Battleship Furiosa (10 page)

"I will provide the rest of your
ships with marines, support crew, and fighter squadrons from the
Helios reserve. This will free up your own people so that you can
send a small force of your best ships to reconnoitre the shipping
lanes to the Serpentis System. Collect any loyalists you encounter,
and if able, move on to the Karnak System in the Tenth Quadrant and
make contact with Makos."

He tried to look reassuring to the
Prince.

"Do not let your ships engage
with the forces of Tahkeome unless they have the tactical
advantage. The priority is to obtain actionable intelligence for me
and stay in contact. When I have information, I can respond, but
not before."

The room stayed quiet for nearly five
seconds until finally the Prince spoke.

"I cannot send my
ship
s on without me. They are my birth
right, and all that I have remains with them."

Admiral Churchill shook his head.

"No, my friend. You are more important
than any ship. You should stay aboard Warlord and help me plan a
long-term strategy to stabilise this border, and to reclaim your
lost homeland."

The Prince looked disappointed,
but as he looked at the other captains, he knew the Admiral was
right. General Honorious, who until now had been relatively quiet,
decided to speak.

"The Admiral is correct,
Prince.
It would serve none of our causes
if you were captured or killed leading loyalists inside occupied
territory. Let me take Furiosa and her escorts through the
Rift."

Prince Kratha walked over to his
old mentor a
nd grasped his arm in his.
The captains watched on uncomfortably as they spoke. It was a
private moment, yet none could tear their eyes away. Both spoke in
their own tongue, but the translators did a reasonable job of
converting their words after a short delay. After nearly a minute
of talking, the two split apart. The General bowed slightly and
then groaned. His injuries, though reasonably healed were still a
problem to him.

"Very well
. I will organise a taskforce within the hour."

Admiral Churchill
nodded politely.

"Time is our enemy. Speed is the
priority, so I would..."

Prince Kratha lifted his hands
and pointed to the icons that represented each of the
ships.

"Battleship Furiosa is the
strongest and fastest ship here. If I strip my best crew and
fighters from the other vessels, I can outfit her for the General.
Although I could use more infantry and pilots, if you can spare
them. Very few of our fighter pilots remain since the exodus.
Furiosa and our new generation of fast destroyers can make the
journey faster than any vessel here, even your own
ships."

One of the captains laughed at
that bold statement, but Captain Galanos' eyes remained on the
Admiral. Through all of this, the others had been surprised, yet
the Admiral remained calm and objective. He didn't seem
particularly taken aback at the Prince's suggestion, and if she
knew any better, it looked as though he'd been rather impatient for
either Kratha or Honorius to make the point earlier in the
conversation.

He planned this from the start. He
wants the symbol of the Empire alone and in the heart of enemy
territory. Why?

"Very w
ell. Have your officers forward their needs to me, and I
will do what I can to make the rest of your ships fully
operational. Furiosa must leave within the hour. Any further delay
and Tahkeome could very well strike before we know what is
happening."

"Thank you," said the
Prince,
"I could use more pilots for my
fighters, engineers, supplies, and as many marines as you can
spare. Our warriors have been greatly diminished."

He looked pained as he realised the
weakness of his position.

"One day Byotai strength will
return, and on that day you will see what we are truly capable
of."

The rest of the briefing was over
in less than a minute, and one by one
,
the images of the captains vanished until just Admiral Churchill
remained. Captain Galanos looked across the table at him and
maintained her connection even though it appeared he'd dismissed
her.

"Is there something else, Admiral?"

He smiled in answer.

"Yes, Captain. I need volunteer
pilots to join the expedition, and they need experience of working
with the Byotai military. Specifically, I need pilots with
knowledge of the region."

Captain Galanos knew right away that
this wasn't a request, and that there was only one group of pilots
on her ship, perhaps even in the entire fleet that might be able to
help.

"I think I might have some that fit
that description."

The A
dmiral nodded as he listened.

"Indeed you do. Your Knighthawks
trained with the Byotai at Mognathus Seven, did they
not?"

Captain Galanos nodded slowly.

"Yes, Admiral. The cadets were
part of a joint programme between the best youngsters in the
Alliance and the Byotai Empire. They were to compete in a major
dog-fighting tournament. But surely you would be
better..."

He shook his head.

"No, Captain, it would
not.
I need people I can trust aboard
that ship."

His eyes moved across to Captain
Cornwallis. As the CAG for the ship, he'd not been asked any
questions and had remained silent for the duration of the
meeting.

"Captain, is Commander Higgins
available?"

The N
aval officer nodded smartly.

"Yes, Admiral. He remains as my
deputy and has performed admirably in the operation so
far."

"Good...very good. I want him,
and as many of Knighthawks active pilots as you can muster. General
Honorius needs them on board within the hour. Get them ready. They
will need to leave in the next thirty minutes."

Both turned away as alerts
sounded inside their separate ships. Captain Galanos checked her
tactical screen
that was just visible
through the partially smoked divider that led back into the
combined CIC and bridge. Two more ships were coming through and
already taking fire from the Alliance ships waiting for them. She
looked back and exhaled, making a sound that was a borderline
sigh.

"I'm a little confused as to our
strategy, Admiral."

"Really, how so?"

Captain Galanos felt uncomfortable, but
of all the senior officers in the fleet, there were few that would
listen as carefully as the Admiral.

"Well, is it wise sending a small
Byotai force to the Serpentis System? What if they reach the Tenth
Quadrant and run directly into Tahkeome. Won't this simply show him
that we know where he is, and what he is doing?"

Admiral Churchill grinned.

"Quite. And that is exactly what
I am counting on. We will continue to ready ourselves, but I must
have information on Tahkeome, and I need to know where his strength
is."

Captain Galanos'
eyes lit up.

"So you send something that even
Tahkeome cannot ignore. You want General Honorius to be discovered,
why? Won't they give chase and follow them back here?"

To our waiting fleet. He wants that to
happen?

Admiral
Churchill gave nothing away with either his tone or body
language.

"Please have the pilots and their
craft ready to leave. This mission is critical to us, Kratha, and
General Makos, assuming he is even alive."

"Yes, Admiral."

The imagery faded, and the
Captain waited for a few seconds as she collected her thoughts. The
mission was simple, but she still couldn't quite understand the
Admiral's strategy.

Is Churchill really sending Furiosa in
for reconnaissance, or is she going in as bait?

An image of the massive ship appeared
in her mind, the vessel surrounded and pounded by scores of Star
Empire ships. It wasn't a pretty sight at all.

What will Tahkeome do if he finds the
Byotai flagship at his flank?

The Captain shook her head, knowing
full well the answer was obvious.

The Admiral wants
intelligence, but he also wants Tahkeome
to make the first move. And when he does, he can then
act.

Only then did she realise that Captain
Cornwallis was still there.

"Everything okay, Captain?"

She smiled.

"Of course."

As she turned away, a thought
popped into her head. She looked back at the officer with a
quizzical look to her face.

"This entire mission for the
General, it's not just for intelligence, is it?"

The man shrugged.

"I...don't know, Sir. By sending
in the General, he is guaranteed to get Tahkeome's attention. Maybe
that is all he desires. A way to control Tahkeome, and to bring him
where he needs him.

He then smiled as though he didn't
believe a word of what he'd just said.

"Alternatively, it would be the perfect
case of casus belli to bring him before our guns and force him to
act. Either he leaves, or he assault our combined fleet."

Her eyes lit up at the term.

Cause for war,
s
urely not?

Alliance Armoured Assault Ship 'ANS
Relentless'

23 December 2472

The skirmishing at the Fiorr Veej System
continued to erupt sporadically at the exit point of the Rift.
Sometimes it was a single warship, but more often than not it was a
cluster of captured ships, each forced through the minefield and
into the waiting guns. As before, streaks of gunfire lashed the bow
of Relentless as the ship sailed past the Rift. She remained in a
loose formation along with the entirety of the Alliance war fleet.
Energy lashed the ships from the Rift as small groups appeared from
the heart of the enemy domain. It was a dream that seemed little
different to Nate's waking routine. Yet this time the skirmish had
transformed into a violent confrontation between two massed fleets.
It was as exciting as it was terrifying. Nate had not slept so long
in a very long time, and his fatigue resulted in fantasy and
reality merging together into a bizarre hybrid of space battles and
violence.

The only bi
g difference this time was that he was in command of
Relentless, and no matter what decisions he made, guns and missiles
continued to rain down on his ship. It was a deep sleep, exactly
what he'd needed for weeks. So deep that the moment Relentless took
a direct hit he almost jumped out of his bunk. In his dream it was
nothing more than a stealthy cruise missile that travelled at
impossible speeds while remaining invisible to sensors. The weapon
had been launched by an aged and already badly damaged frigate. The
vessel was a burning wreck by the time the missile made it towards
the fleet. The weapon streaked past the defending destroyers and
struck Relentless amidships. The klaxon sounded loudly as the
breach widened, sucking out crew, pilots, and marines at will. It
took a full five blasts before he opened his eyes and groaned,
"What?"

The thunderous drone
of the loudspeakers echoed through Nate's
quarters like a relentless pounding on a drum. He shook his head
and tried to close his eyes, but the sound would not stop. After so
many sorties and briefings, the sound blurred into random noise,
and in his mind the role of commanding Relentless still felt like
his. He might have wanted to ignore it, but like everybody on
Relentless, he had a responsibility to be ready. He shook his head
in irritation and checked the clock.

Not even midnight yet. I need
sleep.

He
checked his Secpad bracelet without even rolling out of his
bunk. The device lit up, and it took a second or two for his eyes
to adjust. There was, of course, no day and night aboard the ship,
at least not in relation to the planets or stars around them.
Instead, they operated under Alliance Central Time, fixed
specifically on the world of Terra Nova, the capital.

"What is it?"
Billy asked.

Nate rolled his head to the side
and spotted his friend leaning up
against
the wall, but still sitting on his bed. A thin film of perspiration
covered his forehead, and it looked as though he hadn't slept in
days.

"Relentless has joined the
rotation for the Rift. We're moving up to support two more ships
around ANS Promethium....wait..."

Nate threw himself forward and landed
on his feet in front of his bunk.

"Suit up. Higgins wants us in the
briefing room. Something big has come up, and he's calling in all
squadron pilots."

Billy yawned and began to move to
the edge of his bunk. He didn't dawdle, but he also didn't appear
to be in any great hurry to get ready.

"When?"

Nate grabbed his tunic and
laughed, just as the separating curtain slid past and the tired
face of Matilda appeared. It was rare to see her without her
glasses, and both of them looked at her as she rubbed her eyes. It
took a moment for them to even realise she was only half dressed,
with just her pants and underwear. Nate gulped nervously, and
Billy's mouth quickly turned to a smile. Matilda spotted him
gawping at her and shook her head. Military issue gear was hardly
exotic, and upon formally joining the Squadron, each had been
issued with everything they would ever need as part of the Alliance
Navy. Women all wore the same style of sports bras and underwear,
something that had caused quite a ruckus with Cassandra when they'd
boxed up all her personal items.