[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ig7TKVJ.png[/img][/center] [center][b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L83nI8Py4qw]♫[/url] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axt37jhAq98]♫[/url][/b][/center][hr][hr] [color=c0c0c0]It was a most unlikely sight: more than a half-dozen students of the school jumping into the water. Anyone who had seen fit to watch them might've been alarmed, for they leapt into Hedda's Lake from a rock on the island and they did not resurface. Fortunately, there were few about the Arboretum at this early hour, when the sun was only just beginning to reach its glowing rays across the landscape of Ersand'Enise. Crate after crate went in after the students: was it junk or something more? None but the eight - or were there nine? - who'd leapt in knew. Whatever they may have contained, the crates, too, disappeared beneath the surface of the glorified pond in the Arboretum. High Zeno Giancarlo Silvestri, head of the Archaeology Department at the Academy of Thaumaturgy, watched for a moment longer from beneath the small gazebo there. Then he turned, hands clasped behind his back, and walked away. [hr][hr] It was day ten of the standoff and the fingers of night crept across Moatu Suva. They started from Mauna Hekili and, as it cast its great shadow across Taoranga, the townspeople began to pack up for the night ahead. Next came the foothills of the main island, then those of the smaller ones, the tallest trees and buildings, then humbler things. Before those, however, came the the vast shadow that the [i]moku make nui[/i] - the great hulk that lay off half-grounded on Mehameha - cast across this place. Before those, however, came the dark, skeletal shapes of the foreign ships' masts that had taken up residence in the lagoon, right beside the giant wreck. The private contractors of Virang's Royal Asper Salvage Co., the soldiers of the Tarlonese empire, and the levies of the Diamyo of Toishima all clutched their guns, peered through their spyglasses, and paced anxiously. Threateningly close to each lurked the other and, finally, the [i]Pyrates[/i]. The infamous Blue Adam of Mycormii unabashedly flew its flag, and there were more, anchored in the outer reaches of the island chain: waiting. The great bounty of threshers, uncaring as to the activities of their terrestrial neighbours, churned up the waters in their month-long mating orgy as the sun set and the winds began to pick up. And then, unassumingly, it happened. They'd been so used to being 'on edge' that they were not truly on edge anymore. It took them a moment to notice but, when they did, shouts erupted on the decks of all three of the Asper ships. The Blue Adam, with no notice or warning, had unfurled its great black sails and caught the brisk evening wind. It was, that very moment, closing the gap at an alarming rate. Bells rang and torches were lit. [color=aba000]"She's underway!"[/color] [color=007236]"Pyrates! East' Nor'east! Closin' fast!"[/color] The bells were desperate. [color=a36209]"All hands! All hands![/color] People rushed up from below decks, groggy, dishevelled, and half-dressed. Still, the Blue Adam closed. [color=a0410d]"Reports!"[/color] shouted a tall bearded man in an impeccable uniform and a feathered hat, still doing up the top handful of his buttons. [color=a0410d]"Where are my sails?"[/color] he shouted. [color=a0410d]"Helm!?"[/color] He scowled as sailors climbed into the rigging to give answer to his first question. [color=a0410d]"Gunnery!"[/color] [color=a36209]"We'll be underway in moments, Captain, sir!"[/color] Metin Çelik, Captain of the Altın Oğul, finished with his buttons and held out a hand for his spyglass. [color=a0410d]"Damned knife-ears,"[/color] he muttered. [color=a0410d]"What're they playing at?"[/color] He looked over his shoulder, spotting the great hulk in the near distance. The three Asper ships had taken up positions closest to it, cutting off any others from reaching the wreck but, when they'd tried to board, the pirates and locals both had fired warning shots and the Tarlonese had moved in closer, to the edge of gunnery range. Now, the Nikanese had arrived as well. If the Royal Asper Salvage Company could outgun any single other party, they could not outgun them all. He shifted his lookout to the Güçlü Adam. There was movement on deck, but they were not even close to getting underway. [color=a0410d]"Anything from the Dalgıç and Güçlü?"[/color] [color=598527]"Nothing yet, sir!"[/color] [color=a0410d]"Flags, Balık! Tell them to get underway! Head her off!"[/color] Metin did not like being caught off-guard like this. He liked not knowing what the Blue Adam was up to even less. They couldn't possibly be considering an attack. They might outgun any [i]one[/i] of the Virangish ships, but all three would massacre them. [color=a0410d]"Guns!"[/color] he ordered. [color=a0410d]"All guns! Signal the Dalgıç and Güçlü! We need everything!"[/color] [hr][hr] His people moved through the rigging with a grace, speed, and silence that their human counterparts could never have hoped to. It was because of their excellence that the Bish'Audam had caught its rivals cold. Now, the famed Mycormish pyrates, half a world away from their home, surged forward at a breakneck pace, cutting through the dusky waters on their way to the score of - potentially - a lifetime. Anthal'dyros'tormiiyei, boatswain and son of the captain, perched on the bowsprit, eyes alight in anticipation. Holstered across his chest and at his hip were six pistols and a dagger. At his back lay the two hundred tons of the vessel known to yanii as the 'Blue Adam'. Smoke ribboned away rapidly from the pipe clenched between his teeth and the young pyrate grinned wickedly. This was when he could feel her - the ship: her every dip and rise, the tremble of her timbers, the thump of the ocean waves beneath her hull. His hair billowed in the wind and Ocean spray wet his cheeks. The grin became content and he rose. Nimbly, the young pyrate raced down the bowsprit, dodging the jib, and sprung onto the deck. Beneath his feet, the deck was rumbling as cannons were loaded and shifted in preparation. The dash'teloi gunports creaked open and, not so far away from where he stood, the anchor was being readied. [color=orange]"Aye, yeh lazy sea rats! Tighten up the t'gallant! She's flappin' about like Enoxii in Amato!"[/color] A chorus of affirmations, laughs, and jeers rained back his way and he strode on towards the quarterdeck, where he could see his father. [color=orange]"Cap'n."[/color] [color=0072bc]"Junior."[/color] They exchanged nods. Meanwhile, the three Aspers were getting underway, the big one - the Altın Oğul - hanging back a bit and arraying its guns against them in broadside while its smaller peers moved to cut off the Audam's approach. [color=0072bc]"Yeh see that, boy-o? They wanna play chicken with us! Hah! Haha!"[/color] He shook his head. [color=orange]"Others running on clock?"[/color] [color=0072bc]"Clocked as ol' Roger last I checked."[/color] [color=orange]"Hey Sanette!"[/color] Anthal called out to a figure sitting cross-legged and close-eyed near the stern. When there was no reply, he raised his voice. [color=orange]"Your ears crippled too, now?"[/color] The eyes - an eerie periwinkle - flashed open. [color=8493ca]"I am concentrating, [i]hyco'moila[/i]. It isn't easy to speak to people over miles of water and all your Ypti-cursed noise."[/color] [color=orange]"Ah, it's just your social skills!"[/color] He bounded over. [color=orange]"Where are the others right now?"[/color] She smiled devilishly. [color=8493ca]"Why don't you take out daddy's spyglass and look for yourself?"[/color] [hr][hr] The Adam was heading straight for the Dalgıç and Güçlü but, even if they somehow breached the Aspers' perimeter, what could they hope to do? They'd be surrounded. All three ships were underway now, but the Adam was hardly more than a couple hundred yards out and closing. Did it mean to [i]ram[/i] one of the xebecs!? Then, it came to him. [color=a0410d]"Crowsnest!"[/color] the captain shouted. [color=a0410d]"Get me eyes on both ends of Pelolia!"[/color] His order was relayed swiftly. [color=a0410d]"Guns [i]ready![/i]"[/color] For this, he used the Gift to amplify his voice. [color=598527]"They can't truly mean for a pitched battle, sir,"[/color] murmured Balık. [color=598527]"Pyrates never..."[/color] [color=a0410d]"Likely not, but if they breach our perimeter, we don't hesitate. Are we clear?"[/color] She swallowed and nodded, pretty young daughter of some Emir that she was. [color=598527]"Crystal, sir."[/color] [color=a0410d]"Warning shot, Solak!"[/color] the captain ordered and, within the next few seconds, it was threading its way mere feet past the Dalgıç and splashing into the water short of the Adam's bow. Then, Aksoy rushed up, breathless. [color=a36209]"Lookouts report more pyrates, sir! Nor an' South o' Pelolia!"[/color] [color=a0410d]"Öjeran-damned cowards!"[/color] Captain Çelik hissed. [color=a0410d]"Balık!"[/color] [color=598527]"Sir!"[/color] [color=a0410d]"Signal the Dalgıç and Güçlü: part for the Adam and then close. We'll trap her 'tween our flanks and she'll have only her chasers."[/color] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXxazufM0x8](see here)[/url] The first officer nodded and rushed off to carry out the order. Flags were raised. Still, the Adam closed and, now, Metin could see individual figures on the decks. All about him, the Altın Oğul was a hive of activity: sails being adjusted, guns being loaded - even the deck carronades - and mages pulling in all the energy they could from their surroundings. Still the Adam closed. The Güçlü began to draw back. There was no missing the sheer power of the casters aboard that Mycormishman and they would surely enhance their shot. For a moment, the captain wondered if it was truly worth risking death here, in some colonial backwater, subcontracted out to a crown corporation, for the sake of this wreck. the thought passed quickly, though Even if this was not a navy ship, he was a navy man and had been since his eleventh birthday. The Adam was mere meters and seconds from impact. Desperately, the Dalgıç started to turn. The sheer [i]balls[/i] on these fucking knife-ears! The captain shook his head. Brave, foolish, or something else, they were about to pay for it. [color=a0410d]"Men, steady!"[/color] he bellowed, as the Adam and its crew of shouting, mocking pirates squirted through the gap, plowing straight towards the Altın Oğul. Immediately, the thiis'elaaz slewed sharply, her bow nearly static and stern swinging hard to port. [color=a0410d]"On my mark!"[/color] He raised an arm, eyes wide in fear, fury, and the sheer desire to make these cocky bastards eat lead. [color=aba000]"She's comin' about!"[/color] rose the shouts. [color=1a7b30]"How in the six hells!?"[/color] [color=a36209]"Öjeran spare us."[/color] [color=598527]"Öjeran spare [i]them[/i]!!"[/color] [color=00746b]"Vaşdal akbar!"[/color] [color=aba000]"Vaşdal akbar!!"[/color] It rose as a war cry. [h3][color=a0410d]"[b]Fire!!![/b]"[/color][/h3] All twenty-eight cannon aboard the Altın Oğul unleashed a withering broadside. The cannonballs hurtled towards the Bish'Audam. It was at this precise moment, in between the two ships, that a rip in space and time opened. It was at this precise moment that eight - or perhaps nine - biros of Ersand'Enise appeared.[/color] [hr][hr][center][h2]R E S O U R C E S[/h2][/center][hr][hr] [center][hider=Moatu Suva][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XJqI0eG.jpeg[/img][/center][/hider] [hider=Mission Particulars][h2]D E T A I L S[/h2] 1. [b]On this mission:[/b] Maura, Fiske, Tku, Marz, Raffie, Kaureerah, Zast, Mahal, Ren 2. [b]Chapter Deadline:[/b] Wednesday, April 10, 2024, 6:00 PM EST 3. [b]The Rolls:[/b] All characters rolled high enough to avoid being hit, though Rem and Kaureerah will have to actively dodge.[/hider][/center] [hr][hr]