The Real Deal
The crash was not one of Ash's proudest moments. Repairing the heavy damage sustained during the escape from the Spiral Academy was proving difficult, and so when Ash was informed by Gyoki that he was to assassinate a corrupt Haslanti politician a mere week before the man took office, Ash was none too pleased. His own bizarre code of honor prevented him from passing off the job however, so he departed, crew in tow, on the half-repaired Geronimo. The job was tougher than expected - the politician had Exalted sponsors who quickly embroiled Ash in another sky battle. Although Haslanti sky ships were ordinarily no match for the Geronimo, in its damaged state, Ash's first-age vessel was suffering a bit. They pulled off the hit brilliantly, but it again seemed their escape was frought with more peril than they'd hoped.
Amidst a storm of arrows, Ash ducked a few flying projectiles and called to Moon.
"Mount the guns starboard - we're about to bank! And tell Tick to fix the fucking gyroscope; it feels like I'm trying to fly a mule!"
Moon hopped from her position on the port gun tower, softening her fall with a slight flutter of her wings. She rolled across the deck to the other side, barking down orders to Tick as she did so. Star and Sky were busy manning the light implosion bow, with Sky shooting and Star loading. Meanwhile, Moon climbed the starboard gunnery tower with her firewand and several firepots. Ash sharply banked the ship, bringing Moon directly in line with one their last two pursuers. Moon immediately heaved the firepots, all roped together, onto the opposing deck as soon as the pursuing ship came within range. As the crew scrambled to disperse them, she calmly shouldered the firewand, a large, long-range model, and opened fire, scoring a direct hit on the firepot container. The resulting explosion was spectacular, forcing Moon to duck beneath the gunnery tower's covering wall. With only one attacker remaining, Ash pushed for all the speed he could squeeze out of the damaged Geronimo. Although Sky destroyed the final Haslanti ship with her next shot, the ship's falling trajectory was not as anticipated - before descending beneath the Geronimo's altitude, it crashed into one of the hull's primary port essence drivers. The Geronimo gave a sick lurch, and although Tick seemed to have gotten the gyroscope on track, it wasn't going to matter - a ship with only one good side couldn't properly stay afloat. Ash had enough engineering intuition to suspect airships obeyed the same principle. As they screamed further away from the scene of their Haslanti hit, they also grew closer to the ground...
Ash grimaced, shaking his head.
Fucking Gyoki and his last-minute bullshit... We weren't ready for this. With the ship in order, this would be a walk in the park even on a bad day... Fine. Time to cut losses.
Ash called to his crew again, falling back on the unique of ability of ship captains to make themselves heard above all else even in a storm of utter chaos.
"Remember when I said it was gonna get a little bumpy? Mighta sugar-coated it a bit. If I were you guys... I'd bail... Time's a factor."
Ash gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on the wheel.
Probably unfortunately for me, I'm not.
Star and Sky scuttled from the gun tower to the nearest parachutes, while Tick had donned hers below deck and was beginning to jump. He didn't need to spot Moon to know she wasn't going to bail - as much as he wished she would, she'd go down with the ship if that's what it took. But that's why she captained this ship with him. That was her decision. And quite possibly, her mistake.
The descent was quick, even for assassins and thieves used to working at a fast pace. Ash tried his best to stabilize the ship while Moon scurried from side to side, making whatever adjustments she could to improve the ship's natural ability to generate lift, its essence engines now useless. Nevertheless, they could only do so much before Creation greeted them in the worst possible way.
The Geronimo plowed into the ground, ripping apart vast swaths of frozen tundra as it slid to a stop. Even Ash was knocked out by the impact, although he came around quickly, validating every rumor about sailor-talk even as he slid gradually back into consciousness and got to his feet.
"Motherfucking Haslanti shits... Gods damn the fucking... Argh. Shit damn fuck piss... assholes."
He distanced himself from the heavily damaged vessel, surveying the big picture. He sighed, living in the lingering silence for a moment before becoming fully cognizant of the situation.
Shit! Moon!
He dashed back to the wrecked ship, vaulting to the side Moon had been working on when the ship hit. It didn't take long to find her after moving aside a splintered piece of the hull, but she didn't look good. The tone in his voice was devoid of its usual wry cynicism, although noone conscious was nearby to witness it.
"Oh. Shit."
He looked quickly to the horizon, gauging the distance to the range homes. They'd covered significant ground on their departure; Ash hoped his remaining Essence could carry his message on the wind. Despite the situation, he kept a cool head as he mouthed the words clearly into a passing breeze.
"Rizuka - Ash. I'm about 30 miles south of the Haslanti border on a beeline to the range homes. The ship is down. Moon is hurt pretty bad. Come quick."
Ash's injuries were negligible in the scheme of things - Exalts healed bruises with surprising rapidity. Rizuka had spent the hour after their returning tending to Moon's injuries, and after finishing up, was a bit surprised to find Ash waiting in a chair in the hospital's lobby. He looked a bit uneasy, and looked up to Rizuka when she entered the room.
"... Is Moon alright?"
Rizuka sat down in a chair positioned along the wall opposite Ash. Before speculating on anything, she answered his question readily.
"She'll survive. The crash broke her left wing, although it was a clean break, so I don't anticipate that she'll have any trouble flying when it heals. She also broke her right arm badly. Other than that, just cuts and bruises."
Ash audibly took a breath, nodding as he did so. After a moment of silence between them, he spoke up again.
"Will the arm heal okay?"
Rizuka nodded, settling into the chair a bit and replying, "It should. She might have some trouble putting much stress on it for awhile, but I have a feeling she'll be able to handle a ship's wheel. Speaking of which, how fares the Geronimo?"
Ash flashed a characteristic smirk, although, somewhat uncharacterstically, it was a bit sheepish.
"... I don't know. Haven't really looked."
Rizuka smiled - she'd suspected he'd been more worried about Moon than his prized airship, but couldn't help herself from calling attention to the fact - these good-natured jests were one of the few pleasures Rizuka allowed herself.
"You'd be surprised how many of us have a bit of humanity buried deep down if the situation calls for it."
Rizuka exited the lobby, making her way deeper into the building. Ash maintained his smirk, shaking his head a little before he stood to make his exit.
Moon had never been in an airship crash before. Although experienced in aerial matters, Ash was a damn good pilot, and so was she - the Geronimo had simply never crashed. With that in mind, Moon had no idea what to expect of the severity. Things didn't look good. She was sure she'd died.
But something wasn't quite right. For one thing she was able to contemplate all of this, albeit hazily. Moon was pretty sure the dead couldn't do that. Unless she'd become a ghost. But she wasn't the sort.
There was a sound. A door, perhaps? Moon heard a voice, and it was one she recognized. Slowly, the picture began to paint itself, and Moon slowly opened her eyes.
Rizuka spoke gently to the stirring form.
"Good morning, Ravenous Moon, Waning Heart. How are you feeling?"
As Moon blinked Rizuka's form into focus, she tried to shuffle around a bit, quickly discovering where her wounded areas were. Although she winced, the pain was distant and dull, and she found herself feeling oddly confused. She replied hoarsely to Rizuka.
"Alive... I suppose that's a start. And... quite a bit drunk...?"
She attempted to sit up after replying, finding herself a bit more unsteady than she suspected. Rizuka smiled, easing her back into the stack of pillows.
"Relax, Moon. I gave you some opium before I set those bones - You're still feeling that. Most of your injuries are superficial. Your left wing is broken at the joint - that's a clean break, and it should function identically when it heals."
She gave Moon a moment to soak in the information, knowing she wasn't processing information at her fastest pace.
"Your right arm was broken severely and in several places. In between your elbow and your wrist there - keep it still, that'll hurt a lot, even with the narcotics - where the bandaging is thickest, it was nearly broken off. While I was looking at the wound, I noticed something that I couldn't help but find interesting."
Although the dazed Moon still seemed a bit detached, her affixed gaze let Rizuka know she had her patient's genuine attention.
"You have hollow bones."