Zano was making sure he was out of the way when Arkadios spoke to him and nodded to Arkadios. "Yes, sir, and it will be done," he said in an affirmative tone. Now he can be useful, he thought as he went to gather a team to disconnect the cables. He may not seem like it, but he knows how an airship works and can actually show it.

Zano went down the airship, gathering those he could find and after getting a team together. He led the team down to the cables and went about disconnecting them one by one. It's a good thing he knows what he is doing, and though it may be his first time actually working on an airship. Zano does feel confident in himself despite that, more so after the pilot training with Itzi. It helped him and the fact that company was on their way, it made him motivated to get the airship up in the air but as safely as possible. He knows he has the time for that.

---

Itzi – Prepping for Takeoff

Itzi’s fingers danced over the controls, her eyes flicking between dials and gauges as she ran through the final checks. Everything was primed—engines ready, ballonets inflated just enough to keep them grounded, and the ballast waiting to be dumped. All they needed was the signal that the lines were free and everyone—everyone—was aboard, including the last of the gold.

Her stomach twisted with nerves, but she shoved them down. Now was not the time for doubt.

She checked again—fuel pressure, rudder responsiveness, altitude stabilizers. Everything was where it needed to be. No mistakes. No failures.

Taking a sharp breath, she pulled her pistol from her belt, pulling the side and making sure a round was there. Would she need it? Hopefully not. Hopefully, they were about to take off and leave all of this behind.

But her hands still trembled slightly as she released the slide back in place.

Was she really up for this?

Her mind drifted, unbidden, to home... to the warm, salty air of the Main, the familiar streets, the smell of fresh-baked bread wafting from a busy market stall. A far cry from where she sat now, heart pounding, waiting for the moment they’d rise into the sky or fall into chaos. She wasn’t here just for herself. She had to make it back. Not empty-handed. Not with just a story of how she almost had it.

Gritting her teeth, she tucked the pistol back in its waist holster and refocused.

Just a little longer. Get everyone aboard. Cut the lines. Drop the ballast. And then, they’d be free.

---

Carter – Time to Fly

The last crate of gold swung up on the crane, rattling slightly before settling into the cargo hold with a satisfying thud. Carter exhaled through his nose, gripping the shotgun tight as he took one last glance at the castle. That’s it. No more trips. No second chances. The moment that gold hit the airship, it became theirs.

He turned, stepping quickly up the stairs of the cargo hold and onto the deck as the others followed behind, sweat-streaked and breathless. The engines rumbled, the air thrumming, it was obvious that the crew inside the ship had begun work already. They were seconds away from getting the hell out of here, assuming nothing went sideways in the last stretch.

That was when he spotted Zano and other crew working the lines, hands moving fast to free the last tethers holding them to the ground. Carter smirked, adjusting his shotgun on his shoulder as he called out, “Damn fine timing, Mirazdar. Any later, and we’d have been sitting ducks out here, waiting for an invitation to dinner...”

He didn’t need to explain what kind of dinner, evveryone already knew it’d be lead instead of lamb.

With the gold aboard and the last lines dropping free, Carter made his way to the ballast release, rolling his shoulders as he took position. He gripped the lever, bracing himself. Once this goes, there’s no stopping it. The ship would rise, and with any luck, they'd leave behind the horsemen, the fort, and hopefully war itself, at least for him and those with no interest in fighting for a cause that wasn't theirs.

He turned his head toward Arkadios, Itzi and anyone else in the bridge, calling out over the growing hum of the engines, “We ready to let this bird fly?”

In the distance there was movement. People crossing the ridgeline in loose order, though who exactly it was was anyone's guess - the figures were so far away they might as well have been ants...

Arkadios nodded to Carter, "Once we've confirmed everyone is aboard." He paused, clearing his throat to address everyone on the bridge, "If I might have your attention," he said, in a tone that suggested he was being polite, but there wasn't really an option not to listen, "We're about to take off, but without the benefit of a ground crew this has the potential to get a bit bumpy, especially if there's a gust of wind, so if you aren't doing anything critical to takeoff, make sure you holding onto something!"

---

Nikos

Zeppelin #27, Gondola

---

Nikos spun the handwheel to unlock the mooring cone in its cup, afraid any moment he was going to be shot before it was free. When it suddenly fell off in his hand, he stares at it for a long moment in disbelief, then tossed it aside. Grabbing the quick release lever, he yanked it down, pushing the mooring cone up out of the cup.

"Wait for me!" he yelled, climbing frantically down the ladder and sprinting towards the gondola, his legs and arms pumping with adrenalin as the cool crisp air burned in his lungs.

"This is a stupid way to die!" he thought to himself as the gondola came closer and closer....

Itzi – Taking to the Skies

Itzi gritted her teeth, both hands steady on the controls as the airship lurched beneath her. The ballonets deflated, the ballast dumped, and the ship began its ascent—not gracefully, but it was rising. The wind caught them hard, pushing against the hull, and for a moment, the airship swayed like a drunken sailor. Hold steady. Keep the nose level.

She forced herself to focus, adjusting the altitude controls in careful increments, not overcorrecting. She'd studied the techniques, knew the theory inside and out, but now? Now it’s just me, my hands, and this ship.

The engines roared, the pressure gauges fluctuated slightly, but everything held. It’s working. She exhaled through her nose, fingers tightening, eyes flicking over the instruments. No amount of theory could replace experience, but hell if she wasn’t earning it right now.

“Come on, girl,” she muttered under her breath, as if speaking to the ship itself. “We’re not dying today.”

She spared a brief glance out the window. Below, the fortress was shrinking, the ground falling away, but the ridgeline—the horsemen—were still visible. Itzi felt her pulse hammer, her gaze retuned to the skies where she hoped they'd find safety.

Carter – A Helping Hand

Carter was gripping a support beam near when movement caught his eye. Nikos, tearing across the yard like hell itself was at his heels.

“Shit,” Carter muttered.

The ship was rising fast, the mooring lines already cut. If Nikos didn’t reach the gondola now, he wasn’t reaching it at all.

Carter let go of the beam and lunged, cursing at himself all while at it. Grabbing a thick net still hanging from the hull the mainer braced himself against the deck, extending a hand out toward the sprinting Inburian.

“Move it, sailor!” Carter barked, arm outstretched. If he jumps, he might just make it.

Hamerlin watched and braced as the airship jumped, it's balance, weight and much diffrent to the first flight and the engines kicked in. It lurched, slower, heavier and felt more.... well it was loaded down with more gold than a man could spend in a single life in sanity.

"Brace" He said to himself as Gravity and life began to change over as they rose, the experimce was jarring for a man who liked heavy steel and waves over this.

Their was a whole event going on outside on railings but he had no time to worry about that right now as he looked onwards at the changing and moving view, the airship was certainly alot more agile than ots huge size let on.

"Ready turn to 220 on mark, keep us unpredictable. Don,t give em a free shot at side soon as we safely away." He said in a tone of forced calm as his hand shook on the Navigators station. The entire airship shuddered or he thought it did but probbly was his own mind playing tricks back to that dark day.

"Anyone else feel like a pirate?" He joked to hide his own weakness behind bravado, an Officer had to mantain their calm and control even when they did not feel so.