The Darkness Revealed
Vir sat alone in his
gardens. He had ordered that no one, under any circumstances, should
disturb him. Today was the latest addition to his personal list of
worst days. Most of the ISA worlds blamed the Centauri for the destruction
of the Victory and many were gearing up for war. Delenn was trying
to calm everything down on Minbar, hoping that everyone would see that
the Centauri were innocent. Here on Centauri Prime Vir was trying
to keep his military advisors and Centaurum members from clamouring for
war. If something doesn't change soon, he thought bitterly, a horrible
war will begin and no one will be able to stop it.
Vir stood up and began
to walk among the flowers until he saw one of his Royal guards standing
at a respectful distance.
"Go," Vir said, "Have
my ship prepared. I am going to Minbar. Do it quickly and tell
no one else of this."
The dedicated soldier
hurried off to do his Emperor's bidding. Yes Vir thought, no more
hiding, no more bitterness. I will go to Minbar and set everything
right.
Vir left the Royal
Garden and made way for his shuttle. It would take him to his personal
liner and then to Minbar.
Billanii was leading
a counter strike on some Narn raids when he received word of the Emperor's
sudden disappearance.
"Where," he asked angrily
"Did he go?"
"We don't know Admiral,"
the officer said, "The Emperor left yesterday late in the evening.
He gave no notice to anyone and no one in the Centaurum will discuss it."
Billanii considered
his options for a moment. He wasn't completely without supporters
in the Centaurum. "Get me Lord Draffo," he ordered, "code the transmission
to my office."
"Yes Admiral," the
officer said.
Billanii began the
short walk to his office. Walking inside he activated the communication
system.
"Lord Draffo," Billanii
began, "Can you tell me where the Emperor has gone?"
"That is privileged
information Admiral," the tiny little man said, "I risk my life if I tell
you."
"Your life is in greater
jeopardy if you done not tell me my lord."
Draff thought it over
for a moment. Fear and uncertainty played across his face.
Finally he seemed to have come to a decision. "He has gone to Tuzanor
on Minbar to meet with the Alliance president and end the conflict."
Burning fury raised
in the heart and mind of Billanii as he considered this turn of events.
If the emperor could convince the ISA that the Centauri were innocent then
the entire plan would begin to collapse.
"Thank you, Lord Draffo,"
Billanii managed but cut of the transmission before he could respond.
"There was no way he could
intercept the emperor's cruiser before it arrived at Minbar. It was
the fastest ship in all Centauri space after all. Even the Drakh
might not be able to stop him. He would send them a message anyway, if
there was a chance that the Emperor could be stopped than this was the
time.
He sent the encrypted
message to the Drakh fleet. They would take care of it, the Drakh always
do.
The lead Colav sat in
a chair with the two others standing behind him. Over the past few
days he had begun telling of the Vyron's return to the stars and
the Empire they had created. Some they already knew, the Shadows
had tried to drive their world into a stone age one thousand years
ago but had not entirely succeeded. The Vyron had spent the last
thousand years trying to build technology that could stand against the
Shadows.
What they did not know
was that the Vyron had only returned to space in the last ten years and
that it was the Drakh who informed them that it was safe to do so.
The Vyron had spent the last decade rebuilding the empire they held in
the past and began expanding beyond their wildest dreams.
"It was the Drakh who
brought this evil upon us," Colav had said, "But the Vyron do not trust
them, they have not shared their knowledge of blocking energy or the secret
of their weapons of death."
"So it isn't a united
front," Fisher said, "The Vyron wont share their toys with the Drakh but
they will work together."
"Yes," the Colav's
said.
"Why have the Vyron
waited so long to attack us again," Fisher asked?
"They moved to quickly
before, the Drakh were not ready, the Drakh said that the Vyron were not
ready. Only one hundred ships went to fight against your Alliance,
that was most of their fleet. They have spent the last few cycles
building new ships, they have hundreds now, maybe thousands. We are
unsure."
"The Drakh no doubt
also needed time to rebuild from all of our battles," Fisher told him.
"It will take us some
time to get back to your world," Colav asked?
"Yes," Fisher said,
"We have been traveling for about a week, it will take another two before
we arrive."
"Can it go no faster?"
"We should be able
to transmit a single within a few days," Fisher replied, "but until
then we'll just have to wait."
"We see," he said.
Fisher thought some
more about it, "We could go directly to Minbar and present you directly
to the ISA council. We would have to maintain radio silence for your
protection and ours but they would be able to take more direct action.
By now the Narn and the Centauri are at each others throats over the G'Daern
incident. We need to prove to the Narn that the Centauri were not
involved."
Fisher activated his
link, "Cmdr. change course for Minbar. We're going to speak to the
President."
Kor'Van had received
the message from Admiral Billanii and he was not impressed. His ship
raced toward the planet Minbar in a probably vain attempt to stop the Centauri
Emperor from reaching that world. This move was completely unexpected.
It was thought the sniveling little simpleton would be forced into giving
in to the war.
"How long till we reach
Minbari space," he asked his Second?
"Two hours," the Second
replied.
The Primus Class Battle Cruiser Majesty raced through
hyperspace. She was the fastest ship in the entire Centauri fleet
modified with all the latest in gravimetric drive technology that the Centauri
had gathered in the last few years. Her weapons were state-of-the-art
designs of the classic Centauri systems.
This ship was built with one purpose, protect the
life of the Emperor of the Centauri Republic.
The Centauri Emperor sat on his thrown counting
down the hours until he would reach the capital world of the Interstellar
Alliance. About one more hour by his estimate and his ship would
arrive in the Minbari starsystem and an uncertain fate.
Without warning the ship began to shake violently.
Vir was nearly unseated by the massive jolts that were hitting his ship.
"What is happening," Duran Fulano asked fearfully?
Vir why had more experience in such things did not
have to guess. "We are being fired on," he told him.
"How can you be sure," Fulano inquired.
"I used to serve on Babylon 5," Vir said, "You get
used to being shot at."
Fulano's eyes widened at that but both men decided
to remain silent.
Finally the ships Captain reported on the situation.
"Your Highness, we are being attacked by the Drakh. There fighters
are gaining on us, it does not look very good Highness."
Kor'Van was elated to see that he was wrong about
finding the Emperor's ship. He had begun firing on it the moment
it had been spotted, hopping to slow it down. Now as the Raider class
fighters began pounding at the ships engine systems the Drakh vessel was
finally entering killing range.
The Majesty began to slow significantly so Kor'Van
ordered the raiders to back off, the killing shot would come from his ship.
The Centauri vessel began to turn toward the attack
knowing it could no longer run. The ship began firing its Ion cannons
and Battle Lasers at his ship but they were not causing significant damage
as the cruiser closed on its position.
"Charge all weapons to maximum power," he ordered,
"Fire on my signal."
Vir saw the weapons on the Drakh ship begin to glow
with barely restrained power.
"Great Maker," Vir whispered.
"FIRE," the order came and the Drakh ship was transformed
into a ball of expanding fire.
The Fusion/Particle cannon turned the unsuspecting
Drakh ship into molten slag.
"Signal the Centauri vessel," Captain Fisher ordered,
"Centauri ship this is the Earth Alliance vessel Damocles. Do you
require assistance?"
"This is the RCS Majesty," the Centauri Captain
signaled, "We were on route to Minbar. If you would, we have a passenger
of some importance who needs to get their as soon as possible."
"Who is this passenger," Fisher asked?
"The Emperor of the Republic," the Centauri told
him.
"Well then the more the merrier," Cone said.
"As it turns out we're going to Minbar anyway,"
Fisher told the Centauri, "Will gladly take your Emperor along if he would
like. We will make whatever preparations he requires ready for him.
He came come aboard at any time."
"Thank you Damocles. The Emperor informs me
that no special arrangements are required. Only make sure there is
room enough for a squad of body guards."
"We understand. Damocles out."
"The Centauri have attacked us, how can we not respond,"
the Brakiri Ambassador asked?
"They have shown no honour in these actions," the
Enphili Ambassador agreed.
"We must fight," the Drazi added.
"It is not the way of the Interstellar Alliance
to make war without cause," Delenn tried to yell over the bickering of
the assembled representatives of the Alliance. Few heard her, fewer
still would have cared.
"We must have order," Delenn said to no avail.
Finally she stepped up to one of the ceremonial guards standing near her,
grabbed his plasma rifle, and fired into the middle of the room.
"I said that we must have order," she explained,
"If violence is all that you understand then I will use violence to gain
your attention. This Alliance was established on peace, for the pursuit
of peace. We have had to much of war and death, do you want to add
more without any real evidence of wrong doing. If the Centauri are
responsible then they will be punished in good time....."
Delenn was interrupted by the crashing open of the
doors leading to the Council Chambers. Delenn dropped the rifle as
she saw who walked into the room.
"I assure Madam President," Emperor Cotto said as
he approached the lectern flanked by two Royal guards and followed by an
Earthforce Captain and three strange aliens, "that the Centauri Republic
is not involved in these attacks."
"Your Highness," Delenn said as she regained her
composure, "Welcome to Minbar. In the name of the Interstellar Alliance
I greet you."
"Thank you Delenn," Vir said turning to face the
Ambassadors, "Allow me to introduce my escorts; first Captain David Fisher
of the EAS Damocles, and secondly Colav. Colav is a single being
sharing three bodies, or so I'm told."
All three Colav simply shook their heads.
"Captain Fisher has encountered the real threat
and has brought back with him valuable information about that threat,"
Vir said, "Captain Fisher, please tell the Ambassadors your story."
"About a month ago my ship encountered a Drakh cruiser
deep in Earth Space. We engaged and destroyed that ship. We
then took some time to repair some of the minor damage we received when
new ships began to arrive. It was a fleet of Vyron ships supported
by a number of Drakh vessels. We tried to escape into hyperspace
but the Drakh damaged our navigational system and we became temporarily
lost in hyperspace."
"No ship lost in hyperspace returns," the Drazi
Ambassador said doubtfully.
"We did," Fisher said simply. "We attempted
an emergency jump out and we found ourselves in sector 900. Near
a jumpgate, fortunately. We also encountered Colav in this system.
Colav is a member of a resistance group fighting the Vyron, they call themselves
the Seekers of Light. After we left that system we decided to come
here and warn the ISA of the coming threat. As we approached we saw
the Emperor's transport being attacked by a Drakh cruiser and we killed
it . We then took His Highness on board and brought him here."
"How can you be sure that it was the Vyron and the
Drakh who began all this," Na'Toth asked skeptically?
"My ship found the G'Daern. There was clear
evidence of weapons fire but we couldn't pick up any residual energy signatures,"
Fisher explained, "At first we thought the nebula we found the debris in
had erased any evidence of the attacker. Now we realize that it was
Vyron weapons that destroyed the G'Daern. Their energy signature
would appear as nothing more than radiation gathered from the nebula."
"So it was the Vyron," Na'Toth said.
"Yes," Fisher said, "And the Drakh."
"Well," Delenn said, "I believe we have found our
war."
"Yes Madam President," Vir said, "And I pledge
the Centauri Republic's forces to aid you. The Centaurum wanted me
to act decisively on this matter and know I have."
The doors to the chamber crashed open again and
as everyone turned to see how else would disturb the business of the Alliance
Susan Ivanova marked into the room.
"Madam President," she said, "It was the Vyron,
the attacked the G'Daern along with the Drakh."
"Yes, we know," Delenn told her indicating to Vir.
"That's not all they've begun attacking openly.
They have hit targets in Narn, Drazi and Earth space and our building forces
along the rim."
"The Alliance will begin drafting a formal declaration
of war," Delenn said, "Colav, anything you can tell us about the Vyron
would be most useful, please go with Ranger One Ivanova. I'm sure
she has some questions for you."
"Madam President, Your Highness, if I have your
leave I would like to get back to my ship and head home. If the Drakh
are attacking us I'll be needed."
"Go," Delenn said, "We have plenty to do here for
the next little while."
"Yes Captain," Vir agreed, "Go help your people."
"Thank you, and good luck," Fisher said before fleeing
the chamber.
"Now Your Highness, we should get down to the business
of drafting a formal and joint declaration of war," Delenn said.
"I completely agree," Vir told her.
"So do I," Na'Toth said with a little reluctance.
"Good then let us begin," Delenn said.
