4-3 Get Out Clean
  1. Win The Fight
  2. Get Out Clean

Oop, she's in trouble. You better do something. You thought back to what Riya told you, about fighting with your environment rather than just your weapon. You didn't really have anything to do that with though, so you just ran at one of them and kicked out the back of their knee, making them crumple to the ground, before grabbing Riya by the wrist and dragging her down the alley they were next to. Your adrenaline was through the roof from this, you just kicked someone! And saved your friend! You rounded a corner and held Riya against the wall, hearing the robed men calling for you and her from the alleyway. You stifled your giggles and pressed her down towards the ground.

"Be perfectly quiet, and perfectly still." You whispered, before turning around and pressing your back against Riya, covering her with your dress, and putting your hands over your face. You held perfectly still, and breathed slowly, focusing on the eagle feather in your pocket. You peaked out through your fingers, seeing the men run before you and look around, clearly confused despite the fact you were 2 meters from them and not hiding at all. You had to stifle another giggle. Eventually, they ran down the street to look for you two, to your amusement. Once they were out of sight, you took your hands off your face and let Riya get up. She looked very confused.

"How did you-"

"Magic. Don't question it."
_____________________________

You walked home quickly, laughing as you explained that trick you learned from sneaking around your coven late at night to go look at the stars. As long as you didn't call attention to yourself, and kept your face covered, you wouldn't be noticed.

"What did those guys want with you?" You questioned as you returned to the tide pool Riya's airship was gently hovering over.

"They called me "Anisha". Something about helping my soul pass on cause I was stuck here." Riya responded, before noticing Dipak and Gunther on the railing of the airship above you two. "THERE'S MY SWEET BOOOOYS!" She yelled, cackling. You shushed her clumsily.

"No noooo don't yell, don't yell, what if those creeps hear you?" You said, laughing again. You were learning you were a very happy drunk.

"I's fine, i's fine…" she said while waving a hand in your face. "Hey, who do you think is faster?"

"Who? Us?"

"No, dummy, Gunther or Dipak."

"Do you know how fast falcons fly?"

"Dipak's faster. I'm sure."

"Wanna bet on it?" You ask while reaching into your napsack and taking out your pouch of gold and silver coins.

"Oh, absolutely, you're on." She said, taking out her sack of coins as well.

Over the next hour or so, Riya essentially forfeited all of her money to you, having races of different lengths, and in the end always losing to Gunther who was literally a perigean falcon. Gambling was fun. You could see why you were warned about it, it was addicting. You poured your winnings back into the metal pot in Riya's quarters you two kept all your scrip in, watched her fish a couple coins back out, saying she was gonna go for last call at Salty's, and retired to your hammock, this time actually managing to pull your dress off before collapsing. You could definitely get used to this. You were living the dream. Your dream. And you loved it.
____________________________

Flak exploded around you like… well, flak. You didn't have much of a comparison for it. Your hands were gripping the stick of your light bomber as you approached the Gotha fortifications, taking deep and steady breaths to press on through the black hellscape of the night sky, sparsely illuminated by the flash of the anti aircraft shells. Viktor slapped you on the shoulder twice, and screamed in your ear.

"DIVE BOMB! NOW!" Just loud enough to hear over the engine. You nosed straight down into a steep dive, with your harness being what was really holding you in your seat now rather than gravity. You kept your hand off the throttle, just letting gravity take you at the concrete fort directly below you. AA gun tracers from the perimeter of the fort flew around you, lighting up your vision on all sides. There was enough floodlights on the base to measure your range, luckily. This was gonna be a steep pull up, you couldn't afford to miss this.

Your altitude kept shrinking and your speed kept growing, and it was getting dangerous. You could hear your engine heating up, that shrill grinding noise like scraping an empty can with a metal knife. Disregarding the chance of overspeed, or worse, a fire, you kept on target at the ground, grinding your teeth and white knuckling the stick before hitting the release switch and pulling up as hard as you could, whizzing over the base a mere ten or so meters from smashing straight into it. With a dive like that there was no way you were missing a single bomb. You scraped along the near imperceptible trenches and muddy no-man's-land you flew over, hearing the ear splitting blast of 200 kilograms of explosives blowing the fort to pieces. You lifted a hand and signed back to Viktor.

SURVEY DAMAGE

"ITS GONE! ALL GONE! WE GOT EM KARL!" He screamed, as you put the plane into a steady climb and started ascending into the night back to a cruising altitude. Viktor's hand appeared on your cheek and pulled your head to the side, before he planted a kiss on your lips.
__________________________

You awoke feeling hot. Too hot for winter. You didn't even have a blanket on you and were in your underwear, but you felt boiling. You were covered in sweat, you felt disgusting. You carefully stepped out of your hammock, grabbed your dress you hung on the wall-hook, and redressed with your tights and boots. You felt like a piece of you that you'd been missing was back. It felt good to be complete again.

You ascended the ladder to the main deck once again and we're suprised to see none other than Edgar, shirtless, leaning against the ship's railing, overlooking the town with his arm around Riya. What was he doing here? Jealously, an emotion you hadn't felt for a few days, started bubbling up in you again. You climbed out onto the main deck, loudly clearing your throat as you approached the other side of Riya. She smiled with a hint of malice, and handed you a cup of coffee.

"Morning! You really slept in. You feeling alright? You look more pale than usual." She asked, going back to looking at the town in the cool autumn breeze. Edgar looked at you, and you could see a deep blue blush creep over his cheeks.

"A little hot. I think I'm alright though. Hey… Edgar, uh, what are you doing here?" You asked, feeling a bit like he was invading your territory. He cleared his throat.

"Oh, uh, hey, Hilda, Riya let me stay over." He took another sip of his coffee, not elaborating, and taking his arm off of Riya. Oh, this creep.

"We did some talking last night, he said he was looking for a circus to join up with! So I told him he could tag along on the next mission to see if he was a good fit. I mean, he could stay with his salvaging crew, but I think he just wants a little more. That's fine, right?" Riya said, not even looking at you. "Oh, and I'm starting to get a bit cooped up in this town, I was thinking we go a bit more inland. I think that little stunt last night might come back to bite us if we stick around too long."

Dramaaaaaa! A few votes!

+2 scrip for smoking on that Obscenely Daring Witch Pack and a bottle of fine whiskey.


[ ] Loudly trust with Riya for bringing Edgar onto the team without consulting you. (-1 Stress)
[ ] Quietly break trust with Riya for bringing Edgar onto the team without consulting you (+1 Stress)
[ ] Now you're even. (No change)

[ ] Leave town (New town inland! Avoid consequences for your actions!)
[ ] Stick around (-1 Stress for fucking with Riya who let Edgar on the team without consulting you)

Oh, and I'm gonna need 4d20 rolls for vices! One person can roll them all at once.

And let's just do scrip now cause we're starting to move into the finance phase!

-4þ for the restoration of your dogshit Rathanau 7k, -1þ for upkeep of your dogshit Rathanau 7k, -1þ for repairs of strain damage doe your dogshit Rathanau 7k, -2þ for Riya's plane upkeep, -1þ for you upkeep, and -1þ for her's. Tomas has his own cash to burn, and so does Edgar, so until you take either of them onto the squad you don't have to worry about their upkeep.

That's 10þ spent this routine! Wowee! And that's not even counting your 4 scrip rolls you have to make now! Separate from the vice rolls, please. If you're unfamiliar with vice rolls, you roll a number of d10 equal to the amount of scrip you've spent. For every 1 you roll, that's an additional Thaler spent!

You currently have 5þ left. If you'd like to buy anything specific during this phase, vote below. This is where I'm gonna do shopping from now, unless otherwise stated
 
[X] Now you're even. (No change)
[X] Stick around (-1 Stress for fucking with Riya who let Edgar on the team without consulting you)
 
[X] Now you're even. (No change)
[X] Leave town (New town inland! Avoid consequences for your actions!)
Consequences? What consequences?


Oh, and I'm gonna need 4d20 rolls for vices! One person can roll them all at once.
Rolling!

edit:
Well... nothing under a 10?
StoneSaint threw 4 20-faced dice. Reason: All the vice! Total: 57
16 16 12 12 15 15 14 14
 
[X] Now you're even. (No change)
[X] Leave town (New town inland! Avoid consequences for your actions!)

Like, messing with Riya is good, but this town did just try and sacrifice her. We should go. I'm sure we won't be followed by fanatics or anything...
 
Woo! I've missed the last few updates but it's all been lots of fun! Very curious about the bombing run dream… but I'm sure it's nothing bad at all! Thank you again for sharing your writing! And now:

[X] Now you're even. (No change)
[X] Leave town (New town inland! Avoid consequences for your actions!)
—[x] sit down with Riya and formalize how the circus runs. (Catty tit for tat is bad for partnerships and friendships) maybe bury the awkward hatchet by up coming with names for the circus, a company rondel, C̶o̶n̶f̶i̶r̶m̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶s̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶i̶n̶h̶e̶r̶e̶n̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶g̶u̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶h̶o̶r̶r̶i̶b̶l̶e̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶d̶a̶n̶g̶e̶r̶o̶u̶s̶/̶e̶v̶i̶l̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶m̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶)
 
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I'll do the scrip rolls. Sorry for no updates for a bit fellas, I've had a rough couple of days.

Edit: No more extra Thaler spent!
Texas Red threw 4 10-faced dice. Total: 29
10 10 4 4 10 10 5 5
 
4-4 Rational Discussion
[X] Now you're even. (No change)
[X] Leave town (New town inland! Avoid consequences for your actions!)
—[x] sit down with Riya and formalize how the circus runs. (Catty tit for tat is bad for partnerships and friendships) maybe bury the awkward hatchet by up coming with names for the circus, a company rondel, C̶o̶n̶f̶i̶r̶m̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶s̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶i̶n̶h̶e̶r̶e̶n̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶g̶u̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶h̶o̶r̶r̶i̶b̶l̶e̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶d̶a̶n̶g̶e̶r̶o̶u̶s̶/̶e̶v̶i̶l̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶m̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶)

"Alright, yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I'll get ready to taxi out." You say, continuing to glare at Edgar who was avoiding eye contact, walking back over to the rope ladder and sliding down to go talk to the hanger mechanics.
______________________

Your plane looked brand new when you saw it next, you didn't even recognize it at first. It was covered in brand new white canvas, and the energy coming from the wood just felt healthier and stronger, healthier than its exhausted, rotting self before.

"Do you have a roundel you want painted?" One of the mechanics asked you while wiping off his hands in a bucket of water.

"I don't really have one." You said, shaking your head.

"You might want one. Or at least a new paint job. You could be mistaken for Goth with an all white monoplane like that." He said, while you looked on confused.

"Well-… I mean, I am Gothic." You said, laughing a little. You still thought of yourself as Gothic, even if no one else thought so with your ears.

"No, not Gothic, Goths." You stared at him. "The raiders and kidnappers? Largest military group on the mainland?" He asked like it was going to ring any bells. "Ok, well, crash course, if you see white planes, possibly with a red stripe on them, probably sporting a sharp spade roundel, you fly in the opposite direction as hard as your plane can take. Doesn't matter where. Crashing in the wilderness is a better alternative than facing them." He explains. "Got it?" You nod, not really getting it but understanding there must be some large danger to them.

"Yeah… I'll go talk to my partner about a roundel." You say, backing away and turning back to the tide pool the airship was in.
________________________

Riya was completely back to normal when you returned to the airship, no hint of malice in her voice and making full eye contact like nothing happened. She had a few sheets of parchment to scribble vague ideas onto on her kitchen's table, where both of you sat. Neither of you were artists by any means, but thankfully roundels are supposed to be simple and visible at a distance, so it didn't matter how good it was.

"Well, our roundel is like an advertisement, right? What's our thing?" You asked Riya, after drawing out a half a dozen attempts at something you'd want to be recognized for. Riya thought for a second.

"You have Gunther, I've got Dipak, and Edgar calls-"

"He's not a part of this discussion." You immediately interjected.

"For now. But… honestly, I mean, I kind of like him. He's a great pilot, he laid great suppressive fire on that clockwerk while I took it out." Riya said. "Why do you seem to hate him?" She asked, before grinning. "Hilda… are you jealous~?" She asked, leaning in. You blushed red furiously and shook your head.

"Ew! No, of course not!" You denied. It was true, you just didn't want anything to do with him, even if he was definitely conventionally attractive. "He's just… he gives off a bad vibe. He seems dangerous." Riya narrowed her eyes at you. "No, no, it's not because he's a Fischer. I swear on The Three. I genuinely don't know why."

"Is it cause he's a dude?" Riya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I-… maybe? I mean, you know how dangerous men can be." You offhandedly said, waving a hand. You started saying something else before Riya cut you off.

"No no no, we're addressing that right now."

"What?"

"Do you dislike him because he's a man?"

"Wha-no! No, I'm not sexist."

"What about him in your mind makes him seem dangerous to you?" Riya asked, obviously leading you into a trap. You took the bait anyway after thinking about it for a moment.

"He's always smiling, he's… nice in a weird way, like he wants something. Also, I wasn't going to say anything, but he slept here? As far as I know the only bed on the ship other than mine is yours, and I know you wouldn't let him sleep on the floor."

"First of all, that is none of your business, second of all, I think you have some internalized misandry. Listen to me. I am your friend. I know we're arguing, but I understand where you're coming from. Edgar hasn't done anything to you, has he?" Riya says. You decide to shut your mouth and actually engage in conversation.

"No. He has not."

"He has been very, very kind to me, and has at no point disrespected me or any decision I've made, hurt me, or shown any signs of aggression. Has he done any of that to you?" She asks next.

"No. He's been nothing but nice." You said, while Riya nodded.

"I was drunk last night, really drunk, Edgar brought me home, and I asked him to stay. I asked him, he didn't just invite himself. Then I invited him to the circus for the next mission because… yes, ok, I was angry at you, but I like him, and want a competent pilot like him on the squadron. Bulking our ranks can let us take on more dangerous missions and get paid more." Riya explained while you just listened. "I don't care if you don't like him. But if you think there's even a chance you have a bit of internalized bigotry, I'm asking you to be self aware of it." You took a moment to think, once again.

"Ok." You said while nodding. You were really hoping you got over what your coven taught you. You guessed not. Even if you were aware of it now, you still didn't immediately trust Edgar. You'd need some time to think about it.

"Alright, so, as I was saying, Edgar calls his plane Osprey. Birds of Prey might be a good title, maybe you could name your plane Falcon or something, I know how much you love Gunther." She said while drawing a simple raptor bird on the parchment.

[ ] Choose that as a name and roundel
[ ] Write in another name and roundel
 
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[X] Choose that as a name and roundel

Little generic for a flying circus, but it works
 
[X] Choose that as a name and roundel

Just read through all of this. It's pretty good. Can't wait to see what the next adventure has in store for us.
 

Right!?!? How come she doesn't know how much we are attracted to her just because we haven't told her or even really consciously admitted it to ourselves!?!?

[X] Choose that as a name and roundel

Also also: I can't believe my cheap shot joke was turned into such an interesting and character revealing scene! Thank you again for sharing your writing!
 
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[X] Choose that as a name and roundel

This quest has immaculate vibes. A big part of that is the setting and rules, I'm sure. Ghibli-esque biplanes with vices and a stress system is very unique, and extremely evocative and human. A massive part of it is your writing though! The characters are very, very human. Admirable in many ways and dumb as rocks in others. I don't know how the game system works but I do hope we can give our MC some more "healthier" vices. Music was a great pick! Getting wasted every couple of nights may be great for stress relief but won't work out super well long-term. Plus... a wind-witch learning to play some kind of wind instrument is just... too cool of an image. That or a fiddle maybe. Playing a fiddle from the deck of a balloon seems like, again, an immaculate vibe.

I'm glad she's done something "good". It will be very interesting to see if she will ever go back home, and what that confrontation will be like. Materially, she took a decent chunk of wealth when she left. Not to mention leaving without so much as a word to her mother. I know her teacher was awful, but mum seems like a different story. Maybe she was awful too. Who knows! Regardless, great story!
 
[X] Choose that as a name and roundel

This quest has immaculate vibes. A big part of that is the setting and rules, I'm sure. Ghibli-esque biplanes with vices and a stress system is very unique, and extremely evocative and human. A massive part of it is your writing though! The characters are very, very human. Admirable in many ways and dumb as rocks in others. I don't know how the game system works but I do hope we can give our MC some more "healthier" vices. Music was a great pick! Getting wasted every couple of nights may be great for stress relief but won't work out super well long-term. Plus... a wind-witch learning to play some kind of wind instrument is just... too cool of an image. That or a fiddle maybe. Playing a fiddle from the deck of a balloon seems like, again, an immaculate vibe.

I'm glad she's done something "good". It will be very interesting to see if she will ever go back home, and what that confrontation will be like. Materially, she took a decent chunk of wealth when she left. Not to mention leaving without so much as a word to her mother. I know her teacher was awful, but mum seems like a different story. Maybe she was awful too. Who knows! Regardless, great story!


Aaaaaaaa!! Oh my god, thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me!! I'm glad you liked the story so much, and I highly recommend the ttrpg if you've never played! I could show you to the discord server too if you'd want to learn more about it!
 
I don't know how the game system works but I do hope we can give our MC some more "healthier" vices.
Vices are, by definition, unhealthy.

In the mechanics of Flying Circus, a Vice is anything, done for personalgratification, that is or can be harmful or self-consuming. Vice impliesexcess, indulgence, recklessness, and disregard for consequence.

Having a beer with a meal, smoking habitually, or reading a novelfor pleasure are not Vices as the rules define the term. Getting drunk,anxiously smoking a pack in an hour, or ignoring your duties to read afew more chapters are all Vices.

Mechanically speaking there aren't really any healthier vices. The people with a functional emotional balance aren't really found in a mercenary outfit killing people for the sake of profit and adventure.
(Well, except for the Worker)
 
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