Earth Vs Minbari - Robotech To The Rescue

by TheVampireStrahd

The war between Earth and the Minbari has been going on, Earth is losing the war. A desperate plan is launched to retrieve ships and weapons that Earth had locked away and swore to never use again. Will Robotech save Earth as it had so many times before? The galaxy will never be the same.

9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Babylon 5 or its characters, those belong to Warner Brothers. I do not own Robotech or its characters, those belong to Harmony Gold. I do not own Macross or its characters, those belong to Big West and Studio Nue.

Chapter 9

The Pegasus Galaxy

The Robotech Factory

Everyone was in shock over that sudden demand and it took several seconds for Captain John Sheridan to say "Excuse me, what did you say?"

The Garudan Fleet Captain snarled, "You heard me! I demand that you lower your barriers, power down your weapons and surrender the Robotech Factory to my authority on behalf of the Sentinels Alliance!"

John was about to respond when David Sheridan placed a hand on John's shoulder. "I'll take over now.", he said.

Stepping into the holographic projector's view so he could be seen David Sheridan began, "Excuse me Fleet Captain, I am David Sheridan, the Secretary of State of Earth's government. My government is looking to reestablish contact with the Sentinels Alliance once more. Could you please contact your government and inform them that the government of Earth has sent a representative to speak to them."

The Garudan looked perplexed at the sudden appearance of a high ranking diplomat for a moment. Then the Garudan cleared his throat and said, "I will see to it that the government is informed of your presence but for now, I must repeat my demand. Surrender the Robotech Factory and everything inside along with the storage yard."

David cleared his own throat and stated, "I'm afraid that's impossible. The Robotech Factory along with the storage yard are the property of Earth. The Sentinels Treaty was signed by the Sentinels Alliance and the Earth Government and the Special Clause stipulates that we can return and reclaim the Robotech Factory, the storage yard, and everything inside both facilities. That treaty is-"

Fleet Captain Grogan cut David off and snarled, "I do not care for your excuses you pencil pushing diplomatic nitwit! Lower your barriers, power down your weapons and surrender!"

David was surprised, this Garudan was so aggressive, rude, and was clearly in the wrong. John looked like he was about to snap and David gestured for calm. "Fleet Captain Grogan, your actions are far more hostile than necessary. Earth and the Sentinels Alliance were allies in blood. Our predecessors fought together, bled together, and died together. Now, why don't you dial back-"

Fleet Captain Grogan snarled, "I grow tired of this. Surrender or my forces will open fire on you and take the Factory by force."

David Sheridan's eye twitched. Well, that was that. Time to give this Garudan the bad news. With a calm expression David said, "Fleet Captain Grogan, allow me to bring Captain John Sheridan back into the conversation as he represents Earth's military forces for this expedition."

John stepped back into view and with a matter of fact expression on his face Captain John Sheridan said, "Fleet Captain Grogan, let's face facts. Fact one, the Robotech Factory and everything else are Earth's property. Fact two, you are overstepping whatever authority you have in trying to force us to surrender our property. Fact three, even with your small fleet, you're massively outgunned. So, tell you what I am willing to do. You can step aside and let someone more reasonable do the talking or I'll open fire and blow the ship you're on out of the stars and we'll talk to your replacement."

There were gasps overheard from the Fleet Captain's side of the hologram as if the people watching and listening heard what John just said. But Captain Sheridan didn't waste any time as he ordered, "Lock weapons on Fleet Captain Grogan's ship."

The Voice of the Factory acknowledged, "Weapons locked. Fleet Captain Grogan's warship is targeted. Awaiting order to fire."

All of a sudden there was an alarm klaxon within the Factory Control Center and Doctor Lang announced, "Multiple contacts emerging from FTL, many multiple contacts. Sensors indicate two hundred fifty contacts including a massive contact!" Doctor Lang paused and said, "Wait...look at this, does that ship look like a Super Star Destroyer to you?"

The image of the massive warship that was the center of the fleet did indeed look like a Super Star Destroyer from Star Wars. The people in the Control Center were a little surprised at that.

A voice could be heard on the other end of the hologram and the hologram of Fleet Captain Grogan disconnected suddenly. Everyone was confused for a couple of minutes when communications were reestablished by a new signal. The hologram was that of an older woman with dark gray hair in a long braid draped over her right shoulder. She had violet eyes, with light pink skin and it was clear she was Zentraedi. The woman was wearing a uniform that looked similar to the Sentinels Alliance uniform of old but was updated and everyone noticed that the woman appeared to be of very high rank.

After looking at Captain Sheridan and David Sheridan for several seconds the woman spoke. "I am Grand Admiral Kazianna Hesh of the Sentinels Alliance. I apologize for the actions of the former Fleet Captain Grogan, I promise you that he will be punished accordingly as he was acting far outside of his authority and was completely out of bounds."

John looked at David and said, "Mister Secretary, want me to-"

David gestured, "Go ahead."

Stepping forward slightly John looked at the woman and said, "Greetings Grand Admiral, I am Captain John Sheridan of EarthForce, the military arm of the current government of Earth. Standing next to me is a member of Earth's civilian government, our Secretary of State David Sheridan." John had gestured to David as he introduced him. "Thank you for your timely arrival Grand Admiral as I was afraid that I would have been forced to take drastic action."

Turning his head to the side to act as if he was ordering someone John ordered, "Stand down weapons, disengage target lock on Fleet Captain Grogan's warship."

The Voice of the Factory acknowledged the order. "Weapons on standby mode, target is no longer locked on by weapon systems."

The woman nodded her head as she replied, "Thank you for doing that Captain. With regards to Fleet Captain Grogan's actions, I was so informed by the Vice Fleet Captain and other members of his senior crew upon my arrival. The Sentinels Alliance recognizes that Earth has returned to claim that which it had locked away so long ago but my government would like to speak with your diplomatic representative Secretary Sheridan to discuss the situation that required your people to return and invoke the Special Clause of the treaty. I would have arrived sooner but I had to wait for the Ambassador's shuttle to arrive."

John asked, "Then your ambassador is aboard your ship?"

Kazianna replied, "Yes. Would you like him to shuttle over?"

David was in view still, standing next to John and he said, "That would be perfectly fine. Let us know when your Ambassador is ready to shuttle over."

Kazianna responded, "I will contact you soon with that information, it seems he needs some time to prepare."

"Very well Grand Admiral, we look forward to meeting your Ambassador soon." David said with a smile on his face.

"I'm sure. I look forward to meeting all of you soon myself. Grand Admiral Hesh, out."

The communication was cut and the hologram disappeared. Everyone let out the breath that they'd been holding and soon there was clapping and some cheers as it looked like the Sentinels had arrived to meet with them.

David turned to look at the Senior Diplomat that had come with him. "Sha're, please see that the conference room is made ready for our guest."

The half Zentraedi/half Tirolian woman nodded and said, "Right away sir, I'll contact my partner Kyle and let him know to assist."

David nodded, "That's fine. I'll reach out to them and make sure we have the correct Diplomatic flags to represent the Sentinels Alliance."

John issued orders, "Keep an eye on our visitors, make sure they don't make any sudden moves. We'll also need to arrange for a proper welcome to the Ambassador. Captain Jiina," John looked to the Zentraedi woman who stepped forward. "You can work with the Diplomatic team in making those arrangements."

The Captain nodded, "Yes sir."

The men and women started getting to work to prepare for the arrival of the Sentinels ambassador. John stayed in the Control Center with Doctor Lang to keep an eye on things.

---

Aboard Super Star Destroyer Freedom – Sentinels Alliance Flagship

Grand Admiral Kazianna Hesh's office

The Flagship of the Sentinels Alliance, the Super Star Destroyer Freedom was a massive powerful warship and the ship builders had gone to great lengths to fix and address the design flaws that they had seen in watching the Star Wars saga so long ago. Even though the warship was twenty five years old it was still the most powerful warship in the entire Sentinels Alliance fleet while possessing none of the technology from the Star Wars franchise.

There had been many discussions when they were in the planning phase of building a new flagship for the Sentinels Alliance and someone brought up the idea of building a Super Star Destroyer. After that person had been pelted with balls of paper, pens, and paper coffee cups along with enduring groans and different languages of "Are you ******* serious?", the engineers looked at each other and declared, "Why not? Whoever owns Star Wars is not in the Pegasus Galaxy and is going to know we did this.", was one reply. Then the engineers said, "Okay, but we're fixing the damn thing."

And so, after going through many redesigns in the planning stages, the final design was approved, having addressed lack of weaponry on the aft and ventral side of the massive warship along with increasing anti-fighter/anti-mecha weaponry and addressing the weakness of the warship's firing arcs for its powerful weapons. The warship had a devastating broadside as well as being able to fire in all aspects. While it did not have the Star Wars weapon systems or the Star Wars technology in general, the massive warship had many particle beam cannons and many missile batteries for its main firepower while smaller turrets for secondary firepower as well as anti-fighter and anti-mecha defense along with counter missile batteries for intercepting incoming missiles as well as anti-fighter and anti-mecha defense. Power issues were also fixed and the massive warship was built in five years at the main ship yard in Sentinels controlled space.

The decision as to who would command the warship was an easy one and even though she didn't want it, Kazianna Hesh, the longest and only serving Grand Admiral of the Sentinels Alliance forces found herself in command of the Flagship. The Zentraedi woman had accepted it and she led the Sentinels Alliance through several campaigns against hostile races that ended with peace agreements during her career.

Now she was here, seeing humans from Earth once more. Sure, she saw humans and other Zentraedi and Tirolians all the time since a large group had stayed when the old United Earth Government left to go back to the Milky Way galaxy and start over. But she really didn't expect to see humans from the Milky Way again in her lifetime. She was curious. Something horrible must be happening to Humanity in the Milky Way if they were here to invoke the Special Clause.

Now she was scowling as she had just finished reviewing the camera footage that she'd asked for from Fleet Captain Grogan's Flag Bridge. She had summoned the Garudan to report to her ship at once as soon as the conversation had ended between her and the human Captain and human dignitary. Right now, that Garudan was waiting outside her office as she made him wait, glancing at the clock she took note that he'd been waiting for ten minutes. With a growl she decided she was going to make him wait a while longer.

Kazianna returned to her work and after making the Fleet Captain waiting for almost thirty minutes she finally told her Praxian aide to send him in. The door was opened by her aide and the Garudan Fleet Captain walked in to stand in front of her desk. The aide closed the door once the Grand Admiral gestured for her to do so then her gaze was directed to the Garudan Fleet Captain. The Grand Admiral was sitting at her desk with her hands steepled, the fingertips touching as she gave the Garudan a withering glare, a look that was capable of bringing men and women to their knees no matter the species.

Fleet Captain Grogan saluted his superior officer and said, "Fleet Captain Grogan reporting as ordered."

Kazianna returned the salute and Grogan was shifting to an at ease stance but Kazianna said in a low voice, "I did not give you leave to change your stance Fleet Captain. Remain at attention."

Grogan shifted back to attention and Kazianna continued to stare at him in silence for about a minute. Then she spoke in a cold voice, "Fleet Captain Grogan, do you realize what your actions have almost caused? I gave you an order, to await my arrival into your sector so your ships could join with mine and we could arrive at the same time. Yet, you disregarded my order, somehow you convinced six other Captains to follow you, and left for the Factory Sector on your own." She paused briefly as she kept boring that gaze into Grogan then resumed. "You arrive at the Factory sector and you take it upon yourself to force the humans from Earth to surrender the Robotech Factory and everything that rightfully belongs to them...to you. Explain that to me Fleet Captain."

Grogan growled and Kazianna arched an eyebrow and the Garudan caught himself and quickly apologized before saying, "I was attempting to secure the Factory and its contents for us Grand Admiral."

Kazianna snapped, "For the Sentinels, or for the Garudan people Fleet Captain?"

Grogan replied, "For Gar-", the Garudan made a noise as if he choked on something then said, "For the Sentinels Alliance Grand Admiral."

Kazianna's eyebrow arched again as she took in his response and she asked in a flat tone, "Really?"

Grogan was silent for a few seconds then said simply, "Yes."

Kazianna said, "Your actions almost cost you the lives of your crew and your ship. Captain Sheridan was very close to ordering the defenses of the Robotech Factory to open fire, destroying your warship and everyone aboard. You were in the wrong Fleet Captain, they were clearly following the treaty protocols-"

Grogan interrupted Kazianna saying, "That treaty is outdated and-"

Kazianna stood up from her desk and snarled, "Did you just interrupt me while I was speaking?! Who do you think you are?!" She placed both hands on the desk and leaned forward and roared, "You are a Fleet Captain, you are allowed to command a small task group, you are not an Admiral and you certainly do not have the right or the privilege to interrupt me when I am speaking to you!"

Her glare at the Garudan could have melted the advanced armor the Freedom was constructed of as she continued to rip into Grogan. "I have been in battles with the Invid, fighting them ever since I was created by the Robotech Masters! I've fought the Robotech Master's remnants, joined with the Sentinels to finally defeat the Invid Regent and I fought the Haydonites when they betrayed us! Thousands of battles I have fought, how many have you fought in? I've got your record right here...you've fought in one war and you barely managed to distinguish yourself in it by fighting in two small battles."

Sitting back down, she continued to glare at the Garudan Fleet Captain and said, "You have a choice, you can submit to my judgment as to your punishment, or you can submit to a formal court martial. The choice is yours, but decide now."

Grogan was slightly shaken from the Grand Admiral's ripping into him but his courage returned as he knew he had friends and supporters that would back him.

"I'll take my chances at court martial Grand Admiral.", he said with a slight tone of disrespect.

Kazianna said, "Are you sure about that? Take a moment to consider this decision.", she asked.

Grogan was about to reply when he was struck by a realization. She wanted him to choose court martial, which is what he wanted to choose but even if his friends and patrons were able to be a part of the panel, the Grand Admiral had far more powerful friends than he did. The panel would be comprised more so of officers that had fought and been under the Grand Admiral's command over the years. If he chose court martial, his career was over and his family would be disgraced.

He had only one option to choose. Clearing his throat and speaking in a more respectful tone Grogan said, "After thinking this decision over, I have changed my mind. I am willing to submit to your punishment."

Kazianna asked, "This is your final choice?"

Grogan replied with a nod, "Yes, ma'am."

Kazianna nodded her head and stated, "Very well. Fleet Captain Grogan, under my authority, I hereby reduce you in rank from that of Fleet Captain to that of Lieutenant."

Kazianna walked over and removed his rank insignia then replaced them with Lieutenant's rank insignia. She then said, "My aide outside has your orders to report to your new ship. You are being given a second chance Lieutenant Grogan, don't waste it and do not disappoint me."

The newly demoted Lieutenant responded, "Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." Then he saluted the Grand Admiral who rose and returned the salute.

"Dismissed.", she curtly said.

Grogan spun on his heel and exited the Grand Admiral's office to receive his new orders. A minute later her aide paged her, with her face appearing on the monitor.

"Grand Admiral, the Foreign Minister is here to see you before he departs.", her Praxian aide said.

"Send him in.", Kazianna ordered.

The door opened and the Foreign Minister of the Sentinels Alliance entered and Kazianna stood up from her desk and waited. She held out her hand for a handshake and greeted, "About to go see our old friends sir?"

As the two shook hands the human man smiled and replied, "Yes I am. Guess it was good luck that I was in the same sector you were when the message came from our watchdog."

Nodding her head and sitting back down she remarked, "The timing was indeed fortuitous." The Foreign Minister sat down as well.

"Well, I noticed that our Fleet Captain was missing some rank insignia. You demoted him?"

"I did. I offered him a court martial or to accept my summary judgment. He almost chose court martial, but apparently he realized that his career would have been over had he done so. We shall see if he takes this opportunity for a second chance well."

Kazianna's aide offered a cup of coffee to the Foreign Minister prepared to his taste who smiled and thanked the aide as he accepted the beverage. The aide quickly disappeared and the Grand Admiral and Foreign Minister were alone once more.

Taking a sip of the coffee, the Foreign Minister said, "Well, I'm glad that you were able to defuse the situation Grand Admiral, last thing anyone would have wanted would be our former friends opening fire on one of our ships."

Kazianna nodded, "That's true. Well, I trust you will find out why they've returned to invoke the Special Clause. If they are that desperate, and they've sent their own Foreign Minister here it is more than likely that they might ask us for help."

Nodding his own head as he took another drink of coffee the Foreign Minister replied, "I have thought about that and you're probably right."

"What happens if he asks for help?", Kazianna asked.

"Well I'll certainly bring it to the Council's attention and there would be a lot of talk, but in the end I couldn't see us refusing their call for help. We owe them too much."

There were several seconds of silence then Kazianna said one word. "True."

Finishing his coffee, the Foreign Minister said, "Well, I'll do my best to make them welcome and we'll no doubt have a lot to talk about but if they've got the Factory already operational, they could be folding out and returning to their home very soon."

The Foreign Minister stood up and Kazianna stood up as well. She smiled as she said, "I take it you're ready to go then?"

"I am indeed."

"I wish you luck. Oh, before I forget, how's your sister?"

With a smile on his face the man replied, "Well, the last time I spoke with her she's been enjoying herself exploring the galaxy. I joked with her and called her Jaime Kirk and she insisted that she was more like Picard."

The two chuckled as they walked to the door together and shook hands. "Take care of yourself Sir."

"I will. See you when I see you.", he said. The man turned and left the office with the Grand Admiral and while he was leaving for the hanger bay, she was heading to the Bridge.

The Bridge had been moved from it's known position in the movies to a new location within the center of the warship where it was more protected. Kazianna stepped onto the Bridge and a Lieutenant said, "Admiral on deck!"

Walking further into the nerve center of the massive flagship she waved her hand and said, "As you were." She stopped at the center of the room and asked, "Status?"

Her Flag Captain, a Praxian woman named Selene with long blonde hair replied, "Everything's fine Grand Admiral. Nothing to report."

Nodding in satisfaction, she said, "Good. Communications, hail the Factory please."

"Yes, ma'am."

The holographic projection of Captain John Sheridan appeared and greeted the Grand Admiral.

Kazianna says, "Hello Captain Sheridan. Our Ambassador will be departing from my ship in the next few minutes. I trust that you are ready to receive him?"

Nodding his head Captain Sheridan replied, "Yes, we are Grand Admiral. Our Secretary of State and his team are looking forward to meeting your Ambassador."

Smiling she responded, "Very good Captain. It will be nice to have contact with the people of Earth once again. Stand by to receive our Ambassador."

"We're ready." Then with a smile on his face Captain Sheridan asked, "I...I just have to ask, your people made a Super Star Destroyer?"

With a wide smile of her own she replied, "We did. I look forward to giving you a tour. Grand Admiral Hesh, out."

The communication was disconnected and she ordered, "Give our shuttle clearance for departure and wish them well."

"Yes ma'am.", the officer gave departure clearance and soon the shuttle, which was an older style shuttle from the war against the Invid and Haydonites but had been recently built.

On the monitors they watched the shuttle fly towards the Robotech Factory and eventually fly into one of the massive hangers and the doors closed behind it.

Kazianna said, "Well, now we wait around some more." She turned to her Flag Captain, the Praxian woman named Selene and she said, "I was not impressed with the time it took for the crew to report to battle stations last time. Time for some drills I think. Selene, begin readiness drills. We will start with my own warship first, then make it a fleet exercise."

The beautiful Praxian woman faced her and saluted, "Yes, ma'am." Then she turned and looked to the crew and said, "Sound General Quarters! This is a drill!"

Alarm klaxons sounded and the ship's internal communications sounded, "General Quarters, general quarters, all personnel man your battle stations! This is a drill!"

The announcement repeated as the battle stations alarm sounded and the personnel on the Bridge started their own procedures for bringing the ship to combat readiness. This was just the beginning of keeping her people busy.

---

The Robotech Factory

The shuttle carrying the Ambassador of the Sentinels Alliance was landing in one of the many mecha hanger bays that the massive complex possessed. An honor guard was present and awaiting the Ambassador's arrival.

Also present were the four Captains with Captain Sheridan in the front. Secretary David Sheridan was going to greet the Ambassador first as he felt that it best that the Diplomats take point from this moment forward. Standing nearby were the two Senior Diplomats that had traveled with Secretary Sheridan. The first was Sha're, the half Zentraedi and half Tirolian woman with shoulder length black hair, light blue skin, and green eyes was standing to David's right while Kyle, who was a male human with dark skin, brown hair and brown eyes was standing next to Sha're.

Among the group of officers that were present was the Telepath assigned to the Pegasus Expedition. The Telepath was a star and well thought of among his peers and in both the private sector and government agencies that hired him. He appeared approachable and no one had any complaints about him. He watched the proceedings and didn't detect any hostile intent from their visitors and he'd signaled Captain Sheridan that everything was fine.

They had rolled out the red carpet and waited anxiously but calmly for the shuttle to land, which the pilot did with professional precision next to the red carpet.

The hatch for the shuttle opened and two security personnel exited, one was a Praxian and the other was a Karbarran. Both were wearing stylishly updated uniforms of the Sentinels Alliance and after a few seconds someone walked out and the waiting honor guard stood at attention. The group of people awaiting the Ambassador took notice that this new arrival was wearing a stylish suit and holding what looked like a briefcase. From the distance, it appeared that the Ambassador was human, or possibly Tirolian and appeared to be male. Exiting the shuttle behind the man was a beautiful green haired woman wearing a suit. She followed the man closely while holding a briefcase of her own.

The assembled honor guard along the red carpet presented a salute and the man walked forward to approach the assembled group. Music began to play, the old Sentinels anthem from the time that the REF and the Sentinels had first joined forces. The man stopped in front of Secretary Sheridan while the woman stopped right behind the man. and the music stopped, and everyone got a good look at the Ambassador and the woman behind him. He definitely looked human or Tirolian, with light brown hair and blue eyes. Standing at around five feet seven inches, there was a familiar look to him. The woman was taller, about five feet ten inches and she looked Tirolian with striking purple eyes and light pink skin.

Secretary David Sheridan held out his hand in greeting, "Welcome aboard the Robotech Factory Ambassador. I'm Secretary of State of EarthGov David Sheridan. With me are Senior Diplomatic Envoys Sha're and Kyle Richardson." Secretary Sheridan gestured to each person as he made introductions.

The Ambassador looked at all three and shook Secretary Sheridan's hand followed by shaking hands with Sha're and Kyle. The woman shook Secretary Sheridan's hand next and shook hands with the two envoys as well. The Ambassador greeted, "Hello Mister Secretary." After shaking hands the Ambassador introduced himself. "I'm the Foreign Minister for the Sentinels Alliance. I'm Roy Hunter."

The name clicked and people that heard the man introduce himself did a double take and took notice of the familiar features on the man's face. David couldn't help but ask, "Hunter...as in Rick? You can't be his son?!" David couldn't believe that the man was Rick's son.

Shaking his head the Foreign Minister quickly said with a smile, "No, no, nope. I'm not his son, I'm his great, great grandson. I'm just the latest Hunter to be named Roy. It'll probably be a family tradition to name a son Roy."

Gesturing to the very woman behind him Roy said, "This is my aide, Marlene. She's my right hand actually, making sure I don't miss anything." Roy chuckled.

With a chuckle of his own David gestured to guide the Ambassador over to the waiting party of Captains and began to introduce the officers that were waiting David began, "Well, let me introduce you to our senior officers, leading our military forces for this expedition is Captain John Sheridan."

Captain Sheridan and Roy Hunter shook hands and exchanged greetings. John shook Marlene's hand next. From there, David introduced the other Captains and once the pleasantries were completed, the group guided the Sentinels' Ambassador out of the hanger and over to the waiting transport that would take them to the conference room

The group of diplomats and military officers from Earth and the Foreign Minister of the Sentinels Alliance had arrived at the conference room to begin discussions. Secretary Sheridan had offered Foreign Minister Hunter a chance to rest but the man said it would be best if they got right to business.

The conference room had flags of the Sentinels Alliance and the flags of the races of the Sentinels Alliance arranged in the center of one side of the room while the other side of the room had the Earth Alliance flag.

Captain Sheridan and Captain Jiina stayed with Secretary Sheridan and his diplomatic envoys while Captain Richards went to the Factory Control Center to monitor the fleet outside and Captain Thar went to oversee how the many personnel were doing with the latest training exercises.

Just before they were going to sit down, Secretary Sheridan made one final introduction. "Minister Hunter and Marlene, one last person I want to introduce you to is this man here." Secretary Sheridan gestured to a middle aged man with black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a blue uniform jacket and black dress shirt and black pants.

Secretary Sheridan said, "Minister Hunter, Marlene this is Alfred Bester, he is our Telepath assigned to this expedition."

The Foreign Minister didn't seem to be fazed. "That won't be a problem, I was about to tell you that Marlene's telepathic. In addition to being my right hand, she keeps things in order and fair."

With the introductions finally done, everyone sat down at the conference room table, with Roy Hunter and his aide Marlene sitting with the Sentinels flags behind him while the Secretary Sheridan, his senior diplomats, and Captains Sheridan and Jiina sitting on the other side with Alfred Bester sitting at the end of the table.

Roy decided to open the talks. "Well, I won't waste time with asking why you're here, as it's quite clear you're here invoking the Special Clause. What I'd like to find out on behalf of my government is the reason that you are invoking the Special Clause."

David gave a tiny sigh and said, "We're at war with a technologically advanced alien race called the Minbari. They are exterminating us. We've offered to surrender and they've refused. They won't talk to us, every diplomatic letter we've sent via a third party race has been returned unopened and unread. They have bombarded more than thirty of our colony worlds to the bedrock and have not taken a single prisoner. Captain Sheridan and Captain Jiina can attest that our warships cannot hit them as their stealth is something we haven't been able to crack and we have to get within point blank range before we can hit them. By then, they've sliced our warships to pieces."

The aide Marlene gasped and she brought a hand to her mouth and her eyes wide. Roy kept a better grasp of his emotions but his eyes did widen slightly.

Roy scratched his chin saying. "I see." Then he asked, "You believe that Robotech will even the odds?"

Nodding his head David replied, "According to our simulations, yes."

Roy said, "Simulations? You're relying on simulation data to make the trip back here to retrieve your Robotech ships? That seems…"

David finished Roy's sentence. "Desperate? Yes. Let me show you how desperate."

On the flat screen, video footage began to play and it showed what looked like blueish-white ships that seemed to look almost aquatic, like a fish. The other ships that could be seen were long cylindrical and square.

Captain Sheridan spoke, "These fish looking ships are the Minbari warships. The others are ours. Watch."

Then the footage displayed the Minbari firing beams and they saw these Minbari slicing and dicing the Earth warships that they fired upon. The footage then switched and it showed a planet being bombarded by the Minbari warships. More footage showed similar events, Earth warships being sliced to pieces, orbital infrastructure destroyed, planets bombarded.

Roy shook his head while his aide looked on in disbelief. Here eyes had tears that she was holding back. "They take no prisoners? They kill everyone on the planet? Civilians?", Roy asked in a shocked tone.

Secretary Sheridan, Sha're, Kyle, Captain Sheridan, and Captain Jiina, and Alfred Bester all replied at once in one voice, "Yes."

David said, "We've lost between one hundred and two hundred million people across those colonial worlds and military losses. After the last Robotech war, we colonized as much as possible, we didn't want a repeat of the Rain of Death that would put us under the threat of extinction ever again. Now...now we're being exterminated, colony by colony. They're working their way towards our homeworld since they don't know where Earth is. We're trying to evacuate those that are under direct risk of being attacked but we just don't have the ships to get everyone out most of the time."

Roy looked over the footage again with a grim visage. Looking directly at Secretary Sheridan he asked, "How did the war start?"

There was no hiding the wince that Secretary Sheridan made nor the sigh that escaped from Captain Sheridan. Secretary Sheridan said, "Well...to be honest, it boils down to the fact that we sent the wrong man out there to command an exploration mission. It was a First Contact that went horribly, horribly wrong. Our man panicked and opened fire upon a group of ships that was later confirmed to have been the Minbari. What no one could have known was that the Minbari leader was aboard the ship that he opened fire on and the damage he dealt to that ship killed that leader and injured a bunch of Minbari."

Taking a drink of water from the glass he poured for himself David continued, "We've tried everything as I've said earlier. We offered to turn over the man responsible to the Minbari, we've offered to surrender unconditionally, we've asked other races to speak to the Minbari on our behalf. Nothing works. The Minbari have decided that we don't deserve to live for killing their leader and so far, they are well on their way to wiping us out."

Roy looked at his counterparts from the Milky Way galaxy then leaned back and sighed. Sitting straight again he looked at David and said, "So you started the war." David and everyone else winced. Roy held out a hand in a placating gesture. "You said you've reached out to the other races in your galaxy and no one's offered to help you?"

David replied, "They've all been threatened by the Minbari that should any of them try to help us, the Minbari will come and do to them what they've done to us." He let out a sigh and continued, "We sent one of my Assistant Secretaries of State at great risk to plead with the League of Non Aligned Worlds, a group of twelve different races that we aided fifteen years ago against a hostile alien race bent on conquest. We saved them, we figured they owed us. He tried very hard to convince them to join with us, that strength in numbers would convince the Minbari that what they were doing was wrong."

With a sigh David said, "However, they voted not to help us." David took a deep breath and resumed, "On the way back to Earth, the ship taking him back home ran into a Minbari warship…" David became emotional for a moment, composed himself and resumed, "They didn't make it back. The Minbari ignored the fact that the ship was identified as a Diplomatic vessel and killed everyone." Taking a drink of water, he finished, "He was a good friend."

Roy and Marlene looked at each other then looked at David. Roy said, "We're sorry for the loss of your friend."

David replied quietly, "Thank you."

Roy said, "So, your government helped this League and now they are too scared to do the right thing? I'm guessing your government is not taking this news well."

Shaking his head, David responded, "No, we certainly are not taking that news well. The League won't even take economic sanctions against the Minbari. Apparently the Minbari also threatened them with destruction if they tried to impose those sanctions as well."

Roy took a drink of water and he contemplated what he'd learned for a minute. Then he said, "How long will it take for you to move the ships from the storage yard so that you can take them with you? When are you planning on returning to the Milky Way?"

Captain John Sheridan replied, "As it turns out, the mothball yard is empty. The ships were already moved inside the Factory by Admiral Hunter's order. As for our return back to our galaxy, we could be leaving very soon...maybe within a day or two. We're running diagnostics on all the systems again. If everything works out again, we'll be returning right away."

Roy then asked, "You say you've run simulations that your Robotech ships and weapons will be able to defeat the Minbari's stealth. What if it doesn't work? Simulations are one thing, practical use is another. What is your plan if this plan does not work?"

David replied, "We'll use the Factory to build colonization ships, get as many people aboard them from as many colonies as we can and from Earth. Pack as many people as possible aboard those ships, this Factory, and all the ships we have aboard the Factory, and we'll most likely Fold back here to Pegasus and start over."

Roy looked surprised and asked, "You'd bring everyone you can save back here to Pegasus? Why don't you move to some other part of your galaxy?"

Captain Kania Jiina replied, "The Minbari have vowed to pursue us anywhere we'd run in their effort to wipe us out. We could move somewhere else back in our galaxy but then we run the risk of being found by the Minbari or another race could discover us, try to wipe us out, or maybe they sell us out to the Minbari."

Captain Sheridan added, "We know they don't have the technology to execute an interstellar jump from one galaxy to another. So, by escaping to Pegasus or perhaps sending half our ships to Andromeda and the other half here, we maximize our chances for survival and the Minbari get to think they succeeded in wiping us out."

Roy nodded his head in understanding. "I see. So, you're planning on both scenarios, one if this works and one if this doesn't. So if this gamble does work and Robotech is able to even the odds and you can fight the Minbari, what happens after? Do you lock it away again?"

David took a breath and let it out then replied, "That's a discussion that hasn't even started yet. Most likely, we won't be locking it away again. There would be too many people invested in making sure that we don't lock the technology away this time."

Roy sighed, "I figured as much. We hoped that after the fullness of time, after both our civilizations had grown wiser your people would return to reclaim Robotechnology when you were matured and ready, not because you were in danger of being exterminated." Sighing again, Roy took another drink of water then continued, "My government has no problem with your reclaiming of the Factory and the ships and mecha that were stored. Given the news over this war that you are in, I must inform the Sentinels Council about this situation as soon as possible."

David had a hopeful look to his face. "Do you think your government would be willing to come to our aid?"

Roy was silent for a few seconds then he said, "Well, despite the fact that your people fired the first shots, that your man basically started this war you are in, I strongly believe that my government would oppose the Minbari's actions. Committing genocide because one man was killed, even if he was the leader of their people is not something that our government would condone. There is also the fact that you've said you surrendered and they refuse to accept it. That goes against the rules of civilized behavior. Finally, your people helped the Sentinels Alliance against the Robotech Masters' remnants, freed many of the Sentinels worlds, and quite frankly, the Sentinels Alliance owes the people of Earth a debt that we would be trying to repay for generations."

Roy tapped the conference table with his index finger saying, "I must speak with the Sentinels Council and our Prime Minister. I will make the case that we should help you. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but to show your galaxy that words have meaning. The Sentinels Alliance was united with the United Earth Government and we fought, bled, and died together. I will do everything I can to convince my government that we need to do this once more. The only problem is that our fleet does not have the ability to travel to the Milky Way. We'd have to hitch a ride with you."

David had a hopeful expression on his face and the others in the room looked hopeful as well that finally they may have some help. David said, "If you're going to have to speak directly, I am willing to travel to your Capital Planet so that I may speak to the Sentinels Council and your Prime Minister to plead our case."

Captain Sheridan and the two diplomatic envoys Sha're and Kyle protested. "Mister Secretary, you don't have to…"

Roy held up his hand and said, "I will be speaking to the council, but I won't be traveling, I'll simply return to the Freedom and speak with them via our FTL comm."

"Then I'll go with you, so that I can still talk to them directly.", David said with a determined look.

Roy smiled and said, "Well, if you feel that strongly about it, I have no objection."

David stood up and reached across the table to shake Roy's hand. "I think this is a good spot to take a break. We'll have someone take you to your guest quarters and we'll meet again in two hours."

Roy shook David's hand saying, "That would be fine."

Everyone stood up and the Ambassador and his aide walked out with Secretary David who instructed the guards outside to escort their guests to the quarters specially prepared for them. When that was done, David returned to the conference table so that an after meeting debriefing could be held.

David and Captain Sheridan looked to their telepath, Alfred Bester and David asked, "Well? Was he being truthful?"

Alfred Bester spun his chair to face the group then said, "Yes. The Foreign Minister was being truthful. Surprisingly, he wasn't hiding anything."

"His aide wasn't able to block your scan?", asked Captain Sheridan.

The telepath shook his head. "She was strong, but not strong than I am. She's a P10, maybe a P11 if she was holding something back. But I kept my scans to his surface thoughts and I was able to get a sense that the man was speaking truthfully."

"She didn't try anything against you?", asked Captain Jiina.

Mister Bester shook his head. "No, she didn't try anything overt, she did the same thing I did, kept it to surface levels to ensure we were being truthful."

David took a breath, conferred with his aides and then said, "Thank you Mister Bester."

Giving a slight bow of the head the telepath replied, "You're quite welcome. I will return for the next meeting.", The telepath left the conference room to return to his own quarters.

The group looked at each other and David asked, "Well Captain, do you have anything to say about our guest?"

"Just that I'm surprised we've managed to meet a descendant of Admiral Hunter. I expected that his descendants would be out and about here in the Pegasus Galaxy but that the chances of us encountering one of them were low." With a smirk he added, "Glad I didn't place a bet on that."

Captain Jiina added, "Well, there's their Grand Admiral, Kazianna Hesh. She was there in the war against the Invid Regent and the Haydonites. I remember the historical files and she's in them."

David and John nodded their heads as they remembered that the Zentraedi woman had been a member that fought with Admiral Hunter and the Sentinels. The group talked things over for a few more minutes then they ended things so that they could take a break.

Several hours later Captain Sheridan was in his office that he had claimed on the Factory and was looking over the reports that the Executive Officers, his CAG, and the CO of his Marine detatchment with regards to the training that the personnel were taking part of in learning how to operate Robotech warships and mecha.

The pilots were feeling good with their progress on training on the mecha simulators. Commander Robert Wolfe, the CAG for the Achilles reported that after talking with the commanding officers of the Starfury pilots from the other three warships, he was going to start sending all the pilots, not just the pilots from the Achilles but every pilot from all four warships to start flying Veritechs for actual flight training to see how they handle flying the real thing versus flying on simulator.

Colonel Mark Jacobs submitted his report that he had been working with the Marine detachments from all four warships to get them trained with piloting Destroids. They were using Destroid simulators that they'd found aboard the Factory and there was a mecha storage bay that had a very wide variety Destroids to choose from, there were Destroids from the First Robotech War as well as from the war against the Robotech Masters Remnant, the Invid Regent as well as against the Haydonites.

Colonel Jacobs was going to start putting men in the Destroids and seeing how they do with operating the real thing. He was highly optimistic that when and if EarthForce decided to launch an invasion of their own against a Minbari planet, the Destroids would be a welcome addition to the EarthForce arsenal.

John smiled and saw that they were making excellent progress and was hopeful that they would be able to give the Minbari a real fight very soon. He would be sending these reports in to EarthForce HQ when they made their next scheduled contact.

After the last meeting with Roy Hunter and his aide, they had taken another break then invited the Foreign Minister and his aide to a dinner hosted by Secretary Sheridan and the diplomatic team that had the Captains, Executive Officers, Doctor Lang, Alfred Bester the telepath, and the other officers of the four warships. The gathering was strictly social with no "business talk" taking place.

During the gathering, talk about the Sentinels' flagship was a topic of conversation practically at the beginning. "Why did you build a Super Star Destroyer?", asked Captain Sheridan.

Roy was grinning as he replied, "Why not?", there were chuckles among the group of Captains, diplomats, and officers. Then he added, "Let me tell you the discussions over what to build for our flagship was a highly spirited discussion."

Someone said, "It looks menacing enough, but the thing's got a ton of design flaws."

Roy smiled and responded, "It USED to have design flaws. The engineers fixed them, she's got a ton of firepower on all her firing arcs. Trust me, she's been in a few battles already and those that have gone against the Freedom are not around anymore."

Captain Sheridan said, "I'm hoping we can make arrangements for a tour before we depart back home."

"I'm hoping that Grand Admiral Hesh is able to show her off to you as well.", Roy said.

Captain Thar asked, "If you built a Super Star Destroyer, did you build X-Wings too?"

With another chuckle Roy said, "No, the Freedom was...an indulgence. It's not like whoever owns the IP would ever have found out."

Lieutenant Commander Lochley responded, "Until now."

Roy gave a smile and said, "Yes, but she can't travel between galaxies as we don't use fold engines for FTL."

"What FTL method do you use then?", was asked by Captain Sheridan.

Gesturing with the champagne flute in his hand Roy replied, "We use hyperdrives, not like Star Wars mind you, and certainly not as you have described hyperspace travel in the Milky Way." He twirled his hand holding the champagne flute and added, "The best description would be like, that very old show with the rings that the characters would go through to other planets. Our ships use that method."

The group blinked and Captain Thar exclaimed, "Stargate! That's the show! Very good! I watched it as a child."

With a chuckle Roy nodded, "Yes! That's it! I don't watch it but my sister does but it is a very popular show here with the Sentinels Alliance. There is a...I guess you call it a sequel entertainment series that they launched about ten years ago. The characters constantly return to the Milky Way galaxy to save you."

The group chuckled.

John asked, "You have a sister?"

Roy took a sip of his drink and nodded. "She's my twin, Misa. She's Captain of her own ship, a heavy cruiser and she's off exploring the galaxy seeking new life and new civilizations.", Roy was smiling.

Captain Richards commented, "A twin sister, that's great. You have any other brothers and sisters?"

Roy nodded, "A younger sister, she's in her final year of school about to graduate. After that, she's joining the military for her rotation."

"Rotation?", David asked.

The group took sips of their beverages as Roy replied, "All citizens of the Sentinels Alliance must serve at least one rotation in the military. They get to choose where to serve, space or ground services but they have to serve at least one rotation...that would be five Terran years. After that, they can reenlist or opt out and continue their life as a civilian."

Everyone took notice of that.

Roy added, "We're a small Federation, thirty worlds total including all of our colonies so we need every able bodied person to spend some time in the military. It exposes them to service, it teaches many of them skills they learn to bring over to the private or public sectors and in the case of war if we need to call up reserves, our people are already mostly trained."

As the night went on the conversation was friendly and enjoyable and when it was all over, Captain Sheridan still had work to do which was what he was currently doing when the chime to his door sounded.

"Enter.", he said.

The door slid open and Alfred Bester entered Captain Sheridan's office. He walked to the front of Captain Sheridan's desk and greeted the Captain. "Captain, you wished to see me?"

Gesturing for the telepath to sit down which he did John said, "Yes. I just wanted a moment between you and I to go over our meeting with their Foreign Minister."

Alfred Bester nodded, "Well, as I said before, he wasn't being deceptive and he believed in everything he said. He is going to try to help us, but will his government? Again, he thinks that they will side with us and give us some form of support. How much, he doesn't know." After a moments pause he added, "It won't be easy, as he thinks that there may be some Ministers that object."

Sheridan hummed in thought. "Did you have a chance to talk to his aide?"

With a smile the man replied, "We did have an enjoyable conversation."

John replied, "May I ask what it was about?"

Alfred said, "Well, I wanted to find out how telepaths were treated here and see what differences there were between our system and theirs."

John took a drink of coffee and leaned back. "What did you learn?"

"Their system is similar to ours, it's open. It is highly regulated, but it is open. She's able to do what she wants and with her skill and strength she commands a decent salary."

John smiled, "Just like you."

With a smile of his own Mister Bester said, "My salary is much better."

John then said, "So, can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead and ask, I may answer it or I may not."

"Fine." John took another drink of coffee and waved with his hand and said, "We've received word that Senator Clark is going to try and reintroduce the PsiCorp Act and I was curious to get your take on it."

The telepath was silent and his face was neutral as he gave no indication or reaction as to what he was thinking. Then he said, "Well, it has some good points about it, but do I think it is going to pass, no. I don't even think it will make it out of Committee, let alone make it to a full Senate vote."

John asked, "But do you think it's a good idea?"

"No."

"Why?"

"The system we've operated under has been in place for almost a century, eighty years to be precise. Is it perfect, no but I think it has worked out better for telepaths and for our civilization overall. This PsiCorp act would change everything, force telepaths into a separate class of citizens, putting a wedge between telepaths and normals."

Mister Bester continued, "PsiCops that chase after rogue telepaths, that already exists. The Telepathic Monitoring Commission has done a fine job of finding any rogue telepaths out there. This...this PsiCorp act doesn't pass the smell test."

Chuckling, John shook his head and commented, "The smell test?"

Mister Bester smiled, "It smells like shit, Captain. This bill was tried once before and it failed. Now, Senator Clark, a Senator that does not back legislation that will lose is the one bringing this legislation back. Why? He should know it won't get anywhere. The Senator won't find the votes to even get a second look at it, let alone a vote for the full committee to vote on getting it into a vote for the full Senate. It's a shame really, Senator Clark is going to finally have a bill that he sponsored not make it. Well, it will prove he's only human after all. But what it boils down to is that something smells rotten over this bill coming back."

John nodded, "Well, the Telepathic Monitoring Commission would lose out a great deal if the PsiCorp Act passed, and so would you. All that money you've been making would end up going to the PsiCorp, not into you wallet."

With a thin smile, Mister Bester remarked, "Indeed."

John said, "Well, I have more work to do, and I don't want to take up any of your time. I'll see you tomorrow when you go with Secretary Sheridan and Foreign Minister Hunter over to their flagship."

Getting up from his chair, Mister Bester said, "Not going to join us Captain?"

"Oh, I'll be there, Mister Bester. Wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to take a tour aboard a Super Star Destroyer.", replied John as he stood up to escort his guest out.

Mister Bester smiled, "Until tomorrow then."

Alfred Bester returned to his quarters on the Robotech Factory and accessed his personal computer. He quickly typed up a message, encrypted it, and sent it. It would go out on the next connection back to the Milky Way galaxy.

Someone was trying to mess with his telepaths and his own plans. He was not going to stand for it.

Captain Sheridan was still busy as he finished up his work reviewing his reports when the chime sounded for his door.

"Enter."

His father, Secretary David Sheridan entered the room. "Hello, son." With a sigh, he sat down in the chair in front of his son. "Busy day today."

John nodded his head and said, "Yeah."

David asked, "Are you almost done?"

John sighed and said, "Almost. I have plans with Elizabeth in an hour."

David smiled, "How's that been working out?"

"Tough. Her mom's really done a number. But, the past couple nights have been good. We've been having dinner or a late night meal every night here."

David said, "That's good. I've tried to talk to her myself, but she's been avoiding me. Maybe we should have a family dinner before returning home."

John smiled slightly, "That would be nice. Hopefully we can fit that in. So, you're going over to speak to the Sentinels Council aboard their flagship tomorrow. I hope you can convince them to help."

David let out a breath, "I hope so too. But, I need to tell you that your idea of sending some of the ships ahead might be a bit...premature."

John sat up and placed his hands on the desk. "We need to get those ships back, I think sending some back right now would be better than keeping everyone here."

David countered, "The idea has its merits, when you contact EarthForce tomorrow, go ahead and make the proposal to General Lefcourt. If he says to send some back right away we go ahead and do that. But, you need to remember that our Sentinels Alliance friends can't travel back to the Milky Way without us giving the a ride just like how you brought the Hyperions with us."

John was silent then he agreed, "Alright, we'll see what General Lefcourt says tomorrow before the meeting."

David stood up and said, "Good. Well, I'll let you get back to work, don't keep Elizabeth waiting son, you'll only make her mad."

John chuckled saying, "She's already mad."

David was almost at the door when he turned and said, "Well, don't make her angrier. You don't want to ruin the progress you've made. Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

John smiled and said, "See you tomorrow."

After his dad left John returned to his work and made an effort to finish as quick as he could. Looking at the clock, he smiled as he finished early. Standing up he stretched and then left his office, locking it securely, then rushed to meet with his wife Elizabeth for a late night dinner. He was hoping that more progress could be made in saving his marriage.

---

The Milky Way Galaxy

EAS Gloval

In Transit to Sestun

Aboard the EAS Gloval, the Nova Class Dreadnought was leading the fleet of ten Novas and twenty Hyperion Cruisers through hyperspace to reach Sestun, hopefully before the Minbari did.

This was a desperate plan to use the Veritechs as Cat's Eyes for the entire fleet defending Sestun so that the fleet could target the Minbari warships for the first time and hopefully defeat them in combat for the first time.

Admiral Miriya Parina Sterling had spent the day making sure her pilots were situated and getting their rest for the upcoming battle. She'd spoken to them after they'd landed aboard the Gloval to inspire and prepare them for their mission. Now she was meeting with the Captain of the warship.

The Captain saluted Miriya. "Welcome aboard, Admiral Sterling.", Captain Riddington said.

Miriya returned the salute and said, "Thank you, Captain and thank you for the lift to Sestun."

Captain Marcus Riddington was human man with jet black hair that was graying on the sides. His eyes were brown and sharp and he was just over five and half feet tall and slim build. He was a career EarthForce officer. "Not a problem Admiral but I have to ask, do you think this plan will work?"

With a nod of her head Miriya replied, "Oh yes, I'm confidant it will work. I've seen the simulated data that was tested on the Achilles. If she'd been out there instead of the Lexington against the Black Star, the Achilles would have seen the Minbari warship on her sensors and that means she could have targeted and blasted that warship out of the stars. My Veritechs will be the eyes our warships will need for this fight. We'll let you and the rest of the fleet see what you're aiming for and the Minbari are going to take a punch to the nose and teeth, a hard one."

"I see.", the Captain said. He didn't look too happy.

Miriya caught on to the Captain's mood. "What's wrong Captain, for the first time we're going to have the ability to target the Minbari and actually hit and kill them for a change."

Captain Riddington gave a grunt and replied, "Permission to speak freely ma'am?"

Miriya's eyes narrowed and with a "get on with it" gesture she said, "Granted."

"I know I'm in the minority, but I am not happy that we're invoking the Special Clause. I firmly believe that our predecessors locked Robotechnology away for a good reason and I think we're opening Pandora's Box by running to Robotechnology to save us."

Miriya nodded her head and stroked her chin in thought. "Captain Riddington, Robotech has saved humanity in the past, it is going to save humanity once more. I respect your candor in telling me where you stand, but we are facing extinction. The Minbari are not talking, the League is not helping. It's either this, or we die and I'm tired of watching my friends and family dying. I've gone to too many funerals."

Marcus nodded his head, "I realize that ma'am. I may not like it, but it won't stop me from doing my duty."

Miriya smiled. "Good, believe me, the Veritechs are only one part. We're going to be giving the Minbari their first taste of Robotech weapons in the upcoming battle. My Beta Veritechs will be carrying Reflex missiles, and your ship as well as half of the Novas that are in this fleet are going to be loading those in the first salvos." Miriya was expressing a feral grin as she said, "RMS-3's. Every single one. That's 200 megatons, per missile that we're going to be sending their way and we have over two hundred spread across my Veritechs and the Novas in their missile launchers. I wish we had more, but that's going to happen soon enough when the Expedition returns with the Robotech Factory."

Captain Riddington nodded his head in contemplation. "Well, we'll have to wait and see first."

Miriya floated across the room then spun and faced Captain Marcus and said, "Trust me Captain. It won't be easy, I'm not saying we're going to not lose anyone, but for this fight the Minbari are going to actually have to fight instead of using our ships as target practice. Now, what's our ETA?"

The Captain consulted his computer which was updated with the latest navigational data from the Beacon network that was in hyperspace. Marcus looked at Miriya then replied, "Looks like we'll get there in about fourteen hours ma'am. Hopefully we'll get there in time."

Miriya nodded. "Yes, that is important. Well Captain, I'll leave you to your duties, I need to check on my pilots and get some rest myself."

Captain Riddington saluted Miriya and she returned the salute and left. Miriya floated down the corridor back to her where her pilots were at. She'd check and make sure they were alright then retire to get some rest for herself.

She was looking forward to the upcoming battle and introducing the Minbari to her custom red painted Alpha. The "Red Death" was coming for them and she couldn't wait to unleash so many missiles to destroy as many Minbari fighters as she could.

---

Sestun System

EAS Hammond – 44th Fleet Flagship

Earth Alliance Fleet Composition:

44th Fleet 15 Novas, 35 Hyperions, 50 Olympus corvettes

Reinforcements From Earth: 10 Novas 20 Hyperions 6 Alphas 5 Betas

The Sestun system was home, well former home to a colony of more than six million Humans, Zentraedi, and Tirolians. The colony had been mostly evacuated of civilians as Earth forced the colonists to evacuate given that the Minbari were bombarding all Earth colonies to the bedrock. All that was left were less than a million people that were unable to evacuate and they had taken shelter in the emergency shelters. They knew that the shelters would not save them, but they prayed for a different outcome.

The colony had a small EarthForce fleet base, mainly a place for EarthForce ships to resupply and transfer personnel off ship so they could enjoy planetary gravity. But, like all fleet bases, they'd been upgraded with jamming technology that prevented the Minbari from unleashing their absolutely devastating jump emergence attack tactic.

With intelligence giving the 44th Fleet advance warning that Sestun was most likely to come under attack soon, the Fleet was ready to do its duty to buy Earth and her colonies more time even though it was largely regarded as a hopeless task.

Until now.

Arriving less than eight hours ago, the reinforcements from Earth of ten Novas and twenty Hyperions along with eleven Veritechs to act as Cat's Eyes was bringing hope to the beleaguered defenders that this time, they had a chance to win.

The newly arrived Novas and Hyperions were moved into formation with the defensive fleet forces led by General Sam Carter aboard the flagship, the Nova Class Dreadnought Hammond and as they were awaiting news that the Minbari were approaching the General was having a final meeting with the various captains. The conference was being handled by having all the Captains teleconference in from their warships.

General Sam Carter was a Human/Tirolian man with black hair and bright blue eyes. He was floating in the ship's conference room with his senior officers as they talked strategy for the upcoming attack.

Looking at the newly arrived Zentraedi Admiral Miriya Sterling as well as the newly arrived Captains of the reinforcements, General Carter said with a strong Texan accent, "Welcome to Sestun Admiral Sterling and to all of you who've just arrived, I've been briefed as to Admiral Sterling's purpose for being here and she did not come alone. How many Veritechs do you have?"

Miriya replied, "Eleven, six Alphas and five Betas. My pilots will act as the eyes for the fleet and give every warship and Starfury here the capability to target and hit the Minbari."

Everyone in the conference was stunned. After a moment, General Carter nodded his head and said, "That's good. I wished we had more, but I'll take what I can get. So, let's discuss strategy."

The discussion turned to strategy and tactics such as deciding where to place the Veritechs in the fleet formation. After this was done, Miriya was the only one to be able to have free and clear movement in her Alpha given her experience. She would multitask, giving targeting data to the fleet and acting as overwatch and support of her Veritechs and the Starfurys out there. With her custom red paint job on her Alpha Veritech the Minbari would quickly learn that the "Red Death" was in the system and she'd be targeted by the Minbari fighters which was something she was looking forward to. All the Veritechs were fully loaded with their missile load outs and her Veritech as well as the Betas would be carrying RMS-3 Reflex missiles to launch on the bigger Minbari warships when it came time to unleash their missile salvos.

General Carter was pleased to learn about the supply of Reflex missiles that half of the Novas that came from Earth were carrying as well as what was being held for the Veritechs. A special launch plan was made for the Reflex missile salvo.

Once the plans were finalized, everyone was dismissed to return to their duties and prepare for the upcoming battle. One Hyperion cruiser was in hyperspace, looking for signs of the approaching Minbari fleet.

Miriya was in the middle of the room, surrounded by her handpicked Veritech pilots. She looked at each one and then began, "We can expect the Minbari to arrive soon. So, if you haven't sent that last message home, do it as soon as you can. I want to tell you all that it is an honor and a privilege to fly with you all. Trust me that I will be there for you all in the upcoming battle as I know that you will be there for each other. Remember, do not show off the other modes yet, we're going to unleash that upon them in the future. A battle in which we will have our Robotech warships to fight them with."

The group nodded their heads and there were feral grins among the assembled group of pilots as they broke apart to go to their quarters to prepare.

---

Minbari Attack Fleet

The Trigati

Aboard the Shargoti Battlecruiser Trigati, Shai Alyt Sineval was watching his warriors carry out their duties as the war fleet he was leading made its way through hyperspace towards their destination of the human colony world of Sestun.

Sineval was leading a fleet of his single Shargoti class, forty Sharlin War Cruisers and forty Tinashi War Frigates, it would be an easy victory for his warriors as they sought vengeance for Dukhat's death. Standing in the command and control center of his massive warship he could see everything thanks to the holographic imaging that allowed him a full three hundred sixty degree view of everything around him.

Sineval and the majority of the Minbari warriors were still extremely angry after hearing the news of the loss of so many warships to the Human's disgraceful and dishonorable tactic of turning off the hyperspace beacon at Deneb which allowed so many of his brothers and sisters to be caught by surprise when they wandered into the path of the singularity during the critical journey through the narrow pass of hyperspace that led to Deneb. So many warships, so many Minbari gone.

Well, this time there was no singularity for him to avoid. The Humans dirty trick would not work this time and he would take a great deal of pleasure of making these humans beg for death before granting it to them.

Studying the star chart, he was already looking ahead to his next targets. From Sestun there were routes that would lead three other Human colonies which in turn would bring him closer to the Human homeworld and the end of the disease known as Humanity and the galaxy would be better for it.

As he was reviewing the next targets one of his subordinates approached and bowed respectfully. "Shai Alyt, we are on course and will be arriving at Sestun shortly. We have received a message from the advance ships that the Humans have deployed jamming technologies, we will not be able to execute our most devastating attack against them."

Growling in disgust Sineval cursed the Humans for their creativity in finding a way to prevent them from using their most devastating attack tactic of jumping right on top of them for maximum damage. He swore vengeance would be his when he found out who dared share technology with the humans that prevented them from using their tried and true tactic.

Final preparations were being made with the different ships checking in and confirming their positions as they were preparing to exit hyperspace and begin their attack.

A message was received from one of the ships ahead of his and his second reported, "Shai Alyt, a Human warship was spotted, they will know we are coming."

With a sneer Sineval said, "It does not matter. So they know we are coming. Then they know that their death is upon them. We will proceed as planned."

"Yes, Shai Alyt."

Sestun System

EAS Hammond – Nova Class Dreadnought

Flagship of the 44th Fleet

General Sam Carter was making the final preparations for not just his warship, but for the fleet as the word had come from the Hyperion cruiser Atlas that the Minbari were due to arrive within the hour. The cruiser had jumped back to normal space with the warning and was in position with the rest of the fleet. On the colony, all the remaining civilians had been evacuated to shelters and the fleet base was mostly empty except for those needed to man the Fleet station's weapons even thought the battle was going to take place away from the colony and the base itself.

Final preparations complete, General Carter ordered the fleet to battle stations. As the word came down that all ships battle stations were manned and that the Starfurys and Veritechs were ready to deploy. General Carter floated to his spot on the bridge and looked to his right hand, Colonel William Hague. "Get me fleet wide Colonel.", he ordered.

Colonel Hague tapped his comm-link and received the word from the communications officer that fleet wide was on. "Sir, you're on."

With a feral grin on his face General Sam Carter began, "Attention everyone, this is it. The Minbari are due to arrive in less than twenty minutes and while every engagement with them so far has been a horrible defeat for us, today...today is going to be the start of a new beginning. Here, in this star system on this day is where we say No More. No more will the Minbari slaughter us like ducks in a shooting gallery. Today, not only will we be shooting back, today we will be hitting them and killing them! Today they will lose their sons and husbands! Today, they will lose their wives and daughters!"

"Remember the rules of engagement, you will not kill a helpless enemy combatant. Unlike the Minbari, WE will respect the rules of war and we will take any surviving Minbari as prisoner and we will treat them properly as our rules of war dictate. We are going to show the galaxy and the Minbari that WE ARE BETTER than them. Anyone who violates this order will be court martialed and I'll see to it that you spend the rest of your lives in prison. Finally, I expect all of you to do your best, to give me your best and we will not only get through this battle...We. Will. Win!"

Everyone around the General gave a loud and raucous cheer and clapped enthusiastically. Signing off of the communications everyone returned to their duties. Some people were given last opportunities to send final messages home for those who hadn't had a chance to do so and they quickly returned to their duties once that was done.

General Carter took a look at the plot then said, "Launch all Starfurys and Veritechs. Fleet is to stand by to receive targeting data from the Veritechs. Do not fire until I give the order."

Fifteen minutes later the reports came in of jump points were forming and seconds later Minbari warships had emerged from hyperspace. Looking at the data, General Carter gave the order.

"All ships, ahead full."

Colonel Hague spoke into his microphone and gave the order. The entire fleet began to accelerate to meet the Minbari, the fleet moving in perfect formation and speed so that they were all moving together. The Olympus corvettes were in the lead, the Hyperions and Novas were mixed together and the Veritechs were seeded through the fleet while the Starfurys streaked towards the Minbari's own fighters that had just been launched.

Flying through the fleet, Miriya Sterling was looking at her sensor data and was smiling wide as she saw all the Minbari warships and fighters appear clearly on her scope. She ordered her Veritechs, "By now you should see the Minbari on your scopes, begin transmitting your targeting data to your assigned ships."

Aboard the Hammond, the sensor operator exclaimed, "Sir! Receiving data from the Veritechs! Holy shit! It works! We got targets on the scope! We can see them sir! We can see them!"

Colonel Hague admonished the young man. "Calm yourself Lieutenant!" He walked over and looked at the sensor data and saw for himself that they were indeed receiving sensor data from the Veritechs. He could see the Minbari warships on the scanners and he felt an immediate sense of hope. Squeezing the young man's shoulder he whispered to the young man to stay calm and focus.

Then he looked at General Carter and confirmed, "We are receiving targeting data sir." Simultaneously, he was receiving confirmation from the fleet that the rest of the fleet was also receiving the data and were standing by to engage.

The young sensor officer called out, "General, we'll be in Minbari firing range in thirty seconds. Sixty seconds until Minbari are in our firing range sir."

"Very well.", General Carter replied.

He watched the visual of the Minbari ships approaching and was really hoping that the opposing commander was arrogant as ever.

Colonel Hague asked, "What if they open fire once we're in range?"

Holding an unlit cigar in his hand he gestured at the holographic plot displaying everything. "We proceed with plan beta. But I'm counting on this asshole to be arrogant as ever." General Carter replied.

The sensor operator called out, "We'll be in Minbari firing range in ten seconds!"

"Steady everyone, steady.", Colonel Hague calmly assured everyone.

The seconds counted down and to everyone's relief, the Minbari were holding their fire.

General Carter snarled, "Arrogant pricks. Today, that's going to cost you. We're going with Fire Plan Sierra."

Colonel Hague acknowledged the order and began communicating it to the fleet. "Attention, Fire Plan Sierra is authorized. Repeat, Fire Plan Sierra is go."

The warships from both fleets steadily moved towards each other, the Minbari fighters streaked ahead of their capital ships and started to engage the Starfurys that flew out to intercept them.

The Starfurys were engaging the Minbari fighters and shooting them down a lot easier now that they were receiving targeting data from the Veritechs.

Miriya was sending her data to her assigned group of ships and she was keeping her Veritech out of sight as she kept her Veritech in the shadows of the larger warships around her. She was transmitting her targeting data not just to the warships nearby, but to the Starfurys streaking out to intercept the Minbari starfighters and she had a feral grin on her face as she saw Minbari starfighters being shot down by her comrades.

Radio chatter between the Starfury pilots was excited but professional. Pilots called out kills, called for help when needed, and promised vengeance when a wingman was killed. They were thrilled that they were seeing the Minbari fighters appear on their scopes, allowing their weapons to achieve target lock and with it, easier kills. The Starfurys were now keeping the Minbari fighters away from attacking the warships and the Minbari pilots were quickly becoming frustrated.

Back aboard the Hammond, General Carter called out, "How much longer until we're in range?"

"Thirty seconds!", came the reply.

The EarthForce fleet was moving steadily forward, the ships receiving targeting data from Miriya's Veritechs and everyone aboard their ships was anxiously awaiting the order to lock their weapons and fire upon the unsuspecting Minbari.

Fire Plan Sierra called for a total alpha strike against the entire Minbari fleet. Half of the Hyperions and all the Novas would focus on the larger Minbari ships while the Olympus Corvettes and remaining half of the Hyperions would focus on the smaller Minbari warships. The Olympus Corvettes were being asked to take on a huge task as even the smaller Minbari warships could slice an Olympus Corvette apart easily.

It was almost time.

"Ten seconds!", cried out the sensor operator.

General Carter was looking at the sensor data as well as looking at the visual feed of the approaching Minbari warships. The tension aboard the Bridge was intense.

"Five seconds! Four! Three! Two! One!" We're in range!"

"Hold fire!", ordered General Carter.

Everyone was stunned but they did their duty. Seconds passed.

T plus five!", was the call.

"Hold fire!", ordered General Carter.

Colonel Hague pressed, "Sir! We have to fire!"

"Hold fire!", he ordered.

Then the sensor operator called out, "T plus ten!"

That was when General Carter ordered, "All ships, lock targets and fire as directed!" He put the cigar in his mouth and watched as the entire EarthForce fleet open fire.

Every EarthForce warship took advantage now of the targeting data they were receiving from Miriya's Veritechs and were now able to lock their weapons onto the approaching Minbari warships. Half of the Hyperion cruisers and all the Novas targeted the big Sharlin War Cruisers although EarthForce did not know the Minbari designation while the Olympus Corvettes and the other half of the Hyperion cruisers locked on to the smaller Tinashi warships and once they had weapons lock, the entire EarthForce Fleet unleashed every plasma, laser, pulse cannon, particle beam, and rail gun upon the entire Minbari fleet.

For the first time in more than a thousand years the Minbari faced direct enemy fire that targeted and hit them and it was catastrophic for the unsuspecting Minbari.

While every single Minbari warship was hit, some took more severe damage than others. A dozen of the big Minbari warships took the alpha strikes from multiple warships and exploded. The biggest, largest Minbari warship in the fleet was hammered hard from the alpha strike of the EAS Hammond and two Hyperion cruisers causing the dorsal fin structure atop the warship to be blown completely off while one of the ventral fins suffered the same fate and the ship spun wildly out of control as it lost power from multiple hull breaches on the sides and front of the warship. Bodies falling out of the warship and into space could be seen.

Aboard the Hammond, General Carter hollered, "Focus fire on anything that can shoot back! Great shot guns, now target and kill another one for me!"

The excited gunnery officer yelled, "Aye sir! Finding another one to kill!" He immediately brought the warships powerful forward guns to bear on another big Minbari warship and opened fire on it with the assistance of nearby Hyperion cruisers, hammering the warship until it too seemed to lose power then something catastrophic happened to the Minbari warship as it seemed to implode from the inside then it exploded violently.

General Carter ordered, "All ships, lock missiles on target and commence firing! Stand by on Reflex missile launch!"

As the order went through, missiles started flying out of the entire fleet. Hundreds of missiles were streaking towards the surprised Minbari forces that suddenly realized that they were not only under attack, but somehow the Human warships were actually damaging and destroying them.

As the general reached the count of five General Sam Carter ordered, "Make sure those Reflex missiles are targeted on the big warships! Now...Reflex missiles, launch!"

Half of the Novas that had arrived from Earth launched their payloads of Reflex missiles against the big Minbari warships. Their missile launchers reloading and firing additional Reflex missiles at new targets as fast as the missile launchers could reload and fire. At the same time, the Beta Veritechs launched their Reflex missile payloads upon targets of their own, the smaller Minbari warships.

The Reflex missile strikes took the Minbari completely by surprise as they were hidden within the hundreds of missiles that were streaking towards the Minbari warships and the Minbari switched many of their weapons to point defense, it wasn't enough. The RMS-3 Reflex missile was called the "Angel of Death" as these were designed as shipkillers and meant to damage and destroy large and powerful warships that the REF faced in the Pegasus Galaxy. While the Minbari were able to intercept many of the incoming missiles, including the incoming Reflex missiles, many missiles still got through the defensive fire, and they were not expecting what happened when the Reflex missiles began hitting the Minbari warships.

Eleven of the big Minbari warships were struck by the Reflex warheads and exploded violently, debris striking their smaller sister ships and causing catastrophic damage to those smaller ships, which in turn cause them to explode as well. Seconds later another salvo of Reflex missiles fired from the Beta Veritechs struck twelve of the small Minbari warships and then they were destroyed as well.

It became apparent to General Carter that their initial attack had to have knocked out the Minbari commander, the Minbari fleet was haphazardly returning fire. Someone had not yet stepped up to take command as individual warships were taking individual actions, not functioning as a cohesive fleet...at least for now.

General Carter was using this confusion to his fullest advantage as he ordered his forces to bring the flanks into a pincer maneuver.

Meanwhile, as the EarthForce warships were hammering the Minbari fleet, Admiral Miriya Sterling had been protecting her Veritech squadron and directing some of them, mainly the Betas to commence launching their remaining missiles against Minbari warships after they'd finished launching their Reflex missile payloads.

With her freedom of being able to move around, Miriya decided it was time to let the Minbari know she was out there. Miriya opened a channel that she knew the Minbari could hear and she spoke, "Greetings, Minbari. Are any of you aware of the old Klingon proverb that revenge is a dish best served cold?" She paused for two seconds then continued, "It is very cold in space."

Miriya locked on to a dozen Minbari fighters and launched a salvo of missiles from her Alpha Veritech against the targeted fighters and watched in satisfaction as she just added a dozen kills to her kill total. Then she snarled, "That's right, I'm here...here to kill all of you!" She locked onto another ten Minbari fighters and launched another missile salvo, and ten more Minbari fighters were gone. With a hiss she snarled, "That was for Maia!"

Bringing her Veritech to bear against one of the larger Minbari warships, she locked her Reflex Missile payload on to this warship and launched them. With a feral grin on her face she watched the warship vanish after taking two hits from the Reflex missiles and she roared, "That was for Dana!"

Now, the Minbari fighter pilots realized that the infamous "Red Death" was here and that she'd just killed almost two dozen Minbari fighters and personally destroyed a Minbari cruiser. All Minbari pilots knew that voice. They knew the voice of the "Red Death" and they looked for the infamous red painted Starfury but didn't see it. Instead one pilot saw a red painted spacecraft that had to be the "Red Death" as it streaked through a Minbari flight of Nials that just exploded and they all heard her laughter over the open channel. Many pilots now ignored their previous targets of Starfurys and began to streak after the "Red Death" to try and kill her for her impudence.

The Trigati

A Couple Minutes Earlier

Shai Alyt Sineval watched the EarthForce warships steadily approach his fleet. He scoffed at his opponent's aggressive approach. He thought that the Humans were really anxious to die today but he was not in a generous mood. He was going to make them suffer today for the losses his people had suffered at Deneb.

His Second reported, "We are in firing range now Shai Alyt. Shall we open fire?"

Shaking his head Sineval replied, "No. We're going to hold fire and let the Humans take their first shot." He chortled and added, "Not that it will do them any good. Orders to the fleet are to make them suffer. No quick kills."

Bowing in respect his Second responded, "Yes, Shai Alyt."

Then the first inkling of something wasn't right was when one of the officers reported, "Shai Alyt, fighter losses are significantly higher than previous engagements! We have taken fifteen percent losses already!"

Sineval looked up and saw the Human Starfurys intercepting his own Nial fighters, apparently targeting them and killing them rather easily.

As Sineval was taking this in, his sensor operator reported, "We will be in the Human's firing range in ten seconds."

Sineval grunted in acknowledgment then kept studying what was happening to his own fighter craft. An eyebrow arched as the thought came to him. Were the Humans targeting his fighter craft? Impossible. The Humans could not possibly be able to break his people's advanced stealth.

His sensor operator reported that they were within the Human's firing range but surprisingly, the Humans had not opened fire. This was confusing. They'd always opened fire as soon as they had reached firing range. What was the Human commander doing?

Seconds passed. Just before the count had reached plus ten Sineval was about to issue the order to open fire when all of a sudden an alarm that had only been heard during drills and training but never since the last Shadow War sounded through the combat center. They were locked on by enemy weapon systems!

Impossible! It just was not possible!

Before Sineval could issue an order the sensor operator cried out, "Energy spike! They're firing!"

Suddenly the Trigati shook and alarms sounded as it was hit by the Human's weapons. The ceiling collapsed with debris striking several Minbari including Sineval and he fell to the floor dazed after a large piece of debris fell on his head and lower body.

Power to the Trigati went out, plunging the warship into darkness and emergency power kicked in after a few seconds. The pilot yelled, "We've lost helm controls, we're drifting!"

Sineval was helped up by his Second who was also injured and he screamed, "Fire! Fire all weapons!"

The Second was trying to get Sineval to stand he said, "We can't fire, Shai Alyt!"

Looking enraged, Sineval angrily asked, "Why not!?"

"We've lost power, we've suffered multiple hull breaches, many of our weapon systems are offline and they knocked out the fire controls! We're drifting!"

The holographic visual display was damaged but he could still see just over half of what was going on and as Sineval tried to look at the battle he could see the Humans were hitting and destroying his fellow Minbari. He saw Tinashis and Sharlins being hammered by the Human warships that could clearly target lock the Minbari ships and were firing every weapon they had against his people and those weapons were hitting. Not only were they hitting, they were destroying his fellow Warriors.

Sineval called for communications so he could issue orders.

"Communications are offline, I am trying to effect repairs."

Healers came into the Center to help with the wounded. Sineval waved them away so that he could focus on his task.

"Hurry up!", Sineval snarled. Then he glared at his pilot and hissed, "Regain control!" He waved his Second off and Sineval staggered to a station and tried to contact Engineering but the internal communication system was not responding. Sineval pointed at a young Warrior and snarled, "Get to Engineering and tell the Chief Engineer I want main power restored immediately!"

The Warrior saluted and ran off to deliver the message. Sineval limped over to the damage control station and saw so much of his ship displayed in red icons. He saw that the dorsal fin an one of the ventral fins had been blown off completely and he growled as he saw so much of his ship was heavily damaged. He couldn't believe that his ship had been damaged in such a way. He turned around to look at the visual display and watched in horror and anger as hundreds of missiles were streaking towards his fleet and everyone was jolted in shock and surprise as eleven Sharlin War Cruisers were struck by these missiles and these eleven Sharlin War Cruisers exploded from the impact of the weapons then vanished as the weapon detonated which triggered the War Cruiser's violent explosions and seconds later, these ten Sharlin War Cruisers were gone.

Everyone was in shock. That shock mixed with rage as a dozen Tinashis were hit by the same type of missiles as the others and these Tinashis also vanished in a balls of fire.

Sineval pointed at the display and yelled, "What was that? Those were not nuclear missiles!"

"Unknown, Shai Alyt! Energy levels from the impact hits are in the two hundred megaton range!"

Sineval, his face enraged at his ship being horrendously damaged and unable to fight and seeing so many of his people die roared, "The humans do not possess such weapons! I swear when I find out which race helped the Humans, I'll bombard their planet to the bedrock! Check that data and confirm!"

Sineval could only watch and seethe in rage as his brothers attempted to rally and launch a counterattack but the Human commander was sharp and had their biggest ships focusing their firepower on the Sharlin War Cruisers, hammering them to the point they were combat ineffective or they exploded from the punishment. The Tinashis were being engaged by a mix of the medium sized and smaller warships and they were taking extreme amounts of damage that would lead them to drifting in space without power or exploding in violent explosions.

The lights flickered on and off then on as the main power seemed to have been restored then the lights switched off again and once more emergency power kicked in. Sineval yelled in anger and cursed his Chief Engineer's ineptitude over the failure to restore power and watched as his ship continued to drift away from the battle.

Watching the battle continue between his remaining fleet and the Humans, he could see that while the surviving Minbari ships were destroying the Human ships, the ratio was not in Minbari's favor now. Too many of the Minbari ships were heavily damaged, even those that could fight back. The Humans would courageously sacrifice themselves to save another warship. The smallest warships would maneuver to take the destructive shot meant for the larger cruiser or even the dreadnought, just to give the bigger ships a chance to not only survive longer, but to return fire and severely damage the Minbari warship that had just destroyed the smaller Human warship.

The power flickered on and off multiple times then all of a sudden the thrum of main power being reactivated sounded through the damaged Shargoti battlecruiser. Sineval snarled, "Finally! Bring us back to rejoin the fleet! Which of our weapons are operational? Is communications restored?"

"Just a moment, I almost have it!", was the response. A few seconds later, "I have short range communications restored Shai Alyt!"

"Weapons have been heavily damaged Shai Alyt! We are practically combat ineffective. We have four forward Neutron cannons and two forward fusion cannons."

Sineval looked at the damage readout of his warship's weapon systems and growled in anger. "Open a channel to the fleet." Looking around, he got confirmation that he could speak to the fleet. He also noticed that his ship was moving towards the rest of the fleet, moving from behind to join them although it was moving much slower than normal.

"This is Shai Alyt Sineval, power has finally been restored to my ship. Who is in command in my absence?"

A screen appeared and another Minbari that was wounded announced, "I am Alyt Rashaan, I have taken command in your absence Shai Alyt."

Sineval's injuries were visible on his face from the debris hitting his head but he'd been ignoring his injuries. "Alyt Rashaan, is the fleet combat effective?"

After a moment the Alyt replied, "No. We are destroying the Humans but we are taking more losses on top of what we've already suffered and many of the surviving ships are extremely damaged and unable to fight effectively."

Sineval watched as two more Minbari warships exploded at the same time as three Human warships were destroyed. "Then we have no choice. The Grey Council must learn that the Humans have found a way to defeat our stealth and that someone is helping them. I am ordering a withdrawal. My ship's jump engines are disabled, you will open the jump point for my ship."

Nodding in respect the Alyt said, "As you command Shai Alyt."

Sineval ordered for a channel to all ships, "This is Shai Alyt Sineval. I am ordering...a withdrawal. All ships, recall your fighters, and activate your jump engines for a return to Minbari space. Tractor any warship that is unable to withdraw on its own power. We will return home to rearm, gather reinforcements, and we will return here to destroy the Humans for this latest transgression."

Minbari fighters rushed back to land on any Minbari ship that they could reach, many of them being pursued by Starfurys and Veritechs now and more Nial fighters were destroyed as they tried to escape.

Jump points began to form and the Minbari warships turned and entered them, jumping into hyperspace to escape the Human onslaught.

The battle was over and EarthForce had its second military victory in the war.

As the battle against the Minbari fleet continued, General Carter was directing the fleet to break into wolf packs. A mix of Olympus Corvettes, Hyperions, and Novas gathered in formations and proceeded to hammer the Minbari fleet with their weapons. Missiles were almost completely spent, but the guns on her warships were still working.

The Minbari were firing back now, he saw the plot as friendly warships began to vanish after taking enemy fire. He would grieve later if he was still alive but for now he focused on the task of handing the Minbari their first defeat since the destruction of the Black Star by John Sheridan.

He directed his own wolf pack to engage three Minbari warships, a big one and two of the smaller ones. His group of warships began to hammer the three Minbari ships but the Minbari ships were firing back now and the Hammond shook from taking a hit but the Hammond kept firing her guns and the larger Minbari warship seemed to take the Nova's and Hyperion's fire without anything happening then the front half of the large Minbari ship exploded and it swerved hard as it lost control, and collided with one of the smaller Minbari ships that was near it and both ships vanished in a ball of fire.

The battle continued to rage between the two fleets and the two starfighter corps. EarthForce warships were suffering losses now as the three different classes of warships that the Humans possessed were taking losses even as the Humans continued to fight valiantly. Olympus Corvette Captains and their crews were some of the bravest men and women as they would courageously maneuver their ships to take the incoming fire that would have decimated a Hyperion or damaged a Nova.

Meanwhile Miriya Sterling was living up to the terrifying name of "Red Death" as she'd already added more than forty kills to her tally in this battle alone. Minbari pilots were now flying to avoid being killed by her but instead ran into Starfury pilots who now could target the advanced fighters and since they could target them, it was easier for the Starfury pilots to hit the Minbari fighters and destroy them.

Miriya was proud of the pilots that she'd brought with her. They were providing the targeting data to the fleet and as the battle continued, they started coming under attack by the Minbari fighters but they were easily able to shoot down their attackers.

Miriya said, "Commander Sinclair, Lieutenants Sterling, Ivonova, Zagal, and Carina, form up on me."

Everyone replied with a crisp, "Yes, ma'am.", and soon five Alphas had joined Miriya on her wing.

She said, "Alright, consider this your graduation exercise, you are to keep transmitting your targeting data and we're going after some Minbari fighters. It would seem they've become afraid of engaging me for some reason. Sinclair, you're lead now. I'll be on overwatch. Take your Veritechs in and make me proud."

Commander Sinclair replied, "Yes ma'am. Alright everyone, let's go kick some Minbari ass. Whoever has the least kills buys the first round."

Miriya smirked as she heard the Veritech pilots respond excitedly to the challenge.

The Veritechs shot off and Miriya was flying overwatch to make sure they would be alright, but with so many Minbari fighters having been destroyed by Miriya herself, the Minbari fighters were afraid of the new Veritechs that had appeared but with their Robotech tracking systems, the pilots locked on to many Minbari fighters and missiles were fired and many Minbari fighters were destroyed.

As the battle continued, General Carter continued to press the attack, he was not going to retreat, he was not going to pull his forces back. He ordered his forces forward, continuing to fire all weapons against the Minbari ships against them.

A Minbari ship fired upon the Hammond and the ship shook hard and debris fell from the ceiling, stations sparked and exploded, with a piece striking General Carter on the head and he crumpled like a sack of potatoes crying out in pain as he fell. He had been floating in the open when he hit the floor and bounced off while other injured crew were still strapped to their chairs.

Colonel Hague cried out, "General!" He floated over to him and called out, "Get a medical team here now!"

General Carter stirred and said, "What hit me?"

Colonel Hague was checking his superior officer and while there was blood on his face and on the top of his head. "General, you took a blow to the head, Medical is on their way."

General Carter said, "I'm alright, Colonel. Just get me to a chair."

Colonel Hague helped guide General Carter to his command chair and strapped him in. Medical people started coming in to check the injured, one came to look at General Carter while others spread out to help the others.

Colonel Hague spoke into his headset microphone. "General Carter is injured, he's being checked by Medical but for the moment, I'm taking command. Keep fighting, keep firing with everything you have!"

Looking to his gunnery officer he ordered, "Find that ship that hit us and let him have it!"

"Aye sir! We lost six of our guns but we're still in the fight sir!", replied the gunnery officer.

The warship shook, this time as the guns fired on the smaller Minbari warship that had just hit it. Holes appeared as the guns broke through the Minbari ship's armor and a secondary volley caused more holes to appear in the ship's hull and bodies spilled out of the Minbari warship and whoever was piloting the ship tried to bring the armored side of the ship about to face the onslaught of the Nova's firepower but as it was turning the ship kept getting pounded and finally something broke as the small Minbari warship seemed to crumple from the inside then it exploded violently, spreading debris to strike its sister warships.

Far behind the Minbari fleet, the largest Minbari warship that had been knocked out of the battle and assumed to have been disabled apparently regained power and it began to maneuver itself to catch up to the remaining Minbari forces. Fighting continued as Minbari and EarthForce warships took damage and kept fighting or took damage and ended up being destroyed due to the amount of damage they'd taken.

Suddenly, the Minbari warships began a fighting withdrawal, as jump points began to appear and Minbari ships started retreating into hyperspace with some warships using tractor beams to tow warships that were unable to maneuver or execute their own jump into hyperspace. In less than a minute the remaining Minbari warships had retreated into hyperspace.

The battle was over.

Earth had won.

Aboard the EAS Hammond the cheers aboard the bridge were deafening. There were hugs, tears, high fives and lots of screaming. General Sam Carter shook hands with Colonel Hague and the Captain of the Hammond. Their faces expressing joy over the victory but tears were falling down their faces.

They'd done it! They'd beaten the Minbari!

After a couple of minutes, General Sam Carter, who had suffered an injury during the battle but did not leave the bridge spoke from his chair, "Alright, that's it. I want search and rescue teams to prioritize saving our people first, but any Minbari wrecks that have survivors are also to be rescued. I want damage reports from the fleet, I want to know what our losses are. The battle may be over, but now the hard work begins. Communications, get me EarthForce HQ on Gold Channel One. I need to break this news to General Lefcourt at once."

Author Note: Well this took a while to write. The battle was a great struggle for me and I want to give a special thanks to AJW for taking a look at the battle for me and giving me some feedback.

I hope you liked this.