The plasma grenade detonated, a chain reaction that blew apart the entire spatial displacement device.
A wave of force struck Xiao Xun, sending him flying backward into the hull of the mother ship.
Where the spatial displacement device had been, there was now a gaping hole.
"We've found a way in."
More Turovian patrol craft appeared far below the mother ship, and Xiao Xun saw hundreds of Turovains approaching. "Let's go."
They rushed towards the hole, the explosion overturning five decks and leaving a passage through which air was steadily leaking.
They entered the hole and found themselves in a corridor on deck B. The mother ship's emergency lights had activated, casting a dim red glow across the entire passage.
Paul suddenly said, "Ten meters ahead, a pressure door is open."
They quickly took up positions on either side of the door. Xiao Xun stuck his head out; the docking bay contained over a dozen ships on two decks.
Xiao Xun carefully walked back ten meters. His sensors detected no signals. The corridor was filled with dim red light and the shadows of objects… but one shadow was moving.
In an instant, it materialized, a black form emerging from the darkness.
It was a meter taller than Xiao Xun, identical to the creature from Base Eight. It had a long head with rows of sharp teeth glinting in its mouth, and it seemed to be smiling at Xiao Xun.
Xiao Xun slammed against the wall, flying towards the creature and colliding with it before it could attack.
They flew backward together, crashing into a bulkhead.
It kicked Xiao Xun in the stomach. The nano-suit absorbed the blow, but he was sent rolling backward. Xiao Xun slapped the ceiling, stabilized himself, then plunged downward, evading the creature's follow-up attack.
Xiao Xun hooked his foot around a railing, a piercing pain shooting up his leg, but it finally stopped his momentum.
He found a point of leverage. Xiao Xun swung his high-frequency vibrating particle blade, putting all his strength into it, and plunged it into the alien creature's abdomen.
Its shield flashed, crackling. It triggered its diverge pistol with its left hand, a portion of the impact forcing it rapidly backward.
This alien creature was stronger than Xiao Xun.
They slammed against the corridor walls repeatedly, locked in a fierce struggle.
Xiao Xun struggled to maintain the stalemate: the pistol was between their bodies. If he fired now, both of them would be hit. At this range, a single shot could collapse their shields and cook them.
Xiao Xun used his elbow to slide up the alien creature's arm, then slammed it into its head. For a moment, it was stunned, its strength visibly waning.
Xiao Xun turned the pistol, aimed it at its face, and pulled the trigger. The plasma energy beam shot towards the alien creature. Its shield flickered, then died, disappearing completely.
Without waiting for the diverge pistol to recharge, he grabbed the alien creature with his left hand and landed an uppercut to its head with his right. Then came two more elbow strikes to its chest and throat, followed by a rapid three-hit combo with the gunstock to its head.
Xiao Xun shoved it away and flew backward, firing another shot. The beam struck the alien creature’s face, ensuring it was dead.
Xiao Xun turned and quickly returned to the side of the four.
The four were firing at the Turovains with extreme precision.
"More enemies are approaching."
Xiao Xun said to the four, "Listen up, team. Your firepower is too dispersed. Focus your fire, aim at one Turovian at a time – otherwise, you're wasting ammunition."
"Yes, sir."
Xiao Xun said, "I'm going in. We need to open this up like a can." He nodded towards the pressure door nearby. "Toss some plasma grenades at the top."
"Understood," she replied. "I'll cover you, sir."
She grabbed two plasma grenades, opened the pressure door, and threw one behind the Turovains.
Xiao Xun crouched and slipped into a Turovian fighter, pushed open the side hatch, and climbed in. He snuck into the cockpit, removed the brake valve, and then activated the thrusters.
The fighter lifted off.
Xiao Xun called over the radio, "Team, advance under my cover."
Xiao Xun unleashed the fighter's automatic cannons, shredding the Turovains and their shields into a thousand pieces. Mutilated torsos flew in all directions, and blood splattered in zero gravity.
Xiao Xun opened the fighter's rear cargo bay and said to his teammates, "Get in."
"You fly this for me," he told John. He slipped out the side hatch and leaped onto the mother ship.
He entered the first deck and went to the computer control panel, locating the core database: a memory chip the size of a thumb. This little thing had caused no small amount of trouble.
Xiao Xun took the chip directly and installed a timed bomb there.
"Mission accomplished." It was a small victory amidst so much trouble.
He left the mother ship and found Turovains appearing on the top deck of the docking bay, a dense mass of enemies.
He jumped back into the fighter, strapped himself into the pilot's seat, and turned the ship's nose towards the main entrance.
"Anna, send the signal to the gate AI to open the door."
"Signal sent," she replied. "No response, sir." She looked closely. "The door has a manual override." She began drifting towards the rear cargo bay. "I'll handle it, sir. It's my turn now. Cover me."
"Received, Anna. Keep your head down. I'll draw their fire."
With a surge of effort, she popped the rear cargo bay open.
Xiao Xun engaged the thrusters, ascending to the second deck. The deck above was the engineering bay, with gleaming, unfinished mechanical parts and a hundred Turovains and a squad of alien creatures awaiting them.
They opened fire immediately. Plasma energy beams seared glowing lines across the fighter's hull.
Xiao Xun unleashed a barrage of machine gun fire and missiles at the enemies from the ship. The alien creatures’ energy shields were quickly depleted, and their ferocious firepower routed them. Blue and green blood splattered everywhere, quickly freezing in the frigid vacuum.
Anna opened the manual valve, and the main outer door slowly creaked open, revealing clear skies outside.
"There are no more obstacles, sir, we can return..."
A purple beam struck her in the back, and another beam from the upper deck exploded in front of her.
She fell to her knees as two more plasma beams struck her chest simultaneously, followed by a third that hit her helmet.
"No!" Xiao Xun roared in fury.
He immediately engaged the thrusters, shielding her. Beams struck the ship's hull, melting its outer plating.
"Get her inside!" he bellowed at his teammates.
They immediately jumped out, grabbed Anna and her smoking armor, and pulled her into the fighter.
Xiao Xun closed the hatch, then hit the thrusters at full power, shooting rapidly into the clouds.
"Can you pilot this ship?" he asked John.
"No problem, sir," John replied.
"You're in command now."