The walk was agonising. Peggy walked so slowly and I knew she was trying her best but it was so difficult. I hate that I found myself begging Peggy to hurry up. The words slipped out of my mouth in a quiet plea. She was doing so well. Her steps were shaky and a couple of times her knees gave out but she kept going.

They were so close. They got so close before I heard Crux grunt and go down hard. I quickly switched to his feed to check on him but he was staring down at his glossy, blood-soaked chest. I could see the jagged edges of bullet holes reflecting in the red flashing lights. Blood streamed down from them rapidly. I wasn’t sure what kind of bullets the Guardians were using but based on the smattering of gouges on Crux’s armour, they were nasty.

His gun was barely propped in his hands but still, he was shooting. He managed to take down a few more of the fuckers but it wasn’t enough. They were advancing quicker now. When they were close enough, one of them shot Crux through his visor. The camera was splattered with his blood but it was soothing to know that his heart stopped almost immediately. I like to think he wasn’t in pain for too long.

Pan’s whispered pleas sounded over the comms, begging Peggy to keep walking. She urged Peg to use the wall to hold herself up so she could start shooting and hold off the Guardians.

My heart pounded in my chest and tears slipped down my face as I watched them from the camera that had been left at the back of the lifts. It showed everything that was happening too clearly. I could see the exact moment Peggy’s foot slipped in the puddle of blood and she fell jarringly hard. Pan turned, hearing the thud and that’s when the Guardians got her. A bullet went through her shoulder, another through her thigh, sending a puff of blood out the other side that decorated the wall and sent her sprawling.

She pulled herself along the floor towards Peggy who was crawling, her hands slipping in the blood as she moved. Every few seconds, Pan would roll a taser or smoke grenade along the floor towards the Guardians with her less damaged arm before continuing to pull herself towards Peggy.

The Guardians were still advancing too quickly despite the ones who fell because of the grenades. They carelessly stepped over their fallen comrades, their footsteps echoed over the comms making my heart rate spike and causing nausea to build within me.

“Come on, Peg,” I whispered. “Don’t look back, just keep going.”

She was so close to the lifts. Just a little further and she could have made it but a gasp from behind stole both of our attentions.

I looked back just in time to see one of the Guardians rip Pan’s helmet off. I don’t know how they managed to disconnect it but they did. They sunk their fingers deep into Pan’s short hair and pulled up hard, making her arch her back to avoid having it ripped out.

Peggy turned just in time, a scream building from deep within her, as the Guardian reached into their belt and withdrew a wicked-looking knife. It was terrifying. The blade was the length of their arm, serrated on one side near the hilt and snapped onto the arm of their armour. Lights built into the hilt lit up as it connected and fear washed through me.

“Stop!” Peggy screamed frantically but it was too late.

The Guardian drew the knife across Pan’s exposed throat, cutting into it deeply. Blood spurted out and a wet gasping noise came over the speakers as Pan choked. From her discarded helmet, I could see Peggy’s horrified face and her wide fearful eyes before she turned and started crawling towards the lifts again, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Just a little further, Peg, then you’ll be safe. Andy, are they ready to shut the doors?” I asked, my voice high pitched and desperate.

He didn’t have time to answer. The Guardian caught up with Peggy just as her hand reached the threshold of the lift. She tried to fight, swinging her arms wildly and hitting any part of them she could, but it was useless. The Guardian grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and flung her roughly back down the corridor.

She fell hard, the blood making the floor slick and hard for her to get a grip on. She scrambled to get back up and rushed for the lift again, adrenaline making her quicker than the Guardian expected. She managed to duck under they grabbed her by the hair, yanking her back roughly.

I switched through the cameras, trying to see Peggy but the only stream I could see her in was the one from the back of the lift. The Guardian stood in the doorway, blonde hair stuck in their glove and blocking most of my view but I could see her push herself up once more. Her white scrubs were covered in Pan’s blood

“Now, now, Pegasus. What did we tell you about escape attempts? Your crew will never save you. You’re going to die here,” a high pitched voice said.

“That’s not true!” Gem shouted, her voice sounding tinny as it echoed from Pan’s helmet.

“We’ll get you back, Peg! I promise!” I swore, my voice rough.

Peg glanced at the helmet, a grim smile coming over her face.

“See. This is what you’ll never get. They won’t give up on me. I don’t care what you do to me, they’ll find me again,” her voice was shaky but so full of conviction that it made my eyes water.

The Guardian crossed towards her quickly, a fist shooting out and sending Peggy sprawling.

“Stop!” I shouted, wishing I was on Nova so that I could attack that Guardian and force them to leave her alone.

A brutal kick to the stomach sent Peggy flying further down the corridor, landing just in front of Crux’s body. The blood had mostly dripped off the camera, leaving behind a red film that I could see Peggy’s face through. She coughed, trying desperately to get her breath back before another blow inevitably followed.

Instead of moving away from the Guardian’s wrath, she stayed where she was and looked up into the camera.

“I love you all. I’ll come back to you, I promise. No retreat.”

“No surrender,” we whispered back as the Guardian stalked towards Peggy once more.

She grabbed her unceremoniously and began dragging her towards her cell. The other Guardians who’d been watching motionlessly suddenly sprung into action, pointing their guns at the cameras and firing.

The cameras turned off leaving us sitting in shocked silence. I’d tried so hard not to get my hopes up but I really wanted that mission to work. Seeing Peggy again made me need it to work but hope trickled out of me leaving me empty. Adrenaline faded away with my hope and I found myself staring at the blank screen. I didn’t have the energy to switch it over to the Command Centre. I could hear them talking but I didn’t want to focus on the words.

Failure ached in my heart and I wished I could have done more. I wanted to rip the controls from Fornax’s hands and take us down to Nova but it was too late. The fight was over and we had lost.

Is everyone okay? I asked, knowing they wouldn’t be.

We have to be. For Peggy. We need to try again and get her back, Cas thought, his voice shaky.

The others didn’t respond but I knew that Gem would be struggling. She felt it was her job to look after Peggy. We all did and we failed her.

Tears gathered in my eyes again but I couldn’t do anything about them. They fell, stinging my face and reminding me how much I had failed her. So many people had died too.

“Aries,” Fornax said gently, placing a hand on my arm to get my attention. “I’m going to go back out to our crew and let them know we’re returning to Freo. You don’t need to come but it might be good for your crew to see you.”

I blinked and stared up at her blankly as her words sunk in before roughly wiping my tears off my cheeks with the back of my hand.

“I can’t go out like this,” I said.

“I can wait. You only need to be strong for thirty seconds, maybe a minute tops. Then you can come back in here and cry or scream or do whatever you need to do,” Fornax promised.

I took a deep breath and nodded.

“Alright. Whenever you’re ready, we’ll go out.”