Chapter 66
Victory on the Seventh Wave
Command and Control, Observation Dome
Babylon 5 Space Station
June 22, 2271
2:15pm
Captain Elizabeth Lochley was getting off the floor when the sixth wave of Ragendoran ships began to make a run on the station and the fleet.They had taken some losses, but the Freedom and the Liberty were still in the fight, as well as the handfuls of Federation, Klingon, and Romulan ships that had come through Sector 14. They had lost a lot of fighters as well as twenty-two Whitestars, but it was clear that the improvements that the Legendorans had made to their ships were working wonders. The station still had not been breached and they had managed to land heavy blows to each of the first five waves of attacks.
This time, though, it looked like the Ragendorans were bringing up their capital ships. Huge, dark brownish ships that looked like smoothed over giant asteroids began to pelt the fleet with laser fire. Klingon Birds of Prey swept over the enemy's right flank and took out several of the smaller support vessels, and damaged several of the capital ships.
The sixth wave was being beaten back and it looked like the enemy were retreating when jump points began to form behind the station. "Damn, the seventh wave is coming from our rear! Set defense grid for long-range dispersion fire and get those ships turned around. How long until they arrive," said Lochley.
One of the techs in the Dome, Rossinger, responded, "Ten minutes, Captain. But scanners indicate that other ships are appearing to our front as well."
Lochley looked around and saw more jump points. That was when it hit her: the first six waves were designed to weaken them, while the seventh and succeeding waves were meant to do the real work. She got a readout of the numbers of ships and managed to suppress a groan as the report indicated the entire force was twice as large as the other six waves combined. Things looked very bleak, and she thought of her lover, Matthew Gideon, and wondered how he'd take her loss, which surely seemed inevitable.
However, the fates seemed to be turning their way, as ships began to appear out of warp in front and behind the station. They looked to be those of the Earth Defense Force, but she was puzzled, because she thought that they had been all wiped out.
"Sir, those are EDF ships, but I am not able to get through to them. They have split into two groups and are heading towards the enemy on both flanks.," said another tech, Indrasingh.
"Are they powering up wave motion guns," Lochley asked.
"Unable to tell...wait one...yes! They are powering up and preparing to fire. Should be able to fire within a minute."
"Keep trying to hail them, and put down blast shields. Activate photon suppression screens to block out the glare. From what I've been told, when they shoot that thing off, it's brighter than a fusion bomb blast.," added Lochley.
The EDF ships got into position to blast the Ragendoran ships, which were already trying to spread out. However, it was too late, as the EDF ships fired off their main guns, and the powerful beams engulfed the fleet in a gleaming surge of white energy, melting and vaporizing the enemy on both flanks.
The Ragendoran ships that hadn't been caught up in the maelstrom from the wave motion cannons tried to make a suicide run at the station, but the Starfleet ships made quick work of them, and Freedom and Liberty teamed up to take down the last capital ship as it tried to retreat away.
All of a sudden, quiet slammed down in the Observation Dome, and Lochley looked around at her techs and saw in their faces the same amazement that she felt. She turned back around and looked out the window again, covered at the moment by the blast doors, and breathed a long sigh of relief. Her legs buckled for a moment, but she managed to regain her strength.
"Sir, we're getting a message from the lead ship of the EDF fleet. It's from...IQ-9000? Who is that," said Indrasingh.
"I don't care. Put them through.," said Lochley.
On the display at the main station came a visual of a robot similar to that of IQ-9 aboard Yamato. "Greetings. The Legendora gave us orders to come here and aid you in the station's defense. We are sending you our command codes and submit to your authority, Captain Lochley."
Lochley managed to focus long enough to say, "Confirmed, IQ-9000. We'll have new orders for you shortly. Standby."
Just then, the Klingon commander came online and asked, "Captain, am I crazy, or did we just get saved by an entire fleet of robotized ships?"
"You're not crazy, K'tan. I don't know why they're here, but I am glad they are.," replied Lochley.
"And here I was making plans for the warrior's feast when I made it to Stovokor! Well, maybe the gods have decided to keep us alive a while longer, and today wasn't such a good day to die.," said K'Tan.
"From what I've seen, there's never a good day to die.," mused Lochley.
Later, in the War Room, Lochley and K'Tan were joined by Romulan commander Sanlik Paetom and Starfleet Captain Siobhan Hollingsworth off Voyager, who had replaced Chakotay as he had been transferred to a new command. Captain Twanissa Hudson from the Freedom joined them as well,but the absence of the commanding officer of the Liberty reminded them of the price of the battle.
"The XO from the Liberty says that Captain Borash will live, but he'll need to go back to Earth to treat his injuries. He was severely burned when his console blew up in front of him. We're not sure if he'll be able to see again.," said a very sober Hudson.
"A pity, because while he was only commanding the ship for a short time, he was an excellent captain. So, what do you plan on doing with this newly arrived gift, Captain Lochley," said Hollingsworth.
"For now, I have them on patrol duty, being escorted by what remains of our fighters. We lost fifty percent of them, and Earth is having a hard time refilling our bays. They have the Thunderbolts, but not the qualified pilots.,' replied Lochley.
Hollingsworth looked down for a moment, composing her thoughts, then offered up an idea. "What if we trained some of our shuttle pilots to fly the Thunderbolts? We have to go back through Sector 14 anyway for rotation anyway, so why don't I send the suggestion that we have our pilots trained on them in our holodecks, then here when you get the new fighters?"
Lochley nodded and said, "Thank you, Captain. I'm not sure when we'll get them, but at least we'll have trained bodies to fly them. Let me know what Starfleet Command says."
After the meeting adjourned, she made her way back to her office to finish up some paperwork. Hudson followed her there because there was more paperwork for her as well.
"Never ends, does it? The paperwork," said Hudson.
"Nope, but tonight, I don't mind it so much.," replied Lochley.
Hudson said, "I don't either, not after today. So what else will pop up next?"
Lochley sighed, "I'm almost afraid to ask!" The two laughed as they set about wrapping up the paperwork.