Chapter 37: Underground
G'Kar stood before the Centauri Emperor on his throne. The unconditional surrender of the Centauri Republic had been swift. Cartagia seemed almost eager to not lead his people.
The terms of the surrender had been in his mind, just. The Imperial Court and the Centarum was to be disbanded. And a leadership chosen by the Narns would replace them. Cartagia would keep his throne, but G'Kar would be the one calling the shots. If any Centauri killed a single Narn, five hundred Centauri, including the murders own family, would be executed. And all Centauri diplomatic posts were now null and void. A permanent curfew of sixteen hundred hours Centauri time was now in effect.
He sent his intimidating glare are Cartagia, who seemed to not notice. Then again, he seemed rather uncaring about the whole situation. If this was how the Centauri leadership had always been, no wonder they had lost the war. What was a wonder was they had taken Narn in the first place.
But, G'Kar also knew that the resistance would be pretty heavy. They'd need to be dealt with. The Kha'Ri would want it so. But G'Kar also knew that the technomage probably wanted whomever this Emperor would be to have a planet not totally blasted to pieces.
Vir hurried down the street, his cloak drawn around his face. He turned to head down an alleyway, but back-pedaled when he saw three Narns beating a Centauri. He had known some craziness to be sure, but as he glanced at the walls of the other side of the street and saw crucified Centauri women, stripped naked, he knew for a fact nothing had ever been so bad.
He had heard stories of the occupation of Narn, but none of the stories compared with the brutality he saw with the occupation of Centauri Prime. An elderly Centauri he'd seen have his skin sliced off his face, until nothing over his skull. The man had taken two days to die of the pain. One noble woman had been raped seven times within an hour and had died from the shock. He'd seen the fingers bitten off Centauri children.
He understood the need of revenge. Well, at least the feelings that push towards it. But what gave the Narns the right to be so brutal? Was it always going to be this way? A continuous cycle of bloodshed with no end?
He turned down another alleyway, and not seeing anyone down here scurried along it's dark pathway, heading for the back of the building. He knocked twice on the door very slowly, and then three rapid taps. The door slid open and he was let inside the completely dark room.
A glow ball lit up his face and he blinked in momentary blindness. There was a muttering of relief and the glow ball lowered.
"It's about time you showed up," Mollari said as the glow ball in front of his lit up, "Thought you got lost."
"Had to avoid Narn patrols," Vir shrugged his shoulders, "They are out in force."
"They'll be like that for a while," Malachi's rich voice came from the opposite side of the table, "I suspect they'll keep doing it until they tire of random violence."
"Whenever that will be," Vir mumbled.
He took the vacant chair and sat down, not much liking the secretness of such conspiracies. He hadn't cared for it as the leader of the Conspiracy of Light either. He just didn't feel comfortable with any of it.
"So," Mollari said, "What can you tell of your own agents?"
Vir thought very quickly. "They are busy now," he said, "What with the Shadows on the move and all. My own agents have suffered heavily over the past days, well, weeks really. Even my really powerful friends have goen to ground, trying to keep out of the Shadows sight."
"No help there," Malachi grunted.
"No," Mollari held up a hand, "That's fine. We'll need an eye on the outer galaxy. If things turn out well, we might be able to get help. What have you got, Malachi?"
"I've had no word from our forces that were on the offensive at the time of the assault," Malachi shook his head, "I do know that about three thousand professional soldiers are on Centauri Prime. About two hundred will join us."
"Two hundred?" Vir's eyes widened, "That's not a bunch."
"Better than nothing," Mollari soothed, "Now, what about your contacts?"
"Most escaped and are currently keeping a low profile," Malachi said with a hint of optimism, "They've pledged to funnel any money we might need into the resistance."
"Good," Mollari said, "We'll need that. My own contacts are currently going to Sheridan Starkiller. See if his Alliance can do anything to help us."
"Do you think he'll be able to?" Malachi asked, "If Vir is right and the whole galaxy is in strife, what makes you think he'll be able to come to our aid?"
"I don't," Mollari stated, "But, we need to keep all options open. And we need to let people know we aren't defeated. We also need to get in touch with any forces that escaped that are still out there. We'll need their support if we are to win back our home."