Tide of Shadows Ch 17: The Transaction

The faint echo of portal chimes filled the air. Jos stood, one hand on her pistol and the other on her sword as her blood raced through her veins. To her left, Nexx practically vibrated with anxiety. To her right, Jorg was rock-solid still, like a viper coiled and ready to strike. The rest of the crew assembled behind her was not much better. They were all itching for and dreading what was coming.

Danni was the only one not present, having been ordered to stay in the Captain’s quarters.

Who was present though, was an intruder, a sylvari wearing red and black, skin-tight leathers. Hovering just above the surface of the material, asuran magitech-made plates of ethereal armor glowed in red light. The kind the Inquest usually wore.

Just a few seconds ago, the sylvari had been a black blur arching through the air from the Inquest ship as he deployed a glowing, red energy glider to land safely on Hiraeth’s deck. Now he stood, his back stiff and straight as a board. The sylvari stared off into the distance, giving no signs of concern or awareness to anything other than the portal spell he was holding in mid-cast. 

Lifting up one hand, the mesmer snapped his fingers and a shimmering pink disk appeared just beneath his feet. Jos rolled her eyes at the sylvari’s attempt at showmanship. She wasn’t—and she doubted any of her crew were either—impressed by his ability to summon a portal.

In a blink, more than a dozen asura—all armed to the teeth with guns and swords—appeared on the disk. Every one of the Inquest pirates wore the same outfit with the glowing armor plates of light and stood board-stiff with one hand on their weapons. One of the soldiers in the rear looked as if he had a large shield strapped to his back, but it was covered in a swath of black cloth. The only other asura that was different was a particularly surly looking female who’s light-armor glowed white instead of red. 

The surly asura stepped forward just as the portal vanished. “Who is the captain of this vessel?”

Jos let out a deep sigh, then stepped forward. “I am Captain Jos Blackfyre. Who boards my ship without permission?”

A sneer appeared on the asuran leader’s face. Her bored yet somehow still intense gaze turned up to Jos. “The Inquest goes where it wants, your permission is not required. You are permitted to address me as High Captain Dreeax. And today, I’ll be the strategic genius commandeering your cargo today.”

Knuckles whitening as she gripped her sword pommel, Jos arched an eyebrow. “Oh, you will, will you?”

Dreeax cocked her head a little. “Are you not perceptive enough to notice how outgunned you are?” Tilting her head the other direction, the Inquest captain let a small smile slip. “Did you wish to resist?”

The faint creak of leather reached Jos’s ears as all around her, hands gripped weapons tighter.

"That would be most…” For a brief moment, High Captain Dreeax’s face went slack and her eyes took on sleepy look of anticipated pleasure. “Invigorating. Or perhaps we should have a deeper discussion about why we’re here, in front of everyone, rather than in some back-alley.”

The threat slid into Jos like a hot knife. She’d never planned to tell anyone about her agreement with the sylvari back in Lion’s Arch and how that meant betraying the Arcane Council. Nexx had figured it out, and while he was clearly furious with her, he’d keep his mouth shut. But whether they lost the cargo or not, if this Inquest Captain opened her mouth... That wasn't something Jos wanted to think about.

Behind her, Nexx gave a small cough. She glanced back and saw the panicked look on her first mate’s face. Jos doubted the revelation would lead to outright mutiny, but her days as a ship’s captain would be numbered. Straightening her back, Jos nodded. When she spoke, her voice cracked. “No.”

Dreeax’s face drooped a little. “Your decision is somewhat disappointing. Ah, well. I trust you will ensure all of your crew stand down then? I’m sure I’d enjoy it if things became disordered and...messy. But you would not.”

It took every scrap of effort not to pop the runt in the face with a pistol shot. But she knew better. Dreeax was right; they were out-gunned and out-classed. The grim realization set in that this was going to be the outcome no matter what. Even if she hadn’t made the deal, Dreeax and her over-amped ambitions would have been here, waiting for them anyway.

Jos cleared her throat and spoke loud enough for the entire crew to hear. “High Captain Dreeax, I give you full-run of Hiraeth. No member of her crew shall obstruct you in your duties, on pain of death.” 

Every word that came out of her mouth burned a little piece of her soul. This was exactly the reason she left The Pact to crew her own ship. She hated taking orders, especially from a mini-tyrant with a head ten times the size of her own body.

High Captain Dreeax gave a small wave and her crew dispersed. Black and red-clad asura swarmed the main deck and oozed down the stairwell to the cargo hold, followed by the sylvari mesmer. Despite her barely contained rage, Jos was impressed with the efficiency of Dreeax’s crew. 

For the next few minutes, Joss stood as still as possible as she tried to make the Inquest captain vaporize by sheer force of will. Behind her, whispers started among her own crew. She couldn’t quite make out what they were saying and wondered if it was about the enemy or her own betrayal of the job.

Footfalls from the stairwell announced the return of Dreeax’s soldiers. The mesmer and a couple Inquest guards strolled out and made their way back to Dreeax’s side. The sylvari gave a small nod. 

Dreeax angled her head and waved a finger. That lone Inquest guard with the shield on his back stepped forward and slid the covered targe from his back. He pulled the cloth back to reveal that what he held was not a shield at all, but rather a disk of light brown stone-like material with glowing pink circles and diamond etched into it.

Jos smiled. “A launch pad.”

“Indeed,” Dreeax said.

The launch pad made a loud thump as it was slammed down onto the deck. As soon as the diamond was pointed at the Inquest ship, the mesmer stepped up and bounded away. At the peak of his arch, the glowing red wings of his glider appeared and he drifted down to the enemy’s deck.

Leather creaked to her right. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jorg leaning forward, on the edge and waiting to be set loose. When she glanced back at Dreeax, she realized what the norn was anticipating. The female Inquest captain stood there with only three remaining guards.

We could do it. In a flash, Jos realized that if they could overpower Dreeax and her three lackeys fast enough, they could get the cargo back. She wondered though, if that was what she really wanted. As it was, she was rid of that Six-damned crate and had a sizable purse coming. All she had to do was make sure no one figured out what she’d done. 

Jos peeked at Nexx to her left. He didn’t vibrate with anxiety as much as he quivered with rage. She knew most of that was directed at Dreeax. But she also knew plenty of it was targeted at Jos herself.

Then a thought occurred to her. These four were not the only Inquest left on her ship. She’d watched as nearly a dozen of them had gone below to the cargo hold, but only three came out. Jos knew that they could have gone back with the cargo, but that wasn’t the smartest decision for a “strategic genius.”

The thump of boots landing on the deck yanked her back to reality. Once again, the sylvari mesmer stood on Hiraeth’s deck. Stowing his glider wings, he marched up beside Dreeax. “The cargo is stowed, High Captain.”

“Very well.” The Inquest leader nodded then turned her attention back to Jos. “Then our transaction is at an end.”

The sylvari mesmer made a motion with his hands. A soft chiming filled the air and the familiar pink disk shimmered on the deck, encompassing everyone except the high captain.

Jos scoffed. “Transaction.”

“Indeed, a transaction.” Deeax let a small smile slip as she took a step backward. The pink energies swirled around her feet. “You gave me the cargo and I let you live for another five minutes. And it is unnecessary to expound any threatening comments to me regarding vengeance because we won’t meet again.”

Then, in a blink, they were gone and the pink portal vanished.