Limitless Seas, Chapter 28.

Chapter 28.

The ship was closing with them more slowly than the pirate had, this vessel was larger and carried a lot of sail, but it was too far off to make out any other details. Larson sent a messenger to let Ibn know his time was limited and he needed everyone back aboard the Sea Venom before this new contact closed in. It would take some time for the vessel to get close enough to identify, so Larson began to review his new level, there might be something helpful in the options the system offered him.

Larson, Ship’s Captain, Level 3.

Your maximum crew limit has improved.

Your Command Presence ability has improved. Crew and officers no longer need to be in direct line of sight if they are aboard ship or within 100 yards of their assigned vessel. In addition, while under the effects of Command Presence, your crew will perform their shipboard duties 5% more efficiently. All bonuses for Command Presence require that crew morale be at or over 50%.

New class ability unlocked.

Chart a Course: This ability grants a small bonus in choosing best course to take and dangers to avoid while in the open ocean. This ability scales and improves as your level increases.

Your racial ability Create Water has improved. You can now create up to three gallons of either salt or fresh water each day.

The improvements were more incremental than groundbreaking this time. Larson had hoped for something to give him an edge in battle, but it looked like he would have to do this the hard way. With the loss of Nogreb, he had an open officer slot, into which he promoted Bug Bartholomew as the Ship’s Engineer. The big guy might become the new bosun at some point, but he wasn’t sure if bosun was the best fit for the ogre.

“Sir, we’ve got the headcount and Ibn says he’s found and either captured or eliminated the remaining crew of the pirate vessel. According to the prisoners, the ship is called the Lost Soul,” Tarley reported. Larson pulled up the information in his interface, wondering if he could have checked that to verify losses before the headcount had been completed. Somehow, he doubted the system would make things that easy for him.

Ship’s Complement for the Gull Dropping:

Crew: 27/70.

Specialized Crew: 5/11. Your specialized crew consists of marines and an engineering crewman.

Officers: 5/5.

Prisoners: 8.

Passengers: 0.

He had lost fifteen crew along with Nogreb in the fight. The number would have been much worse if not for Shada’s magic. She had stabilized all the critical cases and continued to heal the worst wounds among the crew whenever her mana allowed it. Ibn and his marines pulled the prisoners out of the hold and had them lined up on the deck of the pirate vessel, hands secured behind their backs. Two of the prisoners were the young men that Fontaine had indicated were the lordlings that he had been sent to rescue. It looked like he didn’t have time to sort them out just yet, he had to decide what to do with the ship bearing down on him.

Larson considered his options. With his depleted crew, he couldn’t man both ships effectively in a fight. The Lost Soul would be abandoned for now, she shouldn’t drift too far if things with the new ship came to a fight and he would need every hand aboard the Sea Venom to handle her effectively. He called his officers over for a quick word.

“First, we don’t have much time, I’m promoting Bug Bartholomew to become our ship’s engineer. I don’t have good feeling about that ship bearing down on us and I don’t think it’s wise to just sit her and wait to see what they intend. I want the sea anchor set on the other ship and have everyone back aboard the Sea Venom, we’ll sort out the other ship after we deal with our visitors. Ibn, take the prisoners below and chain them to the oars. Let them know if they perform well at the oars, I won’t kill them. Should they cause any trouble I’ll see that their end is a long and painful one. Two of them are supposed to be the hostages, but we won’t know that for sure until we can confirm with Lord Mox. For now, put them to work, but let your men know not to bruise them up to badly.

“We’ll meet the approaching ship at sea, get our scorpion ready to engage and put the arbalests on the…” Larson paused, using his new ability to view the sea between them and the approaching ship. If he placed them on the port side, the sea and wind would be a bit more favorable for him. “Put the weapons on the portside mounts. Let’s keep two of the marines below deck to keep an eye on the prisoners. I also want eight of our own crew down there to help with the oars. Everyone else will prepare the ship for action. Get to work people, time is short,” Larson ordered.

As the remaining work parties came back aboard, two of Ibn’s marines ran back below decks and emerged with a large wooden chest bound with brass straps. From the way they shuffled under the load, the chest appeared to be heavy. Ibn came over to explain as his other men led the prisoners below decks and Tarley sorted out the rest of the crew and saw to removing the corvus’ holding the two ships together.

“Sir, I spotted this inside the captain’s cabin of the other ship and thought it might hold something we don’t want to go down with the Lost Soul should there be an unfortunate accident,” Ibn said, gesturing toward the chest with a flourish. Larson had them stow the chest inside his cabin, he would have to inspect it later, after their visitor was seen to.

They pushed away from the pirate ship, the sails of the Sea Venom filling slowly with wind as Tarley worked the rudder to put them on course. The wind had died down to a mild breeze at this point, forcing Larson to use the oars for most of his speed. Picking out four more of the crew working on deck, Larson sent them below to help with the oars. It left him with only fifteen crew topside and five of those were operating the weapons. Ten working the sails was more than sufficient, and he could always pull the crew from below if things came to a boarding action. The crew were still had their arms and shields close at hand, the few with any armor were wearing it.

The distance between the vessels began to close rapidly as the Sea Venom headed toward the intruder. His crew were well drilled in rowing at this point and while the pirates that he had pressed into service at the oars weren’t exactly pulling in time with the others, it didn’t appear that any were actively trying to hamper their progress. His scorpion was full loaded, the two oversized bolts ready to fire at his command. The arbalests were also ready to go, a human crewman stepping in to replace the fallen halfling on one of the weapons. Bug Bartholomew moved some of their camouflage panels over to hide the presence of the scorpion. Larson wanted it to be a surprise if it came to a fight.

Quix was still in the crow’s nest and another sailor was climbing the rigging to bring him a bundle of bolts for his weapon. Larson slithered onto the forecastle to get a better view, leaving Tarley at the tiller. Shada continued to make her rounds and once all the serious wounds were taken care of, she healed the wound in his arm. While the wound had stopped bleeding, it was painful and kept him from using the shield effectively. He ordered her to hold off on healing any of the other less serious wounds, wanting her to have some mana available in case this came to a fight.

As the other ship approached, Larson realized the lines of the vessel were familiar. There were three main sailing masts with lateen rigged sails, but it didn’t have any oars. His ship would have the maneuverability and perhaps the speed advantage given the winds didn’t pick up. Realization hit him as he watched the bow mounted ballista train over to aim at his ship. He couldn’t make the name out yet, but the row of marines holding familiar two-pronged spears and shields told Larson where he had seen this ship before. It was the Sea Jumper, the vessel that fought with the Gull Dropping and opened his opportunity to escape his bonds. He also remembered their parting words and the ballista shot to the mainmast that nearly doomed them all. The captain of the approaching ship had stood on deck laughing at his misfortune, it was an insult he would be more than happy to repay, but first he wanted to know why they were here.

“Steady on the main battery, if it turns to a fight focus your fire on their siege engine,” Larson ordered.

He shouted over to the arbalest crews, Quix, and the pair of marines armed with short bows to focus on the mercenaries the other ship carried. Ibn and his boys were good, but he also remembered the thrashing that the mercenaries had given the pirate crew in the earlier battle. He had Tarley and the oarsmen stand ready for maneuvers if the other ship fired, they could hopefully maneuver away from the shot or at least throw off their aim at long range. His own scorpion had a more powerful initial volley was likely more accurate given Bug Bartholomew had built it. They closed to firing range of the siege weapons and the other vessel pulled in some sail, lowering their speed. It looked like they wanted to parley or at least get closer before causing trouble.

“Ahoy, who commands the Sea Venom?” A voice shouted from the other ship. It was the halfling captain of the Sea Jumper, Helia.

“It’s me, Captain Larson, state your business or shove off,” Larson shouted back.

“Oh, the jumped-up pirate slave still claims to be a captain, does he? You’re just the scum we were looking to find. I think you have a couple of lordlings on board that I’m here to take off your hands,” Helia said. How did she even know that they were here or what their mission was?

“No, everything we have aboard is ours to keep. Just how did you find us?” Larson asked, not sure if Helia would reply.

“Why a little bird in port told me of your task. In fact, he said if we were to relieve you of the cargo or beat you to it, I would gain the reward that you were promised. It looks like you’ve done all the heavy lifting for us, so why don’t you heave to and let my men collect the prize and we’ll let you live,” Helia said, confident in her larger and better crewed vessel. She hadn’t spotted the scorpion hiding behind the makeshift cover, and Larson was glad to keep her attention away from it.

“We’re not helpless this time, this time we have teeth,” Larson said as the distance between the vessels dropped to fifty yards, easy bowshot and ridiculously close range for the siege weapons.

“Ha, a pair of oversized crossbows are no match for a ballista, don’t be stupid Larson, surrender,” Helia shouted. Larson could see that she had replaced and perhaps expanded the number of mercenaries under her command, there were a score of the well-armed warriors and the rest of her crew, which vastly outnumbered her own, were armed and ready for a fight. This wasn’t going to be solved by words, it was time to start the killing. Bug Bartholomew must have sensed his response, and behind him, Larson could hear the ogre pull back the cable on the portable ballista mounted on Bartholomew’s arm as the ogre prepared for the battle.

“I think you’ll find the Sea Venom’s fangs are a bit larger and more deadly than you thought,” Larson said, ordering his men to fire. Bug Bartholomew pulled down the camouflage panel covering the scorpion, dropping it into the sea as his scorpion crew took aim at the enemy ballista. One after another, the weapon’s two bolts launched across the small space that separated the two ships. The first hit one of the ballista arms, shattering the steel and sending pieces of the weapon flying into the crew around it. The second bolt took out one of the weapon operators, the force of the blow hurling the man over the railing and into the sea below.

The Sea Venom’s other weapons fired a moment later, bolts and arrows flying into the assembled mercenaries. Three of the warriors fell to the deck either dead or wounded, the others got their oversized shields up to defend themselves in time. His men began to reload their weapons as the enemy responded with their own archer fire. A dozen of the enemy crew standing behind the line of mercenaries were armed with short bows. They rushed their shots, startled by the Sea Venom’s initial volley, but despite their poor aim, two of Larson’s crew fell on the deck and called for help as the arrow hit home. Shada rushed over to the fallen, her shield expertly placed between the enemy and herself as she tried to save the wounded.

“I wish we had some cannon,” Larson mumbled to himself as he watched the men try to reload, finally feeling the pull of the oars as the crew tried to put distance between the two ships. He wasn’t sure how the thought had entered his mind, visions of weapons from his old world appeared, fire belched, and huge iron balls smashed wooden ships to flinders. Other images appeared, great steel vessels firing enormous weapons at ships too far away to see clearly. His recalled memories stopped as a ball of flame shot from the aft of Helia’s ship, slamming into his scorpion, setting the engine on fire, and engulfing all three crewmen in white hot flame. They screamed horribly high-pitched wails of pain for just a moment before the impossibly hot fires consumed them.

Larson initially feared that enemy ship had somehow acquired a cannon, the weapon conjured up somehow by his thoughts, but then realized the source of the fire as a man on the quarterdeck stood chanting as he began to build another ball of fire in his hands. A damage control team was trying to douse the flames around the now hopelessly ruined scorpion, but thankfully, the intense heat ended as the spells magic was consumed, leaving only normal flames behind. He had to stop the enemy mage, or the ship would be burned down around them.

A pair of arrows from his marine archers deflected off some magical barrier that surrounded the mage, who was going to finish his spell before the slower arbalests and crossbows could make their next shots. Larson reached into his mana pool forming his Create Water spell, directly over the mage’s head, sending a gallon of seawater over him. The spell was able to penetrate whatever barrier was around the mage, the protective spell must have been to prevent physical objects and didn’t stop Larson from conjuring the water inside the protective barrier.

The mage flinched as the water doused him, some of the liquid hit the growing fire spell, flashing instantly to steam, causing the mage to scream out as steam blasted the side of his face. This was no simple hedge wizard or tired ship’s mage, the man was good and despite the dousing and the pain of his burns, he kept control of his spell. With a look of anger on his scalded face, the mage poured more mana into his spell, the fireball growing even larger than the first had been.

With a loud crack, the protective shell around the mage failed and the shaft of a ballista bolt stood quivering in his chest. The look on the mage turned from anger to pain as he collapsed to the deck, the spell in his hand too far along to just dissipate away harmlessly as the mage died. The magical fireball left the mage’s hand and flew into the center mast of the Sea Jumper, exploding to engulf the sails and rigging. Flames spread rapidly along the rigging as some of the blast slammed into the deck, killing some of the crew and setting several fires.

“Take that for burnsing up my scorp-e-on, stupid mage!” Bartholomew shouted out, furious that his hard work had gone up in flames and working frantically to reload the weapon strapped to his arm. Another volley from his own archers peppered the decks, taking down more crew and mercenaries.

“Take us out of range of their short bows but keep us in arbalest range,” Larson ordered. Tarley relayed his orders below to the oarsmen and worked the tiller to bring the Sea Venom about. Larson then used the two remaining gallons of water from his Conjure Water spell to help douse the flames around the scorpion. The damage control team of four worked furiously, hauling up buckets of seawater to extinguish the remaining flames before they could spread. Larson’s spell seemed to help, and they looked to have the situation under control.

A final volley of arrows landed into the Sea Venom as the passed out of bowshot of the other ship. The volley was poorly aimed and only contained a half dozen arrows this time which all harmlessly struck aft, below the deck railing. Larson had the arbalests concentrate on the archers, if he could take them out, then they could close in and allow his other ranged weapons to come into play.

“Bartholomew, see if you can put some holes below the waterline,” Larson ordered, watching as his next shot hit just at the waterline, wedging into the hull planking but not doing much damage. The next shot wasn’t much better, deflecting off the water and bouncing uselessly off the hull. While the portable ballista on his arm was powerful, it wasn’t exactly a ship destroying siege engine. The ogre turned his attention back toward the milling crew on the deck of the Sea Jumper, all of whom were occupied in trying to find cover form the arbalests or fighting the growing conflagration in their rigging.

With most of its sail burning, the Sea Jumper was running adrift, and Larson had the Sea Venom slowly circle its prey, arbalests and the ogre keeping up a steady and deadly fire. The enemy crew were dropping one by one and the fires began to grow as more and more of them sought cover from the incoming bolts, instead of trying to battle the flames.

As they completed another circuit around the stricken ship, Larson saw they were trying to put a lifeboat in the water, Helia, the mercenary leader, and an assortment of crew were piling in as they abandoned their ship. Fights broke out as the crew realized their only other lifeboat was burning to a crisp. A line of mercenaries held them back from the functioning lifeboat, killing the panicked crew as they swarmed for their only hope of salvation. The crew overran the thin line of mercenaries as the lifeboat pushed off from the ship, several of the panicked men diving into the water and swimming for the lifeboat, only to meet the blades of those aboard as they sought to keep the overloaded boat from being swamped.

Larson ordered the Sea Venom to open up the distance between the ships as the fires spread and flaming cinders began to blow from the doomed Sea Jumper.  Many of the crew on the stricken enemy vessel were overcome by the heat and smoke but at least a score of them had jumped overboard and were paddling toward the lifeboat. Fins began to break the surface of the water, all the fighting and blood spilled nearby had been ringing the dinner bell and the first diners were happy to see the buffet splashing helplessly in front of them.

The lifeboat pulled toward the Sea Venom, the mercenary leader frantically waiving a white kerchief over his head in surrender. Larson ordered his ship to halt, the action encouraging the lifeboat crew who rowed with renewed fervor as they approached the Sea Venom. Larson let them get close enough to hear him.

“So, Helia, it looks like you’re in nearly the same position I found myself if not so long ago. Your adrift with no help in sight, perhaps you’ll make it to the island in time,” Larson said, pointing toward the barely seen island in the distance, an extremely hard journey in an overloaded lifeboat.

“Help us, take us aboard and I’ll see you’re paid well when we make port,” Helia shouted up to him. She and the rest of the survivors in the boat looked pitiful with their soot covered faces and clothing.

“I don’t think I will, you see, I’m not exactly the forgiving type. Instead of helping me and my crew after we had helped you defeat the pirates, you fired on our ship, taking out our mast and leaving us nearly helpless. I think I’ll return the favor. Bug Bartholomew, put a hole in that lifeboat,” Larson ordered. The ogre gave an evil grin as he took aim, the weapon on his arm gave off a loud clack as it fired. Larson watched as the bolt burst through bottom of the lifeboat, passing through the leg of the one of the crew on its way. Water spurted up from the hole, Helia and the crew frantically trying to find some way to plug the leak.

“Plugging that hole might be too easy a task, give them a few more,” Larson ordered. The helpless crew aboard the lifeboat squealed in fear as the ogre reloaded and fired again, and again, leaving them no hope of controlling the leaks.

“Your point is made captain, shouldn’t we take them aboard, they’re helpless out there,” Shada asked, concern in her voice as she walked over to the railing next to Larson on the forecastle.

“No, they would have killed us all and taken the prize today if they could. They left us to die once before, and I will not stay my hand when I have them in my grasp,” Larson said firmly. Shada didn’t look like she agreed, but wisely kept her arguments to herself. Larson kept them there, just out of reach, backing the ship whenever one of them swam close to the ship. One by one, the crew of the Sea Jumper were pulled down by the sharks or downed from exhaustion. Only when the last had slipped below the waves did Larson move or speak.

“Learn from this today, never leave an enemy behind. Never assume your foe is doomed until you seem the pulled under for the last time. We may accept surrender when its benefits us, like we did with some of the crew of the Lost Soul, but for ones that have wronged us like the crew of the Sea Jumper,  we leave only corpses behind,” Larson said, ordering the ship to head back to the Lost Soul and whatever treasures he might find aboard her.