"I'll do. Come on." He walked from the room, Marchero and Aeyris following.
A dozen people were milling around outside. Some of them were buckling on armour, mostly consisting of DurFibre breastplates and helmets. They carried a variety of weapons, mostly light laser blasters, although three were armed with rifles and the giant, Arrachachak, had a huge cannon balanced on his shoulder, connected to a power-pack slung onto his back. It looked suspiciously like a light ship-based pulse laser with several of its systems removed and handholds welded on.
A few other people were emerging from a nearby building. Aeyris led Marchero and Kirrik to it. The building was an armoury, various weapons lay scattered around tables inside. Pieces of broken armour were piled in a corner, and a few heavier weapons stood against the walls. Aeyris took a rifle for himself, and picked out laser pistols for Kirrik and Marchero. "Stay at the back," he ordered them.
They rejoined the rest of the group, and moved out of the cavern. At the end of the tunnel one of the women eased back the panel slightly and held a scanner to the gap. "All clear," she announced. The panel was pulled clear, and the cargo canister on the far side pushed out of the way. The first two through ran through the room to its door, and stood at either side with their weapons held ready while the rest of the group emerged from the tunnel.
The area beyond the door was scanned, and again announced clear. Through the door Aeyris took the lead, his crew trailing behind him. Kirrik and Marchero were not quite at the back, behind them was the insectoid. Its eyes sat on the end of stubby antennae, which it could turn to both see where it was going and what was behind it.
As it had been when Marchero was brought to the pirates this area of the base was still deserted. They moved quickly but cautiously for a while, until Aeyris held his hand up to halt. He looked to the woman with the scanner, and jerked his head towards the corridor junction they had been approaching. She advanced, and crouched down just before the corner. Turning back to the rest she pointed left, and held up one finger. One of the pirates moved forward, but the woman signed to him to wait. A few seconds later she signalled with thumbs up.
They moved off again, turning right at the intersection. The next corner was clear. They had not travelled far down this passageway before they stopped again, this time beside a door. It opened suddenly, without a chance to scan.
The room was large, with robots standing in rows on one side. They appeared inactive, at least they paid no attention to the opening of the door. More robots lay on diagnostic benches, with half a dozen technicians working on them.
Several of the pirates reacted instantly, opening fire on the surprised technicians. The weapons were barely audible, operating on minimal, but the effects were noticeable. Four of the techs were caught and sent crashing to the floor. The other two managed to hide behind the dismantled robots. The pirate group rushed into the room and ran around to find them. As they passed around the corner of the benches a laser blast caught the man in the lead in the chest. He was without armour, and was thrown back with a scream. The second attacker was also struck, but he was wearing armour and it was strong enough to protect him.
The shot had come from one of the techs, who had found a pistol from somewhere. He had paused to increase the power of his gun, but before he could fire again he was also stunned. The final man was desperately searching a table. He was also taken down before he found what he was looking for.
Some of the team went with the scanner to ensure the rest of the room was secure. Others jammed the door they had come in through. The medic examined the technician's victim, but it didn't require much medical skill to see that he was dead, an ugly hole burned through his chest. "Unlucky bastard," the medic told Aeyris. "Right in the heart." Aeyris swore, stamped over to the unconscious defender, and kicked him hard.
It was not long before the scanning group returned. "Let's get on," Aeyris announced. "Stay moving as quickly as possible."
They passed through a series of rooms, mostly workshops of various kinds. People were in some of them but were removed without any more difficulty. In one room a confused robot rushed around babbling nonsense. Arrachachak grabbed it with his spare hand and smashed it against a wall.
When they came to the last of the rooms they were faced with an open door, beyond which people could be seen walking past.