Chapter 3 - The West Blue Marksman Division
The crew was jolted awake by the sudden sounds of cannon fire and explosions in the water. Sometime while the three members of the Star Pirates were asleep a single Navy ship broke out of the current storm surrounding Winoah and had been slowly gaining ground on the Pirates' ship. Navy ships were much faster and better designed than the dingy of a ship the crew was currently occupying. It did not take long to make up the distance between the two ships.
All three crew members jumped from their bunks and rushed out on deck to see exactly what had woken them up. They were greeted by water spray caused by cannonballs hitting only yards from their ship.
"Damn it were not prepared for this kind of battle. I was hoping we'd be able to put enough sea between us and the Navy to reach the next island" Mason growled rubbing both of his temples.
"No use complaining, they're here now and we have to deal with them" The captain continued.
"How do you plan on doing that" Maggie questioned, "We have no way of sinking a ship that size especially with only three people."
"We don't have to sink it" Lucas entered. "We just have to immobilize them. You're right there's no way to take them on but if we can stop them from chasing after us we won't need to."
"I agree Lucas and the best way to do that is by taking out their main mast" Mason said. "I have a plan but first things first we need to stop those cannons. If we start taking hits from those cannons it won't matter what we do to stop them."
"Maggie you seem to be pretty proficient with a gun, how good of a sharpshooter are you exactly" Mason asked.
"I was the best marksman on Winoah" Maggie answered.
"Well I hope you're right, here take this rifle. I need you to stop those cannons and that means taking out the guys firing them" Mason ordered.
"Right now we can't afford to get hit which also means we can't afford to play nice. This isn't like is was back at the Navy base, you're a pirate now, I need you to shoot to kill."
"Leave it to me captain" Maggie replied. She knew times were different, there were no rubber bullets in that rifle.
"Lucas go below deck and grab a cannonball, we need to take out that main mast and these marines dead in the water." Mason was starting to sound like a real captain for once.
Maggie took a pause from her task, "How do you intended to fire that thing? Last I checked there isn't a single cannon aboard this ship, why do we even have cannonballs?"
"The cannonballs were another gift from the ships previous owners and don't you worry about that you just need to focus on those cannons" Mason assured.
One by one the cannon operators fell. Maggie really was the best marksman on the island, picking off navy soldiers from incredible distances. With every shot the cannons became quieter and less frequent. She was buying her crew mates the time they so desperately needed.
Lucas resurfaced from the lower deck hauling two small cannonballs. He placed both on deck waiting for orders from his brother.
"Alright Lucas are you ready to take this thing down?" Mason questioned rhetorically. "These are the gunpowder filled one's right?"
"Yeah they are what do you have planned Mason" Lucas wondered.
"Well now is as good a time as any to give the Navy a taste of what we can do together with our powers." With a huge smile on his face Mason continued, "I need you to do your thing with these cannonballs. Hitting the mast won't be enough we need to do real damage to it to take it down."
"I think I like where this is going" Lucas responded and with nothing more than a touch the bomb had been set. At any time Lucas could activate this trap and blow the cannonball up with great force.
Lucas handed the now primed bomb to Mason or seemed to handle the heavy cast iron ball with great ease. Mason had created a dense air pocket of air between his hand and the ball allowing him to lift the ball with minimal effort.
Mason lifted the cannonball up to his shoulder in a sort of shot put stance ready to hurl it towards the Navy boat. With a quick thrust of his arm and a focused release of the air pocket he had created Mason hurled the ball with similar power to that of an actual cannon.
Because of the way he released the ball it has a tremendous more amount of spin than a normal cannon shot allowing it to fly farther, straighter and with considerable more energy behind it. Using air currents he veered the ball slightly to the left to make up for his less than perfect aim. Because of the balls sheer momentum he could only make slight variations in its trajectory but that's all it needed.
"Alright Lucas as soon as it makes contact with the mast I need you to set that thing off and blow their mast away, once that is done it should be easy sailing away from them" Mason said while watching his plan take effect.
By this point most of the cannons had stopped firing and Maggie had run out of ammo in the single rifle but their shipped remained unscathed and their plan was in midflight.
The cannonball launched by the Star Pirates struck the Navy ship's main mast at the back end. As soon as the wood started to splinter from the massive force behind the cast iron ball Lucas clenched his first and detonated his bomb. With tremendous force the cannonball exploded while still digging though the mast sending small wooden splinters flying across the ship. The mast broke in two at that point and toppled forward onto another smaller mast taking it with it.
The navy ship was now as good as stopped on the water. The remaining sails on the ship would hardly be able to move the massive ship, they would have to wait to be rescued by another boat being this far out at sea.
"Well I grabbed two cannonballs expecting to need both but that worked a lot better than I ever imagined it would" Lucas said pleased with himself and his abilities.
"I will admit I didn't think that would actually work" Mason said with a laugh that meant he wasn't joking. "Now it's time we put some distance between us those remaining cannons"
Maggie and Lucas quickly secured the sails while Mason, eager to keep using his powers sent a huge gale of wind into the back of their sails propelling their ship forward at a respectable pace.
With the threat out of range and their destination reaching ever nearer the crew took a moment to breathe and relax.
"Maggie that was incredible! How did you learn to shoot like that, the other ship had to have been over 100 meters away that's insane" Lucas complimented.
"I told you guys I was the best marksman on Winoah. It's probably all I ever did back home when I was growing up. Much like yours and Mason's competitions back at your parent's café I also grew up in competition with my best friend" Maggie responded.
"His name was Mott, both of our parents were in the Navy, all different branches. I stayed with my Nan and Mott with his grand-parents whom you met Chuck and Sharry, the bar owners."
"There were few other kids on the island so we were easy best friends. We played all kinds of games at first but it eventually evolved into skipping stones and throwing rocks. Who could skip it the most times or who could throw it the farthest, innocent little games."
"When we got bored of simply skipping them and throwing them we decided to give it an objective, who could hit the can. When we got real good at that we'd move the can farther then farther again. We'd keep moving the can back and forth until it became stale and we needed something knew."
"Chuck noticed our little competitions and he got together with my Nan and they bought us both a couple of slingshots. We went through the same process with those as we did the stones. Moving targets and now we even put other obstacles around them to make the shot harder."
"We out grew those kids toys quickly, honestly slingshots are not meant for real combat, we needed something a bit stronger. Both Mott and I saved up our money and went into town to buy us each a trainer bow and arrow set."
"At first it started like the others, just simply range an accuracy but with the bows we added new elements. We started shooting while moving or hitting moving targets. The best of all was hitting swinging targets while moving but sure enough we both mastered it neither one of us getting ahead of the other."
"We tested our new skills on small game and started hunting in the woods to the north of town. Nothing impressive but just another way for us to improve out skills."
"After we had both turned fifteen Chuck wanted to see just how far we could take our skills. He went out and bought us both these nice rifles so we could enter the real world of marksmanship. However this is when Mott and I started to notice a difference in skill."
"It was a lot easier for me to grasp the concept behind guns than it was for Mott. It took him several day longer than me to complete our standard target practice and even longer when we moved to harder tests like the moving targets, I really don't know what happened with him."
"He was obviously frustrated about it too but he tried not to show. Up until now we had been neck and neck but now it was easy to see which one of us was excelling as a marksman. Don't get me wrong he was still an outstanding sharpshooter, easily the second best on the island."
"Now we reach the part where the marines come into play. There is a special division of marines in the West Blue known as the Marksman Division. It was exactly what it sounds like, a special branch of the marines focused on people who were incredibly skilled in the use of ranged weapons."
"Mott and I made it our goals early on to both become good enough to join the Marine's Marksman Division and at the rate we were advancing that wouldn't be an issue."
"Every year they held tryouts on many of the nearly islands. Because of our Navy Base Winoah always held one of these tryouts. If you placed at the top you were likely to be accepted into the Navy under the Marksman Division."
"Both Mott and I decided to enter one of the tryouts when we were both 18 years old that way we were both sure to make it."
"It consisted of two parts a physical examination which was just a standard marine obstacle course consisting of crawls, runs and climbs."
"The second part was the actual marksman portion. You had to run a course with both a rifle and pistol. During the course you had to use each at their own specific time. You were tested on two criteria during this part: your aim which was determined by how many shots it took you too complete the course and where those shots landed on the targets, and speed, how long it took you to complete the course.
"There was also a mandatory reload time on the rifle to test your reload speed. It had to be quick in order to keep your time score high."
"With skills like yours and Mott's I assume you both did very well on all of those tests" Lucas chimed.
"You're right we did but everything that came after the tryouts is a bit difficult to explain" Maggie admitted.
"Come on Maggie I don't know why you're worrying so much, you did better than most of the guys on the physical test and you were easily the best shot" Mott assured her. "You got the best time out of anybody and you nearly got a perfect score on the targets."
"I know Mott but I'm always nervous but I guess you're right" Maggie replied. "You did incredibly well too, your reload time was insane I don't know how I beat you in time overall."
"We're both going to make it into the Marksman Division I can't believe it, the results should be posted in just a few minutes" Mott said bit a huge smile on his face.
"Hey when we are both in the Marines maybe we'll be able to see our parents a little more often than the bimonthly visits" Maggie noted excitedly.
"Haha wouldn't that be a real treat but remembered we're joining the marines for us and not for them"
"Don't worry Mott I didn't forget."
A Marine Soldier walked by and pasted a piece of paper to a nearby billboard, the results from that day's tryouts. Maggie and Mott walked over behind him to get a first glance and the final standings but the results were more than surprising to say the least.
At the top of this list was Mott's name followed by a few other locals. Maggie ran her finger down the page to find hers sitting at the number seven spot. Surely there had been some kind of mistake with the scores, she should have been top three at the very least.
"We have to find whoever is in charge, there is no way these results are correct" Mott exclaimed. "There's no way you should be below and especially not 6 spots below me. Not to mention the fact that you were so much better than all of these guys ahead of you. I mean for god's sake he hardly even made it over the rope wall"
"I'm sure it was an honest mistake Mott, no need to get so worked up, we just need to find the officer in charge and get this sorted out" Maggie said with a little worry in her voice.
"You, soldier, where is the officer in charge of this year's tryouts, there is is a mistake on these results and we need to straighten some things out" Mott asked as calmly as he could.
The soldier pointed them to an officers tent just around the corner but assured them there were no mistakes on the listing. The nameplate on the tent read "Officer Dixon."
"Sir! We need to have a talk!" Mott barged in with his voice raised. Neither are good when approaching a Marine Officer.
"Oh Mott! It's good to see you, your performance today was outstanding. It has been a while since we've seen such a promising recruit congratulations on top spot."
"That's exactly what we need to talk about. I didn't deserve that top spot and you know it. Maggie was obviously the best candidate at the tryouts today, better than me and everyone else you placed above her. There must be some kind of mistake when you were evaluating scores"
"Oh I promise Mott there were no mistakes you certainly were the most deserving of the top spot. In fact I think everyone was completely deserving of where we placed them. Including Ms. Maggie."
"Were you even watching her performance? She passed the physical with ease and scores highest in both criteria of the marksman…" but Officer Dixon cut Mott off short.
"Let me tell you something boy. I take pride in the Marine's Marksman Division. I have been a leading officer here since its founding. The West Blue Marksman Division has always been and will always be comprised of the West Blue's best male marksman."
"No female has ever joined out ranks and as long as I am leading these tryouts none ever will. Ms. Maggie you are a fine sharpshooter but you have no place on the battlefield with the other marksman. However with your kind of talent I'm sure the Navy's Marine division would be happy to take you in as a recruit. I'll even put in a good word for you" Dixon said with a smirk.
"I came here to join your division and I am not going to settle for anything less. If I'm not good enough to join the West Blue's Marksman Division because I'm a girl then so be it but know this, I will be a better sharpshooter than anyone in the Navy and you're the reason I will never join" Maggie said turning around to leave the tent.
"Please Maggie wait" Mott yelled from behind her, he chased her out of the tent. "Just listen. Clearly these guys are idiots but maybe you should take him up on his offer. If you join as a marine then maybe you can work your way up and transfer with the recommendation of someone higher than Dixon then he would be forced to accept."
"Hell no! I would never accept a favor from someone like him and I will not join the marines. We had a promise, we would join the Marksman Division and we'd settle for nothing less. I don't plan on breaking that promise, I will not settle for less."
"Please just reconsider Maggie. I don't want to be in the division without you. We've always been together and trained together."
"You don't have to be there without me, you don't have to be there at all. I actually can't believe you are still considering joining that ass" Maggie shouted.
"Well yeah I do still plan on joining" Mott said. "This has been our dream and now I have a chance to fulfill. I can't let something like this hold me back from that."
"Unbelievable. You're no better than they are. In fact it sounds like you're going to fit right in. I hope you make plenty of friends in the division because you won't have any left here waiting for you."
"And that was the last time Mott and I talked. The Marksman Division makes regular visits to Winoah, weekly even. Even so over this past year we never talked after that day. He joined the Navy and I didn't and that's all that mattered."
"But no you're a pirate" Mason broke in. "You sail under a pirate flag and oppose the same Navy who turned you down. I wonder what Mott with think when he finds out."
"Oh I'm sure he already knows" Maggie responded. "I'm pretty sure he is the one who sold me out to the Navy as being the person who helped you escape. He knew immediately that some unknown person handy with guns and helping screw over the Navy would have been me."
"Well I guess that settles that, but I wonder if you won't still have remorse if we ever met him on the battlefield" Mason noted.
"I guess we can't know until it happens but as of right now I am loyal to this crew and this boat and no one else" Maggie replied.
"Hmm well if story time is over we need to start prepping the ship. We make landfall in tomorrow but we still have quite a ways to go" Lucas chimed in. "I think it's obvious here that Maggie is on our side and even more obvious that she's one dangerous person with a gun."
"I agree with Lucas, you are a welcomed addition to the crew Maggie and hopefully you can show those Marksman Division asses just how much better than them you are."
"Thank you guys. This means more than you know but I've never been one for sappy stories so let's get back to our goal at hand which is the next island" Maggie thanked the two pirates. "Tomorrow we land in Lannery Cape."
Author's notes: More backstory. Next update may not come for a few more days hopefully not too long. As always comments and ideas are always welcome!