Space: An infinity of peace and silence, briefly interrupted by random bursts of fire and violence.

The ISXC Battleship, loaded with three platoons of skirmishers, collided with the freighter like a free-falling lead weight. The skirmishers, Andrus Ovega and Leon Treu among them, shook in their racks. External clamps locked the battleship onto the freighter like a multi-headed lamprey. The breachers went to work, churning through the titanium-tungsten alloy hull. Over the shoulders of his squad mates, Andrus saw sparks fly and metal melt red. He braced himself for what was to follow.

The armatures that held each skirmish rocked back, like the hammer of a gun. The Breacher finished its work and split apart like clockwork flower petals, leaving an open portal to the overrun freighter. Dust and soot rolled into the la...

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