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.

10. Chapter 10

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 10

Earth

EarthForce HQ

The War Room

The war room of EarthForce HQ was busy with activity and everyone in the highly classified and secure room was tense. Everyone knew that the Minbari were attacking Sestun. By now the battle was most likely in progress or it was over, the waiting was horrible.

General Robert Lefcourt was pacing the room in a circle as he looked at the three dimensional holographic map with Sestun in the center. He'd paused his pacing to look at the holographic map again for the umpteenth time.

Suddenly, one of the communication officers turned to look at General Lefcourt. "Sir! Incoming transmission on Gold Channel One from General Carter!"

Stepping over to the communication station so he could see and speak to General Carter. He took a deep breath and prayed for good news then he said, "Put it through."

The video screen was showing the spinning logo of EarthGov and it disappeared and the face of General Sam Carter appeared. The man's face looked exhausted and there were bandages on the top of his head and a bandage patch on his cheek but there was no mistaking the smile on the man's face.

"General Lefcourt, General Clark reporting that the Minbari jumped into the Sestun system and we engaged them. Sir, I'm happy to report that we defeated the Minbari and forced them to retreat. We took moderate losses sir, but we did it. Thanks to the Veritechs that Admiral Sterling brought as well as those Reflex missiles along with those Novas that came with her we were able to target the sons of a bitches and blow them out of the stars!"

Everyone in the room heard what was said and there was a great cheer in the room. People were hugging each other, high fives were exchanged, the room was loud for a minute.

General Lefcourt was smiling and he clapped his hands slowly a few times and he did a fist pump as he exclaimed, "Outstanding, General Carter! Outstanding indeed! I can see you've been injured, are you alright?"

Nodding his head General Carter replied, "I'm alright sir, just got knocked around a little."

General Lefcourt smile was still on his face as he said, "That's good, I'm glad to hear that Sam. Really. Now I need the bad news. How bad was it?"

General Carter looked serious as he replied, "Sir, we gave it to the Minbari and we took them by surprise but as you know, their warships are no joke. They still were able to kill us. Our Corvette losses were heavy…", General Carter paused then resumed. "We lost twenty of them. I have to say that I've never seen such courage from our people. So many Corvette Captains and their crews sacrificed themselves and their ship to take the shot that would have severely damaged or destroyed a Hyperion or a Nova. I'm going to be recommending a lot of medals for a lot of dead men and women as well as a lot of men and women that not only went above and beyond, but they were lucky and they lived."

Nodding his head somberly General Lefcourt said, "We'll make sure that everyone gets honored. What were our other losses?"

General Carter said, "Ten Hyperions and eight Novas. It might have been worse if our Corvettes hadn't taken those shots meant for our bigger warships. As I said, there were some very brave men and women there. Over sixty percent of my ships are damaged, they're gonna need some time in the yard. Fighter losses were actually light, only eighteen percent."

General Lefcourt responded, "You may have bought us the time we needed General Carter. Hopefully the Pegasus Expedition will be back very soon and we'll soon have our Robotech warships and mecha back. Then...then it'll be our turn."

Nodding his head once General Carter said, "Yes sir. I just want to add this too. Admiral Sterling was terror incarnate against the Minbari. She took out one of those big cruisers herself and she also took out more than fifty of their fighters. Fifty seven to be precise. Then there's those Reflex missiles that she brought with her on those Novas and Veritechs. We need more of them sir, those things killed Minbari ships deader than a doornail."

General Lefcourt's eyes widened. "My God. She's a legend for sure, but when the media finds out…" General Lefcourt shook his head and smirked. "Whatever she wants, I'll see to it she gets it. As for more Reflex missiles, you'll be getting those and a lot more when the Pegasus expedition returns."

General Carter replied, "I'll be sure to tell her that. Right now she's out there helping with search and rescue still. We're going to have some Minbari prisoners soon but sadly no warships to salvage, they towed their disabled ships with them into hyperspace. But, we do have a bunch of fighter wreckage that we're collecting. I'll be sure to have the it all sent back to the R&D boys and girls."

General Lefcourt nodded, "The folks in the lab are going to love that. Alright Sam, bring your ship and the worst damaged ships home along with as many of the injured as possible and make sure you bring Admiral Sterling and her Veritechs with you too."

General Carter tried to protest. "Sir, my ship may be hurt, but she's still combat effective. I can still do my job. I'll send the worst wounded and the worst damaged ships back and await reinforcements."

Shaking his head, General Lefcourt said, "Sorry Sam, I know you want to stay over there in Sestun but it's time to come home and take your victory lap. The media is going to want to interview you and your officers and the President is no doubt going to have me pin a medal on your chest."

General Carter rolled his eyes at the mention of the media and scoffed when the General mentioned medals. "Sir, I don't need a medal for this and please don't make me talk to the press!"

With another shake of his head General Lefcourt ordered, "Sorry, Sam. I'm going to cut orders for another fleet to take over in Sestun. Finish up what you're doing, and come on home. I'm going to inform the President as soon as we disconnect. I'll see you soon."

With a salute General Carter said, "Yes sir. I'll see you soon."

The call disconnected.

There were more cheers over the news that they'd defeated the Minbari in a battle. The Robotech fighters that Admiral Sterling took were the difference maker. Without their sensors, the defending fleet would have been blind and wiped out to the last man and woman. General Lefcourt got everyone's attention and the room quieted down.

With his trademark glare he spoke, "If I find out that ISN or any other news agency has an exclusive report before we officially announce this, I swear that the person who leaks this news will find themselves not just court martialed, I'll see to it that they serve their prison sentence in a tiny cell right next to Jankowsky!"

Satisfied that the message was delivered, General Lefcourt walked out of the war room and went back upstairs to his office that was basically his home away from home given how much time he stayed at EarthForce HQ.

Walking past his aide, telling them to hold everything General Lefcourt entered his office, closed the door, and called out, "Computer, call President Levy."

The wall monitor switched to show a video call connecting and it was answered by President Levy's senior administrative assistant.

"I need to speak with her, it's urgent.", General Lefcourt said.

With a nod of his head the person replied, "Yes General, she's been expecting your call. One moment."

Three seconds later General Lefcourt was looking at President Levy and senior members of her administration sitting at the large table in her office.

President Elizabeth Levy's Office

President Elizabeth Levy was waiting for a call from General Lefcourt. She wasn't alone in her office, waiting for this call with her were Vice President Santiago, Defense Secretary Sterling, Director Alexas, and Assistant Secretary of State Remilia Wainwright.

The President was pacing the room, she was nervous. She was expecting a call from General Lefcourt with news about the defense of Sestun. She was praying that everything went well and that the Minbari had taken heavy losses,

Luis said, "Elizabeth, if you keep pacing like that you'll need to replace your carpet by the end of the day."

President Levy stopped her pacing and took her seat at the head of the table with the rest of the group. She reached out to the center of the table and picked a pastry out, took a bite of the sugary treat, set it on the plate, and took a drink of her coffee.

The wall monitor turned on and her assistant appeared on the screen. "Madam President, General Lefcourt needs to speak to you, it's urgent."

Wiping her mouth with a napkin she responded, "Put him through please."

"Yes ma'am."

The screen changed to show Genera Lefcourt standing in his office. Clearing his throat, looking as if he was about to deliver bad news, General Lefcourt began, "Madam President, I just finished talking with General Carter. He informed me that the battle at Sestun was over and that EarthForce had engaged the Minbari fleet that had come to attack Sestun and after a hard fought battle and suffering heavy losses, the Minbari retreated from the system." General Lefcourt was smiling now. "We won, Madam President."

Everyone was stunned. The looks of astonishment on everyone's faces were clearly evident.

President Levy was the first to recover but she still didn't believe what she just heard. "We won? General, we won?!"

The smile on his face hadn't changed and he nodded his head saying, "We won ma'am. We suffered moderate losses but we won. The Minbari were forced to retreat."

President Levy exclaimed, "Thank God! Oh Thank God!", the room exploded into cheers and words of thanks and praise to religious deities and to the men and women that fought and died to secure this victory. There were hugs all around.

Once the room quieted down President Levy asked, "Then the Veritechs worked? They were able to see the Minbari ships on their scanners?"

Nodding his head in emphasis he replied, "Oh yes indeed Madam President. Admiral Sterling herself took out over fifty of their fighters alone as well as destroying one of their big cruisers. We haven't received all the battle footage, that is still being transmitted and I'm expecting General Carter's report later today. I've instituted a media lockdown, if anyone leaks this to the press, they'll be punished severely ma'am."

General Lefcourt's expression turned serious again as he said, "While we have this victory, it was not without cost. Casualties were….higher than expected. We lost twenty Olympus Corvettes, ten Hyperions, and eight Novas. Their weapons are just too much for our ships, but I expect that to change once we get our ships from Pegasus."

After a few seconds President Levy asked, "When can we expect them to return General? My understanding was that the warships were aboard the Factory, so all they have to do is Fold back here."

The other members in the room with President Levy nodded their heads as they'd like to know that answer too.

Taking a moment General Lefcourt took a deep breath and began, "Madam President...as you know, our expedition just made contact with the Sentinels Alliance. Secretary Sheridan should be in contact with their own diplomats soon. From what I know, they don't have the ability to Fold, just like our EarthForce warships don't. If Secretary Sheridan is able to arrange for the Sentinels to join forces with us, they'll need us to bring them here."

With a sigh President Levy said, "I see. This is good I suppose, although I don't like they're being delayed. However, if Secretary Sheridan is able to secure the assistance of the Sentinels Alliance, I won't mind as much."

Assistant Secretary of State Remelia Wainwright spoke up. "I will say that if Secretary Sheridan is able to secure assistance from the Sentinels Alliance, it would be very telling to the rest of the galaxy that our friends in another galaxy came to help us, when our friends in this galaxy left us to die."

Everyone took note of that statement. General Lefcourt said, "It would give me great pleasure to shove that in the League's face the very first chance I get."

President Levy grimaced and added, "Me too. Although," She turned to face her Assistant Secretary of State and asked, "Remelia, any news from the Drazi since the message from Caius came through?"

Remelia shook her head, "We've received the coordinates of safe passageways through their space and places where people can hide for a short term before moving on their way. I'm also awaiting a message from one of the contacts that the Drazi Ambassador gave to Caius, I should have something soon."

Secretary Sterling commented, "Once word of this victory reaches the League, it might cause the League to start wondering if they made a mistake in rejecting the late Caius Lurco's plea for help. We might see the Drazi more openly offer to assist, and I expect them to really come forward once we have our Robotech ships and weapons and give the Minbari another loss."

President Levy felt hopeful. "I hope you're right."

"I'm sure I will be Madam President.", Secretary Sterling responded. She took a drink of her coffee and ate her breakfast pastry.

The others in the room were very happy over the news about the victory in Sestun. Things were changing.

General Lefcourt said, "Madam President, I'll issue the statement to the media later today. I'll have my statement sent to you for your approval before the press conference."

After a moment President Levy replied, "That will be fine. However, there is one thing I want you to state in your announcement. Our offer to surrender to the Minbari is no longer on the table. We're going to fight until one of us is left standing and now we're sure it's going to be us. Now, when do you expect to have that for me?"

"Hopefully by midday so that I can make the announcement later in the afternoon before the evening news."

Taking a drink of her coffee President Levy said, "Very well, I look forward to it. When will General Carter and Admiral Sterling be returning?"

"They should be returning with the more damaged warships from Sestun soon. General Carter is going to also be making sure to bring all the surviving wounded personnel with the returning ships."

"Alright, well done General. Well, I'll let you return to your duties General. We'll speak soon.", President Levy ended the call.

The group was excited that they'd won a victory against the Minbari in battle. The war was about to change.

---

Somewhere in Hyperspace

Shortly After The Battle of Sestun

The Trigati

It was extremely quiet on the command center of the Shargoti battlecruiser Trigati. Shai Alyt Sineval seethed over what had just happened. He couldn't believe it. The Warriors near him on the command center with him couldn't believe it either. To say that everyone was in shock was an understatement.

With a growl Sineval ordered, "Open a channel to the fleet."

The order was quickly carried out and Shai Alyt Sineval could see all the remaining Alyts that were in command of the surviving warships appeared on the screen.

"Alyts, I want you to have your engineers go over the stealth systems of your ships and report whether or not the system was working correctly at the time of the battle. Complete your damage reports and send them to me as well. Then, I want you to send all sensor data and recordings of the battle to me. Finally, I want a full report on casualties, how many of our brothers were killed and how many are injured."

All the Alyts nodded their heads. More than half were visibly injured just as Sineval was. Instructions received, the communication was ended. Sineval turned to look at the Warrior operating the sensors and responsible for the stealth systems.

Sineval ordered, "I want you to check that the stealth systems are functional and were operating normally at the time of the battle."

Sineval turned and saw his Second approach with a Healer next to him. The Second bowed and said, "Shai Alyt, the Healer will treat you now. Your injuries must be looked at."

Scowling, Sineval waved a dismissive hand and said, "Later, there is much to be done."

His Second bowed respectfully again and said, "Shai Alyt, the battle is over, your injuries must be tended to now before it becomes worse."

Sineval sighed and said, "Well then, get on with it.", Sineval followed the Healer to Medical where his injuries were looked at and determined to be serious but not life threatening. Once he was treated, Sineval returned to the command center of his badly damaged warship.

As he walked in Sineval saw the Third Engineering worker. His fellow Minbari was injured, bandages were on his right hand and he had healing ointments applied to his face, and bandage to his neck, apparently suffering burns during the battle. With a snarl Sineval said, "I wanted the Chief Engineer to report to me, why did he send you in his place?"

The Minbari looked at him, a flash of anger appearing on his face that quickly vanished. He then quietly said in a raspy voice, "Apologies Shai Alyt, but the Chief Engineer is dead." After a second's pause he added, "As is the First and Second Engineer. I am the Chief Engineer now."

Sineval blinked and was quiet for a moment as he heard the news. Internally he wanted to yell and curse the Engineer out but the Worker had suffered injuries and he had suffered the losses of comrades. After a moment Sineval calmly said, "Apologies, I was not informed of his death, nor of your comrades and I was not informed of your injuries. I trust you are capable of doing your job. What is the status of my ship?"

The Minbari was silent then said, "The ship is severely damaged Shai Alyt. We were extremely lucky I was able to regain control of the singularity otherwise we would not be talking to each other right now."

Narrowing his eyes Sineval asked, "Will my ship make it back to Minbari space where it can be repaired?"

"Questionable Shai Alyt. We might make it, or we could still lose containment of the singularity, I have had to...take drastic measures to restore the power we have. Much of Engineering section is hanging together by the thinnest of threads. I must return to my station so I can keep an eye on it. I would not want to trust this to someone of lesser experience than I. May I return to my station?"

Sineval wanted to lash out but it was clear to him that the newly promoted Chief Engineer had done everything he can to get the Trigati operational once more. "You may go. Keep me informed as to the status of the singularity and once you can spare some more personnel to assist with repairs, please do so."

Bowing his head, the newly promoted Chief Engineer left in silence.

Sineval scowled and growled in anger. His Second walked up and said, "Shai Alyt, I have news of how many ships made the jump to return with us."

Closing his eyes for a moment then opening them Sineval ordered, "Tell me."

His Second replied, "We...withdrew...from the battle with eight Sharlins while towing five Sharlins that were too disabled to withdraw on their own power. Additionally, twelve Tinashis were able to withdraw and they towed another six Tinashis that were also too disabled to withdraw. The disabled warships are still being towed. It is hoped that they will be able to restore enough power that some of these ships will not require towing. But...there is the possibility, that these ships will need to be towed completely back to our space. They focused on our Sharlins Shai Alyt."

Sineval cursed, picking up a piece of fallen debris and throwing it in a rage. "Curse these humans! Curse them! Curse whoever is helping them! Have the Alyts sent in their reports? What news of our own stealth systems?"

His Second replied, "Yes Shai Alyt, our stealth system was operating normally at the time of the battle. The Alyts of the surviving ships have reported that their stealth systems were also operating normally. We are still receiving sensor data and recordings from the battle from our surviving warships. Some of the data and recordings are corrupted."

Sineval snarled as he asked, "Have we found out how the Humans have defeated our stealth?"

His Second shook his head and said, "No, Shai Alyt."

Sineval growled. "The damage reports from the rest of the fleet have been compiled and turned in?"

"Almost, Shai Alyt. Ours is complete, if you would like to review."

Sineval growled, "Show me.", he held out his hand and his Second placed a tablet computer into Sineval's hand.

Sineval looked at the tablet and reviewed the damage report of his mighty warship. When the Trigati returned to Minbari territory, the warship would be in the repair yard for months, most likely it would be in a repair yard for a year or longer given how damaged the warship was. The jump drives would need to be replaced, half of the fusion reactors were offline and could not be turned back on due to safety reasons. The singularity was working, but it was clear that containment was just barely holding and if containment were lost, the ship would be lost, along with the entire crew. More than ninety percent of the ship's weapons were a mix of destroyed and/or unable to function without yard repair. Then there was the Nial complement; none of the Trigati's Nial fighters had returned to the ship and none of them were aboard any of the surviving warships.

Sineval looked at his Second questioningly and asked, "None of our Nial's returned?"

"None, Shai Alyt.", his Second confirmed. "I have learned that during the battle that our fighters encountered the "Red Death."

Sineval looked up from the damage report in surprise. His eyes widened at first then narrowed as he processed the news. "What? She was there? No one was able to kill the pest?"

Nodding his head once his Second said, "She was there...apparently flying a new fighter and she slaughtered over fifty of our Warriors in this new craft."

Sineval was shocked at first and once more his rage overcame him. His voice rising as he spoke each word until it was a roar as he finished speaking. "What?! A new fighter?! She killed more than fifty!? And no one was able to kill this...this...spawn of the Shadows!?"

The Second calmly added, "It was also reported she fired some of the same type of missiles as the warships and was able to destroy a Sharlin...she destroyed the Tarshan. Furthermore Shai Alyt, our total fleet Nial losses were eighty four percent."

Sineval was furious. Sineval screamed internally. That Shadow spawn of a human, the "Red Death" absolutely infuriating. After the war had started, she'd come out of nowhere and slaughtered Warriors piloting a red painted Starfury, accumulating over fifty kills in the early battles of the war. Her voice was known, she had a habit of taunting those that flew against her by broadcasting on open frequencies. Her taunts would enrage Minbari fighter pilots and she'd use their anger and rage against them, killing them. She disappeared for a while, and according to the Anla'Shok she had been away from the war apparently training the human Starfury pilots her techniques to kill Nial fighters. Techniques that worked as Nial losses were now higher compared to the start of the war. Now, in a single battle while piloting a new fighter, she killed more than fifty Warriors...no...she killed hundreds now….she destroyed a Sharlin by herself.

The Minbari knew who the "Red Death" was. Once the Warriors started being killed by a Red Starfury in large numbers an effort was made to identify the pilot. Thanks to the Anla'Shok, they were able to bring back the information on the "Red Death".

After "Starkiller" John Sheridan, the human female with green hair called Miriya Sterling, given the name "Red Death" had the highest bounty posted by the Minbari Warrior Elders. But, with this recent action, that bounty would no doubt be increased. The identity of the human commander would also need to be determined. That person had to be identified and killed as well.

Sineval vowed, "I want to see footage of this new fighter that she was flying in. I will kill this "Red Death" myself. For our brothers. For Dukhat."

"For Dukhat.", his Second echoed.

Sineval looked at the communication station. "I must contact the War Leader so that the Grey Council can be informed. Are long range communications back online?"

"Apologies Shai Alyt, but they are still being repaired. Hopefully it will be fixed in an hour."

Sineval growled, "Hurry up with those repairs."

"Yes, Shai Alyt."

---

Earth

EarthForce HQ

The War Room

After briefing the President, General Lefcourt had returned to the deepest, most secure level of the facility as he was expecting contact from Captain Sheridan.

General Lefcourt had issued orders to the Fifty Seventh Fleet to proceed to Sestun and reinforce the system immediately since General Carter would be leaving to return to Sol with Admiral Sterling, her Veritech pilots and Veritechs as soon as he gathered all the wounded, and made whatever repairs that were necessary to those ships needed to make repairs before making the journey home.

General Lefcourt was looking at reports from one of his commerce raider fleets, a task force of Hyperions and Novas that was jumping into Minbari space, attacking civilian Minbari shipping and jumping back out into hyperspace to go to another system and repeat the process. Their commerce raids were the true success story in this war and the General smiled looking at how much damage they were doing to Minbari shipping. He had plans on expanding the commerce raids with Robotech warships as soon as he could put together multiple task forces. Being able to Fold in and out of Minbari space would be a huge, huge advantage going forward.

There was the familiar sound of the whooping siren as the FoldCom was activated and the transmission from the Robotech Factory came through. As the screen appeared and Captain Sheridan was visible.

Captain Sheridan saluted and said, "General Lefcourt, I'm making our first report for the day."

General Lefcourt returned the salute and responded, "Good morning Captain."

John Sheridan began his report, "Sir, we had our first meeting with the Foreign Minister of the Sentinels Alliance yesterday. Secretary Sheridan took point and the talks were good and I have to say promising. We also held a social gathering for the Foreign Minister and his aide after our talks were done for the day that also went very well."

"Today the Secretary, Senior Diplomatic Envoy Sha're and myself along with Mister Bester will be going to the Sentinel's flagship so that Secretary Sheridan can speak with the Sentinels Council and hopefully convince them to help us."

Nodding his head in understanding and approval he said, "Very good, Captain. So, the incident that happened with this Garudan Fleet Captain was handled?"

John gave a tiny smile, "Yes sir, according to the Foreign Minister, he was demoted by Grand Admiral Kazianna Hesh to Lieutenant."

General Lefcourt arched an eyebrow. "Demoted to Lieutenant? Well, that's handling it for sure." The General paused as he remembered the name of Kazianna Hesh. "So, their Grand Admiral Kazianna Hesh, what can you tell me?"

Shaking his head John replied, "Not much sir, I remembered the name and I checked the computer here on the Factory for any records of her and her computer file picture matched the woman I spoke to. I'm confident that she's the same person. I didn't get a chance to talk to her very much, but I'm sure I will have that opportunity today when I go aboard her ship. By the way General, her flagship, it's this."

The image of Sheridan disappeared and was replaced by an image of the Sentinels fleet and General Lefcourt and the personnel that were nearby clearly saw the Super Star Destroyer in the middle of the screen.

General Lefcourt was surprised. "Is that?"

John appeared on the screen again with a big grin on his face. "Yes sir. They built a Super Star Destroyer for their flagship. We were told it has none of the Star Wars tech, just that they redesigned it and made it better than what was in the movies. She promised me a tour so I'm looking forward to it."

With a grin on Lefcourt's face he said, "You're going to have to tell me all about it. See if you can take a few pictures with their permission...for posterity."

With a matching grin John said, "I'll see what I can do sir."

General Lefcourt cleared his throat then said, "Captain, I have some good news. We knew where the Minbari were going to hit us and we sent reinforcements to Sestun. Those reinforcements included some Veritechs led by Admiral Miriya Sterling."

With a big smile on his face General Lefcourt said, "Captain, the Minbari attacked Sestun colony and thanks to the technology in those Veritechs, they could see the Minbari. From there the Veritechs transmitted that tracking data to our ships and they were able to see them on sensors. General Carter engaged the Minbari and we managed to fight them off and send them packing in retreat! We won, Captain. It cost us a lot of lives, but we won."

The look of shock on John's face was clear. There were others in the Control Center with John and they couldn't believe what they heard as well. After a moment John finally found his voice. "We won sir?"

General Lefcourt confirmed, "We did."

From the background General Lefcourt could hear cheers and celebratory sounds. John looked around the room and said, "Settle down people." The smile on John's face was still there as he said, "That's wonderful news sir." Changing to a more serious expression John said, "I have to tell you sir that with the meetings taking place sir, our return is now undetermined since if the Sentinels do offer to help us, they'll need us to Fold them to back to the Milky Way just like I brought the Hyperions with me to Pegasus. The talks could take a few days, or it could take longer. Given this small delay, do you want me to arrange for a fleet of warships to Fold back home?"

After thinking for a moment General Lefcourt said, "That is an excellent idea Captain. We could use those ships for practical training once the personnel are ready to move from the simulators to actual ships. Admiral Komira Parino has been working overtime getting people trained on warship simulators, both Ikazuchi class and Eisenhower class. Once they pass the practical training on the ships themselves we can start deploying these ships against the Minbari that much quicker. So, go ahead and send some ships home, contact HQ for Fold coordinates when ready."

Nodding his head John acknowledged the order. "Yes sir, I'll get my people right on it. Expect a...special delivery later today." John had grinned when he said the words "special delivery".

"Very good, Captain. Well, I'll let you get to it. Carry on.", General Lefcourt saluted Captain Sheridan and Captain Sheridan returned the salute. The connection closed with the screen folding in half and vanishing with the whooping siren signaling the end of the transmission.

The General knew that another transmission would be coming through soon, this time from Secretary of State David Sheridan and sure enough the FoldCom activated again and Secretary Sheridan was visible on the screen.

"Greetings Mister Secretary." General Lefcourt greeted. "I'll have you transferred to President Levy right away."

The Secretary replied, "Hello Robert and thanks."

As General Lefcourt arranged to transfer the communication to President Levy the General noticed that the Secretary was not in the Control Center of the Factory. "Not in the Control Center David?"

Shaking his head David replied, "No, too busy getting ready for the meeting ahead. I'm in my quarters. Lieutenant Livesy was kind enough to arrange for the connection."

"Ah. It'll be just another moment.", General Lefcourt said.

The transmission was transferred to President Levy and the screen vanished with the familiar whooping siren.

President Levy's Office

President Elizabeth Levy was expecting the call that appeared on her wall monitor. Secretary of State David Sheridan appeared and greeted the President.

"Madam President, greetings from the Pegasus Galaxy.", David said.

Elizabeth smiled and greeted, "Hello David. As you can see, with me here in my office are Vice President Santiago, Director Alexas, Assistant Secretary of State Wainwright, and Secretary Sterling."

Everyone said their greetings. After it was over David got right to business. "My first meeting with their Foreign Minister went well. As it turns out, their Foreign Minister is the great great grandson of Admiral Rick Hunter." He paused so that everyone could digest that bit of information then he continued, "The initial talks went well and I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to convince the Sentinels Alliance to join us. If I'm able to do so, I know they won't just do it out of the kindness of their hearts or even just because they owe us a debt. They're going to want something. I'm pretty sure I can guess as to what they'll want so what am I authorized to offer Madam President? How far can I go?"

Everyone looked at each other and President Levy was silent then she said, "As far as I'm concerned, if they're willing to help then the only things off the table would be a Protoculture Matrix and a Robotech Factory for themselves. That is off the table, completely. But, you can offer them Robotech warships and mecha plus the supplies for them. I'm sure that once the war is over, we will be willing to open trade between our two governments. We might even be willing to open trade right now. Technology exchanges are fine as well. I'm sure that there are things that they want from us besides Robotechnology and there are things that they've got that we'll no doubt want as well."

Elizabeth looked around the room then she said, "Look, I'm going to say that within reason, I'm giving you very wide latitude to handle the negotiations. Just remember, do not offer them a Protoculture Matrix or a Factory of their own."

David nodded, "I understand Madam President. Hopefully the talks won't take too long."

Secretary Sterling whispered a comment to the President and President Levy nodded her head in agreement then she said, "David, if it seems that they're dragging their feet, just come home. We need the Factory and the warships inside. Time is a factor."

"I understand Madam President."

"Alright, we look forward to you next communication. Hopefully, it is good news."

David said, "I hope so too Madam President."

With that the connection was closed and the communication ended.

---

The Pegasus Galaxy

The Robotech Factory

Captain John Sheridan and Doctor Lang left the Factory Control Center and using a transport moved to where the majority of the Earth Alliance personnel were conducting training on the warship simulators.

Upon arriving John gathered everyone around so that they could hear what he had to say.

Using a microphone that he'd grabbed John spoke into the microphone and said, "Alright everyone settle down. I have a brief announcement then I have a new task for us all."

Taking a breath after he had everyone's attention John smiled and spoke, "I have just talked with General Lefcourt and he told me that the Minbari attacked the colony of Sestun." He paused for a few seconds as everyone's faces turned somber then he continued. "However, waiting for the Minbari were some Veritechs led by Admiral Miriya Sterling who used them as spotters for our warships. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks to those Veritechs our forces were able to see the Minbari on sensors and they were able to hit them. The result, our forces kicked their ass and sent them packing!" John's voice had risen at the end, his face wide with a triumphant grin.

Everyone was silent for a moment then the cheers and clapping started. Whoops of joy, high fives, fist bumps, hugs quickly followed. John's smile never left his face and Doctor Lang standing next to him was smiling as well. He looked at his Captains and the Executive Officers who were equally happy and celebrating with their crews.

After letting the celebration go on for a couple minutes John quickly got everyone's attention. "Alright everyone, attention please." With order restored, Captain Sheridan said, "Alright, even though we won this battle, I'm told that the Minbari did inflict losses. How many and how bad, I don't know. Now, in addition to the news of this victory, I have received orders from General Lefcourt that he wants us to send some Robotech ships home."

John looked around the room and everyone was serious now. "So, here's what we are going to do. We are going to send six hundred ships back, three hundred Ikazuchis and three hundred Eisenhowers." John turned to Doctor Lang and asked, "Doctor, can we remote pilot the warships to their departure point?"

Nodding his head the scientist/historian and adjusting his glasses by sliding them back up he answered, "Yes Captain, that would be possible. However, for the fold jump home the ships executing the jump will need to be crewed."

Captain Thar asked, "Will we be doing the same thing as before? Putting the ships into position so that only a few actually engage their fold drives and the rest of the ships fold with them?"

John said, "That's the plan. I want to send the minimum number of personnel back. So, let's plot this out. Everyone else, go grab some lunch."

The assembled personnel left to go get lunch from the Factory's cafeteria while the Captains and Executive Officers along with Doctor Lang moved to the holo tank on one of the warship simulators to make their plans.

Once around the holo tank Captain Sheridan turned it on and brought up the local system. Pointing at a distance away from both the Factory and the Sentinels fleet he said, "We'll move the warships to this spot here. Arrange for them so that only two or three warships execute the Fold jump so that the rest hitch hike and all of them return back home."

John looked at Delinda, his Executive Officer. "Delinda, I want the minimum number of people aboard those ships that are going back. Captain Richards, you'll be in charge of the task group going home. We'll all help out with getting the ships over to their Fold positions and once we're ready, we'll get the coordinates that General Lefcourt will want us to return to and once we have that, Captain you'll be on your way home."

With a small smile Captain Ben Richards said, "Well it will be nice to be back home. I'm assuming these ships are all ready for combat?"

Doctor Lang answered, "Yes Captain, all the warships and mecha in the Factory are fully repaired, have full Protoculture cells and fully operational. The ships going home will be ready for war."

Captain Sheridan said, "General Lefcourt says that they have an Admiral Komira Parino leading the warship retraining. Once she determines that people are ready to move from simulators to actual practical use, those ships we're sending back are going to be busy."

Looking around John asked, "Any questions? Alright you all can get some food, then begin moving the warships out for the return trip home. I have to start getting ready to leave for the meeting with Secretary Sheridan and the Sentinels. Dismissed."

Everyone broke off to tend to their tasks.

---

Sestun

EAS Hammond – 44th Fleet Flagship

Hours Later

General Carter was going over the butcher's bill of the battle with the Minbari. The fleet had suffered losses, with the Olympus Corvettes taking the most. They'd lost twenty Olympus Corvettes, ten Hyperions, and eight Novas. All the remaining warships were under different states of damage. Some had heavy damage, many had moderate damage while only a few escaped with minor damage. The Hammond was lucky in that her damage was minor.

Starfury losses were actually small due to two major factors: Thanks to receiving targeting data from the Veritechs they were able to lock weapons on the Minbari fighters themselves and the other was Miriya Sterling's presence. The Zentraedi Admiral showed off her legendary skills in a Robotech fighter to the point that she had scored fifty seven Minbari fighter kills and one Minbari cruiser kill. After so many Minbari had fallen to her fighter alone, the Minbari started running away from her instead of trying to kill her.

They had inflicted heavy damage to the Minbari, destroying a sizable number of the Minbari fleet that had come to Sestun. However, the Minbari had managed to tow all their disabled warships back into hyperspace so there were no warships for them to salvage and reverse engineer.

However, there were wrecked Minbari fighters strewn about the system and Starfury and Veritech pilots had gathered as much of the wreckage as possible so that it could be taken back to Earth where the wreckage could be studied and hopefully reverse engineer anything useful. The dead pilots inside as well as any Minbari corpses floating in space were retrieved and given burial by sending the corpses into the local sun.

Those EarthForce members that had been thrown out of their ships and had died were retrieved by the Search and Rescue teams so they could be identified and given proper burials as well. It was hard, it was gruesome work but it had to be done.

They were able to capture living Minbari that had ejected from their fighter and rescuing those Minbari had been inside escape pods that they had managed to get into before their ship had been destroyed. Many of them were in shock at having been forced to abandon their warship and instead of being rescued by their own people, they found themselves saved by their enemy. An enemy that was clearly hostile but treating them in a manner that they did not expect...with civility.

The Minbari prisoners were placed aboard one of the Novas and it was quickly dispatched to a system further back into Earth Alliance space.

Priority had been rescuing surviving EarthForce members followed by rescuing surviving Minbari. Collection, identification, and burial of the dead had been done last.

Hours ago, General Carter had given a brief report to General Lefcourt to inform him of the victory so he could inform the president then he had to get back to work. While he'd been hurt, the medics cleared him for duty as long as he didn't overdo it. He'd delegated a lot of work to his aide Colonel Hague and the Captain of the Hammond as they'd dealt with the aftermath of the battle.

General Carter had presided over the funeral for the fallen. His eulogy was sorrowful but now contained words of hope now that they had the tools and would be getting more of those tools very soon. After his eulogy he gave the order and the first of many, many coffins began to stream out to the local star.

It was early the next morning, General Carter had not gone to bed yet when the comm system in his office turned on and he answered it. "Yes?"

Colonel William Hague said, "Sir, all preparations for the fleet to return to Sol are complete. We can proceed to the jump gate at anytime. We just received word that the Fifty Seventh fleet is en route and will be here soon to take over."

Rubbing his chin in thought General Carter said, "The Fifty Seventh, eh? Well, that should be fine until we get some Robotech ships out here. Very well Colonel, I'm still doing some work here, inform Captain Sandoval that we can proceed back home at once."

Saluting his superior officer Colonel Hague said, "Yes sir. I'll tell him at once. We're going home."

---

Meanwhile, elsewhere aboard the Hammond, the surviving Starfury pilots and Veritech pilots had gathered in the pilot's briefing room. Sadly, the EAS Gloval, which had brought Miriya and her Veritechs to Sestun had been destroyed in the battle. But the Nova Dreadnought acquitted itself well, having destroyed multiple Minbari warships before she'd been destroyed.

The Veritechs and surviving Starfurys from the Gloval landed on the EAS Hammond. Now in the pilot's ready room, war stories were being exchanged as pilots told how they destroyed a Minbari fighter or had been rescued by another Starfury pilot. The pilots had spent a lot of search and rescue time, helping with saving their own people and helping salvage and rescue those Minbari that were in escape pods.

It was an hour after they had finished with search and rescue/recovery. It was announced that the services for the fallen service members would be in a few hours once identification had been completed. Before that though, Admiral Miriya Sterling had told all the pilots to assemble at the ready room.

The door of the ready room slid open and Admiral Miriya Sterling floated into the room, pushing a metallic crate into the room. With one final shove, the crate floated into the middle of the room. Someone called out, "Admiral-"

Miriya very quickly said, "As you were. Everyone, come here.", Miriya opened the crate and she began passing out liquid pouches to the assembled pilots as they came close to her.

"Hey, this is whiskey!", a pilot called out.

Miriya was holding one of the pouches and delegated a pilot to keep distributing the pouches to pilots that didn't have one. She said, "Very observant. Do not open it until I tell you to."

Floating to the center of the room as pilots got their pouch of whiskey they moved back to their seats Miriya waited and after all the pouches had been distributed she started, "All of you, look around. Look to your left...look to your right." The pilots did as she said. Then she resumed, "Take note of the man or woman who is not in this room. They may be gone, but we will remember them. We honor their memory not just by living, but by destroying the Minbari...fighter by fighter, warship by warship."

She spun around in place slowly to look at all the pilots as she floated in the center of the room. "We won a great victory today, but it was not without cost. Our fighter corps did very well today, we suffered only eighteen percent losses….", Miriya paused and looked grave. "Our warships paid a higher price in securing this victory. Many of our brothers and sisters in EarthForce died giving us this victory. But, we gave the Minbari fighter corps an ass kicking they have never ever experienced before until today. We gave their warship crews an ass kicking they haven't experienced in a thousand years. Of that I have no doubt."

She smiled now, a feral smile. She pointed her finger and swept it across the room at all of the assembled pilots. "Each one of you and those pilots that have returned to other EarthForce warships are all survivors. Not only that, you've emerged victorious over the Minbari! You've all scored multiple kills! The data shows we took out more than eighty percent of their fighter corps in this battle!"

Lieutenant Mylene Sterling chirped, "And you took out fifty seven of 'em by yourself ma'am!"

All the pilots roared and cheered.

Lieutenant Susan Ivonova added, "They're so scared of her now that they started trying to run away from her at the end!"

The pilots roared and cheered again.

Miriya gestured for the room to quiet down. Once they did, Miriya continued, "So, savor this moment. Remember it. This is only the beginning! Soon, the Pegasus Expedition will return with our old warships and our old mecha and we will give the Minbari an ass kicking they will never ever forget! They will regret never accepting our offer to surrender, that I guarantee." She opened her pouch of whiskey and held it up. The pilots copied her and opened their own pouches of whiskey and held theirs up. Miriya solemnly said, "To The Fallen."

The pilots echoed her. "To The Fallen!"

Everyone took a drink from their pouch of whiskey.

Then Miriya raised her drink again and exclaimed, "To The Victors!"

The pilots echoed, "To The Victors!"

Everyone took another drink.

Miriya said, "Enjoy this drink, you've all earned it. It was an honor and a privilege to fly with you all today. I have been informed by General Carter that we will be heading back to Earth soon. Finish this little celebration and get some rest. We will have a debriefing later."

Miriya finished her drink, and mingled with the pilots and gave words of praise at recognizing a pilot for what they had done during the battle. She enjoyed another drink with all the Veritech pilots as it turned out that one of her pilots, Lieutenant Zagal had the fewest kills after Miriya had turned her Alpha Veritech pilots loose upon the enemy and so he had to buy the drinks for the next round for the Veritech squadron. After socializing for a while longer, she left the celebration to return to her quarters.

Once she was inside her quarters and she secured her room, she reached into her uniform and pulled out two old photographs. One was a photo of her oldest child, Dana. The pictured showed Dana in her new EarthForce uniform from so long ago. Standing next to Dana was Miriya, proud mother in her own EarthForce uniform. Maia, her youngest had been holding the camera and had taken the picture.

The other picture was photo of Maia wearing a space suit of the Explorer's branch of EarthForce standing at the edge of Olympus Mons volcanic crater. She'd gone there for a training trip, training the latest generation of explorers and she had a big smile that could be seen through the helmet.

Miriya ran her index and middle fingers of her right hand over the two pictures of her children. Tears were falling down her face as she looked at her lost children. Killed by the Minbari. Maia was listed as Missing but Miriya knew. Miriya knew that Maia was dead too. With a sob she shakily said, "I avenged you both today." Another sob came out from Miriya. "But it is not enough. Oh Max...I miss you." She let out a loud sigh and her body shook a little. With great resolve she brought her emotions under control. She continued to run her index and middle fingers up and down the two pictures of her daughters.

Her voice was steady now. With resolve she promised, "The Minbari are trying to kill us all for killing their leader….well...I'm going to kill them all for killing my children. I will not stop. I will not fail. I will find the Minbari that killed both of you and I will kill them. Then I'll kill the rest of them." Miriya looked up at the mirror that was in the room and her eyes were ablaze with fury. "Revenge will be mine."

Miriya put the photos back in her uniform, close to her chest. Then she went to her desk, powered on her computer, then sat down and strapped herself down so she could work at the desk. With her computer powered up, she began to work on her After Action Report. After she finished with that, she would return to looking at her redesign of the Queadlunn-Rau and see if there were any more changes to the design that needed to be made. She would be submitting it for construction priority upon the Factory's return to General Lefcourt and Secretary Sterling. She was going to cash in more than a few favors owed to get the new Queadlunn-Rau into production.

---

Minbari Federation Space

Aboard the Valen'Tha

The Grey Council had been summoned after War Leader Brammer had received news from Shai Alyt Sineval that had been dispatched to destroy the human colony of Sestun. The news that he was about to deliver was disastrous.

With everyone gathered and the ritual to start the meeting completed Satai Coplann of the Warrior Caste said, "War Leader Brammer, you called for this meeting. Has our fleet destroyed the human colony?"

With a look of grave solemness and after a few seconds of silence the War Leader of the Minbari solemnly said, "No, the fleet has not destroyed the human colony." After a few seconds pause Brammer continued, "Our fleet encountered the human fleet defending the colony...the humans engaged our forces...and they destroyed many of our ships, forcing our fleet to retreat."

The looks on the faces of the Minbari went from happiness at the expectation of another easy victory and more dead humans to shock and horror.

The Grey Council members looked at each other, their shocked and horrified looks on their faces as they tried to come to grips with what was just heard.

It wasn't possible!

It just wasn't possible!

Satai Delenn of the Religious Caste was the first to find her voice even though it was only one word. "How!?", her expression was still that of shock, her mouth moving but no words were coming out.

The others began to echo Delenn's words and there were cries of outrage being uttered by the Satais of the Warrior Caste. Satai Coplann of the Warrior Caste cursed the Shai Alyt's failure.

Satai Rathann of the Religious Caste used his ceremonial staff by banging the bottom of the weapon on the ground and exclaimed, "Order! Satais, this is unbecoming of you all! Compose yourselves!"

The members composed themselves and once it was quiet War Leader Brammer answered Delenn's question. "We do not know how the humans have done it, but they have found a way to defeat our stealth. The fleet returning from Sestun is composed of thirteen Sharlins and eighteen Tinashis, all of the ships have been damaged, some very severely, and many of the damaged warships are being towed back into our space."

Satai Coplann, his face furious with anger asked, "Do you have recordings of the battle? Have you seen them?"

With a slight bow Brammer answered, "We have received such data from the surviving warships. Some of it is corrupted, but I have seen much of it."

Satai Morann of the Warrior Caste ordered, "Show us."

With a bow of acknowledgment Brammer produced a small device and pushed a button. The room darkened and out of the darkness a recording of the battle began to play.

Brammer said, "This is from the Sharlin War Cruiser Tirsfaal."

The footage showed the fleet assembled in front of the War Cruiser as it was in the middle of the formation towards the far edge of the fleet. Everyone watched as they saw the Earth warships approaching the Minbari fleet.

Satai Varenn of the Worker Caste asked, "Why have they not opened fire on the humans?"

With a small sigh Brammer answered, "Shai Alyt Sineval was feeling...vindictive. He wanted to make them suffer by letting the humans fire their weapons in desperation and futility since until now the humans were unable to penetrate our stealth."

They watched the footage as the fleet approached, they could see Nials and Starfurys blowing up. What was surprising was that the Nials seemed be be being destroyed more so than the human fighters. The tiny explosions appearing like celebratory balls of light that the Minbari people would set off to mark special occasions.

Suddenly the human fleet opened fire. Their weapons striking the surrounding Minbari warships and they all were shocked as they saw a dozen Sharlins explode from the massive wave of incoming fire. All of the Grey Council recoiled in horror at the sight. They could see the Trigati suffer horrendous damage and watched it drift off out of control. Delenn brought a hand to her mouth to cover the shock and dismay.

The Satais of the Worker and Religious Caste continued to watch the battle unfold in shock and horror as they saw their own people being killed while the three Satais of the Warrior Caste expressed anger and fury at seeing their brothers being killed.

They watched as missiles began to streak at the Minbari warships and could not believe that the missiles were tracking towards the Minbari warships. Minbari ships that started firing back at the human ships had to switch their weapons to point defense to shoot the incoming missiles down. Then there were the explosions as Minbari warships were hit by a wave of missile fire that was unbelievably powerful. More Minbari warships vanished in balls of fire and the assembled Grey Council members just didn't believe what they were seeing. Sharlins and Tinashis being destroyed by one or two missile hits! Impossible! What weapons were these?!

As the Minbari warships began to fight back, their neutron or fusion cannons easily destroying some of the human warships. The smallest human warships outnumbered the larger human warships and they were acting as shields for the larger ones, taking incoming fire that would destroy or severely damage a larger warship.

The battle continued and while Minbari ships were fighting back, destroying human warships, mainly the smallest ones but they still managed to destroy a few medium and few of the larger warships. The humans continuing to hammer the Minbari ships, their missile ammo finally being expended or almost expended but the guns on the Earth warships had not run out of ammo. They had a mix of rail guns, plasma cannons, and particle beams as well as lasers that now that the humans could target the Minbari ships were unleashing the firepower that had damaged the Valen'Tha a year ago and had killed the Minbari that had been their greatest: Dukhat. It was not just horrifying, it was sobering. The humans did not seem so weak now.

Finally, they watched as the Trigati regained power and had managed to bring about an organized withdrawal and fighting retreat before the remaining Minbari warships opened jump points and retreated into hyperspace.

The silence in the chamber was overpowering.

Satai Coplann was the first to speak as he snarled, "Were the stealth systems disabled or malfunctioning?"

Brammer quickly replied, "No, Satai. Shai Alyt Sineval had the stealth systems checked on all the returning warships to determine if they were not operational during the battle and it was found that before the battle, the system was working normally."

"How did they break our stealth?", asked Morann.

Brammer said, "We do not know Satai. We have just found out that the Humans can do this. The footage we have received has just come to us, we will need to review the battle data from the surviving warships, look for anomalies, talk to the survivors and get their accounts of the battle. I would be speculating, guessing on how the Humans have done this."

Brammer then added, "There is something else. The Humans deployed a new fighter and they had the "Red Death" piloting one of them against us in the battle. Shai Alyt Sineval reported that she alone had destroyed the Tarshan using these new powerful missiles...and she'd killed fifty seven of our Nial Warriors alone. Furthermore, he believes that the Humans are receiving aid from someone."

The three Grey Council Warrior Satais looked outraged while the rest of the Grey Council were expressing emotions of shock, outrage, and dismay.

After a moment Delenn asked, "What are we going to do?"

Coplann snarled, "We must gather up our available forces and attack. We cannot stop."

Delenn exclaimed, "The Humans can see through our stealth, we don't know how they've done it and you just want to send our Warriors to die!? We don't even know if it is true that the Humans are receiving help!"

Morann said, "It is our Warriors duty to fight and die for our people."

Delenn protested, "But not to walk directly into the fire! We need to know how the Humans have done this! We need to know if they are receiving help and from whom!"

Brammer interrupted the two Grey Council Members as he said, "We do not have the ships at the ready to launch an attack. Not unless we pull them from our Protectorate areas and pull all warships that are defending our territory. As for who is helping them, it must be some new player, someone that is not in the League of Non-Aligned Worlds."

Rathenn quickly said, "That will not happen. We cannot move any assets that are watching over those that we have sworn to protect. As for this idea that someone is helping the humans, until we know for sure it is just guessing and speculation. We must focus on what we know."

Coplann and Morann looked like they wanted to argue but looking at the Religious and Worker members of the Grey Council they realized that the idea of pulling Warriors and ships from the Protectorate areas was not going to happen.

Morann said, "Then we must gather our ships and Warriors that are defending Minbari space itself. Gather them and put together a single war fleet to attack the Humans while the Workers get the ships we need out of storage."

Satai Varenn of the Worker Caste exclaimed, "We cannot do that! Those ships are needed to protect our people from possible attack within our space and ensure that the other Races do not get any ideas of their own! The Humans are destroying our shipping, our warships patrolling our space is the only deterrent against them. We need them to find these Human raiders, as well as the raiders that they've hired and crush them!"

Alnenn added, "The Centauri are looking at our borders, if we pull any of our ships away they may think it a sign of weakness and make an attempt."

Morann scoffed, "The Centauri are not so brave as to test us in battle."

Satai Shakat of the Warrior Caste made a dismissive gesture saying, "You are making this issue of these raids worse than it really is. We need to get our Warriors and warships out there killing Humans, not playing nursemaid to your merchant traffic!"

Coplann and Morann nodded in agreement but Satai Alnenn of the Worker Caste said, "You cannot fight without supplies. We cannot bring your supplies if our shipping is wiped out by these raiders that the Humans have hired and by the Humans own warships!"

Alnenn looked squarely at the three Warrior Caste members and continued, "Already we are receiving reports from a couple of our worlds that they are running out of a variety of goods! These shortages are going to become worse if we do not stop these raids! It's not just that they destroy the goods which are valuable enough, they are destroying the ships! You think our trade ships are limitless in number? You think that our merchant ships grow out of the ground as if they are flowers?! If these raids are not stopped, it will lead to greater shortages throughout our Federation and it will even cause more delays in bringing our warships out of storage!"

Delenn said, "Alnenn is right. We must focus on bringing an end to these raids, they are causing us far greater damage than expected. War Leader, what do you think? How should we proceed?"

Brammer was silent for a moment then he bowed and said, "We must have the workers bring our warships out of storage more quickly. We must have more. For this to happen, I think we must mobilize the rest of the Clans that have not brought their ships and Warriors into the fight. We believed the Humans would not challenge us, would not give us any problems and that this war would be over quickly. Now they have proven that it will not be an easy fight. Until we find out how they defeated our stealth, this war is going to be the challenge we need to prepare ourselves for the upcoming war with the Shadows."

Rathenn said, "Perhaps we should contact the Vorlons. Maybe they will help upgrade our stealth systems again so that the Humans cannot attack us."

Brammer shook his head. "The Vorlons explicitly told us not to take this path we are now on, since we did not listen and we refused, they have cut all contact with us. We must defeat the Humans on our own to redeem ourselves.

Brammer looked at the Grey Council and continued, "As we all know, we had decided that the Humans would not be much of a challenge after destroying them at Jericho 3, the first battle of the war. As such, we decided against a full mobilization, to only have a few Clans fight at a time so that all the Clans would get their chance to take their turns to kill the Humans. This way all the Warrior Clans would be able to prepare themselves for the upcoming war against the Shadows. Now...now we must fully mobilize all the Warrior Clans for this war. This means that we as a people must now fully mobilize for war. We will need all the Worker Clans to focus their efforts for the war by activating all our ships that are in storage and getting them ready for battle."

Satai Delenn looked grim as she said, "You are calling for a full mobilization now?"

Bowing his head again Brammer replied, "I am. The war has changed here and now. The Humans have broken our stealth, our only advantage against them now is the greater range of our weapons. We will have to adjust our tactics to prevent them from getting within range of their weapons but I believe we can still win this war. With the full mobilization, the we can dedicate more ships to root out these raiders. But, the price of victory will now be higher."

Coplann snarled, "This will cause delays! Delays that give the Humans time to regroup, repair!"

Brammer nodded and responded, "Sadly that is true, but we cannot afford to go on the offensive at this time. We would be sending our Warriors without proper preparation. Such an action would cost us more Warriors than the victory was worth."

Delenn offered, "Perhaps this is an opportunity for us to actually talk to the Humans and agree to meet with them now."

Morann looked at Delenn as if she'd grown a second head. "We are set on the path you voted for Delenn, we do not stop. You voted for war, so it is war until these Humans are nothing more than a memory."

Delenn looked slightly angry as it seemed as if Morann was talking to her as if she was a child, not as an equal member of the Grey Council. She also looked like she was about to respond but she did not get the chance.

Shakat said, "So, a full mobilization then. I believe that the War Leader's proposal is sound. All in favor?"

The vote was carried out and it was announced, "The Vote passes. We shall now fully mobilize for war. Which Clans are most ready to bring their fleets to readiness?"

---

Super Star Destroyer Freedom – Sentinels Alliance Flagship

Secretary of State David Sheridan, Senior Diplomatic Envoy Sha're, Captain John Sheridan, and Alfred Bester walked out of the main conference room where Secretary Sheridan and Sha're had been speaking with the Sentinels Council and the Prime Minister over their FTL communication network. John had answered a few military questions but for the most part David and Sha're handled the talking. Alfred Bester had monitored the talks and as they left Alfred Bester had said that their hosts had not attempted anything untoward.

Waiting for them just outside the doors was a beautiful Praxian woman with blonde hair wearing the Sentinels Alliance uniform of a Captain. They recognized her as the Flag Captain of Grand Admiral Kazianna Hesh's staff, her name was Selene.

With a smile on her face she said, "Greetings, Grand Admiral Hesh has arranged for you to wait nearby. Please follow me."

The group followed the woman down the hall and she stood by the door of another room which opened as the sensor recognized her presence nearby. Gesturing for them to enter which everyone did, they found a room that was arranged as a lounge. There were sofas and comfortable chairs arranged around the room. A long table had a spread of food and drinks were arranged on it.

Selene smiled at them and said, "You will find all the food to be familiar and there is coffee." She pointed to the two large very familiar coffee pots that were at the end of the table. Next to the coffee was a large pitcher of water.

Selene added, "Grand Admiral Hesh has invited you all to join her for dinner. I will see you there but if you need anything, do not hesitate to contact me.", With that, she left the room and the doors closed behind her.

Once they were alone the group moved to the assembled food and took what they wanted and moved to the coffee and water and grabbed cups of coffee.

Once settled in John looked at his father David and asked, "Well, how do you think it went? Do you think they'll help us?"

David took a bite of his sandwich followed by a sip of coffee. "Well, I'm being an optimist and I have to believe that they'll help us. They owe us more than the League of Non Aligned Worlds did."

Sha're pointed out, "There were a couple Council members that did seem a bit aggressive in pointing out that the war was our fault and that they shouldn't have to come to our aid because we started it."

John retorted, "The Garudan Councilor was just pissed that I had threatened their Garudan Fleet Captain and that he'd just been slapped down to Lieutenant by Grand Admiral Hesh."

Sha're commented, "There was also the Perytonian Councilor. He seemed to be on the same page as the Garudan."

David said, "Well, I don't think they'll be able to convince the others to say no. I really like our odds here, it's not like the Minbari can come over here and threaten them."

"Point.", John said. He smiled back at the Secretary and took a drink of his coffee.

---

Elsewhere aboard the Super Star Destroyer inside the main conference room that the members from EarthForce and EarthGov had just left. Sitting at one table were Foreign Minister Roy Hunter, his aide Marlene and Grand Admiral Kazianna Hesh. Also present but not physically there were the members of the Sentinels Council and the Sentinels Prime Minister.

The Council Members and the Prime Minister had connected via their FTL communication systems and were being holographically projected into the room as if they were sitting at a separate large table that had been arranged just for them. The Prime Minister was in the center while the Councilors were sitting to the left and right of the Prime Minister.

The Sentinels Council was made up of the races of the Sentinels Alliance. The Alliance was composed of Karbarrans, Garudans, Praxians, Spherisians, Perytonians, and the Humans, Zentraedi and Tirolians. There was one Councilor that represented the Humans, Zentraedi and Tirolians it was currently a female Zentraedi.

The Councilors all had one vote when it came to deciding policy, in the event of a tie the Prime Minister got to break the tie by casting a vote to break the tie. Otherwise, the Prime Minister did not vote.

The hologram projections of the Sentinels Council members was extremely detailed as they were in color, and not looking like they were out of focus. It was an advancement to the FoldCom, one that did not require Protoculture after their FTL communications had undergone a massive overhaul and redesign.

The Prime Minister, a Spherisian that looked male in appearance looked around and gave a sigh. "Well, this is interesting. Grand Admiral, what do you think?"

Kazianna was quick to answer, "We must help them. There is no doubt in my mind about this. We can ask them for concessions in exchange for our help, but we must come to their aid and show these other races in the Milky Way galaxy that words have meaning. When you give your word, you must follow through, no matter the cost."

Kazianna added, "They did inform us at that they just had a victory against these Minbari by using Veritechs to act as spotters for their warships. It is clear that Robotech ships and weapons will turn the tide for our friends. You cannot see this, but I have received reports and I've seen with my own eyes that our friends are moving ships out of the Factory as we have been talking and I am sure they are about to send a sizable number of ships back to their home galaxy. These ships will soon be used against these Minbari and the Minbari are going to learn very quickly that Robotech ships and weapons are superior to theirs." Kazianna paused to drink some water then finished, "But my stance on this matter is clear, we must join our friends in their war against these Minbari."

Roy, the Foreign Minister stood up from his table and said, "Councilors, Prime Minister, we have seen and heard from our former allies, they have asked us for help. We owe them a debt, a debt that we can partially repay by coming to their assistance. These Minbari are acting against all the tenets of civilized behavior."

Spreading his arms wide he exclaimed, "They are committing genocide, they are bullying the other races in the galaxy to do what they say! Councilors, Prime Minister, these Minbari have refused an offer of unconditional surrender! How is that civilized?! How can they justify killing an entire race over the loss of one man even if he was their leader!? They refuse diplomatic overtures, they kill diplomats without fear of repercussions! Councilors, Prime Minister, we must come to the aid of our friends! To do nothing would be a greater betrayal than what this League of Non Aligned Worlds has done.", Roy sat back down in his chair.

The Perytonian Councilor, a male in appearance spoke, "We have our own problems to deal with. We don't need to fight a war in another galaxy that our former allies started. If our friends had been attacked without provocation I would support going to war for them. But they started it. They let politics dictate who they placed in command, this individual had no business being in command of a warship, let alone in command of a task force. This man fired the first shot that killed the leader of these Minbari. While I don't agree with what the Minbari are doing, I strongly believe what these Minbari are doing is wrong but I believe even more strongly that we should not involve ourselves."

The Praxian Councilor, a beautiful woman with blue hair looked at the Perytonian councilor with a look of "Are You Serious?" then she jumped in, "What?! How can you say that!? The people of Earth helped liberate your world just as they helped the rest of us! They helped free us all from the tyranny of the Robotech Masters overlords, the Invid, and when the Haydonites betrayed us all they were able to lead us to victory! Councilors, Prime Minister, we must act! We must answer their call for help!"

The Karbarran Councilor, a female simply said, "I say this: We must help them."

The Garudan snarled, "I think we should leave them alone. Yes we owe them, but for them to come over, take the Robotech Factory and just leave to return to their galaxy is an insult to us."

The Spherisian Councilor, this one presenting as female pointed out, "The Factory and everything within it is theirs, not ours."

The Garudan Councilor snarled, "We bled and died just as much as they did, we should have a share in that technology!"

The female Zentraedi Councilor representing the Humans, Zentraedi, and Tirolians said, "They shared Robotechnology with us as the Sentinels Alliance needed ships and weapons with which to fight against the Invid and the overlords that the Robotech Masters left behind. There is no need to bring that issue again. We've gone over and over it many times over the decades. However, I know where I stand."

The Garudan scoffed, "Of course you're going to side with your people."

Before an argument can start the Prime Minister made a tapping noise and said, "Let us keep the discussion on point."

Discussions continued for a couple of hours between the Councilors while the Prime Minister sat quietly and observed. After the lively debate seemed to be going in circles the Prime Minister said, "Councilors, I do believe it is time for a vote. Please submit your votes as to whether or not we should assist the people of Earth."

Sounds of buttons being pushed back in their offices were heard. The Prime Minister looked at his terminal back on the Capital planet and he announced, "I have received all the votes. I will now announce the results." With a pause as he looked over the result the Spherisian Prime Minister announced, "By a vote of five to one...the motion to assist the people of Earth passes."

There was polite applause from most of the Councilors and the Prime Minister, the Perytonian seemed to be looking at the Garudan Councilor as if he couldn't believe that the Garudan had voted in favor to assist given how much he'd spoken against helping the Earth people.

The Prime Minister said, "The next phase will be to negotiate how much assistance to provide. I believe the maximum would be a fleet of one thousand, but see if they will accept five hundred. Of course, if they make us a good offer, the more assistance we will provide."

The Garudan said, "Make them give us a Factory and Protoculture Matrix of our own in exchange for our helping them."

The Zentraedi Councilor made a scoffing noise, "You know as well as everyone present here that they will not give us a Factory or Protoculture Matrix."

The Garudan pressed, "We need one, if they're going to have Robotechnology again, we need our own."

Roy stood up and asked, "With your permission then, shall I bring our friends back in so they can hear the news?"

The Spherisian Prime Minister said, "Yes, that would be good."

After a couple minutes the group from Earth had returned. They walked in and sat at the conference table that had been set for them which was across from the Foreign Minister's table with the Prime Minister and the Councilors "sitting" to their left so that leaders of the Sentinels Alliance could look at everyone.

Once everyone had sat back down the Prime Minister began, "Secretary of State Sheridan, Captain Sheridan, Envoy Sha're, and Alfred Bester welcome back. We have spent the last few of hours discussing your situation and your request. After a much spirited discussion, we have called for the vote and we have voted to assist our friends of Earth. We will fight with you against the Minbari."

There was no hiding the relief in David Sheridan and Sha're's expressions. Captain Sheridan was nodding his head, holding back tears. Alfred Bester even looked relieved as well.

Roy held out his hand to David and the two shook hands and David placed his other hand on top and looked at the assembled Councilors and Prime Minister.

David said with tears in the corner of his eyes, "On behalf of the President of EarthGov, I say with great emphasis and gratitude, Thank You."

The Prime Minister responded, "We owe Earth and her people a debt, a debt we never thought we would be able to repay. This is an opportunity that we must rise to and take advantage of."

Gesturing to Roy the Prime Minister continued, "Our Foreign Minister will begin negotiations with you and work to bring deal that we and your governments will approve. Minister Hunter, do contact us once you have reached a proposed agreement so we may weigh in."

With that the holograms of the Prime Minister and the Councilors vanished.

Kazianna stood up and said, "I do not believe I'm needed here for now. Captain Sheridan", she looked at John when she spoke to him. "Would you like to resume the tour?"

With a smile of his own John replied, "Oh yes ma'am, very much so."

Walking up to John she gestured, "Walk with me, Captain. I have much to show you, I've become very proud of my flagship."

John whispered to Secretary Sheridan that if he was needed to contact him via comm link. After that he followed the Grand Admiral of the Sentinels Alliance out of the conference room.

David smiled as he saw his son walk out then said, "Well Minister Hunter let's get started shall we?"

With an outstretched arm guiding David and Sha're to join him at the conference room table where they had sat earlier, everyone retook their seats and now the negotiations began.

---

Earth

ISN Broadcast Center

Geneva, Switzerland

It was mid afternoon and the organization was getting ready for the nightly news report in a couple of hours when the Producer pushed the warning light that they were about to go live. The Producer's voice began speaking into the earpiece of the news anchor that was in the newsroom getting ready and they listened to the Producer telling them what was going on as they rushed to the anchor desk from the news room.

The stage was a hive of activity as they got ready to go to air. The anchor person rushed in and sat in their chair, last minute make up was applied and checked. Another person rushed out and took away things that didn't belong on the anchor desk so that it wouldn't show on camera.

The voice of the Producer rang out over the PA. "We are going live in sixty seconds! Hurry up people!"

People scattered away from the anchor desk, the anchor straightened up in their chair and got ready. She took a quick drink of water from their water bottle as she heard what was going on.

The call came, "Thirty seconds!"

As everything was ready, the time counted down, the director said, "We are live in five, four…" and they silently finished the countdown by showing their hand with a three, followed by two, and one.

Music began to play as the voice over announced, "This is a ISN Special Report from Geneva Switzerland. Now reporting, Angela Griffin."

Looking into the camera, the very pretty red headed news anchor Angela Griffin began speaking, "Good afternoon everyone, we interrupt your programming to bring you this special report coming from EarthForce HQ. A press conference is about to start in the media center and we have been told that General Robert Lefcourt, the Military Commander of EarthForce will be speaking."

Putting her hand to her earpiece she said, "We are going to the media center right now as General Robert Lefcourt has just entered the room and the press conference is about to begin."

The camera cut away from the news anchor and switched over to a press briefing room and the camera was fixed on the podium as General Robert Lefcourt was arranging something on the podium. Looking at the assembled reporters and the cameras that were in the room, you could hear the sounds of old fashioned photography being taken.

Clearing his throat the General began, "Good afternoon everyone, thank you for coming on such short notice. I will be making a statement, I won't be answering any questions but there is an information packet with a FAQ sheet. You can pick one up after the end of this briefing. The past couple of days we have been keeping a tight lid on things going on with regards to the war. Today, I have been authorized by President Levy to announce the recent happenings with regards to the war. So, let's begin."

"First of all, we knew that the Minbari would be attacking the colony of Deneb and while we've tried to evacuate as many people as possible, it just was not enough. We had evacuation ships running constantly until the Governor made the determination that it was too dangerous for civilian ships to be in the area given that the Minbari do not discriminate and target civilian ships just as they target our warships.

"That was the official announcement. The real reason we stopped evacuations was because the President authorized the shut down of the beacon network for the Deneb colony." He paused as everyone in the room and most likely everyone watching the conference took in that news. After a few seconds he continued, "With the shutdown of the beacon network, it would have been too hazardous for our evacuation ships to be traveling in hyperspace. The reason for this shut down was quite simple, with the singularity nearby, it affects hyperspace travel and the beacon network provides the safe passageway for all ships to travel through this part of hyperspace safely. With proper timing, we hoped that by turning off the beacon network at just the right time would cause multiple Minbari warships to wander into the singularity's gravitational pull and be destroyed."

Looking directly at the ISN camera General Lefcourt said, "I am pleased to announce that a couple of days ago, we detected the Minbari fleet approaching the colony of Deneb and the Governor turned off the beacon network at just the right time causing a large number of Minbari warships to be lost to the singularity's gravitational pull and the remaining warships had to turn around and return to Minbari space. The colony of Deneb was saved. We did not have to engage or fight with the Minbari at all. There were no casualties on our side. Our estimates are that the Minbari lost more than seventy five percent of their forces that were en route to Deneb and it is very likely that this estimate may be lower than the reality."

Before anyone can make any kind of reaction General Lefcourt continued on. "Additionally, we knew that the Minbari were going to attack the colony of Sestun. Evacuation of that colony was more successful although there were still about a million civilians left behind. Given the seriousness of the situation, Secretary Millia Sterling authorized the deployment of reinforcements to the 44th fleet led by General Sam Carter."

"Those reinforcements included Special Weapons that we pulled from storage and they arrived just in time. These Special Weapons were led by Admiral Miriya Sterling. When the Minbari arrived, General Carter engaged the Minbari using those Special Weapons and for the second time in this war handed the Minbari a defeat, destroying and damaging a large portion of their fleet and fighters, forcing the Minbari to retreat."

"This victory was not without cost. The Minbari were defeated, but they were able to inflict heavy damage upon the defending forces. Specifics are being withheld until next of kin can be notified. Once that notification process is complete, we will be releasing the names of the fallen and those that were injured in the battle."

"General Carter and Admiral Sterling are returning back to local space, bringing all the injured and the damaged warships home for treatment and repairs. The Fifty Seventh Fleet has been deployed to Sestun to stand guard. We do not expect a follow up attack by the Minbari at this time. We gave them a very bloody nose and knocked out quite a few of their teeth. So, we're confident that they're going to be taking a breather."

General Lefcourt looked at the room then the camera again and continued, "Citizens of Earth Alliance and all those who serve in EarthForce this is just the beginning. The President made a promise in her last speech and we are working hard at carrying out that promise. The war has turned, things are about to change for humanity. Which brings me to this final statement. As everyone knows four months ago, President Elizabeth Levy offered an Unconditional Surrender to the Minbari government. This message was delivered by the Centauri and by members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. The Minbari have refused to accept our surrender and they continue to slaughter us indiscriminately. The President has directed me to announce as of now that the offer to surrender is now off the table."

With a grim face full of fire and determination General Lefcourt finished off the press conference, "We are going to fight, we are going to fight until there is only one of us left standing and I am promising you all, citizens and military personnel alike that we will be the ones left standing. Going forward, it is now up to the Minbari to do the talking. We will be doing our own talking with Robotechnology from this point forward. Thank you all for coming. That's all."

General Lefcourt turned and walked off and left the room. The reporters stood up and tried to ask questions as he left while a media spokesperson announced that the information packets were waiting for them at the back of the room.

---

The Pegasus Galaxy

The Robotech Factory

It was several hours later when Captain Sheridan had returned from the Sentinels flagship leaving behind the Secretary of State, Sha're, and Alfred Bester so that negotiations over how much assistance the Sentinels were going to offer and what they were going to receive from EarthGov for that assistance.

Currently the negotiations were paused as they were still at the dinner and party hosted by Grand Admiral Kazianna Hesh.

John had gotten to enjoy his tour aboard the Super Star Destroyer. It was a child's dream come true even though there was no Star Wars technology aboard the massive warship. Just the fact that he was walking the halls of a warship that was only seen in films and television was enough. He was extremely impressed with the improvements and fixes to the warship's design. Her firing arcs were a lot better, she was able to bring a lot more firepower to bear no matter the angle. Even attacking the warship from below or from the rear was not a good idea. He was doubly impressed by the moving of the ship's bridge from the tower to its current position deep within the center of the warship. John was looking forward to another tour with a possible demonstration of the ship's firepower demonstrated in the future if it was possible.

Sadly, he had to leave the honorary dinner early so he could take part in what was about to happen, sending the fleet of six hundred Robotech warships back to Earth.

Secretary David Sheridan would be informing the President about the good news that the Sentinels had agreed to help and that he was working on a deal to secure their aid after the dinner and party.

In the Factory Control Center they had visuals of everything in the local system and the focus was on the assembled fleet of six hundred Robotech warships that were floating above the elliptic. Spread among six warships was a skeleton crew of personnel that were going to handle the fold jump for the entire fleet that would return them back to the Milky Way galaxy.

The transmission from the main ship, an Eisenhower class battleship designated the Agamemnon came through and Captain Ben Richards was on the screen.

Captain Ben Richards was smiling as he said, "Captain Sheridan, we're all set here, coordinates have been punched in and we're ready to Fold back home."

With a smile John responded, "Excellent. EarthForce HQ has been informed and they are expecting your arrival. We'll be returning as soon as we lock in a deal with the Sentinels and we'll be bringing more than a few of them with us."

Grinning, Captain Richards commented, "When the galaxy finds out that friends from another galaxy were willing to help us, unlike the friends we had here...well I look forward to seeing the egg on their faces. Sir, I look forward to serving with you again. See you when you get back."

Captain Richards saluted and Captain Sheridan returned the salute. "Good luck Captain Richards, tell General Lefcourt we'll be along soon and we're bringing some friends."

"I will sir. We will be folding in two minutes from my mark...mark!"

"Noted. See you soon Captain."

The transmission ended and the countdown was now on display. Soon as the clock reached zero the six warships activated their fold engines in sequence and soon each of these six warships were enveloped in a ball that looked like frosted glass, almost looking like a Christmas ornament floating in space. Each ball of frosted glass began expanding outwards, engulfing the surrounding warships that were near each of them until all six hundred warships were fully engulfed by these balls of frosted glass. Then in an instant they all vanished.

The fold jump was successful and they were all gone. After a couple of minutes they received word from EarthForce HQ that the fleet of three hundred Eisenhowers and three hundred Ikazuchis had arrived safely.

Earth now had six hundred Robotech warships, fully operational, fully equipped, and ready for war. While the ships and mecha were ready, Earth needed to get her military retrained on Robotech ships and tactics which was already underway.

Soon the Minbari would learn the same lesson that the Robotech Masters, the Invid, and the Haydonites had painfully learned; that when their lives were on the line, Humanity would fight tooth and nail to not just survive but to win.

Author Note: Whew, this chapter fought with me a lot. Well, we have the initial after battle reactions, the Minbari are shocked and outraged, Humanity is elated and is ready and waiting for the Robotech ships to start arriving. Humanity's old friends the Sentinels have voted to help their old friends in exchange for….well they're not going to get a Factory or a Protoculture Matrix but they're going to get something for helping out. What should Earth offer? Let me know what you think in the comments.