Fantasy Are you tired of sipping Crab Coladas? (Pirate RP) (Always Open)

[WayfaringWaaksian]

"She served us well last raid," Fergie said in response to the update. "So did Avery, givin' us cover. Look's like Bogrum's sticking with what he knows works." It seemed like him, playing things safe until there was little room to. But she was hardly one to talk, being the one who protested him bringing the Drop Blade on board. Cautious, but not too cautious. She found herself more and more glad they were working together.

She also found herself hyped by Goldi's contagious enthusiasm, the call to combat pushing her prior woes to the back of her mind. Bearing a grin and setting her hands on her ships, she answered Sebas, "Hit 'em before they see us? Heh, they'll know they're fucked." If the Basenji flag ascending through the clouds wasn't enough to chase any doubt, a line of fire from Nakaos's keen eye out of seemingly nowhere would mark their doom for certain.

Sebas seemed concerned that she and Bogurm might have had some sort of disagreement, whether as a formality before missions or because he overheard something. Aside from Bogrum's weird insistence on butting into her business, she couldn't think of anything, nor did she care. An eagerness to rain hell upon these rival pirates put aside any differences, at least for now. "We won't keep ye waitin' long."

---

"Naka, then," Bogrum assured, giving a nod and a smile. "Pleasure's all mine."
His face fell when the shipmate approached, and had to catch it before it fell into a frown. It was that guy again, with him his unsettling meekness. Someone with the balls to butt in, but not enough grit to stick it through. Just like how he had the junction to follow Fergie around, but fell back as soon as he was met with hostility. Perhaps Bogrum attributed too much to it, but with Fergie's head at risk, he was going to read into every detail when it came to this man.

When Nakaos's affability returned, so did his smiling demeanor. Yes, let the adults talk now, he thought. "From what we saw last time, I don't doubt it."

Not long after the alarm sounded, Fergie approached, saving them the trip to find her. Not that it would have been particularly tedious; both she and Bogrum stuck out in a crowd, Nakaos more so. Her long legs just made it easier to get to where she wanted faster. "Bogrum. Nakaos. Looks like we're workin' together again."
"Closer this time."
"Aye." She remembered that they hadn't spoken a word throughout that raid. "Name's Fergie. Just Fergie." But she was quick to get down to business. "Sebas recommends we use the element of surprise and hit 'em before we breach. But what does the expert say?"

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

Nakaos
Front Deck​

After Naka was filled in on all the information available and she thought carefully, she gave her assessment. "Naka is willing to agree with captain's assessment. With Goldi's blitzkrieg method, taking on Golden Guns will be harder if we don't bombard beforehand." Firearms heavy pirates against melee-heavy troops is highly disadvantageous until they can close the gap and turn the tide. Bombarding them beforehand allows them to close the gap quickly.

"Problem is Naka can't see surface of ship." Courtesy of the thick-ass cloud they have yet to breach. Plus, Naka needed to see the surface of the ship to conduct a surface bombardment. "Solution: With Magic Eye human's help, we could attack bottom and cripple ship's propulsion system (which are at the bottom). That keeps them from moving until they fix it. Then we breach, then we bombard surface to cripple surface guns, then we deploy." With Elaina buffing Naka's sight, she'll be able to see through the clouds, but she wouldn't be able to see the surface of the ship until they breach and Naka get some elevation.

"There are alternatives, but crippling them and then breaching puts us in deployment range quickly. Not crippling them will allow enemy to attempt evasion." To complement Goldi's fast and brutal fighting style, Naka had to up her ante as well, and ensure that whatever she does will get Goldi's troops in there as fast as possible

"That's Naka's approach. Naka is only advisor."
WayfaringWaaksian

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Pirates scurried out to the siren and began to line up. Goldi made herself seen, barking orders to move faster with Baby Bear swiping his paws threateningly beside her. "Let's go! Hurry up and line up! We've done this a million times! Shit's about to go down and we need all hands on deck!" Her blood was pumping, prompting her to move faster. They needed to get things planned for execution as quickly as possible

The ship was alive and buzzing as everyone grabbed their respective weapons, inspecting their blades, potions, and ammo. Naka's mortar and ammo team gathered in one location, her archers closeby. Avery stayed where he was in the watch tower. Kersact and his thieves gathered in another location and inspected their arms, chattering about the coming loot. As the tip of the watch tower started scraping the clouds and the Canine stalked their unwitting prey, tension began to rise. Tension that came from getting ready to pounce and maul

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

"I feel like this is the best course of action," Bogrum agreed. "Though I suggest we also run their deck over with some flachette rounds, take out some personnel so our troops aren't overwhelmed with gunfire upon boarding."
"Ey, don't steal too much of our thunder, aye?" Fergie folded her arms. "We don't need no easy fight."
Bogrum snorted, thoroughly unamused. "And suffer losses that could have been avoided had we employed the resources at hand? You and Goldi will have your fair share. This isn't accounting for anyone below deck."
"Fair 'nough," Fergie relented. "Just know that Goldi 'll throw a fit if we don't have enough bodies to stack."
"Since when did you care what anyone thought?" Bogrum asked, giving her a sly side-eye.
"Tch. Since she was bitchin' about it in the restaurant, an' I don't wanna hear it no more."

Loud chatter and sharpening blades filled the ship's contained airfield. They knew the time was nearing. Bogrum took his crystal in hand. "Bogrum to Elaina. What's our quarry's status?"

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

"Elaina speaking," was the response on the other end, "Our target is about 200 meters away. We are in prime attack zone unless you're looking to breach and board directly after, in which case we will be in that range in about 3 minutes." Breach and board meaning that they'll be breaching almost directly under the enemy ship.

Sebas Deadeye
Deck​

Sebas made himself seen when the crew were all lined up. His crew being ready and eager for battle put his mind at ease. Even Ora was "We got approval to strike from Basenji Ship. We are clear to breach!" he declared to loud hurrahs. "Leaders, come forward!" After Fergie and Bogrum came to the front with their coordinators, Sebas introduced the new leaders. "As you know, Fergie and Bogrum are our Raid Captains. While I ultimately give the final word on what happens. They give the plan of action on raids and I trust them to call the shots during a raid. With Fergie leading the troops and Bogrum leading the weapons, I allowed them to choose a coordinator." He paused for a moment for more hurrahs. "Our Troop Coordinator: Ashlynn "Goldilocks" Thormdottir."
Cheers. Baby Bear stepped forward, carrying his mother on his back. "Henceforth, call me Ash. We'll be putting axes in skulls soon enough, guys and gals. Fast and aggressive, no prisoners."
"Our Weapons Coordinator: Our Targeteer Nakaos."
More cheers. Naka stepped forward, her big mono-eye sweeping the ranks before her. "My dear tiny humans," she said with a bit of a regal aura about her, towering over everyone else on the ship. "Naka will ensure troop safety by blowing everything they have to bits long before they can shoot back."

"With that out of the way.......Raid Captains, I want your plan of action explained to the crew so we can execute." It was time, and hopefully they had what they wanted to do. As captain of the ship, while Fergie and Bogrum lead the offense with their chosen coordinators, Sebas coordinated the defense. That wouldn't be a concern for them

(Henceforth, I'm using Ash instead of Goldi. I wasn't originally intending to give her a CS when I first created her, but she's fun to write)
WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

At Sebas's prompting, the two raid captains looked at one another.
"We ready?"
"Hell yeah, we are."
Pleasantly surprised at the enthusiasm, Bogrum stepped forward, letting himself be heard by the rest. "This is an ambush attack. Before we breach the clouds, we'll target their propulsion systems and incapacitate any attempts to evade us. Once we breach, we'll bombard their surface with cannon-fire and flachette rounds, take out as many of their weapons and personnel as possible. With their offense weakened, we'll board and send in the troops."
Enter Fergie. "You all heard Ash. No lollygaggin', we gotta cut through 'em hard and fast. They ain't called Golden Guns for no reason." They said not to bring a knife to a gun fight for a reason. "Rush in and and take 'em out before they can hit us. The rest is standard fare. Cut down the officers, scatter their ranks. Take anything of value. Show 'em as much mercy as we'll get." In the world of pirates, that usually amounted to none. "With the element of surprise, we got the upper hand. Bastards won't know what hit 'em."

With an affirming nod from Bogrum, Fergie looked over to Sebas. "Ready when you are, sir."


(Alright. Funny, same thing happened with Bogrum. Was supposed to be filler, but ended up being a good foil of Fergie.)
Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

"You all heard the plan. Prepare to execute!" Sebas declared. "As soon as Naka and Bogrum are ready, we strike." The precedent was set. He trusted them enough to make things happen. It was time for them to make good on that trust

Ashlynn "Goldilocks" Thormdottir
Deck​

Hearing the plan, it sounded good to Ash. Her axe hand was getting twitchy. As much as she wanted to stack those bodies herself, she knew the safest way to advance against the Golden Guns was to cripple their damndable gun fire while they sweep up downstairs. She would take what she could get. Hope their halls are narrow, she thought. "Let's get ready," she called, "Get Naka's weapons wherever they need to go and then get those axes ready!" to move things as fast as possible, they needed to move the weapons as fast as possible. Get them in whatever position Naka needed them

Ash looked over the troops. They were deep, wills as sharpened as their blades. Ash steeled herself as well. This wasn't sea-sailing, where a mistake just put them in water where they could be rescued. This was sky-sailing, where a snapped rope, a miscalculated jump, a wrong push would have them plummeting from the heavens. As seasoned as she was, it still required steeling her nerves. Airships were faster than sea-ships. "Once we breach," Ash told Baby Bear, "We'll be as close to Isleif as we'll ever get........well, as close as we'll get while we're alive."
Baby Bear snorted
Ash laughed. "Sorry, while I'M alive. You've seen him before in the heavens. Kind of envious, but I can't see him again on my own terms." She had to go out fighting earnestly in honorable battle, not just sip an Arsenic cocktail and think they'll be together forever.

A silence on the ship drew her attention. They were ready. Ash turned to Fergie. "I hope you're ready for your first foray into sky-raids," she said with a grin. "No plummeting to your death right after appointing me." She pointed out to the legion all gathered before them, all ready to strike on their word. The ones armed with firearms were on the outside, then the heavier troops, then the lighter troops in the middle, with the indirect fire troops wherever Naka and Bogrum needed them. "Axes up, dogs! We're ready to go."

Nakaos
Deck​

Naka knew that Bogrum would let her take the reigns on moving these weapons. If she were to fire, she made the decision on the optimal placement. "Elaina! Naka wants you here!"
Elaina bounded over. "You called?"
She nodded, "Yes. You will be Naka's assistant Targeteer. You can make Naka see through clouds, yes?"
Elaina eagerly nodded, knowing she was to be tapped to use her abilities for support. "Whatever you need to see through the clouds, I can make you see them."
"Naka needs to see the structure of the ship. We are targeting the propulsion systems first."
"Can do, Nakaos." With a snap of Elaina's fingers, Naka's big purple eye changed. Her iris turned a soft light blue and her pupil dilated, making it look like a massive black hole on a small blue background. The whites of her eye were almost completely nonexistent. It would make her look like a demon if her eye weren't so big that you could see the soft light blue.

Looking up, Naka could see the ship in question now. It was quite a big ship, definitely bigger than the Canine, but nowhere near with enough armor to withstand an aggressive ship attack if, say, the Lizardman cannoneer were chosen over her. Beautiful, she thought, time to blast. "Naka's gratitude, Elaina. You will be working with Naka on many attacks moving forth."
Elaina was elated. Getting praise for her abilities beat out any and all compliments she could possibly receive on her appearance. "I'm really glad to be of assistance, Nakaos."
"Naka is fine."

"Bogrum, Naka is locking on." Naka pointed upwards and the mortars near her began to shift as the crew pushed them in place. As soon as they locked in place, Naka grinned, a look her team was familiar with as it meant an attack was imminent. "Give the order and we launch."

WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

After analyzing the troops before them, ensuring they were in their respective places, Fergie turned her gaze upwards. They were in prime firing range, the Canine's watchtower just grazing the cloud's bottom layer, leaving behind curling wisps of white as they propelled onward. It intrigued her; clouds looked so solid from a distance, but from here, she saw that they undulated and morphed much like ink sprayed underwater. Or blood.

Ash's words brought a snort out of her. "I'll die on me own terms," she shot back, though she grinned while she said it. "But that day ain't today." Fergie didn't like leaving business unfinished, and damn, if she didn't have a cargo ship load of that left.

---

While Naka arranged the firing positions and spoke to Elaina, Bogrum stood silently, present and watchful but making no move to interfere. It was clear that Naka was in her element, and with Elaina's help, they wouldn't be shooting blindly into the clouds above. He was grateful for Elaina's abilities coming to their direct aid, though he was also happy that she was working with his side of the team in general. With that dismissive way Fergie regarded her earlier, he suspected that relations would stay rocky for some time. Even though it had been Fergie's own words, to not let feelings get in the way of work, he couldn't quite count on that. Easier said than done, he knew.

Pushing that out of his mind, Bogrum steeled himself, knowing it was time to give the order. He sent her an affirmative nod. "Fire at will."

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

Nakaos
Deck​

Music to her ears to hear the command to fire at will. At her will was the best way to fire. "Ready..........FIRE!" The moment the words left her mouth, the thunderous boom sounded as a group of mortars all launched at once, about 5 in almost simultaneous succession as if they were released from a quintuple barrel shotgun. As per Nakaos's job, this was succeeded by 5 explosions about 3 full seconds later, all of which served as perfect feedback that all of them connected to target. When sky-sailing any feedback was good feedback as you either got something or nothing. No splash of water here to tell you that your shot was off. A larger explosion sounded

As soon as Sebas heard the sweet sounds of explosives connecting, he yelled out. "BREACH! BREACH!" On queue, the ship whipped its snout up and jumped into the clouds. The entire ship chilled as they passed through the cloud at a high speed. The cyclops targeteer closed her eye as the wispiness of the clouds passed through the entire ship, chilling it to a temporarily uncomfortable degree.


Over-Cloud Breach
The Basenjis were greeted by a blinding sunlight and warmth as what would be the sun's relentless rays upon the earth were blocked by the clouds. Being above them, the clouds couldn't do much to protect them from either the brilliant light or the faithfully relentless heat the loyal sun gave off. In plain sight was their prey the Golden Guns ship, with smoke billowing up from multiple locations but all from the bottom of that ship. They were close to the enemy, who were needing to lick their injured paws from the mortar attack.


Now the skies lit up with pops, as the Golden Guns opened fire and the Canine's gunmen returned fire. Cannonfire from both ships began, as the ship duel started in earnest. They were close. Not yet in deployment range, but that was about to change very soon as Sebas pushed to get into deployment range. This meant Bogrum and Naka had to get those surface weapons destroyed ASAP

Naka turned to Bogrum. "No need to worry about Naka. If you get cannons, we can cripple them from inside by time surface weapons are cleaned up."
WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

The air around them rattled when the first shots were fired, and Bogrum subconsciously expected to feel another, fainted blast when their quarry sustained its first hits. Either it was too far or the wind shields blocked it, but what Bogrum did feel was when the ship reared up to pierce the clouds. Anticipatory seconds ticked down while they were suspended in a chilled plane of grey. When they finally breached, Bogrum blinked the sun out of his eyes and witnessed the damage. Smoke rose in tendrils from the Golden Guns' stern, a clear indicator that fire was gnawing at her hull and propulsion system. She could only hope to limp away from the impending boarding.

Even though the Canine stabilized, Bogrum was feeling another thing, and that was those damnable waves of nausea. The ship rocking slightly from enemy fire wasn't helping, and for a dizzying moment, Bogrum thought he might fall to the deck. Instead, he held his bearings, swallowing that bile back down. He could see that the distance was narrowing, so their time for action was short. With Naka having the surface deck covered with her mortars, Bogrum could focus on other targets. "Cannons, aim for their gunports!" he called to the gunning crew. "Cripple them from the inside and take out their cannons." Their quarry was a larger ship, which meant larger guns, and in turn meant larger portholes. The nearer they grew, the easier a shot they could get directly into the ship's bowels.

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

Bogrum's assessment was a bit of a double-edged sword. The bigger the cannon, the bigger and more explosive the shot, which meant they needed to work with either speed or precision (preferably both) to get the ship's cannons cripples. The cannon crew shifted from their initial target being the propulsion system to the enemy cannons and began firing. However, with Naka's sights being on the surface of the ship (and not choosing the lizardman), their cannon crew were noticeably slower than the bombardment crew and nowhere near as accurate without Naka's guidance. The call for aiming directly at gunports was unlikely unless they got closer. That doesn't mean all was lost though. They did manage to slow down enemy fire if their shots hit close enough. One spot on shot destroyed the cannon outright.

Retaliation

The Golden Gun's cannons were equally clumsy, their large cannonballs flying with their angle off. It was obvious where the budget went on the Golden Guns ship. Their larger cannonballs and older cannons resulted in shots that, while they had a higher destructive power (and explosive yield if they exploded), experienced high drag which sent it to a bad angle when paired with the high winds. Still, they did manage to hit a Canine Cannon, crippling it. With that, Bogrum had the option to either fix/replace it and expose the giant gaping porthole moving the cannon would leave in the meantime, or move troops to other cannons to speed those cannons up

--------------------------------------

At Naka's direction, another bombardment attack was launched. "Load the Cluster Round and the Anti-Magic round. Quickly!" Naka called. The cluster round and Anti-Magic round were both self-explanatory. One was made for slaughter, the other to take out the magic shield around important weapons. "Locking............FIRE!" Another volley went flying. This time, it went to the dead middle of the ship. The cluster round popped into a set of 10, which popped into another set of 2 each, a blooming flower of destructive power lighting up half the ship at a radius in the center. "Flachette launcher! Area locking..........FIRE!" The flachette launcher fired and the screams of agony were heard over the constant sounds of mortar fire and gunshots. The launcher did its job with amazing precision. Golden Gun pirates fell with entire bodies filled with small metal darts. The lucky ones were on the side opposite that the Flachette Launcher shot to.

Retaliation.

The Golden Gun crew fired their own volleys of mortar fire, big fireballs arcing through the air with a loud whistling sound mixed with a loud sounds of cracking fire as it drew closer. The look of it hurtling towards them would put the fear of god in any man's eyes.......that wasn't a Basenji. With the Magic Shield having protected them from cannonfire so far, upper magic shield finally shattered with this volley of retaliatory fire. More like a cat than a dog, they'd need to get moving and keep moving if they didn't want the next volley to mop up half their assault troops.

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When it shattered, Sebas's blood began to pump somehow harder than it was before. With the shield needing to recharge, their soldiers were exposed and already starting to get shot. "Let's move! Get high position NOW!" Sebas called, "We're going for a drop deployment! Ash! Fergie! Get to the bottom!" A drop deployment was deploying from the bottom of the ship instead of deploying from the deck. It required getting some high ground and dropping down onto the surface of the enemy ship. It was a risky maneuver given that the Golden Guns had mortars (and it exposed the Canine's propulsion systems), but it allowed for a deployment that was both a safer one and a mass one, allowing all of their troops to deploy at nearly the same time instead of dealing with grappling hooks or boarding planks. The last thing they needed was to be throttled through a chokepoint by sharpshooters. Going high protected their pirates from gunfire. Good thing exposing their propulsion system was mitigated by just keeping moving, sprinkling their soldiers onto the surface of their ship like ice cream

WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

Bogrum observed with growing concern when his orders weren't proving effective. Few shots landed near enough to their mark, and he realized it might have been too early to make the attempt. He wondered if it might have been better to redirect them towards bombarding their quarry's rudder further, but the Canine was advancing fast as it was. Standard cannons were hardly a major concern, but he still mentally filed through ways they could land more precise hits. Or just be faster, which an opportunity of came. "Leave that cannon. Help the others reload," was his response when alerted of the totaled cannon.

Naka's bombardments ripping into the defenses and personnel of the enemy ship was quite a sight. The popping cluster rounds could have been compared to fireworks, without the wanton destruction and death that followed. Bogrum hardly had her eye, but he could bet that not a single dart from the flachette round fell to the earth unless it had bounced off its target. He knew neither of them would be leaving this fight unscathed, but it at this point he was confident that the Basenjis would be the ones needing to lick their meager cuts, not laying down bleeding from mortal wounds.

After their equally unimpressive display with their cannonfire, the Golden Guns were soon to live up to their namesake when hissing mortars blasted open the shields. The entire top deck of the Canine was left wide open for attack. When the magic fizzled away from the blow and gunfire whizzed in their air, Fergie knew what they'd have to do before the order was given. "Move to the airlock!" Troops were already responding to Sebas's call, and Fergie's shouting could carry even in this cacophony of explosions. With Ash's help, they were herded down the hatches and into the ship's bowels, but Fergie herself wouldn't step a foot below until she saw every last troop go before her. "Go, go, go! We're dropping any minute!"

Running down the corridors behind them, she was quick to chastise herself. Dammit, should've planned for this! A drop deployment might have been the better way to go regardless, fighting against an opponent with superior firearms. She had thought the risk of their own propulsion systems being shot too great, and that the flachette rounds would narrow down personnel enough. But hindsight was a cruel bitch, and so was the sight of her troops sustaining hits after the shields failed. That could have been avoided if they had been below deck from the start. Too late. Just do better now.

They all could feel the ship as she rose, her rattling and rolling as enemy fire struck the lower hull and keel. Any minute was being generous. It only took seconds to move at this speed. "The fight starts now! Be ready to jump!"

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

The ship reared up and leaped over the Golden Gun ship as Naka unleashed hell one final time with another blooming Cluster Bomb mortar attack. "We've done all we can on the surface. Cease Fire!" Any further attacks posed a risk to who would be drop-deploying. Plus, it was harder to attack with mortars if they were this close to the ship they were also above. The Golden Guns surface weapons were destroyed, most surface troops unlucky enough to not get under fast enough all destroyed. "Get arms and be ready to defend the ship," Naka called. Their work was done here and with them being above the enemy's cannon portholes, there was no need to attempt engaging it.

She moved over to Bogrum. "With bombardment exhausted, that leaves us one more weapon." That weapon? The Drop Blade, to be deployed when it was time to blow the Golden Guns out of the air for good

Ashlynn Thormdottir
Deployment Area -------------> Golden Gun Ship​

Ash's heart was racing. It was time. "LET'S GO!" she screamed. A portal opened up in the room. Jumping through would drop them out of the ship without exposing them to underbelly fire. She was first through. The woman straight up swan dived through the portal. As soon as she broke the threshold, her hair was slammed behind her as the breeze took over. "Come, Baby Bear!" She pointed to the surface she would land and Baby Bear jumped out of the void unto the surface of the ship, ready to catch her.

When she landed, troops started landing nearby. The surface of the Golden Gun ship was charred with blaze, smelly with burned blood and death, vision slightly obscured from all the smoke, the sounds of yells from both their troops and enemy troops filling her ears.

They were all seeing red, lusting for Golden Gun blood to avenge the ones they already lost. "GET UNDER THE DECK! MOVE MOVE!" She roared. Baby Bear charged at the last remaining Golden Gun troops who surged to the surface to try intercepting their advance. This spearheaded their advance as Baby Bear crashed through the line and into the door like a Wrecking Ball. Ash drained a strength potion. As she felt the strength surge through her, Baby Bear felt the same strength flow through him. With a roar, his master jumped on his back and together they charged into the fray
WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

Here we go again. Bogrum braced himself as the ship threw herself up and over their quarry. The constant rocking and roving of a ship at sea seemed almost welcoming in comparison to the sharp turns and angles an airship thrust itself in. Bogrum wasn't a stranger to this sort of trial-by-fire scenario, but that didn't mean he had to be a fan of it. He hoped the worst of that would be over, now that they held the Golden Guns under their foot. What felt like an eerie quiet settled over them when cannon fire ceased, but soon it allowed ears to adjust to the sounds of crackling wood and battle cries below.

Naka mentioning the Drop Blade brought to surface something he had been wondering prior. "That begs the question of if we should deploy it," he said, explaining, "Use it to protect our anonymity, or leave them with something to remember." Dead men tell no tales, was the saying. They could send this Golden Guns crew to their graves miles below and the others wouldn't be the wiser, or they could send a message to their fellows by sparing whoever survived the raid. Bogrum didn't see the appeal of making enemies for the sake of glory. It was an odd trait for a Scorchclaw, but that was hardly the oddest thing about him, he felt. "Personally, I believe it's best to erase any chance of this coming back to get us. But I'll leave that for Sebas to decide." He had a feeling Fergie would be on board with him, considering her attempts at keeping a low profile.

---

Here, Fergie wouldn't wait to make sure all the troops jumped through. She trusted them enough to not chicken out from a fight that they were almost guaranteed to win. Besides, Ash had a way of rallying even the most yellow-bellied into a spree. Even Fergie felt inspired to attempt fancy acrobatics herself. Tripping on the portal's edge and flailing about midair like a tossed cat didn't exactly constitute as fancy, but at least she landed on her feet. Also like a cat, she sprung to a stand and acted like that embarrassment didn't happen.

"Stay in formation!" she called to her troops as she charged with them. Firearms to the front would pick off Golden Guns sharpshooters and gunmen before they could be mowed down by an army of bullets, though Baby Bear's spearheading absorbed many of them. Pops sounded off from both sides when they rushed below the enemy deck, and soon after metal clashed when swords met. The first pirate who challenged Fergie was greeted with a blade embedding deeply into his chest. Got your wish, Ferg, she thought as she kicked him off her sword, warm blood slinging in an arc. By now she couldn't care to remember what had her so stressed. All she knew in this moment was the beating pulse in her ears and the drive to cut down every last fool who thought they had a chance in hell defending this doomed ship.

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

Nakaos
Canine Deck​

"Naka will go get Captain's word on situation." she replied and stepped off. She thought about it herself. Items like the Drop Blade were not part of Naka's skillset. She could potentially swing it once or twice in her full figure, but more than likely, it wouldn't function no differently than normal, as in what could be a one-time use insta-kill. It was too heavy for even her, the one with the greatest raw strength on the ship

Sebas was talking with Avery, who came down from his post in the onset of Fergie/Ash's breaching. With no more targets to shoot right now and with all of the defensive firearms at the ready for any Golden Gun dumb enough to get topside, all of the chaos was under them. Literally.
She waited for them to stop talking. It wasn't like Naka to break rules she set for her subordinates. "Captain, we seek your word on the use of the Drop Blade."
Sebas thought for a moment. "Hmmmmmmmmm. No need," he responded. "I want the ship destroyed, but we shouldn't need to deploy it to destroy the ship. I want you to completely destroy the Propulsion System. That'll plummet them from the heavens."
"Acknowledged. We'll await your order to fire." Obviously, we can't fire until our troops are off the ship, Naka thought.
"Until we need more fire, I want the mortars and cannons ready."
"Acknowledged." Naka said before heading back to Bogrum to relay the orders.


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Ashlynn Thormdottir
Golden Gun Ship Interior​

As Ash carved though Golden Gun troops in the corridor, she felt elated and moreso the more torsos her sickle sliced through. They mopped the floor with most of the grunts. Blitzkreig strategies were perfect against those who depended on more defensive strategies yet acted like they didn't need defense. They probably depended on picking off their targets as they approached before boarding with most of the troops picked off.
"Untrained!" Ash yelled as she sliced off a rifleman's arm, rendering his rifle useless. "Fat!" she said as she kicked another. The woman jumped on the wall and pulled an acrobatic backflip to put herself over the enemy's head. In a backwards somersault, she kicked him in the head, smashing it into the wall and putting him on the floor to be mauled by Baby Bear. "Too dependent on your damn guns!"

As they overwhelmed the shooters, the ship shook as a massive figure appeared, armed with a heavy Dwarven Machine Gun. This was a Minotaur with admittedly majestic horns. Fat, yet massively strong, as the minigun he was holding was about as big as Bogrum's entire being. "ELITE! TAKE COVER!" She didn't know if it was the captain, the first mate, quartermaster, or just one of the few competent leaders of this ship, and she didn't care. She just knew her face needed to meet the ground, and meet it fast. With Baby Bear as cover, Ash dove into one of the many rooms of this corridor. The woman slid across the room and her head hit a bed. She was in one of the pirate's room, the dead body pooled in blood lying to her right.

A flash from the hallway, and her ears deafened to anything that wasn't loud boisterous minigun fire or screams as anyone unlucky enough to move like molasses got mowed down, be they Gun or Basenji. She knew her quick-moving troops could move out of the way on time. Most of them anyway, judging from the 2 men who dove into the room almost on top of her, and her seeing a couple more jump into the room directly across from this one. Most didn't mean all though. Some of them definitely got mowed down, as the familiar voices of fellow Basenjis yelled in pain, some of them them cut off shortly after. Every funeral she knew she'd have to make pained her.......yet fueled a fire in her belly. The fire in her belly meant an absolute volcano in Baby Bear's belly. She wanted this elite's head.
WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

While awaiting Naka's return, Bogrum thought he might give his troops a look over. Everyone seemed in place by their sanctioned guns, all awaiting orders themselves. His sweeping gaze caught eye of the smoke that billowed upwards from the charred deck below. Curiosity overriding his better judgement, he looked over the edge. Even though they were miles away from any plains or mountains, the battered ship bore the resemblance of any torn battlefield. Burnt bodies speckled with darts were sprawled all across the deck, a familiar sight that bore none of the nostalgia that came with memories of home.

Always a different lens when the moment passes.

Naka's heavy footfalls easily tore him away from his thoughts. At her approach, he turned and faced her. "Ah, hello. No word from Fergie yet, so I assume things are running smoothly down there."

---

Things were running almost too smoothly. The raid party was like a knife cutting through butter and spreading it over toast; Golden Guns troops were torn into and strewn about in a hearty brunch of bloody carnage. It was growing clear to Fergie that these pirates never adequately planned for a breach like this. Or maybe not at all, with the foolish way they hovered directly above the clouds. Couldn't exactly seek reliable cover from walls that could be passed right though. Even now, they fumbled with their weapons, fear and shock plastered on their faces as they watched their own be slaughtered in such close quarters. The guns they put so much of their faith in were failing them when they could barely keep their wits about in battle. Or maybe they just knew they were fucked. Fergie was eager to drive that truth home.
"Aye! Bunch of pansies an' milk-drinkers, this lot!" With enthusiasm to match Ash's, Fergie ripped her blade into many opponents before their own arms could act. A gunman's aimed firearm was knocked away with her free hand, the bullet missing while her own weapon hit home. Another pirate raised her sword as she honed in, leaving her torso open to be gutted once in reach. Those who reacted fast enough to block the first viper-quick strike couldn't keep up with the next ones as Fergie cut them to ribbons. Hell, this was just too easy.

Of course, that thought alone she knew would jinx the whole thing, when the timbers started to rattle around them. "Oh hell, that's a big lad." Never mind him, it was that big-ass gun that had her barrel into the nearest room. "GET DOWN!" Others piled in after her, some not seconds away from being pumped full of bullets. Unending gunfire pierced their ears, to where no one heard her stupid quip of, "Ain't exactly puttin' the mini in minigun."

Use that wit of yours for something useful. That something came when she visualized the figure, huge and incredibly top-heavy with that gigantic weapon on his shoulders. Top-heavy meant easy to topple, and with this man being a Minotaur, all it took was someone knocking those hooves out from under him. She stayed low to the deck and readied her grapple gun, not daring to peek around until that minigun was done unloading its round. But this was hardly a one-person job. Motioning for the group of three to gather by her, she waved her grapple gun and shouted, "Take these out! Go for the legs!"

That minigun had to be reloaded eventually, and however long it took was enough time for Fergie and her troops to whip around the corner and fire their grappling hooks.

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

A new ship appeared flying the Golden Gun flag, having breached the clouds from under. This one was smaller, likely a scouting ship or some kind of maintenance ship. Chances are, they called for reinforcements and had a ship in Andouphe at the ready. It made sense since they were moving towards Andouphe anyways. Quickly, the ship started dropping troops onto the battered ship.

"Enemy has called for reinforcements!" Naka called, "We can NOT allow them to flank allies!" With most of the troops sweeping the interior, the enemy troops could catch them by surprise

Something gleamed from this new ship, and then hell broke loose. A massive freaking laser blasted the Canine from the new Golden Gun ship. Even though the magic shield had been recharged by now and took it all without shattering, it shook the very foundation of the Canine, jostling everyone like popcorn in a bag. Sebas almost ended up overboard, and caught Ora to keep her from plummeting back down to Marianna. Naka stumbled and watched in dismay as one of her mortars plummeted from the heavens along with 2 of her archers.

The Golden Guns weren't going down without a fight.

Ashlynn Thormdottir
Golden Gun Ship Interior​

Ash grabbed a gun from the dead pirate in the room with them. She didn't want to use such a weapon, but her chances of missing were low. She would hit SOMETHING, as big as the target was. With the minotaur having a minigun that big, it had both merit and weaknesses. One such weakness was that he was likely one of few if not the only one with the strength to pick it up


Still, overall a very easy raid. What's a little hardship here and there? "Baby Bear, as soon as that gun stops, I want you in front of him. Do not give him a chance to reload." While gunfire rang, they were essentially pinned down.........but what's a machine gun if it's out of ammo? A glorified paperweight.

Soon, the gunfire stopped. Baby Bear charged out. Turns out, the minotaur wasn't a COMPLETE idiot. He didn't stop firing because he was out of ammo. He stopped firing because all viable targets were either dead or hiding in a room. No point firing if there was no target. Miniguns did have a unique weakness though: It needed to spin up before it could fire. Baby Bear charged in and targeted the minigun, preventing the minotaur from firing on target when it started shooting. While Baby Bear started taking gunfire, Ash drained an Stone Flesh Potion, turning their flesh into the hardness of stone. If it affected her, it affected Baby Bear as well, allowing the familiar to soak up Golden Gun fire. Even with that, they wouldn't have this opening for long before Baby Bear disappeared due to the damage and the 10 minute cooldown before she could summon the bear again started.

At this point, the Minigun was out of control, firing a bit haphazardly as the bear sought to wrestle it from the minotaur's hands. It would be out of ammo soon, but Baby Bear didn't have that kind of time left. Ash bounded out of the room, deciding to abandon the gun idea since her precious bear would be in the line of fire. Fergie's suggestion to go for the legs was a good one. Being both fat and with horns that big, with a minigun that huge, if they clipped those legs, he wasn't getting up before Ash could rip his head off and mount his horns on the wall like the big game that he was. She fired her grappling hook and pulled herself in, closing the gap quickly. Unfortunately, she was intercepted by Guns, who grabbed her and threw her into a wall before one got his chest peppered in by the wandering Minigun. Ash gritted her teeth as a bullet clipped her shoulder. Well swinging my axe is gonna be painful, the troop leader thought as she rolled into another room to pick up a gun. Her sickle was in the middle of the hall, dropped when she took that bullet.

Baby Bear disappeared right when the minigun ran out of ammo. With her sickle down, Baby Bear down, and axe harder to swing with that bullet clipping her shoulder, it wasn't looking too good. "RELOAD!" the minotaur roared and dropped the minigun. Pushing it behind him with his hooves, Guns flooded around the minigun to start reloading it. The minotaur himself cracked his knuckles and pulled out a large axe sheathed on his back. Same weakness as the minigun. A bit more upclose and personal..........until that minigun was reloaded, which would prove devastating.


The pirates with Fergie followed her orders, pulling out their grapple guns and readying them to fire. With blade in one hand and grapple gun in the other, they were ready to topple the beast. As soon as the minotaur roared to reload, it was time to move.
WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

When gunfire stopped rattling off, Fergie rose a hand up. "Hold!" Loud thuds down the hall immediadly preceded gunfire resuming; she dared not chance a glance with the haphazard directions she was seeing bullets shoot past the doorway, but by those sounds, she could surmise that there was a wrestling match going on between the Minotaur and Baby Bear. "Wait for it." They needed a clear target and for that minigun to be out of ammo.

While they bided their time, Bogrum's urgent voice came through her crystal. "Bogrum to Fergie, do you copy?"
She held back a growl. Bad fuckin' time— "Aye, copy! Out with it!"
"Enemy aid is dropping on the main deck." Somehow over the boisterous minigun, she could hear Naka's voice shouting in the background. "Be ready for an ambush—" Then all she could hear was the sounds of hell coming from her crystal, almost matching a low hum that piered through the planks above.
"Bogrum?!" She didn't know what the hell was happening, but it couldn't be good. But when that ungodly sound silenced, so did the minigun, and she heard the elite's call to reload. There wasn't time to check on Bogrum.

"Take aim!" Her troops followed suit when she peered around the doorway, just as the Minotaur hoisted an axe from his belt. With a few well-placed shots right as he took a step, they could ensure he never gets to use it. "Now!" Four grappling hooks wizzed through the air and hit their mark. Feeling heavy resistance immediately, she cried, "HEAVE!" They pulled with all their might, but while the three kept their eyes on the target, Fergie threw her voice down the other end of the corredor. "Firearms! Guard the exits! We got company!"

---

Only when the deck stopped trembling did Bogrum pick himself up. Though the comparison didn't hit him until after the fact, he had reacted as if they had been struck with a sudden earthquake, dropping to the ground to save himself from toppling over. It had happened too fast to warn anybody, but Bogrum, forgetting his nausea in the rush, made to remedy that. He called to the crew, pulling some of them out of their shock, "Cannons, keep aim on that ship! Wait for the order!"
He saw Naka, just in time to catch that look of dismay on her face. The missing mortar and thinned crew led him to put two and two together, giving him a pang of loss, but there was no time to mourn. "Naka, we need all shortrange firepower concentrated on those weapons." With an ace up their sleeve like that, they needed to give all that they were getting, but within reason. With both ships parked directly above the main ship, there was a risk of friendly fire. Blasting the small ship to smithereens could damage their own, not to mention tear a giant hole through the ship their raid party was in. "We can't handle many more shots like that." He could see that the shields were still up, but he couldn't count on them to not crumble under a second blast, and he couldn't count on that laser to not have a long enough cooldown. Without those shields, all it took was one well-placed hit, and the Basenjis would be the ones plummeting through the sky.

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

Sebas Deadeye
Canine Deck -----------> Golden Gun Deck​

Sebas was PISSED after the laser struck the ship. Not only did it almost cause his death and Ora's death, but it caused them to lose a mortar and, more importantly, 2 troops. That ship was going down. NO Gun was about to live to tell the tale. The captain of the ship wasn't supposed to be raiding, but he'd be damned if he stood by and watched things go on any further without intervention. "Bogrum! Strap up, grab some troops. You're raiding that new ship." he said, "Naka, I want that new ship shelled YESTERDAY! We can't have that thing firing again," He looked to Ora. "Ora, you remembered what I've been teaching you?"

Ora nodded, "I remember everything."

"Good, because we're going down to reinforce Fergie. Stick with me." he responded and turned back to the two. "Naka, I want that ship suppressed and rushed. Get Bogrum and his troops over there STAT. I'm deploying my troops immediately. When we deploy, MOVE THIS SHIP!"

Without waiting for an answer from either of them, Sebas ran off to rally some troops to get moving quickly. He pulled over a few, including Avery, making sure to balance between his needs, Bogrum's needs, and the ship's defense needs. It ended up being 8 total, including him and Ora. They rushed to the bottom, to the deployment zone. "Sebas to Fergie, I'm coming in as reinforcements. Sebas out!"
The portal outwards opened. It was quite a drop that would be mitigated in full so long as they landed on their feet. Courtesy of the Cloud Boots. "Sebas, I don't know about this!" Ora said, wide-eyed with fear at the thought of jumping out of a perfectly-good airship. Her legs were absolutely quaking. "I can't jump!"
Sebas didn't have time to assess how cute she probably looked, nor did he have time to reassure her. You'll forgive me later, Ora, Sebas thought. "Ready or not, you're coming!" With her being too small to physically resist, Sebas jumped, pulling her with him against her will.

For Sebas, the air between the 2 ships were a time of laser focus and urgency. Every second of hangtime was another second closer to Fergie being flanked and then swarmed. At best, their troops could hold them off until his team got to them. As the ship approached his feet, he was steeling his nerver and hoping Naka and Bogrum could destroy that scout ship, or at least disable that laser before it fired again

Orabelle Alahala​

For Orabelle, the air was terrifying. Free-falling was not her idea of a good time. Her limbs were used to propelling her through water, not flailing uselessly in the air like they were right now. Knowing that there was nothing between them and the ground but this ship and a lot of air, her shrieks pierced the skies and she clung to Sebas so hard, her nails started to draw blood.

Her racing thoughts were shattered as her face plunged deeper into Sebas's chest and she felt her weight finally stop moving, cradled in Sebas's arms. "Destroy my ears more, Ora," Sebas said with a chuckle. She had no idea when she shifted from being pulled down behind him into being held in the princess carry, but in that absolute eternity she spent free-falling, her eyes were closed and awaiting death. She didn't care. She was just glad she wasn't falling anymore.

She didn't get to celebrate. Sebas released her to her feet and pulled out his gun to start firing on the opposition. Ora's brain was drawing blanks, still shell-shocked by the experience. This wasn't being helped by the 6 pirates also firing and charging into the fray. Sebas grabbed her and threw her behind some cover that Avery conjured. "Song of support, Ora!"
"Strength or Speed?" she yelled over the fray, taking care to not poke her head up.
"Speed!" Speed was the name of Ash's game. That was the game they would be playing.

------------------------------------------------------

Ashlynn Thormdottir
Golden Gun Main Ship Interior​

Ash felt a sense of relief when she looked into the hall and saw the grapple gun lines tearing into the Minotaur's leg. He wasn't toppling though, even with all their combined might. Him being top-heavy and holding that axe, they needed more force. He was firmly planted

She would assist by bounding into the hall and firing her gun, aiming for the minotaur's leg. If they couldn't clip his legs from under him, maybe they just needed to weaken them first. She missed. Damn gun, Ash muttered before chucking the gun at an enemy aiming right at her, breaking his aim and allowing her to grab her sickle with an expert roll, but found herself rolling back as that axe came down. Her sickle wasn't blocking that any time soon. She pulled out her hatchet and chucked it towards the Minotaur's leg, burying it there and causing the Minotaur to roar in pain and swing his axe at Ash, an easy dodge. With another heave from Fergie and her men, they should be able to topple him.
WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

That laser blast had shattered any illusion that this would be an easy win. But Bogrum wasn't about to give up hope, especially when his confidence was fortified by Sebas taking initiative. Though some of his choices seemed brow-raising— mainly his decision to bring Orabelle with him on the enemy ship— he would ask no questions. "Gladly, Captain," he would say, mostly to himself as Sebas was already leaving. Though he felt he could do a decent job coordinating, his best skills were in combat up close in personal. Before he left to gather his own troops, he told Naka, "I won't take long." He already knew who he was going to take with him. Many troops manning the guns and cannons were versatile enough to handle themselves well enough in a raid. Though there was one he wanted with for a different reason.

The man that had been stalking Fergie was part of the weapons team, so Bogrum had kept a close eye on him while he could. It was minor in the face of the greater task at hand, but he wanted to ensure that creep wasn't about to use the chaos to his advantage and sneak off. Doubtful, but one couldn't be too careful. And he doubted the opportunity to have this guy killed off in combat would just fall in his lap, but he wasn't about to neglect the possibility.
If Bogrum found him at his post, he would point him out and motion him to follow, like he had with the others. If not, then another course of action would need to be taken, but he would continue focusing on the very prominent concern of not letting the new ship blast them out of the sky.

---

Hearing Sebas's voice washed her in a wave of relief. "Copy that!" They had survived in the face of terrible odds together. Fergie hardly considered what they were dealing with now terrible odds, but she was confident that once he was involved, they'd turn any tides in their favor.

While their combined efforts didn't have much effect on giant they were attempting to topple, Ash's attack on him gave them the edge they needed. "Again! Heave!" With one last hoist, lines stretched taunt between the weight and the force pulling against it. A booming thud that rattled the floor and walls was their cue. "Go!" Swords drawn, her team rushed in to finish the job. If Ash still wanted to mount this Minotaur's head, now was her chance.

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

Sebas Deadeye
Golden Gun Ship Deck​

They pushed forward brutally. When Orabelle's aria hit their ears, they felt like the enemy was moving in a bit of slow motion, as her song not only increased their movement speed, but also their agility and dexterity. Sebas was happy to have the girl at his side. Yes, she was in more danger, but it was either bring her with him or saddle her with someone else. Elaina was working with Naka and everybody else were in battle. The songs they had her learn would service the team very well, like it was right now as he plunged his sword into an enemy's chest and blasted another with his gun in almost the same move.

Sebas's aggressive troops got more aggressive when their speed increased, slashing at enemies like rabid cats. Their shooting took out 2 of his troops before they were decimated and kept off the door to flank Fergie/Ash's troops. Once the coast was clear, he ran back over to Orabelle, who was still sticking behind her cover, with Avery covering the position. "Nice work, Orabelle. Thanks for the protection Avery."
"Thank you," Orabelle smiled, her blue eyes alight at the gratitude. "I'm glad to help as you help me,"
"Always." Avery nodded.
"Let's get in there and mop up the rest of this trash."


They entered the hall with Sebas at the lead to prevent any unwitting friendly fire. They entered to see Fergie drop the minotaur with grapple gun lines. "Ora, Song of Support. Strength."
Another different aria began. With this one, it was a bit more of a risk as it made them angry, more aggressive, and helped suppress minor pain on top of increasing their strength. This time, since Fergie and Ash could hear it, they felt the effects.

Ashlynn Thormdottir​

Ash was already seeing red. Some of her troops dropped, they took out Baby Bear, they shot her. When that song hit her ears, that was the final straw. As beautiful as Ora's voice was, whatever words she was singing was making her want to cleave heads and then cleave the skull in half to drink from. She was GOING to start cleaving at the Minotaur's head. Instead, she grabbed her axe and started slamming it into the Minotaur's back, immediately severing the spine. Her vision went black and she was almost rabid. "You STUPID! STUPID! Fucking BULL! I'll RIP! Your FUCKING! HORNS off! You UNSKILLED, USELESS piece of Baby Bear SHIT!" On the last few, her hits got stronger and the last one completely decapitated the minotaur, veins spurting blood where it pooled heavily around the heavy lifeless body. He wiped out a good number of their troops, but this would have to do in terms of vengeance.

Soaked with Minotaur blood, she looked like Carrie. Grabbing the Minotaur's head, she stalked towards Fergie and Sebas with a snort as she dragged the head in one hand with the axe in the other scraping the floor. "Fuck this guy," she spat, "Don't know if he's captain. Don't care." Some troops, mostly those who stuck with her moreso than Fergie, followed suit. She was under a dark cloud.

Sebas Deadeye​

Sebas just stepped aside and let Ash exit to the deck. Seeing the carnage her troops had inflicted and were still inflicting with Ora's song now backing them up, Sebas just let it happen. He had seen Ash angry before, but this was worse. Ora's song was potent. It was potent on him as well. Difference is that Sebas had heard it a million times and he didn't suffer the pain of seeing troops fall en masse in front of him.

"We're not done here yet," he told Fergie. "We still gotta clear the thing of all hostiles. Put Ash to secure this location while we clear the rest." Next was the lowermost parts of the ship, which is where a door was firmly secure to prevent entry. They had to breach it. "Ora will stay behind with Ash and help heal injuries." With this particular location safe, it was the best place for Ora to be. Plus, with this place being a blood pool, there WERE injuries to be healed


Their death toll was about 10. Not too bad a number considering that they had to kill at least 30, and that was just what he could count from troop reports. The blitzkrieg strategy worked amazingly, but now it was time to kick in doors, loot the place, kill stragglers, and confront the captain. They would be expecting them when they start breaching, but if there were treasures to loot, Adonis would want it. Otherwise, they raided for nothing. "My team, let's go. Ora, you're with Ash. DO NOT run off on your own."

"I won't let them worry about me." Ora reassured him.







--------------------------------------------------------------------



(Smart of you to keep eye on that one dude. I was gonna put him on the Golden Gun Ship if you hadn't mentioned him)

Canine Ship Deck
Raid Prep​

Bogrum's effort to find the man paid off, as he as operating a weapon when Bogrum approached him to join his team. Armed with a blunderbuss and a basic cutlass, he bounded behind the weapons captain. Bogrum's efforts netted him around 14 troops total, including himself. With the scout ship having unloaded a bunch of troops, their resistance wouldn't be as heavy as before. With Naka and Elaina about to launch another bombardment, it should tenderize the ship more and more.

Nakaos​

While Bogrum was gone, Naka rallied her bombardment troops. "Elana, Naka needs eyes on that weapon and any form of defense that may be defending it."
"Scanning......."
"Oh, and Bogrum will probably want some analysis on the troops at the surface of the ship."



When Bogrum finished rallying his troops and returned to Naka with them in tow, they were ready with information. "Naka asked me to gather some information for you," Elaina said, "Wish Ash or Fergie would've asked me for the layout of the first ship, but we'll live. There are 20 troops on the surface, 10 of them footsoldiers, 6 of them split across 3 weapons. The last 4 are on the weapon of interest."



Yeah, they didn't have to guess. "That thing is some sort of Dwarven High-Powered laser cannon. It is being fed by an immense amount of mana being compacted and blasted. 3 mages to load up the core and one aiming and pulling the trigger. The strength? We felt it. The weakness? It takes all 3 mages to gather up enough magic to load it. At the rate of recharge I'm seeing from them, we're looking at another shot in like 2 minutes." That was a significant amount of time, and Naka couldn't help but wonder why they fired without whittling down their shield first. If they took the blitzkrieg route like they did and overwhelmed their shields before firing, they would have splat on the ground by now. Guess they thought the other ship took down their shields.
"The weapon is defended by an Powerful Front Shield. Extremely strong where it's pointed, but no protection in the back." In other words, they couldn't hope to cripple it with direct fire. Whatever, Naka thought. If it wasn't a dome shield, they may as well have no shield.
"So we kill the mages, we cripple the gun," Naka concluded, and thought for a moment. "Bogrum, that weapon is calling Naka's name. Naka is sure both Sebas and Adonis would be pleased to have such firepower." It was undeniable that the weapon was impressive. As devastating as the Drop Blade with a quarter of the weight and 100x the range. "If we can get that weapon out alive, Naka wants to. If not, Naka will destroy it." If it weren't going into their hands, there was no way that thing was being left alive.

Elaina looked to the two. "Time is ticking. I will assist the direct-fire ship weapons to the best of my ability, but we need to move before they charge that thing up again."
WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

Fergie figured that Ash would be the first to begin chopping away at the Minotaur, but she didn't expect it to be in the literal fashion she was witnessing. Her troops halted in their tracks before they could be in range of the violent carnage; they knew Ash could get pissed too, having worked with her as long as they have, but this was on another level. The song definitely had an influence, something Fergie didn't realize was even there at first until the voice stuck out to her against the bloody spectacle. Its influence extended to her as well, as when she turned her head and saw who Sebas had brought, a surge of anger made her blurt out, "Seb, what the FUCK is the kid doin' here?!"

Ash displaying the ravaged head of her enemy thankfully interrupted what might have started a heated argument. Bloodied and stalking down the hall like a tiger in search of its next kill, that sight pulled Fergie away from her wrath and instilled a different emotion. "Goddamn. Note to self: never piss off Ash." Sebas was already bringing out orders. The song was making it hard to stay tempered, but Fergie could put aside her many questions in favor of finishing what they started. Besides... "Just like old times, huh?" If one could consider what happened a week ago "old times", but going about deadly missions had a way of skewing one's perception of time.
Fergie passed down the orders through her crystal, since Ash had disappeared to bring hell on whoever survived both her and Sebas's assault. "Fergie to Ash. Sebas wants this deck secured while we clean this place out. Keep an eye on the kid and get Kersact's team ready to come down. Over." They'd have to pick off stragglers first, which shouldn't take long now that the brunt of the Golden Guns defense was taken care of. Of this ship, anyway.
"Alright, troops, ye heard the captain! Get somethin' heavy or that explodes!" To Sebas, she said, "I'd ask what the hell's going on up there, but it sounds like it's bein' taken care of." She wouldn't say, but Bogrum's sudden silence was still on her mind. It was easy to assume that he was busy coordinating ship defenses, so it felt tacky calling him just to make sure he was okay.

---

Satisfied with the team he set up and relieved to find the person of interest at his post, Bogrum took them in tow as he returned to Naka. He took in the information, pondering possible formations and points of entry they should take. Most importantly regarding weapon that had nearly rattled their ship to oblivion, and its fate. He was hoping Naka would say something to that effect. "Believe me, I want that thing too." Devastating power at a fourth of the hassle of that big-ass blade? He would take it if he could. "Our priority is those mages, then. Take out any chance of them firing. When they can't bite back, we'll sweep out the dust." Sebas didn't want a Golden Gun left alive, and Bogrum could supply that. But his main concern was incapacitating what gave the enemy their edge. "My team is ready. Lets get some hits on this thing before we board. Angle it right, we can strike them from behind." Naka and Elaina knew what they were doing, so there was no need to list off specific instructions.

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

Ashlynn Thormdottir
Golden Gun ship Deck​

When the song finally subsided, Ash came down from her dark cloud as her vision seemingly returned to normal. Having lost herself in the dark recesses of her mind, she looked down at the minotaur head. Damn, she thought. Thought Islief made me soft enough to suppress that berserker rage. Well, in the absence of Baby Bear and seeing soldiers die, it made sense. Still.......whatever it was that dragged that out of her, maybe it was a long time brewing. "Ash to Fergie. Acknowledged. I'm getting Kersact's crew on the looting now while we heal the injured. Out."
Ora approached her, a bit intimidated by that massive minotaur head she was holding, and seeing her cleave it off the body. "Hello Ash," she said shyly
"Sup, Kid. Why did Sebas bring you here?"
"The Canine is fighting and he wanted to keep me with him.........Did my song make you do that?"
Sebas's words came back to her head. "Song of Support. Strength." That explained everything. However, she didn't want to upset the kid by saying the song brought out the brutality that made her a feared force even on the ship, what she honestly hated to do because she never had memory of it. "Hell yeah it did, Kid," she responded with her usual nonchalance and decided to exaggerate a bit, "Without you, this big game would've charged through and flattened everybody." She looked at Ora, "That song. How did you learn it?"
"Sebas taught me."
Sebas? A song in complete Piscean? Her sweaty brow raised in question

Sebas Deadeye
Golden Gun Ship Interior​

Sebas was expecting her to ask about Ora. However, he didn't answer immediately because of everything needing to go down. He waited until they were standing by for the breaching charge. "Ora is here because 1) the Canine is there dealing with the reinforcing ship and 2) because Ora brings excellent support." That was absolutely undeniable when Fergie looked at how aggressive and strong they got from hearing that song, which was ironically heard in Piscean despite her Trace Relic in effect, which made the lyrics undiscernible but laced with crack or something


"The reinforcing ship has some laser or some crap that almost destroyed us, but since they offloaded a bunch of soldiers here, I put Naka over the Canine and left them to raid the new ship," he said, as the breaching charge was placed on the door. The breaching charge was just a small grenade slathered in glue (not everything needed magic), slapped on the door to be lit when ordered. This would destroy the door and allow them to get the jump on whoever was inside.

They stacked on the door, gunmen first. Sebas decided to primary his gun, putting him at the forefront of the breach. Captain or not, he'd die in the fray before dying in the background. "Old times makes me feel like we've been doing this for years," he chuckled and gave the indicator to light the fuse. The fuse counted down their assault as it moved closer to the bomb. "This time, you got command."


-----------------------------------------------------

Nakaos
Canine Deck​

A scout ship vs a raid ship. The Golden Guns certainly had the speed advantage, but the Canine had the overwhelming firepower advantage save for that laser cannon. They just needed to maneuver away from the laser cannon. Well, her orders were given. Bombard this bastard. "Elaina, Naka wants targets of interest. Weapons."
"Easy. Scanning."
While she did that, Naka went over to her mortars and jumped on the watch tower pillar, getting a bit of height and holding herself in place in about the middle of it. "These better be loaded. Locking on!"
Naka's vision enhanced, almost like a targeting reticle was there to highlight the targets she wanted down. Until Elaina got back to her with specific spots, she would mop the surface with shock and awe. "FIRE!"

A thunderous roar from the Canine as their mortars shot their payload. The projectiles arched and began their laser-focused descent. Counter-fire from the Golden Guns as a few of their mortars were intercepted with defensive fire. A couple of cluster rounds wouldn't go down easy though as Mother Mortar was pregnant, releasing her baby mortars all over the ship's surface area. More counter-fire and the Canine moved to dodge it, 2 hitting their recharging shield to break it and one scoring a hit on the back of the ship, shaking things up a bit and forcing Naka to grab the watch tower to prevent being thrown off.

The ship dipped down and charged forward, attempting to get under them to prevent their mortar attacks. While ultimately they would need to get either equal levelled or over them for a direct deployment or drop deployment, right now was the task of tenderizing the enemy.

WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

When the song's effect began to fade, Fergie could think clearly enough to realize Sebas was making some good points. There really wasn't anywhere that was safe for Orabelle. If she was left on the Canine while he was in the fray down here, who was to say that it wouldn't be shot down, and Seb wouldn't be there to save her? The only "safe" option she could think of beyond keeping her shielded but in his sight was to leave her on the main ship, but that meant dropping her off with someone. Even though Evangeline was an angel, she didn't like the idea of any kid being left alone and under her influence. She was bound to protect her, but still... maybe it was her personal bias talking, but she got a bad feeling from it.
It sucked, but facing possible death as a free child was arguably better than facing nearly certain death under the reign of an evil monarch. It didn't sit well with Fergie, imposing that philosophical justification on someone who had no choice, but it was the only thing keeping her from demanding Sebas leave her out of future conflicts. That, and there was a chain of command to adhere to. And if she wanted to take care of her so badly, she should have stepped in and taken the oath herself. Psh, me? A parent? Funny.

"If by support, you mean what Ash just did back there? Aye." The poor kid would probably need some kind of therapy after witnessing that bloodbath. But then again, there was no telling what horrors Ora had already witnessed. Life as a Piscean wasn't a carefree romp, even for the more peaceful colonies. Fergie could only imagine what she had seen in the real life horror story she would have grown up in.

Sebas mentioned the laser. "Guess they really do live up to the name." She felt a brief shock when he said Naka was coordinating, thinking for a moment that it meant something had happened to Bogrum. But the logical conclusion was that he must have been the one leading the other raid; she probably would have been told otherwise if that laser blast had done him in.

There wasn't time to ease her anxieties. According to Sebas, she had a breach to coordinate. "No survivors. Shoot down anythin' that moves," were her orders to the crew.

---

For a little guy, the Golden Guns ship was putting up a decent fight. Like a cornered elk rearing its antlers, slashing the predator when it snapped its jaws too closely. That was why they would have to time their attacks, and aim for the jugular when the throat was exposed. They could make the risky maneuver of dropping down Bogrum's troops while the ship ducked underneath, but with 14 against 20, the odds weren't as good as he'd like, even if half of the enemy troops would be operating weapons at the time of them boarding. He felt like he was at a loss here; coordinating in three dimensions was a lot more difficult than he originally thought. "If we can get a good shot once they're in range, aim for their propulsion systems," sounded like a good course of action. Naka's accuracy would be useless if the enemy kept darting into cover.

Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

Sebas Deadeye
Golden Gun Ship Interior​

With the order to shoot anything that moves, he smirked. "Glad Bogrum hasn't made you all high and mighty yet." Before Fergie would be able to respond, the breaching charge exploded. Blood racing, everything moved like slow motion to Sebas and all he could hear was ringing from the sound of the breaching charge. He'd done PLENTY of breaches in this crew, so his focus was laser. Gun down, entering room, gun up, fire. Gunpowder in his scent, smoke in his sight, and murder on his mind, THIS was why he became a pirate. Travel, plunder, and murder. Orabelle was amazing and he was glad he took her under his wing, and while she brought out enough in him to say he actually had a bit of a paternal instinct within, at the end of the day, he lived to travel, plunder, and kill.

Rule #1 of breaching: DOMINATE the space. If you move like you need to be invited in, you moved with hesitation. Hesitation gets you killed. The first shot with Sebas's gun found its mark, the gut, blasting it out of the target's back. He immediately swung left to clear the doorway for the rest of the crew and continued on his quest for blood, bringing up his gun to block a cutlass and planting a boot in the attacker's stomach, sending him to the ground to take a blast from Sebas's gun, stopping him from ever getting up on his own accord.

Gunmen streamed into the room before the melee pirates, with some of Kersact's goblins following behind after that. Their small stature and extreme quickness got them running between feet to stab at the legs of their opponents, if not jumping on and mauling their faces

They suffered some initial casualties as bottlenecking through an opening did make some of them prime-picking for easy potshots, but luckily they weren't dealing with a minigun minotaur, else this breach would've been over as quickly as it began.

1. If Fergie breached beside Sebas, it was in her best interest to swing opposite to him, covering the right instead of the left. This would find her taking on some mace and axe-armed opponents, meeting heavier resistance upfront
2. If Fergie breached with the middle crew, she'd have less resistance upfront, but she'd be forced to deal with the longer range opponents
3. If she breached last, the room would be clear, but she'd have to take the forefront on checking the rooms in these corridors, putting her and fellow last-breachers at risk for ambushes as they did so. Since this was where the engine room and/or treasure room were, she could bet that there were some HEAVY resistance in wait

Nakaos
The Canine Ship Deck​

"With them being as quick as they are, the propulsion system are a tricky target even for Naka." Targeting the propulsion of a ship this quick was like trying to shoot a housefly with a pistol. Annoying bastard, they were. "I want homing rounds in those mortars!" she called. Those were magic-influenced rounds that gently guided itself to target. However, when they responded to her Guide Spell, this gentle nudge turned into predatory chasing, essentially hard-maneuvering to whatever Naka was looking at, ensuring a hit on anything that wasn't a cloud of gnats. "Locking on.........FIRE!"

Another flurry of mortar-fire from the Canine. Naka ran over to the edges of the ship to gaze upon their target. As the mortar reversed course to begin their descent, they exploded into smaller missiles. Like painting a target with a laser, the missiles descended upon their target, closing in like a hive of furious bees.
"Naka, I got targets of interest in sight!" Elaina's scan was complete, to the delight of Naka
"Show Naka NOW!" she said urgently, not having any time to lollygag
"Sharing......."

Naka's sight enhanced, as Elaina's sight-sharing made her gaze upon the targets of interest and ONLY those targets, essentially seeing through the ship as if she had x-ray vision. Their mortars, their laser cannon mages, their ship cannons, their propulsion system, their engine room. While she knew she wouldn't hit all those targets (they were OVER the target ship, and the propulsion system were on the bottom of the ship), she would liquidate everything standing between her and the target.

This time, there was no escape. The missiles found their target, blowing holes into the surface of the ship as the sounds of feedback filled her ears. No dice on the propulsion system, but contact was contact. Gazing down, she gave a devious smile as she saw ship, equipment, and bodies fall from the heavens, disappearing completely as they were engulfed by the clouds below them. "Good effect on target," Naka called out to her mortars, "You better be loaded up. More homing rounds!"

Their ship was rocked with underbelly fire from the Golden Guns ship. "Get the wyrm swarm to save allies!" Their wyrm swarm was intended for attacks, not utilized heavily due to them being incredibly hard to replace. In this case, they had to be even more cautious given that their opponents were known to be sharpshooters. No need to give them skeet shooting targets. The loss of a few standard-issue cannons were nothing. Loss of allied life was always something to mitigate though. They did mitigate some loss. 6 lives out of the 10 at risk were saved. The last 4 weren't so lucky. "Deploy the Grappler!"

The Grappler was basically a psuedo-stationary, ship-mounted harpoon gun, pseudo-stationary to mean it could move but made itself mountainously immovable when fired until completely retracted, designed to do what targeting the propulsion system would do: Slow or Immobilize the enemy to secure a safe deployment or prevent them escaping. It was moved to the bottom of the ship and then fired through the deployment portal. Finding its target easily, it crashed through the surface of the enemy ship and buried itself into the guts of the Golden Guns Scout ship.
"Bogrum! This is where you deploy. Naka can bombard one last time before you deploy, but it comes at the risk of more retaliatory fire." For friendly-fire avoidance reasons, bombardments weren't happening after Bogrum deployed. So Bogrum was looking at 12 vs 17 deployment odds if he went now. If he dice-rolled another bombardment, it would find its target to a devastating degree, but the Golden Guns were in prime position to strike their underbelly for a second time if they did, risking damaging the ship to a large degree.

Bombard or Deploy. There WAS a 3rd option though................

WayfaringWaaksian

 

[WayfaringWaaksian]

Fergie only had time to send Sebas a look of confusion before the explosive popped in their ears. Whatever had been on her mind was pushed to the side as easily as the first wave of gunmen pushed through the smoke. Fergie wanted to fight alongside Sebas, but she was ill-equipped to join the front line of a breach like this. It required brute strength, or at the very least firepower, neither of which she had at this time. It was easier to dodge attacks and slip past the enemies' defenses without bottle-necking through a narrow corridor, where she would be forced to meet every foe head-on.

The front and middle she was confident would hold up with Sebas spearheading. Her main concern was the tail end, where she knew troops tended to get careless. The direct offense would be neutralized at that point, but it left them open to meet any ambushes while clearing out the other rooms. The losses they sustained so far weren't terribly numerous, but they still weighed on her; with her guidance, she'd help mitigate what she could.

As the last troops filed in, stepping over scattered weapons and bodies, Fergie rallied them. She sectioned them into three groups, one composed of the more competent members to search for the engine room, one to make a general sweep of the miscellaneous rooms, and the last would be led by her directly. She would be searching for the treasure room, where she was expecting to meet the most resistance. The bane of pirates was that they tended to value their loot over their own self-preservation, and it was too often that they would be found guarding their treasure like a fuming dragon, rather than protecting the ship's vitals. She had prepared for the possibility that more resistance was pitted elsewhere, but statistically speaking, they were probably going to have to paint gold piles in blood.

Ferige bent down to retrieve a one-handed gun cradled in the limp hand of a dead Golden Gun, giving it a second's look-over to examine its integrity. "Let's get what we came for, lads."

---

Knowing it was his time to act, Bogrum's thoughts raced. There were a handful of options here. They would still be outnumbered, though not greatly, so another aerial attack would benefit his raid crew. But that could be at the risk of the Golden Guns putting more holes in the Canine's underbelly, and losing more of their own anyway. Another thought occurred, one that challenged the notion of raiding in the first place; even more loss could be avoided if they just blasted that tiny ship to smithereens, laser cannon be damned. How could a piece of machinery be more valuable than the lives under his charge?

But what was that Fergie had said about pirates, right before his first raid? About how they'd rather die than lose their treasure? Something, something, fuming dragon. Well, I don't want them fuming at ME.

He tore the temptation away from himself. "We're deploying now! Get to the portal!"

Kylesar1