From: "Neil Collins" Subject: Fighting What Cannot Be Fought Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 20:57:05 +1100 Fighting What Cannot Be Fought By Daniel Collins. * * * * * * * * * * Continuing from Consequences... * * * * * * * * * * The Earth Alliance didn't need anyone to spell it out that they were losing the war against the Minbari, there appeared to be no way in hell of winning, or even taking out one of their cruisers. Sure, the Prometheus did it, but the Minbari weren't prepared then, and now they are? Since the major loss at Centirss, the Earth Alliance has fallen back further still, the Minbari are conquering what is lost. The casualties are high, and Earth isn't far from attack, Now nearing the end of 2246, how far will the war go? * * * * * * * * * * "Everyone re group!" A Starfury maneuvers drastically through a field of Minbari fighters, all attacking the lone fighter. "Everyone keep heading this way, only a few more minutes to the jump point!" Several more Starfuries close in on his position, two are destroyed by enemy fire. They are obviously outnumbered. "No, you keep going, we'll hold them off!" "Why? I'm of no importance!" "You go!" As the Starfuries thunder away from the Minbari warships, two turn around, one is destroyed but the other charges toward a large cruiser. "No, stay with us!" "Take this you bastards!!!" The Starfury's afterburners hit full and charge the fighter into the hull of a Minbari cruiser. It takes damage, but still manages to survive. "He's gone," replies one of the other escorts. "Not far to the jump point now!" The three remaining Starfuries head toward a stationary jump point, "Set jump point sequence, destination, Sector 15" The Jump point's lights activate the vortex into Hyperspace and the Starfuries fly in to it, saved from the Minbari. It would be about two hours before dropping out of Hyperspace in Sector 15, but at least there were no Minbari ships awaiting them. * * * * * * * * * * Two hours in Hyperspace was enough to put you to sleep, but in these times of war, that was impossible! As the red glow of Hyperspace disappeared, and four metallic arms pass by, a small glittering beacon lies in wait. The three Starfuries move in toward the object, which, as it gets larger, becomes an Earth Alliance cruiser. The Agamemnon. "Escort wing requesting clearance to Return To Base." "Granted Escort wing, welcome home!" On the bridge of the Agamemnon, everything's in order, everyone happily working away. Well, happily might not be the right word, but everything appears to be normal. Captain Sheridan, in the center of it all, just sat in his chair, taking everything in. "Sir," the Communications officer called. Sheridan responded, "What is it?" "It's Earthdome, Sir, Priority One message for you." "Put it through to the Ready Room." "Aye, Sir." Sheridan's ready room was well set out, everything had it's own place, if it didn't belong there, it didn't go there. Sheridan looked at his monitor, and a familiar face appears, Senator Yedeki. "Captain." Yedeki said, as a greeting. "What can I do for you Senator?" Sheridan asked. "Well, your escorts reported a disturbance near Earth, is that correct?" "Yes, Senator, but.." "The Agamemnon will go there and lead a fleet against their Armada." "But, Senator, we don't have any way of targeting their cruisers, put short we're firing blanks and sitting ducks." "The Agamemnon is the most powerful ship in the fleet, and the closest to that Armada. Now if you can't do it, I'll give the command to someone who can." "No, I'll do it, now what are the details?" * * * * * * * * * * Sheridan walked back onto the bridge. The crew looked up at him. He didn't look too pleased, and said with determination, "Lay in a course for the Terran System." "Aye, Sir." "Sir, that was where..." "You needn't remind me Ensign, I'm well aware of what happened there not long ago." Sheridan said, sitting in his chair. "Let's get this over with." he said to the crew. The Agamemnon launched it's Hyperspace buoy, and the Vortex into Hyperspace opened. The cruiser moved in and disappeared. It would now be two hours before dropping back into normal space. Sheridan just sat in his chair, thinking. He was really reflecting on his orders, they were odd for EarthForce, but then, the current situation is odd too. "Keep me posted on the situation near Earth." he said, "I want to know what's going on, or if they're moving away." "Aye, Sir, will do!" Navigation replied. * * * (1 hour later) * * * Sheridan was almost glued to his chair, had it not been for the fact that he got up a few times to sign some documents or look at some sensor readouts, he'd probably already become part of the chair. It was still another hour before dropping out of Hyperspace, the forward viewscreen just showed the strange red and black glow of the phenomenon. Sheridan hated being given orders, and then being sworn to secrecy until it's too late. It didn't seem right, and right now, Sheridan wanted to alert the crew. But then, the mission wouldn't go ahead... * * * * * * * * * * The Minbari fleet was moving toward the Terran system slowly. They weren't in too much of a hurry, but on their continued course, eventually, the fleet would reach Earth. The Terran system was an ideal place to wage a battle, there was an asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter, and several other obstacles. In the Asteroid Field, a jump point begins to form, and the large Earth Alliance vessel Agamemnon drops into normal space. "Report." Sheridan said, getting out of his chair. "Minbari vessels detected three light years away, they haven't seen us." Navigation replied. "Prepare to mine the area as quickly as possible." Sheridan said. "Aye, Sir." she complied. "Prepare all mines." "Mines are ready to be launched." a call came back. "Deploy the field." Sheridan ordered. "How long until the Minbari are in range and will detect our movements?" "Another few hours, their fleet is moving quite slowly, Sir." "Good, all the time we need." The Agamemnon moved in toward the Asteroid Field and began deploying mines. Their destructive capabilities would be enough to take out an entire fleet. That's what they intended to do... * * * * * * * * * * The Agamemnon continued laying it's mine field, the time it would take to complete the field was unknown to her crew, but they were doing their best to get it done well in advance of the Minbari fleet, which was still moving through at their slow pace. Captain Sheridan was hoping that a starship of some great importance would be among the fleet, that way, the Earth Alliance would be able to have not only a victory, but a glorious victory as some would put it. What Sheridan didn't realize was that the fleet was moving slowly because the Minbari Flagship was part of it. The flagship carried a large amount of crew, passengers, diplomatic personnel and important religious icons to the Minbari people. The starship that held all of this, and lead the Minbari fleet at this time was the 'Blackstar', and she was one of the most heavily armed Minbari cruisers that the Earth Alliance would come across... "Sir," Navigation called. "The field is almost ready." "Good, notify Escort Wing One to go out toward the Minbari fleet and take a closer look, and I want them ALL back alive!" "Aye, Sir." Five fighters launched from the Agamemnon and headed out of the Asteroid field toward the Minbari fleet. The thing with getting to close to an enemy was that, usually, they DO fire at you, and the chances of five Starfuries surviving an attack from a Minbari fleet was to great, against. The fighters moved toward the large fleet, and as soon as they were sighted, they were fired upon by the Minbari fighters, escorting the 'Blackstar'. Maneuvering further into the fleet, the Starfuries returned fire, but as usual, the targeting scanners couldn't lock onto the Minbari fleet, "What's happening?" Sheridan called to them. "Sir, it's the same old story, we can't target their ships." "How many ships are there?" "About fifteen to twenty, possibly more, Sir." "Good, return to base as quickly as you can." "Gladly." The five fighters were well surrounded by the Minbari fighters, but as soon as a clear window formed in front of them, they hit afterburner and headed back toward the asteroid field. The Blackstar obviously had other plans as it opened fire on the fighters, one was hit, and suffered minimal damage, the next shot from the Blackstar saw the destruction of the same Starfury. The remaining four fighters continued at full speed to the asteroid field, with Minbari fighters behind them. One Starfury was taken out. Then another, and then, all of them were destroyed. Now, it was all up to the Agamemnon, It was the only hope left... * * * * * * * * * * The Agamemnon picked up the last words of the escort wing they sent out not long ago. The Minbari had obviously destroyed them without thinking twice. Now, it was time for the Agamemnon to finish the icing on the cake. "The mine field is deployed, any ship that flies into one will be destroyed." "Good. Move us beyond the field, and prepare a message." Sheridan said. "Aye, Sir." The vast field of mines lay scattered through the asteroids, no one would notice they were there. The Agamemnon moved away, onto the opposite side to the Minbari fleet. "We're in a safe position, message ready." "Make it sound as though we're in trouble." Sheridan said. "Aye, Sir, static and intermittent black outs initiated." "Good. Ready?" "Yes." "Mayday, mayday, we require assistance, help required, ship is badly damaged, several dead or severely injured, we need help." Sheridan said. "They should be getting something like that now." "We're being hailed by the Minbari fleet." "Let's hear it." Sheridan said triumphantly. "Unidentified vessel. Please identify yourself." a male voice came over the speaker. "This is the cargo vessel, Stockholm, we need assistance, all systems malfunctioning, hull breach, we need help!" Sheridan replied. "You're quite convincing, Sir." navigation said. "Standby," the Minbari representative said. "What is your location?" "Two Three Nine, by Three by Four." Sheridan said, reading the computer panel displaying their position. "Good, that should take them right through the heart of the mine field." "We'll be with you shortly, standby." the Minbari replied. "Sir, they're not taking any chances, the whole fleet is heading this way." "Good, that means more victories." Sheridan thought. "It won't be long now." * * * * * * * * * * * * * Earthdome * * * On Earth, everyone was waiting in anticipation of what was happening just near Jupiter, the Agamemon at last report had deployed the field, now it wouldn't be long before the result came through. As the rest of the planet prepared for the new year celebration, everyone in Earthdome just sat in front of the main viewer, waiting... To the rest of the planet, going into 2247 was a time of joy, even though a war was out there. Last year, when the war was young, everyone was tense, but now no one cares. No one knows of what the Agamemnon is doing, no one cares. * * * * * * * * * * In space, everything works differently. But still, some people aboard the Agamemnon were getting ready for the New Year celebration too. Of course, the Minbari year would be different to Earth's, so there was no celebrating. The Blackstar lead the fleet into the asteroid field. Cautiously maneuvering through toward the Agamemnon, or in this case, the Stockholm's position. The Agamemnon just sat there, in wait for the Minbari fleet to meet it's destruction. Sheridan looked up at the clock, 23:58:07, he thought to himself, just how much of a victory would this be? And then, realised that there was no escape for the Agamemnon if something went wrong. "How long before they enter the field?" Sheridan asked to clear his mind. "About 1 and a half minutes." "Good, the sooner it's over, the sooner we can go." The moments in wait were tense, and long. Seconds seemed to turn into minutes. The Minbari fleet continued toward the asteroid field, without knowledge of the destruction they were about to meet, The clock read: 23:59:45, The Blackstar entered the Asteroid Field, 23:59:51 The fleet had now well entered the field, the mines would soon explode. Sheridan sat, leaning forward in his chair, fist clenched. 23:59:56 He looked into the viewer, and caught sight of the first mine, and the Blackstar. His fist tightened more, and he said, "Happy New Year you bastards!" * * * * * * * * * * To Be Continued... * * * * * * * * * * Many of you may well know how the story will turn out, but the suspense keeps us going. Find out where Earth is headed in the continuation to the Earth Minbari War, where the year will be 2247. * * * * * * * * * * All Comments and Suggestions welcome!