Porting Forward…
Primary Source …Detected: SEGA
Secondary Source…Detected: World Chain
Accessing Arch Journal – Volume 1, Chapter 3: Pirates vs the Great Armada – Grace O’Malley
Forewords of the Arch Journal
During my journey with the rewriters, I am able to experience numerous vastly diverse yet remarkably intriguing historic events in person. Those great remnants that joined the rewriters’ cause shared their stories with me; they showed me their goals, ambitions, determination and the courage to continue in desperate situation. Knowing that there will be limits on the depth of these heroes’ life being explained, I sought help from T.S.U.K.O.M.I and R.I.S.E.M.A.R.A to create this Arch Journal to show you just a bit more about who they really are and why they have done what they did. May you found knowledge and wisdom while reading these journals.
-Azerith
Fearless, yet conscience. Lust for blood, yet not stupid.
Pirates VS the Great Armada
I mentioned last time, Grace was looking for an opportunity to repay Queen Elizabeth’s favour from their last encounter. Well, looks like that day is not far away. The tension between Spain and England had finally transcended into military conflict. The Great Armada of Spain, had been dispatched from the port of A Coruna and invaded England from the south. After hearing this, Grace decided to help the English fleet to fight against the wraith of the Spanish fleet. Deep inside her, Grace knew that helping the English fleet would be an extremely unwise decision, yet her eagerness to repay the debt had forced Grace to go against her own rule. Of course, Grace was not dumb enough to do this all by herself. As soon as she realised the leading General of the English fleet was Captain Francis Drake, which was another pirate, Grace felt she can definitely use some help from a fellow "colleague".
[T.S.U.K.O.M.I: *clear throat*, ahem, please allow me to give you a more detailed description of the situation of the war. The Great Armada from Spain, was a Spanish fleet consist of at least 130 battleships. The name Great Armada was a direct translate from the Spanish language, "Grande y Felicisima Armada – Great and Most Fortunate Navy". Lead by Duke of Medina Sidonia, the purpose of this voyage was to invade England, overthrow Queen Elizabeth I and her Tudor establishment of Protestantism in England. Also Spain wished to use the victory of this battle to strengthen its catholic influence in England’s neighbor country, Netherlands. When Grace and Captain Drake first encountered the Great Armada fleet, it was believed to be at north of Calais, a major ferry port in northern France.]
Shingo had pointed out something very important about the characteristic of English Navy force: it is literally a fleet of pirate. Privateering was a strategic governing and defence system deployed by Queen Elizabeth I. Having her majesty’s royal license, pirates, or privateers can steal and plunder any resources that do not concern the Queen. This policy had definitely troubled many navy driven country, including Spain, and I believe this was another reason why Spain wanted to invade England.
Knowing fighting head on with the Great Armada is pretty much suicidal, Grace had come up with a plan. Focusing on the limited mobility of the enormous battleship, Grace decided to send explosive and oil keg on a couple small boats to the Spanish navy as a "greeting gift". Being trained professionally, the Spanish navy did not expect such sneaky move and the outcome of this strategy had turned the tide for the English Fleet. [T.S.U.K.O.M.I: All it takes is one mistake.]
Being a pirate, there is no such thing as honor in fight. In a war, there will be a victor and there will be a loser. I like that idea too. Since the Spanish navy was busy with the fire, Grace and Captain Drake decided to carry out a full attack. [T.S.U.K.O.M.I: Despicable us!]
Unable to sustain the damage of this surprise attack, the Great Armada was forced to retreat. The result of this battle had given the English fleet a great head start and allowed them to dictate control on all following skirmishes.
[T.S.U.K.O.M.I: Losing the momentum, the Great Armada could only retreat and wait for a better chance in the future. With the help of the seasonal ocean wind, the Spanish fleet was able to hold on to the chase of the English fleet, and escape to the north of English Sea.]
Just when I was celebrating our victory against the Spanish Armada, Grace decided to leave the battlefield and go back to Ireland. I was sure Grace didn’t do this because she was homesick, so I was expecting some sort of a plan from her. It turned out I was right.
By the time when the Great Armada had made its escape from the English fleet, Captain Drake decommissioned about 30 battleships from the Spanish fleet. [T.S.U.K.O.M.I: Is that all you can do, Captain?] As the Spanish navy turned south and headed directly for Spain, inevitably, the Great Armada would enter the Irish Sea, and right there, Grace was preparing another surprise for them.
While retreating, the Spanish navy encountered several severe storms. In order to make haste, the commander of the Spanish fleet decided not to wait for the sea to calm but instead, push on with the homing voyage; and that was the first mistake. Being as unforgiving as the ocean, Grace followed the Great Armada as they entered the Irish Sea, then taunted them with a war cry. I feel for the commander of the Spanish fleet. Under the stress of losing a "sure-win" battle, the last thing you need is a woman’s taunt on a battlefield. Blinded by pride and frustration, the commander gave out order to chase down the O’Malleys at all cost. Due to the fact that the Spanish navy was not familiar with the shores in the Irish Sea, it didn’t take too much effort for Grace and her man to lure those enormous battleships into shallow shores; and then devour them along with the mother-nature storm.
Source : Wikipedia
I actually witnessed hell that day. Our merciless Queen of Pirate carved an inerasable scar in the heart of the Spanish navy. Over 100 of battleships were present in the retreat journey before the storm, and after it, only the commanding battleship was able to continue the journey. [T.S.U.K.O.M.I: In your face, Captain Drake!] On that day, I remembered one of the phrase in the Art of War, “…The time, the place and the people determine the outcome of a war”; and Grace got them all.
As expected, Grace did not ask for rewards from the English. In Grace’s mind, this is merely a return of favor to Queen Elizabeth. Although I would agree with Shingo and Nagisa that if reported, Grace would become a noble and probably even listed in the house of the lords. The Grace we know, would probably never be bounded by rules and formality. So, let’s stop thinking and get back to work!
As a rewriter, I have come to an end of Grace’s stories. I have to say I am envy of her; Grace got the talent to overthrow the norms, the intelligence to outwit her enemy and freedom to do what she wanted. Well this pretty much resembles someone I met in Shuma Sekkai, and it was because of her, I became a Syndetira… Anyway, there is much more in Grace’s life I haven’t seen, and I want to leave the fun for you guys. Knowing the warrior side of her, go find out more about Grace if you have time, and you might discover her romantic side.
[T.S.U.K.O.M.I: -Volume I, End]
