Dyelli Beybi

Empire of the Clouds

Arkadios

It was a long hose, designed to be dangled into the sea to draw on water for ballast and it had been just long enough to reach the nearby stream. But it was designed to be winched on and off, rather than dragged across the ground and moving it had been heavy work. Arkadios paused for a few moments, sitting down on the root of a tree. It was an idylic setting, an unruly mass of willow and plane trees fringing the banks, the trill of cicadas split the air. It was going to be a hot day to be moving gold from inside the castle.

Slowly the Captain began working his way back, checking for kinks in the hose that might stop the water from flowing back up to the ship. Unlike some of the others, Arkadios was less worried about a sudden ambush by Communalists. This part of the country was still, nominally, under Imperial control, though from what chaotic orders he had received in the retreat, he assumed most forces were being pulled back to form a perimeter around the old fortress at Grendell. The Communalists were, for the most part, racing down the coast, hoping, he assumed, to capture Grendell before Imperial forces were able to reorganise. Perhaps the Empire would dig in, or perhaps they would launch a counter-attack. Either way the gold would come in handy in keeping the legitimate Government able to function.

He glanced up at the airship, pulling his cap away to wipe his brow. It was a magnificent feat of engineering, hull gleaming silver in the morning sun. In theory they could sail back up to Grendell, maybe be there in a day, deliver the gold and rejoin the fight on the ground... but when was life ever that simple?

Empire of the Clouds

Puskurunuwa, Urses, Aden, Volodar, Christina, Nikos

Cowritten by @Tackytaff, @Terrans, @Bingelly, @Tackytaff, @Shadow Daedalus

Puskurunuwa trailed behind, content to be quietly forgotten by the other, armed, members of their group as they made their way through the abandoned fortress. His lack of sleep and weariness of new travel-mates had left him with a stone of worry in his chest that only sank lower the further they progressed with no signs of resistance. By the time they crossed the gates, Nuwa was twitching with nervous energy; tugging at his sleeves and pacing a path between bastions while the others continued chatting. No job should ever be so easy, no matter how planned, how much luck.. But that wasn’t the sort of thing Nuwa, the Circus Performer and Nothing Else, was supposed to know, and so he remained a quiet shadow.

Even reaching sight of their goal, sparkling and waiting just passed an open door didn’t loosen the grip of dread that continued to coil around his insides. The exact value of gold bars and different currencies was all rather lost to Nuwa, but the aching want that came with seeing shiny, valuable things stirred in him anyways, right alongside an itch starting in the centre of his palms. He tore his eyes away before drool could start puddling from his mouth. Nuwa could be patient; and had little desire to spend the rest of the day doing manual labour besides.

“I’ll look around the place too,” He said, turning from the vault to stand beside Urses and give a too-wide grin to Zoe as he looked between her face and the weapon placed in her hands. “You’ll come rescue us if you hear shouting right?”

Aden hung at the rear as the others descended on the gold. Plans for the future and how to get rid of the gold dominating their minds. He could admit that the amount of gold was rather staggering; mind boggling if Zoe’s claim of more levels was correct. But what his mind was stuck on was the absence of everybody from the fort. No communalists were within easy striking distance and yet no one was within the walls. No patriots or diehards. Aden had only been a part of the military remnants within Inbur and they had held their posts even as the Communalist artillery had emplaced on the outskirts. And the Private was definitely not the most die hard trooper of the Inburrian army.

He sidled over to Zoe waiting till the others were a distance away, “For an ordinary girl you seem to know a lot about this place. Tell me… what would cause every single person to abandon the national reserve? No questions or malingers?”

"Orders," she replied after a moment of thought, "Take what they can and shift it North to Grendell. Blow the rail line to stop the communalists getting from Inbur easily and hope to retake this position when the front is stabilised," she shrugged, "Though I was expecting to have to charm my way in."

“Orders…..” Aden said the line with strained amusement. Huffing a laugh as he went off not to the hole but to find the castle’s ammunition. Gold did not concern him; the fact the zeppelin did not have his sniper’s caliber did.

"Mister Petrides, Private Robertson," Volodar called out, interrupting with a well practiced tone that made it clear he was giving orders under the thin veil of politeness. "Your assistance with the gold would be appreciated. Mister Mallory should be able to find the medical wing well enough on his own"

Urses was about to comment on the idea of exploring the rest of the fortress alone being a tad reckless, but he adjusted his reply as Aden started to go off on his own. Sighing, he turns to the others briefly. "I'll go with Robertson, just in case there's any nasty surprises the garrison might have left behind." Slinging his rifle, he caught up to the marksman with a short jog and fell into step next to him. "Probably not the best idea to go wandering on your own before we've cleared the place, hmm?"

“What? You think the garrison left a horde of orcs behind?” Aden didn’t seem concerned as he mounted a short flight of stairs and took them slowly.

The medic gives a dry snort in return. "Hand grenade on a tripwire, primed beartrap hidden amongst supply crates, Maybe a straggler with a hair trigger... Plenty of ways a retreating force can rig a trap if they're clever about it, and if one of us does get caught by one when they're alone, their chances go way down. "

“Plenty of ways sure. But such devices would be closer to the value of this place. Mainly that giant stack of gold everyone is salivating over.” Aden exited the staircase into a new corridor. Wooden doors interspersed the hall; lights in even intervals cast shadows from their mounts above the doors. Besides the doors hung wooden placards with stenciled black letters, “Let’s see where they keep the ammo in this dump.”

"Even leaving this, arsenal might be the one place they bothered to rig." Chamer warned, testing the cart with first load of gold to see how easy it was to move. "Blow this whole place sky high."

“A trap is left where you know someone is going to be. Like perhaps the main door we waltzed through or perhaps those gold pallets you all rushed without any thought!” Aden shouted down the stairs. Trying a doorknob next to a door labeled ‘Ammo #18’.

***

Back on the ship, Christina scowled as she walked into the cargo hold and found Nikos hard at work, rearranging stores so that they could be moved out of the hold to make room for the gold, "Oy!" She called out, her mouth a grim line.

"What?" Nikos called back, "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

She met his scowl with one of her own. "When gold is loaded, count it. No more than 1,153 bars. center of compartment."

"Yes, I worked it out," Nikos retorted, glaring back at her.

"Good, I hate explaining repeatedly," the mechanic retorted, then walked back into the interior.

Empire of the Clouds

Carter, Zoe, Volodar, Urses, Chamer

Cowritten by @InfamousGuy101, @Dyelli Beybi, @Bingelly, @Shadow Daedalus, @Tesserach

Custospada was the kind of star fort people build a couple of hundred years before with a gravel road leading through a ravelin then across a bridge in a dry moat that led between two flanking bastions. It was, a death trap for anyone trying to storm it, but nobody was home apart from a noisy colony of house sparrows. The gates in both the ravelin and curtain wall were open, like someone had left without any anticipation of coming back in a hurry.

Overhead the sun rose into a cloudless sky, promising a hot day to come.

Carter moved cautiously through the wide-open gates, his shotgun resting in his hands. The air was still, save for the chirping of sparrows and the distant hum of the airship settling into its uneasy rest, “Looks like they either bolted in a hurry or got sucked clean into the skies,” he muttered, half to himself, half to anyone nearby. The absence of bodies—the complete lack of anything alive beyond the sparrows—was far more unsettling than finding casualties would have been.

"I'd say they probably drove out the gate," Zoe remarked dryly, stepping out into the open in the middle of the ravelin, a deliberately exposed position to anyone on the bastions or curtain. She cupped her hands to her mouth, "Hello!!" she called, "Anyone home?" her voice echoed around the walls and dry moat. There was no response and after a long pause she gave a nonchalant shrug, "Guess not," she declared, setting off at a brisk, confident trot, straight towards the main gate.

Carter watched Zoe step out into the open with a mix of surprise and begrudging admiration. Bold as brass, he thought, the corner of his mouth twitching into a faint smirk despite himself. Shaking his head, he tightened his grip on the shotgun and fell in beside her, his boots crunching against the gravel.

“Guess you’re not much for subtlety,” Carter muttered, though there was no real heat behind it. His eyes flicked across the empty bastions as they walked, always alert. “So, what’s your play, Miss Spirou? Say we find the gold... or we don’t. Where do you see yourself landing after all this?” His tone was casual, “You could do worse than heading to The Main, you know. Work like this, trade, hauling, not quite royal but here’s good money in it.”

"I imagine," Volodar butted in as he picked up his own pace to keep up with the girl, though his left hand never quite left the pommel of his sword as he marched along. "She would be keen to find her family rather than fleeing halfway across the world. Much as the rest of us are not so keen on either." Sighing quite loudly, the elf turned his attention to the young girl not far ahead of him. "And do you, Miss Spirou, have the idea of where we might be going? It's been a very long time since I've been to Custospada and it did not secure a treasury back then."

"Sadly, I am rather certain they got arrested in Inbur. Foolish not to leave the city earlier," for a moment Zoe's mask dropped and the worry she was hiding was visible... for just a moment, "Anyway, enough on that! Thankfully the gold is not too hard to find; its in the refurbished medieval keep."

“Refurbished or not,” Carter muttered as they neared the looming medieval structure, “a treasury’s just as good a place for surprises as it is for gold. Let’s keep sharp.” His grip on the shotgun tightened. Carter glanced briefly at Zoe, catching that flicker of worry before her usual mask snapped back into place, “Hopefully when the Inburian forces push back, they’ll get your family out safe, Miss Zoe,” he offered, his voice steady but not overly optimistic. Carter had seen enough war to know hope was a fragile thing, but it was often all people had to hold onto.

"Who knows what will happen. The Empire might not exist by this time next week!" Zoe remarked dryly, "If I can do something to help my family, I will. I, however, fully intend to survive this little fraccas. It's what Spyrous do."

A few paces behind with rifle in hand, Urses kept half a mind on the conversation and half on their surroundings as they moved. He couldn't help but roll his eyes when Carter brought up heading to the Main again; the man still hadn't let go of that idea, huh? Well, Urses wasn't going to challenge him on it. The Mainer probably misses home at some level, and he wasn't going to begrudge a man for that, "With the idea of 'surviving' in mind, we should make sure to clear out anything else we might find useful once we verify whether the gold is or isn't even still here; Food, munitions, medical supplies..."

"If we get the gold, we can buy the rest," Zoe declared.

There were tyre marks in the courtyard, a couple of hand carts lay discarded off to one side near what looked to be a concrete barrack hut.

Meanwhile the gates to the Old Keep lay open, a switch on the inside of the gate turned on a series of flickering tungsten bulbs sprung into life overheard and there, only twenty or so yards ahead, lying open, was a large vault door beyond which lay rank upon rank of shelving, going back into the distance. The front ranks looked to have been stripped bare but glimmering at the far end were unmistakably golden bars stacked neatly upon each other in tidy rows. Whomever had removed most of the gold, presumably the garrison, had apparently not had the transport capacity to move all of it...

Zoe turned to the group, grinning broadly, "Well there you go! Gold! There's two more levels like this one below us."

Carter moved forward, shotgun still gripped in one hand but his focus drawn to the vault’s depths. The flickering tungsten bulbs behind wavering light across the empty shelves from the distant. For a moment, the sight made him pause, like stumbling across some fabled treasure hoard from an old sailor’s tale, “Well, I’ll be a son of a…” Carter muttered, his voice trailing off as he approached the gleaming stacks. Dropping his guard just slightly, he slung his shotgun under his arm and reached out, yanking away a heavy, dust-covered drape that had partially obscured the nearest bars. The fabric slid free, billowing to the ground as the golden bricks were revealed in their full brilliance. The light above seemed to catch them just right, and the reflection hit Carter’s face like the sun cresting a horizon.

He let out a low whistle as he picked up one of the bars, turning it in his hands with the kind of careful reverence one might reserve for something holy. The weight was palpable, and for the first time in a long while, a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, “This’ll do,” Carter said, almost to himself, inspecting the smooth, glimmering surface. “This’ll more than do.” His thoughts raced to repairs for his destroyed airship, freedom from scraping out a living in the Evig Company, maybe even enough to buy his own vessel outright. It wasn’t just gold; it was opportunity, and maybe, just maybe, a way to wash away years of misfortune.

Still holding the bar, Carter glanced back over his shoulder at the others, his grin sharp but tempered by practicality, “Looks like we hit the mother-load. Now let’s get the carts out there and get this aboard before anyone else decides they want a share.”

"And the enemy of the cloudy palace, arises from unbroken silence" Chamer's voice was low as he tailed the group, watching behind them. "Let's be quick. If they abandoned this much gold, it's because the communalists were very close."

"We didn't see anyone when we came in to land," Zoe replied brightly. She reached over to pick up a bar, grunting with exertion before setting it down again, "These are heavier than they look," she complained, dusting her hands off, despite the fact there appeared to be no dust on them, "I'll go and get one of those carts, just don't expect me to push it very far."

"The Bridges to the south were also blown," Volodar commented as he moved to assist Zoe with the cart. "The reds have been delayed. Haste here can get us injured, or worse. More likely the Garrison, either by orders or by their own volition, has done the same thing as us and simply couldn't carry more away."

Carter glanced at Volodar, nodding in agreement as he shifted his grip on the gold bar still clutched in his hand—he hadn’t even realized he was holding it until now. “We still can't risk it,” he said, his voice low but steady, “If the reds were close enough to blow the bridges, they’re close enough to turn up any minute.” He turned sharply, the urgency returning to him, “Chamers, grab one of those carts and give Zoe a hand. I’ll get another.” As he moved to the nearest cart, his boots echoed faintly in the cavernous space. The weight of the gold still in his grip finally registered, and with a faint scoff, he tossed the bar onto the cart with a dull thud. “Urses,” he called over his shoulder, “keep an eye out for any interlopers. If anyone gets close, best to know before they get a shot off.”

"Overeager local commanders closer to the front, where ever it may be, are not cause for concern, and we can shoot any small party of looters that may have realized the garrison is gone." Volodar sighed once more before getting a cart rolling towards the racks of bars "The reds would need motor carriages or trains on unopposed roads to even try to keep pursuit with us, and we were not bound to roads. Cavalry couldn't keep up with us in their wildest dreams, so stay calm before someone gets shot by mistake!"

"Look, if you are worried, why don't the strong people load the cart?" Zoe stopped what she was doing hands on hips, "I'll go sit on a wall somewhere sensible and if anyone shows up I'll yell... and don't forget we have a sentry on top of the balloon as well. We'll have a pretty good idea if people are approaching. Plenty of notice. This is going to take a while to fill the ship. Probably more than a day."

"If we're going to be here a while, I want to investigate the rest of the fortress while we have the chance," Urses said, "The gold's not going anywhere, so if we can find anything else worth taking we can throw it onto the carts when we start taking them back."

Carter glanced at Urses, giving a casual shrug and a nod of agreement. “Fine by me, we'll load up as much as we can for now,” he muttered before turning his attention back to Zoe. Pulling his Harlan pistol from its holster, he gave it a quick spin before offering it to her grip-first, “You know how to use one of these?” he asked, his tone light but serious enough to convey the stakes, “Just in case yelling isn’t fast enough.”

"Point it in the air and pull the trigger... I'm sure I can figure it out," Zoe declared brightly.

Chamer walked past the group and just began hefting the gold bars, two-handed, into the cart. There was a little testing with the first bar, but afterwards he made it look easy. "Let's get Inburia's gold loaded. Someone see if there's something else to move it with."

Empire of the Clouds

Yes, this thread is open to new characters.

Empire of the Clouds

Getting to the Ground...

Getting down without venting lift gas and without the benefit of a ground crew to secure the vessel was a slow process as the ballonets were inflated and buoyancy was slowly reduced. During this time the airship was at the mercy of the wind and there was need, on two occasions, to do a circuit of the field and double back to land. But eventually, after a couple of hours, the vessel sat, reasonably stably, on the ground and Carter and his group were able to safely disembark to explore the castle.

Arkadios, meanwhile, summoned together whomever was still with them, "There is a hose connected to a pump to fill us up with water ballast. There's a stream to the North of us that I think it should reach, so if anyone cares to help me run that out? We've got a ballast tank to fill. Then they can deflate the ballonets and, if we need to take off in a hurry, we can empty that tank and gain buoyancy quickly."

He paused, then gave a small shrug, "Yes I'm an infantry officer. I've been reading the manuals."

Empire of the Clouds

Arkadios & Zoe

---

Nikos

...
He leans against the gondola bulkhead, shaking his head. "Iffen we ain't connecting ta the mooring tower but the ground, me and another lad can go down in the pod while someone lowers the forward line. Once we get her tied up, we can use a winch ta help pull her down."

"The only tricky part is hooking her up to the quick release, but once she's belly down, we can get supplies or whatever."

@Expendable

"Do an assessment when you're down there," Arkadios instructed, "I fear it's probably easier to put down in the field and shuttle the gold out. The interior of the fort... well, it wasn't designed for an airship to actually land in it." He chuckled. It was true enough. While there was a mast, it looked like there would be no way for the ship to actually put down in the old medieval courtyard. It had been built in an age before flying machines were anything but a wild fantasy and certainly with no anticipation one might try to land inside.

Private Aden Robertson

...

" I believe I should be one of the first into the fortress." He offered, voice slightly muffled by the scarf pulled around his face. He gestured at his uniform, worn by two weeks of travel and fighting; but still noticeably Inburrian with the markings of the 46th Alpine on his shoulder. "I at least have a noticeably friendly uniform and if the place is filled with Communalists or traps.....well I guess I'll just have to trust that my senses are up to the task."

...

@Terrans

"Good thinking," Arkadios nodded in agreement, "I will stay onboard and keep an eye on things from here."

"Making sure I can really get the money?" Zoe asked with a smirk, drawing herself up to her full, not particularly imposing height and tossing her head haughtily, though the smirk never left her face, making the gesture seem more ironic than anything else, "I'm very persuasive," she assured him.

Empire of the Clouds

Arkadios & Zoe

"Well if you want to hover you'd better hope there isn't a sudden gust of wind," Arkadios remarked dryly before adding, "And no let's not try for a 'touch and go', let us try to put down safely. That is going to be hard enough to avoid crashing the ship as it is."

Zoe meanwhile stuck her hand in the air, "Actually, logically, you'll want me on the ground. If there are some unhappy gentlemen guarding the gold I might be able to talk them around. They should know me... might recognise me, or might not!" she gave a nonchalant shrug, then smiled brightly, "But if they are there they definitely won't hand over the gold to a foreigner, even if he did ask nicely."

Empire of the Clouds

"It looks like someone cleared out in a hurry," Arkadios countered, "If the place were occupied by the Communalists, whom do you think this trap would be for? A ragtag band of fleeing soldiers and civilians in an airship? How would we even know this place was here?"

He paused before adding, "But if I were the commander of the garrison and I hadn't removed all the gold, the building might be rigged to explode... so good luck."

"Actually," Zoe put in, contradicting the Officer, "It might not be such a silly proposition after all. After all, how well do we really know all the people on this ship?" she gave a nonchalant shrug, then turned to address Carter directly, "Captain Carter, please do take care of yourself on the ground. It would be rather helpful if you didn't die as we really do need someone to relieve Itzi from time to time," she said with a cheeky grin.

Empire of the Clouds

Chapter Two: Gold!

"It looks abandoned," Arkadios commented as the ship approached the fortress just after dawn. There was an inner medieval keep that had been gutted by fire a few hundred years earlier and Custospada had been rebuilt into a layered star fort that still would have been a complicated and costly place to attack, though as they got closer to ground level it was clear the main gate was open and there were no signs of any people or vehicles in the interior. There was a mast for an airship, but without ground crew, getting the ship down would be... complicated, "Well that explains why you didn't get a message. See if you can raise HQ in Grendell, let them know what we are up to out here," he nodded to Yuri before turning his attention back to the civilian group who seemed to be necessary to landing the vessel.

"Well," Zoe gave Yuri a cheeky wink as Arkadios finished his observations, "Guess that story I was going to tell you can wait a bit longer... so, anyone want me to do anything... other than make a cup of coffee?" she offered.

"Think you can put some people down in the field to the East?" Arkadios suggested uncertainly. In truth he didn't have the faintest idea how you were meant to land an airship, "Perhaps they can get get the ship secured to the mast? I don't see any Communalists," he said, turning back to a topic he understand better, "but I'm assuming they can't be far away. Whatever we do will need to be done quickly and we'll need to be ready to leave quickly as well."

Burned: Stuck in the Big Easy

I am interested. I'm kinda tossing up some character ideas. Would you be open to someone who was a foreigner working for the CIA whose first trip Stateside is when they get burned? A bit of a fish out of water character.

I'm assuming this is the CIA at any rate!