SE:IV B5 RP

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2006-04-07 01:03pm

"We would of course not sell our soldiers, but Centauri data suggests that the Corporate Sector fields a large force of merencaries, or once did anyway. Why did you not help the Narn to hire these mercenaries. I'm sure you could've made a profit off of being the middle man in such an agreement."

"It has never been the desire of this council to try Commander Starrider here, but rather to insure that she is tried by the Minbari authorities. I see no reason why she should not be held accountable for the actions of the fleet she commanded. Surely if one of your officers led a force which killed billions of Hurr against your government's orders, you would court martial him or her?"

"Oh, and what is Babylon Five, Ambassador?"

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-04-07 01:10pm

(OOC : Hahah you skank I'm retconning the Babylon Five brain fart and I hope you do to since ICly she'd never make that mistake

).

"When the Soldier class transports were transferred to the Earth Alliance, many of the mercenaries' contracts were handed over to Earthforce, true. But it's a far different to ask mercenaries to fight for human interests being humans than to ask them to fight and die on foreign soil for a battle that does not concern them at all. You must be aware that the Narns and Dilgar had over six thousand divisions of troops on their respective homeworlds. Any mercenaries we could have hired would have been insignificant. Freeing the Hurr Prime Minister or saving starving Yolu is one thing but battling hardened veterans of professional military forces is not something mercenaries are trained or equipped for."

"As for Nimmune Starrider, the Minbari may agree to investigate Starrider. However, even though they may agree, it sets a dangerous precedent for the future of this council. What if they ask you to investigate a Centauri for war crimes and you do, but you know the Centauri is innocent? You let him go and there are accusations of bias. It is not helpful and a waste of our time to single out individuals in military forces or to suggest how worlds should run their military. Perhaps the Minbari military works that way, but our military has our own Uniform Code of Military Justice and does not require the interference of foreign censures."

Brian

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-04-07 01:23pm

"There is historical precedent on Earth for multi-national interest in the prosecution of those who have killed millions of people, Ambassador. Are you suggesting that the wrongful death of over a billion Narn is beneath the attention of this council?

Ambassador Delany, words are important. Words make or break treaties. Words have started wars before. It is quite telling that your government would send someone who did not appreciate this truth to a diplomatic post. I can only wonder just how seriously your government takes this post.

However, you are correct in that actions are important. And you are claiming that the Hurr require "liberation". Didn't the Corporate Sector say the same thing about the Yolu? A people whose infrastructure has been so shattered that they have yet to hold successful elections, let alone resume administering their own worlds. You didn't just topple their homeworld, you toppled every planet in their system.

What you don't even seem to realize is that Marxis publicly broadcasted a private conversation with our President on ISN, in which he made it quite clear that his interest in "annexing" the Hurr system was motivated purely out of a desire for "breathing room." Another leader in Earth history made a similar call for "breathing room" and it led to the bloodiest war in Earth history.

If you're truly interested in "liberating" the Hurr, then you'll stop short of totally conquering them and give them back their worlds after you've "liberated" them. Otherwise, I have no choice to conclude that you're not truly interested in liberation, but in profits. Just like you continue to plunder what was once the Yolu's biggest planet, which Marxis even had the audacity to rename after you, Ambassador Delany."

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2006-04-07 01:26pm

(OOC: Yeah, I'll edit out the mention of B5. It was just too good to pass up

)

"I would hope that if an innocent Centauri were investigated for war crimes, my government would reveal the evidense which would exonerate him," Vir said. "Governments putting pressure on one another is nothing new, Ambassador, and this is hardly the first time it's been done. Obviously, Ambassador Magnan felt that a full censure on the Minbari was too harsh. Perhaps you should take the matter up with him. The Centauri Republic is only interested in seeing that justice be served for the victims of the Spite incident."

"On the matter of Brakiri, I see no reason to wait to vote on the censures on the table until their representative arrives. The Spite incident didn't affect them, nor did the Narn-Dilgar War. And with the Vorlons' jump gate crashing, the Minbari are the Brakiri's furthest naighboors."

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-04-07 01:39pm

"First of all Marxis did not broadcast a private conversation on ISN. It was leaked and we have since then implemented security measures to prevent leaks of confidential information."

"If we do not wait for the Brakiri since it does not affect them, then logically the Drazi should not have voted either, nor should the Earth Alliance who has had no involvement in the war other than a passive observer. The Brakiri Ambassador has informed me of his intent to vote on this motion because of the precendent it will set on trial of members of foreign militaries."

"As for the naming of the world, that is a codeword designation used by our military. The Yolu themselves certainly are not forced to call their world by a certain name. I would remind you that President Alshain himself picked the name for Mesopotamia Six, and that it is standard practise in politics and the military to name objects after persons or people. Warships are named after people. So are things. For example here is a golf ball with the emblem of the President of the Earth Alliance. Golf balls with the names of Presidents have been made all the way back to the 20th Century."

"And why would I be named after a world inflating my importance in your own words and be sent here in your own words because my government does not take this post seriously? You are not being self-consistent Ambassador Mangan."

"My point is the Minbari would have investigated Starrider whether or not the Council passed a motion urging the Minbari to do so. Passing a motion gives the impression of foreign interference in military affairs, and is undesirable because it casts Mesopotamia Six in the role of a galactic police. Mesopotamia Six has no teeth Ambassador Mangan, and your President's delusions of grandeur will not change that. Only through cooperation can this work, and the instant precedent is set for forcing a government to investigate its military, then in the future when another government rejects this Council's suggestion, the Council's flaws will become starkly apparrent. It is better not to precipitate the fall of this Council by overextending its boundaries and creating unwarranted precedents."

"Tell me Ambassador Mangan, had the Corporate Sector not brought light of this military maneuver in the Scorpigal system, would you have deployed your military forces on the Scorpigal to Cooke jumpgate placing them minutes away from Mesopotamia Six? You will deny this now and the ships will stay far away from the jump gate, but if we had waited the ships would right now be within striking distance and we would have no chance to discuss this as individual Ambassadors may have felt too intimidated to speak their mind. Of course that may have been your intention from the beginning, but now that we know of the task force heading towards Scorpigal, long range sensors across the galaxy are tracking your carrier fleet's movements and we'll know whether you move within spitting range of Mesopotamia Six."

"As for plunder, spare me the election rhetoric Mangan. The Earth Alliance profits from the smaller Yolu worlds as well. Maintaining and advancing the infrastructure of the Yolu world is time consuming and protecting it even moreso. You may have noticed we have deployed a large battleship force to protect the Yolu from aggressive neighbours, and all of this costs money Ambassador."

Brian

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-04-07 01:48pm

"Ambassador, please do not attempt to impress us with your false claims of 'long-range sensors' when EarthDome is highly aware of the moles you have within EarthForce. It is for that reason that we so aggressively deny your claims, because no order was ever given to any armed starship to enter the Cooke system since the arrival of EAS Terra and the President some months ago. Furthermore, I fail to see how an armed starship could intimidate any rational being, considering that an attack on this station would be an act of war against every nation with representatives here.

I am frankly shocked that you would continue to press this lie when your credibility is so thinly stretched. Earth has a proud tradition and history of maintaining open and honest relations with our neighbors. The Corporate Sector cannot seem to issue one statement without misrepresenting someone or distorting something to their advantage. That you expect anyone to believe you merely on the basis of your convictions without presenting any evidence is really quite sad."

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2006-04-07 01:48pm

"If the Brakiri wish to vote on the censures, then the Centauri Republic will support waiting for them," Vir said reluctantly. "However, as I said earlier, I am trying to contact the Brakiri to verify the Corporate Sector's translations. If I find that the Brakiri would abstain from the votes, I will press for the voting to resume immediatly."

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-04-07 01:56pm

"We strongly protect the right of whistleblowers to come forward with pertinent information. Perhaps you do not Ambassador Mangan but we support the righteous maverick. That you do not support freedom of the press is troubling."

"Can't you stop the election rhetoric long enough to hear what I said? The warships and whether or not they would have entered the Cooke system is irrelevant. The Scorpigal system is within minutes through the jump gate from Cooke, and if your ships had been positioned on the Scorpigal to Cooke jumpgate, discussion would have been too late and Ambassadors would have been under threat of a powerful war fleet. You can't deny this."

"I am quite sure the Brakiri will not abstain from this vote," said Vera smiling. "He will come."

And then your delusions of a galactic melting pot will go right out the window Alshain. What happens when the vote's tied? You're fucked worse than a forty year old whore.

Brian

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-04-07 01:59pm

"If the Corporate Sector was truly convinced of the importance of this post, it would have sent a qualified diplomat to negotiate with this post. Your importance to Marxis, personal or otherwise," and here Magnan sneered at Delany, "is not an accurate reflection of the importance which your government subscribes to M6. The Director of the CDT is far more valued to EarthDome than myself, but I was sent because the President felt I would be a more capable diplomat.

You are not here to negotiate in good faith with other nations, you are merely here as the Corporate Sector's public apologist. Your blatant inexperience with foreign diplomacy and your seeming inability to maintain even a pretense of honesty is utterly offensive to my years of service within the CDT."

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2006-04-07 02:03pm

"With all due respect, Ambassador Delany, do you realize how much faster the small ambassadorial transports are than large, lumbering warships? Should any government move on this station with heavy warships, we could be away from here before they could catch us."

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-04-07 02:04pm

"The election rhetoric? Am I to seriously believe that you have denounced the truth as rhetoric?

The fact is that without any evidence whatsoever, you could make up whatever fallacious nonsense you pleased and then hide behind your fictitious "sources".

The fact is that if Earthforce did not maintain a presence in all it's systems, the Corporate Sector's professional liars would at this moment be lambasting the President for neglecting the defense of Earth Alliance citizens!

Furthermore, the carrier group in question could not be here so quickly as you claim, as the carriers themselves are among the slowest starships in EarthForce.

This sort of nonsense is precisely the reason Earth supports a censure against the Corporate Sector. Earth has had enough of your constant misrepresentation and we will suffer it no longer."

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-04-07 02:13pm

"Warships are hardly large or lumbering Ambassador Vir. I do not know what games you played as a child, but in reality a warship can come through the Scorpigal to Cooke jump gate and launch fighters long before our ambassadorial flyers can be preped."

"As for my fictious sources, they're far more reliable than you can ever imagine Ambassador." Vera paused. "You should read the Hillerman group's report. Obviously you have no idea how the physics of jump drives work, nor of proper military strategy. Placing all warships on border systems would not work because any invading force could come through under civilian transponders due to the galactic trade and research agreements between the Earth Alliance and alien powers. Earthforce could have its warships concentrated in a few systems, one system back of buffer systems to prepare for and absorb attacks. That would mean a minimal presence in the Scorpigal system, and a massive presence in the system just behind it. But of course Alshain's peacenicks don't understand even rudimentary military theory so they put warships in every single system to make citizens feel protected for purely political reasons."

"It is also the fault of the Earth Alliance colonization program for placing billions of civilians on the frontier rather than creating neutral zones of sparsely populated systems to allow for proper military response to an invasion.. But let's not get into military strategy Mangan. I've been at it longer than you."

Brian

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2006-04-07 02:23pm

"Ambassador Delany, the Centauri Republic has more advanced engines than the Corporate Sector and we are propulsion experts to boot. We know about engines and how many more larger ones need to achieve decent speeds," Vir said. "And my personal transport, an old design, is still easily the fastest ship in our possession at this time due to its small size. And as Ambassador Magnan, just said those carriers are not fast enough to get here as quick as you claim."

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-04-07 02:26pm

"As for my personal qualifications, I find these attacks on my and President Marxis' character most disturbing. Do you know Ambassador Mangan that most cabinet ministers have no previous experience with their portfolios before entering cabinet? At least before the Alshain era, because politicians know that the most qualified person for the job is not always the best person, because politics is not about qualifications but about an individual's ability to adapt and bring fresh ideas to the table. And to represent their people. Whoever can look "outside the big picture." You may make a good bureaucrat or public servant Ambassador Mangan but you make a terrible politician. I have hundreds of staff who give me suggestions and I merely give the thumbs up or thumbs down based on their expert advice."

"I suggest that these attacks on my personal character and President Marxis' personal character stop and this chamber return to some semblance of civility. This motion you introduced is nothing more than a personal attack on Marxis and myself. If you have any issue of substance that the Earth Alliance needs resolved with the Corporate Sector I am happy to discuss with you professionally what is required to maintain good relations with Earthdome."

Brian

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-04-07 02:29pm

"Personal transports are fast Ambassador Vir but that is not the point. If I had not informed the Council of the task force heading into Scorpigal, the ships could have been positioned to enter the Scorpigal to Cooke jumpgate within minutes. That they are not fast enough where they are now is irrelevant."

Brian

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-04-07 02:41pm

Vera's Quarters

"It's incredible," said Vera. "He's calling everybody a liar left right and center. I've never known a politician to be so straight foward."

"Of course not. Politicians are lying, sniveling skanks. He's not a politician. He's a paper pusher. All the better. He has no idea how to work the middle," said Marxis through the video screen. "How long until the Brakiri Ambassador gets here?"

"A few hours at most."

"Good. And the Dilgar Ambassador?"

"No response yet."

"Give the Dilgar whatever they want. I want the headlines tomorrow to be about the Mesopotamian Council being a useless waste of tax dollars and impossibly deadlocked."

"I've already got some of the conservative editors on Earth on my side. The liberal papers will print the truth, that it's a tie vote."

"That's more than enough. Stay on it Vera, I'll pull you out as soon as I can," said Marxis.

Brian

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2006-04-07 02:55pm

Vir's Quarters

The Drazi, the Vorlons, the Narn, the Minbari, the Dilgar, the Corporate Sector, the Earth Alliance, the Brakiri, and the Centauri.

Those were the people who could vote on the M6 council. So far, four of the nine members had voted to censure the Corporate Sector.

The Drazi had voted nay, the Corporate Sector would of course vote no, and the Dilgar probably would, too. The Brakiri were the wild card, but Vir was willing to bet that if Delany wanted them present for the vote so badly, then they were probably planning to vote nay.

Well, there was still one more vote out there, and one more was all they needed to get the majority. "Ivan," Vir called one of his assistants. "I want you to get ready to send a message to Resolve."

"Yes, Vir."

"Oh, and just out of curiosity, how long would it take for us to leave if it looked like someone was going to attack the station?"

Ivan shrugged. "The ship could be prepped quicker than we could get to it."

"I thought so," Vir grumbled.

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-04-07 03:44pm

M6 - Outside Council Chambers

"Ambassador Delany a quick comment please!"

"Ambassador a quick question--"

"Ambassador..."

Vera turned around and faced the press chasing her. "I would like to say a few things. First that the Corporate Sector will be voting no on the current motion to censure the Corporate Sector." The reporters laughed.

"And of course I would like to remind the galaxy of what has transpired in the past few months. The Vorlons annihilated all life in a solar system. They were not censured. The Minbari accidently killed four billion Narns. They are receiving a partial censure. The Vorlons closed jump gates heading into Brakiri space, cutting off vital trade. They were not censured. The Vorlons gained control of at least two, perhaps three League worlds through subversion. They were not censured."

"But when the Corporate Sector warns the Council of an approaching war fleet, we are to be censured fully? Ridiculous. Either way the motion will be defeated. If it isn't--we'll have to reconsider our participation in the Mesopotamian project as it's quickly becoming beholden to Alshain's liberal special interest groups."

Brian

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-04-07 05:22pm

brianeyci wrote:"I suggest that these attacks on my personal character and President Marxis' personal character stop and this chamber return to some semblance of civility. This motion you introduced is nothing more than a personal attack on Marxis and myself. If you have any issue of substance that the Earth Alliance needs resolved with the Corporate Sector I am happy to discuss with you professionally what is required to maintain good relations with Earthdome."

"Quite frankly, Earth is not interested in hearing whatever concessions you expect us to make to retain your good favor."

GuppyShark · Post by **GuppyShark** » 2006-04-08 02:03am

Hurr Space

"He what?" screamed Marxis.

"Someone broke into Yreknak's holding cell right after you left."

"How?"

"A heavily armed assault force. They killed nearly a hundred of our men and vaporised part of the wall. You're lucky you got out just then, sir, or you'd--"

"Vaporised?"

"Yes sir, there's a hole in the wall and there's no debris. Our experts say it couldn't have been explosives, at least nothing we know of."

Marxis shut off his viewscreen. With the Hurr leader free, there went his plans to subjugate the Hurr people. It would be too bloody, too costly, if the Hurr leader didn't tell his people to disarm. They could still seize key facilities and hold them for a short time, if it came to that, but a prolonged occupation was too risky.

"Sir, I have a call for you on line one."

"Who is it?"

"Opposition Pack Leader Shubnak."

"Put him through."

Shubnak appeared on the screen. Marxis felt a shudder for a second, then nothing. "Marxis, you human imbecile. I've invited thousands of human press onto our worlds."

"The Corporate Sector will be glad to deliver humanitarian aid to the Hurr Republic--"

"Leave our worlds, Marxis. Leave them now, and you will be left alone," said Shubnak. The screen went blank.

He sounded confident. Too confident. Something else had changed, not just the escape of Yreknak, and Marxis wasn't sure what it was. It was a strange feeling though, like deja vu, as if Shubnak was shrouded by a darkness.

Whatever it was - he'd find out. Marxis picked up a red phone.

"General Johnstone, initiate Operation Liberator."

--

ISN

"ISN has received a broadcast from Opposition Pack Leader Shubnak of the Hurr Republic. The message has come to us from an undisclosed location and our experts have verified it as genuine."

The transmission cuts to an angry-looking Hurr behind a podium, with the insignia of the Hurr Republic behind him. He is under artificial lighting, and no more details can be gleaned from the picture.

"I am addressing this message to all Hurr, both within my Pack and without. I have made it very clear to the human Corporate Sector that the Hurr have no need of rescue. While many may recall I was an outspoken critic of the licensing of our homeworld and people to an alien race, and that this invasion was an inevitable result of Pack Leader Yreknak's failure to make the terms of the agreement clear to the interstellar community, the invasion of Earther ships must be met with a united, bipartisan response from the Hurr political establishment. This is no time for us to be divided.

We are Hurr, and we will fight the raiders if necessary."

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2006-04-08 12:23pm

Ambassador Krull took his first step onto the Mesapotamia 6 docking bay. Behind him came dozens of Brakiri elite soldiers, wearing armor made of hull-grade materials, and carrying gravitic rifles capable of vaporizing dozens with each shot. Using advanced motion sensors and mood scanners, the paranoid bodyguards nervously scanned for saboteurs, assassins, and attack parties.

Krull had been informed that this political dungheap of a station had become a hotbed of lies about the Brakiri. The Corporate Sector ambassador had even claimed that the Brakiri considered the insignificant mining ships destroyed by the Vorlons to be holy. Yet, the Corporate Sector was friendly with the Dilgar, the only friends the Brakiri had ever known, and that meant he had to be friendly to them. He would have a chat with this Vera in private, however, about speaking on behalf of the Brakiri.

Krull was expected to vote on a censure of the Corporate Sector for some damned slight they had committed against someone. Krull didn't particularly care what they had done or who they had pissed off. Krull knew who his friends were, and the Corporates were friends of the Dilgar. Krull turned to his aide, "Get down to the council chambers and turn in this 'no' vote. I'll be at the bar."

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-04-08 01:06pm

"Looks like he's here, and he's sent a paper saying he's voting no," said an aide to Vera.

"What arrogance. I like him already. Now if that fucking Narn would get his act together. Any word from him yet?"

"No, not yet. Uh, the Brakiri seem pretty pissed especially about the holy--"

"Who cares, nobody'll remember that." Vera paused. "In case someone does, can whoever made the translation. What about the Dilgar?"

"Nothing."

"They're all taking their time aren't they. I can't blame them." Vera smiled. "If it comes down to one vote, we could abstain."

"Abstain?"

"We don't recognize the authority of this Council to censure us do we?"

"No. We didn't sign any treaties or agreements."

"Good." Now the only thing to do was wait for the Dilgar and the Narn.

Brian

Post by **Dalton** » 2006-04-09 01:25am

"So what's the political situation on M6?" G'Kar said, his brow furrowed as he looked over the text of his prepared speech. He had written it in response to the latest transcripts of recent speeches from the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, Magnan, Delaney, Lennier, Alexander and Vir. Word had it that the Brakiri Ambassador had also arrived, making it imperative for him to carefully examine every sentence from both the official stenographer and his contacts to get a clear picture of the situation.

"Getting more interesting by the day. Our Ambassador isn't there yet."

"I know. Someone there thought it'd be a good idea to send them in a heavily-armed cruiser." Na'Toth's eyes widened at this. "I...disavowed them of that notion and ordered a new scout vessel built. Somehow I doubt Marxis and Alshain would react well to a warship popping into neutral ground."

"Speaking of that..."

"Yes?"

"Message from Marxis."

G'Kar read it, put it down, then erased his entire speech.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I tire of this. I wish our Ambassador would hurry up and get there."

Na'Toth only grinned, then started the recording.

"I greet you all again. I know that you have all been awaiting my response. Please be aware that our Ambassador to M6 will be arriving soon.

"Events have been moving at a breakneck speed lately, far too fast for me to respond in real time. I am extremely reluctant to make any hard decisions because of this, but given the situation, I realize that may be a necessity. At the moment, I shall only speak of censure.

"As you are all aware, I recently proposed a censure motion on the Dilgar and the Minbari. The reasons for this have already been stated and are well-known. My only intention for these censure motions, and here I am addressing mainly the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, is to officially rebuke the respective governments for what we believe are crimes and to dispense necessary redress for these crimes. We are not asking for any interstellar policemen. We are asking for justice. Given that, it would be awkward indeed to withdraw such motions without good reason.

"So as a compromise, I propose instead to halt proceedings on the Dilgar censure until my Ambassador arrives at the station and we can fully explore the reasons and consequences of such. Although the Dilgar invaded our homes and captured our worlds, and although they have returned them since, we firmly believe they must still answer for their actions. But that is a discussion for another time.

"Moving on. Ambassador Magnan recently proposed a censure of the Corporate Sector, seconded by both the Centauri and the Vorlon. The reason for this censure has been made clear by both parties. We do not feel that these reasons are sufficient as yet. It is true that the Corporate Sector seems to be quite...xenophobic, to the point of bigotry, and it is true that they have stated on one occasion that they do not care if "aliens" kill each other. However, I do not feel that we should censure Marxis and his people just for being mean to others. He may be an agitator and, in human terms, an asshole, but he has not yet made any overt aggressive moves that we are aware of. Marxis has also been more than willing to assist us with ships - at a steep price, of course. So I feel I must vote abstain on a censure of the Corporate Sector. I am sorry, Vir.

"In regards to the Minbari censure, I am willing to compromise. Several of you have stated that you have no desire for M6 to take on the role of "galactic police". We do not wish to do any such thing. We do not wish to force the Minbari to do anything. All we wish to do is to put pressure on them to investigate the Spite incident and punish the guilty. If the Minbari bring the perpetrators to justice, then we will vote nay on our own censure motion.

"However, if not, we will vote for a full censure on the Minbari.

"And we will, also, break treaty.

"Thank you for your time."

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-04-09 12:00pm

ISN Program - Gridfire, Hosted by Deiter Jennings

"Hello, we are here today to discuss another controversal report leaked to the media. Joining me today is a regular on ISN's nightly news cast, Dr. Guntherman from the Interstellar Institute of Strategic Studies. Dr. Guntherman, why don't you go over what the report's findings indicate."

"The report charted civilian casualties over the past eighty-eight months. Each civilian casualty was confirmed through three independent news sources or eyewitness reports, and in instances of mass casualties numbers from independent non-governmental organizations or the sensor logs of trading ships were used."

"So the report isn't biased?"

"Not at all."

"What does the report show?"

"Well only parts of the report were leaked. But from the parts that were leaked it appears that ten billion nine hundred and fifty million civilians were killed by the Vorlon Empire over the past seven standard years, and another four billion nine hundred million by an unknown star nation on the far edge of charted space."

"Unknown star nation?"

"There have been unconfirmed sightings of crab-like ships, radically unlike known Vorlon designs, but just as powerful. The authors of the report chose to differentiate between civilians killed by the crabs and civilians killed by the Vorlons."

"Ten billion nine hundred and fifty million civilians, is that correct?"

"That's right. For comparison, on Earth in the past the Nazi Hitler killed between six and twelve million human beings. And I am hearing from my sources that this number has not included the Narn and Dilgar deaths which could possibly double the number of dead. Notably the authors of this report did not choose to include the Narn dead from the accident a few months ago where Vorlon ships under Minbari control went rogue since the incident has varying explanations. That would easily add another four billion."

"Why haven't the Vorlons been stopped?"

"Galactic politics is complex. Not even the Marxis' Administration and its recent successor is willing to publicize these numbers in their entirety because of trade issues. Trade with the Minbari has ushered a golden age of investment and opportunity, and the Minbari are closely allied with the Vorlons."

"What does the report tell us about the Earth Alliance and the Corporate Sector?"

"Well there's only pieces of the report. But Corporate Sector weapons are similar to Earthforce in that they use smart bombs and accurate targeting of military infrastructure rather than bombard civilians. It's a consequence of reporters and the free press in human society. If the Corporate Sector annihilated a whole planet, its leadership could be brought up on war crimes charges. Based on the numbers I've heard, the Corporate Sector probably has killed less than a few thousand sentient beings, mostly military."

"Why would the Vorlons have done this?"

"Well it's simple to order your Captains not to fire on planets. The bombings can only have been deliberate. In our history, bombardment of civilians were common. For example in the war that toppled Hitler, the Dresden firebombing and the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It is based on the strategic thinking that bombing civilian targets causes a military to demoralize. As well, some military theorists say that nations that subscribe to total war--that is the mobilization of an entire population to war manufacturing, makes the entire civilian population military targets." Gunterman pauses. "As well the Vorlons use a living intelligence to control their ships. The Vorlon Ambassador has said that this living intelligence is limited in its discrimination and can't be easily controlled."

"What are your personal thoughts Dr. Guntherman?"

"The Vorlon Ambassador's explanation is unlikely. Hundreds of years ago we were making cruise missiles that could tell the difference between a civilian house and a factory, and more importantly could be controlled and self-detonated. I think it's a disgrace that we're consorting with murderers and war criminals. The economy may be booming, explaining the lopsided results of President Alshain's election victory, but it came at the price of associating with genocidal governments of an unprecedented scale."

"Thank you. More analysis and commentary to follow..."

Brian

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2006-04-09 12:40pm

Vir's Quarters

"You were not expecting the Narn to vote nay?" Ivan asked.

"No," Vir answered. "Londo had been in contact with G'Kar he told me that G'Kar seemed to planning on abstaining."

"I don't understand why the Narn wouldn't side with us, after all we've done for them," Ivan said, anger clear in his voice.

Vir sighed. "You must not resent them for this, Ivan. G'Kar is merely being pragmatic."

"Pragmatic?"

"Yes," Vir said. "Think about it, Ivan. True, the Narns now control a vast navy, but all of it is old, ships Marxis wanted to be rid of. For now at least, the Narns need an ally who can protect them, and we are not that ally. We have not the strength. The Earth Alliance turned a blind eye to the Narn-Dilgar War and the Minbari, either in their zeal or carelessness, killed four billion Narns. Marxis, bigot and Dilgar military ally though he is, sold the Narns a large fleet and the forgave the debt. The latter was a political stunt, yes, but the Narns still benefited."

Ivan nodded. It was more understandable when it was put that way. "Well now it looks like the censure will be defeated, unless the Dilgar vote with us for some reason. And I doubt that."

"Ya," Vir agreed. "I'm starting to think it's just as well. After all, the Vorlons did kill billions and they're not even up for censure. This was a politically questionable move from the start; I'm not sure it was morally right anymore now, either."