spherical ball that was only now slowing its roll toward her. It had just passed Tarn, leaving it half a dozen feet behind Captain Sharp. With less than ten feet until it reached her, she drove her hands into the deck.
The concussive blast from the grenade swept over her, knocking her off balance and leaving her disoriented. It was a LF grenade, or Low Frequency, which let loose a powerful subsonic blast that was gre at for disorienting people and damaging delicate electronics. She tried to make sense of how the floor and the ceiling seemed interchangeable, fighting back a wave of nausea at the same time.
The remaining pirate held his position while five others rushed past him and down the passage. Ta rn was slumped against the wall, the steel panel resting on him. Captain Sharp was rolling on the ground, trying to find his feet much the same as Kira. She rolled onto her back, clamping down on her lips to prevent her stomach from emptying. She tasted the bile and screwed her eyes shut. When she opened them, she saw one of the men pointing their laser rifles at her.
Their weapons had been modified, she noticed instantly. Without knowing how she understood the bulky modifications amplified the power considerably. As a trade-off, she estimated the guns had to cool longer between shots or, if ignored, would shut down to prevent damage. That or the pirates went through a lot of weapons.
Tarn and Sharp were also being covered, though Tarn was only beginning to show signs of coming out of the grenade-induced stupor. The fourth boarder walked up to Kira and chuckled when he saw her rifle laying in the passage. “Well, well, what have we here?” he said. He’d opened up the external speakers on his suit to allow his voice to be heard.
The man guarding her turned to look at the other pirate as he bent down to pick up her rifle. Kira realized that if any life lay ahead of her it would be short at best, or long and filled with pain and suffering. Her body wanted to act now that the dizziness was fading. She was terrified of having another one of her black outs, but living through what was about to happen scared her more.
“ One last time ,” she thought to herself. She was surprised at the thought and the fact that she wasn’t sure it had even come from her. Kira let out her breath and fell back within herself.
She watched, almost as though she was staring at a display screen, as her body spun on the floor so her legs were between the man’s standing above her. She scissored her legs open, hitting his at the ankles and sending them flying. He fell, so surprised he barely had to time to yelp. He slammed into the deck roughly.
Kira, or her body at least, sat upright and grabbed the laser rifle from his hands. She lay back down and planted both feet on him, and then propelled herself across the floor even as she sent him rolling into the pirate that was rising with her magnetic acceleration rifle she’d dropped. As she slid, she oriented the laser and fired, burning through the soft portion of the pirate’s suit at his neck and making him lurch backwards. Off balance, he crashed to the floor.
Kira felt another wave of nausea hit her as her body flipped up into the air, driven by a powerful convulsion of her back and legs. Then she was on her feet and running forward. Distantly , she smelled scorched hair and she knew her head had been narrowly missed. Another beam struck her in the chest, burning her badly and charring her bodysuit with the direct hit.
She fired her laser with one hand, puncturing the suit of the pirate that stood near Tarn but doing no damage. He pulled himself back into a crouch, an instinctive reaction that Kira suspected whoever was controlling her body had expected. Her free hand grabb ed her own rifle from the wounded pirate, which she fired point blank into his chest.
Spacesuits were designed to be radiation and energy resistant. Against a sharpened ballistic projectile travelling close to three
The concussive blast from the grenade swept over her, knocking her off balance and leaving her disoriented. It was a LF grenade, or Low Frequency, which let loose a powerful subsonic blast that was gre at for disorienting people and damaging delicate electronics. She tried to make sense of how the floor and the ceiling seemed interchangeable, fighting back a wave of nausea at the same time.
The remaining pirate held his position while five others rushed past him and down the passage. Ta rn was slumped against the wall, the steel panel resting on him. Captain Sharp was rolling on the ground, trying to find his feet much the same as Kira. She rolled onto her back, clamping down on her lips to prevent her stomach from emptying. She tasted the bile and screwed her eyes shut. When she opened them, she saw one of the men pointing their laser rifles at her.
Their weapons had been modified, she noticed instantly. Without knowing how she understood the bulky modifications amplified the power considerably. As a trade-off, she estimated the guns had to cool longer between shots or, if ignored, would shut down to prevent damage. That or the pirates went through a lot of weapons.
Tarn and Sharp were also being covered, though Tarn was only beginning to show signs of coming out of the grenade-induced stupor. The fourth boarder walked up to Kira and chuckled when he saw her rifle laying in the passage. “Well, well, what have we here?” he said. He’d opened up the external speakers on his suit to allow his voice to be heard.
The man guarding her turned to look at the other pirate as he bent down to pick up her rifle. Kira realized that if any life lay ahead of her it would be short at best, or long and filled with pain and suffering. Her body wanted to act now that the dizziness was fading. She was terrified of having another one of her black outs, but living through what was about to happen scared her more.
“ One last time ,” she thought to herself. She was surprised at the thought and the fact that she wasn’t sure it had even come from her. Kira let out her breath and fell back within herself.
She watched, almost as though she was staring at a display screen, as her body spun on the floor so her legs were between the man’s standing above her. She scissored her legs open, hitting his at the ankles and sending them flying. He fell, so surprised he barely had to time to yelp. He slammed into the deck roughly.
Kira, or her body at least, sat upright and grabbed the laser rifle from his hands. She lay back down and planted both feet on him, and then propelled herself across the floor even as she sent him rolling into the pirate that was rising with her magnetic acceleration rifle she’d dropped. As she slid, she oriented the laser and fired, burning through the soft portion of the pirate’s suit at his neck and making him lurch backwards. Off balance, he crashed to the floor.
Kira felt another wave of nausea hit her as her body flipped up into the air, driven by a powerful convulsion of her back and legs. Then she was on her feet and running forward. Distantly , she smelled scorched hair and she knew her head had been narrowly missed. Another beam struck her in the chest, burning her badly and charring her bodysuit with the direct hit.
She fired her laser with one hand, puncturing the suit of the pirate that stood near Tarn but doing no damage. He pulled himself back into a crouch, an instinctive reaction that Kira suspected whoever was controlling her body had expected. Her free hand grabb ed her own rifle from the wounded pirate, which she fired point blank into his chest.
Spacesuits were designed to be radiation and energy resistant. Against a sharpened ballistic projectile travelling close to three
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