Jack heard the devil before he saw it.
Once you've been on an airship long enough the unique rumble of its engines brand themselves into your bones. The Queen Anne's Revenge rolled over the rooftops. It was a large frigate class airship which boasted as much power as it did speed. It wasn't going full speed and it was flying low in their direction.
It slowed even more as ropes fell from open doors in its hull that were obviously aimed for the group of freshly escaped pirates.
Cannons fired in the distance, signaling airships engaged in airborne combat.
Jack and Merida grabbed the hoop at the end of one rope with one hand and wrapped the other around each other's waist. The others grabbed the loops and each other in the same fashion, as was procedure in the air grabs. The lines retracted like fishing hook as the machinery spun and clanked as it reeled in the young group.
"Welcome back home, we saw the navy dropping Big'uns and t'ought you lot might been da cause of it." the Quartermaster quirked a wry grin.
The Quartermaster was an elderly dark skinned fellow with a balding scalp and a thick white beard grew into the mane that circled his head like a wreath.
"Come, da Cap'n'ill want to see you." He spoke in an experienced foreign accent.
They followed the Quartermaster to the deck where the Captain was barking orders.
Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach, Captain of the Queen Anne's Revenge, and one of the most feared pirates in the world.
"Bonnie, jump on the forward cannons. Keyes you too, We're going to need a little extra luck if we're going to make it out of this one." Blackbeard ordered.
"Sir, is that wise? OW!" Jack tried to ask but the quartermaster hit him on the head with a long cane he wasn't sure what hurt more, the cane or the three coconuts tied to it with leather cords.
"Don' question da cap'n, yung mistah Keyes. 'Is wisdom is beyond your years." The quartermaster teased him as much as he reprimanded him.
Fat chance, Jack thought to himself thinking of all the different vessels he'd been on, but he was always obstinate despite his military training. He conceded that Blackbeard had been in this world longer than he had and that his advanced age testified to his ability.
"Take care not to damage him Rafiki, young Keyes here might captain his own airship one of these day, under me o' course, and must know the finer points of leadership." Blackbeard was an imposing power. Jack had met a few like him in his travels. He oozed commanding authority, the kind that could suffocate a lesser man with only a look. Blackbeard's presence overtook Jack as he stepped closer, his broad shoulders in his pirated military outfit were like mountains. The cannons in the distance lit his face ominously, a smile in his eyes told Jack that he knew what this display was meant to do and it was working. It stirred him, the rebellious fire welled in Jack but Blackbeard's presence did as much to stoke the fire as it did to direct it.
"Young Master Keyes, you must look at the situation as much as the enemies in front of you while always keeping one eye for the enemy you can't see. This was a coordinated assault what does this tell us about our enemies movements?"
"It means they were in position before we had a chance to react."
"Exactly, now do you think they'd make it easy for us to fight back or leave?"
"No, they were ready, everything they've done they've done scare us back to the ship, and when they couldn't do that they sent Goliaths after us. And now that we are back on the ship-"
"Our entire able bodied crew is one big target in the sky."
"Which means their main force is in the sky."
"They have the city surrounded and they mean to shot every airship that takes to the airwaves."
"How come they haven't fired on us yet?"
"Because, Master Keyes they've spread their forces out thin around the city and mean to make scrap out of anything that tries to leave."
"Then they are waiting for us."
"Yes. But they are expecting the airships to be low and gaining altitude as they do so they have all their guns angled down at the outside perimeter of the city."
"So what are we going to do?"
"Why we are going to angle down on them, Quartermaster, tell engineering to take us straight in the air as fast and as hard as the engines will allow." The Quartermaster left, and after a moment, the ship rose from its low altitude and sprang into the air as if on the leathery wings of an unholy demon. "You see Master Keyes, once we reach altitude we will angle at the barricade and pore all our power into the forward cannons and shielding, and without having to fight gravity we can put the remaining power into the forward thrusters."
"You mean to dive at them?"
"Aye, they not ready to repel an attack from above or at such speeds as we can attain when using the winds and gravity to our advantage. Now, to the forward Cannons, I mean to punch a hole through their paper barricade, and only fire once the Quartermaster says. Savvy?"
Jack and Merida nodded and ran below deck to get to their cannons. They strapped on the goggles that would protect their eyes from the cannon blasts they plugged a wire hanging from the cannon into their goggles after they sat down in the small leather and brass-plated seats attached to their respective mid-sized Rapid-fire tri-barreled Destroyer class cannons that sat hidden in the front of the ship. A heads up display appeared on the lens of their goggles. The shaders on the goggles dimmed everything when they powered up while glowing green lines contoured objects in their direct view.
Jack took a pair of mufflers, a pair of headphones he determined by how they looked. A metal bit hung from the headphones, a small microphone for talking to Merida, and hearing orders from the captains deck.
Static buzzed for a second before Merida's words hissed in Jacks ears. "Forward Cannon, Rapture, Online."
Jack pressed a button on his Headphones and responded. "Forward Cannon, Armageddon, Online."
Rafiki's voice entered both of their headphones. "Rapture, Armageddon, we almost got us at altitude, engage da forward cannons.
Jack pulled one level and the loud machine began to buzz loudly as the entire rig powered up. Jack pulled a second lever and the rig he sat in, attached to the deadly destroyer class cannon, came to life as the hydraulics lifted the Cannon and its rig off the floor. The cannon and rig were designed to move together so that the man working the cannon would always be facing the same way the cannon was facing no matter how much the cannon moved, in order to shot as accurately as possible.
Jack pulled one more lever and the hull breached letting the cold air into the small storage cabin for the forward cannons. He pressed a button and flicked a switch and the rig rolled forward so that the large cannon was outside ready to fire on whatever he was told to. Jack jostled the controls and his entire world moved as he practically sat outside of the ship. It took a special type of person to be able to use these weapons effectively. Keyes and Merida had proven that they were two of these in the past.
After hanging in the air for a second Jack and Merida pressed the button on their earphones and announced that the Forward cannons were in position.
Rafiki responded, "Hold position." and then all was silent.