Chaos ensued. The sailors were rushing around the deck in horror. The captain tried to turn the ship around, but the metal ships were much faster. One of them boarded. Figures in ragged uniforms, with their faces hidden behind steel masks, fell from its side onto the deck of the Swallow. Their movements were abrupt, mechanical, and in their hands they clutched not sabers, but strange devices that emit short, paralyzing discharges.