⦁ EARTHDATE: LATE 2267 ⦁ ⦁ EXTREMELY HIGH ORBIT – EARTH, SOL SYSTEM ⦁ E.A.S. EXCALIBUR – PROTOTYPE I.S.A. WARSHIP “The impact must have activated the mechanism prematurely. Sheridan to Fleet Command. Everyone clear out. I repeat: evacuate the area. Get us the hell out of here, fast!” he ordered as he retook his seat on the bridge of the Excalibur. As the ship’s helm brought her about, nuclear missiles, thousands of them, began to move on all sides. The combined InterStellar Alliance/EarthForce fleet engaged their engines at maximum burn to get out of the area. As they burned, fleeing the area that was momentarily to become hotter then the core of any stellar fragment as thousands of warheads at thousands of megatons detonated, the enemy ships continued to take shots at them, for the moment not realizing that their own weapon was about to incinerate their own fleet. Moments before the final part of the mechanism moved into position, forever closing off the sole exit from the area, the last remaining Omega-Class Earth Force Destroyers and the sole remaining ISA heavy cruiser escaped, barely avoiding the nuclear funeral pyre that was about to ignite. Behind them, hundreds of enemy ships were disrupted into their component molecules as a nuclear shockwave equivalent to a small supernova went off in Earth-orbit. A joyous celebration throughout the combined fleet lasted but mere seconds as they realized the worst was yet to begin. “Sir, Look!” the Excalibur’s helmswoman said as the remainder of the invasion fleet broke from the battle area and continued on an intercept course with Earth. As they approached Earth-orbit, the planetary defense grid began to open fire: thousands of high-acceleration nuclear missiles, combined with solar and fusion-powered particle beams exploded outward from the grid in geo-synchronous orbit: annihilating some of the enemy ships; knocking others down, to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. Those that made it through the defense grid slowed, taking up Earth-orbit trajectories. As they adjusted their velocities and headings, the enemy ships opened a multitude of ports along the outer edges of their hulls and began to dump billions of trillions of cubic yards of an unknown substance into Earth’s atmosphere. As the ships began to dump their poison, the orbital weapons platforms readjusted their targeting alignments, moving themselves into position to take out the enemy ships already in earth orbit below them. As the ships continued their dumping, the platforms began to shower them with missiles and opened up with the particle beams reconfigured for short range fire, which would disperse in the upper atmosphere if they missed a space-borne target. As the grid continued to hammer the fleet, the brilliant blue sapphire of earth; which normally hung in the vastness of space, shining like a beacon in the night; began to turn dirty, as though no one had dusted the jewel in eons. The blues and greens turned muted shades, and the white clouds turned brown. “What is it? What happened?” Dureena Nafeel asked, looking around at the now sickened and distraught faces of the Earth crew around her. Looking back at President Sheridan, the look on his face only confirmed that something terrible had in fact happened right in front of them. Not knowing the true nature of what had just befallen their home planet, the Earth crew could only stare in disbelief as the cloud enveloped the Earth. ⦁ L3 ORBITAL POSITION - EPSILON ERIDANI C (EPSILON 3) ⦁ O’NEIL-TYPE SPACE STATION - BABYLON 5: INDEPENDENT AFFILIATION As the massive station rotated along its central axis, the President of the Interstellar Alliance, the Earthforce Captain of Babylon 5, and the head of Edgar-Garibaldi Industries met to discuss the situation after the battle. No one celebrated the defeat of the Shadow planet-killer… the Drahk had proven more resourceful than anyone had expected, taking a two-pronged attack against the home planet of the Earth Alliance and the human race. Sheridan looked out the office window, staring into the cylinder where a quarter million humans and aliens sought a better world for each other; a view he knew so well as former commanding officer and military governor of Babylon 5. “The Romans had a phrase for it. They called it ‘poisoning the well’. What they couldn’t conquer, they killed. After they were driven from an area, they literally poisoned the well so no one else could live there either. It’s the ultimate act of spite. If they can’t have it, no one can,” John Sheridan, President of the Interstellar Alliance said soberly. “So they’ve finished analyzing whatever it was the Drahk sprayed into Earth’s atmosphere?” Captain Elizabeth Lockley asked as she sat at her desk. After Sheridan had led a fleet into Earth space to force the removal of William Jefferson Clark from the office of the Presidency of the Earth Alliance, he had resigned from Earthforce to protect the crew under his command from retaliation. Unlike Sheridan or Garibaldi, neither of who ever rejoined Earthforce, Lockley had not taken up arms against the sitting government and still wore the navy blue uniform of the Earthforce navy. Directly above her chair hung the gold-painted cast logo of the Earth Alliance. “It’s a biogenetic plague,” Sheridan said, pausing to steel himself for the rest of the information. “Earth has been completely quarantined: no one is allowed in or out. The death cloud was the only one the Drahk had left; but it wasn’t the last weapon in their arsenal. From the complexity of its structure, the bio-weapons division back home thinks the plague was probably engineered by the Shadows,” he finished explaining. “How much time do they have?” Michael asked, speaking up for the first time. Citizen of Mars by choice, he still felt his humanity for the people still on Earth. Obviously expecting the question, Sheridan turned back towards the office’s two other occupants. A small, grim smile flashed upon his face for a nanosecond, just long enough to fortify his spirit for the forthcoming information. “This looks like the only bright spot in this,” he said, walking towards Lockley’s desk. “Apparently the Drahk didn’t have time to finish adjusting it to our biology… or they just didn’t know how. But either way, it’s going to take time for the plague to adjust to a new host. Now they’re saying five years; could be less: and some people will be affected by it sooner then others. But probably five years is… is the best guess for now.” “And at the end of five years?” Lockley asked, trying to understand just how serious the situation was. It took John a second to gain the nerve to say out loud what everyone already ‘knew’. “Every man, woman and child of Earth… will be dead,” he said, pausing for a moment. “Unless they can find a cure,” he added, trying to inject some glimmer of hope for his home planet. “John, if the plague was created by Shadow technology, centuries ahead of our own… how do they plan to solve it in five years?” Garibaldi asked, trying to figure out if any work had already been done. Sheridan just shook his head before answering. “They can’t. But since this came to us from outside,” he paused, the implications of his idea racing through his mind. “Then maybe we can find a cure out there. I mean we know that there are other races as old as the Shadows, one of them must have found a cure. We’ll find them… We have to,” he finished with both desperation and determination flooding his voice. “I’ve told President Luchenko that we’ll put all the resources of the Alliance and the WhiteStar fleet at their disposal. We’ll turn the Excalibur into a traveling research vessel, manned by the best crew we can find. The Rangers will search every corner of space, looking for clues to a cure; then the Excalibur and her crew will go in to follow it up. Legend said that one day the real Excalibur would return in our greatest hour of need… I guess this is it,” John paused. “What about the rest of the new fleet you were building?” Lockley asked, trying to find some ray of hope. “The Drahk hit the construction dock on their way out. Years of work wiped out in a second. Oh, we’ll start over, but it will take time. Until then, the Excalibur is the only one of her kind. Those who command the Excalibur will never stop, never give up, and never slow down until a cure is found. And we’ll take whatever help we can get, wherever and whoever it comes from. Because this is a cause that surpasses borders and differences, and distrust. This is a mission about the survival of Earth itself. What we do over the next five years, here, at home, and across the darkness between the stars: will determine whether an entire world will live, or die. It’s a fight we can’t afford to lose. And we won’t… we won’t. ⦁ DEEP, DEEP SPACE - UNEXPLORED, NEUTRAL TERRITORY VICTORY–CLASS DESTROYER: E.A.S. EXCALIBUR – ON LOAN TO EARTH FORCE It didn’t take long for the fighting to begin. Very few members of the Earth Senate had been off-world when the Drahk had attacked. Those that had survived the quarantine found themselves representing the entire Earth Alliance. Though the power legally belonged to Susana Luchenko of the Russian Consortium, it had rapidly become obvious that the members of the Senate off-world held the true power of the Alliance. For the first time in their history, the people of Earth had to look beyond themselves for survival. As the mission began to form, an Explorer-Class star ship was contacted and ordered back to Earth Space. When fears of their mission mounted, Captain Matthew Gideon barely managed to stand down a mutiny from his crew. Upon return to Mars orbit; where the members of EarthGov that were off planet had gathered; Captain Gideon found himself transferred to the command of the newly re-commissioned Earth Alliance starship E.A.S. Excalibur. Within hours, Gideon had shown why he was resented as being the commander of this mission. While the crew was being assembled in Mars orbit, Gideon and several EarthGov Senators were in negotiations with alien governments for passage through their space. When challenged on access to Drazi space, Gideon tried to use sheer force of personality to get his way. In the end, a bet was made. In exchange for free travel through the space of several of the new Interstellar Alliance members, Gideon was forced to accept that if the Excalibur failed in her mission to find a cure by the end of four years, he and his crew would have to stand guard in Earth-orbit, shooting down any and all ships attempting to leave the quarantine, as people began to panic and tried to flee before the five years ended. Mission after mission, bits and pieces were discovered as to the nature of the plague. Bit by bit, Earth scientists discovered how the disease spread and how it infected a host organism. But, after logging over three thousand lightyears, claiming sixteen first contacts and seventy-five archeological discoveries, the crew was no closer to a cure then they had been three years, seven months and sixteen days ago. Even as they continued to hunt, Gideon expected the call from President Sheridan that the ISA members were demanding his return to Earth space to uphold his end of his bargain. The call came thirty-four days later. Though, no one knew then that the outcome would be far different from what they expected. “Where are you going?” Gideon called as Galen walked off the bridge as the Excalibur pulled out of orbit of their latest target. “On a hunt. This place brought back memories of a place that may help us. I need to do some… some research.” “When will you be back? Who knows how long we have left before those misguided political nimrods in the ISA Senate force me to uphold my end of that damned bet,” Gideon shouted after the departing technomage. “As I’ve said before… in the fullness of time,” he explained in a deep foreboding voice, before continuing much move jovially. “Expect me when you see me.” As Galen’s ship left the hanger deck, a message came in. “Captain, I’m receiving a message from President Sheridan,” the young female lieutenant at the communications station called across the bridge. “Well, so the time is now. Put it on the main screen,” Gideon said, smirking to himself with the new idea on how to get around his bet began to form in his mind. ⦁ I.S.A. HEADQUARTERS - TUZI’NOR, MINBARI HOMEWORLD OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERSTELLAR ALLIANCE “We demand that Captain Gideon be recalled to Earth IMMEDIATELY. Your ISN reported three more vessels had to be destroyed by your own defense grid as they tried to break the quarentine yesterday. It is obvious that the time has come for a destroyer to be moved into orbit to protect the rest of the Alliance,” the Drazi Ambassador, Zakirn, shouted across the Senate Chambers. “Now wait just a minute…” President Sheridan, now serving his second six-year term as President, exclaimed angrily. “Mr. President, it’s not just the other ISA-member worlds that are at risk. Your own colony worlds such as Mars, Io, and Proxima are all at risk if the plague is allowed to spread. You must see that this action, however despicable, is necessary. To protect the Interstellar Alliance as well as the remaining portions of your own Earth Alliance,” the Gaim ambassador explained, politely, calmly and diplomatically. “Captain Gideon agreed to our terms and we permitted the most powerful warship in existence, now that the First Ones are gone, to cruise through our territories unmolested and unchallenged. This ship did not even have observers from our worlds aboard. It doesn't even report to you, but to the Earth Alliance. This was the price to which Gideon agreed. It’s now time to pay your debt,” the ambassador from the Brikari added. Shaking his head, silently cursing Gideon to hell and back, President John Sheridan could see no way to find an out to this… disaster. Lifting his head to the assembled ambassadors of the Alliance, he could see sympathy but no faces that would stand up and allow the Excalibur to continue its mission. “Very well. I’ll place the call this afternoon.” At that moment, the Senate Chambers doors flew open and a Drazi Ranger flew into the room, followed by the small form of Sheridan’s four-year old son, David, and immediately there-after by, Aaron, David’s personal bodyguard. “What the hell?!?!?!” both Sheridan and Zakirn both shouted simultaneously. Aaron looked directly at Sheridan, smiled meekly and shrugged his shoulders. For his part, John just smiled and lifted his eyebrows as his son came tearing down the isle toward the president’s podium. “I demand an explanation for this,” Zakirn insisted obnoxiously. “It’s obviously simple ambassador, he,” Aaron explained, pointing to the Drazi Ranger, not even trying to be diplomatic, “attempted to place his hand on President Sheridan’s son.” “Daddy. It’s important. Lennier has spotted a two space boat.” “Two… space… boat?” Sheridan said completely puzzled. “Yes, just like the art fact that was brought to baby lon fide,” David’s English was a bit slow since he was learning both it and Minbari. “The artfact that was brought to Babylon five…” John said absently, his mind twisting, turning, trying to decrypt the truth. “A boat is a ship… a two-space ship…” the truth dawning on John’s face. “This session of the Alliance Senate is closed. We’ll reconvene at a later time,” he said as he walked out, leaving the Alliance members speechless at his abrupt departure. “Mr. President, I have a message from…” his assistant started as John entered his office. “I know, that’s why I’m here instead of the Senate Chambers,” John said, irritated. “Play the message in my office.” “Yes, Mr. President,” Turell answered somewhat sheepishly. “Mr. President. I am currently one jump behind an unknown vessel on a course that seems to be riding the Babylon 5 hyperspace beacon. This vessel is emitting a type of radiation I have only seen once before… when the Third Space artifact was activated. Also, the ship registers as a shadow vessel, but the sensor readings look more like the Destroyers Clark outfitted with Shadow technology. We are currently moving only slightly faster than the hyperspace drift. We should arrive at the beacon in approximately forty-five hours. Lennier, Anlo’Shok, end report. We live for the one… we die for the one.” As the screen went dark, Delenn turned to Sheridan, who was as white as a ghost, and spoke only one word… “Thirdspace.” “Scramble ALL Alliance forces for Babylon 5. I’ll contact President Luchenko and see how many Earth Destroyers I can get involved. Thank the First Ones we returned the station to Earth last year, it will give them some incentive to help defend it,” John said, moving toward his desk. Delenn, for her part, bowed her head in silent acknowledgement to his orders before leaving the room taking David with her, realizing that he spoke to her not as his wife, but as his Vice President of the Alliance. “EarthGov, office of the President of the Earth Alliance, how can I help you?” a nameless secretary asked when the link over the StellarCom system was established. “This is President Sheridan of the Interstellar Alliance. Please let the President know I MUST speak with her immediately, the security of the Earth Alliance as well as Babylon 5 are at stake,” John said as full of authority as possible, fully expecting to be stalled for quite some time. “Yes of course Mr. President.” Which was the very last response that Sheridan expected, so much so that it caused him to do a double take at the screen before him. “President Sheridan, its good to see you well,” the new lady on the screen said, her voice thick with a Russian accent. “And you as well, Madam President.” “What can the Earth Alliance do for our friends and allies in the Interstellar Alliance?” President Luchenko asked, somewhat depressed. “First, I need all ships you can get to B5 in the next 44 hours. I just received a report that a ship having properties matching the Thirdspace artifact as well as Shadow ships is enroute to the Babylon 5 hyperspace beacon.” “You have it Mr. President. There are… thirty-six destroyers within that range. I’m cutting Ultra-Gold Priority change-of-orders to them now,” Susano said gravely, understanding the potential threat this represented. “Thank you for trusting me Madam President. I appreciate it very much,” John replied equally seriously and with just a touch of relief. “You made mention of a second favor. I figured it made sense to just agree to request number one to get to the real meat and potatoes.” “Meat and potatoes… you have no idea how much I could go for a nice New York Strip steak right about now,” John joked, trying to delay the second part as long as possible. “President Sheridan, I appreciate the intensity of your job. Running an alliance like the ISA can hardly be considered easy, however that doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize a stall when I see one.” “Very well. I hate this part of the job… relaying bad news. What I’m about to say is almost as painful as notifying the family of the loss of their son or daughter. Earlier today, the InterStellar Alliance Senate voted unanimously, and overrode my veto, to recall Gideon and force him to uphold his end of his bet he made four years ago.” “I ah, well, that is, I guess its not to be unexpected. I’m guessing ISN’s report last night was the final straw.” “Unfortunately, that is correct. Now look, I’m not giving up hope and neither should you,” John said compassionately. For her part, Susano Luchenko looked at John with large sad eyes that spoke volumes more than her words would ever say. “You are of course correct Mr. President. However, if you will excuse me, I have someone’s butt to hand them.” “Of course. I’ll contact you personally once we finish at Babylon 5.” “Thank you Mr. President. Luchenko, EarthGov, out.” ⦁ OFFICE OF THE MILITARY GOVERNOR - BABYLON 5 ⦁ PERSONAL OFFICE OF CAPTAIN ELIZABETH LOCKLEY “Mister President. How about informing me the next time you discover a threat to the station, especially one this great?” Lockley steamed as Sheridan looked on from the WhiteStar’s bridge. “Captain Lockley, while I appreciate your concern, bare in mind the delay was in calling for re-enforcements for you, not just twiddling my thumbs. We needed to give as much time to EarthGov as possible, in order to assemble as many destroyers as possible. As soon as I got aboard the Whitestar, I called you,” Sheridan said, the stress he was under giving way to a bit more bluntness than normal… even for him. “I… apologize for my… misdirected anger Mr. President,” Lockley said, trying to diplomatically defuse the situation. “Excellent diplomatic parry Captain,” Sheridan complimented, allowing a small smile. “Expect us in approximately twelve hours.Delenn and I will come aboard to plan the battle with you and Gideon, who should be there within ten hours.” “You are bringing Gideon in on this? I would have thought he needed to stay on the frontier,” Elizabeth asked, shocked that Sheridan would call in the Excalibur when she was needed most. “You mistake my actions for desires. The Alliance members forced my hand on this one Captain. See you when we get there, Sheridan out. ⦁ HYPERSPACE, ENROUTE TO BABYLON 5 – 8hrs. AWAY ⦁ E.A.S. EXCALIBUR – BRIDGE “You think Galen will show up to help out?” Lieutenant Matheson, the first officer, asked as he worked his way around the bridge, checking on battle readiness procedures. “I doubt it. He said he had some research to do. That alone could take days. Besides, ship to ship combat is not Galen’s style. You might say he is more a covert operative if anything. And if you are listening in, no offense is intended by that,” Gideon said, just incase. Pausing a moment, just to see if there was a bug on the bridge. With no smart response forth-coming, he opened his mouth to continue. “None taken Mathew. You are correct, my ship is not a warship… more of a bumble bee if anything. Besides, my skills would be useless against a full-size warship. I’ll see you on the other side,” his disembodied voice called from no where in particular… probably having tapped into the Excalibur’s shipcom to talk to Gideon. “I really hate it when he does that,” Gideon chided. “I can tell,” John said with a smirk of understanding. “What’s our status?” “All systems are at maximum battle readiness. All weapons systems are charged and ready. Fighters are fueled and ready for combat, all pilots are resting for maximum effectiveness,” John answered confidently. “Hmmm good. Well, you have the bridge. If the pilots are resting, it’s probably wise to have the captain equally rested. Call me in six, then you can take some down time once we get to B5.” “Aye, sir.” Seven hours later, Gideon’s intercom chirps him out of a dream. Sitting up, he grabs his communicator, glancing at the chronometer. “This had better be an apology John.” “After a fashion; I fell asleep in your chair,” he replied with a smile in his voice. “Very well, hit the sack. I promise to wake you BEFORE the fight is over. I’ll see you in ten.” “See you then. Bridge out.” Before his Exec could even make it to his quarters, Gideon summoned his friend and executive officer back to the bridge. “We’re still twenty minutes away, but I got to thinking. If we're on the B5 beacon and the other ship is as well, we might be able to get some sensor images, something that we can give to President Sheridan when we jump to normal space.” “Excellent thought. I’ll get right on it,” Matheson said as he made a beeline to the science station. “Full sensors. I want to know everything that’s around us.” “Aye, sir,” the lieutenant at the sensor station answered. “I have a bogie on sensors, travelling just a tiny bit faster than the drift, on a direct course for the gate. It’s showing sensor readings similar to Shadow, Drahk and Thirdspace vessels, but not exactly like any of them. I’m picking up several individual lifesigns. They're too far to determine type, but I also appear to be getting lifesigns from the ship itself. Ah, captain, I’m reading sensor-echos coming our way.” “Maximum burn. Get us to Babylon 5 NOW!” Gideon called. “Six minutes to the gate.” “Stand-by on the jumpgate sequence. Hail B5 CinC now.” “Babylon 5, Command in Control online,” Lieutenant Corwin announced over the radio link. “Babylon 5, this is Captain Gideon, EAS Excalibur. We have some sensor readings of the ship. We are now… four minutes from the gate. Have Sheridan and Lockley meet me in the Captain’s office in seven minutes.” “Acknowledged Excalibur. Sheridan and Lockley are waiting for you at this moment. Once you jump to normal space, expect our defense grid to come online,” Seth warned them, letting them know they weren’t going to be the station’s target. “Understood. See you in three minutes. Excalibur out.” When the Excalibur jumped to normal space, she was greeted by quite an armada. The area of space controlled by Babylon 5 was crowded with twenty-three one-mile-long “Omega” class Earth Force Destroyers, six of the new “Warlock” class Destroyers and more than one hundred of the Interstellar Alliance “WhiteStar” destroyers. Add in the mile and a half long Excalibur and any enemy ship would have to be absolutely insane to think they could win a firefight. Little did anyone know that a firefight was the last thought on the minds of the crew of that ship; inbound, still twelve hours away from the jumpgate.