From: "Inquisitor Gary Boshears" Subject: Darkness Wakes Part IV Chapter 10 Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 19:46:37 -0600 Warnings and disclaimers in previous chapters. Chapter 10 Space Station Babylon 5 Orbit of Epsilon 3 February 24, 2272 0745 EST Admiral Barns and Captain Lochley watched silently as the strike group exited hyperspace via the station's local jump point. Fireworks, courtesy of one of the station's fighter squadrons, treated them to a hero's welcome. Lochley turned towards the Admiral. "You know, I don't think I've ever gotten one of those." She said this in reference to the welcome they were receiving. Barns walked away from the main viewport. "They never gave us one after the Minbari War, the Civil War, about anything I can remember. That's why it's important to give these guys one. They did the impossible, I think they deserve their few minutes of fame." "Agreed," Lochley said with a slight laugh. "Any new developments in the war I haven't heard about?" Barns shook his head, somewhat relieved to be doing so. "Keilmar appear to have consolidated their forces at their major bases, inner colonies and homeworld. Except for a few minor skirmished with scouting units, there hasn't been any battles since they withdrew." "Then that should give us a chance to get back on our feet." The Captain commented. "Exactly," Barns said, seeming somewhat distracted. Lochley debated whether or not to ask the next question that came to her mind, not knowing how the Admiral would react. "How's the search for the Hades going?" Barns did not seem to take it well. He didn't want to be reminded of that at the time. He blamed himself for it, had he not given the order to attack the Keilmar Homeworld. "Not good. We've barely been able to devote any ships to looking for her, since we're trying to rebuild and bolster our defenses. I've taken the Red Star out twice looking and have found nothing." "They'll be all right," Lochley said with a quivering doubt in her voice. "Captain McDouglass is strong, the whole crew is." This was said without as much doubt. "I know, I know." EAS Hades Somewhere In Keilmar Territory February 24, 2272 0817 EST "Three Keilmar fighters coming in on attack vector." Captain Sarah McDouglass couldn't see who had given the report through the smoke and red light filled room. She struggled to reach the weapon control panel, only to see that all of the ship's weapons were still off-line. The ship shook violently from the impact of the enemy weapons against the hull. "Try to tell any fighters we have left that can still fight to take those enemy birds out." She yelled, hoping that someone who could do something would hear her. For several minutes, the ship was not hit again. No one could tell what was happening outside. Couldn't tell if the Keilmar fighters had been destroyed or had simply left. Not until they were able to partially understand what one of their pilots was saying over the comm. "We've, driven off the attackers, resuming defensive formation." With only five fighters left, Captain McDouglass realized the urgency of their situation. "Send out a broad band distress signal," she said softly. "Captain," the operations officer said. "That'll let anyone and everyone hear it." "I know," she conceded. "Send the signal, and God help us." Space Station Babylon 5 Orbit of Epsilon 3 February 24, 2272 0829 EST "Once we rebuild defensive positions on our borders, we building more ships and launching offensives again......" Barns' conversation with Captain Lochley was cut off by Lieutenant Jeffries. "General distress signal coming in, Earth Force ID, it's the Hades." Barns rushed to his console to confirm the news. "They're alive." He studied the readings. "Tell the Red Star to be ready to leave in ten minutes, I'm coming aboard." Lochley, who was also studying the display, spoke up. "Sir, that's deep within Keilmar territory, what if you can't get to them." Barns started walking away. "We had a strike group make it all the way to the Keilmar Homeworld, I think I'll be able to make it a few light years past the border." Lochley wasn't willing to give this one up easily. "Sir they're being a lot more protective of their borders since that happened. Not to mention that they would have monitored this distress signal the same as we did." "Captain," Barns intended to make this be the end of the subject. "I'm doing this Captain, I have to." "Why?!?" Lochley asked, stopping the Admiral in the middle of the door. He looked back at her. The exchange that took place between them in those few seconds was more than words could have done in hours. By looking at his face for a matter of seconds, Lochley understood perfectly. She knew the reason she thought to be true was true. Without any further conversation, Barns left the room. It took Barns only minutes to reach the bridge of the Red Star. The crew was ready, though appeared to be a bit apprehensive about the mission they were about to undertake. Barns sat down in the Captain's chair. "Everyone ready?" He asked after quickly surveying the bridge. "Yes sir," Barns recognized immediately the voice of the first person to respond, though he had trouble believing who it was. He turned to face the Ranger to his left, the one who had answered. "Giovoni?" He said to the Ranger's back. Giovoni turned around to face the Admiral. "Yes sir." "What are you doing here?" Though Barns was almost glad Greg was here, he still didn't understand why. "I want to help sir." "This is a step down for you though." Giovoni's somewhat cheerful expression disappeared. "Sir, I didn't help you rescue her when I should have, let me do it now." Barns gave up, knowing he wouldn't win this argument. "Still remember how to fly one of these things?" Barns said with a smile. "We'll find out." Giovoni activated his control console. Barns turned to face the front of the bridge. "Activate jump engines, jump when ready." The blackness of space was broken by the formation of a whirling vortex of energy. Space returned to normal seconds later as the Red Star shot into hyperspace. 1837 EST Admiral Barns lay down on the somewhat comfortable bed. The Red Star was one of the White Stars that had been refitted with "normal" sleeping quarters, with a "normal" bed. Barns found this a nice feature as he had yet to determine how the Minbari or the Human members of the Rangers slept in the manner that they did. Even with the ship running at full burn, it would be a couple more hours before they reached the location of the Hades. Ranger Giovoni had "suggested" that Barns get some sleep. The Admiral wanted to argue but had decided it best not to do so. Rangers could be awfully persistent. Not managing to sleep, the Admiral looked out of the small window. Looked into the depths of space. Everything was out there. His friends, enemies and, as President Sheridan had once told him, the truth. The truth, what was the truth anymore. The truth was something he didn't want to admit. He toggled his link on. "Barns to bridge, did you get a hold of the Constantinople?" "Yes sir," Giovoni answered. "They'll be on call in hyperspace if we need them. Commander MacDonald seemed quite willing to help." Barns contained the emotional response he wanted to give. "I'm sure he did." He toggled his link off. As fate would have it, Commander MacDonald was given temporary command of the Constantinople only three days after he came onboard, due to the death of the ship's Captain. Barns was to say less than pleased that this was all the help he could find. The Victory was too far out of position, as were any other ships whose Captains may have helped Barns. So, it was left to Barns and the one person who he would have never brought in on this operation had circumstances not forced him to. Barns allowed himself to drift to sleep for what seemed like only a few minutes. In actuality, when Ranger Giovoni woke him up was nearly two hours later. Barns took a moment to compose himself and straighten his uniform. Then, he slowly headed for the bridge. The Red Star had just come to a halt when Barns reached the bridge. The crew was silent, they waited with what gave a resemblance patience as Barns sat down. He could feel the eyes of the crew silently watching him. He turned towards Giovoni. "Status?" He quietly asked. "This is where the distress call originated, we're standing by to jump." Barns faced the front of the bridge. "The Constantinople?" Barns asked hesitantly. "They should be here in about twenty three minutes." "Well looks like they'll just get here late. Warm up jump engines, prepare to jump." Barns ordered. "Jump engines activated, ready for your order sir." Giovoni reported. "All right, take us in." The red void of hyperspace was transformed into the blackness of deep space. In a matter of seconds, the ship went from being surrounded by a red void to be surrounded by a black void filled with stars. "Anything?" Barns asked, tilting his head toward Giovoni. The Ranger took a minute to study the sensors. A minute that seemed to Barns like a decade. "I'm picking something up ahead, it looks like a ship. Big enough to be a cruiser, it's not broadcasting any type of transponder signal." "Move us closer." New sensor readings came in as the Red Star drew closer to the ship. "Sir, it's definitely a Hades class. Hull marking appear to indicate that it is the Hades." Barns feared the answer to the next question he had to ask. "Life signs?" "Some, sensors unable to determine how many." Barns felt a little better. He wouldn't feel good again until he saw that she was okay. "All, right, standby to begin shuttling over rescue crews and........." "Jump point forming!" Giovoni announced. "Keilmar Destroyer and two gunboats coming through." The holo-screen at the front of the bridge flickered to life displaying the three Keilmar ships. They advanced slowly on the Red Star, which was guarding the defenseless Hades. "Battle stations, activate defensive systems, ready all weapons!" Barns ordered as he stared at his opponent in front of him. The gunboats were hanging back and allowing the destroyer to take point. Barns turned slightly towards Giovoni. "I want to make a quick pass on the destroyer with our forward neutron batteries. When we're pulling away, fire aft pulse systems to keep those gunboats off our tail." "Aye sir. Engines and weapons ready at your command." Barns felt adrenaline rushing through him. "Full power to the forward shields, take us in!" The Red Star's neutron cannon batteries lit up with sustained fire. The beams cut into the destroyer's hull, appearing to cause little damage. The Red Star quickly maneuvered away from the destroyer, avoiding defensive beam weapon fire. As the gunboats turned to fight, they were struck by the aft pulse weapons of the Red Star. One took little damage the other, had part of it's structure cut off causing it to spiral out of control, crashing into the destroyer. The destroyer turned towards the Alliance ship, firing several blasts from it's main weapon system. "Hard about," Barns ordered. "Fire!" The Red Star pivoted fully around. It charged forward, firing one of it's neutron cannons and all of it's forward pulse weapons. The Keilmar gunboat, which was the target of this attack, fired back with it's main beam weapon. It struck the Red Star several times, penetrating the shields and causing a small degree to damage to the hull. The Red Star's attack proved much more damaging to the Keilmar ship. The combination of sustained and pulse fire from the ship, penetrated the hull and hit the main reactor. The Keilmar gunboat exploded in a brilliant inferno. The Red Star flew through the flames, moving quickly enough that the ship pulled some of the flames behind it briefly. The Keilmar destroyer continued to fire. Most of it's shots missed, some however struck the Red Star, disabling the ship's two wing mounted pulse batteries. The Red Star came up behind the destroyer and fired with it's remaining neutron cannons and pulse weapons. The weapon fire penetrated the hull of the destroyer. The weapon impact points were covered in explosions. As the Red Star readied it's weapons for another attack, defensive turrets on the hull of the destroyer finally opened fire. The Red Star took several hits to it's weapons and hull. As the Keilmar ship's weapons were recharging, a jump point ripped through the smooth blackness of space. Microseconds later, beams of powerful red energy struck the Keilmar destroyer. The Omega class destroyer Constantinople emerged from the jump point. The ship followed up it's heavy laser attack with multiple pulses from it's heavy pulse cannons. Another heavy laser barrage sheered off part of the Keilmar ship's hull. The Keilmar destroyer began transferring power to it's engines and prepared to jump. It's defensive guns struggled to hurt the Red Star and Constantinople which were now combining their firepower against the it. The hull looked as if it was on fire by the time the ship finally made it through the jump point. Barns turned slightly towards Giovoni. "Plot a pursuit course and prepare to jump." Barns was intent on destroying this Keilmar ship. He opened a comm channel to the Constantinople. "Barns to Constantinople, we're headed after that ship. You handle things here, contact us when you have the survivors and get them back to Babylon 5. Once everyone is off of the Hades scuttle her." Not wanting to listen to Commander MacDonald's response, Barns gave the order to jump. Seconds later, the Red Star had made it's jump into hyperspace. "Twelve minutes until weapon's range." Ranger Giovoni reported. The time past slowly on the bridge. The well trained crew attended silently to their assigned duties. Ranger Giovoni eventually broke the silence. "Sir, the Keilmar ship is leaving hyperspace. It's entering the system where their main staging area is." Barns knew that system well. It had been the location where every attack on the Alliance so far had originated from. He also found it interesting that with their heightened security concerns, that the Red Star was able to get this close. "Mr. Giovoni, ready jump engines, prepare to take us in." Barns knew that Giovoni, being a Ranger would follow the orders, he also knew that being a Human, he would be thinking the Admiral was insane. "Aye sir," the Ranger said with a certain degree of question in his voice. "Jump engines at your command." Barns breathed deeply. "Well odds are this isn't THE stupidest thing I've ever done. Jump!" The Red Star sprang back to normal space with a brilliant flash of light. It quickly approached what appeared from space to be a nice world. Large bodies of water and grasslands were visible from space. "Admiral," Giovoni said, almost in shock. "There are hardly any Keilmar ships in orbit. We're reading, forty, fifty at most. The planetary defense network has been virtually scrapped. There's only a handful of orbital defense satellites and ground based weapons." Barns stood and walked towards the front of the bridge, staring at the small Keilmar fleet through the viewport. "They must have left only a small amount of defenses hoping we wouldn't get ambitious enough to attack or send a scouting mission here." He ran back to the Captain's chair. "Turn us around, set a course for Babylon 5, maximum burn!" February 25, 0245 EST Admiral Barns was surprised to see that the Constantinople had already arrived at Babylon 5 by the time the Red Star made it back. It didn't hold much concern for him at the time though. The Red Star snapped to a stop outside of the station. Barns wasted no time in reaching the shuttle bay and leaving for the station. The docking area was a mad house. The survivors from the Hades had evidently just arrived. Barns fought his way through a mass of people. He finally made it through and was almost running to the nearest lift. As he was headed for it, Doctor Lillian Hobbes stopped him. "Admiral, I thought you'd like to know that......" "Just put a report on my desk if it's important." He cut her off and continued on his way. Upon entering the transport tube, he activated his link. "Barns to Lochley," he waited for her to respond. "I need to see you, Captain Taylor and Director Halloran in my office in ten minutes. Also find out where the hell the Victory is and get me a secure channel." He deactivated his link without waiting for a response. Some of his judgment was partially obscured by the fact he was in a rush. For instance, he did know where the Victory was, he just wished to indicate his urgency. While waiting for the tube to arrive at it's destination, he realized the time. Almost asking himself if this could have waited, he decided it couldn't have. If they didn't act on this soon, they may not be able to at all. By the time Barns reached his office, the secure channel he requested to the Victory had been established. Barns sat down at his desk and ordered the computer to activate the comm channel. Captain MacDonald's face soon appeared on the monitor. "Captain," Barns began. "Scrap whatever you are doing and get your ship to Babylon 5, best possible speed." "May I ask why?" MacDonald said in response. Barns shook his head slightly. "I don't want to discuss it on an open channel. Just get here as fast as you can. Barns out." He terminated the channel after that. Shortly after, Taylor, Tessa and Lochley made their way into Barns' office, all seeming as though they had just gotten out of bed, which they probably had. They all sat down and waited for the Admiral to talk. Barns turned away from the monitor to face them. "All right everyone, it seems that fate is with us today. We have a small opportunity to strike a major blow to the Keilmar. While pursuing a Keilmar destroyer, the Red Star entered the system where the Keilmar main staging area for the attacks against us is. They appear to have withdrawn most of their forces from that system. If we can pull together enough ships and ground forces, we can take that planet." "Sir," Tessa was the first to respond. "If we do this, it may cause them to launch a new offensive against us." "Then again, it could be a major morale boost for our side." Lochley commented. "Agreed," Barns said standing up and walking out from behind his desk. "No more fake, for show only victories. Let's score a real victory for our side. If we do this, it would show the member worlds that we truly can hurt them. That we can score a true victory." "What's your plan?" Taylor asked. "We use the Valen's Hand along with two other destroyers I've called in. Assemble a few squadrons of White Stars for escort. We then give the member worlds the location of our staging area, tell them what date we are moving on and have them send any ships they can. I'm not going to order them to do this. We've shown our commitment to this war, it's time for them to show theirs. Regardless of the ships we have, we move on that date." Barns sat back down. "Captain Lochley, you'll command the Valen's Hand. Tessa I'll need constant Intel updates on that system until we're ready to move. Captain Taylor, I'll need you to handle things here while I'm gone." Taylor seemed shocked. "Gone Sir?" "Yes," Barns answered. "I'm leading this attack myself. Now, go get some sleep, we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow." Barns watched them leave. Lochley briefly looked back at him as she was leaving and finally left. Barns simply leaned back in his chair and allowed himself to fall asleep. gb "There is always hope - only because it's the one thing no one's figured out how to kill yet." Techno-Mage Galen "Babylon Project Crusade" ICQ # 8694414 Visit all of these. My Home Page--Go To The Links Page For More http://www.angelfire.com/sk/boshears/ From: "Gary Boshears" Subject: Darkness Wakes Part IV Chapter 11 Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 21:30:12 -0600 Warnings & disclaimers in previous chapters. Chapter 11 Space Station Babylon 5 Orbit of Epsilon 3 February 25, 2272 0800 EST During his walk to the Council Chamber, Admiral Jerry Barns found himself grateful for the few hours of sleep he had gotten. He stopped at a small cafe along the way to buy a cup of extra strong coffee. Though he doubted even a large dose of caffeine would help him on this day. All of the member world Ambassadors sat quietly in the Council Chamber. Barely conversing amongst themselves which was one of their typical practices. As Barns walked into the room, they all became silent and focused their eyes on Barns. Barns stood in front of the table in the room and clasped his hands behind his back. "I'll keep this short." He said with stern determination. "A few weeks ago you told me to give you a victory against the Keilmar, which I did by bombing their homeworld, by killing innocent civilians! That was a false victory, a victory for show! Now I," he paused. "We have the opportunity score a real victory against them. A real military victory! Their primary staging area for their attacks against us is vulnerable to a strike, if we can move fast enough. We're pulling together a fleet at a location that will be given to each of your shortly. In order for the attack to work, we need as many of your ships that you can send." The room had been filled with the sound of the Ambassadors talking amongst themselves. The Brakiri Ambassador was the first to speak to Barns. "Admiral, how many ships will the Alliance be sending to this battle?" "Three White Star Destroyers, four 'An'shaka' Battlecruisers and three squadrons of White Stars." "I would also like to add," Ambassador Ta'Lon announced loudly as he walked into the room. "That the Narn, Minbair and Earth militaries have already signed on to support this attack." "How do you plan to hold the world if you take it?" The Brakiri Ambassador was searching for reasons to not support this. "Centauri warships are already prepared to deploy thousands of defensive mines throughout the system. Earth has already allocated one hundred defensive satellites that it had a surplus of. Not to mention we will maintain as large a fleet as possible in the system." Barns walked closer to them. This would be the last thing he told them on this subject. He hoped, or to better say, prayed that it would have the affect he wanted it to. His voice became soft. "I'm not ordering you to do this. If you do this, it'll be because you want to win the war, because you back the Alliance and because it is the right thing to do! Have as many of your ships at the staging area in seven days. Regardless of how many we have, we move in seven days." Without any further words, Barns and Ta'lon left the room. Barns and Ta'Lon walked slowly away from the Council Chamber, not paying attention to the noise coming from it. Barns turned his head slightly towards the Narn Ambassador. "Thanks you for that show of support Ta'Lon." Ta'Lon continued to face forward. "No thanks is necessary Admiral. I am a warrior I recognize what must be done to win a war and what of that I can do. In there, I was doing my part to help win this war." Barns smiled. This is what he liked about Ta'Lon, he essentially wasn't an Ambassador. He didn't waste time with the normals of politics. He, like Barns, was warrior and acted like such in everything. "Well," Barns said. "I thank you anyway, what you said and the way you said it could go a long way to getting them to sign on for this mission." "As I said Admiral, I do what is necessary." Ta'Lon walked off in a different direction. What is necessary? Barns was leaving on the destroyer Javert for the staging area in two days. Until then, he knew what was necessary. He knew what he had to do. This time not for the sake of winning the war. Though it may involve, yet a different war. Med Lab was overflowing with survivors from the Hades. Most seemed to have burns, gashes, severed limbs, head wounds, cuts, etc. Barns roughly counted seventy people. There could have been more as he wasn't trying to be very accurate. They could also be in other Med Labs. "I see you no longer just want a report Admiral?" Asked Dr. Hobbes as she walked up to him. She appeared tired, her face had a definite look of fatigue. Her surgical scrubs were covered in blood. "Save the lecture Doctor. Where's Captain McDouglass?" Barns asked coldly, not even turning to face her. The Doctor found it interesting that he immediately went to the "where" question. Not asking what her condition was or if she had survived at all. Whether than bring that up to the Admiral, she simply decided to answer the question. "Over there," she pointed towards one of the examination rooms. Barns walked slowly toward the room. When he got close enough he could see her, laying there on the bed. Her eyes were shut and she was breathing slowly. She looked as if she had not been hurt to bad, with the exception of a large wound on the left side of her forehead. He entered the room, taking especial care to not wake her. He sat down at a chair next to her bed and watched her. As he did, times seemed to disappear. He watched every breath she took, every slight movement she made. For this time, did not think about anything else. It couldn't be said that he was at peace, just that for a time, it felt as if the galaxy was not waited on his shoulders, or his mind. After a while, her eyes finally, slowly opened. She turned her head towards Barns and smiled. "Hey," her voice was weak but it did have a hint of happiness in it. "How are you feeling?" Barns asked quietly. "Like my ship was attacked and I was hit on the head." She said with a slight laugh. Barns was glad to see that she was able to laugh and smile. The ability to smile, to truly smile and mean it, was one of the best abilities a person could hope to have. Barns knew that she possessed this ability. "That sounds about right then." The happiness in her voice changed to sincerity. "Thanks for coming after me." Barns knew that she must have known he would come after her. "Sarah," Barns hesitated. She knew what he would say, or at least what he wanted to say. She must have known. It's been true for so long, for as long as they had known each other. "When I thought of something.....anything happening to you. I couldn't bear the thought of it. I couldn't let anything happen." A tear fell out of her eye. She knew his reasons for this. She knew what they both knew he would never admit. "Thank you Jerry." As a point of chance, Admiral Barns looked up to see Commander MacDonald entering Med Lab with a large bundle of relatively high quality imitation roses. He stood. "I have to go Sarah. I'll try to check in on you again later." As Barns was leaving, Commander MacDonald stopped and spoke to him. "Admiral," making sure he had Barns' attention. "How is she?" Barns remembered the past. A past which had caused Barns to have no particular like of the Earth Force officer standing in front of him now. "She's getting better Commander. Make sure she continues to do so." The Admiral said harshly as he walked away. The massive forms of the ISAS Victory and ISAS Javert glided slowly through the jump gate. The light produced by the energy of the jump gate blended with their semi organic hulls to create a marvelous array of colors. Admiral Barns, Captain Lochley and Captain Taylor watched the two destroyers approach the station. Barns activated the station's comm system and greeted the two ships. He then turned to the two Captains. "Here's the game plan. I'm leading the attack from the Javert. Captain Lochley will command the Valen's Hand. The Night's Dagger, the Phantom, the Sherwood and the Night's Hand along with three squadrons of White Stars are already at the staging area. Now all we need is for the member worlds to get their ships there." Barns started walking out of C&C, Lochley behind him. "Captain Taylor, I'm sending some additional reinforcements here in case the Keilmar decide to launch a counter attack. Take good care of the place." Barns said nothing else as he and Lochley left the room. It took the Javert, the Valen's Hand and the Victory less than two days to reach the stating area in hyperspace at full burn. The four Alliance 'An'shaka' battlecruisers and three squadrons of White Stars were already there. Also at the staging area were four Omega Class Destroyers, two Warlock Class Destroyers, three Sharlin War Cruisers, eight Tinashi War Frigates, five G'Quon Heavy Cruisers, twelve Vorchan Warships, three Brakiri Avoiki Cruisers, five Drazi Warbirds, eighteen Drazi Sunhawks and six Vree Battle Saucers. The attack was due to commence in five days. Now, now was when the waiting began. Space Station Babylon 5 Orbit of Epsilon 3 February 28, 2272 2300 EST Getting past the guard stationed outside Admiral Barns' office had been more difficult than he expected it to be. This was especially surprising to him as he expected them to be a little more relaxed about their job since the Admiral was off the station. Though, he had been wrong before. They were being as protective as they usually were. So much that it took the creation of an emergency in Down Below to draw the two guards away from their posts. It also put a definite constraint on his time. He estimated that it would take them less then ten minutes until they discovered that there was no emergency and returned to their normal duties. He would have done this from another place, any other place if it was possible. This office however had a special quality that he needed, a system that was able to send messages without the station's communication server knowing. This was, to say the least, important to his plan. He also enjoyed the fact that Barns' destruction would have it's beginning in his own office. He was continuously watching the time. It had taken him four minutes to break the password protection in the computer. He was beginning to feel rushed as he inputted the required parameters for the transmission. Hence the few mistakes he made took even more time. He estimated that he had three minutes left when he was ready to record the transmission. At the risk the transmission would be intercepted by an Alliance ship, he chose not to record it himself, but to merely input a text message. The message read as follows: ADMIRAL BARNS, COMMANDING ISAS JAVERT. ID & TRANSPONDER CODES ARE ATTACHED. He attached the said codes and sent the message. Rather than go through the proper shut down procedure, he simply, to conserve time, turned the system off. Without even wiping the sweat off of his forehead, he left the Admiral's office. ISAS Javert--Victory Class Destroyer Staging Area March 4, 2272 1200 EST The fleet had shaped up better than Admiral Barns had hoped for. Far better as a matter of fact. Additional ships from all of the member worlds arrived every day for the last five days. Now they had just a bit over two hundred ships, not including fighters. These ships ranged from small, fast attack gunboats to large, bulky destroyers. Sensor displays didn't show any other ships approaching the fleet. Barns decided to wait no longer. They would move now. They would go into the darkness, attacking it with all that they could. They would either emerge victorious or perish in fire. Either way, Barns knew that it would be a fight to remember. The Admiral stood and tugged at his uniform to straighten it. He walked toward the front of the bridge and turned toward the communication station. "Open a channel to the fleet," he said softly. The Ranger at the station nodded when a channel was open. Barns didn't think, just allowed the words to flow. "What we're about to do won't be an easy thing. Some of us won't come back alive. We've only been fighting this war for a couple months now and we've all seen friends, people we care about, people we," he paused. "We've all seen them be hurt or killed. Now we have a chance to make their sacrifices worth something. We have a chance to strike our enemy as they have struck us! We have a chance, to take the first step on the long, dark road ahead of us." The Admiral's words echoed through the fleet. All listened. From the weapon's room on a Drazi Sunhawk, to the bridge of the ISAS Victory. All heard him. They all understood what he meant. They all felt the same way. Barns had the channel closed and sat back down in the Captain's chair. Waiting no more, wasting no more time. "Tell the fleet we're moving out. All ahead full!" The engines the fleet came to life with glowing energy, pushing their ships down the road. To, as Admiral Barns had called it, the darkness. To the future. gb "There is always hope - only because it's the one thing no one's figured out how to kill yet." Techno-Mage Galen "Babylon Project Crusade" ICQ # 8694414 Visit all of these. My Home Page--Go To The Links Page For More http://www.angelfire.com/sk/boshears/ From: "Gary Boshears" Subject: Darkness Wakes Part IV Chapter 12 Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 22:35:29 -0600 Warnings and disclaimers in previous chapters. Chapter 12 ISAS Javert--Victory Class Destroyer En-Route To Target Alpha Six-Four-Eight March 5, 2272 1500 EST "The attack will commence in several phases." Admiral Barns' computerized tactical display lit up an area near the southern pole of the planet. "Phase One, three Drazi Sunhawks will jump to this location. Make it look like they're scouting out the area. For Phase Two," the display shifted frames to show new data. "The Minbari Cruiser Dukhat and two Brakiri Cruisers will jump to this location. Hopefully enough of their ships will have been sent after the Drazi and they can do what they need to. As far as we can tell the command and control systems for the planetary defense network are based on the surface. Phase Two ships will be tasked with destroying those." Barns paused and looked at the face's on the monitors in front of him. Some his friends, some people he knew, others people he'd never seen before. He felt for them all the same on this day. "Here's where things get interesting. The Drazi ships sent in earlier will break off and head for the planet's second, and coincidentally largest moon. Try to get as many of the enemy ships as possible to follow you. Head for the far side of the moon where one third of our forces led by the Valen's Hand will be waiting. Try and take out all of their ships that they send. If you come under too heavy of fire then jump out. Now, while that's going on, another fourth of our ships led by the Victory will jump into the system. They'll make themselves clearly visible to the enemy fleet and try to pull them away from the planet. Once they are far enough away, the rest of our ships, being led by me, will jump in behind them. If the Valen's Hand group finished off their targets early, then they are welcome to come join the fight. Once their space based defenses are wiped out, we'll bombard the planet targeting anything that may be a threat to our troops once they land." Barns' plan was clear and concise. No questions came from the Captain's in the fleet. "Admiral," Ranger Giovoni's voice came through the intercom. "We're approaching the target area." Barns deactivated everything he had been using and left the map room. The bridge of the Javert was quiet. No one turned from their duties when the Admiral walked onto the bridge and took his place in the captain's chair. The officer at the helm informed Barns that they had reached the target area. Now there was no turning back. Barns looked at his Army of Light uniform. Just as those that formed the original Army of Light did, they now launched a battle to fight for the future. A battle of good verses evil. A battle which may change the history of all the galaxy. Barns stood and walked slowly towards the front of the bridge. He took a brief moment to survey the bridge crew then gave his orders. "All hands man battle stations. Phase One ships take up jump position." The three Drazi ships moved ahead of the rest of the ships. A jump point ripped through hyperspace, connecting it and normal space. The Drazi ships shot through into normal space, causing the point to close and hyperspace to be whole again. "Admiral, the Valen's Hand reports that they're standing by to jump." Giovoni reported. Barns sat back down, resting his elbow on one the chair's arms. "Phase Two ships take up jump position. Valen's Hand good luck. You're clear to jump." The capitals ships, mediums ships and fighters broke off from the main fleet and entered formation. Several jump points formed and the ships shot out of hyperspace. Barns allotted a small amount of time for them to take up the positions they needed before ordering the Phase Two ships to jump and ordering the Victory to stand by. The Minbari Cruiser Dukhat and the two Brakiri Avoiki Cruisers jumped in close to the planet. As suspected there were no defense satellites or ships in the area. A barrage of neutron lasers and graviton beams rained down on the planet below. These struck their target causing it to turn into nothing but a smoldering pile of debris. "They've done it sir, the planetary defense network appears to be crashing." Giovoni reported, his voice beginning to have a measure of hope in it. "Tell them to jump out and hook up with the Valen's Hand as soon as possible. Status of Phase One ships?" The Admiral asked. "They're reporting that two squadrons of enemy gunboats and a destroyer are coming their way." "The Valen's Hand is in position?" This was one thing that they had to be sure on. Giovoni's only answer was a nod. Barns once again stood so he could examine the tactical display better. "Tell the Drazi ships to move to their position. Try and draw as much attention as possible." The Drazi Sunhawks sped away from the planet at high speeds. On their trip to the moon, they picked up several more enemy ships behind them. They managed to keep their distance from the enemies and entered the moon's shadow. Upon that, it did not take them long to reach the large group of Alliance ships which was lying in wait. "Phase One ships in position Captain. Keilmar ships shouldn't be very far behind." The Ranger operating the tactical station on the Valen's Hand reported. He had been serving on this ship since it was constructed. During his career as a Ranger, he had seen everything this galaxy could offer. The worst of what this galaxy could offer. Yet as he sat their now, he could feel the sweat accumulating on his forehead. "Standby to fire." Lochley ordered. She too was nervous, as she was sure the rest of the crew was. All she could do was wait. Wait out the seconds which seemed like hours, the minutes which seemed like days. "Here they come!" The first Keilmar ships approaching could be seen through the bridge's main viewport. They curved around the moon, their dark hulls completely unable to be seen because of the shadow of the moon. They were only visible due to the bright glow of their engines and running lights. Lochley wasted no time. "All ships fire at will!" Energy beams and pulses from the Alliance ships lashed forward. The first Keilmar ships which came around the moon were small, easy targets and quickly destroyed targets for the mass of fire. The destroyers, cruisers and battlecruisers which quickly followed would not allow themselves to be stopped by the massed amounts of energy poring from the Alliance ships. The Keilmar capital ships closed to close range with the Alliance ships, beam and pulse weapons firing. Due to the ship's advanced defensive systems, Captain Lochley could barely feel the impact of the Keilmar beam weapons against the hull. Through the forward viewport, a Keilmar Battlecruiser slowly closed in on them, weapons firing. The forward guns of the Valen's Hand attempted to stop the approaching ship. While fire from it and other ships in the fleet was causing a degree of visible damage, they knew it would not be destroyed in time enough to stop it's apparent suicide run on the lead Alliance ship. "Ready main guns." Lochley's voice did contain a degree of hesitation. Being put out of commission for a minute wasn't particularly appealing at this time." "Main guns ready!" The Ranger at the tactical station reported. Lochley watched again briefly as the large enemy ship continued it's unrelentling approach. "Fire!" Her voice carried with it an authority that many of the crew had not heard from her, or anyone else for the matter, before. Gold energy on the three focuses for the Valen's Hand's main energy beam. Three beams shot forward and joined in the front of the ship. One solid beam of energy lashed out from the ship, seconds later striking the Keilmar Battlecruiser. The beam burrowed through the hull of the enemy ship. It cut all the way through, hitting the reactor of the ship causing an explosion which finished the job of blowing the ship in half. Fighters and fast attack ships from the Alliance forces finished the job of destroyed the larger pieces of the ship. "Fifty seconds until power rebuild." For the remainder of that time, there was no sound on the bridge, with the exception of the sounds of weapon fire hitting the hull. For this small amount of time, the crew allowed themselves to be confined to their own thoughts. Thoughts of home, friends, family. Things they were fighting for. Things they may never see again. The battle raging outside could be seen in front of them. It seemed almost, pretty. Brilliant beams and pulses of light flew back and forth, locked in a brilliant battle. Explosions, medium, small and large lighting up the sky. The dazzling spectacle was enough to draw all eyes towards it. Suddenly, the lights on the bridge flickered back to life. "Power online." Lochley brought her mindset back to where it should be, commanding the battle. "Defensive guns target incoming fighters and gunboats. Main and aft guns, target enemy ships fire at will!" With those orders the Valen's Hand reentered the battle. A battle which was beginning to go in favor of the Alliance ships. "The Valen's Hand reports that the battle is starting to swing in their favor." Giovoni reported, a slight degree of optimism creeping into his voice. Barns remained focused on the task at hand. They still had a long way to go and from here on out it only got harder. "Tell the Victory that they are clear to jump." "The flagship has given us the order to jump." The Ranger at the communication console on the Victory's bridge reported. Captain MacDonald turned his chair to face the front of the bridge. "XO take us in." Commander MacKenzie stood from the console he was sitting at. "Tell the other ships to break formation with the main fleet and prepare to jump." MacKenzie was full of confidence as he watched the group of ships move away and take up their jump positions. He waited for the report that all ships were ready. "Jump!" Vortexes of blue and white energy cut through the blackness of space. Ships from all the Alliance member worlds, led by the ISAS Victory emerged from them into normal space. They quickly entered formation, fast attack ships and fighters taking point, smaller capital ships surrounding the larger ones. In orbit of the planet, the remaining Keilmar warships powered their engines and headed towards the Alliance ships. "Enemy ships on approach vector. Weapons and defenses fully powered." MacKenzie reported, studying a sensor display. "Launch fighters, red alert!" MacDonald watched for a small number of seconds as the enemy ships drew closer. "Warlocks and all other missile carrying ships, prepare for long range dispersal fire." He allowed them time to ready their missiles. "Pick your targets well, open fire!" A massive spread of missiles, large and small, flew away from the group of Alliance ships and towards the Keilmar. Defensive weapons on the Keilmar capital ships wasted no time in firing on the incoming missiles with their defensive guns. Many were cut to pieces before they reached the enemy fleet, many more impacted on target. The approaching Keilmar ships were damaged and shaken, but not deterred by the missile barrage. They continued their approach. Fighters moved in ahead of the main group, engaging the Alliance fighters and being sliced to pieces by the defense guns on the capital ships. The shaking caused by the impact of the enemy weapons was negligible. The Victory's defensive turrets were making short work of any Keilmar fighters that tried to attack it. MacDonald was concerned more with the approaching Keilmar capital ships. MacDonald opened a channel to the Alliance ships. "White Star Tactical Wing, see if you can open up a hole in their fleet's defenses. We'll then open fire with our heavy weapons." The White Star gunboats maneuvered through the spread of defensive and beam weapon fire coming from the Keilmar ships. They waited until they were close, very close to the Keilmar ships before firing with their neutron cannons and pulse batteries. The weapons hit but caused no considerable damage to the Keilmar ships. After firing for several seconds and evading enemy fire, the White Stars broke off from their attack run. Defensive fire followed them allowing for heavy weapon fire from the Alliance ships to easily penetrate their enemies' defensive screen. Barns watched as the battle unfolded on the computer display screen. "What's the status of the Valen's Hand?" He asked quietly. "Last time they checked in, the situation was well in hand." Giovoni reported. Barns turned away from the display screen and faced the front of the bridge. "All right, take us in." Within a matter of seconds, the swirling vortex of red energy which was hyperspace transformed into the blackness and stars that was normal space. As the ship moved slightly, the aft end of the Keilmar fleet battling the Victory's fleet became visible. Barns' heart raced as the computer display to his left side showed that the ship's weapons had locked on to an enemy target. He clenched his fist. "All ships, all weapons, fire!" Massive spreads of energy and missiles lashed forth from the Alliance ships towards the Keilmar. Explosions ripped through the Keilmar ships, turning once large and overwhelming capital ships into fireballs. Smaller explosions of fighters and gunboats rippled through the mass of enemy ships. The Keilmar ships that were not destroyed by massed fire from the Alliance ships were quickly finished off by White Stars and fighters. "All ships report area clear. Sensors detect no additional Keilmar ships in the area." The bridge of the Javert remained silent when Giovoni finished his report. The crew were not for sure how exactly to take this. Barns thought to himself briefly. It all seemed a bit too easy. "Have all ships take up planetary assault positions and begin landing troops." The Alliance fleet slowly closed on the planet. The loose formation they were holding made it more difficult for the reactivated planetary defense satellites to lock on. Spreads of torpedo and beam weapon fire lit up the sky. The Alliance ships initiated evasive maneuvers and returned fire with their weapons at full force. To the surprise, and notable relief, of many in the fleet, the defense network did not put up much of a fight. They were quickly vanquished by fire from the Alliance ships, barely scoring any kills of their own. The only amount of notable damage caused by the satellites was to knock out the defensive guns of the Javert. "Defensive guns off-line. No other notable damage. Troops beginning to land." Barns walked to the front of the bridge and rested his hands on the two chairs. "Provide our troops down there with as much support as possible. Tell them to report in every ten minu........" Barns was interrupted when the ship shook underneath him. Giovoni answered the Admiral's question before it was asked. "We've got three Keilmar gunboats attacking us sir." Giovoni wanted to be able to do more than order fighters and White Stars to engage as the ship shook again. He had always been a good gunner and now was completely helpless. The attack continued for less than a minute before the gunboats broke off. The reason for this could only be seen as the gunboats were leaving and it was heading for the Javert. "We've got a breaching pod coming in!" The pod attached itself to the hull only a deck below the bridge. Keilmar soldiers, covered in large, bright, silver armor pored onto the ship, shooting their way through any resistance. The bridge was immediately sealed off. Barns and the others showed no fear as the Keilmar cut their way through the doors. Smoke filled the bridge as the doors collapsed. Keilmar soldiers filed in, steadying their guns, aiming at the crew. When the final Keilmar, a command figure of some type, walked in, he put his weapon over his shoulder and pointed towards Barns. "Him!" The Keilmar declared to his troops. Two of the Keilmar troops ran forward. Barns did not know what to think in the last few seconds he could. The Keilmar used a device which fired two beams of energy into his eyes, causing him to pass out. Giovoni and others of the crew tried to fight the Keilmar, tried to keep them from taking the Admiral but it was of no use. One swung him over his shoulder and carried him off to the breaching pod. The Alliance ships could not risk firing as it would be too likely to destroy the pod. Conveniently enough, a jump point opened precisely when the Keilmar breaching pod needed it to. On the Javert's bridge, no one was quite sure what to do. They stood in a silent shock of what had just occurred. They could have easily destroyed the ship when they were onboard but all they did was take one person. One single person. "Giovoni to Valen's Hand." He waited for the reply from Captain Lochley. "We have a problem." Space Station Babylon 5 Orbit of Epsilon 3 March 6, 2272 2330 EST ISN had not broken the news yet, doubtful they even knew the news yet. It was surprising that the Intelligence update from Earth even included it. Admiral Jerry Barns, hero of the Telepath War, brave warrior against the Drahk, the first supreme commander of the Interstellar Alliance military forces, had been captured while leading an attack against a Keilmar base. It surprised him none to see that those were the only comments on it. He was out of the way. The one who had been the thorn in his side for so many, so many years was now out of his way. Without him, she was his. She was his and only his. He was no longer there to stand in the way. gb "There is always hope - only because it's the one thing no one's figured out how to kill yet." Techno-Mage Galen "Babylon Project Crusade" ICQ # 8694414 Visit all of these. My Home Page--Go To The Links Page For More http://www.angelfire.com/sk/boshears/