3
Beta Durani
Earth Space
Beta Durani had always been busy, a great hub of motion sitting across a major jump route linking the central colonies of Earth space to the Eastern and Southern frontiers. It was from here that for more than a decade Explorer ships had pushed forth the borders, expanding the edges of human influence out beyond the rim of known space and into brave new worlds. Following those exploration missions were the colonists, the miners, the surveyors and exploiters All of them stopped at Beta Durani on the way out and Beta Colony was more than happy for them to hang around for a while and spend a little money.
During the golden age Beta Durani had expanded massively becoming one of the major centres of humanity, as Important as Orion or Delta colony and ranking behind only Mars and Proxima Centauri. Most of the expansion came from services supporting the missions to the rim, fuel stores, ship yards, various supplies and equipment plus all manner of hotels and corporate headquarters. Away from the gleaming city centres other industries were also burgeoning, casinos, brothels, smuggling and all types of organised crime. Beta Colony had always had a reputation as being a bit rough and seedy, the golden age only helped to cement it.
Never the less Beta colony had remained a keystone in the Earth Alliance, an important strategic location and as such well defended. A quartet or Orion class stations circled the planet, guarding the approaches to the world while at the heart of orbital control sat a tubular O'Neill type star base. At two miles long it was a smaller version of the massive base at Io guarding the gateway to Earth but still one of the largest structures in Alliance territory. It served as headquarters for Earth Force ships in this sector which meant that the coming war with the Minbari would be commanded from here.
"Busy." Paul Calendar observed rather unnecessarily as the transport approached Beta Prime, the largest of the stations. Space around them was packed with ships, something that was no small achievement given the actual volume of airspace Beta Prime commanded. Most of the traffic appeared to be civilian, but behind the station were the unmistakeable grey blocks of Earth Force capital ships gathering in strength.
"At least three thousand ships." Vic Chapel confirmed.
"Where are they coming from?" Jenny wondered. "Refugees from the front lines?"
"Some of them, but I think most fled last week." Chapel answered. "These are the pioneers, prospectors, surveyors, all the guys out on the rim."
"Trying to get back to the inner colonies before the war gets too hot." Paul guessed. "I didn't realise we had so many ships out there."
"Lot more than this." Chapel watched through the windows. "It's been jammed up here for a week and there's more coming through. We've made enough money off gate fees to buy a planet made entirely out of Quantium."
Their transport made its way toward the station, the schedule bumped to give them priority clearance much to the anger of the waiting civilian traffic. Space traffic control was dealing with at least a dozen captains yelling at them as nerves began to get frayed.
"People seem in a rush to get out of here."
Jenny nodded in agreement.
"Wouldn't you?"
"They'll have to wait their turn." Chapel shrugged. "Most don't have jump engines, they have to use the gate and the Navy has priority. We're shipping in a lot of supplies and fuel for the Fourth fleet, making sure they can exploit any weak points after the counter offensive."
"That must be the Fourth then." Jenny glimpsed the distant warships. "Been a while since I've seen that many ships."
"Six hundred." Chapel informed. "Including eighty Dreadnoughts and two hundred cruisers."
"Pretty top heavy for a task force." Paul frowned. "Shouldn't you have more escorts?"
"According to what little information we have nothing smaller than a heavy cruiser is worth a damn against the Minbari." Chapel shrugged. "We've reinforced with as many heavy ships as we can to add some punch, even so the Admiralty is expecting half these ships to be shot down."
"I thought we outnumbered the Minbari six to one?"
"We do."
Paul could only shake his head. "They're that tough?"
"That's the estimate. We have no idea how large the Minbari fleet is or how much reach they have. If it's anything like ours… well let's just say we need to get them to open up talks before this turns into a serious fight."
"Looking at all those ships out there I'd say this is already pretty damn serious." Jenny remarked.
"The President is already preparing a recall order for recently retired personnel." Chapel told them. "After that it'll be veterans of the Dilgar war. Hell, there's even talk of a full Alliance wide Conscription bill."
"There hasn't been a Draught since World War Three."
"Like I said the President is starting to take this very seriously."
The transport switched to auto pilot letting the station computers guide it through the rotating dock and into the layered bays within. The actual procedure was quicker than they had expected, the ship landing on one of the huge magnetically suspended elevators and shuffled into the complex structures within the station, slipping from the vacuum of the docking bay into the pressurized landing bays.
"This is our stop." Chapel picked up his gear. "My people say everything is waiting for us, The Race got in two days ago."
"Been at least two years since we last saw the guys." Paul smiled widely.
"Seems like yesterday. Guess time flies huh?"
They opened the transport door and stepped down onto the station, the vast chamber of the landing bay ringing and clanging with machinery as forklifts and cranes shifted cargo pallets from location to location. A quick look down the length of the tubular bay showed how full it was with materials, most of it bearing official government seals.
They took a lift to the more inhabited parts of the station, the cramp corridors exhibiting the classic dull grey metal finish of a human built structure. Despite its size Beta Prime was still claustrophobic and unwelcoming suiting its main role as little more than a stop off point and springboard to the rim. Most people preferred the planet with its myriad of distractions to the bland metal pivoting above.
"So can you tell us the mission yet?" Paul asked.
"Couple more minutes." Chapel replied plainly. "When we're all together again."
"Who's on the team?"
"Beside your crew, two specialists. You'll probably know the names."
He stopped at a nondescript door and tapped the entry code revealing a small conference room, probably one of the smallest and most underwhelming any of them had seen. Around a virtually child sized table three familiar faces waited with a mix of happiness and relief that the whole crew was finally back together.
The first two were instantly familiar, the other half of the Space Race crew. Jors and Toby were an odd mix, one a massive Scandinavian with bright blond hair and a trim beard who might as well have just walked around with an axe and a helmet calling himself a Viking., and the other a short dark haired skittish fellow who constantly seemed nervously energetic. Despite appearances they worked extremely well together and had formed a strong bond of friendship over the years.
They welcomed each other warmly, Jors greeting his old friends with a trademark bone crushing bear hug, the power of which he remained blissfully unaware of. Toby was naturally more restrained but still clearly glad to have the team back together.
The other individual was a little more unexpected but no less welcome.
"Francis O'Leary." Paul gave the man a hearty hug and slap on the back. "What happened to your face?"
"What?" Francis rubbed his stubbly chin. "It's a beard."
"Yeah, if you're fourteen." Paul grinned widely.
"Hey Francis." Jenny embraced him. "How's Heather and the kids?"
"Doing fine." The Irish EIA analyst replied cheerfully. He had a long history with the crew of the Race having been through hell and high water together during the Dilgar war. He had started in the EIA just before the war, a wide eyed teenager fresh out of school making his first steps into a bigger and suddenly very dangerous world. He'd grown up a lot in that conflict, facing his fears and saving Paul Calendars life in a cavern deep under Balos. While Jenny had retired from the Agency after the war Francis had stayed on, marrying fellow agent Heather Laney and starting a family in Geneva.
"Okay, I guess it's time to make a start." Chapel brought them to the point. "Hit it Franky."
"Right." Francis cleared his throat, his old fear of public speaking long since evaporated. "You guys know the drill, this is highly classified, prison, death of personality, blah, blah, blah."
"Yeah, yeah." Paul smiled. "Great to be appreciated. What do you need the Race for this time? Trip to Minbar?"
"Not yet anyway." Francis grinned back. "Just a nice easy tech trial."
"Okay, little unexpected."
"As you've probably heard the Minbari are more advanced than us and that has the Navy very worried." The Agent began. "The worst part of it is the Minbari use some sort of stealth technology, we can only hit them at point blank range."
"And getting that close against such well armed enemy ships is going to be a nightmare." Chapel chipped in. "That's why we're expected fifty percent casualties even with heavy numerical superiority."
"We have absolutely no idea how their stealth works, if it is active, passive, pixie dust, nothing." Francis explained. "Our job is going to be to find out."
"So you'll be on the ship with us?" Jenny asked.
"Yes." He confirmed. "I'll be running the new tech you'll be taking with you."
"Goody." Jors rubbed his hands together. "Upgrades. I knew there was a reason I loved government jobs."
"Not exactly." Chapel mentioned. "You will be taking a new sensor system into action but it won't be installed in your ship."
"It'll be in a modified cargo pod attached to the outside." Francis said. "Separate to the Space Race's existing systems so we can keep it isolated in case something goes wrong."
"Goes wrong?" Toby narrowed his eyes. "Like what?"
"The sensor system is…well…" Francis cleared his throat. "A gift from the Dilgar Imperium."
The room was quiet for a moment before Paul loudly clapped his hands together.
"Now I know why you picked us. We all just love the Dilgar."
"More of a tech reason." Francis offered. "We we're going to use one of our warships but we would have needed to integrate the sensors into our command network. The Race has a much simpler control system, we can isolate it so if something goes wrong it doesn't affect the Race. I'll be there making sure the two systems don't interact. If the Dilgar do have a hidden computer virus in there I'll handle it."
"Franky is our top man at Cyber warfare." Chapel reminded. "If he can't do it then it can't be done."
"If Francis says he can handle it that's good enough for me." Jenny nodded firmly.
"And if the wife has made up her mind I'm too smart to argue." Paul chuckled. "So you want us to fly a recon? Test these sensors?"
"We don't have time for a recon flight unfortunately." Chapel said. "The Minbari are on the point of breaking out of the Cyrus system, we've already had Minbari scouts checking out Jericho."
"Cyrus was just a small mining Colony wasn't it?" Jors asked. "Jericho is much bigger, lot more people out there."
"Which is why the attack is going in immediately." Chapel nodded. "We can't afford to let them hit Jericho in force. It's going to cost us ships, but it's better than watching them glass seventy thousand colonists."
"Our job is to stand off away from the battle and monitor it, see if the sensors work and report back." Francis said. "If they do work it will give our people a boost in combat, if not then we don't lose anything."
"Are we going to be buddied up with a scout cruiser?" Paul asked. "The Race doesn't have its own jump drive, if we're going to act separate from the fleet I'd prefer having our own way out."
"We've got that covered." Chapel informed. "Our people have built a self contained jump engine small enough to fit in a standard cargo pod. Same drive as used on a Hermes class transport."
"That's a pretty big step." Jors sounded impressed.
"It's a pretty expensive step." Vic grunted. "Quantium 40 core, extra power systems, tachyon projectors, just don't break it."
"Break it?" Paul feigned shock. "Us?"
"Most of the time we send you on a job you ship comes home looking like it's been chewed by a giant dog."
"We're victims of circumstance." Paul defended.
"We've only got three of those things, so if it does get broken then you'll be victims of my boot."
"Also it has limits." Francis chimed in. "The core requires huge amounts of power, that's why small ships can't use them. With the extra generators we can boost the core enough to make a jump, but you only have enough power for three or four jumps. So be careful."
"Careful is our middle name." Jors reassured. "That or 'near death experience', I forget."
"In theory the Navy should be keeping the Minbari busy." Francis said. "But if they don't, well you guys are the most improbably lucky people in the universe so I'm sure you can find a way out of there."
"All joking aside, if these sensors work it could help us a lot." Chapel related. "Our ships were built with this sort of battle in mind, we designed them to be armoured enough to take hits and tough it out until they got close enough to hit back. But if we can avoid that, if we can fight a stand up battle and have the freedom to execute a battle plan more complicated then just yelling charge, then its going to save lives. This might be the most valuable job the EIA has done since cracking the Narn Conspiracy on Mars, that's why it had to be you guys."
"I have a question." Toby raised his hand. "Aren't we a man down?"
"Yeah, you did mention another specialist." Jenny looked over to Chapel. "Who are we missing?"
"About that." Chapel coughed. "You aren't going to like it."
"Nice set up Vic, very ominous."
"Because these sensors are Dilgar they insisted on sending one of their people to oversee it's use." Chapel exhaled. "Another reason we didn't want to do this on a warship."
"You want us to let a Dilgar set foot on the Race? After what they tried to do to us?" Paul scoffed. "Come on Vic!"
"You're getting plenty of compensation."
"It isn't the money, unbelievably this time it's the principle!" Paul argued.
"They guessed this wasn't going to be popular so sent their best man." Chapel said. "Battlemaster Ari'shan."
"That name mean something to anyone?" Paul asked.
"Dilgar ace of aces, youngest son of their Emperor." Jenny recited. "They say he is a man of honour, chivalry even."
"That's him." Francis nodded. "The man who killed David Sinclair."
"That was him?" Paul gritted his teeth. "Sinclair was a friend, he saved our necks twice in the war. This guy is taking a space walk the second we hit hyperspace."
"No he isn't." Chapel laid down firmly. "Because if he does we've got a two front war on our hands which we do not need. Be professional, suck it up and deal with it. Crap is getting real out there gentlemen so we will tolerate his presence."
Paul elected to sulk in response.
"We need to get going, the Race should be all set by now." Francis said. "And our advisor is waiting."
The trip across to the Space Race was uneventful, Chapel's transport once again enjoying priority clearance much to the unrestrained fury of the civilian traffic, many of whom had been waiting for days in the schedule. With a quick loop over the station they found their target, the small but distinctive silhouette of the SS Space Race. On the surface she was unremarkable, a modified light freighter built to a fairly old design that was uncommon but not unique. It wasn't until one delved a little deeper that her alterations became clear, the uprated engines, larger sensor grid and interceptor cannons which were all but unheard of on civilian vessels.
The Race had forged a successful career piloting the riskier routes even before her upgrades during the Dilgar war, dodging Raiders and warzones to deliver small amounts of valuable cargo or passengers to their destinations. As a small ship she was never going to make money shifting bulk goods, speed was her selling point.
The transport put down in the shuttle bay at the front of the ship under the flight deck, barely fitting in the confined space. They waited for the bay to seal itself and pressurise before stepping off and entering the main body of the ship itself. Like the vast majority of human ships the Race had no gravity, being too small for a rotating section and unable to steal an artificial gravity unit despite their best efforts. Moving in zero gravity was an art form, something the old crew had perfected a long time ago. Only Francis had trouble.
They were welcomed by a team of Earth Force technicians, the senior officer greeting Chapel almost as soon as he made it through the door.
"Director, we're ready to go."
"Good to hear lieutenant." Chapel approved. "Both the sensor pod and the jump pod are installed?"
"All set."
"And the advisor?"
"Amidships in the cargo bay, under guard."
"Very good." Chapel acknowledged. "Load up on the transport, I'll finish up here and join you for the trip home."
"Yes sir."
The technicians began to depart as Chapel led the group deeper into the ship seeking their unwanted new crew member.
"We should have brought a litter tray." Paul said snidely.
"Just try to be on your best behaviour." Chapel advised. "It's only for a few days."
"Why did they have to send him?"
"Because he's the only Dilgar who can give his oath and expect us to believe him." Francis said in response. "It's a trust issue, Ari isn't going to want to ruin that by telling lies to us."
"Ari?" Jenny raised an eyebrow. "You're on first name terms now?"
"I've worked with him before." Francis admitted. "It's the other reason I'm on this mission. I know him, if he says he's genuinely here to help then he is."
"He killed hundreds of our people Francis." Paul snarled. "He nuked the Wiszna!"
"And we killed millions of his people, including his brother. Its war, he understands that, we need to understand it too."
"Whoa, wait a second." Paul glared. "Did you just take his side?"
"The war is over Paul, we've got another one to worry about today, one he's going to help us with."
"Is it over for the Alacans?" Paul asked. "The Tirrithans? We got forced down on Tirrith, we saw what they did. But hey, that's all water under the bridge because they have something we want?"
"Actually yeah." Chapel cut in sharply. "That's exactly how its going to work. So you go in there, you smile and you play nice and I don't give a damn if you hate every second of it. If this is going to save lives then you deal with it. Clear?"
"Yeah, actually that cleared up a lot of things." Paul said harshly. "This is why we moved to Alaska."
They opened the door to the cargo bay finding three people inside, two were EIA agents, the other was a Dilgar male in standard battle dress, a plain dark blue flight suit with subdued insignia and badges of rank.
"Ari." Francis greeted, floating awkwardly across until he grabbed a rail on the wall to slow himself. "How was the installation?"
"Very simple." He said. "I've linked the sensor suite into your computers via the portable server you brought."
"Good, by putting an extra layer between the sensors and the Race's computers it lets me monitor the traffic for irregularities." Francis explained to the crew. "I'll be down here with Ari keeping an eye on things during the mission."
The Dilgar officer stood and formally inclined his head to the new arrivals.
"Battlemaster Ari'shan of the Imperium. It is my honour to serve beside you."
"Sure it is." Jors dismissed, turning away. "I'll be on the flight deck running pre flight checks."
"Me too." Toby joined him.
The atmosphere was incredibly tense, each of them waiting for the other to say something. It fell to Paul to bite his lip and take a lead.
"Welcome aboard." He managed, ignoring the bile in his throat. "Hope you like the wallpaper."
"It is interesting to be on this ship." Ari spoke conversationally, the tension apparently broken. "We tracked it a few times, my brother nearly boarded you at the Comac nebula before your fleet forced him to retreat."
"We almost had him too." Francis recalled. "He was very lucky to escape."
"Well on that note I'll leave you guys to catch up." Chapel grinned. "You've got priority clearance, the fleet jumps in six hours, I'd recommend going with them."
"I'd just like to say again, thanks for bringing me in on this mission." Paul said through clenched teeth. "Really, I don't know how I can pay you back."
"I'm sure you can think of something." He smiled indulgently and patted Paul on the back. "Jen, got a minute?"
He pushed himself out of the cargo bay, Jenny joining him as they sailed through zero gravity back towards the shuttle bay.
"Ari'shan huh?" She observed with interest. "Bit of a celebrity."
"Yeah, he's taking a risk being here. Lot of people feel like Paul."
"Paul's an idealist, he still has some moral values, right and wrong, that sort of thing. He isn't as practical as people like us."
"Not a bad thing." Chapel lingered on the thought before moving on. "Still, he's the son of the Emperor and the closest thing the Dilgar have to a hero." He looked over at the former agent. "Think he's going to be travelling alone?"
"Not a chance." She have smiled. "I was wondering why I was on this mission."
"Our scans didn't pick anything up, neither did the sniffer dogs, but they might have found a way past them." Chapel cautioned. "His father invented the Spectres, his best buddy Jha'dur refined them into the friendly invisible assassins we've come to know and love. Even if he didn't want one as a body guard chances are the Warmaster Council sent one anyway."
"What happens if I find one?"
"I'll leave that to your discretion." Chapel said. "If it's just a bodyguard, might not be a big deal, but if this is some sort of elaborate trap for us… well, you've handles Spectres before, you're our top scoring solution to that particular problem."
"Understood."
"You armed?"
"Always."
"Then I won't lecture you on what you already know." They reached the bay and stopped. "I can reactivate your commission Jen, bring you back into the firm?"
"Not today Vic. Ask me again if this all goes to hell."
"In that case I hope its not a question I'll have to ask." He nodded. "Good luck out here, and remember Durban's three rules of a good field agent."
"Be courteous, be efficient, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet." Jenny recited with a smile.
"Watch your back." Chapel floated through the door. "Not just with the Dilgar, this battle is going to be a bloodbath, don't get caught in it."
"Just check on the kids for me, especially Kasumi."
"Got it." Chapel affirmed. "Try not to die."
"Absolutely the last thing I plan to do."
Six hours later
EAS Garuda
Flagship, EA Fourth Fleet.
"Do we have those final reports?" Admiral Anne Thornhill asked curtly, at this point she was in no mood for further delays.
"Third cruiser squadron still reports they haven't been refuelled." Her XO, Commander Josh Martin shook his head. "They're at sixty percent capacity."
"It's going to have to be enough, we can't delay any longer." She ruled. "They can join us for the fight."
"But they won't have enough fuel to chase down any fleeing Minbari after the battle Ma'am."
"We can assign them to guard Cyrus from any raids after we free it." Thornhill decreed. "The refuelling ships will just have to catch us up there."
"Yes Ma'am." Martin filled out the order and sent it. "In that case all units are ready to depart."
"Alright Commander, initiate jump by division. Best speed for Cyrus."
A full fleet jump was a spectacular display, the manoeuvring of so many ships in formation, the deployment of such a vast amount of forged metal and trained crews a source of fascination and wonder to most people. This case was no different, the civilian chatter dimming briefly as the fleet began to move, leaving the proximity of Beta prime and powering up for hyperspace transition. Of course in this instances there was more depth than just an exercise, a demonstration of power. This time it was for a real and there were few among the assorted ships that did not feel a wave of pride as the fleet made its move.
Earth Force had forged itself an enviable reputation as the premier combat force in the galaxy, with the skill of the Centauri Royal Navy, the determination of the Narn and the cold execution of the Dilgar fleet. In the last decade or so Earth had even managed to close the tech gap somewhat with its rivals, with weapons, propulsion and sensor systems benefiting from the haul of parts left behind on a dozen battlefields. It was generally accepted that Earth Force could defeat any power beside the Centauri, and even then many believed it would be a very close thing.
Hundreds of jump points sparkled in the sky, golden energy cascading from the dimensional pools as the fleet engaged their drives, piercing reality and creating a road to the tumult of hyperspace beyond. Behind them the massed ships around Beta Durani offered messages of support and fortune, giving their blessings and hopes of a speedy victory to the heavily armed battleships of humanity. It was a heart soaring sight, the largest deployment of ships in a decade, a concentration of force nothing was going to be able to stand against.
Against such a violent looking assortment of ships what chance did the curved and gaudy Minbari ships have? They had crossed the border and spilled human blood, and now they would understand the price that brought. As the massive fleet made its jump there wasn't one soul over Beta colony that did not know exactly how this was going to end.
The journey to Cyrus took less than a day, even for the slow moving Earth Force warships. Thornhill made sure they were travelling at the pace of the slowest ships guaranteeing they all jumped together for maximum impact. Fortunately the well plotted jump route aided her in this task, with only the gravitic disturbance of the Cygnus Singularity causing reason to pause. There was no sign of the Minbari, no scouts or probes, nothing to suggest their approach would be noted. They all wished for the element of surprise but did not rely on it.
Thornhill was a skilled officer, an Admiral who had worked her way up and earned her rank the hard way. She'd seen action in dozens of border skirmishes before the crucible of the Dilgar war, leading a cruiser squadron with her flag aboard the by now elderly EAS Lexington. Her record was successful enough to give her command of the EA Fourth Fleet covering the rimward edge of Earth's expansion, probably the riskiest assignment in the navy. If there was an unexpected danger, an unknown enemy, then it was probably going to be found out here and it was the Fourth that would act as the front line of defence. Consequently the fleet was well equipped with modernised warships and veteran crews, one of the finest fighting formations humanity had to offer.
The Joint Chiefs had confidence in Thornhill and her people, if there was one fleet in the Alliance that could handle a superior foe it was Thornhill's. While Earth's main test had been against the Dilgar who had been largely equal in terms of technology Earth Force had been built to fight superior opponents using efficient designs and raw brute force to overcome technology. Before today humanity had never needed to test the theory on a grand scale making the coming battle one that could expect extensive study. Yet even with all that training, skill, experience and the latest weapons what little the senior staff had seen of the Minbari so far had made them very worried. The Fourth could handle it, but it wasn't going to be pretty.
Thornhill was acutely aware of this, her immediate superior Admiral Ferguson had warned her before hand to expect a hard fight and not to rely on the tactics that worked against the Dilgar.
"Admiral, we just crossed the outer beacon." Commander Martin reported. "Approaching Cyrus Colony."
"Are all ships in jump formation?"
"Yes Ma'am."
She forced herself to keep calm and steady, to set the example in the face of uncertainty.
"Initiate jump, defensive posture."
"Initiate jump, yes Ma'am." Martin echoed, giving the word. "Fleet responding, all ships forming jump points."
"Navigation locking position, opening jump point."
"Helm reports all systems green, moving into normal space."
The jump was textbook, each division and squadron jumping one after the other in waves above and behind the preceding force. EA Jump engines were still considered fairly inaccurate, there was no guarantee a ship would emerge within a couple of dozen miles of where it actually wanted to meaning that for safety's sake the ships had to jump in very loose formations. As soon as they arrived their first task was to abandon jump formation and form up for battle, which in this case involved lining up to maximise firepower.
It wasn't their usual formation, as a rule Thornhill preferred to fight in mixed task forces deployed loosely at a distance from one another, each unit fighting as an independent force. It gave them more flexibility, something her well trained officers were experts at exploiting. Human task forces had proven the antithesis of the previously unstoppable Dilgar Pentacan formations, the hard hitting Dilgar finding their match in human versatility. But not today, instead Thornhill was going to take the Minbari head on fleet to fleet and for that she had to maximise her strength. Her dreadnoughts and cruisers formed up in six waves, long lines of grey metal with the escorts deployed on the edges and her carriers to the rear.
There would be no creativity or flexibility today, no tactical dancing or strategic games, it was a pure brawl. Get in close and smother the enemy with gunfire, negate finesse with the massive application of brute force. Her Hyperion cruisers were good at this, but her Nova Dreadnoughts excelled in a brutal gunnery duel. This was exactly their kind of fight, and her entire strategy was based on getting those ships into action as quickly as possible.
"Jump complete, all units are answering ready."
"Very good." Thornhill acknowledged. "Where are the Minbari?"
"We're getting readings ahead, tachyon scans are inconclusive."
"That's got to be them." She studied the tactical map, the large screen showing the relative positions of her forces, the Minbari and the planet. "Try the other systems."
"Nothing clear on Lidar or radar. Microwave scans inconclusive. Visual seems our best return."
"Guess that means we'll be sighting down the gun barrels." She grimaced.
"They do appear to be moving, telescopes suggest approximately one hundred vessels."
"Naval intelligence got it right for once."
"First time for everything Admiral." Martin remarked.
"It'll be going at the top of my report, written in red ink and heavily underlined." Thornhill smiled a little. "Alright, let's do this properly. Open a channel."
"Yes Ma'am, broadcasting on wide band."
"Minbari Vessels this is the Earth Alliance Dreadnought Garuda. You are in violation of Earth Alliance territory and are engaged in hostile action against Earth Alliance citizens. You are ordered to immediately leave Earth space and return to your borders. I am authorised by my president to offer the opportunity for a cease fire and negotiations to address any grievances you may have regarding initial contact between our nations."
She paused, looking over to her XO in case the Minbari responded. He shook his head.
"If you do not accept a cease fire and do not withdraw," she continued, "I am also authorised to employ deadly force to remove you from this star system. My government does not want a war, but if you do not withdraw your forces we will have no option but to open fire. We await your response."
"Nothing." Martin stated. "But I'm pretty sure they heard us, they've altered position and are deploying to attack."
"Well at least we're getting a welcome." She said, looking at the estimated enemy positions. "Any transmissions from the colony?"
"No Ma'am, I'm detecting wreckage in orbit from the station and defence grid, and a cluster near lunar orbit, probably the initial response fleet."
"They don't seem too fazed by us." Thornhill observed. "They're heavily outgunned."
"Our briefings said they were a warrior culture Admiral." Martin offered a thought. "Maybe they can't back off from a fight no matter the odds?"
"Maybe." She accepted the theory. "Saves us hunting them down, I think we're all wanting a little payback after what they did to the local forces."
"I think we'll get our chance, they appear to be accelerating towards us."
"Then that answers the question." The Admiral resolved. "Fleet status?"
"Formed and ready."
"All ahead full, no need to take this steady. Close the range and prepare for maximum salvo fire."
"Yes Ma'am."
"Launch fighters, take the safeties off the nukes and get ready to swamp them with everything we've got. Want one high speed pass through their lines laying down all the hurt we can."
"Course is set."
"Make it happen Commander, all ships prepare to fire on my command."
On the far flank of the battle the Space Race hung silently away from anything of significance. As the battlefleets charged for each other and the heavy warships on both sides prepared to get to grips with one another the modified freighter appeared entirely insignificant, it's true rule unknown even to Admiral Thornhill.
"We're in position boss." Jors radioed in from the flight deck. "Looks like kick off."
In the dim cargo bay Ari began to power up the sensor system, unfamiliar Dilgar script scrolling across the bank of computers through a net of cables.
"What does all that mean?" Paul frowned, determined to be present in case something went wrong. He had not too subtly stuffed a mallet in his belt which he was more than ready to use on the cluster of computers.
"Just status readings, all normal." Francis answered.
"You read Dilgar?"
"Like a native." He confirmed.
"This would be faster on a ship with an integrated sensor array." Ari informed, his own English impeccable. "But it should be firing up any minute."
"Toby." Jenny clicked the intercom. "We still have EIA sensors on this thing? As good as a military frigate?"
"Little old but yeah, military grade." He answered.
"What can you see with them?"
"I can see our ships fine, but I'm getting conflicting readings on the Minbari." He reported. "Results are jumping everywhere, I'd say it was a form of active jamming but I can't isolate it."
"Anything you can do to clear it up?"
"Nothing, I'm running the search bands and it isn't making a difference. All I have is visual and at this range I can't make much out."
"Copy that, keep us informed." She turned off the channel. "That's our benchmark."
"Let's see if we can do a bit better down here." Francis enthused. "Bringing sensors online."
With a hum the system engaged, the screens flickering as the text was replaced by images, tactical details overlaid with a map of local space.
"Now that is interesting."
"Admiral, we are well within range, sensors show no improvement." Commander Martin reported with obvious anger. "We have no targeting information, I can't get an exact range or weapons lock."
"What about the Elint ships?"
As part of the fleet Thornhill had a handful of specialised Oracle class electronic warfare ships. Acting as mobile SWAC posts they boasted formidably powerful sensor arrays and counter jamming technologies specifically designed to defeat this kind of situation.
"No results, they can't break through either." Martin reported. "Ma'am, our first wave is within optimum range."
"What about the Minbari?"
"I'm reading active sensors but I can't determine if they are preparing to fire. Admiral, they could hit us at any second."
"We need to land the first strike." She exhaled, looking at the map. "We're well within range, order the first wave to fire at will."
"Yes Ma'am." He opened the channel. "First division, all ships, fire at will, I repeat, open fire!"
Without conclusive targeting information and with sensor readings wildly fluctuating the lead ships had to make do with what they had. Most used visual data to triangulate a target, adjust for estimated velocity and range, and feed that data to the guns. It wasn't perfect as even at close range it would take a few seconds for the charged particles of the pulse cannons to arrive, enough time for a ship to radically change course to avoid the strike. Most officers elected to lead with laser fire, using the near instantaneous travel time to pinpoint a target and then follow up with a full barrage of pulse fire.
Over a hundred ships made their move, a sudden wave of bright light linking the two opposing formations, bright red beams from the flank turrets of the Hyperions and the bow turrets of the Novas. The vast majority missed at first, even with complex calculations the Minbari appeared elusive, ethereal as if they weren't really there. The curved ships had a ghostly sheen to them, bending the light around their gleaming hulls, rich purple patterns ingrained in the blue hulls unique to each vessel.
The Minbari allowed Earth Force to take the first shot, taking the measure of their opponents. It was a gamble, if they had been wrong that initial salvo from so many ships could have crippled them, broken their fleet before it could respond, but it did not. As predicted most of the shots missed and those that didn't barely scored the surface. Laser weaponry was virtually useless against armour built to refract energy and sustain attacks by far older opponents than humanity, the Minbari fleet remained unharmed and emboldened by the poor showing.
Before Earth could follow up with the more powerful pulse weapons their ships were armed with the Minbari moved on to part two of the experiment, determining how resilient these unlovely looking ships were.
Green lances of light pierced space, much brighter and more energetic than the human weapons. While almost every human weapon missed not a single Minbari beam went astray, the Earth Force ECM systems wholly inadequate to the task. During the Dilgar war Earth ships had become almost legendary for their protection, able to take massive volleys from enemy ships and some how keep moving and fighting. Some ships made it home with a third of their mass missing, others were found completely destroyed but yet somehow having survivors within them. The Minbari weapons went clean through with negligible resistance.
The Hyperions had no chance, the neatron cannons simply coring through them from bow to stern, in one side and out the other. Most just exploded, their reactors cracked open and released with uncontrolled fury. Ship after ship was consumed, lost in fire to the Minbari fleet. The Dreadnoughts did better, their greater mass and thicker armour meant they were not simply opened up like a tin can. It took three or four more hits to end a Nova, the blocky warships fighting back against the assault, struggling to stay alive. It didn't really matter, instead of taking two seconds to die it took four, the Minbari assimilating the information and setting their fire control systems to put multiple beams on the tougher human ships.
The first wave survived six seconds.
"Admiral…" Martin tried to speak past the lump in his throat. "Divisions one through three are gone."
"Are the sensors right?" Thornhill demanded. "This isn't false information from the Minbari?"
"Negative Admiral, readings confirmed. The whole first wave was just wiped out."
She swallowed down her fear, enforced her calm despite what her mind was telling her. No power in the galaxy could do that, there wasn't a ship in existence that could deliver so much power in a single weapon., nothing even close. If the Minbari had that power attrition wasn't going to work.
"Increase speed to flank, redline the engines."
"Yes Admiral."
"Release fighters, tell them to just get as close as they can and fire on enemy sensor arrays, try to kill their jammers."
"Enemy firing!"
The tactical display showed another swath of her force go suddenly dark in the space of a few seconds.
"Third and fourth cruiser squadrons just went down!"
"Dammit!" Thornhill snapped. "Get us right up alongside the enemy! All batteries fire at will!"
The Dreadnought shook as it accelerated, joined by its sisters. The formations began to merge into each other, the different waves coalescing as the Admiral took them off the leash. Fighters raced forwards, most of them the latest Aurora class Starfuries equipped with superior engines and weapons than their older counterparts in the Dilgar war. Squadron after squadron raced forward, but the Minbari had predicted this.
Without mercy the Starfuries were jumped by Nial fighters, the heavy Minbari craft equipped with the same type of jammers as their fleet counterparts. It rapidly descended into a massacre, the celebrated agility of the human fighters offering no protection from the speed and stealth of their enemies. As with the warships the sturdy construction of the Starfuries offered only marginal protection against the raw power of the Minbari weapons, the battle as one sided as the naval duel unfolding beside them.
"What just happened?" Paul looked intently at the sensor screen. "Where did all our ships go?"
"I'm afraid your initial attack has been destroyed." Ari exhaled. "This is what I feared."
"We knew our defence fleets fell almost immediately, but we assumed they were surprised and overwhelmed." Jenny gasped. "We had no idea they could do this, it's a slaughter!"
"A lone Minbari ship destroyed three Pentacans during our initial contact." Ari shared grimly. "Veteran Pentacans, Jha'dur's escort. We never knew if it was an elite ship or if all Minbari were that powerful."
"Now you have an answer." Francis spoke flatly.
"The Admiral is ordering a general advance." Jenny observed. "Throwing every ship into the fray, even the reserves."
"What are those ships?" Ari highlighted a group at the rear of the EA lines. "I haven't seen those before."
"Prototype Destroyers." Jenny answered. "Long range ships, I can't talk about it."
"I hope they do better than your older ships."
"Do you?" Paul challenged. "Do you really?"
"I do Captain Calendar." Ari kept his voice calm. "I don't enjoy seeing this, I always believed our two races shared a sort of kinship, that when we were both at our best we had much in common."
Paul bit back his initial answer.
"The only thing we have in common is that we both quite like cats."
"The Minbari attacked us at our weakest without declaration or warning. It was the height of dishonour." Ari spoke with distaste. "Many in our race hate them, far more than hate you."
"That makes me feel all warm inside."
"Ladies." Jenny interrupted and pointed to the scanners. "Can we get to the point?"
"Yes, of course." Ari settled down. "I'm going to change the mode on the array. Up until now it has been running on its basic components, not much different to the sensors we used in the war."
"What's the difference?" Francis asked with genuine interest.
"We tested a few new systems in the war, most of them on the Sekhmet class advanced cruisers, if you remember them."
"I remember we killed most of them." Paul returned.
"One was a new type of sensor." Ari ignored the Jibe. "It was recovered technology so I don't know exactly how it works, something to do with crystalline technology, more advanced than anything in the League."
"Wait, this isn't recovered from the League?" Jenny cut in.
"No, it came from a dead world, the location is highly classified, even I don't know it." Ari admitted to them. "What matters is that while our regular ships couldn't target the Minbari, our last two Sekhmet class ships could. That's how we turned them back, forced them to withdraw with heavy damage."
"Better see if it works then." Francis suggested. "While we still have something to scan for."
"The system is ready." Ari reported. "Beginning sweep."
They all hovered over the screens, waiting as the system cycled.
"It would be faster on a warship." Ari apologised.
"I'm not seeing any abnormalities in the software." Francis monitored. "Looks clean."
"And take a look at that." Jenny pointed to the screen. "That looks a hell of a lot like a Minbari fleet."
"Well holy crap." Paul shook his head. "Did a Dilgar just do something useful?"
Ari raised an eyebrow and a faint smile. "You're welcome."
"What happened to our carriers?" Thornhill demanded.
"Not responding, we have no ships to our rear!" Martin answered. "They must have been hit by enemy light warships!"
Thornhill swore heavily. "Escorting units?"
"Gone, our flanks are not secure!" Her XO warned. "Enemy forces predicted to be on all sides and to our rear!"
"So why aren't they closing? Why aren't they finishing us?"
"At a guess Admiral? I'd say they're leaving us for the big fish."
She rubbed sweat from her brow, no longer feeling a need to hide her stress. By now the situation was blatantly obvious.
"Bombers?"
"Gone, enemy fighters also have stealth systems. No known survivors."
"We can't win this, if we stay we're all dead." She growled. "Son of a bitch! Jump prep! Power up the engines and prepare to get the hell out of here!"
"Powering up, Admiral enemy forces increasing speed, they probably detected that." Martin warned. "Picking up very intense scans."
"That's what shut down Jankowski's jump drives." She inhaled. "What about it? Is the extra shielding working?"
"Affirmitive, we're still building power!" He related.
"Fleet command, this is sixth division, we've got your back."
Sixth division was Thornhills reserve, a heavy warship group including her handful of advanced Destroyers.
"Negative Six, begin jump!"
"They'll be on you before you can jump, we'll take this." The group commander replied firmly. "Good luck."
"Sixth division advancing on the enemy." Martin reported. "They're engaging."
The fleet was firing with all it had, while the bulk of the survivors tried to turn away the Sixth pressed on into the teeth of the Minbari. It was suicide and they knew it, positioning themselves in such a way to maintain their best ships for the longest. The advanced ships came along behind the main force, their rotating hulls and miniaturised weapons distinctive when compared to the older ships. They were Earth's answer to the Dilgar Sekhmet series, long ranged, fast and very heavily armoured. They were simply the best ships in Earth Force, and they lasted barely a second longer than their sisters.
"Sixth Division is overrun!" The XO shouted. "Minbari firing again!"
Several ships near the Garuda exploded as they powered up, their explosions particularly violent as the energised Quantium in their jump drives detonated ferociously.
"Jump engines ready!"
"Get us out of here, all ships commence…!"
The Garuda ceased to exist, not simply sliced to pieces by neutron cannons line her sisters but immolated from stem to stern by something even worse. The Minbari switched from the long range scalpel to the short ranged hammer, the apocalyptic anti matter converters the Minbari capital ships carried at the base of their upper fins. Rarely used as there was usually simply no need the cannons fired a beam which transformed whatever they touched into anti matter, which then reacted violently with the unconverted matter around it.
The results were staggeringly violent, the last of the EA ships vanished in a shower of light and radiation, immense explosions grander than any nuclear warhead reducing the great ships to little more than fragments. It was at least a swift end for Admiral Thornhill and her crew, her ship scattered to the eternal dark.
With the battle done the Minbari turned on those few ships that had not been instantly destroyed during the engagement, ignoring the surrender messages and coldly slicing apart any hull section that still had life support. Two corvettes and a few dozen Starfuries assigned to protect the gate managed to escape before the Minbari reached them, but of the main force nothing would return to Beta Durani and the welcome that was being prepared.
"Dammit Toby try again!" Paul yelled down the intercom. "We can see the Minbari! We need to get these coordinates to the fleet."
"I'm telling you I can't raise them!"
"Well why not! These readings are critical!"
"Because there is no one left to contact." Ari said quietly. "I'm sorry Captain, your fleet is lost."
"There were six hundred ships out there, where are the other waves?"
"He's right." Francis echoed. "They're gone."
"We've only been here ten minutes!"
"Seven." Francis corrected. "Seven minutes to kill six hundred ships."
"And we didn't nail even one of theirs." Jenny said emptily. "This was, it was just… we need to get out of here right now."
"She's right." Francis agreed. "With what we've learned we can stop this happening again, we we're blind out there."
"I mean it." She pointed at the screen. "Minbari fighters inbound."
"Point." Paul turned back to the Radio. "Jors, get us out of here fast."
"Making the jump."
"I can't believe that just happened." Paul turned back to the others. "How the hell do we fight back against that?"
"I don't know." Francis replied, resting his hand on the sensor displays. "But I think it's going to start right here."