**"Westcastle and Clifford's return to Babylon 5 was more or less uneventful. They remained deep in a coma, or so it seemed, and were hidden with the aid of Dr. Stephen Franklin from the eyes of all but the Rangers. This was done due to the orders of Delenn, who was, at the time, preoccupied with the key problems of John Sheridan's continued abscence, and the preparations for the planned attack on Z'ha'dum. That Westcastle would eventually recover seemed certain, and if that had happened prior to Sheridan's return, there is no doubt that Delenn's wrath in reference to the White Star Fleet commander would have been extreme.
However, this did not occur; for within the hour of the League's meeting on the station to protest Delenn's plan, Captain Sheridan returned to the Army of Light, accompanied by his mysterious aide, Lorien; and it was then, and only then, that Westcastle and Clifford returned to consciousness. History records reasonably well, the events that happened next..."**
- From "Holding the Line."
* * *
Jan 10th, 2261. The Ranger Compound; Babylon 5.
"Val'na Tashann??"
Tashann turned, to see another Minbari approach; a Minbari he didn't know well, but whose reputation stretched longer and longer these days. He allowed himself to smile, as the Other bowed with the angle of respect suitable for one of his stature within the Rangers. "Lennier; is there something the Entil'zha requires of my Command?"
"NOT the Entil'zha, no; Val'na, this is, how shall I say it? Ah yes, a *personal* request."
"I'm listening. Say what you will, Lennier."
Lennier nodded. "As you may or may not have heard, several of the League Ambassadors have planned a rally later this day, to protest our planned action against the Shadows at Z'ha'dum. Not wanting to disturb the Entil'zha, I approached the leader among the Rangers here, under Delenn, one named Shival; he indicated that out of all those currently available to him, you would be most suitable for the task I wish performed."
"And it is the Entil'zha's wish to attend this meeting, and as such..." Tashann mused, his expression grim, "You believe that the League ambassadors, such as the Drazi, who are, no doubt, among the chief organizers of this 'rally'...would cause her harm, should she protest their points."
"I think it likely, yes." Lennier replied, his expression equally grave. "You will help??"
"Of course; while we may not be easy to see, myself and a small, select group of my command will be attendance at this rally. Should things spin out of control, and your own prowess at protection falls short, we will be there to aid you...*if* that should become necessary."
"I pray that it will not come to that, Val'na." Lennier added in parting, "But I thank you for your aid."
Tashann nodded. "The mission is clear; she is our Entil'zha, and she places herself in danger; we can do *no* other thing."
* * *
The Hour of Destiny...
With a flash, and its usual coruscating howl, the Euphrates jump gate sprang open, and spat out a single ship, a ship not, in recent galactic history, seen anywhere else but in the sectors near to Z'ha'dum. The last time the ship had flown these starways, even the Minbari themselves had yet to achieve starflight technology. The intelligence behind the ship, a being that had named itself *Lorien* in conversation with several humans recently, looked upon the crude, but EXTREMELY critical construct before it, and turned to the human beside it...one of those critical beings; a man named John Sheridan...the man who had found him on Z'ha'dum.
"Captain; time grows short, and you are needed; there is a meeting among the younger races that you must attend, if you are to have any hope of succeeding in what you must do."
The human, John Sheridan, nodded, his expression both resigned to the challenge ahead, and set with the grim determination of necessity. "I'm not terribly surprised to hear you say that, Lorien; the League ambassadors would have grown fairly rebellious since I vanished..."
"Yes, but with your return, it *may* be possible to draw everyone together, one last time. But this will only be possible if you act quickly, and use the fleet that Delenn has already gathered for you. For now however, Captain, I must request the entry codes for your docking bay, so that we may enter unopposed."
Sheridan nodded, his focus on the duty at hand increasing, and recited the codes necessary to enter the docking bay.
With minimal concentration, Lorien instructed his ship, and companion, to transmit the signal to activate the docking complex in this place that Sheridan thought of as BABYLON 5; then, Lorien turned his attention to two other, lesser, but equally important matters.
It was TIME...at last, to act on *them*, as well.
* * *
Medlab One.
"Doctor..there is word to interest you; the two Rangers in Medlab Four...there are signs they are beginning to return to consciousness!"
Dr Stephen Franklin smiled, nodded, thanked his aide, and then all but ran for the door. So soon after rescuing Michael, was he to be privy to *another* miracle??
* * *
Medlab Four, a short time later.
Nearly forever, it had seemed; the endless image of standing before the flame erupting towards her, out of the heart of the Shadow city; a wall of fire she could not possibly protect her love and Leader from. She had *tried*, of course, even as in her peripheral vision, the alien named Taaldon had torn open an impossible portal in reality...and then, the wall of fire had filled her world with pain.
Forever it had been, spinning in that pain and fire, reaching out to the helping hand that had frozen her in this impossible loop in reality.
And then, as if by magic...time sprang open and resumed; the fire faded into a clean white light...a light that seemed to blast through her half-closed eyelids, as she forced them open. Light that resolved into a pale hedralic ceiling and grey, calming walls, fitted with light pillars, laid between clear glass panels.
She blinked; this was so familiar! Where was she...she couldn't possibly be back at Babylon 5. Could she?
"Where am I?" she whispered, her voice barely more then a croak. A face swam into view, a face all too familiar...but changed. Talion Quintara's chin was now covered in a short growth of pale beard...THAT was new, since the last time she had seen him.
In Valen's Name!...how much time had passed? She moved her body slightly; there was NO pain, and most importantly, the fiery agony she had suffered in her left hand after defeating the dark woman in the Shadow city was gone, as well.
"Jennifer!" Talion burst out, and then, the younger Ranger abruptly remembered himself. "Forgive me, Val'na...but we're *quite* pleased to see you returned to us, this way!"
"Talion. Where am..."
"On Babylon 5, Val'na; it's been three days since the crew of the Minbari War Cruiser 'Vashokk' brought you here, and slightly longer then that since you were recovered in Minbar orbit in a capsule of unknown and seriously damaged design."
Unbidden, Jennifer felt a tear come to her eye; that *capsule*, as Talion put it, had obviously been the final surviving fragment of Taaldon's beautiful companion vessel, the blue starfish craft she had witnessed help them before, so long ago. The sacrifice Taaldon and his ship had made...how would they be able to repay him for what he had done? You could not, after all, repay the dead...
"Is..."
Talion nodded seriously. "The Sha'vei returned to consciousness more then five minutes ago, and slightly after that, he was on his feet, against the Doctor's wishes, I will add!...and partially beyond his belief, at that. The Doctor requested that I keep a watch on you until you awoke, so that we could prevent the same from occurring."
"Something that you seem to have succeeded at just fine, Mr. Quintara..." a wry, familiar voice announced, and Jennifer tilted her head slightly, to see Dr. Franklin appear, followed by several of his personnel. "Welcome back to the waking world, Miss Clifford." With professional care, the Doctor checked out her vital signs and stats, and then sighed. "I still don't believe it, but what the Hell, I guess sometimes miracles *do* happen."
"What...miracle?" she inquired, as one of the nurses quickly and painlessly removed the intravenous feed in her arm, while Talion hovered nearby, drink in hand, his expression anxious.
"For all intents and purposes, given where you were *supposed* to be, you're in remarkably good health."
"We had help when we needed it the most" she quietly replied, as Talion placed the drink in her hand, and she moved to sip it...a sip that quickly threatened to become a gulp. "Help we will never be able to repay, for as long as we live."
"And I don't suppose you can tell me anything about that HELP, can you?"
She thought about that inquiry...and sighed. "Wouldn't be a good idea, Doctor. Sorry."
"Right."
"For now, though, Dr. Franklin...can you *please* tell me a few things? How long were we gone? And...and how goes the war?"
"Well, for starters, it's now the 10th of January, 2261..."
"WHAT?" Jennifer blinked in surprise...by her estimation, it had been the day after Christmas when William had arrived to 'rescue' her...and now, it was nearly two weeks after that? What ELSE had she missed??
"And as for the Shadows, right after the Captain left for Z'ha'dum, with his wife..."
A sharp pain passed through her, at those words, and nearly, she cried out. Memories clicked cleanly, then, of a White Star crashing through the great roof over the Shadow city; so it *had* been him, after all!
"...not a happy point to be pondering on this station, Miss Clifford, but I'm going to guess, from your expression, even though you won't tell me the specifics, that you saw something of the Captain's final moments?"
She nodded. But *had* they been as final as Dr. Franklin suggested?
"Anyways, the Shadows threatened us here for a little while, but they backed off after whatever it was the Captain did...and since then, everyone's been waiting for the fuse to light again."
"I see. How long do you suppose it will be before I'm strong enough to leave this place??"
The Doctor's face grew concerned. "There's something else you should be worried about, I'm afraid; something that Delenn requested me to tell you, when you awoke. Well, perhaps, showing you would be better."
It was *then* that she went back to the final moments on Z'ha'dum, to Taaldon's patient, final smile, and his words, so biting...
**There may be unforseen consquences...if you commit to this**
The Doctor raised a mirror to reflect her image back at her, and Jennifer could not help but gasp aloud at what she saw...as one of the Doctor's aides, previously unseen, rushed in, an expression of sheer astonishment on her face...
* * *
The Fifth Context of the Follower: the Time of the Second Coming.
I saw it, and with the rest, I stood in awe at what I saw, what I experienced. I stood on the edge of what was, and never faced the full fire of his gaze, for which I am thankful!...but heard and understood his words, of what was intended, and why.
And knew, in my heart, that since this had happened, we now had a fighting chance to end the War. Forever.
And nearby, two had just returned to us who would reinforce that claim...
* * *
Near the edge of the gathering, Julia waited, her expression grim. The Entil'zha had moved to place herself directly in the center of the gathering, her aide close beside her, and now, things looked to be growing quite tense. The Drazi Ambassador, his voice high and proud, his gaze threatening, had just loudly demanded that she be seized and 'silenced'. Heart pounding, she moved one hand to the fighting pike she carried; after having used it once by 'mistake', would she now have to forge forward in battle, to save her Leader??
But then, all of a sudden, she realized that the tone of the rally had changed... INCREDIBLY so, in such a short time; from rebellious antagonism, to...
*Astonishment*. And then her breath caught in her lungs, as she saw the reason why that was so.
Standing upon the gantry, his gaze firm, not threatening, yet full of fire nontheless, was a man that all those who had come here had thought dead. She herself had nearly given credence to those rumours; but now...now that Captain John Sheridan had done the impossible, in returning from Z'ha'dum...
Now, the *reality* of what was would change everything..
"The Ambassador is correct. I *went* to Z'ha'dum; I've SEEN the face of the Enemy; they're not gods, and they're not indestructible!! I've fought them, and I've killed MANY of them!..."
She turned, and through the crowd, met the eyes of her fellow Rangers, hidden in the shadows on the far side, seeing on their faces the proudness and astonishment she was feeling, and then turned back, to hear the rest of Sheridan's *incredibly* powerful speech.
"...There is a way *out* of this, a way to STOP this insanity, once and for all! Delenn's fleet is a start...now we have to build on it. Together, we will build the *largest* fleet in history! Not just for a battle, but to CHANGE the shape of the galaxy! Not just for ourselves, but for our children, and our children's children!..."
He's coming to the punch line, she told herself, as she began to smile. Get ready for it, boys and girls...
"..You tell your governments, that the only man to *survive* Z'ha'dum sends THIS message; we can end this, not just for now, not *just* for the next thousand years...but FOREVER!! I stand before you as proof that it can be done!...we can fight, and we can win, but ONLY if we do it together!
...CAN I COUNT ON YOU?"
And in the cheering, she knew that Sheridan had, indeed, done the impossible. In the gaze of the one he loved, she saw the reason he had returned, and she almost laughed out loud. Now would come the true test, *now* would be the time of the greatest Gathering seen in a thousand years. NOW, the Swords would come together.
And then, all of a sudden, amidst the celebration, Talion stood at her side, his face full of satisfaction...and then astonishment, as well, as he beheld Sheridan, standing next to his Entil'zha, high on the gantry. "He's alive!?"
She nodded, and moved aside. "He certainly IS, Talion...isn't he?"
"This is amazing news, but I have better still for you, Julia! William and Jennifer have also returned to the Living World!"
* * *
Talion turned in mid step, and nearly jumped. Julia was gone; he whirled, and all he saw was a darting stab of black and grey, already nearly lost amidst the celebrating crowd.
* * *
With one hesitant hand, Jennifer reached out, and touched the long silver streak in William's hair, once again. "The price we paid..." she whispered, leaning into him, "Was it worth it??"
"You heard." he replied, feeling the long, cold strain of stolen time upon him, and once again, seeing in the nearby mirror the image of what was...the image he had seen in that the glimpse of the future, so many months before: an image now almost come to pass, both in his own face, and the long, ever-so-slightly silver streaked hair of she who stood by his side.
"Sheridan has also returned to this place, with the aid of Lorien...Taaldon's master, or so it would seem. He helped us all, and brought us back to the place we were needed the most. Yes...if it means we're able to defeat the Enemy, it *was* worth the price."
Jennifer sighed, and nodded bitterly. "And now...now, you're also going to find out the price you will pay for going after me...the price the Entil'zha will impose upon you for not telling her of your plans."
"It will be as nothing, for I know that I did the *right thing* in saving you from the Shadows. Nothing else matters, no punishment she could give could hurt me more then what we have endured, together; I will pay that price gladly, knowing that you're *safe*, that's all that matters to me now."
Jennifer smiled, nodded, and leaned in to kiss him...
"Sha'vei." a familiar voice said, and they both turned, the motion interrupted, to see a vision appear...a vision of change...for in the space of the two weeks they had been gone, Julia seemed, once again, to have aged remarkably...perhaps due to what she had gone through before his leavetaking, but who could say??
Now, her uniform, grey no longer, was mostly black, and cradled in her arm was Jennifer's warrior pike. "I've..." At that, Julia's solemn expression broke down, and she very nearly cried. "I didn't think I'd ever see you two, again! I almost lost hope, and then hope returned, when I expected it the least!"
Jennifer broke away from him, and in a wordless embrace, the two Observers came together. "You kept your hope, Julia; and in the end, that's all that matters. We're back together again...Sheridan's back, the Army of Light'ss about to gather..."
"And all is well with the world??" Julia cut in, her voice sharp. "Forgive me for what I say, but until this is ended, none of us are safe!"
Jennifer's eyes met his, and as he took in the shock and slight sadness in those eyes, he knew, in part, the price he had paid already...for Julia was growing up, it seemed, by test of Fire. But she was right, of course; the War wasn't even close to finished yet, and while they had walked through the Fire to reach this place and this time, the worst was almost *certainly* still to come.
* * *
Nighthawk orbit.
With awkward, slow movement, the freighter SPETNAZ moved slowly towards Nighthawk's jump gate, now as uncontrolled as it could possibly be, since the Shadow squadron had all but destroyed the orbital station in their arrival, months before. The Tall Man sat in the SPETNAZ's copilot's seat, his expression grim, his anticipation of the leavetaking all but overwhelming. It was up to his friend, Captain Von Braur, to send the signal; a difficult thing, but attainable...and necessary. They had to leave now, before it was too late!
"The system is still silent and dead." Von Braur commented, his expression sour. "And the only reason I'm doing this is because every time you've warned me something bad was about to happen, you've been right; we're nearly overtaxing the life support as it is, with all these women and children aboard!"
"It is necessary." he replied, his gaze harsh. "No one else will survive; they will believe only when it is *happening*, and THEN, it will be too late for any of them."
"Hmmph...we'll see. In any case, we're nearly..." It was then, of course, that Von Braur's voice froze in astonishment, and the Tall Man looked out through the narrow viewscreen to see his worst fears and nightmares all coming true.
Sixty degrees around from their direction of travel, space had begun to rip open, the harsh, bright blue vortexes of over two dozen jump points appearing where nothing had been, a moment before. And out of those jump points poured a stream of Vorlon ships, both small AND large...
And then, as he watched, among the smaller jump points, a horrendously large one appeared...more then *ten* kilometers across, it had to be!...out of which emerged a gigantic circular craft, bigger then any space vessel he had ever seen before. At that point, the countless ranks of the Vorlon fleet formed up on the thing, as it approached Nighthawk.
He had been right, it seemed, again. In his heart, he had known that the end was coming, had tried to tell those below, tried to convince them...
And he had failed; *Now*, they would pay the price, for allowing the Shadows a base on their beautiful, isolated world; now, the Vorlons had come, destroyers of worlds, enders of dreams...
"Von Braur!" he snarled, snapping the captain a sharp blow to the side of his head, breaking the German freighter captain out of his astounded reverie. "We go *now*, or not at all!"
Von Braur came to his senses, then, and moved as if propelled by the Devil, himself...while ahead of the freighter, the ancient jump gate came online, one last time, and with a final shudder, the SPETNAZ, together with its precious human cargo, vanished from sight into hyperspace.
And only just in time.
To be continued...
RIMSTALKER: THE RIDERS ON THE STORM; PART 3
"COMMANDS OF THE SECOND COMING" ACT II OF II
**"The excesses of the elder races have lead us into somewhat of a conumdrum, in regards to the several dozen colony planets destroyed in the course of the hostilities that concluded the Shadow War. The systems these planets belonged to have been rendered nearly unusuable for colonial purposes, and several jumpgates even destroyed, by asteroid fragment arcs hundreds of thousands of kilometers long, their densities a factor of a million higher then the standard asteroid belts found in most inhabited systems. In addition, a great many of these asteroids are larger then any seen elsewhere in local space... curved shards, in places up to two thousand kilometers long, with active geologic processes ongoing."**
- An excerpt from a geological survey conducted for the Interstellar Alliance, early in the EY 2262
* * *
Jan 10th, 2261. Nighthawk surface..after local midnight..
Sirens wailed all over Colonial Central, and with a groan, Brandon DeMeuleaneure rolled out of bed, and with an irritable shrug, strode off towards the door. What in the name of all the Hells were those *damned* sirens going off for? It was a wonder that Amanda hadn't woken up, yet, but his wife had long been famous (or infamous) for being a sound sleeper. With a single jerk, he pulled the door open, and strode out onto the doorstep, to scowl down on the main colony settlement below his home. Soon enough, he would determine the nature of this problem, they would *pay* for disturbing his sleep...
It was then, of course, that he realized the problem WASN'T in the settlement...but in the skies above. DeMeuleneure looked up, his dread sudden and complete; what the *Hell* was this?
Just below overhead, well over a dozen jump points stood open, their tiny, from his perspective, vortexes spiralling away to the nothingness of hyperspace. And out of these points, he could see numerous tiny glints of light emerging...enormous starships coming into orbit, but whose? At which point, a mighty, curdling twist of light appeared in the sky, and DeMeulaneure winced and shielded his eyes, as a jump point ten times bigger then the rest spun into being, and spat out its own ship.
Good Lord...how could any ship be *that* big?? Even from the surface, he could perceive its circular disk, and the horn-like protrusions on its front end. DeMeulaneure shivered...even with the low light, it was clear that a band of blue light glowed around the disk's edge, and that was enough to bring out yellow highlights across the rest of the vessel.
Vorlons. It couldn't be anyone else; this didn't mean good things for his citizens...no, not at all! The deal he and the other colony administrators had made with the Shadows now seemed like not such a good deal after all; if the Vorlons had come to wage war against them with their fleet and their mighty mothership, would they have any concern for the humans caught in between??
But then, his worried musing ended, as a flicker of light caught his attention, and he returned his gaze to the ships overhead...and flinched. The massive disk of the Vorlon mothership had thinnned down to a barely seen spindle, and the blue glow was growing brighter, becoming...
White FIRE?
He watched, for the few remaining seconds of his life, unable to believe what he was seeing, as a massive spear of light plunged down from the gigantic Vorlon craft, impacting far to the south of the colony...but not far enough. In seconds, a wall of that selfsame white fire leapt up from the horizon, and ate up the world. DeMeulaneure turned to run, but the fire surrounded him...became him, and as consciousness faded, he became one with the fire...
There was no safety for him, or for anyone on the planet, for that matter.
None at all. In milliseconds, the hundred kilometer high wall of plasma receding from the Vorlon strikepoint reached the colony center, and swept it, and all of its mostly innocent inhabitants from existence. It was only a matter of seconds more before the plasma wave ended life across the whole world..but that was only the beginning, of course, as the energy pulse from the Vorlon Planetkiller dug ever deeper into the mantle; and then, reached its destructive fingers into the core itself.
On the far side of Nighthawk, great rents appeared, cracks thousands of miles long, spewing lava and plasma, along the way destroying the relatively tiny Shadow base on that side of the world. It was overkill, overkill in the most ultimate way possible, but the Vorlons didn't care in the slightest...to them, it was only a task to be performed, a virus to be eradicated.
And eventually, the inevitable occurred, as the energy flux being imposed against the now incredibly fragile ball of rock, magma and superheated air that had once been the world called Nighthawk became too much. First bolides, none of them bigger then average sized cities, reached escape velocity...and then, larger and larger pieces of the dying world followed them into space. This pattern reached its climax as enormous planetismal sized objects, some of them up to a thousand kilometers across, surged away, carried by the rivers of energy escaping from the growing plasma sphere at the core of the destruction...while Nighthawk's ancient jumpgate vanished from sight amidst the chaos, a flare of light invisible against the complete Armageddon that reigned around it.
And still the Vorlons watched, and waited, to be sure that none of the Enemy had escaped.
In time, the plasma sphere began to cool, and fade..but by that point, its intended function had been more then fulfilled. Where a planet had once swung, brown and low on seas, now there was only a million chunks of glowing rock, some tiny, some as big as small worlds, slowly extending into a small asteroid arc, pulled by the endless force of gravity. The Vorlons conferred, and decided that this job was, indeed, concluded. And then, with noticable contempt for such material things, the Fleet, arrayed around its Planetkiller, sailed through and to the edge of the devastation, opened its many rents in space-time, and vanished from sight.
For the larger task was FAR from complete.
* * *
Babylon 5. 0900 hrs, local, Jan 11, 2261..the Ranger Compound.
At what amounted to parade rest, William stood alone, besides the entrance to the council chambers that he had once served in, as commander of the Anlashok in this place. Afterwards, of course, he had been called away by Jeffrey Sinclair to help create the White Star Fleet. And while certain of the human commanders in the Fleet were more comfortable with being referred to by the human rank of 'Captain', forever in the background was the pride he knew they all felt, as Val'nae of the Rangers.
He had helped to create that pride...but now, it seemed that he would now have to pay the price for going to Z'ha'dum...for trying to rescue the only thing he could not live without, in this life. The Entil'zha had summoned him here at this specific time, and so, he had come. He would not disobey her orders. Could not...and while he didn't know what changes were coming, it seemed likely that the coming meeting would *not* be a pleasant one.
And what was worse, was this: the news had reached them of what the Vorlons had done, and were continuing to do, even now. Their gigantic fleet had been revealed, and among that Fleet stood two ships whose sole purpose, it seemed, was to tear apart worlds into shards of broken death.
Planetkillers. The dark tidings had cast a pall across everyone and everything; Julia had been all too right in her statement, the day before. But he could not deal with that directly, for now; the crisis he now faced was one closer to home, one that would reach out and touch him soon enough.
With a faint sigh, the council doors swung open, and Tashann and Shival stepped out, and formed up on each side of the door. Neither of them looked very happy, and his heart sank still further. It had been their intention to petition the Entil'zha on his behalf, and from their expressions, it seemed that they had failed in that ambition.
"The Entil'zha will see you now, Sha'vei." Shival began, his gaze bleak.
"And her mood?"
"Not good." Tashann added. "As we told you we would, William...Sha'vei, we petitioned her on your behalf, describing to her the situation that lead you to do what you did. She listened to our arguments and then...then, she informed us that while all the points were valid, the price for the secrecy you had imposed on us would still have to be paid, and that price could only be discussed with you...
Alone."
He nodded. "It is as I suspected, then, my friends, though I do thank you for trying. Not only have I paid a price in lost life for what I did, now it seem that I must pay a price in lost stature, as well."
"You may believe the worst, if you wish." Shival allowed, as he moved between them, and into the chamber, steeped deeply in shadows. "But I do not, William. What you did in rescuing Jennifer, what you accomplished in facing the darkness at Z'ha'dum, was the *right* thing to do, and by Valen, you must *make* the Entil'zha see this as well."
"If anyone can do it..." Tashann finished up, "You can...Rimstalker." And then, both Minbari saluted him, which he returned, his heart full of emotion. Followed by a resounding boom, as the door slammed shut behind him.
Step measured, he strode towards the center of the room, and then paused; he could see, clearly enough, that there was no one at the council table off towards the rear of the chamber...where then, was...
All of a sudden, then, he found himself at the center of a pool of light, and he turned, to face the suddenly appeared figure of his Entil'zha, as she came out of the shadows, dressed in black...her expression full of wrath and disappointment.
"Now that you have returned to us, Sha'vei Westcastle, it is time, at long last, for us to resolve this matter...
The situation that has arisen because of your departure to Z'ha'dum in pursuit of that which the Shadows *knew* was your greatest weakness!...the love that all humanity has for the other sides of its soul. But in you, this is magnified, made stronger not only by your beliefs, but also by what we have taught you. And so, as your testimony tells me, you came to Z'ha'dum scant hours ahead of Captain Sheridan, to battle for and save Val'na Clifford's life.
In this, you succeeded...against all odds, I will add! But now that you have been returned to us, there comes the matter of the price you must pay for going to Z'ha'dum. For if you had asked, Sha'vei, I *surely* would have denied you the privelege to make the attempt; she is valuable to you, but YOU are far more valuable to the cause.
"How, then, are you to answer for what you have done?"
He thought for a minute, facing those eyes, before so kind, now so intense and ruthless, and finally, after a moment, he spoke. "All that you say is correct, Entil'zha; I went to Z'ha'dum, not knowing whether or not I would find what I sought; I entered the heart of all Darkness, and found my greatest enemy waiting for me. I struggled to retrieve that which I could not live without, an echo of that which you correctly label my greatest weakness...and yet, with aid least expected, I succeeded in the attempt, and escaped before the end.
This was, in part, due to that same force that deigned to aid Captain Sheridan in his return to this place. Entil'zha!...Lorien and his servant decided that while the Captain was the more paramount of their concerns, we also deserved to live. It seems that my tasks are not as yet completed, either. Lorien spoke to me, in the Dream, between Z'ha'dum and here, and told me that my greatest task would be to serve those who needed me the most. My ambition in saving my First was clear...but my true cause remains the same as it always has.
The Shadows, and now the Vorlons, as well, *must* be stopped, and since Captain Sheridan has commanded the assembly of the Fleet, I cannot stand aside and ignore what is coming. I will willingly follow you, Entil'zha, into the Fire, beyond life, and into death, as you so command. It has been that way from the beginning, and it will be that way until the end. So I have I pledged before, so now do I swear again in your presence, this day. And while I've done what I should not have, nothing I believe in has changed.
But the price I must pay?...that must be your choice, Entil'zha. Do with me what you will...I am ready and willing to accept your judgement on this matter."
He was startled, then, to see his Entil'zha's grim expression fade, somewhat..and the slightest inkling of a smile appear on her face. "Sha'vei Shival and his...how does your kind say it?...'partner in crime' argued along similar lines, though not quite so fervently. Very well, then: I will give you what you wish, though in the times to come, should we survive, from time to time I will ask you whether or not the choice made here was the correct one, or not.
To summarize: while I remain displeased that you went to Z'ha'dum, there are, for now, far greater concerns, and your tasks within the White Star Fleet are barely begun. Do not believe there will be no price for what you did, though, Sha'vei. Both you and Captain Sheridan stood, the same day, on Z'ha'dum, and you did not or were not able to help him in his trials; this is something that has yet to be resolved to my satisfaction.
However...from now on, you will work for the Captain as you would for me; if he requires of you your life so that he may survive, you will give it up freely in his name, in whichever cause he so demands. Do you understand?"
He nodded, and bowed. "I live for the One, I die for the One...and if the Captain is also to be part of that One, I will willingly serve him as I would serve you."
"Then you understand; that is well. But walk carefully, Sha'vei...I *will* be watching you more carefully, from this day forward."
And with that apparently final comment, he was once again plunged into darkness, only alleviated by the brief light of the side entrance opening, and then closing, to mark the Entil'zha's departure. It was over...and he had *survived* the experience. More importantly, his tasks remained his; in fact, they had all but been amplified!
Behind him, the door swung open, and Shival and Tashann entered, their expressions quizzical. He laughed.
"Gentlemen..." he whispered, beckoning them close. "You're going to *love* this one..."
* * *
Earth Alliance Omega Class Destroyer EUROPA...near the former position of Nighthawk.
"What the Hell's going on?" Captain Roberto Oriaz burst out. "Are you SURE, Commander?"
"Very sure, sir." his exec, Commander Brittany Vedrou, replied, her expression perplexed and uncertain. "We're not getting *any* readings from the Nighthawk inner system gate...only the outer one; and since all the orbital refineries around that gas giant were abandoned recently, after the attack the rebels made..."
"Noted; however," Oriaz decided, "We certainly have to get a measure of what's going on in the area..it's been quite a few months since we lost contact with Nighthawk, and President Clark and his council have commanded the reforging of all ties lost during the Civil Crisis, so here we are."
"Orders, sir?"
"Quite simple, Commander; bring us out approximately one half million kilometers from the gate's last known location, OUT of the ecliptic plane if you can possibly manage it, in this gravitational morass?"
"Yes, sir; we can calculate from the beacon on the outer gate for just such a jumpout. Stand by."
Vedrou ordered the crew to change the destroyer's course, and after a few more minutes, she let him know that it was time. He sighed, and rose from his seat. "Commander...stand by on jump engines."
"Jump engines online, sir."
"Take us out, then; lets see what the Hell's up." With a slight shudder, the EUROPA passed through its jump transition, and back out into normal space, and without pause, Vedrou began a scan of the area...
Oriaz turned in surprise, then, as several of the more junior bridge members gasped, and moved together, their gazes locked on their monitors..even Vedrou, normally so competent and calm, had turned white.
"Why are you all..." and then Oriaz himself caught a glimpse of what the problem was...and all other considerations went right out the window. For the planet they come to survey, on orders from the Planetary Council..
Wasn't there anymore.
Slightly more then half a million kilometers below the EUROPA, thousands of shards of rock, ranging in size from dust right on up to chunks bigger then most of the moons back in Earthspace, were rolling slowly along the orbit Nighthawk had once inhabited.
"What..." Vedrou burst out, her voice strained, "What in the name of *God* could have destroyed a whole world like THAT??"
"I don't know." he whispered, (had to stay calm, here, he was the Captain, damnitall!) "But I *do* know that there are a lot of people back home that are going to want to know about this. Get us out of here, Commander...we've got a lot of travelling to do, and in a hurry."
* * *
Babylon 5. The Office of the Commanding Officer, 1400 hrs, Jan 11th.
"I'm only going to say this once, William..." Captain Sheridan mused, as William sat on the other side of the desk, his gaze intent. "When Delenn told me what it was was you did, I could scarcely credit the news."
"It's true, I'm afraid, Captain; we were both on Z'ha'dum, if for very different reasons, and the end results of that visit have been dramatic, for both of us. As the Entil'zha may or may not have mentioned, the knowledge of my visit cannot be allowed to grow beyond those who know already, and I have sworn, in Valen's Name, to uphold that order."
"Fair enough; it isn't as if we don't have enough to do, without concerning ourselves over what happened there." Sheridan shook his head, and leaned back. "Though I'm afraid that may stay with us for the rest of our lives."
"I won't argue with you, sir...because what you say is, of course, the truth. But that was then, and this is now, and at the moment, 'now' is more criticial to address. What are your orders for the White Star Fleet, sir?"
Sheridan raised an eyebrow at his directness, but then continued on just that tangent. "Well...since Delenn summoned the White Star Fleet here in preparation for the attack she wanted to make on Z'ha'dum, it only makes sense that we keep some of them here on standby, waiting for the League and the rest to gather their forces here...but that's going to take a little while, and we need to keep our eyes and ears open for further developments.
Sooner or later, the Shadows are bound to come to their senses, and respond to the attacks the Vorlons are making on their bases..."
"Almost certainly, sir...yes."
"When that happens, we have to know about it right away. We need White Stars in as many sectors as we can manage, while still keeping a sizable reserve in orbit, here. Can that be done??"
He nodded. "Yes, sir...of course. We now possess enough ships in the fleet to have units patrolling the local galactic region, while, at the same time, maintaining the reserve you describe."
"Good!"
"Is there anything else, for now, sir??"
Sheridan thought on that comment for a minute, and then made up his mind. "That's not enough to keep you busy, Mr. Westcastle??"
He smiled. "I take your point, sir; good day."
* * *
A while later. The Ranger Compound.
The meeting place between the crystal towers of the Compound was only just barely big enough to fit in all those who commanded ships of the Fleet, whether they thought of themselves as 'captains' or 'Val'na' was unimportant...the reason they had come to this place was quite clear. So soon after the startling return of Captain Sheridan, they were about to be addressed by he who stood among them in secret as another who had done the impossible. It was said by many that the Rimstalker had *also* gone to Z'ha'dum to save his Observer, and now, along with their other Sha'vei, the Commands of the Second Coming of William Westcastle were about to be passed down.
A rustle passed among those at the back of the gathering, and those at the front turned, and then moved aside in a great rush, as the sea of Ranger commanders parted, to make way for their Sha'vei'e. For now, Vikotal ramained in the background, and all who stood there could see that while the Rimstalker had returned, he had not returned unchanged. The beard he had worn before was now gone, and from his left temple, a silver streak of hair waved among the black that had not been there before.
"The stories and rumours you have heard are TRUE...I went to Z'ha'dum, as Captain Sheridan did; and I returned, not to lead you above all others, but because my dedication to our cause was enough that I found the courage, with aid least expected, to overcome the fear of death.
This is a fear we all have had, from time to time..a fear that we, as Anla'shok, have been trained to overcome. And now, the greatest test of all stands near at hand...soon, the Army of Light will stand combined, and our Swords will ride forth, to end what must be ended. The Vorlons and the Shadows cannot be allowed to do what it is they are attempting. But before we stop them, we must first return to that which we have done before...to walk along the borders of what is, to watch and wait, to report, to WARN those who lead us, the Entil'zha, and Captain Sheridan, of what walks out in the darkness.
We are Anla'shok, and it is our duty; we walk into the dark places no others will enter!" and with that, the whole gathering echoed him, "We stand on the bridge, and NO ONE shall pass!!
We live for the One..we die for the One."
* * *
And so it was, that even as a small, critical portion of the White Star Fleet stayed behind, the rest went to walk among the dark paths of the Night, and watch, and wait, and observe what was, and what would be. And for a small select few among the Rangers, and elsewhere, their wait would be all too short.
To be continued...
* * *
Next: Even as word comes to William and Jennifer of Nighthawk's destruction, Brianna is caught up in the maelstrom of events surrounding Ulkesh's destruction, and the mysterious Tall Man and his followers arrive at Babylon 5. "Armageddon In the Hinterlands", the next part of "The Riders On the Storm", coming soon..!