I don't own Babylon 5.
I only own this one-shot, set in a world where the Centauri make contact with humanity shortly after the Third World War. Taking advantage of our weaknesses, the Centauri swiftly conquer and occupy Earth for several years and enslave humanity. The Centauri are harsher with us than they are with the Narns given our history and they kill millions and level our cities out of spite when they are forced out by a pincer movement from the colonies in space working in tandem with the people on Earth.
Please let me know what you think.
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Rising from the Ashes of Conquest.
When she had been younger despite the years of slavery she had seen smuggled pictures of what London had looked like before the Centauri forced their own architecture on the city. Some of the buildings they had forced the human population of the world to build were, in some ways, not different to what other societies favoured but it was gaudy. As she stared out at the ruins of the city which had been bombed and burnt by the missiles the Centauri had used after they had finally been expelled from Earth by the resistance movement, Miranda wondered what kind of future they were leaving for their children now.
A badly ruined planet. All brought about because humanity couldn't stop fighting one another. A part of Miranda hoped the knowledge of hostile aliens being out there would give everyone somebody else to fight, but she didn't want to fight anymore. She wanted to see if any of her family had survived the long years of hard, brutal slavery. The Centauri had found humans extremely hard to keep down, and they were more ruthless, and the more Centauri who were killed whenever they massacred people, destroyed forests so then they could steal what Earth had to offer, so the chances were not high. But she had to find out. It was all that had kept her going since the Centauri had separated her from her sister after their parents were murdered by those peacock haired mother fuckers.
"Miranda, are you out there?"
Miranda Hawkins turned with a smile, in a way she was pleased because it meant she wouldn't have to look at the ravaged and badly burnt ruins of the city and the surrounding landscape. The last 20 years had been truly horrific for all of them since the Centauri arrived just as the first fusion-drive spaceships left Earth to explore and colonise Mars to revitalise the human spirit of exploration after the last war. Miranda's heart went out in gratitude for what those colonists and pioneers had done; thanks to their grit and the resources they had found out there, humanity had survived and they'd attacked the Centauri on two fronts before driving them away from Earth.
"Hey, Lucy, when did you get back from the camps?" Lucy and Miranda were both parts of the resistance after growing up on the same Spoo ranch (Miranda prayed those disgusting things were wiped out and everything Terran was restored and made pure) before they joined in the rebellion and started by slaughtering the brutal lord and lady who'd overseen everything. Lucy and Miranda had been sexually abused by the lord and his guards, like most human girls. They'd had fun cutting off his tentistacles before cutting his body up.
In the last few days since the Centauri were driven away from Earth, everyone was trying to free the people who were still trapped inside the camps. Judging by Lucy's haunted face it had been a terrible ordeal. Miranda made a point not to bring it up.
"Just now, Mandy," Lucy replied before she joined her best friend, the light of the dawning sun glinting on her stolen Centauri weapons. Like Miranda, she had two daggers and a PPG in her belt. Together the two women gazed at the devastated vista of London, seeing the huge holes gouged into Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament which had been caused during the resistance war.
"Has anyone gotten anything from other countries yet? I heard we were gonna restore the internet and all communication systems. But have we heard anything from Russia, America, anyone?" Lucy asked. Miranda knew that her friend had been out of circulation for the last few days so she wasn't sure.
"Yes, the Mars colonists worked with the lunar colonists in setting up a radio system in Britain and America and connecting to a network in Europe and the rest of the world. We haven't heard anything back," Miranda answered.
Lucy nodded with a sigh of relief. "Have they brought back any news about what the rest of the world is like?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if it's no different worldwide, Luce."
Lucy conceded that her friend might have a point. "I'm leaving Miranda."
"What?" Miranda turned in surprise.
"I'm going to try to find my family. We were separated at one of the work camps and they were sent off to others. I'm gonna see if they survived if they joined a resistance cell and fought back. I've already told Cole about my decision. He's agreed, when the radio system comes online and the internet is working again to keep my contact details open so if one of my family is alive, I can get in touch quickly."
"I was thinking of doing more or less the same, but where do you reckon you'll look?" Miranda asked.
"Our work camp was in Leeds. The Centauri kept impressive records. Hopefully, the office is still there with their archive. We know how good the Centauri were at keeping their records. Hopefully, I'll find something," Lucy looked like she was trying hard to convince herself.
"Good luck," the hollowness in Miranda's voice was horrible. "When are you going?"
"Tonight," Lucy said simply. "I've made arrangements with the others, so if anyone comes and asks for me, I'll know about it. I have to know, Mandy. I need to know if those bastards killed my whole family off."
"I know how you feel," Miranda whispered. "I don't know if I can stomach it, but I will try to find out if my own family survived."
Lucy nodded.
"What's everyone being planning? I know there are plans, but I haven't heard anything…," Miranda asked.
Lucy sighed, "Many people are too busy celebrating but some of the leaders of the Resistance are frightened the Centauri will come back."
"I don't blame them. Our planet's been devastated, millions are dead, and those bastards could rustle up the manpower to come back."
Lucy nodded. "The few Centauri ships and the shipyards we've captured are being checked over. I know there are plans to reverse engineer it all, but that will take time. And we might not have it."
"My dad has/had a saying, Luce," Miranda said seriously, "if something is important you make the time. I think the Resistance leaders understand that. But I doubt it will take too long as you think; Centauri technology has been reverse-engineered since we captured the first bits. It's what's going to happen after I worry about it."
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked quizzically.
"You must have worked out already the state Earth is in, Lucy. The planet is devastated. Everyone is frightened. Now we have interstellar travel, I doubt it will be long before we look for a replacement home. There's already talk about colonising and exploiting Mars, even Venus, while we push out further. There are also rumblings of anger. Everyone wants revenge on the Centauri, and I can't blame them. I'd like to see those so-called 'civilised' aliens pay the price by toiling in fields, forcing them to grow crops to feed us and get back at them for whipping us and calling us barbarians because we're not like them. I'd like to see those women who wore their pretty dresses while teaching their children we're animals and savages forced to fetch and carry food, and I know I speak for millions of people who've suffered under the Centauri whip."
Lucy wasn't sure how to respond to her friend's anger-infused statement, because it was the truth. She had been hearing people talking about using the Centauri ships and weapons to build a fleet of warships to conquer the galaxy and get the power and the strength to bomb the Centauri to the Stone Age.
But she felt they needed to concentrate on rebuilding Earth and reuniting with their loved ones before they took things to that extent.
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