Even as he had that thought, from deep down the hall, he heard the unmistakable shriek of ripping metal followed immediately by a loud, popping crash. One he knew but hadn't heard in person before.
The immediate and devastating sound of the vacuum of space sucking all the air from a room.
An instant later, the ship's alarms all started screaming at the same moment. The big, bright, loud ones warning of a hull breach. And finally, all across the ship, the loud bangs of the airtight doors slamming closed at the same time.
At the same moment, Vytln and Tanin shoved their helmets down and activated the seals, locking themselves safely inside. Vytln hadn't felt the air rush by telling him that the broken hull was affecting their area, but it was a case where being wrong meant near instant death, so it was better to act as if the breach was always one room away and spreading.
But their enemies, already suited up against the void, didn't pause at all.
Vytln wasn’t getting tired yet. He could keep this up for marks. But he hated each step that he was forced to take back, knowing it was getting him closer and closer to Haven.
“Almost…” Alred suddenly called from overhead. His voice still sounded glitchy and distorted, but Vytln was sure the lights were brighter than before.
They were hanging on. They just needed to keep fighting until he got control back of the ship. Once he had that, he could deal with the intruders.
They just needed to keep fighting. They just needed-
The harsh pop and sizzle of plasma hitting metal was as familiar to Vytln as a lullaby lain dormant since childhood. And more horrifying than the shrill alarm overhead.
He turned at the same moment as Tanin. Both of them tracking the sound to a hole melted into the side of the wall. Big enough that he could see the storage room beyond, and the sacks of nutrition powder that had been partially eaten through by the plasma bolt.
They whipped their heads around again to see two males pushing their way to the front, plasma pistols in hand. Already aiming to shoot – solely at Tanin. As Vytln suspected, they had probably been ordered to bring him in alive, but no one else.
But the horror wasn’t from seeing them aiming at his captain. It was the sight of the plasma weapons at all. Yes, they were suited up against the void, and yes, those suits would protect them against the unshielded vacuum of space, but those pistols coming into the fight meant that they genuinely didn’t care if anyone lived or died, if anyone was ripped out into space, if anyone was hit by a stray shot.
They didn't care. They were willing to take the risk, to do all the damage possible to the Humility, to themselves if it meant accomplishing their mission. That’s how they were trained. That’s how Vytln himself trained them when he led the family.
They were ripping holes in his ship; they were putting his entire crew in danger.
They were putting his mate and young in danger.
The thought must have struck Tanin at the same time, because they both changed. They both locked in on those fools with the plasma pistols. They were the biggest issue. The greatest danger. And they knew it because they were hiding behind a wave of bodies that ran forward, trying to prevent them from stopping their shots.
The envirosuit would work on the vacuum of space, with the right upgrades, it could be used for heavy pressure environments like deep water, extreme heat and cold temperatures, or even made to avoid detection by most scanners. But what they could not do, especially the basic models, was survive plasma fire.
Vytln grunted, forced to take blows he would normally block just to avoid the plasma fire being shot his way. One person seemed to have been given leave to aim at him – and he was aiming only at non-lethal areas. Tanin was getting it worse. Having to duck and weave and dodge, sometimes throwing himself at their enemies, to avoid being shot down.
Vytln’s gritted his teeth as he slammed his elbow back into the helmet of someone who screamed in agony. They were being overwhelmed. The plasma fire was carving holes through the metal body of their ship. They were being hurt, forced to choose between injury or death.
No. They just needed to hold out a little longer. They only needed to let Alred get back in control of the ship. Then-
The soft gasp at his back should have been too quiet for him to hear. But he was highly attuned to that little voice. To that beautiful sound.
He whipped around just in time to see Heaven’s feet disappearing around the corner. Running away from the fight that had finally come upon her. Putting distance between them and her.
And the plasma fire.
The overwhelming wave of males.
Enemies.
Danger.
Right on the heels of his mate.
Pain burst in the back of his head. He turned with a roar, throwing out his hand in a blind swing, hitting the male who had struck him, knocking him into the wall. He grabbed him by the front and threw him at the others. He was immediately trampled, no one caring about him. Completely focused on their target, their objective.
Him.
