Sailors of the Blue

by Orion 141

Night Fall

The Maiden's sails dropped to full canvas, her 50 powerful guns were loaded, and she made a hard turn to port.

"For all you sea dogs who wanted to see Pirates up close, this is your lucky day!" Boomed Salt as he pulled out his pistol and readied it.

"Sir, the ship is making a run for it!" Roared one of the many men now crawling over the mast of the ship. Indeed, the gunboat had turn starboard and dropped it's sails. A skull had been sowen into them, making them on the now stormy back drop of the sea.

"Ah Ha! Let the sea bitch run! The royal navy is on her ass, she ain't going no where!" Boomedn Salt as he clenched the wheel, ready for a fight. The gunboat was barely a kilometer from the Maiden when they spotted it, now that gap was closing.

---

By the time the gunboat had anyone look back, the Maiden was ready to ram her. Gunshot were heard from the bow of the Maiden as the crew returned fire. The men of the gunboat looked weathered, they had been at sea for a very long time. The Maiden had them outmatched in everyway possible.

"Board her, secure the deck and then go below to see she they've been carrying." Boomed Salt's voice over the sound of the now very close lightning storm. As per his orders, the crew of the Maiden decended onto the deck of the Gunboat. Pip was the first to ready his sword.

Good thing too, he had little time to ready himself before a deadly cutless came slashing down, intent on removing his pretty little head. Smacking it aside with the flat of his blade, he ended the fight with a quick thrust.

Or so he tought, he only ended up hitting thin air, his target had anticipated the move and dodged to the right. Pip charged him, blade raised high. He slammed into the pirate with his shoulder, knocking him off balance. With much more speed this time, he thrusted at the downed pirate, stabbing him in the chest.

Blood pooled around the wound the darkened his blue shirt. Pip pulled his blade free to find a pair of pirates cutting the throat of one of his men. The man was on his knees, one of the pirates halnd him there with a blade deep in his shoulder, the other drew his jagged blade across his throat, ripping and cutting the flesh, releasing the blood onto the deck.

Pip raised his pistol and fired off a shot, the power gem in his pistol quickly overheating and redering the gun useless until it cooled. In the brief second that the pirate with his cutless stuck in the shoulder of the dead man, Pip had closed the gap and chopped his head off with a quick upward slash. The head landed in the sea out of sight, Pip turned to see the rest of the deck, only to find it covered in blood and dead men, of the Maiden and the gunboat. Most of the gunboat's crew were dead, leaving the rest the only choice of surrender.

Pip flicked his sword, most of the blood whipped onto the deck. He checked his pistol, the golden gem had cooled enough for him to touch it, ready to fire.

"Archer, get to men and follow me." Archer pointed at a pair of crew men, they drew their swords and followed Pip. The party made their way down to the sten hatch which lead to the hold of the gunboat. It was usually big enough to hold a few boxes and even allowed for a sword fight, and Pip was expecting trouble.

---

The hold was empty save for a few stand-up boxes. They had a single iron bar running though the both of them. Pip knew exactly what they were.

"Coast, tell the captain this is a slave carrier. Archer, you and Harp find the lock for this one here, I'll find it for that one." They quickly went to work. Pip walked along the boxes, looking into each of them, the first two were empty, but the last three weren't.

"Archer, we have a Griffin, looks about 16 or so. She's weak. And, and we have a Zebra, sweet Celestia he's built. I don't think he's awake." Just as Pip said that, the last box began shaking. Someone inside was kicking it. "I got an active one here." He walked up to the opening in the front of the box, only to duck to avoid a bolt of fire. "Woah! Woah! Calm down, we're here to help!"

"Lies! You're just more pirates, pirates attacking more pirates!" The dragoness' voice was harsh, she was still young, he voice shouldn't have sounded like that.

"Give us a chance. Trust us." Replied Pip as he put away his pistol. Looking around to form a plan, he noticed that the bow of the hold was covered in iron plating, perfect for ramming targets, or containg a dragoness.

"What good is there in trying to diswade you. Go on, I can't go on anymore, no more will, no more fire..." She trailed off, she voice still harsh. Pip got to his feet, and readied his pistol. He took aim, prayed to all above, and fired.

The shot hit it's mark, completely destroying it and leaving only the iron bar. Pip grabbed it, and gave it a shove, the bar slide along the rails in teh boxes, and shot out the other side. Three very audioable thuds were heard.

"Archer! You guys get over here." Before he could say another word, a gun shot rang out.

"In a minute sir, we got a full side here. I sent Harp to get a few more lads to help with this. Sure enough, Hapr returned with five more men in toe. A pair went down to help Pip while the other three helped with the other five with Archer and Harp.

"Sir, the captain had made acommanadations for the slaves, we're to take them back to port and the governer will help set them up with new lives." Pip eyed Striker for a moment before pulling the dragoness' arm behind him and lifting her legs. He noticed on her kneck was a ugly iron collar, it looked to be constricting her throat. She needed to get it off.

"Good, cause I have bigger problems."

"What do you mean?" On cue, cannon fire was heard. "Sir, we need to get going." Pip just gave Striker a look before running out the hold, the rest of the men and slaves following. The dragoness may have been a bit bigger than him, but the navy didn't train pushovers.

---

"Sir, we have a pair of Birgs inbound! They're flying pirate colours!" Yelled a crewmen up high in the crow's nest. Pip handed the Dragoness to one of the crew men returning to the Maiden.

"Mainmast! Sir, we should take this gunbaot and distract one for Brigs while the Maiden deals with the other!" Mainmast quickly nodded and barked a pair of orders, about six men stayed on the gunbaot while the rest returned to the Maiden. The away team was headed by Mainmast, Pip and Maple stayed onboard to deal with the rest of the of away team.

"Men, drop those coats, grab from the dead and ready up. We are going to wait until the Maiden engages the enemy, then we'll follow them, swing far to teh south, make it look like we're making a run for it, and once both of the Brigs commit to attacking the Maiden, we strike, catching the Brigs on their unloaded side. Then we unleash tartarus on their hides! Who's with me!" The deck erupted with voice, the crew was ready.

The change of clothes was quick and the crew began loading the cannons, they drew sails, and made their ploy. The Maiden had already crippled one of the Brigs, making the plan just a bit more difficult. The gunboat had to be made to look like it was running, Pip ran to the stern of the ship and began waving, trying to get the attention of the Brig, he did. One of the crew men appeared, then disappeared. A moment later a spyglass and a fluffy hat was seen, then a wave, a single cannon fired off into sea. Directing them to run.

The gunboat took this order and ran, for a bit.

---

Aboard the Maiden, the fight was going south. The gunbaot appeared to berunnign from the fight, the crippled Brig blocking Salt from sinking their traitorus hides to the bottom of the ocean. But the captain had bigger things to worry about. The Maiden was a war ship, it was built to take a pounding, but the combined fire of the Brigs were enough to rattle the ship.

"Sir, the guns on the port side are runnign low on ammuntion, the crew wants to use the starboard's!" Yelled one of the crew as the lul in the cannon fire offered him time. Salt nodded, knowing these pirates, they were doing the same, intent onl blowing them sky high.

More shots were fire, then returned. The battle needed to change or the Maiden was going down the bottom.

---

Mainmast order for all of the cannons from the port side to be moved to the starboard, doubling the fire power, but dooming the ship if they got on the wrong side.

"Pip, are you boys ready?" Mainmast's voice cut the storm that was now raging arounf the tiny gunboat, if they weren't quick, the storm would be their end and not he pirates.

"Aye sir, move us in, let's sink these scallywags!" A ripple of laughter was heard from the many guns of the ship, there were 10 sets and only 8 men ready to fire them, Mainmast was needed on the wheel.

The gunboat made a hard turn to port, facing the battle now a kilometer away. They had the wind at their back, and they were ready for a fight.

The wind pushed them forward, a wave forming under them.

"Ha! Would you look at that! Looks like even the sea gods favour us!" Laughed Maple as he sparked his whicks and readied them. The battle was closing in, but they were well over it. The wave was huge, easily over the deck of the Brigs and maybe even over the Maiden's.

The battle was just a few meters away. Guns at the ready, the wave and the gunboat both slammed into the side of the active Brig. The iron plating smashing the cheap wood the rails were made of. The entire battle stopped dead. The Brig insantly disabled. Even the thunder and rain stopped for a brief moment. Then, is the still of the world, a single sound was heard loud and clear by everyone is earshot:

"FIRE!" And in an instant, the silence and the Brig were destroyed by cannon fire. The heavy cannons of the gunboat ripped through the wood of the Brig. A single cannonball struck the Brig's amuntion cash, egniting it. The resulting explosion ripped the ship in half from bow to stern. The Maiden didn't miss a beat, teh second the first Brig blew up, the crippled one was fire upon. The cannons ripped though the now very weak hull of the ship, breaking off a large chunk.

Salt looked at the first Brig, it was a blazing inferno. The chances of his away team survivng, next to nothing. Tossing his pistol to the side, he barked an order.

"Ready the sails, were making for Port Royal. Don't let thseo men die invain, they gave their lives for these slaves, now let's finish the job."

"Sir, what if there are survivors?"

"An explosion like that? Not likely, and the fire would finish them if they did make it, now lets go before the waves bring some of the wreakage onboard and set the Maiden on fire. Sails up!"