************** PART TWO: THE LOSS OF PEACE *****************
************** CHAPTER SIX ****************
IAS VALEN'S HAND; EVAC. ZONE BETAFEBRUARY 26, 2272, 10:18 EST
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Despite that she was sitting on a powder keg poised to explode at any given minute, with any wrong turn, Captain Elizabeth Lochley could not remember the last time she had been happier. Assuming command of the Valen's Hand and the White Star Fleet in the evacuation area had seemed to be just the breath of fresh air she required. Though her posting on Babylon 5 was everything she could ask for, any assignment, after ten years grew to be tasking on a person. Hence, after only a few days onboard this Alliance destroyer, she had felt a new life and enthusiasm inside her.
Stepping onto the bridge, she was handed a data pad containing the results of their most recent combat drills. From the start, the crew of this destroyer had displayed a great efficiency when it came to conducting their duties and this efficiency was displayed in no greater measure than when she ordered a battle drill. Since her assuming command of the destroyer, preparing the crew for combat had been one of her chief priorities, with their deployment so close to the Keilmar border. Now, with only days remaining before the Keilmar were scheduled to take possession of the sectors the Interstellar Alliance was ceding to them, she had reinforced her mandate that the crew be ready for anything.
Signing off on the report, displaying the crews best response times to date, and handing it back to the Army of Light Lieutenant, she made her away across the bridge, not taking her normal seat in the command chair, as was her morning custom but instead heading directly for the map room, the door sliding shut behind her. She was alone in the room and tapped several controls along the edge of the map table, calling up a holographic display of the four evacuations zones, designated alpha, beta, delta and gamma. According to the terms of the treaty, the Keilmar were to take possession of these nine systems along their border on the third day of March. Though she was making every effort, Captain Elizabeth Lochley could no longer trick herself into believing that the Alliance withdrawal from those systems could be complete in the remaining time.
From the beginning, their evacuation effort had been plagued by complications of every sort. The first challenge had been getting Earth Alliance, who controlled all of the sectors, to go along with and provide material support for the plan. Though she had not been present for the discussions, Admiral Barnes regaled her with the stories of General Pack's reaction when he found out Earth Alliance was having to cede several sectors of space to those who were responsible for the destruction of the Seventh Fleet. President Sheridan had been able to convince the Earth Alliance, after some negotiation, that giving up these sectors that had little value, could go a long way towards keeping peace with their new neighbors. The Earth President then reluctantly agreed.
Next had come the even greater challenge of evacuating the inhabitants of those systems. The history of Earth, even after it joined the Interstellar Alliance, was one marked by many wars and conflicts. The systems in question to be ceded to the Keilmar contained the largest number of refugees that had fled Earth space during various conflicts. Adding to the problem was that, during the Drahk and Shadow-tech crises, many refugees from other Alliance worlds also fled to those sectors. As a result, the population was high, greatly spread out and lacking any significant means of mass transport.
It had been Captain Lochley's idea for the Alliance to contract many of the major transport and shipping companies to aid their own ships in conducting the evacuation. Though the addition of these ships was helping matters, it was creating problems of its own. The ships the shipping companies sent were older models in near constant need of maintenance and repair. With the evacuation zones so far from most bases, colonies and other inhabited systems, it was difficult to quickly procure needed replacement parts and conduct the repairs in a timely manner. All factors considered, the latest estimates given to her by those coordinating the evacuation predicted that they were more than ten days behind schedule and would never have completed their mission by the time the Keilmar were to take possession of the sectors.
This news had officials across the Interstellar Alliance scrambling. President Sheridan was engaged in top-level talks with the Keilmar leadership, attempting to buy more time for the evacuation to be completed. Vice President Delenn and Ambassador Ta'Lon were attempting to rally their own people along with other Alliance worlds to provide assistance to Earth and the ISA in evacuating everyone as close to the deadline as possible. In contrast to those trying to prevent a war, there were also those preparing for one.
As part of the treaty with the Keilmar, they gave the Alliance detailed maps of their territory as well as information regarding the structure of their government, military, religion and social system. On Babylon 5, Admiral Jerry Barnes and Assistant Director Julia Rourke were working feverishly to develop plans of actions based on the information in the event a war was inevitable. Using information recovered from the Seventh Fleet sensor records along with data from their other two encounters with the Keilmar, Barnes had directed all Army of Light and Anla'Shok ships to begin running battle simulations using Keilmar combat models and had also encouraged the Alliance member worlds to begin doing the same with their own military forces. Barnes was also working to quietly continue the buildup of their forces as well as strengthening defenses at key Alliance installations.
While Admiral Barnes had worked almost exclusively on Babylon 5 during the past month, save for a visit to the main Alliance shipyard, Vice Admiral Taylor was making rounds across the Alliance. In the past month, he had visited every Alliance member world, some more than once, conducting top-level meetings with political and military leaders, preparing them for the possibility of war with the Keilmar and attempting to gain the support that would be needed. He was currently wrapping up a final visit to Earth before returning to Babylon 5.
Returning her thoughts to her own situation, Lochley studied the detailed display of the evacuation zone in front of her. Throughout the night and early morning, eighteen more transports had jumped away, heading for Earth Alliance territory. Though they had begun to make greater progress in the past several days, feeling urgency in their cause, only sixty percent of the evacuation was complete. According to the display, there were still well over one hundred transports tending to the evacuation zone and tens of thousands of people still to be removed. With less than a week remaining, they had little chance.
The Alliance did however have an impressive showing of force throughout the zone. There were now over five hundred ships from the White Star Fleet present, with more arriving each day. Admiral Barnes had directed a considerable amount of their resources to covering the evacuation, hoping it would deter a Keilmar attack against defenseless civilians. In addition to their own forces, several of the member worlds had leant forces to the defense of the evacuation. Ships from Earth Force, the Minbari and the Drazi had been arriving in substantial numbers during the past week. So far, their show of force appeared to be working as their scouts reported Keilmar forces giving the border a wide breathing space, much to her relief.
Her link chimed and with quick reflex, she toggled it on. "Lochley, go."
"Captain," Commander Jennifer Ellis, the first officer assigned to the Valen's Hand spoke through it. "We just received a report that eleven more transports will be ready to jump within two hours."
"Thank you Commander," though it was welcome news, Lochley was far from relieved. "Join me in the map room." During the past few weeks, she had come to greatly rely on the Commander's counsel and advice in dealing with the evacuation and preparing for a possible confrontation with the Keilmar. She had a good head on her shoulders and an ability to see the big picture.
Seconds later, the door to the map room slid open, Commander Jennifer Ellis stepping inside. She was slightly taller than Lochley, young in her mid-thirties with light blonde hair, running over the shoulders of her black and silver Army of Light uniform. She took several steps into the room, standing opposite Captain Lochley at the map table.
"We've got a problem Commander," Lochley said bluntly, looking up from the display and to Ellis who had also taken to studying the holographic images swirling in front of them. "There's no way this evacuation will be completed in time."
"Is the President making any progress in trying to get the Keilmar to extend the deadline?"
Lochley shook her head. "I spoke with him an hour ago. He's been speaking with their ambassador, along with Delenn and Ta'Lon for the past two days without any luck. He keeps insisting that they've so far kept their end the treaty and insist that we do the same. During their last meeting, Sheridan was told that they're taking possession of these systems when they're scheduled to, regardless of if we've completed the evacuation or not."
"Which means that this little uneasy peace we've established deteriorates into a shooting war whenever they come screaming into this area and the White Star Fleet is here waiting for them." She put the situation as simply as it could be stated.
"If we look at all complacent, then the Keilmar won't hesitate to attack. We have to show them we're not going to back down and we're going to defend those people out there." Lochley knew what needed to be done but was unsure of the proper way to do it.
"But at the same time, we don't want the Keilmar to think we're making any sort of aggressive movements against them," Commander Ellis summarized their dilemma.
"Exactly. Since they haven't moved any ships towards the evacuation zones on their border, I'm hesitant to do the same but, at the same time, having the White Star Fleet deployed throughout these systems may not be a clear enough signal to them that we won't tolerate any sort of military movements against our forces."
"If you ask me Captain, it seems like the White Star Fleet would be a pretty good show of force."
"I'm sure people would have said that about the Seventh Fleet as well Commander." Though the showing of the Alliance was making in the sector was far greater than the Earth Force Seventh Fleet, Lochley could not help but make the comparison, believing the Keilmar, if they felt a victory possible, would not hesitate to attack no matter the number of their opposition. "Admiral Barnes and ISA Intel have been running a lot of numbers based off the information the Keilmar gave us. We don't know the exact numbers of their forces but they've made a low-end estimate that they have enough ships to match the entire Alliance. Even with the assistance of the member worlds, we can't repel that kind of firepower out here."
"But we have to make them think we can," Ellis confidently countered.
Lochley nodded. From the start of the meeting, it seemed that the two of them were on the same track and her statement further reinforced it. "We've got most of our forces spread throughout the evacuation zones," Lochley said, gesturing to the different clusters of Interstellar Alliance logos displayed throughout the holographic display. "I want to issue orders to begin consolidating a quarter of our forces here," she pointed to an area on the Keilmar border in evacuation zone beta, the central zone. "As a show of force against any Keilmar aggression?"
"But are you sure you want to take the risk of them thinking it is an aggressive fleet movement?" Displaying one of the qualities that made Lochley consider her a superior executive officer, Commander Ellis reminded her of the possible repercussions of her actions. As both women looked away from the display, their eyes met, Lochley considering her response and Ellis awaiting an answer.
Elizabeth Lochley had asked the question of herself dozens of times already but still struggled with it. There were grave repercussions on both sides of the debate; her predicament was giving weight to those. "I don't think we have a choice Jennifer. We can only hope they take it as a sign that we're not willing to just let them walk in and kill all of these people without a fight and that convinces them to give Sheridan the time he's asking for." She sighed, feeling the weight of thousands resting upon every decision she and a handful of others made. "Maybe we can still pull through this without getting into a war."
Commander Ellis pressed a hand to her earpiece, hearing a report coming through it from the bridge. Her expression noticeably changed as she listened to the news. The subtle hopefulness her face carried vanished in an instant. "Captain, report coming in from tactical, they're tracking several Keilmar ships on approach to the border of evac. zone beta. They're taking up a holding position on their side of the border."
Lochley said nothing, quickly making for the door to the bridge, Jennifer following immediately behind her. The bridge was quickly beginning to bustle with activity as many of the crewmembers were taking actions they had been assigned in preparation for this very event. All stations on the bridge were soon manned with officers reporting that defenses and fighters were being placed on standby.
"Number and type of ships," Lochley demanded, sliding into the command chair and fixing her eyes on the forward screen that displayed an image of several black, dagger-like ship.
With almost no delay, the answer came from the Minbari Ranger who was operating the tactical station at the fore of the bridge. "Sensors tracking three Keilmar dreadnoughts, seven heavy cruisers and over four dozen support ships Captain. They are deploying in a tight formation just on their side of the border, not far from us."
"Captain, message coming in from the destroyers Iron Forge, Falcon, Tishari and Rohan," Commander Ellis reported as a flood of messages came through her earpiece. "They've monitored our situation and are moving their battle groups to support. Several Earth and Minbari squadrons are also moving to join us."
"A standoff," Lochley muttered, almost under her breath. She accessed her personal display, studying a tactical map of the area. The Keilmar ships were resting on the border, just outside of weapons range while her ships were moving in from other areas in the evacuation zone. The closest group of reinforcements was seven minutes out, leaving the Valen's Hand and its battle group greatly outnumbered for at least that long. "We can't hope to take on that many ships."
"They're no doubt tracking our reinforcements that are en-route. If they feel threatened they might –" Captain Lochley cut Ellis off, for once not wanting to hear her advice on the situation.
"I'm aware of that Commander." Lochley looked away from the digital display and at the live images of the enemy ships on the screen. They hung in space, almost lifeless, save for the constant blue, white and purple glow of the black ship's engines. "But I don't want them this close to the evacuation zone, it puts them in too easy a position to strike. That in mind," Lochley slowly rose from her chair and walked slightly to her left, Commander Ellis certain she was going for the main weapon control station. "Communications," Lochley said, bypassing weapon control and positioning herself in front of the main communications monitor. "Open a channel to the lead ship."
Pressing several controls on his console and receiving a faint squealing noise in response, the young human shook his head. "Keilmar ships aren't responding Captain."
Lochley took in a deep breath, prepared to play that game if that was what her Keilmar counterpart desired. "All right then, they don't have to talk, they just have to listen. Send this message on all known communications frequencies." With a great vigor, he pressed a series of controls, carrying out her order and nodding to her when they had begun transmitting.
"This is Captain Elizabeth Lochley, Earth Force, on special assignment commanding the Interstellar Alliance destroyer Valen's Hand, to Keilmar warship approaching the border. As per the treaty between our two governments, we are commencing with an evacuation from this system along with several others. Please state your reasons for being here and allow me to know if I can be of any assistance to you."
There was a dead silence on the bridge as they waited for a response, though Lochley would not allow herself to be totally convinced they even heard the message. In the time it took for the Tishari, the closest Alliance destroyer, to arrive, the Keilmar had still not responded to Lochley's request. Their ships hung in space, their perfect formation not faltering, not moving or betraying any sign of their intentions. Captain Lochley, Commander Ellis and all those on the bridge of the Alliance destroyer did not move their eyes, did not so much as blink as they watched the Keilmar ships on the screen.
"Captain," an audible alert from the communications station prompted the officer to action, quickly checking the new information being displayed at his console. "We're receiving an audio-only message from one of the Keilmar dreadnoughts. Patching it through the speakers."
The voice of the Keilmar boomed throughout the bridge, echoing in the adjoining corridors, triggering all those traveling them to take a pause from their activities and listen to his words. "This is Kantarh Okieran, of the Imperial Keilmar warship Nel'Sark. In no way are we in violation of the treaty between our two governments. My battle squadron has come simply to observe this area of space and prepare to claim these systems when the appointed day arrives. We mean no ill will towards your forces. Be advised however, that we will maintain our current position along the border until the day arrives when we take possession of these systems. You would be wise to not challenge our forces as more will be arriving along the border in the next several days. Also be aware, that any of your ships or people remaining in the zone once the day arrives will be considered to be in violation of our territory and will be dealt with accordingly."
"You would risk war with the Interstellar Alliance over some starving, weak civilians packed into a transport ship that just can't get away fast enough?" Lochley responded quickly with a fiery passion in her voice. If ever there was a time to cut through the bureaucracy of government meetings and try to prevent a war with those who would wage it, this certainly was it. It seemed however that her counterpart on the opposite side of the border wanted to hear nothing of it. As they waited for his response, seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours and there was nothing. The ships remained statues, not faltering even as the rest of the Alliance reinforcements arrived on scene.
Lochley stood for sometime, watching their ships and waiting for a reply even as it became obvious one would not be given as they were giving a far clearer signal by failing to reply than they ever could accomplish with words. Her crew watching her, Lochley finally settled back into the command chair, feeling almost broken by the lack of impact she seemed to have on the Keilmar commander.
As the crew began resuming their normal duties, standing down from the increased alert they had taken, Lochley finally spoke. "Commander Ellis, order additional patrols of White Stars along the border, they're to take no offensive actions, merely monitor the Keilmar movements. Order the rest of our ships to provide cover as close as possible for the transports but also doesn't let their guard down with the Keilmar sitting out there. Then get me President Sheridan on the line and let's hope he's having luck getting us some more time."
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EAS HADES; EARTH ALLIANCE TERRITORYFEBRUARY 26, 2272, 12:42 EST
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A quick line of five successive orange pulses sliced through one of the five fleeing Zephyr class, delta-winged, fighters, breaking the ship apart on impact, scattering the lifeless debris into the four remaining fighters, not disrupting their quick retreat. Three Starfuries swooped in behind the raiders as the Warlock class destroyer Hades closed on their tail, unleashing another volley from one of its forward anti-fighter pulse cannons. The Earth Force fighters closed the distance with the raiders, firing several white pulses from their forward cannons. The raider fighters, having less than seconds to dodge the attacks, did what they could to break away from the battle, two of their fighters being destroyed by the opposing Starfuries.
Transferring all remaining power to the engines, the raider fighters managed to avoid the Starfuries long enough to reach their destination, a massive hulk of a battlewagon, box shaped with a pointed nose, orbiting a small moon in the system. The raider capital ship turned towards the approaching Earth fighter, releasing a massive barrage of green energy pulses in their direction, as the Zephyrs took cover behind their command ship. The Starfuries, having no chance to react as they rounded the moon, met by sustained fire from the battlewagon, vanished in balls of red flame. Following close behind the now destroyed fighters, was the massive form of the EAS Hades that easily dwarfed the raider ship as it closed upon it.
The battlewagon however was not apt to surrender simply because it was outsized by the Earth destroyer. It pitched upward, towards the Hades, firing several silvery white bolts of energy from each of its three gun ports, striking the destroyer twice in the nose and four times on a missile launcher, the last shot penetrating armor around the launcher, fire spewing forth from breached hull. Another round of energy beams from the battlewagon struck the underside of the destroyer as it slowed to a halt directly above it. Taking their opportunity, a newly launched wave of Zephyrs moved in from under the cover of the battlewagon, striking the underside of the Hades between the arcs of its anti-fighter weapons, causing damage in tangent with sustained fire from the battlewagon. For the raider pilots, it seemed as though they had the destroyer exactly where they wanted it.
On the bridge of the Hades, Captain Sarah McDouglass grasped the arms of her chair as the bridge shook violently, the ship being rocked by another series of hits from the battlewagon and its fighter wing. "Starboard missile launcher is offline, repair crews en-route," the executive officer reported, running behind the Captain to the other side of the bridge where he could view their situation from the tactical station. He was frantic, believing as many of the crew did and as did the raiders, that they had fallen right into a trap.
Captain Sarah McDouglass on the other hand, maintained her strict, calm equanimity, even as the ship continued to suffer violent hits from the enemy attacking its underside. Taking but a second to steady herself as the ship continued to rock, she began rattling off orders with a no nonsense tone to her voice. "Maneuvering, ease back on main engines, begin slowly bringing us to a full stop. Engine room, shut down number three engine and begin venting coolant, make it look like we've taken a hit." Though they carried out her orders without question, the odd requests from the Captain earned her more than a share of looks as she continued.
"Weapons, reconfigure defense grid for heavy and sustained short range fire, lock all batteries onto their battlewagon but hold firing for my command. Discontinue all defensive fire including interceptors until I give the order, I want it to look like they've done more damage than they actually have," she ordered, not faltering as many on the bridge were thrown from their stations following the worst hit yet from the battlewagon deploying a heavy energy weapon. "Then launch the rest of our fighters," she continued "Tell them to coral those raiders and keep them under the Hades, no matter how much fire they take."
Following her orders, a stream of Thunderbolts and Starfuries pored from the forward hangar on the destroyer as it slowed and shut down all defensive fire against the attackers. The Earth fighters were quick to engage their targets, flying under the destroyer, hugging its hull and firing several rounds at the delta shaped fighters swarming around it. The superior maneuvering capabilities of Earth fighters gave them the needed edge over the raiders as they navigated the rows of guns on the underside of the destroyer. The battle became heated, fierce amounts of energy bolts being exchanged by each side, both suffering losses.
"Delta flight lead to epsilon flight lead, initiate maneuver theta one three, that'll teach these pirate bastards to screw with Earth Force's finest."
"Epsilon flight lead copies delta, we're on it."
On the cue of the squadron commanders, the Thunderbolts formed a flying wedge and charged at the raiders lines while the Starfuries broke away, taking up delicate holding positions between the barrels of the double-barreled weapon turrets on the bottom of the destroyer and the ships hull, five on each side of the ship, facing the center. The Thunderbolts advanced on the largest cluster of raiders, their gattling pulse cannons relentlessly blazing, missiles flying from under their wings, turning eight raider fighters into balls of smoldering debris. The raiders quickly recovered, turning and firing on the Thunderbolts, green bolts of energy ripping the wings from two of the Earth fighters. Faking a retreat, the Thunderbolts snapped around, firing their engines to maximum velocity and rushing for the rear of the destroyer.
As the Zephyrs passed in pursuit of the Thunderbolts, the Starfuries sprung the trap. Firing at the mass of raider fighters as they passed by, there was no escaping the crossfire created by the blazing guns of the Earth Force fighters. All but five raider fighters, those fast enough to dive away, towards their command ship, fell in the crossfire from the furies. With now vastly superior numbers, both groups of Earth fighters flew full speed in pursuit of the raiders. Seeing the predicament its fighters were in, the battlewagon moved in closer, opening up with streams of green energy pulses on the advancing squadrons.
"Our fighters are under fire Captain!" The XO exclaimed, his head shooting up from the tactical station. "They're not going to last unless we give them some sort of cover fire."
McDouglass did not respond, she remained cool, silently giving herself a five second count to allow the battlewagon to get slightly closer to her ship. Counting, her finger hovered over a black and white button on the command chair. When the count finished, she pressed the button. At the communications station, the officer made a report of a coded and powerful transmission going from the Hades to hyperspace. McDouglass ignored the report and waited.
Blue and white energy ripped through space, a swirling vortex of power appearing. The ship that emerged from the jump point was a deep contrasts to the bright and powerful energies of the vortex. A black shadow against the light, a partial living creature whose features alone, curved tendrils emerging from the fighter bay and drive section the most distinctive, enough to invoke fear in those that saw it. The EAS Dark Thunder, the last in the line of the Omega-X class destroyers, those who shared the greatest semblance of their Shadow-tech origins, emerged into normal space, the jump point closing behind it.
Six gun ports on the top of the Dark Thunder came to life, blue beams of energy slicing into the hull of the battlewagon. Fights roared from the bay of the newly arrived Earth destroyer, delivering salvos of missiles against the raider ship that now found itself pinned between two superior Earth Force warships. The beams of the destroyer, sliced several pieces from the hull of the raider ship as it faltered on its course, engines failing.
"All guns fire!" McDouglass exclaimed at the realization her trap had been successful. The gun ports on the underside of the Hades came to life, each of the double-barreled turrets firing sustains bursts of lasers into the already burning hull of the battlewagon and multiple pulse cannon barrages, striking and destroying the remaining fighters with great efficiency. Several more seconds of sustained beam bursts from the both the Dark Thunder and the Hades left the battlewagon a burning wreck in space. As the hull broke apart from within, multiple small, barely powered craft launched from the hull as the last binds holding the ship together failed, the charred hull slowly floating apart.
On the bridge of the EAS Hades, all except the Captain breathed a collective sigh of relief, realizing this had been her plan all along and it had been more than successful. There was no time to relish in the victory however, as there was still work to be done. "Captain, tracking several escape pods launched from that battlewagon," the XO reported from the tactical station.
"Jam all communications," McDouglass quickly ordered, standing from her chair and walking forward slightly across the smoke filled bridge, closer to the main view screen. "We don't want them getting any transmissions off to bring the rest of their forces here. Open a channel to the Dark Thunder."
As the smoke cleared, the resolute face of Captain Leslie Griffon appeared on the screen. From her expression, it was obvious she was more than pleased with the outcome of the trap they had successfully set for the raiders. They had been pursuing this particular battlewagon for two weeks, it always being one step ahead of them until now. "Everyone all right over there Captain?"
Realizing she had not yet received a report on casualties, she glanced over her shoulder at the XO who simply nodded a response to the unasked question. "A few bumps and bruises," McDouglass answered. "Nothing we can't handle." She added with a confident smirk. "Perhaps you'd like to reel in those leftover raiders Captain," she suggested, skipping straight to the point. "Maybe one of them will be willing to talk about this base we keep hearing about."
"Ah, the mysterious command base," Griffon scoffed, it had been a topic of more than a few of their meetings and discussion during the past weeks of this newest campaign against the raiders. "But you're right, maybe now that we have some of these criminals in custody, they might want to help us if we look like we're willing to help them in return."
"I'd also be interested to learn where they're getting all these advanced weapons from. That battlewagon was outfitted a lot heavier than the raider norm." McDouglass cited the ease at which the battlewagon was able to attack and damage the heavily armored Hades. "We've probably got a couple hours worth of repairs to conduct over here. Hopefully by the time we're ready to depart, you'll have a destination for us."
Griffon smiled. "Count on it," she promised as the conversation ended.
An hour and a half later, Captain Sarah McDouglass relaxed in her office, nursing a half-empty cup of coffee with two sugars and reviewing the preliminary damage reports from their battle with the raiders. Most of the damage the Hades suffered was superficial, the only systems taking any serious damage being the starboard missile launcher and three of their defensive turrets. Casualties were light, the only deaths being eight fighter pilots who had perished during the firefight. She cringed at the realization she had been making light of those deaths until that moment.
Often she wondered why some lived and others died. Many times, it did not seem fair for someone with his or her whole future ahead of them to die while another lived. Times like this, she often had trouble doing her duty by writing letters to the families of those who had died. Words of comfort always seemed to escape her at the critical moment. She wanted to praise the actions of the deceased, tell their families the loss is felt by all and that the crew will not be the same without the presence of their son, daughter, husband or wife but the damned truth of it was, life would go on basically as it had before and she hated that fact.
The sound of her link chiming on her right hand pulled her away from her thoughts, she toggled it on. "McDouglass."
"Captain, you have an incoming transmission from Captain Griffon onboard the Dark Thunder."
"I'll take it in here." She swiveled to face the communications monitor on the wall behind her desk. The empty black screen soon changed to show the face of Captain Leslie Griffon, seated in her own office onboard the EAS Dark Thunder.
"We've got something," Griffon skipped straight through pleasantries.
"Care to share?" McDouglass raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"One of the raiders talked. I spoke to the judicial authorities back home and they agreed to plea bargain him a five year sentence if he cooperated with us in helping to take these sons of bitches down once and for all. To that end, he's given us the location for what he says is the raiders main command and control base. In addition to coordinating their forces, it is also their main supply and repair facility." She paused, glancing at the report from the interrogation in her hand. "He's also given us information that the majority of their other command ships will be gathering there in three days to coordinate new actions with their leaders on the station."
McDouglass gave a reserved nod. "Meaning we've got a window in which we can inflict major damage on them."
"Meaning we've got a small window in which we can take these raiders out," Griffon corrected. She had been the more passionate one of the two Captains during their pursuit of the raiders. It had been especially so since they had arrived too late to stop a raider attack against a convoy carrying badly needed medical supplies to one of Earth's outer colonies. Griffon was the type easily brought to anger by the strong bullying the weak.
McDouglass agreed with a nod. "I'll get in touch with Lillie at HQ, tell her what we have and see if she can't spare some more ships."
"It might be difficult with everyone so focused on that evacuation."
"Maybe," she replied softly. "But HQ has been after us to put these raiders out of business and I doubt they'll pass up the opportunity to do most of the work in a single blow."
"I know how you feel," Griffon observed, catching McDouglass off guard. Though her mind had not been completely on the raiders, especially after the mention of the evacuation, she did not think it was so obvious. Then, she almost forgot whom she was dealing with. "It seems kind of trivial," Griffon noted, echoing almost exactly McDouglass' thoughts on the matter. "To be worrying about a small band of raiders when we all might be at war in the next few days."
"We can't worry about that now," McDouglass countered. Her mind was of course focused on the pending war with the Keilmar but she also recognized it could not interfere with what was happening now. The raiders were a serious threat to the Earth Alliance and they were a clear and present threat. If there was to be a war with the Keilmar, it was still some time away. "We've got a job to do."
Griffon smiled, feeling her own confidence slightly renewed. Sarah was right of course; worries of the future could not distract them from duties of the present. "Then let's go get it done." Moments later, the two Earth Force destroyers turned away from the moon and shot into hyperspace, leaving only the field of debris behind as evidence they were there.
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CAPTAIN LOCHLEY'S OFFICE; BABYLON 5 FEBRUARY 26, 2272, 13:32 EST****************
"These new weapon systems take up a lot more power then the defense grid previously did Commander. We have to tie them directly into the fusion reactor rather then routing them through the defense power-grid. It's a complicated procedure and it takes time." The engineer on the communication screen behind the desk finished his report.
Commander David Corwin, seated at the desk in Captain Lochley's office, which he had taken over for his own use as long as she was off station, was not pleased with the news. It had been over two weeks since he had ordered the installation of new weapon systems to augment the station's defense grid. At the time the order was issued, station engineers predicted it would take no more than five days to complete the installation and here they sat, weeks later with the weapon systems still not functioning.
"How much longer will it take?" The Commander asked, annoyed with the lack of progress. "We've got five more days until the Alliance might be at war with the Keilmar and if they decide to have a fleet roll up to Babylon 5, I want us to have a fighting chance of living through it."
"A few more days, at least." The engineer was not about to lie and give a hopeful, padded estimate to the Commander only to have him breathing down his neck, demanding results that he could not produce. "Another of the main problems we're running into is similar to the problems they had fitting these same weapon turrets on the Victory destroyers. The design is based off of Minbari technology but we're using Earth designed reactors. There's a compatibility problem with it."
"Carry on," Corwin interjected, waving his hand as an indication he had heard enough. He did not want to hear about the problems they were having, he wanted the job done. The image of the engineer disappeared. Corwin, rubbings the front of his head with one hand, turned back around to face security chief Zack Allan seated across from him. "What's the status of station security?" He inquired. In the weeks since Captain Lochley left the station, he had been doing what he could to prepare all divisions of the station for a possible attack and security was no exception.
"As you ordered, we're running increased patrols throughout the station as a precaution. It's actually helped to cut down on petty crime by about eighteen percent during the past two weeks. All of my men have been training and going over procedures for repelling troops attempting to board the station." Zack delivered his report quickly. He was not concerned with the ready state of his security forces, having trained them everyday, he knew they were ready for anything the Keilmar could throw at them.
Corwin nodded. Though he did not doubt the readiness of the station's security, he also could not underestimate the enemy they may have to face. "Zack, I have every faith in your men but, to supplement your own forces, I've requested that Earth Force send a detachment of troops to the station. If the Keilmar board the station, we don't know what we might be up against, I want to make sure we're able to handle anything that comes our way."
"Are you sure that's a smart move?" Zack retorted. Not taking the Commander's action as an insult but noticing the potential problems that could arise from it. "The last couple times Earth Force troops came to this station in big numbers, it wasn't exactly a pleasure cruise for anybody." Zack cited previous incidents of destruction to station property and disturbing the peace by troops that were there on peaceful missions, not mentioning when Earth Force troops had boarded the station during the battle for their independence.
Corwin had already taken those factors into account while making his decision and it had not been an easy one for him to come to. "We need to make sure this station is defendable against the Keilmar trying to board it. As HQ for the Army of Light, Babylon 5 is going to be nothing if not a tempting target for them. Admiral Barnes has already promised more Alliance security forces to be deployed here but the Army of Light is already stretched almost to the breaking point and those forces aren't enough to hold this station if attacked. I've spoken with General Pack who has promised he's deploying the best of the best Special Forces units to supplement our station security."
Zack conceded that the Commander's points were valid and that the idea may not be that bad. Special Forces units were known for being a little more civil when not in combat than normal ground pounding troops. "Well, I can't say it's a great idea but I suppose it'll have to do if there's no other option."
"Believe me Zack, if there were any other option, I'd take it," Corwin confidently reaffirmed. "But hopefully it won't even come to having to fend off any sort of a Keilmar attack."
"Have you spoken to the Captain recently? How's the evacuation progressing?"
"I talked to her a few days ago when she called to check on the station's status, she said the evacuation was running several days over and she doubts they'll be able to finish by the time the Keilmar are supposed to take possession of those systems." A long pause. "Which means we go to war."
"Which means more people die," Zack added, the scars of past wars being heard clearly upon his voice. He stood and nervously paced to the back of the office before turning around to face Corwin. "When is all of this going to end? I mean, you'd think we would have earned a break from all of this by now, you'd think the galaxy would finally decide that, hey, these people have had enough, why don't I go easy on them for a while!" Zack exclaimed, gesturing erratically with his hands.
Corwin could not blame the security chief for being under a great deal of stress given the situation and his past experience with loss during conflict. "We'll make it through this Zack," Corwin could manage no other words that would bring any comfort to his friend's mind. "One way or the other."
Zack shook his head. During his years on Babylon 5, all of his innocence and hopefulness had faded, distant shadows of his former self. "I don't know anymore but we can't give up." He shifted gears. "When are these troops scheduled to be arriving?"
"Five days, they've departed from the Sixth Fleet command in the Orion system and are stopping to pick up some heavy weapons before they make the jump here. Once they arrive, you can begin scheduling them on patrol duties and integrating them into our security force."
"Understood," Zack stood to leave but was stopped by the Commander.
"Zack, we will make it through this."
"Are you sure?"
"No." Corwin admitted.
Allan left as Corwin returned to his paperwork.
***
"Damn it General that's not good enough!" Admiral Jerry Barnes exclaimed, pounding his fist upon his desk, circling back around it to face the communications monitor on the wall behind.
On the screen, the Brakiri General, commander of their forces, winced at the sudden unexpected outburst from Barnes. "It is going to have to be Admiral. As I have tried to explain to you," he emphasized. "We have neither the starships nor the personnel to devote any more of our forces to your little mission than we already have. Perhaps if given some more time and aid from the Alliance in building up our forces, we would be able to bring more ships to your effort."
Barnes became increasingly sick of the bureaucrat he was speaking to. The General was not one of any great military expertise or experience, simply a person who had garnered enough political support and favors for their leadership to award him command of the fleet. Barnes realized from this conversation that he had little interest in actually helping his allies or defending the Alliance but only interest in furthering their own position. "And I've already told you, the Alliances resources are stressed to the limit, we can't afford to be diverting our own efforts to helping you build your forces."
"Then this conversation is over!" The Brakiri loudly insisted.
"How dare you?" Barnes was disgusted with him, past the point of being angry. "We supported you when you were in crisis, when your government was on the verge of collapse, even when we did not have to, even when we faced significant opposition for interfering with your internal affairs. Now, even after we took a significant risk and suffered a significant loss of life to help you bring an end to the Imradis Incident, you won't even lift a finger to help us or your other allies in the Alliance when we need it most."
"I cannot risk the security of the Brakiri in an effort to save the lives of humans," the General scoffed. "If you were in my position Admiral Barnes, would you not do the same? As commander of the Army of Light, you must consider the safety and the security of all in the Interstellar Alliance, I however do not share those burdens and must only be concerned with the security of my own people which will not be benefited by aiding your foolish cause."
"You would call trying to save the lives of thousands of civilians a foolish cause?" Barnes quickly rebutted. "If that is true, then you really don't deserve to be sitting in the position you are." Barnes dropped all subtleties, as it was clear his words were having no impact on the stubborn alien.
"I care about people Admiral, just less about yours and more about mine."
"But we're all part of the Alliance General!" Barnes tried desperately to get the Brakiri to see things from his point of view, refusing to consider the other. "We shouldn't be looking at ourselves as different species but all as citizens of the Alliance, we should be looking at everything with one view."
"Then tell me Admiral," the Brakiri said cockily. "If you were given the choice between saving my home world and yours, which would you chose?"
Barnes was caught off guard, unsure of how to answer the question. In his heart, the answer was plain and simple, that he would save Earth regardless but he knew he could not give that answer, not if he hoped to win this debate against the General. Nor could he state that he would save the Brakiri home world, as the General would know easily that he was lying. "I would weight the options," Barnes finally decided on what he believed to be a suitable response. "I would decide which would be the best course of action for the Interstellar Alliance and proceed along that path."
"You mean to tell me Admiral that you would allow your home to be destroyed if it would be better for the Alliance to save ours." The General laughed at what he saw to be a preposterous statement. "Do not take me for a fool Admiral Barnes. This is the reason so many of us opposed the expansion of the Army of Light. We know that when it comes down to it, no one can put aside their prejudices and make fair choices to determine who lives and who dies. You might claim you can do so Admiral and you may even be able to accomplish it to some degree but, when circumstances really turn bad, it will be we who die before your people.
"But nobody has to die," Barnes persisted. "Not if we can stop this war with the Keilmar before it starts and to do that, the Alliance must pull together to defend that evacuation zone until we can get all of our people out. By making a show of force in the zone, we discourage the Keilmar from moving in until all of our ships have withdrawn and hence we prevent this situation from deteriorating into a shooting war."
"I have heard these arguments Admiral!" The General countered. "I have also heard that a heavily armed Keilmar battle squadron has recently arrived on their border near the evacuation zone. According to my sources, they delivered your commanders an ultimatum that they will take possession of those systems on the appointed day and will destroy any of your ships or people who remain there past then."
Barnes, again, had not expected that the General would have come across that information so quickly, the Admiral having only recently received word of it from Captain Lochley. "Empty threats," was all Barnes could manage as a response and he doubted the General would believe it, as he could not totally convince himself of it. "They won't risk attacking when we have so many of our ships present there."
"For your sake Admiral, I sincerely hope not, for if they do attack, you will have sent the Alliance on a path from which we will not be able to escape and a path on which not all of us will survive." His image disappeared as he abruptly terminated the transmission.
"Damn him anyway," Barnes said, falling into his chair and again pounding his fist upon the top of the desk. He turned away from the monitor and again faced the person seated across from him who he now realized he had completely ignored during his debate with the Brakiri. Barnes was at the point now, having not slept for close to three days, where fatigue and frustration were beginning to wear him thin.
"Temke never has been one to easily go along with anything, especially if making such a decision would benefit anything or anyone aside from himself," Assistant Director Julia Rourke calmly offered as some consolidation, seeing the state the conversation had put Barnes in. She knew there were other factors weighing upon her old friend and mentor but could only deal with so many at one time. "At least we have some ships from the Brakiri out there in addition to our own forces and ships from over half of the other member worlds."
"I don't doubt our readiness Julia," Barnes quietly corrected her. "I doubt the level of our support if this mess does bring us into a full-scale war with the Keilmar. You heard what he said, if he's right and others do feel the same way, will the member worlds be ready to fight a war if it comes to it?"
"Thankfully, the very reason the Alliance military act was created was to prevent us from having to ask those questions. If war is declared against the Alliance or if we declare war against someone else, the very nature of that mandate is to make that declaration in one voice and by one entity not just a loose association of planets and governments."
"I know that Julia," Barnes stated, gently shaking his head. "My only concern is that, if things get tough, many of those governments will suddenly and conveniently forget the oaths they took to the Alliance and to the Army of Light. We both know how some politicians react when popular support begins to sway from the cause they were once allied with."
"You think if we do go to war and things go badly that citizens of the Alliance will begin to stop supporting the war and hence their leaders will do the same." Julia recognized the pessimistic wisdom in the Admiral's thoughts. It was no secret to her that Barnes often saw politicians as a hindrance to the military and being able to run an effective campaign. The nature of the Interstellar Alliance increased the difficulties often caused by politics ten fold.
"Exactly," Barnes admitted the less than hopeful view she had presented was in line with his own views. "The majority of politicians, with a few notable exceptions, may start out with the best and purest of intentions to help their constituents and to further the common good but most always end up caring only about maintaining their popular support and keeping enough votes to get them reelected when their terms are up. As such, they tend to forget about the common good, tending to simply sit on the fences and see which way the wind is blowing with every decision they make, not lending themselves too far in either direction at the risk the opinions of voters might change."
"It's one of those cases where we're damned if we do have them and we're damned if we don't," Julia noted, observing that without politics and governments, the military would have nothing to serve and nothing to stand for.
"You took the words out of my mouth," Barnes commented, effectively bringing that portion of their conversation to an end. The Admiral, anxious to move away from discussing the motives of politicians, decided on a slightly less severe topic. "How's Mac doing?" He asked, knowing she was likely to have heard from Captain MacDonald more recently than he had.
An understated, innocent smile graced her face, revealing the beauty in the woman. "He's alright, I talked to him earlier today," she added, answering the question she was sure Barnes would ask. "Repairs to the Victory have been complete for a while and he's moving onto the next assignment we've given him, which, he asked me to give you a message regarding." Barnes raised an eyebrow, indicating for her to continue. "He told me to tell you that you're quite mad, possibly bordering on insanity."
Barnes chuckled, he could almost hear MacDonald's voice in Julia's as she delivered the message. "I had a feeling that mission would take him off guard, hopefully though, we won't even have to send him on it."
"Do you really believe we can avert a war Admiral?" She capitalized on the opportunity to ask the question she had wanted to since he had first brief her on the evacuation and plans to maintain peace with the Keilmar. Jerry Barnes was not an easy person to ask such questions of.
Barnes had not wanted to answer this question anymore than she had wanted to ask it. Avoiding the question, allowed him to continue fooling himself that the rhetoric he had been so feverously pitching to the rest of the Alliance over the past month was true. "I think a war is upon us," Barnes admitted, bringing a look of dismay to Julia's face. She had, until that moment, held out some small hope to the contrary, largely based on the fact that Barnes seemed to believe so.
"When that war comes and how it comes are the questions with which I am now concerned. The longer we can keep the peace, the more prepared we'll be when the war comes."
"Have you considered that perhaps if we can keep the unsteady peace we now have, it could possibly grow to something stronger? Something longer lasting?" Julia was still not ready to give up hope, despite the prospects for peace looking slim.
"I hope and pray that we can everyday. The last thing I want is another war." He stood, unable to sit still any longer. "You know Julia, when I took this job, I never thought I would be in the position I'm in now."
"Oh?" Julia queried, unsure of what he meant.
"I never thought I'd be having to lead the Alliance into another war. When the President and I first agreed on my accepting the position, we both knew that I didn't want any sort of a long-term commitment. I wanted to take command, spend a few years organizing the Army of Light and getting everything and everybody into the right places and then retire. In short, I wanted to spend the last few years of my career quietly and slip out of the public eye, find a nice quiet place and settle down. Destiny as it seems has other plans for me."
"For us all," Julia observed. "I think a lot of us were beginning to look forward to living our lives without war, beginning to make some plans, develop some hopes for the future that didn't involve surviving from day to day." She paused slightly, thinking of her own plans she had barely had time to think about before the Keilmar had come out of nowhere. "I guess I was starting to look forward to settling down, living a life without war."
"And you will be able to lead that life Julia," Barnes reassured her. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not a year from now, maybe not ten years from now but you will be able to, we all will, always remind yourself of that. We must remind ourselves what we want in peace because if we ever forget that, we forget what we're fighting for."
"And that's something we can never forget."
***
In the blackness of space, dark forces converged upon the evacuation zone, their purpose single and solitary. Positioning themselves, they laid in wait, preparing for the time that had drawn near and would soon be upon them. The first phase was nearing completion and once it was done, they would still have much waiting in their future. In the next few days, their path would be set. Forces were on course for collision and they were prepared. After these next few days, the path would be set and there would be no stopping their ultimate triumph.