CHAPTER 4
Location: Earth Alliance Territory.
Many hours had gone since the battle with the unknown organic ships and saying that in that time many battle drills had been made was an understatement. By now, Korras' ships already had entered what was called Earth Alliance space, but the absence of fleets or defense patrols was intriguing, could be that these Earthlings had no idea whatsoever how to conduct a war, if this was the case it was not surprising that they were losing the war badly despite the technological difference for their enemy.
"We are approaching the Delta Quadrant humans' solar system." K'nera informed.
"Any ships detected?" asked Korras.
"None." K'nera answered.
Korras remembered that the Brakiri data also informed that the Minbari was in a war of extermination. So now he was wondering if they were not already arriving too late and the Minbari had already achieved their objective, but even if that wasn't the case, he still wasn't certain what only four Klingon ships could do against an entire race with possibly thousands of ships.
"Tactical." Korras commanded.
The main viewscreen immediately changed from the forward view to a virtual representation of the approached solar system and corresponding data displayed on it.
Korras was not an expert in the sector 001 of the Federation, but according to Klingon maps, this other Human Solar system that they were now entering was an exact replica of that of the Federation. Therefore, it really boggled his mind that powerful Beings wanted to go to the trouble of spreading humans through the galaxy and even create duplicates of their home planet and system. It really didn't make any sense, of course to Klingons credit, other omnipotent Beings as the Q also showed interest in them, but Korras was not certain that having the attention of those beings was a good thing, perhaps it was better if only the humans had this kind of attention.
"We have passed by this system's fifth planet." K'nera informed.
"Good, at my command the fleet is to drop from warp and proceed at full impulse." Korras said.
"I'm detecting around the third planet many ships of all the sizes and forms, the majority are very small; probably short range fighters, but some are very large and clearly warships. The rest however can hardly qualify as war capable.
"Battle alert." Korras instructed.
Immediately the bridge illumination turned from a dim white color to a red one bathing the entire bridge.
"Drop to impulse now, only the Kahless is to uncloak …raise shields and prepare to hail them." Korras ordered.
On the outside and like a ghost, a single ship appeared from nowhere and at an incredible speed passed by Mars orbit.
-oOOo-
Location: Around Earth Orbit.
"Sir, Mars defense system detected an unknown ship approaching at high speed." A crewmember said to its superior officer, General Lefcourt.
"Lieutenant, transfer the data to the main screen." Lefcourt commanded.
"Transferring now Sir."
Then Displayed in the screen appeared an undefined profile from the unknown ship. For Lefcourt that was not a total surprise as he was accustomed to see Minbari ships in this way, but the speed at which this ship was traveling, was anything but normal and clearly faster than any Minbari ship he had ever seen.
"How much time before this ship arrives?" Lefcourt Asked.
"The Mars defense system did not obtain an accurate reading and the ship is emanating too much interference, but by estimation of how fast it passed by them, it was traveling at least at one quarter the speed of light and if that speed is maintained, it will arrive here in approximately twenty two minutes." The crewmember answered.
"The fleet is to go to red alert..., give me fleet wide communications." Lefcourt commanded.
"Yes Sir." Answered the crewmember operating communications which after pressing some buttons informed wide fleet communications were on."
"ATTENTION: you all know why we are here, because of a tragic incident the Minbari declared war on Earth. We made everything in our power to rectify this error, inclusively offering our unconditional surrender but that was not enough for the Minbari that decided that because of that error, we were savages and that humanity had to pay the ultimate price and be eliminated. No another race wanted to help us, so we were left alone against a superior enemy. During two years, we fought them for every square meter of the space, but in the end we were pushed back until finally, the only thing left for us to do is one last stand here on Earth.
I don't have any doubts that you all are going to do your best in defending the planet below us, where humanity appeared and try to protect its billions of innocents souls that were condemned to death by an alien race. The Mars defense system has detected a single ship coming our way, possible it is a Minbari scout to assert our defenses, so prepare yourselves.
Starfuries take your positions… all other ships power up all weapon, the enemy is going to be here in minutes… we may go down but we are going to go down fighting in the name of Humanity. May God be with us all."
-oOOo-
Aboard the IKS Kahless.
"Sir, the Humans are deploying their fleet." Toran stated.
"They might be mistaking us with the Minbari." Shelby informed.
"We don't look nothing like those Minbari Cmdr." Korras replied.
"I know Sir, but their technology is very primitive and they cannot scan their enemies or even target them, our shields may be producing similar interferences to Minbari ECM." Said Shelby hoping this was the truth, the other explanation was that these Humans might have become paranoid due to this war and will shoot at anything that moves.
Korras considered Shelby's argument and then ordered. "Full stop, drop shields but set sensors to maximum, I don't want to be taken by surprised…, hail them."
-oOOo-
Several hundred thousand kilometers ahead around Earth orbit.
"Sir the incoming ship is slowing down and just deactivated its stealth system." Lefcourt's First Officer informed.
Lefcourt didn't know any more what to expect. Now he was clearly seeing the ship in his screen and clearly didn't resemble any Minbari ship he ever saw.
"Sir we are being hailed." The crewmember managing communications stated.
"What? Put it on screen." Lefcourt commanded.
"Attention Humans, this is Brigadier Korras from the House of Malok of the Klingon Empire, power down your weapons, we come in peace."
The expression in Lefcourt face after seeing the alien displayed in the screen was of incredibility, this alien who called itself Brigadier Korras was from a race never seen before and of all the possible moments, this was the worse for a first contact.
"I am General Lefcourt Commander of Earth Alliance fleet, I never seen your race before, what is the purpose of your coming here and where is your Home-world located" Lefcourt asked.
"Our Homeworld is tens of thousands of light years far from here, we were in a voyage of exploration when we found a local race called Brakiri and through them we learned that humans also exist in this part of space, so we decide to establish contact with you." Korras said.
"What you do you mean with, humans that also exist in this part of space? Where else could we exist?" A suspicious Lefcourt asked.
"There are also Humans from where we came." Replied Korras
"That is impossible, you just claimed that your territories are tens of thousands of light years away from here and we humans never traveled that far."
"Obviously you are incorrect." Then Korras made a signal and in the screen appeared a human female dressed in a strange uniform.
"Greetings, my name is Commander Elizabeth Shelby, I'm currently assigned to the Klingon Imperial fleet and I come from the United Federation of Planets that as Brigadier Korras said is situated near the Klingon Empire."
Lefcourt was almost speechless. "I never heard of this Federation of yours, how were humans able to arrive that far? And when did this happen?"
"It is a very long history to say through the radio General, would be better if we meet, then I would answer to all your questions." Shelby said.
"That is not possible, we are expecting an attack from the Minbari at any moment, but for curiosity why is that a human belonging to this Federation of Planets is aboard a ship belonging to another race, doesn't the Federation have its own ships" Asked Lefcourt.
"Yes we have our own ships General, but the Federation and the Klingon Empire are allies, so both our governments decided that in order to provide a better understanding between our races sometimes we should exchange officers." Shelby said as if was the most natural thing in the universe.
"It is unheard of Humans working on board alien ships." Lefcourt said, disdaining such a preposterous idea. "Regardless of from where you came, this is not the best moment. As I said before, we are at war and our enemies can arrive at any moment so we can't be distracted with such futility as a first contact." Lefcourt answered to Shelby in rough tone.
"Perhaps we can negotiate a cease fire between you and your enemies." Shelby said.
"That is not likely, the Minbari sworn not to stop until the human race is extinguished." Lefcout replied.
"If this race you call Minbari have sworn not to stop fighting until your complete extermination then they are truly a race without honor, not even the Romulans would exterminate a helpless and already defeated race." Korras interjected.
It was true what Korras had said, but Lefcourt resented that this alien had called Humans of a helpless and already defeated race. Lefcourt than asked.
"Who are those Romulans?"
"Like the Minbari they are also a race without honor, if possible they prefer not to face its enemies in a fair combat but stab them back if they give them the chance." Korras answered.
Lefcourt then thought that if he survived this war with the Minbari and one day met those Romulans, turning his back on them, certainly would not be something he would consider. Now however, other things had priority.
"I do not have time to continue this conversation as I have a planetary defense to organize; I will contact my government and will see if they are willing to meet with you." Then Lefcourt proceed to contact President Levy and inform her of this new development.
Minutes later President Levy informed General Lefcourt that she had decided to meet with the aliens in one hour. So in turn, he then informed the Klingon Brigadier of the President decision and the landing coordinates of where the meeting was to occur.
An hour later at the spaceport an entourage composed by President Levy, the Vice-President, several senators and some Military officers were waiting for the arrival of the alien's shuttle.
-oOOo-
On board the Kahless.
"Lieutenant open communications with the B'moth." Korras commanded.
"Communications open." K'nera responded.
"Captain, you will be in the command of the battle group while I'm in the planet meeting with the leaders of these new humans, if the Minbari appear you are to assure the security of our ships by all means necessary." Korras first told Captain Kreen and then addressed Rodek. "
"You will be in command of the Kahless under Captain Kreen while I'm on the planet, Don't disappoint me more than you already have." Korras told the Khaless third in command, clearly hinting to how he felt about his failed attempt to challenge Shelby. Then he turned towards Shelby.
"You are coming with me Commander, as a Human your insight in human behavior could prove helpful."
"Yes Sir." Shelby replied. Then both headed towards the transporter room from where were beamed to the surface of the planet and to the previously provided coordinates.
Everyone was stunned due to how the aliens had appeared from thin air in two shimmering columns of light instead of exiting from a shuttle.
President Levy was the first one to advance towards the newcomers. One was a tall intimidating alien with a ridged forehead, long black hair, and armored uniform. The other was a human female of noticeably smaller figure, with blonde hair tied in a bun and donning a complete different uniformed that unlike that of her alien companion, had not a single trace of armor.
Now if Levy remember correctly what General Lefcourf had told her, they should be whom he had spoken previous. The alien being the one who had identified himself as a Brigadier Korras of a race called Klingons and the seemingly human female, a Cmdr. Elizabeth Shelby from an alleged distant Human Federation.
"Welcome to our planet, I'm President Elizabeth Levy, please excuse me for being this nervous, but not only is the imminent attack that looms over this planet causing all of us great distress, but the way you arrived was also extremely shocking, how did you do it?"
"I'm Brigadier Korras from the Klingon Empire and this is Cmdr. Shelby my current First Officer, about how we arrive we have technology that allows us to send matter across vast distances almost instantaneously." Korras answered trying not to go into many details.
"Very impressive technology indeed." Levy said and then addressed Shelby.
"And welcome you too, Cmdr., is it true that there are more humans at many thousands light years away from here?" She tried to confirm what General Lefcourt had previously told her.
"Yes Madame President it's true that there are humans that far and despite being a long story it's a fascinating one." First Shelby began to talk about the United Federation of Planets, how it was created and its ideals. Then She finally told them how in the Federation's many voyages of exploration it had been discovered that a long time ago an ancient race called Preservers had seeded humans throughout the galaxy and astonishingly some even put on planets terra-formed to be exact Earth-like copies. However, until now it had never been encountered an also duplicated Solar System." Meanwhile while Shelby was talking, some of the attendants could have sworn that when the Federation ideals were mentioned, Korras had rolled his eyes.
"That is quite some story, Cmdr.!" A stunned Levy exclaimed.
"Yes I understand it's hard to imagine such a thing but I can assure you it is the truth." Shelby confirmed.
Meanwhile in the group surrounding Korras and Shelby, many voices were being heard in the background uttering many levels of incredulity. Vice-President Santiago being among those in more shock addressed Shelby.
"Hello Cmdr., I'm Vice-President Luis Santiago, hope you don't mind if I ask some questions Cmdr.?"
"Of course not Mr. Vice-President, ask away." Shelby stated with a friendly smile.
"Upon hearing you, I would like to then know your expert opinion on why you think that those aliens you call Preservers, out of the many races that exist, decided to single out we humans and spread us through the galaxy and even going to the huge trouble of giving us identical planets and solar systems. Also as a second question, which one of ours Solar Systems and Earths you think is the original and why?"
"Those are two very pertinent questions Mr. Vice-President, so I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability.
About why the Preservers decided to seed humans throughout the galaxy and some were even put on terra-formed Earth-like planets or alike solar systems that is yet an unsolved mystery. However in its many years of exploration, the Federation has also encountered non-human civilizations that were also influenced by other powerful and ancient beings, some of which so powerful that for them to create a planet or a solar system is as easily as it is for you or I to blink.
On your second question, without a thorough analysis it is impossible to say which system is the original. Maybe it's yours, maybe it's mine or maybe it's neither and the original is out there yet to be found."
"I also confirm that the Klingon Empire have had encounters of that sort." Korras stated so that this humans knew that the Kingons were as worthy of attention as them.
Suddenly another voice from the crowd was heard above all others. "Those are lies, she probably is not even human, this must be a trick like the Centauri have done to us before." said a senator named Morgan Clark.
"Are you accusing us of deceit?" Korras roared at Clark.
Then Clark started shouting in a hysterical way. "THE ALIEN IS GOING TO ATTACK ME, PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME! GUARDS, GUARDS detain the alien!"
-oOOo-
Meanwhile above Earth orbit two Starfuries were slowly approaching the IKS Kahless.
"Sir two human fighters are approaching us, what should I do?" Toran the Tactical Officer of the Kahless asked to the acting Captain, Lieutenant Rodek.
"Are they targeting us?" Rodek questioned.
"No Sir, only scanning us." Replied Tactical officer.
"Then our status is to remain as before, but polarize the hull plating, that should prevent further scanning from those primitives." Rodek ordered.
-oOOo-
On Board the approaching Starfuries.
"What do you think of that ship Mitchell, it isn't very big but its power readings are almost off the scale. And what battle capabilities do you think it as? A ship this small means it can't have much armor so in battle it shouldn't last long if hit, not to mention that so far I can't see much armament, only two forward guns, one in each wing." The squadron Leader Jeffrey Sinclair asked his wingman.
"My scanner shows the same thing Alpha Leader, not even the big Minbari warships have readings this high, it's almost unbelievable that a ship this small can..., hey, suddenly my scanner screen started showing only static." Mitchell answered.
"Same here Mitchell, they must have activated some type of jamming." Said Sinclair
"I heard the rumor they also have a stealth system. Before they stopped we could barely detect their silhouette, even the powerful tracking systems in Mars were having trouble detecting them. Like the Minbari they must rely mostly on stealth to avoid taking damage, maybe they can teach us how to beat the Minbari stealth." A hopefully Mitchell stated.
"That would be like winning the lottery and perhaps our last hope to stop the Minbari. Now let's not press our luck and go back to tell the General that his idea of a discreet scan on the alien's ship was a bust." Sinclair answered.
"Right on your six, Alpha Leader." Mitchell replied.
-oOOo-
Meanwhile on board the Kahless.
"Sir, sensors are detecting three contacts at the edge of this system." K'nera Informed the acting captain Rodek.
"Are they Minbari? Rodek asked.
"They are generating much interference but from what I can detect it matches the Minbari." K'nera answered.
Before Rodek could issue any order, K'nera at Ops informed him that the ship of Captain Kreen also had detected the unknown contacts and had ordered the fleet to go to yellow alert."
TBC