It took three days to come back to the Iron Shore. Another two were used to arrange a drydock for Percy, find a new ship for Celia and go once again over the plans of raiding the Plunderers' base. All that time spent far from action hung heavily on Celia. She hated being passive and waiting for things to happen, but sometimes there was no helping that. On the bright side, her ankle felt much better now, and as the time to strike finally came, she was ready.

Their new ship was anchored at the foot of the massif hiding the Plunderers' hideout. Celia steered them away from the complex's main entrance and the Chief's office. They had to arrive unseen if their little ploy were to work. The outcrop of the mountain made a little natural bay hidden from view. A perfect place to disembark. Although, they would have to traverse the rocky slope to reach Chief's balcony on the other side of the ridge.

"Are we sure this is the best way in?" Abner asked, looking up the steep rocky mountainside and absentmindedly rolling his freshly oiled moustache. The setting sun's light made a dull grey surface gleam like silver.

"Yes," Celia confirmed, lacing her high boots. "If we want to surprise Chief, we must get through the balcony."

"Can't we, I don't know, wait for all those governor's goons to move in and bust him?"

Celia scoffed. "Yeah, sure. If we go in with the soldiers, we will have to go through the complex full of Chief's retainers making active opposition. There is no way he'll still be in his office when we finally get there. We must be sneaky if we want to catch him, and that's our main goal here."

Abner uttered a long, suffering sigh. "Fine. I knew all that. It's just...." He shuffled on his feet, and heavy boots with toes adorned with metal spikes scraped the deck. "Those shoes are mighty uncomfortable. And the gloves are heavy!"

Lyra laughed and bumped her fist on the man's shoulder. "Gee, save it. We all know that you are a horrible climber. Just admit you're afraid of falling."

"I am not a terrible climber!" Abner huffed angrily, his face turning pink. "I have you know that I was once leading an expedition to explore the upper levels of the mines! That required a lot of climbing."

"Right. And as I recall, that mission was a spectacular failure since none of your folks could reach the highest level." Lyra grinned. "It was Celia who got there first three days later."

"That's... unimportant detail..."

"Enough bickering," Celia interrupted, looking at her pocket watch. "We have half an hour before the admiral's forces start to storm the main entrance. We must scale that cliff to get to the balcony and apprehend Chief. He will no doubt resist, but remember, he's worth more alive than dead, so aim your shots for non-vital parts."

Abner laughed nervously. "You say it as if it would be that easy." He looked around at his companions. "Am I the only one having a bad feeling about it? It's Chief we're talking about here. One of the most powerful crime lords in Iron Shore. I don't think he will let us march there and arrest him."

Zed shrugged. "He's only human. He tries something, and we shoot. It's simple."

"I wish I had your confidence, buddy."

"Zed is right, Abner." Celia nodded to the big man. "Chief is old. Have you ever seen him leaving his office? His power comes from all the people he has in his clutches. Eliminate them, and he's just an old prick. Now, enough talking. Gear up, and let's go."

Without further discussion, the crew put on harnesses, heavy gloves with pointy claws attached to fingers, extra rope lengths and hook guns. All of them were experienced in using climbing gear. With the Plunderers' base in the rocky mountain and all the raised city platforms, climbing was as natural for them as walking. However, some of them were more clumsy than others. Celia gave Abner a side glance. He was securing the straps of his gloves, but his brows were frowned and face pale.

"Everyone ready? Where is Sir Prancer?"

"Sir Prancer ready!" Blue and red blur dropped from the mast to Celia's shoulder. "Let's get crackin'!"

"Great. Octavius?"

A short man ran up to her from his place at the helm. "Yes, Captain?"

"Keep my new hat safe," she said, throwing it at him. It was a brand new headdress, all nice smelling leather with a fancy crimson feather. It would be a shame to lose it in all the upcoming commotion. "Stay docked here, out of sight, unless I send Sir Prancer with further instructions."

"Aye aye, Captain! May Lady Luck favour you today."

Celia nodded to Octavious and walked to the starboard railing, gesturing for others to follow.

"Let's get crackin'!" Sir Prancer screeched again, shuffling excitedly on Celia's shoulder.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I need you to be quiet now, Sir Prancer."

"Arrrrgh! Quiet like a dead man!" the bird confirmed, bobbing his head up and down.

Celia picked up her hook gun and hopped on the railing. When the others followed suit, she fired the hookgun toward the rocky mountainside. Once it locked securely, Celia jumped, sailing on the rope over raging waves and hit feet first at the hard rocks. She searched for a stable handhold and planted her feet securely, digging the spikes into the stone.

Once her position was secure, she raised her gun again to release to hook and roll the rope back to the weapon. Then, she leaned back as far as her one-hand hold allowed her and fired a hook again. This time up and slightly to the right so she could move towards her destination. After securing the rope to the harness to work as a lifeline, she checked on her companions.

Zed and Lyra were finishing securing their ropes, barely a few feet away from her, while Abner landed further down the slope. He was never good at using hook guns.

"You all right there?" she called, trying to outshout the wind blowing wildly at them.

"Yep, all good!" came the reply, though his voice was strained.

"Let's move then."

They started slowly climbing sideways through the outcrop. Celia's body was taut, all muscles tensed while she kept her position straight and plastered to the wall to ensure her arms and shoulders wouldn't tire before they reached the balcony. It was a challenging and gruelling task, but Celia couldn't help but feel ecstatic. After being stranded on a tugged ship for almost a week, she desperately needed action. Now, hanging on the wall far above the sea, with the wind messing her hair and the droplets of water splashing at her back, she felt alive and ready to take on the whole world again.

When she found a little rocky shelf wide enough to plant her feet safely, she paused to let her arms rest for a moment while grabbing her hookgun to readjust the lifeline again. She looked back to check at her companions. They seemed to be doing fine, even Abner, though his face was all red from the effort. Not wanting to waste any more time, Celia moved on and left the convenient spot for her friends to rest. Sir Prancer was flying up and down the wall, circling them but keeping his beak shut as she asked.

It took a further quarter of an hour to cross the outcrop and finally reach the opening of Chief's balcony. Celia grabbed the railing and planted her feet firmly on the terrace. Luckily, it was empty. Then again, Chief barely kept any guards here. The place was high up the steep slope and was relatively inaccessible, and he'd rather use his people to make more money than stand around and admire the sights.

Celia waited for her crew to reach her and listened for any sounds that could give her information about what they could find in the office. Besides the howling wind and splash of waves below, the only sound reaching her ears was a stable clucking of various clocks and other gadgets from Chief's collection. No voices, no footsteps.

Her gut clenched. It was too silent. Even if Chief was alone in the office, he was bound to make some noise─a creak of a chair, rustle of paper, click of a pen. Maybe the wind was too strong, drowning all other noises, she tried to reason with herself.

Or maybe it's a trap, insisted another voice in her head, a harsh female voice from a long time ago.

Once the rest of the crew joined her, they silently dropped to the balcony and exchanged the hook guns for more deadly weapons. Celia adjusted her grip on her revolvers, and with a curt nod, she jumped through the wide open door.

The place was indeed eerily quiet. The gadgets were still clicking and clacking, seemingly unperturbed by a heavy and tense atmosphere. A quick look around confirmed there were no guards in the office. Only the oversized leather chair belonging to Chief was occupied. He had his back to them, only the top hat sticking over the back of the chair.

Celia waited a few seconds for a reaction, but she narrowed her eyes when none came. She knew something was wrong but needed to learn what it was. She signalled her companions to stay and crept closer to the desk, planting her feet steady and light, not uttering any unnecessary sound.

When she reached the chair, holding her breath and keeping her revolvers ready, she gave it a little kick to swivel it slowly to face them. The chair moved with an ear-splitting metal scream, making Celia jump back. A low rumble indicated that some mechanism had just come back to life.

Chief was not in his chair. In his place sat a creature made of odd pieces of metal, with a vaguely human shape, with Chief's hat on its head. Two lightbulbs that were supposed to be eyes lit up with ominous red light reflected in highly polished hex bolts that resembled bared teeth. But the most concerning element was a giant clock lodged in the thing's chest that started ticking loudly.

"Lyra!" Celia called, taking a step back, her voice higher than she expected.

"On it!" With goggles already on her face, the redhead brushed past Celia and kneeled next to the construct. Her hands effortlessly unlatched the mechanism under the clock. "Rusts. It's a bomb. Huge one. We just set off a timer."

"I know that much!" Celia scoffed. "Can you disarm it?"

"I'm gonna try."