NOVEL NEXT Better Get Out Before It Blows
Fuck, fuck, fuck… Ok… What do I do?
I'm staring at the generator in front of me right now…
Do I start the overload process? Or do I deal with the pirates right now and come back later?
Wait… I could set this generator off and then sneak past the pirates to get to my ship, leaving them to blow up with the station while I fly off, couldn't I?
That sounds like an idea!
I took out my Codex and plugged it into the generator, easily hacking into the generator controls to pump everything up above the safety levels and starting the overload process.
Tha generator started making quite concerning noises and the lights around me started flickering off and on.
That was probably a sign that I should get the fuck out of here if I didn't want to get blown up alongside it.
I estimate that I may have about ten minutes before the whole place goes boom.
I gathered my things and rushed back towards the hangar, hoping that this group that was coming in wouldn't be too big for me to handle.
Just as I reached the hangar, I found two corvettes were in the midst of landing inside said hangar..
Ok… That's one more ship than I thought would appear…
And for some reason, they decided to park on either side of my ship as well…
Do I just make a run for it? Could I start up the plane and fly off before those pirates start shooting at me like a sitting duck?
Just as I was deciding that it was worth the risk to just make a run for my ship, the landing ramps for both corvettes dropped down and several pirates started descending from the ship.
I quickly hid myself behind some loose rubble near one of the pirate corvettes and double checked that my weapons were prepared and loaded.
I don't know if I should count it as fortunate or unfortunate that the overloading generator wasn't causing anything to go haywire in the hangar so these pirates shouldn't realise the ticking time bomb yet. Although how long before the overload reaches here is another question.
The first pirate to reach the end of the ramp nearesr to me noticed my ship immediately and turned to his companions.
“Hey? Since when did we have a nice ship like this?”
The one behind him turned to where his comrade was looking and shrugged, “I dunno? Maybe the boss got a new ship or something, who cares?”
A third pirate came down, “Where’s everyone else? I don't even see anybody outside.”
Another one quickly caught up to them from the back, “I'm seriously telling you guys! I wasn't mistaken about the turrets being destroyed!!”
“Oh yeah, sure. Next thing you're gonna say is that there's some hot girl that somehow found her way to our base.”
“Guys, I'm being serious right now!”
“And we think you need to go and jerk yourself off or something. Shut up man.”
It seems like there’s four pirates per corvette since I see four pirates descending from the other ship as well.
Ok… Four is already a coin toss on whether I can take them on but eight is definitely not possible.
Someone from the other corvette also noticed my ship and called out to the pirates closest to me, “Hey! Since when did we have a ship like this?”
“I don’t know, but it looks pretty sick right?”
“Hey, hey! Did you guys over there notice that our turrets have been destroyed?”
“What?! Really?! I mean… I don’t think any of us were paying attention but was it really?”
“Think about it! Where’s the others right now?! We didn’t even see anyone patrolling outside the base did we?! And their ships aren’t here! I’m telling you, this ship belongs to a Merc or something and we’re under attack right now!”
I held the gun closer to my chest, my finger slipping to rest on the trigger.
“Come on, dude… You’re not saying that a single Merc wiped out everyone, are you? There’s like ten of us against just one you know? I don’t think the others suck that much to not even be able to handle one Merc.”
“What if they got defeated separately?! Look! We don’t even see anyone coming to--”
His words were cut short as the battleship we were on suddenly shook unexpectedly and the lights flickered.
Ugh… I’m guessing the generator was reaching one of the final stages of overloading… I really need to get out of here soon if I don’t want to be blown up alongside it…
The pirates looked up at the ceiling where the lights were flickering, all of them going quiet.
One of the pirates quickly took charge, “You two, watch that ship, the rest of you, follow me inside and get ready for a fight!”
I held my breath as the pirates started running towards the direction of the door, all of them running past me without noticing that there was someone pressing themselves against the rubble and watching them run past.
I waited for them to go through the door and for the door to slide closed before moving to peek out from the rubble, seeing two pirates looking up at my ship with concern.
The battleship shook again and I could now hear some alarm go off in the distance. I’m going to guess that there are some parts of the ship that are starting to blow up right now…
Ok, it’s all or nothing!
I stood up from behind the cover and fired at one of the pirates, expecting him to go down within the first few shots.
Unfortunately for me, that guy I shot at seemed to possess a personal shield since a pale blue screen appeared and deflected my bullets away.
I cursed and changed my target to the other pirate instead who was still in the midst of being surprised by my gunfire.
This pirate did not possess a shield so I managed to shoot him dead with a single bullet through his head.
The other pirate with the shield spotted me and furrowed his brows, his hand reaching for the blaster holstered on his waist and pulling it out to shoot at me.
I instinctively ducked back down to avoid the bullets before peeking out from the other side to shoot back at the pirate.
He seemed to place a lot of trust in his shield since he remained standing out in the open, relying on his shield to protect him from my hail of bullets.
He redirected his aim at my new position and I ducked back into cover again, just before several energy bullets pierced through the space where my head had been.
I can’t let myself be pinned down here because time isn’t on my side.
On one hand, I had the generator overloaded so who knows how much time I still had before the place started to blow up.On the other, I also have no doubt that the pirates who went in just now definitely heard the sound of gunfire and a few of them might even be rushing back here.
I need to finish this as fast as I can…
I ejected the spent magazine from my rifle and slammed in a new one, cocking it to slide a new bullet into the chamber.
I then decided to risk it and leapt out from the cover, the pirate in the midst of reloading his own gun and looking at me in surprise.
Levelling my rifle at him, I steadied my aim and emptied the rest of the magazine in his chest even as I ran towards him, the shield holding up for half of my bullets before it shattered and leaving him vulnerable.
He didn’t even get to scream before my bullets pierced into his body, sending him stumbling a few steps back before he fell on the ground, his gun clattering out of his grip.
I made a run for my ship just as I heard some sounds coming from the doorway that led out of the hangar.
“Hey! What’s going on… Wait!! That’s the Merc!! Shoot him! Shoot him now!!”
Guess he couldn’t see me properly since I’m most definitely not a ‘him’ right now, not that I’m going to stop and tell him of course.
I blind fired my rifle behind me even as I ascended the ramp, more concerned about getting away than to kill more pirates.
One of my bullets must have hit someone since a yell of pain suddenly erupted from behind.
Good, that’s one less of them I need to worry about.
My shield blazed blue for a moment, indicating that it had successfully blocked a few bullets even while I was entering the ship.
Not to be outdone, the pirates continued firing at me and I ducked my head to make myself a smaller target.
The moment I reached my ship, I slammed my fist on the button to shut the door behind me, blocking a few of the attacks.
Phase one, getting to my ship, success. Now to get the fuck out of here befoere this place blows up!