He was a bit perplexed as she began explaining. '<strong>Not like other girls? What is she talking about?</strong>' he thought, but had no time to think on it further, as the ship was rocked by an outside impact. He was almost thrown off the chair, trying in vain to save the little food bowls as he rolled away. "Dammit! Pirates!" he cursed, the sudden fear and horror from Malin almost eclipsing the sense of the men coming in. Five, including their leader. A rather small operation, unless it was just a jump pod..<br/><br/>He watches for a moment as Malin tries to pick up the spilled food in her panic. "Stay here. Do not come out, unless I say so, you hear?" he said, then turned to a small door on the wall, behind the main hatch. touching two fingers to a small black disk on its surface, the door clicked open, revealing a long and dangerous looking blade, which he hefted out, then closing the little door again. "I'll protect you, with my life." he said, not sure why, but he said it.<br/><br/>He pointed the blade down, then slowly opened the door, peeking out into the hallway. They had not tried to open the hatch to the carg room yet. They must be inspecting the cargo first. '<strong>Thank Goddess for small mercies.</strong>' he thought, quickly moving across to the cabin door, and opening it. Inside, he felt for another small door on the wall, opening it to reveal some controls. He smirked almost evilly as he flipped a switch. All hell broke loose in the cargo hold, as small, hidden autoguns popped out of their alcoves, then began firing on the intruders. He shuddered as he felt the final pain and fear from the ones that were struck by the guns. Four. Three. Two left..<br/><br/>He then sprinted towards the cargo hatch, for he knew they would try to come in and dispatch them before they could cause more trouble. Sure enough one of them kicked the hatch open, a nasty looking shotgun in hand. He did not stop however, instead pressing forward, his left arm throwing itself across his chest, as his bracelet glowed, forming a circular plate of force in fron of him. The surprised pirate fired his gun, hundreds of pellets embedding themselves on the shield, his arm, and pinging of the chain weave in the inside of his jacket. A moment later, the pirate's face contorted into a mix of surprise and pain, as Tarkan's blade found his chest, bloody tip coming out near the pirate's spine.<br/><br/>Tarkan unceremoniously kicked the now dead pirate off his blade, staggering for a moment, slowed slightly by blood loss. A few tiny rounds had found their way into his gut, but he did not feel any of this, just yet. He stalked out into the cargo hold, finding it devoid of life, except for the mangled corpses of the pirates. All save for one.<br/><br/>Instinctively, he threw his shield arm sideways, barely deflecting the single round that was meant for his head. The leader had decided he was not worth the fight to take alive, he thought. As Tarkan dropped sideways to the deck, he let go of the blade, looking over through the shield at the leader, pumping a new round into his weapon. With inhuman speed, his hand moved to his own pistol, drawing a bead on the pirate through the shield. As he contacted the bloody deck, he swung his shield out of the way, and fired twice.<br/><br/>For a very long moment, everything was quiet. Then a body was heard hitting the deck, along with Tarkan's labored, coughy breathing. A knock would be heard at the kitchen door a few moment later. "It's.. me, Malin. You can.. open the.. door now.." would be heard on the other side of the door, followed by a slumping sound against the door.