It took most of the day to repair both the airlock and to disable the communications, as well as cleaning but just before the next shift would take over almost everything was done. Gabriel had managed to get a hold of a spare piece for some large moving machine part they had turned into a club for him, he also had time to study the confusing layout of the ship and found points to attack from. He yawned and was on the way back to his room, well his and Madeline’s cell, when Taurana found him in the corridor.

“Oh, Gabriel, we have made a helmet for you by hardening the cloth your suit uses. And we found out that it does not stop the rifle bullets, most of the time.” She put a bag down and brought out a helmet with a full face mask in the same grey as his suit, it looked heavy as she lifted it up to him.

“So if I get lucky they’ll stop?” He asked and took the helmet, it was not as heavy as she made it look. It was shaped after his head which gave it almost a skull appearance and the eyes had thick glass in them and. He tried it on and found that they had put in padding and it was comfortable enough to wear. He looked at Taurana. “How do I look?”

“Scary,” She said honestly.

Gabriel pulled it off and looked at it again, “Do you think it will be better or worse to make it even scarier? Like a skull or something?”

“For who?”

“The Igris, do you think they will surrender faster if I look scarier?” Gabriel asked and squinted at the helmet turning it in his hands. Taurana stared at him for a long while, not saying anything. “What?”

She shook her head, “No, nothing, I have just never heard of such a tactic”

“Isn’t it normal to scare your enemies?”

She shrugged, “We have not been in a war for several centuries, not since discovering FTL. And we didn’t really fight each other much before that either.”

“Huh, sounds pretty great” Gabriel muttered and handed the helmet back “If you can make it scarier please do, otherwise maybe color it black or something, assuming it’s not a comforting color to Igris, maybe red would be scarier, I’ll leave that to you”

Taurana chuckled, “Well, black is not a comforting color, I’ll see what I can do, any preferences?” She took the helmet and put it back in the bag.

“I think the skull will be fine, you have a scan of me right? can you use that?”

“Yes to both”

“Thank you, and don’t overwork yourself, we all have a long day tomorrow”

She sighed, “I’ll try, but I’m nervous, we all are.”

Gabriel gently reached out and placed his hand on her head, “You will be fine, we all will”

She nodded and smiled an awkward human smile, clearly not used to the motion, “Thank you, I’ll fix your helmet and then straight to bed”

Gabriel smiled back, “Good plan, I’m off to bed as well” He took a step towards his room before halting, “Oh, how good are the Igri’s eyes? can we turn off most of the lights?”

“Well, their vision is worse than mine when it comes to light, but I don’t know in comparison to yours, and yes we can control the lights as well as illumination levels.”

“Alright, I hope we have time to test that tomorrow and leave the helmet grey, I’ll blend in better if the light situation pans out. Assuming I need to hide.” Taurana bowed to him before scurrying off with the helmet and Gabriel made his way back to his room, briefly wondering if he could get one without a window staring at him.

He opened the door and walked in on Madeline taking her coverall off. “Oh, sorry,” He said and turned around.

“For what? you have seen me less dressed” She chirped.

“I guess you are right, force of habit” He turned back and headed for his bed taking off his own coverall and the weight suit, “Ah, even if the suit is not warm it feels good to be out of it”

“I know what you mean,” Madeline said and rubbed her flattened fur, fluffing it out. “I’m not used to such encompassing clothes” She stretched before she crawled down into bed.

“What do you normally wear on your planet?” Gabriel asked and stretched as well. The lower gravity felt weird after wearing the suit for a day.

She sat up and gestured to her front, “Cloth that covers my front over similar underwear to what I am wearing now, which is tied behind my back. And thicker pants almost like your underwear” She looked down at herself before covering up. “Sorry, that was a bit inappropriate,” She said, a bit embarrassed.

Gabriel shook his head to stop staring and crawled into his own bed. “We humans wear just about anything, from clothes like this to swimwear, which covered about as much as underwear.” He said to force his mind onto other topics than what it was heading to.

“Gabriel?” He heard Madeline say quietly after several minutes. Apparently, she had as much trouble falling asleep as he did.

“Yeah?”

“Do you really think we will be alright?” She sounded worried and Gabriel did not blame her.

“Well, with your help I managed to take out nine of them, and while we don’t know how many will board the ship it hopefully will be less. And we are prepared this time.”

“I guess...”

“I wish we didn’t have to fight, but I can’t leave the captain's family as hostages.”

“I wish I could help you more, but I would only be in the way...And I agree about his family.”

“Speaking of helping” Gabriel sat up and faced her.

She did the same warily, “I won’t like this will I?”

Gabriel smiled, “I’m not asking you to do anything dangerous, just help me keep his family safe after we separate them from the Igris. I was thinking of bringing them in here or some other place hard to get into if I can. I might not be able to stay guard.”

Madeline nodded, “Alright, I’ll try.”

“I won't ask for more, now we should try and get some sleep before it gets entirely too late, Goodnight Madeline”

“Goodnight Gabriel”

The next morning was spent preparing and planning. Gabriel, as it turned out, had about as good night vision as Quizeaterans and Zilgi, although Madeline adjusted faster to light chances. With the layout of the ship, they set up a good ambush site where the corridor had two 90 degree turns with a small stretch in between. That stretch happened to face a door where Gabriel would attack from. And with him on one side the rest of the volunteers would try and liberate the hostages from the back. Or vice versa would they be escorted in the front.

Taurana had done a fantastic job on his helmet, It had groves down the front under the nose and the eye sockets were colored a darker grey. Gabriel stood on the bridge with Madeline and Captain Kanthua. The latter was pacing back and forth looking at the monitors. Gabriel could see the station slowly growing larger in the distance, “Still no message?” He asked Kanthua.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

He shook his head, “We are soon in range to receive automatic messages, so it will have to be before that.”

“Alright, I...” Gabriel started before a monitor pinged. Kanthua hurried over and read the incoming message.

“We have received a spot, start the approach” He turned and looked at Gabriel with a worried expression.

“Speak of the devil, anyway I see this going two ways” Gabriel continued after being interrupted. “Most likely they will want you to guide them through the ship, and when Taurana cuts the lights I will separate you from them and you can get a hold of a weapon though I would prefer if you stayed out of the fight.”

Kanthua shook his head, “I can’t do that.”

“Understood, I want someone here to monitor their movement and relay information to me. I need to know when to attack. And if you are in front you need to get out of the way as quick as possible when I do.”

He nodded, “And the other way you see this going?”

“If they are nervous or too careful they might have a gun on you or even cuffs or something. If that happens Madeline will try and free you when I attack.” Gabriel looked over at Madeline who nodded. “I don’t know how they will be escorting your family, in front, cuffed in the back, or something else so we will have to improvise some.”

Kanthua nodded and relayed the command to the waiting group. “I think we are as ready as we will be,” He said and continued pacing nervously.

“Alright, we will head to the spot and wait, who will give me callouts?”

One crewmember raised his hand, “Me sir, my name is Sartau” He walked over and handed Gabriel an earpiece.

“You don’t have to say sir to me, I’m not used to it” Gabriel smiled at him, “But good, I need to know when they are approaching, in what order they are walking, biggest weapons and hostages positions, and the captains.”

“Yes, si...Gabriel” Sartau bowed to him.

“Good enough” Gabriel nodded to him and turned to Kanthua, “So how long will the approach take?”

“About three hours depending on queue times, this station is somewhat busy.”

“Alright, so we have some time, shall we go over everything once again?”

About three hours later Gabriel had stretched and was pacing around in a small dim room with Madeline. He had adapted to the low light and swung the makeshift club around. Madeline was standing at the side of the door looking worried with a rifle by her side. The Igris had sent another message telling Kanthua to drug Gabriel and Madeline and he had sent a short-range message confirming they were knocked out. Gabriel felt the ship come to a stop with a small shake and the soft hum from the engines stopped. He started getting nervous now and wondered how he’d forgotten to ask for shoes but that was too late to fix now and he would have to fight barefoot.

He glanced over at Madeline again and she had adopted a scared expression to replace the worried one. “You alright?”

She took a deep breath and shook her head, “Not really, I don’t know if I can do this”

“You only have to open the door and maybe let the hostages or the captain in before locking it” He walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll do fine, you kicked a pirate to the ground before.”

“And then froze up in fear...”

“Do you think you would freeze up again?”

“I don’t know, maybe...” She almost looked ready to cry.

Gabriel sighed and felt for her, but even so, he trusted no one on this ship more. He put down the club and grabbed her, pulling her into a hug. “You will be fine, please help me with this. And after Kanthua’s family is safe we can put this all behind us” He stroked her head as he spoke.

After a minute she sniffed and nodded slowly, pulling herself away. “Just don’t get killed”

“I’ll do my best” Gabriel walked over to his helmet and put it on and picked up the club.

“Sartau, how’s it looking?” He asked his earpiece.

“They were not waiting for us to dock, the cargo bay is open and the captain is there.”

“Alright, tell me immediately when you see something”

“Yes sir, order, hostages, weapons” Gabriel decided to let the ‘sir’ pass as he did not need Sartau to worry about anything else at the moment. He paced for a few more minutes before hearing Sartau’s voice again. “They are here!”

“Details,” Gabriel said and nodded to Madeline.

“One moment, they are still outside the ship...The Captain is leading the way, followed closely by the leader I think, he is carrying a compact scattergun.”

“Shoots lots of small projectiles?” Gabriel guessed.

“Yes”

“Damn, alright what else?”

“The one next to the Captain has a rifle like the one the pirates had, and there are...eight more Igris with guns or what you called stun rods, half with each.”

“Hostages?”

“Behind the leader and the one with a rifle”

“Damnit, that means the back group might need to distract them for a bit, tell them to stay safe and not risk anything.” He turned to Madeline, “They are two Igris in front of the hostages, but the ones behind only have stun bats and handguns. I need to take out the two in front or separate them from the hostages.”

She nodded, “I’m not a good shot, and by that I mean I have never shot a rifle, but I will keep the door opened and the rifle ready if you want it.”

“Thank you” Gabriel walked back and braced against the wall to get as much of a running start as he could. “Give me a countdown to when they reach the middle of the corridor, then kill the lights. In my measurements please, from ten if you can.” He said to Sartau.

“Yes sir”

Gabriel felt his heart speed up as adrenaline made itself known. He counted the seconds in his head. When he reached about 90 Sartau started counting.

“10” Gabriel nodded to Madeline to let her know it was almost time and crouched into as much of a runner's stance as he could.

“9, 8, 7, 6” Gabriel held up his hand showing five fingers to Madeline.

“5” He folded a finger counting one in advance.

“4” another finger down.

“3” He felt his heart rate speed up even more and heard his heartbeat in his ears.

“2” One finger remaining.

“1” Gabriel closed his hand into a fist and pushed off the wall.

The door opened and Gabriel closed his eyes to the harsh light, giving the Igris a good look at his skeletal mask emerging from the darkness.

“0” The lights went out and Gabriel opened his eyes just as he passed Madeline. The light trick had done its job, the Igris was disoriented for a split second. Kanthua almost threw himself out of the way as Gabriel thundered forwards. He reached the Igris before any shots had been fired and swung the heavy club at the rifle-wielding Igris. He caught the Igris on the shoulder and heard a crack as it screamed in pain and fell to the floor. Gabriel swiped the club to the right, towards the leader who just managed to get off a shot with his scattergun as the club connected the scattergun.

Gabriel felt a sharp tug at his side and the scattergun slammed into the wall, bent and useless. He had been hit, although glancing but he was not sure how bad it was. The leader jumped back behind the hostages and another took his place just to catch the club in the head and blood and maybe a tooth or two hit the wall as the Igris slumped to the floor.

Kanthua’s family cowered in fear, crouching on the floor and Gabriel swung the club in a wide sweep over their heads as he stepped around them. He swung his club wildly back and forth forcing the Igris back, but that allowed them to use their handguns instead. He felt rounds hit his suit and tried not to flinch. While the suit caught the rounds it still felt like getting shot by a bb gun on skin. Still, he said nothing and slowly advanced on the Igris, watching as they retreated around the corner and the leader shouted in their language.

Gabriel glanced back and saw that Kanthua and his family were almost safely inside the room, Madeline carefully looked out at him with the rifle in hand. He quickly backed up to the room and grabbed the rifle. “Lock the door!”

Madeline nodded and flexed her fur, “Be careful!”

Gabriel nodded and tucked his club under an arm as he shouldered the rifle. Stepping around the corner he found the Igris waiting for him. One swung a stun bat at his head, and Gabriel did not even dodge as the bat glanced off his helmet and bounced off his shoulder. He pulled the rifle down and hip fired it into the Igris stomach. As the Igris fell he shouldered the rifle once again and fired down the corridor, quickly emptying the five-round magazine and throwing the rifle aside.

He had wounded three more and now only four unhurt Igris stood in front of him. “Ready to surrender?” He snarled. “Sartau, should we maybe call security or the police or something?” He added without the snarl.

“Right away sir” the response came.

“That was a question but alright,” Gabriel murmured to himself and advanced slowly bumping the club into the wall for effect. His side hurt from the scattergun and he felt sure some pellets had pierced the suit. He did not feel like fighting more and tried intimidation instead. “Last chance! surrender or take your chances with the club!” Suspecting they did not understand him he addressed Sartau again. “Can you translate for me, or patch my voice through a translator or something?”

“Oh, right, sure...done”

“Last chance to surrender!” Gabriel growled again and heard his voice through the speakers. His translator apparently translated for him but the Igris looked up and then over to him. Some looked ready to drop their weapons.

Their leader had other plans and pushed the remaining ones at Gabriel before running away, “Oh no you don’t! I have some questions you need to answer!” Gabriel snarled and started off in a run. Two Igris stood their ground with stun bats, the first tried to block Gabriel’s swing but the heavy club slammed the bat out of its hands and threw it into the wall. The other one swung the bat and Gabriel blocked it with his arm before jabbing the end of the club into the Igris stomach. The other two surrendered quickly and Gabriel ran after the leader.

He caught up to him just as they reached the cargo bay and the ramp leading down to the station. He kicked the Igris just as he stepped onto the ramp and he flew headfirst down, tumbling down the ramp.

“Well, that was easier than I thought,” Gabriel said and inspected his bleeding side. A few pellets had pierced the skin. He was just about to head down the ramp when the Igris leader rolled to a stop at the foot of a very armed security squad. “Uh oh...” Gabriel said as he dropped the club and raised his hands.