Sky Rig Rebellion

Prologue

A monolithic flying station called an Aqua Rig hovered above the deep, brown, murky ocean below, it being at least twenty-three hundred foot high and at least eighteen hundred foot wide, held up by multiple gigantic piston engines, the Cladiella is being savagely attacked and is listing to one side, its decks ablaze as fighters swarmed like flies, as unbeknown to the crew fighting to save her another smaller rig was heading to its lower half.

"Keep ya firing up lads! Take down as many as you can!" Hake bellowed, heavy flack and machine gun fire littered the sky as pirates buzzed like hornets. "All hands manual battle stations, all hands manual battle stations, this is not a drill, pirates are attacking!" Tannoys, sirens buzzed and whirled all over, as Tang ran through hatch way after hatch way, the thuds of his foot steps rattling the steel grates while quickly dodging other crew as he ran.

Heavy thundering footsteps followed him, he stopped suddenly and turned to see a piercing striking eyed lady with fluid long shimmering red and green hair, her goggles pushing it back above her forehead, her thick leather flight jacket bouncing around her as she ran, her gun belts chinked and clanked as she ran toward him "Tila, get back down to the evacuation point! I don't want you getting hurt!" Tang barked "I'm as much as a part of this crew as you are! We are a team, if you go, we go together! I have handled as many pirates as you have through my years! And I can take on just as many as you!" Tila blurted her hands clenched. They glared at each other, Tang relaxed his posture seeing the stubbornness in her stance, back combed his sweat soaked shaggy hair with his hands and wiped his brow, he then took her hand "Damn it Tila, I love you! We've only just got married; it would be like a dagger through my soul if anything were to happen to you! I don't want you to come to harm over a few lousy pirates! Besides those evacuees will need decent aircover on their side to defend them! You defend them in the sky, I'll help defend the rig with Hake, Sculpin and the rest!" Tang ordered. There was a sudden heavy shudder almost making them loose balance, "b.b..buu" "Go!" Tang bellowed, Tila nodded with tears in her eyes she turned and ran the other way, everything in him breaking as he saw her run off from the way they came.

Holding back the tears he carried on, moments passed, he finally made it to the defence deck. The loud, heavy rattles of machine guns and thuds from flack cannon immersed him as he opened the final hatchway. Tang spotted Hake taking cover behind a large angled steel beam, he was a heavy-set man ducking in and out of the cover firing a machine gun up at the pirates. Tang dodged and ducked as pirate aircraft strafed overhead guns blazing.

Tang finally got to Hake "which faction?" Tang asked panting "The Devonian" Hake exclaimed, Tang went sheet white "How? In this sector? They're far northern" Tang muttered "We don't know but all we can do now is fight as hard as we can, where's Tila?" Hake said concerned

"I sent her down to cover the evacuees" Tang replied "Good, they'll need her air cover" Hake turned grinning, the guns suddenly fell silent, Then Hakes face turned to utter horror, Tang turned to see another flying rig heading straight into the rig they were standing, everyone stood in sheer terror.

"They are Trojan Rigging us..." Hake murmured "Everybody brace!" Tang bellowed as men dived to the floor, the rig slammed into the side, spent shells rolled manically around as the rig shook violently like an earthquake, balls of fire shot up and over the side of the deck burning and injuring some of the crew, long moments passed as the shaking eventually subsided, everything was a blur as a thick columns of poisonous smoke poured over the side from the lower decks beneath. Coughing and spluttering a dumpy silhouette of a man came floundering out of the smoke, "Tang! Tang! Where are ya' son?!" The smoke cleared to reveal an oil and soot covered Sculpin, Tang slowly got to this feet, suddenly Sculpin slowly staggered out from the hatch door from were Tang was just a moment ago, "Tang! It's not good, they've rammed the evacuation point, hundreds will be injured we need to get down there before the pirates start boarding!" Sculpin exclaimed; he then gasped "Tila! I ran past her on the way, and she said something about going down there to give cover a few moments before they rammed!" as realisation struck them all, "Every man to the evacuation point! Defend this rig!" Hake ordered the men "We'll need those fifties!" Tang ordered; men wrenched the fifty Cal heavy machine guns out from their mounts along with ammo.