340 replies and 26 files omitted.
The Captain leans back, eyes wide, ears folded back, and his right hoof raised in the air. He is not the only one, as several other ponies in the group, like the mulberry pony, Steppe Eagle, and even the more distant Pipette, look back with wide eyes towards Kira. The captain is silent. They are all silent.
It’s easy enough to lift the panel and access the radial engine in each pod, with its cooling lines, radiator, and super charger. Though the lone, separated pod and the engine attached by pylon to the carriage are obvious, what is less obvious is the location of the radar equipment. To be sure, the forward attends is visible. But the actual equipment must be behind aluminum panels in the carriage
>>191342Cavaliere, although unfamiliar with this airship class's design and with airships in general, searches behind the access panels to find what must be the radar. He beckons to Silver for help if he's unsuccessful.
[1d20+2 = (3+2) = 5] >>191336High Sewn looks down and over Amber, raising a hoof and placing it to her chin. She stands there silently, as if in deep thought for several silent seconds.
“Well… one of these days, we’ll get you some proper attire. You’ll need it when it gets warm.”
>>191343Cavaliere is firmly convinced that he could be staring right at it and not know what it is. At least the engines are obvious.
>>191344Amber is a smaller mare, but on the stockier side. Maybe something that would make her look taller would be appropriate?
She smiles back.
"I have a very nice summer dress. I should show it to you sometime. You might like it and it's much newer than what I'm wearing now." >>191343Posey also searches
[1d20+5 = (4+5) = 9]>>191344Are we ready to set off the fireworks?
>>191345She pulls the hoof upwards, over the front of her muzzle. One eye swings as the other is wide open,
“A summer dress?
>>191347"Mhm! It's lighter and shorter, and it's a light blue. It was my sister's dress but my Ma let me have it." Taking note of Sewn's expression, she asks,
"Is something the matter?">>191346Evidently not before we can actually plant explosives on that radar gizmo.
>>191348Can we just do that? What are we waiting for?
>>191348She continues her position for a second, but then moves her hoof, and shakes her head.
“Oh, no. Just imagining. Do you share one dress amongst the family?”
>>191350Amber pauses, aware of what her previous statement entailed.
"Well, no…we have more clothes, but not a lot. Hoofing down our things lets them be useful longer. My sister outgrew that dress, but it fits me. It's also a gift to help me get started out here." >>191351She nods
"Mhmm. How long have you had it?"
>>191342>>191343Kira's ears fold down, and her expression turns quite sad as tears well up in her eyes. She manages a limp, sad tongue flick before sniffling. "I-I-I'm sorry, I..."
The noodle could really use a hug right about now.
Silver sets up the charges in the engines, then goes back into the airship. He does the most logical thing, which is to look for a radar screen as naturally the radar equipment should be close by to there.
>>191353"Well, to see how your dress size has kept pace with growth, for instance. You're a bit older in your adolescence so you wouldn't have grown as much, but if the dress was not made or fitted for you and if you're growing, these small changes can cause a mismatch in size. I know many ponies are okay with clothing that is ever so sightly large or small, but for those who are careful about it... Then there's also the issue of wear. Clothing may last a while, but not forever, and small damages can accumulate over time.
>>191354Awww...
If only she had some kind of wall to hide behind, or some quick way to make one...
Yes. There's a radar station in the mid-section not far past the radio operators' station. It's a single screen, black now,
>>191355"Hmm, you're right. I take good care of my clothes but what I have will never be perfect, sadly. Buying replacements just won't be possible for a while. As long as I don't look like a pauper….">>191354Cavaliere, who is no longer busy, reassures her with a hug.
"Your methods are direct but you cannot help that these ponies ae skittish. You have done the best you could in this situation and that's what matters." >>191357"It is the nature of ponies to be skittish. This world is full of monsters, and the body responds to danger faster than the mind. As a dread magus, I would know." Posey says, magically pinning up her mane, having now donned her dreadful armor.
"Not let us set off the fireworks."
>>191356Silver begins removing panels around the radar station until he finds some particularly valuable-looking electronics, which he then sets up the next charge by.
>>191360What color crayon? Asparagus? That one was my favorite.
>>191361Blue-gray. Cholera colored.
>>191359Yes, this looks like valuable electronics. Or... what exactly do valuable electronics look like? Well it has wires and tubes, so... close enough. Also Silver is aware of where the antennae are on the outside of the carriage, some of which were damaged or broken off when the airship hit the ground.
>>191357"Yes, I suppose...." She stares at Amber in silent contemplation for a few seconds more. "May need to make a project of you later...."
>>191360"
From the Halls of Montezuma,
To the Shores of Tripoli... >>191363Amber's tail wags underneath her skirt.
"If there's anything I can do for you, Miss Sewn, let me know!" she answers gleefully.
>>191363With both explosives set up, Silver gets out the detcord, connecting it to the demolition kit in the airship and feeding it through a window outside. He then takes it to the other kit(s) in the engine(s), hooking it/them to the cord and extends it out further away from the airship. He calls out to the other creatures before he does anything else:
"Everyone stand clear!"
>>191365Cavaliere makes sure all creatures in their group have hunkered down away from potential shrapnel. Aluminum shards are unpleasant to deal with.
>>191365Chatter between the creatures, with the ponies in a sort of ring around, and the griffins sometimes on the hill.
>>191366>>191367>>191368With everyone clear, Silver lights the detcord. The cord, itself filled with explosive, rapidly explodes rather than burns all along its length fast enough that the pony eye has trouble following it. Almost simultaneously, the demolition kits all explode together with a mighty
BOOM, sending pieces of metal and machinery flying and leaving smoking craters in the airship where they had been set up.
After the debris settles, Silver goes up to the airship and quickly takes pictures of the destroyed components before the structure is given the chance to collapse.
>>191369"Hooray. Now giddy up. We have airponies to find." Posey says, walking away from the explosion, in a rather vain display
With a click, silver presses together the two levers on the detonator.
The first set of explosives to detonate is the closest, the engine that separated from the carriage. The explosion is not a deep, drawn out "BOOM," but a quicker, sharper sound that is noticeably high pitched. This explosion is dry, and the party members might be able to perceive individual pieces of aluminum, cylinders, spark plugs, and super charger blades thrown outwards, upwards, every which way into the air, much further than is comfortable or safe.
Though the next set of explosions occurs almost immediately after, that fraction of a second difference is nevertheless perceptible. The connected engine nacelle, and the explosives inside of the carriage are almost simultaneous, though the nacelle goes first.
The nacelle's explosion is also sharp and high pitched, and the aluminum cover over the engine can be seen flying outwards in the air, bent inwards but most of it in a single piece. It does not explode dryly, but with a delay of a half second, fire erupts upwards and out of the nacelle, delivering a yellow-orange light.
The explosion in the carriage causes the windows to break and explode outwards, then seems to lift the inside of the carriage upwards before it falls, cracking it open then letting it fall in on itself. The sound echoes within it.
The great envelope of the airship recoils as so many pieces of shrapnel from the broken and distant nacelle hit it, then it waves as the carriage is pushed upwards. But finally, and with a second's delay after the first blast, a wave of fire starts from the lowest part of the envelope, moving upwards. It rolls upwards, evidently finding fuel in at least some portion of the gas, until it turns into a great chute of fire moving upwards. The gas does not burn evenly at all but in separate balls within the gas, looking almost like bubbles under the water that rise upwards towards the sky, if these bubbles were rising balls of fire. The fire does not consume the entire destroyer sized envelope, but only the middle portion, even if some - not all, but some - of the gas flickers and flames, as does some of the material of the envelope itself. The great exterior slowly deflates and moves towards the ground, sometimes sustaining a flame and sometimes not.
A few of those who watch, like Blackheel and the engineer, stand still for this display, though even Blackheel flinches at the shrapnel. Several others jump back, or even duck to the ground when small black and silver objects fly through the air at a speed scarcely seen by the eye. Pipette doesn't react at all. There is much flittering and movement of feathers from the griffins, though most of them are beyond line of sight.
[Read more] >>191373>It rolls upwards, evidently finding fuel in at least some portion of the gas"So there was hydrogen in the envelope..." Posey observes
"Do not forget the pictures."
>>191373Hmmm...the fire was definitely not Silver's intention. It's an exceptionally good thing he did
not listen to the ideas to blow it up earlier. Silver stands steadfast in the face of the shrapnel, feeling much like he did a few days earlier at the quarry when he detonated that bomb.
Kira: "EEP!"
The noodle is startled by the explosions, fire, and shrapnel. She has to comfort Hazel the mouse, as no doubt the tiny creature was also startled. "Shh, it's okay Hazel, it's okay."
With the current hazardousness of the location, Silver decides it's probably a good idea to instead take a picture of the airship from a distance. It's probably good enough proof that the engines and radar were destroyed, considering the airship is currently on fire. "Alright, that should do it. Let us depart before fire decides to spread, or before someone comes to investigate."
Silver turns around in the direction Kira indicated the airponies likely are, and begins to lead the party in that direction.
Survival: With the party departing in the likely direction of the missing airponies, Kira takes the opportunity as they travel to see if she can spot any medicinal herbs along the way.
[1d20+11 = (2+11) = 13] [Read more] >>191375We already rolled survival weeks ago, and the result was above 25. You shouldn't need to roll again.
>>191373Cavaliere looks stolidly on from afar, a small satisfied smile gracing his beak.
"That is one thing we don't have to worry about any longer. Let's move quickly. Without anything left to recover, they won't hesitate to shell this area, and we couldn't have given them a better flare marker.">>191375Cavaliere assists if it matters at all.
[1d20+3 = (4+3) = 7] >>191375squeak squeakHazel is
absolutely frightened, trying to bury herself in Kira's fur, then a failed and rather uncomfortable attempt to hide in Kira's left ear, before moving along Kira's back and evidently trying to hide in or under her backpack. Perhaps Kira gets ahold of her first.
Kira herself has reason to be terrified. She didn't exactly intend to make her way all the way to Equestria, just to be killed by a falling piston on a deserted island.
Silver may take a picture from further away, though the fog will limit the maximum distance. There is a gasoline fire on the left engine nacelle, which produces disproportionate light.
Kira finds some grass. Ponies like grass, right?
[Read more] >>191378He gets as close as he well dares to take the picture, which is close enough that the fog isn't obscuring the picture but not so close as to melt the camera and/or his flesh. Also probably best to try to angle the picture away from the glare produced by the gasoline fire.
Kira: "Does the grass here on Equus have medicinal properties? I mean, it
is a land of magic and Harmony. I could whip some up into poultices as we travel."
>>191380Kira rolled a 25+ on Survival to locate the airponies the other week. Are we able to find them now?
>>191380Alright, with that, the party's business in the area
should be concluded. Silver leads the party in the direction of the missing airponies, while Kira slumps down and, for lack of a better term, "drags her tail" along. She really could have used that win.
The party knows where the last set are most likely to be - on the opposite side of the bay, along that long peninsula leading towards the lighthouse. Down the mountain, along the ridge that runs down the middle of the island, then up the string of hills north of the whaling station. At every point, however, the party will be near - not necessarily on, but near - the bay that is the landing spot of the GRU soldiers.
>>191384Win? They burned down the blimp and found the ponies mostly alive. What else is a win?
>>191385The noodle is feeling a bit down due to feeling like she's useless and when she acted useful the creatures viewed her as a pony-eating monster.
The airship continues to burn, providing an orange glow against the mountain. The clouds that for so long have engulfed the mountain finally start to move away, and now as the party descends, looking backwards they can see the naked basalt stones that litter the hillside and tint it grey and black. After not much time, even the airship can be seen.
Then black smoke pops up on the hillside, followed by rumbling that shakes the ground. The GRU have started shelling around the party's former position.
>>191386Mala looks as if he could pet the noodle, but he keeps his distance
>>191387Kira's making it
really hard for Mala to ignore the urge to pet the noodle. If you ignore the snake tail she's just sort of dragging behind her as she slithers forward automatically, he would be convinced that she's just a really sad pony with droopy face and teary eyes and folded ears. Somehow a sad tongue flick feels more heartbreaking than any sad pony he's ever seen in his life.
>>191388Mala looks to either side before advancing ahead and leaving his position in the rear. Kira likely sees him from her periphery advancing on her, though she does not hear him. Then she feels him tentatively, and awkwardly, place a paw on her back and mane, and try to pet her. He has several individual paws, and save for the occasional touch of a claw, the pads of his paws are noticeably softer than the edges of pony hooves.
"Do you uh, want to talk about it, or... wait until there is somewhere more" his eyes dart side to side "private?"
>>191389Kira closes her eyes, and her tongue flicks out again, this time with a bit more vigor. She smiles, and looks over at Mala.
"Thank you. It's fine, I just...feel a bit useless right now." She rubs her shoulder with her other hoof. "This is the first time I've been on a mission like this. I'm not used to it. And, you know...I don't like feeling like I'm a monster..."
Her eyes glance away from the captain as she says this last part.
>>191387>Then black smoke pops up on the hillside, followed by rumbling that shakes the ground. The GRU have started shelling around the party's former position.Posey gives a bit of a smug smirk as she glances back, still walking.
>>191390Seeing that she does not recoil at the touch, Mala pets her more so.
“You don’t get used to it. The uh, the- the other thing. I’ve never been on a mission before either.”
>>191392Kira looks over at Mala with a confused expression on her face. "Huh? You don't seem very monstrous to me. In fact, you seem more like a super friendly pal."
>>191393This elicits a small smile, and he looks into her eyes with brown eyes subtly tinted red and gold.
“I am glad you think so. It uh, hasn’t been like that for much of my life…” looking down and away
>>191394Kira smiles back, even as he looks down and away. "Would you want to talk about it?"
>>191396Kira: "Well, I'm not gonna force you to talk about stuff you don't want to, that would be silly. Unless you're talking about me talking about stuff, then I don't really mind. I like being able to talk about stuff with others, especially others who will listen or understand." She looks forward as she slithers, tilting her head to one side or the other occasionally as she speaks. "I mean, I get why my appearance is off-putting to some. It's just basic biology, most creatures evolved to be fearful of snakes, and us lamias have snake tails and we look perhaps a little similar to creatures like manticores and chimeras and such and those are pretty scary, especially when they're baring down on you in attack mode. But we're not monsters, we're just otherwise normal creatures like everyone else. I just wish others would give me and my race a chance, you know? Get to see the real me underneath these scales. Then they'd see that we're not actually monsters like they keep calling us."
>>191397“Why did that yellow winged-pony say you were trying to eat one of his ponies?” Mala asks
>>191398Kira: "Oh, well, see, Silver recommended that I try to use my appearance to try to spook the possessed ponies in that airship straight like I did with the other pony earlier that I coiled around. Anyways it didn't work so I tried beating down the door so I could get in and subdue them so we could get moving, and also because I assumed the door was locked because if it wasn't then they could have just exited the room at any time and they never did. Well I guess I overdid it a bit because the door kinda...came off it's hinges and flew across the room. It pinned one of the possessed ponies under it and I couldn't come into the room without risking crushing the pony under the door, so in order to subdue the pony who was
not underneath a door I kinda put his head in my mouth and dragged him out to constrict him. I wasn't hurting him, I just needed to make him pass out due to lack of oxygen, and of course I would never in a million years actually try to eat him. It's just easier for us to use our mouths to grab onto others in that instance, you know? There wasn't enough room to get my tail in there and it would have left me exposed, and hooves aren't exactly the greatest grappling instruments in the world. Anyways, the captain saw that and I guess it's not exactly the best introduction to lamias to see one with your pony's head in their mouth and them coiled around tightly."
>>191399“But would you ever?” He asks, evidently hoping the “what” is sufficiently understood as to not need to be said.
>>191400Kira: "Well, no, no. I mean, ponies are friends, not food. Plus, I mean, it would be a little awkward to say yes while in a group full of ponies, even if I did want to. Which I don't! I just want to make sure that's clear, you know? If fact I don't think there's ever been a lamia to eat a pony before. Which
would be a good argument to use to help convince the governor..."
>>191401“Would you want to talk later, away from the ponies?”
>>191402Kira beams a bright smile at Mala. "Sure! I love talking with you, Mala." She reaches over with one of her hooves, and gives Mala some pets on the top and back of his head.
>>191403He presses his lips together, evidently in a scrunch.
“Okay. Okay. Why did you say you felt ‘useless’?”
>>191404Kira's ears, which had perked up during their chat earlier, droop down a little more again. "I can't defeat a monster in a single attack like Silver or Black Heel can, or summon allies to fight for me like Posey. When I met those soldiers I wasn't able to sneak away, which is why me and Cavaliere got so hurt. And just now, I couldn't even find
any medicinal herbs or roots or anything to help with all of the wounded creatures here."
>>191405“But, you succeed or fail as a group. It doesn’t really matter much what you do, just don’t fuck up. Keep your head down and do what you’re told, and be quiet.”
His eyes go wide, ears perk up, and he immediately looks backwards towards the rescued ponies. He can be heard counting under his breath.
>>191406Kira, intrigued on what has Mala so worried, looks back with him.
>>191407Mala extends his paw, counting each one of the rescued ponies and griffins, and making sure each is accounted for.
>>191408Kira joins him, the tip of her tail pointing to each creature as she counts along.
>>191387Cavaliere for his part helps with the movement of the wounded ponies, making sure the entire caravan makes maintains a fast pace away from the danger zone.
He has already consumed a "cure moderate wounds" potion, what should I roll for HP?
>>191410Cure Moderate wounds heals 2d8+CL HP. Potions are brewed at minimum caster level, so it would cure 2d8+3 HP (assuming it was made by a Cleric).
Posey assists as well, in whatever way she can.
>>191412Decent roll. What's your HP at now?
>>191409Six of the lucid Kostroma crew members are in the rear (Blackheel and Star Fire have moved forward, as are the able bodied airship crew, who must each carry a wounded airship crew member, with the help of three more griffins and Kostroma crew. Every single pony and griffin has to engage in the task of pulling the wounded, though some of the possessed ponies are pulled in a train by the engineer.
Mala moves behind them, and tells them “keep moving. Rest later.”
>>191414Could we hook up the train to Monstro to give the engineer a break? It can drag much more than he can carry. It would probably help us move faster.
>>191415Perhaps, though the odds that monster would fly to fast or too high and knock the ponies over is high. The bottom line is that any unconscious pony necessarily has to be carried by other ponies. That requires two able bodied ponies per unconscious one, and they will move at at best half the pace of free, able bodied ponies.
>>19141319
>>191416This group is certainly not combat-ready, especially not if the party members leave the rest to deal with the Fellow Traveler.
Cavaliere states,
"We're sitting ducks out here. I suggest we call an early evacuation for all these ponies and griffons, while we stay behind on the island." >>191417Silver: "Even that carries risk that whatever comes to evacuate them will end up getting shot down by GRU."
>>191416Very well then.
Posey remains on top of Monstro, using her vantage point to scan the horizon for any threats, or any signs of the airponies.
>>191417>19I think you should stick to ranged combat next encounter. Maybe grab a rifle and some javelins, and take advantage of your flight to stay out of reach of most monsters.
>"We're sitting ducks out here. I suggest we call an early evacuation for all these ponies and griffons, while we stay behind on the island.""Our mission is to leave the island with the airponies. The other captives, the GRU and even the Traveller are only secondary priorities to our main mission. We would not be fighting the Traveller if we could simply leave with our Talisman without risking being sunk by the GRU..."
The looks down, through Monstro's ribs at the bomb
"We will need to take care of them first..."
Btw, who has the explosive harpoon? I want to use it on The Traveller, so we can save Monstro's bomb on the GRU ship.
[Read more] >>191385>The party knows where the last set are most likely to be - on the opposite side of the bay, along that long peninsula leading towards the lighthouse. Down the mountain, along the ridge that runs down the middle of the island, then up the string of hills north of the whaling station. At every point, however, the party will be near - not necessarily on, but near - the bay that is the landing spot of the GRU soldiers.How long would it take is to get there, at our current rate?
>>191420It isn’t a quick journey. 20 or even more minutes. The double danger is that the GRU will escape their beachhead, or that the airship ponies will be overrun.
>>191421Then I guess we had better hurry.
Are we able to make it there?
>>191421>>191422Are there any checks you want us to make to get there or something?
>>191418"Yes... That really complicates our extraction plans in general... I suppose we will have to neutralize the GRU as soon as we take care of The Traveller..."
The radio turns on. There is static. It is loud at first, but then smooths out, until the channel is clear and almost non-existent. Then there is a voice. The voice is accented, but not to Severyana. In fact, it's likely a native ponish speaker. The voice is relatively deep and draws his words out, slowly and deliberately.
"Hello there, my fellow creatures. I gather you have some hesitance towards what our future can be?"
A pause, and
"Come on, I know you can hear me."
>>191436Silver blinks. Kira blinks. Both look down at the radio that has just started speaking to the party. Kira eventually grabs it and starts speaking into it, though interestingly enough she seems to have forgotten to actually press the thing to transmit so she just speaks to the radio itself. "Hey, who gave you permission to possess our radio!"
>>191437A small laugh,
"Hmm hmm"
After the pause,
"You don't wait for an invitation to extend a helping claw, do you? No, I don't think you do. You wouldn't wait to help a stranger injured by a cart on the street, to pull up elderly who has fallen, or to give a loaf of bread to a hungry chick. Nor shall I, when I can tell you're in need. Tell me, what is the source of the hesitation?"
>>191437"Do not engage with it. It could be memetic." Posey hisses in a hushed tone
>>191438Posey wordlessly brandishes a small silver object and attempts a Turning check to exorcise the object
[1d20+8 = (12+8) = 20](No idea if this would work, but I have like 9 uses of Rebuke Undead today, so I may as well try)
>>191439"
kssshk"
The radio produces static for a few seconds. There is another small laugh.
"You must have learned such mistrust over a lifetime, haven't you? That's alright. It's never too late to learn and to develop."
>>191440Posey scowls as she magically boops the off switch on the radio
>>191439>>191440>>191441Kira looks down at the radio. "I mean, he turned it on remotely. Why wouldn't he be able to turn it back on again?"
>>191442"Shush!" Posey hisses
At this point, she looks for the power supply to the radio, intent on extracting the battery.
>>191444Can I do that without damaging the radio?
>>191446Then she does so, placing the battery in her satchel pocket.
>>191446>>191447Silver: "Well...I suppose we are down one radio, then."
"I did not expect it to be able to infest the radio. It appears as though it is not only limited to the minds of living creatures. I originally thought its influence was telepathic, but it may be memetic..." Posey mutters, clearly more nervous than before
>>191448"Be ready to engage incoming hostiles. It likely knows where we are now, and it is taunting us." She says, drawing her sword
>>191449Kira: "What's 'memetic'?
Regardless, Kira tries to see if she can sense the static-y feeling that usually accompanies summoned monsters.
>>191450"An idea or concept capable of spreading itself, sometimes manifesting as information hazardous when perceived." Posey replies
>>191451Posey levitates Cavalier the battery
"I took what precautions I deemed necessary in the moment against what may have been a psychic attack from a yet-unknown entity. If that is a risk you are willing to take, I will not stop you from trying to contact it again, on your own terms." she says
>realizes obvious plot hook
"... I may have overreacted..." Posey says, her ears drooping a bit
>>191452Cavaliere reinserts the battery and turns the battery back on, before pressing the microphone button and speaking into it.
"Hello. If you can hear me, identify yourself." >>191454The radio comes on to much static, which then dies down.
"Testing testing. Can you hear me?" It's the same voice. He doesn't wait for a reply.
"Ah, you're back. Yes, I think you know who this is. We're still doing names, are we? For now at least. Very well. This is Science Officer Light Water." A short pause. "To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"