The crew found themselves in a quiet, empty sector of the universe, the vastness of space stretched endlessly in every direction. Visible light from stars seemed like glimmers of light galaxies away, cold and dim, the silence was unsettling as Hamund navigated through its empty expanse.

Hamund felt his eyes growing heavy, the monotonous emptiness around them caused him to occasionally doze of as he struggled to keep his head from falling. Hamund prayed for anything, signs of life, galactic abnormalities, maybe even one of those krakens Thorkell was always on the lookout for. Hamund's grip on the controls began to relax as he envisioned him fighting off waves of different beasts that were sent his way.

He remembered the last time he had felt this boredom, It was the day he earned the name Draugr slayer. It was a quiet journey much like the one he found himself in now. Suddenly he had heard the sounds of alarms going off throughout the cockpit, a dreadful break in the silence. A ship had broken into his vision, the ship was broken and appeared cold on all his radars.

He thought of the moments before he had propelled himself through space strapped to the side of that rocket. His only thoughts going through his mind at the time were ones of self doubt. “If you fail, there is no coming back from this, Your son will never forgive you.”

Hamund was jolted from his daydream by the sound of a loud ringing noise. A ship had appeared seemingly from nowhere. It had a strange design, it seemed to have been crafted from the wreckage of different worlds, pieces of hulls and technologies stitched to in a patchwork of twisted metal and otherworldly architecture. The vessel floated along its functionality baffled Hamund as it moved with grace.

Hamunds heart beat rapidly, as he leapt from his seat and rushed through the halls towards the stasis chambers of his crew. He deactivated the stasis control, waking his crew as he began shouting “We have guests around us!”

Admadra was the first to wake, her face showing an eagerness for battle as she rushed to secure her prosthetic leg on.

Vulcan jumped up holding a black cat, He rushed up to Hamund still dressed in nothing but a pair of undergarments. He handed Hamund the cat and said in his softest voice “Protect monkey” Without hesitation he continued “I will kill Invaders.”

Hamund cradled the cat and as he stroked the cat to comfort it he replied “Its a cat, Vulcan, but it will be safe with me.”

Vulcans face twisted with confusion as he rushed through the hall.

Val tapped his brother on the shoulder already dressed in his battle gear holding a larger set in his hands and said “I will make sure Vulcan is ready”

Val chased Vulcan through the halls and warned him “You need your battle suit!”

“I don't need little armor to kill!” Vulcan could be heard shouting back to Vall, his determination unshaken, Val was not about to let Vulcan charge into battle in nothing more than a small piece of cloth.

Hamund cradled the cat, Its purring was a strange but welcome contrast to the chaos that seemingly was about to unfold.

The rest of the crew departed the room, their footsteps in sync as they rushed to their battle stations.

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As Hamund arrived back at the captain's chair he saw an incoming message alert flashing across the screen in the center of the control panel.

Hamund approached the screen and slid his fingers across the screen causing the message to play. “Greetings travelers, You have entered the territory of the Tuskers. Shut off your engines and prepare to be boarded.”

Hamund heeds the warning of the ship and lowers his engines power before replying “I am welcoming your captain to my ship, should any further warriors attempt to board you will be met with superior fire.”

As Hamund sends out the broadcast, Ken could be heard behind him breathing heavily “What did you just do?” Ken asks as he attempts to rush past Hamund, Ken is thrown back towards the door of the cockpit as Hamund replies “I would prefer to have diplomacy, then waste resources on low life scum.”

Ken picks himself up off the ground and shouts “These are the Tuskers, they are pirates whose whole purpose is to salvage ships.”

Before Hamund could reply, another alert could be heard ringing out, Hamund turned to see a broadcast ready to be played across the message board. Hamund played the message “Your conditions cannot be met, Prepare to be boarded by force.”

Hamund scurried to restart his engines, the makeshift ship was now rotating putting Hamunds ship in the crosshair of all of their side fire weaponry.

Hamund pushed all engines to full power, the ship now racing towards their adversary. Moments before making contact he throttled the steering column down, forcing the ship to take a nosedive avoiding all fire from the opposing ship.

“Hold tight!” Hamund yelled, his voice echoing through the chaos of the encounter.

Val had taken his battle position in the co-captains chair, the momentum was too great for him to move freely. Val clung to his chair, fascinated by yet another of his brother's daring maneuvers. “What is the plan, brother?” Val asked as he struggled to even stay in his chair.

The turbulence forced Hamund to grit his teeth as he spun his ship exposing the side of his ship to the underbelly of the opposing ship. Hamund couldn’t help but smile as he radioed to Admadra “Take out the beast.”

Without a moment's break Hamund observed rockets shooting through the enemy ship. Projectiles collided through the ship creating large gaps into the patchwork frame. With each hole ripped into the ship bodies were sucked out into the abyss. One of the bodies hit the front of the ship revealing a man-like creature. The creature had the body of a man, four or five feet tall, pointy ears with fur coating them. The creature appeared to be rodent-like with scars riddled across its face. As Hamund called a cease fire he saw a white flare shot from the ship, followed by a broadcast sent to his command center, it was a surrender.

Hamund looks back at Ken, Ken's face was pale as he looked in horror at the scene that occurred before him. “Sometimes our enemies just need to understand what they are up against. They always learn to play along.” Hamund says as he walks past Ken on his way out the cockpit.

Before Hamund departed the room Ken lifted himself off the ground, his legs still shaking, and said “You should take me with you.”

Hamund replies “I have no need for you, especially when the crews needs are to be addressed.”

Ken frustration boils over as his pale face now bright red “You don't know the Tuskers like I do, they are ruthless, this is all a trick to get you onto their ship. They are tricky devils, and will stab you in the back the second your guard is down”

Hamund laughs as he departs the room waving off Ken's warning “So just treat them like I do you!”

Ken chases Hamund through the halls Insisting “I have had encounters with them before, I much like you thought I could negotiate…” Ken pulls the bag of dog tags out of his pocket, tossing them in front of Hamund. Hamund stops in his tracks stroking Monkey and waiting in silence “They are the reason my crew is dead, I don't know how but during our negotiations they snuck onto my ship killing my crew without hesitation.”

“There is a big difference between us and your crew, there isn't one member of my ship that I don't trust to defend their own. With or without me this ship will operate at a similar capacity.” Hamund says as he bends down picking up the satchel. As he looks over the bag he asks “What would you suggest?”

“Have your talks, but bring me with you, I have seen their traps…” Ken stops his reply to wipe away the tears from his eyes “You don’t like me, that's fine, but you can’t afford to not heed my warnings.”

Hamund pauses his normal confindate facade fading as his tone lowers “I will bring you with, all I ask is should this turn bad, don't be the one holding the knife.”