Last Call -- Chapter 15: Battle Stations!
Gideon had a strong desire to kiss the docking bay floor as he stepped
down the flyer's ramp, his knees wanting to give out beneath him. The
singeing spent fuel fumes never smelled better. Medlab techs jogged
quickly towards him and wheeled their equipment across the deck on
gurneys, ready to give assistance to the Toledo's injured.
"Sir, are you okay?" Matthew felt a hand rest against his shoulder as
he finally slumped at the end of the ramp, sitting down.
"Yes, I'm fine, just a little...nevermind." Gideon found the energy to
stand again, remembering Galen's warning about his ship. If one of the
med techs touched something out of curiosity-- Gideon didn't want to
think about the outcome.
"Sir, you should probably sit down." The techs pushed past the Captain,
mounting the ramp to get to the injured inside. Matthew followed.
"No, I'm fine." Crossing over to his pack he had removed, he pulled out
the medical case and handed it to a technician. The young man looked at
it dubiously. "Make sure this gets to Doctor Chambers. I want to know
what this is."
"Yes, sir."
"I kept their helmets on thinking they could get more air that way.
Better than the recycled stuff in here." Matthew motioned with a hand
at the crew. Two were stationary on their backs while the others were
propped against the Captain's equipment. A tech reached for a gloved
arm, and twisted the seal, exposing a delicate hand. Pressing two
fingers on the vein behind the thumb, he felt for a pulse.
One by one, the Toledo's crew were rolled onto backboards and taken down
the ramp to the awaiting gurneys. The EVA helmets were stripped so the
crew could be checked for vitals. In consideration to the phobia of
resting horizontal, the gurneys were adjusted to suit the two Minbari
and raised to a slight angle. Confident all the passengers were stable,
the Medlab techs wheeled them from docking bay while working on cutting
off the rest of the suits.
Something seemed off to Gideon as he glanced around the bay, finally
noticing that the fighter births were unusually empty. Twisting the
o-ring seal on the glove of his EVA suit, he exposed his hand and
depressed a toggle on his com bracelet.
"Matheson, what the hell is going on? Why are the bays empty?"
"Welcome back, sir." The Lieutenant answered. "You brought unwanted
visitors with you. I'm taking care of our pest problem now."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Less of those vermin in the universe, the
better. If you need my assistance-"
A heavy quake beneath his feat threatened to pitch Gideon to the deck.
A familiar down surge of energy echoed throughout the ship as the
Excalibur drew power from all of its systems to fire the main beam
cannon. Lights winked out before the backup generators took over and
Matthew's com link fuzzed out. Static electricity licked at the hair on
his exposed skin and he closed his eyes, relishing and mentally
envisioning what was going to come next.
The crackle was audible even within the destroyer as the power from the
relays combined with that of the main cannon--three beams from the
Excalibur's fin nacelles pooling into the direction fire from the bow.
The ship around him vibrated from the immense energy until the surge
stopped abruptly after every reserve was discharged. Mentally Matthew
count down the fifty seconds needed to bring up the system again.
"As you were saying, sir?" A small amount of playful smugness was in
the Lieutenant's voice after he reestablished communications with the
Captain.
"Way to make a person feel unneeded, Matheson. I'll be in Medbay if you
have a use for me."
"I'll keep you in mind, sir." The Lieutenant cut the link and Gideon
smiled to himself.
Turning back to the flyer with every confidence that the Lieutenant
could handle things with the Drakh, Gideon climbed back aboard to
collect what was left of his gear and to find Galen. He picked up his
discarded EVA helmet and placed it in its storage bag. Unclamping his
other glove, he tossed that in before reaching for the sealed closure
across his chest.
"Galen, where are you?" Matthew took a few cautious steps in the
direction he thought he had seen the Technomage disappear and pulled on
the tab that opened the closure. Peeling his arms out of the suit,
Gideon adjusted his leather jacket beneath it.
The Captain didn't receive a reply. He pushed down the suit to his
calves and carefully balanced on one foot while he pulled the magnetized
boot off the other. Repeating the procedure for the left leg, he
bundled the suit carefully before placing it in the bag.
"Galen?" Again Matthew carefully moved, not wanting to accidentally
touch anything as he began to worry. But knowing Galen, Gideon figured
the Technomage would be gloating on how easy it had all been even if it
nearly cost the Captain his life. Galen would surely call it 'an
adventure.'
"Come on Galen, where are you? This had better not be some stupid joke
of yours."
"I assure you, Matthew, this is no joke." Galen's voice was deadpan and
nearly breathless as he stumbled into the light. Besides being pale and
gaunt, dark red blotched his lips where it had trickled from his nose
and ran in streaks like tears from his eyes.
"...My God, Galen." Matthew caught the Technomage under the arms; Galen's
legs gave out beneath his weight. "What the hell happened?"
"It wasn't as easy as I had hoped." Gideon eased Galen down to the
floor and knelt beside him. Reaching for the com link at his wrist,
Gideon noticed the blood smeared across his hand and his eyes widened.
"Doctor Chambers." Matthew turned his fingers so Galen could see and
the Technomage nodded wearily as if he knew, but simply passed it off as
nothing serious.
"Chambers here, Captain. I'm working on the injured crew members right
now, but I-"
"Doctor, I need another tech unit sent to the docking bay A-SAP."
"Are you injured?"
"No, it's Galen."
"They're on their way, sir."
Gideon turned back to the almost unconscious Technomage. A mixture of
awe and anger filled Matthew as he looked down at Galen.
"Did you know this would happen?"
"Are you suggesting I planned this?" Galen replied weakly but
defiantly.
"No." Matthew sighed and looked over at the ramp, impatient for the med
team to arrive.
"I wouldn't have suggested it if I knew this was going to happen."
"And I wouldn't have agreed for the same reasons."
"The blood?" Matthew looked at his fingers and drew his thumb over the
tacky film.
"The implants may have done some damage to the surrounding tissue. But
nothing that won't heal itself in due time."
*~*~*~*
The Starfuries and Thunderbolts flew in small squads, taking turns to
divide the Raiders, not allowing them to do the same. It took numerous
rounds of fire to disable a single Raider; standard weapons no match for
hull technology much like that of the Excalibur's. The energy dispersed
in ripples over the adapted hull until it began to weaken, opening up a
site for targeting. The primary mission had been to run interference so
that the Excalibur could target the larger Cruisers.
Out numbering the enemy helped. Few shots had been taken on the
Excalibur itself, and those that did make it through the interceptors
refracted on the hull's energy matrix. To the untrained eye, the view
through the main console looked like complete chaos as the Earthforce
ships swarmed about the larger enemy crafts, firing with abandon.
Matheson didn't want to risk the chance for casualties and greater
damage done to his own fleet. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked at
the display again. Few of the 'Furies had been hit critically, leaving
them to drift disabled away from the rest. Of the Raiders, only three
were still completely functional.
"Send out maintenance 'Furies to pick up the disabled fighters and
ejected pods. Remaining fighters, drive the Raiders away from them and
provide cover." Matheson watched the display as it tracked the
increased movement, the two fleets of ships trying to break through the
opposite defense. The maintenance ships launched from the bay and
zipped through the disorder, homing in on the distress beacons from the
downed 'Furies and 'Bolts. Thick grapple arms caught the crafts or
jettisoned pods before racing back, quickly dropping off the load before
making another trip. The four-ship squad made short work of the task.
The Lieutenant's eyes lost focus as he concentrated on the flurry of
messages coming through his com, deciphering pilot chatter from
information he needed. He deftly heard through the buzz a message from
a maintenance 'Fury pilot. All disabled were finally aboard.
"Recall the fleet and get jump engines online." Matheson had no
intention to wait around until the Drakh cracked the jamming signal and
called in reinforcements. His duty was to the Excalibur and the safety
of her crew first and foremost.
"Fighters are coming in. Engines ready, sir."
Another flash of energy dispersed on the hull near the command deck,
bathing the area in a brief glow. Following closely behind was the
impact of the pulse slamming against the Excalibur. John lurched and
struggled to remain standing, shifting his feet to cushion the blow.
"Sir, the last Cruiser is targeting us and interceptors are running
hot. Down to sixty percent effective." An officer looked up from her
sensor display, her eyes widening at the alert flashing across her
console.
"Are all the fighter's aboard?" An uneasy fist balled at his side as
Matheson waited for the reply.
"No, sir. Estimate two minutes until we're set up to jump."
"Evasive action. Bank and face the ship on her least damaged side. Let
the 'Furies and 'Bolts get in as close as possible. If we have to we'll
open up a jump point and they can follow through. How close are the
Drakh?" Another shot seared at the Excalibur.
"Most of their fire is dispersing. At least two clicks, but closing
fast."
It was too close for comfort. Even if the Excalibur opened up a jump
point, the ship wouldn't be able to make a hasty retreat without the
possibility of leaving the fighter squads behind. If they paused once
inside hyperspace, Matheson risked the chance of the Cruiser being able
to follow and maintain sensor contact. He wasn't worried as much about
the Raiders; they weren't jump capable without a gate and the closest
was back in the Ghayn system.
His fist balled tighter.
Matheson spun on a heel and swore beneath a heavy sigh. He only had a
few seconds to make up his mind and he hoped it would be for the best.
"Navigations, about face."
Nielson spun in his chair. "But sir-"
"About face, Ensign!"
"Aye, sir." In response to the new commands, the Excalibur banked,
quickly slicing through space to face the remaining Cruiser.
"Time on target?" Glancing over Nielson's shoulder, Matheson saw the
etched display light up on the inside of the Ensign's navglasses.
"Twenty seconds."
"On my mark, fire main beam cannon."
"Lieutenant, the jump engines will have to be taken offline."
"I know that Ensign." John didn't have time to explain. He felt the
hum through the deck subside as the jump engines went offline to power
the reserves for the main cannon.
Matheson's mental count began. He had to wait until the Cruiser was
close enough or the enormous blast would be wasted, giving the Drakh an
opportunity to do the same to an unguarded Excalibur. His eyes fell on
the counter as it quickly monitored the distance between the two ships.
Neilson's hand shook above the final switch needed to fire the main
cannon.
"Fire!"
The lights dimmed as the main console flashed a stand-by, all systems
losing power. A strange quiet filled command, vacant of normal
mechanical sounds. Static crackled through the air as power surged
through the cannon. From his vantage, Matheson witnessed the ray of
energy blast through the vacuum at the oncoming Cruiser, overtaking the
Drakh ship before it had a chance to react. The Lieutenant winced,
squinting through half shut eyes as the craft was engulfed and
exploded. Only small pieces remained, spinning haphazardly away from
the point of impact.
"What's the count?"
"Forty five seconds, sir." Neilson replied.
"How long for the jump engines?" Smaller pulses from the remaining
Raiders shook the Excalibur.
"I'll know for sure when systems are back online, but I estimate seven
minutes."
Matheson frowned. "Fighters should be back aboard by the time engines
are online."
"Yes, sir."
"Good." The Lieutenant returned to the command chair and sat.
Gradually the lights came back to full strength and machinery hummed to
life again. "Get confirmation on the squad."
"All ships aboard." Communications replied.
"Fastest normal speed away from those Raiders."
"Fastest normal speed, aye sir."
Gideon had a strong desire to kiss the docking bay floor as he stepped
down the flyer's ramp, his knees wanting to give out beneath him. The
singeing spent fuel fumes never smelled better. Medlab techs jogged
quickly towards him and wheeled their equipment across the deck on
gurneys, ready to give assistance to the Toledo's injured.
"Sir, are you okay?" Matthew felt a hand rest against his shoulder as
he finally slumped at the end of the ramp, sitting down.
"Yes, I'm fine, just a little...nevermind." Gideon found the energy to
stand again, remembering Galen's warning about his ship. If one of the
med techs touched something out of curiosity-- Gideon didn't want to
think about the outcome.
"Sir, you should probably sit down." The techs pushed past the Captain,
mounting the ramp to get to the injured inside. Matthew followed.
"No, I'm fine." Crossing over to his pack he had removed, he pulled out
the medical case and handed it to a technician. The young man looked at
it dubiously. "Make sure this gets to Doctor Chambers. I want to know
what this is."
"Yes, sir."
"I kept their helmets on thinking they could get more air that way.
Better than the recycled stuff in here." Matthew motioned with a hand
at the crew. Two were stationary on their backs while the others were
propped against the Captain's equipment. A tech reached for a gloved
arm, and twisted the seal, exposing a delicate hand. Pressing two
fingers on the vein behind the thumb, he felt for a pulse.
One by one, the Toledo's crew were rolled onto backboards and taken down
the ramp to the awaiting gurneys. The EVA helmets were stripped so the
crew could be checked for vitals. In consideration to the phobia of
resting horizontal, the gurneys were adjusted to suit the two Minbari
and raised to a slight angle. Confident all the passengers were stable,
the Medlab techs wheeled them from docking bay while working on cutting
off the rest of the suits.
Something seemed off to Gideon as he glanced around the bay, finally
noticing that the fighter births were unusually empty. Twisting the
o-ring seal on the glove of his EVA suit, he exposed his hand and
depressed a toggle on his com bracelet.
"Matheson, what the hell is going on? Why are the bays empty?"
"Welcome back, sir." The Lieutenant answered. "You brought unwanted
visitors with you. I'm taking care of our pest problem now."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Less of those vermin in the universe, the
better. If you need my assistance-"
A heavy quake beneath his feat threatened to pitch Gideon to the deck.
A familiar down surge of energy echoed throughout the ship as the
Excalibur drew power from all of its systems to fire the main beam
cannon. Lights winked out before the backup generators took over and
Matthew's com link fuzzed out. Static electricity licked at the hair on
his exposed skin and he closed his eyes, relishing and mentally
envisioning what was going to come next.
The crackle was audible even within the destroyer as the power from the
relays combined with that of the main cannon--three beams from the
Excalibur's fin nacelles pooling into the direction fire from the bow.
The ship around him vibrated from the immense energy until the surge
stopped abruptly after every reserve was discharged. Mentally Matthew
count down the fifty seconds needed to bring up the system again.
"As you were saying, sir?" A small amount of playful smugness was in
the Lieutenant's voice after he reestablished communications with the
Captain.
"Way to make a person feel unneeded, Matheson. I'll be in Medbay if you
have a use for me."
"I'll keep you in mind, sir." The Lieutenant cut the link and Gideon
smiled to himself.
Turning back to the flyer with every confidence that the Lieutenant
could handle things with the Drakh, Gideon climbed back aboard to
collect what was left of his gear and to find Galen. He picked up his
discarded EVA helmet and placed it in its storage bag. Unclamping his
other glove, he tossed that in before reaching for the sealed closure
across his chest.
"Galen, where are you?" Matthew took a few cautious steps in the
direction he thought he had seen the Technomage disappear and pulled on
the tab that opened the closure. Peeling his arms out of the suit,
Gideon adjusted his leather jacket beneath it.
The Captain didn't receive a reply. He pushed down the suit to his
calves and carefully balanced on one foot while he pulled the magnetized
boot off the other. Repeating the procedure for the left leg, he
bundled the suit carefully before placing it in the bag.
"Galen?" Again Matthew carefully moved, not wanting to accidentally
touch anything as he began to worry. But knowing Galen, Gideon figured
the Technomage would be gloating on how easy it had all been even if it
nearly cost the Captain his life. Galen would surely call it 'an
adventure.'
"Come on Galen, where are you? This had better not be some stupid joke
of yours."
"I assure you, Matthew, this is no joke." Galen's voice was deadpan and
nearly breathless as he stumbled into the light. Besides being pale and
gaunt, dark red blotched his lips where it had trickled from his nose
and ran in streaks like tears from his eyes.
"...My God, Galen." Matthew caught the Technomage under the arms; Galen's
legs gave out beneath his weight. "What the hell happened?"
"It wasn't as easy as I had hoped." Gideon eased Galen down to the
floor and knelt beside him. Reaching for the com link at his wrist,
Gideon noticed the blood smeared across his hand and his eyes widened.
"Doctor Chambers." Matthew turned his fingers so Galen could see and
the Technomage nodded wearily as if he knew, but simply passed it off as
nothing serious.
"Chambers here, Captain. I'm working on the injured crew members right
now, but I-"
"Doctor, I need another tech unit sent to the docking bay A-SAP."
"Are you injured?"
"No, it's Galen."
"They're on their way, sir."
Gideon turned back to the almost unconscious Technomage. A mixture of
awe and anger filled Matthew as he looked down at Galen.
"Did you know this would happen?"
"Are you suggesting I planned this?" Galen replied weakly but
defiantly.
"No." Matthew sighed and looked over at the ramp, impatient for the med
team to arrive.
"I wouldn't have suggested it if I knew this was going to happen."
"And I wouldn't have agreed for the same reasons."
"The blood?" Matthew looked at his fingers and drew his thumb over the
tacky film.
"The implants may have done some damage to the surrounding tissue. But
nothing that won't heal itself in due time."
*~*~*~*
The Starfuries and Thunderbolts flew in small squads, taking turns to
divide the Raiders, not allowing them to do the same. It took numerous
rounds of fire to disable a single Raider; standard weapons no match for
hull technology much like that of the Excalibur's. The energy dispersed
in ripples over the adapted hull until it began to weaken, opening up a
site for targeting. The primary mission had been to run interference so
that the Excalibur could target the larger Cruisers.
Out numbering the enemy helped. Few shots had been taken on the
Excalibur itself, and those that did make it through the interceptors
refracted on the hull's energy matrix. To the untrained eye, the view
through the main console looked like complete chaos as the Earthforce
ships swarmed about the larger enemy crafts, firing with abandon.
Matheson didn't want to risk the chance for casualties and greater
damage done to his own fleet. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked at
the display again. Few of the 'Furies had been hit critically, leaving
them to drift disabled away from the rest. Of the Raiders, only three
were still completely functional.
"Send out maintenance 'Furies to pick up the disabled fighters and
ejected pods. Remaining fighters, drive the Raiders away from them and
provide cover." Matheson watched the display as it tracked the
increased movement, the two fleets of ships trying to break through the
opposite defense. The maintenance ships launched from the bay and
zipped through the disorder, homing in on the distress beacons from the
downed 'Furies and 'Bolts. Thick grapple arms caught the crafts or
jettisoned pods before racing back, quickly dropping off the load before
making another trip. The four-ship squad made short work of the task.
The Lieutenant's eyes lost focus as he concentrated on the flurry of
messages coming through his com, deciphering pilot chatter from
information he needed. He deftly heard through the buzz a message from
a maintenance 'Fury pilot. All disabled were finally aboard.
"Recall the fleet and get jump engines online." Matheson had no
intention to wait around until the Drakh cracked the jamming signal and
called in reinforcements. His duty was to the Excalibur and the safety
of her crew first and foremost.
"Fighters are coming in. Engines ready, sir."
Another flash of energy dispersed on the hull near the command deck,
bathing the area in a brief glow. Following closely behind was the
impact of the pulse slamming against the Excalibur. John lurched and
struggled to remain standing, shifting his feet to cushion the blow.
"Sir, the last Cruiser is targeting us and interceptors are running
hot. Down to sixty percent effective." An officer looked up from her
sensor display, her eyes widening at the alert flashing across her
console.
"Are all the fighter's aboard?" An uneasy fist balled at his side as
Matheson waited for the reply.
"No, sir. Estimate two minutes until we're set up to jump."
"Evasive action. Bank and face the ship on her least damaged side. Let
the 'Furies and 'Bolts get in as close as possible. If we have to we'll
open up a jump point and they can follow through. How close are the
Drakh?" Another shot seared at the Excalibur.
"Most of their fire is dispersing. At least two clicks, but closing
fast."
It was too close for comfort. Even if the Excalibur opened up a jump
point, the ship wouldn't be able to make a hasty retreat without the
possibility of leaving the fighter squads behind. If they paused once
inside hyperspace, Matheson risked the chance of the Cruiser being able
to follow and maintain sensor contact. He wasn't worried as much about
the Raiders; they weren't jump capable without a gate and the closest
was back in the Ghayn system.
His fist balled tighter.
Matheson spun on a heel and swore beneath a heavy sigh. He only had a
few seconds to make up his mind and he hoped it would be for the best.
"Navigations, about face."
Nielson spun in his chair. "But sir-"
"About face, Ensign!"
"Aye, sir." In response to the new commands, the Excalibur banked,
quickly slicing through space to face the remaining Cruiser.
"Time on target?" Glancing over Nielson's shoulder, Matheson saw the
etched display light up on the inside of the Ensign's navglasses.
"Twenty seconds."
"On my mark, fire main beam cannon."
"Lieutenant, the jump engines will have to be taken offline."
"I know that Ensign." John didn't have time to explain. He felt the
hum through the deck subside as the jump engines went offline to power
the reserves for the main cannon.
Matheson's mental count began. He had to wait until the Cruiser was
close enough or the enormous blast would be wasted, giving the Drakh an
opportunity to do the same to an unguarded Excalibur. His eyes fell on
the counter as it quickly monitored the distance between the two ships.
Neilson's hand shook above the final switch needed to fire the main
cannon.
"Fire!"
The lights dimmed as the main console flashed a stand-by, all systems
losing power. A strange quiet filled command, vacant of normal
mechanical sounds. Static crackled through the air as power surged
through the cannon. From his vantage, Matheson witnessed the ray of
energy blast through the vacuum at the oncoming Cruiser, overtaking the
Drakh ship before it had a chance to react. The Lieutenant winced,
squinting through half shut eyes as the craft was engulfed and
exploded. Only small pieces remained, spinning haphazardly away from
the point of impact.
"What's the count?"
"Forty five seconds, sir." Neilson replied.
"How long for the jump engines?" Smaller pulses from the remaining
Raiders shook the Excalibur.
"I'll know for sure when systems are back online, but I estimate seven
minutes."
Matheson frowned. "Fighters should be back aboard by the time engines
are online."
"Yes, sir."
"Good." The Lieutenant returned to the command chair and sat.
Gradually the lights came back to full strength and machinery hummed to
life again. "Get confirmation on the squad."
"All ships aboard." Communications replied.
"Fastest normal speed away from those Raiders."
"Fastest normal speed, aye sir."