The Brass Spire

[Laz]

Teresa was quasi-used to rough flights. The university only had so much money to spare, and they did not spend it on transportation. It annoyed her to no end at times, but at least she didn't get sick from the tremors. "You make it sound so easy while Bretonia is haemorrhaging manpower every day," she meant idly, looking through the little passageway into the cockpit, where she could see a part of the window.

"Well, I might be skipping over some details. This was years in the planning and the Council is closer to a government than the Marquis or us - it was a full scale war that reignited the war over Gallia." Zero added a small paused for effect before continuing, "Not to mention that most of Marne was filled with the lower classes that more than happy to seize control." Even though this was before Zero's time, and he hardly considers himself the embodiment of the liberation movement, it was possible to detect a hint of pride in his words.

Nodding, Teresa tried to imagine a full-scale war spanning over the entirety of a planet and failed. Maybe Marne was small? The ship would continue its obdurous advancement through the edge of Sirius. Even though it had hardly looked trustworthy, Teresa felt like this ship had made the trip often enough in order not to fall apart. While occasionally, they would exchange more words, the conversation died down halfway through the flight and it only changed when Marne came into sight.

As the large planetary jewel, Marne, came into sight from the starboard window, the attention of a number of the crew was grabbed as they scurried to view it - clearly, it had been some time since they'd last visited.

Finishing up his story, Zero pointed his finger towards the planet as it slowly got bigger and bigger with their approach, this being the first indicator that directed everyone's attention to it. "Looks like we've made it here, in one piece with no conflict, seems fortune favours us today copains!"

"I wonder what you'd've done if we'd encountered something," Teresa commented, though didn't expect a reply. The planet looked more... intact than she would have assumed considering what she heard about the war that had taken place there. She didn't rise from her seat while the ship moved towards the surface quickly, slowing down gradually as they entered the atmosphere. Slight tremors went through the ship as it happened, giving testament to its less than stellar condition.

Breaching the cloud barrier, they were greeted with a view of the planet's surface. Not all of it was built on, giving it a lopsided, patchy appearance, party steel, part green. "How do you manage to keep the carbon dioxide levels low, given that there are so few forests?" Adrian asked, looking from where he sat, remembering the planet's appearance from the orbit.

Puzzled looks were shot in the vague direction of Adrian by most of the crew, unsure of what he meant. This made the Brigands really seem like many of the stereotypes that were assigned to them. Zero spoke up quickly after being questioned, "Err, yeah. I know that we make carbon dioxide.. but.. err. That's about it. Those are not really our issues." When he said carbon dioxide his voice noticeable slowed down while he tried to pronounce it correctly.

Adrian figured that he could have predicted this response given the less than reputable education he thought these men to have. "Eh, no matter," Adrian said, deflecting the issue. It had been more of a question from curiosity than anything else anyways. Teresa, meanwhile, was more interested in following where the ship was going. The man they were supposed to meet was probably really influential and rich, so she expected some sort of villainous lair to reveal itself soon.

All the crew slowly returned to their positions and their own activities while Zero's focus remained on the trio of scientists. "It won't be long now I assure you. We're heading to one of the towering structures over the main Brigand Spaceport. If you squint you can probably see it in the distance..." Towards the end of his words a hint of uncertainty can be detected. "At least I think that's where we are meeting him., he could be somewhere else, but that doesn't matter."

"Well, holotechnology is a thing," Adrian said, figuring that Zero was alluding to that. For a ship its size, they were making surprising headway, first heading over a densely built-upon area, where the buildings continuously got taller and more impressive, until the spaceport became hard to overlook. Ships of all sizes were flitting to and fro, mostly of the small variety. The building reminded Adrian a bit of a bee hive, only more oblong and with the ships being the bees.

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"Err. Yeah." Zero said passively, but not sounding all the confident in his agreement. As the ship approached its destination, the tower came into full view. It dominated the skyline of the local area and was the tallest structure for hundreds of miles. A fitting display of power at best. As the ship began to slow, an annoying sound became audible as it rattled and vibrated. The pilot called out from the cockpit, "Err, Zero? It's doing it again." Zero's face looked blank and unamused. "I can hear."

Teresa just raised an eyebrow at the exchange, trying not to change her expression at the incessant sound that was way too high pitched for her liking.

"What do I do about it?" The pilot asked helplessly. "Well, how did you fix it last time?" Zero's tone had a hint of irritation within it. "I kicked a bunch of pipes inside the engine room." The pilot replied. "Then do that again when we land."

That didn't sound too promising, Teresa thought beside herself, though didn't say anything further. She gave Adrian a look that told him to keep his mouth shut and let the others work out what was happening with them. It wasn't like they could help anyways, given that they were unfamiliar with the ship.

Zero returned his focus to the scientists who were patiently waiting in this flying death trap, his face showing no amount of concern. "Shouldn't be much longer now All we need to do is land and take the elevator all the way up. I hope it's not broken again. I don't want to walk up two hundred flights of stairs. With luck call it about five minutes."

As he finished his words the ship began to slow down drastically as it approached the main landing area at the foot of the tower. Looking out the windows showed numerous automated turrets lining the massive walls of the compound, with an enormous accompaniment of guards. This, if anything, displayed a not too subtle hint of paranoia for Rousseau.

To Teresa, it seemed a little like a glorified shanty-castle, given that more than a few spots looked like they were haphazardly cobbled together with metal sheets. Then again, there was no plywood in sight, so it didn't look too off-colour. "I'm just old enough to manage stairs still," Teresa said, though secretly hoping that it wouldn't be necessary to walk. It wasn't like she was fat, given her obsessive tendencies when it came to eating healthy since she learned what happened to a body that became obese, but she wasn't an athletic type either.

Adrian had taken to looking out of the windshield at the construction ahead of them, seemingly lost in thought.
The ship began to touchdown on the landing pad with the annoying tick slowly coming to a silent stop. Zero spoke up to everyone in the ship as he got up from his seat. "Alright, everyone. Let's head out." Directing his gaze towards the cockpit, and the pilot who was making his way towards the door, "Ron, you take care of that engine."

Adrian cast a last glance in the direction of the cockpit before he stood up, followed by Teresa and the black-haired girl that she had almost been pulling along the entire time. Motioning for the girl to move ahead, Teresa grasped the small briefcase she had brought along for the trip, knowing that it would be a bad idea to forget, given that it was supposed to contain a gift for the warlord that called this place his home.

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