Unreal Talk Part II

Fi and the other shuffled in and took a seat. There were no assigned seats in the room, and very little in the way of assigned ranks or privileges in Mirrax Marines on the whole. There certainly had been a rigid structure in the past under different Mirraxes, but Abitha did not go in for that sort of thing. She had "no need for bootlickers, or those who'd play politics", and instead aimed for a freeform meritocracy.
The mood was tense. Even Captain Auran refrained from putting his feet up. Mirrax slowly spread a map accross the table, but Fi couldn't recognise any of the oddly shaped islands. Mirrax closed her eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath
"The plan is as follows. There will be no discussion, no argument, only a nod of the head to signify that you understand. We clear?"
They nodded
"The planes are collapsing. It's not widespread, but it's enough to swallow the Valley, the Dwarflands and the Dales. The Great Downward Company are working to prevent this. If they succeed, then all is well and business shall resume as per usual. If they fail, the Valley will be lost. The moment we hear that The Great Downward has failed, we enact this plan."
They nodded
"These are the Granite Isles. They reside on the Plane of Air, near its border with the Plane of Earth. They're approximately 100 miles across, and have a light coating of topsoil and clay. The weather is cold and the winds are constant and extreme. They are uninhabited, due to their location. Sitting at a planar boundary as they do, neither earth nor air planar creatures function well there. The gravity, wind direction, and flow of magic are halting and random. Without protective gear, a person isn't likely to survive more than an hour there. One would need cold weather gear and climbing gear to even stand a chance. "
They nodded, but exchanged confused looks
"The Lobstrocity can contain up to 2,000 passengers. If the Great Downwards fails, we will ferry people back and forth from Tsar to the Granite Isles. A round trip will take between an hour and a week, depending on the accuracy of the plane-shift magic. Joining us will be the Madrid's Wish, who has the capacity to carry up to 500 people, although it's main job will be to ferry supplies. The Dogslicer, the Aquaholic and the Gutpunch will be hit with some powerful magic that will enable them to fly and sail through the air. The magic wont last long and the ships will break apart within hours."
Fi nodded, but everyone else was transfixed.
"Captain Auran, First Mate Halfstorm, you'll be on the Aquaholic, patrolling, looking for any enemies advancing on Tsar. Captain Killingsworth, First Mate Elizibeth, you'll be on the Dogslicer. You're to stick close to the Lobstrocity and protect it while it takes on passengers. Captain Fi, First Mate He Who Kills People, you're in charge of escorting persons of interest, such as council members, and family of the Marines; you'll take the Gutpunch. If Tsar falls or the Prime Material becomes unsuitable for continued operations, you're all to board the Lobstrocity and get clear. There will be no heroics, no desperate gambles. When the retreat order is given, you will follow it. If your ship is lost before that time, you're to join Tsar's defenders."
No one nodded
"Is that clear?"
Slowly, Fi raised her hand
"Put. Your. Hand. Down. There aren't any questions to be asked. If you've got questions about the specifics of your role, I will brief you personally later today. If you want to resign or suggest a different approach too bad. You're doing this. The Marid's Wish will be paid the sum of two and a half million gold pieces to protect the evacuation, and later to protect the Granite Isles. If you have friends or family outside of Tsar, magical and mundane methods of communication have been prepared, and will be deducted from this month's pay."
"We can't save enough people." It was Helga, who was fighting back tears
"Not relevant. Currently, the number of people who'll be saved, with the exception of the very rich, is zero. Every run we do saves a few thousand. If we start evacuating now, we'll tip off the Orcusites where we've gone, so we'll use the chaos of whatever cataclysm awaits to hopefully mask our exit. Until I send for you personally, your job is to do what you can to reinforce your ships to get the most time out of the flying spells that you can. All present contracts are cancelled, take everything off your ships that you wont need, the lighter the better. Move"
Outside, Fi stared at the red glow overhead. She considered praying, but thought better of it. She came from a Telephosian family, and knew that the gods helped those who helped themselves. She hoped that wherever they were, the Great Downward wasn't relying on gods to save them.