Frank Briggs

“…So unfortunately, there is some distance to travel I’m afraid.” Dumpling finished. Having given them the rundown on what had been happening on the station.

One hundred miles. That wasn’t an inconsiderable distance, especially if the station was half as convoluted as the ship had been. Frank looked at his two companions, and the new addition to their party. Annice had put her mask back on, saying it was more comfortable that way. the other two were discussing the chicken’s words in hushed voices.

“How are we supposed to cover one hundred miles in a day? The tunnels are all full of little devils and the personal combat drones too.” He listened for a few minutes, getting an idea of what they wanted to do before breaking in.

“Hey guys,” he said, a grin splitting his face at last. “I don’t mean to interrupt buta…maybe this will help.” With those words, he manifested one of the Shipwright’s gifts into reality.

The others fell silent as it appeared before them. Even Annice, who had been hovering around playing tag with the rats, stopped moving to stare. Frank’s cheeks burned a little at the attention, it was the reaction he had wanted but still. He cleared his throat, before continuing.

“I had plenty of time in route to check this bad boy out. I think it should get us there with time to spare. I might need you guys to help supply the essence though.” He added sheepishly, “it’s a bit of a gas hog and my core hasn’t developed as far as yours.”

He was standing next to a car sized version of a personal combat drone. It looked an awful lot like a helicopter from earth, only smaller and more streamlined. There were four seats in the cockpit, to in front and two behind. Flanking the passenger’s area, were two large round propellers that could tilt to control direction and speed. Stretching out behind this area was a short tail, that ended in a fin with two more propellers to either side.

The entire craft was a flat grey, making its bulkier front and slimmed tail section resemble a shark while it sat on the deck. The words ‘Dire Rat’ were painted on the doors in red paint, proving that Frank had made at least a few modifications to the design.

“Very nice, kid.” Blake said, as she walked up to the craft. Getting down to inspect the guns mounted on the underside of the hull. “What kinda fire power are we looking at here?”

Frank blushed and looked away from the Latina, who was on her knees, face pressed to the ground as she tried to get a better look at the guns. Frank pointedly ignored the soft whistle Bishop let slip. He doubted it had carried to the sniper, so he was going to pretend he hadn’t noticed as well.

“There are three guns on this model.” He answered, clearing his throat. “Two are traditional projectiles, similar to what the gunship sported. Each of the belts holds fifteen hundred rounds, replenishable by banishing and resummoning. The third gun, is an essence rifle. And functions a lot like yours does Beth.”

Three thousand rounds sounded like a lot, but when facing swarms of little devils, they wouldn’t last long.

“Nice, kid.” Bishop said, moving over to wrap his knuckles on the hull. “How about shielding?” he too squatted down to check out the guns while he asked the question. Whispering something to Blake, that Frank couldn’t hear.

“Kinetic shielding, again similar to what the gunship sported. Except, they are essence powered. The whole thing is a bit of an energy hog, honestly. One person flying it alone would have trouble keeping it in the air, the shields up, and the weapons going for longer than a few minutes.” He admitted, again ignoring the byplay between Bishop and Blake.

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not alone then, right.” Annice said, joining the conversation at last. She had floated over to settle down beside him, while he had been looking at the ship. He watched her hand twitch a few times, but couldn’t fathom what that was about.

“That’s what I was hoping anyway.” He admitted, smiling at her to hide his embarrassment at her closeness. “If I fly, and focus on the machine guns, while someone else covers the shields and the essence rifle…I think we could keep er up for a longer period of time.”

“I call shotgun,” the goth girl shouted. Pumping her hand into the air. “Specter only taught me to fight in space, since I can’t fly in here, I’m pretty useless…but if you don’t mind the company…I’ll help keep the shields up while you take on the bad guys.”

Frank flushed again, he really wished he could see her face. He was so flustered; it hadn’t been this weird when he met Beth. Probably because she was at least a decade older than he was, he wasn’t sure why that mattered so much to him, but it did.

“Um, yea…that…that would be great, Annice.” He managed to get out at last, to more chuckles from his older companions.

“Sounds great kids, but for the drive there, I got dibs on the guns.” Blake cut in.

“And I will handle the shields on the way there. We have bigger essence pools then you kids, so we’ll handle the bill for the trip. You guys just be ready to take over when we get to the battle, sound good?” he said it as gently as he ever spoke outside of combat, but they could both tell he wasn’t really asking.

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“Got ya Bishop, no worries.” He said in reply, Annice nodding her own assent next to him. The long bill of her mask emphasizing the move.

“What else did the World Lord give you anyway Frank?” Bishop asked, “I know he gave you three patterns, what did the other two hold?” Frank could tell he wasn’t upset at being left out, his patron had given him his weapon and armor, along with two ogres. If anything, he was happy frank had finally gotten something from his own patron.

“Well, the other two aren’t as cool as the ship.” Frank said, pulling a set of goggles out of thin air. “This is like the neural interface I had before, letting me see my drones and control them remotely. And this,” now he pulled a small crate out of nothingness. “Is a travel version of the ships network.”

He opened the case as he talked, and dozens of finger length dragonfly drones flew out. there were hundreds more in the case, each was equipped with a ruby camera lens at the front and a short antenna on the top.

“These little guys fly around, and as long as my essence holds out, they record what they see and hear and send it back to the interface goggles. Where I can put together a picture of what’s going on in an area or during combat. They should be really helpful…once my essence core grows a little.” He had gotten excited telling the others about his new toys, only realizing he was babbling near the end. Another blush threatened to creep onto his face.

“Damn, kid.” Bishop said admiringly, “eyes, ears and firepower. Not to mention transportation, you just became the team’s MVP.” He clapped the flustered teenager on the shoulder.

“I have to agree,” Blake added. “Being able to Shoot stuff, or smash it with brute force is all well and good. But if we don’t have accurate intel on the foe, or a ride to get to the fight in…hope you’re ready Frank, we are going to be counting on you a lot more going forward.” She also gave him a pat on the shoulder as she spoke.

“I…I’ll be counting on you too.” Annice added, her fingers twitching again but remaining at her side.

Her words made Frank blush again, why was he having such a hard time with this. he’d talked to girls before, one of his cousins was a girl. She always played an elven ranger, though Frank secretly thought she was better suited to be the orc barbarian.

“Yes, the Lord Shipwright is most generous with his gifts.” The silver chicken chimed in from the floor. “Our time, however, is growing short. Can we discuss the magnificent inventions of his mechanical mind…while we fly…perhaps?”

Frank didn’t think he liked Dumpling very much, Shipwright was brilliant there was no denying that. Somethings however, he wasn’t very knowledgeable about…like Frank’s feelings.

“Ok Dumpling, we can go now.” He said, instead of letting the chicken know his words had hurt his feelings. He couldn’t blame the bird really; the station was being overrun while he was showing off his new toys.

As they walked towards the ships now open doors, Frank heard the sound of metal skidding across metal. Looking back, he saw Annice. Her foot still raised, standing where the silver chicken had been. The silver chicken, who had tumbled beak over tail to land in a heap a few feet away, from that outstretched foot.

“Opps…sorry about that Dumpling.” She said, sounding about as sincere as a used car salesman. “I was in such a hurry to get to the glorious creation of your boss, that I didn’t see you down there. Can you ever forgive me?”

The chicken didn’t respond, merely clambered back to its feet and flew into the passenger sized gunship. Frank, who had been feeling down from the chicken’s words. Now, smiled happily. He knew that the teenage girl had done that because the chicken had dismissed him, and it made him feel warm inside. Gesturing for her to proceed him, he followed her to the gunship.

Once everyone was settled in and buckled, Frank started the propellers spinning. There had been a, slight disagreement, on who would sit shotgun, but Blake had won in the end. She had the most experience as a gunner, and they were in a hurry. She and Bishop, had figured out how to control the guns and the shields easily enough.

The problem was with the seat’s proportions, they were…weird. It was clear they hadn’t been designed for humans, but they all managed to get in and seated. Sadly, Frank had to dismiss the rats. He liked having them around, but there wasn’t room in the cockpit for them. four humans, especially with one being as big as Bishop were the limit for this craft.

“Well, it’s not first class but in a pinch, we can use this puppy for long distances. After sitting in it for a bit however, I think it’s going to be a short-range vehicle for moving us all.” Blake said, from her spot beside him. They weren’t, exactly, rubbing shoulders. It was a tight squeeze though; Frank was again glad he had dropped some weight since getting to this new world. More so, when he glanced back at the cute girl in the back seat.

“I don’t know,” Annice chimed in. “One of the Erlking’s champions rides around on a giant wolf. This seems a bit more comfortable by comparison.” She had removed her mask and cloak, leaving her in ripped blue jeans and a black tee-shirt with a pair of skeletal hands on the front.

“You have seen the Erlking’s champions?” Bishop asked sharply, from beside the girl. “What were they like?” The big man had been fixated on the Erlking’s champions stealing from the Shipwright the whole time. So, when a chance to get information about them presented itself he jumped on it.

She recoiled from him at first, but once Beth explained the situation to her, she calmed down.

“Really? They didn’t seem the type to do something like that,” she said, running her fingers through her long purple hair. “Well. I guess I only saw them fight the one time. Ok, their names are Benjamin and Jade. Benjamin’s a real monster, he is the one with the really big wolf. He also has a red skinned woman with horns and black stone armor…reminded me of a pit fiend, in this game I used to play. Jade is a small woman who fights behind a see-through shield and uses an essence pistol…”

The three companions listened as she explained what she had seen. Frank couldn’t help get a little jealous when she explained how strong Benjamin was. He caught the glances his two friends gave each other, they seemed just as skeptical. Maybe she hadn’t been able to see clearly, she did say that the corridor wasn’t lit very well.

They continued to talk as the gunship flew down the corridors, as fast as any car on the highway. Blake was making ample use of the guns, to clear the path as they went. The first time she had shot an enemy, they had all received a shock. The essence was divided up between the four of them. after discussing it, they figured that since they were all providing essence to the ship, they all got to share in the rewards.

It had only spurred the sniper on, to get as many kills as possible. They were going to have to clear the station eventually anyway, and the more essence they had when they reached the rift, the easier they could close it.