The large island was inside and the full crew was getting ready for the assault. Eve was going to do the same thing she had been doing for the previous islands; this time she would have Tyra watching her back the whole time.
Isa was going to work with Alexandria until she was able to acclimate into the crew properly. She preferred that at the moment because Alexandria was the only one that she felt understood her right now. She wanted to go with Lyric but she had something else that she was going to do so that wasn't available at the moment.
Once the ship was moored in the shallows Tyra would take up her position in the crows nest to give Eve back up. She was allowed to kill any defenders that tried to hurt Eve directly since this was a larger island, Alexandria was only concerned with the officers that had been elected at each camp; they were the ones she wanted to turn.
They moved the flagship into the position and set the anchor Alexandria would go with Isa. Eve would be backed up by Tyra. Lyric and Valentina would make up the assault team since their last few tries they have worked very well together combining lyrics stealth and swordsmanship with Valentina's ability to bend space and time.
Eve set out in the lifeboat and made her way to the island. Alexandria had Isa start the bombardment in order to give her some cover. Isa was enjoying this part of the mission because she was able to light the fuses for the cannons with her hands.
This cannon barrage would take a little bit longer since the island was much bigger and from the dimensions on the map there were three auxiliary campsites and one large garrison in the center acting as a command base.
"Isa do you believe that you can do this once the cannon barrage is over we are going to that island can you keep control?" Alexandria asked, trying to be as calm and collected as possible. She didn't want to scare Isa especially since they were about to go on to an island that was filled with enemies.
She knew Alexandria wasn't trying to say anything to get her all worked up. Of course her zipper was only right above the top of her chest so her emotions were pretty well in check. "I need to be able to handle this if I'm going to be part of this crew. You have big plans for the future and if I want to be part of that I need to be able to control myself and this is the best way to learn how." She gave Alexandria a soft smile followed by a thumbs up as she grabbed another wick and fired off another cannonball towards the island.
Tyra period down her scope and watched as Eve paddled her way towards the island. She wasn't far from the shore and from what Tyra could see there wasn't much activity at all on the shore. She needed to stay alert; it didn't matter if the defenders were inside their different camps or if the patrols were coming in intervals she needed to make sure he was able to save her knives and her energy for the important parts later on.
Lyric and Valentina waited in the next long boat. Once the bombardment stopped and they got the signal from Tyra it would be their turn to advance. Lyric was not about to mess this up, everything they had done up until now went so well and it wasn't going to change just because Alexandria and the rest of the crew were back together.
Valentina had more confidence this time around. Everything she had accomplished with lyric and Eve had given her the boost that she needed. She wanted to make sure that things went correctly. She was going to prove that no matter what she was a valued member of this pirate crew.
The cannonballs littered the island striking places purely for confusion rather than destruction. Isa seemed to have great aim with the cannon. Of course no one’s aim was better than Tyra’s but that was part of her ability so no one could do better. She let off three more cannonballs lighting them with a small flame shot out of her finger like a gun. Isa was having a ton of fun and her zipper was on the bottom of her chest now.
Eve was able to find a nice enclosed cove off of the left side of the island. She hid the boat well and got into her disguise. Thankfully the island’s didn’t have long distance communication since they had yet to figure it out. This time she decided to visit each of the side encampments and settle in at the command camp so they could capture the higher ups sooner. A devious smile crossed her face as she entered the first camp.
Tyra watched Eve move through the island walking into the first camp. It was nice to be perched up in one spot for the moment. V was up above her watching out for when Alexandria made her way to the island. She peered through the scope looking around every corner of the island she could. Tyra needed to make sure she kept an eye on Eve since they had a signal just in case she was discovered too early.
A few more rounds of cannon fire rained down on the island before Alexandria patted Isa on the back. “Alright that is enough for now. We need to get into position so that no one is left on their own.” Alexandria motioned for Isa to follow as she made her way to the deck and the last longboat. They both got inside rowing towards the island. Alexandria and Isa were going to be Lyric and Valentina’s backup. It was also a good way for Isa to find her place in the crew formation.
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Lyric and Valentina made it to the shore hiding the longboat amongst some reeds near the shore. Lyric was going to wait a bit before she went invisible. They still needed to wait for Eve’s signal when she made it into the main encampment. “If we get any visitors, slow down time and I will take them out. The other island's officers always had an insignia on their cloaks. Remember we don’t kill them until Alexandria is able to talk to them.”
Valentina nodded in agreement. She was getting better at slowing down time for others and keeping it normal for her crew members. It barely winded her now which was amazing considering what happened the first time she tried it. “I can’t wait to get to the main encampment. We will also get to see what Isa is made of. That must be a sight to see.”
Similar thoughts were running through Lyric’s head since Isa seemed like a perfect match for their crew. She wished they had more time before the mission to get to know her but everything needed to move forward so quickly. At least after taking over this island they would get a little bit of a break to rest. “We can hide over here among these bushes since it gives us a perfect view of the main encampment.”
They both moved into the concealment keeping an eye out for any scouts that could possibly be on patrol. Hopefully the plan worked since they didn’t have the numbers to take out each camp at once. Drawing out everyone to the main encampment was the goal. The fact that the island had almost two hundred defenders on it made things difficult to say the least. However Lyric believed they could pull it off if everyone worked together.
Alexandria and Isa made it to their side of the island hiding the longboat in a shallow area near the shore. They moved quickly making sure not to make too much noise. Their job was to cause trouble and force everyone to move towards the main encampment. That was one of the main reasons Isa had to go with Alexandria. There was no better way to cause trouble on the island than starting a few controlled fires.
“Alright Isa all we need to do is get them to abandon the smaller camps. So no reason to go overboard just yet. You will have plenty of chances to do that in the future.” Alexandria moved quickly to the camp closeted to them. Isa was right on her tail keeping up fairly well. The fires hopefully didn’t cause any one to try and put them out. Water rations on an island are very important so wasting them to put out fires wouldn’t be tolerated. Of course that is what Alexandria hoped they would do.
Isa was just glad to be helpful in the first mission. She nodded in response to Alexandria’s statement as they neared the first encampment. Thankfully she had plenty of time in her cell to read up on controlled fires. She thought it would be helpful in the future just in case she was able to get a hold on her abilities. They stopped not far from the back entrance as Isa looked over the perimeter of the camp.
She needed to find something that would burn but not something that would spread the fire taking out the entire camp. Alexandria told her to keep the camps intact so they could use them after the island was firmly under their control. Isa spotted a barrel near the border of the camp. Hopefully there was something flammable inside. It would make the perfect controlled burn. She moved quietly up to the barrel peering inside since the lid was open. Inside was something that looked like dry leaves. This must be where they stored kindling for their fires.
Isa gave Alexandria a thumbs up as she went to work spreading the leaves out making sure they made a direct line to the barrel. The fire should only catch a few things around it and then die out from lack of fuel. She made sure before lighting it that there was nothing else around to cause the fire to go out of control. Snapping her fingers together she sparked the leaves making a fire line to the barrel which caught fire right away.
The defenders inside didn’t notice it at first. However that changed rather quickly when they both heard people running around inside trying to decide what to do. Thankfully the defenders inside made the choice of leaving to regroup at the main encampment. They were even going to take all the supplies so nothing else was damaged while the fire took its course. Alexandria and Isa exchanged a quiet high five as they moved to the next encampment.
Eve looked up to see the smoke coming from the west side of the island. She was glad to see Alexandria and Isa were right on time. That meant she only had to go straight to the main encampment after the next fire was set. The camps here were pretty basic and it wasn’t hard to walk in and out without being bothered. This is what Fina must have meant by a skeleton crew. She wasn’t referring to the number of defenders but to the way the camps were protected. She was going to leave the moment Alexandria and Isa set the fire for this camp just to make sure everyone moved to the main one.
Alexandria and Isa made good time to the second camp without running into a single scout. It was a bit weird that for such a large island the defenders were not spread out more efficiently. Of course that just made things easier for them. Once the plunder was set to Fina they could work out all the flaws the defenders made so the same mistakes don’t repeat themselves. They came up to the camp looking for something to set on fire.
This time Isa wasn’t so lucky to find a barrel of kindling just laying around. There wasn’t much on the border of the camp she could use. She needed to figure something out or they would be pushed off schedule. Walking around the camp slowly keeping herself hidden she finally found something. It was a crate that had what appeared to be cloth material for clothes. Thankfully they didn’t really need that since the treasure ship had plenty of that stuff. Isa went to set the fire when she was interrupted by a defender making their rounds around the border of the camp.