"Incoming!"
Phantom cried out as he jumped from an upper deck down onto two hordlings. A dimensional gate had opened onto the Eternal Wanderer, sending creatures from the lower planes out into the ship. The crew met the invaders with swords and spells, holding their own. The body count for the invaders was high, while the Wanderer's crew hadn't lost a single crewmate.
Phantom drove his sword straight into the skull of one of the hordlings, a short, three armed creature, while crashing into another two armed, one-eyed monster. After slaying the first, he took his sword and started on the other.
Around the bridge, similar scenes were being played out. Illeria cast several magical missile spells onto a group of invaders, taking them out. Grimmore cast an illusion of himself on the muster deck, causing three of the hordlings to rush toward it. When they reached it, the illusion faded, but the Fleetfoot brothers took over. Brien stabbed one in the back, while Sandoval knocked the other two off the muster deck, sending them bouncing toward the boundary of the gravity plane.
Kath was bounding through the battle field, slaying one enemy then moving onto another. All the while, he continued to perform a usual Scro tradition: badgering his opponents.
"Hordlings, hah! I've faced creatures from a dozen star systems and fought grandmothers stronger than you! Your lineage purports a certain amount of inbreeding, doesn't it? How else could someone of your obvious lack of intelligence continue to survive unless you mated with your sisters?"
Estress, Normakon, Tabatha and Slyissia took a position of defense near the stairs leading to the lower bridge. So far, they managed to contain the invaders to the upper shell, and they were doing their best to keep it that way.
Normakon's eyes were blazing all at once, using his spell-like abilities to stop attackers. Estress found one hordling climbing down the wall behind them. It's feet and hands were oversized, with large suckers at the ends. Hitting the creature with a mental blast, it fell to the deck in shock. Estress leapt onto the creature, tendrils reaching out for the kill.
After a minute, the creature stopped shaking, slumped over dead. Tabatha looked at Estress, who shook his head in almost disgust.
"You all right?" she asked.
*I am fine,* Estress replied, *but his brains didn't taste quite right. I feel I may get indigestion over this meal.*
Tabatha shook her head as she took on another attacking hordling. "Only person I know who could make a joke over that."
Ville was fighting a particularly nasty hordling, about human size, with swords for arms near the back stairwell. The cursed human was holding his own against the attacker, but the creature caught his sword in both arms, snapping the blade in two.
Ville looked up at the creature, his eyes glowing red. He then looked down at the broken sword, then at his own hands.
"Well," Ville began, "if that's the way you want to play this game, let's party." Ville leapt onto the creature, dodging both swordarms. He attacked with his own claws, digging deep into the hordling's skin. Ville swiped at the creature's throat, hitting a major vein. Blood began to pour from the hordling, and it hit the deck, dying as it fell.
Ville stood over the creature, looking at his hands. They were red with the creature's blood, but then the blood began to disappear, as if it was being absorbed under his skin. The crystal on his forehead began to glow brighter.
"What in the hell..." Ville began.
"VILLE! BEHIND YOU!" Phantom shouted. Ville turned to see another hordling, this one larger (more the size of a giff) charging him. The Chief of Operations on the Eternal Wanderer stood his ground, and when the creature got into range, Ville punched him. The hordling was struck so hard, he went flying, bouncing off the wall.
Phantom saw what happened. "How'd you do that?" he asked, amazed.
"Damned if I know," Ville replied, looking at his fist.
Hall, Blaise and Belieth were fighting side by side on the command deck. Belieth cast an ice storm on a group of attacking hordlings, freezing them in place. Hall, sword in one hand, took out a rather large hordling with a small starwheel pistol he hid in his belt. Four other attackers charged toward Blaise, but the Arcane opened dimension door in front of them, sending them into wildspace.
After his door closed, another portal opened in the ceiling of the Wanderer, and another dozen-or-so hordlings literally dropped in.
"By the gods," Belieth muttered.
"Everyone!" Hall yelled. "Don't cast any dimensional spells! They seem to open more portals!"
"If that's the case," Blaise asked, removing a small pistol-like weapon from his belt, "how do we get Onestar back up here."
"We'll worry about that later," Hall replied. "Look out!"
From the portal, a different creature passed through. Humanoid in shape, it had two heads, one dog shaped, alert and scanning the area, the other snake headed, looking behind its back. It's fiery red skin glistened with sweat. The creature wore an ornate armor, studded and decorated. In its hand was a strangely shaped, double headed axe-like weapon.
It reached the main deck. All surrounding it, whether they be crew or hordling, looked at the creature. It growled as it looked over the stunned crew, while the snake face looked toward the upper decks.
"Uh-oh," Hall said from above deck.
"What 'uh-oh'," Belieth replied. "I hate it when you do that."
"If that's what I think that is," Hall began, "then we are all in serious trouble."
