Gates' flamethrower barked and spat liquid flame, incinerating pirates by the dozen as they tried to take down the Stormtroopers. Goshin was laying down a tight field of fire with the Tyrant, and Terra was supporting him, firing short bursts with her rifle. Gates threw a glance down at the estimated fuel left in the flamer.

The news wasn't good- twenty seconds' flame was left, and then it would be spitting impotent fumes.

"Troopers, prepare to fall back!" he barked, squirting napalm-born inferno into the hanger. Screams rose from the pirates taking cover. Terra stood up slightly, readying herself for the retreat. She took a laser round to the head, and fell back.

"Shit! Goshin, take her back! I'll hold these off!" Gates yelled, wildly spraying flames on full. It was draining the fuel rapidly, and he didn't have much holding off left in it. Goshin dropped the Tyrant, and picked up the wounded comrade, dragging her back through the doors, deeper into the ship.

Gates stood in the center of flame, unafraid. His flamethrower belched flames and smoke, and laser blasts filled the air. A shot hit him in the upper torso. He took a step back, smarting, but still fighting. The flamer, linked to his armor, gave him a warning tone. It had only a few seconds' flame left.

"Damn," he murmured, using the best of the fuel left. "Damn."

The weapon coughed, hacked, sputtered, and died. It leaked smoke from an overheated barrel. The pirates on the ground looked around at the stopped flame, a split second of hesitation. Gates dropped the weapon, and picked up the abandoned Tyrant, lifting it to his hip and firing.

The hiss of the flamethrower was a stark opposite of the flames it dealt; unintimidating compared to a man-made hell unleashed. The Tyrant sounded just like it damaged. It barked and churned, and the results were horrific; pirates, seemingly lucky to have avoided the flame, died in bunches, taken down by heavy rounds.

Only then did pirate officers realize it was just one man, albeit a well-armed one. The pirates rose as one body, charging the firing ASL, screaming in fury as they charged. Gates' lips turned up in a predator's smile.

He took two steps backward, walking through the door deeper into the ship, firing the whole way. He tossed the Tyrant behind him as the first of the pirates got within ten feet, and in one smooth move, pulled his DT-57 with his left hand and the pins of two grenades with his right. The grenades, smoothly pulled from the bandolier, didn't drop off the pins until his jerked his hand to a halt, letting them fly. His pistol-wielding hand fired twice, roasting the door panel and locking the door shut.

Even through the thick metal, Gates could hear the pirates screaming before a pair of muffled explosions ended much of it. Garryll grinned again, holstering his pistol and picking up the heavy support weapon. That would teach 'em.

The generator room doors slid open with a hiss, Reese stepped inside and glanced around, the huge generators were humming quietly to themselves.  The system must be fully automated Reese thought as he couldn't see a technician anywhere.

A thorough search of the cavernous room revealed the four huge generators, a bank of monitoring equipment and a small control room in the far corner.

Leaving the doors open and taking up defensive positions, they created a fire trap in the corridor beyond, any enemies planning on taking the generator room had to get down the corridor and through them first.

It wasn't long before they heard the sounds of movement in the vents, taking careful aim, Reese shot the first man in the head, effectively blocking access for the men beyond still stuck in the vent shafts.

After all the vents were blocked, the enemy tried a frontal assault.

A grenade bounced around the corner and exploded with a bright flash and a wave of heat rolled over Reese and debris and dust rained down.

Immediately following the blast, six men came charging down the corridor through the smoke, Flicking to automatic, Reese opened fire down the corridor into the oncoming ranks.

Shots were bouncing off the floor and walls near them and the odd stray shot bounced off his armour, "good job they're not good shots!" Reese joked as he continued to pour fire down the corridor.

The first two men fell quickly, and the third's head snapped back as Reese's round found it's target.  The remaining three men, slowed then backed up towards the corner, firing defensively as they went. One more fell just as he reached the corner hitting the wall and collapsing in a heap.

"Well that was easy!" said Reese, a moment too soon as a couple of squads of reinforcements came around the corner.

Throwing a grenade into their midst, and taking cover, Reese backed further into the generator room, firing in short bursts as he did so.

The grenade took down the first squad in the narrow confines of the hallway and a couple of their broken bodies crashed into the room beyond.  The ceiling and walls of the corridor had now collapsed blocking access to the room, debris and bodies jammed the hallway, effectively cutting off the room.  A few survivors were firing through gaps at them while their friends tried to clear the blockage.

Switching to single shot, Reese carefully picked off the men as they appeared in gaps in the debris, trying to get past.

It went quiet.  Dust and smoke drifted lazily around the room, the sound of the generators became loud again as it sounded like the enemy has given up trying to take the room.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion and the debris blocking the corridor blew into the room with a great roar, Reese ducked as fire and shrapnel came flying at him.  A second later the remaining men poured into the room kicking stray pieces of debris aside, firing madly trying to keep their enemy's heads down.

Reese had no choice but to back up against such an onslaught, flicking back to auto he fired into the men as they began setting up a defensive position by the doorway.  They began pushing Reese and Tank back into the room. Two men collapsed and a third flew backwards under the impact of the rounds.  Reese quickly reloaded and continued firing into the ranks, knocking down the men as they struggled to find cover.

"Where the hell are our reinforcements?" Reese shouted into his comm unit as explosions and gunfire tore up the room around him.

After what seemed an age, the enemy were reduced to two men, now looking distinctly uneasy as they took cover behind the first generator, they supported each other as they retreated back to the doorway and the relative safety of the corridor beyond. 

They didn't make it.  Reese took them both with head shots and they collapsed, a look of shock on their faces.

"Right, let's report in!" Reese said to Tank as they both reloaded and came out from their cover.
There was no more movement from the corridor beyond and in any case, the damage was so severe, it was unlikely anyone would try that route again, bodies and debris littered the floor everywhere, dust slowly settled over everything.
" Reese to squad leader, situation under control,  we have kept the generators running! enemy have suffered heavy casualties, they are travelling through the ship using the vent shafts, there is heavy damage here but everything is still operational, Reese out"

Quickly checking his remaining ammunition and equipment, Reese took up a defensive position by the doorway just in case there was more to come.

OOC:

Wow Tank, that's a lot of weapons...

Gates heard Reese over the Stormtrooper Comms that they had fought off a wave of the pirates, but Tank then saying another was coming. "Keep frosty, Blackjacks. Let's do this one nice and easy. We only have to hold out until the Sector Authorities show up and help us blow the pirates to kingdom come."

A chorus of affirmatives came across the comm. Gates flipped it to the Marines' frequency. "Cant, we have to get into the hanger; once in, a few of your men can rig charges to seal this door better than the other one. That one only has a few melted wires; it shouldn't take long to open it."

"Gotcha, Gates," Cant replied, readying his E-11 and dropping the blast shield of his helmet. The other marines followed suit, checking weapons, flicking their weapons' safeties to auto, checking ammo, sidearms, body armor.

Garryll removed a flash-bang grenade from his bandoleer, hefting it. He poked an eye around the corner, spotting a half-dozen pirates emerging. He made his move when they went down another hall; charging, he made almost no noise, despite being in nearly 200 kilos of hardened metal. He stopped abruptly in front of the open hallway, staring down another half-dozen pirates whose jaws dropped even as the grenade was tossed. Gates flicked the opacity on his visor up to full and deadened the noise. All he heard was a slight bump, and he opened himself up to the world again.

The pirates were blinded, deaf, but this time, still had weapons in hands. They fired blindly, groping for cover. Gates walked forward, grabbing his shotgun as he did. A short Rodian, its eyes bleeding and shedding tears, deaf to the racket the guns were creating, fired down the hall, missing Gates by a good meter. Gates leveled the shotgun with the pirate's chest and fired. The concentrated shell tore through the Rodian, scattering a strange color of blood on the walls.

He pumped the handle, ejecting the spent ammunition, and fired again. A human with a pistol in each hand flew off of his feet, bleeding from multiple wounds. Gates kept moving forward, pumping the weapon again. A half-blinded Twi'lek charged forward with a vibrosword. Gates dodged his first slice, deflected the second with his hardened wrist armor, and hit the alien in the face with his shotgun, knocking him down. The alien tried to stand, but Gates planted his boot on his chest and fired, blowing the alien's head apart.

The door at the end of the hall opened, and more pirates poured in. Gates dove behind cover, blind-firing his shotgun to keep them pinned. Amazingly, he heard a scream as the scattershot managed to hit something. The remaining pirates roared in anger and filled the hall with slugs and laser fire. Gates hunkered down behind his cover, a vacuum-proof box. A pirate charged around his cover, aiming his pistol at the stormtrooper and bellowing a victory cry- preemptive. Gates put a shot in his gut and blew off his arm holding the weapon. The man's cry turned to a scream and he fell, bleeding onto the already-destroyed deck.

"Marines, get in here!" Gates yelled. Instantly, Cant and his men poured into the hall, firing E-11s on full-auto, mowing down the hapless pirates. Gates stood carefully, placing his feet on rare portions of the deck absent of blood or bodies. "Good job, Cant. Now let's take the fight to them."

Okay, it’s a right, two lefts, down a flight of stairs and then a long hall. After that, turbolift down and hold them there. Gods willing Garryll and Orobos can keep them busy enough so we can get there. Tanus ran down the hallway, coming up just short of Alater with his long strides. His sword, for the moment was sheathed, and he was holding the Stouker in his hands. Tanus was running support with his M82-G, complete with proton grenade and arcetron tipped rounds. The weapon brought back memories or ARC, and of the missions they had. I miss the old days. Tanus snapped out of his reverie as he was a group of pirates coming out a doorway; their entrance was heralded with screaming and blaster fire. It looked like the technicians and engineers were giving them a fight. Valiant effort, but they are no soldiers. And they certainly are no Alater. Blaster fire pinged the wall next to his head and left a black scorch mar to lt Tanus know the pirates knew of their presence. Tanus raised his rifle and fired, letting lose three shot bursts on any exposed extremity the pirates had left out in the open. Screaming filled the hall way as both engineers and pirates fell in a haze of gunfire and smoke, while Alater laid into them with the Stouker, sending bodies flying in every direction. Tanus pulled a grenade off of his belt and tossed it in the hall way.

“Fire in the hole!”

Seconds later, a resounding explosion sent shards of shrapnel and human bone scattering all around the hall way. As they packed up, Alater took a look at the Stouker and put a clawed hand on the pommel of his sword Long Claw.

“Death Leader, I still prefer the blade to the gun. At least that way I feel more… alive. Then I can see life flee from their eyes before me.”

Tanus just shook his head and turned to run back down the hall. He looked down at his rifle to make sure it wasn’t jammed.

“Aye, I know the feeling Alater. But even if you are a big, scaly tank, I’d prefer you hanging back here with me and NOT getting killed. I don’t have enough experience blood anymore and need everyone I can get.”

Alater let lose a noise that was a cross between a hiss and harrumph.

“Better men, women and lizards have tried. Let them come as they please. The ending is always the same.”

Tanus had to laugh; the man was cocky, no doubt about it, but he had a point. Tanus should have been dead many times over, he realized. But he always came out on top because he was better than the masses. That’s why he was given Blackjack, his men to command that relied on him to keep them alive. They turned around a sharp corner into a slightly darkened hall with several lights blown out. Tanus turned on his head lamp and started down the hall, weapon raised as he heard Alater remove Long Claw from its sheath. And then an explosion split the wall in two and pirates came pouring out, looking to the left and right. Seeing Tanus and Alater, they raised their weapons and started to open fire. Tanus replied in kind, leading with the proton grenade. Their ranks were ripped to shreds as Tanus fired and Alater surged past, screaming a battle cry and sword raised high.

Let them try and stop me.

Reese's head was still ringing from the chewing out he had received from the LC.  He had made a tactical error without thinking and knew that the LC was correct in berating him for it.  Looking accusingly at the stun grenades attached to him, Reese cursed himself for allowing his judgement to be clouded and put lives at risk.  He wondered if he would be able to help the technicians repair the damage after this was all over to help ease his guilt.

Also, realising that his actions in blocking the vent access points could easily have led to circulation problems on board which could have put them all at risk, he cursed under his breath again, at this rate he will be court martialled and shot.

Snapping out of his reverie, he noticed the LC telling him to hunker down and be ready.  With that, Tank went out of the room and down the corridor, now smouldering in silent accusation at Reese.

A series of explosions and the unmistakeable screaming of the LC's M93R-AP Auto-9 pistols rapidly followed his departure.  A few seconds later, he came charging back into the room as he signalled Reese that there were 10 more incoming.  "Is there no end to them?" Reese thought to himself as he flicked the safety off and sighted down the corridor.

Taking up positions in the ruins of the corridor, the pirates opened fire with vengeful ferocity at Tank and Reese.  Dodging their fire, Reese rolled away and, firing as he rolled into the group of pirates, he took down the first three before they adjusted their aim to compensate.

Hearing the LC's voice in his head, Reese unclipped one of his stun grenades and activating it, he flung it into the corridor and shouted a warning to Tank "Stun Grenade Out!".  Reese felt more than saw, the flash of the stun grenade as he averted his eyes.  The group had stopped firing momentarily and were stumbling around  trying to reorientate themselves.

Reese did not give them that chance.

Opening fire fully automatic with his  M82-G Assault Rifle, Reese cut them down where they stood.  The screaming intensified as the men realised what was happening, a few of them began firing blindly in the hopes of hitting something.  All of the shots impacted harmlessly into the already ruined corridor, the shots causing sparks to fly into their faces, disorientating them further.

There were two men left when Reese had finished firing, rising out of his position, Reese flew at the men, still slightly disorientated, firing as he went.  The first pirate saw Reese coming and tried to defend himself, but one of Reese's stray shots caught him in the throat and he collapsed silently, staring accusingly at Reese as he fell.

The last man had almost recovered just as Reese got to him, and had somehow avoided all the shots with only a small flesh wound to his upper arm.

Reese slung his M82-G onto his back as he ran and unhooked his M32 combat knife readying it in his left hand as he did so.

The impact of the charge, knocked the pirate to the floor as Reese barrelled into him, he fumbled desperately for his weapon as Reese held him to the scorched floor and pressed his knee into his throat.  "You pirate scum, did I ever tell you how much I hate your kind?" Reese glared down at the hapless pirate and remembered the pirates from his homeworld who had made life difficult for him, taunting him and his father in their workshop and declaring themselves 'protectors' as they robbed them time and time again.
Showing the struggling pirate the razor edge of his 'toothpick', he slammed the knife into the pirate's throat, thrusting upwards into his brain as he watched the life go out of the man's eyes.

Wiping off the blade, Reese unslung his M82-G again and headed back into the generator room, reloading as he went.

"Hope that was better Corporal!" Reese shouted to the LC.  "No more damage and a new respect for stun grenades!, just call me 'Flash'!".  Amused, Reese hoped his performance overall today would be enough to save him when it came time to answer for his previous 'indiscretions'.  He was the newest and the most inexperienced of them all, and he wanted his squad to be pleased with him.

"Stun Grenade Out!" was all the warning Tank had but it was a second too late.  The Lance Corporal was caught in the blast radius, as were all the remaining pirates in this section.  Summoning all of his willpower to shrug it off, the Stormtrooper gripped his force-pike tighter and charged.  Tank only half-registered Private Reese taking out three more in short order, but careful enough to keep his line of fire clear from his squadmate.  Tank was grateful for that, as he rushed one foe with a hard jab of the force-pike to the Klatooinian's gut.  As he doubled over to kiss deckplate, Tank wasted no time delivering a sharp blow to the head of an Iktotchi pirate.

Much to Tank's surprise and dismay, the Iktotchi pirate not only refused to go down but raised his Gand Silencer to attack!  Tank swiftly parried the stun baton, and soon it was back and forth with Stormtrooper and pirate exchanging blows yet none landing on their targets.  As Reese finished of the rest of them Tank tired of the dance and pressed into the Iktotchi pirate; locking arms Tank forced the enemy's arm inward untill the Gand Silencer connected with the pirate's chin.  The stun baton's full charge proved far too much for him and the pirate was out cold.

As Tank disentangled himself he saw Reese cleaning blood from his toothpick.  "Good work Private.  But next time, give a little more warning, okay?"

"You got it Lance Coporal!" Reese responded.

"I only hope that's the last of them..."

"Amen to that, Sir!"

The Savior led the cut deep into the asteroid field, the two other Longhorns sweeping at their flanks and the Sector Authorities' ships only a few dozen meters off of the wing of the Savior. Ipiad snorted in laughter, and muttered something to Tanus, who acknowledged with a murmur. Gates' helmet tucked under his arm, he approached. Ipiad spoke louder. "Tell the Authorities to back off. If we crash, we'll crush them like a tin can, but we won't even feel it."

The ensign on comms grinned and sent the message. The sector authorities reluctantly backed up. They erupted from the main asteroid field into a large, clear area. Two strung-together banks of turbolasers mounted on asteroids began firing. A handful of fighters sped from a large hijacked battlestation. rotating slowly in the middle of the cleared space. The Imperial TIEs engaged with a like number and the rest drew some fire from the banks of turbolasers. The space station began firing at the Imperial forces, more than a match for their firepower.

"You may launch when ready, Sergeant," Ipiad gave the formal answer to Tanus. Tanus buckled on his helmet, and waved Gates along. Gates nodded happily, replacing his helmet and picking up his M-82G and Tyrant, slinging the rifle and racking the slide back on the assault weapon. Unfortunately, the ship had no napalm reserves, so the flamer was out, and half-melted anyway.

Blackjack formed up on their two leaders; two rookies, two hard men, two aliens, and two squad leaders, all bearing arms and incased in bullet-, laser-, shock-, concussion-, vacuum-resistant armor that could take light cannon rounds to the chest and keep fighting.

They climbed aboard their dropship, a slick, fast, thin, well-armored ship with two doors to exit out. They climbed aboard; their pilot, a grizzled man, nodded and started their repulsorlifts up. The ship gracefully rose, and they shot from the Savior. The space in the clearing was filled with flying concussion missiles, screaming TIEs, Pirates Uglies, brilliant lasers, and in the phalanx of the Imperial advance, the Sector Authorities' DP-20 and a five other dropships. One more from the Savior, Cant's men, and the other four from the other two Longhorns. The marines would take one of the banks of lasers, the Stormtroopers and their 'helpful' allies, the other.

"Good luck with this, Cant. You buy the drinks when we get back," Gates said into the radio. The Sergeant laughed and agreed.

The two-ship attack force turned and screamed for their chosen turbolaser base. A six TIE escort dodged turbolasers and distracted them long enough for the sluggish corvette to make the sprint onto the docking tube next to the Blackjack dropship. "SecAuth!" Tanus barked into the radio. "Who is your CO?"

"It'd be Lieutenant Willis, sir!" cried a voice back.

Tanus waved. Blackjack poured into the small, dense space station. "Tell Willis he's answering to the Empire right now. Roll out!"

The two forces poured out of the docking tubes, eight Blackjacks and a couple dozen Sector. More were trying to get out. "There are two major banks of turbolasers. We'll split the two groups in half; I'll take half my squad and half your men down, Gates will lead the rest up. Some of your men will handle the defense of the ships," Tanus ordered. A man bearing Lieutenant's pins elbowed his way up. He was young, and arrogant looking. "Hey, what about-"

Laser fire screamed into him, smashing his left shoulder. He fell, screaming. "Shit this!" Gates yelled. "Orobos, Reese, Tank, half the sectors, on me!" Tanus yelled from the other side of the confused brawl, as more pirates started firing and falling back against the numbers, "H, Alater, Terra, on me!"

The two groups split up, bunches of Sector Authorities flowing one way or another. Gates kicked open a flimsy metal door, and ran up a short flight of stairs. At the top, another door was slammed shut. Gates sprinted the last few steps and smashed it open, breaking the man who'd run up's nose. Gates kicked him in the jaw, breaking his neck.

The rest of Blackjack poured into the long room, crowded with turbolasers, extra massive energy shells, and pirates. Blackjack dove for cover, firing quickly. Orobos fired the massive Stouker Conc. Rifle into a clump of men. Sector Authorities trickled in, firing hesitantly. One man dove behind a piece of cover with Gates.

"Shit man, I don't want to die!" the man howled, a pair of marks burned away on his hair. Gates swore and kicked him. "Get up and grow a pair!" He fired the Tyrant on full auto, the stock slamming into his armor and firing rounds at a rapid rate.

The Sector Authorities were good in some places, but totally useless in others. A private, firing full-auto, took a round to the face and died. Another man's helmet was blown off along with his ear, but Gates dragged him behind cover. A fireteam accidentally cooked a grenade too long and was shredded.

Despite this, the attack force managed to push up to half way across the room before the pirates dug in their heels. The four stormtroopers and their semi-useless allies couldn't push through. Gates swore as the Tyrant jammed. He ducked behind cover, and hit the slide to dislodge a broken shell. He turned to fire again, when he spotted a ladder. "Orbos, keep their heads down!" Gates yelled, slinging the heavy weapon in favor of the lighter assault rifle. He ducked a couple slugs and jumped halfway up a ladder. It led into a scaffolding-like level. He quickly ran past the firefight below, and looked down. A large hole revealed that many pirates were holding off the Imperials, but they had no rear guard. Gates slammed a booted foot on the floor; it was a flimsy metal, and buckled. He fell, and smashed onto the ground.

Garryll stood, and brushed himself off before picking up his M-82G and firing a grenade into the largest clump of men and firing full-auto into the rest. Confused, the pirates faltered, and turned halfway. The other three stormtroopers took advantage of the situation and urged a charge, destroying the pirates.

"Sector! Get these turbolasers firing on the spacestation or at least inactive! Guard it!" Gates yelled. The rest of the men, the Stormtroopers, charged downstairs into a rather peaceful environment; Tanus had already led his men to victory. "Done? Excellent," Tanus said, a grim smile in his voice. Alater was wiping blood and gore off of his armor and huge sword, and there were many decapitated or simply destroyed bodies.

The stormtroopers quickly marched back to their dropship, and loaded on. As they left, they peered at the battle screen. The Imperial phalanx was holding, but two of the Longhorns were flickering yellow, for damage to shields. Now, though, the two banks of turbolasers began adding a bit of fire to the Imperial side, and dropships and TIEs approached the spacestation.

Gates reloaded his weapons, and keyed the dropship comms. "Rock 'n' roll!" he yelled, "Penetrate and annihilate! Hoo-ah!"

The Stormtrooper squad cut through the meek pirate resistence like a lightsaber through almost anything. Screams filled the hanger, and bodies, blood and weapons covered the floor. Men yelled battle cries at their foes, fired at point blank range with blasters and slugthrowers, filling the air with brilliant white tracers and red and green laser bolts. Vibroaxes, swords, knives and clubs were smashed into enemies, but the massive weapons in Tanus' war hammer and Alater's sword wreaked absolute havoc on the disorganized pirate forces.

Gates fired his Tyrant from the hip, blasting a pair of pirates limb from bloody limb, the hollow-point shells ripping men in half, doubling them up, or just plain destroying them. He grinned and giggled maniacally. His squadmates just ignored him; they knew better, by now.

Quickly, the spearhead of Stormtroopers cut a swathe right to the source of the pirates: the main hanger door. They stemmed the tide with a few well-placed grenades, and charged down the hall as the pirates were reeling.

Sector Authority forces managed to get the rest of the pirates into a crossfire with the Imperials and mow them all down. Several of the Sector rookies, exhausted by the bloody skirmish, slowly fell to their knees, but kept their hands on their weapons, the age-old ideal to never, ever lose your weapon well-hammered in by their training sergeants.

Gates popped on the Imperial comm in his helmet. "Cant, what's the situation?"

"Deep shit, Gates. We've been totally stonewalled by the Pirates; we arrived to greater numbers, and it looks like they're focusing them on us."

Tanus nodded. "I'll send you a few men and some of the SecAuth to back you up, and the rest of Blackjack will delve deeper into the ship, see if we can draw some of them off. Terra, H, take a couple fireteams of Sectors and see if you can raise some hell for the pirates."

"Aye, sir," the two PFCs said, running off, a dozen fresh Sector officers chasing after them.

"Blackjack, form up; Delta formation," Tanus ordered, throwing some quick hand signals. The 'Delta' was one of the oldest military formations known to man; one point man and an open triangle flaring off him.

Alater walked point because he was large and mostly impervious to light blasters, the two Squad Leaders after him, and the rest of the squad forming up off those edges. They started off quickly, moving away from the hanger.

After a couple minutes, they found a door, and entered. Inside, a group of pirates typed commands into a console; when the door hissed open, they looked over casually. At spotting the Stormtroopers, they did a series of double takes, lunging for sidearms and reaching for alarms. The Stormtroopers mowed them all down in under a second.

"That was easy," Gates muttered, checking his M-82G's ammo. "Incredibly so."

Gates helped Tanus up, patting off some melted metal from his shoulders.

"Gods, what was that?" asked Orobos groggily, holding his head. "Feels like I was hit by a truck."

"Well, if I had to place a guess, I’m going with explosives," said a demo expert from the Sectors, "and a lot of them at that."

"Oh my, thank you Captain Obvious," Gates replied snidely, drawing a bright red face from the officer, "Would you also like to explain the intricacies of the paper plane to me?"

Tanus shook his head and told them to can it, and then they quickly moved between the men, saving those that could be saved and putting men out of their misery. Tanus swore viciously after putting one out, "No more games. These punks are going down, and intend to make sure that a few die in the most gruesome way possible. Ready your ammo and your kit. We’re finishing this now."

Gates complied with the order, locating a blood-splattered M-82G with his initials on it, checking the clip and sights. The rest of Blackjack and the shell-shocked Sector Officers mimicked his actions.

The Delta formation began again, Alater leading, the huge lizard dipping quickly back into a hunter; on his flanks, the two leaders kept rifles at the ready, with the last three men bringing up the rear. The Sector Authority officers timidly followed.

They broke out around a corner into a large group of pirates, their first major encounter. Alater roared, sending a man screaming away, and swept his huge sword through the necks of the front line. Gates and Tanus opened up on full-auto. Men and aliens fell in droves. Gates dodged past Alater's scything sword and tackled a well-clothed pirate, pinning him to the floor and sparing him from death. The rest weren't so lucky.

The rest of Blackjack dodged forward, checking the corners and watching doors. Gates slung his rifle and pulled his combat knife, and slapped the pirate awake. As the pirate's eye flicked open, the combat knife came close, practically tickling the eye itself. A blade that close to one of a man's favorite senses was a sobering sight.

"Where is the command bridge?" Gates growled. "If you tell us, they'll spare you."

The man blubbered incoherently until Gates slapped him. "Quit your whining. Tell me where it is!"

"Fourth level, middle. A couple levels up from the turbolift down the hall, and two rights from there," the man said hesitantly.

Gates patted his cheek. "Your information is useful. Thank you."

"I'm actually gonna live?" asked the pirate breathlessly.

Gates stood and unholstered his pistol, firing it point-blank into the man's face. "Of course not. That would look bad for my image."

Tanus turned back and noticed that Tank wasn’t with them. Seven hells, not another one. Tanus commed into Tank, and heard firing and swearing. This was not a good sign. The he heard the hiss of… hydraulics? What in the hell is going on here? The rest of the squad stopped as Tanus came up to a door. He waved his fingers at the door for the men to set charges.

“Tank, its Tanus. Where in the hell are you?”

More blaster fire took up for an answer, followed by the sound of a rapid fire burst and screaming.

“No worries boss. I’m just prepping the shuttle for our ride back. A few of the rangers hung back in the hangar to make sure no one left. When I got in here, it was something out of a holovid. At any rate, I made my way through to the shuttle. I hope you finish up soon, because these pirates don’t look like they’ll be stopping any time soon.”

“Duly noted. Get to your ship then Tank. Get ready to leave at a moment’s notice.”

“Yes sir.” The line went dead and Tanus looked up to Blackjack setting up charges, with the remainder of the rangers covering the rear. This was a folly. I’ve already lost half of the rangers I came with, and I can’t imagine how the others are going to fair. Damn it all, I should have made a bet with Ipiad to see how many I’d lose. I would be a rich man in any case. Tanus backed off as the charges were set and took the detonator from Alater as the others came after him.

“Fire in the hole.”

Tanus hit the button; half a second later, fire, smoke and a ruinous roar filled the hallway as the door was ripped out of its housing. Tanus was around the corner first, rifle raised and into the breach. Just as he’d guessed, several of the pirates closest to the door were ripped apart by the blast; the others that were mid distance were knocked off their feet and getting back up slowly, while the others had either blasters trained on the door or had simply retreated. Tanus wasted no time in assessment; he pulled the trigger, letting lose a stream of bullets at every breathing thing in front of him. Garryll and Reese were at his side, tossing in grenades and mixing in support fire, while Alater and Orobos fired the Stoukers at the pirates trying to escape. The Rangers had the easy part, since they just stood back and watched. When it was over, he heard some murmuring from behind them. Tanus turned to see a few of the Rangers walking up to him, rifle cradled in his arms.

“Sir, the men and I were wondering… When do you think it will be our turn to shoot?”

Tanus was incredulous. For once in his life, a rookie had actually rendered him speechless. Tanus grabbed the man by the shirt and thrust him up against the wall; both of them dropped their weapons, and the man was obviously frightened.

“Turn? You want your bloody turn? Son, I don’t think you understand what this is. This is not a damn game. People’s lives are at stake and you want a turn at playing soldier? That game was fun when you were younglings, but it ended when you put on that armor. The game is real, and people are dying when you blow a rule. If you want your turn, I suggest you go to the hangar and help out your remaining soldiers there. I got wind that there are more than a few pirates willing to be targets for you young bucks. In the mean time, get out of the way of me and my men. Leave the real soldiering to the soldiers.”

Tanus turned on his heel and grabbed his rifle off the ground, leaving the rangers to go back to the hangar. He took point, flanked by Garryll and Alater, while Reese and Orobos covered the rear. As they walked along the corridors, Reese put a word in.

“Sarge, I don’t mean to question you or anything, but don’t you think that the way you handled the rangers was a bit… harsh? They were only trying to do their jobs.”

Tanus simply sighed and turned around to face Reese, who flinched. He’s frightened of what I’ll do to him. He must think I’m an asshole.

“Reese, I have a job to do here, as do they. The difference between them and I is that I have to babysit them. They aren’t used to what we are; they aren’t used to the corps life. Every now and then they may deal with some pirates, but beyond that, they have nothing.”

He put a hand on Reese’s shoulder to calm his anxiety; he didn’t need a nervous recruit on his hands, especially not now.

“Reese, you’re a rookie, and I know that you’ll do great things. And I also know that in six months you’ll see more action then most of the rangers face in six years. Just remember that next time they challenge your manhood in a bar.”

Garryll chuckled as they walked forward while Reese hung his head thoughtfully. Tanus was all eyes and ears, just waiting for something to go down. As they progressed further, it got dimmer and dimmer. We must be getting close then. Tanus turned on his headlamp, and the others did the same and raised rifles.

“Tread cautiously gentlemen. I don’t need another trap set off any time soon. I think we’re getting close, given the design of the vessel and the damage done. If we see a large locked door in front of us, you know we’ve hit it. If anything blows up and you anything move, shoot it. Other than that, this ought to be a walk in the park.”

They walked on down the hall, which had now turned black, for close to five minutes before they found the door. It was locked shut and from the look of it was triple thick durasteel, meaning they had nothing to punch through it. Okay, so it’s the old fashioned way.

“Reese, slice the door. Everyone else, grab a gun and get ready for some fireworks.”

Reese went over to the console which was off to the left and in a nook near the wall, making it safely out of harm’s way, leaving Reese to recover quickly. It took a few minutes, most of it sprinkled with some very creative swears on Reese’s part. When the doors finally opened, Tanus only saw mountains of crates and boxes stored along the walls. They came in every size and color, and ranged from carrying food to arms. Jackpot. Tanus out to fingers in the air and waved the squad forward, rifle raised up and looking at walkways above; he loaded a grenade into the under barrel just in case. As Reese walked in, he slung his rifle over his shoulder as Alater tossed him the Stouker and drew his sword.

“Okay, let’s split up. Reese you come with me up the right. You three go up and around the right. We’ll meet up in the center. Just be careful.”

They split off in their respective directions, each with heavy weapons to compliment them. Tanus looked up over head as he made his way through, while Reese concentrated on the crates themselves, making sure there were no traps. When they reached the center, both teams seemed uneasy. Garryll voiced his mind first.

“Isn’t this the part where we get ambushed and go down in a blaze of glory? Where in the Force are the pirates? I thought they were supposed to be more.”

Orobos shrugged. “Maybe they retreated. Could’ve been they saw what we did to their friends or heard what happened on the ships and tried to make for the pods.”

Tanus and Alater both shook their heads. “No,” Alater rasped. “It’s never that easy. I know that they are just waiting for us to get lax. Now would actually be the best time to strike, given that we’ve been talking the entire time and haven’t seen anything up above.”

“Worse yet, they could have booby trapped the entire room and already moved all the loot out. This could all be one big ticking time bomb for all we know,” Tanus said, rifle in hands.

It was Reese that brought them out of their reverie, Stouker raised to the walkway above.

“Or they could be trying to set up some heavy blasters. Poorly and loudly I might add.”

They all turned and looked up to see two pirates setting up a blaster cannon aimed at them. Their eyes locked for a mere second. Then Reese pulled the trigger. The pirates and the walkway were ripped apart as more pirates started to fill in from the walkway and side doors. Garryll turned to greet them, Tyrant blazing in his hands.

“See! I told you! Blaze of glory!”

Tanus shook his head and raised his rifle, firing off rounds at anything that moved. He slammed a new clip into his rifle and continued as more of them filled in. He waved them all back.

“Get some cover! Garryll, lay suppressing fire down rushers! Orobos and Reese, take care of the ones above us! I’ll provide covering fire. Alater, find a way to get up there and give them something to really run from.”

Alater hissed in glee as he sprinted off to find a ladder up to the walkways. When Tanus turned back, Garryll had already established a base of fire on a crate in front of him, and was doing an excellent job of scattering the pirates. Reese and Orobos had their hands full for the topside, and sending the pirates either running or into the sky to meet a long drop and a sudden stop. Tanus raised his rifle up and pulled the bottom trigger on his rifle, firing the grenade into a group of pirates charging from the left. Garryll turned around, waving his arms about.

“What the hell!? I could have gotten them!”

Tanus raised his rifle up and let lose a stream of bullets, dropping three more pirates and sending the others scurrying back to their lines.

“Yeah, but you didn’t.”

The fighting on the ground took place for what seemed like an eternity. The screaming above and the body that landed next to Tanus with a sudden crunch signaled that Alater had found his way up top. When that happened, all attention turned to the large lizard swinging a sword and throwing people one handed from the walkway above. Tanus called in his orders.

“Okay, they’re distracted! Hammer ‘em in boys!”

Tanus loaded a grenade into the barrel and fired, sending at least ten bodies flying in all directions and scattering the others; Garryll took care of the rest. By this time, the entire left side of the crates the pirates were using as cover had been blown apart, and they could only filter through the right side opening, which gave Garryll and very good murder hole. Unfortunately, the pirates had compensated for this and had started using Garryll for targeting practice. This meant that Orobos and Reese constantly had to fire at moving targets, and not just stationary gunners. Luckily, Alater gave Orobos and Reese a reprieve and let them target all the pirates that had switched their attention somewhere else.

By the time it was done, the floor was slick with blood and bodies were everywhere. Garryll still had his eye trained on the gap in the crates where the pirates had filtered through, but a hand on the shoulder told him it was done. Reese and Orobos did a once over of the walkways, and Alater and Tanus walked through the rest of the room, melee weapons in hand ready for a fight. But it was done; there was no one else. Tanus turned around and commed in to Tank to fire up the ship. When they got back to the hangar, it was all but deserted, save for two teams of rangers and a few captured pirates; the others were dead or had left by now. They boarded the shuttle and took off back to the Savior, who had a few more battle scars on her hull. On the way back, he commed Ipiad to let him know that the teams could move in for the stolen materiel. When they landed, Ipiad was there waiting along with most of his staff. As they descended the ramp, applause filled the air. Ipiad walked up to him and shook his hand and a big smile crossed his face.

“You did wonderfully Sergeant. My teams have been dispatched and the rangers are for the most part accounted for. This was a huge success. The colonies will be glad to have their supplies back.”

Tanus smiled in relief that it was finally over, and knew Ipiad saw the wave of calm on his face.

“I know they will sir. Now with all due respect, get us the hell out of here.”

OOC:

Story end. Next up is the competition boys. Let's get some work done.