"I'm guessing all that racket was the 'demonstration' we were promised..." Captain Sterling said between shouted orders. "Just how many guns did he they bring in order to fire so quickly?"

"Their guns are different." Ram sighed, shaking his head. "That was just two guns; apparently they can be fired repeatedly without reloading... and they are much more accurate. Polina has asked that we adjust course to keep the Liar's Truth to our rear, and that we allow the two of them to handle it-"

"And how the hell do they expect to deal with an entire ship? There's only two of them!" Sterling exclaimed in disbelief. "We've heard stories about that ship, Ram. This will get bloody, and we both know it."

Lowering his voice, Ram leaned in, his voice severe. "Just do it, James! You may not trust them, but I have damn well earned your trust... and those two will do a number on those pirate bastards. At the least, they'll soften them up enough that we can manage with minimal losses... and it's just too damn early in this mission to lose our men."

Sterling reacted as if slapped, his head snapping around to stare at his friend- who never spoke to him that way... except when they so obviously disagreed and he knew the Captain was making a mistake. After staring at the man for a moment, he huffed before bellowing new orders.

As the ship began to turn gradually, he glanced once at his oldest friend. "I hope you know what you're doing, Ram... But you're right, we can't afford the losses- especially since..."

He trailed off slowly, shaking his head. They both knew the reasons, and what was at stake... But he couldn't imagine these two strange people could really handle an entire ship of pirates themselves, even with their strange tricks and powerful weapons.

Clapping the Captain on the back, Ram nodded before turning to rejoin the duo- he wanted to see what preparations they made, and how they handled things.

That, and killing pirates was practically a hobby for an ex-navy man like him. It should be fun.

The sun shone brightly, even through the gloom of this dark world's atmosphere, and the gentle spray of the sea glimmered under Oliver's gaze. He smiled gently at the smell of the ocean and the rock of the ship... and with anticipation of what was to come.

The pirate ship was closing fast, even as the Isadora gained speed.

"Fancy hats first, Oli..." Polina began, before shaking her head. Seeing Ram had joined them once more, she turned to ask him the pressing question. "I don't know if you can answer this, but do the officers on pirate ships tend to dress differently than their crew?"

"Usually, yes." Ram answered easily, a small frown twisted his face. "The bastards love to show off, wearing lots of jewelry and nicer clothes- I think it's even a point of pride for them, the damned peacocks! You can almost always pick out the Captain of a pirate ship by the amount of gold and jewels, as well as their big, ridiculous hats..."

"Good." Polina replied with a wolfish grin. "I was worried they would be more practical, like you and the Captain- I wouldn't be able to pick you two out as officers if I didn't already know."

Ram snorted in disdain. "Unlike them, we've got no reason to show off... And wearing that gaudy mess just makes them a target- though few of them seem to have learned that particular lesson."

"Ok, so we've got a good plan then!"She chuckled, turning back to Oliver. "Oli, you'll play spotter until they pass a thousand feet. I'll be taking shots with my baby before that, starting at around two thousand."

"Think you can handle that?" She asked smugly.

"Just try not to scare them off before I get a chance..." Oliver grumbled, though he didn't really seem bothered. "You know how bullies are, running as soon as you stand up to them- well, usually anyway."

Reaching into the Warehouse, he quickly handed her the Mosin-Nagant, her baby... Though she had also modified the gun before they had left for this job, replacing its original 3.5x magnification scope with something a bit more modern that doubled that- she had explained it all to him while doing so, but Oliver didn't really understand much more than 'better scope' and 'better magnification'.

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Guns were her area of expertise, not his, and he was ok with that... and, admittedly, he found it kind of attractive...

As she double checked the weapon, he proceeded to pull out a few more things: a fifty pound bag of rice for her to rest the gun on, since it lacked a bipod- thankfully the Isadora was the taller ship, giving them a slightly better angle to shoot from- and his best binoculars. While they didn't have a true spotter scope, and he wasn't actually trained as a spotter,he wasn't actually trying to fill the role anyway. His job was mainly to assist, and offer target suggestions...

And make sure no one shot at his girlfriend- a job he took very seriously.

Lifting the binoculars to his eyes, Oliver smiled- he hadn't really considered spending so much on them until Poli had pointed out their usefulness. Not only did they have a 10x magnification, but they were waterproof and had a built in rangefinder.

"Four thousand feet." He said simply, before scanning slowly over the ship. The Devils looked much as had been described: roughly seven feet tall, with dark skin ranging from pitch black to an ashen gray. Each of them bore horns, though of a variety of shapes and sizes- they basically looked like the demons he shared a ship with, just with black skin instead of red.

Glints of gold and jewels flashed from time to time, mostly on those to the rear of the pirate ship near the wheel. "Looks like their Captain and officers are mostly hanging out in the back... I'm guessing the huge fucker with the red feather sticking up from his hat is in charge."

He couldn't make out many details on the enemy Captain, save that the man was easily a head taller than the rest... and the giant feather sticking up from the wide brimmed hat he wore- it looked like an ostrich feather, just four feet long and ruby red.

"I see him." Poli muttered, already in place behind her gun. "I'm going to hold until they are closer, and probably go center mass... I'm not used to shooting from a ship. I'm worried about the sway..."

"And you've got to take into account the sway of their ship." Ram added helpfully. "It's actually pretty rare to hit someone with a rifle in a ship battle, just because of how much things get tossed around. Most fights are determined by the cannons, or by boarding action..."

"Huh. I didn't think about that." Oliver admitted, eyes still locked on the approaching ship. "Three thousand feet; they should be hitting your range in just a couple minutes."

Silence settled over Polina, broken only by Oliver's regular updates on the range. Her heart threatened to race with fear and excitement- she had wanted to join him on his adventures, and now here she was, about to fight off pirates!

But the stress of it... While she had pushed to do this, knowing she was the better shot and the better gun for the range... It would all kick off with her. Until the pirates closed even more, it would all be on her to drop them until Oliver could jump in and help.

Gauging the wind, the sway of both ships, the distance... and the little voice in the back of her mind, asking her 'Is this Right?' True, they hadn't actually done anything other than follow them so far... But, with so much open ocean, there was really only one reason to charge straight at another ship like this.

The pirates wanted this, and Polina wasn't about to let that small voice second guess what she could plainly see.

A small chuckle slipped from her lips, and she glanced up at Oliver. "You know, I almost wish we had a soundtrack. The Pirates theme would go perfect right now, don't you think?"

"I could play it on my violin." Oliver smirked. "It won't have the same impact without the full orchestra, but I would be happy to do it."

"Maybe next time." She responded firmly, though still smiling. "I don't want to get distracted, and having you keep an eye out is definitely safer."

"Two thousand. You're up, love."

Polina adjusted her aim slightly, intending to send her first shot straight for their Captain... and hesitated. Could she really do this? She didn't know that man, he didn't know her, and he hadn't done anything to her- not yet, at least. Could she really just shoot him like this?"

"It's ok, Poli." Oliver's gentle voice broke her spiraling thoughts. "You don't have to. I can handle them by myself, no problem... and... I don't want you to force yourself."

"You're not a monster like me, and I don't want you to be. You're perfect the way you are."

Poli's chest warmed from the pure love directed her way. She knew it wasn't just empty words, not from Oliver. He truly meant what he said: he wouldn't judge her for not being willing to kill them. If anything, he would respect her decision, and he wouldn't hesitate to take that burden on himself- though he never viewed it as a burden, since it wouldn't really bother him at all.

"You really think you can fight an entire pirate ship alone?" Ram asked, clearly skeptical.

"Yeah, he could." Poli chuckled... and pulled the trigger.

The crack of the rifle echoed out over the black waves, though no one paid any attention to it- and why would they? The distance was too far for even their best marksmen, given the weapons they wielded...

So, when the Devil Captain collapsed to his knees while clutching at his throat, all motion on the pirate ship stopped.

"Eight inches high." Polina clucked her tongue, then sighed. "I can do better than that."

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