The Cairo Saga, book 4: Operation Chindit
Part 11: Run Silent, Run Deep

CNC Spirit Sight
Unnamed planet
Unnamed system
Chaos March

"If there is a secret fuel dump around here, I can not see it." Cairo looked at the image on the main screen: a huge gas giant hung in the distance, surrounded by a complex ring system, "The phrase 'needle in a haystack' comes to mind."

"It is there, and we will find it." Star-Commodore Leroux smiled, "The rings are unusually dense, which is why they were chose by ComStar to hide the supply dump. We need fuel, and this is the only place to get it."

"I preferred the 'raid a Word of Blake' convoy option."

"As do I, but we can not risk engaging the enemy in a major battle until our mission is fulfilled: we have no way to repair anything but the most minor damage…"

"Contact, 5,000-km off the starboard bow!" The sensor officer reported, "Possible warship."

"Sound General Quarters!" Leroux ordered, "Identify target."

"Running through the war-book." The weapons officer worked her controls, "Target reads as Vincent Class Corvette FWLS Liberty."

"Stravag!" Leroux swore, "Silent Running, all systems! Close all compartments. Detach the DropShip: we will need all the engine power we can get. Bring all weapons on line, but visual targeting only."

Every light on the Corvette went red as it prepaired for combat.

"Anything more on sensors?" Leroux asked in a hush voice, despite the fact that there was no way anyone of the other ship could possibly hear him.

"Neg." The first officer shook her head, "Passive sensors are useless amid all this clutter, and the enemy has stopped radiating."

"They have seen us!" Leroux looked at the holo-tank, "Helm, ten degrees down on the bow, steady as she goes: we need to get deeper into the ring."

"Ten degrees down on the bow, aye-aye." The helmsman nodded, pushing forward on the stick that controlled the ships thrusters. The computer adjusted the feedback pressure according to how hard the controls were pushed.

Several loud bangs resonated throughout the ship as ring fragments struck the outer hull, shattering on impact. The entire crew fell silent as the ship delved deeper into the rings.

The passive sensors did their best to pick up any sign of the other ship, but it too was running silent, turning off all external sensors. Cairo looked as the image on the screen turned through inferred, magnetic and visible light, but there was nothing but ice and dust in every direction.

"Helm: level us out and set a course towards Vincent's last known position. Guns: ready to fire as they bare!" Leroux turned to Cairo, "Colonel, we can not afford to engage the enemy in a head-on fight: I need permission to use nuclear ordinance."

"I defer to your judgment on this issue." Cairo pulled his pass-key from around his neck and handed it to the other officer, "I only hope we do not damage the fuel dump."

"A risk we will have to take." Leroux slipped the key into a slot on the arm of his chair and turned it, "Air-Boss: tell the alert fighters to prepare for launch. Master-at-arms: remove four Alamo-missiles from the magazines, arm them and have them loaded onto the alert fighters."

The crew silently acknowledged the order.

The sleek aerospace fighters made their way though the rings like sharks, moving with steady determination. Their pilots looked everywhere, checking every shadow and shape for any sign of the Vincent.

Secured tightly to their fuselage sat the innocent looking but deadly Alamo anti-ship missiles, each one capable to destroying a ship many times the size of the Liberty.

"Picking up intermittent contact on passive sensors." The first officer reported, "Too small to be a WarShip."

"Vincent's have no DropShip collars." Leroux rubbed his chin, "Is it a fighter?"

"Neg: energy signature is too low." The sensor officer shook his head, "Running war-book check now."

"Air boss: launch our CAP." Leroux looked at the holo tank intently, "Tell them to standby to engage enemy fighters."

"War book has matched signal." The weapons officer looked up, "Target is confirmed as Barracuda missile."

"Stravag! They are using it as a remote sensor drone!" Leroux hissed, "Tell the CAG to flank it and try and lead it away before destroying it. And be weary of fighters following behind: they could be using it to coordinate an attack."

The first quartet of fighters was still sweeping the rings for sign of the Free Worlds League warship when one of them crossed a communications beam. The fighter's computer automatically backtracked the signal to its point of origin and plotted an intercept cores.

The flight leader gave the command to go weapons hot as the fighters began their attack run.

"Running the risk of sounding like a bigger fool than normal." Cairo took a deep breath, "But why do we not just run for the nearest pirate-point and get the hell out of here?"

"We need more than just fuel from the supply cash." Leroux explained as he waited for the shooting to start, "This ship is not designed for long-term operations away from a support structure. We do not carry the necessary supplies and equipment to run a full maintenance schedule. We can adapt the equipment and materials in the cash to our needs. The only other option would be to abandon our mission and head for the nearest friendly dry-dock."

"That would be difficult at best; suicidal at worst…"

"I have to agree with you on that Steven."

Silent as a shark, the lead Nova Cat fighter passed up through the upper layer of the ring and spotted the FWL Vincent in silowet against the Gas Giant. The fighters split into two groups of two, the lead pair acceleration across the surface of the ring as fast as their engines could carry them.

The Vincent launched its remaining fighters against the attackers, but the Clan built craft where already in range, and two Alamo's leapt from the rails towards the fast approaching warship. The Fighters pulled back sharply, flipping end-over-end as they did they best to counteract their forward momentum.

Space erupted in fire as the Liberty did her best to stop the missiles. One exploded harmlessly halfway between the fighters and the Warship, but the other struck the Vincent amidships and detonated.

The Corvette disappeared in a flash of light.

The Spirit Sight shook violently as the first barrage of missiles from the FWL fighters stuck its hull, blasting craters in its armor plating. Not to be outdone, the Corvette's gunners returned fire, blasting two of the attacks to scrap. A third tried to avoid a volley of fire and slammed nose-first into a chunk of ice and dust, exploding violently.

"By Neptune's Trident, we can not afford to take this sort of punishment for long!" Leroux slammed his fists down on the arms of his chair violently, "Go active on all sensors: there is no point trying to hide now!"

The main console lit up like a Christmas tree as the ships sensor arrays went from stand-by to active. The targeting computer started to identify and track fighters, sifting through the sea of false contacts that the ring created.

"We need to get clear of all this clutter!" Leroux turned his back on the holo-tank, "Helm: bring us up and out of the ring. Air-boss: have the fighters follow us.

To anyone observing, it looked like some mythical sea monster was erupting from the abyss as the Spirit Sight burst through the upper layers of the ring, trailing ice and dust in its wake. It rolled on its long-axis, brining fresh armor to bear on the pursuing fighters.

But the Nova Cat fighters where following close behind their mother ship, firing as they went. The fight soon degenerated into a fierce dogfight, with the Spirit Sight forced to sit on the sidelines, only taking the occasional shot for fear of hitting its own fighters.

In most areas of combat, the Clans always held the upper hand, but aerospace combat had been the exception to the rule from the beginning of Clan Invasion. The Free World Leaguers where able to give almost as good as they got, claiming 1 Clan OmniFighter for every two the lost. But they started out with half the number of fighters to start with, and it soon became clear that the battle was one-sided.

The last two FWL fighters tried to make a run for it, only to find the fighters sent to attack the Liberty coming the other way. With relative speeds of several thousands kilometres per-hour, the fighters passed each other, firing as they went.

One Nova Cat fighter erupted in a ball of flame as it took a critical hit.

In return, the last two League ships were also destroyed.

"By Kerenskys bones, that was closer than I would have liked!" Leroux sank back down into his seat, "Recover all fighters, and send out Search and Rescue teams to look for survivors from our ships." He didn't need to remind anyone that they had no way of dealing with prisoners.

"Picking up a coded signal from the supply cash." The first officer reported, "200-km of the starboard side."

"About time." Leroux smiled weakly, "Helm, take us in: we need that equipment even more than before…"

TBC…