In the excitement of combat Alyssa made a rookie mistake, holding down the trigger on the shotgun and unloading the entire clip on the target. The recoil made the broad muzzle climb and half the shells sailed harmlessly over the Largath's head. Unfortunately for the hulking creature, the first few rounds had been viciously accurate and its groin was now a mangled red mess. The brutish creature keeled over on its front, squealing in agony.

John shot two more pirates as they struggled to regain their footing, the hollow point rounds painting the walls with copious amounts of blood. He looked over the railing and made eye contact with the terrified Federation crew woman. "Move!!!" He barked, pointing to a stepladder built into the wall to her side. The woman managed to gather her wits enough to stumble over and begin climbing the rungs of the ladder.

The pirates were beginning to shrug off the effects of the grenades and several of them had drawn pistols and were firing wildly in the rescuer's direction. John dropped to his knee, taking careful aim before punching the tickets of three more of the brigands. The last he dropped with a headshot, the man crumpling backwards as his head exploded.

Alyssa could see the woman was struggling with the torturous climb, exhaustion and injuries taking their toll. She was about to climb down to help, when she saw that the Largath had stopped its mad thrashing on the floor and was struggling to stand. It's four eyes focused on the climbing crew-woman, both sets narrowing with hate.

The scared teenager popped out the spent magazine on the shotgun and Slapped in another with shaking hands. She realised that if she didn't do something, the crewwoman had no chance. She leaned precariously over the railing, to make sure she had a clear line of sight on the furious beast below. The Largath's heavily muscled arm flailed around, attempting to grasp the climbing woman's leg. Alyssa's finger pulled the trigger as she took careful aim at the creatures head, It's narrowed eyes exploding under a rain of shotgun shells. The beast tottered over to the side, it's ruined head a shattered pulpy mess.

Unfortunately Alyssa's jubilation was short Lived as she was hit in the chest by a slug from the pirates. The round deflected off the armour, but the blossoming pain of the impact was enough to make her Lose balance and she began to topple over the railing. Just when she thought she was doomed, she was hauled back by a firm grip on her shoulder. As she rolled backwards, she saw John firing his assault rifle one handed at her assailant. The wild spray of rounds caught the pirate across the chest and he was flipped backwards by the impact of the bullets.

Hearing laboured panting coming from just below where she lay on the gantry, Alyssa reached over to grab the exhausted crewwoman. She pulled her up and over the Ledge on to the gantry, the woman groaning in pain.

"Help her back to the ship" John ordered from somewhere above, "I'll cover you". He crouched to her side, loading a fresh clip into his rifle.

The trip back to the ship was the stuff of nightmares. The crewwoman was exhausted and badly injured, which meant that Alyssa had to heavily support her as they staggered back along their previous route. They were hounded by the furious pirates and John paused at each corridor intersection to temporarily hold them back with bursts from his rifle. Stray rounds from the pirates ricocheted down the hallways making hugging the walls a deadly mistake.

They eventually reached the Corvette and John sealed the airlock door.

“That should hold them for a few minutes" he said, before turning back to Alyssa and the crewwoman, who was leaning against the wall, labouring for breath.

John studied the crewwoman for a moment. She was favouring her Left side, making him think she might have some broken ribs.

“Come on, we need some supplies from medical" He stated, before moving forward to gently scoop up the crewwoman in his arms. She moaned into his chest as they headed to the medical bay at a brisk walk.

“Grab that trauma kit please Alyssa" he asked his young companion, when they swung into medical. The teenager darted over to grab the satchel of medical supplies, which she slung over a shoulder. She also grabbed a half opened doctor's bag in her free hand, whilst carrying the shotgun in the other.

John led the way back to the Fool's Gold and they just arrived at the interconnecting airlock when the dull rumble of an explosion reached their ears.

“They must have blown the other airlock" John guessed. "Time to leave". The trio entered his freighter and he set the wounded crewwoman on her feet, steadying her with one arm. He hit the button on the airlock to seal the door before turning to Alyssa “Help her to the passenger cabin, I need to get us out of here!".

Alyssa moved forward to help the woman as John raced off to the cockpit. He stabbed the button that would disengage the docking clamps and their freighter drifted free, uncoupled from the Corvette. He brought up engine power and the Fool's Gold blasted away into the blackness of space.

John strode into the passenger cabin to see what he could do to help the injured woman. The woman was sitting on the edge of the bed, being supported by Alyssa. John moved closer to see the extent of her injuries. She had deep lacerations on her back, probably from a whip He gently touched the side of her torso, causing her to gasp in pain, confirming his suspicions about the broken ribs. Finally she had a broken nose and two newly forming black eyes where some evil pirate had smacked her in the face.

John crouched in front of the woman, looking under her shroud of dark hair into her pain dulled brown eyes. "My name's John, this is Alyssa” he nodded to his companion.

“You're safe now, no-one will hurt you again" The woman began to weep softly, overcome with emotion.

"What's your name?" He asked gently. falara Fernandez" the woman replied between broken sobs.

“Ok Calara, we'll clean you up and treat these injuries" he explained comfortingly. The traumatised woman could only nod her acceptance.