Chapter 39
"Eighteen Hours-Finally it s done!"
(fanfiction net only)
Babylon Five
Hour Sixteen:
"Shields up," Commander Susan Ivanova ordered. Her face was a study of concentration, but inside she was elated. The station had defensive shields like the Fed ships. Now was the time for the first real test of their ability to protect the station. Let the Vorlons and Shadows shock on it. Besides she always wanted to say that since that stupid Maru scenario invaded her life.
"Generators are at one hundred percent," Corwin announced. "We're ready to begin."
"Okay, Whitestar three, you may begin. Weapons at one third power."
"Roger that."
The Whitestar vessel powered up and fired a small burst at the rear of the station. The beam impacted the energy shields.
"Status?" Susan queried.
"Shields holding. No change."
Excellent. "Whitestar three, fire full power, same area."
A high powered shot slammed into the shields, resulting in the same effect.
"Alyt Menroi, please fire on the same area."
"Are you sure?" the Alyt asked. He concern was evident. "A sustained shot might damage the station."
"We need to find out about these shields now, not later. Do your worst."
"As you wish."
The full power of the Sharlin's main guns hit the station shields. The Whitestar added its weapons fire as well. Two EarthForce vessels joined in as well as the Ambassador.
"Unbelievable," said Susan. None of the bridge crew could believe what they were seeing. "Status?"
"Shields at ninety-two percent…eighty- nine percent…ninety-one percent…eighty eight percent."
"Okay cease fire," said a smiling Ivanova. "Test is successful."
Those words were greeted by a chorus of shouts throughout the CnC and B5 engineering. To those races watching outside, the test was nothing short of spectacular. This extravagant display of power was a political statement as well as a practical one. It screamed 'look at Babylon Five. We can and will protect'. The Centauri, Drazi, and Earther contingents were suitably impressed. The prospect of acquiring shielding made them more willing to work together. The Narn representatives simply watched impassively. They already had access to the technology by way of the Klingons. The tens of dozens of refuges races watched with tepid optimism. If the station could be protected by such power, then maybe that protection would be extended to them as well.
EarthForce observers were beside themselves and tachyon emissions increased significantly the moment phase one had been completed. The irony was that Babylon Five had come into its own and as a Human created station, the only people not being able to benefit from these incredible advances were the Humans who built the station in the first place. What was crystal was that none of the EF officers would even dream of trying to take this by force, especially not now. Those days were over. The politics and political attitudes of EarthDome had better get its act together quickly or Humanity would be the very last race to benefit from the fantastic advances of the last fifteen months.
Susan smiled as she thought about the conversations going on throughout the station. Right now EarthForce was having a fit. Hostilities were over but the treaties hadn't been ratified yet and until they were, EarthGov wasn't going to get a thing. So let them sweat.
Okay, it was time for round two. "Voyager, let's see how you do," she said.
"Voyager is ready," a gruff voice said. It had to be the other Worf.
"Shields back up to one hundred percent, Commander."
She didn't expect too much. If a Sharlin, the Ambassador, WhiteStar three and two EarthForce Omegas couldn't make a dent in the shield; then Voyager's upgraded weapons shouldn't be able to either. "Proceed," she said with utter confidence.
"Proceeding."
A moment later, the pulsed phasers hit the targeted shields with enough force for Susan to feel a slight tremor.
"Good Lord! STATUS!"
"Seventy percent and falling…sixty... fifty-three!"
"Enough!" Susan screamed into the comms. What kind of weapons were they using?
"Acknowledged."
A moment later everything was fine.
"Shields are firming back up," said a relieved Corwin. "Wait. One of the shield generators just failed. Engineers are on it."
She was breathing hard. "Voyager, were those phasers?"
"Yes," the Commander said. She could hear the smirk in his voice. "Voyager's weapons are more advanced than the Enterprise and the Ambassador."
She could swear that he wanted to add the words, "both together." She shook her head in wonderment. Apparently, B5 shields couldn't handle Voyager, but it could handle probably about a dozen simultaneous shots from just about anybody else without a sweat. Then, of course there was the extra protective layer of polarized plating putting the icing on the cake.
They had done it to her again. They'd managed to surprise her after she swore they wouldn't do it again.
"Where was this stuff a year ago?" she said to no one in particular.
Lieutenant Corwin merely raised an eyebrow.
00-00
Eighteen hours…
That's how long it took.
Eighteen hours filled with arguments, deals, diplomacy, pleading, agreements, insults and a healthy number of threats could burn a man out. If anyone had even hinted that there could be days like this in his life, he would have never accepted this posting. The complexities here were almost too much for a man to handle. But handled it he did, because he was not alone not by any means.
There had been a quick debate raging between his mind and body as to whether he would take his cloths off or not, before he crashed into his bed. His jacket missed the chair next to his bed but he didn't care. Somehow, he got out of his pants before he fell into unconsciousness. The socks remained where they were. A few moments later he began to dream as his mind began its own journey towards relaxation, trying to sort out the day's events. Visions of Shadows, Vorlons, Sinhindrea, Starships and a burning Mars danced within them. And there was a small voice there, an alien one, yet a familiar one like his father's…
"Sleep well, young one," Kosh whispered in the dark. And Captain John Sheridan dreamed-
"Kosh, why are you here? Am I dreaming?"
"There has been a terrible incident, young one. Sleep now, no one will disturb you until the time is right."
"What happened?" John asked.
"I will show you and then you will rest," the Vorlon ordered. "You will be needed. You are the glue, the others the string. Together there is a chance that things will hold together."
00-00
While Ambassador Kosh isolated himself safeguarding the mind and body of the Human called John Sheridan, another Kosh, the leader of what was left of the Vorlon Empire conferred with his once enemy. These two ancient adversaries would never be completely comfortable around one another; however this day had been exceptional. The Shadow Lord waited patiently for the Vorlon to speak. And when the Vorlon seemed to have trouble forming the words, the Shadow Lord choose to initiate the conversation.
"What do you want?" she asked with amusement.
The Vorlon Lord, Kosh began radiating anger. "Never ask me that!"
The Shadow Lord gave the Vorlon the equivalent of a smile. "Then, what is it that we want?" it asked.
These creatures never changed the Vorlon thought venomously. "The younger races in our charge will not prevail."
"Whose fault is that?" she asked. "We wanted to make them stronger. You wanted to make sure that they would obey. Our game is over and my belief has prevailed. They are stronger."
"They are not strong enough."
"With our help," the Shadow Lord said, "and their numbers, we can stop the plague that has been unleashed in our universe because of your foolish god complex. You should have warned us of the danger."
"Who are you to have listened to our warnings?"
The Shadow deflated a bit because the Vorlon was correct. "Our people will be diminished even further in continued war against the Sinhindrea. There are many who wish to flee to the Rim. The nexus of realities calls us. A new existence beacons our people. But Lorien's promise forces us to stay. "
"Then you will fight."
"We will fight," the Shadow confirmed. "However, the young ones will shed their blood for us."
The Vorlon glared at the Shadow Lord. "You care nothing for them."
"As if you did," She hissed back. "They are tools, nothing more. Lorien has never understood this. If they live, or die it means little to the ways of the universe. But we will fight because we choose revenge for what the Sinhindrea has done to us. Then most of us that remain will go to be with the others, those that have left us behind and we will not be alone anymore. For this reason alone we will fight side by side with your wretched species."
"We agree. But-"
"But," the Shadow Lord said. "There is the matter of the Humans. They are unstable."
"They move too fast," the Vorlon Lord said. "They advance too quickly."
"The Earthers are an affront to our honor. They have defied our will. The plague will continue and when they die."
"If they die," the Vorlon corrected.
"When they die," the Shadow Lord repeated, "then we will be satisfied. Vorlon, do you understand?"
"Yes. You saw the Federation demonstration?"
The Shadow's eyes glowed brightly. The ship called Voyager was as dangerous as anything her people had ever seen. "They are strong. They are too much of a threat to be allowed to spread their beliefs."
"They are too strong, too arrogant, and too willful; with no respect for their elders. My people will find them wherever they are and destroy their Federation, then we will go to the Rim. Their social and biological evolution is unnatural. They should be removed as a malignancy is removed."
"What you want Vorlon, is retribution not preservation."
"Who are you to ask about retribution?"
"Simply an interested party," the Shadow Lord intoned. "They, their Klingon allies, and the Earthers destroyed your plans. The Minbari helped."
The Vorlon looked at the Shadow Lord in surprise. "The Minbari have rejected our guidance. They will be left to their own devices."
"Then, are we in agreement?"
"We are in agreement. We will protect one another when we face the Yonji Sinhindrea. What must be done will be done."
"As the young ones have chosen not to heed us, we chose to leave them to the will of the universe. When the mountain falls, the pebbles can only be crushed."
"Especially since you will not be around to dig them out." The Shadow's eyes glowed brightly once more.
"The Vorlon bowed slightly. "Yes."
00-00
The news of the attack arrived six hours later. The Grey Council received the news at the same time as the other Alyts at Babylon Five. The city of Yedor, the capital of Minbar had been destroyed. Close to ninety million people had died from the assault by the Sinhindrea. Minbari defenses had been insufficient to halt their advance. Six out of ten enemy warships had been destroyed. One vessel succeeded in forcing its way close enough to fire its pulse weapons onto Minbar. It then turned and departed with the other enemy ships, leaving twenty-seven ships-of-the-line destroyed and another forty six damaged beyond repair.
"Why did they do it?" Neroon screamed. "I thought that Earth was their primary target, that we had time to prepare? Why did they attack us?"
That was the question on everyone's mind. Surprisingly, it was Alyt Rannaonn who was cool enough to provide answers.
"It was a message. A threat. They want us to stay out of the fight to protect the Earth. They want us so concerned, that we protect our own interests against them. We have the most ships, the most firepower and they know it. They want the other races frightened and divided, everyone concerned for their own interests. Because then there is no hope. They also wanted to show us that compared to them, we are nothing."
"They attacked Minbar directly," Neroon continued, following Rannaonn's train of thought. "Our ships were unable to protect our people against them. And they are correct. We must defend the Federation at all costs!"
"But if we separate ourselves from the younger races now, then we shall all fall," Delenn said. "Rannaonn is correct in his assessments. We must come together with them as never before."
"All of our resources must be used to protect our own!"
Delenn listened as the two Minbari males argued. Each had very valid points. Knowing what had happened, how could the Grey Council not respond by protecting their own people? The Sinhindrea played the game well. It was very possible that her people would close in upon themselves in order to protect their own. If that happened and it seemed more likely by the second, everything would be lost before they could even start.
"We could ask the Vorlons for help," another of the Grey Council suggested timidly.
"We've had enough of their manipulations. We've had enough of their help. They created this mess," Rannaonn hissed. "We may have to swallow our collective pride and as the others for help."
"They all have their own difficulties," Neroon countered. "Do we really want to ask for help from those who humiliated us? Will we, the Minbari, beg for help from the Soul Hunters and the Centauri and those others?
"By the 'others', you mean Garrett and Federationists," stated Rannaonn. "Yes," he answered with hesitation. "Why not? Is our pride so strong that we will allow genocide to have its way with our people?"
Neroon stared at him as if he were a total stranger. Was this the same person that so recently wanted to kill the Federationists and take what he wanted? "The Vorlons are no longer able to guide us,' Neroon said. Even as he spoke the words he found himself fighting against expressing negativity against the Vorlons. "The others are not strong enough."
"And whose fault is that?" Delenn asked. She didn't expect an answer. They all know who was responsible.
"We must find our own way," said the same council member who had spoken previously.
"We must join with the others," Rannaonn countered.
"Strange as it seems, I agree with you, Neroon said. "But the Grey Council will very well decide to protect our own as we have done for the last thousand years."
"Our pride will doom us all," was Rannaonn's retort. "We've never encountered something like this before and I think we, as a people, are to rigid to our way through this unknown path.
"Then what are we going to do?" Delenn asked of them all.
The only response that greeted her was silence.
Rannaonn looked at them all. "We come together, all of us. We will talk to Draal and become the light that we have always claimed we were."
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"Eighteen Hours is now done. Notice that I split it up into different chapters. This was done only to balance it with the other shite. Therefore please consider chapters 36-39 a single chapter.
Take care,
AlbertG
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