Project Faith

The ship exited the jump stream in the Raca system. Jumping into Drilli’s space could be dangerous, but the crew of the Enigma was ready. With the stealth system online, they shouldn’t be detected, but they were going to be cautious. Excluding Faith, this was the first time the any of the crew were in Drilli’s space. They pasted several trade ships on their way to planet Alfr, the location of the factory the crew was ordered to destroy. Vlad brought the ship closer to its destination and noticed an alarming sight on his monitor.

“Lydia,” Vlad called. “You might want to see this.” Vlad put the image of a large ship patrolling the planet on the Jumbo.

Faith recognized the class of ship. “That is a dreadnought!”

“Simona,” Lydia said. “What are the specs on that thing?”

“On it, ma’am,” Simona replied, she ran a brief weapon scan on the ship. “It has six plasma cannons and two torpedo launchers, one beneath the stern and the bow. We are outgunned.”

“No shit,” Lydia said. She stood up from and chair. “Why is a dreadnought guarding a factory? That is a little overkill.”

“Maybe it is guarding that giant shipyard that is orbiting the planet,” Ezi pointed out. “Is there a base on the planet?”

“Can’t tell until we get into orbit?” Simona said. “But with the information, we have now, this is a military facility, not a factory?”

“What was Amulius thinking?” Lydia collapsed in her chair. Thousands of ideas ran through her head. “We can’t take this place down.”

Faith studied the Jumbo, looking at the ship and the yard. “The only way we are going to take this base down is to take over the dreadnought.”

“We’re no match for that ship,” Simona said to Faith. “Once we fire on it, they will blow us out of the stars.”

“We’re not going to fire on them,” Faith explained. “We need to get aboard the ship.”

“Then what?” Simona questioned. “There might be over three hundred Drilli on that ship. There is no way you can kill them all.”

Faith looked at Lydia. “Just get me on the ship. I will take care of the rest.”

All eyes were on Lydia. The crew waited for her to make a decision. What seemed like hours, only took a couple of seconds.

“Faith, Ezi, and Zain,” Lydia said with a strong and confident voice. “Suit up and prepare for a walk. Vlad, take the ship and fly it right underneath the dreadnought as tight as you can. Right by the stern torpedo launchers. Stick to it like a tick. Just make sure that we don’t get detected.”

“Will do,” Vlad said. He slowly moved to ship right under the belly of the dreadnought. He was about twenty meters from the hull.

“Very impressive, Vlad,” Lydia said. “You are a better pilot than I give you credit for.”

“Thank you, I think,” Vlad replied.

“Simona, ran a quick detail scan the ship,” Lydia ordered. “I need numbers.” A detailed scan can only be done when a ship’s screens or down.

“Yes, ma’am,” Simona acknowledged. “Screens are down and only a skeleton crew of seventy-three aboard.”

“The odds are getting better,” Lydia smiled. “Now, we just have to find a way to get them aboard.” She reviewed the scans of the ship, looking for any weakness. The airlock would be the normal way to board a ship, but that was out of the question. The ship was sealed tight, except for one area. “Torpedo tubes,” she yelled out.

“Ma’am?” Simona said with a puzzled look on her face.

“We’ll send the team through the torpedo tube,” Lydia explained. “It is the least armored part of the ship. In most cases, there is only one door to bypass.”

“Wait a damn minute,” Faith shouted. “It’s bad enough that I walking in space, but you want me to climb into torpedo tubes?”

“Yes,” Lydia replied. “Once past the door, it should be a cakewalk.”

“How are we going to get the door open?” Faith questioned. “Knock?”

“The Shellie,” Zain blurred out.

“What’s a Shellie?” Ezi asked.

“It is an anti-gravity grenade launcher,” Zain said. “It fired Megtkye slugs, the densest material in Association’s space. The Shellie holds five slugs weighing a hundred kilogram each. I should be able to modify it to pick up twice as much. If I set the Shellie on loading mode and place it up against the door, we will be able to apply a ton of pressure to slide the door open.”

Ezi flashed him a sexy grin. “Intelligence and handsome,” she said, “a deadly mixture. Tell me, Zain. Are there more humans like you?”

“You mean engineers?” Zain joked.

“No,” Ezi said. She caressed the side of his face with her hand, “Humans with your sexy dark complexion.”

Zain flashed a big smile showing the whiteness of his teeth. “There is a whole continent on Earth with people like me.”

“Can’t wait to visit,” Ezi said with a devilish smirk.

Faith was getting uncomfortable with the bantering between Zain and Ezi. “We have a ship to hijack.”

“I agreed,” Lydia added. “You two can bone after the mission.”

“Ma’am,” Simona injected. “Do you want me to company the team?”

“No,” Lydia said. “I need you on tactical, just in case shit goes wrong.”

The team went to the armory. They got dressed in their less than form-fitting space suit with booster belt. Their helmets served two purposes. The first it established direct communication with the Enigma and each other. Second, it provided life support during the spacewalk. They put on their magnetic boots and gloves to assist them during this process. Zain took the Shellie and made the modifications, and an assault rifle. Ezi grabbed an assault rifle as well. Faith took two side arms and her katrat. Lydia made some modification to the ammo, and took a page from Captain Jackson playbook and used his kill switch idea. Now, when fired, the ammo would explode on impact.

The team marched into the airlock. Zain and Ezi had done spacewalks, so this wasn’t going to be a big deal. For Faith, it was different. The idea of stepping out in space didn’t seem natural to her. She started to sweat and her ankles and knees knocked up. Moving through the airlock might be a problem for her. Faith tried to block out these feelings, she had a mission to complete. The hissing sound of the room depressurizing was familiar, but this time it made Faith anxious. Her sweating became uncomfortable. The spacesuit clung to her damp skin. Ezi noticed that Faith wasn’t moving, she saw the rain a sweat dripping off her friend’s face.

“Take my hand, little one,” Ezi said. She extended her hand. “It will be all right. We are going for a short walk.”

Faith grasped Ezi’s hand. “Thank you.” She let out several short and shallow breaths. Faith was able to move her feet and body as she drew on Ezi for strength.

The airlock door opened and the three jumped into the vacuum of space. The dreadnought was only twenty meters from the Enigma. It should be a short spacewalk. Zain, who was the most experienced person on the team, took the lead. He did a couple of flips, showing off. Ezi laughed, she enjoyed watching him.

Faith wasn’t in a laughing mood, she held Ezi’s hand so they won’t fly aimlessly in space. The team used their boosters to ascend to the dreadnaught. Once they reached the hull, they activated their magnetic boots and gloves. Faith’s breathing became steady and calm. Crawling on the hull of a ship was something that Faith could handle with no problem.

“Nothing was going to happen to you, little one,” Ezi assured Faith. “Besides, we haven’t finished our talk.”

“Looking forward to it,” Faith replied.

“I bet you have so much more to tell me,” Ezi said. “You are very interesting.”

The team crawled into one of the tubes. There was enough room in there for the whole team to fit and work. They climbed up to the door. Zain took out the Shellie and pressed the barrel against the door. He set it on loading mode. The Shellie made a loud sucking sound. Zain pushed with all his strength to pry the door open. A hissing sounds and a rush of air, came out of the room, once the seal was broken. The opening was only a half a meter, just enough for the team to get through. Zain turned the Shellie off and holstered it on his back. They climbed into the torpedo bay. The room had several large racks of M-V torpedoes, which were equipped with a plasma warhead. The racks were up against the wall. There were two loading cranes in the center of the room. When the ship fired torpedoes, the two cranes would load a torpedo in each tube. Since the torpedo had plasma warheads, they had to be loaded and fired separately. The plasma could become unstable when loaded together. It could cause a chain reaction that would destroy the ship. The racks were designed to prevent the torpedoes from rubbing or hitting each other.

Since all the air rushed out of the room it was dead silent. The only activity was the flashing red light that indicated that the room was depressurized.

“They should send a tech team to investigate,” Zain reported through his helmet comm.

“If they look down the tube,” Faith said, “they will see the Enigma. Lydia, get Vlad to back the off the dreadnought.”

“Acknowledge,” Lydia’s voice could be heard through the helmet.

Vlad moved the ship away from Dreadnaught but kept out of visual range from the ship and the yard.

“We should hide until the tech team repressurized the room,” Zain suggested. The team hid behind the racks. They kept an eye on the red flashing light, waiting for it to turn green.

The Drilli tech team was in the control room next to the torpedo bay. They were trying to resolve the problem. They were able to get the tube door closed and repressurized the bay. The light turned green. The tech team went into the bay and did a visual check of the room. There were four of them. They weren’t armed. They were wearing the standard brown military uniform with a technician belt.

Faith and the team kept their weapons holstered. They weren’t going fire in the torpedo bay that could be a problem. The team would have to take the Drilli down in hand to hand combat. This would put the odds in the Drilli favor.

Ezi took off her gloves and Faith drew her katrat. Faith held up her hand and started counting off with her index finger. One, two and three... Attack! Faith struck first. She dropped her katrat deep into neck the Drillus, almost cutting his head off. Ezi rushed another Drillus grabbed his neck and delivered a powerful charge. It wasn’t enough to kill him but it knocked him out.

Zain, who didn’t want to be out outdone, charged another Drillus. That was a huge mistake. Zain attempted a flying tackle, but the Drillus caught him with a backhand and sent Zain flew head first into the wall. If it wasn’t for his helmet, Zain could have died, but only his neck, back, and his pride were hurt. The Drillus ran up to the engineer. Zain pulled out the Shellie, and waited until the Drillus got within a meter of him and turned it on. The Shellie sucked the Drillus, Zain could hear the bones and internal organs being crush as it attempted to pull the Drillus into the barrel. Then, Zain fired the Shellie, hitting the Drillus with a ton of force. The beast flew and crashed into the wall. The impact crushed every bone in his body. The Shellie’s barrel was cracked during the fight, so it became unless.

Faith pulled out the katrat out of the dead Drillus attacked the other one. The Drilli pulled a plasma torch from his tool belt and block Faith’s blow with its handle.

“<I’m going to tear you apart and eat your heart,>” the Drillus yelled.

“<That is not going to happen, monkey,>” Faith replied.

The Drillus turned the torch on high. The plasma flame extended about seventy centimeters making it an effective weapon.

“<Just because I’m an engineer,>” the Drillus said, “<doesn’t mean I’m not a warrior.>”

“<No,>” Faith said. “<It means that you are not a good one.>”

She sized up the Drillus. She looked at his stands, the way he held the torch, how his body tends to lean to the left. She studied everything about him and his weapon. The flame was hot. It could easily cut through her suit and herself. The katrat can’t block the flame. So, she had to block the torch at the handle, which would be difficult. The flame could damage or even cut the katrat in half. She decided to sheath her weapon, which was a risky decision. She had speed on her side and she was going to use it.

The Drillus swung at her. Faith bobbed and weaved, she felt the heat as it went by her body. The Drillus left side was his weak side. Maybe, he was protecting an old injury. Faith was going to use it to her advantage. She jumped over the Drillus and landed behind him and kicked him on the back of his left knee. He went down fast and dropped his torch. Faith roundhouse kicked the right side of his head. Then strike him repeatedly at the base of his skull, dazing the beast. She jumped on his shoulders, wrapped her legs around his neck and with a fast powerful twist, she broke his neck. The torpedo bay was clear.

Faith and Ezi ran into engineering. Zain slowly limped his way there. It was clear that the Drillus hurt him worse than he thought. Faith assisted him to the workstation. Zain worked his magic. Since the system was based on Venture’s technology, it wasn’t a problem for him. He was able to disable the long-range communication to the ship. The dreadnaught would not be able to send or receive messages from the shipyard. He disabled the security system, so they would have free roam of the ship. He was able to bypass the bridge commands and controlled the engines and navigation. Zain had control of the ship but wasn’t going to make a move until Faith and Ezi capture the bridge. Zain would stay behind in engineering, to make sure the Drillus didn’t try to regain control. Besides, he was hurt and would slow the team down. He attempted to map out a clear path to the bridge with little or less resistance. During this process, Zain noticed something odd.

“According to Simona’s scan, there should be only seventy two Drilli here,” Zain said. “But my scan shows full crew of three hundred and fifty.”

“Those odds are not good,” Ezi said. “We can be easy overrun.”

“What other options do we have?” Faith asked.

“Suicide,” Ezi joked. “How did Simona get the data so wrong?”

“It could be the hull,” Zain explained. “The Drilli use a unique chemical compound to treat the hull of the ship. It might interfere with external scans.” Zain examined the workstation, looking for a way out of this situation. “Faith,” he said. “You have a working knowledge of the Drillus’s language?”

“I pick up a phrase from here and there.” Faith bit her tongue so she wouldn’t bust a gut laughing. “Why?”

Zain looked around the workstation. “We need to search the room for the manual.”

Faith and Ezi combed the room looking for operation manual. Ezi came across an old datapad.

“Is this it,” Ezi yelled.

“It might be,” Zain said. “I can’t read Drillus.”

Faith took it out of Ezi’s hands. “This is it!”

“Find the ship maintenance section,” Zain ordered.

Faith quickly scrolled through the pad and came to the maintenance section, “Got it.”

“Look for the about venting the ship.”

Faith continued to scroll until she found what Zain was looking for. “Okay.”

“What is your plan?” Ezi interrupted.

“We are going to vent the ship,” Zain explained. “It is the oldest, fastest and least effective way to decontaminate a ship. Most ships gave up this practice, but this ship still means to carry it out. I noticed some old sealed vents on the hull of the ship during our spacewalk. To vent the ship, we have to open all the vents. Vents are all connected, except the ones on the bridge. It’s on an isolated system. The entire ship will be a vacuum. Killing everybody aboard, the whole process should take about three minutes. I disabled the alarms, we should be good.”

“Killing over three hundred Drilli,” Ezi said, “in a matter of minutes. I’m getting excited just thinking about it

“Double check your helmet,” Faith ordered. “We don’t need to die in the process.”

“I can’t read Drillus,” Zain said. “You would have to enter the sequence to vent the ship.”

“Great,” Faith answered. “Now, I have to be a mass murderer.” Faith sat down in the chair and entered the venting sequence. The team had enough life support, in their helmet, to survive the venting. But after the venting process was completed, Faith would have to seal the vents again. Their oxygen supply would be very limited. They needed to save enough for their spacewalk back to the Enigma. It seemed like hours, but the whole process, including pressurizing, only took about six minutes.

Faith and Ezi had a clear path to the bridge. They turned off their air supply and raised the visors on their helmet. There might be some stragglers, so they had their guns ready. They ran through the ship on the direct path to the bridge. Several Drilli stumbled in the hallway. Faith and Ezi didn’t avoid them. They wanted a fight.

The Drilli were wearing life-support mask. They were able to get to them before the vent was completed. Their weapons were out and ready. They were armed with the standard military rifles but should be powerful enough to take down the invaders. The five Drilli fired on Faith and Ezi.

Faith and Ezi both dodged the shots and when for cover behind one of the bulkheads. They had to be careful because their spacesuits weren’t heavily armed. A puncture would make them useless in a spacewalk. Zain’s voice rang in both Faith and Ezi’s ears.

“I see you’re pinned down,” Zain said.

“No shit,” Faith replied. “How did you know?”

“I hooked up my carpus to their security cams,” Zain said. “So, I can get a visual.”

“What do you see?” Ezi asked.

Zain looked at his holographic screen on his carpus. “There are five more Drilli coming from behind. They will be at your location soon.”

“ETA?” Faith asked.

“Two minutes,” Zain replied. “I will try to slow them down by sealing off certain areas of the ship. But that might lead them towards engineering.”

“How many Drilli are left?”

“Ten,” Zain answered, “not including the bridge crew.” Zain entered a few keystrokes and the path behind Faith and Ezi was closed.

“There goes our escape route,” Ezi joked.

“Like that was an option,” Faith kidded.

“We need a distraction,” Ezi said.

“Not a problem,” Faith said. She set one of her pistols of overload. It was an old trick that Roat-At-Tat taught her. Not every gun had that option, but hers did. She tossed it towards Drilli and a small explosion went off. The blast killed one of the Drilli and dazed the other four.

“That’s a distraction,” Ezi shouted.

Faith and Ezi fired on the other four Drilli. Since the Drilli weren’t wearing body armor; the explosive rounds were very effective against them. Their bodies were blown apart into a bloody mess.

“No more stragglers in your way,” Zain said in their receivers. “You have a clear shot at the bridge.”

“Good,” Faith said. “Let’s finish this.”

“Wait a second, Faith,” Lydia’s voice came over the communicator.

“It is always nice to hear your voice, Lydia,” Faith answered. “But we are really busy at the moment.”

“The captain of the ship must be taken alive,” Lydia demanded.

“This is not the time to micro-manage,” Faith said.

“I understand,” Lydia said, “You have your orders. Let’s not have a repeat of the Alessio’s incident.”

“Acknowledge,” Faith replied.

“What’s the Alessio’s incident?” Ezi asked.

“We kind of butted heads,” Faith said with the big smile on her face. “I’ll tell you the rest of the story later.”

“You have a pretty smile,” Ezi said. “You should do it more often.”

“You aren’t the first person to say that,” Faith said with a seductive tone to her voice.

Unknowing to the team, the bridge became aware of their presence. The bridge crew wasn’t a standard crew, they were the captain’s personal guards. Personal guards were highly trained combatants. They were experts in hand to hand combat, their preferred method of fighting. They wore a standard military uniform with a bright red sash over their left shoulder. There were five guards in all, including their leader Mar-Ka. They were all armed with katrats. The captain sent them out to hunt down the intruders. Two of the guards went down to engineering, leaving Faith and Ezi to deal with the other three.

“We have problems,” Zain reported.

“What is going on?” Faith answered her communicator.

“I have five Drilli outside my door,” Zain said, “and two more on the way.”

“Do you need us to come back?” Faith asked.

“Negative,” Zain replied. “I should be able to hold them off. They are having trouble with the locks. Besides, you have three to deal with yourself. Most importantly, you need to take the bridge.”

“After we capture the bridge,” Faith said. “We will get you.”

“It’s a date, Zain out.”

Faith and Ezi went toward the bridge. So far, they hadn’t seen the guards, but they were ready for them. Faith heard some rumbling around the bend. She looked at Ezi and with a simple nod, she signaled Ezi to prepare for an attack. They ran around the corner and saw the three guards. The guards had their katrats out.

Faith and Ezi took aim with their guns and fired.

The guards quickly blocked the shells with their katrats. Their skills with the weapon were impressive. The exploding rounds didn’t faze them. It didn’t even slow them down. A blinding sulfuric smelling cloud was the only remnants of the attack. The Drilli took advantage and charged. Two went after Faith and one went after Ezi.

The guard chopped his katrat down on Ezi. She blocked it with her rifle, but the blow cracked the chamber, making the gun unless. Since, the rifle had explosive ammo; she wasn’t going to use it as a melee weapon. She dodged the next attack and tossed her rifle to the side. Due to the surface gravity on their homeworld; the Shavili were more agile and stronger than the average human. However, Ezi wasn’t a match against a Drillus in hand to hand combat. But, Ezi developed a way to even the odds. She focused her electrical energy to her fists. It would give her punches a boost, but first she would have to lay her hands on him. The Drillus swung his weapon at her several times. She jumped, rolled and ducked. She avoided his attacks. On his last two handed swing, he left his right side exposed. She took advantage of the opportunity and landed a left cross on the side of his head. The Drillus felt a powerful shock. The blow knocked him back. He was more dazed than hurt. He didn’t expect that power from the Shavili. She moved in and landed some combination on the beast each delivering a shocking dose. The Drillus fought back, but his attacks weren’t landing. The shocks confused him. He couldn’t focus. She was still landing head and body shots to him, but she couldn’t keep it up forever. She needed to take him out. She jabbed and landed an uppercut. He dropped his katrat. It was time to finish him. Ezi drained, so she had to do it now. She jumped on his shoulders, straddling his face, grabbing his ears and delivered the final blow. It didn’t kill him, but it did knock him out.

Meanwhile, Faith had her own battle to fight. The two Drilli swung at her. Faith backflipped to avoid their attacks. The maneuver provided her enough time to draw her katrat. The two Drilli laughed. They found it amusing that a human was going to fight them with a katrat. Faith showed them that she wasn’t a laughing matter. She teased them and waved them to come closer. Mar-Ka attacked first. He had some skill, but Faith was still better. She blocked his attack and jumped on his shoulders. She locked her legs around his neck tossed him down to the floor. The other drillus tried to sneak behind Faith, but she already knew where he was. She backwards stabbed him deep into his abdomen. He didn’t die right away, but he did succumb to his wound.

Mar-Ka was impressed with her technique, so he knew he had to be careful. He jumped to his feet. He had to take this human down. “You fight good,” he said in his best Terran.

“<Spare me your simple Terran speaking skills, monkey,>” Faith said. “<I will kill you in both languages.>”

“<Die you soft skin bitch!>” he shouted. He charged her and swung at her head.

Faith dodged the attack and high kicked on the side on his head. He stumbled. He didn’t expect to be kick so hard by a small human female. He recovered and blocked her next attack. The two parried the next several exchanges until Faith dislodged his weapon out of his hand. His piercing yellow eyes narrowed as he realized he was losing to a human, but he wasn’t going to surrender. He rushed her. He wanted to tear her apart, but Faith was not going to let that happen. She stabbed him in the stomach. She rammed her knee into his snout and ripped her katrat out of him. With a strong swing, she aimed for his neck. The last thing that Mar-Ka felt was the hot steel slicing through his fur, flesh, and bone. His head flew off his shoulders and landed by her feet. It was a bold statement of her skills as his body fell to the floor.

“I need some assistance down here,” Zain’s voice ringing in Faith and Ezi’s ear. They heard screams in the background. “I don’t think I can hold them off for long.”

“I will send Ezi to assist you in holding engineering,” Faith said. “I will take the bridge.”

Faith gave Ezi her reminding sidearm. Ezi went to help Zain. Faith grabbed the head of Mar-Ka and ran to the bridge. The bridge wasn’t on lockdown, which was strange. Locking down the bridge was standard procedure during an attack. The captain must be bold or stupid. When she entered the bridge she noticed a large Drillus standing by the captain’s chair. She recognized him, she remembered him from her years at the prison. He was wearing a standard military uniform with a gold sash over both shoulders. He was holding a katrat in his hand. He was larger than the average Drilli but he wasn’t a Prime. He stood about two and a quarter meters tall. He recognized Faith as well. She removed her helmet so the captain could get a better look. He saw her long raven hair and bright blue eyes. He had no doubt in his mind.

“<I remember you,>” said the captain. “<You were Roat-At-Tat’s slave. I believe your name is... Faith,>” he bared his teeth.

Faith smiled. “<I remember you as well, Captain Ra-Mat-Wat.>” She tossed the head of Mar-Ka at his feet. “<You need to train your people better.>”

He looked down at the head of his friend, “<He was like a son to me.>” He raised his foot and crushed the skull with the heel of his boot.

“<That was harsh.>” Faith stared at the bloody mess.

“<I said, ‘Like.’>” He pulled out his katrat. “<I assume Roat-At-Tat taught you everything about fighting which this?>” He stared at his katrat, admiring the feel and the look of the skillfully crafted weapon.

“<Yes.>” Faith’s grip tightened on the hilt.

“<Prepare to be schooled, slave.>” He rushed her.

The two parried for several exchanges, matching blow for blow and strike for strike. Their blades clashed, sparks flew as they fought. Faith’s speed was unparalleled, but Ra-Mat-Wat’s skills overcame that advantage. One of Faith counter moves left her open and the captain side kicked her across the room.

“<Your speed is excellent,>” he said, “<but your balance is off. Roat-At-Tat must have told you the katrat is about speed and balance.>”

Faith got up off the floor, refusing to dusk herself off. “<Shut-up and fight.>” She rushed him. He swung at her. She jumped straight up to avoid his blow and landed feet first on his face, knocking the captain down to the floor. She spun around and attempted to deliver a finishing blow, but he blocked it. The crashing of the two katrat was ear-piercing. He grabbed her foot flipped her back. She was able to land on her feet, but it gave him time to get back up. They parried again. He pushed her back with her feet sliding across the floor.

“<Roat-At-Tat taught you well, slave,>” he said. “<But I taught him everything he knows. You will die today. You must pay for what you did to my son.>”

A puzzled look came over Faith’s face. “<I thought he was like a son.>” Their blades continued to dance.

“<No!>” he yelled. “<The other Drillus you killed.>”

“<I killed several Drilli,>” she boasted. “<You will have to be more specific.>”

“<The first one you killed,>” he snapped back. “<The one you murdered in Roat-At-Tat’s home.>”

Faith remembered. “<That bastard tried to rape me,>” she answered.

“<One can’t rape a slave. His name was Mat-Tax and I will revenge his death.>”

“<When I stabbed him with my katrat,>” Faith said. “<He screamed, like a little bitch!>”

His nose flared. “<I will not kill you right away. I will torture you, beat you and ravage you until you beg for death. Like they did to your mother.>”

Faith let out a loud scream and charged him. He blocked several blows, but she pushed him back with each strike. She got in close. He spat a green liquid in her direction. Faith was familiar with this trick; his son did the same thing to her years ago. She dodged the fluid and landed a haymaker on him. It was the strongest punch she ever delivered. The blow rocked him back several meters. He dropped his guard and Faith took advantage of the situation.

Faith took aimed at his wrist and with a decisive strike, cut off his right hand, kicked him in the gut and elbowed him in the snout. She struck him in the windpipe. He dropped to his knees gasping for air. Faith wanted to finish him, but she had her orders to capture the captain alive. She swung the katrat at his head like a club and hit him with the flat of her blade, knocking him out.

Faith ran to the ship intercom. “Relinquish control to the bridge,” she ordered.

Zain entered the commands into the terminal. “The ship is yours.”

Faith locked the ship weapons on to certain areas of the yard, weapon systems, engineering, and command center and fired all weapons. After the first wave, the yard was defenseless. Command center destroyed, shields were inoperable and weapon systems were offline. It was a slaughter. The yard experienced several large explodes throughout. Faith fired a second wave. The blast knocked the yard out of orbit. Faith set the ship on a collision course for the yard.

“All Drilli are dead,” Zain informed Faith. “Thanks to Ezi.”

“Download all intel,” Faith ordered. “Call Vlad and have him to bring the Enigma to the port airlock.”

Zain did what he was told. Ezi and Faith collected the prisoner and some supplies and made it to the airlock. When the team boarded the Enigma, Vlad disconnected the docking tube and pulled away from the dreadnought. Lydia ordered Vlad to the near jump point. The crew looked at the monitor as they saw the dreadnaught approaching the yard. The Enigma was a safe distance away as the dreadnaught crashed into the yard. In mere minutes, over ten thousands of drills lost their lives.

“We are at the jump point,” Vlad said.

“Plot a course for Association space,” Lydia said. “We need to report back to the Hannibal.”