Masters of the Sky

Chapter 7 Sailing Away To The Sunset

The sky was beautiful. Spending most of her life in the lowest part of the Iron Shore or the dark caves, Celia hardly ever saw a clear blue sky. The whole city was wrapped in industrial smog so thick that sometimes it was hard to glimpse anything besides the grey vapour. But now, flying far above sea level seemed like stepping into a different world. She almost didn't taste a bitter note of pollution in the air.

Celia raised the spyglass to her eye and adjusted the lens to get a clear view. They were slowly approaching the northeast outreach of Iron Shore, where the living quarters were sparse while warehouses and docking bays dominated the district. One particular place was her main interest. The vast building loomed above all others, raising five floors with a colossal perimeter that held countless storage spaces. The official version was that it was under Merchant's Guild ownership. Still, Celia knew it was a main operating base for the Sea Devils, another criminal cartel with vast influence in Iron Shore.

"There are guards posted on the northern side, and three ships are currently docked in the main bay. But no cannons on higher levels," she said, lowering down the telescope.

"Are you sure about this, boss?" Zed asked. The huge man was standing by her side on the bow, his eyes trained on the city's shape in the distance. "We have enough supplies to sustain us for a while. We could fly towards the mountains and resupply in smaller towns. Where no angry mobster is breathing down our necks."

"As much as I'd like to get out of this cursed place as fast as possible, we can't do that just yet. Chief must be furious now, and he's no doubt preparing some nasty surprise for us. Even if he doesn't have flying ships, he has enough regular ones to follow us and cut us off from resupply points. Sadly, we must come down to sea level from time to time."

Zed scratched his neck, looking troubled. "Then that's just more reason to get the hell out of here, no? Why do we want to add the Sea Devils to the list of people we pissed off?"

"Because, my dear Zed, we are not pissing them off as us. For all the people out there, we are still Plunderers. I can assure you, without any modesty, that my name as one of Chiefs' lieutenants is widely known in Iron Shore. There are many cartels here, and they compete with each other, but no one dares to attack openly, as war is never good for business. But now, we don't care for Plunderers' business anymore, right? So a little bit of chaos is just what we need."

"Oh."

Celia watched as understanding slowly dawned on her companion's face. Because of his huge muscled body and stoic, silent manner, many people thought Zed was dumb, which annoyed Celia. Her friend might not be the most clever person in her crew, but he was certainly not stupid. It took him a little longer to make logical connections, while it took her only a split second.

But then she couldn't possibly move the cannon an inch, while Zed could push it almost all the way out with little assistance.

"You want to attack them and blame it on Plunderers so that the Sea Devils will lash out with retaliation."

"You've got it, buddy." Celia patted his giant arm affectionately. "And with the Sea Devils sending their ships to assault him, Chief won't be able to send all his forces after us, and that is our best chance to sail away to the sunset!"

"I see. You might have a point," Zed admitted.

"Yes, and that's why I need you to get all the cannons on the portside ready to fire on my command. One round should do the trick. We don't want to eradicate them. We need just enough damage to send a message."

"What message?"

Celia smiled. "Plunderers are coming for you."

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