Drakh

File:Londo and Drakh.jpg

Londo Mollari (right) talking to a Drakh

The Drakh are a fictional alien race in the Babylon 5 universe. The Drakh were dark servants for the race of First Ones known as the Shadows. They appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of Babylon 5 as well as the television movie, A Call to Arms. The Drakh, much like their Shadow predecessors, have various agents working for them, and apply technology to mask their appearance. One appeared in the episode "Lines of Communication," where this Drakh shimmered when seen in person, and was referred to as Srakh Drakh who seemed to use some form of Phasing Technology, much like the Shadows themselves used to Phase in and out of the physical universe, creating the shimmering effect. The Zener species, who appear to be a vassal race to the Drakh can be seen adjusting Londo Mollari in season 5 and other telepaths in season 4. The true face of the Drakh could be seen in the episode "In the Kingdom of the Blind". In the Legion of Fire trilogy we learn that the Drakh do have names, the Drakh who controls Londo Mollari is known as Shiv'kala.

Mongoose Publishing's Babylon 5 role-playing game has released a Drakh Sourcebook.

Biology

The Drakh are stocky in build and have heavy endo and exo-skeletal systems. The Drakh have scaly skin that is dark grey or green in appearance.

The Drakh may have some kind of group mind as Drakh can communicate with other Drakh over long distances. They appear to regard the name "Drakh" as both a collective name and a personal one. In "Lines of Communication" their emissary interrupted Forrell before he could utter Delenn's name, dismissing it as "unimportant." On the other hand, they're familiar enough with the notion of individual names to recognize Delenn's once it was spoken.

Keepers

The Drakh grow Keepers; sentient beings that connect to victims on a physical and neurological basis; that they use to control others. Most of the time the Keeper does not directly control its victim. Rather, the Keeper monitors the behavior of the individual. They can make it impossible for a person to move, or can inflict varying levels of pain that can force an individual to bend to the Drakh's will. Keepers normally remain invisible.

Keepers burrow deep into the neurological systems of the hosts. While the outer part of the parasite can be removed, there is always an interior part of the Keeper that would grow back quickly as seen in "Racing Mars". The only known way to get rid of a Keeper without killing the host would be to either force or kill the Drakh that spawned the Keeper; if the Drakh is killed, the Keeper will also die.

Keepers can be affected by the state of its victim. If the host drinks enough alcohol, it has been demonstrated that the Keeper would fall asleep and the host would regain control of him or herself for a short period of time (albeit in an intoxicated state). During these periods, the Keeper reappears. If the host's life becomes endangered, the Keeper's life is just as endangered.

History

Prior to the Shadow War of the mid 23rd century, it had been several hundred years since the Drakh had last been seen. When the Shadows began their rise to power, the Drakh assisted them in much of their activities.

When the Shadows decided to leave the galaxy to join the other First Ones, the Drakh were left behind on Z'ha'dum until the planet's destruction. When Lyta Alexander triggered the planet's self destruct systems, the planet was destroyed. Shortly before the explosion, a large fleet of ships was seen leaving Z'ha'dum by John Sheridan and his colleagues aboard the White Star. They did not know it was the Drakh.

Soon, the Drakh began attacking other races, especially those who had fought against the Shadows. They had also begun seeking out contacts among other races. One contact they made was with a member of the Minbari religious caste, who was unhappy with the turn of events on the homeworld, and offered their services in return for a homeworld of their own. When the Drakh had found out Delenn, one of the people most responsible for the downfall of their masters, was aboard, the Drakh opened fire on the Minbari ships, and managed to destroy one of the Whitestar class ships before they entered Hyperspace. However, the Minbari in a matter of seconds jumped back into the fight, guns blazing, annihilating the Drakh mothership and its attendant vessels.

Due to the re-emergence of the Drakh in galactic affairs, John Sheridan convinced several worlds to allow the White Star fleet and the Rangers to patrol the borders of the various worlds. This helped reduce attacks on shipping, and also laid the foundations for what would eventually become the Interstellar Alliance.

Centauri

Unknown to anyone at the time, the Drakh had made their way to Centauri Prime after leaving Z'ha'dum. This was keeping in Morden's final warning to Londo that even if the Shadows had lost the war, the servants of the Shadows would seek out the Centauri and make them pay for their actions. When they did eventually arrive on Centauri Prime they quickly made their presence felt. The Drakh attached a Keeper to the Centauri Regent, and over the next year, he was forced to do their bidding.

In the year following the founding of the Interstellar Alliance, ships from Alliance member worlds began to find themselves under attack. At first, no one knew who was behind the attack, as the attackers left no survivors. But the Alliance soon discovered that Centauri vessels were behind the attack. What they did not know was that these ships were under remote control, and that most of the Centauri government did not even know about these ships. The Alliance then blockaded Centauri Prime space. The Centauri fought back against the Alliance, which eventually led to several races attacking Centauri Prime. The Alliance imposed heavy sanctions against the Centauri.

During the Alliance attack, the Drakh decided to replace the Regent with Londo Mollari. They forced Londo to consent to having a Keeper attached to him; otherwise they would have detonated fusion bombs on that world. They then killed the Regent. They also forced Mollari to give John Sheridan and Delenn a gift for their unborn baby - an urn with a Keeper buried in the base.

Over the next 16 years, the Drakh molded the Centauri into an instrument to be used in their vengeance against the Alliance. When Sheridan's son David turned 16 Minbari years old, they gave him the urn.

Sheridan and Delenn soon arrived on Centauri Prime to rescue their son. They were captured by Centauri forces. Ambassador Vir Cotto blew up the Tower of Power, the main Drakh installation on that world - revealing the presence of the Drakh to all. Despite the Drakh killing millions of Centauri, Londo decided to stop cooperating with the Drakh. In a deal to secure the freedom of the Centauri people, Londo released Sheridan, David, and Delenn. In order to prevent his Keeper from informing the Drakh of the family's escape, he then asks G'Kar to kill him. However, while G'Kar was strangling Londo, his Keeper awakened and forced him to fight back. The two strangle each other to death—fulfilling Londo's death dream.

The Drakh abandoned Centauri Prime a short time later. The Alliance, realizing the Drakh played them for fools, joined forces with the Centauri in finding the Drakh and making sure they were no longer a threat to the galaxy. The Alliance also helped the newly proclaimed Emperor Vir Cotto in rebuilding Centauri Prime.

The Drakh and Earth

The Drakh had turned their attentions towards Earth as well. During the fight against President Clark, a member of the Martian Resistance was found to have had a Keeper on him. The Drakh had hoped to put this man, Captain Jack, in a position to assassinate the Martian Resistance leadership. The plot failed when he managed to—without alerting the Keeper—convince Stephen Franklin and Marcus Cole that something was wrong; before Jack could act, the external part of the Keeper was shot off. Jack took off and killed himself before the Keeper could grow back and take control of him again.

About five years after the founding of the Interstellar Alliance, the Drakh released a deadly plague on Earth. The plague did not cause instant death, and it was estimated that it would take five years to kill all life on Earth. It was eventually discovered that the plague was nanotechnology designed by the Shadows and when the Drakh deployed it on Earth, it was not properly adjusted to Earth's biology. This forced the plague to take time to adapt before it could wipe out the population on Earth. Eventually, due to the efforts of the Excalibur and others, a cure was found for the plague.

The Advanced Destroyer group (Omega-class warships equipped with Shadow bio-armor and advanced beam weapons) appeared to use beam weapons that were highly similar to Drakh beam weapons.

Current status

The current status of the Drakh has not been revealed. After their presence on Centauri Prime was revealed, they left the world, with the Centauri and the Alliance in hot pursuit. The Drakh appear to be more interested in interfering in the affairs of other civilizations covertly rather than overtly; Drakh warships were seen shadowing and monitoring the Interstellar Alliance warship IAS Excalibur, in Crusade, as it searched for a cure for Earth's Drakh plague. Though they did use considerable force on occasion (such as infecting the Earth), in actual practice they came across more like a paper tiger than a legitimate arch-foe in Crusade. The only widely known time when the Drakh used brute force was when they launched their attack on Earth with the last Shadow Planet Killer and much of the Drakh Fleet. Earth Force, President John Sheridan, and the rest of the Insterstellar Alliance beat back the Drakh invasion. The Drakh Plague was released on Earth as their forces retreated. They also assaulted and destroyed the shipyards that produced the Victory class destroyers as they withdrew from battle; this meant Excalibur would be the only surviving ship of that class for many years until the shipyards are rebuilt.

External links

• Drakh History & Xenobiology