You're interrupted

You're on your way back to your quarters to see Osha when you hear Vel's voice over the comm. "John, you'd better come up to the bridge. We're almost to the Laris jump lane, but I've got a hostile contact on sensors."

"Shit," you mutter to yourself. "I'm on my way."

You were curious as to what Osha wanted to talk to you about, but that will have to wait another time. You break into a run as you head towards the bridge. When you get there, you see that Kalis is already at the weapons console, and Osha is there, as well, in front of the engineering panel. Taking a seat in the command chair, you look up to see the image of a Red Fleet ship on the main viewscreen.

"It's a Class A Scout," Kalis tells you. "Minimal weaponry. It does have a hangar bay, so it might be carrying a fighter or neurosuit." You feel a little bit better after hearing that. The Royal Flush is a Class A, as well, but Eldren has made many modifications to it over the years, and you're certain that your ship can outfly and outgun anything else in the same class. Still, that scout is most likely sending communications to other Red Fleet forces in the area, and if you run into anything bigger than a gunboat you'll be in trouble, especially since you're short handed on crew. Eldren always did the jobs of three people on the bridge, and you know you'll be sorely missing that kind of expertise.

"Vel, how far to the jump lane?" you bark. "ETA 3 minutes at our current speed." Her voice is completely business-like. Times like this remind you that she is indeed a clone. "Forward at flank speed," you tell her. "Get us into that jump lane. Kalis, target the enemy ship and fire at will, weapons free."

"John," Osha says in a calm voice, "I can overburn our thrusters, increasing maximum velocity by 138 percent, but it will drastically reduce the fuel reserves."

"Do it," you say. You've never seen any engineer who could pull that off, but then again you've never seen anyone do some of the things that Osha can. Soon, you can see the Lane Station on the viewscreen just behind the scout. Moments later, red beams of light lance out from your ship into the Red Fleet scout.

"Direct hit," Kalis says. "One more salvo should knock down their shields. Firing Mass Accelerator now." You feel a rumble in the ship as the main gun, the Mass Accelerator, launches a solid matter projectile. It races towards the scout, which is attempting to maneuver out of the way. The metal slug punches through its shields, hitting the hull and causing a large explosion in its side. It continues its turn in an attempt to avoid any further shots, but its movements are slow and sluggish. You're almost to the jump lane now.