The System Seas

Marco swung the wheel, sending The Foolish Endeavor in a tight hook toward the pirate ship. He pumped raw power into his craft, channeling every bit of energy he could into movement. The craft lurched forward in the water like it was being pushed by an invisible hand. The other ship was a step too slow to react, which let The Foolish Endeavor line up perfectly perpendicular to the broadside of the enemy's boat.

"We boarding?" Riv rushed past Marco to the front of the ship, dropping to a knee in preparation for the inevitable crash. “Finally”

“That’s the plan,” Marco yelled as he turned his attention to the rest of his crew. “Aethe, keep thinning them out. Elisa, keep feeding the magic. I'm going to try to punch a hole right through their hull."

“You what?” Elisa asked.

“We're stronger than we look, remember? They’re a two. They have most of their value in guns. If this works, it'll end the fight in one shot.”

The two ships drew closer. The pirates fired again, hitting the hull and the deck of Marco’s craft with two lucky hip-shot fires.

“Now!” Marco shouted.

The prow of The Foolish Endeavor struck the enemy ship slightly low and to the side, driving in just above the waterline. The impact was so sudden and so sharp that it almost threw Riv overboard as The Foolish Endeavor came out on top of the encounter, digging a good ten feet into the side of the other ship. Marco’s prediction didn’t exactly come true, but the pirate ship was as good as sunk with such a big hole in its side.

Marco was the first across as Riv recovered, leaping with sword drawn and gun ready. Aether laid down cover for him, downing a would-be blocker before they could rise from behind a barrel. Riv was next, roaring as he landed and clearing a path through the nearest bunch of pirates with his club.

Elisa stayed back. Later, she’d tell Marco it was a calculated thing. If the ship ran, she wanted to be with the cannons. Otherwise, it was already a clear victory for their people before Marco crossed swords with the captain at all.

On the enemy deck, chaos ruled. The crew had been broken apart by cannons, sniper fire, and a whole enemy ship ramming into them. If there ever was anyone in the crew who could really fight, they were gone. Marco spun through a pair of opponents, stabbing the first and shooting the second just above his stomach. Both went down permanently. Riv bulldozed his way through anyone who stood in front of him, using sheer strength and club momentum to make sure nobody truly had a chance of resistance.

Aethe joined them seconds later, having found a clean angle from which to jump across. Her next arrow was fired midair, taking out a pirate who was trying to light a powder barrel ablaze. He went out gurgling instead of with a blaze of glory, which suited Marco just fine.

"We're clear!" she called. “Check below the decks.”

Marco left Riv to defend their archer as he rushed to the forequarters where the pirate’s crew stayed. He found no one and turned back toward the mast. He found the captain just getting out of bed.

When the dust settled a few moments later, Marco found himself standing in front of a slumped, bleeding man in a captain’s coat that barely fit. His saber lay broken at his feet. He hadn't put up much of a fight, and his wounds were already too much to survive.

“Good show,” he said, laboring to breathe. "Warner won't like it."

“Who?" Marco asked as the pirate breathed his last. He had just barely missed the pirate breathing the name thanks to the after-effects of being in so much combat. He turned to Elisa in confusion and shouted. "Who?”

“Marco.” Elisa stood up, dusted herself off, and jumped from the prow to the enemy deck. “You had a full two-hour watch and didn't read that note yet? What in the actual hell is wrong with you?”

Kelda’s note was still in Marco's pocket, suddenly feeling much heavier than it ever had before. He had forgotten about it after Elisa scanned and handed it back, but he wasn't about to admit that.

“There wasn't a good time. Who?” Marco pressed.

"Warner. The leader of the pirates." Elisa shook her head. "You know what? No sleep for Marco tonight, unless he reads that note."

The captain's gear dissolved into Marco’s own, enhancing it a bit in a non-game-changing way. Unfortunately, this latest win didn’t trigger to any ship-Conquest notifications. Marco supposed that was fair since The Foolish Encounterwas so much better than the enemy ship. Still, it had been a while since a new Conquest-upgrade happened to their ship. Marco was itching to see just a bit more strength in his ship.

They stripped what they could from the enemy ship. The overboard pirates were nowhere to be seen. Most of what the ship had on hand wasn’t worth taking. The cannons were worse than Marco’s own, though they were more numerous, and Marco was loathe to add anything to The Foolish Endeavor that could slow her down. They ended up topping up their food supplies to replace what they had eaten that day and not much else.

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Besides that, the experience from the battle seemed to split up pretty evenly between them. The biggest difference for Marco was his skill. When Fencer crossed level seven, it felt like something had changed in the rapier. Marco just felt more confident holding it, like the weapon was a part of his arm and would strike at a moment’s thought.