SE:IV B5 RP

[brianeyci]

An hour later...

"I'm very busy and I've answered your questions for over an hour, so let me get one more point across in case it was missed. The Vorlons have until the end of this hour to remove themselves from Corporate territory. Any and all Vorlon ships that enter Corporate space or share the same sector with Corporate ships or intend to pass through Corporate territory will be fired upon and destroyed. The Corporate Sector will no longer have diplomatic relations with the Vorlon Empire of any kind and do not recognize its legitimacy," said Marxis. He left the podium amid a flurry of questions.

Out the back, Marxis' heavily armed bodyguards greeted him. They placed themselves between Marxis and a man in a business suit.

"Benjamin, we used to be friends," said Mr. Defel.

"I don't know you," said Marxis. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm the same guy who saved your ass out there Captain."

"Drake Defel's laying on a metal track in a freezer. You're not him."

"What do you want? A blood sample? Twenty questions?"

"What do you want?"

"What do I want? What do you want."

"Get him the fuck out of here," said Marxis turning around.

"You owe me Ben!" said Drake. "You owe me your life. Remember that."

Brian

[GuppyShark]

Oh, hell.

This was a hassle he did not need. So Marxis found out he wasn't what he appeared to be. Probably a Ranger had whipped up a quick clone or something to discredit him.

Seemed a pretty damned strange way to go about it, but it was clear from Marxis' expression it had worked.

Or maybe it had been a Vorlon. It had their stink all over it.

Allright, he'd have to work on Marxis less directly. That was feasible, he was already sponsoring the Hurr resistance efforts.

Still, it wasn't good. As Marxis' confidante he'd had it easy. Now he was having to deal with the disruption's caused by G'Kar's sudden change of heart. The Narn had gone from actively working with the Shadows to insisting they remain out of their space. It was all he could to keep his information in Narn space reliable, since a lot of the intel was coming in second- or third-hand.

His invisible companions in tow, Drake left the MarxisCorp building. No sense making a scene, especially not when the Corporates were doing exactly what he wanted anyway....

He knows. Somewhere in there, he knows.
He won't do anything about it.
No. He might not. But They might....
We can't risk it.
Agreed.

ISN Update

Industrialist Drake Defel was found dead in his office this morning by the janitorial staff of Defel Corp. The coroner's office say the death was the result of natural causes. Defel left no heirs, and his estate will be turned over to the Dilgar War Veterans Association as stated in his will. He was 35.

[brianeyci]

"The Vorlons opened a jump point bypassing Kokkar," said Vera.

"Fuck! And I thought I really had them this time. What does legal say about taking the Vorlons down in Hurr territory?"

"They don't think it's a good move."

"Unless the Hurr invite us."

"Why would they do that?"

"They won't. Our hands are tied," said Marxis. "A pity. At least they won't be going through our space. What about the Dilgar?"

"They attacked through the Dilgar defense and annihilated them."

"How many ships did the Dilgar take down?"

"One."

Marxis whistled. "It's a good idea we opened diplomatic relations with the Brakiri."

"The Dilgar Ambassador won't like us hanging him out to dry."

"The Dilgar are pragmatic. They know even if we got involved we couldn't stop the Brakiri, it'd be wasted effort."

"Maybe. Or maybe we'll lose trade with them."

"I don't care about trade with xenos, much less Dilgar. They tried stealing twenty of the Brakiri's ships, they're getting what they deserve. Now where's my danish--"

Brian

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

The Dilgar's debt had now been washed away. Because they had destroyed 9 of his ships (10 now, but that was in self defense and did not count), Kullenbrach had attacked and destroyed their main fleet. Most of those ships were so old and obsolete that it was almost a favor, but it evened the score in Kullenbrach's mind nonetheless. Kullenbrach had expected to win with only minor damage, but the Dilgar had smartly maneuvered the situation into a warp point defense, where all 130 ships had unloaded full broadsides into the Brakiri ships, destroying one and heavily damaging many others. They would need access to repair facilities immediately, and it was a long trek back home with many ships' engines operating at a small fraction of full capacity.

The nearby Centauri world had orbital shipyards that would be able to completely repair his fleet in a decent amount of time, but they would need to upgrade their relations for this to happen. You don't invite a stranger's ships into your docks, after all. It was time to make the Centauri an offer...

[brianeyci]

"It has come to my attention that the Vorlon War Fleet has opened a warp point to bypass Kokkar. Although the Corporate Sector thanks the Vorlons for respecting our territorial integrity, we cannot allow such a massively armed fleet to travel through Cooke and in the vicinity of the Earth Alliance's Mesopotamia Six. Therefore, we will be blockading the Quadrant 27 to Canton jump gate until further notice."

"Once we confirm with the Earth Alliance that the Vorlon War Fleet is allowed to travel through Cooke, we will withdraw our battlegroup. There are over eight hundred million human beings in the Cooke system and we will not allow them to be slaughtered like the Dilgar."

"Looks like the Dilgar did a better job than we thought," said Vera. "The Brakiri fleet was heavily damaged. We've intercepted a transmission between the Centauri and the Brakiri to rent their shipyard facilities."

"Interesting."

"It gets better. Apparently several divisions of Dilgar troops were transported deep into Minbari territory into one of their vassal states--the Lorkan."

"Are they accomplishing much?"

"They've fortified themselves in Lorkan cities and it's doubtful the Vorlons or Minbari would risk another planetary bombardment with M6 watching. But it should keep the Minbari and Vorlons busy. Long range sensors have detected over three and a half billion Lorkan."

"Only three and a half billion? What happened to the rest?"

"Either fighting or disease resulting from the blockade, or maybe planetary bombardment. We don't know."

"Let Alshain's people know about this. It'll have more credibility coming from them." Marxis paused. "If the Vorlons hurt a single human being, we'll burn their worlds to the fucking core."

Brian

[Uraniun235]

Retief stood up before the ambassadors on M6.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it has been my privilege to sit before you as a representative of the Earth Alliance. I must now step back and allow one of my esteemed colleagues to take up a more permanent position here.

Please join me in welcoming Ambassador Robert Fox."

Polite applause fills the council chambers.

"Thank you. I'm afraid I will have to cut the pleasantries short as there are a couple of items that require immediate attention.

The Lorkan Covenant has gone silent for some time, and we have received reports that there has been heavy fighting at their home system. Furthermore, I have been informed that their representative here has not been heard from and is currently presumed missing. The Earth Alliance, in concern over the welfare of the Lorkans, asks permission to send observers to the Lorkan system in Minbari space.

Second, the Corporate Sector has blocked the passage of the Vorlon fleet through this star system. Although we greatly appreciate the concern shown by the Corporate Sector in this regard, it is our belief that the fleet poses no threat to either this space station or the civilian colonies established in the Cooke system, and that therefore they may be allowed to peacefully traverse the Cooke system."

[brianeyci]

"Alshain's people are giving a green light to the Vorlons."

"What!"

"It's from Alshain himself."

"Don't they know about the slaughtered Dilgar, the Narns--"

"There's a lot of money going between the Minbari and the Earth Alliance."

"So this is what it's come to," said Marxis. "We're not moving."

"Legal says it's Hurr space."

"Fuck legal, tell General Johnson to keep his ships on high alert. Move every ship we've got to that warp point. The Vorlons won't get close enough with their warships to even see human colonies, much less attack them, not while I'm alive."

"We've received word from the Earth Alliance that the Vorlon War Fleet should be allowed to travel the Cooke system."

"However, the Corporate Sector does not take its responsibilities to mankind lightly. There are over eight hundred million human beings on those colonies, and we will not let the Vorlons have the opportunity to attack defenseless humans. There are no Earthforce ships deployed in Cooke. Alshain's people want us to give a blank cheque to the Vorlons, made out not in credits but in human flesh and tears."

"Because of the Vorlon's extermination of billions of Dilgar, we cannot allow such a genocidal fleet through the jump gate unescorted. The jump gate from Quadrant 27 to Canton will continue to be blockaded until we are satisfied human lives will not be threatened."

"Vorlon ships were also responsible for the death of billions of Narn. We do not believe the Vorlon leadership even has control of its vessels, much less the ability to restrain them from genocidal bombing runs on civilians."

"The line is drawn here, this far and no further. No Vorlon ship will traverse human space, or they will be engaged by our warships. Whether Alshain's liberal cronies see the threat or not, the Corporate Sector will defend human beings from alien threats."

Brian

[Uraniun235]

"Corporate Sector's not going to budge."

"Damn it. Marxis isn't thinking straight. If the Vorlons... if anyone launches any attack in the Cooke system, it'll be out in the open for everyone to see. They couldn't possibly afford to lose the support that such a move would cost them. A move against M6 itself would surely bring the wrath of nearly every star nation in the galaxy."

"What are you going to do about it?"

Alshain thought about it.

"Nothing. Q24's effectively his system and I'm not going to get into a shoving match over a foreign battle fleet."

"Suppose he gets into a confrontation with the Vorlons?"

"I'm sure he'd jump for joy. Now let's get back to working on the new budget."

[brianeyci]

ISN Update

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a live report from one of our embedded reporters with the Corporate Starfleet. With me today is Jaden DeVriess. Jaden, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

"What's going on there?"

"The Corporate Sector has set up an observation post several thousand kilometers away for the media to view the battle. A minute ago, a Vorlon fleet entered the Hurr system and made a beeline for the Quadrant 27 to Canton jump gate."

"Are the Corporate battleships intercepting?"

"They're holding position at the jumpgate. The Corporate representative tells me they're authorized to use lethal force to prevent the Vorlons from entering the Canton system towards Cooke."

"What are the--"

"Wait--one second, the Vorlon ships are forming up. They're sending scouts ahead... the Corporate ships are firing warning shots. The Vorlon ships are dodging--they're a lot smaller, more maneuverable than the Corporate battleships. The Vorlon ships are headed straight for the jump gate, they don't seem to be returning fire at all. The Corporate battleships are firing more warning shots. The Vorlon ships are continuing for the jump gate. The Corporate ships are opening fire on the lead Vorlon ship--it took just one shot from the batteries of the United States, it's gone. The Vorlons are returning fire on the lead Corporate battleship, looks like the Missouri--it's taking dozens of hits from their lightning cannons... it's still there, with hull breaches everywhere." DeVriess pauses. "The Vorlon ships are launching fighters. The rest of the Corporate fleet is forming up, they're firing their main batteries... they're lighting up the entire sky... my god, half the Vorlon fleet is destroyed already. The rest of the Vorlons are pulling back, the Vorlon carrier ship in retreat... the Corporate ships are hunting them down... they're opening fire... it's over."

"We'll return with commentary and analysis of the footage after this short break."

Brian

[Kojiro]

M6 Press Room

Lyta comes out and takes the podium. There is immediately a flurry of questions but she waves the reporters into quiet.

"The Vorlon Empire, some two months ago sent a formal communication you're all aware of to the Corporate Sector informing them of our intention to briefly traverse their space. At the time, there was a treaty in place. A treaty the Corporate Sector broke in an attempt to justify their denial of their space to us. Fair enough.

So we went around them. We recieved thier order not to enter their space and so we skipped it. And what did they do? They came into Hurr space to get us. That's right, the Corporate Sector is so xenophobic they actually deployed forces to foriegn space just to start a fight. Did they blockade the gate to thier systems? No, they blockaded the gate to Earthforce space.

Earthforce, whom the Vorlon Empire has had a long and friendly history with. Earthforce, who's leader personally told Marxis to let the fleet through. Earthforce, whom the Vorlon Empire has never fought. They weren't in Corporate Space and they weren't heading for Corporate Space. They were welcome where they were going.

Until now the Vorlon Empire hadn't fired a shot at the Corporate Sector. This action, from a 'natoin' censured by M6 is true testament to Marxis' nature. That he ordered the deaths of some thirty four vorlons and almost a thousand humans and minbari shows that he's looking for a fight.

So the next time you see him, ask Marxis why his ships were fifty lightyears outside his borders attacking an empire that has never killed a human, has great relations with humans and had the permission of the President of Earthforce himself to pass through. Marxis isn't even a citizen of Earth, and he certainly isn't in charge of who can and cannot enter their space.

We have requested that Earthforce send a crew to the one surviving ship we have in that space. Under the command of an Earthforce admiral that ship will head back to Vorlon space. It will remain stationary while we work out the details with Earthforce. We can only hope the thousand or so humans already on board the ship will be enough to convince Marxis not to shed any more blood."

[brianeyci]

Marxis Corporation Press Room

"...any questions?"

"What do you think of the Vorlon Representative Lyta's response?"

"Well first off I think you all noticed she needs a lesson in galactic politics. It's the Earth Alliance space, not Earthforce space. Earthforce doesn't own any space and is the Earth Alliance's military. At least last time I checked we weren't in a military dictatorship," smiled Marxis. "I guess that may be hard for the Vorlons to grasp, that we have a military separate from our civilian government."

"What about the thousand human beings on the remaining Vorlon ship?"

"We've got plans in the works. Suffice it to say we do not negotiate when hostages are taken. If it approaches the warp point it'll be fired on to prevent it entering the Cooke system and endangering millions of human lives. But we'll keep our distance, for now."

"Did the Hurr government ask you to intrude on their space?"

"No. We went into Hurr space to dispose of their genocidal leaders. However I wasn't about to allow a genocidal Vorlon fleet which has been documented as being responsible for billions of Dilgar dead to enter Earth Alliance territory. We must preempt any attack on human beings anywhere, and if the Vorlons entered the Cooke system millions of human civilians would have been at risk and possibly dead by the time Earthforce could respond to any Vorlon bombardment."

Brian

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

These Corporate Sector types were alright. That they went out of their way to provoke a fight with the Vorlon fleet showed Kullenbrach that they really had it in for the Elder scum. Now to figure out what to do with the surviving ship. The Vorlons' rampant disregard for interstellar trade had closed off the most direct route, preventing Kullenbrach from diverting a few of his ships to chase it down. Ambassador Krull informed him that the Vorlons were attempting to play on Marxis' xenophobia by placing humans on the ship. That would probably mean that the Brakiri would have to be the ones to deal with the Vorlon baseship.

[Dalton]

"The Vorlons are getting reckless."

"Quite unfortunate. I always saw them as enlightened, but I guess even the noblest of species has its breaking point."

"True, but these Vorlons are...different. More meddlesome."

"I agree there."

G'Kar leaned back. Ta'Lon had finally been cleared through customs and allowed to keep his sword as a ceremonial item, and it looked like the last bit of bureaucratic red tape had been cleared up, allowing Ta'Lon access to diplomatic channels. It was nice to finally have real-time updates on the political situation from the Cooke system.

It was a shame that the news wasn't that good. An all-out war was brewing, with Marxis and the Brakiri on one side, and the Vorlons on the other. And in the middle of it all was Alshain. G'Kar wished he could do more to help, but he had problems of his own.

"So what's the story with Defel? I heard he had returned."

"Yes indeed, and since his return I noticed something quite disturbing...something to which I have just put a stop."

Ta'Lon waited for G'Kar to continue, but something in him prompted him to change the subject.

"So what of our world in Centauri space?"

"Still underpopulated and underfunded. We don't have enough people to build a trading port at this time."

"Surely we can send a colony ship?"

"That would be feasible had the nearest jump gate to Yonog not been destroyed," G'Kar said, clearly annoyed. "As it is, the only route to Sanctuary goes through Shadow space, and I don't want to send anything beyond the Nakaleen system."

"Dilgar sabotage?"

"Or Vorlon. We don't know. I wonder if one of our allies can drop another jump gate for us."

"I'll pass around the request, if you like."

"Please do. Ask Ambassador Vir first. It looks like the Centauri systems have been split apart there, and a jump gate would simplify matters for both of us."

"Of course, Chairman."

"Get some rest, Ambassador. Tomorrow is always a busy day at M6."

Ta'Lon grinned. "Of course. Good night, sir."

"Good night."

The viewer shut off and G'Kar slumped back in his chair. Things were beginning to look up for him, but war was coming again...a war where he wasn't sure which side to take. For once, he felt better being so far away from the action...but there was always the threat of the Shadows.

The Shadows. Ever since the return of Mr. Defel, the Shadows had been mobilizing again despite the best efforts of the Centauri to eradicate them. And G'Kar's disturbing discovery made him doubt that his government was free of their influence. He had recently noticed that they had tapped into everything - system maps, shipyard locations, fleet locations, even trade. The leak had been plugged...but had the dam been compromised?

The next few months would indeed be very telling. He could only hope that the Brakiri would be willing to help him if he needed it.

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

Ta'Lon got up from his comm desk and made his way to Ambassador Vir's quarters. Hopefully the new era of cooperation with the Centauri would help facilitate his request...

[Uraniun235]

"Ambassador Fox, what will Earth do?"

"A small carrier group has been dispatched to Quadrant 24 where, if possible, it will take the Vorlon ship into custody and escort it to Vorlon space. Now, we are not willing to initiate combat over passage rights for a Vorlon baseship, but Earth has no intention of seeing people die needlessly.

If the Corporate Sector persists in their blockade of the jump point to prevent the Vorlon baseship from entering the Cooke system, Earthforce will not challenge their blockade. We will, however, offer passage aboard Earthforce starships to this space station, for those who wish to disembark the Vorlon baseship. From here they can go wherever they please in the galaxy.

If the Vorlons wish, we are even prepared to assist them in evacuating their crew and scuttling their ship to prevent capture. Rest assured, however, that such a decision would ultimately rest with Vorlon authorities."

[brianeyci]

"We've reviewed the Earth Alliance plan for escorting the Vorlon vessel to Mesopotamia Six. However, at this time they are unacceptable. We have now scanned in detail the Vorlon ship and determined it has equipment to sabotage jump gates. Most likely it was directly responsible for the recent sabotage of the jump gate into Dilgar territory, cutting off trade from the Dilgar. Of course we cannot allow these terrorists to enter the Cooke or any other human held system.

"Of the Dilgar, we note there are ten Dilgar vessels in the Nocalo system. A warning to the Dilgar--do not approach the Vorlon vessel. There are human beings on that ship and should you attempt to attack the Vorlon ship, our battleships will be forced to open fire on your vessels. Human lives are at stake. Our computer simulations tell us the Vorlon vessel is more than capable of repelling a Dilgar assault."

"This situation should be resolved shortly. The Vorlon Ambassador has been asked to hold his ship in his current sector until... negotiations can begin in earnest."

"We invite the Earth Alliance to send a vessel to the Quadrant 27 system to offload refugees from the Vorlon vessel. Be warned, changing transponder codes of the Vorlon ship will not allow it to stealth past our blockade. If transponder codes are changed, the Corporate Sector will have no choice but to open fire on all vessels operating those transponder codes, in light of the hundreds of millions of human beings in the Cooke system. If President Alshain gives an alien power classified transponder codes to human held jump gates, we will have no choice but to reprogram our IFF equipment to regard every ship utilizing the leaked transponder codes as hostile."

Brian

[Trogdor]

Vir had just finished speaking with Londo when the door chime to his quarters sounded. He quickly went and opened his door.

"Ah, Ambassador Ta'Lon, please come in," Vir greeted cordially. "May I offer you a drink? I've got a small stock of bravari from Centauri Prime, nothing like the swill they try to pass off as bravari in the bars here."

"Thank you, no," Ta'Lon said. "I'm here about the jump gate in your space that was recently crashed. As I'm sure you know, without it, it's impossible to traverse from Narn space to Santcuary without crossing through Shadow territory."

Vir nodded, scowling slightly. "Yes. Our intelligence indicates that the Dilgar crashed that gate, possibly in an attempt to divert the Brakiri fleet. Fortunatly, Londo suspected they might try as much. We've had our own gate ship for awhile now, and Londo had it nearby in case this very thing happened. Don't worry, once the jump ship reaches the edge of the Valusha system, we'll restore the gate. Its destruction is causing us at least as much trouble as it is you, I'm sure."

"Good," Ta'Lon said, pleased. "Very good. Chairman G'Kar will be glad to hear of this, I'm sure."

He was about to leave, but curiosity seemed to get the better of him. "If I may ask, Ambassador Vir, why did your people build a ship with jump engines and then do nothing with it?"

Vir sighed. "After our attempt to eradicate the Shadows stalled over their colony in Shra-Bal and they started inflicting casualties with only the handful of ships they had left, the Centaurum said they'd refuse to fund an attack on their core world in Tr'Ess'Na. The ship was made with the idea of crashing the gates to that system and locking away the Shadows forever in mind, but Defel returned at roughly the same time the ship was finished. With him back, we knew that any attempt at our plan would meet with stiff resistance."

Ta'Lon nodded, "The return of Mr. Defel is indeed disturbing."

"And I saw the ship he was in explode."

[Tobor]

Rai'jal' aode and second on M6 snorted in his seat.

"Don't be ridiculous Ms. Delaney, you don't have anything that could catch those ships. Besides, instead of sabre rattling, perhaps you could try using a bit of intelligence for a change. With a Brakiri strike fleet at our door, it was obvious that a recall on all our fleets would be forth coming."

"Yes ambassador, sometimes there are things more important than the..."

using mock exclaimation marks, Rai'Jal' aide continued

"..."Vorlon Menace"."

Noticing that everyone was looking at him for this sudden and unexpected outburst the aide now retreated back into his seat, his thunder verily stolen by the room of experienced diplomats.

Silently he wished that Rai'Jal had not been recalled with the deep range fleet from Cooke. But his discomfort here, would mean nothing if the Brakiri obliterated what little was left of the tenuous Dilgar Confederacy.

[GuppyShark]

These were truly strange times.

Deep in the heart of Shadow space, tendrils arced and lightning flashed. A new life was being born in the depths of space.

One of the Shadows stared at it from the safety of an observation bay. Dwarfed by its neighbours, it would be the fastest Shadow ship ever created.

And the most fragile. And, potentially, the most valuable.

The Shadow's mandibles clicked quietly. If the Vorlons had become the Shadows, then the Shadows might find value in becoming the Vorlons.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

A smile creased Kullenbrach's lips as he read the Dilgar message. They apparently wanted to be friends again, with a treaty of trade and research. This was good, as Kullenbrach had no desire to further Vorlon aims by finishing the job the Elders started. The Centauri had also agreed to the military alliance that would allow his ships to be repaired by their dockyards. Seems like the Brakiri were making friends in this part of space.

[brianeyci]

MarxisCorp Press Room

"We warned President Alshain not to leak confidential transponder codes to an alien power. By giving the Vorlon baseship transponder codes, they have compromised the entire Corporate jump gate defense network."

"The Corporate Sector has no choice but to regard all vessels using the leaked transponder codes as hostile. This will have immense ramifications for interstellar trade between the Corporate Sector and the Earth Alliance as civilian vessels will no longer have the ability to travel between the Corporate Sector and Earth Alliance territory. Due to President Alshain's incompetence, hundreds of billions of credits will be lost and years of goodwill destroyed."

"All IFF transponders have been immediately recoded to regard all ships using the leaked transponder codes as hostile. This includes all Earthforce vessels. We implore President Alshain and Earthforce to avoid friendly fire incidents by staying away from Corporate territory and vessels."

"We have plans to deal with the Vorlon baseship. Further information I cannot give at this time due to security reasons. We ask that President Alshain order the Vorlon baseship to remain at its current location until a solution can be reached."

"As well, the Vorlons have continued their blatant disregard for interstellar trade by sabotaging the last jump gate to Brakiri territory in Narn space. Billions more credits have been lost due to the Vorlon's blatant disregard for interstellar commerce. The Corporate Sector will stand to lose two hundred trillion credits this month alone due to both incidents caused by the alien attack on our way of life. Billions of human beings in the Earth Alliance and Corporate Sector will have their livelihoods destroyed today. But I must reprogram the transponders, to prevent an alien invasion that could cost tens of billions more lives. Alshain's love affair with aliens up to now has been benign, but now his indiscretion will cost incalculable damage to both the Earth Alliance and Corporate economies."

Brian

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Kullenbrach laughed in glee when he looked at his map. The Vorlons and Minbari were really digging their own graves, here. Most of the other races wanted only to remain neutral and be left alone, but bisecting the galaxy by closing that warp point affected all of them. With the Shadows back as a major power and relations with the Corporates heading rapidly downhill, the Vorlon-Minbari alliance could not afford to antagonize the Centauri, Narn, and Dilgar, yet that was precisely what they were doing.

A year ago, none of this would have mattered. The Centauri fleet was so pathetic that the 20 Brakiri base ships probably tripled its firepower, the Shadows were practically imploding, and the Dilgar's full strength consisted of ships that couldn't even destroy more than one Brakiri base ship with full broadsides from 130 ships. Kullenbrach wasn't very familiar with the strength of the Narn navy, but a cursory glance didn't exactly send shivers down his spine.

Today, though, things were different. The Shadows were back with huge new construction projects. The Centauri had designed and built at least one heavy baseship of unknown capabilities, with more sure to follow. The Dilgar were now free of maintenance requirements and could build a modern fleet, and the Narn probably had something cooking. If not, Kullenbrach would sell ships to them. This was absolutely the worst time for the Vorlon-Minbari bloc to go around extinguishing proverbial cigarette butts into everyone's proverbial eye, but it was really no surprise. The Vorlons had a long history of arrogance and overconfidence. This time Kullenbrach would make sure it was the end of them.

* * *

Ambassador Krull mounted his speaking platform, and cleared his throat.

"We have all, by now, heard of the shocking actions by the Vorlon monsters. The Nakaleen-Rial hyperspace gate was the most important trade conduit in the entire galaxy. Its closing is just another atrocity from a mass-murdering empire who has killed billions, who shows total disregard for trade and for any of you, who violates the space of neutral empires at will, and who has no compunctions about wrecking your economies. Even now, scientists on the Thenavi Nova space station are starving to death, their food shipment stranded on the other side of the gulf.

We propose the Vorlon-Minbari Containment Pact, a multi-lateral blockade of the Cooke-Gamma7 and Orion-Gorash warp points, so we may never again see such widespread chaos and death that the Vorlon-Minbari bloc has brought us! Let the galaxy enter a new era of peace and prosperity!"

[brianeyci]

Marxis watched the hyperspace feed.

"Contact... this Krull, on M6."

"The transponder codes--"

"Contact him as soon as that's fixed. What does the budget office say?"

"It'll take years to rebuild trade after we change transponder codes. You sure you want to do this?"

"We have to. We have to show that we're not letting aliens control our defense policy. Make sure our ships stay away from human colonies and Earthforce."

Brian

[Dalton]

Mellitra System
Resolve

Despite the disparity in times, G'Kar was up to receive Ta'Lon's message. With the new political situation, anyone's sleep schedule could change without notice, and it often did. G'Kar rubbed his eye as Ta'Lon reported on the latest from M6.

"Whoever did it, they've effectively bisected the galaxy," G'Kar said, annoyed. "This is going to disrupt trade drastically."

"Who could possibly gain anything from such a move? Do we know who is responsible?"

"No. I can hazard a few guesses, but nothing for sure," G'Kar said. "Isolating the Brakiri and the Shadows is in the best interests of the Vorlons and the Minbari, but the Shadows also have a history of stirring the pot. There's been no evidence of any Vorlon ships in the area; we would have seen them. There have also been no vessels detected in Nakaleen capable of such, unless the Dilgar are hiding something. And Londo's got a ship with a jump drive, but that's over in the Yonog system."

"So we don't know for sure?"

"No. Despite Marxis' and Krull's claim, there is no evidence as yet of Vorlon complicity with this action. At least, none that I've seen. If evidence can be found, then we're going to have to make our...displeasure...known."

Ta'Lon nodded. "As you wish."

"What did Vir say?"

"He says that Londo had a contingency plan for just such an eventuality. Contact with Sanctuary should be restored soon."

"Excellent. That is all. Oh, one other thing. If the Vorlons closed that gate...then we're siding with Krull."

Ta'Lon gaped.

~~~~~~~~~~

Mesopotamia 6
Council Chambers

Ta'Lon cleared his throat. "The Narn Remnant is most displeased with the recent closure of the Nakaleen jump gate. We ask that the party responsible come forward and take responsibility for this action. They should know that they have not only effectively bisected the galaxy, but they have also disrupted trade, research and communications both external and internal. Our world Sanctuary has been cut off from us, and the Centauri have also been split in half, not to mention the Brakiri ships stranded here.

"Let it be known that although we, also, suspect the Vorlons of this, we have not yet found any evidence that it was indeed the Vorlons who did it. But if such evidence is found...then the Narn Remnant will support Ambassador Krull's proposal."

[Nephtys]

Delenn was at the Council, looking up following her return. "The Minbari Federation agrees and greatly disapproves of whomever disabled the gate. Trade with the Centauri republic has been greatly disrupted by this action." She remarks from her seat.

"But we, nor the Vorlons are not responsable. Our own reports out in that region have spotted a new class of ship with unknown capabilities... clearly one of Shadow Technology." Delenn replied. "It is likely what remnants of their forces have disrupted the hyperspace beacon to further allow themselves to rebuild their strength." she looked aside. "As our scouts find no evidence of Centauri or Dilgar ships in the region, it is likely their doing."

[Trogdor]

Centauri Prime

"Tell me, doctor, why isn't the Valusha/Thessin gate restored by now?" Londo asked pleasantly.

"The...uh, the Marcanos-class jump ship, it, um, it only has one reactor, Excellency," the head of the old hyperspace R&D project said, visibly sweating. "The power that reactor creates is just short of the amount needed to, um, power the jump drive."

"And just who was in charge of the development of this design?" Londo asked.

"I was," he admitted, then quickly added, "but it's a very simple thing to fix! There's plenty of room in that ship for another reactor! Just bring it back to port and we can have another one added in about a month!"

"Do you know how many denars are lost for every day that gate is closed?" Londo asked sweetly.

"Well...no."

"A lot," Londo said, no longer using a fake, pleasant tone. "The Centauri government does not, of course, own your company and as such I have no authority to see that you are removed from your position. However, I will be sure to make sure that your bosses know just how displeased I am and how much Corporate Centauri is losing because of this. Now get out."

The doctor winced, but nodded and walked out. Londo sighed. "Idiot."

He'd have to tell Vir to tell the Narn that there would be a slight delay in reopening that gate.

M6 Council

"First," Vir began, "I would like to make everyone aware that the Centauri Republic will be replacing the destroyed jump gates as soon as we can. We'd have already restored the Valusha/Thessin jump gate, but technical problems have unfortunatly delayed that. Rest assured that it will be done as soon as possible."

"Secondly, we have some...conflicting intelligence on the matter of the closure of the Nakaleen/Riat gate. In the intrest of galactic peace, the Centauri Republic has opted to fully disclose what we know to this council. The fleet of ships we recently purchased from the Brakiri picked up readings that would indicate that the Dilgar were the ones who closed the gate. We had been tracking one of their gatecrasher vessels and it was in the area last we knew of it."

"However, we cannot locate it at this time. We cannot, in fact, locate any gate crasher ship of any nation in the immediate area. The Centauri Republic has no eyes within Shadow territory, so perhaps the guilty ship fled to their stars. However, members of the Centauri intelliegence agency have tentatively stated that they believe the ship closed the gate on the Nakaleen side, and if this is the case, it is likely that the ship is either cloaked somehow, or has hidden in the Tychola system. Emperor Mollari has informed me that he will be sending the Centauri fleet to Tychola to investigate."

"Before I cede the floor, I would like to make it clear that I am not accusing anyone of this...yet. Current intelliegence would seem to indicate either the Dilgar or the Shadows, but as I said before, our only readings are from a fleet of ships our soldiers aren't quite used to flying yet and that does not constitute a hard case. I will inform the Council if we find anything further."