Viktor stepped into the grand hall of the outpost, his boots kicking against the carpet that Viktor suspected had never been cleaned even once since it got here. It wouldn't be too surprising. Given the things he had seen and smelled after arriving here, these pirates had little concern for hygiene. As the captain of a starship, he hardly considered himself a tidy person, but he still found himself repulsed by how disorganized this base was.
With a single glance, Viktor scanned the grand hall. This place was more of a dining area than an office. It had several tables large enough to seat dozens of people at once that extended all the way across the floor. In the front was an elevated stage with several seats that were likely meant for the leaders of this group. His eyes instinctively landed on the multiple exits to the hall.
Following Viktor into the grand hall was a dozen of his most trusted enforcers. All of them were armed to the teeth with rifles, side arms, and hand grenades. They might be nominal allies to the owners of this base, but things could turn sour really quickly.
"These filthy pirates!" One of his lieutenants whispered behind Viktor after noticing some unidentified fluid on the carpet, but doing so a little too late to stop himself from stepping on the exact spot.
"Quiet!" Viktor snapped. He had the same thoughts, but some thoughts were never meant to be voiced out loud. They were here to make friends, not enemies.
Viktor and his gang made their way to the front of the hall, where a man stood up and greeted them. Like Viktor, he was surrounded by a number of men whose hands never strayed far from their sidearms. Viktor's concerns for his personal safety were obviously shared by those he had come to meet.
"Viktor, my friend! It is good to finally meet a business partner face-to-face." The man smiled and reached out for a handshake.
"Greetings, Tiger, ah…White Tiger." After a brief second of hesitation, Viktor shook the man's hand and addressed him by the ridiculous name he learned from his previous communications with the pirate leader. "As promised, I have delivered to you the refugees and everything they carried with them. My crew and I are here to join your ranks. Together, we will prosper."
"Here, sit." The White Tiger pointed at one of the seats in the front of the hall, and Viktor died a little inside before sitting down. A number of his crew sat down in front of some of the long tables as well.
"Forgive the mess," The White Tiger apologized, a little embarrassed as he caught a glance at two of Viktor's crew who opted to stand instead. "Our resources are limited, as I am sure a captain like you can understand."
"Of course," Viktor replied politely while scoffing inside. Were these pirates so poor they couldn't afford brooms? The mess in the base was more of a reflection of the lack of authority by the leader and discipline from his men than anything else. Then again, it was difficult to expect anything else from simple pirates. Their incompetent nature was part of the reason he made a deal with them. If they were cold-blooded, veteran pirates, he would never put himself at risk like this.
"As we agreed, we will take care of turning the captives and the prize into credits for our men and resources we can use to grow our forces." The White Tiger's smile widened. "But all that can wait. Today, we celebrate! We drink! My boys and I will be throwing a banquet for our new brothers tonight! You should all come!"
"My crew and I will never say no to a feast!" Viktor went along with it.
For a moment, everyone inside the grand hall looked like friends. The White Tiger was a nice boss who wanted to show his appreciation for his new employees with a feast, and Viktor was happy to go along with it. Their men seemed content as well. Many of them almost seemed bored.
And then the shooting began outside.
In a split second, both Viktor's enforcers and the White Tiger's pirates drew their weapons and took aim at each other. There were only two groups in this building, and both sides knew it wasn't they who began shooting. Both Viktor and the White Tiger were startled, and incidentally, it was their panic that prevented the standoff from transforming into a bloody clash.
"Relax! Everyone relax!" Viktor screamed, his politeness and confidence completely gone as he stared at the two shotguns, one handgun, and one rifle aimed at his face. If there was a firefight, he would be the first to fall.
"Do not shoot!" The White Tiger ordered as well. After catching a glance of a pair of hand grenades in the hands of two of Viktor's enforcers, the pirate leader turned to Viktor. "What are you doing, Viktor?"
"What am I doing? What are you doing?" Viktor countered, furious at the shamelessness of the man before him. "If you think we are easy picking just because we are outnumbered, then you have made a big mistake!"
"It's not you?"
"Of course not!"
After a few seconds of meaningless conversation while everyone who had a gun drew it and pointed at someone else, both of them realized the other side might be telling the truth. If they were planning a betrayal, they wouldn't put themselves in danger like this. It would be insanely risky even if they were planning to use reserve psychology to achieve their goals.
Almost simultaneously, the pirate and the rogue outlaw captain snapped to their men.
"Find out what the hell is going on outside at once!"
At the same time, the Terran forces were beginning to make their way through the facility.
After leaving the temporary detention area Athena was in, Rum and the platoon of Terran infantry forces quickly forced their way through multiple pirates they came across. Most of these pirates froze at the sight of dozens of heavily armored soldiers who somehow found their way into the halls of their base without anyone noticing.
Aside from two pirates who were stupid enough to draw their weapons and were immediately torn to pieces by C-14 Gauss rifles, most of the pirates surrendered. They had neither the equipment nor the will to fight.
Rum quickly interrogated a few prisoners and confirmed that Zurik, the pirate guard who was all too eager to sell out his people, was indeed telling the truth. These pirates might number in the hundreds, but they were more crew members who could pick up a gun if necessary than infantry soldiers. They had almost no power armor and their weapons posed little threat to fully armored Terrans.
With that in mind, Rum divided up the Terrans into smaller units to achieve maximum efficiency.
Vodka, leading a squad of marauders and reapers, pushed toward the hangar in order to control the two starships as soon as possible. Zurik would serve as their guide. He wasn't directly controlled by Athena through infestors, but so far he seemed like he was on Athena's side simply because that would mean the greatest chance of survival. Given the situation in the base, it was likely his loyalty would remain with Athena for the time being.
A second group, led by another one of the original marines, headed for the grand hall under the guide of another pirate grunt. Zurik informed Rum the White Tiger was usually there, and a few pirates the Terrans came across confirmed that not only was their leader in the grand hall, but so was Viktor.
The rest of the Terrans formed groups of three and began securing the facility. They were to capture as many pirates as possible and were given permission to execute anyone who refused to surrender.
At the same time, Rum returned to Athena to request additional Terran units, not necessarily for the fighting but more so to keep an eye on both the original prisoners the pirates had locked up and the pirates who would be taken captive soon. Athena obliged and produced 100 more Terran units, opting for all marines given they were the cheapest Terran combat units.
Before long, gunshots began reaching every hallway and every room of the facility. Almost all the pirates knew something was wrong, but their reactions, as expected, were sheer panic. Some wanted to hide. Some wanted to go to the armory and arm themselves. Some wanted to take shelter on their pirate ship and maybe even get off the planet. Those who had communication devices quickly flooded the channels with an endless stream of curses and questions as everyone demanded to know what was going on.
Most hilariously, a firefight broke out in the landing terminal between the pirates and the crew of the P-34 starcruiser after both sides believed the other had turned against them. The quick skirmish resulted in around a dozen men dead before the Epsilon-9 enforcers retreated across the sky bridge back into the starcruiser. They could lift off, but their leader and a large portion of their crew were still on the ground, and so was their prize. Without the credits, where could they even go if they left this base? They had betrayed Epsilon-9 already.
As the Terrans began skirmishing with the pirates around every corner, it immediately became clear which side was better at killing.
…
By the time they arrived at the landing terminal, Vodka and ten Terran reapers and marauders encountered several dozen pirates who were staring at the P-34 starcruiser through the window and wondering what to do with that. Their limited starfighters and other anti-air firepower wouldn't be enough to bring down the ship if it tried to leave. Luckily for them, they would no longer have to worry about that particular issue.
The Terrans quickly took control of the situation. When one of the pirate lieutenants opened fire on a marauder and scratched up his armor, the marauder in turn blew him and two pirates near him into pieces with his grenade launchers. That was enough to scare the other pirates into laying down their rifles and handguns. Who the hell would bring grenade launchers against infantry enemies? How were they even supposed to fight that with small arms?
With the pirates dealt with and watched over by reinforcing marines, the marauders and reapers exited the landing terminal and led the charge against the P-34 starcruiser. The hangar itself was exposed to the elements of the planet, but the armor of the Terrans was designed for combat in environments that would otherwise be inhospitable.
Before long, Punisher grenades and reaper detonation charges began blasting through the gates of the cruiser with a level of efficiency that startled those within. The starcruiser had gone through modifications, but it was ultimately a civilian ship.
At this point, the crew was ready to get out of there and worry about their future later, but getting a starship to take off was much more difficult than simply pressing a button. The process took time, and it was time that Vodka and the Terrans wouldn't give them.
…
Three reapers jetpacked their way into the corridor in front of the armory, where they ran into a handful of pirate guards. The lightly armored, and somewhat psychotic, reapers struck first, their Gauss pistols picking off a pirate with every shot. Gauss pistols were often seen as light arms, but that was when dealing with Terran armored vehicles or Zerg roaches. Against unarmored humans, a single bullet could tear off a limb or blow a giant hole through a man's chest.
Five pirate guards fell within a single volley. As the guards were dealt with, the reapers entered the armory, where several other pirates were doing their best to get into their power armor. One of the reapers scoffed at the worn-out, poorly maintained mechanical arms that were working on the armoring process before turning to the terrified faces of the pirates. To their horror, the pirates couldn't even run until the process could be completed, and that was enough time for them to die at least ten times.
"Sorry, kid. Tough luck." The reaper scoffed and raised his handguns.
"Relax, brother." Another reaper stopped his comrade. "We are ordered to try to take prisoners, remember?"
"Huh," The first reaper groaned in dissatisfaction but ultimately lowered his pistols. "I wonder why that is."
"It's easy to go from alive to dead. Not so much to go from dead to alive. These pirate scums may have some value after all."
The first reaper simply sighed.
…
In the grand hall, after two minutes of painful and meaningless conversation with their panicked and confused men, Viktor and White Tiger finally decided perhaps they should get out of there as soon as possible and then figure out what happened later. In a sense, they were decisive, but they weren't decisive enough.
By the time they tried to leave, it was too late. They barely made it a few steps out of the grand hall before encountering the squad of ten Terrans sent to apprehend them.
Within two seconds, four of Viktor's enforcers and three pirates were gunned down by a rain of Gauss rounds. Maybe they were experienced warriors. Maybe they weren't. None of that mattered as countless tiny metal spikes fired by the C-14 Impalers blew large holes through their bodies.
The remaining men quickly fled back into the grand hall, with the Terrans hot on their heels.
"How the hell did you let these men in power armor infiltrate your base?"
Viktor stumbled a few steps before collapsing on the ground. He had been completely caught off guard by the Terrans, but two of his men were loyal to him enough to drag him back into the hall. His hands touched the filthy carpet, but he was no longer worrying about such trivial things. Instead, he snapped to the White Tiger in absolute fury. He had known these pirates were incompetent. He had no idea they were also blind and deaf!
The White Tiger didn't say anything. Maybe it was shock. Maybe it was disbelief. His lips trembled, but no reply came.
One of the quick-thinking pirates slammed his fist on the door control and closed the blast door leading to the grand hall, but it soon became clear that wouldn't buy as much time as they should. They could hear a series of explosions from outside the blast door. The enemies clearly had heavy weapons.
There were other exits to the grand hall, but where could they go? The hangar was already under attack. Fleeing this room would simply mean having to fight somewhere else, likely somewhere less defensible.
"No!" Viktor caught a glance at some of the pirates and enforcers alike readying their weapons for a last stand, but he knew it would be useless. None of them was armored, and their weapons were designed to fight unarmored opponents. Fight, and they would be slaughtered to the last. Yield, and they might live to see another day.
With that in mind, he turned to the direction of the door and let out the loudest cry he could.
"We surrender!"