Steamfunk Onesy : The clockwork gambit

Setting: The Iron Manticore, Zeke and Sera’s rust-bucket of a spaceship, drifts in the debris-strewn orbit of New Carthage, a steampunk pleasure-den built inside the hollowed-out carcass of a dead cosmic leviathan. The ship’s brass pipes wheeze, the coal-fed plasma reactor sputters, and the duo’s latest "business venture" has just gone sideways—again.

Scene 1: "A Bad Hand at Cards"

Zeke, his goggles smudged with soot, slams a fist on the ship’s riveted console. "Blast it, Sera! Y’said this was a sure thing!"

Sera, lounging in her patched-up captain’s chair, spins a cog-shaped poker chip between her fingers. "I said the odds were favorable. Never said the Duke of Geargutter’s men wouldn’t cheat."

Outside the viewport, three armored airships—festooned with rotary cannons and the Duke’s insignia—lurch into pursuit. Their copper-plated hulls gleam ominously under the gas giant’s sickly yellow glow.

Zeke yanks a lever. The Manticore shudders, ejecting a cloud of smokescreen cogs and spare parts. "Remind me why we thought fleecin’ a steam-noble at dice was smart?"

Sera grins, adjusting her tricorn hat. "Because, dear Zeke, the Duke’s ‘luck’ was clockwork—literally. His dice were gyro-balanced. I just… recalibrated the calibration."

A cannonball whumps into the hull. The ship lists violently.

"Aha! And now we’re rich?" Zeke shouts over the klaxons.

Sera tosses him a sack of glowing aether-crystals—stolen mid-game. "Define ‘rich.’ Also, brace for—"

The Manticore’s rear hatch explodes open. A gigantic, steam-powered harpoon spears through, its chain rattling as the lead airship reels them in.

Scene 2: "The Boarding Party"

Brass-masked marauders swing aboard, their pneumatic limbs hissing. Their leader, a hulking figure with a flaming rivet gun, growls: "The Duke wants his crystals. And your fingers. In that order."

Zeke sighs, cracking his knuckles. "Y’know, Sera, I’d say we’re in a tight spot, but—"

Sera flips a hidden switch. The ship’s Tesla-coil defense grid hums to life. "—but tight spots are where we shine."

The air crackles. The marauders’ metal limbs fuse mid-swing. Zeke ducks, driving a wrench into a knee-joint. Sera pirouettes, her electro-lash snapping like a lightning whip.

But the leader lunges—clamping a thermal detonator to the hull. "No aether, no ship. Burn or jump."

Sera’s eyes dart to the jagged maw of the cosmic leviathan below—its ribs form a labyrinth of wreckage and rogue traders. "Zeke. Remember the Crimson Gambit maneuver?"

Zeke pales. "The one where we—"

"—yes." She grabs his arm and yanks the emergency decompression lever.

Scene 3: "The Crimson Gambit"

The Manticore’s hull blows outward, catapulting them into the void just as the detonator fires. The shockwave propels them straight into the leviathan’s gullet, past shrieking air-whales and floating black-market bazaars.

They crash into a net of salvage-webbing, strung between two junk-galleons. A grizzled trader peers down. "Toll’s 50 crystals to board."

Sera tosses him one. "Keep the change."

Zeke groans, plucking a harpoon shard from his coat. "We’re broke, ship-less, and wanted by a Duke. This a ‘win’ to you?"

Sera smirks, pointing upward. The Duke’s airships, tangled in the Manticore’s smokescreen, spiral into each other—a fireworks display of idiocy. "We’re alive. They’re not. And—" She taps her belt, revealing a second bag of crystals. "—never gamble against a cheater who knows you’re cheating."

Zeke stares. "…We keepin’ those?"

"Depends." She jumps onto the galleon’s deck, where a poster announces: "HIGH STAKES: RACE OF THE AETHER WHALES." "Feelin’ lucky?"

Zeke sighs. "I hate you."

"Liar."

The Iron Manticore may be scrap, but the game? The game’s always on.

FADE TO STEAM.

VIBE:

• Firefly’s banter + Treasure Planet’s aesthetic + Cowboy Bebop’s swagger.
• Key Props: Electro-lash, gyro-dice, aether-crystals, a ship held together by hope and rivets.
• Next Episode Hook: The aether-whale race—which is definitely rigged.

Want more? I can add a rival crew, a sentient boiler-engine, or a surprise appearance by the Duke’s clockwork daughter seeking revenge!