A few minutes later, Gareth returned to appreciative murmurs from the folks in the study. Izzy let out a low whistle of approval. Gareth was wearing black trousers with white piping down the side. The bottoms of the trousers were tucked into the knee high boots. His jacket was of the same black cloth as his trousers with white piping that led down his arms from his shoulders to his wrists. Stiff, white epaulets rested on his shoulder, showing four black star shapes in a diamond pattern. The jacket had a high, banded collar with a strange symbol embroidered on the right side. A row of buttons that ran diagonally from his left shoulder to right hip kept the jacket closed. The top two buttons were open, showing a crisp white shirt underneath. His Void Rod sat in a holster made specifically for it. The rod was slung low, with the end of the holster tied around his thigh to keep it in place.
Tralnis pointed at Gareth’s epaulets, and then at the symbol on his collar. “Aren’t you just the right proper officer now. What do those fancy decorations mean?” he inquired.
RENE 7 pointed to the epaulets first. “The four black stars on a field of white denote the Captain of the Mascalian flagship. Regular Captains only receive three stars. Your new ship is the flagship of the Royal Mascalian Air Navy,” she stated.
“It’s the only ship in the Air Navy,” DAR-C 254 pointed out.
“Thus its status as the flagship,” RENE 7 insisted.
“Fine, fine, my son’s a Senior Captain. What does the fancy symbol on his neck mean?” Tralnis asked.
Gareth unconsciously let his fingers brush against the symbol on his collar. “From what the Automatons tell me, it’s sort of like a Mascalian court of arms. It designates me as Head of the House of Mintel,” he said, his voice cracking slightly.
Izzy reached over and squeezed Gareth’s hand. “And I can’t think of a better person to wear that emblem,” she told him.
“We should make our way to the dry docks. The others will be awaiting you,” DAR-C 254 suggested. She and RENE 7 had conveniently forgotten to mention that last person to wear both the Head of House emblem and the Four Black Stars was Gareth’s grandfather, the last King of Mascal.
“Gareth, I know Elizabeth will try to argue that you shouldn’t be Captain. Just so you know, if she somehow wins over the rest of the crew, you’re still keeping that uniform,” Izzy told him firmly, with a hungry look in her eyes. She was torn between wanting to stare at Gareth in his handsome new uniform, and ripping it off to get at the man underneath it.
Izzy’s musing were cut short when a small spider like robot scrambled into the room. It had a large, rotating mechanical eye in the center of its back. The spider like robot crawled up onto the couch, and waved two of its eight legs around to make sure everyone was paying attention to it. A red crystal on the top of its head flashed in a seemingly random pattern. “That’s not good,” RENE 7 muttered, after the mechanical spider stopped flashing.
“What’s not good?” Gareth inquired.
“This little fellow is part of a network of surveillance Automatons we have stationed around the island. It seems as though the pirates that destroyed your Leyship are still in the area. Eyebot 7685 said he saw a small, two man dirigible cross the storm boundary, and then turn around once it saw the island,” RENE 7 explained. “Gareth, we need to get you to the dry docks as soon as possible,” she urged. “The experimental airship is the only air defense we have. The pirates would soon learn the range of our land based weapons, and simply fly higher. They could bombard the island from the air with impunity if we don’t launch the ship soon!” she explained.
Gareth nodded his head in understanding. “Right, to the dry docks it is,” he agreed.
As everyone filed out of the house on their way to the air transport, RENE 7 grabbed Gareth’s arm to have him stay behind for just a moment. “Gareth, I know it seems like a trivial thing, and rather odd coming from a mechanical, but the Mascalians had a superstition about flying a ship that hasn’t been named yet. As Captain, it’s your right to name the ship before her maiden voyage,” she told him. Gareth smiled at her, and leaned over to whisper what he wanted the ship named. RENE 7 nodded, and passed along the information to the Eyebot who scuttled out of the house to relay the information to the dry docks.
Chapter 31
The loading ramp had barely touched the ground before Gareth was out of the transport, and jogging his way down the path to the dry docks. The other passengers quickly followed him, with RENE 7 bringing up the rear since her joints had not been designed for running. DAR-C 254 nearly flew into Gareth’s back when he stopped suddenly. Blocking his way into the naval complex was the huge Automaton Kevin along with Pilot, Sheldon, and a new and improved Elizabeth Morgana.
Gone was Elizabeth’s old brass mechanical arm with its three fingered hand. In its place, was an almost human looking arm made of smooth, gray metal. The only thing that really showed it was mechanical were the metal wheels on the outsides of her elbow and wrist. The new hand had the usual human arrangement of four fingers and a thumb. Elizabeth’s face had also been dramatically updated by the Mascalian Automatons. A flexible mesh of the same gray metal that made up her arm covered all of her burn scars. Her glass eye had been replaced by a glowing, red crystal lens similar to the one Kevin had on his tri-lens contraption.
“Let’s get on board the ship so Gareth can turn it on, and then hand it over to me as the real Captain,” Elizabeth ordered.
Gareth squared his shoulders and took a step towards Elizabeth. “No, that’s not how this is going work,” he warned her.
Elizabeth rolled her good eye at him. “Look at him, kid gets dressed up like some sort of soldier, and he suddenly thinks he’s captain material,” she scoffed. “You got your chance to play dress up, and now it’s time for the grownups to get some work done,” she chided him.
DAR-C 254 leaned forward menacingly, and started to fly towards Elizabeth. Gareth stopped the robot by sticking out his arm to block her way. “I’ll handle this, DAR-C,” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. Gareth put his arm down, and took another step forward, invading Elizabeth’s personal space. “Elizabeth Morgana, that ship in there is part of the Royal Mascalian Air Navy. As senior officer in the Air Navy, I am taking command of her to defend the Island of Mascal. If you interfere with that, I will have Kevin take you into custody until such time as we return from the battle. Now step aside!” he proclaimed, his voice taking on a new air of command. He didn’t bother to tell her he was the only officer of the Mascalian Air Navy at the time.
Elizabeth sneered at him, as she took one small step to the side. “Have fun trying to fly that ship without a crew,” she said with a sneer. Elizabeth was confident that if forced to choose, her crew would stand by her side.
Izzy threw her sister a disgusted look before she stormed up to Gareth, and gave him a formal military style salute. “Isadora Morgana, reporting for duty as Engineer, Captain!” she stated, emphasizing the last word as she glared at her sister.
Tralnis rushed over to stand next to Izzy. He also saluted Gareth. “Doctor Tralnis Granitestaff, reporting for duty as Ship’s Surgeon, Captain,” he said, with a tremendous amount of pride for his son in his voice.
Henry walked over, and put his hand on first his own chest and then Gareth’s in an ancient Chim ritual. After hooting and snarling softly, Henry dropped his hand, and stood next to Izzy and Tralnis. “Thank you, Chef. I’m honored to have you as a crewmember,” Gareth said solemnly.
Unlike Izzy, Pilot gave Elizabeth an apologetic look. “I hope that someday you will forgive me, former Captain of the Glorious Dawn, but I have seen the ship we are discussing. I would be a fool not to seize this opportunity,” he told her before turning away from his previous Captain to swear his services to his new one. “I am a son of the people of Roehus. I wish to serve as the pilot for the unnamed ship awaiting us in dry dock,” Pilot said, giving a snappy salute.
Elizabeth looked at the last two biologicals with dwindling hope. Teesh reinforced
this by snorting in laughter at Elizabeth. “Yeah, right,” she said sarcastically before striding over to stand next to Gareth. “Do you have a place on board for me?” she asked him.
Gareth knelt on one knee to get his head even with Teesh’s. “We would be lost without you,” he assured her. Teesh replied by hugging Gareth. When she released her hold on the man she thought of as her honorary big brother, Teesh stepped back, and took hold of Izzy’s hand.
Sheldon’s left eyestalk pivoted to look at Elizabeth. “We’ve always thought you were kind of a bitch, so… um… no,” it told her before Sheldon walked over to join the crowd around Gareth.
The right eyestalk stood up straight, and said, “Cargo Master…” Sheldon rumbled out his full name which sounded something like two elephants slap fighting. “… reporting for duty, Captain,” the right eyestalk finished.
Gareth stood at attention, and saluted his new crew as a group. “Pardon me, Captain Mintel,” RENE 7 said. “We… I mean Kevin, DAR-C 254, and I were talking earlier, and were wondering if you were going to allow Automatons to sign on as crew members,” she stated.
Gareth slowly looked over the three Automatons. “You three want to leave the island?” he asked. All three Automatons nodded their mechanical heads. “I would be honored,” Gareth replied with a small bow.
Kevin rolled forward, and grabbed Gareth before pulling him into a rib bruising hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” the tank like robot gushed.
“Kevin… can’t… breathe…” Gareth gasped.
Kevin dropped Gareth, and muttered a heartfelt, “Sorrrry.”
When Gareth was able to finally take in another full breath, he turned to face Elizabeth. “I seem to have my crew, Miss Morgana,” he told her firmly. “I only need one more crewmember to make things complete. I’m in desperate need of a good First Officer willing to kick me in the ass when I do something stupid,” he offered.
Elizabeth slowly turned, and met the eyes of her former crew in turn. When she finished looking at them, she sighed, and let her shoulders slump. “Knowing my luck, if I stay behind, you’ll destroy the new ship pulling out of dry dock. I’ll either starve to death, or be killed by pirates,” she moaned. “If I go with you, I’ll at least get to keep an eye on my baby sister, and choke the life out of you if you hurt her,” she added, looking directly at Gareth. Elizabeth let out one last sigh, straightened up, and threw back her shoulders. With a passable salute, Elizabeth stated, “First Officer Elizabeth Morgana, reporting for duty.” Gareth returned the salute, and led his crew into the building.
The crew was met inside by a swarm of Automatons that looked like a cross between insects and Centaurs. Their bodies consisted of three, ovoid structures set end to end, with a pair of limbs on each section. A rotating head sat on a track that ran down the center of each ovoid, allowing the head to be at whatever end it wanted to be. A slightly smaller worker robot stepped forward, while rotating the front section of its body upwards, and placing its head at the top it. “Captain Mintel, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you again,” it told Gareth, in a voice that was hard to distinguish if it were male or female.
Gareth shook his head in amusement. “Are there any Automatons on the Island who didn’t know me as a child?” he inquired.
Rene 7 and DAR-C 254 raised their hands. “We came on line after the Wizard Wars,” Rene 7 informed him.
Kevin tilted his large head to the side. “I don’t remember if I knew you before. My memory crystals were damaged,” he admitted.
The worker robot nodded its front section in understanding. “Your aunt Moira Mintel, our head ship designer, brought you in to show you off after you were born. She brought you a second time after you decided to lick that charged Aetherium tube. She said you were born to be an engineer, just like her,” it reminisced.
“Actually, I’m a linguist,” Gareth admitted.
“Oh… well, no one’s perfect I suppose,” the worker robot muttered. “Anyway, were the Eyebots correct in telling us you plan on taking your Aunt’s masterpiece into battle on its maiden voyage?” it inquired.
Gareth nodded his head. “I’m afraid so,” he replied.
“How exciting!” the worker robot squealed. “Since you are going into combat so soon, I’ll give you the fighting man’s tour. After that, I’ll have you activate the main circuit to get her started,” it suggested before lowering its front section to the ground. The head slid along the track, and took up position on the other end. “This way please,” it requested, while walking off in the direction the head was now facing.
The worker bot led them through a series of doors until they reached the main hanger. The crew stopped, and stared when they saw their new airship which was made of some sort of dark, golden colored metal. The new ship was twice as long as the Glorious Dawn, with two enormous Aetherium tubes that ran the entire length of the airship. Large, curved metal shields ran from the edge of the main deck, to just below the bottom of the Aetherium tubes. The bridge was raised two stories above the deck on a bent goose neck like structure, and was completely enclosed in clear crystal panels. On deck were two large guns, with a much smaller gun mounted at the bottom of the aft wall. Written on the side of the ship in large letters in the Trade language were words that brought tears to the old crews’ eyes. The new ship had been had been christened the “HMS Glorious Dawn.” Izzy squeezed Gareth’s hand, too choked up for words.
“This is the first Royal Mascalian Air Navy ship to fly in nearly 13,000 years. It will defend this island, and show the rest of Hadronus that we have returned. She has quite the legacy to live up to. I gave her a name worthy of that destiny,” he explained. Izzy pulled Gareth toward her, and gave her new captain quite the kiss in front of the crew.
The little worker robot played the recording of a polite cough to get the Gareth’s attention. When the kiss ended, Gareth nodded towards the worker robot. Raising one of its front limbs to point toward the HMS Glorious Dawn, the robot said, “This is the first of the Gold Swan class cruisers. She runs off of Dark Magic charged Aetherium, and can out fly anything we had built previously. A copy of Center’s personality runs the minor systems on the ship, allowing her to have a far smaller crew than what would normally be seen on a ship her size,” it told them. “As a multipurpose combat vessel, the HMS Dawn is armed with the latest in anti-Wizard technology. Her primary defense is the hull which is made of calith, a copper and steel alloy which conducts magic poorly. Magic spells loose most of their effectiveness when striking this shield,” it told them.
“The HMS Glorious Dawn boasts three guns as her primary offensive weapons. The tail gun mounted on the aft wall works by dropping metal balls from a hopper into the barrel. The gunner squeezes the trigger, which completes a rune sequence that sends magic into the repulsion rune carved into the rear of the barrel. The repulsion rune throws a metal sphere slightly faster and farther than the gunpowder fueled weapons these modern pirates seem to favor. Using magic instead of gunpowder, we are able to increase the rate of fire to a little under two shots per second, or roughly 110 shots per minute. The hopper holds over a thousand spheres to keep it in action for the duration of most fights,” it explained, while pointing to the rear of the ship.
They continued to walk along the side of the new Glorious Dawn, and the worker robot used one of its free limbs to point towards the deck gun in front of the bridge neck. It was mainly a huge barrel with a gunner’s chair mounted on the side. A pair of monstrous gears were placed at the base of the barrel to let the gunner move the barrel up and down. The whole contraption sat on a rotating disc, giving it almost a 360 degree field of fire. “The main gun works on a very similar principle to the tail gun. Squeezing the trigger completes the rune array, and triggers the repulsion rune. Only instead of throwing small metal spheres, this one throws twenty pound shells that can be loaded with explosive powders or flammable oils. The size of the projectile means it has to be breach loaded manually,” it said.
/> The second gun was unlike anything the biologicals had ever seen before. It was mounted behind the bridge neck. A black, geodesic dome was split in two, with a series of crystals and mirrors set between the two halves. The mirrors ended up pointing to a final crystal that stuck out of the end of the barrel.
The worker robot rotated its head to look at Gareth. “That was your aunt’s greatest invention. We were taking a pounding from the Wizards, and found that the most powerful Wizards could raise magical shields that would block everything we could throw at them. Moira realized that the Wizards were able to see what we were doing. She tried to come up with a way to use that fact against them,” the worker robot stated. “The answer came when your aunt was watching her wife burn a design into a piece of wood, using only a magnifying glass and sunlight. Moira brought her idea to the Technomancers. Together, they built the Sunlight Collection and Focusing Array Weapon or SCFAW,” the robot explained. “After trying to say that fast, they shortened it down to Sun gun. The black dome halves collect and store sunlight. When fired, the stored sunlight is fed into the focusing crystals and mirror arrays. The gun creates a variable width beam of light. The beam can go from being 30 feet wide, able to blind the enemy crew, down to a beam no thicker than a sewing needle. The heat of the thinnest setting is capable of cutting through solid metal,” it said proudly.
“How effective was it?” Pilot inquired.
“We have no idea. Like most of the ship, it’s a prototype, and we never got a chance to try it out before the dock went into null-entropy mode,” the worker robot admitted.
This brought Gareth up short, and he stopped to stare at the little six legged robot. “Are there any systems on this ship that aren’t prototypes?” he asked, worried about what the answer would be.
Gareth and th Lost Island Page 25