beam shots.
For a moment, the area around the Marines was awash with explosions.
“Shit!”
“You okay?”
“No, I’m not ,” growled the Marine, pain obvious in his voice. “Left arm’s busted, and I’ve lost my rifle. Shield’s nearly dead too.”
“Damn. Try to hold on,” McKain ordered. “Don’t shoot, and get you ECM working best as you can.” Even while they conversed, the Marines kept up their fire at the gunboat.
Those inside the Windstrike were being shaken around, as the gunboat attempted to twist and turn to avoid the shots, as well as from the slight impacts when a shot hit.
Mind racing, Bloody Jack snarled, “Get us out of here!
“Bu-”
“Our shields are already down over fifty percent,” the pirate captain snapped, “And they’ve only lost maybe one man! I-”
At that point, more from luck than anything else, an exby bullet managed to penetrate the gunboat’s shield, causing the Windstrike to shudder fiercely.
Not waiting for Bloody Jack to finish, the pirate at the helm spun the ship, and hurtled it away.
On the ground, seeing their opponents fleeing, all three Marines began rapid firing, in the hope they might be yet able to do some more damage before the gunboat was out of range.
Usually such tactics weren’t too effective, but this time…
The energy blasts and exby bullets kept weakening the shield, even as the Windstrike escaped. And then, just before it could completely get out of range, an exby fully penetrated the shield, hitting and detonating itself on the gunboat’s rear.
Immediately, the engine failed. Smoke coming out of its back section, the gunboat twisted, turned… and came smashing down, crash-landing with a ground shaking WHUMP .
“ Got ‘em!” the injured Marine cheered viciously.
“Should we go after them, sarge?” asked the other.
McKain shook his head.
“No. They’re two miles away, and by the time we could get to them, any pirate who might’ve survived the crash would’ve escaped. Besides, they could have already called reinforcements; and we need to get Lex back to base.”
“Right, sarge. Come on, upsy-daisy, Lex!”
“Oh, shut up . It’s my arm that’s injured, not my legs.”
“Move it you two,” the platoon sergeant ordered, leading them towards where the guerrillas had headed. “We need to get back to base on the double.”
***
“Furggle…” Bloody Jack spat out something, then opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the dead body of the gunboat’s commander. He felt a stab of disappointment, but with a mental shrug, removed killing him from his list of priorities.
Looking further around, Bloody Jack saw two other pirates moving, while the one who had been at the helm lay motionless on his panel, a large pool of blood on the floor signaling his demise.
Getting up, Bloody Jack checked himself over, unsurprised to find he had several bruises, a good few cuts, two nasty, and a broken arm.
Still, he was more or less functional.
“You two,” the pirate captain snapped, to the two still shaken crew-members. “Get the others, if they’re alive, and get them out of the gunboat!”
One of the pirates, realizing who was giving orders, immediately jumped up to obey. Despite an obvious dizziness, the pirate made his way to the hall, and went down it to fetch anyone yet remaining alive.
The other, however, simply stayed still, crying and moaning.
Ignoring him for the moment, Bloody Jack crossed over to the communications console and checked it.
Grunting in satisfaction, upon seeing it was still working, the pirate chieftain sent a message, ordering that a gunboat be sent to pick them up. Crossing the bridge towards the hall, he paused mid-way to stare at the pirate who was still moaning.
“Get up!” Bloody Jack ordered, noting that the pirate seemed to have his leg partially cut off.
“I- I can’t! AAA-” Pulling out his flamer, in a surprisingly smooth motion for someone injured, Bloody Jack sent
For a moment, the area around the Marines was awash with explosions.
“Shit!”
“You okay?”
“No, I’m not ,” growled the Marine, pain obvious in his voice. “Left arm’s busted, and I’ve lost my rifle. Shield’s nearly dead too.”
“Damn. Try to hold on,” McKain ordered. “Don’t shoot, and get you ECM working best as you can.” Even while they conversed, the Marines kept up their fire at the gunboat.
Those inside the Windstrike were being shaken around, as the gunboat attempted to twist and turn to avoid the shots, as well as from the slight impacts when a shot hit.
Mind racing, Bloody Jack snarled, “Get us out of here!
“Bu-”
“Our shields are already down over fifty percent,” the pirate captain snapped, “And they’ve only lost maybe one man! I-”
At that point, more from luck than anything else, an exby bullet managed to penetrate the gunboat’s shield, causing the Windstrike to shudder fiercely.
Not waiting for Bloody Jack to finish, the pirate at the helm spun the ship, and hurtled it away.
On the ground, seeing their opponents fleeing, all three Marines began rapid firing, in the hope they might be yet able to do some more damage before the gunboat was out of range.
Usually such tactics weren’t too effective, but this time…
The energy blasts and exby bullets kept weakening the shield, even as the Windstrike escaped. And then, just before it could completely get out of range, an exby fully penetrated the shield, hitting and detonating itself on the gunboat’s rear.
Immediately, the engine failed. Smoke coming out of its back section, the gunboat twisted, turned… and came smashing down, crash-landing with a ground shaking WHUMP .
“ Got ‘em!” the injured Marine cheered viciously.
“Should we go after them, sarge?” asked the other.
McKain shook his head.
“No. They’re two miles away, and by the time we could get to them, any pirate who might’ve survived the crash would’ve escaped. Besides, they could have already called reinforcements; and we need to get Lex back to base.”
“Right, sarge. Come on, upsy-daisy, Lex!”
“Oh, shut up . It’s my arm that’s injured, not my legs.”
“Move it you two,” the platoon sergeant ordered, leading them towards where the guerrillas had headed. “We need to get back to base on the double.”
***
“Furggle…” Bloody Jack spat out something, then opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the dead body of the gunboat’s commander. He felt a stab of disappointment, but with a mental shrug, removed killing him from his list of priorities.
Looking further around, Bloody Jack saw two other pirates moving, while the one who had been at the helm lay motionless on his panel, a large pool of blood on the floor signaling his demise.
Getting up, Bloody Jack checked himself over, unsurprised to find he had several bruises, a good few cuts, two nasty, and a broken arm.
Still, he was more or less functional.
“You two,” the pirate captain snapped, to the two still shaken crew-members. “Get the others, if they’re alive, and get them out of the gunboat!”
One of the pirates, realizing who was giving orders, immediately jumped up to obey. Despite an obvious dizziness, the pirate made his way to the hall, and went down it to fetch anyone yet remaining alive.
The other, however, simply stayed still, crying and moaning.
Ignoring him for the moment, Bloody Jack crossed over to the communications console and checked it.
Grunting in satisfaction, upon seeing it was still working, the pirate chieftain sent a message, ordering that a gunboat be sent to pick them up. Crossing the bridge towards the hall, he paused mid-way to stare at the pirate who was still moaning.
“Get up!” Bloody Jack ordered, noting that the pirate seemed to have his leg partially cut off.
“I- I can’t! AAA-” Pulling out his flamer, in a surprisingly smooth motion for someone injured, Bloody Jack sent
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