Craig Gallant wrote up this excellent battle report.
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Clausen stood on the refurbished command dais of the EAS Lugh staring out at the master command screen on the forward bulkhead of the bridge. It was a beautiful sight to a proud Earth-first human. A sight to stir the soul.
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Task Force Echo swam through the dust-scattered space of Sub-sector 210-Z1. The collected Earthforce strength of Sector 210, drawn up in concentrated convoy order because of the close confines of the local dust clouds and asteroid fields. Still, Clausen thought it was an impressive sight.
Leading the Task Force on either flank were the Artemis Heavy Frigates Diana and Huntress. Sensors probing ahead, searching for the snake-head destroyer that had sent the Lugh fleeing the Sub-sector three weeks earlier, the Frigates? railguns swung in defensive arcs, reading to pour Earth-born fury into the alien ships. Just within the perimeter of the Frigates were Tethys missile-cutters 567 and 429, sister ships to the ill-fated 234. Between them, its escorting wing of Starfury fighters gliding overhead, was the Hermes-class transport Blue-1. The Lugh and her sister the Nike brought up the rear, massive missile arrays ready to defend against sneak attack. And at the center of the formation, the pride of the Sector: EAS Cogny, flag ship of Captain Berteil. A massive Omega-class Destroyer, and assurance that whatever the Vorlons may have infiltrated into the Sub-sector, Berteil would be able to handle it.
The Task Force had been in the Sub-sector for over a week without sign of the snake-heads, and discipline was starting to waver. Berteil was a martinet of a commander, demanding constant inspections and dining-ins on each of his ships, but giving almost no time or direction to training exercises. Still, his reputation was fierce, and Clausen was looking forward to seeing him in action. The word was that if this pass produced no signs of the Vorlons, the Task Force would be returning to Sector Command for resupply and to reassess the initial contact.
Clausen knew his reputation and career rode on the Task Force finding the Vorlon destroyer that had ruined his first independent command in the next 48 hours. The knowledge spoiled, just a little, the fierce, martial pride he felt at the sight of the Task Force streaming ahead of him.
?Commander,? the Signals officer called out. ?We?re reading something in the Task Force?s wake. It?s weak, and NavInt isn?t making a call. But Lieutenant Gulliver thought you should know.?
Clausen nodded at the ensign and moved back to his command console, calling up the Signals screen on his repeater display. Sure enough, something was wavering into and out of resolution on the screen. One moment it appeared a solid contact as big as a cruiser, then it would fade to what could almost be a single fighter wing, or maybe even a ghost, nothing there at all.
?Relay this information to the Cogny?s Signals division. Let them know that we?re watching it. If they want, we can fall behind and check it out.? Clausen settled into his command couch, still drinking in the soul-stirring image of the Task Force floating on the main display.
?Cogny says keep station but focus all sensors on contact, Commander. Report any change in status immediately.?
Clausen nodded as his signals and intelligence divisions bent to the task. The slight nervous flutter in his stomach was building at the thought that it may be a Vorlon ghosting along behind the Task Force. The thought that it wasn?t, of course, carried consequences almost as dire.
?Sir!? Signals called out again, this time with an edge uncommon in a well-trained bridge crew. ?We have a jump point opening off the port bow, right off the middle of the formation!?
Clausen stood and gripped the railing of the command dais. Before he could even speak, however, further reports flooded his calm, controlled environment.
?Cogny says all ships prepare to receive attack. All weapons active and targeting computers on line, sir.?
?Sir, we have multiple contacts emerging from the jump point! Small returns, but dozens of them! It?s got to be an entire fighter division!?
?Larger contact emerging sir!? The ensign jerked up in fear, her head turning sharply to look at her commander. ?It?s a Vorlon destroyer, sir!?
Clausen jerked upright. ?All weapons, train on emerging contacts. I want all bow, port, and aft batteries ready to fire. Ready interceptors and defense grid. Has the Cogny launched her fighters yet??
?Sir, three flights of fighters total in the air. One from Blue-1 and two from the Cogny. We are now . . . Oh my God!?
Clausen?s reprimand at this break in military etiquet died on his lips as he watched the veritable cloud of Vorlon fighters swarm over the Task Force before its defensive weaponry could even be brought to bear. The bulk of the destroyer sailed quietly behind its flock of destructive children, swinging its tentacled mass into line with the rear of the Task Force. Into line with the Lugh.
Clausen was about to shout out an order, what, he could not have said. But he never got the chance as a titanic blast erupted off their port quarter, aft, right where the Nike had sailed moments before.
?Sir, MASSIVE energy spike to our rear! It?s the earlier contact! It?s another destroyer, and she just DESTROYED the Nike!?
The nightmare began all over again for Clausen. Just like the loss of Tethys cutter 234, he had lost a fleet-mate. But now, it wasn?t a small patrol ship. It was a ship just as massive and powerful as his own Lugh. Identical, in fact. What could happen to the Nike could definitely happen to his own ship.
As the flare of the Nike?s death faded from the screens, rippling explosions coursed across the fleet ahead as wave after wave of Vorlon fighters swept over the formation. One of the Tethys missile boats detonated, Clausen thought it might be 576, but he couldn?t be sure. There could be no disciplined formation in that hell-furnace as each ship desperately attempted to maneuver out of the line of fire.
Into this nightmare of flame and shock erupted the ravening beam weapon of the second Vorlon destroyer. The beam drew a fiery line of death and destruction across the Huntress? flank, boiling away armor and sensor arrays whereever it touched. Before the beam ceased firing it moved on from the Artemis and into the last surviving missile boat, punching through its light armor and gutting the little ship. Clausen was shocked it didn?t explode like the first one. Or like the Nike, he thought with a shiver. He was even more shocked when several of the running lights on cutter 429 flickered back on. Someone was alive over there!
A furious anger built within Clausen as his world narrowed to the controlled chaos of the command bridge in battle. Voices rang out over the coms. Cogny ordering the entire fleet forward. Cutter 429 requesting assistance. Huntress demanding the entire fleet turn to offer battle. The commander of the Lugh didn?t care. He knew what he was going to do.
?Navigation, bring us about to heading 038, towards the dust cloud. ALL weapons sections, prepare to fire!?
?Sir, Cogny has ordered Blue-1 to initiate a jump point. Captain Berteil is ordering all ships to make for point Z-1 001 to regroup at Sector Command.?
Clausen whirled around on his communications officer. ?What? He?s RUNNING??
?Cogny is coming about to 346, in direct line for point Z-1 001, which is where Blue-1 is opening its jump point. Cutter 429 has ceased transmitting, but has come about and is bringing her weapon tubes to bear on the flanking destroyer. Huntress has also come about.?
?Well, good enough for me. We can bloody these bastards before we pull out. At least we won?t be alone if he wants to bring us up on charges.? Clausen stood tall and took in a deep breath, taking one last moment to savor the situation before issuing the fateful order.
?All Weapons divisions, FIRE!?
The Lugh erupted like a flower of destruction. Pulse cannons, Anti-ship missiles, and anti-fighter guns lashed out in all directions. Several of the massive missiles tore into the Vorlon destroyer coming up on the rear of the Task Force, spraying ichor and tissue into the void. A single missile took the flanking destroyer in the bow and exploded, causing some minor damage. The fighters, however, did not fare so well. The Lugh blasted the surrounding space clear of the fighters, sending scores of the alien craft spinning into the night.
While the Lugh was engaged with the alien fleet, the rest of Task Force Echo fired as well. The Diana swept the Vorlon fighters swooping around the Cogny from existence while Huntress crashed down upon the flanking destroyer with her Railguns blazing. Cutter 429 unloaded her missile tubes back at the destroyer coming from the rear. The Cogny was unable to fire until most of the remaining Vorlon fighters had been destroyed, however, her aft batteries cleared the some of the last flights even as her Starfury wings hounded the remaining aliens to destruction.
In one titanic wave of fire the Vorlon fighters had been destroyed, however, the two destroyers continued to close on the Earthforce fleet. Return fire from the flanking destroyer pounded into Huntress, damaging her engines and shattering her armor. Cutter 429, trying to come about and flee towards the jump point, was washed with the terrible beam and erupted in a brief flare of death. The beam from the following destroyer reached out and cut through transport Blue-1 without trying, but lacked the energy to flash down into the Lugh afterwards.
In a massive surge of power, the Cogny disappeared into Blue-1?s jump point, leaving the three remaining ships of Task Force Echo attempted to come to terms with the Vorlon destroyers. Diana tried to come about and enter the jump point but could not make the turn and over shot into the darkness, skimming along the edges of the massive dust cloud. Huntress, finally swinging into the blind after-arc of the flanking destroyer, lined up her forward Railguns for a vengeful salvo.
Meanwhile, out of the swirling wreckage and spinning energy of the fleet?s former position, three flights of Starfuries burst into the midst of the converging destroyers. Alpha and Delta flight from the Cogny and Azure flight from Blue-1 were all that remained of their mother ships. Orphaned or abandoned, they remained to fight on in the dark. The fighters stooped down upon the most injured destroyer, seeking vengeance and glory in the night of space.
Knowing that his entire arsenal of ship-killer launchers were off-line while they were loaded, Clausen ordered the Lugh to leap into the swirling dust cloud. The Commander knew that he couldn?t bring his cruiser around to enter Blue-1?s jump point before the remaining destroyers served him like they had served Nike. However, if he could disengage long enough, he could open his own on the far side of the dust cloud, buying himself and the frigates a chance to escape.
Huntress closed with the flanking destroyer and unloaded her entire payload into the wounded beast. All three flights of fighters joined their fire to the frigates, and the Vorlon ship began to shed matter and atmosphere in its wake. Diana continued her curving flight around the dust cloud, setting a course for the estimated location of the Lugh?s jump point, should she prove successful. The overtaking destroyer ignored the threat to its brother and sped into the dust cloud in pursuit of the Lugh.
?Bring up the jump engines and prepare to initiate a jump point.? Clausen?s hands were slick with sweat as he stared at the main screens, showing the swirling, glittering expanse of the dust cloud. All sensors indicated that the Vorlon destroyer would be emerging any moment now. The window of opportunity for escape was narrowing quickly.
?Sir, Huntress reports she has destroyed the flanking alien. Alpha, Delta, and Azure flights are entering the cloud in pursuit of Bogey 2.? The ensign?s voice was calm now. Out of sight, out of mind, Clausen reflected. However, he could not get the vision of the Nike?s fiery death out of his consciousness.
?Jump engines ready, sir.? The engineer spoke without turning around.
?Initiate.? Clausen didn?t have time for the calculations necessary for precise placement of the point. ?Place it off the port bow so Diana can access it also.?
?Initiated.? The ship thrummed for a moment as the fabric of space and time was ripped open. The lights on the bridge dimmed as all power was absorbed by the jump engines. Perceptibly, the Lugh slowed in space.
At first the problem was not clear to the Commander. Everything seemed ok, although there was a sudden flurry of activity at the Engineering section.
?Sir,? a nervous lieutenant turned to the captain. ?Jump point is farther to port than anticipated. Escape will be a close thing.?
Just as the report registered in Clausen?s mind, warning claxons began to sound throughout the ship. His eyes whipped to the main screen, where the Vorlon destroyer tore out of the cloud of dust and homed in on the cruiser.
?Huntress reports she is making best speed for Blue-1?s jump point.? Clausen?s fear abated momentarily at the news. Another Earthforce ship would live to fight another day. Then the Vorlon?s weapon opened fire, and all began chaos.
The beam took the Lugh in the starboard rear quarter, blasting through bulkheads, armor, systems and flesh. The huge ship lurched at the impact. Screens went blank as weapons and sensors were flashed away and men and women died at their stations. When the weapon flashed silent again the Earthforce cruiser was venting oxygen and burning plasma into the void.
The starfuries came screaming out of the cloud behind the Vorlon, their weapons ravaging its rear quarters. Diana came sweeping around the cloud, her commander requesting permission to join the battle. One look at the converging vectors, however, showed Clausen that there would be little chance of them both escaping, and currently, only the Diana had a chance of meeting the jump point. The Diana?s request was denied, and the frigate made hard burn for the refuge of warp space.
Clausen brought the Lugh onto a new heading, turning sharply to starboard to lure the Vorlon farther away from the escaping Diana. The Vorlon did not fall for the ploy, however, and continued to move straight ahead, where it would be able to bring fire to bear on both ships.
The fighters continued to chew at the destroyer?s flanks like small dogs attacking an elephant.
Another salvo of horrible energy lashed out from the Vorlon and the Lugh was further savaged. Warning lights and system failure claxons flashed and screamed across the bridge. A last lash of energy was thrown at the Diana, but only grazed her as she passed through the jump point to safety.
Free of the responsibility of the other ships of the Task Force, Clausen now concentrated on his own escape. Seeing that there was no way to outrun the Vorlon with his engines in their present state, the Lugh brought her bow swinging back around to Port to seek refuge behind a massive, swirling field of asteroids beyond her own, now distant, jump point. There was a moment?s hesitation on the part of the Vorlon, and with a last burst of speed, the Lugh disappeared behind the tumbling space rocks.
Faced with the unpleasant choice of following blind or daring the treacherous paths through the asteroids, the Vorlon put on a sudden burst of speed, taking faith in its ability to navigate the twists and turns while hoping to lose the Earth fighters that were harassing its rear.
At first, the pilots of the pursuing fighter wings could not believe their eyes. The massive bulk of the destroyer swept gracefully into the field of asteroids, swooping and diving around the rocks like a dancer. Just as it appeared there was nothing that could touch it, however, a MASSIVE tumbling stone took the ship in its port flank, crushing its tissue and scattering its matter into the field and slamming it sideways and off course.
The fighters did not hesitate. Stooping like tiny hawks, the Starfuries sped after their prey, into the field. Desperation and God-given skill saw most of them safely through the maze, but Alpha wing, swooping around one massive stone the size of a small mountain, never emerged again. The remaining flights homed in on the injured destroyer and continued harrying its already wounded hide.
Knowing he was out of the sensor range of the Vorlon, Clausen ordered the Lugh be brought to full stop, and then used his station-keeping engines to turn the ship ponderously around, preparing to zip back out again the way she had come. As soon as her jump engines could be brought back on line, she could initiate another jump point and escape, hopefully with the remainder of the fighter flights.
But luck had run out for Clausen at last. The Vorlon, stung and limping, continued to navigate through the debris field, but this time slower and with more purpose. Just as the Lugh was coming about, just as her jump engines were spinning up once more, the destroyer emerged from the rock wall to her starboard flank and unleashed another devastating beam of energy. This time the beam tore through the after sections of the ship. Engines disappeared. The entire Engineering section was gutted, every damage repair crew slain. Weapons took several hits, reducing the power of every weapon on ship as power fluctuations caused arcs of man-made lightning to leap from bulkhead to bulkhead. When the beam died at last, the Lugh was drifting in space, her power flickering from dead to dying, and her people silent or moaning, still or tossing.
Only a single flight of fighters, Azure flight, burst out of the asteroids, and they continued to pepper the destroyer with their tiny guns. The alien craft was nearly destroyed, venting gasses and liquids from a score of cracks and fissures in its carapace. But it wasn?t dead. Almost negligently, it drifted along the length of the Lugh until it was looking down upon the cruiser?s bridge. Time seemed to stand still.
Clausen looked at the main view screen and saw his death hovering there, against he backdrop of spinning stone. He closed his eyes and quietly sat in his command seat, accepting the end. He was looking at his folded hands as the alien unleashed one last blast from its hellish weapon.
The Lugh ceased to be.
Without bothering to acknowedge the death of its foe, or the continued existence of the last flight of starfuries, the destroyer turned back towards open space and disappeared into oblivion.
Azure flight attempted to follow, but soon lost the destroyer in the gulf between the stars. The fighters returned back towards the dust cloud against which most of the battle had been fought, hoping, against hope, that Berteil would send reinforcements. Hoping, against hope, that they would not be abandoned to the cold, fatal embrace of empty space.
Hoping, in vain.
