Neville’s hands didn’t shake as he raised the Uzi. He steadied his aim, exhaled half a breath, and squeezed the trigger. The gunshot cracked through the air like a thunderclap—exponentially louder than any energy weapon these star pirates had ever encountered.

[Excellent shot, host! Three more at your two o’clock!]

It sounded so wrong, but they couldn’t understand what it was. They only knew that a member of their star pirate dropped to the ground lifeless after that sound rang. Before they could even react, rapid firing occurred, putting inexplicable holes in their body.

The sound assaulted their auditory systems, making their aim slightly askew. Over time, they got used to it and began to counterattack.

"What the hell is that thing?" one of the pirates shrieked, his voice cracking with guttural fear. "My scanner’s not picking up anything!"

Neville positioned himself and tracked the movement of another star pirate and rapidly fired another three rounds. The kickback jarred his wrist, but the bullets hit their marks.

One pirate caught a round in the shoulder, the impact spinning him into his companion. Another took one to the knee, his leg buckling as he screamed. The third shot went wide, pinging off to the wall with a metallic shriek, but by then, chaos had descended.

"Fall back! Fall back to cover!"

The star pirates were scrambling for their lives; their formation was dissolving as they tried to come close to them.

Some shots hit; others missed. Neville couldn’t afford to be picky about accuracy when the consequence was death. Each bullet that found flesh bought them another second, and Shelly could replenish his ammunition faster than these pirates could adapt to the situation.

Twenty meters to his right, Grayson moved through the chaos seamlessly. He caught one pirate mid-charge, redirecting the man’s momentum before burying the blade between the joints of his armor.

Another came at him from the side, and Grayson twisted away, the knife dancing in his grip as he opened a gash across the attacker’s throat.

It was really mesmerizing.

[Host! Reinforcements incoming! Ten... no, twelve more signatures boarding!]

"Seriously?!" Neville cursed out loud.

Grayson’s head turned towards him at the outburst, silver eyes narrowing as they caught Neville’s gaze. His attention moved to the star pirate’s bridge, where another starship was docking to connect to the hole they made.

As soon as it was connected, more star pirates came flooding through the breach.

"We need to get out of this room," Grayson said, tight with reluctant acceptance.

Neville also knew that they could only retreat for now. So he nodded and moved where Bryan was lying unconscious. Bryan’s face was already pale and ashen from the blood loss.

He was about to put Bryan’s arm over his shoulder when a sharp inhale made him pause. He looked back, and Grayson had stumbled backward. His hand was already covering the back of his neck. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Sir?" Neville asked sharply. "What’s wrong?"

Even from this distance, Neville could see the color draining from Grayson’s face. A sheen of sweat had broken out across his forehead, glistening under the harsh emergency lighting.

"Nothing." The word came out through gritted teeth, forced past obvious pain. "Keep moving."

Look at your face in the mirror and tell me again that it was nothing.

Neville bit back the retort that rose to his lips. Now wasn’t the time to argue with Grayson. They made it approximately ten steps before the reinforcements opened fire.

Pulse rifle bolts screamed through the air, ionized particles leaving trails. Neville threw himself sideways, dragging Bryan behind.

I don’t have any other choice now.

Neville laid Bryan down as gently as time allowed, then spun to face the incoming threat. His Uzi was already up, barrel sweeping across the advancing star pirates, finger squeezing the trigger.

The gun roared.

Bullets flew.

Pirates fell.

But there were just too many of them, and the angles were all wrong. For every pirate he dropped, two more emerged from the breach. They were adapting fast, too, to minimize their exposure to his unregistered weapon.

One of them broke through and closed the distance faster than Neville could react. The star pirate’s blade was already descending in a killing arc.

Neville immediately lowered the Uzi slightly and materialized his knife in a single fluid motion. The blade came up just in time to deflect the strike, metal shrieking against metal as the force of the impact traveled up his arm. He gritted his teeth, pushed back, and slashed at the attacker’s exposed armpit joint.

The star pirate screamed and staggered, but Neville didn’t give him a chance to recover. He drove his blade into the gap between the helmet and the chest plate. Warm blood sprayed across his hands as he withdrew the knife, already turning to face the next threat.

Grayson had reached his side at some point, the two of them falling into a natural back-to-back formation. Although Neville knew that Grayson was still fighting well, he also knew that there was something wrong with Grayson.

Neville parried a strike—barely.

The impact nearly tore the knife from his grip, and he realized that these reinforcements were a different caliber than before.

A blade sliced toward his cheek. He tried to dodge, knew he wouldn’t make it in time—

Grayson’s forearm intercepted the blow. The crack of metal hitting flesh echoed sharply. Blood welled immediately from the gash against pale skin, but Grayson didn’t even flinch. He used the momentum of the block to spin inside the attacker’s guard, his own blade finding the soft tissue beneath the star pirate’s jaw.

"You’re hurt," Neville said flatly as they reset, shoulders almost touching.

"So are you." Grayson’s voice was rougher than usual, a slight rasp underlying the words. "Focus on survival."

The fight devolved into a desperate struggle for every inch of ground.

Neville lost track of how many pirates he killed. They blurred together in a haze of blood and violence.

His muscles burned. His lungs ached. Sweat stung his eyes every time he blinked.

But they kept coming.

Endlessly.