The following is an excerpt from the personal journal of Chancellor Ryan Blademonk of England.
Part 1: A Shallow Grave[]
Chapter 27 Section 17: A Breif Beginning[]
October. My most uneasy month. For reasons unknown to anyone, Jolly Roger is granted ungodly amounts of power, and energy. For the past 27 years in my career as an EITC Lord, and English Chancellor, I had never felt so uneasy as I did this particular night.
Chapter 27 Section 18: A Plan Compromised[]
'Twas the night of October 11, 1745. I was sitting in a warehouse watching my men train against some practice dummies. I was taking into account their impressive amount of skill and finesse. Truly though, my mind was elsewhere. My dearest wife Hannah was in a lodge we had reserved for our stay. We were set to move out tonight. Most of our stuff along with the supplies of the men we already loaded on to the cargo vessel.
During the past week, I had travelled to this small island on the server of Bequermo to meet with a group of Ex. Rebels looking to do business with the English Empire. We had the meeting and they successfully instated in to my reserve force as medics. It was at the time thought that we could build a bridge of peace and not hatred towards the pirates in the Caribbean since there were so many of them.
I would soon learn that there are plans..... and then there are plans.
Chapter 27 Section 19: General Mobilization[]
"Very good men." I found myself speaking to the practising regiment. "Pack it up and get to the harbor. We ship out in an hour. Be there, or you'll get left behind. Go!" I added in the sense of the moment.
The men scurried out the door, except for one of my most trusted. Lieutenant-General Ishamel Stead.
"You shall accompany me back to the lodging district. Let the men head toward the barracks and pack their things. I'll send for someone to take care of yours as well." I said to the man. Ishamel nodded, and followed without a word.
When we arrived at the lodging district, I stopped in to see another man of prestige. Sir Charles had accompanied me with his right hand man Jack Scurvybones. They were too packing and were getting ready to move out. I approached my door and was greeted by Lord Nathaniel Crestbreaker.
"Any word on the fleet?" I asked him.
"We are completing our final preparations for your departure sirs." He replied to Charles and I.
"Very good. Carry On. We'll be there shortly" I said.
"Indeed Sir." he replied with a jaunty tone. "See you at departure." He wandered off towards the Harbor District.
Chapter 27 Section 20: Preventative Measures[]
As I entered my rented lodge, I was greeted by my wife Hannah. I kissed her on the cheek, and walked through the foyer. I had been telling her about the success of the meeting and she was thrilled. Suddenly, a knock came at the door. We still had 30 minutes until departure so I wondered who it could be.
I opened the door, and saw Ishamel. He stood there with about six men behind him.
"Sir. We've been compromised." he shouted. The men began to stir in murmurs about something I wasn't able make out.
"Calm yourselves!" I shouted over the men. "Tell me what's going on."
"Our scouts report that Jolly Roger is coming to this island. He must have gotten wind of your presence here and he is coming to try and trap us here." The Lieutenant-General was stammering and out of breath at the same time. "If our calculations are correct, they are estimated to land five minutes before we are scheduled to ship out!!"
"Those sneaky boneheads are quite smart sometimes. Perhaps we'll need to push our departure forward." I suggested.
"Not possible sir. We are still repairing the final sails from your little incident earlier in the years in West Africa. We won't be able to ship out until they have it completed." he replied anxiously.
I thought back to The Siege Of West Africa for a moment. The Battle-Royale had taken the Flaming Grape Shot to the sails. Then I refocused my attention to the situation at hand.
"Double the work efforts of the men on board. Get those cannoneers repairing too. Meantime focus your best on the suppressing ground effort. We only need to hold the beachhead long enough for the men on board to get my ship up and running." I said.
"We'll see what we can do, but we only have a small garrison. 60 men.... if that. It will be hard to defend the beaches with such a small force." replied Ishamel.
"Make it work soldier... or you might be looking at the Captain rank again." I said with my final coordinating words. The men went silent. Ishamel just frowned and nodded. Then he motioned the men away, and they went off with him following not too far behind.
Chapter 27 Section 21: A Close Call[]
With the clock ticking, I saw my men rushing to repair the sails of the HMS Battle-Royale. We had only about 10 minutes until the undead fleet would arrive in the harbor. I knew that once they were here, we'd have one hell of a time getting out of there in one piece. I rushed repairs, and started loading the men on board. Everyone (including my wife Hannah) had boarded the ship, except for me, Charles, Ishamel, Nathaniel, and Jack.
Suddenly a thunder roared from over the horizon. The air was clouded by a thick green fog, making sight almost impossible. I knew at this time that there was no other option. I took a throwing knife from Ishamel, and tossed it at the pole that tethered the Battle-Royale to the dock.
"Begone! Go now or you'll never make it!!" I shouted to Captain Anderson.
The man who had been through much with me understood, and knew it was alright to leave us. He knew we'd be alright, but he pretty much had to lock Hannah up to keep her from throwing herself overboard to be with me. I ran over and grabbed the knife, and gave it back to Ishamel, as we all rushed to the beachhead.
I turned around to the sound of cannon fire. I looked and saw the Battle-Royale firing it's cannons towards the lead ship of the Undead Fleet. The ship took all the hits, and began listing heavily to starboard side. With that, the Battle-Royale took a few scattered hits from various ships but ultimately squeezed by then fleet thanks to the roadblock created by the lead ship.
As the rest of the undead fleet pulled around the island, we could see them circling and making a blockade, but then.... the transport arrived. It pulled into the harbor. We all drew our weapons... knowing well there were a good 8 brigades of undead waiting aboard, to fight Five men.
Chapter 27 Section 22: The Cavalry Arrives[]
The transport just sat there. Fog cleared around it. Soundless lightning strikes flashed above it's tethered sails. There sat the torn remains of what I could tell was once a fancy War-Frigate class vessel. Capable of quite the broadside.
"Here goes everything." I said straight-faced to my men.
Suddenly, we began to hear shouting. Not the shouting of the undead. No, the voices were much to clear to be that of an undead scallywag. The shouts sounded as if they were getting closer. We began to see dinghies rowing to shore. We had assumed they were from the skeletons, and we were right. The undead Captains were standing proud on the front as they rode towards shore.
Ishamel and Jack took place behind pillars and began picking off the skeletons as they rowed ashore with their Muskets. It was insufficient though. The undead War-Frigate had begun launching it's forces and they were going to no doubt... swarm us.
Suddenly, we heard a distant cannon shot, followed by a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, snd seventh one. We looked out from our cover and saw that nothing had been fired from the skeleton ship. Puzzled for a second we stared at the dingys rowing ashore.
Then in the blink of an eye, grape shots rained down on all of them from nowhere. The fire blasted all of the first brigade dingys out of the water. Undead were thrown from their boats, and began swimming towards shore in large numbers. Suddenly, the doors of the shops we had all been hiding near burst open. The shouts from before were loud and clear now.
"FOR FREEDOM!!!!" came a unanimous roar, as hundreds of men and women flew out of the shops. Weapons in hands all rushing towards the beachhead to meet the undead in battle.
I was stunned. I had never seen such a large group of diverse individuals all fighting on the same side, and for the same purpose. I had concluded that by the difference in age, skin, and garb, this was no military organization of any kind. It was simply a militia. Men, women, and even children.... all fighting to save their home.
They seemed to pay no attention to the fact that I was there, and that I had EITC men with me. They simply focused on firing their guns, and throwing their knives at every bone they saw. I knew then, that this suicide mission had actually turned into a battle. A winnable battle.
Chapter 27 Section 23: A Minor Setback[]
It wasn't long after the militia burst from hiding that the undead had finally reached the shores. Coming out of the water walking, they drew their weapons and began fighting the pirates that were blocking the way to the rest of the island. I looked up the hill and saw that there were militia troops constructing a barricade out of furniture, and excess wood. The barricade was made up specifically of doors, wooden planks, barrels of various materials, crates, davenports, chairs, and fishing nets.
I split up the men, and they all rushed to aid the militia fighting on the shores. I on the other hand had run up to where the pirates were constructing the barricade.
"We're going to need some more pitch! And get us some blasting jelly in case things go wrong!" shouted a young girl. She was dark-skinned and had to be no more than 18, yet she was shouting orders that the militia was following.
"Excuse me miss!" I shouted over the sounds of gunshots, and cannon fire.
"There is little time for introduction now stranger." she replied. "I can tell yer not from these parts."
With that, a roar erupted from the militia force on the beach. They had defeated the first brigade of undead, and were getting ready to engage the second.
"How about now?" I asked with sarcasm.
She took my hand and and ran. I followed her (of course) through the small town, towards the lodging district. We got to a bridge that crossed a river and she stopped. She seemed to be staring at nothing for a second. I looked around and saw skeletons climbing up the rocks that lined the riverbed. I took a repeater off a nearby dead militia pirate, and shot them off. One by one they fell into the water and never surfaced again.
I threw the repeater in the water as homage to the dead militia hero. I spun around to see if the girl had noticed what just happened. Oh she saw it alright. But I didn't see her. That blasted little girl had pulled a knife and next thing I knew, she had stuck me in the side.
I grabbed at my side where I had been stabbed, and pressured the bleeding. I fell to one knee, and was struggling to keep my head up. I finally did look up, and when I did I saw her whirl around and then I felt the pain of a sharp roundhouse kick in my face.
I fell over the edge, and dropped towards the water. I hit, and sank almost immediately. It was only about a 15 foot drop, but it felt like a lot more with my stab wound. I flapped and rose to the surface, there was a strong current in the river, and it was pushing me along, so all I could really do was try and keep my head above water. I caught on to a rock and began climbing up on top of it. I made my way safely on to it, and looked around. I was far down the riverbed. There were canyon like walls surrounding the flowing water and they had turned sharply several times from where I hit.
I knew I was far away from wherever the beaches were which relieved me a bit, until I realized I was stranded here and was bleeding out fast. I pressurized my wound. I also took off my coat and wrapped it tightly around my waste in an attempt to cut off the blood flow a little. I struggled for a little while until I realized i had stopped bleeding.
I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, then.... next thing I knew, I had found myself passed out on the rock.
Chapter 27 Section 24: Back In The Fight[]
"Wake up, Wake up sir." Those were the next words I remember hearing. I awoke being shaken by Ishamel. I looked around and found that I was sitting up, leaning on a tree. I started to stand, but a sharp pain at my side reminded me I was stabbed.
"No no no, sir." said Ishamel "don't make any sudden movements. Your wound is patched, but only lightly. Jack's field dressings do not permit you to continue combat."
"How the bloody hell did you you find me?" I asked in an anxious tone.
"Your body washed ashore on the beach. I pumped the water out of you and brought you here."
I looked around as Ishamel was speaking, and saw that the tree was behind a gypsy's wagon. Beyond the wagon there was still massive fighting going on. I heard grenades, and cannon shots impacting the land nearby. I saw men and woemn sword fighting the undead and shooting the ones who carried barrels full of blasting jelly.
"God knows where the gypsy ran off to, but after you were patched up, Jack gave you a revival tonic. Then you came to, and that's all you've missed sir."
I looked to my right and saw that Jack was crouching behind a wall with a drawn musket, firing the occasional support shot to knock down the boneheads. I looked to my left and saw Nathaniel also with a drawn musket. I couldn't see what he was shooting at, but I knew he must have been giving cover fire. Soon enough, Charles rushed behind the wagon from Nathaniel's side, and caught his breath. Nathaniel then ducked behind the wagon, and reloaded.
"Good to see your still with us Chancellor!" shouted Charles over the nearby explosions, and gunfire.
"How's the battle coming along Sir Salisbury?" I asked with the respectable tone I present to all knights.
"Not good. The militia is pushing back strong, but their clever tactics are beginning to wear out against the increasing skeleton army." he replied. "If we don't get help soon, this is a losing fight."
"Don't trust the militia anymore!" I exclaimed. "One of the young girls did this to me. I seem to recognize her from somewhere, but I can't put my finger on it."
"Shall we evacuate the island sir?" asked Jack
"No" said Charles "Although the militia isn't exactly friendly, we cannot let this island fall to Jolly Roger".
"I agree." said Nathaniel "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
The men all looked at me. I motioned for assistance standing. Jack put my arm around his shoulder, and stood me up. I took a deep breath, and settled into the relaxed standing position.
After exhaling, I said "It is settled then."
"Ugh, I hate it when he says that." whispered Nathaniel to Ishamel.
"ONWARD GENTELEMEN! INTO BATTLE!!!" I exclaimed as I drew my sword.