10: Dawning Alliance
by Chaoseternus
When Enerina is sent to investigate why every gate in an area of space will not establish a wormhole, she finds something totally unexpected...
NineDespite Centauri belief to the contrary, the Narn had no intention of abusing their Alliance in any way, they were gaining far too much from the Alliance in the form of technologies and the like for them to consider abuse.
The Narn did however have very firm plans concerning when the Mutual Defence Pact ended however, and they would certainly have worried the Centauri.
But as fleet after fleet criss-crossed space, the powder keg slowly began to dim. There was no attacks, no hostile actions only the puzzling search carried out with great anxiousness by the Minbari and their allies. Rumours began to circulate that much of the Grey Council had been lost when their transport had an accident and they were desperate to find them, the Minbari encouraged this.
Best the other races thought they were looking for their leading citizens, not a full fleet of advanced warships, something any self-respecting race would easily go to war over.
But inevitably, word got out.
The Brakira Krona, a member race of the League of Non-aligned Worlds was first to discover the truth, their expertise at communications technologies allowing them to capture and then decrypt a Narn Interfleet communication.
Knowing their own current state of military ill preparedness, the Brakira Krona informed the other races of the League, and then suggested the best way to get their fleets up to strength in a hurry was to find the missing fleet first, and capture it.
What remained of the League Fleets mobilized quickly, and deployed on active search and seizure missions.
The Centauri couldn't believe their luck, they had already been looking at the greatly weakened League with covetous eyes and it seemed the Narn had no intention of attacking What better time to indulge in some expansion then whilst the bulk of the League fleets were away?
The smouldering fire that was space beyond the hyperbarrier began to glow, brightly.
The Centauri Fleets, already at full Alert moved swiftly and decisively into League space, their numbers quickly overwhelming the few picket ships left to defend the worlds of the League Members. The League fell, crushed under the Centauri boots whilst their fleets returned from their search, angry and vengeful.
It wasn't long before the Victorious Centauri spotted the League Fleet that was gathering outside of their newly acquired territories, and more ships were quickly deployed from older Centauri territories as the Centauri gathered a matching fleet, to put down the few survivors of the League Navies once and for all.
But, following a suggestion from the Vree, Ambassadors had been sent to the Narn, a race that had very reason to hate the Centauri, to request an Alliance against the Centauri.
The Narn weren't eager, it might compromise their rather beneficial alliance with the Minbari but they allowed the League Ambassadors to say their piece, with Minbari observers watching.
Whilst negotiations were under way, they moved several ships straight off the assembly lines towards the Narn/Centauri border, in case the Centauri attempted to disrupt the talks.
The Centauri Officer controlling the Centauri fleets deployed on the border region was young and inexperienced. He had risen to his position of quite some power more through political manoeuvring then actual military ability. Indeed, the experienced Officers sent to lead the invasion of League space had been more then happy to leave him behind, considering him an incompetent, somebody they didn't want watching their backs in combat.
They didn't know that he would use his connections to acquire such a position whilst they were gone, if they had, they might have made arrangements.
An accident perhaps.
This young, inexperienced officer had been told by intelligence sources that the League Navies had sent representatives to the Narn to negotiate a Narn entry into the war, and he saw Narn forces reinforcing the border regions. Panicked, he assumed the worst and actually did what would have been the right thing IF the Narn were gathering for an attack.
He launched a pre-emptive strike, aiming to disrupt the Narn build up to get him time for reinforcements to arrive.
The strike was successful, wiping out the forty green ships before they could scatter to their positions in the rear of the border defences, as well as thirty other Narn ships losing only five of his own ships in the process.
The Minbari knew no strike had been ordered against the Centauri by the Narn, indeed, they had seen all too clearly how frustrated the League Ambassadors in exile were getting because of their lack of success.
Across Centauri space, effigies of a certain young nameless commander were burnt as the Minbari declared war on the Centauri Republic, joining the Narn in their defacto state of war.
The Centauri Navy now found itself with the hopeless task of policing their newly captured territories, defending against hit and run attacks from the building League fleet on the new border regions whilst still maintaining a fleet sufficient to wage war against the Narn and the Minbari.
The arrival of an unknown pyramid shaped vessel and an offer of alliance came at the right time for the Centauri and they didn't look the gift horse too close in the mouth.
Pity for them, for the Goa'uld Morden served Anubis.
The powder keg was burning, hotly brightly.
Just waiting to explode.
My Lord Morden face showed an evil smirk as he gazed through the Vo'cume at his Master, I may be able to disrupt the Tau'ri's alliance with the races in this area of space
Speak
The Narn and the Minbari are both momentarily distracted by war with another race, the Centauri but this distraction is not likely to last long, the Centauri are outnumbered and outmatched. Unless the Centauri were to gain an unexpected ally Morden trailed off, his smirk carefully hidden as he gazed upon the source of his power, Anubis.
You wish to ally us with these Centauri?
Morden hesitated, then plunged in, The more of a threat the Centauri are, the more resources the Minbari and Narn will divert from the search. If done properly, the Tau'ri may be forced to divert ships too, to help defend their allies against us. If I might have the service of maybe three more ships?
He didn't honestly believe he would get three, it would divert too many ships from his master's search but however many he asked for; he knew he would get less. Best ask for more then he wanted.
You may have them
Morden blinked, his mind elsewhere as he thanked his master.
Something was up.
His master was sending all three ships he had asked for; he had expected only one, two at most. Either Anubis felt he could carry out the search with just seven ships, possible if he kept the basestars thanks to the independent jump capability the Cylons fighters had or he now had more ships at his disposal.
If Anubis now had more ships at his disposal, then he needed to know about it and fast.
Had Anubis found the missing fleet already?
