Air Pirates(1)

Upon hearing about the air pirates, Barkus immediately grew serious. He looked at the man who had brought the news and gave him instructions:

"Gather everyone who knows how to handle weapons and is willing to fight. Also, head to the bay and tell them to prepare for departure. By the way, where are these pirates located?" Barkus asked.

"A-a-about thirty minutes away from us," the man stammered. "They're moving slowly along the road, looking for merchant ships. They have about three ships: one medium-sized and two small ones."

Hearing this, Barkus paused in thought. The Bartforts had two medium-sized ships and ten small ones. After a moment, he asked:

"Have they been seen using exosuits?"

"Seems like they have one, sir," the man answered hesitantly.

"Hmm... We've got two. Find volunteers on the island who have experience piloting them."

"Understood," the man responded quickly, nodding, and ran off toward the villagers' homes.

Turning to Leon, Barkus said:

"Leon, go home, and on your way, warn everyone else to stay indoors."

"All right," Leon replied reluctantly, starting to walk away.

However, as soon as he turned his back, an evil grin spread across his face.

"Yeah, sure, going straight home," the first voice in his head sneered with a smirk.

"No way we're missing this opportunity," the second voice added with the same sly expression.

They sprinted toward the storage shed where their pre-prepared gear was stashed. Each of them had purchased items independently, resulting in two crates of equipment — one chosen by the first voice and the other by the second.

"Hey, your gear will be useful for getting to Lux. Mine, on the other hand, is perfect for this situation," the second voice said, taking control of the body and rummaging through the stash. He pulled out grenades, a wig, peasant clothes, a sword, and a large-caliber pistol.

"Wait a second. What's up with the grenades? They look... modified," the first voice noted.

"Exactly. I improved them a little. It was tricky, and a couple of them blew up during testing, but I managed," the second replied.

"And why don't I remember any of this?"

"You were already asleep when I worked on them. Anyway, no time for this now. First, we need to go to Father. We'll wear this, pretend to be locals, and tell him we have experience. We need that exosuit — it'll make things a lot easier."

"Why did you buy the wig and clothes? Did you know in advance they'd be useful?" the first voice asked curiously.

"Oh, no, not really. Honestly, I bought them to disguise myself so Zola wouldn't recognize me. I wanted to pull a prank that'd really piss her off," the second admitted.

"I doubt Zola would have appreciated that," the first voice said sarcastically, clearly unconcerned about her opinion.

"Ah, she can go shit on a cat," the second snapped.

"Haha, well said!" the first laughed. "All right, let's go."

The first voice took control of the body again, and they headed toward Barkus.

Sneaking out of the shed quietly, Leon ran as fast as he could, hoping to arrive in time. A few minutes later, he stumbled upon Barkus, who was standing before a crowd of villagers, finishing an inspiring speech. Barkus finally concluded with:

"So, who among you has experience piloting exosuits?"

Silence fell over the crowd. None of the villagers had such experience, and even if they did, they wouldn't risk damaging such an expensive piece of equipment. Even the cheapest exosuit was prohibitively expensive.

Just as it seemed no one would step forward, Leon raised both hands high in the air.