"You know the penalty for piracy Lieutenant" John replied firmly.

“Finish them" he said, his sombre voice sounding their death knell.

Calara nodded grimly and the corvettes came under attack from a withering hail of pulse laser blasts. Their weak shields managed to deflect the first couple of impacts, but they were totally outclassed by the military grade laser cannons and soon collapsed. The fleeing pirate hulls lit up from the concentrated firepower and both ships exploded practically simultaneously.

Alyssa brought the Invictus around so that it was directly astern of the crippled Frigate. She could see escape pods blasting clear of the ship, as the pirates frantically deserted the doomed craft. Calara caressed the trigger and the beam lasers cored through the length of the frigate, causing the front of the ship to explode outwards, scattering glowing debris in a wide arc.

“Excellent work Ladies" John said, nodding in satisfaction. He hit a button on his console to hail the freighter.

“Oh thank you Commander!" the merchant Captain said as his grateful face filled the viewscreen.

“You saved us all!" he gasped happily.

“My crew did the hard work, but we appreciate your thanks” John replied affably "Can you make it to your destination from here?"

“We took a Little damage, but nothing too serious. We should be fine from here, thanks once again" the merchant said, giving them a friendly wave.

Calara deactivated the ships weapons and the Invictus‘ armoured hull resealed itself, the cruiser satiated for the moment. Alyssa adjusted their course for the minor detour and the ship leapt into Hyper-warp once again.

“Girls, to my ready room please" John requested quietly.

The two teenagers got up and walked to the Commander's private room, both somewhat lost in their thoughts. John entered the room first and waved them over to one of the comfortable sofas and he moved to join them, sitting opposite.

“You handled yourselves Like seasoned veterans, I'm very proud of you both" he commended the young women.

“More importantly though, how are you both feeling?" he asked gently, concerned how they would react after their first combat.

"The corvettes could crew 20 people each and the frigate over 50" Calara said in a grim voice.

“I'm probably responsible for the deaths of nearly 10@ people" she said, her voice leaden as the enormity of her actions began to sink in. She started to tremble.

“You've seen first-hand what pirates are like" John countered. "Think of it more like wiping out vermin" he suggested, as he moved to sit by the brunettes side and wrap his arm around her shoulder comfortingly

“More importantly..." Alyssa interjected.

“There were 34 crewmen on board that Heavy freighter, good people who had never harmed anyone. You helped save them all from a horrible fate" she said approvingly as she hugged her friend as well.

Calara took a deep breath and let it out slowly, nodding her head as she took in their encouraging words and realising she was proud of her actions today.

“How about we go have a drink?" John suggested “To celebrate our first good deed in the Invictus".

Calara and Alyssa smiled up at him and nodded eagerly. "Ok then Ladies, let's go get pissed!" he grinned at the teenagers.