"Take aim!" Hendrick exclaimed with an eager grin, brandishing his sword forward as soon as the two ship treasure fleet was within range.
He did not bother trying to get the two ships to surrender, as he knew
Honduran sailors would never give up their cargo without a fight.
Hendrick's crew, being the greedy cut-throat pirates they were, immediately obliged his instructions, grinning as they adjusted the front cannons' aim.
"Fire!" Hendrick exclaimed, swinging his sword downwards, and the three ships fired their front cannons all at once, the pirates cheering in excitement.
The Honduran treasure ships noticed the danger and split apart, one going to the right and the other to the left, trying to avoid the incoming shots and surround Hendrick's three ships.
However, Hendrick's crew were a veteran band of pirates, and they quickly adjusted their aim while firing the next volley, hitting the two treasure ships in the hull.
"Tell Teach to take the Sea Goddess and meet the Honduran ship on the left," Hendrick instructed as he turned to look at the sailor, waiting near him for instructions.
"And Akande to take the Sea lion to meet the other ship on the right!" he added as he turned around, making his way towards the helm.
"Fire at will," he exclaimed while walking towards the helm, and the pirates obliged, firing the cannons to their heart's content as the Honduran ships finally began returning fire.
He only managed to walk two steps before a cannonball shot right past his face, causing him to freeze for a second. "Did you see that, lads? Luck is definitely on my side today, hahaha," Hendrick remarked with a loud laugh as he resumed walking towards the helm with spring in his steps as if nothing happened.
"Out of my way!" Hendrick said with a smirk as he pushed away the sailor handling the helm, taking his place. "We'll pincer the left treasure ship and disable it before going for the one on the right!" he exclaimed as he began steering the ship towards his target.
His personal ship, The Dutch Born, quickly reached the left Honduran treasure ship that was already locked in place, unable to maneuver because of the Sea Goddess, barraging it with cannons shots.
Outnumbering, outrunning, and outmaneuvering the Honduran treasure ship, the pirates made quick work of the first vassal, destroying its sails and damaging its hulls with expertly aimed cannon shots while suffering minor damage in return.
"They won't be going anywhere. Let's take care of the other ship before boarding the ship!" Hendrick Instructed, quickly steering the Dutch-born towards the other Honduran vassal with the Sea Goddess following behind him.
Despite its fierce struggle, the second ship suffered the same fate of being incapacitated, with the only difference being the Sea Lion suffering a little more damage than Hendrick's two other ships.
"Tell Teach and Akande we'll take off this ship on our own," Hendrick instructed as he turned to look at a pirate nearby. "Let them board the other one together," he added, and pirate obliged.
They did not argue and promptly steered their ships towards the other incapacitated treasure ship as Hendrick gave the order to board the vassal near The Dutch Born.
The Dutch Born quickly neared the Honduran treasure ship, and the Honduran sailors immediately began firing their flintlocks at the pirates, making it clear they would fight till the last breath.
However, Hendrick and his pirates were not phased at all, and they returned fire as they continued to approach the vassal slowly but surely.
With a wicked laugh, Hendrick boarded the treasure ship before anyone else as he gripped a rope and jumped in the middle of the Honduran sailors, eyes glinting with a greedy light.
Hendrick barely had time to regain his balance as a Honduran sailor came charging at him, sword in hand. Hendrick kept his grin as he fished a flintlock out of his coat's inner pocket, placing a shot in the center of the sailor's forehead.
More sailors charged at Hendrick, but more pirates boarded the ship during that time, getting in their way.
Hendrick did not stay idle as he began while his pirates boarded the ship and began slaughtering the sailors as he too began to move towards the captain's quarters.
He didn't make it very far before two sailors stood in his way, cutlasses in hand, as they glared daggers at him. "Glares alone will not kill me, lads," Hendrick remarked as he drew his own sword.
The sailors did not wish to mince words with him, and they both charged him together.
The first one reached him quickly, swinging his sword, and Hendrick blocked the swing with his sword, kicking him away and swinging again to slit the other sailor's throat.
He quickly made his way to the first sailor, plunging his sword into his abdomen despite the latter's hasty attempt to dodge.
Another sailor tried to take advantage of Hendrick's momentary distraction and charged towards him from behind, intending to skewer the pirate captain with his saber.
Hendrick heard the sailor coming at the last second and rolled to the side, dodging the hit. He quickly stood up and retrieved a small knife from his belt, throwing it at the sailor.
Having just swung and missed, the sailor was in a state of unbalance, so he did not see the knife coming, and it hit right in the chest, causing him to stagger as he held his chest.
Hendrick quickly capitalized, running towards the injured sailor and slitting his throat, but it came at a cost as another sailor on the ship's sails managed to take shoot him in the thigh.
Hendrick grunted in pain as he grasped the dying sailor's, hiding behind him to avoid getting shot again. He then reached into the sailor's belt, taking his flintlock, which he used to shoot the sailor on the ship's sails.
Hendrick smiled, shoving away the now dead body of the sailor as his comrade fell from the sails, still holding his pistol.
Despite his injury, Hendrick continued fighting and slew four more sailors, including the Honduran ship's captain, until he finally met an elderly man wearing strange tribal attire.
"Behold, sea devil," the elderly man said in a grim tone while looking at the treasure ship's deck, full of Honduran sailors' corpses. "A sea of blood wrought by your greed," he remarked as he turned to look at the pirate captain.
"Your words mean nothing to me, old man," Hendrick replied in a careless tone, chuckling as he shook his head.
"A wise man once said, In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, and hard labor; in this, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power," He added, quoting the Infamous pirate Bartholomew 'Black Bart' Roberts. And the surrounding pirates cheered at his words.
"Then may damnation seize you and guide your greedy soul into eternal suffering so that no gate of heaven will open to you," the old man remarked in a calm tone.
"I curse you, sea devil," the old man concluded, his tone dripping venom as he closed his eyes, waiting for death.
"Heaven, you fool? Did you ever hear of pirates yearning to go there?" Hendrick remarked as he began walking towards the old man. "Give me hell! It's a much merrier place!" he added with a chuckle as he casually slit the old man's throat.
The pirates began laughing wickedly as the old man's body collapsed on the deck, suddenly freezing at the sound of a gunshot. They all turned to look at the source, finding a dying sailor holding a flintlock as he smiled in satisfaction before breathing his last and dying.
"Well, shit," Hendrick grunted as he held the fresh wound on his chest courtesy of the dying sailor. "I'm fine. Load everything of value into The Dutch Born," Hendrick instructed, dismissively waving his hand to the side.
Though the pirates exchanged some worried glances, they immediately went to work hauling the loot to their ship.
...
Despite his two injuries still leaking blood, Hendrick smirked while thinking about his haul; 1404 chests of Indigo, 4280 animal skins, 32 jars of balsam ointment, and several trunks full of sweet, sweet gold.
Hendrick reached into one of the open gold trunks, taking a single gold coin. Unmindful of his wounds, he strangely smiled while looking at it with an entranced expression.
"Today has been a good day, lads," Hendrick exclaimed with some difficulty, still holding the gold coin as he began walking towards his quarters.
"But I'm tired, and I need to rest," he added in a dull tone as he walked into his quarters, closing the door behind him. He quickly threw himself on the bed, immediately losing consciousness as the wound on his chest continued to leak blood, covering the golden coin he dearly embraced until his heart stopped and he was no more.
...
My body violently jerked up, and I woke up gasping for breath with my eyes wide open and my body drenched in sweat.
(Author's note: for those of you who don't know: Hendrick Jacobszoon Lucifer (1583–1627) was a real pirate, and this is his actual story, despite some exaggerations here and there to flare up the story on my part)