NOVEL NEXT Boarding The Battlecruiser
With just one salvo from the battleship, all the Destroyers were rendered scrap without being able to fight back.
Some of the smaller ships had also been unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast which left only about a quarter of the pirate fleet left standing.
I grinned, "Let's finish them off!"
Engaging my ship's thrusters again, I boosted forward and started shooting at the remaining pirates.
With the arrival of the military and then the destruction of their Destroyers, their fate was pretty much sealed and they knew it.
Some were still stubborn and refused to give up, continuing to resist against us and shooting back.
A few had already signalled their intentions to surrender while others were trying to flee.
The ones who surrendered were left alone but the other two were shot down quickly by either us Mercs or the battleship looming behind them.
I managed to chase down and destroy twelve more pirate ships on my own including two corvettes before I ran out of ships to chase after.
The battleship moved towards the battlecruiser and a tractor beam was shot out from the side to lock the wreckage in place.
A new comms channel opened that was directed towards all the Mercs and the Captain's face appeared.
"That was a glorious battle and I am proud to bear witness to this historic moment. However, we aren't done yet. Our scans show that there are still lifesigns within the battlecruiser and I hope that we can capture this pirate lord alive to question him about the pirates located here. With what he knows, we might be able to start a sweep of this system and wipe out the remaining pirates around here. For that, we'd like to ask that any Mercenary who wishes to please join the boarding of the ship. I promise a large reward for the one who captures the pirate lord while our marines clear the rest of the ship."
Well, was I supposed to say no to that?
I looked at Amber and the woman was grinning at me, pretty much telling me that she was on board with the idea as well.
We joined a small group of other Mercs that were also heading towards the wreck, all of us choosing a different point of entry to reach the ship.
Amber went with me and we flew close to one of the docking hatches and boarded their ship from there.
Scanning the ship told me that the generators were still functional so an environmental suit wasn't needed to move around in the wreck.
I did a quick check of my equipment, grabbing my blaster, my shotgun, my shield belt and spare ammo for my weapons before moving out of the hatch.
Stepping inside the pirate battlecruiser at the same time as Amber, we both nodded before we started to advance through the ship's corridors, checking our corners for any potential ambushes.
"We need to find a map or something," I muttered, peeking around a corner.
Amber checked the other corner before nodding, "I agree… Though I doubt they have any maps posted around here. If we can find a terminal or something, we might be able to hack in and download the ship's schematics assuming this ship has any."
"Where do you think we can find one?"
"Mmm… I'm not sure since these guys might have completely changed the layout of their ship. We'll just have to keep searching until we get lucky."
"Ugh… Well we can't count on that. If I have to guess, the pirate lord must be on the bridge so let's head in that general direction first."
"Agreed… I think the bridge was in that direction?" She guessed, pointing towards the right.
Judging by the position where we entered the ship and the ship was facing in that direction as well… I would say that should be accurate.
I gave Amber a nod and we proceeded down the corridor, only to stop when we found a door to our right.
"Should we?" I asked.
She shrugged, "Better to check it in case there's some pirate inside waiting to shoot us from behind when we walk past."
I pressed my palm against the button that opens the door and peeked out from the corner with my shotgun pointing inside the room.
"Clear," I reported, since it was literally just a small room with a bed and a table with nowhere else to hide someone.
Then I noticed that there was a computer terminal on the table.
"I think we can use that," I pointed at the terminal.
Amber nodded "I'll keep watch, see what you can find. It's better than just running through the corridors aimlessly."
I went towards the terminal and connected my Codex to it, beginning the hacking process that allowed me to access the network.
Barely ten seconds passed before I was in their systems and looking through their files in the ship's servers.
"Got it. Downloading it right now."
That was when I heard a gunshot and I turned to see Amber pointing her gun down the corridor, the barrel of her pistol still smoking.
"We've got company!" She cried out, firing both her pistols in an alternating fashion.
I quickly picked up my shotgun and joined her at the door, crouching down to peek around the side and saw two dead pirates in the middle of the corridor while a hand holding another blaster was shooting in our direction in a blind fire.
The shot went wide and wasn't even close to hitting us so Amber took her time to aim and pulled the trigger, hitting the hand accurately.
The pirate hiding behind the wall let out a cry of pain as his gun was shot out of his hand and he retreated back around the corner.
Another pirate then leapt out from the corner with a ballistic rifle in his hands and aimed towards our direction.
Unfortunately for him, I was faster and pulled the trigger of my shotgun that blasted him away with a rain of pellets.
I heard the notification go off on my Codex that indicated the download was complete.
"Done, let's clear them out."
"I'm right behind you."
We moved out from the room and I kept my gun pointed at the corner where the pirate had lept out from, fully expecting there to be more behind that corner.
I stopped just before I reached it and lowered myself into a crouch, keeping my profile low before sliding out of my corner.
There was a pirate standing right there beside the wall with a rifle pointed at where my head would have been had I walked out normally.
He only had time to look down and widen his eyes before I pulled the trigger, the poor guy's chest blown open from the impact.
His comrade that had been behind him found himself being thrown back as the corpse crashed into him and pinning him down on the floor.
Amber then leapt out of the corner and started firing down the corridor, nailing another pirate in the head and another one in the chest.
Three other pirates were still standing and one of them fumbled with his rifle as he tried to lift it up to point at us.
I fired another shot that blew his head open and saw my shield materialise as it absorbed a blaster shot from another pirate that was beside that guy.
He got his head blown open as well and the last one was in the midst of running away from us, trying to reach the corner that would cover him from our shots.
Amber fired twice, both shots landing on the pirate's back and he contorted in pain before crashing onto the ground.
I then stood up and shot the pirate who had been pinned to the ground by his friend while Amber finished off the guy whom she had shot in the chest and the other pirate who had his hand blasted earlier, ending their suffering.
I was about to move on before I looked back at the group of pirates we had just obliterated.
"Hey… Err… I guess this might be a little late to ask but you don't think that one of these guys might be the pirate lord, do you?"
Amber looked at the dead pirates for a moment before chuckling, "Nah. They look like mooks. No way would a pirate lord be dressed the same as them. Plus, none of them have shields either."
True… At least I know that we didn't accidentally kill the person we're supposed to capture…
"I'm guessing the pirate might be heavily armed and armoured huh?"
She nodded, "It's not like these pirates are following the pirate lord because he's a nice guy. He'll have to be concerned about his own crew trying to kill him for his position at all times so that's a given. I wouldn't even be surprised if he has a power armour and has already equipped himself with it expecting us to arrive too."
Well… At least this time I have something that can actually deal with a threat like that I suppose.
In that case, onward!