Common Motives

Chapter 1: The Invasion

BANG!

CRASH!

Fire licked and tore at the buildings, slowly turning them to ash as the clockwork Armada musketeers stormed the square, shooting the survivors of the gigantic inferno and watching as the corpses fell facedown onto the ground, never to get up again.

Half of Skull Island was up in flames.

Everywhere you looked, you could see the blazing orange fire and the charred remains of what used to be houses and shops and taverns. The screams of the dying and the doomed sliced through the smoke-filled air.

And the clockworks marched on.

At the front, leading the squadron, was Armada Commodore Prima Militus.

The defective, hence her gender and switched names.

Behind her, the White Cadre and their Captain, Servus Albus.

All of them unaffected by the burnt bodies that lay strewn across their path, leaking pools of useless blood.

Shouts of panic and terror were the sounds of success.

Looking behind her, the Armada Commodore noticed that a few of the clockwork soldiers were missing, presumably killed in the struggles put up by some of the pirate residents. But it did not matter. For every fallen clockwork there were a hundred dead pirates.

And that was all that mattered.

Obliterate the pirate haven and anything alive on it. There is no room for them!

She knew precisely what would happen next. They would continue further into the center of the island and Servus Albus would call for reinforcements, to replace their lost numbers. Then they would tear down anything standing, anything remaining in their way. The residents would be shot without hesitation and the Armada would be victorious, one step closer to creating a perfect spiral.

And with those orders set in their clockwork memories, they marched forward.

............

From his window, Gruesome Hunter Chamberlain watched the Armada invasion of Skull Island.

They were coming to him slowly, those clockwork fiends, and then he would have his opportunity.

He hated the Armada.

They deserve nothing but pain, he thought, smiling sadistically to himself, pain.

They should be drawn and quartered. Be given death by a thousand cuts. Whipped with the cat until they are no longer able to stand.

"What's so funny....?" The skeletal, black haired girl curled up in the armchair next to him raised her head.

It was only then that Hunter realized he had been laughing.

"They're here, Dangler....." He said, running a hand through her tangled hair. "We're going to have some fun."

Her eyes lit up.

"Really? How many are there?" She said eagerly, springing up from the chair and plastering herself to the window, trying to get a better view of the Armada squadron.

"I don't know exactly. Maybe about forty musketeers and twenty marines. And two officers." Hunter replied.

Dangler knew exactly what would happen next.

They would go outside together, as the Armada squadron was approaching the heavily populated area of the island. Then they would take the officers and watch the squadron fall.

It was a win-win situation for everyone, wasn't it? The attack would cease and they would have a new form of entertainment for the next few months. Or longer. Hopefully longer. Depends on how strong the officers were.

She smiled and giggled, excitement rushing through her. She had spent the last few weeks learning several torture curses and now they could finally be put to use. Being a witchdoctor had its advantages.

"Be ready, Dangler. We're going to go soon." Hunter said, picking up his staff and pushing his brown hair out of his eyes.

She nodded.

"I can't wait. I can't wait! We're going to have so much fun......"