Episode 22: A Council of War

Babylon 5

For the second time that day, Captain John Sheridan found himself urgently recalled to the command deck. Ever since the large alien ship had appeared and simply vanished, the Captain found himself running to and fro, putting Ambassador's minds at ease and sorting out minor fires. It was all quite different since his recent command of the Agamemnon, and he always found diplomacy never to be his strong point. Perhaps his experience aboard the station would change that.

Sheridan arrived next to the second-in-command, nodding to Garibaldi as he did so. Commander Ivanova was working a console, eyes intent. Sheridan asked her what the problem was as he looked over her shoulder to the monitors.

"Another energy surge, similar to the appearance of the alien vessel. This one is more sporadic," she indicated a waveform on the monitor before her. A series of peaks and valleys were being generated, "it started appearing a few minutes ago and has been growing in intensity."

"Another ship coming through?"

"Maybe Captain."

"We should scramble the Starfuries, just in case."

"I agree. Commander…"

The Captain was interrupted as a massive white flash of energy erupted outside the station, filling the command deck with blinding light. As quickly as it appeared it simply vanished, leaving the officers blinking away white dots floating in their vision for a few seconds. Outside they noticed another ship had appeared. Sheridan inhaled with frustration.

"Now what?"

"Sensors coming up, Captain. There is some interference but we are getting readings. The vessel is six-hundred eighty meters, power systems unlike anything we have on record. Life signs detected."

"Hail them."

"Communications are being disrupted."

"Look, it has some kind of markings on the hull," Garibaldi observed. Sheridan leaned over and zoomed in the monitor.

"USS Enterprise. NCC-1701 E. Written in English no less."

"USS?" Garibaldi said incredulous, "What, is it American?"

"It's no Earth ship I'm familiar with."

"Another surge, Captain!"

Again the scene outside the station filled with light, as two more vessels appeared. Both were smaller than the first ship, the smallest of the three obviously a warship of some kind. Ivanova worked the console, trying to gather as many scans as she could. Garibaldi and Sheridan exchanged worried looks. The security chief advised they suspend traffic until they had more information, to which the Captain agreed.

"Markings indicate the ships are the Voyager and Defiant."

"What the hell is going on here?" Sheridan said in irritation, just as the command deck opened and Londo Mollari entered.

"Captain Sheridan, I demand an explanation as to what is occurring outside this station."

"Not now, Ambassador."

"Captain," Ivanova exclaimed stepping away from the console and looking out the window, "I'm detecting a massive energy surge."

Again the room filled with light, flashing in a strobe-like effect until they were nearly blinded. Sheridan braced himself against the wall, covering his eyes with his free arm. The light seemed to pound into his temples, splitting his eye sockets with pain.

"Good Lord," Garibaldi breathed, looking out the window as his eyes cleared. Outside twelve massive starships were in view, maneuvering toward the planet. The new ships were triangular in shape with what appeared to be command decks rising from the rear section. They were much larger than the three previous vessels that had mysteriously appeared.

"Captain, look at these reading. If these are correct, those ships have shields and weapons unlike anything we have seen."

"What do you mean?" Londo asked.

"Those ships are more powerful than anything we have come across…perhaps by a very wide margin. Our weapons wouldn't even leave a mark against them. They are energy shields of some sort."

"Dispatch a communication. We require immediate assistance," Sheridan ordered.

"Captain, I demand you allow me to depart aboard my shuttle immediately," Londo said.

"Not now, Ambassador, please."

"Communication, Captain. From the first ship that arrived. Looks like the interference is clearing up."

"Attention space station in orbit. This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise. We mean you no harm. We are here to assist you. Please respond."

"Help us?" Sheridan said, amazed. He leaned forward and looked over the fleet now surrounding the planet.

"Never trust the French," Garibaldi warned, shaking his head.

Interlude

USS Enterprise

LaForge stood in Data's room as the android gathered a few odds and ends. The Engineer flipped through an assortment of paintings Data had recently done, shaking his head in wonder. A few were of his cat Spot, others of the Enterprise and her crew. One or two were complicated abstract patterns.

"You've gotten much better of late, Data."

"I do enjoy the distraction, Geordi."

LaForge arrived at the most current painting, an unfinished work. He turned his head to the side, trying to make sense of it. The piece had a disturbing quality to it, not having the professional veneer the other works had, almost amateur in nature. It seemed to be a combination of circuit boards and planets.

"What is this, Data?"

"I was attempting to convey my feelings towards the Assembled, but I could not portray the image properly."

"The Assembled?"

"Yes. I find their presence…disturbing."

"Why is that?"

Data resumed packing as he spoke, "I have always assumed I was essentially unique, Geordi. Now I come to find there is an entire universe filled with machine life, whose sole purpose is the eradication of organic beings."

"Yeah, but Data, you are hardly the same."

"Some would argue that is semantics. They are machine, I am a machine."

"Data, look around you. You create, you explore. The Assembled can't do that. They can't imagine, they can't invent, and they only take what they can. They are really just the sum of their parts. You…you're so much more than that."

"Perhaps. Are you coming down to the surface?"

"No. The Captain needs me here. Especially with Captain Riker…well, you know."

"I understand. And Geordi?"

"Yeah?"

"If I do not return, take care of Spot for me?"

Imperial Star Destroyer

Captain Sheridan felt the odd tingling sensation leave his body, as the hanger deck materialized into view. He stepped forward, his hand patting his chest involuntarily. Around him stood several guards in white armor, snapping to attention. A stern faced woman approached, as a bald man with a friendly face, dressed in a similar uniform smiled and nodded. The woman shook his hand warmly.

"Captain John Sheridan, thank you for coming. I am Admiral Kathryn Janeway. This is, as you know, Captain Jean-Luc Picard."

"Captain," Picard said.

"Interesting way you have of traveling, Admiral."

"The transporter? You get used to it. Site to site transport is always a little more uncomfortable. I trust Captain Picard filled you in about out presence here?"

"He did, although I found it difficult to believe. You came from another universe?"

"We all did, Captain. The Imperial and Federation fleet are quite different as you can see."

"And you say these…machines are going to make an effort to take Epsilon III?"

"Our intelligence indicates this to be the case. Come with me. The others are waiting for us."

Sheridan was led down to a large conference, with a group unlike any he had ever encountered in his travels. If he had not known better, he would have assumed this was all a dream. Part of him wished it desperately was. In the center of the room was a schematic of the planet below, a cutaway displaying the technology complex under the surface. Sheridan, a military man at heart, was slightly concerned at the level of detail the Imperial and Federation sensors were able to display.

"The Great Machine," he said.

"Yes. May I introduce you to the group? Our host, Darth Vader, leader of the Imperial Fleet. Goliath, of Earth. New York City to be exact. Over there in the gold armor is Chellis, representing the Protoss race. Lt. Commander Data, Chief Engineer of the Enterprise, Geordi LaForge and Ambassador Worf. Over in the corner are Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c, of Stargate Command."

"How ya doing," Jack said, adjusting his hat.

"Um, hello," Sheridan said.

"This is the best you could gather?" Vader said, his breath rasping in his helmet, "Three ships?"

"We've brought some surprises," Janeway returned.

"Our sensors indicate your technology is no match against the Empire. What do you hope to accomplish by bringing three of your ships here?"

"Stick around and see. Not everything is what it seems," Janeway said, smiling.

"Twelve ships is not exactly a massive fleet either, Darth Vader," O'Neill interjected.

"The Emperor spared as many ships as he could. There are other matters that require attention. These ships were the closest and able to respond."

"Ah, the busy day of the insane dictator," O'Neill pondered aloud.

"If you allow me to contact my people, we can add the might of the Protoss Fleet to this endeavor," Chellis said.

"Numbers are not the concern," LaForge said, "for every ship we bring here the dimensional stability is compromised. A few more ships and we wouldn't be able to bring anymore through anyway."

"Then why not completely destabilize the region? That'll stop the robots," O'Neill ventured.

"Their incursion technology is superior to what we managed to develop. They aren't as susceptible to the disturbances as we are, but we may have limited what they can bring through to this area."

"But they will come?" Sheridan asked.

"Without a doubt," Data answered.

"Captain Picard already told me what they plan to do if they reach the Great Machine. There is no way we can let them do that. I've sent word to the various races but it will be some time before they can send any ships."

"You should concern yourself with evacuating your station," Vader said coldly, "my Fleet will not waste its time trying to protect it."

"Lord Vader," Picard warned. Vader raised a hand in answer, cutting him off.

"My concern is that planet, not a few pointless lives."

"The big guy is right," O'Neill added. Jackson looked over at him surprised. O'Neill retuned the look and said simply, "What?"

"We cannot devote resources protecting a few civilians," Vader stated.

"Unfortunately, I agree," Picard said, "Captain Sheridan, I would advise getting as many people off your station as possible."

"That will take some time but if what you are saying about these Assembled is true, how can you fight them? Their power is…well, hard to understand."

"With strategy, Captain," Data remarked, looking at Geordi, "with creativity and invention, and the one weapon they don't have."

"The human mind," Picard said.

"Yeah, well, I would prefer some weapons in the form of big guns, actually," O'Neill said.

"Then you are in luck," Geordi said. The engineer reached down and placed a large rifle on the table in front of him, "we've been working on this little beauty the last little while. This is a TR-116."

"The old projectile weapon?" Janeway asked, stepping forward.

"Yes, but with a few modifications. For those in the room that haven't seen this weapon before, the rifle has a built in microtransporter that has been modified. The gun now has targeting sensors built into it that will transport the projectile inside the target."

"Very good, but won't shielding prevent that?"

"The transporter has a variable phase discriminator built into it. An adaptive shielding will eventually prevent the projectile but we should get a few good shots in. Now the projectile has also been modified. We have explosive canisters, utilizing a Trilithium based explosive."

"Trilithium?"

"Starfleet command granted us permission to develop these weapons," Janeway said.

"Impressive," Vader said.

"Yeah, not to shabby," O'Neill said, wandering over and looking at the rifle carefully.

"We have no idea what the robotic constructs armor was made from but our weapons have been proven to be ineffective. These projectiles should pass right through their chassis and do the damage where it counts."

"Nice."

Janeway stepped forward, "Lt. Commander LaForge will see to it that the ground forces are given these weapons. We will also begin transporting down portable shield units that the Federation and Imperial engineers have been working on. Colonel O'Neill will lead the ground forces. You must establish a strong defensive position as soon as possible."

"Your own Stargate team will be accompanied by my elite Stormtroopers."

"Great!" O'Neill said. Leaning over to Carter he whispered, "From what I've seen their aim is worse than a Jaffa's."

"Federation security will also join you," Picard said.

"We have been trying to contact Draal since you informed me of the danger to the Machine," Sheridan said, "but so far we have had no response."

"I'm a little worried at that. From the size of the complex below the surface, we are only reading minimal power. The defensive measures you mentioned are not operational," Carter said.

"I don't understand something. You can't hold these Assembled off forever. What do you hope to accomplish by all this?"

"As we have learned, the Assembled plan to use the Great Machine to collapse the dimensional boundaries between the multi-verses until only one remains. Mr. Data and Colonel Carter will interface the device and reverse their original idea."

"Reverse it?"

"We plan on using the same method the constructs were going to use," Data said, "however, we plan on re-enforcing the dimensional boundary around the Assembled universe to such a degree that nothing will be able to get in or out. They will be effectively sealed in."

"It will take some time to set this up," Carter added, "so we need to hold them off long enough to finish the job. Lord Vader, have you uncovered what the scout obtained from your databases?"

"No. They gathered only minimal information before it was vented out of the hanger bay. It was transported away before we could destroy it."

Sheridan looked around the room, bewildered by the events of the day. It seemed not long ago that he was getting up and reading simple daily reports and now the entire multiverse was in danger of collapsing. He shook his head in wonder.

"I guess we should get under way then," he said simply.

"Darth Vader will lead the Imperial Fleet of course," Janeway said, "Captain Picard will co-ordinate matters between the two fleets. Captain Sheridan, if you could begin the evacuation of your station? Meanwhile, Ambassador Worf will take command of the Defiant, and I will command Voyager. Colonel O'Neill, his team, Goliath and Chellis will proceed to the transport site on the surface."

"Good luck to you all," Picard said gravely.