Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Four (section)

===Visual Inspection===


Venus finished her sandwich early and rose to her feet.  “May I just take a quick look at the gunship?  Just to see how it’s different.”

Remilia chuckled.  “Typical.  We’re on a new planet for the first time and the first thing she does is inspect the wargear.”  Freya waved her assent around a mouthful of cookie.

Venus walked around the outside of the gunship, her hearing still allowing her to follow the others’ discussion.  The pilot, a handsome serf in the livery of the Wolf Father’s Company – the equivalent of the Fire Drakes – nodded politely as she ran her obsidian fingers over the rack of assault cannon targeting gear.  The pilot emerged from the cabin moments later and joined her in her external inspection.

“Milady Venus, an honor,” he said.

Venus nodded to him and stepped back, drinking in the details of the gunship.  It was clearly old, but well-maintained enough.  A few errant spots of rust or damage peeked through the paint, though.  She tried not to appear disapproving.  “Hello,” she said.

“Fine old war bird, isn’t she?  Stygies 13-built,” the skjald said.  The rough brogue in his voice lent his words a proud feeling.  That, or he just knew his aircraft.  “The Rout assigns specific pilots to specific craft, and they’re almost never Astartes themselves,” he added, stroking the same targeting array fondly.  “This little bird has been shooting heretics and aliens in the arsenal of the Rout for about nine hundred years.”

“Venerable spirits, then,” Venus said, nodding her respect to the ancient machine.

“They sure are.”  The skjald – who only looked a few years older than the Claws that had ridden there with them – leaned on the light blue aircraft and smiled easily at his guest.  “How are you enjoying your stay so far?” he asked.

“It’s been beautiful,” Venus said, gesturing out at the ocean.  “They sure don’t have those on Terra.”
“Not any more anyway,” the skjald chuckled.

“Right.”  Venus stepped back from the ship and crossed her arms over her loose fleece jacket.  “Do you ever fly her in combat?” she asked.

“My ship?  Sure, several times.  But, as you can see, it’s a Transport variant, not an Attack-variant,” the pilot said.  He turned a keen eye to the horizon as he said it.  “Hmm.  That’ll be a problem.”

“Pardon?” Venus asked.

The skjald gestured expansively.  “Lord Seager may get that chance to watch a storm today.”

“Is there one coming?” Venus asked, scanning the horizon with her hand over her eyes.

“Slow, but huge, milady, make no mistake of it,” the pilot said, shaking his head at her naïveté.

“How much time do we have?” Venus asked.

The pilot glanced at thickening darkness over the horizon.  “It’ll arrive in perhaps…four hours.  I’d say it would last less than two hours, but the wind will drive ships aground if they don’t moor properly.”

“Interesting.”  Venus glanced at the much taller man.  “How can you tell?”

“Milady, I grew up around here.  This is something you have to know if you work the fleets,” the skjald said.

A faint rustle revealed the two Claws emerging from the sparse vegetation around them.  “My Lady Venus, we must depart,” one Claw said.  The other immediately reported the same to Freya, still sitting with the others and snacking.  “A Walking Waves ship is moving down the coast to us.  We will not be here when it arrives,” the Claw said flatly.

“Understood, Marine,” Venus said, immediately moving towards the ramp.

Minutes later, the group was in the air.  The aircraft soared over the landing site.  To Remilia’s vocal surprise, the Wolves hadn’t even attempted to conceal their presence by erasing any signs of their picnic site.

“We take no issue with our kin knowing of us having been here.  If anything, it will help,” one Claw said.  His wide brown eyes glinted a little in the light from Venus’ questioning stare.  “The tribes of Fenris will always make war, milady.  They know we watch them.”

“For what?  Signs of weakness?” Remilia asked.

“Of course not, milady Remilia.”  The Claw leaned forward.  “We look for the fallen.  Those who are struck down before their prime.”
“And…what do you do with them?” Remilia asked carefully.

The second Claw spoke up.  “That is for the Rune-seers to know, milady, and no other.”  He glared at the other Claw for a moment, and Freya smelled the resentment that his companion had spoken out of turn.

The first Wolf was expressionless under the resentful stare.  At length, the uncomfortable silence was broken.  “We’re at two klicks up, Miladies, lords.  If you wish to see that storm cell, Lord Seager, now would work,” the pilot said over the intercom.

“Cool.  Can we?” Jake asked.

In response, the rear hatch began to open.  Jake clipped his tether back on and rose, peering over the edge of the gunship.  The pilot brought it to a dead standstill.  Jake and the others grabbed hydraulic lines and hatch stanchions, staring out at the sea below.

“It was blue down there, last I looked,” Jake said quietly.

The whole world was grey.  The entire horizon, from one end to the other, was wreathed in a thick white-grey mix of cloud.  Every few moments, the veil would light up with blue, as a lightning bolt arced down to the water.

“Weather is awesome,” Jake decided.

“This is something I should have done years ago,” Freya chuckled.

“Funny how you don’t appreciate weather until you’re with somebody who’s never seen it,” Remilia mused.

Jake shook his head.  “Remilia, you’d have thought that was cool whether I was here or not.”

She shrugged.  “Probably.”

The ramp abruptly began closing.  The five teens backed up as the pilot broke in.  “Sorry, my Lords and Ladies, but the cell is moving closer to shore, and we’re going to get hit by fierce updraft.  Can’t risk hatches open,” he said, sounding somewhat distracted.

“Understood.  Back to the Fang, then,” Freya said, her cloak billowing around her in the wind.

The gunship banked and climbed as the group retook their seats.  Within minutes, the roar of the engines died a bit as the gunship soared far above the storms and into the thinner upper atmosphere.