A Benumbing Barrage

[Vexhound Crew]

The Talmin Flats
October 6, 2517 – Muir
2:47 P.M Local Time


Breathing a sigh, the man leaned back in his chair. It was the only chair on the bridge, but it was also one of the most comfortable on the whole ship. In his hand there was a book, and his eyes looked it over, reading each word slowly. He was two thirds of the way through it and half way down the page.

Suddenly his body gave a shiver. “Brwah.” He breathed, feeling warm for only a second. It was very cold inside the ship. He looked up out the windows. There was a great frost collection all around them, and he couldn’t see out them very well because of it. For a while he’d tried to clear it, but it came in so quickly there was never a point. The visual of his own breathe drifting into the air depressed him a bit, but he just looked back down.

Outside the rest of the Caravel Class transport, with the words “Vexhound” drawn on the port side, was quiet. Aside from the wind hitting it on its damaged and burnt starboard engine, which had prevented it from taking off for a month, it was a place without sound.

The man looked back down at his book, turning around to let more light hit the pages. The ship had only very basic systems running. Half the lights and the oxygen were about it. It was necessary to conserve the energy since they didn’t know how long they were going to be there. Since the engine wasn’t turning and their mechanic still wasn’t sure what to do about getting them back up in the air, they were trying to make the best of their situation.

The man on the bridge remained staring at the pages of his book, not noticing as a small brown shuttle approached the ship and took up a landing position thirty feet away from the cargo bay door.




Deck layout

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Exterior

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Proximity

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[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus had been mentally preparing himself through the last minutes of the descent. He focused only on the feel of the shuttle, the subtle ebbs and revs in a vehicle that told a pilot's body what the dials didn't know yet.

He wasn't one of those 'born to the helm' sorts of guys, but he'd picked up enough in his experience to know when to pull up at the last moment. When to hit the breaks, and land with the tail of the shuttle pointed right at the front of the ship. The door in the back was already opening and Ray and Ilana would be clear to begin.

They landed soft on the snow, and Marcus already was off his seat. He'd put his tactical vest on under his cold weather gear. He'd brought the shotgun he'd picked up from one of Burt's crew, and one of the Marakov's belonging to Burts himself. It had been the one held by the slave boy Marcus killed thinking he was shooting Burts.

Stupid move. A man as old as Burts wouldn't make that kind of mistake. But it was past. Now was the killing time. He exhaled as he held the shotgun in his hands. Even with the cold air coming in, he didn't feel a thing.

[Jace "Original Zest"]

Finishing his quiet prayer Jace lifted his head up from his Halban R-50 he hadn't much use of the gun he felt it slowed his movement too much,not that is was a heavy gun he just preferred pistols to a rifle, but it certainly came in handy enough for him to keep it for the dangerous scenarios.

He looked around studying the crew all were armed to some degree. He sized up Marcus, Ilana, and Ray who were apparently the real fighters of this crew. He felt comfortable yet his adrenaline was pumping high, he had to try to calm himself for the upcoming conflict. He had decided back on the ship that this crew could at least manage to keep alive which means all he had to do was survive this for passage.

As they approached the ship it was hard to have a clear view but to him the ship looked like a yi da tuo da bian, but giving the benefit of the doubt hopefully it had some goods on it. Of course the main objective was the free the Dolgans but what's a mission without a little bonus.

As the shuttle began to slow to a crawl Jace quickly checked his rifle mags making sure they were strapped in tight, as well as his pistol mags placing them in easy access. He clipped the holsters of his pistols for quick draws and as well his knives in their sheath so that everything now was able to come out in a flash when needed.

After clipping everything he looked at Captain Marcus, he had no idea how the man would handle himself but he hoped this sha gwa wouldn't be insane like most leaders and bring him close to death or finally succeed in the deed so many had failed. Jace would have preferred to let the Captain be tested on his leadership in another way than risking Jace's life in the process to determine his worthiness. Jace sighed heavily knowing this was the way of life for him, throw in all the chips and pray to God gold was struck. Honestly though he preferred this life rather than being a slave, he preferred having his life being a ping ming way of life it always promised him a full life before someone killed him or he got himself killed.

Jace tensed up gripping his rifle tightly as he steadied his breathing when Ilana and Ray opened the door. Jace chuckled as he crouched to jump out and muttered softly, "Yeh Su kan wo men zen me si ba."

[Vexhound Crew]

A man who was wrapped from head to toe was walking along the starboard side of the ship. He was looking over some of the panels that were on the outside, trying to find a damaged segment he had seen the day before. It was lower to the ground, and it was a bit hard to find things like that since the snow buried things every other day of the week.

His clothing was thick, like he’d travelled in an unforgiving environment like that before. His head was completely wrapped up, and the only part of his body that was exposed was a small slit for his brown eyes to see out. He hadn’t quite found what he was looking, and continued to search when he heard a noise.

He saw the shuttle coming in, but he didn’t know whose it was. He heard the screaming of the engine and exhaust and then saw the small craft come in very close. It came in quickly and landed just as quickly. He hadn’t even noticed it until was right on top of them. He didn’t why it was there, or who was in it. What he did know however, was that it wasn’t theirs.

”Mayry dzhokhk’um!” The man spat while reaching for the weapon on his back. The submachine gun had wood and metal on it, and it was brought to point forward. He had no device to contact the people inside with, and he didn’t know if anyone else could see what he was seeing.

Without knowing what else to do, and not being able to see anybody, he began to fire at the shuttle, and bullets clanged and pattered along its metal exterior.

[Ray Hudson]

It was difficult not to be a little frightened. Every job, every drop, anything involving bullets would leave Ray a little shaky. After all, bullets were loud, deadly and painful and even the most risk free of jobs could end with your death. He once heard a story of a robber getting killed by a seemingly meek little housewife, shot him in the head with her husbands hunting rifle. It didn't matter how experienced Ray was or how confident he was feeling, there was still that chance. But these were negative thoughts for gloomy minds.

Ray drummed the fingers on his left hand on his leg while he waited for them to land. His right hand held his Borgon RH, running his index finger on the cold metal of the naked rail. His hands were covered in thick brown gloves and his face and nose were covered in a blue face wrap. A soft hood rested on his head while the rest of his body was secured in cozy brown and blue. Ray hadn't spent much time in freezing environments but luckily his gear would allow him to experience it through a cloth cage.

The door was already opening before they had even landed and Ray held his Borgon RH in both hands. Once the shuttle had hit the ground Ray moved up to the opened door, sub-machine gun raised and looked out into the sprawling white. The slaver's Caravel was not to far away from them and Ray took as much in as he could.

A voice called out to the shuttle and to the left of the ship, Ray saw a man in the distance. The man moved quickly and began to fire at their shuttle, several shots smacking into it. Ray took aim and returned fire, firing two bursts at the man.

[Vexhound Crew]

The wrapped up man frantically fired a shot here and there at the shuttle. He had no idea if it was having any effect, or if he was just wasting bullets. He didn’t see anything that he was supposed to hit, and he had no idea where the door to the shuttle was. All he knew was that he could see it and he was shooting at it.

Suddenly his eye caught something, a bit of movement off towards the back of the shuttle. He started turning to shoot it, but it was already too late. He could hear the shots as they smacked into his chest. ”Voch’!” He yelled as the first volley slapped into him. He began to stumble back and he felt another group hit his abdomen. ”Zuygvel!” He finished in an almost sad tone realizing that it was the end. He fell down into the snow, his body filled with holes.

Back on the bridge the man with the book could hear the noise. He looked out and suddenly saw a brown craft that was just sitting in front of the ship. He had no idea how it got there, and he would have thought that he would have noticed. None of the scanners or sensors were online, so there hadn’t been any warning. But how would he have known they were suddenly going to be attacked? They’d been out there a month and as far as they could tell no one knew they were there.

He jolted up from the chair, and tossed the book to the floor. He spun around and began running out of the bridge towards the upper deck. And as he did he yelled out ” Mardik, menk’ tak hardzakman! Stats’yek’ zenk’yery!” his feet hitting the metal floor hard, which emphasized his panic.

[Ilana Logan]

Ilana spent most of the short trip to the drop point staring at her hands. She wasn't really seeing them for the most part. Mostly, she was going over the plan repeatedly. It wasn't the world's greatest plan, but truthfully, there was no such thing. There were flaws with every plan no matter how big or small it was. One day, you plan a robbery, and end up getting mauled by reavers. The next, you plan a nice trip to the grocery store, and end up in a freak accident with a busted brain pan. There are certain, unforeseeable elements that just can't be figured into any plan. You try to think of everything, but sometimes, that's just not possible.

Leaning against the wall, she finally looked up, and looked around. She decided everyone looked more than a little weird in their cold weather gear. It wasn't that it was overly bulky, because it really wasn't. It was just, odd. It made them all look like marshmallows, and Ilana wasn't sure about the rest of them but she definitely felt like a marshmallow in that garb. She'd had to leave behind her usual guns in favor of a semi automatic with a strap on it from the ship's stock. Because of the bulky of the suit, her little belt wouldn't fit around it. For a job like this one, she preferred a more rapid fire weapon anyway. She had a few clips spread out in the pockets. These guns could cut someone in half when used the right way, but that power came with a price, and that was that it used bullets pretty damned fast.


The sound of the shuttle door opening brought her attention there and she scooted closer to it so she could jump out behind Ray as soon as it landed. The sound of shouts, and bullets pinging off of the hull brought her to a strange hyper awareness. Ray was in the doorway returning fire before she could blink and she leapt into what was left of the doorway, her gun up as she scanned the area for more of them. She knew there would be more of them outside. There were always more.

[Vexhound Crew]

Updated Map

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(There is no one remaining outside, but the cargobay door is locked)



The man that had left the bridge came running back, with a submachine gun in his hand. He looked out the window, while the men he had gone to yell to were already making their way down to the lower part of the ship. He made it to the window and looked out to see what he could see.

A group of people had moved up, wearing thick winter coats and were heavily armed. He could count four and they were approaching the front of the ship, and got so close he had to stand over the console to see them through the window.

He knew the cargo bay door was locked at all times, and that was at least one piece of good luck. He wasn't sure who had been outside, but he guessed that they were dead since he didn't hear anymore gunshots. He had made a good count of the people that were still inside, so he knew no one was left out there.

He still frantically tried to figure out who the people outside were, and what they wanted. Still it didn't matter. He charged out of the bridge again to see what he could do to prevent them from killing the rest of them.

[Jace "Original Zest"]

Jace watched as the man outside fell to the snow covered ground riddled in rounds. All Jace could do was sneer slightly at the man and mumble, "Better you than me." Jace began scanning the area wondering if any were outside. He didn't see anyone nor any movement. Jace did notice the frost covered windows and wondered if anyone on the ship even knew their man had fallen. Jace couldn't see any movement in the window so he felt it was safe enough to assume no one could see out of that same window.

No movement of the cargo bay doors opening either or any evidence of a engine being turned on. As far as Jace could figure they were either undetected or they were all going to die there, but it seemed to him it was most likely the first one if Jace was here he wouldn't keep more than one on guard either why the hell would anyone in their right mind be out here.

Jace jumped out of the shuttle and had his rifle up so that he could aim quicker or just spray rounds if he needed to. He looked back inside the shuttle and could only hope the two people staying behind would be safe. He couldn't help but remember having to leave two comrades to "hold" a position to keep safe so he could go report to his brother, instead both his brother died and those two were killed cause of his decision to try to keep them safe.

He shook his head quickly and went back to waiting for Marcus, Ray and Ilana to make a move towards the ship. He wondered how many life threatening situations does this crew get in and how many have been killed since joining.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus hit the snow after Ray had dropped the only guard, blood already spreading into the snow. Marcus turned back to the matter at hand and lead the the group up to the front door of the cargo hatch.

It took only a tug to note it was locked. That made sense. He turned to Ray and stepped back. "Ray, blow it open. Rest of you into cover." He looked over to where the shuttle was sitting, and Lulah and Jay were watching. "One of you close the door." No sense risking them getting hit with shrapnel.

He moved back around the side of the ship, walking with Jace as he checked over his gun. Ray would have the job done quick, if the second hatch was locked he'd end up doing it again.

He wasn't thinking of anything beyond that. His mind on the mission. Everything else was a dull grey in the back of his head.

[Ray Hudson]

Once Ray watched his target fall he felt the blood pumping. Another life snuffed out by his weapon and he was experiencing that all to familiar feeling. He looked around, trying to find more slavers but all he saw was snow and iron. Marcus walked out of the shuttle with a pleasant crunch as his boots hit the snow. He made his way towards the ship and Ray looked at the floor of their shuttle. There lied a mining charge, a device Ray found much pleasure in using, waking something primal in him. He grabbed it, knowing full well that they weren't exactly welcome. Before he hopped out of the shuttle he looked at Lulah and Jay with a smirk.

"Wish us luck." He said, nodding at the two of them. He joined Marcus and the others as they reached the cargo hatch. Marcus tugged at the latch on the door like he just wanted to try his luck and Ray got the order to make an entrance. He nodded and got to work. He pressed a few buttons on the charge which allowed it to magnetize onto the cargo bay door. Once it was stuck on Ray continued to set the charge. On the Logan, this was a job that wasn't specified for one specific person. Anyone from Andy to Bobo could set the mining charges so Ray felt a sense of pride since he was the only one on the Chainless who could pull this off. However, it probably wouldn't be long until he taught everyone how to cause the same level of destruction but he would smile smugly for now.

After the charge was set Ray jogged to the side of the ship with the others, Heart beating inside his chest. "Earmuffs!" Ray yelled to the others before covering both his ears, sub machine gun dangling from his strap. Ray was already wearing ear protection but the mining charge had a howl that would crack this ball of ice.

[Vexhound Crew]

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Cargo bay interior. – Red dots are enemies


The man on the bridge couldn’t see anything that he could do anything about where he was. His initial reaction of course was to see if he could get the engines hot and take off before they could be boarded, but that hadn’t been an option for a month. He looked out seeing the people get closer to the door. In response he ran out of the bridge a last time, his weapon in his hand, and charged his way down the hall.

He swung right, ran passed the dorms, and then hung a left and found himself in the galley. He knocked a chair out of his way as he hopped down onto the stairs. He breathed hard as he arrived in the cargo bay, and found what was left of the crew standing there in front of him.

The group of five men stood there looking at each other. Each of them was armed with a serious weapon, but they were all poorly maintained at this point. They weren’t designed to kept in the freezing cold, and they hadn’t had the best practices of maintenance. Still they were a deadly force, and they would defend their lives from whoever it was that was outside.

”Shazem!” The man from the bridge yelled at one of the men that was standing there. ”Gna stugel durry! Shtapek’!” He yelled. He needed to know they were secure, and so he’d go and find out.

The man he yelled at ran towards the inner airlock door, and ran towards the outer airlock to check to make sure it was locked. The man turned back and yelled ”Dra p’ak e!” He yelled back, standing right in front of it.

Suddenly there was a giant explosion. It came pounding from the front of the ship, right on the other side of the airlock. The man that had run to check on the door was suddenly engulfed in flame, and pieces of metal darted all over the place. He was dead the moment it all hit him, and the others flinched as they saw it.

There now was a giant portal to the outside facing in from the front of their ship. White snow and cold rushed in through the ship. The inner airlock doors were wide open and it was like a perfect pathway in. But the men weren’t completely stunned. Bullets began to ripple out from their weapons forward towards the new hole. They didn’t have any way to really take cover, but they still had the new entry covered.

[Jay Fuller]

Jay shifted in his seat. He always got nervous on these missions, even when he wasn't involved in doing anything. In a minute, the shuttle was landed and Ilana and Ray jumped out. A few seconds later, the pang! of a bullet echoed around. Jay jumped a bit when it happened -- he figured Ilana and Ray would have a little more coverage in the snow but apparently he was wrong.

Then, Marcus and Jace left leaving Jay and Lulah alone in the shuttle. At that point, Jay stood up and followed them to the door. He stood, watching from inside, his pistol inhand. Marcus ordered Ray to blow open the door. ”One of you close the door," Marcus said to them. Ray jumped in, grabbed a maining charge and left with a smirk and, "Wish us luck." Jay gave him a salute. He stepped forward and hit the button. The door rose up and shut.

The explosion rocked the shuttle. Jay gripped onto a handle by the door to keep himself upright. "Shit!" he said. He wondered how the explosion felt to the people in the ship outside. Jay waited for a couple seconds before he hit the button to open the door again.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus was ready when Ray jogged clear of the charge. Something about the look on Ray's face made Marcus feel a slight bitter. Ray had always had a condescending attitude about how Marcus did things. That made sense considering how they'd met and come to work together; now Marcus wondered if anyone on his ship was still on the 'high road'.

Probably Jay, and Lulah for that matter.

The explosion woke him from his reverie, and he swore under his breath that he'd lost focus. The rain of bullets began only a moment after the boom faded out. Marcus wondered idly if they'd blown both doors. He moved around the corner, up to the breach poitn and saw that the inner hatch was closed but the airlock door in the middle was open.

He quickly relayed this to the others before hooking around into the airlock itself. He pressed himself hard against the port side of the door and switch the handling on his shotgun. Trigger in his left hand, pump in his right, he blind fired into the cargo bay, focusing the shots in the direction that'd be able to see him if he got too close to the door. Four blasts, four pumps.

He contemplated something like declaring terms to the slavers. But at this point they'd be unlikely to accept anything he had to offer in terms of walking away.

He put it out of his head as he called out to the white of the snow, "Come on!" He turn back to the inside and squinted hard, forcing his eyes to dilate for in-ship lighting.

[Jace "Original Zest"]

Jace slid on the snow when the explosion occured giving a silent curse Jace followed Marcus until Marcus disappeared into the air lock. Jace then took up position where Marcus had just been. Crouching down Jace moved to the edge of the frame he peered inside the airlock. Hearing guns blazing towards the opening he quickly moved back around. Jace fealt a small searing pain in his right arm and cursed loudly ,"Ta ma duh!" he knew his arm was only grazed but still didn't piss him off any less.

Jace leaned closer down as Marcus began firing he leaned around and began shooting his halban just about as blindly as he assumed Marcus was firing.

He waited for Marcus's orders or Ray and Ilana to move he quickly replaced the clip and began firing back just as quickly.

Ta Ma Duh - Motherfucker

[Lulah Hayes]

Snoozing through the main mission briefing and then missing the entire meeting of Joel Winstead probably hadn't been the best idea; but the extra 'Z's' had been worth it. Now, the peachy-cheeked Lulah was covered from neck to toe in the padded cold weather clothing. Covering her head down to her ears was an orange woollen hat stitched by her grandmother, which was finally coming in handy. The majority of her red hair was shoved under the hat and behind her jacket collar, with only a few rebellious tendrils snaking down her back or hanging over the side of her face. The cold air made her nose go slightly red, along with her cheeks, while the rest of her skin was pale. At least the rest of her body was really snug and warm, even it she did feel like an insulated marshmallow. Especially with her Ballistic Mesh worn underneath over the extra layers of a long-sleeved t-shirt and cargo pants. It didn't exactly help that everything was a size too big on her.

Aside from missing out on the briefing, she'd also missed out on who the heck this new guy was, hence her perpetual, wide-eyed stares. Of course, she'd very curtly been filled in for the most part along the way, but the information given was very short and to the point. Not nearly enough to sate her curiosity. What was his name again?

The other reason behind her blank staring, was the simple far that she was nervous. It was of course a huge relief to know that she'd be staying inside the shuttle, and after staring a while at Jace, she dedicated her attention wholly to Marcus who was driving the shuttle. Watching him was her crash course, not that she really needed one since she'd driven plenty of shuttles before and they were basically all the same. Still, it didn't hurt to make sure he hadn't made any modifications. If needed, she was fairly confident that she could handle the controls.

Everyone else was quiet, and for once, she respected that. The only sound she made was her constant chewing, as she gnawed on a piece of gum that had long since lost its' flavour. It was one of her many nervous mannerisms, and she'd probably still be chewing it on the way back. If they made it back to the ship, which they would, she assured herself with a deep breath.

Marcus finally landed the shuttle, and the situation finally kicked in with her increased heart rate. This was it. No turning back now. They were here, and the mission would begin. Highly alert eyes watched as the shuttle door opened, and the field team got out one by one, only to be greeted by gunfire just after the newest member hopped out. Naturally, Lulah felt her heart leap into her mouth, as bullets slammed against the shuttle interior. Instinctively, she bent forwards, and put her hands over her head. As if that was going to save her! “We're so humped.” She murmured, with only Jay and possibly Ilana to really hear her muffled voice.

Ray was out by now though, firing shots back. Soon enough, he was coming back to the shuttle, thankfully unhurt. Lulah breathed a sigh of relief, sitting more upright again now that the shots had stopped, and watching as Ray grabbed a device from the shuttle floor. Uh... wasn't that a mining charge? Uh-oh...

"Wish us luck,"[/i] Ray said, to which Lulah managed a nervous but rather big smile.

“Yeah - yeah. Just come back in one piece!” Even in the face of danger, she just about managed to be chirpy, clear amusement in her voice as she gave him a grin and a nod towards the device he held. She was of course, referring to him accidentally blowing himself up with the mining charge.

When he was gone, she watched as Jay replied to Marcus' yelled order to shut the damn door. Still smiling, she patted the pistol holstered at her hip, attached to the utility belt she'd tugged around her small waist surrounded by padding.

“Don't you worry Jay, if any of them mean ol' slavers get through, I'll protect you!” She pulled the gun out, aimed it at the door, and went to mimic a 'bang!' Of course, no imitation was needed, because (1) the mining charge suddenly went off, sending ripples against the shuttle and (2) the safety latch was off on the pistol, and Lulah's reflexes kicked in to squeeze the trigger. A shot fired against the door, as she half-screamed half-yelped girlishly alongside Jay's exclamation.

“Sh-SHIT!” She echoed, cursing again in a different tongue. "Wuo duh MA!" After a moment of stunned staring at the door, she quickly locked the safety down on her pistol. Maybe it was the other way round, and Jay would be the one looking after her.

“Ehehe-heh!” Lulah very nervously chuckled, and fidgeted with re-holstering what was apparently a very dangerous pistol; or at least, dangerous in her possession. “Sorry. Heh... guess that were just a load of da bian hua, huh?... Heh.” A brief pause as she glanced out the now open cargo door, then a direct question to Jay, as her gaze returned to him.

“Soooo, Jay. ... Have you ever shot someone?”

---

Wuo duh MA = Mother of Jesus / Mamma mia!
Da Bian Hua = Shit talk

---

[Vexhound Crew]

The four men in the cargo bay fired an inconsistent barrage of fire out into the new portal to the snow. It was loud and the bullets didn’t stop. One moment all four would fire, the next only one, but not a moment was passing without someone shooting. They didn’t move from there positions since three of them had no idea what was going on, and even the fourth one was confused as to how many they were actually looking at.

Not surprising they had fire being returned on them, but the men hadn’t been in many situations where that had happened. The one closest to the door on the starboard side of the cargo bay took a hit to the left arm. It was in numerous places, like he’d been struck with a shotgun. ”Daaaaaaaaaaaah!” He cried out. ” Im ankyun!” Clutching his arm at the elbow and dropping his gun.

As the man did that, another set of bullets struck him, one in the chest and another through the neck. With a bloody gurgle he stumbled back and fell, his eyes still open.

This was not good for the morale of the others, who then began to move back. ”Huvuk!” One of them yelled as he saw the man get shot and fall dead on the ground.

They began to move slightly back but remained firing out towards the opening. There wasn’t any real order to them, and still they were standing without cover shooting towards whoever was shooting at them.

[Ilana Logan]

How did I end up here? Ilana wondered as her feet hit the snow with a crunch.

Her heart was jack hammering in her chest and she felt hot in her snowsuit. Things like this always got her blood pumping good. She loved this part of the job. Not exactly the killing part, but the part where she had a mission. The killing was just a side effect of the job. If you couldn't handle that, you probably shouldn't be in this line of work.

As she followed the others to the ship's cargo bay, she pondered that question. She knew the things in her life that had led her to this exact moment, but she didn't know which one of them would have had to change for her to be somewhere else, and alive at the same time. She supposed there were a million things that could have changed her life, and led her down a different course. That didn't mean it would be a better one, and she kind of liked the life she had now. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than the lives many people led.

She saw Marcus try to open the door and find it locked. She didn't figure they would be that stupid, but it was worth checking rather than wasting explosives on an unlocked door. Marcus gave Ray the go ahead to blow the doors apart, and Ray set about making it happen. She went around the side of the ship with the others and waited for Ray. He came trotting around, shouted something about earmuffs, and slapped his hands over his ears just as the explosion went off.

Now I get it, She thought of Ray's earmuffs comment as a strange and high pitched keening rang through her ears. She slapped her hands up over her ears, but it didn't stop. Then she realized it was coming from her own head. The explosion, along with whatever noise came from it, had caused the sound, but it wasn't what was making it continue.

Great, no telling when this will stop, Ilana thought.

She readied her gun and went back around the side of the ship. There was now a very large, very unplanned doorway in the hull, and she smirked slightly. Can't fly it now, she thought. Technically, she knew how to fly. She knew what made it power up, power down, what switches to throw first, but she didn't know the logistics of flying.

At the new doorway, she peered cautiously around the edge. She knew there had to be people there on the other side, but she didn't hear any. There were four men inside, firing constantly at them, but she didn't hear the shots. She pulled her head back quickly, then she realized she didn't hear the crunch of snow under her feet, though she could feel it. She listened hard, and over the ringing of her ears, she could just barely hear the barrage of gunfire coming from the cargo bay.

She cursed and dropped to on knee by the edge of the makeshift doorway. She put her eye to the scope and sighted one of the men inside just as one dropped to the ground. She took a deep breath and fired four shots in succession; two at his head, and two at his chest, each on the exhale.

As she fired each round, she realized the ringing in her ears was lessening. It wasn't completely gone, but her hearing was coming back to normal little by little. She pulled back from the doorway after firing the shots, not wanting to end up with yet another bullet scar.

[Vexhound Crew]

The man that had been on the bridge was starting to panic a bit more then he had before as he realized they were completely backed into a corner. He knew that they were running low on ammunition, and that they really had no way of remedying that. Without bullets there was no realistic way to be able to fight the people that were in front of them. And at that moment they still had no idea who they were.

It was the definition of a dire situation, and with the death of Huvuk and Shazem a few seconds earlier, it was appearing to be even more so. They were both the youngest that had been on the ship, only a little older then twenty each. People died all the time, and it didn’t make him feel too bad. It was more just the fact that it seemed the constrictor of death was coiling around them ever tighter and there was no where for them to go.

In the instant after that thought left him the man on the bridge watched the man that had been a few feet to his left suddenly start to react to bullets striking him. He couldn’t tell where he was shot, but he did see the mans head knock backwards, and he fell down. There was a spurt of blood that came out with the succession. He didn’t make any noise like the others. He just took his bullets and fell to the ground.

Seeing how dismally hopeless it was ‘the man that had been on the bridge’ finished moving back towards the stairs and began to yell out.

”Yushan! Verj! Dadarets’nel krakel! Shprtel ts’ats Dzer zenk’!” Still screaming out in the strange language they’d been speaking the whole time.

The man he was yelling at had moved further over so he couldn’t be shot but was still shooting. He looked over towards the stairs where he couldn’t see the man from the bridge but he recognized his voice. He squeezed the trigger again and it clicked, and it told him he was out of bullets. The man realized why he was being ordered to throw his weapon down, and so he did, and moved towards the wall of the cargo bay.

The man that was on the bridge remained hiding a little bit up the stairs. He yelled out, knowing that the people that had been shooting at them in all odds didn’t speak their language. So he tried yelling with a heavy accent in a language he thought they would understand.

” Wǒmen tóuxiáng! Wǒmen tóuxiáng! Zhèlǐ shì wǒ de qiāng!” He yelled out in Chinese from the stairs where he was hidden from the fire, with his hands cupped around his mouth to make the words travel farther. His accent was a bit muddled, sort of like Eastern European with an Arabic twang. Still it was Chinese none the less. He then threw down his submachine gun down the stairs and threw the clip down behind it. They clumped and bounced on the ground. The clip visibly still had only two bullets in it.

He needed to wait for some sort of response that wasn’t just more shooting before he did anything. They were giving up, and that was going to leave their fate uncertain. But anything was better then just getting shot and being left there in the snow.

Translation – We Surrnder! We Surrender! Here’s my gun!

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus had been in cover as the spray and exchange of bullets raged on. It seemed everyone got a shot off into the hanger and as the sound of returning fire lessened, Marcus steeled himself. The grim prospect of killing them all rose its ugly head again, when the fire suddenly stopped.

He had heard them yell in some dialect or another that Marcus didn't recognize, wondering if he should pick up a translator, or at least memorize some basic phrases for combat, demanding surrender, and the like.

Then the chinese came, and Marcus exhaled a slight. "Cease fire." he called out to his crew. "Cease fire!" He yelled again, just in case they hadn't heard him. Marcus eased out of cover and into the cargo bay. His gun at the ready if need be. He saw the pile of firearms before the stairs.

"You understand english?" Marcus called out at the slavers. We paused a moment but kept speaking. "We're hear for the Dolgans, the people you took from this planet."