Young Writers Society

Author's Note: His ship is named Leviathan and the beast he is after is named Leviathan. Hope things don't get too confusing...

On to the story.

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Chapter 18

A little ballerina danced upon a golden stage to the eerie and slow requiem of the old music box. The face of the young ballerina looked up towards the guiding stars and bore the resemblance of the man's stolen love. The cool sea breeze dried the tears of the old captain as he relived the painful moments which lost him the only woman he ever had, and ever will, love. Lady Verin.

Saverz's massive ship plowed through the waves towards the last port before the coming battle to take back what belonged to him. The sixteen hundred gun Leviathan was a ship in a class all its own, a floating castle capable of launching massive volleys of attacks and sending out raiding parties from off shore to attack coastal cities while cannons devastate resistance from long range. Seventy sails propelled the ship along while a crew of thousand turn four large propellers to drive the castle forward at all hours of the night. A crew of thirty thousand ran the Leviathan and all of its floating glory.

The rare moment of privacy on this sleepless ship was always dedicated to her and the men knew it well. He did not sail the seas alone because some quarter million lives clung to Admiral Saverz's dream of a free nation. From his elevated cabin at the front of the ship, Saverz looked out to Gyudin and the far off lights of Armet's Xepalane. The deep water Leviathan could not enter any port in the world, but from a distance of three kilometers the cannons could deliver a killing punch to attacking ships and pound the ports unmercifully with the very ballast of his own ship, thousands of heavy cannonballs. This port was friendly to their demands, largely because of the offerings Saverz made to Armet, a great diplomatic feast opened the ports to the demands of the King of Piracy or as Armet had declared, “Great Warlord of the Sea”.

A knock at the door broke Saverz's concentration as Avil announced, “Leviathan is in Xepalane waters. Do you wish to drop anchor, Admiral.”

Saverz's reply was immediate, “No, that will delay our departure. Fold the sails and maintain position.”

“Yes, sir.” Avil confirmed the message, “To avoid delay on departure we will fold the sails and maintain position.”

As he left the door, the message resounded through the ship in a series of shouts and confirming shouts, until everyone from the front to the back of the ship was aware of Saverz's orders. The rush of a thousand men's boots upon the iron plated decks resounded like heavy rain upon a tin roof. The best sailors in the world were disciplined and Saverz's crew was the best. Acting as a single effective unit, the black sails of Leviathan were folded up within minutes and the ship was dead in the water. Anchored buoys were shot out of short range cannons at the front and end of the ship, allowing for acceptable drift which the crew would have to keep the ship within for the duration of the waterdock.

In the aft of the ship, men spilled over the sides of the planks and onto small, wide cargo ships as they were lowered into the water. Two men would turn waterwheels while a third guided the ship out of Leviathan and into the open sea. Ropes and pulleys clogged Leviathan's dock as the small ships were lowered from the air in two three columns which rest in four individual docks. A scene of chaos given meaning with rigorous exercise and drilling that was performed each and every time Leviathan docked.

Dozens of ships departed from Leviathan, each with their own light to guide them in close formation towards the docks. Boxes of foreign goods, oils, fish and weaponry were to be exchanged for fresh fruit, bread and hides. Operating largely on a livelihood made from the sea itself, Leviathan's acts of piracy were often a means to fight a war pushed upon them by the Patriarchs of Vale and a great many nations which could not stand Saverz's policies. Those polices ranged from providing safe passage for criminals, selling illegal and immoral items, plundering offensive ports repeatedly at will and supporting the Ebon Masters throughout Gaea. Armet cared little about the outside world, much like the rest of Belrin, and was able to be easily manipulated to whatever he required.

Coming south from the Port of Antwark were seventy ships, ten of which were dreadnought-class ships, twenty close range war galleons, and fifty troop assault carriers. They had to cross 200 kilometers in two days, were they would link up with the Leviathan and its support fleet before engaging Marham's three largest ports with help from Commander Sisial's assembled task force.

The plan to defeat the beast, Leviathan, was Saverz's original plan, but unfortunately Lady Verin was spotted, drawn into a fight and captured bringing essential gold to Sisial for the recruitment of professional hunters. Cardinal Cein's conclusion of the connection between Sisial and Saverz was correct with one minor error, Sisial was not Saverz, but instead another key figure close to the Ebon Master.

The goal of the operation is two pronged with Saverz's main force providing cover for the operation while the armada handles the recovery of Verin and the destruction of Marham warships. Sisial's force will sail northwest to find Leviathan and prepare the trap to engage the great serpent until Saverz can join up and deliver the killing blows. The recovery of Cardinal Cein's sword being the ultimate prize of the hunt. The operation pit Saverz and Cein in a race against time for the lost sword and control of the seas.

Saverz check himself in the old mirror over his dresser and stared at his rough black beard and bags under his eyes, “My my, don't you look dreadful.”

Taking a fine comb he straightened his beard and using a pair of scissors carefully cut the excess length until he looked like a true captain and not some old beggar thrown into a black and gold suit. Pulling the wide tricorn hat from its stand he fixed it proudly on his head. His uniform needed no medals or badges of honor to display the might of a man like Saverz, the relics from his past had no place in the present or future, yet the fabric had not faded around their place where he had stripped them off a decade ago. Those who had helped him steal the Leviathan knew that the Admiral had thrown those damned medals back at the Emperor of Kessex as his resignation, yet their memory ingrained itself in his uniform and became a part of who he was, even if the uniform was discarded it would exist in his mind all the same.

Exiting his cabin, Saverz made his way down the stairways and into the bridge of Leviathan where the commanders were fast at work preparing messages and duties for the crew. As Saverz came into the room all of them stopped and saluted with the traditional pirate salute: Right fist over the heart and a shallow bow with the words, “Guide us forward, our Admiral!”

With a wave of his hand he broke their salute and asked, “Where is the Antwark fleet?'

“Our best estimates are some 150 kilometers from the rally point, based on the wind and currents,” Navigator Dell replied, “We will not know for some ten hours due to the stretched communication lines.”

“And of the resupply operation?” Saverz directed the question to the Arms Master Hyuanigin, a master of logistics from the far north Empire of Xing.

“No problems on the launch, we need at least one hundred tons of gunpowder, we are all good on shot, but I have requested additional ingots of Tiger Steel for our smiths and some three hundred tons of Xepalane sand for flash powder.”

“Flash powder?” Saverz asked, “Why do we need that?”

“Properly utilized we can lay down smokescreens for our future operations,” Hyuanigin replied.

“Very well, if you believe we will require it.” Saverz turned his attention to the thick glass windows and gazed out to see all one hundred galleons spread out and the two hundred cargo ships as they guided them into Xepaplane's port, “We are in friendly waters, but I do not want to leave the ships unguarded. Order our twenty best galleons to remain here and protect the ships.”

“Commander Hertzshall's galleon as well?” Communication's Officer Lavie Fritz asked.

Saverz let out a soft laugh, “Of course not! His lust for battle is too great, we simply need that war dog. Don't inform Markz and Dukelin either. They'd never forgive me if I held them back from shooting up their home ports.”

“Aye-aye Admiral,” Fritz scribbled the message down in Light Code, “Excuse me, I will inform them immediately.”

Lavie Fritz was one of the few woman officer's Saverz had, but she was more capable then most men. Taught by her father, she was one of very few pirate communication's experts and was able to quickly decode messages three times as fast as other officers, which earned her a place on the Leviathan.

Saverz took his seat at the back of the bridge and gazed out as the lantern lights as they moved ever closer to Xepalane. A part of him wished he did not need to resupply, but for the sake of their escape and the large battles which would consume weeks, it was unavoidable.