New Recruits (Follows the Artillery freighter mission week 1)
Flora released her breath slowly and when her lungs emptied she gently squeezed the trigger. Her cross hairs had been centered on Rum-bloods forehead but as she fired a Church of one knight attacked, leaping in between them as he swung a heavy over hand blow at Rum-blood. His charge took him right into the bullets path. The round punched into the back of his helmet and exited just above his right eye. It splattered brain matter all over Rum-blood who staggered back tripped on a corpse and disappeared sprawling into a hatch. Flora cursed, “I hope you’re doing better than I am.” she said to the olgog next her. His name was Dren he was an average sized olgog covered with greenish blue fur. He was supposed to take out the knights leader.
“No, I lost him. I think he ran down into the ship. Boss is not going to the happy.” Flora got into a crouch she knew it made her more visible but she hoped for a better angle on her target
“Just keep your eyes open they have to come out so…” She cut off as two unexpected things happened. First enormous tentacles suddenly burst out of the surf and grabbed ahold of the ship second she was struck by a blinding flash and huge rush of air. Flora felt as if a giant invisible hand had smacked her. The force sent her tumbling down the small ridge they’d been behind. She found herself at the bottom of the ridge with no gun and a painful buzzing in her ears as flaming bits of wood, metal and meat rained down around her. Hauling herself to her feet she clambered back up the hill grabbing her rifle along the way. She rejoined Dren who was slack jawed with shock.
The front half of the ship was simply gone and what was left of the back was rapidly sinking on top of whatever had grabbed it. Tentacles as thick as tree trunks hammered the hull and water in their death throes. “Boss,” Flora said into her radio, “I think we need a new plan.”
“What the hell happened?!” Urik demanded over the radio. It sounded muffled and tinny. Flora hoped her hearing hadn’t been damaged forever.
“Don’t know Boss, the damn ship just blow up and whats left is sinking fast.”
“Well this was a bust you and Dren get back here, no point in staying now.”
“Wait Flora,” Shouted Dren even thought he was only a few feet away. “Looks like some of Rum-bloods boys made it.” He gestured to the beach and sure enough four figures were fleeing in the wreck in a broken run one of them was dragging something. Flora raised her scope to her eye for a better look.
“Boss some of the Rum-bloods boys are still alive they’re running from the wreck and one of them is dragging a body. “ She shifted her focus a bit. “I’ll be damned, it’s Rum-blood. Want us to pop him?”
“No, we’re brining the trucks up keep them covered.” He ordered. Moments later the gang’s two trucks rumbled onto the beach and drove toward the survivors. They circled the group a few times and finally stopped between the pirates and the woods beyond the beach. As Flora watched the gang jumped out of the truck and set up the guns to cover the pirates, who mostly just stood and watched all of this. Unsurprisingly they didn’t have much fight left in them. Graf waved them over to the rest of the group.
By the time they arrived Flora saw that Rum-blood was more or less back on his feet. He had a large bleeding gash on his head but it didn’t seem to be bothering him much.
“You must be cracked in the head.” He said to Urik replying to something she hadn’t heard.
“No,” Urik growled back around a hand rolled cigar. “I came here for those guns. I can’t get them now. So that makes this a wasted a trip. I hate waste. Can’t stand it. Now if I got some new recruits, maybe the trip isn’t such a waste. So again here’s the deal you and your boys join up with me or I’ll go back to my original plan of just shooting you and then asking your boys to sign up.” Rum-blood blinked stupidly at Urik.
“I bet they’d say yes. You just led them into a mess that killed half of them for nothing.” Graf interjected. “Boss Urik ain’t never got any of us dead like that.” Rum-blood glared at Graf.
“We keep to th old codes of Unen.” Rum-blood spat back. “So Urik, that’s how we’ll settle this.” He hitched a thumb over this shoulder at what was left of his crew. “They vote, if they decide to follow you they will and you’ll decide my fate.” He took three large steps to the right and drew a line in the sand with his foot. “You want to follow him you stay on that side. You want to stay with me you come to this one.” His remaining crew looked at each other for a few moments one of them joined Rum-blood on his side the rest stayed.
“Well guess that’s that.” Uirk chuckled. “The crew has voted and they all work for me now. So you three get in the truck.” He ordered and the newest outcasts shuffled to the trucks. He turned to Rum-blood and his loyalist. “So, going to be reasonable or we back to shooting you? Like I said I hate to waste and I’m sure you two can be made useful. Now shut up and come on before I change my mind.” With a last withering glare Rum-blood complied and walked to the nearest truck his loyalist close behind. Soon enough the trucks were rolling again. Uirk, Flora and Graf shared the cab of one.
“You sure this is a good idea boss? Keeping Rum-blood around I mean? He could be trouble.” Graf said some time later.
“Oh he will be. He’ll make a grab sooner or later, try to kill me maybe even openly challenge me. We just have to watch for it and smack him back down when he does."