Session 55 - Bluespirited Away

Previously, Across the Horizon...
The time has come to launch an attack on Albarea lands to aid in the defense of Osler territory and credibility.
The crew of the Starfall have found themselves caught up in the political drama of Cardia, with Isa's family "on the official outs," according to an unidentified member of the Theater of the Untranslatable who requested their identity be kept secret lest the Cardian officer find them and make her displeasure unknown.
With Albarea having taken over the Highwind Research Facility, the truth behind Osler interests in the AZYS cannon project cannot be heard, and after checking in with her mother, Isa pledged her assistance, any way that she could.
Thus the Jozech Raid was formed.
With Celeste, Apoc, and Mogali off to create a diversion to draw Albarea attention away from the docks, the officers are to hijack a Keelback transport, carefully dispatch the crew, and use the ship as cover to slip into the Jozech facility itself to sabotage the shipbuilding operations, and what's more, disable or otherwise inconvenience the Aranea, the Albarea flagship itself.
It is late afternoon on the 27th day of Kuganepo, roughly five minutes before the transport ship is set to enter a dead zone as far as warship coverage is concerned, leaving it at the mercy of the Starfall and its no-doubt very capable boarding party...
**
"Officers of the Starfall," Marina's voice rings out through the ship's speaker system, "five minutes to contact. We are in an elevated position ready to flank the transport from high above. Captain, your orders on the approach."
"Everything according to plan so far - keep course until we close in enough to intercept. All aboard, prepare for a steep descent. Isa, you've got the lead on the assault - pick your own time, we'll follow."
Yves looks very calm, in that "I've had so much caffeine that I've vibrated right through into the dimension where I can see the future" kind of way. He's also looking a little less dramatically glittery and morose than usual, if only for the sake of blending in on this part of the job.
Linnet has been anxiously practicing her spells all day where she thinks nobody can see. Several bits of hallway and a couple of windows have wound up covered in ice as a result. (Finally, Shula banished her to her own cabin to take a nap and stop nervously shooting ice at people.) Now, she's bouncing on the balls of her feet, waiting.
Bast takes a minute to check his crossbow and choose and pocket a grenade.
Isa is still in Incognito Mode, dark hair in a bun and wearing her sword instead of her spear. Attentive eyes will note that she is wearing the reinforced steel-and-leather boots built for Dragoon-scale impacts, though. She nods to Bast. "We need to focus on disabling - non-lethally - the crew, rather than ship damage. If we limp into port with blast damage on the hull, it's not going to avoid questions."
"Ship sighted! Port bow!" comes the voice of one of the Hive -- Holly, almost certainly -- from the Lookout position. "I don't see it armed, but I'm not great at this sort of thing, really, I don't--" The line is interrupted, Marina's frustrated grunt over the line a solid indicator that it wasn't foul play.
Bast nods. "Cannon crew have their orders. Owen's got Lily to sit on him, just in case. We focus on taking the bridge and stopping anyone from signaling for help."
Keelbacks are transport ships for short to moderate distances, used often in Cardia due to the sheer impracticality of chocobo transport in the mountains. Keelbacks can be operated with a crew of two, though traditionally Cardia carries a few dragoons onboard in case of emergencies. According to the intel the Oslers passed to the Starfall, the house of Albarea has been lax in security.
That is why this particular ship is traveling on its own, with no warship export, through a rise in the mountain range with low-lying clouds tangled up in the peaks.
The Starfall descends.
"Boarders ready." Bast hangs halfway over the side, one hand on a rope, gauging the distance.
(Linnet hovers anxiously beside him, muttering under her breath and cursing the factory incident that rendered her unable to fly and catch the captain should he fall off the rope into space.)
Marina keeps it perfectly on target, a toothy grin on her face behind the controls, no one there to question the pilot's methods. Two minutes later, the Starfall pulls to port, bringing the ship alongside the Keelback, banked down, the shortest possible distance between the two ships now before someone starts reacting.
Isa heads to the port rail and grips it with her armored hand, crouching down on the deck. There's a subtle thrum in the decking around her feet, and then she is airborne.
A second later, Bast follows her across the gap.
Orrey watches those two go, takes a deep breath, and gets a running start. He leaps over onto the other boat.
Linnet stops pacing, bows her head to her pressed hands, takes an even bigger deep breath, and jumps over to follow.
Yves waits at the rail, watching with an unnerving calm for the right moment to cross over. Say, when the ships slow alongside each other and a door opens. Or someone shouts for him. Either way.
The deck of the Keelback is a simple metal platform with rails so no one pitches themselves out over the edge, or even worse, out over the edge and into the rapidly-spinning turbines keeping this metal box airborne. Doors head both fore and aft, Isa's training filing those under bridge and cargo, respectively.
Orrey looks back to see how the others are doing and sees Linnet struggle with her new...uh...situation.
Isa hits the deck with an unsubtle thud. Knowing that the element of surprise has a very short half-life, she is already in motion towards the bridge.
The door, helpfully against protocol, is unlocked.
Orrey quickly unslings his satchel and swings it out to Linnet so she can grab on and pull herself over.
Yves watches from the deck of the Starfall, sparks crackling idly at his fingers. "Even I know to lock my second story windows," he mutters, as that first door looks to not need any kicking through.
Gratefully and not at all gracefully, Linnet grabs Orrey's bag and hauls herself aboard like a drowning sailor. Red-faced, she grabs Orrey's shoulder and touches her forehead to it in a gesture of embarrassed, silent thanks.
The Starfall sweeps down below the Keelback, the movement of a ship that size buffeting the smaller transport ship to the side. Yves gets a wonderful view of Foggy Mountains Before A Sunset before the Alternan airship begins its ascent in the Keelback's blindspot, directly behind and underneath it. "You want up there, Mjrwin, give the word," the speaker crackles.
Bast scans the deck for the moment it takes to pull his crossbow, then yells "Yves! Cover them!" back across the gap before going after Isa.
Once properly upright, Linnet edges her way to within sight of the bridge's occupants, but not standing directly in the door, scoping out targets before the icicles begin flying. (A muttered and mostly unprintable tirade against gravity can be heard faintly for the next several dozen seconds.)
Isa doesn't kick in the door, sword drawn. She opens it, stepping forward with all the intimidating confidence she can muster.
Orrey adjusts the pirate's bandana and bandit's mask he borrowed from the prop room as he settles his satchel back in place. Another deep breath and he follows after Isa and Bast.
Isa has the bridge's full attention, despite the fact that at least one of them should be focusing on flying the ship in this moment. There are three people, all somewhat similar in appearance, all human, one male, two female. One of the latter two has a spear in hand, standard-issue dragoon armor on, no helmet.
Isa has the floor, as the Starfall's rapid approach has caught them unaware.
"Eyes on your course, pilot," Isa snaps in a tone of command. "And you, arms down. Be smart and everyone gets to go home."
Bast steps out to the side the side behind Isa silently, crossbow leveled on the woman with the spear.
(Linnet remains outside the room and out of sight behind Isa, Bast, and Orrey, though she could probably fire an icicle over their heads if need be. Definitely, if they ducked.)
The pilot spins around in his chair, back straight but shoulders hunched, used to being ordered, not used to the fear that comes with it.
Orrey checks the time, grinning maniacally for all he's worth and muttering about Pirate Time.
The co-pilot puts her hands up. After a tense eight seconds, the dragoon lets her spear rudely fall to the floor and raises her empty hands, glaring at Isa.
"I don't see any explosions," Yves says, half to himself, from the Starfall deck.
Orrey calmly walks over and picks up the spear, never taking his eyes off the disarmed dragoon. "You made the correct choice."
The bandana gets a long, bewildered look.
Isa nods. "Smart," she acknowledges. She leaves Bast and Orrey to keep the dragoon and the copilot covered, and walks up to behind the helm. "Bring her down there," she says to the pilot, pointing towards a small plateau ahead.
The pilot swallows and nods, angling the ship in that direction. The other two remain silent, Bast's crossbow an ever-ready deterrent.
"Anyone else on board?" Isa asks, laying a steel hand ever-so-gently on the pilot's shoulder.
"N-n-no ma'am," he stammers.
"Valuable cargo you've grabbed," the dragoon says mockingly.
Orrey hefts the spear. "Indeed! Oh, and you should empty your pockets while we're at it." Orrey says.
(Linnet is trying to balance "intimidating mage backup pose" with staring wistfully at the pretty sunset.)
Orrey's second-thought shakedown comes up with 1,540 gil, a Potion, a locket, and some keys.
"Here's how this is going to go," Isa explains to the pilot. "Once we're holding station, my friend out on the deck is going to give you a duffel with some survival gear, and a basket of...I think today's muffins are apple. Next ship's in a few days, and the forecast is mostly clear. Or, you could try walking out I guess." She pauses. "But the muffins are excellent."
Orrey checks the locket.
There is a picture inside of the dragoon, cheek to cheek, with a young human woman with glasses and blonde pigtails with the ends dyed purple, both making the absolute cheesiest smiles.
"You're hijacking us with -- muffins?" the co-pilot exclaims.
Orrey hands the locket back to the dragoon. "What do the keys go to?"
"No, we're hijacking you with the unspoken threat of extreme violence. The muffins are an inducement to not go down that road," Isa says.
"Our homes in Cardia," the dragoon snaps, ripping the locket out of Orrey's grasp but taking no other offensive moves toward him.
(Upon hearing this bit of the plan, Linnet relaxes out of "intimidating mage backup pose" and perches on a convenient rail - legs tucked deckward - to stare wistfully at the sunset some more. The duffel lies at her feet.)
The airship settles onto the ground, with only the slightest nervous jostle.
Yves is leaning so far over the railing of the (other) deck that he's perilously close to leaping onto the smaller ship face-first. "I don't see anyone handing out muffins yet," he mutters anxiously. "Hope Isa didn't have to stab too many people."
The Starfall rises up higher into the clouds to obscure it from view.
Linnet glances back up at Yves and waves an "everything's ok" wave just before the bigger ship disappears.
Isa pats the pilot on the shoulder. "Good. Now let's get you on your way to those muffins, and we'll be out of your hair."
Orrey also gives the keys back. "Not looking to rob your houses. No Ethers on board?"
The dragoon scoffs at the very idea of Ethers, and the original crew of this Keelback allow themselves to be escorted off onto the plateau.
Linnet joins them with a cheery wave and a heavy duffel over her shoulder. "Hello! Hope nobody was too much trouble. This should see you set for a few days."
Ten minutes later, the proud new owners of a transport-class Keelback under the name Ohl Deel are flying north along their planned route, only seventeen full minutes behind schedule.
Orrey stands where the dragoon was standing, holding his new spear.
Twenty more minutes later, after the turn clear from the plateau, the Starfall descends, ready to deliver one (1) lightning viera to the second ship.
Isa has taken the helm, bringing the ship up alongside Starfall long enough to Yves to transfer over, before the large ship peels away towards it rendezvous point.
"Think they bought the pirate thing?" Orrey asks nobody in particular.
"There could be muffin pirates," Yves says, finding a place to stash himself for the trip. "We could make it a new trend."
"Probably not, but it'll be a few days before they can tell anyone their theories," Isa says.
"Yves, good to see you. Did you remember to bring the second big batch of muffins?" Linnet asks. She catches Bast's eye. "What? They're for either bribes or snacks. We'll need at least one."
"I should put the money down somewhere..." Orrey looks around for an appropriate place to tuck away the gil. "The Potion on the other hand, could be useful."
"Go give the props back, Orrey," Bast remarks wearily before wandering off to check the cargo hold.
"Just leave the props on the little boat for now, Orrey. If we're not all in costume, they're not going to buy it, and there's no way in all the hells you'd get the captain into a pirate costume." Linnet grins. "Yet."
Yves lifts his picnic basket. "Muffins and cider." "Ivy said it looked convincing!" Orrey protests.
"Good bun." Linnet ruffles his ears. "And yes, yours does, but pirates don't travel solo, so without a whole band of us it'll just create more questions."
The Ohl Deel continues north along the planned route, helpfully spelled out in the protocol by the co-pilot's chair.
"Maybe I could be a pirate mercenary!" Orrey offers.
"Maybe next time. C'mon, put the bandana away and have a muffin while they're still hot."
"Right," Isa says, as they begin to close on their destination. "Time to get into character. You ready to lie our way into the dock?" she asks the person designated for this role, who was totally figured out during the planning session.
"If I can't wear my amazing adventuring jacket, you can't wear pirate gear," Yves says. He has, in fact, dressed in something more like a ship crew's work clothing and less like what's worn by an anxious chemist who's trying to look dashing but also periodically gets stabbed.
Orrey sighs and takes off the headgear, stuffing it into his satchel.
Yves sits down, well away from any sort of communication position.
Smoke -- the more "natural" kind of smoke, the smoke that comes from industry, not the smoke that comes from certain grandmotherly responses to industry" is rising over the ridge in the mountains up ahead. The Jozech facility is mere minutes away.
Orrey leans the spear up in a corner out of the way, and is fully prepared for silently following along and looking bored.
Yves sighs faintly all the same, thinking wistfully of the sorts of delightful stories his grandmother would tell when he visited on vacations. Sometimes she even had sketches. Once, she pulled out an oil painting that had been liberated from museum, and explained what part of The Inferno That Consumed My Beloved Peasant Oil Refinery she was responsible for.
Bast returns from his tour of the cargo, not looking impressed, and looks out toward the smoke.
It is hard to be inspired by bread, after all.
(No it's not. Linnet can be inspired for days by bread.)
The radio crackles to life as the Ohl Deel approaches. "Keelback, identification," comes the bored-yet-playful voice on the other side.
Isa looks around the cabin with a look of sour disbelief. Then she grabs the microphone for the radio. Still staring down the rest of her crew with her most withering glare, she proceeds to rattle off pitch-perfect chatter with the tower. Between the dossier, the information visible from the pilot's chair, and her knowledge of Cardian military protocol she is able to deliver a faultless performance. After receiving clearance from the tower, she hangs the microphone on its hook with disgust. "We talked about this," she says, and turns back to flying in a huff.
"Look, scolding later, getting our hides in and out intact now. Thank you. Now what?" Linnet says.
Orrey look over at Linnet wide-eyed. "We talked about this? Whoops... Sorry Isa. I'll do better next time." Orrey looks chagrined.
Linnet makes the universal gesture for shut the hell up - the throat-slashing - at Orrey, then turns to Bast. "Right. I'll go with you and do the hapless subordinate talking if you do the official posing. Workable?"
Two small lights in the fog wave about, turning into a moogle holding smokeless flares guiding the airship into position on landing pad four.
"Works for me." Bast gives Isa an awkward grimace, and tries to get a better look at the landing arrangements.
"I'm ready for my part," says Yves earnestly.
"The moment anyone gets eyes on us we're done," Isa says. "Fog is helping, but debark on the starboard side, and do it fast before they come aboard. I'll meet you at the southwest depot."
"...aye aye." Linnet looks totally confused but afraid to open her mouth with any more questions.
The airship lands, and from the window, Isa can see that moogle in a jumpsuit doing their damnedest to pull a series of linked carts over by themselves. They wave, a little frustrated, at the windows, unable to see much in the fog, but hoping someone can see them.
Yves, who has figured out 'starboard' vs. 'port' by this point, pops out on the correct side as soon as the door's open.
Linnet stretches out her fingers into "L" shapes to double-check, stashes a bottle of cider in her jacket pocket, then follows Yves.
The Jozech Shipyard is a collection of copper-colored boxes -- some of which hold items, and some of which have doors to hold people who then put the items in the smaller boxes -- and gray cylinders, most of which are pumping smoke into the sky.
By the time the moogle gets tired of waving at fog and comes aboard, the ship is empty...except for a muffin on the pilot's chair. The legend can only grow from there.
There are two other airships docked here -- one that looks a lot like this one, only somehow even more boring, and then a sleek red and black airship with a sharp, spearlike design, the flagship of the Albarea fleet, the Aranea.
There are faint sounds of engineering -- clanks, swears, the like -- coming from the Aranea. The rest of the facility is fairly quiet. The bulk of the buildings are either northwest or southwest. From the map given before your mission, northwest has the people, southwest has The Stuff.
Orrey follows Isa, being as discreet as he can.
Yves skulks along behind Isa and Orrey like he was born for this. ...perhaps he was, or maybe it's all that time spent in certifiably sane lab, because he notes quietly as the group wends its way southwest, "Lots of flashes from that process. They'll highlight motion through those windows. Take the left side of the building. Not as dark, but it stays darker, and there's more fog cover."
Orrey ghosts along ahead of everyone, seeming to fade out of view into the shadows, timing his moves with the flashes.
Isa nods to Yves, with a "yeah that sounds right" expression on her face, and darts off following that advice. She does not check to see if her train is in place.
Shortly after saying this, Yves vanishes into the fog, and... does not immediately reappear. Maybe that means it's working?
Bast raises his eyebrows at Yves' advice, but does not disagree or look back. The latter may have been a mistake.
Linnet is still not all that at ease with this "touching the ground" thing, but at least most of her clattering blends in with the Engineering Sounds. Until it dies out. Where the hell is she?
The train derails at some point, with Linnet and Yves both following each other through the flashes, ending up not exactly where they intended to be. Linnet very nearly is somewhere she definitely doesn't want to be, but quick thinking ducks her back behind one of those random boxes as she and Yves find themselves listening in to a conversation about... themselves?
"No one was onboard?" says a young, melodic voice. The type of voice that might have pigtails. "You're sure."
"Yes, I'm pretty sure I can tell when someone is and isn't on the ship, Sumalee," says another voice. "Just a muffin onboard. Doubt it flew the ship."
Meanwhile, Orrey, Isa, and Bast have arrived at the warehouses, all of which are locked.
Yves mouths soundlessly, "It might," as if indignant at these unseen voice-deliverers doubting muffin capabilities.
Isa signals Bast and Orrey from her concealment, and then looks around. "Fuck," she whispers.
Linnet pats Yves' arm reassuringly and mouths Later. She glances about for signs of Isa, trying not to catch the light.
"Uh, where's our Bun and Muffin?" Orrey whispers.
"They were right behind me," Isa says. "Haven't heard any alarms yet though, but we are definitely on the clock now."
Orrey checks his watch.
"Was a good muffin, though," says that second voice, which is increasingly familiar to both of the eavesdroppers. It then hits them both at once -- they did hear that voice before. The moogle that rescued Orrey's father -- the moogle waving them in to the landing? Here? Bast silently glides past Isa in the fog, and the nearest door is no longer locked shortly after.
Yves cannot go pale, for a variety of fascinating physiological reasons, but grabs Linnet's arm and tugs away toward... well... toward where he hopes everyone else went.
As if underscoring Isa's point, a regular patrol goes by -- just one guard, though. Something has happened to make them understaffed. The fog continues to obscure them.
"Think Celeste and the others are doing ok out there?" Orrey asks, watching the single guard walking.
"Don't think about them. They're doing their job. Think about ours. Soon as he's past, get in the building."
"Do you think they're okay?" the first speaker asks. "Should we report it?"
"I'm having a hard time thinking about anything...what do we do now?" Orrey asks Isa as he follows her into the building.
"Give it a little bit," the second speaker -- the moogle -- says. "They may be trying to track someone down, and that would just cause problems. No need to raise the alarm just yet, okay?"
Linnet stops straining to listen and to remember the moogle's name and follows where Yves tugs. Presumably he knows where he's going. He's today's tactical genius, after all.
Inside the warehouse, there are weapons, and ammunition, and refined bluespirit in the most clearly-labeled boxes they've ever seen.
Orrey looks around for a cart to load the bluespirit boxes onto.
Isa takes a quick inventory. "How much are we keeping, and how much are we blowing up, Captain?"
Fourteen big sturdy FRAGILE boxes of bluespirit. That's a lot of bluespirit.
The carts in the warehouse could carry two of the chocobo-sized boxes at a time, and there are three carts here; two other carts are by the Ohl Deel, from what they saw when disembarking.
Bast forgoes whistling at th sight, but he's clearly impressed. "Damn. Wish we had a couple of hours with no guards to dodge."
"Max load on all the carts?" Orrey asks, testing the weight of a box by lifting up a side of one.
"Don't think we're blowing any, if we want to keep everyone alive. Not that eay to make it go up in the field anyway."
Isa nods. "Crew's at work on Aranea so we're going to need to be subtle there; any ideas for going loud here?"
"Oh by the Forgotten...these are heavy!" Orrey grunts as he barely even shifts the box.
Isa shakes her head, and grabs the same box. She grunts as she has about as much success. "Why do they make them so big?"
Orrey shakes his head. "If only we had a Float spell..."
Yves and Linnet emerge from the fog, into the warehouse, and Yves allows himself a tiny sigh of relief as he discovers he has, in fact, entered the right building. "Sorry we're late," he says, rushing over to help with the boxes. "Apparently that moogle that brought Orrey's father back is here. Weird, isn't it? Want help with that?"
"Ship sharded transport." Bast strains visibly with the effort. "Get on that corner and lift on 'three', you two."
Linnet observes the whole process involving lots of clumsy heavy lifting, glances down at her own arm muscles, and quietly elects to take up a watch post by the door of the warehouse. "Yell if you're desperate, but I figure somebody should be watching," she comments quietly on her way over.
"Lift with your knees, not..." Yves hesitates. "Honestly, I don't know if that works for humans too, since your knees bend backward." He shuts up and helps heave.
Isa gets a firmer grip this time, and times her heaving along with Yves. It works much better.
Orrey grips the box and pulls as hard as he can, but loses his grip once Yves and Isa actually put their backs into it, and he ends up falling backwards onto the ground. "Nice job, people. Only five more to go." Orrey smiles, gets up and heads over to the next box.
"Think the same moogle was the one bringing carts to our ship, too," Yves muses, as he sets to helping with as many boxes as are getting moved.
"They liked my muffins."
"Your muffins are amazing. Of course they liked them." Orrey grins at Linnet. "Why would a freelancing Moogle who rescued my father be working for Albarea?" Orrey asks.
"...good freelancing rates?"
From Linnet's vantage point, she can see a figure approaching, coalescing in the fog. A short figure.
"Cardia has a rich mercenary tradition," Isa says, hoisting another crate. "In both directions."
Linnet gives a short sharp hiss to the crew on the boxes. "Moogle approaching."
"You don't feel like everything we're experiencing is oddly interconnected?" Orrey muses, walking over to check on the approaching merc.
Bast makes an urgent shushing gesture at Orrey, falling silent himself, and readies his crossbow.
"Don't shoot, they might be friendly. I think the name was Cosmog?"
Bast shakes a frustrated fist at the chatty doorwatchers and claps a hand over his mouth in what should hopefully convey the message.
The figure goes to the door into the warehouse, and they hear a key enter the lock on the other side of the wall, and turn entirely too easily.
For a moment, nothing happens.
Orrey tightens his grip on his watch.
Yves stares thoughtfully at a box, wondering either how best to load the next one, or if he should start zotting anyone.
The handle turns.
Linnet remains in "watcher at the door" pose, as it's honestly too late to scramble into a hiding place now and chatting her way out of problems usually works better than trying to dodge them.
"If I open this door, is someone going to try to kill me?" the moogle says, calmly and quietly, through the closed door.
"Not immediately, at least. Is it Cosmog? Did I get that right?"
"It is. Who are you?"
"We've met once, sort of in passing, in the Alyon family kitchen. Please come in, I promise civil conversation and that's always easier when we can see faces."
The door opens.
Cosmog, last seen outside of the Alyon family home in Saron, now wearing the uniform of an Albarea warehouse worker, steps inside. She looks at the partially-loaded cart, scans the room for however many people are here that she can spot, and then quirks her jaw to the side as she looks at Linnet. "Alyon. Not immediately ringing a bell."
"You saved my father, the printer on the train." Orrey says. "We still owe you for that."
"Oh! The train! Now I remember." She smiles at Orrey. "Everyone doing well, I hope."
Orrey nods. "All well, thanks. Why are you working in a shipyard?" he asks, genuinely curious.
"Why are you robbing a shipyard?" she replies.
"I asked first." Orrey says, playing his social trump card.
"If you'll help us lift some crates," Yves says, "we can probably explain once we're done. Over muffins."
She glances at the bluespirit crates, and then back toward the door. "You came on the ship before," she muses. "You timed this well. There's some sort of distraction happening in the mountains. It's drawn a lot of attention away. You don't have to confirm anything for me, but I hope Ernesto, Shaul, and Herlinda are all right."
Quietly, Linnet checks that the warehouse door is shut behind Cosmog. "I promise they're all right. We dropped them off with warm blankets and plenty of provisions. ...kinda confused them, really, but we're not looking to make a reputation."
"Aiming to do this quietly and with no one getting hurt." Bast looks less than fully committed to that last part at present, with the crossbow still out.
"All that said, I don't have any intention of blowing your cover so long as you don't do anything to mine. I'm here investigating animal rights violations." She rolls her shoulders. "I was going to get a shipment of this and take it over to the Aranea to keep them busy on the ship so I can get inside the main building. What you do is up to you."
"Is there a place we could anonymously mail you proof of animal rights violations?" Yves asks, suddenly very interested.
"Coates, in the Triad? I believe one of you said before? I can check with them if you send it there," Cosmog replies.
"What kind of animal rights violations? Is this more AZYS stuff?" Orrey asks, looking back towards Bast and Isa for their reactions.
"Later, Yves, Orrey. Sorry, Cosmog, we've been busy. But I'm sensing an opportunity here. What say we put two plans together and come out with some more thorough mayhem and information gathering on both ends?"
Yves pauses long enough to make a note of this before going back to box work. "You may want a dolly or something. These are heavy."
Bast looks like he's restraining an urge to harm some of the excessively informative members of the team.
Cosmog arches an eyebrow at the name mentioned, but doesn't say anything else. There's a bit of both amusement and bemusement happening there.
Isa is trying to stay unobtrusive and quiet, in hopes that her appearance is altered enough to not draw any immediate recognition.
"This one seems fine to me," Cosmog says, going to the cart that's already full. "I appreciate your assistance, and I wish you luck in whatever it is your mission happens to be."
"Wait, no, we need that one," Yves says. "Didn't you have your own cart earlier?"
"Is your intention to light that onboard the Aranea? Because that's kind of a different definition of "keep them busy" than, say, handing it to a few research scientists. And also those crates are bloody heavy." (tone: Concerned Friend Who Thinks You're About To Do Something Stupid But Doesn't Want To Flat-Out Say So)
"We're not partners here, friends," Cosmog says, not unkindly. "We are just here on simultaneous business."
"...yes, but if that simultaneous business risks several of us blowing up, it'd be kind of us to warn each other of that in advance."
"It would be. Therefore, I would. Note that I'm not." She smiles again. "I'm also not saying more than I need, a lesson I recommend you learn if you wish to make it as a pirate."
"Fair. Thank you kindly for that. Is there a particular kind of animal you'd like us to keep an eye out for the abuse of, or just general animal cruelty?"
Bast nods. "That cart's fine. Don't suppose you know how soon someone's going to start looking for the crew in earnest, or unloading the boat?"
"Be kind to them all is my strongest recommendation," Cosmog says, turning the cart on so it moves under its own power with this load. "Especially right now, and in present company." To Bast, she says, "I suspect you have an hour, maybe two. The engineers should be busy on the Aranea past their normal 7 PM time with this delivery, so you won't have their bumbling about to slow you down. It wouldn't do them any good to disappoint the head of the house, after all."
"Thank you, Cosmog. May we meet again under less tense circumstances." Linnet bows her head in respect and returns to her place beside the door, watching for any less friendly approaching contacts.
Cosmog departs with the already-loaded box of bluespirit, leaving the five pirates-in-training alone with two carts and thirteen boxes remaining.
"Load more boxes?" Orrey asks as he heads over to the next one.
"Right," Yves says, and follows. "Okay, now, lift with your.... knees, probably? Let's say, knees."
Linnet whispers a very quick mantra of "sorry Isa sorry Captain" under her breath, ten times at least, willing her knees to stop shaking as she scans the shipyard for any further unusual activity.
Bast stalks over to Orrey and Linnet and hisses "Try not to introduce us to anyone else we meet" before turning back to work on the boxes.
"So many things to keep straight." Orrey sighs and heaves once again.
A short time later...
Two carts, with four of the fourteen total bluespirit boxes, are loaded onto the Ohl Deel under cover of fog. Two empty carts await. A short time after that, stretching past 8 PM now, four carts with eight more boxes are loaded onto the Ohl Deel, with Linnet watching for any other patrols. The patrols have been very light -- much of the attention is elsewhere, it would seem.
A cart of bluespirit remains by the Aranea, open, with some of the rare metal showing. It is what is keeping the Aranea staffed with people, versus being open and available for any particular level of sabotage.
There is also a box remaining in the warehouse, unclaimed.
The Ohl Deel could leave now, a massive heist of Albarean goods in its hold, but the damage done would be political in nature only. Some sort of lasting physical damage would make a difference and be the sort of thing that would reflect poorly on the Albarea family in the public eye as well, not just in court.
"Isa? How long do you suppose it would take them to react to a fire outside the Aranea? I have an idea." Bast is measuring lengths of fuse in the hold of the Ohl Deel as he speaks.
Linnet stashes the bag of muffins back in her pack and hides her shaking hands in her pockets. "This would be a fire not involving the bluespirit, right?"
"They'd notice that alright. No, not that."
From outside, there is a sudden, shocked scream.
End session.