Joe watched as the sky turned gray towards the east, and the suns rays started to spread out as the morning progressed. Soon there were the tentative bird songs of those birds that got the early coffee, or were the disgustingly morning people.
“Come on, let’s get going,” Joe said cheerfully as he started to build the fire up, and then started filling up pots of water and feeding Tsuba.
“Aw, Dad!” Annabelle moaned. “I just got back to sleep. Can’t I sleep a bit more?”
“No can do, kiddo. We need to help those who are leaving and those that are staying to fight. That and the former mayor will be swinging soon,” Joe replied, then proceeded to hum a cheerful tune.
Everyone started getting up; some with groans of protest and mutterings, with the exception of Tsuba who made sure everyone was awake by licking their face or ears.
“By Allah, Mom. When you first got married, didn’t you know dad was a morning person?” Annabelle muttered.
“Yes, I did know, and he hasn’t changed since,” Kristi replied tiredly. “If anything, he’s gotten even perkier in the mornings as the years have gone by.”
Shaking her head, Annabelle said, “It must be love, it must be. No one in their right mind would want to spend the rest of their life with that!”
“Oh wow! Look at that sun rise!” Margaret said in awe. “Annabelle, look at it! Isn’t it wonderful? I’m glad you’re dad got us up this early.”
“Oh God! They’re coming out of the woodwork!” Annabelle groaned into her pillow, then looked at Margaret and said, “You are so not my best friend anymore.” Margaret stuck her tongue out and proceeded to help Joe get breakfast ready.
“Oh, to have the resilience of youth,” James said to Kristi who was starting to stare into space.
Kristi shook her head and said, “I’m sorry. I’m not quite awake yet. What was it that you just said?”
“Our kids. How quickly they bounced back from last night,” James replied chuckling. “That’s one thing I miss about being young. The ability to bounce back from things like that.”
“Oh, that,” Kristi said and yawned. “Pardon me. Well I think they bounced back because they have a stable influence in their lives right now. Namely us. We’re not freaking out, so they’ll try not to as well.”
“I just hope it won’t haunt them long term,” Sheila replied. “I mean, I kept dreaming about what happened off and on all night.”
“So do I, but we have to take what we can,” Kristi agreed then said, “But in the meantime, my husband just took the pot of coffee off the fire.”
“Coffee? Honest to God coffee?” James asked in amazement. “That stuff is nearly impossible to come by now.”
“Yes and its jealousy hoarded,” Kristi replied laughing. “We use it for high stakes bartering. I don’t drink the stuff unless I really need it. Today, I do.”
They made their way to the fire and got themselves a mug of cowboy coffee; while they tried to tune out Joe’s and Margaret’s jabbering as they sipped tea. Is it any wonder how morning people were able to survive into adulthood?
“Dad, when are we going to have breakfast?” Annabelle asked. “I could go for one of Moms omelets right about now.”
Joe smiled and said, “Not until the mayor is hung. Trust me on this. It’s easier to deal with it on an empty stomach.”
Annabelle swallowed hard as the memories from the night before hit her, nodded and said, “Okay.”
One of the townsfolk who voted to stay came up and said, “James, they’ll be hanging the traitor soon.”
“Good. The sooner we get this over with, the better,” James replied. “Any other news?”
Nodding, they said, “Yes, we got another dozen townsfolk who originally sided with Milica decided stay and fight with us.”
Sighing in relief, James said, “Well, I was hope they’d all come to their senses, but it’s better than none. Anyone else change their minds?”
“No, if anything, many who have wounded or young ones want the ships to get here now. They’re scared, sir.”
“Can’t blame them none. I just pray that the pirate lord will head towards the Chesapeake Confederacy and leave the town alone and get torn up, but I doubt it. We’ll be there for the execution.”
At the gallows, Kristi and Joe stood together with Annabelle between them, watching as James read off the crimes committed by the former reverend mayor from a note pad, which seemed strangely out of place. If anything, it seemed it would be more proper to have a scroll unraveled as James listed the crimes.
The pirate captain tried to act arrogant and outraged as he was led to the gallows limping, thinking it was a ruse, but that soon evaporated as they pulled a hood over his head and cinched the noose around his neck. “Wait! Please!” he cried out, his voice muffled by the hood. “You don’t have to do this! Please, let me live! I’ll tell you where our base is! Have mercy! Let’s be civilized about this!”
“Civilized!? We have been more than civilized.” James spat. “You had your chance to talk earlier, Kenneth! But you decided to be a bad ass and continuously threatened us! You are a Reaver plain and simple, and you DID write the law that anyone committing an act of piracy will receive a death sentence. There will be no mercy for you or your kind.”
With no further words he nodded towards the gallows master, and the platform was dropped with a loud bang. Mercilessly, there was a loud retort of vertebrae breaking and the former mayor kicked in the air for a second then was still.
Joe closed his eyes in a quick prayer that Kenneth’s spirit will learn from what he did and will not repeat it the next time his spirit returns. He then looked at Annabelle and saw her staring at the swaying body, tears running down her face. “You okay?” he asked rubbing her shoulder.
“It, it doesn’t go away, does it?” she whispered harshly. “I thought seeing him hang and die, it would make Crystal’s death seem less wasted, or it would bring me a sense of justice, but it didn’t. It just left me feeling hollow.”
Kristi sighed and said, “There is an old Klingon saying, Vengeance is a dish best served cold. No, it doesn’t take away the pain of what those Reavers did to Crystal, but there was justice here, crude as it was.”
“I know Mom, I know,” Annabelle replied, taking her eyes from the corpse. “I just thought that maybe, maybe it would free me from my guilt of seeing Crystal die.”
“Survivors guilt, perfectly normal for what happened,” Kristi replied warmly. “However, don’t get caught up in looking for a fix for it. This is going to take time, and you may still carry the scars from it.”
Annabelle hugged Kristi and said, “Thanks Mom.”
“So kiddo. Still hungry?” Joe asked smirking.
“Actually, I am, surprisingly,” Annabelle replied.
“No surprise really. You were prepared for it, that and having us explain helps too.”
They made their way back to camp where Kristi started cooking up some omelets and was joined by Sheila who cooked up some oatmeal and ham; not after apologizing profusely to Annabelle who just giggled.
After breakfast Joe’s radio crackled, “ALPHA 5 TANGO calling Uetzi, over.”
“Uetzi?” James asked.
“My MDVPSG name,” Joe said smiling. “I read you loud and clear, A5T. All secure here, proceed as planned.”
“Roger that. We request a visual of where to drop anchor,” A5T replied.
“Affirmative. Look for the flare,” Joe replied, then took a flare gun from their boat and fired it up.”
“Flare sighted, port confirmed,” A5T responded. “ETA one hour.”
Hearing this, James leapt to his feet and ran to the town center and called out, “Your attention please! The ships will be here within an hour. Those that are leaving with the wounded, young, and elderly please make sure you’re fully packed!”
There was a flurry of activity as townsfolk ran to their homes or where their personal effects were stored and dragged them to the port. There they stared in open jawed amazement as two forty footer fishing boats chugged and coughed to a stop, and they could see a machine gun resting on a tripod at the bow of the ship and the crew armed with M4 carbines dressed in desert camouflage.
Joe smiled and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the marines have landed.”
“Dear God!” one of the townsfolk exclaimed in shock. “I haven’t seen desert camouflage since the gulf war, marine colors at that. Where did you get them?”
“Quantico,” Joe said grinning. “And they are Marines, and our fishing crew.”
“And they look to be quite bored of fishing from the looks of it,” Kristi said with a titter in her voice. “Probably why they’re here so early.”
A master gunnery sergeant approached Joe and saluted, “Sir! Master Gunnery Sergeant Williams standing ready. Sir! We’re here as ordered. Is everything secure?”
Joe grimaced and said, “Please, don’t salute or call me sir. And yes, everything is secure for the time being.”
“Ah, shit, sir,” MGYSGT Williams replied sounding disappointed. “We were hoping there would be at least something to play with. It’s been awhile since my boys had a chance to play.”
“Don’t call me sir, damnit!” Joe muttered. “And your boys will see enough action soon enough. We’ll be going up against pirates soon. The town has decided to stay and fight.”
There was a resounded cry of “Hooo-Rah!” from the Marines at the mention of pirates and the town staying to fight.
“Hot damn! It’s been nearly three years since we gone after some Reavers!” A staff sergeant said gleefully. “Man, last time we teamed up with the navy and hunted pirates were along the coast of Somalia before the die off.”
“Dear God in heaven,” a woman from the town said in shock. “They really do have the Marines!”
“And much more, pretty lady,” Master Sergeant Kinder said wagging his eye brows at her.
“Kinder, knock it off!” Joe said shaking his head. “Stop flirting with the locals. You’re not on shore leave. Marines, prepare to evacuate civilians. Load up the wounded, old and young onto the ships.”
The town folk got the wounded, young, and most of the elderly onboard the ships with the exception of a few old timers.
“Elders,” Kristi said warmly. “Please get onboard and they get you to safety.”
“Child, stop placating us!” an old man in old fatigues growled. “Those who are with me are going to fight damnit! We aren’t gonna run. We’re Nam Vets, and we’re not going to let you young pups have all the fun.”
“Old timer, I admire your spirit, but if you want to fight, you can do it by protecting those on the boats and livestock,” Joe replied smiling.
“That’s bullshit! I was fighting and killing before some of these kids’ parents were born!” spat the old timer. “You’re giving us bullshit duty!”
“No, we’re not,” Joe replied calmly. “The Marines aboard the boat will be severely short staffed and will need those who know how to fight to keep watch and watch their six. Those that look after the livestock…. Come on, we all know that food is worth more than gold now, still is. What if the pirates come from behind us and ravage the livestock? The town will have nearly no food left after that.”
This placated the retired vets and James came up chuckling and said, “I see Kristi isn’t the only one who’d be good in politics.”
Joe laughed and said, “Naw, I’m to rough and crass to play politics. I’m better at negotiating.”
By late morning, all the young, most of the elderly and wounded said their goodbyes to those that were staying. Once everyone was set and instructed how to seat themselves on the ship, the marines hoisted the sails to have the wind pull them back to base and save fuel.

William the Black Hearted got up from his over stuffed chair and stretched luxuriously. Immediately scantily clad girls of various ages scurried forward and bowed at his feet with practiced manor waiting for anything he desired.
He leered at them, thinking of taking one at that moment, maybe one of the younger ones, but thought better of it. His brother Kenneth should be coming back with the towns plunder today, maybe some new girls to play with. ‘Pity,’ he thought. ‘That town was the golden goose, but it served its purpose, and there will be more.”
“Sire!” a pirate bellowed coming in. “Ships ahoy!”
His stomach tightened in worry that it was the Chesapeake Confederacy who’s been hunting for his crew for months and finally found him and said, “Call signs?”
“Ours sire,” the pirate replied.
“Excellent, and is my brothers among them?” Williams asked, relief flooding his entire being.
“No, sire. Only less than half a dozen are coming.”
“What? Are you sure? Do you see my brother’s ship?”
“No, sire. But he may be lagging behind,” the pirate replied nervously.
“No, that can’t be. My brother always sails in front,” William replied anxiously. “Something is wrong. Show me to the ships!”
William the black hearted was led to the main ship port and didn’t like what he saw. The ships approaching were supposed to be coming back from plundering his brothers town. Instead, these ships were sailing in a panic, completely out of formation. He pulled out his binoculars and peered through them, and saw panicked terrified looks on his crew’s faces as they kept looking back as if hell was hot on their heals.
‘This can not be!’ he thought. ‘I only see that look on new captives and victims of our raids. What the hell happened? Did they get caught by the Chesapeake Confederacy before getting there? And where’s my brother?’
The ships nearly crashed into the port as their panic gripped them. Once the ships were secure, the pirates nearly bowled each other trying to get off, all yelling their terror to the point that nothing was clear.
Growling in fury, William the Black Hearted pulled out his Desert Eagle Magnum and fired two shots into the air. Silence quickly followed, with the exception of a couple terrified yells from the recent pirates.
“What the hell is going on here?” he bellowed. “You sound like a bunch of terrified school girls! Where the hell is my brother!”
“Sire!” one of the returning pirates said, bowing and scrapping. “Sire! We were beaten back! The town rose up and fought us!”
Williams face went immediately beet red and grabbed the pirate by the neck and screamed, “WHAT! How the hell did they do that? How did my brother loose control of something we thoroughly grasped!”
“Visitors,” wheezed the pirate. “Visitors that came to help with the cholera outbreak. They’re the ones who started the revolt.”
“WHO?” William bellowed into the pirates face as he squeezed tighter. “Who the hell were they, and how the hell did they do that?”
Gasping and trying to get away, the pirate choked, “Don’t, don’t know their names, but they come from the Chesapeake Confederacy. They, they opened fire with cannons from their ship and tore our ships apart.”
Screaming in rage, he wrenched the pirates head, snapping his neck and stormed around, his crew quickly backing away from him. Glaring at the dead pirate he growled, “And my brother? What happened to him?”
Shaking, one of the other returning pirates said, “They, they hung the crew last night, and hung your brother this morning. We saw it from a distance. There was nothing we could do.”
“THEY WHAT!” he screamed in rage, and pulled out his desert eagle and shot the news barer in the chest. “THEY WHAT?” he screamed again and started shooting randomly until his gun clicked empty.
“Those sons of bitches!” he hissed. “How dare they hang my brother!”
“Sire, what would you like us to do?” one of his subordinates asked bowing.
William the Black Hearted stopped storming around and glared at them and said, “The Chesapeake Confederacy will finally learn their error of interfering with my plans.”
“Sire?”
“They want a war! We’ll give them a war!” William bellowed.
“Sire, we must think this through,” his advisor replied nervously as he came running up. “I’m sure you know they are well armed and defended.”
“Oh, I’m sure they are!” William replied scathingly. “Yes, I’m sure they have good weapons, well so do we!”
Growing pale, the advisor said, “Sire, please. We need to approach this carefully!”
William pointed his gun at them and said, “Yes, we should, but not in a cowardly way you’re thinking. I’ve heard the rumors about them. Heavy weapons, tanks, planes, nukes, all BULLSHIT!”
“Sire, what do you suggest then?”
“We mass our fleets together and blitz them with a mass show of force.”
“Will it work sire?” the advisor asked.
“Of course it will!” William the Black Hearted bellowed. “History has shown that by using a mass show of force, victory is assured!”
Gulping, his advisor said, “But sire, to get the fleet together, not to mention prepping the heavy ships, to do that will take…”
Whirling, he snarled, “I know fool! Two weeks! It will take about two weeks for us to mass our fleet together to attack! And when we do, they’ll be in for a nasty, nasty surprise.”

Two weeks had nearly passed since James town was liberated from the pirates and driven off. Yet he kept waiting for them to show up in greater force and attack, that was what he was worried about. Yet he couldn’t understand why a platoon from the Chesapeake Confederacy was so lackadaisical with the threat of the pirates seeking revenge. It was as if they weren’t concerned about it at all. Not since they finished preparing for the pirates. Of which they built a palisade along the shore line and mounted what looked like super sized crossbows in the openings. Still, he was confused that they completely relaxed now.
He watched as the marines first run a kata then sparring session with gladius swords and shields and shook his head in amazement at how fluid and smooth they were. He turned his attention to Joe as he sparred, and it was obvious that the marine he was sparing against was stronger and younger, but Joe had speed and experience on his side. He then turned his attention to Kristi sparring with Annabelle and whistled in amazement. Kristi was very efficient with her stave, but Annabelle was incredibly fast and agile and struck like a snake.
“So, what did you think of the little show?” Joe asked cheerfully as he wiped his brow from his recent sparing session.
“Why are you guys doing that? Practicing with swords and shields I mean. You do have guns, right?” James asked.
“Good question; and the answer is quite simple really. Ammo is limited and won’t last long. Yes, we have means to make gun powder, but its usage is limited. Soon we’re all going to be fighting this way when the ammo runs out. Or at least until we can make some that isn’t corrosive to weapons.”
“Sounds like you guys planned for this. It’s just…” James replied, and trailed off.
“Hey James, you okay?” Joe asked
“How do you do it?” James asked.
“Do what?” Kristi asked coming up with Annabelle.
“Be so calm. I mean, everyday that passes can mean the pirates will attack that next day or the next,” James replied. “Since your group put up that wall, you’ve completely ignored the issue.”
Ah, so that’s what’s been bothering you,” Joes said laughing. “We’re not that concerned about them to tell the truth. We know they’re coming, and that helps out a lot. Not like the time we got surprised by that swarm of cannibals in DC.”
Kristi shuddered at the memory and said, “That was bad. Funny thing; after that, most of our battles never seemed so bad. But that cannibal attack, now that was something out of a nightmare. I was out with the Smithsonianites surveying the area when we were attacked.”
“You were attacked by cannibals? How many were there?” James asked in horror.
A haunted look came to their eyes as they remembered and Joe said, “Three hundred and sixty eight, exact count. It was like something out of a nightmare as Kristi said. They killed a lot of good men as they helped us retreat to a secure the Smithsonian of all places, as they stood their ground. From there we were able to exterminate them as they surrounded the building.”
Gaping at them in shock, James then asked, “How, how did you exterminate them?”
Kristi sighed and said, “Sprayed napalm at them from the windows, doorways, and didn’t stop until the solders, marines, and the Smithsonianite guards could get out and mow them down with machine gun fire. It’s something you never want to experience. The screams, the smell, the blood, the chaos.”
“Yeah, and I’m just grateful I wasn’t on the eradication crew,” Joe replied, shuddering at the memory of the battle.
“Eradication crew?”
Joe nodded and said, “After we killed off the swarm, best way we described them at the time. We had a couple elite members track the rest of the cannibals down and eradicated them at their layer that was an old civilian bomb shelter in Union Station, oddly enough. They slipped a thermite fuel oil bomb in there and blew it up, killing every man, woman, and yes, children there. Shooting those that somehow survived and ran from the layer until the whole place burned down. They completely eradicated a population of cannibals in our area.”
“It, it sounds like genocide!” James said in horror.
“It was,” Kristi said coldly. “It was something that had to be done. People who turn cannibal will never be human again. They’re worse than Reavers. It is best to put them down.”
“What happened to those who eradicated the cannibals?” James asked.
“They were retired, given full rights to never have to work again and to have the best medical coverage ever needed. Least, those that are still live and haven’t killed themselves,” Joe replied. “And believe me; they truly needed help in dealing with what they did. They never were the same again after that. They’ve been given full honors.”
“Dear, God! It makes what we’ve gone through seem petty. We never had to go though anything like that, until now,” James said in awe.
“Well, if we didn’t have the fire power and people who knew how to use it, we probably would have been over run and been part of the main course,” Joe replied.
A tall muscular marine with graying hair marched over, and from the patch on his BDU’s James saw, he was a member of the MDVPSG. “Uetzi. How’s Padre’s ballista detachment?” the Marine asked.
“Hey, Commo, Padre says that everything is set and in place. If the pirates show up, they’re in for a nasty surprise,” Joe replied.
“Shit, how I do wish we had radar up and running with a couple Patriot missiles at our disposal,” Commo gripped. “That way as soon as the pirates appeared on radar, we’d sink them before they even get close.”
“Hell, Commo. If that was available, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Things would still be running,” Joe replied.
“True enough. Still, I do hope that William the Black Hearted scum does show up in a cutter,” Commo said smiling. “I have a little surprise for him.”
“Well, we may not have radar, but we have the next best thing. We have a patrol out scouting further out, so if they see anything, we’ll know.”
“Dad! Dad!” Annabelle yelled as she came running up.
“What is it sweet heart?” Joe asked.
“There's a radio call from the patrol! The pirates have been spotted! A whole fleet! They’re coming this way!” she replied breathlessly.
Commo turned to James and said, “Get your people into the converted bunker! Uetzi, alert the ballista detachment to prepare to launch.”
“What about you Commo?” Kristi asked.
“I’m going to take our ships and hide them in the cove nearby,” Commo replied. “We plan on letting them get close enough to hit them with the ballista, then ambush them with the ships.”
“What do you think their plan is Commo?” Joe asked.
Commo snorted and said, “From the patrols report, he plans on trying to blitz us, a mass show of force. I probably would have done the same and would have worked wonderfully, if we didn’t plan for something like this.”
Kristi smirked and said, “Well, I think ever since that cannibal attack we’ve always prepared to be swarmed.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but it’s worked for us,” Commo replied, and made his way to the ships.
“You know, if it weren’t the pirates, I’d actually pity them,” Joe said looking out onto the bay. “But pirates they are, and we will show them no mercy!”
Joe alerted Padre and the ballista detachment and made sure the palisade was braced and asked a marine if the underwater boat stoppers were in place and was given an affirmative.
“Here comes the patrol boat,” Kristi said as they saw the boat made its way into the hidden cove now slowing down from full speed.
“Then the pirates should be here soon,” Joe replied. “Okay everybody, get the armor on.”
The armor was nothing more than salvaged military body armor, pieced together with different pieces of ballistics armor. It was bulky, and more suited for a fire fight and heavy swords.
“Holy shit, Joe!” James said in shock. “That’s ballistic armor! My brother wore that when he was stationed in Iraq. Where the hell did you get that?”
Joe smirked and said, “Commo. He was the head warden for the Virginia National guard and had the keys to the bunkers and bases.”
“Dear, God! I now almost feel sorry for the pirates. It won’t be a fair fight,” James replied in shock.
“Hopefully it won’t, but we’re not going to let them get us over confidant. We have to assume they’re going to give us hell.”
“Hey they come!” someone yelled.
Sure enough a mile away, the pirates appeared from the haze in one huge battering mass and the sound of diesel engines rumbling. Joe made his way to the ballistae and saw Padre looking through a pair of binoculars.
“What’s the status, Padre?” Joe asked coming up.
Padre sighed and said, “Well, we won’t be bored, that’s for certain. So far I count three dozen ship headed our way.”
Joe whistled and said, “Damn, what else?”
“Well, from what I can tell, it appears about a dozen of their ships in front will be used as heavy rams and siege busters. They’re more heavily armored with pieces of plywood and sheets of metal wielded on, and armed more than what you faced earlier. I think they’re planning on running them aground as an intimidation tactic and use the weapons they have to soften the defenses. From there they’ll be using the cutter I just spotted,” Padre replied, and then said, “Ballista crew! Get ready!”
Joe smirked and said, “Well, sounds like a good plan on their part. To bad for them we planned for something like that. What else?”
Padre chuffed out a laugh and said, “Well, the good news is that if we miss what we’re aiming for, we’ll hit still something.”
“Lovely,” Joe said chuckling.
“Half mile and closing!” a marine called out.
Commo’s voice crackled on the radio and barked, “Host the colors! Let’s let the fuckers know who they’re up against!”

“Sire, it looks like the town is expecting us,” a pirate said to the pirate lord. “They set up some kind of wall.”
“It’s called a palisade you ignorant fool,” William the black hearted said smiling. “I was hoping they would fight. Their terror will be all the more rewarding when we slam their defenses aside and slaughter them.”
“Sire! They’re hoisting a flag!” the pirate called out.
“Already? I really didn’t expect them to surrender so quickly,” William the black hearted said chuckling as he peered through his binoculars, then felt himself go pale and his stomach grow cold. “Oh, shit! No! NO!” he bellowed in horror.
“Sire?”
“The Chesapeake Confederacy! They’re here!”
“What do we do sire?”
“Get, get the goddamn cutter towards the front now! Tell all the crews to arm themselves! Tell the crews that we’re in a fight from hell! And that’s where we’ll send them!” William the Black Hearted bellowed, trying to feign bravery.
‘If the heavy ships and cutter doesn’t work, we’re screwed,’ he thought to himself as he chewed his lip. ‘If they have weapons I heard they have, then I’m glad I’m in the rear.’
“Pirates of Tangier Island! Attack!”

“Ballista crew! Launch!” Padre bellowed.
There was a simultaneous report of hissing, quickly followed by multitude chores of TUNG! And over a dozen streaks shot from over the palisades towards the approaching ships.
“Scuds away!” Padre shouting. “Ballista crew, load up the slim jims!”
“Scuds? Slim jims?” James asked; his face tight with terror.
Kristi giggled and said, “Yeah, scuds. They are flying pipe bombs you know.”
“Your group has a very sick sense of humor, you know that?” James asked in shock. “So what are slim jims if I may ask?”
“Have to, to keep our sanity. That type of humor can get you through the worst of times,” Joe replied. “And the slim jims are slimmer projectiles, more like actual ballista for piercing hulls, but still pipe bombs never less.”
They watched as the “scuds” leveled off then descended as gravity took effect. The first one slammed into one of the siege busters, and a second or two later, blew apart taking out another one next to it. As that happened, the fleet of “scuds” either slammed into the pirate ships, or tore them apart from above as they exploded.
Everyone covered their ears as over a dozen unsynchronized loud explosions shook the area, and then carefully looked up. Well over half of the siege busters were either destroyed or out of commission, with a number of smaller attack ships behind them showing severe damage as well.
“Looks like we shocked them pretty well,” Padre muttered as he peered through the binoculars, “But it looks like their lord is rallying them to fight. Ready the slim jims!”

“What the hell was that?” William the Black Hearted screamed as he hit the deck and covered his ears from the blast.
“Missiles! They’re hitting us with missiles!” a pirate screamed in panic. “They got missiles!”
“They’re not missiles!” snarled the pirate lord. “If anything, they launched some kind of explosives, but they’re not missiles. Maybe they’re not as well armed as we thought.”
“Sire?”
“Continue the attack! Press harder! They’re not as a powerful as we thought!” William the Black Hearted shouted.
“But sire! They’re tearing us apart with those explosives! We need to regroup!” his advisor pleaded, then gasped and wheezed as the pirate lords hand clasped around his throat.
“All the more reason to press our attack! If we get close enough, they won’t be able to use those weapons!” The Pirate Lord snarled. “Continue the attack! Move the cutter to the front! Now!”

“Shit, I hate using these,” Padre muttered as the slim jims were loaded.
“What’s wrong with them?” James asked in awe at what happened.
“Well, they’re dangerous, for one thing,” Padre replied. “They have an impact blasting cap spear head, and they’re thinner than the scuds. If launched too hard, they’ll bow, and possibly blow apart.”
“So why use them?”
Joe smiled and said, “Because when they work, they are more devastating then the scuds.”
Confused, James said, “How so?”
Padre grimaced and said, “Just watch. LAUNCH!”
There was a softer retort of TUNG followed by a sharp hiss of cloven air as the slim jims took flight like cross-bow bolts on steroids. There was a sharp volley of impacts as the remaining siege busters took hits as did a number of ships behind them. Soon after there was a multitude of blasts as ships were literally torn apart from the inside.
“They’re still coming!” Kristi yelled.
“Everyone, brace yourselves!” Joe bellowed. “They’re going to hit the first line of defenses.
“Chesapeake Confederacy!, Wait for my order to open fire!” Padre bellowed.
The siege busters pushed forward, the pirates aboard yelling their war cries in anticipation of the coming slaughter, when there was a loud underwater crash, as some of the siege busters were literally stopped in their tracks, some bucking backward as hundreds of sharpened polls pierced their haul and halted their charge. There were screams from the pirates as some were pitched overboard and impaled on the underwater stakes.
“Wait! Hold fire until I say!” Padre yelled, as they heard the other ships crash into the siege busters or ran upon the spears. There was a momentary silence, and then Padre yelled, “Now! Open fire!”
The defenders of Sea Breeze popped up from the palisade and opened up with rifles and automatic weapons. All ships were peppered with rounds and took down every pirate that was seen. Some tried to fight back, but it was for naught.
A Marine screamed as he was knocked back from a round and screamed, “I’m hit!”
Padre rushed forward to administer aid, but found that the ballistic armor stopped the round. Didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell though.
“Get up son, you’ll live,” Padre said smiling in relief.
“Son of a bitch!” the marine snapped. “Hurt like a fucking hell! Son of a bitch ruined my armor!”
“We’ll get you a new one, kid,” Joe said laughing as he scanned the area and beyond. “Meanwhile get your ass back up. Their cutter is coming.”
“That’s their cutter?” Kristi asked breathlessly as she reloaded her rifle. “Poor thing looks like it’s on its last legs.”
“Como! We need your crew to engage now!” Joe called on the radio.
“We have them in sight,” Como called back. “Sending them to hell in aprox two minutes.”
“Como!” Joe then called. “Crippled it, we need to salvage what’s left on it.”
There was a retort of grumbling and a hasty reply, “Roger.”

William the Black Hearted looked on in numb shock and horror as he watched his ships were torn apart by the second barrage, then impale themselves on the poles and were stopped dead in their tracks. As he watched them then being shot apart, he screamed, “Retreat! Retreat! We must regroup! Save what’s left!”
“Sire! Sire! The cutter is still perusing! It shouldn’t be affected by their spears,’ one of the pirates replied, trying to calm their lord down.
“I don’t care! They were expecting this! We need to retreat! Back to the base!”
“Ships ahoy! Starboard side!” A pirate called out. “Coming fast and hard!”
“What?” William the Black Hearted said in shock and looked through his binoculars. There he saw a trio of patrol boats with a M60 tripod on the bows and he felt terror wash through him. ’The rumors, they were true!’ he thought. They do have heavy weapons! They set up a trap for us and we blundered right into it.’
He hit the deck as one of the patrol boats peppered his ship with M60 rounds and heard some of his crewmates scream as they were hit, and of all things, kept going. Towards his cutter.
“Sire! Are you okay?” his advisor asked as they came rushing up. “It looks like they going to circle around again.”
“No they’re not you fool!” William the Black Hearted snarled as the realization hit him. “They’re going after the cutter!”
“But sire, some are coming back our way!”
He watched as two of the patrol boats roared back, and he whipped out his magnum and fired at the ships. It was a futile effort, born of fear and desperation. He watched as one of the commanders of the ship lock eyes with William the Black Hearted and flipped him off and smiled coldly. The Marine issued a command and the patrol boats quickly veered away back towards the cutter to join the other.
“Sire, they can’t hope to sink your cutter, even with those guns of theirs,” his advisor said with a quiver.
William the Black Hearted back fisted him and shouted, “Damn fool! If they didn’t think they couldn’t sink it, would they be going at it?”
“Maybe, maybe they’re going to board it. Take it over?”
William the Black Hearted peered at the rapidly approaching patrol boats gaining on the cutter and said, “I don’t think so. We underestimated them before and look what happened. No, they have something up their sleeves. Sound the retreat and let’s get the hell out of here!”

Como felt alive. The wind and ocean spray blowing in his face, killing pirates. Taking out this kind of scum is something that made the times they live in worth living. He smiled as he saw the terror in the eyes of William the Black Hearted and knew he was beaten. He silently swore that if anyone was going to take down the Pirate Lord, it was going to be him. Meanwhile the cutter was approaching quickly, and he prepped his weapon that will take the cutter down.
“Christ almighty! That cutter looks like its getting ready to keel over,” a Marine remarked in disgust. “They haven’t done any PM on it since the die off.”
“Well, its time to put the old girl down then,” Como replied and rested a shoulder rocket on his shoulder.
His ear piece crackled and Kristi’s voice came over and said, “Como, please remember to cripple the ship. We need to salvage its main components.”
“I KNOW GODDAMNIT!” Como barked. “Let me do my fucking job!”
Laughing Kristi replied, “Okay, okay, but I know how you Marines get. You like to play rough and break things.”
In spite of himself, he snorted out a laugh and said, “You got that right! I’ll try to restrain my breaking impulses and try to salvage what we can. Como out.”
“Load me up!” Como said and he braced himself, and felt a marine load a rocket into the shoulder rocket tube. “Let’s show these scum the error of their ways! Semper Fi!”
He lined up the sights towards the bow of the cutter and pressed the trigger. The shoulder rocket tube kicked with a loud hiss, and the missile streaked towards the cutter.

William the Black Hearted rallied only a few ships; about three in total, on full retreat. He looked back in dismay as he realized what that patrol boat was going to do, and saw the missile streak from it and impact into lower end of the bow with an explosion of fire and sea spray. He watched as his prized cutter take on water then stall as it got hung up on the bay floor.
‘We have to get back to base!’ he thought in panic. ‘We need to regroup and rebuild. Damn them! It will take longer to rebuild than before!’

There was a loud cry of triumph as the cutter was hit from shore and aboard Como’s ship. Como breathed a sigh of relief and tossed the shoulder rocket tube aside in disgust. It was their last one, for now. Still, he smiled as he watched the cutter flounder and scrape along the bottom. It was thoroughly crippled.
Smiling, he picked up the radio and said, “Well, I hope you guys are satisfied, the cutter is thoroughly crippled. Time to scavenge what we can.”
“Roger that Como,” Joe replied. “I take it you and your crew will run them down?”
“And then some,” Como replied. “The Confederacy has been hunting them for a long time, and its time to see where these rats have made their nest.”
“Happy hunting.”