The captain stopped and turned around. Kinson tried sending him a message with his eyes, but couldn't tell if it got through. Finally, Captain Ashton nodded.
"Fine, better to leave crap here than on our ship. Be quick," he muttered.
"Okay, don't go without me," Kinson said.
"Hmph."
Kinson retraced his steps and easily found the long hallway. This walk was less intense than the first time he passed through, and he had the presence of mind to look out one of the wall-sized viewports. Countless asteroids floated about, their dark mass emphasized by the pale colors of saturn behind them. It was a beautiful sight, albeit one he had seen often. Titan was out there, somewhere, but his home was in danger, even now.
He heard the low murmur of voices ahead, which brought him back to his goal. He crept forward, finding the door to the conference room ajar. Inside, he could make out the voices of Boron and Tarken, the two who he had classified as big antagonists. There were several others as well, faces from among the crowd of pirate captains.
"Now that they've left, we can truly continue. Consider our thoughts were confirmed. The Sons of Scarlet can be officially declared as a potential hindrance for the plan. Fortunately, they sent Ashton, so we can remove one of their key members rather easily," Tarken said.
Kinson's hands balled into fists as the others agreed verbally.
"I'll have my boys move out. Should I hit them in the dock, or re-enact an old classic?" Boron chuckled, "Just kidding, we'll do it as planned in a minute or so. Just as soon as they reach the airlock.
While he listened, Kinson became aware of a startling phenomenon. The world around him began to break apart and slowly dissipate. As it did so, he felt a great weakness overtake him as his energy was sucked dry. Before he blacked out, a new flow of stabilizing energy surged into him. He could still feel energy being drained, but the incoming energy was more than enough to replace it.
"What was that?" he wondered in shock, then froze. He backed away slowly as silence overtook the conference room.
"What was that?" Boron shouted, "Perhaps a little rat!"
The door was blown open as the pirate charged through. The sight was a little odd, as half of his body was rather fuzzy looking. It began to fade away in real time.
"Sorry, I, uh… had to use the bathroom!" Kinson explained sheepishly and turned around with a wave. "Don't worry though, I didn't hear anything. I'll be going now!"
"Heh, that one's new. Oh, wait…" Boron glanced sideways, "there actually is a bathroom here!" He turned around and called out, "Did you mean to build that there?"
Kinson couldn't care less about the query. He took advantage of the momentary distraction and took off in a sprint down the corridor. Loud cries chased him, and the crash of pounding boots only furthered his drive to escape.
Suddenly, something struck his leg, and. Kinson screamed in pain as his leg burned with what felt like fire. He stumbled but managed to catch himself and keep running. He glanced and let out another cry as glowing red energy squirmed into a gaping hole on his calf. No blood poured out, but the heat penetrated deeper into his flesh.
Letting out a groan, he grit his teeth and ran on. The pain was near crippling, and the long hallways seemed to extend forever. He didn't have the strength to ponder why the pirates slowed down and came to a stop, but Boron answered his unasked question.
"I tagged him, so he'll be suffering for weeks," Boron laughed with a smirk. "Or rather, he would if he lived that long." His mirth vanished and he spoke into an earpiece. "Begin the attack."
Kinson felt something was wrong when no other attacks came, but didn't dare turn around. After the longest minute of his life, he arrived at the room connecting to their ship. He grimaced in pain and spared another look at his leg. The skin had turned a dark red and smelled like charred flesh. The pain was getting worse with each breath, almost reaching an unbearable level.
"Captain!" he called out, banging on the hanger door. "Please, help!"
He tried the console, but the door refused to open. A sudden explosion rocked the room, and Kinson lost his balance, tumbling to the floor. He felt a sharp spike of pain as he landed on his injured leg.
"Ahhhh!" Tears leaked out of his eyes.
Kinson felt nothing but relief as a sharp voice cut through his pain. "There you are! They got the ship, so come on!"
"C-Captain, help!"
Strong hands grabbed his arms and dragged him to his feet. Ashton began to half carry Kinson down the hallway, saying, "That looks pretty nasty. Look like you ran afoul of Boron. That explosion was our ship, meaning we're stranded. The rest are gathered in the hanger. Fortunately, you survived so far. Did you learn anything?"
"Yea-ahhh!" Kinson shrieked as his leg caught on something. "They are planning on removing the entire Sons of Crimson. It was labeled an interference."
"Hmmm, it seems they never truly considered us for an alliance. Those scumbags!" Captain Ashton pounded the wall with his free hand. "If they want blood, I'll give them that!"
He touched his ear, turning on his communicator. "Prepare for a fight. We've lost our escape, so let's take as many down as we can with us. If an opportunity arrives, we can try and steal a ship. We'll be there shortly."
Kinson finally managed to find his footing, and began to walk on his own. Every step sent pain shooting up his leg, but he ignored it. Abruptly, he realized that his energy had stabilized and the deathdream seemed solid once more. Perhaps it had to do with his proximity to the protagonist. Despite filling his head with other thoughts, he still listened attentively as Ashton continued to rant.
"I should have guessed the first goal of these animals would be to start a war! We're literally already battling those monsters, but now they want to have us fight amongst ourselves. From what they talked about, their first goal will be to kidnap or kill targets high in value. If I escape, I'll warn them. I bet they act against both earth and the outer ring. If both sides are looking for someone to blame… well the rest would be history. Timing couldn't be worse, either."
The captain's thoughts jumped about as he spoke, and Kinson tried his best to follow. Still, there couldn't have been a more convenient info dump for him regardless of whether he understood it or not.
Finally, they reached the hanger doors. Bright light and the sound of explosions penetrated the small windows, shocking Kinson once more.
"It seems they've started. I hope we're not too late." Captain Ashton didn't seem that optimistic.
The captain tried the door, but found it sealed. Behind them, Kinson could hear approaching footsteps. Despair began to creep in, and he began to look around for other options. He had at least wanted to distance himself. Unfortunately, the reinforced steel door, designed to resist the engines of ships and the pull of space, seemed their only exit.
Suddenly, Captain Ashton raised a hand, and a bright green glow lit up his forearm. A sliver of light appeared above his fist, which then shot out , extending about three feet. Kinson's eyes widened in shock. A psiblade!
Psiblades could only be created by powerful psionists, and were a direct manifestation of destructive psionic power. It was the kind of ability every boy dreamed of having. Still, they came at a cost. From what he had heard, psiblades took a lot of energy to produce, and took even more to maintain. If the psionic was below class 3, it was impossible to use it for more than a second or two.
The captain of the Sons of Scarlet didn't seem to care much about that, and directly plunged it into the thick metal door. The energy cut right through it, severing the locking mechanism. Despite the exertion, Captain Ashton didn't even pant, instead opting to kick down the door. With one blow from his heavy boot, the hanger doors split apart and swung open.