1.1
A corsair closed in on a remote island. Grubby swabs eyed the beach, while rats peered from their lairs. Landing parties assembled, received orders and, bristling with steel, swarmed into rowboats.
Alarmed by the strange vessel the islanders melted into the foliage.
Storm waves washed the rowboats ashore. Sailors leaped into the surf and, clashing and cursing, hauled their crafts onto the sand.
Through a spyglass, the skipper studied the brigands as they clustered landward of the boats. Lowering his glass, the captain issued a quiet command and then resumed observations.
A woman wearing a black unitard emerged from the foliage. She held her right hand high as if in a gesture of greeting. Eyeing the woman, the pirates drew their swords. At the same instant, ear-splitting explosions rent the air. Spouts of flame burst from the ship's cannons and shuddering impacts rocked the beach.
The woman did not flinch. She waited for the cannonfire to subside and then dropped her arm. In response, hellfire exploded from dozens of emplacements hidden in the foliage. The fusillade destroyed every weapon larger than a butter knife on the pirate ship. As the corsair’s masts toppled into the sea, the beached swabs eyed each other and tossed their weapons onto the sand.
As one, they fell to their knees and pleaded, “Please don’t hurt us! We come in peace!”