#wss366

Return to the FATE GEAR

Chapter 10: You say Mulligatawny; I say MullagaGEARy.

#FanFiction #OthersidePicnic #FateGear

Further talk was forestalled by noise from the mess. Bang! “We want grub!” Bang! “We want grub!”Bang! “We want grub.” Bang!

The three hurried into the mess. Seeing them Mina held up her hands. “Mates, we be going into a fine scuffle. The very heavens be our goal. We are on the #edge of a great revolution. Down with capital, down with landlords, power to the people. The Golden throne … and as someone said, ‘My name is Inigo Montoya. You Killed my Father. Prepare to die.’”

(“Get on with it; the vittles be getting cold.”) They all hear Fate Gear’s voice, edged with irritation, in their heads.

Bang! Bang! Went the crew.

“You’re not a eunuch,” Mina muttered. Then in a brighter voice, “Half ration of grog today. I want you bright and sharp as an edged cutlass.”

Bang! “Hiss!”

“But double rations for all survivors.”

Bang! “Yer the eunuch, cap!”

“What’s that delightful smell?” Mina asked as the cook and her mates began serving.

“Mulligan stew,” Beni said.

(“This be a pirate ship, not a B Western roundup!”)

“It’s special for steampunk pirates; it's MullagaGEARy,” Beni said with a straight face. [Note 1]

Bang! “Hiss!” Bang! “Boo.”

Note 1: Sorawo groaned, “Mulligatawny.” [Note 1]
Echoed by Toriko, “MullagaGEARy.” [Note 2]

Note 1 of Note 1: Mulligatawny: A spicy soup of Tamil ‘South Indian’ origin commonly including chicken, mutton, and lentils—nothing like Mulligan stew. [Note 1]
Note 2 of Note 1: MulligaGEARy: Ingredients unknown but savory and sure to delight the steampunker in your life. Not to be confused with MulliGEARy, a clear soup. But your steampunker won’t mind. They’ll just be happy that you finally cooked something rather than ordering takeout.

Note 1 of Note 1 of Note 1: Mulligan stew: A thick hobo stew with whatever ingredients are at hand. B Westerns often featured Mulligan stew as a special dish served from the chuck wagon. Not to be confused with Stone Soup, a European variation of the same theme.

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#wss366 #MastoPrompt

Return to the FATE GEAR

Chapter 9: Hoist yer spoons

#FanFiction #OthersidePicnic #FateGear

Captian Mina paced the Fate Gear’s deck, which always #sloped so Mina was going uphill. Sorawo could imagine the ship silently chuckling to itself. Periodically the captain checked a large brass compass #finished to the umpteenth degree of shine, huge altimeter (shiny), and massive steam-powered sextant (blazing brilliantly).

Finally finished pacing, satisfied they were on course, she turned to her navigator. “Tell the lasses that grubs up.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Yuri said while her fingers flew over the keyboard.

(“Hoist yer spoons, lassie. Benimori got vittles for you in the mess,”) Fate Gear announced. A shrill train whistle screamed, signaling the same. “Get yer vittles on!”

Nana took over command as the captain walked toward the mess.

Nana’s first act was to turn on the Otherside pair lounging at the railing, mops motionless. “And you two bilge rats, wash yer hands and help Benimori serve. Look smart or you’ll feel a kiss of the Bosun’s cat.”

Toriko and Sorawo hurriedly complied and dashed off to help Benimori.

“Take these,” Beni said, handing enormous pots of warm, rich-smelling stew. “If you spill any of it, the ship will have your carcass for dinner.” Beni grinned as she waved a huge spoon.

“That’s not very pirate,” Toriko observed.

Beni lost her smile. “Let’s see you do better.”

“Slop any of this swell, I’ll be keelhauling a pair of deck rats before you can say ‘drunken sailor,’” Toriko supplied.

Beni whistled in appreciation while Sorawo rolled her eyes.

“These two deck rats better be getting this swell to the mates or the cap be slitting our sails,” Sorawo joined in.

The other two’s mouths dropped, and they stared at Sorawo. For a moment, it looked like Toriko would drop the pot she held, and Beni’s spoon wavered in the air.

Toriko was the first to recover. “Now ye be talking like a pirate, matey.”

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#wss366 & #MastoPrompt 06/27

Return to the FATE GEAR

Chapter Seven: Band on the Run

#FanFiction #OthersidePicnic #FateGear

The Fate Gear surged forward as the crew #hit their riffs and licks, producing thundering music that assailed the sky. The anti-grav generators surged in time to Haruka’s drums. With every drum hit, it soared higher and higher.

Sorawo and Toriko began hearing heavenly music above them. A chiming of the celestial spheres and crystal stars surrounded them, bathing them in soft, melodic music.

“Is that Muzak?” Sorawo asked.

(“What would you expect of the heavenly host?”) they heard Fate Gear say. (“Bland, inoffensive, conservative; don’t make waves; don’t talk on the elevator—buy so the wheels of the economy never stop grinding—music.”)

Yuri’s fingers flew over her keyboard, and an announcement boomed from the bass amplifiers. “Alert. Alert. Incoming…”

The rest of the words were drowned as ‘the rain exploded with a mighty crash.’

The masts creaked, and the ship bucked under the onslaught of wind. Fate Gear’s engines whined at an inhuman pitch.

With Yuri’s fingers flying across the keyboard, new announcements boomed out. Even over the roar of the wind, the bass orders rang out, “Reef the sail. All hands to their stations.” The rigging screamed in the wind, and the sails groaned under the strain, their seams ready to rip. As the sailors took in the reefs, the groaning receded, leaving only the singing of the rigging.

Mina stopped playing and said, ‘But the band played on.’

“They just hit us with their best shot,” Mina said, smiling just before the ship surged forward, finally catching the solar wind as they breached the stratosphere, sending crystal shards flying as the spheres of the heavens cracked and buckled.

“‘And the first one,’” Toriko said, pointed to herself. “‘Said to the second one there,’” and pointed to Sorawo. “‘I hope you’re having fun.’”

Sorawo groaned. How could Toriko be having so much fun at a time like this? This was serious.

Toriko continued singing, accompanied by the Heavenly Host:

‘Band on the run’
‘Band on the run’

“Must you?” Sorawo said. “And anyway, how do you know the words?”

“It was a hit song,” Toriko said.

“And garbage,” Mina said. “#Vending machine bubblegum pop.”

“Please stop,” Sorawo added.

“‘And the jailer man.’” Toriko pointed at Sorawo. “‘And Sailor Sam,’” she pointed at Mina.

“Stop!” Sorawo and Captain Mina said together.

Barely heard, Mina added, “‘Before we fall into the sun.’”

Band on the Run by #PaulMcCartney and the #Wings (All opinions are the characters and may not reflect the views of the author.)

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#UraPi #Steampunk #Pirates #UraPiFanFic #Metal #JMetal #Satire #PoliticalSatire #ReturnToTheFateGear #NMRTTFG

@yon @Kingu