OFF THE COAST OF ERICUSA ISLAND, ON BOARD THE VULPES

Something always goes wrong in battle. Though that axiom was thoroughly burnt into the skull of Tiberius Gallus Augur, the infinite variety of ways in which a battle could actually go wrong never ceased to amaze him.

Not that everything went wrong, of course. The Liburnae Passer, for example, had swept down on the pirate vessel grappled with the grain carrier (which they later learned was the Stella Luna, bound from Lilybaeum to Ostia) with such speed and skill that they quickly gained the upper hand. Once her corvus had slammed into the enemy's deck and Passer's naval infantry had swarmed across, the pirates soon realized that they were in a desperate situation. And that is where the trouble began. No matter how well-planned a battle, the enemy always seemed to have their own opinions on how the matter should proceed.

Gallus had expected the second pirate ship to make a run for it, seeking haven at nearby Ericusa Island, and it had been his intent to run that ship down with Vulpes and Anser. As they bore down on their target, it became all to clear that this pirate had ideas of his own.

Rather than running, the pirate made a sharp turn to starboard and began rowing at full speed to the still motionless Stella Luna. "They mean to ram her!" shouted the captain who then gave orders to his helmsman to adjust course to a new pursuit heading.

Gallus saw what was happening. If the pirate rammed Stella Luna, holing her, that would present the Romans with a dilemma: pursue the remaining pirate ship or come to the aid of the stricken merchantman? Further, the extra manpower from this second pirate could quickly overwhelm Anser,, who remained firmly affixed to the pirate on Stella Luna's other side. So enmeshed in battle was Anser's crew, that they apparantly failed to see what was about to happen to them.

"Catch her!" shouted Gallus. "Ramming speed, Captain! Whatever it takes! Just get us close enough to drop the corvus!" The geometry was such that Vulpes was now trailing behind the pirate, but closing. Passer had cut more sharply to starboard and now appeared to be attempting to cut ahead of the pirate in an effort to head her off before she reached the helpless Stella Luna. There was no way that the two ships could coordinate their attack; no signals existed that could communicate the types of maneuvers they were attempting, and each captain could only guess what the other was contemplating. In the next few sickening moments, it became very clear what Passer was attempting. She was placing herself between the pirate and Stella Luna, preparing to absorb the blow which was about to be delivered by the pirate's ram. At the very same instant, Vulpes was just reaching the stern of the pirate, and the two were matched in speed.

"CORVUS AWAY!" roared Gallus and even as he was shouting it, the sailors yanked the lanyard free which held the spiked boarding ramp in place. It arced down swiftly, its beak plunging into the stern of the pirate, instantly linking the two vessels together. Even as Gallus and the naval infantry leapt onto the now horizontal boarding plank, the extra weight and drag afforded by being attached to Vulpes began to slow both vessels down. It was then that things began to spin out of control...

Gallus and about twelve others had just leapt onto the decks of the pirate when she rammed Passer broadside. Vulpes had slowed the pirate down just enough so as to render the blow from the ram less effective. It still, however, had enough force to rip a considerable hole in Passer's hull, while at the same time rolling her about twenty degrees to starboard. This crazy angle was enough to disable her corvus, rendering it all but useless.

What was worse, however, was what happened to Gallus and the boarding party he was leading. Although the pirate had come to a complete stop as all of its forward momentem was expended in the act of delivering a mortal blow to Passer, the Vulpes was still moving at a relatively high speed. When the two ships had been matched in speed, it had proved the perfect moment to drop the corvus. Now that remaining momentum carried Vulpes away, dragging the corvus with it. The corvus beak left a ragged gash in the deck of the pirate as it pulled free, but now Vulpes was drifting away...10 yards, now 20, as her captain desperately tried to stop her momentum and maneuver to re-engage. Casca and the bulk of his 50 man boarding party stood helplessly on Vulpes, unable to come to the aid of Gallus and his dozen men.

Gallus had little time to consider this, for the whole of the pirate ship's deck crew was now intent on killing each and every one of them! "Hold lads!" shouted Gallus, the men closing ranks to form a pathetic little perimiter on the pirate's stern. "Fight! Kill these bastards! Hold on!"

The pirates were desperate to recapture their stern, for the Romans, though pathetically outnumbered, held the the most important part of the ship: its tiller. Without control of the tiller, the pirates had no hope of making good their escape. As the lop-sided battle raged on, the ever dwindling number of Roman defenders collapsed themselves into a tight circle around the wooden handle of the tiller, fighting like madmen. The pirates, with equal desperation, clawed their way forward, now being joined from men below decks who abandoned their oars in a last-ditch bid to dislodge this stubborn handful of Romans from control of the helm.

His arm aching, Gallus swung his gladius again and again, using his scutum to equal effect to bash the face of more than one half-naked pirate who hurled himself toward the rapidly tiring quaestor. Gallus took his eye off his nearest opponent to steal a glance to his "boarding party;" only four men were left. He felt his left arm wrench away from him, sending shooting pains up into his shoulder as a pirate with a boathook caught his shield and yanked it off his arm. Sensing the end was near, Gallus contemplated reversing his grip on the gladius so that the blade tip would be pointed at his own bowels--he'd be dammned if he would be captured by this lot!--when a resounding crash followed by screams and chaos erupted immediately behind the front rank of pirates.

Vulpes had come alongside, and the corvus had again swung down, this time plowing directly into the swirling mass of pirates enveloping the stern! For the second time in his life, Gallus saw the amazement on the face of the man directly in front of him as a pila emerged, point first, from his stomach, how he sank slowly down to reveal behind him the smiling face of Centurion Pullio Casca. "Well, now! There's our Gallus, then, so 'tis! How's me favoreyte officer doin' this fine afternoon, eh?"

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TBC...