Chapter 7: ...under the skies.

Paperwork.

Tess began regretting her rash decision of rallying up a task force to chase after the Grosjager. The actual execution of her commands had gone smoothly enough, for who dared oppose a major running an operation against their number one enemy - but the paperwork remained undaunted, and now Tess found herself shuffling all the papers needed for the maintenance of a small platoon. It didn't help that this platoon was traveling on an airship, something not normally supposed to happen, which caused even more paperwork to appear.

Private Mitten knocked on the door and entered the room carrying yet another pile of paperwork. The afternoon sun danced upon the cloud cover below Sleepywood, enticing everyone to come out and enjoy it, but Tess would probably be stuck filling forms and signing sheets until sunset.

"What's this new batch now, Mitts?" She asked wearily, not looking up. If even such a small unit like this - their manpower was exactly ten! - required so much paperwork, how much would a full Corps take? She tried not to think about it.

"D/M/D personnel data, Major," he answered, placing the pile down and smartly exiting the room before Tess "volunteered" him to help with the papers. Among other things, Sleepywood carried state-of-the-art communications devices which were more often then not used to transmit paperwork.

Whoever was usually in charge of the Sixth Rifle Guards, 18th Kerning Corps must be having a field day, Tess thought as she wondered how on maple this new batch was related to her own small force. D/M/D forms kept track of personnel dead/missing/discharged, and were kept on file for eighteen months before being sealed. Those ready to be sealed were reviewed and certified biannually, and the time was now.

Tess paused for a moment. Date of birth, May 26th, 1369... Today was August 1st, 1389. If she were alive, though unlikely after missing for eighteen months, the poor girl would be twenty and in the ripeness of life... Tess would say a prayer for Naimee Koredaar, of the 6th Rifle Guards, 18th Kerning Corps, fallen at the hands of the Grosjager on one of their infamous raids, victim of hatred and intolerance, tonight. It all goes back to the Boters and Haxors, Tess thought. They are the root of all this evil...

"Major Koredaar!" The command echoed through the bulkheads of the Raven. It took a moment before Naimee realized that she was the one being called; that was how rarely her last name was ever used. Mostly it was because it told of one single ancestor, rather than a lineage she could be associated with.

She found her way to the wardroom, where Claw was sitting waiting for her with a scowl on his face.

"Commander," she acknowledged curtly.

"The Grosjager has been compromised," he began. "The organisation has been put into danger - needlessly." His eyes narrowed. "Because of your misjudgement, major."

Claw's gauntleted hand rapped the table impatiently. Naimee's weapons were at the bottom of the sea, and she had not rearmed herself. Even her clothing was borrowed from Halire.

"So, what do you say we do now? Or should I be even considering your advice?"

Naimee did not bother answering the contemptuous tone. She merely picked up a stack of documents on the table in front of Claw and prepared to leave. "I suppose this contains my next orders." It was not a question.

"Have a nice trip, major."

"Nice trip" was just about right. The first document was a passport certified for entrance into Kerning City. Naimee frowned as the name used was her real name. She tried to recollect what the expiration date on her D/M/D form from her brief stint in the military would be, then realized that it would in fact be this day. Somewhere, perhaps at this very moment, some unfortunate officer of the Kerning Army would be initialling the paperwork before it was destroyed.

The next item was a certificate guaranteeing her eligibility to work as a security guard in sensitive locations. Her next mission would involve someone or something important, then. She quickly flipped over to the third document. She gasped.

Naimee was holding a map of the prestigous, exclusive Internet Cafe of Kerning. The map had a particular emphasis on security considerations, with strongpoints clearly marked and a fair amount of the city surrounding included... there was a second map on a larger scale, and it displayed in detail every nook and crany around the main entrance. Naimee looked back and forth between the maps, and realized why...

Sure, the Internet Cafe's ground security was formidable, probably to keep its snobby, rich, Haxor-related clients safe from the masses who either idolized or hated them. However, the situation above the ground was a different story entirely. There was only one location, a balcony, that offered an overlooking command of the entire area. It would be so easy to drop a bolt down onto any point on the ground from up there. And if Naimee worked her way to be in charge of that security point...

Who would be the target? Naimee picked up the fourth and final item. It was a newspaper clipping headlined "Sleepywoodnet Corporation Board to attend Internet Cafe New Year Party". There were many names and places underlined in various colours to throw off the enemy should the package fall into their hands, but Naimee ignored them all and searched for the faint purple line that would tell her the target. She found it; the word above was "Ruk".

Target, location, time; all the pieces were set.

Sleepywood was bustling with activity. Her guns were fully functional and her decks were cleared of any excess. Tess, having finally finished the paperwork, stepped out into the open air of the deck and right into a crewman.

"Sorry Major!" Tess's oaken leaves guaranteed that she did no wrong. "First Gunner Hitachi, ma'am!" He quickly scampered off to man his position at the forward turret, wand in hand.

"Ah, Major Tess." The captain's gruff but friendly voice spoke. "We have managed to get a visual on our quarry at last. Perhaps you would like to watch the hunt." Even as his spoke, his crew was expertly preparing the ship for battle. He had trained them well. He had to have distinguished himself in his career; command of the navy's newest and most advanced ship was not just handed out to just anybody.

There was a loud screeching noise. "Lubricate the turret bearings!" the captain ordered. A trio of deckhands immediately rushed forward with machinery oil. In their haste, a small bit of the slippery liquid sloshed out onto the deck. "Get someone to clean that up!" There was no margin for error in battle. "Excuse me," turning back to Tess, but she said "It's alright. I'll just watch and try not to get in the way."

Meanwhile, Hitachi eased into the gunner's compartment inside the turret. The "cannon", for all the boasts about it, was nothing but a glorified giant wand mounted on a turnstile, with the entire system moved and powered by a group of mages belowdecks. Hitachi made himself comfortable in the leather seat, then activated the turret - something that only he and the other select gunners on board could do for safety reasons. His wand had a key-like tip which he inserted into a keyhole-like slot at the base of the cannon. When it was secure, he closed his eyes and willed the entire thing, gun, seat, base and all, to turn.

Effortlessly, cannon pointed at a patch of sky on the port side of the ship. Hitachi then aimed to starboard, then straight up towards the sun. When he was satisfied that the turret was functioning normally, he gave the ready signal.

The captain gave the commands himself. "Forward turret, bearing two-nine-four, angle down twenty degrees! Load forward, energy bolt! Forward turret, adjust bearing at will!"

Tess looked at where the captain indicated and could see a black speck on the horizon. "Is that the Grosjager ship?" she asked. "Affirmative" was the answer.

Hitachi swung the turret on the correct bearing. He noticed that his aim was slighly off to the left, and he had permission to adjust his aim... it was difficult though. The cannon's aim was controlled by his thoughts, channeled through his wand, and it was steady only as much as he himself was steady. This was the drawback of this system, the advantage was that no physical strength was required to operate the ship's weapons.

He concentrated on the far-away blip and willed it to the centre of his sights. The Raven was soon hovering between the crosshairs. By now the mages below had charged up the wand with a single supercharged shot of energy bolt, and he could feel the magical energy impatiently waiting to destroy something.

"Match bearings and shoot!" The command rang out loud and clear.

The entire ship recoiled slightly as the giant magical projectile was released. It bore straight for its target...

Meanwhile, in the bustle of preparations nobody had bothered to clean up the spilled oil...