Chapter ១.១

Captain Wesley Zheng sat in his quarters. He was staring out his window, he let his mind float into the vast ocean even though his heart was racing as fast as his ship. The tides violent, they listened to no one but the moons above. His mission was to hunt down the last of the Selat Pirates. The Fourth Fleet of the Sakkah Confederate Navy under his command had wiped out most of the pirate fleet in the past year. Only a few ships remained, one being the Puravah’yu, commanded by the pirate leader herself, a cunning captain known by many names among Zheng’s crew: “the Strait Sl**” was one of them. With all the resource he had, it was seemingly a simple task, though Captain Zheng had been after the pirate flagship for months. She always seemed to be one step, or two, ahead of him and his crew.

“Captain, we’re approaching the cove,” Said his first officer through the voicepipe.

“Acknowledged,” Zheng replied.

Wesley Zheng was one of Sakkah’s youngest captains, no older than twenty-eight. A fairly good-looking fellow, at least for someone who has been at sea for over a year.  He had no time to care about his appearance right anyway, not until he captured that rascal, and he knew he was getting closer to that chance. 

Zheng graduated almost top of his class in the Academy. Naturally, he was told that he would have a promising career. It was said that he would be commanding his own ship in no time, which of course, he did. Even so, he did not at all expect to be in his current situation for so long. Soon, however, all of this will no longer be his concern as he now had her surrounded.

There was a slight disbelief in his mind, that this mission was finally coming to an end. His shipmates and him could finally return home, where celebration and decoration await. Shaking that thought out of his head now, Zheng tried to focus on the present as he made his way to the ship’s boat. It was a mudskipper, to be specific. An efficient means of transport from ship to ship, or from ship to shore. A high-speed amphibious vehicle capable of gliding on any surface of water. Sometimes it appears as if the vehicle were leaping on shallow, muddy waters, hence its name. One of Zheng’s crew was already waiting on it. 

“Sure you don’t want me to accompany you?” His first officer asked. 

“Thanks, Sira. I’ll be fine.” Zheng reaffirmed as the boat speeded to the cove. 

It was requested by the pirate captain that they meet face-to-face before the battle takes place at dawn. It is an ancient custom for commanders to meet each other before leading a historic attack against each other, it was seen as a way to honour one’s opponent. Damn that Old Earth general who started this thing, Zheng thought. But we already had them surrounded, both on water and in the air, I suppose we won't lose anything from it. And for an esteemed captain to refuse a pre-battle audience, it may not at all look well in the eyes of his subordinates. Their morals were not as high as when they started the voyage, to begin with. Not to mention that a number of them were his classmates back in the Academy. They were his friends and his competitors. And he knew some of them did not see him as much of a figure of authority.

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The mudskipper was arriving at its destination, Zheng glanced up upon a couple of airships humming above him. As he looked back down, he saw a small but firm figure standing on the beach, hands on hips. The pirate captain herself. That little… even when losing, she’s still taunting me. He started to walk towards her as soon as the boat came ashore, then paused, leaving a rather awkward distance between them. They stared at each other for a moment before the pirate broke out the silence.

“Wesley,” She said as she shook her head lightly.

Zheng nodded, “Amina,” He replied flatly.

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Chapter ១.២

“It’s been a long time,” Amina said in a jovial tone. She couldn’t help but smirked.

“Yes, it has,” Wesley responded flatly.

“You’re still with that boyfriend of yours? I hear he’s your first officer now,” she teased him as if they were old friends.

“He is not my boyfriend. Even if I were to have one, it wouldn’t be-” Wesley paused abruptly, cleared his throat and recomposed himself, saying: “Cut the nonsense, Amina. You know why I’m here. It’s not too late for you to surrender.”

After all these years. Amina thought. This is all he has to say to me? She knew, though, that saying it out loud wouldn’t do her any good.

“Seize the pirate vessel. Capture her captain and crew, dead or alive. That was the order,” Wesley continued.

Order… It's always these damned orders! She knew orders well. “Order” has multiple meanings but for her, order is nothing more than highly organized chaos. She had to flee her home because of orders. She ended up where she was because of orders. Now, order was having her killed.

“Are we really doing this?” She asked.

“If I had too, but it doesn’t need to be that way. I’m here to demand your surrender. And you have nowhere to run.”

“You know me well enough to know I won’t surrender or run, Wesley.”

“Then you leave me no choice. Let’s go back to our ships and finish this!” He cried. “I have nothing else to say to you.”

“Why don’t we end it here, now? Go ahead and kill me, captain,” Amina said mockingly. “Why waste your time, your ammunition, or the lives of your crew? We can settle this, just you and I. Or you don’t have the guts to do it?”

“Please don’t make this any harder than it already is, Amina,” There was a hint of shakiness in his voice.