He nodded.
Moreil walked through the ashes of chaos, savouring the feel of the choked air in his mouth and the touch of the blood-soaked earth through his fingers.
He had not come to invade, or to conquer, or to subjugate. Some of his companions had sought riches, or captives, or even the love of killing, but not him.
For him there was only the joy of bringing chaos, only the joy of serving his Dark Masters.
The fight had been easy, so incredibly easy. The planet had hardly been protected at all, a half-repaired defence grid and a handful of antiquated ships. None of it was any match for the renegades, the Order of the Wolf, or the Brotherhood Without Banners, or the Imperial Order, or whatever they were called.
Then they had gone to the surface, to the capital, and the true destruction had begun.
They had killed some, they had taken some, but most they had left alive to spread the tales, so that everyone would know who had done this. And that, Moreil knew, was what most of them wanted. They spoke of riches and revenge and power, but all they really wanted was to be known and feared, to be people of influence, to have their names sung and whispered.
An elderly Centauri woman was crying, screaming at him, interrupting his walk and his meditations. Moreil remembered her. Rem Lanas had taken her daughter, and the Wykhheran had torn apart her bond-partner and feasted on him.
"Devil!" she cried. "The Gods will destroy you! They will come down from the heavens and destroy you with holy fire. You will all burn when the Light comes. All of you!" She was crying. "You will all burn."
Moreil stopped and looked at her. She was old, and looked weak. He could have snapped her in half without trying, and his Wykhheran would barely have made a mouthful of her.
He bent down and touched her face, moving his claws gently across her cheek, being careful not to draw blood. He was taking extra care. Some races were just so fragile.
"I am Moreil," he said, speaking in her barbaric and uncivilised tongue. "Your Gods are dead."
Then he set her aside and continued walking. He would not be here long. They had done what they came here for. Gorash was not completely ravaged, but it was enough for now. They had sent a warning to the galaxy that they existed, and that was a start.
Next time, they would turn their attention somewhere bigger.
Delenn awoke from yet another dream, the latest of many. It seemed that ever since she had moved to this station she had not slept well. John was not there. It seemed he was rarely there when she awoke. She was not a late sleeper, but he was always up before her.
But this was the middle of the night.
She rose and walked into the next room. Space on Babylon 5 had been at a premium, and although the rooms she and John possessed were the largest, they were still far smaller than the ones she had had on Kazomi 7.
John was there, standing still, as if he were a statue. A candle was burning just in front him, and he was staring into it as if nothing else existed.
Delenn shivered, and looked at the wall. Space was beyond there, an infinity of it. An infinity of nothing.
"Remember," she whispered.
But remember what? It appeared that all of them had forgotten so much, so very much.
"Welcome to Babylon Five," she said. There was a meeting tomorrow morning, a meeting of the Alliance Council. It was likely to be a difficult affair. There were so many new faces, and so many of the old ones were gone.
She did not know how long she stood there, simply staring into space. When she finally returned to bed, she looked at John.
He had not moved. Not a muscle.
She sighed, and returned to an uneasy sleep.
Chapter 2
She was transported to a world consisting entirely of pain. It was not in one place, it was everywhere. She saw nightmares come to life. She heard the voice of the man talking to her, telling her to call him 'my lord', telling her to do things.
She said nothing. She did nothing. She merely resisted as best as she could, and screamed when she could not. But he had not yet forced her to surrender, not yet forced her to beg. That was the only power she had now, the only power she could ever have now.
She knew all about power. She had grown up at its nexus, a daughter of the Centauri Royal Court. Her father had wielded power, so had her mother, but it had done neither of them any good. Her father had been murdered, regardless of the power he had commanded, and her mother had died somewhere, alone, anonymous. She must have hated that.
No, she had thought she understood power, but it was only now that she truly did. Power was to seize upon something and declare that that was something she would or would not do, for no other reason than because it suited her. She would not scream, she would not beg, and she would not call him 'lord'. He would have to kill her before she did any of these things.
That was the only power she wielded now.
There were others she saw, although whether they were real or nightmare she did not know. A Narn woman came and watched her often. There was a human as well, who carried a large knife, constantly sharpening it. These she was fairly sure were real and not hallucinations.
But there was something else, an alien. It had a sharply angular head, and large eyes. It never stayed long, and it always looked at her closely, as if peering through her. Behind it something moved and shimmered, but she could never be sure if that was real or merely lights dancing in front of her eyes.
She was forgetting too much. She was beginning to forget what Gorash had been like before they had come. She had even forgotten why she was there. She only remembered one thing.
She would not give him what he wanted.
Senna of House Refa, daughter of Emperor Refa, had that much power at least.
Chen had never experienced anything like this before. Not ever.
It was as if he had been thrown into a raging river, one composed of light and thoughts and memories. And on the instant he broke the surface, he realised he had forgotten how to swim.
There were thousands of them, screaming voices. Some he was sure he recognised. Some he was sure he had known once. But when he had known them, they had not been in so much pain.
That was what this place was. A river of pain.
Don't lose contact with us! One voice came rushing through the myriad others. It was Talia. You'll never find your way back if you do. You'll be lost forever.
What is this place?
The network. This is what they will do to us. All of us. Remember! Catch hold of something, anything that will remind you of who you are. Remember your name. And follow us. Don't get lost.
Chen could see them now, Talia and the others. They were a school of fish, heading upstream, moving deeper into the maelstrom. He had entered the river with them, but had become separated. He moved towards them and was swept up in the force of their motion.
Don't worry, came another voice, a female one. Stay close to me. I'll do what I can.
The woman who had smiled at him. I don't even know your name, he said.
Lauren. Lauren Ashley.
I'm Chen Hikaru.
Good. Keep thinking that. That's one of the first things they do to us in here. Take away our names.
Where are we going?
As far up as we can.
Chen found it easier to just let himself be swept upwards with the others. He could not navigate himself. There was too much that was strange and twisted. As they moved, he heard voices, he heard cries, he heard pleas for mercy.