Chirina Shuurga
On the steps down to the gun deck stood Chirina, eyeing the closing ship and keeping a careful watch on the guns on the deck below.
When it was clear which side the ships would meet on, she gave the order to move all eight guns to that side.
Her trained eye spotted immediately, that she would not get the chance to fire a round shot into the
True Blue's side.
"Load grapeshot!", she yelled.
When the last flag went up signalling all cannons to be loaded, Chirina kept her eyes on the enemy ship again. Ten seconds...
two... one!
"Fire!"A thunderous roar erupted from below her, followed by seven similar ones as the grapeshot left the barrels of the cannons.
Cries swept over from the wind as the munition shredded into the wooden hull and into people.
"Grab your muskets and get on deck!", she ordered her cannon crew, which did as she had asked, even though she was new on board.
Chirina herself grabbed her own musket from the back of her shoulder and headed onto the main deck as well, showing her soldiers where to line up facing the pirates that started to board the
Aquarius.
"Ready! Aim! Fire!"Dozens of musket balls hailed down on the boarders cutting down dozens of pirates. She watched her own shot bury itself into the chest of a man on the boarding bridge, who, by the force of the ball was sent tumbling into the water.
"Reload!", she commanded again, doing the same with her musket, a family inheritance and very dear to her heart. At the speed that the pirates boarded the ship, she calculated, she could afford one more volley before they would be close enough to force hand on hand combat where her musket would be pretty useless.
"Last volley! Ready! Aim! Fire!"The second volley tore into the slowly dimming stream of people boarding and some shots even went so far as to cut down men on the enemy ship.
"Fire at will! Otherwise, draw weapons and engage!"Chirina knew, her soldiers would probably not be able to reload in time, but she trusted in her own ability to reload fast.
A hulking chunk of a man came charging at her, the firing line already having dispersed. Fearless, Chirina aimed directly at his head.
When the pirate realized that she wasn't going to flinch at his charge, he hesitated, enough for Chirina to press the trigger and drive musket ball through his head. With a swift motion, dropping her gun then and there, she drew her curved sword slicing the arm off another man close to her to then, in the backstroke, separate his head from his shoulders.
The blood dripping down the blade of her sword triggered it. Grinning maliciously, she licked off some of the blood that had gathered on the dull edge of her sword, her extra long canines glinting with red as they were coated with the blood. Chirina licked her lips.
The hunt had begun.