Battleship Furiosa

by Michael G. Thomas

  "Affirmative, Ironclad."

  "Waypoint one, burners...now!"

  The two Lightning fighters accelerated ahead, each streaking flames. Bright blue shapes on his helmet marked the first waypoint to the right, nearly five kilometres from the station. On they went until the four warships faded into the distance. Nate licked his lip as he looked at the facility.

  That is big, very big!

  The imagery picked up by the scanners had shown an odd design, based on a fat bullet type shape, with long tendril arms extended from one of the short ends. Somebody had described it as a Kraken, and the more Nate looked at it, the more he thought this individual was correct. It was big and sinister looking, especially with the scores of limb sections that extended out vast distances into space.

  "Keep your eyes open."

  The six fighters burst through the first waypoint and then rolled to the left as they closed on their destination. The detailed sensors aboard the fighters showed no changes to the temperature or electronic signatures of the area, and that made Nate even more nervous. He lifted the nose of his fighter and followed the planned approach to the second waypoint.

  "Okay, activate sensor packages now."

  The fighters switched on their active sensors. Once on they had a good chance of detecting even well hidden spacecraft and weapon systems, but at the expense of making themselves much more visible and easier to track. He lowered his eyes and checked the reading.

  Still nothing.

  The four Mantis interceptors remained close on their flanks. Even with the Lightning fighters using their fuel hungry burners, they were still unable to escape from the high-speed interceptors. Nate tagged three more locations, one for each group.

  "Okay, split up in pairs and survey the facility. Stick to your pairs, no matter what happens, and follow the search pattern. Keep your eyes open."

  The acknowledgments came in one after the other as they moved closer and closer. A quick glance backwards showed the formation of Byotai ships moving towards the facility, but they were now little more than dots. Just knowing they were too far away to be in danger gave Nate a moment's respite, though he knew that would soon change. Valdis lifted up high as she and her wingman made for the upper decks of the facility. The second pair headed below, leaving the long tendril arms for him and Billy.

  "Okay, Ironclad Seven, we're going in. Two minutes until we reach the outer structure. Stay on my wing and watch your corners. It's gonna get real tight."

  Nate rolled right and left as he neared the largest of the extended sections. As he moved along at just a few metres above the plating, he could see the landing clamps and fuelling points that reached a kilometre away from the station.

  "This must be so ships can load and unload without coming into contact with the main habitation blocks."

  "Yeah," agreed Billy, "So where are all the ships?

  Nate looked down and then to his mapping data. The Byotai ships were closing the distance fast, and by his estimate; they would pass by at around twenty kilometres from this part of the station. That was close enough that a gun or missile system could make contact in a matter of a few seconds at most. He increased speed as he swerved in and out of the cover provided by the docking arm while checking the scanners.

  There’s still nothing.

  "Ironclad Six, report in," said Lieutenant Commander Holder.

  "Sir. No contacts so far. Sensors show the outer arms are clear of active power units and radiation based weaponry."

  "Very good, maintain your sweep."

  "Sir."

  As Nate said the words, he almost missed the double tower directly ahead. The unit lifted up high and was topped by a series of antenna reaching a height of nearly twenty-five metres. A quick blip of the throttle and a lift of the nose was enough to pull him to safety, but only just. Once safe, he dropped back down and then checked for Billy.

  Where is he?

  For that brief moment it looked like Billy had either struck the tower, or he'd been forced to withdraw from the close position against the arm. Nate could feel his pulse increasing.

  Billy?

  Then with a bright flash of blue he moved in from the right and formed up on his flank.

  "I'm here. That got a little close."

  As Nate smiled, he was sure he spotted something glinting off in the distance, on the far right of the main superstructure. No sooner had he concentrated his attention on it, and the light vanished.

  "Be careful. I'm sure I just eyeballed something."

  "Everything looks good over here," said Valdis.

  Nate glanced to his left and smiled as the pair of interceptors split off, leaving massive streaks of flame and energy behind them. He could have watched them for hours as they showed off their speed and agility. The prison facility was truly gigantic, but the frontal section was so complex that even a moment's loss of concentration could leave them dead.

  "Understood. Stay frosty."

  It was difficult, but as he swung the fighter in and out of the next extension beams and platforms, he checked his tactical overlay. His three pairs of fighters were covering a lot of ground, and as they passed over each part of the station, it filled in green to show it was secure. Once satisfied, he contacted Furiosa.

  "Commander, initial scans show the facility is running on reserve power only. Most of the booms are off-line, and there are no functioning ships on the forward side."

  "Good work, Ironclads," said Commander Higgins, "We're coming into range within the next five minutes."

  Nate began to smile, but then spotted that glint of light again.

  "Wait, Sir...I think..."

  An alarm barked as a deep hole punched through two of his winglets and then crashed directly through the rear hull of his fighter. He rolled to the left and almost ran headlong into a loading deck with triple layer gantry on the one side. As he pulled away from the cover offered by the long arms, the electronic warfare suite swung into life.

  "Contact!" he yelled.

  Both radar and active microwave beams were already showing on the threat system, and Nate knew that meant he'd been detected and targeted.

  "Ironclads, break for cover. Stay low and stay fast!"

  Nate and Billy rolled back so that they were flying directly above one of the longest arms leading into the facility's upper superstructure. A trench ran along the right side, and inside was a double set of maglev tracks that extended out to over a kilometre. At one end was a series of massive blast doors, each surrounded by gun turrets, and at the other a pair of motorised platforms for transporting cargo and personnel.

  "Missiles, coming from point five-five."

  Nate didn't bother looking, and instead pushed his nose down and activated his burners. It was a tight fit, barely forty metres wide. Normally, he wouldn't even consider using this part of the station, but with so many warnings flashing, he knew he had just seconds to live, if that.

  "Get into the maglev trench, now!"

  As usual, Billy followed his instructions without hesitation. It was one of the things that made him the perfect wingman. Others might try to assess the situation themselves, but not him. Both fighters dropped down just as a pair of high-speed missiles slammed into the flanks of the trench. A second later, and one of them would have been vaporised. Another missile screamed overhead and struck an antenna, exploding in a shower of sparks.

  "Contact!" Nate shouted, "We've got active SAM systems and emplaced artillery inside the facility."

  The pair continued forward, but there was only so much trench, and tempting as it was to stay there, they were operating on borrowed time. Soon the ships would be passing by, and the fighters had to get back or be left behind.

  "In three...two...one...now!"

  Nate pulled up and boosted his engines. Billy followed right behind as they burst out of cover and into the space between the long tendrils. Smoke and dust trails drifted in the void from the path of at least thirty missiles, and Nate was horrified to s
ee one of the Mantis burning as it evaded fire from further inside the facility.

  "Nate, we've tagged their defensive position in the outer facility. Looks like they've entrenched themselves in the secondary docking bay," said Valdis.

  She would likely be reprimanded for using his name, but there would be time for that afterwards, assuming any of them actually survived. He rolled his fighter around and pointed his nose at the secondary docking bay. Now that it was little more than eight hundred metres away, he could see it formed a secondary layer in front of the main structure. It was actually more than just a bay and looked like a small island that under normal circumstances would have been classed as a station in its own right. A number of the long boom extensions ran into it, and dozens of blast doors of different sizes ran along the base. A causeway linked the docking bay to the rest of the station, and layers of defensive barricades and triple-layer airlocks protected this.

  Red shapes marked on his helmet overlay showed where the Mantis pilots had tagged hostile weapon systems. To Nate's surprise, they were installed in multiple positions all around the docking bay.

  "Good work."

  A cursory look showed they were a mixture of manually targeted gun platforms, and military grade base defence missile systems. Based on the positions, they were intentionally placed to make them hard to spot.

  "Okay, these have been hidden here for a reason, and I doubt they're connected to the defence grid. It's an ambush."

  "Agreed," said Valdis, "What's the plan?"

  Nate's mouth opened in a wide smile.

  "Simple. Activate weapons and hit them hard. Clear a path for the taskforce."

  "Affirmative."

  He then glanced to Billy and nodded.

  "It's time. Activate the Star Fires."

  The pair took aim and quickly tagged the nearest weapon installations. Billy took the missiles systems. Nate concentrated on four separate gun mounts. Two of them flashed yellow as they sent bursts of fire in his direction.

  "Fox Three!"

  A pair of the deadly Star Fire missiles detached from their pylons and accelerated towards the target. No sooner were they gone and he'd sent in another pair. All four used their combination of mixed passive and active sensors to follow a path to their targets, while adjusting their course to make it difficult to track.

  "Rotate and hit them from below."

  They rolled apart just as two more blasts of gunfire struck nearby. As they moved away, the first of the missiles struck the facility. The Star Fires were capable of damaging even the newest warships, and had little problem in destroying the weapon systems with each impact.

  "Okay, rotate and strafe. I want every weapon system knocked out."

  "Ironclad Six. We've got inbound cruise missiles coming from the station," said Commander Higgins.

  Nate felt a lump in his throat. He'd been so busy hitting the station that he hadn't even noticed this new threat. He glanced back to check on the missiles' progress and smiled as he watched green dots on his overlay heading towards them. Two of the four fighters were already moving towards the missiles and had launched a number of their own to intercept them.

  "We've got the ships covered," said Lieutenant Commander Holder."

  Nate almost cheered as a crackle of light marked the detonation of weapons well before they could strike the ships.

  Awesome!

  He then rolled to the left and adjusted his course to line him up for a strafing run.

  "Keep hitting them!"

  The pair of Gatling guns spun up quickly as they unleashed a veritable hail of deadly shells. The chain drive pulled in ammunition from the hoppers and thrust them into the weapon with incredible speed. Dozens of white lights glinted as shell after shell struck the facility. A single autocannon on a level platform swung around, took aim, and then exploded.

  "Good shooting," said Billy, as they pulled apart once more.

  Nate twisted his head and smiled as two more platforms exploded. The tagged targets were dropping quickly, and by his estimate, there could be only a couple left to deal with.

  "Ironclad Leader, just a couple more to go. I think you're clear to come through."

  "Affirmative. Furiosa is moving past now. Good work. Finish off the last few, drop sentry buoys, and get back aboard."

  "Yes, Sir."

  As he rolled to the right, and slightly above the dock, a hidden weapon activated its scanners. As soon as it was switched on, the threat indicators on the nearby fighters blinked red, but the gunners were quick enough to fire a burst before two of the Mantis fighters blasted it apart. Billy spotted the flash of gunfire and rolled away just in time.

  "Nate! To your right!"

  Without thinking, Nate pulled on the stick and boosted his engines. A single high-velocity slug ripped into the underside and tore an engine outlet cleanly away. Worse was that the impact put so much kinetic energy into his fighter he spun out of control, directly towards one of the taller habitation blocks. The eerie structure was massive and protected by layer upon layer of curved plates. A missile whooshed by and narrowly avoided him, before exploding and sending debris into the nose of his craft.

  "I'm in trouble... fighter is..."

  Then came scores of bright white flashes from deep inside the secondary docking bay. Nate's fighter kept spinning, but the blast of broken metal and debris swept him aside and back out into space. Billy pulled up at the last minute, and through either incredible luck or judgement, he managed to get away. The four Mantis fighters accelerated away from the station as a huge section tore apart and drifted away towards the passing ships. Billy looked back for his friend, and then screamed in surprise as the broken part of the facility disintegrated in an apocalyptic blast.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Byotai Imperial Battleship 'Furiosa'

  Serpentis System, Deadlands

  24 December 2472

  This was a critical mission, and now he was drifting in space with no idea what was happening. Minutes earlier he'd been leading the fight. Now he might be alone, with his friends aboard Furiosa and on their way out of the Serpentis System. That feeling of being left alone was almost as terrifying as knowing what would happen to him if he was stuck inside the fighter. His life support system could only keep him going for so long, and though he had plenty of air, his suit would only keep him warm for a short time. He'd die from the cold well before he needed to worry about loss of oxygen.

  What happened? Am I hurt?

  A hundred thoughts filled Nate's mind as his spacecraft drifted about. If this had been a simulation, it would have been over by now. Instead, he began to panic as all kinds of horrific scenarios sprung to mind. With no systems functioning, there could be leaks, each one allowing the warm and breathable air to escape. He could end up as little more than a drifting corpse, frozen like an ice cube. He reached out to the controls, but in the blackness each felt much like the next. It was a terrifying moment.

  Nate shook his head in frustration and then began tapping his body all over. His hands still had touch, though they were starting to cool. He tapped his torso, waist, and upper legs. Everything felt as it should, much to his relief. With the blackness all around, he might just as easily have been badly hurt, and the darkness merely a consequence of his injuries.

  Wait, my eyes?

  His heart pounded until he noticed a flicker of light to the right that quickly faded. It was only for a moment, but it was enough to highlight parts of the cockpit interior. It didn't help him with his predicament, but at least it showed he was conscious and not seriously injured. His mind drifted back to the engagement around the correctional facility. The gun turrets and missile platforms appeared, and he recalled hitting them with missiles and conducting long strafing runs. Then he remembered being hit by gunfire. His fighter had spun wildly out of control before the bright flash had almost blinded him and knocked out his fighter. In theory, he had been incredibly lucky to not be killed by the carnage outside of his cockpit.

>   Idiot, why is it always me that gets hit?

  Nate licked his lips and looked up and to his right, but still he could see nothing. He began to turn in the other direction when something shook the fighter violently. He expected to hear warning sirens, but everything was off-line and the spacecraft as dead as a piece of charcoal. He grabbed his harness as the fighter spun for a moment, until striking another object. Only when it stopped did he calm down for a second.

  The next one could kill me. Now think, and get back to the ship...fast!

  Just thinking about the battleship helped, but only for a few seconds. Then his mind did him few favours by convincing him they were gone, or at the very least leaving him behind. He thumped his fist against the central display column. Every single light in his cockpit was dim, and the canopy had deactivated, automatically reverting to its black colour that made it impossible to see outside. The only remaining power seemed to be from inside his suit, and to the power system it carried.

  You need to see outside. Redirect power from your suit and get the computer on-line.

  Nate smiled to himself as he recalled an argument Rex had had with Matilda weeks earlier. She'd been adamant that it was possible to power up the fighter's onboard systems from your own suit for a few minutes. Rex had laughed her down; telling her the idea was nonsense. What use would a few minutes be in a fight, and all at the expense of losing power to your own suit?

  I'll tell you the use...now.

  The fighter carried a small backup power unit that was charged and kept topped up by the pair of primary engines. It could run all the onboard systems independently of the engines if needed, but for some reason was now completely flat, drained of every joule of energy.

  He fumbled in the dark before remembering the lighting on his suit. All it took was the flick of a switch, and a set of low-power emitters activated. The soft light dazzled him, but it didn't take long for his eyes to become accustomed. Every single instrument was off-line and completely dead. Indicators in his suit showed the ambient temperature already falling substantially.