Aenward short POV
Waking up on the shoreline as the bright yellow sun rises from the riverbed, Aenward coughs out water mixed with blood and sand, only to hear from the surviving members of his camp that they lost all scientific data and not only on the creature but also from the ship!
All that remained to give him some sense of accomplishment was the fact that they were able to airlift out what he believed to be part of the armory that was onboard the ship! Deadly weapons for the taking but with no knowledge of how to use them!
Relieved that not all the lives lost today would be in vain, he ordered his men to pack what they could, for he planned to head east. To the fortress of Farmor the former city of clockwork
Now the men were restless that their leader didn't want to wait or look for others but also understand that with wolves and giants on the way, that there just wasn't time! They would just have to be labeled as unlucky, when Wisym just so happened to come running down the beach.
But as the men were about to receive poor Wisym they all heard a terrible screech that made them all freeze for a second, hell even Wisym tripped form the sudden noise! But as for Aenward he stood tall and proud with raised brow as he schemed.
Meanwhile back to Breder
As Breder and the gang watch the beauty of a beast ship, named the Steel Star {see end comments for picture}, Breder could do nothing but watch from afar, for he was worried that they would be discovered if they just walked over, sure the plain field had large uncut grass but still they were a big moving black object!
If Breder was alone, he could easily sneak in, but with a miss crusher here that was not about to happen! Thinking of how they can sneak on board he notices movement coming from the ship!
From the depths of the ship, the thunder pipes bellowed, as it blackens smoke breathed out the turning chimneys, as flame burned to life at the two exhausts at the front and back of the ship, as the gear came to life, they sang a beautiful metal song for they were giving their blessing for their children flight! For, dozens of gyrocopters flew in their flock as they headed for the river! {picture}
Breder watched as the zeppelin that didn't have any affiliation, at least from what Breder can tell, for it didn't have any major markings of symbolism painted on his outer shell.
Thus, all Breder could conclude form looking at the ship was that either it belongs to someone who is super rich but didn't want to let other knows he or she was here or it's a pirate vessel, but who it belonged to didn't really matter for Breder, for he was just going to use it like a cab.
As the ship touched down on a plain field burning all the grass in its wake, Breder thought, {do I really have to hope it stays here till nightfall for a chance to sneak on board?}
Thankfully Breder didn't have to wait till nightfall, but only into the twilight hours for when the dust clouds formed, the sun setting in the back did they come! The flock had returned! But not alone! For they were being chased by Four zeppelins to which just by looking at them there was no doubt in Breder mind that those were for sure pirate vessels! {picture}
{ugly tan color, with skull faces… yup that's a classic pirate ship thought} Breder while rubbing his claws together!
As explosions formed in the late hours, as the returning flock dwindled in numbers, for the dog fights in the sky were harsh and unforgiving, Breder saw his chance and he took it!
{let's go} yelled Breder as they ran to quickly grab hold of the ropes dangling off the zeppelin that was trying to run away. As they made their climb, they bore witness to screams of the firing muzzle flashes that came from the ship's outer hull!
They heard thunderous crushing noises coming off the metal hull as they were hit in turn! With swinging ropes, they held, by swinging ropes they dodge bullets aimed for them! Worried but determined Breder reached the outer hull, and with a tiny fist and sharpened tail borrowed a hole into the hull of the ship leading into the cargo hold. Once inside the ship, Breder said {now this is interesting!}
Steel Star short POV
[Captain Waltin! The team we sent to go investigate the river is under attack by pirates!] reported the first mate
[Calm down, Vycent! Right now, we shouldn't be worried about their safety but our own! Start the engines… and have the few fighters we have sortie and have them focus on protecting the ship!] commanded Waltin
[Sir! Are we to abandon the gyros?] said Vycent
[Yes! I have no need for cowards or in this case traitors!] said Waltin
[Traitors?] questioned Vycent
[Yes! You heard me right! Traitors! How else can you explain how slow-moving gyrocopters are still alive and are making their way back here as we speak! Against fast moving fighter planes? Think about it! To the pirate fighters our gyrocopters should be no different than fat slow moving flying turtles in the sky!
The only explanation is either: A, they are traitors! Thus, the pirate obviously let them live or B. The idiots fled the battle leading the pirates to our location, in which case it doesn't make them any different than traitors!] replied Waltin
[Sir! Then are we to shoot them down?] asked Vycent
[Yes!] said Waltin sternly
As the Steel Star begins firing at those that they once called allies, four giant skull zeppelins burst from their dirty brown cloud cover! However thankfully they only showed themselves but didn't actually move. But they did send out a raiding party in the dozen!
Upon seeing so many fighters that could block out the sunlight, Waltin could only say brace for impact! As, several gun emplacements were destroyed in a single volley! Like flies to rotten meat, the Steel Star was the ripest of meats!
However strangely just as quickly as the fighters came, they retreated back! Confused, Waltin asked for a damage report, only to be told there was only slight hull damage throughout the ship, while the only major damage steaming from main and secondary batteries.
Now even more befuddled, Waltin thought, [this doesn't make any sense? Why did they not press the attack? Aren't we just a fat cow in their eyes?] with many questions raving through his skull, he first mate ask:
[Sir, should we inform "him" about the situation?]
[Yes, I think I will do just that, I just hope the master of "that family" won't kill me after he learns of our failure] said Waltin
[Don't worry captain! Although we don't know why the pirates retreated, we still succeed! I mean on our raid on Arakin the kingdom beneath the mountain] said Vycent
[Yes, the rare minerals and slaves we manage to obtain will fetch us a high price back in Bredale. Umm… we may never learn why the pirates let us go... I guess we'll just have to call ourselves lucky but for now Let's head home!] said Waltin when suddenly Vycent said:
[Oh! Shit! Sir it looks like we had a hull breach in the cargo hold!] yelled Vycent
Pirates very short POV
During the attack on the Steel Star
[Sir! One of our fighters is reporting seeing three unknown monsters that aren't in the registry! And they're climbing up our target as we speak!] said a random navigator
[Put the pilot visual on the main screen now!] yelled the pirate captain in the leading zeppelin.
[umm... Interesting… Those must be the monsters that came from the fallen star… perfect stop all attack at once! Don't any of you dare sink that vessel!] yelled the captain
[I… don't mean to question… but why sir! Shouldn't we sink her with the monster in toe?] ask a random henchman
[Sigh... this is why I'm the captain and you're not! Look, even if we sink that vessel there is no guarantee that the monsters will die! In fact, they may just well have survived and either scurry off into the field never to be seen again or worse kill many of our men as they try to loot the spoils!] the captain paused for a second before continuing:
[Besides, why sink the vessel when we can let the monster kill all those onboard for us! Think about it, monsters are too dumb to take anything of value other than people's lives! So, once they kill them for use, we can then swoop in and steal a practically fully functioning ship with all in continence for us!
And even if they don't sink the vessel for us, we can at least follow the ship to its destination and sell that information to the kingdoms at large! After all these are star monsters, we're talking about! Any information is as good as gold!] said the captain with much eagerness
[ But sir if they sink the ship…] the random man was suddenly interrupted by the captain
[relax, zeppelins just don't crash and blow up like fighter planes do! They just stand there floating in silence, and that silence will be our cue! Well, that and our heat dictators to see if there are any moving people still alive. Now let's sit back and enjoy the show… I'm curious about these alien-like creatures…] said their captain