Alpha Squad - Vecto: Voyage

Part 2.5

(Previously: Erich and Feit approach the spacecraft that crashed into the Corono, followed by pirates storming out and firing their weapons.)

Feit was now in the air, coming down on one of the pirates with his fist. He smashed his head in and spun the guy's body around to serve as a shield. Feit grabbed his gun, but didn't fire it. Instead, he slung it at a pirate's throat. Feit spun low and grabbed the body's leg. He spun around and slid the body across the floor to knock the pirates' feet from below them.

Close by, other pirates fired at Erich. But Erich was a step ahead of them. He spun the wire in the air like a propeller, letting yellow pulse energy trail behind and block bullets. When the bullet-storm stopped, Erich pitched his arm around and threw the wire at one of them, its yellow glow now gone.

It struck the pirate in the chest, knocking him into the hull of the pirate ship. The pirate looked down but was snapped forward by the string. Erich tossed him into the other pirates and detached the string, letting it wrap around his spinning body. The other pirates scrambled to their feet and Erich launched several wires at them. The strings grabbed them by the chest--one by the face. Erich jerked the lines toward him and kicked the pirates as they approached. He detached the wires to let their bodies spin and wrap within the cords.

"Who's next?" Erich said as he glanced at the other pirates.

They opened fire.

With his mask on tight, he jetted for them as bullets and pulse-beams struck his plated armor. But he kept coming, enduring the hits, and drove a device into a pirate's chest. A virus overtook the pirate's suit and froze his body in place. Erich rushed at another man and slammed his fist through the guy's visor, releasing knockout gas for him to choke on. But another pirate fired from behind. Erich spun around and shot a wire at the gun, then tossed it from his hands as bullets scattered through the room. One of them struck Erich between two panels on his arm.

Erich felt the impact with a grunt and fell to his knees.

Coming from behind, a man kicked him in the back, striking his circular power source. Erich crashed to the floor. A hand grabbed him from the back of the head and slammed his face into the surface. Erich could hardly adjust as the mysterious pirate yanked him by the ankle and dragged him away.

Erich regained his thoughts and pushed himself from the deck to kick his attacker with his other foot. But the man swiftly let go of the ankle and grabbed the other one, then threw him into a nearby shop display window.

Erich rocketed through the display glass, clothes, and mannequins until he slammed into the back wall. His head pounded from the impact and his ears rang, but Erich shook off the pain. His Echelon suit had absorbed most of the impact, but his spine still stung as he attempted to sit up.

"Geez, who is this guy?!" he said to himself, grunting as he flung lingerie from his eyes. He gazed up to see the pirate. "It can't be."

(Who is this pirate that Erich recognizes? Find out more in the next installment of Vecto: Voyage!)