Chapter 10
The Great Airship Caper
Whoosh!
The air ripples past my sensitive ears. Fortunately, I am now able to triple protect them. First with a package for my goggles that covers the ears completely. Second by my Thieves guild mask that now covers my whole face in an oddly breathable material and third by the hood of my Mage guild cloak. All three items cover my ears.
What am I doing?
Well, I am just standing on the deck of an extreme weather blimp, the kind that can go a dozen or so kilometers into the air to measure barometric pressure, wind speeds, and other meteorological events. In a way I am glad I am blind, as not being able to see the ground is oddly comforting in a way, I didn’t think would be possible. Being up this high is no different than being up in a leisure blimp sailing through the skies, touring the world with billionaire tech-tycoons mingling with one another.
Why am I here?
Simple, I talked my handler into getting us a flight. Despite his best efforts, I can see Hector trembling due to the cold. Seeing him this way causes a light smile to form on my face.
“It’s like you are a monster from hell itself. How are you not cold?”
“Oh, I am, but thinking about the job is keeping me warm.” I admit.
Hector just shakes his head and trembles a bit. He has a long telescope in his hands, and he is looking off in the distance. Since he is my handler, he also must do the parts of the job that I cannot. In this case, I cannot look through a telescope, to see further. I know, I know, you get a super cheat Angel’s Sight, but then find out it can’t be enhanced by modern technology, broken. Anyways, I’ve found that I am at that part of my career where going in with a team is preferrable to just running around blindly. Also, I do like to keep a bit of separation between myself and the rest of the Thieves Guild. Apparently, both Pinkertons, AKA people pretending to be the law, and actual lawmen are looking for me. While they aren’t so brazen as to go into the guild proper to look for me, it is getting to the part where my conducting heists is tougher and tougher.
Of course, this has only made the thrill of accomplishment that much greater. There is a rush from completing seemingly impossible jobs that is indescribable.
For five decades I worked as a numbers person for the government, making sure numbers, forms, and figures all matched up. I uncovered many forms of corruption, of books being cooked, and this is my reward for all that hard work. This right here, the chance to live life as an international superstar.
“Yeah well, this is the last time you can find me doing one of these so-called fetch quests. The prep is too much.”
“You literally had to climb into a ship, and then sleep while the ship made it to the top of its zenith.” I said, placatingly. That was the truth. We were day one into what should have been a thirty-day exploit. The Spruce Griffin, the grandest and most heavily armored and protected air ships of the Legrand Empire was making its way here in a way to show of its wealth and dominance to the Maltese Empire. This was the equivalent of trying to openly declare war. Or at the very least a technological arms race. All under the unassuming guise of a grand poker tournament.
My first plan was to get in and win the poker tournament, with my sight being what it is, I could make bank. It wouldn’t be a matter of reading my opponents, not when I could just as easily read their cards from any distance when they first looked at them. Sadly, this was shot down, as I had to be twenty-one to enter the tournament. Even to be a card shuffler I had to at least be eighteen. To be a server I had to be sixteen, and despite my want to lie I look small for my race. There is no way my skinny twelve-year-old Dark Elf body could pass off for anything more than a twelve-year-old at best.
Which is why we are up here now, trying to go through with this somewhat crazy plan.
“You sure you don’t want to reconsider? I mean this is just the first day of the contract. We still have thirty days left.” Hector pleads.
“Twenty-nine days and twenty-three hours.” I correct, as I can see the shared quest information that Hector is providing.
“Right, what I’m saying is there is plenty of time to come up with a better plan than you throwing yourself like a dart at this.”
“The dart move, I like it.” I say, nodding my head to the words.
At that Hector just shakes his head in annoyance. “Gah. Never mind. Since I can tell, you are not going to listen. You should at least pay attention to the details. Heading south by south-west, bearing at a 45-degree angle to us. Closest point will be at a quarter mile away, in approximately thirty seconds.”
“Clearance?” I ask.
“Two kilometers, she is flying higher than we thought. This gives you just over…” Hector pauses.
“Just over twenty seconds to fly down get my angle of approach and get on board.” I nod.
“Yeah, crazy.” Hector said, still watching with his telescope out in one constant direction.
“Yeah, yeah, I love you too.” I say to the elderly regressor who has become like a second father to me.
“Gah, you are the most infuriating…” He trailed off as his body posture suddenly went rigid. Seeing his sudden tension I easily jump over the safety rail.
“Mark in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…” His voice drifts away as I feel his presence slowly disappear. In the first ten seconds I can already feel the drag and pull of gravity increasing as Hector is now halfway out of my large almost kilometer radius of viewing range. Yes, in five short years I managed to triple my viewing radius from a mere three hundred meters to my 930-meter limit currently. Of course, that was due to a lot of perseverance and hard work on my part, but it also means that I have an insane movement radius. Also, my pinging radius for my Personal Teleportation is close.
I have the bearing and there is a split second where I am in no man’s land, that section of space and time where I am free of any and all obligations to this world. The moment when I am free of Hector, and free of this possible crime that we are about to commit.
Ping.
Then out of habit I Ping the area with my Teleportation area and feel something off in the direction I am trying to travel to. Instantly I teleport there.
Poof.
Plop.
I land on the thick plating of helium sacs that instantly deflate like clouds from my sudden and unexpected impact, only for it to immediately begin to heal again thanks to superheated gasses constantly working to refill the constantly inflating and deflating sacs.
Giant birds and other beasts often get run into or over by these ships. In such cases it is far easier to just have the ship automatically repair than have the one lone bird be enough to sink such a vessel.
Now that I am on the ship, I can see everything, well mostly everything. This blimp is impossibly large. With all types of magical items, magical detection instruments, and heat indexes.
I had wanted to go in as just a rich patron, but sadly my appearance all but means I would have to be relegated to filling the role of a Dark Elf ambassador, and sadly I have not made contact with those people. They have tried, don’t get me wrong, they have tried to get in contact with me, but I have avoided their advances every single time. Not because I despise my Elven heritage. In fact, I am rather fond of being seen as a powerful dark elf, they are after all one of the hardest races to level with apparently. Though fortunately their one main drawback, blindness in sunlight is all but a laughable point of contention for me, as I am blind everywhere. But I digress.
We have been given a mission.
Our mission to steal a set of legendary items that are believed to be on their way over our skies, across our border from the Legrand empire to the Kelsik empire to our west.
What this means?
Well allegedly if this transaction goes through, then a unified war effort would be fought between the Legrand and the Kelsik empires. The only common enemy both seem to have at this time is us.
So, our mission, is a somewhat patriotic mission.
Also, there are multiple levels to this mission that can be accomplished. First, we can just sink the ship, that is the most destructive one and one that we ultimately ruled out. The reason why was the only time we would have a clear shot at this ship was during the time it was circling our airspace, meaning that by taking it down we would potentially damage Maltese Kingdom lands.
There would also be the times when it would be floating over Kelsik airspace, but that time was also ruled out as that would be too risky as well, as the hand-off would have already happened and the supposed alliance would have already been enacted. The third and final phase would have been to destroy the ship as it flew through our lands and reentered Legrand Air space, but that would all but be a declaration of war.
In fact, the more we thought about it, the more our team was chosen to have first strike. Hector said we have thirty days for this plan, and we do, but after today, every option becomes more and more focused on providing the first strike in a war, rather than being able to stop a war completely.
That is why I am now standing here, dozens of kilometers up in the air on an enemy dreadnaught on its maiden voyage, with the goal of stealing items worth a veritable fortune, all for the sake of stopping a war from happening on two fronts.
Gods I love this GAME!
I think to myself as I bounce a little on my feet, trying to get the jitters of the tough first phase of the operation to be complete. Sadly, the first phase, a phase I will now refer to as the dart phase was the easiest part. All they had to do was get a crazy blind woman to jump off a stationary point a dozen or so kilometers off the ground and let her crash into a moving dreadnaught of a war ship that was only ten kilometers above the ground.
Still, time to focus.
I feel my body trembling and not all of it is from the pure thrill of adrenaline that just coursed through me as I crashed into a solid brick pillow. My Regeneration is kicking in, healing any minor scrapes I would have gotten from the fall, but largely I am still up and in operational shape after that jump. This is good, as this next part is going to be tough.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Phase two: Making my way through the enemy warship, to the vault room. Retrieving the items, then egress.
Yes, we decided to keep it simple, my plan is literally to grab as much as I can and run.
Crouching low, I feel the effects of Stealth kick in. Why would I need to be Stealthed while on top of a blimp? I wouldn’t. What I would need is to be in Stealth, when I get out of my next Teleportation, which is right about…
Now.
Poof.
The arctic chill that was whipping around me nearly causing me to freeze finally abides and I let out a breath of relief as I am once again inside a nice warmly lit ship. I almost want to stay still long enough for my body to thaw properly, but sadly I don’t have that much time. I can tell the pathing of the guards and Pinkertons. Why do I make a distinction between the two? Simple, Guards have a set pace, patter, and cadence. Pinkertons run counter to that, they back track, stop, wait at busy intersections, before continuing. Basically, to a Mathematician like me, they are the random null variable that always breaks a pretty little data set.
This is fine though, so long as I make it to the vault without being noticed.
“Hey, I think I heard something.” A voice calls out from the nearby hallway. I immediately turn my head inward towards the wall. One thing my Thieves guild training has taught me is that eyes and EGGs both have one telltale characteristic, they reflect light at the worst of times. By my not needing to use my eyes to see, they are mostly a hinderance to me at this point, which is why I just turn towards a wall and avoid trying to draw attention. Of course, I also do so while ducking behind a minor alcove.
Scanning my area, I can see a number of blind spots are available for me to teleport to if needed, but I don’t want to do that yet. I already took a big risk by jumping in. Even passive detections can often pick up a burst from my Teleportations. While the detections won’t be able to block my movements, they will know that I am on. Right now, I still have both the benefit of surprise, and the fact that they don’t know what I can do.
“Ah it is nothing.” The second guard calls out after doing a quick cursory scan of the area. “Next thing you know you will be saying you saw a ghost.”
“Don’t joke about that, I heard that this is her country.”
“Yeah, and what of it. You afraid of a pacifist?”
“That girl is spooky. They say she can read thoughts and ghost through walls.”
“Yeah and they say she can…”
The two go further down the hallway. By this point I have pretty much mapped out the entire ship. There is a locked vault, surrounded by rows and layers of steam enhanced soldiers of all kinds.
Of course, there are traps, everywhere.
Smiling, I’d swear my lips were frozen in place if it wasn’t for the fact that I can clearly feel that they have momentarily melted.
Instead, I look at the giant board like a puzzle piece waiting to be solved. Logically there should be ways for someone to storm their way down the halls breach the containment fields and then cut through the vault door with a micro-torch of some kind. Unfortunately, I don’t tend to carry micro-torches at this height, the pressure in the canisters tends to have violent consequences when being bounced about, like randomly falling for two kilometers, before crashing into the surface of an air ship. Granted that would have been one heck of a way to destroy the ship, it would have likely also ended in the fiery death of yours truly, which is why it is a no-go, leave that for one of the meatheads while still have six other retries. Me, I am just doing this so I can enjoy a nice peaceful existence. Also, the thrill, let’s not forget that, the thrill of it all truly makes this second life worth living.
“What are you two talking about?” A deep male voice suddenly picks up. I have to look around to hear that it is coming from the air vent.
That is the only logical place for such a voice to come from, also it is the only way I can see a direct line from the four people who are now gathered together, the two guards and then the two Pinkertons who are gathered in a large hallway two turns away. Right in the exact hallway I would find myself in, if I made a direct path towards the vault room.
“The ghost.”
“Did you see her?”
“No, stop it, you know she is dead Chauncey, that is why her feed is dead.”
Chauncey? I think to myself. Who would willingly come to a second life and go by the name Chauncey. The only reason I know these two are regressors is the fact that they are talking about feeds. Something that the two guards seem to avoid entirely, as their coding would dictate. This means that the two Pinkertons are regressors, which makes sense. If you want people who won’t follow a patter, get people who are people and not automated coding.
“Isn’t the vault room set up to counteract the Ghost, anyways?”
Oh, this is interesting. I can almost feel my body wanting to lean closer.
“Yeah they have the vybranium coating, the alloy that is supposed to be resistant to teleportations.”
At that, I nod in satisfaction. So, this will not be as simple as jump in, jump out. I love it. Of course, I know my mental clock is also ticking. While I did make good time in getting onto this ship. I only have at most thirty minutes before the ship will be through Maltese Empire airways and into Kelsik airspace, meaning I will have to move quickly if I move at all.
Logically, this is my chance to turn back. No harm, no foul. They are prepared for me; I know they have countermeasures in place that directly affect one of my two Traits. While it is fairly obvious from my feeds that I can Teleport, I have tried to keep my Telekinesis pretty much low key. Making it seem more like a random luck stat, than anything. Tripping a key guard at the head of a pack, setting off a trap that I skillfully avoided, only to have it blow up in the face of someone else.
For a second I contemplate leaving.
Then a thought hits me.
You know it would be rather rude to leave before the party. These people went through an awful lot of trouble to create this situation just for me. The least I can do is open my presents.
With that I let the smile fill my face as I start looking at this logically.
Vybranium is a conductive metalloid, meaning it has latent properties that all but make teleportation impossible while they are being powered. Their conductivity drops significantly, when that current no longer pulses through them. Meaning, the easiest way to enter my vault and see my gift-wrapped presents is by shutting off the power.
Normally, this is a death sentence for anyone as it would logically only give a person a few seconds to run from the engine room, in the dark, down dark alleyways to a vault door that they would then have to break through, all before power was able to be restored properly.
Also, you run the risk of shutting the power off too much and you risk the ship crashing entirely. So I have to find that right way point between creating a distraction, without destroying everything in the process.
Ideally, I would avoid this.
Ideally, I would just go in, snatch, grab, evacuate and no one would ever know I was here. I would let the news put together the stories of my exploits. While I had momentarily gained a reprieve from being observed by the game, I knew this reprieve would be short lived. But I will get into that a little later. For now, I am fine and able to operate unencumbered by outside interference.
That said, this is clearly meant as a shot to get me, or others within the Maltese Empire to act.
Yeah, I probably should leave, fortunately, I am already here and there are presents.
Presents is my term for what I call the various items I am asked to pick up on behalf of the Thieves Guild. Again, I can take them, but the moment I have them for more than a moment, things go wanky. Take for instance the random sea serpent that appeared out of nowhere when I had clothes and a magic skill book. The random sandworm that ate my Broach of the Ancients from my first train heist. Then there are the countless other items that I have managed to get and get away with, only for the world to eat them in some way shape or form. That is why I love consumables. They are only expensive if I intend to sell them, and therefor never count towards my 100-gold limit.
Also, with this, all I have to do is make it so the items don’t get to Kelsik, what I do with them is my business. Normally I try to flag them in some way so Hector and Golum can grab them before a monster does. But those are only bonus rewards. Normally we focus on just information gathering quests, rather than these legendary item quests. But you add in the fact that this is an official Thieves Guild request from the crown and boom, the patriotic bonus applies. What that means is that if we do this, then the guild will let others know it was our team who did the deed, in a roundabout way. This means it is easier for us to move about the city, while doing other missions for the Thieves Guild.
Of course, all of these thoughts are just me trying to find a way to knock out the power, jump into the powerless vault door, then jump out.
I first check, and then recheck that there is only the one engine room. Ultimately a bad design, in my opinion, as this means that if I wanted to go the saboteur route, I could easily do so with one well-placed explosive.
As it is, I just take a moment to work my Telekinetic magic. Yes, over the years I have found that my Telekinetic range is almost as vast as my visual range. The only difference is that the closer I am to an object I wish to manipulate, the more force I can exert on the item. At this distance I can only get a few dozen pounds of force on an particular item. Fortunately for wires and advanced hydraulic systems, that is more than enough force to remove power cables.
I begin acting as ghost in the machine. Quickly pulling wires and power nodes in rapid succession. With a current ended, I rip the power cores out and hurl them, adding even more time needed to fix my treachery.
In just under twenty seconds, I have disrupted the power supply needed to run the entire ship.
Vwoom.
There is a deep pulse that goes throughout the ship.
“OHH! SHhizzz….” The guards who had been speaking in the other hallway attached by the air vents call out.
“We lost power.” The guards call out.
I of course feel the sudden lurch of gravity gaining a severe hold over me, but I Teleport before I have a chance to doubt myself.
Poof.
I am in the sealed vault and while there was a slight resistance, I know it was nothing compared to truly active vybranium. This is good, as it gives me a chance to shatter the cases for the different items.
I can see that there are supposed to be traps on the cases, but it seems the traps are electricity-controlled traps, meaning that destroying the energy supply to the room makes this next part even easier.
Also, now that I am here, the amount of Telekinetic force I can release on these boxes is intense, to say the least.
Shatter.
Three boxes all shatter.
Hiss.
As they shatter, I can hear the all too familiar sound of hissing gasses being released. Fortunately, my Thieves Guild mask prevents a lot of poisons from being able to sink in. Simultaneously, the mask also unlocked my Skill Nature Resistance, which I also made sure to max out for occasions just like this one.
Still the releasing of gasses into an otherwise sealed room is a bit concerning. Fortunately for me, I didn’t plan on sticking around here that long. Reaching out I Telekinetically pull all three items to me. They are in no particular order, a glowing magical book, a magic ring of some kind, and finally a mysterious glowing potion.
If I had to guess these were two consumables, and one keepable item. Likely all meant for the ruling family to use on themselves to get stronger, while they sent their people to war. Still if this was all that was here, then, wait.
There is something else, something hidden beneath the room. Only now that I am over the room can I see it. In fact, I feel kind of dumb for not realizing the secret room before. Is it somehow hidden to my sight? Did they know a way to hide, or at the very least hinder the range of Angel’s Sight? It appears that they must have, as this floor below me is the true payload. These baubles are just cheap trinkets in comparison to what is under this room. The only problem is, If I can’t see into the room below, how can I know I can get out of the room below? I think I can enter, but something is telling me that what is in there is a huge payload.
I can tell that no one is on the lower level, but still my mind goes from stealing these few trinkets, which in hindsight was clearly just a lofty bribe, while the real litmus to war was the payload of magical items below. Unfortunately, I can’t quite tell what is down there.
Thinking quickly, I decide to reduce what I am holding I lower my mask and down the potion, then immediately put the mask back on once I am done. I can feel the effects of the elixir already burning within my veins, but I focus through the pain. I have been through worse, and my Second Wind skill is testament to just that fact.
I take the book and necklace and put it in my stomach pouch. Why do I have a stomach pouch, well it will become evident here in a moment.
I also take a moment to pull out a metallic lighter, one of those strike anywhere metal lighters. If the chemicals that are getting released into the air are what I think then I only have moments to react.
Mentally my mind has searched this room over and over, only to find multiple different grooves all leading to the room down below. I open them all up at once, then drop my unlit lighter to the ground.
Mentally nodding to myself I realize I feel a bit dizzy, as the effects of the chemicals being released into the room, along with my body’s reaction to the potion I just consumed are having their effect, all while we are still plummeting to the ground in the slow way that only a slowly cooling air blimp can. Apparently, I was too good with disabling the engine room, still this is better than being found right now, I would not be able to put up much of a resistance.
Focusing I Teleport out, focusing on the one alcove I found when I first entered the ship.
Once there, I mentally find my lighter that is bouncing around the vault room, then Telekinetically stroke the flint wheel, and instantly I can tell something has happened as the dimensions of the central rooms start to change and bulge instantly.
That is all the confirmation I need, as I Teleport once more, this time to a spot a few hundred meters below the lowest point of the ship. At which point, I once again feel the ice cold freeze of the cold on my skin.
It is like a thousand volts of life have just surged into my body that was nearly being lulled into a false sense of security a moment ago.
BOOM!
From high overhead I can hear an eruption.
“There, I see The Ghost!” A guard randomly shouts out.
Of course, I know this is the game’s mechanics at play. I have two items both of which are likely worth well over 100 gold each.
I reach into my front satchel, and feel for the gold trinket. Yanking it out, I hurl it off into the distance, and watch as I continue to fall past it at terminal velocity. Then the next second I perform a series of imprecise, but evasive jumps.
Poof.
Poof.
Poof.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of large artillery fire explodes in roughly the area of the falling necklace. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the random shots managed to destroy the necklace permanently. That is what the game seems to love to do with my excess items.
Shaking my head, I am so glad I took the potion, whatever it was, before jumping.
“We got her!” The guards who had been manning the cannons said.
“You idiots, we are falling out of the sky, prepare the emergency rafts.”
Once I am a good distance away from the still descending war ship, I once again seal my little pouch, keeping my one stolen book safe. Then Telekinetically I pull for the edges of my Mage’s Cloak.
Whoosh!
Instantly my rapid rate of descent stops, as I feel my body get pulled up by my most unlikely parachute my cloak. Since it is harnessed to my chest, rather than my neck this type of maneuver is actually possible, though I would not recommend it. This is more akin to one of those form fitty body suits that let you glide super quickly across the ground than anything. Still, free escape gear is free escape gear.
In moments I grab hold of my self-modified hand and feet loops for the cloak, which helps me to slow down, glide, or change my impact angle slightly. This added to my Free Falling skill make it so I am one of the few people who even attempts these types of escapes.
Of course, the landing always hurts. Always.
Thud!
Crumple, skid, slide.
I feel layers of my flesh burning off, as my momentum first hurls me into the ground, then carries me forward grinding my body violently against the open grasslands that covers most of the outskirts of the Maltese empire.
Only after it is over, only after I have finally stopped rolling ass over tea kettle do I stop and realize something. I just survived.
HAHAHAHAHA!
“YES!” I punch a fist into the air, only to wince a moment later when I realize my arm is likely broken, or at the very least sprained severely. Still, I did it.
I feel the thrill of victory running through me. I somehow skipped through the end of phase two and completed phase three rather brilliantly, if I do say so.
I am in so much pain that I just lie there. Fortunately, I still have my Regeneration merit that is kicking in and doing wonders. Also, I don’t seem to have attracted the attention of any ravenous mountain lions, a sign that the system is okay with my keeping the one consumable item.
Speaking of which, I pull out the book.
Ouch! Nope!
Correction, I tried to pull out the book, only to be stopped by the pain within my arms. Fortunately, I have three or more arms. Well, if you include Telekinesis, I do. With my Trait infused arms I gently remove the book from my aching body, then read lying down. Of course, when I mean I read lying down I mean with my head up facing the sky and the book I am reading lying by my side.
Trait Book Received: Would you like to learn third Trait Telepathy?
I momentarily paused as the true impact of that question filled me. First, I had somehow earned the ability to open a third Trait slot? But how? Then I remembered the odd burning sensation that the potion I had stolen gave me. Now this?
Telepathy, one of arguably the weakest powers, or the strongest power possible! All depending on how you used it, for an information broker like myself, this was the best power possible.
Without even hesitating, I screamed “yes.”
Of course, my scream with a handful of broken ribs and likely a few punctured organs came out as a mere croak, but it was enough for the system to accept my command none the less.
Pain.
White hot pain that felt like a poker stabbing in between my eyes.
Then Darkness.