Disclamers: Babylon 5 and it's characters and universe are owned by JMS, Warner Brothers and TNT. The story is mine and the characters of Nt'Both, the Zes, the Gmiths, Bzed, and Zabmi are mine. This story is for the enjoyment of the reader and not intended to infringe on any copyrights
This story takes place right after 'The Primeval War' ends, the reader is encouraged to read that story first.
The Awaking Storm
by
AJ Marks
Part 1
"My Lord, we're ready to leave." A large muscular dark haired soldier said to the smaller man who was escorting an even smaller woman down the corridor towards the living quarters. As he spoke to the man he bowed towards the small woman who did not even come up to his chest.
"Then tell the captain to leave at his discretion, I leave it up to him." The smaller man said. "Tell the admiral that I do not wished to be disturbed on the way home."
"Yes my Lord." The soldier said again bowing to the small woman before walking away towards the bridge. As he walked away several more soldiers walked by, they were even taller than he was.
"Are they all that tall?" The soldier heard the woman say in the ancient language as he walked away. When he first saw her he had assumed that she was human, but was quickly told that she was a D'Naorg, a non-clone. D'Naorgs were extremely rare, and to be able to speak the ancient language was even rarer. To be disrespectful to any D'Naorg was considered to be the worst act of treason one could do. He went out of his way to treat her like a princess. It had been along time since he had seen another D'Naorg other than his lord.
The couple watched the soldier walk away before the man replied to her. "Most soldiers are around his size, they made for good strong soldiers, and there are smaller ones that serve as royal guards."
"Why make them smaller?" She asked a bit puzzled. "I would think that the large guards would be better?"
"In a way, perhaps!" He replied, leading her once again down the corridor. "However, guards that are the same size as I am do not attract as much attention, and we have been avoiding arousing suspicion."
"How can you do that?"
"Our race looks just like the human race, and the humans are a race that loves to travel and explore. It is that trait that has allowed us to travel around undetected." He said taking her hand. "A group of large guards would attract unwanted attention. Our race has changed a whole lot since we last saw each other."
"How long has it been?" She asked hesitantly, fearing his answer.
"I'm not exactly sure, but so long that races have been born and died since I last saw you."
She turned towards him and looked at him. "Then how...?" She asked raising her hand to stroke his cheek.
"Its a long story." He said capturing her hand with his. "I'll tell you later, I promise." He smiled, "but right now I think you could use some sleep." He led her to the bed.
"What I really want is a bath." She said. "I haven't had one in a while."
"All this ship has is a shower. Would that do?"
"I don't care at the moment, I still feel dirty after lying in that med lab."
"Ok, one shower coming right up madam." He said with a mock bow.
"Stop that!" She said playfully slapping his shoulder. "Its bad enough that everyone else is bowing without you doing it also. Come to think of it, why are they bowing to me?" She now asked, her playful look replaced with one of curiosity.
"That is also part of the story that I'll tell you later, I promise." He said leading her toward the shower. A while later they returned to the bedroom so she could get some rest.
"Here," he said handing her a shirt of his. "I'm afraid that we don't stock pajamas on board the ship, so my shirt will have to do."
"It'll be just fine." she replied with a giggle. "Remember, I used to wear your shirts when I slept over at your apartment?" Her smile faded as she looked into his eyes. "What?" She whispered.
"Nothing!" He said with a shake of his head. "Its just been so, so long." He whispered while cupping her cheek with his hand, feeling the softness of her skin beneath his fingertips. "Come on, let's get some sleep." He said sliding into the bed. She willingly complied and snuggled up against him, quickly falling asleep.
He looked at her sleeping face, she was as pretty as the first day he saw her. 'If this is a dream, then don't let me wake up.' he thought. He looked over at the table beside the bed and saw the necklace he wore. He picked it up and opened the charm up. Inside were two faded pictures, one of him, the other was the young woman he held right now. They were both going to have to adjust, he was going to have to get used to having her here and she would have to get used to the passage of millions of years. He could still remember that fateful day when the Zeb came.
Bzed walked over to open his door to his apartment. He knew who it was and wondered why she did not just come right in, then he remembered that she had left her keys at his place yesterday.
He opened the door to let a very happy Zambi inside.
"Did you hear yet?" She asked giving him a quick hug.
"Hear what?" He replied, he had been up for just a little bit, and had not seen the news yet.
"I can't believe that you haven't heard, the entire world is talking about it." She said, a smile gracing her lovely face. "One of the listening posts, you know the ones looking for intelligent life?" She said watching as he nodded his head. "Last night they picked up something, then this morning they received a message that they are on their way here to meet our race." She said, excitement rolling off her small frame infecting him as well.
"How do they know that this isn't a trick?" He said, not really wanting to dampen her mood. "After all, there was that one call last year that was proven to be a hoax."
"No it isn't." She said shaking her head making her hair swish from side to side. "They installed better equipment shortly after that to insure that that wouldn't happen again." She said sitting down on the couch in his main room watching him walk into the kitchen to make himself some breakfast.
"Do you want anything?" He asked her from the kitchen.
"Well, now that you mention it, I could use something to drink." She answered taking her shoes off and lying back onto the couch. "I could use a ficitis drink."
"Ok, one ficitis drink coming right up." Bzed said from the kitchen. She heard some rattling and the sounds of a drink being poured into a glass. A short while later he came back into the room with a glass for her as well as some food for himself for breakfast.
"Here you go." He said as he set the glass down and sat down next to her and placed his food in front of him. "Now, what else do you have to say about these 'aliens' that are coming here?" He questioned her looking in her eyes.
"They said that they were going to come today, and they will be touching down near us." She said with excitement.
"I suppose your gonna drag me there." He said with a grin in her direction.
"I thought that I would just ask you really nicely." She said with a sexy grin.
Bzed just groaned at her. 'Damn, why does she have to be so sexy.' He thought to himself eating some of his breakfast, then offering her some of his food as well, which she readily food and ate it.
''So when is this alien craft suppose to visit us?" Bzed asked her.
"Mmm, not until midday." She replied taking another swallow of her drink. She was quite excited about the fact that aliens were going to be landing here soon. ''We should leave soon if we want to get a good spot to see the alien visitors."
Bzed sighed; he knew that she would drag him down there to watch. He really did not care about this event. Zambi could do just about anything and he would be powerless to stop her.
A short time later Bzed had finished his breakfast and after taking the dishes into the kitchen he walked back into the room where Zambi was still sitting.
"I guess we should leave soon if we are to get a good spot to see these aliens." Bzed said to Zambi who's eyes lit up in delight with his words.
Bzed looked down at Zambi who was sleeping snugly in his arms and thought that if he could change the past he would. He would have never taken her there.
He still could not believe his luck when he heard form his sensor scout that one of his own had been found, and for that person to have been Zambi was unbelievable. There was over a thousand slave shuttles that were never accounted for, and there was hope that one day some would be found. He had never hoped that not only one shuttle would be found and that some of the passengers would still be alive. His scientists had come up with a theory about why the ship had made the time travel.
Some of the explanations of the jump gate activity when the ship came through did provide some of information. The only thing they could really conclude was that the shuttle was about to enter the jump gate when some of the Gmihs warships reentered normal space after a hyper fold jump. They could only conclude that the reaction of the shuttles jump engines with the immense power of the fold engines. They speculated that the forces involved in the time jump had ample energy at both ends of its jump. On the beginning of the jump it was the engines of their warships provided the power to begin the jump and the energy of the idle jump gate provided the energy to reenter normal space.
Zambi stirred and Bzed looked down in time to see her go from sleep to awake. Her eyes slowly opened and she looked at him.
"How long have I been out?" She asked him.
"You got a good night sleep." He replied.
"But you didn't sleep, did you?" She said knowingly.
"No I didn't." He answered honestly. "I was busy thinking."
"About that morning?" She said appearing to read his mind.
"Yeah, it was the last time that I saw you." He said giving her another hug. "That was until yesterday and I walked through the med lab door on Babylon 5 and I about passed out from shock."
"I was glad to see you, but what has happened?" She asked.
Bzed was silent for a long time and Zambi thought for a moment that he would not answer. He took a deep breath before answering her. "After the attack I found myself in an underground bunker when I woke up. The last thing that I remembered was being in the field sitting with you when they started their attack. The healers said that I asked for you constantly."
She gave him a hug realizing how much he cared for her.
"I had been out for several days, I learned that we had tried to fight, but they were just to advanced for us to fight back. I found my way to the underground resistance, there were just trying to survive. It took a while before I was able to reach the resistance, but when I did, well." Bzed just shook his head at the memory. "They were disorganized and leaderless. Everyone was trying to fight and lead. There was no communication between anyone and we were just going out for the slaughter, something had to be done."
"That's horrible, how may were left?" She asked him still embraced in the hug.
"At that time, I don't know!" Bzed said growing silent again trying to think back to those days so long ago and when the battle was just starting. "I guess there were still about half a million of us left scattered across the planet."
"Only that many?" She said in disbelief.
"It took a while until we were able to make contact with an alliance against the enemy, at that time we still didn't have know who, or what, we were up against." He took a deep breath before continuing. "We still don't really know where they came from or why they were doing what they were doing. That was something no one could ever explain, and we had lots of people from lots of different races trying to deceiver their psychology."
"When did you start to really fight back?"
"We were able to acquire several warships and we were able to build a couple of more ships and we they decided to attack our enemy, I was against it from the beginning telling them that we didn't have enough firepower or ships to even try to battle them straight on, but they decided to go ahead with the plan."
"They were defeated, weren't they?" Zambi asked already knowing the answer.
"They never stood a chance." Bzed replied reliving the battle and the slaughter that took place. "We were going after one of their bases that was close. Their ships came out of what looked like at the time like stars and just tore us to pieces. Their technology was just overwhelming, even with our allies. I was barely able to make it back, I managed to grapple on to one of their ships and it took me back to our home planet. I had a bird's eye view as they destroyed our planet again and again. I released my ship just before they jumped to go back to their bases, I was brought on board an allied ship that was passing through the sector to see if there was any survivors left from the attack."
"How many were they able to rescue?"
"Only about fifty."
"Fifty!" She echoed his statement in a whisper.
"Yes, but I have learned things over the course of time, something I didn't understand but most races have something similar to it, regardless of how dark things become the universe always seems to create a balance between the light and the dark."
"What do you mean?"
"Most of those who survive were scientists, our smartest. With most of our race destroyed there wasn't much we didn't experiment with. Our allies thought we were crazy when we started to experiment with combinations of electromagnetics and protoplasma, the result was an explosive mixture that defied all mathematics." Bzed said recalling the costly explosion that resulted in the destruction of the lab they were working in and the loss of two of them. "One of the races that we encountered had developed cloning and with a lot of experimentation we combined the new material that resulted from the mixture of the electromagnetic and the protoplasma we were able to develop a new super breed of Gmihs. They are stronger and more robust, along with the ability to survive in the vacuum of space for a small period of time."
"That sounds incredible." Zambi said looking up to Bzed's face. "Is that part of the reason that you are still alive and are these people that are around us a result of those clones?"
"Yes, that mixture that I called EPE, has multiple abilities, including the ability to slow down the aging process, almost making the person seem immortal."
"Almost?"
"There is no such thing as immortality Zambi, dear, only a slowing of the aging process. With the build up of a new supply of warriors and builders we were able to build a new, bigger and stronger fleet. With the addition of the EPE to the engines, the power output increased over a hundred times more. It gave our inferior weapons the power to compete with our enemy's weaponry. We developed jump engines more advanced than any ever know, they actually fold space to make the trip almost instantaneous from one side of the galaxy to the other."
"Wow! That's incredible, where did you strike first?"
"The planet Anisk." He replied watching her reaction.
"That's where I was leaving when everything just went crazy." She replied softly feeling his arms tighten around her to comfort her. "I think I hit my head, cause when I came to I was in the med lab back at that station, ah, Babylon 5 with a bunch of people that I couldn't understand standing around me."
"The energy signature alerted some of our scouts to something was happening at Babylon 5, so I went to investigate, and saw you in that med lab looking absolutely terrified."
"That was because of the picture."
"I realize that now." Bzed said remembering seeing the picture that Michael Garibaldi had shown her. "They didn't know who they were, but the technology was definability Zed in origin."
"You mean it wasn't them." Zambi asked in disbelief.
"You could say that those who remained at the end of the war left, went to another dimension." Bzed told her. "Over time the only thing we have learned about them is that they are cowards, they refuse to fight themselves. They used clones against us, but the last couple of times they give technology to young races with the promise of more when the task is complete, but the only thing they would get would be their deaths."
"So their cowards?" She asked wanting conformation.
"Yes, when we destroyed their ability to make clones they panicked and quickly left to another dimension and we weren't able to follow, there was too many different dimensions and we didn't want something even worse to come through, that was something the Vorlons forgot."
"Oh, what happened?" She asked quite intrigued.
"Well, the invented a gateway to another dimension, they thought that they were gods, but forgot that a door swings both ways and a stronger force cam through." He told her. "They were nothing compared to the Zes, and the Vorlons were able to defeat them, and they lost the gateway. It wasn't rediscovered until recently by the crew of Babylon 5. They managed to reactivate the gate and a battle took place, but they managed to destroy the gate and those who managed to flee, well, they were unlucky enough to run into one of our cruisers."
"So the short version of the story is that you defeated the Zes, they fled to another dimension and haven't been heard of since until recently." She said trying to summarize the story.
"That's right." He said kissing the top of her head. "But its not the first time they have tried coming back, that's why we keep waiting, but perhaps we will find out where they went and defeat them once and for all." Bzed said with a wishful voice.
"How many are left?" Zambi said catching Bzed off guard and he looked at her strangely so she repeated her question. "How many of us are left?"
"Oh, well." Bzed said and hesitated a little bit. "I'm afraid it's just the two of us now. And only you are unchanged in any way."
"Is that why the soldiers bowed to me when we came on board?" She asked him.
"Yes, what little society there is revolves around the D'Naorg, the term that the soldiers came up with for the non-clones. They feel that to not treat a D'Naorg like royalty is treason, and that is something that they feel is punishable by death."
"Whoa!" She breathed. "I've gone from no one, to a slave to royalty, if only my parents could see me now."
"They're still watching, now more so because your here." Bzed said. "Remember, the dead can hear your thoughts."
"I know, but it's been so long."
"Let's discuss this at a later time. We should be approaching our home base." Bzed said. "I'll get you settled in, then we can discuss the future, because I doubt you'll want to stay here forever."
"I've been thinking Delenn." John Sheridan told his wife as they were lying in bed before they had to get up and start their day.
"About what?" She asked him turning her head so she could see his eyes.
"About the Gmihs and Zes, and about something that G'Kar told me." John said remembering a conversation he had with the Narn about a new race that was attacking the weaker Alliance members. He had the Security Council sent to a planet that held some clues about the new race, but the Valen had been destroyed and the council almost lost if it had not been for a great ranger captain. "G'Kar mentions something last year about an ancient race, billions of years older than the Shadows, and how they were nothing but darkness. The races working for them called them the Hand."
"Do you think that this 'Hand' race and the Zes could be the same race?"
"It's possible, I want to reread those reports." John said. "And I would like to compare the ships that each side used."
"And what if they are the same, then what do we do?" Delenn asked.
"I don't know Delenn, I just don't know." John replied, then got up with a groan and walked to the kitchen to put on some coffee.
Delenn lay there for a few more minutes thinking. She knew that she would have to contact Mimbar and ask if the ranger captain was still alive. The combined fleets of all the races that had contributed at the battle had lost heavily. She knew that the Rangers were in the process of designing a new White Star cruiser. This one would be larger and incorporate some of the technology in the Excalibur that was building. There was still several White Stars being built and they were initially built to replace the loses from the Shadow War, now they would barely bring the fleet back up to operational standards.
Delenn reluctantly got up and joined her husband in the kitchen. John handed her a cup of tea, as she never quite got used to coffee, it must be a human thing John thought as very few races like it.
"I'm going to need to talk to the council today also, I think we can help in the fight against this Zes race." John said to his wife.
"And just how are we going to do that?" She asked.
"By providing the most important thing we can, information." John said. "The Zes destroyed five planets before they got here, I think if we all allowed some sort of recon force for the Gmih, then the next time, perhaps we could stop the Zes cold before any more planets are destroyed."
"Will they be willing to help?" Delenn asked.
"Which would you rather have at Membari, a Gmih sensor or a Zes battle fleet destroying your planet? I think the ambassador of Hrigoth would have taken the sensor, his planet might still be there."
"Ok, suppose they agree to this, then how do we contact the Gmih John, we don't know where they went?" She replied.
"That's the only thing I don't know." John said. "Its the one thing that I've been going over and over in my head and the only answer I can come up with is to sent the Rangers with a message to all planets."
"That could be dangerous."
"I know, but I would rather do that then wait for another Zes attack." John said.
"Yes, that is a better course of action, I will see what the Gray Council decides and I'll have their decision for the council. I think we should talk to the Centari and the Narns, if both agree it will heavily influence the council." Delenn said.
"That's a good idea, I'll contact Earth Gov and talk to them." John said. "Well, lets eat breakfast, it's going to be a long day." John said as they sat down.
Michael Garibaldi sat down on the ship and was reading the reports that were coming in. So far there was no more reports of the Zes, and that could be considered good news. The only thing of real importance was the influx of refugees that were left without a home world. The Zes had managed to destroy several worlds before they were stopped, but Garibaldi could not help but wonder how many worlds had been destroyed before they knew about it.
Garibaldi was wondering what type of news he would receive from his informant on Centari Prime. Now that Vir was the emperor things between the alliance and the Centari Empire had smoothed out. Vir was proving to be a wonderful emperor and a great healer of the Centari spirit. There were still a great many things to improve with Centari ever since the destruction that the remnants of the Shadow legacy had created. But there was something else that was nagging in the back of his mind that he just could not grasp. All he knew was that it had to do with G'Kar. Garibaldi wished that the Narn was still around; he had a great way of speaking and making people understand.
"Bridge to Mr. Garibaldi!" The voice over the intercom said.
"Garibaldi here!" He replied wondering what was up, he knew that they would not reach Centari Prime for another couple of hours.
"There's a message coming in for you from President Sheridan."
"Ok, thanks." Michael said and activated the consul to see John's face. John, good morning, what can I do for you?"
"Hey Michael." John said greeting Michael before asking his question. "Something's been bugging me Michael, and it's about the Zes."
"Oh, what can I do?"
"Do you remember the incident a couple of years ago when G'Kar was still alive and we almost lost the entire Security Council?" John asked him and Michael nodded and replied that he did and John continued. "The Ranger in charge of that ship said in his report that the race that had given them the technology had been banished."
"That's right!" Garibaldi said remembering the report. "I think that the report is still on Babylon 5."
"Then al I need to do is bring it up."
"Hey would you mind sending me a copy of it, there's been something bugging me and know I now that it will be in that report."
"Will do." John said. "How much longer do you think you'll be gone Michael?"
"I should be back by tomorrow morning, I think its just going to be a routine pickup, do you need me to do anything else."
"Let Vir know what's going on, I have a bad feeling something's about to happen."
"Ok, now I no longer need to sneak onto the planet. See you later John, tell Delenn hello for me."
"Can do, take care of yourself Michael and I'll see you sometime tomorrow." John said signing off.
Michael stared at the screen and just a couple of minutes later the report was in front of him.
It appeared, after Michael was finished reading the report that the race that helped destroy the Valen, could also be the Zeds. If that was the case then the entire universe could still be in jeopardy again. Unlike the previous Shadow Wars, this time they really were fighting evil.
Michael thought back to what one of the Gmihs had told him, that his race was now made up of clones. An entire race was now devoted to one task, facing the Zebs whenever they appeared so other races would have a chance at survival. It did not quite seem far to Michael that one race should have to bear this burden when there were now enough races to help in the process. The question was now how to help the Gmihs out, directly fighting the Zeds was out. Their fleets would destroy the Alliance fleet quite easily.
Michael started to pace around the small quarters he was in trying to think of a way to help. Military help was out of the question, perhaps there was a way to help them out economically, but the Gmihs did not appear to be hurting for money. They might be able to do some scouting, but it seemed like they knew a lot considering no one had seen them in a couple of thousand years.
Michael sat back in and rubbed his head in frustration. He had never been up against such a situation before where there appeared nothing he could do to help. Even in the Shadow War he had not felt so helpless, of course toward the end of the war he had been controlled by the Psi-Core to do their dirty work for them.
Garibaldi shook himself out of that train of though. He still got angry with Bexter for using him like he did.
The only thing that he could think of doing was using the Ranger to help gather the information. The Gmihs might already know about what's going on, but at least it would feel like they were helping out. He would notify Sheridan about the decision and that was about all they would be able to do.
The beeping of his comm system brought him out of his thinking.
"My Lord, we have arrived." The voice over the intercom said as Bzed answered the buzz.
"Have a shuttle standing by." Bzed said and heard the acknowledgment as he looked over at Zambi who was just now waking up from her sleep.
"Did you sleep well my dear?" He asked her.
"Yep." She said as she stretched seductively underneath the covers of the bed.
"Here, put this on." Bzed said throwing her some clothing. "I want to show you something."
"Ok." She replied jumping out of bed and pulling off the shirt she had borrowed from Bzed knowing she was naked underneath.
Bzed groaned at the sight and had to turn his back before he did something he did not want to do just yet.
Zambi looked over her shoulder to see what Bzed was doing. She saw that he was looking away from her and knew that she had gotten to him. Putting on the shirt he had given her she then told him that she was dressed.
Bzed turned around expecting her to be dressed, not what he saw. She was standing there with just a shirt on that was barely hiding anything and if anything she looked even sexier now then when she had no clothes on at all. The fact that she was holding the hem of the shirt down just added to the look.
"I thought you said you were dressed?" He said to her as his eyes swarmed over her body.
"I am." She replied innocently batting her eyelashes at him and fiddling with the hem of the shirt.
"Oh gods!" Bzed said to himself as he picked up a skirt and tossed it to her. "Put this on before one of the guards comes."
"Fine!" Zambi pouted as she quickly put the skirt on. She knew that she had been teasing Bzed but the thought of someone else seeing her naked was not something she wanted.
"There!" She said as she finished dressing.
"Thank you." Bzed said giving her a hung.
"You really wouldn't have let them see me, would you?" Zambi asked from her safe spot in the hug.
"No I wouldn't of." Bzed said reassuring Zambi then giving her butt a squeeze before letting her go.
"So what do you want to show me?" She asked with some curiosity.
"You'll find out when we get there, not before." Bzed said.
A couple of minutes later they were walking back down the hallway and again Zambi was not quite used to the respectful way she was treated by everyone else around her. Soldiers bowed and asked if they could do anything for them. It was when they reached the main hanger that Zambi was really overwhelmed. There were groups of soldiers running drills that were not there when she had arrived.
The soldier's immense size is what really shocked her. Bzed had told her that most of the soldiers were large but she did not how large they really were. Most of them seemed to be twice her size.
"You weren't kidding earlier when you said that the soldiers were huge." Zambi said in a bit of awe.
"Now you know why the guards are our size." Bzed said at her. He knew that he would have to put together an honor guard for her. She would not be content to just sit like he had done over the years.
"They really would stand out and attract attention." Zambi said as they walked up a shuttle ramp. "So what planet are we going to?"
"Our planet." Bzed said.
"Hasn't the sun burned itself out yet?" She asked.
"Well in a normal course of time it would have, but our team of scientist managed to come up with a solution to save the sun and refuel it giving it extra life." Bzed explained to her.
"That's amazing." Zambi said with awe. She felt like she had missed so much and she had so much to catch up on. "You've sacrificed so much Bzed, how to you manage it all?"
"I'm about to show you, my dear." Bzed said.
The trip to the surface did not take long and they landed close to a small-vegetated area of the planet Zambi noticed. Most of the planet looked quite bare and she commented on it.
"The planet suffered immense ecological damage and we have begun to reintroduce the animal and planet life back to the planet." Bzed said. "So far there is no dangerous animals have been introduced, but I will soon to keep the ecological balance."
They felt the shuttle touch down and the door opened to allow them outside. Bzed led her into the vegetated area and navigated her though the area. She could see the slight sight of a path that they were following, but the path either had not been used in a long time or was seldom used.
The vegetation suddenly gave way to a small grassy clearing. In the middle of the area was a bench and a large monolith with inscribing on it.
Zambi walked toward it and noticed that the inscribing was in their language. She went to investigate it closer and realized that she did not recognize any of the names.
"What are these?" Zambi said as her hand traced the inscriptions on the monolith.
"Well, that one is the Ucricacios." Bzed said tracing the word with Zambi's hand in his own. "They were a beautiful race." Zambi could hear a touch of sadness in his voice as he talked. "I watched as the last of them died in my arms, that was early in the war. I never understood what he said to me, but inscription next to the race is what he said, of course I had to put it in our letters, as I did not know their language. But his body language seem to say that he did not want to die."
"Are you saying that this is the name of a race and their last words?" Zambi asked.
"Yes, the whole monolith is made up of nothing but the names and sometimes the last words of a race that was wiped out by the Zes." Bzed said.
Zambi took a closer look at the monolith and walked around it and noticed that there were thousands, if not millions, of names on the stone. All of those races were gone because of one race, the enormity of it wanted to overwhelm her. She then noticed that the name of her race appeared on one side had no writing around it to make it stand out. The inscription below read 'We build this with our last breath, for the memory of those who no longer can, for those who visit as a remembrance of the Primeval War.'
Zambi just looked at the inscription on the stone in silence. She could barely grasp the concept that one race had destroyed so many races.
Bzed looked at Zambi and realized that she had tears in her eyes and put his arms around her. He could still see many of the faces of those who died as the last of their race. He had cried each time, and each time he had sworn vengeance against the Zes.
"Its beautiful, yet so sad and lonely." Zambi said in a quiet voice. "Has anyone else seen it?"
"Not that I'm aware of. I put a translation stone at the bottom of the structure just in case, its in what they call unilax which is a simple language to learn and one that most races use to first start communicating with each other." He said slightly tightening his hold on the women in his arms.
"I'm glad you stopped them." She said sinking back into the warm strength the arms around conveyed.
"We didn't stop them." He stated. "The went into another dimension, perhaps back to their original home or just to escape I don't know."
"But you will be there to stop them if they come again, like they just did." Zambi stated. "You're the savior of the universe."
"There were times I didn't feel like it, I would think what was the point." He took a breath and could smell the sweet scent of her hair and continued. "Then I would come here and I was able to refocus and reaffirm why I was making such a sacrifice."
Zambi allowed Bzed to talk knowing that he needed to talk about it. She would be there for him, just he would be there for her when it finally hit her that everyone she ever knew and loved except Bzed was dead.
She knew, looking at the monument in front of here that this was important to his emotional well-being. When he was not sure of what he was doing he could come here and connect with the past and his reason. Now that she was here with him again she could help him out with his cause. She knew that it was only a matter of time before he broke down to morn the loss of life that had occurred in his lifetime.
Zambi was not sure how long they remained like that before he finally broke away.
"Well, we've got some things to discuss." Bzed said to her thinking about the future for the first time in a long time.
"Okay." She said softly looking around the area one last time before they left. "I would like to come back." She said as they made their way back to the shuttle.
"Anytime you like." Bzed said giving her hand a squeeze and Zambi knew that it was a promise.
Garibaldi made his way to the throne room so he could talk to Vir. Michael had already made contact with his informant so he could talk with Vir without having to race off.
"Garibaldi! How are you?" Michael heard Vir's voice say as he walked into the throne room.
"Hello Vir." Michael said looking around the room.
Ever since the Centari made Vir their emperor things had been looking up for them. Relations with the Narns were better than ever and the last remnants of the Shadows had been removed. The other races were slowly renewing relations with them. Michael thought most of that was due to the fact that Vir was a trusted friend by many of the ambassadors who remembered him from when he served under Londo.
"What do I owe the pleasure of your visit my friend?" Vir asked with his always present smile.
"Business and personal." Michael said to him. "John and Delenn told me to say hi to you, so hello."
"They always are thinking of others." Vir said about the couple and Michael knew that it was a compliment. "But I have a feeling that you're about to give me bad news. I'm right, aren't I?"
"Yeah, you are." Michael replied. "Yesterday we fought off an alien invasion force, you probably already know about it."
"Yes, I sent as many ships as our military would allow me to send, we haven't really received any comprehensive reports of the battle." Vir said now really interested in the conversation. He hoped that Garibaldi had some more information then what they had received.
"I don't know how much you have heard about the battle, but we basically got our butts whooped." Garibaldi said not liking the words he had just said.
"It really was that bad?" Vir asked not knowing how close they ad come to losing the battle. Vir did not think that so many ships could have been defeated.
"It went back and forth for a while, the deathwalkers joined our forces and for a moment it looked like we would win the battle." Garibaldi said remembering himself on the bridge of Babylon 5 and watching the battle. "Then in a blink of an eye hundreds of jump points opened up and ships just poured out of them. We were badly outnumbered and outgunned."
"So what happened, we obliviously won the battle." Vir asked, as the only report that they had received from their warships was that they had won the battle, but they needed to repair their damage before making a full report.
"We didn't beat them." Garibaldi said in a sobering voice. "They have an enemy called the Gmihs, they arrived and just beat the tar out of them. Vir their ships were awesome."
"So we beat them thanks to some new allies." Vir said a bit warily. "As Londo said nothing is as what is seems, so what else is there?"
"I see some of Londo rubbed off on you." Garibaldi said with a smile. "We recalled an event that happened not to long ago, a powerful alien race gave some highly advanced technology to another race who tried to destroy the council. This was kept top secret and we think that the race that gave the technology is same one that attacked us."
Vir remained quiet as he contemplated what Garibaldi had just said.
"What this means is that this race, who the Gmihs call the Zes, help other races destroy the stronger races and then destroy those who helped them. They could have spies among your people." Garibaldi said.
"That is a concern, I'll get my intelligence on it right away, I'm sure that they would like it if you had any information that you could give them." Vir said understanding the importance of the situation.
"I'm going to suggest to John that there be a special council just for this threat, to share information and strategies." Garibaldi said knowing that the races would probably get along after seeing the power of the Zes.
"I would like for us to be part of the council, even though we are not back in the alliance yet." Vir said.
"I was hoping you would feel that way." Garibaldi said.
"Well, the Alliance, the Membari, the Narns, the humans and my race are considered to be the strongest, that makes us a target." Vir said and Garibaldi was proud that Vir had come to that conclusion on his own, he had learned the important lessons from Londo well, Londo would be proud of his protégé.
"I think that the Alliance will allow you to be part of the council, we can use all the information we can get." Garibaldi said.
"Can you stay for dinner?" Vir asked as it was getting late in the day.
"Yeah, I'm getting hungry, thanks Vir." Michael said as they left the room for the dinner table.
Bzed and Zambi made their way to the cafeteria to eat. Bzed wanted to eat in his cabin but Zambi wanted to see how the soldiers and worker ate and socialized. Bzed knew that he could never say no to her, and he also knew that she wanted to get out. She always was moving and he knew that they would have to talk about that.
Zambi was impressed with the smells of the food coming form the kitchens of the cafeteria and could feel her mouth watering.
"At least it smells real good." Zambi said with a smile and her stomach rumbled with anticipation of the food. Bzed just smiled and shook his head at her. Her capture by the Zes had not hurt her to badly emotionally.
The rumbling of conversation quieted down when they realized who had walked into the room and Zambi felt a bit embarrassed by all of the attention as everyone was looking at them. They made their way to the line and Zambi noticed that those in line were waving her to the front of the line.
"Do they want us to go in front of them?" Zambi asked Bzed in a startled voice.
"That's what they are doing darling." Bzed replied knowing that she would insist in taking their turns just like everyone else, he did the same thing, but with a new D'Naorg they would extend every courtesy until they learned how they reacted with them.
"No, no, go on I'd feel funny going to the front of the line." Zambi said, but was frustrated because it appeared that they did not fully understand her.
"They don't speak the ancient language like you and I." Bzed said in Zambi's ear. He then said something to them in their language and after a few more word between Bzed and those in line they grudgingly went back to the line.
"Oh gods, I hope I didn't offend them!" Zambi said in a bit of haste.
"No, they were just trying to be polite, I always take my turn waiting in line just like everyone else." Bzed said rubbing her shoulders.
"Good, you trained them well." Zambi said. "I just hope they cook better than you do." She said with a giggle.
"Haha." Bzed said watching her with amusement. "Fortunately for you, yes they can cook, and very well if I say so myself."
"We'll see, we'll see." Zambi said as they picked up a tray and began to get their food.
A couple of minutes later they picked out a table that was their size and sat down. The three men and two women who were sitting at the table just sat in silence eating and watching them.
Another shorter man then joined the group at the table.
"How is the food Princess Zambi?" He asked in her language.
"You speak my language?" She said in a bit of shock.
"Yes, I'm the commander of the whole fleet, and second in command to Lord Bzed, and he is my best friend." The man said.
"Oh, the food's great, and thank you for taking care of Bzed for me." Zambi said sincerely.
The man blushed as he mumbled a thank you to her and went back to his eating. Bzed watched amused as Zambi flustered his second in command.
Zambi kept looking around at all of the tall men and women that were eating in the area. Most, she figured, were about ten feet tall, with several approaching fourteen feet. Off to her right she noticed another group of warriors who looked to be just a bit taller than she was.
"Are they guards?" She asked Bzed and motioned her head toward the group.
"No, their pilots." Bzed replied and then decided to give her a tour of the different groups. "Those who about ten feet tall are the regular soldiers, the taller ones are the brutes, they are called in when strength and force are required. Smaller warriors are used for secret or covert missions where stealth is required. The pilots are smaller because that allows for a maximized fighter or bomber. The ones that are in between the pilots and warriors are the ships crewmen. They had to be smaller to allow a better designed ship, and large enough to fight off an intruder."
"Oh, that makes sense, are your guards part of the Special Forces that are stealthy." Zambi asked, her mind already working.
"Yes." Bzed replied wondering where she was going with this because he could see her mind working and knew from past experience that it would not be good.
"Am I going to get my own guard when I go back to Babylon 5?" Zambi asked.
"Well, if you go back unprotected there might be a riot by the soldiers." Bzed's second in command said having listened in on the conversation. "If I know my warriors they would all jump at the chance to guard you."
"I take it that you want to explore the universe?" Bzed questioned her, already knowing her answer.
"Of course, there's so much to explore and experience." She said with a twinkle in her eye. Bzed knew the look; it was something she had set her heart on.
"I'll make you a deal, you wait for a little bit while we set you up with a ship and crew to guard you and I'll go with you most of the time." Bzed said.
"Most of the time?" Zambi said giving him a look, which had Bzed's second in command chuckling.
""Yes, most of the time." Bzed said ignoring his friend. "I still have duties here."
"Oh, that's right." Zambi said. "I kind of forget that. It's a deal, and the first stop I want is Babylon 5." She said.
"Well, it looks like the designers have a ship to design, and you have a crew to train." Bzed said looking at his friend.
"Right, anything special for it?" He asked Bzed.
"This ship will be a diplomatic ship, but give it the best shielding that we can, and some fighters, the most elite soldiers, and crew and the best engines." Bzed told him. "Oh, and they will have to be closer to our size in case anyone comes aboard."
"Right." He replied and quickly finished his meal and went off to the designers to give them the specifications that were given to him.
"How long will it take?" Zambi asked.
"Oh, about a week, our facilities are not what they were during the height of the war, but a ship like this about three days to construct and give it another three to four days for trials, then you can start decorating the ship." He told her.
"A week, I thought it would be at least a year or so." Zambi said in awe.
"Nope we have the best workers in the universe working for us." Bzed said with a smile as they finished their lunch.
Captain Elizabeth Lockley paced on the bridge; so far there had been two confirmed sightings of the Zes and the Gmihs fighting in the past week. Each report had the Gmihs winning and saving a planet. It should have made her doubts about the Gmihs go away, but she had a hard time trusting a race so powerful.
Today there was another reason why she was so nervous. The new Alliance council was meeting today and there would be ambassadors from all over, including the Centari, and of course, Michael Garibaldi, and that always meant trouble.
"Captain, there's an incoming ship." The controller said.
"We don't have anyone scheduled for the next couple of hours!" Lochley said instantly on alert. "Put the weapon systems on alert and have Beta squad on alert and ready for launch." She said rapidly saying the orders.
"Yes ma'am!" The crew said quickly carrying out the orders.
The jump gate portal opened and a ship unlike anything anyone had ever seen came into normal space. The ship was about the size of a luxury yacht, but its hull was defiantly organic and seemed to be rippling about. There were no apparent weapon systems, but the sensors detected a high amount of power from the ship, even more than a normal Earth cruiser.
"Captain, we're being hailed." The operator said.
"Put it through." Lockley said thinking that this should be interesting.
"This is the Gmih yacht Princess asking for permission for Princess Zambi and Lord Bzed to board Babylon 5." The speaker said.
"Well, ah, permission granted." Lockley said with a bit of a shock. This was a Gmih ship, from what she had heard she did not think that the Gmihs had such ships. Then she remembered something. "Let President Sheridan know that the Gmihs are here."
"Yes ma'am."
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