KarlanEmperor here, I have been reading all your reviews, and thank you for your useful feedback. A few notes however are in place before I begin.
The Neutron Jammers only worked against the Earth Alliance warheads, because the nuclear fission initiator couldn't detonate, and create the necessary energy for the fusion warhead.
The Mimbari weapons where incapacitated, because they are Neutron based, and what the N-Jammers do in my regard, is that they create a Neutron-free zone, where there are no free floating Neutrons, and when the Mimbari tried to charge their weapons thy where unable to charge the Neutron accumulators, and since they charge extremely quickly, well the explosions where nearly instantaneous.
Thank you very much for your useful feedback.
I don't own either GS(D) or B5.
Advent of the Destroyers: Chapter 2: Meetings, revelations and surprises.
This is captain John Sheridan of Babylon5 started captain Sheridan over the communications system, as the crew of the Archangel watched with utmost attention you have my sincere thanks for your help in the previous engagement, however I do not know you, and would like to know first what your intentions are before deciding what to do with you said captain Sheridan very seriously, and determined.
"This is captain Murrue Ramius of the warship Archangel, we did not fire on anyone by choice, we where attacked, and decided to defend ourselves, we have no intention of fighting, but we will defend ourselves if attacked" commented Captain Ramius, also very serious.
For a moment John Sheridan seemed to think about the commentary, but soon returned from his reverie fair enough, I expect to have a meeting with you in the near future, for now stay in Babylon 5, till we know how better to proceed Sheridan out finished Sheridan, and the view screen returned to showing the immediate frontal are of the Archangel.
"Nice bunch" said Mu La Flaga from the Archangels C&C, "okay people, stand down, but be on the look out for any suspicious activity" ordered Mu La Flaga, and the whole crew relaxed, as the vessel returned to non-combat status, they could all hear the weapons systems retracting.
Alas however the peace didn't last long "Captain incoming transmission from both the Gondwana, and the Minerva" informed Miriallia Haww from her position, and looked at the screen, where a beautiful middle aged blond woman with a captains hat, and a silver haired young man with a scar on his face appeared, both with very serious expressions.
This is the Gondwana speaking, we are all fine, but we will need some time to be back in operational shape informed quickly Yzak Joule, cutting straight to the point as usual.
"That is good to hear Admiral, I am afraid you missed the whole show" informed Murrue Ramius in a semi-casual tone, trying only to lighten the Admirals temper.
Captain Gladys has informed me of everything, and fortunately we repaired the communications system jus in time to hear the last part of the conversation said Yzak Joule still in a very bad mood however, you have openly engaged an unknown power in an unknown region, for that I should court martial you, however things seem to be out of our hands for now finished Yzak Joule, and visibly calmed down.
"I am sorry Admiral, but the survival of all our crews where at stake, and we inadvertedly seemed to have caused some serious trouble to this area just by having arrived" said Murrue Ramius, as she looked at the battered shapes of the giant blue fish like ships, of which two where still drifting aimlessly, and the third one had only recently regained balance.
She is right Admiral, if anything is to happen, I will fully support her decisions said Talia Gladys.
I am not here to place blame on anyone, but the fact is that we don't know where we are, or even if we can return, from what doctor Simmons tells me, it seems that the last jump didn't just send us away from our Earth, but away from our own time commented Yzak Joule, and the answer from the two captains was nothing short of his expectations, both of them looked completely shocked.
With all due respect Admiral, is Doctor Simmons correct? asked Talia Gladys, not entirely recovered from her own shock.
I am afraid so, many of the experts in astro-navigation, and star charts have confirmed Doctor Simmons findings, and concur with her judgment said Yzak Joule, with an unhopeful voice In any case, we must immediately start getting our bearings here, wherever we may be. Captain Ramius and Captain Gladys will both accompany me, and both of our ambassadors to the space station. Captain Ramius, I want you to contact them, and tell them that we will meet them in one hour Admiral Joule out ordered Yzak Joule, and the channel was closed, leaving only Talia Gladys.
The admiral is right, we don't know anything about the surrounding area, we must learn where we are, and fast said Talia Gladys repeating the Admirals words.
"He is right, very well, we will meet in one hour at the station" said Murrue Ramius, and ordered Miriallia Haww to close the channel, and she did "Open a Channel to Babylon 5, we have a lot to discuss" ordered once again Captain Ramius, and prepared herself for what was to come.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"That went better than I expected" said Andrew Waltfeld in the assistant captain's chair on the Minerva.
"You are right, but then again that is the only course of action for us at this point in time" said Talia Gladys, and she graved her head, the possibilities whirling around in her mind, and not many good, but she soon gathered herself and looked at Meyrin Hawke, who was very focused on her instruments "tell our Mobile Suits to return, but leave squadron out for the immediate defense, and have a shuttle ready to depart in an hour" ordered Captain Gladys.
"Yes Ma'am" was Meyrin's only answer, and she immediately got to work.
"Release the bridge" ordered Andrew Waltfeld, and immediately after the entire bridge of the Minerva moved upwards, towards the main viewing window, where they could see how the Mobile Suits returned one by one.
"I have to get ready for the meeting, captain, you have the bridge" said Talia Gladys, and left the bridge.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"Get me a status report on the Minbari vessels" ordered John Sheridan, as he looked at the battle area.
"Captain, one of the Sharlins has just regained stability, the other two are still drifting" informed the sensors officer.
"That is good to hear, any progress on those repairs?" asked John Sheridan.
"Yes Captain, most of the damage has been identified, but it will take a while before it is finished, no estimates at his time" informed one of the officers in Babylon 5 C&C.
"Captain, the largest vessel of the new arrivals had regained stability, and is joining up with the other two ships" informed the sensors officer.
"Keep an eye on it, we don't know anything on them yet, so we can't let our guards down" finished John Sheridan, and heard a 'yes sir', but returned to look at the huge green ship, which as the officer said was moving into formation with the other two small vessels, he still couldn't believe the power of those vessels, or those strange mechanical humanoid crafts they operated.
Flashback
"Captain, the three humanoid fighters have just destroyed the entire fighter compliment n the Agrippa" said one of the sensors officer on Babylon 5 C&C, disbelief in every word in his voice.
"What, recheck again, that is impossible, no one can defeat 36 fighters in less than 5 minutes" said John Sheridan, and the sensors officer looked again at his screen, but when he returned to look at his face, the expression was the same, and he just stood there for a second, not believing what he was hearing.
"Sir, the three humanoid craft are attacking the Agrippa, it is suffering heavy damage" again said the sensors officer, and now it was the whole bridge that stopped, all of them expecting what was to happen "the Agrippa has just lost her forward guns, and her middle turrets are also gone, the other machine has just taken out the upper stern anti craft cannons!" yelled the officer, and the screen changed to see what was happening, and no one could believe it, in less than 5 minutes those three machines had not only destroyed 36 fighters, as if it was nothing, but they had also almost completely disarmed one of the most powerful vessels in space, with the precision of a laser scalpel, and then they saw it, the three humanoid attack craft formed on the rear end of the destroyer, and fired a huge amount of guns at the Agrippa, and in a second the whole section had been carved off the destroyer, leaving only2 huge chunks of metal in space.
"My god!" exclaimed John Sheridan, but no one said nothing, and they saw how the three craft moved onto the next group of ships
End of Flashback
"Incoming transmission from the Archangel, shall I patch it through?" asked the communications officer, and looked at the Captain.
"Put them on" stated John Sheridan more calmly.
And in a second the image of Captain Ramius was once again on the screen Greetings Captain, I hope I am not interrupting anything? said Murrue Ramius calmly, but only trying to lessen the tension between them.
"Not at all Captain, but this is getting very boring" said simply John Sheridan.
Indeed, and that is the reason why I am calling you, Me and some of my fellow commanders would like to come aboard to meet each other said Captain Ramius thinking very hard to not mess up anything, and grasping for the right words.
"I have no reason to say no to that, how long?" answered John Sheridan, more used to this kind of arguments.
How about one hour from now? asked Murrue Ramius simply.
"Very well, but I'm afraid things are not at their best right now" returned Captain Sheridan trying to create a more animate ambient.
Not to worry Captain, one hour it is finished Murrue Ramius, and simply looked at John Sheridan.
"One hour it is" finished John Sheridan, and immediately closed the channel.
"Interesting group captain" said one of the officers, but the Captain didn't turn to look
"Yes indeed" said Captain Sheridan, and simply looked at the three vessels, and how they moved swiftly, while recovering their strange, but highly powerful fighters.
XOXOXOXOXOXOX
"So you say these people, actually destroyed an entire Earth Alliance fleet with just fighters" asked a Michael Garibaldi, clearly not believing any part of the story.
"They are not really fighters, from what we where able to see they where some kind of giant mechanical humanoid attack craft" said John Sheridan trying to convince Michael Garibaldi of what he had seen on the battle field.
"I still don't believe that" Said once again Michael Garibaldi as they entered Babylon 5's hangar deck.
At that point they were all amazed at what they saw. Entering the hangar bay was a giant humanoid machine that was at the very least some 18M tall, it touched down and started walking, as if it were on a stroll. As they all followed the giant machine, a new fighter appeared, and if they felt amazed the first time, this time around, their jaws literally hit the floor, as the fighter that had just entered simply transformed itself into one of the giant mechanical humanoid machines, which they had just seen, and following them three shuttles appeared, followed one last time by the white machine, which they had seen in the battle with the Earth Alliance, and walked as easily as if it where a human, parking itself in the designated hangar.
"Did I just see, what I think I saw?" asked Michael Garibaldi out loud, to no one in particular.
"Yes Michael, you just saw that said John Sheridan, as he looked at the newcomers, who where just disembarking from the shuttles, followed immediately by the pilots of the three machines.
After a few minutes the newcomers had arrived, and awaiting them the command staff appeared, and the first to speak was John Sheridan "Welcome to Babylon 5, I am Captain John Sheridan commanding officer of Babylon5, at my right is commander Susan Ivanova, my first officer" said John Sheridan, as he looked to his right, and Ivanova nodded in confirmation "at my left is my chief of security, Michael Garibaldi" and he turned to his left, and Michael Garibaldi waved with his hand in a small gesture of agreement, but no smile on his face " and finally the one in the back is my chief medical officer Stephen Franklin" said John Sheridan, and soon enough Stephen Franklin made a salute to the new group "I express my sincere gratitude to you for your help" finished the Captain, and looked at the group, and was surprised to see, that most of them where not much older than 24, but also that they possessed extremely peculiar hair colors.
From the newcomer group came three people, and the one with silver haired, and a scar on his face spoke with a voice that was full of anger, but that carried no real threat "I am Admiral Yzak Joule, commanding officer of the Gondwana battle group, I thank you for agreeing to this sudden meeting. With me are the representatives of the UEAFT, ambassador Lacus Clyne" said Yzak Joule, and waved at Lacus Clyne, who gave the Babylon 5 crew a smile, that all of them found most disturbing, but more than her smile, and her overall attitude, the other striking detail was her pink colored hair, that was most unrealistic, but they said nothing "also Ambassador Cagalli Yula Attha" said Yzak joule turning to the blond colored female at his side, who looked at them with a serene face, but saw that her eyes radiated great strength, and a deep purpose "and the commanding officers of the other vessel of the group, Captain Murrue Ramius of the Archangel" and immediately all of them recognized her, for she was the one which had appeared to them during combat "and also Captain Talia Gladys, commanding officer of the Minerva" and they all looked at the women, who radiated military all over her features, but even though that she seemed to have a warmness, that was like a mothers "one of our ace pilots, Kira Yamato" and Kira Yamato simply nodded, and the whole B5 crew could not believe that that kid was an ace pilot, he couldn't have more than 24 years old "we come in peace, but we will not hesitate to defend ourselves" finished Yzak Joule with a finalizing tone that did not go unnoticed by the Babylon 5 crew.
"Very well Admiral, please come with us" said John Sheridan, and the whole group followed them, but as soon as they entered the main corridor, the whole crew of the Gondwana battle group stopped in their tracks as they entered the main corridor. As soon as they entered the corridor the whole group saw a huge number of different alien life forms, of which they had never seen or heard, but that no one imagined finding there.
As soon as the Babylon 5 crew sensed this, they turned and looked at the new group, and John Sheridan quickly spoke "Excuse, is there a problem?" asked John Sheridan, looking at the seemingly lost group.
"What are those?" said the angry voice of Yzak Joule, who immediately pointed a finger at several of the aliens on the stations.
"Them?" said once again John Sheridan.
"Yes them, who, or what are they?" asked Yzak Joule, this time with more calm in his voice.
"You mean to tell us, that you have never encountered alien species before?" asked this time Michael Garibaldi, with sarcasm, and more than a little humor in his voice.
"Yes, this is the first time any of us sees an alien" answered this time Lacus Clyne, with some difficulty.
"Really!" said Susan Ivanova with surprise written all over her head, and at several nods, she sent her hand to her head "Oh my god" she said in a small voice, but it didn't go unnoticed by the Babylon5 crew, or the enhanced ears of the present coordinators.
"Then I believe, that we have far more to discuss, than I had first expected, this way please, and don't worry, nothing will happen to you on this station" said once again John Sheridan, and once again the whole group walked behind him, while the crew of the Gondwana battle group took in the new discovery.
"This is really something I was not expecting" said Cagalli to Kira in a very soft voice.
"Yeah, me neither, this is simply too much to grasp so fast" replied Kira.
"This will only difficult more our options" said Lacus joining in the conversation, and going to Kiras side.
"You're right, but we must not feel overwhelmed by this, no matter how incredible it actually looks" said once again Kira, as they rounded one more corner.
"We cannot hide this to the rest of the crew, they must know as well, this is too big to cover up" said Cagalli in a very weak voice most unlike herself.
"You're right, we can't, but we will deal with that as it comes" said Lacus, as the group finally reached a large gathering room, where they all sat.
John Sheridan was the first to speak "Very well, since the introductions are already over, I believe we should get straight to business, who are you, and why are you here?" asked John Sheridan, saying the last question with threatening voice.
"Captain, I do not fell the need to tell you who we are, but if you must really know, we are simply explorers, we come from Earth-" started Cagalli Yula Attha, with a very authoritative voice, but was interrupted.
"Earth? ha if I've ever heard one, we are from Earth, and you just fired on vessels that made part of the Earth Government" said Michael Garibaldi, glaring at the whole group.
"We figured as much from those vessels, but from what we have gathered, we may probably be from somewhere in the past" said now Lacus Clyne, in her innocent voice, and they all looked very perplexed by this statement.
Finally John Sheridan spoke "that's impossible, we have no record whatsoever of any vessels like yours, or even giant robot machines" he said in a stressed, but authoritative voice.
"May I ask what year it is?" asked Lacus Clyne in her sweet voice, again startling the Babylon5 crew because of its niceness, and lack of evil.
"If you must know the year is 2260" said Susan Ivanova looking directly into Lacus Clyne, who only nodded, and bowed her head.
"2260? then that would mean-" started Cagalli, in a worried voice but she was interrupted.
"That it is the year C.E. 245" said Yzak Joule in a finalizing tone.
"Excuse me, C.E.? what does that mean?" asked John Sheridan after Yzak's Joule commentary
"The Cosmic Era, or C.E. calendar started on Earth in the year 2015, after John Glenn returned from his survey from Jupiter" said Murrue Ramius, who looked very worried "but for you this should be ancient history" sated Murrue Ramius, as she realized what she had just said, and looked at the group of their hosts.
All the crew of Babylon 5 where at a loss, and Michael Garibaldi broke the silence "that must be a real joke, humans didn't go beyond the moon till before 2090, when the Earth Alliance created the first Mars colony, and you are telling us that someone actually went to Jupiter long before the first Moon bases where established!" finished Michael Garibaldi, and the whole crew agreed with his commentaries, while the Gondwana group where nothing less than shocked.
Finally it was Kira Yamato who spoke, his voice very calmed, yet powerful, but not threatening "then it seems, that we have gone far beyond simple time, we seem to be in a alternate universe" finished Kira Yamato, and the whole Gondwana crew looked at the table, the realization not having yet sunk in.
"You mean to tell me, that you are from a whole other universe?" said Stephen Franklin with a face of great incredulity.
"Apparently so" said Yzak Joule, and immediately smashed his fist into the table, with so much strength that he actually left the mark in the metal table, astonishing the Babylon 5 crew.
A few moments went by, and no one said anything, the ambient of the room became even more intense, and finally Michael Garibaldi spoke "so if you are from another universe, do you know how to get back?"
All of them looked at their hosts, and it was Kira Yamato who spoke "I do not know if we can do that, we don't really know what brought us here", and he looked at Lacus Clyne, whose face had lost its initial cheerfulness, and was now very preoccupied.
"Then, what do you plan on doing?" asked John Sheridan, not knowing where to go really.
"We don't know at this moment, we barely understand what is happening, we must think on our next course of action" said Murrue Ramius, but did not look up, all the revelations whirling around in her head, but not an answer.
"I see, well, you have my sincerest apologies, however, we would like to know other things, your giant mechanical fighters, what are they?" asked again John Sheridan, and he saw how the other group reacted in a very worried way, which meant, that there was a lot of issues regarding that topic.
"Captain, at this moment we are not ready to release anything about our technologies, but if you must know they are known as Mobile Suits" answered Talia Gladys, glaring at John Sheridan.
"Mobile Suits?" asked Susan Ivanova, her curiosity spiked.
"Commander, I would like to not answer that question right now" said Talia Gladys, now glaring at commander Ivanova.
"Why not? What do you have to hide?" asked Michael Garibaldi, as always not trusting any comments, and looking for any loop holes in the argument.
"Because Mr. Garibaldi, those are restricted Military secrets, and at the moment, we do not wish to give away any technologies, especially to people we have barely met, however, where you to tell us about that purple vessel outside, we may be more inclined to change our position" said Murrue Ramius trying to lay a bait for them.
"The White Star?" asked John Sheridan.
"So that is the name of that vessel" said Lacus Clyne, pondering about the significance of the name in relation to the vessel itself.
"I am afraid, that like you I cannot help you with that, strict military secrets" said John Sheridan closing the argument.
"Indeed" finished Yzak Joule closing the argument finally, and following it the whole group fell silent.
"Very well, since we have finished that subject, I believe that we could go for a visit of Babylon 5" said John Sheridan, in a casual tone, trying to relieve the tension.
"That would be most appreciated" said Lacus Clyne in her sweet voice, and with an agreement of the whole group they all got up, and left the room.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
After leaving the meeting room the whole group, they went into a tour of Babylon5, where they visited the Zocalo, the Alien sector, where the Gondwana group got their first glance at how different other Alien life forms lived, and as they passed through the alien sector they all found Kosh, who was entering his room. As soon as Kosh saw the newcomers group, he stopped, and looked at all of them.
"This is ambassador Kosh, of the Vorlon Empire" said John Sheridan, and pointed at Kosh, who stood immobile at his statements "ambassador, this is the part of the group of people, who helped us earlier in the fight against Earth" finished John Sheridan, introducing the new group, who looked at Kosh.
Suddenly Lacus Clyne grabbed her head, and started to struggle fiercely for a few seconds, before she composed herself. Despite the astonished looks of the whole group, Lacus Clyne, simply composed herself, and soon glared at Kosh, who by now seemed to be struggling with the young female to everyone's astonishment, but as they returned to look at Lacus Clyne, they all saw that her eyes where different, deeper, and instead of their cheerfulness, they looked like someone who knew far more than anyone, and no one spoke, for the tension in the air seemed to have taken the words out of them.
Finally Lacus Clyne spoke "You will not enter my mind, I will not permit you" she said, however Kosh did not seemed to flinch, but the iris of his encounter suit opened and closed rapidly, as if trying to show the turmoil of his master.
After a few seconds the Iris on Koshs encounter suit stopped, and Kosh voice seemed to fill the whole area "Impertinent" he said, and he moved on to his quarters, the door closing behind him.
As Kosh entered the room they all looked at Lacus Clyne, and Kira Yamato was the one at her side "are you okay?" asked Kira in a worried voice.
"Yes I'm Okay Kira, don't worry" said once again Lacus Clyne, and as he looked at Kira and the others, they all saw that her eyes where once again at their normal, lacking that huge depth, that seemed to have filled it just a few seconds before.
"Did you just stop Kosh from scanning you" asked a very surprised Susan Ivanova.
"Scan?" returned Lacus Clyne, not really understanding what commander Ivanova said.
"She means someone trying to read your mind" supplied Stephen Franklin, looking just as surprised as the rest of the group.
"Oh, yes, it was not easy, he is extremely strong, but he couldn't enter my mind, almost as if something was effectively blocking him, not allowing him to enter" said Lacus Clyne, an the whole Babylon 5 crew was shocked at this statement.
"I believe that we should move on, but you Ms. Clyne Should go to MedLab" said Captain Sheridan, and they all agreed, and as doctor Franklin left with Lacus Clyne (with Kira holding her) he turned to Susan Ivanova, and Michael Garibaldi "did you see her eyes?" he asked yes.
"Yes, they where very different, almost frightening" said Susan Ivanova, still shocked by what had just happened.
"If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have believed it, she resisted a Vorlon, but the worst part that Kosh was really trying to get into her mind, did you both looked at the way his iris moved?" said Michael Garibaldi.
"Yes, we have better watch them, they are an unascertained group" said John Sheridan, and looked at the rest of the group, which nodded, and then looked at the other group, who where also in a heated discussion.
"Lacus's reaction to him was almost instantaneous, the stress must have been enormous to activate her seed" said Murrue Ramius, and looked at the rest of the group.
"I do not like what happened, we may have just given a huge advantage too soon" said Yzak Joule rethinking the scene that had just happened.
"However, I would like to know, why did that being attacked her out of the blue, it makes no sense" said Talia Gladys also analyzing the situation.
"I believe that our hosts have some explaining to do" said once more Murrue Ramius, and they all looked at their hosts, who where looking at them very carefully trying to size them up.
Finally it was Yzak Joule who spoke, with his angry tone, but now with a threat behind it "I believe, that you owe us an explanation?"
"Yes, I believe that is true, but no in here, let's get out of here before anything else" said John Sheridan, and the whole group followed him, soon leaving the alien sector, and their rebreathers.
Soon after they had left, it was Yzak Joule who spoke "So, who was that guy, and what happened?" asked Yzak going straight to the point.
All the Babylon 5 group looked at each other, and it was John Sheridan who answered "That character, was Ambassador Kosh, of the Vorlon Empire, one of the largest empires in this parts of the galaxy, and one of the first ones" said John Sheridan thinking very hard on his answer.
"What are the first ones?" asked Talia Gladys, not leaving any loose ends.
After this question the Babylon 5 crew looked at each other, worried of their answer, as if there was something that they didn't want to say, something that didn't go unnoticed by the Gondwana crew. "Well? Who are the first ones?" asked Cagalli starting to get annoyed because no one gave any answers.
"The first ones are part of a, you could call it a generation of life of the galaxy, beings who have existed in this galaxy for millions of years" said Susan Ivanova.
"Then if they are so old, then they should also be very wise" started Murrue Ramius "then, why would they attack us without provocation?" asked Murrue Ramius finally.
"Ambassador Kosh didn't attack Ms. Lacus, he tried to scan her" said Michael Garibaldi very annoyed by the thought, and answering through his teeth.
"Scan?" asked Yzak Joule
"It means that he was trying to read her mind" said Susan Ivanova, who was very annoyed by the sheer thought.
"Read her mind? But why?" asked a very bewildered Cagalli, who looked very pensative, due to the conversation.
"We don't know, and we don't think we will get an answer, Vorlons are not known for being explicit or talkative" commented John Sheridan, and immediately looked away "I believe, that we should carry on, if anything happened to Ms Clyne Doctor Franklin will find out" finished Sheridan, and they all left to follow, but the tension between the group had not diminished.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"Well Ms Clyne, from what I can tell, there doesn't' seems to be anything wrong with you, if anything you are the healthiest woman I have ever known" said Doctor Franklin, as he looked at his instruments, under the watchful gaze of Kira Yamato.
"Thank you very much Doctor" said Lacus Clyne, and immediately left the bed, and went to Kira Yamatos side.
"Very well then, but I would like to know something if I may ask?" said Stephen Franklin, trying to look very nice, and immediately afterwards Lacus Clyne returned to look at him.
"Very well, ask and we may answer" said Lacus Clyne in a sweet voice that sounded almost childish.
"I looked at your scans, and they tell me, that you seem to be in great health, have you ever been sick or anything, that we should know about?" asked Stephen Franklin trying his best not to sound too intrusive.
"No, I have never been sick, but if you need anything else, I will try to arrange the exchange of some of our medical files" said Lacus Clyne, in her childish voice, but it didn't go unnoticed to Doctor Franklin, that it meant that there where not going to be any information of any sorts.
"Very well Ms Clyne, you may go, I will have someone escort you to C&C, I believe that the Captain and the others may be in there already" said Doctor Franklin, and instructed one of the guards to go with them.
"Thank you very much" said Kira Yamato, and immediately wrapped his arm around Lacus Clynes waist, and escorted her out.
As soon as both of them had left Stephen Franklin went to the computer, and started scanning the samples he had taken from Ms Clyne, something in his medical instincts told him that something very important was missing. For a few minutes he simply looked at his screens, and didn't; know what to look for, until he started studying her DNA sequence, and then he found it, what he was looking for, he immediately made a backup copy of his findings, and left for C&C, knowing that what he had found explained more than he wanted to know, but also raised many questions.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
The group entered the C&C of Babylon 5, and as they entered, the entire staff turned to salute their captain, but they soon received the order to return to work, and they did. The C&C looked to be in a very bad shape, there where support plates over some parts of the room, some of the screens where cracked, and the room looked messy. All around they saw the technical group working hard to try and restore the room to its original glory, but anyway the group moved.
As they moved John Sheridan showed them the few screens that still operated, but as he showed the station controls, he saw that of the group, only Murrue Ramius, and Cagalli Yula Attha where really paying attention, while Talia Gladys, and Yzak Joule lost their true interest within just a few seconds, this observation did not go unnoticed by either Michael Garibaldi or Susan Ivanova, as they moved from station to station, in the end they arrived at the main screen, and the observation deck.
"This is the observation deck, and it also contains the main console" started John Sheridan, as he showed the station, and starting changing the screen "from here we can observe every part of the station, and monitor traffic, as well as access weapons, communications, and outside sensors" as John Sheridan continued however they all noticed, that both Talia Gladys, and Yzak Joule had stopped paying keen attention, and Yzak Joule looked really annoyed, and Michael Garibaldi couldn't take it anymore with his attitude.
"You seem to be rather unimpressed Admiral Joule, care to explain why?" said Michael Garibaldi looking straight at Yzak Joule, who returned his look, with a very angry glare.
"If you must now Mr. Garibaldi, I find it amazing that you can operate with a system like yours, it is so" said Yzak Joule, but he didn't finish his sentence.
"Inefficient?" said Talia Gladys, who looked at the system, and only sighed, not knowing how it could truly work.
"Yes exactly" said Admiral Joule now really annoyed.
"If you find it so inefficient, then why don't you show us how to make a better one?" said Michael Garibaldi trying to lure the Admiral into a trap.
"Hmmph, it is not worth my time" said Yzak Joule, and looked directly at Michael Garibaldi, who had a huge grin on his face.
"Then if you can't do anything about it, why don't you simply keep your commentaries to yourself" said Susan Ivanova, annoyed at the Admirals comment, and as she finished, the doors to C&C opened, and in came Lacus Clyne, and Kira Yamato and all looked at them.
"MR. Yamato, Mrs. Clyne, I expect that everything went well" said John Sheridan, as the two people mentioned got closer, and he tried to relieve the atmosphere.
"Yes, everything went well, thank you very much" said Lacus Clyne, and made a small vow of thankfulness.
"You are very welcome, now as I was explaining, this is the stations C&C" said John Sheridan, and gave the two late comers a small review of what he had already said, and when he finished he returned to the group, who where just waiting for John Sheridan to finish. "Well, that is the tour, what do you think?" asked John Sheridan, trying to have some feedback.
"It is a very interesting command center captain, but I noticed, that your systems are somewhat inefficient" said Kira Yamato, as he looked at the main consoles screen, and saw several mistakes on the processing, and the overall system.
"You are the second one to say that" said John Sheridan in atone that was as much an answer, as it was a statement.
"Really?" asked Kira Yamato somewhat amazed.
"Yes Admiral Joule said exactly the same thing, just not so tactfully" commented Michael Garibaldi and getting a glare from Yzak Joule.
"Is it true Admiral?" asked Kira to Yzak
"Yes" was Yzak's only reply.
"So, since you have said the same thing, why don't you do anything about it?" asked Susan Ivanova trying to lure them.
"I do not think that is a very good idea" said Cagalli, who had been strangely quiet all this time.
"And why not?" asked Michael Garibaldi, in a somewhat menacing tone.
"Because.." started Cagalli, but she didn't have a good answer, not without giving Kira's secret away.
At this statement all of them looked at her, but she simply shrugged back, under the gaze of so many people, but Lacus saved her "because at the moment it wouldn't be wise to upgrade your OS, it would take too long, and force you to be vulnerable at a time when you have to be at your best" said Lacus Clyne.
"Very well, but if you can make a better system, I would like to know it before you install it" said John Sheridan trying to calm the situation.
"Oh, we will, believe me" said Yzak with a face full of anger.
"Well, now that the tour is over, I believe that you should return to your ships, I am sure, that there is much that you must inform to your crews, do not worry, as long as you are in Babylon 5 we will try to protect you" said John Sheridan, and directed them to the docking bay.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Soon after the Gondwana crew had retreated, Delenn entered through the customs office, and greeted John Sheridan with a hug and immediately turned to look at him with a worried face "John, who where those people, and what are those machines?" asked Delenn, fear written in all her face.
"I will tell you, but not here, lets' go to the meeting room, there is much to discuss" said John, and immediately all of them went to the meeting room, where they where met by doctor Franklin, and the first lieutenant, who looked very worried.
"Very well, I would like to know what you found out about them" said John Sheridan, as they had all seated, getting straight to the point.
"I did a full exam on Mrs. Clyne, and what I found is nothing less than worrying" said Stephen Franklin, with a worried expression
"Go on" said John Sheridan, and centered on Stephen Franklin, who got up, and went to a nearby screen, where he showed two DNA strand one on top of the other.
"While I did the physical examination I noticed, that her reflexes, her sight, and other parts of her physical appearance where not within what we can consider normal parameters, her pink hair most noticeably" said Stephen Franklin, and he had all the crews undivided attention "however the real surprise came when I analyzed her DNA, although her DNA is just like any humans, the information within them has been altered severely" finished Stephen Franklin.
"What kind of modification?" asked Susan Ivanova, the most worried of all of them.
"Well, even though she has only 23 years of age, her body is in perfect health, her immunological system, has been enhanced to the point where she is virtually immune to most known diseases transmissible to humans, most of the major alien diseases can certainly infect her, but they would be less dangerous than to any of us, and she would have a far bigger survivability chance than any of us in those cases" said Stephen Franklin, and stopped to take a breath, before continuing, and as he did this, he saw that the whole crew where very perplexed by the revelation "also her physical strength, reflexes, and mental capacities are far superior to a normal human, even though her age is relatively young she has greater strength than a Mimbari female of similar age, and is an almost even match for a Narn female, plus her reflexes are several times sharper, and more precise than any of ours could ever hope to be, to the point where she literally sees our movements in slow motion" again Stephen Franklin stopped, and he saw that the gathered staff where even more worried, but they allowed to continue "however, as we all saw her mental abilities are by far her most enhanced abilities, now I don't know what caused her to be able to stop ambassador Kosh-" commented Stephen Franklin, but was interrupted.
"Excuse me, stop Kosh?" asked Delenn very worried by he statement.
"Yes, during the visit of the representatives of the new vessels that defeated the Earth Alliance Vessels, ambassador Kosh tried to scan one of them Mrs. Clyne, but even though Kosh tried very hard he was unable to scan her, and simply left" said John Sheridan relieving the moment.
"But that's impossible, only a first one can stop the scan of another" said Delenn, as if the simple affirmation said all that needed to be said.
"Well, that is not true Mrs. Clyne stopped a scan from Kosh, by the looks of it a very deep scan" said Susan Ivanova, not knowing if to really believe it or not.
Delenn tried to say something, but the fact that several of his most rusted friends really affirmed this shook all of her convictions about the Vorlons, and the first ones.
Stephen Franklin knowing that the argument had finished cleared his throat and once all of them looked back at him he continued "as I was saying, there is no reason that I can see in her DNA profile that explains this occurrence, but her profile does show us that her synapse response time is far shorter than any humans, and her ability to analyze and interpret data is far superior to any of ours, she can for what I can see quite literally read binary code, and analyze it" said Stephen Franklin, but as he stopped to take a breath he saw that his audience was very thoughtful "did I miss anything?" asked finally Stephen Franklin.
"Well, from what you just told us, we are not really surprised, as soon as we showed our guests our systems at C&C, they immediately qualified them as inefficient" said John Sheridan.
"I see" said Stephen Franklin, and thought about that for a second "so this is not just an isolated case" finished Stephen Franklin.
"No, at least three individuals in the group said the same thing about our systems, and they had barely had a look at them" sated Michael Garibaldi looking worried.
"Very well, is there anything else Doctor?" asked John Sheridan, and Stephen Franklin simply shook his head, and returned to his seat.
"Now, what did you find about those three machines they brought with them?" asked John Sheridan to their senior lieutenant.
"Captain, what I can say in short is that the techs on the docks where nothing less than stupefied, when they looked at the machines" said the lieutenant, and soon he stood, and went to the same screen where Stephen Franklin had made his presentation, but now it showed the readings of the three machines "these machines, are truly real pieces of engineering, they are far superior to our own Auroras, and Thunderbolts, none of them would have a chance in a 1-on-1 battle, and from what the sensor logs show, they would be outclassed by them in pretty much any kind of confrontation that was not at least 4-to-1, however, this specific machine" said the lieutenant, and the screen showed the readings of the Strike Freedom "which was in the earlier confrontation with the Earth Alliance forces effectively outclasses our whole complement of Auroras, and Thunderbolts, and although I don't want to think it, I believe that it can even go against a White Star, and have a very decent chance of victory" and at this commentary all the eyes in the room immediately jumped with the revelation "while analyzing the sensor data, and the readings we took from when it came into our cargo bays, we have found out that this machine seems to have a reactor that is superior to any fusion reactor we have, but the most shocking results where these" said the lieutenant, and the screen now changed to show the readings of one of the sensors, and all of them recognized the readings "as you can see that is quantium 40, it is the power source for this machine, but it is being consumed in a very efficient manner unlike our own jump engines, from the readings that we gathered, this method is so efficient, and power intensive, that at the maximum output, that we got from this machine during the battle it would still take it over 2 years to consume it's power reserves" again the whole audience was nothing less than shocked at the news.
"My god, that is some power, no wonder that machine almost destroyed a whole Earth destroyer all by itself" said Susan Ivanova.
"However that is not all, as we scanned the machines, there where parts that we where unable to scan, plus we where also unable to enter the cockpit of the machine. It seemed to possess a lock that only Kira Yamato can undo" said the Lieutenant, and stopped, knowing that his superiors had questions for him.
"Anything on the weapons or armor?" asked Michael Garibaldi, trying to get as much information on these machines as possible.
"That is part of the problem, we where unable to completely analyze their weapons, from what little we where able to analyze, is that their main weapons where some kind of photon accumulators, in the records, they would be the green beams they where firing" said the Lieutenant, and the image changed to show the green beams fired from different weapons types "the cannons on the hips however seem to be railguns, very advanced and powerful, they could easily penetrate the armor of the destroyers, and leave a huge damage on their path" said once again the Lieutenant, and the monitor once again changed to show the weapons in action and how they passed an Earth Alliance destroyer from one side to the other "however the main cannon on the torso of the machine is a complete mystery to us, from what little we could gather is that it seems to shift energy in a different phase, and fire it with incredible strength, and power" once again the screen changed, and there was the Strike Freedom firing it's Multi-Phase energy cannon with impressive results "however of all the weapons on this machine, the only ones we where unable to decipher at all where the self propelled heavy guns stored on the wings, all we know of them is that they put to shame anything in maneuverability, and that they carry anti-warship grade weapons, but we have no idea as to how they manage to operate them or even how they communicate with them to be able to return them with such precision during a fight" said the Lieutenant, and the screen now change to show how the Strike Freedom deployed its DRAGOON wings, and started attacking several groups of Auroras, and destroying them with incredible precision, and then how they attacked the Earth Destroyers turrets, and overwhelmed them with a maneuverability that the anti-fighter turrets where unable to follow, and where systematically destroyed with machine like precision, and once they where finished with the Earth Destroyer they simply returned to the machine that possessed them, as if they where completely still in a contained lab, whilst still moving at high speed.
Once the video footage had finished, the whole crew was agape, what they had just seen was nothing short of miraculous, and also showed how advanced these newcomers where, but most of all it showed that the pilot of that machine, whom they had met was exceptional, his skill where amazing ,and extremely precise "Incredible, the control, the precision, everything is amazing, that machine is really amazing, nothing in the Earth Alliance arsenal could hope to match what that machine had just done" said John Sheridan, as he looked once again at the last footage paying keen attention to the details.
"What about the short range beams that they carried?" asked Michael Garibaldi seeing that the report had missed that important detail.
"Well, those weapons, which are stored in the hips of the machine itself, seem to be some kind of high energy plasma cannon, held at bay by a very powerful magnetic field, that effectively contains the high energy plasma into a short range weapon" said the Lieutenant, and changing the screen to show how they where used during the fight, as the weapons simply slashed one fighter after another, and left huge trails of destruction on several of the warships, on which they where used.
"With that kind of power it would be impossible for us to stop them, but what about their defenses?" said John Sheridan, very interested in these machines.
"Well, here is where it gets the most confusing" said the lieutenant, and again the screen changed, this time the Strike Freedom stood in the hangar bay all grey, but after a short time it changed color to its bright white black blue and gold, and all the audience was confused.
"What does that mean Lieutenant?" asked Susan Ivanova, not getting what she had just seen.
"I don't really know ma'am, but from the readings it seems that when the machine was activated a huge ionic field was generated throughout all the armor, and once it was fully activated the whole color had changed" said the Lieutenant somewhat confused by the report "the second defense system however seems to be far more powerful and efficient" said the Lieutenant, and once again changed the screen, and now it showed how the Strike Freedom used its beam shields to stop several incoming hits from the Auroras and Thunderbolts that where attacking it "this seems to be some kind of energy shield, that effectively stops the energy weapons directed at it, but we where unable to get a clear reading on the emitters on the forearms" said the lieutenant "when compared to this model the other two models do not represent so much of a threat" finished the Lieutenant, and looked a the whole crew, and how surprised they where.
"Hmmm, now that we know something about them it only raises more questions, why would they need something that powerful, but more important than all is, now that it is in our backyard, how can we stop it?" asked John Sheridan, reviewing all the information, and looking even more worried than before.
"From the readings we got, that thing has a power plant more powerful than some of our fusion reactors, and it is more maneuverable than pretty much anything we've got, not to mention that it is in a very maneuverable fighter chassis" informed the Lieutenant trying to answer his superior officer.
"Very well, now what about their warships?" returned John Sheridan.
"Well, we have very little on these vessels, there seems to be some kind of high powered jamming device emanating from those ships, and even direct scans are unable to penetrate whatever it is that protects their vessels, we can see them, even target them, but no more" informed the Lieutenant.
"That doesn't help us much" said again John Sheridan.
"I know sir, but that is almost all we've got, the only other thing that I can tell you is that those vessels pack some serious firepower" said the Lieutenant, and showed how the two small vessels fired at the two Earth alliance destroyers, and almost vaporized them.
Everyone in the room was silent, as the footage of the two ships showed, and one Earth Alliance destroyer was carved in two, and the other was sectioned from its engine section, and when the third Earth Alliance destroyer attacked them an energy field simply appeared when the beams of the Earth warship approached, and where effectively stopped, before one of the small machines destroyed the entire forward section of the Earth vessel.
"I can barely believe it? Three Earth Alliance destroyers destroyed by two corvette class vessels!" exclaimed an almost outraged Susan Ivanova, as she looked at the table deep in thought.
"It is even more than that, before the last two destroyers left, they launched four nuclear missiles to the new vessels" said the lieutenant, and the screen changed to show four missiles heading for the small corvette class vessels "however as these missiles impacted the vessels, there was no nuclear reaction, it was as if it had never occurred" informed the lieutenant.
"That's impossible, no nuclear reaction can be cancelled" said Michael Garibaldi somewhat skeptical.
"We know that sir, but during the whole battle these vessels where irradiating some kind of jamming on the whole battle area, that permeated everything to almost two miles further from Babylon 5, we theorize that this may have something to do with that, but again we have no real proof to support it" informed again the lieutenant.
"If that is true, how could they do it?" asked John Sheridan.
"Unknown sir, all we know is that it was a very powerful jamming system, but not powerful enough to cripple our sensors" said the lieutenant.
"Hmmm… again more questions, but not enough answers" said John Sheridan with his hands over his hands, and looked at the lieutenant "anything else lieutenant?"
"Not at this moment sir" said the lieutenant, and looked at his captain.
"Very well ,take your seat" said John Sheridan and indicated the seat "now, one last item, as you know the four Sharlins that to our rescue somehow suffered a major systems malfunction the moment they charged their weapons" said John Sheridan, and he moved to the screen, where he showed how the four Sharlins weapons simply exploded for no apparent reason "this creates a serious problem for us, without the Minbari our defenses are severelly reduced, and we would like to know what happened?" asked John Sheridan in a calmed tone to Delenn.
Delenn immediately turned to face the whole gathered staff "I received some reports from the captains of our vessels, our weapons systems overloaded once they started to charge, for some reason they where unable to gather the neutron particles in the neutron capacitors, and simply exploded while trying to charge" said Delenn, answering as best she could the question.
"Why would something like that happen, I mean why wouldn't they be able to charge?" asked Susan Ivanova somewhat unsure of her own question.
"I do not know, the reports state that it's as if the neutron particles where simply dispersed as they where generated" answered Delenn.
"The only anomalous reading on the entire battle was the jamming from the new vessels, aside from that jamming, there where no other unknown variables that might have caused the neutron particles to simply disperse" informed the lieutenant, trying to shed some light on the situation.
"Yes, but how would it be able to disperse neutron particles, it would make no sense unless?" said Michael Garibaldi, as he thought about the situation, and looked at the others.
"Unless?" asked John Sheridan, but it was clear that they all thought the same question.
"I am not sure, but analyzing the situation with the nuclear missiles, and the coincidental explosions of the neutron based weapons, I believe, that the jamming from those vessels wasn't simply an ECM device" said Michael Garibaldi, and looked at all of the crew, they where all expecting him to finish his idea, but he was very sure, that they had pretty much drawn the same conclusion "my conclusion is that the Jammer they used was somehow designed to stop nuclear reactions, by eliminating any free floating neutrons, that might trigger it" finished Michael Garibaldi, the rest of the crew, and Delenn in particular where amazed by the revelation, as it sunk in.
It all made sense, the nuclear warheads couldn't be initiated, the main nuclear activator couldn't be activated, and thus there is no reaction to trigger the fusion blast, and no neutrons mean that the weapons simply overloaded, because there where no neutron particles to charge. "If what you say is true Michael, then our friends out there have a great deal to explain" said John Sheridan, still thinking about the implications of such a device.
"I will have to speak to my government to send us some replacement vessels, and to try and explain what has happened" said Delenn looking very worried "but if what Mr. Garibaldi says is true there will be no easy arrangement with the new arrivals" said Delenn, and again the room was silent.
"Very well, with that finished, I call this meeting adjourned, dismissed" said John Sheridan, and all of them saluted, and simply left.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
"Very well, let's begin, there is much that you should know" informed Yzak Joule as he greeted all of the command staff of the small force. The staff consisted of Murrue Ramius, Neo Lorrnoke, Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, and Cagalli Yula Attha from the Archangel, Talia Gladys, Andrew Waltfeld, Shinn Asuka, Rey Za Burrell, and Lunamaria Hawke from the Gondwana, and Yzak Joule, Dearka Eltsman, and Erica Simmons from the Gondwana. "As you all know, we made a recent visit to the space station which is right now sponsoring us out of a debt of gratitude, however there is much more than this debt to this space station" said Yzak Joule who was deep in thought about the whole incident.
"While we where on the station, we observed a great deal about the population, their systems, and their overall capacity, but what we found most disturbing of all was this" said Lacus Clyne, who went to a computer console, and showed images of their time at the station (the camera was in Lacus's pin, it has many uses, and as you all know Lacus Clyne is extremely clever despite her bubbly façade), and as these images where shown, the whole crew was silent in shock, walking all around where different types of humanoid, and not so humanoid beings. All of the crew knew that there where alien life forms, but actually seeing one was another story, the only one who was not really impressed was Rey Za Burrell, who maintained his stoic façade. "As we entered the station, and during most of our transit in it we saw all of these different alien species, however we have little or no information on any of them, not even names, but we will try to learn them as soon as possible" informed Lacus Clyne, while the whole crew recuperated from the shock.
The first one to speak was Andrew Waltfeld "Do we even know which ones are hostile?" asked Andrew Waltfeld, as always trying to be the perfect strategist.
"As I said, we have little or no information, but we will get it as soon as possible" informed once again Lacus Clyne.
"As you experienced, our shock was exactly the same, and as we see this, I know what you are all thinking, and know that trying to keep this a secret will not be possible" commented Yzak Joule, with his head rested on his inter-wined hands still deep in thought. "That is why we will make the announcement to the crew tomorrow at 10:00 hours sharp, but the most problematic part will probably be the reactions from the crew" said again Yzak Joule, but as he looked at the faces of all the present his intuition was right, they where all thinking the same thing, they where more worried about the repercussions, than they where about the information itself, even though the government had been unified, and a relative peace was accomplished, the hate between naturals and coordinators had not truly closed, and now they had to deal with unknown alien races, who might not look up to neither of them.
"What should we do in case of a massive out rising from the crews?" asked Talia Gladys very concerned with security.
"In that case the only choice we have is to seal all doors with locks, and try to calm them, but I know it will not come to that, not at the very beginning at the very least" said Yzak Joule running all the possible scenarios in his mind.
"Still, we have in our hands a problem that will adversely affect our entire contingent just by itself" commented Athrun Zala, and looked to Cagalli, who incredibly was quiet and deep in thought about the situation.
"Unfortunately it only gets worse" commented Kira Yamato looking at Lacus Clyne, who was very preoccupied by the information they possessed.
"As you all know, just as we entered Hyperspace, upon leaving the PLANTS, there was a backlash of energy in the main hyperspace system on the Gondwana" said Lacus Clyne, and as she looked at her audience she knew she had every ones attention "this caused our vessels to arrive at this place just before the battle, however, it didn't simply move us in apace, it transported us both in time, and into a different time continuum" finished Lacus Clyne, and the reaction from the group, except for Rey Za Burrell, was of amazement, and shock.
"How is that possible?" asked a very bewildered Lunamaria Hawke, almost in tears.
"Chief Simmons if you may" said Lacus Clyne, and chief Erica Simmons got up, and exchanged places with Lacus Clyne, who returned to Kira Yamatos side.
"As you all know in order to enter Hyperspace, the Hyperspace generator has to open a Quantum Subspace entry window" said Erica Simmons completely emotionless, as she showed a model of how a quantum subspace window was activated, and worked. "As the window opens into Hyperspace it creates a linear tunnel, which propel the ship far faster than the speed of light, but inside the tunnel time and space do not seem to differ for those of real space" continued chief Simmons, and the animation changed as she spoke. "However, when we activated our window there was a Quantum flux in the main Hyperspace generation matrix" again the animation changed to show how the Hyperspace generators wave length suddenly changed by the application of a huge energy wave. "This change in the Quantum variable of the Hyperspace generator meant, that as we entered Hyperspace, the exiting Hyperspace window would deposit us at the coordinates we inputted, inside the Quantum stream, that corresponded to the Quantum wavelength of the window generator" again the animation showed the ships exiting if a place different from the one they had originally entered from. "Unfortunately, this is a random event, and even if we could successfully duplicate it the exit window would again be a random one, there is no way of controlling the Quantum wavelength of the generator, it is designed to work with the current Quantum flux of space around it, another change might irreparably destroy it" finished Chief Simmons, and the whole crew was silent.
"So, we are faced not only with unknown life forms, but also with the possibility of never going back to our own home!" said Mu La Flaga in a very angry voice. "If controlling the crew was going to be difficult with the Alien problem, it will now be impossible to stop mass panic and hysteria amongst the crew" finished Mu La Flaga, but no one questioned his statement.
"Are we going to spread this information also?" was Andrew Waltfelds question.
"Unfortunately yes, withholding this kind of information would cause us more troubles in the long run than giving it to them, it will minimize the long term impact" said Cagalli, who had been quiet all the time.
"I have to agree with Cagalli, it will give us a good basis to start in this universe if nothing else" said Lacus Clyne supporting her friend, but all of them knew that it was the truth.
"So what are we going to do from here on? We are pretty much alone, and without supplies or a base of operations, and our supplies will not last indefinitely" commented Rey Za Burrell, as always his statements very logical and well thought of.
"That is the real problem, as we have seen, we are a destabilizing force, even now I am sure that our intervention was not meant to be, and even though we did the right thing, we also made a mistake by interfering" said Kira Yamato, who was the most worried by the whole situation. "However running away is not a real option, we couldn't run forever, and we don't know what is out there, or if we will be able to face it" finished Kira Yamato, and all of them stopped to think about the whole situation.
"Well, our options are two at this moment, one we stay, and see what we can do, or two we leave, and try to make our lives out there, while we search for a way to return home" said Athrun Zala, trying to be optimistic, but failing miserably. "But since option two is more a dream, than an actual option, our only option is to stay" finished Athrun Zala, and at this statement the looks on their faces was even more thoughtful, something was wrong about all that, and they all knew it.
"However, we know nothing of the situation, how do we know that we are helping the right side?" asked Andrew Waltfeld, clearly very worried by the possibilities.
"We don't know nothing yet, except for the fact that we where attacked as soon as we came into this place, that only means, that someone thought of us as the enemy, or didn't bother to ask why or how we where in this place" said Shinn Asuka in a calmed voice, analyzing the situation, but with anger in his voice.
"That is a good point, but we need more, I propose that for the time being we open negotiations with Babylon 5, we are going to need all the help we can get simply to survive" said Lacus Clyne in a calmed voice, but very thoughtful, not really knowing what to expect.
A silence fell over the room, clearly though the proposition was good, the idea was wrong somehow, and none of them really knew the answer they needed, and the fact was that they had been attacked on the station already, and there was no way to be sure that it wouldn't happen again. "Though the idea is not wrong, as Kira said we may be a destabilizing force, and we cannot prepare for what is to come without information" said Murrue Ramius, and looked at all the group, all of them where thinking very hard on what might happen, instead of what was happening. "So although with some reluctance I second Lacus's proposal" finished Murrue Ramius, and although there was some reluctance the rest of the crew agreed to the proposition.
"Very well, as soon as this meeting is finished we shall contact Babylon 5 to open negotiations" said Yzak Joule, as the leader he was. "Now however we are faced with other problems, Earth in particular" said Yzak Joule, and changed the animation on the monitor to the battle in which they had fought previously. "As you all know, Earth does exist in this place, but it is not our own, and we have been attacked by them without even been heard" said Yzak Joule, and turned to look at the rest of the room. "Due to the battle that took place, I am forced to believe that there must be some kind of problem with Earth, for Babylon 5 is primarily an Earth built station, and it was attacked by forces of Earth, I would like to get more information on this before anything else, for I expect this to come and get us back at any moment" said Yzak Joules, and all of them looked at him with a worrisome expression on their faces.
"I concur with that, there was no reason to attack us, we where just an unknown factor" said Kira Yamato explaining his point of view of the battle with Earth.
"Hmmm…. However there is the fact that Earth exists, and some of our crewmembers may want to go visit the planet if for no other reason, then just to see their planet" said Andrew Waltfeld, as the voice of reason.
"Yes, but we have to explain the situation first, so they will understand why we are denying them the possibility to see their planet" said Lacus Clyne, who saw how these events intertwined against them.
All the room was silent the realization was not good, they faced an imminent uprising from almost the whole crew just for the information, the exterior problems notwithstanding, now was the time to be together more than ever, none of them knew anything about the place they where in, and they needed to be united to survive, and from the previous battle it was clear, that things where going to get worse if they weren't already.
"We will make the whole announcement, and expect for the best, the truth is far better than a lie it will hurt in the beginning but it can be forgiven, a lie will never be" commented once again Lacus Clyne trying to get the spirits of the whole crew up once again.
"Yes you're right as always Lacus" said Cagalli in a more relaxed tone, and the whole crew seemed to relax, but not more than that.
"Very well, that problem having been resolved, now it is the time to analyze our guests" said Yzak Joule, and once again looked towards Chief Simmons. "Chief Simmons if you may once again" finished Yzak, and at that point Erica Simmons went to the screen once again, and started showing information on Babylon 5, the Earth destroyers, the Starfuries, the White Stars, and the Mimbari Sharlins, the screen showing all the technical data.
"At this pont we have very little information, nothing more than light scans for we do not want to appear to intrusive, but we have been able to learn, that as you have all guessed we have the vessels of two species here at this time" said Chief Simmons, and configured the screen to show a comparative view of the Sharlin and the White Star. "I was informed that the name of the small vessel here, was the White Star, from what we have been able to gather, this vessel is extremely advanced and powerful, the energy readings alone are incredible, and are far beyond our own, and the armor has been impossible to pass, our readings cannot penetrate the armor, but the subspace sensors have achieved good readings of the vessel" said Chief Simmons, and showed the White Star in several battle simulations, and recorded footage. "Where we to face this vessel, our chances of victory without our Mobile Suits would be very slim, unless we get a direct hit with the main guns and because of the speed of this vessel that would be very hard" commented Erica Simmons, while all of the crew paid attention. "However, the Gondwana shouldn't have any problems dealing with this vessel, and our own defenses are better than those we have seen on this vessel so far" said Erica Simmons, while an animation, where the Archangel stopped the beams, and got a direct hit was shown severely damaging the vessel in question. "Furthermore, we have also seen that they do not possess any kind of Mobile Suits, and rely entirely on Mobile Armors, that while far more advanced than the Moebius Mobile Armor of the Earth Alliance, are still no match for a Mobile Suit" continued Erica Simmons as she showed the speck of the main Mobile Armor of the Earth Alliance (a.k.a the Auroras) and showed hope a Mobile Suit quickly overpowered these vessels, in both durability and maneuverability.
"So, they are not a real threat to us?" asked a very excited Shinn Asuka, allowing his temper and pride get the best of him.
"That is not true, in tonnage they are all superior to us, but they seem to lack the defensive systems we posses, and that is our major advantage, but our weapons are not as effective against them, as they would be against one of our own vessels" said Chief Simmons, and showed an animation where the Destiny sliced one Earth Alliance Agamennon-class vessel, and one where it sliced an Earth Alliance destroyer, the difference was immediate. "Our weapons have the same power as always, but their tonnage is so high that it makes them harder to eliminate, so alone even the Strike Freedom would have difficulties getting past the heavy anti-air power without backup" explained Chief Simmons, and the screen showed how the Strike Freedom destroyed the Earth Alliances guns, and followed to section the engine compartment.
"Very well, but what about those blue angel like vessels, why did they simply explode?" asked Dearka Eltsman, who had been extremely silent during the whole meeting.
"Glad you asked Mr. Eltsman" said Erica Simmons, and changed the monitor to show the blue fish like vessels, and how they exploded. "We have no real proof of this, and this is just a theory, but we believe that they exploded, because their cannons where neutron type weapons, and where unable to charge due to the N-Jammer effect" continued Chief Simmons, and showed how the N-Jammer encompassed the whole area, and pushed the neutrons away, creating a neutron free zone, and the vessels where unable to charge the needed neutrons, and overloaded. "Of course this is all speculation, but we believe they use neutron based weapons, that where unable to charge because of our N-Jammers, and exploded by overloading the neutron accumulators" explained Erica Simmons to the whole audience.
"I see, that explains that mysterious incident, but at the same time it also places us in an uncomfortable position with whichever race owned these vessels" commented Athrun Zala.
"Yes, we will have to address this situation with that government as soon as possible" commented Talia Gladys, who was probably the best at politics of the whole group.
"Very well, anything else to report Chief Simmons?" asked Yzak Joule.
"Not at this time Admiral, but I will inform you of anything new we get" said Chief Simmons, and awaited for the Admiral.
"Very well, with that finished, meeting adjourned, Lacus and Cagalli I would like to have some words with you before you go, you to Chief Simmons" said the admiral, and the whole room left, except for the three people mentioned.
"Very well Yzak, we are listening" said Cagalli in a tired voice.
"I wanted you two to stay, because you are our elected ambassadors, and are going to have to represent us in these times" said Yzak, and let out a sigh. "I need you to contact the crew of Babylon5 in order not only to start some ties with the new races, but also to remind you that at this time, that we cannot give any advantage we have at this moment, you are strictly forbidden from giving up any military secret we currently possess, till we have discussed it, or the times force us to" said Yzak emphasizing his position.
"We understand Admiral" said Lacus Clyne in her sweet melodious voice, and cheerful attitude.
"Also I wanted to warn you that you must be extra careful, the look on some of the faces in that place made me believe that some of them may try to get anything we have from you at any price" said Yzak, in a very serious tone. "I have a feeling that that place is extremely dangerous, and that serious crimes must be an every day occurrence, for that I want you Cagalli to take your Akatsuki with you, in case you need it, and you Lacus I will place Kira Yamato as your protector" said Yzak in all seriousness, and the two of them nodded in agreement. "Now go and start the negotiations, I have a hunch that they will very cooperative, but that will only be the opener for a can of worms for us" said Yzak Joule, and the two ambassadors saluted and left.
"I believe, that my task will be far less interesting than theirs, but no less dangerous" said Erica Simmons, with that extremely happy attitude of hers.
"As always you manage to impress me Chief, and yes you are right" said Yzak, and looked directly at the chief. "The battle we had earlier proves only how dangerous this place is, and even though we don't know all the details I have a feeling, you can call it a soldiers instincts, that this may only be the prelude to something far worse" commented Yzak with all the seriousness he could muster, and looked angry.
"Am I right in guessing, that you want me to look for better ways to protect ourselves?" asked Erica Simmons, enthusiasm spilling in all her words.
"Partly right, that is your first concern, your second concern is far more important" said Yzak Joule, but stopped a second, wanting the emotion to grow. "Your second assignment will probably extend you far beyond your capabilities. As you so clearly stated, we have no idea of how or even if we can go home, so" said Yzak Joule, and saw how Erica Simmons got closer, not wanting to lose this for anything of her life, and Yzak assumed that she had already guessed his intentions, but followed anyways. "I want you to start a base somewhere with the aim of establishing a permanent presence in this place, I don't know what may come, but I want to be as prepared as possible" said Yzak Joule, and he saw that Chief Simmons eyes where almost shinning in anticipation of following his orders, it was like giving a candy to a hungry child who wanted to eat it all at once, he swore that for a second he could see all the ideas in her natural brain revealed to him.
"Very well admiral, but I have a question" said Erica Simmons, who couldn't wait to leave the room to start this task that she knew, would be extremely hard, but also very interesting. But there was an important question to be asked.
"Ask" was Yzak only response.
"Will we be creating more weapons?" was Erica Simmons question, and Yzak Joules response was instantaneous.
"I would want to avoid that, we know by experience what an escalating war will lead to, but under the circumstances I will give you a limited permission to develop whatever defenses you deem necessary, but I don't want you to exceed the Mobile Suit frame for now, and let us hope that I don't have to change that order" said Yzak Joule, and turned his back to the chief, who interpreted this as her time to leave, and left, with the last thoughts still in her head.
Yzak Joule was left in the meeting room all alone, but the last conversation was the most important, if things where as bad as his instincts where telling him, he may have no choice but to change that last order, but he did not wish to change it, it would only bring destruction and grief.
With some effort Yzak Joule left the meeting room, and headed towards the bridge, but the screen of the room was left on, and on it the screens changed showing the Destroy Gundam, the Neutron Stampeder, and the Genesis cannon.
TBC