The soldiers aimed their guns while Twila and the rest of the crew scrambled for cover. Crouching behind the ship’s wheel, she and Marianna looked at the others. Becca leaned against the closer [Puckle Gun]–she was fiddling with it. “Is she…loading it?” Marianna asked.
She was. She slowly slotted a cartridge into each of the cylinder’s chambers. The gun’s ratchet clicked almost inaudibly as she spun and loaded. One chamber. Then another.
Twila stared at her, loosening her pistols. Becca’s load speed wasn’t going to be enough. She needed more time.
“Why? What’d we do?” Carter shouted from the deck’s far side.
Twila rolled her eyes. That wasn’t possibly going to work. Still, she shoved the starter into the Hourglass’s wheel mount.
The officer started striding toward the ship, hand on his sword hilt. “The charges are theft of cannons from the Foundry on Shimmertower, assaulting Company employees both on Shimmertower and Seapike, and murder. Your ship is hereby impounded, and your crew will be arrested until we discover what charges to give them. You, however, will be–”
Twila had had enough. Becca hadn’t finished loading the [Puckle Gun] yet, but the myst boiler needed running time before the airship could take off. She had to start the engine now!
She turned the starter. The two massive engines started humming below her–a far cry from their roar just a few days prior. There were no clunks, and on the little meter on the wheel mount, Twila could see the myst bar climbing fast. So much faster than Old Bitch had ever been able to condense before!
She didn’t have time to admire the Hourglass’s refit for long, though.
The Gibson officer started shouting at his men as the engines hummed to life. “Fire! Stop that ship!” A half-dozen muskets began to click. Mystshots poured up toward the ship rats. The brass plating on the Hourglass’s stern caught most shots, but a few punched through the wood hull and into the hold.
Then Becca pointed the [Puckle Gun] down at the Marines. Twila watched as she thumbed the mystlock. A moment later, a purplish-red beam lit up the skywright’s shed. It bloomed almost as soon as it left the [Puckle Gun’s] barrel, vomiting a cloud of hot myst out toward the [Gibson Marines].
The Marines broke ranks. Some dragged their comrades behind cover, while others dove for it themselves. The torrent of mystshots up at the Hourglass slowed to a trickle. One shot clipped the railing. Another clanged against the brass-armored hull.
Becca turned the [Puckle Gun’s] cylinder with a ratchet click, locked it back in place, and fired again.
When the maroon flash cleared, the Gibson officer shouted, “Marines, outside! Let the Navy solve this mess!” The Marines started dragging their wounded toward the door. Becca rotated the cylinder again with an ominous click, keeping it trained shakily on them as they left.
As soon as the last one was out the door, the [Puckle Gun] dipped back on its tripod. Becca sat down hard as Rosie ran toward her. Twila knew what she was feeling–she’d also opened fire on people to protect her friends, but she wasn’t sure if Becca had before. There wasn’t time to help her through it, though.
She fired up the Hourglass’s repulsor vents, which streamed the steaming myst out and raised the ship off the skywright’s ribs. “We’re going backward!” She shouted. Then she angled the vents, and the vessel slowly…slowly crept out of the skywright’s shed.
The second it pulled free, Twila spun the wheel and jammed the engines to ‘Ahead Full.’ Leftie and Rightie’s humming grew to the roar Twila was so familiar with–they were still the same engines–and then tapered off as the ship darted through the sky. With the altimeter set to rise, the Hourglass started circling Seapike, heading up toward where Twila was sure Fort Blackstone would be.
“Okay, crew. We’re going to get one shot at this,” Twila said as she slowly banked the courier sloop. “Find out where Auntie Charlie is and get her out.”
“Uh, Twi,” Carter started.
Twila interrupted him. “Not now. We need a plan. Uh, Becca and Jamis are on the back [Long Five]. Rojir and Carter are on the front. Uh, new ship rats - Ellie and Sam? You’re on the [Puckle Guns] with Marianna. Move the starboard one to the port side.”
“Twila, we can just–”
“Load the cannon, Carter,” Twila said, talking over him as the ship looped past the Gibson Company’s Skywrights. Some held gunships and, in a couple cases, larger ships–ones that dwarfed Hourglass, though not as big as the Royal Romney. Their gun ports were closed, but Twila counted at least five to a side. Were those the corvettes that carried the 48-pound carronades? Before she could get a good look, the Hourglass had slipped past in the dusk.
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“Marianna, light lamps. Dunno how bad the Sable Tide is here, but let’s not find out,” Twila said. The ship started to glow against the setting sun. Twila stared up at the black pinnacle as they ascended. “We’re coming, Auntie Charlie.”
And then the fort towered above them.
Its outer brick wall glimmered with brass guns while a dozen soldiers patrolled along a walkway. A single tall tower loomed from the center. Heavy carronades on iron frames sat mounted on three smaller buildings along the wall.
“Ready the [Long Fives],” Twila said. She steered the Hourglass toward Blackstone Fortress’s walls. The engines hummed away at ‘Ahead Full,’ but that wouldn’t be enough. She jammed the speed dial all the way into ‘Flank Speed.’ The engines’ content hum turned into a mind-numbing roar, and the Hourglass surged forward.
Then a bell started ringing. A moment later, a huge spotlight in the tower swung across the Hourglass, bathing it in light. Twila flinched away from it, narrowing her eyes, but she kept the little airship on course. She had to get to Auntie Charlie.
A colossal thunderclap split the air.
The purple light that zipped past the Hourglass’s hull shook the ship from one side to another. Before Twila could think, her hands spun the wheel away from the fort. Was that a 48-pounder?
“Attention, unidentified ship! Cut engines and prepare to be boarded!” A voice echoed from the fort, and another ship’s engine roared to life. “Cut your speed, or we will shoot to hit!”
“Twila, you idiot,” Carter shouted as he sprinted toward the quarterdeck and the wheel mount. “Use the pocket watch!”
Twila reached for the watch. A purple flash ripped across the sky as another cannon fired. She shoved it into its gear-shaped slot and pulled the first lever on the right-hand side down one click. Then she pushed the watch in.
Twila’s vision blurred violet, and an endless tide of ticks filled the air. When her vision cleared, the Hourglass hovered over Fort Blackstone. Twila checked the myst levels–low, but rising–and jammed the speed dial to ‘Flank Speed.’” Her heart sank as the ship sped toward open skies. But she felt a glimmer of hope, too.
They’d failed to save Auntie Charlie.
But thanks to Carter, Twila didn’t think they had just one chance anymore.
[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level 1.33 (Myst 1/12, Hit Points 2/2)]
[Head - Empty]
[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]
[Chest - Platejack Coat (lvl. 2) Plated Coat (passive) +1 Hit Point]
[Waist - Apprentice Mystgineer’s Bandolier (lvl. 1) Deep Pockets (passive) - Equip an additional Gizmo]
[Legs - Canvas Overalls (lvl. 0)]
[Gizmo #1 - Loaded Dice (lv. 2) - Roll the Bones (active, 1 myst/roll) - gain a random myst enhancement; Skill - Trickery]
[Gizmo #2 - Anton’s Pocket Watch (lvl. 4)] Redo (active, 5 myst/5 seconds) - redo the last five seconds of time, with knowledge of what’s happening (1 minute to reset); Skill - Piloting]
[Gizmo #3 - Empty]
[Gizmo (Belt) - Mystwork Lantern (lvl. 2): Mystlight (active, 25% failure chance, 1 myst/attempt) - start the light; Adjustable Light Aura (sustained, .5-2 myst/tick) - light a variable area; Skill - Perception]
[Myst Battery - Condensing Battery Mk. 2 (lvl. 1) Myst Storage (passive) - 12 myst maximum, requires condenser to refill; Condense Myst (passive) - Condenses 1 myst/6 ticks]
[Weapon/Pair - Anton’s Paired Pistols (lvl. 2) Smoothbore Myst-Shot (active, 1 cartridge/shot) - fire a ray of heated myst; Rapid Shots (active, 2 myst/shot) - fire twice/tick; Skill - Marksman]
[Weapon #2 - Heatblade (lvl. 2) Heat (active, 1 myst/tick) - cause the blade’s edge to superheat; Skill - Acrobatics]
[Weapon/Pair - Empty]
[Skill #1 - Trickery 2]
[Skill #2 - Perception 2]
[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]
[Skill #4 - Marksman 2]
[Skill #5 - Acrobatics 2]