Chapter 41
Chapter 41: Blood on the Water
02.06.2042
It is not without a sense of trepidation that the combined Amazon fleet finally leaves Amazon Island. Above all there is a sense of relief that the weeks of waiting and uncertainty are finally over.
Sympathetic to queen Lyssa's motherly plight, Calypso of Quetzlpan withdrew her forces from her crusade against the sunken city of Zarmuda. Her full army now joins new recruits and warriors from the devastating Battle of Xocibiki, refreshed after weeks of rest and preparation.
Together they are eager to face their enemy in battle once more. A shieldmaiden is most comfortable solving problems through force of arms and months of despondent idleness makes everyone anxious to do something.
Revenge will have to wait, however. Only halfway to Kavana, unknown ships are spotted on the horizon. Three of them; clearly of pirate origin, but with the lead ship flying the feathered skull of Amazonia – no doubt in a poor attempt at a ruse.
"I thought the rebels didn't have ships?" Kriemhild wonders out loud. The marshal sounds almost insulted that she has not been better informed.
"They don't," commander Valesca states when she joins the redhead at the railing, as if willing it to be true. "Either way, they won't be able to catch us."
"Not if we catch them first."
"Your Highness?" Valesca turns around and protests softly: "But what of their firebelchers...?"
All frivolous idleness is gone from Lyssa's demeanour when she brushes her commander's concerns aside: "It doesn't matter. We cannot let them get away and inform the rebels of our presence. Go on, get someone to turn this fleet around!"
The interlopers seem unconcerned by the Amazon armada turning to face them and keep sailing straight ahead. Then again, with their cannons, a single pirate ship could match even the Amazon flagship that now leads the charge against them.
"Why do they keep coming. Surely they could've started throwing their flying boulders at us by now," Kriemhild observes, her tone suggesting they might be sailing into a trap. Not inclined to wait and find out, Lyssa yells up at the lookout for clarification. The sharp-eyed pathfinder's reply comes quickly:
"Their firebelchers are still stowed!"
The three leaders on deck exchange puzzled looks.
"Wait... one of them is gesturing something..."
"Over there: at the prow," Kriemhild points out. "Your Highness, you should take cover."
"That's one big pirate..." Valesca observes dryly.
Grabbing onto the railing, Lyssa leans forward as much as she can, as if defiantly trying to do the opposite of hiding. She shields her eyes and squints: "By Rigg's flaming ass hair... it can't be..."
Once the two lead ships come up alongside each other, a stout walkway delivers a pirate welcoming committee. As if to emphasize their non-piratical intentions, however, their captain adds a flourish with her Amazon-style cape as she curtsies before the queen. Lyssa barely seems to register her presence, glancing around distractedly.
"I be at yer service, Yer Highness," the pirate leader offers in heavily accented Amazon before being all but pushed aside by said Highness.
"Mom!"
It's all Maya can say before her mother barrels through the pirate contingent and sweeps her into a big hug. Utterly smothered, the rotund little woman can only do her best to hug back until Lyssa deigns to pull back with an accusing "I've been worried sick! Where in the Pits have you been??"
Maya is none to happy to be treated like someone half her age, but she doesn't sound any less like a proud child when she declares: "As you can see, I've been gathering allies, mother!"
Hovering as close to the two as she dares, the pirate leader clears her throat with a carefully measured amount of outrage.
"Oh, and Tiziana here helped," Maya gestures nonchalantly.
Now that she has the queen's attention again, the former interpreter does another quick bow: "I be representing yer honest, Rigg-fearin' subjects of Île Mêl– ah, Xocibiki. I assure ye, we be right irate at yer lads' mutiny and wish to be doin' Rigg's work at yer side, Yer Highness! I even bring sisters from Port Reaver who be fed up with the way they be treated and wish to aid yer cause."
Maya's turns a wry look, first upon Tiziana and then to her mother: "What she means to say is, those bothersome males are bad for business and she wants to help deal with them."
"Well... aye, that too," Tiziana admits with an affable smile.
"The 'bothersome males' have your sister," Lyssa tells Maya brusquely. "I'll take whatever help I can get."
How are you supposed to stay out of debt with all these men running around!
It is not without a sense of trepidation that the combined Amazon fleet finally leaves Amazon Island. Above all there is a sense of relief that the weeks of waiting and uncertainty are finally over.
Sympathetic to queen Lyssa's motherly plight, Calypso of Quetzlpan withdrew her forces from her crusade against the sunken city of Zarmuda. Her full army now joins new recruits and warriors from the devastating Battle of Xocibiki, refreshed after weeks of rest and preparation.
Together they are eager to face their enemy in battle once more. A shieldmaiden is most comfortable solving problems through force of arms and months of despondent idleness makes everyone anxious to do something.
Revenge will have to wait, however. Only halfway to Kavana, unknown ships are spotted on the horizon. Three of them; clearly of pirate origin, but with the lead ship flying the feathered skull of Amazonia – no doubt in a poor attempt at a ruse.
"I thought the rebels didn't have ships?" Kriemhild wonders out loud. The marshal sounds almost insulted that she has not been better informed.
"They don't," commander Valesca states when she joins the redhead at the railing, as if willing it to be true. "Either way, they won't be able to catch us."
"Not if we catch them first."
"Your Highness?" Valesca turns around and protests softly: "But what of their firebelchers...?"
All frivolous idleness is gone from Lyssa's demeanour when she brushes her commander's concerns aside: "It doesn't matter. We cannot let them get away and inform the rebels of our presence. Go on, get someone to turn this fleet around!"
The interlopers seem unconcerned by the Amazon armada turning to face them and keep sailing straight ahead. Then again, with their cannons, a single pirate ship could match even the Amazon flagship that now leads the charge against them.
"Why do they keep coming. Surely they could've started throwing their flying boulders at us by now," Kriemhild observes, her tone suggesting they might be sailing into a trap. Not inclined to wait and find out, Lyssa yells up at the lookout for clarification. The sharp-eyed pathfinder's reply comes quickly:
"Their firebelchers are still stowed!"
The three leaders on deck exchange puzzled looks.
"Wait... one of them is gesturing something..."
"Over there: at the prow," Kriemhild points out. "Your Highness, you should take cover."
"That's one big pirate..." Valesca observes dryly.
Grabbing onto the railing, Lyssa leans forward as much as she can, as if defiantly trying to do the opposite of hiding. She shields her eyes and squints: "By Rigg's flaming ass hair... it can't be..."
Once the two lead ships come up alongside each other, a stout walkway delivers a pirate welcoming committee. As if to emphasize their non-piratical intentions, however, their captain adds a flourish with her Amazon-style cape as she curtsies before the queen. Lyssa barely seems to register her presence, glancing around distractedly.
"I be at yer service, Yer Highness," the pirate leader offers in heavily accented Amazon before being all but pushed aside by said Highness.
"Mom!"
It's all Maya can say before her mother barrels through the pirate contingent and sweeps her into a big hug. Utterly smothered, the rotund little woman can only do her best to hug back until Lyssa deigns to pull back with an accusing "I've been worried sick! Where in the Pits have you been??"
Maya is none to happy to be treated like someone half her age, but she doesn't sound any less like a proud child when she declares: "As you can see, I've been gathering allies, mother!"
Hovering as close to the two as she dares, the pirate leader clears her throat with a carefully measured amount of outrage.
"Oh, and Tiziana here helped," Maya gestures nonchalantly.
Now that she has the queen's attention again, the former interpreter does another quick bow: "I be representing yer honest, Rigg-fearin' subjects of Île Mêl– ah, Xocibiki. I assure ye, we be right irate at yer lads' mutiny and wish to be doin' Rigg's work at yer side, Yer Highness! I even bring sisters from Port Reaver who be fed up with the way they be treated and wish to aid yer cause."
Maya's turns a wry look, first upon Tiziana and then to her mother: "What she means to say is, those bothersome males are bad for business and she wants to help deal with them."
"Well... aye, that too," Tiziana admits with an affable smile.
"The 'bothersome males' have your sister," Lyssa tells Maya brusquely. "I'll take whatever help I can get."
How are you supposed to stay out of debt with all these men running around!
A gaggle of Easterners – some fresh from the vile pirate den of Port Reaver no less – would have been no Amazon queen's first choice of allies. Despite this, Lyssa deems their conversion sincere – or at least their usefulness sufficient to overlook their past. After all, what Amazon queen would turn down three dozen cannons and a crew who can use them...
Anyone who disagrees with the queen's decision is given a swift history lesson on how Amazons have accepted honourable warriors mistreated by their menfolk in ages past – and a sharp look that brooks no further argument. And thus the reinforced fleet continues on its way to Kavana.
Lyssa has them sail close to the rebel stronghold at Xocibiki, close enough to almost be within cannon range, but not so close so as to make landfall. Rather than charge the place where the queen's daughter is held, the Amazons surprise the defenders by simply continuing onward. Onward towards the poorly defended neighbouring island.
Ultimately, the rebels are not very worried by the manoeuvre. Although this means they cannot let the Amazons smash themselves to pieces upon Xocibiki's defences as they try to land from their ships, the rebels beat them in pitched battle once before – and the odds are even more in their favour now.
Thus the rebel army marches to intercept the Amazons before they can establish themselves. They cross the narrow strait between Xocibiki and Tabasco unopposed. They scour the jungles for their former oppressors, but find nothing. That is when a message arrives: The Amazons are besieging Fort Xocibiki.
Fooled by a u-turn!
08.06.2042
Andre dares not show how agitated and anxious he is, barking a steady stream of orders to cover it from his men. The rebel leader rushes them to embark the rafts faster. So the hated oppressors don't have the time to wear down Xocibiki – and so his fellow believers don't have the time to realize they've been played.
He had expected the reckless Amazons to attack before they were ready, but not this kind of subterfuge. Before Stromfels everyone is equal, but the pompous followers of Rigg follow the whims of their bloated queen. It will still be their downfall, but to control the queen of the Amazon ant-hill they must control her daughter. Under no circumstances can they lose Fort Xocibiki where she is being held.
Busy organizing the crossing of the strait, Andre has no time to keep track of everyone as they land on the opposite side. He is not worried. He trusts his brothers implicitly: their bond is the reason the tyrants can never defeat them. Amazons cling to their ponderous hierarchy whereas those who embrace the chaos of Stromfels can think for themselves and adapt.
After all, when the Amazon princess was felled by her own thirst for blood and hubris during the battle of Xocibiki, their whole army crumbled. Andre himself is but one of many – if he somehow slips and drowns right now, his brothers will simply carry on. This is because, unlike the Amazons they know in their hearts what they fight for. Equality and brotherhood, forged from the ashes of an unjust world.
Having crossed the strait, Andre helps his brothers off before following close behind. There he is met by a warning: "Brother, we've spotted the tyrants closing in on us!"
Andre glances back at the fleet of rafts returning for the rest of his forces: "Tell the men to prepare for battle. We have to hold out until they are across."
Despite his decisive reaction, this sudden development gives Andre pause. He has received no word of the tyrants giving up the siege at Fort Xocibiki, so this must be a secondary force. No doubt a suicidal attempt to slow them down; the selfish queen throwing away her subjects without a second thought. "How many?"
"Maybe as many as a thousand." Just as he thought. The Amazons had split their forces in two to surprise him – and now they would be outnumbered more than five to one.
As the battle lines are drawn it becomes clear his enemies are not entirely oblivious to their disadvantage. Rather than charge mindlessly as they are wont, the Amazons hold position in the jungle – where they cannot be picked off by the believers' handguns.
However, in doing so they have made themselves vulnerable to another threat: Their position juts out towards the bay where the Brethren have landed. The Amazons will be surrounded and annihilated and another piece of intelligence only hastens their fate:
"The queen is with them."
Andre gives the order to charge.
The two sides clash, not with the roar of handguns but a harrowing thunder from the bay at the rebels' rear. Even though he and his brothers have pushed the queen's forces to the breaking point, Andre instinctively stops to look at the sudden sound.
Even as his brothers fall upon the Amazon position around him, Andre can only watch in horror as two pirate warships glide into view and turn the bay into a slaughterhouse.
Flanking the helpless men on the rafts, cannons open fire with grapeshot to shred wood and flesh alike. One ship's broadside is followed closely by another to leave no reprieve from the merciless slaughter. Screams and the sound of cannon fire fill the air to spread fear and confusion through the ranks.
Seeing his brothers killed and maimed so helplessly makes Andre's heart sink, but as much as the sight that follows. Following the warships like a trail of murderous ducklings, a swarm of war canoes set upon the bay from each side. Piranhas sensing blood in the water.
The rear crumbles.
The ranks break.
"Stromfels! Liberty!" Andre shouts desperately right before a massive Amazon punches him in the face.
Andre dares not show how agitated and anxious he is, barking a steady stream of orders to cover it from his men. The rebel leader rushes them to embark the rafts faster. So the hated oppressors don't have the time to wear down Xocibiki – and so his fellow believers don't have the time to realize they've been played.
He had expected the reckless Amazons to attack before they were ready, but not this kind of subterfuge. Before Stromfels everyone is equal, but the pompous followers of Rigg follow the whims of their bloated queen. It will still be their downfall, but to control the queen of the Amazon ant-hill they must control her daughter. Under no circumstances can they lose Fort Xocibiki where she is being held.
Busy organizing the crossing of the strait, Andre has no time to keep track of everyone as they land on the opposite side. He is not worried. He trusts his brothers implicitly: their bond is the reason the tyrants can never defeat them. Amazons cling to their ponderous hierarchy whereas those who embrace the chaos of Stromfels can think for themselves and adapt.
After all, when the Amazon princess was felled by her own thirst for blood and hubris during the battle of Xocibiki, their whole army crumbled. Andre himself is but one of many – if he somehow slips and drowns right now, his brothers will simply carry on. This is because, unlike the Amazons they know in their hearts what they fight for. Equality and brotherhood, forged from the ashes of an unjust world.
Andre glances back at the fleet of rafts returning for the rest of his forces: "Tell the men to prepare for battle. We have to hold out until they are across."
Despite his decisive reaction, this sudden development gives Andre pause. He has received no word of the tyrants giving up the siege at Fort Xocibiki, so this must be a secondary force. No doubt a suicidal attempt to slow them down; the selfish queen throwing away her subjects without a second thought. "How many?"
"Maybe as many as a thousand." Just as he thought. The Amazons had split their forces in two to surprise him – and now they would be outnumbered more than five to one.
As the battle lines are drawn it becomes clear his enemies are not entirely oblivious to their disadvantage. Rather than charge mindlessly as they are wont, the Amazons hold position in the jungle – where they cannot be picked off by the believers' handguns.
However, in doing so they have made themselves vulnerable to another threat: Their position juts out towards the bay where the Brethren have landed. The Amazons will be surrounded and annihilated and another piece of intelligence only hastens their fate:
"The queen is with them."
Andre gives the order to charge.
The two sides clash, not with the roar of handguns but a harrowing thunder from the bay at the rebels' rear. Even though he and his brothers have pushed the queen's forces to the breaking point, Andre instinctively stops to look at the sudden sound.
Even as his brothers fall upon the Amazon position around him, Andre can only watch in horror as two pirate warships glide into view and turn the bay into a slaughterhouse.
Flanking the helpless men on the rafts, cannons open fire with grapeshot to shred wood and flesh alike. One ship's broadside is followed closely by another to leave no reprieve from the merciless slaughter. Screams and the sound of cannon fire fill the air to spread fear and confusion through the ranks.
Seeing his brothers killed and maimed so helplessly makes Andre's heart sink, but as much as the sight that follows. Following the warships like a trail of murderous ducklings, a swarm of war canoes set upon the bay from each side. Piranhas sensing blood in the water.
The rear crumbles.
The ranks break.
"Stromfels! Liberty!" Andre shouts desperately right before a massive Amazon punches him in the face.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that, despite the metaphor deployed here, piranhas aren't nearly as bad as they're made out to be
At this point this has become Lyssa's story as much as Amazonia's and I kinda dread the day she's no longer queen. But that's CK2 for ya.
