Why did they have to be bloody tanks?
The Mandau had been so much easier. Those four Nietzscheans had refused to stand down, answering Dylan's order with gunfire. Fortunately, they seemed to be low-to-mid-grade mercs, and didn't stand much of a chance against seasoned enemies who had the home ground advantage.
But these were Ogami, and they meant business.
Squinting and aiming her pistol, Beka was trying to land a hit on one of the two Ogami who were taking shots at them with their gauss guns. She was looking for an opening, any sort of weakness, but these were not the bare-chested pirates who had attacked the Bellerophon. These guys were armored head-to-toe, and they had shields. The four Andromeda crew members had specifically chosen to ambush the five remaining Ogami in Cargo Bay 4, where the crew had the advantage of cover, unlike the Ogami who would arrive in the part of the bay with no boxes or any significant cover.
"Gaah!" Dylan could be heard amid the sounds of guns blazing and the clangs of metal hitting metal.
It was meant to be a turkey shoot… but the turkeys seemed almost immune to their fire. Before the crew could reassess their tactic, Dylan and Rhade were already engaged in pitched melee combat, and it was hard for Beka to get a clear shot at their assailants given how quickly they all moved and changed positions. So she instead focused on one of the two Ogami who went to their sides, in an apparent attempt to flank them. The right-side one. But the bastard didn't seem to be too bothered by her bullets, and knew how to use his shield to block most of them anyway. She'd have complimented his training, if he wasn't trying to kill her.
Trance seemed to have some luck shooting the one currently engaged with Rhade; Beka guessed that it might have something to do with Trance's precognitive ability. But that one, too, was still standing and fighting no less intensely.
Seeing that this was going nowhere, Beka decided to change tack. "Force lance it is," she muttered to herself as she took out the oblong object from its holster. She still wasn't as comfortable or experienced with the High Guard standard-issue weapon, but it was versatile and could quickly switch between alternative firing modes. And right now, alternatives were what she needed. She switched firing mode to effectors.
Leaning to the right past the box she used for cover, she noticed that her Ogami 'friend' was getting worryingly close. He pointed his gun at her, but not before she released the effector drones from her lance and pulled back to her shelter. The homing bullets found their target without error; while she couldn't be sure of the sound over the din of the battle, she thought she heard a yell from the direction of the impacted Ogami. Taking a quick glance, she saw that he had paused shortly, but was still very much on his feet and resuming his run.
"Oh, for crying out loud," she swore. Okay, this requires the Overkill Option, Beka concluded. Or, as Harper had called it, Bokor Shokkor.
She set the force lance to heavy shocker mode. That gave her three shots at best before the weapon's energy core was depleted, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Even before she leaned to take her shot, Beka heard a shock discharge from another force lance nearby. Somebody else got her idea already; she hoped it worked for them just as she did it would for herself.
In a quick whirl, she decided to look up and over the box, since the Ogami might expect her to lean out in the same place as before. She aimed and fired at the Ogami before he could do the same to her. He nevertheless did manage to get off a shot, but it flew past her head to the left. She, however, did manage to hit him squarely in the neck; convulsing, he finally went down.
Ducking back for a moment, she then leaned to the left to ascertain how her friends were doing. She saw that two Ogami remained standing, one with an axe and a shield, the other wielding an impressively large sword. A powerful kick by the sword-wielding Ogami had Dylan on the floor, but he managed to recover quickly enough to aim his extended force lance at the Ogami in question, letting off a shock blast. That dispatched another enemy, leaving only Rhade's opponent. The two of them seemed evenly matched, but now this final Ogami also had to deal with Beka, Trance and Dylan. It turned out that Trance was the one who got the last shot, one that went right next to Rhade's armpit just as he had lifted his arm. The final Ogami was lethally shocked and went down.
"What the―" a bewildered Rhade looked back, noticing Trance's outstretched hand and force lance. "I felt that! You could've fried me!" he bellowed indignantly.
"That was unlikely," Trance said placatingly, her face something between apologetic and 'oopsie'. "Felt like a good shot. Besides, there was a chance he'd have slashed you with that thing in a moment," she pointed at the axe, which had clanged to the floor moments earlier.
"I had him," Rhade said, calmer. "And you know I did. You could see it."
"Whatever you say, Telemachus," she smiled as she looked around the bay.
Rhade rolled his eyes.
Quiet descended on the cargo bay as they kept a look out for any newly arrived enemies, just in case. Realizing that they were alone, the four took a moment to recover. Dylan and Rhade needed it, given how physically taxing it was to fight three experienced Ogami warriors in close range. Dylan in particular was out of breath, though the kick to his midsection may have contributed to that.
"How many… shocks… did you use?" He asked them in between labored breaths.
"Just the one," Beka said. Trance did two; the first one being the Ogami on their left flank since Rhade had been busy, and the other being the risky-looking shot at Rhade's close-quarters opponent.
"Where to next?" Rhade asked.
Andromeda's hologram appeared next to them, startling Beka and Dylan. "I suggest heading toward Maintenance Tunnel 30-16. The Pyrian soldier has defeated the Kalderans and is headed toward the bridge; my avatar decided to intercept them."
"Rommie," Dylan nodded. They set off running, going through corridors and up staircases and ladders. With their intimate knowledge of the ship, they could make their way through it quickly, but going up and down decks so much left them increasingly winded.
They heard the action before they saw it. Then, turning a bend in the corridor, they saw flashes and the smell reached them. Beka made a face, the thick, acrid smoke making it harder to breathe.
Approaching the entrance to Lounge 30-B, they positioned themselves close to the walls and moved ahead cautiously. A force lance was intermittently firing plasma discharges; they also heard an unfamiliar sort of energy blast sound, the whoosh of fire, and the hits of metal against metal.
Using hand signals, Dylan silently told them to go ahead together and open fire on his mark. They prowled ahead, Dylan and Rhade in front and ready to close in, Beka and Trance right behind them.
The interior of the lounge before them was now more visible, despite the haze; they could see that finding cover would be difficult, given that seemingly anything flammable was already on fire.
For a moment, they saw Rommie land about two dozen meters in front of them; she immediately dodged to the left as a plasma blast sailed through where she had just been standing. Within a split second, Rommie made a long jump ahead, firing from an extended force lance as she did so.
Reaching the doorway, they saw that most of the door ― which should have been sealed ― was lying just inside the lounge. Apparently, the Pyrian had used a plasma cutter to push through.
Carefully glancing inside, they were greeted by quite the breathtaking scene. Sofas and chairs that had caught fire, burnt plants and blazing trees. In between the flames, Rommie danced gracefully as she dodged the fire of the power-suited Pyrian who was floating some six or seven meters above her; the android managed to evade the near-constant fire of a pair of plasma pistols, as well as the literal fire of a flamethrower.
The Pyrian used all six of its tentacles to great effect; in addition to the aforementioned three, two more held what looked like a quarterstaff with knife-size blades at each end, and the final one held something that was most likely some sort of submachine gun. That one wasn't being fired; Beka soon got an indication why, as the Pyrian used the opportunity to liberate a tentacle from the staff in order to reload the gun in question. However, the alien soldier did not manage to complete the action, given that Rommie found an opening to jump unnaturally high for a Human and attack the Pyrian with her staff. It had to rapidly retract the tentacle back to the staff in order to protect itself, thus remaining unable to utilize the gun to spray Rommie with bullets.
Falling back down, their android crewmate continued her deadly dance of dodging the plasma and the flame jet while returning fire of her own. It wasn't that she was that much faster-moving compared to a Human; more that her reaction time and processing of the situation was unparalleled. Rommie could simultaneously follow the movements of all six tentacles, and know each one's firing line and rate of fire.
On Dylan's signal, the four at the doorway unloaded on the Pyrian with plasma shots. The alien was momentarily surprised by the new enemies, turning toward them. As the pistol-wielding tentacles aligned with them and the flamethrower began to spew flaming death, Dylan yelled "Back!", though it wasn't really necessary; all of them had already begun falling back and out of sight. Beka felt hot air blowing as the fire went past the door.
A moment later, there was a loud bang, and then silence.
She shared a look with Trance.
"You can come in now," Rommie shouted from the lounge.
So they did. Then they started coughing, and Beka felt sweat beginning to form as they entered a sweltering, smoky haze of a room. There, in the center, Rommie stood next to the Pyrian's corpse. Apparently, she had used its moment of distraction to land a killing blow.
"You okay?" Dylan asked.
Rommie blinked and nodded. Beka thought that she did not look 'okay'; Rommie's left leg was badly burnt, her right arm's metallic skeleton and electronics were exposed, with caked white superconducting fluid leaking in places. There were still burning embers on a part of her pants.
"Err, you have…" Beka indicated the area in question, eyebrows raised.
The android avatar looked downward, then patted out the flame.
"Impressive work," Rhade said placidly, indicating the dead Pyrian.
"Thanks," Rommie gave a slight nod. "You didn't need to come, though. I had it under control."
"That's what he said," Beka indicated Rhade, chuckling. He gave her a look.
"Andromeda didn't seem as convinced," Trance noted, addressing Rommie.
The android made a face of mock-frustration. "She worries too much."
Coughing fiercely, her eyes tearing up from the smoke and the heat, Beka had quite enough of this hellish bonfire of a lounge. "How about we continue this outside?" she suggested, voice strained.
"Of course, I'm sorry," Rommie said and led the way out through the exit opposite of the one they had come through.
Hacking their lungs out, their eyes tearing, they took a minute to recover in the corridor beyond.
"Status?" Dylan inquired.
"The four Genites are dead, though they had managed to take out some of the Ogami before you fought them," Rommie began. "The two remaining Dragans are trapped in Cargo Bay 11. They're taking a stand against the Magog, and using the terrain to their advantage. The Magog are all using gauss rifles, but their discipline is lacking. Five have already fallen. Only their leader seems to possess sound tactical thinking," she commented. Then, frowning, she added, "He just shot one of the Dragans."
"What about the other groups?" Beka asked.
"Auditory sensors in a functioning section of Deck 43 have registered sounds of gunfire in the distance, but I have no visual information about what's happening at the battle's location."
"We can check it out on our way to the Magog," Rhade suggested.
"You may want to belay that," Rommie said in a tone which spelled trouble, frowning again. "A platoon of Nightsiders just managed to punch their way through a door on Deck 40 and enter sensor range. They are well-armed and seem to be mercenaries."
"A platoon?!" Dylan exclaimed. "Harper, now would be a good time for those internal defenses!"
"Working in it, boss!" came the engineer's voice through their earpieces.
"He needs to work faster," Dylan muttered. "Rommie, go back and help him."
"Aye, sir. Will you be okay?" she inquired.
"We'll find a good kill zone, and retreat the moment we need to," the captain assured her.
"I suggest Warehouse 16, upper floor," the android avatar said.
"Will do. Now go," Dylan hurried her along.
With a nod, Rommie ran off down the corridor.
Even with the terrain advantage, Beka didn't like those odds. "They better get those auto-guns working, stat," the first officer said.
Judging from the grim silence of her crewmates, they shared her thoughts.