Chapter 15
"Let's Kick This Pig…"

CRS Centauri Resplendent
Unclaimed System

The Centauri primus class warship had made its war into the depths of the system. The system was close to the Minbari and Earther space but far enough and unimportant enough that few would be bothered with the system. Obviously the humans had been there before them by the massive amounts of debris in the system.

The most surprising had been the fact that flotsam from a destroyed Minbari ship was also in the system, not quite enough to be an entire ship. That meant that the Minbari had come for any intact parts of their ship

Ignoring the debris of destroyed ships and fighters the Primus ploughed on it's small scale gravitational shield pushing away anything that could potentially damage the hull or the weapons system of the Majestic looking ship. It was only a few more minutes before the 'Resplendent' was close to the unknown energy signature.

Closing in on it they could see the anomaly was like a rip in space unlike anything else they had seen before. The crew powered up scanners to maximum trying to see if they could figure out anything about the rift.

"My lord our scans indicate some kind of forced particle sweep coming from the other side of the anomaly, it looks like some sort of scan, possibly a communications channel."

"What? Can you identify it?"

"It's not a usual type of communications channel My lord. It's some high frequency energy transmission."

"Can you secure it?"

"I think so, my lord."

"Do so."

A couple of minutes of work by the bridge crew brought the voice communications up, the visuals however were not capable due to the Interference from the anomaly.

"This is the USAF Prometheus to unidentified vessel please respond."

"That's English, the Earther prime language. The name is of one of their Ancient gods."

"What? The Earther systems are many light years from here."

"Nonetheless my lord, that is what we are hearing."

"Open up a counter frequency."

"Open my lord."

"This is the Centauri Republic Warship Centauri Resplendent to USAF Prometheus, we hear you how can we help our Earther friends today."

"You know where we're from?" asked the person communicating with them.

"Of course the Centauri Republic acknowledges their friendship with the Earth Alliance and its peoples."

HA! ADD SOMETHING HERE. THE CENTAURI SHOULD REALIZE THE IRONY OF THEIR STATEMENT. QUESTION ARE THEY AFRAID TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE 'EARTHERS' SINCE THE MINBARI ARE WITH IN GENERAL AREA?

"Umm Captain, you must have us confused with someone else, we've never heard of the Centauri."

"How could that be the Alliance and the Republic have been allies for many years."

YEAH, RIGHT

"One moment please."

The communication cut off from the other side at that as the human ship ceased transmitting. the channel was open just nothing else was coming through. The loss of transmission was ignored as the scanners of the Primus class ship started to beep an alert.

"My lord, there's something happening to the Rift. It seems to be shifting."

"Centauri vessel, this is the Achilles do you see what we're seeing?"

"Indeed Achilles, the Anomaly is changing somewhat do you know what it is?"

"Negative, we've nothing like it on record."

"Indeed."

"Hang on its growing… ahh hell! All about NOW!"

The Centauri heard the order down the communications line which cut off. Seconds later as the Prometheus class ship and the massive Ha'tak warship pulled away from the expanding rift. The Centauri ship was still too close to the anomaly as it expanded fed as it was by the differing energies of three warships from two universes and as such is was caught in the gravitational backwash of the growing rip and pulled into its embrace.

The Primus spun as it passed through the rift, it continued to tumble until it was stopped by the holding beams of one Ha'tak class mothership,. The massive ship strained the energy systems and the mechanics behind the beam to the limit before its tumble was halted by the crew of the Centauri warship.

"We've got them Sir, the ships got damage but it's not critical."

"Open up the hail again."

"Aye, Sir."

"Centauri Ship this is the Prometheus, do you require assistance?"

There was silence as the communication system tried to pick up on any incoming transmissions, there were none from the Centauri ship.

"Centauri Ship this is the USAF Prometheus, please come in."

"No response Sir, their comms may be damaged or their bridge crew may be out."

"Centauri Ship's status?"

"Their hull is intact Sir, but that's about all we can ascertain without getting someone inside theirs. Something blocking some of our scans, possibly a shield or the construction of the ship itself."

"Alright have the 'Choice' launch a cargo ship, see if they can get inside. Also contact Stargate Command. Tell them we have a First Contact, request immediate dispatch of negotiators and technical support crew."

"Aye Sir."

From the Ha'tak a single Tel'Tac class cargo shuttle launched towards the close to mile long warship. A close up of the ship showed them that it out massed both Human and Jaffa warships combined by multiple times.

The main outer hull seemed to be intact with cosmetic damage. And some damage was done to the most obvious of the ship's weapons systems. Several of the heaviest weapons had been fused shut. The ship was slowly rotating in place, its power and engine systems completely out. Only a few thrusters kept it from continuing into space.

The cargo ship banked around the ship looking for an airlock or hanger bay to attach to, the hanger was sealed shut while the few airlocks found could not take the small ship's own airlock, finally it was decided for the Jaffa aboard to ring into the ship using the cargo's transporter.

The area the Jaffa transported into was a mess, they had ringed into the largest area they could find, that being the hanger bay for the one squadron of fighters the capital ship could hold. Inside the hanger the squadron of fighters had been set for immediate launch for one reason or another, possibly to try and surround them but more likely as a precautionary measure. However the fighters were now strewn across the massive bay some intact, and some in pieces where they had struck each other, or the hull struts.

Spare parts, munitions and personnel had also been thrown around destroying much and killing everyone in the hanger bay. The ship's solid construction and material strength had held it together even with the damage taken by the hanger bay, the Jaffa patrol could see from just that one look around that no one was alive and there would be little to salvage after the ship was brought under control by the Centauri or the Jaffa.

"C'ake to Cargo ship." The Jaffa brought his communications link up to his face, "The hanger bay is badly damaged, no crew alive. We are proceeding with search and rescue proceedings."

"Cargo ship to C'ake, we receive you. Good luck."

"Out."

The patrol was broken up into three teams of three to search the areas that were adjacent to the hanger bay. All three went deeper into the ship as well as up and down decks towards the bridge and the engine rooms.

It took a while to get anywhere with the internal damage taken by the Primus class vessel with dead bodies and scattered hull pieces. There were very few survivors on board and it took quite a bit of time to cross the close to one kilometer living areas of the ship. This was even more complicated as several time the teams had to return and try other ways through damaged sections.

The first survivor found was inside one of the ship's barrack rooms. The survivor was injured but not seriously and awoke just as the three man squad pulled the damaged door open.

"Who?…" The Centauri man shrank back, his language was unfamiliar to the jaffa and as such they shifted into the Tau'ri's primary language.

"Stay calm, we are only here to help. Your ship is damaged, we are looking for the survivors to assist them." One of the other Jaffa said, the Centauri crewman knew the Earther language and as such could converse with the Jaffa.

"Thank you, you are from the other side of the rift?"

"Yes, we are Jaffa. Please come with us, we need to find any other survivors. What is your crew compliment?"

"A little under 1500 crew and pilots." The young Centauri was limping and holding his arm close to his body, he was in obvious pain but waved off the Jaffa when they asked if he wanted help.

"We have been through large sections of your ship already, the cargo and hanger bays are destroyed while many of these barrack rooms are damaged. You are the first survivor found by any of our patrols."

"Just me, me out of fifteen hundred? That's not possible."

"As I have said we are still looking but much of you ship is in pieces, you have no hulk breaches that we could find but the internal structure is compromised in many areas. We believe there may be survivors on the bridge or some other command room."

"The bridge is in the centre of the ship, a secondary control room is close to engineering the ship can be operated from there."

"Thank you, if you will come with us we shall find more of your brethren."

"Thank you all, it is appreciated by the House of Mollari."

Special Operation R&D
Io Base
Sol System
Same Day.

The Spec ops base was the Earth Alliance's most secure and classified station in Earth space, it was the hub of most of the Alliance's current research and development for use against Minbari warships. Now the station was working overtime with the newest technologies that had been brought in, already numerous systems were being stripped from the Minbari ships while the technical specs were exchanged with the Achilles crew.

The crippled Tinashi and Sharlin were now little more than hulks with spare parts, anything of any use had been stripped and was being analyzed by the best brains the Alliance could gather together. Fighters and flyers had also been removed from the intact Sharlin in order to check them out. They were now in the hands of the fighter corps on Earth.

The entire base was bustling as the next shift of scientists and technicians came aboard to continue with the deconstruction of the ships in their hands. Most moved to the massive complex where the Minbari technology was being stored while a small group headed for a smaller station where the technology given to them by the Achilles was being looked over.

Inside the station stood the key to the entire exchange between the two human powers, one F-302 stood alone inside the pressurized dock space. Unlike the other ships in their hands the 302 was intact and still being looked over before it was reverse engineered. It as well as a small ground crew from the Achilles had been transferred from Durani Station in order to fully brief the technicians at Io base.

For now the information already gathered from both sources was more than enough for the Research and Development teams to start construction basic plans from upgrades across the fleet. However even with the availability of components and personnel it would take a lot of time and effort to rebuild these systems into the ships of the fleet.

Earth Force command had sent a single Hyperion class warship to the R&D facilities as a test bed for the newest of the technologies available. With assistance from the crew of the Achilles and the technicians at Durani base, the systems installed upon the Daedalus Task force. Already the main sensor systems had been totally removed and fully integrated system based on the Achilles' design were being installed, it would take time but within weeks the ship should be ready.

Other systems such as the railguns and inertial compensators used by all SGC spacecraft were being studied by the station's personnel, none would be ready for a few weeks as even though the ships on the front lines had cobbled together some good version they were not suitable for large scale deployment

"Lt. Silverston."

"Commander Cole, nice to see you."

"Thank you. I have a message from Earthdome, they wish to see you in Geneva as soon as possible."

"Someone let the cat outta the bag huh?"

"Yeah, seems that they ain't too happy about your people being here and not contacting the bigwigs Earthside."

"Well considering the political berks we've got back home, I kinda want to stay away from them-like any can be worse than Kinsey."

As you said before-Clark and Kinsey---long lost brothers. Oh, Lord!

"We've got a few right tits here." The alder British man said. "The shuttle's going in a few minutes, I'm returning with you to Earth Force command then I'm off on leave."

"Gonna see the family, huh?"

"Yep. Got my kids to see. It's been a while."

"Let's get going."

The two officers left the control room of the Io R&D base and headed for the massive hanger section that held the numerous construction pod as well as the numerous shuttles. This was not going to be an easy time for the United States pilot.

Io Transfer Point
One hour later:

The transfer close to the Moon of Io was the replacement jumpgate into the home of the Earth Alliance. The original Jumpgate had been placed in Earth Orbit by the Centauri over one hundred years previously. With the growth of the Alliance and the knowledge of potentially harmful alien races in the immediate galactic area, the original gate had been decommissioned and moved into storage. The Io gate was now the only gate allowing ships into the system.

Close by the gate sat several linked habitats that made up the Io naval station and transfer point, around the stations a dozen Hyperion and Nova class ships were docked with almost forty civilian ships surrounding them. The massive liners and cargo ships were loading or unloading their cargoes to the Station and warships.

Fighters and shuttles were flitting to and fro from the station, many taking on leave troops back home or to their respective commands. Unlike most of the stations in the Alliance systems, the Io transfer point was unarmed as far as the main base went while the EarthForce R&D and operations stations were heavily protected.

From the closest station to the inner system, a single high-speed trans atmospheric shuttle left the hanger of the station's VIP section, the two passengers heading for Earth and a meeting with Senator William Clark.

Shala Fi (Red Star)
Shargotti Class Warship
Former Earth Alliance system
Same time

The Shargotti warship had turned away from the bulk of its fleet trailing a duo of Sharlin class cruisers and six Tinashi class frigates, the few records received from the Drala Fi before the ships had left the system had pointed out that the Achilles and a new earth ship had destroyed five of their ships within minutes. For this they were taking no chances.

The formation spread out to minimize the overlapping their fire would make and enough to allow the fighter squadrons of the larger ships to slip through and attack the Achilles, enough to soften her up before the capital ships went in.

"Shai Alyt, the task force is in combat formation, we have the Achilles on our sensors, her shields are stopping us getting a full reading of their position, however we are able to extrapolate their location and as such we will start bombardment once in range.

"Good, have the fighters cover the larger ships, the reading we have received from the Drala Fi have given us good intelligence on their Anti fighter abilities, the fighters will keep the human missiles at bay."

"Yes, Shai Alyt."

The larger than usual task force approached the Achilles slowly, the faster speed of the Achilles negated by the slower speeds of the Alliance patrol it was rendezvousing with. The Minbari ships closed faster with the Alliance warships closing to strike range. The fighters of the second group closed in with the faster frigates in order to cripple the larger Earth ships.

Starfuries from all three ships streamed out of the hanger bays of the three Alliance cruisers, barely three squadrons against over a wing and a half of Minbari fighters, the 'furies while usually no match the more powerful fighters of the Minbari would have to soak up a massive amount of firepower in order to let their home vessels escape.

The entire Starfury phalanx were capable of being armed with Air to Air Missiles for use against threat forces, these missiles had a range better than any known weapons the Minbari had, and these were put to good use as the two groups closed the range, the Minbari to firing range and the Starfuries to their own. The firing range for the human fighters for so long against the Minbari had been point blank. Now with their home vessels assistance that range was the range no other fighter had, that of their most powerful Missile weapons.

From thirty-six fighters, shouts of 'Fox Two' or 'Fox Three' were heard from all ships of the fighter wing as they accompanied the launch of seventy-two missiles from their wings, the massive salvo lanced out at the one hundred odd Nial Interceptors. Even after months of war the Minbari fighter pilots were not used to the archaic solid-state weapons that the humans used on all their craft.

As such, dozens of explosions ripped into the fighter swarm killing entire squadrons as a little more than half of the missiles impacted the Minbari fighters, other missiles were intercepted by quick thinking pilots and shot down while yet more were spoofed by the ECM systems of the fighters themselves. The last of the missile salvo were shot down by the longer ranged and more powerful weapons of the Tinashi Frigates that were approaching them, hot on the heels of the fighters.

The remaining fighters of the Minbari ranks still outnumbered and outgunned the Earth Starfuries as the two groups collided. Fusion cannons and Plasma burst impacted on all sides destroying fighters by the handful before the fighters separated their combined speeds pulling them past the others.

The 'Furies tilted up and burst out of the melee their engines burning at maximum, swinging around the fighters launched into the lines of the Minbari squadrons.

The Minbari fighters broke ranks and scattered trying to get locks on the human fighters. Both sides spun and collided once again, the telemetry from the capital ships allowing the Earth fighters to finally target their enemies. Once again pulse cannons struck crystalline armor crushing and melting through the hulls of their foes while fusion lasers cut into thick armor and sliced entire through entire sections of the fighter's hulls.

Alpha One
Aurora Starfury.
Off of the Nova Class Dreadnaught Icarus

"Alpha one to all alpha units, break into wing pairs and hit the enemy. Do not allow the bastards to take you one on one."

"The damned boneheads already outnumber us two to one, they don't need to," Alpha six responded.

"Just do it Six. We need to let the rest of the ships get out and back to Durani Station."

"Aye, Sir."

"Alpha three, Fox Two, Fox three."

"Alpha Seven, Fox three. Alpha Leader I'm outta missiles."

"Got that Seven, stay alert and hit anything that's not one of ours."

"Aye Sir, Seven out."

The remaining Members of Alpha Squadron spun in space, each coving the others as missiles and plasma bolts were exchanged with the closest enemy units. A half dozen more Minbari ceased to exist as the wing pairs started to tag team an enemy fighter every few seconds.

Even with these new tactics the outnumbered Earth forces had little chance against the more advanced and far more powerful Minbari fighters, singularly or in wing pairs. Fusion cannons of the Nials slowly annihilated the squadrons. Even with the losses on their side the humans refused to bow down before the Minbari, the few remaining units gave up any hope of survival and with that realization they became dangerous.

"Gamma six, Fox Three Fox Three, hell all foxes." One of the Starfuries released every weapons system he had in one salvo heading straight for what seemed to be the squadron leaders for the immediate squadrons. His insane charge was cut off with the destruction of his two port engines, which sent him spinning off into the guns of several more fighters. Most of his weapons fire impacted on a single fighter damaging it while the rest were shot down or dodged.

Three more Nials went down as the remnants of the lost fighter's squadron jumped the Minbari fighters hitting more and disabling them, missiles crossed paths as the last of the Earth fighters missiles impacted into their enemy fighters, killing them all.

In only minutes the Minbari had lost entire squadrons of their brethren from the long reach of the human's modified missiles, yet more had been taken out by accurate fire that had not been seen before by the Minbari fleet. More and more fighters were lost as the surprise finally lifted from the Minbari squadrons allowing them to take out more and more human pilots.

For every human fighter lost the odds turned even worse to the remaining humans. With almost a half squadron to each human fighter the Starfuries had no chance at all against the Minbari even if they were all intact and fully armed. However with this realization something had changed.

It was once claimed that there is nothing more dangerous than a man who has nothing left to lose. These few pilots now were those men and as such had become something to fear even by the Minbari warriors.

"Alpha Lead to all units, take these fuckers down and take 'em down damned hard."

The nine remaining fighters blew into the remaining squadrons of the Minbari lines, the twin pulse cannons and missiles lancing into the tightly packed flights of fighters while all power was diverted into the engines and thrusters of the small fighters engines. The nimble fighters ploughed into the enemy fighters with no heed for their own safety as they launched missiles and point blank and cycled both their primary and secondary weapons cannons through faster than the safeties usually allowed them.

Four more Starfuries were destroyed by the Minbari fighters as the berserker charge cut through their ranks. More than a squadron's worth of Nials went down under the fire of the insane human's fire causing others to break of from the combat wary of damage from shrapnel and explosive force.

Their backsides gave the few remaining Earth fighters the chances they needed to cripple or destroy the Nials with plasma fire. The maneuverability of the Starfuries more than came into play for this as the agile Human fighters landed hits to the fighters turning from them. It would have been amusing if it had not been so serious as the single fighter craft seemed to chase entire flights of enemy fighters

The final run came for the humans as the last of them came about straight into the teeth of three entire squadrons of Nials. Fire reached out and damaged the leader crippling his vessel

"ALPHA ONE TO ALL FIGHTERS, SEE YOU ALL IN VALHALLA!"

The damaged fighter of the lead pilot of the Starfury squadron, weapons down and engines crippled slammed his fighter into the closest flight of fighters detonating his power core in the process destroying four more fighters. The trio of remaining Starfuries were surrounded and destroyed by the four surviving squadrons of the Minbari attack force leaving nothing behind but debris and the dead of both sides.

-And leaving the destiny that once was set for one Lt Jeffrey Sinclair to be removed that day, a change that would reverberate through the ages, both forwards and backwards in time.