Chapter 33

("The One Side of the Coin"; The Armageddon Conflict :) Part 9

EarthScream: Part A

Since entering the Earth alliance system and participating in the Earth-Drakh fight, the I.K.S. Azetbur had hunted and tracked the dishonorable ones for the last three days through that unusual dimension called jumpspace. The ship's subspace sensors had a difficult time continually tracking the elusive vessels through the higher dimensional maelstrom. Yannsi and her Colonial counterparts were constantly refining the scanners in order to maintain a solid lock. Despite the seriousness of the situation and the deadliness of his intent, Captain Kagth, more-than-once, had to keep from laughing out loud at the numerous and colorful curses and phrase coming from both Yannsi and the Humans. The longer the chase, the more colorful the phrases became and after the second day, other members of the crew were quietly cataloging what was fast becoming a new art form. Kagth never suspected that Humans could curse as well as Klingons. But profanity or not, they were tracking their targets with a proficiency that made him swell with pride.

And movement in this higher-level dimensional space was fast. Twice the enemy ships had outrun his maximum warp speed, as they twisted and turned in an apparent effort to elude anyone who might be following them through jumpspace. It was fortunate they had been re-acquired by the sensor team. His ship's navigator had performed excellently and once more he silently congratulated the Klingon engineers who put the Azetbur together. It had functioned superbly under the circumstances and evidently had placed as much concern in construction of this ship as they had in the weapons. That was a welcomed change since many of the newer ships, the B'rels, Bird-of-Preys, and the other classes coming out of dry-dock were made quickly-and too cheaply. They weren't worth the metal they built from.

Thinking about that made him angry. How was the Klingon Empire going to improve its defenses and its honor if everything was too cheaply made to be of good use? How many ships had they lost in the Dominion and Cylon wars due to bad construction? The answer was painfully obvious. Too many. It was dishonorable. The old D7's had a better proportional survival rate than some of the new ships being constructed now. The newer ships couldn't take too many good hits. A single Federation quantum torpedo could cut a scout ship in half even with full shields.

There was a time when a scout ship could take two to three hits before the shields failed. But the manufacturers (the three Houses that monopolized the shipbuilding industry) had tried to convince the military of the honor that less shielding would generate. After all, they had said, it would allow the navigators and weapon's crews to become more creative. Well, they were they were correct in that assessment, however the high number of losses in the Dominion war simply convinced the population of Qo'noS to make the manufacturers reconsider their advertisement strategy. When the Cylon war started, the military was convince more than ever that new blood in the industry was required.

Kagth agreed with them particularly in comparison wth the Federation. They constantly developed newer and more powerful ships all of the time and they did it with finesse. Multi-role starships were considered folly for almost two hundred years by both the Klingon and Romulan Empires. All that had changed now. The Federation photon weapons were better-and the Klingons had developed them first. Their armor was better-Klingons developed armor first. And even more shame was that his people were out in deep space earlier than the Humans.

Yet, his people had fallen behind in just about every area technological expertise. His people were closing in on themselves instead of exploring like the Humans who started the Federation. Protected worlds were beginning to rebel because of Klingon incompetence and lack of honor in dealing with them. It was time for this self destructive behavior to change and that was the main reason why he accepted this mission, not out of the duty for the Klingon people, but for the people. Kagth had thought about this long and hard and he understood his decision to be the correct one.

His intention was simple. He, a Klingon intended to emulate one of the greats of the Federation of old. Kirk's exploits were legendary, even if he was remembered as the great antagonizer of the Klingon people. He was feared, hated, but also respected by the Klingon people because he thought first and then shot. That Human did not let his temper take over like so many of Kagth's people still did. And when he did lose his temper, everyone took notice of it, especially the Klingons who were usually responsible for the explosion in the first place. Yet, he didn't have that understandable desire to kill every Klingon he met after the murder of his son. What was it that caused him not to hate his enemies after such a treacherous, dishonorable blow?

He studied the history of the Human warrior for a long time and it took a while for him to understand Kirk's motives and actions. What he found out was that Kirk had a type of flexibility, an openness in his thinking that Kagth envied enough to want to emulate. That was why he tolerated, even encouraged the Human Colonials on his ship to do whatever. His own crew had been terrified of him when this mission started. Now they did things to please him and more importantly they took pleasure in making the ship run smoothly. It was partly duty but it was also pride of the ship and of one another. There had been very few fights on his ship and they talked to one another freely without fear of reprisal. They made continual, small improvements on the ship-after getting permission naturally-and the ship itself responded accordingly.

It took time, but even the lowest crewmember of them could appreciate the subtle change from both within and without. The ship's crew becoming almost family and family worked together better than simple motivation of duty. Federation ships had always had that indefinable something and the Azetbur seemed to be developing it also. Azetbur wasn't simply a ship anymore. It was them all; it was her. Azetbur didn't just exist. It lived.

The crew took care of her and she would take care of them. It was all so simple really. That was the reason why Klingons stressed duty so much, he realized. It was their way of trying to create this-this connection.

The Colonials had helped also, in their own Human way. They fought, worked and played like his people. But they also knew how to relax. Klingons didn't relax. As a whole, either they worked or they were busy drinking. His Human portion of the crew had began teaching the his people how to relax and enjoy the moment. They bonded with the Klingons and after that astonishing revelation, his crew started to genuinely bond with the Humans. Most interesting. As a precaution the Captain decided to cut the blood wine rations somewhat. There were grumbles at first, but now things were better.

All of this would be in his journals and logs for future Klingons-if any-to evaluate. He casually wondered how they would interpret it when he wrote that he intended to learn from the actions of one of the great foes of their time. He grunted. Kagth didn't really care what they thought as long as they learned from his experiences.

Despite the long, evasive pattern used by the Drakh to throw off their potential pursuers, they hadn't really retreated that far from the Terran system. They were less than twelve light-years away, practically clubbing distance. It was too bad for them that one of their cruisers didn't have the intelligence to follow orders. Sensors now tracked that heavy cruiser heading directly for the assumed rendezvous point in normal space. Behind it was a damaged Human warship trying its best to close to combat distance. Scans of both ships indicated heavy causalities on both vessels with the EarthForce ship in worse shape.

He nodded grimly to himself. The Officers of the Human ship continued to harass the enemy in spite being outclassed and out-gunned. It traded long-distance fire with the larger Drakh cruiser, which had probably sustained damage in the earlier fight in the Sol system. The Klingon Captain surmised that that was the only thing allowing the Human warship to continually attack without being blown from the stars. The Drakh cruiser suddenly got in a lucky shot and the Omega lost an engine. Several small probes were then launched and were now heading toward Earth territory, no doubt relaying its position and other data.

"The Omega has stained significant damage. Shall we assist?" Yannsi asked.

"Not yet," he ordered. "They are safer here away from the coming battle. The enemy will have undoubtedly noticed the probes and will leave this area before Earth ships can reach the area. I want to follow the Drakh in. Status."

"We are cloaked. All weapons are active. Passive targeting has positive locks."

"Good," the Captain responded as he glared at tactical. There were a huge number of targets of all descriptions. "What is that thing?" he said as he pointed to not one, but two huge ships were rapidly growing closer.

"It's some sort of cargo or carrier vessel similar to the cruisers. Fourteen kilicams in length; thinly armored, light weapons only. Evidence of weapons fire on the closest carrier. Residual energy traces suggest it took Sinhindrea weapons fire."

Kagth thought furiously. These aliens had attacked Earth but had also been attacked by the Sinhindrea. Were they mercenaries? He wasn't sure. He had no information on these creatures other than the fact that they were partial phase shifters and made giant, oversized ships with adequate armor but no decent shielding.

"Captain."

"What is it Klyn'g?"

"There is a cruiser and several smaller attack ships headed for the Human ship. Weapons are active."

No doubt they were going to finish the Humans off. As for the Humans, they were aware of their tactical situation but couldn't run, so they decided to fight, launching small fighters and powering what was left of their weapons. Kagth could use them as a diversion while he moved closer to attack his prey, but that would be dishonorable. No, he would give the Drakh creatures something else to think about. They used bio-weapons, to him, the very height of dishonor, against a weaker foe. "One quarter impulse, attack pattern Praxis," he ordered. "Ready photon torpedoes. Full salvo on both cargo carriers. Lock rear photons on the ship attacking the Human vessel. Klyn'g-" Kagth resisted the urge to get up and pace. The Federation had better torpedoes but his people made them bigger.

"Sir-"

"Fire."

Missiles of the type used in the Earth system by the Federation ships appeared from nowhere to destroy both of their precious carrier vessels. Startled, the Drakh Lead-Admiral hesitated for a couple of seconds believing that the destruction had to be a freak accident or more likely so sort of sabotage. Another report…the cruiser and the raiders sent to destroy the Human vessel just exploded; hit by another set of those missiles.

"Report," he yelled. 'Where were they'?

"There is nothing there. Other than the EarthAlliance ship, our scans are not detecting any enemy ships in the area."

Two more cruisers were cracked like eggshells before blowing up, taking everything around with them in death. This time, the rapidly moving attacker was seen, just barely outlined as it fired more of those missiles. The Lead-Admiral almost choked out his orders to begin random firing of all weapons. He was as impressed as he was intimidated of the enemy's ability to remain hidden. The enemy ship was invisible to the naked eye and to Drakh scanners. Two more of his ships died.

-Then another.

To remain here was insanity. They had to escape. His fleet was being cut to pieces by an enemy he couldn't see.

His shadow masters had fled the region, but had given his people orders for one last attack against the planet Earth. They had followed orders but now they were effectively on their own. The accursed Sinhindrea had destroyed two of their massive sixty kilometer-long mother ships. And now there was only one left. It was time for his nomadic people to return to it and leave this area of space. They' were coming and not even his masters had been able to stop them. What was left of the Drakh people would flee to a distant part of the galaxy and become strong again as they waited for the Sinhindrea to come. He gave the order to evacuate.

A moment later, his ship died as two photon torpedoes vaporized engineering.

-Sixteen capital warships destroyed. Scores of unwary raiders, flashed burned.

Kagth allowed a small snort to escape while he looked at the last of the alien vessels fleeing into the safety of jumpspace. The new cloak worked perfectly. Almost a hundred years ago, General Chang had developed a cloaking system that allowed his Bird-of-Prey to fire while cloaked. Since then, the Romulans and Klingons had been in competition, trying to recreate that lost technology. The Klingons had done it and kept partial shields in the process. The Romulans may have succeeded as well; no one knew what was going on with them.

"Contact the Earth ship. Tell them we will render assistance until one of their vessels arrives. We will then head to Babylon Five."

Two days later:

Earth sector:

The Captain and crew of the Earth Alliance destroyer Armitage,along with three other Omegas had just got their butts handed to them by a single, unidentified alien warship. Three other destroyers had just been torn apart by weapons that were stronger than Minbari canon. And EA fire couldn't get through the energy shielding surrounding the alien craft.

"Send this message now," Captain Bouchet ordered. "Ultraviolet priority, all ships. Earthscream. Repeat Earthscream. All ships Sol sector." This was the second time that this order had been issued in less than a month.

His ship suffered minimal damage, the majority of it coming from shrapnel remains of another destroyer that wasn't so lucky. "Status?"

"Weapons are hot. The Pashawar and Cerbus acknowledge lock-on on lead ship."

"Fire everything we have at on the lead ship at this section of the ship."

"Firing."

Three Omegas destroyers, with the combined power of eighteen heavy particle lasers and pulse canon hit the forward port shields of the lead Sinhindrea battleship. The ship was stopped in its tracks as the shields dissipated and refracted the enormous amount of energy arrayed against it. Seconds later the shield failed and directed energy slammed into the front of the ship. The enemy retaliated.

The Pashawar disappeared in a flash of light. A Sinhindrea pulse weapon hit the ship and there was nothing left. Undeterred, the pulse continued and slammed into a distant asteroid.

Captain Bouchet had had enough. His and the remaining destroyer began a desperate fighting retreat. They needed numbers and friendlies were coming in piecemeal. If they were to have a chance to repel these aliens they needed to organize. Earth command was already on it. Behind the Armitage and Cerbus, coming up quickly were twenty warships and dozens of StarFuries. Four of the Sinhindrea craft moved as one and began long-distance bombardment against the rapidly approaching EarthForce ships.

USS Voyager:

The Sovereign, flanked by three combat class Runabouts, two Colonial Cobras, four Federation Peregrines and two Shadow Omegas with their compliment of Shadow-designed Star Furies broke Earth orbit and headed directly to the Mars belt. The Earth Alliance ships jumped directly into the battle against the small fleet. Their added firepower came as an unwelcome surprise to the damage Sinhindrea vessel which finally succumbed. But that victory came with a heavy price as EarthForce had already lost on half of its fighting force.

The Federation starship, now entering the fray was rocked by the combined firepower of two Clovien hunters. Regenerative metaphasic shielding dropped by thirty percent.

"They knew exactly where we would exit into normal space," said a surprised Paris. After a hit like that, he was more surprised that the ship was still functional. He began a series of complicated maneuvers even as Janeway struggled to speak

"Attack pattern Sigma," Janeway ordered. At Lieutenant Paris' touch, the ship began a complicated dance as the Hunters continued to target them. "Order the others to break off and support EarthForce. We'll deal with this. Mr. Tuvok, start with quantum torpedoes, full spread, your discretion. Ready phasers."

"Firing…

A dozen quantum torpedoes left Voyager's tubes and exploded themselves on both Sinhindrea shields. The vessels broke formation as their shields faltered. Wary and a lot more respectful, the ships changed tactics. Seeking shelter among the asteroid belt, they dove in with Voyager right behind them firing photon and quantum torpedoes.

The Human taste was confirmed once more. They were the same from the Home reality, similar but not like the Human creatures here who were tainted with Vorlon taste. Vorlon taste was very weak but present nevertheless. The Humans here were primitive, like most of the other races. The Shadows had been a threat but were unorganized in their attacks. The Humans here were pathetically weak but if they could manage to develop weaponry like the Home Humans, then the colony would be threatened. It was not established and it was cut off by the invisible, self replication mines and so far, none of their scientists could break the through. Mass detonations did nothing to lesson the number of mines surrounding the gate. The only hope was to find the Human vessel and strip the information from their minds.

That hadn't worked. None of the Humans had the specific code in their primitive minds. Instead they had the information in their archaic inorganic computers and they hadn't been able to acquire it. This frightened them and what the Sinhindrea were frightened of they destroyed. But this ship was hard to destroy, even harder than the other one of their kind. Two Clovien had been lost in that attack, proving that this species was too dangerous to be allowed to continue to exist.

In agreement, both ships turned and locked their tractor beams on the pursuing Human vessel. Then, they would sacrifice themselves to make sure that this vessel would never hurt the colony. They transmitted their intentions to the colony along with the recommendation that this entire system was scheduled for termination. The threat was too great and could not be tolerated.

The Earth Alliance destroyer Titanus and two other destroyers were mixed up in a life and death struggle with four of the Sinhindrea assault ships each the size of a Whitestar. Three other destroyers had already succumbed to the incredible firepower of those ships. The Titanus and its compliment of Star Furies took the brunt of the attack. Unlike many of the other Earth destroyers fighting for their lives, the Titanus had been upgraded with Federation weapons. It was also outfitted with B5 type two and three Star Furies. That gave it a credible standoff and delivery system, and survivability had been increased significantly. Phased plasma beams hit the shields of one ship, destabilizing it while weapons from the Evanston managed to destroy it. Star Furies, both the former resistance and loyalists were taking on two more of the squid-like gunboats and the identical-looking fighter squadrons and getting the worst of it. Averages of four standard Earth fighters to one Sinhindrea were being lost. Seven hits were required to burn through and disable one of the alien ships causing combat casualties to mount.

Two of the smaller Sinhindrea warships blew through four Earth Alliance destroyers as if they weren't even there before they were attacked by Federation-Colonial fighters. Both offending vessels were cut apart by photon, quantum and disruptor fire. The fighters then turned towards one of the bulbous capital ships and its two escorts heading towards Mars despite all attempts by Earth forces to stop it.