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Vir passively silently watched the arguements that were taking place, but his wind was spinning.

Why had the Minbari sent a member of their Warrior Caste? Their idea of diplomacy was to open their ships' gun ports!

He wondered if this Neroon Starrider was in any way related to the disgraced Nimune Starrider. And more importantly, would anyone dare to ask?

But what Vir wondered even more, why were both Delenn and Lennier recalled? Just what the hell was happening on Minbar?

Mesopotamia Six

Ambassador Fox sat in the council chamber, reflexively going through the routines of appearing to find the greatest interest in every word his colleagues uttered, while pondering deeply the Cooke situation. He had wired EarthDome with an update and a report on his plans to call for a drawdown of the seemingly increasing military presence in what was supposed to be a peaceful system, but had barely stepped away from the terminal when EarthDome had already flashed back an UltraViolet-priority message prohibiting any such protest.

The Vorlons are moving through an awful lot of heavy hardware. The Dilgar have moved a fleet of ships into Canton, while the Minbari have a veritable armada. We've got the Enterprise battle group, but they're to defend our billion-odd people there. Still... all it'd take would be one trigger-happy ship captain...

Oh, hell, the Corporate Sector just slapped the Minbari in the face. I do hope EarthDome takes care of this with the Minbari delegation on Earth... placating Starrider would probably be as unpleasant as it would be futile.

ISN

...today, EarthDome officials denied rumors that President Alshain's health was declining, insisting that the absence of the President from the public view was instead merely representative of the increased workload placed on the President in light of continued cooperation and coordination with the Corporate Sector. When asked about the rumor, Corporate representatives said that they saw no reason to believe the rumors, indicating that President Alshain appeared to be "in fine health."

Coming up next...

Ivan entered the council chambers as unobtusively as possible and went straight for Vir. The aide whispered something into the ambassador's ear and his eyes widened.

"Are you sure of this?" Vir asked softly but urgently.

Ivan nodded.

"Get on the line to Centauri Prime, tell Reefa what's going on," Vir ordered. He sighed. "This chamber is going to erupt soon."

Ivan scampered off, again trying and mostly failing to avoid calling attention to himself. Vir sat and waited, just glad it wasn't his place to drop this bomb.

As expected.. the chambers were going to be filled with questions soon. Neroon sat peacefully at his chair, before rising to address the council. "My fellow delegates!" he announced. "As of just a few days ago, the Corporate Sector voiced great concerns regarding the danger of travelling through the Quadrant 27 route for merchant vessels... and with the destruction by League ships of several unarmed Vorlon transports, as well as the diversion of goods vital for the economies of our trading partners, the Earth Alliance, the Corporate Sector, and the Centauri Republic... a crisis was coming."

"The deployment of ships, and the repositioning of jumpgates to a military stronghold position within a disruptive gas cloud were of great concern. Signs and portents have lead us for some time to suspect some great upheval was to come. And it has, clearly."

He swept a hand back to activate the chamber's StellarCom system, displaying new data just incoming of images. There's one of jet black vessels screeching through space as a Vorlon cruiser fired it's cannons into it, and a Minbari War-Cruiser

"Our deep scans detected an entire fleet of warships redeploying to this site. As we believed this was the precursor of additional hostile acts, we took steps with the Vorlons to end this crisis before more innocent lives were lost."

"The Battle was brutal. But decisive. We had secured the end of the jumproute, and only Minbari ships stood after the conflict, when a convoy of Dilgar craft came through, en-route back to their home worlds. Without provocation, a reinforcement fleet attempted to attack us, and even opened fire upon the Dilgar vessels. The prowess of the Warrior Caste however, let us stand victorious. Many of the attacking ships are now our prizes." he declared.

"The defanging of the League's military, including what seemed to be the dreaded 'Death Cloud' weapons rumored to be in possession of a thought-extinct race called Shadows... were defeated. Peace will return to space, and our continued relations with our other stellar neighbors."

The council chambers of course, exploded into disorder immediately afterwards. He carefully nodded. "I will answer all questions in good time."

M6 C&C

Retief strolled casually onto the command deck of Mesopotamia Six.

"I heard there was a crisis going on here. I hope I didn't put out a perfectly good cigar for nothing."

"Our ambassador's busy in Council, but I thought someone from CDT ought to see this as soon as possible. Mr. Randis, please bring up the screen for the Secretary."

Retief whistled. "There's nearly forty Vorlon starships there."

"And most of them massing at least two megatons. There's even a couple that look like they're about five megatons." The Commander looked at Retief and spoke quietly. "Should we issue challenge or protest? That's an awful big fleet to just waltz through the system without so much as a heads-up."

Retief shook his head. "The Arcadia and her battle-group might... just might... match that Vorlon fleet in mass, but they wouldn't have nearly enough firepower to present a credible threat. If we issue we'd likely be called out on it and we'd look weak. Hopefully nobody brings it up."

"We'll probably wind up looking weak anyway."

"To the other nations, at least. I'm sure EarthDome will have a spin for the 'folks back home'."

"So that's what the CDT is all about..."

Retief nodded. "Keeping up appearances. Speaking of which, I really must be off. Thanks for the heads-up; I'll be sure to break it to the ambassador when I can."

ISN Report

The camera peers out into space. Three things can be discerned, far in the distance. One, a jumpgate, of the normal variety. Two, a large fleet of League warships - the majority of Brakiri manufacture, though there are one or two ships which appear to be of Earth manufacture scattered throughout the semicircle formation.

The third is the assortment of bright yellow squidlike creatures, arranged in a roughly identical formation on the other side of the jumpgate from the League ships.

The camera pulls back, and slightly mature human reporter is staring into the lens, with the space view over her shoulder. Around her are stars.

"This is ISN, coming to you from Quadrant 27. The League of Non Aligned Worlds has recently declared this jumpgate off limits to any and all shipping, fearing an attack from Minbari warships which they claim intend to move into the system. A large contingent of Vorlon ships is also present in addition to the League defensive armada, but the enigmatic creatures have made no sign of their intent just yet. How was that?"

A voice from oncamera responds, "Good," and the reporter continues.

"Okay, the version for the Corporate affiliates. This is ISN, coming to you from Quadrant 27, where at any moment a Minbari invasion fleet is going to..."

The reporter continues speaking, though no sound is being recorded. All sounds cease.

"Your desire for revenge is too strong."

The Vorlon voice emerges from every speaker on the reporter's ship, and from the camera equipment. She frowns, and an excited voice exclaims, "It's started!"

A wash of yellow light blinds the camera briefly, and the cameraman pivots it, aiming back out into the gloom of space.

Vorlon ships surge towards the League ships, and open fire. From nowhere, strange clouds of smoke exit hyperspace, and return fire with crimson molecular slicers as the League ships struggle to close the distance before being carved up.

The reinforcements are not enough, however, and soon the League ships are drowned under superior Vorlon firepower.

The news crew watch, stunned by the unprovoked carnage. Soon another hyperspace signature opens and the League picket jumps back into the system. It is instantly cut apart by Vorlon lightning cannons.

The same fate is shared by two League transports, each carrying forty million people. Despite their civilian transponders, these too are destroyed in moments by the Vorlon fleet.

The reporter takes a moment to compose herself and begins to address the camera once more, but incoming hyperspace signatures interrupt her. Expecting to see another execution, the news crew is taken aback by the sight of not one, but dozens of League ships. These ships, Corporate designs crewed by the Yolu, emerge from the warp point in tight formation. The Vorlons fire, but the sheer mass of League ships pushes them back.

Space erupts in fire as ramshackle Particle Cannon slingers unload pointblank salvos into ancient battle cruisers.

One by the one, the proud Vorlon ships fall, each detonating spectacularly. When the last ship explodes, the reporter falls to the ground, her hands clutched over her ears, as though trying to block out a sound, but no sound is heard on the recording.

When she gets to her feet, there is nothing she can say. She simply stares out the window, the camera forgotten.

The Yolu fleet silently moves into position over the warp point, taking the places of their Hurr brethren who have already fallen. The silent vigil is soon broken once more.

ISN Reporter Sharon Morant thought that by now, she had seen the face of space warfare. What she saw next left even the previous engagements behind.

Three hundred and thirty Minbari warships dropped out of hyperspace in the midst of the Yolu formation. The sight of so many gleaming ships hanging in space gives her just enough time to formulate the thought, "That's beautiful" before weapon batteries charged and enough energy to devastate a galaxy was unleashed in anger.

Ships explode. Sentients die. The cameraman does his best to keep it all in focus but there is too much chaos, too much death. The lens cannot be everywhere at once and eventually it stops trying.

When the debris clears, the Minbari warfleet stands alone. A Whitestar cruises from their formation towards the ISN observer. Other Whitestars are engaged in similar sweeps, spreading out from the jumpgate and searching for space mines.

The sight of the approaching Whitestar awakens the news crew from their reverie.

"Asha, dump that data and get it to the network. NOW."

The camera is set on a table and a man's hand can be glimpsed fumbling with a data cable. From offcamera, you can hear the sound of a hypercomm relay being powered up.

A flash of cerulean blue - the Whitestar has fired a warning shot over the ship's bow.

"Human ship," comes a voice over the ship's radio. "Power down and prepare to be boarded."

"Sharon?" a hestitant voice asks.

"Do it," she says. "Do it now or we're dead."

She could be talking about the power, or the data. The question is settled when the hypercomm starts firing off pulses.

"Good," Sharon comes back into the camera's view. She's resting in a chair now, stress etched on her brow. "They'll know now if anything happens."

A crunch, and a muffled blast. Minbari soldiers rush into view. One snarls and swings his staff at the camera, and the feed goes dead.

ISN wishes to reassure viewers that our news crew is safe and will be returned to us shortly.

For Brian

"Where did you get this?" Carter asked.

Nunziata crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. "The Hurr."

Carter didn't need to watch the scrolling text a second time. "My
god, Marxis's predictions were dead on. How many ships destroyed?"

"We can't tell. Hundreds." Nunziata buried her head in her arms.
"It was a slaughter Samantha. I had no idea the Minbari were capable
of this. Their Ambassador hasn't said a word."

Carter wanted to reach over, to hold her friend, but this wasn't the
time to get sentimental. "Have you shown this to the Joint Chiefs?
Or your cabinet?"

"I wouldn't dare." Nunziata lifted her head, her face streaked with tears.

Carter lowered her voice. "It'll come out Madam President. The Hurr
and the Yolu... they'll be screaming for blood. You have to do it."

"Do what?" Nunziata swept her fist across the table, at the scale
model of Mesopotamia Six. "Last, best hope for peace my fucking ass.
I gave the boneheads a fucking planet Carter, a whole fucking
planet." She wiped the tears off her cheeks. "What do I do with the
Joint Chiefs?"

Carter smiled. "Throw them a bone."

"You would've made a wonderful politician Samantha. Project Tomahawk?"

"Yes."

Nunziata's face turned to stone. "It was Marxis's baby Samantha. I
killed it."

"Bring it back to life," Carter said. "If you don't throw the
hardliners a bone--"

"I know." Nunziata stood up and straightened her blouse. "You're dismissed."

• .

Chen read over his instructions, and spat. The League Ambassadors had
come to his door, pleading for his support for a censure motion. And
Chen followed instructions and told them no, the Corporate Sector was
remaining strictly neutral. And what could they do? The League was
being invaded by an armada capable of swatting the most powerful Earth
Alliance warships like flies according to the intelligence briefs.
And the Corporate Sector no longer had a navy. If Marxis was still in
power, at least they'd be able to defend themselves. Chen tried to
tear the orders, but their lamination defeated him.

And of course, he was to supposed keep his mouth shut, because money
was more important than doing the right thing.

"First they came for the Jews," Chen muttered.

M6

[img=left]http://members.optusnet.com.au/bcarletti/drazi100.jpg[/img]"This is a day for mourning.

Mourning for both those slain today by the Vorlons and Minbari - all one hundred and fifty million of them - and mourning for the death of a dream.

We came together - Human, Drazi, Hurr and Yolu alike, and we dreamed of a peace shared between all sentients. That dream has been killed, too.

Warrior of Minbar. Your War is ended. The League of Non Aligned Worlds no longer exists. You have killed it. I can only beg of you to spare the lives of those who dreamed with us.

I will not dishonour the memory of the League with bickering about the nature of the war. The records are available for those who wish to view them.

Our member worlds have taken hasty polls. Many worlds have asked to rejoin the Earthers, and a movement for Centauri citizenship is growing in popularity by the hour. I hope that the universe will see fit to provide us with smooth, peaceful transitions to the chosen governments of our worlds.

Thankyou for your time, and good bye."

One of the things Dmitri had noticed about Reefa was that he liked to keep away from all the cerimony and fanfare as much as the throne would allow him.

In some ways this was a good thing so far as Dmitri was concerned. It necessitated a middle man between Reefa and the bureaucracy of government, and Dmitri was that middle man. This put the young Centauri in a position of considerable power, and he used it to continue some of Londo's policies.

In other ways, however, it wasn't so great. Reefa was signing the official annexation documents for the League worlds which had voted to join the Republic in the privacy of his office. Londo probably would've done it in at some big cerimony and Dmitri wouldn't have thought of speaking a word in such a public setting.

But here he had to open his big mouth. "Excellency, I feel it is my duty to warn you of the possible consquences of this," he said.

Reefa glared at him. "And what possible consquences do you think you've seen that I have not?"

Dmitri swallowed. "That having the Centauri flag flying over those worlds won't make the Minbari and Vorlons stop their crusade."

Reefa snorted. "Preposterous. The Minbari and Vorlons did what they did because the League was disrupting traffic and trade. So long as we do not make the same mistake, we have nothing to fear."

"Excellency, once the Minbari start a crusade, they don't like to stop until it is finished," Dmitri said. "They claimed the League's disruption of traffic as their reason for invading, but the League stopped traffic because of the apporaching Minbari armada!"

"The League has pulled this kind of nonsense on and off for years," Reefa said. "You're oversimplfying things."

"And you're underestimating the risk," Dmitri insisted. "We can't hope to defeat the Minbari-Vorlon bloc."

"If they attack us, they risk triggering a firestorm," Reefa said. "It could unite the entire rest of the galaxy against them. They won't dare strike us."

"I hope you're right."

"I know I am," Reefa said. "And if you ever question my judgement like this again, I will see to it that Governor Na'Toth of Forge disappears and a Centauri from the old guard takes her place."

Dmitri paled.

"Yes, I keep tabs of your activities, Dmitri. I know you appointed her planetary governor," Reefa said smugly. "Personally I don't give a damn either way how the Narns are treated, so long as the factories on Forge are up and running on schedule and it meets its quotas once they are, understand?"

"Yes, Excellency."

Coincidentally the same day...

"With the resumption of trade between the Minbari Federation and her partners, guarded by our fleet, the crisis is over." Neroon announced triumphantly less than a day later. "Although the League has announced a general surrender, we do not wish for their worlds." he says. "The Minbari Federation has no imperial ambitions. But rather now as it has been seen as a popular movement by the people of the League as well as a way to stabilize galactic relations, we propose that a referendum be seriously considered by the league leaders, in Centauri control of their spacelanes for the immediate future."

"As we do not wish to be conquerors in any sense, nor do I believe the Vorlons... we think a neutral party, in this case the Centauri, would be the perfect administrators for reestablishing peace in Quadrant 27."

Neroon smiled, and turned to retire after his little announcement. Things were proceeding well. But was the taint of the Shadows truly cleansed?

It took all of Vir's willpower to keep his jaw from dropping as he watched Neroon's retreating form. That was...far too easy, it seemed.

Ambassador Fox cleared his throat, drawing the assembled diplomats' attention to himself. "It's late," he said. "I motion that we all follow the Minbari representative's example and adjourn until tomorrow morning."

"Seconded," Vir said quickly.

There was a quick and unanimous vote, and soon Vir was back in his quarters, pacing and talking to Ivan.

"It just doesn't make sense," Vir said.

"They must've known that many of the League worlds wanted to join us to escape attack," Ivan said. "It was on ISN and everything."

"Not that," Vir sighed. "I'm talking about the Minbari's decision to just let us have all that territory. What was the point of attacking, then? The League had been the galaxy's sacred cow for some time now. Donate your old warships to the League and look like a hero! Then the Minbari and Vorlons just smash it, making themselves look terrible. Why? Not over some minor trade disruption. If they cared that much about trade, the Dilgar would be extinct several times over."

"The Minbari's and Vorlon's motives are often difficult to guess at," Ivan said. "You're trying to assemble a puzzle you only have a few of the pieces to. Perhaps when we assume control of our new territory, we'll gain a few more pieces."

"I hope so," Vir said. "Being in the dark in diplomacy can be disasterous."

The vorlon did not like Reefa. Naturally, if betrayed no sign of this, nor could it have easily. Being stopped by his staff and refused entry was not however unexpected since the vorlon cared little for appointments.

"I have a message for your ruler..." began the vorlon. The comparatively small centauri stood as stoicly as he could before the hulking suit, relatively sure the vorlon knew exactly what he felt regardless of what he showed.
"Give him this..." a small mechanical arm emerged from the encounter suit with a data crystal on it. "He will understand."

And as usual the vorlon left without a reply.

For Brian

Intermission



Enthralled by the fireworks, Carter leaned forward. The Vorlon
warships fired their weapons into the dark cloud with precision,
disintegrating its components a piece at a time. The cloud tried to
swarm the Vorlon cruisers, but they were too nimble and dodged
assault. In the end, only the Vorlons stood, the cloud gone as if it
had never existed.

"Play it again."

The recording of The Battle of the League, as it was labeled by the
media, rewound and started. Carter fast forwarded past the
annihilation of the Hurr fleet -- the poor bastards never had a chance
-- and watched the dance of the ancients. The Vorlons outmaneuvered,
overpowered and outranged anything the Hurr and Yolu fielded. It was
only because the Vorlons were too preoccupied with their victory,
standing idle after destroying the Shadow Death Clouds, that the Yolu
League ships were able to surprise them with great numbers, surging
through the jump gate. And then, the Minbari arrived and destroyed
the League effortlessly, and the reinforcement fleet from Hurr Prime
full of the renowned United States ships were just as easily taken
apart by Minbari lasers.

No doubt, Carter's opposites across the galaxy were examining the
battle footage as closely as she was. This had been the most massive
battle in the history of the galaxy, and would shape starship design
and tactics for the next century.



Nobody had seen the Death Clouds before this battle. Carter had
thought only the Vorlons fielded such powerful weapons, and the
Shadows some minor League power. The Shadows even had an Ambassador
on Mesopotamia Six awhile back. But there was no doubt that the
Shadow warships were as powerful as their Vorlon counterparts. The
Shadow's attempted rescue of the League's ships had been just shy of
succeeding, and if there had been a few more death clouds, the League
would be in control of half the galaxy's shipping lanes.

Marxis's files were surprisingly full of data on the Shadows. He had
been extremely interested with them, and a particular individual, Mr.
Defel. Mr. Defel was dead, but the Shadows lived. And there was a
Minbari fable in Marxis's files, of a Great War thousands of years
ago, involving the Minbari on the Vorlon's side against a Great Enemy.
The Shadows.

The story said the Minbari and Vorlons emerged victorious, but notes
scribbled in the margin by Marxis disputed the Minbari version of
events. Marxis had believed the Shadows and Vorlons arrived at a kind
of truce. The Vorlons and Shadows would never again take up open arms
against one another, and would instead attempt to curry favor with the
Younger Races, such as the Minbari.

Marxis speculated that for eons the Shadows and Vorlons fought each
other not with weapons, but words and manipulation. Their tools were
the Younger Races, whom they tried to convince to their respective
sides with promises or lies. Both the Shadows and Vorlons knew that
taking up arms against one another would be mutual annihilation.

Now, the balance of power had shifted. The Vorlons had defeated the
Shadows in open conflict, and the League was in the process of
transitioning to Centauri rule.

Carter's gut churned. Every general knew it was possible to win every
tactical victory, yet lose a war. The Shadows had lost every
engagement with the Vorlons in the past few years leading up to The
Battle of the League. But this war was far from over. The Corporate
Intelligence Services had finally flexed its muscles and returned with
information from the Brakiri Syndicracy. The Brakiri economy, despite
their isolation from the rest of the galaxy, was booming, like the
League's had. And the Brakiri had secret plans for an ultimate fleet
of warships, one which would outmatch even the Minbari's formidable
starfleet. It didn't take a genius to understand their plans. The
Vorlons had declared open season on the Shadows, and the Shadows were
scrambling for allies, any kind of allies they could, for revenge.
The Brakiri would be their instruments of chaos.

The Shadow War had begun.

The Vorlons had taken the first shot, but if the Vorlons or their
Minbari allies believed it was over, they were making a critical
error. Carter just hoped that whoever won, Vorlon or Shadows, would
leave humanity out of their warpath. But humanity could use allies.

She compiled everything she knew about the Shadows and Vorlons and
prepared copies. Who would listen to Marxis's delusions and Minbari
fairy tales? All the evidence was here, but it was all
circumstantial, nothing solid. Still, she couldn't keep this to
herself. For Earthforce, Commander O'Hara of Mesopotamia Six. She
just hoped he could put aside their history. In the Centauri,
Ambassador Vir, and Na'toth of Narn. The Dilgar, as much as she
disliked them, deserved to be warned as well, and Warmaster Jha'Dur
was as good as anybody. The Vorlons and Shadows would want them to
pick sides. Carter didn't care who won, as long as her beloved Earth
survived. With adequate preparation, perhaps they could take refuge
in the eye of the storm.

Like he had done every day for many months, Kullenbrach placed a call. A harsh whispery voice answered, "Yes?"

"Is it ready?" Kullenbrach asked.

"Patience," was all the voice replied, and the call was ended.

In Vir's quarters, a very unofficial but important meeting was going on. He and Ivan sat in chairs facing one of the comm screens, which showed Dmitri.

"You're sure this channel is secure?" Dmitri asked.

"Positive," Ivan answered. "You can speak freely."

"The Vorlons gave Reefa a warning," Dmitri said. "It's vague, as usual for them, but it seems clear enough they don't want us to expand further."

"I wonder why they thought we might be considering trying," Vir said. "The completion of Reefa's colony development programs are still years away yet."

Dmitri could merely shrug.

Vir sighed. "In any case, we seem to have discovered why the Minbari-Vorlon bloc struck the League."

"Why?" Dmitri asked eagerly.

"It seems they were in cohoots with the Shadows," Ivan answered. "We found Shadow military hardware on some of the League worlds."

Even on the rather small screen, it was obvious that Dmitri paled. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Vir answered grimly.

"Then that...that means--"

"The Shadow War may be starting all over again, and we're still stuck between them and the Vorlons," Vir said.

"But if the MVB strikes at the Shadows, then the Brakiri will gladly strike back with them," Dmitri said.

"The Vorlons and Minbari are not fools," Ivan said. "They must realize that and they are aware of the Brakiri's massive fleet of heavy baseships. And they don't know how Reefa would react to their fleet going through our territory. Would they risk a war against us, the Shadows, and the Brakiri just to get at the remnants of the Shadows?"

"Who is to know? If they believe themselves to be so powerful, they just might," Vir said. "What does Reefa think on all this? He's drawn his own conclusions after seeing the footage of the Battle of the League."

"He hasn't said anything to me about it," Dmitri answered, sounding somewhat petulant.

Vir sighed. "By the looks of it--"

Something beeped on Vir's desk. "Excuse me," he said, going over to his desk and bringing up the message he'd just been sent on his computer. It was from the Corporates. Curious.

He brought it up. "Oh my."

"Excellency, the Vorlons seem very insistant on this issue," Vir said. "I must recommend that we give in to their...request."

"I will not have the Republic kowtowing to anyone, not even the mighty Vorlon Empire," Reefa replied. "They're not even being honest with us. How stupid do they think we are? Defel's ship orbited Centauri Prime for months, as did a damaged Vorlon ship. And they think we can't tell the difference between Vorlon and Shadow construction!"

Vir resisted the urge to sigh with a mighty effort. "Excellency, the Vorlons have implied that they will take what they want by force if we don't give it to them. It's a handful of fighters, light vehicles, one satellite, and one weapons platform. It's not worth going to war over."

Reefa didn't reply, but he seemed to be thinking it over. Finally, Vir thought. In his opinion, Reefa had picked an incredibly stupid issue to be stubborn on.

"You did promise to do your best to keep the Hurr from coming to harm," Vir added.

"Oh, all right," Reefa huffed. "I'll tell them can have the stupid junk."

He terminated the link to M6 and Vir's hologram disappeared. Dmitri stepped forward. "Good news, Excellency. Forge's construction of a ship yard is ahead of schedule, all the foreign elements of the Republican Star Navy should be finished getting retrofitted by next month, and the economy continues to expand," he said, hoping to bolster the emperor's mood.

"Dmitri," Reefa said. "Get me a glass of bravari."

"Right away, Excellency."

Bi'Lar was furious. He had been in a deep cover scenario for the last six months and he returned to find chaos roaming through the empire; his empire!

He looked through the reports and was most displeased. Records were out of order, pages missing. It was as though some dark hand were trying to subtely shift the empire away from its goals into some pit of mediocrity.

Two things distracted him the most, and whilst he was sure they were perhaps unrelated, a small part of him wasn't so sure.
Their deep range base in the Markab system had gone quiet, and attempts to contact them were all failures. A fleet was being sent to assess the damage, however, Bi'Lar already knew that there was nothing left. THose stations were crewed by some of the finest military scientists in an attempt to integrate Shadow technology into Dilgar hardware. Something he thought smugly to himself that they were almost on the cusp of achieving. Now the bases were quiet and all the notes destoryed.

He also found through careful examination that trade coming in from the league had dropped down to a trickle. It was hard but he managed to establish that their had some how been a disruption to the treaty and trade patterns they shared.

This allong with the bases made him think that foul play was afoot. THere would be a reckoning he promised to himself, and those who had betrayed him would suffer dearly.

One other thing brightened his mood, he noticed that the disgraced Mollari was now firmly entrenched within the pits of judgement. He imagined Jha'Dur herself was fronting this particular re-education.

"The Vorlons did what, Dmitri?" Reefa asked, glaring at his assistant.

"They've crashed one of the gates which connects our traditional holdings with what we recently aquired from the League," Dmitri answered, silently praying Reefa wasn't in a mood to shoot the messanger. "We haven't lost trade revenue, fortunatly, but the shipment of military hardware we recently got from the Corporates has no way to reach here."

"And they've recently requested that we bar the Brakiri from travelling through our space?" Reefa asked.

"Yes, Excellency," Dmitri said. "Oh, and it seems that some of the remnants of the League have fled to the east of our stars and are requesting trading rights with us." He added quickly.

Reefa waved him off and turned to his computer to address the latest diplomatic issues.

M6
"The Vorlon Empire is willing to return control of the Lotana VII to Corporate hands. The measure was to remove Brakiri presence in the area. It should be noted the Brakiri conducted a similar maneouver a few months ago against our legitmate colony in Centauri space. They simply razed the settlement to the ground from orbit however, leaving nothing even approximating survivors. Clearly their 'inferior sensors' are to blame for not being able to scan our outpost. The survivors of this action are, since the Brakiri refused, on more than one occasion in this very room to broker a peace, prisoners of war. When they finally accept our peace treaty their people will be returned."

"We will restore the gate system immediately. We apologise for the incovenience, but the Vorlon Empire is not the first, nor likely last power to do this."

"As far as ownership of the sector goes, that is debatable. The area was, until recently under Shadow control. The Corporate Sector has been extremely vocal about the telepathic powers, in that very system no less, of the ancients and their ability to influence the people and governments there. We do not believe the Shadows influence completely removed. With a Brakiri war fleet heading this way, one of the Shadows closest allies, we suspect the handing over was nothing more than a stall for reinforcements.

We would ask the Corporate Sector to desist in any jump gate activities in League space. We will be forced to close the gates down. We cannot allow an ally of the Brakiri to be performing such delicate maneouvers as jump gate opening as their fleet heads this way. If they persist in aiding the Brakiri we will have no choice but to consider them hostile.

We would hope the Corporate leadership was willing to endure the slight travel delays currently in effect rather than start a war. The Vorlon Empire is willing to pay a subsidy to make up for any lost profits the extra jump is costing any trade. It is infinitely preferable to war. We hope the Corporate Sector shares our sentiments."

"Left no survivors?" Krull chuckled in response to the Vorlon allegation. "It's hard to leave survivors after an attack on an uninhabitated colony. Our sensors were not faulty and the Vorlons do not possess the level of stealth technology necessary to deceive them. If they did, they wouldn't have tried to hide a construction base in Centauri space by placing it in a storm. We destroyed empty buildings and facilities to deny their eventual use by the Vorlons, that is all. Unlike the Vorlons, we do not bombard inhabited worlds. But if we had done so, rest assured that there would not have been any survivors to be imprisoned.

This is all just a typical Vorlon attempt to distract from the real issue, which is that the Vorlons do not care about anyone other than themselves, and are willing to destroy the galactic economy if it means escaping the retribution they have coming."

"I'm sorry Ambassador, didn't you claim a few months ago your sensors were unable to scan our colony ship, and detect the civilian cargo aboard? If you can't detect civilians, or even a lack of weapons, why should we now accept your claim you can do so on a planet?

Either way, that colony was sanctioned to be there by the Centauri government, just like your outpost in Corporate Space. If it's good for you, it's good for us.

I'd like to ask what this 'retribution' is? Are the Brakiri still intent on war? Will nothing but blood satisfy them?"

(For Brian)

"Shadow control? The Corporate Sector sees no Shadows, Vorlon Ambassador. All we know is there are two large prosperous colonies, originally settled by millions of Corporate citizens, who ceded from the Corporate Sector following the period of anarchy after Marxis's disappearance and which are now administered by the Centauri following the untimely demise of the League. As for your military's storming of the Brakiri embassy, the wars of the Vorlons do not concern us, nor does any precedent set by the Centauri. Any and all embassies in the Corporate Sector are under our protection. The destruction of the Brakiri trade control protocol does however, and the recoding of jump gates will cost the Corporate Sector eighty six trillion galactic credits per quarter at least, as much as all the trade with the Vorlons combined. We doubt very much the Vorlon Empire can do anything to downplay the extreme impact of this action, which will harm the livelihoods of billions of Corporate citizens for years.[****]"

"Perhaps the Vorlons are not aware of how our society works. We are capitalists Ms. Alexander, and that means that individual companies in the Corporate Sector are free to do business with whatever interstellar government they wish, provided they abide by interstellar law. The CSS Perry was hired by the League, when it existed, into relocating jump gates, then by the Yolu to create an alternate route for merchant traffic to bypass the warfare in Quadrant 27. If the Brakiri wish the hire the Perry, they can and will. If the Brakiri wish to purchase the Perry or any other Corporate vessel, as the Centauri, the Dilgar, the former League, the Earth Alliance and all other interstellar governments have, they can and they will. It is called a free market Ambassador. The Vorlons may charter the Perry."

"However, at no time was the Vorlon or Minbari blockade of Quadrant 27 threatened. Our generals had assured us through numerous studies that even if we reinforced the jump gate network between Tulok, Nocalo, Trembas and Kokkar that such actions would be considered neutral by the Vorlons and Minbari due to the glaring fact that any military invasion force would have to pass through Quadrant 27 nevertheless. Ironically, it is the Vorlons who have made a strategic blunder by closing the jump gate from Quadrant 27 to Raghesh, because with that gate closed an invasion force could tap into the jump gate network and open their own gate from Raghesh to Quadrant 27 and bypass the combined Vorlon Minbari armada. At no time did the CSS Perry or any Corporate jump gate vessel approach Quadrant 27. If an invasion force from galactic east bypassed Quadrant 27, the only other route be through Earth Alliance territory. Is the Vorlon Ambassador worried of an attack on the Earth Alliance?"

"The Corporate Sector will refrain from entering Quadrant 27 with a jump gate vessel, which is the only way the Vorlon-Minbari blockade would be circumvented. Such a guarantee should not be necessary. If the Perry or any other civilian jump ship vessel wanted to open a jump gate from Quadrant 27 to anywhere else, the Vorlons could not stop the vessel.[***] The only way they could would be to fire on all traffic with Corporate transponders, such as the League did when the Minbari and Vorlons invaded their space."

"Which is precisely what the Corporate Sector is in close talks with the Earth Alliance at this very moment. A Vorlon armada has just entered the Nocalo system. An emergency session of the Corporate Defense Force and Earthforce is underway this moment considering whether to recode jump gates to protect Earth Alliance and Corporate territorial integrity."

"Your strategic blunders have cost the Corporate Sector hundreds of billions of galactic credits, and may cost hundreds of billions more if trade between the Vorlon Empire and Earth Alliance is severed. The Minbari knew that if they approached the Nocalo system with a large armada that the trade with the Earth Alliance would be in jeopardy, which is why their fleet has ceased its maneuvers and halted in Quadrant 27. It is inconceivable that the Vorlons would not know this, and that they would haphazardly send a fleet into the Yolu system with utter disregard for the social-political climate in the Corporate Sector. To put it bluntly Ms. Lyta, Marxis's followers still number in the tens of millions, and already there are riots in many major cities due to the needless approach of a Vorlon armada."

"If the Corporate Sector may make a suggestion to the Vorlon Empire. Recode the jump gate between Quadrant 27 and Raghesh in sector seven-two of the Quadrant 27 system, and relocate your fleet to the military position held by the Minbari. Such is the only strategically sound decision, which the Minbari already understand."

"The CSS Perry is enroute to the Kokkar system at this moment Ms. Alexander and will demonstrate the incompetence of the Vorlon strategic analysis by immediately opening two jump gates between the Kokkar and Quadrant 27 systems, and the Kokkar and Ettamm systems, simultaneously. It is too late for us to issue an emergency directive [**] to its Captain to halt his approach, and we will hope the Vorlon Empire will not consider such a action by a privately owned corporation within the Corporate Sector as unacceptable. If need be, the Vorlons may close the gates after we regain contact with the Perry as it exits hyperspace."

"One more note to all interstellar empires. Should the Earth Alliance decide in favor of recoding jump gates and any other star nation leaks its secure transponder codes to the Vorlon Empire and the Vorlons use those codes to bypass the Earthforce defense fleet in the Trembas system, the Corporate Sector will consider such an action an act of war."[*]

OOC : [*] Refers to anybody with a treaty with the Earth Alliance deliberately placing a vessel on Trembas (7,10) to take advantage of SE:IV's retarded game engine (two allies and an enemy sharing the same
point means the ships start out far from each other if they fight) and scatter U235's defenses from the jump gate to allow Kojiro's ships to pass.
Very likely U235 will break his treaty with the Vorlons this turn.
[**] The turn has already been submitted and I had to take hours to do it, renaming hundreds of shipyards and filling over eight hundred queues, and sending a message worth nine hundred clicks to U235. I am not doing it again.
[***] Refers to the fact that the Perry has 21 move points and fifty thousand supplies and can move into a star system and open a jump gate all in the same turn (If you don't know how to do this I am showing you how, this turn in the Kokkar system by opening two jump gates with one ship). The only way you'd be absolutely safe from me opening a jump gate to help the Brakiri would be to break your treaty with me Kojiro and intercept any ship passing through. Not to mention that me opening jump gates doesn't help the Brakiri at all since they still have to pass through Quadrant 27, so the game mechanics say that your Ambassador's accusation that the CS is helping the Brakiri invasion is full of shit Kojiro : ). Unless you think that Tuxedo would go through the Trembas to Tala/Bentat jump gate, the game mechanics say any invasion force has to go through Quadrant 27 so the Corporate Sector's opening of jump gates in Nocalo/Kokkar/Tulok has no military significance.
[****] Refers to the trade being set to 0% after loss of contact with the Brakiri.

Kojiro wrote:"I'm sorry Ambassador, didn't you claim a few months ago your sensors were unable to scan our colony ship, and detect the civilian cargo aboard? If you can't detect civilians, or even a lack of weapons, why should we now accept your claim you can do so on a planet?

Either way, that colony was sanctioned to be there by the Centauri government, just like your outpost in Corporate Space. If it's good for you, it's good for us.

I'd like to ask what this 'retribution' is? Are the Brakiri still intent on war? Will nothing but blood satisfy them?"

"You know as well as I do the great differences between hiding something on a ship and on a colony that's open and exposed. The only way your government could have hid population was with underground bunkers that would not have been destroyed by the bombardment.

You say you had the permission of the Centauri, fine, but we did not put any Centauri citizens at risk in our bombardment. You put millions of Corporates at risk with your invasion.

As for your attempt to paint us as aggressive and bloodthirsty, that's rich coming from the ones who recently invaded League space with their Minbari lapdogs. We have never bombarded a populated colony. You have burned whole worlds that contained billions of people. We have never invaded your space. You have invaded the space of every major race at least once. You speak of righteousness, yet your entire philosophy is one of violence and genocide against those who have been 'tainted'. And yet they are supposed to believe us to be aggressors?"

Kojiro wrote:"As far as ownership of the sector goes, that is debatable. The area was, until recently under Shadow control. The Corporate Sector has been extremely vocal about the telepathic powers, in that very system no less, of the ancients and their ability to influence the people and governments there. We do not believe the Shadows influence completely removed. With a Brakiri war fleet heading this way, one of the Shadows closest allies, we suspect the handing over was nothing more than a stall for reinforcements.

"The former League worlds were personally inspected by a small army of Centauri telepaths after we became aware of the Shadow's influence over the League, and they have found nothing unusual," Vir said. "The fear that the Shadows continue to influence matters on those planets is unfounded."

Vir knew he should probably keep his mouth shut, let the Corporates and the Brakiri hammer the Vorlons, but he was too irked at recent developments. The Vorlons had been bossing them around a lot lately, and now they'd tried another ham fisted attempt at stopping or slowing down the Brakiri. It wasn't as bad as when they'd given the Dilgar a fully stocked carrier during the Centauri-Dilgar War, but it was close.

"The former League space is under the jurisdiction of the Centauri Republic and the Corporate Sector and the Vorlon Empire has no right to dictate what we do to the gate network there. So long as we don't sever trade routes, it is entirely our business and no one else's," Vir said. "If the Vorlon Empire wishes to rearrange gates to make life difficult for the Brakiri, they can do so in their own space."