The Looking Glass made its way alongside the smaller Red Wake as Weiss completed his preparations. Both crews were lined up on deck and the pirates outnumbered the captain's men almost three to one. The pirate's ship had a line of cannon jutting out its sub-deck but all the cannoneers had abandoned them, unwilling to damage their prize. The Looking Glass itself was a captured ship and several unwise decisions during its seizure had lead to the sad condition it appeared in then.

"Surrender your vessel or have it taken by force," a tall man at the back of the pirate ranks shouted over the slosh of sea and the whipping of the wind. "You're no match for my crew."

Wil listened from an opened porthole in the lower decks, waiting for a cue to head up. The man, presumably their captain, had surprisingly good diction for a lawless swashbuckler. The Eudaemonian could not catch sight of him from where he was, but his voice called to mind a burly sort of man and for some reason a mustache.

Back on deck, the baseless guess was quite correct as the captain came to the fore of his lines. He had long black hair that curled beneath his shoulders and a well trimmed mustache above a scowling mouth. His right hand held a rapier and his left a dagger. He seemed intent on joining his men in the battle that was to come, a sign of supreme confidence. His crew were already beginning to twirl ropes with grappling hooks, ready to bring the two ships together and begin boarding.

"Well? What is your reply?" the pirate leader glared at Weiss, who had turned his back to the onslaught of invaders.

As he spun around, the answer came from the muzzle of a smoothbore pistol. The pan flashed and the charge thundered and a ball of lead buried itself in the crewman to the pirate captain's right. His aim had been for the captain's own chest, but the effect was the same. The grappling hooks flew and the two ships were brought together with a groan of wood.

Wil heard the shot and felt the vessel shake. He charged his blade with electricity and scrambled upstairs to find the battle already joined. Each crewman of the Red Wake was already surrounded by two pirates, though they fought valiantly. There were still more on the other ship making their way across swinging on ropes or jumping the small gap between the decks.

Will looked at one of the men swinging and arced a bolt from his sword toward him. The discharge snapped in the air and the man feel briefly limp, loosing his grip and faceplanting onto the deck. There he remained, rendered more permanently limp by a severe concussion. Wil smiled briefly before realizing there were already two more swinging across to replace him.