Title: “Allied by Blood” version 1

Author: Albert Green Jr.

In association with: Ed Becerra, Ash’s Boomstick, and RenS

Contact:

Rating: PG- 13

Date began: March 1, 2006

NOTICE: THIS STORY MAY BE DISTRIBUTED FREE OF CHARGE BUT MUST NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM.

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THIS STATEMENT MUST ACCOMPANY THE STORY ‘ALLIED BY BLOOD' IF DISTRIBUTED. THIS STORY IS FREE OF CHARGE AND MAY NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM. THIS DEDICATION MUST ACCOMPANY ANY DISTRUBUTION OF THIS STORY.

Dedication:

My wife Sheryl has allowed me to hide in our basement and write in relative peace, and she hasn’t even extracted revenge yet. I said it before and I say it once more; Thanks, my Love. Now leave me alone so that I can work. And I thank all those who have written me concerning 'A Universe of Change’, ‘Those who Stand' and 'the Evolutions-Ruination war series,' all of whom have inspired me to continue writing for fun the of it, because God understands that this is hard. But I like is part 3 of the “Universe of Change” series. I would recommend that you read ‘Universe of Change’ and ‘Those who Stand’ first or you will be lost. No kidding.

Summary: It has been three months since the Vorlon and the Shadow military forces left for Z’ha’dum to engage an ancient enemy. The gate has been destroyed trapping a sizable force of aliens known as the ‘Third-Space aliens’ or the Yonji (pronounced ‘ongie’) Sinhindrea (pronounced sin’HINdreaa) in their universe. The various governments are trying to come together to face this most dire of threats. However, old hatreds and prejudices threaten the fledgling alliances before it has begun.

They’ll have to come together fast, or they will all go down together.

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Important note: This, like ‘A Universe of Change’ and ‘Those Who Stand’, is a Star Trek centered story placed in the Babylon five universe. In other words, this story is seen from the Federation’s POV. Also unlike, ‘A ThinVeneer’, this is a wide ranging story with characters popping up and disappearing all over the place. Think of it as seeing glimpses of the whole picture. One more point: there is character sharing between ATV and the UOC series, however the universe are completely separate and each character set has its own grief to deal with. Now relax and please enjoy as we begin our story.

Second note: I have repeated certain sections in this chapter here by mistake, an error I intend to correct very soon. The corrections will be made later when chapter 2 comes up. Thanks, AG

Prelude

August 12, 2262

Personal log: Susan Ivanova, Commander, Executive officer of Babylon Five: It’s been three months since President’s Clark death. Earth is recovering from the effects of the Shadow plague and so far there have been no more recurrences reported and that has been a cause for jubilation. But economically things are just coming together. Although the plague wasn’t designed to kill but rather weaken the population, over seventy million people died from the collateral effects. Most of those died of starvation or secondary diseases, since the medical and economic structures collapsed because of the plague. Another twenty percent of the entire population is recovering slower than the estimated norms. President Luchenko is reorganizing Earth Alliance nicely and Earth Force is slowly building itself back up and not a moment too soon. The Shadow Omega project has been scrapped once and for all. The pseudo shadow alloys were starting to kill the crews. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. Those crews are being treated but it’ll be a long recovery for most of them. Now, Earth Alliance is looking for something new.

Some of the resistance fighters have returned to EarthForce and a de facto writ of immunity has been given to them. All has been forgiven – and, if I believe that then Kosh is my long-lost brother. And that’s a wonderful theory. But the reality is that political leaders and dozens of our military officers and enlisted people have lost their jobs and or have resigned. Several high-ranking officers have been grounded and a couple of very showy trials have already been set into motion. The people are angry and I don’t blame them. Some of Clark’s personal flunkies have been sent to Mars. They’ve been forced to begin the rebuilding of Mars Dome from scratch. The habitations destroyed by the Sinhindrea attack need to be rebuilt. Clark’s cronies have been drafted for that honor and they have rushed to do it especially since the alternative was being mindwiped and restarting life as lifetime maintenance employees in the Republic of Trukey’s sewage treatment facilities. Surprisingly, a lot of people from Earth have volunteered to do the same and are happy to do so as along as Luchenko keeps her promise that Mars can become an independent world within twenty years, if that is what they decide is the best course for them.

That is going to be a test of Earth Alliance’s integrity and resolve but it’s nothing compared to what’s happening now. I’m glad that John is handling that and not me. They way things are going; we might have a shooting war any minute.

The Centauri on the other hand, have been remarkably cooperative. General Knonto Denarri has been named Regent. He as removed all ships from the Non-Aligned Worlds territories and are in serious negotiations with them at Babylon Five. They are also in talks with Earth Alliance and all signs seem hopeful as both governments prepare for the worst.

Four weeks ago, despite vigorous protests from the worker and religious, and some of the warrior castes, the Minbari sent one of their fleets consisting of the Star Riders and a smaller sect called the Blood Knives to Z’ha’dum under the pretense of assisting the Vorlons and Shadows in the battle against the Sinhindrea. We’ve told them of the gate’s destruction, a fact collaborated by independent witnesses, but they want to see for themselves, or that’s the official word from on high. The truth is, everyone is worried about that, but we can only hope for the best. If they do succeed, then they’ll be more insufferable than ever. We have no idea what has happened if anything however we have eyes and ears there in the form of Draal, the Soul Hunters and the elusive Technomages. True to their word, the Soul Hunters have given us the plans to make smaller jump engines and the various governments have jumped on them as if they were Sir Galahad screaming that he had the Holy Grail tucked in his hip pocket.

The Feds have been busy. The Enterprise-D is fully refitted and certified for duty and with the help of Voyager, the Ambassador has a new updated warp core and is finalizing their pulse QSD engines into their ship. The Yeager has the same weapons and capabilities as the Rantoul now. They’ve also developed their own ways to enter jump space without the use of Quantum 40. From what I understand, they require a much larger warp field surrounding the ship to get past the warp one point seven threshold, but that’s a faster speed than anything we’ve ever imagined. With Voyager’s advances and database of different FTL drives, using their zero-point core technology and a new engine configuration they could travel even faster, possibly as fast as warp 3 without designing a new ship – which they plan to do when they have the time. Theoretically they could make it to the Rim now in six days. But they are also working hard developing a version of pulse slipstream in hyperspace. That would be used for traveling between galaxies. We’re talking insane speeds here. And they wouldn’t be limited by jump space as all of the races here are. If they share, then we can spread much further rather than being shackled to beacons and limited sensors in jump space. Their classes are continuing and there has been a lot of promise on several fronts. I agree with their decision to do it this way, however given the circumstances I wish they’d just give us some of those photon torpedoes. Of course we’d probably kill ourselves playing around with those things. These next few months should be interesting in a Russian sort of way.

On a more personal note, Captain Sheridan has re-assigned me back on active Starfury duty. I am so happy that I could scream. Now I will have the opportunity to practice my skills in real space against those Colonial Cobras. There are thirty-five version- three Thunderbolts now certified and I want to try mine against the T-2s and those Colonial ships. The Threes are the hottest fighters around and the Minbari are having quiet fits. The T-2’s were on parity with the Nials; the T-3’s has them playing catch-up and they don’t like it. Sometimes I think that they’re worse than we are.

Chapter one

The Star system of Z’ha’dum:

Hyperspace:

The war had already started. The approach to Z’ah’dum had been treacherous and costly. The Vorlon-Shadow force of one hundred ships, supported by Drakh cruisers and Runkasjh destroyers constituted a formidable force to be reckoned with. For the first time ever, the Vorlon Lord felt secure in the knowledge that his people’s philosophical and mortal enemies were right next to him. It didn’t matter that these were the same enemies that savaged Vorlon Prime with world-killing missiles, after the Vorlons strategically retreated from their now destroyed homeworld. It didn’t matter that the Shadows had turned those beautiful oceans into radioactive sludge. It didn’t matter that because of the Shadows, death had visited his people by the millions for the first time since the Great Destroyers had swarmed through the gate for the very first time. It didn’t matter that the Shadows had force them to abandon their empire. No, none of that mattered.

What did matter to the Vorlon High Lord was that the Shadows had won the bet. What did matter was that the great experiment had been contaminated by others not of this universe. What did matter was that these others would not submit to the authority of the First Ones. What mattered more was that they were somehow protected from the righteous wrath of Vorlon rule. There was something there, the power of an elder First One protecting these creatures, almost daring them to strike at the second group of other Humans and their alien associates. That something was dangerous, with more power than anything ever experienced by his people. The first other Humans didn’t know that they were protected by it. The Shadows weren’t aware of it until the second other Humans had come. Their presence sealed the legacy of the Vorlon race. Now and forever, all of the plans, manipulations, experiments, and even prayers would be steeped in failure. The younger races would know of the failures of their betters and those lesser creatures would laugh at them. The Minbari found their former masters and teachers unworthy.

What mattered was that the Shadows were standing with them now. What mattered more was the humiliation and the scorn heaped upon the Vorlon name by creatures unworthy to even see their true visage. Better to have lost to their former enemies rather than be laughed at by those less-than-nothing creatures. He only wished that they could have eliminated them before his people left for the rim. Vorlon pride had been hurt.

Pride.

The first of all sins.

Every race had it to some degree. It determined the direction of countless individuals, inspiring them to greatness or plunged them into the depths of ruin. Pride drove the Vorlons to attack the Great Destroyers. Fear of Lorien’s vengeance, more than the fear of the creatures from the Third Space, gave them the incentive to make good their promise. Hatred for the younger races would cause the Vorlon Lord to give orders that would turn the galaxy on its heels – provided that they survived the current crises.

They had lost a war here once. They had been driven from their homes. The ‘Dancers of the Dark’ had fled in fear against a relentless enemy more dangerous than they. The Shadows had defeated the Vorlons and had possibly doomed themselves in the process.

The Shadows, late of the planet of Z’ha’dum, now joined by their traditional enemies the Vorlons, could not drive that lost from their minds – they had lost. That taste was a dour feeling that these Elder ones had every intentions of erasing from their memories.

Not even the Shadows could identify the remains of their vessels that had been lost in the first titanic battle against the Great Enemy. Those savaged ships had dissolved in death into their component parts. Hundreds of thousand of their races had been killed, either bombed into oblivion or eaten by the Devourers.

A small part of the Shadow Lord and her court blamed the Vorlons for this atrocity. A part of her blamed her own arrogance and pride for opening a Vorlon device, ignoring that oh-so ancient proverb. ‘If we touch what is Vorlon we will die’. That had proven true, however things had changed. The Vorlons were with them this time, not against them and when this was over, they would all go home.

Home was where the Rim was. Not even they knew the full import of this journey but, like so many before them, they were now prepared to go there and meet whatever fate that was in store for them. First, they had to keep their promise to Lorien. Now the time to honor that promise had arrived so that Lorien would honor his.

Babylon Five:

“…Therefore, as of August 11, 2262, the former Human colony known as Proxima formally secedes from Earth Alliance and declares itself an independent state to do as we please.” President Charles Vincent defiantly placed the papers into the trembling hands of Earth Alliance Senator James Peterman.

“This is not amusing,” the Senator said. He was having a great difficulty controlling his anger and was failing. “Proxima is part of Earth Alliance and this-this posturing will only serve to aggravate our improving relations. You do not have the right to do this. Earth is your home and it’s your support system. The shipyards are the property of Earth Alliance and you have no right to nationalize them. Without us you will fall apart. Think of what you’re doing here. You are not Babylon Five.”

John Sheridan, Delenn Sheridan, newlyweds as of last week, sat silently, listening to the quiet beginnings of World War Four. Kosh stood off to the side, watching the events unfold. The Senator and three other representatives of Earth Alliance shifted uncomfortably as the unusually confident, newly declared President of independent Proxima responded.

“We don’t want your shipyards,” the President stated. “You can have them all back. I will go further and say that you can have all of your orbital habitats and docks back as soon as you can tow them.” Slowly, he steepled his fingers and stared into the eyes of the Senator and the others. “EarthForce, under the control of Earth Alliance, illegally blockaded our colony, denying us critical food, medical and other essential supplies for months. And Senator, I don’t think you understand what that means.”

“Correction, Mister Vincent,” the Senator said. He refused to call this man President. “I understand exactly what that means. We understand that this was an error on our part…”

“But you did nothing to stop Clark and EarthForce from devastating our planet,” Vincent interrupted. “EarthForce fired on our people. Four million people were left to the ravages of an alien planet while our own people starved us out. The government did nothing. Did you even protest these actions?” he said. “Did you feel any concern whatsoever about the colonies that you blockaded or attacked like you did us, Babylon Five and of course, Mars Dome?”

The Senator flushed a bit. “I admit it. Mistakes have been made.”

“Yes,” Vincent countered. “You were worried about your political lives while we watched our children starve. Every agreement within the Proxima Treaty signed by Earth Alliance was violated. The Rules of Engagement were violated against your own people! All of it – meaningless!” For an instant all of the hatred, grief and anger poured out like a wave crashing upon the shore. “I want you to understand. No matter how beautiful it is, Proxima is an alien world. Our plants will take generations before they will comfortably acclimate to this world; same thing for our feed animals. There are new diseases and mutations that we are constantly on the lookout for. Shelter is of primary concern. We’re developing food stuffs but a lot of our supplies come from Earth and from our carefully designed green houses. EarthForce bombed us, then ran when the Centauri attacked us. They did not attack us, however we still starved. Your abandonment of us hurt more than your blockade.”

“Look, I understand how you must feel. But this isn’t the way to do this. We can’t allow you to do this,” Senator Peterman insisted.

“What do you plan to do, isolate us again?”

“Earth Alliance is still in a state of shock. We need to stick together in our times of desperation. There is a war coming and we will need all of the resources that we can get in order to survive.”

“And that is exactly why we are leaving Earth Alliance. If Earth is threatened, we’d be left to our own devices, because Earth must be protected first. That is a fact and we both know it.”

“Earth Alliance will never abandon you,” Peterman insisted. “Never again.”

“Never again,” Peterman echoed. “Never again, right up until the next crisis.”

The Senator sighed. “Earth Alliance will not allow this.”

“It’s already done, Senator Peterman. “We’ve allied ourselves with, the members of the United Earth Ship C-57-D,” President Vincent said. “As I speak, planetary defenses have been established. We have a planetary defense shield protecting the planet as well as weapons batteries capable of accurately destroying any unwanted vessel within a two hundred thousand mile range. Nothing Earth Alliance has can get through that shield. We already have several shuttles already modified with weaponry from the UES capable of destroying an Omega with ease. And they have hyperdrives built in. We’re building several ships with their design in mind. Did you know that their ship uses a form of power very similar to the Federation ship Voyager? We now have synthesizer technology,” he told them. It’s slower than the instant replication system used by the Federation and Babylon Five but it’s just as effective and it’s ours,” he paused for a moment to allow them to digest that. “Our food supplies are more than adequate now, as are our building materials, our medical supplies and electronics,” he finished. At least two of the Earth Alliance representatives were almost salivating. Then, Vincent plunged the political knife. “However, the most important thing you should be aware of is that we have allies of our own. These allies are the Narn, the Drazi and the representatives of the Klingon Empire. We have a treaty with them, anyone who attacks us, attacks them and vice versa. So,” he said smiling coldly, “we are not alone. Do not think that for a second. Our people have voted on this and we have agreed. Some of them will return to Earth, but the majority have agreed and will take our chances.”

“You’re seceding from Earth Alliance! This action could lead to war, you do realize that?”

“No it won’t,” the President insisted. “You have other, far more important problems to worry about rather than us. Get your own house in order. While you do, we’ll keep getting stronger and one day, when we come to the bargaining table, it will be on equal terms. As of now, we request that you remove your properties from our space. If you can’t, it can remain where it is until you remove it. All EarthForce personnel will leave those facilities as soon as possible.

“And what if we won’t leave?” one of the aides coldly asked.

“You don’t have the resources to do anything at this time,” the President replied equally as cold. “Besides, Earth needs to reorganize their resources not give them out to someone who doesn’t need it. Also you need friends that may one day be able to help – Human friends. And others I might add. Look around you Senator Peterman; the universe is changing moment by moment. All of it is threatened. The point is, you’ve made enemies and those enemies who buried their children are not in the mood to forgive. In time, we may come to an understanding, but for now, and this is official,” he hastened to add with finality that halted all conversation. “Leave – us – alone.”

“We’re sorry that you fill this way,” the Senator said slowly. “But this is only the beginning. Don’t mistake yourselves as being Babylon Five.”

“Then don’t assume that you’ll succeed this time, either,” he retorted. “As I said, we don’t want this escalating into an armed conflict, but we will defend ourselves as necessary.

Babylon Five:

Senator Peterman was still smarting a bit from the unexpected tongue lashing from the now departed colonist. But he wasn’t as upset as he thought he should be. In fact, he suspected something like this was bound to have occurred sooner or later. Some part of him liked the idea of another independent group of Humans being able to defend themselves, and if it turned out to be different than anyone had expected and not gotten Earth into trouble, then that was fine as well. Many of the colonies were, if not hostile, not overly friendly to the Earth Alliance government. Several of them were openly rebellious while others were frightened of what was coming and were demanding closer ties to Earth Alliance.

And EarthForce wasn’t ready. There were barely enough ships to properly defend Earth but in the Alliance controlled space, protection was sparse. The Drakh, the Centauri, the civil war, and those other aliens and even the Federation had hurt Earth’s reputation and ability to effectively defend itself in force. The government was still recovering and Luchenko’s tough, grinding leadership was the only thing keeping everything together for now. Several of the alien governments have been tentatively offering the hand of friendship, re-establishing old ties, but some in EarthGov were overly cautious; something he considered a mistake. Clark’s agenda nearly ruined Earth but he had touched on a sensitive nerve. This was something the current President intended to correct, but it had to be done with finesse and not with the Hammer of Thor tactics use by Clark.

In front of him sat Sheridan and his wife Delenn waiting patiently for him to begin. This was an interesting situation. Here was a Human with an alien wife, a Minbari no less, waiting for him to speak on behalf of Humans everywhere. These aliens had almost wiped Humanity out on a whim and now Humans were marrying them less than twenty years later. Less than a year ago, this would have shocked and offended him, but now with the Feds here, his own attitude had changed somewhat. There were plenty of mixed races on their ships, several married to each other, and that hadn’t been a problem for them. Even the telepaths moved freely on those ships including one former Earth Alliance teep, Lyta Alexander. She had joined them and seemed relatively happy and sincerely relaxed at the change. Maybe this was the beginning of a new future for Mankind and the different, closer Humanoid species here. At this point, no one was sure what the future would bring.

But one thing was crystal clear, alien races had interfered with Humanity; but then again, these elder races had interfered with all of the races. It wasn’t humanity that was experimented on, it was everyone.

A new galaxy was forming, indeed.

“I’ll come to the point,” he said evenly. “Earth Alliance would like to purchase sixty of the modified Thunderbolt-class Starfuries, the version twos’ I believe. We know that you can make them here much faster than we could and we’re willing to pay the standard amount plus thirty-five percent.”

Sheridan’s face remained blank, but inside he was reeling. This was last thing he expected and whatever decision he made now would have long lasting repercussions.

“Captain Sheridan,” the Senator continued. “EarthForce and Earth Alliance recognize the significance of these fighters and the weight they’ll carry in the protection of Earth Alliance interests and this coming war we all know is coming. Research and development on the fighter that was appropriated without permission, is taking much longer than we have anticipated. Although we made some gains, what we’ve managed to produce is somewhat inferior to the original. The Monsoon Olympus gunboats, and the newer Raneko variants are impressive but again, the power curves for the weapons are unacceptable for use in prolonged combat. In other words, we’re still working on it.” He smiled a bit sheepishly. The fusion generator is a particularly difficult item to work with.”

The hijacked Thunderbolt had been a godsend to Earth R&D but certain elements could not be reproduced and the current fusion generators were not sufficient to power the weapons, gravity generators and the polarized plating back-engineered by the slightly crazed technicians over at what was nicknamed WTH. WTH stood for ‘what the hell’ because that’s what usually could be heard through the soundproofed doors when they were working with captured Federation and Klingon technology. Most of the new technology was inferior to the original just like the pseudo-Shadow components and armor had been.

“We also request that the Minbari and EarthForce military carry out joint war games to better coordinate our forces. I have been authorized by the President of Earth Alliance to ask that the Centauri also join in these proposed exercises. I know it is unprecedented but given the circumstances, this might be prudent. It also will show our willingness to generate some trust between the other governments and races starting with ourselves as examples.”

“The Minbari appreciate your gesture, Senator,” Delenn said quickly. “I will relay this request to the government, but I am not sure if they will approve of this action. In light of the fact that the Elder races have left to attack our mutual enemies and that we have also sent a fleet to engage what will be left of the Sinhindrea, these proposed exercises may be considered redundant.”

Peterman nodded. “But what if they don’t succeed? Still, it might be prudent to seriously consider this request.”

“It might be at that,” Sheridan agreed. “However, I will want to add a condition to this, if it is approved. Earth Alliance has to approve the full and complete rights to all of the Human telepaths. No more Psi-Corps, no more gloves, no more fear of our own people.”

The Senator and his entourage blanched.

“I understand what I’m asking,” he added. “I know it’s frightening. But we have to start somewhere. You’re offering to work hand-in-hand with the Minbari. Why can’t you with our own people? We have quite a few of them located on Epsilon. That’s only a temporary condition. They need to go back home. Some of the officers have been neutered, courtesy of the Federation.”

“I don’t know,” answered a very nervous Senator. The idea of unidentified teeps walking around completely anonymous frightened him. Working with aliens seemed safer. “I must confer with the President. I don’t know if she and the Senate will be receptive to this. But what do you mean neutered?”

“Several high ranking Psi-Corps officials, along with Earth Alliance tried to end run Picard and his people. He permanently removed their telepathy in retaliation.”

That came as a surprise to the Earth Alliance reps. No one from Earth Alliance knew what had happened to the escaped teeps and the major players of the Corps. Most had either been killed or were believed hiding at some small colony well under the radar. “I don’t understand,” Peterman said. “If he could do that, then why not remove their telepathy from all of them?”

“That’s not the way the Federation works,” Delenn said. “You believe that telepathy is some sort of power, not an extra sense such as enhanced eyesight, or hearing, or taste.

“Whether we like it or not; whether we understand it or not, it’s not our call to decide what is best for them,” Sheridan said. “For God’s sake, we’re treating them like the Nazis treated the Jews back in the 1900’s. We have to be better than that.”

“But the people won’t trust them,” one of the aides protested. “How do we know they won’t instigate a war and try to take over?”

“How do we know we can trust the Earth Alliance not to stab us in the back?”

The Senator sighed heavily. Everyone was trying to forget the last few years, but that wasn’t about to happen in three months. “Well I guess we still have a long way to go, allies or not.”

“Yes, we do,” Sheridan confirmed. “It’s give and take on all sides,” he responded looking at an uncomfortable Delenn. “But as you’ve said, we have to start somewhere. I understand that there have to be some rules, but servitude by either Psi-Corps or regulations by the government has shown to exacerbate the difficulties with them. If they are willing to me us half way we should be able to at least consider it.”

The system of Z’ha’dum:

The Vorlon High Lord still reeled with the revelations of recent events. The other Humans were not of this universe and had upset things. The circle remained and would recycle at least once more but everything else had turned into a maze of darkness and despair. Order had been replaced with chaos and the eternal question posed so long ago and fought so hard for had been answered. Neither chaos nor order held sway; only in combination was balanced maintained. It had been the worst of all possible answers and that angered him. The entire experiment had been contaminated with these unknown aliens factored into the equations. They had tried so hard to control all of the variables and they had failed by the so called x-factor.

It was that unaccounted for factor that caused the Shadows to successfully attack and destroy the Vorlon Federation causing the majority of his population to flee for the Rim. Only a few fleets had not yet left. They returned home from their distant missions to discover their world burning and their mighty races fleeing from the once hated Shadows. They burned for revenge but nothing could have prepared them for the reopening the gate. The Devourers from that third space had re-entered their universe and old disagreements that had raged for thousands of years had to be put aside. Lorien had seen to that at Babylon Five.

The bitterness of that defeat was almost welcomed in comparison to the raw fear of what was about to occur. Ships sensors had informed them that the gate had been destroyed and that was a blessing any everyone’s standards. That meant that no more of them could come through and it also meant that their formidable telepathic skills would not be enhanced enough to influence weaker minds in the Vorlon or Shadow collectives. The weak on both sides had been weeded out, sent to the Rim. Now only the strong stayed and only the strong would fight. However, the terror was still being felt by all.

The High Lord stood at the front of his bridge staring at the waves of hyperspace beginning to make way to normal space and he remembered.

That first horrific battle that happened so long ago and was so traumatic, that it burned itself into the Vorlon race memory. A thousand capital ships were destroyed; an entire fleet of eight thousand single and escort vessels were obliterated, by the Great Enemy. His people had barely beaten them back with their planet killers. Dozens of younger races along with their worlds were extinguished by the collateral fighting between the two powers. That victory had been once of the most costly, mournful one in memory and also resulted in the greatest victory celebration in Vorlon history. The other First Ones hated the Vorlons because of this error of pride that had almost cost the lives of this universe and they were ostracized. The Vorlons didn’t care. They had beaten the darkness and had survived.

But the primal fear remained. The Sinhindrea were discovered to be so similar in physiology to the Vorlon species that many races might have assumed that they were subspecies of one another. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, both species were aquatic-based and had developed in similar conditions, but the psychology of the two species couldn’t be compared. The Sinhindrea were pure predators whereas the Vorlons were not. The Vorlons were more a combination of energy and matter. The Sinhindrea were matter-based, taken to the extreme. The Vorlons had control, order; the Sinhindrea had none. All the difference in the universe lay in those facts. But the similarities were still there. And that is why his people feared the Great Enemy. His people under slightly different conditions might have developed into the Sinhindrea. That was why they had to be destroyed. The Vorlons knew what the Sinhindrea were capable of and the depths they would go to achieve those ends.

But there was something else, another x-factor involved in this current battle; the sin of pride. They would attack the Great Enemy but leave the rest for the younger races to deal with. They were the ones who ruined the experiment and they deserved what they would receive. There would only be a few of these creatures left to trouble them, but that would be sufficient. Enough younger ones would survive for the coming of the true punishment yet to come. Then they would burn and this wasted experiment would finally be cleansed by the coming of the Sun.

-+-

The battle began before the Vorlon-Shadow fleet could reach normal space. Sinhindrea vessels nipped at the edges of the armada, picking off scouts and in some cases, even large cruisers fell prey to the small fighters. The Sinhindrea fightercraft, ranging in size from small fighters to Whitestar-sized vessels, avoided the more powerful First One ships, but everything else not their own were legitimate targets. Dozens of Drakh ships fell out of formation, their hulls gutted; their crew’s dead and dying as they floated powerless in the harshness of hyperspace. The plasma-based weaponry melted through Drakh armor easily. Drakh raiders were sliced in half. Runkasjh destroyers fared somewhat better. Their tracking systems quickly locked on and hit the attackers with efficiency unmatched by the Drakh. Realizing their advantages, the Runkasjh vessels quickly formed a perimeter effective enough to keep further Drakh losses to a minimum. Two Runkasjh destroyers were isolated and quickly destroyed. Drakh raiders fired their quantum cannons, hitting Sinhindrea attack ships but doing minimal damage before they were crushed by superior firepower. Evidently, the enemy didn’t care about the vulgarities of hyperspace as long as they could kill the enemy. The Sinhindrea were conducting an all out assault in hyperspace, something unheard of and something to be avoided at all costs. That decision forced the armada into normal space before they could reach their embarkation point.

Nine hundred jump points blossomed in the star system while Shadow vessels phased into normal space alongside Vorlon heavy cruisers. Twelve hundred Drakh cruisers and support vessels flanked both sides of the Vorlon and Shadow armada. In front of them all were the Runkasjh warrior ships. These rarely seen servants of the Shadows were more powerful than the Drakh although there were only a few of them. Almost immediately, the ships came under heavy fire from defensive positions prepared by the Sinhindrea. Plasma pulses raked the formations and the ships began to die as armor fused and melted. Shadow, Vorlon, Drakh and Runkash weapons fired as one, hitting shielded defense platforms. The platforms continued to spit death while Shadow cutting beams and Vorlon lightning weapons burned out shield generators and tore the platforms apart. A Vorlon fighter screamed in agony as a Sinhindrea pulse burned it alive. Shadow and Vorlon fighters supported by Drakh Raiders targeted more defensive spheres and rush in for the kill before, they in turn, could be destroyed.

The platforms responded and destroyed several dozen of the attackers before they could get into range. Finally they returned fire. The enemy shields collapsed and they were destroyed shortly thereafter. However the victory was short-lived. The first of the Sinhindrea small and medium fighters had arrived jumping into the fight using a form of faster-than-light nearly identical that which the other new Humans used. It was another form of hyperspace travel not used in this galaxy in a hundred thousand years. Thirty of the fighters hit the forward face of the armada and blew through the smaller Drakh and Runkasjh warships, to strike at the Shadow and Vorlon advance guard. The Shadows and Vorlons fought back hitting the enemy several times before effectively destroying them. But they needed only to be hit once before they died. Other Sinhindrea fighterships avoided the larger First One cruisers and opted instead to attack the Drakh warships. One Runkasjh cruiser under attack tried desperately to destroy its smaller attacker, but its shields held and bolt after bolt of plasmic energy tore through the ship as it flew directly at and then into the doomed vessel. The WhiteStar-sized ship them proceeded to tear the ship apart from the inside.

More and more of the Third-Space fighters entered normal space savaging the smaller and weaker ships that were now retreating to the safety of their larger brethren. The cruisers unleashed their firepower upon the smaller ships. Their shields held for less than a second before they were turned into small, blossoming matches. The survivors retreated quickly just as the first wave of Sinhindrea capital ships arrived. Six of the ball-shaped vessels had arrived, but were not yet engaging. Fueled by bloodlust and the need for revenge, several of the Drakh squadrons followed by a dozen man-o-war Runkash destroyers attacked.

Relying on previous experiences against Federation shields, two dozen quantum discharge cannon, missiles and pulse cannons targeted one ship, striking the vessels huge circular energy matrix. The beams converged on the vessel and its powerful shields began to destabilize as it moved to avoid the weapon’s fire. The other five vessels now opened fire with their pulse weapons. Bright orange-yellow balls of controlled plasma hit the Drakh and Runkasjh squadrons turning them into molten slag. Fighters near the inferno died as radiation destroyed organic components and pilots. The pulses burned through the squadron and continued unabated into the depths of space. Fifty more of those destroyers appeared supported by hundreds of fighters and ten of the double-sphere battleships. As one they move forward, destroying everything in their paths.

The Elder ones rose to the challenge. Hundreds of Vorlon and Shadow squadrons returned fire and the Sinhindrea’s frontline broke. Shields failed and ships exploded as their plasma matrixes went critical. Vorlon destroyers broke apart under retaliatory fire; Shadows withered and died. However, there were more of them than the enemy at this point and the Dark Ones were forced back. Other Devourers were coming –

- Which was exactly what the Elders were hoping for.

Babylon Five:

Despite Neoon’s burning desire to return to Minbar, he had been chosen by the Grey Council to remain at Babylon Five while his fellow warriors headed towards Z’ha’dum in the wake of the Shadows and Vorlons. He understood Shakiri’s reasoning. Someone had to keep an eye on Delenn according to the most esteemed Shakiri, for her own good, of course. He could have chosen to remain onboard his own ship, but that would have defeated his purpose of being here. He was unsure; worried about Humans, the Federation, the other minor races and even the slowly increasing numbers of refugees.

How B5’s crews and leaders dealt with this on a day-today basis was almost beyond his comprehension. There were so many different aliens, each bringing their own cultures, practices and primitive religions. Yet, the Earthers were trying their best and not doing a bad job considering the circumstances they worked under. The Federation people added to the help and used their considerable resources to aid complete strangers without though of compensation. Those actions troubled him because he knew that his people would have not done as much to help these destitute aliens coming for aid.

Delenn of course, was different. She would have put herself in harm’s way for these aliens without a moment’s thought. Idly, he wondered if it was because of the Human blood within her. He violently pushed that thought into the dark corners of his mind. But that same thought served to also pushed Humanity back into the forefront. They were moving way too fast and for the first time in his life, he desperately feared that his people might not be able to keep up. The Fed’s rush of technology had changed everything. It was a trickle right now, but soon it would become a flood that nothing could stem and where would that leave the other races? And that was the other reason why he was here; to continue to study the Humans and their allies in detail as he had began so long ago.

What he discovered frightened him to his soul. Not for the first time had he wondered how these people had advanced so quickly. The worker caste here at Babylon Five were ecstatic with the classes they were taking and already some of the practical applications were just beginning to be felt. A new ship was being designed using a new inertia damper system developed and now enhanced by his own people. Speeds of 0.4 of light speed and even faster could be obtained in normal space without endangering the health and welfare of the crews. That irritated him, that they had relied on alien technology to break the 0.2 normal space speed barrier.

And these quarters irritated him as well. The Humans had gone out of their way to make him feel comfortable. Everything in the room, even the atmosphere made him feel as if he were home. In fact, they had used an image of his home and literally replicated it almost to perfection. Even the feel of the gravity in the room was perfect and with a few personal items from the ship decorating the room, the only thing that was out of place was that cursed replicator. That seductive – thing was spoiling him. After two weeks, he found himself ordering and sampling every Minbari dish he could think of, trying to find some flaw in either the replication or taste. To his chagrin, they all tasted like home. How he envied that. Obviously the Minbari here were helping to tweek the food programmers. But was irritating him the most was the warrior sitting in front of him, daring to tell him what actions he should now take.

Neroon glared at a very relaxed Aalaan intently returning his stare. “What you are doing is wrong.”

“The Grey Council is wrong,” the Minbari warrior countered. “We should jump at this opportunity. Our ships are superior to almost,” and he stressed the word to Neroon’s chagrin,” everyone else’s but for how long? Our fighters are more powerful, but for how long? We hold the edge on technology, but again, for how long?”

“If the Humans receive these new fighters than we will lose our edge among the younger races. That cannot be allowed.” Neroon sipped the tea, his delightful, replicated tea.

“Are we to remain stagnant while everyone else grows stronger?” Aalaan protested. “Our warriors are strong, they can fight. But we are too used to being to winning with thousand year old technology and force of numbers. We have gotten soft. Our training is insufficient. We need practical combat training. Winning by force of numbers is no longer a viable option.”

Neroon flushed, angered at the insult by one of his own. Forcibly he steadied himself. “Think of our people, Aalaan. We have lost our way. What we were has been founded in half lies. Our people know the truth about the Vorlons. We have suffered several embarrassments in front of the younger races. We need a victory.”

“I agree, but we need to approach this carefully. Attacking the Sinhindrea now, in this manner is ill-advised. We attacked the Humans in the same way. At this point, we should have learned to apply a more measured response.”

“I don’t agree,” Neroon answered angrily. “We must remind the Younger races of who we are. This action is the way to do this.”

“With all due respect, you sound like a frightened child hiding in the corner, while you drink tea from one of their devices.”

“Have a care, Aalaan,” the Satai hissed.

“That is exactly why I am speaking to you in this manner. I ‘do’ care,” he insisted. “I care enough to talk to the others concerning the direction our race is taking. Vorlon tampering has damaged our people. In another twelve generations we will be at zero population growth! There are medicines, and techniques that we can obtain that can reverse the damage. How rare is it now for us to have more than one child? How dangerous is it for us to have less Dukhats in every generation? He was the best of us. We instinctively knew this and that is why we treasured him so. With his loss we went mad. A part of us was lost forever. With him, a part of our future hopes died. That is why we wanted revenge, not jus for his loss but also for the loss to ‘the body’. Federation and Minbari medicine is very advanced. Between the two we can correct the degeneration destroying our people.”

Stroking his bone-crest in frustration he muttered, “The people will not accept help from outsiders.”

“Is that the will of the people, or the will of the Grey Council?”

He sighed heavily. “There are times like this when I truly hate Humanity,” he said without answering the question. “If it weren’t for them, we’d remain blissfully ignorant of the universe’s plots against us.”

“They weren’t the ones who genetically altered us. They’ve suffered as well, but unlike us, they seem to want to continue on despite their obvious weaknesses.”

“But Delenn married that Human. I do not deny her happiness, but…”

Aalaan nodded slowly in understanding. “Another one of our great ones – lost. But just possibly we’ve gained something more. Only time will tell.”

“Time is something we may not have. Even Delenn is unsure of our course of action concerning the Earther proposition.” His face lit up. “I find it provocative. Our people could benefit greatly from this.”

“You are considering doing this on your own, without the official approval of the Grey Council?” a surprised but delighted Aalaan asked.

Both of them were silent as they thought of the ramifications of what was about to be done. The Council wouldn’t like it. The warriors might well be infuriated, but both Minbari were unsure. And there was Shakiri to consider. If and when his battle fleet returned flushed with victory, his influence would expand greatly and dissension between the Minbari warrior caste and the rest might become difficult. But that was for the future and they had to deal with the now.

“If we are allies, then we should share with one another,” Neroon answered with a defiant nod, throwing future possibilities into the background. “We are Minbari. We should lead. This could be a test of what an alliance might be like with the Earthers and other younger races. Ands we can see what it would really mean to form a – relationship with the Starfleeters Why not start now?”

“We should talk to the Earthers.”

Yes,” Neroon answered. “All of them. If we are strong enough to fight them, we should be strong enough to ask for their help.” He stood up, and then hesitated. It was as if he couldn’t quite take that next step towards the door and a new world.

“Saying it is one thing; doing is another,” said a wryly Aalaan.

“True, is it not?” He took a breath and stepped through the door.

The system of Z’ha’dum:

Over the dark skies of the planet called ‘Z’ha’dum, six hundred kilometers above twelve jump points opened vomiting twenty vessels. Phasing into real space next to them were Shadow battlecrabs, four of them, the largest, most powerful in their fleet. The others consisted of twelve Drakh raiders, their crews chosen for their experience and efficiency. The others were the flattened disc-shaped Runkasjh destroyers, as large as Drakh cruisers.

The shadow crabs wasted no time. Within two seconds, the First Ones targeted several large population centers that had already sprung up on the ashes of their old city. Large numbers of the fabrications were five kilometers tall and pitch black, even darker than Shadow constructs. In less than five months, three quarters of the planet was now covered with those structures. Battlecrab scanners detected over two billion of the creatures and several hundred million beings other than Sinhindrea were also in evidence. Their food sources were plentiful, but not yet plentiful enough. There was one building that stood out, taller than the rest, almost seven kilometers high. That was designated target zero.

Scores of vessels of varying types, all Sinhindrea, were approximately two hundred kilometers in low orbit and were of no concern to the attackers. Drakh quantum cannon fire, Shadow cutting beams fired at full power, and two dozen high-speed Runkasjh missiles with warheads rated at one half gigatons each raced towards their targets. Shadows screamed their fury as their most powerful weapons stopped short thirty kilometers above the orbiting ships. Shadow-designed missiles fired by the Runkasjh hit planetary defensive shields and spread their nuclear fire across the horizon. The shields glowed bright green as Drakh and Shadow beams splashed violently, futilely trying to breech the energy wall.

The battlecrabs were on the move, twisting violently and continuing their attack, trying to do damage. Enemy defensive platforms locked on. A plasma bolt struck one of the three kilometer long battlecrabs, burned through the tough organic armor and exited out the other side. The ship immediately broke apart and died but before it could wither, it burned as plasma energy ripped matter apart at the molecular level. The battlecrabs, unable to defend themselves or strike back, broke off their attacks and phased into hyperspace before Sinhindrea guard ships could press their attacks. Runkasjh warships were right behind the Shadows and half of them survived attacks from the defensive platforms and Sinhindrea close end cruisers. The surviving Drakh overloaded their engines and crashed into the shields in a last defiant effort to penetrate the barrier.

Their efforts were wasted.

note: slight edit as of 9-17-2009-AG