(updated 10-09-2020)
CHAPTER FOUR
A new enemy
"The effectiveness of Wolfram & Hart's media campaign still reverberates even today with a small minority of people and groups. In certain corners of the dark web, conspiracy-minded people still blame the Slayers for the White House attack and the Boston disaster. These people defend President Kinsey's Anti-Slayer agenda and policies. This is even despite the overwhelming evidence of Kinsey being co-opted by The First Evil and his involvement with the murders of President Hayes and his cabinet…"
— Excerpt from "The Devil's Counsel–The Story of Wolfram & Hart
oOoOo
The vampire in command of the light cruiser USS Enterprise found himself dealing with a situation rapidly spiraling out of control. His ship, along with the USS Saratoga, were moving on an intercept course to the point in space, where according to sensor data, showed a space-fold was taking place.
It appeared that the long-lost Arcadia Expedition was returning home. This vampire was astute enough to realize this wasn't good news for him and his kind.
What he hadn't been expecting was the orders direct from President Kinsey to intercept and destroy any ships folding back into normal space. The vampire had smirked when he'd received the orders because he didn't think Kinsey would have had the balls or guts to take this kind of action.
The vampire commander had no problems with his orders. In fact, he looked forward to using his weapons, relishing the thought of destroying the Arcadia and her escorting ships. It tickled him thinking about the shock and surprise that would be on all their faces, to glimpse Earth just before his missiles and particle beams destroyed them.
He should have been savoring the moment more, if it wasn't for the Valley Forge and the other cruisers coming up fast on his stern, warning him off. Further dampening any sense of enjoyment and anticipation, along as evidence of their seriousness, were the weapons-lock detected on his ship, and the Saratoga.
Even if the vampire had wanted to, standing down was not an option for him or his crew. They had sworn their loyalty to their master to obey and serve Kinsey, and the retribution they would suffer for disobedience would be far worse than any death.
"Coms… tell the Saratoga to keep all weapons locked on those fold coordinates!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Weps… keep our particle turret aimed on to those coordinates and get me a firing solution on that vermin trash on the Valley Forge!" the vampire commander ordered.
"Yes, sir! How many of our missile launchers should I target at them?"
A twisted smirk filled the vampire commander's face, "All of them!" he ordered.
oOoOo
"SIR! The Enterprise is locking missiles on to us!"
"Damn it!" Captain Lynch muttered. He had exhausted his options, "Prepare to fire on my mark! Standby to release countermeasures, and initiate ECM protocols!" he ordered.
Samantha and Willow watched from the sidelines while a chorus of "Yes, sirs!" rang out across the bridge. A surprising brief flash of sadness and jealousy stabbed at Samantha, seeing the hope and eagerness in Willow's face. She brushed it aside, knowing that what they had was only a relationship of convenience.
"Willow, we don't know if Kennedy will be with them or if it is even them," she said, taking Willow's hand in hers, and gently squeezing. She hated to be the pessimistic voice, and dash Willow's hopes, but she didn't want to see her disappointed and hurt.
The desperate expression of hope on Willow's face was obvious as she turned to meet Samantha's eyes, "I know… I know, but I can't help it!"
Samantha wanted to tell Willow how much she meant to her, but a cry from the sensor station killed any further conversation, "We've got ships defolding! The ships… my god! They're—"
oOoOo
"Those aren't our ships!" cried out the vampire manning the Enterprise's sensor station, "The computer is identifying them as unidentified hostile types!"
Shock gripped the vampire commander, trying to absorb the report while staring at the display screen, as alien ships continued blinking into normal space. Dread replaced the shock as more of the huge, ominous tubular-shaped black and red ships, the smallest easily dwarfing his ship, transitioned into the space ahead of him. More ships continued blinking into existence, filling his ship's display screen. The dread was being replaced by fear.
The ship's First Officer saw his commander frozen, staring at the display screen, "Sir! What do we do?" he shouted, trying to shake his commander out of his shock.
The commander finally responded to the badgering, "F-Fire…" he muttered in a hoarse voice.
The first officer stared at the display screen, then back at his commander, "Sir?"
"DAMN IT! YOU HEARD ME! FIRE! FIRE EVERYTHING!" he screamed, venting his anger and fear.
oOoOo
Onboard a huge dreadnought-class ship at the center of the emerging fleet, figures wearing cloaks to hide their forms, stared at their holographic command display. Glowing, inhuman eyes studied the streaming data and information projected on the display of their fleet and surrounding area.
"Prelate, all ships report successful transition into normal space."
"Are we at the correct coordinates?"
"Yes, Prelate. It is as the Awareness provided."
Prelate Dejan's eyes locked on the display, studying the information. A sense of satisfaction and anticipation filled him at having arrived at their target. Arriving in this planetary system was the simple part of their mission… now came the hard part, "Scan for enemy vessels, orbital and planetary defenses," he ordered.
It wasn't long before his answers came streaming in, "Prelate, scans show only eight human light cruiser class ships on an intercept course with us. We are scanning only one rudimentary orbital facility along with many satellites. The satellites appear to be only for communication and surveillance purposes… we are not detecting any planetary defense weapons platforms."
The lack of defenses perplexed and confused Dejan, "Are you sure? Could there be more ships further out in the system or hiding behind the planet's moon?"
"Yes, Prelate. We are only scanning energy signatures from the eight ships… no power signatures for any heavy cruiser, battleship or battle-fortress class ships in system. Neither the cruisers nor the orbital facility have deployed any fighters. Our scans also show different power output and no shielding around the light cruisers. These appear to be older or unmodified ships of the same class we have previously encountered."
Dejan pondered this information, wondering why the inhabitants of this world were deploying such a pathetic defense.
Maybe they thought their distance from us would protect them…? It is time to prove them wrong of that idea…
"Sir, should we implement the primary operational plan?"
Dejan considered the question. They had based their primary operational plan on assuming the human's home world being heavily defended. The plan was to fight through, clearing away any space and orbital defenses, and lay waste to the planet's surface, wiping out the home world of that accursed species. With the state of the human defenses being as they were, this opened up the opportunity to implement plans only considered a remote possibility.
The Awareness said we could hurt him if we could find her. We can make him feel pain and anguish for everything he has done to us…! Now we can make all the humans suffer for everything they have done to the hegemony.
A sense of anticipation gripped Dejan at the revenge he would take out on the humans, "No… we will go with our secondary operational plan. Inform the fleet to prepare for ground operations. The fleet will advance and destroy the enemy ships and orbital platform. We will then move into orbit and force the planet to surrender. If they resist, we will conduct an orbital bombardment of select targets before we begin ground landings across the planet."
"Yes, Prelate."
oOoOo
Along with the rest of the bridge crew, Samantha and Willow watched in shocked horror as a seemingly unending wave of ships continued to defold.
Captain Lynch tried to project a calm front while studying the display screen, "Status of hostile forces?" he said.
"Sensors showing one hundred and fifty plus with more still arriving…"
My God, Lynch thought, trying to keep the helpless despair in check in the face of this nightmare. A crewman calling out mercifully diverted his thoughts, giving him something to focus on.
"SIR! Enterprise and Saratoga are firing on the unknowns!"
Lynch took a deep breath, taking another moment to study the display screen, noting the enemy force in relation to his ships. With being this hideously outnumbered, it left him few options, noting the Enterprise and Saratoga now engaging this unknown enemy.
The ship's sensors were doing their job, using their electronic senses to study the alien ships, gathering information as particle beams and missiles from the human cruisers struck. Those reports didn't provide any much better news… with the scans showing that the alien ships had energy shields.
Lynch swore under his breath, making his decision, "Inform the rest of the fleet to engage the unknowns! Tell them to concentrate their firepower on the closest enemy ships, that's the only way we'll burn through their shields! All ships are to maintain the distance gap and keep maneuvering as they engage… also tell all ships to cycle up their fold systems and standby to fold to Mars!"
"Y-You're abandoning Earth!" Willow blurted out.
Lynch turned to face the two women. The decision gnawed at him too, but he had no other options available, "We have no choice… you see how many of them there are! Our only hope is to sting them now and execute a fold to Mars. We can use the research base on Mars as a base of operations while we figure out who the hell we are dealing with and plan our next moves."
"Sir! We have missile lock on the nearest hostile ships!"
Lynch didn't hesitate, "FIRE!" he ordered. The ship shuddered as the first wave of missiles left their launch tubes.
oOoOo
Kinsey could only watch the display screen in utter helpless shock as the space station relayed real-time video of the battle taking place in orbit. The Situation Room was in chaos, but he barely noticed it as his eyes fixated on the immense alien fleet advancing on the planet. He was only half aware of the people in the room asking—some begging—for his attention and direction.
"Mr. President… we need to alert all our nuclear forces!"
"Sir! We need to mobilize the Air Force, Army and notify the National Guard!"
"We need to notify the public!"
Kinsey finally pulled his eyes away from the screen, looking dumbfounded at the people in the room staring at him.
Panic filled his thoughts, as his eyes turned back to the video screen, This isn't how it's supposed to be! They promised me… they promised me I would rule everything on the planet…! It's not supposed to end this way!
oOoOo
"Prelate, we have destroyed the closest two human ships. We are engaging the other human ships."
"What is their status?" Dejan said.
"They are maintaining their distance, using their missiles and particle beam weapons to great effectiveness by concentrating their fire on individual ships to maximize damage. We have lost two cruisers and several others have sustained damage. Our cruiser screen is moving to close the distance to engage."
Dejan studied the holographic display as he considered the tactical situation, "Launch Wraiths to take out the remaining human ships and the space station. Prepare the fleet to enter orbit and begin scans of the surface. Primary targets will be any planetary defense installations and large population centers."
"Yes, Prelate."
oOoOo
Lynch maintained his grip on his command chair as his ship heaved, "Damage Report!"
The damage control officer reported, "Near miss, sir! Just some minor outer hull damage being reported… all systems still functional!"
"Sir, we've lost the cruisers Andromeda, Marshall Vorontsov and Zheng He! Sensors are showing the enemy fleet has launched a wave of smaller craft. They appear to be fighters, and they're heading towards the ISS and us!"
That does it! Time to get out of here, Lynch thought.
"Order the Baden and Govorov to fold! Tell them we'll be rear guard, and we'll rendezvous with them at Deimos!"
"Yes, sir!"
Sweat ran down Lynch's back as the seconds and minutes ticked by, seeming like hours.
"Sir! Baden and Govorov have folded!"
Lynch was about to order the Valley Forge to fold when a burst of enemy fire hit the ship. It was as if a giant had picked up the ship and thrown it to the ground, tossing everyone on the bridge around. The Captain picked himself off the deck, trying to regain his senses, "REPORT!" he shouted as the din of alarms filled the bridge.
It took a moment for the damage control officer to report, "We took a direct hit on our turret! It's gone!"
Lynch swore at losing his main offensive weapon, but he didn't have time to bemoan it as one of the ship's engineers shouted out.
"SIR! FOLD SYSTEM IS DESTABILIZING! REFLEX FURNACE IS OVERLOADING!"
Willow immediately realized the hit they took with destruction of the turret must have sent a power surge through the ship's power system. She didn't hesitate, rushing over to the bridge's engineering station, "We have to shunt the excess power from the furnace otherwise it will blow!" she said.
The engineer manning the station stared at her incredulously, "H-How do we do that?"
Willow strained, trying to remember everything she'd ever learned about Reflex furnaces, "We need to send the power into another system. Normally, we could send it to the weapons system and have the particle beam turret fire higher intense blasts…"
"The turret's gone!"
"I know… that leaves us with only one system that can take that energy load," she said while frantically typing commands into the engineering console.
Shock filled the engineer's eyes as he realized what she was doing, "The fold system is already destabilizing! It can't handle power output like that. This isn't like the Arcadia's fold system, these fold engines are for only short jump distances!"
"I know, but we have no choice, the furnace is going to explode!" Willow said, concentrating on her work.
"REPORT!" Lynch shouted.
"I've stabilized the fold system, but if we don't jump now, the overload will blow the ship up!" Willow replied.
"Okay, execute the fold to Mars!" Lynch said.
"Uh… that's going to be a problem," Willow said, looking at the power readings on the console.
"What do you mean?" Lynch said, turning his attention to Willow.
Willow met the Captain's eyes, "We need to jump beyond our range capability to use up the energy. There are no guarantees that this will work… we could still explode or we just never transition back into normal space!"
Lynch's gaze went back to the display, seeing the enemy fighters closing on them. He didn't hesitate, "DO IT! We're dead either way!" he ordered, hoping this wouldn't be his last command.
Willow nodded, quickly pulling up navigation data, typing in the parameters they needed to use up all the excess power.
We need to go far… really far. Don't have time to pick a destination, just hope the NAV computer will pull something up we can use.
The computer came through, flashing fold spatial coordinates on her console. Willow didn't wait or hesitate, hitting the command to confirm, entering those coordinates as their destination, "We're good! Hit it!" she said.
As Captain Lynch gave the order to fold, Willow's gaze shifted over to Samantha, their eyes meeting. Each woman smiled, sharing an unspoken communication, each recalling all the time and moments they'd shared. Memories of Kennedy and Tara flashed in Willow's thoughts. The ship shuddered and the sound of the engines straining reverberated throughout the ship.
There had been no time to select a specific destination. Willow had just gone with the first set of spatial coordinates the computer had provided, matching the required power parameters. As the space-fold started, a surprising curiosity grabbed at her, and she accessed the computer, one final time, to tell her what system or planet they were—hopefully—heading to. The information displayed on the computer screen caused her eyes to widen in shocked surprise.
Tirol! We're headed to Tirol!
Willow barely had time to grasp and register the full significance of this before everything went white, and she could no longer think or feel anything.