OPORTO, 22nd May - Naval Landing Party TWO

"Midshipman Hollow, sir. " The midshipman looked in the indicated direction.

"Confidences, to me!" Any remaining straggler was by that time back with his group. The band of Tars just gone from their boat were ready for the next order. They didn't look at the lieutenant that had a shout at them or looked guilty for being late.

"Sir." The midshipman looked eager for the next action, awaiting only the command. The marines that came with them, were set in neat lines and were - under their commanding officer's orders, already keeping some of the French heads down.

"Since you've taken more than enough time to get here, I trust you're ready for action now, Mr. Hollow," Bolitho said, an irritated tone to his voice. He looked around at all the sailors and Marines who had joined them, not pleased that they had taken such a long time to arrive. But thanks to those stragglers, they now comprised a sizable enough force. Still, they needed to get moving if they were going to explode the powder stores. At least Croker had not changed his mind about that order. "All of you, this way!"

With that, he started off towards the powder stores, prepared to meet the inevitable next assault of Frenchmen.

"Yes, sir!" The midshipman saluted the foreign ship's captain and relaxed the order to his men. Leading them in a fairly efficient order towards the building. For the most part it was the marines who fired, while the men ,carrying cutlass like weapons were ready to stab and slash at the unfortunate Frenchman that stood in their way. They were ordered to protect the man that carried the charges and so ran ahead of him in disorderly manner.

They did not know the exact location of the powder magazine, but Bush could hear yelling and fighting in the southeast corner of the fort. "Those must be the Defiance men, sir," he exclaimed, limping quickly to the captain's side, "And the rest of ours."

Bolitho heard the shouts as well and wagered it had to be the rest of their crew and the Defiance's as well.

"So it would seem, Mr. Bush," Bolitho nodded, "Then I would say our best bet is to head in that direction. Once we discover the source of the commotion, we will surely find the powder magazine as well."

His Marines were working well, clearing the way for the Captain and the sailors. Quinn hoped the other Marines were all right, though they had Lieutenant Cartwright with them, which was something. He wondered where Oxley had managed to get to, though the lad was probably loving every minute of trying not to get in the way too much.

And now they could see them across the courtyard, the other group of seamen and marines. They were running for one of the small buildings near the guns that were aimed out to sea. Men on the walls fired down at them. "Sergeant!" Bush shouted.

Quinn saw the problem. "Marines! Aim for the men on the walltops!" They would probably have to get a bit closer, but even from this distance, the Frenchmen would want to keep their heads down. It only took one bullet to kill, after all, whether deliberately aimed, or not.

[connecting to the other thread here]