26 Fake Pirates (1/2)
Although the world had been turned on its head it was hard to tell, out here in the open sea. The only change was that the deep blue of the sky, sprinkled with the white of the clouds, had switched positions with the dark blue sea, sprinkled with the white crowns of crashing waves. Atau found the only real indication of his changed perspective where blue merged into blue, right along the horizon. There, he spotted the brown of an enemy vessel, bouncing up and down with the movements of the water. Annoyed, Atau looked down the vessel's hull, down the mast and towards the flag which waved in the wind.
*More Bornish, great. They really never give up on a grudge, do they?*
After he had confirmed the enemy's identity and position, Atau put down the telescope again. Thus, the sky and sea flipped once more and the world returned to its natural order.
”Orin!” the captain shouted while he put away the telescope. ”We'll adjust the course due south. We should be polite and make some way for the Bornish vessels. Let's travel five leagues from the coast, that should be enough to slip past whatever they consider detection. Inform the rest of the fleet as well, make sure none of the ships stay behind.”
”Aye Aye captain,” his first mate replied with verve. ”Those Bornish are as tenacious as they're stupid. Don't they understand that they won't catch us by doing the same thing again and again?”
Frank laughter returned from the captain.
”It's not like they can change their approach any. Anyways, I'll have to check on the maps and work out our new course. If you reach five leagues before I'm done you can cut the sails and wait. You have the command until I come back.” His orders given, Atau marched down from the ship's forecastle and over the main deck. As he made his way towards the captain's quarters under the quarter deck, the captain thought about all the needless troubles caused by the Bornish fleet.
It had been almost two years since the Cities' Alliance had signed their peace treaty with the Kingdom of Borna. Throughout this time, the Bornish had kept to their end of the bargain, but not out of a sense of honor. Rather, breaking contracts between two sovereign states would have gained them a reputation as oath breakers. Unlike the politically more free-form Medalan lords of Atau's homeland, the Arcavians really took their contracts seriously. Breaking the agreement would not only upset the free cities, but isolate Borna among the other lordships. Even with all of these restraints in place, Duke Herak had never stopped in his attempt to repay them for his humiliation.
Although nominally, the Bornish had no right to intercept a vessel from Etra, Atau knew the purpose of those ships on the horizon very well. Once they came close enough to spot them, the ships would lower their Bornish flag and pretend to be pirates. This way, the Bornish army could attack them without any repercussions. After all, the sunk Fastgrade fleet would simply be victim to an unfortunate pirate attack. The great Duke Herak would never be in cahoots with these outlaws, so it would be easy for him to avert all blame should they be caught and sunk by the Bornish navy.
He had seen it before, which was why Atau would knew all about their tricks. The last time he had returned from one of their major expeditions, they had also been attacked by fake pirates from Balit. In the end, the altercation had been a competition in arrogance. Even though Corco had left all these incredible tools at his disposal, Atau had still ignored his advice. With the help of the telescope, he could find enemies long before they could spot his own fleet, while the ethanol compass and knowledge of geometry and mathematics helped him plot a safe course around the enemy. Those were the reasons Corco had always asked Atau to play to their strengths and avoid conflict wherever he could. Even so, in the face of the shameless Bornish, Atau had decided to face the fake pirates in open combat. It had been a disaster.
The only reason he had survived to tell the tale was that the Bornish attackers had been even more arrogant than Atau himself. Not only had they sent a mere three ships to intercept them, they had also made the foolish decision to refrain from a proper attack on sight. Their minds set on the valuable cargo of the enemy fleet, the fake pirates had waited for the merchant ships to get closer, intent on their surrender. They had been safe in the knowledge that the Fastgrade ships had no proper armaments to return fire with. They had been wrong.
A broadside from point blank range with their cannon batteries had been enough for Atau's crew to turn the tide of battle in their favor. Although the Bornish reacted fast and began to board the Fastgrade ships, the crippled Bornish ships had been far too slow to follow the modern hulls of Atau's fleet once the Bornish threatened to overpower them in melee combat. In the end, they had retained all of their ships, but many good men had lost their lives that day. It had been a painful lesson for the captain, another one among so many he would never be able to forget.