Battleship Furiosa (4 page)

"Great work, pilots. Time to rotate.
Vampire Squadron will be here in two to three..."

The fighters rushed away but this
time on standard thrust only. Each still carried nearly a quarter
of their original fuel, as well as a small reserve, but there was
no sense in wasting fuel as they withdrew from battle. Nate used
the moment to check for signs of Rex. For the shortest of moments
he thought he might have been captured of killed, but then he found
the IFF tag as the capsule moved through space.

You
luck
y fool, Rex. A drone must
have snagged him.

There were scores of
diff
erent drones out in space, most there
to provide long-range intelligence. There were also a handful with
the sole job of rescue and recovery of downed pilots. It was a
thankless job, but one ideally suited to semi-autonomous and
expendable machines.

Nate took a sip of water from the
inlet pipe in his helmet and then ran his eyes over the multiple
status indicators. The Lightning IIA was a complex spacecraft, and
even with its modern, simplified indicators it was still easy to
get lost in the wea
lth of information.
The fighter was covered in sensors, but luckily for him, the
majority of the data was then collated and examined by the onboard
computer before presenting only what was important to the pilot.
They were already a good way back towards the Alliance fleet when
another warning beeped on his navigation display.

"New contacts."

He
changed the view on the display to show directly behind
just as another bright white flash enveloped the Rift. Four
civilian spacecraft ploughed through the minefield and exploded on
arrival. They were unarmoured and might easily have been liners or
transports. Even as they continued to explode, another two ships
arrived and burst through their shattered hulks. As before, they
used the wreckage of the broken ships to shield themselves from the
worst of the damage. They were not as big as the first ship, but
still a match for something as substantial as an Alliance cruiser.
As before, the sound of the enemy commander drowned out their
internal audio systems.

"The eradication of the impure
has begun. This system will be purged."

Commander
Higgins
’ voice filled Nate's ears, and he
smiled at hearing the voice of the man responsible for putting them
in the cockpit of these fighters. It seemed like an age ago when
they'd taken command of the drones, yet now they were
pilots.

"Two flights are en route to
relieve you. Assist the Vampires until they arrive, then get back
here, fast!"

With Captain
Cornwallis currently on board ANS Warlord, the
responsibility of CAG had moved to Commander Higgins. He now
commanded the fighters and gunships of the assault ship, and did so
with the usual calm confidence he always exuded. Lieutenant
Commander Holder sighed over the comms.

"Understood, Relentless. Moving
back to assist."

She then turned her focus to her two
remaining wingmen.

"Move to point three-three. It's
time to join the Vampires."

The formation moved in a wide arc
as they changed course and then boosted their engines to maximum
combat power. Though not quite the same as using the burners, it
did provide a slower, but continuous level of thrust to get them
back into the action. As they moved around
, Nate was granted the perfect view of the battlefield, and
it looked like a still image from a movie or even a great painting.
Direct energy weapons glinted off the thin dust, while guns and
missiles whooshed past in all directions.

"Shouldn't we draw in more ships
and increase our combat power?" Nate asked.

The Lieutenant Commander took longer
than normal before answering.

"In theory, yes, but the Admiral
has given us our orders. The fleet remains at the Rift and
protecting our way home. It is important to maintain our ability to
manoeuvre, even at the expense of damage to the fleet."

Nate's
eyes blinked three times as flashes announced the arrival
of yet more ships.

Yeah, great plan. And
what happens when they have an entire fleet here
, and we're still throwing in ships one at a
time?

He
shook his head and made changes to his course to stay close
to the others. He looked back for a moment and almost asked for a
warm drink. It was a bizarre thing to do, but even now, after so
many real missions in this fighter, occasionally he'd forget that
and would return to the simpler time, when he'd been sitting at the
simulator and surrounded by people.

Not here, Nate, this is for real.

A quick check on his display
confirmed the arrival of more enemy vessels.
It was clear that the Star Empire had not given up on this
territory and continued to force more of their number to enter the
system.

"Con
tact! Ships coming through," said Commander Higgins, "We're
launching more gunships."

Nate glanced at display and the
grey outline of the now empty weapon systems. His fighter had the
capability of mounting a great variety of different weapons, but
most of
his were now gone, limiting his
combat options. More than anything, he'd like to have had access to
long-range missiles. It was always safer to conduct warfare at
maximum range and let the weapons do the talking.

Ordnance gone, seventeen hundred rounds
left on the guns.

It wasn't much;
especially compared to what he'd left with. Gone
were the anti-ship missiles, as well as the medium range air-to-air
missiles. Ordnance was still limited in the fleet while they waited
for replenishment ships to arrive from Helios Prime. That meant
half-loads for most missions. Off in the distance were the tiny
dots of the enemy fighters, and as the computer added up their
numbers, Nate sighed.

Thirty-four fighters.
A
nd quite a few
ships.

"Okay, move above the
Vampire
s and stay frosty," said
Lieutenant Commander Holder.

As Nate moved into position
alongside Vampire Squadron
, he felt a
pang of excitement ripple through his body. Yes, flying these
fighters was terrifying and dangerous, yet for all of that he still
felt as though he'd won the jackpot. His eighteenth birthday was a
month away, and already he'd made a name for himself as a pilot,
something he could never have dreamed of. He smiled as he recalled
that one event that had changed everything.

Three years ago, Nate had played
a mission in the Star Crusader public simulation. It had been at a
par
ty event among friends, pitting a
dozen of them on their computer systems against a
computer-controlled battleship. The scenario was randomly created,
hardly something unusual, yet it had special significance to him.
One by one, they had been destroyed until just five of them
remained. They had moved in close to deliver their cargo of atomic
warheads in a mission that would ultimately fail. That was the day
where Nate had taken over command of the squadron and had tasted
command for the first time. Ten minutes later, the mission was
over, and although they failed, it had shown him what he wanted to
do with his life.

I'm a pilot...finally.

He
blinked twice and then shook his head. This battle was
escalating fast, and he had expected nothing more than another
boring patrol. Instead, the enemy had sent in multiple Star Empire
warships and was showing no signs of withdrawing, even after they
had suffered at the guns of ANS Promethium. They were arriving
piecemeal, though it was already clear that the Alliance would have
to deal with them, and fast.

"Stay in formation and do not
enter the dang
er zone," said Captain
Brockway, "The heavies will deal with the new arrivals. Our job is
the primary warship."

As the most senior pilot in the area,
he immediately took command of the three remaining fighters to
protect his oversized squadron of the eight Bullnose gunships.

"Understood,
" replied Lieutenant Commander Holder, "We're ready to
assist."

Nate watched as gunships spread
out into a wide formation, forming an open box so that they could
protect each other with their turrets. The Lightning fighters
deployed above the gunships and nearly half a kilometre
ahead.

"Stay in formation.
W
e've got multiple hostiles on
approach."

Nate had never heard the
Captain's voice before. Unlike his senior officers, this one
sounded softer and a little friendlier.

"Okay, thirty seconds to launch. We
will wait until the last second before launching. Be ready and
watch for fighters. Do not let them through."

On went the S
quadron and directly towards the massive Star Empire ship.
Already the Alliance ships had turned their attention to the pair
of new ships. Though undamaged, they were far less able to deal
with the big guns of the Alliance warship, and already Nate could
see they were taking heavy damage. Only the smaller guns fitted to
ANS Retaliation still fired at Thondar. His eyes moved to the left
flank of the Alliance Battlecruiser as the banks of turrets swung
to the side. He licked his lips in anticipation.

Here it comes.

He
had
never been this close to a Conqueror Class Battlecruiser when it
unleashed a full broadside, and though he was in a battle, he just
had to watch what happened. Although based on a redesigned and
enlarged Crusader Class, this latest iteration of the design had
been thoroughly reworked to make it an even more effective weapon
platform. Due to advancements by the CTC Corporation it was now
possible to mount pulsed particle weapon systems directly into
medium-sized turrets. The older models were going through a
refurbishment programme to bring them all up to the tranche two
specifications.

"Keep away from her
guns,
" said the Captain.

Nate made subtle adjustments to
his course and then looked back at the weapons. ANS Retaliation
featured much more than just the forward facing particle cannons
now standard fitment of Alliance heavy ships. The bulbous bow
carried three forward facing turrets along with two sets of six
turrets along the upper deck. And further back another eight turret
emplacements all around the primary superstructure. On both of the
ship’s haunches were an extended series of bulkheads carrying four
more turrets. Topping off the massed weaponry were another pair of
turrets aft of the main superstructure.

"Wow!"

He had not
meant to speak so loudly, and his voice spread through the
fighter group, much to the amusement of the older pilots. Nate
could have kicked himself, but the damage was already
done.

"Cut the
chatter,
" said the Captain, his voice
less happy than before, "Fighters moving into range. Prepare for
incoming missiles."

Nat
e
nodded as the formation of three fighters moved ahead another
hundred metres in front of the entire strength of Vampire Squadron.
This formation of heavy gunships was similar to the equipment he'd
already used on Relentless. The gunships were anti-ship variants of
the Bullnose and carried multiple anti-ship missiles on extended
hard points along the flanks and underside.

Here it comes.

"Fire!" said Lieutenant Commander
Holder.

The three fighters opened up with
their guns as more than a hundred short-range missiles rushed
towards them. A second later the gun turrets of the gunships opened
fire, creating corridors of gunfire that looked like pouring rain.
Dozens of flashes marked the deaths of missiles, and then they were
in range. Some missed, but many struck their targets or the
countermeasure units each dumped into space. Nate coughed in
surprise at seeing the lead gunship take five direct hits
simultaneously, and then it was gone.

"Two gunships down! Follow
me,
" said Lieutenant Commander
Holder.

Nate held his breath as the two
formations of fighters and gunships clashed. There were no
collisions as they crashed together, like two ancient armies
charging
across an open plain. Guns
blasted away, short-range missiles chasing both sides without
mercy. More explosions raked the blackness of space as both sides
took losses, and then they were through.

There it is.

Nate breathed in deeply as the
large Alliance formation lined up on the powerful warship. One by
one
, they called out and released their
weapons. Scores of hypersonic Star Fire missiles hurtled towards
the ship, and then separated like an exploding firework. For a
second Nate thought the mission had failed, but then each missile
took on a new terminal flight path to confuse the ship’s defences.
Some were shot down, but as the formation pulled away, at least
thirty impacted along the flank of the ship. Explosions shattered a
section more than fifty metres long.

"Withdraw, the heavies are going
to finish the job, and more fighters are now in
position."

Nate acknowledged the Lieutenant
Commander but still checked his scanners. There were now two more
squadrons of fighters in the area, and they were weaving in and out
of the enemy units. Two groups split off to join the remnants of
the Vampires.