11-11-2017, 11:03 AM
Deep in the bowels of Nebula's flagship, crimson flames roared; Tortured metal groaned, punctuated by the cheerful zip and zing of popping rivets as the pressure inside the pot-bellied iron crucible of the number-four boiler reached and exceeded a critical threshold. Protoman's earlier rampage through the engineering section had shattered water-lines and pressure-valves, destroyed fire-prevention systems, set hydraulic fluid ablaze and filled the entire deck with oily black smoke. Darkling engineers worked frantically amidst the carnage of burning oil and ravaged machines, attempting to contain the damage, but the Liberator's assault, for all its haste, had been thorough: it was only a matter of a time.
The explosion was enormous. The boiler left the ship vertically, tearing through the upper decks and shooting into the sky on top of a column of fire and super-heated steam, before bursting in mid-air. It took most of the conning tower with it, sparing Cole and Jaco by bare moments. As the pressure-wave from the initial breach scoured the engineering deck, the number two and three boilers tore themselves apart in a horrific maelstrom of iron shrapnel, perforating the ships hull.
With an almighty groan, the stricken vessel lurched violently to starboard, heeling dangerously.
The explosion was enormous. The boiler left the ship vertically, tearing through the upper decks and shooting into the sky on top of a column of fire and super-heated steam, before bursting in mid-air. It took most of the conning tower with it, sparing Cole and Jaco by bare moments. As the pressure-wave from the initial breach scoured the engineering deck, the number two and three boilers tore themselves apart in a horrific maelstrom of iron shrapnel, perforating the ships hull.
With an almighty groan, the stricken vessel lurched violently to starboard, heeling dangerously.
Quote:Good news/bad news time.
The good news - you've crippled Nebula's flagship, and it is probably sinking.
Bad news - you're still on Nebula's flagship.
Good news - the magazine didn't explode.
Bad news - the magazine still might explode.
Good news - you have a portal out of here.
Bad news - not all of you are near the portal, and with the deck heeling (that is, tilting) at about thirty degrees, getting there may prove more difficult than it might otherwise, especially with a poisoned galactic patrolman in tow.
As for that portal - should those of you in closer proximity choose to use it to get out of here, you will find yourselves on Blue Flame Island - but also... not.
The portal on the ship will deposit you at the end of a heavily built-up and fortified pier in the former buccaneer-town of Bilgewater, the wooden shanties and dockside taverns of which have been partially destroyed and subsequently re-built as the seaside headquarters of Nebula's pirates. It's stacked high with supplies, weaponry and booty (loot, swag, filthy luchre, etc), and there are all manner of scurvy swabs, for the very least whimsical and most rum-sodden value of those words, roaming about. Which is not to say that there are not still disreputable (increasingly so) establishments that may be willing to serve you a drink...
The Nebula Gate on the pirate haven has been open for a long time now, and so Nebula Space and normal reality have begun to overlap on the island. What this means in practical terms is that the further inland you go, the more noticeable Nebula's corruption is going to get, until you find yourselves in Nebula-space proper without having passed any well-defined border.
In the meantime, caution may be wise.
Nine days, no word limit. Go nuts!