17. Mutiny

Ovis looked at the gently rolling waves as his ship cut through them, all around the massive battleship were much smaller escorts and trailing behind were a handful of additional capital ships. The battle fleet of roughly 30 ships sailed at full speed as the primarch was anxious to get to their destination as quickly as possible. He stood at the bow of his ship, the black scale coat his mother gifted him glittering with a wet sheen from the sea mist. Ovis looked off in to the distance, past his ships, a couple of miles away he could see another formation of ships heading the same way and with his superior eyesight he could even make out individual crew members on the decks.

"What are you looking at?" Urst walked up to his captain, looking in to the horizon and seeing nothing

"There's another formation over there" Ovis pointed in their direction as he looked at the flag they were flying

It was a Seeran and Wolhark swimming around a spear piercing three skulls, it was the personal standard of Admiral Karst Lusow, one of the 20 admirals that commanded one of the massive fleets under his parents' control and the reason that Ovis wanted to get home as quickly as he could. He needed to get back for a solemn event and a momentous meeting.

The seas around the islands of Kasain were littered with ships, hundreds of them docked in the port or at anchor just off shore, every available patch of ocean was occupied by a ship and more than a few were anchored almost dangerously close to each other. The Krake's tooth carefully weaved its way through the throng of ships and pulled in to the port. Ovis practically jumped from the ship to solid land and made his way home as quickly as he could.

The palace of the pirate lords was as full as the waters around their island, every senior officer that owed them allegiance had convened at their command and hundred of said officers' aides congested the halls of the palace. The crowd parted as Ovis made his way through, the various ranked officers, even those who should have out ranked him, showed him the respect deserved to their liege lords' son.

Ovis opened a door that led deeper in to the mountain, it was a simple corridor that led to a heavy steel door that was guarded by two heavily armed men, they recognized him and opened the reinforced door to allow him through. After the steel door were a set of stairs that led straight to the top of the mountain, the mountain that dominated the island was a long dormant volcano and his parent utilised it not just as a home but as a vault for their riches.

The crater at the peak was large enough to fit a battleship in it. In the centre, at its lowest point, was small lake, steaming from the heat of the small amount of molten rock that still flowed in the volcano, the lake was surrounded by golden statues of several gods. A great glass dome covered the entire crater, with only a hole in the centre directly above the lake. The rest of the crater was filled with treasures; gold, jewels, ornate weapons, paintings, sculptures, priceless historical artefacts and technology long lost to the people of Krake, there were also guards scattered around to keep an eye on the personal riches of his parents.

Ovis moved towards the lake where several people were gathered, they all wore the midnight black gold trimmed jackets that showed they were people of rank, shoulder insignia showed they were mostly admirals or vice-admirals with very few of a lower rank, making Ovis one of the lowest ranked persons in the gathering.

"Ovis!" His father spotted him and broke off a conversation with one of his admirals and walked over to his son, "How are you my boy?"

"I'm doing fine father, is it true?" Ovis looked over to the lake behind his father

"Yes the old bag of bones finally did the one thing we never expected"

The two made their way over to the lake, passing between the statues of two gods to get to the shore. In the centre of the lake was a small boat, only big enough for a single person, Ovis waded through the shallow water and looked in to the boat. Laying in the boat was a body, he was dressed same as everyone attending the gathering, his rank of admiral visible. The man was clearly very old when he died, the little hair he had was grey and his face was covered with deep set wrinkles, he was stick thin with almost no muscle on him. He was Admiral Karst Lusow, a stubborn commander who still had a sharp mind even as his body grew old and weak.

"What happened?" Ovis asked as he looked at the old admiral, he was old but Lusow looked much better in life than his corpse suggested

"Sailet said he caught a fever and before they could do anything he had wasted away and died" Atris looked down at the old man, his grief clear. The pirate lord had known Lusow for a long time, he had been the first to join Atris, somehow convinced by his vision of an all reaching empire.

Ovis respected the old man immensely and had learned a lot from him but his death had a very shiny silver lining for Ovis. Asla appeared from between two statues and informed the father and son that everyone had finally gathered.

Ovis stood at the front of the gathering with his brother and Urst right next to him as his parents stood before their admirals. Surrounded by the riches from over 20 years raiding and conquering, 19 of the most powerful people under his parents' command and those closest to them had gathered.

Atris and Asla were formidable and deadly pirate lords with a powerful fleet before they had joined forces but after combining their strength and conquering a larger part of Krake they were near unmatched in power, thousands of ships split in the 22 fleets that protected their holdings, raided rivals and expanded their power. Each of the fleets, consisting of hundreds of ships, were commanded by an admiral, sent out to a region with a simple mission, the fleet would normally be broken up in to several battle fleets of a couple dozen ships commanded by a rear-admiral and then maybe broken up even further in to smaller squadrons of anywhere between 5 to 12 ships commanded by a commodore. The admirals were appointed by his parents and those of lower ranks were raised up by either them or an admiral. There were normally 20 of them, with his parent command their own fleets, and usually they would be out at sea with only one or two present on the island at any one time but this was a special occasion.

With the death of Lusow that meant that there was open position and no one had any doubt who was going to fill it. Atris looked to the lake before he began speaking.

"We all knew Karst, he was a good man and a greedy one but he got the job done better than any of you" Atris delivered a eulogy to a departed comrade, "He was stubborn, some believed too stubborn to die and I'm fairly certain that is why he decided to. He was already a hardened captain before he agreed to join me and he will be missed but he will not be forgotten"

Everyone raised their voices for the deceased before Atris moved on, "With Lusow gone we will need someone to replace him and I believe we all know there is only one man fit" Atris looked at his son, "Ovis, my boy, you came from the sky, a gift from the gods, you have proven your skill, strength and genius over and over, you are a greater sailor and commander than even me"

Ovis walked over to his father, the pirate lord placed the rank insignia in his hand officially promoting him. Ovis thought back to his years of service; from scrubbing the deck to working in the engine room and then working with the guns and munitions, manning the radios and radars and then finally getting his own ship to captain, being promoted to lead a squadron and eventually a battle fleet and now he had finally reached the apex.

Ovis picked his father up and almost crushed him in a bear hug, after almost a minute he dropped him back down, his mother was smiling at him and his brother let out a cheer. In the years to come the primarch would think back on that moment and recall it as his happiest memory. The cheers and clapping of the assembled officers were cut short as the mountain was rocked by an explosion and the screaming of people reached them.

"What the hell is that?" Asla moved to leave the vault as everyone stood in confusion

Ovis quickly made his way to the edge of the crater and got a view of what was happening down below. Hundreds of ships had sailed right up to their island unnoticed and uncontested, the ships at anchor were being pounded by shells as the skeleton crews tried to mount a defence. Ovis focused in on the flag the ships were flying, a golden fish run through with a silver sword, the standard of the most powerful pirate lord on Krake, Evis the breaker. Evis was a brutal pirate who controlled an even stronger fleet than Ovis' parents, he was widely regarded as the most powerful warlord on the world and the attack suggests he wants to keep it that way.

"We're under attack!" Ovis informed his parents as he watched hundreds of boats filled with men heading to the shore, "They're landing as we speak, all three islands"

"Fuck" His father grit his teeth in annoyance, "Ovis, we'll go and defend the port, Asla take some men and defend the southern island, Kismet and Sotris you'll stay and defend this island"

Everyone on the three islands scrambled to gather weapons as the people organised a ragtag defence, hundreds of the invaders were gunned down as they tried to establish a beach head, luckily their fleet was engaged and couldn't perform a shore bombardment. Ovis didn't wait for a boat and quickly swam to the docking island, he didn't waste any time and started blowing away the invaders. Several attackers exploded in to pink mist with every pull of Ovis' bolter as he advanced on them to cut them apart with his sabre, Ovis unleashed his full power as he butchered his opposition. Brutal melee took place as they fought to push the invaders back and the invaders sought to slaughter the defenders.

Atris ripped through the enemy ranks with his massive chain blade, the monstrous weapon roaring as it turned men in to steaming piles of meat, the invaders were faltering in the face of the primarch and his father's fury.

On the main island Sotris stood atop the make shift barricade, waving his sabre and firing his pistol at any man who approached him, the image of their lord's son standing in a hail of bullets empowered the defenders and they surged forward to slaughter their attackers. Kismet stood beside the young man, coordinating the defence and counter attack, the attack on the central island seemed to be the weakest of the three and the attackers were quick to throw it back in to the sea.

"How the hell did they approach undetected?" Sotris wondered as he watched wounded men scramble to board fleeing boats, "And why at such an opportune time?"

"Strange isn't it" Kismet stroked his beard, "You did well, I'm sure your father will be making you your brothers equal soon"

"I'm content to wait my turn"

"You're more patient than most men"

The battle at sea was turning to as the anchored ships received men from shore and were able to organise, they fired back and managed to sink a few of their attackers, the few planes stationed on the island had also taken flight and managed to sink many ships by themselves. Things were going in the defenders favour as the momentum of the surprise attack faltered, Asla turned the fleeing men in to charred corpses as she led from the front, it was all going well and that is when their luck turned.

Asla roared as she chased down her fleeing foe, she ran after them focused solely on slaying as many as she could, the pirate lady paid the man behind her no mind until she felt the tip of a sword run her through. The blade struck her lower back, ripping through her hip bone and coming out the other side, she stood shocked for a second before she fire her plasma pistol through her assailant's head. She fell to the ground as several other men raised their blades to finish her off, she manged to get off three shots but before the other traitors could get close enough some of her own men came to her aid and slew them.

"Are you alright my lady?" one of the men helped her stand and acted as her support

"We've been betrayed, that's how they pulled this off" she growled, "Get word to Atris and my sons, tell them to watch their backs, we need to root out these bastards"

Ovis hacked and slashed his way through hordes of men, his father fighting his own battle a few feet away, the primarch's rage pushed him ahead of his own forces as he cut a bloody path deep in to the enemy.

"OVIS!" A burly young man pointed his sabre at the primarch, his blade pulsed with energy and his dress made it clear he was the one in command, "I AM ORST, ELDEST SON OF EVIS AND I'M HERE TO TAKE YOUR HEAD!"

Orst charged with his blade raised shouting a war cry to the heavens. Ovis payed him little mind, simply slapping him aside, breaking the pirate's jaw and sending him to the ground, Ovis stepped on him using his weight to crush Orst's bones and organs to mush. Many men fled at the sight of their commander being used as a stepping stone.

"IS THIS THE BEST EVIS HAS TO OFFER!?" Atris laughed as he beheaded a man, he waved his blade at his son, "ONWARDS KILL THEM ALL!"

Ovis waved his blade back, reflecting his father's ecstatic and jovial attitude, the primarch was about to turn back to the battle when one of the men behind his father caught his attention. The man and a few around him didn't move how someone in battle should, his heightened senses picked up similar movements behind him and his superior brain instantly put the pieces together.

Ovis ignored the battle and spun around, decapitating his would-be assassins, he spared them no thought as he rushed to his father, who was still ignorant to the traitors behind him, the primarch cried out and he sprinted towards his father. Time seemed to slow as Ovis watched the blade enter his father's back, cutting right through his chest, Atris looked down at the sword tip coming out of his body in surprise. Ovis reached his father a second later, kicking the traitor away and instantly butchering the rest, he caught his father as the pirate lord sank to the ground.

"Father?" Ovis press the wound as hard as he could without breaking his father's bones

"I'll be fine" Atris did not sound fine as he struggled to breath

Ovis looked around at the crowd of men gathering, the invaders' landing force had been routed and with their own fleet under increasing fire their ships pulled back. The attack had been repelled. The primarch looked around at the men until he saw a familiar face.

"Serist!" he called out someone who he knew was well liked and respected, "Get these bodies cleaned up and get a count of the dead, wounded and the damage"

Ovis picked up his father and the crowd parted in his wake, he pushed his body to its limit and managed to reach the palace in under a minute, Ovis burst in to the medical wing where he found the doctor treating his mother's wounds.

"Help him now!" he demanded as he placed his father on to one of the beds, with his father in good hands, Ovis went to his mother, "What happened?"

"Someone stabbed me in the back" Asla pushed herself up on a crutch, her vital organs had been missed but the blade had pretty much internally amputated her leg

"Are you ok?" Ovis helped his mother walk

"This was planned, they knew our power would be concentrated here and they were allowed to approach undetected" Asla limped towards the door, her rage dulling her pain, "And there are only a few people here with that kind of power"

Ovis understood what she was saying, "They will be punished harshly" the primarch picked his mother up and carried her back to the peak of the mountain where the admirals had reconvened.

They had spent the invasion organising the ground forces or helping to organise the mass of ships. The 19 admirals had come alone, leaving their staff to deal with the clean up, Sotris sat by the lake cleaning his sword and Kismet was speaking to some of the admirals. Everyone stood up or turned to face Ovis as he entered with his mother.

"We have a traitor among us" she stated

Everyone present gave everyone else side glances as they wondered who would betray Atris and Asla, they had all been part of one of their crews for a long time, each had shown dedication to their cause and had been handsomely rewarded for it, no one present had any clear reason to try and mutiny.

"What reason do any of us have to rebel?" Admiral Strass stepped forward, he was a middle aged man with a face and body covered in scars earned fighting for and with Ovis' father

"Strass is right" Admiral Kitla stood next to him, she was a hard and joyless woman who had little patience, "We're compensated well for our work, we are granted privilege and power, why would anyone throw that away?"

"I don't know" Asla glared at her

"The traitor can be rooted out later" Kismet broke the mounting tension, "How is Atris doing?"

"My father's wounds are serious but he's being seen to as we speak"

There was a tension and uncertainty in the air, Atris and Asla had ruled jointly for years, the skill of both bringing them greater power and riches than they could gather alone. Many of the admirals were concerned about Asla ruling alone or if Ovis or Sotris were to be raised as their mother's equal, a relationship that could not be equal in the same way as with Atris, and though none would admit it most admirals held greater allegiance to one pirate lord over the other.

As the uncertainty hung in the air, the doctor entered the vault, his clothes soaked with blood, he did not look hopeful. He moved over to Ovis and his mother, Sotris walking over to hear the news as well.

"We managed to slow the bleeding but he's lost too much blood, the damage done to his organs is too severe" the doctor didn't say it but his expression said it all

Ovis carried his mother out of the vault with his brother close behind, they ran in to the medical ward and then to a private room where Atris lay in a bloody bed. His clothes had been cut from him and the wound bandaged up but his skin was pale and had a clammy look to it, the way his chest moved made it clear he was having difficulties breathing as well.

"Asla" he gave a weak smile as he beckoned his family over to his bedside, "Do you remember the first time we ever met?"

"Yes, I was 19" the pirate lady thought back on when she had first seen her partner, "You had deposed Korvis Orlas a year earlier and taken his fleet for your own"

"I was his gunnery officer for 3 years and I was great at it" Atris smiled at the memory of his younger self

"I was the navigation officer for Jarlis Hertson, A few months after meeting you I slit his first mate's throat while he slept and stabbed him in the back, I was next in line and took control of his ships" Asla smiled at her own memories, "I killed a lot of men that objected"

"I remember seeing you for the first time and thinking that I needed to see you without clothes" Atris let out a strained laugh

"And I remembered wondering why is that idiot staring at me"

The two chuckled with each other, their marriage had been made out of convenience instead of love but the two had grown to love each other in a way over the years, at the very least they respected and had grown fond of each other. Asla held back tears as Atris turned to his sons.

"Sotris, my boy come over here" Sortis fell to his knees by the bed, tears falling down his face, "Don't be sad this is how it should end for all pirates"

Atris placed a hand on his son's shoulder, looking him in his eyes, "You are a better son than I could have asked for or deserved, you have a greater mind than anyone I've known and a body to match, you'll do great things so keep close to your brother, he's not as level headed as you and he is prone to theatrics"

"I will father" Atris gave his son a light pat on his cheek before turning to look at Ovis

"Leave us alone please"

Sotris helped his mother shuffle out of the room as quickly as she could and left the primarch alone with his father, Ovis fell to his knees next to his father, his vision blurred by tears, "I'm sorry"

"No need to apologise, you are greater than any man that has ever or will ever exist but even you have limits" Atris reached out and touched his son, "Ovis, my boy, you are my heir, there are traitors among us, you must root them out and deliver my vengeance on to them"

"I will father, everyone of them will know my wrath" Ovis put his own massive hand over his father's

"I remember my father once told me that there are a million stars in the sky and around each of them was a world, just like Krake or wildly different, where a man could live a different life" Atris' eyes seemed to look off far beyond the ceiling above him, "If I have to live a million different lives then I would hope I would get to be your father a million different times even if it ends like this every time"

Ovis sat with his father in silence for what could have been hours or minutes but eventually he felt his father's hand grow deathly cold and stopped hearing his struggled breathing, he sat with the body for a second before letting out a grief filled cry that carried down the mountain, over the beaches and across the sea.

Ovis stood with renewed purpose and rage, he left the private room and found his mother waiting for him, "Where's Sotris?" he asked

"He went to inform the admirals of Atris' death" Asla was clearly grief stricken but she needed to maintain her composure to deal with the crisis at hand

Sotris walked in to the vault, the admirals were idly scattered about but Sotris did notice a few of them were huddled around Kismet, his father's first mate excused himself and walked over to the young man.

"How is he?" Kismet asked

"By now I suspect he's gone"

"I stood right behind him for many years" Kismet pat Sotris on the back, "Where is your mother and brother?"

"Father wanted to talk to Ovis alone and mother is waiting for him to finish"

"You know what that means" the understanding look on Kismet's face become serious, "Ovis will take your father's place but he can't rule with his mother, that would never work maybe you should take her place"

"I'm not going to betray my mother like that"

"Understandable but with her injured as she is most of the responsibility will fall on Ovis and once she too passes, in many years, he'll have sole control of the empire built by your father"

"Ovis is a greater commander and ruler than any of us, what is wrong with that?" Sotris found Kismet's behaviour strange, he seemed overly insistent on Sotris claiming power

"But will you really be happy playing second fiddle to him?" Sotris noticed a hint of venom in Kismet's voice, "Relegated to the shadows while he takes the glory, he has always over shadowed you and you're going to let him do it again"

Sotris took a step away from Kismet, the first mate's behaviour was becoming a growing concern, "He's not even Atris' real son but you'll let him take what is rightfully yours, there is still time to strike and I'll aid you if you need it"

"What the hell are you saying!? My father's corpse isn't even cold and you're already talking about power grabs" Sotris balled his fists but stopped himself from punching the man

The younger brother couldn't understand why Kismet was talking like this, why he was trying to stoke what few embers of jealously and anger Sotris held for his brother. Sotris put all his brain power to it, a calm washed over him as he analysed the facts, he thought about what Kismet would have to gain from this move.

Since he was small Sotris had been trying to be the equal of a primarch, both mentally and physically, and while he had never got close to his goal the effort hadn't been a waste. He cast him mind back to the battle and recalled what he saw; bullets, blades, bodies, explosions, sinking ships. Sinking ships?

Sotris recalled what the burning fleet looked like, where the explosions were going off, he had thought it looked wrong but didn't say anything. The fire from the attacking ships wasn't indiscriminate and unaimed as would be normal when firing in to a large grouping of ships, no, it looked like it was aimed and deliberate, but why?

"Arlson! Kitla! Harka! Destson! Horson! Lotre! Kammes! Thalson! Somta! Retson!" Ovis burst in to the vault hold Asla, "You have something questions to answer!"

"What did we do?" Kitla stepped out of a group, Sotris noted that it consisted of those named, the group that Kismet was talking to

"The only ones who got out of the attack without a ship sunk are you 10" Ovis threw down a list of damaged ships, "The men that attacked me were Kammes', the ones who attacked my mother were Arlson's and those that killed my father were from Harka's crew, you were working with Evis to destroy my family, you kill us all off and weaken those that wouldn't follow you but why"

"It was Kismet!" Sotris finally put all the pieces together, "Our father never gave you the one thing you wanted a fleet of your own, you were sick of being forgotten"

The room froze at the accusation, those that had been accused assessed their options while those that had been named loyal waited to see what move they would make, they had all surrendered their weapons before entering the vault. The tension was thick enough to cut and it was Ovis who cut it.

"There will be no games, you will tell me what I wish to know" he placed his mother down and advanced on the group of admirals

"Wait Ovis" Strass stood up for his colleagues, hoping that at least some of them were innocent and to stop the primarch from killing them, "They must have some kind of explanation, this is not the place for it, take them in to custody"

Ovis grit his teeth but relented to reason, "Fine but I will find answers" Ovis directed some guards in the vault to escort the accused out

"This is unnerving, half of us being traitor, we need to inter their ships and crew immediately" Strass pinched his chin as he dealt with the revelation

"That's hundreds of ships and thousands of men" Admiral Masok, he was a plump man who's only known weaknesses were drink and women, "Some of them only brought a small portion of their ships"

"All of them actually" Admiral Karak, a woman who garnered jealously due to the fact she didn't seem to age at all, "I noticed it before but they all brought fewer ships than everyone else"

"Less chance of one of their ships being hit" Strass deduced, "So they were traitors"

"Well except for Retson, he was charged with patrolling the waters…" Karak slowly trailed off as she and everyone else came to a shocking revelation

Everyone present in the vault, with the exception of Asla, rushed out and down to the palace, grabbing their weapons as they went. The scene that greeted them was carnage, several bullet riddled bodies were scattered around the corridor, the sound of gunfire could be heard coming from all around as traitorous crew ran amuck throughout the palace. Retson's ships and men had been charged with patrolling the waters around the island and acting as its standing defence force and now those men were showing their true allegiance.

"Kill any traitor you see on sight!" Ovis drew his sabre and bolter and went about his bloody work

Next time: New class of ship