As Wil disappears ahead of them, Zephyr turns to Maxim. “Ready to do this?”
“I’d follow you anywhere.”
“Flirt.”
“Ghost base, any idea what’s down this corridor?” Maxim asks, as the two of them head in the opposite direction to Wil.
“Unfortunately, no,” Gabe replies. “Our passive scans registered a few chambers and a cross corridor that leads to a stairwell. I suggest you head towards that and begin clearing the levels.”
“Roger that,” Zephyr says, as the two Palorians increase their pace to a light jog, doing their best to mix speed and stealth.
Bennie chimes in over the comms. “I can open all the access hatches on the stairwell. They won’t know where you are, and as long as there are no environmental emergencies, the computer won’t force them closed.”
The stairwell hatch is indeed open when they arrive, having secured the two chambers they came across on their way there. As they reach the next level, they see a small group of pirates standing not too far from the door to the stairwell.
“Glad he opened all the doors,” Maxim whispers, as they slip out into the corridor.
The pirates are a mixed bag of races—some they recognize, some they don’t. There are two Ruknaks, though. “This could be a problem,” Maxim mutters, watching the group. Ruknaks are from a high-gravity world, and as a result, their typically five-foot frame is entirely muscle. Their skin is thick, almost rock-like, and it does a good job of absorbing energy-weapons fire. The Tarsi attempted to add the Ruknak to their Peacekeeper legions, until they realized that as a race the Ruknak aren’t much smarter than a garden pail. If it weren’t for their neighbors, the Sylban, they wouldn’t even have space travel.
The group is talking amongst themselves, apparently trying to coordinate with someone somewhere for the defense of the station. “Should we just kill them?” Maxim asks.
“I don’t know if we can take those Ruknak down fast enough,” Zephyr answers. “Let’s see what they do.”
The pirates start walking down the corridor. Either they came from the level above or the one below—most likely above, as otherwise Zephyr and Maxim would probably have heard them before now. Twenty meters down the corridor, the group turns a corner and runs into another group of pirates, who are escorting some kind of a technician with scanning equipment.
“Uh oh,” Maxim says, right as the technician looks up from her hand terminal at the other group of pirates, and directly at Maxim and Zephyr two meters behind them.
“Watch out!” is all the startled tech has time to say, before Maxim and Zephyr open fire on the confused group. The pirates of the new group were furthest from the two ex-Peacekeepers, and have time to drop to the ground and open fire. Blaster bolts strike them both, glancing off their armor, causing the prismatic shielding to waver and fade in places. The nearest group of pirates are mostly lying on the ground, plasma blasts smoking—except for the two Ruknak, who have slowly turned to face the now very visible invaders.
“Dren,” Zephyr hisses as the two walking piles of rock start to advance. Ruknak only have two large fingers and a thumb, so most weapons don’t suit them, but clubs are made to be held by any hand, and each Ruknak has one.
“Fall back!” Maxim orders, his HUD showing red warning icons on several parts of his armor. With his hand on Zephyr’s shoulder, the two backtrack down the corridor, towards the stairwell.
“Ghost base, we’re taking heavy fire, and our armor is compromised,” Maxim shouts, as they try to keep up a steady rate of fire to keep the advancing pirates back. Unfortunately, the two Ruknak are providing an excellent walking barrier to fire from.
“Get to the stairwell, and go up,” Bennie orders.
The moment they enter the stairwell the hatch slams shut. “You have thirty microtocks to get to the next door,” Bennie tells them.
Their armor may no longer be able to provide stealth, but its power enhancement capabilities allows them both to dash up the stairs three or four at a time, clearing the threshold of the next level’s hatch with microtocks to spare.
“What’s on this level?” Zephyr asks, as the hatch closes behind them. A light on the panel next to the hatch lights up, indicating that the hatch is sealed.
“Well, for one thing, less bad guys,” Bennie says. Before she can snap at him, he continues, “From our limited sensor data, it also looks like this level is mostly crew bunks. I don’t have full control of their systems. They’ve got a good hacker somewhere who’s keeping me from taking over entirely, but I can keep that stairwell locked up for at least a few more centocks.”
“Acknowledged,” Zephyr replies, as she and Maxim head down the corridor, poking their heads into each room they come across to ensure no one has slept through the alarm and is still in their bunk.
A few minutes later they reach the lift. Maxim reports in: “Ghost base, this level is clear.”
The next level, however, is not.