Candide, slayer of pirates, and his fellow infiltrators performed skullduggery onboard Pirate's flagship. Aegelief tapped at a console, his nimble alien fingers moving across the holographic interface at what looked to be a frantic pace to Candide. Amid the gore of fallen bodies and sticky smacking of drone blood under Candide's shoes, he noticed the other Asgardian drone pushing heavy objects across the floor. Because Candide, hero of space, much more physical strength than the drone, he stepped forward and assisted the svelte alien in pushing a large metal engine-like contraction to the middle of the room. It was a grand push, one of which laboring Herakles would have felt proud.

“I don't think we've met, sir,” said Candide politely between grunts.

The Asgardian responded, “Correct.”

“What is your name?” Candide's curious thirst for knowledge demanded the name.

“I have never had need for a name until now, Candide. You may call me Erik.”

To Candide's ears, the name of Erik sounded sweat like a bell ringing in a refreshing summer breeze. “Erik, what are those pistols you and Aegelief have been carrying if they are not weapons.”

Erik answered, “These are regeneration devices, Candide. They carry colonies of nano-machines for injecting into your body. Should you become mortally wounded, we can restore your biological functions. We use the scans which we have already made of your previous physical condition on the Asgard. The nano-machines inside these devices can restore your body to that previous state. The downside is that your synapses will also be restored to their state as per your last scan. You will not know about this mission, and thus the mission will more likely fail.”

“Only me?”

“You are unique, Candide. We drones are engineered to be interchangeable.”

“I think that the drones who fought us would disagree.” Candide mournfully looked again at the bodies of allies and rebels. Whereas Odin's drones from the Asgard were all pale white, the rebel drones were colored as black as space. Candide had seen bright drones red as cherries among Shiva's crews and pink drones among Isis's crew, but he had never before peered at a dead drone of any color. The sight of the carved cadavers induced a fresh wave of revulsion, and he would have gagged had he not been Candide, firefighter extraordinaire.

Aegelief reported, “The data is not good. Our second squad has been wiped out in the engineering section, and patrols are closing in on our position. This jamming technology was built with independent and redundant components on each ship. I cannot shut down the jamming network from this ship alone. Our mission is failing.” Aegelief broke the bad news in such a monotone voice that Candide didn't believe it at first.

“But,” he stammered, “What, but what do we do?”

Erik replied, “We complete our secondary objective. We return Candide to the shuttle, launch him safely, and destroy this flagship.”

“No,” Candide said, “We can use something here, I think. That – that stuff you can't shut down, it's communications machines, like a radio tower. Can we use it to send a signal? Can we warn Odin or ask for help?”

The Asgardian drones looked at each other. Aegelief replied, “Yes, that is a valid strategy. I can send a distress signal from this location which is capable of transcending the nebula.”

Erik said, “Candide's suggestion is not incompatible with our orders. We should send the signal as quickly as possible and then deliver Candide to the shuttle before we are discovered also.”

Aegelief's fingers were already flying across the controls again even while Erik was confirming the consensus. “I will require at least three cycles more to recalibrate this jammer.” He nodded his large unblinking head to Candide and said, “Clever pig.”

Candide grinned. Something shouted behind Candide's back. A bulky alien creature with a hard chitinous skin was standing in the doorway. It wore a bandana across its head and a peacoat over its thorax. Erik pulled a trigger and shot the bug-like rebel with an ultraviolet laser. The beam left a burnt scar across its armored body and reduced bits of the coat to ash. The creature rushed into the room, and two of its large claws began vibrating slow quickly that they appeared to become nearly invisible blurs. As it ran, its arms waved wildly, and one claw slashed near Candide. The firefighter pulled his head back, and the claw cut through a metal crate as if the crate had no more resistance than gelatin. Candide brought his axe before him in a parrying position. With another couple of trigger pulls, the UV laser broke through the rebel's shell. The bug's roasting body collapsed onto the floor a pace short of Candide.

More voices shouted incoherently from the hallway. Erik said, “Candide, you should take cover. Your axe will not be able to shield you from their melee weapons.” Candide dropped behind one of the other machines obediently.

The decksweeper gun slid across the floor and bumped into Candide's leg. Aegelief said, “I believe this weapon will be more effective for your circumstances, Candide.”

A swarm of pirates charged into the room – humans, drones, and bugs. They carried swords, clubs, guns, and other weapons that Candide could not hope to identify. From his covered position, Erik filled their doorway with deadly laser beams. Candide almost immediately responded with more firepower from his weapon. The decksweeper shot a ball of plasma which expanded as it sailed through the room and vaporized the flesh of the pirates in their exposed position. Aegelief continued working at the computer console.

On board the Asgard, Isis continued to bait Pirate. The buccaneer listened, but he also kept glancing with his one good eye at reports coming in from his crew. One of the bugs approached Pirate and interrupted, saying, “Admiral, another infestation of infiltrators has been found on the second deck. We are isolating them and closing in now."

Isis spoke louder. “Let me tell you Odin's greatest secret!”

Pirate said, “Nay Siren! We'll get back to this later. I shall see to ye spies myself. After I have been gutted like sea bass, we shall keelhaul them in front of ye. Then, after ye last hope has been crushed before ye eyes, we shall send ye to Davy Jones' vacuum.” Pirate stomped away from the bridge, listening no more to the words of Isis.

Candide ducked. The air above him swarmed with gouts of fire and globs of slagged metal. The room had turned into a slaughterhouse. No matter how many bodies dropped burning to the deck, the pirates kept coming. He peeked around the side of his cover and fired off another quick shot at the charging pirates. Erik was now firing two laser pistols at a time, one in each hand. Still, the pirates seemed to be gaining ground and pushing farther into the room with each charge.

A bug collapsed onto the ground, its face burnt away by a wave of plasma. When it hit the floor, a metal ball rolled out of its claw. The ball rolled into the middle of the room where it exploded. Shrapnel spikes with monofilament edges tore cut deep into metal machines and walls. Two pieces cut through Erik's skull. The Asgardian drone slumped forward, and his laser pistols dropped onto the ground.

A human voice filled the air. It said, “Put down ye weapons, ye bilge rat stowaways! I challenge Odin's champion to a duel.”

Candide looked to Aegelief. The drone continued typing but nodded his head to Candide. The youth said, “I am Candide, the Firefighter, Champion of Odin! Who challenges me?”

The grizzled pirate captain strode into the room with a confident stride. His boots kicked aside charred bones of his own crew. His scarred face sneered. He said, “I be Pirate, Champion and Leader of the Cut Throat Rebels. I seen ye fight against the king. Ye like to swing an axe. I prefer me cutlass. Come out and face me with honor, Firefighter, blade to blade! No guns, no bombs, no regenerations! If ye win honorably, ye stowaway friends will be allowed safe passage out of the Sargasso Nebula. Odin will still die either way, and that is not negotiable.”

Candide stood tall. He tossed the decksweeper onto the floor. He lifted his axe. “I accept your challenge, Pirate. Let's swashbuckle.”