Things were about as bad as Colt had expected. As he emerged from the outpost he noticed immediately that the Bloody Manta had definitely arrived. The large ship was looming in the water right beyond the shore of the outpost. The Manta's pirates had already been dispatched and were running, one after another, onto the shore with their weapons blazing.
Colt also saw the Bloody Manta's scout ship by the shore. It was a small boat with a single sail that was usually kept strapped along the side of the main ship. It looked fairly non-intimidating to most people, but not to Colt, because he knew that it only meant one thing: Captain Rave and his crew were coming.
Colt looked back toward the land. The Infinite Authority had formed a defensive line right outside the outpost, and he was actually rather impressed at their work. They were fighting viciously against the advancing pirates and actually seemed to be decently holding down the line and not allowing any breaks in formation. Unfortunately for them, the attacking pirates were not the ones doing the most damage. The thing posing the biggest threat, Colt knew from observing many similar attacks, was the ship's cannons.
Captain Rave's strategy was always to anchor the Manta close outside the shore of the island, making sure that the side—usually the starboard side—of the ship was facing the island. Then, as pirates rushed the island, the cannons would be manned constantly and cannon balls would take out most of the foes.
This seemed to be exactly what was happening here. Despite the efforts from the Authority, Colt knew that it wouldn't be enough to protect Goldtown for very long. They were currently only delaying what was likely inevitable.
Beside him, Shelly was also observing the battlefield. She looked back and forth between the pirate ship and the Authority's line of defense, her face paling. She gripped her knife tightly in hand and glanced over at him.
"Where do we start?" she yelled over the sound of gunshots and explosions.
"Tell the Authority to move their line up as far as possible!" Colt shouted back. "They won't listen to me, but they might if it comes from you. We want to fight them as close to the shore as possible."
"Closer?" Shelly didn't look too convinced at this plan. "Why should we get closer?"
"The cannons," Colt said, gesturing to the ship. "They have extremely long range, but there's a large blind spot near the ship. The cannons can only move down so far, so they can't reach targets that are close. You wanted my help, so you're going to have to trust me on this one."
Shelly nodded. "Get closer to the ship. Got it."
"Tell whoever will listen, it might save their life. I'll cover you as you get to the line."
"Thank you, Colt," she said earnestly.
Colt looked away. Why was she thanking him, of all people? It wasn't like he was doing it for the right reasons. "I'm not doing this for you," he said honestly, "or the town."
"Maybe not," Shelly said. "But thank you."
With that she started off toward where the Authority had set up. Colt followed behind her, checking their surroundings constantly and checking for enemies or explosions that might be heading their way.
It didn't take long for them to run into trouble. Colt noticed after only a few seconds that Shelly seemed to be running straight into a clear area with no authoritarian officers or pirates. Going away from the enemies wasn't a terrible idea, Colt thought, but it was definitely too good to be true. And sure enough, as he craned his neck and looked toward the Bloody Manta, he noticed a cannon pointed directly at them. They were entering into one of the common cannon radius areas. That was why it was so clear.
"Hey!" Colt yelled at Shelly, trying to get her attention.
But she didn't turn back. She kept on running toward the Authority line, looking back and forth and trying to find the safest path there. Colt figured the loud eruptions of the cannons and the sounds of fighting had drowned him out. This was rather unfortunate, considering the both of them were currently running through a cannon zone. All they needed to do was move to the side more, back closer to where the grass didn't look as charred and damaged. But Shelly was paying no attention to the state of the grass, and since he was behind her it wouldn't work out too well for her if he decided to leave her.
Then something happened that made his heart drop. Another loud boom had just shook the ground, except this one was the loudest yet. That meant that it was also the closest.
"Hey!" Colt yelled again, more frantically. He knew it wouldn't do any good, though, and there was no time.
Colt surged forward and leaped toward Shelly. He tackled her to the ground, hearing her muffled sounds of surprise and protest as they hit the grass. She wriggled against him and tried desperately to break free, but Colt ignored this as he rolled to the left. He kept going, trying to get as far as possible from where they'd been before...
BOOM!
The sound became deafening and soon the only thing Colt could hear was the violent shaking of the ground beneath them. He cried out, not even able to hear himself, as he felt the pain of a hundred knives sinking into his back. And then the ground stopped shaking and a soft ringing noise filled his ears.
"Are you okay?" he heard a voice say eventually.
He cracked an eye open and saw that Shelly was kneeling down beside him. He tried to respond but was unable. He took a shaky breath and the ringing in his ears started to slowly fade out.
"I'll be fine," he muttered. He realized that he was probably very lucky. He'd managed to escape a cannon blast with little more than a hurt back to show for it. "You?"
Shelly nodded. "I'm fine, thanks to you. I would've been dead if you hadn't done that. How did you know where the shot was going to land?"
Colt sat up, ignoring the pain in his back as he did so. There was no time for back aches in a battle like this.
"I didn't tell you about my magical powers?" Colt asked her. "That's odd, I thought I mentioned it to you."
Shelly just shook her head in response, seemingly not very amused. "Shut up," she said. "We'd better keep going."
"Right, yeah," Colt agreed. "The whole battle-for-the-island thing."
Colt managed to get to his feet, an immensely difficult task after just narrowly avoiding being blasted to death by a pirate cannon. But he had decided to ignore the pain in his back, no matter how much it begged for attention.
As Shelly made her way along the final stretch to where the Authority's line of defense was set up, Colt scouted ahead. She seemed to have a pretty clear route there, except for... oh, great. One of the pirates had spotted Shelly, and was making his way over to her. He didn't look like he simply wanted to ask her to get to safety, either.
"Hey!" said the pirate as he approached Shelly. He pulled out a sword and raised it up, blocking her movement. "Stop right there."
Colt ran up and placed himself in the middle of them, drawing his cutlass and holding it at the ready. "Sorry," he said. "but that would be rather counterproductive."
The pirate snarled, showing Colt his yellow teeth. Along with the teeth came some old, baggy clothes and a mustache that did not suite the man. Colt didn't remember ever seeing his man, but he likely didn't even know half of Captain Rave's crew. The pirate didn't seem to recognize Colt either, though he was eyeing his cutlass with curiosity.
"You're not an Authority officer," the pirate noted.
"Well congrats," Colt replied. "That means you're only a little bit stupid."
The pirate's face went red and he relocated his sword to be pointing at Colt. "You'll regret that," he promised. "You'll regret it real soon."
Colt turned his head and nodded slightly to Shelly. "Keep going," he said. "I've got this guy."
The pirate cackled at this. "Oh, you most definitely do not."
But he didn't make any attempt to follow Shelly as she kept on running, which meant Colt had already won their first fight. Now it was time for the second one.
The pirate attacked first, bringing his sword back before swinging it toward him with force. Colt was used to his opponents having the first move, though, and he successfully stepped back and away from the sword as it swished by him. The pirate stepped with his sword to regain control after the miss and Colt used this small window to step in a little and perform his own attack.
The pirate was quick, and had brought his own sword back to its defensive position in time to meet Colt's. The two swords met and then the pirate stepped back and swung low. This caught Colt off guard a little. He jumped out of the way of the incoming sword and readjusted his feet quickly. While he was doing this, though, the pirate had already started a new attack. The man brought his sword in for a strike and Colt had to use all of his strength to hit the opposing sword out of the way with his own. The pirate raised his sword for yet another attack, and Colt stepped back a little to get out of the weapon's range.
He was much better than the monkeys, Colt thought to himself. Much better. And although he felt like he had improved tremendously in his sword skills, he didn't know if he was on this guy's level yet. But he didn't have much of a choice. It was do or die, which meant he couldn't pull any punches at all. He needed to give it all. He needed to win the fight.
"What's the matter?" the pirate taunted him. "Scared?"
Yes, he thought. A little.
"No," he said. "Not at all."
"Then prove it. Come over here and fight me."
"Why don't you come to me," Colt countered. "If you're in such a hurry?"
The pirate didn't move for a moment. Colt knew that the man wanted him to attack first. The pirate probably already had his counter move planned out, and Colt would be dead before he knew it. So he needed to make the pirate come to him. The only way Colt had a chance was if he refused to do anything predictable. He'd been in only a handful of fights, while the pirate had likely been in hundreds, if not more.
"Or maybe I'm not the one who's scared here," Colt said as he started using the pirate's tactics against him.
The pirate just chuckled and shook his head. Then he charged at Colt. Colt waited without moving for the man to get a little closer, then he stepped out of the way at the very last minute. He felt the man's sword tug at his tunic as he dodged away and struck out with his own sword, making contact. The pirate cried out as Colt's cutlass cut into his back.
The pirate whipped around, furious now. "How dare you!" he spat.
"Now we're both fighting with a hurt back," Colt replied.
The pirate raised his sword and struck at him once and then again. Colt used his cutlass to block the strikes, but they didn't stop coming. He faced attack after attack as the pirate continuously struck at him. He was doing a decent job at meeting the attacks and not letting them get past his cutlass, but he knew it couldn't keep it up forever. Eventually one of the sword strikes would hit him, and he suspected it would happen sooner rather than later. Plus, defense wasn't exactly his strong suit. It was all he could do to defend against this man for even a few blocks. There was no time to get any attacks in at all. Something had to change, that was for sure. And it had to change quickly.
Colt took a huge step backwards, breaking the rhythm and holding his sword up to himself as closely as possible. Thankfully, the next strike missed him. The pirate's sword swung right where Colt's cutlass had been a moment before, this time just hitting air and continuing until it struck into the ground. The pirate pulled on it and retrieved it, but it was too late by then. Colt had seen the moment and taken advantage of it, getting in his first blow against the pirate since he'd hit his back. Colt ran his cutlass straight into the pirate's side, then removed it quickly and got back into his defensive stance.
But that was all it took, evidently. The pirate gasped out in pain and then fell to the ground. He clutched at his wound and his fingers began to turn red as he did so. Colt winced at this and turned away.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Next time don't try to kill me."
He knew his advice wouldn't be taken, though. Even as he said it he saw another pirate running toward him, sword at the ready. Colt raised his cutlass and got ready for yet another fight, feeling better about this one.
He'd beaten a pirate in a sword fight. An actual pirate, not a monkey or a forest lowlife. He now knew that he was capable of taking down members of Captain Rave's crew, and that was exactly the confidence boost he needed. He was ready to take on the world. Or at least the Bloody Manta.
"Die, Authority!"
This next pirate was even more stupid than his friend, Colt thought as the man shouted insults to the Authority while rushing to fight someone who was not associated with the Authority.
The new pirate got close enough and immediately swung his sword in Colt's direction. This time Colt was expecting it, though, and stepped clear out of the way before it even got close. He'd begun to notice a pattern in the fighting style of the Bloody Manta crew. They all fought aggressively. They attacked first and they attacked often, leaving next to no time or room for their opponent to defend. But the joke was on them; Colt sucked at defending anyway. He knew now that it was a waste of time to try and adequately defend against Rave's pirates. He might be able to block some strikes, but sooner or later he'd mess up or be out-fought. His best chance was to rely entirely on his own attacks.
So that's what he did.
Colt knew the pirate's next move was going to be another attack, so he made sure to not even give him the chance. Before the pirate could reposition himself for his second attack, Colt thrust forward with his cutlass. The pirate, who was obviously not used to tasting his own offensive medicine, just barely managed to bring his sword up in time to block Colt's strike. But by this point Colt had full control of the battle.
Colt attacked with his cutlass, using the techniques he'd picked up when fighting the monkeys. He slashed his sword in different motions every time, making sure not to use the same attack twice. He attacked not with the goal of hitting his opponent but with the goal of beating him, and getting past the opposing sword. He was fighting the pirate's sword, not the pirate himself.
This method worked well for him, as it was much easier to defend when you knew the goal of your attacker. It didn't take long for Colt to out-maneuver the pirate, who wasn't used to being forced on defense to begin with.
Colt struck out with his sword, which got blocked by the pirate. Then he lifted his sword back up, and before the pirate could reposition his own, swung it around the other side in a clean slash that caught his opponent defenseless. Without anything there to block it, Colt's cutlass finally found flesh.
The pirate looked up at Colt, an almost confused look in his eyes. "I've been stabbed," he said. Then he fell to the ground, clutching at his side.
"Well," Colt said, "at least you got that right."
Colt looked around for any more incoming pirates, but didn't see any. Pretty much every pirate he saw was already engaged in a fight with an Authority officer, and Colt didn't really want to get in the middle of that. He'd defeated two pirates so far, which was pretty decent, but he figured if he got in the middle of a fight both the pirate and the Authority officer would try to kill him. Which wouldn't be ideal.
Most of the authoritarian forces were behind their battle line, using their firearms to hold back the advancing pirates. From what Colt could tell, this was rather effective against the sword-wielding pirates running at them. However it seemed less effective against the gunned pirates who would simply fire back.
And then there was some unorganized battling going on too. Colt noticed that some Authority officers had abandoned their guns completely and were using swords to fight the pirates. Colt had limited knowledge on the subject, but from his experience only certain authoritarian squads carried swords. Most simply had the standard issue Infinite Authority firearm, so it was likely these officers had picked up some swords from the fallen pirates. That alone seemed like a bad sign for the Authority. If they were giving up their guns for an enemy weapon that they hadn't been trained to use, things must be desperate for them.
But Colt had no time to confirm his theory that the pirates may be winning the battle. Standing around was never a smart move in a battle like this. He could get hit from behind or wiped out by a cannon shot. He needed to keep moving and find more pirates to take down.
It still seemed weird that he was fighting alongside the Authority against the pirates. If someone had told him a month ago that this is where he'd be, and this is what he'd be doing, well... Colt definitely would not have believed them. But here he was, a former cabin boy using his sword skills to take down actual pirates. It was wild how things could change so fast.
While he was thinking about this and looking for his next target, he noticed a man walking with purpose toward the Authority's line. The man was definitely a pirate, and somehow he had gotten closer than any of his pirate friends toward where the Authority officers were stationed. That meant Colt had to do something about it.
Colt approached the pirate from behind, feeling rather good about himself and his abilities after winning his last two pirate fights. That feeling of confidence faded quickly, however, when the pirate turned around to face him.
The man was massive, to begin with. His shoulders were broad and his arms were strong. He had a small looking face, but this was only because it was in comparison to the rest of him. The pirate had a thick mustache that rested above his yellow teeth.
Colt couldn't help but to take a step back. The giant pirate noticed this and smiled down at him.
"That's right," boomed the pirate, "step away. I am Captain Rave's second in command, Breaker, and I can crush you with a single finger."
Colt knew he was lying. Not about the crushing him with a finger thing: he fully believed the pirate about that. But about being second in command. Unless something major had changed since he had been gone, that just wasn't true. Colt had never even seen this man before, so he doubted he even had much power or influence on the Bloody Manta.
"Really?" Colt asked. "That's odd, I thought One-Eyed Morgan was first mate."
The large pirate blinked, his smile melting as a look of confusion took its place.
"How do you know about Morgan?" he asked.
"Same way I know that I'm about to win this fight," Colt replied, readying himself.
Breaker (a very fitting name by the way) just chuckled and said, "We'll see."
Colt swung his sword as he began his strategy of staying on the offensive. The pirate blocked the first attack, then side-stepped the next. As Colt raised his cutlass up for his next strike, the pirate sliced in with his own sword. Colt jumped back, surprised that Breaker had recovered fast enough to have time for an attack of his own.
It didn't matter though. Colt just had to stick to his attack technique, which had worked on the other pirates he'd faced. He gripped his cutlass and stepped back into the fight, swinging it over and over again at the large pirate. On one of his swings, Breaker caught his cutlass with his own sword and they stood in a standstill. Breaker pushed his sword into Colt's cutlass, causing Colt's arm to shake as he tried to resist. He knew he wouldn't be able to, though. Breaker was not only taller than him, he was much stronger too. It was no use to overpower him.
Colt released the weight and dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way as Breaker lost control of his sword. Breaker's sword went scattering off into the distance, leaving him unarmed. Colt stood up and pointed his cutlass at the pirate.
"You've lost," he said.
Breaker stared at him for a few seconds, then chuckled again. "You make me laugh."
"You find dying funny?"
"No." Breaker shook his head and pulled something from his pants pocket. A gun. It was a black flintlock pistol that Colt hadn't even noticed. And now it was pointing straight at him. "I find you dying funny."
"Yeah," Colt muttered, "that does make more sense."
He stepped back, knowing he was outmatched. His cutlass would get maybe halfway to Breaker's neck before his own neck had a hole in it. And that was if he were lucky. So this wasn't really an ideal turn of events.
Breaker laughed again and used his thumb to cock the flintlock. "No man has ever beat me in a fight," he said. "Get ready to die, whoever you are."
Colt figured this wasn't a great time to introduce himself, so he just grimaced and waited to die. He wondered if he'd ever be able to hear the gunshot, or if he'd be dead before he even knew it was coming.
But he didn't end up hearing the gunshot, and he didn't die either. At least he didn't think. Instead, Breaker let out a grunting noise. Then Colt noticed the blood. Protruding through the pirate's chest was a knife. It was a silver knife that looked suspiciously familiar.
Then the knife was removed, and Breaker sunk to the ground.