After the freighter settled, a hatch opened and a small detachment of Vectorian soldiers had poured out. They were looking up at the hovering Ravenwing, shouting things Quintus couldn't (and frankly didn't want to) hear. He turned on the ship's loudspeaker and made his standard announcement:
"This vessel's cargo will be peacefully surrendered. Once your cargo has been safely disembarked, your vessel will be fixed for a nominal fee."
Quintus' statment resulted in even more angered shouting, followed by the captain using several rude gestures in the direction of the Ravenwing. Quintus smirked, knowing the futility of the Vectorian protestations. The first of several small Hoard fleet ships had began to arrive, unloading guards to ensure the transfer of cargo. Quintus monitored the process, laughing as one of the Vectorians began to fight with a couple guards. A dwarven wizard slowly levitated out of the Hoard ship, raised his hand and rained meteors down on the difficult soldier. He fell to the ground, mortally wounded and would die soon, if not aided. The other Vectorians took the opportunity to scatter away from the approaching detachment.The wizard returned to his ship with a wave toward the Ravenwing.
Quintus stepped away from the helm and inspected the configuration of the engines. "What happened here?" he asked, not expecting much of an answer. He opened the door to the aft drive engine bay and saw that his engine was nearly destroyed. Bolts were everywhere, twisted metal banding was strewn about and fuel was trickling down to the deck below. In his final push to catch the Vectorian freighter, the Thri'kreens had removed the safety throttler and in the process the engine had suffered a fate similar to that of the Vectorian lift engines. He sighed deeply and turned back to the helm. "At least we got them. As much cargo as they have, I can easily pay for a new engine. I'll have to tow back to Zozo, though." He noticed the Thri'kreens were apprehensive to approach him. "I am not upset with either of you. You did what you had to do. The objective was simple and we survived. You will be rewarded for your work here today." Quintus approached the helm and opened a small compartment where he kept small sacks of coin for bribing various blockades and trade representatives. He tossed two sacks to each Thri'kreen, each sack valuing around 100 platinum. They opened the sacks and immediately took to the air, swaying back and forth with joy.
"Remember what you saw here today. Work for me again and there will be ten times that amount if we can keep doing this. We've received an extremely large contract that demands large amounts of weapons, armor, food, water and more. Even better if we can take it from the Vectorians while doing so."
Fresh Cargo (1/2)
"FASTER!"
Quintus knew he could overtake the cargo ship he was pursuing. The Ravenwing was smaller and faster. It wasn't behaving correctly; someone wasn't keeping up with their duties, he thought. "I said FASTER!" he bellowed at his navigator, a young female Thri'kreen. Her bug eyes widened and she leapt from her seat, flying to the rear of the ship. She began working with her brother (whom had already received his verbal lashing) tweaking the engines. "Can't get more than 79%, sir! We just can't!" came a shout, which infuriated Quintus further. He lurched the ship hard to port and then back on course. The Thri'kreen were thrown toward the side of the ship but took to the air to stabilize. Quintus needn't yell again.
The Vectorian airship was beginning to fade in the distance. He wasn't sure where it was headed just yet; it had been hopping the trade routes without stopping for some time. He couldn't engage the Munchausen engine to try and head them off. The only chance of taking the ship was to disable a lift engine, forcing it to land in unfamiliar territory. Just as he was about to cut off the chase
VVVVOOOOOMMMMMMMM
the engines had roared to life! The Thri'kreen siblings began cheering at the back of the ship. Quintus tightened his grip on the helm and trained his attention on the small dot of a ship on the horizon. It began to grow in size quite rapidly; the airship was readying a course correction and slowing down. It had descended slightly, moving just above the canopy of a forest. This would make disabling the lift engine a bit trickier. Poorly aimed shots into the forest would not only endanger inhabitants but create a blowback of dirt, plants and who-knows-what that Quintus would fly right through. Still he pressed on, coming up hard on the Vectorian freighter. They had noticed him now and had thrown their engines on full in an attempt to evade him. Quintus howeled in delight "The fools! Do you see this? Do you see what they're doing?!" he shouted to no one in particular, even though the Thri'keen had once again taken his side at the front of the ship.
The freighter ascended higher and Quintus throttled back, shifting to line up with the starboard set of lift engines. The bigger, slower ship's hull groaned as the Vectorian captain furiously tried to keep his ship centered in front of the Ravenwing. Quintus easily matched the maneuver and shouted at the male Thri'kreen "LET LOOSE ON MY COMMAND!" as he began to gain confidence in his victory. The Thri'kreen clicked a few times in response. Quintus made a final maneuver and whispered "Drop 'em to their knees." The cannons on the Ravenwing roared, two of the three blasts hitting their intended target. The third sailed wide, causing minor damage to the freighter's hull. Smoke began billowing out of the impacted lift engine and Quintus backed off the Ravenwing slowly, waiting for his prey to fall to the ground. He keyed his ship's radio twice and pinged once, letting the fleet know he required assistance at his current location. The second starboard lift engine suddenly sparked and caught fire, unable to keep up with the demand. The ship listed starboard and began to descent quickly as the captain throttled back his port lift engines to compensate. Quintus held his breath and eventually let slip a sigh of relief as the freighter cleared the canopy of the forest and began a rough landing in an open field.
Quintus knew he could overtake the cargo ship he was pursuing. The Ravenwing was smaller and faster. It wasn't behaving correctly; someone wasn't keeping up with their duties, he thought. "I said FASTER!" he bellowed at his navigator, a young female Thri'kreen. Her bug eyes widened and she leapt from her seat, flying to the rear of the ship. She began working with her brother (whom had already received his verbal lashing) tweaking the engines. "Can't get more than 79%, sir! We just can't!" came a shout, which infuriated Quintus further. He lurched the ship hard to port and then back on course. The Thri'kreen were thrown toward the side of the ship but took to the air to stabilize. Quintus needn't yell again.
The Vectorian airship was beginning to fade in the distance. He wasn't sure where it was headed just yet; it had been hopping the trade routes without stopping for some time. He couldn't engage the Munchausen engine to try and head them off. The only chance of taking the ship was to disable a lift engine, forcing it to land in unfamiliar territory. Just as he was about to cut off the chase
VVVVOOOOOMMMMMMMM
the engines had roared to life! The Thri'kreen siblings began cheering at the back of the ship. Quintus tightened his grip on the helm and trained his attention on the small dot of a ship on the horizon. It began to grow in size quite rapidly; the airship was readying a course correction and slowing down. It had descended slightly, moving just above the canopy of a forest. This would make disabling the lift engine a bit trickier. Poorly aimed shots into the forest would not only endanger inhabitants but create a blowback of dirt, plants and who-knows-what that Quintus would fly right through. Still he pressed on, coming up hard on the Vectorian freighter. They had noticed him now and had thrown their engines on full in an attempt to evade him. Quintus howeled in delight "The fools! Do you see this? Do you see what they're doing?!" he shouted to no one in particular, even though the Thri'keen had once again taken his side at the front of the ship.
The freighter ascended higher and Quintus throttled back, shifting to line up with the starboard set of lift engines. The bigger, slower ship's hull groaned as the Vectorian captain furiously tried to keep his ship centered in front of the Ravenwing. Quintus easily matched the maneuver and shouted at the male Thri'kreen "LET LOOSE ON MY COMMAND!" as he began to gain confidence in his victory. The Thri'kreen clicked a few times in response. Quintus made a final maneuver and whispered "Drop 'em to their knees." The cannons on the Ravenwing roared, two of the three blasts hitting their intended target. The third sailed wide, causing minor damage to the freighter's hull. Smoke began billowing out of the impacted lift engine and Quintus backed off the Ravenwing slowly, waiting for his prey to fall to the ground. He keyed his ship's radio twice and pinged once, letting the fleet know he required assistance at his current location. The second starboard lift engine suddenly sparked and caught fire, unable to keep up with the demand. The ship listed starboard and began to descent quickly as the captain throttled back his port lift engines to compensate. Quintus held his breath and eventually let slip a sigh of relief as the freighter cleared the canopy of the forest and began a rough landing in an open field.
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