|
Post by Franky on Jun 20, 2014 20:50:01 GMT -5
"Uh-oh." Jack showed some genuine worry for once as he spied the spinning metal blades just ahead of them. His minds raced for ideas but found none. The Red Ace was maneuverable yes, but with the amount of wind they were getting he knew that he wouldn't be able to collapse the full suit sail in time to be able to avoid the ship ahead of them. This doesn't look good. He thought. We played a good game but it's out of my hands now, I've played every card I got. Guess all we can do now is... press our luck Jack closed his eyes. He clenched his fists as he always did when waiting for his luck to kick in. Any talented navigators on the nearby ships felt one of the sudden changes in air pressure that were common in the Grand Line, just before a massive downdraft of hot air came down on the area in the middle of the convoy. As it hit the ocean's surface the hot air spread outward and back up again. The rising wind came over the Red Ace from behind just before it hit the ship ahead of it and right as a large wave caused by the about-face of the Royal caught up with them. In a staggering display of coincidental timing the wave raised them up with it but not back down as the blast of rising hot wind filled the oversized sail, pushing it outward and upward and pulling the rest of the ship with it like a parachute. The ship creaked and groaned as it was lifted up and off the surface of the water, sailing up and over the ship ahead of them, barely avoiding them as the propeller just took a small nick out of the keel as it passed over it. As the Ace soared through the air over the propeller ship Jack opened his eyes again and his trademark grin returned.
|
|
|
Post by CJ on Jun 23, 2014 17:13:24 GMT -5
"Uh-oh?" Ron asked, noticing Jack's worry. Little did he know, he was about to experience something even crazier than before.
His eyes went wide when he realized something wasn't right. He couldn't explain what the feeling was, but he knew it was related to the sickness in his stomach when the Red Ace rose out of the water and flew in the air.
"This is the cooling thing that's ever happened!" Rizzo squeaked, waving his tiny rat arms in Ron's grip.
"Did you know that this was going to happen?" the older brother said, frozen in his spot, sitting close behind Jack.
|
|
|
Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 28, 2014 23:19:27 GMT -5
By a stroke of luck or the grace of the gods, the Ace and the End narrowly avoided destruction in their own ways. Those who had seen had certainly been impressed, but perhaps none moreso than those of the turbine ship itself. To the captain's chagrin even, many of the crew above deck hollered and cheered when the smaller vessel actually took to the air. If nothing else, they could admire the feat as sailors, for the skill required.
And so as it were, the two smaller vessels being driven now by both wind and tide could overtake the turbine ship, pulling ahead to a tie in second place. All that remained was the lead vessel, and there was only one question that remained. The only question that mattered, how to catch it? The trimaran was built for speed, and nothing else. Even at the rate they were going, the Ace and the End leaving the rest of the pack in the veritable dust, the ship ahead of them still looked to be outpacing them ever so slightly. If they could not devise a way to complete this last effort and go the distance, then they simply would not be able to catch the trimaran by conventional means let alone beat it. Of course they could perhaps work together, pool their resources and find some common way to reach first place, but even so it would require some real strategy on all their parts to pull this off now.
Spoken so, since just beginning to poke up out of the waters of the horizon was an island. They were traveling fast for sure, and would probably reach it within the hour or so at this rate. Given how the convoy even further back was not changing direction, it could be correctly guessed that this was their intended destination, so the finish line was in sight.
|
|
|
Post by Kyubey on Jun 30, 2014 18:27:34 GMT -5
"What the..."
When the Ace rode the wind above the turbine ship, Timo just had to move her attention away from the sea ahead, to look up at the feat. Her mouth agape, she lowered her sunglasses for just a moment, to get a better look at what just happened. How they even began to do that was beyond her capacity to guess.
Still, as impressed as she was, she didn't gawk for too long. She was in a heated race, after all, so marveling at the impossible could wait. Unfortunately, for the moment it seemed like taking first place wasn't a strong possibility for her. The East End was fast, but Timo knew she wasn't fast enough to catch up to the trimaran. Even if she pushed her skill to the limit, without outside interference or heavy luck, all she could hope to do would be to maintain her current position.
The thing she most cared about was the island in the distance. As it showed up, a small smirk appeared on the corner of her mouth. More than actually doing well in the race, just reaching the island with everything intact was her primary goal. Getting there before the others would just be a bonus. Now that she could confirm that she was, headed in the right direction, she considered herself in a good position. After making sure the End had a steady bearing, she turned briefly to the Ace.
"That boat up ahead's goin' like crazy," she shouted out to the Ace's crew. "So, what's your plan for beatin' 'em? Got any other tricks left in ya?"
At this point, Timo was more interested in seeing what the Ace could do, than anything else.
|
|
|
Post by Franky on Jul 7, 2014 17:47:31 GMT -5
When the Ace touched back down on the water out ahead of the other ship Jack tied down the riggings for the Full Suit Sail in a less effective but more stable position, being out ahead of the rest already their current speed would be fine for now. "Not a clue" he said to Ron with a smile. "If you already know what's gonna happen it's not a gamble, and where's the fun in that? But I figured my luck would kick in, it almost always does." When he heard Timo yelling to them he gave her a big smile. "Nope! Saahahahaha! I am totally out of cards. We gave it our all but you can't win 'em all. Unless you had any ideas." Jack looked out ahead at the island and the trimaran, it wasn't too big a loss to let it get away, after all he started out just trying to beat Toulouse's caravel there. He wasn't sure when all the others joined in on their race but he certainly would have liked to beat them. He puzzled for a moment then turned to Ron and Rizzo. "Also we should probably be keeping a low profile right?" he said blissfully, that thought process just returning to him now.
|
|
|
Post by CJ on Jul 9, 2014 23:25:07 GMT -5
"I could never live like that," Ron sighed, hearing Jack's explanation, "but I guess that's what separates you and me. You're amazing, Captain."
The rogue actually paused, realizing what he had called Jack. Having only recently given up his status as a Celestial Dragon, it was extremely difficult for him to empathize with others, much less respect them. He tried not to think about it too much or acknowledge his feelings properly.
"Oh shit!" he said as his body shook in fear. "We were supposed to be keep a low profile since we left Mock Town! If we get in trouble, be sure to say my brother and I didn't know you were a pirate, OK?"
"No!" Rizzo said, now sitting cutely on Ron's head. "Call me a pirates! I want to be a bad ass too!"
"You're a terrible influence, Jack!"
Ron face-faulted at his brother's adorable "betrayal."
|
|
|
Post by Shark a' Pult on Jul 15, 2014 11:47:10 GMT -5
Without any more tricks up their sleeve, the trimaran continued to pull away. It was true though, their efforts in the race were marvelous and compared to the other ships of the convoy and where they had come from, no one could ever say they didn't deserve to win. It was just in this case, ambition and luck only went so far when matched against the exotic ship design of the trimaran. At least though, they would reach the island in short order and safely so it would seem, having avoided the close scrutiny of any marines or similar types.
It seemed though, that they hadn't avoided to the attention of those on board the trimaran. If they had been watching it close enough what with the myriad of different factors about them to pay attention to, they'd notice that those on board were busying themselves towards the back of the ship. As far away as they were, it might be hard to make out, but it seemed they were wheeling some large lumbering shapes into place. At least temporarily covered by tarp, those on board seemed to care about accurate placement rather than safety or care as the objects were battered around.
Whereupon it could be assumed they had satisfied whatever conditions they had in mind, about the same time several crew on each side pulled back the tarps in a concerted effort to reveal a pair of cannons glistening in the afternoon sun. With various ornaments and moldings made to give the cannons the visage of roaring dragons, the sight might have been quite alarming, especially considering they were each of them pointed at the Ace and the End. Not nearly as alarming however, as when they opened fire in a distant boom.
The shots fired were fast and painfully accurate, but the strangest thing of all was that they were not simple cannonballs or some kind of variation. About the closest thing they could be likened to were giant harpoons probably meant for hunting sea kings, that looked well capable of skewering a ship. Given the tensile cords trailing each projectile, it seemed those on board the trimaran had something in mind beyond just sending the two small vessels to a watery demise. Should either find their mark, either or both the Ace and the End would find themselves drawn ever closer to the lead ship in successive violent tugs as the cords continually tightened.
Avoiding the projectiles was possible of course, they had been fired from far away, but the operators of the weapons were skilled in hitting moving targets. The real point of interest though, was that it seemed the trimaran actually slowed down a little to make the shots. Either that, or the two smaller vessels found some sudden boost of speed. Whatever the case, at the current rate they would be slowly gaining on the larger vessel, though obviously not nearly at the same rate by which they would have been pulled closer had the harpoons hit.
|
|
|
Post by Franky on Jul 17, 2014 17:40:11 GMT -5
Jack watched curiously as the trimaran's crew moved the objects in place, a bad feeling welling up inside him. He motioned for one of the others two to mind the wheel and moved forward to the front of the Red Ace. When they fired their harpoons his eyes opened a bit in shock. "That's certainly not a card I expected them to play." He stood and watched as the projectile arced through the air and began to come down on them. When it came close he removed his left hand from his pocket and and held it up. The enormous spear careened straight into him but came instantly to a complete stop as it hit his hand. It hung their for a few seconds before the back end slowly fell to the deck with a loud thud, Jack maintaining his grip on the tip.
|
|
|
Post by Kyubey on Jul 18, 2014 4:53:55 GMT -5
Timo chuckled lightly at Jack. Part of her was hoping he would be able to show her another neat trick, but it seemed that they had all run out of luck by this point. In a sense, he still didn't disappoint her, taking the apparent loss in stride like he did. She admired his attitude, at least.
"I got nothin'," she replied. "Just happy bein' where I am. So, guess we're racin' for second place, eh?"
When the trimaran unveiled the cannons, Timo's mood shifted dramatically. She was tense, and appeared worried, on top of being slightly enraged, but not for the reasons that one might expect.
"What? Are you serious? The Marines are right there, ya clods!" she shouted to the boat ahead, gesturing behind her for emphasis.
She couldn't tell from such a distance who the crew of the trimaran were, but it was obvious to her that they wanted something more than winning a simple race. Whatever it was they were after, the smuggler wanted no part of it. She attempted a series of hard turns, swerving the End erratically about, in an attempt to avoid getting shot, but it wasn't enough. Unlike Jack, Timo had no special powers to help her, and the harpoon drove straight into the East End's deck, narrowly missing the smuggler herself.
"My baby!" she gasped, horrified at the damage that was being done. If it were possible to look past her shades, the crew on the trimaran would see her glaring right at them, with a fiery intensity.
"That does it!" she shouted. "You're gonna be sorry for that! C'mon and pull me in faster, so I can tear you all apart!"
She was very defensive about her boat.
|
|
|
Post by CJ on Jul 19, 2014 21:29:59 GMT -5
Rizzo squeaked in delighted as Ron stared in horror at the harpoon cannons. Did these people know who he and his brother were? No, otherwise they would have fired both the cannons at the Red Ace. These people likely had ulterior motives, ones that Ron didn't dare to contemplate.
Fortunately for them, Jack used his abilities to deter the harpoon. Rizzo, still in rat form, jumped up and down on top of Ron's head.
"AMAZING!" he shouted with sparkling eyes.
It wasn't long until the brothers noted Timo wasn't so lucky. The rat stopped cheering and hid in Ron's scarf.
"SQUEAK! THAT LADY IS VERY SCARY!"
"Jack, should we help her?" the older brother asked. "No, I mean. We should leave her! Let's get out of here!"
For a moment, Ron was selfless, but it wasn't for long. Still, he was improving.
|
|
|
Post by Shark a' Pult on Jul 23, 2014 1:32:42 GMT -5
There was no audible reaction from the crew of the trimaran when Jack straight up caught the harpoon, though even from this distance it looked like some of their jaws dropped. Timo meanwhile actually shouted something to react to. Again, over this distance it was hard to tell, but they shouted back something. Drifting on the winds, it sounded something vaguely like;
"...uuuuuuuuuck ..ouuuuuuuu!!"
Really, just gibberish probably. Either way though, it was clear that they fired up some ship-based mechanism to retract the great harpoons. Dragging the End in Timo's case, and simply withdrawing (probably to fire again) in Jack's case. For the former, there probably wasn't much she could do, though for the latter he was completely free to just let go. Of course if he was able to he could just as well hold on, but there was the problem in that as well as he could hold onto the harpoon with his hands, could he hold onto the deck of his ship with his feet? If he wasn't careful, he would probably just get dragged off the boat and into the water, and very quickly at the rate the cords were being withdrawn. If in turn he somehow found a way to hold onto both, he would find the withdrawing mechanism strong enough to pull him closer to the trimaran rather than it being pulled back.
Whatever the case though, if it was any consolation, Timo with the harpoon sunk directly in her ship would find herself at an increasingly significant speed advantage over the Ace. Withdrawing at the rate it was, she would probably find her vessel bumping hulls with the trimaran by the time they all reached the island. In a sense, this was an exploitable speed boost to get ahead in the race and by default of not having avoided the harpoon, at least Timo was getting the full benefit of it.
|
|
|
Post by Franky on Jul 23, 2014 5:07:05 GMT -5
Jack looked over at the East End and inspected the damage for a moment. Until recently he had been the Red Ace's captain, crew, helmsman, cook and most importantly shipwright, and years on the sea had made him very good at four of those jobs. Hmm, it just pierced the top deck. Ship'll still sail fine and that can be fixed easy later. He turned back to address Ron's momentary concerns. "She's fi..!" He looked down at his heels which were now sliding across the deck as the harpoon in his hand dragged him forward. When it pulled him within reach of the front railing he placed his hand on it and the rest of the Red Ace began to be dragged along with him. "...She's fine on her own for now. I'd rather not play any cards 'til we know what game we're playing. Collapse the Full Suit Sail, we don't need it anymore, it seems as thought today's winner would like a word with us."
|
|
|
Post by Kyubey on Jul 26, 2014 18:35:08 GMT -5
"Yeah, well ...uck you, too!"
The hole in the deck was troublesome, and she wasn't all that interested in being pulled in by a strange ship with motives she wasn't sure of, but for the moment, she didn't take any concrete action. She would wait for that. While the East End was small, it wasn't so fragile that a single harpoon strike could take it apart. At the moment, she was fine with letting the trimaran play its game, until she was sure of what it was and how she could win it. She propped one foot against the harpoon, and slightly leaned into it, ready to pry it out quickly if and when it came to that. In her peripheral, she saw Jack and the Ace getting pulled in alongside her, seemingly willingly. If Timo freed her ship now, not only would she be putting her boat far behind her competition, acting against the trimaran so blatantly could disturb whatever it was Jack was planning, which might have negative consequences for both ships. So for now, she waited. With one of her free hands, she opened her guitar case just wide enough to reach inside, without drawing attention to it or revealing what she had concealed.
Just because she wasn't fighting back, didn't mean she wasn't planning to, and her patience did not mean she was willing to leave her chances up to fate.
|
|
|
Post by CJ on Jul 27, 2014 20:05:48 GMT -5
"Yes... you!" Ron responded, trying to respect Jack as much as he could without betraying his nature.
Rizzo poofed back in his human form and tied Ron's bandanna around his head to hide the odd colored hair that identified him as the relation of a Celestial Dragon. The brothers set about collapsing the Full Suit Sail and reported back to Jack.
"Captain!" Rizzo said, saluting rather professionally. "What would you have us do? Should we stay on standby in case these fiends come into conflict with us?"
"Please don't let that happen!" Ron continued in a cowardly manner.
|
|
|
Post by Shark a' Pult on Aug 4, 2014 23:10:42 GMT -5
With the two smaller vessels hooked, more or less, those aboard the lead vessel began to act. They actually withdrew the cannons, and had the harpoon cords attached to a pair of comparatively large machine mechanisms. Probably just mechanisms and gears though since there was no sign or sound of fuel being used. Either way, operated by crank the respective cables drawing to each ship were at their source drawn towards the front of the trimaran, a process which would expedite the smaller vessels being pulled forward.
They were quite nearly on the approach of the island now, at least close enough that they would be able to make out the town and adjoined port, but suddenly the very loud cranking sound trailing back from the trimaran stopped. As did the pulling motion. There were a few shouts from those on board, and then they all hit the deck. At that, a sudden and massive tension followed as the cable connecting the East End with the trimaran was immediately drawn very nearly to the prow of the latter vessel. The effect of which was that, the entire ship that was the End would be rather violently yanked forward and more or less slung ahead of the trimaran, almost like the motion of a trebuchet. Such force that was require though, that the trimaran almost capsized (the outer hull closest to the End fully submerging), and it was highly possible that the End would be pulled clean from the water and for a duration of the sling remain airborne.
Either way, the overall motion was very intense and by the time the End reached the completion of the trajectory, the harpoon and connection would just break outright. It might take her some time to regain sense, but Timo had been afforded a sizable lead over even the trimaran, and she was no longer tethered to it. Of course the Ace was still attached more or less, but it seemed the crew of the trimaran opted to sling the End forward first so that Jack could gather some idea of what was going to happen. As it were, if the slinging action was performed again, the amount of sudden force would likely be so great that the captain himself would just be thrown clear of his own ship and out ahead near to the East End. Of course he had time to act, let go or find some way of perhaps more properly rooting the connection, but not so long. The cable had been taught, the crew hit the deck once more, and the mechanism was triggered.
|
|