The Scary Lady(Rk, Lynx)

[RK]

Cairn's body was certainly not well adapted to this brutal cold of the "north blue". His home was always so warm, like a permanent blanket wrapped around you. Even nights were quite warm, but one could always feel a nice breeze running through the night air. The beast man was no longer there though, for he was now at a new island. One with trees made of a strange kind of wood, and paths of rock. This outcome was fine anyway, new lands were all his to conquer even if he wasn't as strong as he believed himself to be. The beast man climbed up onto a tree protruding from the stone pathway, it was flat and had many smaller trees underneath it. Cairn assumed his raft would be fine there, the current pushed him here anyway, it most likely wont go anywhere. The Azure King sniffed around, it was difficult to make out scents on this cold air, his nostrils were mostly filled with a chilling sensation, though there was one thing that he could distinguish, the smell of ripe fruit!

Cairn didn't usually walk upright, his normal stance was close to the ground, supporting his body with his arms. However, this smell, it brought his stance upwards, and caused him to walk on his hind legs towards it. It was so sweet, sweeter than anything he had ever smelled before back home. Cairn ignored the many stares of bystanders, who seemed to be quite taken aback by his strange attire and gleaming azure blue hair. Cairn didn't know many words, so his understanding of speech was very segmented. Many of the people whispering things about him, he didn't quite understand. However, he didn't really care, his focus was on this sweet smelling fruit. The pathways of this strange place were quite dark, though some light did seep in from these strange trees. The ground was very smooth, and though he was stepping on rocks, they didn't hurt like normal rocks would. How bizarre. The source of the smell appeared to be coming from a hole in this particular tree. Cairn couldn't see any fruit, which was odd, because he could clearly smell it, as if it was right here in front of him.

It took the bestial bird-man a moment to realize that it was in fact right in front of him! It appeared as though this strange thing, was indeed a fruit. Cairn looked it up an down, it appeared to be mostly brownish on the top and the sides. However the bottom was gray, and very hard! What an odd fruit. Cairn went to grab at the fruit, however, a lady rushed over to the hole in the wall and smacked hand away. "No no dearie! This peach pie is much too hot! You'll burn your tongue." The woman, middle aged, with bright blonde hair, was holding a strange metal tool in her hand. It was a hole in the ground attached to a stick? What could that possibly be used for? Cairn got visibly flustered and motioned his hands towards the pie. "F-Fruit?" Cairn's voice was extremely unrefined, and very 'grunty'. The woman appeared to shake her head, a foreign gesture to Cairn. She then spoke again.

"No no dearie. This is a pie!" She said confidently as she placed her hands on her hips. Cairn's face struck a mold of confusion. "This is pie?" Cairn's voice came back out, but talking was still strange to him. The beast man began trotting away slowly. "P-Pie? What is Pie?" Cairn's grumpy voice seemed to take a very innocent turn as he tried to comprehend the gravity of the situation. Why shove fruit into a pile of dirt? Then the fruit gets dirty! Cairn wasn't having a very good time adapting to these strange animals. He may look like them, but he wasn't one of them. The wildman, desperate for some time to contemplate, climbed up a nearby "tree" to the very top.

The top of this tree, it wasn't wood...it was hard and cold, like rocks but...different. Cairn was so confused, why was the world so strange. He never envisioned everything to be so...backwards. This was the reality of the situation however, and if he was going to become King of all Beasts, then he would have to do as beasts do, and adapt. As Cairn looked off at the sea, he felt a bit homesick, however, his attitude quickly changed as he noticed a small bird perch itself on the same "tree" as him. A beautiful green bird. Cairn's attitude sprung back to life. This bird was more his speed. "Me king of you." Cairn spoke gleefully, and transformed into his full kakapo form. He was still significantly larger than this other bird, but seemed to have caught its attention. Cairn, as a Kakapo, waddled towards the other bird. He let out a low cooing sound, to signify dominance. This bird would be the first to know that its king was Cairn Lazarus. Cairn's cooing sound grew louder, and could be heard several yards away. Many other birds seemed to turn to face Cairn, curious at his display.

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 1011

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

There simply had to be somewhere on this frozen pile of rock where she could acquire what they needed for their onwards journey. They had arrived a day or two ago, and already been out and about, taking care of business, but the list of required materials that they still required was still rather long. Standing there, admist the streets of the Frost Kingdom, was none other than the head of the Dusk Pirates, Captain Amelia LeSorange Delacreux. Since the first little trip she had taken out onto this island had been extremely cold, the girl had decided to abandon her notion of wearing flirtatious and challenging clothes, to instead don a coat of rabbit fur. It was fluffy, soft and most importantly, warm. The girls darkbrown hair was being toyed with by the gentle northern wind, and several rose-petals were dragged away as she walked forwards. Peering at the list of items she required, she was trying to remember exactly why they needed everything on it, and wheter there was something which she could simply leave behind.
1: Wood for restructuring. This was an absolute neccesity. There were several things about the Gehenas which was unneccesarily clunky. Additionally, she needed certain rooms to be slightly modified, so that they would encompass her needs better. Marking this with a little cross, it signified the high importance of it.
2: Spices, fruits and meat. It wasn't something that she figured would be hard to barter, rather she was extremely picky when it came to the quality of the wares. When out and about, having better ingredients ensured health and prosperity amongst a crew. Additionally, many food items could have additional uses for someone with medical knowledge. Lemons would always hold more properties than simple seasoning. This too was marked with a small cross.
Looking at the remainder of the list, there was quite a few things on there. Metals, tools, bandages and the like. These were things that in the long run would be important, and something that they'd certainly need before heading out into the Grand Line, but when travelling from island to island in an attempt to get the best prices and wares, it certainly wasn't neccesary. Thus, the note was cut short. The woodworking was something she didn't have much experience with, so that task had been left with the crew members who would be restructuring the Gehenas. Food likewise wasn't her strongest suit, mostly because she wasn't much of a cook, but picking out ingredients was going to be just fine.

Thus, she walked around to the different stores, speaking casually and calmly with the shopkeepers, making bargains and buying in bulk, requesting that they would deliver the resources by the docks. While walking around in a very bland attire compared to her normal, and without her otherwise offensive and go-getter attitude, she was blending in almost seamlessly amongst the background. That is, right until she noticed a rather strange being climbing around, behaving like an absolute monkey. Narrowing her eyes, curious as she was, she decided to get a little closer so that she could witness his behaviour. The more she heard him speak, the more she watched him more, the more certain she became that he was an uncivillised, ignorant, monkey-raised buffoon. Grimacing, she was almost certain that he would smell..? No, stink, the part, too.
Deciding that this creature wouldn't be worth her time, she turned around to leave the area, when a transformation took place. Amy wasn't much in touch with her inner spirit animal, nor did the different breeds of birds mean much to her, so while she couldn't conclude definitely what breed he was, it wasn't hard for her to deduce that this was the powers of a Zoan. An infant zoan compared to her own, but a zoan none the less. A Zoan who claimed to be king.

The air around her had changed completely. Now, instead of seeming like a calm, collected tourist simply out there to shop, she instead had the pressence of a tiger stalking its prey. Walking up underneath him, she looked up. There was a sharpness, wildness in her eyes as she addressed him. "Bird man. Come down here. I would talk to you." It was spoken very directly, in simplified words, with small gestures where she pointed to him, before pointing to the ground besides her, signifying with body language exactly what she wanted him to do. Crossing her arms and taking a relaxed pose, she would show some amount of patience, though it wouldn't be much. Afterall, Amy wasn't known to be patient.

[RK]

Bird...man? Cairn was no Bird Man, he was clearly a bird at the current moment. A tubby, fluffy, green bird. Though, perhaps this lady who was addressing him had seen him before, when he was walking around this area as a person...why was she following him? Cairn took a moment to peek down at the woman. He was quite impressed at the furs she was wearing, such a hide was surely not an easy catch. Commendable at least. The fully Kakapo Cairn turned to face his bird brethren and squawked a few times. It was time for him to depart, but surely they would sing for all eternity of the mighty Azure King.

If looking from the perspective of the woman, one would see a big fat bird jump from the top of the building it was resting atop, and spread its wings to slow its descent. Though it was a silly sight, it was effective, and that's all that mattered in the animal kingdom. No matter how silly it is, if it helps you survive, take full advantage of it. Cairn was no stranger to taking advantage of the tools he had been given.

Cairn was now in front of this girl, and to the simple beast man...she was...scary. Cairn was afraid of nothing, he was fearless, his home trained him to face everything with courage. However, nothing could prepare him for the pressure that this woman emitted from her very soul. Her gaze cause the bird to quake in its stubby legs, and for a moment, Cairn forgot he was human. He felt like a helpless little bird before the barrel of the hunter's gun.

This would have to change however, and gathering his courage, Cairn returned to his normal human form. He scratched at his head of azure blue hair, his most defining feature. He adjusted his pants and tightened the many ropes adorning his body. Though she was nearly a whole foot shorter than him, she carried herself with an unwavering and insurmountable sense of confidence. Something that could either amount to incredible stupidity...or a royal disposition. "I...Cairn...you...is?" Cairn's voice emerged again, it didn't embarrass him too much, as talking was still very new to him, though his infantile speech patterns were quite a lot to take in, especially when his voice sounded so intensely bestial and uncivilized.

Cairn took another moment to analyze this girl again. She was short, and had the most interesting eyes, a rather odd shade of violet. Cairn was not aware that normal people could have such eyes. Cairn looked at the furs again, they seemed to be quite warm, and were surely keeping this lady warm. While he could also feel the chilling winds this island offered to him, they certainly gave him quite an amount of discomfort. He wasn't about to take the furs from this woman however, she had caught them herself, such thievery was unbecoming of both a king and a beast of his caliber. "You...strong...catch...animal?" Cairn's words were strange, but surely she would be able to understand what he meant. After all, even Cairn sometimes had difficulty finding the right word for a situation. His understanding of language was still very minimal, and he even still thought in his mind with images, instead of projecting a voice into his head.

Aside from just plain looks, she also smelled very nice, however, Cairn could not quite decipher why or how she smelled like this. It was almost as if she was made of sweet smelling fruits. What a strange creature. Cairn didn't exactly know what to do with her, he was mostly just trying to find his way around this place, but maybe she could help him with that.

"You...help...me?"

[Blaka]

Aaah, there she was!

Turning the corner, Kulira had finally found her Captain again. Shortly after the fairy woman had left this morning, the musician had awoken, been told Amy had gone out to get supplies and subsequently deduces this to be yet another test of her faith. Of course, Miss Delacreux was expecting her crew to realise what the job of a leader was - and what wasn't. For example, getting groceries very much was not something she should be required to do. So, Lila had taken it upon herself to personally assign a couple of the crewmembers, then go look for the Captain herself so that they wouldn't buy things twice. Thankfully it was still early in the morning, so there was no townsfolk running about like usual. Which meant there was no chance of missing the brunette in the crowd.

Since their time in the Frostpark a few days back, Chete had found time in between to get some clothes she actually liked to wear instead of the pink garbage she had stolen due to lack of time. Her new winter clothing consisted of cream-coloured turtle neck jumpers, thick dark red gloves, her usual mouse gray fur boots and the only thing left from her previous outfit: Padded white pants. On top of it all she had thrown her pitchblack hooded cloak, needed for her role as Amelia's intimidating preacher. Her pale face was barely noticeable under the hood.

Apparently, Amy was talking to some stranger, unlikely to be of any importance to her, nor interesting to the cyborg. Thus, Cheteria fastened her pace and hurried over to her, yelling:
"Captain Amelia! I've been looking for you!" Shortly afterward, she was standing next to the fairy lass. Looking down at the half naked guy in front of them, she scoffed.
"Get out of here, fool. You aren't worth her time."

Once Cairn had scurried off and Chete could have her goddess' full attention, she collected her thoughts before coming out with what she wanted to say. This was always the hardest part when talking to the Dusk Pirate's head: According to Cheteria's own beliefs, any thought she had was immediately accessible to her dialogue partner through some sort of mind reading ability that she had displayed on several occasions. Since the other woman knew every point Kulira was about to make already by default, it was all about the right wording.

In this case, the point she wanted to make was that she was desperately in need for help. She had made a huge mistake and needed to correct it. Right before there venture into Frost Park, Miss Akuvutika had had a tense phone call with a certain Marine Lieutnant Megoszul. This Megoszul person was part of a vast criminal network, making money off of kidnapping people and selling them to the highest bidder. And Chete wanted in on that. Luckily, at the time of the phone call, there had been one of Megoszul's associates at the cyborg's mercy, who was nice enough to provide enough information to allow Chete a deal with the Marine officer: In exchange for 20 kidnapped people, the Dusk Pirates would be allowed to meet with the network and discuss further business deals. Easy as cake, it had seemed... However, Lila had quickly realised that, due to the city guard, one had to be really careful when and how to strike. Just picking people randomly off the streets was impossible. Through hard work over the last 12 days, she had just barely managed to catch 10 people and lock them away in the holding cells of the Gehena.

"First, I wanted to tell you that all the shopping is taken care of, it is not something you should have to concern yourself with!" Hopefully, this was not taken as a simple attempt at leniency when it came to her actual concern.
"Then I wanted to ask for advise."
Here goes.
"Surely you remember the deal with the slavers I told you about. I have gathered only 10 subjects by now and the deal is tomorrow morning. Where am I supposed to get the same amount of people within a day that I needed almost two weeks for!?" Her voice was getting shaky, afraid that she was perhaps asking more than was appropriate. "They said if we don't honour the deal, they are going to take us instead. Please Captain, I need your help!"

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 861

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

Inspecting the bird-man curiously, the girl was flaunting her pressence for no other reason than being capable of doing so. The way she was staring him down, there could be absolutely no question about which one of them was more dominating. The gibberish he was speaking had her shaking her head. Of course she wasn't going to help him. No, she was going to enslave him and make him do her bidding. Someone of such strength and size could possibly be used to carry around a chair in which she could sit, so she wouldn't have to perform the ardous task of walking around on her own legs. Afterall, such excercise was needless and tiresome. Just as she was about to lecture the other about their position in life, she heard a familiar voice. A voice that had Amelia completely sink her pressence, as the staring instead turned into inquisition and curiousness. As Cheteria decided to shoo off the other, Amy looked after the bird-man as he simply removed himself from her pressence. One thing was certain, if Cheteria was enough to make the other persona cower with his tail (or feathers?) between his legs, then there was nothing interesting about it for Amelia.
"I suppose you're right. This was in fact a rather boring encounter." Amy scoffed, kicking a small stone away before taking a few steps with Cheteria. The other must've clearly had some reason to come seek her out so openly. It was rare that the crew dared interrupt whatever Amy was doing, and they had been instructed that if their interruptions were pointless, meaningless or otherwise displeasing, then they would be punished accordingly.
"This has better be important, Cheteria-chan. You know how I hate being interrupted." With a stern gaze, Amy leaned against a wall, crossing her arms while finding a decent position to simply rest in. Listening to the first that Cheteria had to say, Amy's eyes narrowed. It was clear what the captain was thinking. You're telling me this to lessen the blow from some seriously bad news, aren't you? The girls left index finger was slowly raised and dropped, tapping against her right arm, like a ticking clock, displaying exactly how little tolerance that the captain had left for nonsense on this day. Cheteria must've felt it too, for it didn't take her many moments to get onto the core of their meeting.

"They said if we don't honour the deal, they are going to take us instead. Please Captain, I need your help!"
Tilting her head forwards, the fairy's hair was creating a shadow over her face, so that Cheteria could not properly see her eyes or her lips. Wheter there was a demonic grin or a worried gaze, the shadows wouldn't reveal. All that came from this darkness was the girls voice. However, the tone used was unlike anything that Cheteria had ever heard before. Even when Amelia had been openly furious, her voice had not held this much intent to harm or kill. "I believe I told you what would happen to you if you were incapable of managing these slave affairs by yourself." Slowly, the captain raised an arm to point directly at Cheteria, as if it was a loaded gun, capable of killing the other without so much as a second thought. "..You've gotten the full crew involved into matters over your own ambition." Raising her head, the Fairy's eyes were like soul piercing crystals, her fury undeniable. It was like a raging volcano trapped in absolute silence. A sigh left her lips, as she slowly lowered her hand. "..but it is afterall mortal to make mistakes, and you still have the chance to make things right." The word mortal was said in a manner that almost made it sound like Amy was declaring herself above the mortal races, declaring herself immortal.
"..The only place I can think of where we can find several individuals capable of being slaves, would be the guards barracks. Their troops are lightly trained and used to obeying orders. They should make excellent candidates, if we can knock them out."

Slowly starting to walk towards their new destination, Amy was still clearly furious with Cheteria, despite her surface showing no sign of the emotion. Instead it was a cool sensation in the air, like a sharpened knife pressing against a chest. "I will make an exception and assist you. This time. In turn, I will take a reasonable share of your profit." It was clear with her wording that a reasonable share could mean absolutely anything, and likely depended on how well Cheteria managed to wriggle herself out of the sticky situation she had placed herself so deep within.

[Blaka]

Immediately after finishing her request, Kulira realised her mistake. The mortal danger posed by the girl in front of her made her back off a few steps, almost stumbling over her own cloak. Jittering at the thought of what she had gotten herself into, she opened her mouth to apologise profusely, but froze at the sight of Amelia's finger gun. Only a panicking "Eek!" escaped her mouth instead of an apology. Barely, the cyborg registered what the brunette was actually saying. Holding her breath, her blue eyes were focused on the fingertip, expecting a lightning strike or something similair to shoot out of it any second now.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the door of a house a short distance down the street opening. A young lad peeked through to get the milk on the doorstep, before he noticed the two women standing in the street. Interested, the boy kept standing in the doorway, despite the freezing cold. Even though one of them was taller and clad in a pitch black cloak that made her look like personified evil, there was utter horror on her face. The other one, though smaller and more fragile looking, seemed to be in complete control of the situation. Had the looks on their faces be the other way around, the kid would have called for the city guard. Instead, he kept watching in awe. One day, he thought, he wanted to become like the smaller lady, put fear in evil people by just staring them down!

Yet, to Cheteria's nameless relief and the boy's huge disappointment, the smaller woman put her hand down eventually. The cloaked lady shot a threatening glance at the child for witnessing this embarassement. As quickly as he got out, he slammed the door shut again, forgetting about his milk entirely.
"Thank you, Captain Amelia!" the blonde exhaled. "I promise not to disappoint again!"

Her captain's next words however perplexed her a bit.
"The...barracks, my Captain?" she nervously inquired.
Was this another test? Or her actual punishment instead of whatever the finger would have done? Surely, they couldn't survive a frontal assault on the place with the most guards in the whole city! Well, Miss Delacreux with her omnipotence probably could, but for a mortal that idea was impossible. Unless the other would grant her some of her power, of course...

Suddenly it hit her. Of course! A frontal assault was never the way to go. At night, if they took a couple of their guys with them, they would for sure be able to take them by surprise. In their pajamas, suddenly soldiers didn't look so mighty anymore. Since their arrival, Lila knew there was a guard station near the city gates, holding likely about a hundred soldiers at any given time. In addition however, they also knew there were guards stationed on the other side, near the Frost Park. Putting the entire army in one place would have been dumb after all. Small squads of emergency personnel were staying all over the city. It took quite some time to get from one end of the town to the other, so in case of things like housefires, there was always somebody on on the scene.

"Of course Captain!" Miss Akuvutika quickly assured her boss, hurrying after her, nodding at everything that was said, adding "Genius plan, we'll get them in no time! The profits are all yours to use! I had hoped to spend them on making our crew grow!"
Not that she actually cared about the money. Her motivation was a steady flow of victims, selling the people was just an added benefit for the rest of the Dusks.

Shortly afterwards, the two women arrived at their destination. An average looking brick row house near the Frost Park walls, barely standing out among the neighbouring buildings. The only thing that differentiated it were the big golden letters on the entrance door claiming "GUARD POST" and a doorknocker underneath them. The two Dusk Pirates stopped walking a short distance away and the blonde lit herself a cigarette before moving on to inspecting the facility and its surroundings. By now, breaking into a place without being noticed was one of her specialties. Luckily, some time had past and the streets were getting crowded with the kingdom's citizens, so the two ladies staring at the den of soldiers weren't noticed as easily.

"Two floors, each with two small windows." she mumbled, just throwing her thoughts out there to show her will of needing as little help as possible. They potentially could enter through the glass... A noisy plan, which Chete always threw out instantly. The sound would be heard in the whole street. "It borders the park wall, no way to get through any backdoors. I see only one option Captain, take out the patrols and get through the fr- "

"Oy! You there!"
A tall woman, a good 10 inches taller than the android herself, suddenly walked up to them. Spiky ash blonde hair was falling down over he shoulders, onto the heavy steel shoulder pats. Her upper body was covered in a shiny lightweight armor, which seemed to allow for free movement while protecting against all kinds of weapons at the same time. Legs and forearms were clad in the same steel as the shoulders, clanking with each step the woman took. A cape of the same colour was resting on her back. In her hands, a long halberd, the kind you would need two hands to use in battle. Clearly she was some sort of guard officer. The captain of this particular station perhaps.
"What did you just say?!" Her voice was unusually deep, not too weird, but for sure no soprano singer. The stern look on her face revealed that she clearly was just bored and looking for somebody to pester on this cold day. "Why are you whispering about the royal army?"

How dare she?!
Kulira just screwed up her nose at the condescending officer, in disbelief how she was talking to Amelia.
"And who are you?" she scoffed, looking her directly in the eye and straightening her back a little more to show her how little impressed she was by this entrance.
In response, the soldier squinted down at her, not at all impressed herself.
"Captain Kismalac, I'm asking the questions here! Answer before you get in trouble!"

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 658

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

The way Cheteria was squirming underneath the threat of simply being pointed at made Amelia blink for a few moments. It was something that she had been long to realise, but it seemed that Cheteria believed Amy to hold power that could destroy the world. Smirking to herself, it could've almost looked as if Amy was simply being sadistic with the whole torturing thing. Though, that was wildly besides the point. For now, it didn't matter much what Cheteria thought of her captain, as long as she was willing to fall in line and do as she was told. When all was said and done, there was but a small walk to the nearby barracks or guard post. Standing there, she was looking at the building with mild interest. The whole slavery business wasn't something which Amy took pleasure in, nor did it interest her, but the horizon of being enslaved because of Cheteria's screw-up was enough to get the tiny fairy captain at least somewhat motivated. "It seems a little larger than I first anticipated. I'm not sure I can be bothered dealing with this. Perhaps I will just order some of the crew to come along. They'll be helpful for hauling the cargo, too."

Amy was speaking openly about what was going to happen. It certainly wasn't like her to hold back. The world was her playground, and she would do with it whatever she wanted. Thats about the time they got called out by a woman. A woman that hade a tone in her voice that certainly didn't please Amy. Narrowing her eyes, she stared in the direction of the brute woman. Brute, as in, there was nothing delicate or feminine about her. At least according to Amy. That woman may aswell have been an Orc, ogre or troll. The tone and the way of addressing her had Amy immediately defiant. "First off, my asociate here was speaking mostly about the design of the barracks, not the royal army. It was a simple comment about structural integrity and potential points of entry." Gesturing towards the building, Amy was being completely blunt about what they had spoken of, even if the fact that the entry she was speaking of was them breaking in. With that simple comment, it immediately sounded as if the two of them were interested in architecture and training - potentially to the benefit of the country, looking for holes in their defenses to report it later? That was the impression she gave off initially. Right until Amy continued speaking.

"Now that one of your military standing is here though, could you clarify on the soldiers training? I'd like to know if the men would be stronger than regular slaves." Staring blankly at the captain who, at this point in time, looked completely bewildered and confused, the moment before she opened her mouth to give Amy an earful, the Captain simply shook her head. At the moment, she was only incredibly suspicious, but there was no proof that Amy was anything more than somewhat of a loonatic. "Nevermind, nevermind. I'm leaving now anyway, I've gotten bored. Come, Cheteria. I'm not in the mood for silly confrontations over values so baseless as honor."
With that, Amelia simply turned around and started walking away. The goal now was to gather some of the men and hang out at a local bar. At midnight, they had the opportunity to blitz the barracks. Cheteria would probably have to deal with the guard captain, though. She seemed a little tougher than what regular fodder could handle. The Guard captain was spitting out words such as crazy, idiot, moron and the like, clearly not sure exactly what to do about Amy...

[Blaka]

Just as expected from the fairy goddess, Kulira's Captain handled the guard captain with the disrespect she deserved. And in turn, just as usual when anyone first met the sassy brunette, Kismalac didn't take her seriously at all.
"You what? Stupid morons!"
If only she knew! Chete couldn't help but giggle to herself girlishly, which in turn made the guard question the two girl's sanity even more. Had Amelia been even a tiny bit more direct, the halbred wielding woman would have made an attempt to question them further. But clearly crazy people like these two put her off. Perhaps she was taking them for disabled loons she was supposed to feel sorry for? Either way, her attempt at causing trouble quickly turned into wanting to get out of the situation again as fast as possible. She wasn't clearly backing off, just sort of dismissing the fairy and her preacher as idiots before marching in the opposite direction to pick on somebody her own size.
"Shrihihi...Aye aye, my captain!" Still giggleing, Cheteria followed Amelia back to the Gehena.

The rest of the day, Lila spend on her own, with preparations for their big score. Amy was intentionally left out of these activities, in order to not bother her more than necessary. After breakfast, she informed herself about the local rules some more. The drawbridge was going to close at 10 in the evening, by that time they had to be inside the city. From there, it would still take a couple of hours until the city would fall asleep properly. The problem was keeping the dozen pirates they would have to take with them hidden inside the borders without causing way too much of a ruckus. These guys weren't men you could just order to sit somewhere and keep quiet, they were troublemakers, hooligans - drunkards. Thus, a nice little bar could very well be the perfect hiding spot. Thankfully, the right joint was not very far away from targeted guard post. "The Sharpshooter" was its name, due to the shot of the same name that was served here. Not something for lightweights, according to the sign outside. Having brought her plan forward to the fairy, it was decided that they would spend the evening there until the time to strike was right. Their men were instructed to equip themselves with weapons, tows and and hooks, tie up the soldiers and later on make their escape by climbing over the wall. Chete had thought of everything this time! Hopefully.

---

It was around 9pm when the Dusk Pirates, 10 men and their two lady leaders, invaded the Sharpshooter. It was a bar like you'd find them almost everywhere. Warm light and comforting heat came out of the two chimney fires on the wall to the right of the entrance. The left third of the room was taken up by a massive wooden counter. Some weird eletric music was blarring out of a record player in far corner. A few of the eight present patrons started whistleing when the smoking blonde with the cream jumpers walked in and once more when her Captain did so behind her. To avoid attention, Kulira had left her black cloak in her guitar case on her back. Apparently, that had the opposite effect. The barman behind the counter, a dark skinned middle aged man with long brown curly hair, seemed a little shocked at the mass of people suddenly flocking into his establishment just like that.
"Hey hey!" he protested, trying to wave them out with the dirty dishcloth in his hand "We are almost full, there's no table for twelve left!"

Not that there would have been a table for twelve if the room had been entirely empty. All there was was a couple of round tables for four at best.
"Let me handle this." Cheteria demanded and raised her hand to tell everyone to wait at the door. Walking closer to the counter, her could eyes made sure to meet those of every single greedy drunk in the place, a dismissive look on her face.

Standing directly in front of the bartender, she looked up at him, as he was quite a bit taller than the cyborg herself.
"This bar is the property of Amelia LeSorange Delacreux now." she stated, observing the barkeep's eyes widening in disbelief. "Make sure you show everyone else out. We'll have twelve sharpshooters on the house."
"What!?" the man laughed "Get out of here you dipshits or I'll call the guard on you!"
"I don't see that happening." Chete responded, still only stating simple facts. Casually, she raised her right palm. "Hel Sikoly."

Two metal darts shot out of her palm right into the guy's neck, who suddenly started twiching uncontrollably as eletric shocks fried his body, before he dropped down on the ground. Frightened yells sounded through the room. Most of the patrons gasped and ducked, their exit blocked by the mass of armed pirates laughing at the owner of the bar's demise. One angry patron roared, got up and tried to tackle the girl that had just taken out his source of alcohol. This silly attempt at rebellion was quickly dealth with in the form of a steel fist hitting the rebel in the face like a hammer.
"Deal with the rest." The Avalon Preacher ordered their men, who started cheering and rushing into the bar, quickly subdueing the other drinkers.

Moments later, Miss Akuvutika had taken complete control over the joint. Now her music was playing on the gramophone, everyone who wasn't a pirate was knocked out, tied up and stacked on top of each other on a pile of bodies behind the counter. Most happy at how the situation had unfolded just according to plan, she offered Miss Delacreux a chair opposite to the counter while she herself began filling shot glasses with a bottle of Sharpshooter.

"How was that, my Captain?" she inquired, offering the other woman the first glass once she would sit down. "A show for the people, like you love to do them. Any tips on what we can do for the next hour or so?"

Before the lady could reply, the selfproclaimed barmaid's eyes fell on the cutlery shelf of the counter. An idea sparked inside her. This would hopefully be entertain them for a while! Entertainment that would keep the men from drinking too much to be any use later on.
"Actually, if you'll allow, how about this?"

The android grabbed 4 empty cups and 3 knives.
"Men!" she shouted for everyone to hear "I challenge you all to solve my magic trick!"
Nobody listened at first. Sure they respected the preacher by now, but everyone was way too focused on booze to care about some silly bet.
"Whoever wins gets the next round all for themselves!"
That sure did the trick. A second later the whole party had gathered around.

"I call it the Cheteria Bridge!" the blonde announced. "All you need to do to win..." she began by placing three of the cups in a way that it looked like a triangle shape from above. "Use only these three knives to build a bridge between at least two cups and place the forth one on top - without touching the cups." Turning to Amelia, she added "Please don't tell them right away."
Obviously, Amy would already know the solution as it stood plain as day in the cyborg's mind.

"Easy!" claimed the first guy and took a step forward to try. Quickly, he discovered that the cups were all placed just far enough apart from each other that there was no way one knife could connect two of them - not even two were enough, just barely reaching each other. Calls for glue or tape arose as one pirate after the other while Chete was enjoying herself handing her Captain one shotglass after the other.

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 1062

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

People with inferior minds were only capable of thinking up inferior thoughts. Such was the harsh reality that was life, so as the captain seemed to come to the conclusion that Amy was nothing more than a mere loonatic, if she had for even a moment considered or thought it through, there could've been more guards posted. There could've been inspections of weak points in the defense. Instead, the only thing that was being passed on was words of a crazy encounter with a strange girl. Returning to the Gehenas, the Captain quite simply demanded, that those who were bored or otherwise accessible were to come along on a venture into the Frost Kingdom. What they were doing, how things were going to unfold, barely anything was explained to them. Just that she would need them that same evening, and that Cheteria would be giving them more information about where they were going and what they needed to bring. So with everything else sorted, Amy had simply gone to her own cabin to get some rest. When they were out at sea, navigating, overlooking the kitchens, doing maintenance on the machinery, and functioning as the head-doctor and captain, she was a rather overworked young lady. However, when they were docked, there were plenty other ways to have such needs fulfilled. Use the local doctor, call in a machinist and the like. So peacefully slumbering away, she got a few hours of well deserved sleep.
.......

When they arrived at The Sharpshooter, which, for the record, was a ridiculous name if one was to ask Amy, it wasn't exactly grandeur that met them. The club, or whatever other word one was to use for it, was rather small. Peering inside through the door, she also quickly assessed the situation inside. The dancefloor practically comprised of a couple of risen square stands - or blocks. Upon each stand an iron pole was fastened to allow whoever would be dancing something to grip on. In more simple terms, the dancefloor was nothing more than a couple of stripper poles. The atmosphere in there was rather crammed. The lighting was somewhat inbetween that of a bar for old people and a nightclub. There were several different colored lights, but at the same time i t wasn't dark enough that the disco-like lights were the main source of lighting. Awkward. It felt to Amy as if the club wasn't quite sure what it wanted to be. It spoke to her of insecurities of the owner, and a struggle to get enough financial footing to make it a worthwhile project. Smiling wickedly, it only meant that the bar was ever so more precious to the owners, and crashing a party here would mean so much more. That, and as far as Amy could tell, there weren't any alcohol visible aside from at the bar. So there would likely be a basement. A basement filled with just about anything one could desire. Just as Amy was about to knock down the door and enter in her own godly fashion, Cheteria took the front of her own accord. Perplexed, Amy stood there for a moment, outside with the rest of the crew. Leaning against a wall, she crossed her arms, making everyone aware that this was well within her plan...

It didn't take too long, before the noise from the inside made it quite clear what was going on. Cheteria was claiming the bar as Dusk Territory. Rather, instead of claiming it as Dusk territory, she attributed this to Amy herself. This immediately had Amy step inside, and stare directly at Cheteria for a short moment. Simply allowing the men to enter, she instructed them to bring the guests down into the basement. They couldn't have anyone running around letting the guards know that something was happening. Clearing her throat, Cheteria came over to ask about how things were going, if the Captain was satisfied. "If I need you to claim something in my name, I will instruct you to do so. If you claim something, claim it for yourself, or for the crew. I do not wish my name associated with such a filthy, despicable club such as this."
Grabbing a bottle by the bar, she slammed it into the counter loud enough that everyone had definitely heard what she had to say. Dominance was shown, and she had everyones attention. "..So the drinks are on Cheteria. Lets have a blast." Popping the top off of the bottle, Amy was soon drinking some dark liquor with a very strong taste. It didn't matter much, the Dusk Captain was going to get herself absolutely hammered...

Music was put on to play. Awkward music, and definitely not Amy's most favorite, but better than the tame trash that had initially been playing in the club. Cheteria was declaring something about a game to pass time without it getting dreadfully boring. Listening halfway, the Captain slowly turned her head, leaning against the bar, watching as Cheteria explained the concept. It was rather simple, really. Regardless of the solution, the answer would be lying in the simple mechanic of the challenge. The knives needed to counter-weight each other, interlocking in a manner so that neither knife could fall down, because they stopped each other from falling. Grinning to herself as Cheteria mentioned that Amy shouldn't spoil the solution, she simply drank the shots that was provided to her. The men of the crew were also loudly participating, openly discussing and arguing about how the solution was to be done.

"I think I might go dancing." Amy then said, calmly, looking towards one of the stripper poles. Naturally she didn't intend to strip, but flirting a little certainly wasn't out of the question.

[Blaka]

As should undoubtably be expected by now, the feedback from Miss Delacreux was less than positive. A 'good job' was quite hard to get out of the fairy woman. Kulira didn't mind that so much, after all it should only be used if a subordinate had actually done a good job. It was the lack of constructive criticism that irked her a little. At least for the second she allowed herself to think so. Quickly, she brushed her concerns with the Captain's statement aside.

"Apologies, my Captain!" she quickly corrected herself "Any other bars in the future will be claimed for myself."

Predictably, none of the foolish pirates did any better at the Cheteria Bridge than the first candidate. In fact, it was pretty concerning how silly they acted. The same combinations of knife placements were tried over and over again to no avail. Sure, it was entertaining to see the men's self-esteem sink more and more. The cyborg lady had been considered the weakest, dumbest and most expendable person on the entire Gehena on her first day on board. Before she got her respect back of course. Yet now she was making a fool out of all of them!

What little booze they were getting certainly did not help out. Not handing out too much was important. Amy could have all she wanted, but they couldn't use a bunch of stumbling wasted morons to carry the slaves. So, a Sharpshooter and one beer per person would have to suffice. Lila was quite unconcerned that the drinks were supposed to be on her. In the end, they would only stay here for a few hours and she had no intention of actually paying the owner for the drinks.

Actually, while Amelia took to the dance floor and the muscle was occupied...certainly nobody would mind the barmaid vanishing to the cellar for a bit? While absentmindedly watching her henchmen, an idea had popped into the blonde's mind: Given that the joint was not very far from the barracks they were targeting, surely a couple of guards used to drop by after working hours? Thus, chances were high that the barman actually knew a few details on them. Especially this Captain Kismalac person they had met in the morning seemed worthy of gathering more intel on...

About half an hour later, Chete emerged from the cellar once more. What she was wearing - or rather what she was not wearing - made it perfectly clear to anyone who knew her what she had been up to. The jumpers and gloves had been discarded and replaced with bandages on torso and hands. Two red lines ran up her upper arms and a red target cross was painted on the bandages on her stomach. Aditionally, there were two red lines going straight down from her eyes to her cheeks. In short, what had transpired down below had required her battle dress. The outfit that she would wear when out for a kill. In fact, the poor barkeep's fate was easily apparent by just looking at her hands: The usually white gauze was red with blood.

Without paying attention to the oohs and aahs of the crew, the murderous android turned straight to the dancefloor. Amy was having a blast there. However, Cheteria had important information to deliver!

"My Captain!" she tried to get her goddess' attention by getting right into the girl's face. "I'm sorry to interrupt, I am ready to present my ideas now!"

It must have looked quite awkward, the dancing lass going wild while her usually so quiet underling stood next to her, making a speech.

"The way I see it, there are two option. Either a quick and loud or a slow but stealthy one. I was informed that their Captain Kismalac can be quite powerful. If you don't want to get your hands dirty, we should avoid waking her up. But with the manpower we have, we could burst in and take everyone out as quickly as possible. Perhaps we can catch them by surprise. Of course after that we'd have to fight our way through everyone we alerted. My second idea.."
Miss Akuvutika took a moment to collect herself before carrying on with her speech. Being reminded of the fateful evening she was about to mention was more than a little unsettleing.
"My second idea involves a combination of yours and my skills. With a bit of time, I can probably crack the lock on their front door without anyone hearing me. We risk night patrols running into us the longer we stay outside, but we might be lucky enough and avoid fighting at all. Then we smother them all in their sleep. If you please, you could add a bit of your power to help us out. Do the trick you did back when you claimed your rightful place as Captain, when...none of us could move."

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 1011

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

(Permission was given for the PC actions)

Having slowly risen herself from her position, she was a little wobbly on her feet after having been drinking rather excessively. The party was only just getting started, and if anyone knew how to have an amazing time, it was the Captain of the crew. The first thing she needed to do was adjust the music to something that worked a little better for her. In her high heels, she stepped over the floor, with her own alluring pressence, as the eyes of the crew slowly seemed to find their way to her. Looking through the possible tracks, she soon found something that was reasonable. As soon as the song started rolling, the atmosphere within the club completely changed amongst the crew. Stepping up the makeshift wooden step, she soon found herself standing upon one of the small pedestals for dancing, her fingers gently, graciously grabbing hold of the pole that was lodged down through the middle of the pedestal, her fingers locked around the cold metal. "Boys, we have a job to do tonight!" Looking out at them with a wide smile and eyes that were, for her recently, unusually full of life, she followed up the first sentence rather quickly. "..Before that though, let us have a blast of a party!" Giving a sign to the crew-member that became impromptu DJ, the music and the bass was soon shaking the very foundation of the club.

From her vantage point, where everyone could see her, and she could see everyone, she started dancing. The girl's moves were almost impossibly fluid, with ever so small twists through her hips, that she soon had a majority of the crew wondering just what kind of magnificent rear was hidden underneath those clothes. At the same time, they knew they could never do more than dream. Albeit, the few moments of shock and contemplation lasted only a few moments, before several others joined in, quickly transforming the reserved and quiet dancefloor into a mass of people letting go and having a blast, and Amy was solidly taking the lead. Several bottles of wine and other alcoholic beverages was passed from one to the other, and not a single soul of the crew was being left out. In fact, what was going on within the club at this point, could very well be described as seeing the soul of the crew. It evolved incredibly quickly. Soon, there were tables with armwrestling, quarrels that could lead into a barfight, several bottles of less than great alcohol were being destroyed, simply tossed against the walls. There was an insane amount of chaos, yet, for the most part, people were having a blast.

As Cheteria returned, Amy was still upon her podium, with a half ingested bottle of wine in one hand, and a bottle of tequila in the other. The podium itself had gotten incredibly sticky from the absurd amount of alcohol that she had spilled while dancing. The Captain herself was also relatively soaked in the liquids. With Cheteria approaching, the green eyes of Amy rested upon the android with relative ease. Kneeling down so her head was on par with Cheterias, Amy was looking somewhat sheepishly at the android at this point. Listening, the Captain had hoped to hear something interesting in regards to the party. Perhaps the discovery of even finer alcohol? Icecold Sake perhaps? Instead, this was pure business. It was then, during Cheteria's conform and direct speech that Amy had the sensation of Cheteria being somewhat of a party pooper. Why couldn't she simply have a little fun?! Perhaps that is exactly what led Amy to do what she did. To see the reaction of an icecold killer in  an awkward position. 

Then, without much warning, Amy reached out to grab a gentle hold on Cheteria's neck, before indiscriminately placing a kiss on the androids lips. The kiss must've smelt and tasted like alcohol. It immediately caused the entire crew that was paying attention to cheer, laugh, or look on enviously. For a short moment, Amy simply stared into Cheteria's eyes to understand the response. It didn't seem like much was going on initially. A soft sigh left Amy, as her desire to party had been rather brutally quelled. "Empty the drink boys!" Amy shouted loudly, as she stepped down from her podium to follow alongside Cheteria back towards the bar, where she could find a comfortable place to sit, without wobbling around on her feet. "Tell me about these plans then." 

Now that they were seated, Amy was returning to a bit more of a professional personality. It meant that instead of drinking from the bottle, the tequila was poured into a shot glass. This would naturally lead to the Captain crashing eventually, for she was already slowly nearing her limit for alcohol. "I'll be frank with you Cheteria. If you were planning a sneak attack, inviting the crew to a club, wasn't the smartest choice." The girl said calmly. Despite how drunk she was, there was an incredibly sharp head on her shoulders. "..The alcohol will dull their pain. I imagine simply storming the front would be the best choice at this point." Placing the shot in front of Cheteria, Amy then said, in a simple tone that made it clear how much of an order this was; "Drink up."

[Blaka]

Business focused as she was, Miss Akuvutika took some time before she realised the state the bar was in. With extreme discomfort, she took in her surroundings. Nobody had listened to her rule of only two drinks at all. Instead, everybody was losing it, getting as wasted as humanly possible!

A mix of rage and fear clogged up her throat. At this rate, accomplishing the mission tonight was less than likely. Tomorrow morning, they would all be sitting in a narrow smelling cell. Or worse yet, begin their live as servants of some rich buyer. Well, everyone that was still alive at that point. None of these drunks would see the light of day again, that was for sure. And the last night of their live would be absolute horror, making the hell surely waiting for all of them afterwards seem like paradise! A quiet clacking sounded from the cyborg's right arm as the weaponry swtiches inside shifted from taser to acid. Just as she was about to turn around, yet another uncomfortable surprise happened. Suddenly, alcohol drenched lips of Amelia met her own.

Completely thrown of guard, Lila froze. Her brain was not wired for this scenario. In utter shock, her ice blue eyes stared into the violet hues of the girl. Like prey in the face of its predator,  the blonde saw no other option than playing dead and hoping for it to be over soon. Of course, the drunken crew was enjoying the show. Ever since their first night on the ship, there was barely anything that provided more entertainment to the men than seeing the Captain messing with her preacher. Who, coincedentally, would love to sink into the ground right about now.

Thankfully, the ordeal was over as quickly as it came about. As it created nothing but confusion and shame in her mind, Cheteria quickly pushed it away into a far corner of her brain. Tipsy, her goddess was seemingly even more unpredictable. Dreading whatever strange decision the lass would make next, the android took a seat at the same table.

From what the fairy lady was saying, she still planned on going through with the plan. Which meant she had either a lot more faith in her crew's abilities or just wanted another good laugh. Either way, if Amy said so, Chete would fall in line.

"Alright, my Captain. Loud and quick." she nodded, wiping the awful taste from her mouth - only to be offered one of the sharpshooter shots herself. Hesitantly, she picked up the glass. Usually she didn't drink. Back home she didn't because it could have horrific side effects when combined with her injections. Since then, she had never felt the need to. Alcohol dulled ones' decision making and dexterity skills. Both of which she relied heavily on. However, refusing an order was out of the question.

Downing the drink in one go, she immediately realised where the shot got its name. It felt as if somebody had hit her skull with a shovel. At the same time, her throat felt like she had just swallowed a lit match. Being thrown into a horrible coughing fit, Kulira had to take a moment before she could get a hold of herself again and slam the glass back down. Needless to say, this became the target of another clubwide guffaw.

All of the sudden, she finally got what the fairy was trying to tell her. Probably. It didn't matter, the "Preacher of Avalon" had learned a lesson at least. Cold hard proffessional orders weren't always the way to go. At this time, the Dusk Pirates were out to have fun and accomplish something in the process. Even if she couldn't share their humor herself, she could still use it. With newfound courage, Lila got up from her chair.

"Everyone!" she announced loudly "I will lead you to our target! We will overrun them with ease!  Nobody will be quick enough to reach for their arms! And when their reinforcements arrive, we are already up and away! Follow me!"

General cheery roaring followed as the lady with the blood drenched hands stepped out into the cold. The crew emptied what they had left, hurried to get up and follow the cyborg's lead outside. As much noise as they were making, half the district was likely thrown out of their beds.

---

Inside the guard's barracks, everybody was sleeping. Well, not quite everybody. Night shift was out patrolling the streets. In case of trouble, they would be able to spot anything worth noting. Plus, Guard Lieutenant Bosszús Vaddisznó was still up reading, seated on a chair close to the window. As it was custom, the post was locked at night. Should need be, a soldier of the patrol had to be able to alarm their comrades inside: A knock on the windows would get Vaddisznó's attention, who in turn could wake everybody up in no time. But when did that ever happen, really? He had volunteered for this position because of the benefits it had. In reality, Vaddisznó's job was sleeping during the day and studying at night, when nobody would bother him. Ever. If somebody would force him to name one, the only downside was that he had to do so while dressed in the uncomfortable chain armor of the city guard. A sacrifice he was willing to make.

In here, he was safe even if something happened that patrols didn't pick up on. Sure, his fellow dozen men and women were fast asleep in their bunks and nowhere near their weapons kept in the armory down in the cellar. The two windows on each floor were shut tight, no way of opening them without causing a huge ruckus by throwing them in or something. Same for the door. Not exactly the thickest and sturdiest material, he had to admit. Even a skinny whimp scholar like himself could kick it down with ease. The kingdom had to save money somewhere though, right? This aside, it would still make a loud crack, waking everybody up in the process. On top of all of that, Captain goddamn Kismalac resided here. Even without their weapons, this particular office was a force to be reckoned with.

Still, a cold shower ran down the nervous man's back as he heard a roaring sound outside growing louder and louder...

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 1237

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

It was kind of disappointing just how little of a reaction that Amy had gotten out of her devious little scheme. Naturally, the scheme had been quickly thought out by a rather drunken captain, but she was rather certain that some kind of response was warranted. Instead, she could've attested to seeing nothing but coding error running behind Cheteria's eyes. A malfunctioning that could've easily spread throughout the cyborgs body like a virus. Sighing softly, it wasn't worth thinking too much about. There'd be other opportunities to have some fun with the android. Tonight, they had a job to do. A job that had to be done if their adventures on the sea was going to continue unabated. Fortunately for Amy, she was a thinker, and she had thought of several possibilities before getting herself hammered. The only problem at this point was recalling them all properly. Brushing her hair to the side, she rose a finger in a gesture, before speaking softly to Cheteria. There was something which had been on her mind for a while, and considering the circumstances, now might be one of the best opportunities she'd have to get that point across. Cheteria hadn't had too much to drink, so hopefully the message would stick with her. "Hold on a minute, before we leave, there is something I wish to speak of."

It was a rather delicate subject, the next one. There were things that the crew needed to have happen if they were to be successful long term. Something that hadn't been clearly visible to Amy up until this point - potentially because of the way that she had approached the crew initially. Growth. The crew hadn't been improving much at all. Everything had been relatively the same as when Amy had joined, and while the frame that had passed timewise wasn't significant, she had deemed it neccesary to redeem the situation before it could potentially become a problem, by inspiring growth herself. Unfortunately, growth would immediately mean that her own position of strength and power would come into question. There needed to be a bond between the crew and the captain. Otherwise, them banding together, would always result in her immediate defeat. Alas, the crew as an entirety would be defeated if nothing changed. Cheteria hadn't had much to drink, so hopefully what Amy had to say would stick. "Fear, Cheteria, is a powerful emotion. It can control our thoughts, our movements, our future." Looking directly at Cheteria, Amy was being rather direct and engaging, making sure that she had Cheteria's undivided attention. "..but there are several things fear cannot do. It cannot create community, loyalty, devotion or dreams. Things that are important for humans to grow." Pouring another short shot in the glass, Amy was moving it inbetween her fingers calmly. "Out there on the sea, we will face individuals with power to rival the gods. We will face mortals who wouldn't hesitate to overthrow anyone they could get their hands on." Lifting the shotglass to her lips, she poured it inside, swallowing and shuddering, before tossing the shotglass behind the bar where it shattered into several hundred small shards. "...For us to conquer such a world, the crew will need to grow. You, Cheteria, will need to grow. For that to happen, you have to start respecting me, instead of fearing me. I already said, the crew will be here to fulfill more than just one dream." Nodding her head towards the crew, who were still as a vast majority busy partying the night away, Amy then continued speaking. "Tonight, I will show you the difference between inspiration, and fear. Perhaps then you will understand."

Rising from her position, she stepped across the floor towards the door, gave a signal to the DJ so that the music stopped. Then, loudly, she declared her intentions to the entirety of the crew. "Amazing party, was it not?!" A resounding yeah! came from the crew, as they all slowly gathered in an arc in front of the captain. "Well, then it is time we repay the favor! Cheteria hosted a party for us, so it is only fair we help her in return, right?!" Another loud yeah! came booming from the crew as a whole. Most of it was likely the sensation of being bonded together temporarily, or perhaps it was the atmosphere, but it seemed like everyone was on board. Changing her voice and doing several gestures, she had their undivided attention. This was what leadership meant. This was how to inspire rather than fear. This is exactly what she needed Cheteria to see and understand. "Cheteria requires a teeny weeny couple of slaves to trade. Now, I've heard there are several dumb guards at the barracks, just waiting to be snatched. So, how about we go give them a visit?!" This time, what resounded wasn't a simply word, as much as it was cheering. Several of the crew-members were looking at Cheteria, making drunken gestures as if they were prepared to lend her their strength. With that, the door to the night-club was kicked down, and the crew started heading out into the night; Their destination in sight...

...As they came upon the barracks, Amy quickly got everyone to calm down for a few moments. There was snickering among the crew, like a group of children hardly capable of keeping a secret. Knocking onto the front door of the barracks, none other than Guard Lieutenant Bosszús Vaddisznó was the one to open. Looking at the drunken bunch, he raised an eyebrow inquisitively as Amy simply stepped inside, while explaining the situation. "Oh, so good of you to open. We've done something horrible, something horrible indeed, and we simply cannot live with ourselves. Oh dear!" Amy started as several of the snickering crew members followed indoors shortly behind her. It was almost at the point where they were laughing, holding onto their weapons as they were practically stumbling over each other to enter.
"M'aam, just what may have happened?" Guard Lieutenant Bosszús Vaddisznó asked calmly, still convinced that this was simply a group of lightly armed drunken guests of some nightclub that needed to report the sighting of something that likely had no bearing what-so-ever anyway, as most drunkards did.
"Well, you see, in about fifteen minutes from now.." Amy's eyes changed, becoming sharper. The girls voiced changed mid sentence, becoming omnious. "Every single one of you will be in chains. GO GET EM BOYS!" With that, all hell broke loose. The drunken crew started indiscriminately charging into the barracks, surprising and taking down Guard Lieutenant Bosszús Vaddisznó before he could even react. The screaming and shouting was waking up everyone throughout the barracks... Who knew if that would be in time to save them, though?...

[Blaka]

Kulira was too busy shaking with anticipation to think much about the Captain's words before they had left. A battle with the enemy at last! After weeks and weeks of dreadful stalking prey without the payoff of a kill in the end! To think about the sweet release she'd grant an enemy today got her blood pumping again unlike anything else. Sure, they couldn't just kill all of them, but to fill their quota they only needed ten people. After that, one or two dead bodies would hardly matter, right?

"Shrihihi..."

Still, there was something about Amy that drilled into Lila's head, gnawing at her mind. While she didn't actively pay attention to it, the lesson still burned itself into her mind: Inspiration was just as powerful as fear. That was the main lesson she took out of the whole speech. In the broad sense, this meant, from now on, there would always be a choice to be made before taking action. Strike with terror, or try to manipulate the victim by showing them an opportunity to get what they wanted. Make them want to fall in line instead of forcing them. Today however, the maiden with the metal limbs had chosen the path of force already. And it would not be pretty...

What actually went down exceeded all of Chete's expectations. Sleepy and without their weapons, the poor sods were an easy target for the armed buccaneers. Two rows of loft bunks were set up inside here, one close to each wall, forming an aisle in the middle. At the end of this path, a staircase lead up to the second floor, where undoubtedly more beds were set up. Right next to the entrance, a trap door opened down towards - unbeknownst to the pirates - the armory.

Easily, the Dusk Pirates flooded into the room, roaring like the hoard of madmen they were. Each of the men took care of one bunk, hitting the shocked and startled sleeper over the head with their weapon of choice. Bats, crowbars, maces, what have you. Effectively executed, this first rush took out most in one hit. Only the soldiers in the top bunks had time to react and instinctively dodge hits aimed at them. Everpresent shouts were waking up people on the second floor as well, who quickly came rushing down the stairs to join the brawl. Around twice as many guards as there were invaders fought, but the pirates' arms balanced this advantage in numbers out.

Cheteria herself was simply standing there in the door gloating for a few moments, trying to contain herself. So many potential opponents, none of them able to defend themselves properly!
"Shrihihihihi!" Laughter was all she could contribute for the moment. With a crazed grin on her face, she turned to Amy. Planning to make a remark about how well the plan was working out, she opened her mouth. Yet, no words could ever hope to be enough to describe her enjoyment. "Shrihihihihi!" she repeated instead. If the fairy truly could read her, this was all there was to say. "Shrihih- "

*Crack*

Without warning, a part of the wooden ceiling above the laughing crazywoman came falling down. Fist forward, the brutish woman from earlier burst through it. Kismalac was dressed in a long lily-white nightgown instead of her full armor. Clearly though, she wasn't concerned about her lack of protection at all. Her face distorted with wrath did not show a single shred of fear as she crashed down on the enemy. Without hesitation, the guard captain burried her fist in the cyborg's shocked face.

"Blergh" sounded the blonde as her legs gave in and made her fall to her knees before she was thrown backwards into the street. Just barely, she was able to roll and stop her momentum before she would crash into the wall on the opposite side.

Kneeling there, huffing for a moment, the murderous android observed Captain Kismalac running out of the door towards her. Fine. If they refused to sit down and get cuffed, they had to be convinced. Beating their officer would certainly shut the rest of them up. From her position on the ground, Kulira darted forward, her fist ready to take the brute foe out in one blow. Neither of them exchanged any last words, both ready to win with their next attack.

"Agyar!" yelled Kismalac, executing a chop with her right hand aimed at the other's throat.
"Chidacho!" Chete screeched back. Skillfully dodging the chop by bending backwards out of the way, she raised her left leg - then kicked elbow of the sturdy trooper's attacking limb as hard as she could. As the cyborg's steel heel collided with the arm, one could hear a loud clank - as if somebody had hit steel with a hammer, not like a steel kick to vulnerable bones.

Kismalac did not scream either, or gave any indication that she had been hurt. For the moment, the two women stood there out in the cold. The soldier bend forward in a lunge, the pirate barely keeping balance on one leg, eyes widened in surprise.