The captain of the Swordfish, a Kingfisher classheavy cruiser, shouted an oath... but he did it mentally. For the crew he kept the same calm look as always. Thety have just received signals from the observation balloon and the news were not good... They had lost track definitely.
For several days, the ship has been chasing a giant sea serpent that had decided to install its territory in the middle of a commercial route. In the last month, four large merchant ships had been lost, so that the authorities had the good sense to hire the best captain and the best ship in order to kill the monster.
The ship left the port ten days ago. On the seventh day, they had the first contact. The stories of the few survivors described a gigantic creature that overcome the main top castle when standing upright, although it was common thing that the memories of traumatized and barely alive sailors would tend to exaggeration. But this time it was not so. They managed to harpoon the creature but his enormous strength forced the captain to give the order to cut the rope, after several intense minutes of struggle in which the monster was about to capsize the ship and the captain came to fear that the creature could even rip the bow. The harpoon was not an option, but still had the guns...
Then there were several days of persecution. The wounded snake was elusive, but the observers on the balloon knew how to win his salary and spotted again and again the monster. Unfortunately, the tenth day had dawned with a thick fog, it was already past noon and the observers had failed to spot the creature since the previous day.
After this latest report from the balloon, the captain gave the order to head for the port. Giving some rest to the crew and resume the hunt in a few days would do no harm at all. Also, maybe after a while the creature would show less elusive.
At dawn on the eleventh day, the cries of the watchman brought the captain out of his cabin. The mist was clearing, revealing four boats that had been completely hidden until now, even for the observation balloon. The ships were so close that the captain did not need his spyglass to identify them. Just forward, toward the Swordfish, there were four Ralgard ships. Two frigates and two cruisers, probably a cruise and a heavy cruiser.
The Swordfish was faster but the enemy was very close and would be inevitable some cannon fire. The captain kept his usual calm and that reassured (a bit) the crew, but his mind was working flat out evaluating the possible options...
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This is the introduction to the game we will play on Saturday. It has been a long time since I wrote an introduction to a game... I have to do it more often
Cheers!
