The Lost (30k Primarch Quest)

IV. Fair Foul Play

For a moment, the crew looks among themselves, unsure if their captain is serious. Somewhere a 'gaul squawks.

Then everyone begins shouting at once.

"Shoot 'em!"

"Hang 'em!"

"Cut their eyes and let the storm take them!"

"Stuff them in their own cages 'till they die!"

"DEATH!"

You raise an eyebrow. "Okay I love the enthusiasm Ping but could you be a little more specific?"

Ping considers for a moment. "… a painful death?"

You sigh.

"Keelhauling's a classic, sir." Amaya points out. "It'll be a bit slow with so many, though."

You nod to her. "Classic for a reason. Anything that might go a bit faster?"

"They're transporting 'witches'," Maia calls, "How about we give them the witch test? Throw 'em overboard. If they sink, they're human. If they float, we shoot 'em for being witches. Hypocrite witches. Hypowitches…"

"Sir," Han says, a bit of irritation in his voice, "just tie 'em up and throw 'em overboard. We shouldn't be wasting bullets on these… 'people'. Make their new captain watch, that'll be enough punishment."

You look over the crew – yours and theirs. Then you grin wide. "I like 'em all."

The remaining prisoners try to run. Why not, when your only hope for mercy is a quick death?

You break several of their bones, making tying them down unnecessary. The crew seems really into the idea of making existence hell for slavers, and surprisingly most keep themselves from killing them just yet.

You eventually manage to stir the captain back to consciousness, and you make her watch as you start throwing her crewmen overboard. As the killing goes on, you see a silent horror come over her features, the realization that they're all going to die settling in.

-

As your crew continue tossing tied up prisoners overboard, they start trying to deliberately hit those who have already landed. The crew runs out of loose rope on the deck before too long, at which point you shrug and start doing the witch test. The two are close enough and the crew needs some target practice anyway.

Well, they don't need it, but it's decent enough.

One of the slavers, a burly man with an unkempt beard, bursts from the surface of the water. He thrashes and pulls himself back towards the Cutting Dagger.

"He floats! That one's a witch!" Han laughs, shooting Truth right through the man's skull.

For someone who was against the idea of wasting bullets, Han's enjoying this one even more than his own suggestion.

The captain is shaking, the horror starting to get to her. You don't slow down. In fact, you start to relax, leaning against the railing and listening to the sounds of their screams.

-

Yingyue's first word since you began comes out choked. "Why?"

You pause, glancing at her. "What? You have the nerve to ask that after all you've done?"

"This is beyond crime and punishment." She whispered. "You're just… having fun…"

"Well, yeah." You raise an eyebrow. "You're slavers. You're in no position to bargain on moral-"

"FINE! I'M NOT BARGAINING, I'M BEGGING!!" She yelled, throwing herself at your feet. "Whatever mercy is left in you, grant it! You've done enough to punish us!"

You stare at her a moment. Briefly, you consider bringing her along as your personal servant. It'd be a fitting punishment for a slaver. And, well, perhaps the captain was more to blame than her.

You take a breath and let it out. The thought leaves with it.

"Tell you what. I'll give you the mercy you gave those children." You growl. "You want it for yourself, or for your crew?"

She hesitates.

You kick her down into the deck.

"That's what I thought." You growl. "You gave the children no mercy. That, or you'd rather save yourself than save your sailors."

She coughed up blood onto the deck.

"When your entire crew is dead, you've seen them all suffer, and you've suffered for every child you ever stole from their homes…" You growl, pulling her back up by her hair, "then you have my permission to die."

-

There were, sadly, a lot of slavers to go through before the deck becomes empty. There's still some splashing down in the water below because Maia is a terrible shot. You've tried hanging them, but there wasn't a lot of rope after tying so many people up, so the first person you hanged took a full ten minutes to choke to death. (According to Hans, the rope needed to be long enough to break their necks). A few of the prisoners were blinded, their tongues removed, and placed on some of the lifeboats. There are enough boats on the ship for all of you to evacuate if need be, but the prisoners you put into that fight back like demons. You only send out three boats in that manner.

Yingyue is crying now. You do not pity her.

You put a hand on her shoulder. "Your turn."

She doesn't move until you force her to her feet. "Last one, people. So. Let's cap this off right." You point to Amaya. "Like you said, keelhauling's a classic."

Hans frowns. "Sir, we need more rope for that."

You nod. "I've been saving some just for this. Maia, hold this for me."

You dive into the ocean holding one end of the rope.

It isn't very bright under the water with the storm gathering overhead, but you can still see hundreds of bodies floating in the water. Men, women, the occasional peg leg or floating piece of clothing. Some of them are getting ripped apart by sharks. A few are still struggling, trying to get away, but to where? There's nowhere to run.

As you come out of the water on the other side, you take a moment to climb the hull instead of jump, taking a moment to gather your thoughts. They were slavers. They deserve it. Honestly probably deserve worse.

And yet something in you burns against what you're doing. They're your kin, aren't they? Sailors. And they fell off the right path. Yingyue's desperation to save herself and her crew speaks to you. As you take the rope and prepare to drag Yingyue across the keel, you cannot help but feel regret. Not for what you're doing, but for what they could've been.

These people could've been so much more. And instead they were a waste of air, barely fit to be drowned.

"Any last words, shanwei?" You growl.

She looks up at you, eyes watery. "You'll pay for this. By the hands of my brothers and sisters, by all the gods of the deep, I swear you will pay."

Without another word, you pull, and she's dragged off the boat.

To her credit, she doesn't scream. The rope snaps when she's about halfway across the keel. Her body floats facedown in the ocean, and the blood on her back attracts the sharks.

-

You go down to see Caihong and the children, who have been moved to the crew's quarters. Caihong looks like she's been ill for days and jumps up the moment you arrive. You take her out of the room, and note with some displeasure that Fan is alone in a corner. With disgust, you note that the helmeted children seem far more passive and docile. And the last group… many of them are crying, but most are munching on food or water that was brought to them during your… 'party'.

"Well?"

You nod to her. "The crew's dead. We have their ship. We're on a heading to Shang. Maia's piloting the Cutting Dagger, Eun's got your spot on the Rude Awakening for now."

Caihong folds her arms. "Satisfied?"

You raise an eyebrow at her Caihong. "You aren't?"

"No," She said quietly.

You stare at her a moment, then glance up at the ceiling. The storm has started to break.

"… Me neither," you realize. "Why?"

"Nothing we could've done to them could've fixed what's happened to these children. What we've got here are the survivors." She scowls. "Fan said children that 'sleep too long' get pulled out and are never seen again. But I think the older ones get it; those kids died. The noble looking one? He hasn't spoken a word. The others say he hasn't spoken in days."

A new wave of revulsion hits you. Your regret fades, but satisfaction doesn't come.

And the first drops of rain begin to hit your ships.

-

You make good time to leave the storm, the worst of it passing you by. As usual.

The salt in the air has a tang of bitterness that it didn't before. You're standing at the Rude Awakening's bow, hand on the ratline just as before, but clouds have gathered, both over your head and within it.

On the one hand, your raid was an unparalleled success. A full ship of the line, cages of some strange anti-witch material, dozens of slaves rescued, slavers slain, and the crew's trust earned. Not bad for a first time out at all.

But the "cargo" was going to be a problem.

You look back towards the stern of the ship, to the door below decks. The children had been let out of the cages, but the crew couldn't figure out how to take the helmets off. Most of the kids were malnourished and starved. The oldest among them was 12 – the noble-looking one – and he hadn't spoken a word since being rescued.

You run through what you know in your mind, trying to piece it together in a way that makes sense. Obviously, this had been a bit of entrapment. Flying the Reaver Queen's flag was meant to either protect the ship or be a challenge, surely. If it was the former, then why fight? If it was the latter, why carry a shipment of "witch" kids? That made no sense at all. If-

"Shanwei," Eun's come up to you, sinking your ship of thought. "I wanted to-"

"I want to be alone right now, Eun, go away." You snap, a bit angrier than you meant to.

She hesitates, then nods and walks away. She glances back at you for a moment, and you almost think she looks hurt. But she goes to Caihong, so it was probably a command issue.

You sigh and pinch your nose. Gonna have to clean that up later.

Part of you wishes you'd kept Yingyue alive so you could pull the answers out of her with her teeth. But you only took their navigator, Jiang Wei. You're keeping him alive for now; he knew where the ship was going and can lead you right to it.

You snarl with frustration, grip tightening on the ratline, which draws the attention of some of the crew. You killed all the slavers, just as you should have, but nothing feels like it should. This justice tastes like ashes.

What else should you have done, then? Gotten the kids involved, made the situation even worse for them? That wasn't any good.

I set to sea t'find my dream
As a sweet young country lass
A full-blown wind took her hard astern
That blew from the Tempest Last

Caihong's singing. It's an old shanty, one whose origin was long lost. It's different from every other time you've heard it but she's singing it well.

Then Han starts singing from the crow's nest, Caihong smiling but stopping.

We went down like an anchor chain
They thought that I would drown
Swam belly up and cried like hell
"Well ya can't keep a pirate down!"

You're not sure why but he likes it up there more than down on the deck. Maybe you could ask him about it later… or maybe a better question would be why he's on key.

Then a new voice.

I rode like billy-o
Made the Broken Isles
Ended up in the Rose and Crow
Drank the night away
Seems like yesterday
When we went down

Hot damn. Where did Eun gets pipes like those? Caihong and Han seem just as shocked as you are, but before another moment all three of them join in for the chorus.

Now were!
Way-yo!
Can't blow the man down!
Way-yo!
Can't blow the man down!
Hey-yo!
Can't hold the man
Hold the man
Down

You join in, and let your thoughts and worries fade. You can sort through them later…

Was devils torment tack and rum
That kept the fear at bay
But an Empress sail on the starboard bow
Was getting in our way…

-

You're returning to Shang, raid successful, treasure and "cargo" in tow. Your thoughts are being pulled in a dozen different directions right now, but you can only sort through so much so quickly. You'll deal with all of these at some point, but pick someone to talk to/problems to explore before you arrive in Shang:

[] – Caihong

She plainly does not like you, and having a first mate who detests you isn't a sustainable situation. You'll need to talk it out with her.

[] – Jiang Wei

You'll have to figure out where the kids were going, and that starts with talking to the Rude Awakening's former navigator. You also need to get an idea of the nature of the attack and your enemy.

[] – The psyker children

All of the children have been through a lot, and are probably in need of some reassurances. Fan seems isolated from the others as well; you should probably talk with her about it.

[] – Other members of the crew

The crew liked that you fought with them, but you don't know most of them very well beyond their names. This is a chance to get to know them better now that you've made your position as 'one of them' clear.

[] – Write in

Submitted by @iamweirdo
[] – Eun