Monsters - Part 3

The SF-2 Falcon followed rank behind the SSV Naseby as it too left Junthor.
"Do you want your shuttle to be collected?" Keating asked Stealth.
The thief shrugged, "I don't mind. It wasn't mine, anyway. I stole it from Omega."
"I'll take that as a no, then," she responded, "Thomson, why do you use the Avenger? You do know it's a piece of crap, right?"
"I wish people would stop telling me that," Thomson sighed, "It works for me. I like it."
"I personally use the M-76 Revenant. Slightly heavier, but my god does it shred everything you shoot at."
There was an explosion which rocked the cargo hold.

The small, silent vessel fired its cannon again, destroying the second engine of the SSV Naseby. It couldn't move. It just began drifting through space.
It fired its main gun - a weapon stolen from a dead Reaper. A red beam of energy hit the rear of the frigate and tore through its hull. There was a large explosion - the largest yet - as the element zero drive core exploded in a mass of sparks and fire, which quickly burned in the oxygen from the nearly-destroyed ship before it extinguished in the vacuum of space.
Now it really couldn't move.
The vessel activated its boarding hooks and metal projectiles ripped through the hull of the Naseby, followed moments later by a thick steel rope which immediately pulled tight, securing the vessels together.
Kinetic barriers on a ship were all very good, but they were built to withstand fast moving projectiles. Not relatively slow moving grappling hooks.
The ships were pulled together. The attacking vessel extended its airlock and secured a connection between the two.
Then the attack began.

Luckily, the cargo hold had its own sealed doors. So when the drive core exploded and the hull was punctured, they were safe at the bottom of the ship with plenty of air.
Thomson, Keating and Stealth were still wearing suitable helmets from the mission - Thomson and Keating with their N7 breather helmets and Stealth with his unique combat helmet. They would be fine for oxygen, and the Quarians had their helmets secured so they too wouldn't be affected by a lack of air.
"Fuck," Keating sighed and grabbed her rifle from the weapon rack. A wailing alarm began sounding. Thomson grabbed his M-8 Avenger rifle from his back, and Stealth and Mia drew their pistol and shotgun respectively.
"If they think they're taking this ship," Keating growled, "They've made a mistake. A big one."
Her hand went to the side of her helmet, "Report," she ordered the pilot, "Where are they?"
The reply from the pilot was audible, but Thomson couldn't hear it clearly.
"They're on the crew deck," Keating said finally, "Let's go."
Thomson contacted the Falcon, "Try and get them away from the ship," he told the pilot of the SF-2, "Try shooting them or something. Just get them away."
Stealth spoke up, "I think one of us should stay here. I mean, when the doors are sealed no one can get through. Since they're after Emi'Derik, it'd make sense for one of us to stay here and protect her just in case they have something like a rocket launcher to take down the door."
"I'll stay," Mia said, "You lot are better at fighting."
Keating nodded, "Right. Let's go and kill some aliens."

They took the elevator to the crew deck. The crew of the SSV Naseby was in disarray - they were stationed outside all the doors with their weapons raised. They were nearly shot when they reached the invaded deck.
"We need to spread out," said Keating, via the radios in their helmets so they could speak in the vacuum that was now the crew deck.
It seemed that the artificial gravity systems had turned off on this level of the ship, so they had to make their way around by pushing themselves off of the walls.
Thomson made his way through the medical bay, whilst Keating moved through the main battery and the mess hall, and Stealth came through Keating's office.
The first sign of the attack came by the litter of bodies which floated through the airless space, blood forming droplets which never hit the floor. Thomson found two in the medical bay. Keating found four in the mess hall, and Stealth found one next to the exit of Keating's office.
"They're here," Thomson said to the others, "There are some corpses that have been killed by some mass accelerator firearms. High calibre."
"Same here," said Stealth, "I'm moving towards the observation decks."
Keating never heard the gunshot. She was only aware of her shield flickering as the round struck her kinetic barriers. She turned and fired in the direction it had come from, then when more rounds were returned she ducked behind the wall separating the corridor from the mess hall.
More gunshots tore up the wall around her. She waited for her shields to regenerate before stepping out and firing again. Her attacker was thrown back and drifted across the corridor, blue blood erupting from its chest.
The alien had two legs and three arms - its head was egg shaped and it had two glowing white eyes. Its mouth ran the entire width of its head and she could see many sharp teeth. Its weapon was unlike anything she'd ever seen, having four firing chambers and four thermal clip modules. There was a hook on the side where both sides connected - as if the weapon could be used as two separate ones as well as one large one. It was an odd design.
She crossed to another section of the wall which would provide her with cover. She saw Stealth moving and drawing his sword across the throat of one of the creatures as she neared the exit of the mess hall.
Another one of the creatures came into her view. She quickly tapped the trigger on the Revenant and its body shredded. There was gunfire from Thomson's side of the ship, and she saw an alien go hurtling backwards whilst being surrounded by a wave of biotic energy.
Another four creatures in the mess hall. She fired at each, but they pushed themselves behind the tables and fired from behind cover.
Her shields were taken out by the first round - instantly - which caught her by surprise. The next three hit her armour and she growled in pain as one hit her in the shoulder. A plume of blood scattered into the air.
Keating's hand went to her shoulder and put pressure on the wound. She applied medigel quickly, and sighed as the pain went away. She could feel it, still, like a dull throbbing sensation in her arm. But most of the pain was gone, at least.
She felt the energy build up in her arms and her palms began glowing blue. She pushed her hand forwards and her biotics pushed over the table, making it fly backwards into a wall. There were no signs of life after that. Her hand was tingling for a moment before the energy dissipated.
"Thomson, Keating: Help!" Stealth's voice shouted through the radio.
She reacted as fast as she could - pushing herself away from the wall as hard as she could with her non-injured arm. The zero gravity meant that she drifted towards Stealth's previous location with relative speed, and she saw Thomson do likewise.
"Are you ok?" Thomson asked, "You look hurt."
"It's just a flesh wound," Keating said with a nod, "I'll be fine. We need to get him."
They propelled themselves down the corridor. Corpses of the crew members littered the hall and made their journey both disgusting and slow. Keating watched as droplets of blood which hung in the vacuum of the corridor splashed on her armour, staining it a dark crimson colour in several places.
More splashes of blood. Gunshot rounds tearing through the corpses as the creatures tried to shoot at them. Her shields, which had regenerated, immediately started taking hits.
Thomson returned fire with his rifle and she did likewise. However, most of the rounds she fired collided with the dead bodies. Only few managed to make their way to the end of the corridor. The hall was thick with blood.
Keating saw a quick flash of Stealth's form as he struggled against the aliens which were carrying him towards the airlock. She struggled to get past the lifeless crew members, and got to only a few metres away when Stealth was lost from view.
They managed to gun down another seven creatures before the attacking ship pulled away. Their airlocks were separated and there were metallic thuds as the grappling hooks retracted, leaving gaping holes in the Naseby's hull.
"Damage report," Keating ordered the pilot, "How many dead?"
"A hundred, ma'am. Only the engineers are still alive back on the Engineering deck. That and the two Quarians in the cargo hold."
"Can you get us out of here?" Keating asked.
The pilot sighed, "I'm afraid not. They've damaged the drive core and the engines are offline. We can't even fire our weapons."
"Ok," she said to Thomson, "Get your ship here ASAP. We need to chase them down. We're not letting them take Stealth. Bastards."
Thomson pushed his finger against the side of his helmet, "This is Thomson. The ship has left. We'll meet you next to the cargo ramp."
"Negative. The ship has not left. In fact, it's-"
There was a bright red flash and the piece of the ship in front of them suddenly vanished. They could see space. Bright stars and twisting galaxies. Junthor sat behind them, emitting a green and silver glow.
"Shit," Keating growled, "They've torn the ship in half."
"Is the cargo hold alright?" Thomson asked, "Will it be damaged?"
She shook her head, "We're currently above the engineering deck. Nothing else is beneath that."
"Good," Thomson replied, then contacted the Falcon, "Distract the ship whilst we get to the cargo hold."
"Roger that," came the reply.

The SF-2 began firing again, using every weapon it had at its disposal. The SSV Naseby was practically sliced in half and the edges were glowing orange with molten metal created by the energy from the beam. Debris was slowly drifting away from the remains of the ship.
The shots from the Falcon did nothing. Nothing at all. The unknown ship's kinetic barriers must have protected if from all their attacks.
Instead, the SF-2 Falcon moved in place next to the cargo ramp, twisting around at the last moment and lowering its own so Thomson and the group could get on board.
The ship fired again.

Thomson and Keating dived into the cargo hold as there was a massive explosion behind them. The doors sealed just in time, though some flames did come through and singe their armours.
Mia looked at them, "Where's Stealth?"
"They've taken him. They're tearing the ship apart. Fuckers. They'll pay for this."
"They won't want to kill Emi," Thomson said, "They won't hit the cargo hold."
"Not in an area where she is, at least..." Mia sighed, "We should probably get into a group so they can't target us without hitting her."
The team moved together.
"We're in position," said the pilot of the Falcon, "Awaiting your arrival."
"Ok, the SF-2 is in place. We can leave."
The cargo hold began shaking.
"They've cut you off. The cargo hold is drifting. We'll try and keep up," said the pilot of the SF-2, "But it seems they're following you."
"Shit. They'll take Emi," said Thomson. Emi cuddled up to him.
"... Don't let them take me... please don't..."
"I won't," he replied, "And neither will Keating or Mia."
There was a flash of red light, which threw them across the floor of the cargo hold. Thomson held Emi to cushion her impact. However the crushing collision with the wall drove the air from his lungs.
A second later, both Keating and Mia had a similar impact with the side of the wall.
Part of the cargo hold had been torn away - revealing the inky blackness of space. The SF-2 was visible through the gap, though it seemed very, very far away.
"Ok," Keating said, "We need to get out of here."
Another red beam carved through the remainders of the cargo hold, slicing through another part of the wall like a hot knife through butter, though it was far enough away from them so they could only feel the heat of the weapon.
"We have to jump," said Keating, "Tell the SF-2 to get as close as possible. There's no other way."
"We could wait," Mia suggested, "We've already established they won't kill Emi."
"Then they'll just board what is left of my ship, kill us and take Emi. Then it'll be game over," Keating growled, "Fuck. I hate this. The Naseby is dead, because of those bastards. Stealth has been captured, and now we're unable to do anything which has a hundred percent success chance."
"We should jump. There is no other way," agreed Thomson, "We can't just sit here."
"... I don't want to jump..." said Emi, "... What if I miss, and fall down...?"
"It's a weightless environment," explained, Keating, "There is no down."
"I'll look after you, Emi," Thomson said, cuddling her, "I'll jump with you. We just have to get out."
"I'll go first," said Mia, "I really want to get out of here."
Keating nodded, "Go on. Thomson, Emi, you go after."
Mia took a few steps backwards. Keating could hear her breathing through the radio - short and ragged, as if she was afraid. Mia checked her shotgun was secured on her back, then sprinted forward. At the last second, she jumped. Her arms and legs flailed as she entered the emptiness of space but she landed in the Falcon's airlock, helped in by two of the crew.
"I'm on board," said Mia, "They're ready for Thomson and Emi."
Another beam tore another section of the wall away. One a second later sent the cargo hold spinning. Emi was taken completely by surprise, falling down through the missing wall. Thomson fell after her, purposely moving himself so he caught her.
A last minute change of direction from yet another beam corrected the course of the remainders of the ship. Thomson bumped his leg on part of the wall and sent them spinning through space for a second, before he landed on his back inside the SF-2, with Emi on top of him.
Keating regained her balance from the spinning cargo hold and began running towards the gap between the SF-2 and the disintegrating Naseby.
There was a bright flash in front of her and she felt searing pain through her armour as heat tore through the floor and walls right in front of her. She jumped blindly through the fire, leaving the cargo hold and she began drifting through space.
She could hear her own breathing. Nothing else. She looked towards the airlock of the SF-2 Falcon, which was open to greet her. She could see Thomson and Emi recovering from inside and some of the crew ready to help her.
Keating wasn't going to make it. She knew she wasn't. The beam had knocked her jump off balance, so the angle was completely wrong. She began to panic, her heart beating faster and faster as she thought about the possibility of being lost in the empty blackness forever. She floated underneath the airlock. Her hands tried to grasp the edge of the SF-2, but her momentum carried her forward.
Her hand slipped away, leaving her clutching at nothing.