6

Minbari Battleship Sword of Valen

Approaching Jericho Colony

EA Space.

Branmer was fascinated by hyperspace, amazed that something so bleak could be so active, so full of motion and light. He knew that there was a lot of mythology built up here, a lot of legends about what lurked off the beacons. Some races spoke of creatures and hidden treasures, of entire civilisations living quietly in the infinite tumult. The Minbari were an old race, they had been in space for over a thousand years yet they only had the very barest knowledge of what really lay in the depths and what might be out there even now, watching them.

There was a rumour that one could see the future in hyperspace, that if one stared at it long enough they would receive a vision. Branmer had never experienced that and most cases he had heard of were more likely nausea caused by the motion, but he did admit there was a sort of timeless quality to it. Where most people got sick looking at hyperspace Branmer found it calming and fascinating. A reminder of the wonder that existed everywhere.

"Shai Alyt?"

It took a moment to recognise that he was being addressed. The title was still quite novel to him.

"You must be Neroon." He deduced, not needing to turn around.

"Yes Shai Alyt." The voice continued. "The elders have assigned me as your aide and guard."

"My guard Neroon?"

"I mean no insult, nor to suggest you cannot guard yourself." His companion quickly clarified. "But it was felt that in the event of human forces boarding this ship you required extra protection."

"And you are the finest duellist in the Clan." Branmer recalled. "Do you believe we will be boarded?"

"It is highly unlikely, but there is wisdom in taking precautions."

That made Branmer grin.

"Wisdom indeed, I think I recognise why the elders picked you. Step into the circle Neroon, tell me what you see."

Neroon was in his thirties, old enough to have proven himself but young enough so he could still learn without pride or ego getting in the way. Branmer knew Neroon was spoken of highly by the clan elders, one of the rare few who had mastered the martial arts but also displayed a sharp mind and ambition. He was already being promoted as a future Satai of the Council after he learned more of the galaxy.

"Hyperspace, about half an hour from our target." Neroon answered Branmer.

"You spoke of precautions. Tell me what precautions we have taken?"

"We are using our own beacons that cannot be turned off." Neroon listed. "Thereby ensuring we will not suffer the same fate as our over enthusiastic vanguard fleet. The beacons were laid by our scouts and are guarded, they are considered vital assets."

"What about our target?"

"Jericho colony. Scouts report the planet is largely deserted, the humans have fled."

"Why are we taking it?"

"To secure the flanks of our advance on Beta Durani, the main transit hub in this sector."

"Very good Neroon, you have clearly read my orders well."

"Thank you Shai Alyt."

"Now I need your opinion, your personal opinion." Branmer asked. "Do not tell e what you think I want to hear, do not assume formality. When I ask you a question I demand the truth even if you do not think I will like it."

"I understand."

"What do you think of my strategy?"

It was a test. Branmer was confident in his assessment of the war but he wanted to make sure Neroon knew what he was talking about. Sineval had been vehemently against Branmer's new plan for the war which of course just served tot ell Branmer he was right.

"Your strategy is cautious, slow." Neroon analysed. "Securing our path as we advance along it, not simply rushing into a fight."

"Such a slow advance allows the humans to flee from us, to preserve their forces."

"Only for so long." Neroon answered. "They will have to make a stand somewhere, defend a location of vital interest, even if it takes until we reach their homeworld. Eventually they will fight, until then we can content ourselves with seizing their worlds."

Branmer nodded in approval.

"Very good Neroon. We hold the initiative and we are deciding the pace of this war. For now at least. I anticipate the humans will attempt to hold Beta Durani, that will be our first real test."

"Based on our information it will be no real challenge."

"Be careful with assumptions Neroon, things can change in the blink of an eye. We know little of humanity, to assume we can accurately predict them with so little information is dangerous."

"They have hurt us only through deception and trickery, their success is not a matter of human skill, simply a case of them taking advantage of our weakness."

Branmer raised a curious eyebrow, his beard twitching as he smiled.

"Explain further Neroon."

"The Black Star was destroyed by human weapons, but the true reason it was lost is pride. Likewise the Vanguard fleet was overconfident, too blinded by the ease of its initial victory and seeking to heap further glory on itself. This is why so many decry the loss of these forces, they recognise the truth but cannot accept their failings. It is easier to blame humans than to accept that we were at fault."

"And because we cannot allow it thought the humans are superior warriors to our greatest ship and crew we label them tricksters and deceivers to further nurse our wounded pride at simply failing to treat our enemy with respect." Branmer concurred. "I am impressed Neroon, this is clearly why you are here beside me."

The younger warrior bowed his head at the praise.

"Your command of history is well known Shai Alyt, we all have faith it will translate into success in battle."

"You can see the truth for what it is Neroon, you can see the flaws in our fleet as I do. A good commander must ensure not only that the enemy is defeated but that his own forces are preserved, and that means knowing our weaknesses so you may guard them."

"And that is where the Windswords fail, they do not acknowledge their failings and so cannot protect them." Neroon recognised. "Which is why they must not be placed in command of anything larger than a guard post."

"You will find no disagreement from me." Branmer gave a brief nod. "Valen said that in many cases war is politics by other means, this one is no different. As we have military objectives so too do we have political objectives."

"We have no political aims for the humans, so that goal must be within our own government." Neroon considered. "Do you seek to use this war to diminish the power of the Windswords?"

"That is exactly my objective. They are reckless, foolish, arrogant. They can fight well but they cannot lead." Branmer confirmed. "Better to remove them now while we have this opportunity than to do so later when the Shadows fall upon us and the need is greater."

"You have my support Shai Alyt, and my discretion."

"Good. We can use this as a chance to restructure our forces and ensure the Star riders ascend to prominence once again. But we must not discount the humans. The Dilgar underestimated them and paid dearly, the Windswords underestimated them and paid dearly. We will not."

They were alerted to a change in circumstances by a recurring chime, drawing their attention to the enclosing holographic displays.

"Ah yes, I was expecting this." Branmer parted a smile. "There."

"What is it?" Neroon squinted, trying to make something out in the haze.

"Human reconnaissance probes. They are waiting for us."

"Your orders Shai Alyt?"

"Proceed to Jericho, double check our deployment, make sure we have plenty of fighters guarding the perimeter."

"At once."

"It is almost certain we will have to fight within the next few minutes, make sure all ships are fully prepared." Branmer commanded. "Arm the missiles, we will use them first. They are less likely to be disrupted by gravity than our beam weapons. Tighten the frigate screen and decrease speed. Reaction times will be short, I will need all warriors at their best."

"You will have nothing less Shai Alyt."

"Watch those sensors closely Neroon, very closely. The humans are out there."

The younger warrior obeyed, looking closely for hints of movement, the powerful sensor systems on the cruiser seeking targets. They highlighter areas on the flowing display that could be contacts drawing them to Neroon's attention, letting him assess each location in turn.

"There is too much interference, they could be anywhere, or nowhere."

"They are out there." Branmer assured. "They know that in hyperspace they have a chance, their last attack cost us more ships than we lost at Cyrus even before they turned off the beacons. They will attempt to recreate that success."

"Fighter patrols have not detected anything."

"Don't wait for the reports, ask yourself where you would be in their position."

Neroon frowned. "How do I think like a human?"

"Don't. Just do as you would do if you faced a superior enemy. Some concepts are universal and intelligent strategy is one of them."

"Well I would be off the beacon as much as possible. Not too close to the colony but not far away either. Probably close to an area of natural instability for greater concealment."

"Like the gravitational incline over there?" Branmer suggested.

"That would be a prime location, yes."

"My thoughts exactly, I have already arranged our formation to meet an attack from that direction."

"We will pass by shortly."

"Then we will see if your insight was correct."

Neroon found himself feeling surprisingly tense. It wasn't the potential battle he was concerned with, it was whether or not Branmer would approve of his judgement. This was a clear test of his strategy, Neroon was a superb combatant but had never commanded a sizeable military force before. Branmer's patronage could make or break him, if the Shai Alyt labelled him a fool or too inexperienced it would set back his goals by years, perhaps permanently.

"Possible movement." Neroon remarked. "Fighter patrols have something."

He checked the data, the scout fighters emerging to find themselves face to face with a dozen human warships.

"Contact, enemy warships!" Neroon called with as much relief as anything else, happy to at least have passed the test.

"Long range missiles, open fire." Branmer ordered. "All stop, target that location and engage."

The leading elements of the fleet came to a relative halt keeping the range fairly open, turning to face the newly discovered threat. With their cover blown the EA ships advanced, a few fighter squadrons engaging the Nial units with moderate success. The long grey hulls of several cruisers and a pair of dreadnoughts emerged from the mists, a significant threat if they managed to get close enough.

"Missiles having a hard time tracking." Neroon informed.

"Slave them to our sensors, guide them in from here." Branmer ordered.

The EA vessels opened fire, the Dreadnoughts unleashing a massive storm of gunfire. The vast majority of it missed which was extremely fortunate, even for such primitive vessels Neroon had to admit the display was mesmerising.

"Look for calm areas in the gravitic currents." Branmer gestured. "If you fire across the tides the distortions will bend our Neutron beams. Fire through the calm areas only, wait for the right moment."

The EA ships were too far away and not closing fast enough, their ambush sprung to early by Branmer's scouts. The initial volleys from both sides missed by miles, twisted and distorted by hyperspace. Branmer remained utterly unmoved by the approaching warships, well aware that every mile, every second, reduced his advantage and gave Earth a better chance of inflicting damage.

"Missiles are approaching enemy ships." Neroon reported. "Impact."

Striking from different angles and small enough to be hidden by the violent nature of hyperspace until the last second the antimatter missiles struck home, detonating with furious power. Normally they would have broken up the human ships with little difficulty, but here with their power enhanced by hyperspace the devastation was total. Both dreadnoughts and all but one of the cruisers were destroyed instantly in titanic explosions, only the rearmost Hyperion reacting swiftly enough to shoot down the projectiles racing toward it.

"Impressive point defences on that last ship." Branmer accepted.

"We have a break in the distortions." Neroon stated. "Firing."

The flagship fired on the last cruiser, the single beam from its bow gun cutting the engine block from the human ship. It at once started drifting, carried on the tides.

"She's drifting off beacon, in a few seconds she'll be lost to the ages."

"Finish her off."

Neroon glanced over.

"Shai Alyt, they condemned many of our brothers and sisters to this fate. Why should we not do the same?"

"Because I intend to fight with honour and dignity." Branmer answered flatly. "They tried to fight us, that takes courage and we should acknowledge that with a swift death by our hand, not by starvation in hyperspace. Open fire."

Neroon obeyed, ordering the ship to engage again, blasting the drifting hulk to scrap.

"We have accepted responsibility for this war, for killing the humans." Branmer said. "So we will kill them, their blood will be on our hands not abandoned to fate. This is the war we have been given, it is bloody and brutal and it will make any decent Minbari lay awake at night. War is death, so we will kill and accept the consequences."

"We are approaching the colony." Neroon said quietly, considering the statement. "Shall I order the attack?"

"That is why we are here." Branmer exhaled. "Initiate jump, deploy to envelope the planet, target military facilities only. We are warriors and will kill only those who take up arms against us. When the war is over and only the human women and children are left, their fate will not be an act of war. I don't know what it will be, this is not what I expected."

"The Council has given us our purpose Shai Alyt. To the death."

"Perhaps more will die than just the humans in this war, perhaps something of ourselves will die." The older Warrior reflected. "Activate jump engines, take is in Neroon. For our duty."

Edges of Cyrus Colony.

"There it is again." Alyt Giredd frowned. "Same narrow band transmission, out beyond the edge of the fifth planet."

"Our sensors indicate a dense asteroid field trailing the fifth planet's orbit." A voice from the bridge informed. "It would be a good hiding place for a human spy ship."

"Of a hidden base." Giredd considered. "We need to investigate."

"Shall I send a fighter Alyt?"

"No, if there is a ship or base there I wish the honour of destroying it myself."

"It could be a trap sir, the humans could have mines in the asteroids."

That made Giredd pause a moment for thought.

"We will advance slowly, we do not wish to follow the fate of the Black Star. Bring our escorts too, make sure they are scanning for danger."

With most of the fleet heading to Jericho Cyrus colony was only lightly defended with no more than a dozen ships, only five of them Sharlin cruisers. Branmer had surveyed the system and at this time decided it needed nothing more, there were only about thirty cargo ships in the system and a fairly small force of soldiers on the planet, the plan to turn Cyrus into a major forward base had not yet been implemented.

Giredd considered that fortunate. If there was a human spy ship it was good fortune to discover it this early. The outer worlds had been swept to look for human bases but clearly the check had not been thorough enough. He would certainly be mentioning that to his clan elders.

"Moving into orbit." His staff informed. "Scanning for mines."

He had two Sharlins and a trio of Tinashi frigates under his command, a very powerful force but still less than the fleet Starkiller had tricked a few weeks earlier. People were outraged of course, but there was also a lot of talk about where the blame really lay. The fact that the Star riders were now running the war spoke volumes.

"I think I have the target, a small freighter."

"Any traps?"

"Nothing, no metallic contacts apart from the ship."

"Is it running?"

"No Alyt, it is just sitting there."

He immedieately tensed.

"Keep our distance, scan it thoroughly."

"Holding position. Scans show normal… wait, I can detect no life signs."

"An automated ship? Why?"

He didn't have to wait for an answer.

Behind his small force at point blank range a jump point opened, the two flanking Frigates simply ceasing to exist as gravitic energy turned them to vapour and atoms. A fraction of a second later the vortex burst open, ripping Giredd's ship to pieces and tearing the fins from the second Sharlin, both mighty vessels shoved aside in flames bleeding debris.

From the bright blue swirl of the dimensional tunnel a grim looking shape emerged, unlovely and armed with massed ranks of giant cannons that were already swung out to point right, the rectangular warship cruising behind the broken fleet at point blank range. The warship wasted no time, barraging the surviving Tinashi with a ridiculous volume of particle pulses, hammering the smaller ship remorselessly and overwhelmingly. It died before it could even turn around or lock its aft facing weapons. The other ships were even easier, than the crippled Sharlin was disposed of first, with Giredd's fractured command ship dealt with last just to make very sure it was dead.

The dark grey vessel cruised past the wreckage, realigning its guns as the vortex closed and left it in the shadow of the nearby planet, letting it survey its handiwork in silence. The warship was old and bore many scars, its hull showing the repairs and wounds of a veteran ship. Most notably at its bow where most ships had a formation letter indicating their sector fleet, this ship had simply a skull and crossbones.

"Damn me if that wasn't the best entrance ever made!" Admiral Tennant enthused merrily. "I wish I could have seen that guy's face when we showed up, ISN could have put it on the galaxy's funniest videos."

"Yes sir." The long suffering Captain Simon Anderson replied from the First Officer's station. "Sensors show enemy fleet completely destroyed."

"Did you actually doubt otherwise?" Tennant asked. "This is the Lady Nemesis Simon, if you try to look her name up in a dictionary all you'll find is a burning hole."

"Indeed sir." He answered simply.

"You know Simon I'm starting to get the impression that maybe you don't want to be here?"

"Well I was quite happily retired sir." He admitted. "I was commanding a liner on the Saturn tourist route."

"You were a hotel manager in space Simon, you should be thanking me and the Lady for rescuing you from a lifetime of playing shuffle board and listening to old people snore."

"Still, with the Minbari on the loose I suppose it was inevitable we'd all be reactivated." The XO exhaled.

"At least you got a promotion out of it." Tennant pointed out. "And think of all the anecdotes you'll have."

"Yes sir, clearly it will all be worrh it in the end." He dead panned.

"What's the word on the sensors?"

"Worked as advertised, they locked on past Minbari stealth, they were accurate enough to pinpoint our jump directly into the enemy formation, and they didn't melt the mainframe."

"I suppose that is phase two of the test complete." Tennant resolved. "Give the go order to the other ships, then break orbit and engage targets of opportunity."

"Aye sir, sending the signal."

"Then enter this in the log." Tennant cleared his throat. "One. Test of Minbari type jump point attack huge success. Two. Have introduced Minbari society to the concept of irony. That is all."

The word was sent into hyperspace, the other nineteen ships of Tennant's Task Force spinning up their engines and using data from the nemesis to plot their specific jump points. As they did the Nemesis herself cleared the asteroid field and emerged from the shadow of the planet with violent intent, cruising past the Minbari wrecks as she found herself gleaming angrily in the distant sunlight.

"Engines are at flank, Minbari forces have seen us and are deploying to engage." Anderson reported. "Firing range in ten minutes."

"Feed that information to our ships, keep them updated." Tennant ordered.

"Aye sir, battlenet is active, they should be seeing what we are seeing."

"Weapons status?"

"Laser cannons fully armed and ready to fire, pulse cannons fully armed and ready to fire." The XO informed. "Firing solutions are plotted for mixed salvo fire, alternating between laser and pulses."

"Very good Captain, be ready to break out your tap shoes because we're going to be dancing on a lot of graves after this."

"Shall we launch fighters sir?"

"No, I want us out of here in five minutes." Tennant shook his head. "Recovery will take too long. One high speed pass, kill everything, then home. The Lady Nemesis love tap."

"Love tap sir?"

"Of course! Just because my girl is the leading cause of spontaneous Dilgar combustion doesn't mean she hasn't got feelings. She is really very sensitive."

"Sir, what's sensitive about fifty million tons of very heavily armed metal?"

"oh, oh you better apologise for that." Tennant warned. "I know it's the heat of battle but you should be careful."

"Sir…"

"Remember the last time you said Lady Nemesis was just a ship and then you got stuck in a lift for eighteen hours? Just saying."

"It's a chance I'll take sir. Approaching firing range."

"Alright, tell the rest of the fleet to jump."

"Signal outgoing."

"Then order the gun crews to engage at will, if they called Johnnie Sheridan Starkiller I can't wait to hear what they'll call us."

The Minbari ships had not seen the fate of their comrades, all they knew was that a Minbari squadron had gone behind the planet and an Earth Force dreadnought had come out. That was reason enough to deploy for action, aligning themselves to confront the human warship. Their deployment did display a hint of caution, they placed their best ships in the centre with their escorts on the flanks to watch for danger, but could not predict exactly what was coming.

Several jump points formed in the midst of the Minbari warships, crushing some, shredding others, flinging others still in random directions as reality tore. The Minbari fleet dissolved at once and what few ships were not destroyed or disabled in the first moments were pulverised by the emerging cruisers and Dreadnoughts.

"Warspite to Nemesis, entry point clear."

"Captain Black, welcome to the party." Tennant approved. "We've spiked the drinks, blocked the toilet and thrown the television into the pool. Now it's time to really trash this place."

"I make thirty eight Minbari freighters, looking at the returns fully loaded." Black announced. "I guess the sensors work."

"They aren't jump capable." Tennant checked the same data. "Not much of a challenge for my girl."

"Want us to take them all?"

"I didn't say that." Tennant chuckled. "Lady Nemesis also enjoys a little recreational murder. We'll take the left flank, you take the right. Kill everything and jump out."

"Yes sir."

"And Captain, my compliments on your enthusiasm."

The two Dreadnought groups lined up and cut through the mass of Minbari ships, the two groups proceeding in two lines side by side, one group firing left, the other right. With the warships gone and no fixed defences to speak of it was ridiculously easy, even without the advanced sensors it would have been a shooting gallery.

"Captain Hague, this is Nemesis."

"Go ahead Admiral."

"First of all good to have you on the team. Second, what can you see on the planet?"

"It looks like the Minbari landed on a plain away from the main colony, we can see a few ships on the ground, look like freighters and armed transports."

"I think they are too concentrated in one place, distribute them across the stratosphere if you will Captain."

"With pleasure Admiral, nuclear missiles are already in the tubes."

"I want to see the most wanton display of felony arson that colony has ever seen. Take them out."

The Dreadnought groups finished their attacks and turned away leaving the Minbari cargo ships as nothing but burning debris. As they did so a few points of light burst on the planet as Hague nuked the landing sites, then turned to join them. Ahead of them the second batch of cruisers also left their station, guarding the flank of the attack just in case they had missed a Minbari ship or two.

"All units converging, jump engines are charged."

"Damage?"

"None sir."

"Just a soar throat from all the gloating." Tennant grunted. "This was like taking Candy from a Minbari baby, eating it in front of its face, then spitting it all out again just to show we can."

"It does appear that…"

"And then taking that kid out of the pram, setting the pram on fire and rolling it down a hill, fully ablaze, into a gas refinery which then explodes with a kiloton of force."

"I suppose…"

"And then telling the Minbari kid, as it has no candy and witnesses its pram turned into a weapon of mass destruction, that really it's parents don't love it and wanted a dog instead."

"That was an unusually specific analogy Admiral."

"Sometimes I have these thoughts."

"Did you use to set fire to things as a kid?"

"No." Tennant answered flatly. "Well, nothing that was mine."

"Jump engines ready sir."

"Time to go home. Now we know these sensors work in a real fight the Joint Chiefs will be eager to send in a real counter attack. Things are going to get busy."

Hyperspace

Somewhere in Narn Territory

"This brings back memories." Jha'dur ran her hand over the Commander's chair as she strolled around the bridge. "Waiting on the eve of battle, the atmosphere, the tension, the balance of fear and excitement. Sometimes I yearn for the grand old days."

She turned with a smile to the Commanding Officer.

"You remember those days? Another life, a better life perhaps."

"I remember." Warmaster An'jash nodded her white haired head stepping gracefully down from the doorway onto the bridge. "Before we began our task seemed impossible. Nobody expected to fight the League, we were outgunned ten to one by just the Drazi. We all thought it was just a glorious method of suicide, to burn out in one bright flame of destruction never to be forgotten."

She took her seat in the centre of the room, arrays of screens and officers surrounding her interpreting the influx of information and reports.

"But then we started to win." An'jash settled in the chair. "You and Dar'sen, you gave us victory after victory. And your brother…"

"Yes, Sha'dur." The other Warmaster lowered her gaze briefly. "He proved the true strength of our people, that we could learn and adapt and excel despite the circumstances. He was not born a soldier and he suffered for it, but he became one of the best we had."

"He died well Warmaster."

"It is small consolation."

An'jash had done well for herself after the war. As a relatively young officer she had been selected as Jha'dur's attaché and first officer, a position which had allowed her to observe and learn from the enigmatic Warmaster. That knowledge had allowed her to forge success of her own, when the war ended she had assumed command of Jha'dur's old fleet and fought several successful skirmishes securing her promotion to Warmaster and a place on the Council.

In combat An'jash was clearly Jha'dur's protégé employing a similar philosophy, but she did not hold her mentors fascination with biology nor did she carry any of the emotional scars making her a far more stable and reasonable personality. While not considered a genius like Jha'dur or Dar'sen she was considered a very competent and steady commanding officer for the Dilgar fleet. She commanded one of two Dilgar Strike Fleets, the most elite formations in the Imperium, with Dal'shan commanding the other.

"If I may ask Warmaster," Anjash began, "what are we looking for here?"

"In a word, Drazi." Jha'dur replied. "Have you been following the Minbari?"

The younger Warmaster nodded.

"They sent expeditions to the league, a small fleet to each homeworld that jumped out under the defences and informed each government that if they did not withdraw their support for Earth they would be back with mass drivers."

"An interesting approach to diplomacy, I'll give them that." Jha'dur briefly chuckled. "My contacts say the League has caved in, there are a lot of old soldiers who want to help Earth but the politics of appeasement commands the League."

"They are pathetic, they did not help each other when we attacked, now they refuse to help the people who saved them from extinction."

"Politicians have short memories." Jha'dur dismissed. Only the Markab and Brakiri offered help anyway and their fleets took the highest casualties in our war. The handful of ships they could offer would be a passing amusement to the Minbari. Now if the Hyach or Yolu had responded, that could have been interesting."

"I presume the Drazi were more favourable?"

"Yes, the Drazi." Jha'dur smiled. "Also the Balosians but their fleet numbers in the single digits. It is the Drazi who are of interest, they are an actual warrior race, they yearn for battle and remember their debts of honour. Plus they put Stro'kath in charge and he is a good friend to humanity. As I understand it when the Minbari threatened him he spent forty minutes yelling the most fascinating language ever uttered by a head of state. Suffice to say two thousand Drazi warships are on their way to Earth."

"Almost a quarter of their fleet."

"Given they have the Narn, the Centauri and us to worry about that is a very generous deployment." Jha'dur confirmed. "Stro'kath clearly takes his debts of honour seriously."

"I admit feeling some admiration." An'jash remarked casually. "The Minbari are not a race I would want to pick a fight with."

"Stro'kath is not one to be intimidated, those threats seem to have just made him even more angry. It doesn't matter, it is not in our best interest to have the Drazi and Earth form stronger ties."

"I imagined that was why we were here." An'jash reasoned.

"To reach Earth they have to cross Narn space, we will not permit that. One of my friends in the Kha'ri informed me of the exact time and route of the Drazi passage. Fleet status Warmaster?"

"Eight hundred and twelve ships of all types, no vessel is more than six years old." An'jash informed. "They are all state of the art."

"Ships like this are the future my old friend. I'll be interested to see how they perform under these circumstances."

The Dilgar fleet was already feared, the reputation it had gained by dismantling the older and stronger navies of the League so swiftly was rivalled only by Earth Force doing much the same thing in reverse. In terms of skill and leadership the Dilgar were considered largely equal to the best fleets in the galaxy, but it was their technology that had raised eyebrows.

During the war the Dilgar had stolen a lot of League technology and meshed it together into the Sekhmet class. No one really knew how they had managed to make such different systems work together, especially Earth Force which had tried and largely failed to do the same thing with its own recovered tech. The secret of course was the Drakh, a mysterious and advanced race who had offered the Dilgar aid during the war including technology. Their involvement was strictly secret, their motives still unknown even to the senior Dilgar though Jha'dur had her suspicions.

Whatever their reasons the Dilgar fleet had benefited immensely. It's warships were fast, tough and heavily armed. Most used gravity based shielding and propulsion and were armed with extremely potent laser and pulse weapons. The main fleet fighter, the Thorun MkV was in constant competition with the latest EA Starfury design for the title of most effective fighter in space, with the Thorun generally being faster while the Starfury was more agile.

The greatest weakness was of course numbers. With a much reduced population base the Dilgar simply could not afford to build and crew a grand fleet like the old days forcing them to emphasise quality over quantity. An'jash's flagship, a Monarch class battleship, was two kilometres long packing a trio of spinal lasers and a bewildering array of secondary guns. They were considered the best warships in the galaxy until the Minbari had revealed themselves. Even then there were many who would put money on the Dilgar vessel over the Minbari.

"if we go into battle…" An'jash began.

"The fleet is yours Warmaster." Jha'dur smiled. "You earned this position, I am just here as an observer."

"Understood." She accepted. "When are they due?"

"Any minute." Jha'dur replied. "We should see their vanguard soon."

"Do you think the Narn were telling the truth?"

"They know better than to lie to me."

"I can believe that." An'jash grinned. "Wait, there's a contact."

The ship went to full readiness as the sensors located an inbound object, the DIlgar fleet behind it arming their heavy weapons.

"Multiple contacts now, they are following the beacon." The sensor officer repeated. "Minimal power emissions."

"They're rigged for silent running?" An'jash frowned. "In hyperspace?"

"I don't think so." Jha'dur stepped forward. "Are we in visual range?"

"Yes Warmaster."

"Show me."

The main display altered to show the visual feed, zooming in on a distant Drazi ship. The design was easily identified but torn and blackened, the sleek hull shot to pieces.

"Interesting." Jha'dur watched several more wrecks drift past, all of them showing signs of massive damage. "Some one beat us to the prize."

"They took out the whole fleet?"

"It appears so. Those ships will drift until they reach the next beacon and then just keep going instead of making the turn to the next one. Lost in hyperspace forever." Jha'dur narrowed her eyes. "That was my plan."

"I have other ships on sensors, these ones are active."

"Drazi?"

"Too big Warmaster."

"The people who stole our thunder perhaps."

To little surprise a Minbari cruiser appeared from the red mists followed closely by additional flowing blue vessels. They came to a relative stop before the Dilgar fleet, the communication console chiming a signal.

"Message from the Minbari commander. An Alyt Sineval."

"Oh good, let's see how many ships he lost." Jha'dur smiled widely. "I understand it is a habit for his clan."

She put on a diplomatic smile as the Minbari warrior's image appeared on the main display.

"Alyt Sineval, how strange our paths should cross."

"Warmaster Jha'dur I should have known." Sineval chuckled. "if anyone could erase a Drazi fleet it would be you!"

She didn't even blink.

"Well, we just happened to be in the area."

"How did you do it? We estimated two thousand ships, it would have been a tremendous battle?"

"It was nothing really, barely worth talking about."

"Still, I am greatly impressed. You have done us a great service, the Windswords thank you." Sineval inclined his head. "I think our friendship is proving very beneficial to both our races."

"It is of course a pleasure." Jha'dur bowed slightly in return. "We must be departing now Alyt, I look forward to our next meeting, I will have some more compounds for you if you remember to bring me what I want."

"Dusty old scrolls? In exchange for your bioweapons you can have any scrolls you like. Until then Warmaster."

"Allyt."

She ended the transmission and turned sharply to An'jash.

"Analysis?"

"He didn't kill the Drazi." The white haired Warmaster shook her head. "So who did?"

Jha'dur turned back to the screen, now returned to showing the scattered hulks of the Drazi fleet.

"Who indeed? I have only seen Drazi wrecks so far, even our best estimates accepted we would take notable casualties fighting in hyperspace. So where are the other wrecks?"

"Either they were recovered, a very risky trick in hyperspace, or they lost no ships."

"The latter, based on the Narn reports there would not be time to recover wrecks before we intercepted this fleet. This all happened in less than twenty minutes. Twenty minutes!" Jha'dur shook her head. "Two thousand ships, in hyperspace, with no casualties in twenty minutes or less! No power can do that, not us, not the Centauri, even Sineval was expecting casualties. Who did it?"

"The Drakh?"

"That was my first thought, but I am not sure." Jha'dur mused. "They are advanced but are they this advanced? They are clearly hiding their best technology from us but I have done plenty of research on them. They suffered heavily at the hands of the Orieni centuries ago, if they had this power how could the Orieni harm them? Why did not they not wipe them out of the stars? We could do it, why not the Drakh?"

"So they may not be as powerful as they lead us to believe?"

"My information says the Drakh are nomads, their worlds and powerbases destroyed over the centuries. They are advanced but hollow, without a friendly nation providing resources they will never have a means of mass producing their ships. I'm sure they see us as that nation in the near future, they are going to be disappointed."

"So if not the Drakh, and not one of the local powers, who?"

"Who and why." Jha'dur added. "Answer either of those questions and we learn the other. Sineval wanted to prevent the Drazi helping Earth militarily, we wanted to isolate Earth from the League politically, but what motive would another power have for this?"

"Either they want to see Earth suffer, or they want to see the Minbari succeed." An'jash reasoned. "So an enemy of Earth or a friend of Minbar."

"With power far beyond any existing nation." Jha'dur concluded. "We have a mystery to solve Warmaster. Good." She rubbed her hands together, grinning widely. "Retirement was starting to get boring anyway."