Battleship Furiosa (7 page)

Nate nodded quickly.

"Yeah, that's right. Those rounds
take up a lot of space
, and we have to be
careful when we're shooting."

The man shrugged as he
pointed off to a raised section behind the
bulbous crew compartment. At first, Nate couldn't see any
difference, but then he noticed the subtle hump-backed shape
plating.

"Power couplings are rerouted
under the hump, and that clears space for a compression unit, as
well as pushing your ammo up to a hundred rounds of 60mm per
gun."

Nate shook his head in
surprise.
The gunship was a big craft,
but even at this size, the bulk of the interior stowage was now
taken up with solid slug ammunition. The rounds were much smaller
overall than projectiles used in conventional kinetic gun systems.
A standard shell would incorporate a shell case, warhead, and
propellant. The railguns required nothing more than the warhead,
and that meant they could be substantially reduced in
mass.

"I don't see how you can fit so
much ammunition inside of that calibre
,
though. It's one hell of a piece of engineering."

The engineer chuckled and then
tapped the lid of a metallic box. It popped open to show a series
of semi-smooth hexagonal slugs.

"You're not wrong. We put a lot
of work into getting this loading mechanism working properly in the
gunship. The ship has been retrofitted around these chin
guns."

He then pointed at the
lower part of the spacecraft.

"
That's
why we've got these new modifications, as per the upgrade specs.
Tranche Four gunships will be more capable of prolonged combat. A
hundred rounds will give you a full twenty seconds continuous
fire."

He indicated
a small flap behind the gun system. It was barely visible
until the man pointed out the lines along one side. He pulled out a
portable control panel and tapped the screen. The panel slid back
and exposed a vent.

"You see, when you're in the
void, this panel will open and expose the heat sink of the gunnery
system via the vent."

Nate nodded slowly as
h
e bent around to examine the
change.

"This was your design?"

The man shook his head.

"Nah, not me. This came down on
the list of field upgrades from Command. All new gunships are
getting the mod as standard. It will give you a major boost to
firepower in space combat."

"Sixty
percent, you say?"

"Yeah, but in short bursts. You'll
effectively get two firing modes, just like with the carbines."

Nate's eyes narrowed as he
listened.

"I don't follow."

The engineer looked back and
sighed.

"In combat, the firing mode will
be determined by how you pull the trigger. Pull it in low-power
mode, and the guns will engage continually at maximum loading
speed, but with a heavily reduced velocity. You can keep this up
nonstop until the guns run dry. The guns will be running at about
four hundred rounds a minute of 60mm. It will still be fast enough
for leading your targets, but you'll put out more shots in the same
amount of time."

"And the other mode?"

The man chuckled.

"Flick the switch and the loader
will position five rounds in the breech of each barrel."

"What?
Are you serious? Is that even possible?"

He shook his head as the engineer
grinned, clearly enjoying his explanation.

"It's not that complex, but it
does take a few seconds to complete the loading. All of this is
done with the upgraded software. Nothing mechanical is altered. You
see, the gun technically fires but only moves the round a few
centimetres. The computer positioned them so each is placed
touching the next. Then...when you're ready, just hold down the
trigger and enjoy the show."

Nate moved to the muzzle of the
two 60mm cannon fitted under the chin. In space, they didn't seem
especially substantial, but this close they had more in common with
the guns fitted to some of the warships. The tips were slightly
discoloured from the immense heat created by releasing projectiles
at such a velocity.

"When you depress the trigger,
the capacitors release a boosted charge to the
coils
. They will give up to double what
you are used to, and then release the block of five rounds from
each barrel."

Nate looked back at him and nodded in
amazement.

"That is a big upgrade. How has it
performed in simulation?"

The man shrugged.

"No idea. I just patch them
up
and upgrade them as we get the kits. I
guess you'll have to find that out for yourself."

Nat
e
was so busy examining the changes he didn't notice Rex and
Cassandra as they walked onto the deck from the express elevator.
The pair headed directly towards their comrades. There were many
deck crew busy working away, but only three pilots from Knighthawk
Squadron. Matilda and Billy were sitting on a loading platform
talking when they arrived, while Nate was a few metres away and
talking to one of the engineers.

"What's up?" Rex
asked.

After receiving such a verbal
telling off so recently, Nate found the nonchalant tone used by Rex
to be nothing short of intolerable. He
made his excuses to the engineer and then turned around to
face the two of them. They walked hand in hand across the deck and
made matters much worse by Rex showing something close to a
swagger. He pointed to one of the fighters and both laughed. Nate
crossed his hands in front of his chest and faced them
off.

"Oh, really?"

At first
, nothing happened, but then Rex burst forward towards
Nate. Cassandra pushed her arm out in front of him to try holding
him back, but she was either too surprised or caught off guard to
actually make much of a difference. Rex pushed her arm out of his
way so hard that she cried out in discomfort. Rex ignored her and
stepped up to Nate, their faces close enough that Nate felt
immediately uncomfortable. It was classic bullying behaviour, and a
few months ago, Nate would have turned away, or at the very least
stepped back a step.

Stand up to him, and let him do what he
wants.

Nate knew what he had to
do
even though it was the exact opposite
of his instincts. He moved his arms down to his side, yet slightly
in front and with the fingers apart and ready. It was a passive,
calm posture that all of them had been taught by Sergeant Nál in
their hand-to-hand combat classes.

Be ready.

Rex leaned in close, and as he
spoke
, a little spittle ran down to his
cheek. He was quite clearly agitated, and Nate couldn't believe it
would be something as simple as him standing up to him.

"You're kidding, right?"

Nate shook his head in answer.

"No, I'm not."

Nate refused to back down, and
though his chest was now pounding, he stood his ground. Instead, he
indicated for Rex to move back and did his best to look calm and
assertive. With somebody else, it might have even worked, but Rex
knew Nate only too well. The fear and the nerves were clearly
visible to all of them, especially him.

"Take your aggression somewhere
else, Rex. You're already on the suspension list. Don't make it
worse."

R
ex's
relatively normal looking expression instantly evaporated. What had
been a calm demeanour was now something closer to when they were
sparring in the gymnasium. He glanced at Cassandra who still seemed
a little shaken at him pushing her away so quickly. When he looked
back to Nate, his usual demeanour had transformed, and in its place
was the cold harshness Nate remembered from their first few
meetings.

Great, the old Rex is
back.
That's the last thing I
need.

"Suspend
ed? Why, what did you tell them, Nate?"

Rex's tone lowered and though he
tried to sound angry, Nate could tell he already knew what had
happened. Eit
her he'd pretended to ignore
it or had pushed it aside until Nate brought it up. Matilda and
Billy moved towards the trio because of the increase in noise they
were making. Billy started to talk, but Rex lifted his finger to
his mouth to silence him.

"Rex," said Nate,
"Turn around and leave this place. You need to
cool off before you do something really stupid."

Nate lifted his right
h
and to point at Rex, but his rival beat
it aside and turned his head a little to the right. His face was
still contorted, but as Nate looked at him, he saw something was
off, as though Rex was putting on a show for somebody else's
benefit. For a second Nate even suspected he was just pretending to
be angry, though he had no idea why.

"Always jealous of me, aren't
you, Nathaniel?"

Rex then looked to Cassandra and
shook his head, as though she'd just done something remarkably
stupid. His tone was equally offensive and seemed to surprise even
her.

"What the hell did you ever see
in a scrawny little runt like him? I cannot believe you had a crush
on him all this time."

Cassandra tried to move, but Rex
stepped away from Nate and blocked her path, making sure he
remained the centre of this small drama, Cassandra now in front of
him. Her face reddened with embarrassment, and she did her best to
turn her gaze away from Nate.

"The only reason he made it
through the contests was because we pulled him through with
us."

Nate's nostrils flared at the
obvious attempt to get a reaction out of him. He had many
weaknesses, but being easily provoked wasn't one of them. Some saw
this as something a little cold about him, and he'd even been
described as being sociopathic in the past. The reality was that he
tended to think things over, and he knew that reacting to an insult
like this was intended to force certain behaviours, so he refused
to let that happen.

"Nice, Rex, really nice," said
Cassandra,
"Come on, let's get out of
here."

She
turned away, but Rex grabbed her wrist firmly, holding it
hard. Cassandra cried out in surprise and tried to pull away. Rex
held on even more firmly and gave her such a stern, angry look that
she paused for a second.

"No, stay here and see what
happens to your little toy boy."

Nate was still reeling from the
announcement that after all this time Cassandra had actually liked
him. For the briefest of
moments, he
almost forgot what was happening. Then he could see the discomfort
Cassandra was in and the leering expression on Rex's
face.

Do
something
, you idiot. Yes,
you!

"Rex, let her go, now!"

He
tried to sound tough and commanding, but the words seemed
to blur together into nothing more than a sound. It did have an
immediate effect on Rex, though. He took the opportunity to move in
close. He'd already taken a step before finally releasing his grip
on Cassandra, and she groaned the instant his hand released. He
moved back to Nate who was just a few steps away.

"Idiot,
" muttered Cassandra.

She gripped her uncomfortable
hand but did nothing more. Rex, on the other hand, stepped right in
front of Nate and then leaned in close. Nate took in a short breath
and shook his head. Rex still refused to back down and maintained
his position, just as Nate did. He lifted his hands and reached
ahead to grab Nate, and with that one gesture, everything
changed.

Do it!

Without thinking, Nate grabbed
the one arm, pulled it forward
, and
locked it to his side and under his elbow. The move must have
caught Rex completely off guard because he grunted in pain. Nate
tried to turn around so that he could throw Rex down, but it was
too late. Rex twisted away and stepped back a single pace from
Nate.

"Bad move, Nate, very bad
move. Now it's time for us to settle things,
don't you think?"

This time he
lifted his hands into a conventional boxing stance, but
with his hands kept close to his torso. He rocked to the left and
then the right, before sliding his head around as though in a
sparring match.

"The only reason anything went
wrong out there is because you don't have what it
t
akes to lead a fighter
squadron."

Nate nearly choked at the words.

"You're kidding me, right? You've
put me in danger twice now and refuse to follow orders. You're
reckless, and you're a..."

Without finishing, he swung his
left arm, trying to catch Nate with a strong hook. Nate twisted to
the right and avoided it, but only by the slimmest margin. It was a
good punch, and had it struck his face, he might easily have been
knocked out cold. Nate kept his eyes on Rex as he circled
around.

"You need to back off. You're
gonna bring down a world of pain on yourself if you
continue."

As before, Nate pushed his hands out in
the low, defensive posture. It should have looked non-threatening,
but Rex recognised it right away for what it was.