John took a deep breath to calm himself and glanced at the holographic image above Dana's engineering station that showed they at least had their shields up now.
"Ok Alyssa, you're with me. We're going to have to repel boarders." he ordered brusquely.
"Dana, try and get the damage to fire control repaired."
"Calara, send out a distress call. Don't fire back unless they continue attacking, they might think they knocked out all our weapons. They know we can't get away and they'll probably stop shooting now the dropships are about to board." John predicted.
The girls all nodded their agreement.
"What should this one do master?" Jade asked, a worried expression on her face.
"Stay with the girls, I don't want any of you to get hurt!" he said, as he rose from his command chair.
"Let's go." he said to Alyssa and the two of them sprinted to the debriefing room.
They darted into the alcoves, slipping their feet into armoured boots and their hands into the armoured gauntlets. They both hit the thumb buttons in the gauntlets at the same time and the robotic arms moved down, fixing the armour plating into place. John moved his thumb to his palm on his left hand and a rippling series of clicks confirmed that he was sealed in the armour, just as the Phalanx helmet dropped into place over his head.
"Shit, the guns!" John swore as he dashed out onto the bridge.
"Dana, where are the rifles?!" he asked as he sprinted to the elevator, with Alyssa following in his footsteps.
"Still in the firing range!" Dana gasped, looking worried.
"Ok no problem, stay safe you three!" he said as he disappeared into the elevator.
Alyssa hit the button down to the firing range and they waited impatiently for the elevator to drop down to deck seven.
*I'm really sorry honey.* John apologised to Alyssa, his heart feeling like a stone in his chest.
"Cut that shit out right now!" Alyssa fumed. "We've got to save the ship first, then we talk afterwards!"
"You're right." John said, taking a big breath and blowing it out.
The door chimed, letting them know they had arrived at their destination and they dashed down the corridor, past the gym and the engineering bay to arrive at the firing range. They found the modified XR75 assault rifles where they had left them, on the table by the range. John grabbed both weapons, while Alyssa grabbed a couple of magazines each from the weapon racks to the side of the room.
"I'll trade you." she said, holding out two magazines.
John couldn't see her beautiful face, but he could hear the smile in her voice and he felt momentarily relieved as he handed her the weapon and then took the extra magazine clips. He darted out of the firing range and sprinted back down the corridor, fastening the extra clips to the utility harness on his armour and checking to make sure that the already loaded magazines were securely in place. Alyssa was only two steps behind him and he hit the button for the bottom deck as soon as she cleared the doorway.
"What do I need to know about the Drakkar?" she asked apprehensively.
"Big, mean, four arms. Don't let them get into melee range with you." John said quickly, giving her the 2 second briefing.
"Any weak spots?" Alyssa asked as she brought her gun to her shoulder, checking the scope.
"Not that I know of. They're tough bastards!" John said worriedly.
"Ok. Same as before? Try and surprise them with a counter attack?" she asked quickly.
The elevator chimed and they burst through the door as soon as it swished open, giving them a clear view of the airlock as it suddenly spiralled open. Bulky armoured invaders began to step through the yawning portal, their deep voiced roars echoing up the corridor.
*Take the one on the left!* John thought as he dived through the elevator door and then skidded to one knee.
The putrid green skinned humanoids were wearing black and purple ribbed armour, that seemed to glint oddly in the light. Their four arms held a bulky shield in one set of arms and strange looking vertically handled rifles in the other. They had bulging black eyes on the sides of their hammer shaped heads and their high set jaws opened wide, as they roared in challenge at the Terrans.
John sighted the Drakkar in his scope and fired a round at the roaring alien.
"Pkow." The railgun murmured before his shot hit home, slamming into the creature's shoulder with an explosion of dark blue blood.
The Drakkar staggered backwards, it's upper right shoulder ripped apart by the powerful bullet, the ribbed armour offering scant protection against the hyper accelerated hollow point round.
"Prrrkow." Alyssa railgun purred as three rounds slammed into the other Drakkar, hitting it three times in the right hand side of its torso.
It's entire right hand side was a ruined mess, the dismembered limbs flopping wildly as they dropped to the floor, twitching and spasming in a sickening display. The alien slumped over to its side, roaring its ineffectual defiance as it dropped the shield and attempted to pick up its dropped weapon.
Alyssa fired a second time, this time the rounds slamming the Drakkar in the head, spraying copious amounts of dark blue blood and purple brain matter all over the walls. She felt a moment of elation, before two more Drakkar lurched through the open airlock and began to return fire. They were holding rotary cannons in their right arms and the weapons whirred angrily as they sprayed dozens of rounds down the corridor at them.
