Stranded Horrors Part 1

“It has been three to four days since our last engagement with the Gantronese. There is no sign of them.” Elydark's voice shot up in the dimly lit room of the ship's map room.

            On the table he had maps, and charters of the area they were in. The battle for Ruhonthra was over, but at an excessive cost for victory. He had no doubts that the Gantronese were planning another invasion at some point. He glanced over the maps and a booklet of charts, which held to locations and information of many city-states. Thoughts of piracy entered his mind once more. In his head he schemed to return to those days. Plundering those cities and any vessels would bring in riches beyond a king's dreams. Jenere began locating these city-states as though his First Mate said nothing.

            “Once this conflict is over or our contract is over we will be back in the business of piracy.” Jenere boasted aloud while marking a city-state in the Gantronese known as Ston Par.

            “Captain, don't you need to rest? For three days you have not slept at all.” Elydark pointed out.

            Jenere looked up from his map. His eyes rested on his First Mate Elydark and his Second Mate who was also in the room. They stood side by side at the side of the table looking back at their own captain, silent as the crypt. His eyes met Elydark's gaze and locked their attention to him. The dark elf stared back looking straight into his eyes. His stare was not of love but demanded obedience when the time came.

            “First Mate I have no need for sleep during my days of grieving. We may be under contract, and in the employment of the VUVR...” Jenere said sternly to Elydark. Despite being restless he did sound tired. His gaze did not leave the First Mate. Moments later the rest of his officers entered the room. The two newly promoted officer’s swordsman Jogan Maidenson and gunner officer Stormin Mac entered last. All of his officers Elydark, Caric, Inaleth, Brucs, Koren the Maelstorm, Jogan and Mace stood in a line. He ordered for the lights to be turned on and the candles snuffed out. Jogan and Brucs did exactly as he had ordered them to do.

            “Glad to see you are all here. Being employed as privateers has given us a substantial sum. I do not believe we are being cheated, but as a pirate the temptations to raid, loot, and plunder ships at sea. For the past three days I have mapped out some-” Jenere was interrupted by a knock on the door. His attention went to the doorway where a Vestrisian sailor in an officer's uniform stood. This one Vestrisian was female, mostly human with a hint of elf and Forsythan. She had auburn hair in a short style with a lock hanging out. Her features were lean, fit, a small bust, strong legs, and a pretty serious face. Behind her stood a few other sailors who appeared to be green and a little scared to be aboard a pirate's vessel. Jenere wanted to smirk and smile at this scene. He knew in his mind that these sailors had heard the stories. It was written all over their faces and showed in their body language. Without a word Jenere straightened up and motioned for these sailors to enter.

            “Would you look at this my crew members, a few blue seal pups have been sent over to our ship.” Jenere mocked them showing that he was angry over the sudden interruption.

            “Go ahead, line up as your schools and academies taught you.” Which would only give the invaders easy targets. Jenere said in his head.

            Captain Omavern took a good look at six Vestrisian Sailors. Aside from the female Lieutenant there were four other Vestrisian Sailors with the ranks of crewman, seaman, and apprentice seaman. One was fat with glasses over his face, and looked like an overly pudgy boy in uniform. Another sailor stood nearly six feet tall, skinny, big nosed, and had a pointed chin. Next to him stood an unruly handsome lad who looked to be in his early twenties. The fourth one was nearly the short height. Being a certain height had its disadvantages, and advantages. Although this sailor stood shorter than his fellow crew mates he still held a serious, tough posture. He had a few scars from scrapes, and signs of fighting. Jenre felt the sense of recruiting this one into hi own crew.

            “What are your names and speak loudly?” He ordered them for it was his ship, his laws, and the code. The female officer stepped forward jutting her chest out.

            “Petty Officer Tenno.” the female sailor said. She turned to her fellow sailors who hesitated.

            “Oh, okay, I am crewman, no seaman Tenno.” The fat one said in a shaky voice.

            “Are you two related?” Jenere's Second Mate asked. Jenere shot him a killing look.

            “Ye-,y-, yes sir.” the fat one answered.

            “Apprentice Seaman Grantos.” the skinny one said saluting.

            “Apprentice Zhenez.” the unruly one replied with arms folded.

            “Crewman Guntherson.” the short said aloud in masculine voice.

            “And I am Ensign Teixu Arwaton. Forgive us Captain Omavern were were sent to give you a message from Admiral Kezef and Admiral Marshall Daysoul.” Ensign Arwaton began. “They have summoned you and the remaining privateers to speak with them.”

            “Look boy our Captain needs rest. He has not slept in four days!” Jogan snapped at them through gritted teeth. The newly promoted swordsman drew a dagger in a threatening way. His fierce gaze scared the souls of two of the sailors.

            “Calm down, steady yourself and sheath your weapon.” Jenere ordered the new swordsman who was to be his bodyguard. “Ensign Arwaton you and your fellow crew mates can go o the Admirals. Tell them I will see them in three days after I have rested.”

            “But Captain Zana is your leader. Both of you are summoned-” Jenere cut him off there before he could continue.

            “Three days! Once the time is up then come back to my ship. Before you leave let me tell you this. Knock on the door or let a ship have notice before you board!” Captain Omavern barked at the Vestrisians. He was livid over the sailors coming aboard without saying a word. Concerned and scared these pirates would actually kill them the Vestrisian sailors chose to leave the privateer vessel. Jenere's glare focused down on the backs of these sailors as they left the room.

            “Our meeting is over, for now. We will presume this talk of piracy later. You are all dismissed.” Captain Omavern said in an irritated voice. His officers left the room one at a time. The last one to leave was Brucs whom he wanted to speak to.

            “Brucs where is that pirate girl Cliff had with him?” Jenere asked feeling certain natural temptations rise up inside him. The urge to copulate with a woman increased since Sophine's death. Brucs turned around grinning a little.

            “I will fetch her and bring her to your room Captain.” Brucs replied trying not to laugh. He watched the Goblin leave the map room. In no hurry Jenere returned to the maps when he found a city-state slammed against the borders of Goravia-Talus and Eoth. He read the name aloud in a low voice.

            “Ambao.” The words rolled off the tongue quickly. His eyes scanned the map spotting two more city-states of the coasts of West Koriv and Fecuvia. Their names were Ganib, and Bhadur Mignear West Koriv. Jenere jotted the names down and placed markers on the map. He straightened his posture and left the map room. As Captain of his own ship he had free range of his own vessel. With an angry stride Jenere went straight for his quarters. As soon as he entered the room he threw his clothes off tossing them all over the room. Then Jenere paused realizing how childish it appeared to throw his clothes around yet he was far too pissed off to care. He climbed into his bed covering his lower half.

            Someone knocked on the door. The noise drew his attention to the door. For a split second he wanted to tell them to fuck off. Instead he allowed them to enter his room. He was certain it was Brucs and that pirate girl who apparently stuck around. Whoever she was her crew must have exiled her for doing Cliff.

            “You may enter.” Jenere said in a loud voice.

            The door opened slowly and the Zedirian pirate entered the room. This auburn-haired pirate noticed he was naked under the covers. She hesitated for a moment then closed the door behind her. Just looking at her aroused him. He gave her a dominating smile and motioned for this pirate girl to come forward. She sauntered over to his bed with her eyes fixed on what lay under the sheets. Whoever this Zedirian was she appeared very ravenous, and promiscuous.

            “What is your name?” Jenere said in a loud voice.

            “Shark Bait Abbynne.” She replied pulling the covers off him and proceeded oral activities. It felt good on his member as she used mouth and tongue swallowing him whole. Abbynne allowed him to ejaculate. She sat up and climbed onto hims letting him have his way. For an hour he enjoyed her in various positions until he was spent. Abbynne was worn out and fell asleep from exhaustion. Jenere thrust inside her a few more times then spurt on her. He laid back in the bad happy to get the urges out.

            Jenere woke up on his bed with Abbynne sprawled on the bed on the bed nude. Her buttocks was facing him, which he grabbed and fondled, squeezing both cheeks. They felt soft, warm, and squishy in his hands. His fingers dug in taking as much flesh between them. He got into position about to have his way when another knock came at the door.

            “What the sverx is it this time?” He roared at the door angry that his good time was interrupted. The roaring startled her awake. Jenere got off the bed and opened it. At the door was none other than Captain Caniir herself. He smiled and swung the door further open revealing he was naked.

            “For the sake of the mermaid goddess Lebanah put some clothes on!” Zana snapped at him. She covered her eyes, so she would not see his nudity.

            “What do you want Captain Admiral?” he asked her in a curious and agitated voice.

            “You were supposed to see the Admirals today!” She hissed at him.

            “They sent pups, sea pups aboard m-” She cut him off.

            “Sverx you too Omavern they will meet your ass in three days’ time!” She shouted at him. She turned around and left them at the door. Happy that he made her leave Omavern slammed the door to presume screwing Abbynne.

            When the three days went by Jenere dressed in a finer outfit. He wore the green coat and pants with the brown vest and his new sword dangled at his side. Wasting no time Jenere left the ship in a quick stride to find Zana at the end of the ship's loading/boarding ramps accompanied by several Vestrisian Admirals and a score of Captains. On the inside he felt stupid wearing a very fine looking outfit for this occasion. It did not take him long to realize the meeting would take place at his ship.

            “Hello there Admirals and Captains. I suppose you already know who I am, but I don't recognize any of your faces.” Jenere said to the group of officers.

            “Jenere this is Admiral Marshall Daysoul, Admiral Kezef, Admiral Blatt, Admiral Brykas, and Admiral Juthungi.” Captain Caniir quickly introduced the Admirals to the Pirate Captain.

            Jenere took a good look at these Admirals all of whom wore nearly identical officer uniforms. The only differences were the badges, medals, pins, and their faces. Admiral-Marshall Daysoul had a hard rectangular face covered in scares and donned a clan tattoo. Admiral Kezef had a round face with a black beard and light brown skin. Admiral Blatt was thin and inverted triangular baby face and blonde hair. Admiral Brykas was a half elf with brown hair and a small goatee. Admiral Juthungi appeared rough in the face with a tribal tattoo over his eye and no facial hair on his pale skin. The Captains either donned mustaches, goatees, or had no facial hair over black skin, brown, skin, tan skin, white skin, beige skin, ivory, chestnut brown, honey, and golden skin. He saw they were a mix of men and women who achieved the rank of Captain.

            “Captain Omavern you and Captain Caniir you are being tasked with searching some strange craft that are the size of forts. There is one standing in the ocean and another one just floating a drift to the south. We will send a small battalion of marines plus ten ships of privateers and pirates will join you.” Admiral-Marshall Daysoul said to the Captains. He then allowed Admiral Kefez to have the floor.

            “The pirates who defended the fort will also join you using the ships you captured. As for the fort island a coalition of troops will garrison her. Those troops will also scour and scavenge the after math while our fleet guards Ruhonthra's isles and the seas around them. A total of 310 Ruhonthran troops, 150 Alagen troops, 200 Lybesan troops, 400, Ivodra volunteers, and 500 Vestrisian soldiers and marines will be sent. Despite the request we want you to search those barges instead, but there are other craft sitting like ducks.” Kezef informed the pair of Captains.

            “That is your mission Captains. Head out whenever you are ready. Good luck and don't expect a very warm welcome.” Admiral-Marshall Daysoul warned the Captains. The entire group of Vestrisians left the two privateer Captains at the dock.

            “Shall we begin preparing to launch?” Jenere offered sounding curious yet sarcastic.

            Zana gave him an annoyed glare. She stormed off showing she was still angry that he made their employers wait a few days. Jenere only shrugged and turned around to see his whole crew watching him. His officers stood at the head of the entire crew. He was certain they heard what was said between him and the Vestrisian Admirals.

            “Gents get to work for we sail as soon as Captain Caniir is ready!” Jenere gave out the order to his crew who immediately sprang into action. As he walked up the ramp he continued to bark out commands for his crew to follow. He watched his crew race to their stations, put away tools, cover certain boats, uncover their guns, turn valves, pull up masts, man the engines, unhook the ship, weighing the anchor, locking away the cords, chain links, and securing any storage on deck.

            Jenere walked around the deck observing his crew as they prepared the ship for launch. In the back of his mind he was certain they had enough provisions, ammunition, and fuel for this mission. While his crew toiled aboard the ship Jenere kept glancing over at Zana’s vessel. She was certain they had enough provisions, ammunition, and fuel. While his crew toiled aboard the ship Jenere kept glancing over where Zana’s vessel was. She was allowing Vestrisian troops on board her vessel. He twirled around to see if there were any troops coming to board his ship. There were none heading to his ship. The gangway, and ship loading ramp were disconnected from the dock and put away.

            “The ship is ready to sail Captain!” Elydark said in his ear standing next to him giving him a salute.

            “So she is, but our friend Captain Caniir is not. Have Brucs, and Caric take charge of the crew. Meet up in the bridge.” He ordered his First Mate who sprang into action. He raced one direction and the captain walked in another direction. They did not go in opposite directions. Jenere made his way up to the structure in the center of the ship. He climbed the ladder to the second floor and climbed the stairs to the bridge area. That was when he noticed Zana’s ship began to launch. He saw it through the window just as he was about to enter the bridge. Her vessel began to move away from the dock. Jenere froze realizing she was ready to get on with this mission.

            “Are the engines ready? Is the ship prepared for sailing?” Jenere asked the crew inside the bridge, rushing inside.

            “Yes captain!” Inaleth answered.

            “Aye, Captain.” Another crew mate replied.

            He received a few answers from the rest of them as they began operating the ship. Each sail dropped down and propelling fans began spinning. Machine made wind blew into the sails. Slowly the Abomination drifted away from the dock. While moving further away from the port Jenere ordered for the ship to go at full speed. The Abomination found itself among various other classes and types of ships. Such classes and types included gunboats, metal sloops, vessels no larger than a frigate, and a few modern brigs. Many of them flew Vestrisian flags while the rest of their fleet belonged to those of Lybresan, Alagen, Nahem, Ruhonthra, Ivodra, and other volunteering privateers. Zana’s ship maneuvered around the debris that lay head of their path. Jenere took the wheel and maneuvered the Abomination towards Zana’s direction.

            For nearly an hour and a half Captain Omavern steered his vessel over to be parallel with Zana’s vessel. He had to move around some debris and paused for some ships to get through. Several ships flew the privateer flags, others flew their own flag under the Vestrisian of a blue field with a gold yellow anvil in the center with four objects crossed. A sword, wrench, pitch fork and a pick ax in yellow gold crossed behind the anvil. The pitch fork, and pick ax connected behind the anvil. Jenere watched several other vessels meant for boarding packed with soldiers. They headed straight for the floating debris that was the aftermath of the battle for Ruhonthra.

            Jenere and his crew increased the distance between the Abomination and the Ruhonthran Isles. He got closer to the Ego of Queens and noticed her flying certain colors on her flag. A flag with a blue crown flew over her mast. He looked at this wondering why he did not notice this before. Jenere returned all his attention to steering the ship along the edges of the debris. His ship came along side the Ego of Queens flying his own colors beside the Vestrisian Flag. More than a score of privateer vessels joined them. Jenere noticed they had similar flags of specific colors. All of them fielded red, blue, and black with an array of objects.

            Jenere returned his focus to sailing past the debris towards their destination. He handed the wheel over to Inaleth. Taking out his spyglass Jenere looked ahead of them. Through the glass he could see something in the distance past the debris. Whatever this was it held the shape of a rectangular prism barge. Not sure what this was, Jenere kept his eyes on it. Something flashed, shining light into his eyes. Forced to take the glass down Jenere checked out the debris. Smaller boats, and vessels searched the debris while the larger ships went ahead past the debris. He took his eyes off the scene of searching and scavenging the after math.

            For three hours the fleet of privateers and pirates made their way to this structure sitting in the ocean. It was midday when they arrived at the sitting structure. The barge stood on the water that was nearly larger than a fort. From looking at this barge he could tell this large craft could garrison a battalion. This large craft was armed with towers with turret guns on top, and machine gun window slits. Its hull had numerous slots and windows for machine guns, rifles, and heavier weaponry. Around this fort sized barge were other boats, and craft afloat. None of these vessels stirred or fired on them at their approach.

            “Captain, Captain Zana is on the radio.” The radio person said aloud to the Captain. She turned to face him with both hands on the head set. Jenere went over to the radio and picked the phone piece.

            “Good afternoon Captain Caniir, what is the plan from here?” he asked as if he interrupted a bullshit conversation.

            “We are to hold off on boarding that barge. Whereas all the troops with us will search her. If you’d like Jenere you and your crew can search the other ships.” Caniir replied to him in a devious voice at the end.

            “Our superiors said there would be ten more joining us, but I only see twenty ships.” Jenere pointed out.

            “They have troops who are tasked to investigate that barge. I was just contacted by the Admiral-Marshall who has instructed us to leave that job to the Lybresans, and the Alagens. They insisted that job be theirs and theirs alone.” Caniir said sounding annoyed.

            “What about the Ivodrans, Ruhonthans, and our Vestrisian Employer?” Jenere asked wondering what one thousand five hundred sixty soldiers could accomplish. He imagined it would be a swift victory considering the craft was empty. It appeared to be empty from the looks of it. He felt like they were being introduced to a fleet of ghost ships.

“The Ivodrans, Ruhonthrans, and our employers are busy searching the debris.” Caniir replied to him. “With the rest of the Lybresans, and Alagen troops of course. There are 41 Lybresans, no more than 25 Alagens, and 50 Vestrisians with us. I am sending ten of our ships to the side and cover our flanks.” Zana said finishing the conversation there.

            With the conversation over Jenere hung up the phone piece. He turned all his attention to the ships that joined them. Ten of the privateers began to break away. The other ten maneuvered to the motionless vessels. About nine vessels of industrial origins of the modernization in Calorn. Most of them were crafted by Gnomes, Dwarfs, and Goblins who were pressed into the work force. Their size were meant for the Gantronese or humanoid use. A ship that size could still be manned by smaller humanoids like the Gnomes, Goblins, and Dwarfs. The craftsmanship was recognizable from the way the sheets of metal were created. If one looked closely at the plating they would find specific markings on them. These markings showed who made these sheets.

            Jenere’s attention rested on the single vessel that floated closer to his own. For a brief second, he took his eyes off the target to see several boats make their way to the barge. He accepted the barge as their target and returned to his own. It was a long craft in the shape of an elongated spear with seed shaped structures on deck. Whatever this craft was it had minor defenses. Just three small turrets canons stood on the deck as this vessel’s armament. As they drew closer to the vessel Jenere could see it had several other armaments. For several moments he studied the ship that could hold up to a few hundred or more passengers and many tons. Whatever this ship was made for it floated on the water lifeless. Its purpose and function were still unknown, but it is clear nothing happened. Jenere searched for his First Mate, Second Mate, and officers. He only saw three of the officers he wanted. Second Mate, his swordsman, and officer stood at key parts of the bridge.

            “Morlen, Jogen, and Brucs assemble a boarding party consisted of raw recruits, and seasoned raiders. Prepare the ship to board, and ready to sink that vessel.” Jenere commanded the trio of officers. All three of them exited the bridge. He exited the bridge soon afterward. Outside the bridge Jenere climbed over the balcony and jumped down onto the deck. There he waited for his crew to assemble. He wasn’t sure of how they should board this craft. Should they head over by boat or grab all the grappling hooks to board the old-fashioned way. Waiting for all the raiders, and boarding parties to assemble.

            He took a good look at this vessel then at the others. No more than two small crafts full of boarding parties came up to the other vessels. Jenere stood at the port side watching this vessel. He heard footsteps behind him. Turning around Jenere saw ten of his best crew members with his second mate. Brucs came up to the group of assembled pirates and his captain.

            “Brucs have the boats ready. We will board this vessel.” He said pointing at the floating ship. The goblin did as he was commanded to do so. Two boarding craft were lowered. Jenere informed the First Mate that he was second in command. He turned to board the craft with his party. At a slow rowing pace Jenere and his ten pirates made their way to the ghost vessel. They came up to the broadside. From there they latched their boats using grappling hooks. One by one the pirate boarding party climbed on board this ghost ship.

            Jenere’s boats hit the metal floor of the deck bring the last the one to climb. To their surprise nothing happened, no one came out yet. He looked around at the empty deck. In a silent motion Jenere gestured for his party to follow him. In a small close nit group eleven pirates crept along the side of the ship’s interior. They searched the whole deck finding nothing before searching the structures. From the look of the ghost Jenere surmised the ship was abandoned not very long ago. It became clear this vessel was likely abandoned along with the small fleet of ships or the crews were hiding, and this was some form of trap. He led his party over to the smallest structure on the deck. Finding the door wasn’t difficult since the Gantronese copied their way of building doors. Jenere opened it to discover it was the ship’s tool storage where the equipment for the crew was stored. Not a soul was found inside.

            He slammed the door not caring who heard it. They checked the second structure, which turned out to be the bridge of the ship. It stood at two stories tall with windows and a staircase leading to the wheelhouse. Jenere climbed the stairs not trusting the door just under the stairs. Without hesitation Jenere went up to the door. He drew a pistol, fired one round shattering the glass and letting himself in. Inside the bridge and wheel house Jenere found it to be empty. He did find the alien technology the Gantronese used. Jenere snooped around discovering a spiral staircase leading up to the lower part of the bridge.

            Jenere descended the spiral stair case entering a dark corridor or chamber. He was a very fortunate man because of his race. Jenere’s elf eyes allowed him to see in the dark much like a cat does. He found another door at the bottom of the spiral stair case. The door had a strange tentacled monster painted on it. At a closer inspection he discovered it was red-brown like blood. The door itself was covered in the similar substance. Looking closer he found the door was left ajar. Under the belief there was nothing there Jenere pushed it open to discover a gruesome sight.

            The hallway was covered in a blanket of residue, filth, and piles of what appeared to be a mesh of guts, muck, and heaps of torn up flesh. Jenere slowly made his way into the hall. He scanned the sides while making his to the end of the hall. There were doors to rooms filled with the same things he saw in the hall. Inside these rooms he heard the crunching and munching sounds of creatures feasting and others licking up something. He did not bother seeking out what it was or what was going on. Following the sounds came roaring, growling then fighting.

            As stealthily as possible he made his way through the hall. To his dismay he did not find the door to the outside. Instead he found the end only led to other hallways. Jenere drew his other pistol before going any further. Curiosity was the driving force. He faced many dangers so why would he cower in the face of this? Leaving whatever creatures dwell in that hall behind, Jenere found two corridor hallways connected to the one he just left. Deciding, which one to take was not difficult. He could keep exploring alone and possible die. Jenere chose the one on the left. He went for this one hallway that had stairs leading down to the right and a door to the left next to the end. Jenere could almost hear voices on the other side. It must have been his party talking loudly. Knowing it was just his crew Jenere walked over to open the door. As he approached the door Jenere caught a gist of what the crew said.

            “…tales, and rumors speak of the gods, the old gods returning...even an ancient evil called Mervis...”

            “I once worshiped a goddess…years I…now I gave up on her. She went down hill in terms of fame across Evusia, Damis, and for some reason Lesdonia?”

            Jenere opened the door letting his party inside. All ten rushed inside noisily. He motioned for them to quiet down. They entered the vessel they believed was empty and abandoned. The noises from the hall emerged again. His own party drew weapons in response. Their focus went straight to the hall and the stairs.

            “What was that?” One of them asked wielding an axe.

            “Calm yourselves men. Those are creatures that I slipped past undetected. Avoid that hallway. We are going for those stairs.” He commanded them. Not a single word came out their mouths. In a packed group ten pirates followed their Captain down the steps trying their best to ignore the noises that came from the hall.

            With his elf eyes Jenere led them down to the second deck of this ghost vessel. Some of his party had elf blood, others orc blood and goblin blood. Some strange science or rumors of it say that elves, orcs, goblins, gnomes, dwarfs, and demonic humanoids came from the same ancestor. Even if that was true it was too early in the modernizing world to say so or even confirm it. A few of his party were humans, which forced them to wear goggles that allows the wearer to see in the dark.

            In the second deck they discovered what is called the tween deck of a ship. It was the deck that was located between the upper deck, and the cargo hold. The cargo hold was usually the third or fourth deck of a ship depending on the size of the vessel. In this deck they found what appeared to be the crew’s quarters occupying the side of the deck. Bunks, beds, and dividers tipped over and fallen took up the section along the wall. In the center was the ship second hatch bellow the first. The upper hatch must have been covered. In the lower tween deck the second hatch was just covered with a trap door. On the other side of the hatch were other rooms such as the laundry rooms, other crew accommodation’s, personal storage further down, and some lounge area blocked off by dividers.

            Jenere and his party explored this second deck a little more, discovering more evidence of what happened. Corpses, blood, limbs, and waste littered some parts of the tween deck. He recalled the noise he heard in the hall earlier. That was no secret anymore, those creatures were responsible for whatever happened to the crew. What he did not understand was that among the corpses there was not a single Gantronese.

            “Men take a moment before he ventures any further to the cargo hold. Did you see any Gantronese corpses?” Jenere asked his party.

            “No Captain.” One of them said scratching his head.

            “Nay.” Another replied to him. The rest just shook his head.

     

         Jenere said nothing, he pulled out his war pick while placing his pistol in its holster. In the lead of ten of his crew members Omavern made his way to the stairs that led to the cargo hold. At the bottom of the stairs lay a few more corpses. One of them looked to be breathing. They looked far too scarred and cut up to resemble a humanoid. This scarred figure looked up at the stairs. His face was too scratched up and covered in cuts that skin was hanging from his face. This poor soul reached out with his arm.

            “Captain, we should put this poor soul out of its misery.” One of his members muttered in his ear. Jenere kept his eyes on the scarred wretch. He took a deep breath and pulled out his pistol again. The pirate-privateer cautiously moved down to the wretched humanoid.          

            When he came down half way to the wretch something came out of the shadows. It launched itself after the poor wretch. Like a feral creature a ghoulish humanoid tore the wretch to pieces. Screams, and growling came from them followed by a spray of gunfire. Two of his own party members drew their guns and let loose a hail storm of bullets. Neither of them stopped until they emptied the chambers in their guns. The ghoul collapsed on the poor wretch’s corpse.

            He had his men stop at the middle of the stairs. Jenere listened, observing the two corpses. Movement, clanging on metal, and growling noises could be heard. From the same direction as the ghoul came a handful of other mutated humanoids. These things crawled like beasts. Jenere prepared himself for the onslaught.