Hole
We were royally fucked. Low on ammo and spirits, we were stuck between enemy fire and thick, but vulnerable, glass. At least we would die with a good view, I thought. Pessimistic, I know, but even so, it's just how I reacted with to the situation. I reached around the display case and fired a single shot off my pistol without looking. I heard a grunt, and looked to see a man lying on the ground. Everyone was firing their weapons conservatively, but trying to get a good shot without revealing ourselves was nearly impossible. The display cases around us were shattering and rained down on us. Eventually, the guards figured if this kept up then they'd run out of ammo and they threw a grenade instead. My first instinct was to scramble away, falling to all fours and scraping on the marble ground, trying to back away from the green ball of death. Lindsay, however, rolled to the grenade and threw it back in a single motion, blowing up in mid air and creating a sort of smoke screen. I was near the right edge of the room. The smoke was not as thick in that area, and I could see faint outlines of the Pirates, but they hadn't noticed me yet. Taking a chance, I stared down my sights and lined up with one of their heads, and fired my pistol with eight shots. Turns out I had terrible aim. Hit nothing. I looked at my gun quizzically, but was interrupted by the Pirates firing back at me. I stood up suddenly and ran out the door to the other room. I heard bullets fly and bodies drop. I leaned back out and saw the bodies of the Pirates piled on top of each other. Parm was walking towards me and I could imagine some stupid grin on his face and a joke in his head.
Parm
I had a grin on my face and a joke in my head. Hole made great bait, and I was going to play off that, but then something made me stop. It occurred to me right then and there that Tango was dead. In all the chaos, I had forgotten, only to be reminded once my brain had settled. Strange to think how quick we forget about the dead. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and walked back to the rest of the team. Lindsay and Lan were busy securing the enemies weapons, while the rest of us stood watch at the other door. This could be the last time I talked to Hula, so I figured I should confess some things to her. I wasn't sure where to start, so I figured I'd wing it.
"Listen, Hula," I began. "I, uh, I mean, I um..." She was looking my way, expectantly.
"Be careful, okay?" She nodded with a slightly disappointed stance, and I felt shame rise up in me, but also the knowledge that I was doing the right thing. The last thing she needed right now was to be distracted. Lindsay and Lan yelled that they were finished and so we went to meet with them. Vic ran up to me.
"Dude, what the hell?" he asked. I was surprised.
"What are you talking about, Vic?"
"Well I'm just sayin, you were finally going to do it, dude! You were going to ask her out! We were all waiting for it."
I didn't know I was so transparent. "Shut up, Vic. And also, stop saying dude. We've been over this. It's annoying." I walked ahead, glass crunching under foot before he could say more.
Hole
This was it. It was an elevator that would take us up to the bridge. The captain was waiting. We all stood around in it, while it ascended up and up for what seemed an eternity. Our guns now had plenty of ammo, and we were prepared for the fight ahead. The tension was high, and when the elevator doors opened with a ding, we were greeted with nothing. No bullets, no barking strategical orders, not even footsteps. Just the captain sitting in his familiar black leather-clad chair, in the
middle of a pentagon shaped room surrounded by technologies of every sort. Two wide tempered glass panes stood at the north end of the bridge and showed the horizon with a beautiful sunrise, spilling orange light into the chamber. We were expecting an ambush, but even though we weren't dead, something was wrong. The captain, with his tattered, ten-gallon hat just stared at us with his hands folded. He spoke calmly, with a Vegas Quadrant accent.
"My dears, you have caused quite the problem to this operation. I will give you a chance to surrender, or else you will all die." We stood for a moment and hesitated to move. He had something planned, we all knew, but what was it?
Parm
He stared straight at Hole with his greenish-brown eyes of his, and said, "Have you thought over my offer?" Hole held his gun a bit tighter. Jones stepped forward.
"Why wouldn't we just shoot you?" The captain stood up, unfolded his hands, and reached into his trench coat, producing a detonator.
"Good question Jo-en-es. You shoot me," he began, "and I will blow up the entire goddamn ship." Who knows what he was planning? Would he do it? He was unpredictable, and in all the years we had known him, we were no closer to figuring him out.
Jones ran forward with his gun, shouting obscenities, calling his bluff. The captain looked unfazed, and simply said, "Fire." A male voice sounded from everywhere, robotic and hollow, saying, "FIRING MAIN CANNONS." Two turrets came up from the ground, unfolded themselves and tore Jones to pieces. Lindsay was frozen in shock, while the turrets swung themselves toward us. Hole ran for the elevator button, while Vic, Lan, and Hula opened fire at the turrets. I, on the other hand, shot at the captain's detonator, but it just went through. The captain laughed, and that's when I realized that the captain was a hologram. Wherever he really was, he had obviously planned for this. As the elevator doors closed, his laughter echoed in the enclosed space, deep and haunting. The lights in the elevator cut out and the entire thing started free falling. There was no time to use magnetic enhancements. We were shoved to the ceiling by the immense force. Lindsay finally seemed to have shaken off her shock, but what was there to do?
Hole
Back in training, we had learned about rocket thrusters in our helmets. It was developed by the UNSC. There was no practical use for them, and so the UNSC had disposed of the helmets, which meant that the Pirates eventually found them. I wish I could say that I thought of the idea, but Vic was the one screaming to activate thrusters and look up. It was more difficult to move my head than I thought it would be, and the thrusters were a button on the side. I reached my arm with all my strength. It was getting more and more difficult every second. The sound of screeching metal was intense and file my every thought. My muscles aches and burned as I tried with all my being to press the button. There it was, a small round button near the neck. I pushed it and lost immediately my arm was thrown back against the roof of the elevator and light was pouring down from my helmet. I looked up, so the thrusters would point down, and saw everyone one else had achieved it as well. I could hear the elevator screeching, but it was getting lower, slowing down. We still crashed at the bottom, but the impact was lessened, and we only got a few broken ribs. Me and Hula grabbed the elevator doors and forced them open, with a lot of pain coming from our chests. I had no thoughts except to get to the hangar. I crawled out into the display room filled with the captain's destroyed treasures. We may have failed to kill him, but at least we damaged his possessions.
Parm
"Dammit, that hurt," a voice said. I realized a few moments later that I had said that. I noticed right away that my arm was broken. The floor was cracked and splintered, but intact. Vic's quick thinking helped to save us. A shaft of light was outside the doors, and walking outside I saw Hole on the floor, blood pooling around his chest. It seemed he had the worst of it, landing on a sharp piece of floor debris. He had taken off his helmet, and his dark skin was covered in even darker blood. I hurriedly helped him to his feet, panic rising into my chest, or maybe it was pain. Probably both. I heard a voice speak over the intercom system, and knew who it was before they spoke. The captain started laughing. "Oh, you thought you were so secretive. That you could pull this off. You are all too predictable. I will admit, that part with the elevator was pretty damn impressive, but it doesn't matter anymore. My backup soldiers are on their way."
Backup soldiers? We were REALLY fucked now. I attempted to carry Hole, but he was too damn heavy for me to carry with I broken arm. I screamed out in pain and frustration as Vic, Lan, and Lindsay was still tumbling out of the elevator, with cracked visors and slashed armor pieces. Lan was the most panicked because she couldn't see without the program on her helmet, which was now busted. I looked ahead and saw Hula with a pistol aiming down the threshold to the other room. She was leaning on the wall, and her leg looked bent at a weird angle. I started walking forward, but got dizzy and fell on my face. Everything was spinning now and I closed my eyes to shut it out, but the world kept spinning and I found myself lying on the floor, whispering to myself to make it stop. The others all had weapons on them but I noticed that my pistol was missing. There was another sound mixed in with my whispers, and I thought it was approaching footsteps at first, but it was really Lindsay screaming at me to get up. I tried my best to clear my head and pushed myself off of the ground with my good hand. Vic and I started pulling Hole across the ground. I took Hole's gun just to be safe. After a few long, agonizing minutes of dragging, we had reached the hangar, where a few aircrafts were in place. Lindsay decided on one fit for space travel, but it was not very durable. If any ships came after us, we could be blown up easy. We dragged Hole on board while Lan started up the aircraft. It was red, with some green stripes, and had a passenger bay. Faintly I could hear engines and we looked up to see the backup soldiers had arrived. Lindsay shot at the aircraft they were in while I took aim, ready to shoot anyone who came out. The bay door opened and Hula opened fire. I took a second to aim at a soldier, and took the shot. I saw blood squirt out before I doubled over in pain from the recoil in my broken arm. I dropped the gun, and clutched my arm while screaming in agony. Something hit me and I fell into the cargo bay of the ship as it started up and we started flying away. It was Hula who knocked into me, pushing off of her bad leg and now clutching it but not saying a word. I tore off my helmet and reached for medical supplies to treat Hole's injuries. Normally I would make a joke about how Hole had holes in him, but at the time, it didn't seem necessary.
I asked, "Are they going to come after us on their ship?" Hula replied," You mean the ship whose engine I threw a grenade into?" An explosion sounded behind us, and that answered that. We had escaped with very little to show for ourselves. I swore to myself, as I dabbed at the growing pool of Hole's blood with a rag, that I would kill him. I know I would. I only hoped that Alan could see well enough to not hit any asteroids while escaping.