Getting Ready for Combat

After their meal, the crew of Cannon 13 made it back to the cannon.

As they entered the room, there was a noise echoing throughout the room. It took all of them but Liam a second to place where it came from. It was the whirring of a machine and the scratching of a hard cloth against metal. The noise originated from the cannon itself.

Liam gave a slight nod of approval towards the cannon then started giving them orders. Some were tasked with oiling the rims of the shells and casings. Others swept the room spotless. A few oiled and cleaned the cannon, while the noise continued for about five minutes then abruptly stopped. Liam gave orders for other tasks as they finished the originals.

After about an hour the crew had cleaned and prepped everything within the room for the battle coming. Shells were lined up on the chain, ready to be loaded into the cannon. The mechanisms of the cannon were all clean and polished, leaving every action to go smoother. And the store of shells in the ammo room were all greased, ready to be launched into the void of space with minimal resistance.

As they finished the duties, Liam let them rest and started communications through the panel by the cannon and an earpiece he wore. Shortly after, he keyed a few buttons on the panel and the cannon began rotating in its position until it was pointed to the left at a certain angle.

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A couple hours later and Liam had everyone assigned to their best performing roles as they anxiously awaited the go signal. Eventually, it came and Liam ordered for the cannon to be fired.

The sound that rang throughout the room was louder than any of the training they had previously done. It erupted like a giant BOOM.

Liam didn't let up though and loudly demanded, "Next shell!"

Quickly, the cannon crew grabbed the next shell and the chain crew started pulling as the ammunition room put another shell on the chain. Just like they were trained, they functioned together in sync with little delay.

They continued to fire shell after shell with no reports on the consequences of their actions. All they knew is that they had to load the shells one after another and fire when commanded, while petty officer Liam adjusted the angle of the cannon. For all they knew a shell from the enemy vessel could be hurtling back towards them or the enemy vessel could be a smoldering mess

Little did they know that the truth was something a little more marvelous. After about ten shells they shot out there was another klaxon that rang and Liam instinctively shouted, "Prepare to repel boarders!"

The petty officer went to one of the cabinets on the wall and opened it with his key to reveal a variety of tools from wrenches to crowbars to saws. "Find whatever you can use." He gave a somber look towards the crew in front of him. "Fight like your life depends on it! because it does."

Each of the crew gave looks between themselves, unsure of the situation. Miccah looked over to Vog and noticed a sly smile as Vog looked back at him. 

Miccah looked over to Verona and gave her a reassuring smile as she looked back at him with worry.

He had a bad feeling about this.