Battleship Furiosa

by Michael G. Thomas

  Get a grip, Nate.

  He double-checked the safety on his weapon and then waited. The noise increased, and the light shifted as shapes blinked the lamps. Two guns fired, and chips ripped up from the nearby steps. Matilda stepped to the side to avoid the shots, and then they were inside. A pair of soldiers ran in shouting. These ones wore prison guard uniforms and carried thermal shotguns. Without hesitating, the first fired, striking the already wounded Byotai that Dogg had been helping. The second lifted his weapon just as Cassandra charged at him, and then yet more came in. Some had guns, but many more carried metal bars, rods, and anything that might cause harm.

  "Get down!" Nate shouted.

  Cassandra crashed so hard against the enemy soldier that the two of them slammed into the nearby wall. He snarled and threw her aside, like a child discarding a toy. Now that Cassandra was clear, there was a clear line of sight to the two of them, and the Byotai officer opened fire with his pistol. The marksmanship stunned Nate as he fired two shots at a time with pinpoint accuracy. He then looked back and barked an order in clear English.

  "Fire!"

  Captain Sobiex! Of course it is.

  In that one instant, Nate knew exactly who he was looking at. It was the deck officer that they had met only recently. The pale skinned officer spared no more time talking to them and continued to fire, while slowly stepping back.

  "You heard him, fire!" said Matilda, in her usual clam voice.

  All of them opened up with their weapons. Nate closed his eyes as the carbine fired at close range. He knew what it would do to his enemy this close, and though he had no choice, his instinct was to avoid looking. When he finally opened his eyes, three more enemy combatants were down. The rest had scattered and were now firing in a sporadic gunfight.

  "Stay down!" Matilda ordered.

  Nate stepped back to the side of the steps. The others moved to the sides of the hall using any cover they could find. Shots flashed back and forth, and each lit the space with white and yellow light. A militiaman rushed to the middle and was cut down in a second. Another joined him and managed to hit a Byotai crewman before himself being hit. The fight was a confused mess of shouting, terror, and gunshots. When it finally stopped, there were nine bodies on the ground, three of which were loyalist crewmen. Nate checked for wounded but found just one of the enemy on his back and spitting blood. He moved closer, but Dogg reached him first and pointed her gun at the wounded Byotai's chest.

  "No!"

  Dogg ignored him and fired twice before lifting her eyes to his.

  "A traitor's death."

  Nate gulped, horrified at what he'd seen. A sound of somebody groaning brought him back to reality, and he moved from the bodies to the staircase. There he found Valdis cradling the fallen crewman. He coughed once more, and then he was dead. It was an odd moment, but with all the shouting and screaming, it had turned deathly quiet, with nothing but the bodies and the smell of burning weapons to remind them of what happened; that and the panting from all of them.

  "We were too late," muttered Valdis.

  The crewman wore his Naval uniform, and it was now stained with blood from the double gunshot wound. Valdis lowered him to the ground and turned her attention to Nate.

  "We have to hurry. They are getting close to the General."

  Captain Sobiex lifted a thermal shotgun from the ground and stepped into the middle of the group. His uniform was dirty with dust and blood, but he appeared unhurt for the recent gun battle. Without even looking at the weapon, he released the ammunition feed and slipped in a new clip. At the same time, Valdis double-checked her portable computer unit.

  "What's happening out there?" asked the Captain.

  Valdis brought up a three-dimensional schematic on the unit. It showed the lost areas of the ship as red, and compartments currently contested in flashing red. Even Nate was surprised to see the amount of red had reduced in the lower parts of the ship.

  "Their strength is dwindling, so they are throwing all they have to cut off the head before our crew and warriors can mobilise."

  She pointed to the lower decks that appeared to be fully in the hands of the Byotai loyalists. Nate touched the unit at that point, and it made a buzzing sound. He pulled back his finger as though he'd been told off.

  "Time is on our side, so they must be regrouping to head for this area. Look at their movement."

  It was obvious to even the least intelligent person that the enemy were not trying to secure the entire ship. Instead, they'd taken the hangar and fighter deck, and were still embroiled in battle between the infantry and medical decks. Flashing red zones appeared all around the command deck.

  "They have to be stopped with overwhelming force," said Captain Sobiex, "I will rally our troops to this point for a counterattack."

  He pointed to the left of the command deck and directly above their current position.

  "There we can hit their positions from behind and protect the General."

  Valdis nodded in agreement.

  "Very well, Captain. We will follow your lead."

  He looked to the steps and pointed.

  "We must hurry. Follow me. Hurry!"

  They left the scene of the small battle, and even as they reached the next level, they could hear the sound of those far below. Valdis stepped back and looked over the edge of the staircase. She could see right down to the lower sections of the shaft.

  "They are six levels below us. Keep moving!"

  Nate felt weak and impotent as they kept climbing. His gut told him they should stay here, defend part of the ship, and help in the battle. But his mind told him something else. Valdis was correct, and defending this section would change little.

  Valdis is right. We need concentration of force, and the place for that is the crew and command deck. We'll rally everyone we have there for the final battle.

  Nate might hate sneaking about inside the ship, but his friends were not soldiers. They knew their worth in a major firefight, and this was reality, not a videogame. Failure meant death, and on Furiosa there were no respawns. Only together could they have a chance in this battle. The Sergeant had already secured the medical deck. With luck, they could do their part elsewhere. Billy paused to catch his breath and immediately caught the eye of Captain Sobiex.

  "No stop. Keep moving!"

  Billy shrugged, and they continued on upwards. The fire shaft conjured up the idea of yet more narrow tubes with ladders. The reality was completely different. Though clearly disused, the steps were very wide, and at some point in the past had been covered in a soft material, perhaps even carpeted. Complex tube lights hung down from golden brackets and bathed the steps in a warm glow. The walls may have been well adorned in the past, but they were now stripped of all value. In their place were thick cabling and pipes, presumably there to shift energy throughout the massive vessel.

  It took almost fifteen minutes for the nine of them plus their new friends to climb their way up the shaft. As they neared the top, they could feel their legs weakening. They'd passed by multiple decks, but the faded markings showed they were still too far below their destination. That hadn't stopped them checking each one for signs of friends or enemies. Unlike the Alliance ships, the Byotai battleship was actually very well equipped with secondary access points and walkways. Nate had assumed this was part of the actual design, but Valdis had explained that with the great age of the ship, it had been refitted and modified a hundred times. Every time work was done, another access point or passageway was created, or more often than not, rediscovered. A low boom sent a gentle shudder through the steps.

  "The fight isn't over yet," said Cassandra.

  They heard the crackle of gunfire far in the distance, but with each corner they traversed, they seemed to come no closer to the source. At more than a dozen points, Nate would have liked to stop to examine the architecture and design. It was an incredible vessel, and even these emergency shafts were full of gilded edging and paintwork to rival the best human p
alaces of old. Nate caught up with Valdis, walking alongside the Captain.

  "Valdis, is this definitely going to get us there? It seems to be taking forever."

  The Byotai pilot hissed but refused to stop walking forward as she answered his incessant questioning. She moved quickly, and Nate struggled to maintain her pace.

  "We need to avoid the main through routes, and this means taking the fire shafts."

  She lifted her hand and showed him her portable computer panel. Each time he saw it, he was reminded how archaic the thing looked. It was like a scaled down version of the venerable Secpad, rather than the new wearable tech worn by Alliance operatives.

  "According to the public cortex, the intruders have taken four more decks in the last ten minutes. There must be at least eighty of them left, maybe more, and they are not afraid to die."

  Nate's eyes ran along the various routes to the upper parts of the ship. There were entire areas still held by Imperial forces, and Nate tried to move them from his mind. They were clearly fighting for their lives and making the attackers' time much more difficult. He pointed to the area directly above the infantry deck.

  "The Sergeant wasn't kidding, look."

  Both turned their attention to the block of blue and green. There were several major compartments, all surrounded by blinking red.

  "The Sergeant has created a hold on the enemy. Incredible," said Valdis.

  The diagram showed the medical deck and the attached sections as an isolated bulge, an entire area held by loyalists. Above this area were the command deck, bridge, and crew areas. Valdis pointed to the command deck.

  "Our units have secured the main routes to engineering and blocked the shafts. The only way for these rebels to defeat our ship is to breach the middle decks and penetrate the command deck."

  "What happens then?" Nate asked.

  Vadis sighed. Dogg heard them speak and inched past with her prized carbine held tightly in her hands. When she spoke, the words came out more quickly and with a much thicker accent than that of Valdis.

  "If they take the command deck, they will take the bridge and control of the ship."

  Nate looked back to Valdis.

  "Then we'd better hurry."

  Another twenty steps and they reached a round platform with a sealed compartment door in front of them. The surrounding walls were much older looking than the other parts of the ship, and the golden gilt faded and chipped to reveal the dull underside. Valdis and Dogg moved to it and tried their luck with the access panel. Nothing happened.

  "What?" Billy complained, "Are you kidding me? We can't go back."

  As if to emphasis the point, a loud rumble shook the ground, followed by a long, nearly continuous burst of gunfire. Nate was no expert, but he was sure he could hear both Byotai and Alliance weaponry being used. It could also just be nothing more than his imagination. Svana sent him a withering stare before placing her communication device alongside the control panel. She then flipped open the wall mount and began her work.

  "She's hacking the door?" asked Cassandra, "Fascinating."

  Captain Sobiex signalled for them all to move to the round platform and wait for the door to open.

  "Check your weapons. We have to be ready."

  Nate and Billy moved back and lifted their carbines to the shoulders. The sounds of battle continued, and Nate hated being trapped in this grim part of the ship with nothing but battle all around them.

  "Remind you of anything?"

  Nate looked to his friend and grinned.

  "Yeah, we seem to end up trapped inside ships and stations, don't we?"

  Matilda moved alongside Svana and watched her carefully. It wasn't because she didn't trust her, but merely to be educated in the use of the equipment and tools. Matilda was ever curious, and this was a skill that might come in handy again. Svana muttered and then whispered, while continuing to work away.

  "The ship has been sealed against intruders. Only senior officers have access to the codes."

  That seemed to have the opposite effect on Billy as he watched. It did little to pacify him.

  "So how can you open it? You're not a senior officer, are you?"

  Svana stopped for a second and turned her gaze on Billy.

  "No I am not, but I know an officer that is."

  She winked with one eye and went back to work. Billy turned to Nate and Valdis, and shook his head.

  "I...uh...what?"

  Valdis laughed in that odd, alien fashion that always threw them off guard.

  "She means she's spent some close time with him, and that helped her gain access."

  Svana chuckled.

  "Something like that. He has no secrets from me, anymore."

  The door hissed open, and a stack of boxes collapsed in towards them from the brightly lit room. Billy panicked, spun around, and opened fire. The three shots narrowly avoided Svana, before punching into the wall and leaving a deep wound in the material. Nate struck the weapon from above and the muzzle dropped down.

  "Watch your fire, Billy."

  Captain Sobiex grabbed Billy's arm and snatched the weapon from it in a single, smooth motion. He then flipped on the safety and spun it around before placing it back in Billy's hands.

  "Be careful with your gun, or I may not be."

  A low pitch sound filled their ears, and then the door swung open, sending in a thick smell of burning. There was light out there, and it was much brighter than Nate had expected.

  "Follow me," said Captain Sobiex.

  The Captain stepped out first, and one by one they followed until only Svana remained. She reclosed the door and then sealed it using her device. They all headed to the right and towards the rear of the ship. Nate looked in the other direction, but the passageway was obscured twenty metres away as a broken pipe vented steam, effectively blocking his vision.

  Convenient.

  Valdis' computer was too far away to see, but from memory he knew they were now roughly on the same level as the medical deck, and just one ramp away from the command deck. They filed along the open space, staying close to the walls. The passage was hexagonal in shape and lacked any obvious bulkheads, other than those that marked each of the compartments. Lighting in the walls, floor, and ceiling provided a well-lit and relatively warm part of the ship compared to where they had been.

  Man, I wish I were back in my fighter right now.

  That made Nate think of the hangar deck, and his already battered Lightning.

  I wonder if she's still intact?

  He shook his head, forcing himself to concentrate on the mission. The passageway was like any other in the ship, and as Nate followed Valdis and the Captain, he spotted bodies. This was not the first time, but with such bright light he could see everything in great detail. Captain Sobiex stepped carefully and checked the first few while muttering to himself.

  How could they get so many aboard, and so fast?

  Ahead of them was a double blast door, and unlike most in the ship, this one was half open and the corridor beyond completely black. As he watched, a light flashed once, and then it turned dark once more. Blue sparks crackled down the right-hand side from the shattered controls. Captain Sobiex stopped at the opening, lowering his body to look inside. He then pulled back slowly.

  "Are you all ready? Do not fire unless you know the target is hostile. This is disputed ground. We have to get to the General, and fast!"

  Nate nodded and then pointed at the steam blocking their rear.

  "What about the reinforcements? You said for them to come here."

  The Captain snorted while lifting his nose to the air.

  "Yes, and they are not here. Either they are unable to come here...or they..."

  He paused, not wanting to say more. Valdis had no such qualms.

  "Or they are dead. We can wait no longer, Nathaniel."

  Ensign Fletcher groaned as he lifted his own carbine, while the others did the same. Nate looked back to his comrades and made sure they were all acco
unted for. Even the Byotai crew appeared ready, if more than a little overwhelmed. They were technicians, engineers, medics, and caterers. From the way they moved, they were definitely not soldiers, yet now they were doing just that, and not one of them shirked their responsibility.

  "This is not exactly a unit of special forces, is it?"

  Nate shrugged.

  "It's what we've got, Billy. I just hope it's enough. What's ahead?"

  The Captain smiled in that weird, reptilian fashion, and then ran through the doorway.

  "Let's go!" Nate yelled.

  The group charged through the doorway and into the unknown. Nate was third through and had expected to be hit by something as he crossed the threshold. The passage widened to double the size, and he quickly took up a position to the right. Billy moved behind, and soon half of them were past the bulkhead. They waited as their eyes adjusted.

  "Keep moving."

  Captain Sobiex was gone, and Nate felt a moment of panic. He knew little about the layout of the ship, and now the officer had rounded the corner and vanished from sight. Billy pushed him from behind.

  "What's the hold up?"

  Nate gulped and then lifted a foot to move forwards.

  "Nothing, let's go."

  He moved to the bend, and as he rounded the corner, a light flashed on, momentarily blinding him. Instinct made him cover his eyes, yet for some reason nobody fired. He lowered his arm and looked ahead to see a line of Byotai soldiers, five kneeling and four more upright behind them. It was like an ancient formation of musketeers, and all eight pointed their guns directly towards him. Nate gulped once more and began to lift his weapon.

  "Lower your weapon, Ensign!"

  Nate's brow raised in confusion. The voice was familiar, yet he recalled no Byotai speaking like that. He lowered the muzzle and from behind the formation came the armoured figure of a Marine. The warrior stopped in front of him and deactivated their visor. The metal moved away to reveal the face of a young woman. Nate's confused look immediately transformed into a smile.

  "Valentine? What are you doing here?"

  She grinned at seeing his expression, but then signalled for him to keep moving. She might be a friend of Nate’s, but she had a job to do, and no pilot would keep her from that. Nate had never seen her so motivated before, and he could only assume she'd been put in charge of this small unit.