Raz ducked behind the railings as return fire grazed the top of his head. An unexpected rock of the ship had been the only thing that saved his brain from taking in fresh air. Rushing to the stairway and the doorway to the lower hold he threw open the door, putting finger and thumb to his mouth before blowing a shrill whistle.

"ALL HANDS ON DECK. SEND OUT THE RATS AND MAKE READY TO REPEL!"

A few cheers ushered back from the dimly lit belly of the ship followed by the sound of metal clanking together as yet more swords were drawn, nearly 25 more sailors were already rushing to the stairway as Raz turned attention to the deck. Nearly a half dozen had been hit in the initial volley with minor wounds, another half dozen were sprouting arrows from their chest, others the victim of gunfire. Raz silently cursed their luck of running afoul the Great Aquarius.

Men went over but were being cut down quickly during the swing. Thankfully they had the numbers to overwhelm, rather than out-gun.

Stroking his long beard he turned just in time to see some youngling drop onto the raised deck with staff in hand, his other hand curled around something. Not wanting to see what, Raz threw his crossbow to the side and drew the boarding axe at his hip.

"DIE, Invader!" He roared, launching himself towards [@noodles] Bertol with a flurry of swings. Every swing felt like 100 pounds, the sheer weight vibrating up your arm numbingly. 
Around the two combatants the other pirates grinned and returned their attention to GREAT AQUARIUS and let fly another volley of arrows and hastily reloaded pistol fire.

[hr]
[@Lunarlord34]
Anemone had laid a few of the boarding party down but more continued to arrive, all dropping down without a shred of concern for the already injured. From the back of these boarders came three shimmering darts, each striking at her chest amidst the confusion if she failed to notice them in time.
At the back of the expanding pack of pirates gathering aboard the raised deck was a solitary figure in clean clothes chanting words of power, preparing a more devastating attack. 

Beside Anemone was Izal, now armed with his signature curved sword held in his right hand. His face was a tapestry of anger, enraged by the filthy brigands setting foot aboard his ship as anything but prisoners.
From the stairway came 4 shipmates of Great aquarius, each giving Anemone or Izal a tap on the back as they rushed past swords drawn. The tallest one, gaunt with sunken eyes, met the first of the pirates and locked blades, calling back at Anemone.

"The wizard, Lass!"

Izal brought his terrifying strength to bear upon one of the brigands, cleaving through their wooden handle with impunity to cut at the soft flesh behind the feeble guard, engaging another of the invading force headon. 
Once the wizard was dealt with he intended to take the fighting to the enemy ship.

[hr]
[@Lord of Evil][@Spriggs27]

Delilah could do little else but stand atop the main deck at the wheel for now, fearing a pirate would drop down and sabotage the steering wheel as Izal had done, but did her best to stay calm and overlook the fighting. She had called out for men to back up the ballistae before they were overrun, now she turned her gaze where Eiko and Garrett were. 
Both were faring well if you excluded the arrow in the girls arm, but the girl was determined not to let it slow her. Delilah hated the girls stubborn refusal to stop fighting despite injuries but that was just the way of things.

To the enemy ship was Bertol alone, nobody else had gone over?! 

Down to Garret and Eiko she whistled before calling out their names. 

"Eiko, Garett, supporting fire on Bertol!" The her firing squad on the deck she gave new orders. "Boarding team! Cross over and help our man. Go!" 

At the moment it didn't seem like anything was amiss. It was hard to disagree with her stomach trying to warn her that something didnt feel right..

[hr]


Captain Goldwater frowned despite his good mood. Great Aquarius was an adept ship and commanded some respect but its display this far was lacking. Where was their ship wizard in all this mess? Surely they should have put up some sort of display by now.
His frown turned to a wolfs grin as he caught sight of the robed figure behind the female at the ships wheel, nervously eyeing his surroundings. The coward that had run away!

His eyes flicked down to the waters and his grin remained in place. Tiny figures had already begun to emerge from the water and began scaling the rudder inch by inch, quiet as a shadow.

No dount the others were already inside. 

"Good luck, Miss Laxen." Goldwater whispered to himself, unbothered by the figure dueling his loyal servants.

[hr]

[@jdh97]

Elodea worked quietly amd nimbly, doing her absolute best to put her faith in the ships able crew and keep herself busy in the process as she fiddled with vials and tinctures. Her trust in the crew might have been too deep.

In her secluded cabin was a portculis overlooking the ocean and all its majesty, the fighting outside was on the opposite side of the ship. No doubt the view had been a boon in her time aboard. 
Slick fingers clicked the lock with ease, a scroll kept on its person magically undoing the unenchanted lock before disappearing into a crumbling mess of paper flakes tossed aside, its magic expended.
The window flung open as diminutive creatures rushed through the open hole with wild abandon. Their eagerness giving themselves away as they all scrabbled to get in at the same time in a biting mass of kicking limbs, their bloodshot eyes were almost rabid as they darted across the room until settling on Elodea. 

With a thud the Goblins were inside the cabin, rusted knives in hand, they threw themselves at everything in sight as they reached for the bottles on the wall and tossed them everywhere to shatter upon the walls. 
From other windows aboard the ship were similar eventd as dozens of green skinned goblins poured in through every available entance.

One snarling runt threw itself at the water elf, aiming to cripple the girl and take her as a prisoner.

From the belly of GREAT AQUARIUS were screams of alarm as the unwary were caught and killed before raising their weapons