Aiming down it fired 3 times, producing cries from the young man. His eyes filled with tears, and
his breathing became ragged. Lowering his face in front of the screen, the thin individual sporting
the gun sneered an ugly smile. He began to speak, "Mrs. Strider, how unfortunate your son has
lost his way and ended up on my doorstep. Though I, Redjack Ryan, have been a kind man to
him, you have apparently failed to teach him the necessary manners. He was caught with this
weapon, concealing it beneath his jacket while on his way to MY sleeping quarters. Thankfully
my friends have disarmed him, and brought him to my mercy. He has confessed his intentions of
'revenge' for his father. But I'm sure you and yours know all about those intentions, right Mrs.
Strider? Well now I'll continue to teach him a few new things about these guns he likes so very,
very much. Care to watch?"
As Redjack Ryan leveled the gun one last time to the young man's face, the image began to
break up. The screen flashed off as a bullet penetrated the kneeling figure's head, tearing a hole
through his temple savagely. A black, blank screen saved Xandar and Joanna from the carnage
obviously wrought when the bullet exited the other side of William Strider's head. Joanna inhaled
loudly, while Xandar turned to face Strider once again. But Strider wasn't where he had been
standing, instead he stood in the hatchway. He was keeping eyes on Joanna, Xandar, and the
corridor.
"Xandar, toss me that TK rifle. We've got company in a few minutes. There are 6 or 7 left, and
one of them is a smart one."
Xandar eyed the TK, realizing just how much trust Strider was putting in him. He contemplated
killing Beckett...or Strider, who was obviously mad with plots of vengeance. Xandar frowned,
knowing revenge was no way to make a living. Yet he also believed this Strider might have an
actual plan, a plan that might get Joanna, Strider, and Xandar himself to some sort of safety.
Xandar would have to trust the man, at least for now. He could use Strider's knowledge of the
enemy pirates to at least get Joanna out of THAT upcoming mess. Picking up the TK and the
gauss rifle, Xandar walked over to Strider.
"I sure hope you have a clue what you are doing." Xandar said. He handed Strider the TK
assault rifle. "Will they come as a group?" Xandar raised his eyebrows.
"At least four of them will. 'Banter' will come alone first, in the position of scout. If we can kill
him silently, then we can ambush the others." Strider sighed in misery, surveying his destroyed
leg, courtesy of Joanna. "But Banter isn't the main problem. Kinta is the problem. That's one of
Ryan's favorite infiltrators. I tried to learn as much as I could about Kinta when I discovered this
would be a Kinta mission. If the incompetent Jagrah had taken the infiltrator assignment we'd be
home free by now. But I know little about Kinta, making him or her our primary concern. Kinta
will be following the others, bringing up the rear. I had to stay somewhere in the middle when we
first invaded, then I took a shortcut to get ahead of Banter. Nevermind that." He pointed Harlow
to Joanna's direction. "Hide in there for now. Once I take care of Banter we will cover the
corridor together."
Xandar looked over to Strider, shaking his head. Turning around, he walked back to Joanna and
sit beside her upon Michael's chair. "This guy is nuts. I hope he is wrong about Kinta or
whatever." Xandar looked to Joanna. "You want a gun or something? You gonna control your
temper?" He watched her carefully with his left eye.
Joanna flashed him an angry expression, her lips curling back along the sides of her mouth.
"What do you think? No, I'd rather wait for the pirates to arrive before I pick up a gun. OF
COURSE I WANT A GUN!" she shrieked. Her shrill tone surprised Xandar. Strider turned his
wary eyes from the corridor to look at her.
"You keep your voice down. They'll be here any..." his words trailed off. Turning his head to
look back down the corridor, he nodded to someone. "Yeah, it's me. I've got the 2 Captains
here. There's no sign of Harlow anywhere." Strider looked down to his TK, which he had aimed
towards the control room floor. He hoped he would prove fast enough to take down Banter.
Looking down his barrel, he glanced up to Xandar and Joanna. They both stared cautiously
towards the far wall of the corridor opposite the command room hatchway, both waiting
nervously for a glimpse at the enemy.
Rocking his right arm sideways, Strider released the TK assault rifle from his right hand’s grip.
Counterbalancing the loss of weight by raising his outstretched left arm, Strider bent his right arm
at the elbow. Moving his shoulder in, his right hand rushed towards the crevace stretching from
top to bottom of his overcoat. Fingers outstretched, he grasped the FASA-950 to pull it out
from underneath his overcoat.
While the TK rifle clattered to the ground, Strider's slugthrower pushed back the overcoat as he
began to draw the weapon up to target Banter. Banter's semi-large build was a much wider
target than Strider's own body, though Strider carried a slight height advantage(or disadvantage
as a target). Banter's own gun was an autoflechette needler "heavy shredder", one of the largest
available. Its hefty weight looked almost too comfortable in Banter's large hands as the pirate
brought it up from his waist, out of an underslung position. Strider's right arm proudly displayed
the dull hue of the FASA's barrel as he fine tuned his aim to Banter's silhouette.
A grimace on Banter's face showed disgust, but his expression betrayed no emotional bond
between the two men. Banter fired before he could aim his weapon at Strider, shards of high
velocity plastic crushing into the hard metal walls as they cycled out via pressurized air. The 9 cm
diameter stream poured across the room, angling towards Strider too fast. Closing his right eye,
Strider fired twice.
The first shot pushed into Banter's chest, ravaging his clothing but stopping short at his flak vest.
The second shot punched a dent in the corridor wall far behind him, bouncing off the wall and
producing a high pitched ricochet. Banter's eyes widened with the first shot's sting. His aim
wandered up as he lost control, crushing the lighting fixtures under a hail of polymer. The first
bullet's momentum carried Banter back a step. However his battle experience held strong, and
Banter once again trained the needler in Strider's direction.
Strider fired two additional shots. The first punctured a hole in Banter's collarbone, spouting
blood immediately and urging Banter to place his left arm over the wound. The second, missing
once again, ricocheted off the corridor wall and back down the passage Banter had just traveled.
Suddenly Banter released the "shredder", dropping it to the floor and running to the corridor
corner. Strider's eye and arm delicately followed, firing one last shot but missing Banter as he
rounded the corner. The ricochet glanced off the corridor's sharp curve, then off the wall to
Strider's left. It pinged just behind his head. The bullet produced a shrill screech, as if in protest
to his poor aim. Then it passed near his right arm on its path back down the corridor.
