Chapter 31: The Counterattack
Starfox5
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Chapter 31: The Counterattack
The bot had spotted 'too many enemies to count'. Seacat didn't know if that meant Emily couldn't see all of the Horde troops or if the bot actually couldn't count that high, but either way, this wasn't just a scouting party. "Sound the alert!" she yelled. "Horde incoming."
The marines unloading the cargo from the Leaping Dolphin looked at her, blinking.
She clenched her teeth. "That was a warning from a scout! The Horde's attacking!"
"What about our pickets?" a woman asked. "They can't have missed that!"
"Then they're dead," Seacat snapped. "Alcy, Licy, Horas! Prepare the ship!"
"What are you doing?" Entrapta asked.
"Alerting the Captain and Mermista!" Seacat took off towards the waterfront.
"Oh, OK!"
A quick glance over her shoulder showed Seacat that the princess was following her, using her hair to take giant steps.
Seacat almost ran into a particularly slow and blind soldier, but slid around the man, then dashed towards the citadel. Mermista would be quartered there, not in the lower part of the fortress.
As she turned onto the ramp leading up to the citadel gates, she finally heard the alert being raised in the port. Took them long enough!
That would alert Mermista, too. But she wouldn't know what was happening right away. Seacat drew a hissing breath through clenched teeth and pushed herself to run faster. There! That was the princess's party! They had stopped just in front of the gate! "Sea Hawk! Mermista!" she yelled.
"Hey!" Entrapta chimed in.
Seacat reached the group first, but she was too short of breath to say anything other than "Horde attack! Bot spotted them!" before Entrapta arrived.
"Emily alerted us of a large Horde attack," the princess announced - a little too cheerful for the occasion. Seacat, still catching her breath, noted that a few of the marines seemed taken aback. And everyone seemed to know who Entrapta was talking about.
"How many?" Colonel Kilian - he hadn't been on the pier - asked.
"Too many to count, for Emily - though she can count rather well," Entrapta replied.
"Where are they? They can't have sneaked a large force past my pickets!" Kilian protested, echoing his marine's words.
"Unless they took out the pickets," Sea Hawk said.
"We've got roaming patrols, too."
"Emily was patrolling south of the river," Entrapta said, "when the rockets went up. That's about…" She poured her lips and wrinkled her nose. "...five miles out!" she finished with a bright smile.
The Colonel noticeably calmed down. "That's far out of the pickets' positions. They must have caught the patrols, but we've got enough time to deploy and prepare."
"Are you going to face them in the field?" Mermista asked.
"We can't let them set up fortified positions on the river bank; they'll bring up siege guns, and it'll be a bloody affair to throw them out again. Best to finish them in the field - with support from the frigates," the Colonel replied.
"They have to expect that," Seacat pointed out.
"That never stopped the Horde before," the officer retorted with a humourless chuckle. "It'll be a massacre when we catch them in the field with a few broadsides.
Seacat didn't agree. The Horde leaders weren't military geniuses, but they weren't stupid, either. Unfortunately. And if Shadow Weaver was behind this, she'd have some plan other than 'throw bodies at the enemy until one side runs out'. And yet, the river would block an attack on the fortress from the south, and this close to the sea, the river was very wide, so the frigates could sail upriver and decimate any enemy forces on the riverbanks.
"We need to scout the river, Captain," she said, more quietly, while Kilian bellowed orders to his troops.
"Indeed," Sea Hawk agreed. "The Horde has shown cunning lately; it wouldn't do to underestimate them."
"The Dragon's Daughter V is ready," Seacat told him - she trusted the others to have prepared the ship for combat by now.
"Then let us depart post-haste!" Sea Hawk declared before turning to Mermista. "We have to be off, my love!"
"Be careful."
"Always!"
The kiss that followed was neither careful nor hasty. But a few minutes later, the Captain and Seacat were back on their ship.
"We beat the Navy again!" Seacat said as they were casting off, looking at the frigates still in the process to get under sail.
"Technically, we're part of the fleet," Sea Hawk told her.
She frowned. "You know what I mean."
"I do." He smiled. "Although I wish I knew what our enemy is up to. They must have a plan to deal with the frigates."
"Mobile artillery? Skiff-deployed guns could shell the ships," Seacat suggested.
"I doubt that they have enough of them to match a frigate, much less several," Sea Hawk replied. "But I could be mistaken."
Great. If the Horde had enough guns to contest control of the river, the Dragon's Daughter V would be the first to find out.
They left the harbour and turned towards the river. A quick check with the telescope confirmed that the frigates patrolling were just turning around - they would take a while to return. Well, the two frigates in the harbour would be enough to wreck a Horde attack. Usually.
"Alcy, Licy - to the bow! Man the gun and keep an eye on the river!" Sea Hawk yelled.
Good. Usually, that wouldn't be needed so close to the sea - here, the river was deep enough for frigates. But if the Horde was planning something… Seacat braced herself on top of the mast and studied the southern shore.
She couldn't see anything out of place there. Two guardposts, manned - but they were evacuating already, boarding longboats to get back to the fortress. No, there was no Horde here, yet. That left the coast and the river. And they were going upriver.
Seacat turned and studied the water and shore ahead. Some driftwood, nothing unusual… She blinked. That was a lot of driftwood coming down. Had a Horde ship been blown up? She hadn't heard about any combat, but… accidents happened, and Adora might've sent some soldiers to the upper part of the river to protect her flanks.
Though… that would still be quite fast to reach the sea just now. Just when a Horde attack was about to take place…
She clenched her teeth and focused on the drifting wood. It looked… not like planks. More like pieces of tree trunks. Quite even pieces. Spread out, too. Wait… was that a line between two pieces? Or what?
"Alcy!" she yelled. "Shoot the driftwood, canister!"
"Which one?" Alcy yelled back while Licy started loading canister.
"The closest one!"
Sea Hawk was already slowing down. Good. Seacat really didn't like the looks of this. Dozens of those pieces were being carried with the river's current, towards them.
Alcy fired. A moment later, the wood exploded in a cloud of splinters and water. "That was canister, right?" Seacat yelled down.
"Yes!"
Damn. "The trunks are rigged to blow! They're bombs!" she screamed. "Keep shooting them!"
A moment later, the ship jerked as Sea Hawk put in reverse. Seacat kept her balance with ease, though - she was used to worse in a gale or even a storm. But those drifting bombs… The frigates wouldn't be able to enter the mouth of the river - hell, they would have to stay away from the coast since those things would spread out in the sea.
The Horde had just neutralised the Navy.
She slid down the mast to grab the signal flags.
"Warn the fortress!" Sea Hawk told her.
Alcy fired again, and another trunk blew up while Seacat scaled the rigging once more. She hoped the explosions had already attracted attention. Then she started signalling. The distance wasn't too far, so… Yes! On the closest tower, a marine was acknowledging her warning.
Another explosion - quite close this time. How many bombs had the Horde manufactured? Wait… the powdermills were in the heart of the fright zone, and they didn't require anything exotic like crystals. Damn. Shadow Weaver would have been able to get all the powder she wanted.
She studied the southern shore again as they reached the mouth of the river. The two longboats were clear - or should be. One was lagging a little, but they would be able to outrace any of the trunks.
Yes, they were evading the bombs. Good. She looked further inland. Still no sign of the Horde - but then, moving a few miles took time for an army. Though she would expect their scouts to show up - a skiff could cover the distance in a fraction of the time an infantry force took.
There! Smoke was rising in the light forest in the distance. She took a closer look with her telescope, just in time to see a small tree fall, uprooted by… a bot? A bot with those colours… Emily!
"There's Emily!" she yelled. The bot hadn't evaded the enemy forces by heading west - the dumb thing had gone straight towards the fortress. And now it was trapped on the southern shore, pursued by… Skiffs. Skiffs with guns.
A shell blew up next to the bot, making it stumble. Seacat held her breath. If the bot fell… but it recovered and kept going. And returned fire with its own gun - though at that range, and with a gun that made the Dragon's Daughter V's swivel gun look big, it wouldn't do much to the enemy.
Damn.
"First Mate! Signal Emily to head to the cliff! We're going to sail there and pick her up!"
What?
That was a cliff - they couldn't land there. If they wanted to pick up Emily, they would have to find a spot on the river's shore. Which would put them at risk of getting blown up by the bombs drifting in the river.
But Sea Hawk was the Captain. She signalled to the running bot, which promptly changed course.
Great. Now the Horde also knew where they were going. Well, they were hard to miss, anyway, so close to the shore, but still!
At least once they were alongside the cliff, they would be safe from the bombs - the river's current was dragging the things out to sea, not along the coast. Hell - Seacat realised that the bombs would render the entire area unsafe until they were disposed of. Sailing at night would probably be too dangerous. And they would never get all of the bombs. Any ship, friend or foe, would be at risk. No wonder the Horde had been willing to sacrifice their frigates if they had planned this!
And once the offensive along the river started, they would have to deal with more of those.
Seacat clenched her teeth, hissing with frustration, as she kept an eye out for bombs while the Dragon's Daughter V swung around, now going in the correct direction again, and headed towards the cliffside.
What a mess! But she had to focus on the task at hand: Saving a bot. She shuddered briefly when she spotted Emily leaping a small ravine - it looked similar too… Seacat wasn't going there. "How are we taking it on board?" she yelled down. The cliff was as tall as their mast. If the bot leapt, it would damage the deck, at least - and probably damage itself. And if it leapt into the sea, well… bots weren't boats.
"We'll rig a line!" Sea Hawk replied. "Horas!"
The burly minotaur was already swinging a line with a grappling hook at the end. But that wouldn't hold a bot - someone would have to climb the cliff and fasten the lines properly.
And the best sailor for that job was Seacat.
She watched the cliff again, gauging the time she had left before Emily - and then the Horde pursuit - reached the top. And she didn't like what she came up with. This would be close. Damn close.
Alcy fired the swivel gun, and Seacat jerked - just in time to catch a bomb exploding at sea. Ah. Good.
She slid down the mast, landing lightly on her feet, and grabbed the other line next to Horas. "Is the line secure?"
The minotaur pulled on it, then nodded.
"Good." She slung the other line over her shoulder like a sash, then gripped the grapple line. "Hold it tight until I reach the cliff, then give me some slack!"
Without waiting for an answer, she quickly made her way towards the cliff, hand over hand, upside down. Horas, as ordered, let the line go slack as soon as she touched the rock, and Seacat scaled the cliffside with the help of the rope and the claws in her feet.
She arrived on top just in time to see Emily appear about a hundred yards away. Damn - the grapple hook would never hold the bot's weight. Where to fix it… ah!
She ripped the hook out of the soil, then sprinted to the closest rocks on top of the cliff, wrapping the line around it and tying it up. A few tugs - that should hold.
She ran the other line through the loop, then dashed back to the edge of the cliff and threw it down. Horas caught it. "Hold on to it! We'll use it to lower Emily down!" The minotaur should be able to hold the bot - but he'd have to brace himself.
And speaking of… Emily arrived, beeping at her while her turret swivelled back and forth. She wasn't shooting - had she ran out of ammunition?
"Get over here! I need to tie this line to you!" Seacat yelled.
The bot beeped again. Then the earth a few yards behind it blew up - the Horde was shooting at them with guns.
"Hurry!" Seacat screamed.
The bot finally obeyed, scrambling over to her on its stubby legs - one of them not working, she noticed. Whatever. She grabbed the end of the line and jumped on top of the bot. There had to be a ring or something to run the line through… If she had to run the line around the bot, that would take far too long…
Next to her, a hatch opened and a ring appeared. "Ah."
Seacat knelt to fix the line to the ring when another shell hit - almost directly underneath Emily. The explosion sent the bot stumbling - towards the cliffside. Seacat gasped, then rushed to tie the line off before the frantically beeping bot - and her with it - tumbled over the edge.
"Horas!" she screamed, holding on to the line as Emily started to fall. "Pull!"
They fell for a second that felt like an eternity, the water below - and the rocks beneath it - seemingly to rush at them, until the line went taut, and their fall was stopped. Seacat almost lost her grip on the line, scrambling with her feet for purchase on Emily's shell, while the bot swung back and forth.
"Lower us! Quickly!" she yelled again. "Before they blow up the rope!"
They started to descend, and Seacat got ready to jump into the rigging - she didn't know how long the rope would hold both her and Emily's weight. Not after the abrupt stop before.
When Emily swung towards the Dragon's Daughter again, Seacat jumped off, launching herself towards the ship's rigging, then pushed off again and grabbed the other end of Emily's line, adding her weight to Horas's while she dangled above him.
"Come on!" she screamed. "Just a few yards more!"
Suddenly, the line went slack again. And both Seacat and the bot dropped.
Seacat fell onto Horas, barely managing to twist her body so she didn't end up gored by his horns, then slid off and landed on the deck. Not quite on her feet.
Emily hit the deck with a resounding crack, cracking the planks and smashing part of the railing. The force of the impact caused the Dragon's Daughter V to roll starboard, and Seacat dug in her claws to avoid sliding into the railing.
Emily warbled when the ship rolled back, the bot tethering on the edge. But Horas grabbed one of its flailing legs and heaved, pulling it back from the edge.
"Tie it down!" Seacat yelled as she grabbed the line that had fallen down - they couldn't have the bot roll around on deck; it'd smash half the ship to cinders.
"Skiffs on the cliff!" Licy yelled.
Seacat briefly looked up. Yes, there were skiffs. And they were deploying guns. Damn. They couldn't fire that far down, the angle was too steep and they were too close, but if the Dragon's Daughter V left the cliff for the open sea…
The Captain wasn't about to expose the ship like that, though - he steered it alongside the cliff as Horas and Seacat quickly lashed Emily to the deck. And they were picking up speed - just in time; some bright Horde scum had started dropping rocks from the cliff.
But there were rocks in the water, too, so close to the shore - and if they hit anything at the speed they were going… Seacat clenched her teeth and rushed to the bow; they needed all the eyes on the water to spot rocks and other obstacles below the water.
A shell went overhead - were they firing at the top of the mast? It didn't matter; no one was up there.
"We can't return fire," Alcy told her when Seacat climbed past the woman onto the bowsprit. "The angle's too steep, and we'd have to shoot through our own rigging."
"Just watch for rocks!" she snapped. "We need to gain enough distance to safely turn towards the sea.
Alcy muttered a curse, but leaned over the railing as well, followed by Licy.
The sea looked clear - no, there was a shadow in the water. "Port!" Seacat yelled.
"Port!" Sea Hawk repeated as the ship swung away from the cliff.
"Steady!" Seacat yelled. They just needed to stay the course now until they were past the rock.
Further out to the sea, a column of water up, followed by the sound of a gun. The Horde was firing on them. And they couldn't turn back towards the cliff with the rocks in the way.
"Steady!" she yelled. "Steady!"
The next shell hit closer - close enough to splash the deck with water. "Check the hold for leaks!" she yelled.
The ship swung around, towards the open sea. After a few seconds, it turned back towards the cliff. Sea Hawk was trying to evade the shells. But they were sailing straight towards a reef!
"Port!" Seacat yelled.
The Dragon's Daughter V started to turn, but it was still getting too close - there was a current pushing them towards the cliff. "Port!" she yelled.
Any second she expected to hear the sound of planks getting crushed and rocks slicing open the ship.
But it didn't come. Another shell hit the sea further out, and one ahead of them - but to the side.
They were back in the shadow of the cliff, where the Horde's guns couldn't hit them. At least with direct fire. If they had howitzers...
"Rock ahead!"
"Port!"
Once more they left the shadow of the cliff, and the shells landed closer. They were still not out of the range of the enemy. Sea Hawk steered the ship more erratically - waving back and forth. But at that distance, that was just rolling dice and hoping you got lucky.
More shells flew, landing behind them and to the side. None were ahead of them - they had to be close to out of range, then.
Close but not yet there. "Steady!" she yelled - the course back to the cliff was still blocked by rocks that would gut the ship.
How much longer?
"More rocks! Steady!"
They kept going. Another close shell doused them in water. Seacat heard the pumps starting - Horas was pumping. They must have sprung a leak. Or more. Probably a loose plank.
And they still couldn't sail closer to the cliff.
But the shells were falling behind them, now. No longer to the side.
"We're out of their range!" Alcy yelled.
They were. They had recovered Emily and escaped. But they had sprung a leak or two. And the waters were still rife with bombs. And…. Hell! More skiffs were setting up guns above them! They must have chased along the cliffside to cut them off!
"Someone must really hate us," she muttered. Well, that was to be expected when sailing with Sea Hawk. "Captain!" she yelled. "Guns on the cliff!"
"I see them. This will be a little tricky!"
Uh oh. Was he going to make a break for the open sea? That would be very dangerous… but they couldn't keep sailing along the cliff; it was slowly turning eastward, which meant they'd be exposed to the guns behind them. They'd be in full view of two batteries, with nowhere to hide.
Oh!
"Watch out for rocks!" she told Alcy and Licy, then dashed to the bridge. "Captain! Do you have more smoke powder?"
His eyes lit up. "Great idea! Yes, the tin is in my cabin, in my desk! Hurry!"
She jumped over the railing, landing on the main deck, then dashed into Sea Hawk's cabin. Tin. Tin. Where was the tin? She ransacked the drawer of his desk. There!
She grabbed the tin, then grabbed a pot from the galley and rushed back on deck - just as another close shell sent a wave of water across it. She kept the tin pressed to her chest as the water rushed over her. They couldn't take much more of that, even if they weren't hit directly, the Dragon's Daughter V might break up from the shockwaves of near misses.
She dashed up the stairs to the bridge, past Sea Hawk, and put the pot down at the stern before she emptied the entire contents of the tin into it.
"Tie it down!"
"Aye aye, Captain," she replied. She would do it after igniting the powder, though. Every moment counted now.
She struck a match and dropped it inside the pot, leaning away from the initial flame, then looked for some rope to tie the pot down as dark smoke started to blow out from it.
"Huzzah! Brace yourself - we're making a break for it!"
Clenching her teeth and holding her breath, she quickly wrapped the line around the pot, threading through the handles, then tied it to the railing. Coughing, she withdrew. "Pot secured!"
"Full speed ahead!"
The Dragon's Daughter V turned towards the open sea and almost seemed to jump when Horas pushed the engine's throttle all the way up.
Sea Hawk started weaving back and worth, spreading the thick smoke trailing behind into a veritable wall. Shells continued to fall, some quite close, but… they were spread out more, Seacat realised after a few minutes.
It was working. The Horde scum was firing blindly. They still could land a lucky shot, of course. But the odds were now in the Dragon's Daughter V's favour.
Though there were an awful lot of shells falling into the sea, she noticed. Not just behind them and to the sides, but some also ahead of them - those had to be from the guns that had just set up.
"How's the hold?" she yelled to Horas.
"Holding!" came the reply.
She snorted against her will - it couldn't be too bad if the minotaur could joke, but she'd have preferred a more precise report.
So she moved to the hold, keeping her balance by digging her claws into the deck when Sea Hawk took a tighter turn than normal, and took a look for herself.
There was some water in the hold - about an inch high - but the pumps could keep up. Mostly thanks to Horas working them. She really needed to ask Entrapta about a pump with an engine.
Provided they survived this, of course, she added to herself when another close shell shook the entire ship, and she saw more water enter through a crack in the hull.
"Keep it up!" she yelled, then went to the captain.
"We're holding up, but it's getting worse," she reported on the bridge.
"She'll get us out of that, no worry! The Dragon's Daughter V is a brave ship!" Sea Hawk replied. "Huzzah!"
Another close shell seemed to lift the ship up a little - and pushed her further ahead. For a moment, Seacat feared that the engine had been damaged, but they didn't lose any speed.
And, finally, the shells were falling behind. Just when the smoke powder started to run out.
"That was close," she said. "We've got several leaks in the hull."
"Indeed!" Sea Hawk nodded, flashing his teeth. "The floating bombs, now the mobile artillery - the Horde is determined to negate our naval power. This will be a hard battle, I fear."
"Yes." The frigates would be needed to throw back the Horde assault - but between the floating bombs and the guns, this could become very costly for the Salinean Navy.
"Let's return to the Fortress. And keep an eye out for floating bombs!" the Captain ordered. "We've got news to deliver. And Horde scum to defeat!"
They had to give the cliff a wide berth - and keep an eye out for floating bombs - on the way back to the fortress. Wider than the apparent range of the Horde guns - Seacat wouldn't put it past them to try and lure them closer by firing deliberately short shots.
At least the frigates had been warned - the two picket frigates hadn't sailed closer to the shore, and the frigates in the harbour hadn't left. And longboats were at the entrance of the port, probably looking for floating bombs. Or fishmen infiltrators.
The Dragon's Daughter V slid past them, Licy waving at them, and headed straight to the closest pier.
"Tie her up, then start plugging the leaks!" Sea Hawk yelled. "Seacat, with me!"
Seacat frowned. Leaving the ship when they needed everyone to fix the damage as soon as possible? But the Captain's orders were, well, orders. "Do what you can, focus on the smaller leaks you can completely fix," she told the others and went to cut loose Emily. The bot warbled some more, then awkwardly got up and headed towards the gangway.
"Wait! We'll have to lift you to the pier with a crane!" she told it. "The gangway is too narrow and too weak for you!"
Fortunately, the bot stopped, and Seacat went down the gangway and addressed the closest soldier on the pier. "Get a crane over here and get the bot on the pier!"
The man stared at her, then glanced at Sea Hawk coming down the gangway before he nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"
She clenched her teeth. Sea Hawk couldn't be expected to handle everything; that was what he had his crew for. The soldiers should know that she spoke for him.
But they had more important problems than the chain of command. More urgent ones, too. "What's the plan?" she asked as they walked down the pier at a brisk pace. What she meant was: Why do you need me here?
"We need to talk to Mermista. And to Entrapta. We need a way to deal with those floating bombs."
"Ah." That was it - she should've known. Mermista would be busy being in command, so Seacat as the next best woman would be the one to talk to Entrapta. And check the princess's ideas for practicability. And for safety. That made sense.
"Now, where would my dear love be?" Sea Hawk mused as they reached the waterfront. "If she saw us entering the harbour, she would have sent word already, so she must be in the citadel." He nodded at his own words, rubbing his moustache. "Onward, then!"
Seacat shrugged as she followed him. It was as good as any other guess.
But the Captain turned out to be correct - they were met by a runner halfway to the gate of the citadel. A few minutes later, they entered the planning room at the top of the main tower.
"Sea Hawk." Mermista nodded at him, Seacat saw, but she was far tenser than normal. Well, a battle was starting. Or had started - the first shots had definitely been fired.
"My dear Mermista!" Sea Hawk hugged her anyway. "We've returned bearing a rescued comrade of the mechanical variety, and dire news."
"Emily! You've brought Emily!" Entrapta blurted out. "Where is she? How is she?"
"Emily's on the ship, about to get unloaded, and apart from being a little banged up, looked fine," Seacat replied.
"Oh, no! I've got to check on her - it's thanks to her that we received advance warning of this attack!"
"Emily's fine," Seacat told the princess, holding up her hand. "But before you go, we need to talk about the bombs."
"Oh, right. The bombs. Those are bad, right?"
"Yes," Seacat said. "Probably as much powder as a shell. They'll hole any ship and might sink a smaller one right away."
She saw the admiral in the room wince at that, and Colonel Kilian nodded with a grim expression.
"And they're floating in the sea, hidden amidst driftwood," Mermista said. "We need to destroy them before they sink any of our ships. Their mere presence - the mere possibility of their use - will affect our entire fleet and supply lines."
"Can you use your powers to gather them all in one place?" Seacat asked.
"I need to see them for that," Mermista told her. "I could create a wave that cleared a path, but it wouldn't stop them from coming down the river."
"We could use nets to gather them up, as long as they don't sink underwater," Entrapta said. "Though they might explode when touching each other, so the nets would be quite large, so the explosion won't damage the towing ship, and they'd need to be frequently replaced."
"Courier ships with swivel guns can more or less reliably destroy the bombs from a distance," Seacat pointed out.
"But we're short on courier ships," the admiral said. "We've got two here, three if we count the gunboat. And we're short on swivel guns, too."
"What about bots?" Seacat asked. "Emily had a cannon large enough to trigger such bombs."
"Oh, that would work, but… we would need a ship for her, and for the other bots," Entrapta said. "Longboats aren't large enough. I could design a smaller bot, but they wouldn't be as effective since the cannon would be smaller as well, and the ammunition would be limited…"
"Then we'll build rafts," Sea Hawk said, grinning. "We've got the materials and men for that. "They won't be going to sea, but they're enough for coastal work - or on the river."
"And they'll be easy prey for the Horde guns," Kilian pointed out. "And without the frigates, we won't be able to push the Horde guns away from the cliff."
From where the guns would be able to bombard the fortress - and the harbour. That would soon render the port unusable.
"And without the rafts, we won't be able to get the frigates close enough to shell the gun emplacements," Mermista added.
"Mobile gun emplacements," Seacat said. "They can move them pretty quickly with skiffs.
"Ugh." The princess pressed her lips together in a deep frown.
Seacat looked at the others. They all knew what this meant - someone would have to deal with the guns, and they would likely take heavy casualties doing so.
Damn, she was thinking like an officer. She had to think like Seacat. There had to be a way to avoid sacrificing people in a bloody suicide charge. If only… Her eyes widened. "Entrapta! I've got an idea!"
"How's the ship?" Seacat asked as soon as she stepped on the Dragon's Daughter V's deck.
"We've patched up most of the smaller leaks, but the big one… is still leaking," Licy replied from the hold.
"Keep at it. We'll sail soon," Seacat told her. If Horas could keep up - and he had kept up with more leaks - then they would do fine.
"What?" she heard Licy exclaim, followed by Alcy shushing her.
"We need to move the Horde from the cliffside," she told them, peering down into the hold.
"Who's 'we'?" Alcy asked.
"The Salinean Navy," Seacat replied. "But someone needs to clear the floating bombs for them."
"And that'll be us?"
"Us and the other courier ship. And what rafts they manage to build for Entrapta's bots." Seacat flashed her fangs. "But at the start, it'll be just us."
Even Horas seemed to wince at that.
"We'll be working at the mouth of the river, though," she told them, "under cover of the fortress's guns."
Alcy nodded, but looked grim still - with good reason, of course. The artillery was already duelling, and the Horde had more guns, and more mobile ones, too.
A few shells had landed inside the port already - fortunately, not too close to them. Still, staying in port wouldn't be a good idea either.
Well, the frigates would add their fire to the fortress's guns once they moved to the cliffside. A few broadsides would make the Horde gunners take notice. Or so Seacat hoped.
As much as it was logical to risk a few small ships and boats instead of the frigates - or longboats packed with marines crossing the river - it would still be hard on the small ships. Such as the Dragon's Daughter V.
But they would do what they had to to defeat the Horde. "This is their big push," Seacat told the others as she climbed down into the hold to help them plug the last leak. "They've sacrificed their fleet to gain time. They must have used most of their powder supplies for the floating bombs. And this must be most of their artillery skiffs and their best troops. If we defeat them here, the war's as good as won!"
She wasn't quite lying - the Horde had more troops and more guns - but the Horde didn't have too many good troops. And they couldn't just move all of them around nily-wily. Just sending so many to the fortress would have strained their supply lines.
But if they won, they would regain the initiative. Hook up with the trapped troops up north. And start pushing towards Seaworthy again.
They had to stop them here. Stop them and defeat them.
By the time Sea Hawk arrived a quarter-hour later, they had managed to plug most of the biggest leak by hammering the planks back in place and sealing the gaps with tar. It wouldn't hold up for too long, but it would last long enough to fight the battle, or so Seacat hoped. Odds were, after a few hours, it wouldn't matter one way or the other.
Right when they cast off, an explosion shook the southern wall - a Horde shell had landed directly on a gun emplacement, the powder charges going off and wrecking a part of the wall. The marine gunners shot back, but they were outnumbered - and the Horde gunners could move quickly to disperse themselves - or focus on either end of the southern wall.
Another shell landed in the middle of the harbour, close enough for a small wave to hit the Dragon's Daughter V on the way out.
"Steady!" Sea Hawk yelled as they passed the line of longboats. "Signal the frigates on station that we'll be clearing the way to the cliff!"
Seacat scrambled up the mast. The frigates were a long way off due to the floating bombs - just about close enough so one could pick out signals without a telescope - but she saw water erupt close to one frigate as they shot at bombs. Or driftwood - no ship could take a chance here, even though the frigates could manoeuvre much more easily thanks to their engines.
Seacat used the flags to inform the frigates of the plan, clinging to the top of the mast with her legs, the claws on her feet digging into the wood. Usually, she'd cling to the rigging, but for this, she needed to be as visible as possible. Timing would be everything.
Alcy fired the swivel gun, and an explosion threw up a column of water right at the edge of the mole - a floating bomb had come so close? Things were worse than Seacat had feared.
As they sailed alongside the mole, shells flew overhead, hitting the harbour - but soon, they began to fall next to the Dragon's Daughter V. Quite close, too.
Sea Hawk started to weave through the waves, which threw off the Horde gunners's aim for now, but they would soon adjust. And if every gun fired on them, a shell was bound to hit them by sheer chance.
She shook her head and focused on her task. "The frigates are on the way!" she yelled. Not as fast as she'd like, but the ships were moving, following longboats looking for bombs.
"Huzzah!"
The cheering from Alcy and Licy was interrupted by another shot, which didn't blow up a bomb, though.
"Port!" Alcy yelled. "We missed!"
"'We'? I'm just the loader!" Lucy added.
Seacat would have snorted if she hadn't spotted the floating bomb drifting closer and closer to them, despite Sea Hawk turning the ship away.
"Steady, crew!" the Captain yelled. "Just a little longer!"
Seacat clenched her teeth and hissed with frustration. They were a target out there, hemmed in and slowed down by bombs and shot at by all the Horde artillery on the southern shore. This wouldn't go well if the princesses didn't act soon!
As if they had heard her, the cliffside and southern shore was suddenly starting to be covered in thick smoke - Entrapta must have finally finished building the special shells Seacat had asked for! A few minutes later, the entire area was covered in black clouds.
Seacat turned to look at the mole. Yes, with the Horde gunners blinded and their guns having been aimed at the Dragon's Daughter V, Mermista had climbed on top of the battered mole and raised her trident.
A moment later, a huge wave rose in front of the princess, shooting out towards the southern shore.
The bot had spotted 'too many enemies to count'. Seacat didn't know if that meant Emily couldn't see all of the Horde troops or if the bot actually couldn't count that high, but either way, this wasn't just a scouting party. "Sound the alert!" she yelled. "Horde incoming."
The marines unloading the cargo from the Leaping Dolphin looked at her, blinking.
She clenched her teeth. "That was a warning from a scout! The Horde's attacking!"
"What about our pickets?" a woman asked. "They can't have missed that!"
"Then they're dead," Seacat snapped. "Alcy, Licy, Horas! Prepare the ship!"
"What are you doing?" Entrapta asked.
"Alerting the Captain and Mermista!" Seacat took off towards the waterfront.
"Oh, OK!"
A quick glance over her shoulder showed Seacat that the princess was following her, using her hair to take giant steps.
Seacat almost ran into a particularly slow and blind soldier, but slid around the man, then dashed towards the citadel. Mermista would be quartered there, not in the lower part of the fortress.
As she turned onto the ramp leading up to the citadel gates, she finally heard the alert being raised in the port. Took them long enough!
That would alert Mermista, too. But she wouldn't know what was happening right away. Seacat drew a hissing breath through clenched teeth and pushed herself to run faster. There! That was the princess's party! They had stopped just in front of the gate! "Sea Hawk! Mermista!" she yelled.
"Hey!" Entrapta chimed in.
Seacat reached the group first, but she was too short of breath to say anything other than "Horde attack! Bot spotted them!" before Entrapta arrived.
"Emily alerted us of a large Horde attack," the princess announced - a little too cheerful for the occasion. Seacat, still catching her breath, noted that a few of the marines seemed taken aback. And everyone seemed to know who Entrapta was talking about.
"How many?" Colonel Kilian - he hadn't been on the pier - asked.
"Too many to count, for Emily - though she can count rather well," Entrapta replied.
"Where are they? They can't have sneaked a large force past my pickets!" Kilian protested, echoing his marine's words.
"Unless they took out the pickets," Sea Hawk said.
"We've got roaming patrols, too."
"Emily was patrolling south of the river," Entrapta said, "when the rockets went up. That's about…" She poured her lips and wrinkled her nose. "...five miles out!" she finished with a bright smile.
The Colonel noticeably calmed down. "That's far out of the pickets' positions. They must have caught the patrols, but we've got enough time to deploy and prepare."
"Are you going to face them in the field?" Mermista asked.
"We can't let them set up fortified positions on the river bank; they'll bring up siege guns, and it'll be a bloody affair to throw them out again. Best to finish them in the field - with support from the frigates," the Colonel replied.
"They have to expect that," Seacat pointed out.
"That never stopped the Horde before," the officer retorted with a humourless chuckle. "It'll be a massacre when we catch them in the field with a few broadsides.
Seacat didn't agree. The Horde leaders weren't military geniuses, but they weren't stupid, either. Unfortunately. And if Shadow Weaver was behind this, she'd have some plan other than 'throw bodies at the enemy until one side runs out'. And yet, the river would block an attack on the fortress from the south, and this close to the sea, the river was very wide, so the frigates could sail upriver and decimate any enemy forces on the riverbanks.
"We need to scout the river, Captain," she said, more quietly, while Kilian bellowed orders to his troops.
"Indeed," Sea Hawk agreed. "The Horde has shown cunning lately; it wouldn't do to underestimate them."
"The Dragon's Daughter V is ready," Seacat told him - she trusted the others to have prepared the ship for combat by now.
"Then let us depart post-haste!" Sea Hawk declared before turning to Mermista. "We have to be off, my love!"
"Be careful."
"Always!"
The kiss that followed was neither careful nor hasty. But a few minutes later, the Captain and Seacat were back on their ship.
"We beat the Navy again!" Seacat said as they were casting off, looking at the frigates still in the process to get under sail.
"Technically, we're part of the fleet," Sea Hawk told her.
She frowned. "You know what I mean."
"I do." He smiled. "Although I wish I knew what our enemy is up to. They must have a plan to deal with the frigates."
"Mobile artillery? Skiff-deployed guns could shell the ships," Seacat suggested.
"I doubt that they have enough of them to match a frigate, much less several," Sea Hawk replied. "But I could be mistaken."
Great. If the Horde had enough guns to contest control of the river, the Dragon's Daughter V would be the first to find out.
They left the harbour and turned towards the river. A quick check with the telescope confirmed that the frigates patrolling were just turning around - they would take a while to return. Well, the two frigates in the harbour would be enough to wreck a Horde attack. Usually.
"Alcy, Licy - to the bow! Man the gun and keep an eye on the river!" Sea Hawk yelled.
Good. Usually, that wouldn't be needed so close to the sea - here, the river was deep enough for frigates. But if the Horde was planning something… Seacat braced herself on top of the mast and studied the southern shore.
She couldn't see anything out of place there. Two guardposts, manned - but they were evacuating already, boarding longboats to get back to the fortress. No, there was no Horde here, yet. That left the coast and the river. And they were going upriver.
Seacat turned and studied the water and shore ahead. Some driftwood, nothing unusual… She blinked. That was a lot of driftwood coming down. Had a Horde ship been blown up? She hadn't heard about any combat, but… accidents happened, and Adora might've sent some soldiers to the upper part of the river to protect her flanks.
Though… that would still be quite fast to reach the sea just now. Just when a Horde attack was about to take place…
She clenched her teeth and focused on the drifting wood. It looked… not like planks. More like pieces of tree trunks. Quite even pieces. Spread out, too. Wait… was that a line between two pieces? Or what?
"Alcy!" she yelled. "Shoot the driftwood, canister!"
"Which one?" Alcy yelled back while Licy started loading canister.
"The closest one!"
Sea Hawk was already slowing down. Good. Seacat really didn't like the looks of this. Dozens of those pieces were being carried with the river's current, towards them.
Alcy fired. A moment later, the wood exploded in a cloud of splinters and water. "That was canister, right?" Seacat yelled down.
"Yes!"
Damn. "The trunks are rigged to blow! They're bombs!" she screamed. "Keep shooting them!"
A moment later, the ship jerked as Sea Hawk put in reverse. Seacat kept her balance with ease, though - she was used to worse in a gale or even a storm. But those drifting bombs… The frigates wouldn't be able to enter the mouth of the river - hell, they would have to stay away from the coast since those things would spread out in the sea.
The Horde had just neutralised the Navy.
She slid down the mast to grab the signal flags.
"Warn the fortress!" Sea Hawk told her.
Alcy fired again, and another trunk blew up while Seacat scaled the rigging once more. She hoped the explosions had already attracted attention. Then she started signalling. The distance wasn't too far, so… Yes! On the closest tower, a marine was acknowledging her warning.
Another explosion - quite close this time. How many bombs had the Horde manufactured? Wait… the powdermills were in the heart of the fright zone, and they didn't require anything exotic like crystals. Damn. Shadow Weaver would have been able to get all the powder she wanted.
She studied the southern shore again as they reached the mouth of the river. The two longboats were clear - or should be. One was lagging a little, but they would be able to outrace any of the trunks.
Yes, they were evading the bombs. Good. She looked further inland. Still no sign of the Horde - but then, moving a few miles took time for an army. Though she would expect their scouts to show up - a skiff could cover the distance in a fraction of the time an infantry force took.
There! Smoke was rising in the light forest in the distance. She took a closer look with her telescope, just in time to see a small tree fall, uprooted by… a bot? A bot with those colours… Emily!
"There's Emily!" she yelled. The bot hadn't evaded the enemy forces by heading west - the dumb thing had gone straight towards the fortress. And now it was trapped on the southern shore, pursued by… Skiffs. Skiffs with guns.
A shell blew up next to the bot, making it stumble. Seacat held her breath. If the bot fell… but it recovered and kept going. And returned fire with its own gun - though at that range, and with a gun that made the Dragon's Daughter V's swivel gun look big, it wouldn't do much to the enemy.
Damn.
"First Mate! Signal Emily to head to the cliff! We're going to sail there and pick her up!"
What?
That was a cliff - they couldn't land there. If they wanted to pick up Emily, they would have to find a spot on the river's shore. Which would put them at risk of getting blown up by the bombs drifting in the river.
But Sea Hawk was the Captain. She signalled to the running bot, which promptly changed course.
Great. Now the Horde also knew where they were going. Well, they were hard to miss, anyway, so close to the shore, but still!
At least once they were alongside the cliff, they would be safe from the bombs - the river's current was dragging the things out to sea, not along the coast. Hell - Seacat realised that the bombs would render the entire area unsafe until they were disposed of. Sailing at night would probably be too dangerous. And they would never get all of the bombs. Any ship, friend or foe, would be at risk. No wonder the Horde had been willing to sacrifice their frigates if they had planned this!
And once the offensive along the river started, they would have to deal with more of those.
Seacat clenched her teeth, hissing with frustration, as she kept an eye out for bombs while the Dragon's Daughter V swung around, now going in the correct direction again, and headed towards the cliffside.
What a mess! But she had to focus on the task at hand: Saving a bot. She shuddered briefly when she spotted Emily leaping a small ravine - it looked similar too… Seacat wasn't going there. "How are we taking it on board?" she yelled down. The cliff was as tall as their mast. If the bot leapt, it would damage the deck, at least - and probably damage itself. And if it leapt into the sea, well… bots weren't boats.
"We'll rig a line!" Sea Hawk replied. "Horas!"
The burly minotaur was already swinging a line with a grappling hook at the end. But that wouldn't hold a bot - someone would have to climb the cliff and fasten the lines properly.
And the best sailor for that job was Seacat.
She watched the cliff again, gauging the time she had left before Emily - and then the Horde pursuit - reached the top. And she didn't like what she came up with. This would be close. Damn close.
Alcy fired the swivel gun, and Seacat jerked - just in time to catch a bomb exploding at sea. Ah. Good.
She slid down the mast, landing lightly on her feet, and grabbed the other line next to Horas. "Is the line secure?"
The minotaur pulled on it, then nodded.
"Good." She slung the other line over her shoulder like a sash, then gripped the grapple line. "Hold it tight until I reach the cliff, then give me some slack!"
Without waiting for an answer, she quickly made her way towards the cliff, hand over hand, upside down. Horas, as ordered, let the line go slack as soon as she touched the rock, and Seacat scaled the cliffside with the help of the rope and the claws in her feet.
She arrived on top just in time to see Emily appear about a hundred yards away. Damn - the grapple hook would never hold the bot's weight. Where to fix it… ah!
She ripped the hook out of the soil, then sprinted to the closest rocks on top of the cliff, wrapping the line around it and tying it up. A few tugs - that should hold.
She ran the other line through the loop, then dashed back to the edge of the cliff and threw it down. Horas caught it. "Hold on to it! We'll use it to lower Emily down!" The minotaur should be able to hold the bot - but he'd have to brace himself.
And speaking of… Emily arrived, beeping at her while her turret swivelled back and forth. She wasn't shooting - had she ran out of ammunition?
"Get over here! I need to tie this line to you!" Seacat yelled.
The bot beeped again. Then the earth a few yards behind it blew up - the Horde was shooting at them with guns.
"Hurry!" Seacat screamed.
The bot finally obeyed, scrambling over to her on its stubby legs - one of them not working, she noticed. Whatever. She grabbed the end of the line and jumped on top of the bot. There had to be a ring or something to run the line through… If she had to run the line around the bot, that would take far too long…
Next to her, a hatch opened and a ring appeared. "Ah."
Seacat knelt to fix the line to the ring when another shell hit - almost directly underneath Emily. The explosion sent the bot stumbling - towards the cliffside. Seacat gasped, then rushed to tie the line off before the frantically beeping bot - and her with it - tumbled over the edge.
"Horas!" she screamed, holding on to the line as Emily started to fall. "Pull!"
They fell for a second that felt like an eternity, the water below - and the rocks beneath it - seemingly to rush at them, until the line went taut, and their fall was stopped. Seacat almost lost her grip on the line, scrambling with her feet for purchase on Emily's shell, while the bot swung back and forth.
"Lower us! Quickly!" she yelled again. "Before they blow up the rope!"
They started to descend, and Seacat got ready to jump into the rigging - she didn't know how long the rope would hold both her and Emily's weight. Not after the abrupt stop before.
When Emily swung towards the Dragon's Daughter again, Seacat jumped off, launching herself towards the ship's rigging, then pushed off again and grabbed the other end of Emily's line, adding her weight to Horas's while she dangled above him.
"Come on!" she screamed. "Just a few yards more!"
Suddenly, the line went slack again. And both Seacat and the bot dropped.
Seacat fell onto Horas, barely managing to twist her body so she didn't end up gored by his horns, then slid off and landed on the deck. Not quite on her feet.
Emily hit the deck with a resounding crack, cracking the planks and smashing part of the railing. The force of the impact caused the Dragon's Daughter V to roll starboard, and Seacat dug in her claws to avoid sliding into the railing.
Emily warbled when the ship rolled back, the bot tethering on the edge. But Horas grabbed one of its flailing legs and heaved, pulling it back from the edge.
"Tie it down!" Seacat yelled as she grabbed the line that had fallen down - they couldn't have the bot roll around on deck; it'd smash half the ship to cinders.
"Skiffs on the cliff!" Licy yelled.
Seacat briefly looked up. Yes, there were skiffs. And they were deploying guns. Damn. They couldn't fire that far down, the angle was too steep and they were too close, but if the Dragon's Daughter V left the cliff for the open sea…
The Captain wasn't about to expose the ship like that, though - he steered it alongside the cliff as Horas and Seacat quickly lashed Emily to the deck. And they were picking up speed - just in time; some bright Horde scum had started dropping rocks from the cliff.
But there were rocks in the water, too, so close to the shore - and if they hit anything at the speed they were going… Seacat clenched her teeth and rushed to the bow; they needed all the eyes on the water to spot rocks and other obstacles below the water.
A shell went overhead - were they firing at the top of the mast? It didn't matter; no one was up there.
"We can't return fire," Alcy told her when Seacat climbed past the woman onto the bowsprit. "The angle's too steep, and we'd have to shoot through our own rigging."
"Just watch for rocks!" she snapped. "We need to gain enough distance to safely turn towards the sea.
Alcy muttered a curse, but leaned over the railing as well, followed by Licy.
The sea looked clear - no, there was a shadow in the water. "Port!" Seacat yelled.
"Port!" Sea Hawk repeated as the ship swung away from the cliff.
"Steady!" Seacat yelled. They just needed to stay the course now until they were past the rock.
Further out to the sea, a column of water up, followed by the sound of a gun. The Horde was firing on them. And they couldn't turn back towards the cliff with the rocks in the way.
"Steady!" she yelled. "Steady!"
The next shell hit closer - close enough to splash the deck with water. "Check the hold for leaks!" she yelled.
The ship swung around, towards the open sea. After a few seconds, it turned back towards the cliff. Sea Hawk was trying to evade the shells. But they were sailing straight towards a reef!
"Port!" Seacat yelled.
The Dragon's Daughter V started to turn, but it was still getting too close - there was a current pushing them towards the cliff. "Port!" she yelled.
Any second she expected to hear the sound of planks getting crushed and rocks slicing open the ship.
But it didn't come. Another shell hit the sea further out, and one ahead of them - but to the side.
They were back in the shadow of the cliff, where the Horde's guns couldn't hit them. At least with direct fire. If they had howitzers...
"Rock ahead!"
"Port!"
Once more they left the shadow of the cliff, and the shells landed closer. They were still not out of the range of the enemy. Sea Hawk steered the ship more erratically - waving back and forth. But at that distance, that was just rolling dice and hoping you got lucky.
More shells flew, landing behind them and to the side. None were ahead of them - they had to be close to out of range, then.
Close but not yet there. "Steady!" she yelled - the course back to the cliff was still blocked by rocks that would gut the ship.
How much longer?
"More rocks! Steady!"
They kept going. Another close shell doused them in water. Seacat heard the pumps starting - Horas was pumping. They must have sprung a leak. Or more. Probably a loose plank.
And they still couldn't sail closer to the cliff.
But the shells were falling behind them, now. No longer to the side.
"We're out of their range!" Alcy yelled.
They were. They had recovered Emily and escaped. But they had sprung a leak or two. And the waters were still rife with bombs. And…. Hell! More skiffs were setting up guns above them! They must have chased along the cliffside to cut them off!
"Someone must really hate us," she muttered. Well, that was to be expected when sailing with Sea Hawk. "Captain!" she yelled. "Guns on the cliff!"
"I see them. This will be a little tricky!"
Uh oh. Was he going to make a break for the open sea? That would be very dangerous… but they couldn't keep sailing along the cliff; it was slowly turning eastward, which meant they'd be exposed to the guns behind them. They'd be in full view of two batteries, with nowhere to hide.
Oh!
"Watch out for rocks!" she told Alcy and Licy, then dashed to the bridge. "Captain! Do you have more smoke powder?"
His eyes lit up. "Great idea! Yes, the tin is in my cabin, in my desk! Hurry!"
She jumped over the railing, landing on the main deck, then dashed into Sea Hawk's cabin. Tin. Tin. Where was the tin? She ransacked the drawer of his desk. There!
She grabbed the tin, then grabbed a pot from the galley and rushed back on deck - just as another close shell sent a wave of water across it. She kept the tin pressed to her chest as the water rushed over her. They couldn't take much more of that, even if they weren't hit directly, the Dragon's Daughter V might break up from the shockwaves of near misses.
She dashed up the stairs to the bridge, past Sea Hawk, and put the pot down at the stern before she emptied the entire contents of the tin into it.
"Tie it down!"
"Aye aye, Captain," she replied. She would do it after igniting the powder, though. Every moment counted now.
She struck a match and dropped it inside the pot, leaning away from the initial flame, then looked for some rope to tie the pot down as dark smoke started to blow out from it.
"Huzzah! Brace yourself - we're making a break for it!"
Clenching her teeth and holding her breath, she quickly wrapped the line around the pot, threading through the handles, then tied it to the railing. Coughing, she withdrew. "Pot secured!"
"Full speed ahead!"
The Dragon's Daughter V turned towards the open sea and almost seemed to jump when Horas pushed the engine's throttle all the way up.
Sea Hawk started weaving back and worth, spreading the thick smoke trailing behind into a veritable wall. Shells continued to fall, some quite close, but… they were spread out more, Seacat realised after a few minutes.
It was working. The Horde scum was firing blindly. They still could land a lucky shot, of course. But the odds were now in the Dragon's Daughter V's favour.
Though there were an awful lot of shells falling into the sea, she noticed. Not just behind them and to the sides, but some also ahead of them - those had to be from the guns that had just set up.
"How's the hold?" she yelled to Horas.
"Holding!" came the reply.
She snorted against her will - it couldn't be too bad if the minotaur could joke, but she'd have preferred a more precise report.
So she moved to the hold, keeping her balance by digging her claws into the deck when Sea Hawk took a tighter turn than normal, and took a look for herself.
There was some water in the hold - about an inch high - but the pumps could keep up. Mostly thanks to Horas working them. She really needed to ask Entrapta about a pump with an engine.
Provided they survived this, of course, she added to herself when another close shell shook the entire ship, and she saw more water enter through a crack in the hull.
"Keep it up!" she yelled, then went to the captain.
"We're holding up, but it's getting worse," she reported on the bridge.
"She'll get us out of that, no worry! The Dragon's Daughter V is a brave ship!" Sea Hawk replied. "Huzzah!"
Another close shell seemed to lift the ship up a little - and pushed her further ahead. For a moment, Seacat feared that the engine had been damaged, but they didn't lose any speed.
And, finally, the shells were falling behind. Just when the smoke powder started to run out.
"That was close," she said. "We've got several leaks in the hull."
"Indeed!" Sea Hawk nodded, flashing his teeth. "The floating bombs, now the mobile artillery - the Horde is determined to negate our naval power. This will be a hard battle, I fear."
"Yes." The frigates would be needed to throw back the Horde assault - but between the floating bombs and the guns, this could become very costly for the Salinean Navy.
"Let's return to the Fortress. And keep an eye out for floating bombs!" the Captain ordered. "We've got news to deliver. And Horde scum to defeat!"
*****
They had to give the cliff a wide berth - and keep an eye out for floating bombs - on the way back to the fortress. Wider than the apparent range of the Horde guns - Seacat wouldn't put it past them to try and lure them closer by firing deliberately short shots.
At least the frigates had been warned - the two picket frigates hadn't sailed closer to the shore, and the frigates in the harbour hadn't left. And longboats were at the entrance of the port, probably looking for floating bombs. Or fishmen infiltrators.
The Dragon's Daughter V slid past them, Licy waving at them, and headed straight to the closest pier.
"Tie her up, then start plugging the leaks!" Sea Hawk yelled. "Seacat, with me!"
Seacat frowned. Leaving the ship when they needed everyone to fix the damage as soon as possible? But the Captain's orders were, well, orders. "Do what you can, focus on the smaller leaks you can completely fix," she told the others and went to cut loose Emily. The bot warbled some more, then awkwardly got up and headed towards the gangway.
"Wait! We'll have to lift you to the pier with a crane!" she told it. "The gangway is too narrow and too weak for you!"
Fortunately, the bot stopped, and Seacat went down the gangway and addressed the closest soldier on the pier. "Get a crane over here and get the bot on the pier!"
The man stared at her, then glanced at Sea Hawk coming down the gangway before he nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"
She clenched her teeth. Sea Hawk couldn't be expected to handle everything; that was what he had his crew for. The soldiers should know that she spoke for him.
But they had more important problems than the chain of command. More urgent ones, too. "What's the plan?" she asked as they walked down the pier at a brisk pace. What she meant was: Why do you need me here?
"We need to talk to Mermista. And to Entrapta. We need a way to deal with those floating bombs."
"Ah." That was it - she should've known. Mermista would be busy being in command, so Seacat as the next best woman would be the one to talk to Entrapta. And check the princess's ideas for practicability. And for safety. That made sense.
"Now, where would my dear love be?" Sea Hawk mused as they reached the waterfront. "If she saw us entering the harbour, she would have sent word already, so she must be in the citadel." He nodded at his own words, rubbing his moustache. "Onward, then!"
Seacat shrugged as she followed him. It was as good as any other guess.
But the Captain turned out to be correct - they were met by a runner halfway to the gate of the citadel. A few minutes later, they entered the planning room at the top of the main tower.
"Sea Hawk." Mermista nodded at him, Seacat saw, but she was far tenser than normal. Well, a battle was starting. Or had started - the first shots had definitely been fired.
"My dear Mermista!" Sea Hawk hugged her anyway. "We've returned bearing a rescued comrade of the mechanical variety, and dire news."
"Emily! You've brought Emily!" Entrapta blurted out. "Where is she? How is she?"
"Emily's on the ship, about to get unloaded, and apart from being a little banged up, looked fine," Seacat replied.
"Oh, no! I've got to check on her - it's thanks to her that we received advance warning of this attack!"
"Emily's fine," Seacat told the princess, holding up her hand. "But before you go, we need to talk about the bombs."
"Oh, right. The bombs. Those are bad, right?"
"Yes," Seacat said. "Probably as much powder as a shell. They'll hole any ship and might sink a smaller one right away."
She saw the admiral in the room wince at that, and Colonel Kilian nodded with a grim expression.
"And they're floating in the sea, hidden amidst driftwood," Mermista said. "We need to destroy them before they sink any of our ships. Their mere presence - the mere possibility of their use - will affect our entire fleet and supply lines."
"Can you use your powers to gather them all in one place?" Seacat asked.
"I need to see them for that," Mermista told her. "I could create a wave that cleared a path, but it wouldn't stop them from coming down the river."
"We could use nets to gather them up, as long as they don't sink underwater," Entrapta said. "Though they might explode when touching each other, so the nets would be quite large, so the explosion won't damage the towing ship, and they'd need to be frequently replaced."
"Courier ships with swivel guns can more or less reliably destroy the bombs from a distance," Seacat pointed out.
"But we're short on courier ships," the admiral said. "We've got two here, three if we count the gunboat. And we're short on swivel guns, too."
"What about bots?" Seacat asked. "Emily had a cannon large enough to trigger such bombs."
"Oh, that would work, but… we would need a ship for her, and for the other bots," Entrapta said. "Longboats aren't large enough. I could design a smaller bot, but they wouldn't be as effective since the cannon would be smaller as well, and the ammunition would be limited…"
"Then we'll build rafts," Sea Hawk said, grinning. "We've got the materials and men for that. "They won't be going to sea, but they're enough for coastal work - or on the river."
"And they'll be easy prey for the Horde guns," Kilian pointed out. "And without the frigates, we won't be able to push the Horde guns away from the cliff."
From where the guns would be able to bombard the fortress - and the harbour. That would soon render the port unusable.
"And without the rafts, we won't be able to get the frigates close enough to shell the gun emplacements," Mermista added.
"Mobile gun emplacements," Seacat said. "They can move them pretty quickly with skiffs.
"Ugh." The princess pressed her lips together in a deep frown.
Seacat looked at the others. They all knew what this meant - someone would have to deal with the guns, and they would likely take heavy casualties doing so.
Damn, she was thinking like an officer. She had to think like Seacat. There had to be a way to avoid sacrificing people in a bloody suicide charge. If only… Her eyes widened. "Entrapta! I've got an idea!"
*****
"How's the ship?" Seacat asked as soon as she stepped on the Dragon's Daughter V's deck.
"We've patched up most of the smaller leaks, but the big one… is still leaking," Licy replied from the hold.
"Keep at it. We'll sail soon," Seacat told her. If Horas could keep up - and he had kept up with more leaks - then they would do fine.
"What?" she heard Licy exclaim, followed by Alcy shushing her.
"We need to move the Horde from the cliffside," she told them, peering down into the hold.
"Who's 'we'?" Alcy asked.
"The Salinean Navy," Seacat replied. "But someone needs to clear the floating bombs for them."
"And that'll be us?"
"Us and the other courier ship. And what rafts they manage to build for Entrapta's bots." Seacat flashed her fangs. "But at the start, it'll be just us."
Even Horas seemed to wince at that.
"We'll be working at the mouth of the river, though," she told them, "under cover of the fortress's guns."
Alcy nodded, but looked grim still - with good reason, of course. The artillery was already duelling, and the Horde had more guns, and more mobile ones, too.
A few shells had landed inside the port already - fortunately, not too close to them. Still, staying in port wouldn't be a good idea either.
Well, the frigates would add their fire to the fortress's guns once they moved to the cliffside. A few broadsides would make the Horde gunners take notice. Or so Seacat hoped.
As much as it was logical to risk a few small ships and boats instead of the frigates - or longboats packed with marines crossing the river - it would still be hard on the small ships. Such as the Dragon's Daughter V.
But they would do what they had to to defeat the Horde. "This is their big push," Seacat told the others as she climbed down into the hold to help them plug the last leak. "They've sacrificed their fleet to gain time. They must have used most of their powder supplies for the floating bombs. And this must be most of their artillery skiffs and their best troops. If we defeat them here, the war's as good as won!"
She wasn't quite lying - the Horde had more troops and more guns - but the Horde didn't have too many good troops. And they couldn't just move all of them around nily-wily. Just sending so many to the fortress would have strained their supply lines.
But if they won, they would regain the initiative. Hook up with the trapped troops up north. And start pushing towards Seaworthy again.
They had to stop them here. Stop them and defeat them.
*****
By the time Sea Hawk arrived a quarter-hour later, they had managed to plug most of the biggest leak by hammering the planks back in place and sealing the gaps with tar. It wouldn't hold up for too long, but it would last long enough to fight the battle, or so Seacat hoped. Odds were, after a few hours, it wouldn't matter one way or the other.
Right when they cast off, an explosion shook the southern wall - a Horde shell had landed directly on a gun emplacement, the powder charges going off and wrecking a part of the wall. The marine gunners shot back, but they were outnumbered - and the Horde gunners could move quickly to disperse themselves - or focus on either end of the southern wall.
Another shell landed in the middle of the harbour, close enough for a small wave to hit the Dragon's Daughter V on the way out.
"Steady!" Sea Hawk yelled as they passed the line of longboats. "Signal the frigates on station that we'll be clearing the way to the cliff!"
Seacat scrambled up the mast. The frigates were a long way off due to the floating bombs - just about close enough so one could pick out signals without a telescope - but she saw water erupt close to one frigate as they shot at bombs. Or driftwood - no ship could take a chance here, even though the frigates could manoeuvre much more easily thanks to their engines.
Seacat used the flags to inform the frigates of the plan, clinging to the top of the mast with her legs, the claws on her feet digging into the wood. Usually, she'd cling to the rigging, but for this, she needed to be as visible as possible. Timing would be everything.
Alcy fired the swivel gun, and an explosion threw up a column of water right at the edge of the mole - a floating bomb had come so close? Things were worse than Seacat had feared.
As they sailed alongside the mole, shells flew overhead, hitting the harbour - but soon, they began to fall next to the Dragon's Daughter V. Quite close, too.
Sea Hawk started to weave through the waves, which threw off the Horde gunners's aim for now, but they would soon adjust. And if every gun fired on them, a shell was bound to hit them by sheer chance.
She shook her head and focused on her task. "The frigates are on the way!" she yelled. Not as fast as she'd like, but the ships were moving, following longboats looking for bombs.
"Huzzah!"
The cheering from Alcy and Licy was interrupted by another shot, which didn't blow up a bomb, though.
"Port!" Alcy yelled. "We missed!"
"'We'? I'm just the loader!" Lucy added.
Seacat would have snorted if she hadn't spotted the floating bomb drifting closer and closer to them, despite Sea Hawk turning the ship away.
"Steady, crew!" the Captain yelled. "Just a little longer!"
Seacat clenched her teeth and hissed with frustration. They were a target out there, hemmed in and slowed down by bombs and shot at by all the Horde artillery on the southern shore. This wouldn't go well if the princesses didn't act soon!
As if they had heard her, the cliffside and southern shore was suddenly starting to be covered in thick smoke - Entrapta must have finally finished building the special shells Seacat had asked for! A few minutes later, the entire area was covered in black clouds.
Seacat turned to look at the mole. Yes, with the Horde gunners blinded and their guns having been aimed at the Dragon's Daughter V, Mermista had climbed on top of the battered mole and raised her trident.
A moment later, a huge wave rose in front of the princess, shooting out towards the southern shore.
*****