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Yuuki Konno	With Crystal Bones on-board, presumably every trip of the Windstar is a potential run-in with the undead vessel. As the group has seen, running from the encounter seems futile. The group owns no island at which to store the bones. The only safety seems to lie in remaining in port until once again the heroes can gather in force to take on the deadly seas.     Fortunately, having had plenty of time to prepare, the group should have what they need as they now gather on-ship in the open seas. Improvements to ship and ship cannon may have been made, though the effectiveness of a ship-to-ship battle seems dubious. Suggestions were made to ready a cannon to fire point-blank with something that will hopefully damage the undead sailors on the ghost ship. Possible, perhaps enough to make a supposedly unwinnable battle winnable, but it'd need to be done just before the fight becomes an open brawl. Personal gear will have to be good, but Yuuki's been making sure her weapons and trinkets are enchanted with diamonds for their Light element affinity. There may be other ways to prepare, depending on each individual's own weapons and skills, but she's putting her bet on Light. If nothing else, it should help the group out when the fog surrounds them.     There's also the option to NOT fight. The undead ignored the crew of the Windstar once before. Of course that was when the Windstar weren't their target. Choosing to give up the first strike might just get the crew dead, the ship sunk. Death isn't a big deal since everyone here is logged into the game. It's just a loss of XP, loot, and the ship. But it would also be a loss of the Bones. Weeks of high end raid hunting lost at a single stroke, along with the group's fine vessel. Both are replaceable, but the cost would be devastating. Dare the group sit tight and become victims, on the slight chance that this seemingly unwinnable battle is meant NOT to be fought?     Yuuki's showing pre-raid jitters, or perhaps she's just expressing her perfectly normal bounciness. This is just a fight... or not a fight. She's not really sure. If they find out the truth behind this encounter... who knows? She's beginning to suspect that her original suspicion, shared with Kirito, is untrue. That this is NOT some rogue AI thing, but an actual coded adventure. As such it should be winnable, and she trusts in this group. They can win the encounter if anyone can. But if it's an adventure rather than rogue AI elements, that means that the force behind the encounter isn't who or what they thought. It means the many weeks spent in Cutlasses and Cannons Online didn't advance her own purely selfish quest for life. But that, too, is fine. In the end, it's not life that matters. It's living, and Yuuki surely wouldn't trade her time spent fighting alongside friends for an entire lifetime's span without them.     So she's not in a melancholy mood. Yuuki's not regretting the time spent ascending the ranks, becoming among the best pirates on the digital seas. She's putting her heart into sailing, bobbing along while performing her duties, apparently engrossed in her own personal soundtrack somewhere... or just in the joy of movement. This isn't a rare thing for her, thouhg perhaps she's slightly bouncier than usual. She always seems at her happiest when moving. "Come on, come oooon, come get us!" she says, not entirely to herself. The words are directed outwards towards the horizon, but she doesn't shout. She's calm, more or less, speaking in a normal tone of voice to no one in particular as she tends to sailing.
Xiaomu	Something to try and damage the undead sailors with a point-blank shot? Sunshower's been cooking up options for that. Literally. Well, brewing, but that counts as cooking of a sort, right? She hasn't found any more potent specific recipes, but once you've mastered a recipe it's possible to tweak it and improve on the results, and that's what Sunshower's been focusing on. She does keep her eyes open for new recipes to put to use, but by and large, when she's not resupplying recovery brews, buffing drinks, or debuffing doses, she's making cannon-sized kegs of what *ought* to be exorcism-class supergrog. As for her gear - well, buffing brews have gotten her this far when her main gear isn't enough. It helps that her mixing staff carries a 'residue' from whatever she last mixed, and as the Windstar sets sail once more, Sunshower puts the finishing touches on another anti-ghost-ship mix so she'll be ready to clobber some undead. The only other idea she's had to take on the ghost ship without *fighting* is to offer a libation for the undead ... but she has her doubts that even that would work. She's borrowed the crystal bones a couple of times to see if a closer look reveals anything to her, but so far, likely no dice. (Which is kind of an appropriate reference, since the original dice were knuckle bones from some animal or other. Or something.)
Iria	Unlike Yuuki, who is in a good mood for CCO, there's something definitely noticeable about Iria's demeanor today. Namely in that she seems more irritable and grumpy than usual, and while she's never been known for being patient, today it's quite obvious that she's really got no patience today. She can be seen pacing around and fiddling with her sword nervously occasionally, a scowl on her face indicating that she's not one to be messed with today. But what caused all this? "I can't believe what happened," She can be heard muttering to herself. "One of my close friends, having that happen to her." After a while of self-dialoguing, Iria returns her focus to the current situation. "If those undead jokers try to get too close to me, I'm gonna make 'em really regret coming back from the dead!" She narrows her eyes. "No one is gonna mess with me and live to tell about it! Nobody!"
Kirito	It may or may not be a dead end. All evidence in Kirito's book points to this being so. A thought he's less than happy about - it pisses him off, really. For Yuuki's sake. For Asuna's sake. For everyone's sakes!     Time is a precious resource. But today they'll have their answer, won't they?     Of course with Yuuki's exuberance on full display, he can't hold a frown for long. The boy in black (a terrible choice for open tropical waters, if this was real) adjusts his coat and pair of short swords... and plants a boot on the deck railing, now smiling out at the sea with builting anticipation.     "Everything comes down to THIS MOMENT! ... Come on out, ghost ship!"
Kain	Kain isn't all that happy nowadays either. He's been in kind of a grumpy mood for a few days now in the grinds. He's been a little more merciless towards enemies as well, treating them to an execution-style kill: one in the head, 2 in the chest. A cold, expressionless face as he did so. Today was no different. His face was just as cold, just as expressionless.     "Whatever happens will happen. Ghosts or not, they're not gonna WANT to leave their crypts!"
Cirra Constantine	Palmira sits in the cabin, looking at maps of the region. Sightings of the ghost ship, the islands they've visited, raids they've completed all marked on the maps.     The silver Estoc she won off a spanish conquistador is proped up against the table, as an astrolobe on the desk spins by clockwork power. Despite the disparate nature of 'pirate' and 'holy power' Palmira has made enough of an impression on the online comunity that some people talk about her build under such names as 'sea crusader' and 'faithfull navigator'. She pays it no mind. She established her skills to kill a specific thing, a very narrow section of possible enemies: the undead.     For that reason she's replace her obsidian throwing knives with blessed silver, the clockwork reloading holster drapped across the back of her chair. Even if they can parley, they have to do it from a position of strength.     The purple haired woman considers if they' reall obtain Yuuki's goal, and the idea that they might not makes her frown deeply.     Putting her navigation tools aside, she dones her gear and walks back up to the deck towards the wheel. "No ghost ship sightings for a while noe, but were almost in the center of the formation of previous sightings. If it's going to happen, it should be here, and soon."
Tomoe	This had been quite the unexpected thing, she'd not expected a mystery like this. CCO has proven to be the sort of experiance Tomoe or should we say Dread Pirate Eisen was not expecting and there's been a lot to think about. There shge was she'd be willing to risk things to see if they could talk to the ghosts. After all if it is just an unmarked quest there could be more than one way to end it. So She had voiced her view of trying to talk, if they lose first strike? They lose first strike.
Weiss Schnee	If anyone's excited about what the party has been working up to this entire time, it's Snowflake. After the successful raid on Devil's End, she's spent much of her downtime either crafting fresh and interesting flavors of grenade, musket ball, what-have-you every day, or practicing her new fully-formed weapon to perfection.     What, you thought an unnecessarily difficult rhythm-based boss fight against swarms of little demons and their heavy metal overlord was the end of it? Nope, successful operation of the final product is a minigame in and of itself. Therefore, she's been working her tail off to make sure she doesn't end up getting the party killed somehow because she missed a beat at a crucial moment - or even worse, make a fool of herself!     Currently, she's dancing to some inaudible rhythm, emerging from the hold spinning in circles. "I, for one, am quite excited for this. You guys just tell me when you see something, yeah?"
Yuuki Konno	Time passes while the crew broods, chats, good-naturedly banters or plots respectively. Windstar has little to fear from most pirate craft. She's a fast ship, relatively small and sleek, and her crew are highly skilled in the arts needed to get the most speed out of such a vessel. More importantly the ship's not laden with cargo; any would-be pirate seeing her pass would be more interested in waiting for a wallowing tub. Travel speed varies. When there are no nearby ships the Windstar flies across open ocean. When other ships are nearby the ship still travels fast, but sea and land don't pass her by quite so swiftly. The game's fast-travel system cuts down on the boring parts of sailing, speeding through them to allow crews to spend more time in the more exciting parts of the age of sail.     It doesn't take too long, therefore, before a chill strikes the air. The August heat of the digital seas is normally strong. It'd be uncomfortably so without the high winds of the ship's passage and the spray of water. This chill isn't so much cold though, as a familiar sort of clamminess striking. At the same time the sky dims. It's not clouds rolling in... the sun still shines. It's just not bright out, not any more. The sun's still just as brilliant overhead, and looking up is just as uncomfortable, but the bright hue of sea and sky just pales as if the world itself had begun to fade.     Low clouds roll in, coming hard from portside. The oncoming rush of fog is fast and massive, like a mountain collapsing and spilling debris all around it. It looks almost solid. It's too fast to outrun. Faster Alfheim Online characters could probably outfly it, but this isn't Alfheim Online. Nothing in this game moves quite THAT fast, not upon land or sea.     Even the air seems to go silent. The wind dies somewhat, though not completely. Not enough wind to speed along, but more than enough to maneuver. The stillness is more spiritual than physical though, as if not even the wind dares to make a sound, and the flap of canvas and hum of rigging seem almost apologetic in their relative loudness.     "I see something!" Yuuki abruptly shouts out, her voice breaking the stillness in an eager cry. She beams broadly at Snowflake, seemingly unaffected by the gloomy atmosphere that surrounds the encounter. She points, unnecessarily. Or perhaps it is necessary. Perhaps this is her way at crying out against the inevitable. To face it with her whole heart, and to show no fear. Not so long as she's with friends.
Xiaomu	"Yeah," Sunshower remarks, "that's not ominous at all ..." The nice thing about kegs - even those of the right size and shape to load into a cannon - is that they don't HAVE to be loaded into a cannon to be useful, so if the group doesn't generally want to try sneak-attacking the ghost ship, she's not so attached to the idea that she can't defer to a peaceful approach. The cheerful blonde Brewmeister sets one of her select kegs down - not on the bulkhead, but next to it - and watches the ghost ship drawing closer. "So, we going to offer them a drink instead of a fight, then ... ?" Given some of the logic that was cycled around earlier, the libation idea DOES seem promising. The worst thing that can happen is that the fight starts with a buff for the undead side, and she's not about to offer her best buff brew for the purpose ... unless something of the sort is specifically asked for.
Iria	The more the trip takes, the more Iria paces around, grumbling to herself. Whatever happened last night with her friend is really pissing her off. When she finally gets word that there's something coming, she looks up a little and her frown seems to ease up a little bit. "Well, it's about time too. I've been craving some action." She sneers a little. "Let them come after us. We'll be waiting!"
Cirra Constantine	Palmira hns as the fog starts rolling. "It's as if they were waiting for their cue." she walks out to front of the aftcatle and waits as the fog gets denser. "The ghost ship may attempt to come from the sides. Make sure port and starboard keep a close look out."     "Either in diplomacy or combat, you can't be taken unawares."
Kain	Kain just rubs his face a bit, sighing a bit as he hears the call. Pulling out some of his crafted food, he eats it up to get his buffs before getting ready to fight! He doesn't pull his weapons yet... but he does have both his pistol and sword unclipped to be able to draw them out quickly should the need arise.     "Let's just get this done... I don't want to do this any longer than is necessary..." He rubs a bit at his left leg as he kneels down to wait for the inevitable...
Weiss Schnee	Absorbed in her own magical world of pirate metal and who-knows-what-else, Snowflake doesn't seem to notice the odd change in the weather for a few moments, only opening her eyes and looking to the gloomy skies when her mental playback finishes. She holds a hand up in the air and shrugs her shoulders, an inquisitive half-grin on her face.     "Huh. Don't think the forecast called for that today, did it..? Does that mean-" Her own question is promptly answered by Yuuki, drawing the lass' attention to where she's pointing. Yuuki's projected energy and confidence seems to seep into Snowflake as well, or at least helps to sustain her own good mood, as she swipes at the air to put her playlist on pause. "Finally," she comments. "Yknow, this is what's so great about having a magical instrument as a weapon - it should help out whether we decide to fight them or not. Personally, I'd prefer the former, but that's just me," she offers with a smug smirk.
Kirito	The air chills, and Kirito's eagerness - and tension - skyrockets. A hand goes to his blade on pure subconscious reflex, but he hurries over Yuuki's way and plants a hand on the deck railing. "Don't know about you... but I'm sure ready for this finale. And back to having wings! Wonder what these ghosts really want..."
Yuuki Konno	Fog engulfs the Windstar, blotting out sight of anything much farther than the rails of the ship. Not sounds however. Though distant sounds are muted, things are still quite audible. Shapes swirl in the fog, as if the Windstar were surrounded by ghost ships that remain distant rather than just having the one deadly vessel to fight. The shapes move and fade however, only to reform elsewhere. Mostly they provoke panic, a sense of uncertainty where any enemy might be, rather than being an actual threat.     Yuuki shrugs, standing her ground at the sails but not really doing anything. Fleeing seems futile, and she's not got the skills to make a meaningful difference in carpentry to bulwark the ship or in cannons to defend her. "I have no idea! I hope we get the chance to ask." she answers Kirito. "And that they'll answer, I guess. I mean, I don't mind just getting in a fight, but we've come a long way for answers right?" she grins.     Abruptly cannonfire rips through the air. The deep rolling boom of a broadside fusillade explodes into the air, unmistakeable even without sight. So much for the ghost ship being friendly. There's no telling where the cannonballs are coming from however. The sound rolls about in the fog, making it impossible to tell range. Still on the port quarter, but that's about all that can be easily told. "Take cover!" Yuuki cries out, huddling down behind the rail and reaching out a hand to yank Kirito down if he doesn't move fast enough to suit her. It might do nothing to protect them against a cannonball, but if the deck were to erupt in splinters from a hit they'll at least have some cover from that.     Perhaps surprisingly, the cannonfire doesn't rip into the Windstar. The whistle of torn air comes from overhead. Splintering and tearing noises follow, but not the crash of hull damage. Grapeshot and some chainshot, not solid-bore hull-piercers. Sails tear, rigging parts, and the slow rush of the Windstar falters and dies under the ghost ship's cannons. Most of the sail falls or is torn to useless shreds in that single assault. Not content with its speed advantage, the ghost ship seems to be insisting on making it impossible for its prey to get away.     There is time for people to get to cannons, if they choose. To return fire, or to prepare an ambush for boarders. But the ghost ship is coming fast. It's making for the Windstar at speed now, barely visible in the fog. It's turned head-on now, so most of its cannons can't come to bear. It's sacrificing its superior firepower for speed.
Tomoe	Tomoe blew a strand of red hair out of her face and adjusted her bandana a bit They have to wait she looks out across the water and she sees that it's coming in it's time to make ready she doesn't make for any weapons at least not yuet. "It looks like them and I as I said eariler I want to see what happens if we try to talk. She hopes it goes well but ther'es nothing else to do but wait and stay alert wwhich she is. She looks for a good spot to hide then hits her hide skill, she'll do her best to wait to see how things pan out but it does seem that the talking operion isn't going to work well, oh well time to do this the other way. "AVAST! They be making to board!"
Kain	Kain draws out both his pistol and rapier, ready for some swashbuckling and face-stabbing! Whatever parley was going to happen, it wasn't going to happen now! Using the fog to his advantage, he moved to a location where he wouldn't easily be seen unless they started looking. But even then, unless they can see absolutely perfectly in this fog, they'd need to be right up to his face to find him. Whereas, he can use his ears to find them...
Iria	Rapier at the ready, Iria's now looking ready for a fight. And with a scowl that shows she's in no mood to be messed with, it's plain to see that anything that comes their way with hostile intentions will meet a rather abrupt end. "Don't care who or what we're up against, they're gonna regret messing with me on a day like this!"
Weiss Schnee	Snowflake's happy expression falters a bit as the fog surrounds the ship, slowly giving way to her traditional battle determination. Of course, this wouldn't be much of a traditional battle with the fancy weapon she's brought. She glances around now and then, certainly confused by the illusions in the mist - but it doesn't faze her for long, the digital heiress soon tiring of them. "Come on, show us the real one..." she says to nobody in particular.     The sudden attack certainly takes her off guard, of course. She instinctively dives to the side in an attempt to dodge whatever it is that needs dodging, and ends up being pelted by bits of wooden mast and sail tarp. "Gah, we're under fire!" Her gaze frantically snapping about in the fog to find the source, she soon spots the vague figure off in the distance through the fog. This time, it's more solid and corporeal - at least, she has to assume.     "Alright. I'm just going to warn you guys now that I'll be a bit... vulnerable at close range, so a bit of cover would be appreciated," she shouts to the rest of the crew, opening up the hammerspace that is her inventory with a swipe of her hand. Selecting something and dispelling it, something appears seemingly out of thin air - a gleaming golden fiddle in one hand, complete with a familiar golden bow in the other. Taking a deep breath, she plants her feet and prepares for combat.
Cirra Constantine	So much for diplomacy. Palmira drops to the deck "tch." She slides across the deck to one of the wivel mount guns and opens the ship's combat UI, selecting grapeshot for the broadside guns. "Broadside, load grapeshot!" And loads the same into the smaller swivel mount. "Sunshower, get your special shot ready!"     Palmira continues to scan as much of the sourrounding mist as she can - if she could see the stars, maybe she could use a navigator skill to help find enemy ships nearby, but the fog seems tailor made to block all such abilities.
Xiaomu	One of these days, Xiaomu's going to stick to her guns when one of her friends or allies takes a more optimistic approach, and her pessmism will be rewarded. It sure ain't being rewarded this time, though, because she let herself be convinced. So for now, while the cannonballs start flying, she hunkers down protectively over that cask she had ready on the deck, she keeps a knife in hand ready to throw at anything which presents itself as a knifeable target - or alternatively, to stab if something gets TOO close before she can throw - and she waits for a good chance to throw, not the knife, but the *cask*. See, that's one of the little-remembered facts about alcohol: it burns nicely, and since these ships tend to have wooden decks, a busted-open cask plus an open flame in the right place tends to mean the ship in question starts burning. There's a reason why Greek fire was more dreaded as a naval weapon than a weapon of landlocked warfare, after all. Of course, they'll also have to make sure the Windstar doesn't catch flame as well ... But possibly-anti-undead grog should be just as viable a weapon if it's burning the ghost ship's deck as if it were blowing up in some undead pirates' faces, right? Maybe even better.
Kirito	BAM! There goes the mast. Kirito dives the moment it goes down, hitting the deck quite literally and sort of skid-rolling behind and past Yuuki. "So much for that idea." He mutters, all but kicking himself for thinking this quest would have such a path.     Well, they have PLENTY of chances left. He's quick to flip through his menu at lightning speed between peeking overboard at the incoming ship...     Blue light flares upon his opposite side, manifesting in... yep.     Another sword materializes, albeit at his waist. He draws both his weapons with a single motion and springs up to a low crouch, ready to dash across the deck...
Yuuki Konno	The crew of the Windstar, the NPCs who follow orders and keep things going when PC crew aren't at a station, hurry to follow Palmira's orders. There's little to see until the ghost ship is almost too close to fire at, but there's time. They have their orders, and the hideaway cannons are made ready, waiting on the order to reveal and fire.     The enemy ship comes on hard, though the only sound from it is the slap of wave as the ship wheels over. The huge ship begins to turn, ponderously gliding across the water, presenting its broadside. The cannons remain quiet however. The ghost vessel could easily fire now, and cripple or even sink the Windstar. But it doesn't. The undead seem content to have the vessel unable to flee. It can still limp even if it can't run away. Even the damage to sails and rigging is repairable, given time. Nothing crippling, not yet.     The threat is those undead though. Several of them line the rails, ready to leap aboard when the decks come together. And yes, that seems to be the intent. The ghost vessel isn't going to use its bulk to grind into the Windstar. The impact, when it comes, is surprisingly light. The ghost ship isn't terribly substantial. The defense that renders it mostly immune to cannonfire also renders it unable to throw its weight around. The jarring shock is enough to make unbraced people stumble, but likely little more.     Undead pirates are quick to swing aboard, leaping down. No guns fire, not cannons, not personal firearms. Not from the undead side at least. They come brandishing cutlasses, clubs and axes. They may be giving up the chance to strike first, but then why would that matter to those already dead?
Xiaomu	"SO WHO'S THIRSTY?!" That unlikely battlecry comes from Sunshower as she raises her keg overhead, and - rather than launching it from a cannon - simply THROWS IT, as hard as she can, into the midst of the swarming undead, preferably while they're still mainly on THEIR ship instead of the Windstar. "Coming back from Davy Jones' Locker must be a long, dry sail; a pity you won't walk our decks long enough to quench your thirst, be it with booze or blood, grog or guts!!" She pulls ANOTHER keg out of her inventory, and throws THAT as well. She was talking about setting things on fire earlier; now's the chance for somebody to make good on her hint!
Kain	Kain hears the cry, and uses that as his cue! Hearing the crash of one keg against something, presumably undead pirates, Kain loaded a cartridge of Fireshot quickly before firing it at the second thrown keg so as to have it explode JUST as it would hit towards the pirates! How's THAT for a surprise?!
Iria	Iria has her rapier sharpened and ready for action. When the undead come aboard, Iria's got an evil grin on her face. "Welcome aboard! Shall we dance?" She grins a little more as she rushes towards them with her rapier at the ready. "Because we're gonna be dancing the dance of DEATH!" She stops abruptly, wanting to get the undead a little closer to her, before she attempts her tactic of trying to catch one of them off-guard then striking swiftly with her sword.
Kirito	"Alright boarders! We know what you want! Now we'll learn why!" Kirito shouts at the top of his lungs. "Offering one solid chance to parley for it! It's that or my blades."     Kirito... feels foolish. Shouting at NPCs is usually fruitless, but it worked EARLIER. So maybe, just maybe... JUST MAYBE.     He's done some weirder things when lost in thoughts, all alone in Aincrad... and a few less-weird things when not alone.     He's left facing an undead pirate ghost nearby. Kirito's weapons are at the ready though! If he comes under attack...     He's going to RUTHLESSLY counter-parry with EVERYTHING he's got from his dual swords style...
Weiss Schnee	Snowflake hardly seems jarred by the sudden impact, predicting it and staying focused on something else anyways. She monologues internally while the skeleton crew begins to board, raising the fiddle to her chin in proper position: 'Remember your training Weiss. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward - not that forward! - slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike, and... Now!'     Just like that, everything springs to life in her vision. Four different tracks appear to her with rapidly approaching notes on the leftmost one as she loses control of her avatar and switches entirely over the rhythm minigame. Each enemy gains a fiery orange outline, and each friendly gains a glowing green aura.     As the song begins, leading with the accordion, a faint red shield envelops the player, providing a bit of protection should she come under fire - and then, the fiddling begins. Every stroke of the bow fires blazing bolts through the air, homing in on any locked-on undead targets. They aren't dealing too much damage yet, but they do inflict a bit of lasting fire DoT. Hold on to your butts, ladies and gentlemen.
Cirra Constantine	This isn't exactly the plan she had in mind, but the keg has been launched and ignited. "All guns." She brings the swivel gun around. "Up angle...FIRE!" and she pulls the triger on the swivel, sending it's relatively small complement of grape sho outwards.     The real surprise will be when the deck guns fire their grapeshot at such short range up into the boarding ghostly enemies.
Tomoe	Kirito has an idea she's going to follow it up as she ends up getting to back up Kirito, she's got to wonder about his plan? Yet she's always trusted him, in the end that trusty has her following along into the storm of parrying attempts. "Kirito! I'm with you!" She's only got one blade but she's pretty good at parrying her self. "Come on ye lubbers! Why are you seadogs at this?!"
Yuuki Konno	The undead swarm onto the Windstar, a horde of the deadliest creatures on the digital seas. Grog and gunpowder explode into them, setting several on fire and ripping into others with the powerful explosions. The semi-corporeal forms are damaged, especially the ones nearest the point of impact. The fire doesn't seem to scare them though. Damage them, yes. Their health bars slowly dwindle as they charge. But the fires go out. Fire is a deadly status, causing rapid health loss, but it doesn't linger long. Damaged, the undead are still coming. There's a gleam in their eyes, a chill of malice.     They didn't have a choice, not at all. They had their orders, commands from the one who is their master in death. Seek out the Bones. Show the holders no mercy, and allow none to escape. Kill all who oppose you. Until the moment the PCs attacked, they hadn't technically opposed the undead sailors. The undead technically weren't under orders to kill. This was the loophole Palmira had inadvertently exploited in their original encounter, that let her speak with them and actually get an answer. Now however, with their orders unambiguous, there's only one thing remaining for them to do.     They'll have a hard time following that command, however. They may be unwilling to serve their new master, but they have little choice. They have little will to succeed, but nonetheless they're dread fighters with resistance to just about all damage. Not to all damage though. Everything done by the crew of the Windstar is going to be at least somewhat effective. And the damage the heroes can dish out is like nothing seen before in the game.     Cannon open fire and grapeshot rips into the back ranks of the boarders. This is new. Before, attackers would open fire on the ghost ship. The ship would shell back, to take out the resistance to their commanded duty. No cannon would remain with the ability to take out boarders once the Dutchman finished rendering their prey defenseless. The Windstar hadn't fought back however, so the attackers only had to make her unable to escape. That was all their orders commanded, so it was all they had the will to do.     The assault of fire, alcohol, and magical bow aren't new. They're nonetheless effective however, and the boarding party's opening line takes a beating even as it closes ranks. Fire rips through them, leaving them damaged. Not hurt... the dead feel no pain, but certainly damaged.     Which leaves them facing, well, the blades and guns and bombs of the Windstar's crew. A force unlike any other this game has seen before. The fight may be considered unwinnable, but only because the rogues of the Windstar had never attempted it.
Zephyr Windstar	"Cannon deck! Cease Volley! Prepare to repel boarders!" calls Auralia as she vaults from the wheel deck, drawing one of her pistols as she lands on the main deck. Her other hand? Holds a glowing white cestus. "Turn ye back from this place!" she roars, using a rare item ability. Turn Undead. A Holy Element spell that, which is /can/ put a 'Fear' effect on Undead creatures, is more directed at damaging them with one of the few elements they're vulnerable to. She 'fires' this item-bound ability in a cone, trying to disrupt the initial charge, while adding Ivory's glowing white bullet fire into the fray as well.
Iria	"Come on, ya landlubbers!" Iria yells as she tries to master speaking like a pirate some more. "Arr, I be sendin' ya t'Davy Jones's locker!" She wields her scimitar with one hand and waves it at the invaders. Then she realizes it'll have no effect against these monsters, so she rushes at the nearest one, attempting to slash it with her scimitar. "Ye be feedin' the fishies shortly!" She yells as she advances on the nearest undead enemy.
Xiaomu	Blades, guns, and bombs? Somebody forgot knives, mixstaff, and BREWS. They may even escalate to be considered 'bruising brews,' at this rate; while the lack of extra damage from fire isn't particularly encouraging, Sunshower knows that blunt-force bashing damage tends to do a number on undead - particularly the skeletal type - and she's hoping that holds here as well. Especially because that's the bulk of what she's got to offer at this point. Rather than simply chucking another keg into the undead, Sunshower plants her next keg on the deck next to her feet, pops the lid off, and dips the end of her mixing staff into it, 'stirring' briefly to help soak the buff into her weapon; it won't be much, but every little bit helps. "ORDER UP, YA SCURVY SCALAWAGS!!" she bellows over the din of combat - And instead of simply lifting the staff back out, she actually swings it in such a manner as to hurl the open keg onto the enemy ship's deck, spilling its contents not just over her staff but also over the undead. Hopefully the largely-empty keg will bounce off some numb skull for extra damage - but either way, she now has a mixing staff which has soaked in an anti-undead buff ... the same 'buff' that just spilled on a swath of the enemy. And she starts clobbering them with it, much as though she were subduing rowdy drunks back in the comfort of her tavern. Except maybe a little more viciously; she doesn't need these guys as returning customers, after all.
Cirra Constantine	Palmira releases the swivel gun as the volley impacts the ghostly forces, reducing their numbers. The Crusader/Pirate steps back from the gunnery station, drawing her silver Estoc out and holding it in an offensive posture. As the ghost being boarding the ship, her free hand reaches down and grasps three throwing knives from their clockwork reloaders, and flings the holy silver projectiles to impact with the front ranks.     "Ranks to muskets!" she shouts to the crew in support of Aurilia's order to repel boarders. And as the boarders approach, she slices the silver Estoc - a rare, high level weapon that can only be found by raiding Spanish Conquistador ships. They got lucky finding it in only a few tries. But now it gets put to use dealing damage to ghosts instead of being used as symbol of an empire that will soon begin to flag.
Kirito	"UUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOAAAAAAH!!!" No programmer in their right mind, nor any quest generation algorithm, would ever have anticipated the sheer FEROCITY that Kirito brings to bear against the ghost pirates.     Resistant to all damage, fine.     Very high stats, sure.     Superior AI compared to most monsters, a given.     But anything with health can be whittled down. Anything with an AI can be observed and predicted.     ... And far, far outmatched in pure speed and skill.     Screaming bloody murder, the Black Swordsman uses sheer speed and skill to slash slash slash four times between his two weapons for every single strike landed on him. He ducks and weaves, mitigating a tremendous amount of damage from strikes that DO get through his guard by not taking direct hits - this does indeed factor into the damage calculations, after all...     He's a whirlwind of motion and the only person on the deck likely to exceed his furious assault in this one context is... the Absolute Sword.     These pirates are a HELL OF A FIGHT, but a fight meant to be UNWINNABLE to most players... is enough to get Kirito's blood pumping furiously at the challenge.     "... " But he spares a half-second to glance at his comrades, and mutters bemusedly, "It's talk like a pirate day everyday with this crew." Then sparks fly as his blade again meets his opponent's... and by watching their eyes he slips in past their guard the instant they make a move and STRIKE hard with a blow to the middle, leaping past and towards the next!
Weiss Schnee	The same cold, calculating expression of determination settles over Snowflake's face, laser-focused in on landing each and every note perfectly. It's rather easy for now, with only two instruments to attend to - at least, in relation to the rest of the song. While the rest of the battle rages on around her, she trusts her allies and her own rhythm skills to protect her, blasting every enemy she can see with increasingly damaging firebolts.     hen, the real battle begins.     As the electric guitar and the drums kick in, more projectiles launch into the air, hover for a moment, then zoom towards everything nearby. Green orbs of light jump to her allies, conferring helpful heaing and damage resistance buffs, while red pellets lance towards the opponents, making them even more vulnerable to damage. A weapon truly worthy of the rhythm queen - let's just hope she doesn't mess it up.
Tomoe	The undead swarm the ship and it seems tht any chance to talk things out isn't going to work. She's gong to fight at htis point while she's got a Cutlass in one hand and pistol in the other. She leaps from hiding dropping her stealth and she moves into engage some of the undead who have boarded. "You wishe to deal with Eisen the Rose? Very well! YOU HAVE HER!" She's already uysing several techs as she becomes storm of movment, blade strikes and pistol shots, she's also vaulting about like some kinda arch enemy of all pirates, the dreaded ninja.
Yuuki Konno	Not having guns, bombs, brews or anything of the sort, Yuuki waits with rapier in hand for the undead to board. She watches as her friends make this seem easy. Well... almost easy. The back ranks of the undead are being significantly weakened by cannon and fire. The front ranks are being dazzled and disrupted and set on fire. As they present themselves, charging across decks to the Windstar, they're already being almost entirely destroyed.     Well, almost. In truth the undead have a high health pool and their etherealness leaves them highly resistant to all damage types. Even being set on fire doesn't deplete their health as fast as it would a normal character. Holy magic, even anti-undead buffed holy brew, does plenty of damage but it won't destroy such a mob by itself. No, the withering fire and magic-like effects are a start, but by no means the end of the fight. There's going to be plenty left to deal with directly, and the fight's not yet over. In fact the fight's barely begun.     Grinning at Kirito and Tomoe, Yuuki matches their face-on attack. She doesn't quite match Kirito strike for strike. Two blades do give him an advantage there. She maintains an edge on raw speed however, darting into the middle of the undead horde borne on sheer agility and Swashbuckling Skills. Like him, she seemingly cares little for attacks made against her. Her speed helps ensure the attacks land on nonvital areas, or are partially absorbed by armor. Either way, she takes no major wounds while dishing out considerable punishment. The few scrapes she does take are partially negated by Snowflake's support buffs, and her health bar's holding relatively high despite the attacks sent her way.     She sees the effect of Auralia's Turn Undead debuff, and the timing seems perfect. The enemies had been beginning to react to her assault, turning to cut her off, surround and overwhelm her. They flinch however, slowed somewhat by the debuff. It's enough to spare Yuuki from the brunt of their counterattack, and it allows her to spring her own surprise. "Creatures of darkness!" she calls out. Oh the irony. In Alfheim Online, her usual game, she uses elemental darkness. She's an imp, a literal being of darkness. Here though, she seems to have settled on light. "Blaze!" she cries, abruptly thrusting her sword up into the air, triggering the enchantment held within.     The flare of pure light washes out the chill of the fog, and for several feet it wipes out the fog itself. The boarders flinch, hesitate, and lose their guard for just a moment. Abruptly renewed, Yuuki makes her next true strike. No longer is she surrounded by enemies. Now she's surrounded by TARGETS. Switching immediately from defensive to offensive she lunges, striking deep, putting the light-enchanted sword through one of the foe before spinning, drawing the blade out, and striking hard at another. These aren't the lightning-fast cuts she tends to use when drawing attention. Not the attacks that charged up her blade as she danced her way into the middle of the first wave of boarders. No, now she's striking to finish the undead.     The NPC crew of the ship, while nowhere near comparable to the front-line force of PCs, still man swivels and carry muskets. They respond to Auralia's command, firing into the back ranks of the undead, continuing to deplete them. It's not much, but every bit helps. Should the battle continue long enough, the depletion of enemy reinforcements certainly would help. The dead, like the tides themselves, can't be shifted by effort alone. But with effort and skill and will, they CAN be overcome.
Yuuki Konno	But the undead horde are numerous, incredibly resilient, and utterly deadly. They have some of the best AI in the game, and are absolutely no easy target in melee. They fight with little regard for their own lives, making them easy targets, but they threaten to give out far more damage than they receive. Any single hit they land is likely to be a big one. Yuuki, Kirito and Tomoe, charging the enemy's front line, face the most aggro. Sunshower has fewer to face, since she hasn't waded out into the attack itself, but a few undead sailors do target her, swinging at her with cutlass and club. With anti-undead buffs she can probably give as good as she gets.     An undead swordsman engages Iria, clashing sword to sword, weaving an assault of blades her way that seem like three weapons instead of just one. Seems she's found herself a duellist, not merely a dead sailor.
Iria	Iria finds herself in a bit of a situation. She's underestimated the enemy, and now she's in a bit of a battle for her life. She finds that three blades (or something similar) against one does not work too well. She finds herself struggling at first, then loses her sword. "Arr, shiver me timbers!" She yells, diving for the blade quickly and grabbing it while she rolls away, giving herself a little breathing room between her undead swordsman foe and herself. "If ya desire more, ye landlubber, ye best c'mere now!"
Zephyr Windstar	"Blessings of Neptune be upon us." intones Auralia, as she turns to another of her Prayer 'spells'. This one joins Snowflake's buffing abilities, providing each crewmember's weapon with a mild Holy enchantment, stacking with any inherant buffs it has. It's not a powerful Prayer, but like the NPC crew, every bit helps.     Buffs and her Big Opener out of the way, the Cestus is returned to inventory, and the gleaming white hand-axe is brought out. She dives in with the others, firing Ivory and hacking with Lambent, dancing amidst the boarders, joining Tomoe, Yuuki and Kirito in thinning the main thrust. "Steel yeselves! This fight is far from over, and I'll be cast to Jones' Locker 'fore I let these knaves have me ship!" she roars, clashing steel against steel, firing point blank into the fray, and generally being a royal niusance.
Xiaomu	Of course this isn't going to be a fair fight, thinks Sunshower as she sees how little overall damage she's done - although to be fair, that was a *debuff*, not direct-damage. She has to do the damage herself, the debuff just makes it easier. Hopefully. It had better, anyway. So she sets about doing damage - or rather, for the most part, defending herself from the undead. It helps that Sunshower's *player* is well-accustomed to using a staff in battle; she knows what tends to work, what doesn't, and what gives her the best chance of parrying a cutlass successfully as opposed to her staff taking damage; too many chips and chops will reduce her staff to a pair of half-length staves, after all, and while those aren't *useless* per se, it takes a whole different set of skills to dual-wield cudgels like that. And it would reduce her total reach - which matters a LOT when you're trying to keep undead with cutlasses from getting close enough to spill your blood. So, for the most part, the bold brewmaid swings and swats at the encroaching undead, happy to actually knock a skull off or shatter other bones if the chance presents itself, otherwise just making the bill as expensive as possible for any of the undead who want to get up close and personal. It doesn't stop her from cracking jokes, though. "So if there were a buff that lets y' do twice th' damage t' enemies," she calls out, "what d'ye think it'd cost? A doubloon?" .... just remember, she's on your side.
Cirra Constantine	With battlefield control well established by the others, Palmira switches to offensive focus. The silver Estoc swings through the air, leaving silver flashes of light where it travels. The purple haired woman pushes her attacks, laying in with thrusts and slashes to clear the way. Her style isn't quiet as fast as Yuuki or Kirito's but still fast enough that the combination of hard hitting attacks and ability to move quickly lets her collect aggro from multiple mobs and pull them together where an AoE effect, or her own silver throwing knives can damage the whole group at once.     Those clockwork bandolier just work over time reloading the spent knives, with constant whirr-click of delivering three new knives to Palmira's hand as she fights. But where Palmira doesn't DPS as fast as others, she make plans.     "NEST! Fire!"     NPCs setup in the crows nest at the top of the mast peek over with muskets and begin firing on the groups of pirate ghosts she's collected, further weakening them.     Palmira brings the Estoc up in a eye-level hold and charges in, slamming the tip of the weapon straight through, two, three of the weakened foes with the thanks to all of the buffs being laid down by the rest of the party.
Tomoe	Tomoe was meeting the enmy head on and she was not alone as Kirito and Yuuki joined her. It was two SAO vets and the person who has the likely highest response times in Full dirve gear all going after this mobs. It's a heck of a fight it realy is. Yet? Eisen is seeing why so many others fell to these things. She was being pressed but she keps fighting doing what she could to keep these things at pay and parrying the attack she could. Yet these things are able to ... get past her guard and score hits, nothing to bad /yet. However such hits will add up over time. "I'll hold these sea dogs as long as I can!"
Weiss Schnee	Safely nestled behind the lines of her more melee-focused allies, Snowflake amps up her efforts, hitting every note just as she practiced. All of her projectiles grow larger as her note combo climbs ever higher, amplifying their effects. They provide a larger buffer of regeneration for her allies, a greater magnitude of damage-eating debuff for her enemies, and simply more raw damage per fireball. Each one whacks into its target with a good chunk of flat damage, DoTs aside.     "My friends, I stand before you... to tell a truth most dire. There lurks a traitor in our midst, who hath invoked the captain's ire!" The lyrics play just as loud as the rest of the song - in fact, much louder, while the other instruments cease briefly. While Snowflake keeps her note combo's momentum, each instruments effects simply stop with their instruments. While the buffs and debuffs linger, for that brief moment, she's no longer dealing damage and no longer has a personal shield - this would be a very bad time for, say, an enemy projectile to strike!
Kirito	Kirito can hardly hear the battle for the battle itself. His ears filled with ringing steel clashing against steel. The Black Swordsman ducks and weaves, leaning forward in a highly aggressive stance that can snag the insanely fast swings of his opponents and turn them aside. But the strength of undead is mighty indeed - every time he blocks, a bit of his HP's shaved off.     And when he can't, a bit's shaved off from a graze or a blow onto armor he narrowly manages to mitigate.     But his body lightens and blade glows from a sudden rush of blessings and magic...     Kirito does something quite odd. He LEAPS over his opponents, twirls about in midair and brings his weapons down. He leaps back from the expert-timed reprisal, and dives in to counter. As the fight goes on he's starting to learn the monster's patterns and techniques...     And those patterns are always a monster's undoing.     In Sword Art Online it was common knowledge that monsters adapted their combat algorithms to their enemy, and rapidly alternating who's fighting them throws them off.     The practice doesn't seem to have caught on for Alfheim though...     The only question, as he turns and starts leading his opponent Tomoe's way across the deck... is how well her reflexes have remained over the years.     Because...     "TOMOE! SWITCH!!"     Because he dive-rolls for her enemy and comes in with a heavy set of slashes from nowhere, trusting her with his back!
Yuuki Konno	Enemy losses begin to mount, undead warriors begin to fall. Well, not fall exactly. The creatures show a surprised look, then regret, then they fade into mist. Only the faintest ghostly echoes remain, untargetable and unthreatening. This doesn't relieve the group's danger however. A new enemy comes forth to take the place of any who falls, and each fresh undead is every bit as deadly as the one they replaced. They're damaged however, these fresh reinforcements. They don't take quite as many hits before they're hacked into mist as well. There's just no immediate obvious end to them.     Iria's foe, who Palmira would recognize if she weren't busy, is the boarding leader VINCENT RUUD. He brandishes his cutlass high, showing that it's indeed a single blade. The afterimages merge into one before the undead sweeps it down and hacking into Iria's digital avatar, carving off a chunk of her health. She can recover her sword however.     Sunshower's staff skills serve her well. The long reach keeps her fairly safe, but again the undead have no regard for their own so-called lives. They're willing to take a blow, even from an anti-undead enchanted weapon, in order to strike at her. She'll make them pay, and may even shatter skulls and arms to great effect. As she downs foes though, more replace them as with others. Sadly, her jokes don't seem to effect the undead at all. They're dead to her puns.     Snowflake's buffs will continue to climb, to the point where she becomes a genuine threat to the undead reinforcements. It's something they can't ignore. Two hurled harpoons arc out towards her from the ghost ship's deck, from reinforcements waiting for their chance to engage the crew of the Windstar. If she's not alert and careful she'll be impaled. Even if she is alert and careful the attack may well break her combo, stop her attack for at least a moment, and reset her buff level.     Interestingly though, Snowflake's song itself seems to be just as irritating to the undead horde. A number of the waiting reinforcements focus eyes on her, not just the ones currently attacking. Eyes begin to glow red through the gloomy fog. They have other things to throw. Swords, axes, knives, each other... and it looks like they're not happy with how things are going right this moment.     Palmira's careful combat style serves her well and combos nicely with the aggressive assault of the front-liners. As undead turn to menace Kirito, Yuuki and Tomoe, some present openings which Palmira skillfully exploits. Her silver blade and throwing knives are quite effective and she can finish off several foes. They're not easily replaced, being behind the lines, letting her advance into the breach and cover the flanks.     Yuuki continues her own assault, though she reverses direction. She'd reached the deck, now she fights back towards the rest of the Windstar's crew. She smiles over at Kirito and Tomoe, realizing they've done this before. No doubt they've been doing it for a long time. Far longer than she's known either of them. They can handle themselves. She works her way back towards Palmira, adapting her fighting somewhat to play off Palmira's strengths and to assist the other young woman as well. They've fought well together over several battles now. Not as well-attuned as Tomoe and Kirito perhaps, but a good duo nonetheless.
Weiss Schnee	Hoo boy, here's where it gets really interesting.     Snowflake's vision is partially blocked by the musical tracks, but luckily for her, the oncoming projectiles are quite obvious to see, with a large warning sign and everything attached to them by her HUD. She had hoped that she wouldn't have to deal with this, but it seems like she has no choice - she has to juggle dodging and playing, somehow.     The minigame shifts to the side as she reassumes control of herself - only for a moment, though, as she quickly dashes to the side out of the way of the first javelin and returns to the interface during the brief period of musical inactivity. The second one lands just in time for the song to renew again, her personal barrier swiftly rematerializing and absorbing the projectile. Her interface shudders with the impact, but not enough to throw her off - however, her shield fizzles and sparks while it tries to regenerate. There's no way it can take another hit like that - seems like she'll have to stay wary for more incoming attacks.
Iria	It may be a VRMMO, but it still hurts like hell! Iria is stricken by the enemy, causing her to drop her scimitar while she reels back in pain as her health decreases. "Son of a Zeiram-eating bitch!" She snarls, the worst curse she can think of off the top of her head. She shakes her arm out, trying to get the pain to go away a little, before diving for her scimitar and grabbing it again. "You pissed off the wrong girl!" Iria snaps, forgetting about her pirate accent. "Now I'm gonna make you PAY!" She spins around a little as she tries to strike her enemy with a spinning strike instead of the usual swordplay.
Zephyr Windstar	Auralia's found her way through the melee and into Sunshower's combat zone. "Nice day for it." she calls over to her crewmate, grinning as she hops up, leaping over a lunging Undead, planting a foot on its back to send it sprawling, before bringing her axe down through the skull of another ghost. She turns, glancing a blow from another Undead, before ducking and using a powered Sweep to clear some space. "On my mark, Switch!" she warns the Brewmaster, leveling her pistol and unleashing a Piercing bullet to punch through a line of Undead. "SWITCH!"     She leaps, mantling off of a falling undead to clear the ground route for Sunshower... if she's fast enough.
Xiaomu	This is about the point, thinks Sunshower, when you start wondering what's going to bring the encounter to an end. Lots of undead, no obvious limit, no boss lurking behind the horde, how many undead can a ship the size of the Flying Dutchman actually *carry* anyway? "Hey, Captain?" she calls out to Auralia over the noises of the fray, "Did you get a good look at the size of the enemy ship before we grappled, or - Oh right, switching out. she leaps back in the opening provided by that piercing shot, and unslings a wineskin to swig some recovery brew. "Thank you!" She pulls out a few knives, ready to throw them while Auralia's in melee. Stabbing weapons may not be as useful against undead, but she's not going to lay off *completely* from the fight, even while she's recuperating from having to hold her share of the front line. She's also keeping that wineskin ready to pass to Auralia when they switch off again .. although while she's recovering, she glances around to see how her other crewmates (the PCs at least) are doing, and if anyone else needs a pick-me-up. She can't go too far, but she can at least try to toss a spare wineskin to anyone who needs it.
Cirra Constantine	Despite the cacophony of battle all around them, Palmira smiles a little as Yuuki joins up with her. She's grown to like Yuuki regardless of her own normally icy nature, or perhaps because of it and Yuuki's own desire to live life to the fullest. The classical odd pair.     "Snowflake's being harried by ranged and the one fighting Iria looks like a special unit." She says as she circle back to back with Yuuki. "I'll clear the path, you can deal with it as you see fit."     And with that established, Palmira surges forward, silver Estoc slices through the air, and while Palmira isn't the fastest, and she isn't a video game ace, she has real combat experience so there's one thing she does do better then most others here.     Palmira's sword slices through the air and is pulled back in an upwards sweep, just enough room for her to punch the ghost ahead of her with a gloved hand. The point of the sword is quickly driven down into the ship's deck, through the foot of one ghost.     Using her sword as a leverage point, Palmira spins around, delving a second gloved-knuckle to the ghost with a spinning backfist, opening Palmira up to dislodge her weapon and drive it upwards in bisect of the third piratical specter.     A fourth ghost swings it's axe down at Palmira just as she turns towards it-     *SCRUNCH*     Palmira stands there, red pixilated lines of damage across her body, her fist in one ghost's face, her sword in another's leg, and the axe of the third...     Held fast as her teeth crush the pirate's wrist.     Palmira knows how to fight dirty.     *spit*     "Switch!"
Tomoe	IT had been some time since she'd seen Kirito use this tactic but she knew it quite well. The Pirate Eisen Rose moves to swap with Kirotp with rapid speed she's used pulling off sucj tactics. So far everyone is playing their parts, she hopes to keep the undead focused on them so her and the other 'tanks' so the rest of the party. Shje knows mass combat after all and has worked with Kirito so long they know what the other will do such as when they are switching spots she'll even drop a taunt or two to make sure this has a chance to be pulled off.
Kirito	Absolutely perfect. In the instants of the switch, Kirito makes eye contact with Eisen Rose... in those brief moments of diving for her enemy. Hopefully she'll pick up on the trust there!     As it is... his execution is all but flawless. Right past her and into the enemy charging at her, he rises up and unleashes a stream of blows with ridiculously different angles and timing against an enemy who's probably NOT paying enough attention in the throes of Aggro!
Yuuki Konno	Yuuki flashes a grin back at Palmira. She loves all her new friends dearly. Without them, life wouldn't be worth living. Without them... she wouldn't be alive. With them though, she can be anything, do anything. They're special, and they make her special too. What's a bunch of moldy old animated bones in comparison to that?     She considers Palmira's question. In a way Palmira reminds her of Asuna. That cool analytical mind is a treasure, though Palmira lacks a certain something which is probably the reason Asuna's been nicknamed the Berserk Healer. This... isn't necessarily a negative lack. But as to the question, Yuuki only can give one answer. She can do little against ranged attackers. Those, she'll have to leave to the others. Iria she can help.     She darts through the opening Palmira provides, lunging for the back of Iria's attacker. "Finish him!" Yuuki yells at the very last moment, leaning forward in a dive, arm outstretched. Her rapier buries itself between undead shoulderblades as she lances into Vincent Ruud. On any corporeal foe it would have surely been fatal. With the undead damage reduction though, the boarding leader doesn't quite fall. It turns instead, raising its phantom blade, twisting Yuuki's rapier out of her hands as she falls helplessly at its feet.     The flood of reinforcements seems to be slowing. With many of the undead attackers turned to ectoplasm, most of the rest are burning, being treated to holy brew, are whittled down by buffed bow magic and small-arms fire, or are currently regarding Snowflake as a ranged threat they're focussed on. The end is in sight, and the crew of the Windstar seem to have weathered this tide fairly well. No one's dead, no one's in the red, no one's trapped. They just might be able to pull off a feat that's never been managed before! The Windstar's NPC crew have been busily firing away, and are currently focussed on the ranged attackers, trying to give Snowflake a break.     What with clever switching and skills that go well beyond casual video gamers, the group's handling the encounter well. Which means naturally everything's going to suddenly go bad. From the ghost vessel comes a chilling voice. Not the echoing 'everywhere' voice that Palmira heard before, full of clipped syllables. This one is a cold menace, articulate and venomous with hate. "The curse of the betrayer. You cannot overcome it. You cannot overcome the tides themselves. The deeps shall drag you down into watery doom."     Up to the deck strides a tall, powerful figure. BENEDICTUS MARINUS, Captain of the Flying Dutchman. He's cadaverous, literally so, rotting and malign. But he glows with a faint green light, the illumination filling out his form where flesh itself fails. He bears no obvious weapon, and bears himself as if he doesn't need any.     Benedictus holds up a hand, as if commanding the fight to stop. And just that suddenly, the attacking undead jerk and pause, taking a shuffling step backwards each in unison, leaving themselves desperately open as the unuttered command affects them. The PCs are unaffected, leaving them able to exploit the moment's weakness. Only a moment however. "The grasp of the deeps take you." the captain hisses, and from his hand bursts a pale sea-green mass of watery tentacles, lashing out at everyone aboard the Windstar.
Xiaomu	Oh hey, would you look at that, the boss finally showed up. Sunshower promprlty greets Benedictus Marinus with a knife aimed for his eye. Well, one of them - if one eye is covered by an eyepatch (because come on, *PIRATE THEMED GAME*), she aims for the uncovered one. Although really, the eye that *is* covered would be the most obvious target. She doesn't have time to prep the knife with one of her baneful brews, so it's just a plain old thrown knife, unlikely to do more than draw aggro. Which she probably shouldn't have done. It also does little or nothing to prepare her for the grasp of the deeps, unfortunately enough. Sunshower whips her staff around as soon as she sees the watery tentacles, trying to splash through whatever comes reaching for her - more of a desperate parry than an 'attack,' really, but if it helps, she won't complain. If it doesn't help ... she'll have other things to complain about.
Iria	With Iria's opponent turned away, the brunette has the upper hand. She decides to stop the enemy before it can cause any more problems. Grabbing her scimitar, Iria attempts to rush in from the back with her scimitar in hopes of impaling it and teaching it a lesson that it'll never forget... or something like that. Then she spots Benedictus Marinus and she goes wide-eyed for a moment. "THAT'S the boss?" She shakes her head. "It could've been more gross, but oh well!" She attempts to focus her attention on it, hoping her other enemy is done.
Zephyr Windstar	And there's the Boss.     Auralia snarls back at Benedictus. "Grasp this!" she cries as she shifts over, jinking out of the strike of that tentacle, scoring her axe blade along it as it goes past her, only to drop her pistol, the weapon dematerializing into her inventory, to be replaced by that cestus again. "I summon Poseidons Trident. Smite thee unto my foe!" she locks the target, and the weather above opens briefly, shining a pale white light onto the glowing green of the Ghost Boss.     Much like the last time she used this Prayer, a large golden trident lances down and impales the target, before vanishing as quickly as it came, the weather returning to that same mist-choked norm.
Kirito	As ghost soldiers fall back, Kirito flips away and onto a barrel, and from there to further back on the deck. He knows SOMETHING'S up. Gamer's instinct is screaming it at him.     Then the first view of a far taller corpse hurling himself to the decks sends a chill down his spine.     Those ghost soldiers were nearly impossible to beat, as monsters go. But now a BOSS is showing up?     If the difficulty scales... they might be screwed. When numbers get high enough... no amount of personal skill will be enough.     Usually.     "Those enemies were insane... I can't imagine most players even REACHING this guy if it's a quest...!"     On the other hand, the fact that it's acting so Dreadfully Ghostly in-character means the reason they had for coming here to investigate has just proven, once and for all, to be a false lead.     "An unmarked quest. We've come all this way just for..." He has no desire to be here for questing. He's not interested in the loot, or the system, or the Swashbuckling Skills... he'd rather be flying in the skies of Alfheim or challenging further through Aincrad...     He's here for Yuuki, and with these results...     Bitterness fills his gut. Bitterness and a rage that perhaps Benedictus Marinus doesn't deserve. A fierce, contained FURY ignites in Kirito as he takes a battle stance... and JUST in time!     "What IS THIS GUY?!" The Black Swordsman cries out. WHO would expect TENTACLES FROM THE SLEEVES?!     But Kirito takes a desperate leap over the deck. He only gets struck after landing by the aftermath of the strike... and it sends him tumbling over the deck timbers in a lopsided roll. But he somehow twists a foot around and half-recovers with a third of his health meter GONE.     "Ghh..." He's no interest in the loot, achievements.     But if there's one thing he really wants to do right now...     Kirito fixes Benedictus with a DEATHGLARE. A quite serious one. FAR more serious and genuine than practically any VRMMO would be capable of.     "Cut the crap. You want our crystal bones?" His voice is full of hollow, vaguely irritated amusement - his true feelings a bit suppressed. A few people might realize though, this is a sign that he is REALLY DEEPLY PISSED. "After this yours'll be dust. What drove you to chase these down?"     He doesn't expect the NPC to answer, but sometimes NPC AIs surprise him...     Very few bosses in ALO even TALK to begin with...
Weiss Schnee	And here's where it... oh, you get the point.     Of course, she needs to keep doing as much work as she can, but Snowflake finds that a bit difficult with a range of weaponry hurtling towards her face. Yeah, that's a problem - her shield can't take all those hits. Any projectiles that manage to get through the NPCs' support is met with a series of fireballs, with the intent of shooting them down before they can land. This reduces her overall damage output, but she gets to keep her combo, right?     And... here comes the TRUE true fight. Oh joy. The undead minions become a secondary priority as she focuses on defending herself from the watery tentacles, meeting them with barrages of fireballs, pelting and debuffing the boss himself in-between. Who ever said water beats fire, anyways?
Tomoe	Tomoe pauses for a moment she doens't care much about the loot. She had to wonder about this quest? Was it something intended to change the setting if someone beat it somehow? She wasn't sure. She was not happy ither a eary unking thought fills her mind but she does not give it word. She watches Kirito enraged ans she joins his attack, she tries to dodge the tentacles, moving to hack slash and cut those that try to get close to her. "What the hell is wrong with you!" She's loing HP as well but she's still going strong, this thing is using Tentacle and this seems like very cheap quest design to her. "You want some of this?! WELL I AM SENDING YOU EXPRESS TO MR D JONES HIMSELF!"
Cirra Constantine	With Yuuki lunging to help finish of Vincent Rudd, Palmira extracts her fist and sword from the suddenly retreating ghost pirates and turns to look at Benedict Marinus, eyes narrowing slightly. "This isn't the one that spoke before." She moves forward, using the time to slice into more of the ghosts. "Where's the one that spoke to me before?" she asks the cold menace of a gaunt undead. "The one that said you would take what's yours?"     And although she readies herself, the sudden explosion of tentacles catch half-off guard. The estoc slices through two in a single stroke and she reaches for her throwing knives, only to be caught! "Nhhg!" Dragged towards the undead ship, Palmira struggles to get free, one hand still in her coat. "I'm asking you, who your true master is!" she spits out as she's drawn over to the other boat. "Because I know..." Her hand reaches into her coat and grasps something just as it's pulled out by a tentacle. A golden disk about two inches thick goes flying from her hand and lands on the deck.     With a click and a whirl the outer edges of the device begin spinning around, slowly ascending as they seperate and begin spinning around each other as they assemble into an astrolobe, projecting beams of light into the sky through the thick fog, spinning around like a light show until they lock into position.Coloured lights representing the planets turning, the beams of light suddenly spinning around in their own miniature show of lights until they start clicking into place.     The ultimate navigation skill, AND ultimate item.     Atlantean Astrolobe Skill: Planetary Alignment     As each light of each planet lines up, a buff representing the planet descends on the group. Jupiter for Lightning, Saturn for Wisdom, Neptune for water resistance, Mars for War and Strength, Mercury for Speed, and Uranus...     The God of the sky grants favourable weather. But does it cut through the fog?     With her buffed strength, Cirra break free of the tentacles holding her, slicing into them with her Estoc. "Well?" she asks the undead one last time.
Yuuki Konno	Perhaps ironically, Yuuki's not bitter. She can draw the same conclusions Kirito draws. Yes she's here seeking out a metagame answer. She's looking for something which no actual in-game quest is going to provide. This is a dead end, a false lead. But that doesn't matter at all, not to her. Sure this won't save her life, but while she's doing it she's still actually living. That's what counts to her, not the outcome.     But in order to continue living, at least in this avatar, she has to survive this battle. Things were looking a little grim when she'd lost her sword. Sure she could scramble away, undignified. Even flat out on the ground after a diving lunge she's not helpless or crippled. But fortunately she doesn't have to. Iria carves into Vincent Ruud. Between her initial assault and the moments given by the Captain's ordered halt, there's enough time for Iria to turn Vincent into ectoplasm.     One telling point about the Captain is, despite his cold menace and obvious power level, he only has a single health bar. He's not, technically, a boss. Bosses always have four bars, at least in SAO and all its derivatives the heroes have yet travelled. Those tentacles are deadly enough however. When cut or burned they spray an acid-like substance that debuffs and damages the target. It's not big damage, but it's a slow drain of health for a few seconds. If they latch on they reel in their target while constricting, causing moderate damage and making it hard to wield weapons properly, let alone call upon chants or prayers. And there are lots of them. Cutting down one wouldn't stop others from attacking. And cutting them, sadly, doesn't actually deplete Benedictus' health bar.     Auralia's skill, on the other hand, does. Poseidon's trident strikes the Captain with possibly poetic fury. Even so, the blast is reduced by the undead incorporeal-state damage reduction, turning a potential fight-ending attack into a merely damaging one. But Marinus roars in pain. "Curse you as well. Horkus take you all. The answers you seek are within a watery grave. COME, I will send you there!" comes the malign voice, as he lashes out with his other palm. MORE tentacles. By this point the Windstar's crew are all engaged, the NPCs no doubt entirely helpless, and only the fast-moving and skilled PCs still fighting.     Yuuki recovers her rapier, turning towards the captain, and charges at him. "Go back to your master!" she cries, moving forward in a streak of blazing light. All around the ship, the sky lightens. Not Yuuki's light though... Palmira's. The blessing of the Astrolabe at work. Some of the oppressive aura diminishes, raising hope and buffing stats at this, the final battle. "Tell him the pirates of the Windstar sent you!" she cries out, darting, weaving, cutting, and moving closer and closer to the Dutchman's deck as her health begins to steadily drain from the spray of the acidic tentacles.
Zephyr Windstar	Acid spray bathes Auralia, draining her Health Bar. She drops both weapons, and with a flourish, does a twirl and draws a long musket from within her long coat. She spins and twirls it like a short staff, knocking those tentacles aside... just for long enough to perform a Gunslinger Trickshot. "Grape Shot!" she calls, and then fires a string of blasts from the musket, peppering the remaining Undead, and hopefully clearing a path for the melee fighters to get into combat with Benedictus. She's not trying to damage the Boss himself, she's already done her part in that battle.
Iria	After dealing with our friend 'Vincent,' Iria decides to try to help out with the boss. However, rather than just use her scimitar to fight like before, Iria draws her pistol. "Yar gonna be fired for this!" She yells, trying to make a bad pun while doing her pirate accent. She fires off a couple shots while moving closer.
Xiaomu	"Urk," is Sunshower's only comment for a moment or so as she gets splattered by surprisingly corrosive water from the tentacle her staff just 'sliced' through. She does wave to Palmira, though, and manages to call out a quick, "Thank you!" in regards to the Astrolabe buff. If she had a little more thought free for punning, she might joke about the stars being right, but she's more concerned with laying the smack down on the ironically-named Benedictus Marinus. There's nothing good about his words so far, is there? She quaffs another gulp of recovery brew, and then charges into the fray once more, barreling along the lane opened up by Auralia's Grape Shot and swatting some undead further out of the way with the ends of her staff. "Sorry, Captain Marinus, but your voyage ends here!" she calls out before she plants one end of her staff, uses it to *pole-vault into the air* ... And then does a mid-air somersault, shouting "SKULL SPLITTER PREMIUM!!" as she whips her staff up, over, and down to try and give Captain Benedictus Marinus the concussion of an undead lifetime - or at least a headache that'd make your typical hangover look pleasant by comparison.
Cirra Constantine	The acid was unexpected, burning through Palmira's over coat, turning it into more of a hazard then a protection, and Palmira tosses it off rather then deal with the persistent debuff that comes from wearing armor burning with acid. Leaving her in white blouse white black and red vest. The silver holy symbol dangles around her neck.     Yuuki streaks by, and Palmira brings the estoc up in a one handed attack stance, other hand held tightly behind her back. She lunges forward, thrusting the point of her sword into the tentacles that try to flank Yuuki. Still not as fast as the younger girl, Palmira can make up for it in accuracy, and footwork. With the blessings of Mercury upon them both, they probably look like one streak slicing through with the second just a moment behind, whirling around the first.
Tomoe	Tomoe gets the idea that this entire thin is a horde boss fight and not just a single boss with adds. She's not seen that too often in games but had things been a bit different she'd have enjoyed that. She's still got a card to play now. She does does wonder if winning this will lead to some kind of underwater location or leave there party as some sort of new undead race? She doesn't know she doesnt care for now. She pops the last ability which she has skill points for. Se lets out a loud cry. "CUTLASS FURY!" Her HP is low she's been smacked about pretty good an the acid isn't helping she's got to deal with the damage from that and she just attempts to lunch into an inhumanly fast chain of cutlass strikes which is also intended to cleave the captains tentacles as much as the rest of him. Tomoe is just in a very bad frame of mind at the moment.
Kirito	'Horkus?'     Kirito mouths the unfamiliar name, but that's all the more he dwells on it for now. It's something to ask about when they're not all about to get WIPED by a... well, mid-boss in charge of some VERY powerful monsters.     The danger here is real, very darned high...     But not going to kill anyone, huh?     Even so, Kirito's fuelled to vicious heights here, more than one simply playing a game. He's disappointed, frustrated. All this, was it a waste?     If it is, the cost will be this captain's sorry face being split in two.     Kirito stays low, zigging and zagging over the deck, slicing lengthwise up one of the tentacles as it approaches. He stumbles badly, falls under splashes of acidic sea goo... and yet he doesn't stop the mad plunge onwards. With the amount of raw asskicking being unleashed, some of it ranged, he has very little time to spare up close unless he wants lead in the back.     So upon getting near, he activates a Swashbuckling Skill... in MIDLEAP.     Body and blade aglow briefly, the swordsman executes a twirling spin that probably ISN'T so smart, given how it dices into tons of tentacles as well as the ENTIRE of Benedictus being in range... but the moment he lands Kirito goes SKIDDING AWAY across the deck on it, tumbling around and slamming against the railing instead of getting himself pulverized by the abundant friendly fire.     "Sometimes we really need some better coordination," he observes...
Weiss Schnee	Wow, those tentacles really don't let up, do they? Her attacks only barely manage to hold off the attacks, the resulting acid spray either burning up in the fire or hissing violently as it spatters her shield. It holds for a while, but the constant barrage proves to be too much for the barrier as it visibly shatters like glass. Now Snowflake is directly taking the spray, eating away at her health and violently shaking her minigame's interface.     Her expression turns from determination to a scowl of frustration with the extra difficulty - and then into an evil smirk. Stomping the ground with her foot, a shockwave of fire erupts around her as her eyes literally gush with blue flames, laughing maniacally all the while.     Activating the magic fiddle's equivalent of Star Power, the music tracks move to the side and play themselves on autopilot, leaving Snowflake with a new interface containing a reticle right in the center. While the same bolts of fire continue to erupt towards the Big Bad, now colored blue and easily taking care of the tentacles with increased damage, a solid cyan beam of energy erupts from the center of the instrument and lances straight for Snowflake's target - the boss' FACE. "Keelhaul that filthy landlubber, send him down to the depths below! Make that bastard walk the plank with a bottle of rum and a YO HO HO!" The voice is downright demonic: deep, scratchy, and intoning from everywhere. With a perfect streak the whole song, the laser's damage would outright disintegrate many of a boss's minions and put a sizeable dent in its health bar - let's hope it's as effective on this one!
Yuuki Konno	This, on top of the other undead... any of them individually is as tough as any normal fight. There may be no technical Boss Mob in this encounter but it's definitely end-raid boss stuff. It's a fight no one's beaten, not even players who have beaten the very tough island raids needed to get the crystal bones in the first place. The sheer number of the mobs, along with their power and resistance, was the core of this fight. That and the implacable and seemingly invulnerable foes that cared nothing for their own survival so long as they could cut down a foe. Tomoe's supposition is indeed correct. This whole battle is a boss fight, not one big boss with a bunch of trash mobs.     It would have been enough to beat pretty much any casual gamer. Only a group who fought for true, who fought for life, could stand a chance here. It may be just a game, and the final outcome of the battle may not be quite what some members had hoped for, but it's still beyond anything that a casual player would possibly believe.     Fireballs, pistol and musket fire sweep the way. Yuuki, Palmira, Kirito, Tomoe and Sunshower sweep and vault forward. The fighters support each other, weaving around tentacles, cutting them down, Opening themselves up for acid-splashes to free up someone else to advance a few feet further. This is only a game, but the acid stings nonetheless. The pain isn't severe, isn't real, but it's still there. Nothing committed fighters can't deal with, and nothing like the pain of a real-life injury of course. Pain limiters are in effect here. Still, it takes a certain bravery to suffer pain for another, even if that pain is merely a mild sting.     Staff and Blades carve into the Benedictus Marinus. Cutlass, Rapier and Estoc land home as Kirito sacrifices himself to cut away a swath of tentacles. Sunshower's undead-smashing staff splinters upon the deadlord's skull. The beam of Snowflake's bow attack lances into the captain, blinding and disrupting him. Then more strikes land. Heroes freed from their defense by the onslaught can join in, adding shots to the fray. As the hits land, the boss shrieks an unearthly wail until, finally, he explodes in a burst of scintillating green and red.     Abruptly the fog loses its grip, and warmth floods back into the digital Carribean waters. The fog visually fades slowly, though its effects vanish immediately. The ghost ship itself shimmers, slowly beginning to fade. And, of course, treasure. This is only a MMO quest boss after all, not a real foe. There's a reward for victory. That can wait until everyone gets back aboard the Windstar safely, of course. Top-end talisman and armor drops. Several spectral weapons. Crafting materials of spectral class including gems, wood, metal and cloth. And loot... oh yes, definitely loot. An epic ghostly treasure of doubloons and saleable valuables.     And ... one last thing. A key, listed as 'unique' loot. It can be given only once on a server, and it is given to you. The silver key, covered in disturbing runes, indicates it's used to unlock the Drowned Halls. Which no one has heard of. It matches no known location in the game.
Xiaomu	Sunshower actually swears out loud as her staff *breaks* upon clobbering Benedictus with it - but it served a purpose, knocking off a chunk of Benny's HP and helping her allies carve the rest of the bar down to emptiness. That mollifies her a little over the loss of a favored weapon and an important tool ... just a little, at the moment, but she's not going to waste time bitching further about it. The Windstar awaits, and the Brewmeister returns to the actually-physical deck of the party's ship without further delay. At least there's a lot of interesting loot to look over. She could use an armor upgrade, and if nobody else wants the staff, she'll take it ...
Cirra Constantine	As Benedictus is defeated, Palmira stands with her sword held up. Red lines of damage slowly fading as they exit combat mode. "...Just a quest." a note of disappointment creeps into her voice as she turns back to the Windstar. She wanted to find Yuuki's answer. Even if Yuuki will laugh and say it was a great experience anyways, Palmira wanted to see the burden of a short life removed.     The Crusader walks back onto the ship with the rest of the crew as the loot is given out, and one thing catches her eye. She bids for it and gets the drop. She turns back towards the lower decks of the ship as she uses the game interface to equip the item. A black coat with officer's barding, and St. Elmo's fire at night appears on her.     Equip: Ghost-Duster.
Iria	Iria shakes her head as Xiaomu's staff breaks, knowing too well the frustration of having your gear break on you during battle. Even after a battle it's still annoying. But at least the boss is defeated. Unlike the others, Iria doesn't rush for the loot. Instead, she waits for the others to have their chance before perusing the leftovers. Odds are she's not after anything big right now, and even if she were, it would be leftovers which she could sell for a little extra money in-game.
Zephyr Windstar	As Captain, Auralia gets first refusal on loot she participates in acquiring... by default at least. She's always had her loot table set to Open Loot, but she's quick to spot something, and roll a need die on it.     Spectral Cestus, and a new musket, "Dead Man's Longarm."     "Looks like we have another destination. We'll find it later, but for now man sailing stations, batten the hatches and unfurl the sails. We make for safe harbour."
Xiaomu	"Aye aye, cap'n," Sunshower drawls, still looking over some of the loot. She does pause to plant a big cask of recovery grog in front of the mast, so the crew can drink on their way back to port.
Weiss Schnee	Snowflake's Demonic Pact fizzles out the song does, lowering her fiddle down to her side. She just stands there for a moment before she collapses backwards, dropping the golden instrument and its bow on either side of her. "Hah... Hah... Well, that was... a thing..." She hadn't noticed how tired out she was from all that playing until it hit her like a freight train - should probably down a flagon of grog or something to fix that.     She didn't even seem to notice for a little while that the fiddle seems to be breaking apart, its pieces slowly burning up into nothingness. Once she finally looks to the side, she bolts upright and desperately tries to save them, picking them up as they disintegrate in her hands. "No, no, no! What's happening...?" Opening her inventory, she finds the shadow of the fiddle in its previous spot - with a lengthy timer below it. Seems like it can only be used once in a blue moon. "Ah well. We did it, crew! Yarrr! Or something." Charisma hasn't really been her highest stat lately.
Tomoe	Tomoe Seems to b e breathing hrd as she looks to the rest of the team grinning. "Not bad, good to see that you all had fun. I like games when they are like this. Rather than how the first one like this was." She puse and leans on the deck. "So who wants to head to Dicey's Cafe to party?!"