This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/ProvisionalRebel on 2024-12-03 14:25:34+00:00.
This is related to On Human Piracy, as with the others so far you really only need to read the first one for the set up.
The humans were here.
My eyes scanned the bridge around me. I could hear the magnetic holds engaging with reverberating clangs.
The pirate ship hadn’t even appeared on sensors until it came practically screaming in. The automated evasive maneuvers meant to avoid rocks and ice hadn’t been nearly responsive enough to deal with a vessel under active thrust so close
I slammed my hand down on the command console before entering my authorization for combat alert. The lights shifted to blue, the alarm wailing in tandem with a strange stuttering, hissing sound.
My ears perked up for a moment as my brain scrambled to place the sound… a fusion lance.
I hit the comm “All hands, boarders! Ignore the airlocks, they’re breaching! Suits!”
As if to emphasize the point, there was a sudden wind and a whooshing sound…. But it ended much too soon to be a complete vent. I considered this as I ran to the arms locker, punching in my code and tossing out flechette rifles to the pilot and navigator before arming myself.
Of course, the pirates hadn’t vented the ship. They were after the cargo… and us, I thought belatedly as unbidden images of what happened to merchants who were caught transporting ‘slaves’ came to mind. I shook them away. We still had a chance.
I moved to the bridge’s door and peered into the hallway, they were damned close already. My eyes burned with the sheer brilliance of the lance cutting through the hull, the arc of energy sending molten slag scattering across the corridor. They were almost through.
“Firing positions! We can’t let them spread out!”
We took up positions to the sides of the doorway. At this distance we had a chance, just spraying into their entry point once they finished would be enough to keep them pinned.
Then the smoke started pouring in. I thought it was perhaps a damaged conduit at first but it filled the corridor as if under extreme pressure, backlit softly by the still working lance until that finally cut off with a shearing bang as the section of hull fell away.
“Fire!”
Bile rose in my throat as I sprayed flechettes into the billowing clouds of… smoke? It had suddenly become difficult to breath. My throat constricted, my lungs ached, and my eyes burned. A chemical weapon!? I… panicked, trying to feel for the controls. I had to seal it! Then, it became a moot point.
A shape moving in the smoke, blurred by my tears. I managed a burst, point blank but it didn’t even pause. Hands grabbed me, far too big for a human, and then I was slammed down into the deck. There was a moment of pain, then nothing as unconsciousness took me.
Sensation slowly came before full consciousness. I was alive, that was the first realization, and I was walking?... No… being dragged. Then I was unceremoniously tossed against the wall next to my crew. With some effort I managed to huddle up against it before I took in the full view of our attackers.
Powered armor. These insane criminals had gotten their hands on powered armor.
The stinging in my eyes had lessened but left them watering. I tried to focus on the pirates, taking in what I could until my eyes fell on the apparent leader’s helmeted head.
“Daniels, all teams report clear?”
“Aye, lieutenant. Last hold outs were trying to overload the engines but the CS seemed to have done its job long enough.”
Lieutenant. My brow furrowed. Then my eyes returned to wander across my captors as much as I could. All in powered armor. All sporting the same iconography. These… weren’t pirates.
“T-this is an outrage! This is an act of war! As captain of this vessel I de-”
A rifle snapped up, catching my outrage in my throat as I stared down the bore.
After a brief pause, an amplified chuckle rumbled around the room as the leader inclined his head to stare down at me through a narrow visor.
“Afraid not, compadre.” He grabbed my uniform shirt and pulled me up to eye level with his hulking form. “This will all just a bit of piracy as far as your government will know. And you know what pirates do to people like you.” It wasn’t a threat, it was a statement- flat and emotionless.
He leaned in, his visor filling my vision. I could take in the full picture now. I could see the shimmer of retinal implants, the subtle surgical scars of cybernetic augmentation around them.
“Which means that my ROE on this is veeeery lenient, so you’re gonna tell me what I want to know like your life depends on it. Because it does.”
My breathing quickened as I considered the juggernaut capable of tearing me in half with his augmented strength before I nodded my ascent.
A smile seemed to reach his eyes then, crinkling their corners “Good, we got a smart one this time.” He paused, as if to let me take in the weight of that statement. “Now, you will talk me through the security protocols of the camps on Selicoth, and provide me the necessary codes for your transports arrival. Then, we’ll see how generous I’m feeling about POW’s.”