For a few seconds she watched him fight and block most of the corridor with the blades he wielded, but her attention was stolen by a single Myreen as it snuck past and charged at her.
She used the gun as a club and swung it up under the creature's jaw, sending it over onto its back before it could stab her with the short blade it had. Before it could recover she slammed the butt down into its face using her body weight to give it extra momentum. The force of the blow knocked the alien out, as well as splattering most of its nose across its face.
Its dagger became hers and she got to her feet again. The Thorian had pushed the Myreen back, giving her room to advance before she re-joined the fray. Armed with a blade she did more damage, but the aliens kept coming through the hole they'd created in the ship's hull, their own battle-pod just visible behind it. Soon she and the Thorian forced to retreat through a nearby doorway.
As soon as they were clear he locked the mechanical door and informed their Captain of their predicament, calling for reinforcements at the same time.
It took over a minute for the Captain to reply and by then the Myreen were bashing on the door to the dormitory they were in. Auraylia also noticed the Thorian had a shallow cut down his left arm that was dripping blood onto the floor. She grabbed the first aid box off the shelf by the door, something every dorm had.
“Understood, Varl. We've two other security breaches. Will send crew your way as soon as I can. Try to hold them off.”
The Thorian didn't bother to respond but grabbed the few tables in the room and Auraylia rushed forward to help him push them up against the doorway. Behind that they placed anything else that could be moved.
With that done and nothing else to do but wait he allowed her to bandage his arm and then they sat down on the floor, with their backs against the far wall.
“You can fight better than I'd have thought,” he said after another couple of loud bangs as something slammed into the other side of the door. She gave him a wry smile. Growing up in the area of Lantock planet where her parents had lived had prepared her well for fighting, and it had only got worse once her parents had died. Being a slave had saved her from the fights but brought other problems of its own.
If his genetic code hadn't been manipulated to make him stronger and faster than the standard human breed she came from she'd probably be a match for him. None of this was information she wished to share, however, so she kept quiet. As he offered no other attempt to start conversation they waited with only the regular loud bangs of their enemy to break the silence.
Twenty minutes later the door was a mushed shape of metal that looked nothing like it should. Several dents littered the surface and the lock mechanism shook and rattled each time another blow was struck. The Thorian got to his feet.
After taking a couple of deep breaths to try and steady her heart rate Auraylia stood up as well, the dagger she'd stolen still gripped in her right hand.
“We need to hold them off long enough for help to get here,” he said, glancing at her but focusing back on the door less than a second later.
“We can do that, right?”
“Of course.” He gave her a slow nod as the final bang caused the lock to shear and the door to give way. It slammed into the tables but already Myreen body parts could be seen pushing at the opening and shifting the mass of objects on the inside back an inch.
Both her and the Thorian rushed forward and used their blades to cut off body parts. Howls of anger came through the door and more shoving pushed the tables back even further, causing a table-leg to almost knock her off her feet.
The Thorian steadied her and then the Myreen were in the room. She ducked a swing but needn't have bothered. It caught on a Thorian sword before it would have reached her head and turned harmlessly away from both of them.
The next fifteen minutes disappeared in a whirl of fighting as she used every scrap of her knowledge and experience from her childhood to defend herself and kill the aliens. She tried not to think, allowing her body to react on its own and anticipate the situation without needing her brain to instruct her body.
Tiredness crept through her limbs and made her more clumsy. A stroke from a smaller Myreen drew blood from a light cut on her arm but the pain barely registered in her mind. Adrenaline flowed through her too much to feel the full extent of the damage.
She pulled back anyway, allowing the Thorian to defend her alone for a few seconds while she gathered herself. Just as she entered the fray again and launched herself at a Myreen side, dagger first, she heard the sounds of running feet out in the corridor.
The Captain and Trell came rushing around the corner and shot the last four Myreen in the backs of their heads before any of them could realise their opponents had doubled.
While none of them were looking Auraylia slid the dagger she carried into her boot and got to her feet again. The Captain reached for the first aid box she'd raided earlier as soon as he saw her wound and the Thorian's collection of battle mementos. Although she didn't think her scratch warranted a bandage, she allowed it to be cleaned and dressed and took the opportunity to sit and let her body rest.
“We're out of enemy territory now and into the neutral area they have over here, so I'm hoping that will be the last we see of the Myreen this journey,” the Captain said once he was finished. Trell was still trying to get the Thorian to sit still long enough to treat his wounds.
He helped her to her feet again and the Thorian joined them.
“I'll heal soon enough,” he said in a gruff manner and waited for their Captain to give them more commands.