SCOURGE OF THE SKIES
The party was spectacular. The food, the dancing, the women...everything was perfect for an Aristocrat like himself...an Aristocrat like...Nomid Rephasul. Rephasul stroked his large, golden mustache, and raised a bushy eyebrow. His sea-blue eyes skimmed across the room, where many of his Aristocrats had gathered. Rephasul was famous for his great parties...and this one was no exception. His expensive robes trailed along the ground as he approached a nearby table of refreshments.
One of his many servants rushed to his aid, and poured him a cup of wine. Rephasul took it, without so much as a nod to the servant, and then downed it in a matter of gulps. Thrusting it towards the servant, he scowled. "Next time...make sure the wine is fresh."
"...B-but sir...it was made just this morning..."
Rephasul glared at the young man, and then snapped his fingers. Instantly two soldiers stepped forward, took the man by the arms, and led him away...to his death. None of the other Aristocrats seemed to notice. It happened so often, that the death of a servant or two at these parties was to be expected.
Rephasul chuckled. All was going well in his castle...no news of any sky pirate activities for weeks now. Perhaps he would finally...
The huge entrance door burst open, interrupting his thoughts. A soldier, one of the castle's many guards, staggered in, bleeding profusely. His left arm had been severed at the shoulder, and several bullet holes gouged into his chest. "L-Lord Rephasul!"
"What is it?!" Rephasul exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Spill your guts, swine! Or I'll spill them myself and send you to the devil in hell!"
The soldier took a step forward, and then fell to his knees. "The...the devil is no longer in hell...he is here..."
Several heads turned, and many women gasped. A bead of sweat ran down Rephasul's chin. Gasping for breath, the soldier continued, "And he has brought his demons with him..."
Rephasul dashed forward and grabbed the soldier by the neck, shaking him ruthlessly. "Who? WHO IS IT?!"
The soldier's last word escaped his lips in the form of a low, strained hiss. "Tempest..."
Rephasul wasted no time. He turned and fled through a separate door, leaving his guests behind...and not a moment too soon. The huge, extravagant windows crashed in, sending shards of glass hurtling through the room. Six shadowy figures dropped into the room from ropes that seemed to have fallen down from above. Sky pirates.
And then, from the door, there boomed a voice like a cannon blast, "Please excuse my crew's lack of manners...they weren't cut from the same cloth as you nobles."
The massive figure of Timothy Tempest, Captain of the Behemoth, emerged, in his huge right hand clutching the body of a dead soldier. All eyes fixed upon his left arm and leg, which were both robotic. No doubt about it...it was the devil himself.
Captain Tempest chuckled, and hurled the corpse in his hand into the wall, a good four yards away. His eyes narrowed as he glared at the Aristocrats. "I heard there was a party at Rephasul's place, and I wondered why I hadn't been invited," he said with a grin. "Don't worry, we're not here to kill you. We just want your valuables...money, jewelry, women..."
"Father!" exclaimed one of the sky pirates.
"Hahaha!!" boomed Tempest. "Fine, fine...just your money and jewelry will do. Is that better, Jill?"
The girl sky pirate nodded, smirking. She drew her cutlass, and then turned to their new prisoners. "Dad, it looks like Rephasul isn't among them."
"Blast!" Tempest snarled, clenching his fist. "He got away...ah, well...I'll let it slide this time."
***
Walter Haley, dubbed "Mechs" by his fellow sky pirates, sighed. Peering out of one of the Behemoth's many windows, he watched as his fellow crewmen looted another Aristocrat castle. He jumped when a hand rested on his shoulder. Looking up, he recognized the face of Jack Bonny, the first mate aboard the Behemoth.
Bonny smiled down at Mechs, and raised a bushy eyebrow. Stroking his black mustache, he inquired, "Somethin' the matter, lad?"
"Uh...well...no, sir...I don't think so..." Mechs stuttered, fumbling for words.
"I think so," Bonny replied with a chuckle. "Ya wish ya could'a been on this here raid, aye?"
Mechs averted his gaze, and then nodded. "Yeah...I guess..."
"Ya always get left out, aye?"
Mechs stared at Jack Bonny. He had known the airship's first mate for a while now, but the man had never shown an interest in him before. "Uh-huh. But it's understandable...I'm the mechanic, so they don't need me to help out with that stuff."
He turned back to the window and sighed. His eyes fixed on Jill Tempest...
***
The sound of footsteps echoed through the halls of the castle. Tempest whirled around to find that a dozen guards had entered the large room. They each drew a sword, and prepared to attack.
Tempest smiled and raised an eyebrow. "This is all Rephasul sends to save his 'fellow Aristocrats'? That's pathetic."
He turned to his raiding party, which consisted of his adopted daughter, Jill Tempest, Thomas Solace, Brooke Sangloup, Straw-hat Gaia, Sean Pegorino, and Jase Kongo. "Twelve on six isn't very good odds. Allow me to...level the scale."
With that, Tempest pulled back the lever on his robotic arm, which cocked his massive weapon. His arm cannon could hold three bullets, each the size of a fist. Needless to say, it did some damage. Booming with laughter, Tempest let the first shot fly. It crashed into a soldier, ripping through his body and then killing another. Now only ten guards remained.
In the blink of an eye, Tempest had drawn his cutlass, and then hacked off the head of a guard. He parried another's attack, before pummeling him in the chest with his mechanized leg. Eight left. With his great sword-skill, Tempest disarmed two guards in a single move, and then killed them both with a solid swipe of his sword.
"There..." he murmured, stepping backwards. "That evened the odds a bit. I'll leave the rest to you six...while I gather up the loot."
Jill smiled savagely. "Heh...six-on-six. This will be too easy."
((OOC: If your characters are not among the raiding party, then they will be aboard the Behemoth, doing whatever their ship position requires them to do...or just chatting.))
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