**No one must forget that this was where it all started. The instant we jumped out of Jovian space that fateful day, following the moment when the General and the Loyalists exchanged fire for the first time, we had become moving targets, a focus for the deception of fear that everyone else felt. There are those who castigate me for these statements, but after all these years, I am not so sure that I care, any longer. What General Ivanova would later call "The Long March" began in that jump...but to start with, it was more of a 'Long Run' then anything else.
We ran. And those who didn't run fast enough...died."**
Capt. Bethany Tikopai (ret) from "The History of the Earth Alliance Civil War"
* * *
Apr 9th, 2260, 2300 hrs, EST..enroute to Orion VII Colony, night rotation.
The seat, for now, was his, whether or not this meant anything was an unanswered question, however. His captain had collapsed in a collapse of sheer exhaustion less then five hours before, and he was damned if he was going to wake her up yet. Orion VII was still hours away..and there was no guarentee that they would be able to catch up with the General and Captain Hiroshi in time to do any good in the slightest.
But they had to *try*.
He sighed, and briefly examined the status board. The fleet(no one, now, in any of those ships, or his, would call them carrier groups any longer...not as long as this lasted, in any case) was standing at full battle readiness. NIOBE and APHRODITE advanced side by side, less then three kilometers apart, while around and behind moved the only slightly less deadly forms of their five escorts.
For now, there was safety, for now...for his Captain's first action upon jumping had been to fix onto the first of the Babylon jump series beacons, and then, in a, they hoped, unexpected move, had shifted the fleet to the Pepinia and then the Orion jump paths, passing through as many mixed transfer gates on different paths as was possible. This, it was hoped, would give them...at least several hours of breathing space when they reached their ultimate destination...
"CAG to command..." the brisk and to the point voice of Lieutenant Arietta Gage resounded in the bridge, "Sensor sweeps have detected a vessel imbound, on intercept course, approx ten minutes to fleet firing range; the angle of approach suggests that the vessel is approaching from the Rim. The vessel has, as of yet, not answered hails of any kind, running silent. Orders?"
The banished sense of unease returned, and he briefly met the eyes of Lieutenant Telluride, who inclined his head in agreement. Paul Telluride's replacement had, to her astonishment, been placed in command of the fleet's eight fighter squadrons, above older pilots in the squadrons...but she was a brilliant tactician, and was using the rest, as advisors, to good effect thus far.
"Dispatch five of our Thunderbolts to investigate, Lieutenant. They are to first determine the nature of the incoming vessel, and, if hostile, they are to extracate themselves from any firefight that may result. Beyond that, tactical decisions will be made by Command staff."
"Understood, sir; so we are to run weapons hot?"
"Affirmative; be ready for immediate engagement. There is no second chance in our situation. If that ship and its fighter group are hostile, and they get within range..."
"Clear..CAG out." Without pause, five of the heavy Thunderbolt fighters wheeled off of position, and vanished into the murk, while another complete squadron advanced to the 'pole position' point, above and ahead of the two destroyers. All being well, there wasn't going to be any problem...
"Vessel in sight.." the leader of the dispatched group reported. "We've got a Nova Class Dreadnought, six Starfuries accompanying....vessel is the Nova Class Dreadnought ARLINGTON, sir."
"EAS ARLINGTON.." Lieutenant Telluride reported, his face a mask. "Captain Richard Hawking; Rim exploration duties in Sector 744...I imagine it's taken them this long just to jump into the inner colonies."
"They're continuing their intecept, sir." the operations officer added, "Although, as yet, they have yet to fire on our advance fighter group." One hand suddenly went to the comm sensor in his ear. "Hold...message coming in."
"NIOBE, this is the ARLINGTON. If you are able, respond."
"This is the NIOBE." he responded, rising to his feet.
Captain Hawking's silver bearded visage appeared on a nearby screen, and he nodded. "Commander...good evening. Can I assume that your dear captain is currently curled up in a convient corner someplace, dead to the world?"
"That's...an interesting way of putting it, sir."
Hawking nodded, a twinkle in his eye. "And I'm also going to assume, that by now, we don't have to go through that 'Omega Naught' crap any more, hmm?"
He smiled, and finally relaxed. "Affirmative; good to hear your voice, sir...for a while there, though, we weren't sure who was intercepting us."
"Damn right." Captain Hawking's gravelly voice replied, as the ARLINGTON completed its arc, and fell in below and behind the fleet's trailing heavy cruisers. "There are a number of groups and destroyers coming in from the rim, son, and most of them aren't friendly towards our cause in the slightest. Now, I'm going to assume that Captain McRobert and the others are in bed, too...so you're probably in charge of the fleet for the moment...I won't, for the time being, usurp your right. I'm near to falling asleep on my feet myself.
For now, I'll be blunt...what's our status, and what happened in Earthspace? Communications between the General and I have been spotty since the beginning, so it's up to you to update me, Commander."
"Most everything went completely to hell at Jupiter, sir, and it was only quick thinking on the part of the Captain that allowed us to escape with our ships intact, and a lot of cross-beacon shifting in the last twelve hours. For now, we've managed to stay silent and low...but it is our intention, if possible, to rendezvous with the ALEXANDER and CHURCHILL at Orion VII before heading out to the rendezvous point."
"I see...so the General's ahead of us all, then."
"And making his run as visible as possible, I'm afraid...as per the orders we all received, he's going to stick to that. He's got at least one, and maybe two carrier groups trailing him, and even we're, at most, a day ahead of at least half a dozen more. The moment we jump out at Orion VII, they're going to know where we are, but we don't have a choice...no one can stay in hyperspace forever."
"So; those that stand still aren't going to fare well, then, are they?"
"No, sir...I suspect we've got maybe two days, three on the outside, before all the mid range colonies fall under the gun, whether or not they accept the orders of the President...and of them all, the Orion Colonies, Proxima and Mars are the least likely, in my opinion."
"Accepted...but for now, I'm going to stop boring you with the sound of my voice, and call it a night, Commander. We know where we going, and it's been one HELL of a long jump in from the Rim."
He laughed. "*Yes, sir*. NIOBE out."
* * *
Nearby, but not. Another conversation...
"An impressive collection of ships."
"I would rather call them...dangerous. It is our understanding that at least several more rebel ships wait at the Orion Colonies, and with General Hague still on the run, drawing most of the fire, this group must be intercepted and stopped before it grows any larger."
A nod. "We agree, then; I will send the message."
* * *
Babylon 5. The Beginning of the End...
0330 hrs. 10 Apr 2260.
They ran, gasping, but the rest...the *rest* had fallen into a trap, a trap they tried to tell them about; and now, it was too late. They ran, because there was no going back any longer.
Sargeant Marc Jeffries was unlucky enough to call himself their leader, and they were only five. Whether or not there was anywhere to run anymore was a question he did not want answered, but it was clear what HAD happened.
Dozens of the organization he and the others had chosen to join had been trapped...tricked by Zack Allen, who had supposedly been *one of them*...and in the end, Zack had ended up by turning to the traitor Sheridan.
There was not enough of them to do any harm...not yet, at least; but before this had happened, their commanders had agreed upon a rendezvous point, in a remote part of the Central Garden, should anything go wrong...there was no one about, thankfully, being the middle of the night, and with Martial Law only just raised by the Captain, the Garden was empty...more silent then it ever was. Jeffries smiled; as long as they avoided the Narns, all would be well.
The rendezvous point was dark and silent when they arrived; a securities and technology center built by one of the original investors in the Babylon Project, and now, used exclusively by the Earth Government, for their own purposes..and for the last two months, that purpose had been a Nightwatch training center. A deep unease swept through him...were they the *only* ones who had escaped?
"Oh my God!" Melina Jkarte, one of his people, exclaimed, as Marc moved into the center. "Sergeant...come here!"
The scene was not pleasant; contorted in various positions on the floor of the center were over half a dozen members of the Nightwatch...all unconscious, many with bruises. What had happened here?
"Fan out.." he ordered. "Ensure that we can secure ourselves an area to plan our next move. Virian, see if you can wake up some of the casualties... Melina, secure the door, everyone else, form a perimeter...make sure there isn't anyone else in here with us."
And then, things happened all of a sudden; a short 'shnnk' sound rang through the darkened interior, and Melina cried out...a cry that was instantly silenced. Before he could even move, he half observed three more forms reach out of the darkness, and those same, silvery...deadly sounds rang through the Center once more. Marc felt his mouth drop open, but did nothing to prevent it. His perimeter had been ruthlessly, efficiently...elliminated.
With a snarl, he unhooked his PPG. "I don't know who the *Hell* you are, but you won't get me!"
"Who we are will soon become apparent.." a woman's voice announced out of the darkness, and of a sudden, a pool of light flashed into being, and the, to his surprise, young lady stepped into it. He narrowed his eyes...who and what WAS this? Auburn haired, and with eyes of icy determination, dressed all in black, the woman looked to be death incarnate...the only setting pieces were the emerald jewel on her breast, and the five foot long, silvery pike twirling slowly in her left hand. "And as for 'getting you', Mr. Jeffries, that happened the instant you stepped into this building."
He narrowed his eyes, and attempted a threatening grin. "Don't try to play games with me!...you may be fancy with that stick of yours, but you can't get to me faster then I can cut you down. All your little helpers are busy at the moment, it seems."
"Is that what you think?" the woman replied, an icy smile on her face...and suddenly, the room was once again plunged into darkness. "We are everywhere...and nowhere, when you cannot see us."
"We are more then you believe..." another voice intoned, and he whirled, to see two Minbari, dressed as the woman had been, staffs at the ready. "You cannot see all of us at the same time, your vision is limited, friend. When you least expect us to appear, there we shall be!"
The darkness returned, and he circled, panic rising. "Don't make me...WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"
A laugh in the darkness. "You called yourself...Nightwatch, did you not? A force to stand against the evils that threaten Earth. You were looking for the wrong thing, and using the wrong tools. You threaten, bully and detain...all, you believed, in the name of TERROR. Terror, you liked to believe your calling card, you listened to Mister Welles, and it sank into your soul; if I can terrorize others, and feel good about it, then *everything's* okay...the President's right, Martial Law is great, no problems.
You are incorrect; *everything* is wrong, most of all your application of terror. You are using it for the wrong reasons, and at the wrong time. I am Anla'shok...*we* are Anla'shok, and we are about to teach you a very important lesson about terror."
The blow came unseen, and the PPG sailed off across the floor. The unseen that had struck him retreated into the darkness, but rage had taken over now, and he rushed after. "I deny you...all of you!! I don't *care* who or what you are, but I use terror because it is *right* to do so...I am Nightwatch, I am supposed to stand against you!"
"You do not even know what it *is* that you do stand for...and therin lies the error; you used terror in the *name* of terror, and for no other reason, and thus, we pass sentence."
Marc Jeffries never saw the final blow come, and it was just as well.
Three pools of light sprang into being, and into them stepped the forms of Tharvonn, Shival and Jennifer. Shival inclined his head briefly towards his commander. "Impressive; for the first time, I can understand the Entil'zha's trust in your abilities...you *understand*."
She sighed, and turned her back on the fallen man of the Nightwatch. "He used terror for no other reason then to dominate...we used terror in the name of justice, Shival. A very important distinction, is it not?"
Shival only smiled.
She turned to the rest of her people, and smiled in turn. None had been injured; and all had gone well. Even now, Narn security was drawing near to collect those they had trapped in the circle of Terror, but would it be enough? The time of the crux was drawing near...for even her Rangers could not help against the lasers and boarding craft that would inevitably come.
* * *
Deep space. Sveral jumps from Babylon 5.
Brianna dreamed the dreams of darkness once more, but the dreams of fire were becoming more frequent of late...
And then, once again, an unexpected surprise, as Kosh appeared in her mind. Brianna glanced down at herself, and was unsurprised to see her clothes flickering..the flames, it seemed, almost engulfed her.
"Kosh...what does this *mean*?"
##The Next Prodigal arrives. Prevent the Fire.##
"Where?...*what* Prodigal?"
##The First Beyond; the Prodigal Daughter must be saved.## Kosh's iris opened wide, and a brilliant glare emerged. Brianna blinked, and then almost gasped...a vision hung before her.
Proxima III.
"He won't want to...I have to give him a better reason then that!"
##Then give the Stalker THIS##
Brianna screamed.
* * *
"Absolutely not!!" William exclaimed, while in front of him, the Minbari named Vezonn stood resolute, and behind, Talion shook his head and tried not to laugh. "In Valen's Name, Vezonn, it is *imperative* that you make it to Babylon 5...the information you hold is imperative to the outcome of the coming war; Delenn must know what you know!...and as such, I am prepared to detach members of this crew to accompany, and protect you."
"Sha'vei, please! Your help was most needed when the need was there." Vezonn replied, his gaze resolute, "But I work best when I'm alone...and thus, unnoticed. A large group moving is noticable, while a single Ranger, unobtrusive, can succeed against all odds. I assure you, I will reach Delenn...I *must*, there is no longer any option; actions must be taken, if it is allowed."
William sighed, and nodded. "Your arguments have merit, Vezonn; I've learned that the hard way, over time. Very well; we will provide you with the Ranger craft available to us, go with all speed, but be careful."
"That may not be easy; as soon as I reappear, there is a chance our enemies will find me again...but I must take that chance." Vezonn bowed, a bow returned by the two other Rangers. "I will see you again, Sha'vei, upon your return to Babylon 5." The Minbari turned, and left the bridge.
"That comment..." Talion remarked dryly, "Depends on there still *being* a Babylon 5 for us to return to."
William grimaced; the reports coming in of the forces President Clark arrayed against the Earthforce rebels were difficult to read; it was clear they would attack the station soon, and *Jennie* was there. He couldn't think about it...not now.
"Talion...if you're trying to depress me, it's working."
"Not intentional, I assure you."
And then, the unexpected...
"William!" Brianna exclaimed, as she rushed onto the bridge, "Kosh sent me a message...we have to go to Proxima III, and I do mean, *right NOW*!"
"What? Why???"
"I..." Brianna squirmed for a moment. "It's complicated."
"You want us to go into the *heart* of the lion's den...and you won't tell me WHY?"
"It's vitally important; we have to save somebody...we'll find out who once we get there; Kosh gave me the impression that it could change the course of the War...or maybe a future one. I'm not sure about the details, yet, but I do know that if we don't go, a lot of people *could* die...us included."
"I'm supposed to do this based on a *hunch*?"
"A Vorlon hunch, remember." Talion reminded him.
"That's another thing I didn't need a reminder about, thanks."
"Kosh thought you might doubt." Brianna whispered. "He told me to show you this." She touched his neck, and he jumped.
An image of fear...and of darkness; of him, and many he knew; an image of Candles, a casket, and...death.
He opened his eyes, and reached up to touch the tear waiting on his cheek. "I..."
"That WILL happen if we don't go..I don't know why, only that Kosh is RIGHT about this, William. We don't have a choice...not if you want to prevent that."
He took a deep breath, and nodded. "Talion?"
"Ready."
"Set course for Proxima III."
* * *
Orion VII Colony, Apr 11, 2260.
"Jump out complete." Deitrich announced, his face grim.
"Status?"
"No sign of any Earthforce ships insystem, and NO sign of either the ALEXANDER or the CHURCHILL, or any other unit, for that matter."
We should have gotten here sooner, Bethany told herself; but the General got too far ahead of us, moving in a straight line, while we bounced from gate to gate in the name of secrecy and survival. And now...
"Message coming in from the Orion VII Colony." the Commander reported, a frown growing on his face. "They want to talk to you, ma'am."
"Put them on."
"Captain Tikopai...this is Randell Keynes, Colony Administrator; General Hague wished me to pass on a message to you, and it's quite simple, and I will agree, after all that I've seen. The Orion system isn't safe for you, or any of your ships...get out of here, while you still can!"
"Would you care to elaborate on that, Mr. Keynes?" she inquired.
"Yeah, I would; Hague's ship jumped in here with a full group behind them. Some of those jumped again, and one was destroyed in combat with Hague's destroyer...but I think *some* of them might still be around, waiting for you!"
"Oh Hell!." Deitrich exclaimed.
"Oh Hell, Commander?"
"We've got FIVE jump points forming, ma'am!...right on top of us!"
The bridge fell silent, and there appeared to be only one thing that needed to be said, to start with, at least...
"Oh Hell."
Next: Battles, Rescues, Betrayals, you name it, the next part has it..as well as, oh yeah, some sort of secession, was it?