Ready the grapples. Deploy. Impact. Within 15 seconds thirty of us are on the outer skin of the enemy ship. My earphones tweet and my HUD directs me to the rally point.

The LT. has the demo squad place the breaching charge, an open rectangle of explosive detcord on the hull and directs us back a ways. I ready my weapons and watch as the silent flash of the explosion goes off. A plume of gas and debris shoots up like a geyser from the hole we just made in the hull. No need for radio silence now. They know we are here.

GO! GO! GO! I hear the LT scream in my headset. I rush in the hole and experience the momentary disorientation of adjusting from jumping down, to jumping in.

I’m in a corridor. It follows the contour of the ships hull with doors on either side. Red lights strobe a warning, but no one is left to see. I rush forward, weapon at the ready. Behind those doors may lie our enemy. But for the moment at least, they cannot reach us. The hard vacuum of space follows me as I move forward.