Weighing Anchors {IC, Players Wanted}

"Heel hard to port!" Arthur roared to the helmsman, who complied. The Tropic had just fired the blanks and he had to make it appear as if he'd gotten lucky and the pirates missed his ship as he took evasive action.

"Sir, Dumisani has activated her turbo," the Sensory officer said patiently, like he felt like a traitor himself.

Arthur nodded approvingly, "Whoever said 'No plan ever survives the field of battle' was only half right: Dumisani got away, as far as we know we're not suspected, and the only hitch is the fact that my sworn enemy is capapble of pursuing them." he looked thoughtful.

"Sir?" his second-in-command asked.

Arthur thought for a moment more, then took in a breath. "Well, Mister Gendrick, I have another plan," Arthur said slyly, "Inform the exulted Admiral Durham that we are undamages and will pursue the pirates...in the message, say 'bastards' instead of 'pirates'...he likes insults better and will be less suspicious.

"Aye aye, sir," the Comms officer said, typing again.
--------------------

Drake Durham was furious. Not only had the pirates gotten away from right under his thumb, but they'd gotten away without much of a fight while most of his fleet surrounded them. "Those god damn pirate fuckers'll pay for this!" he roared, to which most of the bridge crew winced.

"Sir..." one of the braver officers began.

"Yeah? What the fuck do you want?" Durham asked, still furious.

"Well, sir," the officer continued, "Maybe it would have been wise to put blocking ships in front of it..."

"Well..Well.." Drake spluttered, "Well...I thought about it, but figured they were beated after the beating they took leaving the harbor and all."

"It is better to be safe then sorry...like now, sir," another hopeful officer piped in.

Drake rounded on him, "Shut up or I'll tear your lips off," he said venemously. The officer got quiet real quick and turned away, back to his post.

Then the Pursuit jumped after the pirate. "That's it, be more like our good Captain Raleigh!" the Admiral said to the bridge crew, "Jump after them!"

"Aye aye, sir," the helmsman said, and they jumped, along with most of the fleet.

“Stupid piece of newfangled shit,” O’Riley muttered under his breath, giving the radio a venomous glare. He kept his back turned to the port side windows, a freshly lit cigar sending smoke spiraling up to the top of the bridge’s cabin. “It’d be easier to use damn carrier pigeons.”

He was about to say something else, to have Captain Eugene Hawkins make sure the men were ready for a fight if one broke out. He had some of the best men in all of the oceans, with some of the best commanders to look over them, and with some of the fastest ships to boot, but the damn radio couldn’t even work? Then a noise caught his ear. It was faint, and in the course of three seconds, it grew from barely noticeable to a roar as something cast a brief shadow in the bridge and a large wave rocked the boat.

A dead silence fell over the bridge as she ship swayed, the officers shuffling around to grab on to something for support. O’Riley put his free hand on the edge of the table, his back still turned to his subordinates. His shoulders rose and fell as he gave a sigh, smoke billowing into the air. The air became thick with tension as all three of the Asylum’s officers, along with Petty Officer Oliver Rowe, stared at the Rear Admiral.

“Captain Hawkins,” O’Riley began, setting the radio transmitter down. “What was that?”

“Um, well, sir…” Hawkins, stuttered, casting a nervous glance out the window. “That was the pirate ship.”

Silence.

O’Riley gave a snort. A snort which turned into a chuckle. A chuckle which turned into laughter. Laughter which turned into the Rear Admiral gripping the side of the table, he was guffawing so hard. All four heads turned to exchanged baffled glances with each other. They had all been serving under the man for several months, and yet his whole seemingly bipolar happy-go-lucky attitude was still a foreign concept to them.

“Slipped right on by us, that they did!” O’Riley put a hand on his side, small chugs of smoke coming from his mouth as he laughed. Hawkins walked over and put a hand on the man’s elbow to steady him, only to get another bout of howling laughter. “I’ll bet ya all Durham’s having himself a coronary right now. Oh, those poor saps on that ship with him, there’ll be hell to pay for sure.”

Lieutenant Wolfgang Connery and Hawkins shared a look, one that was both nervous and slightly amused, before the Lieutenant looked out the window. His eyes narrowed as if he was looking at an object far in the distance, before turning back. “Sir, I believe the Pursuit is going to give chase.”

O’Riley straightened himself up and strode over to the window, the humor gradually draining from his face as he watched the ship turn hard to port. “Turn the ship, Lowe. Hard to starboard, and get ahead of that ship.”

Lieutenant Commander Sean Malarkey looked at his commander from his position near the door. “Sir, if the Pursuit is going to go after the pirates, then we should allow them to make their way.”

“I don’t think so, Malarkey,” O’Riley responded, looking at the ship in question. “If whoever the hell is captain of that ship couldn’t-”

“Captain Raleigh, sir.”

“Eh?”

“The Pursuit’s commander, sir,” Connery replied. “Captain Arthur Raleigh.”

A dry chuckle escaped O’Riley’s lips, taking the cigar out of his mouth and holding it in his fingers. “Well then, lads, that explains why those pirates got away.”

Hawkins seemed taken aback. He knew the whole story behind O’Riley and he former exec, and their mutual dislike for each other, but he couldn’t quite tell when his commander was getting at. “Sir, you don’t think he…?”

“Let them escape? No, no,” the Rear Admiral waved his hand. “But he certainly wasn’t doing his damn job, that’s for sure.”

“Sir, I don’t-”

“Hawkins, we kill pirates,” O’Riley turned, cigar back in his mouth, and it seemed more like he was addressing the officers on a whole. “Hell, we’re practically glorified killers. But we do this for a reason, gentlemen. These pirates are murders and thieves, and they need to be taken care of. None of these scare tactics, like firing some guns and chasing them off. They need to be wiped out.”

Brief glances were exchanged between the officers. Everyone in the Navy knew about O’Riley’s past, the five years he spent as a pirate after the merchant vessel he had been working on was captured by the crew. It was still a wonder how he managed to escape execution, the pardon coming as they were slipping the noose around his neck. And it was an even bigger wonder why he joined the Navy, the same people who were going to kill him.

“Don’t get me wrong, Arty was a damn good sailor, but he lacked a killer’s edge. You gotta have a certain…bloodlust, as it were, to be in this kind of business. He’s too soft, especially for an officer.” He shook his head, his eyes trailing back to the window. “No, Arty had his chance, and he blew it. Should’ve killed the sons of bitches, left no room for error.”

At that point, Lowe began to feverishly type orders to the helmsman to turn the ship around, the engines whirring into full speed. For some reason, he was feeling uncomfortable around his commander, and all he wanted was to get out of the bridge and sort out everything, try and determine what about O’Riley was real and what were just stories. Yes, the man was vicious with pirates, and cruel to boot, but the tone of voice he carried when talking about Captain Raleigh…

“Don’t look so nervous, Lowe,” O’Riley grinned. “It’s a simple mission. We get within range, fire the guns, and gun down the bastards that don’t drown.”

“A-Aye, sir.”

O’Riley chuckled, smirking at the Pursuit as she turned and straightened out. “It’ll be just like shootin’ fish in a barrel, boys.”

Captain Dumisani shoved Arewick towards the wheel of The Tropic as most people on deck were forced to lean back in their places as the vessel picked up speed. "Where to, Captain?" he called over the roar of the engines as they heated up. Sophia began to dig into the inside of her jacket, seconds later pulling a small circular electronic device from one of her pockets. Without one word, she tapped the smooth lens on its top surface and it blinked red a few times before a small pillar of holographic light spot up from it, expanding into a flat blue surface with various green splotches on it. Sophia proceeded to tap one of the splotches and it expanded to show an island a few miles away from their location.

"There," the woman finally said, pointing.

"There? The Isle of Delphinus isn't exactly what I would call an ideal hiding spot," Arewick replied, glancing back at a navigational screen on the ship that showed navy vessels beginning to pursue The Tropic.

"Aye, but if we pick up the pace a bit, it should give us enough time to make a bit of a trip into the town there." Sophia tapped the blinking circle of the device she was holding a second time, and it shut off.

"You mean you want us to stop? Right there in the bay?"

"Heavens no, Mister Arewick. You see, you keep circling the island after you drop me off at the docks. It'll only take me but a few minutes to get what I need. Afterwards, we can sail off with no further interruptions." Sophia gave a reassuring smile.

"And what of Captain Raleigh?"

"...Which one?"

"Pirate Captain Raleigh."

Sophia's face went blank for a second. She had almost forgotten he was still on board.

"You know what?" she finally chirped. "I hereby charge you with the task of escorting Mister Raleigh safely back to his own ship while I'm in town. I suppose I can wait a while."

"Are you sure, Captain?"

"As sure as the ocean is vast, Mister Arewick." The first mate hesitantly turned to wheel of the ship, towards the direction of the Isle of Delphinus. It wasn't as massive as a port as New Port, due to the concentrated traffic of pirate vessels passing through. "Now, find me a few men to accompany me. I'm going to need a bit of help." Arewick nodded and pressed a rectangular button near the wheel, speaking into an intercom above it.

"Mister Alan Harper, please report to the quarter deck," Arewick's voice resonated across the ship. Before long, Harper (accompanied by John) stepped up to the quarter deck, taking his hat of and placing it over his heart in respect.

"You called?" he panted out, most likely having ran across the entire length of the ship to follow the orders.

"Good news, Mister Harper... John," Sophia began. "You're going to be accompanying me on a wee trip into town. Again." The woman nearly smirked.

"Right..." John squinted. "We're not going back to New Port, are we?" Captain Dumisani let out a chuckle and patted the Scotsman on the shoulder before informing him of her intended plan. And with the head start, if The Tropic was able to make it to Delphinus unscathed, the plan would go along smoothly with John, Harper, and their captain being swiftly dropped off at the nearest dock on the Isle of Delphinus.

((Sorry for the absence... school and music festivals keep me busy... ))

Argus gripped the top of his coolie with white knuckles. He was used to high speed chases, sure... but the Bumblebee usually outran ships very quickly. The Tropic was bigger, and Argus didn't have an astounding amount of faith in its speed.
He overheard Sophia talking to her first mate about her plan to gather supplies she needed at Port Delphinus. It sounded just as bold and stupid as Argus' plan to re-enter Newport.
But Dumisani was going to get him back to his own ship, so Argus couldn't complain. The Captain could do whatever she wanted, as far as he was concerned.
Yet, he was concerned. Odd.
"Excuse my opinions, Captain," Raleigh said, relaxing his shaking hands. "But are you sure that's such a good idea? What could be so important in Delphinus that you would need to stop there in the middle of a pursuit?"

Captain Dumisani fell silent again as the ship neared Delphinus, mind occupied with the pursuing navy vessels and the objective ahead. And to think the whole day started out as a simple little voyage to New Port. "Just a few more miles, Captain. We'll be slowing down in a bit," she heard her first mate report as he walked off of the quarter deck, accompanied by Harper and John. However, she soon heard a different voice, though it was of course familiar. The woman turned to glance at Argus, tilting her chin up slightly.

"Well, I suppose it does seem rather silly. However, that information is currently on a need-to-know basis, and well..." Dumisani flashed a bit of a grin. "It's really none of your business." She shrugged passively and turned to watch Arewick making his way across the deck. "Don't worry, I'm sure you and your men will be out of this hellish mess in no time at all." She cleared her throat anxiously. "That is, if everything goes according to plan."