Gentlemen, We have a Weapon
Vice Admiral Sheridan looked at the screens and said to his communication officer, "Jump!"
The jump point formed right in front of the Agamemnon and the Omega flew through it, its three fellows following.
The four destroyers were confronted by the mass confusion that they had anticipated. There were quite a number of wrecked Sun-Hawks and other vessels that were scattered throughout the planetary system.
"Open me a channel." The Comm Officer did so and then nodded. "This is Vice-Admiral Sheridan on the EAS Agamemnon to the remaining ships in this sector. Who is in charge?"
After a long moment, they heard a comm coming in. "This is Drozak, Commander. Drazi Freehold. You come here why?"
"We received a report that the Shadows attacked this area of space. We have come to help and to find out any information."
There was a long pause and then. "Yes. Shadows come. Many ships were lost. Many Drazi killed. Now we bring food and try to learn. We also protect. You help. We give you all information we have."
"What can we do?"
"This is second attack. We evacuate before there is third attack. First attack killed a few. Second attack many more. Another attack, maybe they kill all. So we go."
Sheridan replied, "We can't really take anyone on board – but we can provide protection while you feed and gather your people." He paused for a moment. "We would also like to set a welcome for them if they come back."
After a long pause, the Drazi came back on the line. "Explain this welcome."
The Drazi was fully on board with what Sheridan had come up with. The Drazi commander in the area had even gotten a few volunteers to stay – and die – for payback.
As the Drazi retreated from the system, the Omegas helped to gather debris into fields. They seeded several nukes among different debris fields. They then used whatever elements they could find to create readings that several of the destroyed ships were active. While there weren't a lot of survivors – not all systems had been destroyed. A Drazi Sun-Hawk would operate in the area. At the first sign of a Shadow vessel, the Nukes could be detonated by the Drazi volunteers as needed to damage the Shadow vessels.
The two groups also placed a beacon that would transmit. It also played a vital part in the trap. If the beacon was destroyed, all nukes in the system would detonate after a one minute delay. They hoped that any Shadow vessels which were around would approach the active systems to investigate and try to destroy any remaining vessels. Hopefully, the nukes would destroy some of them. In normal circumstances, detonation required an activation signal. In this case, non-activation required a continuous transmission of a signal. It fostered the idea that there was activity – and it was a trap based on the what evidence they had on how the Shadows operated.
It wasn't a trick that could be repeated necessarily, but they hoped they could entrap a few of the enemy – and that it would be effective. It would be an immediate morale boost if they had a quick win of any type.
Admiral Sinclair had gathered his allies together.
"First of all, I want to welcome G'Kar of the Narn to our meeting. His world fell due to the assistance of the Shadows and I hope that his insights might help. Now, first of all, what progress has been made?"
Ivanova piped up. "Vice Admiral Sheridan is assisting with the evacuation of a group of Drazi fleeing the Shadows. They had two attacks in that area. The Vice Admiral is planning to set a trap for the Shadows in case they attack a third time."
Neroon scoffed.
Sinclair asked, "Something you want to say, Elyt Neroon?"
Neroon said with some feeling, "An ambush is not an honorable way to fight. That man did a similar thing in our conflict with Earth. It is a despicable way to fight."
Sinclair looked at the Minbari and then shook his head. "I think that you are operating under a misunderstanding."
Neroon took offense. "And what is it that I don't understand?"
"You act as though the enemy we face is as honorable as your ideals are. You do no face Minbari. You do not face Humans. You face Shadows. And the enemy we face has absolutely no hesitation to use tactics far more dishonest and far more vicious. When you are trying to survive, you do everything you have to in order to win. What honor is there in facing superior attacks and dying with no gain? You don't like what Sheridan did your war with Earth? Well we didn't like that you used stealth technology we didn't have and killed our people indiscriminately. You use whatever you have to in order to survive."
Neroon listened to the admonishment but refused to admit anything wrong in what he said.
Sinclair looked at the others. "Anyway, there are plans to see how alert the Shadows are when they come to attack. Now, I have asked G'Kar here because he might have relevant information regarding the enemy." He turned to Delenn. "You told us that the Shadows were last defeated a thousand years ago by the Minbari and a coalition of other races including the first ones. Yet there was no record of how they did it. Is that correct?"
Delenn nodded in agreement.
"When the Narn outpost in Quadrant 37 fell, he investigated. He came back with a dire warning – which no one listened to. He warned of an ancient enemy that attacked his world 1000 years earlier. Do you remember?"
Delenn nodded. "I do remember. We suspected he might be right, but there was not enough information and we did not want to alarm the others. I informed my government and our Warrior Caste began training in secret in case it was the Ancient Enemy. In addition, the martial clans of the Religious Caste also began preparing. The Third Fane of Chudomo. The Eighth Fane of Tredomo. The Tenth Fane of Elieya. Many are called to fight as needed and we have never shirked from our duties." She turned to G'Kar. "I wish to apologize." Neroon, in the background, was offended but she ignored it. "If I had conformed your statement, there was a worry that it would alert the agents of the Shadows that were watching that we were preparing. It would have served nothing – except to ensure that your people were utterly destroyed. I know what the Centauri have done to you. But better the Centauri than the Shadows."
G'Kar truly wanted to refute that but could not.
Sinclair nodded at both with compassion. "When G'Kar freed himself from being a guest of the Centauri, he came directly here. I asked him to find out what information his people had on the Shadows. He has volunteered to give us the relevant information."
G'Kar had gathered himself. "This is the book of G'Quan. It is one of our most holy texts. When a young Narn reaches a certain age, he decides upon which path he will follow, which holy Narn he will look to for guidance. The young Narn then takes the name he will be known by to signify his choice. I chose G'Quan. Of all of our revered teachers of the past, he had the most experience with fighting. And at the time, I was much concerned about the occupation of Narn by the Centauri. I have never regretted my choice. The Book of G'Quan must be copied by hand from the original. Every aspect is copied in its entirety – even the imperfections of the page. To even translate it fully is considered sacrilege. There is no prohibition, however, from dispensing its contents to others.
"And so I read the accounts of the Dark Enemy who came to Narn a thousand years ago. And I read for how they were defeated. And this is what I could find:
"And this spirit of Darkness moved upon the land. It screamed in the dreams of the mindwalkers, and they fell, destroyed by it, to their children and children's children. Then did the Darkness come to Narn, until it was driven out by G'Quan, and the last of the surviving mindwalkers."
He stopped reading and looked up. "Mindwalker is our word for telepaths. We used to have telepaths – until they were killed as G'Quan described. We have never had anyone remaining who had sufficiently strong DNA to recreate telepaths on Narn."
Sinclair thanked him. He looked at the others. "Something about telepaths works against the Shadows. We need to figure out what it is."
Susan said thoughtfully, "When Marek appeared and he turned into a phoenix, his song seemed to interfere with the ships. They became sluggish and uncertain. It also gave those of us defending hope. I've re-listened to the music since then. And while it was pretty, I did not have the same reaction as I did."
Harry Potter volunteered. "Phoenix song has a magical component. Phoenixes are creatures of light. When they grow old and die, they burn up and then are reborn from the ashes. They can lift remarkably heavy loads. And their song can strengthen good people and make evil people suffer. But no recording can carry the magic. Even if it was transmitted it was being generated then. And so it would have an effect. No recording can do that."
Sinclair nodded. He turned to Delenn and Kosh. "Do we know how the Shadow vessels are made?"
Delenn said solemnly, "It is said that the ships use a living being as the mind of the unit. Sentients either volunteer or are taken and altered to be suitable. The original personality is gone – destroyed. These unfortunates are then put into their machines. Destroying the ships kills the person within – but that might be a blessing."
Sinclair turned to Kosh. "I hate to be indelicate, but your ship registers as alive. Do the Vorlons use sentients?"
Kosh's whole bearing was offended. "No."
Sinclair nodded. "I apologize for being offensive. I needed to know." He turned to the others. "However, I would assume the ships are somehow alive and I assume that they need a mental connection to truly operate. What if the phoenix song interfered with the connection between the ship and the mind directing it? And G'Kar's information seems to indicate that a telepath can also affect their ships. Can the secret to defeating them be using telepaths to interfere with their ships?"
Harry Potter turned to the Jaffa Captain. "We need to test this. Would you be willing to take me to find a Shadow vessel?" He looked at the others. "While I am not a telepath, per se, incidents in my past made me very familiar with mental influence and reading minds – it is a branch of magic called Legilemency. I could perform legilemency on a Shadow vessel and we can see if the ships can be destroyed."
Delenn said, "You are the leader of your people. It is a risk. Contacting a Shadow's mind might mean delving into Darkness and insanity."
Harry gave a rueful chuckle. "I have experience. Due to an attempt to kill me by the Dark wizard I told you about when I was 15 months, a mental link was forged. And he was insane. I had to learn to protect my mind with a magic called occlumency. I know what it is to look into darkness. And I have enough of a sense of self to not take the Darkness into my own mind. I also am immune from mental control by others. There is a Dark spell that was created in our past which can enslave another's mind. Among our people it is an unforgiveable curse because you must want to enslave the other. I learned to ignore I when I was 14 years old. And, if all of that isn't enough, I have this." He pulled the necklace he was wearing out so the rest can see.
"What is it?" Ivanova asked.
"This necklace is charmed so that no invasion of the mind from another will work on me – though it doesn't stop me from performing the same if needed. All of those I brought with me are wearing them. When Marek asked us to come, he suggested we bring charmed items which would protect us against such. Ragnok," he nodded to the Goblin leader, "and his people can create more as needed. We value our mental sanctity too much to leave any door open."
Ivanova then forgot herself and became very eager. "Can I get one of those?"
Harry looked at her. "Something tells me there are personal reason for that. I won't ask. Normally such things are very expensive. But you are an ally. And a friend." He turned to Ragnok. "Can you get one for her?"
Ragnok reached into his pocket and pulled a case out. "I carry the extras we brought with is for this very reason." He looked at Susan. "You are a Russian Jew." Susan nodded. Ragnok reached into his case and pulled out a necklace with a jeweled pendant. "This necklace is charmed to be unbreakable, the links alternating between gold and silver. The charm is an Eilat Stone set into a Star of David cast in silver. It is also unbreakable. Once you put it on, no one but you can remove it." He reached out as Susan opened her hand to him and he dropped it into her outstretched hand. "Accept this as a sign of friendship from our people."
With all solemnity, she replied, "I will treasure it always and I will not take it off until I am ready to pass it on."
Ragnok nodded. The Goblins, in the light of what had happened in their original world, had changed their stance on ownership. They still preferred to get things back but they only demanded it when it was in the contract when something was bought.
Suddenly, Ivanova's link sounded. "This is Ivanova. Go."
"Commander. We have a Black Omega Star Fury that just came through the gate and is requesting to dock. Commander, it's Bester."
Ivanova's eyes widened. "Put him in a holding pattern and tell him to wait for instructions." She clicked off her link and immediately put on the necklace. She turned to Ragnok. "Any more of those charmed necklaces for the rest of the command staff? We have a P12 Psi-Cop coming in."
Alfred Bester waited outside of the one place that annoyed him more than any other: Babylon 5. While they followed the law, no one on the station liked him. And he didn't particularly like any of them either. But Sinclair was leading the fight against the Shadows and he had an urgent report to give. And so he waited.
"Black Omega, this is Babylon Control. You have been cleared to dock. Follow the instructions that are being sent to your star fury. You will be met at the check-in point and taken to Admiral Sinclair."
"Acknowledged Babylon Control."
Very soon he had docked his Star Fury and got out, making his way toward Security. When he came in from the bay, he saw Michael Garibaldi waiting for him. "Mr. Bester. I will take you to a place you can get out of your flight suit and then the Admiral will see you in the War Room."
"Thank you."
Bester was very curious. Normally, his mere presence caused tension and anxiety in normals. And while the other security officer showed this, Garibaldi seemed comfortable talking to him – unusually comfortable. He was tempted to perform a surreptitious surface scan – he really didn't want to be blindsided. But Garibaldi had already turned to lead him to the changing room.
Shortly thereafter, he was being led to Blue Sector. Garibaldi turned toward him and said, "This way." He followed the man into a door that he had often passed but never used. It opened into a wide space. Many monitors were present with Earth Force personnel manning each station.
He looked down and saw a large round table. Surrounding the table were the Babylon 5 command staff as well as the Vorlon, a couple of Minbari, a Narn, a few other Humans, a strange alien who looked like a very strong Human from the middle east (his alienness, however, was obvious) and one of the creatures that were called Goblins.
Sinclair stood up. "Mr. Bester. It's most fortuitous that you arrived. We were just talking about you."
He was taken aback. "Talking about me?"
"Actually, no. But we were talking about telepaths. But we'll get to that in a moment. Welcome to the War Room. We are having a meeting regarding the Shadows. Does this conversation need to be private or can you talk to me here?"
Bester considered that for a moment. "Perhaps it's better that it be done here. It has to do with the Shadows."
"Then come and have a seat. I'll introduce everyone all around."
One thing that Bester noticed: The room he was in was remarkably quiet. Any telepath had a constant hum in the background from unprotected minds around them – it was why telepaths instinctively built walls around their mind. But in this room, there was nothing hitting his shields – at least from those at the table. This was curious – and oddly disconcerting.
"You probably are all aware of the influence that the Shadows seemed to have in Earth Dome. It was all over the news and was a major reason why the Earth Senate declared War. Even if they said it was because of Babylon 5, the truth is that no one considers you that important."
He had deliberately goaded them into an angry response. Angry people tended to broadcast more. And while they all looked upset, there was no broadcast. This caused him to falter momentarily. But he finally went on.
"Anyway. In addition to Earth Dome, these Shadows also were infiltrating Psi Corps for some reason. With the declaration of war, those who were working with the shadows have fled. They also took a shipment of weapons compenents with them meant for the Shadows. I … we … want to capture that shipment before it can be delivered to our enemies. I know where it's going."
Sinclair asked, "Do you know what the weapons consist of?"
"I was just told 'Weapons Components'."
There was an interruption from one of the Human-looking people that was newly arrived. "Mr. Bester. Might these 'weapons' be telepaths?"
He looked at the man astonished. He actually knew that but there was no way he wanted to admit it in case Sinclair felt like sacrificing them.
Sinclair asked, "Harry, why do you think it's telepaths?"
The man turned his face toward the Admiral. "Think about what we just learned." He turned to Bester. "Due to information from the Narn and Minbari, we have learned that the Shadows use sentients as the central processing units of their ships. We have also determined that telepaths can interrupt the connection, making their ships possibly vulnerable and able to be destroyed. If the 'weapons' are telepaths, they might be trying to use telepaths to prevent other telepaths from being able to interfere with their ships."
Bester thought about it very hard for a moment. "You might be right."
The Potter character turned to Sinclair. "If that's true, we must prevent them from being delivered. It could cripple the war effort." He turned to Bester. "How do we find them?"
Bester was almost shocked that there seemed to be immediate agreement from everyone there to actually act on his request. "I have the route they plan on taking. I just need a ship to go and help stop them. They will be in hyperspace"
The Potter man turned to the alien who looked like a body builder. "Are you willing to use the Ha'tak?"
The Jaffa said, "We are newly introduced to the Hyperspace of this place – it is nothing like our hyperspace travel. I am willing to go – but another ship must accompany us to open a jump point as needed."
Sinclair looked at Bester. "What kind of time frame are we looking at?"
"We have 36 hours. If Earth hadn't of declared War, I would have had to sneak and we would have only had a few hours. But we have a bit more time. We will have to leave soon. A place closer to Babylon would have worked if we waited longer – but the optimum place is," he stoop up and moved to a galactic map, "here."
Sinclair looked at it. "Damn. If I messaged Sheridan he could get there but I don't know if we can get there fast enough to transfer Mr. Bester to the Agamemnon. We would be coming from the other direction."
The Jaffa captain asked, "How far is that from here in real space?" The distances were calculated. The Jaffa nodded in satisfaction. "Remember, my hyperdrive is different than yours. If we leave in six hours, my ship can make it to the Agamemnon easily. The Agamemnon can then open the jump point and I can follow it in."
Harry said, "Do we want to ask if Marek wants to go?"
Bester asked, "Who is Marek?"
"He is the one who brought us here. He could make a huge difference. He's on the planet below right now."
Sinclair said, "No reason not to ask."
Harry nodded. "Can you make the connection?" Sinclair directed one of the techs to call down. Within a few moments, Bester was shocked when a man appeared right in the War Room.
"What's up?" the man asked. Sinclair explained the circumstances to him. He turned to look at Bester for a long moment. He then turned to Sinclair and gave an easy smile. "Nah. You guys will be fine. I'm also helping Draal with something. Also, I think I will need Ragnok to stick around – as well as yourself. You and Susan will have things to do soon and it is probably some protocol that you and Sheridan don't go together unless it's a big battle. It won't be a problem but you can send Garibaldi as a currier to Sheridan. Let him figure it all out."
Sinclair nodded. "You're probably right. Who is going on the Ha'tak?"
Neroon volunteered, "I will represent the Minbari."
G'Kar considered that. "Technically, I have claimed Sanctuary. It might be best if I stay here as much as possible."
Buffy said, "I and a couple of my Slayers will go."
"I'll bring a couple of Aurors," Harry volunteered.
Marek said, "You might want to transport over to the ship as soon as you can and stun the pilots. They might otherwise suicide."
Harry looked to the Jaffa captain, who nodded. He said to the others, "Okay. Not a problem."
Marek nodded in satisfaction. "Okay. I'm going back to Epsilon 3." He disappeared in a flash of blue light.
Bester asked, "What the hell was that?"
Harry smirked. "Long story."
Marek appeared next to Draal. "Well, they allowed Bester to come here to distract Sinclair and see if they could get him away – but they never told him directly. They were hoping to act with minimal inference from the Command Staff. Too bad for them they didn't trust Bester." Marek was smirking.
Draal nodded. "I've increased the tachyon flow to Sector 14. We're going to have to go in four weeks when it reaches optimum levels. According to the data, I will have to send Zathras."
"You have him working on the time stabilizers already, correct?"
Draal nodded. "According to what I am getting there was a problem with one of them but it got fixed."
"We need to make very certain that no one who went on the trip to evacuate Babylon 4 goes on mission to retrieve it. Otherwise they will become oversaturated even with the time stabilizers, which could prove fatal. It's one time and one time only."
Draal thought for a moment. "I think we will have to push Delenn to bring one of those ships that the Religious Caste is building in secret." He suddenly had a disgusted look. "It's too bad there is no Valen in this dimension, at least yet. The inter-caste politics in this one are even worse than in other places. I quite like the 'Minbari do not kill Minbari' and other lessons he will teach them."
Marek gave a vicious smirk. "I think I can head off an immediate blow-up. Remember that the Religious Caste starting working on those when the Warrior Caste at first refused to get involved. At least in this dimension the Warrior Caste is doing their job. And unlike in other dimensions where there is no Valen, the Warrior Caste aren't the ones who will destroy Babylon 5."
Draal sighed. "But it will still be destroyed."
"And that's why we're bringing Babylon 4 forward. We should have just enough time to replace its engines with gravimetric drives and to add shield generators."
"And the coupe?"
"Luchenko will survive, as will the Joint Chiefs – except Hague. But it's going to be a couple of years before Sheridan can get it together to get the loyal Earth Force ships ready to take back Earth. Once that is done, Sheridan will be placed to start the Alliance. And the years will give Delenn and Sinclair time to go through their metamorphoses." He grinned. "At least in this dimension, Sheridan will live long enough to make Delenn happier for longer."
Draal looked at the young-looking god. "It is strange that you are giving me so much information."
Marek shrugged and grinned. "You could see it all if you tried. Certain things can't change. They happen. No matter the dimension. And it's not like you are going to tell. At least after I lead the Ha'tak back to its home dimension, there will be someone who knows what's going on. And you can always get the Goblins to get more help from the Tau'ri universe if you need it."
Marek took on a more serious look. "But you can't stop people from being what they are. Clark wasn't the problem. He just tapped into forces that were already gathering. Take a long look, once there is time, at what happens on Earth eventually. You won't be able to stop it – but you might be able to minimize it. Some lessons need to be learned from experience." Marek sighed. "I hate knowing that there are billions of people who will die and there is nothing I can do. God made it the way he did and I will fulfill my part. It isn't our job to protect everyone. It's our job to shepherd the future in – and to minimize suffering when we can."
Draal sighed and nodded. He then girded himself. He had a visit from an arsehole to prepare for.