Another group of animals flee further into the forest as again a sky beast throws a fireball at the other. Fights were common between Sky Beasts; many animals had seen one or two before. But fights of this intensity were rare, and it was obvious that this is was a fight to the death. Both contenders were relentless, attacking whenever they could, with whatever force that they could conjure up.
Eventually, one would kill the other, it couldn't possibly go on forever.
But when?
"Captain! They've destroyed our starboard engine, and I can't fix it without a replacement rotor!"
"What are you waiting for? Get one from the spare parts! Without, we'll have no control of steering!"
David was the captain of the airship Investigator, and had so been for 5 years. Over that time, David had learnt a lot about being a captain of a ship. He learnt to respect his crew, as that would improve their quality of work and decrease the chance of mutiny. He learnt how to estimate distances by eyesight, a skill that has come in handy more than once. And today, he learnt something extremely important: when making a deal with the Sharpwind Pirates, always keep your side of the deal.
"Mike, have you gotten that engine back up?" Asked David
"Almost," he replied, hurriedly finishing off the rotor connection.
Mike was one of the two engineers onboard the Investigator, and he took his role with utter most seriousness.
"Mitch, can you help with hull repair?" Asked David, seconds before another mortar shell explodes against the side of the ship, "because I'm pretty sure we won't last long without it."
"Yeah, no kiddin'," he snapped back before heading below deck.
Mitch was the other engineer onboard, and didn't always take his role seriously. He and Mike were identical twins at birth, but over time it was obvious that they were completely different.
"The engine is done! We now have steering!" Called out Mike before going below deck to help his brother.
"Finally, now we can actually face the fuckers!" David cheered out, while pulling the ship into a Portside turn, "Alex, I need you to throw everything we have on the main cannon as soon as they're in aim."
"Got it, captain! One extra explosive shower coming right up!" She replied.
Alex was the gunner of the ship, and a good gunner she was. She knew how to operate any weapon out there, and her aiming couldn't get much better. And when it came to battles, she knew where to hit and what ammunition to hit it with.
"Target is in range! Firing rounds!"
An array of shells flew out of the cannon, destroying the bow of the enemy's ship.
"All shells were on target, their main cannons were annihilated!" Alex informed.
"Brilliant, they're exposed!" David replied.
Alex turned back to reload the cannon before she noticed the enemy's new strategy.
"Uhh, captain?" She worriedly asked,
"What is it Alex? Out of ammo?"
"The enemy has a new attack plan," she stated as she pointed towards the ship speeding towards them.
"Oh shit, are they gonna' ram us?" Asked Mike, returning above deck with his brother.
"Looks like it," Replied David, his mind thinking over what to do. Suddenly, he had an idea, "and I think I might just know the way to counter it."
"Oh, and what do we have to do?" asked Mitch,
"Just go below deck and stay away from the front," replied David as he aimed the bow of the ship at the enemy.
"Wait, are we just going to sit here and let them ram us?!" Alex asked concernedly, "They'll destroy us!"
"We're not just going to sit here," he answered, while simultaneously activating the engines, "we're going to be ramming them as well! Now get below deck if you want to stay as one piece," he ordered.
The two ships kept speeding towards each other, looking like neither were going to chicken out. The distance was getting short, the collision was nearing.
1.5 kilometres.
"God, I hope this works." David muttered to himself.
1 kilometre.
David saw some of the enemy crew members jumping off the ship. It was obvious they couldn't bear the thought of colliding at such a high speed.
750 meters.
He started screaming with both fear and strength.
500 meters.
He jumped down into cover.
250 meters.
Now was the moment of truth.
0 meters.
The enemy ship was sliced into two on the front of the Investigator, with each half flying past the ship before hitting the ground. A wave of cheers come from the crew returning from below deck. David jumped down to join them.
"That was brilliant!" Mike applauded, "How did you come up with the idea?"
"Yeah, how?" Alex repeated.
"Well, it was simple. I knew their bow was essentially destroyed, so I thought to myself 'If I applied enough force to the bow, would it destroy the ship with it?' And I guess we found out the answer."
"Just amazing! Now what's next?" Mike asked eagerly.
"Well, that fight was close. WAY to close. I doubt we would have made it if we didn't get our steering back that fast. And not to forget that a ram damages both ships, not just the one."
"I can confirm that our bow is in pieces," informed Mitch, leaning over the front of the ship, "I doubt we can survive another fight."
"In that case, I believe that we should head to Dustport for repairs," Suggested David.
"Why Dustport of all places?" Asked Alex.
"Because, there's a certain engineer there that owes me one, and it's the largest supplier of cannons and other artillery."
"And why is the last fact important?" She asked.
"Because," he paused,
"We're going to get ourselves some guns."
YOU ARE READING
Journal of a Captain
Science Fiction'David was the captain of the airship Investigator, and had so been for 5 years. Over that time, David had learnt a lot about being a captain of a ship. He learnt to respect his crew, as that would improve their quality of work and decrease the chan...
