The Vitalis, Bridge
On the crewman’s console, the gauges behaved erratically. Needles bounced wildly. Indicators jittered. Warning lights flickered on and off.
“CAPTAIN! POWER HAS INCREASED BY TWENTY PERCENT!” the crewman shouted over the noise. “VALVE NUMBER THREE IS ALREADY AT ITS LIMIT!”
The captain didn’t hesitate.
She reached over and yanked a lever on her own console.
“OPEN VALVE NUMBER THREE! NOW!” she roared.
“OPENING!” the crewman yelled back.
HUUUMMMM—KRRRRKK—
The deep hum of the Vitalis swelled, rising into an angry, teeth-rattling vibration. The entire airship shuddered violently, metal groaning as the engines pushed beyond what anyone sensible would call safe.
The steering wheel bucked.
Hard.
It spun with renewed fury, nearly tearing itself from the captain’s grip. She slammed both hands onto it, boots digging into the deck as she fought to regain control.
“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH—!”
The force was worse than before—much worse.
Her arms screamed. Her shoulders burned. Every muscle she had was engaged, straining as she forced the steering wheel back into submission through sheer physical dominance.
The Vitalis lurched forward.
Not fast.
But faster.
Slowly, stubbornly, the airship began to advance against the two enemy vessels pinning her from both sides, hull grinding against hull in a scream of tortured metal.
“AAAAAAAAHHH! MORE POWER!” the captain screamed into the comm, still wrestling the steer. “—MORE POWER!”
The Vitalis answered with another violent shudder.
And kept moving.
---
The Black House, Solo’s Office
Unfortunately, whatever epic struggle was unfolding aboard the Vitalis was being relayed to Murica, by being a bit… “incomplete”.
“krzzz—MORE! AAAH—shkk—AAAAH! MORE!”
The captain’s voice burst from Solo’s laptop speakers, distorted by static but still painfully clear in tone.
Solo stiffened.
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD
“krrzz—I’M SHOVING IT!” Kovalski’s voice followed.
“SHOVE IT FASTER! AAAAH! FASTER!” the captain screamed back.
Solo stared at the screen.
“…errr.”
---
The Vitalis, Engine Room
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD
Irving and Kovalski were well past exhaustion now.
Their movements were frantic, uncoordinated—two demons pushing their bodies beyond reasonable limits as they shoveled enhanced coal into the roaring furnace.
Sweat poured down their faces. Their breathing was ragged.
And their rhythm was gone.
CRASH
“Ouch!” Irving yelped.
The two collided hard, both trying to shove coal into the furnace opening at the same time.
Irving hissed as Kovalski’s shovel scraped across his hand, drawing blood.
“Dammit…”
As Irving pulled his hand back, he froze.
He leaned closer.
The furnace frame had another coal port.
Unused.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
---
Pentagon, Command Room
Every officer in the room froze.
All eyes were locked onto the main monitor as the audio continued streaming in glorious, context-free clarity.
“Kovalski! We’re going to end up scratching each other if we keep using the same hole!” Irving’s voice echoed through the command room. “Use the other hole!”
“THAT’S RIGHT! USE THE OTHER HOLE! AAAAH!” the female captain’s voice chimed in.
Then—
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD
“You were right! This is even better!” Kovalski shouted.
“THAT’S IT! I CAN FEEL IT! AAAAAAH!” the captain screamed.
No one spoke. No one moved.
In the back of the room, Stan stood frozen in place, cigar still in his fingers. The ash had grown dangerously long.
Neither low-class demons nor a demon duke was spared from feeling embarassed.
---
The Vitalis, Bridge
SKRRRRRTT—
Metal screamed.
The sound reverberated through the bridge as the Vitalis was crushed tighter between the two Goldenclaws airships. The vibration rattled consoles, shattered glass, and shook everyone to their bones.
“AAAAAAAAAHHH! I DON’T THINK I CAN HOLD IT MUCH LONGER!”
The captain’s roar echoed over the grinding noise as she fought the steering wheel with every muscle in her body.
Everyone on the bridge could see it.
She was losing ground.
“Come on… come on… just a few more meters…” Megan muttered, eyes locked upward, gauging the distance to the overhead crane.
The hanging barrels swayed slightly above them.
“…Now! Captain! We’re already under it!” she shouted.
The captain didn’t hesitate.
“SEND THE LUBE! NOW!” she screamed into the comm.
---
Above the Vitalis Hull, Bella was already in position. Machine gun braced against her shoulder, eyes fixed on the barrels wrapped in netting overhead.
The moment the captain’s voice came through—
She pulled the trigger.
RATATATATATATATATATATATAT
Rounds tore into the barrels. Metal ruptured.
And then—
Liquid poured out.
Thick, glossy engine lubricant cascaded down, splashing across the Vitalis’s hull in heavy sheets. It flowed downward, coating both sides where the ship was grinding against its captors.
The effect was immediate. The furious sparks shrank then sputtered.
Then vanished entirely as the lubricant seeped into every point of contact. The scream of metal softened.
The resistance weakened.
And the Vitalis—
Surged forward.
---
Langley, BICH Command Center
Meanwhile, the greatest embarassments lies on the owner of the whole operation.
The BICH entire command room was locked in total paralysis.
Every faces burned red as they look towards the screens hearing the “disturbed chatter”.
“YES! THAT’S IT! I CAN FEEL THE LUBE! IT’S GOING SMOOTHER NOW!” The captain’s voice echoed triumphantly through the room.
Janet was squatting on the floor, hands over her face, shoulders shaking slightly. Every bit of dignity being sucked out.
Every single year of BICH training had failed to prepare her for this.
“DON’T STOP! KEEP SHOVING—krzzz—FASTER!”
“YES MA’AM!” Kovalski and Irving replied in aggressively enthusiastic unison.
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD
In the back of the command room, Mo sat at his table.
Without emotion. Without dignity.
He tipped his migraine pill bottle and swallowed a mouthful in an instant.
---
The Vitalis, Bridge
The Vitalis continued to gain speed, inch by stubborn inch, grinding its way forward between the two enemy airships.
The friction was still there—but weaker now. Manageable.
On the console, warning lights began flashing again.
“CAPTAIN! VALVE NUMBER FOUR AND SEVEN ARE AT THEIR LIMIT!” the bridge crewman shouted. “Permission to open?!”
The captain didn’t answer verbally.
She simply nodded.
Hard.
“OPENING VALVE FOUR AND SEVEN!” the crewman yelled, slamming the switches.
“Kukuku…” The captain let out a low chuckle, eyes gleaming. “It’s not my time to die yet.”
Her grip tightened on the steer.
“All the pretty men in Talvaris—”
She cut herself off and slammed another lever on her console.
The engine roared.
The Vitalis surged forward again, faster than before, hull shuddering violently as it tore itself free centimeter by centimeter.
---
The Black House, Solo’s Office
“krrk—sshhk—I’M COMIIIIIIIING!!!”
The captain’s voice blasted out of Solo’s laptop.
Then—
SLAM!
Solo’s office door flew open so hard it bounced against the wall.
Lilith stood there. Very angry.
“Huh—? Honey?” Solo jolted. “What’s wrong with you?”
“No,” Lilith snapped, eyes blazing, “what’s wrong with YOU?!”
She pointed accusingly.
“Watching hardcore porn in broad daylight, in your office, at max volume?! Your secretary just reported this to me!”
Behind her, two female Black House staff members peeked in, whispering to each other while giving Solo looks of pure, unfiltered disgust.
Solo’s hands flew up. “Huh?! N-no! I’m working! This is not—”
“Oh my gawd! It’s all over my face!” Bella’s voice suddenly burst out of the laptop. “It’s so sticky and warm!”
Solo froze.
Lilith’s fury visibly tripled.
The two staff members expressions shifting from disgust to deep moral judgment.
“Oh come on…” Solo groaned helplessly as he is being betrayed by his own laptop.
And with that—
He immediately disconnected from the conference with Mo and Stan.
---
The Vitalis, Bridge
FWOOOOSH!
The Vitalis finally burst free from the crushing grip of the two enemy airships.
Metal screeched one last time—
Then silence. No more shaking.
The path to the underground hangar exit was clear. They finally able to fly free in the open space.
Cheers erupted across the bridge.
“IT WORKED! HAHAHAHAHA!” Ivy laughed, pumping her fist.
From the shattered ceiling window, Bella crawled back into the bridge, absolutely drenched in engine lubricant from head to toe.
“Pah! Pah! Eww!” She spat repeatedly. “Some of it got in my mouth!”
“Nice shooting, little demon,” the captain grinned.
“And nice driving too, Miss Dwarf!” Bella shot back with a wide smile.
“Unfortunately,” Megan said calmly, taking her earpiece back from the captain, “we don’t have time to celebrate.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Irving. Detonation time?”
“Huh? Oh fuck—err…” Irving’s voice crackled over the comm. “Shit. Twenty seconds!”
Megan’s face went pale.
She snapped her head toward the captain. “TWENTY SECONDS!”
The captain’s expression instantly shifted from triumph to cold focus. She shoved another lever forward.
“HOLD ON!” she roared.
HUUUUUMMMM—
The engine’s hum deepened again as the Vitalis accelerated brutally toward the hangar exit.
---
Dockmaster Tower
Chaos. Absolute chaos.
Goldenclaws personnel scrambled as alarms blared and screens showed the Vitalis flying free.
“WHERE’S THE SURFACE PATROL AIRSHIP?!” the base commander bellowed.
“They’re almost arrive, sir!” an officer shouted back.
“TELL THEM TO SPEED UP! WE CAN’T LOSE THEM!” the commander barked.
“YES SIR!”
---
The Vitalis, Bridge
“Ten… nine… eight… seven…” Irving’s voice echoed over the comm.
Everyone on the bridge grabbed onto whatever they could—rails, consoles, each other.
“Six… five… four… three…”
The exit was still three hundred meters away.
In that split second, everyone realized it.
They weren’t going to make it.
“…Two… one…”
