Chapter 41

Minbari Warrior Caste Main Hall: Shai Alyt Branmer, Captain Jankowski and the two warriors entered the large darkened chamber. The captain couldn't see where they were going, as he was still looking down. The four of them entered a circle of light, and Branmer turned to the guards.

"You may withdraw now."

The two guards bowed, and as they left, Captain Jankowski heard their footsteps recede off into the darkness. Branmer came up and placed an earpiece in Captain Jankowski's right ear, "With this you will be able to understand what the elders may say to you."

Just above a whisper he thanked Branmer. Now Branmer walked a slow circle around him, and he looked out into the darkness. Slowly the lights came up, and he saw that all of the benches were full. There were warriors of all of the clans here, and the front seats were filled with the senior elder of each of the warrior clans. Branmer bowed to the elders, and he said a silent prayer to Valen.

...
"Esteemed elders of my caste, fellow warriors. I welcome you all here to this ancient rite. We are here to hear the telling of one of the human warriors."

This caused a murmur to go through the gathered warriors. Elder Dosalann of the Wind Swords clan spoke, "How can you call this barbarian a warrior. He is a human and beneath our contempt."

Branmer looked at him, "Esteemed Elder, I call this human a warrior because I have seen his spirit, and his heart. He comes before us today freely, even though he knows it will mean his death. I have also faced the humans in battle. Even though they know that they have little hope of defeating our ships, they still fight. They do not run from us, they instead charge toward us. That is the heart and spirit of a warrior. I would daresay that their bravery might even rival that of the Minbari warriors."

This caused another murmur to go through the crowd. Elder Vassaras of the Star Rider clan stood and raised his hand. Immediately the room fell silent. Elder Vassaras was the oldest of all of the Minbari warriors, as he was almost 130 cycles of age. He stood as tall as any young warrior, and looked around at all who were gathered there.

"We have agreed to allow the human to speak. Many of you have faced the humans in battle, and you know that what Branmer says is the truth. The humans are in many ways like the Minbari, so we will accord this human the title of warrior for now. Let nothing more be said of this." Then he sat back down.

...
Branmer bowed to his clan elder, then he looked at the gathered warriors again. "As I have said, the human warrior has come here to speak to all of us. He comes here freely, and without any hesitation. He is aware that he will most likely not survive this day, but he faces that knowledge with a brave and stout heart. He and I have spoken, and he knows that the death of one of our greatest leaders was his fault. He is here to meet his fate at our hands, and he does so as a warrior."

Branmer paused for a moment, "But I would ask that before you pass your judgment my elders, that you learn all that you can about the humans."

Again Elder Dosalann stood, "How can we do that Shai Alyt? When there are no other humans for us to talk to."

Branmer looked at him, "That is true elder Dosalann, there are no other humans here. But there are others that we can learn from."

Branmer walked over toward one of the walls. He then spoke a word and the hidden door opened. As he stepped back toward Captain Jankowski, several Minbari warriors began to enter the chamber.

"My elders, these warriors were with me at the battle of Beta Durani. As you know, we were defeated at that battle by the Earther human's new ally. This ally is another group of humans, a group whose technology is as powerful as our own. And a group whose compassions are as strong as any other human. This compassion extends not only for their own people, but for all living beings, even their enemies."

...
The new Minbari warriors stopped a few steps from Branmer and the human. Branmer now continued, "As Elder Dosalann has said, there are no other humans here. But these warriors have all been in the care of the humans. All of them were injured to one degree or another, and were captured by the humans. The humans who took them prisoner did something that I doubt any Minbari warrior would do. They showed mercy and compassion to their fallen enemy. They did not have to do this; they could have allowed our warriors to die of their wounds. But yet they did not. I have asked Alyt Dosamar to speak for herself and the other warriors who were there. She has agreed to tell you all that she saw and experienced while they were in the care of the humans."

A small spotlight now illuminated Alyt Dosamar, and she and the others bowed deeply to Branmer, and then to the caste elders.

...
"My elders, we wish to speak about the humans. We have seen and experienced much while on their ships. We have also sworn an oath by Valen's name to speak truthfully to any who will listen."

Elder Dosalann stood and looked at her, "Why should we believe you Alyt. You have shown your weakness, by allowing yourself to be captured. You probably didn't even try to fight back."

She looked at him, and she almost smiled, "Yes my elder we were captured. All of us were gravely injured during the battle, and most of us would have died from our injuries. But the humans found us and then did something we did not expect. The treated our injuries and kept us safe from harm. Even though we were confined and closely guarded, we were treated with respect and dignity. They gave us food and drink that we could consume safely. They even rigged up beds for us to rest on."

She now looked directly at elder Dosalann; "I doubt that any Minbari warrior would do the same for any human they might capture."

This caused another murmur to go through the crowd, and she almost smiled when it did. "It has been said, even by other warrior clans, that the Wind Sword clan is the most aggressive. I would say that that is true, and I would strike any who would say otherwise, as I am of that clan. Yes I went into the battle at Beta Durani hoping to kill the earther barbarians. But I can tell all of you now; my experiences with the humans have changed how I look at them. I have seen many of the faces they show, and I will tell you that I have seen the same faces among my fellow Minbari."

...
She waited as another round of murmurs went through the crowd. Now she looked around the chamber and saw that everyone was listening intently to her, and some appeared to have doubt in their eyes. "In the battle of Beta Durani, I learned what the humans have been experiencing since the war began. I learned what fear is truly like."

She waited as there were a few murmurs, then she continued. "We found that we couldn't lock onto the ships that we were fighting. What is worse, is that in many instances, our weapons did no damage to the human ships when we did hit them."

Again the murmurs started, but she raised her voice slightly. "I was witness to the destruction of most of our battle fleet, as I was in my fighter. Shortly after we launched, I found myself in the fight of my life. Their ships were as fast and as maneuverable as ours, and their stealth technology surpasses our own. My ship's engine was hit by only two of their energy blasts, and was virtually sheared off of my fighter. I was badly injured by the concussion of that blast, and the human pilot could of finished me off at any time. But instead the fighter veered away and went back into the fight. I was forced to sit and observe the battle."

...
The Alyt actually had a tear on her cheek, "I watched as our glorious fleet was decimated by the human ships. But once the fighting was over, when they could have shot at us and blown us out of the sky. They instead sent rescue craft to pick us up. They also sent crews aboard what was left of our fleet ships to rescue others who were trapped on board. In all, they saved nearly seventy of us. The humans of course questioned us, but since they don't speak our language, it was a rather mute point. But this lack of a common language did not stop them from from trying to help us. I am just thankful that Anla-shok Nossan was there to translate for many of our people. But even when he was busy elsewhere, the humans tried to help us, as gently as possible"

Now the warriors were listening intently, and they saw that the others were silently nodding and agreeing with her.

Branmer looked at her, "Alyt, tell us what you know of the Daniels."

...
Now Alyt Dosamar looked directly at her elder, "Sir, have you heard of the human family named Daniels?"

Elder Dosalann looked at her, "Yes, I was told a fanciful tale about them."

"And what was that tale sir?"

He looked at her, "That is not important, it has nothing to do with why we are here."

"No sir, it is very important. It tells us a lot about the humans."

Elder Vassaras looked at her, "We have all heard the tale of this human man Daniels. He supposedly gave his life to save a Minbari Anla-shok named Nossan."

Alyt Dosamar nodded, "Yes sir. Well I had heard this tale while I was in the human medical chamber. I overheard the people there talking about this man Captain Daniels, and how he had taken a weapons blast that had been meant for his prisoner. I couldn't believe the story when I heard it, but then I met Anla-shok Nossan, and he confirmed it. I saw the emotion in his eyes as he remembered it, and I knew that the story was indeed true. We were amazed, we couldn't believe that a human could or would do such a thing."

...
Alyt Dosamar slowly began to pace in front of the assembled warriors, "But the fact that most of you do not know, is that the man Captain Daniels was the protector of his younger sibling"

A small murmur passed through the warriors. "I have met this woman, and I have seen how she has moved forward with her life after losing someone so important. I have seen the drive in her eyes, and the spirit in her heart. Even now she trains to be an Anla-shok"

The assembled warriors were stunned to silence, and now Elder Dosalann looked at her, "Alyt, is this true?"

"Yes my elder, she trains to be an Anla-shok."

Alyt Dosamar smiled, "And if she puts as much effort into all of her training as she has her pike training, she could be one of the finest Anla-shok ever."

She now smiled a big smile, and looked directly at elder Dosalann, "And I would fight at her side anywhere, anytime, against any foe."

One of the other warriors stepped forward a little slowly, as he still had a slight limp, "My elders, may I speak?"

Elder Vassaras nodded.

"I confronted Miss Daniels when I heard that she was trying to become an Anla-shok. Instead of backing down, she challenged me to a pike match. If I had won, she would end her training. She fought with the heart and spirit of a warrior, and even after I had badly injured her she continued to fight. In the end she beat me, and even now continues her training. I would consider it the honor of my life, if she would allow me to fight at her side."

All of the warriors were saying the same thing now. But everyone quieted down as Elder Vassaras raised a hand.

...
"Thank you Alyt, and our thanks to all of you. You have shown us a side of the humans that we did not expect to see. Indeed, we had no idea that the humans could be so like us"

Many of the warriors were just looking at him.

"When I was a younger warrior, the idea of showing our mercy along with our strength was not a foreign concept. But lately it has become one to many of our warriors. And now with this war we fight with the humans. It pleases me that perhaps there is another race that thinks as we used to. My only hope is that we can and will remember how we used to think."

He looked at Alyt Dosamar and the other warriors, "But now we must hear from the human himself, and determine not only his fate, but the fate of how we deal with humans in the future."

Alyt Dosamar and the others bowed deeply to him, and quietly left the room and took their places back in among the other warriors.