Chapter Ten: The Empire Strikes Back
Captain Payne studied the strange craft in front of him. It was vaguely reminiscent of the alien space ships of old science fictions movies. What were they called? Ah, UFOs. That was it was. Nevertheless it had proven itself to be quite a sturdy ship. After the brief exchange with the two Minbari Sharlins, it was a little worse for the wear but otherwise was still space worthy from what he could tell.
"Hail them," he ordered ensign Peters. When communication was established, he was in for more surprise. Not only did the ship resemble UFOs, but the crew could have been casts from those old movies. "I am captain Thomas Payne of the Federation ship USS Baikonur."
"Captain Payne, I am Commander Xilin of the Ventuki Conglomerate ship Xon. Thank you very much for helping us. I don't know why the Minbari attacked us. We have given them no cause to behave in that manner."
"Commander Xilin, I don't know what your provocation was but they seem to be a bit too aggressive."
"When you are the lone super power, you don't need much of a reason. You of all should know that. They almost wiped you out not long ago."
"Almost wiped us out?"
"Yes, during Earth-Minbari war."
That was news to Payne. Why had the Minbari almost wiped out humanity? He would have to find that out. "Ah yes, the Earth-Minbari war." Everyone seemed to think they were related to Earth, which wasn't a surprise since most of their crew were humans. "Commander Xilin, do you need any assistance with your wounded?"
"Thank you for your offer Captain but we are fine. However, I don't think it is a wise decision to stay around here for long. You never know what the Minbari will do next."
"I agree. Please give me a moment and I will get back to you." Payne could see an opportunity in the making here. The Vree captain was indebted to him. Maybe they could off-load the Mars survivor onto the Vree who could take them back to Babylon 5 or provide them with passage where ever they wanted. At least it was worth a try. He quickly conferenced the other Captains who were more than supportive of the idea. The burden of the refugees was proving too much even for the most tolerant.
"Commander Xilin, I have a favor to ask you," Payne began as he reestablished contact with the Vree ship. "I have onboard over thirty thousand refugees from Mars. Could we make some kind of arrangement to hand them to you? Perhaps you could arrange for their passage to Babylon 5 or wherever they desire."
"I would be more than happy to accommodate your request Captain but there is no way my ship can accommodate that many people." He thought for a while then continued. "We do have a colony not far from here though. If you would follow us there, we can arrange to have the refugees shipped where ever they desire."
"Thank you, that would be fabulous."
"One question though captain. How come you are not dropping them off yourself?"
"That's a complicated one. Perhaps when the time is right, I can tell you all about it."
Lord Revak, High Admiral of the Royal Centauri Navy, read the fleet status report for the fifth time. Every one of the eighty ships assigned to his fleet was in position and ready to drop unto the unsuspecting Narn home world. He wouldn't have accepted anything less from the Imperial Navy ships under his command. All he needed now was the final authorization from the emperor himself and the long delayed subjugation of Narn could begin. As far as he was concerned, this invasion should have taken place at least a year ago but those old fools in the admiralty had constantly delayed it. "We don't have enough ships and the troops aren't ready yet," they said. Right! all he needed was a dozen ships and crew to man them and he would have all Narn on their knees within a week. Too bad, he wasn't in charge of these things. He was a military man through and through and missed the golden days of the once mighty Centauri Republic. With any luck, he would be the spearhead that would bring the good old days back to the Republic.
His rumination was cut short by a tech. "Lord Geeri is on the line sir," he was told.
"Put him through," he ordered.
"Lord Revak, the Emperor sends his command. You are to commence actions against the Narn immediately," he spat the word Narn out with venom. "Make us proud."
"Consider it done, Lord Geeri, Narn will be burning before the day is out." With that, he sent out the order to the fleet. "Commence jump on my mark. Now!"
The Centauri invasion force dropped out of hyperspace not far from the Narn home world. By the looks of things, they had the element of surprise completely on their side. Only a handful of G'Quan class Heavy Cruisers and numerous smaller crafts were patrolling in the vicinity, far too few to by of any serious consequence. Although the G'Quans looked impressive, Revak knew they were no match against his ships. Once all his ships had successfully exited hyperspace, they quickly split up into three elements. The first one with thirty ships would engage any enemy ships that were present in the area. The second element consisting of another thirty ships would form the spearhead attacking the planet while the final twenty would be held back for reinforcement if it were called for. He seriously doubted he was going to need it but his years of military service had taught him the value of reinforcement and the need to anticipate the unexpected.
Captain Semat was in charge of the first element of the Centauri attack fleet. As his ships pursued their quarry, he could see that the Narn were no fool. Instead of the individual ships rushing headlong to intercept his ships, they were wisely retreating to a rally point. In a way, he was happy to see this, if the Narn ships had charged individually, they would have lasted no more than a couple of minutes at the most. His wing of thirty Primus, Vorchans and their fighter complement would have made short work of them. In the end, it really wouldn't make much of a difference but it would at least give him the pleasure of a good fight instead of a rout. There was no fun in that. However, something unexpected happened next, instead of the regrouped Narn fleet facing to meet his wing, they turned away and slipped into hyperspace. Those cowards. They had robbed him off of a good fight and the satisfaction that went along with killing them. Bitterly, he consulted Lord Revak who ordered him to reinforce the second element.
As the combined first and second element of the Centauri fleet approached Narn, the longer-ranged planetary defenses opened up. It was a savage barrage that lit up the space, filling it with immense quantities of raw energies. They had to knock out the invaders before they could unleash their own fiery hell. Although the fireworks looked spectacular, in truth, it was doing little damage. The Centauri warships were shooting down most of the missiles aimed at them. The few that made it through did manage to do hit the heavily armored ships but it was nothing like what the Centauri had in store for the Narn. From his bridge, Captain Semat monitored the situation even as another near miss rocked his ship. He counted the seconds until they were finally in range and returned fired. It was massive and indiscriminant. The defenders tried valiantly to resist incoming fire but the sheer volume was proving to be overpowering. Defeat seemed inevitable. Just then Semat's ship rocked violently and was thrown off course. "What the hell was that?" he demanded. It was the Narn fleet that had retreated to hyperspace not too long ago. Instead of fleeing the fight, they had just executed the classical hammer and anvil maneuver. His ships were caught in a deadly crossfire and were paying the price. He lost seven ships in just a matter of minutes. "Get me Lord Revak on the line," he bellowed. He was going to need the twenty ships Lord Revak had held back as reinforcement.
G'Tesh was in charge of home defense. With only a dozen ships under his command, it was a tall order. The Centauri invasion had taken everyone by complete surprise. They hadn't gotten even a single word from their spy network at all. The task before him seemed monumental but he wasn't going to let it rattle him. The very survival of his people depended upon his success. As the Centauri commander split up his group, he quickly knew what he must do. He ordered all his ships to fall back to his position ASAP. Then, instead of making a stand he slipped into hyperspace leaving an impression of retreat. In fact, it was just a cunning plan no one would have expected. Once the Centauri fleet had committed to attacking the planet, he would drop out of hyperspace right on their tail and catch them in crossfire. Sure, it was a risky plan. Such a precision jump so close to a planet always would be, but desperate times calls for desperate measures. Besides who else but the Narn knew this area better.
G'Tesh's fleet executed the maneuver flawlessly catching the Centauri off guard. He made maximum use of it. Even before they could react, his ships had blasted of three Centauri Primus Battle Cruisers that were desperately trying to evade the fire. They kept blasting away at the Centauri until they had finished turning around to face him. He then executed step two of his plan, which was just as daring and innovative as the first. His ships closed rank and made a headlong rush straight into the heart of the enemy fleet. It was a bold gamble rushing into the heart of the enemy formation. Many of his smaller ships paid the ultimate price but the move had the desired effect. The Centauri ships in the path scattered out of the way making them easy target for his well disciplined ships. On top of that, the Centauri ships closest to them shielded them from the rest of the Centauri fleet. Once past the line of ships, they made a sharp left turn bringing them line-abreast of the left half of the Centauri fleet leaving the right half rushing to catch up with them. Now, they only had half the ships to deal with which was still a three to one odd. Meanwhile, the planetary defense was still putting up a stiff barrage albeit with more caution. They had to avoid hitting their own ships. This proved to be a godsend as it kept the Centauri busy on two fronts. Unfortunately, the odds were catching up to him. He made one brilliant move after another but in the end there just was no way for his small fleet to stop the overwhelming Centauri assault. He died a warrior's death a blast from a Vorchan's ion cannon tore into his ship. Without his leadership, the remaining Narn fleet fell into disarray and was quickly dispatched by the Centauri fleet.
Captain G'Toll was watching the view screen in awe as his ship sped off towards the Centauri Deep Space Station. They weren't in hyperspace. In fact, his ship was being towed behind one of the two Klingon ships that were traveling FTL in normal space. This was totally unheard of but here he was doing exactly that. He just hoped the Klingons would share this technology with them. He saw no reason for them not to. From what he could make out, the speeds were comparable to travel in hyperspace but infinitely more flexible. Gone were the days when you needed hyperspace beacons and jump gates. You could just warp in and out of any location. He could only dream of the tactical potential of such a drive system. Imagine outrunning a torpedo or even a neutron cannon beam. He would love to see the looks on the Centauri faces when his ships fully armed with Klingon technology laid waste to Centauri Prime itself. Now that would be such sweet revenge. "There's a priority message from Narn for all ships sir," the comm. officer reported breaking his train of thoughts
"On screen!" he ordered. He couldn't believe what he heard. The Centauri had attacked Narn with over eighty ships and their home defense was falling apart. All ships were to return to Narn immediately. He quickly informed the Klingons what had transpired. The Deep Space Station would have to wait and his ship would have its trail by fire in its own backyard. He only hoped it was not too late.