high_seas | PIRATES vs. NAVY BATTLE LOG

There were dozens of people requiring aid. In the confusion caused by the attacks even some of the poor natives of the island were being arrested. Just until order could be restored. So it was for a mother and child as they were ushered out of their home and up the street towards the docks by a pair of armed navy men. They didn't get very far though. The pair of soldiers never expected a man to come flying down at them from the rooftops and end their lives so quickly with a single strike of a blade to each man's head.
The mother and daughter however were unharmed and terrified by all that was happening ran off towards what they hoped would be the safely of a neighbor's house. That left Haytham alone there with the corpses. He took the time to kneel and rifle through their pockets.

Thane, who wasn't spending very long in any one place, came upon the scene just as the two uniformed men were efficiently killed, allowing for the woman and child to run to a neighboring house. Whether or not this man was a common thug or in a situation similar to Thane's own remained to be seen...although the fact that he was going through the dead men's pockets indicated some of the former to Thane. Not that the two were necessarily mutually exclusive.

However, the man clearly wasn't with the navy, so Thane figured at the very least he might get some questions answered without accusations of piracy (or devilry...that had been a new one) being flung at him, at least.

"Excuse me," he began politely, positioning himself at what he approximated to be the edge of the man's peripheral vision and taking up an alert but nonthreatening stance, feet shoulder-width apart and hands clasped behind his back. "Do you have the time to answer some questions?"

It usually indicated 'thug' to most people. The fact that he had been so politely addressed after being caught in the midst of a theft instead of jeered or cursed at was nearly more shocking than the gentleman's continence. Clearly he was not a native. Furthermore with his hands clasp as they were the man did not seem prepared for a fight so the time was taken to retrieve the sealed letter from the fallen soldier's pocket before Haytham stood upright to face this new fellow.

"Of course, arriving as suddenly as you have you must have many questions." Haytham cast a glance back around the area before adding, "But, we shouldn't tarry here too long. Those of the navy are rounding up any they can lay their hands upon."

"I had noticed," Thane responded dryly. It seemed he had chosen a decent individual to approach, as the man at least appeared to be taking his appearance in stride. "So far avoiding them has not been difficult." Irritating, yes, but not difficult. Mere child's play, really, with the way they carried on, yelling and stomping about. "Considering the situation I was not looking for a lengthy discourse, but if you know of a better location than this one for a few minutes' talk, then by all means." He bowed slightly, placing one hand over his chest as he did so.

"I do know a place."

The Templar bounced on his toes before setting off in a direction, thinking the odd looking fellow would follow.
He led the way to a small storage barn. The door had been left wide open when the Navy had searched it for hiding pirates, but they were long gone now and it would make for a convenient conversation place now.

"They shouldn't look here. They all ready cleared this block once."

Haytham stepped inside and did a quick search just to make certain they were alone, before turning back to the man.

"You had questions?"

Thane followed quietly, alert as always for any signs of ambush or outright attack. He had no particular reason to either trust or distrust this man. It was possible he was being led into a trap. It was just as possible he was not. In any case, the man was not openly hostile as the uniformed navy soldiers had been, so that was at least a small improvement.

"You seemed to be familiar with my predicament. Do you know how I came to be here?"

That was the most pressing question on his mind, and one he had not begun to find the answers to by simply eavesdropping.

It could have been a trap but in this case the only things lurking in the shadows of the barn were empty cardboard boxes, a few tools hanging on the wall and some dry hay.

"You did not receive a message from Jones then?"

Haytham drew his hands behind his back and walked over to the ladder leading up to the small overhead hayloft.

"A man calling himself Davy Jones claims to have brought us all here in search of some powerful artifact he has lost. I can find no other explanation for our arrival so I suppose this might be the truth."

"Things have been rather chaotic since I arrived. Perhaps the message was misdirected." Thane watched the man approach the ladder to the loft above, but did not move himself.

"If this man is powerful enough to bring me here from where I was, I wonder that he is incapable of finding something that he has lost." Finding a lost item ought to be easy enough for an individual with such power. Or so Thane would assume, anyway. There would be more time for idle speculation later. He still needed some information.

"Is this the human homeworld? Or some other planet?" He had already learned the name of the island, which told him exactly nothing about his location in relation to anything he recognized. If this was Earth then he had more than a few concerns regarding what appeared to be a complete lack of modern amenities, which were going to quickly affect his lungs' ability to function if he were forced to remain on this island for very long.

"He may not speak to everyone who arrives anymore."

In truth he hadn't asked anyone if Jones was still active. He should have really. That might be something to inquire across the journals about at some later occasion.

"I doubt the gem truly belongs to him. He just wishes to obtain it and sees us as a means to do so."

Haytham stopped at the ladder and regarded it casually, though it was the words of the man that spoke to that held the greatest interest. The human homeworld? He had never heard of the place spoken of like that before but... there had been others who claimed to be from different worlds. Maybe it was the same for the green man.

"It is Earth," As far as he knows, "...if that is what you mean. Though I am unfamiliar just where on the world we may be. The technology and ships are just like the ones I am accustomed to from my area."

"That is what I meant." Thane nodded his head, once, in acknowledgment. He was pretty sure their physical location was not overly important. He still had his omnitool - though its capabilities seemed somewhat restricted, he should still be able to use it to broadcast his location if he chose...on the off chance there might be a passing shuttle of any affiliation; Alliance, Council, he wasn't about to be picky.

Going off of what he had seen of the architecture in the town and the weaponry carried by the navy men, however, Thane's hope for anything as sophisticated as a shuttlecraft was probably a vain one, but he might as well ask anyway.

"Tell me about the technology here. The firearms carried by the navy men rely on gunpowder, do they not? And are there any means of travel beyond the ships in the harbor?"

Thane sincerely hoped the answer to that last question was not the negative he suspected it might be.

"Aye, blackpowder."

Requiring wadding to fire properly. It was a very primitive means of gun play but Haytham wouldn't know it.

"It is a very modern age. The ships are much larger and more stable than they would have been in times past, the weapons fire more accurately and with fewer explosions, they seem to be doing their best with exploration and trade."

One man's modern is another's primitive. There wasn't much in the way of technology here, at least not of the kind Thane might have been hoping for.
The final question however might be met with a more unexpected answer.

"Voyage by ship is the basic means of travel here, but there are animals on some of the islands and the Nav... which is a more instant form of getting from one place to another. I can not explain how it works."

This revelation, a quick technological means of travel, was hit on only in the vaguest way. How could one really explain being in one place and then suddenly finding themselves in another?

"This is what you should make for. The Nav would be the easiest means to leave this island and join up with one of the ships. It is located inside a mercantile called Backwater Brig. One of the other teams must have secured it's location by now."

He sat a hand down upon the rung of the ladder and finding it secure finally moved a few paces away from the thing. Just looking for a means to gain an advantage should the Navy or his new companion prove to be a source of trouble.

"You're not from Earth." It was more statement than question, the answer was already very clear. "Is where you come from much like this?"

Well. Ocean-bound ships and domestic land animals sure weren't going to be enough to get him off the planet. The Nav, though...that sounded almost like a mass relay. Thane would investigate that once he was finished speaking with this man.

"I'm not, no." He allowed a faint smile to tug at one corner of his lips as he responded. "This is my first time on Earth, so I'm afraid I haven't seen enough to say how similar or different it might be to my home. There are not nearly as many accusations of piracy where I'm from, at least." So, so dry. Not that that was difficult to achieve, as his voice naturally sounded that way anyway. "I'm not averse to speaking of Kahje, but to describe it properly would take more time than I believe we have, currently."

A faint smile pulled at the corners of his mouth at that. No indeed. There were not many accusations of piracy were he was from either.

"One has to wonder about the state of their vision to ever accuse you of being a pirate."

Not many pirates had green skin or came from worlds beyond Earth. Really... who was in charge of this Navy? They were bumbling around like fools! They clearly needed better leadership.

"Perhaps you're right. Even in this out of the way place we may have stayed too long. Will you require assistant to make it to the Backwater Brig or do you suppose you will have no trouble finding your way there on your own?"

"It is probably working fine. The piracy accusations were being directed at others, not myself." The devilry accusations, on the other hand...Well. Thane had taken extra care not to be seen after that. The navy men already appeared trigger-happy enough as it was.

"If you are able to provide verbal direction from here, that will be sufficient. I'm best at avoiding conflict when on my own."

"Very well."

He felt the same way really. It was easier to move fast and slip in and out of places by yourself.

"If you travel up the road to the fountain and turn left you can not miss it. The fountain is right in the center of town. I would be careful though, the Navy has patrols along that route."

"I will be on my guard." Mostly because there was no other way for him to be...but the advice was appreciated, all the same. He paused on his way out the barn door and bowed politely.

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with me."

"Think nothing of it."

Haytham doesn't head for the barn door. For him it's up the ladder and out onto the roof. Running along the rooftops was, far him, a much easier way to stay out of the Navy's path and keep an eye on them at the same time.

PIRATES vs. NAVY BATTLE LOG

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