Why would those be in storage anyway? From the looks of Robotech original & TSC, that particular design was made into razor blades and petit cola cans years before the second war let alone the third.Raneko said:
Babylon 5: The Thin Grey Line (Crossover)
I remember that line. Wasn't Reflex power though, but a 'reactor design'.Raneko said:
Uhm, great big honking spaceship crashes. Next we have the reverse engineering. Which is absolutely, most definitely going to include the powerplant. Shortly later we suddenly have city-sized Mars bases and space carriers hundreds of meters long. I kinda doubt they managed to built those without the reverse-engineered reactors.
They also list the Valkyrie as having 12 big short range missiles and the super armor as being a) atmosphere capable and b) lots of medium range missiles -- these latter missiles are way smaller than the so-called short range missiles. Not to mention the Cyclone helmet having the same hit points as a Zentraedi 40 or so ton battlepod yet being pierced by a hand pistol on occasion ... I wouldn't take anything that RPG states as true. They probably just copied it from the Macross OSM anyway.
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
The overtechnology comment was not directed at you, Raneko. It was directed at KCKitsune.Raneko said:
Just because you use something doesn't mean you automatically know what an alien race you've never met before calls it. Current canon, from what I've been able to tell, is that "reflex" is now synonymous with "protoculture powered." That's certainly how I intend to treat it for this story. Any attempt to change my mind on this will be either dismantled or just plain ignored.
Finally, I never use the RPG as a resource for my 'fics. Among other things, they also say that a Cyclone is tougher than a Zentraedi battlepod.
The fusion turbine engine entry you noted, Raneko, is an artifact from Macross, and it is not an element of Robotech. I've already stated that if it wasn't in the original run, Shadow Chronicles, or the Wildstorm comics, it will not be considered canon for this story. Other elements from other sources may appear, but not necessarily in the incarnation that they were in in the aforementioned source.F'rex, while I do have Praxians, I am not going to have robotic winged horses.
Especially not if that alien race then equates it with where little micronians come from, and yell out that kissing your superior officer is a demonstration of what that word means.Cyclone said:
In their place, I wouldn't have figured out they were talking about starship fuel. I'd be thinking along, shall we say, different lines for the translation of that word?
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Just because the veritechs were a key part of Robotech doesn't mean that's all there was to it. The main connections actually have very little to do with mecha and more to do with Robotech's backstory.
In fact, that's why, even if I were so inclined, Macross wouldn't work.
This story isn't about the toys. It's about the plot.
In fact, that's why, even if I were so inclined, Macross wouldn't work.
This story isn't about the toys. It's about the plot.
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Since there's all this ruckus over this 'fic, I suppose I ought to post another chapter. In keeping with the pattern I set with The Long March, characters from other fiction will be swiped as needed to fill certain roles. Including a major character in this chapter. This is not to be considered a crossover with those sources, as only names and personalities will remain intact (and the latter adapted to the setting). That said, here's...
* * *
Breaking the Oath
Chapter Two
* * *
It was the twilight of the Second Age of humankind, a time of great shame for us all.
The humans had made a desperate gamble to survive, reaching into their forbidden past to take hold of their destiny. One ship had returned, carrying within it the secrets their Oath had denied them.
A single flicker of hope, all alone in the night.
It is the Earth year 2246. The name of that ship is Hermes.
* * *
Captain Honor Stephanie Harrington, EarthForce Navy, was good at what she did. In another reality, crippled by vastly inferior technology, she would have been fated to become one of the many EarthForce captains who gave their lives to hold off the Minbari for just that much longer, ramming her Nova-class dreadnought in a suicide pact that would have destroyed two Minbari war cruisers.
In this reality, however, events were slightly different.
Her ship, EAS Nimitz, had just returned to the front after an emergency refit, and she was senior officer of the Cyrus III Task Force, assigned to defend Cyrus III's Quantium 40 mines and the over 40,000 civilians inhabiting the planet and orbitals. Alongside Nimitz was another Nova-class dreadnought, EAS Abrams; a pair of Hyperion-class heavy cruisers, EAS Daedalus and EAS Enterprise; and less than a dozen support ships: Four Artemis-class heavy frigates and six Olympus-class corvettes.
Oh, and one... small... insignificant... light cruiser...
Fifteen ships against whatever the Minbari chose to throw at them.
When the jump points opened and disgorged six Sharlin war cruisers, the Minbari were confident that this would be an easy victory. At the beginning of the war, forty ships had barely lasted twelve Earth seconds against twelve Sharlins, even after the Minbari had allowed the humans the courtesy of the first shot. Simple math dictated that this human fleet would fall even faster.
They had no idea what they were getting into.
* * *
"Mister Stromboli," Honor addressed her navigation officer, "take us out. Mister Cardones, activate the new targeting program. Mister Webster, tie us in to the fleet network." She brought up the internal comm, "Engineering, Bridge. How's the new system?"
The new system had been a major overhaul, but it was central to their strategy for this battle. They had gutted the marine berthing for the space needed to mount the new system and replaced Nimitz's four fusion reactors with reflex furnaces to power the new system as well as the refitted weapons.
"Chief Harkness says it's, and I quote, 'twitchy, but workable.'"
"Thank you, Miss Santos," Honor replied, leaning back into her command chair.
Once more into the breach, my friends... she thought. She had flown with this same crew and ship throughout the Dilgar War, even taking command once when then-Captain Sarnow had been temporarily incapacitated. They had a lot of history together.
As the dreadnought nosed out of the crowd, the other ships closed formation behind her, exactly as planned. When Honor estimated that they were halfway toward the war cruisers, she said, "Mister Webster, open a communication line to the Minbari."
"Line open."
"This is Captain Honor Harrington of the Earth Alliance Starship Nimitz," she said. "Considering your people's actions, I'm about to make you a very generous offer: You have until I get into range to surrender or leave, or you will be destroyed." She swiped her hand, and Webster cut the transmission.
Silence swept over the bridge as the bridge officer exchanged quick, discreet looks. They knew the Skipper had a set of brass ones, but she must have traded them in for battle steel before this mission.
* * *
Aboard the lead Sharlin, the Trigati, Alyt Sineval snarled. He had never been so insulted in his life! Did these fools truly believe they would win?
"Destroy them all," he ordered in a furious whisper. "We will crush them, then bombard the settlements to dust."
It was a deviation from the policy set for the war. The plan was to annihilate their military and mop up the civilian settlements later, but Sineval was furious. His honor would not allow such an insult to pass unpunished.
* * *
"Mister Cardones, do we have targets?"
Awe was evident in the man's eyes as his tactical board showed six targets: capital size gravitational distortions. Gravitic sensors that had once served as an early warning system against incoming folds now tracked gravitic drives -- just as thermal sensors had once locked onto jet exhausts -- and that information was being piped to Nimitz from what was quite possibly the most important ship in the entire EarthForce fleet.
"Yes, ma'am, we do."
"Very well," she said. "Let's be about it, then. Weapons free, Mister Cardones. Engineering, please be ready to activate the new system."
"Aye, Captain," Lt. Cardones and Cmdr. Santos chorused, despite being seperated by hundreds of meters.
* * *
When the first charged particle beams struck the Trigati, Alyt Sineval did not, at first, understand what had happened. By the third salvo, understanding dawned.
This human ship had somehow overcome the Sharlins' stealth systems, and its weapons had been vastly improved as well.
"Return fire!" he bellowed. "Destroy them at once!"
"We are attacking, Alyt!" his first officer, Kalain reported. "Our weapons have no effect!"
"What?" Sineval stared at the display. The human ship's weapons had fallen silent, but the Sharlins' neutron beams were hitting some sort of energy barrier that surrounded the human ship in a sphere.
"Impossible!"
Yet it was happening.
* * *
"Are the fighters in position?" Honor asked.
The fighters in question were a pair of Shadow Alphas that had hitched a ride on Nimitz's hull. Since the Minbari were holding their fighters in reserve -- most likely to deploy them against the bulk of the fleet -- the two fighters, invisible to anything but the naked eye, were free to roam about while Nimitz drew the Minbari's fire. The omni-directional barrier system was powerful, but it worked two ways, and after the third salvo, when the Minbari began returning fire, they had brought up the barrier and subsequently been unable to reply. This, of course, was part of the plan and why the fighters were there.
Lt. Webster spoke quietly into the comm and looked up, "Yes, ma'am. They're in position, and they've picked their targets."
"Excellent. Mister Webster, please transmit to the fleet: Execute Firestorm."
"Aye, Captain."
The other ships of the fleet responded. Hundreds of terminally-guided missiles streaked across the distance separating the EarthForce ships from the war cruisers, most from the mass-fire racks of the six Olympus-class corvettes.
The Minbari stealth system had two critical flaws. The first was that it did nothing to conceal their gravitic drives; though, to be fair, gravitic sensors were unheard of by most space-faring civilizations in this region of space. The second was that the ships were still visible to the naked eye; the stealth system was effective enough against electromagnetic radiation to foil radar and lidar... but the focused strength of a laser was a different story.
There were only two fighters, so they could only paint two targets. In the end, it was overkill. The two targeted war cruisers shattered like fine china under the storm of laser-guided missiles. The lead war cruiser, having been the sole target of Nimitz's three particle beam salvos, was already limping and was damaged even further by the shrapnel from her sister ships.
That left three others mostly untouched.
"Engineering, kill the barrier," Honor said. "Mister Stromboli, all ahead full. Put us between them. Mister Webster, ship-wide, prepare for Death Roll."
"All hands, prepare for Death Roll! All hands, prepare for Death Roll!" Lt. Webster's voiced echoed throughout the ship even as she altered course and charged at the three relatively undamaged war cruisers.
"Mister Stromboli, Mister Cardones," Honor said calmly. "Engage Death Roll, all weapons."
Nimitz suddenly whirled into a stomach-wrenching roll as she passed between the war cruisers, firing all her guns and raking them with particle beams at point-blank range. A few seconds later, neutron beams lanced out from the war cruisers and slashed her hull.
The main advantage of the "Death Roll" maneuver was that the enemy could not concentrate their fire to pierce the ship's armor. The Minbari weapons were powerful enough to shred even a Nova-class's armor with just a few hits, but the Death Roll prevented them from getting those few hits in the same place except by pure chance. Its main disadvantage, however, lay in the fact that the Nova-class did not have artificial gravity, and as a result, the crew was effectively incapacitated by the dizzying maneuver. During a Death Roll, the weapons relied on computer targeting... which, against the Minbari, normally amounted to random (and typically ineffective) firing. This was, in fact, how it had earned its name. When it was developed during the Dilgar War, it had been a very risky, last-resort maneuver: highly effective but just as likely to backfire. Against the Minbari, with their powerful weapons and impenetrable stealth, it was as suicidal under normal conditions as ramming and less effective to boot.
These were not normal conditions.
Audacity. Always audacity.
The Minbari Warrior Caste had been preparing for war for generations. They knew all the rules and nuances of warfare. They knew what tactics worked and what didn't between various technological levels.
But Honor Harrington had just thrown those rules out the window, and in the confusion, the Minbari didn't know how to react. In those long seconds of confused hesitation, Nimitz's particle beams slashed two of the mostly undamaged war cruisers with deadly precision until, suddenly, one of them exploded.
The Minbari were a brave people, particularly the Warrior Caste. In some ways, they were also quite stupid.
In battle, however, was not one of those ways.
The rules had changed, and they needed to regroup. Two jump points opened, and the three remaining war cruisers departed the system, too far behind Nimitz for them to pursue even if they hadn't been too stunned to consider it.
Silence reigned on the bridge again, until Ensign Prescott Tremaine broke it with two words.
"They ran," he said in a hushed whisper, disbelief evident in both his voice and expression. "They ran!"
Honor stared in equally growing amazement as the magnitude of what they had just accomplished dawned on her. Those had been Minbari war cruisers. A fleet that size could wipe out twenty EarthForce ships in a matter of seconds, and they -- one ship! -- had just waltzed up to them, plowed right through them, and shattered the attack, taking only a few hits.
She shook off her elation. "All right, people!" she said, snapping the bridge crew out of their daze. "Damage report! All sections!"
* * *
May 17th, 2246. It was a date that would be remembered. It was the date of the first battle in which the Minbari fled from the Earth Alliance.
It would not be the last.
John Sheridan showed that the Minbari could be hurt, that they were not invincible. Honor Harrington showed that they could be driven off, that they were not infallible either. Humanity had heroes again, heroes of legend, facing unstoppable gods of destruction and death... and coming away, not just alive... but victorious.
But heroes alone do not win wars.
* * *
"I see," Shai Alyt Branmer nodded as he considered the report he had just received. "These technologies are unprecedented. That they might pierce our stealth or develop new weapons was considered, but this new shield..." he shook his head. "I must inform the Grey Council." He nodded at his communications officer, who cut the connection, then turned to his Sharlin's navigator, "Take us to the Valen'tha."
It was obvious the humans were being aided. Either that, or they had been holding in reserve advanced technology for no apparent reason... or they advanced technologically at a truly terrifying rate.
No, someone was helping the humans. And if someone was helping the humans, it then begged the question: Who was that someone?
The Abbai? They certainly had shield technology. Perhaps the Brakiri? Selling the technology they bought from the Abbai?
Yet even Abbai shields would not have stopped the full firepower of six Sharlins.
It did not seem likely that it would be the Vorlons. If the Vorlons disapproved, there was no need for them to resort to such covert machinations to stop the Minbari crusade.
And yet, the technology was not like that of the Shadows either.
So, who was it?
It was a troubling question.
* * *
"They ran?" President Elizabeth Levy repeated in disbelief.
"Yes, Madam President," replied Admiral Alexander. "Harrington took out three war cruisers and heavily damaged two more, with only moderate casualties from the Death Roll. The other three war cruisers left, and it looks like one of the damaged ones lost its jump drive too. Nimitz will be in drydock for at least a month for repairs... assuming the yard dogs ever get to her. We're transferring Harrington and her crew to one of the new SuperNovas, the Nike."
"Understood," she nodded. "How does this affect the war effort?"
"Not as much as I'd like," the admiral admitted. "Morale is skyrocketing, but Hermes can only be in one place at a time, and she's the only ship with gravitic sensors. We're still having trouble duplicating them reliably, and construction of the new classes and the other refits and overhauls already have our shipyards filled beyond normal safe capacity."
"I see." She glanced at her Secretary of State, "Has this affected the official stance of the Centauri or the League?"
"Not yet, Madam President," he replied. "However, the Narns have slashed their prices. They're still gouging us, but not by anywhere near as much as they were before, and from what I've been hearing, the Centauri and the League are starting to worry about what'll happen if we actually do beat the Minbari."
The president's eyes turned to liquid nitrogen, and with a voice equally cold, she said, "They should. In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
* * *
"We must help them, Mother."
"No. The humans have chosen this path, and now, they must walk it."
"Is that what the Vorlons said about us, Mother? When the Children of Shadow drove us from our home?"
Silence.
"At least let me visit my nephew, Mother."
"Very well, my daughter. Go. See your nephew. Do what you will."
"Thank you, Mother."
* * *
Author's Note:
I said veritechs don't have any particular sensors that can penetrate Minbari stealth besides their visual cameras. Never said anything about capital ships, and there's never been any indication of gravitic sensors on fighters. ;7
* * *
Breaking the Oath
Chapter Two
* * *
It was the twilight of the Second Age of humankind, a time of great shame for us all.
The humans had made a desperate gamble to survive, reaching into their forbidden past to take hold of their destiny. One ship had returned, carrying within it the secrets their Oath had denied them.
A single flicker of hope, all alone in the night.
It is the Earth year 2246. The name of that ship is Hermes.
* * *
Captain Honor Stephanie Harrington, EarthForce Navy, was good at what she did. In another reality, crippled by vastly inferior technology, she would have been fated to become one of the many EarthForce captains who gave their lives to hold off the Minbari for just that much longer, ramming her Nova-class dreadnought in a suicide pact that would have destroyed two Minbari war cruisers.
In this reality, however, events were slightly different.
Her ship, EAS Nimitz, had just returned to the front after an emergency refit, and she was senior officer of the Cyrus III Task Force, assigned to defend Cyrus III's Quantium 40 mines and the over 40,000 civilians inhabiting the planet and orbitals. Alongside Nimitz was another Nova-class dreadnought, EAS Abrams; a pair of Hyperion-class heavy cruisers, EAS Daedalus and EAS Enterprise; and less than a dozen support ships: Four Artemis-class heavy frigates and six Olympus-class corvettes.
Oh, and one... small... insignificant... light cruiser...
Fifteen ships against whatever the Minbari chose to throw at them.
When the jump points opened and disgorged six Sharlin war cruisers, the Minbari were confident that this would be an easy victory. At the beginning of the war, forty ships had barely lasted twelve Earth seconds against twelve Sharlins, even after the Minbari had allowed the humans the courtesy of the first shot. Simple math dictated that this human fleet would fall even faster.
They had no idea what they were getting into.
* * *
"Mister Stromboli," Honor addressed her navigation officer, "take us out. Mister Cardones, activate the new targeting program. Mister Webster, tie us in to the fleet network." She brought up the internal comm, "Engineering, Bridge. How's the new system?"
The new system had been a major overhaul, but it was central to their strategy for this battle. They had gutted the marine berthing for the space needed to mount the new system and replaced Nimitz's four fusion reactors with reflex furnaces to power the new system as well as the refitted weapons.
"Chief Harkness says it's, and I quote, 'twitchy, but workable.'"
"Thank you, Miss Santos," Honor replied, leaning back into her command chair.
Once more into the breach, my friends... she thought. She had flown with this same crew and ship throughout the Dilgar War, even taking command once when then-Captain Sarnow had been temporarily incapacitated. They had a lot of history together.
As the dreadnought nosed out of the crowd, the other ships closed formation behind her, exactly as planned. When Honor estimated that they were halfway toward the war cruisers, she said, "Mister Webster, open a communication line to the Minbari."
"Line open."
"This is Captain Honor Harrington of the Earth Alliance Starship Nimitz," she said. "Considering your people's actions, I'm about to make you a very generous offer: You have until I get into range to surrender or leave, or you will be destroyed." She swiped her hand, and Webster cut the transmission.
Silence swept over the bridge as the bridge officer exchanged quick, discreet looks. They knew the Skipper had a set of brass ones, but she must have traded them in for battle steel before this mission.
* * *
Aboard the lead Sharlin, the Trigati, Alyt Sineval snarled. He had never been so insulted in his life! Did these fools truly believe they would win?
"Destroy them all," he ordered in a furious whisper. "We will crush them, then bombard the settlements to dust."
It was a deviation from the policy set for the war. The plan was to annihilate their military and mop up the civilian settlements later, but Sineval was furious. His honor would not allow such an insult to pass unpunished.
* * *
"Mister Cardones, do we have targets?"
Awe was evident in the man's eyes as his tactical board showed six targets: capital size gravitational distortions. Gravitic sensors that had once served as an early warning system against incoming folds now tracked gravitic drives -- just as thermal sensors had once locked onto jet exhausts -- and that information was being piped to Nimitz from what was quite possibly the most important ship in the entire EarthForce fleet.
"Yes, ma'am, we do."
"Very well," she said. "Let's be about it, then. Weapons free, Mister Cardones. Engineering, please be ready to activate the new system."
"Aye, Captain," Lt. Cardones and Cmdr. Santos chorused, despite being seperated by hundreds of meters.
* * *
When the first charged particle beams struck the Trigati, Alyt Sineval did not, at first, understand what had happened. By the third salvo, understanding dawned.
This human ship had somehow overcome the Sharlins' stealth systems, and its weapons had been vastly improved as well.
"Return fire!" he bellowed. "Destroy them at once!"
"We are attacking, Alyt!" his first officer, Kalain reported. "Our weapons have no effect!"
"What?" Sineval stared at the display. The human ship's weapons had fallen silent, but the Sharlins' neutron beams were hitting some sort of energy barrier that surrounded the human ship in a sphere.
"Impossible!"
Yet it was happening.
* * *
"Are the fighters in position?" Honor asked.
The fighters in question were a pair of Shadow Alphas that had hitched a ride on Nimitz's hull. Since the Minbari were holding their fighters in reserve -- most likely to deploy them against the bulk of the fleet -- the two fighters, invisible to anything but the naked eye, were free to roam about while Nimitz drew the Minbari's fire. The omni-directional barrier system was powerful, but it worked two ways, and after the third salvo, when the Minbari began returning fire, they had brought up the barrier and subsequently been unable to reply. This, of course, was part of the plan and why the fighters were there.
Lt. Webster spoke quietly into the comm and looked up, "Yes, ma'am. They're in position, and they've picked their targets."
"Excellent. Mister Webster, please transmit to the fleet: Execute Firestorm."
"Aye, Captain."
The other ships of the fleet responded. Hundreds of terminally-guided missiles streaked across the distance separating the EarthForce ships from the war cruisers, most from the mass-fire racks of the six Olympus-class corvettes.
The Minbari stealth system had two critical flaws. The first was that it did nothing to conceal their gravitic drives; though, to be fair, gravitic sensors were unheard of by most space-faring civilizations in this region of space. The second was that the ships were still visible to the naked eye; the stealth system was effective enough against electromagnetic radiation to foil radar and lidar... but the focused strength of a laser was a different story.
There were only two fighters, so they could only paint two targets. In the end, it was overkill. The two targeted war cruisers shattered like fine china under the storm of laser-guided missiles. The lead war cruiser, having been the sole target of Nimitz's three particle beam salvos, was already limping and was damaged even further by the shrapnel from her sister ships.
That left three others mostly untouched.
"Engineering, kill the barrier," Honor said. "Mister Stromboli, all ahead full. Put us between them. Mister Webster, ship-wide, prepare for Death Roll."
"All hands, prepare for Death Roll! All hands, prepare for Death Roll!" Lt. Webster's voiced echoed throughout the ship even as she altered course and charged at the three relatively undamaged war cruisers.
"Mister Stromboli, Mister Cardones," Honor said calmly. "Engage Death Roll, all weapons."
Nimitz suddenly whirled into a stomach-wrenching roll as she passed between the war cruisers, firing all her guns and raking them with particle beams at point-blank range. A few seconds later, neutron beams lanced out from the war cruisers and slashed her hull.
The main advantage of the "Death Roll" maneuver was that the enemy could not concentrate their fire to pierce the ship's armor. The Minbari weapons were powerful enough to shred even a Nova-class's armor with just a few hits, but the Death Roll prevented them from getting those few hits in the same place except by pure chance. Its main disadvantage, however, lay in the fact that the Nova-class did not have artificial gravity, and as a result, the crew was effectively incapacitated by the dizzying maneuver. During a Death Roll, the weapons relied on computer targeting... which, against the Minbari, normally amounted to random (and typically ineffective) firing. This was, in fact, how it had earned its name. When it was developed during the Dilgar War, it had been a very risky, last-resort maneuver: highly effective but just as likely to backfire. Against the Minbari, with their powerful weapons and impenetrable stealth, it was as suicidal under normal conditions as ramming and less effective to boot.
These were not normal conditions.
Audacity. Always audacity.
The Minbari Warrior Caste had been preparing for war for generations. They knew all the rules and nuances of warfare. They knew what tactics worked and what didn't between various technological levels.
But Honor Harrington had just thrown those rules out the window, and in the confusion, the Minbari didn't know how to react. In those long seconds of confused hesitation, Nimitz's particle beams slashed two of the mostly undamaged war cruisers with deadly precision until, suddenly, one of them exploded.
The Minbari were a brave people, particularly the Warrior Caste. In some ways, they were also quite stupid.
In battle, however, was not one of those ways.
The rules had changed, and they needed to regroup. Two jump points opened, and the three remaining war cruisers departed the system, too far behind Nimitz for them to pursue even if they hadn't been too stunned to consider it.
Silence reigned on the bridge again, until Ensign Prescott Tremaine broke it with two words.
"They ran," he said in a hushed whisper, disbelief evident in both his voice and expression. "They ran!"
Honor stared in equally growing amazement as the magnitude of what they had just accomplished dawned on her. Those had been Minbari war cruisers. A fleet that size could wipe out twenty EarthForce ships in a matter of seconds, and they -- one ship! -- had just waltzed up to them, plowed right through them, and shattered the attack, taking only a few hits.
She shook off her elation. "All right, people!" she said, snapping the bridge crew out of their daze. "Damage report! All sections!"
* * *
May 17th, 2246. It was a date that would be remembered. It was the date of the first battle in which the Minbari fled from the Earth Alliance.
It would not be the last.
John Sheridan showed that the Minbari could be hurt, that they were not invincible. Honor Harrington showed that they could be driven off, that they were not infallible either. Humanity had heroes again, heroes of legend, facing unstoppable gods of destruction and death... and coming away, not just alive... but victorious.
But heroes alone do not win wars.
* * *
"I see," Shai Alyt Branmer nodded as he considered the report he had just received. "These technologies are unprecedented. That they might pierce our stealth or develop new weapons was considered, but this new shield..." he shook his head. "I must inform the Grey Council." He nodded at his communications officer, who cut the connection, then turned to his Sharlin's navigator, "Take us to the Valen'tha."
It was obvious the humans were being aided. Either that, or they had been holding in reserve advanced technology for no apparent reason... or they advanced technologically at a truly terrifying rate.
No, someone was helping the humans. And if someone was helping the humans, it then begged the question: Who was that someone?
The Abbai? They certainly had shield technology. Perhaps the Brakiri? Selling the technology they bought from the Abbai?
Yet even Abbai shields would not have stopped the full firepower of six Sharlins.
It did not seem likely that it would be the Vorlons. If the Vorlons disapproved, there was no need for them to resort to such covert machinations to stop the Minbari crusade.
And yet, the technology was not like that of the Shadows either.
So, who was it?
It was a troubling question.
* * *
"They ran?" President Elizabeth Levy repeated in disbelief.
"Yes, Madam President," replied Admiral Alexander. "Harrington took out three war cruisers and heavily damaged two more, with only moderate casualties from the Death Roll. The other three war cruisers left, and it looks like one of the damaged ones lost its jump drive too. Nimitz will be in drydock for at least a month for repairs... assuming the yard dogs ever get to her. We're transferring Harrington and her crew to one of the new SuperNovas, the Nike."
"Understood," she nodded. "How does this affect the war effort?"
"Not as much as I'd like," the admiral admitted. "Morale is skyrocketing, but Hermes can only be in one place at a time, and she's the only ship with gravitic sensors. We're still having trouble duplicating them reliably, and construction of the new classes and the other refits and overhauls already have our shipyards filled beyond normal safe capacity."
"I see." She glanced at her Secretary of State, "Has this affected the official stance of the Centauri or the League?"
"Not yet, Madam President," he replied. "However, the Narns have slashed their prices. They're still gouging us, but not by anywhere near as much as they were before, and from what I've been hearing, the Centauri and the League are starting to worry about what'll happen if we actually do beat the Minbari."
The president's eyes turned to liquid nitrogen, and with a voice equally cold, she said, "They should. In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
* * *
"We must help them, Mother."
"No. The humans have chosen this path, and now, they must walk it."
"Is that what the Vorlons said about us, Mother? When the Children of Shadow drove us from our home?"
Silence.
"At least let me visit my nephew, Mother."
"Very well, my daughter. Go. See your nephew. Do what you will."
"Thank you, Mother."
* * *
Author's Note:
I said veritechs don't have any particular sensors that can penetrate Minbari stealth besides their visual cameras. Never said anything about capital ships, and there's never been any indication of gravitic sensors on fighters. ;7
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Well, considering that every picture I've seen of the Nova shows several of the guns pointed up the back end of other guns, I'm assuming they have at least some ability to traverse. Besides, Nimitz's weapons were refitted anyway.sdliddo said:
And as for strapping in... well, why do you think Honor had Webster order the crew to prepare for Death Roll?
EDIT: Also, the weapon placement of a Nova-class are actually optimized for broadside fire, assuming (as for reasons above) that the weapons can traverse, as a forward fire arc causes most of a Nova's guns to mask each other's fire.
It's going to be interesting.
The Invid were hostile enemies and now they are sending a bit of help. I wonder if they'll send an Invid brain with a group of Inorganics to help humanity.
Earth is probably still upset that the Children of the Shadow used them to try to eliminate the Invid and it was only because the Regis took out the Nutreon S missles that there is an Earth. Looking back at the Invid War, they could see how the Invid mistook humanity for the Robotech Masters, again manipulated by the Children of the Shadows, and yet they still left peacefully.
As to the other Robotech races, the mysics of Peryton are going to give Minbari and others headaches.
The Invid were hostile enemies and now they are sending a bit of help. I wonder if they'll send an Invid brain with a group of Inorganics to help humanity.
Earth is probably still upset that the Children of the Shadow used them to try to eliminate the Invid and it was only because the Regis took out the Nutreon S missles that there is an Earth. Looking back at the Invid War, they could see how the Invid mistook humanity for the Robotech Masters, again manipulated by the Children of the Shadows, and yet they still left peacefully.
As to the other Robotech races, the mysics of Peryton are going to give Minbari and others headaches.
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
Interesting.
Thank you for the update.
Please, continue.
Thank you for the update.
Please, continue.
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
EAS Manticore, maybe. It would certainly fit with the mythological naming schemes the EA uses. EAS Hexapuma is right out, though, seeing as how hexapumas don't exist in the B5verse, and even if they did, they don't have the cultural impact on the EA that they do on the SKM.tryglaw said:
Say, do we get to see a EAS Manticore, or a EAS Hexapuma ?
An actual HH/B5 x/o would be neat, HH-verse gravitic sensors should have no difficulties with Minbari stealth. Plus the sort of armor and weapons HH ground forces use... ouch.
Warringer
SpaceX Fanwogon
- Location
- Standing right behind you with a grin
Those Privates would die on the EAS Heaven through...tryglaw said:The Hexapuma was a joke.
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Pierre was trying to reform the PRH. Not his fault it proved to be an impossible task. But that's not really relevant at all to this story.
Does anyone have any information on non-Sharlin Minbari warships during the Earth-Minbari War? I've seen references to a Tinashi war frigate, but I can't seem to figure out what source this ship first appeared in, what its history is, or whether it even served during the Earth-Minbari War.
Does anyone have any information on non-Sharlin Minbari warships during the Earth-Minbari War? I've seen references to a Tinashi war frigate, but I can't seem to figure out what source this ship first appeared in, what its history is, or whether it even served during the Earth-Minbari War.
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Well, on that note, I've spoken with Drake, who's checked his B5 D20 book for me. Since a navy made up entirely of one type of capital ship is not to my taste, I'll be using elements from it, one of them being the Tinashi as a modern era ship. Just warning all my readers ahead of time.
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Thanks, guys. Still want to report him if I can.
Anyway, I do find it mildly amusing that he asks:
Anyway, I do find it mildly amusing that he asks:
I just did a quick little search. The word "Robotech" appears nowhere in this story or any accompanying notes until chapter three. Which I haven't even released here yet.