Shipwrecked Hearts

Navigare 40

"Siren Steel crew, come with me!" Sigaw ko at saka tumakbo papunta sa tulay, I crossed towards the other fleet.

"Starfish, roger?" Maximo's choppy voice resonated.

"Roger." Sagot ko gamit ang walkie-talkie.

"I'll split the ship at your signal."

"Now." I answered when the last man of my crew crossed over.

"Roger." Saktong iyon ay tumaas ang bawat hati ng tatlong tulay.

"Separation complete."

Nakita ko si Maximo na tumungo sa barandilya ng kan'yang barko, he effortlessly stood on the thin railings. How can he keep his balance and not fall? I stared at him in awe, as if feeling my gaze, he looked at me and winked.

"Your command, Kira?"

Bumalik ako sa huwisyo nang tanungin ako ng isa sa mga tauhan ko. Right. This isn't the right time to be distracted by how cool Maximo is. I cannot also let him outshine me. My competitive cells suddenly struck me.

"I've got a plan. Everyone, gather." Utos ko. Sumunod naman ang lahat. Umakyat ako at saka tinignan ang lahat ng mga pirata. "We'll steal five enemy ships and use it to destroy the other ten. But it will be risky."

"What's the winning rate?" Tanong ni Nick.

"40 %, I guess."

"Well, that's high enough, captain. Spill it." Charles grinned.

"We'll let them get close to us." Ngumisi ako. "You'll divide into six groups. The five groups will separately raid the five nearby ships, meanwhile, the sixth group will stay on this ship to delay the other ten ships. As you can see, may limang barko sa kalaban na mas nauna, nasa likod naman ang sampu."

"Sounds like a badass plan." Charles nodded. "Okay. Let's do it!"

"Aye!" Sigaw nilang lahat.

They all divided themselves accordingly. May mga kumuha na rin ng lubid na may kawit sa dulo. Tumingin ako sa gawi ni Maximo at nakita siyang sumusugod sa mga kalaban. His ship was sailing away fast, keeping distance from me. Right. He probably doesn't want us to be trapped together and would rather face the enemy separately because if they all gather around us, that means we'll have all in our hands. Our enemy here are numbers. We must divide it in a balanced way.

Hinayaan naming lumapit ang limang barko sa amin, they must be the attackers. On the other hand, the ten who remained in a safe distance are the defenders.

"Slay everyone on board the ships." I smiled to my crew. "Okay?"

They seemed to be taken aback by my expression, they all nodded as a response.

"Well, you can spare one for interrogation." I noted.

Nang malapit na ang mga barko ay biglang tumunog ang walkie-talkie, "starfish, why aren't you shooting down the ships?"

"Why would I?" Sagot ko naman. "Maximo, just mind your own business. I have my own way of doing things."

Narinig ko ang marihing pagtawa ni Maximo sa kabilang linya, "if you say so. Don't get in trouble, Starfish. Or else I'll be forced to swim and save you."

Humigpit ang hawak ko sa walkie-talkie, hindi dahil sa galit kung hindi sa pagkakilig. I don't know if that is even the right term—I just feel the butterflies in my stomach. It sounds mainstream, I know. But that's just it.

"Fifty meters away, forty more." Nick said as he watched the ships. They must have guts. Not because we're outnumbered doesn't mean they have the upper hand. There is a reason why the pirates in this operation were chosen. Only the elites were selected. My crew is one of the elites. Of course, it is undeniable that they were drugged by Eli, but that's because he was once a comrade.