[center][img]http://s32.postimg.org/pjm9clarp/f501e30a439af056abb830c6265ef4e6.jpg[/img]
[h2]Grand Caravel [i]CYNEBURG[/i][/h2][/center]

"Kraken!" The scream from the mainmast brought instant silence to those men who went about the ships daily routine, every head craning upwards as if they could see the lookout through the mass of sails.

"Kraken to larboard! Coming straight for us!" 

In an instant Heinrich von Hohenlohe, CYNEBURG's Sailing Master, had leapt to the ships bell and began ringing it for all he was worth. Men looked at him for a second, their faces frozen in a mixture of fear, excitement, and trepidation, and then the deck exploded like an ants hill when you pour boiling water onto it. 

Hohenlohe grabbed a nearby midshipman. "Ring it for it for all you're worth Hanz."

The young lad nodded and continued ringing the bell even as Hohenlohe crossed to the larboard side in three quick steps, eye straining to see the distant Kraken. [i]A fine day for such a fight to be sure.[/i] He thought and found himself grinning. [i]Not our first multi limbed enemy and certainly not the last.[/i]

The sound of gunports crashing open drew his attention away from the sea for a moment and he nodded in approval as the gun crews loaded their weapons with practiced speed and efficiency. [i]Cost me some coin from my own pocket for the extra powder but it was worth every copper when I see them in action. Pity the Grand Elector cannot see past the end of his own coin purse some times...[/i]

The Kraken was visible now and Hohenlohe gave a quiet sigh of relief. It was only a small one, maybe sixty feet. Only the very young, or the largest of them all, would attack a Grand Caravel. The ships were vast and capable of ferocious amount of damage. Rarely did the young ones who attacked such a ship live to become elder Kraken. His crew was preparing for the worst as they had been taught. Every gun was run out, every crossbow loaded, and pikes prepared to stab into the tentacles of the beast as it tried to wrap itself around the ship. He noted that a crate of Granads had been brought up, fearsome little iron balls that, when their fuse reached their centre, would explode and send shrapnel in all directions. A couple of those thrown into the mouth of a Kraken would put an end to most of them.

"Steady lads!" A Gun Captain called out. The faces of the men around him were intent on their task, only a few glancing towards the approaching creature, the very top of its head travelling perhaps a foot below the surface. 

"Number one battery, stand by!" Hohenlohe called out. He noted the disappointed look of the other gun crews. It was a well known fact that he would doll out an extra ration of wine or rum to anyone who delivered the killing blow to a beast like the Kraken. Number One battery meanwhile had begun to spin their slow matches, the powder sparking and burning, waiting to be touched to the vent.

"On you're own time, make them count, fire!"

The word was barely out of his mouth when Number Three gun fired. [i]Always first, and always a bit high.[/i] He thought as the roundshot skipped across the water several metres behind the on-rushing animal, the other gun crews jeering the miss in friendly competition. [i]Number five gun will fire next, should be close or a direct hit.[/i] The Kraken was plainly visible now, a pair of its tentacles rising above water to strike. To soon. It was almost a hundred yards away.

Number Five gun fired. At first everyone thought it had missed but then a cheer went up as one of the tentacles ripped free in a shower of blood that turned the water pink. The Kraken had slowed, it was not used to pain, and this was not something it would have counted on. [i]You're as good as dead ole boy. Shouldn't have come at us in the first place, and certainly shouldn't have slowed down.[/i] Hohenlohe smiled grimly, he did't enjoy killing sea beasts but the Kraken were becoming a serious problem in recent years.

A roaring crash announced the firing of Number One gun. It did not miss. The roundshot slammed into the Krakens partially exposed head and a great mist of blood filled the air around the confused creature. In a rage it lifted itself from the water to charge the CYNEBURG. Two more culverins roared, the only two left in the battery that had not yet fired. 

Hohenlohe did not watch their strikes. He turned away towards the quarterdeck, unwilling to watch the confused creature die as it gave a horrible piercing shriek and began to convulse violently in the sea, staining the water around it red. Within minutes sharks would arrive and it would be torn to pieces. 

"Close up guns! All hands to stations." Hohenlohe called. [i]Time to catch up to the convoy. I should be able to retire after a few more runs like this.[/i] Number One Battery began to reload and the gunports were pulled closed, the sailors hurrying back to their usual stations. Just another day on the trade routes.