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Stargate: New Frontier

Chapter Three

Federal Guard High CommandGeneva, Terra

Twenty Minutes Later



Fleet Admiral Svetlana Kermanova resisted the impulse to sigh as she gazed out of her office window at the gleaming spires and skyscrapers of the capital city of the Federation; the location of the government that had ruled since the inception of the Federation during the aftermath of the widespread Colonial Independence Wars. Night had descended on the city, so all the buildings were lit up brilliantly from within and gleamed like a billion gems. The peaceful scene was a sharp counterpoint to her turbulent thoughts, thoughts spawned by the conversation she had just had with Commander Drake of the Charles Darwin.



When she had first been informed that the small survey ship had encountered an alien ship she had been as excited as the young lieutenant who'd called her from fleet comm. Finally after all these centuries they would be meeting another spacefaring civilisation for the very first time. A meeting that everyone had hoped would lead to peaceful, meaningful relations that everyone could benefit from. Now it appeared that that optimism had been catastrophically misplaced, the aliens had opened fire on the Charles Darwinwithout provocation. Commander Drake and his crew had been lucky to escape with their lives, as it was they had been forced to leave their landing party on the planets surface. A landing party that was sure to now be hunted.



It was a situation that Svetlana knew she could never allow no one got away with firing on a Federal Guard ship without severe consequences. All the pirates and separatist movements in the Federation knew that, and now it appeared they were going have to teach some aliens that lesson as well. At the same time they would have to rescue the people trapped on the surface of the planet the Charles Darwin had gone to explore.



But there was a problem; if she took action against the unknown but obviously powerful alien warship then she could be responsible for starting a war with a civilisation that they knew nothing about. An interstellar war on that scale was most definitely not something to be welcomed, and while she knew the Federal Guard would give a good accounting of themselves, she was not deluded enough to think that they were really ready for a war on that kind of scale.



Svetlana found herself in a position that she absolutely hated, if she ordered warships into action against the aliens it could lead to interstellar war. But doing nothing was completely unacceptable, and would be both a violation of her oath as a soldier and the trust placed in the Federal Guard by the people of the Federation. A trust to protect them no matter what. It was a classic damned if she did something and damned if she didn't situation.



After a few moments of wrestling with the dilemma she sighed. This was not a decision that she could make on her own, far too much was at stake. There was only one person in the Federation with the authority to make this particular call. Turning back to her desk she reached out and pressed a button on the desk comm. unit.



"This is Admiral Kermanova," she said her Russian accent slightly thicker than it normally was. "Contact the president's office; tell them I need to speak to President Denson and Minister Jamison immediately. Tell them it's on a matter of the utmost urgency."



"Aye ma'am," a young officer in the communications section acknowledged immediately. Hopefully Denson and Jamison will see things my way, that we have to rescue the survey team regardless of the consequences,she thought. Because if they don't then I don't have the foggiest idea what we are going to do.



***



President Denson's OfficeA Short Time Later



Federation President Kieran Denson and Defence Minister Harry Jamison listened in silent shock and growing anger to the report that Admiral Kermanova was relaying to them, how the long hoped for first contact with another spacefaring race had gone catastrophically wrong. Though the features of the middle aged Russian woman were composed as a life size 3D hologram of her stood in front of them they could tell that she was not very happy with the situation. And neither were they.



"We have to do something, Mr President," Admiral Kermanova said her voice as cold as the winters in the country from which she sprung. "We cannot leave the survey team trapped on that planet, and neither can we let an unprovoked attack on one of our ships go unanswered."



"I agree, admiral," Denson said. "And I understand what you are saying, but are the lives of five people worth risking interstellar war over worth it? Particularly a war with a species that we know absolutely nothing about."



"Five lives of five hundred it is no different, sir,"Svetlana replied. "The Federal Guard's duty to them is simple, they are in trouble they need our help. So we must provide it."



"I understand that admiral and I am aware of your obligation, I have that same obligation as you well know," Denson replied. "But I also have a bigger obligation and that is the welfare of the Federation as a whole. Mush as I want to save those five people it would be dangerous and foolish to risk a war in the process."



"Mr President it could be argued that the aliens attack on the Charles Darwin is already a declaration of war against us."



"And it could be that only happened after we failed to respond to a warning," Denson shot back. "Correct me if I'm wrong admiral but didn't the aliens send a message to the /Charles Darwin/."



"That they did, Mr President," Svetlana agreed. "But it was in a language that could not be understood, plus immediately after sending the message the alien ship raised its shields and powered up its weapons systems. They did not give Commander Drake and his crew enough time to respond to their attempt at communication before opening fire."



"If I may interject," Jamison said speaking for the first time. "Admiral Kermanova has a point, the shortness of time between the alien warship transmitting its message and opening fire is not sufficient for awarning. It is more likely that the alien commander was demanding the immediate surrender of the Charles Darwin. There is also the fact that the aliens on the surface made no attempt at contacting the survey party instead attacked them immediately."



"So you support sending a relief force, Harry," Denson asked.



"Yes, Kieran I do," Jamison replied. "But I also agree with you that we have to be cautious in our handling of this situation. We are not ready for a large scale interstellar war, the manpower and resources are simply not there at this time. But there is a third option."



"And what is that, Harry?"



"Simple. We send a number of ships to the planet in question to extract the survivors of the survey team," Jamison answered. "But we also send along a full diplomatic team, with orders to make peaceful contact with the alien civilisation."



"That is possible," Admiral Kermanova agreed. "In fact Ibelieve that a diplomatic team is due to return from clearing up the asteroid mining dispute at Wolf 359 in the next few hours. The nearest major fleet base to the frontier area facing the planet where the Charles Darwin encountered the aliens is Epsilon Eridani. It should be a simple matter to divert the ambassador's party to there."



Kieran Denson sighed softly and leaned back in his chair considering the council of both the admiral and his defence minister. He liked the idea of sending a diplomatic envoy to speak with the aliens, an envoy that he hoped would be able to clear up any misunderstandings that may have occurred and pave the way for a lasting peace. But he also knew that Admiral Kermanova would insist on sending a number of warships along with any mission that was mounted, to protect the ambassador and rescue the people trapped on the planet.



Like all good politicians he weighed up his options, before finally making his decision. "Alright," he said. "We will send a diplomatic envoy to speak with the aliens and hopefully establish diplomatic relations. As for the stranded survey team, admiral you may send warships to retrieve them as well as protect the diplomats.



"But I will make one thing clear. I want the rules of engagement to be very strict, admiral. The warships commanders must be willing to give the diplomats a chance to do their job. They are not to act aggressively towards the aliens unless fired upon first. Is that clear?"



"Perfectly, sir."



"Good. How long will it take to gather a sufficiently large force of ships?"



"I can have a sufficiently large task force of ships ready to depart Epsilon Eridani within twelve hours, Mr President," Admiral Kermanova replied.



"Very well. I will order the diplomatic party from Wolf 359 to divert to Epsilon Eridani instead of returning here. In the meantime commence preparations for the dispatch of the rescue force."



"Yes Mr President," Kermanova acknowledged a moment before Denson closed the communications channel down making her hologram turn transparent before fading away completely.



For a moment Denson sat there in silence, conscious of the fact that he had just made a decision that could alter the course of Human history. It was a huge burden to bear, but at the end of the day he was president, chosen by the people of the twenty five inhabited star systems in the Federation to be their leader. It was his job to make these kinds of decisions.



"I hope this goes well, Harry," he said at last.



"I'm sure it will go fine, Kieran," Harry Jamison replied. "You've done what needs to be done; sitting on the sidelines doing nothing was not really an option. Our political opponents would have had a field day with it if as soon as they found out about the attack on the Charles Darwin."



"I know. That doesn't make the decision any easier," Denson answered before straightening up in his chair. "I suppose I better get on with this," he said before keying his desk top comm. unit opening a link to his secretary. "Ms Hall get me the diplomatic service please," he said.



"Yes, Mr President."



***



Epsilon Eridani Two Hours Later

The space above the second planet of the Epsilon Eridani system was packed with traffic of all descriptions. Starships from small pleasure craft, to the sleek, deadly forms of warships to the huge, unwieldy bulk of interstellar super-freighters shared parking and holding orbits above the bustling colony planet. A planet that was home to some of the richest deposits of trinium ever found within the Federations boarders.



From the side of one of the warships - a Trafalgar-class heavy cruiser called the Railion - a small shuttle emerged and began threading its way through the bustling orbital lanes and the rings of Orbital Defence Platforms and space docks towards the planets northern pole. Above which hung one of the largest Federal Guard space stations ever constructed and the command station for the Fifth Fleet.



***



In the passenger seat of the Kite-class combat/inter-orbit shuttle Commander Aaron Larsen sat in thoughtful silence as he gazed out the forward view ports at the approaching space station. He couldn't help but wonder why he had abruptly been ordered to report to Fifth Fleet CO Admiral Alexander Quinton, barely an hour before he and his crew had been due to take the Railion out of orbit for a two month patrol of the outer systems, especially the newest colonies which were very vulnerable to attack from pirates and other unsavoury groups.



The sudden nature of the summons was more than enough to tell him that something really big was going down. Something that Admiral Quinton wanted him - and the firepower commanded by a heavy cruiser for. That alone was enough to set off a warning klaxon in his head, heavy cruisers and battleships were only called upon to deal with situations where serious combat was expected.



Whatever is going on I'll soon know, he thought as the station came into view, sitting in geostationary polar orbit.



"Lieutenant how long until we dock," he asked the young pilot operating the shuttles controls. Normally he would use his implant for such a routine query but the shuttle had no internal wireless data network -like a Jaguar fighter the only interface was with the pilot alone - making the complex web of nanotech circuitry built into his skull next to useless.



"Five minutes, sir," the pilot replied immediately. "We're just passing through the sentry line... now." As the lieutenant spoke they passed through the ring of sentry drones that formed the stations outer defence line.



"Excellent," Aaron replied leaning back in his seat. "Let me know when we're about to land."



"Aye, sir."



***



Five Minutes Later

"Landing complete, sir," the young pilot reported turning slightly to look over at his commanding officer.



"Very good, lieutenant," Aaron replied standing up. "Supervise the refuelling of the shuttle, I shouldn't be gone long."



"Aye, sir," the younger man replied as Aaron made his way to the hatch and keyed it open.



Taking a deep breath he stepped out of the shuttle and stumbled as a familiar sudden decrease in weight made its presence known as he stepped into the Terra normal gravity of the space station. Like everyone on the Railion he was Centauran and thus genetically engineered for the high surface gravity of Alpha Centauri IV, a gravity field that on the /Railion/was precisely duplicated; suddenly stepping from the level of his gravity that his engineered body considered normal to the lower gravity that the rest of the Terran race called normal was always a little disorientating for him and for others from his world. Though after twenty years in the Federal Guard you'd think I'd be used to changes in gravity by now, he thought, at least Ididn't fall flat on my face like the first time I experienced 'normal' gravity.



"But I still hate normal gravity," he muttered to himself as he started along the walkway that ran along the gallery of landing platforms, ignoring the noise of the bay as dock workers and robots went about the normal day to day activities, none showing any sign that anything major was up. Certainly nothing that could explain his mysterious summons to see Admiral Quinton.



"Whatever is going on it should be interesting," Aaron said softly to himself as he left the hanger bay and made his way to the closest transport tube station for a trip to the core and his meeting with Alexander Quinton. A meeting that would hopefully reveal to him exactly what was going on, and what the admiral wanted from him and his ship.



***



Like all Federal Guard space stations the Epsilon station was built in a shape resembling a starfish from Terra's oceans. Each six kilometre long arm of the station was a mass of hanger bays, cargo bays, storage silos and fabrication facilities, whereas the core was very different. The core was filled with crew quarters, command and communications areas, and the massive fusion reactors that provided the station with the majority of its power.



Stepping off the transport tube Commander Larsen was surprised to find Admiral Quinton waiting for him. He had expected that the admiral would have had one of his staff waiting for him, not come to the tube station himself.



"Admiral," Aaron said straightening to attention.



"Stand easy, commander," Admiral Quinton replied in an accent that placed his planet of origin as the very one they were orbiting. Must make it easy for him to see his family, Aaron thoughts as he shifted to at ease posture. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy; he hadn't seen his family on anything but subspace comm. in nearly a year. He'd missed his son's birthday - which he deeply regretted. Though he'd make it up to his son when he finally got some shore leave. "Come with me," Quinton continued.



"Aye, sir," Aaron acknowledged as his superior started walking away, heading into a secure area of the stations core.



Aaron followed closely behind him but kept his questions about what was going on to himself. Something told him that the admiral would not give any answers until he was ready to do so, or they were in a place where they could not be easily overheard.



***



It took them another four minutes to get to their destination, a small briefing room just off the space stations operations centre. Arriving in the company of the admiral, Aaron Larsen was surprised to find four other commanders in the room. He didn't recognise them, but that was no surprise. The Railion had only been assigned to the Fifth Fleet relatively recently, he hadn't had chance to get to know many of his fellow commanders yet.



"Please be seated, commander," Admiral Quinton ordered. As Aaron did as he was bid, settling down in the closest free chair and exchanging nods of greeting with his peers, Quinton sat down at the head of the table and using his implant ordered the room doors to close and lock.



Then he brought the meeting to order. "Thank you all for coming," he said looking around at the assembled commanders. "I am sure you are all curious about why you have been asked here at such short notice."



"The thought has crossed our minds, sir," Commander Alison Peters of the destroyer Achilles replied.



"The reason is you have all been chosen for a mission, avery important mission to a planet previously unknown to us," Quinton informed them.



"We're being sent on an exploration mission," Aaron asked. "No disrespect sir but isn't that the job of the survey fleet?"



"None taken, commander. A survey ship the /Charles Darwin/has already been to the planet in question. It is what happened there a few hours ago that is reason you are all being sent there. I would ask that you refrain from any questions until after I have finished telling and showing you what happened on that planet and what we want you to do."



Aaron and his fellows listened intently as Admiral Quinton began a detailed explanation as to why they had been summoned here so abruptly and why they were to go to a planet that had only just been visited by a survey ship.



He explained how the Charles Darwin had gone to the system, how they had discovered the presence of a primitive colony of Humans on the planet in question and not been able to find anything to explain how they got there. How Professor Melinda Jackson had led a survey team down to the planet, how the survey team had come under attack from unknown armoured figures wielding powerful plasma-based energy weapons. How they had just beaten back their attackers when an alien warship appeared in orbit and attacked the Charles Darwin while a pair of fighters launched at the planet downed the survey team's shuttle before the team could retreat to it stranding them on the planet.



Finally he concluded with how the Charles Darwin had been forced to break orbit of the planet and flee into hyperspace to escape destruction at the hands of the unknown but obviously powerful alien warship, leaving the survey team stranded on the planet.



"Now it is obvious that we cannot leave the survivors of the survey team to their fate," Quinton said. "Nor can we allow an unprovoked attack on one of our ships to go unchallenged. Fleet Admiral Kermanova and President Denson have agreed that a relief force must be dispatched to rescue the survey team and if necessary engage the alien ship in battle."



"I take it we're that relief force," Aaron said his mind reeling from everything that they had just been told. Finally after all these centuries they had encountered another spacefaring race - albeit one that seemed to be very hostile to them for some unknown reason.



"That is correct, commander," Quinton replied. "The five of you command the most combat ready ships we have in interception range at such short notice. Your mission will be to rescue the trapped survey team, you are not to engage the aliens unless forced to do so. A diplomat courier ship is on its way here as we speak, they should arrive within an hour, they will accompany you and attempt to make peaceful contact with the aliens."



"And if the alien warship refuses peaceful contact,"Commander Peters asked.



"Then you teach them the price for attacking us," Quinton replied. "If they refuse peace then you are to blast them out of the stars. One way or other these aliens whoever or whatever they are must be made to understand that no one can be allowed to fire on a Terran vessel without incurring the most severe consequences. Am I perfectly clear?"



"Yes, sir," all five gathered commanders replied.



"Excellent."



"On question if I may, sir," Commander Peters said. "Who will be in charge of our little battle group?"



"Commander Larsen will be in charge," Quinton answered. "The/Railion/ is the strongest ship in the task force so the normal rules for such instances applies."



All five commanders nodded in understanding, it was standard procedure that when a group of ships were working together the commander of the ship with tactical superiority would be in charge, unless one of the other ships was led by someone above commanders rank, like a commodore or an admiral something which did not apply in this case.



"Are there anymore questions?" Quinton asked. No one spoke and he smiled seeing that everyone understood what was expected of them. "Then you can return to your ships. You'll break orbit as soon as the diplomatic team arrives."



***



TFS Railion

One Hour Later



Commander Aaron Larsen sighed to himself as he stepped onto the bridge of the heavy cruiser that had been his command for the last four years and made his way to the command chair. The responsibilities of his mission weighed heavily on his broad shoulders, he had never commanded more than one warship before, let alone commanded a mission of such importance and potential historical significance.



He just hoped that the aliens wouldn't be hostile to them, that the attack on the Charles Darwin /had been caused by some huge and unknown misunderstanding. Though if the aliens did prove aggressive then he was confident that between the destroyers and the /Railion they would make short work of the alien warship.



"Status report," he ordered.



"All ships in formation, sir. The diplomatic transport has joined the squadron and is sitting in our sensor shadow on the starboard side,"sensors reported.



"Engineering reports both fusion and antimatter reactors are stable and ready for possible combat action," Colonel Rebecca Harris added from the first officer's station. "All weapons and defensive systems are fully operational and ready to be activated at a moments notice."



"Destination coordinates locked into navigational computer, sir," the helmsman answered, "ready to enter hyperspace on your command."



"Very good, communications contact the other ships and request status reports," Aaron ordered.



"Aye, sir," communications replied and carried out the task. For a few moments there was nothing more beyond the normal background sounds that were part of a living, breathing starship. The faint swish of the air circulation systems, the humming sound of machinery doing its job and the distant almost inaudible rumble of the network of fusion and antimatter reactor cores that provided the Railion with more than enough power for all her systems.



Finally communications spoke again. "All ships report ready to enter hyperspace, commander," the officer reported.



Aaron smiled. "Then lets get this show on the road," he said. "Signal the fleet to break orbit and jump to hyperspace."



"Aye, sir."



***



With easy grace the Railion/, the four destroyers assigned to support her and the small diplomatic courier - that looked tiny and insignificant compared to the warships - broke orbit of Epsilon Eridani II. Gliding out into open space in a close X formation with the /Railion and the small courier she was protecting being the centre point of the formation the five warships accelerated to their maximum cruising speed of 90 PSL.



Combining the subspace fields produced by their activating hyperdrives the ships concentrated the fields on a large area of space ahead of them, subjecting that localised area of space-time to tremendous stresses causing it to distort and warp. A massive hyperspace window burst into existence, a maelstrom of light and subspace energy spilling into normal space.



Simultaneously all six ships seemed to stretch then vanished into the window which then immediately folded closed, returning the structure of space-time to normal behind them, even as the ships raced out of the Epsilon Eridani system at a speed many times greater than the speed of light.



The Federal Guards diplomatic and rescue mission was on.