The thunderous cannons shook the night, their deafening blasts shattering the eerie silence across the Zephyr Sea. On the merchant vessel Thundoria, young Mike Blaizer huddled in sheer terror, clutching his stuffed bear as tightly as the barrel he hid within.

He had snuck aboard to surprise his parents with a stowaway visit during their trade mission from Argent City to Selpa. But now explosions rocked the ship, the unmistakable sounds of pirates laying siege.

The barrel shifted with bone-jarring force as the Thundoria took repeated broadsides. Mike's breath grew ragged, sticky sweat dripping from his brow in the cramped pitch blackness. He could only pray as screams, steel clangs, and thunderous footfalls surrounded him in nightmarish crescendo.

Just when he thought he might suffocate, a sickening lurch emptied the barrel across the slick deck. Mike landed hard among shattered crates and debris, gazing up into the wild eyes and snapping steel jaws of the pirate crew. Their leader was a monster in human form, towering and hirsute with wicked curved blades protruding from bronzed musculature.

"Well, well..." rumbled Barbarossa, self-proclaimed Pirate King. "Seems our spoils came pre-packaged!" Raucous laughter erupted among the kills as daggers glinted in his direction.

It was then that an incredibly nimble figure seemed to drop from the roiling clouds themselves. A rapier flashed in dizzying streaks, forcing back the descending blades as the dread pirate captain's laughter turned to fury.

"Persistent wench! I'll have your head on a pike!"

Mike watched agape as a lithesome pirate with a woman of greenish hair blocked every blow. "Your reign ends here, tyrant!" The voice was smooth as silk, yet rigid with unshakable determination.

As Barbarossa's crew closed in from all sides, the woman grabbed Mike under one arm, and tried to escape. In desperation, Barbarossa lashed his anchoring cable to ensnare them both...

Only to find the iron links sliced apart before his astonished face. A blur of motion swept over the rigging, sails tattered as dozens of bullets scattered through the air.

Roguish laughter preceded the appearance of another buccaneer - this one clad in flowing silken garments and elaborate masks of crimson brocade. "Tsk tsk, Kidos ...never could keep your rifle unfired."

"Blasted Them All!" roared Barbarossa. "I'll feed your corpse to the kraken!"

Mike scarcely registered their byplay amid the chaos. His unlikely savior had produced a grappling line, arcing them both over the burning railings moments before the Thundoria split in two. They plunged into the broiling depths, current dragging them inexorably away as twin fireballs marked the vessel's final demise.

When Mike awoke on the shores of Selpa City, the roguish pirate introducing herself as Capt. Ivan was all that remained amid the driftwood and sopping wreckage.

Had it not been for Mike's chance stowaway, the Thundoria's fate may never have been known. As taken in by the city's Mayor, he dedicated himself to discovering the truth of that fateful night - training mind and body with singular focus.

If pressed, few could have told whether Mike's tenacity was fueled by justice...or pure revenge. But sooner or later, those responsible would feel the Tales of Pirates.

Galasca would echo that name well in the years to come - the bounty hunter who never rested, who never tired in ruining those who profited from the misery of others. Wherever corruption lurked, Mike Blaizer ensured a reckoning lay in wait.

Little could the young orphan know his lifelong quest had only just begun the night the Thundoria plunged to its doom. For even as he swore before the headstones of his slain parents, shadowy forces stirred from far darker tides...