't answer me--"

"How did you get this channel?" interrupted him, a deep, masculine voice crackling through the radio's speakers. Leo made a face that was somewhere between 'just ate an expired egg salad sandwich' and 'extremely constipated'. Of course it was him. It just had to be him. It couldn't be sweet Camellia, who was nice and actually liked him a little bit, even though he knew even she would be reluctant to work with him as a vampire. The powers that be had to make this as difficult as possible, on a day that was already shaping up to be one of the worst that he'd had in years. He braced his hands on the desk and heaved out a long sigh before he focused his energies and hit the call button again.

"Rose," he said curtly, as though the name was physically hurting him to say. "This is Leonardo Vesper with the Louisa, requesting your assistance with--"

"Vesper is dead," the other ship interrupted again. Leo's nose scrunched up in further distaste.

"Yes, well, there's an explanation behind that--"

"State your name and rank, and how you got this channel. I won't repeat myself."

"I already told you--" Leo broke off, frowning. Well, he could have expected this. "I know your name! Who else knows your goddamned name? I need your help with--"

"I won't repeat myself."

He couldn't say this was anymore difficult than he actually expected it would be, but Leo's already thin patience was growing even thinner as he scowled down at the console.

"You pissed the bed until you were twelve, you horrible little ingrate, and until you quit interrupting me I will throw every terrible little detail of your life into your face, in front of the whole communications crew," he snapped, feeling very vindicated when the line went silent. Who cares if the crew weren't actually here at the moment. He allowed himself a petty victory smile, though the feeling passed in seconds.

Rose was silent for almost a minute before the channel opened again.

"Explain the situation thoroughly," he said, and Leo huffed. Finally, some progress. He kind of wished Astrid wasn't watching this, because it was a bit embarrassing to be caught in such a childish moment. Still, he was getting somewhere.

"Hyacinth and the princess that you've been detailing have been captured by Eldergaardian forces, and are currently aboard the Griffin. Our current forces aren't enough to launch a rescue attempt, and I know you can't do it by yourself. I'm requesting a temporary alliance to ensure the safety of all parties," he explained as briefly as he could. When Rose answered, his tone was unimpressed.

"You allowed this to happen?" He asked, and Leo ground his teeth. He didn't want to just come out and say 'hey I work for the enemy now', because Rose was stubborn as a mule and getting his help would be tough enough already.

"Are you going to offer your assistance?" Leo asked rather than answering the accusation. At least the silence didn't stretch on too long this time.

"Prep the docking area. I'll rendesvous with you in seven minutes," Rose said shortly, and Leo breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to Crane.

"You know the controls better than I do at this point," he said, then felt a little bit of colour come to his face. Arguing with Rose was as natural as breathing, but it was still a bit embarrassing to have an audience to it. "He'll help. He knows he can't do this on his own, and he takes his duty seriously."

In a way, it might have been better that it was Rose, really. He was an asshole, but he was a straightforward and predictable asshole. It would be far easier to manipulate and anticipate him than Camellia. Cyn had very minimal combat ability, and the princess was a researcher, so Leo doubted that she would be able to put up much of a fight. The captain was right in that they were technically outnumbered, but only two of the four Allarians were trained soldiers. Gaining Rose's compliance would be easy enough - the only problem was Crane. He was an older and far more experienced soldier, and Leo didn't actually /know/ him. He had far too little information to establish a concrete plan of action regarding him that wasn't based around 'leave him to Astrid and Alyx', and he didn't want to place the burden directly on his captain and commander.

He'd have to come up with something on the fly, then, after the rescue.



Cyn flushed again, rubbing the back of his head.

"It is! I mean, the orphanage where I grew up was pretty segregated by gender 'n' all, so the only women I ever talked to was the matrons, 'n' then after I started workin' it was the lady of the house 'n' the head maid," he explained, making a face. "'N' they were all scary as hell. In comparison, you ain't scary at all."

He /still/ had scars on his back from when Lady Bicksley had had him caned when he was 14 for doing the laundry wrong. He shuddered at the memory, though the change of subject to his siblings brought a smile back to his face.

"I got a brother 'n' a sister," he said as he handed Alyx the gloves so she could get to work. "They're twins, five years older."

 

[jones573]

Georgiana might have considered this among her worst plans ever, but that would imply there actually was a ‘plan’ at all. But staying on this ship was too much of a risk- Their best chance of escape was now, before they gained too much altitude. The flying rig her sister had designed- worn tucked into a harness under Gigi’s coat and shirt- would probably support the weight of both her and Cyn and see them safely to the ground or to security detail that had been tailing them, whichever came first, but there was no air supply built into it and no protection from the elements. She had to get out of this room, get Cyn, and get off the ship. The rest would have to be figured out later.

So. As soon as Maskim’s back was turned, she gently tapped her left heel against the floor three times. For half a second, Gigi worried it hadn’t worked- Maybe she hadn’t armed it correctly? The vampire guards hadn’t allowed her much time when she’d ‘tripped’ in the hallway. Or maybe she was supposed to really stomp them- But there was a wave of heat under her foot and she braced herself against the chair and aimed her toes at the massive desk.

There was the slightest sound of the explosive shell hitting the wood, and then the desk blew backwards into the Admiral and Maskim, and promptly burst into flames. Gigi didn’t wait to see their reaction and instead jumped from the chair and was out of the door so fast she surprised even herself. She raced back the way she had come, trying to ignore the pain in her left foot. She felt like the heat had welded the boot to the skin on her foot. What in the blazes had Millicent put in the rust-damned things?

She paused only briefly in her dash towards the brig- or to where she was at least hoping the brig would be, assuming the Griffin followed the same general layout principles as others she had studied- to grab a pair of batons from off the wall that were framed in a red outline and looked promisingly weapon-like, or at least like she might be able to do some sort of damage with them. She supposed they might be alarmed, but it wasn’t in a way she could see much less figure out, and besides- She had to assume that Jorgensun and Maskim had already raised some sort of alarm, even if the rest of the crew hadn’t felt the explosion.





Crane watched Leo intently, making sure to note the frequency he was using and any other adjustments he had made. He was drafting a very impassioned speech about his frustrations at being kept in the dark and he wasn’t sure if the target was going to be Leo, Bicksley, or the princess. Likely the last, but if he didn’t get the chance to deliver it to Her Highness, the others would certainly be getting an earful.

There was a few moments there where he almost grabbed the transmitter away from Leo to yell at the person on the other line, but luckily young Vesper got it sorted, and Crane took the controls back when prompted.

“I ought to warn ya,” he said, after some indecision. “Before you get attached to any one plan and flush it full of details- Her Highness tends to… Improvise. I don’t know what sort of tricks she’s got up her sleeves today,” he admitted. “But I do know we’re likely gonna hafta be flexible.”

For once in your life, girl, Crane prayed. Stay where you are and wait for me to get to you.

 

[Reynarda]

Astrid raised her eyebrows. Leo seemed pretty confident, but if he had picked up any habits from his commander, his plan was insane and would be partly by the seat of his pants. Like Alyx's plan to reclaim their hostages. That had been half-baked at best and was definitely insane. If the entire crew of the Dragon didn't end up court-martialed, it would be a miracle.

She listened with undisguised interest as Leo spoke with this mercenary. At first she was worried the mercenary would ignore them, but he finally did--and sounded very grumpy about it. And then Leo had to argue with him--and it sounded like they knew each other fairly well. More people he knew when he was a kid, she supposed. Dang, what would people yell at her to prove they knew her? She didn't want to think what the other captains she had been in the academy with would say. Astrid was interested to learn that the mercenary's name was Rose and Cyn's full name was Hyacinth. She was sensing a flower theme--where they related?

She frowned slightly when Leo explained. Had the mercenary not seen them take the Louisa and then the larger vessel meet them? Leo seemed to be hiding the fact that he was part of her crew--which was fine, she understood that--but how was he going to explain that when they met up? And the Dragon was still towing the Louisa. Unless they wanted to pretend the smaller ship was towing the larger ship? She could make it look like that with her wind abilities... but still. It just seemed hard to explain.

Astrid waited until Leo signed off. "How do you intend to explain... ?" she gestured at their uniforms. She was very obviously in Eldergaardian captain's greys, and he wore the hallmark red of the vampire squadrons. And since they had the same insignia on their backs, it was fairly obvious they were on the same team. Plus, the Dragon squadron had made a name for itself thanks to the individuality of the members. Vampires that thought through their attacks rather than just rampaging at the whim of their commander were far more effective, and Alyx generally was a good commander and a sneaky strategist.

But today was a day of explaining military secrets to enemies, so they might just tell this Rose all that had occurred. Astrid shrugged slightly. "I'll go along with whatever you want to do to get this mercenary's help, but I would like to be prepared."



Maksim heard the tapping but took his time with the map--acting as if disentangling them was taking a few seconds. But he quickly regretted everything as the desk smashed into his back. It had hit Admiral Jorgenson first, so it didn't hit him as hard, but still. And then it burst into flames--which he was not excited about.

Jorgenson was spitting curses and threats--some of which were aimed at his commander. Maksim, though smaller than the admiral, was endowed with vampiric strength, and so was able to push the desk off them with minimal effort. The wards kicked in, dousing the fire and everything else.

Admiral Jorgenson coughed and spluttered. "Get her, damn you!"

Maksim didn't need to be told twice. He rushed out, whistling as he ran.




Alyx arched an eyebrow, not sure if she should be pleased or offended that Cyn didn't think she was scary when compared with other women he had known. Still, the women he had interacted with seemed rather cruel. She could understand why he felt nervous.

She smiled. She didn't usually mention her brother to people outside the Dragon, but she had gambled it would put him at ease if she shared something that made her seem more like a person. She took the gloves and pulled them over her hands. "Oh? So you're the baby, then? My younger brother's name is Cyril. What are your brother's and sister's names?"

She tested the gloves by tapping the bars like someone testing to see how hot something was. The gloves held, so she gripped the bar they had heated. Bracing herself on the bar next to it, she focused her energy and pushed it into the bar. It warped and bent, the entire bar shifting to make a space just large enough for a small person. It was certainly fortunate that Alyx and Cyn were both on the slighter side. Astrid--larger and far more muscular--would never fit through there, Alyx mused.

Huffing, Alyx slipped into Cyn's cell. She had a feeling Maksim had put her in the more heavily warded cell. "Let's do the same thing to the other bars."

"I think the admiral took you to thwart any escape attempts," Alyx said as Cyn worked on the next set of bars. "His mistake. You are making it far easier."

Grunting, she bent the second bar. As she had expected, it was much easier to warp and bend. Alyx slipped through to freedom--well, relative freedom--and gestured for Cyn to follow. As he stepped through, she passed back his gloves. "Now, the hard part. We have to avoid everyone all while trying to rescue your princess. Keep behind me."

They had only made it a little ways down the hallway when Alyx froze, her head cocked. There it was, a high-pitched whistle that only vampires would be able to hear. She used it, herself, to find her squad in the thick of battle. "Silver," she hissed. "Why's he calling his vampires?"

She motioned for Cyn to follow and started back down the hall. However, she quickly reached back and pushed him into a wall. Blue witch-light energy sparked in the air around her as she dropped into a fighting position.

"You!" Alyx snapped as Georgiana came running around the corner. The energy dissipated as she gave the princess an annoyed look. "You're the reason we're about to have twenty vampires plus their commander after us! What were you thinking?!"

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leo looked to Astrid, a small but grim smile coming to his face.

"He probably already has some sort of idea about that," he said. Rose wasn't stupid, as much as he was a jerk. He knew that if Leo was alive, it meant that he was a prisoner of the enemy in some capacity. He probably hadn't guessed vampire, but it wouldn't take him too long to figure out what had happened. "He's been watching us the whole time, he knows that we stopped the Louisa, and he knows that an expedition of their size wouldn't stand a chance against the Dragon. He probably thinks this is a trap, but he would never put his own safety above that of the princess. Besides that, Cyn, the engineer, is his little brother, so he has an emotional investment in this plan."

Bicksley had gotten all the siblings involved in his schemes in some capacity or another. Though Cyn was far less involved than the twins when it came to the dangerous stuff.

Leo grimaced as Crane explained the princess' disposition towards improvisation. He certainly had experience in that department, working with Astrid and Alyx, but that didn't mean he liked it.

"I'm sure we can account for variables," he said, wondering if he had enough time to go to the ship's armory before Rose arrived. They didn't have any anti-vampire weapons, though, so maybe he could bum something off of Rose instead. It would add legitimacy to their claim that the escape was orchestrated by Allaria if they only used Allarian weapons.

A moment later, through the viewport in front of them, the sky began to shimmer before the appearance of a small ship came into view. Leo didn't really know how the camouflage worked exactly - it had only been in development when he was captured, and he had been mainly guessing when he said that the ship was equipped with it. It was an educated guess, though, and it turned out to be right, so it was fine.

This would all be fine.

"Ok. Uhm, just a warning, he'll probably be a little mad when he comes on board," he said, just as the vessel finished docking and connected to the bridge. The door to the Nighthawk opened up, and before he even had time to react, the tall and lanky pilot was out of the ship and storming across the Louisa's bridge. Leo knew exactly what was coming, but he couldn't say he actually enjoyed it when Rose punched him across the face hard enough to send him staggering. He grunted, stumbling backwards towards Astrid before reaching up to cradle his jaw. God, there was blood in his mouth. It would be gross if it didn't just make him slightly hungry.

Rose had several inches of height on him, standing well above six feet, and he glared down at the vampire, his fists trembling and shoulders shaking slightly. It was like he hadn't even noticed Crane or Astrid yet, anger giving him tunnel vision, and Leo swirled the bloody spit around in his mouth before spitting it out on the floor. It wasn't like they were on /their/ ship, so it was fine. The Louisa's crew could clean it up eventually.

"Ow," Leo said flatly, and Rose looked like he was one hair breadth of self control away from punching him again.

"You traitorous son of a /bitch/," he snapped, and Leo fought the urge to roll his eyes. He was surprised Rose's glasses weren't all steamed up with how pissed he was. He had to fight the urge to laugh again at the mental image, because he had a feeling that would not help their situation.

"Nice to see you too," he said instead, moving his jaw back and forth to make sure nothing was broken.

"I should kill you right now--" Rose began, and Leo really did roll his eyes then.

"Ok, you're grumpy, I get that, but we have more important things to worry about right now than how much you hate me. We can talk details about this situation after we launch our rescue mission," he said, his eyes traveling to Crane for a moment. He had no doubt that he would also want to know the full story behind Leo now working for their enemy. It wasn't one he really wanted to tell, but oh well. First things first.

Rose, for his part, still looked like he wanted to punch somebody. Leo's shifting gaze seemed to actually alert him to the fact that they weren't the only ones in the room, though, and he took a quick step backwards to put distance between himself and Astrid. He studied her for a moment before his eyes flicked to Crane, and he inclined his head in a small nod.

"Lieutenant," he said, his emotions reigning in at once like a switch had been flipped. "I apologize for keeping you in the dark about my presence. My name is Rose Barlowe. My mission is to keep the princess safe should an emergency situation arrive."

Leo watched him quietly for a moment, then sighed. He had no doubt that the second their mission was completed, Rose would prove himself to be the most annoying obstacle he possibly could. But for now his cooperation was vital, and while he was still obviously mad, he was at least present enough to keep his emotions in check for the sake of his duty. That was good. He could work with that.

"Right. You should know from Lieutenant Crane's presence that the princess isn't here. I'll keep things short and to the point: one of our crew was taken wrongly along with the princess and your brother." He watched Rose flinch as he mentioned Cyn but he schooled his features again easily enough. "The technology you have on the nighthawk is imperative to sneaking on-board the Griffin. You don't have enough intel or the backup possible to launch a rescue on your own. You want the princess and Cyn back, we want our crewmember, so we're offering a temporary alliance to meet both our needs."

Rose looked from Leo to Astrid, a sneer coming to his face as he glowered at them.

"You expect me to just take a traitor at his word?" he asked, his voice a low growl, and Leo glared back at him.

"Yes. You don't have a choice. If it makes you feel any better, you can hit me again once everyone is safe," he said snidely, and for a second he was worried Rose was going to hit him again right now, but he lowered the fist he'd raised after a long moment of hesitation.

"....Fine. What's your plan?"



Cyn chuckled a little.

"Baby, yeah. Their names're Rose 'n' Camellia. I think our parents liked flowers or somethin'," he said with a small smile. They certainly worried over him as though he was a baby sometimes, though he knew why they did, and he couldn't blame them for it.

He watched in obvious fascination and awe as Alyx just bent the bars out of place, and then stepped back to make room for her when she entered his cell. When they opened up the bars to the outside, he had to squeeze a bit to get through, but he managed it. He had never been more happy to be on the small side of average.

"Glad to be o' help 'n' all," he said, still a bit nervous, but clearly a bit more at ease. So far, everything was going ok. There was no reason to panic yet. He took the gloves and slid them back into his pocket along with his torch, and then followed after Alyx. He could do this. Everything was going to be fine.

"I, uh, gotta warn ya, I ain't really good in a fight," he said, his worry flaring up when she mentioned vampires. He could maybe hold his own against an average guy in a scuffle, but a trained soldier? No way. A vampire soldier was even more impossible. He didn't really like relying on somebody else to protect him, especially somebody who was technically an enemy, but he hadn't been lying when he said he trusted Alyx. He didn't think that she would go out of her way to help him out and then turn on him later.

Maybe he was just naiive, but he wanted to believe that she had his back, at least a little.

He grunted as he was pushed back into the wall, though the second Georgiana came into view his eyes widened and he stepped forward.

"Princess!" He exclaimed, relieved that she was ok. "You ain't hurt or nothin', right?"

 

[jones573]

Gigi might have sailed past the pair of them if they hadn’t alerted her to their presence.

“I’m fine,” she reassured Cyn, panting a bit, grasping him by the shoulders to examine him in turn. “You? Did they hurt you,” she asked, looking over his neck in concern. She didn’t raise the stolen batons at Alyx, but she put herself between the commander and the engineer in a way that indicated the former was not to be trusted with the latter.

“Well I was working on the specifics, but the general idea was to get Cyn, blast a hole in the nearest exterior wall and get out,” she snapped back. “Don’t know if I can fly well enough if I’m carrying two, though,” she said. At least not well enough to dodge any projectiles that might follow them. Alyx could maybe be useful to keep around, but she hadn’t really factored into Gigi’s escape plans.





Crane watched the scenario in front of him with obvious displeasure. He would never have acted like this, even as a reckless youth.

“All right, that’s enough,” he said as he stepped between the men, though luckily they already seemed to be cooling off.

“Eh, nobody tells me a rust-damned thing,” Crane said tiredly, waving off Rose’s apologies. It was admittedly, how he’d first earned his reputation all those many years ago, but still. A man who could do anything, with next to nothing. They didn’t give medals for classified operations, though- Just an eleven year old princess who needed someone to prevent her from stealing from foreign dignitaries, or running illegal experiments on corpses, or breaking into the national vaults. (Or at least, needed someone to show that princess how to get caught less often.)

“But I hope they told you enough about me that you believe me when I say- You let your emotions interfere with your professionalism again, Barlowe? I’ll make you regret it,” Crane promised with a low growl.

Just like Astrid and Leo, Crane had run the math- With the mercenaries included, there would be more Allarians than Eldergaardians once the captives were free. And he hadn’t missed that Vesper knew Cyn’s full name- Or his brother. Whatever history had passed between the lot, Crane had a feeling that, traitor or not, Vesper would be hesitant to harm either Rose or Cyn.

 

[Reynarda]

Astrid eyed the man who stormed onto the ship they had captured. She could tell he was about to do something, but Leo didn't flinch back, so she left it to him. When he stumbled back, though, she did put her arms out to catch him. He recovered well enough, but Astrid still shot a dark look at the mercenary. Rose might know Leo from before, but Leo was her crew now, and no one touched her crew without paying for it. She kept her fists to herself, but she called up a small wind, prepared to blow Rose backwards if he tried to punch Leo again.

But Leo was also asking for it, and Astrid was left to wonder if Alyx chose to turn trouble-makers on purpose or if some chaos god just had it out for her.

Astrid was grateful that Crane stepped between them. She guessed Rose might not welcome her doing so.

When Rose asked for the plan, Astrid crossed her arms over her chest. Damn, it would be nice to know. "We use your ship to sneak over to the Griffin, then we climb up through the--" She glanced at Leo. "--sewers and rescue our crew-mate, Cyn, and Princess Georgiana."

Astrid hadn't missed that Leo hadn't mentioned Alyx's name or rank and figured it meant she shouldn't either. Rose might not like having to also rescue Commander Draya, she figured.

"That's assuming your princess and my crew-mate have not either blown up the ship or picked a fight--respectively," she added by way of clarification. "The more we stand around talking, the more likely Admiral Jorgenson is to move on to the stronger interrogation methods regardless, so we should get moving. I'd rather get my crew back in one piece." She raised her eyebrows at Rose. "Assuming you don't want your brother to get caught in the crossfire--no offense, but he didn't seem the fighting type."




Alyx felt a little annoyed that Georgiana felt the need to put herself between her and Cyn. Not only had she obviously not bitten him, but she had also broken him out with her. Plus, even if Astrid hadn't promised his safety, he seemed too kind to be hurt. And Leo obviously cared about him. She couldn't ignore that, either.

Was the princess bleeding? She swore she could smell blood. It was making her dizzy, whatever that smell was. Alyx shook her head to clear it.

Glancing at the weapons Georgiana had claimed, Alyx huffed. "If it's an exterior wall you want, you're going the wrong way. The walls down here are thick." She arched an eyebrow. "I'm flattered you thought to include me." If Astrid hadn't made a promise and if the recapture of the princess didn't determine the entire crew's future, she would have left the princess to her own devices.

As it was, Alyx wondered what the princess had that could fly. She wondered if she could increase its power with her magic. But then, they could lose the princess--or worse, Alyx would end up captured again.

That was neither here nor there at the moment as distant footsteps caught her attention. "We don't need your flying. My captain is coming to rescue us. All we have to do is stay alive." Alyx glanced over her shoulder. "Maksim's vampires are coming up from their quarters." Alyx waved both Georgiana and Cyn backwards. "Quick! Back the way you came and take a left instead of a right."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Rose’s eyes widened so slightly that somebody who knew him less than Leo might have missed the expression. He at least seemed embarrassed by the chastisement, and he dipped his head to Crane once more, though a bit deeper this time.

“I humbly apologize for my misconduct. It won’t happen again,” he said, and Leo raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’re not going to apologize to me?” He asked, because he was incapable of not being an awful little pest. Rose glared at him, and he smiled innocently back at him. He didn’t push the issue, though, because they had more important things to deal with.

“Yes, that’s the gist of it,” he said as Astrid explained. Rose frowned, clearly not entirely impressed, but at least his anger had cooled down enough to give him a clear head. He contemplated for a few seconds, then turned his gaze to Astrid.

“If she’s coming on board, she has to be blindfolded,” he said, and Leo made a great show of rolling his eyes.

“Seriously? She wouldn’t know the difference between a solar battery and a steam engine. No offence, captain,” he added quickly. Rose glared at him and looked entirely ready to argue, but Astrid bringing up Cyn being caught in the crossfire shut him up immediately. She was entirely right; his brother was not a fighter, and if a battle broke out he had no doubt he would be a liability at best and a casualty at worst.

“Fine,” he said gruffly, turning back to the nighthawk. “It’ll be a tight fit with four people, but we can squeeze in.”

Leo, pleased that so far everything was going to plan, exhaled slowly and then followed after him.

“Oh, I also want a sword,” he said, and Rose looked back at him with undisguised annoyance.

“I don’t use swords,” he grumbled, but Leo hardly seemed bothered as he climbed in behind the pilot’s seat and began examining things. Unlike the Louisa and other airships of its caliber, the Nighthawk was tiny and clearly built for stealth. It had a front console with a seat in front of it, along with a stowage area behind it. Leo ducked down and opened up a weapons’ case tucked away in the back, rifling through things like he owned the place.

“Camellia likes swords,” he said back, wincing as his fingers brushed up against silver blades. Right, he should have worn gloves for this, probably. He managed to spy what he was looking for quickly enough, though, and pulled out the hilted short sword, thankful that the silver didn’t continue up to the handle.

He pulled it out of the sheath a few inches, examining the sharpness and condition of the blade. Content with what he saw, he attached the hilt to his belt and smiled.



Cyn shook his head quickly, trying to offer what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

“No, ‘m all good. Commander Draya really helped me out,” he explained. “But I’m jus’ glad you’re ok. We were on our way to get ya.”

He didn’t really blame Georgiana for being cautious of the vampire commander, but right now it was probably a lot better to stick together without worrying about mistrust.

He did narrow his eyes when she mentioned flying. Did she have a personal flight device? Cyn didn’t know much about those, but considering the air pressure and temperature, he was pretty sure he did not want to be blowing a hole open and jumping out.

Alyx beat him to the veto, though, and he bit down on his lower lip, quickly following after her directions.

 

[jones573]

Gigi looked irritated at Alyx’s correction on where she might find an exterior wall- Obviously she had still been on the ‘Get Cyn’ step of the plan. She had been intending to change course once she’d found him.

“Going from custody of an enemy admiral to an enemy captain is hardly a ‘rescue’,” she scoffed. But. Alyx seemed to have some sort of communication with the Dragon, and she seemed a lot more confident in her plans than Gigi was in her own. “But I’ll take it.”

She began jogging back the way she’d come as Alyx had directed. “I-uh- liberated these,” she said, holding up the stolen batons. “Not sure if they’d be useful in a fight? I’m not great at hand to hand,” she admitted, “But if you’ve got something I can shoot with, I’ve got decent enough aim.”

She was actually an excellent marksman, but she wasn’t going to admit that to an enemy unless she actually had to demonstrate it. Better to let Alyx think she was just an overconfident princess who did all right shooting clay pigeons.

“Cyn,” she asked as they rounded another corner. “You seen anything on this boat you might be able to make use of?”

The problem was that the Griffin relied on magical means rather than mechanical- Half the structures and markings she’d seen on board were unfamiliar to her. And even if she knew what they did and how they worked, there was no guarantee they’d work for someone without magic.





Crane followed the others into the Nighthawk with minimal complaint. “All right, lets get this shit-show on the road then,” he mused.

 

[Reynarda]

Astrid balked at the thought of being blindfolded. She trusted Leo to make sure no one tried to stab her in the back or something, but she did not like the idea nonetheless. Fortunately, Leo deflected Rose's concerns. But Astrid had every intention of looking at everything very closely and doing her best to remember all she saw.

"I might," she grumbled back at Leo, more because she guessed the others would expect her to insist she had some knowledge of those and might find agreement suspicious.

She followed the others aboard the Nighthawk, frowning slightly at the size. It would be a tight squeeze, and no doubt Alyx was going to be thrilled this was how Astrid was rescuing her.

Astrid flicked her eyes over the console, trying to guess what this particular display of science did. One of the professors in the academy had called her interest in Allarian technology unhealthy, but Astrid had always thought knowing about it could tell them much about their enemy. And, they seemed to have some good ideas. After all, there were a few things the Eldergaardian shipwrights had incorporated in their own designs after studying a downed Allarian airship.

Astrid shifted her feet to a wider stance and took a deep breath through her nose. "Prepare your cloaking. I'm going to get us to the ship."

This was a small enough ship. It wouldn't take too much out of her.

Wind rose up from nowhere and shot towards the ship.




Alyx glanced over her shoulder at the princess. "You can hit people with them, yes?" She turned back to face the way she was going. "I can't help you much, there. Even if I carried guns, Maksim took all my weapons."

Alyx lead them to a dead end and came to a stop. She wished she could have popped into the bridge to see where exactly they were. Judging by the wards humming under her feet, they were relatively high up. Breathing would be harder than normal once they left the ship, but hopefully Astrid would be arriving any minute with a lifeboat.

Alyx turned back to the two Allarians. "Here's your wall, highness. It's far thinner than the walls in the hold--but as soon as you perforate it, the wards will activate to seal it off and alert the crew. I'll have to move the wards once they've activated."

She suddenly jerked her head up. Grabbing both engineer and princess, she dragged them behind her just as five vampires rounded the corner. They filled the hallway, cutting off any escape.

Maksim pushed through them. He glanced back at Georgiana and Cyn before giving Alyx an exasperated look. "Alyx."

Alyx smirked at him before calling over her shoulder, "You two get to work. I'll take care of this prick and his goons."

"You don't want to do this," Maksim warned.

"You've not defeated me yet, Max," Alyx said, dropping into a ready crouch.

Sighing, Maksim addressed his vampires. "Bring me the engineer. He's expendable."

The vampires started forward, their gaze fixed on Cyn.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Rose glowered at Astrid's order.

"You're not /my/ captain," he grumbled, because he did not take orders from an Eldergaardian, no matter what the situation. Nonetheless, he activate the cloaking and detach from the bridge. He covered the console with his body as much as he could. This was not the typical Allarian set up, and the technology had very specific purposes and limitations that would likely be completely foreign to the captain, but he still didn't want her getting ideas.

Not that Leo cared. He was taking a peek at everything he could as well, comparing notes to what Cyn told him about when everything was still in development. The solar battery located in the back compartment sealed off from the cockpit was particularly interesting, but he didn't actually know much about how it worked. He had always been good enough at using technology, but he was definitely no engineer.

He did grin a little bit when Astrid summoned up her wind. Predictably, Rose had not been expecting it, and his eyes widened in alarm as the ship began moving independent of his controls. He clutched tightly to the steering apparatus, half fearing that there was an engine malfunction and they'd fall out of the air. One worried glance back at Leo's shit-eating expression reassured him, although he still looked less than pleased.

"We have an /engine/," he protested, but he doubted it would do much. This was probably faster anyways, and soon enough the enemy ship came into view.



Cyn shook his head. He had been looking at the structure of the ship and all of the things around them, including the mechanics, but too much of it was foreign to him.

"The 'ntire basis 's different from what we use," he said, a frown coming to his face. It was honestly pretty fascinating, how two cultures came up with such entirely different technological advances. If the situation hadn't been one of life or death, he'd honestly be pretty interested in examining some of the tech and comparing it to their own designs, seeing how things were different and how the Eldergaardians came up with it. Right now was really not the time, though, and he cut off the rambling speech that was coming up about how /fascinating/ the apparent lack of an engine room and visible mechanical ventilation system was.

Especially because the enemy was upon them now, and Cyn fought very hard to swallow down the actual fear he was feeling. His gaze hardened much the way it had when he had faced the crew of the dragon for the first time. He was still hopeful enough that there was some way to get out of this, between the princess' apparent flying device and Alyx's insistence her crew was coming for them, but he also wasn't a fool. He wasn't a useful hostage, and he had no information to give. There was a very high chance that he was going to die here.

He took in a shaky breath, his hand sliding into his pocket to clutch tight to his wedding ring again. The second his fingers touched the metal, however, his eyes widened. Of course. He had decided against gold, which was the more traditional material, because it had been expensive, and old habits died hard. So they'd gone with silver. It wasn't a lot of silver. Hardly enough to be a real threat, but--

Silver had a relatively low melting point. His torch wasn't strong enough to do much without Alyx bolstering it, but it was made for soldering.

Unlike the crew of the Dragon, these vampires seemed like they had been conditioned to follow orders. If they took out the commander, then they would probably be a lot less organized and easier to deal with. Cyn grit his teeth, then yanked his hands out of his pockets and held them up in a sign of surrender. He put one hand on Alyx's shoulder, and he hoped that it wasn't trembling too bad. This was the stupidest plan he'd ever had. Did it even count as a plan? He tried to give Gigi a reassuring look. She was the one who - presumably - had the explosive they needed to get out of here.

"You ain't wantin' to kill me," Cyn said, and his voice was a lot more steady than he felt on the inside. God he was so happy that his legs weren't shaking. Maybe he could actually bullshit his way through this. If not, then at least he'd buy some time for Alyx and Georgiana to escape. They were the actually important ones here, and probably much more adept at combat than he was anyways. He was the weak link, and if things devolved into a scuffle he was most likely to be killed anyways.

If he was going to die, he wanted it to be on his own terms, helping out the people who had helped him.

"I ain't royalty or nothin', but m' husband is one o' the advisors to the throne. His name's Bicksley, your intelligence know that?" He asked, focusing on keeping his breathing steady. He held up his hand, wedding ring now on his finger. It was engraved, though difficult to see from far away. "I got proof right 'ere."

He had no idea how Maksim had discerned they were lying on the bridge, so he was very careful to only say things that were actually true, if lacking context.

 

[Reynarda]

Astrid eased up on the frantic gale that was driving them towards the Griffin . She stepped up to look out, placing her hand on the back of Rose’s chair.

Damn. If only she knew where Alyx was. The admiral would have stuck her in the brig, but she had probably broken out by now.

Astrid scowled at the airship, looking for any sign that would tell her anything. She glanced at the air currents eddying behind the ship. “Hold up,” she said, a note of triumph in her voice. “Look, she’s slowed a good few knots. They’ve got a problem on board.” Astrid glanced at Crane. “Probably your princess caused a stir.”

She might have said it in a tone that was a tad accusatory because Alyx would have been more subtle.

“What would Princess Georgiana’s plan be?” she asked Crane. “We need to be ready for anything, but if we have an idea, that might be helpful.”

Astrid glanced at Leo. “You ready? You may have to go in and fetch them.”


Alyx was entirely prepared to take on all the vampires present while Georgiana and Cyn blew a hole in the side of the ship. She was not at all prepared for Cyn to do the opposite of that.

She started as he placed his hand on her shoulder and then stared a little stupidly at him as he began to speak. First off, the royal advisor let his husband go off on a crazy scouting mission? What the actual heck was wrong with Allarians?

Maksim had not actually intended to kill Cyn at all. He had just identified him as the easiest to grab and most likely to make the other two surrender. He guessed the princess and Cyn wouldn’t much care if he grabbed Alyx—if he could grab her, the sneaky bitch—and Alyx would call his bluff if he threatened to hurt the princess. But he was the princess’ engineer and Alyx had a soft spot for people like him.

Still, this was an interesting development. A glance at Alyx told him she had likewise been unaware of this and if it was a trick, she didn’t know about it. Still, everything the engineer said had been true. But he couldn’t very well march into the admiral’s study and declare the engineer to be a valuable prisoner without proof. He was on thin ice as it was thanks to the princess—and if he didn’t get Alyx back in her cell, he’d be blamed for that as well.

“Oh really?” Maksim asked, his tone light.

Maksim motioned for his vampires to flank Cyn and Alyx so that they could easily grab them should either try anything.

Alyx glanced nervously at Cyn. With him standing next to her, she couldn’t ignite the energy in the air around her without hurting him. She should have attacked Maksim right at the start, but now she had to figure it what Cyn was playing at.

“Let’s see the proof then,” Maksim said, holding out his hand. The three were out numbered, he reckoned, and he could always grab the engineer if this turned out to be a trick.

“Cyn,” Alyx said, her tone warning. She didn’t like this, but she made no move to stop him either.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leo’s mouth was pursed. He had always intended to be the one to go in; if Astrid wasn’t seen, she had plausible deniability, especially considering they were using an enemy vessel for the rescue. Still, while he was definitely ready, he had a feeling that their plan was already going to need rerouting.

“Ready as anything,” he said, though his tone wasn’t quite as chipper as he had hoped it would be. Rose frowned and looked back at him, narrowing his eyes. He did /not/ want to entrust the princess and his brother to Leo, but he had little choice considering the circumstances. Nobody else could fly the nighthawk.

“You have a plan,” he said to Leo, who just sort of shrugged.

“Sure, let’s say that,” he said, because with no idea what was going on in there, he had absolutely not idea what he was going to do. But he did have a sword, which was better than a plan.



Cyn took in a shaking breath as he stepped forward, holding out his hand with his wedding ring.

“‘S engraved, see?” He said as he got closer and closer. The vampires on either side of him made him even more nervous, but that was ok. He could do this.

Once he was close enough for the commander to inspect the ring, he moved. He slammed the back of his hand against Maksim’s cheek, pressing the metal into his flesh as he jammed his free hand into his pocket and grabbed his torch.

This was the part that was going to suck to all hell. He grit his teeth right and pulled the trigger, aiming the flame directly at his finger.

Christ, it fucking hurt. It hurt so much worse than he had been expecting, and he had to bite down on a yowl of pain as the metal got a bit drippy. Sweat poured down his brow anyways, and he couldn’t help but let out a high pitched whine of air before he yanked his hand back.

“Blow the goddamned wall!” He yelled as he stumbled backwards, his voice cracking a little. He probably should have taken it off his finger first, but then if he dropped it- oh, but god, it hurt. Finn was going to give him an earful for this if he ever did manage to get back to Allaria.

 

[jones573]

Behind Cyn and Alyx, Georgiana shrugged out of her coat and turned it inside out. Supposedly the lining would protect against projectiles that were magical in nature- Not that she had ever had occasion to test it. It could just be another failed invention of her sister. She was tempted to make Cyn wear it, but realistically speaking she knew it was best for her to do so. If she went down, they all would.

When she tapped her heel, though, nothing happened- For a moment she panicked again, until she remembered the boots had probably just disarmed themselves. A ‘safety’ feature so that you could stomp around in them without worrying. Keeping one eye on the proceedings but still trying to remain relatively shielded and work as quickly as possible, she pulled off right boot from her foot and pressed down on the eyelets in sequence to arm it. Then she set it carefully on the ground, pointed towards the wall Alyx had indicated.

“On it,” she told Cyn. She lifted the heel gingerly, then smacked it against the floor five times. She didn’t just want one blast- She didn’t know how thick the wall was and she didn’t want to leave an untested and unstable piece of tech in enemy hands, so. Might as well blow all the charges, and the thing itself.

As soon as she had let it drop the final time, she whirled back towards Cyn and Alyx and pressed them both up against the wall. It was probably enough of a warning to let Maskim and his vampires realize they should be cautious too, but it was better than just standing there in the blast radius.

Even so, Gigi could feel the blast under her feet and the heat on the back of her neck, uncomfortable close. She stumbled a bit, but managed to pull a short cable from beneath her shirt and attach it to Cyn’s belt loop. She only had the one, so Alyx was just going to have to hang on.

“Time to go,” she shouted, pulling Cyn and Alyx along with her, an arm around both of their waists. “Hold on tight, but mind my back,” she warned. The hole in the side of the ship was rimmed with fire, but she launched them all through regardless.

They dropped, and began to plummet.








Crane looked a bit pained when he admitted, “I’m not sure- Usually she spends weeks staking a place out, establishing escape routes and dropping supplies. Something like this is going to be a lot rougher and probably-”

There was smoke and fire and a small storm of debris coming from the Griffon. Sonova-

“There,” he shouted, indicating with his finger, but as soon as he had pointed, something else dropped off the Griffon. People.

They were falling quickly, and Crane’s heart jumped up into his throat in some sort of reverse reaction to their direction.

But after a moment- maybe 10 seconds, though it felt like hours to Crane- the multi-limbed person more than tripled in size, and large metallic wings glinted in the sunlight, slowing their descent considerably.

They were still falling, but at a somewhat more reasonable pace, and with what seemed to be intentional direction- Away from where they’d leapt, underneath the massive ship. Even if the sudden drop hadn’t taken them out of range, hopefully the new angle would offer some protection.

“She took her sister’s rustdamned flying contraption,” Crane said, clearly as pleased as he was angry.

 

[Reynarda]

Maksim could see the Allarian was up to something by the way he was moving, but he absolutely was not prepared for Cyn to smack his face with silver and then blasting melt it. Maksim jerked backwards, but his vampires did not move out of the way fast enough, and he smacked into them. He let out a shriek of pain that made even Alyx wince in sympathy.

Alyx had also not been prepared for Cyn to attempt to set himself on fire. It stunned her and the vampires around her for the briefest second before chaos erupted.

With their commander down and in a substantial amount of pain, Griffin Squadron flailed. The last order they had been given was to grab Alyx if she tried anything, so two of them grabbed her. She ignited the air around her and twisted out of their grasp. One tried to grab Cyn next, but Alyx activated a ward that repelled vampires.

She stepped aside, allowing Cyn to stagger past her. Once he was behind her, she ignited the magic that hummed through the walls. Wild blue energy sparked out along the walls and blew out the light stones, shooting shards every which way. She was about to further screw with the wards to give them a better chance of escape, but the princess shoved her into a wall, which she did not appreciate.

The light from the blast seared across Alyx's eyes, and she was momentarily blinded. She felt the princess grab her again, but then she was dragged, and--

They began to fall. Alyx let out in inhuman shriek that the crew of the Griffin would later guess was made by some unholy demon. Still unable to see properly, she gripped the princess's arm and shot energy through her. Alyx had no idea if the princess's flying contraption was even remotely compatible with magic, but she also didn't much care. And no doubt sending energy sparking through Georgiana would hurt her, but Alyx cared even less about that. That's what the princess got for dragging her out of a perfectly fine airship like a crazy person.




Astrid leaned forward, staring where Crane was pointing. She swore profusely as something dropped from the hole in the side of the ship. She stretched her hands out. Wind shifted around the small airship and formed a gust that spun, gathering mass, then shot towards the falling group. She caught something in the gust of wind--it was heavy, which was a good sign. A second magic joined hers, and she relaxed slightly. Good, she had been worried they had left Alyx for dead.

"I can bring them here," Astrid grunted. It was not as difficult as it would have been without Alyx's help, but it still took a decent amount of concentration. "Leo, Crane, you'll have to help them aboard." Astrid felt Alyx's magic waver from the steady stream and return as a trickle, and she shot Leo a meaningful look. "You might need to grab your commander."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Rose drew in a sharp breath of air as he watched the explosion, and Leo’s back straightened from where he was standing behind his seat. At least they weren’t completely in free-fall. Still, they’d have to work fast.

Rose hit a button to disengage the optical camouflage, leaving them more obviously visible to the eye while still messing with the enemy’s magic sensors. Things would definitely go better if the princess could see where she was aiming, though Astrid said she was bringing her here anyways, so maybe it wasn’t necessary. Still, he didn’t want to blindly trust her. He turned back to Leo, pointing to the roof and then to a compartment in the back.

“You’re receiving. We won’t get them in the doorway so I’m opening the top hatch. Emergency umbilical comes out of the centre roof panel, harness is in—“ he began, but Leo was already squeezing past Astrid to the wall by the hatch Rose had mentioned.

“No time for that, they’re coming in too fast. I’ll use my belt,” he said with a grimace, because he certainly did not /want/ to. But time was of the essence here, and from Astrid’s voice Alyx would be pretty tired. He wouldn’t want to risk her falling.

Rose looked just the slightest, tiniest bit worried, he he hit the button and the ceiling panel slid back, wind whipping in from around them as he took over the controls of the aircraft. He trusted his own flying skills more than Astrid’s magic.

Leo grabbed hold of a hand-hold next to the roof, then located the associated emergency foothold and hoisted himself up. He poked his head and torso out of the hatch, squinting a bit as the wind whipped around him. Centre roof panel... there. He spotted the tiny hitch just behind the opening, and he pulled it out, a long cord extending down to a clip that he snapped onto his belt.

“You keep this damned thing steady,” he yelled to Rose so he could be heard over the wind. “If I fall and die I’m going to come back and haunt you!”

Rose rolled his eyes, though the corner of his mouth twitched marginally up.

“You already did that,” he pointed out, and Leo made a point to stick his hand back in the ship to flip him off. But the princess was descending fast and they didn’t have a whole lot of time, so he yanked himself up onto the roof, trying very hard not to look down as he did so. This was probably not even the most dangerous thing he’d ever done, so there was no point in worrying about it.

It was awfully high up though.

Once he was outside, he got to his knees and then his feet, very grateful for the umbilical keeping him tethered to the nighthawk as Georgiana, Cyn and Alyx got closer. Once they were near enough he grabbed onto Gigi’s arm, pulling her down and steadying her with a hand on each of her shoulders. Cyn was clinging tight to her, his eyes squeezed shut, and Alyx did not appear to be having a fun time either. But they were safe, and that’s all that mattered.

“Princess,” he breathed, looking her over quickly for injuries. He smelled burned flesh, and a quick look at Cyn’s hand made him wince. That was going to leave a nasty scar. How had he even done that?

Cyn slowly opened his eyes once he realized they were no longer falling, his death grip on Georgiana’s waist loosening as he looked around. His eyes widened in surprise, especially when he saw Leo, and he gaped openly at him.

“You? What are you doing here?” He asked incredulously, and Leo clicked his tongue.

“Rescuing my commander. Speaking of, she’s not tethered, right?” He asked, then without waiting for an answer shifted Gigi to one arm, wrapping it around her waist to keep her steady so he could uncluttered the safety cord from Cyn’s waist. Cyn still looked too shell-shocked to really process what was going on, and Leo gripped him by the back of the shirt, guiding him to the hatch.

“We’ve got one coming down, Crane, can you get him? His hand’s messed up,
I don’t know if he can use the ladder,” he called down, and Cyn shook a little, but he managed to get a grip on the handhold inside the ship.

“‘M good,” he mumbled, though he couldn’t use his bad hand at all, and he stumbled a bit coming down the ladder. He looked from Lieutenant Crane to Astrid, and then to Rose, who didn’t dare look away from the console even at his return. “Rose? What the hell? What are you doing here?”

Leo turned to Alyx and offered a wry little smirk.

“Looks like you had a bad day,” he said, then guided her to the hatch with a hand on her back until he was sure she was half in and unlikely to fall. “She’s all yours captain!”

He took a deep breath, then turned back to Gigi, eyeing the flying machine on her back with grim interest.

“That thing is not fitting in there. Can you fold it up, or are we tossing it?” He asked, keeping his hands on her waist to steady her to give her full use of her arms.