Well, everyone's got that itchy trigger finger pointing at Pie so he's going out with a bang.
Kalidian ducked into the small hatch and drug his captive beside him. The hold?s lights flickered overhead, the ship seemed to be running out of fissionable material for her engines. Kalidian reminded himself to take the matter up with Ophelia later. The ship?s course had been plotted with the intention of navigational support, whether Ophelia had compensated for the recent events was unknown.
As the Inquisitor reached the end of the hold. He found Gremlin standing near his machine.
?I take it you?ve got something of importance to tell me about our dear friend?? Kalidian dropped Pie to the ground.
?That depends, will I ever get out of here??
?I?ve nothing to gain from keeping you in custody, Gremlin, as soon as we land, you?re free to go.?
?Inquisitors never seem to be a trustworthy lot, why should I even do this??
?Because, dear Gremlin,? Kalidian reached towards his belt, ?you?ve no choice.?
As Kalidian whipped out his pistol Gremlin stared blankly for a moment. Inside the Delinquent swam to the front. ?Do as he says damn it! If you get us killed, you?ll have Lord T to answer to, I doubt he?ll judge you too kindly for this!? Gremlin blinked quickly and took note of the gun. It seemed that cooperation was something an Inquisitor commanded.
?Gah! Too slow, man-thing, let me do it??
Gremlin jerked as the demon moved his body towards the bulkhead in the rear of the room. Kalidian drug Pie with one hand and kept his gun steady with the other. As the puppet neared the back of the room, he gave the wall a gentle kick. The false frame gave way and before him lay the large cache of stolen goods.
?By the Emperor, there?s enough stuff here to level a whole city!?
Kalidian turned to Pie, who?d been stirring in his boot-to-the-head induced sleep. Pie?s hand seemed to be fumbling around in his breast pocket.
?By my right as an agent of the Emperor, I commend you into his arms for the heinous crime of illicitly trafficking prohibited munitions. Emperor have mercy upon you, for I shall not.?
Kalidian fired into Pie?s abdomen, the small beam cut open his ribcage. As his hand fell from his pocket, clutching the small device, his last words were ?Joke?s on you.?
Before Kalidian could respond, several explosions wracked the ship. Apparently Pie had done a bit of forward thinking and knew he?d need some leverage with all the violence going on. ?What the hell?s going on down there?? Ophelia barked over the comm systems.
On the bridge, sensors indicated that nearly half of the ship was losing pressure. Ophelia?s hands flew trying to control the decompression. She began to seal off several decks in a last ditch effort to fight off the vacuum. The Imperial barracks had been hit the hardest, the atmosphere disappearing nearly instantaneously, Rain and Hellspawn only making it out of the adjacent hall moments before the deck was sealed.
As the crew met in the galley, Ophelia droned on. ?Alright, that bastard thought he?d take us out with him so now we?ve got only a third of the air we need for the trip. That means vacuum suits for everybody. Seeing as how a half-gutted ship is hardly imposing to a rogue governor, I beseech the Inquisitors for a quick detour. If we can just find a station nearby, repairs should be feasible, albeit costly.?
Rain stood up. ?No! We make no change in our course. We fix this bucket up as best we can and continue onward. The Emperor?s justice does not waver in it?s course. No heretics will set us back.?
Ophelia tried to argue, but then she remembered the age old saying: ?Who?s the captain on a lifeboat? Easy, the one with the biggest gun.?
