“Captain, I must protest. It’s too dangerous. As first officer, I should be the one to conduct the mission.”
The two senior most officers of the ship were seated in the captain’s cabin. The seas were rougher than earlier. It was not significantly worse, but enough for the first lieutenant to steady his cup of tea as the vessel dipped into a wave. Fir Hampshire sat at her desk, arms folded and legs crossed. She took a silent sip of her tea, before looking askew at Mr. Hudson.
The plan to investigate Tortuga had produced a fair bit of rebuttal from her first officer ever since she announced it earlier in the week. Briefly outlining the plan, the orders entailed sailing the captured raider into Tortuga, under Hampshire’s command to gather intelligence for an assault in the near future. The HMS Endymion would keep just out of sight over the horizon to provide ancillary support if needed.
”Alright,” she began, looking him in the eye. “I’ll place you on the mission. It would indeed be a waste of an opportunity to distinguish yourself if you stayed aboard.”
“I’m glad you’ve reconsi—“
“However, I will still be commanding our little foray into Tortuga. Robert, we’re not sailing into the Spanish fleet. Tortuga may be unlawful and unruly, but it is a functional town. Money and power are still the law of the land, and as the commanding officer, it would be better to see their current state of affairs firsthand. No issues should arise as long as you don’t look like a fool. My decision is final; let’s not ruin tea over it.”
Robert could only sigh. He was still mulling over the issue, but he knew as a friend and officer, anything further would be pointless.
“Alright,” he said, moving on. “Mr. Smith says we’ll be seeing gale-like conditions by tomorrow. We may have a hurricane on our hands.”
Fir nodded. She hadn’t been on deck since morning, but she suspected as much from the steadily rising seas and the sound of the wind against the glass panes of her cabin. She had already given it some thought, and in fact found the situation beneficial to her cause. Normally, ships would head out to sea to ride out a storm, but Tortuga provided an exceptional safe harbor due to its geographic features. Any captain worth his salt would realize this and make for port rather than riding out the hurricane at sea. If they were to sail in at this time, they would likely have a better impression of number of pirates operating in the area. With this in mind, she decided to accelerate the time schedule for the plan.
“Tell Mr. Gibson to signal the Orient Fortune to come alongside.”
And as it was, on the next day, a small sloop entered Tortuga under a cloak of heavy rain, wind, and all manner of high waves.
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Huh, TIL. Normally it would be safer to ride it out in open water though, if I recall correctly.
So... Sitrep, guys?
Not sure what Kho's gonna do, but do expect a little welcoming reconnaissance party in Tortuga from a certain Royal Navy captain.
Oh yeah, were you able to speak with Rare?
Just got back from being abroad, myself.
Just got back from being abroad, myself.
The standard photon torpedoes on a Federation vessel is far more powerful than a nuke, iirc.
But yeah, I'd support a vote in favor of just getting things done.
Welcome back!
Joe still needs to post.
Joe still needs to post.
Fucking Ale.
What is he, some kind of magical jack-fucking-in-the-hat magician?
What a pansy, but it seemed Chad would have some rabbit magic trick distraction instead of… something more accountable. At best, it probably gave Lyra one less thing to do.
“Even with a three kilometer head start, things can and will go wrong,” countered Chad, remaining in his even-toned diplomatic voice. “I just hope your distraction is enough to keep anything that does go wrong at bay.”
As the conversation over the plan of action continued back and forth, the airship, struggling but still afloat, made its way over a small mountain range. In the distance was the distinctive towers and spires of Koestace, the fortress capital of Astopol, and their staging point for their little raid on the mountainside prison.
“Well,” said Chad. “I think we should get prepared. And more importantly, out how to get this damn thing down without crashing in a fiery red fireball or drawing the attention of the entirety of the city's garrison to ourselves.”
What a pansy, but it seemed Chad would have some rabbit magic trick distraction instead of… something more accountable. At best, it probably gave Lyra one less thing to do.
“Even with a three kilometer head start, things can and will go wrong,” countered Chad, remaining in his even-toned diplomatic voice. “I just hope your distraction is enough to keep anything that does go wrong at bay.”
As the conversation over the plan of action continued back and forth, the airship, struggling but still afloat, made its way over a small mountain range. In the distance was the distinctive towers and spires of Koestace, the fortress capital of Astopol, and their staging point for their little raid on the mountainside prison.
“Well,” said Chad. “I think we should get prepared. And more importantly, out how to get this damn thing down without crashing in a fiery red fireball or drawing the attention of the entirety of the city's garrison to ourselves.”
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