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USS Enterprise- Barnard's Star System:

"McCoy, status."

"We lost fifteen, Jim. Things could have been a lot worse. There are lots of plasma burns and radiation exposures. We'll be up there as soon as we can."

"Thank, Bones. Uhura, send my compliments to Sheppard and the commander of the Excelsior group. Spock?"

"Fifty-three starships destroyed. Seventy-two ships sustained serious damage including the Yeltsin. The ships are being towed to Star Base Seventeen. We have three thousand two hundred dead. Several combat groups should arrive at Sector Zero-Zero-One in seventy-two hours."

Kirk was gritting his teeth at the stats. "We got caught flat-footed. If they had gotten past us, then they would have gotten a shot at Earth."

"But they didn't, Admiral."

"We got lucky."

"Luck had nothing to do with it."

The Admiral smiled at the familiar discussion, one that had been repeated over the years among friends. It was reassuring. "Spoken like a true Vulcan…"

"Of course."

***

The Vorlon scout still hadn't been detected just outside of the anomaly. Active sensor sweeps were being deflected but it was only a matter of time before the untamed young ones would notice her. She was still in somewhat of a shock by the outcome of the battle. The Minbari fleet had been utterly defeated by the untamed Humans, something that had not been done by anyone other than the agents of darkness during the height of the war a thousand years ago. With them defeated, the possibilities of disaster edged far closer than it had in a thousand years. The Minbari had failed to contain the threat against the circle and in fact their failure had compounded the problem. Undoubtedly these creatures would come through the anomaly in force and join with the other Humans. The Minbari would be defeated and the circle would be destroyed. There was even a possibility that the other Humans would be seduced into joining with the forces of darkness in the coming war and that would never be tolerated.

The scout turned and eased into the anomaly very carefully keeping its profile and stealth systems at maximum. The instrumentation of the untamed humans and their allies was still sensitive enough to detect her if she wasn't careful. Within an hour the scout exited and immediately jumped into deep layer hyperspace and headed towards the rendezvous point where the Vorlon fleet waited. The Vorlon leadership never believed that the fleet would be needed but they were a methodical race and had prepared just in case things hadn't gone as planned.

Well, they hadn't.

The female slipped into the collective consciousness, merged becoming one with the Vorlon unity and gave her report. "The Minbari failed to remove the threat."

"Were they able to sufficiently damage the enemy forces enough to keep them from re-entering the anomaly? "

"No, they were completely destroyed." The images she sent them were greeted by a collective gasp. "The circle will not continue if we do not act now," she continued. "The others must not contact these Free-willed creatures."

"Agreed. We are unable to close the bridge; therefore we will remove the threat now. Remain where you are. We will come to you."

USS Enterprise:

Barnard's Star system, a very low mass red dwarf was approximately six light-years from the sol system and as such was of strategic importance to the heart of the Federation. With the anomaly so close, it was little wonder that the Federation was extremely concerned about the potential of invasion. With the Minbari task force all but slaughtered, the remnants of the defensive force made a logical but critical error. They had hurriedly prepared for another possible attack from the Minbari.

"My congratulations on a job well done, Commander Sheppard," said Admiral Kirk. "You helped turned the tide of the battle."

"Glad to be of service, Admiral. It's my job after all, servicing the Federation."
The words were civil. The tone wasn't.

Putting it mildly Kirk and Sheppard didn't like each other much. Their styles were different and there was a tense undercurrent of hostility between the two stretching back decades.

According to Sheppard's train of thought, the young James T. Kirk should have been drummed out of Starfleet, but instead became somewhat of the golden boy who stepped over a more career-oriented Sheppard into command status. Mistakes were made, Marcus' unsupported charges of attempted sexual assault slowed Sheppard's momentum, being pushed back while Kirk's rushed forward. Sheppard was never one to forgive or forget as Carol, her son, and co-workers had discovered. Even if it took years, he was always one to return a favor.

"You made quite a mess – Sir. And that's what Special Operations does, clean messes up. Speaking of which, you can beam all of the Minbari command staff to the Bismarck at your discretion. I'll get them to the proper facilities for debriefing."

"Special Operations doesn't have jurisdiction here," Kirk responded forcefully. All pretense of civility between him and Sheppard had disappeared. "All POWs will be processed and I will see to it that they will reach a proper facility. You know the rules."

"Yes, Sir, Admiral, Sir."

"Glad we understand each other. Good work, Kirk out." Sometimes it was good to be an Admiral, he mused. Sheppard was a loaded gun. His idea of protecting the Federation clashed with Kirk's beliefs to his very core.

In the five hours after the battle, two entire squadrons of Klingon warships of thirty ships each had entered weapon's range. There was quiet acknowledgement between both governments that this open doorway needed to be guarded. No one knew what might come through and until it was secured, no one felt safe.

The Andorians had sent three ships, with more on the way. Many ships were days, even weeks away and those gaps were one of the problems that had begun to plague the Federation. Federation space was vast and required more ships to protect the populace. However there was a small, but vocal growing movement violently protesting what they considered the 'militarization' of Starfleet. Already some of the effects of their protests had influenced Starfleet in their ship designs.

"Uhura, have the fleet stand by and not provoke the Klingons. I don't want to start a shooting war with them."

Yes, Sir."

"Kapitain," Chekov said in awe as he glared at the view screen. There are sixty Klingon vessels out there. Orders?"

"I don't know," he confessed as he looked at what could be describe as a fleet of Klingons. "I've never seen one this close before. And who allowed them permission to enter Federation space in the first place?" he muttered.

"Admiral, the Klingon General, a General Chang is demanding to speak to you."

"He is, is he? Let's hear what he has to say," Kirk almost hissed. "Put him on."

One the main viewer, a one eyed male Klingon glared at him and for an instant Kirk wasn't sure whether to greet him or activate the shields.

"Ah, the famous warrior James T. Kirk," the General said. "Your reputation precedes you. It's a shame that the Organians interfered with our little, shall we say, disagreement?" He smiled.

"General, what do you want?"

"Only to protect our little corner of the galaxy and maybe a prisoner or two, for our mutual benefit, of course."

"What about a couple of derelicts?" Kirk said derisively.

"Are you offering?"

"No."

"Kirk…" There was a small signal and Chang's attention was diverted.

A second later Spock was demanding his attention as communications was cut. "Admiral, sensors are picking up energy emissions from the anomaly. Something is coming through. It's big."

"Minbari?" Spock looked as harsh as Kirk had ever seen him.

He answered using one word. "No."

"All ships, red alert!"

***

The first indication of the attack was the point that three upgraded Miranda class cruisers exploded closest to the anomaly. Their death throws heralded the arrival of a new unknown enemy as several dozen strange squid-like ships appeared from the mouth of the wormhole-like firing on everything within range. Smaller fighters and scouts poured through the open gateway, picking off already exhausted Federation starship by the handful. Several Klingon warships fared little better as enemy weapons from the capital ships burned through shields easily. Targets of opportunity were taken and destroyed as they overwhelmed the still unshielded and unwary starships. Surprised at the audacity of the attack in those precious seconds, the allied ships were slow to respond to the attack.

"Admiral," screamed the Klingon General through communications, "the game is afoot! We need more re-enforcements."

"We're the line in the sand, General. He looked at the angry General. "Glory to the one who lives the longest, defeating the enemy!"

The general glared at him with newfound respect. "To glory!"

***

The trio of ill-prepared Andorian missile cruisers were vaporized as a full squadron of Vorlon scouts hammered their hulls. With their powerful energy weapons, with shields beaten down the ships were unable to stop the attack. Their thick armor shredded First One beams and their missile stocks detonated. The antimatter warheads immolated the hulls and every crew member aboard the destroyed vessels. More than three dozen fighters streamed past hammering into the barely powered shields of another group of ships. The tugs and transports were destroyed their crews and passengers wiped out in an instant. With the gateway secured by the masses of Vorlon fighters, larger cruisers and truly massive dreadnoughts began spilling through. The massive two kilometer-long ships dwarfed anything in the Federation or Klingon defense forces. Behind them was another vaguely organic construct even larger than the others, almost twenty kilometers in size, forcing it way out of the anomaly. That ship was flanked by another twenty of the larger Vorlon dreadnaughts.

To every single Federation and Klingon defender, any question about this attack had been erased. This was an invasion pure and simple, the one thing that the Federation most feared and what the Klingons had hoped would never happen. All warriors knew that once an invasion started, they never confined themselves to just one sector. Soon Klingon space would be violated by these – things. Better to get it over with now before it spread. The word was issued. Every Klingon warship in the sector would be headed here to join in this battle.

"Kirk," roared Chang almost consumed by bloodlust and need to defend the Empire. "I have called for the Empire. They are coming."

As the destruction swirled around him and his ships, the Admiral almost welcomed his Klingon adversaries to what was coming through the anomaly. "They'll have their work cut out for them," he answered viciously. The ship rocked from a near miss by one of the smaller ships. Phasers cut into the biofighter and it broke into pieces as it phased out of existence. "Spock, analyze those ships. We need info on the big one!"

"Data coming through, Admiral…"

"How long before our re-enforcements get here!?"

"The sixth fleet will arrive in sixty-eight hours."

***

Pain! Death! Kosh felt it through his mental connections with the others. Anger mixed with intense fear for his life and the lives of the others of his kind. The Vorlons attackers were in shock and the capabilities of the young race's weaponry and technology. They were not like the races at home. These had wild, untamed minds, unconcerned about order and no hint of their place in the scheme of things.

When his people had attacked, getting through enemy shield defenses presented little problems. The young ones died as they were supposed to. Then they began fighting back using energy weapons that ate away at the skins of the bioships. Several surviving ships were screaming in pain as they resisted the enemy beams. They'd survive but they were hurt badly. The Vorlons who had died had been alive since the battle against 'them'. No Vorlon had died in violence since then and for a moment his grief was overwhelming. This intended slaughter was rapidly turning into a real war. It was good that they had come and dealt with this now instead of waiting.

Yes, they were right to come here before the contamination had spread to the protected races. Two ships of these creatures were still violating home but would soon be dealt with. The circle was being threatened even more so than he and the others had thought possible. Consensus had been correct; the destruction of this Human world and its people was the proper response. This other Earth had been located and targeted for removal. Curse the Preserves and their need to spread identical worlds throughout the galaxy!

When the other Human's world was removed and their people and defenses destroyed, the survivors, if any would not dare to re enter the anomaly. According to all information, if the contamination could be contained for the next twenty years, then the circle would be completed and then these untamed pebbles could do what they wanted. Until then they had to be taught the lesson on non-interference. The Minbari were not strong enough to teach these pebbles, so it fell upon the masters to do so. However the lesson was being resisted. No matter, it would be taught in any case and the immature planet killer would be the instrument of that lesson.

USS Bismarck:

"They're going after Earth!" Sheppard growled under his breath. That was the only reason that made since. "Contact Cartwright and let him know that they're going to hit Earth!"

"What about the Enterprise?"

"Whatever else he is, Kirk's no fool. He's already figured it out," Sheppard hissed. "Let's make our mark and head to Sol system."

Panther squadron, using their superior speed and weapons had hit one of the huge bioships from all sides. The two kilometer-long ship was too powerful to attack from the front but its back and sides were vulnerable. Type VI Federation phasers joined by photon torpedoes chopped the Vorlon assault-ship to pieces without it being able to properly defend itself. More Vorlons died. More screamed vengeance.

The Bismarck and its squadron became the object of attack as several Vorlon ships of various classes took umbrage at the destruction of their brethren. The faster ships were hit in a brutal crossfire. Nine Panthers were destroyed outright. Four more had been reduced to floating wreckage, joining the scores of Federation, allied and Klingon ships dead in space. The flagship's shields protected it from two glancing strikes before the third beam tore part the starboard nacelle.

"Commodore," yelled Captain Theski. "Causalities were coming in. Half the crew is dead and we're losing containment! Shields are gone."

"Weapons!"

"One phaser bank with one third power and dropping. Sir, she's done for!"

Half the bridge crew was dead but he was remarkably untouched but judging from the way the bridge smelled, that wouldn't last for long. "How long?"

"If we're not hit again, about four minutes."

"We need to send the package. Contact Enterprise now."

***

"Fire!" Kirk ordered.

The Enterprise's photon torpedoes fired into the gapping hole of the Vorlon cruiser and exploded creating ruptures in the hull that would doom the ship in short order. Several scout vessels converged on her, trying to destroy Enterprise but the ship was already moving out of the line of fire. She was damage but still capable of combat, unlike dozens of other ships. The Klingons had suffered massive causalities, with more than half their fleet wiped out in the opening minutes of the battle. However the enemy hadn't remained unscathed. Several cruisers and more than a few scouts had been sent to oblivion.

But it wasn't enough. The Vorlon dreadnaught fleet was effectively tearing the defenders apart and without additional support, they couldn't hold the line. Everywhere, Federation and allied ships were being gutted.

Enterprise shook from a near miss from of the bigger cruisers. The Hathaway acted as wingman using whatever energy it had left to support the Admirals vessel.

"Shields at twenty percent."

"They're breaking through," Chekov said. "Some are setting a course towards Earth!"

"Admiral," Uhura said. "Sheppard is trying to contacting us."

The Enterprise was hit by another blast, shields collapsed.

Oh, that didn't fell good! "Scotty, get the shields back up!"

"It's bad, Admiral," Scotty screamed back. "I can give you only ten percent in another minute or so!"

"Admiral, stand by for emergency transport!" Sheppard demanded. On the view screen, the Enterprise's bridge crew could see that his ship was a mess. There were conduits hanging everywhere. Fire could be seen in the background. They were on emergency lighting. Crew member slumped over consoles.

"Sheppard, it's not the time!"

"Make time! They're going after Earth. We both know it! I'm transporting an equalizer," he hissed as his ship was rocked slightly. "For the future." There was a momentary look of pure hatred before he terminated the transmission.

"We can not withstand any more of this. Admiral, I recommend that we withdraw now, "Spock said. There was a sense of urgency that couldn't be ignored.

"Stand by to receive a transport! Uhura, open a channel. To all ships, regroup at point U-Eighty-Seven, repeat all ships retreat to U-Eighty-Seven."

On screen the Bismarck was savaged by three more energy beams and was blown into its component atoms.

"…Transport completed."

We hurt them Kirk thought bitterly, but not enough. This is far from over. "Sulu, go."

The damaged Enterprise and several surviving Federation and Klingon ships warped out of the field of battle, leaving the remaining husks of their comrades littered across they star system.

Sol System:

"Defense systems are energized!"

The surface of the moon could be seen glowing as the attacks by the Vorlon armada continued their onslaught domed cities were rendered devoid of life. The Vorlon dreadnaughts methodically fired at the population centers killing millions less than ten hours after the attack at Barnard's star. However the Vorlons had paid a price for their victories. Incoming starships continued to harass the Vorlon picket ships. A two kilometer-long dreadnaught was gutted as a salvo of no less than twenty photon torpedoes hammered it to death. But still wasn't enough.

The death of so many Vorlons slammed into the unified collective consciousness, terrifying and enraging the survivors even more, pushing them into even greater acts of atrocities. Vorlon life spans were extremely long and the death of any of them was experienced as a physical blow and each loss increased their already mounting hatred against the young race they were trying to kill. The motivation for the battle now changed from removing a threat to eliminating a foul race that dared to defy the will of the Vorlon Empire. Their pride was now at stake as the conflict had turned into a war. Pebbles would never dictate to Mountains.

Please of surrender had been ignored.

The untamed defenders had established a line against the fleet and were fighting against the will of the Vorlons with everything they had, backed up with their very formidable planetary defenses. Another problem was beginning to develop as intercepted reports indicated that more of the enemy ships were on the way. But they were going to be far too late. Just as they were being re-enforced so were the Vorlons as another twenty dreadnaughts would soon exit the anomaly and quickly head to join the others.

Another hour and the outer defenses were battered into submission and still the pebbles fought. The now positioned twenty kilometer-long planet killer, a small one for its size as it had been grown quickly and was just basically operational, screamed in agony as beams of phased energy and waves of antimatter collided with its skin on a continual basis. However it was all but over. It was beginning to power up slowly but steadily. Waves of enemy ships had broken through more than once and combined with the planetary enemy fire inflicted horrendous the damage to it. The living ships and their Vorlon crews protecting the PK pounded the offending ships into scrap even as more of their own people were killed. The ancient race was getting tired and had not expected such resistance. The living ships needed time to recover and rebuild their strength and too much energy was being expended to stop the young abominations from killing them. But now their objective was almost in range. The huge space station, formidable in its own right had just been destroyed, its remains beginning to tumble into Earth's atmosphere. Several heavy warships had been sacrificed to destroy that station and its surrounding defenses.

At such close range, beams of the phased energy weapons from the orbital defenses savaged the huge Vorlons ships and the living ships were becoming afraid, but they dared not stop. Suddenly there was encouraging news as a second Vorlon fleet transverse the anomaly. News spread instantly and in that moment, the Vorlons drew encouragement along with a renewed sense of purpose. They couldn't be stopped now. The Vorlons hit the remaining defenses and the Earth's defenses collapsed. The small Vorlon planet killer was finally positioned and built up its final charge.

It fired.

Beams of pure, blinding white energy burned through the planetary shields and touched the surface of a now defenseless Earth and everything within fifty kilometers of where the beams touched ceased to exist as it bored deep into the planets crust. Long dormant volcanoes went active. EM pulses destroyed older equipment. Magma from the core slowly began to rise to the surface. Earthquakes began to spread across the globe. And tens of millions died. Billions more were following those who had already passed on.

The second and third shots hit and destroyed most of the iron core ensuring the planet's death. It would take a few days before the planet tore itself apart from the initial damage, but the Vorlons wanted to make a definitive statement to the other young ones so, the other ships continued to fire on the planet, destroying cities, boiling oceans and trying their best to rip continents to shreds.

Their primary purpose achieved, the Vorlons began to withdraw from the ruined and dying world. The second relief fleet was engaging any ships and stragglers trying either to engage or retreat from the area allowing respite for the primary fleet and the damaged planet killer. As the First Ones pulled out of the system they hit Mars once more, several moon of Saturn and Neptune and all other settlements and installations in the system. Vulcan would be next and then the Andorian home world. They had the time and wanted to be thorough, anything necessary to make sure that the untamed pebbles would never ever venture through the anomaly again. The circle would be maintained until it was no longer needed.

USS Enterprise: Rally Point U-Eighty-Seven

"…Scott here. That last hit really did us a number. Admiral, we have auxiliary power only. Shields are gone. The main energizers were damaged before we retreated. I don't know how long it'll take before I can get even half power. I may be able to give you warp two for an hour in about five hours."

"Do what you can, Scotty. Keep me informed, Kirk out."

There was a collective silence on the bridge. Uhura had transmitted the latest communications bursts throughout the ship at Kirk's order. The whole crew had heard what happened to the Sol system. The Enterprise and eight surviving Federation and six Klingon cruisers were all that was left of the original defense fleet and were the only ones that were able to make it out of Barnard's Star system. The Vorlons simply had too many ships and the Federation ships already battered from the Minbari surprise attack, had too few. The surviving eight could do little more than watch as the birthplace of humanity underwent its death throes. The heart of the Federation had just been ripped apart by an unknown and powerful enemy for reasons unknown.

"Jim," Spock said softly pulling him to the side. "McCoy died on the table. There was nothing that could be done."

'Damn'.

"I grieve with thee. He was my friend as well."

Kirk nodded. "We'll grieve later, right now I need answers. Come with me."

Captain Spock followed the Admiral along with three security guards to the brig. There several Minbari prisoners sat nervously behind the energy shields blocking their escape. Most of them were pilots of Nials and several of the smaller flyers. The admiral, his fury increasing with every step entered the brig. Glaring at the prisoners, he chose the eldest of them and ordered him removed from the cell.

The Minbari casually walked out of the cell almost smiling. Kirk was not amused and was in no mood for idle banter.

"Why did you attack us," he demanded.

The Minbari smiled. "The Earther colony needed to be destroyed. There can be no escape for what your people have done."

"And what was it that we were supposed to have done?"

You killed our leader, the best of us in a cowardly attack. Only your world drowned in blood will appease us," he answered with voice filled with pride. "You thought you could hide from us here, so far from your home world to escape our judgment but you didn't run far enough. No Human colony anywhere in this galaxy will escape our justice."

Spock showed him an image of one of the vessels that attacked Earth and immediately the Minbari gasped in recognition.

"They came," he whispered as if he couldn't believe it.

Spock's eyes narrowed. "Who are 'they'?"

The Minbari POW didn't even try to resist the interrogation. "They are your deaths," he answered. "They are called the Vorlons, a race millions of years old, and ally to the Minbari. They saw our need. You hurt us and they came to our aid. Nothing will be the same again."

"So, let me understand you," stated Kirk. "These Vorlons are going to kill billions of people to aid you in a vendetta because one of your people was killed by Humans?"

The Minbari had a gleam in his eyes. He cocked his head. "No surrender, no retreat from justice. As with your world, your days are numbered."

"No," Kirk told him. His voice was cold. "It's just beginning."

To be concluded