Erik was feeling a little let down after the initial rush of their assault on the destroyer. The ride over had been everything he'd hoped for, and the adrenaline had carried him on for a bit, but the downside of the assault pod was that their attack had been such a surprise the enemy hadn't been able to throw together any kind of effective resistance. None of the pirates were in battle suits, and most of them were so terrified they were lucky if they managed to avoid shooting the man running away next to them.

Shaking his head as he retrieved one of his thrown axes from the back of another pirate who'd tried to run away, Erik turned to Vanessa. "Did we already take out their shock troops? Or does this ship just not have anyone who can put up a fight? Honestly, I'm starting to feel bad taking these guys out. It feels like I'm picking on a bunch of kids or something..."

Vanessa shook her head as she shot another pirate as he poked his head out from behind cover. "Don't get overconfident. Glancing hits might not do too much damage to your carapace, but a lucky shot on soft tissue could still put your life at risk. Additionally, every pirate we let get away is one more person who might kill the people coming to back us up. Our job is to take advantage of the disarray caused by our unexpected appearance to 'soften up' the ship's defenses and make the assault team's job less dangerous."

Erik sighed even as he threw another axe toward another pirate who decided to break and run. "Yeah, yeah, I get all that. I just wish it was a little more fun is all... Ya know?"

Vanessa looked at her companion as he dug his claws into another door to pry it open and check the interior before she replied. "The humans have a saying that I feel is of particular interest in this scenario. 'Be careful what you wish for.'"

Erik laughed. "Yeah? Why's that? They worried they're gonna waste their wish or somethin'?"

Just then, a pirate in a full battlesuit came barreling out of the room Erik had been breaking into, slamming bodily into him and pushing him back from the room and down unto his back, leaving the pirate standing over him with a rifle pointed down at his chest. However, before the pirate could get off his shot, Vanessa stabbed through the suit and his heart from behind. The shocked pirate dumbly looked down at the claw protruding from his chest before falling limp.

As Vanessa retracted her claw from the pirate, gunfire began pouring out of the room in at least somewhat disciplined bursts, forcing Erik to scrabble away from the door on all fours. Meanwhile, Vanessa, who was doing her best to creep close to the door while keeping her legs out of the arc of fire afforded by the room, pulled the pin on a grenade and quickly threw it into the room behind her. Several loud curses preceded the explosion that silenced the room.

Taking advantage of the opening created by the grenade, Erik charged into the room. He disregarded the two dying pirates desperately struggling to keep their innards inside their bodies and instead decapitated the nearest pirate, raising his head over the table that had protected him from the shrapnel, then kicked the table, knocking the other pirate behind it onto his hands and knees before following up with a coup de grace.

Meanwhile, Vanessa had followed him into the room, taking care of the pirates on Erik's flank. In short order, the last threat in the room was dealt with, and Erik mercy killed the remaining pirate still on the ground.

That done, Erik looked down at himself and realized his bone plate was pitted in several locations where the pirates had hit the mark with their smaller handguns. If the people in this room had been wielding high-powered rifles, he might have died there.

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Vanessa gave Erik a reproachful look as she finished her thought from earlier. "No. The human phrase implies that if you are not sufficiently careful with what you wish for, the wish might be granted in an unintended way, often with significant cost to the person who carelessly made the wish."

Erik tilted his head in acknowledgment of the point. "Sometimes those humans really know what they're talking about. Don't they?"

Vanessa nodded, taking the opportunity to replace some of her spent firearms with a few guns from the fallen pirates. "Indeed."

-

As Reid exited the assault ship, his team was met only by a smattering of gunfire, most of which were small arms incapable of damaging their battle suits. Whatever Erik and Vanessa had been up to in the time it took them to suit up and fly over had been more than a little effective.

The strike team had grown since they started working from the Laughing Comet. Something about a destroyer just added credibility to their little pirate-hunting enterprise. Add in all the recently deposed crews who wanted revenge on the pirates who'd raided their vessels, as well as the fact that his men were all well-armed and armored thanks to the Sybil's being able to manufacture battlesuits as needed, and he had more applicants than positions for the first time in his career.

Once they'd secured the hangar, Reid issued orders to the various squads. "Strike teams two and three, go and take engineering. Four and five, you're in charge of the barracks. Six, stay here and keep our exit secured just in case. One is with me. We're taking the bridge. Also, remember, we've got friendlies already on board, making our lives a little easier. So, if you run into any terrifying monsters running around disemboweling pirates wherever they go, check your fire! If I hear one of you panics and shoots at our vanguard, you'll be Erik's personal sparring partner for the next year. Is that understood!"

The squads all saluted and responded in the affirmative. Reid knew no one was likely to actually shoot at Erik or Vanessa, as they were both regulars in the training room precisely so the assault teams would become familiar with them. But it served as a reminder to the new guys that the ordinarily cheerful Erik and his silent but deadly partner Vanessa were very much monsters on the battlefield. They were just their monsters. It helped reduce the post-mission trauma a little if that was reiterated before they ran into the grisly results those two left in their wake.

As the squads split to go about their various tasks, Reid was not surprised to see some of Erik's handiwork in the hall leading to the bridge, but they'd apparently peeled off at the bridge door itself as it had been sealed, and Erik wasn't one for waiting around when there was fighting to be done elsewhere.

That suited Reid just fine. He needed some action to maintain his reputation as the third scariest person on the assault team, even if it was a distant third. He motioned for William to come up and place the charges to blow the door. The older sailor had been with the old Captain before Reid's time. He might not be as spry as the squad's younger members, but despite his 'old age,' the man's hands were always rock steady when dealing with explosives.

It only took a minute before he motioned for everyone to pull back. From Reid's experience, if old William set the charges, you could stand a foot away and be perfectly safe, but the older man didn't play around with safety, and in all things explosive, even Reid yielded to his authority. A surprisingly soft "whump" later, the door fell inward, and Reid led the assault to take the command center of the enemy destroyer.

Reid was surprised at the lack of incoming fire as he ran onto the bridge. For a moment, he wondered if Erik had somehow managed to clear this area, too. But no, the officers and their aides were all there. However, instead of fighting back, they all had their hands in the air. Unusual behavior for pirates, to say the least.

The man Reid suspected was the Captain stepped forward and addressed him. "We'll surrender! Just don't let those two monsters get us!"

Reid sighed with a wry but amused smile for himself. It didn't look like he'd be reinforcing his reputation today!