The crashing of the ship is about the most predictable thing that has happen to me in the last half an hour. Honestly speaking it should have happen much earlier. Matthew who is piloting the opposite ship was playing with my ship like a cat that toys with the mouse.
Well to explain my present situation, it would be better to start about ten minutes ago. As I concluded in my last log, I had detected an enemy ship heading in our direction.
It was to be expected with the way that we were going about even though Trevor is not going to admit it later on. When it got closer, I even managed to detect it mana emission to the type of ship that it is.
It was a single ship. that had somehow detected our scent and had begun to follow us. At the moment I should have gotten a doubt of how the other party appeared alone. About how, it just seemed a bit too much like standard pirate ship. To explain this better, let me explain to you about the ragman. It is one of the named ships under the blood heart gang.
The ragman has the ability to mask it's mana signature, appearing like a normal ship. Even it's exterior appears like one of the more normal ships of the blood heart gang.
What should have tipped me of was that the blood heart gang would be patrolling in groups, to ensure that I would not be able to ambush any single ship and destroy it. This I remember now, not then. The only thing that I had was that a single enemy ship had appeared and it would be easy to get rid of before making our way to our goal. Once that happen, we would not need to worry about the ship for a while.
That was what I had thought. That is why I had kept my present speed, waiting for the enemy to catch up to us. Things did go the way that I expected until the enemy ship appeared in front of us.
Looking at the ship lulled me into confidence. Such a ship would have fallen in couple shots at the correct spots. If I had pushed the ship to its maximum speed at that moment, then I would not be in my present state.
Funnily, I was the one that initiated combat with the first salvo. I used the fire based ones, get into range and get a couple of shots in. Let the fire cause a panic in the group and I would have advantage. Then use the light one at decent enough distance away and cause further damage.
I try that, getting in close and shooting the fire cannons. Everything goes smoothly, I get in close and release the cannons and retreat at the same time. It was perfect, almost as if I had practiced this motion all of my life.
The only thing was that the ship was not hit. No, it was hit but it was a scratch. It was not even enough to start a fire. The enemy's ship should have a proper blaze going on at the moment. That caused my mind to blank for a second.
At that moment I should have retreated and run away. Again, I would have had a decent chance of surviving, even if the ship is destroyed in the process. I should have realised that the pilot of the other ship was not somebody that I should have messed with.
Well, I certainly didn't do that. I had assumed that my aim was somehow compromised. With new formations you can never predict what can go wrong.
"Trevor, you guys manage the cannons. I think that my remote aim has some problem." I remember telling Trevor, sending him to manage the cannons. I still have control of the cannons, but the three men of my troop can also shoot from their location.
I wonder how trevor is at the moment? he should be safe wherever he is, at least relative to me. Right now my formation room and its surrounding has been shot the most. I can feel the intensity of the fire that threatens to burn me down.
Where was I, yeah, I should have run from that position at that time. No, instead I engaged the enemies ship again and again. Each pass had a similar result. none of the cannon shots even managed to hit at its targets.
Each shot would have been enough to cause serious damage to the other ship, crippling them at the very least if not outright destroying. Each hit at most managed to scratch the other sides ship. It was like trying to cut water, it just never seemed to have an effect.
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By the fifth round of this, I had begun to realise this. A bit late, but I still could have escaped if I really put it to the pedal (break the security sigils on the propulsion formation and hoping that it won't end up with the thing exploding on my face.) and that is what I was planning to do.
It was a voice in my head that interrupted this process. It is a raspy whisper, like somebody screaming from a very faraway place. The voice was very familiar.
"Isnt it a surprise to see you at the helm, young grunt.", Matthew voice resounds in my head.
There should have been no way of this happening. I haven't transformed since the mission. My sword is at present in my room, safe away from me. My body is purely and completely human at the moment.
"I am sure that you are surprised, but it is kind of obvious. You have willingly taken in a corruption into you and are surprised that some of it has remained in you.", the man speaks again.
"Well, there are precautions in my sword, only when I fully activate my sword will they be deactivated.", I reply, more to see if the man is going to reply. The conversation could be one sided too you know.
"There is a channel directly between the sword and you, young man. I can still see the blood mans pumping into you. It is a trace amount, almost negligible. You still cannot hide blood mana from a vampire", he replies. "As for precautions there is no need of precautions when the poison is already in the body, is it now?"
"Well, what can you even do.", I reply. "There might be blood mana in me, but it isn't enough for you to pull something like the last time. How did you even do that. The blood hierarchy does not work like that. You are not the master of this grunt aren't you."
"Well, if you have only seen grunts it is easy to see how you could have made such a assumption. Well, the only hint I will give to you is, blood mana flows with your blood not in your mana core. Matching the blood flow in you. You are smart lad, I am sure you will figure out how I have done what I have done from that.", he replies. "As for what I can do, well, I can completely cripple your ship and take you in as prisoner. I don't want to do this though. That ship of yours is so fascinating. Wrecking it would be such a waste. let's even the odds a bit then. I will give you the warning for the next five shots. If you can bring me down in that time, or lose your life."
The man is silent a couple of minutes, in which I have put the sensory formations to their maximum. My head feels like somebody is pounding it but there is little that I can do about it now. I need to be able to see every inch of information I can get, especially when the other side can throw fireballs from seven cannons.
"First.", the voice echoes.
I detect the shots as it is released. I weave through the shots, dodging all of them though it was not easy. It is not something that I have tried before. I am surprised I have even succeeded at this. There is a difference between theory and practical aplication after all.
"Well, you do seem to have quite the skill, young grunt. Second.", he speaks as he releases the second volley. This time I am barely able to turn the ship. The ship is hit in two places. These are not strong cannons but they still cause damage.
In that moment, I realise that the man is playing with me. At the same moment I made the decision to gamble. Instead of trying to dodge I charge towards the enemy ship. The goal is atleast two shots into the ships side. The ship is still flimsy and two well aimed shots can bring it down or atleast cause some damage.
"Three", the bastard whispers into my ears. I can feel the enemy's cannons shred into my ship. I am certain that the cell is screwed but at the moment I do not have the ability to care. The ground is a more immediate worry than the sky.
I take control of the cannons as I prime them to their full power. I won't be getting many shots in this state but even one shot will be pretty destructive, I hope.
I use the fire cannons, though I have the light one primed too. I can see a massive fireball hit the enemies ships. Before it can hit the ship though, I sense a defensive shield popup blocking it completely. Again I had failed to detect anything related to this at all.
It is at this moment that I understand that I had seriously fucked this up and also realised that I could be dealing with the ragman. I should have run away from the start.
Well, that is what I try to do as that infernal voice begins to whisper in my head again.
"Four"
I bend the ship downwards, angling it towards the ground. There is a risk of crashing but there is little that I can do at the moment. It is of no use though, as the man behind almost seems to have predicted my actions.
I can feel the cannon penetrate into my ship. I almost don't even notice when the man whispers one last time.
"Five."
This time he doesn't even need to do much for his cannons to hit my ships. By this point I had given up.
All of that has led to the present moment. Right now I have given up trying to protect the ship. The man has been accurately hitting the region surrounding the formation core. I am not even sure if the man is playing with me or he seriously can't hit the formation room.
Still my goal is not to focus on the man, instead it is to land the ship as safely as I can. The ship is essentially useless now. Even with its regenerative ability the physical damage might be handled but with the damage to the formations and that to this extent it will take me atleast a couple of months to get the entire thing working again.
This is what I am thinking as the ground is coming ever closer. Hitting the ground is enough to damage and rattle all of the remaining formations, as we hit the ground with a force that would have broken most ships into scrap material.