A Ship-of-the-Line

by KonceptKarma

Chapter 8. Reassurance

"You did what?" Gallant yelled out in surprise.
"I'm sorry Captain, I let you and the crew down." Stark looked at the floor in depression.
"It's not that," Gallant took a moment to steady his breathing, "it's that you decided to fight them. You could've been captured, or worse, you could've been killed."
"I know it was a big risk sir, but I couldn't just run and let them report our whereabouts to the Ciervans." Stark reasoned.
"Report our whereabouts," A look of shock hit Gallant's face, "there's an Equestrian man o' war docked in a Ciervan occupied town. They know exactly where we are. The reason I said to stay hidden was so you could contract the shipwright without your identity being given away. Now, the Ciervans know that we want to find Ardid, so he's probably going to flee the area."
Stark nodded in sudden realization at his actual blunder, "I understand sir, I won't let it happen again."
As Stark turned and trotted towards the cabin door, Gallant called out to him, "Thank you for bringing me the information on Canalla. We'd have no place to start without it."
"Thank you, sir." Stark slowly trotted out of the cabin.

Stark nodded to Carronade and Keel that they could enter. The green unicorn nodded back, and trotted in.
"I see you're settling in to your new position." Carronade looked around the cabin.
"It may look that way, but it isn't close to reality," Gallant sighed, "I didn't want to make use of this cabin, but some of the crew insisted that I did so."
"I suppose that means they're starting to respect you." Carronade sat at the large table in the middle of the room.
"I suppose so, though I still personally have doubts," Gallant glanced at Keel, "I take it you're our shipwright?"
"Aye, I am Keel D'Elegance. Casco's only shipwright who isn't in the Ciervan's pockets." She bowed as she introduced herself.
"Well that's good to hear, because we just so happen to need one who isn't going to sell us out," Gallant walked over, took her hoof in his and kissed it, "I'm Gallant Topsail, cabin boy in the Equestrian Navy."
"Cabin boy," Keel asked, sounding surprised, "then why did the pegasus call you captain?"
"Because he is our captain, though he personally doesn't see himself that way." Carronade explained.
"So you are the captain?" Keel sounded confused.
"The captain of the ERS Resplendent is dead. With his last breath he tasked me with bringing the ship and her crew back to the mainland safely. When we get back, I'm going to resign captaincy of the ship over to someone more capable." Gallant's voice trailed off with the last few words.
"What," Carronade gasped, "but Captain Mainsail said that..."
"Captain Mainsail is dead," Gallant choked out, "he may have thought me capable enough to lead, but I don't. I have never commanded a ship in combat. I don't even know why he chose me, because I sure wouldn't."
"What are you talking about? You came up with the plan to stop the raiders when we entered port." Gallant attempted to cheer him up, but it didn't work.
"Oh, my plan to stop two gunboats full of undisciplined cutthroats? You mean that brilliant plan?" Anger began to build up in Gallant's voice, "Well let me ask you something Carronade, what happens when the Ciervans stop sending privateers to do their dirty work huh? What happens when they start sending heavily armed military vessels after us? What am I supposed to do then?"
"I don't have an answer for that sir." Carronade spoke bluntly.
"Well neither do I," The anger faded from Gallant's voice, and was replaced with worry, "and that's what frightens me the most. I don't know what to do in a real battle. Even when I wasn't the captain I had no idea. I nearly died twice in the first privateer attack. Both you and Mainsail had to save me, and t was my fault that he died..." The realization suddenly hit Gallant, he'd nearly forgotten.
Carronade picked up on Gallant's sudden loss for words, "You stop right there Gallant!" He was surprised by his friend's sudden fervor.
"You know damn well that it was no fault of your own that the captain died." His words were sure in his statement.
"He gave his life to save mine, explain to me how it is not my fault." Gallant sounded equally sure.
"He chose to jump in those blade's paths," Carronade pointed out, "no one but the captain himself made that decision."
"Even so, I still feel responsible," Gallant placed his head in his hooves, "If I'd just jumped out of the way, he'd still be alive."
"There's no point dwelling on that, it's in the past. You know what, maybe you're right. Maybe if you had jumped away, he'd have lived through that one instance, but who's to say he'd have still survived the battle. What happened, happened, and if you want to honor the captain's last wishes you'll take your head out of your flank and start acting like a captain!" The last sentence hit Gallant the hardest, he slowly picked his head up.
"You're right," He looked Carronade in the eyes, "sorry about how I acted. I may have gotten a little venomous there with you."
"Take no mind to it Captain, you're under a lot of pressure from everyone to succeed. Celestia knows how much pressure you've got on yourself." Carronade stood up as he finished, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go check on the crew." He trotted out of the cabin, leaving Gallant and Keel alone.
"That's a good friend you got there." Keel motioned towards Carronade as she spoke.
"Yes, that I do," Gallant smiled as he admitted so, "now, onto business. Let's discuss the ship's repairs."
Yes, let's." Keel motioned for Gallant to join her on deck. The two looked over the damage to the Resplendent's hull thoroughly. The job would obviously be difficult given the lack of a dry dock, but Keel insisted that she could manage.
"So keep in mind that we need this done with great haste." Gallant pointed out.
"I'm aware of your predicament Captain Topsail." Keel teased, "The repairs should only take a day, give or take a few hours."
"A day, it would take a whole work crew weeks to fix this type of damage." Gallant exclaimed.
"Well, I'm no work crew. I'm Keel D'Elegance, and I can fix this in one day." She sounded extremely sure of herself.
"Alright, I suppose it's better that way anyway." He shrugged.
As he turned to check on the crew, Keel coughed to get his attention, "Now about my cabin arrangements..." She started.
Gallant slowly turned back towards her in surprise, "Come again?"
"My cabin, where will I be staying on the journey back to Equestria?" She asked.
A fake smile plastered Gallant's face, "Why, one of the officer's quarters of course. Take your pick, they're all vacant." As he turned away, his smile turned to a scowl. The one question on him mind, where was Carronade?