Thread: (Middie) Legacy of Mana (Devvx)

Shit! Watch your back, we got a couple of them behind us. Bullets flew through the air as the trio dodged and weaved in an attempt to get as far away from the line of fire as possible. There were fires and bloodshed everywhere as the troops took down everything that stood in their path on their way to the castle. All around only the sounds of screams and gunfire filled the air while people ran for shelter from the invading army. It seemed like total chaos as the sky was darkened from the shadows of imposing ships and canon fire rained down from the sky knocking down buildings that had stood there for centuries and withstood the test of time only to be taken down on this sacred day. Such strange irony that on today of all days this once proud city would meet its doom. Hey, no one could say that fate didnt fate a sense of humor even if it was a severely twisted one. They actually assumed that this would have been one of their easier jobs over the past month. It was only a few hours ago that they had docked their airship and gone out to take in the festivities as well as deliver the promised package. It had taken over a week but they had managed to get their hands on a rare piece of magitech and were delivering it to one of the wealthier nobles in Arcades. It had been quite a bit of work getting the thing but their fees were high and the man was willing to pay a nice sum of gold to get his hands on it. That had only been a few hours ago and after getting their payment they had divided up to enjoy the celebration with no way of knowing just what was in store for them. Dammit, where did they all come from? A young man with dark blue hair muttered angrily as he turned around and fired off his own shot taking down one of the invaders who was behind them. They had been trying to attract the least amount of attention possible but it didnt seem like luck was on their side. All they needed to do now was get to the ship and get the hell out of here. The woman in the lead quickly maneuvered out of the way as a piece of a now destroyed building fell down and crumbled onto the ground with a resounding thud. Her white blond hair flew behind her as the man and a woman with black hair followed quickly. They could see the docks now and it looked like only a handful of ships were left. The others had probably gone already or had been shot down and destroyed. Luckily it looked like the Hades Gale was still in working order and should have enough power to get them going. It seemed like they had managed to escape their pursuers and the trio quickly hurried onto the ship as a man behind the wheel urged them to get moving while he started up the airship. The turbines on the side started spinning as the sails were blowing in the wind signaling that the skystone had started working. Thank god for small miracles. Anyone with any real knowledge of the underground world would quickly recognize the Hades Gale and its crew. For the past five years this notorious band of pirates had been wreaking havoc on the Upperlands with little activities. The crew did everything ranging from stealing, hijacking to the random kidnappings here and there. Their posters were plastered in over twenty of the major cities and they had bounties on their heads well over 200,000 pieces of gold per crew member. If you asked anyone who had heard of them just what the crew of the Hades Gale looked like they would have described a group of at least thirty men all scruffy and dirty with bulging muscles and murderous glares. It really was amazing just what ones imagination could come up with. To start with there were only six of them and the last member had only been a recent edition in the past year. Mikki had joined the crew when they found her in one of the slave ships they had commandeered. She was still fairly young but she had been learning quickly and took to pirate life with a surprising amount of ease. Before Mikki came Sai, another more recent addition that had no problem letting his pistols do the talking for him. The man had a habit of shooting first and asking questions later but he had proved himself helpful in quite a few situations. Alex was their resident mechanic who kept the Gale in shape and could do amazing things with even the most outdated magitech. Anya was the loud woman that could happily drink any man under the table and still be sober enough to win a fight with her hands tied behind her back. Allistar was the second in command of this rag tag bunch and by far the most level headed of the crew. Yet they all answered to their captain, Talin, a young woman with piercing blue eyes and an unhealthy thirst for adventure. So what the hell was that all about? Mikki asked as she jumped excitedly from foot to foot. At any other time Allistar would have yelled at her to stop swearing but as it stood he was far too busy trying to avoid being shot out of the sky to worry about that. They all lurched forward as canon fire hit the side of the ship and damaged one of their turbines. It wasnt enough to stop them but it would definitely need to be repaired as soon as they could. While the Hades Gale might not have been as well equipped as the Roth ships it had one of the fastest Skystones money could buy and Alex had tinkered with it enough to make this ship damn near uncatchable. They might not be able to shoot back at the imposing airships but they could sure as hell outrun them. It was an outright invasion. Roth was obviously waiting for the day when they would have their guard down and then they attacked. By my count the casualties will be in the thousands and with the force that they stormed the castle all the nobles are probably dead as well. It is the end of Archadia. Alex was busily looking at the small green screen he had in his hands to even bother sounding sad about the fact. He was too worried over the damage the ship was taking to care about the lives of people he never knew. A small mechanical bird circled around him as the screen lit up with a blueprint of the ship. Both had been Alexs inventions and he was proud of both of them. We got our money, thats all that matters. With this well be able to buy the final map and finally go after it. Talin was watching the once beautiful city burn to the ground. Kingdoms were born and kingdoms fell, that was the way of the world. Besides, right now they had other things on their mind. A noise coming from the hold alerted their attentions that something was wrong. Usually the only thing they kept down there were the various treasures they had collected over the years and none of them should have even made a peep. Talin and Allistar had their own cabins on the left side of the deck while the others shared two on the right side. The kitchen was also on the right side so there shouldnt have been anything down there. This was worrisome. Sai and Anya drew their pistols while Talin pulled out her sword ready to skewer whoever would be stupid enough to get on this ship. It was dangerous to stow away on any ship but getting onto a pirate ship meant certain death for anyone. Walking closely they opened the door to the hold and jumped down ready to attack the intruder. A movement to the side alerted them of a presence and Allistar and Sai jumped right on the man. As the light filtered in Talin could see that the stow away looked more like a boy then a man really. He was wearing robes meaning he must have been part of the ceremony before it was interrupted. Probably a civilian who had been caught in the crossfires and was seeking a way out of danger. Poor bustard had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. At least back in the city he might have had some chance of escaping but here he was trapped like a rat. With her eyes narrowed into thin slits Talin held her sword out and pressed the tip right against his neck until a thin stream of blood started flowing down. Kid, you picked the wrong ship to sneak onto. Talin said menacingly as she applied a bit more pressure to the sword. Mikki groaned on the side as she saw the blood drip down onto the floor. Dammit, she had just cleaned the hold a few weeks ago and now she was going to have to clean it all over again once they were done with the intruder. Cleaning blood out of wood was a massive pain in the ass and the girl wasnt looking forward to it one bit.