Alpha Squad - Vecto: Voyage

Part 3.3

(Previously: Erich and Azmeck get acquainted, but the ship is attacked again at portside, so Erich leaves to help.)

Elsewhere on the Corona ship, Vecto stood in a hallway at portside. Energy zigzagged down the wall in a circuit-board fashion, reflecting blue off the dozens of lifeless pirates collapsed at Vecto's feet. The newly deceased had taken their last breath, literally, from the lack of air, as Vecto had smashed their visors and sucked the air from the room. Vecto stepped over the dead as air blasted from vents below his feet in response to the atmospheric conditions. It was followed by the swoosh sound of a door sliding open at the far end of the hall behind and the sucking sound of air. Guards rushed in but stopped on their heels and gawked at the carnage decorating the hall floors.

"This room is secure," Vecto told them. "No need to stay here."

In regulation, the guards scanned for his TAC to verify his I.D. It wasn't of military class.

"Mr. Newman," one of the guards spoke first. "You must return to the residence for your safety."

One of the guards whispered to his comrade, "Looks like he doesn't need to," and motioned toward the dead pirates.

"I am fine," Vecto said and walked off.

"But we insist," the guard continued. "Your I.D. does not show you are trained in combat."

Vecto stopped. "I'm self-trained," he responded. He then glanced to his right through the thick windows and noticed the main pirate ship speeding beside the Corona, leaning in closer despite the heavy barrage of fire the Corona unleashed on it. Due to their near-light speed travel in the gravity well, the pirate ship looked blurred as it crashed into the Corona.

"Go back!" Vecto yelled, thrusting his arms out as the ship shook.

He waited as a bridge shot from the pirate ship, crashing through the hull just ahead. The breach caused suction but only for a moment before the bridge released foam to quickly seal the hole. A detachable door then jettisoned from the viaduct and a line of pirates rushed out. The Coronan guards immediately went into combat mode, tapping sections of the inside wall, which in turn slid barriers out for protection. They readied their guns and yelled for Vecto to run as the pirates released knockout gas in the air.

Vecto stayed standing, using a thin section of his invisible shield to block the back half of the hall from the gas, while at the same time, sustaining his image of Robert Newman in a suit.

"I said leave!" Vecto yelled at the guards as the pirates fired at them.

The guards could see bullets crash in midair beside Vecto, baffled, not knowing there was a shield.

Vecto shot overhead. A thick safety divider suddenly crashed between them and blocked the guards from the action. It was a barricade designed to block off a breached hull--something Vecto had to force down to keep them out of the way.

The pirates ceased-fire, bewildered that Vecto was still standing.

The red-suited robot walked through smoke as his shield sucked carbon from the bodies in the room. Calmly, he grabbed bullets stuck to his shield and flicked them back at them. Pirates were struck in the head and chest with piercing bullets, joining their other dead comrades. For those remaining, Vecto snatched one of the pirate's guns and used the blunt of it to smash his helmet, then spun it into his companion's stomach and knocked the last pirate in the side of the head with it. He handed the gun back to its owner as the pirate collapsed to the floor. All were eliminated. But Vecto could detect more inside the bridge.

(Is there a challenge for Vecto lurking inside? Find out more in the next installment of Vecto: Voyage!)