Hello everyone and thank you whoever wished me merry Christmas, you guys have fun over the holidays? Kind of wish I could've written something for the special day, but alas it t'were impossible. Hope you guys have fun new years's eve though!

And yes, I am running low on images to use with Rex threads!

Hooray!

[X] Order the gunners to fight the fire on deck
Being awesome is cool and all, but obvious bait and wait tactic is obvious.

[!/] Order the gunners to fight the fire on deck.

Not the smartest option really...

If the count is mixed, then this is thread 22.

>>[ ] Order the gunners to fight the fire on deck.
Its treating the symptom, not the cause.

>>[ ] Ignore the fire and prepare to engage as soon as that vessel is in sight.
You'll never hit her.

>>[ ] Increase your speed, try to blow the flames out and escape your ambusher
Pirates are counting on your panicking and speeding up to result in crashing into something. Don't do it.


[x] Speed up enough to avoid the tumbling rocks as the gunners blast the channels by the canyon walls beside/ahead of us which the pirate could use to enter/exit.
[x] Have some of the crew and Nitori with her invention put out the fires, but if things are too dangerous don't risk their lives.
[x] Try not to go so fast that couldn't make a tight turn or avoid fallen rocks, or make it unsafe for the fire crews.

[ ] Send people to deal with flames.
[ ] Wait until the enemy ship is alongside us, then move to GRIND them against the canyon walls - either they get crushed, or they speed up and horribly overwork their engine to the point where it craps out on them.

[x] Send people to deal with flames.
[x] Wait until the enemy ship is alongside us, then move to GRIND them against the canyon walls - either they get crushed, or they speed up and horribly overwork their engine to the point where it craps out on them.

I like.

[x] Send people to deal with flames.
[x] Wait until the enemy ship is alongside us, then move to GRIND them against the canyon walls - either they get crushed, or they speed up and horribly overwork their engine to the point where it craps out on them.

Mokou is too nimble to be slammed into a wall. All you'd do its damage to your ship, because she could just duck down underneath, rise above, and dart into a channel. You'd have a better chance with rising into the fog so she has a harder time bombing you. (which was Kira's idea)

>>10953

Except i point out that scorns post states she's not moving at high speeds in relation to us and her engine is already protesting it's work load. This plan will either crush her should she not get out of the way, or force her to put on a burst of speed which should make her already over-worked engine give up on her.

[x] Send people to deal with flames.
[x] Wait until the enemy ship is alongside us, then move to GRIND them against the canyon walls - either they get crushed, or they speed up and horribly overwork their engine to the point where it craps out on them.

>>10955
In which case, she could just as easily fly above us without a problem. I mean hell, your idea would make more sense if you were trying to make her run out of fuel before yourself.

It would make her skitish at best, but most certainly not make her overwork her engine repeatedly. Mokou is resourceful and no fool, she won't fall into the same situation twice.

>>10958

That may be so, but at the very least it's showing her we're not just going to sit here and burn. She knows we've got crap-all chance of hitting her with our guns, so our only option is to use our bulk to our advantage, or find some way to predict her movement for our gunners to take advantage of.

The second is, sadly, going to be significantly harder to pull off than using our bulk. At the very least when she maneuvers away we can pull away from the side and put on some speed to leave her behind.

[x] Send people to deal with flames.
[x] Wait until the enemy ship is alongside us, then move to GRIND them against the canyon walls - either they get crushed, or they speed up and horribly overwork their engine to the point where it craps out on them.

=============

The fire poses only a minimal threat to your ship, the armor plating will protect you from most structural damage and it'll have to burn for a while to risk setting off munitions or the like, plus extended exposure to that heat might cause the metal to warp and twist itself which could result in an overall weakening or compromise the air tight seal. Better to dispatch someone to deal with it immediately than let the damage occur and have to waste time stopping for costly repairs once more.

"Someone get me Nitori!" You bellow coarsely into the intercom, voice hoarse and scratchy from the dry smoke that's seeped into the bridge, you can feel the heat of the fires even from behind the glass of your view screen. The smoke belched out by the burning mess splattered over your ship is making visibility even worse, you're next to blind right now with this on top of the fog.

"Sir!"
A garbled reply in Nitori's voice, presumably from the engine room where the background noise interferes with the sound quality of the coms, down there the gentle ever present hum that is the heartbeat of the ship is more like a cacophonous roar. Personally you've never been able to stand such mechanical din for long, a shame considering how much you rely on the lovely ladies that work within the bowels of The Herald. Weighing up the risks of each situation, you begin to give your orders.
"Take the gunners down to the deck and start fighting that fire, use those canisters from last time as well as that stuff will burn even on water! Your safety is your first concern though, if things look dangerous then you get out of there! Clear?"
"But captain, the ship-" Before she can protest you cut her off.
"We can fix the ship a lot easier than we can fix you Nitori, promise me you'll be safe?"
"Ah! Right!"
There's precious few people you can trust right now, with your own nation hot on your heels and your life long foe still looking for you presumably you can't afford to allow your crew to take stupid risks. You've already put them in the line of fire by following you, they won't be permitted to endanger themselves further if you can help it.

While the fire team mobilize you turn to Mystia, her steady hand has guided you this far through these dangerous and misty straights with a comforting sureness, right now her white knuckles speak volumes about the pressure on her right now having to navigate such tight quarters during a combat situation. Gripping the ship's wheel tightly she has a grim yet determined expression, locked into concentrating on her perilous task made all the harder by the fog and smoke. The last couple of days have been hardest on her and Alice, the two of them being responsible for guiding The Herald of Spring through these dangerous skies, abandoning your podium for a moment you stand by the stoic helmswoman to offer your support before giving orders.

"We should have the fires cleared in a moment, you're doing an admirable job."
"I've got a feather out of place."
"I understand, anyone would balk at what you have to do, Mystia, but I beleive in you."
Despite your attempt at reassurance, she doesn't look relieved.
"No, I literally have a feather out of place."
Without so much as a flicker across her face to signal her discomfort, Mystia whines at you and twitches her elegant little wings slightly, at the base of the wing where it joins with her back a single feather has become trapped between her uniform and the rest of the wing.
"It's driving me nuts." She does on, in a breathlessly desperate voice. Well now....
"I see, then with your permission?"
"Do it!"
She hisses and with a quick slip of your index finger you tease the errant plumage out of there with a flick of your wrist, Mystia shivers slightly in response to either the relief or your touch but other than that reacts very minimally. At least she won't have anything else to distract her now, you're glad you could help.

"Anyway," You start, clearing your voice. "When you catch sight of that ship again I want you to try and pin it against the rocks. Ram it against the walls and keep it there, anything to stop it from darting about playing peek a boo like this!"
"Yessir!"

"Wriggle!" Swiftly moving on you return to the podium to get a better view of the action, on the deck below you can see streams of white foam being sprayed over the flames by the fire team, the blaze still burns strong but is beginning to waver slightly.

"Can you possibly give us an early warning when the enemy approaches?"
"Negative sir, I'm sorry but these tight canyon walls provide too much interference. Signals just bounce off the walls and begin to over lap then destabilize each other."
She looks at you apprehensively, there's more to be said it seems and by her expression you're not going to like it, not wanting to scare the girl you indulge her with a weak smile.

"Um, there's another thing." She says finding her voice. "We've got an in coming hail, presumably from the attacking party unless there's someone else out there. But they.....they're not trying to hide the signal's origin, it's coming almost perfectly parallel to our position from one of the narrow channel."

"It's like they want us to know they're out there."
She squeaks in a small frightful voice.

==============================

[ ] You've made a habit of always meeting your foe face to face, accept the hail

[ ] You know when you're being taunted, ignore the hail


-----------------------

Ram n' grind will be the first thing Mystia does when the enemy vessel pops up again conveniently skipping the need for an extra option here, once the signal ends you know you're going to be attack basically.

[x] You've made a habit of always meeting your foe face to face, accept the hail

Meet & greet

[x] You've made a habit of always meeting your foe face to face, accept the hail.

Captain Mokou, it would be a waste of a rose to wilt upon your coffin when it would look more beautiful against your flushed skin and match your vibrant crimson eyes.

[x] You've made a habit of always meeting your foe face to face, accept the hail

Who knows, we might even get the chance to become pirates
That'd be cool

[!/] You've made a habit of always meeting your foe face to face, accept the hail.

>Captain Mokou, it would be a waste of a rose to wilt upon your coffin when it would look more beautiful against your flushed skin and match your vibrant crimson eyes.

A boner. I popped one.

>Who knows, we might even get the chance to become pirates
>That'd be cool

WHERE'S MY VYSE,AIKA AND FINA DAMMIT.

[x] You've made a habit of always meeting your foe face to face, accept the hail.

It's what we do best after all.

[X] Obvious vote is obvious.

Yeah.

>buckeneers
Since there's the possibility that this won't be the last time you'll be using this word, and I'd rather not look at this 'spelling' again if I can help it: "buccaneers".

>Captain Mokou, it would be a waste of a rose to wilt upon your coffin when it would look more beautiful against your flushed skin and match your vibrant crimson eyes.
And while you're writing stuff down...

[x] You've made a habit of always meeting your foe face to face, accept the hail.

>Captain Mokou, it would be a waste of a rose to wilt upon your coffin when it would look more beautiful against your flushed skin and match your vibrant crimson eyes.

Oho

[ ] You know when you're being taunted, ignore the hail

[ODIN] You've made a habit of always meeting your foe face to face, accept the hail.


>Captain Mokou, it would be a waste of a rose to wilt upon your coffin when it would look more beautiful against your flushed skin and match your vibrant crimson eyes.

In b4 Cap'n Mokou rips us a new one.

>>10986
Thanks, I posted that last one without checking it over before going to bed last night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching the commotion on deck you ponder your next move, blobs of thick white foam hang from every edge as the gunners and Nitori fight to suppress the fire, smothered in the Kappa's special non-combustible fluid the flames sputter as they dwindle into nothingness.

"Open the channel, Miss Wriggle. No sense breaking the habit of a life time!"
"Yessir!"

A moment's activity as Wriggle's hands fly over her station, balancing and refining all those calculations vital to her station that you haven't the slightest idea about. Within seconds a distortion winks into existence before you and resolves itself into an image, whoever is sending the message stands too close to the receiver blocking out most of the background and dominating the window with her presence. A rather imposing looking young woman of radiant beauty, with long flowing locks of azure blue hair and an smug smirk on her face fixes you with a imperious look, an almost tangible aura of confidence surrounds this woman.

"Congratulations! I am here to inform you that I will be doing you the most gracious favor of relieving the heavy burden of leadership from your weary shoulders by assuming command of your crew and vessel! Consequentially this means that uh,"
She hesitates a beat, yet recovers almost instantly.
"Whatever country you serve no longer has need of your services and has promptly fired you! My deepest condolences."
Feigning sympathy she shakes her head slightly, then carries on barely taking a breath as if she had suddenly been struck by inspiration, conveniently robbing you of your chance to speak up.
"Say, I've got an idea! I heard you lost your job, but it just so happens that I've recently acquired my very own ship! Despite your less than glowing record, I'd be willing to hire you on a trial basis."
On and on she babbles without allowing a moment for anyone else to respond or even drawing the breath to talk, smiling winsomely at all the while as if she were doing you a favor!

"Excellent! I'm glad you see things my way, now I'll be boarding my ship any moment now and I expect you to be presentable and greet me with a nice hot cup of-"
"Who on earth are you?"

Terribly bad manners to butt in like that, but had you not spoken up you were concerned that she might be able to chatter her way onto the ship without you realizing some how. Your outburst seems to have derailed her entirely, the winsome smile droops uncertainly and her eyes seem to look at you as if seeing you for the first time.

"Ooh hoo hoo hoo! How rude of me!"
Snapping into a awkward laughter just like that she tries to recover again, but you can see she's lost some of the confidence from before even as she tries to brush you off.
"I suppose it is rather remiss of me as your captain to forget my introduction, officers should strive to have a good relationship with their underlings after all, shouldn't they! But still, it's not a good idea to point out the failings of your superiors young man!" She scolds. "Because I'm so magnanimous I'll let you off the hook with a warning this time, but in future you should hold you tongue! Now, introductions! Yes?"

Taking a slight step back to give you a better view of herself entirely, leading you to believe that she intentionally stood closer in order to appear more intimidating, the girl stands to attention before you. Sloppily you might add, as if she had heard of what sailors were expected to do and yet had never been part of a real navy. Her outfit is idiosyncratic too, a riot of colours rather than any one unifying scheme like a naval uniform and cut in impractical style that seems to be more about visual appeal than practicality. At first you're convinced she's wearing a skirt, but a closer look reveals a pair of normal trousers underneath a scandalous skirt cut up to the thigh.

"I am the illustrious captain Tenshi Hinanai, proud and noble brigand of the Fujiwara crew and a daughter of heaven."

Standing at ease, she assumes a viscous grin.

"And you, I presume, are my new ship's cabin boy?"

======================

[ ] Play along, let her aboard, then engage her in melee.

[ ] What a blow hard, end transmission!

[ ] Refuse her "generous" offer, engage her in ship to ship combat.

[ ] Genuflect


========

Hey Dr Doujin, you know I said it was Mokou?

I lied.

Happy new year y'all!

[x] When you served the empire, you swore fealty to the empress herself; if you're going to entertain the notion of serving under a pirate's flag, you'll speak to the leader of the Fujiwara band, not one of her lieutenants.
[x] Prepare for ship-to-ship combat.

A sword fight with Tenshi is just a bad idea.

Either she's just gauging us for now, it's a trap, or she's trying to get rid of her clearly incompetent subordinate. Tenshi's speech makes it clear they've waiting for us in particular. Mokou is out there, somewhere, in a heavily armed cutter, watching this exchange with glee.

[X] "While I've nothing against servicing beautiful women, I'm afraid I really must decline. Of course, if you insist on coming over, we could discuss it over dinner; perhaps in my cabin?"

I'm drawing a blank for really good flirting at the moment, but damn it if I'm passing up the chance to flirt with Tenshi. Or really any woman, given Rex's habits. Plus, with the way she's acting, this might actually work. She talks fast, but I wonder if we could pull the same trick and fast talk her into working on our crew?

[x] When you served the empire, you swore fealty to the empress herself; if you're going to entertain the notion of serving under a pirate's flag, you'll speak to the leader of the Fujiwara band, not one of her lieutenants.
[x] Prepare for ship-to-ship combat.

[X] "While I've nothing against servicing beautiful women, I'm afraid I really must decline. Of course, if you insist on coming over, we could discuss it over dinner; perhaps in my cabin?"

Excellent. Also, forgot to say something:
>Followed by quickly inquiring if you'd like to enjoy further drinks alone in her quarters. As the day was drawing to a close and your crew no doubt wondering where you had gotten to, you had to decline her generous offer.

Wtf?

[x] When you served the empire, you swore fealty to the empress herself; if you're going to entertain the notion of serving under a pirate's flag, you'll speak to the leader of the Fujiwara band, not one of her lieutenants.
[x] Prepare for ship-to-ship combat.

[x] "It would be my pleasure to have you aboard, Captain Hinanai, but you see we were just attacked by a rinkidink fishing boat sailed by a foolish flat chested rambler. As such, the aesthetics are lacking and certainly not worthy of a woman such as yourself. But if we work hard I'm sure she'll be cleaned up by the time we exit this canyon. Then we'd be more than happy to meet your properly. I greatly wish to speak to the great Fujiwara herself too.

And when she gets pissed.
[x] "I'm afraid it could never work between us. You may be a daughter of heaven, but I am a son of hell. Lets see who visits home first."


She is trying to draw our attention while the other ships get into position, most likely. Keep a sharp eye out.

Hey Scorn
I lied to

[ ] Why certainly! Why don't you come aboard so we can discuss the terms of my future employment?

[ ] Take her prisoner the moment she steps on board.

>>10996 changing to >>11002

Damn you and your superior write-in skills Doujin

[!/] Why certainly! Why don't you come aboard so we can discuss the terms of my future employment?

[!/] Take her prisoner the moment she steps on board.

IN THE BRIG.

[X] Why certainly! Why don't you come aboard so we can discuss the terms of my future employment?

[X] Take her prisoner the moment she steps on board.

[x] "It would be my pleasure to have you aboard, Captain Hinanai, but you see we were just attacked by a rinkidink fishing boat sailed by a foolish flat chested rambler. As such, the aesthetics are lacking and certainly not worthy of a woman such as yourself. But if we work hard I'm sure she'll be cleaned up by the time we exit this canyon. Then we'd be more than happy to meet your properly. I greatly wish to speak to the great Fujiwara herself too.

And when she gets pissed.
[x] "I'm afraid it could never work between us. You may be a daughter of heaven, but I am a son of hell. Lets see who visits home first."

[x] "It would be my pleasure to have you aboard, Captain Hinanai, but you see we were just attacked by a rinkidink fishing boat sailed by a foolish flat chested rambler. As such, the aesthetics are lacking and certainly not worthy of a woman such as yourself. But if we work hard I'm sure she'll be cleaned up by the time we exit this canyon. Then we'd be more than happy to meet your properly. I greatly wish to speak to the great Fujiwara herself too.

And when she gets pissed.
[x] "I'm afraid it could never work between us. You may be a daughter of heaven, but I am a son of hell. Lets see who visits home first."

Flirting with Tenshi means insulting her.

[ ] What a blow hard, end transmission!

[X] What a blow hard, end transmission!

I don't think I voted yet, but I really do have to go with this.
If only for the comedic relief when we start grinding her against a wall, and she sends another transmission crying uncle.

[x] "It would be my pleasure to have you aboard, Captain Hinanai, but you see we were just attacked by a rinkidink fishing boat sailed by a foolish flat chested rambler. As such, the aesthetics are lacking and certainly not worthy of a woman such as yourself. But if we work hard I'm sure she'll be cleaned up by the time we exit this canyon. Then we'd be more than happy to meet your properly. I greatly wish to speak to the great Fujiwara herself too.

And when she gets pissed.
[x] "I'm afraid it could never work between us. You may be a daughter of heaven, but I am a son of hell. Lets see who visits home first."

[X] Why certainly! Why don't you come aboard so we can discuss the terms of my future employment?

[X] Take her prisoner the moment she steps on board.

[x] "It would be my pleasure to have you aboard, Captain Hinanai, but you see we were just attacked by a rinkidink fishing boat sailed by a foolish flat chested rambler. As such, the aesthetics are lacking and certainly not worthy of a woman such as yourself. But if we work hard I'm sure she'll be cleaned up by the time we exit this canyon. Then we'd be more than happy to meet your properly. I greatly wish to speak to the great Fujiwara herself too.

And when she gets pissed.
[x] "I'm afraid it could never work between us. You may be a daughter of heaven, but I am a son of hell. Lets see who visits home first."

Probably no updates today, I'm feeling a little of colour from new years.

This is so awesome I feel the need to amend my vote with it:

[x] "I'm afraid it could never work between us. You may be a daughter of heaven, but I am a son of hell. Lets see who visits home first."

[x] "It would be my pleasure to have you aboard, Captain Hinanai, but you see we were just attacked by a rinkidink fishing boat sailed by a foolish flat chested rambler. As such, the aesthetics are lacking and certainly not worthy of a woman such as yourself. But if we work hard I'm sure she'll be cleaned up by the time we exit this canyon. Then we'd be more than happy to meet your properly. I greatly wish to speak to the great Fujiwara herself too.

And when she gets pissed.
[x] "I'm afraid it could never work between us. You may be a daughter of heaven, but I am a son of hell. Lets see who visits home first."

TOUHOES! PREPARE FOR GLORY! TONIGHT, WE DINE IN HELL!

[x] "It would be my pleasure to have you aboard, Captain Hinanai, but you see we were just attacked by a rinkidink fishing boat sailed by a foolish flat chested rambler. As such, the aesthetics are lacking and certainly not worthy of a woman such as yourself. But if we work hard I'm sure she'll be cleaned up by the time we exit this canyon. Then we'd be more than happy to meet your properly. I greatly wish to speak to the great Fujiwara herself too.

And when she gets pissed.
[x] "I'm afraid it could never work between us. You may be a daughter of heaven, but I am a son of hell. Lets see who visits home first."

^Could be better but I'll go with this.

I'm pretty much visualizing a scene in which Tenshi doesn't understand the insult immediately and excitedly agrees that she'll wait for us to clean up. End hail. Everyone on Rex's ships looks at each other in confusion. Tenshi hails again, only now realizing the actual message, and is irate. Then we fight to the death!

This is of course assuming that she's dumb enough to fall for being invited on board, in which case you could fully feign compliance and bag her the moment she's in arm's reach. Even more so, we could just say "ok we're pirates now, lol" and head to the pirate base to find it's position.

But screw that. We want explosions and foolish battles! Tenshi is meant to be spanked.

>>11031

I'm visualizing Keine also being on the Fujiwara crew, and being in hakutaku mode 24/7. Green highlights and clothess, hook'em horns, and ready to cave anyone on a moment's notice

>>11036
Hmm, that's an interesting thought.

EX Keine...pirate with tattoos and piercings...horns sharpened to fine points...bull nose ring

cool

still feeling under the weather?

>>11051
Ah no, yesterday I remembered I had an essay to write before the 12th and a presentation to prepare for the 8th, neither of which I've started and my presentation partner out of town. So I spent yesterday in the library, sorry I didn't say anything.

Updates today sure enough.

>>11059

hooray!

Mmm, pretentious attitude, over bearing personality coupled with delusions of grandeur? Yes you know the type, back in your academy days the navy was swarming with them, jumped up nobles with something to prove who were convinced they deserved to be skipped ahead a few ranks by stint of who their daddy was, as if tactical skill and leadership were something inherited rather than learned.

In that case, you know exactly which buttons to push.

"It would be my pleasure to have you aboard, Captain Hinanai, but you see we were just attacked by a rinkidink fishing boat sailed by a foolish flat chested rambler. As such, the aesthetics are lacking and certainly not worthy of a woman such as yourself. But if we work hard I'm sure she'll be cleaned up by the time we exit this canyon. Then we'd be more than happy to meet your properly. I greatly wish to speak to the great Fujiwara herself too."

It feels.... simple delicious to speak those words, you savor that familiar taste of an insult wrapped in perfect etiquette, it's been years since you've had to deal with anyone like this; most of her kind get weeded out before they ever get to command a vessel of any real size, those that do make it that far usually have their arrogance beaten out of them by the enemy.

The insult is two fold, without actually directly saying it you've mocked her puny ship then followed it up by brushing her off and asking to speak to her superior, a sure fire way to cause one young captain you knew to go into some kind of indignant fit. But it's real charm lies in the fact that while you've just besmirched her honor, you've done it in a way that you've broken not a single rule of etiquette. A skill learned in the academy and honed in Empress Yuyuko's court.

"Who you calling flat chested you floppy haired dandy mook!"

Oh my, it seems you misjudged the brash and lovely young Tenshi, no one with an ounce of nobility would resort to such coarse insults. Then again she is running with pirates, perhaps that life has simply rubbed off on her? No doubt her mother would be fainting into a conveniently placed divan if she ever heard her daughter speaking like that. Grimacing at you with teeth bared in a wild display of aggression, the feisty girl thrusts one slender finger toward you.

"At least this hunk of junk is better than that steam driven jalopy you're riding around in!"
"Who you calling steam driven!?!"
"You should be grateful I'm offering to take that thing off your hands, you couldn't even sell it as scrap metal!"
"What? The devil you say!"

Sneering nastily at you she jeers, triumphant that she managed to get a rise out of you, quietly you smolder wrestling with your outrage. There are two things you won't stand for, she can say what she likes about you but if she starts insulting your crew or your ship, then she better be prepared to pay for it! No one is allowed to talk that way about your Lily! With all the icy fury you can muster, drawing yourself to fullest height, you look down your nose at her and say.

"I assure you that you'll never take this vessel miss Tenshi, as poor as you might say it is, The Herald is still far beyond whatever you could possibly hope to command. Indeed, the reason you putter around in that poky little thing is for one simple reason: You are worth nothing more."

She pales, the blood literally draining from her face at your words as if you had just announced to her that she was adopted on her birthday. It's rather petty come to think of it, for her to react so take aback at your words, but then again you felt pushed when she spoke against your precious Herald.

A look of pure hatred creeps it's way across her face, twisting her attractive looks into a mask of furious anger directed at you. Lips drawn into a snarl, teeth gnashed violently together and the spark of murder burning in her eyes.

"Why don't you get out on deck and say that?"
"Why don't you get out of hiding and make me?"
You've angered her, she'll start making mistakes now so there's no reason to drag this conversation out any longer.

"I'm afraid it could never work between us. You may be a daughter of heaven, but I am a son of hell. Lets see who visits home first."

You signal with your hand for Wriggle to close the channel, rudely cutting off any counter she could've mustered against you, twisting her own annoying habit against her. With Tenshi's screen no longer obstructing your view you can see that the gunners have successfully doused the flames, leaving the deck caked in foam and covered in grey sludge, but safe for now.

You let out a happy sigh saying.
"Ah! That was fun!"
"Don't pretend you're so cool cap'n!" Marisa pipes up flippantly with a grin. "We all saw you lose it for a second there, admit it! She got you good!"
"It's true," Alice adds smiling softly to herself. "We all know how you get when someone says anything against your precious 'Lily'. Sometimes I think you care more about this ship than you do about us!"
"Alice, don't say such absurd things, you know I adore every single one of you." Quickly you flash the elegant navigator a grin, then give a submissive nod to Marisa.
"And I think you're right Marisa, I suppose I cannot abide such unrefined qualities in a woman."
"I guess there's no hope for me then~"
Oops, you slipped up and now Marisa gazes at you with doe eyes. Cut that out will you?
"Marisa~" You say tenderly to her.
"Rex~"
Settling down from that light hearted exchange she adds.
"All that aside, she'll get what's comin' to her for dissing MY ship!"

A ragged cheer of similar sentiment goes up through the bridge, so you refrain from correcting her on the MY ship part.

"Alright enough goofing off ladies, we're still under attack here you know! Wriggle!"
"Sir!"
"I take it you've lost the position of that signal?"
"Affirmative sir, I've got no trace of it now."
"Understood, keep an eye though, should they make so much as a call for take out I want to know about it!"
"Sir!"
"Alright," Twisting the intercom's mic towards your mouth, you patch yourself over to the deck.
"Good job everyone. I don't want to risk firing the danmaku cannons in these narrow canyon walls so you're on stand by for now, if another fire breaks out I need you to get on top of it immediately!"
"Sir!" Echoes in a chorus of girlish voices back at you, flipping the intercom off again an idea strikes you.

"Alice, can you give me an idea of which direction they're likely to attack from? Considering we've got an fix on where they were, is it possible to work out their most likely avenue of attack?"
"I....should think so." Uncertainly she looks from you to the charts. "I might be able to give you an educated guess at least, one moment please."

Studiously she puts her nose to the grindstone, face mere inches away from the vast region chart as she plots things out with compass and compass, so to speak. Using a magnifying glass to study the more faintly depicted channels that are too small for most ships to navigate and dotting the map with coloured pins in various places, Alice works swiftly. You prey she's fast enough to get you an answer before Tenshi strikes again.

"Mystia, remember you are to ram the enemy vessel as soon as visual contact is made."
While you wait, you figured you might as well make sure you don't have to repeat yourself when things get hot again.
"Yessir, ready when you are!" She giggles. "Or when they are I guess!"
"Very good."

Rolling fog drifts over the ship in coils, making you very aware of how little you can acutally see right now, if you didn't have a map of the area and a compass these straights would be totally impossible to navigate. The silence drags on, as silent as it ever gets in this ship anyway, tense moments pass as your mind plays tricks on you conjuring phantom ships out of the undulating ether. It feels like hours, but most likely a mere handful of minutes before Alice finally presents you with her findings.

"Judging by their ship's probable max speed, the time elapsed since losing their signal and the lay out of the local channels big enough to grant it passage, I would say that; in all likely hood there are four points they can strike at us from, both further down the pass and behind our current position. Currently we are facing North, North, West and as we follow our current course we will sooner be heading more or less directly north after turning a gentle bend up ahead. Thusly the most likely ambush points are:

South, South, East (directly behind you from the east wall of the canyon, an attack to your back)

North, East. (A point not far in front of you, an attack on your starboard side)

Due North. (A point in an S bend up ahead where the channel turns before heading north again, likely to be a head on charge)"

Removing a pair of dainty, box framed glasses and letting them dangle by the chain, Alice looks at you seriously.

"If you guess the direction right, we might have an advantage against what ever tactics they are likely to employ, with a better chance of pinning them down like you wanted. Guess wrong and they'll catch us looking the other way, sir."

==============

Keep an eye on:

[ ] S,S,E

[ ] N,E

[ ] Due North

or

[ ] Don't put all your eggs in one basket, play it down the middle and remain on high alert.

Finally, I get to write Alice as something other than a wreck! Goddamn, sooner or later Alice I'm going to right the wrong I made against you and do you properly again!

[x] Don't put all your eggs in one basket, play it down the middle and remain on high alert.

I'd rather not risk being raped by a masochist.

>"Good job everyone. I don't want to risk firing the danmaku cannons in these narrow canyon walls so you're on stand by for now, if another fire breaks out I need you to get on top of it immediately!"

[x] Continuous fire on the East upper canyon walls left in the ship's wake. Hopefully, you'll topple enough rocks on to their side to block off their escape (or block them from following us, depending on their position).
[x] Full speed ahead; you need to head them off at the next crossing.

>>11065

[!/] Due North

With the fog and the upcoming turn, we'll lose a lot of the limited visibility we have. Hence, the best place to ambush.

>>11067

This may not be possible. I don't think the cannons/guns on our ship are mounted in a way that actually allows us to fire directly behind us any reasonable distance. The best we could do would be a maneuver likely to bring the walls of the canyon down on us, which would be rather counterproductive.

[X] Don't put all your eggs in one basket, play it down the middle and remain on high alert.

I don't trust Tenshi to actually think her attack out very well, if at all, so focusing on any direction in particular is an exercise in guesswork with the odds stacked against us. Best to just take it slow and steady, and not commit to anything prematurely - after all, rash judgment is her flaw apparent, and should be left to her alone.

[X] Don't put all your eggs in one basket, play it down the middle and remain on high alert.

[x] Don't put all your eggs in one basket, play it down the middle and remain on high alert.

[ ] Don't put all your eggs in one basket, play it down the middle and remain on high alert.

[x] N,E. Get a few gunners to fire upon the predicted point, hopefully blocking the hole before they could slip through.

There is no reason not to, unless Scorn doesn't want to kill Tenshi and would rather have the canyon come down on us. But that would be lame.

If she was smart, she'd cripple the engines by attacking from the rear. But because she is likely fuming with anger and arrogance, she won't. She'd more likely try to in a sense punch you by hitting from the side, or even more likely go full bravado and attack straight on at the curve (if she has the patience to wait that long.)

And so by hitting the NE hole not far ahead, we can knock that out and simply watch our rear. Then turn our attention to the curve when we eventually come to it.

[x] Doujin write-in

Umm...
...Why exactly is the course of flying vessel being calculated in only two dimensions?

>>11063
After this, I cannot hear Rex speaking in anything other than a gentle Southern twang. You know, that kind of lazy, cocky attitude that sort of seems to come with it?

>>11086
You are now hearing Rex's words with a Foghorn Leghorn voice. Manually.
"Sir, I say sir."

>>11086

Direct your attention to this awe inspiring MS Pain doodle I made of your current situation, bask in it's beauty and drink from it's wisdom.

You're in 2D style movement because:

1) Below a certain depth pressure increases dramatically, ships become unable to ascend and are pulled down into "The Depths", a horrible murky place filled with poison gases too heavy to rise up an threaten life above. Conversely, no engine has been invented yet that can ascend beyond a certain altitude, the thinner air there causes havoc with the equipment and can cause engines to stall sending the ship plummeting. (inb4 "Nitori should make a new engine then")

You can however ascend from your current position, but the air above you is even thicker with fog and would reduce visibility to zero and there are peaks of various heights all around you at that level. You might run into something and not realize until the terrible scream of metal on rock informs you, pretty sure I've mentioned this before but perhaps I wasn't be totally clear. You could potentially ambush your ambusher this way however.

2)
It's easier than plotting out every goddamn move in 3D.

Mmm'k? If you have any other problems with this scenario I'm sure it's all just because you're over analyzing a fictional setting.

Votes still open for now, but I doubt there will be a sudden surge. I will however be aiming to speed up with the writing today, so keep an eye on things and vote so we can keep moving!

"Three to one odds, I'm not confident about investing all our efforts on one spot only to leave ourselves open if we're wrong, hold our current course Mystia."
"Aye sir!"
Alice appears to stop herself from saying something, a look of discontent about her as she bites her tongue. Understandable of course.
"Alice, I know it seems like I've just wasted your time, but at least now we can narrow things down. We've got an idea of where they're coming from thanks to you, so we won't be glancing over our shoulder or jumping at shadows."
"....Sir."

She still seems unhappy about your decision, to be honest you feel quite the same things considered, but in these restrictive conditions you'd rather not start gambling with people's lives. There's no need to defeat Tenshi, you're under no obligation to engage her at all unless she forces your hand, just passing through without taking too much damage is enough for you to consider this a win.

The Herald of Spring plows on through the dense fog, the prow cutting a swathe through it like a water based vessel, the imagery strikes you as a little absurd though. Keeping a sharp eye out you scan the horizon regularly for tell tale signs of an attack, even with a seeing distance of only a few meters in every direction a significant disturbance in this white void might be enough of a tell to buy you a few precious seconds to react. Eerie silence has befallen the ship once more, in stark contrast to the riotous din of battle the fog seems to absorb and muffle sound, save as ever for the constant chug-chug-chug of the engines.

Something isn't right here, something that doesn't add up with all the facts that makes you feel you're missing a vital detail about this battle. While brash, you wouldn't expect even a woman like Tenshi to attack unless she had some kind of way to ensure victory against a larger vessel like this. Even with that flame weapon of her's taken into account and the terrain advantage she has, the odds aren't enormously stacked in her favor right now. Fire isn't a great threat to your armored ship and she lacks the significant fire power to really push her hit and run tactics, as long as you can keep fighting the fires she spreads you could easily run right past her. So where does her motivation to attack come from? Desperation? Perhaps her ego prevents her from seeing what little threat she poses to you?

No, the obvious answer would be that she has the weight of numbers on her side, that somewhere down this channel are more of her kind ready to reinforce and overwhelm you. But, that's what doesn't add up here. It's only a hunch, something about the way she spoke to you and what she said about taking command of your ship that starting an annoying itch in your brain, that makes you doubt that she's working in tandem with any other ships at all. The pirates of this region had recently been subdued, the natural response to this would be to bide your time and build yourself up again, but Tenshi doesn't seem like the constructive type. She seems more like the type who could never accept defeat and would continue to raid the big targets, even when reduced to fighting from a tiny fishing boat. But that would be more than just arrogant, that would be tantamount to insanity!

You actually find yourself hoping for a squad of rag tag pirates in fishing boats to spring out from behind the next corner and engage, pirates you can deal with, because if she IS acting alone then she's got another trick up her sleeve.

And if she hasn't got another trick, well for some reason that scares you all the more.

Something else is bothering you though, aside from the over all situation there's something niggling at you, whatever it is is out of harmony with this moment. A minor detail that's wrong, like loose thread on a sleeve or a voice one octave lower or higher than the rest of the choir, a simple thing that feels like a mental itch.


"Wait a second.....The Herald doesn't go chug-chug-chug."

Realization dawns on you, then bounces from one person to the other through the bridge as the situation dawns upon you, compounded by the greater concern that the sound
is drawing closer.

"They're behind us! Evasive maneuvers!"

Battle explodes into action once more, galvanizing the girls in purpose as the rush of adrenaline seethes through you once more, with a valiant cry Mystia heave the ship's wheel to the port side sending the ship rolling. A moment later blossoms of flame shoot forth from behind your point of view, narrowly missing the bridge itself to drift harmlessly into the void below.

A second later and the bridge would have been soaked in blazing sludge, blinding you and turning the metal structure into a deadly oven. Had you dedicated your attention to another point you might not of realized your peril in time at all, a frightful thought. In a moment of inspiration you realize the elegance of this move, so long as the bridge burned The Herald would be dead in the sky with no one able to survive within the confines of the bridge, what's more it carried the potential to kill you off without doing undue damage to the ship, her prize.

Perhaps it's your mind playing tricks, but as the tiny crimson drake sails past your view, you fancy you can hear Tenshi herself cackling madly.

You underestimated her somewhat, had presumed she was too wild and proud to pose much of a threat with her furious but clumsy attacks, a misconception that nearly cost you the battle in one fell swoop. You'll not be making that mistake again.

Yet it bothers you, even in the midst of all this chaos you find the clarity to think, while the cunning of this attack would explain her confidence it's nature isn't of Tenshi. Perhaps you mad a gross misjudgment of her character, but to strike so surely from behind like this doesn't seem to be in keeping with how she acted earlier. You've traded one mystery for another it seems.

A sudden voice that isn't your own breaks out over the intercom, speaking hurriedly Mystia wrestles with the wheel to right your course and level the ship with your foe.

"Offensive maneuvers are go, please brace yourselves everyone!"

Discreetly you take hold of the bars 'neath your podium, around the bridge typical bracing positions are taken at their station, ramming has become something of the norm on this ship when you think about it. Those layers of steel really add to your confidence, having a kappa engineer on board for on the fly repairs helps too.

Pounding engines roar into life as your speed picks up, the raw power of The Herald unleashed thrusts it boldly forward to meet your foe who flees to the nearest rat hole and safety. However you intend to deny them any more respite, with your mighty vessel you'll pin them down and grind that dingy into powder, against the impassive grey stone they will find their doom.

Desperately your tiny prey takes it's flight from you with the tired chuffs of an over worked engine, despite their paltry efforts you see it grow in your vision as you draw near. The Herald must be an intimidating sight to behold from there, as it looms down upon them. Closer and closer, pulling level with it you think that had you the guns manned you might've opened fire upon it, but with the fires still burning you'd never of spotted it in the first place.

Movement on the deck of the little fire drake catches your eye, almost dropping your jaw with disbelief at what you see. Hair whipping around her in the biting wind, eyes wild and lips pulled back into a vicious sneer Tenshi clambers over the deck towards the origin of the flame.

"What's she doing?"
You mutter in disbelief, almost as if to answer your question she leaps towards the fire gun and grabs firm hold of it's brass form, then with tremendous effort she heaves upon it.

Stiff at first, but getting faster inch by inch the exotic weapon turns on some unseen axis guided by Tenshi's hands to face once more your deck. Insane enthusiasm written across her face, you see the haughty woman begin to fiddle with something.

"She's going to fire again!" Mystia hesitates, holding speed with the foe but drawing no nearer. "Shall I take evasive action?"

=================

[ ] "Get out of range immediately!"

[ ] "We can take it, ramming speed!"

[ ] "Rise above their firing arc and drop back down on them, there's no way she'd risk setting herself on fire."

Might skip out to play golden eye for a bit with friends, but please vote quickly so we can go nuts tonight!

[!/] "Get out of range immediately!"

>>[ ] "Get out of range immediately!"
The safe and probably wisest choice, but only for the moment. Can you really outlast her?

>>[ ] "We can take it, ramming speed!"
Honestly, when will you get another chance?

>>[ ] "Rise above their firing arc and drop back down on them, there's no way she'd risk setting herself on fire."
Oh yes she would. Bitch is crazy.

Its a gamble. If you pull back, you are only delaying things and she could easily sneak up on you again before you exit the canyon. But on the other hand, its all or nothing if you ram her. If you play chicken with her, she won't blink. I just wonder if they are nimble enough to dodge a ram.

Screw it, fortune favors the bold (insane).

[x] "We can take it, ramming speed!"

in before Bad End or Awesome End in which we take Tenshi prisoner and get to ram her more

[x] "We can take it, ramming speed!"

We can deal with a bit of fire. Might as well finish this quickly.

Also Tenshi is a crazy masochist who wants to be hit. Capt Rex always leaves a woman satisfied and gives her what she wants, right?

[x] "We can take it, ramming speed!"

[ODIN] "We can take it, ramming speed!"

Here comes the night train.

{X} "We can take it, ramming speed!"

[x] "We can take it, ramming speed!"

[x] "We can take it, ramming speed!"

This option, it was made for me

"....Steady as she goes, Mystia."
"S-sir."

You can afford to take the hit, your opponent lacks the weapons to really make a dent on The Herald and you lack the patience to let them slip away for another attempt, a single decisive blow is all it'll take to end this here and now. If that woman thinks you can be intimidated by her reckless abandon, she's sadly mistake, you've faced much more dangerous opponents before and come out on top. If this is the way it's going to be, you'll just have to do her one better.

Bursts of flame leap from the little boat, licking the air with hungry tongues of heat and black smoke, as if Tenshi were daring you to draw nearer. Maybe she's intends to drive you off with this display, but somehow you doubt that, what little you can make out of her on that distant deck gives you the feeling that she wants you to rise to the challenge.

Well, it's not in your nature to disappoint a lady is it?

Sliding inexorably through the flames you feel the air warm up as you bear down on the smaller vessel, up close you can't help but snigger mentally at the size difference, for an irritating pest to be crushed like this feels rather fitting you think. Blasts of heat assault your senses, searing the metal armor black and filling the air with acrid chemical smells that offend the nose, but still you press on.

With a ponderous crash your prow collides with your target, throwing up a spray of splintered wood that is consumed in the raging flames, the sound of shattered timbers punctuated with the dull whoosh from jets of fire. Bearing them down with your weight and power, you push them towards the nearest wall as easily as a bear might brush a man aside with it's paws, ripping a tear in the side of their fragile craft as you go. Jagged teeth pierce the sky, the stone talons of the canyon that rake the air and split the fog loom over you both, dwarfing either vessel with their sheer size.

Yet even as you drag the daughter of heaven to her death, not once does she let up on her attack, never does she abandon her weapon to try and steer herself clear of danger. The concept of retreat is foreign to her, in the face of defeat she battles on fearlessly coating the deck of your ship in thick, tar-like fuel that burns almost as intensely as she does. Despite yourself, you find that in a way you admire her fearlessness no matter how misplaced it may be, to fight on with such dedication is a remarkable trait in anyone.

Momentum lends your bulk extra force, the hungry rocks eager to be fed this little morsel rise up to meet it as you crush the little drake mercilessly into the uncaring canyon wall. The impact makes a low, dull sound that sends a tremor through The Herald, shaking it with a rattle even as the smaller ship is torn apart on both sides. Chunks of timber fall off in droves, ripping out the hull to expose two large brass tanks shaped like bells beneath the deck, no doubt the fuel for that wicked weapon.

Your deck is ablaze once more, the enthusiastic efforts mustered against you leaving the ship looking like some doomed messenger of hell wreathed in flames and scorched metal with the smell of fire and brimstone about it. With frightening ardor, with grim determination she fights on almost valiantly as her ships collapses around her. Steadfastly refusing to admit defeat, even as the hand of death lay heavily on her shoulder. It would be a shame to see such a vibrant and furious youth die here, brash and proud yes but like a diamond in the rough this girl has the potential for so much more.

In a sense, she almost reminds you of yourself.

"I morn your passing, heavenly flower" With a heavy heart you raise the rose in salute to your erstwhile foe, morosely you offer a nod of respect to her. "Perhaps one day we might meet again, under more auspicious stars."

"Captain..." Wriggle calls out in surprise. "We're getting a hail!"
"What, who from?"
"I-it's ..... it's from that ship!"
"Impossible!" Marisa scoffs. "That Hinanai girl is on deck!"

=============

[ ] Accept the hail

[ ] Ignore it and finish the job, you'll see them sent to the depths for sure.

[x] Accept the hail

Go with what we've always done.

[ ] Accept the hail

Why change?

[x] Accept the hail

Well, if Tenshi is still out on deck then it isn't her. Maybe another, less insane, crewmember trying to beg for mercy, or a prisoner who managed to get out thanks to all the damage we've caused. It's worth checking out at least.

[x] Accept the hail

[x] Accept the hail

Eh?

[!/] Accept the hail
>the hungry rocks eager to be fed this little morsel rise up to meet it as you crush the little drake mercilessly into the uncaring canyon wall

OM NOM NOM NOM

[x] Ignore it and finish the job, you'll see them sent to the depths for sure.

No, it's another trap. Has to be. Deep six her and the boat she came on.

Victory is the first, and ONLY, rule of war.

[ ] Order Nitori to get her cute lil' ass to the harpoons~ It's time to take that wreck and all still on her prisoner - because we're CAPTAIN GODDAMN REX, and we don't let ladies fall to their doom like that.

>>11120

You forget who we are.

[x] Accept the hail

[x] Ignore it and finish the job, you'll see them sent to the depths for sure.

[x] Accept the hail

{X} Accept the hail

[X] Accept the hail

Captain Rex accepts every hail, speaks to every opponent.

[x] Accept the hail

[X] Order Nitori to get her cute lil' ass to the harpoons~ It's time to take that wreck and all still on her prisoner - because we're CAPTAIN GODDAMN REX, and we don't let ladies fall to their doom like that.
[x] Accept the hail

What's this? Is anon not thinking about Nitori's cute 'lil ass? For shame anon, for shame! That's an ass which deserves to be thought about!

Updates?

Have you forsaken us once more, Scorn?

I would assume Scorn isn't updating due to dealing with >>11059 right now. If he hasn't updated by the 14th, then start worrying.

>>11221
Worrying has commenced.

WORRYING LIKE THE FIST OF THE NORTH STAR HERE

>>11221

She's dead, sir.

Update. The sooner you get us through this Scorn, the sooner you get to write the triumphant return of Beer Spider.

Someone just said Beer Spider? I love Beer Spiders!

Where are the updates

>>11505

hahahaha what

>>11505

Not as awesome as that MSPAINT RESPEKT KNUCKLES.

And yes. FLA is dead.

From what I heard, assuming it isn't a lie, is that Scorn is in jail right now and so if that is true, then FLA is on hiatus for the time being

>>11515
WHAT

>>11515

Tell us he didn't rob a bank or anything.

>>11518

Remember that girl?

Yea. That one.

He attempted to get laid.

Rape. Vore. Etc.

Jail.

>Remember that girl?

>Yea. That one.

You lost me.

>>11519

Wait what. When was this?

>>11515
SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOORN

Fuck nooooooo.

I won't lose faith! Scorn will come eventually. And if not, well I hope him the best.

It was only petty theft supposedly and I don't know how long that usually gets you in jail for.

Jail? Seriously? Do you really go to jail for petty theft?

Anyway, if true this is somewhat of a bummer.

>>11525

30 days? 60 days? ASBO y/n? (remember, Scorn's a Britfag)

>remember, Scorn's a Britfag

Oh no, he probably watching a pic of Crino in public and got caught for pedophilia!

>>11530
>Crino

Hello Scorn.

>>11525

>It was only petty theft supposedly and I don't know how long that usually gets you in jail for.

Scorn Stole The Precious Thing!

What devilry is this? Has Scorn truly been imprisoned thus?

Well, if so, I think I speak for all of us when I say that he, as our supplier, will hopefully be freed before we all go into withdrawal. That aside, all the best to him, hope we hear from him soon.

...The whole jail thing was a joke I made when someone asked where he was. You see, Scorn steals cheese from the shops sometimes. I joked that he got caught and was jailed.
In reality, I haven't heard anything about what's happened to him.

Kinda amusing to see how many people bought it, though.

>>11550

No news on him?

What if he really was arrested?

>>11550
Will you ever shut up about that cheese

>>11550>>11552

Hate to say it, but keep the IRC faggotry on IRC.

One retarded scandal is enough.

Scorn probably robbed a Mc Donalds

When I said it, I knew it might have been fake but I figured that if it was, there was a chance that either Scorn would say something about it in order to quell what was being said, or maybe someone who actually knew what was going on would post.

Misinformation to bring about information. I use the strategy quite often, though sadly it wasn't as effective this time as it has been in the past.

>>11556
Gasp!

You... You lied to me.

liar.

She is offically dead, sir.

IRC Nazis agreed.

>>11778

Explain. Did Scorn say in IRC that he's abandoning it?

>>11781

No. No one knows where he is. All we can do is wait.

>>11781
We don't know where he is, we've heard nothing from him. HY keeps joking about heading across England to find him.

Every day I check fo updates, every day with the same hope...
COME BACK SCORN!

>>>/border/14434

SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORN!

So what was this story about, anyway?

>>17904
plus roses.

You're earned this, friend.

>>18417
I enjoyed reading it a year ago or so.

I finished reading it several months ago.

I will wait for you, Scorn, or whatever your name is right now.
This story is a good story. Believe me.

story is ded, surprise big not

>>30991
There's a reason we put sage in the email field - it's so we don't randomly bump stories where the author's gone AWOL for extended periods of time... particularly when the last posts were four and nine years ago.