ic Flying Into the Storm (IC)

[Heritage]

Lynn shrugged. "I'll be honest, it's my first time having her die on me, but I don't think it takes very long; under an hour, I think?" The changeling worked over the details of whatever war this Peregrine described; definitely sounded like another World War of some kind, but with the various participants in different alignments than on Prime. She really hoped this world didn't have a Shoah of its own to endure.

"So we just camp out here for a bit? Works for me. I think she said we had some hot coffee tucked away somewhere; let's see if see can find it. We just need to save Naomi a cup or two for when she wakes up."

She began to reach out to the various floating packages and drag them towards the raft. "So how long have you been a pilot, Peri?"

[The Sailor]

GM

"Since 2003, fought over the skies of Persia protecting the vulnerible Shah from British influences. I was German Luftwaffe, but after an ejection injury I went merc... everyone on the Boston are different mercenaries looking to keep fighting." She said, knocking on the artificial leg she had. Obviously they wouldn't keep her as a fighter jet pilot in an official military... but mercenaries don't go by typical rules. "Out here most counter-piracy like we do and anti-ship operations are done with COIN aircraft. We've returned to the Imperial War in some aspects. Some of that era's aircraft are even back in production. Cheaper than producing fancy Stealth jets... that's for the European and Southeast Asia theaters."

Peregrine leaned on the raft next to Seahawk. "Less than an hour, eh? From what I was picking up on we got 10 minutes. But my estimates are just feeling her energies. Her head still feels... wibbly..."

[Heritage]

"Yeah, well....bullets give you a doozy of a headache, I'd wager." Lynn was still trying to figure out the various factions the merc had mentioned as she experimentally sniffed various packages in search of the elusive coffee. She really hoped Naomi's mild Welsh accent wouldn't get her in trouble when she came round. She was, however, much more alarmed by the casual mention of the German Luftwaffe; of course, her elfish ears knew that the term simply meant 'air weapon' or 'air arm', and therefore did not automatically mean her old pals the Nazis were busy marching their jackboots across the world.

Just to be on the safe side, she kept her tone open and friendly as she gently probed deeper. "So how'd you end up flying for the Germans? It doesn't sound like you were born there. Yes, here it is!" The changeling held the bundle under her nose and took a long rapturous sniff. "Ahhh, that's the good stuff! How do you take your coffee, Peri? I must admit I normally polute it quite heavily with cream and sugar."

[The Sailor]

GM
"Well, the German Republic formed out of the remains of the German Empire in the 1920s, With Britain holding a lot of Europe hostage it was pretty inevitable that in order to prevent the Czar and his machinations to control the German people, they had to purge the Emperor. Started a bit of a conflict with all the treaties going off at once, but Germany's industry and France actually winning a battle when it counted was all we needed to force our enemies to sue for peace. France's tanks sorta helped with that."

Peregrine leaned back. "Military service has been in my family since then. Of course now they fly jets and stuff compared to the rustbuckets of that era."

"You know, your aircraft before it bit it looked more of what the Japanese Republic designs for their aircraft. Looks almost like some of the Hino Heavy Industries craft we have... Speed over Armor. Can't hurt what you can't hit... Although with the caliber rounds our COIN aircraft use, that would have mulched most anything."

She looked towards the USS Boston. "It's a pity we couldn't step up to prevent the fall of Boston when it happened. The British were dead set on giving the US a bloody nose there, and that's where they landed their only blow. Since then everyone's been in a stalemate on the North American continent with the Canadians fighting their own internal turmoil. One day the US has swore to take back that City. Luckily Freedom City's been one of the larger embarkment points for the Atlantic effort. Helps the capes protect that place quite well. No one dares mess with Freedom City, New York, or DC."

"With Miami under the watch of the Spanish Navy, part of what few allies in Europe we have left, At least any attacks on the mainland will be more in testing the resolve of the alliance than anything."

"I don't drink coffee by the way... the bitter taste I can pick up on even with it being practically milk, sadly."

For a moment they could have swore they felt Naomi move...

[The Sailor]

===A minute or two ago...===

Naomi's convention of herself was starting to end... different facets of herself started to merge into each other, and into her, as her brain started to coalesce into a singular form.

"Well, looks like this is the end." The scientist said, already absorbing the mercenary, her clothing now looking like a rugged outdoorswoman instead of a scientist.

Naomi. "Didn't know I had a smarty-pants in me."

The scientist grinned and faded into Naomi, as others formed up into larger, hybrid forms before merging.

Then as Naomi grasped the last one, she was grabbed. "No... No. I wanna see mommy!" The little girl Naomi was, was starting to mysteriously grow stronger.

"We will.. You're me, remember?"

Then the astronaut grabbed Naomi. "No matter where you are, you'll always be an outsider won't you?"

Naomi swung, breaking the faceplate of the astronaut, causing her to hold on to her throat. As she did so, a form popped up behind the astronaut, wearing a skin-tight superheroine outfit, absorbing the Astronaut.

"No need to explain..." She said holding out her hand to the little girl and Naomi. "Right now Lynn's gonna need us, we can't fight amongst ourselves."

The little girl took her hand and disappeared.

"But if I take your hand..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm already you, you just didn't know it!"

Naomi suddenly was in the costume of the superheroine that was in front of her... which changed into her flight gear. "I'm always there."

The room filled with white light...

===Now===

"Hrrk..." A reddish white glow filled the raft coming from her body, before Naomi took a gasp of life as the light faded.

Naomi vomited over the side, spitting out shrapnel, before rolling back over. Taking a few breaths more she turned to the two women in the raft. "Oh... h... Hi there."

She grinned. She seemed different than before, at least in her expression. She was... smiling. Even though her head was throbbing. "Usually it doesn't work, but there is a injectable pain medication in my survival kit over there... my head is screaming. The meds should work long enough before my body flushes it to let things fully correct themselves..." She said, seeing the floating case with her Seahawk suit and flight pack was next to the raft. "At least I haven't lost my other kit here..."

[Heritage]

"Oh, you're up! And puking shrapnel; that's always a good sign." Lynn reached out to grab the indicated kit and started digging through its contents. "Wow; a gal could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all this stuff." She looked up and grinned. "Sorry, Dr. Strangelove reference. Let's see, pain shot, pain shot...pain shot!" She handed the individually-wrapped syringe over to Naomi, then returned to heating up water for coffee with an MRE heating packet.

 "So, any messages from the Great Beyond? Winning lottery numbers and such?" The changeling's attempts at levity were actually borne out of her discomfort with the Welsh girl's resurrection; people who might live forever tended to find death rather disturbing.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Heritage

[The Sailor]

Naomi

"Nah, just stuck in my "waiting room" again. This time... it was a convention. Of me of course." She said, injecting the pain medication into her neck. "Ugh, I guess that's what happens when my brains become scrambled eggs. My psychic state gets all... weird."

She looked over at Peregrine, at first she started to get a little mad, but then she started to think. "Thought we were with the guys that smashed up that carrier of yours?"

Perigrine nodded.

Naomi sighed. "To be honest, I would have done the same." She said, stretching as she pulled out her suit and pack. "Seems someone's gonna have to clean up our stuff and what-not. Once I got my head about me I'll tow us to the carrier... everything still seems seaworthy for 'em... I don't see any reason to not consider their ship a safe harbor for now."

She looked at Peri's uniform. "And it seems we're not in Kansas anymore. Didn't think they could take a Korean War era LPU and modernize it." She said, patting Peri on the shoulder. "Now we just gotta figure a way to get home..."

Edited September 22, 2015 by The Osprey

[The Sailor]

GM

It didn't take long for Naomi once suited up in her Seahawk costume to get everything on a corner of the deck she was authorized to park herself and everyone's personal effects. Once Naomi, Lynn, and Peri were appraised of the situation, one of the crew on deck started to fill Lynn and Naomi in on the current situation.

"Well as you're from another universe, I wager it is safe to let you in on the situation. We're in the pacific, a good 250 miles from Midway. It's about 2330 hours, January 24th, 2015."

He adjusted his deck vest. "I'm wagering you girls'll need rest and some dry clothes. We got some from some salvage we picked up, and spare uniforms. If ya need 'em, you're welcome to 'em. Least we can do, at least that's what Capn' told me."

"Once breakfast mess is called, you're welcome to join us."

"Captain Kyoshiro will want to speak with you once you've had breakfast. Yeoman Peterson will take you to your quarters." He said, gesturing to a sailor uniformed girl, barely 14 wearing a foam life vest perhaps a size or two too big, tied tightly. She waves, leading you to your quarters deep in the ship. There was the smell of smoke from the attack, in fact the emergency lights were still on, although things seemed to be recovering as everyone went deep into the bowels. Once arrived the standard lighting went on.

"Seems we got standard power back." the young Yeoman said, in front of the quarters. "Any questions?"

[Heritage]

It was all happening so fast for Lynn; flying through the portal, getting shot at, and now ending up here mixed up in a war she barely understood. It also sounded suspiciously like they'd been drafted into the Pirate Navy, but maybe she was just being paranoid. When the young Yeoman asked her question, the changeling could only shake her head.

"Uh, well, do you have any idea how we might have ended up in your universe? Is this a thing that happens over here, or are we a freak occurrence? And any clue on how we might get back home? Like maybe some kooky scientist working on dimensional travel to beat, uh, those Limey bastiches?"

[The Sailor]

GM

"Actually The Captain might have some answers for you. Well, actually his Science Officer." She said, adjusting her uniform.

"And actually, we call them Imperials in our universe. Our goal is to shatter the last crowns of the earth. That is our commission through the Alliance."

She leaned against the bulkhead. "239 years ago, the British Empire entered into an infernal covenant in order to safeguard their empire against the rebellion of the Americans. With France's monarchy balancing on the edge of a knife and many others with revolution starting to stir, Britain couldn't afford to lose their hold on the New World."

She pulled out what looked like a small pocket-sized book with what looked like Eldritch runes. "The Americans had their own covenant with the Angel of Liberty, which protected them from the conspiracy and ensured their victory, and France devolved into a massive blood-letting soon after."

"What followed though was almost two centuries of posturing and conflict as even the Master Mage of this world went to war. In the trenches of France, I'm sure your universe has an analogue to The Great War? In any case, the goal was to finally break the covenant. What resulted is the world we're in now. The Czarists enlisted the aid of the great witch, Baba-Yaga, to try to start collecting the heads of the minor monarchs. China's Emperor fell rather quickly, leading to the formation of the Chinese Republic to fight them. Japan stood firm, but it took American intervention to protect it's people from the full might of the Czarists, at the cost of the Emperor and his family in one terrible night. Europe now quakes with the infernal energy of dark magic, unleashed by Britain, the German Republic with it's Technomancers are all that stand against them. The Neo-Norse of Scandanavia have gone silent, their lands separated from the world by an impenetrable barrier, and a dark cloud hangs over Boston as Britian tries to create a foothold. Freedom City the mustering point to retake Boston. So named in honor of it's patron Angel, Liberty herself."

"While the few Naval Clerics of Liberty haven't sensed anything, a Japanese Technomancer picked up on the odd bend of time and space here a few days ago. We came here to investigate as we were hunting a enemy pirate fleet that was operating here."

"The Science Officer here will have more information, but the Captain gave me a message to assure you that there might be a way to get you two home, but it will take time to set up."

She stretched out. "I failed my courses as a Witch, but my ability to read runes has given me a pretty secure method of communication, even if it's just paper and ink." She said, showing the glowing writing in her book. "My personal log. That folded up note in it is the note from the Captain I'm supposed to relay to you."

"Well not the truncated history lesson though."

She blushed as she started to walk out. Not before leaving a couple spare uniform jumpsuits, as well as a couple large coin-size badges that sat in what looked like ring cases. "The comm-brooches will allow you to contact the ship without needing a radio. Plus if they get immersed in water outside of the ship they will create a distress beacon, and light the water within a 30 foot radius of you."

She nodded once she was done and headed to the door. "I'm sure you two will want some rest before morning. Particularly the Immortal."

"Wait... you two are Metahumans, correct? Not Homo-Magi?"

[Heritage]

Lynn's eyes a went a bit big as the yeoman went over this world's recent history; that was a lot to digest! It made her happy there was a lot less magic involved in the war she'd fought back on Otherworld; the thought of massive spells warping the surface of Mars was just too scary to contemplate! Her less question was a little distressing, though.

"Uh, so if we were Homo-Magi...would that be a bad thing?" She looked over at the provided jumpsuits, and then her body was surrounded by swirling vapor, leaving her wearing a duplicate of the suit. "I'm actually of the Fae; not by birth, but by...reinvention?" She shrugged and did her best to look inoffensive.

[The Sailor]

GM

"Ah..."

"Homo Magi are people who have a natural affinity towards magic. It's not a bad thing... Magic is just a tool, it can do great things or bad things. Depends on the person." She smiled looking over to Seahawk. "I wager your partner is more or less a straight Meta-Human."

Seahawk nodded.

The Yeoman started to walk out. "Hopefully things will work out for the better for you two." She said, a bit of worry on her face.

== The Next Morning...==

Breakfast was decent, considering what had happened the previous night. The crew of the ship was in a somber mood, many lives were lost in the flooded sections of the ship that got blocked off during the attack. Many of whom were starting to be retrieved as the Damage Control teams were starting to get to those areas. The ship was stopped in the water to take care of the in-the-field repairs, but many believed the ship might be heading home to drydock... many of those were the more paranoid of the sailors.

Once Lynn and Naomi had their fill, they headed to the Captain's quarters as suggested. It sounded like an argument was going on.

"I don't care what you say, Doctor, you are NOT going to face those Imperialists in that prototype!"

"It's my war too, Captain. I want to take back my country from the Infernalists, and I've been fighting for two hundred years to do so! I'm not gonna wait for your "ace" pilot to get over her stomach ailment! I'm a fully trained test pilot, and I'm not afraid of a little gunfire!"

"She got shot, John. People need time to heal."

"We don't have time to bleed, Captain..."

"You're my Science Officer, I need you here."

Naomi, lacking some tact walks in. She sees the Captain, looking annoyed sitting in his chair, while the Science Officer, a rather spry young man, already in full flight gear had his arms crossed and looked quite ready to disobey orders.

"Problem, Gentlemen?" Naomi asked.

"Oh! Doctor Cameron, this is the two that might have been time-napped."

The young man, apparently John Cameron takes off one of his flight gloves to accept a handshake from the two. "Oh! You two! Good! I think I might have a solution to your time displacement! I should be able to get you back to your home universe, but I need to know how those Brits did it. They're not using magic, and I know it's some sort of technology... thing is getting on-board."

He looked over to the Captain. "That is why I'm trying to convince the good captain that I can get on that flying carrier the pirates are using. I think they got a prototype device they're using!"

The Captain grumbled. Steepling his hands as he leaned forward. "James... these two just arrived here... I think we need to figure out what to do with them before we start sorting this issue."

Okay, you're wondering what these two look like...

Captain Kyoshiro

Doctor John Cameron, Science Officer

[/spoilertag]

Edited October 7, 2015 by The Osprey

[Heritage]

At breakfast, Lynn had politely refused any grub, seeing as her body could no longer handle mortal food; she did however have a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee to give her a little energy. Once they were at the Captain's quarters, she shook Cameron's offered hand firmly and eagerly joined the conversation.

"Actually, sir, Naomi and I are both combat veterans of wars in different dimensions; we're both skilled pilots and bring a lot to the table in other areas. If the Imperials have a flying carrier which might hold the key to getting back to our own world, I for one would happily volunteer for such a mission, no matter how dangerous." First she faded completely out of view for a few seconds, then in a swirl of vapor she became the spitting image of Cameron. "If you need an infiltrator, I'm your girl...man...whatever, I'm up for it, sir." She then politely relinquished the science officer's form and stood at ease.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Heritage

[The Sailor]

Seahawk

Naomi held up her hand. "Actually if you could copy the flightsuit and kit without copying flyboy over here, might be something you could rock. Seriously." She said with a smile as she leaned against a wall, looking at a model of the USS Boston. "So, you guys are arguin' about the best course of action against that flying carrier... to be honest I want in on it. But for different reasons."

She looked over at Doc. "Simply put I want a crack at this plane, Doc. You're makin our ride home."

She looked over to the Captain. "Is the plane 1 or 2 seats, and is it VTOL?"

The Captain frowned. "One. Standard take off."

The Captain pulled up a picture on his Ready-Room's screen.

The Captain looked up. "She's lightly armed, just with some CIWS cannons to counter missiles. It's offensive capability is it's aircraft alone. She carries a compliment of 25 Eurofighter Typhoons though... Our COIN aircraft... they'd be mince."

Naomi grinned. "Then I go alone. Those things can land on water, correct?"

The Captain nodded.

"Then I don't shoot her down, I force her to land. That gaping mouth is the run-way correct?"

Doctor Cameron was grinning. "Oh you genius! That's right! That's her one true weakness!"

"Then it's simple, I go alone, and I drop Lynn here on to the top of that bird then shoot out the engines. Just so she'll have to glide in for a water landing. Think there might be a spot for her to hide on the plane as I don't wanna waste a perfectly good airplane by ejection."

Doctor Cameron massaged his chin. "There is the weapon wells, although your friend would have to be incredibly small to fit in there... Perhaps the fairy mode that Perigrine reported will be enough, but there might be a problem with a air supply. And by that time they'll have at least 7 or 8 jets in the air. Think you can handle it?"

"Well first things first..." Naomi said, turning to Lynn. "Got any tricks for the oxygen problem? I don't think they got fairy-sized SCUBA tanks."

[Heritage]

The changeling whistled in appreciation when the graphic of the carrier came up. "Holy moley, look at her! Boy, that's gonna make a big splash when it hits the water!"

Lynn chuckled as once again the oxygen question arose. "I keep trying to tell people, I don't need to breathe; I mostly do it to talk and because it's freaky when I don't. Oh, and it obviously helps with the whole smelling issue. As far as the size issue goes-" There was a sharp inrush of air as she shrunk down to pixie size, then landed before the captain with a flutter of her wings, all of twelve inches tall. "Is this small enough for you? I can be even smaller if I ball up." The tiny heroine curled up into a fetal position with her wings folded tightly. "See? But I'd probably cramp up in that position for too long." She rose to her feet and dusted herself off. "Still, I could probably slip into a pocket on Naomi's vest."

[The Sailor]

Naomi thought for a second...

She turned to the captain. "Then there is one other I think can pilot that aircraft. Perigrine. I can take Lynn with me in a vest pocket on my own. My flight pack will be up to the task, but I need a distraction. Perigrine has Jet time under her flightsuit's sleeve. She can do it."

The Captain looked at Seahawk. "Thankfully that carrier is lightly loaded in terms of weapons, and we pounded their flights good, but she is still dangerous... Alright. I'll get Perigrine ready to sortie."

Doctor Cameron looked at the girls. "I got your fancy flightsuit and pack all ready to go. With the prototype jet we should be ready in... 30 minutes."

Naomi nodded. "30 Minutes it is."

She looked over to Lynn. "Time to be heroes."

Edited October 14, 2015 by Sailor

[Heritage]

Lynn nodded crisply, then returned to full size and hopped to her feet. "So, any extra gear we want to bring? Tear gas, brass knuckles, caltrops? I can stuff a lot of stuff in my Vault; heck, I could probably fit an extra crewman or two in there, depending on how much gear they bring. Five hundred pounds is my max load." Her uniform was back to matching the rest of the carrier's crew.

It's too bad they could leave right now; as keyed up as Grim was, the next thirty minutes were gonna crawl...

[The Sailor]

GM

The Captain nodded. "Then take the good Doctor with you, as well as my chief of security." He said, brushing off his uniform as he stood up. "Doctor Cameron can take what he's got on, might as well not have him strip down and waste everyone's time." The Yeoman that the group ran into earlier walked in, she had a tactical/boarding vest on over her uniform, carrying a basic sidearm on her leg, and carrying a small CQB capable rifle. Lynn wagered the two would easily weigh under her limit. But the girl was also the head of security?

"Sorry to surprise, but my Yeoman has taken over the position... my... Security Chief died in the attack... had the news a couple hours ago."

He sighed, looking to the Yeoman. "Make sure Dr. Cameron and the others make it back, Janice."

The Yeoman saluted before looking to the others. "Lets get Perigrine set to fly then, and we can make those Limeys' lives miserable."

===30 minutes later, on deck...===

Seahawk

Seahawk was standing on deck, the prototype jet behind her, waiting for her to take off. She looped a communicator over her ear, then handed it to the rest of the team. "Okay, Perigrine focus on the engines, we want that thing to be forced to land, not explode."

Seahawk looked back, as Perigrine gave a thumbs up. Naomi then opened the largest pocket on her uniform. "Okay Lynn... time to work your magic."

This was it... the big moment. Either they were getting home, or not, and this would decide the whole shebang. Hopefully the Doc could handle himself in a fight. The young Yeoman seemed... not to fit in on this equation... but she'd take who she could when she invaded that flying carrier!

[Heritage]

Lynn nodded, then turned to her two passengers, clasping her hands and grinning. "Alright, welcome about Air Grimalkin! I'm just gonna open up the passenger area and get you situated."

She traced a large circle in the air, on its side, revealing her Vault beyond; as always, it was a dimly-lit warren with a low roof of intertwined roots and a floor of soft pine needles. The air was fresh and smelled of pine and loam. With a wave of her hand, a pair of soft but firm mats appeared on the floor, similar to ones from Lynn's gymnastics day.

"Please watch your heads as you enter the cabin, and have a safe and comfortable flight."

Once her passengers were squared away, Grim closed the Vault door, shrunk down to pixie size, and dove into Naomi's pocket.

"Ready for takeoff!"