EpicVakarian
Calibration-Master General
"Ahoy, captain."
"Ahoy, Raccan," replied Captain Alexia Attwater. "Is the Peregrine back in fighting shape?"
"Aye, she is. Cannons are scrubbed, deck is clean, barnacles are off, powder stores are refilled. We're ready to go whenever you are, captain."
Alex nodded, satisfied. She gave Raccan a slap on the back as she stepped aboard her mighty brig, heading up the stairs to the aft to take a hold on the wheel.
"Right, lads!" She yelled out across the deck, calling their attention to her. "Word is there's an Imperial convoy sailing nearby, hoping to deliver its cargo to Solitude. Supposed to be a mighty haul, so what do you say, lads; you all up for it?"
The crew shouted wordlessly, securing the convoy's fate. Alex grinned widely, nodding to Raccan, her quartermaster. He yelled, in his deep Redguard voice,
"Well then, get to work, you lazy maggots! Untie us from the jetty, lower the sails and prepare for an attack!" The crew obediently scattered, and Raccan leaned back against the guardrail. "So, captain. When you say a mighty haul, what might you mean by that?"
Alex said nothing, only smirked. Raccan knew her well enough to understand what that meant. As the ship set off from Stros M'Kai, Alex flipped open her compass, getting her bearings as the Peregrine sailed out to open ocean.
The journey was quiet; the seas were calm, and Alex barely had to turn the wheel at all once she'd set them on the planned course. About an hour in, however, there was a call from the top of the main mast. She couldn't hear it, so called for a repeat from the crew.
"Ship ho, cap'n! Frigate, flying the Emperor's colours, flanked port and starboard by two navy schooners!"
Alex didn't even need to think twice.
"Man the cannons! Load the chase cannons with chain shot, the broadsides with round shot; on my first order, fire the chase cannons. On my second, the broadsides. Get on with it!"
Most of the crew disappeared down into the gundeck, but a few stayed above deck to man the broadside cannons lashed to the guardrails.
The Peregrine drew closer and closer to the frigate, but Alex didn't order the chase cannons fired. The two schooners had gotten suspicious, and circled round to flank the new ship. Alex waited a few more seconds, before yelling out:
"FIRE!" The chase cannons shot out their chain shot, aimed perfectly at the frigate's mizzen mast. All four sets of shot smashed into the wood about thirty feet up, and with a mighty crack, it snapped and collapsed onto the deck. Before the schooners had a chance to open fire, she shouted the order again, and both sides of her ship lit up with fire as 21 cannon balls smashed into each ship, tearing them open. The few broadside cannons they had slid straight out of the gashes, effectively removing their teeth, and the ships began taking on water fast, slowing them down to a crawl and forcing them deeper into the water. They were no trouble any more, so Alex simply restored her attention to the frigate, which had turned to try and fire on her.
"BRACE!" she yelled, forcing the crew to their knees as they took cover. Luckily, the frigate had apparently had the majority of its firepower removed to accommodate more cargo; the damage the Peregrine had taken was easily fixable. Instead of turning to return fire, however, she ruthlessly plowed straight into the starboard side of the ship, the Peregrine's ram burying itself in the frigate's hull.
"Prepare to board," Raccan yelled, knowing Alex well enough to beat her to the order. Alex nodded to him, handing him the wheel to align the Peregrine with the Imperial frigate.
While he was doing so, Alex dropped athletically from the top deck onto the main deck, sprinting along the length of the ship to climb the bowsprit, which was currently lined up perfectly for her own ambush. As she reached the tip, she drew her dagger from her left hip, leapt from the bowsprit and landed on the frigate, burying her dagger in the shoulder of a gunner who'd noticed her and was currently lining up a shot with his musket. She could almost feel the tip of it pierce his heart, and watched mercilessly as his eyes rolled back. Yanking it out in a spurt of blood, she shifted the dagger to her left hand and drew a cutlass with her right, ready to fight. Two men rushed her at once; she out-maneuvered one and got him shot by another gunner, while she rolled behind the other man and stabbed him through the chest with her cutlass. She kicked the man from her blade, delaying three more men who were forced backward by the falling corpse, while she blocked a bayonet with her dagger, deflecting the blow to the side as she twisted around it, burying the dagger in the musketeer's ear, killing him instantly. Her blades were a blur, amazed no-one had landed a hit on her yet.
I mean, I'm good, but I'm not that good. These must just be sailors, not soldiers. No combat experience.
Ignoring this fact, she continued to cut those men down who dared to attack her, until the remaining sailors threw down their swords and held up their hands in surrender. Once the Peregrine had lined up alongside the frigate, her crew leapt aboard with menacing growls. Piracy was all a big show really; you just had to convince the honest men that you were some hellish thing sent by the devil, and they'd give you whatever they had to make you leave them alive. The crew of the Peregrine had certainly mastered the act; only the captain showed any kind of resistance to it, and even he seemed worried when his wrists were lashed together with rope. The rest of the crew looked terrified, and glanced up at her with horror as she walked among them. She approached the captain.
She slowly, deliberately planted her feet down in front of him, crossing her arms and gazing down her nose at him. He slowly tilted his head up, squinting to counteract the sun in his eyes.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Aye, I do. You're Alex Attwater.
"Aye. And that must mean you know what I want." There was no answer. "Boys, tie him to a cannonball and throw him overboard. Take what's in the hold, and leave the rest. Someone will pick them up eventually." She smirked at the Imperials as her crew laughed, and went back to the Peregrine's wheel, where Raccan was waiting and smiling. After a while, the hold was packed to the brim with their reward, and they turned southeast to head back to Stros M'Kai.
"You can handle the unloading, Raccan?" Alex asked as she released the wheel an hour later, having docked at a jetty again.
"Aye, captain. We'll catch up later." Alex nodded, heading to dry land and toward the village hall.
The hall was usually empty, since the Imperials had been scattered from the island nigh on two years previously, but it seemed more quiet than usual, somehow. She called for the elderly bell-ringer, who shuffled around the corner.
"Call them." The man nodded, shuffling back around the corner and into the bell tower. Soon, the bell began to ring loudly, summoning the pirate captains who helped run this republic; Rivers, Rhaean, Francois, Frand, and Proteus and his quartermaster/lover Lu'ah. It was time for their weekly meeting.
"Ahoy, Raccan," replied Captain Alexia Attwater. "Is the Peregrine back in fighting shape?"
"Aye, she is. Cannons are scrubbed, deck is clean, barnacles are off, powder stores are refilled. We're ready to go whenever you are, captain."
Alex nodded, satisfied. She gave Raccan a slap on the back as she stepped aboard her mighty brig, heading up the stairs to the aft to take a hold on the wheel.
"Right, lads!" She yelled out across the deck, calling their attention to her. "Word is there's an Imperial convoy sailing nearby, hoping to deliver its cargo to Solitude. Supposed to be a mighty haul, so what do you say, lads; you all up for it?"
The crew shouted wordlessly, securing the convoy's fate. Alex grinned widely, nodding to Raccan, her quartermaster. He yelled, in his deep Redguard voice,
"Well then, get to work, you lazy maggots! Untie us from the jetty, lower the sails and prepare for an attack!" The crew obediently scattered, and Raccan leaned back against the guardrail. "So, captain. When you say a mighty haul, what might you mean by that?"
Alex said nothing, only smirked. Raccan knew her well enough to understand what that meant. As the ship set off from Stros M'Kai, Alex flipped open her compass, getting her bearings as the Peregrine sailed out to open ocean.
The journey was quiet; the seas were calm, and Alex barely had to turn the wheel at all once she'd set them on the planned course. About an hour in, however, there was a call from the top of the main mast. She couldn't hear it, so called for a repeat from the crew.
"Ship ho, cap'n! Frigate, flying the Emperor's colours, flanked port and starboard by two navy schooners!"
Alex didn't even need to think twice.
"Man the cannons! Load the chase cannons with chain shot, the broadsides with round shot; on my first order, fire the chase cannons. On my second, the broadsides. Get on with it!"
Most of the crew disappeared down into the gundeck, but a few stayed above deck to man the broadside cannons lashed to the guardrails.
The Peregrine drew closer and closer to the frigate, but Alex didn't order the chase cannons fired. The two schooners had gotten suspicious, and circled round to flank the new ship. Alex waited a few more seconds, before yelling out:
"FIRE!" The chase cannons shot out their chain shot, aimed perfectly at the frigate's mizzen mast. All four sets of shot smashed into the wood about thirty feet up, and with a mighty crack, it snapped and collapsed onto the deck. Before the schooners had a chance to open fire, she shouted the order again, and both sides of her ship lit up with fire as 21 cannon balls smashed into each ship, tearing them open. The few broadside cannons they had slid straight out of the gashes, effectively removing their teeth, and the ships began taking on water fast, slowing them down to a crawl and forcing them deeper into the water. They were no trouble any more, so Alex simply restored her attention to the frigate, which had turned to try and fire on her.
"BRACE!" she yelled, forcing the crew to their knees as they took cover. Luckily, the frigate had apparently had the majority of its firepower removed to accommodate more cargo; the damage the Peregrine had taken was easily fixable. Instead of turning to return fire, however, she ruthlessly plowed straight into the starboard side of the ship, the Peregrine's ram burying itself in the frigate's hull.
"Prepare to board," Raccan yelled, knowing Alex well enough to beat her to the order. Alex nodded to him, handing him the wheel to align the Peregrine with the Imperial frigate.
While he was doing so, Alex dropped athletically from the top deck onto the main deck, sprinting along the length of the ship to climb the bowsprit, which was currently lined up perfectly for her own ambush. As she reached the tip, she drew her dagger from her left hip, leapt from the bowsprit and landed on the frigate, burying her dagger in the shoulder of a gunner who'd noticed her and was currently lining up a shot with his musket. She could almost feel the tip of it pierce his heart, and watched mercilessly as his eyes rolled back. Yanking it out in a spurt of blood, she shifted the dagger to her left hand and drew a cutlass with her right, ready to fight. Two men rushed her at once; she out-maneuvered one and got him shot by another gunner, while she rolled behind the other man and stabbed him through the chest with her cutlass. She kicked the man from her blade, delaying three more men who were forced backward by the falling corpse, while she blocked a bayonet with her dagger, deflecting the blow to the side as she twisted around it, burying the dagger in the musketeer's ear, killing him instantly. Her blades were a blur, amazed no-one had landed a hit on her yet.
I mean, I'm good, but I'm not that good. These must just be sailors, not soldiers. No combat experience.
Ignoring this fact, she continued to cut those men down who dared to attack her, until the remaining sailors threw down their swords and held up their hands in surrender. Once the Peregrine had lined up alongside the frigate, her crew leapt aboard with menacing growls. Piracy was all a big show really; you just had to convince the honest men that you were some hellish thing sent by the devil, and they'd give you whatever they had to make you leave them alive. The crew of the Peregrine had certainly mastered the act; only the captain showed any kind of resistance to it, and even he seemed worried when his wrists were lashed together with rope. The rest of the crew looked terrified, and glanced up at her with horror as she walked among them. She approached the captain.
She slowly, deliberately planted her feet down in front of him, crossing her arms and gazing down her nose at him. He slowly tilted his head up, squinting to counteract the sun in his eyes.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Aye, I do. You're Alex Attwater.
"Aye. And that must mean you know what I want." There was no answer. "Boys, tie him to a cannonball and throw him overboard. Take what's in the hold, and leave the rest. Someone will pick them up eventually." She smirked at the Imperials as her crew laughed, and went back to the Peregrine's wheel, where Raccan was waiting and smiling. After a while, the hold was packed to the brim with their reward, and they turned southeast to head back to Stros M'Kai.
"You can handle the unloading, Raccan?" Alex asked as she released the wheel an hour later, having docked at a jetty again.
"Aye, captain. We'll catch up later." Alex nodded, heading to dry land and toward the village hall.
The hall was usually empty, since the Imperials had been scattered from the island nigh on two years previously, but it seemed more quiet than usual, somehow. She called for the elderly bell-ringer, who shuffled around the corner.
"Call them." The man nodded, shuffling back around the corner and into the bell tower. Soon, the bell began to ring loudly, summoning the pirate captains who helped run this republic; Rivers, Rhaean, Francois, Frand, and Proteus and his quartermaster/lover Lu'ah. It was time for their weekly meeting.