Chapter 251 - Rise In The East (1)

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<8th of Mid-Year (June) 4E-198 - 12:00 PM>

The East Empire Company has its ships ready North to Japhet's Folly, even though the manager who was supposed to oversee attack is absent, the attack will be under the command of Adelaisa Vendicci and supported by the Imperial Navy. The Ships of Windhelm were also ready in the southeast of Serpentstone Isle. They could barely see each other and had their eyes wide open to every movement.

The Firemanes, who were the ringleaders of this campaign, had two small ships patrolling the area under both Skadi and Tyr Firemane.

All parties were ready for the arrival of the last player on this day. The Dare Dragon Company may look insignificant compared to them but there was a certain ship that can deal with all the defenses set by the Blood Horkers pirates.

Speaking of which, the Blood Horkers and the Bloodsails were under siege for two months till now. Still, they were really lively and managed to invite a lot of allies too. There were a number of Argonian Pirates on the island and there were surely some hidden ships in the northeast of Japhet's Folly.

"So we are finally here. Prepare to secure the ground before the Imperials, don't look down on the pirate too but make sure to not let the Imperials take the land first." The Stormcloak Commander was among his twenty-something Ship Captain and started to lay out a plan.

"Commander, what about Winterhold?" A young ship captain asked.

"Ralof, was it? You are responsible for defending supply ships, don't interfere with the fight."

"But the Dare Dragon Company is known to be hard to deal with, they…"

"They are just there because Japhet's Folly is part of Winterhold and the Jarl has no floating barrel to speak of. By Talos, mind your post and focus on the Imperials."

On the other side, the Imperials were having a similar conversation. Adelaisa Vendicci and the Imperial Commander gathered around thirty ship captain on their flagship and were discussing the plan.

"Windhelm's Ships will charge at Japhet's isle as soon as the people from Winterhold arrive, I am not saying we should race them to the island, let them take it and we will attack them from the back when they face the pirates from the front." The Commander suggested.

"Thank you, commander. The East Empire Company appreciates the help." Adelaisa Vendicci, the overseer of the Company's security, spoke up.

"I heard that miss Vici departed to Winterhold on a patrol boat. Will it be alright if she was left in the territory of a competitor?" A young Nord Officer spoke up.

"Hadvar, was it? It is okay, miss Vici will be fine. The current government of Winterhold has strong ties to the East Empire Company and miss Vici is no pushover. Just make sure that the supply ships are not compromised."

"Yes, Sir."

At that time, the watchers on the ships' crow nests started waving their flags and blowing their horns. It seemed that the last player has arrived.

"Firebirds! Firebirds!" the sailors shouted.

""About bloody time.""

On the southwest, a number of big birds made of fire started coming from the mist and clouds of the sea. These were the famed Flame Atronach Hawks that the Thane of Winterhold, Jon Dare, likes to conjure. It is kinda the symbol of Jon Dare among the outside forces right now.

"Hahaha! He has arrived." The Stormcloak Commander was happy to see such a site. Not all Nords were afraid of Magic after all.

"Here He comes, they will surely open the way for us by that Fire Ship they have." The Imperial Commander was also glad and wanted to see the rumored Fire Breathing Ship.

As if to answer their wishes, a strong Fire Stream came out of the mist like the Breath of a Dragon, it ate away all the frozen ice on the surface of the water and then the figure of the ship appeared.

As if it had a spearhead, the [Iron Maiden] appeared with a gigantic strong ram blade coming out from the front of its hull, the body of the ship kept appearing but no sail was yet to be seen. No, instead of a sail, there was a superstructure coming out of the deck's baseline. It confused whoever looked at it as such a ship shouldn't be sailed… is it rowed? But there are no oars. And why is it that fast?

Everyone started noticing what was happening, even the Imperial Legionnaires who were standing in attention turned their pupils to look.

The [Iron Maiden] completely came out of the mist. It was at the size of a brig but had a vicious strong ram and a figurehead of a naked warrioress holding to maces. How the Ship was moving and why is it too fast was the question of the day but it didn't end here.

Two smaller ships appeared and they were not that intimidating at first their speed… it was something devilish! They were moving and jumping on the water from the sheer speed they moved in.

That was no longer called sailing.

These Ships made a strange noise that was probably related to the secret of their movement but there was no time to think as more shocks followed.

The [Roaring Flame], the [Winter Grace] and the [Thunder Wrath] all made appearance. They had decent rams compared to the [Iron Maiden] but their decks were all filled with strange machines that were reported to shoot Fire Projectiles.

Apart from that, seven more small ships appeared and the atmosphere started upside down. But who said it was the end?

*BOOOOOOOOOOOO*

A strong horn sound echoed through the sea. As the Stormcloaks and the Imperials were about to react, it made them all freeze.

And it appeared.

A ship whose name was as accursed as its appearance. A ship that was designed with tyranny and viciousness to sink ships and level islands. With no ram whatsoever but a cannon was coming out from the hull's front, the figurehead was that of a horned skull wearing a crown and screaming madly.

[Queen Potema's Revenge]

"This is way too fast! We need to get to the island first! Forget the plan! Set sail!"

All plans were brought down as the Stormcloaks and the Imperials started blowing the horns and spreading the sails.

The one who brought these plans down was that young man who was standing on the top of the superstructure of his ship, he was standing in his black armor and helm all under a large black cloak that fluttered with the wind. Jon rested his hands on Bloodskal that was pinned to the surface which gave him an imposing look. Beside him was Jullanar and Alina, the three had a strong atmosphere around themselves that made whoever who looked at them feel nervous.

Jon's solemn face broke into a grin once he received a certain telepathic signal.

"Give the signal… Full speed!"

*BOOO BOOO BOOO*

Three horns meant to go into the designated formation. The imposing [Queen Potema's Revenge] picked up on speed and aimed all its cannons forward. The Gunships and the Cruisers made an arrow formation and sailed through the mist towards Japhet's Folly.

*BOOOOO*

Another horn sounded from the other side. It was clearly the Pirates counterattacking.

A big number of brigs started to flow from the mist, no one needed to guess too much, these were the Argonian pirates the Blood-Horkers invited.

"Shouldn't rumor about the [Roaring Flame] has spread far and wide, why are there so many hired hands." Alina asked.

"We heard that the Blood-Horker agents that went to hired mercenaries claimed that the fire ships were all baseless rumors and there was a strong fire mage on the ships." Jullanar answered.

"Yeah, just cannon fodder to slow us down… that ain't happening though." Jon said as he seemed all relaxed.

As soon as he looked forward, the [Iron Maiden] started to speed up ahead even more. Its speed has surpassed what a ship can ever achieve in this world. The pirates started to feel threatened by its imposing charge and tried to evade clashing with the ship's sinister ram. Still, the ship started shooting Fireballs at them.

"Dammit! Return fire!" The pirate felt threatened and started to shoot their arrows at the [Iron Maiden] but the deck was fortified and not crowded.

As soon as the [Iron Maiden] found the nearest target, the front Dragon Breath cannon shoot a scary stream of Fire that consumed two ships in an instance, the [Iron Maiden] charged at them and its ram started breaking the ships in halves.

"This is madness!" The Stormcloak and the Imperial commanders were threatened by the sole performance of the [Iron Maiden] that sounded more like sea brute rather than a ship.

IT wasn't long after the [Roaring Flame] took action and started spewing flames left and right making a cloud of black smoke of every ship it went through. The Black Smoke got mixed with the Sea Mist and the light of the fires giving the scene a feeling out of a fairy tale.

The [Winter Grace] was a ship specialized in Blizzard Cannons, each shot from its sentry cannon would freeze the wood and the people on a ship, with a single shock, anything that got frozen shatters immediately. The [Thunder Wrath] was just as deadly, it had many Tesla Cannons that tear ships apart and set them on fire.

The Pirates ships were being obliterated at a crazy base, even the small Dare Dragon Gunships were using the small cannons and the incredible mobility they have to lessen the burden from the big ships.

The Imperial Ships were threatened by the actions of the Dare Dragon Fleet but the Stormcloak were not that wary, even though Jon gave the Imperials a bit of a favor, he had a good reputation among the Nords of Windhelm with all the propaganda he paid a lot of gold for. The Stormcloaks tore through the pirate ships in their direction racing with the Dare Dragon Company.

In the end, the three parties arrived at the shores of Japhet's Folly to find it fortified by a lot of barricades and siege weapons aiming for the ships. The Citadel in the highest point of the island seemed to be fortified and ready for a siege.

This was just the start of a bloody fight.

***

In a cave beneath Japhet's Folly, a black cat popped out of the darkness, she was wearing a bright golden collar and seemed to be wary from its surroundings.

She walked slowly to explore the place around her until she found a way to proceed forward.

"Hooman, you meanie! I am in."