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They fought for every meter down the corridors of the pirate ship.

The layout of this type of ship had been uploaded to their system, but the pirates had made changes; cutting doors where none existed, sealing others.

And from unexpected places they would come roaring out, firing madly.

They were not organized, they were not accurate, but they would not stop.

Her unit pressed forward towards engineering, burning through ammo and leaving behind them the dead pirates. Not a single one had surrendered or even fled.

"Drones are bringing more ammo up," Kiseleva called.

"Keep going," Pirra said. "It'll be more dangerous to lose our momentum." They still had enough ammo for another fight.

Sky, Greggan decor was ugly, she thought as they rushed down the hall. She wasn't sure if they saw into the same spectra that she did, but the patterns that they seemed to prefer reflected light into the ultraviolet, and it left them looking mottled and disgusting.

The doors to Engineering had been welded shut from the inside; a glowing bit of metal protruded through the door seal, leaving it still slightly open, but not enough to see through. Not that she was about to go sticking her face into the crack to check; far too likely someone had their gun jammed there hoping for just that sort of sloppiness.

"Ambush!" the call came, and Pirra whirled.

A dozen Greggans rushed them from panels that were disguised as bulkheads. She realized now that she could see the edges. There were more panels like it ahead, and as her squad engaged the attackers, she whirled, spraying through the panels that hadn't been dropped yet.

She heard guttural cries of pain, one of the panels slipping, revealing the heavy turret that the Greggans had hidden there.

It was a good trap, really. Distract them from one way, unleash from behind and mow them down.

She fired until her magazine was dry, riddling not just the Greggans in hiding but their weapon, to make sure it couldn't be turned against them later.

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"Pirra, behind you!" Suon called.

She whirled, seeing the massive Greggan rushing her. She had no shots left.

"Reloading!" Pirra called out, her magazine ejecting and her belt popping the next one up into easy reach. She slapped it in, the bolt slamming forward and she fired from the hip, taking the Greggan in the belly, her aim dropping further, ripping into his legs.

Greggans were sort of quadrapeds; their two larger forelegs did most of the pushing while smaller limbs on their tail-like rears helped with balance. He could not keep his as his forelegs were shredded, and screamed horribly as he began to crash forward.

Pirra couldn't move in time as his bulk slammed into her, crashing her into the wall.

Her head hit hard, and she felt a strange sensation as the trauma gel helped cushion her brain.

The Greggan was bleeding badly, gasping for breath, but he still clawed at her armor, his sharp nails catching on edges but unable to make a mark. His huge mouth opened wide, and he bit onto her helmet, throat spasming as if he was trying to swallow her entire head.

She was screaming; not in fear, but anger.

How fucking dare this son of a shit?!

Her combat knife was in her hand now, rifle clattering away, and she stabbed the cerametal blade into his gut, jerking it up with all her strength.

His screams turned to gurgles as she gutted him, his entrails falling into her lap.

"Pirra!" Mac Mordha called, grabbing at the corpse. The Greggan was nearly three meters in height, and it took the two of them to shove it off.

She jumped back from the corpse, body heaving with breath, her heart beating so fast it felt almost like a hum. The entrails of the Greggan slid off her onto the floor, leaving her armor slick with dark ichor.

"Are you all right, Commander?"

"Yes!" she said, feeling the enraged energy of adrenaline. Her system told her that the rest of her team were all still active. "I'm fine, get your rifle and follow me!"

Scooping up her own, she saw that the ammo drones had arrived and reached up, fresh magazines being placed into her hand.

"Blow the door!" she ordered.

Kiseleva called out an order, sending forward half a dozen demo drones. They smashed themselves into the door at strategic points.

"Ready to open!" Kiseleva called.

"Take cover, blow it, then send in the flashdrones!" Pirra ordered.

The squad took cover, and the door was blown; it began to fall in, and a dozen other tiny drones swarmed through the gap into the room beyond. The flashes and booms of their explosions could be felt more than seen.

Before the door had even hit the floor she was jumping through the gap.

The Greggans inside had taken defensive positions, but the explosions and the flashdrones had worked well.

It was a brief but vicious fight. None surrendered.

She almost regretted that she didn't have a chance to use her combat knife again. It was adrenaline, she knew, but she still hadn't sheathed it, sticking it onto her magnetic wrist carrier for quick access.

"Secure the room," she ordered, her unit fanning out. They scanned carefully, looking for hidden enemies, secret doors, or false panels.

"Nothing present, we got them all!" Jack Lal called.

Kiseleva went to the main console, scanning it. "No traps detected," she said. "Still could exist, be careful."

The other doors had been welded shut as well. That meant they only had one way to defend.

"Mwanajuma, treat any injuries," Pirra ordered their medic. "Zivai, Suon, cover that hall. I don't want your eyes off it."

"Aye!" the two marksmen called, taking up positions.

Kiseleva raised an arm. "I am into their system - we've got control of engines, life support, and external weapons!"

A surge of triumph rushed through Pirra. "Shut them all down, scramble the whole system if you can."

She turned to Sharam Najafi, their comms officer. "Tell the Craton that we've secured engineering and that we have not encountered anything out of the ordinary."

"Aye!"

Pirra felt the adrenaline starting to wane, and she sat back on a console that was dark.

Her head still felt weird where the pre-trauma gel had prevented a concussion.

Sky, she was going to have a hell of a headache tomorrow.