The ember dawn burned through the mist laden countryside. The illusion of hell's fingers reaching through the fields wasn't a sight easily forgotten. Every morning dawn looked this way for the first five minutes and then it goes away turning back into a regular morning. Farmers of the Alliance would gather just to watch the elusive explosion of colors as the sun first peeked over the mountains.

Sky breathed in deeply, as he felt the first rays of light hit his skin. His crew armed with sub-machine guns and bolt-action rifles laid about the deck of the ship. Other than himself and a handful of others, the crows-men was the only person awake. The moment his eyes land on something worth an attack, a single slap of the bell and everyone mans their battle stations.

"Ahoy there captain," Freyer the cook said walking up with a platter, "breakfast today will be Steak and eggs." Sky turned his back to Freyer as he peered out the bottomside windows of his ship, the farmlands bustling in the winds while the plows created new farmland. Freyer set Sky's platter next to a map that displayed military routes.

"Thank you," Sky said keeping his back to Freyer, "still one of the best Chef's I know. What's the crew eating?"

"Same thing, except we got that bacon from our last raid in place of the steak," Freyer said walking towards the captains cabin door, "best get those eggs cooking up. Pete will be waking everyone up soon." Sky nodded to himself as Freyer spoke then left. He pulled out an officer academy gold watch. 0645, fifteen minutes more and everyone will be up and at 'em. Sky took the next ten minutes to eat his breakfast with no interruptions. He gussied himself up a bit before leaving his cabin. Many of the crewman had already woken up from their slumber and were relaxing at their spots or already heading down to get their breakfast.

The ringing of the triangle emitted from Freyer woke the rest of the crew, "Come and Get it you Scallywags!"

Natasha opened her eyes when she heard the banging meant that breakfast was done. She stretched and grabbed her bag of clothes. She headed to the restroom to get changed. She may live with a bunch of different people, but she still needed her privacy. When she finished, she grabbed a plate of food and headed out to the deck to eat. She looked out getting the fresh air as she sat on a barrel to eat her breakfast. She looked around to see Skyland up on the upper deck. "Hello Sky. How was your night?" She called out wondering if he would even respond. She thought he was probably busy at the moment anyway but she was still trying to get to know everyone on the crew. If she kept to herself, than she would never meet anyone.

The crew were out on the decks, below the decks and one of the crows-men was climbing down to get some food. Sky's eyes scanned the decks when they locked onto Sergeant Belmont. He was doing his morning inspections and was probably one of the first people to get up and eat. He grouped up with Sergeant Tehrier and made their way up to the Captains Roost.

"Hello Sky. How was your night?" Sky and both sergeants heard coming from one of their crewman. Sky turned his back to the deck and crossed his arms.

"It's captain, you wench," Belmont said as he stopped and walked over to the girl, "Natasha was it? I want four rifles in inspection order fifteen minutes after you eat... I will be watching." Belmont rejoined Tehrier who asked him why he had to be mean to everyone. He proceeded to explain that he was rough to teach them discipline. The sergeants bowed to Sky when they reached his roost.

"We have three trained farmers down there in the community below us. We'll stop by and claim some food," Sky explained walked over to the end of the ship, "for protection. If they resist, give them the option to live or die. It's worked before and it will work now, otherwise kill the farmers, and take their youngest children. If they have a daughter... take her too. The Axis of States pay good for them I hear." The sergeants nodded and took aim at each other.

"I'll do this one," Tehrier said grabbing Belmont by the arm and shouldering him to the ground. With a quick spin, Belmont kicked the legs out from underneath Tehrier and pushed him down the stairs.

"The hell you will," Belmont yelled, "I was an interrogator for two years. You were what, a debater?" Tehrier accepted his loss and returned to the captains roost. Belmont locked his eyes on Natasha when she finished her food.

"You got fifteen minutes girl," he yelled pointing at her looking at his gold watch.

Natasha looked over at the commanding officer with a smirk. "Aye sir." She said as she placed her plate back in the kitchen before walking over to the weapons storage area. She grabbed four rifles down and laid them out on the floor cleaning the first one as she looked around to everyone on the ship. Damn for Pirates these guys sure are strict, she thought to herself as she finished cleaning the first one then started on the second one. She heard them talking about kidnapping children and she was a bit shocked. She knew that pirates weren't exactly do-gooders but that was a bit much. She thought about all the other tasks she would have ahead of her, like making sure all the engines were working correctly as well as checking on all the mounted weapons to make sure they were clean to prevent them from jamming in the middle of a tough situation.

"It'll be a quick raid and you'll be able to get some of those new deck swabs some training," Sky said pointing at the map, "Take your new girlfriend Belmont. She seems like she hasn't hurt a fly." Sky continued to explain the plan as Belmont looked at his watch.

"I'll have her shoot the first farmer who rejects us," Belmont said setting his pistol on the table. It had Parent Mörder scratched into the side of it.

"We'll launch the scouter out as well," Tehrier said showing a scout track on the map, "have him fly low to stay out of sight. Any alliance ships won't shoot him. We repainted the top to look like a crop duster."

"Sounds fair enough," Sky said as made a note to himself, "so... go with a team of five. We'll drop you off, and do not... I repeat. Do not hesitate. We don't need the alliance coming here finding one of our bodies. That'll up the security in this region."

---

"This is Castle. We are performing search over Region six," Captain Weber said into a radio, "Regions one through five resulted in three pirate airships destroyed. No captives taken. Will update on further data."

"Captain, Scout Planes ready to launch," Lt. Caldwell said, "launch on your command." Captain Weber nodded his head and turned his attention to the outside mountains. Over a hundred planes dropped out of the hangers and zoomed away. They went over the mountains while others went through the fog and down towards the ground. Weber took a sip of his tea as he crunched down on a biscuit.

"Those Royal bastards have the best cookies. Remind to me get some more," he said with a smirk before taking another sip of tea.

Natasha finished cleaning the guns practically as if they were brand new and carried them over Belmont. "Here you are sir." She tried to play down her Russian accent but it was definitely present in the way she spoke. She said holding them across her chest as she looked over at everyone around. She did not want to be a part of this situation but she knew what she signed up for when she left the Trade Republic. She waited to here what he thought of the inspected rifles doing what she could not to look at anyone directly. She wanted to, but she did not want anyone to get the wrong idea about her.

"Which are you most proud of," Sergeant Belmont said as he inspected each rifle. He laid them across a table and nudged her towards them. He then turned and called out four other names of the newest deckhands that they had. The four of them rushed up, two of which were from the Axis of States, Labor Union.

"Alright," Belmont said as he grabbed one of Natasha's shoulders, "we are going on a raid. Natasha here has oh so graciously prepared our weapons for us. Once she chooses her own, she'll distribute them out to the rest of you." Belmont smacked his hand down on top of Parent Mörder and put it back in it's holster.

Natasha nodded as her comanding officer told her to pick her favorite weapon of the four. She grabbed one from the middle that she saw had the least wear and tear. "I will take this one." She said as she handed out the rest of them to the other new recruits. "May I ask what we will be doing in this raid, sir?" She asked not wanting to upset him but she would like to know ahead of time if she would be risking her life on this mission. She knew carrying a weapon was not really the best sign but she knew how to defend herself if she needed to.

"Do you like to eat," Sergeant Belmont said turning to her, "there is a farm down there that supports the Alliance. We are simply going to drop by and borrow some of their grain reserves." He turned to Sky and whispered something to him. He nodded in response as he told the group to follow him. He lead them through their Scav Hold which then opened up to a cargo bay.

"Alright, we will be exiting here," Sergeant Belmont began, "we'll exit the airship following orders per Sky, and we will hit their stockholds. You three there. Your mission is to hit their stockpile, you know what to do. Natasha, you are with me, and Snippy over there will provide us with overwatch. Your rifles are very accurate, squeeze the trigger. Don't pull. If any of you hesitate, I won't hesitate to kill you. When one of you hesitates, we die." During Sergeant Belmonts speech, the airship roared to a start and started to work its way towards the farm. Like every raid, the farmers had anti-airship measures, which were pretty much flare guns. They'd blast them up into the air in hopes of hitting an opening.

"Any questions," Sergeant Belmont asked as he grabbed a rope steadying himself.

Natasha nodded her head as he explained the plan. "No sir." She said getting a good look at everyone in the squad. She could tell that they were testing us to see if we had what it takes to be on the ship. She knew that she immediately had to do what ever it takes to stay on the ship. No other faction would take her after some of the things she has done in our past.

"Alright, we'll be landing here in a few minutes," Sergeant Belmont said looking out the window watching the flares fire in small clumps. Three at a time, then four, then maybe two.

"Thirty seconds," Sergeant Belmont alerted grabbing the door, "all up, be prepared to become under fire. Move fast and get to cover," Sergeant Belmont said his voice a little shaky. The was a loud thud from the ramp outside hitting the ground. Sergeant Belmont pushed the doors open and was followed by two of his troops. The third standing directly right of Natasha fired his rifle at the defenders that resided still at their farmstead.

"Get off the fucking ship you cowards," Sergeant Belmont said, "Natasha stick with me." Snippy rushed past Natasha and took off up the closest hill getting behind proper cover to provide over watch. The first three hid behind whatever rocks or trees that were available still firing at the farmhands, keeping their heads down. The mounted machine guns laid bursts of fire from the deck of the airship ripping holes through the farmers houses and spraying dirt and rocks to all the walls.

Natasha pulled up her rifle and followed her commanding officer. She took a few shots at the farmers to make sure her and her officer would not be taken down before they got to their location. "We can easily hold them off sir." She said as she watched the farmers trying to fight them off but were not as stocked with weapons then they were. She followed close to her commanding officer waiting for her orders.

"That's not what a raid is about," Sergeant Belmont said spotting an older man stepping out of cover, aiming up at Snippy, "that one there," he said pointing Parent Mörder at the man, "kill him before he takes out Snippy."

---

Hours Earlier

---

"Come on Terry," and older man said as he pressed his firm hand against the young mans shoulder, "early morning today. Think one of the cows got out again." Terry rubbed his eyes as he sat up. He was quiet but already was cursing the cows. Bastard things would never leave if they knew what was out there. He pulled his pants on and put his boots on, and already heard the Ole Truck starting up. He left the farmhouse glancing at his mother, shirt in his hand, then left shutting the door behind him.

He would have grabbed his rifle, if his father hadn't grabbed it for him, "here you are son," the old man said patting Terry's rifle that sat in the passenger seat.

"I'm capable of grabbing it myself," Terry growled already grumpy about the cows. Terry felt the rush of wind push against his face as he dozed off for a second. He jolted awake, blurry vision and temporary confusion, following the call of his father. He grabbed his rifle and jumped out of the truck spotting his father laying on a hillside. He got within crawling distance of his father and climbed the hill until he was at his side.

"Damn, Scav got her," the older man said with his rifle drawn, "get up here and take it out."

"You want me to do it," Terry said as he started to tremble, "I always miss."

"You can't get better unless you practice. Now shoot the damn Scav." Terry slid his rifle up and pointed it at the Scav. He lined his sights with it and aimed just below it's shoulder. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes and opened them up again. There it was, still eating, his sights still right on target. He took another deep breath and squeezed his trigger. The loud pop surprised him and the Scav jerked up and attempted to run away before collapsing.

"Good shot Son," the older man said happily patting Terry on the back, "one day you'll be able to take on the wild by yourself. I'm getting old. I won't be able to hunt for the family for too much longer."

"You are the strongest man I know," Terry said standing up, "it's gonna take a lot more than a hunting trip to bring you down." After a quick meeting of their eyes, the father and son headed back to the old truck. Step got back in and proceeded to return back home. As they took the last and final curve, they saw an airship descending from the heavens.

"Look," Terry said pointing at the airship, "Military?"

"Pirates," the old man yelled, "no military vessel would land here. Only pirates are that bold. We need the Scav Popper ready to go, do you understand Terry."

"Yes, sir," Terry said as he started to twitch from fear. He had never met a real pirate before and if they were landing here, then there was a battle to be had. The truck screeched to a stop as Terry's mother tossed a clip of ammunition to Terry.

"I counted five get off," she cried out, "Uncle Tim and Babby are in the barn house. Serenity and Gaz are in the cellar."

The old man rushed over to his wife and together they knelt down behind an old grounded truck. Terry jumped into the back of the old truck and inspected a pole as the pirates started to fire upon them. He grabbed the old Scav Popper, which was a very outdated military mounted machine gun. He took the top of the ammo box off and installed the belt to the chamber.

"Father! It's ready!"

The old man nodded catching glimpse of a pirate climbing the hillside. He stood up and took careful aim. The pirate was a younger man, smaller frame, and didn't seem to run in a straight line. His movements were inconsistent, but if he aimed just right... he'd be able to hit him.

Natasha leaned up against her cover shooting her rifle hitting the man in the shoulder above the heart. "That should take care of him." She said as she ducked down behind the cover reloading her gun while she had the chance. "The ships should really get away from here." She said to her officer. "You never know what can happen and we need to make sure the ship stays safe at all costs." She said knowing she was an engineer more then a fighter. She cared about every single machine on that ship from the weapons to the engines.

"When you are the head engineer, you can make suggestions," Sergeant Belmont, "they won't do anything to that ship while we are on the ground. They are more interested in killing us, rather than destroying everything within five hundred yards of that ship. It's one thing blowing one up in the sky, it's another when you blow it up close to the ground."

The older man raised a bloody hand and yelled, "we surrender! We concede!"

"Cease fire," Sergeant Belmont yelled, "CEASE FIRE! All of you come out with your hands up!" The older man was assisted by his wife to stand while he held his shoulder. Terry, Babby, and Uncle Tim gathered with their family members, their hands in the air. Uncle Tim had a bullet wound on his stomach wrapped with some form of Corn Skin Bandage, and a second wound on his neck that was just a cut. Terry at some point must have gotten shot or perhaps helped in the patching up of Uncle Tim, cause there was blood all over his hands and face.

Sergeant Belmont rallied his troops and had Snippy and another search their captives. The other two went into the farmhouse while he kept Natasha with him. On the return of the two searching the house, one handed Sergeant Belmont a folder of papers.

"Whose Serenity and Gaz," Sergeant Belmont asked the older manas he read the paperwork.

"They are my daughters. Serenity is gone away to college and Gaz is just a wee lass," The old Man said.

"And where is she?"

"We have them run and hide if there is an attack," he tried to explain before getting cut off.

"Natasha, take these two and go find her," Sergeant Belmont said taking his pistol off his hip turning back to the old man, "Mr. Greskar, I don't like liars. You can either tell me where she is, or you will die when they find her."

"You... won't find her."

"We shall see..."