163 Marine battle

My Haki coursed unabated into the creaking vassal under us, saturating every stray piece of wood and coating it in the viscous yet somehow rigid power that was my Haki. Any cannonball that came too close for comfort would be shot down, either with Angella tearing into them with her blades or Fawkes chopping them up with his axe.

Though we could not see who had attacked us, the whites of their flags could still be made out. They were Marines.

"TERRICK! MAN THE CANNONS!!" I roared out as I yanked the wheel to the left, a wave underneath carrying us into an arcing pose that barely avoided a projectile that had been coming straight at us.

The weakened assassin nodded at me, quickly making his way into the cannon room below deck.

"Sorren!" I roared, this time less loudly seeing as the boy was relatively close. "Onto the crow's nest, Give me a number and analyse our escape path!" I ordered. The fat man acknowledged it by scampering up the wet ropes of the sails, twitching precariously in the ferocious winds.

The stormy water roiled, frothing and bubbling with a vitriol that reminded me of the first day that we had entered the New World. All around us, massive waves rose and crested, providing us much needed partial cover against the intensifying onslaught.

With a crash the Ship collided with the crest of an incoming wave, the keel groaning under the pressure as we forcefully rode it into a high position. Before us was a collection of three ships, flags flapping over their masts.

On their deck, I could see the stoic face of a Marine officer. Probably a Rear Admiral, looking at the regality of his clothing. He wore a small top hat, with a collection of heavily rimmed glasses that seemed much wider than his face. He held a quaking snail in his palms, and judging by the situation it was what he was using to manage the situation around us.

His shoulders stood stooped, his coat overflowing off his back yet somehow staying on even in the thundering weather.

'Fire!' I read before we went under, the wave that had been giving us a lift plunging down. An uncomfortable sinking feeling rose in my stomach as we tumbled forward, the ship weaning slightly off course as it thumped onto the moving currents.

A loud yelp could be heard from the crow's nest as Sorren adjusted his position quickly scampering back into the relative safety of the crow's nest.

Scipio had disappeared below deck, weather to help Terrick or to retrieve something I was not aware.

Suddenly the water beside us separated, revealing the form of a sea stone-encrusted ship heading right towards us.

With a deafening crash, they rammed into our side, pushing the carefully balanced ship into an emergency overhaul. The toppling ship attempting to right itself within the viscous water.

Fawkes looked at me long enough to see me nod, before he roared leaping onto the other ship. He had boarded them. While conventional crews would first utilize the plank to bridge the gap between the two vessels, we did not need such a measure.

With the roar of a demon, he cleaved through the crew, every brandish of his axe tearing through the marines before him. His Haki turned into a sinister black covering his bladed weapon's wicked edge.

Within moments, the garish blade had been turned scarlet, rivers of blood flowing and merging quickly with the torrential rain. The leader on the ship had been a mere Captain. He stood no chance. With an angular chop, Fawkes tore him in half, growling in slight frustration as his blade lodged into the wooden deck.

The marines around him quaked in their boots as he turned to them, his face softening slightly. With simple moves he proceeded to throw anyone he could get his hands on, off board.

They wailed and shrieked as they fell into the seas roaring maw, some immediately died, the wave carrying them into the wooden keels of either ships. As soon as Fawkes had cleared the deck, he broke apart the wood around his axe. With a mighty heave, he pulled his axe out, using the momentum of the movement to tear through the mast.

Impassively, he tossed the wooden beam off deck before gracefully landing back on our side, not a speck of blood on his pristine, yet somewhat wet suit.

Barts looked at him, worship in her gleaming eyes as she temporarily ceased her aid to Rein who had been trying to push off the offending ship's keel with a stray piece of wood that he had found.

Unfortunately, for us, there was no time to rest, for with the fall of the first ship, five more zoomed towards us, easily cutting through the multitudinous waves.

I could not aid the crew in this fight; it took all I had to stabilize the ship. Wrestling with the sea was no easy task!

My muscles roared in agony as I pulled against the wooden wheel, hoping against hope that nothing happened to the rudder that was suffering the brunt of the offending sea.

It seemed however, that our problems were only to be compounded. For as we rose up a third colossal wave, Terrick stumbled on deck.

"No more cannonballs!" he yelped as he ran over to Rein and Barts. Taking out his dagger, he literally rolled over to Angella taking a hasty stance as he readied his weapons. Just in time too, for as soon as we stood atop the watery hill we were ambushed once more. This time, by the Rear Admiral's vessel.