Gran Colombia, H1/1909

[The Rock Doctor]

Huh...that hadn't occurred to me, but I see what you mean.

[Tanthalas]

Knew it Knew it Knew it... these guys wouldnt happen to know mr. Mars would they

[The Rock Doctor]

23 March 1908:  The Eastern Pacific

Having established that the bricklayer - James Farnsworth, Chief Petty Officer, ICN (Retired) - was in control of the engine room, it was time to secure the remainder of the ship.  The teacher - Abraham Smith, Lieutentant, IC Marines (Retired) - was left to hold the bridge, while Morrison, Sergeant Paul Hanson, and Corporal Stephen Shaver, all also retired IC marines, headed down to round up the remaining sixteen crewmen not yet accounted for. 

They took the captain, then the first mate, so as to secure the other keys to the small arms locker.  Both men were sleeping, so it was a simple matter for Shaver to creep in and club each of them with his sap.  Their silence now assured, each was hogtied and then gagged with their own socks.  The chief engineer, the purser, the cook, and the ship's doctor all followed in turn, as each had individual cabins. 

The remaining ten men shared a common berthing area, so Morrison deemed it too risky to attempt to subdue each man in turn.  Hanson slipped inside, spent a few moments gently running his arm along the wall, and found the switch for the electic lighting.  They then withdrew from the room, closing the hatch most of the way behind them, and stepped back into the purser's cabin.  Shaver flicked the light on, and the three squinted until their eyes adjusted. 

Letting the glow spill into the corridor, they stepped back to the berthing area, and Hanson watched as Morrison held up five fingers, then lowered each at one second intervals.  Morrison flung the hatch open, and Hanson went in, finding the lighting switch again in a moment.  As the room was suddenly illuminated, several of the crewmen roused out of their slumber, and Morrison shouted, "DO NOT MOVE!", four times, following this with two gunshots into a vacant lower bunk.

"...the fuck?", one of the Swiss exclaimed.

"Quiet!", Morrison snapped.  "Remain where you are - we are armed and in control of the ship.  Any indication of trouble from any of you, and you'll be shot.  Understand?"

After a few seconds' pause, one of the Swiss replied, "We understand."

Several minutes later, ten confused, angry, but obedient Swiss crewmen, wearing only their underwear, were crowded into the ship's storeroom and locked inside.  The first mate, purser, chief engineer, cook, and doctor, all trussed up in their bunks, were locked into their cabins.  "Shaver - advise Smithy that we're secure.  Hanson and I are going to have a word with the captain."

The captain was semi-conscious by the time they returned, and appeared angry and lucid by the time Morrison had finished rifling through the man's cabin and adjacent office.  Removing the gag elicited a string of curses ending with "Pirate!"

"Are you done?", Morrison asked.

"No, I'm not!", the captain snapped.  "Take whatever you're after, and get the fuck off my ship!"

"I have your master's certification, the ship's log, and her manifest", Morrison replied.  "That's all I need."

"You don't want to steal our molasses or iron ore pellets?", the captain asked sardonically.

"I intend to sink this ship, not steal from it", Morrison clarified. 

"What?", the captain exclaimed.  "Why?"

"Payback", Morrison growled.  Leaning in towards the captain, he explained, "You people preach about liberty, rights, and free enterprise, but then you gleefully jump on any scheme to smash and loot others."

"Damn it, the war ended months ago", the captain protested.

"I'm not talking about that war", Morrison answered.  "I'm talking about 1904.  Remember that?  The constabulary arrests a few migrants agitating for socialism, and suddenly the Eastern Kingdom is screaming about genocide?  That was nothing but an excuse for them to invade and loot us, and you fuckers were more than happy to get in on the action!"

"That's ridiculous!", the captain snarled.

"Is it?  It wasn't just Chinese we were fighting in the streets of Montego Bay.  They weren't Chinese commandos attacking the Admiralty Building in Cromwell.  It sure as hell wasn't Chinese businessmen the Colombians shipped out afterward.  The worst kept secret in Gran Colombia is your involvement in the attack on the Island Commonwealth."

"You ever think the Colombians did it?", the captain exclaimed.

Morrison shook his head.  "The Colombians are a lot of things, but blatantly stupid isn't one of them - they were already committed to fighting the Anahuac, and maybe the French too.  No, there's no doubt at all that you Swiss were just as responsible as the Easterners."

"My government, maybe - but not me!", the captain declared.  "I had nothing to do with it!"

Morrison frowned.  "My wife and sons had nothing to do with it either.  Didn't do them any good."  He stepped back and brought his revolver up at the captain's forehead.

"Don't!", the Swissman pleaded, but Morrison did.

[Tanthalas]

and people call the swiss Pirates...

[Korpen]

and people call the swiss Pirates...

Of course, as the swiss are pirates.
That other might pratice it as well do not change THAT fact.

[The Rock Doctor]

23 March 1908:  The Eastern Pacific

"We're clear - start frickin' rowing!", Donald Morrison exclaimed, the lines from the davits dangling limply just above the lifeboat.

With her lights extinguished, and illuminated only by starlight, the five men could not see that the SS Costaguana was sinking.  They could, however, hear the rush of air being displaced from the flooding hull; James Farnsworth had opened up two the ship's seacocks and smashed the fittings before they'd scrambled to put the lifeboat in the water.

"I almost feel sorry for them", Lieutenant Smith remarked between strokes.

"The ones we shot?  Or the ones we didn't?", Farnsworth asked.

"The men in the storeroom and the engine room.  It won't be quick for them", Smith replied.

Farnsworth shrugged.  "Think of all our mates aboard Defiance, Warrior, Stormhawk, Dragon, Gryphon, Ister, Orontes..."

"...Jade...", Hanson added.

"...Her too.  How many of our mates didn't get a chance to abandon their ships before that cowardly attack?  They didn't get it easy.  No, don't trouble yourself", the old CPO advised.

They kept rowing, wanting to be well clear of the freighter when she finally went down.  The process took about thirty-five minutes, as the ship gradually settled by the stern and then suddenly plunged under the waves, leaving an area of air bubbles and debris where she'd been.

"Remember our story", Morrison said.  "A mystery ship came up and attacked in the night.  The captain put us over the side in a lifeboat before they fought back with their gun.  We drifted away from them and don't what happened after that.  Now we just wait to be rescued."

"It's a busy shipping lane", Farnsworth noted.  "Shouldn't take long."

[Ithekro]

Swiss scapegoats?

[The Rock Doctor]

How do you mean?

[Ithekro]

In relation to the Swiss being pirates.  While they've touted their history, I'm wondering if they have in fact committed an act of piracy outside of military actions.

[Sachmle]

Curious as to who will end up getting blamed for this little incident. Wonder how far East into the Eastern Pacific they got.

[The Rock Doctor]

No doubt in my mind that the ex-Island Commonwealth guys have done exactly that.

Figure the ship's maybe five-six hundred miles west of the Americas at this point...

[Desertfox]

Even the Indian Action is a grey area, as except for a small (less than 5%) amount of missing gold (which cannot be proven as missing) the rest of the cargo was left untouched and returned after inspection.

[The Rock Doctor]

2 April 1909:  Cartagena

"I was going over your budget estimates for the year and happened upon something that puzzled me", the visiting official from Finance remarked.

This immediately raised alarm bells in Admiral de Irujo's mind.  A confused bureaucrat was a dangerous, unpredictable creature - especially if he had control of the purse strings.  "What would that be?", de Irujo was quick to ask.

"It's this armored cruiser you plan to start in July", the bureaucrat replied.  "Shouldn't it be tagged as a battleship?"

"Er, no - it's a cruiser", de Irujo affirmed.

"But it's almost as expensive as a battleship", the bureaucrat observed. 

"You'll note that our earlier armored cruisers were almost as expensive as the battleships of the time."

That didn't help the bureaucrat at all.  "But it's more expensive than those battleships."

"Warships grow", de Irujo said.  "Look how much protected cruisers and torpedo boats have grown over the past decade."

"Well...yes, okay", the bureaucrat conceded. "But you realize we can't afford to replace all of your battleships and armored cruisers with ships twice as expensive."

"I do", de Irujo agreed.  "I expect we'll be down to no more than ten capital ships in a few years."

"So I have to ask - why build an armored cruiser when you could build another battleship."

"Would you add the funds necessary for it?", de Irujo queried.  The bureaucrat smiled non-commitally.  "Regardless, Luchador is intended to serve us in different capacities.  She has the speed to run down armored cruisers, and the armament and protection to stand in the line of battle."

"So she's not an armored cruiser, then - more of a battleship/cruiser, or cruiser/battleship."

"Or battlecruiser, or fast battleship.  Believe me, we've had the debates internally.  We settled upon armored cruiser out of agreement on her intended functions as those of past armored cruisers.  We really didn't want to add a new, intermediate classification and develop a nomenclature scheme for it", de Irujo replied.  He then added, "That kind of thing costs money, you know."

"Yes, I'm sure that it does", the bureaucrat agreed.

"So does that help?"

"Certainly."

"So I don't have to worry about the funding being frozen?"

The bureaucrat chuckled.  "Not at all.  I was just curious, Admiral, and happened to be in the neighbourhood."

"I'm glad to hear that", de Irujo said.  "Thanks for stopping by."

[The Rock Doctor]

8 April 1909:  The Eastern Pacific

The early morning sun began its slow ascent into a cloudless sky, promising another day of inescapable burning heat.

There were no ships to be seen on the distant blue waters, no masts or columns of smoke on the horizon.

In the lifeboat, sprawled amidst the sunburned corpses of his four comrades in arms, retired chief petty officer James Farnsworth managed to open his parched lips and croak, "Shit."

[Ithekro]

Hmm...trade seems to be down a bit.