The central command center of Earth Force Headquarters was a frenzy.  This room normally operated under reduced staff at these hours of the day but it currently had an over abundance of people, a large number of personnel along with specialists having been summoned to the command center within the last hour.  All stations were manned with most officers dutifully attending to their assignments while others simply stood about, waiting to see what it was they had all been called here for.

            The call they had received telling them to report for duty had been somewhat less than specific as to why they were all being called to Earth Force HQ.  Rumors as to why they had been summoned had already circulated from the small group of officers who had been on duty before the others arrived; all of which, rather true or not, seemed to have something to do with the loss of an Explorer class ship an a previously unexplored region of space that bordered what was formerly Vorlon territory.  Whatever it was, they knew it had to be important as General Pack, the highest ranked General below the Joint Chiefs and Commander of the active Earth Force military, had been called and was on his way to take command of the situation.

            As the level of noise and speculation throughout the room had risen to its high, General Pack strode through a secure access door from his private office into the command center, moving immediately to the front briefing area.  In a matter of seconds, the room drew to a sudden silence as the General prepared to address them.  "I'll get right to the point," the General said sternly.  "Almost two hours ago we lost contact with the EAS Columbus who was on a standard exploration mission on the other side of Vorlon territory.  Given the fact that the area where it disappeared is unexplored and we're not sure what we may be dealing with, I've placed the nearby Seventh Fleet on Alert Status Delta and ordered General Deming to launch a rescue operation immediately.  I want constant monitoring of that operation from here along with quick and decisive analysis of anything they find."  He brought his right hand from behind his back and tapped several controls on the chest high podium in front of him.

The display screen behind him, which covered the width of the room as well as its two-story height, shifted from a blank screen to a multi-colored, three-dimensional tactical map that displayed the system where their ship had disappeared as well as Earth Alliance icons representing the position of the Seventh Fleet, just outside of the system, as well as the rescue force which had jumped ahead of the main fleet.  "Now, General Deming has had the destroyer EAS Athena along with several search and rescue vessels jump ahead of the fleet and they'll be entering the system where the Columbus disappeared in approximately seven minutes.  I want constant communication and support for that ship.  Get to it people."

The atmosphere in the room became one of tension as General Pack finished his brisk, to the point briefing and summary of the situation.  Taking no further time for small talk, all of the assembled officer and enlisted personnel went to their duties.  General Pack took up a position behind the main communications station where a young Lieutenant had established an open channel to the EAS Athena.  The seconds ticked by as they listened to the preparations onboard the Omega class destroyer while attending to their own duties.  The Captain of the destroyer had ordered a yellow alert, prepping fighter squadrons to launch in support of the search and rescue ships when they jumped into the system as well as having the ship's defense grid powered.

The time continued to pass until the background chatter from the bridge of the EAS Athena was overpowered by the voice of her Captain.  "All crew, standby for jump!"  He said loudly and with a clear authority in his voice.  Seconds later, a crewmember could be heard informing him that the jump engines were online and jump coordinates had been locked in.

General Pack instinctively took a deep breath and held it, waiting for the Captain to give the order to jump.  These types of situations were exactly the type that he did not like sending ships into.  For all they knew, a fleet of hostile ships could be waiting in that system; the Athena and her crew of over eight hundred could be charging head first into their deaths.  He had sent too many ships and crews to their deaths in his time and he had no wish to add another to that list today.

"Jump!"  The Captain gave the command.  The crew were heard carrying out his orders and the display screen soon updated itself showing the destroyer along with the three search and rescue ships entering the system.  A crewmember on the bridge of the Athena informed the Captain that the jump had been successful and they were initiating sensor scans of the surrounding space while another chimed in that they were launching fighters.

General Pack leaned forward slightly, over the shoulder of a Lieutenant Commander operating the station responsible for receiving the sensor relay from the Athena and the other search and rescue ships, all the while keeping his eyes focused on the screen, anticipating any new information coming through.  "How long of a delay can we expect in receiving sensor information?"  The General questioned.

Tapping digital controls on the screen in front of him and studying the status of the tachyon relay that brought them the sensor readings from the Athena, the officer answered that the delay would be anywhere from six to fifteen seconds, depending on several factors.

"Very good," Pack acknowledged and returned to standing straight and gazing at the screen.  The tactical display now showed twelve Thunderbolt fighters launched from the Athena that were proceeding to search the system, specifically the area near the planet the Columbus had been assigned to study.  Shortly after they neared the planet, the voice from one of the pilots broke the silence that had settled back in at the Earth Force command center.

"Thunder Flight lead to Athena, we're picking up a large amount of debris here on the other side of the planet," as the pilot spoke, the tactical display again updated, showing several images of a large field of debris near the fighters.  "From the amount and the looks, it appears to be consistent with an Explorer class ship.  We're moving in for a closer look to attempt identification."

The Captain of the Athena was on the channel immediately following the transmission from the pilot.  "Athena copies Thunder Flight, proceed with caution, report back when you've made positive identification of the debris."  The Captain did a commendable job of disguising the concern that was evident in his voice.  The realization of their situation had sunk into his mind; if anything other than a catastrophic accident had destroyed the Columbus it was a great possibility that the Earth Alliance was now at war, a war in which he now stood on the front lines of.

During the time in which the fighters conducted their scans, the commander center of Earth Force HQ as well as the bridge of the Athena remained silent, the personnel in each carrying on with their duties while trying not to focus on the possibilities of what the destruction of the Columbus could mean, most tried to not allow such thoughts to interfere with their jobs.

General Pack intently watched the sensor display as the fighters maneuvered about the field of wreckage.  As he watched, in a split second time that could easily have been missed with the blink of an eye, the fighters disappeared.  A barrage of whispers, speculation as to what had just happened, erupted in the room as others took in what the General had.

"Captain, we're tracking several new contacts approaching from the far side of the planet, unknown configuration!"  As the alarmed voice of an officer on the bridge of the Athena made his report, the display at Earth Force updated to show a generic symbol for an unidentified ship approaching from an area near where the fighters had disappeared.

"Red alert!  All crew to battle stations, standby weapons and defense grid!"  The Captain of the destroyer barked his orders amidst the sounding klaxon alarms.    The unknown contacts closed rapidly on the Athena's position as her tactical officer announced that they would be in firing range in two minutes, followed by the Captain ordering the remainder of their fighters deployed and the search and rescue ships to fall into an attack formation.

General Pack moved quickly to the master communications station.  "Order General Deming to begin moving the Seventh Fleet in to backup the Athena; he should be monitoring their feed the same as us, tell them we presume the unknown contacts to be hostile."

Working the console in front of him with an urgent speed, the officer quickly sent the message.  Within seconds, General Deming had acknowledged the order and the Seventh Fleet was on the move.  Seeing that his orders were carried out, Pack returned to helplessly watching as the unknown ships closed on the Athena and her small task force.  They rounded the planet and formed into what he could only call an attack formation.

Voices on the bridge of the destroyer rang out, stating that the ships were arming weapons, using some sort of power source they had never seen.  The Captain then ordered his communications officer to open a channel to the ships.  "This is Captain Jeremy Bennett of the Earth Alliance starship Athena, we have no desire to engage you and ask that your ships power down their weapons so that we may negotiate as civilized people."  The Captain's pleas were cut short.

General Pack and the others in the command center watched and listened in horror as the situation unfolded, turning into chaos.  The seven ships, small vessels, close in size to that of the Alliance White Star, broke formation and fired on the Athena, her fighters and the search and rescue ships.  The first volleys from the four ships attacking the Athena ripped through her hull, disabling her propulsion and artificial gravity systems, effectively crippling the destroyer.  The remaining fighters tried in vain to save their mother ships, firing with cannons and missiles on the attackers.  Their fight was over within minutes as the virtually undamaged hostile ships finished off the last of the fighters and continued to slice into the broken hulk of the Athena.

All who watched were stunned.  Most of them were young and had never in their time seen an Earth destroyer and it's fighters finished off so quickly and easily.  Pack could think of only one time when he had witnessed such a thing and not even the Minbari had displayed such a deadly efficiency in their attacks during the war.

"General," a voice rang out from across the command center, pulling Pack away from the screen and the battle momentarily.  "General Deming reports the Seventh Fleet is in position and standing by to initiate jump."

Pack hesitated, realizing that if he gave the order, he could be ordering so many more people to their deaths and sending Earth into a war.  Looking at the screen a final time, seeing the hostile ships continue to gut the defenseless Athena, his hesitation ended, he never was one to back down from a fight and he knew the crew of the Seventh Fleet was not either.  The General gave his order with confidence, "Send them in."

***

            The hostile attack ships, whose appearance was compared by the humans who saw them to looking something like a predator insect, maneuvered along the hull of the crippled destroyer, striking it with another series of energy beams from the nose of their ships.  They had stripped almost every major system from the ship but had managed to leave it intact.  The surviving crew could do nothing but watch and pray as their attackers mercilessly tormented them; every attack they feared would be their last but they were continuously allowed to live and allow the fear to return as the next attack came.

            Regrouping, the attack ships charged back towards the Athena, preparing to deliver the coup de grâce when they were struck by a multitude of energy blasts.  The blue and white energy of three-dozen jump points ripped through the blackness of space, poring forth a plethora of Earth Force warships.  The first ships through unleashed multiple volleys of pulse cannons, lasers and missiles upon the ships attacking the Athena, destroying three and causing the others to break off their attack and run at best speed away from the Earth fleet.

            On the bridge of the fleet flagship, the Warlock class destroyer Rasputin, General Deming smiled, watching the remaining four ships turn tail and run, the purple glow of their engines in his sights.  Deming, being no stranger to combat and to wars, he could not allow these ships to escape, for they would surely bring others.  Though he did not doubt the capabilities of his own forces, he did not want to face a full fleet of these unknown forces, having been given a taste of their technological and combat abilities.

            "Lieutenant," Deming snapped to face Lieutenant Meyers at the communications station.  "Order the Rhode Island, the Proxima and the Powell to pursue this ships.  Disable them if possible, destroy them is necessary, just don't allow them to send a signal or to escape."  Lieutenant Meyers quickly relayed the General's orders to the three destroyers who powered their engines and moved ahead of the fleet, closing to weapons range of the remaining hostiles.  Turning to his executive officer, Deming gave orders for the fleet to be deployed to shield the Athena and to launch rescue vessels, trying to save any of her crew that survived.

            On his personal tactical display, located on a panel directly in front of his command chair, Deming watched the three ships close on the remaining attackers, nearing weapons range.  Then, something unexpected happened; the four ships turned and engaged the Earth destroyers, a fierce firefight erupting between them.  Every weapon in the arsenal of the destroyer was unleashed on the hostile ships, which used their superior maneuverability to dodge most of the incoming fire and attack the critical areas of the larger destroyers.  Even as two of the attack ships went down, the other two continued their assaults.  They were not to be outnumbered for long however.  Three jump points formed almost on top of the Earth destroyers, four additional attack ships leaping from each into combat.

            General Deming felt his blood heat as the ever-familiar feeling of battle was upon him again.  He quickly issued orders for half of the fleet to move ahead to support the three destroyers and engage the hostile ships.  He wanted to make a show of force against whomever these new enemies were, to show them that the Earth Alliance would not back down from a fight.  His crew quickly went to issuing the orders and coordinating the ships in their attack.

            It was not long after the ships closed and engaged the attackers that General Deming realized he had made a critical mistake.  An audible alert at the tactical station on the bridge drew his attention to the Lieutenant Commander operating it.  He was silent, his eyes grew large and his expression cold as he studied the display.  He could not speak and when Deming demanded a report he stuttered at first before finding the words.  "General, detecting twenty-three jump points forming all around the fleet."

            Deming, not bothering to look at his tactical display, looked through the only window on the bridge, his heart missing a beat as he watched what was happening outside.  Dozens of ships, similar in design to those his fleet was already engaged with, emerged from the jump point.  Attack ships, cruisers, destroyers and fighters closed on the Earth Force fleet.  As he watched them surrounding his forces, Deming realized this had been their plan all along, both groups of his ships were cut off from one another, each with no place to run.  Whoever his new opponents were, they were clever, too clever.  The General sunk into his chair, it was over and he knew it, there was now only one thing left to do, make his enemies fight.  "All ships break and attack." 

Within minutes, the battle had already turned against the Earth Alliance.  The bridge of the Rasputin was in flames as she suffered another series of hits from two of the hostile cruisers.  General Deming pulled himself to his feet, using a railing for support and surveyed the bridge.  They were all dead, the crew he had served with for over three years were all dead.  He forced back the emotions that built inside of him, he could not allow himself the luxury of emotions, he was a soldier and there was a battle.  Fighting through the piles of flaming debris, he made his way to the tactical station.  He ignored the display that showed that over half of his fleet had already been lost and focused his energies on the Rasputin.  He brought the main lasers and missile launchers online, attempting to target one of the cruisers attacking the ship but with no success.

"Engineering!"  He shouted into the inner-ship communications.  "I need those targeting scanners!"  He waited for what seemed like hours, receiving no response, before a checked a damage control map of the ship.  The engineering section had taken a direct hit from two of the torpedo weapons the enemy ships were using.  Carefully working the tactical controls, he switched targeting to manual and launched a barrage of lasers and missiles at the closest cruiser.  They did minor damage to the ship but not enough and it slowly advanced on the damaged Rasputin, firing with its beam weapons.  General Deming was thrown forward as the bridge exploded around him.  Bringing himself to his knees, he watched as the battle outside faded as once proud Earth Alliance capital ships were turned into twisted hulks of broken metal.  He then focused away from the battle and onto the two torpedoes that had been launched at his ship.  His life flashed before his eyes as it ended in fire.

The battle lasted only thirty minutes as the vastly outnumbered Earth Alliance fleet fell.  Not one ship survived the ambush.  Life pods and ejection seats from fighters were targeted and destroyed before the attacking fleet withdrew from the system.  Over fifty-five thousand soldiers met their deaths on this day when a war began.

***

            General Pack watched in stunned silence as the sensor feed from the Seventh Fleet went dead.  The last image he saw, dozens of ships encircling the last surviving Earth cruiser, was burned into his mind and would forever be.  In his years of service to Earth Force, now numbering over forty, he had seen a great many things but had never before witnessed such quick and efficient destruction.

            He collapsed into a chair, his head falling into his hands.  The General felt nothing, a feeling that in this context felt worse than sadness or grief could have.  Around him, the staff of the command center rose to their feet, looking to the General for guidance, having no idea which direction they now needed to take.  Pack, at this point, had no answers aside from what his training told him had to be done.  Even while trying to develop a course of action in his mind, the only thing he could think of was the letters that would have to be written to over fifty-five thousand families.

            "General, what do we do now?"  A young Commander who carried a fading sparkle of innocence in her blue eyes finally spoke up from the group of people crowding around the general.

            Regaining his composure, the General gave a simple answer.  "Get me the President."  Knowing additionally what his orders entailed, the Earth Force officers began the process of notifying everyone on the priority list.

****************