Post by Hyoza on Jul 31, 2014 12:13:28 GMT
Hyoza tapped his Scouter and responded irritably.
“On my way, Mister Screel,” he made no attempt to hide his contempt for Ghirash’s First Mate, who spoke to Hyoza like some kind of moron. Though otherwise Hyoza had found his last year among Ghirash’s crew quite enjoyable, Screel grated on his nerves. Still, Screel was second only to the might of Captain Ghirash, and Hyoza risked destruction if he defied his orders. The Arcosian pirate flicked to a map display on his Scouter, and marked the target location with a waypoint, before leaping into the air and taking flight. The risk of a distress call being sent out was very serious – if the tiny Fioryan colony received help from their nearby homeworld, the pirates would
likely be destroyed. Hyoza quickly increased his energy output, propelling him at almost supersonic speeds, and creating a visible red aura that trailed in his wake as he rocketed through the skies.
It wasn’t long before the communication post was in sight – a squat control bunker made of gleaming metal, capped with the sky-piercing spires of an interstellar communication array. Hyoza could not sense any enemies nearby, and his Scouter was likewise clear of energy signatures. The spires were sturdily-built, and Hyoza knew from experience that he lacked the power to destroy them directly – so the clear alternative was to enter the bunker and disable the controls. Hyoza set down right in front of the door, simply allowing himself to fall right down to the ground, slowing his fall at the very last second with a burst of ki before softly alighting on the bare earth. The door was a heavy automated door that would not open without a passcode. However, Hyoza and the rest of the crew had become quite familiar with Fioryan technology over the past few months, and there was a central locking mechanism which could be very easily disabled with a simple, concentrated burst of energy.
Hyoza simply charged a sphere of ki in his palm and slammed it into the disc-shaped section in the middle of the doors. When the smoke cleared, all that was left was a quickly-cooling puddle of molten slag, and a pair of now easily-parted metal slabs. The pirate hurled the doors back within
their frame and stepped nonchalantly into the bunker. The interior was a small, dimly-lit chamber; bare save for one wall, which was lined with various consoles and other assorted technical gizmos in which Hyoza had little interest. He approached the consoles and began charging ki for a technique he had recently learned from the other pirates – rather dubiously nicknamed the ‘Brave Gatling’. Despite the unfortunate title, the technique was very effective for causing damage in a wide area.
The Arcosian raised his hands, fingers splayed wide, and began to focus his power into his fingertips – generating a series of orbs that pulsated with a baleful red light. But just as the energies began building, Screel’s voice hissed in over his Scouter’s comm-link.
“Hyoza, you’ve got three incoming, powerful ones, too. We’re on the way, but you’re gonna’ have to hold them off until we get there. Try not to screw this up, Changeling!” Hyoza cut the transmission and stepped back outside. He could sense the approaching Fioryans – and they were much closer than he had expected. He felt a surge of irritation at his own inattentiveness – if he
had been focusing on more than destroying the controls, he might have noticed their auras earlier.
As the lone pirate stepped out into the harsh red sunlight, he spotted the trio, hurtling across the orange sky with their bright white energy trails blazing behind them. They would be on him in mere moments, and his Scouter told him their power levels were all very close to his own. He
cursed inwardly at his failure to notice them earlier, if he had noticed them even a minute before, he would’ve had time to transform, which would have given him an edge, but now the transformation would leave him too vulnerable to risk it. He would have to fight them in his weakest form.
Hyoza once again charged his Brave Gatling attack, though more quickly this time, and fired off a cluster of blood-red beams at the approaching warriors. They dodged easily, and returned fire with a barrage of their own ki blasts, though they were careful not to hit the bunker. The pirate
easily dodged the inaccurate blasts – but they were not intended to hurt him – merely to keep him from blasting them. Before the dust had settled, the three Fioryans were upon him, a flurry of kicks and punches that the Arcosian privateer was barely able to evade. His Scouter told him Screel and his companion were still a good minute away, and though he hated to admit it, Hyoza was not sure he could last that long.
Hyoza managed to knock one of the fighters away with a whip of his tail, but was caught in the ribs by a powerful kick from another, and slammed into the ground. He sprung to his feet, using his tail to propel himself up into the air, where he dashed into the communication array’s cluster
of metal spires. It was tight, but he knew the Fioryans dared not use their ki blasts in such close confines – something Hyoza had no inhibitions about. One of the fighters – a tall and athletic male, swung between the spires, aiming to kick Hyoza out the other side of the array, only to be met with a forceful ki blast that had exactly the reverse effect. As one fighter tumbled away in a
cloud of smoke, however, his two comrades – a shorter, well-built male and a spine-covered female leapt into the fray. Hyoza managed to dodge the male, but was caught with a grazing strike from the bony protrusions on the female’s arm, which tore clean through his shorts and bit into the purple flesh beneath. Angered, Hyoza slammed a three-toed foot into the female’s prone back, smashing her to the ground, which he quickly followed up with a ki blast. The female lay
with her armor in smoking tatters as the two males came to her aid.
The battle continued like a game of cat-and-mouse between the gleaming spires until finally, after what felt like far longer than just a minute, Screel and his fellow crewman arrived, and began an indiscriminate bombardment of the spires. The Fioryans scattered, and Hyoza himself narrowly avoided being hit with a particularly powerful blast from Screel. He turned to
angrily reprimand Screel for his carelessness, only to be struck by a bone-shattering kick to the solarplexus. Hyoza felt the air forced out of his lungs by the impact, and he hurtled off the bunker’s roof, crashing into the ground. He could only look on, completely stunned, as the Fioryans ducked into the bunker and slammed the doors shut. Screel stepped past, sneering at the wounded Arcosian before unleashing a mighty ki blast that obliterated the doors entirely. What happened next was all a blur for Hyoza, but soon all had gone silent.
Then, he heard a voice from within the bunker.
“Surrender, or your first mate dies!”
Hyoza could scarcely believe it – Screel had lost. He staggered to his feet and ducked to the side of the bunker. Blood was oozing from dozens of cuts on his right thigh, and several of his ribs had been shattered by the vicious beating he had taken, but he was still alive.
“Why would we surrender? You’re the only ones on this rock who have put up any kind of fight – even if you kill us both, the rest of our crew will tear you limb-from-limb before reinforcements get here!” Hyoza shouted his mind racing for a course of action.
“The reinforcements are already on their way! You failed, pirate!” The female Fioryan called from within.
“They’re lyin’, we disabled the console! Don’t li- !” Screel’s voice was quickly silenced by a nasty-sounding blow.
Hyoza smirked. He had a plan.
Focusing his ki, the Arcosian began to force the bindings upon his power open. His muscles swelled, his body stretching, bones separating and expanding painfully as he grew almost double in height. His horns extended and curved outward, and his wounds began to re-knit themselves. He had transformed. Now at almost five times his previous power level, the Arcosian stood a good chance of defeating the Fioryans. And if Screel had not been lying for the sake his own reputation, they had not yet repaired the controls and sent their distress signal.
Hyoza stepped around the corner and through the doorway. The Fioryans were obviously stunned by the drastic change in the previously-diminutive Arcosian’s form, while Screel smirked from beneath the blood pouring down his reptilian face. Screel companion lay in a twisted heap by the door, smoke still rising from a hole in his back. Hyoza kicked the corpse aside and moved further into the bunker, stretching to his full height. He now towered over the Fioryans, his horns almost scraping the ceiling. When he spoke, his voice was a deep, booming baritone.
“In this form, you three combined make up less than seventy-five percent of my power level, and given that you’re all worn out from fighting my friends, I don’t think you stand much of a chance right now,” He grinned. “So, why don’t you stop trying to fix that console and surrender? We’ll just tie you up and leave you here, and be on our merry way. I promise, no further harm will come to you.”
The Fioryans’ faces took on a stern expression, and the female – apparently their leader - spoke up again.
“We cannot allow you to rob us of all our hard work, Changeling.”
“Such a pity,” Hyoza said, before raising both his hands. The red spheres began to form on his fingertips once again, as the beams charged up for a deadly blast. None of the Fioryans dared attack him, but nor could they surrender – they knew the pirates would kill them either way.
Screel saw what Hyoza was doing and screeched a plea for him to stop, but it fell on deaf ears as the sound of the Brave Gatling blast rang out against the bunker’s hard, bare walls. The energy beams lanced through the Fioryans and Screel alike, puncturing their bodies and terminating in the console, which was rendered totally useless.
The Fioryans were all dead – though Screel still choked out a few ragged words.
“Damn you, traitorous whelp..”
The reptilian pirate reached for his Scouter, but never managed to activate the comm-link, for Hyoza’s foot came crashing down to snap his neck.
It was a good day to be a pirate.