The Bloodhawk shuddered as another explosion rocked its underbelly. Sirens wailed across every corridor—shrill, metallic screams echoing through steel ribs. Chaos rolled through the ship like a storm: clashing steel, gunshots, distorted radio chatter, and the thundering footsteps of Razors pushing deeper inside.
Inside the dimly lit Core Passage, Netoshka wiped blood off her cheek, her breathing steady but sharp.
"Rue—status."
The young vampire girl slid under a sparking terminal, wires dangling from her teeth, fingers dancing.
"Lockdown system's fried, we can't seal the bulkheads! They—gnk—they shoved a malware override into our mainframe!"
"Can you bypass it?"
Rue hissed through clenched teeth,
"I can try, but if they reach the Bridge first, they'll reroute everything! I need more time!"
Netoshka slammed a Bandit raider to the wall, crushing his helmet with a single twist.
"You'll have it Done in no time. Zev—Surgien—hold this hall!"
Zev was already shifting, bones cracking as his Lycanwolf hybrid rage surfaced. Claws raked across the floor as he roared and lunged toward three incoming Bandits. The hallway instantly filled with tearing metal and snapping bones.
Surgien, clutching his sidearm in trembling fingers, muttered,
"Why do I always get stuck doing this?! I'm a doctor, damn it—not a front-line—"
A bullet whizzed past his head.
He swallowed hard.
"Right. Fine. Front-line. Sure."
He ducked and fired two shots into the Razors pushing forward through Zev's carnage.
BRIDGE — SAME TIME
Ron hammered at the navigation console while Battery shielded him from gunfire, absorbing bullets with his reinforced frame.
"RON. THEY ARE ATTEMPTING TO BREACH THE PORT-SIDE HATCH."
"I KNOW THEY'RE BREACHING THE PORT-SIDE HATCH, YOU METAL BUCKET!"
Ron yelled, yanking open a panel.
"But if I don't lock them out of the bloody rudder controls, this ship's gonna turn into a goddamn falling coffin before we hit Delta airspace!"
Battery rotated his arm cannon.
"UNACCEPTABLE OUTCOME."
Outside the reinforced Bridge door, Sawtooth soldiers pounded with drills and battering rams.
BACK TO NETOSHKA, RUE, ZEV & SURGIEN
The ship lurched sideways. Netoshka slammed against a rail, catching herself instantly.
"They're trying to override the stabilizers," she growled. "Rue—now."
Rue's fingers clacked faster than her thoughts. Her eyes gleamed red as she forced her vampiric senses into the electric noise around her—listening to the foreign code like whispers.
"I–I think I've got the root! Just need to—ah!"
An electrical surge burst from the terminal, launching her backward.
"RUE!" Zev snarled.
"I'm fine!" Rue coughed, shaking off burnt smoke. "The malware's recursive—it keeps duplicating itself! They're running a full hijack program!"
Netoshka clenched her jaw.
"Then shut the system down manually."
Rue froze. "B-but that means—"
"The entire ship goes into hard lockdown,"
Netoshka finished.
"Doors sealed. No comms. No navigation. Nothing."
Surgien's face turned pale.
"We'll be blind. And if the Bloodhawk dips any lower—"
"We'll crash," Zev finished.
Netoshka's stare stayed cold, unflinching.
"We either crash later, or get slaughtered now. Rue—do it."
Rue hesitated only a second—then shoved both hands into the terminal and forced her override through the burning circuits.
The entire Bloodhawk screamed.
THOOM—THOOM—THOOM.
Red emergency lights snapped on.
Doors slammed shut across the ship.
Bulkheads sealed with thunderous clanks.
The Razors inside were suddenly trapped in dozens of dead-end corridors.
Over the intercom, a metallic voice droned:
SYSTEM HARD LOCKDOWN: ACTIVATED. ALL ACCESS POINTS SEALED. HOSTILES CONTAINED.
Netoshka exhaled and drew her Pistols.
"Good. Now we hunt them."
SAWTOOTH POV — TRAPPED SECTION
Dozens of Sawtooth mercenaries pounded at sealed doors while complaining to their leader through Comms.
"Captain Stratos! The ship's locked us in! We're boxed like cattle in here!"
From the other end of the comm channel, Krane Stratos growled:
"Then cut your way out. And someone find that aberration woman and put her in the dirt quickly."
The mercenaries didn't get the chance.
The lights went out.
Only glowing red eyes appeared at the corridor's far end.
Several pairs.
Zev growled.
Rue hissed.
Netoshka stepped forward, Pistols dragging trails of sparks.
Surgien gulped.
"Okay… this is the part where we All probably die haha."
Netoshka smiled faintly.
"Only if you slow down."
BRIDGE — AFTER LOCKDOWN
Battery turned toward Ron.
"LOCKDOWN ACTIVE. RAZOR FORCES CONTAINED ON DECKS TWO THROUGH FIVE."
Ron wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Well… thank the ancestors for small miracles."
But the relief didn't last.
Battery's optic sensors flared.
"WARNING. CAPTAIN KRANE STRATOS IS DOCKING HIS FLAGSHIP DIRECTLY ABOVE US."
Ron's blood went cold.
"Ah, great. The bastard himself."
BACK TO NETOSHKA
Rue slung her toolkit over her shoulder, still shaky but forcing a grin.
"Lockdown's holding, but… Netoshka and the rest… they're not done."
"I know," Netoshka murmured, hearing the distant metal groan of another ship attaching overhead.
"Stratos is coming."
Zev wiped Razor blood from his claws.
"Then Let him."
Surgien sighed miserably.
"I hate this place. I hate airships. I hate wolves and Vampires like them. I hate bandits. I hate—"
A distant explosion cut him off.
"—I DEFINITELY hate that."
Netoshka stepped forward, her eyes narrowing.
"Inferius Squad," she whispered.
"Prepare for the next wave."