-----chapter 14-----

0736 hrs EST

In all her commands, Lochley had never ever dreamed about commanding a starship like the Excalibur. Her previous command before taking on the role as governor of Babylon 5 was the Omega destroyer Rio Grande. And she was nothing like Excalibur.

The Rio Grande.

The name brought back memories. Some good, some bad, and most of the memories were of tensed times. It was on the Rio Grande that the civil war sparked.

Many of her crew wanted to go over to Sheridan=s liberation front. But Lochley reminded her crew that it was not their jobs as soldiers, to dictate policy. They were not trained to think, but to act.

To this day, not a hour went by, not a second ticked away that she wondered if staying under Clark=s administration was the right one. What if they went up to B5 one day and said they wanted to join up.

But she could, and probably would spend the rest of her life second guessing her decision. But that was the past. Her thoughts should be of the present.

The Excalibur was one of her kind. Her sister ship the Victory was destroyed during the Drakh=s attack on Earth. She was one of the kind. And she knew that Gideon would never let her forget that if she left a mark on his ship.

It was an honor to serve as commanding officer on a ship like Excalibur. The thoughts not pertaining to Excalibur=s mission was how things were faring on B5.

Corwin was a good officer, and long deserved the lieutenant commander bars. She knew that one day he would be up for his first command assignment. And when that day came, she would personally recommend him.

But she would have to live through the present to get to that point in the future.

Elizabeth Lochley, clad in her EarthForce uniform entered the bridge from the conference room in the aft section of the bridge. The designer of the Excalibur designed the bridge to be accessible for deep range missions. The conference room, attached to the map room, which was attached to the command center.

Lochley moved through the map room, and entered the bridge from Mathis= summons while she took an hour rest. They had arrived at the jump point to ambush the battle wagons.

AReport,@ Lochley said as she sat in the command chair. The only one dressed in the EarthForce duty uniform, while the others wore the Excalibur=s duty uniform. The red and gray suits which none of the crew enjoyed.

AWe=ve arrived at the jump point. The trackers show that the battle wagons are two minutes away.@

AShip status?@

ABattle ready, Captain.@

Lochley moved to the command chair, and stood beside it, with her arms clasped behind her back. AMay I have your attention?@

In a milli-second, all on the bridge had their heads turned to Lochley except for the two pilots maintaining the Excalibur=s position against the tides of hyperspace.

AKeep in mind people, we can easily plow over these Raiders like they were bugs. But if we do, our mission will be a failure. We need for them to believe that we=re throwing at them all we have. But not to the affect of risking our people=s lives.

AMaintain line of communications with your departments. Weapons control, concentrate on taking out Target Alpha out of the equation with 75% efficiency. Decrease weapon strength by fifteen percent. The Raider's, or anyone for that matter does not know the efficiency of Excalibur=s guns. We=ll use that to make the Raiders believe we=re throwing everything we have at them.

ATarget Bravo is the secondary target. Commander Air Group has in his load out, a tracker buoy. He will deploy the buoy, and it will connect to Bravo=s engine drive. There, we will track Bravo to its home base and show them the full efficiency of Excalibur.@

AAccording to the Bainbridge Accords, all escape pods will be recovered. Ours and Raiders. We=ll show them mercy that which they do not posses. I=m sure a life sentence will be a splendid precursor to hell.@

Lochley paused, looking at every officer under her commands expressions. AAny questions?@

There were none. Just nods of encouragement.

ALieutenant, I want it understood that they are to fire the first shot.@

AUnderstood, Captain.@

AAs soon as we hit norm space, I want a comm established with them.@

ACaptain?@ Mathis asked puzzled.

AThis is my watch. They will have every attempt to surrender, Lieutenant.@

AAye, Captain. We=re ready to jump.@

AUnderstood,@ Lochley nodded as she sat on the edge of the command chair. AHere we go, jump!@