I'm back! Sorry for the wait on this chapter, but life has been hectic recently, and it's taken me a bit to start the next one. The next update I will try my hardest to have out in the next two weeks, but I'm not totally sure.

Anyway, I can't write fight scenes to save my own life, so I apologise in advance for this shit.

RECAP:
- Lukas and Emilia have reached the resistance
- Tori and the bounty hunters are at an anchorage, and have met up with Captain Kirkland and his band of space pirates
- Lovino, still recovering from his stab wound, was attacked by Sadik, and then saved from his advances from a mysterious blond neighbour
- Members of the resistance are preparing to attack the pirates who have captured their friend Elizabeta

Please review! Your feedback is what keeps me going!

Outer Space,
Approaching Yan,
11th Fybwari

Having to ask for help from pirates was humiliating. Well, not for Matthias, but for Antonio it was, and he could practically feel anger and frustration radiating from Francis when it became apparent that they were effectively stranded. Antonio poured his heart and soul into his ship, so to watch it being towed along behind the SS Mutiny like a reluctant dog on a leash, well, it broke his heart. Louise and the Misori engineers they had encountered in Ryotawari Sansima had done their best, but the damage to their control panels was still too severe for them to get safely back home to Reycass. As they'd been horrified to find, even the trip to the anchorage had been very hard and dangerous for the Marauder. So Matthias, the day after the power at the anchorage had been restored, had sucked up his pride, stuck his head in the doorway of the Mutiny, and asked for a huge favour. To their immense surprise, Captain Kirkland had actually accepted, though did warn that they were going to Yan first to deliver their prisoner and gain the reward waiting for them. He did offer to then take them back to Reycass, however, as it wasn't too far away. Francis had scoffed when Matthias had happily returned, saying that they had a solution. The Rywanian's face was mottled with dark, threatening bruises from his fight with Kirkland, though the pirate was in a far worse state, with his finger gone.

The blond had cooled down, though, and seemed to actually have a sliver of remorse for what he did to the Captain. It had been a pretty extreme move, on Francis' part, to actually mutilate him so badly. Though, later in that same day, Kirkland had just remarked that he hoped he didn't have hepatitis now, which had started a whole new argument. Everyone was sick of their fights, and Antonio had developed a kinship with Gilbert's cousin, Roderich, with whom he had shared many eye-rolling moments.

But they were finally well on their way. The Daernic prisoner, Elizabeta, had gotten quieter and quieter, according to Roderich. Antonio guessed that she was probably afraid. Knowing how much Yan in particular hated the Free Courts and the resistance, she had a good reason to be. Perhaps she had expected something else, who knew.

Today was the first time he'd actually seen her though. Roderich had insisted that the poor girl be given some time to walk around and sit on something other than the floor. She looked rather despicable honestly, especially considering that she was covered with a solid layer of grime and looked like she hadn't showered in a fair amount of time. Kirkland was yet to un-gag her, so for now, she was just a silent, very pissed off woman sitting near him. He hoped that she wasn't able to loosen the ties around her hands, else he would likely be throttled soon. She was aiming a particularly impressive glare at Kirkland, which was kind of amusing to Antonio.

It became less amusing when she began to sing – or, hum – very loudly. The captain afforded her an arched eyebrow, and little else. She continued regardless. If there was one thing that Antonio already admired about this girl, it was how stubborn she was.

He grinned as her humming rose even higher in volume, and Arthur Kirkland's eyebrows began to twitch. Deciding to put the captain out of his misery, Antonio decided to engage him in conversation.

"So, where's the rest of your crew? Last I saw you there were almost twenty of you guys."

Kirkland shifted, turning and leaning against the counter, folding his arms.

"Well, my crew was getting too big. I decided that I had to be more exclusive." He shrugged, "Some left for other lines of work, others disagreed, though they came around to my point of view fairly quickly." Yes, Antonio was certain that they had. Knowing Kirkland, those that had gained too much self-importance were either threatened or pushed out of the airlock.

"Good for them." He commented airily. The captain smirked slightly. Antonio cocked his head, "So, who is still here?"

"Oh, well, some of the most talented of my old crew. Leon, Roderich and Mei, obviously. Eduard, Yael and Natalya as well. They're on Jhobras, though, collecting an overdue payment."

Antonio nodded. Eduard was one of the most tolerable on the old crew, mostly existing for technological and communication purposes. Yael was nice enough, though the Iramese girl was rather sour sometimes. Natalya Arlovskaya, though, he shuddered at. She had long been the most intimidating of Arthur's crew. She was Ivan's half-sister, and terrifying at that. Even Ivan was afraid of her. Natalya accounted for at least 80% of their crew's physical strength, too.

He was snapped from his reverie by Elizabeta, once more trying to sing through her gag. Kirkland stared at her for a long moment, brow furrowed, then groaned in resignation. He strode towards her, and pulled the gag from her mouth. Her singing stopped immediately, and she smiled sweetly at him, sitting back with a satisfied grin on her face.

Antonio couldn't help but laugh, ignoring the deepening scowl on Kirkland's face.

Onboard the LWSS Libertas

Matthew was glad that he had friends in as many places as he did. Tracking down the ship belonging to Arthur Kirkland wasn't that hard, considering how infamous both the man and machine were. Getting someone to track his movements all the way to the Garsinon Anchorage was harder. Getting in touch with someone who could drop the power field around the anchorage for a sufficient time for their ship to get within range was very hard. But Matthew was well-liked, and not just by other resistance.

He drew in a deep breath, eyes skimming over the radar. The SS Mutiny was well within range for attack, and it had been for a time now. They had to make their move soon. The pirates didn't seem to have realised that they were being followed yet; something they could attribute to their new cloaking device. They were rapidly approaching Yan, though the ship was going slower than it should have been.

But Matthew was cautious. Another, smaller ship was being towed behind the Mutiny, and judging by the look and make, belonged to a similar group of criminals. That meant that there were likely more people on that ship than they wanted there to be. Though it helped, as the ship would take longer to get to its destination, it would also prove difficult once they were on board. The people whose ship they were towing might be friends, which would complicate things.

He hoped that they were able to rescue Elizabeta after all. she was important, not just to them but to the whole of the resistance as well. If they failed, not only would Liz be taken to Yan, but there was a high chance that they would be too. The mere thought made him go cold all over. Though he'd never seen the direct effects of the Union's torture, Yao had warned them against getting captured enough for him to deduce that it was some whole new kind of hell. Matthew sighed, rubbing his temples as he attempted to shove the dark thoughts away. There was a knock on the door, and he turned as Abel entered. His tall friend's face was grave, and he knew without having to be told.

It was time.

Feliks should have known that Tori would be an expert at poker. Aralos was a den of questionable behaviour, prolific gambling among them. Arthur, Gilbert and another pirate, Leon, could do little more than groan as she once again swept her earnings off the table and into her lap, now full of coins, gum, three packets of cigarettes and a single earring. She grinned widely, thanking them with an exaggerated flourish as she pocketed her winnings, placing another small fistful of coins on the table to start the next round. Tori yelled out for anyone else that wanted to join in to place their bets. With a little coaxing, both Francis and Berwald joined in their game. That was one of the most unusual things of the day. Berwald could be quite no-nonsense most of the time, so it was both strange and refreshing to see him joining in. Feliks only put in a small amount this round. He didn't want to give Tori all his money. He stifled a grin when he saw his cards, though. Maybe he wouldn't be swept out of the running so quickly this time.

He was wrong, and within a half-hour, Tori had collected every bit of money off the table once more. Francis rolled his eyes, sagging back in his chair. He had been spectating for a while before he joined in, and looked at the table with wide eyes.

"This is bullshit." He moaned, "How are you winning every round?" Tori winked at him.

"Talent, my friend. It's called talent."

"It's called bullshit," he retorted, causing Gilbert to snort with laughter. He tossed down his cards, sighing.

"Well," Tori said gleefully, "Anyone else want to join in?"

Ivan was the one who noticed, though, it was far too late. He was the one who heard the low whispering noise, of an incoming ship, who looked out the windows and yelled a warning just before the lightweight ship slammed into theirs. None of them was able to make it to the airlocks in time to seal them externally, and Arthur just grimaced as he picked up a shotgun, expecting hostile guests. A silent conversation occurred between those of them still seated at the poker table. Arthur disappeared down the hallway with Francis in tow, off to see who was bombarding the ship, leaving Feliks, Tori, Berwald and Gilbert in the parlour room.

Later, Feliks would regret not going with them.

The ship had gone into emergency mode, which was the least helpful mode to be in for an actual emergency. Being slammed into and then forcibly boarded had no doubt activated said emergency mode, and Arthur hated it whenever it happened. Firstly, the loud sirens were unhelpful. He already knew they had been boarded, and the flashing red lights were just impairing his vision. They couldn't move the ship while the two were connected by the boarding tunnel, lest they wanted to all be sucked into the vacuum of space and killed, so for now, the best course of action was to meet them head on. He always hated it when combat turned out to be the best route.

A part of him couldn't believe that the Mutiny was actually being boarded. Usually, his personal infamy was enough to keep potential hostiles away, and he honestly couldn't even remember the last time his ship had been attacked, other than by law enforcement. And these weren't law enforcement, that he already knew.

Perhaps more surprising than the fact of being attacked, was that Francis had opted to come with him. Usually, the blond tried to keep his distance, and Arthur was only too happy to maintain it. Evidently, though, Francis considered the prospect of being attacked more important than their personal rivalry. For now, he had to agree. He held up a hand, Francis halting behind him, when he heard slight shuffling. The two of them were completely motionless, and Arthur could even hear Francis muffling the sound of his breathing.

The sound of footsteps met his ears, and he tensed, preparing himself.

Tori, for the first time since leaving Aralos, actually felt completely in her element. Trying to fend off unwanted visitors with what would – presumably – be violent methods? That was one thing that she knew how to do. She might get nauseous in zero-gravity, and not understand forcefields very well, but she could kick the ass of anyone who tried to take what was hers. She could feel Feliks' breath on her neck, and tempted as she was to tell him to move over a little, it was comforting, to know that should it come to a physical confrontation, she would not be fighting alone. She felt her breath catch when the slight noise of the doors opening reached her ears. She flung her hand out behind her, grabbing Feliks by the shirt. His hand wrapped around her wrist, firm but gentle. Tori felt her breathing ease a little at that. It eased further when a now-familiar voice echoed out from the shadows.

"Guys? Are any of you in here?"

"Roderich!" Gilbert said, a note of definite relief in his voice. Gilbert and his cousin did have a habit of sniping at one another, and threw around simple jibes and insults freely. But they definitely had that familial love whose existence they were so fond of denying. Tori didn't know Roderich well, but she was also glad to see he was alright.

"Do you know what's going on?" she heard him mutter. There was a slight scraping noise as Gilbert moved his chair, no doubt to get to his cousin.

"We've been boarded, we don't know who by yet." Oh, Tori could guess who was boarding. It wasn't law enforcement – the ship didn't match their normal profile. It was unlikely that it was some rival band of criminals, since anyone worth their infamy would instead stage a confrontation somewhere on-planet. So that really only left one probable perpetrator. Her gaze drifted from Feliks, who was fiddling with the knives he had pulled from his belt, to the girl from the Resistance. She was sitting silently against the wall, quiet even though her gag had been removed.

"It's the Resistance." Tori declared, certain of the conclusion that she had come to. "It has to be. We have one of their fighters, don't we?" she gestured to the girl as she spoke, drawing everyone else's attention. Gilbert straightened from his half-hunched position near his cousin, eyes narrowing.

"If it is the Resistance, then it's pretty obvious what we should do then." They all turned to look at him. He shrugged. "If it is them, I vote we let her go. I'm not going to forfeit my life for someone else's prisoner." Tori nodded, for once completely agreeing with him. Berwald's facial expression hadn't changed all day, so who knew how he felt about the whole thing. It was, surprisingly, Roderich who dissented.

"I understand your reasoning, but no. I think Arthur would actually murder me if we let her go." Gilbert whirled around.

"It doesn't matter how much money she's worth! I've encountered the Resistance before, Roderich, you and the fucking captain haven't. They don't understand mercy; they have nothing left to lose. Killing us would be considered fucking sensible to them. I love money as much as the next person, but I won't die for it."

Roderich levelled a glare at his cousin, before delivering a simple statement which stunned them all.

"She's worth 100 million marks, actually." Tori's mouth dropped open. She was fairly certain that all of Aralos' riches combined wouldn't even come close to 100 million marks. They'd be pressed getting to about 30 million, in all honesty. And yes, her view might be skewed because of how poor her home planet was, but judging by the look on the other's faces, it was a lot of money even to them. Gilbert kept opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, mouthing the words '100 million' silently. Roderich nodded in response to their unspoken questions.

"She's one of their most skilled fighters, and Daernic as well, which ramps up her value a fair amount." Tori's stomach jolted uncomfortably at the last part. She herself was Daernic, and she knew that they were rare, but she hadn't known that handing them into the Union was profitable. She could feel Feliks' eyes on her, but he said nothing. She wrapped her arms around herself, glad more than ever that she had dyed her hair.

"Still", Gilbert spluttered in shock. But his tone was significantly less confident now, and he was looking at the girl, Elizabeta, with a familiar emotion in his eyes – greed. Their conversation was silenced by the swishing noise of the doors opening again. Tori raised her head, expecting another of her friends.

A pair of unfamiliar, green eyes met hers. They belonged, also, to a stranger, much taller and stronger-looking than herself, with a wicked scar above one of his eyes. For a moment, there was nothing but silence. The man levelled an assault rifle at her face, fingers dancing over the trigger. A shout beside her was the only warning she had before Feliks shoved her to the floor. The bullets passed so close to the top of her head, she could feel the rush of air along her scalp. If she hadn't moved, she would have been shot directly through the eyes. She felt Feliks' hand on her back ease, and then disappear. She looked up, only to see that Berwald had locked his hands around the man's gun, and the two were engaged in an intense tug-of-war.

Berwald had always been strong, likely the strongest of their entire group, but he had finally found a worthy challenger. For one, he'd finally found someone as tall as him. She started slightly, upon noting that Berwald's pocketknife was lodged in the intruder's lower stomach. But still he fought, even as Feliks jumped up from his place on the floor to join the fray.

Right when it seemed apparent that Berwald and Feliks would succeed in their shared quest to disarm the man, the doors opened again, bearing another man. Unlike his fellow, this one wore a respirator-style mask to obscure the lower half of his face, and had a black, hooded jacket that couldn't quite hide the long, wavy blond tied back behind his head. He seemed to observe the scene in just a moment; taking in Berwald and Feliks grappling with his friend, Tori on the floor still feeling the shock from being shot at, Roderich, who had now grabbed the Daernic prisoner, and Gilbert, who had pulled out his glock and was preparing to fight. The newcomer watched them a moment, before raising his firearm and shooting Feliks without hesitation.

Tori screamed, hurtling across the room to get to where he had staggered and fallen to his knees, clutching where blood was splattering from his right side to the floor. Berwald whirled, shouting in alarm. He was distracted for only a moment, but that was clearly enough. The first intruder ripped his gun from Berwald's hands and struck him across the face with it, with more force than Tori had expected. The second intruder seized Tori by her hair before she could reach Feliks, throwing her backwards. Her back connected with one of the overturned chairs on the ground, her side emitting a worrying cracking noise as pain flooded her ribs. Completely winded, she gasped as she struggled to get up again. The second fighter wrapped one of his hands around her neck, squeezing hard as he shoved her down again.

"Stay down," she heard, black spots swirling in her vision. Distantly, she heard a shout of fury, absently recognising it as Gilbert's voice. The pressure was gone from her windpipe a moment later, and she rolled onto her front, heaving as her lungs struggled to drag in air. She could hear more yelling and cursing, before she was being dragged by her hair again, this time by the first intruder. He pushed her onto her front, knee pressing into the small of her back as she struggled. Panic flooded her system and she screamed, thrashing around wildly as the man continued to try to contain her. Like hell she'd let some piece of scum like this touch her. Tori stalwartly ignored the aching in her side as she struggled to free herself. She could see Gilbert grappling with the second intruder, managing to get the man's knife away from him before promptly throwing himself at the man restraining her. He was knocked clean off her, and she staggered to her feet, whirling around and trying to take in the scene around her.

Though he'd been completely immersed in attacking Gilbert before, the second of the intruders didn't move back toward the resurging fight when he had retrieved his knife. Instead he crossed the room to Elizabeta, who was now unattended, and with a single flick of the knife, cleaved right through the thick restraints holding her. Elizabeta shook her hands out once or twice, and nodded to the man, relief clear on her face as a radiant grin nearly split it in half. She accepted a knife from her friend, shook her hair out, and charged at them.

Francis gritted his teeth as he again felt the fiery girl's foot connect with his ribs. He was back-to-back with Kirkland, and for once, couldn't even bring himself to care. They were surrounded; two of them against three fierce women that were intent on gutting them both. They'd come out of nowhere and started kicking their asses. Francis bit out a curse, flipping his knife in his hand nervously. He was worried about their own predicament, true, but he was almost more worried about the others. Tori, Feliks, Gilbert and Berwald were still in the living room with Roderich. Louise and Antonio had been examining some manuals to fix their ship's damaged panels in her room, and the others of Arthur's crew, along with Ivan, had been in the kitchen getting lunch. As he ran his mental inventory, Francis' heart sank as he realised that he had no idea where either Matthias or Alfred were. Hopefully, neither of them was getting caught up in another conflict.

That hope was dashed only a moment later, when the Nymian girl on Francis' right was promptly knocked off her feet by a rather distressed-looking Alfred, who hollered in anger upon spotting how Francis and Arthur were already injured. Using their momentary distraction, Arthur lunged at one of the others, closer to the door. She growled, sounding almost animalistic, and quickly began to fight back. The automatic doors behind them opened, exposing the wide walkway between them and the tunnel which connected the intruders' ship to their own. Francis could hear shouting from the hallway he and Arthur had come in now, and snarled as the final of the three slammed into him, knife whirling around his face. He shifted his knee upwards, driving it right into her stomach.

The girl lurched, clutching at her abdomen, at which point Francis took the opportunity to roundhouse kick her in the side. As she crumpled to the ground, the doors opened again, revealing Mei, Leon, Ivan, Antonio and Louise, who must have heard their shouting. When they set eyes on them, the group of five immediately rushed forward to drive back the intruders. Francis groaned in relief, glad that their backup had finally arrived. The girl he'd knocked down staggered to her feet, dragging the Nymian one, as well as the girl attacking Arthur – who he could now see was Fynknian – with her towards the doors leading to the docking bay. Arthur, somehow still conscious after being pistol-whipped numerous times, grunted in frustration and threw out his hand, catching the last girl by the ankle as she made to move past him. She was promptly slammed to the floor, yelping in surprise and pain as Arthur tightened his grip.

"No one attacks my ship." He hissed menacingly at her. She kicked at his face, struggling as her friends clawed at his hand in an attempt to free her. Arthur held stubbornly on, though, not even flinching as their nails and knives broke the skin and made blood run down his wrist. Francis scrambled to help him as Matthias came charging down the hallway, driving his knife into the Nymian girl's leg without a moment of hesitation. She didn't make a single noise, but jerked roughly away from their leader and stumbled backwards, his knife still embedded hilt-deep in her thigh.

As Francis saw Antonio and Leon move to attack yet again, a scream met his ears. His gaze swivelled over to where the Nymian girl had opened the airlock to their ship, a triumphant grin on her face. But it wasn't her who made the noise.

Not a moment later, another set of doors down the hall burst open, revealing, to his horror, two more armed intruders, as well as Arthur's prisoner Elizabeta. But that horrified him far less than who they were dragging with them. Elizabeta had a very battered-looking Tori held by the hair, and was hauling her across the room. One of the other intruders, a man wearing a respirator, had an unconscious Feliks draped across his shoulders. The last of them, and the tallest, was holding Gilbert by his jacket collar like a disobedient dog, and was marching Roderich along at gunpoint. The Fynknian girl plunged her dagger through Arthur's palm, finally managing to force him to let go of her, and ran towards her friends as the last girl pointed her assault rifle at them threateningly before slamming her hand onto the panel by the door which closed them. Being clear, however, they could still see what was happening beyond, even as they all began to pound on the doors and try to open them.

The Fynknian and the Nymian grabbed Roderich – now beginning to struggle wildly, and unceremoniously threw him into their ship. Feliks, who Francis could now see was bloody and pale, was next. Freed of his burden, the shorter of the two men grabbed Tori from Elizabeta as the now ex-prisoner darted inside their ship, no doubt to pilot it. She was shrieking and kicking wildly as she was pulled by her long hair to the door. For a moment, Francis was able to see her face clearly – expression wide, shocked and terrified, before she joined Roderich and Feliks. Mei shouted in victory as the doors slid open again, and those who could still stand rushed into the hallway.

But it was too little, too late, and they could do nothing more than watch as Gilbert, drenched in red and gagged heavily, disappeared behind two layers of doors on the airlock. Francis caught a glimpse of some of the Resistance fighters through the rapidly narrowing gap, dragging their friends further into the ship.

Then, a loud mechanical noise began as the ship withdrew and moved away from theirs, and, with the bright, piercing light that accompanied a ship jumping to hyper-speed, they were gone.

Muaha fucking ha