Chapter Four part 0ne
The Passatwar Resurrection
The Bagstaffs were in for a surprise when His Majesty came back to Earth from Ikara on the twenty-third day of June in the year 2123. He sent invitations to all the corners of the Earth Alliance. It was renamed during King Antony's working holiday on Ikara, at the meeting chamber, where meetings hadn't been held during His Majesty's reign as king. He was a bit apprehensive at what could be awaiting him when he entered the chamber. Noticing that Rezell and Rouvein were there, his mind was set at ease. They sensed his concern, and both smiled upon seeing him.
"Sire, it's good to see you back home. We have both missed you and we were both so worried for your safety, so we sent a message to the Gaim to inform them. We are very sorry for that, but we have our job and a part of that is to protect you" said both Rouvein and Rezell in their telepathic bonds to His Majesty.
"It's all right, ladies. I was fully aware of what you did and even with your mental screens at full strength, I can still read your thoughts because of our bond" responded His Majesty graciously.
"We can tell you that they wish you no harm, but they are very worried how you threw yourself into strange places and they turned out to be roads to danger" explained the duo.
"Then I will have to put their worries to one side. I will have to tell them of my next mission for the sake of my kingdom and my family. Those who wish to take over or cause me harm will regret my safe return from Ikara" said His Majesty.
"Sire, what do you mean by that?" asked the duo with shocked looks on their faces.
"Before I went on my mission, I was supposed to stay at one of my retreat houses for some rest and to catch up on all my work of office. Three of my staff were poisoned and they were found later that day dead of an unknown poison. However, the Kirish told me what it was and it came from Earth centuries ago from the Far East and for that I'm sending several of the Bagstaffs away from Earth in payment for their betrayal" stated His Majesty through their mental bond.
"We will be close by. Your military has trained us in the use of Earth Weapons. They are very different from what we used on Centauri Prime to protect The Emperor" replied the duo.
"Greetings, family, and one and all. It's great to be among you all after being on Ikara for such a long time. Yes I was away from Earth for eighteen months, helping on Ikara; a mission that ended up turning in to a full blown war. Yes, I suppose that is a heavy exaggeration. It was actually about some tomb robbers who got hold of something that they shouldn't have and caused us some mild problems" explained His Majesty.
"Yes you have been away too long the last few years. But we have voted to have your movements more controlled and your powers in both Governments reduced to just a non override action. We have voted in your absence and it was agreed in here and we were voted down in both political houses" informed Prince Khan of the former Asian Empire.
"Well, that is strange, prince Khan. We were starting to worry about who it was that poisoned my staff at Manor House in the North of England. Just to let you know, two full houses will be ready to leave Earth's orbit in two weeks. You will report to Marshal Yetta Von-der-tan, who is in control of this very, very long term mission. If any houses have any problems with this, say now or forever hold your peace" demanded His Majesty irritably.
"What? You can't do that to us! We are fully loyal to you! Prince Khan thought you were causing others to seek us out and take action against us. It could wipe us out" said Princess Gandy of the former Asian Empire.
"Don't worry everyone. Both the president and the Prime Minister kept me up to date, just like my Centauri lady Duo. So, I wish to let you know I went where I did because there was a riddle there for me to find. There was a risk, but nothing comes in life for free. There is always a price. But I'm filling your dreams with a fail safe action. I got the idea from Ikara, in which we set up a fall back colony, but at the same time set up a place for my Royal Estate. These have to be placed in another galaxy for each project" explained His Majesty.
"Sire, you think we could fail in our mission to free our galaxy from the strong arm of both sets of First Ones that claim to have our best interest at heart? Then if that's the case, we'd better make sure to send what is needed. Other than that, I'm not sure what else we would need" declared John Bagstaff.
"As we speak,Yetta is loading her ships. Just to let you know, I've handed her the Throne Ship class of starship as the command ship. Under our military command structure, each marshal should have a Throne Ship or a ship of equal quality and capability. I've ordered the renaming of several battle fleets, and I'm also dispatching two additional ones and six from my own Royal Guard Fleets. So if you have any problems or wish not to take part, let me know now, because I'm leaving in a few minutes" admonished His Majesty. That set off a collective groan, everyone saying that the meeting shouldn't end so soon.
"People, I was not aware of this meeting until I arrived back home. I have yet to fail in doing my daily tasks, even when I was knee deep in mud or crawling through collapsed hallways in what were grand buildings; built when the Human race was still living in caves and trying to make fire" said His Majesty.
"Then who will be chosen to head this mission?" asked a member of the Bagstaff council, whom Antony didn't recognize.
"I have already told you. This is all under Marshal Von-der-tan's command. The royal houses will still be under Earth rule and will remain as they are, but they will be under the thumb of the military, which I trust. Now I have to go to attend to matters of state. Several members of the defense council wish to reduce spending on many projects that I started over Century ago." He paused and smiled. "How about that? I'm still the same age I was when I was brought out of cryo sleep, but that's another story. Our family has our own jobs to do. Our ancestors started this long ago; some records I have seen indicate they go back just over a thousand years, although some say under a thousand years. Either way, I won't allow the human race to die out. I'm here to keep our hold on power and to help our race to survive" stated His Majesty.
Antony then stood up and started to head to the door. Soon, all the infighting had stopped and they all went quiet. Then His Majesty stopped and looked back to see them all waiting. As soon as he turned to face them, they all saluted him, chanting his name. After Antony had left the room, all the Bagstaff houses started to talk among themselves, not knowing that they were all being watched by techno-mage nanite bugging devices, placed by His Majesty to keep track of the events as he left.
"Yetta, how are things coming? I'm sorry, but I'm sending you at least two royal houses for you to boss around and re-educate for me. They only see one side of a fifty sided building. Their sight is so narrow that they can't see the light for all the junk they place in the way."
"Wahoo, so I get to boss another royal pain in my ass around!" Yetta joked. "Please tell me I get more pain killers on this mission or at least some really good alcohol" she whined.
"Yes Yetta, you're getting both and when I say good alcohol, there is nothing under fifty years old. That's starting with wine, all the way up to Schnapps, which is your favorite, if I remember correctly" replied Antony.
"Yes you have a good memory, Antony but you're seldom wrong" replied Yetta.
Over the next two weeks, which spread into a third week, due to the defense oversight committee wanting to know the full reason for this expedition, also wanting to know the full ins and outs and why it was of such great concern to get it in motion now. However, the more they pushed, the more they saw the power and authority of the King being shown. He even took the committee to court, which in the end stopped all government agencies from stepping in and looking into projects run by the crown.
The EAS Tidestone was the latest version of the mobile jump-capable battle craft that had been sent from the Royal ship yard when it was finished. Those who ran it were ordered to use the hyper catapult system, which could reduce long journeys down to mere minutes. Marshal Rickman walked onto the battle bridge and looked around at everyone present and cleared his throat. "Computer put me on station wide intercom, please. Ladies and Gentlemen, I know this is a very strange thing we are about to do. We are the largest ship or object to be tested on the catapult drive system. We have a set of predetermined co-ordinates at the far reaches of known space. From there, we will be setting up the breach head for the galaxy expansion fleet to follow us. I'm also aware that I've not yet had the honor or privilege to serve along side you, but we soon will. Good luck to us all. Close channel. Bring all systems to green and stand by for catapult drive."
Moments later, the Tidestone moved away from space dock and entered hyperspace at speeds no one could think was possible. Marshal Von-der-tan was watching via video link, as well as all the senior officers for this mission and the Royal Houses of Earth. "Computer, send a message to His Majesty, King Antony and inform him that once we have things up and running, we will start to set course for MACSO647-JD" stated Yetta.
"Marshal Von-der-tan, you have an incoming signal from Earth's High Command" stated the computer.
"Then please put it on for me" requested Yetta.
"Greetings,Yetta. I thought I would give you the go ahead from me personally. I've also sent on a sub channel all the information I have on the Passatwar. I just hope they allow you to talk to them. I hope you have made sure you have enough telepaths for this. I know the Tidestone does" said His Majesty, also wishing Marshal Von-der-tan a fair and good voyage.
The EAS Von-der-Tan was making final preparations for its journey to the far reaches of our universe. The final cargo transports and shuttles were getting either clearance for landing or departure. Yetta was proud as punch, sitting in a ship with her name on it. Only a few people had been given the honor of a ship being named after them but never while that person still lived. The Von-der-tan was fitted with all the creature comforts, and was also fitted with an organic inner skin layer that would help if the hulls were ever breached.
"Com officer, do me the honor and open a channel to Marshal Von Koyster please" requested Yetta.
"Channel is open sir" replied the Com officer.
"Stephan, it's good to see you and I'm over the moon for you about your promotion. I bet you wish you were coming with me. However, I bet you have the same nagging feeling I've got. I know you will be able to keep His Majesty in line and safe."
"Yes, Marshal I do. Since you have this mission, I'm taking over your job. I will have an admiral to break in" responded Von Koyster.
"Yes, Stephan. You do know that my first name is Yetta. You can use it now, since we are of similar ranks" stated Yetta.
"Sir, the docking master has just sent us a message, stating that the last supply ships have just docked back at the station from all your fleets" informed the Com Officer.
"Excellent. We are now ready for the long trip" Yetta said. "Now keep this together. This is our last best hope if the shadows win and destroy Earth." Yetta took a final look at Earth and flipped her fleet wide com toggle on her command chair. "Fleets Actual to all ships: set course and link all jump drives to fleet. When all ships are showing ready, we jump" then before Yetta had a chance to finish her speech, all jump engines came on line and all the battle fleets started to enter hyperspace in slow waves.
The hyperspace jumps took around twenty minutes to jump so many ships at once. The view of so many ships traveling at their maximum speed was a sight to behold. Not wishing to use the catapult drive system that would have reduced the journey by a factor to just under one hundred percent would make time for the crews to get to know each other while they read up on the Passatwar.
"Inform our expedition to keep sensors at full and set jammers to maximum. Bring the friend and foe system on line so friendly ships can see us" ordered Captain Walter Wayne.
"Yes Captain" acknowledged both the sensor and tactical officers at the same time.
"People, I need to make sure you all know what we are getting ourselves into out here. This is far more than what His Majesty had passed through both Earth Governments. This is a massive search mission for a race called the Passatwar. They could explain the human missing link theory and if they can, we must find out what happened. The last part we have some idea on, but we would like that to be answered." stated Marshal Von-der-tan.
Back on Centauri Prime, Prince Robert and Prime Minister Miro were having one of their early morning meetings.
"So Miro, have the shipments from Earth shown your people that we are not here to destroy your world but to help it grow along with Earth?" asked Robert.
"Oh yes, Sire. Our people's support for you and Earth has grown. There is no dissent or even riots on the streets like there was in some areas of Centauri Prime. They don't even mind how your Father, King Antony introduced Christmas to us and made it a national holiday back to Earth. Some of the Centaurum have even liked how much money they are making now under you" replied Miro.
"So as long as they make money and are happy for it, they will love Earth" replied Robert.
"Now let's get back to the real matters at hand. The new enlarged war ship has just gone through testing back home. The Entrapment class Battleship and thirteen sister ships have finally finished their training mission. They will arrive in Centauri Prime orbit within the day" informed Prince Robert.
"Then, Sire, I will make it known to the watch commanders they are not to attack them" replied Miro.
"Well, that would be a start. I would like fourteen Centauri Officers to take command of them as their flag ships. The officers will have the rank of Fleet Admiral and they will take command of the fourteen royal guard fleets around the old Centauri Republic borders" stated Robert.
"That is a grand and great request, Sire. I will get on to it straight away" replied Miro.
"On another subject, do Centauri Prime and its former colonies have enough food to last if the worlds became under siege? I'm just asking, because on all of the Earth worlds we have to maintain enough supplies to last at least fifteen years" asked Robert.
"Sire, I don't have the information on that. I know the child birth rate has gone through the roof since Earth created new areas for our people to live. Even the old areas long since forgotten by the palace historians are now inhabited" replied Miro in a very warm tone.
"For the next part of business, has the traitor Former Lord Refa been found yet?" asked Robert while doing a mild scan of Miro to search for a hint of lies or betrayal.
"No, sire. We have had no sign of him or his now rogue family. We do know he still has friends and wealth, but they won't help him forever" replied Miro. Robert sensed no form of deception from Lord Miro, so he continued.
"If there's no sign of them off Centauri Prime, do you think someone has helped them off world somehow?" replied Robert.
"Yes, sire, and that's why I placed your own personal guards at the star ports along side mine as they can't be bribed. They're too well paid" replied Miro.
"Well done. I can see why my father trusted you so much in such a short time. I think we have covered all our daily tasks. I think it's time to let the Centaurum in for the day" laughed Robert.
Back on Narn at the same time, the Narn, with the aid of Earth, had reclaimed all of their territories and secured a very strong defense grid around every world that would only get stronger as time passed. It was the first day of the rebuilt KhaRi, and with such heavy defense technology built into the structure, it would make it extremely unlikely that it could ever be destroyed, even from orbit. Around the KhaRi building stood large towers spread apart by a gap of ten meters. The building had a circle of towers for every circle of the KhaRi. In these towers were placed Gravitic shield generators. These were powered from geo-thermal power, solar power and an anti matter reactor deep beneath the KhaRi building.
The Narn Monarch Tra-vel stood and moved to address his people.
"My fellow Narns, we stand today for the first time in our new super fortress that was built with aid from our new brothers and sisters from Earth. Without their support, I know now that we would have been slaves to the Centauri for a long time. Now Earth has taken control of what was the Centauri Republic. We have only ourselves now to look after. Yes, we will grow our fleets and do as the Humans do, explore space to find places from which we can settle, but to let you all know, Antony, the King of all Earth wishes to speak to us right now." They all bowed in respect to Earth's monarch.
"Greetings, my friends. I wish I would have been able to travel to Narn to be there for your opening of your new KhaRi building. For those that don't fully realize what the secrets are of your new building, I will tell you some now. The KhaRi building has a workshop more like a fleet yard to produce your very own council Guard ships for council members and to help defend Narn. There is a small fighter garrison that can hold 500 Squadrons of any fighter. At the moment it holds Talon class heavy fighters. There is also deep down at the extreme lower levels a hospital complex that can accommodate over three hundred thousand patients. The secrets go on and on. They are all listed in your new Government archive that's also in the building, and yes, you also have a large military garrison as well." He looked around the room taking in all its wonders and seeing the surprised looks on their faces he started again. "The old buildings in this area have been cleared and turned into a government star port and military buildings with extra storage. We have helped to improve and harden your now improved extensive underground tunnels that interconnect with all areas of the capital."
Tra-vel turned around to look at the screen and nodded, giving His Majesty his full support and thanks.
"Your Majesty, you never seem to know how not to help us. If you keep this up, we won't be able to act for ourselves, but we are so grateful to the things you have given us. You left out the military buildings. They also house warships and they are a part of the KhaRi defense fleet. With the shield and ships, this building is safe from any attack. Every tower has its very own reactor as well. You reveal yourself towards the people of Narn as good trustworthy friends, and for that we bow our heads to you in gratitude. If Earth ever needs the people of Narn, we stand ready to die to help you live" stated Tra-vel in a very happy tone. Behind Tra-vel, the whole KhaRi took to their feet, shouting their support to Tra-vel for what he had just said.
On Minbar, the home world of the mighty Minbari, they had just heard the fate of the Centauri Republic to a child race. The head of the Warrior caste, Shandral, was outraged to think this race could attack them now that they covered the Centauri front.
"Dralk, put me in touch with the grey council. I need to speak to them. We have a new threat at our doors. We don't know much about them for now, but soon we will learn all that we can."
"Master, how do we know they are a major threat? The Centauri are very arrogant and they got taught a costly lesson. However, Master, if they do come our way, we will also teach them a lesson that will cost them all" replied Dralk.
"Yes, you are so correct, and that is why I will demand a stronger founding for our fleet. The added fleet increases means we will have to increase our fleet production by double or even triple for a short time" replied Shandral.
Shandral's com system came to life and a holographic image appeared in front of both Shandral and Dralk.
"Shandral, we have just monitored a strange object about 40 minutes ago in hyperspace, traveling at such speeds it was past our sensor scans in mere minutes" reported Shai Alyt Branshan.
"Did you try to follow it? How far away from you was it when your scans picked it up?" asked Shandral
"Master, it was enormous. It had to be at least one hundred kilometers in length and width. Within moments, it was well beyond our extreme sensors, even at full power" replied Branshan.
"Then you had better mark those co-ordinates for future monitoring. If something that big is lurking about, we should go see the Vorlons to see if they can help us. We will only send a message and see what comes back from them" replied Shandral.
"Master, the computers have estimated the course. They were heading on course for Zâ-ha-dum. Could Valen have gotten the times wrong?" asked a confused and stressed Branshan.
"For the answer to that, we would need to talk to the Religious caste, so we can see better what mistakes they have made" replied a rather angry Shandral.
Yetta walked onto the bridge of the Von-der-tan, looking around for the sensor officer.
"Commander Kai, where are we in hyperspace?" asked the Marshal.
"We have just left Earth space, and we are close to a major race. What information the Centauri gave us, we are fully following the course set by the Tidestone, so we should be safe" replied the sensor officer.
"All stations keep your eyes on the area of space that is close to this race and mark the area with long range probes" ordered the Marshal.
"Sir, this may seem like a daft question, but aren't we now traveling into or very close to the no travel zone set up by His Majesty?" asked Commodore Shelia Drake.
"Yes we are, Shelia, but it must be done to gain entry to the Galaxy we are heading to" replied the Marshal.
As the EAS Von-der-tan was leaving our galaxy and heading into the void of nothingness in between galaxies, the Tidestone was coming out of catapulted hyperspace travel, into the location just twenty minutes away from normal hyperspace travel to MACSO647-JD.
"Great, people. Let's start unloading this beauty and deploying our mass complexes to the surrounding areas. We have to make this place so big that any fool can't miss us" laughed marshal Rickman. Commodore Lisa Crouch walked in from her side office.
"Sir, I have just given the orders to start deploying the Unity class Trading Posts we have on board. I've also given orders to start towing all of the Orion class space stations into a defensive location for our added protection and that of the sentry stations. I've also got a couple of Mauryan class defense stations for our first star system we control."
"Don't worry about the deployments so soon, but great work all the same, Lisa. Our primary job is to send out scouts to the nearest star system to see what is there and if we can use it. We have about two weeks of hard graft ahead of us, and then we have a further five weeks of making it ready for Marshal Von-der-tan and her Royal delegation" informed Marshal Rickman. Everyone looked at him with awe, and were trying to figure out which Royal members were where and secretly wishing for His Majesty to come. "People, before you all leave, I will let you know it's Prince Cougar Khan and his wife, Princess Yazmin Khan. There will be others coming, but who and why is another question" said Rickman.
"You heard the Marshal. Everyone get your fingers out of your butts. We have jobs to do, so no holding back. The more we talk, the harder we all have to work" instructed Commodore Crouch.
"Lisa, how many transport ships are due in the next few hours? I know I ordered more transports to help us set up" asked Yetta.
"We picked them up some time ago, and they will be here in no time. It just depends on their drive speed. If I were to guess, I would say forty minutes at last sighting" replied Crouch.
Yetta walked over to her command chair and pushed the intercom button. "Can Fleet Captain Trance report to command and control at once, please" Yetta pushed the button again and the channel was closed.
A few minutes later, Trance entered command and control. He looked at Marshal Rickman, smiled and saluted. "Reporting as ordered sir"
"Thank you for coming, Trance. I need your squadron to search out the Passatwar. They are in this galaxy someplace."
"A galaxy is a big place to look for something, especially when you don't know where to start" replied Rickman.
"So you want me to go out into an unknown galaxy and start looking for a species that may no longer be around?" replied Trance in a very sarcastic tone.
Rickman burst out laughing to Trance's reply. "Well boy that's what I want you to do, but we do have a starting point for you, if that will help you" replied Rickman, still smirking from Trance's last statement.
Trance picked up a data crystal that had all the information that he would need. "That my boy is complements of His Majesty. That's the location the Passatwar chose to use as their entry point into this galaxy" informed Rickman.
Meanwhile on Zâ-ha-dum, the Transdraculoom were once again standing in front of their great machine, watching an image of a very large ship. The ship perplexed Transdraculoom to the point that they were forced to wake another sleeping guardian to help look for the answers. "Zhamtralkum, you have now seen what I have seen. What do you make of it?" asked the first guardian.
"The ship is traveling at speeds that we can't match and its course will take it to another galaxy. They could be leaving this galaxy, knowing that they will die if they stay or they are searching for something or someone" replied Zhamtralkum.
"They are leaving behind probes. We could send some ships to follow to see what they find and to learn the answers that they seek there" ordered Transdraculoom.
"Agreed, Transdraculoom. We will dispatch four ships and full fighter support. However, we will make a fleet of sixty ready from our bases elsewhere. Then we will start the summoning orders for all ships to return home" Demanded Zhamtralkum.
Trance headed to the EAS Avenger, a Shinano class combat carrier of which his squadron was made up of four of this class. The EAS Avenger and her squadron moved off to a safe location to jump to hyperspace. Trance flicked his fleet wide com switch as soon as they got into hyperspace.
"Squadron actual to all units: I'm sending you all a set of co-ordinates and our mission is a basic coffee and cake run. We have to search out a species that used to live in our galaxy, and the catapult system in which the Tidestone used to get us here is very similar to what the Passatwar used. The catapult system was developed not long after His Majesty theorised hyperspace travel" informed Trance.
"So Trance, what you are saying is we are looking for a life form that used to live in our galaxy so Earth can play happy families with a race?" replied Captain Styles of the EAS Blackpool.
"Well Styles, it's not that simple, but it never is when you have to send the military in to check things out first. It's very hush, hush at the moment. Marshal Von-der-tan is coming and that's all I know for now. So people, please keep this loose. I don't want to lose any of my friends and my hard trained team" stated Trance in a joking tone.
"Yeah, it's great to realize that you love us that much" said the female captain, Rebecca Samuels.
The Trance squadron, as they liked to be named, was moving towards the location they set in their systems. When they arrived, the engines started to reduce power.
"Sensors to full. Tell me what's out there and stand by to bring secondary jump lines active. Tactical, have ready three probes and inform each ship to do the same. When we all have the probes online, activate main jump engines and send the first probe through" ordered Trance.
"Sir, all ships have signaled that their probes are ready and are opening vortexes now. The first wave of four probes has been launched" informed Lieutenant Blackman.
After twenty minutes, all twelve probes had been launched to normal space. The images coming back filled the crew with dread. They saw the ships that were in orbit and they showed no signs of damage yet the ships were adrift. Trance again tapped his fleet wide com button and this time he only said "Jump to normal space in five seconds." All the ships activated their jump drives and moved into normal space. They were scanned by an unknown source.
Then they were hailed by an automated signal.
"Greetings, dear cousin. Your genetic scans show you to have our DNA in your bodies. You are more than welcome here, but be warned: the disease that did this may still be active." The automated signal ended.
"Captain Styles, send a report to Marshal Rickman. Inform him we have found a planet that may have been of Passatwar origin and tell him about the snag if you can." Trance then closed the channel. "People, let's get busy. I want full sensors on that planet and each ship in turn. I also want atmospheric probes launched, just to be on the safe side" ordered Trance.
"Sickbay, we may need a bio hazard team ready as we have to head to a planet and they placed in orbit a warning about a disease that did this. Initial scans show the ships have maintained their orbit perfectly and scanned the state of what were cities. I would have a guess at no less than one hundred thousand years it's been like this, but I could be wrong" stated Trance.
"Trance, my boy, it looks like you found what Marshal Von-der-tan was looking for. We don't have many explorer ships or medical ships on board, but when we get a chance to free them up, we will send them your way. They will be with before Marshal Von-der-tan arrives that I do promise" stated Marshal Rickman.
The IPX Draconia was one of the new breed of explorer class ships. They were built with better sensors than the older versions in use with Earth. The ships came out of hyperspace in direct orbit over the planet that Earth had named New Hope. The Draconia had linked in to all the atmospheric probes that were launched and was downloading all the information they had gathered in the short time they had been activated. The air samples came back free from all forms of toxins and diseases as they knew it. They even ran checks on the disease that was mentioned on data recordings found on Ikara.
The low orbit scans showed that the cities were still as good as new, but there was just no life on it, even microscopic. The disease that the Passatwar had had mentioned had been eradicated, but left some of them sterile. The records they had were not fully clear, but all they could do was take in scans and record everything no matter what, as it could hold some form of key to the puzzle.
After the Draconia came back with no visible signs of danger to life, the entire bio-hazard team was made ready to land.
"Trance this is Doctor Helen Carter. We have started to give out the jabs to prevent catching the disease. My worry is what happens if we become sterile like the Passatwar." postulated Dr Carter.
"There is no problem there. You only go sterile if you have the disease and when you take it the antidote, or that's how it reads to me" laughed Trance.
"Yes Trance and that's why you fly around in a space ship all day long and I get to visit nice new worlds for fun" replied Dr Carter.
"Flight bay, this is Trance. Ready the bio-hazard team and have them land and take in the area. Make sure you land by what we believe to be their main city, their capital for lack of a better word" ordered Trance. Trance pushed his fleet wide com channel button. "All ships this is squadron actual. Pick a part of the capital city or what we believe to be their capital. That way, we can spread out teams and hopefully we find someone or some clue to help us out" explained Trance in a commanding voice.
Within seconds, the shuttles carrying the bio-hazard teams were launching all with their pre-programmed landing co-ordinates. Lieutenant Commander Alfred Granger stepped out of the first shuttle, taking readings. After doing his initial hand held scans, he turned around and signaled for the rest of his team to disembark from the shuttle.
"Make sure you get all our supplies, everyone. We are going to be here for some time" ordered Granger. Then he started to point to a location "It's about a five minute walk away. We will set up base camp there. Make sure the bio-hazard tents get set up first." After giving out his orders he closed his mind off to those around him and started a level 12 PSI scan of their entire area, looking for places to start. Granger started when one of the buildings spoke to him, welcoming them to Dracora.
"Granger to Trance! Come in sir, please respond!" requested Granger in a panicked voice.
"Yes, Granger, what's got you spooked? You just landed on the planet" replied Trance in a surprised tone of voice.
"Sir, I just found out from a talking building that this planet is called Dracora! I'm requesting more PSI teams brought down; as many as can be spared" requested Granger.
"Consider it done. I'll see what the IPX team has as well, and if we can't spare many now, I will send for more from Tidestone. I'll let you get back to work. You know I've got my ears open for you. Good hunting down there, Granger I will look forward to your report about the talking building. Trance out." The transmission closed.
Lieutenant Bush looked over at Granger and asked "Commander are you OK, sir? You look a little pale."
"Bush did you not hear that? Have you not done your PSI scans yet?" asked Granger.
"No, sir. I was setting up the landing beacon for the shuttles and the signal booster. I was just about to do it when I noticed you" replied Bush.
"Please don't let me stop you and please scan away at your leisure" replied Granger. Bush then stood up and started opening his mind to the surrounding area. He could feel his team personnel around them, including Granger, and how concerned he was. Then Bush pushed beyond that and straight away touched a building. This time the strange building spoke in a more gentle tone than when it did to Granger.
"Welcome child of the Guardians to the planet Dracora. I'm sorry for the way I spoke to your other telepathic friend. It's been so long since I talked to a living person and not just another living building."
"We have come looking for a race called the Passatwar to ask them to help us in the war that is sure to come between the sides of light and darkness. However, our world was told the truth and we wish to end the cycle of death and to save our race from possible extinction" said Bush.
"Then you have come to the right place, but as you can see, they fled this world in fear. Many of the Passatwar were dying from a disease that they thought was created by the Dark Ones. It was actually started from the Dark ones. That is fear. When they came here, they stopped wanting to be what they were. They wanted to live and evolve. The gift from a Maker stopped them from evolving to the next point of life. They tried to fix it, but in doing, altered the Dark Ones' disease. I don't have all the information you require. The Passatwar sealed our building so we couldn't communicate with other buildings."
At the same moment, aboard the Von-der-tan,Yetta and her senior officers were going over plans. It was now clear on why so many Royal members were asked to come along on this mission. They were all techno-mages and rather strong ones, and all PSI 25+. That was showing to be rather handy, but a strain on Yetta.
"People, I know it's hard to come up with a point of action from here. I wish to send ahead the Dracula Battle group. Their job is to head to the site of the first possible settlement. I've received a data only transmission from Marshal Rickman, in which he asked us to send as many telepaths as we could to that location; also any techno-mages from the royal guards and royal family members too" said Marshal Von-der-tan.
Prince Khan looked at the Marshal and laughed.
"Do you know, Marshal, that no matter how strong I try to scan you, I can't. I also know you're a strong telepath and rumors have it you're also a very powerful telekinetic."
"Don't forget, Sire, I'm also empathic. His Majesty was going to show me the basis of becoming a techno-mage once years ago. Now the question you have to ask is if he did, and if he did, how good does he think I am?" replied the Marshal smirking all the time, knowing she had to do that to put His Royal Highness Prince Khan in his place.
"I should warn you that all the senior officers on this ship and taking part in this mission all served aboard the test flight of the Throne Ship or its escorts" stated Fleet Admiral Becket.
"Well then, it looks like it's me who's heading to help Rickman. What's the name of the officer in charge of the operation?" asked Prince Khan.
"It's Fleet Captain Trance and he won't be remaining there when the Dracula battle group arrives. He will return to the Tidestone with his crew, but their base camp will remain. There is one small alteration to that: Trance has a team down on the surface that made contact with a strange talking building, made of bio-organic matter, so they will remain to look into it" said Becket.
Moments later, the Dracula fleet moved off to allow their Catapult drive to charge, and after ten minutes of charging, they were ready.
"This is Rear Marshal Davidson to Dracula Battle group. Stand by for catapult drive. It will only last a few seconds at the range we are to the location. All hands, rig for battle stations. This is not a drill" ordered Rear Marshal Davidson.
"In ten seconds, jump."
The battle group moved forward at such speed they were beyond sensors within ten seconds. Five minutes later, their catapult drive went off line and normal jump vortexes were forming, allowing the safe transit of the entire Dracula Battle group.
Marshal Davidson flipped his fleet wide com switch.
"All hands, take up defensive postures. Launch all bio-hazard and telepath ground units" Davidson flipped the switch again to close the channel. "Com officer, get me Fleet Captain Trance now."
The channel opened and Trance appeared on the screen.
"Greetings, Marshal Davidson, and welcome to the Dracorian system, sir" acknowledged Fleet Captain Trance.
"Thank you, Captain. I bet you thought you wouldn't see us for days. I know your ships didn't have enough personnel for this mission, so I was ordered to pull forward. Take count of everything, and then I will relieve you of your job in the Dracorian system, as you call it" instructed Marshal Davidson.
"Thank you. My crews will take some time to fully get back to the ships. If it were anybody else, I think I would have been treated differently, but thank you again" replied Trance.
"Trance, that was long ago, and I can tell you now that we know it wasn't your fault what happened. We are still safe and well; just a lot older, but still looking as young as ever. So those that curse you must want to learn that the heaviest price is not always the easiest to bear. That's what you have to deal with" replied the Marshal.
"Thank you all. If not for people like you, I would still be commanding a tender ship. I can see now why His Majesty likes to take risks, and he's older than us by at least a century" laughed Trance.
"Yes he is, and he has wisdom to match his age. I do know that you had been turned down for a promotion three times. So, by my calculations, that should make you either a Supreme Commodore or a Rear Admiral" guessed Davidson.
"Sir, I was demoted from a Rear Admiral and knocked back to Captain. It was His Majesty who forced them to make me Fleet Captain" replied Trance.
Trance looked at the screen, trying to work out what was being said to him. He refused to get worked up about a promotion. He had held his present rank longer than any other officer in the fleet. He knew deep down he was well liked and that was why he was given this job. He was the most experienced squadron leader in Earth's entire fleet. All a sudden, the screen went dark and the tactical officer had switched the ship to yellow alert.
"Sir we have a ship entering the system. It appears to be very advanced, and of Passatwar design. It's moving for the Dracula" announced lieutenant Commander Clarkson.
The ship appeared out of nowhere and was moving very fast for the Flagship. They had no visible weapons. Earth knew a lot about Passatwar vessels. They looked harmless, but they could wipe out entire fleets with a single flick of their wrists.
Aboard the Dracula, Davidson was running by the numbers. "Get me fleet wide. Fleets do not, repeat, do not lock weapons on to the approaching vessel. If you have to do anything, try and scan it if you can" ordered Davison, looking at the com officer to close the channel.
"They're hailing us, sir and they are scanning us and they have our language files only" reported the sensor officer.
"Unidentified vessels, what brings you to this galaxy? We know you are not from around here, as we are the only life form who lives here. Our scans show that you come from our home system: a long way from this galaxy. Did the Guardians send you to find us?" asked the voice from the unknown ship in a very demanding tone of voice.
"Greetings… this is the Earth ship Dracula and I'm Marshal Davidson, commanding officer of our forces in this system. We were sent by our leader, His Majesty, King Antony of Earth to seek out a race of life forms called the Passatwar and are on a peaceful mission. We have no idea who these guardians are unless you call the Kirish Guardians. They gave us all the knowledge that they could to help bring peace with the two ancient called the Vorlons and the Shadows. We learned of the Passatwar from a planet we now control called Ikara" replied Davidson.
"Greetings Davidson, and welcome to the Galaxy we call Refuge. Our sensors picked your ships up some time ago and we wondered why you would send such numbers if not to invade our galaxy. We know that world… such destruction. It's the reason why we fled that place with the help of the Guardians. We were betrayed by the Ikarians. We still suffer today from the pain of that betrayal" stated the voice, which still refused to identify itself.
"Much has changed back there. We are now making our forces ready to defend ourselves from the Shadows and probably the Vorlons too. The Kirish have shown us much, and we have learned even more. We know that both of those races have been to Earth and have taken people with them to turn to their way of thinking. We also know that for some strange reason the Passatwar have the genetic makeup from five major races in our galaxy as now; the Narn who are our strongest ally, the Centauri, whom we now control, ourselves and two others; the Minbari, who are the oldest and a race called the Dilgar" replied Davidson.
"Then you have at least learned that your race is strong, but knowing that doesn't give you the right to think that we will talk and become friends with you. However, what we are doing now shows some degree of trust. You gave up some of your power by naming yourself. Strength doesn't make one wise or worthy. It comes from actions on this day" explained the voice again in a more playful mode than it started out in.
Davison looked at everyone and didn't panic or say anything. He just started to laugh to himself.
"Computer, please activate the pre-programmed holo-recording" ordered Davidson. A fully interactive hologram appeared on the bridge of the Dracula.
"Passatwar vessel, I'm a fully interactive hologram of the King of Earth. If you wish we can talk and we will see if I can gather your trust for my people."
"If you wish to place your hopes in a hologram, then so be it, child" replied the voice.
"Passatwar vessel, your voice sounds familiar to me. I'm running it now through all the historical vids we have of your people" replied the hologram.
"I will have to make sure to test your knowledge of my people. But I would have to guess that most of your information on us have either come from this system or from Ikara unless you found a ship with our full history library on it" quizzed the voice.
"If I have to guess, I would say your voice hasn't changed much. You are Shandrak and your rank is Vendorleam. Is that correct?" asked the hologram in an interrogative tone.
"That is a surprise that you didn't just find out my name but my rank as well. My next question is what do I command? I wonder if you know the answer to that" replied Shandrak.
"You command or commanded your first fleet. You are right. I found that information on Ikara. Everything else is sheer guesswork" replied the hologram.
"You are correct, but I'm worried. How have you come to us for help? Have you been told to find us or did your soul tell you to come?" requested Shandrak.
"I can say my heart called to me when I saw how you looked when you were betrayed on Ikara. I saw light in your heart when the Guardians arrived and stopped the shadows in their paths" replied the hologram.
"Why are you here?" asked Shandrak.
"We are here to serve all life in the hope of eternal light and wisdom" replied the hologram.
There was a flash of light and there in front of them stood Shandrak. "Greetings, Shandrak, and welcome aboard the EAS Dracula" stated Marshal Davidson somewhat astonished.
"Your hologram did well with my minor tests, but the final question is how you got here?" asked Shandrak. The hologram smiled
"This will be my final answer. We came here using a type of hyperspace travel that I designed nearly 150 years ago on Earth. Your temporal time drive was very close to my original design. It was so very easy to modify our engines to use a Catapult system to propel our ships at speeds up to one million times the speed of light. Your calculations I found showed your ships were capable of traveling no faster than ten thousand times the speed of light while in hyperspace, creating the illusion of instantaneous galaxy travel" explained the hologram.
Within seconds of the hologram finishing its explanation, it deactivated and the program was auto deleting itself from the Dracula's memory banks.
"For a child race, you have so much knowledge that you would be a danger to any that stood in your way. I would also include the Passatwar in that. Apart from that, I see only good in you all and the strangest of feelings that we have met once before. However, that could be due to my people having a part of your DNA running in our genetic makeup. The guardians told us that the part that wishes to share knowledge and the part that won't seek out war would search us out and they would be the true guardians" informed Shandrak.
Shandrak raised his arm and a holographic image came to life.
"This is a guardian. The only thing they did was help those that couldn't help themselves. Even the ancient one called Lorien once told me that they were the race that told him he was the first born life form and that they came from another place and time. We still don't know much, except that they created us from the five mightiest races their eyes had ever seen" explained Shandrak.
"So you never saw what they looked like out side their armored bodies?" replied Davidson in a quizzical kind of way.
"They left to go to another universe or dimension. We hear from them now and then. They advised us to place sentry satellites around our whole galaxy, so we did, even though it seemed very strange to us. We asked if we should remove the debris from the arrival world so they couldn't find us. They replied that they wished us no harm, and you will see if you choose wisely who to greet them. That was it. That was our last message from our Gods. Some would say they did create us and they created us to be the best and wisest of the Young Ones. That was the term they had for us, their children" said Shandrak.
"Well I wonder if there is any like that in our galaxy" pondered Davidson.
"Yes. The race that is called Minbari claims that we were the guardians of the young ones. These are the ones the Vorlons have blessed and the Shadows and the race that they blessed are unknown to us now" replied Shandrak. Shandrak's personal com unit bleeped and he turned to Davidson "I must go and make my report to my leaders. We will see each other again, children; when I'm not sure, but soon" stated Shandrak. As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished once more and his ship started to move away at speeds that made Earth ships look like they were trapped in quicksand.
"Come on, people. Are we going to just stand here or do we have work to do? If I didn't know any better, I would say you just met someone new from another race" laughed Marshal Davidson. Admiral Heinz popped up from the rear of the bridge laughing.
"Don't worry, sir. We've got the recorders online just in time to catch the arrival of Shandrak. I'm now forwarding that information to both Earth Command and Marshal Von-der-tan" announced Admiral Heinz.
"As usual, Admiral, you're ahead of us all. What did you make of Shandrak?" asked Davidson.
"Well he's just what I thought the Passatwar would be like. We only now have to find the rest of them in this Galaxy."
Davidson walked over to his command chair, looking at the screen in amusement.
"People, I want those ships secured. Get the boarding teams as soon as they are up and running and under our control. I want to put them to a test to see if our ships would stand any chance if these Passatwar decide to turn aggressive against us" instructed Marshal Davidson.
"Don't just sit there. Get your fingers out. We have to be ready for Commander Troy" said Admiral Heinz. He waited a few seconds, nodding at the screen with head phones on. "I don't care about hearing about problems. Get them launched ASAP or I will come down there and burn your favourite pin up poster" warned the Admiral.
Admiral Heinz chuckled. "OK, you have ten minutes to clear the hangars of the incoming ships and then turn them around and re-launch them." That's when the Admiral took his head phones off and turned off the channel.
"Wow, I hope no one plays poker with the CAG. He's smoking hot today" He laughed as he walked to the lift door.
Meanwhile on the planet's surface, Doctor Hilary Jones was getting close to a building she hoped was a primary data building. "Jason, are you certain this is their archive building?" asked Hilary.
"Yes, Doctor Jones. If I was building a city on this scale, I would want the archive building close to the government building, which is over there" he started to point at a tall building with flags all around it.
"Unit team twenty-one, this is Jones. I've sent you the location of a building I want your team to investigate for me. We will be across the road in what we think is their archive centre."
"All ground units, we have air support now for you send up smoke or activate your emergency beacon on your com links. We have managed to get some information of some cities. We are now translating the information. However, the maps will help you find buildings faster. Fleet actual out" Davidson reported.
"We'll check the data maps and see if we can read their lingo" said Doctor Jones.
"Well we'd better be able to. After all, it's our job. You don't want the military beating us again. They would send a patrol out and find a medical centre. Yeah and look what we found on our first attempt: a decaying silo of food or I think it was food, although it looks like something else" cringed Doctor John Watson.
"What's up John? Don't tell me you're still a little ticked that I walked straight into you and you fell into that gunk" asked Xu Caihou, a Chinese IPX member, laughing as he turned his back from John. "I'm very sorry for that, John. Just thinking about it makes me laugh as I thought it said food store and you thought it said medical store. We will never truly know what it was, but we still could be right or wrong."
"Enough, people. We have to get the data unlocked from these systems while we have some light or it means setting up camp in the building. That means we would have to get in touch with the local soldier boys and girls so they can come and hold our hands while we sleep. Some of us have nightmares, don't you Caihou, when you're in new places?" laughed Doctor Jones, getting one back for Doctor Watson. Xu stood up and looked at John and Hilary and bowed.
"Forgive my rudeness. It's so out of character for me to take such pride in others' misfortune." begged Xu in a very polite and upset manner.
Shandrak was walking through the crowded city of Halpergrad, the capital city of all the Passatwar colonies and worlds, thinking all the time what these Humans could do to them or any race, not realizing the Humans were already preparing for this possible outcome. Shandrak didn't take in the view like he normally did when he was planet side and especially for his rare visits to Halpergrad. He walked straight past the guards to the great council chamber, only saluting when he was passed them and realizing he had upset them. He was more concerned with the findings he had from this first contact.
As he entered the chamber, he was shocked to see not one but forty-five Guardians, all in their encounter suits, of course.
"Greetings, Shandrak, and welcome back from your first contact" said Storvell, the head of the Passatwar council.
"What are these Humans like? Do they look like us or do we have more of the other races that resemble our appearance now?" asked Tangril, the head of Intelligence.
"I think they are barbarians who found a metal sword and used it to steal what they have. So, yes I think we should send more scouts to look them over" replied Shandrak.
"Children, they came here to look for you and your answer was to meet them with weapons. My children, you have failed us and with that you have failed life itself. Have you forgotten all that we taught you so long ago? If you would like, we could travel to their home world and speak to their leaders and see what they want. However, if you feel that they are such a threat, then maybe that was due to you making them feel like you might kill them." said the lead Guardian Tranzkhan.
"We will obey and follow as always, Lord Tranzkhan. You brought us here and here we have been; all alone in the night at the edge of the universe, where all things must venture sooner or later" replied Shandrak.
"Good, my child. You have not forgotten everything we taught you after all" stated Tranzkhan. That statement sent the room into silence.
"We have returned as promised. Our job is harder now to do, with us being so far away. Shandrak you must know their leader saw greatness in you in the way you tried to save the Ikarians" informed Tranzkhan in a warm and friendly tone.
"Tranzkhan, I sensed great danger in their minds. We should make ready to engage them" replied Shandrak before he had a chance to finish.
"Tranzkhan, they have learned to mistrust people on first encounters, as they have been attacked on all but two of them and one of them they had weapons lock. We have been watching this race. My council always thought it would have been the Minbari that came looking for you and then you might have started a war. These Humans mean you no harm. Open your mind to me, child, and I will show you all that you need to know and some of what you don't need to know" instructed Tranzkhan.
Moments later, Shandrak was on the floor, being overwhelmed by the images he was getting from Tranzkhan.
"Shandrak, you can stand. I've slowed the amount of information I am sending to you. Only you and I can hear us now" informed Tranzkhan.
"Where are we?" asked Shandrak.
"This place is the void where we and other first ones go to see what we wish. They use machines to look in it. We the Guardians can enter through thought as can the Speakers. They are Lorien's race" replied Tranzkhan.
"What are you going to show me, Master?" asked Shandrak in a worried tone.
"The things that make you worry so much. Right now the Humans have started to salvage your ships, only to see what chance they have against you, due to your visible distrust of them. Marshal Davidson, the one you spoke to, was what the Humans call a PSI 40. Did you know that? There was a PSI 50 there too. They had passed your mental defenses with such ease that you may cause a war that they didn't come for" replied Tranzkhan.
"Master, if I may say, that proves that I was right. However, I was told by the Vorlons that no race had a stronger PSI strength than our own race. We are a PSI level 25" said Shandrak in a puzzled and confused tone.
"Well, child, that I will show you now. The person we are looking at is their leader and no doubt he will know we are watching him. He always knows. Go ahead and talk to him. He can hear you. Antony, can hear me talking about you?" asked Tranzkhan.
"Greetings, and welcome to the Royal Palace on Earth. If I'm not mistaken, you have brought a Passatwar to speak to me and not just anyone. You brought Shandrak, their military leader" observed His Royal Highness, King Antony.
"But how can you know we are here watching you, child?" demanded Shandrak.
"My PSI rating is so high it's off the scale. I was touching the minds of the crews of my ships in your Galaxy when you turned up, so I hid in the shelter. I know a lot about you. I read many files regarding you that I made classified. You like to fight the one we call the Shadows and their allies, as do we. Is that not enough to start the branch of friendship? Shandrak, one last thing: don't try and attack my ships. You will lose, even though you have great numbers and strength of weapons." said King Antony.
"What do you mean we would lose? And now you give me threats! I should put you to the test and burn your ships in the void between Universes" replied Shandrak. Tranzkhan started to laugh knowing what could happen here.
"My dear Shandrak, we would simply burn out your minds and kill your crew. That's why I advised you not to attack them" replied Antony. Antony walked over and picked up his staff and tapped it on the floor four times. An image of the possible battle came to view, filling the full room.
"Can you both see? Now look at your worlds at that moment. They opened up their minds to something that should never happen. I sent all my first jump mission crew to your galaxy as they were old, but yet still vibrant alive. Yes, my people know what happened, but it's not their fault that their bodies were inundated with my DNA and my nanites that make me immortal and a techno-mage" stated King Antony as he closed down the image.
"Those ships crews are all filled with people who have some or even all of your abilities. Then they or mages to or some and those will be enough to make us useless against them" replied Shandrak in shock and amazement at the same time.
"Now you have seen, but do you believe what you have seen?" asked Tranzkhan. Shandrak started to nod, knowing and seeing the fate of his people.
"Don't worry Shandrak. Only one of us knows they can do that. She would have given the order to do it, but even she won't. Marshal Yetta Von-der-tan is the commander of that expedition. All they seek is an area where we can build a royal estate for me to go to when I need rest. That was our other mission there" informed King Antony.
"There are enough systems there that we pulled away from centuries ago. They all have cities and some amazing buildings that you can class as Palaces. I will go and see your expedition and welcome them as friends. I will explain. It will be the truth that we have long since forgotten how to talk to strangers. I will inform my government to send ships to our home galaxy and watch for the coming Dark ones and the dreaded Allies" explained Shandrak.
"It's time to take you back home, child. We will all see each other one day in another century. So long, my children" Tranzkhan started to smile and pulled away from the Royal Palace on Earth with his mind and brought them back to their physical bodies.
A few seconds later, Shandrak started to blink and move his arms around. The council was shocked but glad to see their military commander was OK.
"Now Shandrak, what do you have to say now?" asked the Passatwar Leader, Ventdral.
"Honored council members, I have to say my eyes have been opened. I can see I was wrong and the mistrust I sensed was due to me. These Humans have had bad experiences with first contact and I didn't help matters" explained Shandrak.
"Yes, but what do you think?" asked Ventdral in a stronger and demanding manner.
"They mean us no harm, and we should allow them to settle in this galaxy. We one day may need strong friends to help protect us" replied Shandrak, who surprised their entire council to his changed manner.
"If that is the case and soon it will be our Maker's day, then we should send these Humans a gift. They are so far from their home. We will make for them a hyper jump gate. We will need to see the speed in which their ships can travel so we can adjust it especially for their ships. Plus send a team to help build a new ship using their and our technology as this will give us an idea of how advanced they are compared to us" replied Ventdral.
"With what I saw of their technology, they are not far behind us and what I saw in their minds they have the ships that were left behind on Ikara all those years ago" replied Shandrak
"If that is the case, we should teach them how to make ships like it by copying that design if we are to pass on what we know then we have to start now" replied Ventdral.
"Why you are here Tranzkhan? Can you help us? Our people can no longer reproduce and even the younger ones of our race wish to know why you allowed this to happen" asked Gransdal, the council science and medical advisor.
"Well children, when you were affected by the Shadow plague, some of you took the antidote. When free from the disease, those that took the antidote found that it rendered them sterile. That you already knew, but when you live a long time, that antidote would have an unusual effect. Some of you will still be fertile, but others won't be. You will have to search out a way to cure yourselves. These Humans many hold the key to your problems. After all, you were made from their DNA as well as from four other races. Ask them for their help. You never know. They just might say yes" advised Tranzkhan. He then turned away and looked at the other guardians present.
The Guardians all started to move to the doors. It wasn't until the council asked where they were heading when they stopped and turned and replied "We are heading to our diplomatic building, if it's still there, to see what we can do to help you. But we will not cure you; that is your job. We will ask for the information we need when we get settled in our building" said Tranzkhan. Then the guardians continued to leave the room and headed to their Diplomatic building. Tranzkhan stopped in his tracks and slowly turned and smiled. "There are the other races that make up your full council of ten. You must tell them of the visitors from their home Galaxy. If you had told them about your troubles, they might have been able to help you" stated Tranzkhan.
The Passatwar council was astonished yet again and this time by the race they thought wouldn't or couldn't shock them. Gransdal looked at them and laughed.
"Tranzkhan has proven I have been right all these years and we must tell the other councilors of our plight. All of the races present in this Galaxy were created by the First Ones. The only races to remain behind are those that were made for a single purpose" stated Gransdal.
"Yes we know this, but if they think we are dying out, they might strike at us. After all, they were created to either fight or infiltrate, so we should show caution" replied Fangtol, the covert intelligence leader.
"Fangtol, you have a nerve to say that. It's your fault that the Ikarians started to mistrust us and allowed the Shadows into their mind" stated Ventdral.
"Enough of this infighting. To sort our people out we must have clarity. Yes, it has taken us a long time to get to the point where we must hope to find a cure. If not, we will be a dead race yet again. For I'm just one voice among many. I won't allow that to happen again. If I thought these Humans had a key to our plight, I would have asked them" Stated Shandrak with such commanding authority it stopped everyone from objecting. Even the Guardians stayed a little longer to see the end of that speech, and then departed for their diplomatic office.
Fangtol was not happy that Shandrak raked up his failures of those many years ago.
"Well then, if you think these Humans might have a clue, then I will send an agent with you when you go and invite them to a galaxy council meeting. There you will tell them that we protect every race here. That is your job as Military leader" stated Fangtol. The look on Ventdral's face was enough to stop Fangtol from continuing in his rant.
"Enough! I won't have this, Fangtol. Yes, Shandrak, you will go see these Humans and take who and what you think is best for the role of supporting you in your mission" ordered Ventdral.
HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ANY TYPE OF FEED BACK GOOD OR BAD.
HOPE YOU LIKED MY WAY OF KEEPING THE IKARIANS AROUND.
SPOILER ALERT: YOU WILL SEE RACES THAT HAD BEEN KILLED OFF OR DIED OFF IN BABYLON 5'S REAL TIME LINE WHO ARE STILL AROUND IN MY UNIVERSE.
THANKS TO MY BETA FOR MAKING MY STOREY READABLE AND FOR ALL HER HARD WORK SUSAN HILTON.
