Title: Ship of The Line: Between the Steel and the Stars
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Nothing Specific.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy, Starship Troopers, Space: Above and Beyond or Babylon 5... I would buy them all but I am broke.
Summary: When Eathan's Halloween spell hit a powerful and unexpected entity, the result changes the entire world and Humanity's path to the stars. (Buffy/Starship Troopers/SAAB/Babylon 5) Ship of the Line response.
"What language is that?" Giles asked.
Giles, Jenny, Joyce, Buffy and Xander were all seated in the Flag Bridge of the Penrith watching four monitors of improvised interrogation rooms down on Alpha Site, each with a bound captured Alien and two interviewing MI Troopers.
"It's called Interlac." Xander replied. "It was recovered as part of both the field communications pack that Lieutenant Miller's Marines captured and from the computer banks of the Crippled Enemy Ship."
"And your Troopers learnt this Interlac in just two days?" Jenny asked, causing both Xander and Joyce to laugh.
"The Troopers leading the interrogations learnt it in half an hour." Xander replied. "It is designed to easily decipherable to almost any half decently advanced species. I know it now and so do most of Lieutenant Miller's Marines, and a few of Captain Halliday's men. That one is claiming their species is called Minbari. That one says they are Drazi. That one says they are Centauri, and the last one says they are called Narn. They are all lying."
Xander pointed to the screens from left to right as he said that.
"Willow, a few of the MI Troopers and two of the Marine Technical Specialists were able to break their real language files in about four hours. We now have some limited historical, cultural and Military data." Joyce said. "Of course we are not letting them know that. They are called the Dilgar. They are a violent and expansive race who have exterminated two other sentient races and are at an almost constant state of war with about five others. The only races the Dilgar really fear are the Centauri, the Minbari and the Vorlons. There are extensive files on about two dozen races, including the Centauri and Minbari, but next to nothing on the Vorlons, expect to say all expeditions into Vorlon space never return."
"So why did that attack us?" Giles asked.
"It's their First Contact Protocol." Xander replied. "Attack first, negotiate only when they are about to spring a trap, or it is clear they are going to get absolutely destroyed. They thought we were just a small scouting party they could completely crush. Apparently victory in war brings status and breeding rights."
"Breeding rights?" Jenny asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Niectzsche would have loved these guys." Joyce said. "They think they are some kind of super-race that has the right to conquer the galaxy but also a very rigid caste system and a lot of government intervention in everyday life."
"Brave New World meets 1984, with a dash of Morlocks thrown in." Xander said. "And no compunction using biological or chemical weapons if they think they can get away with it."
"Someone's been doing their assigned readings." Buffy teased. "So, do we know when they'll next try to hit us and when?"
"We haven't gotten through everything, barely scratched the surface really, but from what we know, the crew of the troop transport that escaped will probably be harshly interrogated and probably tortured, then they most likely assemble a fleet at their nearest base before they Jump to this system." Joyce explained.
"Jump?" Giles asked. "That sounds different to our Cherenkov Drives."
"That big construct. It's called a Jump Gate. It allows access to an alternate dimension they call Hyperspace. Large ships have their own Jump Drives, but smaller ships use the Jump Gates due to the size and extensive power requirements of a Jump Drive." Joyce explained.
"An Extradimensional Space used for FTL has been theorised, but we have never made it work, and we have the Cherenkov Drives." Jenny said.
"We have the co-ordinates of their nearest base." Xander said. "I spoke to both Willow and Cordy. Even when not using the Jump Gates, the Dilgar have a tendency to always emerge in close vicinity of the Gate, which is why they jumped in near the incomplete gate here. Their base is purely Military, no civilian population at all. I propose the Monash goes to the base, the MI drop in, hit everything we can on the bounce and get out. Maximum damage, minimum risk. If we can do enough damage, we can leave any assembling fleet without any kind of support or resupply."
"Joyce?" Giles asked. "Your ship, your call."
"If we can have one of the Cruisers for fire support on any orbital engagement, I agree." Joyce said. "But if things look too hot, I will pull the plug."
"As is your right, up until the moment the first Capsule is fired." Xander replied.
Once the first MI Trooper, which is always the Officer in Charge, is fired from the Drop Tubes, it is the duty of the orbiting Combat Troop Transport to stay on station until retrieval is completed, or it is confirmed that every deployed MI Trooper is KIA, and even then every reasonable effort is to be made to recover the bodies, or destroy them if recovery is impossible, unless the Ship is in immediate danger of being destroyed. It was much like WWII Bomber crews had the duty to fly straight and level over their targets until the bomb loads were released, then they could fly to survive.
"I'll organise a resupply and assign you one of the Cruisers. I want the Monash on its way in eighteen hours."
"Yes, Admiral." Both Joyce and Xander replied together.
TBC….
A/N: I took a fair few liberties with the Dilgar, as there is not much info out there about them, and I wanted them to be the primary aggressors at this stage. I also put that 'regulation' in about the Federation Ships having a duty to stay until MI Retrieval as the only reference in the Starship Troopers Novel about MI Units not being picked up by a Retrieval Boat is when the Ship has been destroyed in orbit. With that and the emphasis on 'No man left behind' I figured it would be an official Federation Naval Regulation, much like the referenced WWII Bomber regulations mentioned. Also makes sense because to become Sky Marshall (the highest rank in the Federation Military) you must have commanded both a Naval Capital Ship and commanded a Regiment of MI Troopers. Having been on both ends, I can't see any Sky Marshall allowing a Navy Ship to leave MI Troopers stranded.