Chapter 20: The Sparrow Fleet Sets Sail
Jack Sparrow stood in his cabin. The captain of each ship in the fleet stood around his desk, where a chart was laid out. Kenwick walked in a few minutes later, carrying more charts under his arm.
"This is all of them, Jack." Jack nodded and jerked his head to his bunk, where more rolled up charts were sitting.
"Someone get Sin for me," Jack muttered distractedly. One of the former RN captains rushed from the cabin and they could hear him bellowing for Sin. The captain returned to his spot surrounding the table.
Jack was muttering nonstop under his breath and stroking his braided beard. The cabin door opened again and Sin ambled in.
"You asked for me?"
"Aye, I did." Jack looked up. He pointed to a spot on the open sea. "This is the last known area that the Slave Trade fleet was spotted in."
Sin shook his head. "That was weeks ago, when Morgan…when Morgan found me."
Sin pointed to a spot much closer to the islands. "They'll be somewhere around here, by now."
One of the RN men looked at him. "How would you know?"
Sin pulled up the sleeve on his shirt and turned his left arm over. Branded in the center was a triangle with an S inside of it.
"Dawg had just taken over the fleet. He burned the ship I was on as a demonstration to the others. I was the only survivor. That's when Morgan found me floating on a piece of wood."
Jack nodded mindlessly and continued to study the charts. "How many ships do we have total?" He muttered to himself.
"Twelve, Commodore," Captain Jones (formerly Private Jones) said. Jack nodded. He grabbed a charcoal pencil and began to draw lines on the chart. He drew a circle around the area where the fleet was believed to be.
He put nine dashes at the Sparrow Fleet's current position. "Alright Gents," he pointed to the circle. "Since we are fairly certain that the fleet will be within this area, I'm going to split the fleet up at bit. Sin, how does Dawg sail?"
"The main slave barge sails in the center, it's capable of holding thousands in its hold. He has the rest of the smaller ships, his consort ships, sail in a constant circle around the barge ship, to protect it. There is always one ship at the cardinal points, and the rest fill in the spaces around the barge."
Jack nodded. "Right, now, we have the same amount of ships that Dawg does." Everyone nodded. "There will be four smaller fleets of three ships each. I will lead the North Point team, which will consist of the Pearl and the Nebuchadnezzar, and the Destiny. Commodore Norrington will lead West Point Team, which will consist of Marja's Memory, the Dauntless, and the Herculean.
"Captain Jones will lead South Point team, Lost Innocence, Dark Lancer, and Davy Jones will consist of that team. The final team will be lead by Andrew in the Apocalypse. The final two ships, Resolute and Retribution will follow him, Savvy?"
"Aye," everyone said, staring at the chart. Jack took up the pencil again and began to draw routes. "North Point team will go through this straight and will appear at the head of Dawg's fleet. West Point will go around this island to the west and take those ships. South Point and East Point will set off opposite of Norrington's team. I put the fastest ships with Jones, as his team has the farthest to travel.
"All ships are to be destroyed. If there are any Africans, take them aboard, and then set the powder magazines alight. The only ship that is to be taken is the Morning Star. Is that clear?"
Everyone nodded. "You may raid, pillage, and plunder these ships. Take weapons, rum, gold, or anything they happen to be carrying." He glanced at the former RN men.
"I'm going to mix the crews a bit. You RN men are accustomed to strict guidelines, so I'm going to mix my pirates with you. You will see crew assignments on the bulkhead outside my cabin." He looked hard at everyone. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear," his voice fell to a whisper, "Every member of Dawg's fleet will die."
He let that statement sink in for a moment. "Is everyone's course clear?"
"Aye!"
"Good," he rolled up the chart and stuck it inside his desk. As he did, a slip of paper fell out. He stooped and picked it up. It was the letter R, written in Morgan's careful handwriting.
He allowed it to flutter back down to the deck.
"Dismissed."
He listened as everyone walked from his cabin. He heard them pause at the lists and take them down. Already, the crews were assembled on the correct ships, he had briefed the pirates the night before, and they were all ready and willing to kill Dawg's men. He knew the nature of men, once one was enraged enough to kill, the others would quickly follow suit. It was one of the many reasons he had mixed crews.
He turned his mind to another puzzling aspect. That girl Sin had brought aboard, Robyn. No one knew much about the girl, except for the fact that she had been a lift skirt in Tortuga. The girl had asked to sail under Andrew, and Jack had allowed her. She brought the total females in his fleet to three. Morgan, AnnaMaria, and now Robyn.
He shoved the blond girl out of his mind and walked out of his cabin and proceeded to the quarter deck.
"Weigh anchor!" Jack called out. The ship groaned as her anchor was pulled dripping from the depths of the sea. Pirates scuttled up the rigging to the yardarms.
He heard the weigh anchor call repeated on the Nebuchadnezzar and the Destiny and watched as the smaller ships' anchors were lifted.
"Prepare to sail!" Shrouds were dropped and the wind caught them, filling them up. The ships lurched forward, and the Sparrow Fleet set sail.
AN: Yes, I know, this is a VERY short chapter, but at least it's updated. Please keep reviewing, I want to try to get at least 100 reviews before this story is over. Keep enjoying it, rum to all.