Battleship Furiosa Read online

  Need to do something...fast. Try the power.

  He tried to reach his flank, and after two fumbles, he was able to tap open the flap on his flank and pull out a thin ribbon cable. As his eyes moved back to the cockpit, he realised he'd completely forgotten where the external maintenance socket was, and that sent a shiver of fear through his limbs.

  Where is it? Come on!

  Try as he might he could not remember, and when he saw that his suit's power had already dropped down two percent, he began to panic. Nate could already feel cold creeping into his suit, and he knew from stories he'd read, that it would soon spread to his limbs, and then slowly to his body. One of the emitters on his suit flickered and shut down. At that very moment, fear took over. His chest pounded, and he felt as though his heart would stop at any moment.

  "Must...I must..."

  Nate's breathing quickened, yet no matter how deep he breathed there seemed to be no air. He reached to his chest and thumped at his thin armour, as though that could have any discernible effect on his life support system. His right hand slid along the cockpit, tapping flat panels and buttons. To his surprise, he found something that felt suspiciously like a power socket. He looked down and tilted his head to allow the light emitter to show him the area more clearly.

  "There it is!"

  Though still panting, he pulled the ribbon cable from his armour and pushed it into the port. The magnetic connection clipped into place, and a single red flight appeared on the central console. Nate's eyes zeroed in on it like a falcon spotting its prey moving through scrubland.

  "What now?"

  As he spoke, the words made a dull rumbling sound, as if he was half asleep. He shook his head violently and then concentrated on the computer system. A column of red text filled the left side, showing him all the deactivated systems. A handful blinked amber, including the engine start.

  Surely not?

  Without thinking about it too long, he expended nearly ten percent of his suit’s power and activated the engine start system. At first there was nothing, just the grim blackness that constantly served as a reminder of his potential future. Only the blinking amber light gave any indication that the fighter might spring to life. The pair of CTC Danthros V engines were hybrid powerplants and thrusters, capable of both atmospheric and space flight. Neither could function without the small internal power unit functioning, though. This unit was needed to start up the two engines, as well as to provide backup power for the fighter's systems. Nate nearly choked when the blinking amber turned solid amber and then blinked green, as it showed ready to activate the engines.

  "Come on, do it!"

  The light flashed again, and the indicators for the portside Danthros V engine turned green. Just seconds after that the engine started to feed electricity back into the fighter, quickly charging up Nate's suit, as well as refilling the small backup powerplant. Another light switched on, and to his excitement the second Danthros V engine sprung to life. Immediately after that, the multiple red lights turned to amber as power surged through the cold, almost dead hull of the fighter. A single display switched on, and most of the onboard systems powered up. Life support was next, and he breathed a sigh of relief as the temperature reading quickly recorded the increase. Everything was returning to normal, and with it, his pulse. Last to activate was the canopy, and it slowly turned from translucent to fully transparent, finally allowing him to see what was happening outside.

  What happened out there?

  He'd expected to see flames, or perhaps nothing but the void of space. Instead, he could see only fifty metres before his line of sight was broken by a massive section of station. Even as he watched, the section rose upwards and was replaced by large sections of girder. There were parts of the shattered station in all directions, yet one thing they had in common, they were heading in the same approximate direction.

  "This is the last call. Get aboard in the next sixty seconds, or you'll be left behind."

  Higgins!

  Nate's eyes ran down the line of status lights and stopped as he read the red light over the communications system. It marked the operability of the video, text, and audio system, and the news was not good.

  "Are you kidding me?"

  Nobody could hear him, but that didn't stop him complaining to himself inside the cramped and lonely fighter. With each word he spoke, the sense of fear and abandonment seemed to become more and more real. Knowing his friends were out there merely made him more desperate.

  "So I can listen, but not transmit."

  A yellow flash obliterated a section fifty metres wide, and through the gap came a sight he'd never expected. Nate almost choked. Ahead lay the flank of Furiosa, and she was bathed in the flashing of guns. Explosions raced back and forth, and he quickly understood what was happening. He closed his eyes for a second and hit the thrusters. As the fighter moved forward, he almost cried out with excitement.

  Hurry!

  Debris drifted so closely that it took every effort to navigate through the minefield of broken and twisted metal. Another flash sent a cloud of shattered metal compartments into his path, blocking his way through. Cursing to himself, he pulled up his burners and twisted through another batch of damaged segments. The ruined parts of the station were all around him, and even the computer found it hard to calculate a route through the wreckage.

  There!

  The glimmer of yellow light below showing a partially intact landing platform gave him a chance. He had no idea what the light might signify, but it was at least different to the wall of metal moving ever closer to his fighter. He rolled the Lightning fighter ninety degrees and then accelerated ahead, with both engines belching long blue streaks of flame.

  What the hell!

  Once again, Nate had to change his fighter's course, but this time it was made much more difficult. As well as the constant pattern of drifting debris, there were the non-stop blasts coming from the hidden ship. Every time he thought he was about to break out, another chunk of metal drifted in the way and risked possible destruction and death. The constantly moving cloud was like some cruel videogame where it changed every few seconds. He might have found the challenge to be fun, but not when his life depended on it. Finally, he was trapped, with nothing but a massive gantry and the nose of some battered looking freighter still attached to it blocking his path.

  Where is Furiosa?

  Nate checked his computer navigation systems and pointed his nose in the direction of the massive ship. Debris drifted from both sides towards him, leaving him little choice as to what to do next. Either he waited to be crushed alive, or he used the only tools left to him.

  When it doubt, blast your way out!

  He couldn't remember who'd said the words, but right now it sounded the perfect solution. His eyes ran down the list of onboard weapons, and he immediately groaned at the wall of red. The missiles all showed as off-line, two actually coming up with warning errors. The port side gun had a loading malfunction, and that meant just one weapon remained functional, the starboard gunnery system.

  Work! Please work!

  He hit the standby mode, and the gun started spinning, ready to open fire on command. He held his breath as his finger moved to the trigger button. Even on such an advanced fighter as the Kerberos Pattern Lightning, weapons were still released using dumb switches and buttons. Thought and retina-controlled weaponry were still considered unreliable.

  "Try this on for size!"

  He was loud and cocky, but most of that bravado was little more than nerves. There was always a chance that something could go wrong. A damaged weapon system could easily rip itself from its mount, or worse, it could cripple the fighter, effectively leaving him to die a slow, lonely death. It was only one gun, but the high rate of fire, coupled with the pitching and rolling action by Nate, ripped open a path through the last piece of debris. In that moment he spotted the gap, and without thinking, he hit the burners.

  "Now!"

  The fighter made
it halfway just as a long metal gangway swung towards the side. Nate spotted it, but there was nothing he could do other than brace himself. It struck his flank as he burst out of the debris field, taking two of his winglets with it.

  "I made it!"

  He looked back and shook his head. The massive cloud looked bigger than the space station and headed for the side of the group of ships. The computer had already tagged hundreds of objects, the largest sections now targeted by the main guns on the Byotai ships. One especially large one swung down to the bow of Quorra, the lead Viper Class destroyer. Her two hundred metre-long bulk looked puny next to the cloud of debris heading for her.

  "Lightning spotted. It's Ensign Lewis!"

  Nate knew the sound of Valdis’ voice right away, and a wide smile immediately formed across his face. His eyes then widened as he watched a volley of gunfire from the destroyer smash the first section apart. Smaller guns then did their work breaking the rest up so that it struck the ship like a shower of hail. He sighed with relief as the damage amounted to little more than scratches or small pieces of armour broken off. Any other ship would have taken more damage, but Nate suspected the Nanocrystal paste gave them considerably more protection.

  What about that one?

  He rolled to the right, but with the extra damage already sustained, his fighter proved difficult to control. The computer shut down the fault outlet so that he could at least maintain a reasonably straight course. He took aim and pulled the trigger. A red light flashed up, and then a heavy thud that set off a series of alerts through the fuselage.

  Great, another problem!

  More flashes rippled along the right side of the fighter, ending in a gout of yellow flame. Nate shook his head with frustration, and when he looked ahead, the group of Mantis fighters were coming right at him.

  "Uh...what?"

  Three launched missiles, while the fourth blasted away with guns. All four then split apart, separating like a growing star in front of him and then to his rear. Multiple explosions marked the destruction of yet more fragments.

  "Ensign Lewis, get aboard now. That goes for all of you. Back inside in four minutes, or get left behind."

  "Sir. We're on it," said Lieutenant Commander Holder.

  Nate pulled on the stick, but instead of rolling, the only response was another red light.

  "Not good!"

  He pulled to the left, and the fighter rolled around, so he kept going until reaching the opposite side. Now in position, he tapped the image of Furiosa and selected the deck for a forced landing. The computer instantly calculated a landing route, with more than a dozen waypoints stretched out from him to the deck.

  This is not gonna be easy.

  A few more course corrections, and he was on the way. Once sure the fighter was doing as it was told, he checked on his immediate surroundings. The other fighters were still circling the ships, blasting apart the parts of the station, while the ships did they job. Even so, for every piece they destroyed, another four smaller sections struck the ships. Tiny glints of light and the occasional explosions indicated where each piece hit, yet still on came the ships, like great icebreakers of old crashing through frozen water. Another large deck section spun precariously close to Furiosa before being shredded by the combined firepower of Narvhol and Quorra. A ripple of flame marked the death of another chunk, and through the shattered remnants came the four Byotai fighters. They exhibited incredible skill, as well as something bordering on recklessness.

  Look at them go.

  The formation of Mantis fighters screeched past and then made for Furiosa. Each used their burners to easily out accelerate the Alliance fighters. As the first made it inside the armoured hull of the ship, Nate heard a voice that instantly put a smile on his face.

  "Nate, hold on."

  He glanced back and spotted Billy moving towards him. He had no idea where he'd been, but he was just glad his friend had made it through all of this in one piece. Billy accelerated alongside and then waved to Nate, who did exactly the same back. That was the moment when the Lightning finally failed him. First the starboard engines spluttered, and then a huge section ripped off and vanished into the blackness. The fighter began to spin widely out of control.

  "Nate!"

  Billy pulled away at the last moment, narrowly avoiding being struck by Nate's flailing spacecraft. He tugged at the controls, but with each passing second, another system failed until just a handful of thruster outlets worked, giving him almost no control. The best he could manage was to get the nose pointing slightly at the battleship.

  I can't make it back in time.

  As he thought of his predicament, he felt his chest becoming heavy. In some ways it was even worse, knowing he was this close to safety, and yet just as far away as before. Billy moved further ahead, and though he tried to slow, Commander Higgins instantly countermanded him.

  "Aboard now, do not linger."

  "Sorry," said Billy as he activated his burners.

  The Lightning fighter pulled away and was soon joined by Matilda and Fletcher as they headed for the ship. Nate was actually pleased to see his friends go. With so little control over his fighter, it was just as likely that he would end up crashing into his friend. The one thing worse than not making it back aboard the ship would be if he somehow did the exact same thing to his friend. At least this way Billy had a chance. Nate licked his lips and tried one last time to bring the engine back to life. It pulsed once and then cut out completely.

  "Great, that figures."

  With the communication system off-line anyway, there seemed little point in trying to disguise how he felt right now. He took one hand off the controls and used his left hand to open his visor. Cool, but fresh tasting air drifted into his mouth with an odd, partially calming effect.

  "Hold on, Ironclad Six, we have you."

  Nate's brow tightened as he looked in all directions. Billy and the four Byotai were now already on the deck of Furiosa, and that could only mean the Lieutenant Commander and his friends. A shape appeared to his left, and he looked on in surprise as the fighter came to within a few metres of his flank.

  "The damage is extensive from here. Deactivate your engines and leave this to me."

  Nate lifted his hands in resignation as he watched her. Even so, he was confused at what she proposed to do. So intently was he watching the one craft that he didn't notice the second, piloted by Ensign Hurley. Although lacking in Nate’s tactical skills, or the sheer intelligence of Matilda, the young woman was a pilot of perhaps even the equal of Rex. Only when his fighter shuddered did he look over and see her fighter actually pressed up against his. Nate jumped but managed to avoid hitting any controls that could have spelt disaster for all three.

  "Okay," said Lieutenant Commander Holder, "Now we get to the ship, and fast. We're running out of time."

  The two fighters pushed against Nate's damaged Lightning and partially collapsed two of the already shattered winglets. The three then followed a long arc at half normal speed, while the ships continued to blast away at the last of the debris. Most of the large chunks had now floated past, but enough remained to be of a threat. One even headed into Nate's landing path, but a burst from the guns of Furiosa soon knocked it aside.

  "The deck is clear for you. Bring him home," said Commander Higgins.

  They staggered back, like a pair of friends helping home a drunk friend. It was the most terrifying experience of Nate's life, as his fighter twisted and groaned throughout the duration of the entire flight. Yet for all the panic, they made it to the bow of the ship and the brightly lit interior. The two fighters stayed with him to the very end, before finally releasing him and pulling apart.

  Here it comes.

  Nate leaned forward, clenched his fists, and placed them against his chest. For a second nothing happened, and then his fighter struck the deck with an almighty crack. He expected it to explode or rip apart, but nothing of the sort happened. The worst was that one of the landing struts gave
way. Luckily, with a zero-g environment, he just kept on sliding until reaching one of the many designated landing pads. No sooner had he slid into place, and the clamps were already locking him down into position.

  "He's on board and intact," said the Lieutenant Commander.

  "Good work. Get off the deck and inside fast. We start our acceleration to the slingshot phase in seven minutes. That was close."

  As the elevator moved the fighter down a level, Nate found that he had absolutely nothing to say or do. He just waited there, a look of total astonishment on his face. Even when he arrived on the main hangar deck, and the canopy was lifting up, he still looked just as confused. He tried to stand, but his legs were like jelly, so he looked down to the right where the Byotai pilots were waiting. Billy was there, too, waving like a mad man. Nate shook his head in utter amazement.

  "How the hell did I survive that?"

  The ladder was now in place, and this time Billy clambered up to help his friend. Nate kept shaking his head, but Billy ignored him, leaned inside, and deactivated the harness before helping to pull him to his feet. It took almost thirty seconds to get from the cockpit to the deck, but once his feet were on solid ground, he could have cried with happiness.

  "You okay?"

  Nate looked up from his feet at the pale face of Cassandra. She appeared almost as surprised, and perhaps as terrified as Nate had been. He reached out with his right arm, and she grasped it firmly.

  "Thank you, Cassandra. That was some serious flying."

  The Byotai pilots moved alongside the others and waited for them to stop. Valdis nodded in the human fashion, saluting as Lieutenant Commander Holder approached. The others did the same until she gave the order for them to stand at ease.

  "Well, that was interesting, don't you think?"

  She then turned her eyes to the alien pilots.

  "So, what do you think of your new wingmen? Are they good enough for the Ironclads?"

  The ship shuddered a little as the engines increased in intensity. At the same time, the inertial dampeners pushed even harder to counteract the effect of the powerful acceleration. In a matter of seconds, they were already pushing two-g and still moving faster. Valdis placed an arm around both Cassandra and Nate and snorted with amusement.