As Nettle complied with her orders, Caledonia turned briefly westward where Mino and her crew had already dispatched their Bullet ship and the Blade continued to fire on the barge. Energy surged through her: They were going to win this fight. They’d taken down a Fiveson and now they were going to take down his entire fleet.

Almost as soon as she’d had the thought, a shout came from on high, “Tails! Five tails closing in fast!”

Caledonia spied them a second later: five new ships shooting out from behind the barge. Not counting the four ships they’d already disabled, that made six to her three. Good.

“Pull back!” Caledonia called. “Harwell, alert Silver Fleet and the rest of Red that we’re preparing for blue hawk!”

The crew of the Blade launched a third set of fire-bringer bombs toward the barge. On the broad deck, Scythes ran for cover or leapt overboard to avoid the explosion of fire.

The bombs landed, sending flames scrawling across the barge. Then the Blade spun away to begin its retreat.

“Pi! Send another round to our friends out there!” Caledonia cried. “Harwell! It’s time to retreat to blue hawk!”

Amina and her gunners immediately moved to Pisces and her team as they prepped the next set of silencers, and Harwell sent his message across the radio.

“Nettle, get ready to take us out of here!” Caledonia marked the pursuing Bullet ships as five silencers flew from the bow of the Luminous Wake. Three landed in the water, slipping quietly beneath the waves, but the other two struck the lead ship. Bullets dropped in droves, providing the distraction Caledonia needed.

“Now, Nettle!”

The Luminous Wake spun its nose away from the barge, swinging in behind the already retreating profiles of the Blade and Piston. Without missing a beat, the five Bullet ships still able to sail pursued, drawing together like an arrow chasing a target. One thing she had learned about Bullets was that they couldn’t resist a chase. Every Bullet needed a target, and she was glad to give them one.

Caledonia watched them chew through the waves, thinking they had her on the run, while the plane of Decker’s barge burned. This was her favorite moment of any battle. When the plan she’d drafted in her mind came together in perfect, bold strokes of fire against water.

They ran, and the Bullets chased. Right into the midst of Silver Fleet and the additional five Red Fleet ships holding back for this very purpose. The Bullets were surrounded before they’d even spotted the trap.

For a moment, the battle seemed to pause as the Bullet clips realized their mistake. Then they moved again. Three chose to fight and were quickly subdued, while a fourth fled, and the fifth surrendered immediately.

Caledonia surveyed the scene with grim satisfaction. The battle was theirs, and if his ship was still afloat, so was Fiveson Decker.

CHAPTER THREE