HMS Tireless Pursuit

*Do not read beyond **this point** if you want to avoid being **spoiled!***

The **HMS *Tireless Pursuit*** was a heavy *Trident*-class cruiser of the Novalbian Navy. It was stationed at Valt after the assault on Billingsworth and his men for gunboat diplomacy. It is a modified *Trident*-class and blimpless, bearing more guns than a standard *Trident*-class might with ten light cannon per broadside and a forecastle-mounted acid lobber.

Vermillion Versailles attempted to blow up the ship by smuggling a barrel of gunpowder with a timed firestarter inside onto the vessel, but was stopped by a marine assault mech manned by Rubin. Rubin identified that Versailles, pretending to be a dockhand named Jeffrey, was carrying a tampered barrel on account of the rigorous standards of the Empire. Versailles was brought aboard the ship on account of being given a "reward". Taken to the crew quarters under the forecastle, he suspected the crew was planning to impress him, so he fled.

## Skirmish off Valt

Part of the **Voyages of the *Nightingale***

### Result

Pirate victory, capture of the HMS *Tireless Pursuit*

Casualties| Miller Collins (WIA)Dragonborn woman (Died of wounds) | HMS *Tireless Pursuit* (captured)Rufus Rozier†16 Officers and Men* 10 surrendered, later killed

Onboard the ship Captain Rozier ordered the ship cleared for action against the *Nightingale*, moving to rescue Versailles, but as the crew prepared Versailles threw an oil lamp at the barrel of gunpowder, causing a catastrophic explosion that destroyed the forecastle and killed half of the ship's crew. Thus commenced the Battle at Valt as Versailles fell off the ship onto the debris-securing net below the ship.

Picked up by the *Nightingale*, Versailles was pursued by assault mechs, though one missed the *Nightingale* due to Lignus Stormsent's piloting of the ship. Lignus kept the *Nightingale* out of the *Tireless Pursuit'*s range as the larger Novalbian ship dived but still suffered from the damage of the explosion, with only five guns per broadside operational.

Eventually Versailles gave the order to close and after an initial exchange of fire that was favourable to the pirates, the *Tireless Pursuit* got a volley off that destroyed the pirate vessel's port battery of two guns. Having consistently held the weather gage over the Novalbian vessel, Versailles and his crew decided to board the much larger *Trident*-class, with Lignus failing to hit with a harpoon shot as the ship closed.

As the ships lashed together Zinsy Sparksprocket managed to kill Captain Rozier in a single shot from the aft harpoon, and Saara Smallwick one of the clockwork dogs on deck. Versailles engaged the other only for it to be killed by Zinsy with a mid-air harpoon shot. This resulted in the deck being cleared of Novalbian forces, though the gun deck remained occupied. Underneath the ship, however, there were allegedly still prisoners. Undeniably, however, the pirates had control of the ship for the time being, having taken on a vessel a tonnage class above their own with five times their guns. After forcing the hatch to the gundeck open with a harpoon and throwing the captain's corpse down the hatch, the surrender of the remaining crew was forced, with 4 members ordered onto the *Nightingale* to repair it.

A dragonborn woman was found in the brig, bleeding from a gunshot wound, whom Lignus could not save.

Eventually the crew of the *Tireless Pursuit* was killed in two further incidents, firstly when Versailles attempted to breach the captain's cabin, causing the crew bar one to be electrocuted (whom Versailles later threw off the ship), with the four on the *Nightingale* attempting to seize the smaller vessel, only to be killed by Lignus and Saara.

After its capture, the *Tireless Pursuit* was towed back to Valt where its guns were removed, along with the door to the Captain's quarters. Filled with powder, pitch and shrapnel, the ship was used by Versailles to pretend to be in distress above Valt.

When a Novalbian task force arrived to occupy the island, one of the ships, the HMS *Iron Rock*, came aside after Versailles fired distress flares while disguised as Captain Rozier. Versailles then lit a fuse, resulting in the detonation of the *Tireless Pursuit* and the destruction of the HMS *Iron Rock* in the blast. When the two ships collided with the island a secondary detonation of their LeValt engines occured, causing psychic strain to those surrounding.

## Ship's Complement

* Captain Rufus Rozier
* 20 Novalbian sailors and marines, including Armand
	+ At least 3 Assault Mechs, including Rubin
	+ At least 2 Clockwork dogs