Turn 67

    Knowing he's no match for an angry giff in a fair fight, Val's mind races for a way to make the fight unfair in his own favor. Switching the sword to his off hand, Val quickly draws a dagger, hurls it at the invader's face and readies himself to move quickly.
    The giff ducks, the knife spins off into the darkness, and the big mercenary's sword shatters a barrel; a cloud of flour fills the air chokingly.
    Ibn Fadil moves forward carefully but quickly, climbs up the back side of a convenient stack of crates and (now at giff eye level) targets the nearest invader for his handful of discomfort. He has recognized several of them by now--Lev, Matvey, Yerik. Lev now receives a faceful of pepper and bends over, coughing, tiny eyes streaming with tears.
    "Never did like you," the knife-wounded Yerik grunts, but his blade bites air as the half-elf moves adroitly out of the way.
    Observing his companions' actions, Hiro springs lightly to a better vantage, finely-crafted blade held high as he prepares to bring down the "pear-splitter" upon another of the enemy, but this giff catches the blow on his shield and stands firm, and his comrade actually manages to reach the kensai with his own blade.
    The fight is taking place in a long, narrow corridor between stack of supplies. The boarders are disposed as follows: Two at the inner end of the fight, facing Hiro. The one he wounded has fallen back behind this action. Then Val and his opponent, then the one who got the pepper, then the one facing ibn Fadil, closest to the door.
    Pham looks into the hold from the top of the latter on the second deck. He waits patiently at the top - hoping his friends below can hold off the boarders. Hiro is still blocking their path of advancement, but he is now wounded....
    Meanwhile, outside: "Yestin, on three and let's get this thing off of us. Ready? One... Two... THREE!" The Half-Man's muscles strain as he pulls with every iota of his god-given strength to get the grapple off the _Distraction_ so they can make their escape.
    They heave in concert. The chain goes slack; Yestin loses his balance and would have fallen off did Emmett not grab hasty hold, and the two scramble back up the rope to the relative safey of the deck while the giff on the _Magnus_ reload feverishly.
    Sensing that the ship is no longer bound, Alais bends his attention to the helm, moving them away from the hammership at best possible speed--which feels agonizingly slow--feeling himself becoming one with the ship to a degree only rarely felt before. It's obvious when they've reached the limits of the _Magnus_' influence on local space; the bigger ship, slower to accelerate as its prey flees, falls behind so quickly that it seems to vanish.
    The _Distraction_'s crew is not yet free from danger, however; once she gets moving again, her pursuit might yet catch them up. And there are still six giff in the cargo hold, with nowhere to retreat.
    

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