Seko paced the deck and held his spyglass at his side. The day was clear, and the weather was perfect, the wind had been at their tail all the past day, but something in his bones told him that there was danger on the horizon. He pulled the spyglass up and scanned the distance with as careful an eye as was possible. It was empty, they were alone in their travel. 

"All clear Captain?" Aithur asked from his post

"Clear as ever," Seko sighed, "just can't say I feel great about all this."

"The Treasure Galleon?"

"Aye," He collapsed the spyglass and slipped it carefully into a side pouch, making sure to lock it before letting it go. Then he made his way closer to the wheel and found a proper captain's position to take alongside his helmsman. "Just doesn't feel like a safe call. Not after we encountered that beast of a ship, and especially not after we sent it limping. The Empire's too aware of our activities right now, we should be trying to go after the lesser ships and sell their cargo."

"Ah, if only it were that simple." Aithur laughed and shifted the wheel, adjusting the ship's course to avoid a reef peaking ahead. "We're pirates, not traders."

"Robbing merchants to sell their cargo is piracy." Seko defended

"It's a poor business practice, but it alone isn't piracy. You should know that by now."

"Just because I have no desire to rampage and pillage doesn't mean I'm not dedicated to the lifestyle." He felt a bit foolish referring to it as such, but what else was there to say about the matter? "I'm as much a pirate as the next captain."

"Aye, there's no argument on that. No, I'm only meaning that ya have less of the thirst that the most famous have shown."

"I'm not here to get famous," Seko said, "I'm here to make a life for myself. I have a name to repair, and I can't do that without money."

"The noble heir trying to reclaim his throne." Aithur joked 

"Think what you like, my friend," Seko pushed himself upright and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "I'm going to walk the ship."

"Aye Captain. Appreciate the company,"

"Enjoy the peace while you have it, Aithur, when I return I'll be giving you a full rundown of my families' lineage." 

Aithur groaned and Seko could hear a few short curses directed his way as he departed. The crew aboard the Pasongunan were familiar with the ship's wants and needs, it had taken some time to get used to the oddity that was the ship's lower decks, but its uses had far outweighed the annoyance on more than a handful of occasions. 

"Captain." Reeves stood a few feet away with his legs wrapped in the rigging, in his hands were a quill and writing board. He didn't turn to greet Seko, instead he made the comment while maintaining eyesight on a passing pod of Orjaphins. 

Something about the creatures caught Sekos eye, and he rushed to the side to try and glimpse the movement. His eyes hadn't deceived him, the pod was engaged in a brutal attack on a Megalodon that was clearly on its last breath. As a child, Seko had always been warned of the dangers that Megalodons could pose to any Captain, but here was one in the throes of death thanks to surprising killers. 

"Vicious creatures." Reeves whispered, "Wonderful, but completely horrifying."

"Which ones?" 

"Both, honestly." He made a quick scrawl on the board and sighed with contentment, "What brings you out and about today, Captain?"

"Inspecting the ship and crew, it's important I have a good understanding of how everyone is doing."

"Fair enough,"

“Mind telling me what you’re doing?”

"I'd be delighted," Reeves clambered down the rigging with an air of comfort that seemed surprising to Seko. "From my porthole I could just make out the fin of the Mega, naturally I raced up with paper and quill and draw them."

"With a quill?"

"We each have our talents, it wasn't until I got up here that I saw the pod of Orjaphins was the assaulting party. I did my best to capture the moment, but I feel this may be one that eludes my need for perfection."

"How are the new modifications working out? Everything we hoped?"

"Oh aye, working fine. The new housings are interested in their design, nothing I've encountered before, but aside from aesthetics it should be fine. We may even be able to get the old girl in the air."

"That's good to hear," He let the sense of pride well a bit within him, the ship was finally starting to feel like something he could work with. The Pasongunan was never going to be a coastal destroyer or Arcanist vessel, but the more he could do to merge the two into it, the better. "How's Vel handling the-"

"Pissed," A deep scowl fell onto Reeves face, "She loves the additions but hates that we didn't go far enough with certain aspects."

"Should I talk with her?"

"Couldn't hurt, she's down in the Control Room giving the new additions a once over."

Seko rolled his shoulders and tried to loosen the tension suddenly growing in his neck. He wasn't excited to hear the ways Vel had prepared to drag him through mud, nor was he excited to hear of another failure in the application of the Arc systems. If it didn't work this time around, he'd have no choice but to sell the crystals. Their size alone would garner a fair price with any Arcanist or Jeweler, and each would fetch a price enough to keep the crew happy and in comfort for some time. 

"Alright," he said, "I'm going down to see her. You?"

"I figured I'd head back up and take a look for the Orjaphins again, but I need a few things from a storage trunk on the lower deck."

"Hopefully the locks have been fixed."

Reeves gave a laugh and nodded, "I'm sure I can manage." Then he dipped down into a hatch nearby and climbed down the ladder it led to.

With a degree of concern, Seko made his way around and down through the ship, following the Arc cables along the walls with his fingers. He felt a slight jolt run through his hand as he pressed the cold metal. The 'surface' of the cable felt like a still pond, running his fingers along it gave the same feeling of resistance as well. 

Arc systems were still incredibly strange to Seko. The concepts were Imperial design, and bettered the lives of the high and low alike. He was thankful for the fact that he didn't need to know how they worked for them to work. Unlike magic as a whole, its physical byproducts were always far more friendly to the untrained. 

The line eventually began to join up with another cable, then another, and another, until there were six cables tracing into the open doorway of the control room. Sunte, Vel, and Paz each tinkered with different aspects of their stations or were connecting with the controls using magic. 

"You wanted a word?" it was more a statement than a question. Vel turned and seemed to measure his stance, judging perhaps how harsh to be. 

"I'm not happy." 

"So I was warned. What seems to be the issue?"

"There isn't one," Sunte snarled the words with a palpable frustration, "She just seems to be angry and taking it out on everything around her!"

"Sunte, please." Vel pinched her brow and waved for the woman's silence. "I'm not happy with the style of the housing, nor how they reorganized the cable."

"These are issues that we have to work around for now, keep track of what you want changed, and we'll return to Anriuku and have them go through it again."

"What about now?" 

"Is there anything crippling about the new additions? How's the Arcannon?"

"Fine, and no, there's nothing crippling about our current systems as far as I can tell. We can give the order to open the doors from here well enough, and the Arcannons controls fit comfortably in with the other features we have." Vel gave the console before her a light tap.

"How about the air control?"

"Aside from providing a private pipe for direct communication, there's only the two control points. The lever here or the main command crystal."

"Do you think it will work?"

"I wouldn't bet my life on it," Vel said

"Everything will be fine," Sunte said "Ignore her,"

"When do you think we'll run the test?" Paz asked, "I'm dying to get this thing in the air."

"Soon," Seko said, "Very soon, after we take out the Treasure Galleon and secure enough to fill the hold, then we can try. Failure won't affect us and success means we get home sooner, that's the best time to check it I'd say."

"Aye Captain."