At Mandelin 4, the Imperial staff members were laughing their heads off. One of the people at the colony site had a brother who was in shipbuilding, but recent government regulations had seemed designed to force him into bankruptcy. When the two had talked, his brother had been willing to act as a front for the Imperial shipbuilding systems. When they had found out his name was Von Sluis, the pun inherent in that had been too much. The Sluis Van shipyards were among the largest shuttle and fighter manufacturers in their home galaxy, and the sleight of words had given them a sense of home for a while.
After the Von Sluis brother had seen the capabilities of the Imperial ships, and the speed that they could build new shuttles and ships, his eyes had lit up like stars. He could act as the front man for them, while the World Devastators would gather the material and build the actual shuttles. His own yards would be retooled to proper standards, and his people would be trained in the advanced technology. Many of the less than reliable people had already left, as he had been forced to cut back in pay several times because of new government regulations. A majority of the new legislation dealt with fees regarding shipping the shuttles through the jumpgates, but if he could include in the contract that the shuttles were to be picked up, that would be one of the fees that he would not have to pay. Even if he did, he could always add that back into the price of the shuttles, and let the government pay the government. The net result was he had a solid core of people who were absolutely devoted to the company, and they could be trusted with the new technology and secrets that would be soon revealed to them.
When the first World Devastator arrived, and they saw the capacity that it could handle, everyone there began signing up for the various classes being offered. Their colony, Telvin 6, had been going through trouble recently as there were not a lot of credits flowing in recently, due to the Von Sluis yards closing. Although there were lots of valuable minerals nearby, due to the lack of arable farmland the colony had been buying food in order to stay alive. After Mandelin 4 had started selling bulk quantities of food at lower prices, the colony had looked upon that as a delay in their eventual bankruptcy. Already various smuggler groups had been talking to him about repairs on their vessels in exchange for money, and it had been getting harder and harder to say no. But with the new contract for the shuttles, the colony would be getting money in again, and could begin to revive its economy as well. Even better, if the newcomers were willing to put a military presence in the system, the smugglers could be encouraged to leave.
The Imperials had another reason for wanting to sell technology like this on an open market. Inside each shuttle was a small recorder system, a transmitter, and a hidden IFF system that was also linked in with the sensor system. If an Imperial ship got close to one of these shuttles, the sensors would not display the ship, and the Imperial vessel could download the latest reports from the shuttle. This would allow them to extend their knowledge, as information spoken in a shuttle was generally considered private.
***
At the first meeting for the shuttle contract renewal, Varenska proposed the open bidding process. The Velos Corporation, who had been enjoying a virtual monopoly on the contracts, had asked Senator Williams to simply perform it as a contract renewal, with no discussion offered. Varenska countered, saying that if there weren't any bids better than the Velos contract, then they could always continue it. She did remind them about how the committee had been under investigation before for non-competitive bids, and showed them that by offering an open bidding, they would be able to claim that they are encouraging competition.
Senator Williams reluctantly agreed, while privately making a note to send word to the Velos Corporation to watch its competitors, and make sure they did not succeed. She also wanted to find out whom Varenska had been talking to, as this sudden openness was a little off. But the motion was passed, and the next order of business was opened.
***
At the Mandelin system, the records of previous Velos contracts were analyzed, along with the design and capabilities of the shuttle currently in existence. Looking over the prices, the Imperials figured they could easily shave ten percent off the price that had been offered last year, while increasing the performance by at least fifteen percent. All the parts would be the same size as the Velos Corporation, but their capabilities would be better. Given the economy and technology currently possessed, the Velos Corporation could produce the same parts, but they would have to retool their factory first, and even after the upgrades had been paid off, the shuttles would still cost three times normal.
It would be a very effective way of throwing down the gauntlet to them, but they would also have to be careful of any saboteurs showing up. As a result, Imperial scanners were installed at the many entrances to the front company, and several interrogation booths and droids were built, for when they were needed. If anyone from the Velos Corporation tried to show up to sabotage, they would be treated with utmost politeness, until they actually did something. After that, they would be interrogated, and the bodies disposed of. It would be as though they had disappeared completely, and the expense of hiring them would start to affect the Velos Corporation over time.
***
While the bidding was starting, Varenska received the report from the laser manufacturing company. They reported the new sensor package she had sent to them was doing an excellent job. Their lasers were getting a 15% higher throughput than before for their size, and EarthForce personnel were ordering several upgrade packages for their ships with the new lasers being the number one reason for the upgrades. Unfortunately, the lasers being built were only 1/3 the size needed, and converting them to the larger sizes necessary was proving difficult. A current fix was to merely package three lasers together as a single system, but the laser manufacturers would like to contact whoever had built the sensor package in the first place.
Deciding to include that contact request in her next communication, she began putting together another message for Governor Brogin. Also, she was getting a little tired of the relay, and requested a way to contact Velholm and his friends directly.
***
When the proposal from the Von Sluis Corporation arrived, there were several reactions. Among those who had been trying to get a less radical corporation, there were several who were glad that a decent company was trying to compete. For those who tried to squeeze the budget, the lower price for the shuttles was a plus. But among those who had something to gain from the Velos contract, there was hesitation. An upstart company, that they thought had been put in its place, was trying to compete against them. But they began looking over the bid, and their dismissal of them turned to concern. The price for the shuttles was lower than their current offer, and they were guaranteeing identical or superior capabilities with current models.
Several back room conversations took place, and a few 'investigation' teams from the Velos Corporation began making its way to the Von Sluis yards. They were traveling undercover, intending to find out how the construction was going, and dispose of critical parts or people. As for the others, they read about how the Von Sluis Corporation would perform the actual construction, with the sale of a group of five being used to finance the next group, and the last payment being used to pay off the bank loan. They saw that bank as a potential weakness, as if the loan could be delayed or stopped, the shuttle shipment would be pushed past the contract date, making it null and void.
***
The independent miner returned to the ore collection plant, and began to off-load the rare earths he had gathered. The investment in the smaller processor had been well worth it, as the money made from this trip was over a dozen times what he had earned before, and he was able to start making the first set of payments for the processor. He also began to load up on his next set of supplies for his next trip, instead of going on a drinking binge, as most others would do. He had done that before, and it had taken him over a year to get out of the debts incurred that way.
After he had bought the necessary supplies and repair parts, he began to talk to the other miners there. He began showing them the trench in the planet, and the time scale involved between the two views. The others there began laughing at first, but as they began to examine the records, they slowly started mumbling among themselves. Whatever did this had the potential to put several of them out of business if it went over their personal veins, and they didn't want that to happen. The local "special parts" store owner suddenly found himself almost mobbed the next day, as miners began buying weapons for themselves and their ships. He quickly found out that ninety percent of his stock was bought up, and there were several rain checks being demanded as well.
Calling up his suppliers, he began placing orders for the various weapons, and asking for group discounts and shipping discounts as well. He was ordering over three dozen long-range lasers, and the possibility of simply getting them built at an assembly line was in his mind. There were about a dozen particle beam and plasma weapons being ordered as well, but most miners preferred lasers, as they could also be used for spectroscopic examination of a rock at long distance as well as being used as a weapon.
***
The data crystals arrived at their destinations, and the recipients began stirring. Entil'Zha Sinclair read over the data, and noticed that the timing of the shuttles was completely off what a normal cargo run would be. He began looking into how much cargo the shuttles were off-loading as well, and began doing some calculations. Looking at the result, he realized that these shuttles were carrying twenty percent more cargo than they should normally be able to. It was obvious that these shuttles were the tip of an iceberg of what was going on out there. Selecting two Rangers to proceed to Mandelin 4, he began giving them their orders.
***
Delenn also reviewed the data from the crystal, but not having enough information on the shuttles involved, invited Sheridan, Ivanova, and Garibaldi to view it as well. They all agreed with the decision that the shuttles were loading more cargo than normal, and were moving faster than expected. Looking at each other, Sheridan spoke first.
"I think we should take a trip to Mandelin 4 in the White Star. We'll pop out of hyperspace farther out than normal, and slowly cruise in. If we think that we could get spotted, we'll jump out and return here."
"Captain, I'd like to volunteer for this mission." Ivanova spoke up. "I've had to try to keep order in these trade negotiations, not to mention your little stunts of giving someone a PPG, and waiting to see if they would use it on you. I need to get into space again."
"Technically we are in space," but seeing the look on her face, "but all right. You can go, but be sure to take along a translator."
"Marcus should do well in that job," Delenn put in.
"Then it's settled. Ivanova, try to bring us back some information about what's going on out there."
Within a few minutes, a shuttle eased its way out of the docking hatch, with two people on board, who were going to perform a little detective work.
Arriving at the White Star's location, they quickly took their positions, and went on their way to Mandelin 4.
***
As the results began to move in, Von Sluis looked over the cargo bay of the World Devastator. The twenty shuttles had already been built, and all he needed to do was distract any investigators or saboteurs with the older assembly areas he still had. With the shuttle parts that were lying around, along with the hulls that had been built, it would look like he and his workers were building shuttles slowly, and haphazardly. With the small number of workers he had, it would be easy for the Imperials to spot anyone new at the work site, and deal with them.
He had managed to arrange the sales in groups of 5, explaining it as a local shipping company being willing to buy 5 shuttles themselves if the government decided to decline the offer. Of course, if the government did accept the offer, he would build a group of 5 each time, and had even loaded pre-completion bonuses into the contract, so if he could deliver the shuttles earlier than expected, he could get a nice little bonus. The shuttles would be tested of course, and a team of military inspectors was being routed to his shipyards to verify the quality of the shuttles that were built.
A week later the inspectors arrived, and found the first shuttles waiting for them in the hangar floor. They performed tests on them, checking the ease to take them apart and put back together, their handling, fuel efficiency, acceleration, reentry and launch performance, landing gear performance, and many other areas as well. At the end, the inspectors signed off on the shuttles as being ready.
The first payment was made to the Von Sluis Company, and the next set of shuttles began to appear to be worked upon. It took two more weeks for the shuttles to be cycled through the plant, where several times Velos operatives tried to sabotage them, but each time Imperial troops managed to catch them, and interrogation droids took their minds apart. Afterwards, it was a simple matter to remote control the shuttles through the local jump gate, where a Star Destroyer waited to pick them up. For all intents and purposes, the shuttles were effectively vanishing after they left, and the Velos Corporation could not find any trace of them afterwards. After three different teams never reported back, Velos decided to cut their losses, and decided that they would try to reverse engineer the shuttles, to get the technology they needed. Temporarily admitting defeat, they ordered a shuttle from Von Sluis, and picked it up from the site. Bringing it back to their headquarters, their engineers began tearing into it, trying to see what technological secrets they could uncover.
***
While this had been going on at Telvin 6, Ivanova and Marcus had been doing their work at Mandelin 4. They had jumped in a day away from the jump point, and were accelerating in gently, with their sensors set to passive and recording data from the planet.
Their first bit of surprise had been when they reviewed the records of Mandelin 4. It was primarily an agricultural colony, as their engineers had died off, but the records had shown high-tech equipment being unloaded. There was nobody there who could possibly maintain or repair the equipment, and when they saw the droids building the various structures, their surprise got even larger. Whoever was doing the construction was clearly sinking a large amount of work into the colony, which meant that they had plans for it.
As they got closer to the planet, more surprises began to show up. The area being used for farmland was several times what was known about the colony, and they knew that heavy investment and colonization was necessary to produce the increased farm area seen there. The satellites in orbit were another surprise, as the normal procedure listed for this colony was to communicate with the ground controllers. These satellites appeared to be both weather satellites, and positioning satellites to assist the ground-based controllers.
A brief flare of light on the moon caught her attention, but it was gone before they could really see anything. She thought about getting in closer to see what could possibly be there, but figured she already had enough data for a first set of speculations. But that flare had been analyzed by the on-board systems, and it had shown emission spectra similar to fusion, but had also possessed spectral lines indicating heavier elements. That got her attention, and she gave orders for the White Star to angle towards the moon, while maintaining the stealth mode.
***
The groundside radar watch operator noticed what appeared to be a small blip on the screen, but it faded away quickly. Dismissing it initially, as a false contact, he returned his sensors to the large-scale sweep, keeping track of the various items in orbit and traveling to and from the moon. He enjoyed the new range and capabilities of the systems. He even began switching between the different types, when suddenly he saw the blip again. The gravitational scanners picked up a fluctuation moving in a straight direction, while infrared was also picking up a contact at the same location.
Calling out the possible contact to the other operators, he also put in a call to his counterpart on board the World Devastator, advising them that an unknown contact was moving directly towards them. Operators around the room began looking at the data as well, and visual sensors on board the satellites began swinging in that general direction, trying to get a visual on the intruder. The general attitude was that they were going to let the unknown get closer, then spring a trap. In the meantime, all the space traffic continued on its course, letting nothing unusual be observed.
***
Marcus was fidgeting. He had picked up an extremely powerful sensor sweep a few minutes ago, but fortunately nothing had happened after that. He was concerned about getting this close to the planet, but Ivanova's curiosity was up, and he had to admit he was curious as well. But still, there were over a dozen satellites in orbit, most of which probably had sensors other than radar, and every passing minute brought them closer.
***
The World Devastator heard about the contact, and moved around to the far side of the moon. It had finished the manufacturing from a few minutes ago, and it had been necessary to turn off the beam so the new structure could be removed through the front. Just when they were getting ready to start mining again the new contact had been reported, and they decided to lay low, as Imperial forces weren't strong enough to take on a new enemy with certainty. What they could do though, was have a few Defender fighters follow the new contact through hyperspace back to its source. But in order to do that, without allowing the contact too close, it would be necessary to engage it. Sending a message off to Fetoro 3, the commander requested a Defender squadron hyper in to engage the unknown.
The ready squadron turned about, and went into hyperdrive. It would take them a couple minutes to arrive, and they selected their exit point so it would be on the far side of the moon from the unknown.
***
Marcus and Ivanova were getting nervous. This close in, they should have been challenged by the local spaceport, but nobody had done anything that they had noticed yet. Radar systems were still scanning normally, although the power was much higher than they were accustomed to. The unknown contact was still on the far side of the moon, and they were swinging around so they would have the moon between them and the planet, in case they had to run quickly.
"Anything yet?"
"Nothing Susan. Whatever it is, it appears to still be on the other side of the moon. Shouldn't we be leaving now? We're a little close to the planet and its sensors."
"Not just yet. We're here to see what caused that flare, and I intend to find that out. It's just a little farther-"
"Fighters! Six fighters dead ahead!"
"Where did they come from?"
"Don't know but they're coming after us."
"Get us out of here, full throttle!"
"Doing it. Multiple tracking systems on-line, and aimed at us. I'm detecting power build up in the satellites orbiting the planet. I think some of them may be weapons satellites."
"How long before we can jump?"
"About thirty more seconds."
The Defender fighters angled around behind the White Star, and the leader broadcast a message, "Attention unidentified vessel. Either identify yourself and shut down your engines, or stand by to be fired upon and boarded. We will fire warning shots now."
Green turbolaser bolts from the Defenders burst through space scant feet from the White Star's hull, causing Marcus to twitch the controls slightly to avoid further fire. The fighters adjusted for the White Star's movement, and began dialing their weapons to destroy its engines, to get it ready for boarding.
Suddenly, a voice came over their communications network. "This is Governor Velholm. Allow that ship to escape, but don't let it think it is getting away. I want to know where it goes, and who owns that vessel. Set your lasers to detonate, and shoot near it. Also, set your shields to full power, and let it hit you a couple times with its weapons to get an idea of how powerful they are."
The Defender fighters in-system did a volley as they dodged, but all the shots missed. Digesting the orders, the assistant squadron leader told the wingmen to reset their turbolasers, and to leave one exit vector open for the white ship to escape through. Selecting another communications channel, he contacted his squadron leader, and passed on the orders. The squadron leader smiled. She would have her fighters follow the ship if it opened a jump point into hyperspace, and would be able to follow it.
Turning back around, the Imperial pilots began setting up for a strafing run from the front, as they had observed the weapons pointing forwards, and were putting all their shield power forward, to minimize any damage that might occur if they took hits. Bringing their turbolasers down to low power, and setting them to detonate instead of impact, the fighters began firing slowly, trying to test the capabilities of the armor protecting the ship.
"What was that?" Yelled Ivanova, as a massive explosion rocked the White Star. From the way the helmsmen reacted, the blast had seriously damaged their maneuverability, not to mention the other alerts she could see on the screens.
"Some type of plasma weapon. Looks like it was losing containment before it hit us, so it hit over a large surface, instead of a single point. Do you want to return fire?"
Susan thought quickly. She didn't want to fight these unknowns, but they couldn't afford to get captured. "Fire guns forward, just try to clear a path."
The weapons on the White Star spoke, but not in anger. Firing similar plasma bolts as the fighters; they coursed out into space, trying to squeeze a path between the attackers. Two of the bolts hit a fighter, and it spun out of the way.
"Ita ten report!"
"Lieutenant, those things didn't even penetrate my shields. If those guns are at full power, there's no way they can hurt us."
Ivanova saw the fighter get knocked aside, and asked, "Are the jump engines ready?"
"Almost there, now!"
"Do it!"
A blue vortex formed in front of the White Star, and the small ship punched through the hole in reality, trying to get away before the other five fighters began opening fire again. The fighters swerved away from the vortex, as they had seen what would happen to non-invited vessels when a jump point closed.
Safe in hyperspace, Ivanova began to relax. "Report."
"We took a large amount of damage when those plasma packets detonated near the hull. The armor is regenerating, but it will take several hours before it is back at full capacity. But that's not the bad news though."
"Our armor will take hours to repair and that's not bad? What is the bad news?"
"If those bolts had struck our armor directly instead of detonating as it did, the shots would have punched a hole straight into our armor, and quite probably our starboard engine would have been destroyed. As it is, the engine is only at ten percent power, but damage control is on it.
"We were overpowered Susan. It's as simple as that. That fighter squadron had enough firepower to take on a White Star and win. We only got away because they were firing single shots to cripple us, and those shots were landing less than a tenth of their damage against a large surface area of the hull. If those fighters had been shooting to kill, we'd be a bunch of burnt molecules right now."
Ivanova took the news calmly, on the outside at least. On the inside, she was reeling with that knowledge. Whoever was at Mandelin 4 possessed technology vastly superior to the Minbari, and possibly even the Vorlons! They had to get this information back to Babylon 5 as soon as possible.
But even a White Star's sensors were degraded by hyperspace, and they never even noticed the six fighters following them. For Imperial squadrons were composed of twelve fighters, and these pilots were using their visual and infrared scanners to follow the White Star. They would follow it to where it jumped out, and then jump out far away, closing in to watch what was happening.
Arriving back at the proper coordinates, the White Star jumped out of hyperspace, and Ivanova and Marcus got back onboard the shuttle to go back to B5. They had transferred the critical information to a data crystal, and wanted to get back to Babylon 5. They needed to talk to others, and the information on the crystal was critical to whatever others might decide.
The fighters watched the shuttle leave the ship, and recorded the coordinates of the White Star. They had jumped in far from where the White Star had exited, and had used their powerful sensors to find it. Eventually, a salvage team would arrive to examine the white ship, but they needed to know where that shuttle was going. Creating their own jump points, they entered hyperspace as well, and began following the shuttle, at the same discrete distance. When it exited, they would record any nearby signals, and exit far from them as well. They wanted to know where that shuttle was going, and whom it worked for.
After the Von Sluis brother had seen the capabilities of the Imperial ships, and the speed that they could build new shuttles and ships, his eyes had lit up like stars. He could act as the front man for them, while the World Devastators would gather the material and build the actual shuttles. His own yards would be retooled to proper standards, and his people would be trained in the advanced technology. Many of the less than reliable people had already left, as he had been forced to cut back in pay several times because of new government regulations. A majority of the new legislation dealt with fees regarding shipping the shuttles through the jumpgates, but if he could include in the contract that the shuttles were to be picked up, that would be one of the fees that he would not have to pay. Even if he did, he could always add that back into the price of the shuttles, and let the government pay the government. The net result was he had a solid core of people who were absolutely devoted to the company, and they could be trusted with the new technology and secrets that would be soon revealed to them.
When the first World Devastator arrived, and they saw the capacity that it could handle, everyone there began signing up for the various classes being offered. Their colony, Telvin 6, had been going through trouble recently as there were not a lot of credits flowing in recently, due to the Von Sluis yards closing. Although there were lots of valuable minerals nearby, due to the lack of arable farmland the colony had been buying food in order to stay alive. After Mandelin 4 had started selling bulk quantities of food at lower prices, the colony had looked upon that as a delay in their eventual bankruptcy. Already various smuggler groups had been talking to him about repairs on their vessels in exchange for money, and it had been getting harder and harder to say no. But with the new contract for the shuttles, the colony would be getting money in again, and could begin to revive its economy as well. Even better, if the newcomers were willing to put a military presence in the system, the smugglers could be encouraged to leave.
The Imperials had another reason for wanting to sell technology like this on an open market. Inside each shuttle was a small recorder system, a transmitter, and a hidden IFF system that was also linked in with the sensor system. If an Imperial ship got close to one of these shuttles, the sensors would not display the ship, and the Imperial vessel could download the latest reports from the shuttle. This would allow them to extend their knowledge, as information spoken in a shuttle was generally considered private.
***
At the first meeting for the shuttle contract renewal, Varenska proposed the open bidding process. The Velos Corporation, who had been enjoying a virtual monopoly on the contracts, had asked Senator Williams to simply perform it as a contract renewal, with no discussion offered. Varenska countered, saying that if there weren't any bids better than the Velos contract, then they could always continue it. She did remind them about how the committee had been under investigation before for non-competitive bids, and showed them that by offering an open bidding, they would be able to claim that they are encouraging competition.
Senator Williams reluctantly agreed, while privately making a note to send word to the Velos Corporation to watch its competitors, and make sure they did not succeed. She also wanted to find out whom Varenska had been talking to, as this sudden openness was a little off. But the motion was passed, and the next order of business was opened.
***
At the Mandelin system, the records of previous Velos contracts were analyzed, along with the design and capabilities of the shuttle currently in existence. Looking over the prices, the Imperials figured they could easily shave ten percent off the price that had been offered last year, while increasing the performance by at least fifteen percent. All the parts would be the same size as the Velos Corporation, but their capabilities would be better. Given the economy and technology currently possessed, the Velos Corporation could produce the same parts, but they would have to retool their factory first, and even after the upgrades had been paid off, the shuttles would still cost three times normal.
It would be a very effective way of throwing down the gauntlet to them, but they would also have to be careful of any saboteurs showing up. As a result, Imperial scanners were installed at the many entrances to the front company, and several interrogation booths and droids were built, for when they were needed. If anyone from the Velos Corporation tried to show up to sabotage, they would be treated with utmost politeness, until they actually did something. After that, they would be interrogated, and the bodies disposed of. It would be as though they had disappeared completely, and the expense of hiring them would start to affect the Velos Corporation over time.
***
While the bidding was starting, Varenska received the report from the laser manufacturing company. They reported the new sensor package she had sent to them was doing an excellent job. Their lasers were getting a 15% higher throughput than before for their size, and EarthForce personnel were ordering several upgrade packages for their ships with the new lasers being the number one reason for the upgrades. Unfortunately, the lasers being built were only 1/3 the size needed, and converting them to the larger sizes necessary was proving difficult. A current fix was to merely package three lasers together as a single system, but the laser manufacturers would like to contact whoever had built the sensor package in the first place.
Deciding to include that contact request in her next communication, she began putting together another message for Governor Brogin. Also, she was getting a little tired of the relay, and requested a way to contact Velholm and his friends directly.
***
When the proposal from the Von Sluis Corporation arrived, there were several reactions. Among those who had been trying to get a less radical corporation, there were several who were glad that a decent company was trying to compete. For those who tried to squeeze the budget, the lower price for the shuttles was a plus. But among those who had something to gain from the Velos contract, there was hesitation. An upstart company, that they thought had been put in its place, was trying to compete against them. But they began looking over the bid, and their dismissal of them turned to concern. The price for the shuttles was lower than their current offer, and they were guaranteeing identical or superior capabilities with current models.
Several back room conversations took place, and a few 'investigation' teams from the Velos Corporation began making its way to the Von Sluis yards. They were traveling undercover, intending to find out how the construction was going, and dispose of critical parts or people. As for the others, they read about how the Von Sluis Corporation would perform the actual construction, with the sale of a group of five being used to finance the next group, and the last payment being used to pay off the bank loan. They saw that bank as a potential weakness, as if the loan could be delayed or stopped, the shuttle shipment would be pushed past the contract date, making it null and void.
***
The independent miner returned to the ore collection plant, and began to off-load the rare earths he had gathered. The investment in the smaller processor had been well worth it, as the money made from this trip was over a dozen times what he had earned before, and he was able to start making the first set of payments for the processor. He also began to load up on his next set of supplies for his next trip, instead of going on a drinking binge, as most others would do. He had done that before, and it had taken him over a year to get out of the debts incurred that way.
After he had bought the necessary supplies and repair parts, he began to talk to the other miners there. He began showing them the trench in the planet, and the time scale involved between the two views. The others there began laughing at first, but as they began to examine the records, they slowly started mumbling among themselves. Whatever did this had the potential to put several of them out of business if it went over their personal veins, and they didn't want that to happen. The local "special parts" store owner suddenly found himself almost mobbed the next day, as miners began buying weapons for themselves and their ships. He quickly found out that ninety percent of his stock was bought up, and there were several rain checks being demanded as well.
Calling up his suppliers, he began placing orders for the various weapons, and asking for group discounts and shipping discounts as well. He was ordering over three dozen long-range lasers, and the possibility of simply getting them built at an assembly line was in his mind. There were about a dozen particle beam and plasma weapons being ordered as well, but most miners preferred lasers, as they could also be used for spectroscopic examination of a rock at long distance as well as being used as a weapon.
***
The data crystals arrived at their destinations, and the recipients began stirring. Entil'Zha Sinclair read over the data, and noticed that the timing of the shuttles was completely off what a normal cargo run would be. He began looking into how much cargo the shuttles were off-loading as well, and began doing some calculations. Looking at the result, he realized that these shuttles were carrying twenty percent more cargo than they should normally be able to. It was obvious that these shuttles were the tip of an iceberg of what was going on out there. Selecting two Rangers to proceed to Mandelin 4, he began giving them their orders.
***
Delenn also reviewed the data from the crystal, but not having enough information on the shuttles involved, invited Sheridan, Ivanova, and Garibaldi to view it as well. They all agreed with the decision that the shuttles were loading more cargo than normal, and were moving faster than expected. Looking at each other, Sheridan spoke first.
"I think we should take a trip to Mandelin 4 in the White Star. We'll pop out of hyperspace farther out than normal, and slowly cruise in. If we think that we could get spotted, we'll jump out and return here."
"Captain, I'd like to volunteer for this mission." Ivanova spoke up. "I've had to try to keep order in these trade negotiations, not to mention your little stunts of giving someone a PPG, and waiting to see if they would use it on you. I need to get into space again."
"Technically we are in space," but seeing the look on her face, "but all right. You can go, but be sure to take along a translator."
"Marcus should do well in that job," Delenn put in.
"Then it's settled. Ivanova, try to bring us back some information about what's going on out there."
Within a few minutes, a shuttle eased its way out of the docking hatch, with two people on board, who were going to perform a little detective work.
Arriving at the White Star's location, they quickly took their positions, and went on their way to Mandelin 4.
***
As the results began to move in, Von Sluis looked over the cargo bay of the World Devastator. The twenty shuttles had already been built, and all he needed to do was distract any investigators or saboteurs with the older assembly areas he still had. With the shuttle parts that were lying around, along with the hulls that had been built, it would look like he and his workers were building shuttles slowly, and haphazardly. With the small number of workers he had, it would be easy for the Imperials to spot anyone new at the work site, and deal with them.
He had managed to arrange the sales in groups of 5, explaining it as a local shipping company being willing to buy 5 shuttles themselves if the government decided to decline the offer. Of course, if the government did accept the offer, he would build a group of 5 each time, and had even loaded pre-completion bonuses into the contract, so if he could deliver the shuttles earlier than expected, he could get a nice little bonus. The shuttles would be tested of course, and a team of military inspectors was being routed to his shipyards to verify the quality of the shuttles that were built.
A week later the inspectors arrived, and found the first shuttles waiting for them in the hangar floor. They performed tests on them, checking the ease to take them apart and put back together, their handling, fuel efficiency, acceleration, reentry and launch performance, landing gear performance, and many other areas as well. At the end, the inspectors signed off on the shuttles as being ready.
The first payment was made to the Von Sluis Company, and the next set of shuttles began to appear to be worked upon. It took two more weeks for the shuttles to be cycled through the plant, where several times Velos operatives tried to sabotage them, but each time Imperial troops managed to catch them, and interrogation droids took their minds apart. Afterwards, it was a simple matter to remote control the shuttles through the local jump gate, where a Star Destroyer waited to pick them up. For all intents and purposes, the shuttles were effectively vanishing after they left, and the Velos Corporation could not find any trace of them afterwards. After three different teams never reported back, Velos decided to cut their losses, and decided that they would try to reverse engineer the shuttles, to get the technology they needed. Temporarily admitting defeat, they ordered a shuttle from Von Sluis, and picked it up from the site. Bringing it back to their headquarters, their engineers began tearing into it, trying to see what technological secrets they could uncover.
***
While this had been going on at Telvin 6, Ivanova and Marcus had been doing their work at Mandelin 4. They had jumped in a day away from the jump point, and were accelerating in gently, with their sensors set to passive and recording data from the planet.
Their first bit of surprise had been when they reviewed the records of Mandelin 4. It was primarily an agricultural colony, as their engineers had died off, but the records had shown high-tech equipment being unloaded. There was nobody there who could possibly maintain or repair the equipment, and when they saw the droids building the various structures, their surprise got even larger. Whoever was doing the construction was clearly sinking a large amount of work into the colony, which meant that they had plans for it.
As they got closer to the planet, more surprises began to show up. The area being used for farmland was several times what was known about the colony, and they knew that heavy investment and colonization was necessary to produce the increased farm area seen there. The satellites in orbit were another surprise, as the normal procedure listed for this colony was to communicate with the ground controllers. These satellites appeared to be both weather satellites, and positioning satellites to assist the ground-based controllers.
A brief flare of light on the moon caught her attention, but it was gone before they could really see anything. She thought about getting in closer to see what could possibly be there, but figured she already had enough data for a first set of speculations. But that flare had been analyzed by the on-board systems, and it had shown emission spectra similar to fusion, but had also possessed spectral lines indicating heavier elements. That got her attention, and she gave orders for the White Star to angle towards the moon, while maintaining the stealth mode.
***
The groundside radar watch operator noticed what appeared to be a small blip on the screen, but it faded away quickly. Dismissing it initially, as a false contact, he returned his sensors to the large-scale sweep, keeping track of the various items in orbit and traveling to and from the moon. He enjoyed the new range and capabilities of the systems. He even began switching between the different types, when suddenly he saw the blip again. The gravitational scanners picked up a fluctuation moving in a straight direction, while infrared was also picking up a contact at the same location.
Calling out the possible contact to the other operators, he also put in a call to his counterpart on board the World Devastator, advising them that an unknown contact was moving directly towards them. Operators around the room began looking at the data as well, and visual sensors on board the satellites began swinging in that general direction, trying to get a visual on the intruder. The general attitude was that they were going to let the unknown get closer, then spring a trap. In the meantime, all the space traffic continued on its course, letting nothing unusual be observed.
***
Marcus was fidgeting. He had picked up an extremely powerful sensor sweep a few minutes ago, but fortunately nothing had happened after that. He was concerned about getting this close to the planet, but Ivanova's curiosity was up, and he had to admit he was curious as well. But still, there were over a dozen satellites in orbit, most of which probably had sensors other than radar, and every passing minute brought them closer.
***
The World Devastator heard about the contact, and moved around to the far side of the moon. It had finished the manufacturing from a few minutes ago, and it had been necessary to turn off the beam so the new structure could be removed through the front. Just when they were getting ready to start mining again the new contact had been reported, and they decided to lay low, as Imperial forces weren't strong enough to take on a new enemy with certainty. What they could do though, was have a few Defender fighters follow the new contact through hyperspace back to its source. But in order to do that, without allowing the contact too close, it would be necessary to engage it. Sending a message off to Fetoro 3, the commander requested a Defender squadron hyper in to engage the unknown.
The ready squadron turned about, and went into hyperdrive. It would take them a couple minutes to arrive, and they selected their exit point so it would be on the far side of the moon from the unknown.
***
Marcus and Ivanova were getting nervous. This close in, they should have been challenged by the local spaceport, but nobody had done anything that they had noticed yet. Radar systems were still scanning normally, although the power was much higher than they were accustomed to. The unknown contact was still on the far side of the moon, and they were swinging around so they would have the moon between them and the planet, in case they had to run quickly.
"Anything yet?"
"Nothing Susan. Whatever it is, it appears to still be on the other side of the moon. Shouldn't we be leaving now? We're a little close to the planet and its sensors."
"Not just yet. We're here to see what caused that flare, and I intend to find that out. It's just a little farther-"
"Fighters! Six fighters dead ahead!"
"Where did they come from?"
"Don't know but they're coming after us."
"Get us out of here, full throttle!"
"Doing it. Multiple tracking systems on-line, and aimed at us. I'm detecting power build up in the satellites orbiting the planet. I think some of them may be weapons satellites."
"How long before we can jump?"
"About thirty more seconds."
The Defender fighters angled around behind the White Star, and the leader broadcast a message, "Attention unidentified vessel. Either identify yourself and shut down your engines, or stand by to be fired upon and boarded. We will fire warning shots now."
Green turbolaser bolts from the Defenders burst through space scant feet from the White Star's hull, causing Marcus to twitch the controls slightly to avoid further fire. The fighters adjusted for the White Star's movement, and began dialing their weapons to destroy its engines, to get it ready for boarding.
Suddenly, a voice came over their communications network. "This is Governor Velholm. Allow that ship to escape, but don't let it think it is getting away. I want to know where it goes, and who owns that vessel. Set your lasers to detonate, and shoot near it. Also, set your shields to full power, and let it hit you a couple times with its weapons to get an idea of how powerful they are."
The Defender fighters in-system did a volley as they dodged, but all the shots missed. Digesting the orders, the assistant squadron leader told the wingmen to reset their turbolasers, and to leave one exit vector open for the white ship to escape through. Selecting another communications channel, he contacted his squadron leader, and passed on the orders. The squadron leader smiled. She would have her fighters follow the ship if it opened a jump point into hyperspace, and would be able to follow it.
Turning back around, the Imperial pilots began setting up for a strafing run from the front, as they had observed the weapons pointing forwards, and were putting all their shield power forward, to minimize any damage that might occur if they took hits. Bringing their turbolasers down to low power, and setting them to detonate instead of impact, the fighters began firing slowly, trying to test the capabilities of the armor protecting the ship.
"What was that?" Yelled Ivanova, as a massive explosion rocked the White Star. From the way the helmsmen reacted, the blast had seriously damaged their maneuverability, not to mention the other alerts she could see on the screens.
"Some type of plasma weapon. Looks like it was losing containment before it hit us, so it hit over a large surface, instead of a single point. Do you want to return fire?"
Susan thought quickly. She didn't want to fight these unknowns, but they couldn't afford to get captured. "Fire guns forward, just try to clear a path."
The weapons on the White Star spoke, but not in anger. Firing similar plasma bolts as the fighters; they coursed out into space, trying to squeeze a path between the attackers. Two of the bolts hit a fighter, and it spun out of the way.
"Ita ten report!"
"Lieutenant, those things didn't even penetrate my shields. If those guns are at full power, there's no way they can hurt us."
Ivanova saw the fighter get knocked aside, and asked, "Are the jump engines ready?"
"Almost there, now!"
"Do it!"
A blue vortex formed in front of the White Star, and the small ship punched through the hole in reality, trying to get away before the other five fighters began opening fire again. The fighters swerved away from the vortex, as they had seen what would happen to non-invited vessels when a jump point closed.
Safe in hyperspace, Ivanova began to relax. "Report."
"We took a large amount of damage when those plasma packets detonated near the hull. The armor is regenerating, but it will take several hours before it is back at full capacity. But that's not the bad news though."
"Our armor will take hours to repair and that's not bad? What is the bad news?"
"If those bolts had struck our armor directly instead of detonating as it did, the shots would have punched a hole straight into our armor, and quite probably our starboard engine would have been destroyed. As it is, the engine is only at ten percent power, but damage control is on it.
"We were overpowered Susan. It's as simple as that. That fighter squadron had enough firepower to take on a White Star and win. We only got away because they were firing single shots to cripple us, and those shots were landing less than a tenth of their damage against a large surface area of the hull. If those fighters had been shooting to kill, we'd be a bunch of burnt molecules right now."
Ivanova took the news calmly, on the outside at least. On the inside, she was reeling with that knowledge. Whoever was at Mandelin 4 possessed technology vastly superior to the Minbari, and possibly even the Vorlons! They had to get this information back to Babylon 5 as soon as possible.
But even a White Star's sensors were degraded by hyperspace, and they never even noticed the six fighters following them. For Imperial squadrons were composed of twelve fighters, and these pilots were using their visual and infrared scanners to follow the White Star. They would follow it to where it jumped out, and then jump out far away, closing in to watch what was happening.
Arriving back at the proper coordinates, the White Star jumped out of hyperspace, and Ivanova and Marcus got back onboard the shuttle to go back to B5. They had transferred the critical information to a data crystal, and wanted to get back to Babylon 5. They needed to talk to others, and the information on the crystal was critical to whatever others might decide.
The fighters watched the shuttle leave the ship, and recorded the coordinates of the White Star. They had jumped in far from where the White Star had exited, and had used their powerful sensors to find it. Eventually, a salvage team would arrive to examine the white ship, but they needed to know where that shuttle was going. Creating their own jump points, they entered hyperspace as well, and began following the shuttle, at the same discrete distance. When it exited, they would record any nearby signals, and exit far from them as well. They wanted to know where that shuttle was going, and whom it worked for.