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The fleet hits a net, and Nai tells Haluk about what was on board the Frontier.

One of the figures pushed the other up against the wall, and Zach took aim. Leena pushed his arm away. “WAIT! That’s Leph!”

---

Nai went straight to Haluk, who was sitting in the cafeteria trying to eat. “Haluk!”
“AH! What?! What are you shouting for?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“He lied!”
Nai smote the table with both paws. “I contacted the cargo ship that’s bringing the energy collection equipment. Guess what?!”
“W-what?” Haluk answered in a small, shocked voice.
“Weapons. Nukes. But not only that.”
He pulled a data pad from his pocket. Pictures of the large mysterious crate and its contents were on the screen. “This is a power core for a weapon to surpass anything I’ve ever seen. I don’t know who designed it, but they’re far better than me at-”
“I designed it.”
It was Nai’s turn to be startled. He whirled around and nearly fell over the table. Gray Fox was standing by the door. “So, you contacted the Frontier, did you?”
Nai furrowed his brow, then stepped forward. “I did! I found your dirty laundry, Fox! Or whatever the hell your name is! Weapons?! What are they for, eh!? Are we restarting the war?! Answer me, now!”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll tell the word what you’re doing!”
“And what is that?”
“I don’t know, but those weapons are certainly suspicious!”
Grey Fox shrugged. “I took the liberty of blocking all communications to or from this station as of a few minutes ago. You’re not telling anyone.”
Nai grabbed Grey Fox, even though he knew full well Grey Fox could snap his neck in a matter of seconds. “Then there’s no reason not to answer my question! Was all our work a decoy?! What were we even doing out there!?”
Haluk, who was cowering in his chair, raised a paw. “U-um, N-nai?”
“What?!”
“He couldn’t be telling a lie. Whatever we did out there is… working.”
Grey Fox nodded. “Indeed. It’s not exactly what I made it out to be, but it’s working.”
Nai shook Grey Fox. “What the hell does that mean?!”
He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”
He took out a communicator that looked nothing like an S-com and spoke into it. “Our fruit has gone rotten. Please come and dispose of it.”
He put it away before receiving a response. He then crossed his arms and grinned. “If it makes you feel any better, I couldn’t have done all of this without you.”
When he uncrossed his arms, he was holding a gun.

~~~

Leo claimed he had the ability to feel sensor beams on his skin. For the past hour and a half, he had been feeling something was off. Even before Leph had alerted him to the cache of weapons on board, he had instructed Fieru to load the missile tubes. However, whatever was out there, he did not have enough time to find it before the fleet hit the net. The ship rocked and flipped over several times as the drones melted against the hull from the extreme friction of hitting an FTL vessel. At the same time, the melted metal caused the ship’s mass to increase, completely throwing off the drive computer’s calculations. When something like that happened, the first thing the drive computer did to prevent the ship from dissociating into individual atoms was to shut down completely. When the rocking and horrible noise ended, Leo found himself floating on the ceiling. He flailed for a moment of panic, then called out. “Fieru! FIERU?!”
“I’m here! Gravity’s offline!”
“I know! Get onto the weapons station, we’ve hit a net!”
Leo clambered towards the cockpit as red lights flashed across the halls.

~~~

“Teliko! T-Teliko?!”
Teliko’s head was pounding, and she wished she would pass out again. But Cyan’s incessant shaking of her arm was preventing that. She cracked an eye open and looked into his red, tear-stained face. “Oh, thank god…”
“Let go of me, Cyan…”
She flinched and felt a shock go up her spine. She had no feeling in her legs. “I-I can’t. You’re not supposed to m-move someone when they’ve had a h-head injury.”
Her head was on something soft. Cyan’s lap. It was also wet and sticky with blood. “What happened? I-is there something on my legs?”
“I think we hit a net. I’ve seen them on T.V, y’know, in action shows. It’s… pirates, I-I think…”
“Cyan, my legs…?”
“They’re fine.”
“I can’t move them!”
“Don’t try. Just keep talking.”
Teliko felt her vision dim again as she tried to move her legs. She almost vomited. “Where’s my dad…”
Her voice wasn’t strong. Cyan shook her arm again. “Stay awake! I don’t know where he is, but you have to stay here!”
She opened her eyes again. They were in her room. A flood of memory came back to her. “T-there was something wrong with the cargo… I came back here, and… I yelled at you…”
“Then we hit a net.”
“Get my dad, Cyan.”
He sighed, then took a deep breath. “LEPH!”
Teliko winced.

Leph was in the cockpit, wrestling with the ship’s controls. “Goddammit! Zach?!”
“Weapons, propulsion, everything! Gone!”
Leena was slamming her paw onto a console. “Sensors aren’t seeing anything! Do we have comms?!”
Leph took out his S-com. “No, but we have these!”
First, he called Leo. “LEO! SITREP!”
“There’s a vessel, Atriean, most likely pirates coming this way. We got off lucky, but sensors show the other ships are completely out of commission, including you guys!”
“One ship?!”
“Yes!”
“Intercept and destroy if necessary!”
The line cut. Leo called back to Fieru. “Status?!”
“Weapons down! I think I can get this missile through the tube, though!”
“Damn! Make it happen!”
Leo pocketed his S-com and strapped himself into the pilot’s seat. The ship had no forward-firing weapons, and so weapons were controlled through a station near the magazine. Fieru sat fiddling with a bundle of exposed wires as he tried to get weapons back online. However, it seemed a lot of the circuitry was a puddle of slag. “Fucking… RRg!”
He pulled out a soldering tool and began to wield it wildly. “I’ll just have to do it the hard way!”

Cain was smiling. “It’s always nice to see an old friend.”
Polos calmly piloted towards the closest ship: The Coyote Woman. “Don’t get too excited. They’ll probably end up dead after their usefulness as hostages runs out.”
“Why else would I be happy?”
Tokush and Yalogalil had arrived. Tokush was trimming the fur around his claws. “We should blow a couple of them up.”
Yalogalil rolled his eyes. “Is one too little for your blood-thirst?”
“Less hostages, less trouble.”
Polos grunted. “I’d like to keep the cargo. We’re docking now. Tokush, bring in our first hostages.”
He grinned and pulled a gas mask from his belt. “This will only take a second.”

Serleah and Dez were in communication with Teri. “No, we can’t move either. Have you called Leph?”
“No, his S-com is busy. I can see Leo from my window. He’s moving.”
Dez poked his head from a smoking compartment. “Definitely a net!”
He tossed a metal object to Serleah. She caught it and inspected the half-melted shell. It was an aluminum casing with a small computer and propulsion system. A simple, modified, over the counter drone. “Pirates.”
As she spoke, the airlock blew open. Her reflexes kicked in, and she drew her gun and fired a stun round through the door. “Alright you bastards, time for your shock therapy!”
Instead of a greasy pirate or two barreling through the door, the smoke from the blast just thickened. It showed no signs of getting thinner, and the moment it hit Serleah’s eyes, she couldn’t see through her own tears. “Ahg! Hack! Cowardly… hak!”
“Serleah! Wh- uggg!”
There was a thud and the sound of someone heavy falling to the ground. Someone grabbed Serleah roughly, and she immediately went to throw the assailant off her. However, something jabbed her in the side, administering an extremely painful shock. She went down and looked up into the masked face of a smug looking husky. “Well, aint you a cutie. C’mon, let’s get you a nice room.”
The next thing Serleah knew, she and Dez were being pulled through a force field, and then thrust into a room. The door shut. Serleah tried to move, but her muscles were still spasming painfully. “B-b-b-bastard!”
Dez groaned and stood up shakily. He coughed and rubbed his eyes. The smoke, although extremely effective on Humans, lasted only a few minutes on Atrieans. “Serleah… Hak! Are you alright?!”
The spasms subsided slightly, but Serleah still couldn’t stand. The shock didn’t seem to be designed to put her out. “I’m ok… dija get a look at that prick? He’s too clean to be a pirate.”
Dez sighed and crouched next to her. Although her voice did not betray the pain she was in, her face did. Dez stroked her fur. “Do you think it’s someone we pissed off?”
Serleah relaxed. “Maybe.”
There was a noise from across the room. Dez whirled around, while Serleah propped herself up to look. There was a box across the room. “Hello? Is someone in that box?” Dez said nervously.
The lid creaked open, and Lenny poked his head out. “Er… Hello?”
Dez waved. “Hi…”
“Are you a prisoner too?”
“No, we’re stowaways.”
“We?”
Serleah sat up, and Dez had to support her before she toppled over again. Rico poked his head out of the crate. “Shit, we’re too late!”
Serleah tensed up. “You! I know you! You almost killed Zach!”
Dez looked between the two. “What? When?”
“Like… twenty years ago or something!”
“It was more like sixteen.” Rico said as he climbed out of the crate.
Serleah snarled, but still was too weak to stand or move much. “You sure hold a grudge.”
“Hey, I’m trying to stop this!”
“And it’s just a coincidence that your target happens to be the people that put you in jail?”
“Cain is here.”
“Who?”
“The guy I used to be partners with. He’s here for revenge, or something. We’ve gotta stop him.”
“No, I’ll stop him. You climb back in that crate with your boyfriend and wait this one out.”
Lenny hadn’t climbed out of the crate, afraid that someone might come through the door and discover them. “He’s telling the truth. Rico, get back here!”
He went for the door. “You guys can trust me, or not, but I’m going to either blow this ship up or beat the hell out of-”
The door burst open and hit Rico on the side of the head. He went down. Lenny ducked into the crate, terrified. Cain stepped in. “Sound travels pretty far in this ship. Rico.”
Cain raised his gun and fired. The sound deafened everyone there. Lenny sprang up. “No!”
Cain grinned and said something, but Lenny’s ears were still ringing. Cain closed the door, then locked it. Lenny rushed over. Rico was holding his leg, where an ugly wound was seeping blood. “Rico! Er- er- I-I don’t know what to do!”
Serleah out her paw on Dez’s chest, then propped her leg under herself. She stood shakily and stumbled over. Dez was ready to catch her, but he was not needed. “Move!”
Rico cried out. “Ahh! Fucking hell!”
“Shut up!”
She crouched awkwardly. “Bullet went through, missed the bone. Dez, give me your coat!”
He handed it over, only to have Serleah rip it to shreds with her claws. She tied up the hole and made sure it was tight. Rico’s face was screwed up with pain, and Lenny was still crouched over him, holding his paws out but not knowing what to do with them. “Y-you’re going to be fine, Rico…”
He smiled through the pain. “Thanks bud, but… we’re caught. Nng! I’m sorry for dragging you here.”
“Don’t talk like that.”
He turned to Serleah. “We’ve gotta get out of here! You seem to be some sorta badass, do something!”
She sighed. “Easier said than done. These guys are professional, clearly. And that door looks like it wouldn’t open even if I had my biggest gun.”
“We gotta do something…”
“Make sure he doesn’t bleed out. We’ll take the first opportunity to escape we can, but right now there aint a thing we can do.”

Cain frowned as Polos shook his head disapprovingly. “You shouldn’t have shot him.”
“Why not? He’s a stowaway. He put me in prison.”
Polos shook his head. “You can shoot him as much as you want when we’re done. Right now, he’s the same as the other hostages. How did he get aboard anyway?”
Cain shrugged. “He must have followed me. I’ll give him credit, he caught onto us pretty quick.”
Poos grunted. “I doubt he knows what we’re doing out here, besides taking hostages.”
“Sure. Are we still jamming?”
“Of course.”
Cain sat back. “Alright. Let’s move on to the next ship.”

Feldoh was too busy to call anyone or pay any attention to what was going on, as one of his cargo bays was on fire. He and his crew were totally absorbed in righting the flames, so when the ship rocked and a thick smoke began rolling through the halls, no one was ready. Feldoh noticed the second plume of smoke and shouted. “Fitz! Louis! We’ve got another fire!”
The crew were wearing respirators, but nothing to protect their eyes. When the two crewmen went to check out the source of the second plume, they rubbed at their eyes and jumped back in agony. “Cap’n! This aint no ord’nery smoke! Aaah! It burns my eyes!”
Any more discussion was cut off by gunfire. Tokush barreled through the door, knocking Louis to his back and firing at Fitz’s feet. “Alright you lot! Listen up! I’m a pirate, and you’re all now my hostages!”
There was a moment of confusion, until Feldoh growled and went for the pistol on his belt. “Not if-”
“Do not even think it, ferret.” spoke a cold voice from the shadows.
A barrel poked Feldoh in the ribs. He turned his head slightly. Someone was standing behind him, silhouetted by the fire. He dropped the gun. “You wanna know what happened to the last pirate that tried to take my ship?”
“Not as such, old man.”
He felt a shock straight to his spine. “Aaahg!”
After that, things were blurry. He could hear fragments of conversation between the two pirates, but the shock had put his mind into a fog. Next thing he knew, he was being shaken by one of his crew. “Captain! Wake up!”
Feldoh waved the crewman away with a shaky paw and sat up with great difficulty. “Rrk… What the hell…”
“Those pirates locked us in one of our cargo bays. What should we do?”
“I find a way out of here, of course! Anyone have an s-com?!”
Someone piped up. “They made us throw them out…”
Feldoh tried to stand but couldn’t muster the strength. He winced and looked around. “Louis!”
“Yes, captain?”
“You find a way out of here. I’ll… uh, rest.”

Polos, Yalogalil and Tokush stood outside the sealed room. The fire was under control, and with the bulkhead shut, so were the hostages. Tokush finished fixing explosives to the door, then stood and passed the detonator to Polos. “Arm here, detonate here. I’ll get to the cockpit and turn control over to our computer.”
Yalogalil looked at the small amount of explosive that was fixed to the door. “That seems like a small pittance of bomb.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to blow the whole ship up, genius. Just the door and the floor. It’ll kill the hostages while the cargo stays cozy in the other bays.”
Polos pocketed the detonator. “Yalogalil, take a few pictures for proof.”
He put his paws in his pockets and walked back to the ship. “Two down.”

Leph watched out the window as the pirate ship disengaged from the Quixote. “Dammit! They got Feldoh’s ship!”
Leena had run off to find Teliko, so it was only Zach in the cockpit with Leph. He was trying to get some control back, but he was having no luck. Leph watched as the pirates moved on to the Sky Links. He called Teri. She picked up. “Leph we’ve got no clue what’s happening-”
“Get ready for boarding, Teri! The pirates are heading your way!”
“Crap! Code red! Get your guns, kids!”
She hung up. Leph looked back out the window. A small smile came over his face. Leo was coming in from a high approach angle, missile tubes open.

“I’ve got a bad feeling, Fieru. My leg hurts.”
Leo piloted them on a slow high angle attack pattern. Fieru still hadn’t figured out how to launch. “You don’t have a leg, Leo.”
“That’s why it’s a bad feeling.”
Fieru picked up an intact cable and held it up, giving it a quick tug. He turned back to his S-com. “I found it! I just jam this in here and we launch!”
Leo accelerated. “Good. I’m gonna hail them.”

Polos returned to the cockpit and tapped Cain. “Next.”
“Jeez, don’t you want to pilot your own ship?”
“Just fly.”
Cain chuckled. “Lazy ass.”
Tokush came in as well. He sat at a side station. “Getting a good signal from the Quixote. I’ll set the hyperspace coordinates now.”
Polos nodded, then frowned as the com beeped. He answered. “Who is this?”
Leo’s face appeared on screen. He was so focused, Cain almost thought he was a mannequin. “I am aiming a missile at your ship. Please board your escape pods and jettison a safe distance away while I launch it at you.”
Polos didn’t bother responding. He sent a series of photos through the com. He watched with amusement as Leo’s eyes moved down to his screen, widened, and then looked back at the screen. “I see. It appears as through we’re at an impasse.”
“You will link your controls to the Quixote immediately. For every minute you wait we will kill one hostage. You have fifty-five seconds.”
Leo shut off the com. Tokush looked up. “I get to shoot someone?”
“No.”
A light at Tokush’s station blinked, and he sighed. “Damn. He caved.”
“Set his coordinates too.”
Tokush obeyed.

Teri was not any more prepared for the tear gas as the others. Sure enough, when the smoke rolled in the confusion did as well, and soon her and half her crew were gagging and rubbing their eyes. Teri grabbed her engineer and yelled. “Dammit! Get into the cargo bays!”
There was a mad dash to the cargo bay nearest to where Teri had set up a blockade. Once inside, a single gunshot could be heard. The bulkheads shut, and they were trapped.

Leena ran through the halls, searching. “Teliko!? Baby?! Where are you?!”
She heard a faint sound from her room. Leena dashed over and burst inside, only to see her daughter’s bloody head resting on Cyan’s lap. “Ohh!” she gasped.
“She’s alive, Teliko’s mom!”
Leena ran over and practically fell to her knees. She stroked Teliko’s head as she opened her eyes. “Mom…”
“Thank god you’re alive! What happened?!”
Cyan was biting his lip. Blood dripped slowly from his mouth. “She hit her head. I think -s-she’s paralyzed.”
“No… Teliko? Can you move?”
“My legs… they’re numb.”
Leena had taken a few advanced first aid courses. She ran a claw quickly across Teliko’s leg. “Did you feel that?”
“No…”
Suddenly Leena lost her composure. Her lips quivered and she hugged Teliko gently. Teliko raised and arm and patted her. “There there.”
“Shh, child… I-I’m the one that’s supposed to be comforting you!”
The intercom blared. “Leena! We’re about to be boarded, get-”
There was an explosion from the main airlock, cutting off the intercom. Leena sprang up and shut the door quickly. She turned to the two and spoke in a hushed voice. “Don’t make a sound, ok? No matter what.”
She then pressed her head against the door and listened. She frowned, then stepped back slowly as smoke started pouring from under the door. Leena silently coughed, clasping her paws over her mouth and shutting her eyes tightly. Teliko did the same, but Cyan didn’t clue in right away. He drew a single breath and began coughing loudly. The door smashed open. A masked husky stepped through, setting down a sledgehammer. He grabbed Leena. “Aha! A whole fleet of cuties!”
Teliko coughed. “N-no! Let go of her!”
Leena bit into her captor’s paw. “Aaarg! Dammit!”
he struck her, and she collapsed to the ground. Cyan was frozen in fear, but Teliko was trying to get her arms under herself. “Mom-!”
The husky slung a weapon from his back and cocked it. “Polos, you can scold me later.”
Another masked figure spoke from behind Tokush. “He is not going to be happy you have did this.”
Teliko couldn’t stand it. As Tokush raised his gun, she put every ounce of strength into trying to move her legs. Unfortunately, the force of will along is not enough to overcome paralysis, so all she managed to do was roll off of Cyan’s lap and vomit. Tokush looked over. “Ugh. Kids.”
Before Cyan could help Teliko up, the room became brighter. Leena sat up and rubbed her face, then shielded her eyes as the room rapidly brightened. Tokush, during his career as a Special Forces officer, had once been in a room without eye protection when a flashbang had gone off. The flash that seemed to come from nowhere was at least twice as bright. “What the hell?!”
Then, there was an incredible force.
Foom!
Leena’s ears were flattened against her face as she was pressed against the wall. Tokush was launched out of the room, hitting the back wall with a thunk. The gas was blown almost completely away, and the other masked pirate was blown head over heels down the corridor. Cyan, strangely, felt only a slight breeze and watched with wide eyes as the gas was cleared and the room began to dim. Teliko was standing in the center of the room. Her eyes were closed, and she looked content. Cyan had no idea what to say, so he just stood shakily and took Teliko as she began to collapse again. He cradled her head as he sat again and let her rest - or float - gently onto his lap once more. Leena finally took her arms from her face and blinked. “Teliko?! Is she alright?!”
Cyan checked her breathing and didn’t notice any more wounds. “S-she’s fine! She’s alright…”
Leena stood and shut the door once more. “He must have had some sort of flash grenade… maybe it went off.”
She grabbed the sledgehammer that was sitting on the ground. “I just hope he comes back in here!” She growled.
Tokush groaned as he threw off his cracked mask. “Fuck! They had a flash grenade or some shit!”
He grabbed his gun and fired three shots into the wall. The bulkhead slammed shut with a loud klaxon. “Little shits!”
He wiped blood from his face and looked around. “Yalo!”
“Do not calling me that!”
He was picking himself up. “Cockpit, before they stop gagging on smoke!”
Tokush shouldered his gun and dashed for the cockpit. The smoke had cleared from the cockpit somewhat, but Zach was having severe problems breathing. The Human respiratory and visual systems were not as robust as the Atriean equivalent. Leph was trying to fit an emergency respirator on Zach, but he had begun coughing blood. “Hang in there, buddy! Just keep breathing!”
He dabbed the blood away and tried the respirator again until he felt something cold and thin poke him in the back. “Leave him.”
Leph could feel the rage rise in in him. Tokush saw Leph’s claws come out, so he pulled back and whacked him in the head with the butt of his gun. Leph collapsed on top of Zach, who wheezed. “Don’t even think it. Yalo! Get this bucket on the network!”
“I tell you not to call me that!”
Yalogalil went for the cockpit as Tokush backed up and watched Leph wipe blood from his face. “Who the hell are you?!”
“Didn’t you know? We’re pirates!”
Zach coughed and wheezed again. He spoke in a raspy voice. “Yeah, bullshit. Pirates are fat and filthy looking. You’re putting on a valiant effort to look the part, but you fall short.”
“Don’t speak, Zach.”
Tokush was no longer amused. “Keep that ape quiet or I’ll shoot him.”
Zach chuckled and coughed as she propped himself up. “Hit a nerve, did I?”
“Shut up!” Leph hissed.
Yalogalil looked over. “Network’s busted. We gotta fly this one ourselves.”
Tokush cursed and grabbed his S-com. “Polos. No go on the link over here… alright, got it.”
He hung up. “We’re moving the hostages onto this ship, and we’re gonna stay docked. Set the jump.”
Yalogalil hesitated over the controls. “Umm…”
Tokush eyed him. “Why are you… wait, do you not know how to fly?”
“In the north it is not a needed skill. I never was taught.”
Tokush laughed and pushed Yalogalil aside. He typed in the coordinates and called Polos again. “We’re a go.”

Polos nodded to himself. “Alright. Cain, destroy the Coyote Woman, then jump to hyperspace. I’m going to look over the cargo. And make sure those docking clamps are tight for the jump!”
Polos walked out. Cain grinned as he moved to the controls Tokush had been using. He selected the Sky Links and aimed its light acceleration cannons. “Such a waste… oh well.”

Both Feldoh and Teri could feel the Coyote Woman exploding as their ships rocked from the proximity. Both also felt the sudden jump to hyperspace.

Polos stood with Cain in front of the massive power core held by the Frontier. “Beautiful. Oh, what could it be?”
Cain chuckled. “Ours not to wonder why. The boss knows, and that’s all that matters.”
Polos walked around it. “This… is very a very powerful reactor. You know why?”
“This is not my strong suit. Tell me.”
Polos thrust a paw to a symbol Cain did recognize. “Wait. This is Solar Federation Tech. A nuclear reactor?”
“illegal everywhere in the Atriean empire excluding Popolon V.”
Cain began to sweat. “This is dangerous.”
“You think so? Well, I won’t mention the nuclear warheads, then.”
Cain backed away from the reactor. “Don’t joke about this.”
“Relax, it’s not engaged. We’re safe.”
Cain narrowed his eyes. “How much do you really know, Polos?”
“Nothing. I simply have a sharp eye.”
He walked out of the cargo bay.
Serleah, Dez, Lenny and Rico were locked in the conference room feeling pretty bad. Lenny was making sure Rico didn’t bleed out as Dez and Serleah sat at the table with grim faces. Rico pushed Lenny’s paw away for the third time. “Stop fussing! Jeez, it doesn’t even hurt that bad anymore… Ng!”
He tried to move, but a shooting pain stopped him. Lenny’s voice had become higher with worry, and his paws shook. “I-I’m just trying t-to… uuuhhh.”
Rico tilted his head. “Lenny, are you sure you’re alright?”
“No, I’m not! Okay?! And neither are you! You should have listened to me!”
Rico was taken aback. “I… yeah, you’re right…”
Lenny sat back and grabbed his paws as they began shaking even more. Serleah and Dez took notice. Serleah sat up. “Hey, is he alright?”
Lenny shook his head. “It’ll pass… I just have to breathe…”
“Lenny, when was the last time you took your pills?”
“This morning.”
“Shit.”
Dez and Serleah shared a glance. “What does he take? There might be something in our infirmary. If we ask, they might give it to us.”
Rico shook his head as Lenny did a strange breathing exercise. “Lenny was born an orphan and raised by Humans. He didn’t have contact with Atrieans until he was an adult. So… his hormonal glands never developed and are the size of raisins. He takes male hormone supplements to compensate.”
Serleah raised an eyebrow. “Damn. That can happen?”
Dez nodded. “Yeah. You remember biology class, right? You need adult hormones from your parent to stimulate the growth of your glands. He’s got Peart’s disorder.”
Lenny nodded. “Dammit… I-I’m fine…”
Rico called out. “Hey dickheads! We need some medicine in here!”
“Quiet!” The strong accented pirate responded from behind the door.
Lenny put his paw on Rico’s unshot leg. “They won’t have what I need. Just drop it.”
Rico sat up. “But-”
He was cut off by a flash. They had dropped out of hyperspace.

Polos and Cain watched out the cockpit windows as Oculus Station appeared. “The Special Forces fleet. Where is it?”
Cain looked at the scans as they came in from Polo’s ship. “Looks like they’re patrolling a perimeter. They’ve got wormhole blockers deployed. Looks like they aren’t expecting Atrieans.”
“They are. Us.”
Leph and Zach watched in silence as Cain and Polos left. Tokush grinned at the two. “Thanks for all you’ve done. We’re gonna be rich.”
Leph spat. Tokush simply chuckled.

Nai shut his eyes and thought of his family. “Gray Fox… please…”
Gray Fox beeped. He did not lower the gun, and Nai peeked up. Gray Fox picked up his communicator. “What? Oh, really? Good- … What?!”
There was an explosion from down the hall. Smoke began to pour through the halls. Gray Fox dove for an alcove and closed his eyes. Like Cain, he had some enhancements. He put his paw to the wall and watched as a tiny HUD appeared over his eye. Two figures were moving through the smoke, both of them armed. They were far off, down the halls. Nai and Haluk began to cough and rub their eyes. Gray Fox was seemingly unaffected. “Stay down.”
He stalked off down the halls. Nai and Haluk crawled to the corner of the room, hacking. Haluk took out his work PDA, which streamed data from the observation pods. It was beeping and vibrating. “What’s the problem now? … Hack… Oh shit! Nai!”
Cain followed Polos as he walked through the halls. “I thought you said you had no idea what the inside of this place looks like.”
“I don’t. I’m following the signs.” He pointed to the wall. An arrow that said “Observation Pod” ran along the wall.
“Handy.”
“We don’t have long to disengage the beam and collect it before that fleet gets here. … There!”
They squeezed into a tiny room. The smoke was thin here. Polos scanned the switches and consoles. “Arrg… where is it…”
Cain noticed a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turned, aiming his pistol at the door. “Polos…”
“There!”
“Don’t touch that!”
Grey Fox darted into the room, getting his pistol under Cain’s chin in an instant. To Grey Fox’s surprise, Cain had his gun against Grey Fox’s head just as fast. They both did not pull the trigger. Polos froze. “Who the hell are you?”
“You are under arrest. Both of you.”
Cain squinted through his mask. “How are you not coughing?”
Grey Fox slowly placed his paw on Cain’s arm, intending to break it in a quick move. However, his HUD told him the arm was not made of bone, but an alloy he could not break. “Hm. I cannot let you interfere-”
“One oh four! We’re heading for a density collapse, we need to evacuate!”
Haluk was panting and coughing, waving his flashing PDA. He clicked a button on it, and the shielding began to slide up. Everyone looked with awe at the scene that unfolded in space. A massive yawning swirling mass of darkness and light was spread out before them. The beam, which was now once again in the visual spectrum, was still shooting into the center of it. The Observation pod was awash with the strange lights. Haluk gestured. “We need to run before it sucks us in!”
Grey Fox cursed. Something in his calculations must have been off. He darted through the door, Haluk waddling along behind him. Nai peeked in the control room. “I don’t know who you are, but I bet you have some idea of what being sucked into a black hole would be like. If you want to find out, stick around. If not, run!”
He ran after Haluk. Cain and Polos exchanged glances, but Polos did not run. He grabbed a lever and pulled it. The main body of the beam shot off in a burst of gas and stopped firing. Cain grabbed him. “Didn’t you hear him?! That’s a black hole!”
“No, it’s not.”
“Why would he lie?! Whatever it is, I’m not taking a chance with that thing, and neither should you!”
“I know exactly what that is, let’s go!”
“But-”
“Let’s go.”
Cain shrugged and followed Polos as he returned to the ship.

Leph knew an opportunity when he saw one, and as a massive spatial anomaly began to open in space a short distance away, he jumped up. Tokush was gawking dumbly at it, and before he knew it Leph was knocking his gun out of his paws and jumping on top of him, claws out. “You little bitch! Get off!”
Zach could only watch. They rolled down the one step as Leph punched Tokush. “This is for my ship you pirate bastard!”
Once the surprise wore off, Tokush deflected Leph’s blows and raked his claws across Leph’s chest. He then dealt him a quick jab and reversed their positions. Leph was powerless against the younger and stronger opponent.
Tokush closed his paws over Leph’s neck and squeezed. His claws drew blood from the sides of Leph’s neck. “Call me a pirate again, shithead. Go on, do I-”
A shot rang out and Tokush nearly flew across the room. “Urk-!”
Leph gasped and coughed. He looked over at Zach, who was dropping Tokush’s gun. “I did it this time.”
Leph stumbled up and away from Tokush’s body. “Thanks…”
He turned. “We need to find Leena!”
They dashed from the cockpit.

Feldoh moped on the floor as his crew worked on the door. He wished he had an S-com. He knew Teri kept hers with her at all times. A triumphant yell came from the door. “Got it!”
The bulkheads slammed open and Feldoh sprang up. “Quick! Secure the cockpit!”
They ran through the ship, picking up weapons along the way. However, they encountered no opposition. Feldoh called Teri as soon as he got to the cockpit and found his S-com. “Teri?! Are you-”
“Feldoh! Thank Denoka! I’m fine, but there’s a growing black hole in the area! We’ve gotta fly out of here as soon as we can!”
Feldoh looked out the window. Sure enough, a black hole was beginning to eat away at a nearby space station. It didn’t look like a black hole to Feldoh, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to stick around to get to know it better. “Helmsman, get us out of here! Jettison the cargo to give us more speed! Teri, you better do the same!”

Leo was having problems getting the ship back under his control. “Damn these computers…”
The ship began to shake, and his instruments began to go wild. He looked up, only to see oblivion. He was sucked in before he could react.

Polos jumped into the chair and powered up the ship. Cain ran in. “Now can we get the hell out of here?!”
To Cain’s dismay, Polos flew towards the thing. “We need that beam! Dammit, what the hell are they thinking!”
Cargo pods began flying past them, also getting sucked into the anomaly. “I need that!”
“Polos, are you insane?!”
“The beam is right there, it’s the most important part!”
Cain grabbed the controls. Polos wrestled back. “Stop it!”
“I’m not letting you kill us!”
“Let go or I’ll kill you myself!”
Both froze when the beam part disappeared. Apparently, the thing was closer than they thought. Their vision began to stretch, and they screamed as they entered the event horizon.

Leph and Zach were searching one of the cargo bays as Yalogalil slipped by them unnoticed. He entered the cockpit, glanced over to Tokush’s body, then riveted his eyes on the gaping hole in space. “What fuck?!”
He ran to the controls and began flipping switches and pulling on the sticks. “I do not fly ships! Move your bucket!”
The ship rocked and creaked as the front of the cockpit began to become elongated. “Ahh!”
Yalogalil dashed away, glancing back at the darkness and undulating that was chasing him. In a long instant, his body was ripped from its spot in space, and he was gone with the rest of the corridor. Leph and Zach didn’t have much time to react, and in an instant the rest of the ship was devoured.

Teri watched with increasing anxiety as the anomaly got bigger and bigger. Their ship was making good time, however. “Feldoh? Are you alright?!”
“Leph’s gone! So is Leo! Dammit, what the hell is this thing?!”
“I don’t- ahh!”
In a bright flash, the thing was gone. Silence prevailed, and Teri disengaged her overheated engines. “Feldoh?!”
“I’m alright. Wish I could say the same about the rest of them…”
Just then, thirty Atriean Special Forces ships arrived. Teri gulped as she was hailed. “Um… cargo vessel Sky Links here…”