[IC] Strait Up Theft

[Supercape]

"Thief! Witch! Pirate!"

 

She paused, considering. 

 

"But enough of your good qualities. How did you do that?"

 

Could be sorcery, could be witchcraft. Could be some of this newfangled science things. Much talk on the seas, and the land for that matter, of the wond'rous things science could do. Bah! Day was, when electricity seemed miraculous. Now, the earth teamed with it, like some stormy infection. Flintlock preferred her electricity shot from dark skies amidst a monsoon. 

 

"And, more importantly, why? What was that cargo, and why did you need it?"

[olopi]

“ Guess I got lucky. It’s a natural thing, I think. Never had much use for it up until now. But, now I have a use, and it works quite well. I don’t have an exact explanation, but, the gist of it is, I can store things. Just things above a certain size and weight, but if I take ‘em, I can get them back out at a later point. ”

 

Cik touched the crate of cargo she had summoned up once again. Her arm started to glow, which in turn then transferred itself over to the crate, before making it disappear and returning back to the woman’s hand.

 

“Cargo’s whatever we get at that point in time. If there’s a ship in the right spot, at the right time, we go and take what we can. Sometimes the cargo’s more useful, sometimes less. “

 

“Then, we just sell it. There’s a market for everything. If it got here in the first place, somebody probably wants to purchase it. “

 

“Money then goes towards buying out are families. Fathers, brothers, kids, friends, whoever else. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes not. And obviously, we have to provide as well. “

Edited August 5, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

Theft...on this scale...this rankled Flintlock. She had few qualms about the odd bit of thievery. She would be a hypocrite to do so. But this was on a grand scale. She frowned deeply, and pressed her fingers to her forehead. 

 

"I...don't want to know. I came here to stop the theft. And now I have her" she said, almost ready to summon up the horror again, or something worse. 

 

"And yet, I smell something worse than simple cargo theft. I smell black markets, extortion, gangs of freaks. Like you say. I'm not the police, or the army..."

 

"I'm something much worse" she said darkly, black lines appearing on her eyes. "And for much worse things than you I was made for. So, my friend. What was that cargo, and who bought it? I swear by the thirteen moons of Alhazred, I won't throw you to the law. I should clean up Singapore first!"

[olopi]

Cik took a few careful steps backwards, she was still facing Flintlock but there was some more distance between the two. It wouldn’t help much, but it made her feel a bit safer. The same applied for her friends, who also increased the distance.

 

“Lots of things. A lot of raw materials – Oil, Steel, Plastic. But other things too, whatever was on those ships. Porcelain, and I remember that one time we managed to sell all those washing machines. No idea why those were transported on a ship. “

 

“Usually it was sold to one of the freaks, all brands of ‘em. A few things I managed to sell to various big-shots directly, the other things I just sold to the people at the market, who then probably made a profit off of selling it to somebody at a better price. “

 

“I’m just trying to get these people out of what amounts to slavery. You can do what you want, but know that people will suffer because of it. I’m their best shot at a normal life, where they can see their families.“

Edited August 6, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

Slavery was a trigger word for Flintlock. She had seen the real thing; as brutal and nasty a thing as ever man had conceived, and that was stiff competition. Bah, the sun of the modern day did indeed shine brightly for liberty. 

 

"Then ye be a robin hood? Aye, I'll drink to that. The hungry are never thieves, even if they take without permission. Are ye saying the blight on Singapore are the freaks?"

 

She had no way of knowing if Cik was telling the truth, but, blast it, she couldn't disbelieve her. Her blood boiled at the mere mention of Slavery. Some of the Skeleton Crew had been slaves, and bore the marks. "Lash", the shipwright, had a network of livid scars on his back. She did not blame him for his acquired brutality, for he had endured far worse than he ever dished out. 

 

"There's more to this than meets me eye, I wager. Tell me about them? I've no quarrel with ye..."

[olopi]

Cik took a few steps around, walking aimlessly, just so she had something to do. She was silent for a bit, thinking about what to say. Then, she opened her mouth again, emotions driving her words forward. Not many words, but a summary.

 

“It’s not them. It’s not Singapore either. It’s the entire area. All the way around this area of the ocean. And it’s not the freaks. Some might be involved, but there’s others too. “

 

“There’s not a whole lot of jobs. But people need money. So they get hired to these fishing trawlers. And then, good luck seeing them again. They stay out there for years. No payment, bad treatment. And maybe, if they get lucky, they return. “

 

She took a few more steps, walking over towards he friends, who had been quiet the entire time so far, but listening in and occasionally nodding their heads.

 

“Brothers. Fiances. Fathers. All of us have somebody on them. We’ve managed to buy out a few people. But then, they don’t have jobs anymore. And they need money. So the more we free, the more money we need. Until they find something to provide by themselves. Which can take a while, in our economy. “

Edited August 6, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

"I seen plenty of lashes and plenty of scurvy. The sea is not a kind mistress, but she beauty still" answered Flintlock. 

 

"But like it or no, 'tis a brutal world. And the navy will be coming looking for thieves and pirates. Surely, would be no match for me and the Black Flag, me ship, but then again, I don't steal cargo. These days. Very often" she said, mulling her words. Sometimes the modern age seemed crazier than the world centuries ago, but it was, she conceded, generally safer and kinder. 

 

"I'm not going to stop you from helping, like Robin Hood. But I cannot condone it either. I'll let ye be. But I cannot simply sail to the horizons. I cannot leave Singapore. Something happened at that black market, and however you look at it, I'm part of the tapestry now" she explained. 

 

"And what ye talking about, its Slavery. And that, my little slippery fish friend, is something Captain Flintlock won't have. I neither will my crew. Tell me where to look, I'll look. Tell me where to go, I'll go..."

 

Her countenance grew grim, like a maudlin drunk. 

 

"And tell me where to strike, I'll do that too..."

[olopi]

Cik walked back over to Flintlock, approaching her closer than before. She had some trust in her now, and looked less on-edge and calmer than before. Then, she began speaking, quietly, but with the same drive behind her words as before.  

 

“There’s a lot of them. Going after them might solve problems short-term, but long term these people will still need jobs. And we can only do so much with the money we have. We’ve put in some effort into setting up a business of our own, pay fair wages and all. It’ll need more money, but we might be able to help some people, if not all of them. “

 

A short pause, some quick glances shared between her and her friends, before going in for round two.

 

“But, if you want to go after them, we might be able to help. We know enough people that were on those ships. There’s a few locations they go to often, where you would be likely to find something. There’s also the places on land where they bring their hauls to, where the things are organized. Probably more luck there, but we don’t know exact locations, and those will usually be hidden. “

 

 

Edited August 7, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

"There is never any victory that lasts for ever. No conflict that is not eternal. And yet, though all must end and all is mortal, though oblivion the only certainty, one must never let defeat overwhelm us. Never let life slip through paralysed fingers!" replied Flintlock, defiantly. 

 

"Else, you would not do what you do. Else, I would not do what I will. So, come now, let us live. I'll gladly let loose black powder and witchcraft on slavers. It won't change the world, aye. Few do, and few still for the good. Let us forget about the world, then, and think about our selves. We are all selfish, in the end. We do what we feel is right, because we are driven down that stream..."

 

"And besides, are you speaking of buried treasure?" she laughed with joy. 

 

"Places on land, where they bring their haul! Those were your words. Sounds like buried treasure to me! Do you have a map?"

[olopi]

“I fear it is not the most precise map. What we have is a rough idea of where it’s at, the general area. Not a whole lot beyond that, but I imagine with some scouting we could figure out more. They go to land at different places, but from there transport it all into the same area. None of us have ever been there, but we’ve seen them go to land before. “

 

Cik’s words continued, she realized new things to say and, without much thinking, continued to speak, one word after another. Word after word, with only short breaks to get more air.

 

“If you have a way to track them, we could probably figure it out. Then we’d just need to be lucky, learn where they operate their actual business from, and do that for all the different organizations “

 

“Alternatively, you can go after their administration directly. I’m not sure how you’d do it, but there’s probably some way. Selling that much fish means they should be able to be tracked down, somehow.”

Edited August 7, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

"Both, then..." answered the bold Cap'n Flintlock. 

 

"If ye know where they keep their administration, the books, the maps, the brains. Then from their we can find where their treasure is, and go hunting!" she explained. 

 

"Best two chop off two heads, not just one. Destroy the books, steal the treasure. And, as added bonus, ye can keep the treasure. Help buy back some lives" she said. "I never stole for the gold. I stole for the rum. And to keep me head above water. I've little need for money now. Ye can keep it. Although me will be keeping any rum we find!" she said. 

 

"If they have a base of operations, then, let us go and lop of that head. Then, their money!"

[olopi]

Cik stopped speaking for a few seconds, going through something in her mind clearly. Then, after a good 20 seconds or so, she continued, more words having found their way from her brain towards her mouth.

 

“We know of some things up in Dungun. Not a whole lot of detail, but there’s a group operating from there. Somewhere in Kuala Dungun, if our information is anything to go by. They’re spotty, but it’s the best lead we have. “

 

She stopped again, to address a few difficulties she had realized would come with this entire plan. By now, she had reached normal speaking volume again, not keeping her voice’s volume down anymore.

 

“Getting up there’s gonna take some time. And then, we still need to figure out how to actually find the place. None of us are specialized in that. We can take things, and cover it up. But not track down shady businesses probably set up in a legitimate office. “

 

Once again, Cik looked at her friends, who probably were more involved in this than just knowing her, if her last comment was anything to go by.

Edited August 7, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

"Dungun?"

 

It had been some time since she was in Singapore, and memory was hazy. She should have bought a guide book. Should have studied some maps. Ah! She had driven the Black Flag too fast. Or, she had been too drunk.

 

"Ah yes, Dungun! I know it well!" she declared, firmly, confidently. 

 

Flintlock felt a suspicion that Cik was not a sole operative. She looked at her "friends" too often. Still, she would, one would presume, at least have some authority on the matter. She appeared to be making decisions. 

 

Blast it! Flintlock was operating in strange and unfamiliar waters. Time to admit defeat. 

 

"Well, you are as slippery as a fish and vague as a fog. You surely know Singapore better than I. Cease throwing me problems that I cannot solve. You want money? you want freedom? Tell me what would you do, if you where I?"

 

"And someone get me a map! One of them electronic things if ye must!" she added. 

 

There was sorcery to do, if Cik could not come up with an avenue...

Edited August 7, 2016 by Supercape

[olopi]

Cik took a step backwards, realizing she’d been speaking as if she’d been doing it to a local.

 

“Dungun’s a town, a few hours up the coast to the east. Not notable for much, has some tourism going on in the area, but other that that, it’s primarily local industry. Fishermen, Industry, some farmers. The usual fare. “

 

“I’d say the best thing to do is to go up there, and look around. Maybe somebody knows something, maybe you can track them down some other way. I can find maps of the area, that’s no problem. You might have to head into tourist information for a city map however, they probably don’t have them around here. “

She looked back at her friends one more time, exchanging a few movements, ending on the man nodding, upon which she turned back around to address the Captain once more.

 

“We can stay down here, or join you. We’ve got a ship to travel around. It’s not the fastest, but it’s stealthy enough to get close to places. Or we can join you, since you appear to have a ship too, so long as you can bring us back here afterwards. “

Edited August 7, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

 

"A ship I have, and I fine one too..." said Flintlock proudly. "I dare say the fastest ship in Singapore, right now!"

 

"She cuts through waves quick and true. 

Black she is, and black her crew

Her sails are torn and ragged

Her mast is straight and flagged

Silent and fast

Ne'er be last

The Black Flag will swing no lead,

The Black Flag will see no sea bed,

For her crew are lively, but, cor blimey,

Her crew are also de---"

 

She stopped, looking at her three crewmates. 

 

"Say, how do you feel about zombies?" she asked Cik. 

[olopi]

Cik looked at Flintlock with a bit of confusion, but responded calmly.

“Oh, I think we’ll manage. “

 

Some time later

The Black Flag

Off the coast of Malaysia

 

 

So far, the boat trip had gone calmly. Leaving the area surrounding Singapore had been no problem. No clouds hung in the sky, and the ocean was calm too, only small waves leaving their signature on the water.

 

 Cik and her Friends, the woman was called Joyo, the man Ahmad, had brought a duffelbag or two each when meeting back up with Flintlock, and then joined her and her crew on the Black Flag, which  set its course towards Dungun, a handy (paper!) map provided by Cik showing the way. Not a long journey, and a simple one too. Up the coast, and then it would be easy to reach.

 

The three of them had set up on the deck, Cik reading something on a phone, while the other two had started a conversation with the members of the crew currently not busy. The captain herself, meanwhile, had retreated from the deck, probably having something in mind herself.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

Captain Flintlock studied the maps. She had old parchment, half rotted. She had slightly mouldy paper maps. And she had bright new printed maps. She preferred the old ones. But that was because she was sentimental. 

 

The reality was that despite their charm, the maps of the Black Flag were old, out of date, sometimes unreadable, and sometimes so aged that they fell apart, crumbling to dust as soon as one looked at them. 

 

So, sentiment aside, it was the modern maps. 

 

It would not be long until the Black Flag set anchor near the town. She pondered the matter carefully, tapping finger to chin. She was not one to use sorcery lightly. It was not that it was intoxicating; although she did not care for witches and warlocks who enjoyed the use of power muchly. No it was the thought that whenever the walls between this world and the others were parted, there were always cracks that would never heal. The more cracks, the more something could get through. Leastways, that was how her dark arts seemed to work. 

 

But still, there was use in them. 

 

Slinging herself on a hammock in her quaint wooden quarters. She closed her eyes, and fell into a trance, mumbling some unnerving words that seemed half Latin, half Greek, and half something altogether different and altogether nasty. 

 

And with that, her astral body swam through the ether, pale and ghostly, invisible to the eye, and towards Dungun. She would take a look around in the astral plane...

[olopi]

Flintlock’s astral body moved, across the waters of the sea. The closer she got towards the shore, the stronger the waves got, still weak comparably to what she’d seen before, but finally something even worthy of the name “wave”. When the shore came into sight, Flintlock was greeted with the sight of a beach. It was mostly empty, only a single couple currently there. The moon, not something one wanted to look at on this plane, reflected off the water in front of the sorceress, just the reflection triggering some reflexes in her body.

 

Soon after, the town came into view. The buildings close to the shore were what one would expect, hotels primarily. Some making their way skywards, one story stacked up on the next, others only a few stories high. One thing they all shared were windows, looking out into the sea, once more reflecting the moon, once more causing various things inside Flintlock’s body. Not her real body, so much as that of her astral form, which in itself raised a variety of questions, all of them probably best left unanswered.

 

Flintlock continued onwards nevertheless, having now reached the shore. Off in the distance, the one couple still on the, probably closed, beach. Other than that, a gate, leading towards a garden of some sorts, belonging to a hotel. Behind the hotel a few buildings had contrasted against the sky, so the actual city was not far away.

 

 

Edited August 8, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

Strong waves, something more elemental about them in the strange astral plane. Like they were alive, and, more so, full of life and energy. Still, nothing that the Black Flag could not cut through, silent and sleek. 

 

How lands had changed, even in the last few decades. It seemed to her that the pace of change was ever accelerating. Where would it lead? Could it change faster still, accelerating to...what? She counted herself lucky she had not the gift, or curse, of foresight. 

 

So far, so astral. At least the beach seemed quiet. A pirate ship might even go unnoticed. 

 

Onwards she sped, knowing that time was on her side, towards the centre of Dungan. She did not not exactly what she looked for. But she had seen crooks aplenty; and thieves too. Even in Singapore, one could not operate such horrors openly, surely? No, she would look for something rundown, subtle, innocuous...

 

[olopi]

Flintlock continued moving. Past the hotels, a long street, parallel to the shore. From what Flintlock could tell, using her knowledge of various languages, most of these places were shops and restaurants, marketed towards the foreigners residing in the hotels. They offered many things, and told people about those things in many languages, on many signs. It was hardly what she’d been looking for however, even if the sheer concept of a “Tropical Island Snow Globe” certainly sounded strange enough to fit into her collection of many strange things.

 

Onwards she moved, making her way down streets. Some had cars driving on them, some were empty. It appeared to be a rather rich area, the streets lined with gardens, and large houses, if not mansions, standing inside those gardens. Occasionally, she could spot a person or two, inside the houses or gardens. What looked suspiciously like thieves made their way over one house’s fence, there was not a whole lot Flintlock could do in her current form however.

 

Onwards she moved, until she moved past what looked like a zoo of sorts. Animals gave out a special feel on the astral plane, and Flintlock felt it, quite a lot of it in fact. An entrance was found quickly, fortunately only a few meters away from where Flintlock had first “felt” the animals. While the zoo itself would probably not offer much of interest, the city map, on a huge board in front of the zoo’s entrance, could probably help.

 

The city was split up in a variety of areas, each quite easy to find by following main routes. The most likely points of interest probably were the business district, not far from where Flintlock was at the moment, as well as the industrial district, bordering the harbour district, which was the third location likely to hold further information.

 

 

Edited August 8, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

Flintlock quite fancied the Tropical Island Snow Globe. She made a mental note to come back and acquire it. Possibly even via the medium of money.

 

She decided, on balance, that she would start with the harbour. It was, perhaps, the area least likely to reap rewards, but still, she was most familiar with them, being close to the sea. She could only suspect, from what Cik haid said, that the slaves would arrive by boat. Taken captive at sea, brought here. It would not be easy, even under cover of night and storm, to smuggle people. It was not easy with inanimate cargo. More so, the risk, when people shuffled, screamed, and could run at any moment. 

 

It was a long shot, perhaps, but their might be words spoken. There might be suspicious ships, or suspicious crates. Perhaps signs of secret paths, perhaps signs of struggles, of misery. 

 

Or perhaps just simple cargo, simple boats, and simple people. One could never tell!

[olopi]

The harbour it was, the next goal on Flintlock’s astral travel. It would not take a lot to get there, she simply had to follow a few major roads. The journey would take some time, but it was not a complicated one. As she set out, walking on a street, the animal’s influence slowly became weaker, up until she could barely sense them at all anymore.

 

At this point in the night, even the major roads did not see a lot of traffic, so when a car suddenly passed through Flintlock’s astral form from behind, she did get thrown off just a bit, before her mind registered that she could not get hurt by it. She moved onwards, moving closer to the harbour district, and then, just as she had turned a corner, something. A strange feeling, one the Captain knew well.

 

Could it be? The influence of something, something most horrible. The things that fuelled her own magics, the things that were best left unspoken. They had left their mark around here somewhere, and judging by its strength, it had been rather recent. Of course, recent did not mean a whole lot when dealing with entities like these, even a millennium could qualify as recent for them. But this, this was something more. Something stronger, something that suggested that this was in fact, recent in human terms.

Edited August 8, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

Something crept, slithering. That was all it was, a feeling. But it was also most pertinent. It could not be ignored. Her instincts had lead her to suspect something was afoot, something more murky than mere theft. And here, she felt her instincts justified. The Astral Plane felt cold, somehow. 

 

Presumably the Astral plane was different for everyone, for everything, for every moment or place. But right now, it felt cold and horrible. 

 

Was the fingerprint of the Unspeakable one here? To even catch a shadow of him would shatter stronger minds than Flintlock's. Even the possibility...

 

Enough, she must drive forward, floating through the ether, towards the harbor. Eyes open, Ears open...

Edited August 9, 2016 by Supercape

[olopi]

So the sorceress continued, floating down street after street, approaching the harbour district. The harbour itself was split up into a variety of areas. A cargo harbour, not a big one, but still enough to warrant its own section. A few containers stood there, a medium size cargo ship lay at port.  A quick stroll through the containers on the ground showed that all of them were empty, which together with the ship not being loaded suggested that the ship had probably delivered its cargo recently, to then be transported further by some other means.

 

Onwards she went, the next area was the fishing port. Arguably the most likely to hold further clues, Flintlock was greeted by the sight of a lot of fish. Not the amount of fish she had seen in her last journey outside her body, but a variety of fish, currently being loaded off a ship by a few sailors. The state of the ship, as well as the methods they were using, which included a variety of machines, suggested that this was a legal operation, and thus not what the sorceress was looking for. But, the area was large, and she was in a central position. Perhaps something incriminating could be found somewhere at this harbour.

Edited August 9, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

For a moment, Flintlock contemplated revealing herself, but decided against it. Sailors where a superstitious lot, by her estimation, and her astral projection, ghostly, materialising to question them on what they had seen was unlikely to go down well. No, better to do that in the flesh, so to speak. 

 

Clues aside, 'twas good to see the harbour before the Black Flag docked there. A pirate ship never went down well, other than its antique appeal. The influx of pirate movies over the recent years had been something she had used once or twice. Several ports were still awaiting the Pirates of the Dead Man's Boots which she had persuaded was filming and would be released any time soon. Ish. 

 

Onwards she floated. She could not smell the fish in the Astral Plane, but they still had that rubbery texture that did not translate well to the strange realm she was in...