Machine Shop 7
The Dainty Mauler has many machine and repair shops scattered haphazardly throughout the hull, and no two of them are the same. Number 7 more closely resembles a blacksmithing shop though, with coolant baths, molds and metalworking tools. A complicated series of valves on one wall allows for the mixing of various metals before being poured from a spigot-like orifice. Rather than being labeled, the valves are apparently made from the metals they represent. Among the tools are tuning-fork devices that seem to detect the purity of an alloy.

The aprons are all big, and made from something that isn't quite rubber. The gloves and goggles are also Titanian sized, as are the work surfaces. Luckily there are enough loose buckets and boxes that Tasha can use as props so that she's at the proper height to use the tables.

There's a young Titanian who is oddly thin, and probably not much older than Tasha that serves as an assistant for the shop. He has a lot of singed fur, and smells of oil and smoke. His name is Skuttle, and his spoken Standard is a bit more broken than most, but he knows where all the tools and extra bits are, or can at least find something that does what Tasha asks for.

Much of the work thusfar has been the planning stage. After several hours, Tasha has come up with a design she thinks will be useful, while also conveying both the history and nature of herself as well as the Joint Expeditionary Force. She decided against something small; After all, small tools she can carry easily enough -- what she's really needed in the past is a larger tool, and a lot of them. It's something she can't easily improvise and that would allow her to work on larger things, not to mention that anything that can cut or penetrate an iron bulkhead can do much the same to one of the many creatures she finds herself tangling with. Satisfied with what it should do as a tool, Tasha then turned to its dual purpose as a weapon.

Anything with this many tools will be large, she decides, tapping her chin. A hand weapon won't be nearly big enough, and a large sword would use too much space for a blade. A large hammer is the obvious choice, but is a hammer me? What says 'me'? Aldara ... Tasha ... Argentine -- Silver-Spear! A spear maybe, but would that have enough room? What's like a speak, but has more room? The young woman twists her muzzle, thinking.

Needing a moment to dwell on the idea, Tasha turns to the boy and frown as she thinks. /Where have I seen peculiar spears? Rephidim? The Emirate? ... no, no, no. Nordika? It /was/ Nordika. Gallis! And Chronotopia! Of course, their /halberds./" A halberd, after all, is a hybrid of spear, hammer, and axe. /Saw, droll and hammer! I could use the butt as a counterweight ... Hmm, another tool? The shaft for its batteries ... maybe some additions ... /

"Hrrm," Tasha concludes after a moment, still watching the boy but not really seeing him until just now. "I'll need a drill, and drill heads. A circular saw and saw blades. A few hammers, I don't mind if they're broken. I'll need ... " What to put on the butt? Saw, drill, hammer ... What else have I needed? What would have been useful in Balthasar? Ah! Spreaders! And spreaders can also be cutters, or a clamp with multiple blade shapes. "And a spreader, cutter, some metal jaws or other ... jaw like thing." Tasha makes biking motions with her hand, as if it were a mount clamoing down on something. "Also, as many gears as you can find, a motor or three, some Expedition-salvage batteries and if you can find one, short range materials other scanner."

Skuttle stares blankly at Tasha for a moment, then nods and starts rummaging through various bins. Some of things he finds are strange, such that it takes a moment to really see what they are. The 'saw' is something clearly Khattan, since the blade has filigree decoration on it, and an ornate arm to hold it. The teeth of it seem odd as well, until it becomes clear that there are actually two counter-spinning blades involved. The drill is also a bit odd, and looks like a Silent-Ones design aesthetic, but instead of a chuck that holds the bits, the bits are threaded and screw down over a spinning shaft. The spreader-grabber looks suspiciously like a prosthetic hand for something very large but lacking a thumb. The power cells are completely unfamiliar, and seem too small, but do have standard-looking hookups that have been grafted onto them.

"Ooooo," goes Tasha, who had expected big clunky aparatuses, the kind she'd expect to find in an Expedition City junkyard or one of the poorer machine shop. She quickly sorts the goodies on the table, pausing to reach over and rub Scuttle's head with a hand without looking from her work. After a minute or two, the parts are roughly arranged where thwy need to be, with a mold placed where the hammer head would be. Tasha nods at what she sees, then begins grabbing tools and starts deconstructing the motors.

After several more hours, the red woman has combined the various heads, motors, gears and other things in to a working system with a power switch, a basic transmission-like assembly with gearing, and another part of the gearing for switching between tools. The hamemr remains uncast -- she'll do that last before assembly.

"Need shaft," she barks, looking for Scuttle again, "Fits my hand, this tall," she indicates a length at her eyes to the floor, "and hollow!"

"One piece, solid! Strong," the woman answers, grabbing a nearby length of pipe and holding it in the way she intends to hold the tool, to demonstrate its purpose.

"Round, light if possible. Going to be like hammer shaft, for holding. Needs to be balanced evenly," the woman further elaborates.

The lad goes to the foundry wall and punches a spot, causing a panel to fold down and expose.. some very complicated looking machinery. There are lot of gears and pistons and forms, which Skuttle starts to adjust manually. Then there are valves to open, and a conveyor table to put into place. Finally a lever is yanked, and the device goes to work, spewing steam and noise. But a pipe begins to extrude from it, and not only is it hollow but every inch along it there are holes for mounting things (or for making it lightweight). When it's the proper length, Skuttle hits the extrusion port with a hammer to snap the end of the pipe off, and shuts down the machine.

Fred would love that, Tasha decides, ears perked as she watches, impressed. When the pipe is delivered, she gets to work immediately. Seconds later, she also offers a "Thank you!" when she remembers her manners past the haze of building things.

It's another hour before the assembly is fitted together. Another contained is ordered in this time, a rounded box to act as the gearbox and mountings for the switches, between all the head tools. The bottom assembly is also completed, so that now the jaws open and close -- at least they did until Tasha pulled the blades off, turning with the two heads and three hammer molds to face Scuttle again. "I need to cut the blades, and flatted part of it here," she indicates, "Which might need some welding build up. Then, I need to mold half of these hammer head -- that is, half the hammer head -- and put some holes in it, so it can be attached."

The hammer molds have some inserts that can be added to change the size and shape of them, along with rods for holes to save the hassle of boring them afterwards. Hot metal is poured from the spigot, and while that cools Skuttle goes to find the 'scanner'. What he returns with is some sort of prospecting tool. It has a crystal-screen readout, power leads.. and an ominous looking lens-and-barrel at the far end.

"Hmm, scary!" Goes Tasha who inspects the device. She then turns it in what she hopes is a safe direction after connecting the power leads to her unfinished tool, then turns it on."

The little screen lights up, showing.. well, a target sight. There's a button on the side that is likely the trigger.

"Even the scanner looks like some sort of weapon," Tasha decides aloud before pulling the trigger.

There's a bright flash from the metal wall the thing was pointed out, leaving behind a visibly glowing hot-spot. The screen changes to a series of symbols that look a bit like a chemical formula. Hopefully there's some sort of manual for the thing that explains how to read them.

Tasha makes a squealing noise, edging away from the wall in fright and yet grinning like a madwoman. "I'll, um, I'll ... Hrrm." She eyes the device a moment longer, then turns to Scuttle. "Manual?"

"It has voice?" Goes Tasha, who thinks she understands the reply. Turning back to the device, she asks, "Scanner, operational instruction?"

The device just displays the same arcane symbols, while Skuttle holds his muzzle for a moment. "No voice. Manual," he explains again.

"Oh, right ... manual. What I mean is, are there instructions for how to use this? A guide, or book, or software or ... anything?" Tasha asks, looking back.

"Yeeeeeeeee.." Skuttle whines, looking thoughtful. "Maybe? You no know symbols? Uh.. Phin. They Phin, I thinks. Phin stuff good, water-proof."

Skuttle rubs his head a bit, dislodging some ash. "Hokay, no problemo!" he finally says, looking cheerful. "Will ask, yeah? We trade bigguns and littluns with Phin. Catch good fish for them, they teach."

"The Phin are another species? A civilization? In the Sea or ..?" Tasha inquires, head tilted.

"Hoookay," goes Tasha, who runs her hand back through her hair leaving oil stains and a bit of ash in it. "Wow, Terrans. I better think of what I'm going to say."

"Say hello," Skuttle suggests. "Phins no fight.. much. Very strong though. Friendly. Too friendly sometimes."

"I'll take friendly, and I'll say hello. This will be big for me though, for us, the JEF. We haven't made contact with Terrans from outside this system for several thousand years," Tasha explains as she turns back to her tool, attaching one of the more narrow hammer heads. "It'll have to think about what I'll say to them, or if I should say anything. Big moment, though. Oh, and almost done here."

"Need anymore junk?" Skuttle asks, looking over the odd chimera of a tool that Tasha has created.

"Mmmm," goes Tasha, thinking as she stares at the now assembled tool. She decides it looks sturdy, but she realizes the vibrations might be a problem. "Need some shock-absorbing materials, like flexible washers, something I can use for grip that has a bit of give, some lenths of rubber or similiar patches, more bolts and ... " The woman eyes the device and its mish-mash of parts and their colors. "Paint. Stencile paper -- anything that will flex easily and can be cut aand bend without losing shape -- removable tape or something similiar, and ... paint."

Part of Skuttle's solution was to hand Tasha a squeeze tube of 'All Purpose Goo' as he called it.. a sticky rubber-like substance that was both pliable and heat resistant. Another tube was 'Desticker' that made the exposed surfaces less sticky after the goo set. The request for paint, however, had the Titanian flummoxed. "What.. paint?"

Tasha turns back to her work, applying the 'All Purpose Goo' to a patch of unused metal, testing it by pushing on it now and then as she talks. "Paint is color! Colored fluid you apply to things to make them other colors, often with a primer, undercoat, and top coat -- primer makes painting something easier, undercoat gives depth, main coat main color, top coat is protectant and maybe adds gloss and such. Of course that's painting materials, painting on canvas is different -- but I can my skills for this."

"Maybe?" Tasha asks, turning back to the large wolf. She pciks up her tool, shouldering it and then nods to the man. "Show me?"

Skuttle fetches a 'tool' that is rather alien looking. It doesn't have any edges or straight surfaces, and is a translucent white. Whoever made it clearly had more fingers than a Titanian, from the shape of the handle. There are disk-shaped contact points on the top of the thing, and when the handle is squeezes there's an odd white light emitted from the 'tip' of the thing. Skuttle moves the device close to a bit of scrap metal, until the light seems to spread over it like a liquid, and then fiddles with the 'dials' on the back. The color of the light - and the material under it, shifts in odd ways.

"Molecule twister," Skuttle explains. "Change orientation of.. uh.. skin.. change light and color."

"Um," goes Tasha, quite uncertain of what she's looking at. "Kind of, but more permanent and ... Oh, why not? I'll instruct you on the right colors and shapes."

In what proves to be the most bizarre painting session Tasha has had to date, the young woman directs the Titanian as to which colors to chose, and once they work it out, what designs to apply. In the end, the tool is made black and gold, just as with the Melchior, with white and red tertiary marks for style -- the haft even has a spiralling Karnor-and-Vartan motif, adding a touch more whimsy to an already fae looking device. When it's done, Tasha holds the tool in both hands and declares, "Finished! What do you think, Scuttle?"

"No pink?" he asks. "I like pink." The luster of the tool isn't quite paint-like.. it looks a bit more shiny. Skuttle mentioned butterfly wings during the process, but it took some time and a lot of gestures before Tasha realized he was talking about a Coolect. She'd played with Coolect glitter as a child.

"Maybe a bit more, then." Tasha instructs more, so now the haft also has a scattering of pink Coolects and some added glitter -- looking a lot like stars. "Better?" She asks when they're done.

"Great!" The tool gets shouldered again, then Tasha turns and begins putting everything back where she found it, using her free right hand. "Wow, we took a while, didn't we? How much time until departure?"

To find out, Skuttle takes his hammer and bangs on a pipe. A moment later, the pipe resonates from someone banging on it somewhere else in the ship. "Soon," is the apparent reply.

"I really need to learn how you all do that," Tasha admits as she finishes up sorting the table, then beguns brushing all the filings and other refuse in to a pile, which she then pushes on to an unused flat of metal. The junk stack is carried with her to the recycling pile, then promptly dumped in the bin.

"That's that! I should go collect Neesa-Neesa, then head for the observation deck. Thanks again for your help! I'm sure this will come in handy," she says as she turns back to the man.

The Observation Deck is a domed blister atop the hull of the Dainty Mauler, just ahead of one of the giant masts. Tasha had passed through it on her previous journey to Sheol, but no has more time to really look at it. One of the first things she notices is that the thick-glassed, segmented dome has hinges and slides that suggest it can open up. There are seats spaced around the circumference, where Titanians sit and look through hooded instruments. Xylophone-like panels are before them, which are used to send observation data to various parts of the ship via Hammersong. Some stations have obvious telescopes, and others have unidentifiable instruments. There are a few unoccupied chairs though, which means Tasha and Neesa aren't forced to share the same one.

"I think I can see Camp Caroban from here," Neesa notes, pointing out towards the edge of Gateway Town.

Tasha takes her seat infront of an unused console, feeling the need to at least appear like she might be doing something when a ship is about to depart. Her halberd-like tool rests at her feet, secured to a rail by a cord in case there is a problem with gravity.

"I take it this is the first time on a spacecraft?" Tasha asks the woman near her, not taking her eyes away from the view. "Did Remy explain the details?"

"Yes and no," Neesa says. "But how different can it be from an airship? Or.. well, from a Caroban airship anyway."

"Well, we're sailing in to space, and from there another dimension -- or reality if you want to look at it that way. Space is a vacuum, that is, it lacks in the filler we have down here -- air, etcetra etcetra -- and you can't survive in it without protection. There's also little gravity, especially far from a massive body like a planet, so no 'down' unless the ship is moving or we're using faux-gravitational device like stators. There's a large number of procedures, but as I'm new to this ship as well, I can only cover the basics in case of an emergency where they cannot help us. Mostly, the Titanians will handle things," Tasha explains, then she gestures to the console before her. "Perhaps like your magic, and definitely like an airship, the spaecraft is controlled by numerous systems and interfaces that require a lot of training to utilize correctly. I have some training towards operating our ship, but this one is quite different -- they're all very particular."

"Do they use fire and wind elementals, or something safer?" Neesa asks, then frowns. "Were we supposed to pack box lunches?"

"Well, they use engines, which are extremely complex machines utilizing various scientific theories and complex mathmatics to employ," the red woman notes, finally looking over to Neesa. "Natural sciences, that's what we call them on Sinai. Physics, math, basically far more complex versions of what I'm studying at the Winged Citadel. As for food," the mostly-Vartan shrugs a little, "I'm sure they'll feed us. We'll be gone a while. Who knows how time flows in the Sea of Stars?"

A horn sounds through the ship, and the various observers begin tapping things out on their xylophone panels. Outside the windows, parts of the ship can be seen to change, as structures shift, extend or retract. The vertical nacelles shake visibly on their moorings, and fire and smoke begin to obscure the landing pad. "You didn't say it wasn't going to be so loud and shaky," Neesa complains, putting her hands over her ears.

"It's even worse outside," Tasha notes, grinning. She turns back to watch the show, leaning back and folding her hands behind her head. "Howling can help, especially once we start moving and the elevation makes your ears pop. You may want to brace yourself -- not from the force, but, for what's coming. You've never seen anything like this!"

The Mauler rises deceptively slowly at first, but begins to pick up speed. The vibration of the rocket engine cuts out once they're just a few thousand feet up, and then the oarsmen take over. This far from the central axis of the ship, the spatial distortion effects are a bit more noticeable, making it seem like the ship is bobbing up and down. The thin, wispy cloud layer flashes past, and then the curve of the planet is visible as the sky gets darker and darker.

"Up and up!" Tasha declares, her grin turning almost manic. "I remember when we did this. Remy wasn't there at the time, so we few had t do it ourself. It was a lot of work, but oi, it was amazing!"

"Are they really rowing into the sky?" Neesa asks, looking directly upwards every so often as if hoping an airship gasbag will appear. It isn't too long before Abaddon is below the ship's horizon. Neither of the moons is close enough to give much of a reference, so it appears that they've stopped moving since only the stars are visible now.

"It's complicated," Tasha hedges, not wanting to reveal the secret of the oar material, even to Neesa. "Anyway, I can't ascertain it without instruments, but we should be transitioning or transitioned in to orbits, otherwise we're high in the atmosphere -- did you know the atmosphere of Terran-like worlds actually extends quite a ways in to space? That's important for understanding friction loss and thermal buildup. Anyway, from orbit we may or may not transition in to interplanetary space -- the space between worlds. We may just jump, or gate -- or whatever-you-want-to-call-it -- across realities. How that works, I don't know and thinking about it gives me a headache."

"Well, being a Dream Mage I've seen my share of strange realities," Neesa jokes, but is gripping the armrests of her seat very tightly. She doesn't smell afraid though, just stressed. Although she does let a yip a few minutes later, when the gravity shuts off, just as another warning horn sounds.

"The artificial 'gravity' will engage soon," Tasha notes, reaching over to hold Neesa's arm in the hopes it will provide some comfort. "But look," with her free hand, the hybrid pulls a drill bit from her pouch and carefully holds it infront of Neesa's face, releasing it once she's sure she won't impart momentum and then moving her hand below it in anticipation of the catch.

The bit floats there, unaided, turning in lazy circles from the slight momentum imparted by Tasha letting go.

"I feel like I'm falling!" Neesa says. And then.. things get strange. It's fine so long as one is looking anywhere but out of a window, because for a moment.. the windows are gone. Or rather, there are the frames, but it looks as if they've been sucked together, the eye's blind-spot expanding to blot out the view of space on the other side of the thick glass. The ship lurches, but not too violently. It seems more than anything to be jerking forward, then letting off, accelerating, then cutting the power, several times ... and then ... it feels like something has struck against the hull of the ship ... but aside from a few flickering lights, the ship seems to be holding up just fine. The eye-bending blind-spot effect goes away, filled with blue. There's a vibration and rumble as parts of the ship begin to open up, revealing the upper deck, and even the observation done begins to dilate open.

Despite those tales of the vacuum of space, somehow there's still air to breathe ... at least in the vicinity of the ship. Up above, there are flickers of light, as what look to be something resembling sails blink into existence on the spines radiating outward and upward from the ship, though they are of some translucent, glowing, insubstantial material. The ship seems to be, instead of floating through space, floating in liquid ... or something that looks very much like it.

Tasha's hand hovered in the air as she stared out the window, the enveloping blackness causing her to fixate on it as her visually oriented, motion-sensitive avian brain is unable to process what she sees -- and the fear it breeds. Mezmerized as she is, she doesn't move through the experience, blinking out of it only after the effect has passed and the dome begisn to open up.

"Eeee," she breathes, lowering her hand. "I wasn't prepared for that. I think we accelerated near the speed of light? That would explain the tunneling, but I didn't expect it to look quite like that and ... " She looks up, eyes widening, "And ... the dome is opening up, isn't it? I can't tell you how wrong that feels."

An ocean stretches out in all directions, and an unfelt "wind" fills the sails. The ocean, rather than disappearing at any horizon, though, curves upward and goes all the way up to the "sky", forming a tunnel that the craft "sails" through. The Titanians cheer and stomp a lot up on the upper deck, going through the motions of operating various examples of arcane machinery (or hitting it in the proper places).

"Finally, someplace.. uh.. normal?" Neesa asks, looking straight up past the sails to.. the ocean far overhead. "It's all around us though.."

"Is this the Sea of Stars?" Tasha wonders aloud, although she knows the answer. Taking her hands, she reaches out and wafts them through the mysterious blue. It's only then she remembers the bit, snatching it and pocketing it before returning her hands to the peculiar blue ether. "It's called a 'Sea,' but this is a breathable environment, and, well, I'm not quite sure what it's otherwise made of besides oxygen -- and even that I'm a little dubious of. What it appears to be is some sort of tunnel, which clearly has a 'wind,' and a pathway. It reminds me a lot of wind channels on Sinai, the streams and currents of air you can catch and ride -- except this one is in space! I wonder if it's artificial or natural?"

"If it has fish in it, it must be natural right?" Neesa observes. The 'mist' is clearing a bit as the ship picks up speed. It isn't clear where the light is coming from.. it seems to just be ambient and sourceless. There are patches of darkness in the sea, with what might be stars shining through. But also things moving in the water - things that must be huge to be seen at such a distance.

"That sounds like as good an answer to me as any," Tasha agrees as she unbuckles herself from her chair, picks up her new tool, then begins walking towards the edge of the dome. "Look at it, Neesa! We may be the only Karnors ever to see this place, to be here." She shoulders the tool, then spreads her right hand wide. "And look! The god-fish! And I think those are gravity wells, perhaps what they look like to us from this place? The scale is amazing!"

Rushfighter and Grillfang are up on deck already, supervising as large poles are assembled and nets are unpacked. There's enough spray from plowing through swells to tell that the stuff of the Star Sea at least feels wet like water.

"I've never been in a dream like this," Neesa admits. At least she already has her 'sea legs' from riding on airships.

"I can't believe how literal it is," Tasha notes as she leans out, teetering over the edge of the observation deck to watch the men below. "It feels like water. I think it may eevn be water, for all I know! And no way to analyze it; We can't use solid-state technology here. I'll have to paint this wehen I get back!"

"Is it safe to drink?" Neesa asks. The observation crew is also getting up and moving to other areas. A few of them are climbing the huge masts, which probably have Korv's nests at their tops. More devices are being uncovered and set up on the deck, from obvious ballistas to harpoon guns to something that has a lot of sharp bits and glowing tubes at one end.

"I don't know, but I do want to run to fly to the bow and lean over it!" Tasha glances back, then waves Neesa on, "Want to come? Or wait here?"

Tasha hops out of the dome, grinning as she walks forward, her pace quickening until it's almost a run. "Isn't this great?" She asks as she reaches out to run her hand through a spray of the blue mist. "I wonder where the light is coming from? Maybe the mist produces it? Or light filtering in from our universe? Whatever it is, I like it."

Grillfang steps aside to avoid being run over by the happy Vartan. The prow of the ship has a long mast-like spear jutting out of it that wasn't there before, looking like a rather wicked ramming weapon. There's also a figurehead below it of a mer-wolf.

Tasha vaults the rails, climbing out on to the spear and then promptly sitting on it. "Wheeeeee," she goes, wobbiling. "I don't know what's happening or how any of this works, but I love it!"

Neesa finally catches up and asks, slightly out of breath, "Can you swim? You'd better be careful!"

"Of course I can! Not well, but you try swimming with extra, water-soaked limbs and hooves," Tasha notes as she awkwardly pulls out a line, then attachs it to both the mast and her belt. ""Safety is priority one,"" she says in a mock-masculine voice, imitaing Fred before adding in her actual voice, "I've missed feeling the rain! The spray, and the clouds ... Ahhhhhh .... "

Neesa is about to say something, but a Titanian catapults (literally) past her, wearing a harness covered in spikes and trailing a thick line. He splashes into the Star Sea ahead of the ship, and drifts to the side and outwards, where the line attaches to one of of the crane-like side masts.

"I think we're seeing the bait in action," Tasha observes as she watches the man float, leaning forward in an alarming sort of way. "It'll be my turn sooner or later, so I'd probably better pay attention. It's not all that different from what I do in the JEF, actually." The realization makes the mostly-Vartan's muzzle crinkle and her ears splay.

Something hits the side of the ship, causing the Mauler to wobble. "Ready the nets!" Grillfang yells. And then ship is listing the opposite way, the 'bait' having vanished beneath the water and the fishing pole pulling the ship down on that side.

"Waaahhh," goes Tasha, who sways with the ship and has to clucth her legs to the bowspirit to keep from falling off. The experience makes her giggle, tail wagging even as she pulls herself back in to position and cranes her head to search for the man in the water. "I think we have a bite!"

The ship lurches back to level, as the fishing line snaps. "Oops," Rushfighter notes. "Harpoons to ready!"

"That's, um, not good?" Tasha remarks as the line snaps, ears laying back. She quickly unlatches herself while the ship is stable then scrambles back on to the deck. "If this turns ugly, I'm going in to help," she warns Neesa.

"That already happened," Tasha points out as she hurries to the side of the ship where the man disappeared. "The problem is that the line snapped, too. If the creature decides to swim away, we might lose both of them. That's why the harpoon is being readied, so we can keep with it -- assuming it hits and sticks."

The godfish breaches to starboard, its long eel-like neck rising higher than the deck of the Mauler. It's skin is space-black, dotted with glowing white patches and lines. It chokes out the spiked Titanian, which still grabs onto its lip and tries to climb up onto the creature's head, massive hammer still gripped between his teeth.

The order to fire is given, and barbed spears lance into the monster's side, while more Titanians scramble to secure and pull on the lines.

"You're going to do that?" Neesa asks Tasha, pointing at the monster with wide eyes.

"I think I know how this goes," the winged lupine remarks as she backs up several steps. "I sure am! Right now!" The woman hesitates until she's sure the harpoon is firmly attachd, then breaks in to a run and leaps off the deck!

The bait Titanian is made it onto the to top of the godfish's head, and is pounding on it with his hammer. The skin must be thick and blubbery, because it's not affecting the monster all that much it seems.. but the harpoon lines are keeping it from submerging, as it's being hauled closer to the ship.

Tasha doesn't approach the monster at first, taking the time to try to get a handle on the odd currents and the similiar-yet-different feel of soaring through this alternate reality. She also takes the time to reattach the line she brough with her to her hand, and then to her weapon, so she doesn't lose it.

Soon, Tasha is soaring in circles above the monster and its prey, angling in for the attack. She aims for the head and stoops, pulling her wings wide at the last second so that she flares up slightly, bringing her feet down before her, and tlting her upright as she wedges the spearhead of her tool under her foot. In this fashion she drops from the sky, attempting to use her weight and momentum to add penetration to the fall!

The air is odd in the Star Sea. There's no wind, for one thing, despite something filling the sails of the Dainty Mauler and propelling the heavy ship forward. It's also a bit difficult to orient, since there's no horizon. She hits the rubbery surface of the godfish, her weapon sinking in.. and in. Just how thick is this thing's skin? It seems to be a foot of blubber. "Whack hard!" the Titanian clinging to the side of the things head advises.

"Hrk," goes Tasha as she yanks her tool-weapon back and forth until it comes free, her legs still feeling the ache of the sudden impact. Once her weapon is out, she flips around until the spreader is forward, then wedges it in and opens the teeth, trying to wedge it in as she leans out of the way. "Swing here," she yells, nodding her head towards the gap she's making.

"Ah!" Mr. Bait says, and smashes his hammer into the gap. There's a satisfying shudder that goes through the godfish, followed by it swaying around dangerously.

Once the gap is torn wide enough she doesn't need to pry it, Tasha pulls her weapon out and twists it again, thrusting the spearpoint down in to the hole in thrusts timed to move between the Titanian's hammer swings.

The skull isn't quite bone, but some sort of honeycombed cartilage. It resists the blows mainly by flexing, but it isn't meant to sustain a constant barrage. It cracks finally, and the fight goes out of the monster as it's pulled up and secured against the side of the Mauler. "Good catch!" Rushfighter calls.

"Haha," laughs Tasha, who plants her taloned hand on her hip and shakes her weapon at the creature's settling noggin. "I'm Tasha the Monster Killer, it should have given up when it saw me leave the deck!" She turns to her hammering partner, winks at him, then holds her hands out, "Want a ride back?"

The Titanian climbs to his feet... and looms over Tasha. "Ride?" the mans asks, looking embarrassed. "Hardly know each other.."

"Ya, ya," Tasha says with a sigh as she stalks forward, then plants her taloned hand on the man's chest -- and shoves him!

There's a rope ladder dropped over the side, and also various ports opening in the side of the ship to allow access to the godfish. An alarming array of cutlery is brought to bear. "Hokay, drop the nets, see if'n there are acolytes," Rushfighter orders.

Tasha crashes in to the man, wrapping her hands around him as she spreads her wings! It's a lot for Tasha to carry, but she's built for it, and soon the two are gliding towards the hanging ladder -- which she catches with a hand! The result is a lot of ominous swaying back and forth, and a bark of, "Better grab the ladder, or you're going back in the Sea!"

The Titanian gets his grip, taking the strain off of Tasha. A few yards above, Neesa is looking over the side and yelling, "You are crazy!"

The response is laughing from below. Tasha climbs up -- half across the man and half up the ladder -- until she has a grip with both hands. Her tool, attached to her hand as it is, dangles down below her. Once the Titanian has moved up far enough, she begins to ascend until, at last, her head crests the rail and the hybrid drops on to the deck. "That was the best," she declares.

"Acolytes!" Grillfang calls out, and hand-to-hand weapons are drawn. Something flies past Tasha. It looks torpedo shaped, with four fin-wings and a set of tentacles at the trailing end.. along with wide, nostril-like openings that suggest jet-propulsion. Neesa squeaks and ducks.

"Gah," goes Tasha, who ducks as well, bringing her weapon over the rail with a tug before pulling it to bear. "What are they, Grill? Time to fight?" She knows weapons have been drawn, but unlike with the space-eel, an attack hasn't been made yet and she isn't sure of their intentions yet.

"I'm not as good at 'alive,'" Tasha complains as she tracks the nearest Acolyte with her eyes. "Can they take a beating?"

"Not too much," Grillfang explains. Nets are raised, and large hatches are slid open on the deck. The First-Second-In-Command points to the nearest with his hammer. "Get 'em in there!"

"I'll ... I'll think of something," the hybrid promises as she stands straight. Rushing over to the front of the net, she spreads her wings and her arms, waving both. "Here I am! Eat me, tell your friends! I'm one of a kind!" She yells at the Acolyte.

One of the creatures crashes to the deck and squirms it's way towards Tasha, waving it's tentacles and exposing a crystal beak at their center.

The beast lines itself up, and gives a muscular.. well, it sounds rather rude, but it's sufficient to jet-launch itself towards Tasha.

The Acolyte gets it's tentacles entangled in the net behind Tasha, and gnashes on it with its beak. Neesa has crawled under a capstan to hide. More of the creatures are raining down, some getting kicked into the storage hold by scrambling Titanians. The fish things don't do well out of the water for very long though, and start to act drunk when exposed to air.

Once she gets to her feet, Tasha returns to helping by pushing the creatures in to the hold with the flat of her tool when she's not taunting them in to nets.

The 'attack' of flying fish monsters slows to a stop, and the surviving ones are pitched into the hold. "Good trade," Rushfighter says. "Phins like 'em."

"Can I have one of the beaks?" Tasha asks as she walks over to the Captain. She plants her tool clamp-down on the deck, fingers wrapping around it and head resting on her hands. "I always wondered what it'd be like to have one."

"If any die, hokay," Rushfighter says. "Gots to finish chopping godfish though now, before it burns."

"Need help? It burns?" Tasha asks as she picks up her tool, then follows after Rushfighter. "Hey, where's Neesa anyway? If she gets eaten, can I join your crew?"

"That's good! I was afraid of telling Remy the news, so the only honorable thing to do would be to exile myself to another universe. The ancients would understand." Tasha then nods, tilting her head as she eyes the god-fish. "Eeegh, can't have that. Well, I'll grab a knife, just how me what to do and I'll help out any time!"

Rushfighter puts an arm around Tasha and grins. "First, you gots to put on apron. Know how to use chainsaw?"

Tasha doesn't resist, smiling at the arm and looking up at the big wolf. "No, but I can learn. It can't be any worse than my last job wearing an apron!"