The Kloxna crew member in front, a short but quite bulky female came to a stop, her group of 10 guards following her example as they all raised their weapons. "Surrender Terrans!! We have you outnumbered and outgunned!!" She barked at Eirik and the 4 men behind him. They didn't stop their looting for a second as Eirik replied, "No you don't"

"What?" the confused question was the only reaction as the hidden soldiers sprung the trap and opened fire simultaneously. A hailstorm of non-lethal beanbags rained down on the unfortunate Kloxna security force. Several of them broke bones in their arms and legs, one of them suffered a couple of broken ribs, another a concussion, but they all survived.

"Round them up in the back and place them under guard. I want 3 men on them at all times. The rest of you get ready to move out, we got a ship that needs clearing." Eirik gave his orders and moved to the door the security forces had used, but he stopped short and listened intently. Sure enough, more rushing claws on steel floor plating. "Defensive positions!! Let them get 3 steps in before firing!!" He hissed as he jumped backward, getting his shield in position and thumbing the forcefield into action.

Eirik's men scrambled to find cover and get their shotguns in position, and they barely made it before a stream of Kloxna entered through the door. As they came into the cargo bay, Eirik's men opened fire and caused a panic amongst the vanguard of the enemy troops who dove to the sides to avoid the gunfire. Some of them dove towards Eirik who took advantage of the situation and used his baton to devastating effect. Those that dove the other way, however, managed to find cover and return fire at Eirik's men.

With a regular firefight going on, one-sided as it may be, Eirik pressed forward to block off the entrance and allow his men a moment to reload and catch their breath. He was breaking arms and legs as fast as he could, the baton causing some gut-wrenching, loud *CRUNCH* every time he scored a hit, but the Kloxna seemed to never end and he could hear several men calling out their reload.

Placing the shield directly in front of him he started running, letting his bulk and speed carry him through the enemies and trusting his men to get whoever got around him before he could reach the door. He finally reached the doorway and slammed his shield into an incoming Kloxna, blocking off the doorway. The enraged howls on the side, accompanied by the sudden, vast amount of firepower being poured into the forcefield on his shield told him exactly what kind of mood his enemy was in.

Risking a look backward, Eirik saw all of his men reloading their weapons and swinging them into the position. "HURRY UP YOU MAGGOTS, I CAN'T HOLD THIS FOREVER!!" He roared at them as he felt the Kloxna on the other side of his shield abandoning their attempt to shoot through it, to instead start throwing themselves at the shield to push him out of the way, and their combined weight was making him struggle hard to keep the shield in place.

"CLEAR!" Came a shout from behind Eirik and he jumped to the side with his shield. As soon as he was clear, the sound of a steady rain of shotgun fire could be heard. Less than 2 minutes later, it was over and the cargo bay floor and corridor leading away from it was littered with groaning and cursing Kloxna. They were all gathered with the other prisoners in the back and another 6 men were chosen to stand guard.

Eirik looked around and found what he was looking for. Pressing the intercom system he started speaking, "Well, unless you have another large force of prisoners you want to throw at us, I suggest you come down here personally so I can give you the message I want you to carry for me. If you make me walk around the damn ship to find you, you can deliver it with a missing arm. If you come willingly and spare me the trouble, you can deliver it unharmed. You get 3 minutes."

Less than a minute later, 3 Kloxna cautiously approached the cargo bay. As soon as Eirik saw them, he started speaking, "Thank you for saving me the trouble of hunting you down. Here." He held out a letter," Take this to Tai'Tanu and consider yourself thankful that you get to live and only lose the cargo that was going to her. Now, leave for your bridge. Your crew will be released as soon as we get picked up by our shuttles."

As the trio of Kloxna meekly made their way back down the corridor, Eirik called after them, "If you want some advice, start smuggling for Terrans. We pay very well for most everything." He never got an answer, and so, he waited for David to come over with the shuttles while his crew gathered the boxes they had taken and cast longing glances at the rest of the cargo.

"Cut it out, we got what we wanted!" He growled to his crew who quickly made themselves busy going over their weapons and armor.

When David arrived he took notice of the lack of wounded on their side. "Was it that easy?" He asked Eirik.

You wouldn't believe it. They just kept rushing into the cargo bay! I hope the next target offers more resistance than this. This was pitiful." Eirik was truly disappointed. Despite being smugglers, he had expected more.

"Don't worry, the next ship is military transport. Should have a proper fight there. But I don't think you can go with the *no killing* approach on a Kloxna military ship." David replied.

"So be it. They want to throw their lives away?? Let them." Eirik scoffed. "Now, let's see what is inside those boxes she labels as *recreational supplies*"

Eirik opened a box and started laughing. Inside were eggs and steroids."Seems our dear Kloxna leader did not get as big as she is, the natural way. And eggs?? seems she enjoys Terran exports, even during wartime." Eirik had a quick thought, "Let me just grab a few dozen eggs," He said.

"Eirik?" Davids's voice was shaking. "You better come over here. This is neither eggs nor steroids!"

Eirik walked over and let out a surprised gasp as he looked into the box on the floor.