HoloPirates: A Tale of Adventure

We're in the Endgame Now

    "We're going to be in the Deep Fire in three hours." Marine said as we all gathered around in the now newly repaired Captains Cabin. "We needed to come up with a plan before this, but this is what I've got for the time being. My ship is in there, the Silent Serpent."
    Jansen scoffed and started to rub his temples, and I heard him cursing Ackner under his breath.
    "We have to take that ship back, and for a good reason." She continued. "The man that you are after, he will likely target the ship so that we can't get to him. If we take back that ship, we can use it as the getaway if the man destroys the ship, right?"
    "That is a very good idea, yes." The Storyteller said.
    "Aye and other than that, we stay away from the fortresses and fleets, and once we get close enough to the fortress, we strike hard and fast at him. You take out the big boss man, and we take out the minions, right?"
    "Whatever minions may be there, yes, take them out and kill them before they can harm you." He said. "But, if you find any innocent people in there, like slaves, prisoners, or indentured servants, set them free."
    "Aye, we got it." She said. "And after that, we have to high tail it out of the Deep Fire, in my old ship."
"Aye, sounds like a plan." I said. "Get in without being noticed, pirate a pirate ship from pirates, kill this idiot, axe his minions, bust a prison, and bounce."
"And what of Ackner?" Jansen asked
"What about that slimy weasel?" Marine replied.
"Well, if he was bought out by the target, then I would have to imagine that he is working either right alongside him, or for him, as a slave." He said. "And I have to imagine that its much, much more likely that he's working alongside him."
"Well, great." Marine said. "Now we gotta make sure that he doesn't alert this guy."
"Whats his name, by the way?" Jansen asked. "The guy we're about to fuck up?"
"I know not his name, but even if I didn't, I wouldn't dare speak it. Names are a powerful thing, no?"
"Aye that." Marine said, then turned to the four Dark Waters that were in the room with us. "And what of you? Whats your names? You still haven't told us."
    The group of Wizards that were still silent next to the couch all looked over at us, and the one in the middle spoke.
    "We are not obligated to tell you our names." He said. "We are just contracted for the defense of both you and the ship. Just call us the Four if you want to talk to us."
    "Well, that works for me." Marine said, wiping her eyes. "Now lets get on the deck before we hit the Deep Fire."
    With that, the meeting was adjourned, and all of us started to shuffle out of the cabin, trying our best to avoid a bottleneck, and that just left Marine and I in the cabin as she stood up. Ever since me telling her of the fact that her ship was under this guys control, she always had this displeased look on her face, as if she was mad, and now, as the boyfriend, it was sadly my job to figure out what was bothering her.
"Alright, uhm, is something wrong?"
The moment I said, that, I almost cussed myself under my breath as she gave me a sharp look. What a stupid thing to say, but no, it was too late now.
"Its the ship. Why the fuck is it in the Deep Fire." She said. "I thought I knew Ackner better than that."
    "Well, I guess it doesn't really matter now, does it?"
    She gave me a strange look.   
    "What does that mean?"
    "I mean that little prick is gonna die." I said. "And we're gonna get the ship back."
    She gave me a hint of a smile, and she turned to the map of the Deep Fire that we had.
    "So, how do you think we should do this?" She asked. "Should we just run up on them, guns blazing, lure them to a trap, or set up an ambush, or what?"
    "If we run in there guns a blazing, I'm not too sure how much that'll work."
    "It was more of a joke. My ship will shred this one. Double decks of guns, a large armory, spikes on the side of the ship to repel boarders, and falconets on the sides to kill crews and military."
    "What about the crew?" I said. "How adept were the Houshou Pirates?"
    "Extremely. They can kill just about anything they come across." She said. "Most of them have been there since the beginning, so we've had about twenty years of piracy to weed out the weaklings. They're the best of the best."
    I sat there, silent, and Marine sighed, staring at the map as we both kept trying to come up with plans. Stealing back the Silent Serpent was near mandatory, since it would be our only way out of the choking heat of the Deep Fire, and without it, we would be stuck, with likely no rescue coming ever, left to die to the heat of lava, fire, fury and ash.
    "It ain't great odds, but if we ambush them, we'll have the element of surprise." I said. "You may not like this, but we may have to punch a hole or two in your ship."
    Her face dropped, but after just a moment, she shrugged her shoulders.
    "Whatever gets my ship back, I'm okay with."
    The moment she said that, suddenly, the air around us grew very very hot, thick, and stale, a sign that we were getting closer and closer to the Deep Fire. We had to hurry.
    "Aye, now if we turn a broadside to the ship immediately, we fire, hopefully kill Ackner and any of the crew that supports him, if not, we disable the ship."
    "We're gonna disable the ship." She said. "I want Ackner alive. There is a single weakness of the ship that I know about. The tackle system for the mast is easy to break, and I've always wanted to replace it. If we take it out, the sails will flap uselessly in the wind, and the ship will be dead in the water."
    She smiled to herself, then shook her head.
    "I always had wanted to replace the tackle system, but I guess its good that I didn't right?"
    "Aye good thing." I said, staring at one of the islands on the map. "It seems like one of the islands here has a little inlet point that is blocked by one of the rock formations. If we hide the ship behind that, as soon as your ship sails in front, we can fire the engines and sails and take them by surprise. Aim the broadside, take out the tackle systems, board the ship, and take it back."
    She nodded.
    "Aye, it won't be easy, but if we disable the ship, we'll take out one of the big dangers, being the cannons." She said. "Sounds like a plan."
    We both stood up from our seats, with Marine walking around the table to the front of the cabin, and as soon as she was in front of me, I reached out and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in close as I took her by surprise. I wrapped my arms around her chest and stomach, holding her close, and I dropped my voice to a whisper.
    "Its gonna be okay." I said, trying to push as much confidence into my voice as I could. "I promise it'll be okay."
    I planted a little kiss on her cheek, then pressed my face against hers. She sighed, then reached up and put her hands around the back of my head, and I felt her beginning to calm down a little bit.
    "Thank you." She said.