(disclaimers and associated descriptions in overture)
* * *
<<ACT FOUR>>
Talangahta IV. Former Z'shailyl refuge.
"I have to admit," Telluride informed their erstwhile ally, as he gazed around the enormous landing cave with appreciation, "That I *do* like your landing pad, Moreil." He'd been surprised at first when the Z'shailyl had pointed out the relatively tiny entry hole in the top of the massive limestone buttress, but surprise had turned to awe when the massive cavern inside that hole had been revealed. There was enough space for a dozen atmospheric transports like the two he'd brought down from the DE'MOLAY, it was softly backlit by dozens and dozens of phosphorescent outcrops, as well as the light that came through the entrance and out of several side galleries possessing chimneys leading back to the surface, above.
"Better it wass," Moreil had replied, "When the Dark Oness secretss helped to hide thiss place from prying eyess. Was all taken from uss when those you call Drakh came to thiss place. We could not hide from them."
"Was that when you left?" came an inquiry from behind, and Telluride turned, as Moreil turned on one heel to meet Julia's piercing gaze, her eyes dark and knowing in the cavern's gloom.
"Wass not given a choice." was the Z'shailyl's reply. "Choice wass to leave or to *serve*. Chose not to serve, chose to fight, instead."
"Okay," he muttered, turning back to the primary objective, "We're wasting time, here. Raphael!"
"Sir!" came a familiar bellow, as First Lieutenant Vicenz Raphael, the commander of the DE'MOLAY's Infantry Platoon for the past five years, arrived at a run.
"Form a perimeter, and let's shed some light on the proceedings, if you don't mind? The Z'shailyl hunters that are chasing Moreil are probably going to be down here any time now, and when they do arrive, it probably *won't* be through the entrance we came in through."
Raphael issued a curt command, and almost immediately, the floodlights on both shuttles intensified, filling the cavern with their glare. "Is he right?" the soldier asked Moreil, fixing the red-eyed alien with a glare. "*Is* there another way into this place that our enemies can use to get at us?"
"Yess, your leader is correct, sssoldier. Hunters will not come upon uss in expected way, leader of Huntersss does not wish this mission to succeed. He will attempt to sstop the retrieval by intercepting usss, more then likely in cave network. Leader of Hunterss may also wish to confront and defeat me. Perssonally."
"Does this 'Hunter' have a name?" Telluride asked.
"Most likely, is named Aa-zzhvar." the reply came, as several of Lt. Rapheal's infantry squads moved out into the cave to establish a perimeter. "Once we sserved the Dark Oness, together..."
"This is all very interesting, Moreil," Julia commented, "But can you tell us the story later? For now, we have an operation to conduct, and you have something to give us, yes?"
Moreil paused, and then nodded. "Indeed. Forgive me. We go...
Now."
* * *
Z'shailyl flagship; arrival at Talangahta IV.
"Jump out complete." Viknahz reported. "The human commander has launched his fighter squadrons, and they have formed a perimeter around the human destroyer. Do we begin the assault?"
"Send several small groups of fighters on ahead to test their defences," Aazhvar instructed, as he strode to the viewport to gaze upon the distant black shadow the human ship cast against the blue and gray surface of the planet below; his first and last opportunity to see this enemy, before the battle began. "But hold the rest back from battle for now; a decision must be made."
"Que'zhail?"
"We must not lose sight of our primary objective, Viknahz," he reminded his First. "That objective now stands on the surface of Talangahta, together with his new *human* allies. Get me Zarounon."
"As you wish, Que'zhail." Viknahz replied; Aazhvar smiled at the questioning tone in his voice. It was, he surmised, Viknahz's notion that he himself should handle the assault against the human vessel as their Huntleader, while a group of lesser Hunters were sent below to confront Moreil.
The notion made sense, except... except, it could not be borne! Ending Moreil's rebellion had now ceased to be a duty, becoming instead a matter of honour. It had come to the point now where he did not *trust* another to tell him Moreil had been caught and vanquished. He would not believe that had happened until he saw it with his *own* eyes.
Yes... there was no other way. Zarounon was more then capable of handling the battle with the human thieves and their abomination of a warship... and if the mysterious 'enemy' the Vekh'shivalht Palakz had faced at the human colony was also present, more then capable of a test engagement with the new opponent before retreating. He desired to destroy the human 'Warlock' vessel, but not at the expense of losing his entire command.
For now, though, Aazhvar needed someone to distract the humans, so he and a select team could descend to Talangahta. "Contact established." Viknahz reported, and Aazhvar turned aside, as the image of his Third appeared on the nearby command-screen.
"Que'zhail. Your orders?"
"Xarounon..." he curtly began, as the lead elements of the Z'shailyl force began to exchange fire with the heavier but lesser numbered contingent of human fighters. "I have decided to assign you the task of assaulting the human vessel. I and my contigent of hunters will descend to the planet below to deal with Moreil."
Zarounon nodded. "This is no great surprise, Que'zhail. I accept this task willingly."
"Be cautious in your use of resources, however, Zarounon," Aazhvar warned the other Z'shailyl. "The strike mission we pursue to the surface will succeed in quick order, or it will not at all. My First will hold this warship in mid-atmosphere as long as possible, so the enemy will not be able to strike at it easily. When you see it begin to rise, however, disengage at once, or sooner, if things go badly."
"But what of your wish to destroy the human vessel?"
"We will pursue this, but not at the expense of unnecessary loss of life!" he replied, raising a finger in warning. "Do you understand me, Zarounon?"
"Yes, Que'zhail!"
"Viknahz," he commanded, turning aside as the image faded, "Take us down into the atmosphere, and prepare the dropship."
* * *
Above the planet, the battle abruptly began to intensify as the DE'MOLAY, now under combat acceleration at its Captain's orders, forged forth into the enemy squadron, its anti-fighter weaponry dealing out death where and when it could, its fighters aiding as well, though some were now damaged and two had been destroyed, their pilots forced to eject and wait the rest of the battle out. Meanwhile, Azhahk Fenric's tiny squadron whirled through the vacuum as well, unseen and yet, they hoped, valued.
The tiny horn-shaped enemy vessels were far more maneuverable then the Drakh cruisers and motherships both crews had faced in the recent past. And while some of the enemy died, some also survived to strike back. Luckily, all but a tiny percentage of the energy strikes were either absorbed by the Shadowtech meshwork in the DE'MOLAY's hull, or taken out by the Interceptors.
Nevertheless, it now appeared that a greater crisis was about to come upon the embattled crew of the DE'MOLAY. The Rangers of the SHARD OF NIGHT, who earlier on had briefly tried to catch the Z'shailyl ship that had descended into the atmosphere, now found a clear and present threat they *could* respond to. "Na'lai!" Sheynell warned, "Four medium Z'shailyl capital ships approaching on the DE'MOLAY's port side."
"I see what they're trying to do." Klairika replied. "If all of their capital batteries strike at the DE'MOLAY's habitat section simultaneously..."
"A Warlock Class Destroyer might not be invulnerable to a strike like that." Nicholas noted, from his position down in Engineering. "But we *should* be, because of our more advanced Vorlontech hull."
"Precisely, Mr. Dawson. Dasouri, bring us in between the Z'shailyl and the DE'MOLAY, and prepare to shield!"
A moment later, all four Z'shailyl vessels opened fire, their gunnery crews instructed, as Klairika had suspected, to hit the same target. But just as they did, the astonished Z'shailyl captains, Zarounon included, watched a darker shadow suddenly shimmer across their target... a shadow that flared bright green for a moment, as the SHARD's semi-organic hull absorbed the strikes meant for the larger destroyer behind them.
"Damage report!"
"35% damage to hull at strikepoints." Sheynell reported. "Autorepair systems in effect... the hull will be back to normal operating capacity in less then forty seconds."
"Another successful test." Klairika mused, before her gaze hardened. "Dasouri!"
"Now about to find out exactly *how* maneuverable this vessel is," the Drazi tersely replied, as his capable hands brought the SHARD to a sudden dead stop in space, and spun it through all three axes to bring them to bear on the still approaching Z'shailyl force.
"Showoff."
"Tactical..." Klairika ground out, "Keep your attention on the task at hand!"
"I hear you." Sheynell replied, her gaze sharpening as she focused on the approaching targets... this was, of course, the first time she'd ever done this. "Target acquired, and firing!"
* * *
The DE'MOLAY.
"Their timing," Piesch began, "Was s...superb."
"Can we track their location?" his Captain asked.
"I'll try." he replied. "They're moving pretty damn fast, though..."
It was then, of course, that a massive white spear of light appeared on the port side, and blazed out to strike against the side of one of the Z'shailyl attackers, which prompty, and messily, exploded. "The SHARD just fired its main gun, Captain. Got 'em!"
Bring portside secondary batteries to bear on the enemy, and *fire*!"
Shortly thereafter, with two of their capital ships damaged and the others destroyed, the enemy chose that moment to begin the retreat, and Bethany Tikopai then turned her attention to the ship in the atmosphere. "Lt. Commander Gage."
"This is Gage, go ahead."
"Send a flight of Thunderbolts down to harass that ship."
* * *
"How much work did your people do on this cave network?" Julia asked Moreil, as the team of Rangers and Earthforce personnel descended deeper into the buttress. "You were here for how long?"
"Over five of your yearsss, Ranger. Many of my people lived in thiss place, it wass, how shall I sssay it, ideal. Not only were we hidden from above both by nature and by design, we could also take food from the river that passses below." Moreil paused as the group came to a three way intersection. "Thisss way."
Abruptly, they emerged into a larger chamber filled with glows and also illuminated by a shaft of light descended through a chimney from above, but by the greatest setting piece was a great shattered piece of black rock in the center of the chamber. It was at that point that a hiss of obvious *anger* emerged from their companion. "Moreil; was this... your council table?"
"Yesss. There was a time I was not outcast, a time when I sat at thisss table to determine the course of our future." Moreil bent for a moment, picked up a fragment of the table in his hand and crushed it asunder, before driving the tip of his zei'taku into the remnants, further shattering the rubble. "The Drakh it was that did thisss to them, broke the table when they forced my people to leave thisss place."
"Why?" she asked him, even though she already knew the answer.
"I sussspect as example to the rest. I also believe my fellow councilmembers were punissshed by the Drakh for turning aside, after the destruction of the world you call Z'ha'dum. The Drakh mussst be made to answer for all that they have done to us."
"So that's why you're helping us?"
A nod. "If defeat Drakh you do, then you may be able to forc-sse them to release my people."
"That may not be easy." she reminded him.
"No just caussse ever is easy. But you will try?"
At that moment, she made a decision that would have great ramifications in the months and years to come. "I will try."
Moreil merely nodded, and then, turning to the rest, gestured them to follow. It was then that a message came in from orbit, and Telluride moved close to Julia and Moreil. "Z'shailyl," he roughly interrupted, "Whatever you're going to do, it'd better be soon. One of the Hunter vessels descended to the stratosphere and released a dropship of some kind before our respective crews drove it off."
"And *none* of our fighter pilots were able to catch it?" Julia inquired, a little disbelievingly.
Telluride shook his head grimly. "It was faster then a bat out of Hell, apparently; it got down to the surface before our fighter pilots could even get close to it. And while their ships have retreated into hyperspace for the time being, we're still going to have visitors, soon. We *have* to hurry."
"Yesss. Thiss way."
* * *
Elsewhere in the cave network.
"We must be careful." one of Aazhvar's hunters commented. "The human soldiers are patrolling the caverns looking for us. And now that our squadron has been driven away by the Earther ship and its ally, we will have to wait until a return is allowed."
Aazhvar gestured dismissively. "That will not take as long as you believe, and the human senses are not as *tuned* as ours."
"Then we may yet come upon them unawares," another commented, "Before retreating into the darkness and the depths, until Viknahz returns."
"Indeed. Do you not sense them?" Aazhvar asked his comrades, his eyes glowing faintly in the darkness of the cave. "Here, where they do not belong? The humans will be made to pay for coming to this place of sorrow."
"And Moreil?"
Aazhvar bared his teeth. "I will take care of *him*, myself."
* * *
Long before the river appeared, Julia could hear it, thundering through the darkness of the Z'shailyl's stygian underworld. Over a mile it ran through the buttress, and long ago, had drowned an entire network of the cave system. Alongside that stygian marvel, Moreil moved as if he has stood here only yesterday, until finally, the combined party of Earthforce and Ranger personnel emerged into a subsidiary cavern just off of the main rivercourse, a cavern whose bottom was full of water.
Moreil immediately strode over to the river-facing side of that underground lagoon and out onto the very end of the ledge, where an outcrop of white crystal emerged from the wall. Julia nodded, and allowed herself to smile; so *that* was where he'd hid his secret cache of data!
Others, however, weren't *quite* so quick on the uptake as she had been. "All right, now see here!" Telluride bellowed over the nearby rumble of the river, "You've been leading us all over this maze for the better part of the last hour; when, exactly, are you going to give us the information we came here for?"
"Watch and *learn*, human. Information is here, if one knows where to look for it." With that said, Moreil then reached out to the surface of the crystal outcrop, and withdrew a long white crystal from the wall.
"Well I'll be *damned*." Telluride whispered.
"We do not do thingsss as you would, human. When one servess the Dark Onesss for as many cyclesss as we did, one learnss to become as devious as they."
"But why did you do it?" she asked him. "The Z'shailyl who came here with you, weren't they like you? They ran from the Drakh, why didn't you trust them?"
"Trussted them I did, but was afraid that thisss would happen." Moreil replied, as the memory crystal vanished out of sight inside his dark robes. "Set aside sssecret information, information *I* can use to begin the fight to free my people. Information *you* can use to begin the search for the cure that affects yours."
"I do not think sso, Moreil." a new and darker voice announced, and everyone whirled (while Julia sighed resignedly) as over a dozen more Z'shailyl entered the cavern, cutting off their only means of escape. Why did it *always* have to come down to a fight?
"Aazhvar." Moreil hissed. "Ssso; they *did* send you after me."
"You should not have brought them to thiss place, Moreil. Now you must pay the price for your mistake, and they mussst die!"
"I do not believe you will find that easy, Z'shailyl." she declared, stepping forward. "See us for who we are."
Aazhvar's eyes widened. "Anla'ssshok? Here, with Earthforsse?" He gestured sharply, and two of his Hunters stepped forward, zei'taku in hand.
"Take them down!" Telluride barked, and two of the soldiers that had accompanied their XO down into the depths rushed forward on point, and immediately opened fire on the approaching Z'shailyl. It seemed a fine idea, until their dark-skinned opponents ducked beneath those plasma blasts and came upon the startled soldiers quicker then any had thought possible, their dark weapons in hand.
It was then that Julia finally saw the purpose of the crystal tips on the Z'shailyl weapons, as each Hunter openly struck his opponent, the crystal tips on their weapons flaring briefly. A moment later, the unconscious soldiers sank beneath the cavern's murky waters, and she met Larieken's gaze and nodded, before unclipping her denn'bok from her belt, and opening it. All along the ledge, she could hear the rest of her Rangers doing the same.
It was time to *end* this, the only way they could.
* * *
A very great distance away from the battle now in progress between the Z'shailyl and their human and Minbari foes, a watcher sat before her crystal, and gazed deep into its fiery heart. The watcher was thinking about the future, and what path she would soon be following. A path that none of her kind had ever followed before... but there would soon be no choice, for the voice had been heard.
A voice, crying out in the dark. A voice louder now then ever before.
A voice that had to be answered, before it was too late.
Before *others* became involved.
* * *
The battle was over, and the Hunters had departed, those of them who could still stand; those who had not been flung into the dark waters of the cavern by the blade of a Ranger-wielded pike. And yet, at the same time, things had not gone all their way, not at all, Julia mused darkly, as she knelt next to Larieken and helped to bind the arm of one of her crew. Three of her people had been injured, one severely; *she* would have to be carefully carried out very carefully, and transferred back to orbit as soon as possible. And as for Moreil...
Moreil had decided to confront Aazhvar personally, and for a time, the two Z'shailyl had fought each other to a standstill. But then, at the last, Moreil had made a split-second error, and Aazhvar had struck beneath his guard and shattered several of her new ally's ribs. Larieken had driven Aazhvar off at that point, but the damage had been done. Not only had their enemy's weapon broken ribs, it had shattered the precious memory crystal as well. Moreil, before he had fallen unconscious, had *insisted* that some information might still be retrievable from the crystal, that all was not lost.
She sighed, and briefly met the eyes of the DE'MOLAY's now-bitter executive officer. Paul Telluride did not believe Moreil; believed, instead, that this had all been a waste of time... that their Z'shailyl opponents had stolen away another chance to cure the people of Earth.
That they'd wasted time here they could not afford to waste.
She bowed her head. The path they walked was a path of sorrows...and who knew how and where it would end? There was only one thing she knew with certainty... they could not give up. *She* could not give up.