Rising Tide: A LitRPG Novel (Age of Steam Book 1)

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  Darkness crept over the horizon. So far the enemy hadn't shown their face, but Kelvin remained wary. Their trip from Galtar had been uneventful, but finding a single ship on the open ocean would be difficult. There were only a limited number of ways to approach Beylan because of the geography, making the Iron Guild's job much easier.

  And after the enemy ship had tailed them out of Galtar's harbor, Kelvin didn't think the guild would just leave them be. They wanted to send a message, to send interlopers to the bottom as a warning to the other players. Mess with the Iron Guild and destruction would follow.

  They still had ten miles to go before they hit the exclusion zone, and Kelvin had a feeling they'd be ambushed at some point. This time they were running with their lights off, moving at full power and trusting Simone to keep an eye out for obstructions. Kelvin and Corey were already at the stern gun, with Jamie and Brandon on the bow weapon. Ryan manned the engine room by himself, and Bailey stood amidships at the torpedo tubes.

  He wasn't sure if they'd actually need to use them, but they wanted to be prepared. In a fight against multiple ships a few seconds could be critical, and they wanted everything in place.

  “Think we'll see anything?” Corey asked.

  “I think it's a good bet. I know it's dark out, but the Iron Guild has gotten pretty good at sniffing out smugglers at night. And we're a lot bigger than most ships.”

  “Still, it's hard to find something in the dark, especially when we're going so fast.”

  Kelvin nodded. “Yeah, if we're lucky then we can avoid any attention.”

  He doubted it, though, even if he wanted to remain outwardly optimistic. The guild knew how to hunt. They had plenty of experience tracking small ships across great expanses of water, and those were just smugglers, small nuisances. Maelstrom had caught their attention, and Kelvin was fairly sure the enemy wanted to stamp them out before they could become stronger.

  The sound of the turret phone ringing snapped Kelvin out of his thoughts. He started to reach for it, but he didn't need to hear the message to know what was going on.

  A bright light flashed in the sky, illuminating the sea below. Kelvin didn't look up to preserve his night vision, but he had seen that glow plenty of times before. Star shell.

  “Get ready to fight,” he told Corey as he reached for the phone.

  The Iron Guild had found them.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Shane flipped the switch for the speakerphone. “Simone, status!”

  “Looks like there's enemy ships closing in from the south and east,” she said. “Still trying to get an accurate count, but there's quite a few of them.”

  “How far?”

  “About a mile out.”

  Shane absorbed the information silently and tried to come up with a plan. The first star shell wasn't meant to assist the enemy's gunnery. They wanted to determine the destroyer's position and use the information to accurately deploy their force.

  “Do you know what kind of ships there are?”

  “Looks like the larger patrol craft. The ones with dual gun mounts on the bow I think, but it's hard to tell.”

  Shane assumed she was correct and took the new information into account. If it was the larger patrol craft they might have to run through a gauntlet of fire. They had large boilers with plenty of steam, and if the enemy commanders figured they couldn't catch the destroyer they might use most of it to fire their guns.

  “Stand by and report if you see anything,” he ordered.

  In the light of the star shell Shane could see the enemy formation ahead, advancing toward them at full speed. If they wanted to get the Iron Guild's attention, they had certainly gotten it.

  He glanced at Jean. “Can you take over communications? Tell the gun crews to stand by and prepare to fire. I'm going to try to split their formation down the middle.”

  They didn't have many good choices. Shane thought he saw what the enemy commander was trying to do with their deployment. The L-shaped formation would subject their destroyer to a crossfire from the south and west. Prudence suggested that they travel west to try and go around the far end of the southern formation, but Shane thought that would play right into the enemy's hands. The guild vessels were trying to drive Maelstrom's ship toward the coast to the west, where there would be much less room to maneuver. Then they could use their numbers to slowly close the net and surround them.

  Going down the middle had plenty of risk as well. Maelstrom would be subjected to withering fire from two sides, and even in the darkness that many shells flying around could spell disaster. Their destroyer might be able to take a few hits, but shells in the right spot could cripple the vessel and leave it vulnerable, even if they weren't enough to sink it.

  But Shane trusted the engineers that had built this thing, he trusted his helmsman abilities, and he had faith in the rest of the crew. They had speed and maneuverability on their side, not to mention a potent armament. He fully believed they could avoid enemy fire and sneak through the midst of the southern formation.

  So like it or not, that was their course.

  “Jean, contact the engine room. Warn Ryan that we're going full-steam ahead, and we might have to redline it.”

  “Understood.”

  “He has the Lit perk, right?”

  “I think he does.”

  That would give the boilers a little more tolerance for stress, but Shane didn't want to push their luck if he didn't have to. They'd still explode if they pushed the engines too hard, and losing them meant they were all dead.

  As the first star shell faded another one exploded in the air. Shane imagined the enemy would keep firing them so long as it helped them track their ship.

  He took a deep breath and focused his attention ahead.

  “That's our orders? Understood.”

  Brandon glanced at Jamie as she hung up the phone. “What's our orders?”

  “Stand by and prepare to fire. And they were from Jean.”

  “That's it? Nothing more specific than that? Not even a target?”

  “I got the impression that they want us to fire at will, unless there's something specific. Then they'll probably tell us. And oh yeah, we're going up the middle.”

  Brandon scowled. “Yeah, that sounds like something he'd order. Let's run up the most dangerous part of the battlefield.”

  “I don't like it either, but I assume he has his reasons.”

  “Probably doesn't want to get trapped up against the eastern shore if we try to avoid them. I understand what he's trying to do. Still doesn't change the fact that this is going to suck.”

  “At least the seas are calm,” Jamie said.

  True enough, but Brandon wasn't sure they'd be able to fire accurately. Their ship was moving at a rapid pace, they had to deal with the darkness, and he was pretty sure they'd be zigzagging to dodge enemy shellfire before long.

  “OK, so assuming we have the freedom to pick our target, which one to you want to focus on?”

  “The middle ones, of course. Let's try to soften them up a bit before we try to sneak past. I'd rather not get shot at point-blank range. Or shot at all.”

  Brandon leaned down and looked through the gun's scope, trying to train his sights on the right target. It was difficult, even with his improved night vision perk, but he had little choice. The star shells provided them with only faint light, and Shane wouldn't risk using their searchlights. Turning one of those things on would give the enemy a perfect target to aim for.

  “I hope that Shane can dodge shellfire,” he said. “Because if he can't, this is going to suck. A lot.”

  Bailey stood at her station amidships, watching the star shells blossom overhead and waiting for orders. It felt strange to be outside of the engine room during a battle. Her place had always been there, making adjustments to keep the boilers running smoothly and avoiding any catastrophic failures. And now a less experienced engineer had taken her place.

  But she needed to be up on deck, espe
cially with a fight looming. She knew the most about the torpedoes, and with everyone else occupied with other duties it fell to her to operate the weapons.

  And while Ryan might be a relative novice compared to her, he still had plenty of skill and had picked up the engine room operations quickly. He could handle any issues that might arise.

  The phone at her station rang.

  “What's up?”

  “We're going down the middle, according to Shane,” Jean said. “He says to aim for both sides of the formation.”

  “Full spread?”

  “He says it's up to your discretion.”

  Bailey went down the line and prepared the launchers, angling two to each side and making her best estimate accounting for everyone's speed and heading. With no guidance system it would be difficult to score hits, but the darkness would help. If the enemy didn't see the torpedoes coming they might not take evasive action.

  Bailey finished with the adjustments and moved back to the control station. The individual launcher clusters needed to be manually aimed, but they could all be triggered from the central station. She wanted to be able to aim them from it as well, but that required too much work and too many moving parts. It would have been weeks or months until they could implement it, and they didn't have that kind of time to waste. Like the cannons, they had to compromise on this as well.

  Another star shell burst overhead. Bailey glanced at the eastern enemy formation, expecting them to open fire at any moment. They steamed ahead, but showed no signs of shooting. She frowned, wondering what they were up to. They were nearing their maximum range, and they had enough ships to keep up a steady rate of fire. If-

  She heard a howling sound, just before the sea beside them seemed to explode. Something landed in the water off the port side, kicking up a huge geyser of water and showering her in the process.

  It took Bailey a moment to realize what had just happened. The shell had been wide, about fifty yards or more off target, but the impact had been large enough to kick up that much water. None of the other ships had guns of that size. Which meant…

  She grabbed the phone line and called the bridge. “Jean, get Shane on speaker.”

  “Got it.”

  “Shane, did you see that?” she asked. As soon as the words left her mouth she heard another howl, and another geyser shot up in their wake. “And that?”

  “Yeah. They've started firing. We'll-”

  She cut him off. “That's not the patrol ships. Their guns are too small to make that kind of splash. That's a cruiser.”

  Shane lapsed into silence for a moment. “Say that again?”

  “We're under attack from an enemy cruiser,” Bailey said.

  “Are you sure? It could just be-”

  “Those shells are landing fifty yards or more off target, and I'm getting drenched out here. There's no way one of those patrol ships is going to be able to carry a gun that size. It's a cruiser, probably hiding behind the formation and using them as spotters.”

  Shane absorbed the news silently. A dozen patrol ships were one thing, but an enemy warship, and a cruiser at that…

  He triggered the all channel button. “Attention. We're under attack from an enemy cruiser. I repeat, we are under attack from an enemy cruiser.”

  “Seriously?” Kelvin said.

  “That's what Bailey thinks.”

  He spun the wheel to the left and began to zigzag, trying to come up with another plan on the fly. They could turn back into open ocean, but the enemy would just follow them, force them into port when they needed to refuel, and then trap them there. Turning east or west wasn't an option. The only thing they could do…

  “Change of plans everyone. Simone, start looking in the distance to the south. See if you can spot the cruiser.”

  “Got it.”

  “Gun crews, you're going to be dealing with the patrol ships. Fire at will, but keep in mind that we're going to try to break through the center.”

  Both crews acknowledged.

  “And Bailey? Change of plans. Hold the torpedoes for now.”

  “Why, what are you planning?”

  Shane spun the wheel to the right as another shell crashed down into the sea.

  “We're going to make a torpedo run on the cruiser, if we can find it.”

  “Are you crazy? We have to get within a thousand yards of it if we want to score a hit. And those patrol ships aren't going to stand by forever either.”

  “We have to get to Beylan, and we can't spend our time running away from it. Do you have a better idea?”

  Bailey didn't respond.

  “I see it,” Simone said. “It's about three miles out, to the south of the enemy patrol formation. It's positioned to fire broadsides, and I don't think it's moving.”

  “Wait, so it anchored itself?” Kelvin said.

  Shane thought he understood why. The destroyer's guns were powerful against smaller ships, but they'd be almost useless against a cruiser. Standing still would allow the enemy gunners to aim without having to compensate for the movement of their ship. And with the patrol ships firing the star shells the cruiser could focus all its attention on shooting lethal rounds.

  But despite the situation Shane felt a grin begin to cross his face. The Iron Guild wanted them dead badly, and they were pulling out all the stops to make sure Maelstrom would end up at the bottom.

  They could try, but Shane wasn't about to make it easy for them.

  “This is it guys,” he said. “Do or die. We're taking them down, or we're going down ourselves.”

  “We're creeping up on the edge of range,” Brandon said. “Permission to open fire?”

  “Permission granted to everyone. Do what you need to do.”

  “Loaded,” Jamie said.

  Brandon looked through the scope and tried to focus in on their target, one of the ships in the middle of the southern formation. So far the enemy seemed content to stand by and let the cruiser do most of the shooting, only taking the time to fire star shells to illuminate their foe.

  He made one final adjustment. “Fire.”

  “Firing.”

  The gun spat flame, and a moment later the shell splashed down just off the bow of their target. It missed, but it was close enough to force the enemy to take evasive action.

  Brandon heard a series of distant thumps, and as he looked through the scope he thought he saw plumes of steam. Shells began plummeting down around them, some landing dangerously close. He felt a spray from one of them, but Brandon made a few more adjustments and tried to concentrate. He couldn't do anything about the shells. Shane's responsibility was to dodge them. His was to place their shots on target and disrupt the enemy formation, and he couldn't do that if he panicked in the middle of combat.

  “Guess they decided to stop playing around,” Jamie said. “Loaded.”

  “Fire.”

  “Firing.”

  Brandon looked through the scope again, but this time the shot went long. He made another adjustment and tried to stay calm.

  “Loaded.”

  “Fire.”

  “Firing.”

  The next shot landed right on target, slamming right into the enemy pilothouse. The ship began to turn hard to port, cutting across its neighbor and nearly colliding with it. The other ship had to take evasive maneuvers.

  “Well, that went better than expected,” he said. Brandon chose another target. He didn't think the other enemy ship was dead, but they'd be trying to get their steering under control instead of shooting. He wanted to deal with a more dangerous target right now.

  “I'm shifting our aim to the right. Going to see if I can disrupt that side of the formation.”

  “Got it. And loaded,” Jamie said.

  Brandon looked through the scope again.

  CLANG!

  The sound startled him and made Brandon turn his head around. He looked back at the bridge, wondering if it was still there, but the structure showed no signs of damage. But that close…
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  The sound startled Shane as well. For one awful moment he thought a shell would come crashing through the front windows, but the sound of ringing metal faded away after a moment. He guessed they had just suffered a glancing hit from a solid cannon shot, enough to make a racket, but not to get past the bridge's armor.

  “You OK?” he asked Jean.

  “I'm fine.”

  “Check on the others to make sure they're OK as well,” Shane ordered. He whipped the wheel around again, trying to vary his patterns and make it difficult for the enemy to hit them.

  But the Iron Guild gunners were starting to find their mark, and with the number of shells flying around it was only a matter of time before one hit.

  Another series of geysers shot up in front of them. Shane gritted his teeth and tried to work out a new dodging pattern. This ship moved far faster than anything the enemy could bring to bear, but they still moved slowly, all things considered. How long would their luck hold out?

  At least the bow gun had given them an opening. None of the patrol ships had stern gun mounts, since they were expected to be chasing their foes. If they could just break through the line they'd have a free run at the cruiser. But for now…

  “Everyone says they're alright,” Jean told him.

  “Can you put the guns on speaker?”

  “Coming right up.”

  “Kelvin, can you guys focus on the eastern side of the formation? I think that's where the last shot that hit us came from.”

  “Can do.”

  “Don't worry about aiming too much,” Shane instructed. “Just put your shots close enough to make them nervous. And keep up your rate of fire.”

  “Understood.”

  “Time for you to test out the firing limits of the gun.”

  “Yeah, thanks for getting us into that kind of situation,” Kelvin said sarcastically.

  Shane turned his full attention back to the enemy squadron in front of them. Brandon and Jaime's shots had opened up a hole in the enemy line. Just a little more and they'd be through, and then they could focus on the cruiser. He imagined the Iron Guild believed they'd try to cut and run as soon as possible, or at least spend most of their effort trying to get to Beylan. Once they realized the destroyer was coming in for an attack it would be too late for them to start up the engines and move.