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Ra'Jirra and Wears-Only-Ropes raced towards the oncoming water-arrow at breakneck speed. Wears-Only-Ropes did a quick mental guess and set the timer for 5 seconds. Meanwhile Ra'Jirra struggled to keep the craft on-course against the waves that kept crashing into them. Then she felt the tap at her shoulder and pulled the lever, turning out of the path of the arrow a split second later but continuing at full speed away. The arrow passed directly beneath them in a flash. She didn't turn around, but heard the explosion go off behind her.

She held tight to the controls and felt the CAT go airborne, but she hung on and she felt the strong hands of Wears-Only-Ropes manage to keep wrapped around her as they hit the waves hard upon their return. Only then did she slow and turn back.

"Good job, Ropes," she said, breathing hard. "But we've only one more mine, and we can't waste it on another arrow."

"I know, Raj. And I know what I have to do. You don't need to tell me. If I hold the timer, will it stop, or does launching the mine start the timer where it's set?"

"I don't know, Ropes. I really don't."

"Well, we've not much choice, I guess. I'll set it for 60 seconds, you launch it, then I'll dive in after it. But damned if I know where that goddamn ship is. It's dark under there Raj. I may not find it at all."

Ra'Jirra looked back towards where the two water-arrows had come from, and headed back that way.

"Why haven't they launched another one already?" Wears-Only-Ropes asked.

"When I was in the ship, there were two big tubes. My guess is it takes them a while to reset those for another shot. I've no idea how long, but Ropes, there are _lots _of arrows inside there."

The argonian nodded. "When I'm off, you get the hell out of here. If this works, there's going to be an explosion like nothing any of us have ever seen, Raj."

Ra'Jirra slowed the CAT to a halt, guesstimating she was roughly over where the Dominion might be. Then she hugged Wears-Only-Ropes.

"If I..." she started, but the argonian just hugged her back, then drew her away by the shoulders.

"You couldn't get close, Ra'Jirra. No, this is what I'm here for. I knew it when I followed you."

"I'll tell them about you, Ropes. You won't be forgotten."

Argonian's didn't exactly cry, but Ra'Jirra saw the nictitating membranes flashing.

"Do that, Ra'Jirra. And tell them about my crew. I was just one of them. They all would have done this."

Ra'Jirra hugged her once more. "You are their avenging angel, Ropes. Good luck!"

Wears-Only-Ropes pulled away from her again and took the last mine out, setting the timer for the 60 second maximum, then put it back on the rack.

"Wait!" Ra'Jirra said when she turned back around. "Do you see that?"

Wears-Only-Ropes followed where she was pointing. Some hundreds of yards away, something glinted with the distinctive color of Dwemer metal.

They looked at each other.

"That's it," Wears-Only-Ropes declared. "The Dominion must be under there."

"Hold on!" Ra'Jirra said, and spun the craft to face the shining object sitting stationary above the waves.

"Don't forget what I said, Raj. You get the hell away!" Wears-Only-Ropes called over her shoulder.

"I will, Ropes. You go take care of that thing."

A minute later and Ra'Jirra shouted back. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

Ra'Jirra slowed to a stop and pulled the lever. She heard the mine splash behind her, now armed. Wears-Only-Ropes followed it. She saw the argonian grab the mine and begin swimming deep. Then she hit the throttle and began flying away from the spot, aiming roughly for where the Hammerfell ship was sailing away at full speed.

***************************

Underwater, Wears-Only-Ropes saw the thin tube of Dwemer metal going straight down into the depths. It would take her more than a minute to reach the Dominion, and she sincerely hoped the timer wasn't running as she held the dial at the 1 minute mark. If it was running internally, she'd never know it. She would be blown to bits when it went off. She could only trust in luck there.

As she continued downwards, she lowly saw the huge shape of the Dominion loom out of the depths below. It could be nothing else. She stuffed the mine into her pants and redoubled her efforts, fighting against her natural buoyancy. She was just getting close when she saw another figure coming around from the bottom of the ship. It was another argonian, and she recognized him as the big guard. In his mouth, he held a wicked looking knife and he was coming fast.

But she couldn't simply swim away. She might well be faster through the water than him, but the Dominion might get under way at any moment. Instead, she turned to face him.

Fighting underwater, even for argonians, was a hard business. All movements were terribly slow compared to in the open air. But she was both a sailor and an argonian. It wasn't her first time. She avoided his attempts to cut her with the knife, but soon it was clear she was getting nowhere, and time was not her friend here.

Then he closed on her, wrapping an arm around her neck. She saw the hand with the knife descend and grabbed it, turning it towards her mouth where she bit the arm, hard. Very hard. She felt bones crunch between her teeth and she wrenched at it with the strength of an alligator, rolling in the deep.

She heard another noise then. Not the screaming of her assailant, though that reached her clearly enough. No, this was coming from the Dominion. She kicked the maimed argonian away from her and saw the hand, severed now, fall into the depths below along with the knife. Then she turned back to the ship. She saw a port sliding slowly open in the nose of the thing, and recognized that it must be the aperture of one of the arrow-tubes. They were going to launch another at any moment.

Suddenly she had an inspiration. She might not have the time, but it was the best chance she had. Rapidly she untied the ropes around her chest and swam up to catch the argonian who was trying to escape to the surface. She wrapped the rope around him rapidly, and trussed him tightly, hauling him back to the Dominion all the while.

The arrow hadn't launched yet. She manhandled the argonian, forcing him into the tube and rapidly tying the ropes around the portal's edge, trapping him within. Then she pulled the mine out of her pants and checked the timer. It had only a few seconds left, so she cranked it back to 60 seconds, then thrust it deep down into the argonian's own pants, knowing he was tied far too well to get it out in time.

"Goodbye, Pak-Sha," she said, waving before she swam away as fast as she could, upward and back away from the nose of the ship. She knew any hope of survival was pointless at this range, but she couldn't help but hope. Still, she felt okay. She'd done her job. In a few seconds it would be over anyway, and she wanted to at least be sure the bulk of the Dominion was between her and the mine when it went off.

In fact, the mine alone would still not have breached the hull of the Dominion, even if placed directly on it. But the torpedo tube was a weak point when it's hatch was open as it was now. Even then, the Dominion may have survived had it not been for the armed torpedo that was awaiting launch inside it.

But the combination made the outcome inevitable. The mine went off. In milliseconds, its explosion caused the destruction of the armed torpedo within the tube. In turn, the torpedo's explosive power was well beyond the small mine. The nose of the Dominion expanded outwards under the incredible power of the torpedo. But even that was dwarfed when the other torpedoes held within the ship joined the explosion. And all this happened within a single second. Not a single soul aboard the Dominion even had time to register alarm. Only Number 4 had any clue they were in any danger, and he was blind, unable to see what was happening just outside the ship. His periscope only viewed the surface above the water. His last seconds were spent watching the naked rear of that damned khajiit, speeding away at top speed, her tail waving in the wind. And then all within were snuffed out before a single nerve could register the explosion.