Book 2: Don't you know its dangerous to ignite a fire in space [Jenlisa]

Chapter 6: Firestorm

The small fleet of fighter crafts they had was located on the lower deck, almost half a ship away from where the living quarters were located. Based on the information communicated to the crew, there were two breaks in the force field, A5 and B5. Both were on the upper deck and at opposing ends of the ship. A sound strategy would have the pirates moving in opposite directions from the breaks, which meant they were likely to have at least four attack teams on the hunt for Kai. More if they chose to send men down to the lower deck.

The bad news was that it was pretty much inevitable that at some point in their trip to the aircraft carriers, they would have a clash with at least one team. The good news was that if the pirates were split up into at least four teams, they would be facing fewer opponents when they did eventually cross paths.

As they crept down the corridors, Lisa's mind assessed the available options to get Kai off the ship undetected. She could call in for more support. However, that could mean attracting attention to their current location. That would make a secret exit very difficult. However, with just one trained Transporter and two civilians, their odds did not look good as well. She was in a Catch-22.

It was when they encountered their first EXO team that she made her decision.

"Damn this ship is fine!"

There was a chortle and then the sound of someone gathering up phlegm in his throat and spitting. "Before or after we're done with it?"

She halted, wide-eyed, and felt someone step on her heel. Backing up, she gestured for Kai and Jennie to do the same. She heard them scrambling to heed her orders behind her. Unfortunately, if she could hear them, so could their intruders.

She had two seconds to yell out a warning for them to "Get down!" before the pirates rounded the corner, blasters blazing, laser beams sizzling over their heads.

A quick glance revealed four strangers. She fired, hitting one in the leg then in the shoulder, taking him down. The second she killed with a knife to the throat.

The third managed to fire a few rounds off but she dived under the stream, into a clumsy roll that bruised her shoulder despite the carpeted floor. She felt the heat of the shot burn past her ear and blindly fired. The thud of his body hitting the ground was evidence that she got lucky.

When she shot up to her feet, ready to confront the fourth, she was surprised to find that he was already twitching on the floor, courtesy of the shot that Jennie had hit him with.

She held her stance for a moment longer, body tensed as she waited to see if they were clear of further threat. When she confirmed that they were, she turned back to check Jennie and Kai over.

She opened her mouth to ask Jennie if she was okay, knowing how averse she was to taking lives. The first kill was always the hardest. Instead, she swallowed her concern and settled for, "Thanks for the assist."

"Yeah." Jennie whispered back shakily, her face pale, her eyes too wide. "I got him."

"Let's go." Lisa offered Jennie a hand to pull her up. "They're moving in smaller teams than I expected. We need to be careful."

When they neared their first intersection, there were sounds of loud fighting. Lisa motioned for Kai and Jennie to stay where they were before she pressed herself to the wall and peered around the corner. She spotted Jin, Namjoon, Jackson, and Bambam engaged in a fierce shootout. The pirate team stationed here was much larger than the outlier they had met earlier on. If they had encountered this team instead, they would likely be dead.

There was evidence of a long battle fought – phaser blasts had scorched black marks into the wall, plaster littered the floor around them and several bodies lay sprawled out, unmoving. Most of them, she was glad to see, were not theirs but they had definitely suffered casualties on their side. She pushed away her heartbreak and her sorrow and focussed her attention on what she could do.