Tyranny of Steel

While Berengar was invading Northern Italy and laying siege to Verona, Adelbrand was marching his soldiers towards Zurich, where the Swiss army gathered. As for Honoria, she had already set sail from Kufstein and entered the Mediterannean via the black sea.

She and her crew of salty wenches were prepared for their first encounter of Naval Warfare, their target? Any sailing vessels that were flying the banners of a Holy Roman Empire state. Coincidentally enough, the moment they sailed into the Aegean sea, they saw a ship flying the flag of Venice.

While most of the Venetian Naval and Merchant fleets were decimated within the pre-emptive strike Emmerich had engaged in; there were still vessels already at sea that were spared their destruction. This merchant caravel which had recently departed from Constantinopole was one of those ships.

The 18 lb long guns featured on the Sloop of War known as "Honoria's Revenge" were not equipped with explosive shells; the reason for this was simple, such weapons were far too effective on wooden ships and would sink any form of loot to the depths of the sea.

As such, Honoria's cannons were supplied with 18 lb cannonballs and chain shots, designed to take out the masts of any sea-faring vessel and cripple their ability to sail, and this was precisely the munitions Honoria ordered her crew to load into the cannons.

"Load the chain shot and prepare to fire upon the target when we get in range; I want as many of the sailors taken alive as possible!"

The Sloop of war traveling roughly twice the speed of the Caravel quickly closed the distance. Judging by the Austrian flag that was being flown on its back, the Venetian sailors knew that their luck had run out.

With this in mind, the crew began to pray to God as they began to load their bows and crossbows. However, Honoria's vessel was far from the range of such primitive weapons, and she quickly pulled up to the Caravel's port side, where she gave a command to her cannoneers.

"Open fire!"

With that said, the ten cannons on the port side opened fire as the linked cannonballs twirled through the air targeting the small Caravel. Even though some of the chained shots missed their targets, more than enough had successfully hit the masts and, in doing so, crippled the vessel's sailing capability, leaving the Venetian Caravel and its crew stranded in the water.

Upon seeing this, Honoria's crewmates quickly began to load their 1421 Repeating Rifled Flintlocks as they aimed the weapons in the direction of the Venetian sailors. The moment the Sloop approached the derelict Caravel, the Venetians began to fire their bows and crossbows upon Honoria and her crew.

Seeing the bolts and arrows fly in her direction Honoria who was currently equipped in a half-plate breastplate and with Heraclius perched on her shoulder, gave the command to her crew to engage the enemy.

"Open fire!"

with this command, the wenches aboard Honoria's ship aimed their rifles, cocked back the actions, and fired their first shots. There were roughly twenty-five Venetian sailors on board the Caravel. On the other hand, Honoria had over double that amount, who unleashed their fury on the hostile Venetians.

A volley of lead bullets flew into the Venetian sailors and penetrated their flesh, spilling blood across the ship and into the sea below. More than one of these men fell lifeless into the depths of the Aegean sea as the projectiles ripped through their hearts and skulls.

After the first volley had taken place, the Venetians immediately dropped their weapons and surrendered; as such, the girls among Honoria's crew re-cocked their weapons before cautiously boarding the Venetian vessel. As they did so, they immediately bound the Venetian sailors; their Captain began to spew profanities at Honoria as she crossed over to the ship.

"You fucking bitches! Do you have any idea who you are messing with? When the Doge finds out that you have attacked our ship, he will send the might of the Venetian Navy after you! You will not be able to escape the wrath of Venice!"

The moment he said this, the women who now held these men captive began to laugh; they were already aware of the fate of the Venetian fleet before they even set sail, as for the Venetian Captain, he had been at sea for too long. He was completely unaware of what had transpired; as such, he and his crew looked confused as they saw the women mocking them.

Honoria backhanded the man fiercely before kneeling before him and explaining what the women found so funny.

"The Venetian Navy is lying at the depths of the Adriatic sea. The Royal Austrian Navy sunk it along with half of your precious city weeks ago. All that's left are a few stragglers, and before long, they too will be mopped up. As for you and all the other merchant ships like you, you are fair game!"

The moment she said this, the Captain spat on her pretty face and responded with another insult.

"You're a fucking lying cunt! There's no way the Grand Armada of Venice could be destroyed so easily!"

In response to this insult to her integrity, Honoria coldly pulled out her pistol, cocked back the hammer, and shot the Captain in the head. Maybe it was because of Berengar's influence, but the young Byzantine princess did not hesitate in the slightest to murder this man who had done nothing more than insulting her.

Heraclius stared at Honoria with a look that conveyed his thoughts, which could be surmised with the phrase.

"Was that necessary?"

Honoria ignored the eagle's glare; as she did so, she wiped the spit from her face with her glove and kicked the corpse of the Venetian Captain into the sea. After this was done, another hostage could not prevent himself from cursing the young princess.

"Fucking pirates!"

When Honoria heard this, she gazed fiercely at the man, instantly shutting him up. As she did so, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a paper signed by the Berengar. She had a smug smile on her face as she educated the man about his ignorance.

"Privateer actually, this here is a letter of marque and reprisal from King Berengar von Kufstein of Austria, signifying that my crew and I can attack enemy shipping and naval vessels. In doing so, we are allowed to keep any loot we might come across.

As for the rest of you, you are hostages; we will take you back to Trieste where you will be ransomed off, to whatever remains of your precious Venetian Republic..."

With that said, Honoria snapped at her compatriots as she bellowed her orders.

"Lock them up in the brig, and transfer whatever treasure this vessel carries onto our own. We're going hunting!"

With this said, the privateers got to work. While all of this was going on, Elfrun had carried on a small crate filled with sticks of dynamite; as she placed it down on the deck, Honoria looked at her curiously before asking the question on her mind.

"Elfrun, what are you doing?"

To this, the young teenage girl smiled brightly before picking up one of the sticks of dynamite and holding a lighter that had been manufactured in Austria next to it.

"I'm going to blow this ship up!"

The cute and excited expression on the girl's face did not match the violent words she had uttered; as such, Honoria was quite taken aback at first; however, after a few moments, Honoria began to break out in laughter; this caused Elfrun to pout in response.

After calming herself down, Honoria walked over and hugged Elfrun tightly before responding to her claim.

"Just make sure to do it after we have safely exited the vessel!"

Elfrun began to blush at the affectionate display. However, eventually, she embraced Honoria's gesture and closed her eyes while enjoying the moment. After a few seconds had passed, Honoria let go when she noticed Melissa had arrived.

Melissa did not bother to question the scene in front of her and instead reported the crew's findings to Honoria.

"We hit the jackpot, aside from some chests filled with hyperpyrons! We've got purple dye, loads of silk and cotton too! We also got some Indian spices and some rare animal skins; evidently, they were on their way back from trading with Constantinople!"

When Honoria heard this, a pretty smile curved upon her luscious pink lips, she was delighted to know that their first take was so bountiful. As such, she asked the question on her mind.

"Is everything transferred over?"

In response to this, Melissa nodded silently; as such, Honoria commanded her crew.

"Everyone! Please get back to the ship; we are departing; after everyone was safely aboard and the vessel had begun to leave, Honoria tapped Elfrun's shoulder and smiled as she nodded silently; this was the queue the girl needed to start the fireworks.

With a cruel smile on the girl's cute face, the pyromaniac lit the stick of TNT in her hands before tossing it onboard the freshly ransacked Caravel; the explosive compound landed perfectly in the stack of dynamite, where the fuse slowly began to consume itself.

After Honoria's Revenge had made its way to a safe distance, the stick of TNT detonated, causing a chain reaction with the other explosives, effectively blowing the small Caravel to smithereens.

As the explosion blasted the Caravel apart amid the Aegean sea, the crew of pirates gazed upon their victory with awe. They could hardly believe what they had just done; this crew of wenches had ushered in a new era of naval warfare.

There was only one person to thank for such a thing, and that was King Berengar von Kufstein of Austria; without his support to Honoria, these young women would never be able to feel the rush of adrenaline they had felt this day, nor would they ever see such wealth in their hands.