"DREK!" Strider yelled. "The whole plan has gone to hell." After careful planning on how to
remove the remaining pirates, Strider’s plan had failed due to his own shortcomings as a
marksman. Now the three would face alerted foes, aided by their injured scout. The pirate
traitor waited while grinding his teeth, in both disgust and pain, until it was clear Banter would not
make a premature second appearance. He turned to stare at Xandar and Joanna.
Suddenly Banter jumped out from behind the corridor. Armed with a slug-thrower pistol, he
landed hard on his left side after firing 3 shots at Strider. Strider, whom had been caught
completely off-guard by the move, leapt to his right to land inside the command room. Xandar
quickly stepped over him to cover the corridor. Catching Banter as he got up from the floor,
Xandar fired the TK assault rifle at the man.
With each explosive shell, Banter was forced back towards the far end of the corridor. With
miniature fireballs cutting deep into his flesh, he cried out in agony. The TK was a highly feared
weapon for these explosive shells that inflicted fiery wounds, sometimes causing rather slow
deaths. Banter dropped his pistol involuntarily in a vain attempt to hold onto his wounds and
force back the tormenting pain. Unsuccessful, he crawled towards the pistol that now lay about
1 meter from him.
Xandar took full advantage of Banter’s weakened state. Stepping completely clear of the
hatchway, he trained his aim carefully at Banter’s midsection. He fired the gun multiple times
until Banter was finally still, save for the developing fire engulfing the pirate’s chest. Very little of
Banter’s flak vest remained.
Strider got up from the command room floor. He looked at Joanna nervously. “Well, why
haven’t you targeted that dropship’s engine exhaust area?” he questioned.
“And what, you filthy pirate, send all those enemy fighters flying out to destroy us?!” Joanna
screamed. Her nerves were shot. For her, the terrible wound to her arm was the last straw.
This man had been part of the force that was now taking over her dropship. She had lost her
patience. She curled her lips back in such a way that she appeared to be growling at Strider.
“Those fighters are duds. You honestly believe a pirate group could have fully operational
fighters? Two of those fighters are regular configurations. The other 6 have nothing but small
lasers or jury-rigged machine guns.” Strider explained. He looked for some patience in Joanna,
but found nothing.
“Stripped-down fighters, eh?” Joanna looked down at her arm. She sighed at the sight of her
wound. “Very well. Targeting dropship, Strider. You better hope you are correct or I’m going
to kill you right now.” held up her index finger to emphasize her last point. “I’m sick of your
shit.”
“Well I’m terribly sorry about that,” Strider said sarcastically. “but you are going to have to put
up with me whether you like it or not.” He pulled himself up off the floor. “Where is the
medkit? I’m starting to feel a bit woozy.”
“Treat my wound, and I’ll show you. You look like you know how to take care of yourself, so
take care of my arm.” Joanna narrowed her eyes. “Over there,” she said while motioning her
head to the left wall of the command room.
Getting up, Strider pulled the kit from the wall. As he walked over to Joanna, he quickly pulled
out a pyro treatment. “Hold still and get ready for this,” he explained. He slapped the small cup
over her arm and pulled its small trigger-cord.
Inside the cup a small intense fire ignited. Though very painful, it quickly cauterized the open
wound of Joanna’s arm. Joanna cried out as the high-intensity flames seared her flesh, then
pushed Strider away with her other arm as she clenched her teeth together. Strider quickly
moved back to her, placing the cup over her wound once more. He pulled the cup’s second
trigger-cord to release a sterilizing coolant over the burned area. Feeling some relief, Joanna
looked back to her ship’s controls.
Strider fished two more of the pyro treatments from the small box. Placing one over his thigh
and the other on his exposed calf muscles, he pulled the trigger-cords in succession. He
screamed out in pain as the charges burst into fire against his raw flesh. He quickly pulled the
cords for each of the coolants. Strider next grabbed two hypodermic needles from the box.
After pushing one deep into his thigh’s wound, he injected a nerve-heightening formula into his
bloodstream. He placed the other, an emergency adrenaline shot, into the inner confines of his
overcoat. This could serve as a deadly weapon or provide his heart with the necessary energy
to briefly keep him alive if fatally wounded. He thrust his hand up to the right edge of the
dropship’s mainscreen.
“That is where you need to target. If this area is hit multiple times, their engines should fail. I’m
not sure if they will scramble fighters or not. If they do, it’s a bluff. Their fighters don’t stand a
chance.” Strider winced as his nervous system became more sensitive of his body’s wounds. “I’
m going out into the corridor system. We have to prepare some sort of trap or we’ll be dead
soon. Please do what I’ve asked. I can promise you I’ve spent months researching the pirate’s
capabilities.”
Joanna nodded silently. She motioned him towards the door as she began the process of
targeting the Leopard class dropship. Strider grabbed his pistol and looked to the corners of the
room.
“Wake up your friend. He can help us. Or is he dead as well?” Strider pointed to Steven.
“He’s not dead, just out cold. Xandar thumped him one earlier. I don’t know if he is combat-
sufficient.” Joanna said. “He panicked earlier.”
“Very well.” Strider looked around. “I think we’ll be using the late Banter’s needler. It should
prove handy.” Joanna showed no signs of being impressed by the proposed scheme.
Strider walked out of the room. Looking up to Xandar, he said, “We are using the heavy
shredder. It should kill a few of these bastards.” Xandar looked to him, then back down the
empty corridor.
“Okay, whatever you say Strider. Go get it and I’ll cover you.”
Strider squinted one eye, looking at Xandar curiously. He wasn’t sure if he could trust the
Savior of Oberon, but he didn’t have too many choices. Xandar would either stand in his way
or help him. There were no other possibilities under the circumstances.
“You got it...” Strider said calmly. He looked over once again suspiciously at Xandar. “I’ll be
covering this corner. You are the last leg of defense for Joanna and the final hope of anyone
surviving this rather unfortunate situation. Good luck, Xandar Harlow.”
“Thanks a lot Strider. What happens after we kill this lot?” Xandar probed. He was unsure if
Strider would search out Kinta alone, or request Xandar’s aid. “Who’s going Kinta hunting?”
