Redemption (Rated T) - A Pirate/Fleet RP

[Rider]

[glow=red,2,300]"Desperate times?"

Rider's hearing was better than the Cap'n gave her credit for.

"You know, there's a reason that rabid Meepits aren't allowed in the Realms. They tend to use it as their interdimensional plaything."

Ventratta opened his mouth to say that Shiva had done the exact same thing in the Guild Wars, but decided against it. After all, he had invited a demon in through the front door of the Meepit Realms, a move that could have cost him his job. Ventratta considered himself an open-minded Meepit. After all, he hired oddballs such as Nalia and Mittens. But he was an open-minded Meepit who liked getting his checks from the government.

"The more I think about it, the less likely it is that we'll be able to do anything against the sort of magic that those demons weild. There's nothing we can do that the Fleet can't do ten times over. So we may as well take advantage of the chaos. Get that book for Merpo."

---

Schzain was a raging tiger. Hit and run, hit and run. She sensed something strange approaching. The feeling that someone had walked over her grave was getting bigger.

"Invisibility. A useful trick, isn't it? But it has its limits. I can see you, can you see me?"

She could feel him, but she wasn't about to say that. He felt even bigger up close. His voice sounded like the voice of the Fleeter who had been able to se her, but she couldn't be certain. Humans were all so much alike.

... Red... yes, all so much alike.

She stabbed at the presence, and without checking to see if she hit, ran for the door.

A grey-skinned demon stood, guarding the door to the High Warmaster's ship. "I am Private Schzain. I need to speak directly to the High Warmaster. It's important."

"How important, girlie?"

Schzain hesitated, hardly daring to breathe. "It's about Leraye."

The guard smiled. Of course, this was his big chance for promotion. He had to step this battle up a notch, raise troop morale. "Enter," he said. Two of his fingers glowed silver, casting a spell to amplify the communiator on Schzain's wrist.

From the transmittor of every officer on the battlefield blared Schzain's words. "High Warmaster, the demon Leraye is in the Spacefleet. I ahve seen him."

A loud cry on the battlefield, a fierce cresendo of violence.

"Sir, he did not seem to be held against his will. He was disguised, with green hair and a slightly rounder face structure, but there could be no doubt that it was him. I sensed the gem in his pocket. Sir, two others saw him, a werewolf and a cyborg Kougra."

A moment of confusion. Not held against his will? But that meant...

"Sir, I saw him... I saw him erect a wall to keep the air in the Spacefleet. Sir, I believe he was trying to preserve our enemies from the vacuum."

That meant... we fought for nothing.

The demons stampeded out of the garage in confusion. It couldn't be. Perhaps all heroes were gone.

Some got in ships and left. Some just milled around the lunar surface in confusion. Some blasted magical attacks at the Fleet, not knowing what to do with their anger.

And Leraye watched it all on camera and smiled. Human or demon, they were all the same. [/glow]

[Kat]

"What book?" Kat perked up. "I've mostly been thinking of magic and healing and food for a while. Maybe I could help you guys get it."

[Huntress]

"You know, there's a reason that rabid Meepits aren't allowed in the Realms. They tend to use it as their interdimensional plaything."

Bloody Mary ruffled at once.

"The reason," he snarled, and Hunty turned her head in surprise when she realized that the meepit was speaking through his teeth, something he did very rarely, "is that we're outcasts. A danger for others. See this?" He waved his dark blue paw around. "It's a scarlet letter. Well, ultramarine, if you will. The minute we catch rabies, we have no more business in the Realms, and no more reason to have any warm feelings or a reason to protect them. Just like they're not going to protect us. If I had a way of blowing that place up, I would."

"Merpo's notebook," Hunty said, not caring if it was a very obvious attempt to change the topic. "True. I'm not one to back away from a promise once it's already been given, especially since he kept his side of the deal and it shouldn't be too much of a hassle." She sighed. "Hopefully. I swear, if we're going to need any more info from this place, it'd be way easier to just help Keng rise in the ranks or something."

"And then get her demoted for spying for us," Bloody Mary grumbled, already cooling down.

"Point." The captain attached the crossbow to her back again. "Is it me or is the commotion dying down out there? We should probably hurry if we're to find... what was it again?"

"The section IV library on the fifth floor," a quiet voice mumbled from the floor. The main upside of a meepitgang was that you didn't have to have the memory of an elephant. It was like having a walking notebook that doubled as a melee weapon, group of advisors, an encyclopedia, and occasionally a blanket.

"Right." Hunty cracked her knuckles. "Where do they keep the floors here?"

"Aaand to your left we see a prime example of a 25th century tablet that was once used for the purpose of gaining information," Bloody Mary chirped - there was no better verb for it. Hunty stared at him, then turned to look at the wall to the left. It had a map with a big red YOU ARE HERE dot on it.

She grinned. "Croikey. Let's see about it then."

The map turned out to be about as confusing as the Los Angeles city plan. The two stared at it for a little while.

"I would say," Bloody Mary said, waving his paw in some general direction, "that it's thataway."

"I would say," Hunty said, squinting at the map, "that I agree."

"We can always ask for directions later, right?"

"Right." The captain looked at the crew. "Mkay, boys, onward to destiny and great deeds before 'em fleetpeople get back and start to ask inconvenient questions, hop-hop."

"Very diplomatic," Bloody Mary said as Hunty wrestled with the nearby door's opening system, managed to beat it and slid out to some smaller, empty hallway.

"Am I ever?" She grinned. "Lessgo."

[Goosh]

Goosh trotted into the hallway. Since that spider had bitten him, he had developed somewhat of a headache, but not a normal one. Like his hands on the door before, his entire skull seemed to tingle painfully. He tried to shake it off.

"Alright," he said loudly. "Let's go get Rainbowface's book." He squinted at the map, muttering to himself as his eyes flicked from the graph to the compliated legend. "From this, I think we can carefully conclude that the blue path is in the shape of a duckie. Let's head upstairs, shall we? Kat, you coming?"

[Zylaa]

When the demons started to retreat, Zylaa was very confused. Weasels were scary obsessive creatures, yes, but not that much.

Still, with her forces no longer needed, she left the garage and returned to the crew, leaving the weasels behind to deal with any of the stray demons who still milled around.

Hunty was examining what Zylaa at first took to be a piece of impressionistic art, but eventually realized was a map.

"From this, I think we can carefully conclude that the blue path is in the shape of a duckie. Let's head upstairs, shall we? Kat, you coming?"

"Duckie? It's more like a goose, with that neck shape," Zylaa commented, still squinting at the map. She looked at Goosh quickly, wondering where exactly had come from, but dismissed the thought quickly. She ran up to Hunty as they moved out to find the book.

"Captain, the demons retreated... spontaneously. I don't know why, it was pretty much a fair fight in there, but they suddenly lost every bit of morale and organization. Should we worry about this, or call it one less thing to worry about?"

[Fraze]

The demon clearly heard Fraze, as evidenced by the stab she made in his direction. The attack hit on the far left side of his torso. The liquid armor he was wearing reacted far faster than he could--it hardened, becoming as tough as any of the armor worn by the other 'Fleeters here. Because of this, the blade slid past his ribs, mostly harmless.
Mostly. Fraze still felt some of the pressure of the blade striking him. He found a useful analogy to use was a bulletproof vest: he felt some of the impact of the point of the dagger, but not the actual penetration. His nice shirt was ripped and he would have a bit of a bruise there for a while. Well, he was expecting the former to happen anyway and didn't care about the latter.
Even though he took very little damage from the blow, he still stumbled backward, which gave the demon enough time to escape. He sent out a message to the higher-ups, by way of 'Fleet Security. "At least one of the demons has a cloaking ability. However, it is visible in infrared. It has escaped from the battlefield, do you want me to pursue?"
"Negative, S.O. Fraze. Continue to defend the Garage."
Fraze wasn't sure whether he wanted to hear that or not. His curiosity had been perked with this invisible demon, but knew it would probably be better to remain here. "Understood."

Fraze thought. Though the demon hadn't answered his question directly, her attack was nearly as good as any verbal response. She just barely hit him. Most likely, her aim would have been much better if she could see him, but far worse if she hadn't been able to sense him at all beyond his voice.
Many of the other planets Fraze had been to looked down on magic, thinking it quaint and outdated, even barbaric. Yet while Fraze could hide from nearly any technology by using his cloak, most magic users seemed able to sense him by his aura. Once again, his time here had taught him not to underestimate magic.

After sending off the communication, Fraze rejoined the battle. He decloaked before rejoining the fight. In the long run, he thought, this might be better for the 'Fleet. Stories grow in panic, and reports of one cloaked assailant slipping in and out of the battle and attacking unsuspecting combatants could grow into fears of an entire squad, even an army, of invisible assassins. Such fears could cause the attacking demons to fight more brutally, desperately, than they were now.
Fraze slipped in, striking a demon in the head with a side-edge blow from his Table. It turned around, and appeared much larger to Fraze than at first glance. And it had a sword.
The demon swung the sword, Fraze deflected it with his Table, but didn't see the kick coming toward his unprotected side. This would definitely be interesting--that was a move Fraze liked to use.
Swing. Dodge. Kick, block, punch, jump, slam. The two fought like this for some time, neither making any headway. When Fraze started realizing he was enjoying the fight, he knew it was time to end it. He took the slightest glances to get a view of his surroundings. They were on the outskirts of the battle now, Fraze with his back to most of the battle. They weren't too near any 'Fleeters...
In a swift movement that he had been practicing for some time in the holodeck, Fraze swung his table with two hands, diagonally downward. As he expected, it was blocked midway down--good. He let go of the Table with his right hand, grabbing the flechette gun in its holster at his side. By the time the Table cleared its arc, Fraze had the gun aimed.
The sound of thousands of tiny metal needles exiting the barrel of a gun seems eerily similar to the sound of a pillow hitting the ground, amplified ten times and sped up twenty. ((Yes, I dropped a pillow on the floor just to see what the sound was.)) The sound of them flying through the air--well, Fraze had heard it likened to the sound of a swarm of large flies, but had never shot at anything far enough away to hear it himself.
Apparently, the demon was out of range of any of their magical shields, given how much of him was remaining at this point. The wall of the garage sustained some damage, but that was to be expected.
He turned to find the next attacker to engage--when the demons all fled. A few of the less experienced 'Fleeters just stood there, dumbfounded, while others chased the demons, trying to take more of them while they ran. Fraze contacted security.
"They're...the demons are all running."
"We've been told that. Where are they going?"
"I'm not sure. They seem as confused as we do. Some of them are going back to their ships. Should I pursue?"
There was a pause over the line. "Our cameras show some demons are still trying to attack. Engage them first."

Fraze sent his assent, and turned back. Before joining in the battle though, he sent a message to his friends. "The demons are retreating. I've got no idea why, they just decided to run."

Any use of the term "Mostly harmless" in this post is completely coincidental and bears no resemblance to any works of fiction by any English science fiction author, living or deceased.

[Kat]

"From this, I think we can carefully conclude that the blue path is in the shape of a duckie. Let's head upstairs, shall we? Kat, you coming?"

"All right, fine. If it'll make things better, I'm coming with you," said Kat. As she started forward, she called out to the others, "Will you be all right?"

[Huntress]

"Captain, the demons retreated... spontaneously. I don't know why, it was pretty much a fair fight in there, but they suddenly lost every bit of morale and organization. Should we worry about this, or call it one less thing to worry about?"

"Mweh," Hunty said in the universal language of 'I should be able to form an opinion on this, but frankly can't decide'. "Well, if they're really leaving, then good riddance. If it's just a trick or diversion of some sort, then... eh, it's the fleeters' problem, not ours."

"Ours as much as theirs," Bloody Mary pointed out, clinging to her blouse. Hunty's pace had turned into the quick hurried semi-trot she had adapted during long hours of storms out at sea, being neither actual running nor actual walking. It was efficient, but made sitting on her shoulder rather uncomfortable.

"They'll be fine on their own," Hunty said. Her footsteps echoed back from the metal walls. "At least I hope they'll be fine."

The meepit raised an eyebrow - not that that ever showed on his face, but still. "What, genuine concern for people who aren't in your crew?"

"Oh, shut it."

"I meeean, I won't argue that he's a nice guy 'n all, but..."

"I said shut it."

He did, ears flattening. That last bit had come in a sharper tone than he'd expected.

Footsteps echoed back. The path turned up a staircase.

"I swear, all this stress really is getting to you, eh?" Bloody Mary's coarse voice echoed again after a short while. The answer was a generally emotionless 'hmh'.

"When all this is over," said the meepit, falling flat on Hunty's shoulder, "I'll really be looking forward to some nice, long, boring, eventless sailing somewhere in the western seas, far away from any demons, mutineers, library books, and big shiny fortresses in the sky."

Hunty gave a faint smile, shooting a quick glance at the signs on the walls. "Agreed, although the sole reason for us being here is getting a mutineer back near us, if you remember."

"If he succeeds," Bloody Mary said dryly. "And we've no clue what he's up to right now, so this whole idea of coming to keep an eye on him is going more sour by the minute." He looked around. "Ofcourse, this whole place has flocked to the demons as of now and there's not a soul in sight, so this might be a good time to track him down again, but-"

"His concern, not ours," Hunty said just as dryly. "Merpo's book goes first while we can still count on a little bit of stealth. Anyone still able to tell if we're going the right way?"

[Omni]

"Fesserfa? Brian? This is Professor Amneiger; I'm inside the research center. I've locked the doors, so if you need to come in you'll have to use the keypad."[/quote][/i]

"Not a problem," Brian said as he quickly jabbed buttons on the keypad. Being assigned to one of the more classified projects in Spacefleet, using keypads for security reasons was something he did a lot.

Once the first door was open, the two rushed to another door, keyed a few more security locks, and rushed into the room with the bike.

"Professors Terson and Fesserfa, come look," Jaliv said, gesturing to a screen. "The object has been emitting energy for some time which, when compared to the readings from Terson's experiment-"

"What? You think I broke it?"

"Brian…"

----------

Ethan was glad when the medical team arrived. "Cürian?"

"Hello, Ethan," a woman with long, dark hair greeted the cyborg before moving right to the problem on hand. "What happened here?"

"I think this man was trampled while people were rushing to get into the mess hall. A visiting mage tried to help him, but she later said he might be afraid of magic."

Cürian was already checking the man with medical instruments. "Trampling would explain this. Thank you, Ethan."

"No problem," Ethan said as he began to receive an interesting message on his built-in radio. That's weird… He considered the situation in the mess hall, he figured it might be good to calm the crowd down. He stood on a table in the middle of the room to better get the attention of the people. "Everyone!" he shouted, "I have good news! …No you can't leave just yet. However, the situation just improved greatly, and you should be allowed to very soon!"

The volume level in the room picked up again, this time with a different feel to it, and even some cheering.

"…Thank you. I'll let you know if anything happens."

[Zylaa]

"Anyone still able to tell if we're going the right way?"

"Another map thing up ahead," Zylaa called from behind. She sped up to reach the wall map, and noted that it was shinier than the last... probably computerized. But the screen showed the exact same image of the 'fleet as before... only the helpful "You are Here" dot had moved to somewhere along the neck of the aforementioned duckie/goose-shaped path.

"The 'you are here' label is still the most comprehensible thing on this map," Zylaa complained. "Why can't we just stop, ask for directions, and beat the 'fleeter unconscious?"

"Operation: Get Directions selected," a robotic, droning voice came from the map. Zylaa jumped backwards. "Select destination."

"Library?" Zylaa tried, ears flattening at this new display of technology.

"You have selected: Spacefleet Library. Correct?"

"Yes," Zylaa snapped.

"Path calculated. Thank you for using WallScreen 3000." A glowing green path suddenly appeared on the map, starting from the "You are here" dot and winding over to a large, empty square of space that Zylaa assumed had to be the library.

"You're welcome," Zylaa muttered. She continued to look at the map, evaluating the pathway, which made only sllightly more sense now that the directions were marked. "So if the cafeteria is here and the garage is here... and now we're here..." she muttered to herself as she peered around the map. After a minute she nodded.

"Okay, we missed a turn. We need to go back past three hallways, take a left, take the next right, take the third left, the fourth right, the second right... actually, can you all just memorize the route from the map? I'm starting to confuse myself, and that's a bad sign."

[Rider]

[glow=red,2,300]The bike whirred and crackled.

From far away, it could hear the voices of the pirates.

"From this, I think we can carefully conclude that the blue path is in the shape of a duckie."

It could feel the breath of the demons receding like the tide pulling back.

"Well, if they're really leaving, then good riddance."

It was vaguely aware of the Spacefleet prodding it.

"What? You think I broke it?"

It felt the soul of its master nearby. Its master was calling to it.

Its master was weak and alone and trapped.

A hand in the library caressed the spine of a book. "I think this one is it."

The bike spat out a burst of energy. Time looped and knotted like the ribbon on a Christmas gift. Time burned in its engine. Time spun around its wheels.

A whisper, a memory from long ago. "Do you believe in other universes?"

Rider snapped to attention at a table in the caf. She was suddenly very, very sober. But hadn't she just had five Gargle Blasters?

"You said you were ready. I just figured we'd get here quicker that way."

Ikkin and Sev suddenly appeared before Brian.

"Where is here, anyway?" Ikkin asked.

Several rooms away, Rider was asking the same thing. There was a blip in the landscape. Suddenly, half of the people in the caf looked like they hadn't just been through a demon attack.

Moreover, the life support was working again.

And there wasn't a giant hole in the walls of the garage.

The clock on the wall read 6:23 AM.

The bike had taken them back in time. Six hours back.

This whole day was one mind-screw after another. Suddenly, Rider felt very alone. [/glow]

[Kengplant]

"Hey, that man walking past... did he... did he smell familiar to you?" Asked Keng to Cyborg. The two of them were now moving at a jog down the hallways. Muskoka had joined them. It was carrying a squeaky toy that looked like a fish. Keng wasn't sure why the bear had brought it, but hadn't been able to convince it to leave it behind. As such, every few seconds there was a squeak as the bear re-adjusted it's grip on the plush toy. Keng made a mental note that this could be a potential problem in a stealth situation.

"C'mon, let' follow." Keng decided before Cyborg could answer. A few hallways later, and Keng fell flat on her face. She felt the strangest sensation... but it seemed familiar... like... oh no... it felt just like when she'd gotten caught in that dimensional rift thing back in the last Guild War, or at least very similar. She picked herself up and looked around. She was surprised to discover that she was in the same place. Muskoka and Cyborg was there as well. But something was different... something was missing...

Ah, the alarms were gone... odd. She looked about and spotted a clock...

"SIX, TWENTY THREE AM?!" she exclaimed.

----

Meanwhile back in the cafeteria... the half that didn't look like they had just been through a demon attack were getting very confused. For one the server bot was trying to tell itself it wasn't allowed behind the counter. For another many people were looking at themselves, or wondering where all these people had suddenly appeared from.

Apparently when time looped back... it brought everyone in the fleet with it. How else could they find themselves on the fleet at this time of day? Keng had been returning to the Spacefleet this morning.

[Huntress]

"Okay, we missed a turn. We need to go back past three hallways, take a left, take the next right, take the third left, the fourth right, the second right... actually, can you all just memorize the route from the map? I'm starting to confuse myself, and that's a bad sign."

Hunty squinted at the map. "Couldn't they just have, dunno, moving floors or teleporters that take you where you want to go? This here looks like-"

-the universe burped-

"-a very unnecessary amount of extra money to be spent on teaching all newcomers how to navigate," her voice trailed off at the end of the sentence. Did something just happen?

She looked around. The hallway was still empty, they were all still there, nothing had changed, except she suddenly felt hungry despite having had a, well, more or less decent meal a short while back.

She frowned and turned back to the map, which was no longer showing the path. "Okay. Past three hallways, left and right, and then we'll look for another one of those map-thingies."

"Or we could find a tourguide." Bloody Mary's voice also had a hesitant note in it but it disappeared quickly. He was used to tackling problems in order of appearance and always living in the present. Which, all things considered, is starting to look very ironic, but what'd you expect from my posts at 10 p.m.?

"We're still not sure how classified and no-touchy that book is," Hunty said, starting down the hallway again, "and if it's very classified and no-touchy, a local tour guide would present unnecessary diplomatic problems."

"Like trying to explain to them why we need to knock them unconscious before entering the library?"

"Yeah. Honestly, you'd think that people would be happy to not be unwanted witnesses."

[Cyborg]

" Woah what the hell just happened?!" Cyborg asked standing up, " I've seen a lot of interesting things: GW2, blarfs, talking squirrels, and don't get me started on Mage Manor, but this is interesting. Shall we go see what's happening? Oh wait I just found something I could use." he added as he ran over to a glass case containing some sort of rock that was floating. Cyborg smashed the glass, which fell to the floor, and grabbed the rock.

[Kengplant]

Keng raised an eyebrow. "I'd complain that that's some valuable piece of modern art... but it could also be a geological display. You never know these days. Pitty you didn't spot it before the time thingy. Then you'd have two. On that note it stands to reason that if we're still here that guy will still be going wherever he was going. I..."

Keng paused and took a few sniffs.

"Shoot, there's no trail anymore."

*SQUEAK*

"..." Keng glanced at Muskoka as the toy squeaked again. "The time thingy must have screwed things over. Well, we may as well keep heading in this direction. Maybe the trail will pick up."