Agatha H. and the Fair Dinkum Blue, Pt. 8
Part seven is here.
What: a fanfiction for Girl Genius, featuring my literary stand-in and stunt double Mara
Time: ....after Chapter 7?
The story so far!
--Reunited and it feels so... awkward!
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Legal disclaimer stuff:
"This story is not approved by, sponsored by or affiliated with Studio Foglio LLC or Airship Entertainment."
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The Pauper Princess Fanfiction Theatre Presents:
Agatha H. and the Fair Dinkum Blue - Part 8!
The boys brought her to a situation room just off the bridge of the Sturmvoraus flagship. Why there and not her daughter's flagship, Lucrezia would try to determine discreetly. Naturally she had been listening carefully to anything and everything being said since being found. For most of it, context would have been useful, but pretending that spider venom caused gaps in her memory would be ill-advised. There were too many other victims from those attacks who had suffered no such symptoms. Hmmm, perhaps a blow to the head? A fever? Ah, too cliched.
So, all three of them had become Emperors and were sharing Klaus' former empire. That much she had learned from Zola, who had been spying on New Europa for a number of years. "New Europa," indeed. Not spying well enough, though. The big picture was well and good, but too many details were sadly lacking, and ruling a whole continent from halfway around the world was no excuse! Useful details, such as how Klaus had lost his empire, why her daughter hadn't seized control and killed them all, and who the hell this "Princess" was that a Jägergeneral had allowed to operate on him?? In Lucrezia's absence, the Heterodyne standards had clearly plummeted. Now apparently anyone could perform surgery on a Jäger. How else had her daughter allowed things to deteriorate? Was the Castle now a funhouse for families, with cotton candy stands and friendly actors in fancy dress? She had to repress a reflux at that thought. Just her imagination, she hoped. But then, if that were not the case--?
The three Jägers that had been dispatched to find her spider captor's lair returned empty-handed. Lucrezia insisted that they had gotten her directions wrong, but since there was no spider's lair where she'd come from, there were no "right" directions, either. The Jägers badgered her for more details - in their own subordinate way, of course - flaming Lucrezia's temper.
Get out of my sight, you insufferable buffoons!! She thought, as loudly as one can think.
"Gentlemen," she actually said, in a forced gentle tone and through a forced smile, "Blame it on my disorientation. I really did think the coordinates I gave you were correct. I am terribly sorry. Tarvek - Gilgamesh - do you really think it's worth continuing a search?"
"Yes," said Tarvek, shaking his head. "But we don't have the time. It was worth a try. Thank you, Boys."
"Hyu got it, keed," said... Dimo? Yes, him. But they lingered.
"Ah, Mistress?" said the one called... Ogden, if memory served. Hm. Maybe that venom did affect her mind?
"Mm-hm?"
"Ve iz chust," he said, looking oddly child-like now, "Chust so glad to see hyu alive und vell!" The others grinned and nodded.
"Ohhh," she said, making herself pat his shoulder, "It's great to be alive and well. But we'll talk later, yes? The other Emperors and I, we've got some plotting here to do." The three bowed their heads and muttered goodbyes before finally leaving.
As for the Jägergenerals, they had finished their business with that Tryggvassen fellow and were gathered on the bridge, but were unusually quiet. Whether it was due to actually being interested in hearing the 'schmott guys' speak, or some other reason, she could not yet determine.
One of Gilgamesh's Spark lackeys, whom Gilgamesh only referred to as "Professor," finally arrived on the bridge, but with sorry news: his "mind digger" had not worked, but had apparently killed one of their captives. The other had died on his own. Their autopsies were in progress and so far revealed gradually-degenerated organs. In other words, they had both been dying for some time. He described their ghastly remains in such a way that reminded Lucrezia of people she'd seen at Zola's. She had a good guess what had killed them both, "mind digger" or not, but acted as puzzled - and concerned - as the others.
To her fellow Emperors' credit, they took the poor news in stride and shifted focus to Tarvek's Spark lackey, who was also only referred to as "Doctor" and no other name. Did no one use proper names around here?? Nevertheless, they discussed his "thumpers," mechanized poles buried in the dirt and using sonics to map out the earth below them, to a limited diameter. They weren't at the gates of the palace yet, but it wouldn't be long. Most of the results were solid ground, with smatterings of the trapdoor spiders' lairs. While the mapping continued, her fellow Emperors caught her up on defenses.
Gilgamesh bragged that now "nothing" could get through their modified shielding, aka tech that had been stolen from Zola's Sparks, but no matter. He claimed that none of his ships would be sliced in twain again.
"Yes, once is enough, dear," said Lucrezia, nodding. When he only brooded at her, she attempted a comforting smile.
"When do we attack?" she asked. "And with what weapons?"
"The usual," said Tarvek, "Plus-"
Sonic wave motion cannons! Mechaniwasps! Bomber drones! The 87th Pneumatic Drill Team, with improved drills! Shield dampeners (ostensibly for the enemy, not their own shields)! Lucrezia smiled, but not for the reason they expected. These things were all piffle. If she was worried about any of the forces, it was the Jägers and Franz. But they were loyal to "The Heterodyne." As long as everyone believed that, she was set. Those flying armor suits looked impressive enough for the locals, no doubt, but suits were suits. Such things were easily defeated.
But before claiming victory on the spot, she needed to find out what "the usual" was. Zola had described some things to her, but she needed to see the plans for herself. Time to find her lab. But first-
"Boys," said Lucrezia, "When do we begin the assault? When do we eliminate the evil Queen Matilda and save New Europa? Not just by sitting here, of course."
"Not likely," said Gilgamesh.
Tarvek addressed his crew. "Full repulsion and camouflage on shields! Move the fleet forward, quarter speed! Send out bombing drones ahead!"
Finally General Zog spoke up for his fellow Generals, and demanded to know the horde's role in the attack. Gilgamesh and Tarvek looked to her as one.
After a split-second of hesitation, she smiled. "I see no reason to steer from your original purpose, and what you're best at: shock and awe. Terror and bloody destruction. Agreed?"
Of course they agreed. They grinned and nodded and murmured affirmatives. Though she did catch a glimpse of General Gkika looking perhaps slightly less pleased than the others. That, or she imagined it. But it was unwise to dismiss any detail. She decided to show concern for old Goomblast and his hands, just like her nice daughter would. The poor General kept losing body parts. He'd end up all clank if this continued.
Goomblast was eager to let her examine his hands. To her disappointment, she could find no flaws in the workmanship. It was as if she herself had made them. Who did he say had-? A Princess? Nobody in the room had mentioned her again, so... No. It couldn't be. That nervous ninny who'd left the mess hall earlier for nap time? She couldn't be the same person.
"Boys," she called to them. "Ah, Gilgamesh, Tarvek. Since we're underway, I'll return to my ship and lead the Heterodyne charge from there."
"Contact us as soon as you're ready," said Tarvek. "Oh! That's right; you need a new talkbox. Remind Mrs. Mouseheart to replace yours."
"Oh, that goes without saying," she said. Whatever a 'talkbox' was. After another, quick scan of the area, she left the bridge and headed to procure passage to her own ship. The Jägergenerals followed, as she expected them to. Dismissing them might be against the Agatha girl's usual behavior. She allowed the entertainment of the possibility that these dull, walking pieces of furniture might be harboring suspicions about her. Keeping up this pretense of caring about these people was almost painful, but necessary. Especially in the presence of Klaus' boy and the so-called Storm King. Especially him. The better to act quickly.
******
"Dollink," said Gkika, stopping her and pointing down an opposite corridor. "Eff hyu vant hyu bridge, iz dot vay."
"I know where my own bridge is," she said with faked indignance. (She did not know). "Escort me to my lab first. I need to retrieve some devices."
"Hyu need all uv os?" asked Zog.
"Well, maybe I do, just for that question," she said with real indignance.
"Mistress, hy din mean-"
"No matter," she said. "General Goomblast will escort me. The rest of you, convene at the bridge."
"Ov coz, Mistress," said Goomblast, adding a tap of his heels as he bowed. General Gkika rolled her eyes.
"Hyu need ennyting, sveethot," she said, "Just shriek!"
"Oh, Mamma, always the wittiest-" she said, but the others were already lumbering down the corridor. Gkika expressed her impatience with the other Generals by snapping at them to hurry up, but they probably slowed down just to annoy her.
Lucrezia bade Goomblast to walk ahead of her - it was the gentlemen's way, after all. Once at the lab's door, she smiled and patted his very ample chest. "Where I go, General, you'd probably end up too bored to follow. SCIENCE, you know."
"Hy rejoin de odders, den," he said. "Und say hallo to de Prinzess for me, pleeze?"
"...Of course." (She had no such intention). She waited for him to thump away - he never was that great at sneaking - before opening the door.
"Agatha!" somebody else called from the opposite direction. She sighed and shut the door, then squinted at the woman Zeetha hurrying her way. "Do you have a moment?" Lucrezia debated dismissing her wholesale. Instead she folded her arms and looked over her glasses. "This is your lab, right? Can we talk here?"
"Um..." said Lucrezia, "Normally I'd say yes, but it'-- it's terribly cluttered. What do you want, dear?"
Zeetha cocked an eyebrow, then set her arms akimbo. "Well, 'dear,' this is about you, not me. If you want it right in the open corridor, fine. I've been thinking about some of the things we discussed the other day, during our last workout. I gave you-" She paused, leaned in close, and lowered her voice. "--Gave you advice for one of your problems. You didn't follow it at all, and ended up breaking up with both of them! Really?" Lucrezia gave Zeetha a Look, but not for the reason she thought. "Fine. You do what you have to repair that damage. But the other topic: First, I have kept your confidence, so don't worry. Not even Higgs knows. But I've been thinking...You need to tell them about... your problem."
"My problem," said Lucrezia.
"Yes," Zeetha whispered. "The problem with..." She looked up and down the corridor. "Your Spark. I won't say anything unless you do, but really, zumil; you don't think it's something they can help you with?"
"'They?'"
"They! The boys," she said. "Gil. Tarvek. I mean, why wouldn't they help? And if what you described gets worse, this could make things more dangerous for you, right? And everyone else!"
"My Spark," Lucrezia said, more to herself than Agatha's sidekick."Yes. Yes, you're right, Zeetha. It is a serious problem that must be looked into, with the help of my friends and fellow Emperors. Thank you. You are a good friend."
"Anytime," she said, slapping Lucrezia's arm. So many of Agatha's friends, so many ways for them to die for their insolence.
She forced a smile. "I should be in my lab now. Got a war to run and all that."
"Just point me and Higgs at the enemy," said Zeetha with a wink. She gave a quick goodbye and was off.
Lucrezia caught herself puzzling over that conversation. Then she looked both ways herself before stepping inside the lab and locking the door behind her. Ugh! It really was a cluttered mess. There were three - no, four - worktables inside, but covered from end to end with parts, tools, devices, chemicals, papers, and whatnot. That was just the start. All around the room was too much clutter to adeqately describe. Perhaps complete disorganization was Agatha's 'Spark problem?' Curses! She couldn't tell if it was something that Agatha had shared with anyone else. Perhaps there was something to Zola's admonition about not memory-mining. Urgh, what does that waltzing strumpet masquerading as royalty know??
There had to be somebody else who knew about "the problem." Or who could give some insight into her "breaking up" with the boys. If it was all to play them against each other so she could seize full power, well, there was something to be proud of. But if not... there was no reason Lucrezia couldn't try it?
Until then, she'd give a look to the lab and see what the Heterodyne side was up to. What weapons of mass terror they had in the works, or already created? She found designs, blueprints, notes, sketches, prototypes, and in-progress works scattered about the lab. The more she saw, the more mixed her feelings were. Such utterly weak works: Nonlethal "stun" guns? Batteries? Beetle-shaped clanks? Ah - Here was a drawing of something that reminded her of the Castle's Happy Fun Ball of Doom, but why was it called "Black Sand?" Or for that matter, where was the formula for that metal that was unfazed by a full shot from her death ray? Now that could be a useful thing. These designs were so incomplete, too. Full of rough drawings and a few notes at best, but nothing in detail.
On one hand she was pleased to see devices that would mean easy victory for Australia. On the other...Why was her daughter making such mundanities?? Where was the awe, the terror, the dread monstrosities that caused dread even in monsters?? Where-?? Hang on. Was "MM" on the designs supposed to be initials? As in "Mrs.Mouseheart?" What was this? Her daughter had chosen a boring Techmas- er, mistress?
While brooding, she heard quiet skittering on the table. From the corner of her eye, something small and fast moved. She took one of the papers and slowly rolled it into a tube. Whatever it was, it was to her left. She peered into the clutter and listened. And shrieked. Something had touched her right hand. She flinched out of instinct and swatted it away. It smacked against some bric-a-brac and flipped over itself. From that brief glimpse she could tell it was a clank of some kind. She watched it struggle to right itself, and furrowed her brow at the sight of something resembling... a Jägermonster?
"What's happened??" a frantic woman's voice said behind her, causing her to shriek again and lash out behind her. To her surprise, her attack was easily deflected away by that same woman. They both called out one more time in surprise.
"Oh! Agatha, I'm so sorry!" said the woman Mara. Oh. Just who she was dying to see. The woman held up her hands to ease fears that Lucrezia did not possess. "I wasn't trying to frighten you. But I could swear I heard you call out. Did you? I'd dozed off, and-"
"Hold it," said Lucrezia, taking a step back from her. The woman had good reflexes: duly noted. "Hold on. Where did you come from? I locked the door."
"Even so, you know that I have a key," said Mara. "But I was already napping in here." She pointed to a corner that Lucrezia had dismissed as a pile of laundry on a cot. Goomblast had smelled her in here; no wonder he'd asked about 'saying hello!' She should have picked up that clue.
'De Prinzess' kept prattling. "Everything's all right, then? Did I mishear the shouting? Oh, hello, Sturm!"
The non sequitur puzzled Lucrezia. She followed the woman's gaze and watched her wave at that clank that had earlier touched her royal personage without permission. It waved back, then wandered off to do whatever miniature Jägers did. Sturm, hm? This was getting more ridiculous by the minute.
"Yes, everything is all right," said Lucrezia. "I was just reviewing our designs and plans. Speaking of which, the lab: is it always this...cluttered? And do you always sleep in here?"
"Ahhh, no," she said. "Heather and I had a little disagreement, and-Sorry, nothing too serious. And, um, well, I suppose the lab has gotten a smidgen worse. But I still know where everything is! You know, you've been too busy to use it yourself, so I ended up sort of spreading things out. I keep offering to clear a space? You do want a work area, yes?"
"Later," she said, giving the room another scan. Maybe there were other 'Sturms' running about, or worse, those round little clanks that Agatha had taught to 'heterodyne' for her. Things that interfered with Lucrezia's control simply could not be allowed to exist. Eventually she returned her attention to Mara and was mildly taken aback to find her staring at her. Staring and grinning.
"What?" she asked suspiciously.
"I'm sorry," said Mara, now giggling(?) "I can't stand it any longer! I have to-" The next thing Lucrezia knew, she'd been wrapped in a tight bear hug. While 'De Prinzess' swayed and hummed in apparent delight, Lucrezia waged a mighty internal debate whether to kill her now, while she was distracted, or (for now) pretend that this was something she and Agatha did all the time. If the latter.... Oh, no. This woman couldn't be the reason that Agatha had 'broken up' with the boys. She couldn't possibly be-?
"MmmmWAH!" said Mara, who'd suddenly combined a kiss to the cheek with its own sound effect. Then it was back to being stared and grinned at. Ohhh, Agatha...
"We-- We have a... We have a war to, to prepare for," said Lucrezia, doing a passable impression of a clank with malfunctioning speech centers.
"Regrettably, yes," said Mara somberly, and perked up immediately after. "But I'm just so happy and grateful to see you! But I knew I couldn't greet you like that until we were alone. Didn't want to be too embarrassing." She grinned awkwardly and shrugged.
"For which I'm... also very grateful."
"Oh!" Mara suddenly cried, and began rummaging through the bric-a-brac on a worktable. She found and handed Lucrezia a device about the size of a cigarette case. "Your new talkbox." She smiled and wagged a finger at her good-naturedly. "No losing this one now. Also, I promised to show you how I - we - found you."
"Yes, that would-" She stopped short as Mara grabbed her hand and led her to a black screen, about a meter square, fixed to the wall. Mara switched its power on. It flickered and hummed, and finally a prominent dot displayed in the center of the screen, with numbers at the bottom.
"I haven't had time yet to record the design on paper," she said, "But here it is. It's nothing fancy, but did what we needed." She began describing how the tracker worked, but was interrupted.
"I get it," said Lucrezia. "Those are coordinates, and you went to them. I meant, how were they derived? Does that dot represent me?"
"Yes," said Mara. "From your biolectric signature." Lucrezia raised an eyebrow. "Ours, in fact. There are really two dots, but very close together, because, you know, we're standing side by side. I went on a hunch that ours would be, not identical, but perhaps similar enough for a start. And it worked! And of course I have Herr Wulfenbach and Herr Sturmvoraus to thank for helping me execute my idea. What do you think? Maybe add altitude as a coordinate? Expand its range? Add the biosignatures of key members of the fleet? Then anyone who's missing or captured, and has no talkbox, well, we could find them!"
Lucrezia caught herself staring at it. And wondering how their 'bioelectric signatures' could be similar enough to even begin such an experiment.
"What do you think, hon?"
She whipped her head around and almost glared at Mara, but smoothed her expression at the last second. Still: Hon? HON?? She would die later, but not too much later.
"It's lovely," she said, nodding. "Very Impressive. It-" (needs to be destroyed!) "-But I think it's served its purpose: finding me. Improvements can wait. We need to report to the bridge asap. The fleet is on the move." (Destroy it later. Make it an 'accident.')
Mara shrugged. "Well, I could tell that by the feel of the eng-OH! You meant that it's pressing the offensive, right now? Why didn't you say that straight off??"
"Watch the insolent tone, Miss," Lucrezia snapped. "Whatever else I may be to you, I am still your Empress."
"Uh--? My--?" said the Princess, or Mrs. Mouseheart, or whatever other moniker she used. She furrowed her brow. "Yes, but-- Agatha, are you all right? Did something happen when-?"
"Oh, really," said Lucrezia, "We don't have time for this. Gather our 'usual' weapons and everything new that we have, and let's get to the bridge." Mara just stared, again. "NOW."
Of all people to start getting suspicious: someone she didn't know? Mrs. Mouseheart finally snapped out of it. "Fine," she grumbled. (That was not in her favor). She grabbed a satchel and began shoving apparently random things into it, including items on the far end of the room.
Lucrezia announced, "I'll need a death ray. Pack one of those."
"None here," Mara called back to her. "You know that."
"What do you mean I-?" she demanded. "Never mind. Make my own." The switch of the Madness was turned on. She snatched at bits and bobs, some without looking, and began assembling. The more she grabbed, the faster the assembly went, until within two minutes, she held up a lovingly-crafted, portable death-dealer. She turned towards Mara, who was just finishing up stuffing her satchel.
"Ready?" said Lucrezia, not a little bit proud of her device. It had been too long since she'd been able to cobble together anything fun. Ha! No 'Spark problem' here. Mrs. Mouseheart did not appear to share her joy, but she didn't care by now. If this woman was a Spark, she was certainly one of the most irritating ones that Lucrezia had encountered in a while. And she had encountered many irritating Sparks.
******
"Found it," Tarvek announced. He, Gil, and Doctor Kratzenschnupp watched the readout of the mapping devices. A rather large, underground complex was rapidly being drawn in wire-frame.
"Ha!" said the Doctor. "See? My thumpers have no match! Showed them all, I did! Especially you, 'Mother!'"
"That was an odd boast," Gil muttered.
"Don't get me started," said Tarvek. "Excellent work, Doctor! But we'll assume that they know they've been found and may start countermeasures any second."
"They may counter any measure they like," said the Doctor. "They'll be ratted out like ratfish!"
"I'm sure that goes without saying," said Gil, switching on his talkbox. "Agatha?"
"Ah, look!" said Tarvek, pointing to dead ahead. Gil was as unsurprised as he to see contrails rising from the ground.
"Missiles?" he said.
"No, I think those are fliers this time," said Tarvek, peering. "Their own air support?"
"Ah, I do believe you're right, old friend," said Gil. He pressed another button on his talkbox. "Agatha?"
"Try Mrs. Mouseheart?"
"She should have given Agatha another-" he muttered, then was mildly taken aback by Agatha's face popping into view.
"Gil!" she shouted. "Hello! This is Agatha! Is there trouble?"
"It's on its way," he said. "Why are you shouting?"
"So you can hear-" she said, then quieted down. Her face was still a bit closer than it needed to be. "So you can hear. But of course you can hear fine at this volume."
"Right," he said. "Are you on your bridge?"
"Yes!" she said. "Can you see me?"
"Why do you ask?" he asked. "Isn't your box's visual component functioning?"
"No, I'm waving to-!" she said, then stopped abruptly, cleared her throat, and gathered her dignity. "My visual component is functioning just fine."
Tarvek spoke to his crew, but equally to Gil and 'Agatha.' "Maintain full repulsion and camouflage." Tarvek had been tinkering with the harmonics and had managed to reduce the shimmering effect the shields had in camouflage mode, making them truly undetectable... unless detected.
Gil had switched from talkbox to headset. "No doubt Queen Matilda is sending a welcoming party."
"Oh, dear!" said Lucrezia. "Well, we'll have to make ourselves at home, yes?"
On the Heterodyne bridge, Lucrezia cradled her death ray and studied the scene through the main windows. Three Jägergenerals were here - the usual trio of ogres. Mamma Gkika had left for the Jäger ship. She had effused excitement about the "beeg gon," the backup of their original, destroyed one. They had dubbed it 'Hallo, Sveethot!'
She had seen the fliers heading fast towards the fleet up close already. They were small, and faster and more maneuverable than personal airships normally would be, by virtue of being rocket-propelled and with fixed wings. The ships' lead pilot pulled far ahead of the others. Their general flight path was cautious, as if acting on 'something' being out there, but still feeling its way. This made sense to her; they had the approximate location thanks to the hidden beacon that Lucrezia had activated, but the beacon could not provide fleet specific.
The lead ship began firing its weapons. By the looks of the ordnance, they were throwing slugs with a wide spread. Those slugs that connected, and exploded, gave more clues of the fleet's position. This was the expected strategy. The remaining ships - some thirty in all - let loose their own weapons based on where the hits had occurred. The shields held.
That Mara woman brought her a headset to replace the talkbox. An ugly bit of equipment, but she had to concede to its usefulness. Mara helped with her the fit, and switched it on for her. "Boys?" said Lucrezia. "Are we counterattacking, or anything of that nature?"
"Not yet," she heard Tarvek say. She rolled her eyes. So intent on testing the boundaries of their defenses. Gil did seem fairly certain of them. Unfortunately she was not in a position yet to throw any spanners into those works. Besides... intellectually speaking, she was curious to see how it stood up. Not getting blown out of the sky was high on her list of things to do today.
Explosions that looked pretty and had a nice, percussive sound to them peppered the edges of the fleet, and still did no damage. Lucrezia bit her lip. She made a mental note to find an opportunity to examine the workings. They had updated Zola's work. One of the fliers skimmed too close, and was spectacularly obliterated for the effort.
The leader's ship followed the destroyed ship's path, but stayed just clear of the destructive edge. It passed in front of all three flagships before zooming out of view. Some other ships passed by and were at the correct angle to see that their pilots were clanks - something she already knew. She also knew who the leader was. Had the boys figured it out?
Lucrezia stole glances at her unsuspecting (she hoped) cohorts. The Generals were impatiently watching the scene, hoping for the signal for the horde to fight back. And Mara was... doing some odd thing. She wore a headband under her own communication headset, and was hunched over a large rifle of some kind. She was carefully pouring a black powder into a large casing. The rifle didn't resemble any sort of death ray, but then, the woman had refused to provide one to her Empress, whatever that was about.
"Mrs. Mouseheart, what are you doing?" Lucrezia asked.
Mara glanced up, but did not reply until finishing her pouring task. She spoke while loading the casing into the rifle's launching chamber. "Prepping some black sand," she said casually. That stuff? Oh. Apparently the drawing had not been to scale.
"Going to gum up their engines?" she asked with a smirk.
Mara just stared at first. One more time, and her eyes would be outside of her skull and staring at herself, for once. "At its least, I suppose," she replied. "Then eat it. Your Ladyship, you know th-OH!" she gasped suddenly and pointed at the port window. "Look there!"
Lucrezia did, and hid another smirk. Their friend, the lead pilot, was back. The ship had been slowed down enough for the pilot to pop the canopy, stand up, and pose with one foot on the dashboard. The ship slowed even more to a hover that kept pace with the fleet's speed and staying just past the edge of the shield. The pilot sported a big grin, and waved at them all. If she could see through the shield was unknown and irrelevant at this point.
Mara gasped and stepped closer to the window. She slapped on some magnifying goggles from one of her pouches, then gasped again.
"Your Ladyship," she said quietly, "I hope that I'm wrong, but I think that's...?"
Lucrezia stepped forward and added drama to her voice. "Dupree..."
It was indeed the notorious air pirate, answering everyone's lingering question about the state of her existence. Clearly she still lived, but not without the mark of her last encounter with (the real) Agatha and Mara. Her ship had been reduced to a burning pile of ash, with no sign of Dupree until now. Her face still had some healing to do; half of it had been contorted into a grotesque mask of second- and third-degree burn scars. A patch or two of burns, still had a way to go. Some hair remained, tied back in a ponytaill like always, though growing only from one side. The hand that Mara had sliced off to save Agatha from decapitation was now fully mechanical. The burning of the ship must have taken part of her other arm; it was mechanical up to her elbow. And yet, she still managed a truly chilling grin.
The Jägergenerals hurried over to get their own good view.
"Demn!" Khirzhan cursed. "Mistress, ve shoot her now or may neffer get anodder chance!"
"Hold on," said Lucrezia. "By the looks of things, she may be sending us a message."
"Vat?" said Zog. "So ve send vun!"
"You don't act except upon my orders," she snapped. "Is that clear?"
"Yas, Mistress, but-"
"Agatha," Gilgamesh's voice broke in. It sounded oddly... grim. "I'll handle her."
"Capturing her would be our best course," said Lucrezia.
"Your Ladyship," said Mara, holding up her rifle, "I could disable her vessel."
Lucrezia hid her eyeroll. "Look, this will take a little more than just throwing sand into her air intake."
Mara cocked an eyebrow. "Your Ladyship, you do recall what this can do, don't-?"
"Mistress," said Goomblast, grabbing her and pulling her away from the main windows. "Get beck. Get beck!"
Lucrezia wriggled out of his grip. "Unhand me, you oaf!"
"Not dis time!"
The air began to shimmer. Up, left, right, and all around. The energy being released was enough to make the hairs on the bridge crew's limbs stand on end. Zola's own air corps faded into view. When all became revealed, it was clear to the New Europan fleet that it was outnumbered three-to-one. Even knowing it had been coming, Lucrezia widened her eyes at the sheer numbers involved. Zola had been busier than she'd let on. The deception should not have been such a surprise, yet to her personal embarrassment, it was.
"Boys," said Lucrezia with just a touch of panic, "Counterattack??"
"Damn," she heard Tarvek whisper. "Yes. Battlestations!"
--To be continued