Battleship Furiosa (12 page)

"Indeed.
We are an asset that is needed elsewhere. Relentless will
be rotated out of the line and take on replacement pilots and
equipment. Furiosa, like all the remaining Byotai ships has
sustained heavy losses, including all of their flight officers and
most of their pilots."

They reached an intersection, and
he stopped for a moment.

"Look, Furiosa is a big girl,
with space for eighteen fighters on board. They are down to four.
Our own pilots will be taking up the slack to bring us up to ten. I
will be liaising with her command staff as temporary
CAG."

He moved to the right
where the passageway would take him directly to
the hangar deck but stopped briefly when Nate called out after
him.

"Sir. Why now? Isn't Furiosa being held
back, out of the fighting?"

The Commander shook his head, his
expression grim.

"No, son, not anymore. We're
going into action, and I need all of you ready and on the
mark."

He looked to his Secpad bracelet and
sighed.

"You've got nine minutes now. Get
yourselves ready, and don't be late. If you're not there in nine,
I'll be leaving without you."

With that, he was gone, leaving
the six pilots alone at the intersection. The five ensigns looked
to Lieutenant Commander Holder for guidance. She seemed equally
surprised at the conversation, even more so when a message arrived
on her own Secpad device. She glanced at the unit and took a deep
breath.

"Interesting, very interesting."

Billy looked as confused as ever.

"Sir, you are coming with
us
, as a pilot?"

She smiled in answer.

"Yes, I will be coming, too. And
as the senior pilot amongst all of us, I'll be taking command of
the Ironclads."

As she said the words, her
expression changed from surprise to stern resolve. Nate could
instantly tell he was looking at the officer he was only too
familiar with. There were some officers that simply exuded
confidence, and though she was only twenty-six, she acted as though
she'd been in command for decades. He began to smile, and as she
looked directly at him, he felt stupid, perhaps a little
embarrassed.

"
Now,
you heard the Commander. Grab your gear and move it! We've got work
to do!"

* * *

Nate was last to make it to the deck,
and as he ran onto the platform, he nearly crashed into Rex who was
coming from the other direction. They both turned off to the left
and through the doorway. Waiting for them was Commander Higgins,
along with the rest of the small group of fighters. The senior
officer looked at his Secpad and then placed his hands down at his
side.

"Within thirty seconds of the deadline.
That was a close call."

"Yes, Sir," said Nate.

Rex turned to him and shook his head.
He might have said something, but the Commander cut him off.

"Son, you had better fall in line, and
right now. You will operate as one of Lieutenant Commander Holder's
new unit, and you will follow orders to the letter."

He pointed with his right hand directly
at Rex's face.

"If you deviate even one
millimetre, I will kick you out of this outfit. Do you
understand?"

To Nate's astonishment, Rex simply
shrugged.

"I get it, Sir. I'll tow the line."

"Rex!"
Cassandra muttered.

Commander Higgins moved up to the young
pilot. It was an awkward walk, made more uncomfortable due to his
injuries.

"You got a problem, Ensign?"

Rex looked right back at him and
for some reason smirked. It was a stupid decision to have made,
whether intentional or not. Commander Higgins was having none of
it
, though. He tapped his Secpad
bracelet, pressed several buttons, and then signalled for one of
the nearby marines to approach. The Sergeant moved to his flank and
saluted.

"Sir."

"Escort Ensign Hampel to his
quarters."

Rex's expression changed in an
instant.

"Wait...Sir...I didn't."

Commander Higgins lifted his right hand
and instantly silenced him.

"No, Ensign, you did. Now get to
your quarters, and when Captain Cornwallis requests your presence,
you will show him the respect you should have shown me.
Understood?"

Rex looked to the other pilots, but
both Billy and Matilda avoided eye contact. Cassandra shook her
head but said nothing. Only Nate actually looked sad to see him
go.

"Sir. He's under a lot of..."

"Enough," said Commander
Higgins,
"Now, follow me to your
fighters. We have work to do."

They
walked along the deck and past the many crew busily working
on the group of fighters. With the starboard deck currently busy
launching fighters for patrol work, this entire section of the ship
was now available for Commander Higgins and his unit. Five
Lightning fighters waited on their launch rails, and a sixth
rotated to the right as it was manoeuvred back to its rest cradle.
Nate gulped upon realising that it was Rex's fighter being moved
away. The Commander must have noticed his look because he indicated
towards the line of fighters.

"This is an important mission and
requires
skills as a pilot, but also
diplomacy. We will be serving aboard an alien vessel, in the middle
of what is essentially a war zone."

A shape moved from behind the first
fighter, and then stepped out in front of the small group.

"Lieutenant Commander, good to see you
again."

She smiled politely at Commander
Higgins.

"All fighters are fuelled, armed,
and combat ready. We're good to go."

"Excellent. Mount up and leave when
you're ready. I'll see you aboard."

With no further talk, he turned
away and headed for the single Hammerhead that waited further along
the deck. Nate could just about make out four other personnel, all
of which were technicians. They began to move away, until a
familiar pilot appeared from behind one of the weapon
loaders.

"Fletcher?"

He moved at a fast walk while
struggling to tighten up his PDS Naval body armour. Finally, he
stopped in front of the assembled pilots and saluted to Lieutenant
Commander Holder.

"Sir, Ensign Neil Fletcher
reporting for duty."

The Lieutenant Commander
responded with her own salute.

"Good. Now, you understand the
importance of this mission. You will be subordinate to Ensign
Lewis, and be on your best behaviour. Is that
understood?"

The skinny pilot nodded repeatedly.

"Of course, Sir."

"Now, according to your own pilot
log, it says you have operated with a Byotai bomber squadron on
simulated exercises. Is that true?"

The Ensign looked to his comrades
before answering the question.

"Well, kind of, Sir. I was a substitute
gunner for a simulated inter-academy demonstration last year."

"But you did work alongside Byotai?

"Well...sort of, Sir. The entire
operation was conducted by remote. I never actually got to see the
Byotai in the flesh."

Her expression remained impassive
as she looked at the yo
ung pilot. Her
eyes started low at his feet and worked their way up. By the time
she reached his eyes, it looked like he was trembling, but with
excitement, not fear. Of all those in Knighthawk Squadron, he was
the one that should be the most comfortable around new people. His
reputation of being something of a dealer of unusual and hard to
find items was already common knowledge among his
comrades.

"
Ensign
Lewis. Any signs of trouble or dissent with your pilots, and you
will send them to the Byotai brig. Do you understand?"

"Yes
,
Sir!"

"Good. Let's go."

Their new
Squadron Leader led the way to the fighters where as usual,
deck crew waited. Small wheeled ladders were in position so that
they could climb up and into their craft. Nate moved to the third
fighter and nodded upon seeing his name along the flank. It was the
same fighter he'd used so many times now, and he was stunned at how
quickly the last damage had been repaired.

"She's good to go?"

The technicians gave him a polite
wave as he climbed the ladder.

"Yes, Sir. Everything is working
to spec, including upgrades. She's never been better."

Nate lifted o
ne leg to climb in and then spotted a long series of black
marks along the hull. The memory of how they got there gave him a
chill.

"Great work, I'll see you again
soon."

"Good hunting, Sir. We'll look forward
to your return."

Fiorr Veej System, Deadlands

23 December 2472

The column of Byotai ships split apart
as one unit remained with the fleet, and three ships trailed behind
the great bulk of Furiosa. Three escort ships were still nearly ten
thousand kilometres away, and each had their engines on half burn
as they quickly closed up the gap to their flagship. Any drones,
probes, and fighters were already aboard as all four vessels
changed their heading to one of the Rift entrances.

"
All
fighters, report in," said Lieutenant Commander Holder.

One by one, the small group of
pilots called in as they moved into a wide 'V' formation. Nate
looked in both directions and spotted his comrades identification
markings, as well as the full load of weaponry. Apparently, more
ordnance had been sent over via a Mauler, and he could only hope
that there would be enough.

"Very good. Now follow me in..."

They had been in space for little
more than ten minutes, but Nate could already feel his heart
pounding. Relentless was just a grey smu
dge behind him, and in front was the grand shape of the
Byotai battleship. The stars refused to move as usual, but he could
still see the flickering of light as a single ship duelled with ANS
Promethium. Nate looked down and checked the status indicators on
his fighter. Every one showed up as green, though all of his
missiles were currently off-line. It was standard procedure during
a ferrying operation and would take just a couple of seconds to
reverse, if needed.

"There she is. What
do you think?"

Nate shook his head in stunned
amazement.

"She is one...incredible ship,
Sir,
" said Nate.

"Quite. She's our home for the
next few days, maybe even weeks. There are a few things you need to
know before we arrive."

He
was
surprised to be hearing this now that they were already in space.
He knew of the ship's class rather than by name, but even the most
unassuming pilot would know the posting was something
special.

"First, the remaining pilots are
very, and I mean, very loyal. Watch your language around them. They
will likely attack or kill any that disrespect Kratha and his
family."

Nate's
eyes opened wide as he listened. He'd only served aboard
Relentless, and that was only for a few months. At no point had he
ever thought his life might be forfeit if he did the wrong thing,
apart from when he was already in the cockpit.

"Second. You will follow my orders, and
those of Commander Higgins to the letter. Any sign of deviation and
you'll be sent to the Byotai brig, for your protection and
ours."

Nate shook his head.

Wow.
That's harsh.

"And third. This mission is
critical. No matter what happens, we have to fight alongside the
Byotai, whatever the cost. There can be no doubt in the fight to
come. If any of you are
unable to comply,
turn around now."

She paused for a few
seconds
and then continued.

"Very well, then. Follow my
landing pattern and come in at ten-second intervals. The Legion
Class ships use an unusual landing approach; so make sure you stick
to my commands. Don't try and be clever."

"Understood,
Sir,
" said Matilda, "We've actually
operated from on board her sister ship in simulation more them
fifteen times."

"Very good. In that case you can go in
first."

Nate
chuckled to himself as he waited for the reply from his
friend. Matilda was the least impressive of the pilots in terms of
individual skill and innovation, but she flew by the book, and he
suspected she knew the landing procedure so well she could land
with her eyes shut.

"Understood, Sir. Happy to do
that."

He
nodded to himself, a little proud of the fact that one of
his friends was so sure of herself. It said a lot about the unit of
videogame pilots.

"Very well, form up and lead us
in."

"Sir."

The fighters split apart from
their wide format
ion and into a long
column with plenty of space between them. Matilda began a circling
motion as she made for the front of the battleship. With time to
spare, Nate gazed upon the hull of the vessel and exhaled
slowly.

She is a beauty.

Unlike other ships in the Byotai
fleet, this one bore the colours
reserved
to those few ships that escorted the Imperator. The standard fleet
colour was black, a colour used uniquely by the Byotai in battle.
Nate recalled that only a dozen or so ships were coloured in this
manner, the Red Star being the most famous. It was a mark of
Imperial favour to bear the grey and gold.