The Lunar Empire

West Seafort, Inferus Astrum

January 23, 1133

General Dark Thunder

5:52 p.m.

I watched the Destiny's Song as it began the journey south, thanks to a spyglass kept on the fort to watch the Celestial ships. One of them broke off from the main formation and pulled up alongside Ace's ship, quickly lowering a plank to allow access. I saw the captain of the friendly ship walk across.

I let my mind drift to the more recent events. After cleaning up the area around the quarry, we had packed up and left. Thankfully, the wounded patrol members, Edge and Trailblazer, had survived just long enough to get full medical attention. After that, Ace decided that seeking assistance from elsewhere was what needed to be done. In response to the blockade, Beldin had created a variety of new cannon loads that could take on ships as well as infantry. I chose to oversee Ace's departure, as well as test these new munitions, should anything happen to his ship.

It wasn't long before the captain returned to his ship. As he did, a Pegasus took off and flew back to the rest of the blockade. The two ships separated, allowing Destiny's Song to continue. Relieved that the ship got through alright, I began watching the Pegasus. He landed on three ships, and upon departing from the third, they all began moving towards the coastline.

What in the world are they doing? I stepped off of the top of the miniature fortress and traveled down to where the rest of the crew were located. While downstairs, I looked at the ponies that I would be handling cannons with. Three of them were Unicorns, one was a Pegasus and the remaining three were Earth Ponies. We were all wearing thick jackets, just in case one of the cannons backfired. Shrapnel in an enclosed space could be deadlier than the cannon itself.

Next, I looked at our armament. We had eight twelve pound cannons, as well as a twenty-four pound long gun stationed on the roof to be used at range. There were even some smaller swivel guns mounted wherever the main guns couldn't be aimed. All of the cannons were mounted on rails, so when it fired, the recoil caused it to slide back, reducing the time needed to reload it. On the subject of munitions, we had more than enough to sink a warship, and we were going to have to.

I looked out of a nearby window. The three ships had deployed rowers to increase their speed. One of them, the Solstice, was heading right at us. I began talking. "Those ships think that they can just sail in here and destroy our city because it suits them... I think that we need to teach them a lesson." The rest of the crew shouted in agreement, then began loading the cannons. One of them loaded a swivel-gun with a flare, then fired as high as they could. A brilliant blue light filled the air, almost drowning out the dying sun.

The Solstice was gaining fast. I saw their ballistae being pushed into a firing position, then aimed at us. Longbow archers began lining up on the top deck, preparing to fire at us. Off in the distance, more blue flares filled the sky, signifying that all seaforts were ready for battle.

The Ship-of-the-Line was now within cannon range. I looked at the other seven ponies and smiled. We were prepared for anything that crate could throw at us.

We fired standard loads first; they would get the most range. The Solstice took a hit to the top deck, splintering wood and injuring crew members. They returned fire, only to have most of the ballista spears fall short. A few struck the building, only causing minor damage. We loaded and fired the cannons again, scoring hits with both guns. Some of the swivel-guns fired, putting holes in the mast of the ship.

I could hear the sounds of other cannons being fired in the distance. Every now and then, the loud report of a long gun would be heard, compelling us to use our own. Two Unicorns ran up to the top level to prepare the gun. We continued firing the twelve pounders at a steady pace, scoring hit after hit on the ship.

The warship fired its ballistae again, which were quickly followed by the archers. I heard dozens of arrows and spears slam into the seafort, putting dents and holes in the thin iron shell. The two Unicorns had came downstairs just in time to be safe from the assault. We fired canister at the ship in hopes of ruining the ballistae. One of the shots struck the deck, undoubtedly injuring anypony on it. The second flew right into a ballista firing port, quickly destroying everything around it.

The Unicorns levitated a shell for the gun up top. Instead of the regular metal sphere, this one was more like a rounded cone with a thick base. The unique shape gave it extended range, as if the long barrel and grooves within it didn't do enough. Soon after, the gun fired, causing the entire fort to shake a little. The shot must have gone high, as the main masts' base was reduced to splinters, causing it to fall into the water. That'll slow them down.

The ship was getting pretty close now. To help this situation, we loaded grapeshot into the cannons. This time, the Solstice took several hits, putting multiple holes in the hull. Some of the ballistae were destroyed, forcing the crew to push them into the water so they could be replaced with some still in good condition.

We weren't the only ones to have found a steady rate of fire. The longbow archers were pumping out arrows faster than ever, determined to put holes in the seafort. Several pierced the wall and stuck out, and I felt something tug at my vest. I thought I heard one of the ponies upstairs cry out in pain. My suspicions were confirmed when his crewmate pulled him downstairs. An arrow was sticking out of a gap in his jacket, blood flowing from the hole near his shoulder. I had our lone Pegasus tend to him; he seemed to know a bit about playing doctor.

Another pony went up to assist with the long gun. Not soon after did it fire again, taking off another mast and a large part of the deck. We shot off more canister and grape, making sure that the archers couldn't fire from the deck anymore. Ballistae were fired once more, directly hitting the only weak point of the fort: the legs. The structure shifted around a bit, unbalanced by the attack. Undaunted, we kept up our assault. The ship was slowly beginning to list, causing anything not secured to fall into the water.

The Solstice was completely visible now, at least as far as seeing the starboard side goes. We could see the wounded and dead ponies inside, as well as some officers trying to give support to the rest. An idea sprung into my mind. "Do we have any lamp oil and rags on hoof?" I asked. An Earth Pony next to me nodded.

"Yes sir. We keep some in the chest over there. But why do you need them?" he said, pointing at a box in a corner.

"You'll see." I said, opening the chest. Sure enough, rags and bottles of oil were plentiful within.

I went up to where the long gun was stationed, and threw all but one of the oil bottles at the ship, effectively drenching it with the flammable material. As I did, some archers fired on me, scoring a hit on me; my jacket absorbed most of the impact, keeping me from dropping the oil. Next, I poured some of the fluid on the rags, making sure there was still some left in the bottle. I cracked open a canister and emptied it, placing the bottle inside. I sealed it up again and wrapped the crude bomb with the oil-soaked rags. After the ponies put in the gunpowder charge, I dropped my creation down the barrel. I used a small spell to ignite it, causing fire to shoot out of the barrel.

We pushed the cannon down to aim at the center of what was left of the ship. The crew caught on to my idea, and promptly peppered the forts' legs with whatever they could find, further destabilizing it. We lurched forward as one of the legs broke in half. The attackers moved on to another leg, damaging it beyond repair.

The fort was beginning to tilt forward at an increasing speed. If we don't fire now, that ship will destroy the fort! I scrambled to the fuse on the cannon and ignited it with another fire spell. Unfortunately, the fuse was painfully slow, meaning that there was an even greater chance of us falling into the water before the cannon went off. Another leg broke, sending us downward at an even faster rate.

The cannon went off. Fire belched from the barrel as my bomb flew at the Solstice. The shot struck the ship, almost instantly covering it with fire. Some of the crew members jumped into the water, while others stayed aboard, hopelessly trying to douse the flames. Due to the recoil, the fort stood still before giving us full view of the ocean as we fell.

Water slammed into my face. I struggled around for a few seconds, desperately trying to reach the surface. I tore off my jacket and began swimming up. I finally reached the surface. The Solstice was sinking. I looked away from the burning ship to see where my allies were. I saw six heads bobbing around in the water. Only six... Where the hell is the seventh? I thought before diving back underwater. One of the other ponies followed me under.

I saw the pony sinking, his jacket pulling him down. The other pony, who turned out to be our Pegasus, used his wings to swim downward faster, reaching the drowning pony and removing his vest long before I could have. All three of us floated back to the surface, reaching it quickly. The Pegasus set the Unicorn on a piece of floating wood, then began trying to revive him. The pony coughed up some seawater, then started gasping for air.

I heard a voice behind me yell, "Hey, look! Are those ours?" I turned around to see a small merchant ship sailing towards us.

"We're friendly!" I shouted back. In response, the crew tossed out several ropes for us. Once we all had a good grip, they pulled us onto the deck. The ship was a lot bigger on board. The crew had rescued destroyed seafort crews as well as survivors from the Solstice, the latter of which were tied up to the main mast. The Captain looked at the burning ship behind me.

"Damn... You sunk that ship good." he said. By now, the Solstice was almost completely submerged.

I sighed. "Do we know the extent of the damage to Astrum?" I asked.

The Captain's demeanor changed. "We aren't very sure at this time, but we think that around half the city burned down. The main ship sent out some troops that just so happened to have torches and oil. We forced them out, but not before they started some fires." he said. I looked back towards the city. Sure enough, there were several pillars of smoke rising above it, darkening the sky.

The ship turned around and began sailing back to Astrum. Along the way, we passed some other seaforts that had all been hit hard by the ships. Some of them had collapsed, while others had simply taken heavy damage. A few were on fire, meaning that the Celestials had resorted to using fire arrows. Did they plan on a siege?

When the ship arrived at the port, I was able to fully see the extent of the damage. Most of the docks had been destroyed, as well as any ships nearby. Almost every building along the coastline was either covered with arrows and spears or on fire. There were bodies in the streets, mostly of fallen raiders. Some of the Lunar soldiers had placed small cannons on or inside towers further inland to use as a makeshift artillery base. Others had set up their cannons in alleyways or at the end of streets to ambush the enemy.

"How long do you think it will take to recover from this?" I asked.

"I... don't know. Celestial and Lunar soldiers weren't the only casualties, though. Lots of civilians died defending their homes or running away. Those ships dealt a low blow to us." the Captain responded.

We have to break that blockade before they try something like this again, but we can't stop there. We will have to destroy every naval base and capture every city along the southern coast, not only to destroy their naval supremacy, but to win this war.