Crossover The Greater Game (Babylon 5/BattleTech)

Nine Months Later
New Haiti

There had been a pause in activity after the Event, a period of time where the Earth Alliance had to work out not just what had happened, but what must happen next. Deliverance from the Minbari had come at a price, the divestment of Earth's place in the universe, of all it had worked at and created. For many it was a small price to pay, some even believed it was perfect, the galaxy had abandoned Earth so let Earth abandon them.

But for many others Earth was now adrift and lost, without a path anymore. It was a second chance but one that brought its own mysteries and perils. President Levy had focused mostly on resetting the Solar system in the wake of the Minbari war, shifting from a total war economy to something new, one focused on meeting the needs of their new insular reality and restoring their defenses. The fleets and armies were repaired and growing, the population settling into a more normal life again, but always there remained the same question. What next?

After months of asking there was finally an answer, one that not only placed Earth squarely in this new galaxy but consequently removed the nearest and most obvious threat. The pirates of Tortuga might have been a speck in the distance to the massive powers of the galaxy, but they were neighbors to Earth and dangerous ones. President Levy didn't want them stumbling on the slowly expanding Earth Alliance and causing trouble, the full capabilities of any local technology were still unknown and Earth Force didn't want to tempt fate. That hadn't gone well with the Minbari.

The pirates had to go, and it had to be on Earth's terms. It was the best strategic move, the wisest political play, and morally correct. Few on Earth were keen to see another war begin, but eliminating pirates had ultimately been the reason Earth Force had been founded. Hopefully mopping up some scoundrels on a half dozen worlds and freeing all their slaves would justify the strong anti war sentiment present after dodging the Minbari.

"Clock is at T minus ten minutes." Commander Freeman checked the synchronized displays across the bridge of the jump ship, his entire crew poised for action. They had been watching this system for the last several months while the Explorer ship laboriously laid a beacon path from Sol, a straightforward but very painstaking task. It had given them time to properly map the system, their stolen dropship engaging in some basic trading as cover for a more detailed survey of New Haiti itself. They had kept a low profile, their ground team doing the same, a few coins in the right hands keeping them off the radar as the methodically revealed every relevant detail of the planetary defenses.

They had also gone beyond New Haiti investigating Tortuga itself, the seat of government such as it was. As the largest planet in the cluster it had superior defenses and plenty of irregular forces, but there was no coordinated defense, no standing fleet or army, just pirate bands. The stolen ship and its military crew had remained completed undetected, the element of surprise confirmed.

"Task Force coming into range." The comms officer reported. "Requesting data link."

"Do it." Freeman approved, tying his sensors to the incoming Earth Force fleet. "Any reaction from the planet?"

"Not a thing, our dropship is in orbit over the target zone. All quiet."

Their stolen jumpship had nowhere near the thrust to actually survey the planet, like most ships of its type it was limited to simply remaining more or less wherever its FTL jump left it. Freeman had instead been monitoring traffic in and out, a few ships per week usually. This system was clearly not very important, at least not until right now.

"Task Force signals it is in position, beginning jump sequence."

"Monitor their arrival, once they are in system plot our own course back to Tortuga." The Commander ordered. "We don't want to get mixed up in a fight with this bucket."

---

Everyone knew that warships no longer existed. Everyone knew that the last of the great vessels had fallen lifetimes ago, consumed in nuclear fire like so much else, lost to history with all the other glories of mankind. They had passed beyond living memory, existing only as images on a screen or passages in books, the once awe inspiring Queens of space extinct and unlikely to return. Unlikely though did not mean impossible.

The Lexington emerged from hyperspace a sensible distance from New Haiti, the location marked by a hyperspace beacon transmitting from the stolen dropship sitting on the planet's surface. Several thousand miles away the EAS Bearn also arrived bracketing the planet between the two heavy cruisers. Their arrival was a declaration, a beginning, one that would not be pleasant for everyone concerned.

"Open channels, all bands." Captain Sheridan took a quick breath to prepare himself, he was about to address people who had never heard or seen anything like this before and he didn't want to squeak out his first words. "Attention to the local administration and all ships in orbit of New Haiti. I am Captain John Sheridan of the Heavy Cruiser Lexington." He carefully made sure to omit any broader identifying information. "We require any bandit or pirate vessels to surrender immediately and prepare to be boarded. We require the planetary government to surrender and submit to arrest and trial on charges of piracy. These terms are non-negotiable, failure to comply will be met with lethal force."

He cut the channel and turned to his First Officer. "Status?"

"All weapons fully armed and tracking, Starfuries launching."

"Any sign of planetary defenses or orbital threats?"

"None Captain."

"Give the all clear to the second group."

Intel had indicated the planet was essentially defenseless but Earth Force Command wasn't going to just take that on faith. The two cruisers had arrived first to draw any fire and suppress anything that looked like it could hurt them. With the intel confirmed and the area secure the second wave of ships could arrive, the main body of the Task Force.

Emerging from a fresh vortex was the main support element, the Avenger class Carrier Akagi with the Assault ship Tarawa, a modified Hyperion with a vastly expanded hanger bay hauling a battalion of Marines. With them arrived a trio of conventional troop ships and a handful of cargo vessels with the supplies to keep the force operational.

"Main force has arrived Captain, no enemy action." Commander Carroll watched his screens very closely. "Multiple ships are running for the departure nodes, I'm hearing a lot of comms traffic with the jumpships."

"Trying to negotiate a way out." Sheridan guessed.

"Shall we jam them? Move to intercept?"

"Negative, there are no long range comms out here according to our informant. If we want the Tortuga Pirate King to know what we're doing and react we have to let these ships go. Most of them anyway." He checked the tactical map, a dozen red dots showing dropships breaking orbit and burning for all they were worth. "Scan those ships for life signs, command said these pirates were slavers too. If they are trying to run with slaves we'll intercept them."

"Still no answer from the planet Captain."

""No surprise, but we need to go by the book." Sheridan nodded. "Signal the Tarawa, tell them they're clear to begin landing operations."

"Aye sir."

"And wish them good hunting."

---

Earth Force had conducted a lot of planetary assaults, both as practice missions and real combat drops. From the massed assaults of the Dilgar war to the more covert and hasty reinforcement drops of the Minbari war the process had been refined to the point where it was a flexible and smooth operation. Starfuries from the carrier flew combat patrols as the assault ship began to open its bay doors and clear the path for her assault shuttles. The Lexington and Bearn stood off and formed a perimeter to intercept any hostile vessels trying to interfere, though of course no such ships were expected, while the Tarawa herself swung her guns to point at the planet in support of the attack. Orbital support was restricted as this was supposed to be a liberation, not an obliteration, but the big pulse cannon turrets and missile tubes stood ready anyway. Just in case.

From the bays of the Assault ship the first wave of Hades shuttles launched, long triangular lifting bodies similar to the smaller Peregrine shuttle but much larger and more capable. Each Hades carried a full company of infantry or a platoon of four vehicles, the Tarawa able to land a full mechanized Battalion in a single drop. Starfuries from the Akagi escorted the shuttles to the edge of the atmosphere covering them from interception, then had to pull back and leave the shuttles to make the final descent alone.

"Three minutes!" Staff Sergeant Michael Garibaldi yelled over the thunder of the descent, the floor of the shuttle definitely feeling warmer beneath his feet. His squad was strapped tight in their seats, rifles clipped to the frame of the chair by their side, all of them feeling like they were in a washing machine on its last cycle in a burning building. The shuttle jolted hard as it hit some turbulence, a couple of men further in the ship bringing their lunch back up as a result. Garibaldi never ate before a drop, his father had told him enough horror stories from his time in the Dilgar War to ensure Michael knew all the tricks of not looking a fool in front of his squad.

They were all young, at twenty eight Garibaldi was almost the oldest man in the Company outside the command staff. They were conscripts mainly freshly drafted to fight the last battle against the Minbari, the final stand on Earth against the invaders. All the veteran infantry were deployed out in the Colonies giving the Minbari hell or were held in reserve on Earth. As important as this mission was, it was apparent to most of the people in the shuttle Earth Force wasn't going to deploy the last of its elite soldiers on a possible one way trip. Garibaldi's unit was expendable and they all knew it, as Sergeant he had to keep them motivated and ready to fight in spite of it.

"When we touch down remember to run left!" He shouted over his shoulder, other NCOs likely doing the same across the battalion. "That's left, Marlow!"

There were a few nervous laughs.

"The ground is soft and flat, it's a landing zone and that's what they all look like! Clear the backwash, hit the dirt and stay there until the shuttle climbs, then get up and head for the ridge you should see in front of us!" Garibaldi and the rest of the platoon had already been told this, but it didn't hurt to drum it all in again. "Stay low, mark your targets and watch for civvies! We're here to free this planet, let's get it right first time!"

The lights inside turned red, the clear visual indicator that they were about to land.

"This is it, remember, go left, get clear, get flat! After me!"

The shuttle bucked hard as the pilot slammed on the retro thrusters and pulled up the nose bleeding off speed extremely quickly. Even securely belted down Garibaldi could feel his body trying to slide out of his seat onto the floor, blood flowing down to his ankles. The compartment was windowless but he could imagine the rushing of air outside, the clearing of the skies, the ground rushing up to meet them.

The actual landing was much gentler than expected, the pilot apparently one of the better of his breed. At once the big doors at the back dropped open giving the company of soldiers their exit. Garibaldi hit the release for his seat belts, unclipped his rifle with rapid precise movements, and ran for daylight. Two platoons went left, two went right, all of them getting well clear of the still roaring engines on the upper rear hull of the shuttle not far above their heads. The ground was not simply soft, it was muddy as hell forcing the troops to fight the ground in order to clear the take off zone, Garibaldi throwing himself flat and checking the horizon for movement.

The shuttle throttled up only a few dozen yards away, its belly still glowing slightly red from the heat of re-entry, splashes of water from the ground hissing and sizzling against the tiles. It pulled itself out of the mud with some serious effort and began to climb, Garibaldi and the rest keeping flat with their faces down as the hot engine wash blasted by them.

"Third platoon! Move up!" Their Lieutenant, Curt Meitner, threw his hand forward toward their objective, a low ridge at the edge of the zone. "Hold at the summit!"

"You heard the man, up and move!" Garibaldi extricated himself from the mud, feeling the humidity for the first time. This was going to be nasty, he hated jungle warfare and this felt like it was going to be a jungle planet. "Watch your spacing!"

The entire platoon was filthy, dropping in the mud and then getting sprayed by the engines of the departing shuttle and drenched them all. On the one hand it was an effective extra layer of camouflage, on the other it meant they probably weren't going to feel dry until they got back on the ship. The platoon moved as swiftly as it could, their shuttle turning away into the clouds impossibly slowly. Garibaldi watched it and a few others from the first wave heading back into space for a moment before focusing on the task at hand. Behind them was the rumble of more Hades dropping out of the sky, these ones carrying the company of tanks attached to the Battalion as heavy support. So far all was quiet but the arrival of the heavy armor was a huge boost to the otherwise isolated infantry.

The infantry laboriously climbed the ridge, the heat and humidity making it a far harder task then it had to be, and stopped at the summit laying down at the edge to survey the land beyond.

"Nothing." Marlow scanned the distance. "Just trees."

"And how do you know what's in those trees?" Garibaldi asked while checking himself. Beyond their landing zone, which now Garibaldi checked looked a hell of a lot like a massive crater, was a sea of trees. It was not a great position, the trees would obscure any attack and seriously cut down their fields of fire. "You keep your eyes wide open, watch your sections and call out any movement. Could be anything out there."

"Fifty credits says dinosaurs." Private Berry threw in. "Any takers?"

"I'm going for giant spiders." Marlow threw in to a series of groans.

"What about you Sarge, you in?" Berry set up a tally.

"Yeah, put me down for Hula girls." He grinned. "Let's be optimistic, right?"

"Right." Berry gave Marlow a slap across his shoulder. "Giant spiders man?"

"If I'm right you'll be sorry."

"Amen to that." Garibaldi heartily agreed. "Stay here, I'll get our gear sent up."

He only had to walk a little further back to find his Lieutenant, the fresh faced officer standing with the rest of the Battalion command. Garibaldi stood back, let the officers do whatever they did, and waited for Meitner to notice him.

"All good Sergeant?"

"Platoon is deployed sir, no one left behind on the ship, not even Marlowe."

"That just cost me ten credits." The Lieutenant jokingly sighed. "Alright Sergeant, head back up and I'll sort out our supply drop."

"Thank you sir."

"And watch out for brass, the General is checking out the ground, try to make us look good if he walks past our part of the line."

"Operation shove a sock in Private Marlow's mouth is a go sir." Garibaldi grinned. "Any word on hostiles sir?" He took a guess what the officers had been discussing.

"They are moving, about two hundred miles north." Meitner answered. "Expect contact tomorrow morning, but we'll probably have scouts during the night. Keep alert and dig in for a long wait."

"Got it sir." Garibaldi nodded then jogged back up to his position to get busy digging.

---

It took about a hour for the platoon's gear to arrive, the initial landing bringing only their weapons and whatever they could cram into their combat harness. With the landing zone secure and defended the bigger, slower transports began to land, massive Condor long range heavy lifters bringing down the rest of the Alliance forces and their baggage. A field kitchen, hospital, command post, engineering troops, observers and communication uplinks. They also brought down the heavy equipment each platoon was assigned including the beloved remote gun turrets and missile racks.

"Site them on the ridge." Garibaldi picked optimal spots on the broken ground. "I want them dug in properly, nice clear lines of fire. Do not half-ass this! Those things will save your life!"

He watched with approval as his people did as told, clearing a depression on the forward slope and laying in the tripod mounted CPPG weapon, a heavier version of the standard Phased Plasma rifles each man carried. They reinforced a parapet around it and threw over camouflage netting, the sheet masking it both visually and from heat sensitive scans.

"Good work, those guns are worth more than you are!" He joked to keep the mood light, physical labor in these tropical conditions was not helping morale. "You'll feel better when you see them open up, two of those things wiped out three full Minbari platoons on New Berlin. Lit 'em right up."

"What about the missiles Sarge?" Berry asked, the man dripping sweat.

"Dig them in further back, they don't need line of sight but make sure shrapnel can't hurt them. Intel says the enemy has some sort of combat robot so we'll be needing them."

"Combat robot?"

"That's what I heard." Garibaldi shrugged. "The tanks'll handle it but keep those missiles safe just in case they don't."

"Got it Sarge."

They were a good platoon, fresh but at least Meitner and himself had enough experience to keep them confident and focused. He took a moment to look back at the landing zone, very clearly a multi mile wide crater with the ridge representing the lip of the impact. He guessed it was a good sized asteroid, but couldn't rule out someone doing this deliberately. Their pre-drop briefing had said the powers in this galaxy or reality or whatever had nearly armageddoned each other, so maybe this was man made.

Right now though it was a hive of frantic activity, the organized and directed performance of a full brigade deployment. The Logistics Corps was nothing if not fast, the bulky troopships having enough heavy lift transports to put the entire force down in one go once they area was safe. Two more mechanized Battalions had touched down and were taking positions elsewhere around the crater. Bulldozers were up on the ridge creating pits for the tanks to move into when necessary, and in the middle artillery and air defense vehicles were setting up to keep the front line covered.

They had no air support yet, until they took enough space to lay a runway they couldn't bring in Banshee multirole jet fighters, but they expected VTOL gunships to arrive once the engineers established a prefab base for them. Ultimately it didn't matter too much as sitting above them, a tiny speck in the sky, was the Tarawa and her heavy pulse cannons. All in all it was a solid position, and it had to be. While local forces were irregulars they had no idea if the troops on Tortuga itself were professionals, or close enough. The point of this whole operation was to draw out the main enemy force, get them away from civilian settlements, and then destroy them with massed firepower.

Approaching voices drew his attention back to his immediate surroundings, a gaggle of officer types marching along binoculars in hand waving at the jungles. One was the Battalion commander, and guessing by how quicky he was trotting behind the leader of the group he guessed he was about to run into the overall commander of the mission.

"Afternoon Sergeant." The leading officer nodded, Garibaldi seeing the dull rank emblems stitched on his chest.

"Good Afternoon Brigadier." Garibaldi observed both his Colonel and Lieutenant Meitner hovering nearby with a look of incredible anxiety on their faces.

"Your men are well dug in, must have been hot humid work eh?"

"Yes sir, it was sir."

The General broke a sideways smile. "Relax Sergeant, we're in the field now, no need to be so stiff out here."

"Yes sir." Garibaldi could feel his Colonel's eyes drilling into him. "It's hot as hell and the boys have done nothing but bitch."

"Ha!" The General snapped a laugh. "If they're complaining that means they're still breathing! I'll take it!"

Garibaldi grinned too, this brigade was a new assignment and he knew nothing about the other elements of it, but at least their commanding officer wasn't a stuck up asshole.

"You seen much action Sergeant?"

"Two tours, New Berlin and Ross."

"Hard fighting there lad." The General betrayed a Scottish drawl. "Heard there wasn't much left of Ross when we pulled back."

"No sir, not much at all. But we made the bastards pay for it."

"Let's hope they're doing better back where we left them." The General spoke bitterly, his tone betraying his lack of confidence in his words. "We're staying here Jack, get me a line to the Navy!" he yelled back at his staff. Garibaldi's Colonel escalating from anxiety to dread.

"Take a look out there Sergeant." The Brigadier pointed at the jungles. "What do you think?"

"I think you could lose an army in that jungle sir." Garibaldi answered honestly. "And if they make good time and decide to hit us in the dark our perimeter sensors probably won't see them coming."

"Exactly right Sergeant, you'd make a good officer."

"Not my style sir, never could figure which silver spoon to use first at Mess functions."

"Very fair." The General scanned the horizon with his binoculars. "No, I don't like that jungle at all. Jack, where's my phone?"

"Sir." A Major trotted up and gave the General a field telephone tied to the comms truck back in the middle of the crater. He grabbed the phone and pressed it to his ear, eyes still fixed to the binoculars.

"Big Sky this is Mud Hopper, receiving?"

"Mud Hopper, go for Big Sky." A crackly voice replied, Garibaldi standing close enough to hear it.

"I need a steady barrage, ten kilometres radius from my position. No hostiles, I just need some grid squares cleared."

"Roger that General, be advised it's going to take a while."

"Got all day Big Sky."

"Command wants you to know there's a weather front heading your way due to arrive tonight, thick clouds and rain." The voice from above relayed. "We'll have no line of sight tomorrow and heavily impaired sensors."

"Of course you will, perfect timing."

"The water in the air will also diffuse our energy weapons, Command recommends missiles as the optimal bombardment option."

"Understood, I'll factor it in."

"Very good Mud Hopper, barrage will commence shortly."

"Thanks for the show Big Sky."

The General lowered his binoculars and tossed the field phone back to his aide. "You ever seen an orbital bombardment Sergeant?"

"Once sir, but it wasn't one of ours." Garibaldi shoved back the memory.

"I watched the Minbari glass a good chunk of Jericho, but I also saw our ships at work against the Dilgar. Nothing quite like it." He looked skyward waiting patiently. "You're right Sergeant, you could lose an army in that jungle, it offers far too much cover and concealment. Especially for irregular forces."

From high above a point of light began to move, a bright spot that grew over the seconds before suddenly speeding up, scything neatly through the clouds leaving a trail of vapour behind it as it burned through the air itself until impacting the ground in a sheet of flame.

"So we remove the Jungle." The General determined. "And in the process we churn up the ground, make it uneven and difficult to traverse. We litter it with fallen tree trunks and turn large areas of the surface into sharp chunks of glass. We turn it from an advantage to our enemies, into an advantage for ourselves."

Several more bolts of energy fell from the sky and hit the jungle, tossing up shards of trees and creating brief pressure domes of vapor in the humid air. The range and thick atmosphere had robbed the bolts of a majority of their energy but they still hit harder than any regular artillery with the added advantage of flash heating anything they didn't simply obliterate.

"As an added bonus that jungle will burn all night which will hinder enemy scouts and give our people plenty of light to spot them coming. Might dry out this damn humidity a little too."

"Guess the Navy is good for something after all." Garibaldi gave a tiny bit of credit, the energy pulses falling with regularity now, a steady curtain working its way back and forth around the crater.

"Once or twice." The General agreed. "This part of the defenses faces the expected direction of the enemy, your unit will likely be at the sharp end tomorrow. Ready for it Sergeant?"

"We will be."

"Good." The General didn't need to hear more, he recognized the simple resolve in the voice of a veteran. "Word is the enemy has several combat robots, big things they say, dozen meters tall."

"Nice big targets sir."

"Probably so, these are pirates so they are probably used to intimidate impoverished communities. Still, they will have guns so make them a priority if you see one."

"Understood sir."

"Good hunting tomorrow then Sergeant. Remember these are pirates and slavers." General Robert Fraser turned his back on the growing firestorm. "Kill them all."