Tarl rotated the ventral turret to the left and instantly caught sight of a very surprised looking trio of pirates. They were unshielded. He hoped that the mess that splashed against the underside of the ship wouldn’t be too difficult to clean off.

  “Got ‘em!” he reported.

  The body that was manning the dorsal turret saw the dead Erarat fall. It also saw that Gami was already firing at targets on the ground, picking off pirates as they rushed between the pallets of supplies that Cavalier had unloaded into the hangar. Seeing that the other Erarat were drawing weapons, he opened fire on them. Only those that wore shields survived. Energy danced and popped as they retreated deeper into the facility.

  The body that was taking cover near the edge of the boarding ramp fired the grenade launcher. The explosive arched high in the air, detonated somewhere over the pirate’s furthest flank. The cluster munition spread its warheads out. They rained down on the buccaneers, blowing at least a dozen into smithereens.

  The doors at the rear of the bay opened. Dozens of Erarat poured into the hangar. They fired wildly in every direction. One of them carried a crude tube, an anti-tank weapon. The rocket struck the pirate’s shuttle, blasting a gaping hole in its cockpit.

  Gami dropped a smoke grenade. A cloud of white was already bellowing out of the canister before it hit the floor. Before long, it filled most of the hangar.

  ***

  Eli fired the large rifle from the hip. The explosive tipped rounds were devastating, blasting massive holes into his foes.

  They kept pushing forward. Incoming fire struck the skid he was using as cover. The mag ran dry, he let the weapon hang from its sling and pulled his pistol and started shooting the advancing pirates.

  A bullet struck high on his vest. He felt the impact dislocate his left shoulder as it took him off of his feet. Landing hard on the metal plates that passed for a floor, he let out a shout of pain as his shoulder was conveniently relocated by the impact.

  Sprawled out of the floor, he used his prosthetic hand to push the detonator. The det cord went off. Pieces of metal from the destroyed weapons sprayed those pirates that were near the pallet.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Steadily working his way through the carbine’s mag, Tarl started making his way over to him. Rounds passed uncomfortably close to the butar. His shield absorbed a pulse of red light. He worked the lever, dealing out death one well-placed shot at a time.

  “Are you okay” he asked, before dropping another enemy.

  “I’m fine. Where’s Gami?”

  “No clue. The smoke is too thick.”

  “She’s stopped firing,” Eli observed, then he keyed the com, “Gami, come in!”

  “On my way. Get into the ship.”

  “Copy,” Eli said, putting a fresh mag into his sidearm as he jumped up.

  Tarl’s carbine ran out of ammo. The smoke was so thick that they couldn’t see a thing. The butar drew his own pistol. The pair blindly fired in the general direction of where the pirates had come from. Eli scanned his right flank as they went up the ramp, hoping to catch a glimpse of a blur that meant that Gami had made it.

  The pair entered the ship and turned around. There was Rotek, leading a group of her comrades through the smoke screen and up the boarding ramp. She took something off of one of her belts, threw it into the bay.

  “Frag in!” Eli bellowed.

  Tarl took the hint, even if he wasn’t necessarily familiar with the terminology. He rolled over the top of an empty crate and landed on the other side. Eli desperately looked around for cover. The grenade went off before he could find any. Blinding light filled his vision, forcing his eyes shut, causing his free hand to shield them.

  The pirates kept coming, shielding their eyes by placing their appendages across their sense organs. Rotek strode forward, unbothered by the light, calling out for them to follow her. She took the gold and black rod off of her belt. What looked like a cord of energy snaked out of it. She moved the object over her shoulder and quickly brought it back. The weird cord of energy flailed like a whip. It wrapped itself around Eli’s legs.

  Eli’s legs were pulled out from under him. The back of his head smashed into the deck of Cavalier’s cargo bay. Flat on his back, he found it difficult to stay conscious as he took aim at the blurry woman standing in front of him. She pressed a button on the whip handle. Arcs of electricity traveled the length of the strange whip, shocking him.

  Despite this, he tried to take aim again. She kicked the gun out of his hand. He heard it land somewhere at the rear of the bay, near the doors that led deeper into the ship. Then she planted the high boot squarely in his gut.

  Tarl took aim at her. The whip unwrapped itself from around his feet. She used it to knock the gun out of Tarl’s hand. He let out a cry of pain and cupped the place where it had struck. Another pirate grabbed him, and he was promptly placed in zip strips.

  Eli tried to get back up, tried to draw his knife. Several of them put a stop to this effort. They took his knife and gave him a brief pat down and put him in flex cuffs. He noticed the lack of training they displayed during this quick search, and it gave him a bit of hope. They missed several important things, such as his earpiece. Tarl and Gami could still communicate with him in secret.