From jon.souza@creature.comSun Jul 9 12:59:58 1995 Date: Fri, 7 Jul 1995 05:25:08 GMT From: Jon Souza Reply to: b5-creative@best.com To: b5-creative@best.com Subject: MS Gundam&B5 Story-Episode 1 This story is based both upon Bablyon 5 and the Japanese animated series Mobile Suit Gundam. Since many B5 fans might not be Gundam fans, the Gundam Micro-History being written by Mark Simmons (72511.256@compuserve.com) has the history of the Gundam universe up to Char's Couterattack(which this half is a part of). As well, there may be some other series that has it's systems involved in here as well. Any comments, compliments, complaints, and flames can be sent to me at: Jon.Souza@Creature.Com And now, for the legalities. All materials related to Babylon 5, including characters, locations, and situations are Copywrited@1995, Bablyonian Productions, and the author will turn over any and all rights to said materials to the proper representives of Bablyonian Productions (Babylon 5) All materials related to Mobile Suit Gundam, including characters, locations, and situations are Copywrited@1988, Bandai/Sunrise, and the author will turn over any and all rights to said materials to the proper representives of Bandai and/or Sunrise productions(Mobile Suit Gundam:Char's Counterattack) All materials related to Jovian Chronicles, including characters, locations, and situations are Copywrited@1992, Ianus Games/Dream Pod 9, and the author will turn over any and all rights to said materials to the proper representives of Ianus Games and/or Dream Pod 9(Jovian Chronicles) And now, to the future..... Correspondance Of The Past A Bablyon 5/Gundam Story By Jon Souza Episiode 1-Entrance *Lar Kailum*, Space Near Axics, U.C. 0093(AD 2138) Commander Bright Noah, with the rest of his bridge crew, watched in wonder as the two fragments of Axics, surrounded in a halo of greenish energy, started to pull away from Earth. "The course change of Axics is confirmed-it's moving away from Earth!" Regardless of what they were doing, everybody crowded to windows, portholes, or even went out on the hull to see what was happening. It was, without a doubt, the final end to a conflict that had lasted between two men over fourteen years, the battles between Char Anzable and Amuro Rey, a war that had raged between them not withoutstanding. The shock of the event was so much that it was understandable that the navigator of the *Lar Kailum* didn't notice his board was screaming alarms for at least three minutes. When he did, he went quickly checked his systems, and then screamed, "Commander! Come over here!" Bright floated over to the navigator's console, looking at the panel, "Are you sure this is right? Did you run a check?" "I'm positive, sir. We're moving straight ahead, right to Axics, and all the engines report no activity. I don't even have station-keeping on! And the only thing that's registering any movement are the starscopes, all the gyros and accelerometers are rock steady," the navigator replied. "What the-?" Bright wondered, as the greenish flare around Axics seemed to grow brighter and brighter. "All stations, brace for high acceleration! Turn us around and accelerate at full speed!" "I can't turn, sir! All thrusters report full thrust at full power, but we aren't changing orientation. I'll try to engage engines in reverse-" as the navigator tried to reverse the engines, the hull shuddered as it normally did at full thrust, "No effect sir, we're still closing with Axics and we're accelerating at it! Rate is sixteen meters per second and rising! Estimate crash with Axics in thirty minutes!" "All personnel, man escape station! Tactical, where are our Mobile Suits?" Bright ordered, fitting the helmet on his Normal Suit's ring. "They haven't moved! All units are in the same place as they were when that glow started! I'm trying to contact them, but the Minovski field is so damn high...." the tactical officer responded, hands flying across the board. "Prepare to abandon ship! I want-" Bright was about to order, as, suddenly, the green glow from Axics seemed to leap from the asteroid, enveloping everything with a nauseating, headache- creating sensation. Then, as suddenly as the sensation came on, the sensation disappeared, leaving the ship at full thrust, which everybody felt. "Cut all engines! Navigation, what happened?" "Don't know, sir. I'm trying to find out where we are, I see Axics, but I don't see Earth, I'm not getting any space navigational beacons and my star trackers aren't getting anything. Sorry, sir," the navigator apologized, trying to figure out what was going on. "Take as much time as you need. But find out as soon as possible. Tactical, recall all the MS and find out who else is here with us...." as Bright looked out the window, "wherever *here* is." Babylon 5,Command and Control It had been very quiet for the last hour or two. Most of the outgoing ships were finally sent off to their various destinations, and the C&C center of Babylon 5 was quiet. At least it was, until Commander Ivonova's board beeped as it indicated that a jump point had formed *somewhere*. "Lieutenant, does your board indicate that a jump point formed on the other side of the sun?" "Yes, ma'am. But it's really weird, it looks like a... a..., ma'am, this is impossible," the lieutenant flustered. "What's impossible?" Ivonova asked. "Ma'am, back at the academy, they theorized that a properly tuned jump point could, in theory, jump dimensional space. But the jump point had to be absolutely flat, a strictly two- dimensional object, and that's the only thing this could be. A two-dimensional jump gate," the lieutenant tried to explain. "You mean a very short jump gate...." Ivononva tried to reply. "No, ma'am, a two dimensional jump gate. It would have only two dimensions, length and width, but not height. But to create a jump gate, you have to have three dimensions. A two- dimensional jump gate would be inherently unstable, only exist for a period of Plank time, impossible to use as a way to move. Oh hell, it could just be a badly calibrated ship using it's own jump point, ma'am." "Regardless, nobody should have been coming in for the next two days. Who's out right now?" Ivonova asked. "Delta Squadron is near the area, but not that near. As far as I can tell, the jump point was on the other side of the star, and Delta Squadron would be there in two hours. Shall I inform them to investigate?" the lieutenant asked. "Tell them, and I want Zeta Squadron placed on scramble just in case." Ivonova replied. Whatever this was wasn't good, and it meant that this could be trouble. Whatever it was. *Lar Kailum*, Near Axics "What's the status of the mobile suit recovery efforts?" Bright asked. "We've recovered twenty Jegans, ten GM-IIIs, and get this, eleven Geara Dogas and four Jaga Dogas. Three other ships report, they've got some minor damage. We still haven't found Captain Rey's Nu Gundam. As far as I can tell, Axics is entirely intact except for the damage from the nuclear explosives," the Tactical officer responded. "I can see that," Bright responded. The two fragments were still floating away at the same speed they exploded away from Axics. "Until we can get a better idea what's going on, we'll dock at the larger fragment and use it as a base. I want security to go aboard first, to sweep for traps. As soon as it's clear, I want the entire base sealed for atmosphere, including full life support. Navigation, I want to know where we are." "I have an idea, sir. But you are not going to like it, sir. I ran a check, and let the software play with some ideas. Using some projection theory, I was able to theorize where we are. If this math is correct, sir, and I ran it through three times, we're in the Epision Eridani star system. That's about 20 light years from Sol, sir." "How the fuck did we get 20 light years from Earth? Regardless, I want all stations checked and analyzed for faults. Load a new set of software from the archives as soon as we dock with Axics. Has anyone found Hassaway?" Bright asked. "Yes, sir. He was in a Jegan, sir, took it out into the battle. I had security put him in the brig," the tactical officer responded. "What? Send him to the bridge, he doesn't belong in the brig!" Bright sputtered. "But, sir, he stole a Jegan! I can't let that go unpunished, sir," the tactical officer replied, shocked. "I'll deal with that, later," Bright responded. "How long to Axics, Navigation?" "Twelve minutes, sir." "Sir!" the tactical officer pushed his hand to the side of his helmet, listening to a message from the hanger bay, "They found Amuro's MS! It's in Bay 2 now, and they're pulling Amuro out of it." Amuro looked like someone had kicked him all over. His face had the faint spidery lines of broken capillaries from decompression, bruises from where his body was slammed all over from the battle, and his eyes were completely dilated. The two medtechs and the doctor were fussing over him as Bright came in. "How is he?" Bright asked. "Bruises, light vacuum exposure, and what looks like a severe case of shock. His EEG is highly erratic, but heartbeat is slow and steady, as well as his breathing. You know, I only saw this once before...." the doctor responded. "Where? Where have you seen this before?" Bright pressed the doctor for information. "I used to work for the AEUG. When I was a doctor aboard the Agama, Fa brought back Camile Vidan after his battle with Scirocco. When he was here, his eyes and EEG were a lot like this, except that Camile was convulsing and was babbling something about Four and somebody named Rosmarie, while Amuro here has all the physical responses of a bean curd. Zero reflexes, absolutely no motor control, it's like his brain was disconnected and his body's working on auto pilot. And you know how Camile was when he came back." "Yea," Bright responded. Camile Vidan was a mental vegetable after that battle, he could barely remember his name, how to dress and eat, and Fa's name. He couldn't even control his own bowels and bladder. It took him a long time to get better, but still.... "So, what do we do?" "I'll keep an eye on him. From what happened to Camile, they developed a treatment regimen, I'll start on it. It's a crap shoot either way, only three people suffering from Newtype shock have ever been treated, one got worse, one got better and one got completely well. Who knows? But I'll try it, and I'll call if there's any change in his status," the doctor responded. "Sir?" Bright's headset beeped as the tactical officer was hailing him. "What is it, tactical?" Bright asked. "We did a sweep. No traps, nothing nasty. We're cleaning up some of the mess, and we've got parts of it pressurized, including the C&C..." "I'll be there in a few minutes. Have Mendosa report to me...." Bright started. "Mendosa's dead, sir. We found his body twenty-minutes ago, his suit was holed by shrapnel. Sorry." Tactical responded, sincerely. Bright and Mendosa were good friends. "Well then, send his assistant and the other ship captains and navigators to the C&C, tell them that we'll need to talk." Bright almost considered changing into a uniform rather than his somewhat smelly Normal Suit, but none of the hanger bays were rated for closure just yet, and there was no way to get across from the ship to Axics without going into vacuum. But he did pack a uniform in a duffel bag, sealed it, and crossed over to Axics. Between Babylon 5 and Axics, Delta Squadron Six of the Earth Alliance's premiere space-only fighters, the F23 StarFury, aligned in a hexagonal formation. Delta Squadron was on a errand from Babylon 5, as the formation closed with the mysterious jump point on the other side of the star Babylon 5 orbited. In the cockpit of Delta 2, the leader of this flight, Lt. Warren Keffer squirmed in his chair. In his opinion, this was a fool's errand, but an understandable one. What if that jump point was of some warship, perhaps a Centarui cruiser which planned to try again to blockade Babylon 5, or maybe a Narn ship which planned to strike quickly against Centauri freighters that were leaving Babylon 5? Who knows, and that was what had Ivonova's garters in a bind. As the ships flew to the unknown point, Keffer's radar beeped as it picked up something. He passed it a slight glance, until it caught his eye again. It was way too large of a radar return, definitely artificial, and was humanoid. He said to the rest of the squadron, "Delta Squadron, this is Delta 2, I'm going to perform a visual check on that large radar return. Delta 4, cover me." "Roger," Delta 4 responded. It took only ten minutes to get over to the radar return, which turned out to be...."What the...." Keffer whispered into his comm system. Floating just outside his window was a space-suited, humanoid body. The body's suit was yellowish, and looked faintly torn and pulled apart. But it still bulged as if there was an atmosphere in it. "I'm going to catch in with the grapnel," Keffer said, moving close to it. Deploying the grapnel, Keffer carefully snagged the floating body. He popped open the cockpit and floated over to the body. The suit wasn't standard, it didn't have the required data readout on the chest for easy examination, but there was an arm indicator, and it showed that whomever this was, he had only thirty minutes of air left. "Shit!" he hissed carefully. After getting the man strapped into the cockpit and himself in the seat, Keffer ordered the squadron, "I want everyone to go back to B5, I've got a live one here with 30 minutes of air left. I'll be back with you. B5, this is Delta Squadron." "Delta Squadron, this is Babylon 5. What is your report?" Ivonova asked. "Tell Dr. Franklin to be ready to meet us when we get back, I've got a live one here, looks humanoid. Can't tell what species, tho. His spacesuit is non-standard, can't see any debris, or anything else. He's armed as well, with some kind of side arm. I'll be back in twenty-five minutes, I need first priority docking status." Keffer replied. "Understood, Delta Squadron. Dr. Franklin will be there as soon as you arrive." Axics, Command and Control Center Fortuntly, the passageway Bright used to enter C&C had a bathroom nearby, with a pressurized water system that still worked. After changing out of his Normal Suit, he managed to wash his face and put on his uniform. Refreshed, Bright entered the C&C, where the three other ship captains waited. Two were Federal Forces, one he knew was a Lond Bell captain, Captain Benjamin Wright. The other one was a regular Federal Forces officer, Captain Douglas. The last one was a Neo- Zeon captain, whom Bright almost thought he knew.... "Allen?" Bright asked. "Damn your black soul, it had to be you, Bright!" Mark Allen and Bright Noah both served aboard the *White Base* during the One Year War, but while Bright stayed in the military, Mark left for a civilian carrier. "What's going on?" "I have a report for all of you. For some reason, we have been teleported about twenty light years from Earth. Our navigator here has evidence to prove to you that we are where we are. Since we don't know how we got here, I don't know how we'll get back. So, until then, we'll have to consider the worse case possibility, that we're stuck here. Sakomara," Bright was referring to the new Chief Mobile Suit Technician, Eiliha Sakomara, who had a datapad held firmly in her right hand, "What do you have to report?" "I can get Axics repressurized. As well, I can get some gravity, the secondary gravity ring is operational. Power is fine, I can bring two of the nuclear pulse engines up right now, the other four within a week. The hydroponic tanks are operational, so are the meat farms. If I cannibalize the damaged MS and use spare parts from here and the other ships, I can have up to forty MS operational. Biggest problem is fuel, we've got full tanks on all the ships and half of Axics' tanks are full, but if we run out of Helium-3, we'll have to improvise scoopers and refinery gear. I assume you want me to keep the Jegans and strip the GM-IIIs whenever possible?" Sakoamra replied. "Of course. What about the four Jaga Dogas?" Bright answered. "I can have three of them operational. The fourth is a total writeoff, the frame's fractured. I can strip the frame for hardware, but any decent level of thrust will shatter the structure. All the ships are operational, as far as I can tell, mostly maintance and a little paint, that's all they need. Anything else?" Sakomara asked, trying to indicate that she had work to do. "Get to work, I want a report by the end of the hour." As Sakomara left, Bright looked at the captains, "I'd like to know a lot more about the local system. Anybody want to go for deep- space exploration duty?" "I'll go," Allen replied. "Also, not many people know this, but Neo-Zeon ships have atmospheric scoops and helium refinery equipment. It's not much, but I can extend the ship's range by at least twice as much. The other ships....call it a crap shoot, but it's something." "Good. If you encounter anything out of the ordinary, I want you and your ship to get as far away as possible, don't be a hero. I'll assign Wright as your cover ship. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that having two ships means that if one gets nailed, one can get back with the info. Split as many of the operational MS between the two ships as possible, and I want you two to work together. Talk about what you two plan and tell me what you intend to do. Dismissed." As Allen and Wright floated away together, discussing their plans, Bright looked over the Axics C&C. It was rather spacious, it would make a wonderful command center once the repairs were finished. MedLab, Babylon 5 Dr. Franklin was examining his new patient, an apparent human male, 33 years old(from genetic tests), with blonde hair and green eyes. After Delta Squadron had gotten back, they had brought the man down to MedLab, pulled off his spacesuit and performed a full examination. Other than the fact that he was in a coma, the John Doe that Franklin had was in perfect shape. "Who's our mystery guest?" Franklin heard over his shoulder, unmistakable the sarcastic chief of security, Garibaldi. "That's the thousand credit question," Franklin replied calmly, "When they pulled him out of his suit, there was no ID or any identifying marks. Did you get anything from his fingerprints or DNA?" "Nothing on record, but that just means he might not have been here and/or he wasn't either accused or a victim of a crime. My staff is looking at records from Earth, Mars, and a few other colonies, that'll take a while. Any change in his status?" "None. I'm not sure if this coma is either physiological or psychological, and that's a problem. I want to ask Talia to come down and do a surface scan, just in case that stimulates him. Anything else?" Franklin replied. This was a mystery, and when it wasn't involving life and death, Franklin loved mysteries. "Yea, we examined that space suit of his. All the manufacturing marks aren't on record, but they're in English. The outer shell is very flexible but very strong, EarthGov would love to copy the formula for other space suits. Did you know how much air those space suit bottles could have carried?" Garibaldi replied. "How much? Those were small air bottles," Franklin noted. "About ten hours. Those little things could hold a lot of air, assuming you were willing to pressurize them up to ten thousand atmospheres. They were built really strong, I'm impressed." Garibaldi remarked, in frank admiration. "So, when are you going to call Talia?" "In a little while. I heard she's got some work she needs to get done, some client who wants her there during a negotiation. Meanwhile, I'll keep an eye on him. If you get anything, contact me as soon as possible." Franklin noted. "No problem. But don't expect anything too soon." Around Axics, Near the Federation Ship *Nebraska* and the Neo-Zeon Ship *Tomahawk*. Hathaway Noah was busy repainting the Jaga Doga he was going to use. After getting a severe butt-chewing by his father, Hathaway asked if he could help. Bright realized that Hathaway was a decent pilot, and since they would need all the pilots they could get for a while, Hathaway got one of the two Jaga Dogas that would be going out with the Exploration Fleet. Hathaway like the Jaga Doga, but he hated the color of the machine he was going to pilot, dark blue and grey. So he repainted it in a light beige and silver color, colors he liked a lot more. "Hey, why the color change?" someone yelled behind him. As Hathaway turned, he only recognized that whomever it was, he wore a Neo-Zeon Pilot's Suit. Like most of the Federation personnel, Hathaway found it hard to accept the Neo-Zeons as partners. But Commander Bright Noah's orders were clear-The Neo- Zeons were to be treated as equals, not as war criminals or any other kind of monster. And anybody who had a problem with that, as Bright said, "Could walk out the nearest airlock. Just be sure to leave your suit here, so we'll save a valuable Normal Suit." "I just hated the colors. Look, I'm the pilot for this thing, I might as well like the machine I'm flying. So, who are you?" Hathaway asked. "Lieutenant Frozen North," the male pilot responded, the light glinting off his faceplate, but not enough to hide the wide, toothy grin or the blonde hair. "I'm piloting the other Jaga Doga, the one with the even more stupid-looking red paint job. But I can't repaint it since that's against the rules. So, you're going to be aboard the *Tomahawk*, lucky you, I'm going with the *Nebraska*." "Hey, the people on the *Nebraska* aren't that bad, even if they're Lond Bell personnel. But I'm not too sure about the *Tomahawk*...." Hathaway replied. "Hey, look, you're a good kid. If you do your job, odds are, the worse they'll do is harass you a little with a few pranks. Other than that...." Frozen was about to finish, but the radio crackled, then said, "All personnel assigned to the Expeditionary Fleet report to your ships. All ships will be departing within the hour." "That's my call," Frozen said, and he moved over to the red Jaga Doga, climbed into the cockpit, and flew it over to the *Nebraska*. Hathaway climbed into his Jaga Doga, in the new paint job, and flew to the *Tomahawk*. Soon afterwards, both ships accelerated away to a destination unknown. Ready Room, Babylon 5 Captain John Sheridan, Commanding Officer of Babylon 5, was *not* in a good mood. If you asked him, baldly, what was wrong, his litany of complaints would have been as long as your arm. Not only was he a "fish out of water", a line officer assigned to run what was, in essence, a diplomatic mission; but he also had to deal with a major war, officers under him he feared he couldn't trust, two separate conspiracies, the fact that out there an ancient evil was awakening and was wrecking havoc, his wife which he mourned as long dead might still be alive, the possibility that he was falling in love with the Minbari ambassador, a Vorlon who just might not be a Vorlon, and a government that he couldn't trust. Also, he had a nasty cramp in his back that just didn't want to go away. He decided that was from carrying the universe on his shoulders. Right just now, he felt that someone had added a lot more weight. Not that Ivonova and Garibaldi planned to make his back cramp worse, but it was. "I'm telling you, sir, that man doesn't exist. No birth records, no records for him joining any sort of organization. His DNA and fingerprints don't exist in any sort of records, military or civilian. I even ran him through PsiCorp databases-don't ask how, you don't want to know- and he isn't there, either. But he's human, Franklin says that if he isn't, he'll eat his scanner," Garibaldi told him. "And that spacesuit he wore doesn't fit any sort of standard suit format. It's not intended for extended-space operations, but it has external connections to it, like it was designed to hook into some kind of ship's life support system. And the sidearm isn't normal." Ivonova continued. "What kind of weapon was it?" Sheridan asked. "Pretty good gun, 10mm caseless semi-automatic with a laser sight, he must have fired three shots from it. The odd thing is, that the last projectile weapon ever made by any Earth manufacturer was over a hundred years ago, and I'd make that thing's age at maybe three years. He also had three cards in them, some kind of holographic bubble memory system, the people down in Engineering are trying to make them work." Garibaldi replied. "Ok then. What does Franklin want to do about our John Doe?" Sheridan asked. "And what about that mysterious jump point out there?" "Dr. Franklin wants to have Talia scan him, in hopes of bringing him back to consciousness, or at least find more about him. I've sent Delta Squadron out to investigate where the jump point, to see what's out there. And I checked to see what ships were in the area just in case we get in trouble. Two light cruisers and one battleship are two day's travel from here." Ivonova replied. "All right then, tell me when Delta Squadron finds out anything, as well, if our John Doe has any change in status. Until then, I have a council meeting to attend, and I've got to go. Good luck and good day," Sheridan completed the meeting, standing up from the table and walking out to change for the Council meeting. Between Axics and Babylon 5, Aboard *Tomahawk* Frozen was right, Hathaway noted, as he sat in the Jaga Doga cockpit. So long as you got your job done, nobody bothered you. Of course, two days of standing eight-and-eight watches in a mobile suit cockpit didn't leave any time for any sort of indoctrination. However, it did leave time for the sort of fiddling around one does in a Mobile Suit cockpit when they have plenty of time to play with. Already, Hathaway got the Jaga Doga's psychommu system tuned to his thought patterns, flown a few combat simulations(noting, with some pleasure, that the "hostile" were Jegans and GMIIIs, and the "friendly" were Geara Dogas and Jaga Dogas), and generally just tried to keep the boredom for killing him. And now....they had found an asteroid. For the interests of finding out about the asteroid and to prevent an ambush, two MS would be sent out to explore it. Hathaway was going to be one of these MS. "Lt. Noah! You are clear for catapult number one!", the launch announcer said. "Right!" You had to have the right sort of 'spirit' when you said these things, else your pay could be docked. Hathaway didn't need that sort of prompting, he was pleased to a pilot in the first place. "Lt. Noah in Jaga Doga at catapult one, ready for launch!" "Clear for launch!" As Hathaway watched, they deployed the "crow's nest" at the end of the catapult, and he watched as the flight director climbed in. The set of launch lights on his left side flared to life-*Tomahawk* was only launching one MS, *Nebraska* was launching the other, a Jegan-and the flight director started the countdown, "Four....three....two....one....LAUNCH!" as the catapult under Hathaway's feet kicked like a stuck mule and threw his MS into space. Powering up the Jaga Doga's engines, he cut part of his velocity, allowing the Jegan to catch up. Actually, the Jegan was, in a flat-out run, faster than the Jaga Doga, but Hathaway had the advantages of better maneuverability, better armor, a wider selection of weapons, and, of course, the remote weapons that were attached to the shoulder binders. "Jaga Doga, this is Lt. Roll, coming high and on your five," the laconic voice of the Jegan pilot came through too loud and clear in his helmet's earphones. "Got you," Hathaway replied, as part of his linear seat's cockpit screen aligned itself on the Jegan. "Well, Lt. Roll, what's the plan?" "I dunno, you've got the bigger guns," Roll replied, "But I like coming around the long ways, you going to one side, me to the other. What do you think?" "I like it as well. I'll take left, you take right. When I say go, let's do a full scramble. Ready...." Hathaway ordered. "Ready when you are, sir." Roll responded. "GO!" As he said that, Hathaway hit the thrusters to full, and flew at full speed to the left side of the asteroid. Between Axics and Babylon 5, Delta Squadron *No rest for the wicked,* Lt. Keffer noted to himself. Of course, he and the other five members of Delta Squadron was going to be sent out to make sure that wherever the John Doe that was doing the vegetable thing came from, to see if anything else was left of *what* he came from. That meant they were going to take a long, long trip out into the deep part of the Epsilon Eridani system. Flying outward, they happened to encounter a small asteroid pocket, maybe a dozen or so asteroids. Rather than bypass it, Keffer ordered the pocket scanned, just to make sure that no wreckage was floating around in there. The scan negative, Keffer flew outward, bored, thinking about what he was going to have for dinner that night. What mistakes he made were understandable. Between Lt. Noah's Jaga Doga and Lt. Keffer's StarFury "Coming around, now!" Hathaway whispered, popping around the large asteroid. Just as he cleared the asteroid, the alarms went off as the mobile suit's sensors picked up...something. "Lt. Roll, do you have something." "That's a positive. Want to investigate?" Roll replied. "Yes, but we bug out if fired upon, we don't go into battle, understand?" Hathaway noted. "Gotcha," Roll responded. "Warning. Two unidentified objects, bearing two-seven- three by three-two-eight, unknown design, range sixty," the computer silently noted, in a low whisper. This was just enough to attract Keffer's attention, as he spoke to the rest of the squadron, "Did everybody else get that?" "Yes, sir," Delta 4, his current wingman responded, "Do you want to investigate?" "Of course. Keep a staggered formation, fire only if you're fired upon, don't do anything stupid. Let's go," as Keffer fired the thrusters to spin the fighter around and send it back to the two unknowns. Almost as an afterthought, Keffer switched on the combat recorder. "Huh?" Hathaway asked to nobody in particular. These weren't mobile suits, they were some kind of space fighter. What were these things? Two wings with a crossed-X style of mounting, flat grey all over except on top, where somebody had painted a very well-done piece of art, different for each kind of ship. "Do you see this?" he asked Roll. "Yup, but I don't believe it. Who build's space fighters these days? A MS would cut them up!" Roll replied, confused. "Getting it on combat recorder?" Hathaway asked. "Of course," Roll noted. "I'll do thirty more minutes of scanning, then we'll pull out. Let's try to keep the range open, but don't to anything that'll provoke them," Hathaway noted. "Ok." Then an idea popped in Roll's head, "What's going to provoke them?" "Dunno. Let's keep out distance." "What in the hell are those things?" Delta 3 asked. What sort of fighter was this? Two arms, two legs, weird weapons, and what was this, a shield? "What sort of fighter are these?" "Don't know. Computer doesn't want to spit out anything on them." Keffer replied. "But I don't like it. Let's keep out distance, arm weapons, *but don't target them*. I don't want to start a shooting war, and I don't want to cause any problems to be solved diplomatically." "That's it." Hathaway's combat recorder chimed a full queue, it was archiving and downloading all the data to permanent storage. "Let's pull back, and get back to the ships. I'll cover you, fall back to the asteroid, then back to the ship." "Right." As Roll's Jegan turned around and thrusters flared, driving the Jegan back to the carriers. Hathaway's Jaga Doga pivoted faintly, bringing the beam rifle to bear at the six fighters, just allowing the rifle to point in a general direction. "I see something. One of them's turning, I can see engine flare, one of them's moving away. The other one looks like it's covering it. The rifle it's carrying is pointing at us!" Delta 4 blared. "Can it! He isn't aiming at us! He's just covering his retreating partner. I can see him too, he's thrustering away, backwards, and here's the turn...." Keffer watched as the beige- and-silver color machine thrustered, and turned around to fly away. "That's it folks. We'll go back to B5 and let them deal with it, we've done our job. Come on." Keffer triggered his engines and Delta Squadron flew back to Babylon 5. Medlab, Babylon 5 "You know, this is strictly a volunteer operation. PsiCorp regs are faintly fuzzy in this area, you can decide to give this up and I'll try to help him some other way," Franklin noted. "I understand. In fact, a lot of medical research with telepathic assistance has aided in many endeavors, including assisting with coma victims. It'll take a deep scan, but since this is in a medical situation, with a dangerous threat to the life of the patient, I can do it. But can I check the paperwork, I don't want a lawsuit on me," Talia Winters replied. "Here it is," Franklin handed her three transparencies, which she reviewed carefully. "All satisfactory?" "Of course," Winters replied. "You'll be recording?" "Yes," Franklin tapped the nearby console, "Time/date stamp, link audio/video log to medical log, starting now." The terminal beeped, "Go right ahead," he pointed at the patient. Talia slipped off the glove on her right hand. She carefully placed it on his chest and ran it up to his head. As she ran it up there, she could hear his thoughts.... *How much cosmic pain must I stand,* he thought *To avenge my father, to bring about the Elasium he believed in, to stop the power-hungry, to avenge so many dead to that goal. How many deaths have I caused to bring Zeon's dream to the colonies? How many hearts have I broken to break the Federation's hold? Quess, Nanai, and Lala..... who's the criminal here, me, Amuro, or you, Lala? Was I wrong for loving you, Amuro wrong for being a Federation soldier, you being wrong by being an innocent girl who I tried to forge into my weapon? Do I have any more right to change the universe than Amuro to save it? But I have to go on....I have to bring my father's Elasium, else I commit a crime against the souls I kill....* Before Talia realize it, the man's right hand was wrapped around hers, firmly but gently. As he looked at her, she couldn't help looking at him. The man smiled and said, "Hello, am I in heaven? Else, why do I see such beauty before me?" Franklin noted his patient's action, and asked, "Sir, are you all right?" The man loosened his grip, and looked at him, "I'm fine, now. Where am I?" "Do you remember your name, sir?" Franklin was trying to press him for information. "Yes, I do. My name is Char Anzable. Now, where am I?" the man replied, now named. "Sir, you are on the Earth Alliance space station *Babylon 5*. Anything else?" Franklin was trying to let what he could get from him go as far as possible. "I've never heard of it. What year is it?" Char asked. "Just a second," Franklin delayed for time, as he casually pulled Talia away from him and into a corner. "What about him?" he whispered into her ear. "Funny man, very dediated. I've scanned fanatics before, and he's one, but he's not an angry fanatic. Also, one other thing, he's a telepath. I can't give you a ranking, but he is high. Very high," Talia replied, "just be careful around him." "Thanks." Franklin shut off his terminal, told one of his nurses to make sure that this Char was fed and clothed, and he tapped his link, "Garibaldi, this is Franklin. I've got a name on your John Doe." "Garibaldi here. What's the name?" the tinny voice came through the link. "His name is Char Anzable. C-H-A-R A-N-Z-A-B-L-E. Can you do anything with that?" Franklin replied. "Just a second...." Garibaldi replied, then said, much more grim than usual, "Could you come up to the ready room as soon as possible?" "Right," Franklin noted, and tapped the link off. "Talia, if you want to go, I'm done with you for now. Thanks." Talia shivered, then motioned him off to the corner, "I have just one suggestion for you, Doctor. Keep away any women who might have access to anything. He's good, a very smooth operator, and if I didn't know better, he'd have seduced me." Sick Bay, Axics The doctor was reviewing the sixth set of EEGs that he took on Amuro, looking over them with facial expressions that were a mixture of boredom and confusion. While he was reading, half the medical monitors that had been keeping an eye on Amuro suddenly burst to life with alarms. The doctor pivoted suddenly, to see Amuro sitting up, tearing off the leg straps and various leads for telemetry monitoring. "Sir, Captain Rey, are you all right?" the doctor asked. "He's here," Amuro replied. "Who's here, sir?" the doctor asked. "Char," Amuro responded, tearing off the straps and bindings that held him down, "he's out there, and I have to stop him, now." Ready Room, Babylon 5 When Franklin came into the room, he instantly knew that things were bad all over. Sheridan looked more harried than usual, Ivonova's taunt expression was now drum-tight, and Garibaldi's air of casual indifference was thick enough to cut with a fingernail. As well, he saw two pilots from Delta Squadron, Lt. Warren Keffer and some new lady, both looking rather grim. "What happened?" Franklin asked, trying to lighten the mood, "Someone die?" Sheridan didn't even say a word. He merely tapped a control on his desk, and the monitor flared, with the face of the now-named Char Anzable rotating beside various information that they seemed to have. "I want you to be sure, this is the man who you have down there?" "Yes," Franklin replied, confused. "Did you finally ID him?" "That name of his, Char Anzable, is merely an alias. His real name is Casper Dum Dalkin. He has more alias than you have needles, beside Char Anzable, he's used 'Quattro Bahran', 'Nick Hyvera', and half a dozen others," Garibaldi replied. "And do you want to hear the interesting thing?" "What is the 'interesting thing'?" the now-baffled Franklin asked. "That man never existed. At least in our universe as a flesh and blood being. He did exist, but only in the imagination and the animation of the late twentieth century. That man is a completely fictional character," Garibaldi replied. "So what?" Ivonova asked, playing devil's advocate, "Cosmetic surgery is cheap, hell, most procedures are out-patient. What's that got to do with this meeting?" "Delta Wing discovered something when they went out to investigate that Jump Point of yours," Sheridan replied, tapping another control, displaying an image of the Jaga Doga, "That is a Jaga Doga. The gag is that the man you have is the supreme commander of the military forces that control those machines, a military force called Neo-Zeon." "What is it?" Ivonova asked. She was interested on the machine, a odd but unusually effective fighter design. "That is a Mobile Suit. The universe where this Char came from and this came from are the same. They are from animated series that was made in Japan in the late twentieth century, called Mobile Suit Gundam. The history is very convoluted, but we do know something," Sheridan replied. "What's that?" Franklin asked. "That we've interrupted something. The original plot of the movie our Char Anzable was set in-" Sheridan started. "Wait a minute, Captain, I thought you said it was a series?" Keffer asked. "It was. Eight television series, five theatrical-length movies, and ten of the," Sheridan flipped through the flimsies, "OVA series, what ever that is. That series had more successors than Star Trek did in the United States. "Now, I'll continue. The movie he was set in had him and his arch-rival, a kid by the name of Amuro Rey, in a final battle as a gigantic asteroid colony called Axics fell onto Earth. Char's forces had deorbited it to cause a nuclear winter and force the speed-up of immigration to the colonies. I'll answer questions later," Sheridan held up his hands for silence, "And we should have copies of an annotate history of the series up to this movie done by the time this briefing is finished. "The plot was that Amuro won, Char ejected, and Amuro used his Mobile Suit, a machine called the Nu-Gundam, to catch Char's ejection pod. The forces on Amuro's side, called Lond Bell, tried to break up the asteroid before it hit by detonating nuclear weapons in it, but it broke up into two fragments. One was going out into space, the other would fall onto Earth. Amuro went into a rage, slamming Char's escape pod, which couldn't reenter, into the falling fragment and tried to use the Nu-Gundam's engines to push the asteroid back into orbit. "While he was doing this, Lond Bell received reinforcements in the form of more mobile suits. As they saw Amuro try to push the fragment up into orbit, Lond Bell and even some Neo-Zeon forces flew over and tried to help. Then a miracle occurred. They have psis, but they are of a much more rogue and wilder talent called 'Newtypes', and they developed technologies to augment it. The Nu-Gundam had a system called a psychoframe, which was an incredible augmentation system for this 'Newtype' power. With it, Amuro and his Mobile Suit, combined with the wishes and dreams of the people around him to save the Earth, created enough force to push the fragment out into orbit," Sheridan concluded. "What ever happened to this Amuro guy and Char?" Keffer asked. "No-one knows, and the movie was vague in it's ending. According to the official history of the series, the creator, Yoshiyuki Tomino, planned to keep the characters around for a sequel, but one of the voice-actor died in a automobile accident before the series was started. Two other, semi-official histories, have two other theories. One had the idea that the two characters had a spiritual awakening and became a 'superior' form of life. The other was that somehow they survived and decided to retire, ending their part of the series. That's the mystery, and why is he here?" Sheridan replied. "Maybe the Jump point had something to do with it?" Ivonova asked. "What do you mean?" Garibaldi responded, curious. "About yesterday, we detected a unusual jump point on the other side fo the star. That's why Keffer was out there, to see what was going on, but they met someone half-way each time. If what you say is true, and this 'Newtype' power is erratic and was being augmented, maybe a Jumpgate was formed, which brought them through. Hey, it's an idea," Ivonova replied. "Come on, Commander," Keffer noted, "I find that hard to believe, that a fictional character was brought through a Jupgate to B5." "Fictional in our universe, Lt. Keffer, but maybe not fictional in their universe. And we won't know what happened until we can investigate more," Sheridan replied. "Until then, I want this kept quiet. Ivonova, can you reroute traffic to avoid that area?" "No problem, sir," Ivonova replied. "It's not going to be that hard, not too many people go around in that area." "Good. Garibaldi, I want you to assign two security guards to our guest in Med-lab. If anyone asks, you're protecting an informant who got hurt performing an investigation for you. Doctor Franklin, how long does he need to stay in Med-lab?" "He can leave now, if he wants to. I still want to run a few tests, to see what this 'Newtype' power is, but he can leave right now," Franklin noted. "All right then. Garibaldi, I want you to use the spare security quarters in Blue 6, assign two guards and don't let any calls in or out of there. But keep it quiet and if he asks, just tell him that we have reasons to worry about his safety," Sheridan ordered. "I'll do that," Garibaldi replied, tapping his link and ordering his officers into position. "And if any of the Ambassadors ask about our guest?" Ivonova asked. "I want you to tell them that we don't know anything. At least for now, the man named Char Anzable has never existed on this station ever. Keffer, you and your wingman are now our analysis group. I want you to review the records of both your fight and the movies to perform a defense analysis. Ivonova, when you get off- duty, you are to help them. I want answers in twenty-four hours, and I want them soon. Pick up your flimsies at the main terminal and you are dismissed," Sheridan finished, as they all stood up and left. Sheridan was the last out. As he walked around the corner, waiting in the hallway was Ambassador Kosh, looking at him. "Hello, Ambassador Kosh. Is there anything I can do for you?" In the lights and music that were translated into his raspy voice, Kosh replied, "You are confronting what doesn't exist." "What do you mean?" Sheridan replied. "You have a traveller." "I'm not so sure what you're getting at, Ambassador Kosh." "You have two travellers, one of rage, one of anger. Both are here, you have one. And before this ends, all will fall," Kosh continued. "What do you mean, 'all will fall'?" A sudden thought tore at Sheridan's mind, "Did we fail to keep the secret? Did the Shadows learn that we know they are coming? Does this mean that the Shadows are coming now, ahead of time?" "The darkness you will fight is much more insidious. It beats in everyone's heart. Yours as well as mine, Captain John Sheridan. The darkness of old loves, lost chances, unrecieved forgiveness, and unadulterated hatred and passions. You must be ready," Kosh started to turn away. "Ready, ready for what?" Sheridan asked, almost yelling. Kosh stopped, turned around, and leveled his cobra-like head at Sheridan, looking at him coldly. Captain John Sheridan had been scared before. He had faced Minbari attacks that outnumbered his forces thirty to one. He had fought aliens who were using him as an experimental subject. He faced enemies both domestic and foreign. He heard about the disappearance of his wife and for months was afraid that she was dead. But nothing scared him more, nothing touched his heart with a sword of ice and filled him with such fear and terror, than the four words Kosh replied to him with: "To become the Hand." From jon.souza@creature.comSat Nov 25 22:06:20 1995 Date: Sat, 25 Nov 1995 06:08:36 GMT From: Jon Souza Reply to: b5-creative@blob.best.net To: b5-creative@blob.best.net Subject: Correspondence With The Past-Episode 2 FINALLY! I've completed the second episode of my CORRESPONCENCE WITH THE PAST series, and it's a big one! Special thanks goes to Mark Simmons for his CCA stats, the members of the now-defunct Gundam Mailing List, and everyone on B5-Creative for reading my stuff. As always, you can send comments, complaints, suggestions, and flames to my E-mail address- Jon.Souza@Creature.Com My next two stories, DRAGONS OF THE TEAR and BREAKING THE CONSENSUS, are coming out soon, and they'll be out soon for everyone to read and enjoy. Have fun! From Macross 7, Jon Souza Jon.Souza@Creature.Com _Correspondence With The Past_ _Episode 2_ _The Storm That Runs Through_ _By Jon Souza_ [Babylon 5] [Zocallo] Michael Garibaldi was looking over his glass of water, wishing, almost idly, that it was a full shot of whiskey. *If there was any time*, Garibaldi thought, *I needed a drink, it's now.* Their mysterious guest, transferred to the high-security room that Sheridan insisted that he be placed in, was sitting there comfortably, almost like he knew he was going to get out. Almost like.... Morden. The more he thought about it, the more he could easily think that the two were related somehow. Of course, the two were extremely different. Char had a easy smile, a thick mop of blond hair, was strong and tall. Morden, on the other hand, was short and eerie, with black hair and almost looked like a troll. But both seemed to know a lot more than what they were telling. And they both knew that their current term of imprisonment was only temporary. "Mister Garibaldi," a all-too-familiar voice behind him yelled, "How are you this fine evening?" "Hello," Garibaldi replied to the Centauri Ambassador, Londo Molari, "Remember when you offered to buy me a drink?" "Of course," the Centauri replied, then looked at him in the nearest expression of shock that was possible for his people, "You haven't given up on your oath of sobriety, have you?" Ignoring him, Garibaldi motioned to the barkeep, a female human, and said, "I want the strongest water you've got back there, and charge it to his bill," as he pointed to Londo. After Garibaldi got his water and Londo got his drink, a pink fuzzy thing, Londo asked, "What has you so depressed, Mister Garibaldi? Our people are winning the war, so you don't have any Narn problems. Downbelow is quiet, there hasn't been a Raider attack in months, and the last murder on this station was three weeks ago. So what's wrong?" "Londo, if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. That was assuming that I could tell you, because the Captain has ordered me to tell no-one what's going on. Hell, *I* don't believe it and I'm involved in it!" Garibaldi lamented. "So, what's so bad that Captain Sheridan has ordered you not to tell anyone anything? You can tell me, no?" Londo replied humorously. "He threatened to space me if I told anyone," Garibaldi replied, ending the discussion. A few seconds of silence, then Londo asked, "Well, when you are allowed to speak, can you tell me what is going on then?" "Absolutely. Just don't hold your breath on it," Garibaldi replied. A few seconds later, Garibaldi's link beeped. "Yea, what is it?" Garibaldi spoke into the link. "Sir, the Narn ambassador wants to speak to you at your office. He just said that it was important," the duty officer replied. "I'll be right down," Garibaldi tapped his link again, and downed the last gulp of water, "Duty calls." "Absolutely, Mister Garibaldi. Just don't get lost on your way," Londo joked, as he left. Just after Garibaldi took a lift ride to his office, Morden walked over and sat down beside Londo. "How is the war, Ambassador Molari?" Londo looked at him in shock and amazement, "Don't you ever do that again. You told me that if you were coming you would contact me before you came on station, after what happened the last time you were here. Why didn't you?" "My most sincerest apologizes, Ambassador Molari. My....associates want you to do something for them," Morden replied, almost casually. "Extremely minor, not even worth mentioning. Just something that has to be done, you know, busy work." "Yes, yes, what is it?" Londo asked. "In the high-security area of the EarthGov section, there is someone being held. Someone unique, very unusual. When he escapes, do whatever you can to aid him to escape, without any evidence of your involvement, of course," Morden replied. "And who is the 'unique' person you want me to help?" Londo asked. "Be assure, you will know him when you meet him. Oh, by the way," Morden took a data crystal from his pocket and handed it to Londo, "here is this week's IFF codes for the Narn 3rd Fleet, as you asked. Be seeing you, Ambassador." Londo couldn't help but shudder when Morden walked away. What he gave was special, to be sure, but what of the cost? [Space around Axics] [Fleet Moorage, First Fleet] There were six ships found finally. Three were Federal Forces, two Lond Bell heavy cruisers and one Federal Forces heavy cruiser. The last three were Neo-Zeon, two heavy cruisers and one light cruiser. Almost jokingly, they called themselves the First Fleet. They had over one hundred MS, including ten Newtype-capable MS, all of them Jaga Dogas. Examination of Axics had shown, so far, no stored Mobile Armors. So far, Axics was coming back to life, everyone stopped living off spacesuit air and emergency rations. Almost 58% was pressurized and the food was fresh, hydroponic tanks and meat farms working to feed the six thousand members of the fleet. Currently, all the captains were ending a conference, still on their bridges and listening to Bright Noah's commentary. "We don't know why there are spacefighters out there. However, they have very efficient fusion motors, all without the use of Minovski shielding system. That means more advanced technology." "Aliens?" the captain of the second Lond Bell cruiser *Agama II*, Jim McBean, asked. "Possible. And, if those are aliens, we might be able to talk to them. I want to send out a second expedition. Captain Wright, how soon can you, *Agama II*, and *Rheingold*," the third ship was a heavy Neo-Zeon cruiser, "raise anchor to check out the star system." "Two hours, sir. All we need to do is get fueled up and go. I'd like to transfer over some more Newtype MS, perhaps six. They may be a nasty surprise for anyone hostile." "Agreed. Transfer the Jaga Dogas and leave in two hours. All other ships will start a two-layer patrol belt to defend Axics. We all start in two hours, so get organized. Dismissed," Bright ended, as all of the monitors shut down and everyone got back to work. Two hours later, three ships, forming a triangular formation, flew away from Axics. They moved quickly into deep space, deep into the system. [Babylon 5-Main Security Office] Even before Garibaldi got into his office, G'Kar, the Narn ambassador(and the unofficial organizer of the soon-to-be Government in Exile), was sitting in a chair, just on the other side of the desk. "Ah, so you've finally made it here," G'Kar noted, sitting up and offering his hand to Garibaldi. "What's up, G'Kar? Why is it so urgent that you see me?" Garibaldi replied. "I'm really busy, and I need to meet a Earth Alliance ship at the end of the hour." G'Kar reached for a satchel beside his chair. From it, he pulled out a massive tome, with a number of bookmarks in it. The cover, written in both Narn and English, said *The Holy Gquan*. "I've heard that some unusual things have been happening in system. Nothing dangerous, I assume?" "I can't tell you, G'Kar. It's one of those nasty secrecy acts sort of things. What I can tell you is that whatever is going on is causing no problems, and that the staff is dealing with it." "Well, I always thought that the salvation of your soul needs some work," G'Kar replied, dripping sweetness. He changed over suddenly to a sharp-edged sarcasm, "Gquan has some things to say about unusual events. I've noted them for you already, and have a good day, mister Garibaldi," and, before Garibaldi could say a thing, G'Kar walked out into the hallway. Evidently, the conversation was at an end. [Between Axics and Babylon 5] [Aboard *Tomahawk*] Hathaway Noah, one of the two "qualified" Jaga Doga pilots, was assigned to the "Ready One" catapult position. At each of the two ship's catapults, one Mobile Suits with pilots in them were already loaded. The theory was that, if the ship was surprised, at least two MS could be launched in time to intercept an enemy. That meant, during his 8-hour shift, he would be loaded into the catapult and waiting for something to happen. That also meant that he could tap into the ship's sensor network. Right now, Hathaway had set his Linear Seat system to show the entire space that the ship could see. It was a quiet, lazy sort of time. "Tally ho!" The navigator replied, highlighting on his monitor a small squiggle on the board, "Unknown colony, sealed- cylinder type, about five kilometers long. Bearing 32 by 11, sir!" "That's goddamn small for a colony," Captain Wright replied. The average colony in orbit around Earth was nearly 30 km long. "I know, sir. But maybe it's the outer edge of a Side bunching. We'd miss a average sized colony, sir at this range. Shall we investigate?" "Absolutely," Captain Wright paused, then sent a general quarters alarm throughout the ship, "Attention all personnel. Man all battle stations, all mobile suits are to be loaded and mounted. We will be locked and ready for combat in ten minutes. All stations, prepare and report." "Tactical ready, sir," the main Tactical station was deeply buried in the ship's center. "All Mobile Suits loaded in launchers and ready, sir," the launch bay reported. "Weapons charged, sir. All beam cannons are charged and all missiles are hot," Weapons reported. "Engines are operating normally. You have full power at your discretion, sir," Engineering replied. "Damage control parties are on station. Air has been evacuated from all external sections," Damage Control hailed. "Medical teams are on stand-by. We're ready to go down here, sir," the Sickbay replied. "Hails coming from all ships. All ships report full tactical status, sir," Communications replied. "Understood," Captain Wright responded. Quickly, he switched over to a private circuit, "Lieutenant Noah?" "Yes, sir?" Hathaway replied. "I want you and the other Jaga Doga on point. As soon as you launch, I want you to stay near us. If necessary, go deep, but don't do anything provocative, understand?" "Yes, sir," Hathaway noted. "Good. I just hope that we won't have to fight our way out. Bridge out," and as Wright switched off, Hathaway switched to his monitor block and was on-line for his Mobile Suit's sensors. It was going to be a long day. [Babylon 5] [High Security Dock] For needs that were above normal, Dock 1 was used. A high security location, the entire room was coated in three inches of solid titanium, immune to everything except a direct nuclear blast. There were only three ways in or out of the dock, all three had a permanent staff of two security guards with rifles and body armor stationed there at all times. The entire room had multiple security monitors, triply redundant. All hatches had a double-key system, and only the security guards, Babylon 5's commanding officer, and Babylon 5's Chief Of Security had the keys necessary. Mostly, it was used once a month, when a heavy cruiser docked with Babylon 5. It carried this month's code set. "Back to the grind," Sheridan joked, trying to be casual. "Absolutely, sir." Garibaldi replied. Neither looked too happy. Sheridan didn't want to talk about what Kosh had said to him, and Garibaldi was still reading over the book G'Kar gave him. This job was routine, but very necessary indeed. One of the most important portions of security, at least by EarthForce theory, was communications security. As such, very few things were more tightly held than code sequences for the four layers of encryption. Green channel was used for routine, internal transmissions. Most internal communications, mostly hardware transfers and such, was done with Green channel. Silver Channel was tactical, inter-fleet communications. Whenever security was invoked inside Babylon 5, for example, Silver Channel was used. The two highest levels of security were Gold and Ultraviolet channels. That was the ship was bringing. In a security box, were twenty-five sets of data crystals in six pallets. In four of them were the Gold Channel codes. Each data crystal held ten sets of codes, each one of them a "one-time pad" code, to be used once and destroyed. When all ten code sets were used on a crystal, the crystals were dropped into one of the fusion reactors, destroying it utterly. The last two pallets were of the even-more secure Ultraviolet channel. When used, a Gold Channel code was set up. As well, one Ultraviolet crystal was activated. On each Ultraviolet crystal was a single Ultraviolet one-time pad, which was encrypted over the signal. When the Ultraviolet crystal was used, it would promptly be destroyed. EarthForce deemed communications security so important since it regarded the *breaking* of enemy communication security just as important. One of the few advantages of the Earth/Minbari war was the swift and soon breaking of all Minbari Warrior Caste codes. Though the Priest Caste and Grey Council codes were(and still are) unbreakable, EarthForce maintained a level of code breaking on all other races. Except for the Priest Caste/Grey Council codes for the Minbari and whatever the Vorlons used for codes(Ambassador Kosh never sent out any messages), Earth Intelligence had broken the ambassadorial and strategic codes for all other races. A number of times, Earth Alliance knew of what the Ambassadors on Babylon 5 were doing. But, to preserve the secret that Earth Alliance had broken the codes of other races, only when the information could be collaborated with other sources was the information revealed. What made it so easy was languages. Except for the Minbari(possibly the Vorlons) and Humanity, all other races had a single, unified language. Despite the claim of Centauri loyalists, Centaruiese had a single unified grammar and linguistic structure, as well as Narnian. All the other races had a single, common language, with a number of dialects, true, but all had a common language. Not the Minbari, where languages could range from the deep, harmonic tones of the Priest caste to the simple, easy-to- understand Battle Language of the various Warrior castes. Humanity had this language fragmentation in the extreme, with many places on Earth alone you could walk a week in and not hear a single word of English Standard. Like most military affairs, it was a ritual unto itself. A five-man team of security would follow just behind the ship's captain and a military(P10 or greater) telepath. Once they arrived, the ship's captain would pull out this week's recognition codes and read his half off. Sheridan and Garibaldi had memorized their codes, and the telepath would be checking to see if they were actually whom they said they were. Once that was done, they would all walk to "The Brick", a high-security enclosure inside Blue section. Normally used when security had to be extremely tight, there was another purpose for it as well. The four officers would remove the previous code box, and it would be examined for any sign of defects. If any were detected, a signal to Earth Alliance headquarters would be sent instantly, using a pre-set idea code. Once received, the series that was compromised would be destroyed immediately and a new series would be instated immediately, even if a fast FTL courier had to be dispatched. Once the previous two month's code box was destroyed in the reactor, all four would insert their keys in a "double blind" system to lock down the current code box. Forms would be signed, and that job was done promptly and quickly. Once done, the ship's captain and the military telepath would leave, and the heavy cruiser would leave as well. This time, the heavy cruiser was replaced with the Fleet Carrier(CV) *Pegasus*, a heavy cruiser itself with four squadrons of fighters, including one squadron of the feared "Black Omega" stealth Starfury fighter. What was a surprise was when the shuttle from the ship docked and the crew came from it. "Commander Simmons?" Sheridan said, slightly surprised. "It's actually Captain, John," Captain Mark Simmons replied, happily clasping hands with Sheridan. "Who's your friend here?" "Oh," Sheridan noted, "This is Chief of Security Michael Garibaldi. Garibaldi, this is my good friend, Comman....*Captain* Mark Simmons. We served together back when we were wet-behind-the- ears Second Lieutenants." "I hate to interrupt this reunion," a grim-looking woman behind them, in a black Psicorps Military uniform said, "But I would like to finish this as soon as possible. You two can always talk later." "Back to the grind again, eh John?" Mike replied. "Ok," he took out his code set from the satchel at his side, "Captain Sheridan, how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if he could chuck wood?" [Axics-Main Fragment] [Storage Bay 3] "I don't believe this," Bright Noah replied. "They had *another* one of those motherfuckers?" "I know," Amuro replied, floating beside him. "Kou told me all about the time he had to fight this thing. Of course, it was killed in the end, but at nearly a cost of three hundred GMs and three dozen ships. It's a very nasty machine." A small army of Lond Bell technicians had swarmed all over Axics once life support was reestablished. Fearful of booby traps, hopeful of hidden supplies and technology, they searched the station with a fine tooth comb. One of their searches resulted in finding this thing. Hanging from it's support frame, in the crinkly cellophane that once encased it, was a single Mobile Armor, painted dark green. Close to the hatch, painted in a lighter shade of green, was *AMA-X2 Neue Ziel*, the machine's designation. Neue Ziel. German for New Goal. A very appropriate name for the machine. Used only once, in the "Stardust Memory" operation that resulted in a colony crash in Kansas and the formation of the jack-booted thugs called the "Titans", it was a scary machine. Massing at full combat weight nearly four hundred and four tons, it was better armed than some modern ships. With a variety of beam cannons, beam guns, beam sabers, missiles, and the formidable I-field, which could deflect beam shots for fifteen minutes at a time, it was a name to be feared. A monster, it was a Mobile Armor, with no legs, the most rudimentary of arms, and a vague humanoid appearance. Developed nearly two decades ago, it was still a formidable machine. "They must have been using it as a testbed unit. It's got a quasi-psychommu system linked to the claw arms, as well as full Linear Seat system," Sakomaru yelled from the cockpit. "Do any of the Neo-Zeon forces know of this unit?" Bright yelled back. "No sir! I can trust my people and the Neo-Zeons were assigned to the smaller fragment." Sakomaru replied. "All right then. I'm going to have security assigned here, and the story is we found a number of nukes. As far as anyone knows, we're trying to disarm them, they were rigged as a booby trap. Sakomaru, how long before you get the Neue Ziel combat ready?" Bright yelled. "It's ready now! All we need is to fill the tanks and put a pilot, sir," Sakomaru replied. Bright looked at Amuro, "Any ideas?" Amuro looked curious for a second, then replied, "I think that Lieutenant Wong can handle the machine rather suitably." "Agreed," Bright replied. Yelling at Sakomaru, "When Lieutenant Gilbert Wong gets here, I want you to help tune him into the quasi-psychommu. Remember, keep this all very secret." "Right," Sakomaru replied. While she worked, the two officers left the storage bay. As Bright and Amuro floated away to C&C, Amuro said, "Now, all we need to do is find that bastard Char and kill him." "But not in the Nu-Gundam for a few weeks," Bright responded. The Nu-Gundam took a lot of internal damage from heat during the near-reentry into Earth's atmosphere, and repairs were slow at best. "What really worries me is that idea that there are aliens out there." "Agreed," Amuro replied. As both floated down the hall, Amuro asked, "And if they are out there?" Bright looked at him and said, "Then we'll have to play it by ear." [Babylon 5] ["The Brick"- High-Security Briefing Room] "And wouldn't you believe it, John here decides to try the *really* spicy food. The bastard was in sick-bay for a week, that stuff nearly burned off his tongue!" Simmons finished as the four walked into "The Brick". "I thought you would never tell that story, even after what you did on Minbar Prime, after the war," Sheridan replied, somewhat sarcastically. That got Garibaldi curious, but before they could do anything else, they had to activate the locks for the code box. Once that was done, Simmons took out of his pocket one of the mini- scramblers and tossed it on the table, "Now we can talk freely." "Did General Hague send you?" Sheridan asked. "He literally boarded us at Barnard's Star from a FTL courier. You've gotten someone odd here," Simmons replied. "Char," Garibaldi said. "Yes, him," the Psi said. "Sorry, but I'm Lieutenant Cima Ashari, P11 telepath for EarthForce PsiCorps. Don't worry, I'm with you. Just as is the rest of the Military branch of PsiCorps. We've been chafing as well under the tight restrictions of PsiCorps and the PsiCops." "Ok, what have you done with him?" Simmons asked. "He's in a high-security enclosure in Blue Section. We've got double security all over the section and only senior officers know of him. I'm keeping it away from the ambassadors, except for Kosh, whom seems to know everything. I've got a team working on threat analysis right now," Sheridan replied. "What do they have?" Simmons asked. "They're still working on it. They say it's going to be at least four hours before they're done." Sheridan noted. "What sort of support can we expect from you?" "According to Earth Alliance press releases, we're here on a 'tour of goodwill among the non-aligned worlds'. Actually, I'm here to pick up your guest and take him back to Luna in three weeks. Our friends have a base there, and we'll keep him very much under covers. Psych evaluation says that if he's allowed a chance, he'll try to cause trouble to further his aims," Simmons replied. "Now, THAT I can agree with," Garibaldi noted, leaning back. "So, do you want us to transfer him over now or do you want to wait?" "Personally, I'd like to keep him here up to the last minute. Cima here wants to interview him, and I'd like to be there with her. You know what sort of bastard he is." Simmons started to pull out his computer pad and started to tap on it. "Agreed. I want to be there, with Ivonova as well," Garibaldi replied. To Simmons' curious look, he replied, "Look, I'd feel better if we could keep four sets of eyes on him. I got that eerie feeling that he's a very good bastard." "No problem. How long before you want to see him?" Sheridan asked. "End of next watch," Simmons replied, looking at his watch. "I'll do some of my 'official duties', and get back to you in a hour. See you then." "Just don't get yourself killed," Sheridan said. It used to be a joke, but it was a lot more serious these days. "Hey, I got the best security possible, a telepath with telekinesis powers," Simmons replied, smiling. "See you in a hour." As Cima and Simmons walked out, Sheridan stopped Garibaldi and said, "Be careful, I just want you to be sure that Ivonova doesn't fall under this guy's spell." "Ivonova? You can't be serious?" Garibaldi replied. "She's not that bad." "Watch out, okay?" Sheridan asked. Garibaldi sighed, then replied, "OK, Captain. I think you're wrong, but OK." [Axics-Secondary Fragment] [Storage Bay 8] "You've got it secured?" the Neo-Zeon technician replied. "Yea, the supervisor is gone. Only people here are loyalists," the other man replied. Him and four other Neo-Zeon techs and officers were in a concealed storage bay. "I'm going to pop it open now," the only female replied. The massive hatch opened up. "How many are in there?" "Four. Looks like the pressure wrapping on the AA are intact. How long do you think you can have it ready?" the head tech noted. "All four? Call it two hours. The Alpha Azieru is two hours on it's own." "Good," rumors had carefully fluttered down through the ranks of Neo-Zeon soldiers and officers that the Fuhrer, Char Anzable, was still alive and well. He might need the small edge that he could be given, considering what was in there. In the concealed storage compartment was four Sabazi Heavy Mobile Suits and one of the formidable Alpha Azieru Mobile Armors. All were ready for battle, with only a small amount of priming to make them ready for operation. "Keep this quiet, and tell the pilots who you can trust. I don't want any of the Lond Bell bastards to know of these things until we're ready to move," the head technician replied. "Now close it up and let's make sure nobody else finds it." [Babylon 5] [Blue 3-Security Quarters] For lack of anything better, they got him a jumpsuit normally worn by technicians in the more dirty parts of Babylon 5. Besides being a light yellow, there were reflective patches on the shoulders and knees. Escaping in that would have been hard, and Char knew that. Besides, he was doing a lot of research, or at least what the terminal was going to give him access to. From what he saw, this world was much different than his own, but much the same. *So*, he thought rather grimly, *the Earthnoids still rule, no matter where or when.* The growth of telepaths, which sounded like Newtypes to him, was interesting all on it's own. They even took the best of them and required them to hunt down their own kind, like dogs on wolves. But he knew something, however hard he tried to deny or figure it out, that made him feel better. A number of his people were here, Neo-Zeon loyalists that would follow him to free the human race from the Earthnoids to create a Newtype revolution. After humanity, there were the aliens. That was the biggest shock for him, aliens. Of course, he did, like everyone who spent any amount of time in space, hear the stories of flying saucers and little, green bug-eyed monsters. But that there were aliens, of so many types, was what surprised him. And mankind's aims for war were just as bad among the aliens, especially the Minbari and the Centauri. And the Vorlons....he read merely two pages of information on them, so little was known, even despite the fact that an ambassador was on this station, the fifth of the Babylon series. Somewhere, deep in Char's heart, he knew that he was doing the right thing. So many races were suddenly developing telepathy and other psionic talents that they were all confused. But Char knew what was happening, and it was his father, Zeon Zum Dalkun, who told what these events were. It was a Newtype revolution, as mankind and other races were taking the next step of evolution. The stories of the telepath Ironheart, sparse as they were, were a sign of things to come.... So Char sat up, spending most of the night reading information on everything he could, examining every database on the station. At times, he smiled, at times he cried, but he never stopped. And he learned so much that was useful.... [Between Babylon 5 and Axics] [Lond Bell Heavy Cruiser *Tomahawk*] "Sir, we've done a full visual scan, and we can't find any other colonies," the Tactical officer noted. "What?" Wright replied. "There's only one colony here?" "Yes, sir. But we did find these," Tactical replied, throwing up an image of four long bar-like structures with flanges on them. "around the station." "I see. What do you think they are?" Wright asked. "Dunno, sir. Could be drydock frames, but they don't have the manipulator arms. I do have an idea, sir. But you aren't going to like it," the Tactical officer replied. "I'd like your best guess, Tactical," Wright noted, looking for an opinion. "They could be the method that colony got here. Some type of teleport unit or maybe a hyperspace gateway, sir. But if they have FTL drive technology, that might mean advanced weapons. Do you want to continue and approach?" "Absolutely. I don't know about you, but spending the rest of my natural life on Axics has very little appeal for me. If they have a Faster Than Light drive, maybe we can get home to Earth," Wright noted. "Close at the regular rate and keep an eye on your sensors." The three ships closed carefully, but forcefully. [Babylon 5] [Blue 3-Security Quarters] The four officers came in, and sat across from Char. One of the female officers was Psi-Corps, or at least the military branch of it, one was from security, and two were regular Earth Force officers. "Char Anzable, I am Captain Mark Simmons. This is Commander Ivanova," he pointed to the woman on the opposite side of the security officer, "Chief of Security Michael Garibaldi, and Commander Cima Ashari. This is an official interview, so we are on record. Commander Ashari is here to make sure all the information is accurate." "I'll merely be doing a surface scan. Most likely, you won't even notice me unless you try to not tell the truth. It is easier if you relax and try not to think about me," the Psi-Corps officer replied. "I understand fully," Char replied, smiling. "I checked my legal rights on-record, and I don't have to answer any questions if I don't want to." To their looks he replied, "I don't intend to invoke those rights, I have nothing to hide. Ask away." "All right then," Simmons replied. He tapped the computer pad twice, and said, "Is your name Char Anzable, aka Casper Dum Dalkum, aka Quattro Bahrain?" Char smiled, "Yes, I have been called those. Personally, I like Char, it's been the name that I've lived with for the last eighteen or so years." "You were the Neo-Zeon Fuhrer, correct?" "I still *am*," Char replied, a layer of venom over the normally calm statement. "I hope to liberate all spacenoids from an oppressive Earth government, regardless if the name of this government is called the Earth Federation or the Earth Alliance." "How did you get here?" Simmons asked, keeping his face neutral. "I don't know. The last thing I remembered was re- entering the atmosphere of Earth, then awakening in your sickbay. Between then, I have no idea," Char replied, being conversational. "When you awoke here, you were recovered floating in space in your spacesuit. How did you get out of your escape pod?" Simmons asked. "I don't know," Char replied, trying to be conversational. Simmons looked at Cima and Garibaldi, then he pulled out a flimsy. On it was a all-beige Jaga Doga, with the image framed by a Jegan just slightly behind it. "Do you recognize these machines?" "Of course. But you do as well, since you wouldn't be asking if you didn't know. The mobile suit in the foreground is one of my Jaga Dogas, but why is there a Jegan following it? Oh well, I'll make sure to figure that out for you later," Char replied, smiling. For just a second, Simmons looked at his data pad, then tapped it twice. "That will be all for now. You'll be moved to my ship in two days for transfer to Earth. Let's go," and the four left. Outside Char's quarters, Ivanova asked Simmons, "What was that all about? You were just asking nonsense questions!" "Not entirely," Simmons replied, smiling. "The questions I asked him were to build up a better psychological profile of him so when we interrogate him on the Moon, we'll be able to make sure he'll tell the truth. As soon as you'll be able to dispatch him, we'll be off. Now, I need to talk to Captain Sheridan." "Sure," Garibaldi replied. "Follow me. Commander, do you think that you can show our guest back to the ship docks?" "No problem," Ivanova replied. "Commander Ashani, if you'll follow me...." "I'd like to stop by the Zocallo first, if that's possible. I've heard a lot about it, and since this is one of the few chances I'll get to be here...." Cima left the request hanging. "Go ahead, Commander. It's going to be a while before I'm done, so have fun. I do want to talk to you about the debriefing before we leave, so meet me at the Ready Room by 1900 hours, ok?" Simmons replied. "Sure, Captain," Cima nodded, and walked off. [Near Babylon 5] [Heavy Cruiser *Tomahawk*] "Ok. How are we going to do this?" Wright asked the other crews on the ships. "Go in armed, but careful. Keep the MS in the bays, but have the pilots in them. Have we got that laser blinker working?" McBean commented. "Yes, sir," *Tomahawk*'s tactical officer replied. "I can't give you how long before they recognize it, but the software's loaded and ready to go. Hopefully, they'll be able to understand it." "Then we have the plan. *Tomahawk* goes in first, *Rheingold* and *Agama II* behind us in a triangle formation. I want weapons charged but safe, understand?" Wright noted. "Absolutely, sir. We're ready here," McBean replied. "You have no reason to worry, sir," the haughty female commander of *Rheingold*, Eva Newler, replied, "my crew is at your command." "Then let's go. Three hours, then we'll be in range. Let's do this one right, people." The three ships moved into formation and their drop to Babylon 5 began. [Babylon 5] [Zocallo] Commander Cima Ashari, P11 Military Telepath for Earth Alliance, was sitting at the bar, nursing a soda. For a long time, she looked at the men in the establishment, thinking. It wasn't a long time ago that she'd have had seduced one of them, taken them up to a room, and had sex with them all night. But now, the Earth Force uniform with black piping, the long black leather gloves, and Psi-Corps insignia were just as effective a turn-off for men as a full nun's habit. *Damn him,* Cima thought to herself, *damn that bastard Char for making me lose what little peace of mind I had built up for myself.* As she was sitting there, someone moved up beside her and sat down, saying, "Well, how are you tonight?" As she looked at the Centauri, her mind put name to face and said, "Why do you ask, Ambassador Molari?" "Just making conversation, yes? A drink for the lady...." he was just about to say, then noticed the gloves and insignia, "I'm sorry, I didn't know...." "Shut up and get me that drink. Lord knows it's been a while since I've had any decent alcohol that hasn't come from a homemade vacuum still," Cima replied. "You weren't in the Corp when you were young?" "My talents manifested when I was twenty-four, I was a Starfury pilot before then. Now that I'm a teep, I lost my Starfury qualification, and I can't engage in any of the bull sessions since I could 'violate someone's sanctity of mind' or get drunk," as the bartender looked hesitant about giving Cima the drink, Londo passed off three months' pay into the bartender's pocket, which would easily encourage him to forget what happened, "You know, that's a load of bullshit. Lord knows that half the people out there barely even have a 'mind' for me to violate it's sanctity," she downed the drink in two gulps, and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you all this." "It's better than keeping it all bottled up, yes? At least you got a drink out of me," Londo replied. "That's true. And what makes it worse is that I really had a peace of mind for a while. The training works, you have to give it credit for that! It wasn't as bad as you might think, there are things teeps do among each other that are just as good, if not better than what you normals do. But I hate being so alone all the time when I'm not with other teeps. Like, for example, see that man over there?" Cima pointed at an off-duty EA security officer in civilian clothes, in a very intense roulette game. "I see. He's a security officer here, what about it?" Londo looked curious. "If I wanted to, I could have him in a rented suite, doing things you don't do even behind locked doors in an hour. Maybe less. Lord knows how hard-wired the male's mind is to sex. Did I ever tell you that I once seduced a Minbari Warrior?" Cima replied, taking a sip of her refilled drink. "You must be joking! I don't think they'd even relax around humans, even enough to be seduceable," Londo commented, somewhat shocked. "Absolutely. Of course, it was a bitch of a job. It took me a week alone for him to refer to me as anything other than Lt. Ashani. One thing I learned, painfully!, is to let him be on top, because if you do it any other way, you risk injury," Cima replied. "Hm. So, what has you so troubled?" Londo asked. "A job I had to do for EA, something so fucking secret that I can't even say where I did it, else violate security. I can't talk to my CO, he'd take me off this duty because I'd be too emotionally linked in this thing," Cima looked at Londo for a minute, then said, "Hey, think I can call you at your quarters later? I might be able to help you." "Sure, sure. What do you mean?" "Oh, trust me, I think you'll like the help that I can give you," Cima replied. As she stood up, she winked at him, and flashed a seductive look over her shoulder. "Now, I must be going." [Lond Bell Heavy Cruiser *Tomahawk*] [Within Visual Sight of Babylon 5] The colony hung in space, floating just in front of the three ships exactly in the same way office blocks don't. "So, what do we do now?" Wright asked. "We hail them. I'll ping them with the laser at low power. Hopefully, they'll get the message, it's a simple linguistics code that'll help be the basis for further communication," Tactical replied. "Go ahead. Just a second-" Wright tapped a control, and brought up the MS bay, "Keep all the MS on alert, and have the catapults loaded." "Yes, sir," the Launch Officer replied. "Go right ahead," Wright told the Tactical officer. "Laser charging, program is loaded into the laser's memory systems. Discharge in four seconds, I'm going to point it at that structure at the far end of the colony and work it slowly across," Tactical noted, tapping controls. Just below the bridge, the laser whirred silently into position, then a single crimson lance erupted into space. It impacted upon the station. [Babylon 5] [Command and Control] "Ma'am," a lieutenant sitting at a board waved to get Ivanova's attention, "I've got a laser warning on my board, it appears to be some type of message." Ivanova tapped her console, and watched the signal beam start a slow repeating message sequence. *Looks like they finally got here,* Ivanova thought to herself, *Better call Sheridan.* "Get Captain Sheridan, tell him that our guests are here. Can you point the Laser Lifter in the direction of the beam?" "Absolutely, ma'am. Just give me a second....," the lieutenant replied, then said, "all set." "Ok then, I want you to beam this signal," Ivanova put a data crystal in her console, and tapped the control once, "at the area until we get a response." "Yes, ma'am. Laser Lifter is sending now," the lieutenant replied. On the end of Babylon 5, the long generator of the Laser Lifter started to release a powerful lance of red light back in the direction of the first beam. [Babylon 5] [Blue 3-Security Quarters] Char looked up, at a wall in his room. His eyes were....distant for a second. Then his eyes became focused, and he smiled. "They're here," Char said. [Lond Bell Heavy Cruiser *Tomahawk*] "Sir!" the tactical officer said, looking at Wright. "I've gotten a reply from the station, with full data on communications protocols. Give me a few minutes, I'll be able to boot up the system." "Good. Navigation, close with the station," Wright ordered, opening his helmet just enough to take a squirt-bottle's worth of water in then swallow it, "just enough to remove any possible communication's lag. Keep your hands off your weapons, Tactical," Wright sealed his helmet shut. "Yes, sir," Tactical responded. *Tomahawk* moved once again, her two escorts following like faithful dogs. [Babylon 5] [Command and Control] "Have you gotten a reply yet?" Sheridan asked, just staring to get himself comfortable. "We just sent them a protocol set, they should have it established in a few minutes. I got them on the main video monitor, the radar's out...." Ivanova replied, her hands flying over her keyboard. "What do you mean the radar's out? Wait just a second, let me guess, Minovski particles," Sheridan noted, looking at the three ships floating outside. "The first two look like EFM ships, the third is a Neo-Zeon. Can you zoom in on the insignia?" "Just a second," Ivanova noted, and she got one of the ships in an intense zoom, "I can only read the nearest one, sir. It says *UN SPACY LOND BELL TOMAHAWK*, sir. The other two...." "Don't worry about it, we'll deal with that later. Have you gotten Simmons yet?" Sheridan asked, watching the three ships. "I'm already here," a voice replied, and Sheridan turned to see Simmons standing in the doorway, evidently right in the middle of getting dressed. "When can we talk to them?" "I don't know, five minutes at best. I'm curious, where's Commander Ashari, wasn't she supposed to return to your ship when she was done in the Zocallo?" Ivanova asked. "Yes, she was," Simmons noted, thinking. "Do we have that intelligence assessment done yet?" Almost as if on cue, a harried Keffer made it to the door, holding two data crystals and a sheet of flimsies. "I'm sorry sir, but that assessment is here, we had to do a lot of midnight work and lots of guesses and assessments...." "Don't worry," Sheridan replied, "Can you give me a basic assessment on the capabilities of Lond Bell/Neo-Zeon?" "Sir, four ships and a full load of Mobile Suits could storm Babylon 5, assuming there isn't any support from the Starfuries. I estimate that a Starfury can take on a soldier- series suit, the "Jegans" and "Gira Dogas" without problem, but anything bigger will be a slaughter, sir," Keffer replied, still breathing hard. "All right then, I want you to report to the Starfury bay and get all the fighters ready for launch. But don't launch just yet, I want to keep the situation under control," Sheridan ordered. "Yes, sir. Captain," Keffer asked, "there is something in Hanger Bay 8, something me and a few of the guys in the squadron have been working on. It might be useful, sir." "What is it?" Sheridan asked. "It would take a while to explain, sir," Keffer replied. "But it does involve a number of principals that their 'Mobile Suit' uses, sir." "All right, get these things ready," Sheridan noted, "and keep in touch." "Yes, sir!" Keffer enthusiastically responded, and he ran off down the hallway to the hanger bays. [Babylon 5] [Blue 3-Security Quarters] Once, a long time ago, when Char Anzable was known as Quattro Bahrain, he had a cover identity as a computer expert for a small firm. Computers, for a long time, fascinated him so much that he had kept up his computer skills. It was these skills that he turned to the terminal in his room, in an effort to break through the security systems to his room. As he worked, finally making it past the first two layers of computer security, the terminal suddenly blanked for a second. Then it started to scroll a message along it's flat screen, simple yet complete- C- Get the mattress, get to the wall on the door side, and hold on tight! -C Looking around, Char grabbed the mattress from his bed, took it with him to the door, covered himself with it, and waited. It took just ten seconds, then the next thing was a massive BOOOOOOOMMMMM!!! that caused his ears to ring like a gong. As the dust cleared, he saw a hole in the wall, with someone in a spacesuit and a pistol pointing at him. As the dust cleared, Char saw Cima Ashari, pointing one of those pistols people around here call PPGs, and she said, "Just one question Char, if I get you out of here, will you let me help you?" "Absolutely," Char replied, smiling. "Can we go now, they'll be calling security about that little blast of yours." "Not for a while," Cima replied, smiling. "They are just about to find their comm lines all jammed up for a long while. Now, let's get out of here." She tossed him a spacesuit, "One of your ships is here, we'll get out of here with something I found out about in Hanger Bay 8. Now, can we go?" As Char got on the spacesuit, he smiled at her and said, "I think this is the beginning of a very beautiful and helpful friendship." [Neo-Zeon Heavy Cruiser *Rheingold*] "Captain!" the Captain's XO, a small pale man of at least 30 years old, said, "I just got a message from the station, and it's says that the Fuhrer is alive!" "That's good," Eva Newler noted, thinking. "That will be all." "But, ma'am, the Fuhrer is alive! We should be helping him to escape, so that the goal of Spacenoid liberation will be continuing! Our MS should be launching now, and we should be attacking the Lond Bell ships!" the man replied. "If the Fuhrer comes aboard," Eva noted, her voice carefully controlled, "I will provide him with sanctuary, but I will not violate my oath to the Commander of Lond Bell to attempt to get us all back home. Until we are back in the Earth Sphere, I will not instigate nor will act against Commander Noah or any of his forces. Is that clear?" "I understand, ma'am," the XO replied. Calmly, he motioned, and four men rushed up to her with assault rifles pointed at her, "But I will not let that earthnoid Bright Noah hold us back nor will I allow you to hand the Fuhrer back to him. Now, you'll be escorted to your quarters, for when we arrive back at Axics in triumph, you can be properly court-marshalled. Now, take the bitch away." The four men led her off to her quarters, and the XO sat down the Captain's chair. "Tell our MS to be ready to launch and target the two Lond Bell ships." [Babylon 5] [Hanger Bay 8] There they sat. There were two of them, each of them looking at each other like fighters waiting for the sparring bell. Both appeared to be of the humanoid machines sometimes commonly called "Mobile Suits" but they were entirely different machines in structure. Both were too humanoid in appearance, plenty of rounded shapes and human articulations. The biggest problem was that they weren't made by a factory on the Earth Sphere, but made by the Earth Alliance as last-ditch weapons during the Earth-Minbari War. The first was rather attractive, a red and white painted machine with elegant fingers and two glowing green eyes. Attached to it's back was a massive package of rockets, each one of them a very effective killer. On each of the arms, a particle beam cannon normally used as a secondary weapon on warships, was attached. Just on the right of the cockpit, right on the chest, was painted *EAX-01 Prometheus*. Just a bit above and to the left of it was a triple set of laser cannons. Facing it, like rival cousins, was another machine. This one loomed like an angel of death, black and grey with eyes that burned with a dark fire. On each of the flared and enlarged shoulders were two missiles, each one bearing a half kiloton fusion warhead. Each arm was tipped with five, claw-like fingers, just missing the blood on their tips. On the chest were four ports for the barrels of 60mm railguns, clean and unfired. Attached to the unit's crotch was a massive booster package, which also had a secondary reactor and four particle beam cannons, just like their brethren on the Prometheus. It's name, painted in a shade of grey just one shade heavier than the background grey, was *CXE-01 Dragonstriker*. It was these two machines that Cima and Char encountered when they entered the hanger bay, apparently all alone. "How did you know all of this?" Char asked, as the two rapidly moved into the compartment. "I'm officially rated as a P11, but I'm a machine tele- empath as well, and I never told Psi-Corps about that talent. Now, the Prometheus has a larger variety of weapons, but the Dragonstriker has a two-pilot cockpit. I can't fly them, before you ask. Remember, it's all your choice," Cima replied. "We take the Dragonstriker. Do you think I can fly it? We may have to engage in combat," Char noted. "Probably, it has something called the CAT, and it's some kind of thought-control system. We'll have to move fast, they plan to get in touch with the Lond Bell ships in a few minutes and....shit!" Cima stopped suddenly, drew her PPG and fired at two shadows near the Prometheus, one of which fell instantly. "What are you doing!" Char yelled, but was running to the Dragonstriker at the same time. "Those two people are the flight crew! Hurry up and get in the Dragonstriker, I'll cover you until you're ready to launch," Cima replied, firing her PPG. *What the fuck?* was the first thought that crossed Keffer's mind. His friend, Lt. Stone, died in the first few shots, a PPG hit mid-torso. As Keffer rolled to the side of the Prometheus, the PPG shots were still coming, he couldn't tell who they were. But someone was getting into the Dragonstriker and was going to power it up. "Shit, shit, shit," Keffer hissed to himself, firing back at the mysterious sniper. This wasn't a good day, to say the very least. As Char threw himself down into the cockpit, the seat automatically adjusted and clamps settled themselves along his shoulders and legs. Carefully, he pulled the headset along the side of his head, and waited as the computer started to scan his brain. The computer was beeping a series of contented beeps, then an indicator along the screen flashed *CAT System Aligned, Control System Operational.* Curious, Char was thinking about how he was going to turn this thing on.... Right under his feet, four sharp whams, each feeling like a hard-thrown baseball into a glove, hit one after another. At the same time, the main monitor flared to life, and Char could see the facing Prometheus right in front of him. "Cima!" Char yelled outside the cockpit, "Get in, we're ready to go!" "Right, I'm in," Cima replied, and indicators showed that her cockpit was closed and pressurized. As Char got to the main pressure door, he tried to trigger the door remotely, but the hatch refused to open. That didn't stop Char, who backed up one step and charged the four particle beam cannons.... Keffer, hearing the PPG shots stop firing and looked to see the Dragonstriker pull away from it's support frame and walk to the door. As he watched, the Dragonstriker tried to trigger the door to open, but when the hatch refused to move, the Dragonstriker stepped back and Keffer could hear the particle beams charging.... "Oh shit!," Keffer yelled, slapping on his pressure helmet and dove into the Prometheus' cockpit, powering up the unit. "C&C, this is Keffer!" Keffer yelled into his comm link as the Prometheus' CAT system aligned onto his mind, "Somebody stole the Dragonstriker and is about to blow through the pressure doors! Two of them, one sounded like Commander Ashari! I'm following the Dragonstriker now!" "What?" Ivanova replied, confused, "What do you mean someone's about to blow through a pressure door?" A massive explosion, then Keffer pivoted the Prometheus' head to the destroyed hatch, as air ripped out of it. "I'm going after him, get the defense grid on-line and launch the 'furies, because I don't like this one bit!" [Neo-Zeon Heavy Cruiser *Rheingold*] Former Captain of the *Rheingold* Eva Newler floated through the hallways of the ship to her quarters, escorted by four armed guards. As the group rounded a corner, they ran into two men arguing about something, "I'm telling you man, it's red, blue, blue, green, not red, blue, green, green." "And I'm telling you that if you try that sequence, you get your character killed! I had to restart at the Tomb of the Ancients at least three times. It really pisses me off," the second man replied. "What are you two doing?" the man who was leading the escort asked, "You two should be working, not standing around talking about some video game?" "On the contrary, we are," the first man, a man with a rapier-sharp face and a sinister smile, replied. He turned around for a second, then put a silenced pistol to the leader's head. "Stand down, Lieutenant." "What the fuck," the leader replied, as suddenly three men popped behind them with assault rifles and pointed them at the escorts, "You mutinous bastards!" "On the contrary, you four are the mutineers. Tom, Harry, flex-cuff them and put them in cargo compartment three. Captain, I am Lieutenant Thaddeus Howse, and we're here to get you off the ship," the man replied. "I won't leave my command, we have to take back the ship!" Eva replied. "Ma'am, we can't. The five people you see here are the only ones whom believe that upholding their word is more important than following the Fuhrer. We need to get off the ship and now. I've got a flight plan filed for three Gira Dogas, we'll get onto *Tomahawk* and you can tell Captain Wright what's going on. Ma'am, we have leave now," Thaddeus noted, insistent. Eva looked at him, then her expression fell as she thought about it, "Very well, which hanger?" "Hanger two, ma'am. Come on, we've got only a few minutes...." Thaddeus replied, taking Eva's hand in his. [Between Babylon 5 and *Rheingold*] [Char's Dragonstriker and Keffer's Prometheus] "Can you contact my ship?" Char asked. The first few minutes of flight had been uneventful, but Char expected that to change very, very soon. "Not yet, we can't hail them until we're in range of the anti-missile laser system. This is a *Earth Alliance* robot and the unit has a tachyon transmitter, but not laser, and the backup radio unit is Minovski-fuzzed," Cima replied. Her machine empathy was just as good as Char's CAT link, and the two were thinking rather fast. "Keep it up. We've got to get there quickly before forces are launched from Babylon 5. What about the other machine?" "I don't know, Char. My radar is fuzzy and...." Cima was interrupted by the near pass of a particle beam shot, then another, much closer. "Shit! The Prometheus is firing at us!" "We'll have to engage it in a running battle, then. Give me an attack vector, please," Char replied. Silently, he triggered the charging sequence for the weapons. "One sixty-two by forty-eight, closing at what looks like two gees, engagement range in ten minutes," Cima replied, her fear radiating through the linkage. "Don't worry, I've got combat experience, much more than him, and we'll blow him away," Char replied. He actually wished he was that confident.... "What is it?" Sheridan asked. "It would take a while to explain, sir," Keffer replied. "But it does involve a number of principals that their 'Mobile Suit' uses, sir." "All right, get these things ready," Sheridan noted, "and keep in touch." "Yes, sir!" Keffer enthusiastically responded, and he ran off down the hallway to the hanger bays. [Babylon 5] [Blue 3-Security Quarters] Once, a long time ago, when Char Anzable was known as Quattro Bahrain, he had a cover identity as a computer expert for a small firm. Computers, for a long time, fascinated him so much that he had kept up his computer skills. It was these skills that he turned to the terminal in his room, in an effort to break through the security systems to his room. As he worked, finally making it past the first two layers of computer security, the terminal suddenly blanked for a second. Then it started to scroll a message along it's flat screen, simple yet complete- C- Get the mattress, get to the wall on the door side, and hold on tight! -C Looking around, Char grabbed the mattress from his bed, took it with him to the door, covered himself with it, and waited. It took just ten seconds, then the next thing was a massive BOOOOOOOMMMMM!!! that caused his ears to ring like a gong. As the dust cleared, he saw a hole in the wall, with someone in a spacesuit and a pistol pointing at him. As the dust cleared, Char saw Cima Ashari, pointing one of those pistols people around here call PPGs, and she said, "Just one question Char, if I get you out of here, will you let me help you?" "Absolutely," Char replied, smiling. "Can we go now, they'll be calling security about that little blast of yours." "Not for a while," Cima replied, smiling. "They are just about to find their comm lines all jammed up for a long while. Now, let's get out of here." She tossed him a spacesuit, "One of your ships is here, we'll get out of here with something I found out about in Hanger Bay 8. Now, can we go?" As Char got on the spacesuit, he smiled at her and said, "I think this is the beginning of a very beautiful and helpful friendship." [Neo-Zeon Heavy Cruiser *Rheingold*] "Captain!" the Captain's XO, a small pale man of at least 30 years old, said, "I just got a message from the station, and it's says that the Fuhrer is alive!" "That's good," Eva Newler noted, thinking. "That will be all." "But, ma'am, the Fuhrer is alive! We should be helping him to escape, so that the goal of Spacenoid liberation will be continuing! Our MS should be launching now, and we should be attacking the Lond Bell ships!" the man replied. "If the Fuhrer comes aboard," Eva noted, her voice carefully controlled, "I will provide him with sanctuary, but I will not violate my oath to the Commander of Lond Bell to attempt to get us all back home. Until we are back in the Earth Sphere, I will not instigate nor will act against Commander Noah or any of his forces. Is that clear?" "I understand, ma'am," the XO replied. Calmly, he motioned, and four men rushed up to her with assault rifles pointed at her, "But I will not let that earthnoid Bright Noah hold us back nor will I allow you to hand the Fuhrer back to him. Now, you'll be escorted to your quarters, for when we arrive back at Axics in triumph, you can be properly court-marshalled. Now, take the bitch away." The four men led her off to her quarters, and the XO sat down the Captain's chair. "Tell our MS to be ready to launch and target the two Lond Bell ships." [Babylon 5] [Hanger Bay 8] There they sat. There were two of them, each of them looking at each other like fighters waiting for the sparring bell. Both appeared to be of the humanoid machines sometimes commonly called "Mobile Suits" but they were entirely different machines in structure. Both were too humanoid in appearance, plenty of rounded shapes and human articulations. The biggest problem was that they weren't made by a factory on the Earth Sphere, but made by the Earth Alliance as last-ditch weapons during the Earth-Minbari War. The first was rather attractive, a red and white painted machine with elegant fingers and two glowing green eyes. Attached to it's back was a massive package of rockets, each one of them a very effective killer. On each of the arms, a particle beam cannon normally used as a secondary weapon on warships, was attached. Just on the right of the cockpit, right on the chest, was painted *EAX-01 Prometheus*. Just a bit above and to the left of it was a triple set of laser cannons. "Shit!" Keffer hissed to himself, being squashed by the two-gees of thrust from the Prometheus. His first two shots from the arm particle beam cannons were misses, but he was closing very fast, as the Dragonstriker was flying along at a leisurely one gee. "Babylon 5, where the hell are the Starfuries! The Dragonstriker is getting away!" "Lt Keffer," Ivanova replied, her voice clear over the tachyon transmitter, "Cima somehow locked out the Starfury launch bay and sealed all the airlocks. We're just getting the override keys down there right now, but it's going to be at least ten minutes before we can launch." "Then fire using the defense grid! The Dragonstriker carries four fusion missiles and I don't want those suckers to go off!" Keffer replied, yelling. As he watched, the Dragonstriker spun around to prepare for engagement. "Ok then...." Keffer replied, aiming now the chest- mounted scatter-cannon. Keffer fired, three laser beams lancing out into space. "Are we clear to engage?" Char asked. "Absolutely," Cima replied. "I can keep trying the laser link right now." "All right then," Char noted, and he fired the four particle beam cannons. Keffer saw the particle beam burst at the last second, throwing the Dragonstriker into a three-G burn straight up that caused the beams to miss just by the narrow margin of the paint on the footplates. As he climbed, he fired off a second salvo of his particle beam cannons, which barely missed as well. As Keffer switched from evading to approaching, so did the Dragonstriker. Both the Dragonstriker and the Prometheus closed at a ferocious rate, both machines closing for the kill. [Neo-Zeon Heavy Cruiser *Rheingold*] [Hanger Bay 2] The five of them were in full Pilot's Suits, Eva in a borrowed Pilot Suit that was one size too large. As Thaddeus waved to the launch crew, the five floated to the three prepared Gira Dogas waiting for them. Nervous, Eva placed her suit's helmet to Thaddeus', initiating skin talk, "How do you expect to explain that we're going to have five people leaving in only three MS?" "Simple, by a little slight of hand," Thaddeus replied, "we'll cause a little diversion, then we'll get the hell out of here." From his pocket, he revealed a small grenade, which he pulled the pin on and threw out into the depths of the hanger bay. It exploded silently, blossoming in a reddish yellow flower of prosperous. "Hurry up!" Thaddeus yelled, waving his hand. In the confusion of the exploding grenade and the overall arming of the MS with weapons, the deck crew didn't notice the three people getting into Gira Dogas waiting for launch. As Eva floated into the unit's cockpit, she saw a second seat behind the pilot's Linear Seat. "For me?" "Hurry up," Thaddeus replied, "we've got to launch right now, else we'll get caught and disciplinary action is the best we can expect!" Eva climbed into the back seat, as Thaddeus got into the front, raised the control panel to it's operational position, and closed the hatch. The cockpit flared and disappeared as a full, 360 degree view of the world was represented. With a slight tap on the spaceball controller, Thaddeus propelled himself out of the hanger bay, with two other Gira Dogas behind him. A few seconds later, they went to full thrust. [Between Babylon 5 and *Rheingold*] [Keffer's Prometheus and Char's Dragonstriker] The problem was one of advantages and disadvantages. Char had the advantage in nearly a decade and a half of combat experience in MS and his Newtype talents. But the Dragonstriker and it's CAT system were totally unknown to him, and he could barely use them effectively in combat. Keffer had trained and flown in the Prometheus, and occasionally fought mock duels against the Dragonstriker on the computer, but he didn't have combat experience. So, as Char closed to attack, Keffer fired his engines to put some distance between the Dragonstriker and the Prometheus, firing the particle beam cannons and lasers, missing with every shot. Char fired less than Keffer, but his shots were just as inaccurate. "Come on," Keffer replied, frustrated. Char was totally overwhelming him, as he tried to get distance and position, the Dragonstriker was crowding him and forcing him to fire. And miss. Despite his experience in the machine, Keffer was losing confidence in his ability to fight. Ironically, Char was feeling the same thing. Normally, his tactics of putting as much pressure on the enemy by charging him normally worked, but his inexperience in the Dragonstriker and the Prometheus' slightly better power curve meant that he was on the short end of the battle. "Cima, please tell me that you have made contact with my ship," Char asked. "Just about...." Cima replied. "Wait a minute," Keffer hissed to himself. Had he the chance, Keffer might have knocked himself in the head. The Prometheus had 80 ESS-1 light anti-fighter missiles in the payload bay mounted on the back. Quickly, he locked onto the Dragonstriker and blew off the missile panels.... "Char, I've just about got the coding for the laser comm set, can you hold for two minutes?" Cima asked. "That's easy to say...." Char replied, when his monitor turned red from multiple inbound targets, "I've got missiles incoming, twenty of them! I'm taking the lasers off-line, putting them on missile defense...." "Char! You could crash my program!" Cima yelled fanatically. "We could get blown up if I don't shoot those missiles down...." Char replied, as the two shoulder-mounted lasers locked into firing position and started to fire in rapid pulses to knock down the incoming missiles.... "Shit," Keffer hissed. The twenty missiles he fired were promptly shot down by the Dragonstriker's anti-missile lasers and as Keffer approached, the Dragonstriker turned to fly away, the two aft-mounted railguns firing into space to keep Keffer on his toes. "Got to close with him...." "Char, you did it!" "What?" Char asked. He was trying to make an end-run to his ship, and the Dragonstriker was firing to keep the Prometheus on it's toes. "I've got the laser comm set! You can broadcast at any time you want," Cima replied. "Lock onto the Neo-Zeon ship, that's the red one...." "I know that," Cima remarked sarcastically. "Right. Now, start to ping them...." [Lond Bell Heavy Cruiser *Tomahawk*] The three Gira Dogas landed in the nearly-packed MS bay of the *Tomahawk*. Before the deck officer could move to the machine to complain, one of the Gira Dogas opened it's hatch and a person in a pilot's suit popped out a zipline and reeled herself straight to a side hatch. When she got there, finding a monitor, she pulled a radio jack from her helmet, plugged it into the monitor, and tapped the code for the bridge. Captain Wright's face appeared on the monitor. "Captain Newler, what do I owe this honor to..." "Benjamin, shut up. The crew aboard the *Rheingold* has mutinied, and they think Char is nearby. They plan to recover him and get out of here after destroying us! You have to warn *Agama II* to engage and launch the MS! We have to attack before they do!" "Dear God," Captain Wright replied. "I'll get to launching right now, you get up here. Tactical, get me in touch with the *Rheingold*...." as the image cut off. Quickly, Eva started to pull herself deeper into the ship, heading for the bridge. She didn't have much time. [Neo-Zeon Heavy Cruiser *Rheingold*] "Lock onto the nearest Lond Bell ship and launch the MS!" the officer ordered, locking himself onto the bridge chair. "Launching now, sir, we've got a lock on the *Agama II* and...., shit! *Tomahawk* is launching now her MS now and turning to engage," the tactical officer replied. "Fire everything! Engage the *Agama II*, tell the MS to stop the MS from the *Tomahawk*, avoid catching the Fuhrer in the crossfire! Get going!" the officer yelled. "Firing now! Beam cannons are firing...." the tactical officer replied, as sixteen beam cannon shots lanced from the *Rheingold*'s cannons. [Babylon 5] [C&C] "Oh shit," Ivanova replied. Just as the crews were boarding their Starfuries, the Neo-Zeon ship's cannons erupted in a hail of fire. By the time the hangers were depressurized and doors opened, the second Lond Bell ship exploded suddenly, without firing a shot. The nearest Lond Bell ship had it's MS launching by the time the Starfuries were deployed for launch and released. "Zeta Wing, stay the hell out of that cross-fire!" "Yes, ma'am," the current leader of Zeta Wing replied, "hell, that thing's a slaughter out there." "I can see that," Sheridan replied. As they watched, the Dragonstriker landed on the Neo-Zeon cruiser, which was turning and firing at the same time. The MS were evenly matched, with what appeared to be some kind of remote weapons in the battle as well. Keffer's Prometheus had broken off and was trying to defend the second Lond Bell ship, which had taken a number of hits. As they watched, the MS on both sides broke off to return to the individual ships. "All Starfuries, keep them apart! Commander, what's the status on that comm link?" Ivanova was tapping her board, looking at it curiously. "Give me a minute or two, we'll be able to talk to the Lond Bell ship that's left." "Very well, then. Captain Simmons, I want you to get your ship out there to keep everyone away until we get things settled. Commander Ivanova, re-direct traffic around that area to prevent any problems. Until then, I'm going to have to figure out what to say to the crew of that ship," Sheridan noted. [Neo-Zeon Heavy Cruiser *Rheingold*] [Main Bridge] Rings of "Sieg Zeon! Sieg Zeon!" ringed through the hallways as Char and Cima floated up to the bridge. As the two arrived, the Captain replied, "Welcome back, my Fuhrer!" "I am glad to be back. This is Cima Ashani, she is going to be my executive officer and.... wait a minute, where is Captain Eva Newler?" Char realized. "Her?" the Captain replied, smiling, "She didn't want to help you. We had to....encourage her to leave the bridge. Something about not breaking her word to the Lond Bell bastard Bright Noah." "I see....," Char mulled over that statement, then asked, "What did she promise to Bright Noah?" "To not rebel against him until we got back to the Earth Sphere, sir. Of course, she wasn't going to follow your orders as long as we were here! That's why I had her removed." "So, you were the one...." Char answered him, "Very well, then. You two," he pointed to two men near the door, "take this man to his quarters, for his trial for mutiny." "But, sir," the Captain blustered, trying to make a point. "You ask why I want you dead? I would rather have a honest man who disobeyed me than a loyal mutineer. Eva was a honest woman who would keep her word, even against me. You are a loyal mutineer. Now take him away," Char replied, as the two burly men hauled him off. "I am going to retire to the Captain's quarters. Cima, I leave you in command," Char ordered, as he floated down the hallways. "Don't just sit there! Full thrust to Axics, and don't stop for a moment!" Cima ordered, pointing starward. [Lond Bell Heavy Cruiser *Tomahawk*] [Bridge] "How bad?" Wright asked. "Secondary engine blocks are dead, sir. We've got half power, and that's if we kill power to the weapons. Sorry, sir, we're going to be stuck here for a while," Engineering replied. "Very well, then," Wright noted, and turned off his comm link. "Any ideas?" "Maybe we should talk to that station," Eva replied. "What about it, Tactical?" Wright asked. "We've got the translation protocols established, sir. I'll set up the link now," Tactical replied. A few seconds, then the main monitor flared, to reveal what looked like some kind of bridge deck on a ship. The uniforms were odd, but it looked like the wearers were human. "This is Earth Alliance Space Station Babylon 5," the man standing in front of a woman and another man replied, "I am Captain Sheridan, and you?" Wright pulled himself up as well as one could in zero-G and said, "Captain Sheridan, this is Captain Benjamin Wright, commanding officer of the EFM Heavy Cruiser *Tomahawk*, serving under Lond Bell. As by the request of my superior officers, I wish to request your assistance." "Very well, we'll send a shuttle out to pick you up. Welcome to Babylon 5," Captain Sheridan replied. [End of Episode 2] ------------------------------------------------------------ Mobile Suit Gira Doga The Gira Doga is the standard Mobile Suit used by Char's Neo-Zeon army; it's appearance is very reminiscent of the classic Zaku. Of a production run of 82 Gira Dogas, about ten are the antenna-equipped command version. This command version has no better performance edge over the regular version, but it does pack a better machine gun. During the General War, the Gira Doga was soon replaced by the Rig Shokalu and the Minovski-drive equipted Gaza-E for the Neo-Zeon forces. Model Number:AMS-119 Head Height:20.0 m Dry Mass:23.0 t Full Mass:50.8 t Power Generator:2160 kW Rocket Thrusters:14000 kg x2 13000 kg x2 Apogee Motors:15 Sensor Range:16400 m Armor:Titanium/ceramic composite Equipment:Beam Machine Gun x1 Beam Machine Gun Energy Pack x2 Beam Sword-Axe x1 Grenade Launcher x4 Strum faust x4 Optional Equipment:Grenade Launcher x1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Space Fighter Starfury The standard fighter of Earth Alliance, Babylon 5 has four flights of twelve fighters. Considered one of the best over- all fighters in known space(Minbari Jellyfish are more agile, but not as well armed; Narn Ks'Npra are faster but lack 3D maneuvering ability), the Starfury comes in three types, or "weights". The first is the standard Starfury, which has one pilot and carries merely two particle beam cannons. The second is the Strike version, which has two gunners, two remote particle beam turrets, and sixteen missiles. The third is the costly, and rare "Black Omega" stealth Starfury, which has a Minbari-derived stealth system in addition to a larger reactor and two more particle-beam cannons. Babylon 5 has the standard Starfury, and this is later replaced by the Hellfury, then the Pathfinder. Note that the unit can really only use four thrusters at a time for flight, but all others can be used to maneuver. Model Number:SA-23E Wing Length:5 m Body Length:2 m Dry Mass:12 t Full Mass:20 t Power Generator:2500 kW Rocket Thrusters:10000 kg x16 Apogee Motors:20 Sensor Radius:25000 m Armor:Titanium/ceramic composite Equipment:Particle Beam Cannon x2, fixed and fire-linked Grapnel x2 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Exo-Armor Prometheus An experimental unit developed in the latter days of the Earth-Minbari War, the Prometheus was a part of Operation Supernova, an effort to build a better fighter for the Earth Alliance. Based on the idea of the "Giant Robot", the Prometheus has a variety of weapons, from the multi-mode plasma interface (which can be used for both ranged engagement and close-range combat), and particle beam rifle, the Prometheus has, as well, the Storm Attacker system, which supplements the Prometheus' weapons with 80 missiles, two heavy particle beam cannons, a scatter-laser cannon, and two close-range combat claws. Control was provided by the Cyberlink Activated by Thoughts, or CAT system. Only one Prometheus was ever built and would later be upgraded to the Prometheus Mk. II later on in the General War. Model Number:EAX-C1 Prometheus Head Height:16.2 m(20.8m with Storm Attacker) Dry Mass:38.5 t(49.1 t with Storm Attacker) Full Mass:64.1 t(81.8 t with Storm Attacker) Powerplant:3506 kW(8652 kw with Storm Attacker Generator) Main Thrusters:9157 kg x14(+9 with Storm Attacker) Apogee Motors:25(+12 with Storm Attacker) Armor:Titanium/Ceramic composite with diamond monofilament reinforcement. Equipment:Plasma Interface x2 Plasma Lance x2 Particle Beam Rifle x1 Optional Equipment:Storm Attacker Package- Heavy Particle Beam Cannons x2 ESS-1 Missiles x80 Laser Scatter Gun x1 Combat Claws x2 "Hurry up!" Thaddeus yelled, waving his hand. In the confusion of the exploding grenade and the overall arming of the MS with weapons, the deck crew didn't notice the three people getting into Gira Dogas waiting for launch. As Eva floated into the unit's cockpit, she saw a second seat behind the pilot's Linear Seat. "For me?" "Hurry up," Thaddeus replied, "we've got to launch right now, else we'll get caught and disciplinary action is the best we can expect!" Eva climbed into the back seat, as Thaddeus got into the front, raised the control panel to it's operational position, and closed the hatch. The cockpit flared and disappeared as a full, 360 degree view of the world was represented. With a slight tap on the spaceball controller, Thaddeus propelled himself out of the hanger bay, with two other Gira Dogas behind him. A few seconds later, they went to full thrust. [Between Babylon 5 and *Rheingold*] [Keffer's Prometheus and Char's Dragonstriker] The problem was one of advantages and disadvantages. Char had the advantage in nearly a decade and a half of combat experience in MS and his Newtype talents. But the Dragonstriker and it's CAT system were totally unknown to him, and he could barely use them effectively in combat. Keffer had trained and flown in the Prometheus, and occasionally fought mock duels against the Dragonstriker on the computer, but he didn't have combat experience. So, as Char closed to attack, Keffer fired his engines to put some distance between the Dragonstriker and the Prometheus, firing the particle beam cannons and lasers, missing with every shot. Char fired less than Keffer, but his shots were just as inaccurate. "Come on," Keffer replied, frustrated. Char was totally overwhelming him, as he tried to get distance and position, the Dragonstriker was crowding him and forcing him to fire. And miss. Despite his experience in the machine, Keffer was losing confidence in his ability to fight. Ironically, Char was feeling the same thing. Normally, his tactics of putting as much pressure on the enemy by charging him normally worked, but his inexperience in the Dragonstriker and the Prometheus' slightly better power curve meant that he was on the short end of the battle. "Cima, please tell me that you have made contact with my ship," Char asked. "Just about...." Cima replied. "Wait a minute," Keffer hissed to himself. Had he the chance, Keffer might have knocked himself in the head. The Prometheus had 80 ESS-1 light anti-fighter missiles in the payload bay mounted on the back. Quickly, he locked onto the Dragonstriker and blew off the missile panels.... "Char, I've just about got the coding for the laser comm set, can you hold for two minutes?" Cima asked. "That's easy to say...." Char replied, when his monitor turned red from multiple inbound targets, "I've got missiles incoming, twenty of them! I'm taking the lasers off-line, putting them on missile defense...." "Char! You could crash my program!" Cima yelled fanatically. "We could get blown up if I don't shoot those missiles down...." Char replied, as the two shoulder-mounted lasers locked into firing position and started to fire in rapid pulses to knock down the incoming missiles.... "Shit," Keffer hissed. The twenty missiles he fired were promptly shot down by the Dragonstriker's anti-missile lasers and as Keffer approached, the Dragonstriker turned to fly away, the two aft-mounted railguns firing into space to keep Keffer on his toes. "Got to close with him...." "Char, you did it!" "What?" Char asked. He was trying to make an end-run to his ship, and the Dragonstriker was firing to keep the Prometheus on it's toes. "I've got the laser comm set! You can broadcast at any time you want," Cima replied. "Lock onto the Neo-Zeon ship, that's the red one...." "I know that," Cima remarked sarcastically. "Right. Now, start to ping them...." [Lond Bell Heavy Cruiser *Tomahawk*] The three Gira Dogas landed in the nearly-packed MS bay of the *Tomahawk*. Before the deck officer could move to the machine to complain, one of the Gira Dogas opened it's hatch and a person in a pilot's suit popped out a zipline and reeled herself straight to a side hatch. When she got there, finding a monitor, she pulled a radio jack from her helmet, plugged it into the monitor, and tapped the code for the bridge. Captain Wright's face appeared on the monitor. "Captain Newler, what do I owe this honor to..." "Benjamin, shut up. The crew aboard the *Rheingold* has mutinied, and they think Char is nearby. They plan to recover him and get out of here after destroying us! You have to warn *Agama II* to engage and launch the MS! We have to attack before they do!" "Dear God," Captain Wright replied. "I'll get to launching right now, you get up here. Tactical, get me in touch with the *Rheingold*...." as the image cut off. Quickly, Eva started to pull herself deeper into the ship, heading for the bridge. She didn't have much time. [Neo-Zeon Heavy Cruiser *Rheingold*] "Lock onto the nearest Lond Bell ship and launch the MS!" the officer ordered, locking himself onto the bridge chair. "Launching now, sir, we've got a lock on the *Agama II* and...., shit! *Tomahawk* is launching now her MS now and turning to engage," the tactical officer replied. "Fire everything! Engage the *Agama II*, tell the MS to stop the MS from the *Tomahawk*, avoid catching the Fuhrer in the crossfire! Get going!" the officer yelled. "Firing now! Beam cannons are firing...." the tactical officer replied, as sixteen beam cannon shots lanced from the *Rheingold*'s cannons. [Babylon 5] [C&C] "Oh shit," Ivanova replied. Just as the crews were boarding their Starfuries, the Neo-Zeon ship's cannons erupted in a hail of fire. By the time the hangers were depressurized and doors opened, the second Lond Bell ship exploded suddenly, without firing a shot. The nearest Lond Bell ship had it's MS launching by the time the Starfuries were deployed for launch and released. "Zeta Wing, stay the hell out of that cross-fire!" "Yes, ma'am," the current leader of Zeta Wing replied, "hell, that thing's a slaughter out there." "I can see that," Sheridan replied. As they watched, the Dragonstriker landed on the Neo-Zeon cruiser, which was turning and firing at the same time. The MS were evenly matched, with what appeared to be some kind of remote weapons in the battle as well. Keffer's Prometheus had broken off and was trying to defend the second Lond Bell ship, which had taken a number of hits. As they watched, the MS on both sides broke off to return to the individual ships. "All Starfuries, keep them apart! Commander, what's the status on that comm link?" Ivanova was tapping her board, looking at it curiously. "Give me a minute or two, we'll be able to talk to the Lond Bell ship that's left." "Very well, then. Captain Simmons, I want you to get your ship out there to keep everyone away until we get things settled. Commander Ivanova, re-direct traffic around that area to prevent any problems. Until then, I'm going to have to figure out what to say to the crew of that ship," Sheridan noted. [Neo-Zeon Heavy Cruiser *Rheingold*] [Main Bridge] Rings of "Sieg Zeon! Sieg Zeon!" ringed through the hallways as Char and Cima floated up to the bridge. As the two arrived, the Captain replied, "Welcome back, my Fuhrer!" "I am glad to be back. This is Cima Ashani, she is going to be my executive officer and.... wait a minute, where is Captain Eva Newler?" Char realized. "Her?" the Captain replied, smiling, "She didn't want to help you. We had to....encourage her to leave the bridge. Something about not breaking her word to the Lond Bell bastard Bright Noah." "I see....," Char mulled over that statement, then asked, "What did she promise to Bright Noah?" "To not rebel against him until we got back to the Earth Sphere, sir. Of course, she wasn't going to follow your orders as long as we were here! That's why I had her removed." "So, you were the one...." Char answered him, "Very well, then. You two," he pointed to two men near the door, "take this man to his quarters, for his trial for mutiny." "But, sir," the Captain blustered, trying to make a point. "You ask why I want you dead? I would rather have a honest man who disobeyed me than a loyal mutineer. Eva was a honest woman who would keep her word, even against me. You are a loyal mutineer. Now take him away," Char replied, as the two burly men hauled him off. "I am going to retire to the Captain's quarters. Cima, I leave you in command," Char ordered, as he floated down the hallways. "Don't just sit there! Full thrust to Axics, and don't stop for a moment!" Cima ordered, pointing starward. [Lond Bell Heavy Cruiser *Tomahawk*] [Bridge] "How bad?" Wright asked. "Secondary engine blocks are dead, sir. We've got half power, and that's if we kill power to the weapons. Sorry, sir, we're going to be stuck here for a while," Engineering replied. "Very well, then," Wright noted, and turned off his comm link. "Any ideas?" "Maybe we should talk to that station," Eva replied. "What about it, Tactical?" Wright asked. "We've got the translation protocols established, sir. I'll set up the link now," Tactical replied. A few seconds, then the main monitor flared, to reveal what looked like some kind of bridge deck on a ship. The uniforms were odd, but it looked like the wearers were human. "This is Earth Alliance Space Station Babylon 5," the man standing in front of a woman and another man replied, "I am Captain Sheridan, and you?" Wright pulled himself up as well as one could in zero-G and said, "Captain Sheridan, this is Captain Benjamin Wright, commanding officer of the EFM Heavy Cruiser *Tomahawk*, serving under Lond Bell. As by the request of my superior officers, I wish to request your assistance." "Very well, we'll send a shuttle out to pick you up. Welcome to Babylon 5," Captain Sheridan replied. [End of Episode 2] ------------------------------------------------------------ Mobile Suit Gira Doga The Gira Doga is the standard Mobile Suit used by Char's Neo-Zeon army; it's appearance is very reminiscent of the classic Zaku. Of a production run of 82 Gira Dogas, about ten are the antenna-equipped command version. This command version has no better performance edge over the regular version, but it does pack a better machine gun. During the General War, the Gira Doga was soon replaced by the Rig Shokalu and the Minovski-drive equipted Gaza-E for the Neo-Zeon forces. Model Number:AMS-119 Head Height:20.0 m Dry Mass:23.0 t Full Mass:50.8 t Power Generator:2160 kW Rocket Thrusters:14000 kg x2 13000 kg x2 Apogee Motors:15 Sensor Range:16400 m Armor:Titanium/ceramic composite Equipment:Beam Machine Gun x1 Beam Machine Gun Energy Pack x2 Beam Sword-Axe x1 Grenade Launcher x4 Strum faust x4 Optional Equipment:Grenade Launcher x1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Space Fighter Starfury The standard fighter of Earth Alliance, Babylon 5 has four flights of twelve fighters. Considered one of the best over- all fighters in known space(Minbari Jellyfish are more agile, but not as well armed; Narn Ks'Npra are faster but lack 3D maneuvering ability), the Starfury comes in three types, or "weights". The first is the standard Starfury, which has one pilot and carries merely two particle beam cannons. The second is the Strike version, which has two gunners, two remote particle beam turrets, and sixteen missiles. The third is the costly, and rare "Black Omega" stealth Starfury, which has a Minbari-derived stealth system in addition to a larger reactor and two more particle-beam cannons. Babylon 5 has the standard Starfury, and this is later replaced by the Hellfury, then the Pathfinder. Note that the unit can really only use four thrusters at a time for flight, but all others can be used to maneuver. Model Number:SA-23E Wing Length:5 m Body Length:2 m Dry Mass:12 t Full Mass:20 t Power Generator:2500 kW Rocket Thrusters:10000 kg x16 Apogee Motors:20 Sensor Radius:25000 m Armor:Titanium/ceramic composite Equipment:Particle Beam Cannon x2, fixed and fire-linked Grapnel x2 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Exo-Armor Prometheus An experimental unit developed in the latter days of the Earth-Minbari War, the Prometheus was a part of Operation Supernova, an effort to build a better fighter for the Earth Alliance. Based on the idea of the "Giant Robot", the Prometheus has a variety of weapons, from the multi-mode plasma interface (which can be used for both ranged engagement and close-range combat), and particle beam rifle, the Prometheus has, as well, the Storm Attacker system, which supplements the Prometheus' weapons with 80 missiles, two heavy particle beam cannons, a scatter-laser cannon, and two close-range combat claws. Control was provided by the Cyberlink Activated by Thoughts, or CAT system. Only one Prometheus was ever built and would later be upgraded to the Prometheus Mk. II later on in the General War. Model Number:EAX-C1 Prometheus Head Height:16.2 m(20.8m with Storm Attacker) Dry Mass:38.5 t(49.1 t with Storm Attacker) Full Mass:64.1 t(81.8 t with Storm Attacker) Powerplant:3506 kW(8652 kw with Storm Attacker Generator) Main Thrusters:9157 kg x14(+9 with Storm Attacker) Apogee Motors:25(+12 with Storm Attacker) Armor:Titanium/Ceramic composite with diamond monofilament reinforcement. Equipment:Plasma Interface x2 Plasma Lance x2 Particle Beam Rifle x1 Optional Equipment:Storm Attacker Package- Heavy Particle Beam Cannons x2 ESS-1 Missiles x80 Laser Scatter Gun x1 Combat Claws x2