While the Ebon Horizon looked much like a sailing ship, but without the sails, masts, and rudders, the three Chaos ships a couple of longstrides ahead couldn’t be more different. Even to each other.

One was shaped like a metal disk, with structures at the top, while the bottom glowed with Animus. Another looked nothing more than a floating island, and only the railings and the crew made it clear it was a vessel. The last looked like a wedge, the tip of a spear. Disc, island, and spear.

Yuriko’s Enhanced Sight could barely pick out the details. She could see farther than before, probably from her increased Anima strength, but she still wasn’t as good as her brothers or Da, who could see things an entire league away as if they were right in front of him. She could see figures moving about, and she could see sigils and pennants, though she suspected it had more to do with the size of the symbols than her visual acuity.

The island ship’s banner had a lightning-struck tree depicted on it. The disc had a crashing wave, while the spear had flower symbols etched all over. They were black flowers, though maybe that had more to do with what the ship was made out of than anything else. Oh, no, no. There was a banner with a white background and the flower was, indeed, black. A rose, she thought.

The sailors around were tense. Soon enough, Riley, Aidan, and the two other marines, a beefy man named Jonir, and a waspish woman called Zoey, came up on deck. Jonir had a greatsword with a broken-off blade strapped on his back while Zoey had a…bow? A longbow, Yuriko thought, was an antique weapon. Nevertheless, it looked well worn and cared for. The woman didn’t have a quiver though.

“Riley, what’s happening?” She sidled up to her cousin. Riley gave her a sidelong glance and shrugged.

“Who knows. But nobody blocks the trade routes without cause.”

“That island ship looks like it comes from the Belrath Xylarchy,” Aidan muttered.

“Not just the island,” Zoey interjected, her voice was gravelly and rough. Now that she had a closer look, Yuriko noticed a white scar on the woman’s throat, right where the shadow of her face would normally obscure it. “All three look like Xylarchy work.”

“So what now?” Yuriko’s hands twitched and she was a hair away from either summoning Fri’Avgi or making a sunblade. Then again, it was unlikely that this would devolve into a melee.

“Do you have a spare Plasma Caster?” Yuriko asked, shamefaced.

“Pick one up in the armoury.”

Yuriko hurried towards the deck entrance. She ran into one of the sailors, and after a quick question, was led to the armoury. The small room had an Animus lock, and it took the sailor’s hand to open it. She grabbed a Plasma Caster and gave it to Yuriko, along with a couple of charged cartridges, before leaving.

Yuriko examined the weapon. It was an older model, with the cartridge inset showing evidence of modification. She gave the runescript lines along the barrel and stock a thorough look, using her Anima to aid her. The lines were worn, but they should still be serviceable. The conversion of her Animus to superheated plasma would be a bit less efficient, but she couldn’t tell by how much unless she fired the weapon.

Not quite satisfied at the quality, but happy nonetheless at having the familiar weapon at hand, she hurried back. The Ebon Horizon hovered in place, while the three Chaos ships slowly drifted towards them. Somebody on the island ship flashed a mirror towards them in a rhythmic pattern.

“They’re looking to parley?” Jonir muttered. The wideset man had an incongruently melodic voice. “That’s unusual.”

“What do you think they’re after?” Zoey asked out loud.

“Who knows? Those rabid dogs are more likely to attack than negotiate.”

“Xylarchy ships.” Aidan snorted. “We’re outnumbered though.”

“But not outclassed, I think,” Riley said while he rubbed his thumb along the barrel of his Plasma Caster.

Yuriko noticed that nearly all of the sailors carried a Plasma Caster. It made sense, she supposed. There’s barely a need for close quarters weapons unless the ships tried to board them. In that case, the Plasma Carronades should make short work of them.

They should, right?

Five minutes of tense waiting, then a window to the bridge opened, and a large, paper crane flew out. Yuriko couldn’t help but track its progress across the open air. It had been nearly a year since she saw one.

“What’s the captain thinking?” She overheard one of the sailors mutter. “That just gives away that we’re an Imperial ship.”

“It’s not a secret,” another muttered.

“Most Imperial ships are shaped like this,” another answered.

“Coalition ships look similar enough to ours.”

The other sailor just shook her head.

The messenger crane quickly crossed the distance and alighted on the floating island Chaos ship’s deck. A few tense minutes later, Yuriko spotted the crane flying back, but she eyed the ships suspiciously since they never stopped drifting towards them. Sure enough, before the crane was even halfway back, the three Xylarchy ships made their move.

Something bent back on the island, then snapped forward. An ice boulder materialised just outside the ship’s vicinity and hurled towards the Ebon Horizon. More came hurtling out, but Yuriko could tell from the trajectory that they would fall short. The Ebon Horizon jolted to the side but kept the front end pointed at the island. A moment later, a deep thrum came from below deck and Twoom!, a ball of superheated plasma shot out.

It smashed against the island’s hull, but since it was made out of stone and earth, the ball only managed to melt off a layer. The island ship barely trembled, and they continued their ranging shots.

Of the other two ships, the spear ship accelerated towards them. Their front was covered in some layer of glowing multicoloured energy that sparked when it pushed against the wind. The Ebon Horizon turned on its side to present the left Plasma Carronade, which shot its bolt at the spearship. The gigantic ball smashed into the spearship’s barrier and it caused the slender vessel to rock back.

“All hands to station!” The Bosun, Svitlanna, yelled. “Empower the Protective Sphere!” She rounded on the marines and nodded, then looked at Yuriko. The woman pursed her lips before saying, “Get below decks, Miss Davar.”

“No, I can help!” Yuriko insisted even as her Anima flared.

Svitlanna frowned but her face paled when Yuriko’s Anima expanded to its full span. “Stay with the marines.”

Nodding, Yuriko followed Riley, Aidan, and the other two towards the front of the ship.

The disc-shaped Chaos ship didn’t advance, but it didn’t stay still either. It moved towards where the Ebon Horizon’s front was pointed, seeking to cut them off. In the meantime, the island’s ranging shots grew closer and closer. For the moment, anyway.

The Captain evidently thought better of engaging in a three on one fight. The Ebon Horizon accelerated towards the right, seeking to outmanoeuvre the spear and island ships. As for the disc, their trajectories were going to make them intersect. But Yuriko could see the Veil. It was merely a league or so away. It shouldn’t take more than half an hour at the rate they were going. Ah, but weren’t they supposed to head to the Chaos Channel?

“Incoming!” one of the sailors on the left side yelled.

Yuriko’s eyes snapped towards the ice boulder. Up close, it looked almost five paces across. Yuriko reflexively raised her Plasma Caster up, but she didn’t know what help it would do. Her dingy plasma bolts would only gouge the surface of the thing, and it definitely wouldn’t knock the boulder away!

Aidan grabbed Yuriko by the shoulder and nudged her over to a handrail. “Grab on!”

Yuriko went, “Eh?” But before she could do anything, the boulder smashed into the sphere. The force of the impact knocked the Ebon Horizon several paces to the right. The ship shook but remained relatively stable. Nevertheless, Yuriko had to fight for her balance as the deck rocked back and forth.

The Protective Sphere, normally intangible, had several visible cracks right where the boulder hit. But even as she looked, the cracks quickly healed over. But the bombardment didn’t stop. If not for the Ebon Horizon’s evasive manoeuvres, more of the boulders would have struck. She was sure that a couple more blows at the same spot would break the sphere.

As it were, they were hit several more times, though each was at different parts of the hull. The sailor’s visibly paled as their Animus reserves dwindled with the hasty repair. The Plasma Carronades answered in turn, striking far more often and with incredible accuracy. A chunk of the island ship’s hull already had a deep cavity that glowed orange with molten rock.

As for the spearship, another Carronade, the one at the front, focused fire on it. The spearship was more nimble than the island, dropping down every now and then to avoid a shot. It seemed devoid of ranged weapons. Did it intend to ram the Horizon? Yuriko watched nervously as the distance between them dwindled. From two longstrides to one. Then five hundred paces. Four. Three. Two hundred. One hundred.

They were close enough now that Yuriko could clearly see the spear-shaped Chaos ship’s features. There was no crew on the top deck and she was right in thinking it wanted to ram them. Before it got closer, she resolved to do something about it.

Fri’Avgi materialized in her hand and she fed the artefact Radiant energy. All at once the sunshards materialized around her. As for the marines, all four of them sent attacks towards the spearship, striking the hull, but doing little more than scratch the metal.

As the spearship came closer, Yuriko was seized by a powerful impulse. Her Animus moved into a pattern, forming the runescript word ‘Adamant’ along Fri’Avgi’s blade. She leapt towards the railing, balanced precariously on the top. The spearship’s pointed end was only a dozen paces away!

With a twist, she hurled Fri’Avgi at it. The artefact spun end over end, the surface glowing with barely suppressed power. The sunshards spun around it, somehow tracing the Adamant runescript along with Fri’Avgi. A moment later, her artefact greatsword slammed into the spearship’s ram, somehow swerving there despite the slightly off-centre aim.

The resounding crash sounded like the deep ringing of a bell, and the spearship stopped dead in midair, all of its momentum drained. Fri’Avgi materialized in Yuriko’s hand a moment later, even as the Ebon Horizon accelerated away.

Before they got too far though, Yuriko sent the sunshards to puncture the spearship’s hull, and she could see spots of molten orange as the little flying blades stabbed into the metal. She doubted it would do much, but then again, the protective runescript that allowed a Chaos ship the power to traverse the Chaos Sea wasn’t that tough.

Tense silence remained on the deck. That was only one of the ships, there were two more. The disc shaped one drew closer, and were starting to shoot their own projectiles. Arrows of crackling lightning and flame struck the Ebon Horizon’s shield, even as the island came ever closer. The spearship behind them managed to regain their momentum and was starting to accelerate. But it wouldn’t catch up before the Ebon Horizon reached the Veil.

But, inexplicably, the Ebon Horizon turned back towards the Chaos Channel but was now headed directly towards the disc. Was the captain going to ram them?

But no, balls of superheated plasma from the front Carronade fire rapidly. The rate was at least twice what Layla said were the safe parameters, and Yuriko could only guess how much damage the Carronade would sustain. But the bombardment succeeded in forcing the disc to slow, and in that brief window, the Ebon Horizon dipped under it.

Yuriko looked up as they passed, noting the brilliant Animus lines illuminating the runescript underneath. The squiggles looked almost alien in their syntax and structure and were filled with thick lines and inelegant corners.

A moment later and they were past the disc-shaped Chaos ship, but they weren’t out of trouble yet. Arrows of lightning and fire continued to bombard them, taking their toll on the Protective Sphere and the Animus reserves of both ship and crew. Yuriko contemplated hurling Fri’Avgi again, but the artefact felt reluctant to leave her hand again. Besides, that stint with the spearship drained her Radiant energy reserves.

A large ice boulder smashed the left side of the Ebon Horizon’s front, quickly followed by another. The cracks deepened and spread far beyond the impact point. Then, it was as if the deck fell away from Yuriko and she was momentarily airborne. The deck rose back up to meet her feet even as her surroundings whirled. She looked on in mounting trepidation as another Chaos ship emerged from the Channel. This one looked similar to the Ebon Horizon’s shape except that the hull looked like it was grown from living wood.

A swirl of leaves started to gather around it, and she was sure it would only be moments before another barrage was sent their way.

The Ebon Horizon swivelled and accelerated to the east. The captain had enough of the uneven fight. A few minutes later, they plunged into the Veil, and the multihued barrier engulfed them whole.