The Time Lord Empire.

The Raids.

General Hague loved his office with its new view of the city that was in the process of being rebuilt. The President had announced that since everything in their new home galaxy was new meant they had to adapt. That meant the furturising of their cities, their technologies, everything. Even humanity was not exempt from that, yoga and pilates, new educational techniques were now being practicised to bring in new enlightenment to the new generations.

The city had been in the process of futurising for the last six years, and since the human race had 5,000 years to get ready to become a force of nature and make the Minbari, the Narn and the Centauri pay the price for what they'd done, the builders were taking their time. Already most if not all the buildings had had pocket universes installed with quantum foam manipulation to make them larger or smaller, redecorating them to their owners requirements.

The door opened and Captain John Sheridan marched in proudly. Hague turned slightly to regard the captain. Sheridan had been one of the greatest heroes of the Minbari war, and he was highly regarded, both as a warrior and as an explorer.

" Ah, John, please sit down." Hague gestured for the chair opposite his own.

" Thank you, sir." Sheridan sat down smartly.

" Did you have a nice holiday in, where was it, France?"

Sheridan smiled, " Yes, France. The new sun's doing wonders for the grapes."

Hague smiled, then the two men became more businesslike, " Have you received your orders?"

Sheridan nodded, " Yes, I'm to take a tactical vessel to capture a number of ships from our original galaxy, and to use the latest time travel generator to get there properly."

Hague nodded, " In simplest terms, yes. You'll also take with you a few trained telepaths. Since the human race has undergone augmentation, the prejudices towards telepathy have been stopped, but there are some that still have the training for it by the corps." And you will treat them with respect, won't you John? Hague added telepathically.

For his credit, Sheridan did not react. It had taken him a while to get used to his newly rebuilt body with its increased intellect and telepathic abilities. He nodded, saying telepathically, Of course, sir.

Hague nodded, and reverted to speech, " Excellent. You have selected your crew, haven't you?"

Sheridan nodded, Yes, sir.

Hague smiled, " Dismissed. "


The new starship was longer, shaped more like a sculptured arrow, and resembled no Earth built ship Sheridan had seen before. It was bigger than the ships he had been on, and it was far more sophisticated.

When Sheridan entered the bridge, the Commander jumped up when she noticed him, " Captain on the bridge."

" As you were," Sheridan ordered. " Commander...?"

The woman, tall, brunette, severe but beautiful at the same time answered, " Susan Ivanova."

Sheridan smiled, " No need to jump to attention each time I appear, commander. What's our status?"

" Tactical systems are online and prepared, all crew and supplies are onboard. The dockmaster has reported we have a free pass, and the wormhole and temporal drives and the telepaths are prepared and ready." Ivanova recited

Sheridan caught something in her tone and he rewinded the report through his memory, and stopped when she had said the word 'telepath', " Is there a problem with the telepaths, Commander Ivanova?"

" No, sir."

Eyes narrowed, Sheridan frowned, " Commander, can I speak to you alone please?"

Leading Ivanova into the ready room office on the bridge, Sheridan sat down and looked around the luxurious room. It was nothing like the old fashioned offices he was used to, this room was more like an undecorated suite. He focused his attention back on Ivanova.

" I asked you a question on the bridge, is there a problem with the telepaths? I did not like your tone. I want a proper response."

Ivanova faltered through her rigid stance, " Permission to speak freely, sir."

Sheridan's expression didn't change, " As my second in command, I need opinions and feedback. You always have my permission. I cannot run this ship without them and that trust."

It was like a dam had been collapsed, " My mother was a telepath making me a latent one, and the Psi Corps destroyed her life when they discovered her abilities, and they tore her mind and sanity apart. My mother made sure I was moved through school to school, that I avoided the tests. She told me three words about it, tell no one. Then the augmentation programme comes in, and now all of us are telepaths. I'm not comfortable with them still. Do you understand, sir?" She asked, looking like a child needing reassurance.

Sheridan sighed, losing his impatience. " Commander, I chose you for this assignment because of your service record, and I did know you're a latent telepath, and your abilities have been boosted by the augmentation. I don't want us to come into this room again if there's a problem. Prepare to get us underway."

Ivanova was bolstered by the order and the captain's understanding. " Thank you sir." She turned and left the room.

Sheridan sighed when she left, and he thought about what she had said. Ivanova was putting out waves of discomfort about being a latent telepath already, and he knew how she felt, genuinely he did, but he felt the augmentation had been for the Greater good of the human race. Sheridan himself was not comfortable about walking down streets and reading peoples thoughts and feelings. They were private, and the remains of the Psi Corps had been brought in to teach them telepathy, with courses that were compulsory to learn the arts of reading minds and to guard against those who took advantage of that gift.

Ivanova was one of those people who was still used to the fear that the Psi Corps generated, fear of discovery, fear of their privacy being invaded by other minds.

On the bridge, Ivanova was in front of the occupied Captain's chair, going through the departure sequence whilst Sheridan watched and evaluated her performance. Sheridan was one of those commanders where he prefered meeting and watching people in action without needing to listen to what others said. Everyone had their own pace and standards, and Sheridan did not like listening to vague truths and suppositions.

So far Ivanova was incredibly professional as she went through the drill.

" Fire all thrusters, take us out past the markers. Prepare the wormhole drive." She ordered.

One of the crewmen checked over the temporal drive, " Time co-ordinates programmed in. Drive ready."

Sheridan looked around the new and gleaming bridge. The wormhole class starship was the newest and the most sparkling ships, where designers had spent decades building and designing blocky and modular ships, they had finally flexed their muscles and had grown creative. Sheridan had rushed through his study of the class, but he was impressed by now...inhuman the bridge was, and judging from the look from veteran officers, so were they. Old human ships had been efficient with no time for decorations, but this one was both efficient and yet it was more nicer to look at. Sheridan was hoping the designers had designed the new ships so to work properly.

Sheridan added his own presence to the bridge, " Open the wormhole, take us to the border of Centauri space. Time co-ordinates, put us in the year 2008." He ordered the officer in charge of the time drive, who replied, " Aye, sir."

The starship slid out of the dockyard facility, and moved slowly away from the planet and the shipyard and space station orbiting Earth.

Sheridan relaxed in his seat, delighted he no longer needed to wear the old straps to stop him floating. Artificial gravity technology had been one of the most revolutionary technologies pioneered, the technology had been on the drawing boards for a while, and it was only the study of the Dilgar warship and the observations of the Minbari.

" Open the wormhole," he ordered again.

McKenna, the helm officer, had a gift with the helm, and he used that gift to push the ship further away from Earth, and the already programmed spatial co-ordinates of their old galaxy was uploaded already. All he had to simply activate the drive. McKenna initiated the drive, and the whole of space seemed to blossom in front of them as the wormhole was generated. It was like something growing in front of them, and the ship flew right into it.

The wormhole was a mixture of hues, blue, purple, red and green, all connected by bands that supported it. Sheridan gasped with awe as, for the first time in his life, he travelled through the wormhole. The feeling gave him a sense of how far humans had come, genetically engineered or not, and he couldn't help but feel amazed by their new achievement, and all without the help of aliens, just good old human initiative.

The trip through the wormhole was brief, only a few minutes, but those few minutes did what sublight and jump engine tech could not do; take them out of their new home galaxy, and travel through space. There was a blue hue on the screen, and when Sheridan turned to face the officer in charge of the temporal drive, he replied, " We're travelling in time, right?"

The officer looked at him, " Yes, sir. We should be in the 23rd century when we exit the wormhole conduit. I've sent the timeline to take us forward 4 years since the war ended."

Sheridan nodded, " Excellent. Now, I think I should tell you our mission. We've been ordered to travel forwards in time and journey back to our original galaxy, and capture a Centauri and Minbari ship, and send them home to Earth."

Harper, the communications officer, frowned in his seat, " Why do we need them?"

Sheridan sighed, " I don't know, but I think it may be to study Centauri and Minbari technology. We've already got our hands on Vree and Dilgar technology, but it could be to help our researches. All I know is we've been given a mission, and we're going to see it through."

McKenna looked up from his console, " Captain, we're approaching the end of the conduit."

Sheridan had to take breaths when they appeared in their home galaxy. Sheridan had forgotten how it had looked before, in Andromeda the Humans had materialised their worlds and ships in a virtually uninhabited sector to remain alone.

Earth's policy nowadays was to stay away from other races, not offering trade neogtiations, and to set up colonies for self sustainment in the future. Since the faster than light breakthroughs, Earth had gained new grounds and territories, but their old galaxy still evoked bitter memories, memories of persecution, of misunderstandings, and betrayal on all sides. No one wanted that again.

" Verfiy our location," Sheridan ordered. McKenna confirmed it, followed by the science officer. Sheridan leant back in his chair. " Lay in a course for Centauri space. Engage at Warp five. Activate the cloaking device." He ordered.

The lighting on the bridge dimmed as the ship diverted energy into the cloaking device. One of the latest developments in technology, the cloaking device bent light around itself rendering the ship invisible.


" Captain, Centauri warship detected. Vorchan class." Ivanova at the tactical station reported.

Sheridan nodded, " How far?"

" A light year away," Ivanova answered. " We should be there in a minute."

" Mr. McKenna, drop out of warp when we are close enough, and drop the cloak." Sheridan tapped the comm switch. " Sheridan to telepaths, are you ready?"

Ivanova twitched when one of the telepaths, a female, answered, " Yes Captain, we're ready when you are."

The starship dropped out of warp, and the telepaths in their location on the observation deck got to work. Line of sight was vital at this point, and the telepaths were of a powerful calibre. Each one of them were delighted with the chance to work for Earth force at long last after being segregated for so long. As they focused on the Centauri crew, the telepaths forced their way into their minds and immobilised them, and each of them gathered knowledge about the ship, how to operate it and so on. They circulated that knowledge throughout their own ship as the starship decloaked, shadowing the Centauri vorchan.

There was no need for Sheridan or the others to know when they'd finished, they could sense it.

On the bridge, Sheridan turned to Ivanova, " Get a transmat lock on all the crew, and transport them into space."

" Aye, sir." Ivanova replied, her hands moving over her console. She had no problem following the order, the Centuari like the Narns and the other weakling cowards of the LONAW had betrayed them, abandoned them to the Minbari.

Sheridan and most of the bridge crew watched the flashes of light as the tiny bodies of the Centauri appeared in space, floating pathetically. It was remarkably satisfying, seeing this pompous, arrogant, self important, posturing wastes of life floating in space.

Sheridan turned to Ivanova, " Order a tag to be transported over. Activate it as soon as its deployed."

Ivanova's hands just flashed over her console.

A few minutes after the space/time tag had been beamed over to the Centauri ship, the Vorchan disappeared in a flash of blue light. Sheridan said, " Communications, verify with Earth force command that we sent the Centauri ship."

" Aye, sir."

A few minutes after the message had been sent via the space/time radio, the reply came back. The communications officer proudly announced the ship had been received.

Sheridan let the crew cheer in triumph before he ordered McKenna to set course for Minbari space. " Open a wormhole into Minbari space. I want to get this one done very quickly."

McKenna opened the wormhole, and the ship entered the conduit.


The last time Sheridan had seen a Minbari Sharlin class cruiser, it had been at the Battle of the line. He remembered the hideous battle, the way the Minbari had sliced and destroyed their way through the fleet, carving a path of battle into the harmless civilian transports. Luckily they had been empty and not the real thing, otherwise they would've been wiped out. Sheridan had to bite his tongue and genetically control his breathing to maintain his composure, and by glancing at the other crewmembers, they too were having to restrain themselves from leaping out of their seats.

Some of the crew had been too young to serve in Earthforce at the time of the war, but the newsreels, the pictures of Minbari slaughters had carved a very nasty instinct into the human psyche.

Sheridan held up his hands, " It's alright, they don't know we're here. Same as before."

The captain's calm had the desired effect on the crew, and they calmed down. Sheridan waited for their composure to return before he opened a telepathic channel with the telepaths.

Unlike the crew, the telepaths didn't have the benefit of the discipline of the crew, and Sheridan had to repeat himself in their minds.

It's alright, they don't know we're here. We've got the upper hand. Lets do our jobs and then we can leave. Okay?

The telepaths control returned, and they focused their minds on the crew of the Minbari ship. They found the ship was under the control of the Religious caste, and they gave into their curiosity and looked deeper into their minds. It was trickier than the Centauri, who had no telepaths on their ship, but the Minbari had some collective knowledge of telepathy, but they were overpowered before they could turn their ship to face the Earth ship.

The Minbari were caught in the grip of the anger the telepaths seized them in, and the telepaths and the rest of the crew joined, shoving their rage of the death of millions of humans at the hands of the Minbari warrior caste. The pain they'd inflicted on the humans burnt the minds of the Minbari, and they collapsed before they were transported into space.