Between the light and darkness are-

               

THOSE WHO STAND

                     BOOK ONE

…maybe the Klingons will now join the rangers and the fight with the Army of Light. 

-L. Silva

..Hahahahahahahaha.  What makes you think there will be an Army of Light?

-Skeet

Prelude

Centauri Prime:  September 14, 2261

The Emperor was in full splendor; the dancing girls, the Nobles falling over themselves to please him, the impeding slaughter of his enemies-he was having a wonderful time.  That's when he heard the scream.  How impertinent!  This was a time of joy, of splendor; not a time for an embarrassing display of terror.  He resolved to have that person executed to remove the stain.  After all, it was only Mr. Morden, not an assassin. 

For those who knew him, Cartagia had never appeared more relieved.  Things were perilous these days.  The people didn't love him, as they should have.

"Mr. Morden, I was afraid that something had happened.  We've had difficulty trying to contact you. I-"

The Emperor froze as he saw several Shadows appearing in full view of himself and the other guests in the room, who were now quickly vacating the room.  He would have laughed at their terrified faces if he hadn't been in semi-shock himself.  At least he now understood why the female had screamed so vociferously. The creatures moved closer to him and he took an unconscious step back.  Morden looked-the best thing that would describe him would be-well intense.

"We would like to bring our forces closer to one another, Lord Cartagia," Morden said. 

Shadow eyes glared in his direction.  The statement was a command and Cartagia recognized it as such.  He, the Emperor of the Centauri Republic, had no intentions of not obeying it.

"EarthForce have made some modifications-we intend to do the same," Morden continued.  "Ten of your best ships and crews; send them to Z'ha'dum.  Now." 

Chapter One

January 16, 2262:

When the EAS Nova warship Napier and an additional Omega exited the Babylon Five jump gate, Star Furies and two White Stars, primed and ready to blow it to pieces in case it was aggressive, immediately flanked it.  Babylon Five's formidable weapons were also activated and locked on.  The ships had been detected six minutes before they exited the gate by the new sensors on the space station, the result of a continual exchange of technologies with the Federation ships Enterprise-D and Ambassador-once called the Enterprise-C- under the respective commands of Captains Jean-Luc Picard and Rachel Garrett. During this time of civil unrest, Earth Government and the breakaway Earth space station called Babylon Five were on speaking terms now-barely.  The recent war had changed their attitude towards one another since both were in danger of attack by the Centauri and the unknown species called Drakh, dark servants of beings known as the Shadows.  Then the Shadow threat itself was of primary importance because no one, friend or foe alike had a clue as to what they were planning.  

However, despite their mutual need for one another, the so-called alliance between the station and President Clark was on a razor's edge.  As long as Sheridan controlled Babylon Five, Clarke felt threatened by the man's uncanny ability make friends, resist his own plans and manipulations.  And most importantly, Clarke feared Sheridan's ability to control those things around him with an ease that he as President, couldn't come close to imitating.  Initially, B5 wasn't a serious threat, but things had changed.  Their power base was expanding rapidly and very soon, Clarke wouldn't be able to subdue it without expending massive amounts of military equipment and personnel.  As of now, Earth Force ships were allowed in B5 space only under very strict conditions. 

These incoming vessels however, had not meant those requirements and were being treated accordingly.

"I repeat, remain where you are.  You are not authorized to approach Babylon Five.  If you continue to do so, you will be fired upon," Captain Sandra Hiroshi former Captain of the EAS Churchill and present officer in charge, announced with absolute conviction. "This is your first and last warning."

There was an immediate incoming message from the Napier. 

"Babylon Five, hold your fire.  "We're telepaths, refugees from Earth," Bester's voice yelled into the comms.  "We are here seeking asylum because we have no where else to go!"  The unmistakable twinge of bitterness in his voice came through the comms clear as crystal.

Despite the desperation in his voice, Sandra remained adamant.  She carefully watched as the Nova and the Omega did indeed decelerate, coming to a dead stop three thousand clicks relative to B5's portside forward section.

Sandra nodded to Lieutenant Corwin who switched channels.  "White Star Two, you're on."

"Thanks, Control," Susan said.  Move to within a thousand meters of the ship.  I want us nose to nose.  She knew who was on the Nova and it took a lot of restraint to keep from ordering her crew to lock on.  How dare the Psi-Corps come here!  "Bester, I want to know why you're back."

For some reason, Sandra expected a pause before the telepath would respond, but instead, the answer came immediately. 

"Your little stunt with your Federation underlings has caused the start of genocide of all of us," he said referring to the telepaths on Earth.  The bitterness in his voice came through so clearly that even Susan felt a moment's pity.  "President Clarke has declared war on all telepaths, especially Psi-Corps and it's all your fault.  You people are responsible."

Sandra remembered how the Federation Starship USS Yeager had traveled to Earthspace and released a telecommunication's probe that detailed every plan that Bester's mind had possessed.  The memories, ripped from his mind by his forced joining with Lieutenant Deanna Troi, created an unexpected nightmare for Psi-Corps.  The Betazoid possessed every secret Bester's mind contained, which she quickly transmitted to every other Betazoid and Vulcan onboard the Enterprise.  Then she told everything she knew to her Captain who recorded it all and sent the information as a gift to the citizens of Earth. 

The result was a quiet, undeclared war between Clarke's people and Psi-Corps. 

Within two weeks, Clarke's security forces came close to wiping out the entire Psi-Corps command situated on Earth.  Thousands of telepaths were rounded up, interned and a few of the more dangerous and aggressive ones were quietly executed. There were many now in hiding, terrified of what Clarke's regime would do in retaliation.  Psi Corps had purposely and arrogantly isolated themselves from the normal population and they played on that fear and intimidation each passing day.  Psi-Corps had stamped its people as being different at every possible opportunity and now that difference was as obvious as a tattoo marked on their foreheads.  They could barely function in a normal world, without running into difficulty.  During the confusion and fighting, Psi-Corps managed to obtain two Omegas and one Nova, crammed as many of their people in them as they could and escaped for parts unknown.  Unfortunately, the unknown was too far away and too dangerous for now.  So that left one place, the only refuge that Bester dreaded, the one place he and his people could escape to.

"Despite our differences, Susan…"

"Commander Ivanova!"

"If you insist," Bester answered indifferently.  "As I was saying, despite our differences, these people I am trying to save have done nothing to you.  Babylon Five extends mercy to every alien who happens to come by, but am I to understand that you can't extend this same mercy to your own people?  Think of the long term effects of this decision, Commander."

As she listened, Captain Hiroshi slumped heavily into her seat.  The man was right.  But Psi-Corps could never be trusted onboard this station.  But in reality, what could they do?

"Power down your engines and remain where you are," Susan ordered savagely.  "I'll have someone contact you with instructions-eventually."  She looked at her communications officer and slashed at her OWN throat.  The signal was cut and now she slumped deeper into her chair.

'Think of the long-term effects?  I have, you jerk' Susan thought, hopefully loud enough for him to be able to detect it.   'I'm not about to let nine hundred telepaths onboard this station.   They can stay right where they are'. 

***

Now it was Bester's turn to breathe a sigh of relief.  Next to him Officer Trane, an older gray-haired man who never smiled, could feel the waves of relief coming from his fellow Psi-cop.  The woman had a personal vendetta against Bester.  That itself was not so unusual.  He rubbed a lot people the wrong way.  One of the reasons Trane tolerated the man was that he attracted attention to himself and away from the others and this allowed the others to do what was needed in secret. 

But this was one of the few places where they could do something about it; the worst place they could come to but the only place where they might be safe from Clarke.  Earth Force could have stopped them; instead, they looked the other way. 

That was the price for Bester's information.

"I know how to get through the Federation shields. That is their weakness'," he had impressed upon Earth Force officials who ultimately granted the fleeing telepaths access to the captured warships.  "If you want the Enterprise, the Yeager or the Ambassador, then you need the information I have."

The official left and returned twenty minutes later with three Generals and a Major. 

"How?" was the only word that was said by the unnamed woman General.  No one had dared to scan her. That was an unspoken deal-information for their lives. 

Bester spoke quickly while the opportunity still presented itself.  "The Federation shields are impenetrable to almost all of our weapons.  They can be overwhelmed in time, but by then, either they would have either left or they would have destroyed you."

"You're not telling us anything that we don't know," the woman snapped.  She turned to leave.  "This is over." 

This was an impatient woman he surmised.  There was no time to waste.  Bester spoke quickly.  "When those ships fire their beam weapons, they fire through their defense shields and the beam's power is unaffected.  Were you aware of that?"

The General squirmed with faked indifference.  "We surmised that also.  What's you're point?"

"Federation shields are calibrated to operate on a specific frequency to allow their weapons through, but at the same time allow nothing else in.  I have the frequency that will allow Earth Force weapons to pierce those shields," he finished.  He swallowed.  "What is that worth to you?"

"No," the General countered.  "What's it worth to you?  You're giving us the Federation vessels on a silver platter.  For what?"

"Revenge," he said instantly.  Everyone-everybody that was important to him, the leadership, his fellow cops, all had laughed at him.  His felt his own people's mixture of rage and amusement at how he was treated.  

Bright green prison stripes!  That's what Sisko had forced him to wear in the prison shuttle, to his humiliation. His secrets had been ripped from him, the Psi-Corps that that action, exposed.  He hated Sheridan, Picard, Sisko, Ivanova, Deanna-all of them, but especially Deanna, who constantly preyed on his thoughts. The alien wasn't close enough to truly feel but at the same time, he felt empty.  She had somehow broken her half of the psychic bond they shared but his had been left intact.  It gnawed at him like some kind of parasitic worm crawling inside his brain.  The more he thought about it, the closer he edged towards madness.  Mind-deadening drugs might soon be his only recourse.  He would lose his telepathic ability.  That was too high a price to pay so he fought the emptiness with every fiber of his being.   

He knew the shield harmonic frequency was specifically for the Enterprise, not the other ships, but right now he bluffed his way around that.  His people had to get away before Clarke exterminated them all.  "The shield frequency harmonic is eight-seven-two-one-three-six-seven."

The shield frequency harmonic is eight-seven-two-one-three-six-seven," he had repeated to himself over and over, even making his fellow Psi-Cop Jackie, who shared the cell next to him memorize those precious numbers.  "That is their weakness," he sent to her two months ago.  "Hit them at this harmonic you'll be able to hurt them."

"When the Shadows attacked the Enterprise," he continued, "I scanned the minds of the engineers and pulled the frequency from their memories.  And we need ships to save as many as we can to get away from the genocide Clarke's planning."

The woman's eyes clouded slightly.  "Not all of us agree with Clarke's decision.  I have no wish to see telepaths slaughtered."  And again she was silent for a moment.  Then she handed him a small envelope.  "I can spare three ships," she announced.  "Get your people and get out using this exit corridor.  It's no guarantee that you'll make it, but it's your best shot." 

Bester had no doubts of her sincerity and that prompted him to say something that was very hard for him to say.  "Thank you."  What surprised him was that he actually believed that she was sincere.  It was a weakness, he thought.  One that he might be able to exploit once all of this was over and the time was right.

The General's eyes hardened.  "This better pan out, Mister.  Because if it doesn't, there's no place in this galaxy where I won't hunt you down and personally blow you brains out."

Bester shook his head in understanding.

"And good luck to you and your people," she added before she and her people left the room.

A surprised Bester and Trane left a few moments later.

***

Now they were here, two of three ships had made it passed the blockade, this one with nine hundred and seventy-eight men women and children, Psi-Corp's elite, now at the mercy of Babylon Five's head witch, and in the other one crammed with almost fourteen hundred people.

"Captain Hiroshi, keep them on the their ship and guarded at all times," Susan ordered.  "Render aid as needed, but that's it until we straighten out this mess.  Have Garibaldi deal with Bester."

"Acknowledged White Star Two.  Good luck."

"Thanks, Ivanova out."   Her ship had been readying to leave when the two escaping ships had entered B5 space.  Turning to her Minbari navigator and translator Lennier, she gave the order.  "Let's try the warp engines in jump space this time.  Best speed to Proxima III."

The male Minbari, attaché to Delenn, bowed and instantly translated the order to the Minbari crew and the small cruiser's attached warp nacelles glowed slightly.   The ship It disappeared in a blaze of spatial distortion just as it entered the Epsilon jumpgate.

***

Star system TX seven-six:

After a two-week trip at high warp, the small Federation Starship USS Yeager decelerated seventeen A.U.s distant to where the planet Bajor would be located-if they had been in their space.  Sisko was pleasantly surprised that the star system was even there.  There were so many differences between his universe and this one that most of the crew was unsure if they'd even find a star, let alone a planet in the general vicinity.    

"Slow to one quarter impulse and start a detailed scan of the area," Captain Benjamin Sisko quietly ordered.  He had never seen this area of space, but it somehow felt familiar.  "Check for anything out of the ordinary."

Lieutenant Commander Lawson Williams, Sisko's second in command nodded curtly.  "Sir, I went through this system once, in our universe; stayed there for about an hour doing a recon survey.  We did a prelim scan of Bajor and it came back sixty-five percent Cardassian life forms.  The Klingons were using that sector as a staging off point for most of their reserve forces hitting Vulcan and the Andorian territories.  Intel suspected that the Cardassians had some sort of non-aggression agreement with them.  We wanted to hit the Klingon fleet there, but couldn't get enough ships to pull it off, so the mission never got off the ground.   Last thing we needed was another front.  But the area itself was unremarkable; just like here, just like now.  I'm not detecting anything out of the ordinary.  There is an M-class planet exactly where Bajor should be-has several hundred million life forms.  I'm also detecting low orbital vessels, possibly shuttles, but no subspace or hyperspace transmissions.  It has fourteen planets including three ice-giants and eight terrestrial worlds that could be practical for limited terraforming, just like the Bajoran system back home."

The detailed scan took an hour and during that time Ben's hearted slumped. Why was he even here?  Following dreams?  Were they that desperate to get home?  "Deanna, do you feel anything at all?"

She shook her head once.  "There's nothing here that I can sense that's out of the ordinary."  As the newly chief psych counselor it had been on her recommendation that this operation take place.  During the sessions, the dreams that Sisko had been so vivid, she could see them even feel them in her mind.  It pointed to a calling; a sort of telepathic calling that seemed worth pursuing.  So far it had seemed a wasted effort.

***

The Vorlon ambassador, Kosh Naranic, sat unmoving within his ship in the docking bay of Babylon Five for the last two days.  The transmissions from the homeworld kept him spellbound and although he longed to join his people in the final battle, he couldn't.  He would arrive far, far too late.  His ancient enemy, the Shadows were using their most devastating weapons in the system of his homeworld, something unthinkable less than three months ago.  Two shadow planet-killers had been destroyed, but the third had gotten through and had obliterated the second, largest populated Vorlon world.  The missile barrage cracked the ancient planet's core causing the violent death of everything on and under the surface.  His people were dying and he could do nothing about it.  All the carefully laid plans, hundreds of years in the making, simply fell apart.  The Vorlon people destroyed the third Shadow cloud killer but his own planet-killers and heavy warships were now only twisted wrecks, victims of the surprise attacks by the Shadow fleets.  And there was no one to help.

The Minbari were in the mist of their own war with the Shadow-minions called the Drakh. And they were proving to be more formidable than first thought.  The Minbari were enraged and their entire Federation had been mobilized in record time.  Six of their ships-of the line had been caught and destroyed in a fight that had lasted less than a half an hour.  Several colony worlds were now desolate shells.  The Centauri, joined to the hip with the Shadows and the Drakh, were at war with Earth, Minbar and the Non-alliance worlds.  Hundred's of thousands had already died.  The Earth colony Proxima III had been destroyed. 

And Babylon Five was in the middle of it all.

No, there was no aid coming to his people.  A circle thought to be unbreakable had been shattered.  A new one had formed and its radiance shined hideously in its brilliance.  The introduction of the Federation ships had brought disaster to his portion of the universe and for a moment he felt unmitigated hatred for their interference.  However the emotions faded, because he was still alive and he understood the underlying truth.   He had actually cheated the death he knew had been fated for him.  They had saved him and try as he might, he could not hate them.  There was a part of Kosh, hidden deep within his soul, which actually looked forward to the future, where once there was none.  The question was, exactly what type of future would it be?  He had no idea and filled him with dread, yet at the same time, that excited him.

His ship, a living creature created by Vorlon technology, called softly for his attention.  Kosh listened, for a moment and his hearts each skipped a beat.  He asked for confirmation and received it.  The Shadows were making a final push and the reserves were at their limit.  There was nothing that he could do.  There was no choice; his people were about to leave.

***

White Star Two exited hyperspace, joining three EAS Omega-class destroyers, two additional White Stars, and a host of modified Star Furies, orbiting the remains of the Proxima III colony.  The Enterprise-D cruised the edge of the star system providing long-range backup in case needed.  Already, there were shuttles moving off the surface of the planet.

The commanding officer of the EAS ships responded.  He was a short, balding male of Indian extraction.  "White Star Two, this is the EAS Constantine, Captain Mehta speaking.   Welcome to what's left of Proxima III.  The area is secured and there are no hostile forces in the area.  So far we have found five survivors, mostly at the far edges of the colony's western perimeter."

"Only five?"  Susan wanted to be angry, but instead she only felt sadness.  The colony was one of the first to declare its independence from Clarke's totalitarian regime.  And for its defiance, he ordered it blockaded and subdued. Then the Centauri attacked the blockading force, nearly wiping it out.  The colony was nuked and the Centauri-Terran war began.

"Confirmed.  That is all we have found so far.  We are still continuing the search, but the Centauri have planted several booby traps in orbit as well as on the surface of the planet and we must be cautious in our efforts.  President Clarke has decided to place our base of military operations here.  They chased us from our own colony and we intend to have retribution."

"I'm surprised that they hadn't use their Mass drivers."

"So am I.  They used clean nukes.  Maybe they planned to use Proxima III as a base of operations themselves, but we beat them to it."

"Possibly."  But that didn't sound quite right to her.  The Centauri war machine used very specific tactics.  First they attacked and neutralized the opponents.  That's what happened here.  Then, they secured the area and moved on to the next objective.  This area wasn't secured and there were no Centauri anywhere to be seen.  This disturbed her greatly.  They were not following their usual patterns.  "When do you plan to begin operations?"

"Even as we speak Commander.  It should begin within the next two hours.  Recent events on Earth have allowed the military to respond much faster than would be ordinarily possible."

"Yes, like a lunatic President declaring martial law on our own people," she muttered.

"Please Commander," Mehta said.  "This is a time for mutual cooperation between our two forces.  This is not the time to bring up the past."

"The past is less than seven months old," she countered.  "But you are correct.  Our differences are secondary until this is over."

"Agreed.  Perhaps when time allows, might I be granted a tour of your unique ship, Commander?"

"When this is over, Captain Mehta," Susan answered in her most pleasing voice.  "I'm sure that Captain Sheridan would allow that…"