"You said what!?" Exclaimed Hierd over the radio.
"Yes, lord, galleons, we presume by the Hesians." A faint sigh. "What do you propose we do?"
"I am sure you two can handle it? Question the leader, bring him to me then we'll start the questioning process. If they really are from the Hesian kingdom, question their resolve, why wander some place where their elite dragoons were shot down."
"Yes, lord."
"Oh and! Report every minute detail, I want to hear what's happening."
"Y-yes."
The call hung up and Hierd was left to his thoughts and the ringing of the telephone on his ear. Putting it down, Pomlik walked to him.
"Lord? What's happening?" Pomlik, his shortness yet distinct 'dwarven-anger' made his distressed voice sound comedic.
Eyeing up the little Pomlik, he said with a sigh; "Galleons."
"Galleons!?" He blurted!
"No need to be so suprised, even if they try to attack us, the Atago and Leberect can sink the wooden ships with one barrage of our bullets." Hierd smiled, "We just wait for news. Good news at that."
---
Approaching at a steady ten knots and going faster, the Leberect made vital contact with the Galleons. Specifically the pack's leading galleon. Written across the stern; a name. "The Hesia." Adelheid saw and undeinably, this country could not not be the Hesian kingdom.
It was less than two hundred meters from the two ships, any closer and there'd be risk for impact. Scoped in, a sailor lookout from the bridge wing noted a man dressed in all white leaving the Hesia's captain's quarters. Decked out with a novelty of medals and a rather daunting glowing hat of gold.
"Our presence has intrigued an admiral!" Adelheid yelled out with a gleeful-like expression. "Send this beck; I want everyone onward the starboard part'a the deck. Our white uniforms, let them dazzle in front of them whilst we give our command for a greeting!"
"Aye, captain!" The bridge crewmen ran out and into the deck, where bells and radios rang out from below deck, asking for their presence, and; almost like clockwork. The sailors got out from whatever cellar they worked, with pristine white clothing, their posture was straight, and their gazes were straight on.
The Hesian sailors looked bedazzled by the white garments, but then, their eyes loomed on over to a bigger, menacing figure with full navy blue clothing.
Adelheid;
with a microphone to his hand and speakers just behind.
He took in the breath of the sea, then with a grunt. "To all who are here, Hesian kingdom sailors and admiralty. I do hope you have understanding as to what ocean you are presiding your cannons inside of. Our. Waters. Germany's. Waters. I wish an audience with your admiral, whereupon if not we shall detain every and all men here."
The Galleon and the multiple other galleons behind it were in an uproar of curiosity. The sailors yonder stared at the ship with slit eyes, eyeing up every detail their mind could muster and understand. To them, they were looking at a creature, a leviathan, and men of some distant land of trained the creature to it's will and armored it tip to tip with iron.
Loudly, the Admiral shushed the sailors aboard the Hesia, then, with the sailors calming, he asked of one, his coxswain; "Give me the horn aft my bed, ways the wench, please?"
"Aye, capt'in!" The Coxswain ran for the quarters and came back, grunting, as he held a large 'goat horn' looking behometh, handing it over to the admiral; "How'll yee use it?"
The admiral made only a small nod, before so ever nonchalantly holding the heavy horn up high like it were paper, then dropping it back down; leveling it with his mouth. A deep breath, he prepared himself to shout a momentus yell. "I accept your terms! But how, does I aboard, the vessel!?"
His voice carried on over towards the iron vessel, and Adelheid's ears were soundly informed. How so will they aboard? Indeed there were three or so lifeboats aboard, but how so will it get back onto the ship?
There were no cranes on the warship, so Adelheid thought better; he put the microphone close to mouth once more; "You come to us, Admiral. By your lifeboat, we will take no further objections, and if you object, I shall fire my turrets and one of your ships shall sink."
There was silence over at the other side, a blatant threat washed their pates with sweat. "Admiral, what say we do?" The galleon's quartermaster came walking over to him. The admiral turned around to look at his crew of sailors, the air had this subtle angerness, and whispers came about.
'The admiral should not obey them!'
'We need to fire our cannons!'
"Silence!" The admiral yelled out! "Your whispers do not command me!" He stepped back and turned around to face the silent, waiting iron warship. It's hundreds of white-wearing sailors staring adamantly, awaiting a response. A defeated sigh.
"Men!" He gripped the wooden railings of the galleon, avoiding facing his back. "For peace and for the world, I... I shall disembark."
"What!?" The sailors retorted! Clammor brewed aboard, and soon long the sailors were making up excuses why he shouldn't obey. The sailors, clad in their noble-like armor, their 'suits' making them sweat more so than with normal wears, crowded up the admiral, whoms't tried to walk towards the only lifeboat aboard.
"Admiral!" His quartermaster came rushing from the crowd the admiral tried so desperately to break off. "Is it truly what you wish!?"
"Command the ship in my absense. Those men from that ship- if I do not depart, then our ship will be in pieces I suppose." The admiral, with courtesy; got rid of his black- captain's hat and patted it onto the bald pate that was the quartermaster's.
"You suppose, admiral!? I-I, do not know what to say..." He was dumbfounded; simply enough.
The admiral ignored the roar of other men blocking the way, he was most definitely absolute in his decision. The sailors aboard had accepted the fact too late, their admiral had boarded already the wooden lifeboat, the only such one. With the help of some sailors, ropes released and cranks reeled.
Lowering down, ever slowly the sailors looked at their admiral sitting on the small wooden canoe prepping the two paddles. "I wish you luck admiral!" The quartermaster- turned captain, waved his given black hat. With the rest of the sailors whoms't too overlooked from the wooden railing to beneath to the admiral.
"A wish of luck!" They yelled!
---
"He's approaching." Adelheid pointed out the obvious; "Quartermaster. Prep him up here when he touches board."
"Yes, captain." He did a little bow before leaving for the sailors.
The sea was of a moderate roughness, where between the two ships. The iron cladded Leberect and the wooden, keel and all, galleon of Hesia; the waves had toughned up quite a bit and the small canoe-like boat the admiral rowed with great power, pushing through the waves towards the Leberect, had been swept up draft a few times. Then finally, it's wooden bow collided with the ship's side.
A pinch of sailors flew towards the area, grabbing robe and throwing it down. A Hip' to Ho' the admiral went. When his hands grabbed the rope immidiately he thrusted his body upwards with treumendous strength, reaching the deck in just under ten-or-so seconds!
There was little help offered by the sailors as the admiral grappled his way through the railing. A swift thud, a pad to his pants and once to his suit. With a straight body, he looked at Adelheid with serious eyes. "As you had called, here I stand."
A wave of twenty sailors decked with lugers aimed down on the unarmed admiral, "And you point at me with those metallic things. They look like cannons; and if I were in a daze, then they too act like cannons."
"Matter it not," Adelheid introduced himself. "As it stands, Krimvald is in war with Germany. At a recent crux of treumendous battle, an overwhelming defeat for the Krimvaldians; I understand that your country's dragoons were involved in the battle."
"And because of our involvement;" he interupted. "We want compensation."
"No."
The admiral smirked. "No? What do you mean; 'no?'"
"As far as I'm concerned, Krimvald; the remains of it; should be paying off the compensation you need."
"Your wears, your weaponry, your ships, be it even your tactics, but the Hesian kingdom will undoubtfully outrival you with our magical prowess. So do not be so 'hard' to work with, naval captain."
The sailors raised their lugers now to the admiral's head, and the other sailors who were on standby readied their lugers as well. "Admiral. Let's not make things difficult for the two of us." Adelheid stepped nearer towards the admiral. "It as simple as you asking for compensation to the country who asked help in the first place. Not our country. We have no intentions to compensate you, your country."
"Captain." The admiral said in a gruff voice. "Since we have come to this..."
A swish of air rang out in dreadful ferocity, the sweat rolling off Adelheid's head at the very moment seemingly stopped, the sea's crashing waves slowed to a halt, and the sound forlorn. Looking at the Admiral in the world he was in; Adelheid's heart dropped.
A slash!
He dodged in the nick of time, but! Blood, a little wound.
The admiral leaped towards him! Without time to act, he reached for the luger on his pants.
*BOOM!
The sailors fired in succession. Standing there, lifeless yet ever-so fighting to stay alive. The admiral, with eyes wide-wide open, and blood pouring out from every crevice, from the bullet holes and his mouth.
He fell.
Adelheid took some seconds to gather himself.
"Captain, are you okay?" The quartermaster helped him get up.
Without hesitation, "Fire at the galleons."
( * )
From within the Atago's bridge, captain Jack stared at the battle happening on the seas. His mind on the brink of insanity not being able to participate in it. "Ah! Darn it all! Ye' fire at it!" He yelled, staring at the quartermaster.
"Aye, captain!" A ringing blerted all across the bow and stern, the sailors who were there at that moment ran away towards the middle deck.
Rotating at moderate pace then elevating at approximately thirty-or-so degrees, the five turrets primed her HE rounds, awaiting.
A click!
In mere miliseconds, the rounds came barreling down the turret ferociously leaving; a bang! A cloud of explosion covered the aft and forward decks, the sailors cowered as the deafening sound washed over them.
Hearts beated as they awaited the boom.
-1-
-2-
"Three!" Jack yelled out, from the horizon of battle, there arose multiple blasts of hell! The waves seemingly raised in it's dreadful presence, and the galleons the shells had hit were burning ferociously so.
Commanding, Adelheid steered the Leberect away from the battle. Shooting now with her Anti-Air guns instead. There were still some ships buoyant, alive, yet their canvas sails were being hit with the fire of the sinking galleons. Now it was a time unlike any other to think;
"Why did the admiral attack me?" Adelheid gripped the wheel harder. "What even was the reason!? No, there's some plan in this I'm not comprehending."
"Captain!" A bridgeman shouted, pointing to somewhere inside the dark smoke. "Movement! And fast!"
"They're using water magic!" Adelheid concluded, jumping his wheel a sharp right away the carnage, "I want those turrets shooting again!"
"Aye, captain!"
From the smoke Adelheid saw it part, a loud bang;
a cannon ball!
A hard bash on the ship's wooden deck, to the comment of one sailor; "Nothing bad captain, we shall reply with fire!"
Aligning with the ship's turning, the turrets turned, sighting in with the dark mass of smoke, there was about a kilometer's range of distance away, and the barrels elevated some ways up. Then, to the hymns of the wits of the sailors commanding the turret's turning and shooting, as well as the sailors of the bridge directing the measurements, the turrets shot once more a wonderous fusilade!
The dark smoke that laid there still had came multiplied, the carnage of fire spread from board to board, wood to plank and man to man. The clippers that escorted the galleons sailed well clear and were retreating towards where they came. But two galleons stil afloat amidst the chaos were fighting back.
A bang! Then once more; another bang! Of the twenty-or-so cannons of that side of the galleon and of the rampant firing of each and every ball, only so few had hit for the distance carried greater and greater.
"The leading ship of the pack survives," The quartermaster commented as his eyes had caught prey a galleon with it's guns shooting widely towards them, missing of course. "The Hesia, its upper portion's been eradicated, if I took a guess, the cannons they can use are all on the lower deck, our AA is enough to take it down, captain?"
"Prepare another shot, something the Hesians could write home about." Adelheid smiled, knowing full well of Operation Shadow's mission.
Aimed and loaded, the front turret took action, circling first before a more accurate shot could be placed, the galleon moved slow yet not alike any other galleon, wind magic and presumably water magic propelled it faster. The gun men had to shoot a couple of paces after the ship if they wanted the perfect shot.
*BAM!
In fantastic monstrosity, the Hesian Galleon exploded, it's crewmen being burnt to ashes with it. The remaining hull; stern and bow, sunk in two halves sinking toward it's middle. In mere seconds any evidence more than a barrel or cannonball was the ship's only remaining indentifiers, for it had sunk far now, to the depths of the sea.
Pockets of survivors surfaced clinging to the bits of pieces of wood the hull imparted that still floated. "There is one galleon left, captain." Said the quartermaster.
"Let Captain Jack handle that other galleon, we must go back to the port, assess the damage. And report."
"Aye, captain."
The leberect's horn blared, signalling that they were to retreat, leaving Atago to her own.
---
On the Atago's bridge, Jack was notified of the reason the Leberect left, as well as the
"Finally vie' can do things ou're way!" Jack exclaimed excitedly. "Tend to the guns men! The might'ye Atago'll be shown en but a minute!"
The clipper ships and the one galleon were retreating East, presumably to some port of the Hesian kingdom. But the wooden warships were too slow, the Atago; too fast. The galleon was far away, maybe about five to six kilometers away from the Atago, but her guns could reach her anyday.
There was a huge crash of sailors about, spouting all sorts of something and everything to keep the ship moving and the guns sighted towards the wooden warships, already shooting rounds.
The turret's pulley inserted the round into the barrel, and the turretmen rang an alarm all over the ship.
Rotating,
Rotating.
Climbing,
Climbing.
The turrets fired!
It took some seconds before the shot had hit the galleon far off. An officer of the bridge recorded a successful hit to the galleon's bow. "She should be sinking soon!"
"Indeed!" Captain Jack laughed. "But that clipper'we won't touch, sadly nuff' Says Adelheid they went back to port, but let us stay coast here. In case dem Hesians try us nuther' time!"
"Aye, captain!"
( * )
Looming over the dead body of the admiral, Hierd was just as confused as Adelheid as to why the man lended his life over as simple as that. "Clean his body and place in a coffin, or better yet, just hand it over to the church down at Unchean. Let's respect the tenacity of the then admiral."
"Yes, sir!" The sailors treaded over and by the count of three and a "Hup!" The admiral's body was carried away to a parked truck on the dock.
"Five galleons you said?" Hierd questioned to Adelheid. "Then... Two clippers? One lived one sunk?"
"Yes, lord, I assure you this wont impact heavily on our current advances in both kingdoms."
"Right." Hierd sighed. "It's been a day. As far as I've heard, our headquarters have been set up in Hesia, same time as Betelion's. You and your men," -Hierd looked at the two captains- "will train hard and efficiently until I have been radioed otherwise. Thank you, good bye."