As Nate moved to the side of the lower deck of the Byotai battleship, he could tell it wasn't a drill. Simple tell-tale signs were noticeable, not least the fact that they were still a long way from the shattered and war-torn planet of Karnak. Any course alteration was significant.
"Ironclads, we've got company."
Nate relaxed at the sound of Commander Higgins’ voice. He was their only real link back to the Alliance, and bridged the gap between the Alliance pilots and their attached engineers and the alien Byotai crew, of whom few spoke any form of English.
"A single formation of four Anicinàbe Lancer Light Cruisers have broken free of the planet's gravity well, and are on course to the Serpentis Spacebridge."
Nate absorbed that information as he reached the bottom of the ladder. He was already on the main fighter deck when the sound started, and in less than ten seconds, he'd reached the base of the ladder leading up into his waiting fighter.
We just came from Serpentis. That course will send them right past us.
Ironclads, you'll screen us from any ordnance they drop on the approach. Furiosa will deal with the ships."
The battleship echoed with the sound of crew preparing the other spacecraft for the mission. Nate clambered up the ladder to the cockpit of his personal Lightning IIA; just as twenty-six year old Lieutenant Commander Holder closed the canopy of her own fighter. Unlike Nate, she was a real Navy pilot, with years of experience in the military and a long list of kills to her name. She was tall, beautiful, with long brown hair and a slightly tanned face hidden behind her helmet. She always looked stern, and it was rare that she ever smiled at the other pilots. She gave him a thumbs-up as she dropped inside her cockpit, a move that stirred something inside Nate.
"Ensign."
For a second, Nate almost didn't notice the large Byotai officer waiting between the fighters. He was a veteran of the Imperial Navy, and though Nate didn't know what all of the medals and clasps meant on his uniform, it was obvious he was a man to treat with respect.
"Be careful out there. It looks like trouble."
Normally the Captain would have been responsible for managing scores of fighters, assault shuttles, and bombers. Everything from ensuring they were at full strength, supplied and armed, through to the wellbeing of the pilots and deck crews. Now he had nothing but four craft to manage. Nate nodded politely and began climbing.
"Will do."
He hesitated for a fraction of a second. It was still incredible that the mixed crew of engineers and technicians had recovered even a single craft, let alone four complete machines. The rest lay broken and burnt, and stored away safely inside the innards of the massive battleship.
"Your people did incredible work. I thought we'd lost all our fighters."
Nate kept on moving, knowing full well that time was of the essence. Even now the power couplings were being pulled away from the fighter.
"This is all we could salvage from the wreckage," said Captain Sobiex, "They will do as required."
The reptilian Byotai officer gave him a polite nod as he reached the fifth rung on the ladder. It was a short movement, but one Nate knew showed respect towards him even though he was just a youth on a starship, and that made him feel a little guilty.
"Thanks, Sir. I'll take care of her. I promise."
Nate clambered up the metallic steps and then threw himself expertly into the cockpit. He could see the veteran Byotai from inside the fighter, and as often happened, a pang of doubt entered his mind. He frequently experienced what some called imposter syndrome, where he felt as though he'd made it where he was purely by chance. At any moment one person could order him out and send him home, and everything that had happened would instantly vanish.
I can do this. I've done it before.
He'd flown so many missions now that the distinction between reality and the simulated combat missions of the Star Crusader simulation were utterly blurred. Back at the Academy he'd moved in exactly the same fashion, but then it had been in an air-conditioned room surrounded by his fellow students. Now he was aboard the famous alien warship and serving as part of a small, fatigued fighter squadron, the Ironclads.
"Nate, stay close to me."
He looked back and spotted the young Byotai climbing into her own spacecraft.
"Always do, Valdis."
When they'd first transferred to the alien battleship, there had been six of them, including the Lieutenant Commander. With them they'd brought a handful of marines, support crew, and of course, six heavily armed Lighting II fighters. Of all those brought with them, two remained functional, as well as the three Byotai fighters from their entire arsenal, a modest number to serve aboard such a massive warship. Though Nate's fighter was now fully functional, the spacecraft still bore the marks of the recent fighting on board the battleship. Black marks covered her hull, and the entire nose had been salvaged from a destroyed fighter. To the uninitiated, the fighter might easily have been waiting to be scrapped, but he knew better.
Systems on-line. Good.
One by one each of the diagnostic screens flashed past as the fighter ran through its tests. It didn't take long, and as he waited, the cockpit flickered as the main hangar lit up with bright blue light from the long strip lamps activating. The powerful beams picked out the fine details on the five remaining fighters. From where he was positioned, he now had the perfect view of the three Byotai Mantis interceptors, the most advanced and powerful spacecraft in their remaining inventory. Nate had first seen them in the Star Crusader simulation, and he still had something of a soft spot for them.
Beautiful, just beautiful.
Opposite him was Lieutenant Commander Holder's fighter, the simple and reliable Lightning IIA heavy fighter. The two designs marked a completely different approach to a similar job. The Mantis was short-ranged, built specifically to get away from the battleship, and to engage the enemy as quickly as possible. To enable this, the interceptor carried overloaded engines, powerful guns, and a battery of cruise missiles allowing them to deal with all manner of foes. The Alliance craft was an old design, with these models both of the Kerberos specification. They were tough, dependable, and suitable for all manner of roles. The enhanced specification was even more strongly built, adding extra missile hardpoints, winglet-mounted thrusters, and also replaced the antiquated nose guns with flank-mounted Gatling cannons.
"Okay, Ironclads," said Lieutenant Command Holder, "Stay in formation, and follow my lead. Our job is to clear a path through fighters or ordnance. We're loaded for CAP only."
Nate nodded as he listened. At the same time the magclamps locked in around his fighter, and the elevator lifted him up from the deck and through the thick metal plating.
"Yes, Ironclad Leader. I'm showing...green in all systems."
The three Byotai pilots called in to confirm their launch status, and as the last one finished speaking, they emerged onto the upper deck. Nate remembered the first time he'd seen it, and even now it still looked as strange and alien as before. It was small and longer than the primary deck and designed to handle the launch and recovery of spacecraft, even at high speed.
"Standby..."
Nate licked his lips and then checked his systems once more. The last thing he wanted was a failed thruster that could send him off into space, or perhaps even crash during launch.
"Ironclads, we're good to go. I want a tight, simultaneous launch, and then move out to waypoint one."
Nate swallowed slowly as the clamps deactivated. Directly ahead was a wall that could just as easily have been armour. Only when the light caught it at certain angles it became clear it was some sort of energy field. It shimmered with a kaleidoscope of colour that Nate still found fascinating.
"Launch!"
All five fighters raced towards the energy field, and as they left the landing area, the gravity field shifted. A complex, advanced system allowed full artificial gravity in key parts of the vessel, but removed it along the launch deck so that craft woul
d be stable as they left the safety of the ship. Nate couldn't tell at the moment because he was still accelerating, and the Byotai interceptors were already pulling away. Even with their specific orders, they couldn't resist the mad race to the first waypoint. The energy field flashed past, and then they were moving out between the two long bow sections that jutted out at the front.
"Ironclads, clear Furiosa's line of sight. She's preparing a flak corridor to go live in twenty seconds."
Nate's eyes opened wide at hearing that. A flak corridor was a frightening thing to see, and if he moved in too close, he could easily be damaged, perhaps even killed. The flak corridor was the nickname given when a ship would create an imagery column in space, and then fill it with projectiles. The system was intended to deny an area to fighters or ships, or to provide strong gun based defence against torpedoes and missiles.
"Understood, Furiosa," said Lieutenant Commander Holder, "Moving into attack pattern now."
"Remove your safeties. We've got targets."
Nate flicked the manual switch, a safety holdover from the old days of fully analogue, mechanical spacecraft. At once the red warning on his weapon systems was removed, and he had full access to the arsenal. The feeling he had with such power was quite something, and it sent a shiver down his spine just knowing that an accidental press of a button could kill another person, a thrilling, yet terrifying responsibility.
"Okay, there they are, four Anicinàbe Lancer Light Cruisers."
He could only see dots, but his overlay had placed red diamonds around the targets and displayed key statistics such as relative speed, active scanner systems, and threat indicators. He knew these designs well enough from simulated attack runs, and that sent another shiver down his spine.
"Their forward batteries are open, and they're targeting Furiosa."
The fighters boosted their engines and raced from the battleship towards the distant light cruisers. Several individual missiles hurtled passed and exploded as the warship’s guns tracked and destroyed the warheads. Only a concerted barrage could have any chance of breaking through her defence perimeter. Nate spotted one missile actually make it to within five kilometres before being torn apart, and scattering its debris along the bow of Furiosa.
Too close.
"Contact!" Valdis shouted, "They've locked on to us."
Nate licked his lips as threat lights lit up. It started with just a few, and then there were dozens of them. These warning didn't mean they were in immediate danger but did confirm they'd been spotted, and that the cruisers could launch missiles at them whenever they now chose.
"Cut the chatter, Valdis. Lock your forward guns to wide dispersion. Prepare to launch missiles. Light them up!"
Nate activated the forward facing scanners in his fighter and was immediately rewarded with updated telemetry, and on the approaching ships and warheads. Switching the sensor suite from passive to fully active was always a risky affair, and done when there was no other choice, or because the fighter had already been detected. It was effectively the same as shouting loudly to the enemy.
Here goes nothing.
Both banks of warheads flashed up green, and Nate licked his lips in anticipation. The Gatling guns were powerful, but the missiles vastly more destructive. On each flank the Lightning fighter carried four Meteor medium range missiles. These were the perfect weapons for most tasks, and capable of destroying fighters and missiles.
"All systems active."
"Good work," said Lieutenant Commander Holder, "Set Meteors on active defence, and release your Star Fire warheads to my control. Mantis fighters, alter your vector to five-two and target their engines."
Nate nodded as he did as requested and gave her full control over his Star Fire missiles. His fighter carried two of these, one fitted to each upper wing hardpoints. At the same time, the trio of Byotai interceptors pulled away to the right while continuing to move forward. The next word reverberated in his ears, and without thinking, he responded.
"Fire!"
All it took was a single command to launch, and Nate didn't hesitate. The entire arsenal of Meteor missiles burst away with a large puff of grey propellant before activating their primary thrusters. The sleek looking weapons raced away and then activated their own active sensors. He immediately felt uncomfortable, as he was well aware of their capabilities. Instead of being tasked with hitting a particular target, the Meteors were now in fully autonomous mode. They would identify, track, and select their own targets until either successful or out of ammunition.
"Okay, track to waypoint four and prepare to slide."
Nate tried to alter his vector, but his forward velocity was so great the change had relatively little effect. He almost panicked before remembering his burners.
Use them, you idiot!
A tap on the controls dumped fuel into the outlets, providing a massive boost of power to the pair of CTC Danthros V hybrid thrusters. In a fraction of a second, the thrust pushed up to 420kN and moved him from the closing ships. In front were the four enemy cruisers, and behind the massive form of Furiosa.
The line of dots moved closer and closer, and then vanished as the Meteors exploded on contact with the incoming warhead. A second later, three more dots appeared as some of the missiles breached the screen and headed towards Furiosa. A second salvo and then a third launched from the cruisers, a veritable barrage of warheads, each of which could cause terrible damage.
"We're running out of time. Weapons free. Knock those missiles down!"
All five spacecraft opened up with their guns as they moved through the second cloud of missiles and beyond. Each spun around on the spot, taking the missiles as they travelled on by, and then swung around to face off against the ships. They were now thirty kilometres away, and seconds from racing past.
"One-eighty and full power, slow yourselves down!"
It seemed bizarre, but one by one they turned around and activated their engines and burners to full power. Nate felt his very life draining away as the g-forces almost knocked him out cold. The power continued as the closing speed dropped lower and lower, with seconds streaming past.
"Rotate now and hit them with everything you've got...now!"
The formation spun about on the spot and pointed their forward guns at the cruisers. The closing speed had dropped considerably, giving each of them more time to select targets and to shoot. Nate focused on the vessel nearest him and targeted the forward batteries. Missiles continued to launch, even as he pulled the trigger. The Lightning fighter shuddered as both Gatling guns unleashed long, deadly bursts. Small flashes marked the impacts. All five continued pouring fire into the bows of the ships, as well as any remaining anti-ship missiles. Nate pounded his fist in the air as the volley of missiles struck all along the ship. A group of missiles breached a launch battery, setting off a series of small blasts that tore chunks of hull away.
"Yes!"
Hit the flanks.
He adjusted his aim a little lower as he raced on past, pushing the guns to the maximum rate of fire as they were now flying at right angles. He held down the trigger and raked the flanks of the cruiser until his guns ran dry. The cruisers were armoured, but with nowhere near the same level of protection offered by fully-fledge cruisers or ships of the line. The cannon shells peppered the flanks, punching small holes in the thinner sections and leaving a staggered pattern of marks along the metal plates. And then as quickly as it had begun, they were behind the cruisers and moving away.
Another light flicked on, and without Nate doing a thing, both of his Star Fire missiles launched on command from Lieutenant Commander Holder's fighter. Before they could even strike the ships, the fighters moved out of range. Nate almost felt disappointed to miss the impact, and yelled involuntarily as the four advanced missiles ripped into the flank of the damaged ship, setting off a series of mortal wounds to the crippled vessel.
"Good work, Ironclads," said Commander Higgins, "That's half the warheads knocked out, and one ship hea
vily damaged and dead in space."
"Affirmative, Furiosa," said Lieutenant Commander Holder, "We're moving around to continue CAP."
The channel clicked twice before she continued speaking, but this time only to the Squadron.
"Okay, people. Pull away and adjust for CAP circuit around Furiosa. Stay away from her flak corridor!"
Nate pulled on his stick and then boosted his engine to move up and away from projected course used by Furiosa. There was little else he could do now, though he had the satisfaction in knowing that between them they'd annihilated the first major volley of missiles aimed as Furiosa, and caused significant damage to the warships. As the fighters circled around, he had the perfect ringside view of the fight between the four light cruisers and the ancient Byotai battleship. He slowed his breathing as he waited for the fight, only for an urgent warning to arrive from Commander Higgins.
"Ironclads, we've just picked up new readings. Seven more ships coming this way. They are close, but their closing speed is a lot lower. It's a trap!"
Nate was right in the middle of taking a sip from his water tube when the news arrived. He lurched forward only to be held in place by his cross-straps and then coughed. The seven ships were much further away from Karnak than the other four, and their activation must have been timed specifically to catch a vessel coming from the Serpentis.
No, they want Furiosa.
It was obvious to Nate, but perhaps not to the others. The vessel carried the renowned General Honorius, a warrior known as the right-hand of the Emperor, and now the highest ranking Byotai officer still fighting for the lost Empire. Furiosa was something else again, though, and much more than just a major ship. There were three of her class left in existence, and one, perhaps two of those now in the hands of the Star Empire. Furiosa was a symbol of what once was, and her capture or destruction would be a major blow, perhaps even the final blow for the broken Byotai Empire.
Star Crusader: Battle Fleet Victorious Page 3
