Commonscape By: Griffin Copyright notice: All characters belong to their respective owners, all original characters and plot elements belong to me.

Note: Most of the Andromeda crew is current as far as about 2 months ago. Farscape crew is quite a bit older.

Summary: The Scarrens draw first blood against the Peacekeepers and battle is joined between the two massive fleets. But the combat is intensified as the Alliance arrives to stir things up.

Striking Lightning.

"We are approaching the outer edges of the Grenid system," Elir's second reported as their forward probes began crossing the edge of the outer system.

"All divisions began attack maneuvers," Elir ordered over the Fleet-wide communications band.

As per his previous orders, Elir's first and second divisions would act as the main assault force. Third division was the scout force, already splitting off into squadrons to feel for the enemy forces. Their sensor suites were the best equipped for early detection so the Peacekeepers would be unable to launch any surprises on them. Fourth division, the smallest and least experienced of the divisions, would hold at the edge of the system and slowly follow the other ships in-system to protect against any possible attacks from behind.

"All divisions are acknowledging orders and spreading out into pattern," Elir's second reported.

The Peacekeepers could not know what was about to befall them. They were likely to have focusing so much on the Alliance and their activities that they would not know the Scarren fleet was coming. This meant he would be effectively attacking their rear, where no traps would have been set against the Alliance threat. * * * * * *

"Admiral, patrols in quadrant Deva are reporting an incoming fleet of Scarren warships!" Tilan Eras, Admiral Lira Rashi's Tactical Officer, reported as a hail of red blips appeared on the Fleet Holo-Grid.

"All ships to red status!" Lira ordered as she began scanning the incoming forces.

"They seem to be splitting into four distinct groups," Tilan reported as he highlighted the groups on Lira's holo-grid. "One seems to be fanning out as scout forces to find our ships. Two more are splitting to give us a wide target and the forth seems to be protecting their rear."

"Indeed," Lira said with a nod. "Order all ships to begin counter-attack operation Benal."

Lira's communication officer nodded as she passed the orders on to the rest of the Fleet.

Peacekeeper, Nebari, Scorvian and Hynerian ships acted as one as they formed up to face this threat. The huge Coalition fleet was more than half again the size of the Scarren attack fleet but the Scarrens had the advantage of thicker armor and heavier weapons. Every Coalition captain in the Fleet began preparing their ships for battle. Bringing their defense screens on-line, loading their frag cannon magazines and prepping their fighter craft for launch. Everyone knew how dangerous Scarren strikers could be, and were forming their fighter groups to overwhelm the enemy with numbers.

Hynerian battle cruisers brought their heavy Attika mounts on-line as they moved toward the front of the formation. Those cannons could wreak havoc on any ship that got in their way. Scorvian cruisers moved to the outer edges of the attack force where their sensor jamming systems would confuse the Scarren targeting computers. Nebari destroyers activated their stealth systems and slid away from the main formation to create havoc. And the Peacekeepers brought their new, Wide-Array Defense Screens on-line, a new system that allowed other ships to 'pull' the defense screens over them with a special energy beam. * * * * * *

"Sir, the Coalition forces are moving to meet us. They are spreading out to maximize their strengths. Readings indicate that they have found a way to spread a defense screen out over ships that are not equipped with one."

"That will merely weaken the defense screen. Order all Strikers to focus on the fighters and smaller frigates. I want as few targets out there for our cannons as we can manage."

Scarren warships brought their heavy weapons to bear on the approaching defense fleet. Targeting sensors began probing the formation for enemies to attack and warred with the Scorvian jamming systems.

Strikers prepared themselves to launch from their hanger bays, the pilots preparing their vessels for the battle before them. * * * * * *

And somewhere close, in the twisting nether of the Slipstream, the Alliance fleet approached their destination of Fredis.

Castilians prepared their EMP cannons; a weapon that threw a serious EMP beams at a target, surrounding the target in a net until the vessel's electronics were nullified. Mobians prepared their sensor pods, which would reveal almost anything they were targeted at. Nietzschean Garuda fighters prepared to launch while the Nietzschean cruisers prepared their AP cannons and missile tubes. Luxon and Ilanic battleships prepared to unleash a wave of deadly energy while their fighters prepared to attack with pure brute strength. Independent cruisers prepared their defense screens and prowlers for their role in the attack.

And in the center of it all, the Andromeda Ascendant prepared her Centaur and Shrike fighters. AP turrets were brought on-line and the ship's battle blades prepared to lower into position. And in a few of the missile tubes something new was being prepared for launch.

Seamus Harper had been hard at work since the combat with the Peacekeepers. He had created a weapon that would take advantage of the poor computer controls the Peacekeepers employed. A specially programmed mini-AI that would infect the target ship and take over all of the systems it could manage. And destroy the systems it could not control.

Dylan had been very hesitant to use it. He had argued that if the Peacekeepers managed to capture one of these mini-AI systems they would have a building block for their own AI program.

Only after Harper promised to include a self-destruct, and pointed out that the Peacekeepers would be able to start an AI program should they capture ANY alliance ship, did Dylan authorize the system.

The missile would employ ECM generators to get into launch range. Once they were within communication range, the program would generate itself into the Peacekeeper command network and target a single ship.

Should the system take over the ship, it would completely shut the ship down and turn the internal defenses against the crew until they surrendered.

And Harper had added something to several of the programs that he had not asked about. The programs that would be targeted at the Command Cruisers would have a backdoor that Harper himself could access from the Andromeda. A backdoor that he would be able to open and take control of every system on the ship.

He just hoped that the Peacekeepers really didn't have any AI programs aboard their command cruisers, or expert computer technicians that would be able to boot him from their network.

* * * * * *

"Forward prowlers and marauders are about to enter weapons range," Tilan Eras announced on the Command Deck of the Command Cruiser Regenta.

"And so it begins," Lira said with a frown.

The first prowlers of the Coalition reached attack range of the Scarren Strikers. The prowlers began evasive maneuvers as they opened fire and battle was joined.

Scorvian Stingers, Nebari Arrows and the Hynerian heavy-class Dreadhammers reached combat soon after and the battle intensified.

The dog-fight was spectacular to watch. The agile yet strong Stingers swarmed the less agile Marauders and Dreadhammers. Their heavy cannons tore at the hulls of their targets, while at the same time their thick hides protected them from the even more agile Prowlers and Arrows.

Scorvian Stingers began drawing single and double Strikers off, away from the assistance of the squadron mates, and the pack mentality of the Stingers prevailed over the Scarren armor.

And then the first of the warships reached range.

Scarren frigates and destroyers matched against Peacekeeper frigates, Scorvian light destroyers, Nebari light frigates and Hynerian destroyers. The exchange of energy and frag cannon fire was brilliant. Frag shells pounded through Scarren hulls and detonated, tearing gaping wounds in the ships. Scarren energy mounts ripped huge gashes in their targets and several Hynerian destroyers exploded majestically as Scarren energy beams lanced through their power plants.

Nebari light frigates turned their heavily armed broadsides toward their enemy and Scarren ships twitched in seeming pain as the lances of solid mass frag shells ripped into their armor.

The light warships fought valiantly as their larger support continued to move into position for the heavy fighting.

And moments before the heavy ships joined in combat, a series of flashes near the other side of the system caught the attention of every sensor in the system. The Alliance had arrived. * * * * * *

"Admiral, we are reading a massive fleet arriving at the far edge of the system horizon!" Elir's second announced sharply.

"The Alliance," Elir said mostly to himself. "All divisions modify attack plan. Do not engage Peacekeeper capitol ships until the Alliance forces have attack. I repeat, all Capitol ships withdraw and await contact between Coalition and Alliance capitol ships!"

The entire Scarren fleet seemed to lurch backwards as the capitol ships pulled back out of range of the Peacekeeper warships. Several of the heavy cruisers took fire from the swarming fighters and an occasional frigate, but the heavy point-defense systems tore apart any attempt at real damage, leaving the Scarren warships unscathed for the time being. * * * * * *

"Ma'am, Alliance fleet has just arrived at the system edge in what appears to be a mass starburst!" Command Tilan Eras reported on the Command Deck of the Regenta.

"What!" Lira shouted as her head snapped to the holo-grid. Another storm of red dots had appeared on the far side of the system.

Lira's world seemed to come crashing down on her. She had two enormous enemy fleets in her face. Alone she could have probably taken out either one of the fleets. But facing the combined force of those two juggernauts, and without knowing the extent of their cooperation, she stood no chance except to try to gut those two fleets.

"Ma'am, what are your orders?" Tilan asked.

"All ships attack the Scarrens with full force," Lira ordered without hesitation. "If we have to go down we will take them with us."

The orders were passed on to the other ships of the fleet and the Peacekeeper warships began pursuing the retreating Scarren capitol ships, their frigate and destroyer escorts clearing enemy fighters and light warships from their path.

The Scarren warships were trying so hard to not retreat, that they were drawn into the range of the deadly peacekeeper cannons. The heavy shells from the Capitol Frag Cannons were the size of prowlers, and most were tipped with highly explosive rounds.

The rounds exploded from their barrels and hurtled through space toward their targets. Some of the huge shells were taken out by point-defense systems. Others had the dumb luck of hitting a passing prowler or light warship. But most hit their mark.

The heavy shells and their armor-piercing tips impacted on the hulls of the Scarren warships and exploded. The armor took most of the force of the explosions. But several of the shells completely broke through the armor and exploded, leaving gaping wounds in their victims.

Several of the Scarren battle cruisers and dreadnaughts were trailing debris and atmosphere. But none had been disabled or destroyed. And the entire Scarren fleet shifted again, moving back toward the Peacekeepers. * * * * * *

"Sir, the Scarrens have already attacked the Peacekeeper fleet!" Tyr announced on the bridge of the Andromeda

"Force size?" Dylan asked as the fleet scanners began picking apart the enemy fleets.

"Peacekeeper size appears to be three Command Cruisers, Five Scorvian dreadnaughts, eight Hynerian carriers and four Nebari battleships with accompanying escorts and picket flotillas," Tyr announced with a frown. "Scarren size isn't quite clear yet. I make it to be three Scarren super dreadnaughts, eleven dreadnaughts and half again normal escorts and pickets. They mean business."

"They wouldn't be attacking the main Peacekeeper base in this portion of space if they didn't mean business," Dylan said absently.

"Shall we proceed?" General Li'Taran asked over the fleet com-link.

"Yes," Dylan said without hesitation. "Proceed with attack plan Alpha. Make best speed to the combat zone."

The Alliance fleet turned toward where the Peacekeepers and Scarrens had joined combat. They estimated almost an hour travel time to the combat zone. Perhaps by then one of the two fleets would have retreated. * * * * * *

The Scarrens were taking a pounding from the Peacekeeper frag cannons and the energy mounts of the stealth Nebari. They fought to see through the Scorvian jamming systems and punch holes through the Wide-Array Deflector Screens.

But they had avoided the wrath of the Hynerian Attika mounts. But that was not to last.

The heart of the Hynerian battle group drove through the Scarren escorts to reach the deadly range of their prized weapons. The huge energy mounts glowed with energy as the Hynerian ships diverted all available power to the weapons.

Scarren dreadnaughts tried to pull out of range, but it was too late.

Huge purple beams of light lanced out from the Hynerian warships, smashing into the sides of the Scarren ships and melting the armor away. The energy ate right through the sides of the warships and gutted the ships unfortunate enough to catch the full force of the beams.

Half a dozen dreadnaughts and a handful of battle cruisers heaved as they were rendered lifeless by the Attika mounts. The crews from the ships worked frantically to get their vessels back on-line as the Hynerians pulled back out of weapons range to recharge their weapons.

Frigates and destroyers swarmed the lifeless hulks of the Scarren warships, firing light weapons at the engines and weapon mounts, rendering the ships immobile and unarmed. * * * * * *

"Forward Mobian ships are entering engagement range of the Peacekeeper fleet," Tyr announced coolly.

"Order all ships to engage all enemy vessels with full force."

"Should we have them leave the Scarrens alone?" Tyr asked.

"I said all enemy vessels. The Scarrens attacked us, they are the enemy."

"Acknowledged," Tyr said as he passed the orders along the fleet tactical network.

The battle was joined quickly.

Mobian cruisers dodged in and out of enemy formations, strafing their targets with their AP turrets. They deployed their powerful sensor pods and the entire Alliance fleet began receiving detailed target information. From ship locations to hull breaches.

The Castilians were the next to enter weapons range. Their EMP cannons had a very short range, forcing them to use the cover of the Alliance fighters to enter range.

The Castilian battleships turned their EMP cannons on the Peacekeeper battle cruisers and Scarren battleships, the most numerous and dangerous of the capitol ships. The command cruisers and dreadnaughts could wait.

The EMP nets fired and almost half of them reached their targets without interference. The affected ships blinked out one by one as their electronic networks were mutilated, silencing their weapons and forcing their crew to use independent oxygen sources.

Nietzschean destroyers, Luxon and Ilanic battleships and Independent battle cruisers entered combat range of the two enemy fleets and the orderly plans laid out by the leaders of the fleets went to hell in a hand-basket as hell's fury was poured out on the fleets. * * * * 8 *

Elir growled as another of his battleships exploded under the fire of the Alliance warships.

He was getting very aggravated. Despite the fact that he had come to this system with enough firepower to eliminate the Peacekeepers and their Coalition, he had been unable to do so. And now the Alliance was showing no mercy in their attacks.

He had expected them to attack the Coalition vessels, and some small part of his brain had hoped that they would leave his ships alone at least until the Peacekeepers were finished. But he had no such luck.

Strikers were tangled in dog-fights with Peacekeeper prowlers, Scorvian stingers, Luxon and Ilanic fighters and strange fighter craft from the unidentified members of the Alliance fleet. They were launching what seemed to be guided projectiles from their weapon mounts and that was what was tearing his fleet to pieces.

Not to mention the fact that a good number of his ships had been left helpless by the energy weapons several of the Alliance ships possessed.

This battle was quickly getting out of hand and Elir looked for any opportunity to salvage the situation. * * * * * *

Lira Rashi looked at the incomplete holo-grid her command deck was able to generate.

Her command carrier had taken a beating from one of the Scarren super dreadnaughts before a combination of frag cannons and Hynerian Attika fire had reduced the ship to so much wreckage.

Repair crews had restored most of the primary functions that had been damaged, but the holo-grid wasn't even considered secondary and so had been ignored.

Lira growled slightly as another of her vessels reported loss of power to their primary drives.

"Give me some options," she ordered her staff as she paced the bridge.

"We focus all of our fire on the Scarrens. We punch a hole through their fleet and run for the inner system, let the Alliance finish off those pigs," Tilan Eras suggested.

"What if they pursue?" Lira asked.

"The Scarrens will not pursue with an enemy at their rear, especially one so powerful as the Alliance has shown to be. And the Alliance will be too busy dealing with the Scarrens to follow us."

"All right," Lira said with a nod. "Order all ships to target the weakest point in the Scarren line and fight our way through. Once clear all ships are to make best speed to the fortresses in-system." * * * * * *

"Dylan, the Coalition is attempting to retreat!" Tyr announced on the command deck of the Andromeda.

The battle had been extremely ugly so far. Many ships had been lost on all sides. Several Castilian battleships had been targeted specifically for their EMP cannons. The ships had been unable to withstand the onslaught of fire from the Scarren dreadnaughts.

And now the Coalition was attempting to retreat to the safety of their fortresses in-system.

"Have the remaining Castilian battleships focus their fire on the Coalition flagships." Dylan turned to Harper at the operations console. "Harper, it's your turn to play. Don't let me down."

"No, sir," Harper said with a grin as he grabbed a data-cable. "Rommie baby, activate those new IP Com-transceivers we installed the other day."

"Are you sure you want to test those now?" Rommie asked skeptically.

"Yeah, babe, positive," Harper said as he loaded his missiles into their tubes and targeted the Coalition capitol ships. "Let's rock and roll!"

The two dozen special missiles launched, along with a hail of jamming warheads and decoys. At least a fair number of the missiles would have to make it to their targets for this to work, and Harper made sure every one of his missiles had the best chance possible.

"Harper, the IP relays are on-line. I'm getting some very strange reactions though," Rommie admitted.

"And what would those be?" Harper asked absent-mindedly as he watched his missiles dodge toward their targets.

"I'm getting FTL signals from the Luxon, Ilanic and Independent vessels."

"Good, then the transceivers are working."

"Harper, what did you do?" Dylan asked with a frown.

"While we were looking over the Independent ships, I noticed that they had FTL communications systems. But we were about to leave the dock so I had the techs install a set on the Andromeda and was gonna test them out after the battle. You know, make sure they were compatible with our hardware."

"I think you proved that they are," Rommie said with a wry smile. "Missiles are entering deployment range. Twenty-one programs have successfully deployed and are beginning operations."

"Rommie, with those FTL com-links, I want you to operate those programs on all of the vessels except for the primary flagship."

"Acknowledged. But why not on the flagship?" Rommie asked with a frown.

"That's my boat," Harper said as he slipped the cable into his data-port.

Harper found himself suddenly in a dark place, not the usual brilliance of an AI core. He looked around in the gloom and frowned.

The ship was not completely stupid. But the AI was very rudimentary. Harper grinned as he called up several programs over the com-link.

The AI core began to light up, golden streaks running along the information lines as his programs began to take over. He watched with glee as ship function after ship function fell under his control.

If the other ships were anywhere near as easy as this, the Coalition fleet would fall within minutes.

But something happened that was very unexpected for such a success. The information lines his programs had taken over were locked down, leaving his programs to sit and wait.

And then something appeared in the AI main frame that was definitely unexpected. The image of another person, behind her a dragon with wings spread and teeth bared.

"This is a Peacekeeper Command Cruiser," the woman said with a growl. "Not the playground for you!"

The woman drew a sword, obviously a disconnect program, and charged toward him.

With a blink, Harper called up his own disconnect program and a hard-link shield, blocking the first blow from the protector.

"Who are you?" He asked as he stepped back.

"I am the Chief Program Tech on this vessel," she snarled. "And that is my AI."

The dragon roared in fury and attacked Harper, he blocked the first strikes but the dragon was relentless. Just as he was about to be booted from the main frame, Harper jumped and found himself back aboard the Andromeda.

"Damn. They may not have Rommie but those AI programs are monsters. And they have techs that watch over the main frame."

"So I noticed," Rommie said with a frown. "Of the successful deployments, only one was able to even capture any systems. Program eleven took over the internal defense systems on a Hynerian battle cruiser and eliminated the protector. Right now I am trapped in combat with the AI and can't get any back up. They jammed any further transmissions. The only reason I can keep fighting is because I have a laser-line com-link via one of the Luxon battleships."

"Keep working on it," Dylan ordered. "It seems the Coalition is going to get away for now. We need to finish off those Scarrens though."

"Agreed," Tyr said with a growl.

"All ships," Dylan ordered over the fleet com-link, "begin targeting Scarren vessels only. Pound them into dust!" * * * * * *

Lira frowned as her ships moved within the protective rang of the Peacekeeper space fortresses. Those fortresses wouldn't be safe for very long, but they would protect the Coalition ships long enough to organize an evacuation of the system.

Lira watched her tattered holo-grid as the Alliance and Scarren fleets turned their whole focus on each other.

Brilliant explosions marked the deaths of warships and their crews. The Alliance ships tore at the Scarrens with their missiles and energy mounts. Their variety of fighter craft overwhelmed the Scarren strikers, tearing the proud ships apart.

It wasn't long before the Scarrens saw the error in continuing and began pulling away. The Alliance chased, tearing at any ship that was unable to make full speed away from the battle zone. As the last Scarren ship passed out of sensor range of the Peacekeeper scanners, Lira wondered what had just been started. And how it would end.