The Big Score - Part 2

**The Big Score - Part 2** is the second episode of the original Airship Pirates

## Plot

The day after the raid on the Majestic Pearl, the crewman asks Bellamy what the white missile, now stored in the Shadow's fighter bay, is to which Bellamy explains that it is the deadliest weapon ever devised and the Kingdom of Lanier's ace to keep their adversaries in check. Bellamy then tells about an incident where the Royal Navy launched one on an old town in the hills of Averdeen. The town was supposed to be deserted, but the Royal Navy were not too careful. Hearing about the devastation caused by the white missile, Bellamy didn't believe it until he went to see the damage himself, where the center of the town was obliterated and some walls still stood on the outer edge, in addition to bodies being found well beyond the blast radius. When the crewman asks about what to do with the white missile, Bellamy tells he don't know and tells the crewman to keep an eye on things while he heads over to The Salty Wench to talk about things with Morton and Frigga.

On The Salty Wench, Frigga tells that it doesn't make sense that there was a white missile on board the Majestic Pearl, after which she mentions that the Kingdom of Lanier has been in a territorial dispute with the Silver Empire for years, and that they were now trying to blow up Verace after getting the concessions from the Empire. Bellamy objects, telling that it would be impossible to launch a white missile from the Pearl and that a bomb would be sufficient. Morton then asks why the weapon was hidden on a merchant vessel and that they could have sent a warship, knowing it was the Kingdom anyway, before mentioning that since the Barony enacted the Secrecy Act, it could be punishable by death to even discuss those weapons with a foreigner and that only the Kingdom has those weapons. Morton then turns to Frigga, who mentioned the concessions the Kingdom won from the Empire and asked her if that seemed odd to her. She confirmed that it did, and that the Empire suddenly conceded after years of escalating tensions and when asking Morton what he is getting at, Morton tells that the weapon on board the Pearl was a payment for the territories the King has been after for so long. Bellamy tells that there is no way the Barony would allow the King to do that given that the Empire could use it against their own holdings. Morton tells that the Barony probably does not know that the King sent a white missile as a payment, to which Bellamy tells that the king would be taking a huge risk if that turned out to be true and that the barons would revolt if they found out.

Later that day, a flotilla of Royal Navy ships is assembled somewhere not far from the Argean, with HMA Behemoth being the command ship. On board the Behemoth, the admiral asks the interrogator if he is sure the location is accurate, which the interrogator confirms, stating that the merchant was clear right up to the very end. The admiral orders the interrogator to start working on the other merchants to confirm and that he should try not to kill any of them, before the interrogator leaves. The admiral then tells the Behemoth's captain that they can staft making plans now that they know the location of the Den of Thieves. The captain asks the admiral if the amount of ships is too much to squash some pirate, to which the admiral tells the captain that Bellamy is no longer just some pirate, but a terrorist armed with the most terrible weapon inaginable. He then expresses that he for long had a desire to bring law to the Argean for some time and that he finally now has an excuse to do that, and that the King wants the pirates dead and that he will make sure it happens.

A few days later, the submarine HMS Nautilus is approaching the Den of Thieves. Upon approach to the infiltration point, the captain of the Nautilus orders the firing of torpedo tubes 1-4. After making a hole, he orders the crew to move the submarine in, open the salvage hatches and then orders the colonel to get his men ready. Back in the tail section of the Nautilus, the colonel tells his men that now is the chance to prove their worth to the Crown. He then tells that intel suggest that there is likely women and children down there, and that their orders are clear: No survivors. He goes on reminding them that they are His Majesties royal commandos; the Razorclaws, and unfeeling weapons of steel in the hands of the King, and that they will follow orders, not waver and triumph. He then asks is he is understood, to which they respond: YES SIR!.

In the Den of Thieves, two of Bellamy's pirates discover a tunnel that have mysteriously been created. They enter to investigate, during which they are ambushed by Razorclaws, who kill one of them while the other barely escapes before alerting Bellamy. Realizing they have arrived sooner than expected, Bellamy orders the pirate woh alerted him to get everyone else to the docks immediately, before explaining to Morton what the Razorclaws will do if following standard procedure, before Morton tells that the fleet will not be far behind if the Razorclaws are here. Bellamy and Morton then heads to the outer boundraries of town where they activate a mechanism that will flood the town with lava. From the ships, the pirates watches as the town burns due to the heat from the lava. When Frigga express that it feels like her life is burning up in front of her, Bellamy tells her that it should make her feel better that some of the King's finest butchers, referring to the Razorclaws, burning along with the Den of Thieves, but Frigga still thinks that it does not feel right, to which Bellamy assures her that they will rebuild. Frigga then tells that her Kingdom contacts reports that atleast a dozen ships are headed for the Argean, to which Bellamy says that they should worry about that instead. He then tells Morton to take command of the Tiger Shark, and tells that the civilians will be in the Shadow's hangar bay where they will be safe, given that it is the safest part of the ship and given that everyone survives. Once everyone is onboard, Bellamy orders the ships to submerge. Once clear of the tunnel, Bellamy orders the fleet to surface, to which Frigga asks if they could just stay underwater and run, to which Bellamy says that they cannot fight back while submerged, but they will have a chance if airborne. Both the Shadow and the Tiger Shark surface, facing a Royal Navy fleet consisting of 5 destroyers, 4 corvettes, one battleship and one Behemoth.

## Ships introduced

* Royal Navy Destroyer
* Royal Navy Corvette
* Victory-class battleship
* Behemoth-class command ship
* Nautilus-class submarine