As the day progresses the distant ships grow closer. Soon you can make out their forms. The hulls are slim and ride high in the water, clearly not designed for carrying much cargo. The sails are painted blue and white to match the color of the water and the whitecaps. As they draw closer you can even begin to make out the shapes of figures moving about the deck and the ominous shapes of siege weapons at the bow. From their mast, you can see a white flag with a grinning red skull stitched to it.
Despite the captains best efforts, the ships draw near. One of them begins to close on your ship from the stern, bringing it into line of sight for your own weapons. She calls out, "Ready the Stern ballista!" and one of the sailors set to work manipulating clamps and levers to aim the weapon. With only one crew member manning the heavy winches, it takes an agonizing long time before the bolt is loaded. The sailor looks up at the captain who shouts back, "Fire!". The sailor slams a lever and the cable snaps forward, launching the bolt out. You see it flit across the distance between the ships in an eye blink, but it passes harmlessly over the deck, missing the pirates and failing to damage the ship. The sailor begins the slow process of reloading the ballista once more. Meanwhile, on the far ship, the pirates have begun maneuvering their own weapon to return fire. The captain continues to shout orders to the sailors who scramble to dump cargo, tighten the rigging, and readying hand weapons for boarders.
OOC - The pirate ship is still several hundred feet away, but closing quickly towards the port side. You think it will be alongside you in less than four minutes. The second ship is farther behind you, off on the starboard side. Other than waiting for the pirates to get closer, you could aid the sailors, man the siege weapons, or get orders from the captain.
