I'm sorry - it has been a while since I've updated but I have been recently focusing my time on a series of short stories. I spent the whole of July writing and uploading them, and they're in my story collection if you're interested.
Please let me know what you think.
A New Space Age.
It was impossible for him not to feel any kind of pride in his ship and all that his people had achieved over the last decade in integrating Minbari scrap following their war with the humans into Narn technology. The Narn had fallen onto the scrap floating in space like scavengers foraging for meat leftover from the hunts of other animals, and they had quickly taken their spoils with them back to Narn and to the various research colonies where the wreckage caused by lucky humans who had given their lives to fend off the relentless Minbari advance and buy their people more time.
The Narn were one of the first races to take advantage of the situation and they had moved quickly in case the Minbari Warrior Caste decided to recover their lost hardware and equipment, but they never did. Na'Kal had never understood the logic behind the Minbari's stance; they were one of the most powerful - if hated -races in the galaxy.
Surely they knew if they left pieces of their technology and science behind there was a chance they would find themselves rivalled by other races who didn't care about the balance of power?
Clearly, it didn't matter to them.
Na'Kal had long since heard rumours which had merely been confirmed during the Earth-Minbari war the Minbari were a people who believed themselves mightier than all the races in the galaxy, barring the Vorlons. Na'Kal didn't believe that, he personally felt the Minbari would not be in the position of power they were in today unless they had their technology to back them up. The Narn Regime had benefited over the last decade from the influx of discoveries gleaned from Minbari technology. For instance, they had access to a crude form of Minbari crystallography but it was far more advanced than any tech they'd had before and compared to other races, their weapons were more refined, new jump engines were being studied in order to replace the older models and would prove to be more precise and more powerful than their previous models, new sources of energy, new computer technologies, more durable hull armour materials since the materials for the polycrystalline alloy the Minbari used for their ships was now known to the Narn.
And now the Narn Regime was expanding in all directions, refining their new technologies and studying what they had now than what they had a decade ago.
Yes. Thanks to the leftover Minbari technology, the Narn were addressing the gap between them and the Centauri. It was hoped within another decade or so, after colonising many more worlds, they would be in the position they had waited long for; the conquest of the Centauri Republic where many Narns were hoping to wreak an act of terrible revenge on their former oppressors.
Starting with ships like the G'Tok. Whereas before the G'Tok had been slow, lumbering thanks to the three massive ion thrusters in the rear section of the ship, with a bit of work she was now partially able to generate a stable gravimetric field similarly to a Centauri warship.
Narn engineers had worked long and hard on various warships, testing the new technologies as they understood them - again - to install them on cruisers and warships, and even a few new fighter models by installing new designs. The gravimetric fields and the fins which produced them granted the Narn Heavy cruiser with speed and artificial gravity.
The downside was the Narn had worked on the projects for many years, and there had been many accidents and the ships would either fail to work or their power needs were just incompatible. Luckily the new design rectified that problem.
As the G'Tok emerged from the jump point and jumped back into normal space, Warleader Na'Kal stared grimly at the debris floating in space. Three hours ago they had received a tachyon distress beacon from one of their ships, leading them to this location, and as the G'Tok was the only heavy cruiser within range they had made all speed.
But he had known in his heart they would be too late.
"Begin the scans," he ordered. "Lifeboats?"
In front of him, he could hear his tactical officer let out a sigh. "There's nothing, sir. There is wreckage among the flotsam which matches with the materials Narn escape pods are constructed from, but they are all destroyed."
Na'Kal ground his teeth. "The record box?"
"I've detected it."
"Good. Arrange a walker team to pick it up."
"Yes, Warleader."
Na'Kal didn't say a word as he thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "Bring up the latest intelligence reports of Centauri movements and expansions in this sector."
"Yes, Warleader."
"Walker team is getting ready. They're making their final tests for the walk."
"Good." Na'Kal checked the information flow on the armrest of the command throne. It was as he had thought. This part of the galaxy was too far from Centauri Republic space for the Republic to despatch a warship, and he knew they wouldn't unless there was something in it for them. And the destruction of a single Narn target was not on the top of their agenda.
Na'Kal jabbed in a new program search. Quickly the computer's uplink with Narn Military Command showed no known race lived or had any kind of presence out here to warrant this kind of hostility. Na'Kal took out the data recorder attached to his command throne and he began writing the notes for his mission report and ship records. The Kha'Ri would have to take this investigation over when they sent off their reports to them.
"Warleader Na'Kal, the walker team has returned to the G'Tok with a piece of the hull and the ship's recorder," one of the crew reported a few minutes later.
Na'Kal looked up. "Very good. I'll meet them in the engineering laboratory."
"Understood. Orders?"
Na'Kal didn't have any intention of leaving until they had gotten a good idea of what had happened to their fellow Narns and sister ship. "Maintain our position. I want a watch on at all times. We don't know what happened here and I don't want to be taken by surprise by whoever is responsible for that," he jabbed a gloved hand towards the viewing ports showing the field of debris. "I want a fighter team on patrol at all times, 3-hour shifts."
"Understood."
An hour later, Na'Kal strode into the cargo bay. He had just received a preliminary message, stating the wreckage had been brought onto the G'Tok, and they'd found something unusual. As he strode into the bay, ignoring the cargo, Na'Kal looked for the officer who had gone out on the Walker team. It wasn't the best place to bring the collected debris, but it was the only place large enough for such a collection.
"Ju'Rok," he called, getting the attention of the leader of the salvage mission. "Report."
The Narn looked troubled. "I'm not sure what to make of it, sir."
"What do you mean?"
"When I first saw the wreckage, I assumed that whoever or whatever had destroyed the cruiser had just fired on it repeatedly and didn't stop even after it was broken up; that didn't make any sense, since it's a waste of ammunition and energy, but then I saw something that I found hard to believe since it's unexpected," Ju'Rok replied.
Na'Kal studied his old friend. Ju'Rok was 17 years Na'Kal's elder, but the older Narn was not interested in gaining any command of his own despite the years he had been in the Narn military, and the years he had spent fighting the Centauri in the last years of their occupation of homeworld. Ju'Rok despised the responsibilities of command, although he was happy leading combat teams and leading warriors into battle when the need arose.
"What do you mean?"
Ju'Rok led Na'Kal to a large piece of wreckage. There was some kind of burn mark Na'Kal recognised at once. "Did something burn its way into the hull of the ship?" He asked in surprise, bending to examine the hole. It was quite small, but the burn hole went in only a few inches. But it was unmistakable.
And impossible and unbelievable.
"It looks like it. This piece of wreckage was quite close to a large section of the ship that was close to primary corridors 4, 3, and 6. We've already found the remains of that section; the explosion must have torn a gouging wound in that part of the ship."
Na'Kal remembered something else about this class of cruiser. "Those corridors are also directly close to the primary computer core and the power lines," he added. "So whoever did this they have a good knowledge of the interior of our ship's arrangements."
"I know."
"Have you found the data records?"
"Yes. The protective shell was damaged by the explosions, but it survived. It's being examined right now. The data core should be accessible within an hour or so."
"Some sort of mine, or drone?"
"You know as well as I do that our scanners are programmed to detect small explosives, but it looks that way. What I'd like to know is how they got close in the first place."
"Believe me, Ju'Rok, when the Kha'Ri hear of this, that will be the first question on their mind? The Centauri?"
Ju'Rok sighed and rubbed his head thoughtfully. "I wouldn't dismiss them as a possibility, we know how the Centauri are, they prefer approaching someone with a smile on their face and a knife in a hand clasped behind their back."
"But you have doubts?" Na'Kal said knowingly.
"More than one. The Centauri have mostly kept to themselves, regardless of Refa's aggressive expansion. Alright, they have expanded outward a bit, but they haven't expanded beyond a few systems. If we were closer to Centauri space, I would blame it on them regardless and I would only change my mind if there was evidence, but we're light-years away from Narn, never mind Centauri Prime. In any case, the Centauri would never colonise an entire sector of the galaxy so far from any other colony. They know if they did they'd be cut off from the rest of the Republic. They aren't that stupid."
Na'Kal nodded in agreement. The Centauri would likely be on the move within another few years, conquering everything and everyone in sight, but for now, they were concentrating on building their forces using the colonies they'd seized from Earth after the humans' war against the Minbari, and their own reverse engineering of Minbari technology.
He was dreading facing the Centauri with their reverse-engineered Minbari technology. While the Narn had certainly advanced in leaps and bounds within the last few years, the Centauri were in a better position on the technological scale in the galaxy. Na'Kal only prayed the Narn had a little bit more time to develop their new technology. Unfortunately, the universe could sometimes be cruel.
"Do you think it possible the Centauri could have sent a ship or a probe of some sort to a region of space far from their own territories, pinpointed the location of one of our ships and decided to test some new weapon where they wouldn't be blamed?" Na'Kal wondered out aloud.
Ju'Rok shrugged his heavy shoulders. "They're capable of anything. I just want to wait for that record to be downloaded. It might hopefully clear up a few questions."
"You don't think it will?"
"These days, no."
X
G'Kar stood in his chambers in the Kha'Ri Pyramid, his mind churning from the meeting that he and his fellow council members. The mystery of the missing Narn cruiser had sent worrying waves through the Kha'Ri and the Narn military; with how the Narn resources had always been stretched despite the last decades' acquisitions, the loss of a single ship was always worrying since the Narn desired to be strong.
This was no different.
But what was different was how the Narn ship was destroyed. Only a few hours ago, the G'Tok had sent a communique sending the report of their initial investigation into what had happened to the Narn warship. The investigation was ongoing, but G'Kar wondered if they would ever have a clear idea of what had happened to the warship.
But some new kind of mine that apparently latched onto the outer hull and burned its way in? How was that possible? The Narn had used mines during their war of liberation as had the Centauri, their ships were programmed with Narn military tactics and the tactics gleaned from the Centauri. The defensive systems should have determined when such a mine was coming close and alerted the crew. But this was something else.
X
On Centauri Prime, Drano, the Head of the Centauri Secret Service was listening to a report from two of his agents. 5 days before, a report had been logged in to Centauri Military Headquarters that three of their warships had just vanished without a trace in a sector close to the Drazi border. The Centauri had received distress calls, but that was it. No other word.
Military Headquarters had already sent ships to search for the ships to discover what had happened, and the news was grim; the ships had been destroyed thoroughly. The secret service had already opened their investigation, but it was hopeless since they were getting nowhere, and without any sign of the ship's computer records there was nothing for them to go on.
Drano had already spoken to his agents in Drazi and Narn territory, but it seemed they had similar problems of their own. "How much of what they've said is fact?" He asked.
"All of it," one of the spies replied.
"The Kha'Ri has been conducting an investigation ever since. They're starting to keep in constant contact with the rest of their fleet. They don't know what destroyed their ship, but they don't want it to happen to the others."
Drano nodded thoughtfully. Unlike many of his people he didn't underestimate or look down upon the Narn; his job as the head of the security services had taught him the hard lesson not everything was as it seemed, and the Emperor's attitude towards all non-Centauri races made it easy for him to point out the strengths and weaknesses of races like the Narn.
The Narn were barbarians, he agreed with that point, but they were not as stupid as Refa believed them to be. They had already crawled up to the Centauri tech level with the wreckage of Minbari warships, and they were constantly improving their technology all the time. There was little doubt in Drano's mind there would be war between their races. What worried him was how costly it would be for them. "How well are they going with their investigation?"
"Not well. The warship G'Tok returned to Narn carrying the wreckage of their light cruiser, but the Narn haven't found anything from their recorders; all they detected was a slight power fluctuation on the hull sensors, but no more than that. And then their ship began to explode, so they sent a distress call."
"And the Narn believe its some kind of mine. The Drazi are the same. My agents on their homeworld have found the same thing, but mines?" The second agent hissed.
"What's the mood like in the Centaurum about this mess?" The first agent asked.
Drano sighed. "The Emperor talks of nothing but building up our forces for the wars ahead. He's also pouring large amounts of money from the Royal Treasury and he is looking to the Houses to help with the funds into the research programs for the reverse engineering of the Minbari wreckage from the Earth-Minbari war."
"He's not bothering to investigate this?"
"No. The Emperor claims this is all down to the Narns."
"I doubt that in any case, they would be blaming us for the loss of their own ship if it wasn't so many light-years away from our border," the second agent commented. "It makes no sense."
"The Emperor doesn't care about that."
The second agent folded his arms thoughtfully. "Minister, the Republic is slowly beginning to expand again, but I don't understand why we haven't started any invasions."
"You have a point; we were in a better position than the Narn were to reverse engineer the Minbari's technology," the first agent said, "so why haven't we attacked, especially with the Emperor promising to restore the Republic to glory?"
Drano rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His agents had touched on a matter he himself had been worried about for a long time. He had known the scheming, arrogant Refa for a long time. He was the kind of Centauri who was typical of their race, a man who believed himself superior because of his House and political ambition. Refa had planned to become powerful for a long time, and it didn't really surprise Drano he had become Emperor. The spymaster had just never wanted it to happen. Refa was the kind of idiot who would doom the Republic and believe it would survive. All that surprised Drano was how, completely unexpectedly, Refa had gained the support needed to become the Emperor. For some time Drano had tried to understand why... Refa had become Emperor so suddenly, and he hadn't noticed anything untoward until it was too late.
Indeed he had also wanted to know why Refa, who constantly talked of how the Centauri Republic should expand out into the galaxy and reclaim its original place in the galactic order, had done nothing but accelerate the construction of new warships and the reverse engineering of Minbari technology into their own. That move was unlike Refa; Drano had fully expected the arrogant fool to begin ordering the invasions of all the League, but he hadn't.
What in the Great Maker was he playing at?
"I want you two to head back to your sectors," Drano made a mental note to begin a small, low-level investigation into the Emperor's dealings to discover what was going on; he knew he would need to be careful, if Refa discovered his activities then he would likely be killed as a warning to others although Refa might be wary of such a move since he knew Drano could cause a lot of trouble even with his death, "continue monitoring the situation."
The first agent studied him shrewdly. "Do you have a suspicion of who's behind the attacks?"
"No, but I have a feeling it's going to get worse," Drano's expression was grim, "the only problem is how?"