With the crewman bleeding out at their feet and an enraged, wounded centaur staring at them as though she's trying to murder them with her eyes, the soldiers still don't quite break. Wordlessly, they close a little closer together, shielding each other and bracing for the next wave. So focused on Xarius and Chira are they that when Mona accompanies Delia up to the centaurs flank and points at the scoundrel that dared harm the centaur, they don't quite notice it. The first they realize the redhead is doing something is when the actinic-bright ray of flame arcs from the sorceress's hand and lands at the gap between a soldier's helmet and armor, instantly spilling into and under his armor and prompting a loud shriek of pain from the man already battered by Chira's hooves.<br/><br/>Xarius doesn't allow them a respite; instead, moving forward and continuing to pressure them, the unnaturally fast feline slashes once, twice, three times at the guard. Though he tries to parry and block slashes away with his sword and shield, the common run of imperial soldier isn't any match for Xarius even with an unfamiliar weapon and little practice; each blow punctures armor and draws blood. After the brief but savage barrage, the soldier slumps against the wall, dropping his sword and shield. Just that quickly, Garth mutters, "Excuse me, sir," and darts around Xarius to pick up the sword and shield; no time to put on armor, at least not yet. He doesn't look particularly comfortable with the sword, but says nothing.<br/><br/>There's something dangerous in Chira's eyes as she advances on the last remaining soldier. She reaches out and grabs him by the shoulders. Cracking her mouth wide, she artlessly slams her head down onto the helmet and steel-clad chest of the tenderized, seared human inside, clamping her jaws around his stomach and lifting him back up in the air like a rambunctious, light kitten. Legs and arms flail outside the centaur's mouth, and as Delia rests her hands on the centaur's flank again she can feel along with the healing energy flowing through her the tension and shuddering in Chira's muscles as she starts swallowing the soldier heedless of what he holds or has on. She also seems to be... it's something between a growl and a purr as she eats. Either she was really hungry, or there's something odd going on with her. Still, that leaves two Imperials bleeding out on the deck, and the hallway at least temporarily clear; both 'gun rooms' are empty, though there's a few more passages ahead on either side of the hall that likely lead to more guns, and at the other end of the hall are the broad double doors into the main cargo hold and its passages to the bottom deck with all the living quarters and the top deck that controls the ship proper. Mona pipes up in tones of guilty eagerness, "Wait- do I smell... gunpowder?!"<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">((GLOBALS:<br/>Inspire Courage: +2 to attack, damage, and saves against charm/fear (2/21 rounds used for the day)<br/>Haste: (2/7 rounds used for the day). +1 to attack, AC, and reflex saves. Movement increases by 30'. When making a full attack, may make one extra attack. <br/><br/>Actions:<br/>Delia- Heals Chira for 9, continues singing and hasting. <br/>Mona- Moves up and tosses a burning ray at the guard on the right. 12 hits touch AC, 11 damage to soldier R. Ouch. <br/>Xarius- Hits the soldier with a barage of attacks, for a total of 26 damage. Guard L goes down. <br/>Garth- Cheerfully loots Guard L of his sword and shield. <br/>Crewman- Fails stabilization check, loses 1 HP. <br/>Chira- ...Chomp. A 33 on the grapple check, and with haste, a first vore check of 27, and yeah, that soldier is partially swallowed. <br/>Soldiers- Guard L will attempt to stabilize next round. Guard R tries to escape and isn't anywhere cloes. <br/><br/>Situations: All enemies are down or partly swallowed and, uh, that guy's not escaping Chira, so this initial fight is over; though noise was made, nobody specifically raised an alarm that you know of. You can start stabilizing people. What are you going to do now?))</div></div></div>