The entire pirate ship loomed before them. The vessel was enormous, even if not on the same scale as Ayjax's. There were pirates moving around on the decks and even more at the far end of the cavern where the sea fell away, and the ground was exposed.
Red had to push down his nerves as he took the cavern in with all its glory. A thin pathway led from their location to the distant cave ground. How they would cross that distance unseen, Red hadn't the slightest idea.
Derrin backed away from the opening and whispered, "Do you have any way of attaching the bomb to their ship?"
He shook his head, "It is too heavy right now. Nothing I have will hold it for more than a few seconds."
"Then we can just blow it right in the middle of the cavern. You're not going to be able to sneak it all the way to the end, but if it's any bigger than the other bombs…"
"We can still damage their ship," Red finished.
In a perfect world, they would simply mount the bomb on the ship and be done with it. Sinking the pirates' vessel would be more of an attack than even the cannons. They weren't in a perfect world and had to make do with what they had.
"When I reach the pirates at the end, I want you to blow the bomb."
"What!" Red covered his mouth, "What about you?"
"I'll swim out if I need to. It doesn't matter. They won't be able to catch me, but you will be an easy target once the chaos starts. If I don't catch up to you immediately, then go back through the tunnel and up to the fort."
Grimacing, Red gave his agreement. They didn't have any other options at the moment. Derrin gave him a confident smile and turned down the cavern. He dashed off this time, moving with all the exertion his mist would allow. Red waited a few seconds and ducked out after him. The pirates would clearly see Derrin coming, and that would be enough to keep them away for a few moments.
With the bomb in his hands, he moved far slower than Derrin. The other man was already halfway to the opposite end of the cavern by the time he had moved a few dozen yards. He was going to reach the opposing end far too quickly. Up ahead, the pirates were already noticing Derrin's frantic approach.
Red didn't have much time, so dropping all of the mist from his aching arms, he enhanced his legs. They began to move much more quickly. While it was nothing like Derrin's speed, he still felt as if he was going faster than he ever had before. It still wasn't fast enough.
A pirate aboard the ship spotted him and yelled for his companions. Red suddenly had an irrational image of the pirate ship simply firing down on him with its cannons. It was totally irrational and something they would never do without risking the ship's integrity, and yet, he still felt that cold fear clinging to his back seeing the black silhouettes.
Derrin reached the opposite end of the cavern a few seconds before Red reached his own position. Their time wasn't even close to right. Derrin's sword came out, and he attacked. From the distance, Red could see multiple pirates fall faster than they could prepare themselves.
Despite revealing himself from so far away, Derrin still got the jump on many of them. However, there were far too many pirates for his friend to fight. It was like the Gearborn ship all over again, Red realized. He was once again stuck, unable to properly help his friend while he bled.
Red practically dropped the bomb when he reached the right spot. This was nothing like the Gearborn ship. He actually had something to do other than survive. His mission was even more important than Derrin's own. Each of them played a crucial role this time.
A splash resounded beside him, and he whirled. A pirate had leaped from the side of the ship and was swimming towards him. His eyes widened in surprise. Another splash and then another. Numerous pirates were leaping off their vessel. Derrin's distraction hadn't been enough. Either that, or these pirates realized that he was the true threat. It didn't matter.
The pirates weren't going to reach him in time. He didn't have to do anything to set the bomb. All he needed to do was place it and get far enough away before it went boom. He briefly considered whether the pirates beneath the waves would survive the explosion or not. At this point, it didn't matter anymore.
He turned and ran back down the sandy ledge. Each step drew closer to the exit and further away from the bomb. He couldn't go too far, or he would miss the bomb. Neither could he remain too close, or he would be caught up in the explosion.
Red suddenly tasted the familiar electrical tingle. The pirates weren't firing their cannons, were they! No, he was being ridiculous. Red dove and a blast of electrical energy exploded against the rock above his head. He had been mere moments away from being hit. Without turning, Red stumbled upwards and continued running.
Another shot rang out, but this one whizzed past. Red turned and saw the pirates had turned towards him. One had even begun crawling on sand only a few yards behind him. Red cursed. He was out of time. Once the pirates got in his way, the bomb would be impossible to shoot.
"Where do you think you're going, you slimy weasel?" the pirate growled as he hauled himself to his feet.
"Just trying to take myself away from certain death, you know," Red pulled a shockblaster from his coat.
The pirate summoned a mistblade to counter, "Then, you should never have come here in the first place. We're going to have a lot of fun tearing you apart."
Red took a moment to realize that this was his first time truly bantering with one of the pirates. It didn't feel the same as when he argued with Alpha. The robot always overreacted to every minuscule thing, and Red missed that.
"Oh, on the contrary. I'm the one who is going to be having a fun time."
Another pirate reached the ledge right beside him. There was no more time to waste. It was now, or he would simply be overrun by these hair-brained idiots. Raising his gun, Red smiled.
"You think you're gonna hit me with that? Fool boy!" the pirate sneered.
Red laughed and fired his gun. The pirate's blade shifted slightly, but nothing collided with it.
"What the hell was that? Who taught you how to shoot, kid?"
"Only the best sniper I've ever met." In that moment, Red was more grateful for Zara's lessons than he ever had been before.
A shot like this one would have been impossible for him. He would not even have come close, and he might even have hit the pirate by accident. None of that happened, though. His blast flew straight between the pirate's legs. The electrical current ignored the human body in favor of a far more tantalizing target.
The full force of his shockblaster impacted the bomb. Red hadn't been present when any of his other bombs had directly exploded. The biggest explosion he had experienced himself was the gearborn core aboard the gearborn's ship. Nothing that followed was even close to his wildest expectations.