Navi and her crew were seated at a table in a tavern called The Windbag. Outside, the sign for this location featured a man in pilot's gear with a large mouth raising his glass of brew. The town’s name was Meadowsong.

“Is there a particular reason we needed to stop here?” Joseph took a look around the shady establishment. Though it was mid-morning, the place was filled with characters and shadows—many of which looked suspicious.

“Yes,” Navi replied, taking a sip of her water. “I like their sandwiches.”

“We have an urgent delivery and there’s a bonus riding on this delivery,” Jaehyun waved the waitress over. “Seems an odd time to stop for sandwiches.”

“Stranger things have happened,” was her cryptic reply as she sipped her water.

Their group attracted quite a bit of attention when Navi entered with them. There were few female pilots at this establishment and no Drathinians. Navi ignored them as she took her seat. Jaehyun could feel the curiosity of the place pique.

“There are a lot of eyes on us now,” he murmured.

The usually nervous mechanic seemed indifferent. “As long as it is only eyes, we’ll be all right.”

In one of the more shadowy nooks directly behind Navi, Jaehyun caught glimpse of a dark-haired man in a high collared jacket. His eyes were fixed upon the petite mechanic. His hand drifted toward his pistol. “Navi, there is one man in particular watching you intently. He looks like trouble.”

She did not turn to look. “It’s fine. Don’t interfere.”

“Wait, what?”

Things began to happen very quickly after that. The man rose quietly and lunged for Navi. Navi, who had been in the middle of sipping her water, stood and kicked her chair backwards at her attacker. Shouts erupted all around them, but Navi only paid attention to the man who had drawn a dagger out and leapt over the flying chair. Jethro suddenly appeared, blocking her from her attacker, wielding a broken chair leg. Mid-air, her attacker turned his leap into a dive. He slid between Jethro’s legs, timing a kick perfectly. The big man went down with a yelp.

“Master!” Joseph shouted, rushing to Navi’s side. Meanwhile Navi had used that precious second to get her wrench in hand.

“Move!” she cried, shoving Joseph to the side as the man came at her again. She spun her wrench in time to block the blade. He kicked out her legs from under her sending her sprawling on her back. She quickly rolled to avoid a downward slash towards her face.

“Navi!” Joseph shouted, grappling the man’s arms from behind.

“Joseph! Let go!” she shouted, swinging her wrench high, aiming for the man’s face.

The man used his long arms to his advantage by reaching back, grabbing the surprised boy by the neck and flinging him over his head at the mechanic. Navi dodged Joseph and spun to meet another knife attack with her wrench. Now the man flipped out a second dagger. Bracing the one blade on the wrench, she met the oncoming dagger with a matter, striking the man’s wrist. It was not hard enough to break bone, but smarted enough to make him drop the second blade with a curse.

“An opening!” Navi swung wide with the hammer, causing the man to step back. She darted forward, snagging his ankle on her wrench. He landed on his back with a grunt. She unhooked the wrench and swung towards his groin area. Her attacker rolled away giving her a precious second to brace herself for the onslaught.

The loud report of a pistol halted the brawling fighters. Navi and the man slowly turned to where Jaehyun now held the smoking gun in the direction of her attacker.

“Drop it. Now!” he ordered.

“Trigger-happy this one is,” the man said in Drathinian, lowering his knife and raising his hands. “I yield,” he said in the common tongue.

To Jaehyun’s surprise, the crowds that had moved aside once the fight began started to boo. “That weren’t no ending.” “I had my money on the little one.” “Disappointing!”

Jaehyun slowly lowered the gun in confusion. “What is happening?”

Navi blew air out noisily. “I told you NOT to interfere!” she complained. “This is a Dine ‘n Stab tavern.”

“A what now?” Jaehyun took a step back as the crowds booed louder. The bartender shook his head and wiped something off the corner of the chalkboard.

“A Dine n’ Stab! You’re allowed to fight—no guns and no excessive damage to the place. If the crowd likes your fight, you get a free meal.” She gestured to the recently disarmed man. “Now we’re stuck with a tie and no free meal!”

Jaehyun blinked. “But…I just saved your life.”

“Lamond would have to be trying a lot harder than that if he wanted to kill me,” she huffed, searching for her chair.

“You know each other then?” Jethro wheezed in pain as Joseph helped him up off the floor.

“Meet my brother, Lamond.” Navi gestured to the man, whom the others now noticed was Drathinian. The family resemblance was unmistakable. He had the same wild, curly hair and copper-toned skin as Navi. He was much taller—at least six feet with a neat mustache and mismatched eyes. One eye was the characteristic gray, the other was a brilliant emerald green. There was an air of mania in his wide grin.

“Pleasure to meet you,” he bowed, replacing his daggers to their hidden pockets. “My apologies for your injuries.” He nodded at Jethro and Joseph. “I tried to go easy on you since it seems like you are Navi’s colleagues.”

Jaehyun was still processing the concept of a fighting restaurant. The crowds had returned their tables to their places and their meals, the fight already forgotten. He looked at the two battered smiths. “Did you know about this?”

Jethro scratched the back of his head. “Well, yeah. I figured it would make things more interesting if I joined.” He patted Joseph on the shoulder. “Sorry I didn’t tell you first, Joe. Are you all right?”

“I’m a little sore, but nothing I can’t handle!” the boy grinned enthusiastically.

The pilot pinched the bridge of his nose. “So, you wanted to eat sandwiches and fight and your brother just happened to be here at this detour?” Jaehyun’s voice was strained. He was glowering at both the mechanic and her brother now, with folded arms. The smoking gun was on the table within arm’s reach.

The waitress, who had been waiting at the bar, now returned with their orders. “Will you be wanting your order at your table or will you be joining them, sir?” she asked Lamond Sitara.

“I’ll be joining them. Thank you.” He smiled affably at the group.

“Will you now?” Jaehyun scowled.

“That’s why I’m here,” Lamond raised an eyebrow at Navi. All eyes turned to her. She suddenly found her sandwich most interesting. “You DID tell them I was joining the crew, correct?”

“We hadn’t gotten to that point yet,” she muttered, not looking up at the others. She could feel their eyes boring into her.

“Let’s come back to that, shall we?” Jaehyun sat back in his chair, folding his arms. “Why did you feel the need to attack Navi? Was it only about the discounted meal?”

“It’s tradition,” Lamond shrugged. “Since we were young, we were taught to be ready for a fight. So, whenever we meet, the first person to arrive initiates the attack.” He grinned. “Currently, I am in the lead by seven.”

“Only because you are so freakishly large. You have an unfair advantage,” Navi scowled at him.

“Should have eaten more vegetables,” he shrugged, then turned back to the rest of the crew. “I also heard you were in need of a cook, so here I am.”

"Glory be!” Jethro reached over and pumped the stunned Lamond’s hand enthusiastically. “I thought we were gonna die if she kept trying to cook for us.”

“You’d live…enough,” she shrugged. This was the understatement of the year. Navi would get distracted and the simplest of dishes would be ruined in seconds. More often than not, the crew had to either fend for themselves or resort to canned goods. Jethro could make a few passable dishes, but he hated cooking. Both Jaehyun and Joseph had no clue about how a kitchen worked. Suffice it to say, the crew’s plates were rather lean.

“We actually had not discussed it," Jaehyun narrowed his eyes at Navi.

"This addition was not up for discussion unfortunately," she replied, waving his concern away, keeping her eyes fixed on her food. “I had received word from my folks that he was here, so it’s not like I could just let him sit.” She dared to peek up at the pilot, who was now preoccupied with keeping grease off his shirtfront. "Besides, we all know I'm no good at cooking and we can't go far on light vittles. The better the food, the further we can go."

"Here! Here!" the blacksmith bellowed around the edges of his massive beef sandwich. "A dame who can't cook usually doesn’t go far."

"She will if she has an airship--which I do!" With that, Navi bit savagely into her sandwich, ending that discussion.

When took the trolley back to the air docks, Navi and Lamond stood on the outside of the car, holding on.

“So, how is everyone?” Navi asked, bracing herself for a barrage.

“Mad that you left the way you did, glad that you are alive and impressed that you are still flying.” Lamond pulled a piece of jerky from his pocket and set to chewing. “They sent me to either join you or stop you.”

Navi watched the quiet streets roll by. “Are you going to stop me then?”

“When has that ever been a possibility?” Lamond grinned down at her. “Let’s give them something to really talk about at home, yeah?”

She smiled back, nestling into her thick scarf. “Yes. Let’s.”

                                      ____________________

Apart from the brief stop in Meadowsong, the True North was enroute for their next delivery. Mr. Jacobson require speed for this particular delivery of parts for a new automated enterprise. Other companies were looking to create similar designs and have their product out first. There was a feeling of relief from other members of the crew that they were not carrying volatile explosives. On the other hand, in this sprint to monopolize a market, it was likely competitors attempt to sabotage their client, so the True North stayed alert.

Even with the detour to Meadowsong, the True North was making excellent time. They found themselves soaring over into the grasslands on the Eastern border.

The smiths were in their section of the ship, completing the work on their mobile workshop. Jaehyun was on the bridge monitoring air conditions. In the engine room of the ship—a place where no one was allowed to go, Navi was also monitoring the ship.

While running diagnostics on the ship, she glanced over at the radar. The blip on the radar did not concern Navi at first; however, the speed at which it approached the True North set off alarm bells in her head. Real alarms went off indicating shots fired at them. She hit the radio. “Shots fired from behind us! Taking evasive action. Hold on!” And she took control of the ship.

The True North was a truly remarkable ship as it moved like a fish in the air. Mere adjustments to the fan—rotating similarly to fins—allowed the ship to turn more quickly than most airships and presented a narrower target.

“I’ve got this, Navi!” Jaehyun shouted. “Let go of the controls! If anything, get to the guns!”

Right! She had forgotten about defense. She ceded control to the bridge and ran from the engine room. With the ship taking evasive action, climbing to the upper levels could be troublesome. Navi grabbed the carabiner from her belt, clamping it onto the pulley system she had installed in the ship. She hit the switch. The pulley system smoothly pulled her up to the upper levels. She was glad that she had the pulley lines caged so she did not bang around and could stop herself or climb manually if she needed. She stopped at the main catwalk and made her way to a gunner’s turret. Across the hall, she could hear the door slam as Lamond raced to man the other turret.

She had just strapped herself in and wheeled the big gun to face the intruder. The airship behind them was a mountain of gun turrets and sharp lookout towers. She felt that the True North was a minnow compared to a dragon. This had to be a military-grade airship. There was a loud crackle over the radio before she could decide what to aim at.

“Unidentified airship, this is Commander Desen of his Imperial Majesty’s forces. This area is controlled by the Imperial Armada. Those were warning shots from the airship, Heaven’s Fist. It is in your best interest to comply with our wishes. Now, identify yourselves!”

The radio for the True North crackled to life. Since the military ship was broadcasting on a wide frequency, Jaehyun responded in kind so the crew could listen in. “This is Captain Park of the True North. We are a licensed carrier ship making a delivery to Valor Town. Our papers are registered and in order.”

There was a pause. “Captain Park, prepare to be boarded for inspection. Maintain your current altitude.” The radio clicked off.

Jaehyun changed the frequency and pinged the crew. “Everyone get to the main deck in three. They’ll be boarding us, and I know the Commander is trouble. Let’s not give him any reason to pick at us.”

It took a matter of minutes for the warship to raise a walkway to attach to the doorway of the True North. The commander himself and an attachment of twenty armed soldiers strode on board.

Jaehyun squared his shoulders as he waited by the open hatch for the inevitable. As the squad of soldiers marched towards their ship, he could feel his heart sink into his stomach.

The soldier wore spotless, navy uniforms. Everything about them gleamed—their buttons, their their guns, their boots and the pomade taming their locks hair. Their leader removed his peaked cap, revealing a perfectly coifed head of flaming hair. He was broad-shouldered with a classic, aristocratic face. His icy eyes scanned the group arrogantly, lingering on the two Drathinians in the back. Then his eyes flicked towards the captain of this peculiar vessel. He squinted, then his eyes widened in surprise.

“Jaehyun? Commander Jaehyun Park of the 31^st Star Brigade? Is that really you?” Though his tone sounded as though he were pleasantly surprised, his smile was that of a predator relishing the moment before a kill. “What an unexpected pleasure running into you again!”