There were rumors of a small Space Pirate outpost on the nearby planet of Thran 6. Rumors also said it that there was a huge price on the contents of the research core memory. Eli didn't have any big beef with the Space Pirates, and he sure as hell didn't want them after him; but business had been slow, and he had almost run out of money since rescuing the merchant ship a little over a week ago.
The job was paying more money than he had made in the past year, but he knew that was because of the low likelihood of survival. Eli would need to make a stop to prepare for this one. Eli had his ship cruise over to the Thran System spacestation, and docked it. As he walked out of his ship, he counted the last of his money, sighing because he barely had enough for what he needed.
Eli strolled his way to the arms market area of the station. As he neared the counter he was looking for, he knew what he saw would spell trouble. The salesman was refusing service to a Space Pirate because the pirate didn't have the proper licensing to purchase a high-power weapon. The pirate grabbed the man by the collar and the man's young daughter began to pound uselessly on the brute's back screaming "Let Daddy go!"
The pirate knocked the girl down, so Eli decided it was his turn. Stepping behind the alien, he tapped it on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but I believe the girl asked you to release her father."
The Space Pirate dropped the man and flicked his blade to combat-position as he turned to face the bounty hunter. In a deep and throaty voice it hissed, "Boy, you just said your last."
Eli easily sidestepped the stabbing attack, and grabbed the arm. He twisted his body and sent a full power spear-hand strike to the beast's throat. The pirate fell to the ground, gasping for breath, and Eli stomp kicked its armored head, knocking it out.
Stepping over the body, Eli approached the counter and helped the man to his feet. "Sir, are you alright? If so, I need to make a few purchases to go after the rest of these bastards."
With the little extra he earned for taking down that pirate, Eli was able to buy the grapple-beam and a couple single use missile pods. He was also able to afford a good dinner, and he ate well because he knew it could likely be his last meal.
Eli set his ship to stealth mode as soon he left the spacestation, he would never even make it close if they knew he was coming. Because of the slow pace his ship traveled in stealth mode, he was able to attach the new additions to his suit, attaching the grapple beam to the right forearm, and one of the missile pods to each of the thighs.
His ship made the final approach and atmospheric entry from the opposite side of the planet from the Space Pirate base; he knew that gave him the least chance of being detected. Eli set the ship down a few miles from the base and got out. He walked over to the side of the ship and opened a small panel. "Let's see… I will set the optical camouflage to boulder." He turned a knob and stepped back; the ship became hazy, then a moment later, a gigantic rock roughly shaped like his ship sat in its place. "COMPUTER! Power down all systems except optical camouflage and defense turrets! Password will be 'payday', fire only on those sentient beings that stay in relative proximity for more than twenty minutes!"
"Acknowledged. Executing now." The computer's voice emotionlessly verbalized.
Eli turned and followed his HUD in the direction that his holomap said the base was. After about an hour, his sensors began to pick up power output from the base, so he began to be more cautious in his movements, knowing that he would soon run into the base's security measures. He set his visor to Search-mode, looking for the slightest signs of Space Pirates; mechanical or otherwise.
After a minute, his visor began to pick up some abnormal heat patterns. After scanning it, he discovered it was an auto defense turret. He switched back to his usual combat visor setting; ducking behind a tree, and readied his shock cannon. He waited until the turret's "eye" moved past where he was hiding before popping out and destroying it with a single blast. He quickly looked around and found the area was empty, he moved into the base.
Once inside, Eli found himself on a catwalk far above an assembly line. Examining the assembly line, he saw that this place wasn't a research facility, but an arms factory. Eli realized that he had stumbled into something FAR larger, and FAR more dangerous than he had expected. As if to emphasize his realization, a patrolling security drone aimlessly cruised past about 15 feet away. Eli froze, but the drone didn't look in his direction.
He moved further into the base, and found himself face to face with a door that said "Control room A-7: Auto-Defenses". The door opened and the young hunter found himself face to face with a battle equipped Pirate. Acting on instinct and nothing else, Eli drove his blade upward thru the monster's jaw. He moved the body into the door, and closed it behind him, locking it in the process.
Eli turned to the door as the lock bars snapped into place. He slammed the door with his fist, "shit!" A mechanical whirring behind him drew his attention away from the door. "Bzzzt! State identification codes!" an hominoid version of the security drone stood across the room, its four smaller red eyes glowing around its green central eye. After scanning him, the drone realized Eli was not one of the Pirates, "INTRUDER ALERT! SWITCHING TO BATTLE MODE!"
Eli realized just how outgunned he was as the drone's arms flipped around to reveal miniature railguns and blades popped out of almost all of its joints. Dropping to one knee he fired one of his rockets straight at the machine's head, scoring a direct hit. The drone lunged forward unaffected and Eli dove to the side, amazed at the speed of his new adversary.
Without missing a beat, the robot turned to point one of the railguns at Eli. Acting quickly, he fired his shock cannon at the drone. The attacks met just outside of the railgun, and the resulting flash nearly blinded Eli. The hunter stumbled unable to see, and he heard the machine lunge again. Praying, he fired his grapple upwards; it caught onto something and pulled him up, but not fast enough.
Eli screamed in pain as one of the blades caught him in the ankle. And the landing went even worse because he fell onto a computer panel. Lying stunned on the ground, Eli's mind was racing for anything that could save him, the sound of the drones mechanical humming getting closer. As sight began to return to him, a spark caught his attention, it was a torn power cable from the panel he just fell on.
Quickly grabbing the cable, he caught the only part of exposed wiring on the drone's neck as it began to lunge for the final blow. The machine twitched as its circuits were being fried. Once it could no longer stand, it fell. Eli heaved a sigh of relief, but felt consciousness slipping away. He heard the door open as the last of his energy left his body.