Chapter Three
Minbari Federation - Chi Draconis binary star system
Battle Station "Valeria" - Orbital Command
Geostationary orbit above Yedor.
July 28, 2245
Traffic in the orbit of Minbar was hectic. Ships were moving back and forth from the planet bringing supplies and spares necessary for the first real mobilization since a thousand years. Tugs were bringing mothballed ships from the stable Lagrange points, and into the massive orbital shipyards, and smaller dockyards; a few were building ships from standard year to year contracts, but the majority were receiving mothballed vessels to put them back in operation. First the newer ones, which required less amount of time to repair or upgrade, and second the older or damaged vessels which in most cases not only required heavy repairs, but a lot of equipment upgrades to put them in par with the newer units of the Fleet.
Protecting the massive operation was one of the most powerful defense grids in existence. It represented 30 percent of the entire orbital defenses of the Minbari Federation, and was the most powerful defense grid they possessed. 220 huge Battle Stations, each with enough turreted antimatter, neutron, and fusion beams to compare to at least a dozen Sharlin class war cruisers. Strong gravitic shields that, while not as advanced as those used by the Abbai, had the reactor strength to be far more effective in defense against invasion fleets, and were systems designed to resist the impact of a single standard shadow battle crab main beam; a first one's weapon system exceeding the exawatt range. Supporting these stations were a total of 10,780 Defense Satellites, each mounting a spinal neutron beam cannon of the same class as those mounted as primary on the Sharlins. A weapon system releasing in excess of 180 petawatts, which not a single ship of the younger races was able to resist. Secondary highly accurate point defense fusion beam turreted cannons completed the offensive systems, and added to the defense. Backing them were gravitic shields that were no where near as powerful as those equipping the Battle Stations, but with enough strength to resist smaller weapons, and supplemented by standard crystal armor.
Of the 220 Battle Stations spherically surrounding the Planet, one stood above the main orbital shipyard complex: the Battle Station "Valeria". Its position gave the name for the most important industrial site on the Minbari Federation: The Valeria-On-High orbital shipyards. This Battle Station was not only positioned above the Main Minbari shipyards and the Capital of Yedor, but was also the location of Orbital Command. It was a big responsibility for a single Battle Station to cover such important targets, and having such an important task as commanding the entire orbital forces. That is why it was always supplemented by dozens of vessels from the defense fleets, especially the powerful Sharlin.
Inside it, the Worker caste managed the logistical operations of the Federation, while the Warrior caste did the same with the defense of Minbar.
"It's been only two weeks, Alyt Sineval, since we were given the order to prepare our forces for war. These things take time. The majority of our ships had been in storage for many years, some of them for more than two centuries. We have just finished assembling our first reconnaissance party, and the logistical train required to maintain them deployed so far away from our borders. I'm sorry Alyt, but I need much more than just two weeks to get a Fleet ready for operations without draining strength from our Defense Fleets." said Durlan, a member of the worker caste, in charge of preparing Minbari forces for war.
"Shai Alyt Shakiri has been very clear, in that he wants to strike back against these beasts immediately, and I intend to fulfill his command. We have already waited for two weeks. I need those ships now!" barked Alyt Sineval from the warrior caste.
"I received those orders too Alyt, and I can guarantee you that my staff is working around the clock to see this happen. But the orders also stated that the defense fleets were not to be touched, so we had had to resort to our fleet reserves. Those ships require testing of all their systems before they are fit to operate at those distances. We have placed in our shipyards first the ships which are in better condition to help us speed up the operation, and the first units are ready to depart, but are conformed mostly of Tinashi class Frigates." added Durlan.
"How many ships do we have available?" asked Sineval.
Durlan answered directly from memory. Such was his devotion to his work. "3,711 Sharlin class war cruisers and 743 Tinashi class Frigates are currently deployed to the defense fleets. Some of those Tinashis are deployed with the Anla'Shok along with 347 Andrali class cutters. We have a total of 273 Sharlins and 4,311 Tinashis on our reserve. All of our shipyards are receiving Tinashis, as they are faster to repair and recommission. You should have enough of them to send to battle, or to replace Sharlins in the defense fleets to free them up for sending to the front, in no more than two month." answered Durlan.
Sineval sighed. He was referring to the number of ships available for deployment, not the amount of vessels available in the Federation, so he asked again. "And how many of them are ready for deployment to the front?"
"We have assembled one reconnaissance party that consists of 9 Tinashis, and 3 Ulabon transports with the necessary equipment, and supplies to start building a forward supply depot." answered Durlan.
Sineval took a deep breath, while closing his eyes and moving his face towards the ceiling. His frustration was immeasurable, his desire for battle and retribution overwhelming. He knew the logistical requirements of keeping a fleet in operation, but that didn't help to contain his anxiety. He opened his eyes, and faced Durlan again, and asked calmly. "9 ships only? In two full weeks?"
Now it was time for Durlan to sigh. "The entire Federation has 277 shipyards and dockyards Alyt. 58 are currently producing Sharlins at a rate of 29 per year. 92 are permanently in operation to keep the thousands of ships in the defense fleet properly maintained. 45 are used to construct or maintain transport ships. 37 are building Battle Station components that allow as to field almost 4 of them per year, and 45 are building defense satellites at a rate of 4 per year each. None of them are idle. The fact that we are using those shipyards for bringing mothballed vessels on line means we had to stop giving programmed maintenance to ships from the defense fleet. We need more resources to construct more shipyards, or we need for the warrior caste to considerably reduce operations on the defense fleet to keep vessels which should be going into maintenance deployed."
"As soon as the Valen'Tha arrives, I'm sure the Grey Council will give you the resources you are asking. They will be here in three days, and a shipyard will be required to put the ship back in operation." said Sineval with a furrowed brow.
"I will have one available as soon as they arrive." said Durlan bowing his head.
Sineval returned the bow, and without any more considerations he turned around and headed for Fleet operations. He arrived there calmed after a relaxing walk from Durlan's office. He asked one of the communications operators to get in contact with the command vessel of the recommissioned reconnaissance party.
Alyt Levasin, commander of the Tinashi class frigate Hazash'Ti appeared on the main screen, and spoke. "Alyt Sineval. It's an honor to see you again."
"Likewise Levasin." said Sineval slightly bowing his head. "Are your forces ready?"
"The last shuttle docked an hour ago. We are ready to depart immediately, Alyt." answered Levasin.
"Good. The Grey council will be arriving in a few days, but Shai Alyt Shakiri wants us to make this race pay for killing Duhkat. You are to secure a system in their space, and start preparing a supply depot to support our fleet. More reconnaissance squadrons will be deployed in the following weeks, and they'll be escorting supply ships. We expect that in a little more than two months, we'll be having a full fleet operational at the front. Prepare, and defend the supply depot, but also scout ahead, so that the fleet has targets when it arrives. Depart as soon as you are ready." ordered Sineval.
"Yes, Alyt. What are we to do if we encounter enemy ships, or lightly defended targets?" asked Levasin.
"Destroy them on sight. I want you to find targets for the fleet, but if you can take them without support you are free to engage." answered Sineval.
"What about civilians?" asked Levasin.
"Every ship is to be destroyed. No escape will be allowed for them. Settlements are to be left untouched but guarded until the Grey council decides what to do with them."
"Yes, Alyt."
"That is all Levasin. Our race mourns the Chosen One, and you will be the first to find retribution. Go on my friend."
"Yes, Alyt."
The screen powered off, and instants later the gravitic drives of nine Tinashi class frigates and the three Ulabon transports activated propelling them towards the gate. They passed through the defense grid, and after cruising for some time, they reached the gate and it activated. It allowed the reconnaissance group to pass through to hyperspace, and they immediately change course and headed for Earth Alliance space.
Hyperspace – Near Earth Alliance Vega beacon cluster.
Hazash'Ti Tinashi class frigate – Holographic sensor projection room.
August 7, 2245
Alyt Levasin was standing in the center of the holographic room, where the sensor representation of hyperspace was being displayed. In front of the path of the Hazash'Ti reconnaissance party, the beacons of the Vega cluster could be discerned. Levasin used the computer system to lock into the closest of the beacons, and then ordered his command crew to head towards it. He selected it not only because of its proximity, but also because it was the site of the first contact with this race. A star system of unknown name for the Minbari, but known to the humans as VCB-165
The twelve vessels, which had been streaming through hyperspace for a little more than ten days, locked their heading on the selected beacon. After several more hours of travel, they prepared themselves for the transition.
A Tinashi and the three transports stayed a safe distance away in hyperspace to wait for the other eight ships to secure the system. The Hazash'Ti and its escorts proceeded forward, and made the jump with stealth systems at full power.
Eight jump vortexes opened near the Earth Alliance beacon, and a similar number of Tinashi class frigates transitioned to normal space. The ships went active on scanners with full power. Sensor telemetry indicated that the system was deserted, and after half an hour of intense scans, the transports were given the green light to proceed. It took some time, but the entire reconnaissance party arrived at VCB-165.
The Ulabon was the biggest transport ship of the Minbari Federation, but on Earth Alliance standards it could be considered a light transport. It wasn't as big as a standard EA transport. It was small compared to EA container ships, and it was dwarfed by the massive EA bulk carriers. The reason for this was that every single Minbari planet was self sufficient, and every planetary economy was relatively isolated from the other planets. But what they didn't have in size, they made up in speed. Their carrying capacity was small, but they could make several trips in the time it took an EA vessel to complete a single run, and especially when the distances were long.
The transport didn't have the common wings every Minbari capital ship carried. Those wings were gravitic drives, which allowed their vessels high maneuverability in the 3D environment of space. The Ulabon had only a single fin at the aft of the vessel which provided great linear acceleration, but limited maneuverability. From the fin, the ship extended forward for almost a kilometer in length, and ended with a big open hangar. Inside it were multiple types of containers for different types of goods, which were secured via tractor beams that employed advanced gravitic fields.
The Tinashi class frigates created a perimeter around the second planet, and the transports moved into orbit, and soon started their unloading operation. Different types of containers were released into orbit from inside the transports. Small satellites were also detached which contained small reactors, and tractor beam emitters that once in position were activated, and used for locking different containers to each other. There were containers for fuel, spare parts, food, etc.
It took some time for the transports to unload their cargo, but once finished, they didn't waste time, and entered hyperspace heading toward Minbari space to reload, and repeat the process.
The nine Tinashis deployed themselves in defensive formation around the orbital supply depot. One by one, they were to start refueling operations to prepare the ships for their assigned scouting mission.
Hyperspace – Near Earth Alliance beacon VCB-165.
EAS Bassae – Oracle class cruiser
That same time …
The Bassae had been stationed close to the VCB-165 beacon. Its location allowed it to barely receive telemetry from the exploration satellite deployed a few weeks ago by the Pythia detachment. That satellite was no where close to the second planet, as it was a blind deployment to allow the Pythia detachment to locate their exploration targets. But the satellite had been able to register many hyperspace vortex openings in the last hours, and its passive sensors where able to match a distinct type of emission to that of the unknown race sensor profile.
The Oracle class vessel had been acting as a router, and signal amplifier for the small satellite. All data received was being transmitted to the Earth Alliance 10th Fleet Headquarters at Vega, and from there to the EA High Command at Earth. It was a risky operation, as its transmissions could be detected, and triangulated. So after several hours, the ship turned around, and headed away from VCB-165.
Vega star system – Earth Alliance
Vega IIA - Terrestrial type moon orbiting gas giant Vega II
Orion class space station "Vega" - 10th Fleet Headquarters
Geostationary orbit above Vega IIA outpost complex
August 8, 2245
Vega IIA was a terrestrial type moon with similar gravity to that of Earth. This was one of the primary factors in determining a planet of being suitable for colonization, as it was the main reason that affected human physiology. The moon was smaller in diameter to Earth, but had a denser composition. Its atmosphere regretfully was toxic to humans, and was the reason for the colony to be composed mainly of underground habitats connected to the outside world via domed structures.
The outpost complex was composed of 14 main habitats, with a couple of others under construction. They were like skyscrapers, but instead of going to the sky they went underground. Each was a self-sufficient building capable of holding up to 20,000 people. It gave the colony a population bigger than a quarter of a million souls. On top of each building, and in the surface of the moon, there were dome structures that contained forests, and special gardens, and which were flanked by landing pads for shuttles. This gave every new arrival the feeling of being on Earth. The underground structures were vast, and went almost 2 kilometers deep. They had many additional internal forests and hydroponics to not only produce food, but to help the life support system in regulating the inner atmosphere.
Above the outpost complex, and in geostationary orbit was the Orion class space station "Vega". It not only was the commercial link to the Earth Alliance for the Vega colony, but was also the Headquarters of the 10th Fleet ships assigned for exploration in this area of space. There were many linked containers floating near the space station. Many ships from the 10th Fleet were also gathered near. The majority were old vessels: Oracles, Artemis, Sagittarius, and Olympus. All had been assigned to the relatively unimportant colony, and were gathered there to assist in the exploration of Earth Alliance space, and were the ships responsible of already charting and exploring 165 systems.
After first contact with the Minbari, the 10th Fleet's Vega exploration detachments had been returning to Vega as soon as they completed their assigned exploration targets. They were there as part of a buildup of ships to counter any type of aggression from this new race. All new exploration missions had been canceled, and ships were either being assemble in orbit, and prepared for combat, or were being sent on intel missions to gather information from this potentially hostile race.
Inside the space station, Vice Admiral Roger Bligh, commander of the 10th Fleet 39th Battle Group, was speaking through gold channels with Admiral Elizaveta Boyarskaya, 10th Fleet commander on Earth.
"..., and after showing the images sent by the Pythia detachment, the Centauri ambassador has identified them as Minbari. They are supposed to be a benevolent race, but are said to be extremely territorial, and extremely advanced. The ambassador told us that we could get in contact with them using Centauri or Abbai language. We have tried to do so for the last few weeks, but we have received no replies. The Centauri considers this a very bad omen, but nonetheless they have now entered Earth Alliance space. Your orders are simple, Vice Admiral. You are to try to get in contact with them, without any kind of provocation. Try using a civilian ship for the job, but I wouldn't risk anyone crewing it. Open a vortex for it, and send it automated. Make all communications through it. Let's hope that by seeing a ship we can force them to talk, and that we are able to reach an understanding with them." said Admiral Elizaveta Boyarskaya.
"What if they turn hostile?" asked Vice Admiral Roger Bligh.
"Try to use the minimum number of ships to support the civilian vessel, but have them wait in hyperspace. Have the rest of the 39th Battle Group ready, and close to the beacon in case they require a hand. I don't care if we lose an unmanned ship. We are willing to avoid confrontation even if the civilian vessel is attacked in the hope of reaching a peaceful solution." answered Admiral Boyarskaya.
"Admiral. I need to know the rules of engagement. I don't think they'll engage the support detachment in hyperspace, but I need to know what to do if something similar happens. What to do if our forces are engaged."
"The Vega cluster is Earth Alliance space, Vice Admiral. I don't care if it's a low tech or a high tech enemy. If we are attacked, you are to defend yourself. If it comes to that, your orders are to gain space superiority in the Vega Cluster, and repel every attempt by the enemy to get a foothold in our space until reinforcements arrive. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Admiral."
"One thing though. Do not fire unless fired upon. I don't care if you lose tactical superiority in your first engagement by doing so."
"I understand that perfectly well, Admiral."
"Good. Proceed immediately. I don't want to give them time to get a strong foothold if they are indeed hostile. We need to know that as soon as possible."
"Yes, Admiral. The 39th Battle Group will be ready in a couple of hours. As soon as it is, we'll depart. I'll find a suitable civilian ship for the job. If I can't find one, I'll use a shuttle."
"Good." she sighed. "Roger. I can't stress enough the importance of getting this right. I saw the vids of the Centauri ambassador when he was shown the Pythia incident. He was shocked when he saw those ships. Someone who knows him said he had never seen him shocked. It's the Centauri we are talking about. The most powerful economy and civilization we know of. If he was shocked, then this race is no field trip. Protect our people, but if we are to go to war with them, and if there is a God, then God help us, because we are not going to have this easy."
"I know, Admiral. I give you my word that if we engage them in battle, they will fire first."
"This Centauri ambassador, one called Londo Mollari, he gave us intelligence about this race. It wasn't very complete, but of what he showed us, and what he mentioned, we can perfectly say that if we are going to war with them, the Minbari will make the Dilgar look like a bunch of rock throwing baboons. Get that image into your mind: A bunch of rock throwing baboons. Plan accordingly. Fight on our terms not on theirs. You have seen battle footage of their beams, their way of fighting is similar to the Hyach. They will snipe you at a distance. If you have to fight them, find a way to fight them close, and for Gods sake stay away from their forward arcs! Roger, I know you very well. I know that I can trust you, but I also know quite well the ships you have available. You would be terribly outclassed by the Dilgar. This race will eat you alive if you go in head on..." She wasn't allowed to finish.
"I know, Elizaveta. We'll be fine. I promise."
"Yes, you will. But be careful. Good luck."
"We will, thank you." finished the Vice Admiral, and after a few more words, they terminated communications.
After a few minutes of intercom talking with the base commander, and giving him the specifics of the civilian ship required. The Vice Admiral relaxed in his chair, and turned to look at his desk. He had his data pad active. The screen was projecting the image of his last query before talking to the admiral. It was showing the Earth Alliance Fleets and units. It read:
1st Fleet: 512 Nova III (512 units)
2nd Fleet: 61 Nova III, 451 Nova II (512 units)
3rd Fleet: 512 Nova II (512 units)
4th Fleet: 512 Nova II (512 units)
5th Fleet: 68 Nova II, 222 Nova, 222 Hyperion (512 unit)
6th Fleet: 256 Nova, 256 Hyperion (512 units)
7th Fleet: 256 Nova, 256 Hyperion (512 units)
8th Fleet: 59 Nova, 404 Hyperion, 49 Avenger (512 units)
9th Fleet: 10 Avenger, 118 Sagittarius, 384 Artemis (512 units)
10th Fleet: 41 Sagittarius, 87 Oracle, 212 Artemis, 170 Olympus (510 units)
11th Fleet: 10 Oracle, 174 Olympus (184 units)
He pressed the touch screen on top of the 10th Fleet, and it read:
10th Fleet – Commanding Officer: Admiral Elizaveta Boyarskaya
37th Battle Group: 11 Sagittarius, 21 Oracle, 54 Artemis, 42 Olympus (128 units)
38th Battle Group: 10 Sagittarius, 22 Oracle, 53 Artemis, 43 Olympus (128 units)
39th Battle Group: 10 Sagittarius, 22 Oracle, 52 Artemis, 42 Olympus (126 units)
40th Battle Group: 10 Sagittarius, 22 Oracle, 53 Artemis, 43 Olympus (128 units)
He pressed again on top of the 39th Battle Group, and it read:
10th Fleet 39th Battle Group – Commanding Officer : Vice Admiral Roger Bligh
153rd Group: 3 Sagittarius, 5 Oracle, 14 Artemis, 10 Olympus (32 units)
154th Group: 3 Sagittarius, 5 Oracle, 13 Artemis, 11 Olympus (32 units)
155th Group: 2 Sagittarius, 6 Oracle, 13 Artemis, 11 Olympus (32 units)
156th Group: 2 Sagittarius, 6 Oracle, 12 Artemis, 10 Olympus (30 units)
He remembered the two units lost in the first encounter with the Minbari when he saw that the 156th Group had 30 out of 32 units. During the Dilgar war some of the same type of units were able to absorb dozens of hits, and sometimes continued operating with huge chunks of structure gone. But the Minbari blew them up with a single salvo from their ships, even though the Pythia incident battle footage showed that a single beam would have been enough.
During the following weeks after first contact. The Earth Intelligence Agency (EIA), and the Earth Force Naval Intelligence (EFNI) went hectic in trying to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the Minbari. This last one was able after extrapolating battle footage to recreate computer models of the Minbari vessels to be used in training simulation for bridge officers. Vice Admiral Roger Blight was one of the first to receive them. He as Battle Group commander, his four Rear Admirals as Group commanders, his 16 Commodores as Detachment commanders, and his 126 Captains as ship commanders with their corresponding XOs, had been testing for the last few days tactics and combat formations for implementing in a possible battle situation with the Minbari.
Every simulation session had been a constant moral blow for every one. Not a single of his units had been able to go one on one against the simulated Minbari crafts. The fact that they only knew about their main offensive weapons, was also another nerve racking situation. Only with their main guns, the simulated Minbari had been able to destroy their standard battle formations even in 32 to 1 odds, and the variable of not knowing secondary weapons, point defenses, and even non conventional systems, made every simulation comparable to an eighteenth century weather forecast.
One thing was certain. The units under his command were completely unable to engage in a standard battle with the Minbari. Every type of frontal assault was deemed suicide. Block or Wall formations were just target practice for the Minbari long range guns and targeting systems, as the time required for his vessels to approach firing position was enough time for the Minbari's ships to wipe them out completely. Then there was the fact that the Pythia's units were detecting only silhouettes with their main sensors, making only passive systems at short range able to track them. In short, every type of tactics that didn't contemplate short range hyperspace battle jumps was completely rejected for the unit types he had in command, except the missile equipped Sagittarius. But in any case, these units also required forward deployed ships to give target acquisition data for missile engagements.
They had some combat tactics that gave some hope for a positive outcome. But, he still wished he had newer vessels under his command and not these Pre-Dilgar War era relics. The thing was that there wasn't a declared war with the Minbari, and Earth Alliance's Fleets while on heightened alert, had still not been fully mobilized, and were not expected to be sent as reinforcements for the moment. It was his responsibility to determine if there was a reason to set the Earth Alliance in war footing again. For the moment it was just a border skirmish situation that was to be handled by local forces. In this case, his.
The 39th Battle Group was to be ready in a few hours, so he stood up, and headed for the shuttle bay. Several minutes later he took his personal shuttle, and headed for the EAS Chiron, a Sagittarius class cruiser. One of the three assigned to the 153rd Group, and which was the 39th's Flagship. A Flagship, only if this jump capable missile launching relic could be considered one. Still the 10 units of this type he had available, were the hardest hitting of them all. Their 56 anti capital ship missiles were a serious threat for any vessel, and that included the Minbari. While the ship could carry any type of missile able to fit in its launch tubes, the newer missile models had 342 Peta Joules fusion warheads, and were the same as those used on the Hyperions and Novas, but while the Hyperions carried 12 in 4 long launchers. The Sagittarius carried 56 in 56, and gave it missile firepower closer to the Novas 72. The thing was that after firing, the ship had no other offensive weapon other than its defense grid interceptors, which were useless against capital ship armor.
Of his other units, the 52 Artemis class heavy frigates he had available had the greatest non missile firepower. 6 Dual rail gun turrets, and 4 single plasma turrets. This last considered to be low powered compared to those used on the Novas, and even those of the Hyperions, as it was shown in the battle damage footage of the Minbari vessel. But its rail guns had been able to punch through the Minbari armor, so at least those weapons were considered effective against them. Its draw back was the lack of jump engines, which subjected the heavy frigate to rely on jump capable vessels like the Sagittarius or Oracle.
He also had 42 Olympus class corvettes. It was a very old Earth Alliance design which dated back to pre-Centauri contact. It was contemporary to the Orestes class of system monitors, and Tethys class patrol boats. Designs that were not even held as reserves. Those ships had already been scrapped, or were no longer operational and used as target practice. The Olympus on the other hand had survived new designs, by a constant upgrade program. The different type of batches were numerous, and many of the ships he had available were very old vessels that had been used as convoy escorts during the Dilgar War, as they were not fit for heavy combat, or intensively jammed environments. On average every ship carried a total of 4 single plasma turrets similar to those used on the Artemis, and a single dual rail gun turret, again similar to those of the Artemis. It had the same plasma fire power of the Heavy Frigate, but only 1/6 of the rail gun strength. The difference came with the inclusion of 80 anti-fighter missiles in 4 racks, which adding its interceptors made the little ship an excellent escort platform while dealing with pirates or small capital ships. But it also depended on jump capable vessels.
Finishing his Battle Group complement were 22 Oracle class cruisers. These ships had the prestige of being the first jump capable Earth alliance vessels, but this venerable class also had the lowliness of being the first jump capable Earth Alliance unit. It was long in the tooth, heavily underpowered and under-gunned, but still it allowed other non jump capable vessels to move along with the fleet. The Oracle carried only three dual plasma cannons of even less power than those equipping the Artemis or Olympus. Its only strength was its jump engines.
The entire 10th Fleet, which included the 39th Battle Group deployed at Vega, didn't have fighter support. Its vessels didn't have the capability. So every long range reconnaissance or target acquisition mission was to be performed by its capital ships. The 39th had one jump capable vessel per three non jump capable ones. If the Vice Admiral wanted to use his Sagittarius in long range engagement operations, he'd had to relay on its Oracles to deliver the non jump capable vessels for a close range combat deployment, and with its relatively low capacity jump capacitors, it would be a difficult task to perform. The energy requirement of keeping the jump vortex open was huge, and the Oracles were capable of holding it open for a very short time. Jump formations allowing for four or five other vessels to go through, plus the Oracle itself was something that had been tested in simulations the days before, and was a requirement for the few combat tactics that had any hope of defeating the Minbari with this type of vessels.
All ships reported ready. The Vice Admiral gave the signal to deploy. The Olympus and Artemis where gathered in fours or fives around an Oracle, while the Sagittarius were in a single formation, but in the middle of the other ships. A requisitioned Skylark civilian transport was among them. The ships activated their plasma engines, and started their slow approach to the jump gate, which activated when the first units arrived close to it. The 39th Battle Group passed through, and headed for VCB-165.
Hyperspace – Near Earth Alliance beacon VCB-165
EAS Bassae – Oracle class cruiser
August 11, 2245
The EAS Bassae joined the 39th Battle Group on its approach to VCB-165. With its captain's knowledge of the system, it was designated as the delivery ship. It was joined by 5 Olympus class corvettes, and the Skylark transport. The 39th stayed relatively close to the beacon, while the Bassae detachment headed towards it.
The Oracle cruiser and the Skylark moved together towards the delivery point. The Olympus corvettes increased their distance from the Bassae to provide for better scanning and Early warning. The last engineering detachment left the Skylark transport in full automated mode, and headed back to the 39th in a shuttle.
Hazash'Ti Tinashi class frigate ...
Alyt Levasin was watching the holographic projections. 127 ships had been detected. 120 were holding back, while 7 where heading directly towards the beacon. During the last four days since his arrival, he had secure the supply depot, and had ordered the deployment of hyperspace based sensors, and to install a Minbari beacon system which included a central beacon plus a total of 14 outer beacons in a sphere configuration. It was the standard populated system beacon deployment. The same used by the Earth Alliance, and every known space faring civilization. The fact that VCB-165 had only one was only because it was a charted world, and not a colonized one. The populated systems normally used a main central beacon and fourteen adjacent ones outside the solar system, to increase triangulation efficiencies for more precise jumps.
A total of 5 ships, including the Hazash'Ti were currently on guard duty above the supply depot. 4 Tinashis, had already deployed the hyperspace sensor system, and were now outside the heliosphere installing the first four outer beacons. For the moment they were still using the Earth Alliance beacon as the central one. The hyperspace sensors they had deployed used a gravitic propulsion system that allowed them to stay fixed to their designated positions in hyperspace.
At that moment a jump point opened nearly 80,000 km away from the depot. A small ship of unknown configuration came through, but it had the distinctive characteristics of a human vessel. The small craft hailed them. They were broadcasting in the same number of channels as the languages they were using. Two of them: Abbai and Centauri were being easily translated into Minbari. The message repeated itself over and over again. It read:
'Minbari vessels. This is the Earth Alliance civilian ship Aikoku Maru. We have repeatedly tried to contact your leaders to express our regrets for the incident that occurred in this star system a few weeks ago. We attacked, and damaged one of your vessels in the belief that you were attacking us. Your sensors disabled the systems of one of our ships, and a forced decompression of one of its fusion reactors was executed. You had opened up your gun ports, which we normally considered an act of aggression at the same time our vessel had its decompression. The ship that opened fire, saw the plasma venting as a weapons impact, and its captain thought it was under attack. He ordered to engage your vessels. By the time they were able to confirm that it had actually been a planned activity from our unit, it ceased firing, and tried to contact your ships to explain the situation. We paid for this error with the loss of these two vessels, and their entire ship complement. It is a regretful incident that has terribly affected the families of the crewmen lost, and we believe that to be true also for your people. We have heard from our allies, that you are a benevolent and honorable race, and we request if we could set aside this situation in the hope of forging a better future for both our people.'
It was similar to the messages that had been broadcasted towards their space for the last few weeks. The Grey council had been divided by the content of the message. The possibility of it being true weighted heavily on some council members; especially on the religious, and worker castes, and while Duhkat's death was the primary reason for seeking revenge, the warrior caste had found a logical way of justifying it all. Earth Alliance space was in former shadow territory. It was considered illogical to think that humanity wasn't influenced by the shadows or one of its thralls. Many civilizations close to their territory that were now part of the Minbari Protectorate, had been influenced in the past by them. One of these races had been space faring, and it had tried to gain influence on the other species by manipulation, deceit, and in the end force. The Minbari had fought them, and had secluded them to their homeworld to later become part of their protectorate. All of those who had had shadow influence had been very deceiving, and this message was strongly considered a deception.
During the last shadow war, the primary method of the shadows to cause chaos was to seed doubts between many governments to set them apart, to destroy alliances, and to forge conflict. It was one of the reasons they were being terribly defeated until the arrival of Valen, who fought primarily on reuniting every race. They had decided to do the same, and every race they had encountered towards Shadow space, had been handled with pincers. Those who had shown aggressiveness towards their neighbors had been knocked down by the Minbari war machine, and added into the protectorate. They had maintained the status quo by controlling every race that was fundamentally tainted from their point of view.
If the Warrior caste paranoia wasn't enough, then you could add the fact of the Dilgar War. A small civilization on the other side of shadow space managed to bring the major league powers to their knees. How comforting for them: that from the ashes of shadow space emerged their savior: a race which toppled down the Dilgar menace in such short time. It was a race now seen by the league as heroes. It was clear for the Minbari Warrior Caste, that the seeds of doubts were already being planted by the Shadows. They were already making their puppet, these humans to be loved by long standing races. Something that would make the Minbari a second option when looking for allies if a second Shadow war erupted. They were effectively isolating the Minbari from potential allies in a future war; a war that was surely close by.
So while there were doubts because of this message, there was also the prophesy of a thousand years, which was almost upon them. It was clear to them, that these humans were the new shadows' instrument of chaos. There was no race other than the Dilgar who could became one in such short notice, and the Dilgar were already defeated. Logic, a demon that could always justify right or wrong on any situation if their premises which are the core assumptions of an argument were flawed, had already given its verdict. The Grey council accepted these premises, and they led infallibly to the Warrior's Caste conclusions. The Earth Alliance was a Shadow thrall. The sentence: Remove their military as a valid threat, concentrate their population on their homeworld, and add this planet to the Minbari protectorate while securing the status quo. A status quo that will guarantee the initiative in the approaching prophesied war for the Minbari.
Alyt Levasin knew all of this, and he wasn't about to fall for shadow manipulation. For him, the fact that the humans were sending such a numerous force to back their words was more than proof to justify what the warriors thought. They could have sent just this vessel, but they didn't. They placed a Fleet well beyond the outer areas of the system, probably thinking that Minbari sensors wouldn't detect them. This race was certainly trying to deceive him. Moments later... He gave the order that would start it all. "Destroy it."
The Hazash'Ti came to life. Its single 725 PW Quantum Gravimetric reactor, and its four 20 PW Gravimetric enhanced fusion reactors came online. The main antimatter cannon remained on stand-by, but its four wing mounted Gravitic Neutron cannons activated, and pierced the 80,000 km of space separating them from the Aikoku Maru in a blink of an eye. The human ship flashed by its structure interaction with the highly concentrated green neutron particle beams, and a fraction of a second later exploded into tiny pieces of molten alloys.
Alyt Levasin smiled lightly on the outside, but he rejoiced internally for his first kill. 'The first of many to come' he thought. After a few seconds of savoring his victory, he gave another order. "Recall all vessels. Have the outer beacon deployment task force to analyze the possibility of attacking this small group in hyperspace." He said while pointing to the Bassae's detachment.
The order was sent, and from different corners of the system outside the heliosphere, four hyperspace vortexes activated, and from them four Tinashis emerged in hyperspace. Three of them set a course to VCB-165 beacon to rejoin the ships in orbit of the second planet defending the depot. One of them, the closest to the Bassae's detachment, made scans of the hyperspace Foucault currents and magnetic fields to determine if it was safe to make an attack at those distances.
One of the Minbari's weapons systems was the neutron beam cannon. It was an energy weapon composed of streams of neutron particles which were not affected by the strong magnetic fields of hyperspace. Normal weapons suffer from course alterations or containment field dissipation due to the influence of the magnetic fields. The Minbari had advanced enough sensors to be able to locate these fields and currents, and to calculate the effect of energy discharge on them, as the eddies or waves created by interface instabilities in the currents could tear apart ships with ease.
The scans were completed, and the Minbari Alyt in command of the Tinashi gave the order, and a single neutron beam was fired from its starboard wing upper gun. The target selected was the one farthest from it. The beam passed relatively close to the other human vessels, including the Bassae, and struck the Olympus class EAS Larkana that was a few thousand kilometers on the opposite side of the formation. The beam went right through the small vessel, but the neutron particles interaction with its structure caused a strong explosion which was amplified by the explosive plasma decompression of its reactors. The blast created a shock wave through hyperspace which momentarily disrupted one of the hyperspace currents. The accumulated energy from the disrupted flow reformed the current creating a big eddy in the location of the destroyed human ship, which in turned created a series of waves that washed away inside the numerous hyperspace currents.
The Bassae's detachment closest vessel, the Olympus class EAS Trondheim was more than two thousand kilometer from the blast, but was close to one Foucault current string, and was hit with tremendous force. The ship's starboard side, including the engines located on that area, were literally crushed by the force of the impact. The majority of the crew died instantly by the gravity imparted when the ship was forcefully accelerated away. The remaining three Olympus and the single Oracle survived because they were not near one of the multiple currents, and also because they had time to turned the ships around to face the diminishing waves. They were damaged but still operational.
On board the EAS Chiron, Vice Admiral Roger Bligh, was seeing the one sided battle develop in front of his Battle Group, and had ordered the triangulation of the beam's emissions origin. The sensors officer responded quickly.
"Sir, visual emissions detected confirm the origin of the beam at a bearing of 322 mark 349. Calculating triangulation angles from other units scans to determine distance... Sir, range confirmed at 37,000 kilometers."
While real space and hyperspace don't have a fixed ratio between them, it was commonly stated that for every kilometer in hyperspace there is in average 350,000 kilometers in real space. This makes a solar system with a real space diameter of 200 AU (Astronomical Units) or 30,000,000,000 kilometers from one border to another of its heliosphere to be a little more than 85,000 kilometers in diameter in hyperspace. So the reality was that the entire solar system in hyperspace was slightly bigger than a standard Fleet engagement area in real space. The 39th, while still outside the heliosphere, was very close to the Tinashi engaging the Bassae detachment.
"Fire a fusion missile in that heading. Set the warhead for detonation at that range, and program it to auto-detonate if hit by something beyond 15,000 km from the Fleet." ordered the Vice Admiral, his bridge crew responding immediately.
The closest Sagittarius to the Tinashi was the EAS Aetos. It was 29,000 km from the Minbari ship. The Fleet tactical coordination software automatically assigned the Aetos as the ship to perform the task, and seconds later, a fusion tipped missile left one of its port tubes, and headed towards the Tinashi at an acceleration of 1kms2, or a little more than 100 g.
The Chiron's sensor officer addressed the Vice Admiral. "Sir, missile away. E.T.A. 4 minutes."
"Do we have some visuals? We should have something at this range." asked the Vice Admiral.
"No, Sir. Hyperspace distortions are blocking everything but high energy emissions. But I can guarantee that if they were able to fire at the Bassae detachment at those ranges, then they should be able to see us. Vice Admiral, I could guarantee that the Battle Group has already been detected. They know we are here." answered the sensor officer.
The Vice Admiral sighed. "I would say it's a wise guess Lieutenant, but even though we seek a stealth approach to gain tactical advantage, we also prepare for the enemy to counter our moves. I came hoping that the enemy wouldn't detect us, but I came prepared if the enemy detected us." He turned to the communications officer and added. "Signal the Fleet. Once that missile explodes, we move forward.
Seconds later the 39th sensors detected three outgoing jump vortexes near the beacon. Time passed, and the fusion missile detonated. Small shock waves reached the Battle Group will little effect, but no clue to a Minbari ship explosion. A minute later another outgoing jump vortex opened near the Beacon, taking the offending Tinashi away. The nine Minbari ships now gathered in orbit of the second planet in defense of their supply depot, but ready to crush the pathetic human ships that were now surely going to attack them.
The grim reality of war was knocking on Earth Alliance's door for a second time in less than fifteen years. But this time with a race that had nearly twenty times the economic power of the Dilgar Empire, and hundreds of years ahead in technological level, but they weren't starting it unprepared, and the first signs of human ingenuity were now present in what would become a battlefield. A few hundred kilometers below and aft of the wreckage of the Aikoku Maru was a single spy satellites. It had been deployed by the civilian vessel when it made its transition into normal space. Its sacrifice had not been in vain.
The small spy satellite was using exclusively passive sensors. It detected background radiation signature, and adjusted its transmissions systems to match it, so that its emissions were not detected. It was feeding the 39th Battle Group with tactical data, which the ships tactical teams were already analyzing.
The 39th was nearing the beacon. The Bassae, and its three remaining escorts had rejoined formation. A shuttle had docked with the drifting Trondheim, and had begun rescue operations, but the Battle Group kept heading forward towards the inevitable. The Vice Admiral had already link via Gold channels with Earth Command, and due to the Minbari's recent actions, had been authorized the use of force in defense of Earth Alliance space.
Inside the Chiron, the Vice Admiral was making final preparations with his tactical analysis staff. The Battle computers of every vessel in the Battle Group were working in clusters to perform combat simulations with the gathered intelligence from the spy satellite. The final course of action was decided by the Commanding Officer, but before that, he had already been given the results of hundred of tactical scenarios. Many of this scenarios had a chance of defeating the Minbari, but very few off them were able to accomplish that with few losses, and those losses were always higher than the number of ships the Minbari had deployed on VCB-165. Considering that he would be engaging the Minbari in nearly 14 to 1 odds, made those estimated losses staggering. Another concern was the fact that the visual emissions detected by the passive sensor of the spy satellite was showing that the Minbari units present on VCB-165 were not as big as the vessels used on the simulation. They had no knowledge of its capabilities, apart from the fact that one of those units had the power of destroying an Olympus with one shot. In those terms the simulations were still valid, but the fact that they knew nothing about its other systems made him worry. The tactical scenarios at least gave him the knowledge that he could continue forward, instead of turning away with the knowledge on an unwinnable situation
His chosen strategy was simple. He had to distract the Minbari sufficiently so that he could deploy his Sagittarius close enough for a fast missile engagement salvo. If he was able to force a break in their formation, he would be able to do that, and in consequence win the battle. But that was easier said than done. The Minbari had their back covered by the planet. Their position in Geostationary orbit put them sufficiently far away of the planet to attempt close combat jumps, but not enough to make jumps on their backs. At least not with Earth Alliance jump technology.
The fact that real space and hyperspace had an average relation of 350,000 to 1 meant that ships that were 1km away from another in hyperspace and which then open a direct jump vortex, would appear 350,000 kilometers away form the same vessel in real space. The solution for this was that ships didn't open direct vortexes, but angular ones. This meant that when they open the vortex they angled the opening so that the funnel coincide with the same distance in real space as in hyperspace, so when the vortex opened in real space the units would still be in formation. The Earth Alliance had a lot of experience in combat jumps and in simulations, and if real space and hyperspace relation would have been a fixed one, there wouldn't be any problems, but the variability of this relation meant that even the most experienced crew could end up making battle jumps that would lead them hundreds or even thousand of kilometers away from their intended targeted jump if the sensor data was misinterpreted, and Earth Alliance sensor technology was not known for being advanced or precise.
With these considerations in mind the Vice Admiral ordered a combat jump of all Oracles with their Artemis and Olympus escorts on all sides of the Minbari Formation, except aft of them because of the technical considerations that could make their ships jump too close to the gravity well and fall inexorably towards the planet, and also except in front of them because it was where they were pointing their weapons. His units were to immediately open fire against the Minbari ships. This will force them to break formation to be able to target and engage his ships, but his units would be deployed in different vectors that would avoid the Minbari to concentrate their weapons fire. The firepower he was throwing at them should be more than enough to overwhelm the Minbari formation, but if that wasn't enough, he still had his Sagittarius, and he intended to make a battle jump in front of the actual heading of the Minbari vessels, but would make it once those ships had been force to break formation, and only if his units firepower weren't enough. He didn't expect the need to authorize a strategic missile launch, but he was prepared nonetheless.
114 ships made the jump. Single Oracles opened vortexes, and their pack formation of Artemis and Olympus lurched forward towards the vortex in a race against their jump vessel's jump capacitors that were being drained very fast. The first formation passed through with their Oracle close behind. It took a moment for their active and passive sensors to take a picture of their actual position, before the crew had any target data to be able to find a firing solution. Once the information was ready, and the location of the Minbari ships had been visually triangulated, the Earth Alliance ships opened fired with all they got.
Formation after formation jumped in, and started firing towards the Minbari units from all sides of them. The combat jump had been a success, and the majority of the units were a little more than a thousand kilometer from them. Some had obviously ended farther away, but still on visual firing distance.
The Minbari units responded quickly. The plane formation they were in, of two lines each, 4 ships on one, and 4 on the other, with the ninth unit, the Hazash'Ti deployed behind them, was reformed into a double 'V' formation, of four units each. The Hazash'Ti stayed put, the same as the center four units, the remaining four backed away with their gravitic drives set in reverse, and pointed outwards towards the attacking human ships. The center four units stayed in place but changed their heading towards the upper and lower human formations, two to each side, while the Hazash'Ti turned upwards to reinforce the two upper units that were facing the greatest concentration of human ships.
The battlefield was alight with the numerous plasma pulses coming from the Olympus, Artemis, and Oracles. The Olympus and Artemis were firing their four plasma cannons each. Each cannon was able to fire two 40 Tera Joule bolt per second, while the Oracles were firing their three dual plasma turrets, with each turret firing two 17 Tera Joules bolts per second for the whole dual arrangement. The Artemis added fire with their six dual rail guns, and the Olympus did the same with their single dual rail gun. Many bolts missed their targets, as the human ships were firing with the help of their passive sensors only. The fact that they had any chance of hitting was because they were really close.
The first surprise of the battle came to the human side when the first bolts started arriving to the Minbari formation, and the first plasma bolt struck one of the Tinashis. The bolt disintegrated before hitting the target. Several seconds later as the fire intensified when all human ships had been deployed, the Tinashis started being hit with multiple rounds, but all of those bolts lost their containment field and exploded in a shimmering field before reaching their target. It was obvious to the Vice Admiral, and every bridge officer of the Battle Group, that things were not as expected, and the Minbari ships had some kind of shielding.
The Minbari Tinashi was a very old design. It was an upgrade of the Tinash Haza Cruiser. The main capital ship used by the Minbari during the last shadow war. It was replaced in production more than two hundred years ago by the more advanced and powerful Sharlin. The Tinashi's designation as a cruiser had been replaced by that of a Frigate. While it was already relegated to secondary or escort duties, or placed into the reserves, the ship was nonetheless very advanced, and powerful. Its combined power output was 805 PW, mostly from its quantum gravimetric reactor, gave it a power output that was nearly ten times stronger than that of a Nova Dreadnought.
The ship could channel 40 percent of that power output into its weapons system, which included its main weapon, a 104 PW Antimatter Cannon, 4 wing mounted 26 PW each, Gravitic Neutron Cannons, and 8 hull mounted 13 PW each, Fusion Beam Cannons. All of its weapons where capable of very long range engagement, and were extremely precise.
Its defenses included an 8 meter thick armored hull composed of a reinforced Poly-crystalline mesh that could refract up to 60 percent of energy weapons fire, and a gravitic shield that was part of its propulsion system. The gravitic defense employed by the Minbari ship was completely different from that used by the Abbai, in that it wasn't a dedicated defense system. The Abbai employed a very advanced shield system that could defend against positive, negative and neutron particles, while the Minbari one was not able to stop neutron particles. This last one was also part of the gravitic drive, which made the shield useless when the ships were moving at full power, or relatively low powered when the ship moved at slower speeds. This was due to the fact that if the ship moved forward the entire gravitic field was at the aft section of the ship propelling the vessel making the shield at that area strong, but the field at sides and front weak.
The strength of the system came when the vessel was static, as the gravitic field could be deployed in a perfect bubble, in which the gravitic matrix had the same strength on all sides, fixing the ship in position, and projecting a very strong shield cover. In this configuration the ship could channel 312.8 PW of its reactor into the shield system, and had the ability to completely stop any weapons impact that didn't exceed 5 percent of the total power on a single spot. This meant that the ship could be hit all around the shield, and it would not be penetrated as long as the weapon impacts didn't exceed 312.8 PW, or that a single point of its shield wasn't hit by a combined weapons power exceeding 5 percent of the total, or 15.6 PJ. Only the Centauri had a similar system, but it was less powerful due to the lower strength of their reactors. The Abbai possessed a far more advanced shielding, but that was relatively less effective than that of the Minbari due to far lower energy generation, as they didn't posses quantum gravimetric reactors.
For the humans this meant trouble. The combined weapons fire of 39th Battle Group was a little higher than 31 PW of Plasma pulses, and a little lower of Railgun rounds. They probably had close to 4 times the strength to pierce a Tinashi's shield, but that would be if they were able to hit it in a single spot, and would be completely unable of penetrating it otherwise. Only the Sagittarius missiles, that some of the newer models had 342 PJ of power per missile, had the strength of penetrating their shields with force to spare. Even the more powerful Hyperion would require the combined firepower of at least three ships hitting in the same spot to be able to succeed in penetrating it. That left only the Novas with enough fire power to face the Tinashis single handedly.
Vice Admiral Bligh didn't have this information. He only knew that his ships weapons were proving ineffective. At least he had managed to force the Minbari into redeploying their Fleet. Their weapons were pointing away from the frontal areas. Knowing that his ships weapons were proving ineffective against the nine Minbari vessels, he was about to signal the Sagittarius group to jump, when the Minbari opened their first salvo with uncanny precision and devastation. Nine Tinashis fired their four neutron beams, as they were the only ones able to pass through their shields when active. The four beams from each unit struck a total of 9 human ships. 5 Olympus, 3 Artemis, and 1 Oracle were obliterated by the strength of the attack. Only because of their training, and their numbers the humans kept their composure, and maintained their formations.
When the Minbari completed their first salvo, every vessel started firing at will. Two pairs of green beams were seen connecting into a single human vessel. The Artemis blew up with the beams passing through its entire length. With the same efficiency the other Minbari units started doing the same, and human vessels were starting to be lost at an alarming rate while they had been unable to destroy a single Minbari ship.
The 39th even if its ships were old, could have engaged a similar number of Dilgar units, and come out victorious. But they were now showing a complete inability to do the same to a far inferior number of Minbari vessels. That was until the Sagittarius were order to enter the battlefield.
EAS Chiron ...
"... to all units. Full strategic release authorized. Authentication code: HEMERA – Hotel Eco Mike Eco Romeo Alpha. Initiate jump sequence immediately. Full release as soon as jump is completed." ordered the Vice Admiral.
"Vice Admiral, are we going to release all of our missiles?" asked the Captain of the Chiron.
"I'm not taking any chances Captain. Those Minbari are going to hell. If Earth Force command thinks it was a little excessive, they can put it on my credit. Those Minbari ships should already have been destroyed. I'm not taking any more surprises. We play all our cards here and now." answered Bligh.
"Yes, Vice Admiral."
The ten ships made their transition to normal space in different parts of the battlefield, but at no more than 7000 kilometers from their targets. Immediately, all their missiles were ripple fired, and from both sides of every Sagittarius a single missile was launched. When the first two missiles activated their propulsion systems a second pair was released from their launch tubes, and the fast launching process was repeated until all 28 missiles per side had been launched.
The 100 g acceleration of the missiles allowed them to cover the distance to their targets in almost two minutes, and a total of 559 missiles were now heading towards the Tinashi Frigates.
Hazash'Ti Tinashi class frigate ...
The pummeling of dozens of plasma pulses, and rail gun rounds were racketing the Hazash'Ti as if it was an atmospheric shuttle passing through a storm. The ship was stationary, but the weapons impacting its gravitic shields were causing a difference in strength in each side of the gravitic field which caused the ship to move away of the strongest part of it, and then back when the system compensated. Alyt Levasin was seated in his command chair at the center of the bridge, and was unnerved by this commotion. But still, he was a warrior, and above all believed his race to be far superior in every sense to these humans, and that calmed him.
'Their pathetic weapons are just a nuisance.' he thought, but his mind was interrupted by the sensor's officer.
"Alyt, the new arrivals are launching missiles."
"Type and quantity?" asked Levasin.
"Sensors are reading 559, and scans are showing an internal warhead configuration consistent to that of fusion based systems. They are nuclear, Alyt."
"How many?" asked Levasin again.
"All of them, Alyt. They are all nuclear, and the warhead's volume suggests enough strength to be able to destroy us." answered the sensor's officer.
"Take them down! Fire all weapons! Maximum speed and full evasive. Their plasma weapons will be able to hurt us now. Maximum power to the stealth systems, and activate active electronic countermeasures." ordered Levasin.
The Tinashi like the Sharlin had a passive ECM system that was able to scatter all active sensor emissions, making it impossible for human active sensors to get a lock, but they also had an active ECM system that was able to create sensor ghost images similar to their ships so as to confuse enemy sensor tracking, and weapons guidance systems. Part of the active defenses included electromagnetic beams that were useful in disabling fighters, or shuttles for capture, but that work well in disabling every type of sensor used by major capital ships. Both systems were useless at close range against passive sensors, except the electromagnetic beams, and the human vessels were providing the missiles with the guidance they needed, even if the missiles were still unable to locate their targets.
The Tinashis accelerated at maximum power. Their gravitic shields that were part of the propulsion system went to the aft of the vessel creating a positive repulsive charge that propelled the ships forward. They lost their gravitic field protection, but their acceleration, and ECM systems momentarily confused the gunners of the human ships which made their shots fall short.
The nine Tinashis opened fire with their eight fusion, four neutron, and one antimatter cannons. Their fire was so precise, and every gun directed to a single target, that in an instant more than 100 missiles ceased to exist. If there were any doubt from the Chiron's Captain about launching so many missiles, they were erased by the first Minbari volley.
While the anti-missile fire of the Minbari units was impressive, and strong and fast enough to be able to intercept all missiles before they reached their targets, it also forced them to bring down their gravitic shield to be able to fire all weapons, and that gave the human vessels a fighting chance. The first surprise for the Minbari came from an Artemis frigate and a couple of Olympus. The human ships started leading their shot against an accelerating Minbari ship. The plasma pulses started hitting the structure of the vessel. The Minbari armor was very advanced, but the 40 Tera joule bolts were able to boil away almost 800 cubic meters of armor per shot. 400 square meters of the surface of the Tinashi, and two meters deep were boiled away with every hit, but the 8 meter thick armor was able to hold on the onslaught. The starboard side of this Tinashi had more than a dozen glowing spots more than 11 meters in diameter were its armor had been boiled away. But the surprise came with two lucky shots from a dual rail gun turret from one of the Artemis.
The two rounds hit the aft gravitic fin, and pierced the thinner armor on that area, but the kinetic force was so strong that the gravitic system was completely shattered. The Minbari vessel lost propulsion, and the human ships were able to hit it with a far numerous number of shots. The more than ten ships assigned to this target charged all their weapons, and prepared for a simultaneous alpha strike. The plasma pulses were fired first, and struck the vessel in many places of its more than 800 meter long structure leaving the ship heavily scared, but still operational. But the 60 rail gun penetrators wreaked havoc with the Minbari vessel armor and structure, and many following plasma pulses were able to reach the interior of the ship, that a few moments later exploded with the loss of containment of its Quantum gravimetric reactor.
The tactical teams on board the vessels of the human Battle Group were working frantically in analyzing the combat data being received, and one of these teams had already identified the reason for the Tinashi loss of propulsion. Combat targeting data was being filtered through the tactical net, and human gunners were receiving new information on their targeting displays. At the beginning of the battle they were only able to see the image of the Minbari ships, but now, the image had a priority targeting reticle in the aft area of the vessel. The gun operators assigned their weapons to that area, and the guns adjusted their vectors to concentrate fire on it.
The Minbari ships which had been concentrating fire on the approaching missiles were forced to recheck their priorities when two more Tinashis were destroyed. The missile salvo had been severely weaken, and Levasin ordered three Tinashis to keep firing at the missiles, while the Hazash'Ti and two other Tinashis turned to face the human ships. The armor of the Minbari ships were glowing in several areas of impact from plasma pulses, and had been shattered where rail gun round had struck, but their ships were still operational and making the humans pay for their trespass.
Green beams crossed paths with plasma pulses and rail gun round. The first impacting and destroying a human ship, while the second only sum to the damage being received by the Minbari ships.
Those human ships engaging the Tinashis facing the missiles had an easier approach to their targets, and had been able to destroy two more Minbari frigates. But the others had paid heavily with the loss of many vessels, as the Minbari were now attacking with all of their weapons.
With only one Tinashi firing at the approaching missiles, the human weapons had been able to cross the distance to their targets. The first struck the port wing, and detonated breaking it in half. The Minbari frigate tumbled with the force of the blast, and wasn't able to stabilize its position when a second missile buried in the nose and detonated with such force that the entire frontal area of the ships was destroyed. Two more missiles passed through the debris, and detonated inside the vessel completely destroying it.
The remaining 87 missiles changed course and headed for the last three Minbari ships. The battle scene was very intense with heavy weapons fire from both sides. Many humans ships were destroyed, but another Tinashi fell to the concentrated fire of the human Battle Group. The remaining two vessels were battered, and human fire was intensifying because there were now more human ships per Minbari ones. One of the two remaining Tinashis was firing its four port fusion beams towards the approaching missiles, and was reducing their numbers fast, but was unable to cope with the damage received by the human ships. It soon lost all power, and its service life ended by the impact of five fusion missiles which completely disintegrated the frigate.
The Hazash'Ti was the last Minbari ship left. It was scarred. Fumes were venting and tailing the ship from hull breaches. Its two starboard side neutron beam were disabled when two rail gun rounds struck the root of the assembly. But the ship was still firing from its port neutron guns, its single antimatter cannon, and six of its eight fusion beams. It was making the humans pay dearly for the loss of its brothers. The frigate accelerated at full power, and change vector to present the aft area of the ship to the main human formation. There, the gravitic shield worked at its best, and the human weapons were impacting it without consequence. But from below the Hazash'Ti, a group of human ships that had made their combat jump a little farther away were approaching the Minbari vessel with all guns blazing.
The Oracle EAS Pythia with the Artemis EAS Potnia Theron, and the Olympus EAS Hephaestus, were ready to return the favor to the Minbari for the loss of the Hemera and Eileithyia. Both units of the original Pythia Detachment. They were accompanied by two other Artemis that were not from the original detachment, but nonetheless ready and willing to impart retribution.
"Alpha strike linked. All vessels firing." said Lieutenant Commander Erin Cunning to Captain Jeff Easum.
"Recharge and fire again. Alpha strikes only. Overwhelm their aft section. Keep it at them, Erin! Don't let them breathe!" ordered the Captain.
"Yes, Sir!"
The five vessels opened an alpha strike in unison. Many shots missed, but a lot struck the ventral area of the ship with heavy force. Many rail gun penetrators shattered the lower armor, and many plasma pulses were able to go through, but the Minbari ship kept going. It was at that moment when one of the few missiles remaining struck the Hazash'Ti on its reenforced aft gravitic field. The ship was lurched forward by the explosion, and the situation on the bridge was chaotic as the gravitic cage was unable to compensate for the g forces.
"Alyt! Alyt!" shouted one of the bridge officers, and Levasin slowly stood up.
"Report!" he shouted.
At that moment another Alpha strike from the Pythia detachment struck the ventral section all along the ship's length, and the vessel's structure made a loud complaint.
"Alyt! The ship is heavily damaged, but the jump engines are still operational. Should we open a vortex?" asked his second in command.
"And retreat in shame? No! If we have to die, we'll die with honor. We'll teach these humans whom they are dealing with." answered Levasin.
"But Alyt! There are still several missiles approaching. We'll not be able to outrun them."
"Then turn the ship around, and bring them down. Then re-deploy the gravitic shield. We'll see if without their missiles they can hurt us."
Outside the ship, things looked completely different. The Hazash'Ti was heavily damaged, and the Pythia detachment had close the distance and made another attack. This time the gunnery officers made their shots count, and a lot of rail gun rounds impacted the aft gravitic fin but from below, its armor was completely penetrated. The Hazash'Ti went dead in space, but the following plasma volley struck the same area breaking the ship in half at the gravitic fin. The ship continued being struck by heavy weapons fire, but it was now reached by the few remaining missiles, and one after the other ended Alyt Levasin's quest for glory. The Hazash'Ti disintegrated with the force of several fusion detonations which brought the Battle of VBC-165 to an end.
On board the EAS Chiron things went quiet for a moment. The loss of life was devastating, and the disparity in technological level was demoralizing. The Vice Admiral realized at that moment that he was completely wet from sweat. It had been a nerve racking experience that even the most seasoned of commanders found difficult to endure, and it had lasted just a few minutes. He saw the emotional state his crew was in, so he reacted immediately to avoid the situation sink too deeply.
He activated his Fleet wide communications system, and said. "This is 39th Battle Group Actual to Group Commands. 155th and 156th Groups are to commence search and rescue operations immediately. Use every available shuttle to do the job. As soon as the operation is complete, you'll jump towards Vega system to transfer the wounded, and to prepare for defensive operations. 153rd and 154th Groups will transfer their wounded via shuttle to 155th or 156th ships, and will then rally to the Minbari supply depot. We are going to commence salvage operations of every single Minbari container. We'll then jump, and transfer the containers to a yet to be determine star systems to avoid endangering Vega in case they contain some kind of homing beacons. Execute. 39th Actual, Out."
Human forces had been victorious, but the price paid had been very high. A total of 68 ships had been destroyed. 36 Artemis, 24 Olympus, and 8 Oracles. A kill to death ration of 7.55 to 1 in favor of the Minbari, but on a 14 to 1 odds in favor of the humans. Things didn't look good for the Earth Alliance. The Minbari ships had proven to be even more powerful than expected, and if it hadn't been by the missiles launched by the Sagittarius, it would have been a devastating defeat as the Oracles would not have been able to charge their jump engines before the Minbari would have wiped them out.
For the moment though, the Minbari spearhead had been destroyed, and the Vega cluster was still under Earth Alliance control.
Author's Notes:
-Durabys asked me if I could show sketches of the non-canon ships like the Nova II and III, so I decided to show every ship in my story. You can check them in facebook with this name: Babylon 5: A new beginning. I would recommend every reader to do so after reading the last chapter of the story. I won't remove this note so newer chapters will appear and will show newer ships that may spoil the story if you see them before reaching that point in the story. Especial thanks for David of Wolf's Shipyard for his help.
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- One thing I'm changing in this story is the space covered by every race. In canon, the Minbari Capital of Minbar is located in the Chi Draconis system, which is a little more than 25 light years from Earth. Deneb a human colony is the star Alpha Cygni, which is approximately 3000 light years from Earth. For me it's just ridiculous to consider Minbar so close. It's just not possible for the two races to never have been in contact, when their two homeworlds are so few light years apart. Their colonies should be even less, and if we have colonies more that 3000 light years away … well you get my point. If I where to keep to canon, the entirety of 'babylon 5 series' races would be contained in a 75 light year cube. In this story. I'm using an area of almost 12,000 by 12,000 by 1,000 light years. Our Galaxy has approximately: 7,854,000,000,000 cubic light years. The area I'm considering for this fic is: 144,000,000,000 cubic light years or 1.83 percent of the total. The area used in canon would be approximately 421,875 cubic light years or .00000537 percent of our galaxy. I know that both options have risks, but I strongly believe that mine will make the story more enjoyable. I'll keep the name of the star systems to canon, but not the distances. So I'll leave the why of the names to your imagination.
- Now canon number of colonies is more credible. While a 421,875 cubic light years or 75ly by 75ly by 75ly would give more stars than mentioned in cannon, the probable colonizable number of planets is somewhat believable. My option will give millions more, so I have to give a justification for this. So here I go:
1.- We colonized space using optical terrestial planet finder systems, like the ones used today. We determined which systems were more likely to have a terrestial planet and we sent ships there and bingo we where able to find more habitable planets than if we had sent expeditions to every star system, which just for reference our galaxy has more than 200,000,000,000 stars.
2.- So why are we now sending ships to explore all star systems?, Well because we acquired a lot of quantium 40 (used to open jump points) reserves from the Dilgar, and by using them in exploration of other star systems, we'll be able to find more systems with the precious mineral to fuel our expansion even further, and with the new Mothership program, we could also use them for resource gathering.
3.- If we were so close to the other civilizations, they would have found us long ago just by searching for the source of radio signals ….
... so in short: bigger space used, same names, but not corresponding to the star in reality.