Seek and... (L 1.1)

Location: Downtown Archipelago
Time: evening

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Litch,

The sun's setting on the distant horizon as your Talons ride the choppy waves between leaning high-rises as you race after two speedboats full of Rafters* who've stolen from you. What precious thing have they taken and why will Shrike kill every last one of them if she has her way?

Kestrel's pushing her ride hard to try and catch one of the boats and Plover is trying to stay with her mother. You can see the stress on Plover to push her ride this fast, but Kestrel doesn't give her a second thought. Shrike has almost made it up to the boat on the port side - you know she's going to jump the distance and board her. It's her trademark move.

Merlin's hanging back from this chase, keeping a wider view on your surroundings. You get the sense he sniffs some kind of trap here.

What do you do?* denizens of Raftland

They way we move could look like rehearsed choreography of a boat show. Weaving amidst the downtown towers over the Venetian-like channels of water, we chase out quarry and cut off their flanks. There's not going to be an easy escape down alleyways for the Rafters this time. We've become well-accustomed to their steal-and-run tactics over the course of our decade-long rivalry. Even the kids know their tells by now.

The two speedboats split in forty-five degree turns, likely to make us choose a single target. I wave two fingers in the air in an circular motion. Javan and another Talon split off to force that speedboat back into the path of the rest of us, then stay their course dead ahead. Zephyr and Mynah copy that movement on the right, so that all of the watercraft form a 'W' shape. Now the speedboats will have to drive between two Talons on either side to escape. Excellent. We like our fights up close and personal.

I know Shrike is livid. She's spent the majority of her share of our loot on the precious medicine needed to keep her friend Aloe alive. Aloe isn't in our flock; she's too fragile to be out in the elements, let alone on the water. The child needs constant care and likely won't live out the year, but we've given her eternal refuge in the Roost. She's important to Shrike, so she's important to all of us. Plus, the Rafters are the vermin of our city. Like rats in the sewer, they will always be around. But every one we eliminate benefits the entire populace.

Shrike speeds ahead, preparing to launch herself aboard. She might not leave any for the rest of us. Fine by me. I'm not as agile as I once was and prefer to leave the glory of the kill in our piratic maneuvers to the young ones. Which is everybody else. Well, perhaps not Merlin. I look around for my lieutenant. I spot him hanging back, watching with concern. That's what I should've been doing as well. I'm glad we have at least one old man with his head on straight, my friend. Kestrel is approaching the other boat, with Plover trailing behind...again. Poor lass. She's not much of a pilot...or a fighter. But she's determined and the hardest worker. I grin with pride, then turn back to focus on our task at hand.

Trusting my experience and instinct, I allow both of my eyes to close as I open a third. Aloud, I murmur: "Exalted Gray Wing, keeper of my soul and prince of the air, I beseech your wisdom and guidance. Show me what I must know to proceed along your eternal path."

Shrike tenses her legs and then springs forward from her jet ski to slam against the back of the boat. She avoids the rotors as she scrambles up, but the Rafters are ready to deal some death. At least, they intend to.

---

It hovers near Lasalle Plaza, the site of Poseidon's Belly. More Rafters there, as well as Sippians. Tempers will flare. Guns will bark.
Canary does. You sense her Refuge heading for The Tower, but something lurks in the deep that wants a meal... and she is carrying it.

---

When the Gray Wing whispers, the temporal world fades to a blur and the unseen becomes seen. It's as if I am able to step out of time and space for a moment to preview various events. Of course the Wings of Death hover over Poseidon's Belly. Perhaps it's because of the body count that the bar is popular. It certainly isn't the food. Though the girls tell me the drinks are delicious. I wouldn't know. I choose to abstain.

The Gray Wing pivots my vision to Canary. The little yellow songbird in trouble yet again. I have considered offering her our protection. Freedom loses it's savor when threats loom large and your security or your life hang in the balance. What a wasteful way to go. Meaningless death. We need to increase our numbers, it is true. Yet we only accept those who desire to live our way. To choose a sacrifice of self. Coercion has no place among the Talons. Still...perhaps that is our next destination.

I'm transported back to the present. Seconds before time continues I see Shrike leaping in slow motion towards the rafter boat. The thieves have their heavy, inaccurate AKs. Like muskets from the nineteenth century, but with a lethal spray of bullets. I smile as time resumes. Death comes for all. Today my holy children might ascend to eternal flight.

The starboard boat is still dead in the water and most of your talons are circling and closing on them like the birds of prey they are. Merlin's following the port boat where Shrike is aboard fighting for her life. Merlin's pulled out his rifle and he's going to snipe some of those Rafters, if he can.What do you do?

That's my girl. I say in my head, watching Plover's dead-eye shot take out a Rafter. Then she catches lead. For all of my belief in seeking glorious death, I'm still an overprotective father. My hand darts first to the sawed-off in the makeshift holster under the handlebars. It's a recent purchase and not something I'm well-practiced with, but it's a shotgun. Not much skill is needed to hit a target. Yet I'll need to get closer to be effective.

Shrike needs our help and I signal to our flankers to close in. Hopefully, Merlin will pick a couple off before my birds board, making their job a little easier. I hit the throttle, no longer content to wait and oversee. I heft the sawed-off and lay the barrels across the left handlebar, the stock buttressed against my shoulder. As I skim past the starboard boat, I strafe them with a couple of shells, then take off toward the lead boat. I tuck the gun back into its holster and loosen the hatchets at my belt. This old dog still has a few tricks too.

Litch, you race your jet ski up to the Rafter's boat that has stalled out and unload some buckshot into one of the poor sods, then zip past towards the speedboat that's still trying to escape.

You close the distance, burning up fuel that you'll need to deal with later. The speedboat has reached the perimeter of the tallest buildings and you see The Tower less than a mile up ahead, along with her docks and the denizens of the rich and the people who serve them. If the Rafters get too close to The Tower, they will be fired upon. As will Shrike. And the precious medicine.

Right now, you've got a good shot at the pilot of the boat. Shrike is in the middle of four Rafters hacking and bleeding with all her fury. You hear a shot ring out from Merlin's rifle and now there are three Rafters fighting Shrike. The pilot has seen you, Litch. He's reaching for an uzi hanging from a loop at his belt.

What do you do?

At this distance, the odds are in my favor that I could hit the pilot before his hand grabs the sub-machine gun at his belt. My eyes flit over to Shrike, a gladiator in her highspeed arena. Merlin lessens the threat level by taking one out with his rifle, but the odds don't need to be even for Shrike to have the upper hand. Her swift ferocity is efficient and brutal. I return my focus to the pilot. The sensible thing to do is shoot him, but that's what he expects. We didn't get our reputation by being sensible. I cut the distance between the watercraft down to few feet, loosen my hatchets, and leap over the wake directly toward the pilot - talons out. I'll pick up my ski later.

Like a tsunami, you leap board the speedboat and take the pilot with your hatchets. Shrike manages to turn the tide on another, cutting him from gizzard to throat. The last Rafters jump overboard and escape into the depths, leaving their speedboat and plunder. Shrike quickly moves to open the chest to seek out the medicine, ignoring her injuries - even ignoring you until she sees that it wasn't ruined.

What do you do?

We both seamlessly transition from killing to the next task, almost as if we're on autopilot. The stench of iron, sodium chloride and petroleum fill the air, but each have been imprinted permanently on our olfactory motherboard, so it's easy to ignore. I leave Shrike to her own task and lower the speedboat's throttle, steering away from the towers in a wide circle, before heading back toward my own jet ski. The tool compartment behind the seat holds a few bandages for binding small wounds. I let the engine idle and lean over to grab the bundles, tossing one over to Shrike. "Use these, luv. Your adrenaline will wear off soon. There's no glory in bleeding out slowly."

Her comment about the dirty bandages makes me smirk involuntarily. "Aye, they're not pristine." I gesture with my head toward the Towers. "But you're welcome to ask tha' butler if he has any to spare." I look towards the other Talons to see if any are coming our direction. Looks like we've got ourselves a new boat...maybe two if the other one is still operational.

I had intended to speed directly over to Canary's aid; the visions gifted to me had shown danger lurking under the surface. But her ship is now docked at the towers...at least I think it's hers. I thought I spotted her signature yellow on the deck. Nobody else in this city wears that color in the open. Makes you a target. But death always hovers over Poseidon's Belly. "Aye, whiskey would help those cuts." Though my goggles hide my eyes, my half-grin gives me away. "Thanks, lass. Find Plover and patch her up. Then you two head back home to the little one. We'll clean up here. Meet you at the Belly after."

I nod my thanks to my second, then look around in the speedboat for something to tie up and tow my jet ski back to the Roost. As I'm scrounging around, I respond to Merlin. "Too bad. This one looks decent. Not a bad haul, all things considering." Finding a decent length of cord, I start untangling it and turn to face him. "You were hanging back for a reason, Merlin. Are we still in danger or did it pass?"