Sol system, Earth Alliance.
November, 2266
"What I want to know is why?" Captain Susan Ivanova complained. "Why we are still here in Earth space after completing trials, after proving our readiness and after making sure none of us were President Clarks ultra loyal nut case freaks!" She sighed heavily and slouched in her command chair, the monitors beside showing the peaceful scene in Earth orbit as ships gathered.
"Well, at least you weren't one of Clarks nut case freaks." Commander Alan Morton offered helpfully and earned himself a scathing look from his Captain. "Or any kind of nutcase freak at all." He added quickly.
"Its just you know, we joined Earth force to see the galaxy, sure we have to expect the odd fixed post, but as a Starship Captain I expected to move a round a bit, see the League and maybe even travel to Minbar." Ivanova waved her hands. "But no, we haven't left the home system in three years! Its getting a little boring."
"I guess sitting on Babylon 5 all those years must have been dull." Morton suggested.
"I wish!" she exclaimed. "One thing B5 never was, was dull. But it was different, when I transferred back to the fleet I expected more, especially with this new ship."
Ivanova was referring to her command, the EAS Titans, one of the first of Earth forces new Warlock class heavy destroyers build up to the limits of human technology. They were formidable ships quantum leaps beyond vessels from just a few decades ago, but they had never been tried in pitched battle and had a troubled history with numerous redesigns since their origins in the Clark era. The Titans had been a test bed for all these trials and modifications and as such had spent as much time in dock as on deployment.
"But at least we're looking good now." Morton smiled helpfully. "Our gravitic drive and artificial gravity are all checked out thanks to the ISA programme, and the class is in full production now."
It had taken a while, but the Warlock project had become Earths new frontier in both science and defence with massive retooling of the old Omega yards to begin full construction of the new destroyer by the hundreds. The galaxy was at peace, but it seemed that tensions were still growing especially with the Centauri Republic which seemed to be collapsing in on itself. Raiders were still hitting the occasional shipping line and there were constant rumours of left over Shadow technology and weapons in the hands of their left behind servants. For the Earth Alliance the more recent concerns had revolved around the break up of the Psicorps and the large number of dangerous Telepaths roaming Earth space and beyond trying to destabilise the government with hidden assets. One or two Psicorps mother ships had been found and destroyed, but there were potentially dozens more floating around hiding from detection.
"All the more reason for us to be out there doing something." Ivanova waved her hand directionless towards the front of the ship. "Not sat in Earth orbit on another exercise." She had decided that no ship in history had gone through so many exercises, it seemed Earth force command wanted to play out every possible scenario with the early Warlocks to see how they behaved before letting them loose on the galaxy, and she was getting sick of it. "This is a punishment you know," she continued. "Give me this fine ship and adequate first officer, and then lock me up at home and not let me take it out for a spin!"
"Well thanks for the praise." Morton half smiled, he was used to Ivanova's odd humour but also recognized no one could be as cool as her in a crisis. On a few occasions some of the more experimental systems had suffered major faults and Ivanova's calm and rapid response had averted disaster. She also had an incredible combat record thanks to her time on Babylon 5, just about anyone from that station was a hero and serving under her command on Earthforce's best ship was a real dream assignment, one Morton was damn glad to receive despite the lack of adventure.
"I mean we got everything working a year ago, its time we took up the frontline duties we trained for." She said with exasperation.
"Well look on the plus side, this is a massive exercise, and real short notice." Morton grinned. "Kinda exciting."
"Yeah. Woohoo." Ivanova groaned.
"Its on the Presidents direct request." Morton said, "I've never heard anything like it."
"President Luchenko?" she asked with a frown, speaking of the Earth Alliance leader. "I thought it was General Denisov's idea, he gave the orders."
"No and no." Morton said, pleased to be delivering the information. "Its from President Sheridan, I think you used to hang out together once or twice?"
"So I recall." She said flatly. "Wonder why he's making ripples in Earth space, I'd have thought Luchenko wouldn't have released so many ships at once."
The fleet at Earth was truly impressive, hundreds of Earth force destroyers had gathered along with a wealth of allied vessels ranging from Brakiri cruiser and Drazi Sunhawks right up to the over bearing Minbari Warcruisers, still an intimidating sight after all these years and the source of a deep seated unease among most humans. Some wounds took a very long time to heal.
"They must have called in every single ship in range." Morton agreed. "I've never seen anything like it."
"I have," Ivanova gritted her teeth. "Couple of times, didn't tend to end pretty."
"But this is an exercise, I wonder what it'll be based on?"
"A surprise attack on Earth I guess." She shrugged. "I dunno, but all these ships here mean the patrols aren't out there, it'll be open season for raiders and Pirates. What's John thinking?"
From their right hand side on the bridge a chime sounded, the duty officer gave it her attention and read off the report.
"It's a jump point, reading two vessels, unknown configuration."
"Get a scan of them." Ivanova said as she stood. The Warlocks had basic artificial gravity but couldn't generate Earth normal, it was closer to Martian gravity which made moving around a cautious affair but overall much better than the zero gravity of other vessels which lacked the rotating simulated gravity sections in Earth force. She and Morton stopped by a computer display as a three dimensional image of the new arrivals appeared.
"Wow." Morton gasped. "Look at the size of that thing!"
The display showed a tri-winged design that didn't quite follow any pattern Ivanova could discern, it had Minbari elements to it, Human elements, even a hint of Vorlon looking at some of the protrusions near the bow. To her eyes it looked like a war machine, a lean killer of the space ways spoiling for a good fight.
"Guess we're not the baddest ship in orbit anymore." She sighed.
"Captain, we have a signal." Ensign Patel reported from the communication post. "President Sheridan is aboard one of those ships, he's talking to fleet command."
"Sheridan?" Morton raised an eyebrow. "Thank God, I was worried we'd have to fight them."
"That's the John Sheridan I know," Ivanova half chuckled. "Always makes a good entrance."
"Do you think he wanted to test those new ships then? That's the exercise?" Morton half asked and half stated. "Where the hell did he get those from anyway?"
He didn't get to answer, two dozen warnings and caution alarms flared at once across the large bridge area, drawing both them back to the centre.
"We've got a major incursion," Lieutenant Rossdale barked from the weapons stations. "Jump points opening in Lunar orbit."
"What type of ships?" she snapped.
"Part of the exercise?" wondered Morton.
"I don't think this is an exercise." Ivanova said slowly, eyes fixed on the tactical display rapidly filling with red dots.
"Confirmed." Said Patel. "This is for real, battle plans feeding through from fleet command."
"Transfer data to tactical, sound battle stations." Ivanova ran off orders. "Do we have ship I.D's?"
"Best guess would be Drakh vessels, thousand plus, and something I've never seen before." Rossdale replied.
"What do you mean?" Ivanova settled in her chair, Morton taking up his station to her left. "Patch through a visual."
For a moment the screen remained black and it took Ivanova a minute to register what she was seeing. The blackness was shifting and moving, slowly passing the moon. It wasn't a mistake and it made her blood run cold at the memory, she had seen this before.
"Ah Hell."
"Alyt Shaleth! Look!"
From the command room of his Warcruiser the Minbari officer snapped his head around at the warning. Like most of the other fleet members he had been studying the newly arrived warships recognizing some standard Minbari technology fused into their hulls. The strange hybrids had distracted him from thoughts about why the ISA wanted him here, thoughts which were quickly answered when he looked up.
"Valens name!" he exclaimed in awe. The fleet of Drakh ships alone would have given him a moment of pause but it was the terrifying black mass behind them which really caught his breath. "It cannot be!"
"Our sensors confirm it sir." His second, Tuvan, answered. "A Shadow Planet killer."
"But the Shadows are gone, driven from our galaxy in defeat."
"It seems they did not take everything with them." Tuvan suggested. "President Sheridan is arraying our forces for battle."
The Shai Alyt nodded. "It is somehow fate that he leads our fleets once more in battle against the darkness. Order our ships into combat formation, we focus on the enemy cruisers to our front."
"The heaviest ships are taking the point of the fleet." Tuvan said. "Sheridan is looking for us to open up a path."
"Then we will not disappoint." Shaleth nodded, he had fought at Coriana 6 with Sheridan and he'd seen these planet killers in action, he would not allow it to strike one of the founder worlds of this great new Interstellar Alliance. "Full attack."
"Primary batteries charged and ready." Rossdale announced. "Missiles armed and ready to fire."
"Very well," Ivanova said formally. "At this time I am authorizing use of strategic nuclear weapons. Take off the safeties and make ready to fire."
The fleet had begun deploying in a tight cone shaped formation designed like a three dimensional wedge to stab through the wall of Drakh ships preceding the Death Cloud. The point of the cone had the best ships in the assembled fleets, Earths Warlocks and the Minbari Sharlin warcruisers, along with Sheridans new prototype warships. Supporting them were the Omega class ships flaring back on all sides of the heavy hitters covering their flanks and adding their own strength to the assault, and within the cone were the older Earth and League ships acting as reserves. Sheridan had also deployed the Whitestars and Vree saucers as a fast moving strike force designed to rapidly move across the battlezone and offer their firepower to weakening parts of the front.
The whole thing had taken Earth totally by surprise, and while a powerful force was seconds away from engaging a sizeable number of ships just weren't ready for battle, they were either re-supplying in orbit or had barely a third of their crews on board, the rest enjoying shore leave on the planet below. The massive defence platforms began their charging process and the battlestations launched fighters and readied their own Particle cannons, but the whole thing could have been a total disaster, one which would finish Earth as a habitable planet. They were unprepared for war, and Earthforce was sending ships into battle that were not fit to fight, something which hadn't happened for nearly twenty years, not since the Battle of the Line.
The Battle of the Line. It was an event engraved in humanities consciousness as deep as anything in history, it had been a defining moment for all of human civilization, the moment when it had all nearly ended. Since that day the entire defence strategy of Earth had revolved around making sure it never happened again, that humanity would not face that possibility and if an enemy did reach Earth it would be met with all deliberate force. The GOD network had been the most visible response to that threat, but also the fleet elements of Earthforce had trained again and again for this possibility, re-fighting the line with newer technologies and ships so that if the unthinkable happened then Earth had a chance to live.
Now the unthinkable had happened, a massive force of advanced weapons was at the door and beating it down, Earths defences would be put to the ultimate test and despite the surprise they swung professionally into action. The fleet had assumed one of its standard formations, something every Captain could do in his or her sleep. The waypoints and ranges in near Earth space were already locked into the ships firing systems, the territory as familiar to each of them as the back of their hands. They were on their home ground and they knew what that meant, nobody was running from this battle.
"We're in range." Rossdale announced.
"Launch missiles." Commanded Ivanova. "Ripple fire all tubes, get them out of the silos so we don't have to worry about them, then standby particle cannons."
The EAS Titans fired the first shots of the battle, its missiles being pushed out of their tubes by a quick magnetic surge before their engines engaged and flung the nuclear warheads at the incoming fleet. Earth force was past the stage of worrying about spaceborne weapons of mass destruction and with the new ISA the main galactic authority had been negotiating an amendment to the treaty of Omelos banning Weapons of Planetary destruction. While still technically in force Earth had made sure its frontline ships were equipped with the best weapons in the arsenal, including Nuclear weapons. Those missiles flashed into brief lives as they blasted the first group of Drakh vessels, The Titans sisters following suit. Cruisers died to direct hits and raiders were blasted to scrap by the nuclear fire, but more ships raced through undaunted and closed further into range.
"Fighter squadrons formed up Captain." Morton relayed.
"Deploy them aggressively," Ivanova nodded to her XO, "its more important to take out enemy ships than to cover us, our defence grid can handle itself, tell them to hit any targets of opportunity and watch Sheridan's command."
The Thunderbolt fighters acknowledged and broke off forming into a loose strike formation. Time was critical in the battle and the Earth defence fleet had to throw everything it had into the fight with the aim of causing maximum losses to the enemy before they hit the defence grid, even at the price of protecting their own ships. The Minbari war had shown that caution usually meant losing your fleet, while aggression also tended to cost you your fleet but at least you could make the enemy bleed for it. It was a tactic as desperate as any humans had executed before and didn't help with their chances of survival, but if it saved Earth it was worth it.
A pair of Drakh cruisers fired on the Titans, their energy weapons thumping on the armoured hull. The ship was knocked a few degrees off course, an error that was rapidly corrected, but overall was largely unaffected, the heavy hull armour taking the hits without failing.
"Return fire!" Ivanova yelled over the ringing in her ears left by the hits. "Forward guns, engage at will!"
The lights dimmed slightly as power surged to the Particle cannons, the hungry weapons drawing energy from across the ship to reach critical firing charge before unleashing two spears of energy bound heavy particles. The red hued beams punched through the first cruiser with ease, burning clean through and winging the ship behind it as the primary target was consumed by the massive firepower. The GOD cannons were designed as one shot kill systems, and this was their first real test, a test they seemed to be acing.
"Target destroyed, but more inbound." Commander Morton kept up his commentary. "Attack ships sweeping around and more cruisers ahead."
"Keep firing, we do not let them break through our formation!" Ivanova pounded her fists. "This isn't going to happen on my watch, I want them dead!"
The Titans was hit again, this time its turreted guns swung around and sliced four raiders out of the sky, the remaining ships broke away and blundered into a fearsome shower of antimatter bolts from a Vree escort. As the fast moving Drakh raiders reached the allied lines the vastly superior Whitestars were ready to meet them, drawing them away and keeping them from massing their fire on the bigger warships of the main force. A dogfight developed with the allied fighters helping out as they could, weaving between the Destroyers and cruisers as they fired on the Drakh fleet.
The railguns on the Titans burst through one of the flowing Drakh ships, its crystalline armour terribly vulnerable to the solid shot and fracturing with each impact. Pulse and laser fire from the vessels multiple turrets maintained a heavy barrage on the approaching lines while the twin Particle cannons fired as quickly as they could charge, clearing the path before them.
The EAS Mage began to slow, its engines suffering repeated hits by the Drakh forces causing it to lose thrust. It fired defiantly, cutting down an enemy cruiser but it was essentially out of the battle, just an obstacle which would be overcome later should the Drakh win. Of the eleven Warlock class destroyers that had made it back for the battle, eight had been fully operational with the number now reduced to seven. The other ships had been incomplete and only partially armed, and so they like the Mage would form the final part of the defence expected to use any tactic to stop the Drakh, including ramming and jump engine overloads.
Ivanova felt the ship take two more hits, the last one causing secondary explosions somewhere. They were taking losses and hadn't even reached the main threat yet, the great death cloud billowing before them. She gritted her teeth and set her resolve, she would not lose this fight.
Shaleths cruiser elegantly angled its course to pass the wreck of one of its sisters, the blue form ragged and burning red hot after repeated strikes from Drakh warships, air and fuel feeding the flames that died quickly in vacuum, almost as quick as the ships crew. He held his thoughts, looking beyond the wreck to the mass of Drakh ships ahead and the great enemies most terrifying weapon. Space was littered with dead ships and the constant flashes of brief fires sent more friends and enemies into the next generation, it was not a truly sad moment for his beliefs told him they would return to life once more, but if the cloud reached Earth a whole planets worth of souls would be racing into the afterlife, a notion which awed and terrified him. Minbar was a part of this galaxy now, as a founder of the Interstellar Alliance and its most powerful member it was expected that the Minbari would take a lead in matters including the defence of other members. Sheridan lead, Delenn ever at his side tempering his decisions with wisdom and Minbari ideals, it was a perfectly measured government and one to which the Minbari people had enthusiastically embraced, and today was the first test of their resolve sending their people to die for a former enemy.
Two Whitestars raced past, their crews the first symbols of the unity between Humans and Minbari, and with them followed a squadron of ageing Starfuries which looked like they had been in service since the last time an alien force had hit Earth, a force had had been part of. But that was the past, right now the present demanded his attention.
"Sustained fire." He commanded. "The Drakh are enemies to us all, destroy them."
The green of Minbari neutron weapons joined the red and orange weapons fire of Earth force, concentrating their considerable fire power on the very centre of the Drakh block formation directly ahead of the fleet. The ships secondary weapons swatted raiders from the sky as an afterthought, two Drakh heavy warships falling to Shaleths attack in a few moments.
A sudden increase in the Drakh losses drew his attention, from his command deck he had a panoramic view of Sheridans two new vessels opening fire in support of the vanguard units, their bow guns equal to his own primary weapons. They pierced through Drakh armour in seconds tearing apart the inner workings of the formidable enemy ships and leaving them bent and burning wrecks. He admired the skill and power of their attack, watching them part the Drakh lines and open gaps for the lesser Earth ships to exploit and widen. Sheridan kept his ships mobile, predicting where the Drakh would try and counter attack and always making sure at least one of his new warships was ready to meet them. The humans were fighting well, he even had to admit the League were performing far better than expected though only the most modern ships seemed to be making a difference. It was a true allied effort, though the Humans provided most of the forces as was appropriate.
Two further warcruisers had arrived since the battle started, Shaleth assigned them to take the place of destroyed ships in his formation and noted with satisfaction they immediately engaged and proved their worth, destroying more Drakh ships. The fleet was almost in place, a few more minutes and they'd be upon the cloud itself, and from there it was in Valens hands.
