CH - 8 [ in the line of fire ] part - 4

"We Marines aren't like you pirates. We have honor." He signaled for his friend to come out of hiding to give him backup without moving his own body from its position. There was nobody else around now except Halcen and the two hitmen.

The other one came out of hiding. He was a bit smaller than the one that had rushed Halcen, pale yellow skin, and short black hair. But he definitely still had the same eyes: murderous. He held his rifle on Halcen the whole time, making sure to offer his ally enough leeway to move from his position. They were sure their Commodore had made it to his ship unscathed.

But where is Grey?

The two Marines created a back-to-back formation with their rifles ready on both directions. Halcen had to wait until they finally disappeared into the brush to finally stand back up.

Then Grey came out from his hiding place way off to the side. "Where the fuck have you been?"

"I was hiding."

"Why didn't you help me?"

"I was waiting to see if you actually needed me. Apparently you didn't."

"So you were just gonna stand there and let me get shot?"

"Hey, I was right behind the second sniper the whole time. If I had sensed that you were in any actual danger, I would have intervened. But you did pretty well. I'm impressed."

"So this was what to you? A test?"

"Halcen, I wanted to see how you could do handling things on your own. You're the captain of a pirate crew now. That means you gotta be capable."

"Key word being 'crew.' That means 'team.'" Halcen was furious.

"Alright, alright. Do you want me to help you chase them down or not?"

Halcen gave him a stupid stare then motioned with his arm.

"Then let's go." And off they went, chasing through the trees and bushes after the crew of Marines.

After about a half hour, they came upon them, hearing them from a distance. Halcen could hear their shouts. The sounds of ocean water and a crew could be heard too. Their ship was near. Halcen and Grey picked up the pace, trying to make sure they didn't miss them. If they missed the Marines, they'd just come back in more force. The two knew what needed to be done.

As they came upon the rise, they saw the Marine ship, making way from the shore. It was slow, but it was leaving. "Damn it, we can't let them all get away!" Halcen shouted.

And they weren't. Halcen saw the two snipers wading in the water just in front of them, shouting at the ship that was leaving without them. "Commodore, what are you doing?" one of them shouted.

"Don't leave without us! We're right here!" the other bellowed.

And there stood Reluji, a Commodore of the Marines, on his ship, surrounded by full crew in his support. He stood fully, tall and in arrogance. "You two have failed your mission to kill the pirate. You were brought along for that one purpose. So I have no need for you anymore! Now you can rot here on this island." And like that, he turned his back, and his ship sailed away.

Halcen and Grey stood there in disbelief. The Marine ship was getting away, but the events that had just transpired were beyond appalling. Halcen was actually pretty amused.

When the men had finished wailing in anger, they had to turn around to try to find their way off the island. They had important things to deal with now. But there, in their way stood the pirates, cutting off their exit.

"I thought you said Marines has honor," Halcen spat. "That didn't look much like honor to me."

Their guns were slung around their shoulders, but Halcen and Grey pulled out their own pistols before either Marine could reach their guns. Halcen had recovered both his weapons before running off after them.

"Don't even try it," Grey said.

The two men raised their arms into the air.

"Alright," Halcen commanded them. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"You're going to be my prisoners now. I mean, unless you'd rather be stranded here."

"And just what are you going to do with us?"

"I guess you're just gonna have to wait and see."

"Why don't you just kill us?" The yellow-skinned one asked.

"At this point, that would just be inhumane. Besides, I can think of a thousand different things you'd be useful for. Now let's go."

They both agreed. Halcen and Grey forced them out of the water and began to walk behind them. They took both of the Marines' rifles and slung them over their own backs. Halcen had to admit upon inspection of the weapons, they were beautiful pieces of machinery. Halcen was quite impressed. But he wasn't a marksman, and it would do little for him. Maybe he could get Jory trained with it. He did hope the boy had a knack for guns. If a sword was the only thing he could use, he was going to have a hard time at sea.

When finally they got through all the brush, the sun was beginning to set. Halcen realized they had wasted most of the day on this damned island. And in it, he had gained nothing out of it other than two more mouths he had to feed. Where was that going to get them?

Suddenly as they stepped out of the brush where their ship was anchored near, Halcen heard the cracking sound of a gun. He looked to Grey to realize it wasn't the old man accidentally firing one off into their new captives. He looked ahead to see Jory, standing on the ground facing them, with the rifle Halcen had given him in his arms.

Jory suddenly looked very surprised when he saw Halcen and Grey behind the Marines. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry, sir. I was just trying to protect the ship from the Marines."

"Luckily enough, you're a shitty shot," Halcen swore as the group walked by him. He grabbed the rifle from Jory. "Get back on the ship. And make sure these guys stay under lock and key."

"Yes, sir," Jory accepted trembling.

Halcen finally got back on the ship with everyone aboard. Their new friends were locked up, and out of earshot. Halcen called a crew meeting. He was livid. "Now I know we only just got together, but this operation cannot continue with such shoddy performances." He turned to Jory, who was just a scared kid in his eyes. "If you want to be out here, you need to listen to orders! This is my ship, my crew! My commands are law! If you want to go running off on your own, get your own damned crew! I told you all to stay on the ship to make sure nobody got on. Did I say get off and come to the shore and shoot anything that comes through the bushes? I don't remember saying that, and I have a pretty good memory. If I wanted you to do that, I would have fucking told you to do that! Do you understand?"

Jory's face was red, and twitching. Halcen could tell he was holding back, which was good. "Yes, Captain."

"Good. Now for you three."

"Excuse me?" Valentina defended. "We didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh, didn't you?" He stared in her eyes. "Okay, so tell me what happened when Jory decided to be an action hero? Did you stop him? No, I don't think so. There is no playing solo on this ship. And if you can't enforce my words to the rest of the crew, then you're not doing your job either."

Valentina was clearly very upset. Almost on the verge of tears. But she needed to be able to handle it. This was a pirate ship. And their captain was a pirate.

"Is that clear?"

"Yes, Captain," each of the others muttered.

"And lastly, Grey."

Grey looked down at him in surprise.

"You followed me off that that ship and we've done little since. Now, we're only just dipping our toes in it, and you want to start messing around? You've been a pirate for longer than I've been alive! You damn well better know how to act when we're out of the field of battle. No more disappearing, no more little tests. You show up when I need you! Do you get that?"

"Yes," Grey hissed.

"Yes, what?" Halcen got closer.

"Yes, Captain," Grey barely managed to mutter.

"Good." Then Halcen turned to the rest of the crew. "Now, let's get the fuck out of here."