Chapter 37

The Shot Heard 'Round The Galaxy


Centauri Prime

March 28, 2271

11am

Prime Minister Durla looked upon the Tower of Power with pride. To him, it pointed towards Centauri destiny. To others, he'd heard, it was an eyesore, but no one dared say it within his hearing or he would have had them electrowhipped to death. Ruthlessness was the way of the universe, it seemed to him, and his faith in the Great Maker fueled his ruthless drive to power, believing that it was he, in the form of the woman he loved, Mariel, that was the inspiration for the dreams that supplied him the visions to make Centauri Prime great once again.

Little did he know, it was the Drakh, with their keeper offshoot called a dreamweaver, that were behind his visions. No one but a select few knew of that, and those few were unknown to Durla and his cabinet, as they assembled on the balcony of the Royal Palace to address the masses.

Looking out over a virtual sea of his people, Durla remembered that night when the Alliance attacked them, blaming them, unjustly in his mind, for attacks on Alliance shipping. He didn't care if it was just the Narn and Drazi, because he believed Sheridan had given the nod for the attack. Now, he would have his revenge. And, if the Great Maker was feeling generous, he might even take that pompous fool of an Emperor Londo Mollari away from him so he could assume that role as well.

Spiritual Minister Vallko was just finishing up his speech and beginning to introduce the prime minister when Durla got confirmation from the supreme commander of his newly assembled fleet, General Rhys, that his forces were ready to attack Earth and Minbar. Durla's smile was wide as Vallko pointed to him, gesturing him to come up to the podium. Durla walked up and basked in the rapturous applause from those assembled. He held out his arms in the universal gesture for quiet, but didn't care at this moment if they kept going for a while longer. However, his people obeyed (or rather, feared) him and quieted down to hear what he had to say.

He barely got out, "My friends," when his pride and joy, the Tower of Power blew up! The windowless, save for a small balcony just above the base, structure blew up like a chimney, and debris flew everywhere from the top down. Bodies began to fall all around them, and it became very clear in a short period of time that these bodies, clad in black and gray with a craggy skin of the same color scheme, were certainly not Centauri.

"NO," he shouted, and pushed past his cabinet on the way to his own palatial estate. His ministers, led by Chancellor Lione, followed dutifully out of a heavily guarded side passage. His own office at his home had a secure terminal where he could send the go-codes to the fleet. What he didn't know was that General Rhys had learned from Vir Cotto all about the Drakh and, after launching off on the attack, had secretly assembled the commanding officers of each ship and let them in on the news. To a man, they all denounced Durla and their ships sat in hyperspace just a jump away from Centauri Prime.

When the Tower finally collapsed, a huge alien vessel descended down from the sky and into the opening. When it had landed, a hatch deployed at the bottom, and the Drakh found out how the resistance had gotten underneath the Tower: there were tunnels running underneath it, as well as all over the capital city.

"Spread out," came the command from the Drakh commander, and the forces began to do just that. For a couple of moments at least, because when they separated just enough, phaser fire began to cut them down. Running at them were a motley assortment of Centauri, Minbari, Humans, and an odd-looking race that had craggy foreheads!

One of those odd-looking aliens took out a bizarre sword and yelled, "Vengeance for Quo'nos!", and sliced off the head of a Drakh. Worf's bat'leth was coated with blood as he and his fellow Klingons made their way, along with the Narn and Minbari who were with them. One of the Minbari warriors, Ghenton, ran beside him as they made their way deeper into the catacombs, and said to Worf, "These are magnificent blades,"Worf! I've never fought with something that was so efficient in delivering the killing blow!"

Worf nodded and said, "And I have every intention of dealing many of them to the Drakh today!" Together, along with their forces, they ran underneath the surface towards the palace.

Vir Cotto had hijacked the communications systems and was telling all the people of Centauri Prime of Durla's betrayal and the involvement of the Drakh. Durla angrily shouted orders to have the transmission cut off as he hurried towards his room!

"Durla, you can't launch that fleet! We've been tricked," yelled out Lione.

"No! This is an Alliance trick! I cannot believe that at the moment of our greatest triumph, my cabinet would betray me and my visions!"

Vallko, looking like a broken man, yelled out, "Spare us your visions, Durla! It's been the Drakh behind all of this!"

He reached his room and opened the door. His wife, Mariel, looked at him puzzled, and he yanked her out of her seat and out the door. He held a pistol to her head and shouted at his cabinet, "If you do not back me now, this will be your fate!" He pushed her down and took aim with his pistol, but was struck by a variety of bullets as troops stormed into the hallway.

"Freeze! Anyone moves will be turned into Swiss cheese! Get your hands up," yelled out Sergeant Knox, and his EDF Marines took custody of his surviving cabinet. Derek Wildstar hurried beside the fallen woman and lifted her up. "Are you all right," he asked. She nodded, then got to her feet and kicked the body of Durla. "I never loved you, you fool," she yelled out, then turned and allowed Wildstar to escort her out.

They had gotten almost to the end of the hall when suddenly a shot rang out and Mariel's back arched severely. Wildstar saw that Mariel was spitting up blood, clearly shot in the back, and slowly helped her to the floor. He saw Durla on the floor, pointing his pistol at him. "I may not get what I want, but I will get my revenge on your Earthers," he yelled out, and he aimed at Wildstar, who was struggling to get to his pistol. Before Durla could kill him though, the prime minister's chest blossomed as a shot from behind Wildstar finished off Durla.

He turned and saw it was his own love, Nova Forrester. "Derek," she yelled, and came up to him, then sat beside him and Mariel. Mariel was dying, but managed to say to the two of them, "I have sinned greatly, Great Maker. Forgive me for what I've done, and protect Vir, the one I love!" She then slumped over, dead. Hollifield ran into the hallway, and quickly yelled, "It's me! It's me!" as he saw Nova and Derek reflexively raise their pistols towards him. They lowered them and he came up to him. "What happened," he asked and Derek filled him in on what had transpired.

"I wish we could have taken him alive, but you've got to do what you've got to do.," he finally said, then scanned Mariel, "She's gone. It's a shame. She used to be Mollari's wife, long ago, but they divorced. It's a long story, which we'll have to save because we've got to get to the Royal Palace!" With that, the three of them departed the two corpses and headed out of the mansion.

Mollari saw the fighting going on in the streets. The Drakh were not only coping with the Alliance troops, but other Centauri as well. "Are you happy now," asked a voice behind him.

Mollari turned and said, "No, because I know that you are about to kill me, but I would rather die and have my world free than live another day longer in slavery!'

Shiv'kala smiled and said, "It's not that simple, Mollari. Remember the fusion bombs?" The Drakh pulled out the triggering device and fingered it, and Mollari couldn't help but gulp in fear.

Yet he decided it was time to call the creature's bluff. "Leave my world, Shiv'kala. You are defeated! You have no bombs!"

Shiv'kala pressed the button, and it was in that moment that Mollari had thought that all was lost. Except nothing happened.

Shiv'kala blinked, then pressed the button again. Still nothing happened, and the creature roared "What?"

Suddenly, a dark haired male human and a blond headed female human appeared out of thin air in front of them. The male yelled out,
"Surprise!", and shot Shiv'kala in the chest, knocking him back. The human male dodged a spike that the Drakh had somehow shot at him, shot him again, and then tapped a broach on his chest, saying, "Ashcroft to Wildstar! Four to beam up!" Mollari looked puzzled at it as the room spun and he went from his royal palace and into some strange room.

"What is the meaning of this," asked Mollari. Hollifield didn't answer, and suddenly Londo felt a pressure of something against his neck. For a split second, he thought it was the keeper, but found he was being injected with something. Since he didn't care if he died, he didn't bother with trying to stop them.

The hypospray knocked Mollari out immediately, and two security guards grabbed onto him. "Good work, Dr. Martinez! Take the Drakh to the sickbay and put force fields around him." He looked up at Mollari again and noticed that the keeper appeared on his left shoulder. "And do what you can to get this thing off him without killing him. Franklin's on board and ready to assist you."

Dr. Sylvia Martinez nodded and had Mollari and Shiv'kala taken to sickbay. Belinda Montgomery stood beside him and, after the ship shook slightly from a hit, she said, "I think we should make our way to the bridge."

Hollifield said offhandedly, "I think we should to. Good idea of tracking those bombs down and beaming them right in front of the approaching Drakh fleet. Over half of them were taken out in the explosion."

Montgomery nodded and took the praise in stride. "Thank you, sir, but we've got business to attend to."

"So we do. Lead the way, Lieutenant Commander!" With that, the two of them entered a tube car and made their way to the bridge.