The little sloop that could...

Let me tell you a tale. A tale that is more ten just a tale but more of a legend. It all starts with as simple crew as do all my stories. Only this is a David and Goliath story. Who will win the day? Who will listen to my story? Take a sit and let me tell you about the crew of The Dark Tidings…..
Well it was just another day on the Sea of Thieves only today is an easy day as the crew of Dark Tidings has set about the task of doing merchant voyages. Helping new comer, but keen eyed, deck hand Cat Sorna getting to the next level in MA. Captain Ron "The Duke" Eagle sets a voyage down and begin to supply the boat. Cat hates this and howls up a storm as she wants to go one the voyage now!! However, The Duke knows these seas and understands just how important supplies can be, with a firm tone and a grip on the hilt of his trusted Royal Sovereign cutlass he commands his unruly crew. After the crew has filled the boat with enough to the Captains liking they set sail for Cannon Cove.
Sailing goes easy as the crew is in luck and has the wind, but something is off in the distance. The Duke can see a Galleon anchored off the dock at the cove. The Duke isn't a fool and knows what his vessel can and cannot do, but the crew smells blood. Cat says they need whatever the Galleon has on it, since they always have loot. The crew of Dark Tidings has nothing to lose so they decided to go for it.
Heading straight for the Galleon the crew quickly gets the boat ready for battle, since they just started their voyage they hadn't had a chance to acquire any powder yet. Knowing this the crew decides to keep their distance and fire from afar. The Duke is at the helm and Cat readies the cannons, but something is wrong the Galleon is turning. Seeing this the Duke handles the sails quickly the rigging's flowing like the sea themselves in the hands of the old sea dog. The Galleon fires first and hard, all four cannons are firing but the luck of Dark Tidings they seem to have never fired them before.
The cannonballs fly passed the swift Dark Tidings and seem to either fall short and are too high to even come close. Cat however has been practicing and is ready. She fires the first volley of cannons and doesn't miss a single shot. She runs and collects more, all the while the Duke is manning the helm keeping close but distant. The Galleon sets sails and makes chance, but the crew of Dark Tidings isn't worried. Keeping the enemy ship at bay by rocks and wind, Dark Tidings peppers the Galleon with more and more cannon fire then the enemy can handle. The larger ship makes haste to the open water in hopes of luring the smaller ship into a close quarters fight but the Duke isn't having it. Cat keeps the fire up with amazingly accurate aim, the Duke can be seen smiling even as he watches from the helm. This is a mistake that will cost them.
The Duke isn't watching where the sloop is heading and it's too late when he notices. LAND HOOO!!! Dark Tidings hits a rock full speed, but the crew doesn't panic they keep firing. The Duke handles the sails and hard to port. Repairing the ship is easy enough and bailing never hurt anyone. Dark Tidings is quickly back in the fight; however, the Galleon is barreling down on the tiny ship. The Duke sees this and makes for the ship fully aware of the fact that the guns on the Galleon can't hit the small boat if it is too close. The Galleon sees and opening and feels like it can easily over take the smaller crew, they were dead wrong. The Duke readies the ship for impact and grabs his Grand Admiral Blunderbuss and orders Cat to steel herself for the battle.
The Galleon seems to make a shift in the last seconds of impact and barely scraps the smaller ship, but the doesn't stop most of the crew from jumping over to the smaller boat. One misses the vessel entirely but two make the jump. The crew of Dark Tidings quickly lounges into the fray. Firing his blunderbuss, The Duke hits the enemy but doesn't kill him, swords it is. The fight is fierce with both combatants clearly knowing their way around the blade. The Duke blocks and dodges with ease as would a seasoned veteran, but the enemy is also keen to block and move. The Duke starts to notice a pattern in the enemy's movement and takes his chance, after the fury of blows the enemy always backs up and then moves left. Seeing this The Duke steadies his hand and focuses on the point he wants to be and lounges. Perfect hit!! The enemy goes down in a p**f of green smoke to be greeted by the Ferryman. Fearing that Cat is the same as his foe the Duke quickly goes below deck and searches the ship. Cat is calmly eating a banana, and drinking a grog to wash it down. Laughing they both set about the task of finishing off the dreaded Galleon.
Running low on supplies but high on moral from the quick but decisive battle, they man their positions with haste. The enemy ship seems to just be adrift at sea and would be with half of the crew waiting at the door and on the bell. Wasting no time Cat resumes her quick firing speed and lands 9 out of 10 shots. The Galleon has clearly taking the brunt of the damage in this fight and seems to be losing speed. Taking advantage of the ships slower speed the Duke orders Cat to fire him over and finish the job, with the devil in her eyes she smiles a grin that would make the Grim Reaper himself take a step back and does just what her Captain orders.
Climbing into the cannon and taking a deep breath the Duke gives the order, Cats aim is true and sure. The Duke lands squarely on the front of the ship! He quickly drops the anchor and heads below deck, grabs some supplies of his own and fills his stocks. He waits for just a moment and realizes that he can hear the anchor but it’s being raised not falling! He switches to his blunderbuss and head to the top deck. The whole crew is trying to man the anchor, and the Duke is glad that he has such a full supply of ammo. Firing at the closest foe, they drop into smoke. Reloading and firing again only to clip the enemy crew they break off and begin the attack. The boats anchor lands hard and they pivot to port, the Duke sees this as an opportunity and isn’t known for wasting them.
He lounges and knocks one of the crew off their boat. He’s now neck deep in the fight but he has nothing to lose, blocking, dodging and lashing out at the 2 other crew members he handles them with care. Always keeping one foe between him and another he fights with the ferocity of a loin. Down another one, the crew seems to be getting smaller but so is the Duke’s stamina. Running below decks to grab a small respite and a few bananas the Duke is met with a familiar face, it’s the enemy crew member whom he ended with the first shot. The Duke seeing no means of escape dives head first into the fight once more. Slashing and dodging the Duke fights but is quickly over powered by the two, and is soon fading to black. Waiting by the door he turns to see one of the enemy crew members running toward the door and waving hello. Cat hasn’t been lazy and is still laying waste to the enemy ship. Smiling the Duke leaves through his door. What he sees next will be told by the camp fire for more than a few grogs, the enemy ship is dead in the water and sinking !!! Cat has taken the ship out with cannon fire while he Captain was keeping the crew busy. They both laugh and do a small gig while waiting for the spoils of war to float to the top.
Much to the surprise of the crew the loot is sprawling all over the seas, chests and skulls and trinkets litter the oceans. The crew of Dark Tidings knows this will be a great haul. Quickly grabbing everything and placing it aboard the ship, they make for port. Selling the haul will take a long time but they do it merely and with a smile. Cashing in everything brings them a mighty sum and a sigh of relief comes as well. The crew grabs more supplies and head out to sea not knowing what that horizon may bring next. Until next time my mates’ fair winds and following seas and remember to watch the horizons as you never know who could be coming.