Disclaimer: The author does not claim the rights to the story theme or any of the characters created by Pirates of the Caribbean's designers. Only new characters and the new plotline belong to him.

Chapter I:

The stench of stale ale, unwashed men, and the barmaids' cheap perfume filled the air of the Greenford tavern that Mitchell Allenton, captain of the Andromeda, sat in. He sipped from his mug of ale as his first mate and brother, James Allenton joined him from the bar with a mug of mulled wine; as his brother weaved his way to the table that he and his brother were sitting at he returned the smile from a pretty barmaid and gave her a slap on the rear that made her squeak as she hurried off to give other sailors their drinks.

His brother sat down with an amused smile on his face as he took a sip from his wine, then set the mug down with a light thud he sat his mug down and wiped a drop of wine from the edge of his brown goatee, "Well Captain, it looks as if the rumors of the French attack on Oxbay are true if the innkeeper has his story straight. I guess that means that our little venture to the other side of the island will have to be postponed until the English get their little act in gear and kick the French back where they belong."

Mitchell nodded slowly as he let his gaze scan over the tavern's occupants to see if anyone was paying too much attention to them, a habit any self-respecting captain took to doing if he planned to live long. After taking another gulp of his ale he answered his brother, "So it does James, but the cargo we were planning to take to Oxbay will still fetch a good price in Douwesen, provided we still pick up some cinnamon from Daryl at the Greenford Store."

James raised a quizzical eye, "So you are not even concerned about the French attack on Oxbay? Or how that is could affect our trade routes if the British and French go to war over these little specks of land?"

Mitchell groaned slightly, he already knew where is brother was going with this.

James continued, "Mitch, we should sail to Redmond to make sure that the governor knows about the attack and try to help them recover Oxbay."

Mitchell groaned again, "On come on James, do you really expect the British to hire the likes of us? Besides, once you let the British Empire get her hooks in you, you can never get loss again. I don't know about you but I don't want to get dragged into a colonial power struggle with us caught in the middle to be smashed."

Mitchell's younger brother frowned, "But Mitch, think about Nathaniel, you know that starting captain we met as we were leaving Redmond a week or so ago, he had escaped the French attack and now was in the service of the Governor to try and take back Oxbay, but did you see how much he had been paid just for spying out the settlement. I heard from the innkeeper in Redmond that he got 3,000 gold pieces just for that, plus his next assignment calls for him to take a French ammunitions bargue, and the British don't care if he captures the ammunition and supplies for himself." James gave his brother a startled looked, "Come on Mitch, when have you ever heard of the British not taking over a ship that they have captured? The only way they would do such a thing is if they were really desperate to keep ship captains coming to them, they know word like that gets around and they want men like us to come to them looking for work."

Mitchell sighed again and took a long pull from his mug, finishing the rest of his ale, "Do you really think that the British are in that much trouble James?"

James nodded vigorously, "I know it, they have been using the resources and ships hunting down pirates for the last seven months, they are strapped for cash and at a loss for ships with which to patrol their waters from other countries like France." James took another sipped from his wine as his older brother thought that through.

Mitchell weighted the possibilities in his mind as he scanned the tavern again, if they went to Redmond and asked for work from the British he knew they would get more than they bargained for, but his brother did have a point about the trade route going to hell with if a war erupted in the Caribbean. If the French were dealt a stiff blow quickly, before they became settled in Oxbay, they most likely would just return to Falaise de Fleur and lick their wounds till another opportunity came to strike again, but peace would still be maintained and with trade being unaffected.

Finally with an exasperated sigh Mitchell nodded, "Alright James you win, next stop Redmond. I sure hope you're right."

James flashed Mitchell a smile, "Don't worry Mitch, this time next month we'll be out of the Crown's service and we'll sail a little lower form all the gold we've been paid with by Her Majesty's Royal Navy." With a satisfied grin James finished his wine and stood up from the table, only to dive back down along side his brother as a high pitched whistling announced an incoming cannonball.

The solid steel projectile blew through the front door of the tavern and blew through the bouncer who had been guarding the door. The cannonball flew through the tavern before getting stopped by the tavern's back wall, with the help of a barmaid; the same one James had given a slap to the rear.

Dead silence hung over the tavern as everyone tried to comprehend what had just happened. While everyone was still stunned into a silence stupor Mitchell slapped James on the shoulder, "Come on James let's get out of here."

His younger brother nodded and the two of them ran through the hole that had been the tavern's front door and into the dark of night as another cannonball whistled overhead and slammed into the bell tower of the church. With a deep crumbling sound the building fell in on itself as more shots began falling on the settlement all around.

Mitchell grabbed his brother by his shirt and dragged him toward the harbor, "Come on James, we've got to get to the Andromeda." Together the two brothers ran down the street toward the harbor, both of them watching the cannon flashes as the mystery attackers continued to pound Greenford.

Mitchell spotted the ship's silhouette against the burning fire of the Greenford Fort as fire from at least one more ship fell on the fort's stone walls. As they ran up to the town's wall the town bell, another one other than the church bell, began ringing as a group of British soldiers ran through the town gates.

Mitchell and James ran up to them as another pair of British soldiers closed the gate behind the rest. Both of them leveled their rifles on Mitchell and James as they approached, "Halt! Hold it right there sailors, if you haven't noticed the town is under attack, no one is allowed to leave the town until the Major says so."

Mitchell growled, "We are trying to get to our ship, the Andromeda, if you let us out we will be able to help you fight whoever is attacking."

The soldier who had spoken the first time replied, "Sorry captain, but we've got our orders, no one leaves the town without the Major's permission."

James nodded and spoke up, "We understand your situation, but your Major doesn't know that we are part of Her Majesty's Navy, we have just been called to Redmond on important orders from the Governor, if we are late he will be very upset with whoever has detained us."

The two British soldiers looked at each other then the one who had yet to speak, "If you were hired by the Governor, then you should have no problem producing the agreement that you signed with him."

If he could have Mitchell would have swore, Nice going James, how do you plan to get out of this?

James simply crossed his arms and frowned, "Where do you think they are? We wouldn't carry those around with us; they are too valuable, after all they are how we get paid, they are on our ship." James let his expressions become annoyed, "Now if you two are done holding up sailors of Her Majesty's Navy I would suggest that you open the gates and let us through."

Both soldiers glanced at each other again, before they pushed the gates open just enough for Mitchell and James to squeeze out one at a time; they quickly shut the after the two sailors were out.

As soon as the gates were closed Mitchell lead his brother under the eaves of a nearby building where he gave his younger brother an mixture of an amused and annoyed look before they ran down the dock again to where their small rowboat was still waiting. As they ran up they saw two of their other sailors who had stayed ashore for the night climbing into the boat as well. When Mitchell and James jumped in the sailors, both veterans but still only seamen, nearly flipped the boat as they tried to salute; Mitchell waved them down, "Never mind that sailors, we need to get to the Andromeda now, so put your backs into it." Suiting actions for words Mitchell and James sat down beside the sailors and helped row the little boat to their ship, a sleek, fast, and deadly Corvette.

When they reached the side the sailors on board quickly hauled them on deck. Once they were on deck James bellowed, "Make ready to sail on the double! If you don't move fast enough we're going to be decorating the bottom of the ocean tonight!" As if to underscore the First Mate's words a cannonball landed in the water ten feet off her stern; though it was most likely shot that had fallen short then one aimed at the Andromeda.

With a speed that only came when men's lives were in danger the Corvette had her sails and anchors raised and she quickly began heading for open waters.

Mitchell, standing beside the seaman who was holding the Corvette's wheel watched the silhouetted shapes of the attacking ships for any sign that they had noticed them as they tried to sneak out of Greenford unnoticed.

Suddenly any hope of sneaking out was lost as four cannonballs landed in the water around Andromeda sending up giant fountains of water. There was a short pause as if the ship that had fired the cannonballs was waiting to see if they would respond, then an entire salvo of cannon fire rained down around the Corvette; luckily they all fell short, one advantage of being attacked at night.

Beside him James grunted, "Should we return fire Mitch?"

Mitchell quickly shook his head, "If we fire we'll give away our position when they see our cannon flashes; no we only return fire if they know where we are and start getting too close."

James nodded slowly, "How close is too close, Captain?"

Mitchell frowned deeply, "We'll just have to see."

James was visibly nervous as the next volley was fired at them, their sound echoing over the ocean moments before they splashed down around the Corvette, the fountains of water sent up by the cannonballs splashed up on deck soaking a few sailors too close to the side.

Slowly Mitchell gulped as his brother finally spoke up, "Mitch isn't that close enough for you? If they get any closer they are going to ventilate the deck."

Reluctantly Mitchell nodded, "Very well, we may return fire." As his brother ran down to the gun deck he spoke to the helmsman, "Keep us aiming for Greenford's big island to the south as long as we can get behind it then we shouldn't have problem escaping."

Mitchell sighed as he pulled his steel eyeglass from his pack and looked over the ocean to the mystery ship that was attacking them. The ship's silhouette suddenly jumped into view as he looked over the water. From the outline that he saw Mitchell guessed that the ship firing at him was a Frigate sized ship, but he couldn't make out the name or the flag on it.

Mitchell glanced down on the deck just as the first salvo from his ship's port cannons fired; the thunderous roar echoed across the Greenford Bay throwing, a warning before death rained down at the salvo's destination.

Mitchell lifted his eyeglass to his eyes just as the salvo fell on the frigate, by his guess about half the volley hit its target, tearing holes in the ship's sails and snapped a small forward mast in two.

Mitchell smiled and yelled to his crew, "Hit! Load another round and fire!"

With his encouragement his crew poured all their effort into loading and firing the cannons, within minutes another volley was on its way to the frigate. This time the volley might as well have been guided by the hand of God, for it hit just above the water line of the ship; massive fountains of water roared from the frigate's side as air escaped and more water rushed in to fill the space.

Satisfied Mitchell put his eyeglass away and smiled as he called to the crew, "That bastard's going down fast, we gave her a good poke in the belly! Make fast the cannons and let's get out of here!"

James returned to the command deck with a smile on his face that Mitchell could see even though it was dark, "Well we couldn't have asked for better luck with that."

Mitchell nodded, "It is a little surprising that things went so well, but I'm not complaining a bit; that frigate must have been damage from fighting the Greenford Fort, otherwise it would have been able to move far enough to dodge our second salvo, but like I said I don't complain because the fight was easy." He gave his brother a smile, "If only they were all that easy."

James chuckled, "If they were there wouldn't be a single honest sailor left they'd all be pirates by now."

Mitchell rolled his eyes and gave his brother a playful punch in the shoulder, "Sure James, well why don't you go down to the charts and figure out our best route to Redmond?"

James nodded and saluted, "Aye, aye Captain."

Mitchell watched as his younger brother disappeared below the deck to the chart room, before he looked back to where Greenford and its Fort were burning from the attackers. Maybe what James had said was only a joke, but it did seem as if the number of pirates prowling the waters around the Caribbean these days was increasing. It was sure to make things more exciting in the coming months; Mitchell only wondered how exciting it would be.

Author's Note: Well this is my first attempt at a POTC themed story, so please tell me what you think and review. I'll try to get another chapter done fairly soon, but if I get some positive reviews who knows?