NationStates Jolt Archive

For the longest of years, time had passed and the Earth Alliance, at peace, albeit tenuous at times, with its neighbors, had prospered for the past twenty-two years after the Shadow War. Babylon 5, now having achieved legendary status due to its command by John Sheridan, who had gone beyond the Galactic Rim two years ago, never to be seen again. And the Alliance fleets, decimated by the Shadow War and the Earth Civil War, had been replenished. Under the current Presidency of Samantha Karmanthis, the Earthforce had been reformed, rearmed and basically given new life. The resources available to the Earthforce were immense and with it, they were able to fund and train two new types of soldiers, as well as re-equip and train the Alliance Marines to the level they are now. And with the vicious fight over military contracts by corporations, they now had high-end military hardware to boot.

However, as forays past the Galactic Rim by Alliance Intelligence had revealed, there was a vast universe of alien nations out there, many hostile and wars beyond count were being fought. As such, with the ghost of the Earth-Minbari War forever haunting the Alliance, they prudently decided to wait and let someone come to them. Their last stretch into alien territory, done with so much arrogance and pride, had brought humanity so close to the brink it had left a social scar on the Alliance. Now, careful steps were being taken. Alliance Intelligence was slowly infiltrating agents into the governments closes to their borders as well as stepping up patrols. The excuse was to ward of pirates, which Intelligence had lied about, stating they were readying to attack again. So, no one had any idea this was all in preparation for the worst case scenario : A reverse of what happened to them, or just a blunt invasion. They were usually idealistic, but in this matter, they couldn't afford to be.

The President's foresight turned out to be what saved them. As far sooner than anyone could have imagined, an alien nation did indeed come to their doorstep. Unfortunately for them, it was one so foul and so powerful beyond reckoning, serving an evil far worse than anything the Shadows or the Thirdspace aliens could ever be, that the very fate of the Alliance came close to annihilation, despite all their efforts...


OOC: Open to all, although setting the stage for a certain someone, as I promised him.

I am up for anything really. If combat comes, however, keep in mind this is still only a 342 million nation with 171 ships and an army sized around 4.275 million. I don't mind combat but please, don't bowl me under. Thank you. Political rp, and the like is welcome as well.

*bump*

(Well I do not think I am all that bad... Anyways, I hope you don't mind my entry to this. Touching base with more people seems to be the key around here and don't worry, this will be strictly political for me.)

Ever on going in their quest to forge new relationships with people in the universe, the diplomatic corp of Mythrandir was sent out into space once again to hopefully establish yet another friendly relationship. This time it looked as if they would be the larger nation greeting the smaller. A reversal of what the norm had been for the Myth as of late.

Regardless, protocol did not change for the Head of Diplomacy. Activity had been detected a safe distance away from their own territory but close enough to warrant attention. Lady Murasaki had received permission from the Elders to attend to the matter and secure a friendly relationship with people that were not so far from the Myth's home.

Typical of their methods, a single unarmed transport was designated for Murasaki's flight plans. It was a normal civilian transport like all the others but simply distinguished by all the others with banner of Mythrandir painted on its side. A phoenix reborn spreading its wings as the other half of its body was still engulfed in flames adorned the vessel along with a runic alphabet underneath the flames which spelled out Mythrandir in their own alphabet.

Murasaki sat in the comfort of a quiet vessel while she drank her warm tea. Normally capable of sitting one hundred passengers in the upper decks, this trip allowed her to be the sole traveller other than the captain and his crew. Outside her window, the chaotic realm of the Warp flashed all around the ship. She didn't know why any of the flashes never came to destroy their vessels but she was grateful for the safety and comfort.

A glass panel on the tray that held her tea cup slid up to face the diplomat. The image of the captain's face, a human man with chubby features, smiled at her. "My Lady, we are approaching our exit point. The best we can tell from our probes, this is the boundary of their territory."

Murasaki srtaightened up in her seat. "Thank you captain. Make your way into space at your convenience. You have my message to play upon our arrival."

"Yes m'lady. I shall inform of the situation after we have made contact." The screen flashed dark leaving Murasaki to her tea and solitude.

Outside the ship, white light intensified signalling that the ship was preparing to enter back into the realm of space. Energy latched onto the ship and pulled. In the realm of space, a white flash formed then began to spiral as tentacles of white energy appeared. They continued spiralling while the arms of energy pulled in on themselves and spewed a single vessel from the Warp. The white energy behind the vessel withered and died leaving the realm of space whole and the ship undisturbed.

The plain ship sat lazily in space not advancing on its current course. It sat there for a moment, preparing its message.

"Greetings from the Kingdom of Mythrandir. This is the Head of Diplomacy, Lady Murasaki requesting permission to enter your territory in order to establish a relationship between not so close neighbors. We are unarmed and mean no harm."

OOC: Humm... On the one hand, I have a vorlon puppet. On the other, they're not really appropriate to be involved at this point in the history... :(

Admiral Spoor looked at the great Third Space artifact right in front of her ship. Linked to her ship she could sense everything happening in space around her sector. The size of the enormous gate was instantly known to her and the energy build up was detected like a tingle in her flesh.

Great pylons locked into position while the energy climaxed and punctured a hole in fabric of space. Inside was a constant swirl of energy that lead into Third Space. Not many knew what Third Space actually looked like since it was the Abh way of travelling through their empire instantaneously. Now, Admiral Spoor had volunteered to test the first calculated jump from Third Space to a loaction outside of the Empire. In truth it was going to be a short jump into neutral territory but an enormous amount of computation went into the action.

Why am I doing this? This is something for the Bebaus family to experiment with. I am the Grand Dutchess Latopanyu and I am about to risk my life on someone's science experiment... How humiliating.

"Uh ma'am."

Admiral Spoor's crimson red eyes opened and drifted to her chief of staff. "What is it chief?"

"We're ready to begin Admiral. All information has been placed into the Latchkau's datacrystal and our beacon is secured."

Spoor went back to closing her eyes while she rested her chin in the palm of her delicate hand. "I don't have to tell you this chief but you know there is a small amount of success for this. Even if we do come out the other end, it might not be in the right place."

Cufadiss chuckled nervously, never liking the when the woman was so blunt. "Of course ma'am but the successes far outway the risks."

Sighing, Spoor leaned back under her canopy. "Very well, begin the operation."

The crimson flagship of Admiral Spoor positioned itself in front of the artifact. It steadied itself preparing for the ride then launced into the swirling vortex. Light streaked by the ship as it passed through the tunnel of brilliant light.

"Status."

"Everything is..."

The ship lurched violently knocking anyone not at their station off of their feet. "...or was in the blue."

Spoor looked at her chief. "Check our course."

Cufadiss began working at his console then shook his head. "Too late, we're already coming out."

"What?"

Out in the middle of space, a violent light storm ignited as a painted red ship floated out of a portal which promptly closed after the ship exited.

"Well at least we are still alive. Does our current location match the designated exit point?"

Cufadiss didn't even need to look at the glass screen he was working at. "No Admiral and I don't know where we are. We've sort of fizzled out. Most of the power was drained and we don't even have enough power for a jump to regular hyperspace. We have enough for life support and some basic functions aboard the ship."

Spoor straightened up in her seat and crossed her legs, a posture more of command for her. "Very well. I want all crew to be ready at their posts in case someone comes along to try and pick us off. The beacon is still working so head quarters knows where we are. Once enough power returns to the ship, we'll send a signal back informing them of our location and our intention to return. Any idea what went wrong?"

"Engineering is working on that right now. For now we can only wait and see what happens."

Spoor nodded. "Alright, get some zero gravity workers outside and check the hull of the ship. Make sure we are still combat capable."

"Yes ma'am."

The rip in spacetime did not go unnoticed by the current inhabitants of this sector of space. Patrol Group Theta-04 was part of many patrol groups assigned to patrol this part of space. As they were currently worried about invasion, border security and patrols had sky-rocketed. So it was that this patrol group was patrolling the space on this part of the Alliance border. They were far away from any planets or civilization, so if an invasion came, they had time to isolate, and destroy it. Consisting of a Hyperion Class Heavy Cruiser (http://www.frostjedi.com/vex/assets/images/cruise01.jpg), and three Olympus Class Corvettes (http://www.b5tech.com/earthalliance/earthallianceshipsandvessels/earthcapships/olympus/olympus.jpg). Their long range sensors, heavily advanced due to the combination of Minbari, Terran, Vorlon and Shadow technologies in their ships, detected the ripple that the Warp was causing before the light show, so the Starfury squadrons had been scrambled and the patrol group had a call for help ready to go at the push of a button. Their ships swerved with uncanny agility, when one considers their size, to face the portal. Leading this patrol was Commander Philip Gills. One of many new commanders rising up to take the place of those who had gone through the various crisises of the Alliance, who were now taking higher ranks, they were confident yet nervous at this new, unknown Age they were approaching.

Philip stood on the bridge of the EAS Defiant, gazing at the screen showing the portal. “Have the sensors determined what kind of ships are coming through and their numbers?” His sensors officer shook his head.

“Not yet, sir. The upgrades to the sensors were incomplete, so they can't penetrate the spatial interference. It should subside in a couple seconds.” Philip nodded.

“Power up forward particle cannons, and get me a targeting solution on that thing.”

“Aye, sir.” The Defiant shifted to accommodate the targeting data it was being fed and powered up its forward weapons. It's personal guard of six Starfuries (http://www.kitsune.addr.com/SF-Conversions/Rifts-B5-Ships/Earth_SA-23E.jpg) flew alongside it, ready for trouble.

However, all their preparation was to be a for naught.

“Uh, sir. I am only reading one ship. And it appears to be a shuttle class.” Philip stared at the screen and seconds later, it exited the rip in space to prove the sensor officer right. It was a small, unarmed ship, as the data on the screen made clear. A beeping noise sounded that they were being hailed. The comm officer turned to look inquiringly at the Commander. Philip chewed the inside of his lip for a moment before giving his orders.

“Unlock the particle cannons but keep them powered. I don't want to be caught off-guard in case this is a feint. Have the rest of the group keep an eye out for any new disturbances and whatnot. They are to follow the Sheridan Protocol. We don't want a repeat of the Great War. Now, play the message.”

The comm officer nodded, and after sending out her orders, she played the incoming message.

"Greetings from the Kingdom of Mythrandir. This is the Head of Diplomacy, Lady Murasaki requesting permission to enter your territory in order to establish a relationship between not so close neighbors. We are unarmed and mean no harm."

Philip let out a sigh of relief, as did the rest of the bridge crew. “This is Commander Philip Gills of the EAS Defiant. I welcome you to Earth Alliance territory and you have permission to enter our space. I will be sending a squadron of fighters to escort you to my ship. I am sending coordinates for your assigned hangar.” He made a motion off-screen and the communication officer sent the data. “We have never heard of this Kingdom of Mythrandir and I look forward to speaking with you. Defiant out.” The six Starfuries broke off and flew towards Murasaki's shuttle. Within moments, they had surrounded the shuttle in standard Alliance Delta formation, which provided maximum defensive coverage and began to escort the shuttle towars the Defiant

At this point in time, however, was when Admiral Spoor's ship blasted out of Thirdspace and began its damaged drift through space. After Babylon 5's encounter with the Thirdspace aliens, they had kept records of the energy signatures of the portals they opened. So it was an alarmed and frightened patrol group that jumped into action. Two of the Olympus Class Corvettes, the EAS Gaza and London, who shot towards the Abh ship. A message blared over their channel, as the Alliance ships closed in, weapons powering up.

“Alien ship, you have crossed into Alliance territory without permission. Identify yourself or be destroyed.”

Commander Gills was alarmed at the situation but he was currently handling the coming negotiations with this representative of Mythrandir. So, unless the rest of the patrol group couldn't handle the incoming, damaged ship, he would stay here. The Starfuries broke off and let the shuttle come in of its own volition. When Murasaki exited her shuttle, she would find a squad of four Alliance Marines (http://images.wikia.com/halo/images/8/8c/H3_Zune_Marine.jpg) standing there. Their Sergeant stepped forward and saluted.

“Greetings, ma'am. I am Sergeant Paul Jesker, 34th Armored Division out of Earth. I am here to escort you to meet the Commander. Is there anything you need before I take you there?”


OOC: Oh, you could come in, and we could make it work. You would just need to prove to us, which would take a long time mind you, that you have changed your manipulative ways. After all, the Shadow War was not THAT long ago for them to have forgotten.

But if you have an idea that would work, go ahead. Conflict makes for good rp. Also, Myth, I don't mind combat, as I stated before. I just want to let people know that this is a small nation.

The captain of the shuttle sent a message back informing the commander that their transmission had been received and understood. The shuttle complied quietly following its fighter escort to the Defiant. In the meantime, the captain rerouted the entire dealings of the ship exiting space and the messages received up to this point.

Murasaki was not pleased by the performance as it caused unnecessary concern amongst the foreign power. A communication array would have to be crafted to the shuttles so they could communicate from the warp to ships within the realm of space. Unfortunatly that technology was currently only regulated to the Forge military. Despite the unwanted attention from the military, the woman was pleased that these people were resceptive to her offer. It was a good sign that they were so readily open to dialogues from foreign governments. She was expecting this to go quite smoothly once her shuttle touched the deck of the shuttle.

Once they were settled in, the ship did a quick and quiet scan of the surrounding area taking in the composition of the ship's atmosphere as well as who and the number of individuals waiting to greet the Myth diplomat. Seeing that everything was safe and secure for the diplomat, the captain had the cabin door slide open and roll out the ramp.

The door on the outside of the shuttle slid up into the ceiling of the cabin and the ramp rolled out from the floor. A woman emerged in the doorway and began to descend the ramp with a small smile on her face. Her raven hair fell past her shoulders and swayed down around her mid-back in a straight sheen. She was not tall in stature, barely reaching a couple inches over five feet, but she carried herself with grace in a simple green dress with a v-neck line and a golden rope synched around her waist with a little extra cord dangling off her hips and swaying as she walked.

As she reached the bottom, Murasaki placed a hand over her breasts and bowed in typical Mythrandir fashion when greeting. "Thank you for the greeting and your offer but I am fine. Please, just lead me on to your superior officer."

The Sergeant saluted her and bowed. "As you wish, ma'am." Turning to the squad, he barked out orders. "Alright, boys, this lady wants to see the Commander, so let's see her to him with the proper pomp and style as befitting the Marines!" The Marines let out a "Ho-RAH!" before they fell in around them. One in the rear, one on each side and the Sergeant in front. They moved rapidly throughout the ships, which bustled with activity. Murasaki would find many curious looks sent her way, as the crew wondered who she was, what she was and what she was here to do. Those who weren't on duty watched as she passed by. Quickly enough, however, they arrived at the bridge. The door opened and she was taken into the bridge. A table had been moved in, where a couple diplomats representing the Alliance and the Commander were seated. The diplomats had been spread around, as they had predicted a scenario like this happening. Philip stood up and walked over, saluting the Sergeant.

"Good work, Sergeant. You and your men can leave now; go and relax in the mess, you're off-duty for now." The squad cheered and they all saluted Murasaki before leaving. The Commander turned to face Murasaki, holding out his hand and shaking hers. "It's a pleasure meeting you, ma'am. I am Commander Gills, captain of the Defiant. Now, I do believe you want to get to the negotiations, so come on over here and let us begin." He led her to the table, giving her a chair and after seeing her seated, sat down himself. He waved at the two diplomats.

"This is Mr. Clark, senior diplomat liaison on the Defiant and his aide, Miranda Johnson." They both nodded to her. Clark was an elderly man, with midnight black hair covered in white stripes, and piercing blue eyes that stared out from white eyebrows. Miranda was a woman in her mid-30's, with short brown hair and matching eyes. They both wore the dark blue robes that signified their station in the Alliance Diplomatic Core. Clark extended his hand across the table, shaking Murasaki's hand and then speaking, his voice echoing with a vibrant and rich tone.

"It's a pleasure, ma'am. Now, what can the Earth Alliance do for you?"

“Alien ship, you have crossed into Alliance territory without permission. Identify yourself or be destroyed.”

Spoor listened to the message as her communications officer read it aloud. She leaned to one side favoring the armrest closest to Cufadiss. "Gee, you'd think they've never seen a disabled ship before. How extremely rude of them to be threatening us already. Is our reputation that bad again?"

Cufadiss didn't know whether to take her seriously or laugh at a bad joke. Hell, that was the case most of the time when he was with Admiral Spoor. The woman just unnerved him constantly. "It could be that we have wandered into an alien nation's space and they feel we are invading."

"With one Kau-class command ship? Do they think I am stupid?!"

"Admiral, it is possible that they do not know who we are. Therefore they do not know our technological capabilities. Frankly ma'am, we aren't in bad shape against these numbers but we don't have much power to handle a fight or leave for that matter."

Spoor sighed while she clicked a painted nail on the other arm rest. "How many fighters do we have in the hangar?"

"Six Thunderbolts, Admiral. Should I have them prepare to launch?" Cufadiss quietly prayed that she would say no.

"No need. I just want to know what my tactical scenario is." Cufadiss let out a sigh while Spoor turned her attention elsewhere. "Oh communications..." Her voice sang the positions name.

"Yes ma'am."

"Send a message to one of their commanding vessels and inform them of who we are."

"Right away Admiral. What do you want the message to say."

Spoor lazily shifted her legs and recrossed them. "Tell them that I am the Grand Dutchess of Latopanyu Spoor, Admiral of the 2nd fleet of Star Forces of the Abh Empire and that we have accidentally entered their space as a result of an experimental jump. We are not here to cause them harm in any way. We simply need time to repair our ship and allow our engines to recharge."

The message was sent exactly as she had voiced.

Tell them that I am the Grand Dutchess of Latopanyu Spoor, Admiral of the 2nd fleet of Star Forces of the Abh Empire and that we have accidentally entered their space as a result of an experimental jump. We are not here to cause them harm in any way. We simply need time to repair our ship and allow our engines to recharge."

There was a significant pause and their sensors would tell instructions were being sent between the Corvettes and the Defiant. When the voice came back, it was suspicious, but slightly curious.

"A very good reply. How do we know you are not being controlled by the aliens who roam the realm you just exited? The Earth Alliance encountered Thirdspace before and was nearly destroyed. Why should we trust you?"

Murasaki was rushed along with the marines as they travelled briskly through the ship. She noticed the stares but didn't let it bother her, she was afterall the same race but just from a different planet. Or at least it looked like she was of the same race.

She giggled a little when the marines all cheered for their break and saluted her afterwards. The bravado was quite entertaining to her but now it was time to get down to work as she shook everyone's hand in turn then took her seat. Murasaki had brought a small pouch with her that hung from the golden cords at her waist, she didn't know if its contents were going to be necessary at this meeting but it was standard procedure for a diplomat to carry an orb with them wherever they travelled. She patted the leather case for reassurance.

Her brilliant green eyes eventually fixed on each of the diplomats around the table as she gave her greetings. "First I would like to thank you for your hospitality. I have been to a few different planets in my time and have never been treated so kindly. Your marine guards are exceptionally polite as well. I would also like to apologize for causing any undue alarm when our ship exited the Warp. It is not our custom to visit alien space with any symbolance of hostility and that includes the make-up of our vessels. Unfortunatetly we were unable to avoid an incident here. Still any unfortunate misunderstandings have been avoided here today and that is good."

Murasaki took a moment for a breath and to collect her thoughts while she looked at her surroundings in the ship quickly. "Well I must say that my Elders would be interested in knowing your intentions for intergalactic relations up to this point. Our systems have picked up a lot of activity in this sector so I was sent as an ambassador of a close by nation that wished to say hello. Your business is your own but we assumed that you knew nothing of our people. So we have made ourselves known to you and to see what your interests are."

Clark smiled grimly at her mentioning of cutting off any nasty problems with their arrival. "It is alright, Ambassador. You see, the last time we tried to extend our influence to check out another alien nation, we accidentally started a three year war that came very close to bringing my race to becoming part of the extinct list. We have a strict Protocol in place to ensure that doesn't happen. No worries about the disturbance, we knew something had to happen. We were just so tense that we overreacted.

We all like to be polite; its rude to be otherwise and not only that, in our dealings with our nearby alien allies, we have practiced diplomacy a lot, so it tends to become commonplace after a while" He smiled at her before continuing.

"Our intentions? We are basically testing the waters, so to speak. We have seen many horrible things amongst the stars you live around, yet many wonders and beautiful things. So, before we make any major commitments, we wanted to test the waters."

"Admiral, final analysis of the damage has come in from the workers out on the hull of the ship."

Spoor looked unimpressed. "What is it?"

Cufadiss remained silent for a time not know how to exactly to word it. "We...hit something..."

Spoor lazily opened one eye to look at him. "That would explain the violent tremors we felt. What was it a gravity pitch or turbulance?"

Her chief of staff shook his head. "No ma'am, it was something else...a ship."

Both of Spoor's crimson orbs focused on the Abh. "Well what is it then...wait. You mean to say we hit a Third Space ship? I thought we killed most of them when we established the Third Space network."

"Apparently we missed a few."

"Apparently. Communications, you're gonna love this message."

A message was broadcasted out to the ships hovering around the Abh vessel. It's contents would surely cause a bit of a stir amongst the crews.

"If you would kindly position your ships to the rear of our vessel and look underneath, you will notice that there is one of your alien friends sticking out our aft engine vent. Quite dead I might add. If you require further information, we can provide military accomodations for officers that distinguished themselves in battle against these Third Space aliens. Or you simply may come aboard for yourself to see that we are not these aliens you invision."

Indeed protruding from the ship was one of their lighter vessels that had collided with the Latchkau when it was travelling through Third Space. Workers from the Abh crew were already attempting to cut around it and dislodge it from their vessel.

They received Spoor's message, startled by what they were told. However, a quick sensor scan proved her words to be true, and the ships noticeably relaxed. A message was quickly sent.

"We understand. Sorry for the suspicion, but the conflict with the Thirdspace alien cut it way too close. We have sent a call for construction Starfuries to come here, but it will take them a couple hours to arrive. In the meantime, if you wish, there is a conference going on on the Defiant, where we are entertaining the diplomat from the Kingdom of Mythrandir. You may join them if you wish."

The squadron of Starfuries rose again and escorted Admiral Spoor to the Defiant. Like Murasaki, she was met by a squad of Marines who escorted her to the bridge. When the door opened, Philip stood up, and at once seeing a fellow military commander, saluted. "Greetings, Duchess. We've only begun the meeting, Feel free to pick a chair and sit." He turned to Murasaki.

"This is the Grand Duchess of Latopanyu Spoor, Admiral of the 2nd fleet of Star Forces of the Abh Empire, ma'am."

Spoor listened to the message as it was read to her. "Mythrandir? What are they doing here?"

"No idea Admiral but probably making contact with these people."

"Then that is of no concern to us. Still, I would be interested in speaking with these humans face to face. Prepare the calicke. Chief, you have command."

Cufadiss nodded his understanding as Spoor finally rose from her seat and left the bridge for the hangar bay. A pilot was already standing by for her. Shortly later, a solo calicke-shuttle craft- exited the belly of the Latchkau and headed towards its destination.

The squadron of Starfuries rose again and escorted Admiral Spoor to the Defiant. Like Murasaki, she was met by a squad of Marines who escorted her to the bridge. When the door opened, Philip stood up, and at once seeing a fellow military commander, saluted. "Greetings, Duchess. We've only begun the meeting, Feel free to pick a chair and sit." He turned to Murasaki.

"This is the Grand Duchess of Latopanyu Spoor, Admiral of the 2nd fleet of Star Forces of the Abh Empire, ma'am."

OOC: I have no idea how this ended up ahead of my own. Are you clarvoyant or something?

IC:
Admiral Spoor was dressed in full military dress. Her pressurized suit formed to her curves which was accompanied by an overcoat that covered the back and the chest down to a bit passed the groin. Despite the covering, the reputation of being a beautiful race was lived up to in her figure which was not well hidden in such an outfit. Spoor tossed her flowing blue cape to the side and adjusted her command saber as she sat down. The golden ensignia of Star Forces, the headed dragon Gaftonoshu, was set in the vest on her left breast.

She looked around the room with a small smile painted red on her lips. It was all very beautiful to her. Diplomacy on a military vessel. The double winged tiara glinted in the ships light as she leaned back to stroke her long blue braid. Her crimson orbs drifted from each of those that were gathered. "Please do not mind me. Continue on."

The Vorlon warship receeded into the background of the higher-level hyperspace, and looking from the screen of a small craft, the blue-white swirling existence beyond seemed to slowly wash over the vessel as if it were a submarine diving under the storm whipped surface of the ocean. On the screen showing the space ahead, the ‘waves’ seemed to break and twist, opening into a funnel a mile long, that the diminutive ship fell through to the comforting blackness – one that was accompanied by the disorienting effects of hyperspace, which was greatly magnified in the dimension the Vorlons sometimes used for rapid travel – of real space.

While the vessel was Vorlon underneath, it didn’t seem so from the outside, instead, it was green, and metal-crystal hulled. While this was different from the organo-plastic living materials of Vorlon design, it was far closer to Minbari design, save that this vessel had even greater stealth capacity, here, switched down to the point where it would jam only efforts to see what precisely was inside the vessel.

Similarly, the vessel was structured to resemble what it actually was relatively little, instead of the usual shapes of Vorlon design, this one resembled a manta-ray, a broad, flat head, and trailing spires of shimmering ocean green crystal behind.

The woman, one of two people on board, frowned, and leaned back in her chair, her blonde hair pressing up against the black leather of the seat. The ship’s interior was quite conventional, mundane, even. It had viewing displays, even equipment for manoeuvring, that followed Earth-Alliance standards, but underneath, these had little relevance to the ship, which was fundamentally alien.

“Quite crowded around here,” the other observer said, glancing over at her. They were both dressed in what was believed to be the local style, from signal interception.

“Mmm, yes…” the first woman said, leaning forward, and contemplating the strange universe she found herself in these days, where continuity had little or no value. Another Earth. From what their masters had been able to tell thus far, a strange one indeed…

“Well. Get talking,” the second, dark haired woman, instructed.

The first woman let her blue eyes flit to another screen, pressed a superfluous button beside it, “This is Explorer Ship Unending to Earth Alliance cruiser group, requesting permission to approach and dock…” she said, in a slightly unusual subset of interlac, she knew she needed to throw in a hook to the matter, “in order to trade regional hyperspace information…” that wasn’t quite true. They were quite prepared to give information on local beacons and such away for nothing at all; it had been the work of a few seconds for their mother ship to gain it.

I don’t think that’s really going to work the second woman thought.

I don’t know either. I don’t want to be too suspicious. Besides, they might find it useful, given the unusual stuff happening around here… the first woman replied mentally, cutting the communication…

OOCery: Change my manipulative ways? Honestly now. Vorlons don’t do change very well. The Vorlons’ private hyperspace (or rather, quantum space, ick) is from Babylon 5: The Lost Tales. This is actually a puppet, there’s a link in my sig to the actual nation, which can’t post any more…

"Ah yes, the horrors of the universe. Our people have been watching the stars for some time as well and we have bared witness to many wars, some that we dare not become involved in less we be consumed by their fires. We as Myths would have preferred to have remained hidden from the galactic eye but alas that was not to be. So now where we once wished to remain hidden and alone, we look to establish friendly relations with all sentients old or young. Your people are just fortunate enough to be closer by than others."

Murasaki bowed her head when the Dutchess took a seat. It was her first time seeing an Abh but the Myths do have knowledge of their race and a loose relationship with them. "An honor Grand Dutchess."

The head diplomat returned her attention to the Earth Alliance officials sitting before her. "Well then I suppose I should explain myself for coming all this way to bother you. In order to better build a friendly relationship with your people, I would like to invite one of your ambassadors to come to the Diplomatic Palace back on Mythrandir. We house several ambassadors at this time and your own could think of it as their own small embassy. You may refuse if you like, that is your choice but it will give you a steady access to our Elders should you need to discuss something of importance. In any eventuality, I am qualified to discuss trade negotiations and the likes if you so desired at any time."

The Commander and turned back to the meeting. Clark and his aide Miranda listened carefully to Murasaki as she replied to their questions and their comment about why they were so tense.

"Ah yes, the horrors of the universe. Our people have been watching the stars for some time as well and we have bared witness to many wars, some that we dare not become involved in less we be consumed by their fires. We as Myths would have preferred to have remained hidden from the galactic eye but alas that was not to be. So now where we once wished to remain hidden and alone, we look to establish friendly relations with all sentients old or young. Your people are just fortunate enough to be closer by than others."


Clark smiled grimly. “I see we both have something in common. We were fine in our own space, but key events that have occurred in our history have forced us to take paths we would have rather not have taken. But we have taken them and down our best with our choices.” He chuckled lightly. “It's good to have nice neighbors for once. You know, the ones who aren't looking at us like we are a giant supply depot waiting to be claimed.”


"Well then I suppose I should explain myself for coming all this way to bother you. In order to better build a friendly relationship with your people, I would like to invite one of your ambassadors to come to the Diplomatic Palace back on Mythrandir. We house several ambassadors at this time and your own could think of it as their own small embassy. You may refuse if you like, that is your choice but it will give you a steady access to our Elders should you need to discuss something of importance. In any eventuality, I am qualified to discuss trade negotiations and the likes if you so desired at any time."


Clark's eyebrows raised and a genuine smile came to his face. “This was the kind of thing we were hoping for. I will need to inform my government of what has gone on here and what has been offered and wait for instructions.” He handed a datapad to his aide, who stood up and headed over to the communications station, to begin transmitting the message. “In the meantime, you can ask me any question you'd like. Anything on our history, economy, culture, etc etc. Satisfy your curiosity all you like, excluding things that are state secrets, of course.” He smiled at his little joke before he let her reply.

“Sir?” The Commander turned to see the communications officer waving him over. Excusing himself, he walked over to the officer. “What's wrong, Lieutenant?”

“We have another visitor, sir.” He played a video of the Vorlon ship exiting Quantum space and appearing. Not that they knew it was Vorlon; the pains the aliens had taken to hide themselves was working, for the moment. Philip blinked in confusion.

“Am I dreaming or does that ship resemble a Minbari ship?”

“It does. However, it has some sort of metal-crystal hull we have not been able to identify. However, sir, the reason I called you over is that the alien ship exited from Quantum space.” That caused the Commander's head to swiftly look over at the officer.

“Like how the First Ones travel?”

“Right, sir. As far as we know, they all left. If it IS them, I'd say we'd like to figure out why they are here. However, I could be wrong and it could be a race like those Mythrandir people who somehow discovered Hyperspace. The universe has to repeat somewhere.” Philip stroked his chin and as he was deciding, the message from the alien ship arrived. The Commander nodded and the officer let it through.

“This is Explorer Ship Unending to Earth Alliance cruiser group, requesting permission to approach and dock…” she said, in a slightly unusual subset of interlac, she knew she needed to throw in a hook to the matter, “in order to trade regional hyperspace information…”

That immediately set off alarm bells. How did they know who they were? The Commander's eyes narrowed. They always could use more information. The more information one had on Hyperspace, the less likely it was for a ship to be trapped in that infinite, never-ending dimension. Reaching over, he opened a secure channel to the Corvettes.

“Gaza, London, and Paris, we have a newcomer arriving. I want you to keep an eye on it, and have the Starfuries escort it over to us. We have some reason to suspect it may be one of the First Ones, but we do not know for sure. DO NOT give anything away. If they want to talk, direct them to me.”

A chorus of ayes sounded and then he opened a channel to the alien ship. “Unending, this is the EAS Defiant. We welcome you to Alliance space, although we are surprised that you know of us already. We are sending over Starfuries to escort you to us. If you have a shuttle, feel free to send it over. Docking Bay Four is being readied for you. We already have others here, so you can join in on the meeting. Defiant out.”

Spoor listened in a relaxed manner to the tales of the two people. She was about to pop in with her own question then noticed the commotion. The Abh could hear bits and pieces of the conversation so she decided she better check in with her chief of staff.

"Chief, what's going on out there?"

The reply came from the clyuno on the back of her hand. "An unknown vessel. It sort of resembles the Minbarri ships that we know but it isn't. What ever it is, it doesn't match our records of those that we have encountered."

Spoor nodded her head. "Keep me informed of what happens out there and hurry up with the repairs."

Spoor turned her attention back to the gathered diplomats. "I have a question for you. What is it about your history that kept you in solitude? Most nations announce themselves to the universe when they first come into the galactic stage."

Clark glanced over at the Abh Admiral, as she spoke and he shifted in his seat to face her. "Well, to put it simply, Admiral, it was for our own protection. We are still a rather small nation, and compared to all of the nations close to us, we DID do a lot of scouting before increasing activity to get your attention, we are small and literally defenseless nations, with a great amount of resources to exploit. Trust me, I have read some of the reports on the nations out there, I know we'd be invaded sooner or later. This was to get a chance to test the waters and some such, as well as control who contacted us." He shrugged.

"It was for our safety; I mean seriously, unless you are an empire of massive size where a declaration would just be ridiculous, you are basically sending a "Hey, invade me!" signal to everything within broadcast range. As for our history, that would be the war I mentioned. We sent a small group to determine the stance of an alien nation, the Minbari Federation, and due to misunderstanding between cultures, started a war that came close to making humanity extinct in this sector."

"A sad tale it seems but you have survived and learned from the mistake it seems. That is an admirable accomplishment itself and not a bad philosophy to maintain while scouting out the universe.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to stop the war?"

Murasaki noticed the unusual commotion around the commander and his crew but the woman paid it no attention. It wasn't her business afterall but to simply provide support where possible.

Clark's eyes grew distant as he went back to all those years ago when it happened. "Well, it is rather hard to explain and would take too long. But in essence, the Minbari, due to some time-traveling done by Babylon 5's first Captain, had some human blood in them. They had managed to break through all of our defenses after 3 years of combat and were about to assault Earth. Whatever we had left of our once great navy prepared to make a stand. During that battle, which like many before it we got massacred, they captured a human pilot, that same Captain, and using a device, realized that we were linked. They essentially were killing Minbari, in their eyes anyways. After the battle, they surrendered to us and it wasn't many years till they told us why."

The ‘explorer ship’ coasted gently and with military precision as starfuries surrounded it, toward the cruiser, the alien craft was actually small enough to qualify as an (over-large) shuttle, with its interior basically having enough room for maybe seven people at once; that would include one in the small restroom cubicle too. As such, it fit, just about, inside the landing bay offered.

The ship’s doorway was quite normal, moving with a slight pneumatic hiss and revealing an ordinary looking interior airlock with light shining from a grille overhead into the two person airlock with cabinets for environment suits on either side.

All very standard.

In the same way, the two women that exited the craft were quite standard, roughly the same height, and dressed similarly, in turtleneck and rugged jeans of the budget spacer who didn’t want to use too much energy on heating his craft.

The dark haired one of the two waved jauntily, “Hey there…”

They were disappointingly standard, perhaps.

Murasaki was almost sorry she had asked the question. A fanciful tale to be sure. She believed Clark when he said that it would take far too long to explain the story in its entirity. The brief summary was clearly missing a great amount of history that could perhaps make the story clearer but a history lesson was not what she came for. That would be the task of others to record histories of other nations. She didn't have much to offer after the story was concluded.

"I am sorry that you had to experience such a time. Perhaps your continued efforts in improving diplomacy and conduct among foreigners will help prevent an event from ever occurring again. Thus far I would have to say that you are doing exceptionally well and acquiring allies would also ensure that you would never be alone in your time of need."

The diplomat from Mythrandir took a moment to reassure herself that she had all of her belongings, a nervous habit of making sure she never lost anything. "If you don't mind sir, I would like to change the subject slightly. Could you tell me of your economy? If we were to ever become trade partneres, it would be beneficial if I knew where my people could fit in to help not only themselves but your people as well."

The Alliance Marines watched suspiciously as the door of the shuttle opened, after it had been fiercely guarded and escorted to the hangar. As the two, nondescript humans walked down and greeted the soldiers, they visibly relaxed. They weren't trusted, but they obviously weren't Vorlons or any other of the First Ones. The Sergeant looked as if he still believed but chose to keep quiet about it. Walking up, he motioned to the door. "Follow us; we will lead you to the council room." With that, he made a curt signal and the escort took position around the two visitors, and moved through the ship.

Soon enough, they arrived in the room, where the Captain walked over, and after dismissing the troops, nodded to the newcomers. "Welcome travelers, I am Commander Phillip Gills of the Earth Alliance Ship Defiant. How may I help you?"

As he was doing this, the diplomat turned to the Mythrandir representative and replied. "Yes, that is why we have continued to do what we do and are trying to expand the Babylon Project. Difficult and expensive but so was the Great War. As for your question, our economy is rather strong, and self-sufficient, to a point. We have the inner colonies where our major industrial and production facilities are, along with some resource bases, while the outer layer is full of developing colonies and industries and plenty of raw resources. Resources are given to the inner colonies and they received produced goods. However, we augment this with trade as well, to ensure our prosperity. However, we are having trouble with the current supply of starship grade metals, especially the kind to absorb energy, as our armor depends on those kinds for the armor of our warships." He pushed over a datapad which revealed how the armor was made and what made up its composition.


OOC: Sorry for my absence. Also, Myth, if you want to see what their armor is made up of, just let me know and I'll link you.

(That would be fine.)

Murasaki gave a polite bow to the newcomers as they arrived then quickly turned her attention back to Clark as he related more of their history. The woman had more questions coming into her mind but the datapad that slid over to her caught her attention. "Energy absorbing armor you say?"

Fumbling through the leather bag at her side, the ambassador grabbed hold of her own means of displaying information. Murasaki studied the information for a while. The resources were not unheard of the Myth though they were not so quick to disclose this resource. Perhaps an ally friendly compound could be constructed but that would be for the Forge to decide.

"I believe you are fortunate then because we will be able to supply some of these metals for we use them on our ships as well. They are not sole component in our ship components but they are relatively important."

Murasaki lifted her hand above the table and allowed a black orb to float a few feet above the table. Upon her request, the orb pulsated with an inner fire that sparked a holographic image of a metallic material. Details on the compound were displayed to the side in a runic alphabet but Murasaki was capable of translating for them.

"This Mythrandir ore is typically crafted as the external layer of our warships which greatly negates the effects of energy. Consequently, this metal is also used in the forging of many of our personal weapons as well. We have the ability to manufacture it for you or we can simply transport the raw material if you so desire. However, I am sure you realize that finished products will cost more than the raw material itself."

Ah the thrill of haggling, of business. If there was one thing a Spoor enjoyed more than crushing weak little defensless ships, it was business. Beneij herself had loved being a merchant before becoming a Star Forces officer and at times, she missed the thrill of negotiations.

There was a small glint in her crimson eyes when she listened as the conversation gave way to more interesting talks of business. "Now that my dear ambassador Clark, peaks my interest as well. Our ships utilize a number of different materials in their armor and I am positive we can find one that would suit your needs. Perhaps a little shopping would be involved but it would all be for the benefit international relations. We may even be able to provide a discount to the type of armor that has been popular among our allies. It is a fascinating industry afterall, one that we pride ourselves in among other things."

OOC: Sorry, I kinda forgot about this thread.

Myth: http://efni.org/armor.htm --The link about their armor, its at the bottom with the nano-stuff. That is what they use.


IC:

Murasaki gave a polite bow to the newcomers as they arrived then quickly turned her attention back to Clark as he related more of their history. The woman had more questions coming into her mind but the datapad that slid over to her caught her attention. "Energy absorbing armor you say?"

Fumbling through the leather bag at her side, the ambassador grabbed hold of her own means of displaying information. Murasaki studied the information for a while. The resources were not unheard of the Myth though they were not so quick to disclose this resource. Perhaps an ally friendly compound could be constructed but that would be for the Forge to decide.

"I believe you are fortunate then because we will be able to supply some of these metals for we use them on our ships as well. They are not sole component in our ship components but they are relatively important."

Murasaki lifted her hand above the table and allowed a black orb to float a few feet above the table. Upon her request, the orb pulsated with an inner fire that sparked a holographic image of a metallic material. Details on the compound were displayed to the side in a runic alphabet but Murasaki was capable of translating for them.

"This Mythrandir ore is typically crafted as the external layer of our warships which greatly negates the effects of energy. Consequently, this metal is also used in the forging of many of our personal weapons as well. We have the ability to manufacture it for you or we can simply transport the raw material if you so desire. However, I am sure you realize that finished products will cost more than the raw material itself."


Clark's eyes lit up as he gazed at the orb she set on the table, listening as she translated the information for him. The information was astonishing and proved to be very advanced, although their armor was relatively close to the level of their armor, considering they were using Shadow technology in tandem with their own. Nodding his head in satisfaction, he turned his gaze to Murasaki. "Well, I will say this is very interesting and a great find. I am sure if we can find out how the metal is forged, we can make it ourselves and pay you for the raw materials. But if need be, we will pay for the finished product, increased cost or no. After all, we all need to make a profit. I will let our respective governments haggle out the price. I expect we both don't want to be here in our dotage, haggling. " He winked at her before returning his gaze back to the orb.



Ah the thrill of haggling, of business. If there was one thing a Spoor enjoyed more than crushing weak little defensless ships, it was business. Beneij herself had loved being a merchant before becoming a Star Forces officer and at times, she missed the thrill of negotiations.

There was a small glint in her crimson eyes when she listened as the conversation gave way to more interesting talks of business. "Now that my dear ambassador Clark, peaks my interest as well. Our ships utilize a number of different materials in their armor and I am positive we can find one that would suit your needs. Perhaps a little shopping would be involved but it would all be for the benefit international relations. We may even be able to provide a discount to the type of armor that has been popular among our allies. It is a fascinating industry afterall, one that we pride ourselves in among other things."


Clark cocked his head at the officer as she spoke, listening as well as watching her speak. This talk of business was obviously something she enjoyed, as her eyes sparkled the exact way humans do when they are excited and having fun. Chuckling, he nodded. "Yes, that sounds good. Once our governments make official contact, I am sure they will be eager to start 'shopping' for good materials and deals. You know how governments are."

Clark cocked his head at the officer as she spoke, listening as well as watching her speak. This talk of business was obviously something she enjoyed, as her eyes sparkled the exact way humans do when they are excited and having fun. Chuckling, he nodded. "Yes, that sounds good. Once our governments make official contact, I am sure they will be eager to start 'shopping' for good materials and deals. You know how governments are."

Spoor leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. "I'm sure the Emperor will be willing to assist you. If you would like a more formal meeting with the Empire, then I am sure something can be arranged. One of your diplomats can visit the capitol or we can send one of our own to your own home world. What ever is most convenient for you. Now, with new armor I can imagine you are probably looking for new weaponry. Would I be correct?"

Clark nodded at the offer for the diplomat exchange. "What would be best, in my personal opinion is a joint effort in building and paying for twin embassies, one of ours in your nation and one of yours in mine, so in the future we have a solid line of communication. It never hurts, especially if we run into a problem between us, this can clear it up quickly."

When she asked about if they were in the market for new weapons, his eyes went wary. "I don't mean any disrespect, but we are...uneasy about acquiring weapons. As much as we'd like to, the relations between our neighbors and ourselves is very fragile and we don't want to seem we are building up for something or starting an arms race. We have fought enough in this galaxy, enough wars have been fought and enough lives have been lost. We know peace will always be interrupted but we'd like it to continue for a while longer."

Murasaki listened to the exchange and the comments of a competitor now looking to sell materials as well. It was irrelevant though as business could all be worked out in the end and that was not her primary reason for coming here.

"A wise decision I would wager. Perhaps we could turn the talks of business from war to more public goods such as foods, art, or any other items that you wish. If you need assistance in constructing an embassy on your homeworld, then we can help as well."

Spoor knew better than when to push business beyond its limit. There were just sometimes when people were not willing to buy. "Fair enough ambassador. You won't have to worry about building an embassy in our territory though considering it is not so feasible. We will grant your diplomats passes into the capitol and a place for them to conduct business as well as live. As for an embassy on your homeworld, just let us a time and a place and we'll get to work on it as effeciently as possible."