Babylon 5: Deep Range Outpost.
Chapter: Two.
Location: Epsilon Eridani planetary system.
A system located deep in neutral space, between the major powers in the galaxy had boasted one singular honour, the presence of a diplomatic station, orbiting the third planet in the system, a station known as Babylon 5. A five mile long, cylindrical looking, blue, silver and back station known as the last best hope for peace. However, in recent weeks, that hope for peace had failed with the outbreak of hostilities between the founding member species of the station, the Human species. With the separation of the station from its owners, the Earth Alliance and declaration as an independent state, vessels of Earth origin and allegiance to the powerful leader of the Earth Alliance, President W.M. Clarke, had been dispatched to retake the station and to arrest those in a position of command. What followed had been a battle between loyalist and separatist forces of Earth descent, along with the destruction of Starfury vessels and destroyer type vessels, from both sides. With the arrival of a second fleet, loyal to the President of Earth and the order to surrender given, the battle for independence had seemingly been lost, but for the arrival of a Minbari fleet lead by the prototype attack cruiser, known as the Whitestar, under the command of the Minbari Ambassador, along with an ultimatum to simply, leave the system.
In the interim days between the battle for independence, an uneasy calm fell across the station after the final members of the loyalist forces had been forced to leave the station. What had followed, had been a change in the command structure of the station, with new uniforms being issued to the command staff to symbolise a new beginning and the following of suit for all remaining officers and enlisted to serve the now independent station. Only the arrival of a small, unknown, civilian vessel, had broken the uneasy silence as the vessel had not arrived via the only means of travel for many vessels, the jump-gate, but arriving behind the third planet in the system, seemingly by opening its own jump-point into normal space.
Alarm klaxons sounded throughout the command-and-control center of the diplomatic station, as sensors had recorded the activation of a jump-point forming behind the planet. Fearing the return of loyalist Earth forces, in an attempt to once again retake the station, the first officer of the station, Commander Susan Ivanova assumed command of the powerful attack vessel now permanently assigned to the station for defence, to investigate the unknown vessel and her appearance.
"Anything yet Marcus?"
"Nothing yet, wait? There it is. Oh my god…" Replied the Ranger, with a soft whisper to his English accent. "… Susan? That's an old Minbari patrol ship."
Mere seconds after he reported his sightings, a display appeared before the commander in the form of a hologram, falling from the ceiling like a waterfall, displaying a small, deep green, arrowhead shaped vessel, with small wing-like structures to port and starboard and two small protrusions from the rear of the vessel.
"Are you certain Marcus?"
"I am, I trained aboard one for a short time, shortly after I joined the Rangers. This one is heavily modified, but definitely of Minbari origin. We're being hailed."
'Attention unknown vessel. I am lieutenant commander Asami Hana, of outpost Deep Range. You've been identified as departing from Babylon 5. I request to speak with Captain Sheridan, as soon as possible. Please, respond?'
"Asami Hana?"
"Do you know her, Susan?"
"Yes, we've only met two times, once with Sinclair and not long after Sheridan took command. She commands an outpost on the rim, what the hell is she doing back here. Open a channel, Marcus."
"Channel to that ship, is open Susan."
"Lieutenant Commander Hana, this is Commander Ivanova of Babylon 5…"
'Commander, it's been a while. Good to hear your voice Sir. We have lost contact with everyone back at the Outpost, not even Earth is responding to our calls. We need to know, what the hell is going on. Please Commander, I need to speak with the Captain?'
"That's an interesting ship, you have their lieutenant commander, almost looks Minbari in origin."
'I could say the same about yours Sir! I received his letter via courier, I believe that the Captain was expecting a reply. So, I came here in person. I've spent five days on this ship to get here, it would be a shame for me to just return without a moment of his time?'
'Commander Ivanova, Lieutenant Commander Hana. This is Captain Sheridan I'm on route in a shuttlecraft and should be with you in a moment. If you have the capability, I suggest that we meet on the Whitestar in shall we say, ten minutes?'
'Ten minutes Captain. And thank you sir. Hana, out!'
Ten Minutes Later…
Hidden behind the third planet in the system, the unusual vessel belonging to a civilian pilot, hung motionless in space, close to the large, prototype attack ship named Whitestar, while the passenger and owner of the vessel had taken a small shuttle, to the much larger vessel for a meeting with the one person in the galaxy who could possibly explain what was happening in the galaxy, Captain J.J. Sheridan.
"Commander Hana, welcome aboard the Whitestar. I believe that you know Commander Ivanova?"
"We've only met a handful of times, it's a pleasure. I got your message sir, hand delivered as ordered. But sir, I have to say that those are not official Earth Force uniforms, what the hell is going on?"
"For the past year, we've been monitoring unusual activities on Earth and around the Alliance, activities which all began with the death of President Santiago on Earth Force One, a year ago."
"We may be out on the rim sir, but we've heard about it. And like you sir, I believe that it was just too perfect."
"I'm glad to hear that, Commander." Replied Commander Ivanova.
"Good, so let me ask again. What the hell is going on out here?" Politely asked the lieutenant commander, as the Captain pointed towards a small seat.
One hour later, after a lengthy explanation backed up by video files of the battle for Babylon 5 independence, both the courier and the lieutenant commander sat in stunned silence by what they had seen and heard with their own senses. Earth Force on the brink of a civilian war, attacking civilian targets, colonies and possibly vessels, hundreds if not thousands dead and many more injured. Slowly standing from her seat, the lieutenant commander paced a small section of the room for a moment, before turning back to the captain with a single tear forming in her right eye as she spoke the words that the captain and his first officer had been awaiting to hear, since the moment the ship had appeared, and identified as belonging to the courier and former Earth Force Academy cadet.
"As much as I don't want to believe all of this Captain? Out on the rim, we get little news from back home, what isn't transmitted from here of course. We're on the most distant outpost in Earth Force, very few even know that we exist. But we did see the Agrippa heading out this way a few weeks ago and tried everything we could to alert you. I can't speak for Emma, but I can speak for my people on Deep Range. What do you need us to do Captain?"
"I was hoping you'd say that Commander Hana. General Hauge and his people went to great lengths to keep your names and outpost off the official records. I'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible. I spoke with Major Ryan, now in command of the Alexander before I came here, and he agrees with me. For the moment, he's looking for other ships which had signed on with Hauge before they're hunted down by Clarke's forces. What we need Commander, is an outpost someplace off the grid and away from Clarke's eyes. Your station is perfect. We don't know when his forces will come for Babylon 5 again, but if they do and we fall…?"
"You want Asami and her people to pick up where you left off? And for the record Asami, I gave my word to Sheridan, a few weeks back when I was last on B-Five. I'm with you, all of the way."
"I didn't want to speak for you Emma but thank you all the same. So, you want Deep Range to be a hidden base of operations, someplace to co-ordinate and give shelter to other ships? There is only one problem with that Sirs. We have limited weaponry, and our ship is an old, pre-Minbari war Corvette, older even that the Hyperion class cruisers. If anything, larger than our ship comes for us, we'd be outmatched almost instantly."
"John, we should speak with Delenn and see if she can send a ship or two to Deep Range, for protection detail?" Called out commander Ivanova, with a slight nod to the junior officer.
"That would be a good idea Commander, I doubt anyone would try anything with a Minbari cruiser in the region. Speaking of which, the station was once a Minbari outpost, established before the war."
"I'm well aware of the origins of your station, Commander Hana. I doubt they'll want it back, it's an obsolete model. I'll speak with Delenn."
"Thank you, Captain. That will set a lot of minds at ease back on the outpost. So, is there anything else?"
'Just, one more thing.' Words which had often been a cause for concern amongst many people over the many centuries of human existence. Words which often followed with something either amazingly stupid, or dangerous. Returning to the old former Minbari patrol ship in silence after a long and arduous meeting with the Captain and First Officer of Babylon 5, the two returned to hyperspace and set course back to the old outpost in silence. Hours of silence had followed as the two simply sat in their seats, contemplating what had been both said and shown to them both. Until the silence was broken by Emma Wells as she slowly turned to face her guest, onboard of her own private vessel.
"Why did you try to stop me Asami?"
"What they asked, is dangerous. Listen, as long as we've known each other, we've always been in each other's orbit, one way or another. Classmates, roommates and… lovers. But we've always come close to destroying either ourselves or each other in the process. Damn it, Emma we've just finally found a place where we can be together. You gave up what could've been an amazing career for you, for us both."
"I asked you to come with me… I wanted you to come with me."
"I was young and stupid at the Academy and more so, while on the Wessex. Emma, you're the most amazing woman I have ever met. Strong, intelligent and beautiful. And I have never stopped thinking about you or loving you, but what you volunteered to do, could be dangerous."
"You still love me? I never thought that… anyway, I'm the logical choice Asami and I know you, you'd never ask one of your crew to do what Sheridan and Ivanova asked of us."
"But why does it have to be you, Emma?" Asami whispered, slowly.
"I'm not doing any of this for Sheridan, nor his war? I'm doing it for you. Listen, changing the subject a whole lot. We still have almost four days before we get you back. Meet me in my quarters in a minute or two we have some, catching up to do, unless you have anything else to do with your time?"
Word of a military offensive as led by Captain John Sheridan and his allies, had reached as far as Deep Range outpost, a deadly offensive against an ancient and relatively unknown species, named only 'The Shadows'. In the weeks and months which had followed, reports from across the galaxy had drip-fed to the old outpost ranging from the death of John Sheridan on a distant world, to his resurrection and return to Babylon 5 with what many had claimed, as a darker personality. Stories of darkness, of large and seemingly unstoppable forces spreading out across the galaxy, destroying almost everything in their path, before the unthinkable reports had reached the old outpost. Rumours and reports of the ancient and highly powerful Vorlon forces, now on the march across the galaxy attacking and destroying fleets and entire worlds believed to have been touched by the darkness, known as the Shadows and them seemingly, nothing. After weeks if not months of continuous reports of a deadly conflict out in the galaxy, the deadliest war known by all species, had ended with the withdrawal of the most ancient of beings in the galaxy, to what lies between, in the void of darkness of intergalactic space.
Upon their return to outpost Deep Range, Asami Hana had reported that Emma Wells, a civilian courier had requested permission to base herself and her vessel, at the old outpost, a request which had been granted. Although stories of Asami's own self-destructive patterns had become known by many, when she was in the presence of Emma Wells, the orders of the commanding officer of the outpost, must remain until such a point when the commander had been relieved of duty by a superior officer. What had come as no surprise to the chief warrant officer, and long-time friend of Asami Hana, was the arrangement of living quarters for Emma Wells, who had seemingly shared the commander's private living quarters as her partner. Although a sudden change in Asami Hana had taken the old, Minbari war veteran by surprise as she had continued to work, above and beyond the call of duty, on the old and forgotten outpost.
"… And, we have received word from Sheridan. They'll no longer sit back and watch while Earth rips itself apart in the name of Clarke…" Reported the chief warrant officer, with a snarl at the mention of the President's name. "… As such, Sheridan has requested that we send out the message to every ship which is allied with Hauge's forces."
"I understand. Thank you, Eric. Dismissed."
"Asami…"
"I said, dismissed Eric. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I just hate sitting here, doing nothing while Earth is torn in two over this. I was born on Earth, you know? A little village in Okinawa, Japan. A beautiful place, stunning actually. My parents were more than angry when I joined the Academy, they were both Doctors and wanted me to follow in their footsteps. I was and perhaps still am, the only member of my family to join the Alliance."
"Asami, Sam?" Whispered the chief warrant officer, softly.
"I'm okay. When my parents found out about Emma and myself, I was disowned by them, by my entire family actually. A woman should be with a man. Are my father's exact words, before he disowned me for dishonouring our family. But I love her Eric, I've never met anyone like her."
"She's a beautiful woman, Asami. I was wrong about her."
"Is that an apology, Eric? I'll take it as one anyway. When, when this war with Earth is over, whichever way it goes, I'm going to marry her Eric. We've kept our engagement secret, but when we do? I want you to walk me down the aisle and give me away."
"You know, I never had a child of my own, career always got in the way. But you've been like a daughter to me. I'd be honoured, thank you Asami." Replied the old, war hero with a proud smile.
"Thank you. Now, send the message Eric, and send in Emma on your way out. We have one last thing to take care of."
Lieutenant Commander Asami Hana, Personal Journal.
It's begun, the Civil War on Earth, a war which Sheridan and his forces, have worked hard to try and stop before it had begun. Over the past several days, we've heard reports of Earth Force vessels attacking each other anywhere they meet forces from the opposing side. However, it seems that the forces loyal to Clarke and his administration heavily outnumber the remaining forces loyal to the late General Hauge. Only the ships brought into the fight by Captain John J. Sheridan, have been able to tip the balance of power in favour of his own forces, being a vastly superior class of vessel.
Shortly, I will give the clearance that I had most wished I had never had to give, clearance for Emma Wells and her vessel, permission to leave the safety of Deep Range outpost, to scout a region of space rumoured to be a construction yard for a new class of Earth Force vessels. The thing that bothers me the most, is how could I give the one person, the one woman in the entire universe that I love, permission to enter into what could be enemy held territories, with only a civilian ship? But Sheridan is right about one thing, if he is to succeed in liberating Earth, he must know if the forces behind him, are friendly or not.
As the great Earth Alliance Civil War had continued to escalate, forces loyal to the new leader, Captain J.J. Sheridan pushed closer to the final phase of the liberation of Earth, the numbers of Earth Force vessels switching sides had continued to grow with each passing day. With the liberation of Proxima colony and a push towards an independent Mars colony, under blockade from President Clarke's Loyalist forces. A single, small, civilian vessel, of Minbari origin sat motionless in a hanger bay on Deep Range outpost. A vessel once discovered, salvaged, modified and repaired by the new owner of the vessel, awaited the final instructions to leave the safety of the outpost. Checking and rechecking the final preparations to launch her vessel, the eager owner of the ship stood before a tall and statuesque looking Minbari engineer from a Minbari cruiser which had been dispatched by Delenn from Babylon 5, to protect the small outpost.
"Talon, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I don't like weapons on this ship."
"Forgive me, Miss Wells? But the request came directly from Delenn with the approval of Captain Sheridan, to arm your vessel with these weapons, which have been specifically modified for your ship. Are you aware of what this class of vessel, actually was?"
"I know it's a mid-range scout ship. After I was, let go, by my former employers as a reserve pilot on a civilian liner. I found this ship, which had crash-landed on a distant world. In accordance with interstellar laws, I claimed salvage rights and ownership of this vessel. Took me weeks to even figure out how to power up the engines. And even longer, to get her flightworthy."
"An impressive achievement, Miss Wells. Ordinarily, Minbari do not arm Human vessels with our own weapon designs. However, as this vessel is of Minbari origin, and I have orders from Delenn and Sheridan? I must complete my assignment."
"I understand that, but arming a civilian vessel with military grade weapons, goes against interstellar laws. But since I have little option…?"
Cutting off her sentence and turning at the sounds of the doors to the command deck sliding open, a large smile slipped across Emma Wells' face, at the sight of Asami Hana entering the command deck, wearing civilian clothing and carrying a small bag in her left hand.
"Sam, what are you doing here? I launch as soon as I've signed off on these upgrades."
"I know, I'm coming with you." Proudly called out Asami Hana.
"The hell you are, this is a dangerous run. I don't want you here Asami."
"Well? It's my station and my choice. Besides, it's a long haul to our target, besides… do you know a better pilot then me? You may need my help."
"Alright, put your bag in my quarters, I believe you remember the way? I see that look in your eyes Talon, Asami and I are to be married."
"As I was informed. It is my understanding that Humans often find comfort in the same gender. Well, if you will sign the orders as complete, I shall return to my vessel, Miss Wells."
Once the Minbari engineering team had left the small, former Minbari owned vessel, now under the ownership of a human female, the final clearance to leave the small hanger bay had been given as the small, sleek and deep green vessel slowly lifted off the deck of the outpost, turned to face the opening hanger bay doors while retracting the three landing gears inside of the vessel and slowly left the safety of the station for the first time in several months, to begin a dangerous assignment to scout out a hidden shipyard under the control of the Earth Alliance and Earth Force.