The Fringe Wars

2.14

"None, officially. A stationmaster would never do something so reckless." Seda grabbed a ladder and started climbing up into the docked ship. Over his shoulder, he added, "Unofficially, seven times."

As they rushed on board, Birk frowned. "It's an antique."

"It's a classic," Critch corrected him as he hurried past him.

As soon as Seda entered the bridge, he called out. "Hari, report."

The woman standing on board turned. "Ready for immediate departure, sir. I've taken the liberty of cycling all gun systems. The Raptor is ready."

He buckled in at the captain's helm. "Then let's not sit around here any longer. If this doesn't draw the CUF's attention, nothing will." He glanced back at Reyne and Critch. "Hari and I have the flight controls. I need your teams to handle the weapon systems. Everything's manual on this old girl."

"I remember," Reyne said before facing Critch. "My team will take forward cannons. You take aft."

"Wilco," Critch replied and turned to his crew, "Team South, you're with me."

As they ran off, Reyne said, "Team North, come with me." The three men followed him off the bridge and up a level. He grabbed the railing when the ship lunged forward, and he suspected Seda was using full propulsion to build speed faster.

He pointed to the various gunners' chairs. "Sixx, I want you front and center on the big cannon."

"Hoowee," Sixx hollered with glee as he ran to claim his seat.

"Boden, you take this corner cannon."

"Got it, boss."

He turned to Maddox. "Do you know how to operate phase cannons?"

Maddox lifted his brows as though it was a stupid question.

"Of course you do. How about you take the corner cannon opposite Boden."

Reyne took a step back to make sure his team was buckled in and comfortable with the controls. Assured they all were ready, he sat down in an open gunner's chair and strapped in. Hari had been true to her word, and the systems were already up at one hundred percent. He pulled up the gun's scanner to find several blips moving toward a central location.

"Check your scanners. We've got bogeys screaming in," Reyne called out, and then added, "Remember, cannons are slower than photon guns, so fire only when you have a solid target. That goes double for you, Sixx."

"Yeah, yeah, boss. Got it," Sixx hollered back.

The large warship accelerated more slowly than the cruiser had, but it continued to gain momentum and closed the distance back to the Citadel nearly as quickly as the arriving gunships. However, the gunships would be in firing range of the people on the ground before the Raptor could stop them.

Reyne hollered, "Sixx, fire off a shot at the nearest gunship."

"They're not in range yet."

"I know. Just do it. Let's see if we can't draw their attention away from the crowds."

Reyne watched the scanner as more gunships broke through the atmosphere and sped toward the Citadel. His muscles remained taut as he waited for the first shot. If the Raptor wasn't enough to draw all the gunships to them, the Citadel would be the site of a massacre.

A minor shockwave rumbled through the Raptor, and Reyne saw the system report a shot had been fired. He watched his scanner. No gunships disappeared, not that he'd expect them to get that lucky this far out. However, the ship nearest to them took evasive maneuvers.