Prologue
Genre: AU, drama
Archive: ask, please
Rating: PG-13 for some language and darkness (that goes for the whole series)
Summary: When Entil'Zah Sinclair and the other commanders of the Army of Light failed to rescue Bablyon 4 from the Shadows, a dark and desperate new reality was born...
Disclaimer: Babylon 5 belongs to JMS, PTEN, TNT, WB, and any other acronyms I may have forgotten.
Author's Note: This is the introduction for my new AU series, Destiny Rewoven. At my webpage you can also find some of the background notes for the history of this AU. This prologue is a rewrite of a scene from War Without End I; I think you'll recognize it once we get going.
There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
--Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene 3Susan Ivanova stared out the front viewscreen of the White Star at the phenomenon before them. It seemed almost surreal…Babylon 4 had disappeared six years ago, then reappeared four years later before vanishing again. Everyone had been sure that it was gone for good, but here they sat, two years in their past, staring at it.
Captain Sheridan took no such time for contemplation. "If those Shadow fighters really are here somewhere, we have to find them," he insisted, rising out of his chair. "Show me." Susan's hands moved quickly but surely over the controls, bringing up a three-dimensional view of the vessels outside. "Magnify," the captain ordered. Another adjustment, and the view shifted. Then: "What the hell is that?"
Susan glanced up at the display and really saw what was going on for the first time. Six Shadow fighters were escorting something towards Babylon 5. Something large…something dangerous…something…
She shook herself and checked the instrument panel. "I'm picking up high levels of radiation, magnetic grapples." She paused for a second to verify her suspicions, then said, "It looks like a fusion bomb. They probably intend to grapple it onto the reactor, then run like hell before it blows."
"Yeah, and make it look like an accident," Sheridan agreed. He turned to Lennier and asked, "How far are they from Babylon 4?"
"Three thousand kilometers," Lennier replied without looking up.
Sheridan nodded and turned back to the forward viewscreen. "Plot a course to intercept, give me everything you've got."
Lennier nodded and the White Star leapt towards the Shadows and their fusion bomb. Susan wondered if anyone would ever really know how those Shadow vessels worked; almost immediately, they seemed to pick up on the White Star's movement. A couple of fighters broke away and flew towards them.
"They've seen us," Marcus announced from behind her, and Susan jumped: she'd forgotten he was there. "Three fighters breaking off, heading our way."
"Stand by forward batteries," Sheridan said by way of reply. "Fire." A bolt of energy shot out from the White Star's nose, almost but not completely failing to hit the intended target. One Shadow fighter exploded, but another scored a hit on the White Star.
The captain called for a damage report, and as Lennier was explaining to him the benefits of a Vorlon shielding system, Susan took the time to check out the targeting computer. "You think we have a chance of hitting the thing?" she asked Marcus casually.
"Not at this distance," he replied. "Looks like somebody's going to have to do it manually."
Susan sighed as she stared down at the machinery in front of her. "I'll take care of it," she said abruptly.
"Are you sure?…" Marcus asked, but she interrupted him.
"I'll take care of it," she insisted, and he backed off.
She glanced back up at Sheridan, who was looking at Lennier in a mixture of fascination and awe. "Well, as my great-grandfather used to say, cool," he muttered, shaking his head. "Bring us in on the primary target."
Marcus relayed the order in Minbari, and the White Star swung around toward the Shadows and their bomb. A couple of fighters sent some half-hearted shots their way, but they seemed to be more concerned with picking up speed. Sheridan noticed this quickly.
"Distance to target?"
Marcus shook his head. "Still outside optimum firing range for automatic systems."
Susan glanced down at her display to check their distance, and what she saw definitely did not reassure her. "Captain," she said, "if that thing gets any closer to Babylon 4, we risk damaging the station when it blows."
Sheridan frowned, considering his options. "Can you hit it from here on manual?"
Susan shrugged. "I can try." -We don't have much choice, do we?- she thought to herself. She was surprised to notice a tremor of nervousness in her mental voice. She forced herself to calm down, then set her hands on the still not-quite-familiar controls…aimed…and fired.
The shots were a little bit off, missing the reactor but taking out another Shadow fighter.
"Babylon 4 now within estimated blast range," Marcus announced urgently. "But then, so are we."
Susan shook her head, trying to block out the noise and refocus herself. An uncharacteristic fear was rising in her, and she was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate.
"Lennier! How good are your reflexes?" Sheridan asked.
The Minbari looked up in confusion. "Very good. Why?"
"I want you to bring us around and get us out of here as soon as Susan hits that thing. It won't do us any good to get blown up out here along with it."
"Right," Lennier replied.
"Ready," Susan announced, and shot of another few bolts.
Almost before she'd finished, Lennier brought the ship around, but the outside cameras stayed trained on the station. Everyone watched intently as two shots struck the reactor, and one misfire grazed the station…
And then a wave of horror passed through the crew as the explosion from the reactor eclipsed the front half of Babylon 4, vaporizing it in seconds.
"Oh, my," Marcus murmured, at a loss for other words.
The entire crew seemed to be frozen, staring at the empty space where Babylon 4 had been. Debris drifted through the void at a leisurely pace.
Finally Sheridan turned wearily from the viewscreen. "All right, Mr. Lennier. Bring us back home."
As the White Star pulled away and back through the tachyon field, Susan caught a glimpse of Sinclair. His usually stoic demeanor had been almost shattered by the horrible scene. Looking at his face, Susan had the sudden, terrible feeling that they had somehow just sealed the fate of the galaxy.