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Description
As a rule Drow were not shy about blood and gore. Many of them were veterans who had seen plenty of action before. For those who were not the most popular form of entertainment in the Empire were gladitorial matches and Drow governments made examples of slaves. In any case showing squeamishness at such sights was a sign of personal weakness in their culture and was to be despised. Even so Captain Dalzanis ti'Volnan saw more than she cared for as the Raeltis made it's way past the main fleet and numerous broken hulks, especially since so many of the dead and dying were Drow. The formation had dispersed enough for the Raelthis to pass through it even though it did require a bit of maneuvering to get past a few ships and wrecks.

First she passed those ships trying to retreat, then through the maze of wrecks and broken ships and then one by one overtaking the ships making their advance on the Infrastructural line, many of which being damaged or destroyed as they made their advance. Alongside these ships were launches and other such rowboats, one of the admiral's ideas in case the Infrastructurals were able to muster up a sizable fleet before the city was taken on the logic that the counter to a ship with cannons which could blast apart a sloop with one good hit was to put as many targets in the water as possible. They were crewed with an odd mixture of slaves and marines and a lot of them had either a swivel gun or a Five Vaul cannon. Some of them also had a few runic shields. It probably would be of some help to the fleet here and now, if one defined "help" as "make the enemy expend more ammunition that he otherwise would".

Even though her better connected superiors drawn from the great houses would most likely scoff at her presumption as far as Captain ti'Volnan was concerned, this attack was a mistake. It would have been prudent to finish off the destruction of the Daagsgrad fleet and then leave. Two of them had already been taken care of and the other three armor or no had been battered senseless and their guns had begun to falter. It would mean that the Invasion forces would have to face fresh reinforcements but that would be a minor point. Either they would sound a retreat themselves or if they had managed to get a foothold in the city and would get a large portion of it leveled. Either way, more ships and sailors would get away alive for the next engagement while they had claimed four of their warships. Frontal attacks against Infrastructural ships always ended badly. This half baked maneuver was going to result in eighty sunk ships and tens of thousands of dead sailors, marines and slaves, including hers.

As the Raethis got closer to the front of the formation she soon found herself the target of those damned guns. The first three shells sent her way crashed into the ocean, the second close enough that some of it's fragments managed to wound one of her sailors. The forth crashed into her port bow when she was four kilometers from her prey, killing most of the marines stationed there.

"Fire forward guns! FIRE FOWARD GUNS" She barked as her ears rung, running down the steps to the gundeck to see how things were going. Despite the force of the impact the guns were intact and most of the gunners were still alive. The gun ports were opened, the cannons were aimed at one of the smaller ships and then they were fired. Each of them was loaded with a double charge of gunpowder in the hopes that this would make a difference. As they were reloaded another shell crashed into the ship's port side. After firing their second volley a third shell impacted them on the starboard bow, which was followed by another port impact near her stern. As they were half way through reloading for a third salvo, another shot hit them squarely in the stem. The hull was dented and floor boards were distorted but despite this damage below deck was minimal, even though the splashes outside were becoming. The Captain grinned, even though her ship probably looked like the surface of the moon.

The sixth impact however was a different story, as it it fell onto Raelthis's deck, blasting through wooden planks. Dozens of her crew were killed and the fore-mast was toppled. Her forward gunners were spared only through the addition of an iron bulkhead which separated the forward gundecks from the broadsides. The captain survived only due to her suit of runic armor. She rushed above deck to see the damag. In addition to the devastation she expected she saw a marine standing on the prow waving her scimitar in the air.

"Is that all you can throw at us, you shit-eating rats! We've taken all the fire you could muster and we're still coming! This is just the first of a great iron armada that will sweep your frost bitten carcases from the sea!" She said and continued on those lines. Despite herself Dalzanis grinned, as futile as these insults were on this suicide mission at least her crew had not lost spirit. She grinned at that, which meant that she died with a smile on her face as the seventh shell fell on her ship. The previous six had been from 15cm cannons, this one was from the Avatar's 23cm guns. Crashing down it blasted through the forecastle's light deck armor with ease with enough force to cause chunks of wrought iron to fly out at high speeds aided by the gun's charges. Much of the suviving crew was killed by shrapnal and shockwave while she began to take on water. Despite this the Raelthis remained afloat and moved on for another forty two more seconds before a ninth shell managed to set off her magazine. Ultimately the Ironclad Raelthis was fulfilling the role that she was given by Admiral ti'Zaelros as a magnet for fire to draw it away from the rest of the fleet as they converged to ram them. That he was from a Janilonas house which owned an out of date cannon foundry, the destruction of their first working unit would undo some of Valnothron's lead in building an ironclad fleet and hurt House Valcas's cashflow contributed to him making said orders, was a minor point in the calculations.

This would not be enough to save the doomed advance.
Previous:Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Nineteen
Next: Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Twenty One

Description
As a rule Drow were not shy about blood and gore. Many of them were veterans who had seen plenty of action before. For those who were not the most popular form of entertainment in the Empire were gladitorial matches and Drow governments made examples of slaves. In any case showing squeamishness at such sights was a sign of personal weakness in their culture and was to be despised. Even so Captain Dalzanis ti'Volnan saw more than she cared for as the Raeltis made it's way past the main fleet and numerous broken hulks, especially since so many of the dead and dying were Drow. The formation had dispersed enough for the Raelthis to pass through it even though it did require a bit of maneuvering to get past a few ships and wrecks.

First she passed those ships trying to retreat, then through the maze of wrecks and broken ships and then one by one overtaking the ships making their advance on the Infrastructural line, many of which being damaged or destroyed as they made their advance. Alongside these ships were launches and other such rowboats, one of the admiral's ideas in case the Infrastructurals were able to muster up a sizable fleet before the city was taken on the logic that the counter to a ship with cannons which could blast apart a sloop with one good hit was to put as many targets in the water as possible. They were crewed with an odd mixture of slaves and marines and a lot of them had either a swivel gun or a Five Vaul cannon. Some of them also had a few runic shields. It probably would be of some help to the fleet here and now, if one defined "help" as "make the enemy expend more ammunition that he otherwise would".

Even though her better connected superiors drawn from the great houses would most likely scoff at her presumption as far as Captain ti'Volnan was concerned, this attack was a mistake. It would have been prudent to finish off the destruction of the Daagsgrad fleet and then leave. Two of them had already been taken care of and the other three armor or no had been battered senseless and their guns had begun to falter. It would mean that the Invasion forces would have to face fresh reinforcements but that would be a minor point. Either they would sound a retreat themselves or if they had managed to get a foothold in the city and would get a large portion of it leveled. Either way, more ships and sailors would get away alive for the next engagement while they had claimed four of their warships. Frontal attacks against Infrastructural ships always ended badly. This half baked maneuver was going to result in eighty sunk ships and tens of thousands of dead sailors, marines and slaves, including hers.

As the Raethis got closer to the front of the formation she soon found herself the target of those damned guns. The first three shells sent her way crashed into the ocean, the second close enough that some of it's fragments managed to wound one of her sailors. The forth crashed into her port bow when she was four kilometers from her prey, killing most of the marines stationed there.

"Fire forward guns! FIRE FOWARD GUNS" She barked as her ears rung, running down the steps to the gundeck to see how things were going. Despite the force of the impact the guns were intact and most of the gunners were still alive. The gun ports were opened, the cannons were aimed at one of the smaller ships and then they were fired. Each of them was loaded with a double charge of gunpowder in the hopes that this would make a difference. As they were reloaded another shell crashed into the ship's port side. After firing their second volley a third shell impacted them on the starboard bow, which was followed by another port impact near her stern. As they were half way through reloading for a third salvo, another shot hit them squarely in the stem. The hull was dented and floor boards were distorted but despite this damage below deck was minimal, even though the splashes outside were becoming. The Captain grinned, even though her ship probably looked like the surface of the moon.

The sixth impact however was a different story, as it it fell onto Raelthis's deck, blasting through wooden planks. Dozens of her crew were killed and the fore-mast was toppled. Her forward gunners were spared only through the addition of an iron bulkhead which separated the forward gundecks from the broadsides. The captain survived only due to her suit of runic armor. She rushed above deck to see the damag. In addition to the devastation she expected she saw a marine standing on the prow waving her scimitar in the air.

"Is that all you can throw at us, you shit-eating rats! We've taken all the fire you could muster and we're still coming! This is just the first of a great iron armada that will sweep your frost bitten carcases from the sea!" She said and continued on those lines. Despite herself Dalzanis grinned, as futile as these insults were on this suicide mission at least her crew had not lost spirit. She grinned at that, which meant that she died with a smile on her face as the seventh shell fell on her ship. The previous six had been from 15cm cannons, this one was from the Avatar's 23cm guns. Crashing down it blasted through the forecastle's light deck armor with ease with enough force to cause chunks of wrought iron to fly out at high speeds aided by the gun's charges. Much of the suviving crew was killed by shrapnal and shockwave while she began to take on water. Despite this the Raelthis remained afloat and moved on for another forty two more seconds before a ninth shell managed to set off her magazine. Ultimately the Ironclad Raelthis was fulfilling the role that she was given by Admiral ti'Zaelros as a magnet for fire to draw it away from the rest of the fleet as they converged to ram them. That he was from a Janilonas house which owned an out of date cannon foundry, the destruction of their first working unit would undo some of Valnothron's lead in building an ironclad fleet and hurt House Valcas's cashflow contributed to him making said orders, was a minor point in the calculations.

This would not be enough to save the doomed advance.
Previous:Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Nineteen
Next: Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Twenty One