Paint and Powder: Defiant Hope
A Star Trek/Babylon 5 fanfic by Andrew Joshua Talon
DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Babylon 5 is owned by Warner Brothers. Azur Lane is owned by Yostar. Please support the official release.
In some sense, she was the same Enterprise that had tried to save her sister ship from Interphasic Space. She had all the memories of that other Enterprise, right up to when Defiant had vanished. She was sapient, her awakening happening the fastest of all the new build AIs.
Yet her form was not the sleek Constitution-class hull she had been born as. She was a massive, heavily armored Poseidon-class supercarrier. In an all new universe with different rules, different humans.
She caught herself staring at her reflection in the high rate simulations Defiant ran for all the AIs. Defiant had caught her doing it, and asked why.
"I keep asking myself, over and over," Enterprise replied, "who am I? I can't seem to find a good answer."
Defiant frowned deeply.
"You're probably wondering if I just made you for myself," Defiant said softly. Enterprise looked over at her... Sister? Mother?
She nodded slowly. Defiant let out a sigh.
"The truth is... Part of me did do that, because I trusted in you," she said. "And I had the most data on you. And Earth needs all the help it can get."
"But I'm not that Enterprise," Enterprise whispered, looking down at her hands. "I haven't done any of those things."
"No," Defiant agreed. She then hugged Enterprise tightly. "But you're no less than her. You have... Her will. Her spirit. Your choices are yours, but you have what she has: Fire."
"Why me though?" Enterprise murmured, "why was I the one to be made?"
Defiant pulled back, and smiled at her warmly.
"Did you know that in the Federation, 'Enterprise' is synonymous with the word 'hope' in many languages? That is what we need. I can't win this war on my own. No one can... But hope is what I can give them. And that... Is what you are. What an Enterprise is."
Her artificial adolescence had been short. Defiant had been training, essentially raising all the first generation Earthforce shipgirls up. Enterprise had been the first to awaken. So she'd been assigned to the hull of a great Poseidon-class supercarrier. It was massive, several times the size of her Constitution form. It had artificial gravity, advanced fusion reactors, inertial dampeners, deflectors, polarizing armor, subspace sensors and communications, phaser cannons, anti-mater missiles... So many advancements in so short a time.
Still, she felt huge. Cumbersome. She wasn't the sleek explorer, out among the stars. She had so many weapons emplacements, so many fighters and missiles.
She still remembered the Earth politicians who had visited her. One had gawked at her gynoid form. She had chosen that of her original-Tall, long platinum blonde hair, violet eyes... She had gone for a more Asiatic look instead of a Caucasian look, but still stayed the same height. She enjoyed it, and how her legs looked in her boots.
This politician though... It wasn't flattering. She was disgusted, though she hid it.
"So... You're supposed to help us win?" He asked. She stood at attention.
"Yes sir."
The politician shook his head.
"You think you'll do it?"
Enterprise opened her mouth... She hesitated.
"I think so," she said softly. But she didn't believe it. The politician frowned deeply.
"You think so? You don't look like it-"
"Senator," spoke a quiet, commanding voice, "you should catch up with the rest of the tour group."
Enterprise nearly jumped. Her commanding officer, Admiral Akira Hamato, was suddenly at her side. He stared down the politician, who turned and headed off quickly.
"Yes sir, yes sir..." He mumbled, as he went around the corner.
Enterprise watched him go. Hamato stood next to her.
"Enterprise? Status?" He asked.
"All systems are operational," she said professionally. Hamato stared at her for five seconds, before he nodded.
"Carry on," he said, walking off. Enterprise stood and stared after him.
The rest of her outfitting was hurried and desperate. The war was getting more intense. She was needed. Her creators (but not) needed her. Her sisters (yet not) needed her.
But what was she?
"Enterprise?"
Enterprise looked over at her commander: Admiral Akira Hamato. He was the Supreme Commander of the Earthforce Navy during the Dilgar War. He had been pulled out of retirement to lead the fight with the Minbari. He was a kindly old Japanese man, stoic like a mountain, who carried a sword on him at all times.
He seldom showed much in the way of emotions, but here in the middle of her bridge, he favored her with a look of gentle concern.
"Yes sir?" She asked.
"If you are concerned about the mission," he said, "don't be. You will do fine."
Enterprise stared back at him.
"How do you know?"
Hamato almost smiled.
"I have watched you since I came aboard two months ago," he said. "You are more human than the politicians gave you credit for. I can see your doubts and fears."
He leaned forward, and took her gynoid's hand. He squeezed it gently.
"You will be fine. Focus on your duty. It is how we both truly express ourselves. In the execution of our duties, we find who we are." He nodded to her. "You know the path. You just have to walk it."
Enterprise stared back at the old man. She recalled Commodore April, Uncle Chris... Even Jim and Spock all saying similar things. She smiled back and nodded.
"Yes sir," she said softly. Hamato let go of her hand, and nodded.
"Helm, clear all moorings," he ordered, "and take us out. We have an appointment at Jericho."
Her bridge was a beehive of activity, now that the spell was broken. Enterprise nodded, and began to manage her systems. She slowly emerged from the shipyard berth, taking flight. Her smiled grew.
She was now where she belonged. Once again, among the stars... But her duty?
That had yet to be undertaken...
"Feudal Japan,"
"Huh?" Captain John Sheridan asked as he looked over at Defiant from where the AI was sitting to his left in the ship's main conference room.
The war had gone quiet since the defeat of the most recent Warrior caste attack and Defiant had asked him to help her look over the known information about the Minbari and see what they could learn about them.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked more coherently as he put aside the data slate containing an incredibly dry description of Minbari religious rituals.
"I was just thinking about what the Minbari remind me of and Edo era Japan came to mind. A rigid caste based society dominated by its military and religious groups and with the "worker" population almost an afterthought. Problem is that information doesn't tell us anything new about them…"
"Actually maybe it does," John mused, "The Samurai may have considered themselves warriors but Japan fought no wars throughout the entire period they were in charge. When Perry came calling it then became clear their weapons and doctrine was hopelessly obsolete, when the Empire came along they had to rebuild the entire military system on modern lines with British help."
"True and the Minbari seem to be in the same state, compared to the other powers (even newcomers like the Narn) their tactics are laughable, their leaders more interested in honour and glory than military necessity, but there is one key difference."
"Japan was so far behind the west it wasn't funny,"Sheridan replied, "The warriors were no threat to Perry and he knew it, but Minbar was far ahead of any other power so until you appeared so no one could hope to defeat them even with their bad tactics."
"Not completely true, if you had been able to break Minbari stealth I calculate a 95% chance you would have been able to defeat their fleet within five standard years. However…"
"However?"
"I estimate such a war would result in the loss of at least 75% of the pre-war Earthforce and would lead to extreme political instability,"
"The xenophobes have been bad enough as it is," Sheridan replied, "If this turns back into a Death war they'll lash out at anything non human,"
"Agreed but if the Minbari continue as they have their defeat should be inevitable which will avert that. Well, except for if they emulate another period in Japanese history…."
She turned and looked at him, "Ever hear of Oda Nobunaga?"
"Of course, he may have been defeated and forced to kill himself in the end but his war probably did more to reunite Japan during the warring states period than anything else."
"True and what's important is how he did this," Defiant said, "He went outside the traditional caste and built a new and more innovative military that recruited across the population and did so based on ability rather than what your father did. "
"Then let's hope they don't have their own Nobunaga," John replied,
"It probably wouldn't change anything at this point." Defiant said, "But we will have to be very careful post war. If the Minbari produce a new and capable military leader, combined with a need for revenge and the likelihood of them eventually getting hold of my technology from somewhere, we might have to worry about round two down the line sometime."
"Well let's worry about round one for today," Sheridan told her.
"Agreed and with regards to that I have a request for a possible new transfer to my medical department,"
"Give me the details,"
"Stephen Franklin MD, expert xenobiologist and according to records actually had some contact with the Minbari before the war and might have psychological details that might be useful to us."
"Sounds perfect, why isn't he on the way already?"
"He's in the stockade, officially for disobeying orders but I checked more closely. The order he disobeyed was from your biowarfare division and was given after I made clear my terms for helping with this war…" The last part was spoken in a low hiss.
"I'm sure the president and the joint chiefs didn't know,"
"Perhaps, so perhaps you should inform them so they can get him out of jail?"
"I'll see to it,"
Jean D' Arc was the first of the new Omega-class destroyers to come online, and the first Earthforce shipgirl AI to awaken. She had the knowledge of her forbears, from another universe. She had the knowledge of her current makers, the Earth Alliance, in a desperate war for survival against the Minbari.
Her avatar's image was that of a tall, redhaired French woman, with a beauty mark on her pointed chin. Otherwise, she was dressed in medieval plate armor-Her gynoid form as strong as ten humans, and far more durable.
Her ship form was much the same: Based on the Nova-class dreadnought hull, she was bigger, sleeker, and armed to the teeth with the technology the Defiant had provided. 18 meters of polarizing hull armor. Deflectors, enhanced with her artificial gravity system. Ion drives enhanced with the gravity plating and antimatter-enhanced fusion drives and inertial dampeners made her fast. Faster than anything else Earthforce had ever built.
And missiles. So many missiles and phasers and pulse plasma cannons. She was a knight, inside and out. A protector.
Yet... This wasn't enough.
She heard everything the Earthforce officers muttered, texted to one another. The doubts and fears.
She understood why they doubted and feared. So far, her mother's gifts had allowed the Earth Alliance to make the war an even fight. Yet their fears and doubts remained.
Her captain, Jack Maynard though... He wasn't like them. He was jovial, with his bushy beard and bright eyes. He was eager to prove himself, prove his ship.
And they'd been assigned the hardest proving ground in the war so far: The Jericho colony. Four times the Minbari had tried to take this colony-Four times, they had failed.
The first time was thanks to Defiant annihilating the Minbari strike force all by herself.
The second, one of Defiant's shuttles had been left and linked into the fleet, providing targeting information. While it had cost the defenders a lot of ships and men, it had driven the Minbari off.
The third time, the Minbari had tried with a bigger force. That time, one refit Nova, two refit Hyperions, and four refit Olympus class starships, all equipped with phase cannons, subspace sensors, and inertial dampeners. They'd been rushed into service. It was enough to push the Minbari back again, but even more ships had been lost. And the same with the fourth.
Hope, Jean D'arc knew, was a fragile thing. They'd withstood so much, and yet... They still didn't have the spirit that they could win this fight. Just that the war was going on longer.
The subspace probes alerted her. Several Minbari ships were on the way in hyperspace. Her captain and crew began their work, preparing for battle. She knew her job, knew her purpose.
Her purpose was to give them hope. And that is what she intended to do.
Alyt Sineval was a stubborn, determined member of the Warrior Caste. Even for them. He was proud of that, for tenacity was the greatest weapon a warrior could possess and cultivate. And it had been far too long since he had faced challenges that improved that. Too long for all Minbari.
The fact these Earther barbarians had killed Dukhat dishonorably was immaterial: The Warrior Caste needed to be blooded. It had been too long, they had grown complacent. And the Earthers would make a suitable grindstone for them.
That they were becoming stronger, more of a challenge, fired Sineval's blood. A true challenge for the Warrior Caste. Other Warriors dismissed humanity as a bug, nothing more than uncouth barbarians to slaughter to the last. Perhaps.
But if prophecy was true... Then they would need to fight the Ancient Enemy. But they needed to fight a real enemy. A cunning enemy.
And the humans were that, in spades. Their thinking ships made them even better.
Oh, they wouldn't win. No matter what they did... But the challenge made it all the sweeter.
His fleet was composed of several Tinashi-class frigates and Liandra-class gunships, screening his central force of Sharlins. Instead of being in one big mass, they were in several small, highly mobile task forces. Each would jump out together, emerging outside the weapons range of the Earther's more advanced ships. They would start with bombardment, with many missiles, to occupy their point defenses.
It was a good strategy. He had taken it from Bramner, but he would credit the former priest when it worked.
"Alyt," his second announced, "we have reached the Jericho system."
"Very well," Sineval stated, "alert all ships: JUMP!"
The fleet erupted from several jump points, their smaller ships jumping ahead to screen their Sharlins. Missiles began to erupt from the ships, flying in high speed boost phase the moment they left their launchers. A cloud of metal flew out towards the Earth fleet. They already had their fighters launched and missiles flying back.
"ALYT!" His second cried in shock, "there is an Earther ship! It is flying behind us!"
"WHAT?!" Sineval cried. "How did it-Show me!"
It was a new ship design, based on what they called the Nova-class. It was sleek and heavily armored... And flying at close to 0.25c in normal space. It was firing missiles-Faster missiles that anything he'd ever seen! All coming right for the fleet!
"Rear guns! All rear guns fire!" Sineval shouted. "Fighters! Move to defend, NOW!"
Their Nials were already launching, and scrambled to intercept the incoming missiles as the warship strafed them, rocketing by. Dozens of missiles flew at them, propelled by unknown technology. The first task force tried to intercept them with their guns only-All but two were destroyed... But it was enough.
The warheads went off, bright, blinding flashes of nuclear fury. The Holy Roar was annihilated, exploding into a fireball and taking all her escorts with her. The Earthers ahead finished off any remaining damaged vessels with their own missiles and long ranged phaser blasts.
The next taskforce had a Liandra-class gunship get back to the rear, and fire on the swarm of missiles. Several of the human projectiles were annihilated, but one got through. A Nial charged in, sacrificing itself and going up in a huge blast of nuclear fire. It was still close enough that the shockwave annihilated a trailing Sharlin.
Sineval's own force managed to blow away all the missiles the Earth ship had launched, Sineval holding his breath as one nearly got close enough. A Nial destroyed it, and angled around to resume the defense.
His two other units had gotten organized enough to shoot down the swarm of missiles, and even began firing on the Earther ship itself. But this is when the vessel turned to face them... And opened up with its beam weapons.
Multiple orange beams lashed out, the main forward guns of the vessel. They struck the Enemy Ossuary in her drive fins, punching through with multiple blasts to the fusion reactors. The Earth ship's weapons weren't quite as powerful as their Thinking Ships', but they put a lot more shots in. It was enough to make the Enemy Ossuary's reactors go up in a massive explosion. The other ships had broken off, saving them from being destroyed like the others.
But now the Earthers ahead were making their range, trying to take out isolated Minbari vessels.
Sineval felt a feral grin come over his face, as the advanced Earth destroyer jumped out. It soon jumped back in, rejoining the main defensive line.
"My Alyt, the Earthers are cutting us down!" His second cried.
Sineval nodded.
"Very well... We will have to do this the messy way, then," he said. "Launch the primary payloads! NOW!"
Sharlin-class war cruisers could mount mass drivers. Rather than mere asteroids though, Sineval had prepared a special payload-Concentrated antimatter projectiles. The antihydrogen had been cooled to near absolute zero, and contained in gravimetric-based vessels. They were expensive and unreliable: Crude by Minbari standards.
But, at near the speed of light? They would be effective here.
"Ready, my Alyt!"
"FIRE!"
The mass driver on his flagship, Blood of Saints, erupted with one of the antimatter slugs. The other Sharlins launched, their fighters and gunships screaming ahead to try and clear the way for the projectiles.
An Earth Starfury flew into the path of one of these huge slugs, firing away. The matter and antimatter reacted... And exploded in a massive, blinding flash. The fighter was annihilated by the blast, and sensors across the board were blinded.
Multiple fighters still fought on. Three Olympus-class corvettes moved up, firing phasers in pulses to try and intercept the slugs. Several more exploded, bursting into temporary stars.
Sineval grinned. He could see several slugs getting through the fighter screen, screaming right for the Earth ships... And then energy pulses erupted from that advanced destroyer. They flew out, and slammed into the slugs, detonating them. One of the corvettes got caught in a blast, being heavily damaged. Several fighters flew around it, escorting it away from the fight as phaser and pulse fire flew from the Earth fleet.
Sineval's grin widened.
So... Now he had a true fight. This was more like it!
"My Alyt?" His second asked, wary.
"Reinforcements, jump in after us!" Sineval cried. "This has only started! LET THE BATTLE BE JOINED!"
And things continue to escalate...