Fold; New Hand

The tiefling gave the old man credit where credit was due. The crystal key was hidden exceptionally well. It wasn't on his person, no, and that distraction cost the rogue weeks of getting chummy with a band of mercenaries playing up their role in another nobleman's war. Dante wasn't having any of it, but he learned at a young age a valuable truth: Never let them see your emotions. It became a mask he couldn't take off, smiling as he rummaged through the captain's quarters of the ship.
'It would the last place a smart person would look,' Dante told himself as he looked for a false bottom in a dresser by tapping on it gently. 'And Gargax thinks that I think I am smart. So I have to think like...' as his eyes wander to the painting of a dwarf on the wall. It is over the top, a member of the Vengryn family line, his son, and his son's son. An exceptionally formal affair, as is the Duodecim custom. 'A key behind a painting?' Dante asked himself, approaching and tilting his head gently to the side. His hair wisped away in a state of smoke, a trait he inherited from the infernal side of his family tree, as it has always led him closer to matters of intrigue.
The young tiefling swashbuckler, captain of the airship Vengryn II, stared at the painting. Ungloved hands run around the picture frame. "Got ya," he says out loud, finding the crystal that was taken from him by the Targarius military. The military seized the airship at the behest of the airship's true owners, as so few exist in Arhor'ha. Dante rightfully stole it to begin with and now he intents to steal it back.
"Dante?" says the voice of the old soldier that has, so far, delayed Dante's departure. He pushes the door to the captain's quarter open in time for the tiefling to be hastily pouring himself a fine brandy.
"You do not have the voice of an enchanting young lady," Dante says without turning around, "and those are the rules. Captain's quarter: Captains and attractive young ladies only." He points to a sign, written in dwarvish, "Says so right there." It didn't. It said 'Victory favors the Bold'. Loose interpretation at best.
Gargax didn't meet Dante's criteria. He was an old man, fit, but no color remains in his wiry hair or beard. Wrinkles on his face show a map of the campaigns he has survived. He also knew Dwarven and read the sign before addressing the young man playing at a captain. "Nervous about tomorrow?" he asks, ignoring the blatant dodge to address the reality of the situation they are in.
Dante swings around, a drink in each hand. The cherry infused liquid is handed over to the old soldier with a dwarven goblet. "Me? Nah, my job is easy. Fly around. Drop people off. Glad to be of service," the silver tongued devil says. The last bit was too much.
The soldier takes the drink and sniffs it. It wouldn't be the first time that something was added to his drink for ill gain.
"I didn't poison it!" Dante retorts, slowly leaning in and raising his eyebrows, "or did I?"
"You didn't," Gargax deadpans. He remembers that Dante isn't the type.
"You're right, I didn't," Dante says, leaning back, "Or did..."
Gargax drinks it all in one gulp.
"... I. Well if I did, you'd be asleep for tomorrow," Dante observes, taking a sip of his own drink. "And unlike my charming, talented self, you need to go run into some fight and get yourself killed by," he pauses. What were they fighting again? "By bees?"
Gargax shakes his head, placing the goblet on a table, noticing the glint of the key from one of Dante's pockets. The attempt to conceal is last minute left flaws in the execution. "Wasps. Nasty ones, but that's not the main objective," the man says as he stares deep into Dante's faintly glowing red eyes that are set on a face painted in infernal marks.
"Uh huh," Dante says as he looks out a nearby window where dozens of lifelong warriors are amassed for the assault. "Of course, you have to give me the key to fly this thing first or the ship will be stuck on the ground. Puts all those plans in the shitter."
There is a nod from the steeled man, "And I will," he continues, keeping up the ruse that he knows Dante has the key now, "you are essential to this mission. No one else knows how to pilot this thing." Gargax reaches out to put a hand on Dante's shoulder.
Dante smiles like a man who is, truly, inspired. Behind that immovable mask of friendliness he replies, "Best in Arhor'ha," he turns his smile to a grin that has worked on the other seasoned fighters. All someone needs is to be reassured that things are OK and that Dante is on their side. By the time they realize they were wrong, it is too late. You just need an exit plan and Dante has an excellent one. One that flies.
There is a pat on Dante's shoulder as the kindly old man continues on, "And we need the best right now, Dante. Its not about killing or dying. Its about lives." Gargax heads out to the window to look at those out there, preparing in their own ways for the upcoming battle. Some recheck their gear. Others pray. One gambles in a card game while drinking. "We can't fail," he says, steadfast.
"Heard that one," the red eyed tiefling says as he puts his hands behind the back of his head. Stretching out he takes long strides around the room. "And you think I won't fly away once I drop your suicide squad off?" he asks, smirking now, tipping his hand to the man to gauge his reaction.
Looking back over his shoulder, Gargax replies, "I have decided trust you, Dante Leone."
"A horrible decision, really," Dante replies, as if quoting a line from something.
"No," Gargax says, having done some investigating of his own. He pulls out a book from his pouch called 'The Adventures of Dante Leone' depicting a charming rogue swinging from a rope saving a generic damsel from the clutches of a generic villain. "It isn't. I don't know who you are, but I know who this guy is. This guy? He won't run when it matters."
Dante's eyes go wide as he spies the book. It wasn't a popular book. Something you read to children in an orphanage to give them hope they can be more than what they are. "How long have you known?" he asks.
"Not long. It was bothering me. I used to read this to my own kid when he was younger," Gargax says, putting the book away, "I left it with him when I left..."
And Dante continues where Gargax left off, "... on a mercenary contract." His eyes squint. "Mason. I knew it was familiar. So. That makes two of us having something tapping in the back of our heads."
The two share a "tense" silence that is constantly interrupted by Dante sipping on his brandy.
"The airship will deliver the two squads," Gargax picks back up, going over battle plans, "You need to get us close enough to the drop off. One squad will provide relief for the Targarius champions. The second will head to the Hive. The Queen is dead, but they are still enslaving people. If we end the link, not only will we free people, but the tide will turn with debilitated wasps and fresh sword arms. Its a gamble, but its all we got."
Dante smiles slowly as the mask slips back on. "You can count on me," with words that hide his own plans. The fact that this was the old man that abandoned a friend of his just sweetens the pot.
"We are," Gargax says, letting Dante in on something he has been holding back. "We don't have the manpower to take down a Hive Queen or anything strong enough to control a host of them. The second squad is going to open up a shot from air. From your ship."
That makes Dante grin even more, leaning into the dramatic role of someone who gets that single shot in. Oh, Gargax knows his alter ego too well. "Fly in. Shoot some big bad in the face with a cannon," Dante says, recalling the last time he faced off with a dragon and an Outpost assault. "How can I pass up such a setup?"
Gargax smiles, heading out of the captain's quarter. "I thought you'd like that plan. Of course, that assumes you don't fly off, right?"
Dante winks, "Wouldn't dream of it." As Gargax leaves, the tiefling finds his captain's bed, tossing his empty cup somewhere onto the floor. He grabs his large captain hat and flops onto the bed. Putting the hat over his face, he says to himself, "But I won't be dreaming when it happens. Better to fold and get a new hand than leave the table empty going in all in like that."