Sebastian follows Ringo closely as they make their way back to the cargo bay. The spacing of every corridor and doorway is somewhat restricted, requiring Sebastian to occasionally hunch over and shimmy to navigate throughout. Thankfully, it’s a short trip through a hallway and down a stairway to the lower level of the ship. The Captain stays behind, waiting to see what Sebastian returns with.

The crew of the ship, The Dead Tyrants, seem to surround Sebastian the entire time. It’s overwhelming and unpleasant, but above that, it’s odd. This band of pirates is in rough shape. Everyone is worn down, sweaty and covered in dust—their skin heavily tanned and the ends of their hair faded and frayed from sun exposure. They all wear scuffed military jumpsuits with varied adjustments: sleeves rolled up, top half removed and tied to the waist. Interestingly, across the crew’s coveralls, any tears or patched holes have been mended with beautiful golden thread. The tailored repairs resemble kintsugi on first glance.

Sebastian is struggling to estimate the size of the crew. Overwhelmed by every facet of this experience, it seems like this ship is occupied by an army of pirates. To cope with the situation, he begins to keep track of the new faces that surround him. There are a few unique characteristics that stand out amongst the crowd.

There’s Ringo, Dusty, and June.

Then there is a large man with long, bushy black hair and a matching beard. He has a large scar at the left corner of his hairline. The light catches on a pair of golden earrings that swing around as he walks.

There is a younger man with a shaved head and stubbled face. He has a bandage over his nose and an expensive pair of headphones slung around his neck.

Lastly there is a woman with her hair tied in a tight bun. She wears a cloth mask over her face and a worn-down bomber jacket with a thin turtleneck underneath.

There is a jingling sound that rings across the floor and throughout the halls. The floors are littered with hundreds of brass gun shells. As if the sight has triggered a recency bias, Sebastian notices a worrying number of weapons casually carried throughout the ship. Handguns, flintlocks, and sawn-off firearms are holstered over shoulders and tucked carelessly into belts. Knives, axes, hammers and swords clink and clatter as they are haphazardly knocked into furniture, crates, and cramped metal walls of the ship. Weapons of all types are also lazily strewn about the interior of almost every room. It’s a lethal space filled with desperate people.

And he's stuck in it.

The only thing he can do now is survive long enough to make an escape.

The pirates surround and inspect the luxurious vehicle they’ve just stolen from the Mare, which sits parked next to another hovercraft. It’s rusted, battered and looks like it’s been heavily modified. The freezer unit has been unmounted from the back of the Mare tadpole. Ringo opens the larger main hatch to the freezer and leads Sebastian in.

"Oh, dearie me! Quite the selection ye brought with ye, lune!" Ringo says with a big grin on his face as he spins around to inspect the selection. "Inventory’s on the tadpippy computer, I assume?"

"It should be, yes." Sebastian nods.

"So, what’ll it be, chef?" Ringo crosses his arms as he adjusts himself to the frigid environment.

"Well…" Sebastian says as he looks around the room. There’s a lot more here than he realized. Giga-crustacean, grassland colossi, dragoon and sea monster meats line the walls of the freezer.

Losing this shipment is really going to bite Polard in the ass.

Sebastian smiles.

Ringo notices Sebastian’s grin.

"Not even ye can’t help but appreciate the beauty of it, eh? I haven’t seen a feast like this in a dog’s age. I’d reckon just about anything in this freezer would satisfy the crew at this point." Ringo says reassuringly.

Though the crew’s ravenous stares have made him uncomfortable, Sebastian is solely concerned with the Captain’s request. A red to pair with a red. Red meat and red wine. Probably. Most likely. He’s still not sure. But Sebastian is at a severe disadvantage here. That makeshift kitchen is going to be an issue, but he isn’t sure how much of one it’ll be yet. But above that, everything in here is frozen solid. Cooking this meat evenly from frozen is going to be difficult. However, Sebastian has been thinking about a solution over the course of the walk downstairs.

"Do you have an oven?" he asks.

"Hmm. Technically… if you’re looking to thaw this lot, then we have a couple options. We could also just take it down to the engine room." Ringo answers.

"The engine room?"

"Yep. Stick ‘em right into the core." Ringo laughs as if he just made a joke.

"…oh." It goes over Sebastian’s head.

"Well take your pick, lune. Crew’s waiting. Captain’s waiting. You wouldn’t want to shoot your chances away on hesitation, would ye?" Ringo asks.

This has been bugging Sebastian since he got here. He’s not sure why Ringo is vouching for him so much. Sebastian surely hasn’t done anything to warrant the special treatment, and he can’t imagine that Ringo is pure of heart by any means. However, Sebastian does remember seeing Ringo and Dusty speak in private for a moment. He’s likely doing all of this for her. In this moment, Sebastian comes to an epiphany. His neck isn’t the only one on the line here. So, there’s no room for risk. If he’s going to make an impression that will save both his and Dusty’s lives, then he must pick a strong opener.

"I’ll take the wagyu blocks from the top shelf." Sebastian decides.

There is a unanimous gasp from the crowd outside the freezer.

"Top shelf, eh?" Ringo sounds very impressed.

This was… unintentional. Sebastian literally meant from the top shelf of the freezer.

But, this is a very good start.

"Yes… Top shelf skyray wagyu." Sebastian reiterates with a splash of confidence.

The gasps outside the door become immensely louder.

"Are you being serious? I don’t think a soul aboard this ship has had a taste of flying manta before!" Ringo smiles. He then jaunts out of the freezer and yells out to the crowd. "It’s top shelf for us tonight, Tyrants! flying manta nonetheless!"

There are cheers and hurrahs all throughout the cargo bay. Dusty watches from afar. She exhales and loosens the grip of her nervous fists, relieving her palms from her nails. Ringo barks orders and crewmen unload the wagyu from the fridge.

Skyrays are enormous creatures that graze Earth’s atmospheric rivers. They resemble the stingrays and manta rays that still roam the oceans of Earth, albeit at a larger post-impact scale. They’re resilient creatures, an evolutionary trait necessary to survive the harsh environments of the sky. So naturally, the fat content within their muscle structure is high. Their rich meat is highly marbled and delectable. It's a common staple amongst the Lunar colonies. Since the Lunar military rules the sky, sourcing skyray meat is easy work. So, it makes sense that none of these pirates have ever had it before.

Again, unintentionally, Sebastian has made the correct choice.