Battleship Furiosa (19 page)

Even as he said the words, it was
obvious the Byotai wasn't completely convinced himself. There were
many reasons for heat blooms on an orbital facility, but the single
most common one was that the place was currently inhabited. One
thing both human and Byotai required was breathable air and heat.
Without both, the two species would die in a short time. Unless
heavily shielded or cooled, it was almost impossible to hide the
temperature changes created by life support equipment and their
associated machinery.

"Look,
"
said Higgins.

Krammer and the General both
looked at one of the long tendrils that pushed out into the
blackness. Sat upon it, and lashed against the docking arms, was a
large military transport. The vessel was black, as was normal for
ships in the Byotai fleet. It even bore the insignia of the
loyalist armed forces. Marks along the hull showed substantial
damage. It had clearly been involved in a major fight.

"That's one of ours,
a
nd the scanners show her as cold as a
corpse," said Krammer, "We must move closer and drop a boarding
party off to search for survivors."

Commander
Higgins shook his head.

"Smells like a trap to me. That
ship could be bait, Captain."

The Byotai lifted his nose and
sniffed.

"
Perhaps you are correct. We cannot turn away, though, not
now. We have already lost so much."

General Honorius placed a hand on
the Captain's shoulder and uttered several low-pitched words. The
translator completely failed to work, but Higgins didn't need a
machine to explain what was happening. The two shared words before
finally separating, and the General called to his
officers.

"Open gun
ports and ready our weapons. Activate the
armour!"

More red lights flashed
o
n the bridge as the orders quickly
spread through the massive ship. The schematics of the vessel
showed green lights at every point when the gun systems activated.
Once ready for battle he looked back to Higgins.

"
Tell
me, Commander. Assuming you are right, and this is a trap, how
would they do it?"

He pointed to the station.

"We are enemies, right now. If it
were you, and you had access to small numbers of Alliance forces
near this facility, with orders to ambush four heavily armed Byotai
warships, how would you do it and what would be your
objective?"

Commander Higgins grinned.

"I do not have to defeat you, or
even cause you major casualties. I simply have to pin your forces
here long enough for help to arrive."

The General nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that makes sense. What next?"

Commander Higgins ran his eyes along
the odd shaped facility.

"Well,
I'd need to negate your strengths of armour and firepower.
So I'd have to get you close."

He lifted his left hand and ran it
along his chin.

"I'd deploy mines or improvised
charges along the path here, and then leave gunships ready to
attack after a ship passed through. It will sow confusion, but so
close to the station, it will be hard to make effective use of the
main weapon systems."

He then licked his lips.

"It's the perfect point to launch
a boarding action. Assuming I have the ability to transfer
troops."

Again there was a pause for the
translation.

"Very well. Plan your response
and be ready. We will arrive in minutes, and I have no intention of
letting anybody slow me down."

The Captain
moved away and snapped orders to his surprised crew. At the
same time, the warning lights flashed red inside the ship again as
the crew readied for battle.

Byotai Imperial Battleship
'Furiosa'

Serpentis System Rift, Deadlands

24 December 2472

Commander Higgins sank back into his
seat and tapped the icon that showed the lead fighter of Ironclad
Squadron. He groaned as pain ripped through his body. The gunshot
wounds sustained months earlier were well healed, but the pain
always returned if he was not careful. It was times like these he
was happy to not be back inside a fighter, with all the strains and
discomfort that entailed. He wiped his brow and grimaced as the
pain finally subsided, and then checked the outline of the
Lightning Fighter. It glowed bright blue and then brought up the
pilot, call sign, fuel, and ammunition status. He nodded to himself
at seeing such close integration with a foreign spacecraft.

Joint training
missions are not such a waste
, after all.

The fighter pulsed once as he
connected to the communication system. Though not
as comprehensive as used on Alliance warships,
it was more than adequate for the purpose of this
mission.

"Lieutenant Commander. Are you
ready?"

"Sir. We're good to go. All fighters
ready to launch on your command."

"Good. Do you have the scanning data
from the Byotai cortex?"

He waited for a moment and
started to worry that the networked system was
not working correctly.

"Yes, Commander. I have the
waypoints around Serpentis II, and this Super-Max Facility. We seem
to be heading awfully close to the prison, is that
intentional?"

The Commander shook his head and
sighed.

"I am not happy about this location,
not at all. The Byotai say they have no contact with anybody
inside, yet there are some signs of heat, and there's a distress
signal coming from the damaged transport."

"A trap, it has to be."

Higgins nodded in agreement.

"That's what I thought. However, our
flight path takes us nearby unless we want to re-plot our route
around the planet and to the Rift. This is the fastest way through
so we can start the slingshot."

"We'll be vulnerable," she
agreed,
"If I was going to hit the ship,
it would be as we pass the spars. My recommendation is to add a few
hours and bypass the place until we can be sure."

He continued to shake his head.

"No chance. The General is adamant. We
have to pass through, and it's up to us to clear a path for the
ships."

"I see. We are ready to do what is
necessary."

"I knew you would. I want you to launch
on my signal, and to split your fighters into two formations."

With a circular movement of his
right hand, he selected a rotational pattern around the
battleship.

"Four will stay back to provide
close escort. I recommend the Lightnings for this job."

He then moved the schematic to the
right and tapped the prison facility.

"The rest will move into the
Super-Max superstructure and seek out any threats. Look for
infantry, fighters, and improvised mines. Any
questions?"

Again there was a slight pause.

"No, Commander. Everything is
clear here."

Another pause followed.

"Actually, there is one thing.
How long will it take the taskforce to move past the
facility?"

He moved his hands on his
personal screen and checked the path past the station. Numbers at
short intervals marked when each ship would reach that
location.

"Fourteen minutes of travel until out
of the shadow of the facility. That is how much time you need to
buy us."

He then licked his lips.

"We cannot afford to have any of
the taskforce slow down, no matter what happens. Make sure you have
the fuel to do a full burn back to the ship. If you are unable to
rejoin us, you will have to stay on the station until help can be
found. The General will not come back, whatever the
circumstances."

"Sir? Is that a wise move? Surely the
General needs every pilot on board for the mission?"

"That's a negative. The General
is going for the Karnak Rift at full burn, regardless of the
outcome here. So be ready."

* * *

Nate examined the nearby facility with a
mixture of suspicion and fascination. According to the computer,
its size was truly gigantic at almost eight kilometres long,
displacing a mass of two and a half million tons. The central
structure was relatively uniform, with long arms extending out many
kilometres into space. Huge solar panels pushed out to collect
every drop of solar radiation in the system. It could easily have
functioned as a small colony, yet according to all the data
present, it was nothing more than a Super-Max Correctional
facility. As he looked at it, a message from Billy arrived over the
audio channel.

"Have you seen that thing?
The system says it can house up to a quarter of
a million people. Are they serious?"

Nate shook his head with surprise.

"I suppose so. If it's the only
Super-Max in the Empire, then that number could be correct."

Billy continued to speak, and the awe
in his voice grew with each fact that he uncovered.

"Eight-metre
thick armour on the cell block zones and a garrison of
around fifty fighters. It says here that the station carries at
least six fusion reactors, with two more available for surge usage.
It would make one hell of a fortress."

Nate nodded, but Matilda
said exactly what both were thinking.

"So why did they abandon it? This could
have been a strongpoint for them."

The audio from all of them cut
instantly to be replaced by a smooth, calm voice.

"Cut the chatter, pilots. We're
on."

Nate knew the sound of her voice
right away, and he moved his eyes to the side of the canopy for a
good look at the Lightning Fighter. Markings along the flank of the
spacecraft instantly told him that the Lieutenant Commander, their
new Squadron Leader was there. Just knowing such a reliable officer
would be in charge boosted his confidence.

"We have new orders. I will stay
back with three Lightnings and provide a close escort for the ship.
Under no circumstances can we let Furiosa be held up."

What?
Who is going to scout the
base?

"Ironclad Six, you will take
point on the facility. Take Ironclad Seven and the four Mantis
interceptors with you. Move fast and erratically. If they are
expecting us, they will hit you hard
, and
they will hit you fast."

Nate responded smartly.

"Sir."

"This is a joint operation, and that
means this squadron has full, joint authority from Commander
Higgins and the Byotai command to use any means at our disposal in
this fight. If you're in doubt, shoot. Too much is at stake
now."

Nate gulped as he tried to
rationalise what he was hearing. He was now not just a pilot on a
mission, but actually in charge of the six fighters that would spot
for danger in the massive and unknown target, and only two of those
were Alliance. The Byotai pilots were a wildcard, and he could only
hope they wouldn't make the same mistakes Rex had.

"Yes, Sir,
understood."

His attempt to sound calm
actually worked for a change, and he began to relax. His fighter
was armed for multiple missions, and he had little doubt he could
handle anything from a shuttle or fighter right up to a small
warship. So far, he still lacked any kind of credible target, and
that meant it was difficult to prepare for whatever they might
encounter. His mind brought up the spectre of all kinds of dangers,
but the most frightening one was always the one that he didn't
know.

"The rest of you will run a recon
pattern on the designated flight path under the command of Ironclad
Six."

Nate's eyes opened wide as the order
arrived, especially the mention of his name.

So, it's up to me to find any threat
out there. That's not gonna be easy.

He'd been waiting so long that his
hands took a moment to respond to the Lieutenant Commander's voice.
The mission required him to take a lead role, and only now was the
reality of the order becoming clear.

You're the lead pilot on this one.
Don't screw it up!

"All pilots
launch!"

Nate activated the engines and
swung the nose of his fighter around so that it was pointing
directly ahead. The gentle boost of power lifted him from the
surface of the ship and then away from the designated landing pad.
The shimmering curtain provided by the protective energy shield
heavily obscured his view outside of the ship. Nate could see the
other fighters doing the same as one by one the ten spacecraft
hurtled away from the battleship. In normal circumstances they
would have represented just a quarter of the total capacity of the
ship. Now they were the only quarter.

He we go again.

Ironclad Leader was out first,
the bright pulse from her engines filling the landing deck with a
bright blue glow. As the fighter reached the shielded
entrance
, Nate leaned forward, and with
little more than a tap, he hit the engine controls. A short push
boosted the primary engines to full. Flames shot from the rear of
the craft as he hurtled along the deck. From where he'd been
waiting the entire space had looked massive, yet as he rushed
towards the shimmering curtain, the ship shrunk in size. As quickly
as he'd started, his fighter burst through and out past the bow of
the ship. Even a vessel the size of Furiosa took just moments to
pass by.