Pirates For The Mainland

"Redstone is right, Andrews," the goddess said, her voice smooth and light. "You are not allowed to hunt the dead emperor's people."

"But they insulted you, my lady," Andrews argued, not lifting his head. "I would not let such a blatant show of disrespect stand."

"You are simply searching for any reason to have these three killed," the goddess replied. "If you want to kill them, you will need a good reason, such as everyone else does. You cannot simply impose your aggression. That would be murder fueled by your prejudice. I won't stop you, but you'll pay for your misdeeds in the afterlife."

Andrews did not reply.

"Are we so interesting that we would deserve a visit from the young daughter?" Nog questioned.

"My father is dead and gone, Captain Nog," the goddess replied. "I do not wish to be reminded of those times. Please, do not address me in such a way."

It was an awkward meeting. The goddess simply sat and continued to smile at the pirates as the two followers kept their heads bowed.

"Well, I didn't really have much else to say," the goddess said, breaking the silence. "I wish you three luck."

"We appreciate it," Dart replied. "We'll need all the luck we can get."

"Oh, I'm confident you'll make it to the mainland," the goddess said. "I'm wishing you luck for something else."

The pirates looked at the young woman with questioning glances, but within a blink of an eye she disappeared from their sights.

"You can lift your heads now," Neko told the two fearful worshippers. "Your goddess has left."

The train made it to the city of Mish without any further incident. More industrial park than anything, Mish was a place of factories, mining, and smokey skies. The countryside around the city was littered with mining operations, leading companies to build their facilities close by rather than have resources shipped out. The many smokestacks of the dozens of factories made the area always blanketed in a dreary darkness.

The train pulled into Redstone's private railway where it was directed to a track to rest and let its passengers off. When the doors opened to the small platform of the station, several men in white coats and a couple in navy uniforms were waiting for the passengers.

"Welcome back, sir," the man in front greeted Redstone. "It's always a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e having you here."

"Hello, Derek," Redstone replied. "Please take us to the weapons division. I'm not interested in wasting any time on this trip. Things have been less than enjoyable and I wish to go home as soon as I am able."

"Yes, sir," Derek acknowledged. "If you and your guests will just follow me I'll take us to our weapons demonstration hall and we'll get started on the tests you wanted to see."

From the station there was a dedicated trolley that took them to the main research facility. It was a fancy thing, with an interior reminiscent in color of Redstone's office. Everyone sat in wait for a few minutes as the steam engine propelled them along. Redstone's men kept their eyes on the three pirates without distraction.

As they left the trolley and walked through various white halls of the research facility, the trio kept their guards up as there were always Redstone's men behind them. Andrews had spoken at length with the navy men that were present but the pirates were unable to overhear. When the party made it to the testing hall for the demonstration, Andrews also sent a message out via the vacuum mail tube near the door. Behavior the trio would not take lightly.

The testing hall was several hundred yards long. Near the door was a table with many steam-powered weapons and their various necessary accessories or attachments with them. At the far end several targets could be seen placed upon various different materials. Dart and Nog didn't know what they were looking at, but Neko had a decent idea as the mechanic for the ship. The men in white coats were quick to make sure each weapon was ready for testing as the one who had spoken earlier got to the presentation.

"Mr. Redstone, these are the latest prototypes we have in working order," Derek said. "Each of these can be put into production with your approval and we can have one hundred made a day."

"I hope you only brought the ones that can accomplish what I asked," Redstone replied. "We need them to be able to penetrate the armor skin of a fish-man."

"These will do the job with ease," Derek assured him.

After a few final checks to make sure everything was hooked up properly, Derek took a rifle in his hands and took aim. The weapon looked very simple to make with a wooden frame and metal barrel, but the mechanism above the trigger was bulky and had hoses connected to it that led to a machine nearby.

With a squeeze of the trigger the gun let out a sharp and short-lived hiss of pressure that shot a bullet down range. The ringing of the metal target told of its strike and with a lever pull to his right, the mount for the target followed a railing until it was right in front of the crowd.

"There we are," Derek said. "I'm not the best for aim, but it has clearly shot right through this metal plate. This is the same metal that can be found on armored cars. It will surely be enough force to kill a fish man."

"Surely?" Redstone questioned. "So, you aren't sure then?"

"Well, we don't have any measurements or samples to test," Derek explained. "The best we can do is go by firsthand accounts of what their skin is like."

Redstone gave out a sigh of irritation.

"If that's all we have to work with, then fine," he said. "What about these other weapons? Are they all essentially the same?"

"Some of them are, yes," Derek answered. "These will all be a part of the ship, connected to the regulator and reservoir that we'll outfit below deck. These rifles will likely be set along the railing so that the crew can defend the deck. The larger gun there would be mounted to a place that can overlook the entire ship as it can fire much more rapidly. The rest are a few variances in design. The shortest one fires a collection of steel balls rather than a single bullet."

Redstone thought to himself for a moment before turning to Nog, who seemed a little lost.

"What do you think?" Redstone asked the captain. "Is this strong enough?"

Nog looked at the gun for a moment before gesturing to Neko with her head.

"Go punch that metal plate," Nog told him.

"I wouldn't," Derek advised. "That's incredibly strong armor plating. You'll break your hand."

Neko ignored the researcher and stepped around the tables to the target. With a planting of his feet and twist of the h.i.p.s he sent his right fist into the metal and it clanged loudly as it was broken from its mount. The armor plate fell to the floor with a racket and Neko turned around right after.

"That feels about right, more or less," he told his crewmates. "These guns should do the trick."

The crowd of Redstone's men were shocked at the display of power, but neither the navy men nor the big boss himself were so surprised.

"There you have it," Redstone said. "These will do. Give one hundred of each of these and send them to Liadreh. The pirate ship will be outfitted with what is necessary and I'll start marketing the rest for limited sale."