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| A Dark, Distorted Mirror | Synopsis |
DURING all this time Deathwalker had been growing in power and knowledge on Minbar. She had certainly become aware of the Shadows, and although she was not one of their agents she was more than willing to work with them in the pursuit of a mutual goal - the transformation of humanity into something akin to her own race, the Dilgar.
She thus arranged for a large payment to reach Councillor Du'Rog of the Kha'Ri, payment which would assure that certain orders were given. When Captain Sheridan pulled his Babylon into the Narn-run human mining colony at Vega 7, the Narn Administrator Na'Far alerted the Minbari and arranged for Sheridan's capture. The Babylon was forced to flee before the sudden arrival of a Minbari ship, which took Sheridan back to Minbar.
There he was presented before the Grey Council, and as she saw Sheridan face off against Sinoval Satai Delenn was struck by an awesome revelation - what she believed to be the answer to Valen's mystery about "the other half of our soul...." Buying time to investigate this, she had Sheridan sent to a cell on the planet itself, which only served to help Deathwalker. Managing to twist Sinoval's political power for her own ends, Jha'dur arranged for a guest to visit Captain Sheridan. Said guest was Susan Ivanova, who asked him the simple question, "What do you want?" Suitably pleased by his answer, she helped him escape, Deathwalker having ensured that no guards were around.
Deathwalker's plan worked even better than she had expected. During their escape, Sheridan and Ivanova ran into Delenn - on her way to test her beliefs about Sheridan's soul with a Triluminary. Delenn was struck down and captured, Sheridan recognising her value both as a hostage and as a source of information, over Ivanova's suggestions to kill her. Almost absently, Ivanova took Delenn's fighting pike and Sheridan the Triluminary.
Returning to the Babylon, Sheridan's immediate reaction was to return to Vega 7 and discover the reason behind his betrayal there. Unfortunately he was unable to do this. Unknown to almost everyone, Vega 7 was the site of a long-buried Shadow vessel, a vessel which had been awoken by mining operations. Another Shadow ship came to free it and the entire colony was destroyed. There were only a handful of survivors, including Marcus Cole, a miner and a drunkard who had seen his brother die in the attack and who was determined to avenge his death. From the garbled, dying words of Administrator Na'Far, Sheridan assumed that the Minbari were responsible for the attack - an assumption 'proven' by the presence of two Minbari cruisers sent to re-capture Sheridan. Both ships were destroyed however by a Shadow ship - humanity's new allies. For the first time in years, humanity could hope for the future....
For Deathwalker and the Shadows events had gone even better than planned. Sheridan now had even more reason to hate the Minbari and even more reason to embrace the Shadows. Delenn was removed from the political scene in Minbar and it was simple for Sinoval to claim that she had gone with Sheridan willingly, even helped him escape.... There was still resistance to Sinoval, but it would be a transitory thing now that his greatest opponent was removed.
The Resistance Government greeted news of this new race with cautious optimism and set about establishing the nature of these new allies, as well as just how much information Delenn possessed. The Head of Security and Information, Mr. Welles, began an intense interrogation of Delenn, using psychological techniques, torture and frequent mind-scans performed by telepath Lyta Alexander to uncover as much information as he could.
Captain Sheridan meanwhile was, as always, uncomfortable on Proxima and wanted to take off again as soon as possible. His next destination was the Narn homeworld, where he would ostensibly try to persuade the Kha'Ri that the Minbari had been responsible for the attack on Vega 7, while actually trying to discover which one of the Kha'Ri had given the order to have him captured. Sheridan had time for an awkward encounter with his by now estranged wife Anna and for a meeting with the Resistance Government. He was somewhat unhappy when both Marcus and Ivanova insisted on going with him. Sheridan was unsure of what to make of Ivanova and asked David Corwin - now Commander of the Babylon - about her. Corwin revealed that Ivanova had been avoiding him ever since her return, apparently from the dead.
G'Kar meanwhile had been conducting his own investigation into Sheridan's betrayal and was concerned when he received word of Sheridan's arrival on Narn, not knowing where the human would stand when the Shadows made their inevitable move. He instructed Na'Toth, Ta'Lon and Neroon to keep an eye on him.
The Kha'Ri was less than receptive to Sheridan's account of what had happened on Vega 7, preferring to believe that the Centauri were responsible. A stray mention of the Enemy, echoing Delenn's frequent and largely-ignored warnings, piqued Sheridan's interest however and Na'Toth was forced to play her hand and invite him for a meeting. Tension on both sides was high, and eventually there was a fight between Sheridan and Marcus against Ta'Lon, Neroon and Na'Toth. Sheridan and Marcus were beaten unconscious and Na'Toth arranged for Neroon and Ta'Lon to take the two of them to G'Kar's shrine, not knowing that Ivanova had planted a tracer on Sheridan and was able to follow them to G'Kar, hoping to eliminate a problem she and her associates had had for quite some time.
The Dark Soldier that the Shadows hoped would do this failed - killed by Sheridan, Ta'Lon and Neroon - but not before leaving G'Kar close to death. The nameless Vorlon managed to heal G'Kar but spoke of a price to be paid. While G'Kar lay recovering, Sheridan talked to Neroon and learned something about the Great War and about the Shadows, but a 'rescue' attempt by Ivanova pulled him and Marcus away. Both Sheridan and Marcus began to experience doubts about humanity's new allies, but were unsure of how to express them.
Meanwhile, back on Proxima, Delenn was still undergoing torture at the hands of Mr. Welles. Delirious, she experienced a vision of Valen, as she had when she was a child. It was from this vision that she reached the realisation that Valen had been human. It was also during this torture that something profound passed between Delenn and Lyta Alexander. In mysterious circumstances, a Vorlon had placed a part of itself within Delenn. During Delenn's torture, that part passed from Delenn into Lyta, creating a strong bond between the two.
Na'Toth's investigations had discovered Du'Rog's complicity in Sheridan's betrayal, and she arranged to have him quietly poisoned. The Kha'Ri however refused to believe that the Minbari were responsible for the Vega 7 attack and Sheridan left Narn without their alliance, but with concerns about the Shadows.
Several months later G'Kar was met by a mysterious alien called Zathras, who spoke about a Great Machine and about his destiny....
His concerns increasing, Sheridan found himself growing closer to Delenn, who explained to him her beliefs about Minbari and human souls. Sheridan did not believe this, but found himself unwilling to let her brutal torture continue. He therefore brought her up to the Babylon, ostensibly for reasons of security, but in reality for reasons he could not begin to voice....
Meanwhile Lyta was plagued by dreams and by a Vorlon voice that spoke in the back of her mind. She managed to ignore these long enough to pursue Marcus and form the hesitant beginnings of a romantic involvement with him, gently probing his mind and discovering the sheer depths of anger and self-hatred within him.
Shortly after his recovery, G'Kar arrived on Epsilon 3 with Zathras, his agents managing to make his arrival unnoticed. He met up with Sheridan and spoke to him of the Great Machine, vital to the destiny of both of them and crucial to the side of Light in the Great War. Sheridan was ambivalent about this, but was surprised when Ivanova revealed that she knew about the Great Machine as well, and that her information had alerted the Resistance Government to the technology on Euphrates. They ordered Sheridan to lay claim to the planet, not knowing that others had done the same. The current keeper of the Machine - Varn - had sent out many of the alien race who took care of the Machine, including Zathras' brother, Mathras, who had gone to the Minbari and to Delenn's old teacher Draal. Sinoval also knew the potential within the Machine, and he ordered Kalain to seize control of the planet.
Ivanova had deeper influence over the Resistance Government than was apparent. Hague, Takashima and Crane she dismissed as nonentities, but Clark posed a serious problem. Him she was determined to control, and with a Keeper, she did so. Lyta was not so easily controlled, however. Her telepathic powers were raging out of control and Susan, who was a low-level telepath herself, found herself increasingly afraid of Lyta and wary around her, a fear that was easily built into a terrible hatred.
Sheridan and Kalain met again over Euphrates, but their ships were unable to fight, due to Varn's intervention. At his request Sheridan, G'Kar, Zathras, Mathras, Draal and Kalain ventured down into the Heart of the Machine to hear Varn's words. Varn was dying however, his control of the Machine was limited, and old tensions were too strong. Sheridan and Kalain began to fight, as did the Trigati and the Babylon.
G'Kar and Draal hoped to end the fighting, and Draal was on the verge of replacing Varn in the Machine when he was struck down by a stray PPG blast from Sheridan, leaving G'Kar no choice. He entered the Machine and tore the warring parties apart, ordering them to leave. When they were ready to fight the Darkness, then they could return, but not before.
Kalain had now worked past his fear of Sheridan and the Babylon, and he returned to Minbar filled with determination one day to bring them down. Sheridan however, soon found himself with other concerns - the sudden appearance above the planet of the never-built space station Babylon 4.
Babylon 4 had been sent back in time from some unspecified point in the future, carrying with it a number of unusual passengers. The first was Valen, going back in time to meet his destiny. With him were a Vorlon named Kosh and an older, bitter, scarred Susan Ivanova, determined to save her present by destroying the past, killing Valen before he could go back in time. There was at least one other, however, a mysterious space-suited figure who was picked up adrift by the Babylon. Commander Corwin met and recognised this figure and gave him or her whatever unknown assistance was necessary.
A message was sent to the Babylon, asking for Sheridan and Delenn to come over. Puzzled and intrigued, the two did so, only to be ambushed in the docking bay by Ivanova and a number of Shadows. Sheridan and Delenn were separated - Sheridan captured by Ivanova and Delenn saved by Valen, who tried to explain something of what was happening to her. Both Sheridan and Delenn also had flashes, forwards and backwards in time - Sheridan of killing his wife Anna and Delenn of standing by Sheridan's grave on a devastated Minbar, where she was physically changed.
Ivanova tried to use Sheridan to lure Valen into a trap, but an unexpected sacrifice by Kosh destroyed the Shadows and left Susan catatonic. Valen completed his journey into the past, and left Delenn with the certainty of what she was about to do. She and Sheridan talked over what they had seen and took Marcus and Corwin into their confidence, beginning their own conspiracy against the Shadows.
Sheridan's first action against the Shadows was to have Ivanova watched. To this end he had Marcus made her bodyguard, so that he could keep track of her actions. Ivanova knew this was why Marcus had been assigned to her and she began to take steps to counter them - starting by seducing him. Lyta meanwhile was growing increasingly concerned about Marcus, as well as worried by the depth of her feelings for him.
Tensions on Proxima 3 intensified when Alfred Bester announced that he would be arriving - both to meet Ivanova and to mind-scan Delenn. The Resistance Government owed him a great deal and could not help but agree to his requests. Ivanova, however, had no intention of letting him near her. Clearly terrified, she made some excuses to the Resistance Government, and Clark, still under her control, agreed that she need not see Bester.
Sheridan and Delenn had a similar problem. Delenn was in the process of building the chrysalis machine to effect the transformation that she had seen in her future. Afraid that this would be discovered, she and Sheridan plotted to keep Bester from her. Using a Minbari mind trick Sheridan managed to obscure his thoughts, enabling him to threaten Bester to leave Delenn alone. Or so he thought. In reality Bester had worked past the mental walls and had scanned Sheridan - his real reason for coming to Proxima. What he uncovered in Sheridan's mind confirmed some information he had been given by an unknown source, and bore out his unknown intentions.
With the period of mourning for Dukhat finally over, the election of his replacement was being decided in the Grey Council. Sinoval was the likely choice but he faced opposition from Hedronn, Lennann and Rathenn, concerned about Delenn. Sinoval agreed to obtain proof about Delenn's status and he arranged for Ambassador Refa to make a state visit to Proxima - ostensibly to continue working on a peace treaty between human and Centauri, begun by Londo on G'Kar's request, but secretly to provide some evidence about Delenn which would enable Sinoval to be elected Holy One.
Delenn meanwhile was nearing the completion of her chrysalis machine. Doubtful about her destiny, she talked to Sheridan and finally decided to enter the machine. She was not the only one for whom plans were proceeding. Ivanova knew that the first major action of this new Shadow War would have to come soon and she needed to be rid of Delenn - and her information. She had become friends with Sheridan's estranged wife Anna and hoped to force the two of them back together - both to get Sheridan away from Delenn's side and for more altruistic reasons.
She had her chance when Sheridan was summoned before the Resistance Government for a meeting with Ambassador Refa. After the meeting Ivanova arranged for Anna to meet up with her husband and the two of them managed a brief reconciliation, Sheridan figuring that Corwin would inform him if anything went wrong.
Something was going wrong. Working with the Head of Security aboard the Babylon, Zack Allan, Ivanova managed to have Marcus arrested and so placed out of the way, before heading up to the Babylon itself. Zack arranged easy access for her to Delenn's chambers, where Ivanova killed the two security guards there and broke Delenn free from the chrysalis, intent on killing her. She was interrupted by Lyta, however. Lyta had sensed great danger to Delenn through the psychic connection they shared, and she came to the Babylon. Maddened by Lyta's telepathic - and Vorlon-induced - attack, Ivanova fled and returned to the surface with Zack's help. She had already managed a great deal however. Delenn's emergence from the chrysalis had been premature and her biology was dangerously unstable. Her mental condition was also affected - Delenn had been reduced to the mind of a child.
Acting quickly, Ivanova managed to give a highly interpretive account of events on board the Babylon to the Resistance Government, claiming that Delenn had murdered the guards and absorbed their DNA. President Crane was ill, and without her Clark was able to order Sheridan, Corwin and Delenn brought before him. Sheridan had been with Anna and was surprised to be brought before the Resistance Government and even more surprised when he saw what had happened to Delenn. Clark ordered him and Corwin arrested, and gave Welles complete control over uncovering the truth.
Welles began by interrogating the crew of the Babylon and putting Delenn to a second brutal questioning. Lyta was brought in to mind-scan Delenn and their bond awoke something within Delenn. She was further awoken when she was forced to defend herself from rape at the hands of one of Welles' security guards, killing him.
Watching all this was Vir, Refa's attaché. He was unable to contact either G'Kar or Londo, but he knew that he had to do something. First of all he contacted Lyta and then, with her help and a Changeling Net, he managed to free Delenn, Sheridan and Corwin, helping them get to the Babylon. Lyta refused to go with him, distrustful of Sheridan and wanting to find Marcus. She was later betrayed by Zack and given over to Welles and Clark.
Fleeing on the Babylon, Sheridan was startled to find Anna on board - having come to look for him. He was suspicious of her, unable to believe that their brief reconciliation had been out of love - as it indeed had been. In a tense stand-off he shot and killed her. He had no time to grieve, however, as Ivanova had sent a Shadow ship in pursuit of them. The Babylon was saved when the Shadow vessel mysteriously veered away after contact with another ship - the Ozymandias, an Earthforce destroyer captained by Ari Ben Zayn and telepath Harriman Gray. Both worked for Bester, who wanted to talk with Sheridan.
Refa returned to Minbar with two very interesting pieces of evidence. One was the sight of a half-human Delenn with Sheridan, and the other was of Ivanova with a Shadow. Sinoval used these to maintain that Delenn was with the humans willingly and that she was even allied with the Enemy. Faced with this the Grey Council declared her Zha'valen - or outcast - and named Sinoval the Holy One.
Meanwhile, on Centauri Prime, Londo was targeted by a number of assassination attempts. All were foiled, one by visiting keela poet Shaal Lennier, another agent of G'Kar's. Others were not so lucky however. First Minister Urza Jaddo was killed in an 'accident' and a puppet of Elrisia's moved into place. Lady Elrisia meanwhile later announced her engagement to Emperor Marrit, who dissolved her marriage to Refa. Tensions between Centauri and Narn were growing elsewhere and, perhaps under Elrisia's influence, Marrit declared war on the Narns.
At last given the authority he had always believed to be his, Sinoval began the final assault on Proxima 3. Content in his new position, he broke all ties with Deathwalker as he attempted to launch the Minbari on the path of their destiny. One particular Minbari was finding her destiny less than pleasant. Tests run on Delenn revealed that her genetic structure was dangerously unstable as a result of her forced removal from the chrysalis. Her mind might be hers once more, but her body would one day kill her. And that day would probably be sooner rather than later.
Sheridan meanwhile was tormented by grief for Anna, but he managed to put this aside in confronting Bester, who presented him with a new ship - the Parmenion - before returning the Babylon to Proxima, cutting Sheridan away from ties to his past. When Bester learned of the Minbari assault on Proxima, he dispatched Sheridan's Parmenion and Ben Zayn's Ozymandias to what would be the Battle of the Second Line.
Others were being drawn into the maelstrom however. Londo was increasingly drawn in by the chaos on Centauri Prime, and found himself meeting a strange human named Morden, who was accused of murdering the prophetess Lady Morella. After an unsatisfactory meeting - from Londo's viewpoint at least - Morden vanished. As did Londo. After yet another assassination attempt, Londo agreed to the suggestions of his wife Timov. Pretending to be dead, he could better observe matters on Centauri Prime by going directly to G'Kar's side. He hitched a journey to Epsilon 3 on the Valerius - a warship commanded by his nephew Carn. After a skirmish with a Narn cruiser under the command of Warleader Na'Kal, however, both ships were ordered by G'Kar to Proxima - to fight the coming Darkness.
The Battle of the Second Line was a disaster for the Minbari. The Shadows knew they were coming and cut their fleet to shreds, with not a little help. Deathwalker finally set her plan in motion. Drugging Hedronn with alcohol, she arranged for him to massacre all the other members of the Grey Council - with only Sinoval and Kalain being absent. She also arranged for Ambassador Refa to record this, and to disseminate this information back on Minbar.
The Minbari fleet was discovering some very strange allies, however. Sheridan was most surprised to find that Bester's orders were to oppose the Shadows, and with the help of the telepath aboard the Parmenion - Alisa Beldon - the pitiful collection of ships in the Army of Light managed to hold off the Shadows. A greater surprise was the actions of the Babylon - returned to Proxima 3 and under the command of General Takashima. She too was fighting the Shadows.
Delenn had her own plans however. Needing to confront the Grey Council to reveal to them the link between Minbari and human, she made her presence known to the Minbari and arranged for a task force to board the Parmenion. Things did not go as planned. Although she was taken from the human ship, so was Sheridan. Neither was she taken before the Grey Council. She was Zha'valen - an outcast - and no Minbari could look at her. Even her attempts to warn her clan failed, leaving her more alone than ever.
She was not entirely alone though. She had Sheridan, and he had her, although neither of them recognised it then. Delenn tried to make her way to the Grey Council chambers to talk to them personally, only to find them all dead, with Deathwalker standing over her triumph. Delenn fought the Dilgar and, despite her weakness, won. She refused to kill her foe however, but Sinoval did not. He was too late for his people though. His fleet was in ruins and they were unable to escape. But then came help. The Vorlons.
There was another battle being fought on the surface of Proxima 3 - smaller perhaps, but no less significant. Susan Ivanova was trying to convince Marcus of her love for him - something she attempted by killing Lyta Alexander. Marcus rejected Susan, and he and Lyta fought her and her Shadow allies, managing to kill the Shadows. Tragically however, Marcus died in the fight, sacrificing himself to save Lyta. Following his death Lyta and Susan clashed, leaving both injured but alive. Lyta managed to escape, taking a shuttle to the Parmenion. Susan was left in a pool of blood, mortally injured, but still just hanging on to life.
The sudden arrival of the Vorlons allowed the tattered remnants of the Minbari to escape. Their work done, the Shadows disappeared, as did the forces of the Circle of Light - but they were not unscathed either. Na'Kal sacrificed his ship to save the Valerius. Alisa Beldon had died from exhaustion following her efforts in blocking the Shadow ships. And something important had died within Lyta and Delenn as well.
The battle was over, but there was still much to do. Sheridan confronted Bester and learned the truth of his relationship with G'Kar. The Narn provided Bester with the resources he needed to run Sanctuary. The telepath provided G'Kar with the telepathic DNA he needed to create the telepaths to fight the Shadows.
Elsewhere, Susan Ivanova was kept alive in a coma. Clark assumed the position of President from the ill Marie Crane. Delenn collapsed, her genetic instability perhaps finally claiming her. Neroon vanished, falling bravely on a Ranger mission. Emperor Marrit was assassinated just before Lord Refa made his return to Centauri Prime. Londo had a second meeting with the mysterious Mr. Morden. And Sinoval.... he was left raging at the vision of Valen he had seen many years before, wondering if his great destiny was to lead the Minbari to their destruction.
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