The faster of the ships, the two skirmisher craft under oars, pulled up near the Scuttle grab and signaled to cut sails and welcome boarders. The merchants first responded with gestures of they didn't understand and sent crazy singles back.
Flag based talks had broken down when the singled to cut sail and the signal waved back a rude gesture. After falling two points off aft the galleys begun to shift and close in.
Station keeping was tricky for any ship, oars were used in battle because it allowed a captain to issue the command and reasonably expect the ship to go in that direction. Once the ships had been less than two hundred meters away, sculls popped out like marmots on the prairies. Edison for his part waited until they moved to ram before ordering a hard rudder turn.
