PIRATES vs. NAVY BATTLE LOG

[highseasmods]

December 9th finds some new arrivals to this world, the same curious phenomenon that's been occurring for the past few months.

This time, however, the Navy is prepared -- or so they think.

They've got troops stationed around the island, and ships on the water to stop any arrogant, foolhardy pirates and would-be sailors from trying to make port.

So hit them with all you've got, but they're not going down easily...

Comments

Slipping onto a Ship - (After his crew's arrival)

[orderispeace]

The assault on the island was still going on. Amid the chaos caused by the newly arrived and the sudden influx of established unwanted pirates a lone figure slipped on-board a Navy Frigate. Wearing a uniform borrowed from a suitable sailor he blended easily with it's crew. It made it simple then cross the deck and move quietly into the Captain's quarters to do a bit of snooping around.
The room was empty of course, with the Captain up on-deck barking out orders to the rest of his men. The papers in the desk were carefully gone over but it was the safe in the corner that held the greatest possibility. Haytham knelt by the heavy iron box and with a skill honed over many years set the tumblers of the lock into the correct position with a few deft manipulations of his lock picking tools. The papers instead were collected and safely stored in a pouch. He would have loved to gone through the leaflets now but he had been too long inside. It was time to leave before the Captain or the crew suspected.
The safe and door to the Captain's chamber were both closed behind him as he left the scene, hopefully as stealthily as he had entered.

[OOC: Run into him on the ship or back on the island. Haytham will be dressed like one of the Navy sailor though, so mistaking him for an enemy can happen too!]

[elissacousland]

He was good. In fact, he blended in almost too well with the others in the Navy. Elissa stepped back to avoid the exiting sailor in surprise, still in stealth mode with both blades in hand just in case she met with trouble on her way to plunder the Captain's quarters for information as well as treasure.

The Grey Warden prepared to pierce him with her poisoned dagger and push him back through the doorway into the Captain's room when she finally got a good look at her target's face. She was so startled that she dropped out of stealth mode when she yanked her blade back. "Haytham?"

[orderispeace]

His surprise at finding Elissa suddenly so close, with blades drawn no less, was matched by the faces of the Navy crew that surrounded them. He had been very cautious and yet... hadn't seen her approach? Not that this could be puzzled on for very long as the Navy men drew their swords and advanced on the pair. Haytham was obligated to draw his own weapon and take up what seemed, a very relaxed fencing position.

"I was going to meet up with you again later."

A coy way of expressing a hidden meaning, that being that Elissa's timing was not the best. He'd almost made a clean escape.

[elissacousland]

"And you very nearly got a gut full of Quiet Death via blade. Perhaps our planning could have been better," was her wry and smirking retort. Elissa looked sidelong at Haytham and her mouth pulled into a feral grin. After three months aboard ship with no Blight to stop, she was eager for this fight more than she had expected. "Shall we get some exercise?"

She followed up her words with a twirl of her longsword and leapt into combat with the nearest trio of hapless sailors, the first one falling almost immediately.

[orderispeace]

"Clearly."

He agreed but instead of rushing right into the middle of battle as she had, his was a more measured response. He waited for three of the soldiers to close with him. Two of the fellows lashed out with their bayonets. A mistake, that was just what he had been waiting for. The first man's blade was countered in such a way that Haytham's sword slid easily between his ribs. In that same motion the Grand Master spun the now dying gentleman to him and aimed his rifle to fire at the second attacker. The shock from seeing two of his companions felled to quickly sent the third man into a rage. He roared and charged forward with his sword only to find his blade swept as easily aside as his companion's had been. For him though, the killing blow came from the hidden blade that was thrust up through his jawline.

[elissacousland]

Elissa fought her way closer to Haytham after her initial charge into battle. A bear of a man came at her from behind with a belaying pin wielded like a club while two of his fellows faced her with pistol and sword. The larger man did not take the size of his shadow into consideration during his attack. The Grey Warden spied him and easily pivoted upon one foot to dance beneath his arm and behind him. Stabbing him in the back, she pushed him forward with his momentum into his fellows and yanked her sword free in a spray of blood.

Without pause, she followed through with her motions to take on the next opponent, dancing forward and back as her dagger-and-sword clashed with Navy sabres.

[orderispeace]

The pair on-deck were heavily outnumbered and yet the men they faced still fell before them like kindling. Tearing through the ribs of one man, led easily to the next in what became an elegant dance of death. They seemed unstoppable and the Captain of the ship soon realized just rushing at them as so many of his men had done was just not going to work. Instead he changed tactics, yelled for his gunners to form a line, and once they had he ordered their rifles to take aim.

[elissacousland]

The neck of the ship's boatswain pulsed spouts of blood into the air as the headless body swayed upon its knees and fell over. The man's head lopsidedly rolled across the deck toward Haytham's feet while Elissa turned away from her latest kill to flick the blood from her longsword with a sharp pop of her arm. Spying the line of guns that other men had been trying to use like spears against them, she flipped her longsword into the harness upon her back and reached for the vials upon her belt.

Selecting the only acid flask that had managed to survive the battle with the Archdemon to arrive with her, she threw it in a precise arc toward the gunners. The glass shattered at the feet of the sailors in the center of the line, throwing up splashes of acid and a vile, green smoke.

[orderispeace]

The line of bayonet wielding riflemen fell apart instantly. Those who didn't get burned by the acid found themselves blinded by the smoke. Even the Captian of the ship staggered backward, though for him it was a more to avoid the attack. The head rolling across the deck had a similiar demoralizing effect on the crew. Those with weak stomachs reeled and shied away leaving a wide opening between their position and the upper deck. It was something to take advantage of!

As a large brutish man swung his sword towards Haytham his arm was captured and in a disarming move certain to make any man weak in the knees, he was kicked in the groin and his sword taken from his hand. This weapon, now freed from it's master's grip, was twirled before being sunk deep into the soldier's shoulder.

While the crew was still befuddled Haytham pivoted and set a course for the upper deck. He leapt to the handrail, using it as a kind of highway to avoid those crewmen on the stairs, and then from the rail he jumped into the air. The Captain didn't even have the time to draw his pistol before the Templar crashed into him from above, once again seamlessly ending a life with only the single strike of a blade. With out their leader's barking orders the crew would have no where to turn, it would fall to disorganized chaos and that gave Elissa and himself every advantage.

[elissacousland]

He is going to have to teach me to do that.

Elissa followed in Haytham's wake, making short work of the crewmen on the stairs as they were distracted by his unconventional use of the railing. She stepped over the dead and injured as they fell and darted to the upper deck in order to catch up with the man whose plans she'd inadvertently ruined. "Perhaps we should consider taking our leave?" the Warden called to the Templar as she caught up to him.

A pistol shot pinged off of the section of dragon plate that protected her heart, causing Elissa to flinch in surprise at the noise and the strength of the hit despite the fact that it did no damage. "Maker's breath!" The pistoleer was nearer to Haytham than to herself.

[orderispeace]

Damn. That was too close! But, he wouldn't get the chance of a second shot. Haytham drew his own pistol and aimed with deadly accuracy for the man's head. Needing the time to reload and having no cover to dive into the soldier didn't stand a chance.

Haytham looked back to Elissa once the pistol man fell, "I believe so."

They had caused enough havoc hadn't they?

"Over the side would be the quickest way."

If they were given the chance to get there. The crew was beginning to recover from the myriad of attacks that had been leveled against them and several of the riflemen had reloaded their weapons. One in particular, with an acid burn across his cheek, took a bead on the monster who had just murdered his Captain.

[elissacousland]

There had been several occasions when Elissa had managed to use her blades to block incoming arrows during battle, but most of the time it was a fluke. Still, when she saw the rifleman taking aim at Haytham, she reacted without thinking and pivoted to place herself between the Templar and the sailor. "Down!" she shouted to Haytham when she moved.

Smoke billowed from the musket as the rifleman fired, but Elissa's reaction time with Starfang was far too slow. The musket ball slammed past the Grey Warden's blades and through her studded, dragon hide leather to lodge itself in her upper torso below her shoulder and above her dragon plate piece. "AUGH!"

[orderispeace]

He ducked, if only because the order was a wise one to follow, but it really wasn't nessacary. These older guns just did not hold the power needed to travel all the way through one body and into the next. It was why Haytham so often found himself using enemies as human shields. Using an ally as one however... It was not planned for and brought several emotions to the fore that had to be ignored if they were to get out of this alive.
Hands fell on her shoulders to support her as soon as it had been made clear just what had happened.

"Now we really must leave."

She couldn't be expected to carry on the fight like this. It was his turn for a little trick then. She had used a vile of acid to distract and injure the crew and he had something similiar. A smoke bomb was drawn from a pocket and tossed down on the deck. It did no harm to the men close to it but the thick smoke did make it difficult to see. The crew found themselves once again reeling from a surprise attack as they choked on the smoke and were blinded effectively enough so that the pair could make their way up and over the rail of the ship. The seaman heard the splash when it came but could do nothing about it.

[rebonding]

It wasn't the first time Korra had dressed the part to sneak around in enemy territory. Getting onto the actual ship had been a breeze, but staying hidden was another story. She kept her head down and her face hidden, hoping the uniform would be good enough to hide the fact that she clearly wasn't a soldier in all the commotion.

She approached the guy she recognized as the leader (captain?) from the longboats as discretely as she could as he exited the captain's quarters. Should she even be making contact with him right now? Oh, well. No time to think.

"You done here?" Korra came to walk along his side and spoke under her breath as much as she could afford in the noise.

[orderispeace]

Haytham nodded quickly as the young girl fell in step with his retreat.

"Aye. Now we will just have to see ourselves safely off the ship."

This would prove to be not as easy as getting on had been. As they approached the ramp leading back to the dock a troop of seaman arrived to report back to the Captain. Something about the body of one of their comrades being found? It was terrible timing... The Captain called for the immediate lock down of the ship which meant the easiest escape route, the ramp, was now barred to them.

[rebonding]

A body? Monkey feathers... All they had to see was her face, and their cover was completely blown. Korra's heart began to race against her chest as she looked for escape routes. Something. Anything. Come on...

"...How are you at swimming?" If they had to take to the water...

[orderispeace]

All they had to do was see her face hm? And with the Quartermaster and Captain getting closer, giving each group of men they came to their new marching orders, it was only a matter of time before they did realize she was a spy on-deck.

"Well enough." Haytham very coolly assessed their situation before taking Korra's elbow and leading her starboard. "We had better move to the rail before they get too close. We could be over the side before they knew what happened. Might have to dive to avoid the snipers in the rigging."

Unless he took them out first, though he wasn't sure they would have time for that.

"Can you manage?"

[rebonding]

Korra followed him to the railing.

"More than. That thing I did with the water to move the boats? I can do it with fire, too. Jump off the rail and as soon as you're out of range and can hit all of them enough for us to get out." It was their best shot. And if they were lucky, she could injure a few guys in the process. None of them understood bending, or many of the things the kindnappees were capable of for that matter, so she trusted a large scale fire attack would catch them off guard well enough.

[orderispeace]

He had seen a demonstration of her power with the water crossing earlier but even that being the case Haytham did hesitate at the rail. It should have been him really taking the risk, usually was. She was given a kind of 'are you sure you can do that?' look before he acquiesced.

It was one swift motion, over the rail, into a dive, and then the resounding splash that alerted the entire deck that something had hit the water. One seaman was quick to shout, 'Man overboard," while the others either scrambled to see who had fallen off the deck or took aim from the crow's nests in case this proved to be an enemy. Haytham however had wisely taken his own advice and did not imminently surface from the water, Korra would still have plenty of opportunity to put her plan into motion before anyone could spot just where he was.

[rebonding]

Korra didn't waste any time. Once Haytham was in the water, she curled up in a fluid motion and released a blast the umbrellaed around her in a wide radius, knocking several soldiers clean off their feet and leading a few to confusedly open fire.

She launched off the deck, incinerating that awful, heavy uniform off her body on her way down to the water. There was no way they could maintain their cover now, not after that display. Korra stayed underwater, turning toward the surface to see the tiny impressions of bullets hitting the surface. She turned around, trying to locate Haytham to make sure he was okay.

[orderispeace]

Haytham was no where to be see as he had opted not to stay too near the ship. There was the danger that a bullet hitting the water might not be slowed enough to avoid injury but more importantly she had said she was going to use fire. These grand old sailing ships did not handle fire well. They had the tendency to be too difficult to quench if a fire did catch hold of them and there was always the risk of the flames finding the powder reserves...

He made it to the nearby dock closer to shore and stealthily lifted himself out of the water far enough to grab the soldier standing there from behind. This man was quickly ended and his body pulled down into the sea, opening a path for himself and Korra to escape the harbor without alerting any more guards.

[rebonding]

It quickly became evident that Korra had managed to hit a powder keg.

A muffled boom penetrated underwater, startling Korra enough that she lost the air from her lungs and had to surface. She stayed as low as she could, keeping herself out of the line of sight of the panicked, shouting soldiers. She noticed Haytham on the dock, and taking another deep breath, re-submerged. Korra was at the dock in seconds, launching out of the water with ease and only a brief glance back to the ship. It didn't appear that they'd been noticed.

"We taking the fight to the town, now?" She dried herself as she spoke with a bit of hot air and waterbending.

[orderispeace]

Those on the ship had far too much trouble on hands now to worry about the two of them anyway. The sailors were busy either leaping from the burning ship or still trying in vain to save the thing.
Take the fight to the town, hm? He hadn't intended to take the fight to that ship and look what had happened to it. The power that girl could use! He inclined his head at her question, the only acknowledgement that he was impressed. The Navy really didn't stand a chance against that.

"Could you do that again?"

He was still soaking wet and in the uniform of the enemy but that didn't matter much to him.

"One of the papers on the Captain's desk mentioned their being an ammunition drop site on the island. If you could blown it up as you did the ship it would make it more difficult for the Navy to hold the island."

[rebonding]

Korra nodded, grinning slightly as she took a broader stance and moved her arms fluidly, heating the water and the air around Haytham to dry the water and pull it off him. It might have felt a little strange, like a warm breeze swirling around him, but not unpleasant.

And idea struck her when Haytham mentioned the shipment.

"You think we can steal some of it? Maybe load up the longboats? You can give me the location, and I'll bring a few of 'em over."

[orderispeace]

Strange it was! Not one to panic about these things though he merely raised a hand and turned it back and forth in the warmed air as if that might grant some kind of insight into just how she was doing that. People just could not bend elements where he came from!

"It might be difficult to get the longboats close enough with the blockade," The supply he had read about was located in the town and he didn't look forward to trying to lug that whole shipment to the other side of the island, though the forest and all. But, with powers like this at her command maybe something could be done to make it happen? "But, if it were possible to bring the boats close enough then, yes, I see no reason why we couldn't take that supply for ourselves."