The Iron Tempest roared.
Its heart the massive, pulsating sphere at the core of the ship now beat faster, glowing a fierce, electric blue. The runes carved into its surface twisted and shifted, forming symbols Alistair Von Wolfenstein didn't recognize but could feel, like icy fingers running down his spine.
The ship was alive and angry.
And Captain Varik's gunshot had been the spark that set the storm ablaze.
"Do you ever knock before crashing my parties?" Alistair said, his cutlass gleaming as he stepped between Varik and the core.
Varik smirked, his clockwork eye flickering red. "Where's the fun in that, Von Wolfenstein?"
Behind him, his crew a motley band of sky pirates draped in dark leather and brass armor spread out, weapons drawn.
The Stormrider's crew wasn't far behind.
And beside Alistair, Seraphina and Isolde stood like twin blades Seraphina's daggers glinting like fangs, Isolde's rapier a silver flash against the blue glow of the core.
The tension was thicker than the storm outside.
"Step away from the heart," Varik said, his voice smooth as oil, though his pistol remained steady. "You don't know what you're playing with."
Alistair chuckled, though his heart was a drum in his chest. "I rarely do, and yet here I am."
Seraphina's voice was a low growl. "We're not giving you the Iron Tempest, Varik."
Isolde's rapier twitched ever so slightly. "But you're welcome to bleed trying."
And then the storm broke.
The Battle Begins.
Varik fired.
Alistair ducked, the shot blasting past his head and striking the wall behind him the impact sending a crack rippling through the ancient metal.
The room exploded into violence.
Blades clashed, gunfire roared, and the hum of the Iron Tempest's core quickened, as if feeding off the bloodshed.
Alistair moved like a storm himself his cutlass spinning in wide arcs, steel kissing steel as he parried a blow from one of Varik's men. With a sharp twist, he hooked his opponent's blade and sent the man staggering then drove his knee into the pirate's gut.
Seraphina fought like a shadow quick, ruthless, deadly. She danced between two of Varik's crew, her daggers a blur. One blade sliced a man's arm, the other found his throat a single, fluid motion.
Blood spattered the ancient floor.
Isolde, ever the ice-cold predator, was a whirlwind of precision her rapier flicking out and drawing crimson lines across the chests of those who dared come close. Every move was graceful, every kill a work of art.
But it wasn't just a battle of steel.
The Iron Tempest itself was changing.
The gears along the walls spun faster, hissing steam into the air. The runes on the core's surface pulsed violently, growing brighter with every drop of blood spilled.
Alistair's heart thundered. "This ship isn't just alive it's feeding off the fight."
Varik, his coat now streaked with blood none of it his only grinned. "Then let's give her a feast."
He lunged at Alistair, their blades clashing sparks flying with each strike.
Alistair gritted his teeth. "Still bitter about that whole stealing your cargo thing?"
Varik sneered. "That and the fact you bedded my quartermaster."
Alistair smirked. "She came to my cabin, Varik. Don't take it so personally."
Their swords locked, the weight of the moment heavier than the storm outside.
And then
The core screamed.
A sound like metal being torn from its hinges echoed through the chamber. The runes along the walls flared and suddenly, the air itself seemed to twist.
Lightning not from the storm outside, but from within the ship shot from the core, arcing across the room.
A bolt struck one of Varik's men. The pirate convulsed, his body suspended in midair for a brief moment and then he was gone.
Not killed.
Gone.
Erased as though the ship had swallowed him whole.
"By the gods," Isolde whispered.
The Iron Tempest wasn't just a machine.
It was a weapon.
And it was waking up.
The Heart Beats Faster.
"Alistair!" Seraphina's voice cut through the chaos. "We have to shut it down now."
Alistair's mind raced. "How?"
Isolde's voice was steady too steady. "Blood magic forged this ship blood may be the only way to stop it."
Varik, his smile finally gone, turned his gun toward the core. "Then let's rip its heart out."
"No!" Alistair shouted.
But it was too late.
Varik fired — the bullet striking the core dead center.
The Iron Tempest howled.
The sphere shuddered the runes across its surface flaring so bright they burned white. The gears along the walls spun violently, the room tilting as though the ship itself were collapsing in on itself.
And the pulse of the core once slow and steady became a rapid, deafening beat.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
The ship was tearing itself apart.
"Back to the Stormrider now!" Alistair roared.
Seraphina grabbed his arm. "We can't just leave it what if Varik takes control?"
Alistair's jaw tightened. "If this ship explodes, no one will be taking anything."
Isolde's voice was a whip crack. "Move!"
They bolted for the exit, steel clashing behind them as Varik's crew scrambled to keep their footing amidst the chaos.
The corridor twisted the walls shifting, the floor rippling like liquid metal. The Iron Tempest was fighting back, refusing to let them go.
Alistair grabbed Seraphina's hand an instinct more than anything and pulled her through the corridor.
Isolde was close behind too close.
And then, the three of them broke free back onto the gangplank leading to the Stormrider.
Behind them, the Iron Tempest groaned its core flaring brighter and brighter until it was almost too painful to look at.
Alistair didn't stop running.
Neither did the women at his side.
And as the Stormrider lurched free from the ancient ship's grip, the Iron Tempest let out one final, deafening roar
Then fell silent.
The storm was gone.
The skies were calm.
But the battle wasn't over.
Not yet.
Alistair, his heart still thundering, turned to Seraphina and Isolde.
Their faces fierce, beautiful, deadly were lit by the soft glow of the dying core.
And somewhere behind them, Varik was still alive.
Waiting.
Watching.
The storm might have passed
But the war was far from over.