Redemption

Artist's Impression (Old Version)

This vehicle shared absolutely no similarities with the ship it was stationed on, its paint a shiny black and only a small section of its body accessible by man with large blades that stuck out from the top and tail of it, almost reminiscent of a plane propeller if it was nearly five times the size and had twice as many props.

The platform thudded against the deck and I stumbled off of it and onto the metal floor below nearly falling to my knees.

I soon recovered and fully examined the vehicle now that I was in a more safe and stable position, its structure like that I've never seen before and I noticed that some of the men were tying ropes around certain parts of it, stretching around and under the body and tying the large prop in place.

Swallowing my reserves I walked over to one of them and started making conversation.

"E-Excuse me?"

"Hmm, yes." One of them replied and turned around to face me, his face obscured by a gas mask, "What is it? You need something."

"I was just wondering what this weird structure might have been."

He chuckled a bit, "Well, you've got me. I don't have a single clue, the closest I can figure is that this is a more advanced version of one of those vertical takeoff and landing vehicles that the military was working on before the war."

"Okay then... Well, then what are you planning to do with it?"

"I don't know, I was only ordered that we were to remove this thing from the deck so that it might be looked into by more professional types, so we're trying to secure it in place before moving it."

"Ah, I see. Thank you then er... one more thing."

"What's that?"

"I'm one of the painters hired and since I'm going around the ship examining it, I was wondering if there was anything I should look out for or try to avoid."

"Well, if your going to be looking around I should inform you that nobody is allowed inside the ship at all times."

"Really?"

"Yeah, so unless you get a gas mask I would suggest avoiding going through any doors you happen to find open."

"Anything else?"

"I would try to avoid the upper structure, flooring looked a bit more unstable up there and I wouldn't want you hurting yourself."

"Alright then. Thank you for your time."

"Don't mention it." He said before turning back around and resuming his work, leaving me to wander around for a bit and explore.

There was nothing much interesting or set far apart from the rest of the ship, the anti-aircraft guns gave me some ideas and the area around the wheel house spurred some on as well but eventually though, the time came to leave and return to the office to start work.

I took one last visual image of a certainly expired and rusted shut fire extinguisher before returning to the railing overlooking the bow, leaning out over it and examining the scene below.

The vehicle was finally secured and being lifted from the deck and as I watched it swing carefully in the air, an idea came to mind regarding said vehicle, an idea I would very much like to put into effect and most certainly need permission on.

Finally, I took in a few deep breathes of air before walking back and continuing down the stairwell, the workers on the deck stopping their observation of the vehicle to make sure it didn't slam into anything before moving onto their next task.

Removing the clamps for the cargo hatch and unloading whatever remained inside.