Babylon 5 SI 39

(Setting the table)

The main issue with fighting in space is that three-dimensional tactics don't come naturally, it is a skill that is learned over repeated instruction at the academe, and even with all that ingrained tuition and experience, many human commanders fought as though they were sea ships and not submariners in the void.

Admiral Santos's next issue was that in space static defences unless anchored to a planet or specific high traffic area could just be avoided or circumvented by skilled enough pilots, and the Minbari were very experienced pilots.

The last issue facing the Admiral was that the Minbari didn't need to use the Jump Gate in the system to enter or exit hyperspace, so setting up a defensive perimeter there would be useless. She had to put herself as much as possible in the mind of a Minbari commander.

As she looked over the system map, she began to run through what was known of the Minbari and their current strategies.

One, they had the ranged advantage even with the new weapon systems bought from the Empire the Minbari still had that advantage. Two, they were without a doubt faster in real space than the current generation of Nova and Hyperion, but the Bellerophon and upgraded Olympus could keep up and even outspeed them in a straight-line. Three, the Minbari's armour could take a hit displacing the blast over a much wider area thanks to their crystalline structure.

The Admiral sighed.

"they have the range and the speed to keep it." she rubbed her eyes tiredly. She then grabbed a datapad and began to flick through the latest info supplied to the EFNI from the Empire as to the capability of the Minbari ships maybe there was something there she could exploit.

"intelligence report from initial engagement, Minbari Capital Ships prove uniquely susceptible to flaking attacks by fast attack craft." She mulled over that sentence for a second or two, and the blocks began to fall into place in her mind.

The only issue is that no capital ships in her fleet had any mines. The planet's main export was not military hardware or technology that could be manufactured into it, so she would have to do something that was only suggested by a radical cadet during her days as an instructor at the officer academy.

"The Sheridan gambit." she smiled to herself, she hadn't even thought of that little slice of madness in years, and maybe it was just crazy enough to work, but it was risky and could not even be attempted in an external system, you had to have an immensely detailed knowledge of the solar system it was attempted in given the imprecise nature of the Hyperspace Navigational Computers but here on a well documented and well-travelled system as this it could work.