Sailors Island quickly became a dot on the horizon and all that was visible was its lighthouse, a shining beacon on the night sky. Gonzales and Pedro passed the time by doing makeshift repairs to their rickety old ship. It consisted of two decks*, above and below deck. They took it in turns to sail and clean, Gonzales usually repaired the bridge and main deck, and Pedro did the storage area (below deck). That night they slept in hammocks on the bridge (it being the only part of the ship without any holes in). Their ship sailed slowly in autopilot (a broom**) towards Nasr's South Dannel Straight. The gentle hum of the engine acted as a lullaby for the two friends and for sailors all over the world. The week after the pair had left Sailor's Island had been uneventful***. However this was about to change.
In the clouds just ahead one night a silent ship waited. It was a small ship coloured unusually for a ship, all greys and whites to make it harder to see against a cloudy sky. From the top of its mast came a whistle, low pitched and long, when it stopped another whistle came from lower down. This exchange continued for a few minutes, until a black flag with a skull and crossbones motif on it was hoisted and the ships engines glowed into life. Awoken from its slumber it moved slowly towards the boundaries of the cloud it was hiding in, and waited.
Against the gentle hum of an engine these whistles usually go unnoticed… Usually.
Gonzales was awoken by what seemed to be a series of high pitched whistles. He sat up quietly and tuned his ears to the new sounds.
"Pedro… HEY PEDRO"
"Hnh, what"
"Can you hear that?"
"Hear what"
"That whistling."
"Probably just a bunch of Sky Sardis"
"No it sounds more, structured that a bunch of fish. Sounds like there are only two of them too."
"It's Probably nothing"
BOOM… Crash. The mystery ship started firing.
"Nice going cannonball breath" said Gonzales as he picked himself up from the floor.
"Just shut up and man the cannon. I'll start the evasive manoeuvres" replied Pedro
The small boat turned sharply to port****, the wooden sides creaked and split, under a strain that it was not intended to be under when it was new. Gonzales ran to the ships prow main (and only) cannon and fired a shot at where the attacking vessel. As the moon glinted off the cannon, Gonzales saw the flag.
"HEY PEDRO WE'VE GOT BLACK PIRATES HERE" he shouted.
"I'LL SEE IF I CAN GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO SEE WHO WE'RE UP AGAINST"
Gonzales felt the ship turn towards their mystery attackers. Then he saw the nameplate. "The Phantom Fighter" he read
"Oh no." Gonzales looked over at Pedro. His friend's forlorn face told him that he had seen it too. Their boat turned sharply to starboard under a hail of shells. Most missed completely, others caused minor damage, one however exploded right above the bridge tearing off its canopy. Pedro's face could no longer be seen in the window and the unstableness of the ship told him that no-one was in control any more. Another shell exploded off the prow. Shrapnel tore across Gonzales' face, he felt blood trickle down his cheek. Then when hope was all but spent.
"Bugger'em" Gonzales felt a fire rise up from within him, growing and expanding. He instinctively looked towards the rising red moon and felt himself lose all self-control.
"MOONS GIVE ME STRENGTH" The loaded cannon ball glowed white with the fires of pyres. Gonzales grinned like a monkey with the keys to a banana plantation. He aimed at the enemy's hull, and fired. The ball flew straight and true. Had there been a third ship, and observer, it would have looked much like a shooting star. It hit the Phantom Fighters stern and exploded. A flash of blinding white light blinded Gonzales momentarily. Much of that section turned to ash instantly; with its engines gone the ship began to fall towards Deep Ocean. A lifeboat could just be seen escaping from the plummeting ships hull, but was ignored by Gonzales. The phantom crashed on a small rock just above the lower sky. Gonzales rushed towards the burning remains of the bridge and to his friend's aid. A shadow crawled out of the remains of the phantom and swore revenge against his lost foe.
* A Sailors term for a level on a ship
** To stop the wheel from moving
*** I am aware that this journey could be made in two minutes on the game but lets be realistic here, please.
**** Prow = Front. Starboard = Right, Stern = Back, Port = Left