Chapter 9 (John Sheridan)
Defenceless as a beached whale, Sheridan knew that he had to get his small fleet of ships airborne before the storm passed and exposed his grounded vessels.
He heard the frantic call for help over the intercom from the doomed Star-Fury and assumed the worst. Now Sheridan feared they'd taken too long and a direct confrontation might be inevitable.
Banks of computers flashed, displaying trajectories of the incoming warship. He did not want his crew to panic, so he resolutely maintained his calm, even though he was flooded with uncertainty himself.
Lightly tapping his finger on the armrest, Sheridan focused his gaze on the latest status report. The remaining star ship was still loading refugees and Sheridan was considering whether to open a COM channel to ask about their status.
But with seconds to spare, someone shouted the news that Sheridan wanted to hear: "All the civilians onboard and we're ready for take-off, Commander."
"Thanks for the update." Sheridan leaned back in his chair. "Helm take us up at a deflect angle and keep the scanners on maximum."
Sheridan felt the sweat on his forehead as memories from past battles reminded him off how primitive human vessels were.
He could not afford a direct confrontation, especially with a ship full of refugees.
He didn't know how much time was required to escape the planet's gravity-well, and he feared that the Minbari's hidden location would make the escape harder. Sheridan was sure it wouldn't be long before the Minbari bombarded them from orbit.
He gazed through the huge panoramic windows, then jolted in his chair when streams of hot yellow light rained down on the settlement. Due to the massive storm that hid the colony, it was obvious that the Minbari had no clear target in sight and could not lock onto anything.
The crew flinched as blast after blast shot past the windows at close range. Everything on the surface was gradually laid to waste.
Like drunken bumblebees, the huge star ships began to heave themselves into the sky, blasting rings of smoke into the air. Wave after wave of energy beams continued to rain down, hitting perilously close to the ships.
With his ship's engines roaring in the background, Sheridan looked through the window to see the rest of his fleet bellowing up through the clouds. The heavy acceleration, which seemed to take forever, forced everyone to into their chairs and limited movement to that of basic controls.
In the background, Sheridan saw the anger in his crew's faces as Minbari beams rained down on the colony below, crushing buildings and ploughing long furrows through the crop fields.
Inch by inch the colony was destroyed and replaced by black stains that grew on the land. Then all view was obscured by the storm. Sheridan wondered what else humanity had to pay for the mistake that happened over ten years ago. This was the seventeenth colony destroyed, and no one had managed to put up a suitable defence. But Sheridan felt relieved that he was doing something about this colony.
"Captain, I've just received a situation report." Sweat glistened on the tactical officer's forehead. "One of our ships is lagging behind."
With gravity almost back to normal, Sheridan rushed over to the tactical station to identify the troubled ship. "Damn, it's Anderson. Open a channel."
Sheridan knew Anderson from joint battles in the past and it was unusual for him to be so slow in getting off the ground. But as he looked at his friend on the view screen now, he could only see his brave appearance hiding his inner turmoil.
"Sheridan, we're having trouble keeping up. One of our engines overheated and we had to shut it down, but we should be able to break orbit."
Sheridan frowned. "We've lost track of the Minbari war cruiser, and you can bet they will be searching for us. As soon as we're out of the storm they will come gunning for us. You need to rejoin the fleet," he told his friend.
Sheridan could see Anderson staring at him on the screen and he understood all too well the problem his executive officer faced. His vessel, the Heracles, had fallen far behind the rest of the fleet. Faint explosions on the planet surface lit up the lower deck clouds through the port windows. The Minbari would be coming for them soon.
As if fate had a cruel side, Sheridan was thrown off balance when an energy beam struck the underbelly of his vessel. Alarms went off and warning lights flashed over the workstations like fireworks going off at a coronation show. The crew scrambled back to their stations while Sheridan demanded updates.
As he feared, the Minbari had noticed their escape. Shit, the warship is now hunting us, and how did it get below us?
The cloud deck burst open like a blister and Sheridan could only watch hopelessly as he saw the raging war cruiser gain height below them.
Through the panoramic window that faced downward toward the surface of the plant, Sheridan had an all-round view of the entire area as his ship roared upward at a sixty-five degree angle. His fleet of ships followed closely behind, but his respected friend trailed in the distance, above the Minbari vessel.
Random blasts of energy cut through the clouds, striking more of his ships. Metal plating broke off and fell back down to the surface, but still the Human vessels roared onwards.
"All ships, open fire! We need to divert that warship's weapon fire away from Heracles. We've got to make ourselves a bigger target." Still, he knew the Minbari would not let an easy target like that go to waste.
Close in formation, Sheridan's vessels fired all their beam weapons and projectile cannons. Each strike hit home, but no visible damage was done to the sleek blue hull of the Minbari war cruiser. The enemy kept coming and there was no way to stop it.
Lancing beams of yellow light streaked through the clouds and tore open the aft section of one of the star ships. Calls came in to Sheridan's lead vessel as the other captains gave him damage reports and support, but it did not look good.
Marching back and forth between the Agamemnon weaponry stations, Sheridan ordered more direct hits at weak points on the war cruiser. But they did not have the firepower to cause the damage he desired.
"Captain, we are firing as much as we can, but at this distance, we are not causing any damage," informed the red-faced gunnery officer.
Sheridan slammed his fist down on the console and his crew raced to update their stations with new frequency armaments from transmissions received from Anderson's vessel. Modified blast bolts pummelled the Minbari war cruiser, causing some damage and ripping holes in its hull. But it was too little, too late.
The Minbari vessel began to evade the counter attack, by ducking under the cloud deck, or so Sheridan thought.
Moments later Sheridan could only look in awe as the Minbari vessel leapt out of the cloud deck at a ninety-degree angle right under the lagging star ship. It fired its primary weapon straight through the ship, like a shark that had jumped out of the water to kill its prey.
Anderson's vessel was completely caught off guard and reeled with the damage inflicted upon it.
The Heracles pivoted on its axis, but still carried on at full thrust. More direct hits destroyed two of its four engines, leaving the vessel doomed. With only one visible engine online, it was obvious that the Heracles could not remain in the air.
Minbari fighters streaked through the sky at unprecedented speed to attack the rest of Sheridan's fleet. They attacked weapon ports and engines casings, intent on causing utter mayhem.
As if it was a game for the Minbari, they lagged behind watching the stricken star ship trying to escape. Sheridan wanted to throw a nuke down the bastard's throat for the prolonged suffering they were causing; it was a cruel game.
But the screen came to life with Anderson's defeated face, "Sheridan, we're doomed. The damned Minbari are torturing us. I will not give them the opportunity. Use this chance to escape. It might be your only chance."
Before Sheridan had the chance to reply, the screen went black. As if watching an old war movie, he watched Heracles turn though the panoramic windows. Cloud decks rolled and stirred below, as if they knew the sacrifice that was about to unfold.
The Heracles rotated on its axis and fell at a sideward approach to the Minbari war cruiser. He watched as the enemy vessel opened fire on the incoming star ship, but nothing could stop the hulk of metal falling towards it.
The rest of the fleet opened fire with everything they had; high-powered beams and blast bolts ripped through the air in an attempt to soften the Minbari war cruiser.
The Minbari tried to make an evasive manoeuvre but Anderson's vessel struck home. It ploughed into the enemy vessel and sent it hurtling into the lower cloud deck and out of view of everyone.
The sky was clear except for a few Minbari fighters still flying around, startled.
Sheridan rose to his feet and demanded, "Get those damned Minbari out of my sight!"
A small flurry of blasts incinerated the Minbari fighters, leaving the area clear for the fleeing ships-for the moment.
"Sheridan!" The sensor operator looked up, as if he couldn't believe his readings. "That Minbari warship's back sir! It's rising out of the clouds!"
