Cedric entered the shuttle with his team, holding tightly to a top mounted bar within a large cargo bay. He slightly adjusted his cuirass to a more comfortable position as the shuttle began to lurch in response to its pilot bringing it to life. Both teams were either comfortably in a shuttle seat that flanked the small bay, or standing with Cedric in the middle. His heart began to race.

"You really are quite excited, Darling." Killer said, placing a bracing clawed paw on the middle of his back.

"I missed the last one, I fully plan on enjoying this one."

"Enjoying it? They aren't that easy." Grey mentioned, going over her recruits' training with them, they were all listening in rapt attention. Cedric could see that Tool and Shy were shaking ever so slightly, perhaps out of excitement or fear. Shy was taking deep breaths as the doors in front of the shuttle began to open.

Cedric gandered around, his team seemed just as excited as he was - even Paws. Cedric narrowed his eyes, he hoped that Paws' excitement wouldn't cause him to make a deadly mistake.

The trip went by quickly, it took them roughly thirty minutes to dock with the Midnight Wind. The docking procedure's completion was signaled with a slight shuddering of the craft, and the familiar rear doors folding down to form a ramp. Cedric was the first to step off into the tiny bay they now found themselves in, barely large enough to fit the small drop shuttle that they had just exited. Standing before him was a male mouse, barely two or three feet tall and fitted in ragtag garb that reminded him of a pirate captain from ancient historical texts. Three others were beside him, a couple male rats and a female badger who seemed to tower above them. The Captain saluted.

"Razoreye, welcome to me ship, Scourge. This is my first mate, Blackscar." He gestured to the badger. "And these two are the Reyas brothers. Excellent gunners. Don't mind their accents, they aren't native to the core."

Cedric nodded, returning the salute. "A pleasure, Captain. As well as you Blackscar, and the Reyas Brothers."

Blackscar nodded in affirmation, she wore a simple tank top and half a jumpsuit rolled down, a tool belt adorning her waist. She must be their magineer. The Reyas brothers saluted, they were almost identical in appearance.

"Hola, amigos. Amigas" they tipped invisible hats in the direction of the female members. They weren't sure how to address Chem.

"Puerto Reyas and Picano Reyas, at your service."

Cedric nodded again, "No nicknames?"

"No" said the first, "Too confusing." Said the second.

"Fair enough. I'm assume you're familiar with the plan, Captain?" Cedric started.

"Aye, indeed I am. I'll tell you now, if they were using HESH guns instead of laser weapons, I wouldn't have agreed. Your plan to out track their laser weapons is genius, but risky. Thankfully for us, they turn slowly too."

Cedric shook his head, "I wouldn't have volunteered the Midnight Wind if I didn't have confidence that this ship and her Captain could make this work."

"Aye, you know how to butter me up. No promises - but I wanted the Midnight Wind designed for speed, this is my chance to prove to those other bastards that armor isn't the only answer."

"Well, it's the perfect opportunity." Cedric replied, now following Razoreye through the tiny corvette, taking no time at all to reach the bridge. The bridge was more like a cockpit, some standing room - but clearly only a single seat for her pilot Captain. The seat rolled out, and Razoreye buckled himself in. The cockpit was surrounded by a myriad of clumped wires and running cables, Cedric was confident that every wire plugged into the ship was visible here. A trip hazard if there was any additional space.

"Alright Captain." Cedric started, "Where do you want us?"

Razoreye looked behind him, a small scar visible above his right eye within the orange illumination of the cockpit, as he began to handle many controls and buttons that Cedric was not familiar with.

"Most of ya can wait in the cargo hold, not a lot of space on this boat. Ye got two medics right? Might want them near the gunnery ports, in case the brothers get a nick or two. There's a top mounted eighty-eight millimeter autocannon. Too much force for the brothers to handle by themselves, but Gunner there might find it comfortable. We don't use it much, but it works and it's loaded."

"An eighty-eight? That's the size that was mounted on the Tiger 1" Cedric said aloud, forgetting that the Korellei had no idea what they were talking about. Gunner spoke up.

"I don't know what you are referring to, but if you're referring to it being a tank weapon - you're right. It's good at what it does, oh I'll be happy to run that babe through the ringer." He said, chuckling gleefully.

"We had the option to mount a one-twenty on it, but felt that was too heavy. Settled on the eighty-eight." Razoreye throttled the craft and the lurch knocked the squads slightly back with the force, that acceleration was incredible!

Cedric looked through the window mesmerized at the sight of the craft quickly approaching the tight asteroid cluster. His heart rang with excitement and awe, it was just like the science fiction games he used to play. Except now, it was every bit as real as his own skin.

"First time?" Razoreye asked, looking back to Cedric with a toothy smirk quickly before returning his attention to piloting.

"Technically not the first time flying, but the first time being able to see through the cockpit in transit. The vastness is beautiful."

"Aye, isn't it? That's what being a pirate Captain is ya know, freedom. Within reason of course, can't stray too far from momma bear." He said, chuckling at his own joke.

Cedric was too fascinated to join in on it.

"Eighty eight mill access is just down the corridor, before you get to the rear cargo bay. Look up, should be a cylindrical door. Press the green button next to it, the seat will come down for ya. You'll fit, even if it'll be a bit o' a tight squeeze."

Gunner chortled with a nod, and began to make his way to the top turret. A cackle rang through Cedric's left ear, small mic'd communication devices that were the boon of Grey from the day before.

"Comma check. I think that's what you said to say."

Cedric held an index finger to the cylindrical part of the device that was snug in his ear, and lightly adjusted the small mic boom in front of his respirator.

"It's 'Comms check', and that's a good copy."

"Comms check... Right. The turret is snug, but she's good. Looks like she'll do the job."

Cedric nodded, he forgot that Gunner was no longer in the cockpit. The audio quality was ambient with static, but at least he could clearly hear Gunner even through his thick accent.

"That's good, how's she rotate?"

After a few moments, he could hear a slight whirring above him.

"Fast enough, she swings easy - and she's stable enough. She'll work, even if not precise."

"Viable to use mid-orbit?"

"Yes."

Cedric relaxed his hand, he'd take any advantage he could. He was surprised that Razoreye didn't tend to use it.

"Won't be long now." Razoreye said, "Best get comfortable."

Cedric nodded and turned to his squad, eyeing Tesla.

"I'll stay here. Tesla, help Shy with keeping the brothers safe. Grey, whatever you do with your team is your prerogative. I trust you."

"For the record, if any of them die, I'm using them for my lab." Tesla said, marking a few notes down on a holopad she had reinforced with a sturdy, protective hard cover case and settled it on her hip. She lightly adjusted her black skinsuit with a couple audible latex snaps, and ushered Shy to follow her through the corridor.

"Comms check." Tesla's voice rang through his ear.

"Good copy."

Grey barked orders to her team, "Tool, Stripes, Blue - cargo bay. Quickclaw, watch their backs. I'll join you in a moment."

Grey adjusted herself closer to Cedric.

"Good luck ba- Director. Sorry, force of habit." She said quickly, before joining her team in the cargo bay. Cedric could hear a modicum of sorrow in her voice, and he had never felt so shallow and cruel before. Was the breakup really necessary?

"Darling." Killer began, reinforcing herself behind Cedric. Clearly she was feeling the emotional feedback. "I didn't mind it you know, you could still change your mind."

Cedric shook his head, "It's too awkward already. What's done is done..."

"Okay." She simply said, rubbing his back in her traditional way. It did give him some comfort.

Communications checks from all of the members fizzled through his headset, and he acknowledged all of them. Comms were good, weapons were hot, and the Midnight Wind was approaching her position just behind the asteroid marked from their battle meeting before. Cedric rose his hand to his device again, depressing a second button that was set to transmit directly to their command. In his case, Prez.

"Overlord one, this is Lancer one. We're in position, just waiting now."

"Lancer one this is Overlord one... Were these callsigns really necessary?"

"Yes."

"Fine, good copy. Standby, the convoy should be coming into view in a few minutes. Go quiet."

Cedric nodded, and brought his mask close to Razoreye's ear.

"Go quiet."

Razoreye nodded, and punched a few controls on his large, cabled console. The lights of the Midnight Wind went dark, and even the gentle hum of her massive engines couldn't be heard. The entire vessel was now dark, and completely silent.

"Aye, 'stealth mode' - tis' a good idea."

Cedric nodded, "I just hope it works. Worst case scenario would be that this 'stealth mode' would be completely useless."

Razoreye shook his head, "I don't think so, lowering the emissions and wireless signals of the ship is a good idea, as well as keeping the engines barely on. If they want to detect us on the spectrum, they'll have to do so through the asteroid. You taught this by a magineer?"

He shook his head, "Not quite a magineer, but close. I hate that we can't see above this asteroid."

Cedric looked out through the cockpit, its visibility completely taken over by the brown and black rock of the asteroid that lay in front of them, rotating ever so slowly.

"Best way to do it." Razoreye said, lighting up a bacco stick. Cedric did the same.

"If we were peaking above, they could see us visually."

"You don't think they're going to see the camera drone used by the scout fighter?" He asked, his heart throbbing loudly in his chest. The tension was palpable.

"Aye, by the time they do though it'll be too late."

"They'll probably shoot it down and go on alert." Cedric mentioned idly.

Razoreye shook his head, "It's so small they probably won't. Even if they know they're being watched, methinks they are confident in their guns enough to not bother with being attacked by the common rabble."

"Or the desperate..." Cedric noted dryly.

Several painful minutes went by, and Cedric began to worry.

"You don't think they found out do you?" He asked, his voice on edge.

"No way mate, no way they did." Razoreye replied, but unease was clearly creeping into his voice.

"There it is, the convoy is in range." Cedric heard through his radio, it was Prez.

"Here we go..." Cedric whispered.

Razoreye barely ascended above the asteroid to garner some view of the convoy. Sure enough, far in the distance, it approached slowly.

"Watch it Razoreye." Cedric said, his worry growing.

"Just gettin' a look. Aye, those are some mighty beasties escorting that frigate."

Cedric peered into the distance, the laser cannons on the corvette escorts appeared to be massive. Just as their battle plan informed, the tender was far behind it - trawling comfortably behind the main group.

"Standby..." Cedric heard through the headset. He relayed it to Razoreye as they sank back down behind cover.

Several minutes of waiting felt like hours as they waited patiently. A few more minutes, a few more minutes...

"Get ready." Prez said into his ear.

Cedric peered cautiously, reinforcing his grip on a bar above him.

"Now?" Razoreye asked.

"Not yet."

They continued to wait, their hearts pounding uncontrollably. What was taking so long? Cedric's idle sniff pierced through the silence, eliciting no reaction from the others. He smoked his cigarette idly, waiting for the call to deploy and send the Midnight Wind's engines roaring. Would this plan work? He prayed to whatever deity cared that it would. The silence was deafening, would his squad be okay? They wouldn't take any casualties, right? No, they trained specifically for this. They should be fine... He hoped they would be.

"What's taking so-"

"Now! Engines hot! Go go go!" Prez screamed into his headset.

Cedric caught himself at the call, practically yelling at Razoreye.

"Now! Now!"

Without missing a beat, the Midnight Wind roared to life as Razoreye slammed his controls, the lurch was sickening as the Midnight Wind quickly ascended above the asteroid and screamed towards her target. The force knocked Cedric back to such a degree that the bar above him bent in response to his sudden tight grip. His head was sent spinning from the massive thrust, the giant engines mounted behind the vessel creating a deafening roar. The whiplash was painful, but necessary. Wait, whiplash...

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Cedric pressed into his local comms after steadying himself, "No broken necks?"

"None, sir." Came Grey's almost immediate voice. She may have been thinking the same thing.

Cedric breathed a sigh of relief, and his body almost stopped as they began to approach the frigate. With terror, Cedric was already seeing the large cannons of the corvette escorts already begin to turn as they broke formation to react to the threat.

Cedric felt a comforting paw on his shoulder as a raspy Killer spoke quietly in his ear.

"Calm down darling, we're fine."

Cedric gulped. This was a reality check, was he really cut out for this? He had never been so afraid before. He sturdied his mind and reigned in his emotions, he needed to be calm. He needed to focus.

"Here we go!" Razoreye yelled, shortly after Cedric could hear a loud Bzoom to his right as the escorting corvettes opened fire.

"How can we hear that?" Cedric yelled.

"Interpretive computer, makes it so we can hear the sounds - useful in a firefight!" Razoreye replied quickly. Cedric felt his stomach lurch as the Midnight Wind rolled around to face its cockpit to the frigate, ensuring the side and top autocannons had full reign of the targets in front of them. The view in front of him then sailed upwards, signaling that Razoreye was beginning to enter a stable orbit.

Cedric checked his comms again. "Everyone good?"

"Aside from Tool throwing up, we're good!" Grey replied.

A loud boom from above him signaled that Gunner had already began firing at the frigate. Rapid chinks from either side informed Cedric that the Reyas brothers were also firing their autocannons. The vessel shifted into a rhythm, every few seconds the autocannons would rattle off, targeting the corvettes' laser cannons. The sounds of turret fire were almost deafening.

"We're in stable orbit for - damn it." Razoreye jolted his ship left and right, two more lasers were barely visible from the wide cockpit on either side.

"For now. We're good for the next phase - hurry up we can't draw fire forever!" Yelled Razoreye, struggling to predict the movement of the enemy's weapons.

Cedric commed up to Prez, "Phase two! Now! We've got them distracted!"

"Understood." She said calmly, Cedric breathed slowly in satisfaction. She was in serious mode, this gave him a boost of confidence. He was worried that her antagonistic personality would damage her ability to focus, but the simple phrase of 'Understood' spoke volumes to him.

"I've got eyes on the other two amigo, they're moving!" One of the brothers called through the headset.

"The Gnasher and the Smilodon?!" He confirmed.

"Aye!"

Cedric nodded his head, and brought his head a bit closer to Razoreye's.

"One of the brothers spotted the Gnasher and the Smilodon, they're moving to the tender."

"Good." He said simply through gritted teeth as the Midnight Wind jolted to the right, knocking Cedric off balance yet again as a loud bzoom sounded off to their left, closer than the others had been.

"Goddess, that was close." He said quickly, and Cedric could feel the force of the ship shifting once again.

"We're closing the gap!"

Cedric commed the local channel, "Visual report!"

A few krshks signalled that multiple anima attempted to communicate at once, a few seconds later Gunner's voice could be heard through the light static.

"The guns are struggling, I can barely keep aim - but it looks like those laser cannons are having it worse."

"We're doing good Razoreye, their guns are struggling more than ours are. Keep up the pressure!" Cedric relayed.

"Aye, and we're about to invincible!"

"What?"

Cedric observed as Razoreye reached into his long coat pocket, and pulled out a device that looked like an inhaler for asthma. Depressing the canister on top, he breathed deeply and fit it back into his pocket.

"What did you take?!"

"Little bit of a booster." Razoreye replied, his voice overtaken by a stoic calmness. Observing his movements, Cedric witnessed Razoreye's motions become calm and controlled, and sent the throttle of the Midnight Wind even higher - so high, that Cedric felt like he was in a cyclotron at a county fair. Their orbit was so close and fast, and yet Razoreye was able to maneuver the shuddering craft with astonishing care and accuracy.

"Did you take a sedative?" Cedric yelled over the laser fire constantly sounding around them, but never making contact.

"Something like that. Now shut up and let me focus, you fucking shit-brained ingrate!"

Cedric was taken aback by the tone. Why was he so pissed off now?

"Razychka, Darling. A drug that induces a focused rage when inhaled." Killer said, her emotions calm as ever above the incessant fire.

"I see." Cedric replied. His heart was still throbbing with fear, but being exposed to it for several minutes and seeing that they had no been hit yet refocused his mind and calmed his senses. He was confident they would be fine.

"They hit the Smilodon!" One of the brothers screamed over the comms.

"What?" Cedric was once again struck with fear.

"The Smilodon - shit's fucked amigo!"

"How many times did they get hit?"

"Once!"

Cedric tried to slow his breathing. Killer's calming strokes on his back and arms aided to calm him down through the plethora of motion induced sickness and panicked fear. If the Smilodon went down from one hit, what the hell would happen to them?!

"Maybe we should abort..." Cedric said, calm distain in his voice.

"I'm not fucking aborting a Goddess dammed thing!" Razoreye exclaimed, still calmly focused on their zig-zagging orbit.

Cedric's radio fizzled once more - what now?!

"Lancer one this is Overlord one. Phase two complete, the tender is harpooned. It's being pulled away and about to be boarded now!"

Right before Cedric responded, he heard howls from beyond the cockpit as two explosions could be heard behind them.

"Guns are disabled on one of the corvettes, the one near the Gnasher. Working on the other now!"

Cedric smiled with relief. They lost a ship, but they lost one of theirs too - maybe not destroyed like the Smilodon, but still defenseless. He could already tell the difference as the frequency of laser cannon fire began to die down around them. They were still being fired at by the other corvette, but based on current events - it couldn't hit the Midnight Wind thanks to her blinding speed and drugged up pilot.

"Overlord one this is Lancer one, one escort is disabled. One still operational."

Another explosion buffeted the Midnight Wind with such force that it knocked her out of orbit, Cedric was sent sailing across the cockpit to the right and slammed against the forgiving metal, blood trickled from the back of his head and his cigarette cascaded to the ground, putting itself out. Terrified, he commed up as rapid pings began to surround the Midnight Wind.

"What the fuck happened?!"

A gruff voice replied in the comms, it was Gunner.

"I'm hit..." He whispered, rasping through the comms. Shy's voice followed shortly after, "We're hit too... I'm fine, b-but Picano..."

"What the fuck happened?" Cedric demanded, the vessel now finding itself back into orbit after the massive force slammed into them.

"Explosion. Sounds like the other escort blew up, they got hit by shrapnel." Grey's calm voice echoed in his ear.

"Shy, you know what to do. Remove and treat."

Following Grey's lead, Cedric radioed to Tesla.

"Tesla, are you two fine?"

"Yes." She replied calmly.

"Good, then recover Gunner."

"Understood, Director."

"W-We're putting on masks! There's a breach!" Shy stuttered through the comms, clearly terrified.

"Keep your calm, put a mask on Picano then yourself, drag him out of the turret chair and then seal the door." Grey commanded.

"Y-yes Sergeant!"

Cedric took another deep breath, they needed to board. How to do it... He felt his mind refocus once more, the planning going through his head creating a calming effect as he searched his mind deeply.

He observed outside for a few seconds. "The large rounded sections... That's for cargo right?"

"Yeah, what of it?!" Razoreye demanded.

"The Midnight Wind can't get through it, but the drop shuttle can..." He mused thoughtfully.

"Are ye fucking insane?.. Ya know what, if ye can pull this off - I'll get ye a drink for free at the Ravager."

"Make it an ouroboros."

"Aye? Deal. Now let me fucking focus!"

Cedric nodded and touched his communication device.

"Everyone to the shuttle! If the pilot refuses to fly... Throw him out."

"Yes sir." Came Grey's voice. Cedric turned to Razoreye, "Last time I bother you. Get me a stable shot at one of the cargo doors with the top gun."

He simply nodded. Satisfied, Cedric rushed to the back corridor leading to the cargo bay. On the ground near the opened turret, Picano and Gunner were braced against the walls in the middle of treatment, thanks to Tesla and Shy.

"Gunner!" Cedric exclaimed, already getting comfortable in the seat that was deployed down.

"What?" He rasped, angered from pain as Tesla was busy removing a sharp piece of metal from his shoulder.

"How do I fire the eighty-eight?!"

"Right button on the wheel..." He rasped, a cough breaking away from his lips.

"Thanks." He replied unconsciously. Cedric buckled himself into the seat and slammed the red button up and to his left, the chair lurched up and after a few seconds, he was sitting in a glasslike cupola. Cedric heard the sound of a fwsh to his right, a breach in the cupola.

"God fucking damn it." He cursed, hoping his head wouldn't explode before he could breach one of the cargo doors. He could feel the pressure encapsulating his head. He had time, it was a small breach where the shard had flown through. He looked around to the cracking cupola, if he died here at least it would be relatively quick.

Cedric rested his hands against a small set of double handgrips attached to themselves, like the steering wheel of a race car. He saw the button and gave the wheel a turn, and the massive gun in front of him turned in response. It was thickly forged, and thanks to the coldness of space - did not appear to be hot. He spotted a small green reticle in front of him with lines going down, marked in kilometer like measurements. He steadied his breath and mind as the Midnight Wind viciously orbited the frigate, lasers thankfully not present. Small projectiles were firing from the frigate itself, but none of them came even close to their corvette.

Peering down, he fired the button. He was temporarily dazed as a massive explosion rocked the cupola, and he had missed his target by a fair amount.

Right, I need to lead the shot thanks to our velocity. But how do I calculate it... he thought. He lifted up the barrel and loosed another shot from the gun, no contact - but much closer. Cedric used his intuition to guess the most likely distance he needed to gauge the gun. He only had one, maybe two more shots before he'd have to exit the gun because of the breach.

He waited for a few seconds... Time wasting...

"Fuck it."

Cedric fired, and a satisfying explosion erupted from the closest cargo bay door on the frigate, which he now saw the name of but only barely. The Lineus.

"Woo! Fuck yeah!" Cedric screamed. His celebration was cut short as he felt the pressure building in his skull, he darted around for an exit button - and found a lever that appeared to be locked into place that said 'Exit.'

Cedric flipped the cover and slammed down the lever, the gun rotated to a neutral position and he felt the seat lurch once more as he descended down, the seat now on the ground and the top cupola once again sealed, saving the rest of the cabin from the breach.

"Fuck yeah, shit's breached!" He exclaimed, excitement obliterated all sense of fear he had before. He had just done something medal of honor worthy, if only he could have done something like this in the past. Now however, was not the time to celebrate.

Cedric rushed to the cockpit, informing Razoreye who was breathing heavily- and intook another hit from his inhaler.

"It's breached! We're taking out the shuttle! Keep her steady!"

Razoreye simply nodded quickly, still focusing on the orbit.

Cedric rushed back to the corridor, and checked on Picano and Gunner.

"How are they doing?" He asked quickly, not wanting to waste more time.

"I can fight." Gunner said, standing up and re-securing his weapons, a thick bandage wrapped around his wound.

"I did everything I could, but he's..." Shy stuttered. Cedric took a quick look at Picano, his eyes were closed and he did not move safe for his steady breathing. A massive bandage was wrapped around his face, primarily covering a wound on his neck.

"Fuck..." Cedric rasped, Picano may not make it, but they couldn't bother with that now.

"You've done what you can, focus on the present - we gotta move."

Shy nodded through her sniffles. Blue, Stripes, and Tool simply looked on in horror. Cedric slapped his hands together - drawing their attention.

"Shuttle! Now!" He commanded.

"Y-yes sir!" Paws was to his side, just as dumbfounded as the other new recruits were. Cedric lead the charge into the shuttle, its rat pilot in the shuttle's small bay looking onward completely confused.

"Hey!" Cedric yelled, "Back in the pilot's seat, we're boarding!"

"W-we're what? I can't dock with a moving-"

"MOVE!" Grey screamed, lifting up the rat with her cybernetic arm and flinging him out of the shuttle, he landed (mostly) safely on the deck. Cedric looked back and forth between Grey and the poor pilot.

"You said if he didn't cooperate, to just toss him out." She said with a smirk. Cedric shrugged, "Fair enough."

Shortly after, Grey rushed to the pilot's seat and Cedric assisted the rest of the squad with propping themselves in the middle of the shuttle's bay, ensuring all of them had some sort of handhold. He patted the rifle that was slung on his back, still in one piece. He noted that his back was somewhat sore, he hadn't noticed the pressure of the large weapon digging into his back through his plate when he mounted the eighty-eight, his adrenaline was still surging. It felt good. With everyone secured, the shuttle sprung to life - its rear ramp door closing quickly. Static broke through his comms.

"I took Picano's headset. I see you on the camera, opening the bay now..." Razoreye's voice was thick with painful rasping.

"Are you alright?" Ceddic asked.

"I'm fucking fine! Board the Goddess dammed ship! The shuttle's armor should be fine! GO!" He screamed as Cedric could hear another door opening behind him, the hangar bay door. Without missing a beat, the shuttle shot out of the bay with full speed. Cedric heard a small explosion in front of him.

"Razoreye?" He commed. No response.

"Grey, what's the status on the Midnight Wind?"

"Still intact, breaking orbit. We left the hangar too fast, might've damaged it."

Cedric nodded idly, "Let's hope the previous pilot found a place to hide."

"Guess we'll find o- fuck!"

Cedric waited cautiously as several pings bounced off the shuttle's hull.

"Point defense guns. We're fine for now." Grey indicated over the radio.

Cedric felt the shuttle buck and turn in several directions. Checking back on the rest of his team, they seemed to be fine - especially Chem. They were so silent he hadn't even realized they were still with him. The ferret boys, Shy, and Paws were shaking violently.

"Hey." Cedric called out, drawing their attention.

"Focus. Fear is normal. Break through it and kick ass."

They nodded towards him quickly, but didn't seem convinced. Cedric was still riding the high of his adrenaline and excitement garnered from breaching the cargo bay with the eighty-eight, paralyzing his fear.

"Brace!" Grey called out, and all of them took whatever sturdier position they could muster. The shuttle lurched to a slow and Cedric could feel grinding metal underneath as the shuttle rotated rapidly to the left, skidding across what he assumed was the bay floor. Several pings hit the side of the shuttle, a small laser pierced through it entirely and out the other end - thankfully missing the occupants.

"We're taking laser fire! It's hot!" Cedric screamed through his radio. He couldn't explain it, but he could feel his military training begin to take ahold of him. This was a combat zone, why was he freaking out? He knew what to do in this situation. It was as though a switch had been flicked in his psyche, and all he could do was supremely focus on the task at hand. Cedric whipped out his Fusìl and commed once more.

"Grey, drop the hatch!"

Shortly after, the hatch dropped - and without thinking, he rushed out and to the left, his combat instinct taking over and guiding him to the nearest, thickest cover. By taking the corner of the canted vessel, it would provide him full cover against the Lineus's defending crew.

"Follow my lead! Duck left! Use the shuttle as cover!" He commanded through the radio. His crew followed the instruction, shortly after Grey also followed - cursing under her breath.

"That fucking laser almost got me, Goddess."

Without thinking, Cedric responded. "Laser, priority target, Understood."

He shifted his body low and prone, heaving his rifle and focusing its point. Through the laser holes, he could see the entrance of the bay was beginning to fill with defenders wearing basic body armor, similar to the armor worn on the ship that the Ravager's crew freed him from. Most of them held pistols of some sort. He was able to quickly acquire his target, a crew of three using what appeared to be a smaller version of his Fusìl. He looked back quickly, the gravity barrier was doing a fine job of keeping the atmosphere in place. He flicked a button on the side of his blocky weapon, and heard with satisfaction the machine powering up. He went low and then prone, just barely ducking out from his right corner of the shuttle. Through a holographic scope in front of him, a small red bar quickly filled to green - indicating it was ready to fire. With a deep breath, he focused... On his next down-hale, he fired.

Bzz-thoom!

The Fusìl made contact with one of the gun's crew, tearing a clean hole through a nameless feline and scorching the wall behind it with a thick blackness. The casualty caused the defenders to scatter behind cover, terrified that they would be next. Cedric smiled, the successful shot brought him great joy, all of his training and his master marksman badge felt earned now. No longer were his accolades for clout, now he could boast about them - for real. With satisfaction, he reported it in his comms.

"Tango down."

Grey quickly peered from around the corner, then bent low with her cybernetic arm and drug him back.

"Good shit, but useless if you're going to leave yourself exposed like that idiot!" She chided.

Cedric wished he could kiss her in that moment, a missing member drew him from his proud stupor.

"Where did Killer go?"

His question was answered quickly as he felt a surge of euphoria rush through his body as screams erupted through the hangar. Cedric leaned over to witness a veritable carnage as Killer's invisible form ripped the defenders to shreds. To him, they were simply laid low through great ribbons of blood and viscera.

"Jesus Christ." He said unconsciously - yet, he felt no remorse - simply pleasure. The thrill of the hunt.

"Killer is dangerous indeed." Gunner noted. Cedric was unable to stifle a chuckle as he gazed at the newbies, their faces once again contorted in horror.

"Interesting." Tesla said. Cedric looked around, nobody else joined his jubilance.

"You find this funny?" Grey asked, her voice dark and low.

"Uh, no." He lied, "It's a stress relief mechanism." Tesla jotted something down in her holopad.

"Fine, let's get this over with. What are we looking for?" Grey demanded, her weapon still at the ready as they slowly approached the pile of dead Korellei. Killer was licking her lips and lightly flapped her wings.

"They taste terrible. Aside from the fear." She said idly, quickly embracing Cedric in a deep hug within her membrane cloak.

"Did you feel it Darling?" She cooed, flicking off her belt and quickly unhinging his mask and placing a kiss on his lips, the blood leaving a light residue around them. Cedric felt as though he should be mortified - but he just... wasn't... Rather, he felt good. She did an excellent job, just as he hoped she would.

"I-"

"You two need to stop coddling and fucking focus!" Grey snapped.

"Right, sorry. I'll describe it later, Killer."

"Mmk Darling." She cooed, releasing her grip and fitting his mask back into place.

"We split into two teams, you already know which ones. As well defended as this was, they have something extremely valuable. Find it. Anything you can, whether it be some big project or general valuables - secure them. We forgot to bring a cart with us, so find something to put them in. My squad will take the left, your squad will take the right. I don't know where these corridors lead, so if one of us can jack in and get schematics, blueprints, something-"

"I can do that." Tesla chimed in, "I'm familiar with the technology of these vessels."

"Then that's settled."

"What's our time frame?" Grey asked.

"Don't take too long, that's all I have for a time frame. Be ready to pull back to this bay if I get word, chances are we should be done by the time they are done raiding the tender in the back."

Grey nodded quickly, calling her team over and already curbing their fears, enforcing their training.

"Cedric..." Grey said, the others looked to him cautiously.

"Be smart."

He nodded in understanding, and took his left down the t-split from the bay, Grey's team behind him and at the ready.

"I always am." He whispered.