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Jaspur dove behind a table and opened fire himself. The figure ducked two laser bolts, then toppled a table and hid behind it for cover. The heavy black pistol sent a thunderbolt into Jaspur's makeshift shield that obliterated a quarter of it; the spent cartridge flipping from its ejection port flashing as it clattered to the bar floor.

The Galtrans pilot beneath the stairs recovered and leveled his weapon again. The black pistol spun and fired. A superdense pellet of energy caught the Galtrans ranger fully in the chest. To Penelope's horror, the man simply exploded, the heat of the detonating nuclear projectile vaporizing his tissues rapidly enough to rip him apart from the steam pressure. He propelled back against the wall like a macabre rocket motor, then rebounded and crashed forward in a smoking pile of charred flesh.

Boss Jaspur's remaining enforcer dove around the edge of the bar. While the silver gunfighter turned attention to his employer, Korg raised his weapon to fire at the armored figure's back.

Lady Penelope snatched a mug from beneath the bar top and flung it into the Galtrans pilot's shoulder, deflecting his aim. His weapon discharged prematurely, its bolt blazing harmlessly past the Titanite-clad gunfighter. Enraged, the Galtrans enforcer spun and leveled his microbeamer at her.

Smitty swept up an ugly black weapon that looked like a sewer pipe with a gunstock mounted on it from its lair beneath the bar. His rough hand threw Lady Penelope aside and sent her spinning to the floor just before Korg's laser bolt slashed through the space she'd been occupying. She looked up just as a terrible explosion slammed into her face and a blaze of pink and violet light blinded her. For an awful moment she thought she'd been hit. Then she felt a wave of muggy Nemite air warm air from the street, shook her head and looked to see what had transpired.

Past the bartender, Lady Penelope witnessed a smoking hole where the bar doors once swung. The air filled with a gagging stench of ozone, nitrogen dioxide and charred flesh as there on the floor lay a pair of arms and a pair of legs still clad in a scorched, smoking orange uniform - but there was nothing else. Korg's entire torso had completely vaporized.

Captain Jaspur grabbed another table when the remains of the one in his hand exploded into blazing splinters. He squeezed off two more shots that missed their intended target. The metallic humanoid leveled its pistol, but instead of a burst of energy there came only a faint pop. A clip ejected from the weapon's butt and clattered to the floor. The figure crouched low behind the table it was using for a shield, examined the pistol, then turned to face the Galtrans boss.

'Well, well!' Jaspur covered the silver warrior with his microbeamer while rising out of position. 'Looks like your ammo ran out. So did your luck, buster, 'cause I've still got a couple left!'

'You fire on an unarmed man an' its murder!' Smitty growled.

'Shaddup!' Jaspur barked. He sighted on the chrome-clad figure. 'Whoever you are don't matter now, cause I'm sendin' you on a fast trip straight to - '

The armored gunfighter swiftly wiped a gauntleted hand behind its neck as though swatting an offending insect. Penelope caught sight of something flash and whistle through the air like the sting of a steel scorpion. Boss Jaspur's smug gloat contorted into a gaze of stupid shock. His weapon tumbled impotently from his fingers as they reflexively they grasped at the black hilt of the Orcan combat dagger sprouting from the middle of his chest. He made a choking gasp, then staggered backwards into the tables as he toppled, a rapidly spreading blotch of dark blood wetting his jump suit. Deadly silence hung in the air as thickly as the blue smoke from burnt wood and flesh.

Then the armored figure pushed the tables aside, moving over to where Jaspur lay.

'Who - who are you?' Jaspur gasped.

The gunfighter reached up, took its helmet with both hands and gave it a twist. When the armored crest came off, a tumble of curly raven hair fell from it.

'Coreandra Flint,' she growled, then reached down and grasped the hilt of her dagger, hissing, 'and this is from Papa!' She twisted her weapon and wrenched it free. Jaspur struggled to speak his eyes bulging with the effort. He died with the fiery eyes of the Orcan warrior burning in his.