Competition Series - Skin 004 - Ashelia Dinzonza

When the Lazurran Company unveiled airships, naval vessels refitted to take to the skies using refined redstone fuel which allowed for takeoff and landing on any even surface, many adventurous souls took to these ships immediately as a way to travel far and wide without the restrictions imposed by land travel. And just as with the seas, those who seek adventure, danger, who value greed above life, they too sprouted wings. The most notorious, at least among some, was the Sky Pirate Ashelia Dinzonza. Though her life was exciting, her exploits paved the way for the foundation of the pirate city of Drachurst, it is the tale of her nfinal hour that draws the most passion from the adventurous, even a hundred and fifty years later.

In the skies over the Western Sea, Dinzonza and her crew aboard the sister ships Morrigan, Badb and Macha, set northerly, aiming for a singular target. A rivaling airship crew, known as the Black Gale, intended to usurp Jeremiah Drachurst as the leader of the united mercenaries in the mainland, and supplant him with the tyrannical Jack Squall, a ferocious pirate who would enact a law of war against the major cities, not content until Pirates ruled the lands. Captain Dinzonza had but one purpose with her mission. Negotiate the unconditional surrender of both the Black Gale fleet, and the surrender of Squall himself, to be put on trial before the Mercenary Tribunal. Captain Squall, as it turned out, was no so willing to comply.

Seven ships there were in total. Dinzonza's platoon of ships, opposed by the Black Gale's four ships, the Gatekeeper, the Keymaster, the Soultaker, all lead by the Skullrender. The four ships were accompanied by an oppressive number of single man airships, more hot air balloons than the modern single person ships. By all accounts, Dinzonza's force was no match against the Gale, but she was not deterred. The crack of lightning roared over the skies, only adding to the trouble the Pirate Queen would face. As the two fleets converged, she let out a challenging roar aboard the Morrigan, calling the cowards forward.

Fire scorched the air, the single ships screaming across the sky at dangerous speeds in the turbulent weather, landing on the three ships ton attack the pirate crews. Dinzonza herself faced and cut down as many of the scurvy ridden villains as she could get her hands on. The red of her crushed jacket became only more vibrant as her hair, skin and clothes became soaked in the blood of men entirely beyond their darkest imaginings. Survivors of the encounter recount the tale, speaking of a force almost unfathomable within her.

Rushing across the deck, she stood to the main cannon, a massive obsidian gun intended to launch bombs to sink warships, she raised the sextant latched eternally to her hips, plotting trajectory and distance by sight before loading herself into the cannon, firing across the void of the skies. She would cross through the air, the velocity ripping free her burning red mane of hair, the flames of rage that smoldered from her scalp crossing through a volley of oncoming fire as the entirety of the Black Gale turned their guns on the Morrigan, tearing the vessel asunder, sending it hurtling toward the ocean below, killing both Dinzonzan and Gale Pirate alike.

A rapier drawn, a pistol in the opposite hand, the woman marched along the deck of the Keymaster. Behind her, the sight of her flag ship burning as the other two turned to expose their broadside cannons, leveling a barrage against the Gatekeeper and Soultaker, who turned to fire back. As the Badb and Machan fired on the enemy vessels, Dinzonza walked. The enemy crew flooded to her. In rapid flow, she danced through the mobs, cutting with her blade nor drumming the skulls of enemies with the butt of her gun, a full third of the crew amassing around her before the numbers began to mound, fear setting in. Some turned to ran, some went into a frenzy, but no amount of warriors could deter her rampage.

A magnificent blast roared behind her. Lightning had struck the Macha, and she was sinking. With the full of her remaining power, she would turn and speed toward Gatekeeper. As the Badb ripped a hole in the balloons of the Soultaker, she would turn toward the Skullrender.n As yet unengaged, Dinzonza watched in horror as a forward door would draw back as a massive city buster cannon emerged, an arcane gun capable of focusing redstone magic into a purified ray that would crush anything in it's path. In a second, the Badb was gone.

Ashelia had failed, they cheered. Those who survived among the final twon ships turned now, remembering that the woman not only lived, but was among their ranks. Knives, swords and guns were drawn, turning onto the woman. From head to toe, she was drenched in the blood and viscera of nher enemies, of the fools who turned against her already. The rain of the raging storm overhead could not wash the old grime away before she was coated anew. It was not until she managed to take the bridge of the Soultaker before the enemy would kill her. As she boarded the bridge, the pilot turned, firing his pistol toward her. The bullet ripped through her belly, a scream ripping through her throat.

Vision went black. She could hear the beating of her heart as her body fought collapse. She heard the calling of an emergency skeleton crew. Her fingers gripped the tools that had taken her through an army. A scream of alarm before a ringing slice, a throat torn open to spray the inside of the bridge. Stumbling weakly to the control tower, she would throw herself against the wheel, screaming hard to port. The Skullrender had no time to react, certainly not to defend itself as it crashed head into head with one another.

Her body was flung from the Soultakern as it tore through the hold of the Black Gale's flagship, the Redstone Cannon tumbling from the belly of the ship and tumbling into ocean below. Meanwhile, Ashelia would land on the deck of the ship, her body landing in a lump. Standing before her was the self proclaimed God of Pirates, Jack Squall. He stood above her, cracking his knuckles. As the Soultaker slowly dragged the Skullrender toward the sea, he spoke slowly, and with a cadence of undiluted rage. She had ruined his initiative. A false Pirate would rule, and they both would die. But he would make sure she would suffer before death.

Gripping her by the throat, lifting her into the air above his head, he looked over her body. Her own blood had soaked her clothes. Reaching forward, he slapped the pistol from her hands, pressing his second hand against her neck, his fingers tightening slowly. In a moment of abject desperation, as the corners of her vision faded into the black, her hand found something cold, hard. A brief smile crossed her face, snatching the sextant from her hip before slicing upwards, the brass gashing open his eye. Dropping her, he clutched his face with a wailing scream. Before he turned to attack, a single ball of lead breaking his head open, sending him crumbling to the deck. Belting her gun and clutching her wet sextant to her breast, she fell into the flames of the Skullrender crashing into the sea.

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Created specifically for the HappyBandaid/PMC Halloween Costume Contest.

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