Lady Blackbird write-up
We tackled John Harper’s one-shot Lady Blackbird nearly two years ago now. Prompted by my fellow A&Eers, I thought I'd put the write-ups here.
Pete (no LJ) played Captain Cyrus Vance. irishkate played Kaylee Arkan, First Mate. marzut played the Lady Blackbird, Natasha Syri. sammywol played Snargle the goblin pilot. alaimacerc played Naomi the ex-pit fighter and bodyguard.
Their ship, the Owl, had been impounded and the group were trapped in the brig of the Hand of Sorrow, an Imperial Destroyer. It was only a matter of time before the destroyer captain figured out who Cyrus was and worse, who the mysterious woman passenger truly was. Kaylee turned her mechanical know-how to the lock while the others figured out how to disarm the guards. Naomi volunteered to be first through the door and quickly smacked the two guards' heads together before disarming them and breaking their necks (hitting her key of Vengeance in the process).
Once in the corridor Captain Black picked up Snargle and smashing his head through a porthole (He's fine; it's a bloody hard head) and send him scuttling up the outside of the destroyer to the chain running connecting the Owl to the Hand of Sorrow. That done Cyrus instructed the Lady Blackbird and Naomi to hide while he and Kaylee made their way to the engine room to disable the destroyer so they could make their escape once Snargle had the Owl under power.
Lady Blackbird was about to make an objection but a nod from Naomi caused her to bite her tongue and they found a hiding place in a broom closet to await the return of the Captain and First Mate. "Never mind, milady," Naomi reassured the noblewoman as she closed the closet door on her. "You'll be safe here while I find us a way back onto the Owl."
Kaylee and Cyrus made their way to the engine room, dodging marines as they went. The smoke-filled bowels of the ship stank of fire and coal. Goblin slave-workers scurried about, ignoring the intruders, fearful of the punishments they'd receive if they shirked their tasks. Kaylee's eye fell on barrels of premium grade fuel, something like nitroglycerine, to be added to the fuel mix when the ship runs at flank speed. Catching her captain's eye, she exchanged a knowing wink and the two picked up a barrel and quickly worked it into position under the main drive shaft running from the engine. "Get back to the passengers and get them over to the Owl, Mister Mate," ordered the captain. "I'll set the charge."
Elsewhere the broom closet door opened suddenly and Naomi stuffed two dead Imperial Marines through. "Excuse me, milady. Best keep these fellows out of sight."
Lady Blackbird had had enough by this stage and stepped haughtily over the corpses. "Naomi, that's quite enough of that. Let us get to the Owl. The Captain has had sufficient time to complete whatever it is he was supposed to be doing. Follow me."
Outside, the sound of tortured metal echoed through the swirling clouds. Snargle pushed the Owl's engines to the limit and spun the helm hard over to twist the ship against the securing chains. With a sharp series of popping rivets the chains came away. Alerted, the gunners on the Hand of Sorrow readied their weapons and trained them on The Owl. "Snargle's no fool. Not ready to die just yet," muttered the goblin as he wrestled the smaller ship about.
The roar of the cannon rang through the destroyer. "Bloody goblin! If there's a scratch on my ship I'll bloody kill him." Almost casually, Cyrus turned and fired a round into the barrel of premium fuel. As the blast filled the room he gestured and disappeared in a ripple of light.
"Bless my mother's memory," Cyrus whispered as he appeared on the deck near the broom closet, "and, of course, her warpblood." He dusted himself down [1] and went looking for Kaylee and his passengers.
Snargle rolled the Owl and dived under the hull of the Hand of Sorrow, out of the way of the cannon fire. He steadied the ship under the destroyer and turned on the external speakers. "Jump, Captain! Jump!" He may have forgotten to switch off the microphone as he muttered an addition, "Landing optional, Captain."
The connecting corridor with the broom closet became something of a killing zone, as Cyrus met up with Kaylee and advanced along it, trying to rendezvous with Lady Blackbird and Naomi. Who at the same time had left the closet and were working towards an external hatch to gain access to the outside of the destroyer. The first hapless Marines to attempt to overwhelm them met with a blast of lightning from milady. Cyrus wasn't the only one with magically charged blood, and the Syri family have long been masters of the storm. Outside the warship the weather worsened rapidly as the roiling clouds began to pummel both vessels.
The separated pairs fought their way to rejoin and managed to rendezvous at the hatch. Naomi was impatient, shouldered Kaylee out of the way and smashed the lock from the door with her bare hands.
The savage winds instantly whipped at their hair and clothes but they could see hovering beneath them The Owl, with Snargle calling from the bridge windows. "Jump, persons! Jump"
The Captain let gallantry be his guide and he teleported Lady Blackbird across the gap, exhausting his warpblood powers for the time being. Kaylee dropped through the open hatch and landed surefooted on the hull of The Owl. She quickly secured a cable and tied it round herself, ready to catch the next over.
Vance held the hatch as Naomi went to join her mistress before he too jumped the gap and gave the order to dive. Snargle gunned the Owl's engines and twisted the vessel into a dive towards the thick cloud layer below. The Captain and Kaylee clambered inside, checking the door seals carefully as the ship entered the thick, acidic clouds. Overhead they could hear the futile cannon fire as the Hand of Sorrow attempted to roll into position.
"Where now, Captain?" asked Kaylee. "Haven," Cyrus Vance replied. "I don't like it, but we're running low on zoomium [2] and will never make it to Uriah's kingdom on what we've got." Kaylee shook her head but held her tongue.
[1] There was some exchange here about Cyrus's dress uniform, and Snargle admitted that he'd wanked into the pocket.
[2] Zoomium, the name we came up with after discarding 'space coal' as the default fuel.
Pete (no LJ) played Captain Cyrus Vance. irishkate played Kaylee Arkan, First Mate. marzut played the Lady Blackbird, Natasha Syri. sammywol played Snargle the goblin pilot. alaimacerc played Naomi the ex-pit fighter and bodyguard.
Their ship, the Owl, had been impounded and the group were trapped in the brig of the Hand of Sorrow, an Imperial Destroyer. It was only a matter of time before the destroyer captain figured out who Cyrus was and worse, who the mysterious woman passenger truly was. Kaylee turned her mechanical know-how to the lock while the others figured out how to disarm the guards. Naomi volunteered to be first through the door and quickly smacked the two guards' heads together before disarming them and breaking their necks (hitting her key of Vengeance in the process).
Once in the corridor Captain Black picked up Snargle and smashing his head through a porthole (He's fine; it's a bloody hard head) and send him scuttling up the outside of the destroyer to the chain running connecting the Owl to the Hand of Sorrow. That done Cyrus instructed the Lady Blackbird and Naomi to hide while he and Kaylee made their way to the engine room to disable the destroyer so they could make their escape once Snargle had the Owl under power.
Lady Blackbird was about to make an objection but a nod from Naomi caused her to bite her tongue and they found a hiding place in a broom closet to await the return of the Captain and First Mate. "Never mind, milady," Naomi reassured the noblewoman as she closed the closet door on her. "You'll be safe here while I find us a way back onto the Owl."
Kaylee and Cyrus made their way to the engine room, dodging marines as they went. The smoke-filled bowels of the ship stank of fire and coal. Goblin slave-workers scurried about, ignoring the intruders, fearful of the punishments they'd receive if they shirked their tasks. Kaylee's eye fell on barrels of premium grade fuel, something like nitroglycerine, to be added to the fuel mix when the ship runs at flank speed. Catching her captain's eye, she exchanged a knowing wink and the two picked up a barrel and quickly worked it into position under the main drive shaft running from the engine. "Get back to the passengers and get them over to the Owl, Mister Mate," ordered the captain. "I'll set the charge."
Elsewhere the broom closet door opened suddenly and Naomi stuffed two dead Imperial Marines through. "Excuse me, milady. Best keep these fellows out of sight."
Lady Blackbird had had enough by this stage and stepped haughtily over the corpses. "Naomi, that's quite enough of that. Let us get to the Owl. The Captain has had sufficient time to complete whatever it is he was supposed to be doing. Follow me."
Outside, the sound of tortured metal echoed through the swirling clouds. Snargle pushed the Owl's engines to the limit and spun the helm hard over to twist the ship against the securing chains. With a sharp series of popping rivets the chains came away. Alerted, the gunners on the Hand of Sorrow readied their weapons and trained them on The Owl. "Snargle's no fool. Not ready to die just yet," muttered the goblin as he wrestled the smaller ship about.
The roar of the cannon rang through the destroyer. "Bloody goblin! If there's a scratch on my ship I'll bloody kill him." Almost casually, Cyrus turned and fired a round into the barrel of premium fuel. As the blast filled the room he gestured and disappeared in a ripple of light.
"Bless my mother's memory," Cyrus whispered as he appeared on the deck near the broom closet, "and, of course, her warpblood." He dusted himself down [1] and went looking for Kaylee and his passengers.
Snargle rolled the Owl and dived under the hull of the Hand of Sorrow, out of the way of the cannon fire. He steadied the ship under the destroyer and turned on the external speakers. "Jump, Captain! Jump!" He may have forgotten to switch off the microphone as he muttered an addition, "Landing optional, Captain."
The connecting corridor with the broom closet became something of a killing zone, as Cyrus met up with Kaylee and advanced along it, trying to rendezvous with Lady Blackbird and Naomi. Who at the same time had left the closet and were working towards an external hatch to gain access to the outside of the destroyer. The first hapless Marines to attempt to overwhelm them met with a blast of lightning from milady. Cyrus wasn't the only one with magically charged blood, and the Syri family have long been masters of the storm. Outside the warship the weather worsened rapidly as the roiling clouds began to pummel both vessels.
The separated pairs fought their way to rejoin and managed to rendezvous at the hatch. Naomi was impatient, shouldered Kaylee out of the way and smashed the lock from the door with her bare hands.
The savage winds instantly whipped at their hair and clothes but they could see hovering beneath them The Owl, with Snargle calling from the bridge windows. "Jump, persons! Jump"
The Captain let gallantry be his guide and he teleported Lady Blackbird across the gap, exhausting his warpblood powers for the time being. Kaylee dropped through the open hatch and landed surefooted on the hull of The Owl. She quickly secured a cable and tied it round herself, ready to catch the next over.
Vance held the hatch as Naomi went to join her mistress before he too jumped the gap and gave the order to dive. Snargle gunned the Owl's engines and twisted the vessel into a dive towards the thick cloud layer below. The Captain and Kaylee clambered inside, checking the door seals carefully as the ship entered the thick, acidic clouds. Overhead they could hear the futile cannon fire as the Hand of Sorrow attempted to roll into position.
"Where now, Captain?" asked Kaylee. "Haven," Cyrus Vance replied. "I don't like it, but we're running low on zoomium [2] and will never make it to Uriah's kingdom on what we've got." Kaylee shook her head but held her tongue.
[1] There was some exchange here about Cyrus's dress uniform, and Snargle admitted that he'd wanked into the pocket.
[2] Zoomium, the name we came up with after discarding 'space coal' as the default fuel.