As she was making her escape, Tai'Tanu turned around and screamed at Eirik, "THIS IS NOT OVER TERRAN!! I WILL DECLARE WAR ON YOUR ENTIRE SPECIES IF IT MEANS I GET A CHANCE TO WIPE YOUR BLOODLINE FROM THE UNIVERSE!!"

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Eirik was too far gone in his frenzy to notice the myriad of things that happened as he was denied the killing blow on Tai'Tanu. As one, his own soldiers, on their side of the arena, raised their weapons and opened fire on the Kloxna guards carrying ranged weapons. In the time it took Eirik to partially blind and kill the Guard that had interrupted his honor duel, His soldiers had killed or wounded every opposing enemy wielding a ranged weapon, the only guards left were those between Eirik and Tai'Tanu, who was being helped away by 2 of her guards as she cradled her broken arm and kept her wounded tail curled up in front of her.

As the Terran soldiers started lowering their weapons, scores of Kloxna came rushing in from the edges of the arena, and without hesitation, all of the Terran soldiers, including their Head of security, Jesper, jumped the 3 meters into the arena.

"Packs 1 through 5, left flank! The rest, with me to the right!" Jesper barked out with glee as he landed. Pulling out his trusty knuckles and seax, he lead his group of men in a sprint towards the fast-approaching Kloxna.

____________

The guards standing in Eirik's way were scared. They had seen this Terran fight their leader, the mightiest of them, to a standstill and had even gained the upper hand. They had just witnessed him force his thumb into the eye of the one that had attacked him before cracking her skull open with a single hit.

Admitted, he was looking more dead than alive, bleeding profusely from deep wounds on his chest, back and shoulders, spitting blood from an internal injury, and pushed miles past exhaustion on account of the refined mushroom concentrate diluted in mead he had consumed before the battle. With no weapons left either, he should have been a prime target for the 20 or so guards blocking his way. Yet, they stood their ground, rooted in fear.

The cause for their fear was the way he looked at them. despite his injuries and exhaustion, he was looking at them like they were nothing more than a nuisance in his way. Pests, to be stepped on if they got in his way.

With the mushrooms still running in his veins, there was little he could do to stop himself from charging into the middle of them, kicking and punching at every target that came into range. As he was surrounded by Kloxna guards, targets of opportunity were plentiful and their fear provided him with precious seconds of attack without retaliation and the Guards were dropping like flies.

______________________

Las'Tai was watching the duel unfold with a mix of awe and profound sadness. She was watching a fight that would eventually work its way into the immortal legends of not only the Terrans, but the Kloxna as well. A piece of history was unfolding before her very eyes and she was scared to blink, afraid to miss the smallest detail.

At the same time, she knew she would have to say the final goodbye to either her mother, whom she had nothing in common with but still loved dearly. Or Eirik, the strange, crazy Terran captain she had come to serve under, and, for some reason would not hesitate to entrust with her life.

As the fight went on, her awe only grew as neither of them went down. Both of them masters of their craft, both of them from a unique and different culture, both of them true warriors. In an instant, Eiriks axe chopped down and she heard her mother scream in pain and saw the tail stump on the ground. That was a humiliating injury, one that would have Tai'Tanu mocked behind her back for the rest of her life.

As Eirik got the final upper hand, Las'Tai sighed and resigned herself to seeing her mother die. So when the Guard interrupted the fight and knocked Eirik off of Tai'Tanu, she was completely flabbergasted. When her mother started yelling and retreating behind her guards, Las'Tai's mind could not accept the fact that she was fleeing. She had to be dreaming.

When the gunfire started, she realized that she was not dreaming. When Jesper and his men jumped into the arena, she stayed, locked by indecision. She looked around and noticed Jeanette and Signe, both looking at her with a hand on their firearm holsters.

Las'Tai just looked at them like a lost puppy. "I cannot fight my own people" Was all she could say.

"We know," said Signe. "But will you help them fight us?"

"NO! Never!!" Las'Tai replied angrily. "Why would you even think that!! I am a part of the crew!!"

The 2 women had the decency to blush as they mumbled apologies but Las'Tai had already returned her focus to the arena.

___________________

Jesper and his group slammed into the charging Kloxna like a hammer striking an anvil, and their bulk compared to the Kloxna along with their shield gave them enough of an advantage to stop the charge completely. The same thing happened on the other side of the arena, and both groups went to work with a savage glee that went above and beyond what is expected of a soldier. These men reveled in the slaughter as much as their captain did, and they knew very well how to work together.

___________________

Eirik could vaguely hear fighting taking place nearby but he was busy trying to kill his way to his rapidly escaping target. Blood loss was taking its toll and the mushrooms were wearing off. He knew he would collapse soon and he only hoped he would take at least a handful more with him in death before he was overwhelmed. That's when the internal security team was suddenly all around him, killing with wild abandon, 4 of them grabbing Eirik and making their way back to the rest of the command squad where a stretcher had been set up and Knud was waiting with a full surgery team, ready to take Eirik under care immediately.

Eirik noticed nothing of this. He was trying his hardest to get free of the 4 men's grip and get back in the fight. Yelling, roaring, and writhing they brought him back towards Knud.

___________________

As Eirik was being brought back, Las'Tai saw Signe run to the edge of the elevated area overseeing the arena and remove several cameras along the edge. As she got the last one she hurried over to Knud and started speaking to him in a low voice but very fast-paced. Las'Tai hurried after to listen in but didn't get close enough before it was Knud's time to answer.

"Absolutely not, he needs surgery immediately Signe! How can you even think about such a thing at this time!!"

Las'Tai had never seen the doctor this angry before. For a moment, she thought the older man would strike the small woman in front of him, but Signe said in a flat voice "This is not for me, it's Captain's own orders. He suspected something like this might happen and he has a call to make and a message to send out. We need him calm but functioning, just 2 minutes. Then you can go play doctor all you want."

Knud was sputtering with rage at this point, but did not argue. With a deep breath and a heavy sigh he turned to his surgery team, "You heard her, let's get this prepared. And you Signe, You better be ready to make the call here in exactly 1 minute, or your window is closed."

Pointing to an engineering team arriving from the ship, Signe said nothing.