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Post by CJ on May 6, 2014 21:50:47 GMT -5
Ron's face fell, seeing El Royal come so close to the tiny Red Ace. He gestured wildly to Jack, praying he would notice the danger.
"Are you insane?" he asked, taking the wheel as the captain pulled off yet another impressive feat. He almost forgot to focus on keeping the ship steady as he actually smiled.
"That was amazing!" Rizzo shouted in glee. Ron quickly shot his brother a glare, reminding him of what their goal was. The rat boy quickly covered his hands over his mouth, realizing they were supposed to be hidden. He quickly began scrubbing a stain on the deck, trying to stay quiet.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on May 10, 2014 15:19:58 GMT -5
"Right, we warned you! Full speed ahead!"
At that, the paddle wheel-driven ship began to pick up pace, and most had been wise enough to move out of the way. There was of course the issue of Timo's ship which looked to be splintered asunder the large prow.
On board however, the announcer happened to notice her peasant-tier boat, and after some memory jogging the familiarity was clear. Pacing back towards one of the masts, he approached a fellow in a rather nice looking suit and slick hair.
"Ah, Mister Royal, a moment? A ship that might warrant some interest..."
Curiosity struck him, and with an inquisitive smirk he followed the announcer towards the front of the ship. Leaning on the railing, he looked down where the smaller boat was pointed out.
"There, that's-"
"The smuggler, well isn't that a coincidence." at that, he waved with a smile, confidence beaning from his chiseled features. All the while, he whispered out the side of his mouth to the announcer, "No need to sink her, just shunt her aside. Can't have her slowing us down now, can we?"
Royal continued to watch down from high on Timo, but the announcer slinked back towards the main deck of the ship, and caught the attention of the helmsman. With a directional gesture, he aimed to get the ship to veer to the side a little bit. Rather than simply smashing right through the East End, the goal was to knock it aside and continue onwards. Why destroy a valuable asset, over a simple, unofficial race?
---
Jack's plan was working well enough, though there might need to be some adjustment on his part when the ship he was holding onto began to veer off course. If he didn't want his own vessel to be crushed beneath, then he would probably need to maintain a constant distance between the hull of the Ace and the larger ship.
Aside of that though, eventually a deckhand aboard the paddle ship happening by, noticed the Ace below. Because Jack was holding right on almost at water level, the deckhand didn't make him out pas the overhang of the ship railing. But what he did see, was the twins laboring about on board.
"Hey, steer clear! Lads, they're coasting on our wake!"
Before long a small collection of other deckhands gathered round, and once the first fellow had thrown something, the rest followed suit. By their intent, they aimed to pelt the Ace and those on board they could see, with various tools and superfluous ship equipment and cargo till the Ace made its distance and stopped following so closely.
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Post by Kyubey on May 12, 2014 21:27:15 GMT -5
When Royal waved at Timo, the smuggler groaned softly and pretended not to notice. Making friends was not a goal for her that day, especially not in regards to one as conceited and showy as him. His presence on the waters was a nuisance at best, but she planned to simply sail on without paying him any mind.
And then, he had to try and crash into her. As his ship pulled up against hers, Timo tried desperately to veer the East End away, towards an open point in the sea.
"Shit shit shit shit..."
Unfortunately, she did not act fast enough, and the paddle ship smashed into the East End, causing the smaller ship to lean dangerously to the side with a loud cracking noise. A spray of water splashed up upon impact, soaking the East End along with her passenger. Clearly disoriented by the attack, Timo furiously worked to keep her boat upright again, cursing all the way. When she was finished, she was at a safe distance from Royal, but farther behind as well.
"Scratch my baby up, will ya?" she shouted, throwing a middle finger up in defiance. "Oh, you've got nerve, buddy."
Any plans for a calm, mostly-honest competition were long forgotten. Almost sinking her was bad, that the splash of water put out her cigarette was worse, and that the East End had been damaged, however slightly, was unforgivable. Winning wasn't even part of her plans for the moment, she just wanted to see Royal get his retribution. How to do that without showing blatant aggression, when her own ship was so much smaller, was the real challenge. It was then, that she finally noticed the Red Ace. She didn't recognize the ship, or her flag, but from the way she was expertly handled, she figured that she could use the opportunity to her advantage. Catching the wind and utilizing the currents from the bigger vessels, the East End shifted position to place the Ace between Royal and herself, effectively using it as a shield against her rival. If the two ships were competing, it was best to let them wear themselves out, and take the lead at the most crucial moment.
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Post by Franky on May 16, 2014 22:03:09 GMT -5
Jack groaned as the Royal turned towards them, straining to maintain an arms-length gap between the two ships as it veered. Without some help for His helmsmen his plan might be shorter lived than he hoped. But he still let out a little chuckle as a bottle crashed on the deck. "Hold her steady and match their moves," he called to Ron. "And watch your head but don't worry about that bunch, it'll take more than they've got to hurt the Ace." He noticed the ship pulling up to their opposite side but was too preoccupied at the moment to give it much thought, and turned back to his task at hand.
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Post by CJ on May 18, 2014 13:35:22 GMT -5
Ron's face scrunched up in anger. He glared at the ship with intense hatred.
"Worthless peasants! How dare you disgrace me with your filth! I mean, ummm, please stop that!"
He quickly caught himself before slipping back into his old habits as a Celestial Dragon. Quickly turning, he was afraid to look at the others out of shame and embarrassment. He blinked rapidly, hearing Jack's new orders.
"B-but I've never done this before!" he said, gripping the wheel tightly.
"Give me that!" Rizzo shouted, taking the wheel with a bright smile. "We've got it, Captain!"
Despite his enthusiasm, he wasn't doing a very good job. He was barely following their movements. Still, he was slightly more competent than his brother.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on May 21, 2014 23:27:15 GMT -5
Nothing in particular changed about the situation, beyond another ship moving to stay beside the one that was already a nuisance. Since the Ace was not responding differently, more and more crew gathered aboard the paddle ship to rain debris down on them. Tools didn't seem to be working all that well, so some of them started throwing those at the East End. As for the Ace, they resorted to slop buckets, to which their was a very real risk of being covered in nastiness if the course was held.
Aside of the crew however, the noisy announcer had noticed what was going on and made his way below deck. Not a minute later and the gun port covers closest to the Ace rose up. At first it may have seemed like there was a risk og getting blasted to smithereens, but instead out leaned the announcer and some more crew. With the marines still assisting the convoy, they couldn't just start firing cannons.
"Hey, no one rides for free!"
At that, and some direction, the other crew reached out with great long oars (probably for lifeboats) and began to swing at Jack. They couldn't reach the twins from where they were, but they could try to reach the fellow that was holding onto their ship.
They had to be careful though, because they were awfully close to one of the side paddlewheels, keeping the great ship moving and churning up quite the torrent of water at this speed.
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Post by Kyubey on May 22, 2014 23:18:49 GMT -5
After moving beside the Ace, and maintaining a steady course forward, Timo had made the mistake of putting the competition out of her mind and putting all her focus towards the sea ahead. Because of this, she was so preoccupied with sailing the East End, that she was taken completely off guard when a flying tool hit her square on the head.
"Ow. Hey!"
Rubbing her head, she looked back to the Royal, positively fuming by this point. No matter what she did, they would not leave her alone. Muttering some rather nasty words under her breath, she picked up a guitar case that lay at her side, and held it upwards, using it as a shield against any more assaults from tools. But as she did so, an idea came into her head.
"Oy! You! 'ey!" she shouted, looking right at the Ace. Waving her free arm, she tried to get the attention of someone, anyone, on the ship next to her.
"I know this is kinda sudden, but wanna team up? Those asshats are a nuisance, so let's bring 'em down. Whaddya say?"
At this point, she was perfectly happy with swallowing her pride and asking for help, if only it meant making sure that the Royal wouldn't win.
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Post by Franky on May 28, 2014 16:08:01 GMT -5
Jack held on a little longer, taking a few smacks from oars before he saw what he was waiting for, an opening between the ships ahead of them. "Game time, let's go!" He released the two ships from his grip, grabbing one of the oars about to hit him again and pulling from it's owners hand. He caught one of the falling buckets with the end of it and flung it back onto the Royal's deck before running for the helm. their momentum had been matching the royal so they were losing speed very slowly, but he still didn't have much time to avoid falling back into those paddle wheels. At this point Timo caught his attention. "Sorry lady, game's already started. It'd be cheating to make teams now. But our wake's yours to ride... IF you can keep up." He got to the helm "Lemme take that Riz, this is gonna be tricky." Grabbing hold of his special rigging system he positioned the Ace just so that it was aimed straight at the gap ahead of them. "Hold on you two, this is gonna get rough." Grabbing and reeling in a previously unexplained rope in his system. The boom expanded outward as the main sail widened revealing it was a much larger sail that had been folded in on itself. As it widened the large spade that was on it moved to the side reveling a heart, club, and diamond as well. "Let's go! FULL SUIT SAIL!" With its large sail catching much more wind now the Red Ace shot forward away from the Royal and through the gap, out past the rest of the convoy
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Post by CJ on May 29, 2014 15:19:54 GMT -5
"Be gone, peasant!" Ron shouted after Jack, sneering at Timo. The scar on his head and his attire made him look indistingushable from any other pirate, so this comment might have seemed out of place.
Rizzo squeaked when Jack took the helm. The teenager watched eagerly on as the captain pulled the previously unexplained rope. His older brother didn't seem too happy with the prospect of even more insanity, blinking rapidly as the main sail folded itself.
"Woo!" Rizzo exclaimed as the ship rapidly gained speed. He was blown back and transformed into his rat form. He was caught by Ron just before flying off the deck, still cheering with glee over the magnificence of the Ace.
"This is absolute madness!" Ron shouted with dizzy eyes. He clutched onto the railing nearby, looking as though he was about to puke.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 1, 2014 1:38:48 GMT -5
"What the- how did they?!"
The loudmouth had to pull back as the Ace took off with it's newfound drive. He couldn't hide his mixture of surprise and annoyance however. The smaller ship started to pull ahead, and it was quite something a disgrace to their greater majesty.
"Faster, faster! Full speed, we can't lose this to the likes of them!"
Unfortunately the orders came at a bad time. Perhaps on an even playing field, the paddle ship might have beat the Ace in a test of speed simply because it didn't need the wind. However, the smaller ship had been hugging the hull and taking up incoming water take, so the paddle on that side of the larger ship needed a chance to adjust to the sudden absence of mass before it. Probably the worst time then, to crank it up to full speed.
Just as the Ace began to peel away and the larger ship upped the pace, the paddle on that particular side hit full rotation speed with too much water intake. There sounded a terrible grinding sound, accompanied by a loud bang, and soon black smoke could be seen streaming out from the openings to the bowels of the ship. The paddle promptly locked up, and the ship listed dangerously as it made an about face due to only one of the paddles running at full speed.
"What the?! No no no no!! Wrong way, wrong way!"
Of course this was good news for the Ace, but the smuggler's ship might have a bit of trouble what with a much larger ship promptly turning into hers. Assuming she could navigate around it though, she might find an unexpected blessing in the form of the still single operating paddle, which by the time the larger ship made a full rotation would end up churning water at full blast towards the front of the convoy and creating a makeshift but strong current. A small boost, but one she'd be privy to and perhaps just enough to help maintain her relative lead.
The Ace meanwhile was catching up to the very front to ships which had mostly left everyone else in the figurative dust. They still maintained a strong lead however, the turbine-driven metal vessel and the small but incredibly agile trimaran. These two were keeping pace with one another and though still farther out, didn't seem unable to be caught. It would just be a difficult job without some creativity.
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Post by Kyubey on Jun 1, 2014 3:19:52 GMT -5
"Fine then. Suit yourselves..." Timo said, lighting up another cigarette.
The smuggler shrugged off the pirate's dismissal, not having expected much to begin with. She would have to keep working alone, but that's the way it had been for the past year anyways, so it wasn't a great loss. Ron's attitude was a little annoying, but it was far from the worst thing she had been called over the course of her career, so she barely noticed it. She did have to turn her head in their direction, however, when she heard the commotion caused by their clever maneuver, along with the aftereffects. Something of a grin appeared on one corner of her mouth. Even if she hadn't been the one to do it, seeing the paddle ship suffer was immensely pleasing.
"Well damn! Guess you cats don't need me anyways. Sorry, but I'm not falling behind."
Rapidly spinning the wheel with one hand while adjusting the rigging with the other, Timo struggled to move her ship away from a grim fate by the paddle ship. While her boat was small, and simple at a glance, it was much more flexible than it looked, and the smuggler was able to pull away. Having to quickly change directions so soon set her back some, but the paddle's current more than made up for that. After pulling some ropes, the East End was aligned perfectly with the current, and raced forward, riding the waves at high speeds. At the pace she was going, she had to hold onto her hat to keep it from falling off, but she was laughing with excitement as the sea winds pounded her face and swept her hair back.
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Post by Franky on Jun 4, 2014 14:44:07 GMT -5
The Red Ace sped forward. Jack would have laughed at the sudden about-face of the Royal but he was quite preoccupied. At it's full length the Ace's sail was clearly not intended for a ship this small, in fact it looked like it came from a ship over twice its size. The whole ship creaked and groaned from the dangerous amount of force it was under. "C'mon Red, hold it together." Jack said to the ship, as well as himself. He was holding the helm and several riggings and straining to keep them in place. Maneuvering the ship at all under this stress was a pipe dream but all he needed to do was hold it fast as they sailed straight forward.
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Post by CJ on Jun 4, 2014 15:30:26 GMT -5
Meanwhile, Ron clutched onto Rizzo in his rat form as Jack managed the enormous amount of pressure the Ace was until. The rogue shook in fear as the ship groaned loudly.
"Is something like this even possible?" he asked Jack. "I don't think we're going to make it!"
He closed his eyes, expecting the worst.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 7, 2014 14:17:01 GMT -5
It seemed the pair of smaller ships, the Red Ace and the East End, were neck and neck and gaining on the lead. After the paddle ship gave way and performed the aquatic equivalent of a burnout, other ships in the convoy moved up to take its place, but still lagged behind the four ships ahead of all others.
Of the two ships in the lead however, at least one of them seemed to notice the smaller vessels catching up. One in particular, the turbine-driven ship actually started to drop back a bit, slowing down. If it wasn't clear what the purpose for this was, it would soon become apparent; with the large turning rotor blade at the very back of the ship, being made of metal it could likely shred a wooden vessel to pieces without much trouble. The rate by which the ship was dropping back and the Ace and End were catching up, there would probably be a need to shift course, or be ground to smithereens.
The trimaran took advantage of this whole ordeal though, and slowly but surely pulled into first place.
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Post by Kyubey on Jun 14, 2014 0:37:56 GMT -5
Timo's moment of excitement was short lived, as the thrill of pulling ahead at high speed led right to a sudden and pressing danger. In a small part of her mind, the smuggler berated herself for thinking that Royal would be the worst thing she would encounter during the race. The crew of the paddleship certainly weren't sportsmanlike, throwing their tools at her like they did, but their ways were a mere annoyance, compared to the turbine ship, which was blatantly trying to kill her.
"I get bein' competitive," she said, mostly under her breath, "But this is flat-out ridiculous."
She gripped her wheel as hard as she could, trying to hold the East End perfectly steady. A single bead of sweat formed on her brow (which was almost impossible to distinguish) but otherwise she was absolutely still and collected, as her ship drew closer and closer to the spinning rotors. Beneath her feet, Timo felt her boat being pulled along, approaching what would be a certain demise if she were to be caught in the whirling blades. Then, when she was sufficiently close, she initiated a hard turn to starboard, hoping to just narrowly skirt away from the approaching ship and keep close to its side. If all went well, and she succeeded, her plan from there was to take a cue from the Ace and ride the bigger ship's wake until she could pull ahead.
As for the Ace itself, she noticed the peril it was in, but did not act. Even if she did care enough to help the other boat, there was nothing she could have done in such a short amount of time, while also saving herself. So she tried putting them out of her mind, even if she was, secretly, hoping they would succeed. If the little crew could make it out of a predicament like that, then they would have really won Timo's respect.
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