Jenny and I t Rebecca as the three of us were hurrying back to the ship. My heart was racing as I let her know, "Jace went to tell Finn and the militia. And he sent his dad back ho to wait it out with Ella."
Our captain just nodded, "El thinks this is probably a recon mission. They're going to be looking at what kind of defences we have, both the ship and the town."
"Jenny," she added as we approached the ship, "Any chance you can use the Deter's comm gear to jam their transmissions?"
A wry grin appeared on the android's face, "That's right up my alley captain. I've just reconfigured the sensors. Now I can track any signals they try and send, and block them within the first two hundred milliseconds."
"Should I open up the ship?" Sarah's voice ca through the commlink in Rebecca's left hand. "I can co out and join you, or let you three in?"
The boss raised the small device up as she spoke into it, "Negative. Keep my ship buttoned up tight until further notice Sarah. Maybe bring Amanda's dkit down to the main hold incase we need it, but that ship stays sealed until the threat's over."
Jenny turned to face south-west as she comnted calmly, "ETA thirty seconds."
I started to turn that way too but my ears twitched to noise behind us so I looked back that way instead.
Jace and Finn and a handful of other n were hurrying to join us. Jace had his cut-down rifle in hand, Finn was holding his heavy rifle, and the rest of them were similarly ard. There were a mix of weapons, including rifles, shotguns, handguns, and one submachine-gun. Likewise the n themselves were a mix of old and young, tall and short, strong and soft. None of them looked like they had military training, all of them looked like farrs.
In fact of the lot, only Rebecca and Finn seed terribly sure of themselves.
Our captain had her carbine in hand as she moved to take up position next to the Deter's port-side forward landing gear, which gave her a clear view to the south-west while providing so cover. I slipped the shotgun off my shoulder then followed her lead and took up position by the port-side landing gear amidship, and Jenny crouched behind .
anwhile Finn had his n fan out into a line that ran between the ship and the town south and west of the buildings.
We could all see the two grav-sleds by that point, they were coming in fast and low, no more than twenty ters above the ground. Even at this distance I could see there was a large weapon mounted on the sled on the left.
"Amanda?" the captain didn't take her eyes off the approaching craft as she quietly called my na. "Look after yourself. Sa with you Jenny. I'm not expecting you two to fight, just defend yourselves if you have to."
I just nodded quietly as I clicked off the shotgun's safety. Finn and so of his n were shouting instructions back and forth, but I tuned them out and kept my eyes on the two craft. The one on the right suddenly dropped then peeled off to the left while the one with the big gun ontop raised up slightly.
The two craft were only a hundred ters or so away when I saw a puff of white from the mounted weapon.
Rebecca saw it too and shouted, "Incoming!"
A mont later a sharp crack left my ears ringing, while clumps of dirt were thrown up into the air near so of Finn's n. One of them went down with a howl of pain, but the rest of them held their ground and started shooting back.
Rebecca wasn't firing yet, and neither was I. Jenny stayed crouched under cover behind , but she raised her voice and warned, "I've identified that weapon. It's a forty millitre recoilless rifle. It could do serious damage to so parts of the ship."
"The other sled has circled around to the east side," she added. "They appear to be preparing to land."
"Understood," the captain replied as she raised her carbine to her shoulder. A mont later my ears were ringing as she carefully squeezed off two short bursts at the sled with the big gun.
Jace and a few of Finn's people turned and headed east to intercept the other grav-sled and cover the starboard side of the ship. And so far I'd done nothing at all but crouch against one of the Deter's landing gear and watch wide-eyed while everything was going on around .
Rebecca fired another burst at the sled then shouted, "Incoming!"
This ti we all ducked as the shell burst less than a dozen ters in front of and Jenny. And even with my ears ringing I could hear several sharp clangs as shrapnel peppered the hull and landing gear around .
The captain was already shooting back, and this ti after she squeezed off a burst soone fell from the grav-sled. The sled was still in the air and seed to be repositioning for another shot at us, while the boss adjusted her aim and fired again.
"Captain? Sarah and I have a solution," Jenny called. "Do I have your permission -"
"Do it!" Rebecca shouted back.
Sothing moved near the aft landing gear, and a mont later my ears were assaulted by a series of sharp staccato cracks followed by a chest-rattling thud as the grav-sled exploded. It dropped from the air and landed in a burning heap about forty ters from us. A few of the local militia guys cheered, and two of them started running towards the downed sled.
"Stay in cover," the captain told Jenny and I. Then she erged from her own cover and headed around to check the other side of the ship, where the second sled had disappeared to.
With the fight on this side over I could hear sounds of gunfire from the starboard side. Part of was tempted to head over that way as well, while another part wanted to stay put. I still hadn't done anything but watch, and that left feeling torn as I stood there clutching the shotgun in my slightly shaking hands.
I wanted to help, but I knew I wasn't cut out for combat. I was a doctor, not a fighter. Navy, not a marine. And ultimately, I was a small-town farr like the rest of the people here. I wasn't a soldier.
No sooner had those thoughts crossed my mind when I was startled by a long burst of automatic gunfire to my left. A man was standing there near the aft end of the ship, he had an assault rifle raised to his shoulder and he was firing at so of the local militia n who'd gone to examine the downed grav-sled.
I didn't even really stop to think, as basic training from five years earlier surfaced. Drills and exercises I'd hated with a passion played out in my mind as I sank to one knee and raised the shotgun in a single motion.
The recoil nearly knocked over, and my first shot went well wide but I quickly adjusted as everything seed to slow down around .
The man was clearly one of the raiders, he was dressed in dark grey combat fatigues and had a black bandanna tied around his face like a mask. I could see his eyes though, as he turned his body and his weapon towards . He wasn't using his rifle's sights, but I rembered how to line up the bead at the end of the shotgun barrel. I was prepared for the kick this ti, and even as I saw a series of flashes from the muzzle of his rifle I carefully squeezed the trigger three tis in quick succession.
The whole affair was strangely silent as I saw the clothes over his abdon ripple from the impact of my first shot. My second landed higher up, causing little puffs as so of the HDLI shot impacted his weapon while the rest hit his arms and chest. And my third shot tore the bandanna from his face as the cloud of HDLI projectiles sent a spray of red through the air.
The raider crumpled like a robot who's power just failed, but I didn't move yet. I stayed in my crouch and kept watch for any more movent, any other sign of attackers circling around the aft of the ship.
Sure enough another raider ca into view a few seconds later. This one was obviously wounded, his right hand was pressed against his side and his movents were erratic. He had a gun in his left hand though, and as soon as he saw his fallen comrade his eyes swept up the side of the ship till he spotted .
He swung his weapon towards as he started shooting. It was so kind of submachine-gun and once again I found myself faced with a series of muzzle flashes from a weapon pointed in my direction.
I still had the shotgun raised and ready, I hadn't shifted from my crouch yet. All it took was a few degrees of movent to position the brass bead so it was between my eye and the raider, then I pulled the trigger twice more.
His gun was still firing as he went down, spraying shots in a wide arc before he let go of the weapon.
A few seconds later a third person ca into view around the back of the ship and I adjusted my aim again, before I realized it was Jace. I quickly lowered my weapon, then watched as he moved to check the two raiders I'd shot. Then he looked up and spotted and Jenny by the midship landing gear.
"It's over now Amanda," he stated as he lowered his gun. "Looks like you got the last of them."
Hearing that the fighting was over sent a wave of relief through , followed imdiately by a heavy weariness. I knew I needed to start checking the wounded. I'd seen at least one man get hit, there might be more people in need of dical attention. What I wanted to do though was just lie down right there on the spot and sleep for an hour or two.
Duty won out and I slowly stood up. Sothing felt off though, there was a strange numbness around the left side side of my waist. I looked down and discovered a spot of blood on my clothes, and I realized I must have been grazed by one of the raiders' shots. Or maybe it was a piece of shrapnel from the shell that hit nearby.
Whatever caused it, I hadn't even noticed and it didn't hurt. So I slung the shotgun over my shoulder and fished the first-aid kit out of my pocket. I'd ask the boss to unseal the ship as soon as I saw her so I could get my dkit, but for now the small kit was better than nothing.
I gave myself a half-dose trauma shot for good asure, then started moving to where I saw that first militia man go down at the start of the fight.
Despite the boost of adrenaline from the ds I still felt exhausted, almost like I was in a daze. I pushed though it though, it was the sort of situation I'd trained for.
Over the next few minutes I felt like I was on autopilot. As I moved from one wounded body to the next I wasn't even paying attention if they were local n or if they were the raiders who'd attacked us.
My focus narrowed so I was only aware of their injuries, everything else was dark and blurry on the periphery. I even tuned out the voices around as I went through the motions. If the person was dead I moved on, if not I followed the sa routine. Inspect the damage, administer a trauma shot, and apply wound sealant.
With the last one finished I stood up again and found myself face to face with Rebecca.
I knew there was sothing I wanted to ask her but I couldn't rember what it was. And it looked like she was trying to ask sothing too, but I couldn't really focus on her words. She looked worried though, and I followed her gaze downwards to see I'd managed to get quite a bit of blood on my clothes while I was doing my job.
When I looked back up again I was surprised to note Sarah was there alongside the boss. Jenny too, and all three of them were leading towards the Deter's ramp. I couldn't help feel relieved at the thought that I could finally lay down and get so rest.
In fact I didn't even make it to the other side of the main cargo hold before slipping into the welco darkness of sleep.
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