Looking at Demetrius, Seba knew he was angry. Which could turn out to be dangerous. Looking at Vedran, she glanced down at the bottle of vodka and realized the source of his annoyance. "Unfortunately, I doubt cursing the name of Sanguaria will answer your question. Though.." She said with a sigh and partial glare, "I may have some in my room. I better get it back refilled." She said as she pulled out a key, tossing it to him. "Touch anything other than it and you die."

Turning her attention to Lepper, she just shook her head. "You're going to get us killed if you don't start listening to us about the anomalies."

Demetrius caught the keys with a nod, thanked Seba in Dessarian before starting off down the hall, becoming a battering-ram with legs to anyone coming the other way.
Once he reached Seba's room, he placed the key in the lock and twisted it until it opened, before stepping in and soon finding the booze.

Grabbing it, he slung it under his arm, left, locked her door, before pulling the cork out of the top, spat it into his hand, and then placed it in his pocket, before taking a heavy swig of the heavily brewed Vodka.
For international trading rules, the bottle proclaimed:


Soon making it back to the bridge, Demetrius barely noticed the other crew, the world having shrunk down to him, and Seba's bottle of Vodka - a world that was becoming blurrier and less focused by the minute.
All the flying, being thrown around, bleeding his own blood and speaking the bloody Arcand language had put Demetrius in a bad mood; but the Vodka had made it all better - or was making it better, at least. Being homesick didn't help, either. The complexity of life outside of Dessaria was like astrophysics from the perspective of a man employed to break rocks.
The Biggest stick gets the steak law of Dessaria was easy to follow and easily upheld, everyone was cheery as long as you didn't frown too much or smile too widely, or stare too often, or avoid their gaze too much... It was simple, slow-paced, fuelled by booze, bullets and beatings, and seemed so much more civilised than Gaia; in Gaia, the only people who could beat anyone up, was the people getting paid more than everyone else, and everyone else just had to be beaten, and get paid less for the privilege... The people doing the beating often beat them to death, too.

At least in Dessaria you could beat up who you liked - but had to stick the consequence's - no one beat to kill you, simply to teach you a lesson, and if anyone wanted you dead, you spent a week in a siege with your best mates and stockpiles of ammunition. In Dessaria, you got a chance.

He frowned, staring at his Commissar. "Look, I've been from one side of the world to the other, I've seen a lot of strange stuff. But there isn't anything that'll make me believe those storms have a mind of their own." He looked out the window, then to the helmsman, who had bandages all over his forehead. "Keep the ship steady, we should arrive in Norune in about an hour or so."

He was as stubborn as they come, and Aekeans were already well-renown for their stubborn behavior. He excused himself, wincing as his arm ached a bit while he swung it some as he strode on out of the bridge, sliding along the wall to avoid bumping into the mercenary already on his way in. He didn't want to deal with ancient Dessarian superstitions at this point in the trip, especially when his ship was getting roughed up by a storm.

"Oh great, it's you..." He frowned a bit, somewhat angry hearing the cannibal's voice over the phone. "Listen you, we got dead and wounded here. #2 engine exploded, and the forward generator went up a while ago. Now just because there was dead here doesn't mean you can come over here and start picking out prime cuts like it's some butcher shop of the damned." He sighed a bit, looking out the window. "So, what, you comin' over to help or what?"

"If I can find somebody to grab the phone, I can try. Adamani wants me to keep a line of communication open." Te'j looked about, and turned his head away from the receiver.

"Is anybody up here?" he yelled out.

The cannibal turned back to the phone. "Guess nobody's up on the top deck with me. But what exactly do you need help with?"

Vedran just shook his head to the insanity around him and sat on the floor against one of the busted consoles before he took a swig from his bottle. He normally would have given Demetrius some of his Vodka if he'd asked, but he seemed more intent on glaring Vedran into submission than being civilized. So Vedran just sat there and watched him walk off. He waited until after he was sure Demetrius was out of earshot before tuning his head toward Seba and asking, "What's with tall, dark, an' moody? He always look like he's gonna tear your arm off an' beat'cha with it?"

He turned his head away and looked out a porthole at the storm. "And what're we going to do about this storm? It'd be suicide to stay at this altitude, but the captain wouldn't be happy if we went over his head...", he added in Dessarian.

"Eh, Demetrius is just cranky because he got his hand cut up and got tossed around a bit. He's getting antsy about landing; something about wanting to grab some cargo from over the border. He'll be fine when he's plastered and can't remember what he was fussing about.. And probably lose my keys in the process." Seba said nonchalantly.

Looking at Lepper, she then focused her gaze on Vedran. "We will be fine for now at this altitude, the present threat of the storm has passed. However, on our way back, that will be a different matter. If he continues being bull-headed I may have to step in." Seba said in Dessarian. Lepper wan't an idiot, but he sure as hell was acting like one; Seba wasn't going to let the ships and their crews be destroyed.

"Seba!" Demetrius barked from a corner, holding up his bottle. "Your unlocky-things! Someone took them." He said. "I don't think I have unlocky-things anymore." He took another swing from the Dessarian Vodka which was quickly disappearing, and nodded a little. "I- I'll, dedicate life to finding culprit." He said, holding his hand over the wrong side of his chest, "Someone's, anyway." He added, before pointing a finger at a random work-hand, who blinked worriedly. "Maybe his!"

Snickering to himself as the work-hand scurried off to find Seba's keys - which were probably in the last place he took his fingers off them - Demetrius ran his good hand down the window-pane, the skin against glass producing a squeak. His damaged hand still throbbed, but that was all the more incentive to grip the bottle tighter with it.

Demetrius didn't want to be so plastered he couldn't function; just enough that he could function at a bare-minimum requirement; at least until they reached the ground.
"There's a port, that I have heard 'uv... That sells booze and guns and real cheap love... The bastards are many, the bar's got no chairs, And every dodgey-dealer tryin' to sell you his wares..." Demetrius muttered under his breath in a sing-song kind of way, staring into the distance with a faint lop-sided grin.
"An' then there's the bouncers, who bigger than me, but you can still fight 'em, and fight'em for free, and if you win they dun' drag you away... They will give you his hat, and some of his pay,"

Vedran closed his eyes and briefly pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand. "Spoken like a true psychopath... So, Demetrius, is it? I haven't seen ya around before... When'd ya join the foxes, eh?", he said and took another sip of vodka.

((I sorta hate back and forth conversations, such short posts!))

Demetrius looked over, and gave a shrug, in reply to mostly everything, before his mouth engaged.
"It is." He replied, before pausing, and continuing, "I never really Joined Foxes. I was employed by Captain not too long ago." He replied with a nod. "I'm... Mercenary." He added.

"What about you?" He asked, "When did you decide to join, Foxes?"
Half-heartedly picking up the binoculars, he stared out of the window via the magnified lenses, and huffed. The city was closing in now - rather quickly; the movement of people was visible along its boarders, and the moving of vehicles could be seen unaided by the binoculars.
"How close we trying to get to the City?" He asked, "We look to be very close already."

Taking the binoculars from Demetrius, Seba looked out of them for a few moments before handing them back, then turning to the pilots. "Head for the western outer limits of the main city; there are strips there for landing airplanes and docking areas for larger airships. With the condition the Ruby's in, that's the best place for her at this point while we're here. Our ETA is less than ten minutes at this point; we should get it over the intercom.. And if we can let the flight strip know that'd be good too."

The ship began to lurch towards the west as the flight crew tried to get a comm down to the boys at the air strip. The radio crackled to life as the two radiomen argued with each other over the airwaves.

Lep, on the other hand, was busy elsewhere, staring out the window for a bit, taking another drink from the shot glass. His throat burned, his head shaking as he looked down at the shot glass, then at the barkeep on the ship. "The hell is this, mouthwash?"

"Mostly... Turpentine, mouthwash, rubbing alcohol, some airline fuel... mango juice for flavor."

"The hell happened to your liquor budget!?"

The barkeep shrugged. "Spent it on a keg of pickles... I'll pick up drink when we land."

Lep shook his head, getting up to head back to the bridge, stepping in and looking over at Seba. "What's the situation?"

"We're landing." Seba said shortly without looking at the captain. They were over the designated landing area now, and fortunately the ship's communications had been able to get through to that of the Norune landing strip; who had men go out to them and manually help bring the ship in smoothly.

It had seemed like forever; nearly like they weren't going to make it, but they had landed. Shortly after the Ruby landed, the Sky did as well. With a sigh, Seba looked at Lepper. "Well, we made it." She said, walking slowly over to the captain and looking at the drink he was carrying. "... Is that a Hell's Angel? It's supposed to be pomegranate juice, not mango."

Demetrius sighed quietly as they started to land, watching the ground close in. "I going to need to borrow set of wheels... Otherwise I'll take walk towards Dessaria... Or rent lift, or something..." He muttered, eying the roof as he thought about his options. Finishing off the bottle of Vodka, he placed it on the side, and grinned, "And bottle of Vodka for Seba..."

Nobby "Knobs" Nobbs scratched his scalp with a dirty hand - dust falling from his hair - before staring up at the member of the ground-crew with eight-year-old eyes. "I'll give ya' two buttons, seven pennies and half a hot-dog for y'spanner!" He bargained, as he had been for the last seventeen minutes. Nobby always cut a bargain; he just always tried to make sure the bargain was on his end. "And... Some chewed gum?" He added, sounding hopeful.

There had been no reply sent by the Ruby since manual signals had started, it was a long shot that the message from Te'j on the top deck would reach the bridge of the Ruby. But as they had steering back, probably allowing for the drag or lack of power from the blown engine, Allestrial relaxed for the moment.

Following the larger airship in, it was relatively easy in comparison to bring her own airship in for landing. One of the smaller airship docks making way as the Sky maneuvered in under the large sail like roof. They maintained radio contact with the ground, also in part watching the Ruby in case something went wrong. Allestrial had already called upon her medical staff to prepare to board the Ruby and assist once landed. And many of the mechanics had offered to lend a hand as well in getting the mother airship up and running again.

They threw out the landing lines, and fastened the magnetic holding feet to the dock. This stopped them getting 'let adrift' without at least someone on the Sky playing a part. The cargo bay doors were dropped down, the ramp falling onto the concrete dock. And soon, about six jeeps drove out of airships hold before circling around and pulling up outside.

Cargo to be delivered was unpacked using the crane on board, and about twenty medics and ten well trained mechanics and electricians joined the jeeps before getting taken over to the Ruby. Allestrial had moved down to her quarters, collecting a shoulder bag, jacket, hat and belted hip holster for her sidearm. She wasn't one to use it every heated argument, but it was there for the world to see as a warning if she desired.

Within ten minutes of landing she walked down the docks before jumping in the last jeep that had waited, before it backed out and drove over to the large airship dock that was housing the Ruby. Arriving where the other jeeps had pulled up.

Demetrius soon followed the general swathe of exiting people - a general bubble of space allowed for the Dessarian who now stunk of blood, booze and was carrying the PPSh-41 in his hands in almost a loving, but battle-ready cradle - and soon he stepped off the end of the ramp and onto solid ground. Taking a deep breath of air and giving a grin, Demetrius stamped the ground with his heel two or three times. "Good solid ground." He chuckled, before looking around. There where vehicles about to... Borrow for his use. He'd probably return it afterwards; what in condition was a different matter...

Turning, Demetrius sat down on the ground cross-legged, and watched the ramp. He had ideas for a few people to go along with him; if they didn't want to, he'd go by himself. Looking around, he noticed the urchin, whose Mark - the member of ground-crew - was reluctantly handing him a rather clean spanner for seven pennies, a paper-clip and some chewed gum. Smiling faintly, he watched still as the Urchin traded the clean spanner for two rusty spanners from a second member of ground-crew. Sighing quietly, Demetrius checked that the drum-magazine was in place, before pulling back the charging bar.

Talking to and then paying off the concourse guards, the safety and contents of the Sky and Ruby were assured; Seba wasn't taking chances with crew hands that decided to skimp off on their shifts. Even if they didn't slack off, having the guards on their side could be a potential asset.

Walking farther away from the ships, she put her arms up in a stretch, a small smile apparent as her eyes were squinted shut; happy not only to be out of that death-ship, but to be on home soil as well. Spotting the Urchin, she shook her head with a grin. "Welcome to Norune.." she thought to herself.

Demetrius looked up at Seba as she stepped out of the ship from his position on the ground, and smiled. "So, Seba." He began, in Dessarian, "How would you feel about taking a trip into Dessaria? Don't suppose you've been in a while?" He said with a faint smile. He opened his mouth to speak again, before being cut off by someone else.

Nobby made his way up to Seba, before staring up at her with an eight-year-old's staring grin. "Hey, Miss!" He said loudly, waving his arms up at her, before holding out a grubby tin, with knick-knacks and pennies in the bottom. "A penny f'your thoughts?" He asked with a wide grin. "Two pennies is good lucks!" He added with a nod, trying to hold the tin higher in the air. "'though, if y'ain't got pennies on yah, I reckons I can do you a deal!"

Raising an inquisitorial eyebrow at the street urchin, Seba turned to him. "Aren't you supposed to be in school? You make much more money from going through the language schools or a trade program than peddling the streets like a common plague-ridden ship rat."

Frowning and returning the conversation to Demetrius in hopes that the urchin would leave if given no more attention; she switched to Dessarian. "Dessaria, eh? I haven't there in years. It'd be a welcome vacation away from all of this... mess." Seba said, making a gesture to the ships. "How long would we be gone?"

Lepper walked towards the boarding ramp, seeing the small congregation forming up, as well as a little ragged looking street urchin running about. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he looked at the two Dessarians. "Alright, listen up you two. We're probably gonna be stuck here for about a week to be able to repair what's been blown up on the way over. I don't want any trouble from you two, and YOU!" He pointed over to the merc. "Please don't try to brew anything out of the Bofor barrels again, alright?"

"Mac, forget it. I think we're sending help." Te'j looked over the railing at the ground below, watching the medics and electricians move toward the Ruby, stretching the phone cord a bit longer than it was designed to. The cannibal felt a snap as it whipped him in the back of his head, knocking his hat entirely off the ship.

"I'm just going to go now," Te'j spoke to the useless handset, watching his fedora drift on the wind and rubbing his neck. "I think I need a new hat." Slamming the broken phone back on the receiver, the cannibal ran for the elevator. Only after quickly stopping by his room to pick up a few things, he continued descending to the bottom floor.

So this is Norune... thought the cannibal as he dashed down the landing ramp. His eyes widened as he stared out across what seemed like a never-ending bazaar. Readjusting the Thompson on his back, he headed for the Ruby. I'm not seeing this without Vedran, though.

((I think you were referring to the Ruby each time you said the Sky in your post Te'j))

The medical crew and detachment of mechanics from the Burning Sky briskly made their way past the gathering group outside of the Ruby. They would report to the Lead Medic and Lead Mechanic on board, at least until something presented itself elsewhere. Allestrial strode over to everyone else before examining the bulk of the Ruby. She was a big airship, no wonder it's engines were under more stress, or needing more maintenance. "Captain, do you have more specific reasons as to why we are here?" she asked, speaking the Arcand language roughly. Her eyes on Lepper now as she stood back a little, not including herself beside the others. "And how would you like the Sky Knights to assemble."

For the majority of the year, the Sky Knights were a consistant addition to the Burning Sky's crew. Only occasionally was she without them, currently there was a medium sized detachment of Sky Knights for defense and boarding parties.

Demetrius shrugged a little in reply to Seba's question, and stared at the sky in thought for a few moments. "Maybe... A few hours, if we're quick; and I tend to hurry there." He replied with a faint smile. "We can borrow one of the vehicles to get there, and it can be driven back afterwards - either by you or someone else." He added with a nod. He was still sat, cross-legged on the floor, the PPSh in his lap; he didn't tend to stand until they were going to move, and they were still discussing it for now.

"On returning, anyone here can catch the convoy, and get lift into Norune." He said in Arcand. "So, if anyone wants to stay in ship until then, you're welcome the lift." He said with a smile. "Of course, anyone who helps, I am allowed to give up to 10% of earnings to outside assistance." He said with a laugh. "Ten percent of one-hundred-and-twenty-five 80-oz Dessarian Notes equals what?" He asked with a smirk.

Nobby blinked at Seba's reply, and huffed. "I ain't doin' that badly!" He replied in argument, before adding with a frown, "And in any-cases, the teachers is scary; and, I can't find'em..." He frowned.

The docking area seemed to be getting more crowded by the moment, and as it did, got louder and more rowdy - but, in a somehow, chaotically-orderly fashion.

"... yeah, that figures..." Mac looked at the phone giving a dial tone, then hung up, shaking his head. His feet slowly dragged along the floor as he moved towards the medical bay, seeing several of the staff still busying themselves with the wounded. "Alright, listen up, we're here in Norune. I need one of you guys to send a team out to get a replenish amount of medical supplies. How's Medic?"

"She's fine, Sir. Still in medical bay where you left her."

"Great. I'm going in to check on her then." Mac moved on, heading to Medic's room, opening the door and picking up the clipboard, looking it over. "Mornin', sleepyhead. Glad to see you still alive another day. How was your nap? Me? Oh, I didn't sleep a wink. Too busy stitching people back together..."

"A week, huh? That gives everyone more than enough time to cause plenty of havoc." She said to Lepper. "They're paying their own bails though; I'm not spotting anyone like I did last time. Yourself included. And.. What do you mean by "from you two"? You can't trust Demetrius and I or something; this coming from an Aekean? Sheesh..." With an amused eye roll, Seba then looked over to Demetrius with a wide Dessarian grin; nodding. "Count me in, when do we leave?"

Looking down at Nobby, Seba crossed her arms. "Your Arcand could use a bit of work still; unless you're at the point where all the languages are jumbled together in your head and you haven't made sense of them yet... Regardless, it still needs work. And if you can't find your teacher, may I suggest a map?"