Babylon 5, I've Found Her Project Related Stories

[saradsmejem]

“Babylon 5: I’ve Found Her” storyline covers the events of over a thousand years starting with the last Great War against the Shadows.

Nirann’s sleeplessness is just the beginning of this story. However, the actual beginning lies in the much more distant past.

It lies in the legendary times of Shadow Uprising, about one thousand years ago. The young races, united by the great Minbari leader Valen and with the help of Vorlons, who appeared before them like the ancient gods of light and justice, defeated the Shadows, the dark enemy. After that, for the thousand of years, the Minbari lived in peace and prosperity as never before. But Valen himself has been restless and often traveled from star to star, as if looking for something.

Even feeling lonely and lost, he was not alone. There were the others who followed him through darkness and fire and kept the loyalty and devotion to him. Rashok from the Warrior Caste, who dreamt about the honorable death and failed to fulfill it. Nukenn of the Religious Caste, whose faith in Valen has died once and then has been reborn again. A strange gloomy Zathras, mysterious in everything but his devotion to the One. Ramde Zarwin of Tak’Cha, banished for pride and terrible crimes, committed by Valen’s name. Virenna, rejected by her own caste and accepted by Valen regardless of anything and anyone. Sinevar, a mighty warrior, who managed in the end to finish the battle he started long before, and few others.

Not all of them lived long enough to see how lonely was the greatest of the Minbari in the end of his days. By the time, Rashok has gone to the sea of stars, Zarwin was banished long ago, Virenna accepted death to return her good name, and faithful Zathras, who seemed to be sturdy as machine, died because he was old even when Valen himself was young. Just Nukenn and Sinevar remained beside him. They followed him in his wanderings, but no one knew the goal of it. Once, Sinevar didn't come back from one of such deep space trips, and Valen has become even more secluded and his journeys ceased as well.

Nine hundred years later, five years after the end of Earth-Minbari War, the Earthforce, barely recovering from the terrible defeat, struggled awfully against the chaos on their space lines. The raider groups were powerful, numerous, well armed and organized to even challenge the regular army.

No political or commercial interest crossed in the neutral sector 318, distant and unimportant. But many popular trade lines were coming through this sector, so the reports about raising Raider activity in the area were not surprising.

To restore order in the sector EAS Perseus, one of the newest Omega-class destroyers built after the Minbari War, has been dispatched there. Though the destroyer of such class is usually capable of carrying two full squadrons of fighters, this time there was only one squadron onboard. The Earthforce Command planned to send the second squadron to rendezvous with the destroyer just few days later. Commander Richard Kelly, 34 years old veteran of Minbari War was given a special assignment — to lead the Alpha Squadron into battle. For all three years of war he has managed to avoid seeing the attacking Minbari warcruiser, but the instinctive horror remained somewhere in the depths of his soul forever…

Shadow Uprising

[5882341236239999911096820329323]...Coded transmission

From Virenna to Shi Alyt Sinevar

“Greetings, Shi Alyt. This transmission is encrypted, so you can be sure that no one else is going to read it. I am making this report in a hurry because we don’t want to abuse Valen with our presence longer than necessary. As the last four survivors from Rathor’s squadron, we owe him enough already. He also agreed to send this report back to you, Shi Alyt, to let you know about our current status. So, I’m reporting that Rathor, Newall, Lintor and Nizann are dead and their ships destroyed. The other four pilots are in good shape, and their fighters operational after minor servicing, kindly provided by the Rangers. I am very sorry about Rathor; I know he was a friend of yours, so please accept my sincere condolences.

Three days ago we discovered a Shadow scout vessel near the border world of Tunai. We tracked it for two days, as Rathor reported earlier, but in the end it suddenly disappeared without a trace. Soon afterwards, two war cruisers of the Wire Wings clan, Ovilann and Takhai, were attacked and destroyed by two Shadow warcruisers supported by several fighter groups. It happened exactly in our area of operation. However, a few pilots from the destroyed warships managed to report the enemy presence before they were vaporized. We received their distress call and entered the system by Rathor’s order, observing all necessary precautions. We arrived too late, of course; there were no survivors.

And then we saw it. Huge, black and hideous. This creature of horror waited for us, we heard its victorious scream in our minds. In that moment we all knew we were doomed, and prepared to die. But suddenly it released something that looked like a dense spiked ball of black, turned around and disappeared into hyperspace the way the Shadows do. Suddenly, the ball separated into a few dozens of the infamous Shadow fighters, that attacked us from all directions at once. I think the enemy decided that the fighters could kill us without the help of their mothership.

There were eight of us in the squadron, but a few minutes later there were five. We called for help immediately after the enemy’s arrival, but no-one believed that our request would be heard. We fought desperately and killed two of these black fighters, but there were too many of them — at the beginning of the battle my ship’s computer displayed twenty-four hostile marks. Rathor had ordered to concentrate on evasive maneuvers, and to try to retreat to the jumpgate. That was his last order; his ship was cut off by four enemy fighters and destroyed. But he showed a lot of bravery and managed to take two of them with him. Now we understood the enemy’s tactics — to kill us one by one. I took command of the squadron after Rathor’s death, and ordered everyone to regroup and follow me. And then happened something that we had all hoped for.

Three large jumppoints opened above us, and three Minbari warcruisers jumped in. Valen and his Rangers joined the fight. They piloted the most unusual fighters I’ve ever seen. Their engines seemed to be non-gravitic, but their maneuverability was beyond imagination, which, combined with standard fighter beams, made them extremely dangerous. I saw three Shadow fighters destroyed by one of these craft in less than ten seconds! Unfortunately, no one was willing to tell me anything about it, except for the fact that these ships were made by our allies. If it’s true, then maybe there’s a hope for the end of this war.

After the battle, Valen invited us to be his guests, and we agreed, because we were tired and our ships required some repair. A few minutes later we were on board the Aya, one of the cruisers. The Rangers treated us with great respect and reverence that surprised and pleased us all. Valen himself came to us when we left the system. He apologized for the late arrival that cost our squadron so much. He seemed very dejected despite the last victory. I assured him that he and his Rangers did all they could to save us, which was true, but I don’t really think it did make it any easier for him.

Now Aya is on its way to the Rangers’ base of operations, but they will drop us somewhere from where we can return to Ne’Sha. We’ll join you soon, Shi Alyt.”

— Virenna

End of coded transmission...[5882341236239999911096820329323]


Nirann’s Sleeplessness

June 2, 2254
The City of Sorrows, Minbar

“City of Sorrows is not the right name for such a beauty”, — tiredly thought Nirann, admiring the sight of crystalline buildings of Tuzanor through the half-opened window. Their shiny walls appeared to be made of glass, with the dark sky in the background, filled with rare fluffy clouds lit by the sun from under the horizon. The sleeping city didn't look sad, it looked like a focus of peace, order, silence and the mighty hidden power, which recently was released by the impudent young race. They paid a terrible price for that mistake.

It was quite dark in the Nirann’s room, and glowing computer screen was the only one source of light, spilling the strange blue sparkles on the dull grey walls decorated with plenty of shiny crystals. On a small polished three-cornered desk sat a pile of ancient-looking scrolls. Nirann was seated by the desk, a look of exhaustion hung upon her. If only it weren’t for the magnificent panorama, she would have succumbed to her fatigue much earlier. It hindered her, she could not sleep but to gaze upon its beauty.

Not looking away from the window she reached for a carved cup which contained a herbal tea, her favorite, but missed and the cup fell down to the floor with a dull sound, splitting into a thousand shiny pieces and leaving the precious tea on the floor in a shapeless green puddle. Nirann sighed, she was too weak to collect the pieces and sweep the floor. She wasn’t even sure if she had enough strength to reach the bed. Of course, it was a beautiful cup — a gift from her friends and colleagues. And the tea was very expensive… But it didn’t matter now. Tomorrow would be the most decisive day in her whole life. And not so short a life… She had a goal to reach and no time to worry about such insignificant things like broken ware.

A black silhouette moved in the shadows behind her, the door had opened, but Nirann didn’t turn around, she knew very well who was the one who would visit her in this hour of night. A tall man stepped through the doorway, light from the room outside illuminated his white religious caste robe. Nirann wasn’t even concerned when the man walked over and put his hand gently on her shoulder.

“Couldn’t sleep, Nirann?” — he asked with a concerned tone.

“Yes,” — she answered motionlessly, still looking out the window.

“That dream again?”

“Yes.”

The man shook his head disappointedly, but suddenly young and mischievous smile lit up his face. He had to say something encouraging, had to lift her spirits, make her a little more talkative.

“I always thought my daughter was a historian, not a dream weaver…” — he said half-jokingly. “I can’t believe I was wrong…”

These words made her smile, finally, but that weak smile was only the sign of exhaustion.

“We must understand the meaning of our dreams to better understand ourselves,” — she said, barely audible. “I believe those are your words, father…”

“Yes, mine. But now you should think not of the dreams about the past, but of you’re future. I don’t think it would be wise to fall asleep during your meeting with Satai tomorrow… And you won’t be able to dream about the beings of light anymore… You’re going to see nightmares… Only…”

“I cannot sleep,” — she replied weakly. “Not now…”

He shrugged and sat down beside her, still smiling. When his studying sight stopped upon the glowing computer panel, he leaned closer, looking carefully at the perfectly sharp picture. A few seconds later he turned his face to his daughter, trying to catch her sight. But her grey eyes, like his, were dimmed by the veil of tiredness, hiding her emotions. “I’ll have to push through,” — he thought.

“A star map? You’re studying star maps, why?”

Nirann sighed quietly and closed her eyes with her palm.

“I need some information,” — her voice was even and lifeless.

“Interesting. I’m beginning to suspect that you’ve got something in your mind… Does it have anything in common with tomorrow’s visit? As far as I know these sectors are in the Earth space…”

“Not anymore,” — she snorted with the sudden surge of icy contempt.

“But the humans are patrolling them now,” — reasonably objected her father. “There’s no use of these sectors to anyone except for them, so now they are under their jurisdiction.”

Nirann maliciously snorted even louder.

“What patrolling, father? They don’t have a fleet after the Line. There are only pirates and marauders on their space lines, they can barely defend their own planet!”

“But they build new ships,” — he said softly. “Didn’t you see them yet?”

Suddenly, Nirann’s eyes sparkled with kind and cheerful light, her father mentally gave his praise to the universe for such a remarkable change. This time she spoke with sarcasm.

“No, how could I see them, I'm just a dream weaver…”

Father has burst out laughing, and Nirann embraced him and buried her face on his chest. Her shoulders shook slightly with laughter, and it finally dispersed all remains of misunderstanding and awkwardness.

“Sometimes I even feel pity for your husband-to-be,” — he noted with the slight inflection of malice. “Because sometimes the Warrior Caste seems to be the true calling of your heart. So, it is… Nirann?” He called, not seeing any reaction from her. He knew he deserved a good and definitely not Religious punch in the ribs by joking like this with her, but she did nothing — she slept, her arms wrapped around his neck, like in unbelievable times so many years ago, when he dangled her in his arms.