Limitless Seas 2, Chapter 35.

Sorry for posting the wrong chapter earlier, here's the correct one. 

Chapter 35.

“Alright everyone, give me a rundown on where we stand,” Larson said. Once the initial chaos generated by their arrival had died down, they had worked to get everyone organized and prepare for their journey. His cabin aboard the Sea Venomwas crammed full of all his officers, Lord Buxton representing the townsfolk, and Felicia representing the merchants and craftsmen.

“All ships are seaworthy, Bug Bartholomew has the Red Sea Trader in decent shape, but it will need some time in drydock once we get to the stronghold. The small detachment we had left behind at the estate is now back aboard the ships, and we were able to recruit another score of sailors from the people outside, but we still need a lot more people to fully crew each ship,” Tarley reported.

“We have a total of eight 12-pounder guns and a pair of 4-pounders, one of which our esteemed engineer is using as a personal weapon. I’ve made over two hundred rounds of solid shot and twenty bags of grapeshot while you were gone. We have plenty of sorcerer’s sand for the time being and Sarvo is working with Bug Bartholomew to make more of the blood flints for us,” Felicia said.

“As far as the townsfolk go, we have a total of 618 that wish to leave with us, how many can we take?” Lord Buxton asked.

“It’ll be tight, but we can fit everyone, as long as they don’t have much in the way of baggage. Most of the space we have will be needed to hold food, tools, and any equipment we need for what might become an extended stay at the stronghold. They have a village there, but I’m pretty sure they relied on the ill-gotten gains of their piracy to keep things running. Lord Buxton, I’ll need your people to get the passengers organized and ready to load immediately. We have limited time and to make matters worse, only two ships can dock here at once,” Larson said.

“I’ll get it done, we do have over a score of guardsmen with us, which should help keep things organized. Several were wounded in the fighting, but your ship’s surgeon took care of the worst of it for us,” Buxton said. Larson was glad to see he was starting to shed his pretentious manner; a pompous attitude wouldn’t serve him well where they were going.

First to load was the merchantman, the process hampered by several elderly and families with young children that needed assistance. There was some dispute over what people could take, but the presence of the guardsmen along with some of Ibn’s marines put an end to the complaining rather quickly. Once the loading of the Red Sea Trader was completed, they focused on getting the rest of the guns aboard the Sea Venom as the Lost Soul pulled up to the pier.

“Captain Larson, may we join you aboard your ship?” Lucian called out from the crowd.

Larson waved them through the line of guards holding back the crowd, relieved to see his friend and business partner was among the townsfolk. He was planning to check, but there were too many things pulling at his attention. A few muttered curses followed the family as some became upset over them getting what they thought was preferential treatment. He would have Ibn keep a close watch on the grumblers, they might just be an annoyance now, but they could lead to serious division among the townsfolk if their poor attitude was allowed to fester.

“I’m glad to see your family’s well. You can take my cabin for the voyage, I’m afraid I don’t have any extra bedding, but hopefully, you can make do. Larson offered, showing them to the cabin. He didn’t need much in the way of sleep, so offering it up to the family was a better use of it.

“Thank you, can we bring Kipper and some of our workers in as well, it looks like there should be enough room, and you’ll need to pack everyone pretty tight to get us all out of here,” Lucian said. Larson didn’t have a problem with that, in a way, they were his employees as well.

“What was going on with the shop?” Larson asked.

“Nothing good, the attack by the makon was terrifying enough, but as soon as word hit that the pirates were taking the town, we knew it was time to leave. I was able to save all the coin we have, and a few of the more valuable items that were easy to transport in our packs, but I’m sorry to say we’ve likely lost everything else,” Lucian said.

“I understand, you made the right choice and by moving quickly, you likely saved your family. We can rebuild a business, but I can’t replace a family that I trust. Now, I need to get back to work, too much to do and not enough time to do it. Point out the workers you want to bring aboard to Ibn, and he’ll see that they’re sorted. I also want to make sure the gnoll families make it aboard,” Larson said.

With so many new ships in his flotilla, he had to put average sailors in charge of the various vessels. Theo was moved up to command the Red Sea Trader, he had done well enough so far, and was their best choice for the largest of their prizes. Lord Buxton chose to stay on the Red Sea Trader with his son, to no one’s surprise. Every other ship was commanded by the most experienced and loyal sailors they had aboard. Promotions were coming quickly as they expanded, but whether these sailors would be up to the task remained to be seen. It would take the better part of the night to get everyone and everything that they could take aboard.

“Captain, we got trouble from that other lord, his men are blocking Ghonen’s people from coming aboard, and he’s demanding to load some of his personal possessions instead,” Quix reported.

“What, oh, I’ll take care of this, have Ibn and some of his men join me,” Larson said. Making his way off the Sea Venom and up the pier, he could hear shouting and see several armed men, pushing back the gnolls who were trying to make it through the crowd.

“What is going on here! Who’s delaying my people from boarding. There’s no time for any nonsense,” Larson bellowed.

“I’ll tell you what's going on, your people were going to allow these flea-bitten strays aboard ahead of more important people. You will board my family next. Now, I know space is tight, but I’ll need a cabin for myself and my wife, as well as suitable quarters for my entourage. See that it happens quickly, captain,” a man that was far too overdressed for the occasion, ordered.

“Who the hell are you supposed to be?” Larson demanded.

“Watch your tone captain, or I’ll report this dereliction of duty to Lord Buxton. I am Lord Gregor, and if you wish to keep your position, I suggest you begin to do as I command,” the man ordered.

“I’ve got news for your Gregor, I’m in charge here, not Lord Buxton, not anyone else, just me. These gnolls are the families of my marines, and some are workers in my business. As such, they rate much higher on the scale of who comes aboard rather than some useless deposed lord of the city. Stop your theatrics, or I’ll stop them for you, your choice,” Larson threatened.

“Stullman, place this blustering snake of a captain under arrest,” Gregor ordered. From the crowd, two men dressed in what Larson assumed was the livery of this Lord Gregor approached, each holding a sword in their hand, but looking nervous. They were likely not used to disobeying their lord, but equally unused to dealing with an angry, four-armed naga. In an instant, several marines were all over the pair of Gregor’s men, one of them, a gnoll that practically frothed at the mouth as he growled at Lord Gregor.

"If your men take one step forward, they’re dead, and since they’re working under your orders, I’ll make sure to kill you first,” Larson warned.

“Unacceptable, you, guardsman, see to this hooligan,” Gregor demanded to one of the town guards that was working on crowd control.

“Sorry sir, it’s like Captain Larson said, he’s in charge of the operation,” the guardsman replied.

“You’ll be drummed out of the guard for this. As for you, Captain Larson, allow me to introduce you to my personal bodyguard. Mr. Kulk, deal with the captain and any of his men that interfere, I am boarding that ship, see to it that my things are brought aboard,” Gregor said, pointing toward the Sea Venom. From the crowd, a hulking orc stepped forward at Gregor’s command, dropping his cloak to reveal heavy plate armor protecting him along with a wicked-looking pair of axes in his hands.

Larson didn’t waste any time and summoned his weapons. One of the pistols bucked in his hand, the shot hitting the orc in the center of his chest. Plate armor proved no match for the firearm, its shot punched easily through the armor and into Kulk’s heart, dropping him to the ground in a clatter. The noise of the crowd was silenced by the shot, and time seemed to stand still. Lord Gregor started to shake, his finger still pointing toward Larson, despite his bodyguard no longer being among the living.

“I apologize, Lord Gregor,” Larson said.

“Uh, I, uh understand you were under considerable stress, perhaps we can see that your sentence is reduced for past service to the city,” Gregor mumbled out.

“No, I don’t think you get it. Many of you here don’t know me,” Larson said, raising his voice and no longer speaking to Gregor, but instead, to the silent crowd. “I’m Captain Larson, and I command this fleet. One thing my crew knows is that I’m a man of my word. If I tell you I’m going to do something, you can be sure it will be done. I wasn’t apologizing to Lord Gregor for killing his bodyguard, I’m apologizing for not killing him first as I promised,” Larson said as he thrust his rapier into Lord Gregor’s chest. The man gave a final wheeze and collapsed to the ground.

“Your orders, sir?” Ibn asked.

“See that our people are brought aboard, all of them. After they are secured, see to loading the other ships. If anyone gives you any problem whatsoever, deal with it. Lord Gregor’s family may board one of the ships, provided they don’t cause any additional delays. I won’t hold his stupidity against them,” Larson ordered before returning to the Sea Venom. He would have to see how Lord Buxton reacted to the killing of a lord of the city, but he was about done with being concerned over what these lords thought of him.

The problem with Lord Gregor was unfortunately not the only problem they had that night and there was some trouble within the Eternal Crows. When Silas Crow advised his men of their new agreement, several tried to usurp power, resulting in a few deaths, and Silas being seriously injured. Shada was able to patch him up with her magic, but her mana was low from helping the other refugees, so Silas would have to wait a bit for full healing. The mercenaries were down to a total of ten after the infighting, not a large force, but he would appreciate their knowledge of the area around the stronghold since it might be a while before they could all return home to Stratwall Harbor.

It took until nearly morning before the last of the passengers was loaded and the last ships pulled out of the tiny cove. Tarley and Larson had their hands full trying to herd all the other ships, but they eventually got everyone pointed in the right direction. Taking a course that led them away from Stratwall Harbor, they made their best possible speed toward the stronghold. It wasn’t a very fast pace, the merchantman handled like a pig, and that wasn’t helped by it having an understaffed crew and an inexperienced captain. By the time they made it to their destination, Theo would either have gained solid experience in handling the ship or be ready to throw in the towel due to frustration.

“Sail ho, two points off the starboard bow!” Quix called out from the crow’s nest. The Sea Venom had pulled slightly ahead of the group, and Tarley with the Lost Soul had been sailing behind the others to render aid to any stragglers. Larson moved to the raised foredeck and pulled out his spyglass, trying to get a look at what was heading their way. Three ships could be made out in the distance, each piling on the sail to close in on Larson’s group. It was easy enough to recognize a pair of the war galleys from Stratwall Harbor, but were these enemies, or ships that had made it out before the city had fallen to Mox and his pirates?

“Signal the rest of the fleet, take up defensive positions, the Sea Venom will pull ahead until we can identify if they are a threat or not,” Larson ordered. They had worked this out earlier, if faced with an attack, the Venom would pour on the speed and use her guns to deal with any attackers while the others stayed out of the fight, protected by the Lost Soul and her siege engines. Guardsmen and mercenaries had been sprinkled on the other ships, giving them some defense against boarders, but they had nothing heavier than personal ranged weapons to deal with other ships.

“They’re not flying any colors, Captain,” Quix called out. He was right, there was nothing to indicate whether these were pirates with vessels they had seized in the attack or loyal defenders of the town. The flotilla changed course slightly, opening the gap between them and the Sea Venom. All three ships were visible now, two war galleys and a smaller sloop trailing them.

“Sir, the sloop is coming into view, she’s flying pirate colors, sir!” Quix called out. Masked by the other ships, the smaller vessel had remained hidden until now, finally revealing herself when they thought they had an easy victim. Unfortunately for the pirates, the Sea Venom wasn’t exactly going to be the easy prey they expected.

“Clear the decks for action! Load the guns and make ready to fire. Let’s see how they handle us charging right at them,” Larson ordered. As he expected the pirates moved their ships further apart to take the Sea Venom from both sides. The Stratwall Harbor war galleys mounted a formidable array of siege engines, and Larson would normally try to use the superior range of his guns to take them out safely, but that would just give them the opportunity to bypass the Sea Venom and make toward the easier targets he was protecting.

The non-combatants were ushered below, and the crew stowed any flammable gear they had on deck. He couldn’t do much about the sails, they were vulnerable to fire-throwing siege engines, but he could feel that Cassia had permeated them with her power, giving some resistance to damage. While they weren’t fireproof, having a living ship that could defend herself and call out problems was a big help.

He had four 12-pounders on either side of the ship and would use them to try and stove in the hulls of the war galleys as he passed between them. Cassia sent her desire to ram the smaller ship and if it kept on course directly at them, it was a real possibility. If he could sink or seriously damage the two warships with his first volley, they could open the distance and deal with the enemy at his leisure once the rest of the flotilla was safely out of danger.

Ibn’s marines prepared for a fight, and Dredge had his guns loaded and ready in good time. They had rotated gunners some during their other actions, and more than a few sailors were now versed in how to operate them. Shada made the rounds, making sure everyone knew where the closest person with a health potion was located. They had a limited supply and only a few could give out to the crew on each ship. Larson still had a pair in his inventory but needed to get Sarvo to cook up some more once they got to their destination. Hopefully, he brought some of the necessary reagents for the simple potions with him.

As they closed on the pirates, Larson was frustrated to see the rest of the fleet was slow in forming up into a defensive formation. The combination of new captains, new ships, and the distraction of too many civilians aboard made for slow progress. The Lost Soul placed herself between the oncoming pirates and the other ships, but the others were too scattered to be covered effectively. Larson was going to have to make this first volley count.

“Mr. Dredge, target the waterline, let’s send these warships to the bottom,” Larson ordered.

"Aye Captain, we’ll get it done,” Dredge replied, the man hobbled along the gun lines, making fine adjustments to the weapons as the enemy closed in. The enemy sloop swung wide, moving to place one of the warships between itself and the Sea Venom. Ballista shots arced out from the enemy warships; the guns were unable to reply until they pulled alongside. Larson wanted Dredge’s first volley to be devastating and to do that, they needed to be close. The first shots from the pirate galley fell short. A second volley was launched, and the shots were short once more.

“Bloody amateurs, captain, they have no idea how to bracket their target,” Dredge called out.

“Good for us, Mr. Dredge, I take it that your crews will perform to a higher standard?” Larson replied.

“Aye, sir, and you’re about to find out,” Dredge said. The two galleys began to pass the Sea Venom, and instead of closing and engaging with boarding action, they chose to bypass Larson and head toward what were likely the easier targets. As they passed, the guns belched out their shots. The shorter range made for easy targeting as one shot after another slammed into the waterline of both ships. With four guns on each side firing, the red-tinged smoke of the weapons briefly obscured their view.

The enemy wasn’t idle either and replied with a pair of catapult stones that slammed into the Venom. Larson could feel Cassia’s pain as one tore a section of deck railing from the ship, pulping two sailors and a marine that was standing nearby. The second stone bounced from the side of the ship, Cassia’s scales helping to deflect the stone with only minimal damage. Ballista bolts zipped by, with several imbedding into the deck, doing little damage save for one of the gun crews that had two men impaled by the same bolt.

“Hard to port, bring us about, reload and prepare to fire,” Larson called out. When the smoke cleared they could see that Dredge’s gunners had been on the mark. At short range the cannon barrage was devastating. At the waterline, both galley’s had were holed in multiple areas, water already pouring in as both ships started to list. There was no way these ships were going anywhere but to the bottom. As the Sea Venom completed her turn, the remaining pirate vessel, the sloop, pulled ahead. It was angling to pass the Lost Souland make a run at the Golden Eel which had lagged behind the others.

The Lost Soul altered course, but the wind was against her and the enemy sloop closed in. Larson moved to the bow of the ship and channeled Command the Currents to help Cassia eke out every knot they could from the ship. His mana dipped as the ship picked up speed. He was closing the distance, but it wasn’t going to be enough to reach the enemy before they were within range of the Golden Eel. A single ballista was mounted on the bow of the enemy sloop and it was already hurling its first bolt at the Eel. As with the larger galley’s, the sloop’s accuracy left something to be desired, but on the third shot, they got lucky and landed a hit on the rear rudder, preventing the ship from maneuvering.

As the pirate sloop closed in for the kill, a ball of fire shot from her deck, a mage was aboard the enemy ship, and she had the Golden Eel in her sights. Magical fire, with an eerie green tinge, exploded over the deck of the Eel and Larson could make out burning figures jumping into the sea. Undercrewed, the ship had trouble dealing with the flames and when a second fireball burst over the quarterdeck, the ship’s fate was sealed. Having scored a kill, the pirate sloop pulled away from the flotilla, trying to escape the Sea Venom that was bearing down on her.

“Sir, do we pursue or render aid to the Golden Eel,” Shada asked. As much as Larson wanted to pursue his prey, the survivors jumping over the side of the Eel needed his help now and the Lost Soul had her hands full covering the other ships. If she pulled away to render aid, the pirate could very well snap up another kill, so Tarley was doing what he needed to do.

“Pull alongside and recover survivors. I don’t think we can deal with the flames,” Larson ordered. The Golden Eel was fully engulfed now and there would be no further survivors other than the few that had made the jump, many of them were struggling to stay above the surface. Swimming wasn’t a skill that most townsfolk possessed, despite living on an island.

When they finally arrived near the flaming wreck, only a few survivors were paddling toward them, the stronger swimmers trying desperately to keep other survivors above the waves. Larson placed his gear in storage and dove over the side. Larson experienced only a moment's discomfort as his lungs adjusted to sea water and he grabbed the first struggling survivor that he came across. It was one of his sailors that had been horribly burned in the fire. With a powerful swipe of his tail, Larson pulled the man back to the Sea Venom, the crew already dropping lines over the side to haul up the survivors while the small ship’s boat was put into the water.

Tying off the injured crewman to the lines, Larson swam back out to help another, only to have his Sense Disturbance ability kick in. Something was out there in the depths, something big that was moving their way.

“My Captain, A predator approaches, something that hungers for flesh. You need to get out of the water, now!” Cassia sent to him. In his mind, he could see the image she conjured up. Something coming up from the dark depths, something with far too many teeth.