Stepping into place, Kazuki sat down and sealed himself to the seat, locking the braces. The boarding torpedo was filled to the brim with operatives, all sealing themselves against the walls' seats. The view of the asteroids and debris outside came into view on the frontal peripheral viewer, showing the dead hulks in the distance. A moment of calm descended onto them. No one uttered a word.
And as the hydraulic motions activated, it shot the torpedoes out - leaving through the asteroids and debris. A thousand drones and chaff pods accompanied the torpedoes. Kazuki could hear the heightened breathing of his men.
The endless abyss of space was but a simple layer of steel away from them. The air-tight torpedo was cool, near freezing - it did nothing to help sooth them. Yet no one complained. It was the least of their worries. Lights flashed far away as the Crescento was harried by the pursuing vessels. Shots bounced off its hull as the lances powered through, deflecting off as some of the drones and pods activated, crashing into munitions and missiles to protect the boarding torpedoes in large kamikaze waves.
It created a mindless mess spent munitions, floating and flicking off the hulls of all craft. Torpedoes barrelled forward narrowly avoiding the dead hulks, a few scrapes to the torpedoes sent noises flinging through its compartments. Yet as they cleared through the debris field, the Crescento came into view.
Empty waters. No obstacles. Full speed ahead. Inertial dampeners throttled to full gear, it was now or never.
Two objects sprung off the hull of the hauler, laser beams striking forward. Interceptors. Kazuki felt the pale faces of his men, yet held firm himself. He kept his eyes forward, watching as outdated V8s scored skimming shots. It bounced off the hull. The drones activated their flashes… Though whether it was to blind the hostile V8s or if it was Lilly’s drone cameras, Kazuki couldn’t tell.
Kazuki could feel the vibrations of each pulsing heart, each inhale and exhale. He steeled himself.
Before they could pull off, however, a wing of AGENCY fighters soared by. Plasma scorched into them, turning the V8s to dust.
‘V8s are gone! You are all clear and forever in my debt!’ Karl joked loudly, shouting into the uplink channels. Kazuki heard a few muffled chuckles beneath the thick smog of oxygen.
‘All forces, ETA to impact, ten seconds,’ reported Sato, as hell broke loose outside. Escort drones and chaff pods flicked off the munitions and lasers.
They sacrificed themselves as high explosive rockets sent every sight into a bizarre gore of colours. Kazuki kept calm. Whilst his men held themselves tight, closing their eyes.
‘Good luck in there.’ Eliza commented, trying to help motivate them. It did little to help the tension.
Not a word was uttered as they sealed their helm-masks on. The red and white trimmed armour of Heimfall and Deltastring glistened with the flickering light. Looking back out to the monitor, Kazuki saw the torpedoes’ escorts battered away, shot down after another.
Then, the flak poured towards the torpedoes as the final drones were washed away. Laser flak ricocheted off the slanted hull, with loud crashes outside sounding the operation to a near start. And then, the thrusters ignited. Counter thrusters exploded.
A violent crash echoed outside.
The screen went black as the torpedo carved through the hull.
‘Arbiter to Overwatch, boarding is a go,’ said Kazuki.
Green light lit across the torpedo. Everyone finished gearing up, but no one moved… Deathly silence engulfed the chamber. Everyone’s heart beats were audible. Kazuki was the first to stand up. Everyone gasped, in surprised at surviving. Kazuki didn’t undersand their surprise, this was the safest part of a boarding.
Quinn yelled out to the troops behind him, “We made it, boys!”
Kazuki nodded at Quinn, fitting the last bits of his gear in place. Kaz turned to the company of men behind him.
“These people made us fight through thick and snow. Time to show them what happens when you can’t hide behind blizzards and storms,” Kazuki remarked. “Fix Bayonets. Let’s fucking skewer them.”
And with those words, he broke the smog. And everyone fired up, ready for the oncoming operation. Those with bayonet knives attached the blades to the end of their muzzles.
“Nods on,” said Claire, activating her eyepieces.
Releasing the trigger for the torpedo, Kazuki unleashed the ramp - as steam and smoke filled the air. A loud crash echoed and the operatives clambered to make ready.
Smoke clouded their advance - as a dozen bright lights signalled on their threat-detection. A moment of pause stayed the hands of the contractors, before Kazuki took a step forward.
A string of bullets exploded out from the smoke, as the operatives flooded out. The other teams were locatable through the cacophony of gunfire, turning the whole vessel into a choir. The landing dock they had crashed into was quickly cleared, with blood lining the walls. A few had lived, thanks to their armour: but they were put down. As Kazuki led his team forward, the other sections stormed forward. Like a growing tree, the teams expanded their branches.
∗ ∗ ∗
The crunching footsteps against steel echoed across each chamber, with loud alarms blaring. The Ad hoc unit sprawled forth, killing and gunning down anything that didn’t have their insignias. That included unarmed crew, caught between the crossfire. In the chaos of it all, better safe than sorry. As the team pushed on, they met with increasingly heavy resistance.
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Kazuki pressed his back against the indented wall, with Quinn aching to push further. The breacher had his head on a swivel.
“Arbiter! You wanna take the spear?” asked Claire, across the hall, showing Kazuki a nano-stim she took from her support pouches. “Nanite-V12, you already know the details.”
“No, enlighten me with another rant, please,” said Kazuki, nodding.
Claire over-armed the vial towards Kazuki. Whilst Kiri was behind her, dialling away at her ICAPAD. Her exoskeleton lit up with movements up and down, like a steam engine. Lights flickered on as her drones started to charge up. Half a dozen small drones were attached to the back of her vest-plate and armour.
“You should have charged them before the operation,” commented Quinn.
Kiri shook her head. “Protocol to keep them outta power when not in use, you know?!”
Injecting the vial into him, Kazuki felt a surge of energy. Steam vented out his mouth as he tensed his muscles, pushing forward. Activating his shield, he pressed his forearm against his chest.
He weaved under shots, firing away at any that dared to face him head on. The others pushed forward.
“Come on! We’ll be back home in an hour!” said Claire, encouraging the agents onwards.
Continuing through the carnage, the team reached a T-intersection. A barricade of smugglers fired down the intersection, barring their advance. The team stacked up on one side as more agents emerged from the other side of the barrage. It was Zymuel’s team; they stacked up against the wall as Kazuki’s squad did. The Squad Lead refixed his TECHI-HEAD.
One peeked out, getting splattered in the limbs, before the team pulled them back. Blood curdling cries filled the hall, muffled by gunfire. They dropped a flash-smoke as they pulled back. This will be hard fought… he thought, steeling his nerves.
“Carnifex, Lazarus,” Kazuki started, attracting the attention of the team-leads, “I’ll push forward, lead your team behind me. Understood?”
“Understood, Arbiter!” said Zymuel. He turned to the people behind him, “Come on! Let’s get this bread, we have Arbiter with us!” Cheers of encouragement dotted the halls.
Kazuki looked back towards Claire’s team, they were all ready, with the exception of Kiri, who was still activating all her drones, one by one.
“Come on…” Claire turned towards Kiri.
“I’ll be a moment! Please!” Kiri retorted.
“You and your drones will be ready when the operation finishes!” snapped Amyé.
Unlike the dead-hulk they had as a HQ, this vessel was well maintained: barring the blood splattered about and the dead bodies.
‘Arbiter, you only have ten minutes remaining!’ reported Eliza, ‘They’re getting close to the edge of the system’s grav-field.’
With a simple nod as acknowledgement, Kazuki pushed forward, twisting around the corner. His shield sprung up, taking each step against the brunt of plasma and bolt flinging towards him. He nudged forward, bolts flicking off his armour and shield- with both Claire and Zymuel’s teams pouring from the sides. They let loose a concentrated volley sent down the hall.
They showed them why they were his executioners.
In less than a second, blood and mist filled the hall. Those that were hit in even the smallest of unarmoured places were turned into mush. Courtesy of Explosive-Bolts. Those that remained retreated. It was a total massacre.
“Nice job… Hey, Lazarus! You think I can get promoted?” asked Zymuel, nudging his project leader. “Ey? EYY?”
Claire merely sighed, groaning at the problem of Zymuel. “I swear, I should have just left you to die… JUST PLEASE STOP ANNOYING ME,” complained Claire, acting as if her younger sibling is pestering her. As he passed by, she lightly punched him on the red coloured shoulder-pauldron.
As they slowly pushed onwards, Kiri finally joined them, turning the corner. “Aha!”
Everyone glanced towards her. She had a small legion of drones activated, all aiming down the hall, their rotary cannons spinning. Kazuki felt her smile fade as she realised she was late. Claire snickered, “Guess you’re late to the fireworks, then?”
Kiri was left embarrassed, with Quinn tapping her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, we Deltas have each other’s backs.”
“Haymaker, take Apothio and cover our rear.” ordered Kazuki, turning back as gunfire raged across the level; sparks of light appeared behind them in the distance, around the corners. Kiri and Edain nodded as they trailed back. With drones, they should be fine.
Continuing with the advance, the section sliced through the smuggler’s, terminating anything in their path. Waves of criminals were turned into shreds as they made contact with the team of experienced mercs. Kazuki’s ICAPAD linked to his aug-glasses, highlighting the path.
He was the spearhead, swapping out with Quinn each time he had to load in a new power charge for his exospine. The team burst into a cargo bay, making short work of the gunrunners hiding and taking cover. The Loyalists put up much more of a fight than these smugglers, but once again: his men were simply more experienced. And that outranks any weapon, tool, or armour they have.
‘They’re controlling the vessel from the command bridge; if you get there you can disable the vessel from opening a voidway, you’re close! Take the elevator and you should bypass most of the smugglers,’ suggested Eliza, as Kazuki glanced at the large cylindrical elevator in the centre of the room. The cargo room had a dozen sealed doors attached to it, with operatives taking cover behind crates.
He took her up on the suggestion, nodding towards Claire as they approached. Zymuel’s team firmly sealed any doors leading into the storage bay. Kazuki slammed down on the elevator touch-screen, a beep calling the lift.
A moment of respite passed as the elevators started moving. His ears caught something, his head twisting to the doors. They were letting off creaking noises, sparks spluttered through their gaps. One, then two, then all of them: sparks fluttering through the gaps.
Kazuki activated his ICAPAD, denoting the deck-level. ‘Any forces near the central cargo hold on level three?’
‘Central cargo? Hold on,’ Eliza paused for a moment. ‘Negative! Those are not friendly!’
“Shit!” Zym turned to Kazuki. “Arbiter! We’ll protect your rear.”
Kazuki nodded. “Alright, Carnifex. Maintain your position. Ensure that this room does not fall.”
Kiri came into view, trailing behind, with her legion, as Edain helped her up, they were riddled with marks. As they entered into the cargo bay, a horde of smugglers came into view behind them. The drones covered them as Edain sealed the door shut behind them.
“Sorry, Arbiter!” said Kiri, doing quick maintenance on some of her remaining drones.
Kazuki took a glance at the two as he side-stepped out of a bolt’s path. “Haymaker, Apothio, stay with Carnifex, your drones will supplement his forces.” ordered Kazuki.
Kiri and Edain nodded as they took cover, the drone legion that Kiri brought with her fanning out across the room.
“What about us?” asked Claire, standing in front of her team, a team prepared for when the doors open.
But it was not the blast-doors that they will be focusing on. The elevator slid open. “With me,” Kazuki said.
Claire’s men flooded into the elevator. Quinn glanced towards Kazuki. And he nodded, the breacher joining the team as Kaz stepped through. He slammed down on the elevator’s touch-screen.
Take the bridge, simple objective. But his mind wandered around. Kazuki was reminded of what comes next. Eliza… Headaches soared upwards as he was reminded of Victoria, the blurred images of the twins stabbed his mind. He placed his hand against his helm-mask. He felt the dry paint of his leviathan teeth-marks against his glove.
As his memory bled, a hand touched his shoulder. His head snapped backwards. Claire was standing behind him, fixing up some light wounds to her arms. “Need something, Arbiter? I can get you a resupply of stims,” said Claire.
Kazuki shook his head, his mind slightly fuzzy. He dusted his shoulder pauldrons, lined with hold paint. Nothing was there. He shoved a shaking hand into his pockets, pulling out even more Halolazil. He chugged it.
Claire nudged Kazuki on the arm, “Don’t overdose on me, alright?” jested Claire, jokingly as she looked over his shoulder.
“I know what I’m doing,” Kazuki said, keeping his eyes forward. And as his levels stabilised, the stress and shaking faded - yet the feeling remained. The size of the touch matched only one person in his archive of a brain: he refused to believe it. What the fuck did he feel?! Even if he didn’t forget it, more pressing matters were at hand. He took in a deep breath, allowing his eyes to return to its dead shade of gold.