Limitless Seas 2, Chapter 33.

Chapter 33.

“Bring us in real close, Cassia,” Larson whispered to his ship, letting her guide them as they entered the harbor and approached the docks. It hadn’t taken long to neutralize the catapults defending the harbor, but the time they had spent did allow the pirates to reinforce their positions a bit better. Just off the docks, a few of the enemy was hiding behind a makeshift barricade, lobbing arrows at the Sea Venom from extreme range, but the bulk of the force they had seen earlier wasn’t in view.

“Where did they go, sir?” Ibn asked. Remembering the trick the Bountiful Land had pulled, and given that the pirates seemed to have more than their fair share of mages, Larson was willing to bet that some kind of illusion was at play.

“Mr. Dredge, load the guns with grapeshot, we’ll spray the docks with it and see if that turns up any surprises,” Larson ordered. It was a bit of a challenge to unload the weapons, but once they had pulled the current solid shot and replaced it with the bags full of grapeshot, the Sea Venom had pulled into position. Larson had Cassia hold them just off the docks, ordering the crew to find cover from the arrows that were still pelting the ship.

“All right boys, give ‘em a whiff of the grape,” Dredge ordered. He had angled the guns so the spray of shot would cover the widest area possible. All four guns boomed at once, unleashing a hail of one-inch iron balls.

“Reload, same shot,” Larson ordered, having the men reload with a second, and their last, bag of grapeshot. The results of the first volley were devastating indeed, the previously invisible pirates had just clustered themselves across from the dock that the Sea Venom was anchored next to. Waiting to ambush his shore party when they landed to deal with the archers, the overwhelming pirate force would crush the first of Larson’s crew to come ashore. Instead of an easy fight cutting down surprised crewmen, the massed pirates had eaten four rounds of grapeshot, each round carrying a dozen of the one-inch iron balls that Larson used in his pistols. This close, each round could punch through multiple unarmored pirate bodies, and even the chainmail that the mercenaries used proved ineffective against the power of the guns.

A few survivors staggered back from the ambush, many injured or just plain dazed from the amount of destruction that first volley had dealt. They didn’t make it far before Larson's guns spoke again, cutting down the last of the defenders, save for the few archers that were already hightailing to the stronghold. With the catapults dealt with and the immediate area around the docks secured, Larson signaled for the other ships to join them.

The docks could easily handle two dozen ships, so the four of them had no trouble finding a place to dock that was as far from the stronghold as possible, just in case they had any additional surprises waiting. Once docked, the officers gathered aboard the Sea Venom to plan the next stage of their operation. A strong force of marines and crew patrolled the area between the ships and the village, but it didn’t look like any of the villagers hiding out were going to come out to greet them anytime soon. That was fine with Larson, one less problem to worry about for now, but he would need to keep a strong force near the ships just in case the villagers decided to join the fight on the side of the pirates.

“Ibn, I need you to take the Stratwall Harbor marines and some of your men and scout the path to the stronghold. Take a signal flag and let us know what you find up there. Once we have eyes on what they’ve got up there, we can decide if taking the stronghold is going to be worth it,” Larson ordered.

“Aye, sir, I suspect that any of the more desirable loot will be found in the stronghold, given the paltry amount of coin that we liberated from our prizes,” Ibn added.

“It should also be mentioned that we don’t have to do anything further, we can sail home with our prizes and collect a fat reward from the town for dealing with the pirates and informing them of the large task force out there looking for the unsuspecting merchant fleet that we think this Lord Makon is targeting. Is there anyone that thinks we should just leave now, quit while we’re ahead?” Larson asked. As he suspected, they all wanted to stay for the chance at a bigger payday.

Instead of leading the entire marine force up the pathway, Ibn opted to just take a pair of his men with him on a scouting run. As they waited for Ibn to make the long walk up to the stronghold, Larson had his men search both the sloop at the docks and the damaged merchantman. Bug Bartholomew went along to look at the merchant ship in the drydock and see what kind of repairs it might need. It turned out that during the fight where she had been taken, a few of the hull planks near the waterline had given way. Little to no progress had been made on repairs, which Bug Bartholomew thought he could complete in a day or and have her seaworthy. It wasn’t long before Ibn came back down the pathway, alone.

“Captain, we made it to the top and the stronghold is sealed up real tight. There’s a large gate that’s been reinforced with iron straps. The place may look like it’s rotting away on the outside, but that gate looks new, and the walls are going to be tough to scale. I’ve left my two men behind to keep an eye on things, but so far, the only activity we’ve seen is one of the mercenaries poking his head up to look around every few minutes,” Ibn reported.

“Bug Bartholomew, how hard would it be to drag one of the guns up there? I think they’d make quite the door knocker,” Larson asked.

“It can be done, we can haul it up without too much difficulty as long as someone else helps by carrying the powder and shot for us,” Bug replied.

“We’ll do that, bring up the gun, the marines, and half the crew. Tarley will stay to watch over the ships and begin repairs on the merchantman. The pirates didn’t seem like they were in too much of a rush with it, but I’m not going to leave it behind when we leave. Once the doors are down, we’ll assault the stronghold and root out what’s left of the mercenaries and see what kind of valuables they’ve left behind for us,” Larson ordered.

It didn’t take long for them to get moving and Bug Bartholomew didn’t have much of a problem moving the cannon they had hauled over from the Sea Venom. The small wheels used aboard the ship to help with the recoil weren’t made for traveling overland, and a few crew had to help the ogre in the turns to get the gun rolling in the correct direction. It was late afternoon by the time they neared the top of the path, and they organized themselves for the assault.

First up the path would be the Stratwall Harbor marines who would create a shield wall to protect the gunners, who would be right behind them, from any missile fire. If the gun could take out the gate, they would break into teams and sweep the inside of the place. Dredge’s bad leg didn’t let him scale the pathway, but he had left behind his best gun crew. At Larson’s signal, the marines rushed up the path, shields held high. Larson joined them, his magic shield joining the others. The gun crew came up next, the gun rattling and clanking as it was hauled forward.

A shout went up from the walls, the lookout spotting them after hearing the noise. His warning was drowned out by the gun firing, the first round had been already been loaded and ready to fire. The iron cannonball flew about fifty feet before crashing into the gate. It hit on one of the iron bands reinforcing the thick planks, denting the band, and cracking the wood nearby before bouncing down the cliff and into the sea. The crew worked quickly, but it took more time here as they had no ropes to absorb some of the gun’s recoil and had to haul the cannon up a good distance after each shot. At first, Larson was worried the recoil would knock the gun off the edge of the plateau the stronghold was situated on, but it came to a stop a good ten feet from the edge.

Arrows and javelins began to streak down from the walls and Larson responded with a pair of blasts from his pistols. One mercenary took a headshot and collapsed behind the wall, but several others continued to pop up and fire or throw their weapons before ducking back down into cover. The marines specializing in ranged warfare joined Larson, their accurate fire dropping a few of the mercenaries before the others gave up on anything resembling an aimed shot, instead just kept hurling javelins, and firing arrows blindly from cover.

“I believe I can help with those mercenaries. Why don’t we recruit a few of them to our cause?” Narbos said, working his necromancy. A dark cloud of energy fell over the wall, reanimating the dead mercenaries. Shouts of alarm and sounds of combat were heard behind the wall as the dead attacked their former allies. Narbos told them that there was only four undead that he had been able to raise, but they should be sufficient to keep the enemy ranged fire off them for a bit.

The gun continued its work, slamming shot after shot into the gate. There was a slight delay as they sent word to bring more ammunition up from the ship. Larson was getting worried they would run out of ammunition before the gate was down, but after a bit, the repeated hits began to shift the gate away from the wall. Mounting brackets tore from the stone and after a final blast, the gate collapsed to the ground, leaving the way into the stronghold open.

Marines and sailors stormed the breach, Larson leading the way with all his weapons out. It seemed a bit strange to be carrying the rapier instead of the short spear, but the weapon felt right in his grip, light and easy to wield now that the system had imparted the knowledge of how to use it in his mind. He expected a shield wall or some kind of organized defense at the gate, instead, he saw a few mercenaries fleeing to a ruined building in the center of an open square. Along the walls, open doorways were seen, leaving Larson to believe that they served as barracks or supply depots for the stronghold. The ruins in the center of the stronghold were open on one side where a wall had collapsed, and inside Larson could see the figures of the remaining mercenaries trying to find cover. He counted only a score of them, which was much too few to defend this large an area.

Ibn led his marines and detachments of sailors to search the doorways along the walls, checking to make sure there weren’t any additional mercenaries lurking inside to make a counterattack. The Stratwall Harbor marines formed in a line, with the unarmored sailors massed behind. He ordered the gun to be brought up, the mercenaries had good cover among the rubble in the temple, but the cannon would blast them out or at least cause enough casualties to make the cleanup less costly for his men.

“The walls are clear, captain, the rooms were sleeping quarters for the mercenaries as well as storehouses for their provisions. I didn’t see anything of value, so any loot they have must be in there,” Ibn said, pointing toward the ruins.

“Very good, let’s see if we can do this without any more trouble,” Larson said, moving closer to the ruins. “You in the ruins, surrender, or we’ll kill you to the last,” Larson shouted.

“You’ll kill us even if we leave. Why should we make it easy for you?” A man shouted back.

“I’ll kill any pirate among you, but as far as I’m concerned, it looks like most of you lot are mercenaries that took a bad contract. Am I right about that?” Larson asked.

“Aye, we’re the Golden Clan and only have a short time left on our contract. Who exactly are you and what do you propose?” A mercenary shouted back.

“I’m Captain Larson of the Sea Venom, a privateer out of Stratwall Harbor. You fought well, but our battle is against the pirates, not hired swords. If you agree to end your contract, we’ll allow you to leave here without any further bloodshed. You may keep your weapons and your honor. This battle is over, and I sincerely doubt your contract was to fight to the death,” Larson offered.

“I suppose we have no choice to accept, so long as we keep our gear and possessions. I’ll also need passage to wherever you’re heading to,” the man countered.

“Done, what’s your name? We’ll be heading back to Stratwall Harbor as soon as we’re finished our business here. We can give you a ride back as long as you don’t cause any trouble,” Larson promised.

“I’ll take you at your word, Captain Larson. I’m Silas Crow, leader of the band now that everyone else above me was killed. Those weapons of yours are impressive, I don’t suppose you’d be willing to trade for a few?” Crow asked.

“Sorry, it’s not something that’s easy, or cheap, to create. The magic to make them is complicated and requires some rather odd reagents,” Larson said, making up something on the spot about how the cannon were made. Let everyone think they were created by some obscure magical ritual, and it might be some time before they realize how simple the guns were and the only magic was in how the sorcerer’s sand interacted with two-headed ogre blood.

“I didn’t think you’d give any up, but I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t try,” Crow said, moving closer to shake one of Larson’s hands. “Captain Larson, you said you’re heading back to Stratwall Harbor? I guess Lord Makon’s attack failed then,” Crow said.

“Wait, you mean that Lord Makon’s target was Stratwall Harbor? That’s where his fleet went? The sailor we picked up said he thought it was a merchant convoy they were after,” Larson asked.

“Aye, I suppose most of the crews would think that. Lord Makon let that rumor circulate, but since he wanted to take some of my boys with him, he had to disclose the target to our leadership before we would agree. Now that I think about it, if you left from there, you would have been already out at sea and on your way here when the attack struck. Given the number of ships and the gaggle of pirates that Makon gathered up, I think you might want to return sooner rather than later,” Crow said.

“Gather your men and belongings, head down to the docks, Ibn here will provide an escort, so you don’t run into any trouble with the men below. I’ll talk to you in a bit once I sort things out up here,” Larson said, trying to remain calm in front of the mercenary. Ibn arranged an escort while Larson arranged an officer’s call, sending for Tarley to make it up here as quickly as he could.

“Captain, do you think the pirates could take the city? The defenses are strong and while their fleet might not be as large as the ones the pirates had gathered, they’re all warships,” Shada asked. Larson held off on an answer, waiting for Tarley and Ibn to join them. They took one of the barracks buildings over to have a meeting while the rest of the crew scoured the area for any loot. Sadly, it didn’t look like they would find much, Lord Makon and the mercenary leaders would have taken most of their valuables with them, and they weren’t the type to leave their treasures in the care of mercenaries.

“We have to assume that Stratwall Harbor has been attacked by now and while they’re well defended, we can’t ignore the possibility that the pirates were successful. The makon attack depleted the guard, and most of their new recruits aren’t well trained yet. Their ships are formidable, though, and should put up quite a fight. I think we need to get back as soon as possible. Even if the pirates sank the Stratwall fleet, they’ll have been cut to ribbons in the process. We’ll hit them when they don’t expect it and sink what’s left of their fleet,” Larson offered.

“Captain, what if they’ve already put ashore? They could control the whole city,” Tarley asked.

“Even with the guard depleted, each of the lords has their household guards and any of the merchant crews in town would surely fight. I don’t think they have the manpower to take the town, especially after the casualties they’re likely to suffer fighting their way through the Stratwall fleet. Sure, they can raid and pillage, but they’re not going to be able to set up shop there,” Larson said.

“That seems logical. We should be able to put to sea almost immediately, but if you give me a few hours, I think I can have the merchantman repaired enough to make the journey without any trouble. Having more ships would make our attack seem even more formidable than it is,” Bug Bartholomew offered.

“I hate to wait, and we don’t have the crew to do more than keep her on course, but the only other option is to destroy the ship because I’m not leaving it behind for the pirates. You’ve already got a work detail fixing it, check it over and let me know exactly how long you’ll need,” Larson said. The merchantman was a good prize if it could sail, but it would further deplete their crew numbers as it would need about ten hands to sail her and six or eight for the sloop that was docked.

“I’ll get everyone back to the ship and we’ll make ready to sail,” Tarley said. Larson would have liked more time to explore the stronghold and search for anything interesting that might have been left behind, but it didn’t look like it would be possible. What was he going to find when they sailed back into Stratwall Harbor?