((Did I seriously make you wait eight days for a reply? Holy fuck I am sorry. I thought I replied days ago.))

The first mistake was nearly their last. The [i]Duchess Gambit[/i] drifted into the range of it's quarry's claws, and they thundered in response, a dozen guns volleying at the circling ship. Ceres was quick enough to stop seven of the shots, an impressive move by any standard, but not good enough. Suddenly the swordsman his albatross had brought along showed his own worth, swinging that blade of his like it was some kind of magic, and it even worked. He only stopped four more of the hurtling cannonballs, however. Captain Cuttlam only had the time to curse violently before the last shot crashed into the deck. A thirty-six pound cannon was gone in a flash, its crew dead with it. He growled. It wasn't supposed to go like this.

Now they were down a cannon, and a crew, and they still hadn't holed their enemy properly. No one seemed pleased with the gunnery skills of the only people in the fight at the moment. The warlord had to do something. He knocked his current gunnery captain out of the way and seized control of the nearest cannon. "The man on that ship could sink us in one volley if he wanted. He just doesn't know who he's up against." he growled in warning to the man he'd put in charge of his artillery. He produced his familiar, and had the beast latch onto the cannon barrel even as he watched a second volley hurtling toward them. He hauled the muzzle upward and aimed it carefully, before screaming "Fire!" as loud as he could, hoping the crew was still paying attention.

Thankfully they were, and the cannon went off just in time. The thirty-six pound cannon roared between the teeth of the monster, and the cannonball rocketed into one of the incoming projectiles, knocking it into another, and sending all three of them clear of the ship. Cyrus could have stopped them all. He just hoped Ceres and Ace could stop the others. Whether lead rained down around him or not, though, the pirate lord was moving to the next gun. Once more his canine daemon hefted it, and once more he demanded someone fire the gun. But this time, rather than aiming for incoming cannonballs, he sent the projectile into the hull of their target. And this time, the round thundered into the bow of the ship to good effect. It shattered its way through the hull right next to the keel. The forward motion of the ship would quickly flood the magazine and hopefully they'd be able to board the vessel before it sank. Not one to take risks like this, though, Octavius headed for the next usable cannon. He intended to ruin his enemy's ship, as there was only one person on it that he cared for...