"Dex! Help!" screamed Alex as she struggled fiercely against the armored figures that had grabbed hold of her arms, all thoughts of her earlier petty anger against Dexter forgotten.
"What the--!" said Dexter, momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of a dozen armed beings out of thin air. "The Breen! We completely forgot about them!" Ever since the brief space battle above Kurnugi where the Banshees forced the retreat of the Breen probe ship, the Breen had stayed out of sight. No one had known what had become of them, or if they were even in the city -- until now. But this was no time to be analytical. His girlfriend was in trouble!
Summoning courage he had no idea was even there, Dexter roared a challenge and launched himself bodily through the air at the two Breen holding Alex. He collided with one of them, tearing him away from the girl, and they went down in a heap with Dexter somehow on top. The Breen struggled, but Dexter grabbed the man's helmeted head and slammed it down against the stone floor, and the Breen lay still.
Meanwhile, Alex shattered her filled pitcher against the helmet of the other Breen holding her. It would have been more effective against an unprotected cranium, but the force of the impact of that much water and crockery was enough to dislodge his hold on her, and he staggered back against the cave wall. A quick follow-up with a knee to his stomach was enough to drop him to the floor right next to his companion.
Dexter and Alex flashed triumphant grins at each other, but these quickly vanished when the ten remaining Breen rushed them. The two young Banshees fought bravely, but were overwhelmed by sheer weight. In the end, both Dexter and Alex were held fast by a pair of Breen while another pointed a disruptor at their heads.
One of the Breen approached and looked them over, then spoke in his indecipherable, metallic-sounding language to the others. Dexter and Alex found themselves shoved and prodded towards the cave's exit.
"What are they going to do with us?" whispered Alex, fear betraying her voice.
"I don't know," admitted Dexter. "Maybe they'll use us as hostages."
"But why-- oof!" grunted Alex and doubled over. One of the Breen shoving her along had had enough of the humans' whispering and had explained his preference with a punch in the gut.
"You bastard!" shouted Dexter and struggled to break free from the two soldiers holding him, but a vicious punch in the kidney put a stop to that. Dexter gritted his teeth and silently vowed revenge, but even through the haze of pain, he heard the beginnings of some sort of commotion outside, and wondered what was going on now. Once he was shoved through the narrow crevice back out into the main dining cavern, it all became clear. Four black-and-white clad figures were ducking in and out amongst the Breen, delivering blows and causing general mayhem. The Banshees had come to the rescue!
One of the Breen was already down, and Cross, Carter, Max and Sam each had another engaged. Apparently, their first attack had effectively disarmed their opponents, for several disruptor pistols littered the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Dexter saw the Breen on his right draw his disruptor and aim it at Captain Cross.
"Captain, look out!" yelled Dexter just as the Breen fired.
Matthew Cross managed to duck under the Breen's aim and the blast hit the cavern wall instead causing an explosion and shower of rocks. One piece hit Cross just below the left temple, drawing blood. The distraction gave Cross' opponent the opening he needed to connect with several telling blows to the midsection. Cross staggered back, wheezing. The Breen followed up with a solid punch to the face, and Cross' nose exploded in a gush of blood.
The Breen to Dexter's right was taking aim once again, but Dexter stomped on the foot of the Breen still holding him and lunged forward, breaking free and bowling into the shooter, spoiling his shot. His momentum carried them both into the two Breen holding Alex, and moments later all were a hopeless tangle of arms and legs on the floor. Alex quickly squirmed free of her captors and leapt to her feet and started kicking their heads with all her might, shouting, "Take that, you stupid Breen! How do you like it, huh? Hurts, doesn't it?" and so forth.
Meanwhile, Carter and Sam were grappling with their opponents. Carter had a bloody gash on her forehead, and Sam's uniform sleeve was torn and she had a bloody lip. Cross was still standing, though not for much longer. It was impossible to tell how the Breen fared because of their all-concealing cold-suits. Max meanwhile, was doing better than her teammates. She had smashed a chair across the back of her opponent knocking him flat and was sprinting across the cavern floor to help Cross.
Dexter scrambled to get to his feet as were the Breen he had knocked down. His hand touched something cold and metal, and he realized that he had found one of the Breen weapons. His fingers curled around the hilt and he brought it to bear on the nearest alien. He wished he could have seen the Breen's expression as it realized it was about to be gunned down with its own weapon. A green flash and sizzling sound filled the space between Dexter's outstretched hand and his target, and then the Breen slumped to the stone floor, stunned into unconsciousness.
Dexter shifted his aim and pulled the trigger again, and another Breen hit the dirt.
By this time, the other Breen had realized what was going on, and several of them made desperate scrambles for some of the other pistols lying discarded, but a resolute and very angry Banshee blocked each attempt. Seeing there was no way they were going to win this encounter, the Breen who had been fighting Sam -- presumably the leader -- touched a control on his gauntlet and shimmered out of sight. A split second later the others followed him into the ether, including the ones that were lying unconscious on the cavern floor. The Banshees were suddenly alone.
Carter went over to where Cross stood wobbling and put her shoulder under his arm before he fell over and let him lean his full weight on her. "Let's get you out of here before they decide to bring reinforcements," she said gently.
"I won't argue with that," replied Cross through the blood covering his face. He managed a weak smile. "Guess I'm not as young as I used to be."
"Nonsense," said Carter, returning his smile.
Dexter walked over to Alex. "You okay?" he asked tentatively. He still wasn't quite sure where he stood with her.
"Yes," she said timidly and turned her head so her long, golden hair hid her eyes. A moment later though, she looked up and said, "Thanks for coming to my rescue." Her sweet smile and the unmistakable admiration in her eyes was the best thing Dexter had ever seen. He smiled. Together, they followed after Carter and Cross.
By now, a few Kurnugi citizens were arriving in the dining cavern, either drawn by the noise of the battle or just early for dinner. Sam and Max hastily looked about for the dropped Breen disruptors, but apparently the weapons had vanished at the same time as their owners, so they hurried after the others back to their cliff dwelling.
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