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Post by Brennon on Feb 26, 2020 8:16:49 GMT
Brennon hands Pinky the glass. "Aye, we've been warned, right enough. If lead is all they use, they may be surprised by what she can manage. Well, you've given your message. Did Wormwood's receive mine?"
If the messenger didn't deliver Brennon's note, he'll have it fetched and give it to Pinky before she returns to Wormwood's, in case Hammett calls there again. If the note is lost, and the message never made it, he'll summarize it for her. Once he's done, and Pinky is gone, he'll give the news to keep a sharp eye out for trouble, and return to waiting for his crew to finish preparing to depart; only this time he'll do it from his bed. Best to get sleep while he can.
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Post by Admin on Feb 27, 2020 4:40:05 GMT
"Dunno, I wasn't around ta see 'im get it. But I'll take this for 'im but ain't you gonna go spring 'im?"
At that moment one of the crew comes in.
"Skip, Gerard's ship is heading out and against the tide too! Something's up with them. Looks like the Germans are heading to town in force. Me n' the boys think that this game is over and we should follow Big G."
Brennon can hear the sound of heavy aircraft engines from above the bay.
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Post by Brennon on Feb 27, 2020 20:41:21 GMT
"All right, change of plans," Brennon says, looking towards Wormwood's despite the building being hidden by several others and a selection of wharf.
"Pinky, get Hammett's kit together. Or have someone do it. Nothing big, just essentials. Keep the Germans out of it, I imagine he'll have ways of fetching it. I'll pick him up, and we're leaving port. Ten minutes, tops."
He turns to bellow, "Arthos! Take the helm!" Seeing the first mate already standing at the wheel, all lithe seven-plus feet of him with a soldier's cut of grizzled hair that fails to conceal his pointed ears and stern, slightly alien features, Brennon nods. Celessia is Brennon's ship, but with the elf at the wheel, her clean lines and extensive decorative carvings could have come straight out of middle-earth.
Captain Brennon turns back and uses one finger to close Pinky's open mouth. Taking her arm, then her waist to get her to move, he escorts her down to the dock, jostling her out of her shock as his ship comes alive, the inhuman features of her crew as they swarm over the decks and rigging making Celessia the very image of a devil ship.
"Now Pinky, remember your duty, but don't get yourself killed! And, since we may never meet again..." Brennon takes the opportunity to steal a kiss before sending her down the quay with a shove. "For luck!"
Once Pinky is safely out of sight, Brennon pulls Hammett's trump card out and stares at it. Standing at the bottom of the gangplank, he should be just out of the blocking effect, but close enough for a quick escape. Celessia's figurehead watches him disapprovingly from her mooring.
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Post by Admin on Mar 2, 2020 1:38:52 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/SXpkXBr/flapper~jpg Pinky "Awe, geeze," Pinky sighs aftert the kiss. Pinky "I'll be back as soon as I can - with or without Hammett."She runs off into the swelling crowd. people on the docks are becoming panicky looking for ways out of the city now that the Germans are arriving in force. Four German flying boats land one after the other in the bay and taxi towards an empty pier. [OOC: Hammett contact will have to wait a bit...]
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Post by Admin on Mar 3, 2020 6:30:26 GMT
Brennon receives the briefest flicker of contact from Hammett before the connection is snuffed out.
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Post by Brennon on Mar 3, 2020 16:16:30 GMT
Brennon will keep trying until the last line is ready to be cast off, or eight of his allotted ten minutes. After the failed attempt, he's not out to ask Hammett for permission, just to grab him and go, in whatever condition. He doesn't really want to constantly distract Hammett in a fight, but whether he has enough experience with trumps (and Psyche) to 'wait his turn' is up to the GM. If he can't get Hammett within the allotted time, he'll cast off the last line himself and show Kasaba just how fast his ship really is, without Hammett.
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Post by Admin on Mar 4, 2020 5:49:04 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/SXpkXBr/flapper~jpg While getting ready to cast off he can see the commotion on the docks increasing in intensity. Some of his crew move to the edge of the boat to repel boarders trying to find a way out of Kasaba. In the bay, a second, larger, more modern ship displaying Gerard's flagship draws in beside The Stormrider. Brennon can make out Gerard climbing to the forecastle of his flagship and installing some type of large mace into the masthead. A taxi works it's way through the crowd and Pinky gets out. "Keep the change, Bub, you only have an hour left to spend it," she tells the driver tossing him a wad of francs then pulling two dufflebags out of the backseat. "Brennon! I got Hammett's stuff! And brought a few things a' mine; a dish like me can't be seen in rags!" she tries to get up the gangplank but to let her through would probably allow a few unwanted guests to push on with her.
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Post by Brennon on Mar 4, 2020 7:06:44 GMT
Unwanted guests can always be slipped over the rail later if they don't take the hint. Celessia can move enough of her own decks, lines, and sheets to do it herself if they get troublesome, so Brennon will grab the luggage and hand it up, then toss Pinky aboard, giving himself a brief break between his attempts to reach Hammett.
[ooc: I realize that '10 minutes' is a lot more time on my end than on his, with combat on Hammett's end. I'm fine with waiting out his fight before there are more posts on this end.]
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Post by Admin on Mar 9, 2020 4:40:27 GMT
Things start to go crazy in Kasaba. The swarm of people on the dock begin to grow desperate and shoving and fighting begins as they see a large number of ships leave dock hoping to slip past Gerard's blockade. Some of the boats and ships are filled with German soldiers intent on attacking the Stormrider and neighbouring ship. On the dock where Celessia is berthed two trucks carrying German soldiers plough into the crowd and the soldiers jump down pushing through to find ships to commandeer.
"Jimminy, look at that!" Oinky says pointing out into the bay.
From Gerard and the mace a yellow-argent glow has begun which begins to spread out across the bay and up into the sky.
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Post by Brennon on Mar 10, 2020 5:02:43 GMT
It looks like time is up. Brennon grabs for the last mooring cable as Celessia unwraps it herself and reaches for him, already starting to slide out of her slip. The line wraps around his forearm and he is hauled off his feet, to slam into the hull as the gangplank, unsecured and not part of Celessia's 'self', twists and falls into the water.
The climb up to the deck is not as easy as usual with Brennon's damaged hands, so the Captain has to endure a fair bit of friendly ribbing and commentary from his crew as they haul him up. Once he is safely on deck, Celessia seems to nearly spin like a top on her oars, and gathers speed to head for open sea, just to one side of Gerard's ships. The figurehead comes to life, tossing her mass of honey-red hair and reaching back to grab an oversized spear from the main deck, where it was usually camouflaged as a spare spar, and readies it to repel any blockade or resistance.
"Below, Pinky," is all the time Brennon has to spare for her at the moment, but a cabin boy appears to lead her below as Brennon prepares his ship for a fight that will hopefully never happen, and a trip through shadow that will be unpleasant, since he isn't planning to use the usual sea lanes. He makes sure the single gun deck is cleared and manned, since this is a shadow in which guns work, and sends his best marksmen into the tops, armed with either rifle or bow.
[*ooc: I realize I may have posted more than the action/pace allows for. Just interrupt my intentions where you need.]
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Post by Admin on Mar 11, 2020 4:19:47 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/SXpkXBr/flapper~jpg "What?! Below decks and miss the greatest show I've ever seen? No way, Buster, I ain't missing 'dis!" Pinky says as the cabin boy leads her away. "Careful wit' yer hands there, kid! Ain't you a bit young for me?"She does, in the end, allow herself to be lead down the steps. Out on the water more ships filled with German soldiers charge towards Gerard's ships. The great ship's guns begin shelling the German ships. Blood and body party fountain into the air mixed in with the wood and steel of the boats. Numerous ships looking to escape the bay are allowed to pass while during the battle. A few of these get caught in the expanding radiance expanding from Gerard; the small craft are torn apart by the energies and the people fade in and out of existence before disappearing from the seas. The great flying boats have refuelled and then take to the air. Brennon can tell that they are armed with torpedos and are flying into position to deploy them. Celessia races out into the bay toward the shadowpath leading out of Kasba. The glow from Gerard's device continues to expand stretching across the bay and farther out into the sky. Whatever technique Gerard is using probably involves the Pattern if his threat to isolate this shadow is true. Attempting to work with the Pattern in this area might not be a great plan judging by the enormous amount of power the Stormrider is emmitting.
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Post by Brennon on Mar 13, 2020 14:38:15 GMT
since he isn't planning to use the usual sea lanes. "Storm Tethers on!" Captain Brennon calls to his crew as he takes the helm. Traveling through shadow by sea tends to disrupt the weather, even more so and with worse consequences the way Brennon manages it. He gives the order to run up several signal flags; Celessia bound for Begma, requesting permission to pass. Please Respond. The actual Begman flag is used, which should let any of Gerard's actual sailors know that Brennon's ship isn't a local. If permission doesn't come, or takes too long, Celessia will turn to run parallel to the blockade and try to slip through where the locals are getting out. The signal flags will disappear as soon as possible, in either case. If Gerard is busy with the Pattern here, he will hopefully still be busy with it as Celessia gets away, leaving Brennon to shift on his own. With the war on, there will certainly be plenty of death and destruction for him to slip through the cracks.
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Post by Admin on Mar 18, 2020 6:59:55 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/SXpkXBr/flapper~jpg The large ship continues to fire upon the german bots. Most of the attackers are sunk but a few have reached the ship and uniformed soldiers climb up and storm the decks. Large demon shapes can be seen with the Germans rending Gerard's soldiers and breaking the large cannons. The flying boats are in the air circling waiting for the command to launch their torpedos, one gets hit from the battleship's shelling and falls, burning, into the bay. Soldiers on the Stormrider open heavy fire on the Germans but it seems that they will also be overrun very soon. The magical force of Gerard's continues to expand continually narrowing the safe gap for the fleeing boats to sail through. Brennon can see the ships jostling up against each other and their crews fighting ship-to-ship in the mad race to get through the gap. "Ram 'em!" Pink yells, her head stuck out of a porthole, "Full steam ahead and plow your way through!" she unhelpfully adds.
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Post by Brennon on Mar 18, 2020 19:59:19 GMT
Well, it's going to be a long day. Fighting hand-to-hand is a specialty of Brennon's crew, and as long as they aren't up against the demons, they should manage it quite handily. With the speed of a motorboat and the size of a light warship of the previous century, forcing a path through the crush and avoiding the expanding ring of destruction is probably the best option at this point.
Despite it not being easy, Brennon will turn and race for the gap, pulling the image of the Broken Pattern to mind, and seeking the interstices between Gerard's workings. Ships are breaking up and dying all around as the Pattern energy hits them, so Brennon will try first to ride the edge of the wave's destruction, navigating Celessia to the points just before (or once far enough, just after) less fortunate ships break apart or become drifting and sinking shells.
Celessia herself joins in the crew's assault with her oversized spear, sweeping exposed decks clear of surprised hands. Despite Pinky's calls, Celessia isn't really built for ramming, but instead for sweeping up alongside her prey for deck-to-deck action, and stealing all the wind out of her opponent's sails.
In addition to the immediate, moment-to-moment sensing he is doing with the Broken Pattern, Brennon is attempting to find his way to a shadow where a similar battle has happened several days ago, and the bodies lie swelling in the water, leaving Gerard in Kasaba to do whatever he's doing, and getting himself, his ship, and his crew out into shadows that can be manipulated.
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Post by Admin on Mar 23, 2020 2:39:49 GMT
Celessia moves implacably around and through the other ships; her crew fighting when the had to, using poles to push other ships out of the way when there were breaks in the fighting. Among the other ships near the gap out of Kasaba the fighting is slacking as too many have died and the remaining crews are needed to keep the ships moving forward amid the strong currents and energies of Gerard's Pattern emissions.
Brennon can see the break in Shadow ahead. It is close to the edge of the Pattern force and it also seems to be slowing down the spread of Gerrard's field. It is close now...
Elsewhere in the bay, the planes have received orders to attack Gerard's ships. The two bank into position and release their torpedoes. Turning away one of the planes clips the Pattern energy and breaks apart showering the escaping ships in burning fuel and debris. Brennon sees two of his crew sliced apart by the shrapnel and they fall overboard. A few small fires have broken out on the ship's deck and the crew sets to putting them out.
One torpedo strikes Gerard's destroyer sending smoke and flame, people and demons flying through the sky and into the sea.
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