Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-5824038-20150203191459/@comment-5824038-20150210195533

(Regardless, if a Breton noble came and started killing commoners in Samarkand things would really get bad...)

The pirate ships spread out, appearing as though they were falling into disarray. Then, a green flag was hoisted on one of the ships, and they suddenly - and without warning - they flew in to form a solid wall, all together.

There was something that many of DeRaque's ships hadn't noticed - the pirate ships were all equipped with battering rams. These came into view only after they had formed a wall, which was about a hundred feet from the closest ships. Before these unfortunate vessels had time to react, the wall of battering rams smashed into them.

The crunching of metal and the splintering of wood could be heard clearly, along with the screeching of metal on metal and the screams of dying men. Many of the skyships on the outskirts of the armada were completely destroyed, and others lost all control and plumetted to the land below. The pirate ships were largely unaffected, with a few of the rams having got a bit battered.

A blue flag was raised on a different ship, and then the pirates all shifted so that their sides faced the enemy. (Basically, the equivalent of cannons on these things is a ballista-like thing on the side which fires gigantic splinters of wood about three metres long, kinda like harpoons.) Over 100 of the long wooden arrow-like projectiles fired from the ships, and soared towards the enemy.

While many missed, many stuck in the side. Some hit the rock in the middle, and these ships lost all control over their altitude and fell. Many others had their crew impaled as the spikes stabbed into the sides and decks.

Then an orange flag was raised, and the ships broke formation, spreading out once more. LIke this they presented a harder target, as they weren't grouped together.

Although the pirates were heavily outnumbered, they had the benefits of experience, and also of surprise. Even Maximilien DeRaque would have been shocked to see the order and discipline with which they executed those maeouvers,