The Cairo Saga, book 4: Operation Chindit
Part 8: Boarding Party

CNS Spirit Sight
Zenith jump-point
Un-named system
Dieron Military District
Draconis Combine

Space shimmered as the Nova Cat warship jumped into the un-named system that was next on their list of possible waypoint on its way to the Sol system. Cairo felt his head swim as the shock of yet another hyperspace jump took its toll on him: the doctors had tried every medication they knew of to try and combat his jump-sickness, but nothing seemed to work.

"All stations report status." Star-Commodore Ivan Leroux commanded from his seat in the middle of the corvettes small bridge, "Scan for contacts."

"Why do I put myself through this every time?" Cairo asked, "Maybe I should have the doctor sedate me before the next jump?"

"And risk dereliction of duty?" Leroux asked with a glint of mischief in his eye, "That would not be the Steven Cairo I know."

"Yeah, well…" Cairo shrugged, but was cut off by a call of alarm from one of the sensor techs.

"Targets baring Green-45!" The young woman reported, "High probability of at least one unknown own Warship!"

"Go active on all sensors!" Leroux ordered, "They would have to be either blind or fools to miss arrival, so there is no point trying to hide."

"Receiving IFF signal from target #1." The weapons officer reported, looking up at the screen above his station, "IFF reads as the Dante class Frigate CS Bordeaux."

"Designate target #1 as friendly." Leroux turned to face the holo-tank, "What of target #2?"

"IFF of target #2 reads as Essex class Destroyer W.o.B Deliverance. Target two confirmed as hostile."

"Stravag!" Leroux hissed, "We have jumped into the middle of a slugging match between two ships that out mass us, and we do not have the power to jump out again! What is the condition of Bordeaux and the Deliverance?"

"Both ships have suffered heavy damage, and there is wreckage consistent with several assault DropShips in the area." The sensor officer reported, "It looks like the Deliverance has been disabled, but there are several Battle Taxies attached to the side of the Bordeaux."

"Coms, see if you can pick up any internal communications." Leroux looked at the holo-tank, "Helm, take us in. Sound general quarts throughout the ship."

"Intercept course plotted and set." The young woman at the helm reported, "Powering up intersystem drive."

Everyone on the command deck felt themselves' being pushed to the floor as the Spirit Sight started to accelerate.

"Sir, I am picking up intermittent communications from inside the Bordeaux." The communications officer reported, "Word of Blake commandoes have breached the hull in several places. It appears that the hyperdrive on the Deliverance has been destroyed, and they intend to capture the Bordeaux. There is something else…" The man pressed his earphones tight against his head, "The crew of the Bordeaux are putting up stiff resistance. It appears that they are trying to defend someone: they keep saying 'is she safe?' That is all I can make out, sir."

"Helm, bring us in behind the Bordeaux: we don't want the Blakist's to know we are here just yet." Leroux ordered.

"Coming up to turnaround point." The helmswoman warned as a deep tone sounded over the PA system, "Stand by for zero-G."

Cairo checked his harness as the dull roar of the powerful interplanetary engines died. He felt himself thrown forward violently as ship stopped accelerating. A handful of unsecured items started to float about the room as the Spirit Sight flipped over through 180-degrees, pointing its blunt nose the way it had come.

The interplanetary engines kicked back in, and Cairo felt the air driven from his lungs as he was slammed back into his seat by some invisible hand.

"What the hell are we going to do?" He yelled out over the deep throbbing of the drive.

"The Bordeaux is too badly damaged to make a hyperspace jump." Leroux shouted over the short distance between them, "And if there is someone of such importance onboard, we should rescue them."

"I agree." Cairo nodded, "I will lead the boarding party myself."

"What if something happens to you?"

"You know as much about our mission as I do. If I die, tell Sinade everything, and carry on to the objective: only three people know the whole story, and it is important that we complete what we set out to do. If we fail, none of us can ever go home."

"You just make sure you come back in one piece!"

"I always do."

The engines died again as the Spirit Sight succeeded in killing its forward velocity completely. The thrusts fired, stabilising its position alongside the larger Frigate. The Bordeaux hung in space, looking like it had been but through a meat grinder: entire sections were open to vacuum where the armor plating had been blasted to scrap by the Deliverance.

"Have the marines meet me in the main airlock, full battle load: I want every warm body we have." Cairo undid the straps holding him down and kicked off towards the hatch, "This had better be worth it…"

The corridor leading to the Spirit Sight's main airlock was full of men and woman in Elemental Battle Armor that had been specially adjusted to operate in space: the shoulder mounted disposable missile packs had been removed and replaced with thrusters packs that allowed them to move freely under their own power.

Mixed among them were the elite ComGuards commandoes Clearwater had provided for the mission. They were dressed in modified EVA suits that gave them grater freedom of movement than the Clan warriors, but they lacked the heavy armor and weaponry.

Cairo nodded to them as he stripped down to his t-shirt and short before sliding into his own spacesuit. He tried to remember the limited zero gravity training her had been given during the long weeks of transit time from distant Tharkad.

"We all set?" He asked over the encrypted communications system as he checked the seals on the suit of the man next to him.

"Aff, Colonel, we are ready!" Star Commander Quinn, the senior Elemental reported. The huge mountain of a man was big, even by Elemental standards, and had been dubbed 'The Mighty Quinn' by Serv and the crew of the Wilde Fire.

"Ok, here is the plan: we split into two teams. Team One is Star Commander Quinn and his Elementals will do their best to help the crew of the Bordeaux hold of the Blakist's." Cairo explained, "Team Two, Major Akuma and his people, along with myself, will find out just who it is the crew of the Bordeaux are fighting so hard to protect, and bring them back to the Spirit Sight. Once that is done, we will engage in a fighting withdrawal, then get the hell out of here before the Blakist's try and take this ship as well."

"Ready when you are, sir." Major Willow Akuma nodded. Despite her name and Asian appearance, the young commando was a native of the now defunct Free Rasalhague Republic and spoke with a slight Scandinavian accent.

"Then let's get this over with." Cairo lifted his Magshot gauss rifle as the airlock door slid open.

The Elementals and Marines filed into the airlock and connected the lifelines that would keep their units together. Cairo was connected to Major Akuma and her command unit, and took a moment to study the faces of the people he'd be going into combat with.

Although he'd been trained in infantry and small arms combat, he'd fallen out of practise after he graduated as a MechWarrior. Like most people in his profession, he had a slight distain for ground ponders: they were below his contempt, unworthy of his attention. More than one MechWarrior had paid for such an attitude with their life when they came up against infantry who'd been trained in anti-armor tactics.

The air was quickly pumped out of the airlock, and the massive out door opened on infinity, the dark shape of the Bordeaux in the distance. Major Akuma was the first out of the airlock, kicking away from the Spirit Sight, launching her self into space with the ease of a well-trained professional. Cairo felt himself drift out the airlock as he was pulled along by the commando's momentum.

Quinn's elementals were not far behind, using their thrusters to glide effortlessly across the void.

Akuma flipped over mid transit, bending her legs to absorb the shock of impact when she hit the hull of the Bordeaux. She automatically activated the magnetic clamps in the bottom of her boots, gripping the Frigates metal skin tightly. Cairo reached out for a handhold like a drowning man grabbing at a life raft, realising that he didn't like being in space with just an EVA suit to protect him.

TBC…

Is there a reason why no one is reviewing this story?