FoL On the way to Porta
darthcourt10
Well worn.
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Savato93
Millie crouched down, facing the wall in front of her. There were numerous switches set in the surface of the wall… but only one held her interest. Reaching out, she gripped the circuit breaker that corresponded to the Omega's bridge—the most complex set of electrical circuits in the entire ship, and the last one to be refitted—and took a deep breath.
She turned on her radio. "Okay, this is the last one, everybody. Fingers crossed…"
She flipped the switch… and was a low, almost imperceptible hum as the electricity she was providing started to flow through the circuit at a steady rate.
The breaker did not trip.
Millie let out a deep sigh. On the floors above, she could hear cheering as the systems of the Omega's bridge finally came online once more, after years of prior deterioration. Her job was complete… the yacht's electrical systems were fully operational again, and her hull was 100% seaworthy. A small part of the repair ship was disappointed her mother couldn't be here to see this… but then, she had gone away with Aunt Sunny to meet a fleet of Abyssals living in the Atlantic.
She hoped she would be alright on the trip there…
XXXXX
Nuri growled in annoyance as a 16-inch shell dug into her primary airstrip and exploded, blowing a not-insignificant chunk out of the asphalt. All around her, the members of Sunny's fleet were taking up defensive positions, with the Battleship Demon herself standing between Nuri and the ragtag group of feral Abyssals that had chased them down for no discernible reason.
Unbelievable… were feral Abyssals normally this psychotically aggressive, even around their own kind? How many times had Sunny and her kin dealt with fleets like this…?
"Hey, sis…" Nuri glanced to Sunny, who had turned back to her with a sly grin. "How much do you think you can manifest your installation half physically? I wanna try something stupid…"
Oh well. If they were going to put up with more of these random ambushes while en route to Panama, at least Sunny was here to make things interesting.
XXXXX
Hearing the door to the room creak open, Millie turned to see Ritou poke her head in. "Great work, girl. You've done a lot to help us expedite this refit. Your mother will be proud to see what you helped accomplish once she gets back…"
Millie nodded softly. "Thanks."
"No problem. Now… I suggest you get the hell out." Ritou jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "We're about to fire up the new engines, and there is a non-zero chance of this whole thing going kaboom right under our feet."
Ooh, that would be bad. "Right, sure. One second…" Millie pulled her tail out of the nearby connection port and followed Ritou up to the deck. From there, it only took a couple minutes to navigate the extensive scaffolding that surrounded the ship, kept it suspended several feet off the beach and out of the water. Once she got down to ground level, Millie made her way over to the crowd that had gathered a safe distance away.
From here, it was easier for Millie to make out the more dramatic changes to the Omega's physical structure. Her draft, originally just under four and a half meters, had been extended to seven meters in order to accommodate her new Abyss-made boilers, turbines and screws. To vent the exhaust from this new propulsion system, a smokestack now came up through the lower decks of the ship, emerging at the rear of the flybridge behind the antenna array. With her new coat of paint complete, and the flag of the Fleet of Laughter emblazoned on her bow, the Omega looked like an entirely new vessel—one that hadn't been left to rust away for almost a decade. And if all went well today, she'd finally be able to sail under her own power again.
The gathering of Abyssals and Abyssal-touched children watched with anticipation as a handful of battleships, led by Tanith, gathered around the bow of the suspended ship. Setting their hands firmly against the hull, they began to carefully push her backwards, towards the water. The yacht's frame protested briefly to the pressure—but the groaning of metal was quickly drowned out by the creaking and crunching of wood, as the network of scaffolding surrounding her started to give out. To many of them, it almost looked like it was happening in slow motion… the battleships scurried away as the wooden framework slowly tipped and fell backward, bringing the ship with it, until the whole assembly crashed into the water in a cacophony of shattering wood and roaring water.
As the dust and the waves settled, the ship was revealed to be roughly fifty meters into the ocean, her aft end bobbing up and down slightly with the tides. The battleships regrouped and started pushing once more; bit by bit, they helped the ship to slide the rest of the way into the water over several minutes. Finally, as the waterline of the bow started to submerge, the tide finished their job for them, giving the ship just enough deep water to lift off the seabed and float away from the beach.
The boys and girls all cheered as the Omega broke free from Avrora's shore, floating proudly for the first time in years. Millie, meanwhile, couldn't help feeling intense satisfaction, joy, and pride at the sight. She'd helped to make this happen… it was precisely the sort of thing she was born to do, and she'd been at peace doing it. Already, she wondered what she might be called to work on next…
Millie's radio suddenly crackled to life. {Alright, everyone,} her aunt Ritou's voice came in. {Everything looks good, no signs of flooding or warping anywhere. Firing up the engines in three… two… one!}
For several seconds, everything was silent and still—but then, the crowd heard a choking, sputtering sound. In the distance, small, pitiful puffs of smoke wafted up from the ship's smokestack. The onlookers weren't sure what was happening—some of them assumed it was just a slow start for a brand-new system—but then a ball of flame erupted from the funnel, causing them to jerk back.
{OH SHIT OH FUCK OH SHIT PUT IT OUT PUT IT OUT!!}
For several seconds the smokestack continued to belch flames, and the radio channel was filled with more panicked swearing and the sound of fire extinguishers... but eventually, thankfully, the fire receded, leaving the Omega emitting smoke at a much healthier rate than before.
{phew… I'm okay, I'm okay...} Ritou finally spoke up once more, sounding out of breath, and everyone was able to let out a sigh of relief. {Leftover diesel vapors, ignited by the boilers. Some glass gauges cracked in the heat, and my clothes got burned off… but everything is under control and nothing is on fire anymore. And more importantly…}
The ship's foghorn began to blare loudly—a signal for everyone to start cheering.
{She's alive!}
XXXXXXXXXX
…
"So…" Nuri asked calmly, an eyebrow raised, as she looked to her sister. "I take it you won't try to pull a stunt like that again in the near future…?"
Nestled protectively against the chest of her demon, her dress in tatters and nursing a broken leg, Sunny managed a pained but cheeky grin. "Yeah, probably not. It was pretty fun, though, even after the thing with my leg."
"When Mother learns what you did, she'll wring your neck. You know that, right?"
"A small price to pay, for the bragging rights…"
Millie crouched down, facing the wall in front of her. There were numerous switches set in the surface of the wall… but only one held her interest. Reaching out, she gripped the circuit breaker that corresponded to the Omega's bridge—the most complex set of electrical circuits in the entire ship, and the last one to be refitted—and took a deep breath.
She turned on her radio. "Okay, this is the last one, everybody. Fingers crossed…"
She flipped the switch… and was a low, almost imperceptible hum as the electricity she was providing started to flow through the circuit at a steady rate.
The breaker did not trip.
Millie let out a deep sigh. On the floors above, she could hear cheering as the systems of the Omega's bridge finally came online once more, after years of prior deterioration. Her job was complete… the yacht's electrical systems were fully operational again, and her hull was 100% seaworthy. A small part of the repair ship was disappointed her mother couldn't be here to see this… but then, she had gone away with Aunt Sunny to meet a fleet of Abyssals living in the Atlantic.
She hoped she would be alright on the trip there…
XXXXX
Nuri growled in annoyance as a 16-inch shell dug into her primary airstrip and exploded, blowing a not-insignificant chunk out of the asphalt. All around her, the members of Sunny's fleet were taking up defensive positions, with the Battleship Demon herself standing between Nuri and the ragtag group of feral Abyssals that had chased them down for no discernible reason.
Unbelievable… were feral Abyssals normally this psychotically aggressive, even around their own kind? How many times had Sunny and her kin dealt with fleets like this…?
"Hey, sis…" Nuri glanced to Sunny, who had turned back to her with a sly grin. "How much do you think you can manifest your installation half physically? I wanna try something stupid…"
Oh well. If they were going to put up with more of these random ambushes while en route to Panama, at least Sunny was here to make things interesting.
XXXXX
Hearing the door to the room creak open, Millie turned to see Ritou poke her head in. "Great work, girl. You've done a lot to help us expedite this refit. Your mother will be proud to see what you helped accomplish once she gets back…"
Millie nodded softly. "Thanks."
"No problem. Now… I suggest you get the hell out." Ritou jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "We're about to fire up the new engines, and there is a non-zero chance of this whole thing going kaboom right under our feet."
Ooh, that would be bad. "Right, sure. One second…" Millie pulled her tail out of the nearby connection port and followed Ritou up to the deck. From there, it only took a couple minutes to navigate the extensive scaffolding that surrounded the ship, kept it suspended several feet off the beach and out of the water. Once she got down to ground level, Millie made her way over to the crowd that had gathered a safe distance away.
From here, it was easier for Millie to make out the more dramatic changes to the Omega's physical structure. Her draft, originally just under four and a half meters, had been extended to seven meters in order to accommodate her new Abyss-made boilers, turbines and screws. To vent the exhaust from this new propulsion system, a smokestack now came up through the lower decks of the ship, emerging at the rear of the flybridge behind the antenna array. With her new coat of paint complete, and the flag of the Fleet of Laughter emblazoned on her bow, the Omega looked like an entirely new vessel—one that hadn't been left to rust away for almost a decade. And if all went well today, she'd finally be able to sail under her own power again.
The gathering of Abyssals and Abyssal-touched children watched with anticipation as a handful of battleships, led by Tanith, gathered around the bow of the suspended ship. Setting their hands firmly against the hull, they began to carefully push her backwards, towards the water. The yacht's frame protested briefly to the pressure—but the groaning of metal was quickly drowned out by the creaking and crunching of wood, as the network of scaffolding surrounding her started to give out. To many of them, it almost looked like it was happening in slow motion… the battleships scurried away as the wooden framework slowly tipped and fell backward, bringing the ship with it, until the whole assembly crashed into the water in a cacophony of shattering wood and roaring water.
As the dust and the waves settled, the ship was revealed to be roughly fifty meters into the ocean, her aft end bobbing up and down slightly with the tides. The battleships regrouped and started pushing once more; bit by bit, they helped the ship to slide the rest of the way into the water over several minutes. Finally, as the waterline of the bow started to submerge, the tide finished their job for them, giving the ship just enough deep water to lift off the seabed and float away from the beach.
The boys and girls all cheered as the Omega broke free from Avrora's shore, floating proudly for the first time in years. Millie, meanwhile, couldn't help feeling intense satisfaction, joy, and pride at the sight. She'd helped to make this happen… it was precisely the sort of thing she was born to do, and she'd been at peace doing it. Already, she wondered what she might be called to work on next…
Millie's radio suddenly crackled to life. {Alright, everyone,} her aunt Ritou's voice came in. {Everything looks good, no signs of flooding or warping anywhere. Firing up the engines in three… two… one!}
For several seconds, everything was silent and still—but then, the crowd heard a choking, sputtering sound. In the distance, small, pitiful puffs of smoke wafted up from the ship's smokestack. The onlookers weren't sure what was happening—some of them assumed it was just a slow start for a brand-new system—but then a ball of flame erupted from the funnel, causing them to jerk back.
{OH SHIT OH FUCK OH SHIT PUT IT OUT PUT IT OUT!!}
For several seconds the smokestack continued to belch flames, and the radio channel was filled with more panicked swearing and the sound of fire extinguishers... but eventually, thankfully, the fire receded, leaving the Omega emitting smoke at a much healthier rate than before.
{phew… I'm okay, I'm okay...} Ritou finally spoke up once more, sounding out of breath, and everyone was able to let out a sigh of relief. {Leftover diesel vapors, ignited by the boilers. Some glass gauges cracked in the heat, and my clothes got burned off… but everything is under control and nothing is on fire anymore. And more importantly…}
The ship's foghorn began to blare loudly—a signal for everyone to start cheering.
{She's alive!}
XXXXXXXXXX
…
"So…" Nuri asked calmly, an eyebrow raised, as she looked to her sister. "I take it you won't try to pull a stunt like that again in the near future…?"
Nestled protectively against the chest of her demon, her dress in tatters and nursing a broken leg, Sunny managed a pained but cheeky grin. "Yeah, probably not. It was pretty fun, though, even after the thing with my leg."
"When Mother learns what you did, she'll wring your neck. You know that, right?"
"A small price to pay, for the bragging rights…"
