“Not really. You saw what our cannon can do. It can turn a modern tank into a smoldering heap with a single shot. The brood-bitch won’t fare any better.”

“I agree,” Diamond said. “You kids just fly up and bomb the sons of bitches, we’ll take care of cleaning up the leftovers.”

“Sounds good to me,” Martin said.

Noah was the last to disembark, walking reluctantly down the ramp.

Bulco blocked his way. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I thought …” he coughed. “I didn’t want to get in the way.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” the large Engineer said. “You’re the only Gunner we’ve got, so you’ll be staying right here with us, at least until after the attack tomorrow.”

Noah’s surprised look turned into a grin. “I’d like that. It felt great doing something I was meant to. It’s hard to explain, but as soon as I took the controls, I suddenly knew what to do and how to make it work. Like I was born for the job.”

“We know.” Lana smiled at him. “It’s the Tec. Each of us is wired differently, but we’ve all experienced it firsthand.”

“So I won’t be in the way?”

“Nah, we got two spare beds. You’re welcome to one.”

“Just make sure to change your shirt ASAP,” Bulco grumbled. “That flashy red makes you look like a target.”

The Gunner chuckled. “Will do. In that case, I’ll drop by to collect a few items from my shed. Especially if we’re going to do a sleepover party - I’ll need some cereal for the morning.”

Lana’s eyes lit up.

Bulco chuckled and patted the man’s shoulder. “I think you two will hit it off nicely.”

They waited for Diamond’s people to unload some more ammo crates and for Noah to return. Nori entered the bridge, and they were soon flying toward the enemy stronghold.

Today, they would watch.

Tomorrow, there would be war.

20 - Warped War

“Oh, shoot,” Lana said as they were flying above the damaged streets.

“What’s wrong?” Nori asked.

“We were so focused on fighting we forgot about upgrading the ship. The cannon upgrade finished like two hours ago.”

Bulco winced. “Damn, she’s right.”

“No sense in crying over spilt milk,” Nori said. “We’ve already discussed it. The next upgrade should be the basic plating, right?”

The others nodded. Noah remained silent, not sure what was being discussed.

Nori pressed a few keys on her light console and text flashed across the main monitors.

Basic plating upgrade: 0%

They waited in silence for a few moments, their eyes glued to the screen, but the number didn’t increase.

“Looks like that one’s gonna take some time,” Bulco said.

Nori nodded. “We’ve got eighteen hours until the attack. Let’s hope it’ll be over by then.”