Opening the Vault

With Halfnir and Eddie hanging on in the hold, and the rest of the crew in the bridge access, the crew found themselves without any way forward. Movali bravely brought the plasma rifle through the airlock to them, which Zhil decided to take hold of. Then things took a turn worse as the iris valve to the hold opened, and the pirates in the bridge access found themselves holding on to anything they could, with the poor lad Movali faring worst of all without a vacc suit, the vessels of his eyes bursting, his blood beginning to boil. Zhil and Ernie used their magboots to walk through to the cargo bay door and ingeniously used hull patches to close the breach, while Halfnir helped Movali into the airlock, close to death, as Belinda scooped him up and began surgery to save his life.

After some negotiations with the crew on the bridge, they agreed to stop their attacks if the pirates could access the vault. Ernie saved the day by hacking the sophisticated vault door, and a haul of precious metals and weapons were recovered. The pirates then offered to leave peacefully and did ... until they reached very long range when they once again opened fire. A last ditch attempt to once again negotiate by Zhil failed, and the Black Swan destroyed the remains of The Lucky Merchant. But not the four missiles speeding towards them...