fan fiction Epirus's Folly

[EtherealSpectre 5]

Link to Original Devianart Post: https://www.deviantart.com/xertris/art/Epirus-s-Folly-859807261

 

This is the tale of Epirus. A man consumed by his lust for battle, among other things.

An entry into the Bonefish writing collaboration on the Guns of Icarus Discord.

Its set in the universe of Guns of Icarus. A place where the entire world was destroyed by a great war. Those that remain survive on the single habitable region of the planet. Land and resources are scarce in these lands, leading to wars between six factions that vie for control over it. With their fleets of steampunk airships (armed dirigibles/ battle baloons) these factions fight in battles that rage across this one vital region. One such faction is the Arashi League that arose out of the harsh Arashi Desert.

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Rain slams the airship in a continuous stream, drenching it in sheets of water. Crew slip and slide over the decks struggling to find their footing. Water runs through bullet holes in the armor choking the engines. A swabbie bails furiously, and engineers rush to plug the holes to little avail. The airship sinks below the clouds towards the desert below. The downpour shifts the sand in slurries churning the dunes into rough seas. The Captain barely hides the dismay on his face as his Head Engineer climbs up to the bridge.

"Chief, the ship can't fly much farther, we're taking on water, and at this rate we'll sink into the sand." The engineer shouts over the rain.

"I can see, and feel that" The captain replies, struggling to maneuver the ship through the storm. Its hull swings wildly in the terrifying winds.

"We've run out of armor plates, and we're low on engine parts. If this ship goes down, we won't be able to get up"

The captain grimaces, imagining his crew starving in the wastes, assuming they don't drown, or worse...

"We need to land now! Lookouts do you see anything we can moor on?" the captain yells.

"I see a beacon starboard, looks like a small outpost. Its a few klicks away, but we should make it" a lookout replies.

"Good enough for me! Brace yourselves men we're turning starboard. Signal that platform. We're going in for a rough landing"

The captain turns the ship starboard, away from the wind. Gales push the hull, listing it to the right. Crew struggle to hang on as the deck pitches at an angle, its suspension lines creaking under the strain. The Lookout signals the outpost with the ship's lamp. Its beacon responds, giving them clearance to land. Though the ship swung back and forth, the captain brought it above the platform. He vents the balloon, and the ship’s hull slams onto the landing pad. Armor fragments spray around the deck as the ship screeches to a stop on the soiled platform, its wet balloon falling into a heap over the ship.

"Tie down the ship then get to cover!" the captain bellows to the crew.

He leans on the ship's helm breathing a sigh of relief. After a brief pause he turns back to the engineer and says. " I want the ship on around the clock watch"

" Yes Chief, but nothing's flying in this weather. The whole crew could use a rest after sailing through this. Especially, right after a battle."

" I don't mean the whole crew. Pick a few scamps each hour to start repairs, and make sure the ship doesn't fall off the outpost. The rest can rest."

The engineer nods.

" As for the weather, the desert holds many unexpected dangers, and we're not getting caught flat-footed. Understood?"

" Understood! Chief"

Once the ship was secured, all but the first watch party rushed inside the outpost for cover. The outpost's commander and workmen were there to greet them.

"You had a rough landing, it’s amazing you made it on the platform." the commander says.

"Amazing there was a platform. I've flown through worse, but we wouldn't have lasted long without a safe place to moor."

The two men punch each other's chests.

"Don't mention it, You and your men are welcome to stay for as long as you like. Its the least we can do for a member of the Solaris" The commander says, noting the gold medallion on the captain’s chest. “Its an honor to have one of the Arashi’s best warriors on our station.”

"I've retired but thank you for your generosity."

" That doesn't stop you from getting into a good scrap I see." The commander looks to the wounded being brought in on stretchers. "This storm isn't the first thing to hit your ship. Once a Solaris, always a Solaris"

" You should have seen the other ships. You can take the warlord out of the order, but you can't take the war out of the lord. Still I could use some parts for my ship."

" My quartermaster will grant you all the parts you need, at a good discount of course. I'm sure we can work out terms over dinner."

"Of course "

As the outpost's commander motions the captain up a flight of stairs, the outpost's workmen show the ship's crew to where they can sleep. A small tavern is open, but most crewman opted to turn in, exhausted from the hard flying. As a few swabbies attempted to follow suit, the head engineer pulls them aside.

"No rest for you yet swabbies. Get these parts loaded onto the ship, then you can sleep. Best do it quickly now, you’re on 3rd watch."

The swabbies sigh as they descend into the outpost, collect the parts, and carry them up and over to the ship. Despite the weather, and their own exhaustion they manage to get the supplies on the ship quickly. Both out of a want for rest, and to avoid the ire of the crewman sent to watch them. Most of the swabbies immediately head for their bunks, but one lingers to peer into the tavern. Inside he sees its staff cleaning up the place, and a lone woman sitting at a table. She sips a drink while she reads some papers. She looks up at the swabbie with a knowing smile.

"Hello little one. off to bed?" She asks.

"I'm not little, I'm a crewman on the airship Azima" The swabbie states as he puffs up his chest.

" Forgive me, oh great warrior. Care for a drink?"

Though tired, the swabbie sits down at her table. Once seated he takes a closer look at her. She wore the red-orange robes of an arashi scout, and a scarf was wrapped around her belt. She let her dark brown hair hang just a bit below her shoulders, and within it was the faintest shade of grey. She looked upon the swabbie with eyes that had seen many like him before, and a mocking smile. She pours him a drink into a spare cup on the table and slides it over to him.

"That must have been some fight you must have had."

"Oh yeah! We were outnumbered and outgunned, but we drove straight in away. Our ship was filled with holes, but we shot them all down!"

"Well Done, how many did you shoot down?"

" We must of knocked out at least four, but I didn't fire a shot." He says dejectly " I was stuck carrying ammo, plugging holes in the armor, and stitching the balloon. I never touched the guns. Heck! They even had me bail water out of an airship. 100s of holes, and none of them were in the floor!"

" That is very frustrating, but those are very important tasks. Guns aren't worth much on a wrecked ship."

" I know I know, but I want to fight. Instead I get all these chores to do."

"At least the spoils were worth it though"

"Spoils?"

" You know, things you salvage from the wrecked ship. Gold, Upgrades, New clothes" She says as she eyes the swabbie's plain tunic.

" I'm still a swabbie so I can't claim much loot" He says sheepishly ". But even if I could, we just took some gold from each ship and flew off"

" Aah, an honor duel then. " She says, rolling her eyes " but I suppose not everything valuable is material."

" Fighting is its own reward. I'd be in the thick of it all the time. I just wish I didn't need to do all this boring stuff"

" Many warlords think the same way. Some faction leaders even want to fight to no end. Infinite war, no resources required. Of course, they, as you know now, what it takes to fly an airship. Didn't stop them from trying though. " She pauses "Want to hear a story?"

" A story about what?"

" Imagine a warship that repairs itself, no fuel, no ammo, or maintenance required."

"Really!? That exists!?, What's it called!?, How do I get on it!?" He asks enthusiastically.

"Easy easy, I'll tell you, if you have the time?"

"Of course!"

" It started back many years ago, back before the Arashi League struck out of the desert. Most viewed the Arashi Desert as a total waste. Barely even flyover country due to all the pirates. What resources were there, were barely accessible due to the harsh climate, and the scavengers sifting the wrecks. Yes, the league was very young then. It was made up of only a few tribes lead by one of its first warlords Epirus the Bloody. He loved to fight more than anything else and would charge straight into battle regardless of the odds. Engaging in many duels with the chieftains of surrounding tribes and winning each one with his flagship the Bonefish."

" Of course he would. He had a ship that couldn't break" The swabbie interrupts.

" No, at that time the Bonefish was a regular ship. In fact, it wasn't even called the bonefish then. It needed, fuel, ammo, repairs, and swabbies like any other aircraft." She jabs him in the shoulder" Nearly all arashi were scavenger's back then. Since they had to salvage parts from ancient wrecks and the ships, they raided just to stay airborne, but Epirus was very crafty. The terms in Epirus's duels were always the same. The winner would not only take the losers gold, but their ship, and if they were a Warlord, their entire tribe as well. This wasn't an uncommon practice at the time, but Epirus took it to the next level. While other Captains would take the ship whole or scrap it for spare parts. Epirus would retrofit the BoneFish with the best parts of each ship he dueled. The Bonefish started off small, a medium sized craft little bigger than a goldfish, but grew to have the size and power of a capital ship. It outclassed anything in the arashi desert, to the point where some tribes surrendered immediately, or fought purely symbolic duels to submit "honorably"" She says making airquotes with her hands.

"With a sizable majority of the arashi tribes, Epirus attempted to strike out of the desert with fleet of ships, the largest the desert had never seen, but was met with great dismay. His fleet was made up of the ships of scavengers, many of which could barely fly from wreck to wreck, let alone travel hundreds of kilometers without stopping. By the time he'd reached the desert's edge, over half of the fleet had broken down, or worse were fighting each other for parts. His own ship did not fare much better. It was made of components from so many different ships, from so many different nations that maintaining the Bonefish was a nightmare. Compared to the Bonefish, your ship, the Azima is easy to maintain. It took the work of hundreds of swabbies and other crewman across several ships for the Bonefish to even fly, let alone make it to the border. Epirus wanted to fight anyway hoping to get parts from the settlements and ships they fought along the way, but in a rare moment of restraint, he and the remains of his fleet drifted back into the desert. The Bonefish being towed by what few ships that were left

Epirus wanted to make war on the world, but was beaten by his own machines. Frustrated he had his engineers retrofit the entire fleet. Making their ships lighter, faster, more efficient, and reliable. A tough task to be sure, but one they handled well. Some say that many common Arashi ship designs were first developed in this period, but while refitting the smaller ships was difficult. The Bonefish was a whole different animal. They made some progress, stripping off many unnecessary components, but it'd been renovated so many times, that even its engineers weren't 100% sure how it worked. So many crewmen on it died (often from accidents), that its entire staff had been replaced several times over. Only the captain and a few of his officers even remembered what the ship looked like originally, let alone how it worked. As it stood, the Bonefish would be a great deterrent to invasion. Its power was unmatched, a veritable fortress of the sky, but one that could not move fast or fly long enough to wage war on the world. Frustrated, Epirus still sought a way to harness the power of the Bonefish unburdened by logistics, and after one fateful duel he found it

After fighting a whole tribe over a petty insult, Epirus shot down the warship of its warlord. The downed craft blew a hole in the ground, and inside was full of plates of this chalk colored mineral. The wreck left a huge hole in one chalky slab, but the Bonefish's crew were astonished to see that it reformed itself in minutes. They fired round after round, and dropped mine after mine into this stuff, but without fail it would reform just as, if not stronger than before. Epirus immediately ordered that this stuff be added to his ship, the solution to his logistical problems. His engineers urged him to perform more tests first, but he would not be convinced. He had his entire ship's hull and armor , covered by the strange material. Epirus's flagship was always intimidating, but now its armor was stained by the color of bleached bones. It no longer looked like an amalgam of ships, but instead flew like a terrible skeleton of the skies. After its coating in the strange substance, and a few other modifications it was rechristened as the Bonefish, and it was magnificent. After the refit, the Bonefish was smaller, flew faster, more reliable, and had near impenetrable defenses. In its battles against the few remaining rebellious tribes its armor never broke, repairing even the largest holes in minutes, and smaller ones in seconds. Its reduced weight put far less strain on its engines, radically improving its speed, range, and reliability. And its guns Oooh its guns..."

"Had unlimited ammo, never jammed, and could be buffed at the touch of a hammer!?" The Swabbie Interjected.

"No that's stupid. The guns were nearly superfluous! The Bonefish could fly so fast and had unbreakable armor so it could ram most of its foes to death. Crewman who saw its rams described it as a predator devouring its prey. The guns were mainly used to knock out a ship’s engines or fire flares for communication. Even more amazing, each battle only made it better, growing stronger and faster with every ship it took down."

" That sounds great. You could fight with that ship all day, and not worry about doing a thing." The swabbie says wistfully.

" Oh yes. That ship was a swabbies dream... for a time"

" What do you mean?"

" At first swabbies didn't have much to do. They languished for a while only getting out to fight, organize supplies, or clean something. So much so that their superiors began transferring them to other ships. That is if they didn't disappear. "

"disappear??" He asks unsurely.

“Definitely. Swabbies and all manner of people aboard the Bonefish started disappearing, especially in long stretches between battles. Those who dared enter the bowels of the ship often didn't return. This wasn't out of the ordinary. The Bonefish was a large, and for most of its life, terribly engineered ship that killed or injured almost as many crewmen as enemy fire. Disappearances weren't out of the ordinary before the refit, but some trace of the victim's body could usually be found in a few days. Some ripped clothing here, some blood splattered there, or a few stray body parts ending up in weird places. After the refit though, passengers and crew would disappear without a trace. First the POW's housed in the hull, then the swabbies, some veteran crew, and even a few officers would vanish beneath her decks. Other weird things started happening. Parts of the ship would change without any of the engineers' knowledge. Whole rooms, and occasionally entire decks would shift positions, lock themselves off, or even pop up out of nowhere. Engineers wanted to investigate this phenomenon, but Epirus had his perfect ship in the new Bonefish, a vessel as bloodthirsty and ready to fight as he was. Some of the changes were beneficial as well. The ship ran with remarkable efficiency, especially after a battle. As if something other than its boilers were powering it, particularly when the crew could not find them. The chalk like material began to cover the balloon, forming plates as thick and strong as many ships' armored hulls. At the balloon's tip, a pair of eyes and a grisly smile formed. Grey spines of the substance shot out of hull, and it became nigh impregnable to any gun.

After many tests Epirus deemed the Bonefish, and his fleet ready for battle. He assembled his entire fleet of newly retooled ships. Not manned by scavengers, but warriors ready to fight to the last, ready to fight any faction, ready to fight for the joy of fighting. The war he wanted was right around the corner, and he could taste it. It took some time to get the fleet together, but they managed to create a force even larger than his first fleet striking out of the desert. The night before the fleet was about to start its campaign, it was hit by a violent thunderstorm. Such storms happened occasionally in the desert, but rarely so suddenly. Had the previous fleet been caught in such a gale, most ships would have crashed in minutes, but the new ships and trained crews held strong and kept their composure. The fleet spread out and moored to whatever they could until the storm passed. Morale was still high, and the fleet was holding strong until, the Bonefish was struck by lightning, and from there the fleet was doomed."

" Lightning doesn't kill airships though. They cause some damage, but nothing major right?" The swabbie asks, thinking about the lightning flashes that nearly hit the Azima in the storm.

"Aye, for most ships made of metal and wood that's true. Most of the time a fire is started, and a few men get burned or electrocuted. Far from harmless, but usually not catastrophic, unless your ship is covered in strange chalky plates. The ships moored close to the Bonefish saw its emergency flares fire, and beacons flashing erratically before suddenly stopping. A great roar could be heard over the storm, as the Bonefish unmoored itself, crashing into the nearby ships, devouring them in its maw. Its friendly ships attempted to signal to crew, but they could get no response other than having their ships and crews eaten alive before they could reach the ground. It tore its way through the fleet taking down ship after ship, leaving no survivors from any vessel caught in its gullet. With heavy hearts, and no way to contact Epirus, Epirus's personal guard, a group of the finest warriors the arashi had ever seen, resolved to gun it down. They, and other nearby warships would combat the Bonefish, while the fleet's cargo and support vessels with a few escorts, retreated into the desert. They unmoored their ships and faced the Bonefish in the raging storm. They battled for hours fighting both the Bonefish and the weather. Many of their ships were lost, but unlike most members of the fleet, Epirus's guard knew the Bonefish well, both its strengths and weaknesses. They kited it all night in the whistling winds. Keeping their distance lest the Bonefish capitalize on their mistake with grievous injury. At last, dawn broke, and in the light of the sun piercing the clouds, the Bonefish began to tire. Epirus's guard took their chance. They flew high and to the rear of the bleaching airship. They riddled the top rear section of the balloon's armor with rounds, (its weakest point) making a hole, and fired shot after shot through until its balloon finally broke. Without crewman to patch it quickly, the ship fell to the earth and sunk into the desert. It roared until its maw was filled with the muddy sands. They had won, but Epirus, nearly all his officers, and most of the fleet had been consumed or scattered across the desert in the storm. His second offensive had failed, and the arashi fleet was in shambles once again."

The swabbie looked down with a resigned expression.

" Don't fret, those that survived the battle were the strongest warriors the desert had ever seen. Many would become the first warlords of the Arashi League that would one day strike out of the desert and obtain the glorious battles they long sought. But they could only do that because they learned not to skip the boring bits and understood the true cost of battle."

" What happened to Epirus, and the Bonefish?"

" Few know for sure. The battle's survivors searched the sands for days to find any trace of him or that ship but failed to find anything. Most assume Epirus and his officers are long dead, but the ship's fate is undetermined. Some say Epirus's guard managed to kill the Bonefish that day, but others believe that ship is still at large hidden somewhere in the Arashi desert, waiting for a storm to feed on all those who live by the gun."

A loud boom resounds throughout the outpost as a lightning bolt struck the outpost. The room is flashed with a blinding light that quickly fades.

" I get it, so I have to do all these chores on the ship, otherwise a giant monster will eat me and all my crewmates " He states matter of factly.

" That or your warrior friends will get mad" She attempts to subtly warn the swabbie, but it’s too late.

The head engineer comes up from behind the swabbie and says "Nice to see you've woken up early for your shift. Enough Chit Chat hop to it"

"But wait... I just... She..." the swabbie stammers.

"You had your chance to rest, and you don't even want a chance with that cougar. Get to the ship!" He orders.

The woman barely suppressed a huff and pulled back her greyest hairs as the swabbie was pulled by the ear out towards the ship. The pair pass by the Captain who quickly nods them along as they pass. He enters the tavern with a scowl, staring down the woman.

" You're no mere scout. What are you doing here?"

He rests his hand on the grip of his pistol.

" Same thing you’re doing chief. This storm is a doozy. I also had to collect some ship manifests and inventories from the station..." She motions to the papers on the table "...and some contact reports from you. Your swabbie has already told me a great deal though. Shoot down 4 ships, and not salvage a single part? Very wasteful, that ship must have been starving."

" It was 6 ships, and who are you?"

" Someone you couldn't execute, at least not without a lot of complaints." She produces a silver medallion from her robes. The chief examines it closely before handing it back to her and taking his other hand off his pistol. " The outpost's commander didn't mention me?" She asks with wide eyes.

"He did, but he didn't warn me that you were such a wench"

" Mind your manners sunny man. "She jabs his gold medallion playfully." Someone's gotta keep track of you animals."

The Captain hands her some papers, his scowl only deepening. She smiles as she accepts them, and places them in a folder neatly with the rest.

" I can't command you to do anything other than hand me reports, but I suggest you spare at least some ships for the Yeshans. We have a war to fight you know."

"And I suggest you stop telling wild stories to my crew." the captain replies.

" It was to both his and your benefit. Although interpretation is always hard to manage."

"Like you?"

"Naturally" She takes her folder and begins sauntering out of the tavern. "Now I'm going to bed. That storm is booming outside, and I'd hate to fly to Alleron without a good night’s sleep. Be careful chief, wouldn't want you to be eaten up in this storm."

"I won't"

***

The Chief engineer drags the swabbie to his watch crew, assigns them their tasks, then heads back into outpost, leaving a crewman to watch them. The thunderstorm had only lessened a little, but he had a hard time nodding off. He could manage it while he was outside nailing new armor plates on the hull. The cold and wet from the rain was a small blessing, keeping him conscious. Work inside the ship was a different matter. The normally well received break from the elements, could be his death sentence. The relatively warm cabin combined with the woman's drink was starting to make him drowsy. If the crewman caught him sleeping, he would be scrubbing the deck till his fingers went raw, forget loading let alone manning a turret. He volunteered to take the place of another swabbie outside scanning the skies. The crewman raised his eyebrows but let the two scamps switch places. The storm had lessened slightly, but the wind still blew hard, the rain was still falling, and the clouds were still thundering, albeit a few more miles away. Time, his exhaustion, and that drink had taken their toll. He scanned the skies, jumped around, and pinched himself to little avail. A large gust of wind blew him off his feet into a crevice of the hull. He heard a roar emanate through the clouds. He peaked his head out of the crevice and saw a ship. Bone white flying just below the cloud layer, it smiled and grinned at the station as lightning sparked through the balloon and onto the many spines in its hull. The ship circled ever closer to the station and the Azima, waiting for the perfect time to strike. The Swabbie screamed for the crewman, the captain, to anyone as he was grabbed by a pair of hands and pulled out of the crevice.

" I knew you wanted to take a nap, but I thought you'd do it quietly." The swabbie looks up to see the swabbie he'd replaced on watch." Don't worry that crewman hasn't spotted ya yet. I told him, I wanted to keep ya company since i'd finished the work inside"

"But the ship" The groggy swabbie scanned the skies for the ship but saw nothing.

"What ship's flying in weather like this? Come off it man!"

" How long was I out?"

" Not sure, I just found ya in there screaming. Long enough for a good power nap I suppose. Consider us even, us swabbies gotta stick together, right?"

"Right!"

***

Eventually the swabbies finished their watch and could head to sleep. By the next morning, the storm passed, the ship was fully repaired, and the Azima was on its way, flying over the rapidly drying desert. They found no trace of the ships they had shot down the day before, and by the time the swabbie woke up, the woman was gone. The Captain was pleased though. He succeeded in his mission and was now onto the next.