Limitless Seas 2, Chapter 32.

Chapter 32.

“Sir, they didn’t have too much in the way of provisions, only a few days’ worth, but it should last a week for the prize crew,” Tarley advised after searching the Bountiful Land. Sadly, there wasn’t much in the way of loot aboard. Other than a small collection of coins in the captain’s cabin, the ship was bare save for the weapons and gear they scavenged, only a few of which were upgrades over the crew’s current gear.

“How’s the ship?” Larson asked.

“She’s good, sir. The pirates may be slovenly scum, but they know the condition of their ship can mean life or death. Oh, and one other thing we turned up, it appears the rapier that the pirate captain was using is magical. Something you want or should I throw it in the loot pile?” Tarley asked, handing Larson the sheathed sword they had recovered from the captain’s body. As Larson unsheathed it, the system responded with information on the weapon.

The Clean Kill. Not every skilled swordsman is forged in the chaos of battle. Others, while having great skill with their weapons, seek a more genteel method of displaying their martial prowess. Dueling has been around for centuries, and one gentleman duelist, Sir Bradford Billings, had this weapon commissioned at great cost. It gave him quite the advantage in a duel and also prevented the glamorous outfits he wore during the fights from becoming sullied by blood and gore.

The Clean Kill ignores most armor types, driving through even enchanted metals to strike at its target. In addition to the bonus to armor penetration, the Clean Kill also provides a bonus to damage, speed, and defense when wielded. While using this weapon, blood and gore will avoid the wielder, always spurting in another direction.

This weapon is compatible with your class as a Privateer Captain, and you will instinctively know how to wield it effectively. Skill and ability will be consummate with your level, though additional skills may be unlocked through training or other magical means.

It seemed like a fine weapon and while Larson liked the well-crafted spear he had been using, it wasn’t magically enhanced in any way. This would be a great upgrade and though he would lose some of the reach he enjoyed with the twin-pronged spear, the bonuses to using this weapon would more than makeup for it. He unsheathed the sword and sent it to his void storage.

A sheath wasn’t necessary when you could summon a weapon instantly to your hand, but he kept it in case he needed to wear the weapon to some function. The blade gleamed with blueish steel and the handle was wrapped in silk and leather. Intricate patterns were forged into the guard, and a large gem of some type adorned the pommel. It would be perfect to wear if he was forced into another event with the lords of the city.

“I’ll take this, have it deducted from my shares when we settle up after the voyage,” Larson said.

“Aye, captain, I’ll see that it’s taken care of,” Tarley said.

After cleaning up the damage from the short battle. Larson got their ships underway once more. The Lost Soul led the way, with Sea Venom trailing slightly behind and the Bountiful Land bringing up the rear. Being the fastest of the bunch, the Bountiful Land could quickly react and avoid any danger while the other two took care of the problem. They sailed through the night and shortly after the sun made its appearance, the lookouts called out that they had spotted land, as well as additional targets.

“Sails on the horizon, pirates leaving the harbor!” Quix shouted out from the crow’s nest as signal flags from the Lost Soul gave the same warning. They confirmed three ships were approaching them, a larger vessel and two smaller ships about the size of the Bountiful Land. It was time for Larson to go to work, the first true test of his new weapons.

“Beat to quarters! Order the Lost Soul to move back and support, take us right at them,” Larson ordered. Tarley maneuvered the other ship, letting her drift back behind the Sea Venom as she closed in on her prey. The pirates looked like they were up for a fight, despite the odds being fairly even. The range closed and the enemy ships continued on course, the smaller vessels lacked any formation discipline and pulled ahead of the larger ship, a large but unwieldy merchantman pressed into service as a pirate warship.

“Guns to starboard, load with solid shot, we’ll engage at 500 yards,” Larson ordered. The crew worked to shift over the two guns that were currently mounted to port, but the hours of training paid off and they shifted the weapons over in record time.

“Sir, an extra ration of ale for the gunners tonight? We beat the record on shifting the guns, sir,” Dredge asked.

“It wasn’t much of a record, and that time will now be the standard. As far as an extra ration of rum, that will depend on how good your shooting is, not just how quickly you can shift the guns around,” Larson replied.

“You heard the captain, boys, send them pirates to the bottom on the first volley and we’ll drink well tonight!” Dredge shouted to his gunners, who responded with a cheer. Larson and the crew waited as the range closed between the two flotillas. Using his spyglass, Larson could see a ballista mounted on the bow of the larger pirate ship, and something else that might have been a catapult mounted to the quarterdeck. Mages were always a possibility, but Larson thought he had the firepower advantage in this fight.

“Hard to port, run out the guns, and target the nearest ship. The guns are yours Mr. Dredge,” Larson ordered. The turn to port was going to be a bit easier given the wind, allowing for a quick first volley.

“Just over six hundred lads, mark your guns and prepare to fire,” Dredge chanted as he walked behind the gunnery crews.

With a crash, the first gun went off, followed a second later by the next as the volley continued down the line. Larson watched their target, one of the small sloops that had pulled slightly ahead of the others. The first shot missed, splashing into the water about twenty yards to port. The second shot clipped the ship’s mainmast, causing the top three feet of it to shear off and crash to the deck, taking a good chunk of their sail with it.

The third shot struck true, hitting the forecastle and tearing away a large section of railing. Wooden shards lanced into the milling crew, cutting down several and wounding many others. The cannonball wasn’t done either, it continued, pulping several crewmen before crashing into the raised quarterdeck where Larson lost track of it. If the ship made it to boarding range, it would do so with a good portion of its crew dead or wounded.

Their fourth shot was hit right at the waterline, just starboard of the bow. Where a ballista might crack open a plank and allowed the water to leak in, the cannonball shattered the plank it hit, tearing several others loose. Heading straight on toward its target, the speed of the pirate vessel was forcing even more water into the ship’s hold. While Dredge’s gunner went about the task of reloading, Larson could see their first target wasn’t going to make it, the ship was already down at the bow and would sink before too long unless the crew got their act together.

“Shifting fire, can you give me two points to starboard?” Dredge called out. The other sloop had altered course, not willing to risk engaging the Sea Venom as they angled toward the Lost Soul, bringing it out of their arc of fire.

“Belay that, concentrate on that big boy, Tarley and the marines will take care of the sloop if they’re dumb enough to try and board,” Larson ordered. The converted merchantman had closed to 500 yards and would bring its siege engines into range before too long if they didn’t do something about it. A minor course correction brought the enemy ship into their sights, Dredge’s boys finished their loading and went to work on the larger adversary.

The guns barked out once more, the shots peppering the bow of the converted merchantman. Larson watched as the first volley obliterated the bow-mounted ballista and the crew standing by to fire it. Dredge shifted fire, sending the next volley at the waterline, two hits were scored, but both shots had skipped on the surface of the water, robbing them of much of their energy. They failed to penetrate the thicker hull of the merchantman but likely did stove in some planks which would give the crew something to worry about other than boarding and killing everyone aboard the Sea Venom.

Their next volley was on target, all hitting on the waterline, but deflecting off some type of shield. Looking around the deck of the enemy ship with his spyglass, Larson could see two mages holding up their arms and chanting, their magic powering whatever was protecting the ship. The next volley crashed in, and Larson watched one of the mages collapse to the deck, writhing in pain from the mana backlash of his spell being shattered by a barrage of cannon fire. Their next volley was stopped by the shield, but not before the impact caused the second mage to drop the shield, not willing to risk the backlash the other had suffered.

From there, it was a simple bit of sailing to keep the range open between them and the more ponderous pirate vessel. Built to haul cargo across a sometimes-violent sea, the ship was sturdy and absorbed volley after volley. Dredge’s gunners were doing fine, but their accuracy was still not up to snuff, only half their shots hit the waterline, others struck the ship and did some damage, but nothing that would put it out of action. Larson would have to work with Bug Bartholomew to come up with something he had just remembered existed, chain shot. Chain shot was simple to make and would do a number on the enemy rigging, making them easy prey, or allow Larson to escape if the foe was too much for them.

Shifting his focus to the Lost Soul, Larson saw the enemy trying to climb up the side of the ship, the sloop’s deck much lower than that of the Soul. Marines lined the deck, hacking down the boarders while sharpshooters in the rigging picked off those waiting to make the climb. Several enemy archers hung dead in the rigging, obviously losing their contest against Tarley’s archers. It was a slaughter and only a matter of time before they cleared the enemy ship, hopefully adding it as an additional prize.

The converted merchantman wouldn’t be a prize, it was listing heavily and a few more volleys should send it to its final rest, taking the cursed pirate crew with her. Larson didn’t want to risk boarding and taking the ship, mages would make the task too costly and dangerous when they still had a stronghold to assault. By the time they had sunk the main pirate vessel, Tarley and his crew had taken care of the smaller sloop, adding yet another prize to their collection. Once again, the problem of who to put in charge of the ship came to the fore. In the end, he had to pull Jacil from Theo’s ship and put him in charge of the second sloop, a ship named Golden Eel.

After some repairs to the Eel from where the Lost Soul’s siege engines had damaged it, they were ready to go. The crew on his two main ships was depleted once again to place a total of eight sailors aboard the Golden Eel. Being much smaller, it only needed a small crew to handle her. Given that there would be support nearby, Larson wasn’t too worried about having both his prizes carrying only the bare minimum needed to sail. There weren’t any magical weapons aboard their new prize, only a small chest carrying the coins that their captain needed for incidentals in port. For a group of bloodthirsty pirates, they sure weren’t rolling in wealth.

They finally made their approach to the pirate stronghold. Without any new prisoners to interrogate, Tarley’s crew and their marines had been overly thorough in their battle, Larson had to rely solely on what Riker had told him. It didn’t appear the man had been lying, as the harbor came into view and he could see the other sloop tied up to the docks. At the far end of the harbor was a makeshift drydock where the damaged merchantman sat. The harbor was well shielded from the sea, with a jetty that protected much of it. Larson would have built up the end of the jetty into a fortified position for some siege engines to help defend the harbor, but the pirates weren’t that industrious it appeared.

A small village had grown up around the harbor, the entire area dominated by a high cliff that housed the ruins of some ancient structure. It was crumbling just as he had been told, but there were still three siege engines mounted on platforms jutting out from the walls. All three of the siege engines were catapults, and he could see figures moving around them, preparing the weapons for action. To enter the harbor, the Sea Venom would have to enter the range of the siege engines. They needed to be taken out before the other ships could make their approach.

The alarm had been raised and instead of casting off and trying to fight their way out to sea, the remaining pirate sloop stayed at anchor, Larson watching as her crew formed up ashore. They likely had word from the stronghold about the fate of the other three ships, and wisely decided to try and fight on solid ground instead of onboard a ship that would surely be sunk. A person that Larson assumed was their captain, organizing the crew to build up barricades that blocked off the docks from the rest of the harbor.

Among the pirates were several men armed in shining bronze chainmail and polished helms, some of the mercenaries that Riker had mentioned. They would have likely been sent by their leader to stiffen the resolve of the pirates defending the port. A few people fled through the small village to an exposed pathway that zig-zagged up the side of the cliff and led to the crumbling stronghold above. There was more movement in the village, but the residents that remained were staying put. Some of the people working in the village and at the harbor would be prisoners forced into labor, and the ones that weren’t too glad to see privateers there to ruin their livelihood were probably the ones fleeing to the fortress.

“Mr. Dredge, can you elevate the guns to fire upon the weapons defending the stronghold?” Larson asked.

“Aye, sir, them contraptions that Bug Bartholomew built for us should get the job done, but we’ll need to get closer. With this much elevation, our range will be cut in half, or worse,” Dredge replied. The crew swarmed the guns lifting them onto ramps that elevated the front of the cannon to a point they resembled a mortar rather than a ship’s gun.

“Youse be carful and lets me check them every few booms for cracks,” Bug said.

“Without the usual recoil system, the stress on the guns will be considerably increased, and while I believe the guns themselves can take it, their carriages and the deck may not be so lucky,” Bug added.

“Bring us in, get some men on the oars, we may have to maneuver quickly and I don’t want to wait for a breeze when there are catapults chucking stones at us,” Larson ordered. When the guns were in place, they moved toward the harbor mouth. Just outside the harbor, Bug Bartholomew indicated they should be in range. All three catapults fired, their shots landing short by at least fifty yards.

“We’re in a race boys, give ‘em the hot iron before they can reload!” Dredge called out to his men as the Sea Venom responded to the catapults with their first volley. He had concentrated all four guns on the nearest platform, intending to take them out one at a time. All four rounds smacked into the crumbling walls of the stronghold, the bits of stone and dust showing them exactly where they had hit. Reloading was slower with the way the guns were mounted, but they were still able to get off their second volley before the crews of the catapults, the mercenaries manning them didn’t seem all that familiar with the weapons they were using.

“That’s the stuff, pour it on,” Dredge ordered the crew. All four of their second rounds had slammed into the nearest platform, knocking down supports and causing the whole thing to crash down to the rocks below, taking several of the catapult crew with it, to Larson’s delight.

Larson had to order the oarsmen to bring them in closer and adjust their position to help the gunners who had limited fields of fire with the guns raised up like they were. They had to shift once again when the catapults fired their second volley, which was also off target. One of the weapons, the one Dredge’s gunners were now targeting, had a structural failure that caused the arm of the catapult to come loose and launch itself in the sea. The final catapult didn’t last much longer, Dredge’s gunners seeing to it before the enemy could fire again.

“Well done, Mr. Dredge, helm, take us into the harbor,” Larson ordered.

“You heard the captain boys, snap to it and get these guns mounted back proper like,” Dredge said as they pulled the risers from beneath their guns, storing them as the last of their solid shot was brought up from the hold.

Ammunition was going to be a problem soon, Dredge letting him know they were down to ten rounds per gun along with a couple of bags of grapeshot. The powder was holding up fine, but they just hadn’t had much time to cast cannonballs back at the estate, and pummeling the converted merchantman to flinders had eaten deeply into their stores. They should be able to sweep these pirates out easily enough with what they had left, hopefully digging out some serious loot from the stronghold before returning home to repair and replenish.