Captain's log, USS Ra-Cailum, Stardate 88208.7, local date March 18th, 2260.

The temporary base is fully complete, and we are currently preparing for war against the Shadows. The Achilles is fully repaired, and we are ready for full on war with anyone short of the Minbari and the Vorlons.

Takeshi and I are currently en route to Babylon 5, to pick up a scientist named Kirkish. Someone linked to the events involving the Shadows.

The Firestorm and Ra-Cailum emerged from the Jump Gate, entering the Epsilon Eridani sector as they approached Babylon 5.

"Babylon control, this is the Ra-Cailum. We're launching a shuttle to pick up a VIP from Babylon 5. Requesting permission to dock."

"Permission granted, Ra-Cailum. Safe journey."

Ron sat back in his chair, idly flipping through his book. "What's the status of the Scorpions?"

"They've just reassumed their stations, sir," the Comm Officer reported. The two Scorpions from the Sienov s'Okhala were almost continuously patrolling the area near B5 for their task force, only taking breaks to rotate out crew and replenish supplies.

"Then prepare for departure as soon as doctor Kirkish is on board. And contact the White Star once we get out of range of B5's comms. We don't need them picking up any transmissions from us to that ship."

"Aye, sir."

The Delta Flyer-Class Isis returned to the ship, followed shortly by the Scorpion fighter leaving the ship and the bay doors closing. "Set course for home."

The Ra-Cailum turned, and then opened a jump point as it left B5 airspace.

8 hours later

"Everyone in this room knows what Earth is turning into." Sheridan paced the room while briefing his staff. "We can't allow President Clark to get ahold of a Shadow ship. That kind of power in his hands could be the end of everything we have worked for. We have got to stop that ship before it leaves Ganymede."

"Swell. I love it. How?" Sheridan let out a small breath. This was the part they would not like. "Delenn and I will take the White Star into Earth-controlled space. With luck, we'll find the ship destroy it on the ground before they can activate it. If not—"

"You can't do this. As soon as you open a jump point, you'll be picked up by the early warning system."

"I know."

"Our own ships will be sent in to destroy you. You'll be completely outgunned!"

"We understand. Neither of us has any illusions about what we are planning to do."

Franklin shook his head. This was not something they could do yet. "You can't take on Earth. I mean, not now. Later—"

"Later is too late," Delenn informed. "We've already notified the White Star. It's on standby, awaiting our arrival."

"So, what are you gonna do when they open fire?" Franklin asked "Fire back on one of our own ships? What if you're captured?"

"We won't be captured," Sheridan promised. "One way or another. The decision's mine and mine alone. And it's made. The rest of you will be needed here to cover my absence."

"It's a two day jump to Earth space. That's a long time to be gone. I'm leaving behind my Identicard, my uniform command rank, anything that could lead back here if something should go wrong." he gazed at Ivanova.

"Susan, in our absence, I'm leaving you and Garibaldi in charge of the Rangers. I'd tell you to take good care of the station, but I know that's not necessary. I've left instructions in my desk for a cover story if we don't come back. You'll send out my Starfury and use the auto-destruct sequence." The gaze turned to Franklin now. "Doctor, you'll provide the organic mass to simulate a casualty. I wish none of this were necessary. But we all knew that, sooner or later, we'd have to deal with Earth. So I guess it's time we got down to business. If there's any way we can come back we will."

USS Firestorm - 'home' system

Both ships dropped out of hyperspace, heading towards the now-complete station, which still hadn't been given a formal name.

"So, Sheridan's on his way to Earth to deal with another of those Shadow Vessels, I take it?" Takeshi asked over the comm to Ron.

"He plans to destroy it before it gets off the ground. Sound plan, but we're faster then the White Star in hyperspace, so he could've asked us to do it." Their warp drive, combined with a cloaking device, could get them into the Sol system, and a single photon torpedo would vaporize the Shadow ship before Earthforce could respond. Ron was still chastising Takeshi over his overuse of quantum torpedoes against targets that couldn't withstand a phaser strike, let alone a torpedo explosion.

"Guess he doesn't want to become over-reliant on us," Takeshi remarked. "We're still sending backup in case he gets in over his head, right?"

"I'ma sending you after him," Ron informed. "The Ra-Cailum's made a cloaking device just for your ship. Easy to install, and it won't explode on you like the Pegy cloak." STILL an embarrassment for Starfleet was the USS Pegasus cloaking device.

"Thanks," Takeshi replied. "That'll come in handy."

"I'll send Sonja over to install it. Ra-Cailum out." The link cut out.

"He thinks our crew sucks at their jobs."

"More like he wants the job done by someone he knows won't fuck up."

"Either way, Matt'll appreciate the help," Takeshi guessed. "Not to mention it'll be nice to have a Cloaking Device again." The Raging Tempest had possessed a salvaged Klingon model of cloaking device, but it had been lost with the rest of the ship.

A Starfleet-designed cloak would be more effective, as Klingon cloaks weren't fully compatible with Starfleet ships. This wouldn't cause as many problems as before.

Thirty minutes later, the device was installed, Sonja was back on her ship, and the Firestorm entered Hyperspace for the Sol System.

Babylon 5 - Nightwatch security office

"As liaison to the Nightwatch office back home I've received several disturbing communiques over the last few days." Zack Allen rolled his eyes. This was ridiculous to the extreme. Nightwatch was reminding him too much of the old Gestapo, but they were legal by order of the President. "The good news is our efforts to find corruption and disloyalty here and back home have succeeded beyond our expectations."

"So, what's the bad news?" someone else asked.

"Their findings confirm our worst fears. Earth has been sold out by our own people. Senators, high-ranking military officers, news media correspondents, even some of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Everything we've been seeing lately: The libelous attacks on the president, alien forces encroaching on our territory the lies and subversion going on back home. They're all part of an organized effort to weaken our government from within - as a prelude to invasion."

"I don't believe this."

"They'll start making arrests within the next two months. The lists have already been drawn up."

"What can we do?"

"Earth needs all the information we can give her. Any source is acceptable. To make it easier for sources to come forward we're going to allow them to give us information anonymously. We're authorized to look into past history, social contacts, party affiliations to conduct e-mail and vid surveillance of Babcom and Stellarcom transmissions-"

"Hold it, how far does this go? Are we supposed to suspect everyone?"

"Of course not. Nightwatch members are free of suspition, as we're all working in the interests of Earth. Now, four months ago, six ships just appeared out of nowhere. You all know this. What you don't know is that the Ministry considers them a threat."

"And why is that?" Allen asked.

The nightwatch rep pulled up an image of the Ra-Cailum. "What little we know is that they have a mixed crew: humans and aliens, with humans making up the minority. Their captain is clearly cybernetically enhanced, and we don't know how corrupted the human members of the crews are."

"I see…" Allen remarked. He honestly didn't, but he was in this gig for the money, not the patriotism.

"We have orders to arrest any of them should they come back to Babylon 5. The boys back home will find out where they're from… and if they're still enslaving humans there."

"I heard they're from another universe."

The zealot shook his head. "Outright lies. It's more likely that they're the descendants of humans taken from Earth centuries ago, and indoctrinated to thinking that what their masters say is the truth. Our analysts think that those ships are a prelude… to invasion."

Allen didn't quite believe that, but again, money over patriotism. And he kept his thoughts to himself, otherwise they might start thinking he wasn't loyal.

"The President's sent down an official order. If possible, we're to capture one of their people, then, in the pretext of returning the prisoner, we will storm one of the ships, imprison the crew, and take it back to earth. We need to be ready in case of invasion. Earth MUST be safe-guarded. As for the other officers, well, we won't look at them unless we detect any unusual activity on their part."

"In that case, may I ask a question? Does anyone in this room know where the captain is?"

A question that was on all of their minds.

"The chief said he was going out on patrol, makin' sure he was getting his flight pay. He's a pilot."

As the meeting was adjourned and they all went back to their normal duties, Allen went over everything discussed and wondered if some of the other Nightwatch Members weren't entirely… sane…

USS Firestorm - Sol system

The Mercury-class ship exited hyperspace outside the range of the early-warning nets, cloaking and jumping to warp speed, heading for the largest celestial body in the solar system besides the sun. "ETA to White Star arrival: 3.57 hours," Rina announced.

"Alright, let's do this nice and quiet-like," Takeshi remarked as he eased the ship closer to Ganymede. "Status on the facility?"

"I'm detecting another Shadow attack ship on the surface, inactive," Kim reported. "From what the science boys on the Ra-Cailum have figured out, the Shadow ships use a sentient being as a CPU, and without one, they're inactive."

Takeshi knew that the brain was still the most powerful computer in existence, the positronic computers used by the Soong-class androids and the one in Ron's skull being the only exceptions to the rule. To run one of the nastiest and powerful ships to exist, they would need an equally powerful computer. It also sickened him to the nth degree: Shadow technology was insidious. "Hopefully we can take it out before it becomes active," he said. "Prep a Photon Torpedo, and target that ship. If something happens, I want to be ready to take it out ASAP."

"We'll need to decloak, and I still haven't fully synchronized our cloaking device to the shield generator," Matt replied. "Our shields will be down for 45 seconds until I can fix that."

"How long will it take to fix?"

"With the Defiant? 3 hours. With this thing? A couple of weeks."

Takeshi groaned. "Wonderful," he said. "Well, luckily their targeting computers aren't as good as ours, so we can evade fire rather easily, but still…"

"You'd rather have some protection as well. I'll try to fix it as soon as possible. Won't be in time for combat, but it'll happen."

White Star - arrival at Ganymede

The jump point forced itself open as the White Star shot out like a WW2 torpedo. "All right, everyone, we've set off every long-range scanner in the area, so we don't have a lot of time. We have to—"

"Captain. I'm picking up a signal on the frequency provided by Dr. Kirkish. It's very faint. I can only get audio. It's from Ganymede."

Sheridan nodded at Lennier's report. "Put it through."

Lennier pressed a key, and in came a message. "IXP One to Base. IXP One to Base. Ready to begin transference. Subject is approaching target. Repeat, subject is approaching target."

"What's he talking about?" Shepard asked.

"The Shadow vessels use living creatures as their central core," Delenn explained. "Whoever steps inside merges with it, becomes one with the ship. After that, it's fully functional. They must be sending someone inside right now,"

"Faster, Lennier," Sheridan ordered. "We need to get there."

The White Star picked up speed as it headed towards Ganymede, not noticing the faint ripple effect nearby…

"John," Delenn told him, "if whoever's going inside hasn't been properly prepared the results could be disastrous."

'THAT'S an understatement,' Sheridan thought, as the transmission continued.

"He's moving into the breach. He's disappeared inside the ship. Something's happening. We've lost bioscan. Something's—Oh, my God! It's moving. It's moving!" A loud screech was heard that deafened them all for a moment.

"We've got visual," Lennier informed.

"Put it through," Sheridan ordered.

The holographic field showed the Shadow ship on struts, moving around slightly before firing its' beam weapon at anything that moved.

"In Valen's name," Delenn exclaimed. "It's awake!"

The Shadow vessel moved upward, shattering the dome it had been kept in, continuing to fire at anything nearby.

"This is what I was afraid of," Delenn told them. "The merging was not handled properly. The ship is out of control, insane. It will destroy anything in its path."

"Then we've got to stop it before anyone gets here. Engines at maximum. Stand by, weapons system. Prepare to fire."

The fore stations moved closer as the ship closed in.

"John, if it's confused, disoriented, we may have a chance," Delenn informed. "It's a small one—"

"It's more than an earth cruiser will have against that thing! Fire!"

The White Star's pulse cannons fired on the Shadow, which returned fire, missing the Minbari cruiser… but hitting something else that was invisible.

With a rippling effect, the Firestorm emerged from Cloak, and a lot of cursing could be heard in Takeshi's voice over the comms. "BLOODY FRAKKING HELL!" he was yelling. "THE BLOODY THING HAD TO GET A FRAKKING LUCKY HIT ON US, DIDN'T IT?!"

"Where—how the hell does that thing—"

The Shadow ship fired on the White Star, narrowly missing again. "Captain, its weapons are at full strength. If it hits us dead-on, we cannot survive the blast."

"That's all right," Sheridan replied with a grin. "I did what I needed to do. I got him mad enough to follow us. Redirect power to engines. Come about."

"Course?" Lennier asked.

"Jupiter," Sheridan replied. "If we can't outfight it, let's outthink it."

The White Star shot towards Jupiter, followed by the Shadow vessel while the Firestorm remained outside Jupiter's atmosphere.

"Damage report!" Takeshi yelled out.

"That shot hit our main deflector dish and damaged half a dozen EPS conduits," Matt informed. "Shields are offline!"

"Get them back up!" Takeshi ordered. "Let's hope Sheridan knows what he's doing! We'll give him a distraction—Earthforce knows we're here now, and I'd imagine they won't be happy!"

"I'm picking up a ship closing in, range 300000 kilometers!" Kim reported. "It's an Earthforce Omega-Class destroyer, closing in at one-half impulse power, IDed as EAS Agamemnon!"

"Hurry up with those shields, Matt!" Takeshi ordered, as he swung the Firestorm around to face the approaching Agamemnon.

"This isn't something I can quickly patch!" Matt yelled in reply.

The Agamemnon's weapons array began searching for the Firestorm as a target, closing in on the Starfleet ship.

"Sir, we've got a bigger problem," Rina reported. "The navigational deflector is inactive."

"And?"

"That means—"

The Agamemnon fired its' plasma/x-ray lasers at the Mercury-Class ship, scoring a direct hit. A hit that would've never happened with the deflector online.

"Oh, dammit!" Takeshi swore, kicking the throttle up, boosting the Firestorm out of the Agamemnon's forward firing arcs. "Matt, hurry up with the repairs! Kim, you have any weak points on that thing I can hit?"

"The weapons hardpoints are heavily armored, sir: we can't take them out without doing heavy damage to the destroyer," Kim informed. A pulse bolt narrowly missed the ship's port wing, and another impacted the upper hull, producing a blast mark. "We're just going to have to hit the damn thing's engines. Our phasers can knock those out with a few well-placed shots."

Takeshi nodded, kicking the Firestorm into action as it blew past the Agamemnon before pulling a one-eighty-degree turn, unloading Phaser Cannon bursts into the engines of the Omega-Class Destroyer.

The destroyer, however, wasn't just going to let them disable the ship, as it fired all four of its' aft-facing weapons emplacements at once.

"You have GOT to be frakking kidding me!" Takeshi yelled. "How many guns does this thing HAVE?!" he didn't let that stop him, though, weaving through the fire as best he could even as he unloaded another round into the engines.

Disabling the Agamemnon was out of the question as they moved closer to Jupiter's atmosphere, though, and the Mercury shot away, barrel-rolling into the atmosphere at full impulse, avoiding plasma beams as best they could.

"I've got the deflector working again, Captain!" Matt informed. "We can jump at any time!"

Takeshi nodded. There wasn't much else they could do. "Status of the White Star and that Shadow vessel?" he asked.

"Shadow vessel is destroyed," Kim reported. "White Star is climbing back up. We need to jump, sir: the Agamemnon's shots are getting more accurate, and if they hit our engines…"

"I know," he replied. "Rina, send a flash message to the White Star informing them of the Agamemnon." He triggered the deflector dish, opening a jump point into which the Firestorm dove.

'Home' System

"And ISN has confirmed earlier reports that an unidentified alien ship attacked a research lab on Ganymede. According to Earthforce, the ship was pursued to Jupiter and destroyed by the EAS Agamemnon. Nonetheless, this incident has heightened concerns about planetary security. President Clark is considering a new plan that will provide greater security. In related news, the Agamemnon also engaged one of the 'Starfleet' vessels at Jupiter, causing no damage. There has been no statement from the commanders of the unknown force, but President Clarke feels that this is another sign that the two ships belonging to this 'United federation of Planets' are only the prelude to an invasion force."

"Sorry about this, Ron," Takeshi said, as he and Ron watched the news. "If that Shadow vessel hadn't gotten a lucky hit—"

"And if wishes were horses, we'd be back home killing the Heralds. It was out of your control. There is nothing you could have done about it. Clarke's paranoia patrol can say what they like: we know the truth and the truth is we're doing nothing but trying to save lives."

Takeshi sighed. "Thanks," he said. "And… I get the feeling we might need to deal with Clarke sooner or later. 'Paranoia Patrol' is one way to describe his forces—'Gestapo' might be another."

The comm chirped. "Commodore, I'm tuning us into a live broadcast from ISN now. You're going to want to hear this."

Takeshi rose an eyebrow. "Commodore?"

"I'm not promoting myself to Admiral. And the title's very much against my will. Put it through."

A reporter appeared on the monitor. "And to confirm earlier reports, President Clark has signed a decree today declaring martial law throughout Earth Central citing threats to planetary security," the reporter said. "He's expected to provide information to support this action at a closed meeting of the full Earth Senate tomorrow. We repeat, Earth is now under martial law."

"Son of a Protestant whore."

"First Earth, then next comes the Colonies, using any excuse that conveniently plops into his lap," Takeshi remarked, scowling. "And anyone who opposes him is conveniently 'disappeared'." He looked at Ron. "This is definitely feeling like what the history books said about the events in Nazi Germany leading up to World War II, Ron."

"Clarke didn't study history, it seems. He doesn't remember what happened to the Nazis. When we're done with the Shadows, Clarke's next, and we're not stopping until that fucker's head is on a pike hanging from the prow of my ship!"

Riza was undergoing a full exam in the base's sickbay, including a DNA scan. They knew she was related to Ron, but how closely... well, they were going to find out.

Helping in the exam was Mogire, the Firestorm's Betazoid doctor, who was enjoying having access to a full medical facility for a change.

"Amazing," she was saying as the scanners went over Riza's body. "We'd never have been able to do something this detailed on the Firestorm, or even the Raging Tempest."

"Why not? This shit seems more compact than the shit we've got."

"Not compact enough," the Ra-Cailum's doctor, Rutia Yulanra, informed. "The Defiant-type is a purely combat ship: designed for short-term assignments that involve a lot of guns shooting at something. Limited medical facilities, no private crew quarters. Biggest space on the ship is main engineering, and that's a fraction of the size of even the Constitution-Class."

"And the Mercury-Class isn't much better," Mogire added. "Only the Captain's Quarters and XO's Quarters are truly private—and the Captain's Quarters need to be, considering he shares them with his wife—and even the mess hall is just a replicator and some tables, with possibly enough room for a small reheating oven. They sometimes call the Defiant-Class and its variants 'a set of guns strapped to an engine'. Well, the Mercury-Class is the same way, only they strapped the guns to a much bigger engine."

"You could say the Achilles is the same way," Riza remarked. "Limited facilities for the crew, almost no gravity 'cepting the rotational section, nothing but guns and hangar bays. But my ship's fuckin' massive: it's longer then the freaking Ra-Cailum."

"And the Ra-Cailum's got five times the internal space of a Galaxy-Class starship." A tone was heard from the computer. "Analysis complete. Genetic structure 98.4% match."

"Confirmed," Mogire said. "About the only thing different is the second X-Chromosome." She looked at Riza. "You're not just related to Ron—technically, you are him."

"Buh?"

The Betazoid sighed before facepalming. "You're basically his sister."

"Nice! I never had a sibling! My parents were scared shitless just by me. don't know why."

'…My god, she's just as crazy as him,' Mogire thought. 'She's just better on the male eye.'

Still, the results of the test made her wonder. The only other time they'd had results that similar was when they got a sample from Takeshi's Mirror Universe counterpart, Hitomi Maxwell. Which was why she was wondering. Did Takeshi have a counterpart in this universe like Ron had Riza? Was Takeshi's counterpart Genderflipped or not? And were they like Takeshi, an adrenaline junkie combat pilot, like Hitomi, a manipulative bastard/wench who would do whatever they had to to get what they wanted, or something else entirely?

Little did she know she'd be haunted by that question for several years to come…

"That is a lot of fighters." Over 500 Peregrine-Class fighters sat in cradles on the Ra-Cailum's shuttlebay, ready for deployment. "How exactly did he get this set up?"

"Three weeks of careful work and a LOT of pissed off carrier captains. He's having them all shipped out onto the D'Deridex tomorrow morning and sending the Double-D to Babylon 5."

"Give them support in the wake of what's going on over at Earth?"

Saren shrugged at his fellow Militia captain. "I have no idea what goes through his mind. To be honest, I don't WANT to know."

Veleen nodded. "True," she said. "He scares even the Klingons. I've heard some of them call him 'Windstorm', apparently in reference to one of their old parables.

"The last thing we need is him screwing with our heads. I'm just taking the fighters and leaving as soon as they're loaded. The Ra-Cailum will be the only visible ship at Babylon 5: he's going there under the pretext of explaining the presence of the Firestorm's presence at Jupiter."

Veleen nodded. "I'll probably bring the Sienov s'Okhala along under cloak, as well," she said. "I might not have Captain Yamato's Spatial Awareness, but I still have a bad feeling about what's going on…"

"Tal Shiar wannabes weren't your first hint?"

Babylon 5

All hell was breaking loose. 6 hours earlier, Sheridan had been informed that Nightwatch was taking over station security. In the not-so-polite words of captain and colonel Pinkerton? Fuck. That. He began plotting a way to get things back to normal, and his day was about to get worse as his link beeped. "Sheridan. go."

"Sir, the Ra-Cailum just exited hyperspace," Ivanova informed. "Captain Pinkerton's shuttle just left the ship and is en route."

Sheridan sighed. This wasn't going to end well. "Warn him about Nightwatch," he said. "Given how they take orders from Clarke, and how they've been ordered to take over security, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to take him or some of his crew prisoner."

"Knowing Colonel Pinkerton, she would already know about that, and if the captain is her 'brother'—"

"Don't. Last thing I need to think of is them as being related." Sheridan sat down, double facepalming and beginning to sob.

"Ah, Babylon 5. Still as beautiful as we left her."

Sonja shook her head as her CO pulled out a phaser and handed it to her. "You suspect something, boss?"

"Nightwatch, Tal Shiar, different words for the same fucking people. Just shoot them if they try anything."

"Got it," replied one of the security personnel with them on the shuttle.

The Ra-Horakhty put down in the bay, and the four left their chairs, opening the rear hatch and exiting the shuttle. "That's far enough!" Five security officers, all wearing Nightwatch armbands, blocked their way into the terminal.

"Really? Saw this coming."

"I think anyone who learned the lessons of Nazi Germany from WWII would see this coming, sir," the security officer replied, training his rifle on the Nightwatch people.

"You're under arrest."

"For what? Just not wearing your uniform?"

"For terrorist actions against the Earth Alliance. You've been allowed to walk free for too long, and now your Federation will be outed as the conquering empire it really is. You won't conquer humanity so easily."

The security officer sighed. "We're doing the conquering?" he asked sarcastically. "Your President's just steamed we're not under his thumb, like he's trying to do with the rest of humanity—just like Adolf Hitler did in the 1940's. Remember him from the history books?"

"Enough. Put your hands on top of your heads."

"How about no, and you can suck it. Long and hard." The Nightwatch liaison fired his PPG at Ron, the plasma bolt hitting his personal shield. "That tickled."

"What the hell?!"

"Our turn, asshole," the security officer remarked, before firing off a volley of stun bolts from his rifle.

The Nightwatch idiots hit the deck, unconscious, and probably with cracked heads. "Sucks to be them," Ron said. "Let's go. We've got better things to do."

"Actually, boss, I think I have an idea…" the security officer said, looking at the unconscious idiots musingly.

"I don't think you're from my ship. I don't have too many human security personnel, and I know all of them."

"Transferred from the Firestorm for the escort assignment while the Dresie's being repaired."

Ron chuckled as he finished tying a knot. "Explains that."

The five idiots had been stripped to their underwear, then hung from that same underwear off a balcony in one of the shopping districts, which would soon open, the words 'Idiotic Zealot' stenciled on each of their foreheads in permanent marker. It was a simple prank, but one intended for maximum humiliation to the victims.

"Come on. We've got to get to the captain's office so we can get this press conference started."

Sheridan's office

Sheridan awaited the insanity of the captain to arrive when the man and three others entered. "Captain, do you have access to a comm unit that will transmit across alliance space?" Ron asked. "I need to clear the air a little."

"We do, but… why are you not acting like yourself?"

"I AM acting like myself. This is me on the clock and not wanting to amuse anyone."

Sheridan took a moment to consider that. "So, the crazy's… an act? A false front?" he asked.

"Not exactly. I'm missing half my brain: some of the sanity had to go with it."

"So you can control the crazy?" Hope soared for Riza not acting like a screwball.

"I can, I just choose not to 99% of the time."

Sheridan certainly hoped Riza was the same way. It meant he might be able to ask her to tone down the crazy. "Alright," he said. "Let's get you set up with that comm unit. Also, I hope Nightwatch hasn't given you too much trouble—they've taken over station security entirely, even going over Garibaldi's head."

"We got ambushed in the bay. They're sufferin' for it."

Sheridan didn't want to know.

RRW D'Deridex

"ISN has just received a report from Babylon 5. The leader of the Federation task force is holding an impromptu conference to clarify the situation that happened recently. Please standby while we patch them in."

"Well, here he goes," one of the Bridge Officers remarked. "Hopefully they'll listen."

The image of their acting commander appeared on the screen, standing in front of a podium emblazoned with the emblem of the Earth Alliance. "Good evening, ISN watchers," he said. "My name is Ronald Pinkerton, captain of the Federation starship Ra-Cailum. A few days ago, the starship Firestorm was reported in Earth space. This is something I can confirm, but note, we did not attack that outpost." Images of the Shadow attack ship appeared on the screen, firing on the out-of-shot White Star. "The researchers discovered this vessel. We encountered one of these ourselves, and we were en route to warn them, but we were too late. They awoke it, and it destroyed the outpost. We tried to save lives, and now Clarke attempts to blame us for destroying it."

"He's doing well," the officer remarked. "Let's hope they believe him."

"Starfleet's first duty is to the truth," Ron continued. "We have no reason to lie. We only sought to help those people, and because we were too late, Clarke makes us look like the villains. I leave this in the hands of the people. Let them decide how they want to look at our actions. Thank you."

As the image disappeared from the screen, the Bridge Officer smirked. "Clever," they said. "A slight bending of the truth to hide the White Star, along with an appeal to the people to think for themselves. Might undermine Clarke a bit."

"He'll spin this to further his own agenda," Saren remarked. "Sela and Hakeev did the same damn thing before the Iconians decided to take matters into their own hands. Keep us cloaked, but make an orbit of the planet."

They did as ordered, the D'Deridex making a slow orbit of the planet below them.

"There is a massive installation under the surface. The power readings are almost the same as those for an Odyssey or Bortasqu'-Class ship."

"In this universe? The reactor must be kilometers wide."

"Agreed. I wonder what's down there…"

"Answers later; keep us hidden from B5 under we're ordered to decloak."

"Aye, sir."

Babylon 5

The Nightwatch personnel were embarrassed. Not by the fact that they had been screwed by Pinkerton, but by the fact they had been tricked into a cargo bay and sealed in.

"If I can have your attention," Sheridan's voice said over the PA in that bay. "As of this time, 0315 Earth Standard Time I am placing you under arrest for conspiracy to mutiny and failure to obey the chain of command. The order for Nightwatch to take over Babylon 5 security came from the Political Office. The Political Office, despite its connection to the president, is a civilian agency outside the direct chain of command. Orders affecting military personnel must come from within the military hierarchy starting from the president, through the joint chiefs of staff to your immediate superior officers. A senator cannot give you a direct order. A governor cannot give you a direct order and neither can the Political Office. Make no mistake, this is an illegal order. We've contacted Earth Dome and requested confirmation of this order through proper channels. But, since we seem to be having trouble with communications this may take several days. Until then, you have two choices: You can stay where you are or you can leave, one at a time. On your way out, you'll turn in your link, ldenticard and weapons. You'll be restricted to quarters until the revised orders come in. When that happens anyone who wants to file a complaint against me can do so. Otherwise, have a pleasant stay. Oh, and one other thing. If I were you, I wouldn't use my weapons on the air locks. They're a solid beryllium alloy. The ricochet is a killer."

In one move, Sheridan had disabled the authority of Nightwatch on his station.

"And one more thing… all the vents have been redirected to one location. If you attempt to get out that way, you'll run into Captain Pinkerton. Trust me, you don't want to run into that guy." Screams were heard inside the cargo bay. "PA off." He looked at Franklin. "Doc, I'll need you to stay around for a while in case anybody ignores my warning and tries to burn his way through."

"You got it."

"Pinkerton aside, you do realize this is a temporary solution," Ivanova remarked. "When Clark finds out about this, he'll reissue the order. We'll be right back where we started."

"Not if they straighten things out at home or Hague pulls off a coup," Sheridan replied. "We need to buy time for that to happen."

"One thing I'm not clear on," Franklin asked. "Keeping everybody in there is gonna cut our security patrols in half. Doesn't that worry anybody?"

"Not really," Garibaldi replied. "We've got some help for a change."

On cue, a swarm of Narns entered the corridor, led by G'Kar, who made the Narn gesture of greeting as he stopped.

"You're kidding," Franklin said, before looking around. "You're NOT kidding."

"Always plant a lie inside a truth," Sheridan informed. "It makes it easier to swallow."

"Oh, boy, Londo is gonna love this."

"Hell, yeah," Ron said as he entered the corridor with his sanity-destroying smile on his face. "Captain, I'd like to head back to my ship, marshal the fleet and prepare for the coming battle with Clarke's forces. He's not going to be happy."

"Understood," Sheridan replied. "We'll keep you informed as best we can."

Ron smiled. "Computer, activate trap exe."

Ron disappeared from the hall in a shower of light, followed by a massive amount of screaming. "GET HIM AWAY! GET HIM AWAY!"

"So he just beamed into that room and is just… terrifying them for shits and giggles?"

Ivanova looked at Garibaldi, giving him a look. "I think he would call it scaring them straight."

"And I think Captain Yamato said it best," said the Security Officer from the Firestorm, who had arrived with Ron.

"What did he say?" Ivanova asked.

"That Captain Pinkerton is a master of the art of Trolling."

The captain reappeared in another shower of light. "I think I got the point across."

"Remind me never to piss you off," Sheridan remarked.

"Sheri-boy, you're Starfleet officers in all but name. You sure as hell act like it."

Mr. Crazy walked off, and Sonja whistled. "High praise."

"Really?" Sheridan asked.

"If a Starfleet officer says you act like one in all but name, it's a good sign."

Sheridan blinked at that. "Huh."

All the Starfleet personnel left the hall, heading back to their shuttle. "I get the feeling we're going to be running into shit these people deal with soon."

"Yeah, Michael. We're more than a bit doomed."

USS Firestorm - 'home' system

Takeshi sat at the Helm Console as usual, though there wasn't much to do as the engineers worked over the ship, fixing the damage taken in the trip to Sol System.

Most of the damage was cosmetic now, but the cloaking device was still a problem. The shield transfer was still delayed, but they were working on it. Shields were finally working, though.

"Sir, message from the Ra-Cailum over subspace," Rina reported.

"Put him through," Takeshi ordered.

Instead of ron, Sonja appeared on the screen. "Hoi-oh, Capt'n," she said. "Boss man's got a job for you and the Mini-Romulan. find the EAS Alexander and get her safely to B5."

Takeshi nodded. "Right," he said. "Start building a power base against Clarke. Any ideas where to start looking?"

"Should be en route to Orion 7," Sonja replied. "Location's in your helm right about now, so you'd better get running."

"We'll get right on it," Takeshi informed. "Firestorm out."

Once the link was cut, a single question was asked. "Why not send the Klingons?" Kim asked "Why us?"

"Because the Klinks might not care which one's the Alexander and just fire at everything?" Rina remarked.

"Likely," Takeshi replied. "Well, we have a job to do—let's get to it."

The Firestorm pulled out of Dock after the engineers not from its crew had left, then gained some distance from the base before activating a Jump Gate.

Both ships jumped in, heading for Orion 7.

EAS Alexander

The Omega-Class ship was taking a beating from a heavy cruiser: the EAS Clarkstown. Hague was dead, killed in the firefight, and now Major Ryan was in command. An x-ray/plasma beam hit the rotational section, destroying one of their fighters in the process. "30% damage to rear decks. One more and we'll lose rotation and go Z- gravity. We can't outrun them in normal space. Major, we have to jump."

"Leave our fighters stranded?" the Major asked. "We can't jump without them."

"If we reel them in, we'll lose our screen. Clarkstown will burn us stem to stern."

"Damn it, haven't we lost enough?"

"If you won't jump, let me open fire with the aft batteries."

"I don't want to kill any more of our ships!"

"We have no choice. Forward interceptors on the Clarkstown are down. We can punch through the hull. Major, please, let me take the gloves off the firing team."

Before the Major could give the order, however, another Jump Point opened, and two small ships emerged, one spitting out bright orange bolts of energy, the other light bluish-green bolts. Both ships were aiming at the Clarkstown.

They burned the ship from the stern forward, crippling it, but not destroying her. The ship was left adrift, but salvagable.

"The Firestorm or the Ra-Cailum?" the Major asked.

"Has to be one of them," his new XO replied. "No way it can be anyone else."

The boxy ship with stubby wings flew past, revealing itself as the Firestorm.

"Open a channel to the Firestorm."

"I've got them, sir."

On one of the monitors, Takeshi's face appeared. "This is Major Ryan, commanding EAS Alexander. Thanks for the help."

"A pleasure, Major," Takeshi replied. "Though we've been ordered to escort you safely to Babylon 5." There was a brief pause. "Where's General Hague?"

Ryan flinched. "He's dead. He was killed during our firefight with the Clarkstown."

"Son of a bitch…" Takeshi replied. "As I said, we've got orders to escort you to Babylon 5. Once you're ready, we'll lead you there."

"We'll recover our fighters, then we'll jump back into hyperspace." The image faded. "Bill, they just spared the captain of the Clarkstown. I met him last year because of the General. He's got a wife, three children..." He snorted. "An abyssinian cat named Max. At least I don't have to explain to his wife how I killed him in self-defense."

Bill nodded. "Yeah, that's a good thing there," he said.

Babylon 5 - war room

Sheridan literally rushed into the room, heading for his seat. "Bad news, people," Sheridan informed. "We are five hours away from a crisis situation. I just received a transmission from the Alexander."

"That's Gen. Hague's ship."

"They've suffered heavy damage, and they need a place to make repairs. And they're coming here."

Ivanova summed it up in three words. "Well, we're screwed. Every ship is hunting them down on charges of treason. As soon as they come, somebody will send word back home. Once that happens—"

Sheridan cut her off. "I know. So I need you to put a cutoff switch in the com system. The second they get here, shut everything down. Just leave us a private channel, in case we need it, and the ISN feed. It's our only lifeline to home. We need to know what's happening." Information in a time of war was always necessary, and none of them were deluding themselves into thinking otherwise: they were at war. "We all knew we'd end up in the middle of this sooner or later. How far this goes, we'll just have to see. All I know right now is that Hague is arriving here in a few hours and hell is riding in with him."

"Hopefully we can get some good news out of this," Ivanova remarked.

Babylon 5 was never going to stop being a hotbed of activity for some time, and five hours later, when the Alexander came out of hyperspace, escorted by the Firestorm and her Romulan counterpart, it was the talk of the station. Rumors of rebellion were like wildfire. And when Takeshi met with Sheridan and Ryan, the shit hit the fan.

"Captain Sheridan," Takeshi greeted.

"Captain Yamato. Major Ryan.

Where's General Hague?"

Ryan winced. "General Hague was killed in our last firefight. We were coming back from a meeting with some officials on Orion 7 when we were ambushed. He was on his way to the command deck when we were hit by the Clarkstown. In his absence, I've tried to carry on as best I can. Between this and what's been going on back home, the crew is just stunned."

"Things are going to hell in a handbasket, just because Clarke is going down the same path Hitler did with his Gestapo," Takeshi said with a frown. "He hasn't learned the lessons Hitler's path taught us all."

"Xenophobic fools, the lot of them," Sheridan groused. "What's the latest on the coup?"

"A few senators have managed to escape Earth Dome," Ryan informed. "Shock troops are out in force everywhere: Paris, London, New York, Moscow, New Delhi."

"How are the folks back home dealing with all this?"

Ryan shrugged at Ivanova's question. "That's the irony. Most of them have welcomed martial law. It's cut crime down to nothing. On the surface, it's peaceful."

"Yeah, the peace of the gun," Garibaldi remarked. "Why haven't we heard of this on ISN?"

"ISN is walking a fine line," Ryan informed. "They know if they push too far, they'll be shut down. We have one chance: Mars has rejected martial law. If they stand up to Clark, they might rally support from other colony worlds and push him out."

"Hopefully," Takeshi replied, "but we need to prepare for the worst. Ron's already started those preparations, though I can't say more at this time, but I'll contact him, see if he can shunt one of the Klingon ships here to back us up."

Ryan's link beeped. "Yes?"

"We've intercepted a coded message from Earthforce Command. They've started bombing Mars. I repeat, they're bombing Mars."

"Oh, HELL." If Clarke was bombing Mars Colony, he was making damn sure that the others got the message: rebel, and this is what will happen.

"Jeez, he's more than just following Hitler's footsteps," Takeshi groaned. "He's giving Hitler a run for his money."

"We can't just let this go on."

"We don't intend to." Eyes turned to a newcomer: Saren. "Captain Sheridan, Colonel Saren, commander of the RRW D'Deridex."

"When did you get here?"

"I've always been here," Saren said, before he pressed a button on his wrist. "Disengage."

Outside, Delta Squadron was about to get the shock of their lives.

"What the-?!" one of Delta Squad's pilots asked as a portion of the stars seemed to ripple, revealing the double-hulled Romulan Warbird.

"C&C to Captain Sheridan: something just—WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Saren smirked. "My ship, as well as all but the Ra-Cailum, are all equipped with cloaking technology. You cannot kill what you cannot see, after all."

"Cloaking Technology," Sheridan breathed. "You have actual stealth technology?"

"Hides from visual and most other forms of scans," Takeshi informed. "Can be found if you look hard enough—or if you get a lucky shot, like what happened to me at Ganymede with that Shadow Vessel."

Saren shook his head. "Or you're phased outside of space-time, like with the cloaking device we experimented with. And the one YOU experimented with."

"Colonel, that doesn't matter. What matters is you just gave Clarke more of an excuse to be paranoid; more excuses that his way is right! What's stopping you from bombing Earth or any other planet to smithereens?"

Takeshi sighed. "For us, Starfleet doesn't do that as a matter of principle," he said. "We're primarily explorers, but we can fight when push comes to shove. The Klingons… while I know some Klingons might see Planetary Bombardment as an option, we got lucky that the two Captains with us are the Honorable Warrior type. The most they would do is send in cloaked troop transports, but only if Ron gave that order."

"The man can't be that terrifying," Ryan remarked. "Those Klingons look like they could snap him in half."

"He commands the most powerful ship in the fleet, can scare people just by looking at them and he has a number of Borg implants in his body that make him… stronger then most people," Takeshi informed. "I assure you, he is that terrifying. Some of the Klingons call him 'Windstorm', after an ancient tale in their mythology." He then turned to Saren. "As for the Romulans, while I imagine Ron is at least part of the reason why they wouldn't consider orbital bombardment, I feel that the Colonel would be better suited to explaining any other reasons."

"The Republic doesn't consider it an option unless there is no civilian population. But Starfleet DOES have an order to destroy the surface of a planet. General Order 25, I believe. Regardless, we're here to help with the defense. I'll return to the D'Deridex, and recloak. The Starfleeters call the decloaking a 'surprise, motherfucker!' moment before we open fire. I think I like it."

Saren left the room, and Takeshi sighed. "It's General Order 24, actually," he told the B5 staff and Major Ryan. "But we only call for that when there's something so dangerous on the surface of said planet that we can't deal with it any other way."

"You've certainly got the weapons for it. Those beams can cut an Omega in half."

"Those are the primary weapons, and not that powerful in the grand scheme of things," Takeshi remarked. "Our torpedoes are more lethal: they've got a yield akin to… 50000 times that of the biggest nuclear devices you've got."

Ivanova blinked. "That's… pretty powerful," she said, understating the matter by several orders of magnitude.

"Either way, we can't just rely on your ships for help. that bastard's going to send everything he's got our way. I'll talk to Delenn: see if she can't get the White Star or some other Minbari ship to come."

'Home' System

"We've been unable to determine at this time how many have been killed in the recent attacks on Mars by Earthgov forces," Said the ISN newscaster on the vid screen, being watched by the occupants of the starbase lounge.

"Foolish of the Terran President," said one of the Klingons in the lounge. "Even during your most savage conflicts, you never bombed civilians if you had a choice in the matter. It is without honor." The humans winced at the reminder, as some of their leaders actively killed civilians as a matter of course. But to the Klingons, the more honorable ones seized victory.

"President Clark has announced that the attacks will continue until the Mars Provisional Government accedes to martial law. There's been no reaction from any of the outer colonies concerning—"

"I'm sorry!" Another newscaster entered the screen. "Jane, I'm sorry to jump in like this, but we have to—The colonies at Orion 7 and Proxima 3 have just broken away from the Earth Alliance in protest over the bombing of Mars. They're setting themselves up as independent states until such time as the president is impeached."

"Rick, don't do this—"

"Clark doesn't want this released, but we have to go with this now because I don't know how long we can stay on. Armed troops have begun moving in on the ISN broadcast center here in Geneva. We just saw them coming around the corner. We're trying to get a camera down there to document what's going on." The building began shaking on the screen. "I can hear gunfire now up here on the 14th floor. Listen to me. There's information you don't have. What's been going on for the last year, we haven't been allowed to tell you." Debris began falling from the cieling in the broadcasting station. "Everyone, get down!" Static replaced the image before 'Please Standby' replaced it.

And THAT was the final straw for the Klingons. "THEIR 'PRESIDENT' IS AN HONORLESS PETAQ'!" one of them roared. "MAY HE BURN IN THE FIRES OF GRE'THOR FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!"

The rest were more furious, getting out of their seats. "Where the hell are you going?!"

"To contact our ships! We are returning to them, and urging our captains to strike at this dishonorable qoh now!"

"We're not going anywhere until the big man gives the order!"

"Are you a coward, Starfleeter?" one of the Klingons asked, and the one who had spoken up didn't reply verbally—instead decking the Klingon.

That started a brawl that would have ended in bloodshed had a voice not interrupted them. "AC-FUCKING-TUNG, ASSHOLES!" The fight stopped as eyes turned to a woman wearing an EarthForce uniform with blonde hair and brown eyes. Colonel Pinkerton was just as intimidating as her 'brother'. "We just got a message from the Ra-Cailum. Get your asses to your ships, and get moving to Babylon 5! You want a fight? You're getting it! Clarke's sending a fleet to take the station! ARE WE GOING TO LET THEM HAVE IT?!"

"NO, MA'AM!" Everyone yelled in unison.

"WHAT ARE WE GIVING THEM?!"

"DEATH!"

"Nice to see the Klingons have the right idea. GET YOUR ASSES MOVING! WE LEAVE NOW!"

There was a mass exodus from the lounge—about as crazy and door-clogging as a panicked evacuation, but without the panic, and more important than an evacuation.

The six ships from another universe were going to war in this one.

Babylon 5

The Ra-Cailum was the only visible ship of the group that was going to be defending the station. The more obvious destroyers Churchill and Alexander were there, and the ships that could cloak were cloaked, ready to surprise. The Achilles was waiting in hyperspace. Sheridan's voice was heard over the tachyon comm net. "May I have your attention, please? In the last few hours, we have learned that warships are coming this way from Earth. Their orders are to seize command of Babylon 5 by force. As commanding officer and military governor of Babylon 5 I cannot allow this to happen." B5 began launching fighters at this point. "President Clark has violated the Earth Alliance Constitution by dissolving the Senate, declaring martial law and personally ordering the bombing of civilian targets on the Mars Colony. He is personally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent people. Following these attacks, Orion 7 and Proxima 3 have broken away from the Earth Alliance and declared independence. Babylon 5 now joins with them. As of this moment, Babylon 5 is seceding from the Earth Alliance."

"Launch all shuttles and runabouts," Ron ordered.

"Aye, sir," came the reply.

"We will remain an independent state until President Clark is removed from office," Sheridan continued. "At the end of this current crisis, anyone who wishes to leave for Earth is free to do so. Meanwhile for your own safety, I urge everyone to stay in your quarters until this is over. That is all."

"Inform our fighters on the D'Deridex to launch just as she decloaks. Surprise might end this before it begins."

"Aye, Commodore."

"And stop calling me that!" Beeping was heard from the science post.

"Jumpgate is activating!"

Ron smirked. He'd been wanting a good fight for a LONG time. "Here they come."

The vortex formed, spitting out five ships at first. "This is Captain Dexter Smith of the Earth Alliance Destroyer Agrippa to Babylon 5 and renegade ships. You are ordered to surrender your commands and prepare to be boarded. This is your only warning. If you do not surrender, we will be forced to initiate deadly force. Federation starship Ra-Cailum, surrender your vessel to Earth Alliance authority immediately."

"Oh, yeah, you and what fucking army?" Ron asked. That was when he realized that the point wasn't closed. More ships spat out: more Omegas, dozens of Nova-class dreadnoughts and a large number of Hyperion-Class cruisers.

"This is Captain John Sheridan, Babylon 5," Sheridan announced. "You are executing an illegal order in violation of the Earth Alliance Constitution. These orders have forced us to declare independence in order to ensure the safety of this station. We don't want a fight. But if you attempt to carry out these orders, we will defend ourselves. Come on, captain. You must see these orders are wrong. Leave while you still can."

"Captain Sheridan, we have more ships, and we have our orders. Even the Ra-Cailum will have to surrender."

"I outgun all y'all asses," Ron replied. "But I'm not alone. All ships, decloak! Stand to battle stations!" The cloaked ships reappeared, the fighters attached to the inner hulls of the D'Deridex detaching and joining their fellows from the destroyers and B5. "Surprise, motherfuckers!"

Captain Smith closed the channel at that point, and began moving his ships in.

"Babylon Control to all ships," Sheridan ordered. "Stand by to attack, but do not, repeat, do not initiate combat. Let them fire first. We won't start this fight, but, by God, we'll finish it."

"Lock phasers. Standby photon torpedoes."

"They've pissed you off if you're ordering photon loading."

"My patience is at its' end. They die. Period."

The enemy ships continued closing.

"Eight hundred kilometers," announced a rangefinding system. "700."

"Forces closing," announced one of the B5 operators. "Entering firing range."

"Close blast doors and activate defense grid," Sheridan ordered. "Stand by." More quietly, but still able to be heard, he said, "Don't be a fool, Smith. You've got to see these are illegal orders. Don't make us do this."

"Enemy fighters have locked on," the operator announced.

"And here come the fireworks."

"They're firing!"

The enemy fleet opened fire on Babylon 5, the renegade destroyers, and the Allies, the latter of which began firing back. "All ships, clear to engage. If they turn away and break off, let them go. If not… well, do as you will."

"Understood," Takeshi replied as the Firestorm shot off, the Sienov s'Okhala following close behind.

As one of the Omegas fired at the Firestorm, the Mercury-Class ship rolled around the attack, before firing a Photon Torpedo into said Omega's forward hangar. The Teutonic's head section exploded as Takeshi banked away, firing with his Phaser Cannons at a Nova-Class. While he wasn't pleased ending so many lives, they had long since given up fighting for the freedom of the people they were now beginning to oppress under Clarke's illegal orders. Besides, the ship could easily be towed back to Earth space and rebuilt. The Roanoke attempted to dance with the Ra-Cailum, but unlike Takeshi, Ron was not pulling punches. "Photon torpedoes, full spread."

The spread of warheads impacted various points on the Roanoke, turning the destroyer into so much space debris.

"Target destroyed."

"Target the Zeus and disable it. Make them back out of B5 space."

The D'Deridex disabled five Hyperion cruisers, leaving them adrift. "This is far too easy. No shields, no nothing. It's like shooting… what are those Terran animals called again? Webbed feet, long bill, goes 'quack'?"

"Cats?"

"Yes, it's like shooting cats. No real sport at all."

The Klingons continued to slaughter the enemy, hacking the cruisers and dreadnoughts to pieces, and they were joined by a ship dropping out of hyperspace: the Achilles.

"Like dynamiting fish in a fishbowl," Takeshi muttered as he took down another Hyperion. "Can't they see this battle is pointless and withdraw already?"

"Zealots never surrender, Captain," Ron informed. The Churchill took heavy damage, and was beginning to go critical. "D'Deridex, move in and begin transporting the crew off!"

The Double-D did just that, and began beaming personnel off of the doomed ship.

"Enemy fleet has taken heavy damage. They're pulling back. Looks like they landed troops on B5 during the battle."

"Tell the Klingons to transport troops onto B5 to contain them," Ron ordered. "Or slaughter. Up to the Klinks."

"Understood," replied the Comm Officer. Soon, the Klingon ships approached B5 and began beaming their Warriors over.

Hundreds of Gropos were fighting the BabSec forces, and kicking their asses as well as the Narns.

However, soon swirling columns of red light appeared in their midst, and before they knew it they were fighting a more dangerous foe.

A foe that absolutely relished close-quarters combat…

"Today is a good day to die!" The Gropos froze as the Klingons rushed at them, bat'leths and disruptors blazing. Several Marines were frozen in fear as some of them were decapitated by the Klingon horde.

The ensuing battle could hardly be called a battle—If anything, it could be called a massacre, as the Klingons brutally dealt with the Gropos, assisting BabSec and the Narns when they came upon clusters of them.

"We surrender! Just… stop!" The Klingons stopped the slaughter as the Marines dropped their weapons, putting their hands over their heads.

BabSec and Narns went in and restrained them, a few Klingons assisting—though the Klingons were none too gentle about it.

The Klingons were fine. The BabSec and Narn forces...not so much.

"Damage report."

Corwin looked at his monitor. "Damage to all sectors. They're still fighting in Brown Sector."

"Get some more troops down there. Hull integrity?"

"Not good. EVA teams en route. It's a good thing it stopped when it did. We couldn't take much more."

Of course, as if that were a cue, the Jumpgate opened again, and more ships came out of it.

"Oh, jeez," Takeshi muttered over the comms. "They've got MORE?!"

"This is Capt. Drake to Babylon 5," came the voice of the lead captain. "You are ordered to surrender and prepare to be boarded by order of President Clark." While the Nimrod and Olympic were no match for the fleet, there was only so many people they could prevent from getting onto B5.

"Captain… jump points forming right on top of us," Corwin informed.

Shierdan closed his eyes as he prepared to get the order to surrender. "How many?"

"Four!"

The jump points opened, spitting out four ships… but not Alliance. They were Minbari: three Sharlin-Class war cruisers and the White Star.

"This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari," Delenn said over the comms. "Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw or be destroyed."

"Negative," Captain Drake replied. "We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship."

"Why not?" Delenn asked. "Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."

"So, either run home with your tail tucked between your legs, or face all of us at once in a battle you can't possibly survive, Captain," Takeshi added. "Your choice."

Faced with six heavily armed and advanced warships, plus two Omegas, B5 AND a Minbari fleet… the EA forces ran, opening jump points and fleeing like rats from a ship.

"Nice timing there, Delenn," Takeshi remarked after the Earthforce ships had all left

"It came at great cost. We will speak of this on the station." The link cut out.

"I hope the Klinks enjoyed themselves," Ron remarked.

"The battle was glorious on the station, Captain, but out here… it was like fighting a pack of aged targs!" Zak'Jul announced.

"True," Takeshi replied. "The tech difference is so great it isn't funny… but they darn near made up for it with sheer numbers."

"Let's debrief on B5. Sheridan could use the moral support."

Babylon 5

"How many fighters did you lose?" Ryan asked.

Sheridan shook his head. "Too many: At least 30 percent of our Starfuries are destroyed or disabled. It's not likely we'll be getting any more from Earth for a long time. Why?"

"When the Churchill was destroyed, we took on as many of her pilots as we could. The launch bays are damaged. We can't hold many more. Give them a home here and bring your fighter squadrons up to full strength."

Hiroshi nodded sadly. "My people can bolster B5's human crew. God knows you can use it."

"Thank you, both of you," Sheridan replied. "I get the feeling that, if it weren't for Ron and his allies… things might have gone much worse."

"My crew would be dead," Hiroshi agreed. "I would be dead. And the security force would be devastated."

"The Achilles will be staying here, from what I've been told, as well as at least one of Ron's ships," Sheridan informed. "It'll boost our defenses."

"That's good," Ryan said. "Though hopefully Colonel Pinkerton can tone down her usual crazy."

"Apparently, she can control it. She just chooses not to. I think Delenn would say she's the universe's way of venting its' madness."

"Fuckin' A it is!" All three froze as the two Pinkertons entered the office with Takeshi and the other captains. All three were thinking of a certain theme as they saw the pair leading the way.

"So, how's the cleanup going, Sheridan?" Takeshi asked.

For a moment, he said nothing, barely able to comprehend TWO of them in the same room at once. He shook his head, letting the moment pass. "We're… we're working on it."

"I'll send engineering and security teams from the Ra-Cailum over to patch the place up and get 'er ready for the next fire fight," Ron informed. "The Tool Box'll stay here for the first shift."

"I'll keep the Firestorm on patrol," Takeshi added. "We'll be ready if the Earth Alliance or anyone else tries anything."

Sheridan nodded. "Thank you, Captain."

"My warriors would like to join your security forces to keep the peace," Zak'Jul informed. "Violence is something we welcome!"

"Just make sure they control themselves in everyday stuff, Zak'Jul," Takeshi remarked. "We want the crime rate to drop because people aren't committing crimes, not because those committing crimes are dropping like flies."

"We cannot give promises we cannot keep," Guinlong said as he smiled in that… Klingon way. Sheridan didn't like it.

"Well, whatever happens, we'll be ready," Takeshi remarked. "Though I'd imagine Clarke is pretty dang furious at how much we've managed to screw him over."

EarthDome, Geneva, Earth - Capital of the Earth Alliance

"GODDAMN IT!" Clarke was throwing a fit. Of the 84 ships that went to Babylon 5, 17 were badly damaged to the point of needing to be scrapped, 3 of them were outright destroyed, and the rest would be out of action for months! The simple idea that Sheridan had the help of the Federation Alliance, traitors in his own forces, AND the Minbari was annoying. He was working toward preserving humanity's purity, and those… people… were going to destroy it!

"Bill?" asked a female voice to his left.

He let out an annoyed sigh. "Miss Kanzaki. Is there something I can do to help you?"

A woman with dark brown hair flowing down to her waist and amethyst eyes smiled at him. "Come on, Bill, it's just the two of us here. You know you can call me by name when we're alone."

"Psi Corps tries to keep an eye on me. And I'm just… almost disillusioned of the idea that we can save Earth from those Federation people. We've been too friendly for too long, and look where it's gotten us. The only way we're going to survive is to isolate ourselves from them."

She sighed. "Oh, Bill…" she said. "I know this path must be hard. But don't give up. You'll achieve the future you're wanting for Humanity soon enough."

"I need to go. Majorie will be expecting me home soon. And I can't stay in the office all day. You know that."

"Alright, Bill," the woman replied, before she closed the distance, embracing him. "Shall we meet again later tonight, in the usual place?"

"Yes," he replied. "Sure. My wife is beginning to suspect things. I can't sic Nightwatch on her: not without casting a light on me. I can't let that—"

"Bill," the woman interrupted. "Leave it to me. I'll take care of everything." She smiled again, before she kissed him. "Trust me. She won't be a problem for much longer."

Clarke left the office, swearing he could hear some form of… whistling as he left the office. He wasn't going insane (anymore than he already was, at least) as the sounds were happening. His mistress was getting orders from HER masters.

Once Clarke was out of earshot, the woman, Hitomi Kanzaki, looked at where she knew her… associates were. "Babylon 5's remaining independent was foreseen," she remarked. "Even without these newcomers, its Captain is very close to the Minbari Ambassador, and she would do anything to help him."

More trills and whistles were heard. "I know. I'll go to Babylon 5… and try to recruit those ships to our cause. After all…" She smiled. "Chaos is the engine powering life. The spread of chaos is our triumph. And the greatest joy is the ecstasy of victory."

USS Firestorm

The Firestorm cruised on its patrol near B5 territory. It had been a few days since the attack, and things were starting to return to normal, though civilian ships from EarthForce territory got extra-tight screening, to ensure no quiet saboteurs were being slipped in.

There WAS an incident involving Nightwatch personnel that escaped the trap, but they were… dealt with. The leader of the group was given a special present from Ron: Borg technology that stimulated the pain center of the brain, and induced fear. THAT made the rest surrender without a fight. While it was amoral and they all knew it, zealots like them needed to be put down somehow.

"We might need to see about doing more for B5," Takeshi remarked. "Ron might not go for it, being it goes against the Prime Directive, but if we gave B5 some shields or some of our weapons, it might give them an edge for the next time anyone tries anything."

"We won't go for it," came a reply over the comms from the Ra-Cailum. "But if we disassemble the Regula station, we can move it here: up B5's firepower and protective abilities."

"That's going to cause problems for US," someone else said. "Our people need a place off our ships to rest, and B5 doesn't have the same facilities."

"Then if we do that, we'd need to make the move as quick as possible, so we don't lose access to the facilities for too long," Takeshi replied. "Heck, we could see if trying what DS9 did to get from Bajor to the Wormhole would be feasible. Though we'd likely need another station in the 'Home' System, as well, to defend our Dilithium Mining Operation in case someone stumbles on the place."

The Ra-Cailum passed by the Firestorm, dropping what appeared to be a satellite. It had two rotating turrets and four phaser emitters, and what appeared to be a shield emitter.

"Ah," Takeshi replied. "Yeah, a Defense Satellite would work."

The ship was dropping a LOT of them, orbiting Babylon 5 in a slow sphere.

"Uh… how many of them are there?" Takeshi asked.

"He's dropped 47 of them already… and he's got a LOT more in the shuttlebay. He's making a defense grid around B5: those things have 60 photon torpedoes, 2 heavy phaser pulse cannons and two emitters and they're all interconnected to make a deflector shield around B5."

"That'll certainly help," Takeshi remarked. "Still, my Spatial Awareness is acting up like it did before we met Riza. I think we might have another major encounter soon."

The jumpgate activated, and out of it came the starliner Asimov, the first transport from Earth since independence. "If it weren't for us being here, I'd say it was business as usual."

Home system

Things were pretty much business as usual at the 'Home' System for the fleet, with the Vol'Tare and Double-D currently in-system.

"That was an interesting day. 80 ships against, what, the 9 we had? Outnumbered eight to one—"

One of the science consoles began sending out a warning on the bridge of the D'Deridex. "Sir, picking up a disturbance. It's a jump point."

Out of the Jump Point came a ship. It looked like an Omega-Class Destroyer, but…

There were… spines growing on the hull, which was organic in nature. They had seen this before… on Shadow attack vessels.

"Oh, great," the Science Officer remarked. "Don't tell me they reverse-engineered Shadow Tech that quickly?!"

"This is the Earth Alliance destroyer Enigma. Surrender your vessels and prepare to be boarded. You will answer for your crimes against the Earth Alliance. Cooperate, and we will show mercy."

"This is Captain Zak'Jul of the IKS Vol'Tare," Zak'Jul said over the comms. "We have destroyed many foes who tried to conquer us in the past, and we have destroyed ships which bear the same tech yours does, and you believe you can force us to surrender to your koh of a President? Come back in a hundred of your years, Petaq'."

The Enigma opened fire, blue energy beams impacting the Vol'Tare's shields. They did MUCH more damage than the x-ray/plasma beams, and were closer to disruptor cannons then anything else. 2310s era disruptors, no less.

"OK, that hurt more than your usual weapons do," Zak'Jul informed. "Our turn." A massive volley of Disruptor bolts and four Quantum Torpedoes shot out from the Vol'Tare—Clearly, Zak'Jul was going for the Overkill option.

The advanced organic hull absorbed the disruptor bolts, but not without causing internal damage to the metallic hull, while the torpedoes hit the rotational section and weapons compartments, damaging them, but not destroying the destroyer. "We'll be back, you sons of bitches!" The Engima's Captain yelled out as the ship entered hyperspace, escaping the wrath of the Klingons.

"And we'll be ready for you!" Zak'Jul yelled back. Next time, he was going to go even more overkill.

If one of those things could stand up to Quantum Torpedoes, he'd see how well it stood up to Hargh'Pengs…

Babylon 5

"The new defense grid is online and tracking anything that looks remotely hostile at B5."

Shierdan chuckled at the new satellites orbiting his station. They were designed to be cheap, but they worked. "Any news on our new… king?"

Ivanova chuckled. A passenger boarded B5 claiming to be King Arthur Pendragon of all people, chainmail, sword and all. "Not much, besides Marcus enjoying himself. And someone wants to talk to captains Pinkerton and Yamato."

"Huh, that's interesting," Sheridan remarked. "Hopefully it's not Clarke trying something underhanded."

"I'll inform them."

While the Zocalo was by no means private, they couldn't meet privately without raising a few eyebrows, so Hitomi just sat at a table.

Takeshi was the first to walk up, and noticed two things. First, the woman looked almost exactly like he did, except for her longer hair and generous… assets.

And second, his Spatial Awareness was screaming at him—Something it had only done when he was near Hitomi Maxwell from the Mirror Universe. Meaning this woman was similar to her in some way.

He took a seat next to her as Ron joined them. "Hello there," he greeted.

"Captains Pinkerton and Yamato?" she asked.

"Look, lady, we have better things to do, so what the fuck do you want?"

"So blunt," she remarked. "Very well. I am Hitomi Kanzaki, and I represent some… special interests."

"Interests? What, IPX, EarthForce? My ass?"

Hitomi was beginning to dislike Pinkerton immediately. Rude, crude, blunt, just to use a few words. "More special than that," she informed. "My… associates are primarily focused on advancing progress—not just for Earth, but for the entire galaxy."

"Uh-huh," Takeshi said, looking at her pointedly. "Let me guess. You want to secure either our services or samples of our technology, which you can distribute to the masses to advance their progress. Am I reading you right on this?"

"More or less," she replied.

And at that point, Takeshi simply glanced at Ron. The man knew the regulations like the back of his hand, unlike Take. "General Order 1: non-interference in the development of a species, be it sociological, biological or technological. Regulation 487-A, Sub-section Gamma: transfer of any technology without authorization from the Federation Council and Starfleet Command is a court martial offense. And my favorite, Article 14, Section 31: Starfleet personnel are allowed to ignore regulations in extreme risk emergencies. So you can do three things. Kiss my ass, and suck it. Long. And. Hard. Looks like you do it already to begin with, so that shouldn't be difficult."

Hitomi frowned. "I see," she said. "There is nothing I can do to change your minds?"

"Unless you offer to make me a sandwich, not much." That insult was the last straw as she pulled out a compact PPG. "I wouldn't. You'd burn through your PPG cap before downing either of our personal shields, and I've got reactive shielding that you can't penetrate, even with infinite energy. You work with that fucker Morden, and his… Shadows."

Hitomi scowled. Clearly, Pinkerton hid his observant abilities by acting like he was insane, and by being very rude. "I see this meeting was a waste of time," she said. "I'll take my leave, but know this: there is only one driving force that truly advances people regardless of their origin. And my associates harness that force, channel it, and drive the people of the galaxy to greater heights. By opposing them, you oppose growth in the galaxy. Good day." She stood, and left.

Takeshi frowned, looking at Ron. "Looks like the Shadows are more than what the Minbari thought they were," he said. "This might even be bigger than the Iconian War back home."

"No. just older. We have better things to deal with. The Shadows might be old, but they stand no chance against the Iconians: they barely stand a chance against US. I have to go deal with information issues: if we're ever going to get home, we need every source of scientific information they've got."

"Right," Takeshi replied, before holding a hand up—which held a single strand of hair which he'd discreetly cut from Hitomi's long locks while she'd aimed that PPG at Ron. "And I should get this to your ship. I think we just ran into the local version of… well… me, but I want to confirm it."

Ron tilted his head to one side quickly before Takeshi disappeared in a column of light, reappearing in the ship's sickbay. "Didn't know we were getting a new patent. You sick?"

"No, got a sample for you," Takeshi replied, handing the doctor the hair strand he'd retrieved. "Need a DNA analysis done on this strand of hair."

Rutia just took it out of his hands, placing it in a diagnostic scanner. "Weren't expecting a site-to-site, were you?"

"No. All he did was tilt his head."

"Boss still has a transceiver in his spine. It's hooked into the comm system, so he can take control of the ship if he wants from anywhere so long as he's in range."

Takeshi nodded. "Useful," he said. "Anyway, I got that hair from a woman who requested a meeting with Ron and myself—she looked exactly like… well, me."

"Captain, we deal with this shit every month. Alternate universes and shit like that: why the hell are you so apprehensive? We should be used to it by now."

"Because the only other Female Counterpart I've met of myself in alternate universes is now the Empress of the Terran Dominion. In the Mirror Universe. And this lady set off my Spatial Awareness the same way she did."

Rutia either didn't care or took it in stride. That was alarming. Then again, when Takeshi asked for some of the Ra-Cailum's records, he got nothing but Omega-level requests for authorization. The Ra-Cailum did more than just build things. "Analysis complete: 97.3% match."

Takeshi sighed. "Well, that's confirmed," he remarked. "Though judging by the conversation Ron and I had with her, she might actually be worse than Empress Maxwell… thanks for doing this, doc."

"My job. Besides patching up the boys at B5 last month, I've had nothing to do."

"Bridge to Captain Yamato: your presence is requested on Babylon 5. We just got a message from the D'Deridex."

"I'll be right there," Takeshi replied as he made his way to the Transporter Room.

Babylon 5 - War Council chamber

"The D'Deridex sent this via the subspace relay in hyperspace." Images of the Enigma appeared on screen, firing its' beam weapons at the Vol'Tare.

"When the fuck did EarthForce get the time to build that thing? They've only had one encounter with—" Ron noticed the looks on their faces. "Talk. Now."

Garibaldi spoke up. "About 6 years ago, I was on Mars, doing freelance piloting ops. I saw one of those things in the ground. They must've taken samples."

Sheridan was disgusted. That ship was built on the same frame as the Agamemnon. "They've been doing this for years."

"And apparently it can even tank Quantum Torpedoes," Takeshi said, reading the report from the Double-D. "We might need to up our arsenal."

"I thought Quantum Torpedoes were the strongest torpedoes you had," Sheridan queried.

"Just the most powerful standard weapon," Takeshi replied. "We've got others, but they're more… exotic. The Klingons developed Hargh'Peng Torpedoes, which were designed to take out an ancient Planet Killer in our universe, and we've also got Tricobalts, Bio-Molecular Weapons, Thoron-Infused… we've got a lot of very exotic, very powerful weapons."

"He also didn't set the torpedoes to their normal yields. Those torpedoes were set to a yield of 4 isotons. Titanium can't tank an antimatter detonation, so why bother? I'll send the order to set all weapons to max-launch yields. We'll send the bastards all the way back to Z'ha'dum, and we'll be chasing them. By the time we're done, they'll have to rename the planet."

"True… though I wonder what they'd end up renaming it," Takeshi wondered.

"Easy. Z'ha'BOOM!" Riza and Ivanova shared an amused expression, with the latter actually saying BOOM.

Takeshi just laughed at that. "Yeah, that'd likely work. Either that or they'd have to remove it from the star charts completely."

Delenn was displeased by their lack of taking it seriously. "Any race with Shadow technology is a horrible idea, Captains. It is insidious."

"I'd know. I've got Borg implants throughout my body."

At the confused expressions, Takeshi explained, "The Borg are a cybernetic race from our galaxy, and one of the bigger threats before the Iconians. They use regular cybernetics and nanomachines. They only have one goal—assimilate other races, and add that race's biological and technological distinctiveness to their collective. We've been able to liberate assimilated individuals, like Ron, but that hasn't slowed the Borg down at all."

"They don't sound like much of a threat."

Ron sighed before looking at Takeshi. "Points must be proven, don't they." He walked toward a computer terminal before sticking his tubules into it, smirking as he did so.

"What the hell are you—"

Monitors and lights started flickering as Takeshi said, "This is something that the Borg can do, as well—inject their special nanoprobes into a ship or station, causing them to take it over. This is also the danger with salvaged Borg tech—it might still have active nanoprobes."

Garibaldi was unwilling to take a threat to the station, firing on Ron. His shielding just flared and absorbed the energy. "Resistance is futile, bitch."

"Alright, I think that's enough of a point, Ron," Takeshi said. He then turned to the B5 people. "So yeah, we know about 'insidious' technology."

Ron released control of Babylon 5 from his person. Garibaldi fired another bolt into him just for good measure. "Really?"

"How the hell are you PPG-proof? This thing burns through almost anything."

"Another of the dangers of the Borg," Takeshi replied. "They Adapt. First couple of times you fire an energy weapon at a Drone, it works just fine. You can even kill a drone or two. But they operate on a Hive Mind. They analyze the incoming weapons fire. And they Adapt, rendering each successive shot less and less effective."

"But he's one guy."

"I also have a personal shield unit. It tanks the shots before I adapt to them. Always works."

Takeshi grinned. "Personal Shields are pretty much a common mainstay where we're from now," he said. "But yeah, if there's one thing the Borg can't adapt to, it's physical strikes. So, if the Borg somehow arrive in this universe, the best bet are firearms. Swords would work, too, but that gets you close enough they can inject Nanoprobes and assimilate you."

Sheridan didn't want to think of it. "Is there a way to resist inside the hive mind?"

"Unimatrix Zero was one way, but that was destroyed. Resistance is futile."

"Hopefully we won't have to deal with them here. Clarke and the Shadows are threat enough for you guys."

"Resistance is futile."

All eyes turned to Ron, who had a blank glassy look in his eyes. "Oh, shit."

That look was replaced with his normal evil smile. "Got ya!"

"NEVER do that again!" Takeshi yelled. Everyone else nodded in agreement. "Anyway, on the topic of Shadows, I think there's something more going on with them than what we first believed."

"What do you mean?" Sheridan asked.

"The person who wanted to meet with Ron and myself? Seems to be working with the Shadows like Morden," Takeshi explained. "She said, and I quote, 'there is only one driving force that truly advances people regardless of their origin. And my associates harness that force, channel it, and drive the people of the galaxy to greater heights.' Not sure quite what that means, but something tells me they aren't conquerors like the Iconians."

"A mystery. We need more information."

"I know. But we don't have time to get it. We'll get as many supplies on board B5 as we can in preparation for a strike. Get ready. This is going to be FUN."

"Agreed," Takeshi replied. "We'll deal with Clarke and the Shadows as we get opportunities to do so, and defend ourselves in the meantime."

At that point, they got a call from C&C. "Captain, we just got the ISN feed back."

"Oh, fucking wonderful. Put it through, Lieutenant."

The ISN opening came through. "ISN, the galaxy's most important network."

A woman, not the usual one, was on the screen. "Good morning. The Interstellar Network News is back on the air broadcasting throughout Earth and to over two dozen colonies and deep range outposts. The first thing we want to do is explain what happened to cause the disruption in service. The signal from the ISN News Center here in Geneva was lost when our facilities were attacked by saboteurs intent on paralyzing all Earth communications systems as a prelude to invasion."

"Oh, that's wonderful: ISN's a propaganda machine now," Sheridan remarked.

"I'd imagine those people who worked the network before were either imprisoned or executed," Takeshi mused. "It would be Clarke's style."

"In order to divide our forces, the saboteurs used our facilities to stellarcast a fake report designed to create the impression that the government itself was taking action against us. To stop this campaign of misinformation we ourselves pulled the plug on the broadcast."

"Bullshit!"

"In the ensuing firefight, government forces recaptured the ISN facilities and apprehended the saboteurs. We've been working round the clock to repair the damage. And now, at last, we're back, better than ever."

Ron pulled out his phaser and shot the screen, cutting the audio feed as well. "Send me the bill."

Takeshi sighed. "Wonderful," he said. "Now we won't be getting any meaningful information out of Earth unless we send a team in to get it. And doing that is incredibly risky."

Sheridan shook his head and left, not saying a word. "He's pissed."

"Got every right to be pissed. We were hoping that that was the sign we needed that Clarke was gone, and now this?"

Takeshi sighed again. "Best we can do now is send some people clandestinely to Earth, disguised as civilians, perhaps with subspace comms so they can send info to us without risk of detection. Might need one of our cloak-capable ships to drop cloaked subspace booster relays along the path between here and Earth."

"We're not risking it. We don't have the people, for one. I'm going to organize the engineering crews: I want B5 fully repaired and ready for the next shitfest." Ron walked out of Sheridan's office, pissed off at the totalitarian bullshit he was seeing from Earth.

Takeshi was ticked, as well, as he left the office. And somehow, he knew that this 'Hitomi Kanzaki', his local counterpart, was involved in the situation on Earth.

He had no idea just how right he was, though, or the role she would play in the future…

RRW D'Deridex

Events passed quickly as there was a new and unwelcome arrival at Babylon 5: a stealth Starfury piloted by Alfred Bester, a PsiCop. The crews of all six ships were surprised at one thing: his resemblance to Pavel Chekov.

"Maybe he's this universe's equivalent to Chekov or something?" one of the Double-D's crew was musing. "Better question, though, is: what's he doing here?"

Saren glared at the image. While Chekov was an honorable man with a sense of duty and loyalty to his people that most aspired to, Bester was deplorable: thinking only of how to take advantage of events to put telepaths on top as rulers. "Captain Pinkerton and Yamato should be dealing with him right now."

"Hope he scares easily," another crewman mused. "Pinkerton would have a field day if that was the case."

Babylon 5 - brig

Bester was used to controlling himself. But when Ivanova said that she wasn't going to be talking to him, as she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, she brought in Takeshi Yamato and… that demon.

Said 'demon' was a male version of Colonel Pinkerton, and it was taking every ounce of Bester's willpower to keep from pissing himself from fear.

"So…" Takeshi was saying. "What's one of the most powerful human psionics in this galaxy doing here on B5, hmm? I suggest you start talking, Bester, before I let Ron start asking the questions."

Bester gulped before speaking. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Captain. President Clark isn't calling the shots back home. Others are whispering in his ear. I don't know who they are or where they're from. But I do know they're not human. I've only heard one name for them: Shadows. My guess is you know more about them than I do."

"We do. Question is, what do we tell you?"

Bester attempted to scan Ron's mind. What he got… were nightmarish images. Images of vessels shaped geometrically - cubes, spheres, diamonds, pyramids, and various other geometric shapes, all black with glowing green bits. Inside, cybernetic drones, all linked by what Bester could only identify as some kind of hive mind. A person, being strapped to a table, being injected with nanoprobes and turning into yet another Drone. And an echoing voice, stating a simple message:

"We are the Borg. Your existence as you know it is over. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is Futile."

Bester screamed. Mentally AND vocally. The small space made it louder somehow, and Takeshi was sure his ears would bleed. Ron slapped him across the face, shutting the terrified PsiCop up. "Will you shut the fuck UP?! Maybe that should teach you to look inside someone's mind without asking."

Takeshi nodded. "Even our own telepaths in our universe ask permission before entering someone's mind," he said. "It's called common courtesy. You should try it sometime."

Bester didn't look into Takeshi's eyes. He would risk looking into the hellish eyes of his companion. "I'll talk to the command staff. Not you. You scare the hell out of me."

"And the command staff doesn't trust you," Takeshi replied, "so you're stuck with us. Though perhaps we might see if our Klingon friends have any Lethean Interrogators who could have a look at you, Bester. And if you're wondering, Letheans are among the most powerful telepaths in our galaxy. And those who've joined the KDF as Interrogators are the only ones who don't follow common courtesy—they'd just as soon rip whatever secrets you possessed from your mind, leaving you a ruined shell of a man—as talk to you."

"I won't scan them. Him, I scanned because he's an unknown. I'm not touching his mind again. And as for the Shadows, through Clark, they've infiltrated the Psi Corps. And apparently they have their own plans for my telepaths. Whatever these aliens are, they're interfering with my plans for the future. I won't have it. And so, I need someone who feels the same way I do. Which brings me to you. Would you like to hurt them, Captain? Because I think I know how. If you're up for it."

Takeshi sighed. "Technically, this is not an 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' scenario," he said. "We have a common enemy, yes, but that does not make us friends. We are simply using each other to deal with a shared enemy. As long as we both have full knowledge of that, I don't see any problems."

"We don't."

"In a few hours, a convoy of ships will be riding the hyperspace beacon through Sector 500," Bester was saying. "At the center of the convoy is a ship containing supplies for our mutual enemy. The ship is being escorted by approximately half a dozen enemy fighters. Seize the ship and we deprive them of some of their weapons capability. But it's important to capture the ship, not destroy it."

"So how did you find out about all of this?"

Bester looked at Sheridan like he was an idiot. "I'm a telepath. Work it out."

"OK," Takeshi said, having joined the briefing as well. "So, now we know what to do. The question now is, how do we do it?"

"Locating a ship this small in hyperspace is extremely difficult. The gravitational incline, competing beacons, energy surges. You could search for days and not find it. Unless you just happen to have along a telepath rated P- 12. Someone like myself. A trained P- 12 can pinpoint a ship's location by focusing in on the thought waves of those aboard. For some reason, hyperspace amplifies the signal considerably."

"So how come I've never heard of that little ability before?"

Bester smiled. "We kept it to ourselves. Otherwise, the military might start putting telepaths on the front lines. We're not expendable. Mundanes are."

Garibaldi scowled. "That would be us."

"Got it in one, Mr. Garibaldi. It takes generations to breed a telepath. Mundanes breed like rabbits. Supply and demand. Nothing more, nothing less. Captain, we don't have a lot of time. Without me, you'll never find them. So do we stay or do we go?"

"We go," Takeshi announced. "This opportunity's too good to pass up. But we'll take along some of our own Telepaths, some Betazoids and Letheans, to help as well."

"I won't need their help—"

"But we do," Ron said as he entered Bester's line of sight, dominating it once more, and because Ron was the only thing Bester could see… well, the nightmares he would be getting for the rest of his life would be comforting to Ivanova and Garibaldi. Bester attempted to get away, but Ron pressed forward, driving nightmares from the Borg into his mind.

Takeshi took a few sniffs of the air, then scowled. "Hey, ease up on the guy, Ron!" he yelled. "Scaring him is fine, but getting him to soil himself? Have some consideration for the rest of us, will ya?"

Ivanova and Garibaldi smiled. "Actually, I wouldn't mind," Ivanova remarked.

"I can deal with the soiling for the loss of his dignity," Garibaldi added.

Takeshi could not believe them. They must've hated Bester beyond words to care about that.

Ron looked at Takeshi. "Just making sure he knew when we stood. Because he's coming with ME."

"What?!"

Ron turned his gaze to Bester, who looked like he was about to piss himself again. "That's right. You're coming with me on the Ra-Cailum. And we're going to have so much FUN!"

Bester did the only thing he could when faced with that knowledge.

He fainted.

Sheridan gaped. "Captain, you scare the shit out of me, but whatever you did to Bester… save it for the Shadows and Clarke."

"Fuck that. The Psi Corps clearly doesn't suffer enough fear. And to be honest, I'm a nice guy. I'm just very good at scaring people."

Takeshi laughed. "Hopefully you can scare the Shadows and Clarke as easily as you scared this guy," he said. "Anyway, let's mount up. We have a convoy to raid."

Bester rocked himself in the shuttle en route to the Ra-Cailum, piloted by Sonja while Ron… well. Don't look into the man's eyes was a mantra he was repeating in his mind.

When he'd woken up to learn that he really was going with Ron, he'd soiled himself again. Something which set Ivanova and Garibaldi to laughing.

That was something he was never going to live down. As Sheridan had it recorded. And Ron said he was going to spam it throughout Alliance space. And as Bester had learned, Ron wasn't the joking type when it came to threats.

At this point, given what he'd heard of the Letheans from Takeshi, Bester would have preferred having his mind ripped apart by one of them rather than… this.

And Ron was ENJOYING THIS. "This must be illegal. Abusing a prisoner."

"I'm not abusing you. You looked inside my mind and attempted to get information from me. And I showed you the Borg. And using a man's fear against him to keep his ass in line… isn't illegal."

"Not to mention business as usual for the boss," Sonja remarked. "There's this guy we deal with a lot in our home universe. Name's Franklin Drake. Even he's scared of the boss, to the point he doesn't try any of the stunts he pulls with other captains."

Bester tried to look at Sonja and scan her, but Ron grabbed his head, forcing his telepathic beam to go into HIS mind instead. Bester tried to cut the link, but… it didn't work out. Bester would be needing new pants. And a shower.

"Jeez, boss, Takeshi has a point," she said, waving an arm in front of her face to blow away the stench. "Someone soiling themselves does not make a pleasant odor for the rest of us to deal with."

"He was going to try and get inside your head. What would you prefer, Commander: your technical knowledge inside his head, or dealing with the smell of shit for a few minutes?"

"Point taken," she said. "Still, remind me to replicate some scent blockers or scent generators and place them throughout the ship once we land. I don't want the rest of the crew dealing with that if we can help it."

Bester disappeared from the shuttle in a transporter beam. "There. Crew quarters until we need him."

"I hate it when you do that."

USS Firestorm

Mogire was up on the Bridge this time, Takeshi hoping that her telepathic abilities as a Betazoid would help them track the enemy, especially if filtered through his Spatial Awareness. "OK, we all set?" Takeshi asked.

"Barely. This came from a man who is scared to death of our generally considered commanding officer. Are we sure we can trust it?"

"Bester's got the same foe we do, and we know he's using us and he knows we're using him," Takeshi replied. "Plus, the fact he's scared of Ron makes it less likely that he's lying."

"What's Ron going to do, take away his telepathy?"

"Worse." The image of the man in question appeared on the screen, Bester standing right beside him. "If he is lying and this is an ambush by EarthForce, I'm going to look into his eyes for the next three WEEKS. I will be the only thing he sees. And he will lose his mind for it."

"…That's pretty sadistic of you."

"I am fed up with the bullshit that this universe is throwing at us. I'm retaliating in the best way I can. Without mercy."

"Gotcha," Takeshi replied. "Alright, then, let's get this show on the road."

The Ra-Cailum, White Star, and Firestorm entered the jump gate, entering hyperspace. Ron sent a look to Bester before the link cut out. "Wow. He IS pissed. We've seen angry from him, but this… this is worse."

"Yeah," Takeshi replied. "This is him absolutely fed up with everything the galaxy's throwing at us. I can't blame him. But I know Murphy. If anything, it's likely going to get worse."

The ships began moving, picking up contacts on sensors as soon as they entered Sector 500. It was clear they didn't need Bester or a telepath: their sensors were powerful enough to look through the murk of hyperspace. "One transport with a fighter escort," Kim remarked. "Should be easy enough to capture."

"As long as there's no surprises," Takeshi reminded. "Remember, even in hyperspace those Shadow vessels seem to have some kind of stealth that is superior to our cloaks."

The White Star moved in, firing pulse cannon bolts at the fighters, destroying them quickly while the Firestorm moved in, catching the transport in a tractor beam.

"Contact on sensors!" Kim called out. "It's a Shadow attack vessel!"

"Told you," Takeshi remarked. "Ron, think you can deal with it?"

Before the Ra-Cailum could do anything, it fled, disappearing once more. "Can you track it?"

"Negative. I think the cloak's just as effective in hyperspace."

"It's not a cloak, you idiot. It's their way of exiting hyperspace."

Takeshi's eyes widened. "They can enter and exit hyperspace without needing a Jump Point?!" he wondered. "Well, that's going to make them harder to deal with."

"But why did it run? They never run." Linda scoffed at that. "They can't be learning their lesson."

Ron appeared on the screen again. "Let's get back to Babylon 5. I think I know why that ship ran off, and it's not because of our ships." Ron sent a glance at Bester, who flinched, but that didn't seem to be the reason for it.

"Roger," Takeshi replied. "Returning to base."

Babylon 5's jump gate activated once more, spitting out the small fleet, which entered docking maneuvers. Once more, Bester was forced to deal with Ron's presence. But he attempted to protect himself via curling up into the fetal position.

Eventually, they were all gathered in the War Room again, and Takeshi asked, "OK, Ron, spill: why did that Shadow vessel run when normally they don't?"

Ron pointed at Bester.

"That explains nothing."

"Ok, since I have to spell it out for you: what was different about EVERY encounter we've had with the Shadows? No telepath was actively probing hyperspace or the area. They ran began of THIS asshole."

Takeshi's eyes narrowed as he realized what that meant. "So… they're weak to psionics or something?" he speculated.

"So I'm your greatest asset."

Ron glared at Bester, who ducked under the table, much to the amusement of the B5 staff.

"You have him whipped. Can you show me how to do it? I'd LOVE to know."

Ron smiled at Garibaldi. "Get assimilated by the Borg, get half your brain scooped out and spend the next 8 years as a mindless automaton."

"So, you scare him with your memories of that time you were assimilated?" Takeshi asked. "I guess that means you're the only one who can keep him in line."

"Oh, not just my assimilation. I got fifty thousand sets of memories in that positronic noodle of mine. I use ALL the bad ones."

"Moving on, gentlemen." Bester poked his head out at Sheridan's proclamation. "We have a weapon to use against the Shadows: telepaths. Problem is, what the hell were they doing with those people in stasis?"

"More central processing units, maybe?" Takeshi asked. "We know Shadow vessels use people as living cores… maybe they were making more ships, and needed more cores?"

"Or refitting. Most organic material doesn't last as long as those Shadow ships: they could need replacement every, I don't know, 40 years, 50?"

"But why telepaths?"

"ECCM, Sheri-boy: teeps can't jam a teep-controlled SAV."

That made sense, in a sick, twisted and nasty way. The telepath-controlled ones could jam any telepath attempting to disable the attack vessels.

"If only we knew what their end-game was…" Takeshi mused. "Then we'd have a better clue of what we need to do to stop them."

"It doesn't really matter what it is. We're involved now, and we're not letting anyone else suffer for this."

"…Can I please leave?" All looked at Bester, who looked close to shitting his pants again. This was a change to the cold, dominating PsiCop they were used to dealing with, and all because the bastard looked into the mind of a man that he REALLY shouldn't've looked into.

"Just leave, Bestie. We'll have more fun later." Bester fled the room, and Ivanova was disappointed that he wasn't screaming like a little bitch.

Takeshi was chuckling a bit about Bester's reaction, but his mind wasn't totally focused on that. He was still worrying a bit about what the Shadows were really after… and how Hitomi Kanzaki factored into their plans…

Takeshi Yamato: …And boy, does he have a right to worry—especially regarding Miss Kanzaki.

Ron the True Fan: And before anyone starts ranting, this version of Ron isn't the nice guy we see in STF and Crossover. He's only got one purpose: war. And war is something he does WELL. Who are you and what do you want will not be questions he'll be answering.

Takeshi Yamato: Takeshi's still the same as in those other stories, only with a new ship. Also, he dealt with the Mirror Universe without any other ships from his side for backup, complete with encountering Hitomi Maxwell, his counterpart on that side, and being an unwitting accomplice to her rise to Empress. This leaves him naturally paranoid about alternates of himself—especially female ones.

Ron the True Fan: Now, to commence Operation: Anderson. TFS viewers, you know what that means!

Anderson: Well, you know what time it is! (RAPE~!)

Takeshi Yamato: Until next time!

Both: Ja ne!