Battlecrab
| Fighter | Scout
Battlecrab
| Fighter | Scout
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Homeworld Location Capital City Population Revolution Gravity |
: Z'Ha'Dum : Alpha Omega : unknown : unknown : unknown : 1.2 g |
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Z'Ha'Dum is located in the Alpha Omega system (Sector 900). The whole surface is desolate, with raging dust storms lashing the rocky surface. The reason for this could be nuclear bombing during one of the last wars. The surface is covered with thousands of obelisks, in which Shadow runes are carved. All bigger installations like cities are located beneath the surface for better protection. The planet was destroyed by former allies after the Shadows moved beyond the rim in 2261.
Xenobiology
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PSI-Ability aver. Lifespan aver. Height aver. Weight |
: yes, P12+ : unknown : unknown : unknown |
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At present it is unknown if the Shadows used a bio-mechanical suit like the Vorlons did. They are not as resistant as Vorlons and can be easily killed by some laser or PPG shots. Shadows are able to phase into somewhere between realspace and hyperspace thus making them invisible. Their PSI ability is very high but they fear other telepaths.
History
"There are beings in the universe billions of years older than either of our races. Once, long ago, they walked among the stars like giants, vast and timeless. They taught the younger races, explored beyond the rim, created great empires. But to all things there is an end. Slowly, over a million years, the First Ones went away. Some passed beyond the stars, never to return. Some simply disappeared." "Not all of the First Ones have gone away. A few stayed behind, hidden or asleep. Waiting for the day when they may be needed, when the Shadows come again."
'Shadows?'
"We have no other name for them." "The Shadows were old when even the Ancients were young. They battled one another over and over across a million years. The last great war against the Shadows was ten thousand years ago. It was the last time the Ancients walked openly among us. The Shadows were only defeated, not destroyed. A thousand years ago, the Shadows returned to their places of power rebuilt them, and began to stretch forth their hand. Before they could strike, they were defeated by an alliance of worlds, including the Minbari and the few remaining First Ones who had not yet passed beyond the Veil. When they had finished, the First Ones went away... all but one."
- Delenn and Sheridan, "In The Shadow of Z'Ha'Dum"
The Shadows are the second oldest race in the universe, only Lorien's race is older. They gained hyperspace technology many million years before the Vorlons went into space. Their technology level is extremely advanced but hasn't developed any further during last thousands of years.
When most of the First-Ones chose to go beyond the rim, the Shadows and the Vorlons stayed behind and became some kind of teachers to the younger races. Both had a totally different "philosophy of life", in which the Shadows stood for chaos and the Vorlons for order. In the eyes of the Shadows, only the strongest races could evolve. From time to time they appeared and started wars with the Vorlons. Later they persuaded younger races to fight against their neighbors, with the winning race standing out of the ashes again.
The last great Shadow war occurred 10000 years ago but the Shadows were only defeated and not destroyed in this war. In 1200 AC they returned but an alliance between many races, including the Vorlons and the Minbari, defeated the Shadows before they could gain more power. In order to save their ships the Shadows "buried" them on hundreds of planets to use the vessels in wars to come.
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| The Icarus crew members were given the right to choose between serving the Shadows or to die. Most of the crew members died but some are now serving the Shadows. The crew members who chose to die were used as some kind of CPU in the Shadow ships while the others acted as some kind of representative or ambassador. |
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The Shadows were on the verge of success in 2260. Many battles against other races had been won and the Shadows planed to annihilate a large fleet of ships with refugees on board. The Army of Light heard of this plan and so they decided to take on the battle against the Shadow fleet. It was a devastating battle with many destroyed ships on both sides. The Shadows finally fled into hyperspace.
Shortly after the battle the dead thought wife of Capt. Sheridan arrived at Babylon 5. She was on the exploration vessel Icarus that landed on Z'Ha'Dum. Unlike Morden she chose not to serve the Shadows and was placed in one of their battle cruiser. When the Shadows recognized that she was the wife of the leader of the AOL, they decided to remove her from the ship. She persuaded Sheridan to go with her to Z'Ha'Dum. The Shadows tried to convince Sheridan from their aspects of evolution but Sheridan did no agree to their terms and so the Shadows wanted to kill him.
| Sheridan escaped out of the room and got to a huge underground city. He knew that there was no chance of getting out alive and so the ordered the automatic flight system of the WhiteStar to crash down to the city. The city was destroyed in a huge explosion caused by two fusion bombs on board the WhiteStar. |
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After this attack the Shadows began bombing other plants with their version of a Planetkiller, a giant black nebula. Like the Vorlons they took no interest in races living on these planet. When Capt. Sheridan heard of this weapon he lured the Shadows and the Vorlons into a trap at Coriana 6. Together with the remaining First-Ones the Army of Light fought against the Shadows and the Vorlons. After the battle at Coriana 6 all First-Ones left the galaxy.
The Shadow homeworld was destroyed shortly after this.
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