He, on the other hand, didn’t consider it a fair exchange in the least.

Eric grunted as he forced his left hand up to match the right, bringing in the loader’s left manipulating arm to grab the Drasin as it hissed and struck at the right. He got the hydraulic claw around its head and thumbed the control hat over as far as he could, letting the claw slowly hiss shut. It took seconds, not really a weapon he’d choose to make use of. But as the hydraulics began to crush down on the alien carapace, Eric could easily hear crackling sounds erupting from his foe.

The carapace gave under the pressure, a spray of superheated silicon erupting out of it and coating the machine. Eric ignored it, tossing the now motionless Drasin aside as he twisted around and looked for the next.

It found him first.

He saw it coming, but the loader was too slow to react. The Drasin slammed into the machine, causing it to sway back again under the massive impact, and drove its barbed legs in through the open cockpit. Eric twisted as best he could, narrowly avoiding the leg as it stabbed through the padding of the restraints and seat. He twisted his head, looking at the lethal limb just inches away, and then refocused on the enemy with new intensity.

Eric pulled back the other arm of the loader, then slammed it forward into the Drasin with as much power as the hydraulic powered machine could muster. It wasn’t much for striking power, honestly—the machine moved too slow for that—but for pure irresistible strength there wasn’t a lot around that could match it.

Slowly Eric pushed the beast back, the barbed leg grating against the cast steel of the loader as the Drasin was slowly forced out of the cockpit. The creature clawed at the pushing arm, hissing and spitting the whole time. With more leverage, Eric hefted the beast off the loader and then slammed it down with enough force to dent the deck plates.

It clawed and scrambled at the loader’s arm as Eric pulled back and began to pound on the beast with the newly freed right arm of the machine. The first three blows seemed to stun it, the next five cracked the carapace in a dozen places, and the last two stilled its struggles for good. Eric looked up, seeing more of the beasts coming his way, scrambling down the inclined deck like swarming insects.

“Right. Time to ditch,” Eric muttered, leaning forward into the inclined deck as he began to thump toward the charging beasts.

He made it to Cat about twenty meters ahead of the swarm, wishing he had guns on the machine he was using but honestly figuring it wouldn’t matter.

“Hey boys,” he said over the open com, knowing that they could probably neither hear nor understand him. “Got a little surprise for ya. Semper fi, you rat bastards. This is my goddamn ship! I choose how she goes out, not you!”