070. Storm (d_m prompt)
Winter.
Skydera's winters were always something famous. Offworlders often referred to them as incredibly deadly snowstorms, blizzards, cold to the highest degree. Even so in the more northern, mountian regions.
This is further south than one might initially expect, it was night. A landship chugged along, plowing through the snow, ice, and frozen sand with a triangular shaped front end. The engine and boiler on the back of the front car chugged away much like the old steam engines of earth.
This wasn't to say it's the most advanced ship of the age. Hardly the case. The ship itself was a combination of multiple technologies that could be afforded easily at various times.
She was old, but reliable.
Maria Dession sat by a window, she watched what little of the unchanging landscape she could see in the blizzard go by. She was a thin set woman, built more like a runner. Dark purple hair, fairly dark skin, though she had blue eyes that were occasionally described by others as 'piercing'. She leaned on the table, clearly bored more than anything else, her cloak loosely falling around her.
"Got any fives?" The voice pierced the otherwise (if one ignored the engines of the landship, anyway) silent room. The 'boys' were playing poker, and the one who just spoke was the blond. Wearing a red cloak and having reddish brown eyes, he was the firey one of the group. Maria shifted her gaze to them, they were more entertaining than what was going on outside anyway, even if she could 'sense' the ice and snow around her, it still wasn't terribly exciting to watch go by.
"No." The smooth response was spoken by the fellow with the blue hair, greenish armor and cloak, he stared at his cards boredly. From her angle off to the side, Maria could see his hand. He spoke again, "Go fish."
Blond swore, but drew a card from the deck. Though he seemed to have a good percentage of it in his hands.
The third was the silent fellow. Green hair that was sort of bushy, he wore a headband with a green, triangular jewel in it. Like the others, he had a cloak, and his lightweight, tan body-armor could be seen as he was leaning back in his chair impassively. "I suppose it's my turn then." He spoke, his voice a bit more Earth-British than the other two, a contrast to blonde's rough voice, and blue's smooth. "Do you have any threes, Agen?" His calm look turns to Blue, who's name was such.
"Bah." Agen muttered, and handed over the card. "Your card, Retra" He said, a bit more sarcastically than he probably ment initially.
Retra just smirked, taking the two cards and placing them off to the side of the table, where he was evidently winning, having the most pairs.
"I swear, the stupid bastard's cheating." Blonde spoke up again. He gave his greenhaired compatriot a bit of an accusatory glance. "Usin' those Geomancer powers to sense our hands."
Retra's brow merely arched. "Accusing me a cheating, Sivian? Go fish is merely a matter of luck."
"Both of you cut it out." Agen spoke again, he gave them both looks. "Besides, it's my turn again an--"
Agen, alas, didn't get to finish as the landship came to a sudden stop, a jerk that nearly threw most of them out of their seats.
Sivian, because he was rather precariously balanced in his chair, did actually fall down with a loud swear.
"What in the world are we stopping for?" Retra mused aloud.
"Go up top, find out what th' hold up is." Agen stood up, pulling his cloak about him. Retra left up the stairs after a nod.
Maria watched him go, she stood up as well. "Are you alright, Siv?" She asked.
"Never better." He grumbled, using the table as leverage, he pulled himself up.
"You might want to come up here and see this." Retra's voice from up above called. "We've got trouble."
"Don't we always?" Agen headed for the stairs.
"Well, life certainly would be boring if we didn't, vendya." Maria grinned at Agen as she followed.
"S'a point, but still." Agen reached the bridge first. It was more of a capsule shaped room on the top of the landship, in front of the boiler and steam powered engine. "What's up?" he asked, glancing to Retra as Sivian came up the stairs last.
"We've got Unitanks. Tell 'em what you told me." Retra glances to the driver.
The driver was of the interesting sort. A thin set fellow in a silver uniform, a rather blatantly cybernetic eyepiece over his left eye. He sat at the console primarily situated in the middle of the small room. "I'm detecting twelve unitanks surrounding us, and a battleship behind us."
"Kay, so who'd we piss off this week?" Sivian asked, folding his arms under his cloak.
"I don't believe it's anyone specific, aside from the fact that they're bearing Imperial signals and markings. There are four Unitanks to our front, three to our Starboard, and three to our port. Two are behind us, to the sides of the land-battleship."
"Surrounded, and Imperials?" Retra's eyebrow arched again, clearly this didn't add up. "But the Imperial Guard disbanded after the Timemaster War, because there wasn't enough manpower."
"I think, lady and gents, we need to go outside and clear this little matter up. Dear, be a doll and clear up this blizzard so we can clear up this little mistake?" Agen glanced at Maria.
"Of course." She grinned. Hydromancy was her primary power, and controlling how water and ice moved about, even steam, was a second nature to her. Though her eyes glowed faintly with the control forced on such a wide area at once.
The surrounding area and thereabouts, the blizzard died down... enough to see the large bodies of the dark red unitanks, and the rust colored battleship in the back. All four members of Project Elemental came out of their own landship, coming to rest roughly in the middle of the whole thing.
A man stepped out on deck of the rust-ship in the rear. "Members of Project Elemental. Agen Dession, Maria Dession-Macrow, Retra Anthony, and Sivian Fenix. You're all under arrest for the crimes you have committed against the Skyderian Empire and the High Council."
Maria made a frustrated noise at the use of her full name, but Agen made a 'hushing' sort of gesture with one arm, he regarded the man thoughtfully for a moment, then smirked. "What, General, not even a 'Hello'? Come on Martok, I know you've been waitin' for this."
"Do not get smart with me, Dession, I made and trained the four of you, I know exactly how to break you." Martok tapped his cane loudly on the deck of his ship. This sound echoed through the windy, though otherwise silent night air. Heavy sounds of cannons lowering to aim at the four are heard from all around.
"Things'ave changed, you son of a bitch!"
"Sivian, calm down." Retra grunted, shifting his weight slightly. He didn't like this one bit.
Agen hissed, quiet, hushed, "Wait for it." This caught the others' attention. Agen's attention returned to Martok, and his landship. "Tell me, you still Sheaga's lapdog, fetching his little errands, and loose ends, like, say, us?"
Retra blinked, and in a hushed, though harsh, tone to his leader, "Agen, while I do respect your leadership skills, could you not antagonize the fellow who's in charge of the bloody cannons aimed at us?"
Maria glanced back and made the 'hush' gesture with her hand, clearly, she was clueless as well, but she trusted Agen. After all, she was married to him.
Even if he was stupid at times. Such is life, she supposed. Agen hissed again, "Wait. For. It."
"Come with me quietly, and you will not me harmed." Martok's commanding voice echoed through.
"That's a crock of--"
"Sivian!" Retra groaned, "Calm down."
"NOW! Maria, DROP THE STORM, Retra, further cover, Sivian, aim and FIRE AT THE TANKS. Help me clear a path!" Agen shouted. As soon as the word 'storm' was finished, Maria literally let go of the control she was exerting on the blizzard surrounding them. Which gave cover to the rest of Agen's commands. Retra thrust his arms outward, the sand, though buried under the snow, moved seamlessly to his commands, loud and windy with the storm, it gave for further cover as Agen took to the air with his wind, Sivian summoned a pillar of fire, sending it screaming into the side of a Unitank. Combined with the might of the storm, the tank groaned and fell over onto its side with a loud thoom.
Sand, snow, and ice flew. Maria commanded the storm for more strength, she gestured, and stayed near Retra. Further explosions, along with the flash of directed lighting and the cracking boom of thunder, echo past the wind. Martok could be vaguely heard screaming commands to his troops in the tanks, but to such a cohesive unit as Project Elemental, it was pointless on such a level. Even then, Maria doubted (vaguely), that they could DO much, let alone hear him.
A loud whistle of steam pierced the air. That was the second signal. Maria jumped backwards, towards the landing platform. Retra followed as well. Agen's lightning pierced the sky again, followed by a crackle of thunder, and the explosion of a tank falling onto its side.
Sivian followed them into the ship as well. Agen stayed outside, keeping a 'bubble' of wind about him to see, knocking down another tank so that the landship could go screaming by. The steam-whistles blew loudly again.
They had escaped.
It was only after Agen's return, things were planned.
"What's the nearest city to here?" Agen asked, tired, settled on a bench on the 'bridge.'
"One moment." The driver tapped at a keyboard, bringing up a map as he continued to send the ship along at full speed. "...No city is near here, I fear. However, we're somewhat close to Junkyard Mountain."
"Take us there, then. They've a dock, port, and a place to rest."
"Aren't they usually neutral in this sort of affair?" Retra glanced to Agen, he also sat. Agen pulled his visor off, too. "I mean.."
"They'll still take us in." Maria said, quiet and thoughtful. "A haven, if only for a night or so."
"She's right." Agen agreed, shifting his weight just a bit. "We don't need to stay long, just long enough."
"...So it is true, then." Maria and Retra glanced to Sivian, who was the one who just spoke. Agen just continued staring at the floor. Quiet, for the moment. Sivian continued, "...They're re-establishing the Empire."
"It'd seem so." Retra spoke, quietly. Maria idly takes one of Agen's hands, quiet. Retra sighed, "Sheaga was always an Imperialist, supported the Old Empire even before he was elected to be the High Councilman overseeing everything."
"What's it mean for us?" Sivian glanced back at the others, arms folded. Irritated, not at all happy with the situation.
"We'll just have to be careful. Play our hand right." Agen sighed, tired. "Not the first time we've been fugitives, and it won't be the last, when we get through this." No ifs. "...I just don't quite know where we'll go yet. I'll figure it out after we get some rest."
Winter.
The cold, seemed harsher, now. But that didn't stop the landship from chugging along. To its destination.
(( This is indeed Skydera!Canon. Plans going forward and allo'that shibbeh. Original d_m prompt post. This has been kicking around in my head a while, but only recently solidified, hooking it to a prompt since it helped solidify some of the things ))
Skydera's winters were always something famous. Offworlders often referred to them as incredibly deadly snowstorms, blizzards, cold to the highest degree. Even so in the more northern, mountian regions.
This is further south than one might initially expect, it was night. A landship chugged along, plowing through the snow, ice, and frozen sand with a triangular shaped front end. The engine and boiler on the back of the front car chugged away much like the old steam engines of earth.
This wasn't to say it's the most advanced ship of the age. Hardly the case. The ship itself was a combination of multiple technologies that could be afforded easily at various times.
She was old, but reliable.
Maria Dession sat by a window, she watched what little of the unchanging landscape she could see in the blizzard go by. She was a thin set woman, built more like a runner. Dark purple hair, fairly dark skin, though she had blue eyes that were occasionally described by others as 'piercing'. She leaned on the table, clearly bored more than anything else, her cloak loosely falling around her.
"Got any fives?" The voice pierced the otherwise (if one ignored the engines of the landship, anyway) silent room. The 'boys' were playing poker, and the one who just spoke was the blond. Wearing a red cloak and having reddish brown eyes, he was the firey one of the group. Maria shifted her gaze to them, they were more entertaining than what was going on outside anyway, even if she could 'sense' the ice and snow around her, it still wasn't terribly exciting to watch go by.
"No." The smooth response was spoken by the fellow with the blue hair, greenish armor and cloak, he stared at his cards boredly. From her angle off to the side, Maria could see his hand. He spoke again, "Go fish."
Blond swore, but drew a card from the deck. Though he seemed to have a good percentage of it in his hands.
The third was the silent fellow. Green hair that was sort of bushy, he wore a headband with a green, triangular jewel in it. Like the others, he had a cloak, and his lightweight, tan body-armor could be seen as he was leaning back in his chair impassively. "I suppose it's my turn then." He spoke, his voice a bit more Earth-British than the other two, a contrast to blonde's rough voice, and blue's smooth. "Do you have any threes, Agen?" His calm look turns to Blue, who's name was such.
"Bah." Agen muttered, and handed over the card. "Your card, Retra" He said, a bit more sarcastically than he probably ment initially.
Retra just smirked, taking the two cards and placing them off to the side of the table, where he was evidently winning, having the most pairs.
"I swear, the stupid bastard's cheating." Blonde spoke up again. He gave his greenhaired compatriot a bit of an accusatory glance. "Usin' those Geomancer powers to sense our hands."
Retra's brow merely arched. "Accusing me a cheating, Sivian? Go fish is merely a matter of luck."
"Both of you cut it out." Agen spoke again, he gave them both looks. "Besides, it's my turn again an--"
Agen, alas, didn't get to finish as the landship came to a sudden stop, a jerk that nearly threw most of them out of their seats.
Sivian, because he was rather precariously balanced in his chair, did actually fall down with a loud swear.
"What in the world are we stopping for?" Retra mused aloud.
"Go up top, find out what th' hold up is." Agen stood up, pulling his cloak about him. Retra left up the stairs after a nod.
Maria watched him go, she stood up as well. "Are you alright, Siv?" She asked.
"Never better." He grumbled, using the table as leverage, he pulled himself up.
"You might want to come up here and see this." Retra's voice from up above called. "We've got trouble."
"Don't we always?" Agen headed for the stairs.
"Well, life certainly would be boring if we didn't, vendya." Maria grinned at Agen as she followed.
"S'a point, but still." Agen reached the bridge first. It was more of a capsule shaped room on the top of the landship, in front of the boiler and steam powered engine. "What's up?" he asked, glancing to Retra as Sivian came up the stairs last.
"We've got Unitanks. Tell 'em what you told me." Retra glances to the driver.
The driver was of the interesting sort. A thin set fellow in a silver uniform, a rather blatantly cybernetic eyepiece over his left eye. He sat at the console primarily situated in the middle of the small room. "I'm detecting twelve unitanks surrounding us, and a battleship behind us."
"Kay, so who'd we piss off this week?" Sivian asked, folding his arms under his cloak.
"I don't believe it's anyone specific, aside from the fact that they're bearing Imperial signals and markings. There are four Unitanks to our front, three to our Starboard, and three to our port. Two are behind us, to the sides of the land-battleship."
"Surrounded, and Imperials?" Retra's eyebrow arched again, clearly this didn't add up. "But the Imperial Guard disbanded after the Timemaster War, because there wasn't enough manpower."
"I think, lady and gents, we need to go outside and clear this little matter up. Dear, be a doll and clear up this blizzard so we can clear up this little mistake?" Agen glanced at Maria.
"Of course." She grinned. Hydromancy was her primary power, and controlling how water and ice moved about, even steam, was a second nature to her. Though her eyes glowed faintly with the control forced on such a wide area at once.
The surrounding area and thereabouts, the blizzard died down... enough to see the large bodies of the dark red unitanks, and the rust colored battleship in the back. All four members of Project Elemental came out of their own landship, coming to rest roughly in the middle of the whole thing.
A man stepped out on deck of the rust-ship in the rear. "Members of Project Elemental. Agen Dession, Maria Dession-Macrow, Retra Anthony, and Sivian Fenix. You're all under arrest for the crimes you have committed against the Skyderian Empire and the High Council."
Maria made a frustrated noise at the use of her full name, but Agen made a 'hushing' sort of gesture with one arm, he regarded the man thoughtfully for a moment, then smirked. "What, General, not even a 'Hello'? Come on Martok, I know you've been waitin' for this."
"Do not get smart with me, Dession, I made and trained the four of you, I know exactly how to break you." Martok tapped his cane loudly on the deck of his ship. This sound echoed through the windy, though otherwise silent night air. Heavy sounds of cannons lowering to aim at the four are heard from all around.
"Things'ave changed, you son of a bitch!"
"Sivian, calm down." Retra grunted, shifting his weight slightly. He didn't like this one bit.
Agen hissed, quiet, hushed, "Wait for it." This caught the others' attention. Agen's attention returned to Martok, and his landship. "Tell me, you still Sheaga's lapdog, fetching his little errands, and loose ends, like, say, us?"
Retra blinked, and in a hushed, though harsh, tone to his leader, "Agen, while I do respect your leadership skills, could you not antagonize the fellow who's in charge of the bloody cannons aimed at us?"
Maria glanced back and made the 'hush' gesture with her hand, clearly, she was clueless as well, but she trusted Agen. After all, she was married to him.
Even if he was stupid at times. Such is life, she supposed. Agen hissed again, "Wait. For. It."
"Come with me quietly, and you will not me harmed." Martok's commanding voice echoed through.
"That's a crock of--"
"Sivian!" Retra groaned, "Calm down."
"NOW! Maria, DROP THE STORM, Retra, further cover, Sivian, aim and FIRE AT THE TANKS. Help me clear a path!" Agen shouted. As soon as the word 'storm' was finished, Maria literally let go of the control she was exerting on the blizzard surrounding them. Which gave cover to the rest of Agen's commands. Retra thrust his arms outward, the sand, though buried under the snow, moved seamlessly to his commands, loud and windy with the storm, it gave for further cover as Agen took to the air with his wind, Sivian summoned a pillar of fire, sending it screaming into the side of a Unitank. Combined with the might of the storm, the tank groaned and fell over onto its side with a loud thoom.
Sand, snow, and ice flew. Maria commanded the storm for more strength, she gestured, and stayed near Retra. Further explosions, along with the flash of directed lighting and the cracking boom of thunder, echo past the wind. Martok could be vaguely heard screaming commands to his troops in the tanks, but to such a cohesive unit as Project Elemental, it was pointless on such a level. Even then, Maria doubted (vaguely), that they could DO much, let alone hear him.
A loud whistle of steam pierced the air. That was the second signal. Maria jumped backwards, towards the landing platform. Retra followed as well. Agen's lightning pierced the sky again, followed by a crackle of thunder, and the explosion of a tank falling onto its side.
Sivian followed them into the ship as well. Agen stayed outside, keeping a 'bubble' of wind about him to see, knocking down another tank so that the landship could go screaming by. The steam-whistles blew loudly again.
They had escaped.
It was only after Agen's return, things were planned.
"What's the nearest city to here?" Agen asked, tired, settled on a bench on the 'bridge.'
"One moment." The driver tapped at a keyboard, bringing up a map as he continued to send the ship along at full speed. "...No city is near here, I fear. However, we're somewhat close to Junkyard Mountain."
"Take us there, then. They've a dock, port, and a place to rest."
"Aren't they usually neutral in this sort of affair?" Retra glanced to Agen, he also sat. Agen pulled his visor off, too. "I mean.."
"They'll still take us in." Maria said, quiet and thoughtful. "A haven, if only for a night or so."
"She's right." Agen agreed, shifting his weight just a bit. "We don't need to stay long, just long enough."
"...So it is true, then." Maria and Retra glanced to Sivian, who was the one who just spoke. Agen just continued staring at the floor. Quiet, for the moment. Sivian continued, "...They're re-establishing the Empire."
"It'd seem so." Retra spoke, quietly. Maria idly takes one of Agen's hands, quiet. Retra sighed, "Sheaga was always an Imperialist, supported the Old Empire even before he was elected to be the High Councilman overseeing everything."
"What's it mean for us?" Sivian glanced back at the others, arms folded. Irritated, not at all happy with the situation.
"We'll just have to be careful. Play our hand right." Agen sighed, tired. "Not the first time we've been fugitives, and it won't be the last, when we get through this." No ifs. "...I just don't quite know where we'll go yet. I'll figure it out after we get some rest."
Winter.
The cold, seemed harsher, now. But that didn't stop the landship from chugging along. To its destination.
(( This is indeed Skydera!Canon. Plans going forward and allo'that shibbeh. Original d_m prompt post. This has been kicking around in my head a while, but only recently solidified, hooking it to a prompt since it helped solidify some of the things ))