19. Punishment fitting the crime
Restae Kitla was in a bad mood. She had been sailing for half a week and had seen no sign of Ovis or his retribution, she was nervous, her fleet had been on operation to the north and was the closest of all the traitors, if any fleet was going to be attacked first it would be hers but she was sure it would be weeks before any ship sailed from Kasain so she should be safe. The real problem would be convincing her commodores and captains to join her, they were loyal but if they found out Ovis was alive they would join him in a heartbeat.
Kitla sat on the bridge of her flagship, the Golden bounty, grinding her teeth and scanning the horizon for the smallest silhouette, they should be only a few hours out from where she had ordered her ships to muster, the bridge was quite until the radar officer spoke up.
"Multiple signatures, a lot of them" he watched the screen, "We found them, adjust course 3 degrees west"
Kitla turned to the communications officer as they tuned the radio until they finally got the frequency, "I've made contact with Commodore Weslon, he's gathered the other Commodores and they're waiting for you on his ship"
"Good tell them we'll be with them in a few hours" Kitla let out a sigh of relief, "Since we know where they are, increase speed I want this over with as quickly as possible"
The mass of ships anchored in the middle of the ocean soon became clear on the horizon and in less than 3 hours Kitla was pulling her battleship along side the battleship of Commodore Weslon. A bridge connected the two ships as the rest of Kitla's battle fleet positioned themselves to attack if the order was given. Kitla stood on the deck as 15 or so men and women filed across the bridge to her ship, Weslon stepped out of the crowd and greeted her.
"Admiral" the man towered over her as he shook her hand and slightly bowed his head, "How was the funeral?"
Kitla had been preparing a story for days in order for her to be able to take complete control, "It was going well until we were attacked"
They all looked concerned, "What happened?" Weslon asked
"They came out of nowhere, Evis' ships, they caught us by surprise and sunk many of ours, I watched the Krake's wrath blow its own armour off and sink with Atris and Asla aboard as well as their sons"
"So they're all dead" Weslon put his head in his hands
"Yes, I barely escaped unscathed, luckily I chose to leave you lot here" Kitla forced out a tear or two, "I'm not sure who else survived but maybe we could link up and strike Evis"
"This story is unbelievable"
"I know but I was there"
"It's unbelievable, especially since Ovis told us a different story two days ago" Weslon and the other officers pulled out their pistols and pointed them at Kitla as armed men rushed across the bridge and swarmed across her ship's deck.
Kitla looked behind Weslon to see the massive form of Ovis walking across the bridge with a big smile spread across his face.
"Kitla! I missed you at my father's funeral" he sauntered up to her as men rounded her crew up and seized her ship, she heard the sound of cannons as the rest of her ships were fired on
"How did you get here before me?" Kitla held up her hands, "I was sure your ships wouldn't be able get here before me"
"You were right, my ships are a few days away but I swam here only took me a day to find your ships and lay this trap"
One of the men tied her arms behind her back and led her across the bridge on to Weslon's ship, she was thrown down on to the deck, her bridge crew and other senior crew were thrown down next to her as well as the captains of all the ships in her battle fleet and their bridge crews. The ships she once controlled sailed south and met up with Ovis' ships, the massive armada sailed until an island appeared on the horizon and all the prisoners realised what their fate was. Kitla was silent as the other prisoners kicked up a fuss but it didn't change anything, as soon as the ship docked, they were all tied together and marched off the ship. The train of almost 100 prisoners was marched through a small settlement on the island and in to the thick brush, out of sight of anyone, Kitla was tied to trees as all the other prisoners were given shovels and forced to dig. Some begged and cried, they pled with Ovis and tried to convince him they were innocent or were forced to go along with the conspiracy but Ovis just ignored them all.
"Why aren't I digging?" Kitla asked as she watched her men dig their graves
Ovis sat next to the tree she was tied to, "This isn't for you, I have something special for you and your friends"
After hours of digging the prisoners had dug a hole deep and wide enough, they were lined up in front of it and a firing squad was lined up in front of them, Kitla watched as the pleading men and women were gunned down right in to the mass grave they dug, it was quickly filled in and Kitla was untied from the tree.
"As long as I'm alive I could escape and I will, no cell can hold me"
Ovis turned to look at her with a sinister grin on his face, "We're not gonna keep you in a cell" Kitla didn't even see his fist before her world went dark
She was awoken by salt water splashing her face, her face hurt and she felt that her arms were chained above her head, she also felt chains on her ankles and something locked tight around her waist. Kitla opened her eyes as more salt water sprayed in to her face, she could only see the endless ocean. A chain ran from her wrists up to the deck of the Krake's wrath and from her ankles down to its keel and a steel bracket secured her to the ship's hull, she looked to her side and saw 4 other brackets lined up for her fellow conspirators and she was sure there was an equal number on the other side of the ship. Ovis would not kill them until they were all captured and he would be sure that they all saw him destroy them.
The traitors were all back on the Bloody blade, their fleets anchored far outside Asla's territory, they all sat in anxious silence, some of them had managed to win their entire fleet to their side most had to sink a good portion of their ships or the loyalists had already got to their ships and some or all returned to Asla's hands.
"Where the hell is Kitla?" Kammes questioned as they waited
"She's probably been caught by Ovis" Lotre smirked, "He probably already has her head on a spike"
"Until we get what we were promised we're still comrades, so you shouldn't talk about her like that"
"Who fucking cares about Kitla, I want Evis to be here now" Harka was in a worse mood than usual, half his ships had turned against him and a good portion of the ships loyal to him had been sunk, "As soon as I get what that bastard promised I'm hunting that spineless coward Dastre and putting his head on my bow"
"Oh look Harka is angry again" Retson's sarcastic tone was clear, "Do you have any other emotions, Kismet how long until Evis is here?"
"This was the time and place he wanted to meet so it should be soon"
Barely a minute passed before a runner entered the room they had convened in and informed them of a fleet approaching and Evis having made contact. The traitorous admirals went up to the ship's deck and watched as a massive battleship pulled up alongside, mutilated bodies hung from chains off the ship and its guns and its hull was dotted with the twisted steel plates of sunk ships. A bridge connected the two ships and Evis the breaker walked across.
Evis was known to be maliciously cunning and ruthless in battle, his ships roamed far and wide across Krake and none could challenge him. His appearance lived up to his reputation, he was close to 7 feet tall and layered in muscle, a scar ran down the left side of his face and a fake eye made from obsidian and ruby sat in the empty socket. He wore a long dark coat with a necklace of stringed teeth around his neck and a matching tricorn hat on his head decorated with a plume of colourful feathers, his long black hair was cornrowed and decorated with shells and polished sea stones and his beard was similarly braided with gold thread incorporated in to it.
"I'm surprised you actually showed up" Evis had a deep voice that rattled the bones of those around him, "You only killed one of the 4 you were meant to"
"There were complications" Harka stepped up to Evis, "My men did their part and killed Atris, now I want the ships you promised we would get"
"I wanted them all dead and most of all I wanted Ovis dead" Evis towered over Harka, "But since you did do something, you'll all get 15 ships each"
The traitors took offence, "You promised us 60 ships and enough gold to buy 60 more, each!" Harka grabbed the sword at his hip
"That was for 4 dead, you only killed one and you got my son killed in the process"
Kismet stepped forward and stayed Harka's hand, "Your son got himself killed, he challenged Ovis, and its true we didn't kill everyone we were supposed to but how about a trade for the remainder of the ships?"
"What do you have to offer me, you never had any ships under Atris and you barely have a handful now" Evis looked down at Kismet dismissively
Kismet pulled a note book out of his jacket, "I'm sure you've heard of Ovis' flying machines, can kill a fleet without a ship in sight, no longer needing ships to stop rivals raiding your islands, your own raiding and conquering power will be doubled overnight"
Evis turned to Kismet, clearly interested, "You have the plans for them?"
"Not the actual plans but detailed drawing that any half decent engineer could mock up in to plans and build but drawings of planes aren't the only thing in here" Kismet smirked, he had pretty much sealed the deal but he wanted to add an extra incentive, "Asla had people working on a way to combat the planes, you know what they say, if you make a problem you should be the one selling the solution"
"And why don't I just kill you and take the notebook?" Evis gave Kismet a toothy grin
Kismet flipped through the notebook to show it was empty, "This book is empty but I do have the real book, so deal?"
"Deal" Evis pulled out a knife and pricked his thumb
Kismet did the same and the two gripped each other's hand so their blood mixed. As soon as the ships and gold were in the possession of the traitors Kismet handed over the notebook with the aircraft drawings and the plans for the anti-aircraft guns.
The 10 traitors stood on the deck of the Bloody blade after Evis had sailed away with his ships and they were left with theirs, they stood in silence for a few moments as they each wondered what would become of their co-conspirators, they all knew they would be heading as far from the territory of their former liege lords as they could get but Krake was a big world and they might never meet again.
"Let's not end up like Kitla" Lotre joked
"The Gods have a sense of irony Lotre" Retson chuckled, "If this was an old tale then you'd be the next to be killed by Ovis and I would be the last one left for my foresight"
"Any half decent tale would have the main traitor left for last" Lotre Looked over at Kismet, "You think you can survive by yourself for that long?"
"This isn't some epic tale from legend, now let's get out of here or he'll catch us all at the same time"
The traitors all returned to their ships and set off in different directions. They would all run far and counter to their expectation they would all see each other again and Kismet would be the last left standing.
Kastae Lotre sat on the observation deck above her bridge, looking up at the almost cloudless sky, she had been raiding and reaving for just over a month, she had always worked under someone. She had left home young and joined a pirate crew after some small time pirate offered her money if she joined his crew, Asla soon killed the guy and took his ships and Kastae slowly worked her way up the ranks until she was serving directly under Asla herself, when she allied with Atris the admirals under her that protested were killed and Lotre secured herself a promotion. Lotre smiled at the memory, even with all the backstabbing that happened on the seas of Krake pirates still had a sense of honour.
Lotre basked in the sun as she watched the ocean stretch out for miles in all directions, they were miles from any land and it would be days before they got close to any. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the gentle sound of the sea, she found herself drifting off until a violent buzzing sound cut in to her ears, Lotre's eyes snapped open to see a plane fly over her fleet and circle above a few times. The pirate lady found herself panicking, they were too far out for a plane to reach them and she hadn't had time to install any anti-aircraft guns, she was on her way to get them fitted.
"Don't worry my lady, it's just one plane maybe its lost" her first mate, Learast, climbed up to the observation deck, he pulled out binoculars to get a better look at the circling plane, "It doesn't have any torpedoes on it, Ovis might be fighting nearby, we should steam as far from him as we can"
Lotre furrowed her brow, they were far from Asla's territory and she didn't think that any of her co-conspirators were nearby. Her eyes widened in realisation, "It's not an attack plane" she watched it fly around in horror, "Take that thing out of the sky"
Lotre practically jumped off the observation deck and ran in to the bridge, she grabbed the handset and projected her voice across her ship's deck, "TAKE THAT PLANE DOWN! ITS LEADING OVIS RIGHT TO US!"
The crew were whipped in to action, she didn't have any proper anti-aircraft guns but she did have some heavy anti-personnel guns that could get the job done. She watched her men hastily modify the mounts on the anti-personnel guns so they could be pointed skyward, all the guns she had fired up at the plane but none of them had the range to hit it.
"More planes coming from the east!" a spotter called out an attack heading right for her ships
"Where the hell is he launching these from?" Lotre took her seat as she called for all hands to their battle stations, "They are going to launch torpedoes, all ships evasive actions, hold the line and fill those planes with lead!"
Lotre's ships turned so they were parallel with the planes' flight path, minimizing the contact surface for launched torpedoes, the anti-personnel guns did their best but they were not designed to combat planes. The attack planes released their torpedoes and pulled away from her ships, most of them missed but a handful managed to score hits, one of her cruisers had its propellers completely destroyed and left it dead in the water, her line struggled to reform as the undamaged ships manoeuvred to avoid the damaged ships that were either falling behind or had completely stopped.
"Ships on the horizon, east!" Lotre grabbed a pair of binoculars to see the fleet of ships heading right for her
"GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!" She screamed at the helmsman, "Leave the damaged ships to Ovis or the sea"
Urst Arlson looked down at the deck of his ship, the Skyfisher, hundreds of men ran around the deck as they retrieved the last attack flight and sent off another flight. They had been drilling for a month and now it took the deck crew a minute to hook a plane to the catapult and launch it. He watched one plane fly in, a hook on its tail catching a cable on the deck and stopping it almost dead, it was taxied over to a staging area where it would be refuelled and rearmed and while all that was going on another plane had been launched. Urst had drilled the crew to perfection and now wave after wave of plane was being sent against the traitors.
The Skyfisher had been detached from Ovis main fleet, left with a cruiser and 4 destroyers as protection, it had been ordered to hold down the enemy and prevent their escape while Ovis' force moved in to engage. Urst was too far away to even see the enemy but the radio reports he was receiving were promising and Ovis victory was a foregone conclusion.
Lotre watched a shell land on her deck and blew men and guns off, her ship was filled with holes and fires, her line had been thrown in to complete disarray by wave after wave of attack plane and now she could only watch as Ovis' own line moved to cut hers off.
"FULL AHEAD, FORGET THE OTHER SHIPS, DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
The helmsman pushed the ship's throttle to the max and sent it right at Ovis' lead ship. Shells rained down on her ship, blowing holes in it but it didn't slow down at all until it took a hit right to the bridge. Kastae's vision was filled with fire as the glass was blown out and many of her bridge officers were impaled or burned. Lotre pushed herself up amongst the rubble of what was once her bridge, the bodies of the bridge crew were scattered about, some of them letting out moans as they clung to life, Lotre could feel she had broken ribs and she couldn't open her right eye. She limped out of the ruined bridge, she had to get to one of the fast boats and then maybe she could get away, she did not want to know what Ovis had in store for her. Her ship was in ruins; fires raged uncontrolled burning men alive, water filled the lower decks and drowned more and just as many men had been blown overboard or been impaled by shrapnel.
Lotre collapsed in to one of the only remaining fast boats, she kicked the release lever and let it drop in to the sea, she could barely keep herself conscious as she throttled up the engine and headed away from any of the ships. Her fleet was in flames, sitting dead in the water as Ovis' own fleet continued to pound them over and over.
"At least they didn't notice me" Lotre relaxed a bit as the boat carried her away
She felt herself slipping in to unconsciousness, she welcomed a few stress-free hours after that disastrous battle.
"Funny finding you here, Kastae" Lotre's eye snapped open at the sound of another voice
She looked behind her to see Ovis sitting in the back of the boat, he was soaked from head to toe as he moved to the front of the boat, "How about we turn this around" he grabbed the controls and turned the boat around, Lotre was far too injured to even put up a fight, "Get some rest, I'll make sure you're taken care of"
Kastae could no longer hold on to her consciousness and she slipped away in to darkness.
"He got you to" a raspy voice was the first thing Lotre heard as she opened her eyes and saw the sea stretched out before her, she felt chains around her wrist and ankles and felt something squeezing tight around her stomach.
Lotre looked to her left and saw Kitla chained up next to her, she was thin and her skin was blistered and cracked and her eyes had a glassy appearance, her clothes were tattered and hung off her. Lotre saw that all her injuries had been treated and she was covered in bandages.
"How long have you been here?" Lotre pulled at her chains, "What the hell is he gonna do to us?"
"I don't know, we'll have to wait till he captures everyone"
Next time: Banish the mists of ignorance
