Chapter 10-Unexpected factors
Eridani System
If by a strange act of any true deity out there, or just by pure dumb luck, the two allied fleets entered Vulcan space at the exact same moment. The 6 Tau'ri warships, aided by the Lancer Squadrons 'Eagles' and 'Mosquitoes' as well as the two support ships RFA Liberty and the tel'tac Sir Galahad. The Tau'ri immediately activated all shields and weapons, with the Andorians doing the same in response. The Vulcans quickly sent messages to each flagship to immediately stand-down.
The Vulcans weren't expecting such a large amount of reinforcements from the Andorians, for that matter, they didn't even expect reinforcements. Suffice to say, they weren't complaining.
Vulcan Flagship, Su'vacs Guide
The assembled fleet commander, sat at the large breifing table, the defensive plan was simple, lead the aschen ship into Tau'ri weapon fire, while the Vulcan and andorian ships did as much damage as possible on the way. It was then that the Vulcans displayed their ace in the hole.
"You have what!" asked Captain Darling of the Dawn of Honour.
"Our prototype anti-matter weapon, fired from a torpedo tube, it was designed to replace our aging nuclear torpedo armenant." Fleet Admiral Pe'loc informed the gathering.
"Bloody hell, you've got photon torpedoes" Davis said while shaking his head, before remembering something "are they effective against shielding?"
The Admiral raised an eyebrow "Of course, they were designed to take down Aschen shielding in particular, we hope what little knowledge we've gathered from the shield generator could increase their overall effectiveness."
"Whats their overall damage capability?" the Andorian task leader, General Shran asked
"The max payload is close to 40 megatons per warhead, however the delievery system is slow, and the torpedoes themselves cannot fire at very fast speeds either, while not as effective as Tau'ri weaponry, it will give us some form of heavy attack."
"Well with the battle plan set, and everyone ready, i suggest we all get back to our ships." Captain Colins, of the Dawn of Valour suggested, while the other captains left the table and began preparing.
Soon the fleet gathered themselves into formation throughout the system, the bulk of the forces bundled around Vulcan itself. Vulcan defense forces continued to jump in system to defend the home world, until the combined fleet numbers reached over 200, with the Tau'ri promising reinforcements if it came to that.
Little did the unsuspecting fleet realize, that a sub-space signal was sent just before the Aschen fleet jumped, it was Gerol's voice uttering a single word to the lone piece of Aschen technology in the Eridani system "activate."
Eridani Oort Cloud
The facility that housed the Aschen shield generator, and with it some of the greatest Vulcan minds and a few human engineers, was caught in a quick and deadly explosion. There was no warning, nor any reaction by those housed within, the explosion came and went in a nano-second. But the devastation was yet to cease, the explosion unleashed a massive energy wave that devastated anything in it path, several vessel were consumed in its wake, with the Cerberus soon to follow.
MTB Cerberus
The crew were caught off guard by the fast approaching wave of energy, attempting to out run it to no avail, Cerberus was unfortunately on the outer-edges of the system, and was about to be effected long before anyone else.
Lieutenant Bonner, was frantically trying to activate the hyperdrive, whoever's smartarse idea was to keep all Tau'ri ships deactivated to keep a low sensor profile was really screwing them over now. The hasty reboot was limiting all systems, the quick start up of hyperdrive was all he needed, he didn't even wait for the order off Captain Miller, he just pressed the button.
Vulcan Orbit
Dozens of exit points opened up in space, as the ships that escaped the wave, Cerberus included, entered into the relative safety of Vulcan. With the energy slowly dissipating, the toll was taken, 34 vessels destroyed, all Vulcan.
It was through this shameful act of terrorism, that the first losses of the 2nd battle of Eridani, nearly 10 thousand lives. Not giving them up in the defense of their home world, not even given the chance, just wisped away, without ever realizing what had happened.
The Aschen will pay for that fact alone, the captains and crews of every Tau'ri, Vulcan and Andorian vessel swore upon it.