Everything around Alice was pounding. Mostly her head and her ears, yet she could hear the muffled sound of some commotion above deck. Groaning groggily, she forced herself to sit up, rubbing her head.

A hangover, then. No thanks to Gilda. She muttered out a curse under her breath as she struggled to keep away the headache.

She felt… well, she felt like shit, honestly. The last time she was hungover was at a new year’s party. Good times. Better times. She distinctly remembered waking up with Jack at her side, looking down at her. Her sister both teased and chewed her out a li’l but the warmth of her hand spoke differently. Alice gazed down at her fingers and wiggled them a little, sighing.

Thinking about home only made the headaches worse, so she forced herself out a trudged towards the door. Nobody was in the room, not even a hungover crewmember or something.

“Wait,” she said to herself, then gasping as the realization struck her. “The battle!”

Hastily, she ran over to the door, eyes bloodshot but fully alert. Putting an ear on the door, the sounds outside were even louder. Thankfully, it wasn’t locked and, with a trembling hand, she grabbed the handle and slowly pushed the door open.

Men crouched at the starboard bow, several armed with heavy weaponry and taking potshots over the railings at a nearby ship. She squinted, noting several men on the other returning every shot they received with two more. Ahead of her, a man let out a wild shriek as a bullet pierced through his shoulder, sending a blast of blood hurtling through the air and onto the ship’s deck. He landed hard, groaning and clutching the wound, before another round struck, piercing through his head and silencing him forever.

She crouched down onto all fours, hearing bullets whizz above her head like angry hornets. The blood of the man began to spill down towards and she scrambled away, her heart feeling like it was going to rip out of her chest as she struggled to keep her breathing under control. A familiar voice rose above the chaos, its tone leaving no room for argument.

“Hard starboard!” Gilda barked from up above, in the crow’s nest. “We’re bringing these sons of bitches a party! Boarding crew, prepare yourselves! Everyone else, supporting fire!”

The ship lurched hard to the right, tilting so hard Alice wobbled and nearly tipped even on all fours, before steadying itself. The shots continued to ring out, the blasts from the other ship sounding just a hair more desperate. Gilda spoke words that made Alice pause.

“Ramming speed, you bastards!” the captain roared, slamming her hand down onto the railing of the nest. “We’re gonna hit them so hard their fucking grandmas will feel it!”

There was a chorus of roars and cheers so fierce, the whole crew seemed reignited. Even the wounded apparently shared the same spirit. But between the gunfire and the shouting, Alice simply felt deafened, stumbling towards the bottom of the crow’s nest and hugging around it for support.

The ship launched forward, picking up speed with every passing foot, charging wildly towards the larger ship. It seemed insane to ram into it, asinine even, but they held no reservations about it, in fact, their shouts grew even louder with every inch closer to the beast. At the last moment, the giant ship lost its nerve and swerved away from the charging boat, missing one another by mere feet.

“Now!” Gilda called. Instantly, men on the starboard side stepped forward and threw ropes high up into the air, the hooks on the end catching on the railings of the ships. “Double pay for anyone that kills the fuckers trying to take the ropes off!” Gilda called out to frenzied cheering among her men.

Alice watched as scores of men leapt off the ship and clambered onto the enemy vessel. Not all of them made it, getting shot and disappearing into the sea below. Before long though, the scene on the other ship was a complete mess. Shots firing everywhere, swords slashing wildly and frenzied screams from everyone.

There came a noise from up above. Gilda slid down on a rope, landing beside Alice with a small grunt. As she caught her bearings, she glanced over toward Alice and froze.

“The fuck?!” she roared. “How are you up?!”

“I dunno!” Alice screamed, clutching onto the crow’s nest tightly. “I guess I’m stronger than I thought?!”

“You dumb piece of shit!” Gilda bristled, clenching her fists tightly to her side. “Should I have put a roofie in your drink too?!”

“I ain’t the one that thought it’d be a good idea to get some girl plastered right before some huge battle!!” Alice shouted, forcefully gesturing towards the scene at play. “I had to wake up sometime, didn’t I?! Maybe ya should’ve given me some earplugs!”

Gilda snapped her hand forward, grabbing the collar of Alice’s shirt and bringing the girl scant inches from her face. “Get your ass downstairs. Will could use you. Do exactly as he says. Exactly. Otherwise you’re gonna wish you’d never woken up.”

Alice grunted, fidgeting and wiggling around to try and get free. “I don’t know where he is!!”

“Go to the mess hall, he’ll be around there.”

“Er, right!” Alice scurried away, keeping her head down low. Screams and gunshots fired all around her, almost deafening, thanks to how suddenly alert she felt. She did her best not to shout like a little girl as she felt a bullet fly past her and soldiered on, almost stumbling back inside. Once she was safe from the battle, relatively speaking at any rate, she pushed past the dozens of others shuffling through the hall, their shouts almost louder than the gunfight outside. Finally she saw him, a good head above the rest, gesturing to others and barking out orders at everyone present.

“Humphres! Check the engine room! Samson! Go upstairs, give the frontlines more guns! Leblanc! Follow me, we’re gonna try the gun ports!”

“Will!” Alice shouted, frantically waving her arm about and jumping on the spot.

He somehow caught sight of her and shook his head, shocked. “The hell? How are you up?!”

“Turns out a freakin’ war can really sober up a girl!” Alice retorted.

“Well, you’re not going back up there.” He rubbed at his chin, before nodding. “You’re coming to the gun ports with me and not leaving my sights.”

“As long as I don’t get shot, that’s fine by me,” the girl said.

He turned, prompting the girl to follow. They went through the mess hall and down a narrow corridor, then to another wide room, with small shut windows on either side.

“We open these up and take shots.” Moving a keg placed right next to a closed window, he popped the top open and pulled out a hefty rifle, before setting the barrel’s top shut again. “Ever shoot a gun?” he asked.

“Not to kill anyone but…” She slowly nodded. “Yeah. Family taught me how to use a rifle at least. Could hit apples sitting on barrels from some good distance away.”

“Do you want to shoot anyone?” Will asked, his face a mask of neutrality at the question.

Alice’s eyes drifted towards the closed window. “Well… it is self-defense ‘n’ all…”

“So yes or no?” he asked impatiently. “Because if not, I’ll shoot.”

“Two guns are better than one,” she said, holding her hands out for the weapon.

“Just be careful of the kick,” he warned, moving to open the shutter, then going to a shutter next to her own. “And if they start shooting back, duck away.”

Alice snorted and moved up to the shutter. “I’m a girl; I ain’t stupid.” She then took a deep breath and looked down the sights, adjusting the way she held the rifle to make sure the kick wouldn’t break her shoulder. The rifle wasn’t like the ones they had back on the farm but she supposed the basic principles were the same. A few missed shots were okay if she picked up how the gun worked quickly enough.

“Not stupid,” Will agreed, shouldering his own rifle and all but swallowing it in his larger grip and frame. Without breaking sight from his scope, he added, “But might want to look at your safety.”

“I got this far, didn’t I?” Alice said, giving Will a quick smirk before a concentrated frown set upon her face. She aimed at one of the enemy ships in target, thankful that nobody was aiming back at them. Yet. Or at least she thought so.

Holding her breath, she focused, lining up the shot on a man in a similar position to her. After a few seconds to make sure she was stable, she pulled the trigger. The bullet flew from the barrel with a loud bang and she had to hold firm in order to not get knocked back by the recoil. She tried to follow her bullet as best she could but given the fact her target was still alive, she clearly missed.

“Damn it!” she cursed, ducking into cover and beginning the tedious process of reloading.

“Don’t hold your breath. Take a shot after exhaling,” Will instructed, letting loose with a shot of his own. He gave a brisk pull of the bolt back, letting a bullet clatter to the ground, before aiming down the sights again.

“Right, gotcha,” Alice said briskly, stepping up to the shot again. She repeated the process again, almost as if it were almost natural to her.

She blinked. That was kinda a scary thought.

Taking aim regardless—battles weren’t a place to think deeply—she held her breath, aimed at the man she had before, then exhaled right as she pulled the trigger. A loud ‘ting’ next to her made her dart back into cover and then she started to reload. “Did I get him?”

“If you didn’t, you scared him off,” he replied. “Try aiming for their top deck. I think Gilda might be planning an assault.”

“I’ll give it a shot.” Alice paused for a moment. “Sorry, didn’t mean that.” Putting the bullet in the chamber, she went back up and followed Will’s direction. The targets were a lot more exposed, although there were a lot more. She indecisively flicked between targets, before settling on a rather burly man who seemed to be having way too much fun shooting.

She repeated the steps. Breath, aim, release, fire.

The shot sped towards the man, impacting his chest. He went down, completely unaware of where his assailant was. Alice didn’t watch for long, ducking back to reload. “Got it!”

“Nice one!” Will stared towards his own target, firing a round that sailed and struck a man in the stomach, dropping him to the ground, if not dead, then incapacitated. “Make sure once they start boarding to watch out for our boys!”

Alice swallowed. “I didn’t think of that…”

“Just be careful. Don’t take shots you don’t trust yourself on, alright?”

Alice nodded firmly. “Yeah. Kinda sounds like what Jack would say…”

“Fuck ‘em up!” Gilda roared, leaping onto a rope one of her men had latched onto the admiral's ship. She threw her arms up over and over, climbing hand over hand until she reached a banister, which she hoisted herself up and over, a pistol in her hand. She wasn’t expecting the massacre before her.

Men she knew lay slaughtered, strewn across the deck under the barrage of bullets the Admiral's men rained down upon them. Thinking quickly, Gilda dove, taking cover behind a large exhaust port.

“How many men are on this shit heap?!” she shouted in frustration. As she watched a man, Danny, collapse to the ground, gagging and clutching at his ruined, bleeding throat, she grit her teeth, putting her men before her pride. “Retreat! Retreat you cocksuckers!”

Several froze, looking at her like it was a foreign concept. One look at her stern eyes said it was no joke.

“What?!” one asked.

“Fucking go! Keep the ropes up, fight defensively from the ship!” She looked across the deck, towards the open stairwell leading to the ship’s bridge. “I got a plan!”

A hesitant pause, then one man looked behind him, whistling at the men climbing up on the rope. They ceased their endless approach and reversed, allowing some of the lucky ones the chance to flee. The unlucky ones let out a surprised grunt as another round of bullets tore into anyone foolish enough to leave the sparse cover of the deck.

Swearing once more, Gilda sprinted towards the stairwell. A round hit her halfway there, the impact so strong she nearly was shoved over, but she regained her footing, diving forward and ducking under a guardrail that sprang up from the sides of the stairs. Quickly looking down and feeling at her stomach, she let out a breath of relief when she realized it handn’t pierced her bullet-proof vest. The son of a bitch would sting tomorrow, but it at least kept her alive today. She rose, coming almost face to face with a man, a knife ready to plunge into her chest.

Then there was a sound of a bullet piercing the air, something impacting and then a choked groan from the man. He stumbled backwards, holding onto his neck, bleeding like a broken dam. He moved his knife towards Gilda, his arm shaking, then stumbled backwards, falling off the end of the stairway and onto the deck below. He landed like a broken doll, unmoving and a pool of crimson slowly expanding from him.

Unknown to Gilda, back on her ship, the youngest Apple was reloading. “That was way too close,” Alice said to herself, wiping her brow with her sleeve before searching for another target.

Gilda spared only a glance towards her ship, before returning her attention first and foremost to the deck.

Now that her head was fully in the game, Gilda rose to the challenge, climbing the steps two at a time. When she came to the stair’s landing, a movement caught from the corner of her eye. Taking no chances, she snapped to the movement and squeezed a trigger. The shot came slightly too short, ricocheting off the guardrail. Gilda ducked behind the stairs railings just as another loud sniper shot roared, dropping the man to the floor.

Gilda took advantage of the chaos, climbing to the top of the stairs. Her lips curled into a cross between a triumphant grin and a feral smirk when she saw the bridge’s door. Throwing her shoulder against it, she slammed into it hard, nearly stumbling to the ground when it gave way.

Recovering, she raised her pistol, waving it slowly at the room full of technicians and civvies all sat around electronic terminals and devices.

“I’m looking for the Admiral. You’re going to tell me where he is. Tell me before I get mean,” Gilda warned, her brow narrowing. it was then she heard the unmistakable click of a pistol turning its safety off from behind her.

“You are in requirement of something from me?” came the unmistakable voice of the Admiral.

Gilda smirked, not dropping her bravado. “Yeah. Your ship.”

The Admiral snorted, kicking Gilda at the back of her knee, sending her sprawling onto the floor. Smiling to himself, he placed a heavy boot on her back. “Enough of the games now.” His tone was infuriating--a disappointed parent disciplining a wayward child.

“Why? You tired, you old fuck?” Gilda snapped back, looking over her shoulder as her face was buried into the steel flooring. “Would explain why your fuckin’ boys are on the deck, but not you.”

The Admiral flicked off a speck of dust from his navy waistcoat, looking quite uninterested. “A foolish girl like you could never understand--you’ve proved as much with your lack of support for the fleet. I use tactics, not boneheaded bravado. As I’ve told you all from day one, without me, these people are worthless. Useless. Powerless. But under my careful direction… Well, a barbarian like you could never understand the finer rules of warfare.” He grinned, aiming his pistol down at her head. “Fitting I should honor you with a barbaric end then; your brains splattered across my ship. Most pleasing.”

Gilda stared hard down the barrel, watching a tendon in the back of his hand flex as he began to grip. Time almost seemed to slow as she watched his finger slowly shift back. Then, to her surprise, he stopped.

“No,” he said quietly, relaxing his grip on the gun but not changing the aim.

“Sir?” asked one of the men behind him. “No?”

The Admiral grinned wickedly. “No.”

Struggling for just a moment against the man’s boot on her back, Gilda asked, “The fuck you mean, ‘no’? Just do it, you fucking coward!”

She yelped despite herself as he ground his boot directly into her spine, pressing the slight heel of his polished navy boots down hard. “Quiet, child, and listen. You will pay for your transgressions, as I have decided. But as I have decided, you shall suffer how I decide.” With his other hand, he pointed to a short, bespectacled man. “Radio the gunners. I am ordering a full broadside on the traitor’s ship, immediately.”

“B-but, sir! At that close range, the backblow damage—”

“Will be minimal!” cut in the Admiral angrily. “The Indomitable will withstand such a paltry blow and need little more than a fresh coat of paint. Now, do not question me again or I shall replace you.”

“Aye, aye, sir!” said the man as he began relaying the orders.

Turning back to Gilda, the Admiral leaned down. “I will teach you one last lesson. No one rebels against me, Almada. My leadership is unquestionable. Any of those foolish enough to betray me will reap the proper rewards. And for you? That splintered dinghy of yours will suit the world much better at the bottom of this cursed sea. That is my decision. Yes, most pleasing.”

Gilda’s mind blanked as she seethed, a terrible fury burning behind her eyes. She gritted her teeth and spat, launching a splatter of blood and saliva on his clean, white pants. “Fucker,” she said in a low growl.

“You… dare… You dare!?” he yelled, slamming his foot down again and again. “Enough, lesson learned. Now, I’ve wasted enough time. Goodbye, Almada. Die knowing you’ve done nothing but get everyone who trusted you killed.”

Again, he took steady aim and began squeezing the trigger, a rictus of fury on his stern features the only sign of how she had squirmed under his skin. Again the moment stretched. Death was coming, and Gilda knew there was nothing she could do to fight this one.

Reality snapped back as the ship lurched, hard, nearly throwing the Admiral off his feet. Quickly he regained his aim on Gilda, shouting over his shoulder, “What the hell was that!? Report!”

One of the pirates spoke a few words in a small radio and, after a couple of squawking replies, said, “S-sir, it’s the… the Ire Wind! She’s attacking our ships!”

“WHAAAAT?!” roared the Admiral as the ship shook again.