No Quarter

BOOOOOOOM

The Jackdaw jolted violently in the water knocking you completely off your feet, splinters and flames leapt fiercely from the deck tens of feet into the air.

Without hesitation you pushed yourself to your feet and ran towards the broadside cannon closeby, you pulled at the clothes of the crew mate who was slumped forward over the barrel of the cannon, he fell lifelessly backwards in your arms bleeding badly.

"HES BEYOND HELP, LEAVE HIM" shouted Jonesy the otherside of the cannon, he was busy reloading the cannon with another cannonball

You glanced down at him, his face and upper torso badly bloodied and traumatised, his features unrecognisable. Blood pumped quickly from his wounds, you literally felt the life draining from him in your arms as he got heavier.

"LASS JUST BLOODY LEAVE HIM, COME ON". He shouted again getting impatient with you, his voice barely audible over the roar of screams and shots around you.

Glancing down once more at him you sadly realised he was too badly injured for your help and you dropped his body to the deck. Attention turning to task in hand you grabbed the long wooden ramming rod from the floor and proceeded to ram the shot and wadding down inside the barrel of the cannon.

The Jackdaw powered through the waves circling HMS Gloucester, a monster of a ship equipped with at least fifty guns all of them trained on The Jackdaw. A seemingly unfair battle, the Gloucester towered over The Jackdaw but as it was commanded by the British navy and ultimately lieutenant Anson, A deep seated hate burned in Edwards belly for it.

Edward carried a passionate hatred for Anson and would rather fight to the death before retreating. "It's not the size of the dog in the fight lass, it's the size of the fight in the dog" Edward would often say, his words rang in your ears.

"FIRE!" He shouted from the wheel.

Jonesy lit the fuse to the cannon and you dropped to your knees pushing your fingers in your ears and clenched your eyes tightly shut.

"BOOOOM" the cannon hurtled backwards knocking you slightly off balance, thick acrid smoke filled the deck, you blinked tears from your eyes as the smoke made them burn. Coughing hard you tried to clear your throat as the gunpowder kicked at your lungs.

Grabbing another handful of wadding you pushed it down the barrel whilst Jonesy pushed the cannon back into position ready for the next shot.

Glancing momentarily over the deck of the ship, you noted the chaos the crew were thrown into, there were bodies laid strewn around you, the deck smouldered and burned from previous shots. Your crew mates shouted orders to one another, it was a scenario so often played through but this time felt different, this time it felt like you were fighting relentlessly.

Edward steered The Jackdaw round to face The Gloucester with gusto, his brow furrowed, teeth clenched, never had you seen him so determined to sink a ship before, you realised this ran deeper with him than you first thought.

"LASS!" Jonesy shouted, grabbing your attention back, you pushed the wadding and shot down inside the cannon with the ramming rod ready for Edwards command.

There came another loud explosion from The Gloucester, a distant whistling of shot that got louder as it hurtled towards The Jackdaw.

"BRACE YOURSELVES" Edward boomed from the wheel, you grabbed the base of the broadside and curled up as small as you could. There was a second of silence, total serenity it seemed and then the shot landed.

"CRACK" it landed not far from you mid deck, the noise was truly deafening. Unaware of anything but a violent jolt that forced you quickly forward, you closed your eyes tightly hoping whatever it was would soon pass, you thought of little else other than the deafeningly loud ringing in your ears.