I'm not totally sure how to feel about the premise to this one.

On one hand, it totally focuses on NPC's- the Princess and the airship enemies.

On the other hand, I felt it was important to spend a little time setting personalities up for both sides so the mission finale would have more meaning.

It's a flashback piece, so in the end, I ended up letting it stand as the Finale Part II on its own. I got help from Cat, Fumblies and Konall at one point or another, which definitely helped the quality of things.

I like how each of the six princess has her own inspiration(s) and personality.

The events here are basically set up to explain why the airship didn't simply fly overseas.

By Dash and Konall; assisted by Catrina; slight language abuse

Weeks earlier; just after the initial kidnapping

 
Not long after their initial kidnapping, the princesses had just started to recover, having been rendered unconscious by an oneirogenic general anesthetic. Or sleeping gas if you prefer. The half-ogre princess of the fairywood lands was the first to recover, aided by more powerful lungs than any of the other princesses. Normally, that would have meant she'd breathed more of the gas in to balance it out, but she decided to be smart and hold her breath once she realized something was wrong.

Shaking her head free, the green skinned beauty shook her head free, trying to get herself balanced. The other princesses were still out of it. Some more than others. Zeala and Princess Ri'kona (better known during her brief time in the Kingdom of KOL simply as Riko) looked to be the closest to regaining consciousness so far. The ogre princess moved to try to revive Princess Ri'kona first.

"Uhh," princess Ri'kona responded, still out of it. "One more lap around the underwater temple and I'll be in, mother."

"Hm, guess she won't be the first up." The ogre princess shrugged and moved onto the nearest princess. "Princess Zeala, up and at 'em."

Zeala just shook as if terrified. "Noo.. no!" She muttered, half asleep. "Hide the power gauntlet somewhere safe... the rock and wood temple."

The ogre princess shook her head, knowing full well the weight of some secrets upon the Crown, and moved on to the third princess. She hadn't had time to learn her name and was a little startled as the princess of the Joyous Woods reached for her, murmuring in her sleep. "Again, my stud? mmm.. Allright, give it to me like last time..."

She backed away from that dream quick, fogretting she had ever heard any of it and muttering "She meant dinner.. if anyone asks, she was talking about dinner."

She turned to an older looking princess who was just starting to stir. Ah, yes. The one who helps rule over the unified Kingdom of Paragon, who's daughter was nearly as old as some of the younger princesses they travelled with. With a start, the princess of the unified Kingdom of Paragon sat up. "Wha? Oh.." She ignored the putrid smell of rotten wood as the memories of the earlier attack came flooding back to her. A well organized, expertly executed attack had rocked the princesses, taking their many guards and few allies off guard. Maybe they could return the favor.

"Are you alright?" the ogre princess asked.

"Yes, but there was this horrid pea underneath my mattress. I'm surprised I was able to get a wink of sleep." v "Mattress?" The ogre princess looked around. "Am I missing something?"

"Nevermind, the story was probably before your time," the princess of Paragon said, casting her eyes upwards. "Something my grandmother told me before bedtime. But enough of that.. we have a problem."

The ogre princess's eyes turned upwards to see puffs of rancid green air coming out of one of the vents. "More sleeping gas?"

"We need to keep it dissipated," Paragon Kingdom's princess said, still groggy from the initial dose. The ogre princess sucked a lungful of air and blew it out hard, trying to dissipate the gas. She did that twice more before letting out a cough.

"That's all I got," the ogre princess said. "Let's get the others up." The ogre princess held her nose, then let out a last burst of air through her earstalks, letting out a sound not unlike the recently invented bullfrog horn.

Princess Zeala opened her eyes half way, frowning. "Was that necessary?"

"It worked, didn't it?" the ogre princess asked.

Delightee woke up, taking her hand out of Zeala's dress pocket and showing a quick flash of gold among her fingers before slipping the stolen goods into her modest cleavage. "I just had the strangest dream."

Zeala turned, noticing something'd happened, but not sure what. No time for that now.. "Whatever the nightmare was, reality's worse. Wake the others."

"Who put you in charge?" the ogre princess asked, offput.

Delightee rolled over, "I say we go back to sleep."

The one from the Joyous Woods yawned, coming to herself. "Well, if we're having a sleepover, we need some studs. Anyone bring a boy or twelve?"

"Oh, right and I was thinking we escape and set the bastards who kidnapped us on fire," the ogre princess said sarcastically. "Obviously having a sleepover is more important. Silly me."

"Why would you want to escape a sleepover?" a drowsy Delightee asked.

"Good point!" The Joyous Woods princess sat up. "If we're doing a sleepover, we need a game of strip truth or dare!"

Zeala ignored the silliness. "If I had to guess, the first route to escape would be blocking those damned air vents. Hero, why don't you make yourself useful and.. Oh. Right. I left him in the Temple of Clock world."

Delightee held out the Joyous Wood princess's dress. "Here, I found some cloth you can use."

"Oh yeah, me too!" The Joyous Woods princess, stripped to her undergarments, said as she tugged Delightee's own dress off. "Let's see the goods!"

"I'll pass," said Delightee too slowly. The front of her dress popped down and out came a handful of gold coins, two gems, a wad of cash, and a cup of cocoa.

"You're back to your thieving ways?!" Ri'kona said, enraged. "Shameful!"

"No, people just like me so much they give me stuff... without thinking... I have an alibi."

"Let's see what else she has!" the Joyous Woods princess said, going for the rest of Delightee's outfit. "I'm calling it now; stolen animals."

"Those gerbils were unjustly kidnapped in the first place. I merely freed them, and I resent that accusation, Joy."

Joy, the Joyous Woods princess, backed off for a second. "No one else is stripping. We better keep going so we have enough.."

"We could just use something else to stuff the vents up," suggested the Paragon princess, pointing to a stray pile of rags in the corner.

"Too much... stuffing," the ogre princess said. "I say we just burst through the doors."

"Save that idea for plan C, Liona," the Paragon Princess suggested.

"So who's in charge, Zeala or Katalia?" Joy asked, satisfied with her efforts to even the state of undress between herself and Delightee. Delightee just let out a humph of air and gave Joy a light kick.

"Does it matter right now?" Zeala asked. "I could try to marshal a spell to disable the docs."

"Or we could do the easy thing and use our clothes," Joy suggested with just a bit too much conviction. "Seriously, we're all princesses; what's there to be ashamed of?"

"What would you know about shame?" Zeala asked in her most judgmental voice.

"What does that mean?!" Joy asked, offended.

"I think you know what it means," Zeala answered.

"Enough fighting!" commanded the princess of Paragon, Katalia.

"She's right." Zeala searched for and found a magic bracelet hidden among her clothes. "They didn't do a very good job of searching us. Not that I'm complaining."

"I am," said Joy. "But all things considered, I can live with it."

"Get dressed, ladies," Katalia suggested. Ordered. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

Delightee did so immediately. Joy did so only after a dejected sigh and an "Awwwww."

"We could be fighting an airship of enemies," Katalia pointed out.

"What if there's more than one airship to fight?" Joy added, worriedly as she helped Ri'kona, Delightee and Liona shove the rags and anything they could find into the air vents to block possible additional gas.

"We can take that possibility if it comes up," answered Ri'kona. "The best strategy would be to take this one step at a time, rather than worrying about what impossible odds we might or might not face."

"Valid point," responded Zeala. "Take what you can for a weapon and prepare any magic you have."

Ri'kona slipped a small carving knife from somewhere on her royal outfit. The half ogre princess Liona grabbed a mop left in the corner, while Joy grabbed a length of thick rope. The others looked around, with Zeala handing Katalia a small golden plate. "It isn't much, but it should be thick enough to offer you a little defense. My magics should serve me well, now that the gas has been dissipated."

"So how do we get out?" Delightee asked.

"Here's an idea," said Liona, bracing herself for impact. Before the others could warn her against the rash action, she rushed at the door, throwing her full half ogre weight into it as she drove her shoulder into the door.

It had no effect. Liona bounced off the door and crashed to the ground, holding her shoulder. Zeala and Ri'kona moved to help her up.

"Ouch," princess Liona said, holding her shoulder. "So much for that idea."

"I could tell it was reinforced through my magics," Zeala said.

"Why didn't you say something then?" Liona asked as she stood up.

Zeala shrugged. "You took off much too quickly for me to warn you."

"Good point," Liona admitted. "What now?"

A big burly guard, armed to the teeth, burst through the door, ready for a fight. "Alright, what's with the noise and banging?!"

"I guess that answers that," says Zeala, readying a spell then blasting it with a solid energy bolt to the chest.

 
By Dash and Fumblies

Mere moments earlier

 
High above the continent of the Kingdom of Loathing, the singular sleek airship holding the princesses prisoner transversed the skies of loathing with a singular and sinister purpose, under the control of the genetically altered psychotic ex Soldier, dressed in a dull red duster, with a pale yellow shirt and midnight blue tights worn underneath. The ship itself was capable of taking on a small army easily, lined with a small assortment of both magical and conventional weapons, in addition to poisons and toxic clouds for more insidious combat.

There was an assortment of his soldiers around him as well as those which clearly weren't regular members of the airship. Those irregulars seem to, in fact, represent multiple factions, and none of those seem the caring, heroic sort. Some looked like twisted cartoonish distortions of soldiers, dressed in bright reds and yellows and bluish blacks. A few barely seemed human at all.

The genetically altered psychotic ex Soldier moved with the confidence of a military veteran and the poise of a trained fighter. Glowing strands of blue ran through his otherwise snow white main of hair. He quickly called out a handful of names. Four individuals stepped forward and were lead to the sparse Captain's quarters in the lower decks.

Within the shadows of the Captain's quarters stood a dark cloaked figure. This figure remained nearly undetected for a minute as the four named individuals entered the room. A slight movement accompanied by the faint sound of fabric rustling finally gave up the figures presence.

The Soldier's guests clearly weren't expecting it, but with minimal reaction, they each filed around to a seat, leaving the Soldier to stand ominously, ignoring his... the captain's chair for now. He turned to the shadowy figure and paused. To the surprise of his crew, he made a gesture- an offer for the shadowy figure to take the seat. The invitation went ignored. "I've been informed the mission was a partial success."

"Yes, sir," said the one member of the four who seemed to be of the same organization as the Soldier. "We captured a total of six princesses in the chaos."

"I'd have wanted to go back for more, but the blamed army was on top of us.. And someone was pickin up our scraps." This came from a fat slob of a man, dressed in a loud short, toupee, and baggy shorts. He slammed his meaty, muscular fist on the table, obviously upset.

"We still made a fair showing of ourselves," the underling said in their defense.

"They possess such powerful warriors," another - having ratlike hair over an otherwise human body- chimed in. "T'is a good thing we were able to strike with the advantage of surprise."

"HA!" This one looks like a middle aged former college orc. "Me and my frat brothers woulda smashed any of 'em back in the day. Yup, they're tough but believe me, we'd have paddled 'em but good."

"Enough!" commanded the Soldier, turning to the mysterious figure. "What say you, Sire?"

The mysterious figure didn't speak as it moved and sat down into the captain chair. Once settled the figure turned to the frat orc and a slight unease descended upon the room as the figures eyes seemed to gleam menacingly from within the cloaked hood. After a moment the figures eyes slowly moved to settle on the Soldier. In a sibilant hiss, similar to that of leaves blowing over bones, the figure began to speak. "You all did well enough even if you managed to only kidnap six of the princesses. Your orders were to create chaos and quite frankly the results seem to be a bit lacking."

The fourth guest, a well built panda, cleared his throat. "Let's not fogret that this endeavor requires the sacrifice of all involved in order to achieve our goals. Only through chaos and confusion will we be able to gain our freedom."

"Yeah, sacrifice and chaos is great, and everything," the rat haired like one said. "Just don't fogret we entered this with our eyes on big meat and prestige. Freedom doesn't mean anything with out the currency and social standing to turn it into power."

The former college frat orc cleared his throat. "As long as our buyers are ready, then.."

The panda shook his head. "Are those annoying slavers from Aldara still included? I find them rather disagreeable. Especially the pitmasters."

"Indeed," the rat haired one responded, not sharing his distaste for them.

The mysterious figure raised a hand and then chuckled in amusement. "Well remember that you will only be paid if you manage to get the job done. You are to keep as many of the princesses as you can then start kidnapping government officials."

"What?! Are you insane?!" The ex college orc slammed his fist on the table. "That was not part of the deal!"

"Well neither was your only kidnapping six princesses either." The mysterious figure leaned forward and seemed to look in to the orc's eyes. "Remember that you were originally contracted to capture ALL the princesses."

The orc puffed a hot breath of air. "As long as my organization gets to keep the Princess of the Ninth sea, as agreed."

The rat haired one snorted in disgust. "At least you were able to capture the princess of your objective. If not for the gold involved in this, we fine hairs would hardly have a reason to be involved in this at all!"

"Gold is nothing compared to meat," the orc responded, nearly starting a fight between the two. As they did, another member of the genetically altered psychotic ex Soldier's army nervously slipped in the door to quickly deliver a message to the ex soldier. The ex Soldier nodded as his lackey vanished back through the door.

The genetically altered psychotic ex Soldier stood up, holding a hand up, commanding silence and attention. "It would seem discussion of the matter will have to be in your hands. We have.. an incident."

"You have your instructions and I would advise that you follow them or else our next meeting will be a lot less pleasant." With those hissed words the mysterious figure vanished from the throne, leaving the ex Soldier to depart the room to take care of said 'incident.'

by Dash

Only seconds ago..

 
The chaos started with the unconscious guard flying backwards out the door to the princess prisoner's chamber, courtesy of Princess Zeala's magic blast.

The other guards, predictably, were stunned. They'd not expected any resistance, just unconscious prisoners. Looking back, they should have known something was amiss from the crashing noise which drew their attention to the prisoners' chambers.

"We've got a problem!" the head guard called out, taking the lead and moving into the prison. He got half a step in when the half ogre princess Liona barreled over him charging out.

"You don't know the half of it," she said confidently, wielding the mop like a bo staff. Zeala and Katalia were the next out the door; Zeala used her magic to take down the nearest guard. Katalia looked around, assessing both the odds of escape and potential enemies and hazards that might face them. The rest of the princesses poured out behind them. It didn't take long to realize the airship was nearly as high as the clouds, and moving at a faster speed than even the fastest of horses could dare to dream of moving.

"What now?!" Delightee asked, even as she slipped behind a soldier and stole his sword.

"Ohh, you look fun," Joy said, slipping up to a guard and distracting him, her arms around his neck. Then she kneed him below the belt as Katalia dropped him with that golden serving dish of hers. "Hm.. the cute ones never last long."

The element of surprise combined with their unique and varied offense allowed the princesses to cut a swath through the guards. Zeala's magic blasts cut through the enemies, and damaged the ship as well. A row of soldiers rushed at Katalia and Joy, but Liona let out a roar and blindsided them, sending them flying into the side of the ship.

"Get to the control room!" Katalia ordered, searching for it with her eyes. "The sooner we can force the ship to land, the sooner we can get off of this cursed relic!"

"In that case," Ri'kona said after dispensing of another guard. "Head in this direction. The control facilities are most likely to be here."

The battle took them directly to a hatch leading downwards, through several guards attempting unsuccessfully to guard it.

"Here it is!" Joy said, leading the others down the hatch. It led to a handful of different rooms, but it was rather obvious which one was the control room. The "Ship navigation" gold plated plaque on the door gave it away.

Katalia and Ri'kona took the lead, with Katalia calling back for the others to "Hold them off!"

Things were going quite well at that point, but it became obvious that was about to change a split second later when they heard the commanding voice of the genetically altered psychotic ex Soldier call out, "If you can't handle this simple problem, step aside!"

"Ahh, he sounds tough," Liona pointed out. Then she smiled slightly and confidently added, "Guess we'll get a real challenge after all."

Showing no emotion, the ex Soldier advanced through the doorway, with the figures from the meeting room following. Each looked ready for a fight, except for the mysterious figure, which stayed further down the hallway, obscured in inexplicable shadow. The others spread out, with the ex Soldier holding point and advancing in the princesses. "Surrender now. There's no reason to hurt you and there's no reason for you to try to fight us. It's hopeless."

"If you haven't noticed, there's six of us and but five of you. The odds favor us, villain." Ri'kona proceeded forward, holding her carving knife in front of her. More than simply crafting seashell pottery and cutting thick underwater seaweed, it was her favored method of self defense for formal appearances due to its innocent appearance. The ex Soldier, however, moved with near inhuman speeds, closing the gap between her and Ri'kona. Unphased by a lightning fast enemy, she swung for his throat. He easily avoided the attack, slipping behind. Before she could even register his move, he flung her head first into a support column, leaving her unconscious.

Joy blinked in surprise. "Oh, we're in trouble."

"Come on, we just need to distract them while we disable the ship!" Delightee called out. Zeala fired several bolts of magic at the ex Soldier, who easily blocked, parried, and dodged every one. It was enough distraction for Delightee to slip behind him and steal his sword, but as soon as she did, the frantic looking elderly ex college orc nailed her from behind with a titanium paddle, dropping her to her knees. The rat haired punk then took her by her hair, and slammed her head into the floor three times, leaving her unconscious and bloodied.

"That one!" The ex Soldier reclaimed his sword, pointing at Katalia with his other hand. Katalia pounded away at the sensitive control panels with that golden serving tray. Joy moved to help her try to decimate the fight controls while Zeala and Liona prepared to defend them.

"Just hold 'em off a few minutes, Zeala." Liona charged and caught the ex Soldier member by surprise, lifting him off his feet and slamming him back first into the wall. Meanwhile, Zeala blasted the others with magic. Unfortunately, as soon as the ex Soldier got his bearings, he reversed Liona's grip on him and flung her into Joy, taking both out. Zeala blasted him with relentless magic attacks, forcing him into defensive mode, but allowing the ex college orc and the ex Soldier's minion to grab her by both arms and hurl her backwards into Katalia, taking the final two princesses out. The ex Soldier quickly moved to examine the fight control mechanics. There was a section of the hard casing that had buckled and nearly come off, but the wires and magic conductors underneath remained untouched.

He smiled, but it was a smile without humor or joy, lacking any emotion at all. "She's damaged the casing, but there's been no damage to..." Seeing a flash of silver, the ex Soldier quickly moved out of the way of a small thrown blade, which embedded itself into the exposed circuitry under the flight controls, causing several explosive sparks and a small fire. Almost immediately, the ship shuddered and began to lose its precocious balance high above the ground.

Ri'kona, barely able to push herself up to throw the crucial knife, smiled defiantly, but that was cut short in quick order; the ex Soldier let out a loud roar of frustration, then sent her into unconscious with a wild boot to Ri'kona's cheek...

The ship would barely right itself in time to avoid a disastrous landing. It would take some time to repair the damage from the unruly near-crash.

It was fun having Cameron (Konall/ Kadlin) helping me think of personalities for the princesses, except of course Riko, who is a former player character.

Next up, we've got something for the others who haven't had any 'face time' in the Finale, ranging from Dash and Fumblies, to Todd and Fahari. Time to wrap this one up!