A door is blown off it's frame, smashing into a mercenary swordsman and killing him instantly. Two Zeshani troopers quickly moved in during the commotion and deployed metal shields, firing their submachine guns at the closet enemies they spotted. Anton moved in and fired a three round burst, each round hitting a weak point in another mercenary's armor along with vital areas. He turned to the right and fired another burst, one hitting the upper breastplate of another mercenary while the other two successfully hit the unarmored neck. A swordsman came up behind him, but Anton stabbed him through the abdomen with his scimitar in reverse grip.
Another group of mercenaries began opening the adjacent door, but Heydar threw a grenade in while firing his pistol in his off hand. The door ended up closing on them just as the grenade detonated, a muted blast sounding on the other side.
"They'll be feeling that in the morning," Heydar said.
One of the volunteers moved to the center with a large backpack, slinging it off to set on the ground. Opening it up, he pulled out a large, sophisticated scanning device around the and set it on the ground, the legs and attached equipment extending until it was around the size of a work stool. Then it activated and started compiling data of the ship's interior, and downloaded to Anton and Heydar's hologram bracelets.
"So let's see here..." Anton started, "The scan shows we're in the spare storage area of the ships midsection. Behind is is everything associated with power supply and engines, central front has ammunition and automated loading mechanisms for the missiles and railguns, and the areas above, below, and either side are the Vertical Launch System, railguns, and boarding pod launcher areas, respectively."
"So... any ideas on securing the ship?" Someone asked.
"We should start on disabling weapon systems, especially if they have interior defense turrets. Once that's done, we round up and head for the bridge. We'll need the officers alive, but deal with the rest of the crew as you see fit," Heydar responded.
Everyone proceeded to make their way to either the engine room, weapon bays, crew quarters or the bridge.
Anton checked his ammunition. Five rounds left in the current magazine, and two more mags on his rig.
He went up the stairway, checking corners and around the walls. However, he found it strangely quiet. The ship shuddered from a missile impact as he made his way through the hall crowded with various disorganized crates, keeping his guard up.
He immediately bent backwards as a sword swung sideways, scratching the paint off of his breastplate. Anton dropped the rifle and brought out his own scimitar and blocked the next strike, focusing on defending as the enemy swordsman made quick strikes at him.
'Definitely a cut above the previous guys,' He thought.
The swordsman went for a diagonal downwards strike, and Anton swung his scimitar to block the blade before pushing forward, letting the scimitar slide past the blade and through the soldier's throat. Anton stepped to the side and let the swordsman fall over, sheathing the scimitar and picking up his rifle. He glanced back to see the insignia.
'A swordsman captain...'
He didn't get to ponder as he heard footsteps from around the two corners making up a T-junction with the doors to the bridge just across.
"Multiple hostiles on board! One is in the hallway with two more coming up the stairs!"
Anton took position behind one of the sturdier looking crates and leveled his rifle. As the first soldier came out, he quickly noticed the additional armor, and fired two shots. The first shot bounced off the metal mask covering the soldier's nose and mouth, but the second punched through the small visor and into the head. The second soldier was similarly armored, and was quickly downed with three shots, two which only dented the upper breastplate while the third hit the throat.
Then Anton curled up behind the crate and reloaded the rifle with a new magazine as a third soldier made their way from the left corner, wearing juggernaut powered armor and wielding a heavy machine gun to match. Anton stood up from his cover and fired several shots aimed at the helmet, all of which bounced off the shoulder pauldrons and helmet. Said helmet was fully armored and used a digital interface.
'Should've brought an EMP grenade...' Anton thought as he hid behind cover.
The juggernaut aimed the machine gun and let loose the .50 caliber rounds. Anton immediately curled up behind the crate as the the corners were chipped away by the bullets being fired over a wide arc, courtesy of the juggernaut swinging the machine gun to cover every exposed side of the crate in bullet holes in the hopes that one would punch through to the other side.
"Hey, how about facing a weapon of your own caliber?!" Someone shouted.
Anton looked back to see Heydar and someone else with a large battle rifle lined up on the juggernaut. When the rifle fired, a titanium tungsten round flew across the hall in the blink of an eye, colliding and punching through the large torso plate, and with enough energy transferred over to send the juggernaut into the nearby wall.
"Nice shot, Azari," Heydar said, walking over and offering his hand to help Anton up.
"That was new," Anton said.
"Yeah. Normally, you send a marine juggernaut to board and take over a ship, not defend it."
The three made their way over to the final door as the hallway was secured, when Heydar stopped for a moment.
"Something wrong?" Anton asked.
"You know, you don't show much emotion for someone who is quite possibly the sole survivor of an expedition gone wrong," Heydar responded.
"Well..." Anton paused, before continuing, "that's probably a conversation for later."
"Point taken. Azari, party time."
"Roger that," Azari responded, taking out a breaching strip.
Anton took a deep breath and firmed his grip on the rifle. As the door was blown into the bridge, Anton raised his rifle and shot the three crewmen in immediate sight. Heydar took down another two and Azari finished the last crewmember with his sidearm. The only remaining enemy was the captain.
"No sudden moves," Anton said.
The captain put his hands behind his head and knelt down while Heydar went around and handcuffed him. Anton sorted through the monitors and found that each group completed their assigned task. Weapons were under allied control, the enemy crew was eliminated, and the Dayanikli was readying another salvo of missiles targeting the ship he was standing in.
'Oh. Better take care of that,' Anton thought as he accessed the communications system and switched frequencies.
"Command, the Arioton is under our control. Check your fire."
Anton then moved over to the consoles at the left side of the bridge, until he came across a terminal. He immediately started scrolling through data files to see if there was any intel, then began downloading it to his holo-bracelet. In his mind, the operation went smoothly.
Fate decided otherwise.
There was a shudder throughout the ship originating from the front, and suddenly, everyone's Heads Up Displays were on the fritz. Anton could see from the bridge a fading blue glow. A warning popped up on his visor.
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Anton looked over to his hologram bracelet, and was greeted with a couple sparks. The same could be said for Heydar's bracelet. Meanwhile, Azari was rubbing his ear after his earpiece shorted out with a loud 'ping.'
"-- I repeat, boarding parties, sitrep!" the commanding officer spoke on comms.
"This is Hashemi. Azari and Volante are accounted for," Heydar responded. "Ship was hit by an EMP, and is undergoing a reboot. Situation on your end, sir?"
"25th Destroyer Squadron is in the area of operations. The Duranigul and Ivila are falling back."
"Roger that. Bringing in one officer for interrogation. We'll let the replacement crew handle the rest." Heydar gave a hand signal to Azari, who pulled up the mercenary captain to his feet and marched him out of the bridge.
Anton looked out the windows of the bridge to see the rest of the Zeshani ships surround the Arioton.
"Best we be heading out too," Heydar said before leaving the bridge.
Anton took one last look at the damaged bracelet before following.