The Pirate Republic [IC, PT, Sign-up]

[Christoslavia]

Adventure Cove Inn

Myers seemed to pay no mind to the various levels of fuckery happening in the bar. With a deep sigh and muffled growl he downed the rest of his rum and about faced to the commotion. The gunshots didn't faze him but some shrapnel from the bunderbuss hit uncomfortably close to where he was sitting, a few splinters went about, thankfully none into his drink.

In a commanding, grumbly voice, Myers boomed at the direction of the Marines, "Vat ze fuck vaz zat? Sheiße some Marines you are?"

Myers still wore his coat from when he was a Wankan sailor, although it was barely recognizable, tattered and torn and stained, but if you looked hard enough you could still make out the style.

"Back ven I did zis sheiße ve vere professionals."

He stormed up to the Marines and stared them down as he towered over 6 feet tall. "Vell? Alert your garrison, pirates are on ze loose, and ve can't have zat now can ve? Come, let us go"

[Murovanka]

Victory, Lt Marcus thought as he surveyed the scene before him. Two bands of criminals had successfully been dispatched from the vulnerable island, though it was unfortunate he couldn't get his hands on their prizes. But still. In the midst of the smoke, still lingering in the air, Schultz was holding the other Marine who had received a musket ball through the shoulder- it looked critical.

He knew Captain Lanzing would be pleased. It was long policy that pirates were not minded as long as they kept to themselves and paid their dues, but if any caused trouble they had to be shut down quickly.

Suddenly he realized that Joanne wasn't here, which he'd noticed fleetingly during the confrontation but whose consequences he just began to realize. He looked at Myers. "Sir, please help my two soldiers back to report to the garrison HQ."

He then ran to the locked door by the bar and shouted for the Barman to open up before frantically searching the rooms for the woman he'd been ordered to protect.

Elsewhere on United Island, Chong the cabin boy disembarked from the merchant junk and waited another few hours before buying himself a trip to Canton, where he would give his letter to imperial authorities. It took him a while to finally reach safety, but after he did, he was rewarded handsomely for his deeds as the Chen Emperor contemplated the new developments in the Hesperan Sea.

[Christoslavia]

Suddenly he realized that Joanne wasn't here, which he'd noticed fleetingly during the confrontation but whose consequences he just began to realize. He looked at Myers. "Sir, please help my two soldiers back to report to the garrison HQ."

"Nasty vound you have zere son. Come let's get on to your HQ, lead ze vay. And Lieutenant, be careful. Recklessness get's many a man killed out here."


later...

The Dreamcatcher had finally been brought to port, out of sight of the Chen junk and just in time to witness two other sloops frantically fleeing some sort of scene. Bloody pirates no doubt but it, at least at present, wasn't their responsibility to do anything, not that they could react quick enough.

Captain Schreiner, followed by First Mate Strecker and their new hostage, still wimpering at the loss of his speech.

Schreiner moved himself heartily up the stairs leading to the wheel

"Alright now lads. Ze Governor has decided to strike us a deal. And I quote, What I suggest for the time being until the Kriegsmarine shows up- which can take months- you place yourself, your men and your ships under my command for the protection of the island. As compensation for you not being able to carry on with your business, whatever that may be, I will share with you and your crew the harbour taxes."

Several grumbles mixed with applause and considerations swept through the crew.

"Now, ye all know how ve settle things on zis ship. I will hear arguments, zen ve vote ja?"

A chorus of Jawohl roared back. After several minutes of deliberation, the ayes had it. The Dreamcatcher extended its service to Wanka.

"I alvawys do love me a robust debate lads. Now as for our most honored guest here, for zose of you who couldn't guess, zis is ze captain of zat Chen junk vich killed 17 of our comrades. Zey are docked in ze harbor, and ve von't just let zem sit around Ja?"

"Jawohl Captain!"

"I vant a boarding party to approach ze ship from ze dock. Storm zem after ze Dreamcatcher catches zem vith a broadside. No survivors."

[Murovanka]

Marcher woke up in the darkness. He was lying in some sort of ditch by the side of the road, and the first thing he noticed was the stinging pain in his head. With difficulty he remembered what had transpired. At least, he last recalled walking down this road with his arms around Joanne- where was she? Fear crept up to him as he staggered to his feat and stumbled into the forest.

"JOANNE!"

He cried out again and again, and ahead of him leaves rustled. For a moment in the moonlight he caught a glimpse of a frightened figure with long, messy hair; her dress had been ripped apart and she was covered in blood. The woman screamed when she caught sight of Marcher and took off.

"JOANNE! WAIT!" Marcher shouted as he ran after her. "TIS ME, MARCHER!"

They reached a clearing and suddenly found themselves on the city streets. Two soldiers on patrol caught hold of Joanne, thinking at first that they were dealing with a prostitute; but recognizing the daughter of the Governor, paled in shock at her predicament.

Marcher suddenly found himself facing a pair of bayonets fixed to two muzzles. He collapsed while one of the soldiers grabbed him to his feet again, frogmarching him hurriedly to the Captain Lanzing's office.

At the Marine HQ

As the wounded Marine was being brought to the surgeon, Lieutenant Marcus, Captain Lanzing and Governor Ecord readied to meet. Before Myers entered the office however, someone from behind kicked a rock softly in his direction to gain his attention. Stoner appeared from behind.

"Hey, you Schreiner's man? Got a message for yer cap'n from mine." Stoner walked up casually. "We 'now Schreiner met with the Governor. Wotever deal ye think o' doing, it do not worth it. The Imperial navy won't save ye, and ye know why? Because we do them in bad, not only. They ships ours now and we be ready to flatten the Governor's house when we want te. The Governor is cheating ye, Schreiner's men, and ye be better joining us than 'elping that corrupt-shit-royal."

Canton, Chen Empire

A message, signed personally by the Chen Emperor, was delivered securely to the Wankan ambassador in Canton, who read it with alarming concern. Immediately, he wrote his own missives, directing that they be brought to their addressees with great haste, sending them on two post-ships to cross the Hesperan Gulf. They would reach the vicinity of the Hesperan Peninsula soon around which the Imperial Far-West Squadron under Admiral Jonker was operating.

[Christoslavia]

At the Marine HQ

As the wounded Marine was being brought to the surgeon, Lieutenant Marcus, Captain Lanzing and Governor Ecord readied to meet. Before Myers entered the office however, someone from behind kicked a rock softly in his direction to gain his attention. Stoner appeared from behind.

"Hey, you Schreiner's man? Got a message for yer cap'n from mine." Stoner walked up casually. "We 'now Schreiner met with the Governor. Wotever deal ye think o' doing, it do not worth it. The Imperial navy won't save ye, and ye know why? Because we do them in bad, not only. They ships ours now and we be ready to flatten the Governor's house when we want te. The Governor is cheating ye, Schreiner's men, and ye be better joining us than 'elping that corrupt-shit-royal."

Myers looked Stoner up and down for a solid minute, sizing up the man before him. When finished he took a step closer, and with hot, heavy breath, leaned towards him

"Fuck off pirate scum"

He turned around sharply and entered the HQ without another word


The Harbor

The broadside sent wood and metal and shrapnel exploding throughout the sky and into the harbor, holes the size of bodies ripped through the Chennese junk, pirates frantically sprinted around the deck, shouting and screaming albeit confused commands in a hurry to get reoriented. The Dreamcatcher hovered over the Chennese junk, and in the time beign Captain Schreiner calmy walked aboard with dozens of his men, and the Chennese captain in hand.

"STOP BLOODY MOVIN'!"


In a moment where time froze and the pirates stopped running, they collectively turned to look as an assembly of privateers ammassed almost unnoticed on the deck, and one in particular held their captain.

"Two things are going to happen aye? Von, I am going to kill your Captain..." At this Schreiner swiftly brandished his pistol, and without a second thought put a bullet into the head of the bloodied and bruised Chen. After relinquishing his pistol into his holster, he then slowly drew his cutlass.

"And two, ve are going to kill all of you"

[Murovanka]

Marine Garrison HQ
Santo Antonio Town

"WHAT HAPPENED? SPEAK!" Governor Ecord had patiently waited for Lieutenant Marcus to finish boasting about his exploits, for having single-handedly chased two bloodthirsty pirate captains from the island. The Governor, Captain Lanzing, the private named Schultz and a privateer, their newfound ally, stood around in the office of the Captain.

"Sir, she just vanished. Escaped somehow. When the pirates were attacking me she used the opportunity to escape. I'm terribly sorry, Sir, I will immediately begin a search."

Lieutenant Marcus looked pleadingly at Myers to back-up his version of events. The Governor, his face red as a tomato, picked up and cocked a pistol in a swift move, pointing it at Marcus' head. "Nothing better have happened to her."

At that moment the door opened and two soldiers, each with another figure, entered. One was thrown to the ground at Lanzing's feat, the other was veiled in white cloth and half-carried by the Marine. Sobs and whimpering was heard.

"JOANNA, MEINE-" Governor Ecord shrieked as the muddied and torn face of his daughter came into view. He grabbed her to himself but stopped, taking off the cloth, revealing what had been done to her in the past hours.

"Oh meyn Gott..." Ecord, pale as chalk, brought the pistol to bear on Marcher, who was lying near unconscious on the floor. The Marines had given him a good beating to ensure he offered no resistance as a healthy Marcher was deemed too strong for one soldier to handle. Also, right now he was in everyone's opinion the one who'd raped the Governor's daughter.

Marcher coughed. "It was-wasn't me... ma own did me in... 'it on the head..." he coughed blood.

"Governor, we ought to take Madam Joanne to the surgeon, Sir." Captain Lanzing said, not eager to incur the Governor's wrath.

"Yes... yes..."

Second Mate Stoner

Stoner didn't bat an eyelid as Myers for all intents and purposes spat the words in his face.

"Convey my message to yer cap'n as I will yers ta mine." he replied, before melting back into the shadows. Soon after, he spotted Marcher and Joanne being dragged by two soldiers toward the office. He bet he could've taken them on, what with the pistol and cutlass by his side, but he couldn't guarantee not hurting Marcher and the girl. Besides, the Marines could have dozens of troops on him once they shouted a cry of help.

Stoner made his way back to The Prophet's Avenger where First Mate Wensworth held the conn, watching with concern as the Dreamcatcher ambushed a Chen merchantmen, or at least one that appeared to be a merchantman. No Marine appeared and the Governor's armed brig lay silently docked. Captain Mullawath was right; the Governor had struck some deal with the Christoslavian privateers.

Both crews on the two sloops remained on high alert. They had seen already how two other pirate ships had fled, including the woman, who had suddenly dropped the deal; typical, and that was the last time Mullawath made an offer to a woman. Cowardly, inferior gender.

Stoner arrived out of breath, telling Captain Mullawath over Marcher's capture.

[Christoslavia]

Marine Garrison HQ
Santo Antonio Town

"WHAT HAPPENED? SPEAK!" Governor Ecord had patiently waited for Lieutenant Marcus to finish boasting about his exploits, for having single-handedly chased two bloodthirsty pirate captains from the island. The Governor, Captain Lanzing, the private named Schultz and a privateer, their newfound ally, stood around in the office of the Captain.

"Sir, she just vanished. Escaped somehow. When the pirates were attacking me she used the opportunity to escape. I'm terribly sorry, Sir, I will immediately begin a search."

Lieutenant Marcus looked pleadingly at Myers to back-up his version of events. The Governor, his face red as a tomato, picked up and cocked a pistol in a swift move, pointing it at Marcus' head. "Nothing better have happened to her."

At that moment the door opened and two soldiers, each with another figure, entered. One was thrown to the ground at Lanzing's feat, the other was veiled in white cloth and half-carried by the Marine. Sobs and whimpering was heard.

"JOANNA, MEINE-" Governor Ecord shrieked as the muddied and torn face of his daughter came into view. He grabbed her to himself but stopped, taking off the cloth, revealing what had been done to her in the past hours.

"Oh meyn Gott..." Ecord, pale as chalk, brought the pistol to bear on Marcher, who was lying near unconscious on the floor. The Marines had given him a good beating to ensure he offered no resistance as a healthy Marcher was deemed too strong for one soldier to handle. Also, right now he was in everyone's opinion the one who'd raped the Governor's daughter.

Marcher coughed. "It was-wasn't me... ma own did me in... 'it on the head..." he coughed blood.

"Governor, we ought to take Madam Joanne to the surgeon, Sir." Captain Lanzing said, not eager to incur the Governor's wrath.

"Yes... yes..."

Myers looked on at the poor ravaged lass, his face more blank than a stone slate but on the inside he exhibited shock and disgust. Aye this poor lass didn't deserve what just happened to her, no lass did.

"Governor....please allow me to speak", Myers pleaded with his eyes, making contact with Ecord and locking gazes, with a few brisk paces forward, Myers motioned at Marcus,

"The lad vas doin his job aye, crazy pirates started shooting up Adventure Cove Inn, others tried cheating your Marines out of some hard earned money. It vas sheiße through and through, Joanne, your lass here, must've been swept up in ze commotion. I'll admit ze scene zose pirates caused would 'ave been enough to distract anyone for long enough."

Myers turned to Marcher writhing and pleading on the ground, viciously forcing his boot into the man's ribs, delighted at the gurgles and cracks. He leaned forward and seized Marcher by his hair, bringing his face to bear on the governor.

"Ziz arschloch zis fucking hosenscheißer, belongs to Captain Mattheus Mullawath, my guess stems from ze belief zat after zose pirates fled ze bar, Mullawath is ze only vone still here on ze island."

[Murovanka]

Myers looked on at the poor ravaged lass, his face more blank than a stone slate but on the inside he exhibited shock and disgust. Aye this poor lass didn't deserve what just happened to her, no lass did.

"Governor....please allow me to speak", Myers pleaded with his eyes, making contact with Ecord and locking gazes, with a few brisk paces forward, Myers motioned at Marcus,

"The lad vas doin his job aye, crazy pirates started shooting up Adventure Cove Inn, others tried cheating your Marines out of some hard earned money. It vas sheiße through and through, Joanne, your lass here, must've been swept up in ze commotion. I'll admit ze scene zose pirates caused would 'ave been enough to distract anyone for long enough."

Myers turned to Marcher writhing and pleading on the ground, viciously forcing his boot into the man's ribs, delighted at the gurgles and cracks. He leaned forward and seized Marcher by his hair, bringing his face to bear on the governor.

"Ziz arschloch zis fucking hosenscheißer, belongs to Captain Mattheus Mullawath, my guess stems from ze belief zat after zose pirates fled ze bar, Mullawath is ze only vone still here on ze island."

Lieutenant Marcus looked thankfully at Myers for standing by him, but the Governor could hardly conceal his rage. Captain Lanzing took over, ordering in crisp barks for the bleeding and writhing Marcher to be taken away. He turned to Myers saying, "Sir, many thanks for assisting us. Hope you'll be ready to stand witness if any of this comes to court."

"Captain." Governor Ecord whipped his pistol in the direction of Marcus. "I don't buy any of your shit. Have the man and the two useless goons with him whipped so they carry scars for the rest of their lives."

"Of course, Governor." Captain Lanzing said, and his voice said he did not disapprove.

"Fifty lashes at least. Get your hardest man on it." Governor Ecord suddenly screamed. "NOW GET HEEM OUTTA HIER BEFORE I FILL HIM WITH LEAD!!"

The men scrambled out of the way and Marcus was quickly escorted out of the room to the fort for detention.

The Prophet's Avenger

Both of Mullawath's ships, The Prophet's Avenger and the Mermaid (which had its original name in Wankan painted over) were on high alert, the former in the harbour and the latter anchored offshore. All the men, plus numerous new recruits from the slave deal and a few local adventurers, were organising themselves; muskets, pistols and ammunition prepared for use while crews readied to engage any enemy within the harbour itself. They'd seen what Captain Schreiner's ship had done to the hapless Chen junk.

Word had spread quickly that Marcher had been imprisoned by the garrison for raping a woman. It was generally agreed that this was some sort of framing and that Marcher had been falsely accused, though three men in particular stood out against his innocence: part of a gun crew of Stoner's broadside. It was indeed against the code of agreement to take a woman without her consent though in this case nobody was sure what had transpired.

However, there was significant support for enabling Marcher's release. Captain Mullawath declared that he would seek out the Governor to secure that the next morning, and, failing that, he'd set in motion his plan to secure the island as a base.

Canton

Meanwhile, a Chen fleet was massing at Canton harbour. Consisting of 18 junks, it was a force to be reckoned. Individually inferior to Eastern warships deployed by the Wankan and Aemen navies due to staunch refusal to modernise construction methods and accept innovative developments, they nevertheless came armed. The largest carried fifteen cannons of calibers up to 12 pounds and they could deploy 2,000 troops for a landing operation.

The Emperor was back-up his warning to the colonial powers that it would not continue tolerate the aggression on its citizens and trade any longer. The fleet, under a certain Admiral Zhang, headed upwind, straight for the Wankan colonial possessions in the Hesperan Gulf.

[Christoslavia]

"Listen to me you slant eyed fuck, I always repay vat is owed"

An ear splitting shriek erupted from the hapless soon to be corpse kneeling at Schreiners feet as the sword ran the length of the Chen man's spine and up through the skull, splitting the pathetic lad in half and leaving him to peel apart on the deck of his burning ship.

"Tear zis damn thing apart, take all ze supplies and veapons, zen burn zis Sheiße."

Jawohl!

"CAPTAIN, CAPTAIN!"

Myers sprinted up the pier his shortness of breath betraying his otherwise fit appearance, Myers knelt at the end of the dock to save a breath or two when Schreiner leapt down from the junk

"Vere ze hell have you been mate?"

"Captain, ze governor iz going to kill an innocent man...", stopping again for breath, he rested his hand upon Schreiner trying to keep eye contact, "...I vas looking for you, I vas in ze inn, some pirates shot up ze place, Mullavaths men vere zere, ze governors daughter vas ravaged, and her bodyguard faces execution."

Schreiner though the situation over, pacing 3 steps up, then back, stroking his beard he arrived at a conclusion,

"Ve vill go to ze Governor immediately and see vat ve can do. In ze meantime, Strecker I vant you to bring ze ship to port. I have a feeling zings are going to turn...ugly"

[Murovanka]

Marine Garrison HQ
Santo Antonio Town

As the sun rose Captain Mullawath in his full new dress, Lieutenant Stoner and some ten men, amongst them the gun crew trio who went by the names of Rainer, Hack and Kunrat, marched off toward the Wankan marine's headquarters where they knew Marcher was being held.

They were all armed heavily, each with a loaded musket, and half of their dozen with swords by their sides. Governor Ecord had been notified that Mullawath would come to see him.

The Governor himself was distraught- distraught at how traumatised his daughter was, who was unwilling to say a word and had confined herself to her room in the Governor's House. He had ordered Captain Lanzing to place the Marines at high alert and have the fort's guns manned. Mullawath would be given the chance to leave the island or be forced to surrender.

Off Coast of United Island

The Chen fleet remained visible, but did not venture too close, to the islands flying the Wankan flag; several of the smaller and faster ships had been dispatched to monitor closely the movements from the harbour. The fleet commander maintained flexibility in that both United and St Thomas could be blockaded at moments notice by his ships.

Rowing boats disembarked and headed toward the islands. The men, appearing as Chen merchants, questioned locals on what they had seen or heard or knew while at the same time scouting the islands previously unfamiliar to the Chen. But they knew that these were strategically placed islands from which the eastern imperialist powers launched their campaigns from and it did seem plausible to secure those for the Emperor, particularly considering the absence of any Reichsmarine warships.

Though a problem remained the forts where even if the Chen deployed their numerical superiority, those hiding within could wait for months until reinforcements from Wanka eventually arrived.

Admiral Zhang decided to continue his careful loiter and focus on the mission presented to him. His patience was rewarded, for the scouting parties had found out that while Captain Schreiner was not on either of the islands, he had been heading for and likely was in or in the vicinity of a third island named Prince's, as it was a known pirate haven.

And so without incurring much attention Admiral Zhang sailed for Prince's Island. Unbeknownst to them or anyone really was that the Wankan Far-West Squadron under Admiral Jonker had also set course for the isles with a curious set of objectives.

The primary objective was to establish a presence around the islands and fend off any Chen attempts to take them, which the Chen warned they would using piracy as justification. The secondary objective was to locate, apprehend and bring to trial a certain Captain Schreiner who the Chen accused of committing acts of piracy under the Wankan flag with an apparent letter of marque which the Captain defended his actions with. Partly to appease the Chen and less of concern to this rogue/false claimed-privateer the Admiral decided he'd see what he'd do with the Captain and what the courts would say. He knew Wanka had little interest in prosecuting a war against Chen right when the Reichsmarine was preparing for the next battle with the Royal Navy but likewise it would be fatal to show weakness.

[Christoslavia]

Marine Garrison HQ
Santo Antonio Town



Schreiner marched ahead with purpose, his 10 best men around him armed with musket, blunderbuss, and blade. Gravel crunched like bones underneath his boots as this merry band of, either thugs or heroes depending on your perspective, marched onward towards the Marine Garrison.

Schreiner would be damned before Ecord executed an innocent man, and given the state of Ecord's mind the deal was further at stake. Schreiner knew damn well that his Christoslavian letter of marque meant nothing to these people, the Wankans still viewed Christoslavia as an extension of Aemen, and he couldn't prove to them nor attest that it was fully independent, the bastards believed what they wanted to believe. With his Wankan letter of marque he knew it was only a matter of time before people got suspicious or angry. Wanka wasn't in a state of war with either Chen or Aemen, and Schreiner deliberately attacked both, granted he did so in the name of Christoslavia but because not a soul believed that the Wankan authority gave him more reputability in his actions.

Hopefully the dear Governor didn't get smart, or if he did hopefully he'd recognize that Schreiner represented a sovereign Christoslavia, not Amen, not anyone, he represented a new nation that would not be going away anytime soon. Christoslavia was here to stay, and nothing would stand in its way.

Rounding the hill on the approach to the garrison, it became all too apparent that a certain rival had already beat them there.

"MULLAVATH!"

[Murovanka]

In front of the Marine Garrison HQ

And so they formed an interesting triangle. The Marines at the headquarters building itself; Captain Schreiner and his men on a hill overlooking the scene, Captain Mullawath and his pirates, half of whom were crouching or lying prone using houses and the undergrowth as cover.

Captain Lanzing had organised twenty men, nearly half the garrison, at the headquarters, with the men covering the Governor, his escort of three soldiers with one of them holding a pistol to Marcher's head. Marcher was in a terrible state, beaten black and blue, and he was sure at least one rib was broken.

A further ten men were stationed at the Governor's House while the rest, including the imprisoned Lieutenant Marcus, had been ordered to stand ready by the fort and man the forts guns which were aimed at The Prophet's Avenger. In addition to that, a further twenty sailors were manning the Governor's private brig within the harbour.

Captain Mullawath and his eleven men were at the headquarters; twenty men on his orders under the Coxswain, Maigo, had made their way to the Governor's House; ten men stood guard at Mullawath's mansion by the harbour and the rest under First Mate Wensworth stood at attention at the ship, ready to unleash broadsides at any target that opposed them. The Meerfrau stayed anchored off the shore.

Both the Governor and Mullawath looked toward the origin of the cry of his name. The Governor appeared elated to see Captain Schreiner and his "reinforcements" arrive, clearly hoping that their agreement still stuck and applied here.

"Captain Schreiner! I do hope you will help encourage my counterparts here to see the right course of action?"

Turning to Captain Mullawath, he said, "I'm giving you options, Captain. Do you not see. Not only have you committed numerous imperial offences by falsely declaring your cargo and refusing to pay your dues, but your men have been rampaging through the town with absolute disregard for the law and much to the sufferings of our honest people here. This man of yours has dared to commit the gravest of offences toward my own daughter and I will not let him go until sufficient pain has been inflicted that he will not harm any lady again.

"Now, you can disarm, empty your ship and its cargo here and give me a written guarantee that you will not engage in piracy and leave this island unharmed. Or you can refuse, and we will ensure by force of arms that you comply with our demands, and I'll ensure every one of you is hanged like the dogs you are."

Captain Mullawath shouted back at Captain Schreiner, "Cap'n Schreiner! Good day ter ya! As ye can see this corrupt Gov'nor only seeks ter fatten his own wallet. Ye cannot trust 'im! Join me and help me put back sanity to this place!"

[Christoslavia]

In front of the Marine Garrison HQ

And so they formed an interesting triangle. The Marines at the headquarters building itself; Captain Schreiner and his men on a hill overlooking the scene, Captain Mullawath and his pirates, half of whom were crouching or lying prone using houses and the undergrowth as cover.

Captain Lanzing had organised twenty men, nearly half the garrison, at the headquarters, with the men covering the Governor, his escort of three soldiers with one of them holding a pistol to Marcher's head. Marcher was in a terrible state, beaten black and blue, and he was sure at least one rib was broken.

A further ten men were stationed at the Governor's House while the rest, including the imprisoned Lieutenant Marcus, had been ordered to stand ready by the fort and man the forts guns which were aimed at The Prophet's Avenger. In addition to that, a further twenty sailors were manning the Governor's private brig within the harbour.

Captain Mullawath and his eleven men were at the headquarters; twenty men on his orders under the Coxswain, Maigo, had made their way to the Governor's House; ten men stood guard at Mullawath's mansion by the harbour and the rest under First Mate Wensworth stood at attention at the ship, ready to unleash broadsides at any target that opposed them. The Meerfrau stayed anchored off the shore.

Both the Governor and Mullawath looked toward the origin of the cry of his name. The Governor appeared elated to see Captain Schreiner and his "reinforcements" arrive, clearly hoping that their agreement still stuck and applied here.

"Captain Schreiner! I do hope you will help encourage my counterparts here to see the right course of action?"

Turning to Captain Mullawath, he said, "I'm giving you options, Captain. Do you not see. Not only have you committed numerous imperial offences by falsely declaring your cargo and refusing to pay your dues, but your men have been rampaging through the town with absolute disregard for the law and much to the sufferings of our honest people here. This man of yours has dared to commit the gravest of offences toward my own daughter and I will not let him go until sufficient pain has been inflicted that he will not harm any lady again.

"Now, you can disarm, empty your ship and its cargo here and give me a written guarantee that you will not engage in piracy and leave this island unharmed. Or you can refuse, and we will ensure by force of arms that you comply with our demands, and I'll ensure every one of you is hanged like the dogs you are."

Captain Mullawath shouted back at Captain Schreiner, "Cap'n Schreiner! Good day ter ya! As ye can see this corrupt Gov'nor only seeks ter fatten his own wallet. Ye cannot trust 'im! Join me and help me put back sanity to this place!"

Schreiner wished he could disagree with the vagrant below him (although he knew he himself was quite a vagrant under most standards), he had a fair point, and Schreiner knew damn well the Governor would turn him in at any moment if he saw the opportunity. At the same time he knew Mullawath would cut him down just as quickly and in a far more brutal fashion.

Let's see, he had 11 men here including himself, 20 on the way to the Governor's House, and the rest of the crew crept around the island in the Dreamcatcher ready to catch any surprises by the 2 opposing sides here. Everyone in this ridiculous hate triangle was matched, if he joined Mullawath it'd be a far more fair fight against the Marines, if he stood by Ecord Mullawath would be overwhelmed, and if he stood his own, Ecord would be more than willing to deal with Mullawath instead. It wasn't that the situation was morally gray in any sense, just that every option seemed to lead to varying levels of being fucked.

He turned to his men, his 10 best, all faithful and fair men who had been with him since the beginning, the looks they gave him signalled do what you think is best, we're with you.

"Mattheus, you know God damn vell you'd cut me down as soon as you had ze chance. At ze same time, Governor Ecord, if you can hear me you are unstable, and irrational. You have innocent men imprisoned and you're letting anger make you rash. I'd fucking kill both of you if I could but I am a man of my word. Mattheus, I can not...no..VILL not let you take zis island, and Governor, ze deal is off, but I am leaving zis bloody place after zis and you have my word I vill never return. What I am suggesting now is parlay if you'll all indulge me, no von has to die today. Not yet."


meanwhile

"Seas are calm milord not much longer to Princes Island"

"All well and good Reginald, steady course, keep formation, we want to be ready for any nasty surprises between here or there, these are Chen waters."

"Yes milord"

Wolfgang was in his 60's and yet kept the steely eyed vigor and straight business posture of a man 30 years his junior. And off he sailed 30 years later on the merchant vessel turned warship that began his business so humbly many years ago. To think he went from a port to port merchant to the Director of one of the largest companies this side of the world, from being worth no more than a bug to being above any peasant in Aurus. And his son...

Wolfgang thought he had raised Jöhann right. Strong, cunning, respectful. In a sense he used those attributes well, he fought for a cause he believed in....Simultaneously he made a mockery of the Schreiner name. True his son served him and his company, but his antics as of recent bordered on insane, his passions got the best of him, his "privateering" as he called it bordered on outright piracy, and if he only knew that it risked all out war with Chen...

All this could be avoided. He was putting an end to this now. He would whip the boy into shape, make him serve with purpose again. He just hoped he was alright..


The 4 ships sailed on towards Prince's Island, unaware of the terrible storm they were about to encounter.

[Murovanka]

Earlier, in the Governor's House

"My Lady, I-"

The soldier was taken aback when Joanne pulled him toward her, burying herself in his uniform in heavy sobs. The soldier, who went by the name of Lammar, stood perfectly still. He had been assigned to watch over her and had approached asking whether he could assist, having seen the Governor's daughter lying curled up and crying on the floor.

The private was wary. He knew what had occurred to Marcus and the other two who were in charge of protecting her. Even a bullet wound hadn't saved the one soldier from a crazy flogging.

"May I help you get-"

"No, s-stay here." Joanne croaked. "With me."

Lammar slowly moved her towards her own bed where he intended to lay her down and get some tissues to dry her wet face. She reluctantly moved with him. But when he softly tried to disengage from her gripping embrace he found himself locked by surprising strength from her arms which instead pulled him toward and onto the bed with her, he in his uniform on top of her body. Joanne kissed him desperately as her hands clambered toward his belt. He gave way, mesmerised by her beauty and shape of her body which their present position first made it apparent to him.

The soldier was too engrossed in her to notice how she pulled out with her free hand a knife from behind her pillow before swiftly plunging it into the back of his neck. She pulled it out and stabbed again at his spinal cord. Lammar barely reacted. She threw him off and sliced his neck open from the front with an aimed slash. No resistance.

Joanne pulled out the soldier's pistol before checking her surroundings. There were more guards in the large house but its very size gave her the advantage, and she knew the house better than they did. She also knew the back entrance which she hoped they'd left unguarded. If it was guarded it wouldn't make a difference nevertheless.

She had been forbidden from leaving the house. She would anyway. The back door was unguarded as expected and she slipped out without anyone noticing, darting in the darkness toward the garrison headquarters where she knew Marcher was kept. Neither the Marines nor Mullawath's men, focused on the front door, noticed.

At present
Marine Garrison HQ

Marcher, who had been kept awake throughout the night, barely kept his balance as the standoff played out before him. Still, his wobbly mind was brought into focus. Memories floated by him. He recognized his Captain, and beside him a soldier with a gun to his head, and Governor Ecord. Where was Joanne?

Behind Captain Mullawath by the thick bushes several figures darted around. Badly disguised muzzles of muskets were sticking out of them. For one moment a familiar face popped into view. Who was it? Marcher knew. The last thing he saw before his world went black.

A third voice was speaking. The Governor replied angrily.

"Schreiner, you fool, no better than the good-fo'-nothing pirate in front of me! Well then get lost ya pig head and let the Imperials deal with these! Not more than a fake masquerade ye are! Your name will stink from one end of the Empire to the other, you who call yerself a man o' honor!"

"Governor, Governor, there is no need for this." Captain Mullawath said calmly. "Sir, I came ter talk, not do fightin'. I say we sit down somewhere, do our guns away, an' have a chat. There be no need fo'-"

Then the pistol shot went off, cutting Mullawath mid-sentence, and immediately from both sides pistols were cocked and men and their long guns appeared from their hidden positions ready to fire on command.

Out of nowhere Joanne had appeared and now walked toward the gathered party with the smoking pistol aimed at the Governor. She had just fired into the air. "Father, let go of the man. He done nothing." She cocked it. The Governor trembled.

"Joanne, what are you doing here-"

"Governor, LET THE MAN GO." Joanne raised it toward her father's head. The Governor nodded at the soldier holding Marcher hostage. Which wasn't a good idea, because Marcher collapsed to the ground. Still, he rappeled himself up, pointing toward the bushes where he had seen Hack.

"He is it." He spat out blood before speaking more loudly, raising an arm in Hack's direction. "There's the man. Who hit me."

Captain Mullawath, who had steadily backed off after the shot was fired being ready to dive for cover, now looked curiously to where Hack was standing- together with his two other mates from the gun crew.

"Hack!" He called out to the man, who stepped into view, staring straight to Joanne, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "What's this about?"

Mullawath's question was answered with a pistol shot from Joanne. She had shot and practiced shooting before and from this range it posed little problem for her. She squeezed the trigger at the man who had so callously assaulted her and her dignity sending the bullet straight between his eyes.

Captain Mullawath and Governor Ecord immediately dove for cover. Nobody knew which side fired first, but what was certain was that within split seconds from each other the two sides had exchanged a violent volley. On the Marines side, the two soldiers standing and protecting the Governor fell instantly while two more men, amongst them Rainer, were struck on the pirates' side.

Governor's House

The squad guarding the Governor's House had just discovered, when there was a shift change for watching Joanne, that Joanne was missing, and Private Lammar was dead. The Lieutenant in charge knew that if discovered that the Governor's daughter was missing his head was almost certainly to be the one separated from his body first.

Two of his men were always standing guard by the gate. One was dead. He dispatched three to search the area for Joanne but knew he was likely too late; to salvage the situation a fourth was dispatched to inform the Governor at the headquarters. That left four men including himself within the house itself.

The pirates had prepared their assault plan well. Ladders had been brought up to climb the walls from two sides; the east flank was the diversionary attack while they came through by the west. Once the shots were heard the coxswain Maigo ordered the plan to be brought in motion. In the east two pirates climbed up the wall and took a shot at the eastern window where they spotted a Marine overlooking that side of the house, making as though they would climb over the wall.

On the other side the other eighteen men scrambled over the wall in pairs. By the time the Marines, who were still debating on their course of action, could react, both guards had been shot down and the pirates were swarming around the house.

Panicking, the Lieutenant recalled that he was here to protect the Governor's daughter and less so his mansion which was of little defensive value, he thought; their prime defence was the fort, he remembered. He was actually well aware of the back door and the reason Joanne's escape was so easy because it had been left open ready for a potential escape in case they were overwhelmed. The Marines took several shots out of their positions but put up little more resistance as the pirates began shooting into the mansion itself. Maigo ordered the mansion to be searched.

Meerfrau
Off the coast of Prince's Island

The crew of the Meerfrau was the first to spot the Chen fleet approaching. Communications with The Prophet's Avenger was maintained through an agreed upon set of flag signals, closely mirroring the standard procedure of the Reichsmarine. It warned in clear terms the approach of a large number of ships on course for the island.

A little later a rowing boat with the fastest rowers was dispatched toward the island from the sloop carrying a more precise message. What looked to be fifteen armed ships of type junks flying the Chen Imperial flag was on course toward Prince's and the Meerfrau would stand ready to fight or to run or assist in evacuating the pirates where possible.

On the Chen flagship, the Chiyuan which rivalled Reichsmarine frigates in size and cannons, Admiral Zhang surveyed Prince's Island with interest. His troops were significantly high on excitement and morale having conducted their first successful excursion out at sea, namely the invasion of St Thomas and the sacking of Sao Tome. It had been nearly too easy. The Wankan garrison on the island had been caught completely off-guard and were shell-shocked by the initial Chen bombardment. They offered nearly no resistance when some six hundred Chen troops swarmed over the town. The company's worth of Wankan Marines had surrendered quickly. Admiral Zhang had left an occupation force of two hundred men who were now rampaging the town at will.

Several ships were anchored at the harbour. One was anchored off-shore; he redirected five junks to approach and search it to determine whether it was a pirate ship. The rest established a perimeter around the harbour as the Admiral prepared an invasion plan. They were well within view of Santo Antonio now.

[Higher Japan]

Builder's citadel

As the ship quickly docked, one of the informants rushed up to her as they held a letter. It was from one of their mainland spies, a small fly in their far larger spy network. It was an urgent notice that the Chen were planning to land on the island they had been at just earlier. Looking at it she quickly ordered her crew to send orders to the men as she headed back to the office. "Tell the men to build fortifications. Get her ready to run and finish the hull." She said as she headed back to the office as the man that carried the sundial also followed along with her two guards. Entering her office, she quickly ran through the shelves of plans before eventually coming to one with a red seal.

When opened it would read 'Command 1' which showed the entire island and numerous notes on it as neat writing could be seen on it. "Send this order to all leaders. They'll know." She said as she passed it off to the guards. Within a few minutes the men got to work as some fortresses could be seen being constructed on the beaches although it was only the base of it as she watched, before one of the builders came to her holding a message. "Milady, the new ship is ready," He said as she walked down to the docks to see the new ship being unveiled. As the cloth went down the frigate was revealed as they hastily installed the signature golden skull on the bow, signifying it's new status as a flagship. As soon as it happened, news came out that they had already taken over St Thomas as she overlooked the new view on her ship. The smaller sloop of war was quickly beached into the ground as a fortification.

"Set sail, St Thomas!" She shouted as she pointed her sword at the islands in the horizon. Lanterns were lit as they shown in the darkness before it sped to the island. After a while it eventually came into view as the Chen had begun opening fire. "Full broadside! Fire!" She shouted while moving to dodge as it opened fire on the island, which was the beginning of a long battle.

[Yurghyr]

Bayar, Slaver ship Black Maria, United Islands

Bayar felt the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead slowly begin to drip down. The tension and pressure clashing violently with the heat of the Slave's Hold, where hundreds of men and women were crammed into a tight space, like sardines in a tin. The slaves were secured in place by tight rope bindings, however the extensive time at sea that the Black Maria had spent allowed the slaves to begin formulating plans on how to escape. Being one of the stronger slaves, Bayar had spent much of the journey attempting pull out a nail from the floor, or get get chips out of the wooden decking that could be sharpened, however these endeavours left him with cracked nails and many splinters. Much to his delight, his efforts were rewarded as he had dislodged the nail, allowing him to outstretch his arms. With quick movements, he had managed to undo his binds. Using the nail, he cut out a sharp chip from the deck and used it as a knife, cutting the binds off the other captives, remaining silent throughout. As the slaves cut the rest of their binds off, they heard the sound of their captors beginning the process of docking the ship.

"Quickly, punch me" Bayar whispered to a fellow slave, who gave him a confused look. The man he spoke to was clearly Chennese, his pale yellow skin, thin eyes, and his black hair gave him the indication. Knowing he had no time to explain, Bayar instead landed a blow on the Chen man. Evidently enraged by this unexplained action, the Chen man responded the same way, landing several blows on Bayar. Soon, others had joined in, creating a commotion loud enough for the crew above.

"Matrose, sagen sie der fracht, ruhig zu sein" the captain ordered to the crew. Quickly, the sound of men's boots thundered against the floor became louder as the armed guards went towards the hatch. As the doors opened, the faces of the guards gave the image of utter shock as they saw the slaves free of their bonds.

"Seize the ship!" Bayar shouted above the noise, breaking through the crowd and charging at one of the guards and tackling him to the ground, and ripping the guard's weapon from his hands. Not a second later, the rest of the slaves surged forwards, quickly overpowering the guards and seizing their weapons off of them. Ending them by jabbing the bayonets into their chests, the slaves quickly took control of the deck, stabbing the crew and throwing the dead overboard. After only a few minutes the ship was theirs. Realising that it was likely other docked ships or guards on the dock may have heard the commotion, he ordered some of the escaped slaves to start fires on the dock as a diversion to allow for the ships escape. As the slaves left the ship, Bayar set about getting the ship to leave quickly, utilising his knowledge of ship from his day in the Chennese Navy.

10 minutes later

"Set away!" Bayar shouted as the ship pulled away from the docks, which we now alight with a raging fire, the heat of which cause sweat to form upon Bayar's brow. His heart began to race as the ship began to pass the fort, no doubt aware as to who had taken control of the ship. Within moments, the walls of the fort came alight with fire as cannons fired at the ship, the sound of the cannon balls smashing into the surrounding sea. Steeling his nerves, he maintained the course he had set, even as teh cannon balls began to inch ever closer to their target. Suddenly, Bayar was knocked to his feet as a shudder tore through the ship, indicating that the ship had been hit.

"Where were we hit?" he called out

"Cargohold, above the waterline, we should be fine!" a voice came back, whose accent was completely different from that of the other Aurusian accents of the rest of the slaves. Brushing the confusion aside, he continued to press the ship, having the sails unfurled completely to catch the wind that the fire was producing. Soon enough, the ship managed to pull ahead of the fort, leaving the range of its cannons. Satisfied, Bayar loosened his grip on the wheel and exhaled with relief. The deck was alive with celebration, the former slaves celebrating their newfound freedom.

"Alright, keep the ship heading this way till noon tomorrow, should be out of range of any patrols by then" Bayar said

"What of the old crew?" one of the former slaves asked

"We'll deal with them then, as well" he replied, leaving an ominous tone in his voice.

Afternoon, following day

The ship bobbed on the calm waters, the reflection of the sun on the clear day making it look like a thousand jewels. On the deck of the ship, the former crew were placed in a kneeling position and bounded by the hands and knees, their heads firmly facing the ground. In front of them stood Bayar, who himself was surrounded by the new crew as they watched intently.

"These men are slavers. Their business is the destruction of lives, their craft os the selling of people. Each and everyone of them are deserving of a death so painful, few can even imagine." he began, the crowd becoming excited "However, we are in need. Carpenters, experienced sailors, and gunners are needed. As of this, I offer the men of these professions to be allowed to live and brought under our crew". The attitude of the crowd changed slightly, disgusted at the idea of allowing the slavers to live, however Bayar raised his hand and they quietened down "I understand your anger, but without them, this ship is doomed to sail aimlessly. I might've been a sailor once, but it takes more than one to control a ship. So, you of those in front of us who are of these professions, I offer you a place in our crew". A handful of the kneeling men agreed, however Bayar had played his hand. "So, you are willing to abandon your old crew and men so easily? Kill them" he ordered. Quickly, the men were set upon, being stabbed and slashed as the former slaves set their anger upon the men, whose screams seemed to carry on for miles on the calm seas. The bodies were then thrown overboard. Smiling, Bayar singled out the old captain "Bring him to me, the rest are to be thrown overboard with their dead comrades." A panic set about the condemned men, who began begging for their lives, however they were ignored.

Struggling against the tight grips of the men grabbing his arms, the old captain was thrown to his knees in front of Bayar. Crouching down, he had an excited look on his face. "For you, we've a special fate" he said, the eyes of the old captain widening. His wrists were bound together, as were his ankles, all kept on a long stretch of rope.

"We're going to throw you into the sea and rake you underneath the hull, leaving you there. Barnacles and other assortments will tear you to shreds, before finally you drown. But we won't bury you. No, we'll keep you there. A sign as to what will happen to all Slaver captains we come across." Bayar said, the old captains face morphing into complete terror and his begs were muffled by the rag that was bound around his mouth. Making a small sarcastic wave, Bayar forced the man off of the ship, with a feeling of sick glee forming as the captain plunged underneath the ship.

Striding towards the wheel, he looked towards the crew. "I need men who are skilled in carpentry" he said, with a few of the slaves raising their hands. "Perfect, I've a task for you"

"What is it?" on of them asked

"You must change the name of the ship. The Black Maria is no more. Now, it is the Freedman"

[Christoslavia]

At Present
Marine Garrison HQ

"Who the bloody hell is that?!"

"Captain, zat's ze Governor's daughter!"

"She's a demanding von ay? How in ze hell vas she ravaged, from ze vay she holds zat pistol zere is no way any bastard vould have gotten zat far vithout losing zeir cock! I'll say, she has more balls zan her father."

The smile on the mens faces quickly turned to horror as Joanne blasted on of Mullawath's men without a second thought, adding to this unseen event both the Marines and Mullawath's crew began exchanging volleys within seconds, acrid gunsmoke foated through the air and the first cracks of gunfire sent Schreiner and his men diving for the ground to avoid being hit.

This wasn't what he meant by parlay, in fact, the complete opposite was the intention, clearly emotions were running understandably high amidst the tensions

"Cap'n, God almighty I didn't see that coming, should we just let them kill each other?"

"It'd sure make it easier on us"

Schreiner shot a half annoyed and half amused look at his crewmen for their fanciful suggestion

"Damn as much as I'd enjoy zat ve need to kee ze peace here"

Schreiner stood atop the hill, and as loudly as possible bellowed down to the fighting factions,


'STOP KILLING EACH OTHER YOU LIMEY FUCKS!"


Governors Mansion

the Coxswain John Mayer and the other crew men and women marched on towards the Governor's House, unaware that their Captain had just severed the deal voted upon, and more so unaware that deal or no deal, the fighting factions on this island would soon have to band together or facr utter annihalation at the hands of a certain Admiral Zhang.

"Mayer, gunshots ahead!"

"Shit, alright poppets pick up the pace, Mullawath might be up to something"

The crew busted into a sprint as they trudged up the trail, with muskets and pistols raised, and hands on their swords, the crew came too late, about 20 of Mullawath's crew were storming the Governor's Mansion and the Marines, the pride of Wanka, were getting slaughtered and making a full retreat.

Pirates climbed over the walls and swarmed through the halls as the Marines who tried to put up some resistance ultimately were cut down as Mullawath's crew were known for.

Ulriche Darne raised his musket, taking aim at a pirate on a ladder, with a deep breath in, but he felt a grip and realized Mayer shoved the barrel down into the ground

"No, don't give us away, we have the element of surprise, and by God we're going to use it."

minutes later

With all the crew in position, several ready to storm the front, several in the back of the house, some watching over from high ground, and the rest ready to go from the sides, Mayer was ready to give the signal.

At the sound of chatter on the other side of the wall, Mayer lit the fuse on a bomb, counting to 3 before tossing it over.

At the tremendous BOOM, Schreiner's men started "Storming the Castle"

[Murovanka]

St Thomas

"Set sail, St Thomas!" She shouted as she pointed her sword at the islands in the horizon. Lanterns were lit as they shown in the darkness before it sped to the island. After a while it eventually came into view as the Chen had begun opening fire. "Full broadside! Fire!" She shouted while moving to dodge as it opened fire on the island, which was the beginning of a long battle.

Two Chen junks which had remained at St Thomas responded to the pirate ship which was charging them, but they seemed to be hopelessly outgunned and didn’t find the easy pirate target that they were expecting.

Each junk had no more than ten cannons total and the first broadside fired by Captain Alexis’ ship immediately crippled one of them, sending it listing before it could fire at all. The second one came closer and managed to send off a wild broadside though most shots went way off-target; a second volley was prepared but they couldn’t be sure as to how long they’d stay afloat.

Meanwhile, the two hundred Chen marines on the island prepared for the pirate attack on the small port town of Sao Tome which still burnt from the initial Chen invasion.

The Chen troops spared no effort and thoroughly enjoyed their retaliation against the people who had, in their view, attacked their merchants and men; though it was mostly the troops feeling liberated from their strict discipline and harshness of their officers and so took out their depravations on anyone they came across. Men were shot on the streets and women and girls raped; shops looted and set on fire. The Chen commander had a difficult enough time getting the men alerted to the impending danger.

The soldiers took up positions within the houses and the buildings facing the harbour. Several cannons were found ready for use and these too were grouped into a battery to prepare to fire on the pirate ship. It was reasoned that they only had to hold off until Admiral Zhang and his fleet returned from Prince’s Island.

United Islands

"You must change the name of the ship. The Black Maria is no more. Now, it is the Freedman"

Governor-General Gustav von Scherry was officially the head of the Wankan Imperial administration of the Wankan possessions in the Hesperan Gulf, and so was technically commander-in-chief of Imperial forces in the area including that of St Thomas and Prince's Island. Though life here was quiet and comfortable, just as the 55-year-old man from the minor Silesian nobility liked it. He had fought in the Wankan War of Unification and had distinguished himself in it, rising through the ranks of the army of Nürnberg. The Hesperan Gulf was a nice posting, that everyone knew, and its benefits also came with being able to engage in shadier business dealings out of the eyes of the Wankan Emperor.

But today, this was all under threat. He already had had a nervous feeling about the absence of the Far-West Squadron which had provided the needed muscle and cannon to put down any disturbance. But they were gone, had been gone for a while.

The port guards had suddenly been made aware to a fight on one of the Wankan slave ships, the Black Maria. Bodies were thrown overboard and it wasn’t difficult to recognise that they were crew, and not slaves. Slaves were usually black or Chennese, or those Urghyrs.

The ship had escaped. Governor Scherry had dragged his feet. He watched sleepily as another volley was ordered by Colonel Falkenhain from the fort. The cannon balls fell way short and the slave ship grew smaller in the distance.

”Verdammt. Verdammt nochmal.” Scherry cursed. He was directly responsible for the safety of citizens on the island and in the harbour. Should it be revealed that a slave revolt had took place directly under his nose- his head could be on the line. Maybe that was an exaggeration, he would just be disgraced. He knew the greatest risk, apart from his rivals finding out and ousting him from his position, was that the Captain of that slave ship survived and pressed charges in Imperial court. Goddamn the new courts which emphasised ‘fairness’ and ‘equality’ and ‘justice’.

He was already thinking how he could cover this up when Colonel Falkenhain interrupted him impatiently. “Governor, shouldn’t we pursue?”

“What? Yes, yes! Set off immediately!” After some hesitation, he said, “Capture it, but sink it if necessary, that is preferable. No survivors, no damage. Keep this in wraps. Colonel,”

“Yes, Governor?”

“Bring me the soldiers who reported the renegade ship. If anyone asks, say it was a pirate ship we sent fleeing.” Governor Scherry looked the Colonel in the eye. “You will receive a pay raise for your good work, Colonel.”

“Yes, Governor.”

Thus the brig left port after some delays with Colonel Falkenhain and some of his best marines on board. There was the ships crew of fifty men plus twenty of his marines; it only had twelve cannons, but to compensate it was fast. There was an additional collection of a dozen carronades and swivel guns which the Colonel deemed more useful if the slaves decided a massed charge.

“Captain, did you see the ship we’re chasing?”

“Yes Sir, quite cleary, typical slaver boat-“

“How many guns?”

“That type, without slaves perhaps sixteen guns, wi’ slaves p’raps ten or less.”

“We have the upper hand.”

“We ‘ave the wind gage and we’re faster. We can force a fight, if they up fo’ it.”

They knew roughly where it was heading; it was just out of sight. But it was fair to assume they’d stay ahead of the wind with that being easiest to sail, particularly if the slaves were not exactly well trained in sailing. Indeed, the next day, they could see it on the horizon, seemingly stationary.

The Scherry was not a Reichsmarine ship strictly speaking; it was owned by the Governor and used as his private transport, though the crew he employed frequently engaged in the Hesperan trade which brought him another source of income. Nevertheless many of the crew were actually former Reichsmarine sailors.

Prince’s Island
The Inlet-Harbour of Santo Antonio

Two of the larger Chen junks entered the narrow harbour side-by-side with a wild-looking Chen man at each bow screaming unintelligibly as the rest of the Chen fleet sent cannon balls flying wildly, and often short (due to a lack of quality and consistency in their smithing). On board The Prophet’s Avenger, Lieutenant Wensworth directed his attention to the Chen junks and away from the Dreamcatcher and the fort, whose guns were no doubt trained on Mullawath’s ship.

He sent a man by rowing-boat toward the Dreamcatcher. The island was under attack by Chen barbarians. They had seen what Chen peasants could get up to when set loose and Wensworth decided that MUllawath would come to the same conclusion. They’d fight the Chen attack on this island and hope Wanka would turn a blind eye to their activities in return for their help.

A cannon ball ripped through the sails which were being furled by The Prophet’s Avenger, nearly taking down the main mast. The ship manoeuvred to position itself for a fight within the harbour itself, which was when both junks ground to a halt by the inlet. It was not wide nor deep enough and both Chen ships were grounded by the shallow sand, listing dangerously.

“FIRE THE STARBOARD BROADSIDE!” The Prophet’s Avenger greeted the immobilised Chen ships with a long-range volley which however did little damage. But the Chen weren’t panicking. Several rowing boats and skiffs were lowered and the Chen marines conducted a rapid improvised amphibious landing. This first wave consisted of some 150 men who were rowing ashore seemingly prepared to charge Mullawath’s mansion by the house as well as take on the two anchored armed ships in the port.

Marine Garrison HQ
Prince's Island

'STOP KILLING EACH OTHER YOU LIMEY FUCKS!"

Joanne and Marcher were stuck in the middle of the gunfight and neither side seemed to be shooting at them. The Marines were too afraid of hitting the Governor’s daughter, and the pirates weren’t about to shoot at their beaten-up mate.

Except Rainer and Kunrat, both of whom aimed their muskets down toward the pair on the ground.

Neither manage to shoot, because Stoner grabbed Rainer’s musket by the barrel and aimed his pistol at the other.

“You din’t answer the cap’n’s question. Wha’s this about?”

A hail of cannon fire could be heard from the harbour. It soon became clear that another faction was joining the fight, and that one seemed to want a say in the affairs of the day, and had the force to back it up with. Captain Schreiner’s shouts bellowed above the smoke and gunfire; the pirates were on the defensive, pushed back by the marines’ disciplined fire and better defensive positions.

“Cease fire CEASE FIRE!” Mullawath shouted to his men and abruptly both sides stopped firing though now the atmosphere was one filled with gunpowder smoke which refused to clear. But both sides had stopped firing for other reasons. Joanne and Marcher were standing in between them, and Stoner was leading the two disarmed pirates out into the open. Governor Ecord and two other soldiers walked back into the open with him.

“Gov’ner, I do believe we is getting to the bottom o’ tis matter.” Captain Mullawath said. “The truth is coming to light, but I do say we take care o’ this matter following our code. ’Tis a matter of gentlemen o’ the seas, be sure our justice is faster than that o’ the courts.

“We have a bigger problem here, and I’m sure Cap’n Schreiner and I myself do are happy to help us all survive, if ye give me yer word that ye’ll put a good word innit if it comes ter the courts, an’ I won’t bring up yer private business.”

Governor's Mansion
Prince's Island

At the tremendous BOOM, Schreiner's men started "Storming the Castle"

“Bloody ‘ell are they?!” Maigo, Mullawath’s coxswain, shouted as he saw Schreiner’s men climb over after them, firing at his pirates. A bomb rocked the house and he saw three men lying on the ground.

“Militia reinforcements for the governor?” One pirate suggested.

“TAKE YER POSITIONS WE BEEN ATTACKED!” Maigo cried out as the pirates, who were searching the house for any more soldiers- and plundering from the Governor’s wealth of alcohol and silverware, hastily loaded their guns in preparation to face the new adversaries.

“FIRE AT WILL!” Maigo screamed. The Coxswain himself, on the second floor, aimed his musket down and fired; it seemed to have strafed one of the enemy, as the man was soon up and running again. A ear-splitting crash destroyed the precious glass window and sent shards flying, cutting into Maigo’s firing arm and dangerously, his forehead. He went down, blood smearing his cut-up clothing, but realising the damage wasn’t permanent- likely- rappelled himself up again and continued fighting.

On the bottom floor it seemed as though Schreiner’s men would soon enter the house itself. The ten men at the bottom drew their swords and sabres.

[Christoslavia]

Santo Antonio Harbor

MYERS, ROWBOAT APPROACHING FROM THE PROPHETS AVENGER STARBOARD SIDE!"

Do we sink em?

Myers focused on the scene unfolding, Chen Marines storming the beaches. This was a God damn invasion. It seemed there were more urgent problems currently.

"Manuever the ships closer, pick up the rowboat, and load cannons to fire a broadside aft rake at the junks. If we're lucky we hit the gunpower storage and they won't expect us from behind"

Governor's Mansion

Schreiner's band rushed over the walls, through the gates, and into the house with sabers drawn, only to be met with the same. Before the bloodshed could begin and the clanging of swords reverberate, Mayer sprinted into the house screaming

"WAIT, STOP FIGHTING!"

The men put their swords down and stared quizically at the Coxswain as if he'd gone insane

Panting, he began, "We're under attack..Chen Marines approaching"

Marine Garrison HQ

Schreiner and his crew walked down, hand still on his saber should worst come to worst, between the two parties

"Aye, Captain Mullavath is right. I fear ve may have bigger problems approaching, working together seems to be a fantastic idea currently, zat is, if you forgive any crimes our crews may or may not have committed."

[Murovanka]

Marine Garrison HQ
Prince's Island

The Governor seemed to hesitate for an agonisingly long time, so long that Mullawath wanted to force him to accept their proposal at gunpoint because as they waited the volume of gunfire behind them increased; men shouted and screamed and curses in Chen were heard. The enemy had made landfall.

"Very well..." Governor Ecord looked at the two Captains in front of him. Behind, Stoner had managed to persuade Joanne to give up her weapon despite her insistence that her two other assaulters be executed immediately. "Later." Stoner said.

"We in this together, Gov'ner, only have a chance if we fight together." Captain Mullawath said.

"Okay, then." Governor Ecord said. "We'll fight together, and if we survive I'll make sure the courts will not trouble either of you. But I don't wanna see or hear from you ever again."

Governor's Mansion

One of Mullawath's men, accompanied by a Marine soldier, reached the house where both sides were in a state of confusion, the pirates in control of the massive estate but Schreiner's men looking ready to take it back.

"HALT!" the soldier cried. "A deal as been struck! We will all fight together against the Chen barbarians! To the harbour!"

Maigo wasn't going to give up the Governor's home that easily; he was sure there was some treasure to be looted here. So he left six men in charge of the house ostensibly to prepare a fall-back position. The rest cautiously left the house for the harbour.

Santo Antonio Harbour

Smoke rose as gunfire was exchanged in close proximity between the beached Chen junks and the fire from the Dreamcatcher and The Prophet's Avenger. The Chen junks could only reply with their bow-mounted cannons and the distance was still too great for rifle fire; the other two however had maneuvred into position for full broadsides.

Meanwhile, the rowboat sent by Wensworth was picked up by the Dreamcatcher and the pirate conveyed his message to Myers, "Cap'n, Lieutenant Wensworth of Mullawath's ship says there be a Chen fleet o' maybe twenny wa'ships. Comin' after us. We say we fight this together, there's no way out otherwise."

The Dreamcatcher fired and sure enough, this crew knew where to aim, for one of the Chen junks swayed for a moment before a tremendous explosion tore apart its rear and the wooden sailing ship simply disintegrated into the water, still blocking the access to the inlet where more Chen junks were waiting to get in. The Prophet's Avenger fired another broadside at the second Chen junk but that remained afloat, but in all the smoke and explosions they had completely missed the landing of the Chen marines on shore who quickly regrouped and stormed toward Captain Mullawath's mansion, defended by only a dozen men.

The crews on both the private and Christoslavian ship didn't seem to notice and continued to prioritise disabling the Chen junks, and there seemed no way to divert their attention toward shore.

There, the hundred Chen marines hurled bombs at the house and with wild cries climbed into the compound and charged the ten men inside. Mullawath, leading his remaining party from the engagement at the Garrison Headquarters, and Maigo, leading his dozen men raced for the house. Beside them were the Wankan marines as well as Schreiner's men. Once that fell the Chen marines would be in a great defensive position.

Meanwhile, Admiral Zhang had realised that the harbour invasion was a gross mistake which cost him his first real casualties. But that was no matter, they could simply land on one of the beaches. By flag signals he ordered his troops in the harbour to keep fighting while the rest of the fleet reorganised; a few ships stayed back to keep their shelling of the harbour while the others sailed further north around the island before ordering the fleet to prepare an amphibious invasion from the north, just several hundred meters on open ground and beach from the city. How large a force could he land on the island? A thousand Chen marines in total, who could be reinforced by the less trained ship crews if necessary.

[Yurghyr]

Bayar, Near the United Islands

The deck of the Freeman was alive with activity. Fearing the the Wankans would send ships after them, and most likely kill them, Bayar had work tirelessly to try and hide the ship and make it appear like anything other than a slaver. His crew work light, yet hooded clothing that had been found in the store room which, while uncomfortable, hid the Ausuran heritage of the men. Second, he had impromptu rigging made that, while having no real purpose, gave the impression that it was designed to lift heavy whales out of the sea so that it could be cut up. Knowing that he could not hope to outmatch them in a set-piece battle, Bayar tried the one trick he had always counted on. To trick them into thinking the ship was for whaling.

Bayar himself was wearing a set of brown cloth pants and a loose and scruffy single breasted jacket that was unbuttoned, and had taken one of the sailors brimmed hats to keep the shadow on his face. He stood at the ships helm, having its sails partially opened to give the impression that the ship was working and not fleeing, as he hoped the Wankans would be planning.

"Ship on the horizon!" one of the crew shouted, with Bayar risking a glimpse behind him and saw the Wankan brig slowly climb into view.

"Quickly!" he said, ushering the men to hastily raise a Wankan Naval Ensign that had been found in the stores as well. Planning on having the ship draw alongside them, Bayar had ordered that the cannons be ready and crewed, with the closed, with them ready to be opened on command. The initial salvo he hoped would be the Wankans into surprise, allowing them to load and fire off another. Still, he prayed to his God, unsure if the plan would work.

[Christoslavia]

The Dreamcatcher

Muskets raised at the pirate just in case, Myers furiously waved them down

"Wensworth is it? Velcome aboard ze Dreamcatcher, it seems like we're brothers in arms for now"

Myers gave a firm pat on the shoulder to Wensworth and an iron handshake affirming the gravity of the situation and his willingness to make nice.

"Myers, Chen Marines have landed in the damn harbor!, Dear God they're ransacking the place"

"Fuck, I'll take the helm, I'll move us in close enough for the swivel guns, ready a broadside!"

Mullawath's House

"Mattheus! We can't just rush in zere, ve need some kind of strategy! Governor, I assume you're men are better marksman, get zem on ze hils to shoot down at ze Chen! The rest of us should get zem from behind since they haven't seen us yet"

Meanwhile within the mansion, Schreiners men who had previously ambushed Mullawaths crew now found themselves fighting side by side with them, they cautiously took these men as brothers for the moment and prepared to defend from the worst.

[Higher Japan]

St Thomas

"Full broadside!" She shouted as the ship maneuvered and fired another volley at the junk as it was blasted into pieces as they ran over the soldiers in the water. Standing on the bow as she oversaw the battle with no fear as cannon fire flew past her before the final junk was blasted apart as the ship turned to face the island. Underneath the deck men were working as they looked at the battle through a few openings while making calculations before the men realigned the cannons towards the land cannons. As the last cannons aligned, they fired off another volley as blasts could be seen on the ground.

"We land soon. Prepare the row boats." She said as some men ran off to cut the lines on the row boats. She jumped onto one as she blasted the rope off, before it landed as they advanced.

[Murovanka]

Near United Islands

The deception by the newly baptised Freeman nearly worked. Or truth be told, it did, to the extent that it caused great confusion to the captain and crew, as well as the commander of the Marine detachment, Colonel Falkenhain.

“Colonel, are you sure this is the ship?” the Captain asked.

“It can hardly be any other, right? This is the only sensible direction they can go.”

“It could be any merchant ship too.”

He summoned several soldiers who had seen the Black Maria escape. Through their binoculars they surveyed the ship in the distance.

“Colonel, that looks like our ship.”

“You’re sure?”

“From here yes.”

“What else do you see?” the Captain asked.

“Some extension… nets… I don’t know, for large fish or something?”

Colonel Falkenhain said, “Sharks? Whales? Here?”

The Captain said, “Possible, they are delicacies, though still.”

“We go with the plan either way. Board and inspect, as I am authorised to do. No harm in that.”

“It might be a waste of time, Colonel.” the Captain said. “If they are really a commandeered slave ship, I’d rather order them to surrender and disable them by fire. If we board the revolting slaves might overwhelm us. A cannon battle we have the advantage, a melee less so.”

“You do as I say, Captain, unless you want a report back to the Governor-General questioning your abilities.” Colonel Falkenhain replied coldly. “We will board and inspect.”

“Yes, Colonel.” the Captain said.

“Can you make more out?” the Colonel shouted toward the lookout.

“Flag… Wankan flag, Sir!” he shouted back down.

“Of course its a god-damn Wankan flag!” the Colonel shouted back angrily.

“A… I think… Colonel… I think its a Kriegsmarine ensign, Sir, I’m not sure…”

“What in the devil’s name? What else?”

“Apart from that, looks like a merchant ship Sir!”

“Not an Imperial sloop?”

“No men in uniform, Sir!”

The Captain kept quiet, but doubts surfaced in the Colonel’s mind. He had the authority to stop and search whatever ship with reason, but arbitrarily seizing and searching merchants could land him in trouble in the courts. Ever since the union victory in the War of Succession a lot of emphasis was placed on the rule of law- as a concession to the masses of increasingly educated populace which had supported the Prussian-Silesian monarchists in the war for the unification of Wanka. If something untoward happened during the search his actions would be under severe scrutiny.

It could just be a former imperial sloop converted to a merchantman and they simply had not gotten around to getting a civilian ensign. Though flying a wrong flag was a punishable felony itself.

“Their gunports are closed, Sir!” the lookout shouted. “The names… the names no Black Maria, its a Freeman!”

“Nothing adds up. We proceed as planned. Prepare the port broadside and have the starboard crew ready for battle.”

“Yes, Colonel, Lieutenants, you heard him!”

“Aye aye, Cap’n!”

As the Scherry drew up next to the Freeman, it was soon noticed that the crew was anything but Wankan, despite their clothing. The Colonel ordered the flag signals to be put up amounting to: Surrender, disarm, prepare for search. If they understood what that meant. If not, he’d order them verbally.

The brigs roughly six swivel guns and carronades were prepared on the deck while the Colonel briefed his men. His twenty Marines would lead the way and the starboard broadside crew numbering twenty men, each armed with sabre and two pistols, would wait for orders to come up to reinforce the Marines if necessary.

Colonel Falkenhain was halfway confident this was his ship. There would be logical explanations for everything.

St Thomas

The Chen troops on the island watched nervously as both their junks were utterly destroyed by the larger pirate ship. The enemy ship then unloaded its men on rowboats- it was clear they were coming for the Chen troops on the island.

The small battery of cannons manned by the Chen fired, but didn’t seem to cause any damage. The return volley however was devastating, all concentrated on the small area where the Chen had attempted badly to camouflage their position. Four cannons were knocked out and half the crew were dead.

The next broadside rocked the Chen positions directly by the landing zone where the pirates were rowing toward, and it sent houses collapsing under smoke. Screaming and terrified, many Chen troops left their positions and retreated further back; only a small squad of twenty men under an experienced sergeant knew that the best place to stop an amphibious landing was while they were landing.

The pirates were gathering at the beach. The sergeant shouted something in Chennese, and then led the charge, sword in hand, at the pirates, knowing that their ship could not provide supporting fire in a close-combat situation.

Hill overlooking Mullawath’s House

“Good plan. Captain Lanzing!” Governor Ecord said. The Captain ordered his six men to take positions and pick off the Chen invaders who were swarming Mullawath’s mansion. They knew that if they were in possession of it, the house would work as a practical fort.

It was roughly fifty against the hundred Chen. The Dreamcatcher had taken out the rearguard with well-aimed cannon fire but the Chen, still high on their victory on St Thomas, took little notice.

Inside the house, the pirates were gathered on the second floor, as the first floor was swarmed by Chen troops. The ship surgeon, Doctor Olivier, was in charge of the five men left in the house. He knew this battle was soon over. He fired his pistol down the stairway killing a soldier coming up, but he was soon replaced by two more. One of the pirates hurled a chair down the stairs and brought the two soldiers tumbling down, crashing loudly at its bottom. Shouting in Chen was heard. The Doctor ducked back quickly as a musket went off, the steel ball making a large hole in the ceiling above. Choking smoke filled the stairway and he could hear Chen soldiers scrambling up blindly.

He took a few steps down and lunged with his cutlass, cutting through flesh like butter, and when he pulled it out, bloodied, he could hear a scream as the wounded soldier fell back.

“ARE THE GUNS READY YET?!” he screamed toward the back where the other men were loading the used muskets. A pirate reached two over. He easily dealt with the next two coming up but had return fire strafe his chest; he felt a rib break.

One of the pirates cried out as a Chen soldier’s face appeared by the window; they were trying to climb in from outside. But it quickly disappeared, having shot by a Marine marksman located on the hill. The cavalry had arrived, in the form of Schreiner and Mullawath.

From behind, they led the charge. Even though they were outnumbered two to one the sailor’s experience at sea showed. Cutlass and sword clashed amidst gunfire, Captain Mullawath taking the head off some young Chen marine and in the next moment plunging it into another’s heart.

But even though they would win the skirmish at his house, it was far from over. Admiral Zhang’s fleet had sailed around coast and chosen what was called the “North Beach” for his landing. A few hundred meters from Santo Antonio, it was overlooked by the hill too but preceded by mostly flat ground and some forested cover.

The Admiral had to brief his officers and organise the men, for landing such a large force (he’d unlikely send all thousand- that wasn’t necessary, of course) was no doubt complicated and had not been attempted. That would give the unlikely coalition onshore some breathing space.

First, however, a single rowboat sent by the Admiral reached shore, two unarmed men waving white flags landed and asked to meet Governor Ecord.

[Higher Japan]

St Thomas

The rowboat group landed as there was heavy fighting on the beach, although one still stayed in the ocean as Vivian looked at the battle from a telescope. Seeing that they were trying to stop the force there, she lifted up a red flag. Back at the ship, the men hesitated at her command as they loaded the cannons while the men calculated.

The cannons quickly turned as they opened fire with high precision, hitting both sides with no mercy as they loaded and began their charge. After the first wave Vivian landed as she pulled out her flint lock pistol before walking to the battle as she shot fools that tried to kill her.