In unison, the men in the landing boats rowed. The oars smacked the water, propelling the wooden sea chariots forward. Scrambling to form a defensive line the pirates who had not been killed or injured in the bombardment began to fire upon the invaders.
Not allowing themselves to be shot at unchallenged, Luxenberg soldiers began to return fire while on the landing boats. Reaching shallow enough water, the invading soldiers of Luxenberg disembarked and stormed the beach.
From the original 800 pirates who were happily partying on the island, only 400 remained to defend their sanctuary. Forming a defensive line through the rubble of their crude building the pirates began to lay down a suppressing fire.
Through the hail of bullets, Victor's soldiers had established a foothold on the beach. Gathering their full might they began to push towards the pirate's defensive line. Exchanging bullets, the sand began to turn red with the blood of both sides.
Figures amongst the pirates were barking orders at the rest. There was a certain pirate that Victor and the Grand Admiral could see who was the most valuable prisoner. A tall man with a peg leg was visible in the distance. His face was scarred and had hair that was long, messy and black as a raven. A perfect match to Salim's description.
Seizing the momentum, Luxenberg soldiers pressed their numerical advantage and began to push back the pirates. With each step, the soldiers drew ever closer to the scared pirates. Their numbers began to dwindle, with each casualty the likelihood of victory seemed to drift further out of reach.
There were now only 100 pirates left and they had pulled back a fair bit from their original defensive line. The soldiers were unrelenting in the slaughter of these mongrels. As Grand Admiral said in his speech, no quarter was to be given
Indiscriminately the soldiers killed pirates, no matter if they were injured or surrendering. Realising that Fish Hook Island would be their grave the pirates fought to the bitter last. However, when there were only 20 pirates left the soldiers halted their fire and encircled the remaining pirates.
Calmly Victor approached the front of his soldier's ranks, with an authoritative tone Victor called out to the pirates, "Pirate with the peg leg and scarred face step forward. If you do you can spare the lives of your men!"
For a moment an eerie silence captured the area. No one moved an inch, each side's eyes locked on the other. Just as Victor was about to order his men to open fire, a peg-legged man hobbled out of the pirate's ranks.
Standing face to face with Victor, the man lowered his head in defeat to Victor. Staying alert Victor scanned the pirate's body seeing if there were any hidden weapons that the man had concealed. After checking Victor asked, "You are the Pirate King correct?"
Looking up at Victor the man said in a raspy tone, "Aye, that is what they call me. No matter how ridiculous it sounds." Victor looked at him in contemplation. 'Was this really the man who terrorised our trade routes?' Regardless if it was truly him or not an example had to be made.
"For the crime of piracy, murder, theft, and other disgusting acts, I Victor Luxenberg, ruler of the Luxenberg Dukedom, hereby sentence you to die. Your men shall be spared execution as promised for your cooperation," Declared Victor
Accepting his fate the Pirate King dropped to his knees. He was willing to face death to save the lives of the remaining comrades he had. Although his fellow pirates protested they could not stop the Pirate King from making his decision.
With his pistol loaded Victor pointed the barrel at the Pirate King's temple and asked, "Do you have any final words?" The Pirate King's eyes met Victor's. With a neutral expression, he shook his head. He had come to terms with his death and merely waited for it to be delivered.
With a deep breath, Victor slowly squeezed the trigger. A loud bang sent the nearby birds flying away. The Pirate King's body fell instantly. A man who led the plundering of many merchant ships and ruined Hannover's commerce was now dead in the sand.
The sand slowly turned red, absorbing the dead pirate's blood. With their leader dealt with, the soldiers began to load the pirates aboard the ships and join them with their fellow prisoners.
With no living pirate on the island, the soldiers and crew began to search for anything valuable on the island and floating in the debris of sunken ships. Nothing significant was in the remains of Fish Hook Island. This was disappointing for Victor as he thought he might be able to get some gold or tradeable goods to put towards his people.
Nevertheless, dealing with the Pirate King and his fleet was a reward in itself. With nothing left to do the fleet began its 3-week journey back to Hannover. As they set off Victor gazed off into the distance. Fish Hook Island, the sanctuary of pirates was now desolate. The corpses of hundreds of pirates were now a bountiful feast for the crows.
During this journey, many soldiers and seamen died in this expedition. Whether it was at The Triplets or Fish Hook Island, men of the Luxenberg navy gave their lives to see the eradication of the pirate threat.
Victor had achieved what he set out to do, but there was a sense of accomplishment he had not felt since taking over the Dukedom. The Pirate King and fleet were an adversary that plagued the waters of the Dukedom's important trade routes. Duke Vipon Luxenberg was unable to deal with them, and yet his son Victor had just vanquished them.
This victory helped reaffirm Victor's belief that taking over the Dukedom was the right thing to do. Ever since Vipon's death, Victor had always wrestled with the idea that maybe overthrowing his father was a horrible decision, but now he was able to truly reflect on the progress he had made as Duke.
He eliminated the infamous Pirate King, trade was able to be restored in the region and thrived under the protection of Victor's fleet. The capital of Hannover was beginning to flourish and the citizens were content.
When Victor retired to his quarters a blue screen appeared.
'Main Quest Completed!: Defeat The Pirate King and His Fleet!'
'Rewards: 1x 100-Man Bodyguard Summon and 20,000 Store Points'
Happy to have completed this quest Victor wasted no time in using his 100-Man Bodyguard Summon. Adding more French Imperial Guard troops was good for building Victor's elite guard which was meant to be the most dangerous force within the Dukedom.
Thanks to his knowledge from his previous life, Victor had a vision of how he wanted his army and his Dukedom to be. With the system's help, achieving this vision was certainly plausible.
The 3-week voyage to Hannover was filled with less torrential weather and calmer waters. During the voyage back Victor was able to experience the joys of proper sailing. The wind blew through his hair while standing at the helm, the men were signing shanties and the days went by quickly.
After almost 3 months at sea, the fleet had now returned to the port city of Hannover. Gladdened by their return home many of the soldiers rejoiced at the sight of the city. Victor took a moment to take in the scenery of his capital. Happy to be back Victor spoke to himself.
"It is good to be back home."