Contrary to a turbulent night far away, morning arrived peacefully on the longboat drifting along the sea.
Edgar awoke in Thessa's personal quarters, finding himself staring at an archaic green wooden ceiling. Last night's events slowly came into focus. The eager bachelorette had clung to him like vines, insisting he stay in her room and citing Fae Garden's tradition of honoring guests. Eleanor erupted at this prospect, her fury threatening to spark another magical deathmatch. Only a united effort from both their crews had prevented round two of Wizardry brawling.
Rising from his impromptu floor mattress, he turned to the room's centerpiece: a bed. He halted, observing the curious sight before him, warmth spreading in his chest.
Eleanor and Thessa lay entangled on the bed like wrestling kittens. The arch-enemies snored softly, nuzzling each other like sisterly body-pillows. He absorbed this rare image, ignoring blankets and pillows strewn about the bedroom, casualties of two disastrous sleepers. He was too content to care.
After making himself presentable, Edgar left the bedroom with only a satisfied smirk. Pretending not to hear the yelps and hollers erupting from the two bedmates, he savored his genius compromise: accepting Thessa's offer but putting Eleanor on the bed instead of himself.
Leaving the mewling of embarrassed rivals behind, he turned to his scheduled appointment just steps away.
In the lower deck, he stepped toward a hatch and pulled it up without a creak, then descended the carved ladder, placing one foot carefully after another. Landing in the boat’s hold, he went past a haphazard rack of armory and supplies, bathed in steady light from above. Finally, he swiveled into a corner where the vessel's heart pulsed.
A crystalline stone machine, the Cosmic Engine, dominated the room. In one corner sat two men at a work-table, waiting for him: Machin and a new face, Baldwin, a bald Fae with a long white beard, dressed in loose silk clothing.
"Good morning, gentlemen," the Pioneer began, then pressed on without delay. "Shall we address our main issue?"
"The lack of gunpowder?" Machin affirmed.
He nodded, drawing his Penetrator Eagle Handgun and placing it on the table. "I'm running low on bullets and explosives. I need alternatives if things get worse."
Baldwin, his voice low with age, picked up the weapon. "I heard your girlfriend uses an energy weapon. Why not follow her example?"
"Eleanor's plasma gun was tailor-made by Magister Custom," the weapon-modding Pioneer explained, reaching for the shelves above their wooden worktable. "Unlike her, I prefer my own customization." He took out several boxes of tools.
"Fascinating," the bald Exos remarked, returning his gun. He watched as the modder expertly field-stripped his Penetrator Eagle. "You seem quite skilled at this."
Edgar spread various parts—grip, barrel, firing-mechanism—on the table. "My uncle taught us weapon modification. Now, can you explain how your weapons work?"
Baldwin produced a broken Fae Garden standard Radiant Scepter: a Fairy-Wood stick topped with fragrant jadeite. He handed it to his human friend as the gadgeteer Dwarf began his explanation.
"Most of our weapons are energy-based," Machin said, taking a micro-cutter from their toolbox. "We source energy from trans-dimensional Rift Lines. The gem on top is an energy medium—you can use this to cut it out."
The blonde man examined the wand, then the saw, and finally looked to the pudgy gadgeteer for guidance. "Where's the firing mechanism?"
The rotund inventor delivered the bad news. "It's thought control—a mystical enchantment etched in the Fairy-Wood converts trans-dimensional energy to kinetic energy."
Edgar rolled his eyes. "So how do I put it in the gun?"
"You can't," Baldwin stated matter-of-factly. "Fairy-Wood is a Rift Lines creation, produced in Fae Garden to harness cosmic phenomena." He anticipated the human’s next question. "And no, we don't have a trigger-compatible version."
"Great." the modder set down his tool and massaged his forehead. "Any ideas on how to work around this?"
The pair of Fae Garden’s scholars exchanged a look of shared intellectual wisdom.
"What kind of projectile do you want to fire?" the Dwarf inquired.
The Pioneer considered. "Something with decent recoil, packing power, but usable with a regular trigger-reflex."
Baldwin rubbed his chin, fiddling with several Fairy-Wood pieces. "Classical mechanism won't work, then."
Suddenly, Machin's eyes lit up. "Wait! Remember what happens when broken gems collide inside a kinetic enchantment?"
"The sonic outburst?" Baldwin's face brightened with understanding. "I see where you're going. We could rig the firing pin to strike two gem pieces together, using a Fairy-Wood ring to focus the sound waves."
The Pioneer nodded. "A sonic gun? Interesting. We'd need to replace the firing mechanism and barrel." He retrieved a roll of paper, quickly sketched a schematic, and handed Machin his gun barrel. "Can you make something similar, but fitted with Fairy-Wood to narrow the sonic pulse?"
"I can manage that," Machin replied, studying an expert’s drawing.
"What about us?" Baldwin asked.
"We'll handle the trigger mechanism," Edgar said, grabbing the micro-cutter. He turned to his co-worker. "How steady are your hands, old man?"
The old Exos chuckled, selecting an etcher from the table. "Not steady enough, I'm afraid. I'll handle the inscriptions instead."
Working through the morning, the trio cut, filed, and soldered their way toward completing their newest project. Time blurred as they focused intently on fitting multiple pieces together. For them, each moment - from the sharp, metallic smell of handheld welders to precise measurements of calipers - was a reward in itself.
With his co-workers watching in anticipation, Edgar assembled the final pieces. The firing system clicked satisfyingly into his Penetrator's grip, and delicately crafted cylindrical chamber screwed into place, forming a new weapon.
"Will it shoot?" the gadgeteer Dwarf asked.
"Only one way to find out," the modder replied.
Suddenly, the entire room shook. The Cosmic Engine hanging in the corner sparked ominously. The vibration stopped as quickly as it started, but it was enough to alert the three that something was wrong.
The bald scholar gulped as Machin and Edgar rushed out of the room. "That can't be good," he muttered, hurrying after them.
The trio stumbled from the sterile, water-tight hold, quickly climbing up the ladder to a darkened lower deck. The rotund Earth Clansman, hindered by his bulk, needed old Baldwin's help for his last few steps. Hearing Machin's labored breathing, the early Pioneer knew everyone had made it up. He rushed to the hatch and pushed it open, only to be greeted by a miniature salty waterfall that forced him back down.
After regathering his bearings and fighting off pouring brine from the hatch, Edgar ascended to face a stampede of pandemonium.
Many crewmen would usually call the top deck boring; its lack of eye-catching features and few wooden boxes substituting for chairs failed to leave any memorable mark. All would miss that reality soon. Hectic motion gripped the crew. Fae and wolfish subhumans ran all over flooded boards to hold everything together against the fury of sodium chloride up their noses.
Bravo howled against the apocalyptic wind speed and a lake for floor. Like everyone, relentless rain had soaked him to the bone. But his kind's animalistic pelt suffered worse than normal clothing, reduced to a wet mop in a soaking downpour.
Balancing at the middle of her ship, Thessa stood, barking orders against deafening waves. Above her, white Fairy-Silks flapped forlornly. Many Crewmen surrounded those sails, either tripping in their attempt to combat the flood with buckets, or running on-site maintenance to keep stabilization enchantment going.
The most valiant task went to Eleanor, of course. The Magister, her hair a black matte atop her head, diverted furious smiting from the gray ceiling up high. A stinging bolt took the bridge of electric field crafted by her Wizardry and deposited itself into ravenous waters. She saw Edgar and pointed shakily at Thessa.
Understanding Eleanor's silent language, he forged toward their captain. He momentarily contemplated a chest on the deck, wondering about the safety of its contents. Deciding to refocus on his mission, Edgar approached the Keeper and shouted against the noisy air current, "Thessa, what is going on?"
"We're hit with this storm out of nowhere!" Thessa, also contesting against the gale, replied. "Our stabilizer is working at the moment, but lightning is shorting our enchantment. Keep this up and we will list over."
Another loud smash courtesy of foaming waters struck the hull nearby, punching an unfortunate crewman from his feet before the duo's eyes. Also a witness to a comedy of the Evil God, a Fae turned to the angry sky. "At least it couldn't get worse," he jinxed them faster than anyone could stop him.
Answering the man's ill-timed prayer, bubbles from the deep heralded the sea's chuckle. A serpent of massive proportion, a mass of scale and muscle, broke from the expanse. It flexed taller than the boat's mast. An eyeball large enough to contain Edgar overlooked its prey, its gaze cold and alien. Unimpressed by mortals below it, the beast bellowed, unleashing a stench fouler than its toxic-colored hide.
"Sea Leviathan?" Thessa queried the heavens as the combat-modder drew his new gun and her men's spirits buckled. "Why?" she complained, more upset than surprised as action exploded around them.
Edgar aimed and fired fastest. An immaterial projectile flew like a dream, but its recoil caught him flatfooted. Despite taking off a chunk of the monster's face and eliciting a roar of pain from the Sea Leviathan, he flopped like a pancake onto the soaked floors. He landed on his stomach, wincing beside a familiar hatch.
The Pioneer found familiar faces peeking at him from the lower deck’s safety. "Machin—" he steeled himself against a sucker punch thrown by his own weapon, "—what was that?"
"I think we need to tune the impact modulation!" Machin beckoned for Edgar’s weapon. "This will take a while."
The gun passed for tuning while kinetic blasts from the crews' Radiant Scepters failed to scratch the monster. Unfazed, the Sea Leviathan focused on the biggest threat: Edgar Shin. It hauled itself from the water, shredding through the deck to reach him.
Despite his drenched clothes, the seasoned young man’s reflexes kicked in. He rolled away as the beast splintered the Fairy-Woods. Spotting a nearby chest, Edgar lunged for it. But for a moment, he forgot this wasn't a solo fight.
Eleanor seized her chance, whipping out her Black Jasper. She focused on the massive scaled creature delivering itself on the cutting board, and brained it with a couple penetrative plasma bolts. The Magister blew her gun’s smoking cylinder, confident she had finished her job.
"Wait!" Thessa suddenly yelled, a Fae Garden's Artillery Staff in hands. "That thing can regenerate. You need to completely blow off its head!"
Hearing that, Eleanor saw a twitching from the dead creature and defaulted to violence. This time, she scattered its triangular skull to different angles with a plasma grenade shot.
Splattered by some gore, Edgar felt thankful for the rain’s cleansing water. His arm, hugging the chest, lifted its lid to reveal his backpack of weapons. He unzipped his bag, took out his Penetrator AR, and slotted in one of the scant magazines. He didn't know why it should be needed with the threat dead, but his instinct screamed otherwise.
A clarification soon emerged from the abyss as two more Sea Leviathans punched out of the ocean. Their wiry forms leered at the ship. With a hiss rasping like ten thousand wasps, they descended on the sailing victims.
"Three Leviathans in a day!" Thessa screeched, lugging one Sea Leviathan off course with a massive kinetic blast from her Artillery Staff. "What the hell is wrong with this ocean!?"
Unable to answer, Edgar helped her by open firing with his Penetrator AR. The corner of his eyes caught Bravo coming to help with a Phosphorus Cannon. But a massive tail wrapping their ship soon forced his attention, and more importantly, more of his bullets. The Penetrator in his hand sputtered more ammunition, uselessly pinging off the creature's scales. The frustrated shooter frowned at the lack of result and went back to his backpack to get a portable shotgun. This time, a loud retort of metal pellets at critical range drew the coppery scent of blood and screeches of pain.
The creature glared at the man who drew first blood, but another burst from Thessa's Staff distracted it enough for Bravo's flaming Cannon to punch it in the face.
On the opposite hull, the longboat’s crew struggled, their Radiant Scepters less effective than flashlights. One particular Fae nearly became lunch if not for Eleanor coming in with a stream of lightning and sending a massive serpent reeling.
The Magister, hearing the painful cry, knew exactly where to proceed. With her catalytic ring in hand and her will sharp, she primed the potential difference of charge between herself and two giant sea snakes. Crackling sparks lanced from her skin as she unleashed twin lightning forks from her fingers, frying both attackers.
Overwhelmed by Eleanor’s barrage, the two behemoths crashed back into the sea, eliciting triumphant cheers which drowned out the hammering downpour.
Before the Pioneer could join the celebration, a familiar sensation visited him again. The world slowed, and whoops of joy stretched into microcosms on a long road. On cue, a familiar voice contacted him; its message was bleak.
Brace yourself. Things have gone wrong. It had awakened early. The attack had only begun.
Edgar's vision took on a panoramic view. He could see from a bird's eye perspective. The ocean stretched out in blue, except for the area around their longboat, where shades became much darker. His heart sank when he realized that deep shade belonged to a massive shadow, their boat reduced to a tiny dot in comparison.