Big Trouble in Small Serene Republic
1132 VTE, April 19th
"Yea, we'll get it done Kamus. We already have the extra chuubanite ammunition stowed, we're good to go for the long trip." Yami's bangs bob softly as she checks off items on the quartermaster's shopping list. She's helping the Vice Admiral review the squadrons provisions for this coming transoceanic trip, a mortally boring, if vital task at the best of times. But right now, Captain Yami Wexlus is feeling unusually giddy.
The Vice Admiral flips through the purchase records for some time after acknowledging her before answering. "Good, good, review your hold in person, alright? Make sure every barrel is where it belongs, and have a man re-check the VT levels of the cartridges. You know how sensitive these can be." Kamus shuts the thick binder closed and hands it to the younger officer with a familiar smile.
"Yes, I do know Vice Admiral, as my superior reminds me of those quirks any times he finds himself within shouting distance of me and my ship. Would you like me to check our prune juice stocks one more time, Kam?" Her smirk shines in the softly lit cabin; the curtains are drawn, embroidered with scenes of snow-peaked mountains beside pink sunsets. The sunlight filtering through them shades the room in warm colors.
The admiral hits the Captain's shoulder with his fist, a casual, well-practiced move. "Respect your elders, girl! I have to run back to the Abyss, these Anykarians made it to port and I've got a date with one of 'em. And then, Goddess willing, we'll be off Infinitum." This prompts a chuckle from the girl.
"Let me know if he doesn't have a mustache, maybe I want a date too. Enjoy, Kam", the words are full of mocking affection. They leave the captain's quarters together, onto the Death Wind's deck. Out of banter, Yami salutes her Vice Admiral as he disembarks from the corvette, and she descends into the hold with two officers.
And that's the last one. The VT-meter displays the same output as that measured on every other cartridge: gauge needle on 54% saturation, pink bubble prominent. Ships underway in Foreign Operating Bases had to import their chuubanite cartridges all the way from the Goddess' Island, limiting the use of Vitaiho guns.
With the review done, Yami congratulates the technician on a job well done and heads back up. With that, their preparations are done. Soon, they'll be in Yami's favorite place: sailing the Heavenly Ocean, and seeing her again, in couple days. The excitement puts an unintentional smile on her face, it's been a couple years now since she last saw her. But whenever they meet again, it's like they'd never left each other.
Out of shadows, back into the pleasant Infinitum spring sun. Yami took a second to enjoy the contrast of the light's warmth on her cheeks, against the chill of the Heavenly Ocean's breeze. A soldier interrupts the moment by clicking his boot's heel on the deck. With a salute, he goes on: "Captain Wexlus! I have a message from the Vice Admiral."
Yami keeps her eyes closed, she enjoys how the sunlight shines through her eyelids. "Ensign Bartus? Well, out with it. The time for messages is coming to en end, soon he'll use signalling flags or birds instead of you."
"Ah, I think I'll find some use yet, Captain. Admiral Hyouka has belayed our departure, boats coming into port reported a pretty bad storm." These news snap Yami out of her reverie, and she looks oceanwards.
There, she sees them, creeping over the horizon, tall, dark columns full of pissing rain and vinegar, ready to fuck with their plans. "Ah, shit! Yeah, that's grounding us for a bit. Thanks Bartus, rush back to the Admiral and let him know we'll batten down the hatches." She mutters another curse while Bartus salutes and walks to the gangway. Turning to the closest sailor, she barks an order to her: "Hey Fabia, go below decks and gather the lads, we've got news."
As expected, the sailors are more than happy to get another night of R&R in the Kronie port city. In other circumstances, Yami might have enjoyed this extra shore leave, but not this time. Not only did this delay her reunion, but it also made her worry for the safety of her friend at sea...
Well, her duties were now taken care of, and she wasn't gonna spend the evening being worried and sober. She had to get rid of at least one of the two. Yami stormed off her ship to get back to the inn. Her men stayed out of her way, they knew not to put themselves in harm's way when she got in one of those moods. Her stomping steps took her through the harbor and the city's paved streets, her officer's coat flapping in the wind. Finally, she got to the hotel, pushing the door open with minimal restraint. She was halfway across the reception lounge when her eye caught an unusual spot of color to her left.
Their eyes crossed and the foreign presence spoke, in perfect Moriji. "Almost walked right past me, sutu*. Do you need glasses?" This smug smile, it was even more recognizable than the girl's iron grey eyes, or her long, blonde, drill-shaped locks.
Yami did not grace the girl with an answer, she strode to her and took into her arms for a long, tight hug, with no hesitation.
"Yanna, you bitch! You know I hate surprises!" The blonde laughed at the complaints of her pink-haired friend. Their two heads formed a rather pleasant color coordination.
She managed to pull the Black Fleet Captain off of her with some effort, to begin explaining herself. "Oh, Yammies, don't give me that, I know you love surprises. Plus, I was just as surprised to get here so soon as you are, we got good winds on the way here. Now, let's get in your room before you start crying over seeing me and shame the Black Fleet in front of everyone." Yami has a chuckle over the exchange, alongside a few sailors also sitting in the lounge, and pulls her friend to the first floor by the hand.
They'd last seen each other, oh, two, two and a half years ago? Yami was a lieutenant still back then, stationed in a Retro Reich port, hunting pirates in the Indiean Sea and filling paperwork, while Johanna came by her family's homeland once in a while. Members of the All-Bones clan like Johanna traveled between their homes in Moriji and the Retro Reich fairly often, for commercial, political, diplomatic reasons. These were good times for the two friends. Once Yami got assigned to the Ironmouse Prefecture and then Infinitum, they had to make do with letters. Yami had always trusted in their bond, though. They'd been inseparable during their childhood in Moriji.
Johanna was sitting on the bed's dark blue linens while Yami headed for a cabinet next to the room's window. "Now Yammies, it's time for my favorite part. Story time! Tell me about your adventures!"
The officer tsked gently. "You've already read about all of them in my letters, why don't you just tell me which you want to hear about from the sloth's mouth?" As she spoke, Yami opened the cabinet's door and began pulling out pieces of clothing.
The rich merchant's daughter tapped her chin a few times, thinking about her answer. "Oh! I know, tell me about your raid on that island that was overtaken by schizoid Hell Beasts! Or maybe about that brawl with a Clock knight! Or perhaps... Hey wait, what are all those clothes for?" Johanna tilted her head questioningly at the growing pile of garments.
"These? They're for you! Trip's delayed so we're off of work for a while. We're going out tonight, and you gotta dress to impress if you wanna survive Kronistadt, Yanna. Your Retro and Moriji garments cut it." The mound of fabric finally seemed to be to Yami's liking. She slid out of her black jacket and began unbuttoning her shirt. "Time for try-ons!"
Johanna laughed, the melodious sound filled the small chamber with ease. "Ohohohohoho! Alright, alright! If you insist, I shall honour these clothes with my patronage, but I better get those stories! Got any necklaces that would go with my eyes?" She headed towards the cupboard and began unlacing her corset.
**sutu: Moriji for Dork
The group had grown once more, now counting a miscellaneous Risuner and a pretty black-haired Kronie besides Yami and Yanna. By the All-Bones heiress' reckoning, Krolissa, the local girl, would likely be up Yami's alley in normal circumstances. But her best friend was completely focused on her for tonight, which Johanna was silently thankful for. She wasn't as mushy about it, but she had missed her as well.
"Aaaalright ladies and tree rrats, next up is the Broken Clock! It's a shithole with the best salt and Kronii sweat chips on the island!" Yammies fell naturally into the role of leader of a band of drunken carousers. The two girls had ended up going with outfits ameliorated by some accessories from Yanna's enormous baggage train.
Yami was wearing a well-fitted black suit in the Nasfaqian fashion popular in these parts, the crimson red of her tie matched nicely with the golden handkerchief. Her long, heavy coat was reminiscent of her Black Fleet uniform, but it was prettily patterned in dark gold gears and clock hands, and she wore it more like a cape. Two pretty ribbons were found on her, one tied to her belt's buckle, and the other on above her left ear, holding up one of the pink locks. The black, lacquered sheathe of her katana matched the rest nicely. Most important of all, a small black trilby completed the look.
The Captain was even prouder of the more Infinitum-typical fit they'd put together for her Retro Reich friend, though. Johanna wore a knee-length white dress, lined with more ribbons than one could be bothered to count, including one huge, flowy one on her waist. It reminded the girls of the Goddess Faithful priestesses' kimono. Dark blue embroidery patterned its fabric, and she wore nice black stockings dashed with blue lozanges underneath. To keep warm, Yanna had this navy blue jacket trimmed in white fur and clinking with steel chain links. Forgoing a necklace, the girls had ended up settling on a pair of pendant earrings of polished silver as jewelry for the lady. To top it off, they'd found the perfect white sun-hat, ribboned in cyan and covered in flowers purchased at fancy flower shop equipped with a greenhouse.
And now, all this fanciness was going down the list of Kronistadt's filthiest dives... Johanna began laughing, for no apparent reason, which seemed to confuse their two new friends, but Yami simply grabbed her and wheezed with her. Yanna had to admit, "slumming it" with Yammies was some of the most fun she could have, especially after weeks, months of being the prim and proper heiress.
"Say, pffft, where does Joseph think you are right now?" The Deadbeat girl was irreedemably amused by the question she asked, which was a mainstay of their nights out.
"Ohohoho my Yammies, I don't even wanna think about it, I told him we were going to a nice "restaurant" to catch up on old times." Johanna spared only a quick thought to her personal butler before entering this new establishment. The Broken Clock was warm with humanity, and smelled like beer, whisky and deep fried goods.
Krolissa approved of the choice of establishment. "If you ask at the counter, they've got nice aged sandwiches, too. I recommend the four-day cured lamb with cheese." She took ahold of one of each of the girls' arms, she was at least 20 centimeters shorter than either of them, even more with Yanna's high heels.
With all the authority of a high-ranking officer of the Black Fleet, Yami approved of the initiative and headed to the bar.
"Do they have a nut sandwich?" The Risuner's Holo-Dhennet was newly-learned, but endearing, the question prompting chuckles from the rest of the group. The blonde suspected the squirrel man played up his HSL* for charm points...
** Holo-dhennet Second Language
The clocks of the bars had passed the twelfth hour, but the city was just coming to life. At least, this part did.
A bit of drama was currently shaking "The Late Hand"'s dusty floors. The scene: next to the bar, a terrified Risuner trembles, nursing a sore neck, recently throttled by a pair of angry hands. On the other side, a couple of Matiyotl sailors sit on a bench, drinking beers and looking menacing, as they do so well. In their midst is a pretty Kronie girl, with a doe’s eyes and long braided black hair. She’s massaging her forehead, she seems to be actively regretting choices made here.
In the center, a lady in a beautiful white dress is desperately pulling at her friend in a black and red suit. Said friend is vociferating in the general direction of another individual of Matiyotl origins. “Damn fucking Porusitiase*, how dare you!”, such is her fury that she’s abandoned her mixed drink (Hooman vodka and orange juice, her favorite), handing it to the squirrel man.
The sailor seems just as worked up as the pink-haired girl. “Your fucking squirrel rapist should keep his hands off of my fucking girlfriend then, cunt!” The conflict is over a matter of the heart, as it appears.
“Ahh get back Yanna, thi-is here is a violent, dangerous man.” The Deadbeat gently shoves her Johanna towards the bar before turning to the object of her ire. “As for your rape fantasy, fucker, I was there the whole time, and my dear tree rrat friend is guilty of no such thing, this was co-onsensual as all hell. Tell your bitch to stop making out with guys cuter than you instead of lo-osing your shit!”
As it turns out, this isn’t the most diplomatic move. After a string of Matiyotl curses, the sailor puts his thick arm into motion, opting for a nice bitch slap to shut the girl up.
Alas, this does not come to pass. Yami’s left hand shoots up, grabs the forearm and yanks it. Her opponent is thrown off-balance and begins to take a step forward, so as not to fall. Yami thrusts her right knee forward and buries it deep into his stomach; soft flesh gives way to the hard knee cap.
Gasping for air, he looks up to the woman. In his mind, he’s quite ready to parlay, but she grabs his left shoulder and drives her forehead into the man’s face. The headbutt hits home, and the poor man falls to the floor, nose and cheekbone well fractured.
Yami’s face is covered with his blood now, and worse, she’s smiling as she squares up and glares at the man’s compatriots.
Johanna exploits this lull in the action to intervene. “HEY hey now my good gentlemen, it seems like things got quite heated, does it not? I understand my friend’s actions seem rash, but she only moved to protect her friend, is that not something you can empathize with?”
One of the other tanned drinkers steps and begins: “I mean, looks to me like she just wanted to start shit an-”
“Ahh, here’s an idea, how about you buy us a drink for choking our friend, and we buy you a round for, err, hitting one of yours? How’s that sound, Yammies?” The bleeding man on the floor has shaken off the stars and is groggily standing up. He rightens his nose with a wet schlock, and mumbles out: "I better get an extra fucking pint."
Yami’s eyes light up and she throws her arm around one of the sailor’s shoulders. “Drrinks? Hell yeah let’s goooo!!” This development seems to take the men aback, but they can't help but eye Yami's sword, still sheathed at her waist. Since even the one whose face looks like a purple cauliflower is amenable to the idea, everyone is quickly talked down. Soon after, the Risuner orders the biggest pitcher of beer in the bar like his life depends on it. Mayhaps it does.
Regardless, soon, all are raucously drinking and singing the hours away once more.
** Moriji for Cannibal
“Alright Yanna, I’m holding him.” The small girl (male) was in Yami’s arms. The Deadbeat’s two arms were locked under her (his) shoulders. She (He) was wearing the traditional vestments of the Kronissiah’s priestesses, a beautiful sky blue kimono patterned in gold, orange, white gears, flowers and snakes. A bouquet of blossoms in her (his) hair and an incredibly fluffy fur scarf completed the look. Yami had selected one of the finest femboy brothels of the red light district for this excursion.
"A-Are you quite sure about this, Yami?" Johanna liked to think of herself as a brave girl, but this was pushing the enveloppe.
Yami nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, with what we're paying him he should be happy!" The femboy didn't seem as self-assured. He was being paid fairly well for his work here, and normally, working with female clients was less straining, but this pair was quite forceful. "Take his clothes off already!"
The boy struggled a little in the Captain's strong arms, but there was nothing he could do. Yanna got to work unlacing the kimono.
...
"You're so CUTE!".
It did looks really nice on her, she had to admit, and the fur felt nice on her cheeks.
"I knew it would look amazing on you! Ahhh that was my best idea today!" Yami was extremely excited. After all, this was the first time she was seeing a Kronissiah priestess kimono on a lady. The naked Kronie prostitute was manacled to the bedpost, thankfully the bedroom was well-furnished with S&M equipment.
The compliments did make Yanna feel giddy. "It does, truly? Maybe I should buy one." Their captive almost fainted at the suggested blasphemy, a woman merely wearing this outfit without being a priestess was iconoclastic enough.
Yami rushed to a drawer and began scouring it for something. "There's something missing though..." At last, she found it. She held up the dark blue wig, triumphantly.
Johanna burst out laughing, straight from her heart, and began tying up her hair.
A morning in Kronistadt. Yanna & Yammies share a mild headache, but it's not too bad. They spent the small hours of the night playing cards in the brothel instead of drinking themselves into oblivion.
"Well, Yanna, I guess I'll escort you directly to wherever you and Joseph are staying." Yami has a big stretch and goes to unlock the Kronie's manacles. He's cutely sleeping on the floor, next to the bed.
Johanna, proper lady she is, is already all dressed up and ready to go. "Ohohohoho, you foolish girl, you think I'm gonna let you go before you show me the Death Wind? I've heard so much about that ship, I want to put a face on her, Yammies."
There is a bit of happy pride on Yami's face as she acquiesces to the request. Soon, they're both walking along on the harbor. There is a woman with a fiery head of hair standing next to the ship neighbouring the Death Wind. A tall cannibal, a Varangian guard by Yami's reckoning, accompanies her.
The vessel, the Darteronii according to its nameplate, is interestingly built. It's a beautiful ship, Yami thinks. The shipbuilding screams Nasfaqian, with the precise and elegant wood fittings she sees in the construction of vessels hailing from the Serene Republic. They were a common sight when she served in Acheron. But it has this very Kronie topcoat of paint, with its gear-centric decorations and Infinitum-cast cannons. A part of the Chronobanks fleet, perhaps? Yami's a bit curious as to its purpose, so she approaches the stranger to introduce herself.
"Well met, stranger!", says Yami. The woman instinctively takes the Deadbeat's extended hand. Her grip is firm and excellently practiced. This, combined with her fashion points her out as the ship's captain.
"Hello there, my name is Elizabeth. And you..." Before Yami answers, Lisa's eyes dart over her epaulettes' golden bones before settling on her face. "You would be Captain Wexlus?"
This gets a short laugh out of Yami. Johanna teases: "Ohohoho, famous, are you?"
Yami shakes her head, dismissive. "I think our friend Liz here is just a smart cookie, there aren't that many corvette-sailing Black Fleet captains in Kronistadt." She lets go of Lisa's hand and gives a small bow to both individuals. "Captain Yami Wexlus, but you can call me Yami. Does that big bear have a name? He doesn't bite, does he?" Yami smirks at the walking icebox of a man.
The Matiyotl offers a small chuckle, it sound like boulders rolling down a hill. He bows politely and introduces himself. "Bjorntl. No biting unless the boss asks me to." This seems to amuse Yami immensely; she shakes the hairy, tattooed arm with enthusiasm.
The officer then turns back the Lisa. "You came into port yesterday with the Risuner group, right?"
The two exchange pleasantries for some time; Yami is happy to hear the Risuners are well and to get the latest info on their number. She'd get well acquainted with them, as many were going to be transferred to the Death Wind, including the so-called VIP.
Yami and Johanna were about to excuse themselves to get on the corvette, when an odd question came from Lisa. "Say, Yami, I have never seen this before... Do you have Kronies in your family?"
That seemed to come out of nowhere. Yami rubbed her forehead thoughtfully for a second. "Hmm, not as far as I know. Why do you ask?"
Lisa put her hand on her chin, she was quite curious about this. "Well, I've never seen that before, a Deadbeat with dark blue hair."
The Deadbeat captain's face went cold. Her hand grasped her scalp and ripped off the wig.
"YANNA! You bitch! When did you stick that on me! Were you gonna let me get back to my ship like this?" Yami threw the cobalt ball of hair on the blonde in her fury.
Johanna's hand moves into the position, and she unleashes her weapon. "Ohohohohohoho, I was counting on it!"
Lisa looks at their bickering, blank-faced. 'What an odd pair...', she thinks.