From: Nicodemus Hunter Subject: Battleground of Existence, prolouge Date: Mon, 16 Jun 1997 22:22:42 -0500 Hello everyone. This is going to be my first post to B5 creative. I've been working on this story for a while now, and this is the result. This is going to be a Babylon 5/Star Trek/Star Wars/my own creations and whatever else I can fit into crossover. I got the idea after reading Jonathan Souza's story "Breaking the Consensous". I can promise you this is gonna be totally different than what he's doing right now. I can give you only one warning: NOTHING is as what it seems. You have been warned. Leagal stuff: Babylon 5, Star Trek, and Star Wars are not owned by me, nor are they my creation. They are owned and copyrighted by there respective companies. However, everything else that is in this story is my sole creation, and I retain all the respective copyrights to them. btw: in my stories, there will be some vilonce, swearing, and some rather sensual scenes, but nothing too graphic. And now, to the past. Nicodemus Hunter nicodemus@i-55.com ****** Battleground Of Existence Prolouge "Challenge the heavens, and assail the affrightened stars!" -unknown Nicodemus Hunter gazed out in satisfaction at the work that he had done over the past two years. All of it, all of the work, and preporations, finished. *For the future.* He thought. There was only a few last things to do before he could go. Sealing the chambers, activating the defense systems, all the nessacary systems for the wait. All of that completed, Hunter gazed out, and knew that there was only one thing to do. "Go." He said. "Speed well," And with a flash of light, a bending of space, and she was gone, sent to carry out the last of all of it. Well, maybe not the last. With all his work done, Hunter knew he could finally rest. Activating the last of the systems to be shut down, he felt time, space, and dimensions swirl and bend around him, as the room he was in before disappeared. Somewhere else, some _when_ else, a brief flash of light, and Hunter stood, in a place where he had not stood before. Gazing up at the stars, he could see the constellations. "Ursa Minor." He wispered. "Orion." Gazing into the infinate stars, he though about what he had done. What *would* be done. "For the Future." He silently mouthed, as he walked into the silent night. *----* Sent out on a mission, to fulfill at all cost, she flew. Using a power, power she had not used before, and hopefully never would again, she sought out the thing she was searching for. She found it. Using the energies she controlled, she wrapped herself tightly around it. And pulled. *----* Damn, fuck, _Sal'tasnon!_ Nicodemus Hunter knew that this could *not* be happening to him. He knew, that there was no way in 9 hells, that this could be happening. But it was. One minuete he was cheaking on the server, making sure everything ran smoothly, or else his ass was on the line, and then *this* happened. He couldn't tell *what* was happpening, only that there was some crazy power surge running through the server like crazy. He didn't know what to do. He looked franticly around, trying to find something to do, when he saw the power cord. *yes, yes, that'll stop it!* Some part of his mind seemed to be say. *Pull the cord! Pull the cord!* Leaping from his desk, Hunter bounded across the room, reaching for the cord. Right before he could pull it, he heard, most strangly, a rushing sound, a roar. He looked up. ****** Questions, comments, critics, and concerns, please e-mail me. Believe me, I need them. -- "Drawing myself up, I drew the Nicodemus Hunter darkness around me like a cloak nicodemus@i-55.com and sild silently into the articus@geocities.com night..." www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/9409/ -The Hunter to the Prey, "Silent Thoughts" God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time. -- Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, "Good Omens" From: Nicodemus Hunter Subject: Battleground of Existence, Chapter One Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 23:49:30 -0500 Hello everyone. This is going to be my first post to B5 creative. I've been working on this story for a while now, and this is the result. This is going to be a Babylon 5/Star Trek/Star Wars/my own creations and whatever else I can fit into crossover. I got the idea after reading Jonathan Souza's story "Breaking the Consensous". I can promise you this is gonna be totally different than what he's doing right now. I can give you only one warning: NOTHING is as what it seems. You have been warned. Leagal stuff: Babylon 5, Star Trek, and Star Wars are not owned by me, nor are they my creation. They are owned and copyrighted by there respective companies. However, everything else that is in this story is my sole creation, and I retain all the respective copyrights to them. btw: in my stories, there will be some vilonce, swearing, and some rather sensual scenes, but nothing too graphic. And now, to the future. Nicodemus Hunter nicodemus@i-55.com ****** Battleground of Existence. Part one-The Shadow War Chapter one-The Gathering "In our time of greatest dispair, a savior shall be brought. He will bear with our greatest soul, and our greatest name. And he will lead us out of the Darkness." -The Tommorrow Phrophetess Kara. "God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time." -Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, "Good Omens" "If you can't take a little bloody nose maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. Its not safe out here. Its wonderous. With treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But its not for the timid". -Q Time was non-existent. Instead of me flying through time, time seemed to fly through me. Space distorted, and reality seemed to turn itslef on ear as it tried to cope to what was happeneing to one of its inhabitents. Time and space seemed to part before me as I rushed headlong into the void, as I seemed to accelerate in whatever void I was traveling through. My senses tried to make some sense of what they were being assualted with. Hot, cold, smells that seem to pass by in a second and seemed to go on forever. One minuete, I couldn't feel my body, then the next I couldn't feel my head as the strains of this realm took its toll on me. But the next thing I knew quite well. Before I could do anything, I felt myself hit something with a sickening *thud*. Much to my relief, I found I could see, feel, and hear normally now. But I was even more confused than before. What the hell had happened? And where the hell was I? From what I could see I was lying in a metal hallway. I was still trying to figure out where I was first before I tried to move, Another flash appeared right over me, and then a mass of limbs fell right one top of me. I let out a small grunt of pain as the person, obviously a she, picked herself up off me. "Oh man, I'm sorry. Are you okay?", She said, as she offered me her hand. Hoping I was allright, I accepeted it, and hauled myself off the floor, and I got a good look at who had fell on me. She was about 17 or so, with sholder length reddish-brown hair. Hers eyes were a emerald green color, but they had small speacks of red around the corona, indicating a not-quite-human ancestry. I don't know why, but I could tell then and there that this was a person not to be toyed with or retribution would be met in hellfire. "Yeah, I'm okay." I then took my first good look around, and then did a double take when I saw the sign on the wall, showing a Babylon 5 creast. Moaning softly, I put my hand to my temple and begain to massage it, trying to digest this information. "What is this place?" She asked. She too, was looking around. "I think it's a place called Babylon 5. At least, I think it is." I said. I looked at her. "Who are you, by the way, and how did you get here?" "The name is Ayesha. And I don't know how I got here. I was practicing the lightsaber with Master Skywalker when I suddenly fell on you." I looked down, and sure enough, she had a lightsaber in her hand. She then cliped it to her belt, and let it hang there. Then my mind caught up with this. Master Skywalker? Lightsaber? Wait a minutue! "You're a jedi, aren't you?" I said to Ayesha. She laughed. "I wish. I'm a jedi trainee, from the Acadamy on Yavin Four." "And that is your lightsaber?" I asked. "Yes." She replied. "Hey, I don't even know your name." "Hunter. Nicodemus Hunter. Call me Hunter." I replied. I was about to ask her a few more questions when a sound prompted me to look over my shoulder. Standing a few feet away from me and Ayesha were a group of men miling about. And I could tell they were not very nice. Infact, they looked abit like lurkers. "Ummm." Said Ayesha. "Hunter, do you know these people?" "Nope." I replied. I was slowly backing away as they adavnced. "Ah." She replied. "That's not good, is it?" Before I could reply, the men rushed me. Ayesha ignited her lightsaber, but the man to rushed her and grabed her hands and held, Ayesha struggling to get him to release his grip. I moved with almost in-human speed as the first man to rush me was tossed over my sholders. Moving with reflexes I didn't know I possesed, My foot made contact with the other lurker, and he flew back. I ducked a swing from another, and belted him in the stomach. I then felt both my arms being restrained as the man I had tossed over my sholder, now fully recovered. The others advanced me, and then... ...something happened. Something, which at the time, I didn't know what. I could feel myself struggling, trying to twist out of his grasp, but he held on tight with non-human strength. If I hadn't know better, I would have sworn that he was a Narn. Ayesha was still struggling, her assailant possesing near-inhuman strength. The others began to advance. I knew I had to do something. What happened next I would never forget. Through the struggling, I could feel something awakening inside me, as if a light had been turned on in a dark corner of my mind or a part of my brain had been asleep and had been awakened by the struggling. A brilliant flash of white light half blinded me, and the next thing I knew I saw was a wave of energy strike out at all of them, somehow missing Ayesha, an they all crumpled to the floor, there strings cut. I slowly looked around, trying to gather what the hell happened. "What was that?" Asked Ayesha when she finally caught her breath. "I would defianatly say that they attacked us." I replied, breathing hard from the struggle. "No, I don't mean that." Said Ayesha. "I mean, what was that flash." I was about to say "I don't know" when a man tapped me on the sholder. I turned around and was confronted with a man in what could only be a earth allaince uniform. Great. I was getting rather pissed, haveing some arrivied on Babylon 5 and then immeadiatly *attacked*. So I was not in a good mood. "Yes?" I asked sharply. "Sir?" Said the man. "What are you doing here? I was about to point out that I had just been attacked when I looked at were the men who attacked me lay. Or atleast, were they had laid. They weren't there anymore. I immeadiatly thought that they had run away, but this security man would have noticed that. I didn't have any alternative, so I bluffed. "Actually, I'm lost, I lost my id, and I can't find my cabin. Do you think you could help me?" "Just a moment." Said the man. "Put your hand on the scanner." Hell, I've got nothing to lose. I put my hand on the scanner. He looked at it, then put it away. "Could you come with me, sir?" "Why?" I asked. Ayesha was right behind me. "Hunter, who is that guy?" "We have your stuff in the secrity office. If you will follow me..." I sighed. Why not? So, motioning Ayesha to follow, we followed him to the security office. "Hey Chief?" Said Zack. "They finaly found the owner of the box in the garden. The guys bringing them in." "Hmmm." Said Garibaldi. He would be the first person to admit that he liked myteries, but ones that were literally impossible to solve were ones that he hated. Like the box now ontop of his desk, that he stared at. The damdest thing, found on day in the Zocalo, had to get a damn welding crew to lift it from the floor. "They?" Asked Garibaldi when he relized what Zack had said. "Yea, the guy who found him said he had a girl with him, around 17, red hair." He noticed Garibaldi looking at the box. "Maybe we can find out who put the damn thing here." "Yea. I hope." Said Garibaldi, breaking himself out of his reverie. "If there isn't something I hate more, its *another* unsolved mystery to spring up around this place." "Well, you finally came here to claim this thing," Garibaldi told me. Ayesha had come with me to the security office. Garibaldi looked at her. If this got around to a discussion on what who I am, things were going to get really interesting really fast. "Ok, what is this 'thing' you want me to claim exactly?" I said. "You mean you don't know? Great, we find the owner of the box, only to find out he dosn't know what I'm talking about." Garibaldi walked over to what I geussed to be the box. It looked like a cheast with a scannering surface, and attcahed where 4 data crystals to the top. I walked over, and placed my hand on the top of the cheast. The lip poped, but wouldn't budge any further. Then a thought occured to me. "Ayesha, come over here and put you hand on top of this cheast?" "Sure." She replied. She then put her hand on the top of the cheast, and it poped open all the way. Just what I thought. Duel hand print lock, with no obvious scanner pressent except for the *smart* skin on the box itself. "Say, Garibaldi, could we use a table to spread this stuff out?" I asked. "Sure" He replied. I took on of the council tables to get everything listed and orginized. Then, using a padd, I listed the contents of the cheast. (1) A Black over coat. (1) Formal change of clothes, underwear and everything. (1) Semi-formal change of clothes, underwear and everything. (4) Casual sets of clothes that looked like a black jumpsuit, underwear and everything. (1) Set of male toiletries, soap, shampoo, shaving razor, cologne, and deodorant. (1) A Sentinel Battle Armor Suit. (4) Changes of clothing for Ayesha, a full set of jumpsuits like mine, only multi-colored, underwear and all. (1) Set of female toiletries, soap, shampoo, makeup, and such. (1) Package of data crystals, four of them with a grease-pencil number on each of them. (1) A lightsaber. It wasn't a usual lightsaber. This lightsaber was a type of meatel that was silver-colored. I didn't know why the hell it was doing in there. The buttons also looked like something out of Star Trek rather than Star Wars, because they looked alot like the control panels from the *Enterprise-D*. I could also see what looked like a slider, witch probably meant it contained three jewels in the focusing lenses. A very nice piece of work. (1) A bag that contain the under the arms holseter for a set of plasma guns that where also in the bag, plus spaces for cartridge changes. In it where a collection of plasma charges. (1) Another black bag that contained a type II phaser, along with spare baterry packs. (3) A black robe for me. (3) A dark blue robe for Ayesha. Garibaldi looked at the crystals, and he said, "Wonder what's on these?" "Let's find out. Where's the data port?" I asked. When Garibaldi showed it to me, I put the first crystal in, which glowed slightly. However, the screen remain blank. Instead, a deep, fatherly voice began speaking. "Hello Hunter." The Voice Said. "If you are listening to this, Then you and Ayesha have arrived on Babylon 5 as planed." Garibaldi looked at me, but I shrugged helplessly. "I can assure you, you are as much a part as this universe a Sheridan and Garibladi. Whatever you do, whatever you tell them, will be on your head. So you don't have to worry about altering the flow of History." The voice paused, then continued. "In the trunk, You will find everything that you and Ayesha will need. "The first crystal contain records and Accomendation for you and Ayesha. The other two contain...other things. The first you can geuss, but you'll probably be off. The second, you'll never even get close. "In the pocket of the black coat contains ID chips for you and Ayesha. I've also set up a allowance of about six thousand credits a month, and I did get you a food service account. "Hunter, Besides this, I just wanted to say, good luck. In the next few months, you're gonna need a hell of a lot of it. I hope you suceed." The voice paused, then I hear a just barely audiable sigh. "And if you don't, well, the universe doesn't deserve to live anyway." As the image clicked off, everyone was looking at me like I had suddenly transformed into Medusa. "Would you mind explaining what the hell's going on? What the hell does he mean about altering the flow of history," Garibaldi said. "You better sit down, Garibaldi. Its a long story. Its one of those stories." He sat down. "This entire place, this entire universe is a TV show creates by J. Micheal Straczyncki, and made in both computer animations and on the set of Warner Brothers Studios. You are an actor by the name of Jerry Dolye. Ayesha is a charachter from a series of books that I read. But, here, in this universe, its all real, just as I'm real to you or Her." "Really?" Garibaldi replied, dripping with sarcasm, "then tell me something that someone from 'TV', as you put it,would know." I looked at him. "You're sure?" "Either you're lying or this is some really sadistic joke. You know something, what is it?" Garibaldi answered. I started thinking. What the hell could I tell him? His second Favorite thing? No, that was this episode, I think. Just when in the B5 timeline was I in? Allright, let's try this. "How long has Commander Sinclair been on Minbar?" "About a year? Why do you...." "Were you visited by someone who works for him? A Ranger? The Ranger was carrying a message from Sinclair that told you to watch out for shadows, they move when your not looking, and..." I was ready to go on, but Garibaldi stood up and was staring at me. "How do you know all of this? I haven't told anyone anything about this!" Garibaldi was yelling, his hand on his PPG. He's ticked off. Perfect. "Do you really want me to go on? Look, I'm telling the truth. You don't have that much of a choice. You either believe me or you don't. If you don't, then you can throw us both out the airlock. If you do, then, well, we're both gonna go see what quarters someone seems to have gotten us. Now, if you'll excuse us... As I started to pack up the stuff in the box to take with me, Garibaldi put his hand on my right arm, "Ok, look, I don't want to believe you but I do. And I want you to do one thing." "What?" I asked. "Don't breathe a word of what you know to anyone. This is strange enough and you might know too damn much...." Garibaldi had followed me to my quarters. He and I strolled in while Ayesha cheacked out her own quarters. "Nice furniture." He said. "Thanks." I went over and looked in the fridge."Do you want anything? Coke, tea, water?" "No,just a social call." He looked around. "Look, can you tell me what that cylinder is hanging on Ayesha's belt?" "That, Garibaldi, is a lightsaber." "A light-what?" "A lightsaber. She is a trainee of a part of a orginization called the Jedi Knights. She is basicly a jedi-in-training and somehow ended up here while she was being taught one of her lessons." I strolled over to the box and withdrew the lightsaber. "This is a lightsaber. Each jedi, when reaching a certain piont in training, is taught how to build a lightsaber. The build each one to fit themselves. And for some reason, I have one." I still didn't know why the thing was in there. But I decided to try it out. I pointed the end away from me so it wouldn't slice anything in half when I activated it, and pressed the button. A shaft of white-colored energy came out of the end, and extened to full length. I put it in a two handed grip, closed my eyes, and began to _feel_ the lightsaber. It handled very well. The grip, the controls, everything customed designed to the contors of my hand. I then began to move the blade with more confidence, and then, I went into a series of complicated manuvers that caused Garibaldi to duck when I swung the blade toward him. I then stopped, opened my eyes, and shut the blade off. Garibaldi was a little shaken. "Where the hell did *that* come from?" He asked as he got back in the chair. "I don't know." I replied. I gazed at the lightsaber know in my hand. I *knew* how I could handle it. How to fight. How to meditate. Don't ask me how, I just *knew*. "You aren't one of these Jedi Knights, are you?" Asked Garibaldi. "I'm not sure." I replied. I made a motion to put it back, but cancled in mid-motion and attached it to my belt. It felt surprisingly confortable, like it belonged there. "But what I would really like to know what these other rented rooms are for." I said, showing Garibaldi the two other rooms. "Well, one of them is a hangar bay,and the other is a cargo storage room. Both in blue section." He looked at me."You going to cheak them out tonight?" "It's tempting." I said. The a wave of weariness passes over me. "But right now, I'm gonna cook myself something, then I'm going to go to bed, and if I'm not back home tommorrow, I'll go cheak these places out." "Look, whatever you find, would you tell me? I'd like to figure out what's going on around here. Especially with two inter-dimensional travellers from God-knows-where," Garibaldi replied. "Done. Just one thing," I added. "What?" Garibaldi was looking at me curiously. "Do you really want to know what's going on here?" "Nope. But, either I figure out what's going on or we're going to be in a lot of trouble," Garibaldi replied, then walked to the door, "You know where to get in touch with me." "Of course," I replied. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to sleep. Whenever I'm nervous, or exited, I can't sleep. And I was both. So I was laying in bed, lights down just low enough to resemble a terrestrial full-moon night, thinking. A number of things were worring me. The first was the thought that I had not only myself to be responsible for, but Ayesha and possibly this station. The second was the hanger bay. If I actually need a Sentinal Battle Armor Suit, the only thing that would compare to that would be a Koda Gai'eth. But that was absurb. Only a telepath could bind and fully control a true Koda Gai'eth. And I wasn't a telepath. At least, I didn't think so. But then what was the hangerbay for? And there was the last tag end of the message I sent myself, "And if you don't, well, the universe doesn't deserve to live anyway." I *really hated* it when I left myself vague clues like that. And it left a lot of questions unanswered. Like, why did I have the lightsaber? What was in that hanger and storage locker? And why was Ayesha here? So I was lying there, trying to fall asleep. I probably succeeded, since next thing I knew, it was early morning. Ayesha had cooked breakfast, much to my surprise. "Is it good?" Ayesha asked me. "Yes. Very." I replied. "Good." She said. "Master Skywalker said I was good at 3 things. Jedi training, cooking, and fixing machines." "You're good with machines?" I asked. This was interesting. "Yep. It was a little hobbey that I picked up that grew to a big hobbey. I have found that its very useful to be able to fix a hyperdrive on the fly." "Interesting." I said. I then finished my breakfast. "Right now, I'm going to check out the hanger bay. Maybe there's a ship there for us." "Ok, Hunter. Should I stay here?" Ayesha asked me. "If you want to look around, go ahead, but stay in Blue Section and don't wander off with anyone." A thought occured to me. "By the way, how far were you in to your jedi training?" "Master Skywalker said that another 6 months I would have been ready to become a watchmen." She replied. I was impressed. She was probably only 17 or so but had almost become a jedi watchmen of a system. Very impressive indeed. "Impressive. Bye the way, keep your lightsaber handy but hidden." "No problem." Ayesha replied. She then looked at me."How long do you expect to be gone?" "I'll be back in plenty of time for lunch," I replied, putting together the plasma guns in there respective holsters. Then I slid on the black coat. I then attached the lightsaber to my belt, well hidden by the coat."But if I'm not back, don't wait up for me." "No problem," She said. "See you later, Ayesha. Take care." I said, and walked out the door. "Bye, Hunter." she said. It was an early morning, and Delenn liked to walk around in the Blue section before the stores opened. She liked to listen to all of the people setting up the stalls. Some of them had the first meals of the day and they liked her commentary. So it was a bit of a surprise when she saw a human girl walking around Blue section. As she observed the girl, she noted how she carried herself. This was no ordinary 17-year old girl. One thing that was odd was how she walked. The walk was that of a warrior. She had never seen that type of walk on a human, much less a 17 year old girl. Infact, it looked somewhat like the walk, the poise, that the Rangers carried themselves with. What could affect a human, even more surprising a child, to have that sort of arua surrounding her, the look of one old beyond her years? The second was that, as she watched her, Delenn noticed was how the girl took everything in. The gaze of the girl seemed to take in everything and everyone at once. Moreever, she seemed as if to observe the world with more than just her eyes. Then, the girl stiffened noticably, and turned to face her. "Hello." The girl said. "Hello" replied. Delenn. The girl continued to look at her. "Do I know you?" She asked. "No. My name is Delenn." Said Delenn. "My name is Ayesha." The now named girl said. Ayesha, Delenn though. That is a very unique name for a human. Ayesha continued to observe her. "Would you care to walk with me?" She asked. Delenn was surprised at this. This girl seemed much more mature than most adults she had met. "Yes, I would." Said Delenn. The two continued to walk along the Zocallo. The Delenn decided to ask, "Ayesha, If you wouldn't mind, may I ask you something?" "Of course, Delenn." Ayesha replied. "Why do you seem so mature?" Delenn asked. Ayesha smiled. "From were I come from, I can't afford to act anyother way." Delenn pondered this question. This was, indeed no ordinary Human girl. "I see." Delenn replied, not really seeing. "I would like to get you something to eat. Interested?" "Yes," Ayesha nodded. Delenn knew of a good place to have breakfast. Also, it was a good place to tell Lennier that she would be busy all day. "Well," I said, facing the door to the hanger bay, "Whoever put this thing here was one really paranoid bastard." When I had finally made it to the hanger bay, I had discovered that someone had rebuilt the door with a serious security mechanism. That meant triple redundancy of all locking mechanism, the door itself was four inches of solid duraniun/tritanium mixture, with a titanium coating. I knew that it would take a fucking type IV phaser rifle, heavy duty, to get through a door like that. And I knew that there had to be all sorts of nastiness for anyone trying to break in. Now, what the hell was in here that *someone* deemed nessecary to protect like this? The last door opened, easily giving me access to the compartment. I fumbled around and found the light switch. As the lights came on, I had to gasp. Sitting infront of me was a sight that I would never have though possibel, and it made me both delighted and utterly confused. Just in front of me was a shuttle of some type. But that wasn't important. The delighting and confusing part was sitting right behind it. Sitting, right behind runabout, was a fully armed, primed, Koda Gai'eth, with what looked not only like a full weapons complimant, but with additional weapons systems straped on, sitting neatly on the Bay floor in fighter mode. My first reaction was to just look at her. And believe me, a Koda Gai'eth is a very beautiful thing to see in person. The bay lights glinted of her matte black bio-armor hull. She had three main weapons clusters, one on top of her head, and the other two situated on the side. The weapons on the top looked like a collection of Gatlin cannons. The weapons clusters on the side were identical to each other. The main weapon had a very long barrel, almost as long as the fighter's main hull. Clustered around it were three other barrels, one slightly larger than the other two. I could place around three of the weapons systems, but the rest were unfamiliar. But why the hell was it here? I couldn't fly it, and I wasn't going to take the chance of getting in that thing. No way in hell. I valued my sanity to much. Reason being, the Koda technology was developed around a kind of symbiousis with its pilot. However, there were a few that were built that could only bind with a telepath, and then only if the telepath was as powerful as the Koda Gai'eth. If the telepath wasn't powerful enough, it was driven insane by the attempted binding. And, I didn't know what type class this was. There were only two classes that a "normal" could pilot, a *mal* and a *nuth*, the *nuth* class usually reserved for latent telepaths. I could see another item that was hanging on the wall. I walked over to it, and when I got with two meters of it, lights came on to illuminate it. Hanging from the wall was what was called a Koda Tu'car. A battle suit. Interesting. Hanging with it on the wall was the additional add-ons for the Koda Tu'car. I could see the Shoulder mount for the Sol Cannon, and the Gravity Drive add-on that would allow the Tu'car to fly. I turned around to get another look at the Koda Gai'eth. I had to admit that it looked beutiful. The graceful organic curves, the sleekness, yet with her weapon systems showing, beutifuly deadly. I was still lost in thought when a alarm bell went off in the back of my mind. Then I felt a vice-like clamp land on both arms. I twisted my head around to see the Tu'car firmly grapsing both arms. I tried to twist out its graps, but its hands were firmly locked. I watching in horror and facination as the segments of the armor begain to open up like a deadly flower. It pulled me inside itself, closing itself up like a cocoon. I tried to at least do something. "Activate Manual Control!" I screamed, but to no avail, and I watched as the suit, with me inside it, walk over toward the Koda Gai'eth and settle itself inside the cockpit. The Koda Tu'car and Gai'eth must be binded somehow, perhaps even made specially for each other, and the Tu'car was trying to fulfill its larger conterpart's programming by finding it a pilot. The Koda was going to Bind itself with me! I still twisted, trying *somehow* to get myself out of the suit. But I couldn't. I prepared for the surge of madness to course through my nuerons, totally frying my brain. I wondered dimly what it would feel like. My face was still clenched when I relized that I could still think coherent thoughts. I looked warily around, and wondered if I was insane. I didn't *feel* insane. *What happened?* I thought. *Neural symbiosis complete.* A voice in my mind said. *Neural connections engaged.* At the same time that I heard this, I could see the bay from the perspectives of the Koda 's sensors and cameras. *Who are you!?* I demanded mentally. *I am your Koda Gai'eth, Nicodemus Hunter.* The voice replied. *To be specific, I am the various organic processors that compromise the control systems for this Koda.* I slowly let out my breath that I had been holding. *What class Gai'eth are you?* I asked mentally. Sinse I wasn't driven insane by the sybiosis binding, I guessed that this was a *mal* class Gai'eth , or maybe a *nuth*. *I am a *gomei* class Gai'eth, Sir.* It anserwed. *WHAT!?!* I mentally screamed. This couldn't be a *gomei* class Koda Gai'eth, or the power over load would have cooked my neurons when it tried to bind. I had to be insane. Maybe I was, and just imagining this conversation. Insane people couldn't bind with a Gai'eth , or the Gai'eth itself would be driven insane itself by the experince. *You're mistaken. There is no way you could be a *gomei* class Gai'eth and we're still having a conversation. I'm not *that* powerful a telepath.* Hell, I wasn't even sure I *was* a telepath. *I am sorry sir,* Gai'eth replied, *But I am a *gomei* class.* (continued, next post) --------------- MESSAGE b5-creative.v001.n435.4 --------------- From: Nicodemus Hunter Subject: Battleground Of Existence, Chapter one Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 23:50:06 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit (Continued from last post) I sighed. Or at least, I think I did. It was hard to tell when one was binded in a symbiosis with a Gai'eth, regardless of the class. But anyway, the main point was that I wasn't insane. *I doesn't matter.* I replied. *Can you tell me what you can do?* I asked. When I asked this, a hologram appeared in the cockpit in front of me. It was unusual, because I could just sense the other points of perspective that the binding with Gai'eth allowed, just hovering in the background. Concentrating, I turned my attention to the hologram of the Koda Gai'eth fighter hovering. It twisted and turned, as I saw the fighter from all angles, as the voice spoke in my head: *We are a multi-porpose combat unit, designed primarily for space assualt. Our methods of inter-stellar travel are allowed by the use of the gravity drive to create gravity portals to accelerate us past the Light barrier. *Our weapon systems include multiple capabilities. Our main heavy weaponry is two Heavy Assualt Short-Range Rail Gun. Our energy weapons consist of two Heavy Sol Cannons, with four Medium Phaser Cannons. Situated on the head are two Poly-barreled Gatlin Phaser Cannons, with two Tri-barreled Sol Cannons. There are two Heavy Assualt Disrupters Cannons equiped on the legs. We have the emmiters for the Na'ir Ankaa, but are not equiped with Na'ir Dre'kad systems. *Our Missle System has been modified from normal specs to allow for cluster launches of up to three missle warheads each. Our maximum normal missle payload is 34 missles, but that can be extended or shortened with the addition of further equipment. Right now, we are eqquiped with three types of missle warheads. The first is the normal Anti-matter warhead, the second is the Mono-filiment warheads, and the third is the Mag Pulse Warheads. We are eqquiped with 15 of the first, 12 of the second, and 8 of the third. *Our defense systems consist of full shield coverage, with Bio-armor on the skin of the fighter, with Ablative armor below. We are equiped with anti-missle laser system, consisting with 6 small pulse lasers situated on points of the fighter. We are equiped with electronic countermeasures against missle lock, 3 drones, 12 decoys, and full stelth and cloaking systems. All of our systems are augumented by nano-repair systems.* I sat there, silently absorbing the scematics of all the systems of the Koda Gai'eth. By the end, I could recall, from memory, the specs on every system this fighter possesed. And from what I could see, this wasn't just a normal Gai'eth. It had blending from all different types of technologies. Including the nano-repair technology and ablative armor. Those wern't Koda technologies. But all this combined with the Koda organic tech... *This thing is nearly unstopable,* I thought. Then it occured to me. *Are there any messages for me. Anything like that?* I asked. *Just one, That We have kept safe. Hold on....* the voices replied, and then a voiice began playing a message on the cockpits speakers. "Hello Hunter." Said the voice. It was the same voice that had spoken in the message I had recieved in Garibaldi's office. "Now that you are here, everything is set. You are in, of course, a *Gomei* class Koda Gai'eth. Take good care of her. "The shuttle beside you is for your ship. Her name is the *Resistance*. I know that you'll love her. Your ship has all the hardware nessaccary to maintain this Koda Gai'eth. Plus, a few other items I lnow you'll find useful. The shuttle, a *Genisis* class, has been pre-programmed to take you to the *Resistance*. The *Resistance* is equiped with two of them, this is the first of them, plus 3 regular shuttles that may come in handy. Take care, Nicodemus Hunter, and be very, very careful..." The voice finished speaking and then went silent. I put my arm on the armrest and began to think. I then heard the Gai'eth's computers respond, *I am willing to help you in all endeavors, Nicodemus Hunter. I nearly completing the hacking of the computer control system of Babylon 5. If you need my help, I can be accessed at most computer terminals, or by your commbadge.* I looked on the dashboard. Yep, there it is, a commbade with the genisis federation symbol on it, as shining star behind a delta symbol. I took it, and attached it to the armor breast plate of the Tu'car. *Allright then. I'll be going now. Go to standby mode,* I thought. *Acknoladged,* Gai'eth responded, and I suddenly the cockpit hatch popped open, and I could see normaly as Gai'eth desigaged the symbiosis. As the cockpit opened, I relaxed and let myself down the machine's side. Curious,I walked up and into the shuttle. Found out that it was completely set for automatic operation to a set of coordinates on the planet B5 was orbiting. This was going to be interesting.... I left the hanger bay, closed the door, and was on my way to Blue section. I actually wanted to see if there was a bookstore in the Zocallo that had any science fiction classics in that section, out of curiosity. Delenn was very intrigued as to who this girl was. Rights now she told Delenn about here training at something called a "Jedi Acadamy" on a planet she had never heard of. "And Jaina had the wild idea that we might be able to fix the TIE fighter, and even add a hyperdrive so we went back at night to lift the fighter out of the tree, and it almost fell before we caught it a couple of times, so the..." Delenn was amazed as Ayesha told her stories of here jedi training, her adventures on this Yavin 4, and here friends. She was also intriugued by one of her friends that was on the station, and man called "Nicodemus Hunter." And from what she heard, she was looking forward to meeting him. I looked around the Zocallo. Unfortuatly, there wasn't any book store that I could find. But the Zocallo was a interesting place, I had to admit, so I walked around, seeing the sights. I was walking around, looking at all the different stores, I heard someone talking. Then I noticed Ayesha, sitting and talking to someone with there back to me. "Hey, Ayesha." I said. "Hey Hunter!" She said. "Come and meet my new friend." I walked over, and the the women turned to face me. One thought came to mind-*Great Lady of the Skies!* There, siting opposite Ayesha, was Ambassader Delenn, looking at me very curiosly. "Hello" She said. "You must be Hunter. A pleasure to meet you. Why are you wearing a space suit? Did you have to work out side the hull?" At first I din't know what she was talking about, but then I noticed that I hadn't taken off the Koda Tu'car. "Ah...No. I had to test some of the violete systems on a ship of mine and I needed to wear the armor. So, what have you to been talking about?" I asked as I sat down. "Mostly about you and what you two are doing here. I heard that Ayesha cooks, and I'm wondering if I could come and sample some of her wares," Delenn replied. "Very true. Ayesha is a excellent cook, and you'll never find anyone better at what she cooks on this side of Sol. Ayesha, do you feel like cooking for three anytime soon?" I replied. "I would love to, Hunter. But it would be four," Ayesha corrected me. To my curious look, Ayesha answered, "Delenn wants to bring her aide with her. There is enough room for four, right, Hunter?" "Of course," I replied, smiling. "How about-" I was about to ask her something when a shock reverberated through the station, and suddenly alarms came on-line. Ivanova's voice erupted over the speakers, yelling, "Red alert! We are under attack! Everyone get to the shelters immediately." "What the hell?" I muttered, and slaped my commbadge and said, "Koda Gai'eth, report!" A voice came over my commbadge, "Gai'eth here, sir. Babylon 5 is under attack by between six to eight light cruisers, evidently of Raider construction. They have deployed at least seventy-two fighters, but there may be ninety-six. Babylon 5 has launched all four squadrons of Starfuries, but even with the superiority of the Starfury over the Raider fighters, they cannot defend the station. As well, the new defense grid cannot stop the Raider cruisers." "Go to Battlemode, and ready for launch. Give me a deck plan to get to your hanger bay. Get the hatches open and I'll be there ASAP." I said. "I will be ready as soon as you are here. Over and out," the Koda replied. As I turned around, Delenn was trying to get Ayesha out the door to a shelter. I got over there and said, "Ayesha, stay with Delenn and protect her if anything goes wrong. Delenn, stay with Ayesha. I have to go." "Don't worry, I will." Said Ayesha, and in a flash her lightsaber was uncliped, ready to go. "Where are you going?" Delenn asked, looking at me strangely. "To pull off a miracle, more or less," I replied, and set out in a flat run toward the hanger before Delenn could say anything else. And hoped to god I wasn't to late. "Beta wing's just gone off line, sir. Dear god...." one of the C&C officer said. "What is it?" Captain Sheridan yelled. "Sir, the Raiders are blowing up the escape pods! Six of them have broken off and are about to strike the station itself." "What about the defense grid?" Ivanova asked. "It's at the limit, ma'am, just trying to handle the enemy ships! We can't stop those fighters, ma'am." "Tell Zeta Wing to break off and stop those fighter!" Sheridan replied. "Negative, ma'am," Lt. Keffer's voice came though, "We're outnumbered four to one and my people are dying like flies! We need help!" "But from where?" Ivanova asked. "The nearest warship of any race is a Minbari heavy cruiser, and that's two days away." "Maybe we'll get lucky...." Sheridan let that thought come out his lips. Showtime. The Gai'eth's Anti-matter warp core reactor was reaching full combat levels by the time the elevator had taken me to the upper docking bay. When I say piloting the Koda Gai'eth, I don't mean piloting in the sense of say, flying a starfury. When I talk about piloting a Koda Gai'eth, you *become* the Koda Gai'eth. Its as if you've become the Gai'eth yourself, as if you yourself is walking in the total vacuum of space, unassisted by anything else. In the back of my mind, I was aware of my body, sitting in the climate controlled cockpit, but in a state of battle such as this, the normal sights and sounds one recieves from your eyes and ears and touch becomes secondary to the Koda's cameras and sensors and holographic displays flashed directly into my neural net. And it was through these holos and sensors and cameras that I was similtaniously going over the weapons systems, Gai'eth was taking in information and computing it into a tactical holo, and Tu'car was assisting me in walking to the lip of the docking bay. I, or Gai'eth, Tu'car and I, reached the end of the docking bay, Gai'eth, Tu'car, and I could see the minuete flashes as the reactors from the starfuries made a miniature supernova in the night. A feeling of protectiveness, that was amplified into Gai'eth and Tu'car, over came me. People were dying. And it was up to me to stop them. Instead of the mental commands I had given Gai'eth earlier, I merely wished for the weapons to activate, load, and target, and they did. It was like the way you or I wanted our legs to transport us to another part of the room. They just do. A small warning light appeared on the tactical holo, as Gai'eth warned me of four incoming fighters on a interept for C&C that woul take them past me. Arming the gatlin guns, I targeted the fighters and opened fire, lighting the sky with red and aroange bolts. The fighters never stood a chance. With the raiders now alerted to me, I noticed 6 fighters breaking off from there targets heading toward me. I took a step off the lip of the docking ring, and charged up the gravity drive. The two gravity spines folded flush against the hull as I shot forward, still in battloid mode, toward the six fighters. Priming the Sol and Phaser cannons located on the arms, I pivoted to target, and fired. The first three I hit, but missed the other three as they manuvered just in time. Pivoting the Gatlins, I let loose a barage of Phaser fire, catching two. The final one came in, plasma weapons blazing. He was coming in close, and what happened next was almost instictive. With assistantance from Gai'eth, the Rail Gun and Phaser and Sol Cannons on the right arm retracted to what would be the elbow on a human, and the end of the arm formed into a hand. It clenched into a fist, and a flare of energy lept from the fist to form a blade. Na'ir Ankaa. Mind Saber. The fighter was coming close by now, much to close for any normal fighter to fire or risk damaging himself from the resulting explosion. I pivoted and brought the saber down hard on the fighter, its frame crumpling under the saber and the fighter pilot ejecting into space. *Sir,* Said Tu'car, letting off on the binding enough to talk to me directly, *C&C is contacting us. Tachyon wavelengths.* "Sir, I have a unidentified fire coming into sensor range." Said Lt. Corbin. "From where?" Asked Ivanova. "Telementry indicates it came from the Docking arms." Replied Corbin. "What? Show me." Demanded Ivanova. Corbin tapped a few commands into his console and the image of the most unusual fighter she had ever seen came up. *What the hell?* Though Ivanova, as she watched the fighter fire its weapons, weapons she had never seen before, at six incoming radiers. All six were either shut down or cut apart. "Get me a channel to that fighter, now!!!" *Audio only*, I replied, returning my point of perspecitive to my eyes and ears and touch, reliquising control of the majority of the systems over to Gai'eth, and said "Babylon 5 Command and Control, I need a targeting vector. Where the hell are they?" "Who the hell are you? And what the hell did you shoot them with?" a voice which could only be Ivanova replied. "Look, right now, I'm possibly one of the best armed friends you've got. I don't have the time to chat that much, so *where the hell is the vector*," I replied. "Ivanova," someone in the background said, then he came on line, "This is Captain John Sheridan. We have five fighters on an intercept vector with Babylon 5. Can you stop them?" "Absoloutly." I replied, then closed the link. *Tu'car, transmitt out IFF codes to them so they don't blow off our ass.* *Confirmed, IFF codes transmitted.* Replied Tu'car, but I was too busy to respond. Immersing mysely again into the Binding, I flew straight through the thick of the fighting, firing all my weapons left and right, avoiding B5's starfuries as I made one kill after another. Exiting the main fight zone, I expanded my sensors to full scan. *Gai'eth, any further incoming targets?* *None, Sir.* Replied Gai'eth. *But a number of cruisers are moving in what looks like bombardment position. Estimate four. The fighters are doubling there attack on Babylon 5.* I brought up the four cruisers on the tactical holo. *Gai'eth, if the cruisers are the target, will B5 be outside the blast radius for the Mag Pulse Warhead?* *Affirmative, none of the starfuries are inside the radius either.* Gai'eth Replied. I smiled. *Then it time to end this. Lauch all availabe mono-filimant and anti-matter war-head, ready all 8 mag Pulse Warheads. Cluster Fire. Set course to intercept.* Launching nearly all my missles, I watched as nearly 30 fighters were either illuminated or shreded apart. Converting to fighter, I headed straight to middle of the cruiser formation. When I had all cruisers in range, I launched all 8 mag pulse missles, one after the other. Two per ship, the missles home in and struck, all four ships disabled as the blue corona from the mag pulse arced across the surface of the cruisers. The last remaining two, seeing its counterparts down, began to make a very, very slow run, triggering a jumpoint. But I had planed for that. Targeting both cruisers, I fired both Rail guns, piecing the armor, and the jumpgate flared and then went silent, as the power flow was suddenly cut of from the jumpengines. I slumped back into the seat, the adrenilene rush I had felt at the begining of the battle suddenly cut off, leaving me a bit shaken. *Status of the Radier fighters?* I asked Gai'eth. *Sir, all of the fighters have surrendered to to Babylon 5 once you destroyed the last two ships.* Said Gai'eth. *Sir, I'm picking up two starfury pods that have almost runout of oxygen.* *Convert to huminoid mode, and set a course to pick up the pods and any others you find along the way.* I replied. *Oh, and one more thing. Call me Hunter.* *Yes...Hunter* Gai'eth Replied. "I have contacted Babylon 5 and they said we can bring the pods to bay 16. Hunter, from there nets, they wan't to arrest you and put you in jail* Gai'eth finished, clearly disturbed. *We'll worry about that later* I said. *Now, lets go get those pods!* Garibaldi was certainly taking no chances. I could count about 16 security men, all in full armor and touting heavy PPG rifles. *Hunter, are you sure you want to do this?* Asked Gai'eth, clearly concerned. I could sympathize. The Gai'eth's primary programming stipulated to protect its pilot, me, from harm. *If you want, I can overide the doors easily, and we can escape...* *No, Gai'eth* I replied. *Set down the pods, let me out, and go to standby mode. Feel free to keep a tab on me, and take immediate action if me, Ayesha, or the Station is in danger. Do *not* allow them to try and access your systems, but don't harm *anyone*. The only people to access you are me, Ayesha, and Ambassador Delenn. Now, convert of fighter mode, and let me out.* *Very well.* Said Gai'eth. *I will keep you under survielance, and go to standby mode. Take care Hunter...* Those were the lasts words I heard before my perspective shifted from Gai'eth's sensors and cameras to my own eyes. "Whoever you are, comedown and don't try anything funny!" Yelled Garibaldi. I hopped down to the bay floor, and before the security men could get me, I took off the helmet. "Hello Garibaldi." I said. Garibaldi waved off his men. "This is what was in that bay?" He asked incredulus. "Yes." I replied. "This is a *gomei* class Koda Gai'eth, and believe me, it's got a lot of neat options. Let me guess, you want to take me in and ask me what's going on," I replied. "Yes!" Garibaldi responded, very frustrated. I could understand, things were very confusing indeed. "Look, I'm just going to put you in the Security office, not the brig. But I want to know *exactly* what's going on." "I'll try to tell you everything I know. Now," I popped the Plasma gun out of the holster, opened the action, popped out the charge, and even though I didn't want to, unhooked my lightsaber and handed all three items to Garibaldi, "can we go?" Garibaldi motioned for two of the guards to stand beside me, and we walked down the hallway to the Security office. (End Chapter one) From: Nicodemus Hunter Subject: Battleground Of Existence, Chapter 2 Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 13:37:33 -0500 Hello everyone. This is going to be my first post to B5 creative. I've been working on this story for a while now, and this is the result. This is going to be a Babylon 5/Star Trek/Star Wars/my own creations and whatever else I can fit into crossover. I got the idea after reading Jonathan Souza's story "Breaking the Consensous". I can promise you this is gonna be totally different than what he's doing right now. I can give you only one warning: NOTHING is as what it seems. You have been warned. Leagal stuff: Babylon 5, Star Trek, and Star Wars are not owned by me, nor are they my creation. They are owned and copyrighted by there respective companies. However, everything else that is in this story is my sole creation, and I retain all the respective copyrights to them. btw: in my stories, there will be some vilonce, swearing, and some rather sensual scenes, but nothing too graphic. One more thing. Do you guys think you could give me *some* feedback, atleast? Anything. Believe me, I need it. And now, to the future. Nicodemus Hunter nicodemus@i-55.com Battleground of Existence Chapter 2 It was during the first thirty minuetes of staying in the Readyroom that I began to meditate. I wasn't consious of what I was doing, either. It was a near reflex to being kept in a room with nothing to do. I began to concentrate, and I began to become one with the Force. I won't expect you to understand what it feels like, but the experince is incredible. Then, I relised what I was doing, and my peacefulness came to a jarring halt. I began to pace, more so than just to let out my pent up frustration. Hell, I was a little bit scared from the stuff I could do know. I knew how to use swords, guns, knives, fists, feet, and teeth in a lethal fashion, and I could perform literally dozens of fighting styles. Worse, I could actually perform the *Dai'mek Groed*(*), the most leathal and devestating form of fighting style known to any sentient race! I knew how to use Phasers, blasters, PPG's, dozens of ship mounted weapons sytems. I could pilot anything from a TIE fighter to a starfury to a *Deri'dex*-class Warbird to a *Imperial*-class Star Destroyer! Not only was I dangerous, I was smart too. I could recall hundreds of stories from jedi lore, I knew the principals of a warp, gravity, and hyperdrive. My mind could instantly understand, speak and know the customs of Minbari, Centarui, and Narn, plus a couple dozen other languages, including a healthy varity of earth native lauguages. Tired from pacing, I sat down in a chair, thinking. After thinking awhile, I relized that I knew most of what is going to happen in the B5 timeline, up until the new year. But, when I got past the New Year, I would be on plus time, and everything I saw, was told, or see would be the the limit of my knowladge. In short, I would be in the same predicament that everyone else would be in. I glanced at the calendar near the terminal, and it was November 11, 2259. Barely a month to December. Great. I began to pace again, to think. Now, if I was where I though I was in the B5 timeline, then I have around 6 weeks for the events from 4 different episodes to happen. Divided Loyalties. The Long, Twilight Struggle. Comes The Inquisitor. And, finally, Fall of Night. Allright, now what? First of, I'm going to have to stay away and make sure that I don't interfere with the events. Especially Comes the Inquisitor. Plus,I'm going to have to stay away from Talia Winters. Although, since I seemed to have some Jedi skills, Telepaths didn't present a real threat. Hell, nothing, except maybe a vorlon or shadow, could stop me in personal assault or combat. Although, If I tip off the Talia Winters-Psi Corps personality, I might just be dodging PPG's around every corner. Although I had all of my faith in my new found abilities, they would be quite a annoyance. Although, Talia's hidden personality would be unearthed soon. Hell, maybe even today. Plus, Lyta is going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble. Now what? Well, I've got a ship on the planet, why not get it and use it? There's always the second compartment on- station. And I could go out and find Ayesha.... Damn. I needed to cheak and see if Ayesha was allright. She didn't know what had happened. So, first order of buisness is to get out of here.... "Where in Babylon 5 could Hunter be?" Ayesha asked Delenn again, after three hours straight. It wasn't in desperation or fear, more in frustration than anything else. "I'm trying to find out," Delenn replied. And she had been trying. "Why don't you talk with Lennier?" Ayesha looked at Delenn for a second, then said, "I did. Lennier said he had to go into the garden to meditate about what I said." "I'll try to look harder, but things have been so confused. Just try to stay calm," Delenn replied. Ayesha laughed in reply, "Of course, Delenn. I'm not worried." "What the hell is a Koda Gai'eth?" Sheridan asked, confused. "Its the fighter that Hunter used. That's what he called it." Replied Garibaldi. "That doesn't sound like a human made fighter." Commented Ivanova. "Is also doesn't sound like any other fighter I've heard of." Said Sheridan. "Koda Gai'eth..." He wispered. "It sounds almost Minbari." "I know. I looked." Sighed Garibaldi. "But, no luck. Plus, I don't think even the Minbari could create something like this. The power levels we got from that thing were to damn high for a Minbari fighter." He paused. "I don't even think the Vorlons could make something like this." Sheridan sighed. It was too damn early for this. "What about the raider piolets?" "Didn't have to lean on them one bit. The contract said that if they were captured, they were to tell us everything they knew," Garibaldi answered Sheridan's question. "But what was the contract?" Ivanova asked. "Eight different raider groups were hired, all paid for in cash and with weapons. Each crew member got ten million credits in cash or in ordanace, each pilot got twenty million in cash. All of them had in their contracts payments to their next of kin or spouse in the amount of sixty million credits. Whomever funded these guys were well-endowed," Garibaldi replied. "Ok, so they were well paid. What were their orders?" Sheridan asked. "To cause as much hell as possible, until a particular unit came along. That unit was Hunter's Koda . They were to capture him, then leave. If it didn't come, they were to kill everyone and everything, station, escape pods, jumpgates, everything," Garibaldi noted. "But who in the hell is he?" Ivanova asked. The damage repairs were going to take weeks at best. "I've done some record checking, and according to all of the records, he was born in 1975, went to school in the USA, and while on vacation, he disappeared in 1995. No witnesses, no body, nothing. It was like he just vanished into thin air," Garibaldi replied. "It was too bad really. The record I have on this guy is that he was a literal genius when it came to electronics or computers. The girl with him is a total unknown. I've tried to run the name 'Ayesha' down, and without a DNA sample...." "Needle in a haystack?" Sheridan replied, interrupting. "Worse." Said Garibaldi. "Looking for a needle that isn't even there. I cheaked, and there is no record of a 'Ayesha', anywhere, period. Hell, it doesn't even sound like a human name." "I want you to bring Hunter up here, we'll have to talk to him about what's going on. And check out your sources, Garibaldi, there's something odd about this...." Sheridan ordered him, as Garibaldi's link beeped. "Just a second...." Garibaldi said, then tapped his link, "What is it?" "Sir, it's Ambassador Delenn," Zack replied through the link, "she wants to talk to you about a missing person." "All right, put it up here," Garibaldi replied, tapping his link off, "I'll make this quick," he replied to the audience. The monitor on the side wall changed from the standard Babylon 5 logo to an image of Delenn's quarters, with Ambassador Delenn looking at them. "Mister Garibaldi, I was wondering if you could find someone for me." "Sure," Garibaldi replied, "who do you want me to look for? Did a Minbari get lost during the attack?" "No, it wasn't a Minbari. He is human, and his name is Nicodemus Hunter. When I last saw him, he was wearing a black Jumpsuit with a black coat over it and said he had to rush off somewhere. His friend, Ayesha, is very worried about him, and I was hoping if you could have found him." "Huh?" Garibaldi replied, then said, "I know where he is." "Good," Delenn replied, "when will you be releasing him from your custody?" "How did you know that?" Garibaldi looked at Delenn, shocked, as everyone else looked at Delenn's reading of Garibaldi's face. "Garibaldi, I have been on this station for three years. I'm not surprised by too much you do around here, and considering what has been happening recently, you should have Hunter in custody. Now, I ask you again:When will you release him from your custody?" Delenn explained. Garibaldi let the air out of his mouth, then said, "Look, as soon as we've finished talking to him-call it about three or four-we'll let him go." "Very well then," Delenn replied, "but if he does not leave by about five from your custody, I will file a protest. And be warned," Delenn smiled, "my protests tend to be taken very seriously," and closed the link. Garibaldi turned to find everyone smiling. "Anyway Garibaldi, get Hunter up here." Said Sheridan. "I have a feeling he's at the center of all this..." The door beeped once. Then Garibaldi came in and said, "Captain wants to see you." "Whenever you're ready." I replied. Garibaldi had a team of six men keeping a very careful eye on me. "Can't be too careful," Garibaldi told me, when I asked about the security, "we've had some trouble as of late." "What kind of trouble?" I asked. "Somebody shot at one of my prisoners," Garibaldi replied, his face rippling in anger, "but nailed two of my men. One's dead, one's in Medlab. Damn it, I want that bastard bad!" "Who's the prisoner?" I inquired, trying to be friendly, "whoever it was wants your guy dead very badly." "First, it's a she," Garibaldi noted, "second, she's was the telepath here when B5 came on line. After what happened with Kosh, she got transferred back to Earth." "Lyta Alexander, right?" I asked, to Garibaldi's surprise, "I can read, Garibaldi. So, why's she here?" "Shouldn't you know?" Garibaldi responded sarcastically, "You're the high-minded dimensional traveller and all of that." "Look, the last episode of the show I watched was three weeks ago in this time. J. Michael Straczyncki keeps his plots close to heart, and I can't be too sure of what's going to happen next," I bluffed. Oh, yea, like I was going to tell him, 'Mike, Talia Winters, the girl you have the hots for, is going to turn into a psychopath when Lyta Alexander broadcasts the code "Control" to her'. "All right then," Garibaldi left me off at a small side room to the Ready Room, "I'll be back in a few minutes, the Captain wants to talk with the Command staff about something. As soon as he's done, you'll see him." "No problem," I replied. "Then I'll see you later," Garibaldi noted, then closed the door. "Be seeing you," I said to the shut door. I was pacing. When waiting for something, it is good to pace. Makes you harder to hit when whatever you're waiting for gets here. Damnit! I wanted to do something, but I wasn't sure wether or not it would have even more serious repurcussions than the event I was trying to avert. Its called pick your poison. If I did something, it would probably turn out as bad as if I did nothing. I tapped my watch, witch could double as a interface screen for Gai'eth, and it showed the time.(accurate to within 1.2 seconds every six billion years). Two-sixteen pm, or 1416 hours. If I remeber correctly, what's going to happen to Talia is going to happen soon, it has to happen.... Then the roar of a PPG shot, combined with yelled voices. I felt out around me using my new found powers of the Force. I could feel a lot of anger, and surprise. Talia's hidden personality must have come out. And like that, its responsibility was washed from my hands. Its not a nice feeling. About another hour later, Garibaldi, looking like he'd just taken a walk through hell, came in. "Hunter, look, things haven't been exactly perfect...." Garibaldi said wearily. "So I heard. What the hell was that PPG shot about?" I asked, "Was anyone hurt?" "Yes....and no. But, look, you're free from custody, but I don't want you to leave the station until you get an examination from Dr. Franklin and talk to the Captain. Understand?" Garibaldi replied. "No problem, I doubt I'll be leaving soon. I've got some things to do on-station before I need to go anywhere. Oh, by the way," I asked, just as was getting to the door, "Can I have my lightsaber?" Garibaldi reached at his belt, pull out my lightsaber, and handed it back to me, and said "I think it may be broken. I tried it out and nothing happened." I frowned. "Thanks," I said, and pressed the button. It ignited to its full length. "Seems to be working now." I commented. "Strange." Said Garibaldi. I then shut it off. Before I put it away, I though of something. "Try it again." I said. "Huh?" Asked Garibaldi. "Try and activate it," I said, holding it out to him. He srugged as if to say, allright, took it, and pressed the button. Nothing happened. I took it back, pressed the button, and it came on. We tried it about two more times, before Garibaldi gave up. "Looks like it'll come one for only you." noted Garibaldi. "Yea." I said, half listening. "See ya round, Garibaldi." as I walked out the door. Curiously, I walked down near the Ready Room, hearing the voices therein. I was able to catch three words. Two were "Talia Winters." The third was "Control." "Damn those Psi-Corp bastards!" Sheridan muttered under his breath, slamming his fist into the console near the wall. Sheridan was not happy with what happened to Talia Winters. "I'm sorry, sir," Lyta said, trying to remain calm, "but I had no idea that Miss Winters would be the sleeper agent...." "So, now what?" Franklin asked, looking at the three. Garibaldi had to fill out the paperwork and Ivanova had escorted Talia to her quarters. "We've decided to deal with the sleeper agent, and there's Hunter...." "Who?" Lyta replied, looking at Franklin, then Garibaldi. "A day before you got here, Babylon 5 was attacked by raiders. A young man took some kind of giant robot out and destroyed over thirty Raider fighters and six Raider cruisers. As well, some other weird things have been going on, with him in the middle of it. We were going to talk to him, but Talia walked in and...." Sheridan let the end drag off. "I could always talk to him," Lyta replied. "I'm serious! I'm someone he doesn't know, he'll have a hard time putting a name to face. As well, I'll be able to scan him at the same time, keeping an eye on his reactions." "You're sure?" Franklin asked, "Considering what happened, wouldn't it be better if you hopped the first ship out of here?" "Possibly," Lyla retorted, "but I've got to stay here a little while anyway, so I might as well be useful. Where is Hunter's quarters?" "When Garibaldi gets back, he'll take you down there. Until then, I'll try to give you all the information that we have on him," Sheridan replied. When I got to my quarters, before I could do anthing, the door cycled open and Ayesha came out. "Hello Hunter." She said, smiling. "Hello Ayesha," I said, smiling back, "Been using your skills well, I see. How are you?" "I'm fine. Delenn's here and she's waiting to see you. I took the liberty of letting her inside." Ayesha said. "That's fine," I replied, "now, just where is Delenn...." "I see you are not the worst for wear," a female voice behind me commented. I turned to see Delenn, just waiting behind the door. "Ambassador Delenn, it is a distinct pleasure to...." I was about to say. "No formalities. I am Delenn, you are Hunter. This isn't a visit by the Minbari representative to Babylon 5 to a Earthforce citizen, it is merely...." Delenn was searching for words. "A social call," I noted. "Yes," Delenn liked the term, "a social call." As we sat down, Ayesha brought us both cups of tea, which was rather bitter but tasty. "Could you explain to me what is going on with you? There are some.... irregularities about you." I smiled at this. Irregularities was putting it rather lightly. "How so?" I asked. "You have a weapon system that is more powerful than anything in the arsenail of the known races. Your friend, Ayesha, looks to be about 18 for a human, but has been able to out-argue my assistant, Lennier, on the subject of theology," Delenn noted. "Could you tell me the truth of what is going on?" I took a deep sip of the tea, then sat, thinking. "The truth?" I asked. Before Delenn could answer, I said, "The truth, Delenn, is a very flexible thing. What you call the truth is simply what one sees from there point of view." I paused to take another sip of the tea. "But, if you wish, I will tell you what has happened up to now, from my point of view." "I would be interested in hearing that," Delenn replied. As I got ready to start, Ayesha sat down beside Delenn, looking at me intently. "It all started the day when I was at work working on the computer when..." Click. Hum-click. Hum-click. Hum-click. Whirr. Whirr. Whirr. Hum-click. Beep. Oops. Somewhere deep in Babylon 5, a slight energy surge was registered as a stasis field flickered, and the powerful computer processing systems contained within came on-line. Reviewing both its short and long term memory storage, and quickly accessing its three other remote units on and off the station, it relized that things weren't exactly going as planned. Very well then, the computer would have said if it was capable of voicing its thoughts, then I will just have to fix them. Transferring nearly all of her processing power to the task, she finally made a decision. Either this would work, or... She didn't really want to think about that. "What exactly is a Koda Gai'eth?" Asked Delenn, taking another sip of her tea. "The words Koda Gai'eth roughly translates to 'Battle Machine'." I explained. "Why were you afraid of it?" Ayesha asked. "Well, you see, the Koda operates around a type of smybiosis technology." I said. "It literally binds with its pilot. The will to live, to fight, and at last, to die, is transfered from the pilot to the Koda through the symbiosis. The reason I was afraid is because there is another side of this technology, its dark side, if you will. Sometimes, they build Koda's that are different grades of power, or classes. Now, the more powerful the Koda, the more powerful the pilot must be in telepathy. Or, for example, if a Koda binds with a person that isn't its own class, then the person is driven insane by the amount of power that is transfered when the binding takes place." "What types of classes are there?' Delenn asked. "The classes range from least to greatest in a order of ten. Mal, Nuth, Fak, Tair, Pri, Dene, Terf, Al, Caxor, Cano, and the most powerful, Gomei." I anserwed. "My Koda says that its a Gomei class, buts that nearly impossible. There is no way I could be that powerful a telepath." "Yes, I see. You do have a problem." Said Delenn. The she looked at me. "While all this is hard to believe, for some reason, I trust you. If you are from somewhere *else*, and all of this is true, this may present everyone with trouble," Delenn said, taking another sip of tea. "Thank you." I said, sincerely. "And you will not hear me disagree. Personally, things have been really confusing since I've gotten here, and don't look like they are going to get better. As well, I'm worried that my being here will alter everything for everyone. According to quantum theory, entering another universe will cause changes it, even if you are there to observe. But since I'm participating...." I let the question trail off. "Yes, there is that," Delenn noted, "but I would like you to know that you have my help, if you require it." "And if the situation requires you to request my help," I replied, "do not hesitate. Ask, and I shall try my best." There was a pregnant pause, and as I was about to ask if she could have Ayesha placed under the protection of the Minbari Federation in case something happened to me, my commbadge beeped. "Hunter here, go ahead." I said, tapping it. "Hunter!" the commbadge said, "this is Gai'eth. We might have a problem." "What is it?" "Sir, it's the shuttle in the hanger bay. It's computer has informed me that, unless you take it to the planet and back to the home ship in under eight hours, it will self destruct. Sir, if the shuttle explodes, it will not only take out Babylon 5, but the Jumpgate and a good portion of the Surface of Epsilon III. I'll give you the data on how to get to the hanger bay in less than twenty minutes. As well, sir, the instructions were for four people. More specifically, you, Ayesha, and two others you will meet before you get to the shuttle. If anyone else tries to enter the shuttle, or if either of you fail to arrive, it will self destruct," Gai'eth replied. "All right," I replied. "I'll be there as soon as I'm ready. I'll be ready in about ten minutes," and shut the terminal off. "Do you always have to rush off like this?" Delenn asked. "Sorry," I replied, honestly sorry. "But this always happens. I start to having a very interesting conversation, then something happens. Normally," I commented, "without explosive results." I stepped over to the corner were Tu'car was waiting patiently. I turned around, then stepped back into the suit, the bio-armor and metel folding up around me. "Anything you need me to do?" Delenn asked. "Just one thing. Try and explain things to everyone when they find out I'm gone. I have a feeling Sheridan and the others won't be to happy about this." Garibaldi and Lyta were walking down the hallway, Garibaldi telling Lyta everything he knew about the two guests on-station. "He's not exactly forthcoming with everything he knows. It's a lot like he's trying to keep quiet on what's going on, in an effort to prevent trouble." "Understandable. If he knew what you think he knows, he has every reason to be quiet. But what about his friend...." Lyta was asking, when Delenn came up to the two, a little bit in a rush, but otherwise calm. "Ambassador Delenn," Lyta said. "Miss Alexander, Commander," Delenn replied, "I'm sorry I can't talk, but I'm rather busy...." "Is something wrong, Ambassador," Garibaldi asked. "You were with Hunter and Ayesha earlier." "Something is about to happen, something dangerous. Hunter and Ayesha are heading for the hanger bay to take the shuttle out, to recover his ship," Delenn replied. "Wait a minute, the Captain told him not to leave the station!" Garibaldi remarked, frustrated. "Garibaldi, I was there. I can assure you that it was not his descision. He was forced into reclaiming his ship." Delenn Said. "Well, he still should have told us about it." Said Garibaldi. "I'll get after him," Lyta replied, running down the hallway to the hanger bays. "Hell," Garibaldi muttered under his breath, and he tried to follow Lyta, but a pressure bulkhead dropped in front of him and Lyta. Both fell flat on there backs. Garibaldi tried the door again, and it wouldn't budge. "What the hell?" Garibaldi asked, as he picked himself off the floor. They both looked at Delenn. "As I said." Responded Delenn to there looks. "It was not his descision." "Hunter, what exactly so important about this ship of yours?" Asked Ayesha as we made our way down to the Shuttlebay. "I wish I knew." I responded. "I wish I knew what was so damn important about this ship that whoever's doing this couldn't wait for a day or to for all this to straighten out." "What do you know about this ship of yours?" Asked Ayesha. "Specifics? Nothing. All I know is that its located on the planet below us. Anything else I don't have a clue..." "Who are you two?" Said a inquiring voice, hard to reconize and yet strangly familiar. Instinct and my mysterious new skills took over. Activating the weapons systems on the Tu'car, the side gauntlet on my right arm swung away and a small pulse laser swung out. Not certainly the heaviest weapon the Tu'car could us, but in personal defense, it was more than enough. I pointed the weapon at the woman, dressed in a simple blue jumpsuit. "Who are you?," I said, the ND(Neural Display) showing the targeting recticle aligning itself right along her chest-line. Ayesha was quick to. Those jedi lessons wern't lost on her. She too, pivoted, and with one hand, de-cliped her lightsaber and ignited it, holding it in a two-handed defensive stance. She WAS good. The woman was standing in the shadows, obscuring her face, but then she stepped into the light. And there, not two meters from me, was Major Kira Nereys. Bridged nose, earing, and all. Although she was wearing a dark blue jumpsuit instead of her normaly rust-red uniform, she was still very reconizable. "Major?" I asked, incredulus. "You know who I am?" She asked. "Major Kira Nerys, second in command of DS9" I replied, the laser swinging back into its recess. "What the hell are you doing here?" "I wish I knew. I arrived here on two days ago, in a apartment with a message. Then, I get a message saying to meet here and that two people would also be here. What the hell is going on here?" She said, her arms throwing themselves up in confusion. "As far as I know, your as much in that dark as We are." I replied. "Right now, we're trying to trive my ship, and if you were told to meet us here, then I geuss you supposed to come along, too." "Anyone else coming with us?" Asked Kira as she walked over. "The message said there would be two other people besides us. This is Ayesha," I said, introducing them. "Ayesha, Kira Nerys." "Pleased to meet you." Said Kira, smiling down at the seventeen year old girl. "Likewise, I assure you." Ayesha Replied. "Now, Hunter, don't you think we all better get to your shuttle? Otherwise it might..." "Long Walker!" Boomed a deep resonating voice from down the hallways. I spun around and came down to one knee, pointing the laser into the shadows. "Who are you?" I asked. The figure was still hidden by the shadows, but then the person stepped his massive bulk into the light. "Long Walker." The, well, _thing_ said again. As soon as I saw what had called out, I stood up, shocked. What was in front of me was a nearly seven foot tall huminiod shaped being. It was brutily organic, and had the trace figure of a human. It had a massive cheast, and the rest of his body was too, massive. It was cover in a very organic looking green armor. The gauntlets on its arms seem to hide something, and from his bulk, I guessed it could only be weaponry. I was immeadiatly put on gaurd, waiting for this thing to make the first move. It seemed to notice. "Peace, Nicodemus Hunter. I am not here to attack you. I doubt I would survive if I did. I am here to help you. >From this day forward, Nicodemus Hunter, if you require help in battle, protection, or any other task, ask, and I shall help." It was then I had enogh confidence to feel forward using my new found abilities in the force, and, amazingly enogh, I could feel a intellegence, and *soul* beneth that hulk of brutish, organic armor. I wieghed my two options, and I decided to trust him. I could feel no deception, no malicus, no feelings of harm toward me whatsoever. Tu'car snapped the laser back into its recess. "I'm flattered. But, may I ask, who you are, and what you are, first?" The, well, thing seems to smile. "My name, Nicodemus Hunter, is Anteaus. As for what I am, you will know of that soon enough." "Allright, Anteaus. We better get to the runabout," I said, and we all walked into the shuttle bay. When Kira got a look at the runabout, she asked, "What kind of shuttle is that?" "Genisis-class runabout. Heavier armed, more weapons, faster, and longer range than a normal runabout." I replied. The shuttle looked like a scaled down version of the *defiant*. Put a club-nosed shaped protrusion on the front, and it could pass for one easily. We all went up the boarding ramp. "This looks just like a Runabout cockpit." Remarked Kira. Fortunately, there were four seats up-front. I took the Piolet seat, which was the Conn, Kira took the co-piolet, and and Ayesha took the side seat. Anteaus just stood. "According to these boards," Kira said, "we're cleared for take-off." (continued in next post) --------------- MESSAGE b5-creative.v001.n439.2 --------------- From: Nicodemus Hunter Subject: Battleground of Existence, Chapter 2 Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 13:37:57 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit (continued from last post) "Right," I said, tapping my panel to activate the comm unit. "Babylon 5 Traffic Control, this is Shuttle *Rio Grande* in Bay 11. Request permission to take-off." "Confirmed, Shuttle *Rio Grande*, you are clear for take off. What is your flight plan, over?" a male voice said. "Babylon 5 Traffic Control, I just plan on a spin around the planet, show my friends the sights. Eight hours at best," I replied, over the comm link. "Confirmed," the Traffic Control officer said, "see you back here in eight hours." "Got you five-by-five," I replied, and switched the shuttle over to automatic pilot. We quickly departed from the dock, and accelerate away at full impulse. "So," Ayesha asked a few minutes into the trip, "where are we going?" "According to this," I said, "we'll go to the other side of the planet, then descend into the atmosphere. We'll be at the ship in about three hours." "What ship?" Kira asked. "The ship that this shuttle is a part of," I replied, "the *Resistance*." "What the hell do you mean you let them go!" Said Ivanova at poor Lt. Corbin. She was having a very poor day, and the universe had decided that today was the day it was going to show her how much it *didn't* like her. "Sir, I didn't know! That ship had a filed flight plan, it's registration was all straight, I mean, it was so clean, it squeaked!" Lt. Corbin replied, trying to defend himself. "Ivanova," Said Sheridan, putting a restraning hand on Ivanova's sholder. "That's allright Lt. We haven't exactly had a good day, and with this..." "Understandable sir." Said Corbin, still unnerved by Ivanova's outburst. "If you want, sir, I can notify you the moment the shuttle returns..." Sheridan nodded. "You do that. Lt. Ivanova, let's go." "But sir!" Said Ivanova, but Sheridan gave her a look that shut her up rather fast. When they had made it out C&C, Ivanova turned to Sheridan. "Allright Captain, what is it?" "I got a look at the registration that shuttle had. And some of things on it didn't match." Replied Sheridan. It took a moment for the information to impact on Ivanova. "Shit. That means that someone hacked C&C's computers." "Yes. Get Garibaldi to lauch a probe, see if we can catch whoever's doing this in the act.." Sheridan let it trail off. "Yes sir. Right away." said Ivanova as she sped away to the task. "We should be coming upon this ship soon." Said Kira. "In fact, it should be right over that ridge line." I glanced over to were Kira was pointing, a upthrust of the surface of epsilon three. When we made it over, and in the place were the ship was supposed to be, there was a very large canyon. "That's strange." I said. "The ship should be here." I looked down on the panel to begin a scan, when I noticed everyone was quite. I glanced over at Kira. Her mouth was open. I then glanced out the window. The shuttle, still on autopiolet, had taken us down into the canyon, and there she stood. Or rather, hung, by a series of eight large clamps attached to her skin. "My God." I wispered softly. She was huge. At least three hundred and fifty meters long. Some form of light splashed across her dark blue hull, illuminateing it. As the shutlle, still on autopiloet, dropped down to dock with the shuttlebay, I looked even more entranced at her hull. Her skin looked organic, in some retrospects to the vorlons ships themselves. She looked not like a ship, but a living animal, her graceful curves flowing down her form, only disturbed by the just barely noticable hint of the shield grids eteched inside her hull that acted as her forward line of defense, or the indention that indicated a Sol cannon or recess for a missle emplacemnt. She was beautiful, a work of art. The shuttle eased itself into its landing position inside the main shuttlebay on the underside of the ship. Then the ship settled, and I saw the shuttle bay doors closing. Ayesha was the first to find her voice. "All right." She said. "Now what." The door had automatically lowered, the shuttle computer already linked with the *Resistance*'s computer. I walked slowly fown the ramp, glancing at the silver-colored shuttlebay. Every line was smooth, silvered color. "Welcome to the *Resistance* Hunter, Kira, Anteaus, and Ayesha. We have been expecting you. Will you please proceed to the bridge." Said a pleasently female voice. "I"m sorry, but I don't know the layout of the ship." I said. "How do we get to the bridge from here?" "Go out the door on the right, and follow the markers to the turbolift, and it will take you to the bridge." Said the voice. I mentally shrugged. "Well, then. Shall we go?" I said, looking at the two women and person standing beside me. "All right." Said Kira. "Sure." Said Ayesha. "What have we got to lose?" "Not much, I hope." I said, as I headed toward the door. As the door opened, we found ourselves on the bridge of the *Resistence*. It wasn't a normal bridge. Three seats were spaced out on the bridge, one on the middle, two on the side, with large display panels alongside the two on the side. The middle one, obviously the captains chair, just sat there. There were three rear positions, set up more like the consoles on the Enterprise-D. There was one large view screen in the front. What was really strange was that the three main seats didn't have *any* consoles to input information to. "By the Force." Muttered Ayesha softly. She ran her hands along the control panels along the rear of the bridge, each one blinking, showing the status of one system or another. "What type of technology is this?" "Optical Data Networks" I replied. Ayesha didn't respond, but gazed in wonderment at the panels. I walked over to the main one, and sat down. Nothing happened. "Please hold," the voice said, and, just like the message in the Koda Gai'eth, a voice began. It was the same voice. From the way Kira, Ayesha, and Anteaus reacted, they couldn't hear the voice. "Hunter, if you're getting this, you have just arrived on the *Resistance*. Congratulations are in order. Let me guess, you also have Kira, Anteaus and Ayesha here as well. Right now, you're on good time for now, but in less than month and a half, you are going to be in a very large amount of trouble, to put it lightly. Just so you know, the *Resistance* will respond to your commands, as well as anyone you authorize as Command staff. Now, if you'll wait a moment...." and as he was saying that, I could feel a massive migraine coming on, so powerful that I was just on the verge of screaming, when it stopped. "There. The binding was just completed, and the *Resistance* will respond to you fully as her captain. Just one warning, do not, I repeat, *do not* get yourself in a situation where you have to self-destruct. The results would be very bad indeed... "I would imagine that you would like a explination for Anteaus and Kira. If you remeber your history, a borg, named Hugh, led a revolt that in turn lead to a emergence of individuality in a branch of the Borg. The revolt spread to other branches. One of the branchs later decided to fight against the borg, so no other race would know the terror of assimilation. He and Kira are also here to act as protecters for you, just as I know you will protect Ayesha. They will be your assitants, so to speak. Like usual, best of luck. You'll need it.," and the holographic image disapeared, leaving me with one hell of a headache. I ran through the Jedi pain reduction technique three times before I trusted my head to be able to move without exploding. Then I began to try and assimilate all of this new information presented to me now because of the binding and Symbiosis. I then knew the reason for the headache. The *Resistance* was partially based on the tech used on the *Gomei* class Koda's, but even a powerful telepath couldn't bind with such a powerful ship like the *Resistance* and not have temporary aftereffects. "What is wrong, Nicodemus Hunter? My sensors tell me that you have a very large headache," asked Anteaus. "I picked up a very strange telepathic pulse, directed toward you. Are you all right?" Said Ayesha. "You are the master of observation, Anteaus. But I'm fine, I think," I said, rubbing my head. "But we can take off now. Kira, If you can detach the docking clamps and power up the engines, I'll get a trajectory plotted and arm the weapon systems." "Uhh, there's a small problem." Said Kira. "What exacly are we going to put these commands into? There are no command..." She stoped in mid sentance as two consoles appeared right beside my chair. But this ship wasn't finished. Two other consoles appeared infront of me, perfectly arrayed so I could reach each part of it without moving. Two windows popped up, hovering in midair right in front of me, perfectly set so I could still observe the main screen in the front of the ship, showing the status of the ships warp core, gravity and tranwarp drive. "Each of you," I said, "Sit down in one of the chairs. The ship acts to your presence. Her controls are psychoactive." Kira hesitantly slid into the left-sided chair, and the consols appeared in front of her, the display panels in the wall coming one-line. "This consoles just came on-line, and it's all organized in the control pattern needed for powering up the reactor and controlling the docking clamps." Said Kira in amazement. "You'll notice a lot of that happening when you need to do something." I said. "Lights will come on when you want them, Small tasks that you need done will be finished, things like that. The consoles are touch sensative, and modifiable. Now, how long before we're launch-ready?" "According to this console," Kira looked down at her board, "we'll have warp-core on-line, full life support, main and secondary drives, and something called a trans-warp drive, hyperdrive, and gravity drive, ready for use in about thirty minutes." "Got you," Said Ayesha, "This says we'll be going over to internal gravity control and inertial dampening in ten seconds. Five seconds, on," a slight lurch, and I felt heavier. "Excellent." I said. Then smiled. "Lets see what this ship can do." As Delenn was trying to get to her quarters, she ran into someone she didn't expect to see. As she rounded the corner to the transit tube, standing right in front of the elevator, was Kosh. "Kosh," Delenn said, somewhat surprised. "The Gathering of The Harvest has begun," Kosh replied, the musical tones being translated into words. "Kosh," Delenn asked, confused, "what do you mean? What is going on?" "The first one is here, the one who's realm holds us all," Kosh replied, looking straight at her. "I have never questioned our place in what has been happening," Delenn noted, "But I have to ask you one thing, one thing very important-is this 'first one' someone I know?" Kosh didn't anserw. "Stay close to The Hunter." He replied, and walked off on what ever he used for legs. Leaving Delenn standing there, in shock. We were finally ready. All of the engines were fully powered up, the systems had been checked out, and we were ready to launch. "Hey Ayesha," I asked, "are you ready?" "Yep. Ready and willing.," Ayesha replied. Her full attention on her console that showed the capabilities of this ship. She said, quote 'that this is the most amazing ship she had ever seen', end-quote. "All right," I said. "Where ready to go," Kira said. "Just give the word." "The word," I said, smiling broadly , "is given. Disengage the docking clamps. Let's she what this ship can do." From outside, I could feel eight solid thumps as the clamps detached. The ship's engines charged up, and, silently, the ship floated skyward. It wasn't that long before we were clear of the canyon. "Clear of the ridge line. Main drive is on-line," Kira said. As she said this, the 6 gravity spines that were set flush against the hull unfolded and then swept themselves back. "Let's wait on that for a second," I said, "until we at least reach three thousand meters. At our rate of climb, that's going to be in less than ten minutes. Now, let's crank this ship up to full throttle." I tapped a single command in the main board. The main gravity engine erupted with a wave of negative gravity, and the *Resistance* exited the atmosphere in less than five seconds. We were within sight of Babylon 5 within a few minutes. "I'll hail them," Kira said. A few seconds, then the same man who let me leave the station came on the main view screen. "What the....it's you!" "Yes," I looked at him innocently, "is there a problem?" "No, not really. But Commander Ivanova is really on the warpath and she want to talk to you, now. Take the following vector for your parking orbit and launch your shuttle as soon as possible. We'll shoe-horn you into the traffic schedule. Babylon 5 Traffic Control out." "Well," Kira said, "things aren't exactly going very well for you, are they?" "What the really bad thing is," I smiled, "Is that I'm used to it. I'll meet you on the shutle, all of you. I want to cheak a few things out." "I'll meet you there," Kira replied, then got up and with Ayesha and Anteaus as they entered the turbolift and headed toward the shuttlebay. I accessed the log and started to review the records. This was going to be a long day. "You are sure that is him," Ivanova asked Lt. Corbin. "And what the hell is that ship?" "He called it the *Resistance*, Sir." Said Lt. Corbin. "All I can tell you is that its three hundred and fifty meters long, and thats about it. I can't even begen to geuss what that thing uses for drives or sensors." He hesistated. "But I do have a hypothesis." "What is it?" Asked Ivanova. "Sir, one of the things that I learned in the acadamy was about the theories of gravity control. We know the Minbari, Centauri, and most certainly the Vorlons, have gravity on there ships." said Corbin. "One of the theories that I heard said was that if we progressed to a certain leavel of gravity control, then we could use it to create a type of 'portal' through space. While the ship was climbing from Epsilon III, I detected large amounts of gravity waves emenating from the six spines on the rear of the ship." Corbin paused, his explination finished. "There one more thing Commander. If my readings are correct, then that ship's hull has almost the same type of composition of Ambassador Kosh's ship. Organic technology." Ivanova gazed out at the ship. It was a type of wedged shaped, sleek. The wedge that composed the hull tapered back into a horizontal tail. The 'spines' Corbin was referring to were situated near the rear of the ship. The two largest of the six was nearly the same legth of the hull itself. One half of the spines that faced away from the front of the ship had a slight glow of red light, barely imperceptable. If Ivanova looked long enough, she could swear that the spines were actually *moving*, if just barely. But if she traced the spines back to the main hull, the spines fused neatly with the rest of the ship. "Well," muttered Ivanova, "the Captain is going to love this. Tell Garibaldi and Sheridan to meet me down in the Ready Room as soon as Hunter gets on-board." "Yes, Sir," Corbin replied and started to hit his controls. Once the shuttle had docked with me, Kira, and Anteaus, Ayesha desciding to staying on the ship and explore around. Exactly ten second after I was off the shuttle, Commander Ivanova rounded the corner. She stopped short as she saw Anteaus right over my sholder. "Hello, Commander," I said, walking down the hallway to her. She was still looking at Anteaus. I glanced over my sholder. "Ah, Commander, This is Anteaus. Anteaus, Commander Susan Ivanova." Anteaus held his hand out. "Pleased to meet you, Commander Ivanova." He said, in that deep, resonating voice he had. Ivanova shook his hand very carefully. She then noticed Kira right next to me. "Who are you?" She asked, in curiosty. "Ah, Kira Nerys. I'm a friend of Hunter's." Replied Kira, holding her hand out. Ivonova shook it. She then looked at me. "We need to talk," Ivanova replied, following me. "Agreed, we need to talk," I said, "the Ready Room?" "Of course. Right now," Ivanova answered me, "and no funny-stuff." "Then let's go," I replied. Ivanova led the way, I followed with Kira and Anteaus hovering right next to me. This was going to be a very interesting conversation. Delenn had recently heard of a unusual ship coming into the area. She wasn't a overly curious person, but she was intrigued by a ship that might be labeled unusual. She walked into C&C, and walked over to Lt. Corbin. "Excuse me, but would you know where Commander Ivanova is?" Asked Delenn. "No ma'am, but what is it that you wanted to know?" Replied Corbin. "I have heard reports of a 'unusual' ship coming into the area. I was curious as to wether this was true or not." "Yes ma'am. In fact, I can show you it if you want." "Please." Corbin opened a window on his console. "There it is, all three hundred and fifty meters of it." Delenn looked closley at the screen. The ship was unusual, and she had never seen anything like it before. But there was something about it that stirred a memeory, and if she could just figure out what that memory was.... "Thank you, Lt. Corbin." Said Delenn, and she walked out of C&C, in thought. "You've got one hell of a explaining to do." Said Sheridan as I introduced them to Kira and Anteaus. "I'll try my best." I replied as I sat down. "Now, what is it that you would like to ask me?" "First off," Said Sheridan. I expected him to ask about why I left the station, but curiousity got the better of him, "What the heck is that that you're wearing?" "Its a Space Suit Captain." I anserwed. I remebered the 60th Ferengi rule of Acquisition. Allways keep your lies consistant. "Hmm." Sheridan got up and began pacing back and forth. "Now, what the hell were you doing leaving the station like that?" "Captain, I didn't have a choice. If I hadn't gone the station would have been nothing more than errant space debrie in," I cheacked my watch, "Half an hour." "Allright." He said. "Fair enough. Now, just what exactly is that ship?" "That ship is the *Resistance*." I replied. "She is very fast, very well shielded, and very well armed." "But how the hell do you have a ship with a hull that's composed of the same stuff that the Vorlons ships are composed of?" Ivanova replied. Sheridan's mouth was agape. Aparently, he hadn't heard this part. "The *Resistance*'s outer skin is compsed of a subtance like the vorlon's ship, yes." I replied. "Its a very versitile material. You could blow off one of the spines and, given time, it would 'grow it back', so to speak, without any assistance." "Okay, but were do you expect to berth that thing! We can't have that ship hanging out in space, it's a traffic hazard," Said Sheridan. "Captain," I noted, "I'll move it into a more suitable parking orbit as soon as I get the chance. Now," I pulled out a set of flimsies and a data crystal, "the ship's papers are here, all in order, and with her hull and IFF registration codes. Unless there's a problem, I would like to know where I should park my ship...." "Well, I mean, how do you plan to keep that ship running without a bearth of station support? Said Sheridan, in a very frustrated and confused state. "The *Resistance* is more than adequete at maintaining and taking care of herself. Now, if there isn't anything else...." I let the question hang. Before I could finish or anyone could reply, Delenn walked into the room. "Hello Captain, Commander, Hunter." she then noticed Anteaus. I sighed inwardly. This would become a problem if I this happened everywhere I went with him. "Greetings Ambassador." Said Anteaus, as he bowed to her. And bielive me, it would be somewhat relieving to _anyone_ if a seven-foot-tall organic warrior bowed to you. She also paused at Kira. I stood up an introduced them. "Delenn, this is Kira. Kira, this is Ambasador Delenn." They both exchanged greetings. Then, Delenn sat right next to me. She then turned to the others and said, "I am here to speak on Hunter's behalf." Said Delenn. "I don't think there is much left to defend. Now, if there isn't any more problems, I would like to know where I could park my ship?" I said. "Oh, all right," Sheridan waved me off, "all of you, get out." Kira, and Delenn, with Anteaus hovering in the background, were walking beside me. "There has been a lot of thing happeing around you Hunter." Said Delenn. "There has been, hasn't there?" I replied. "I hope things quite down. But with our luck I doubt that will happen." "I do have one question. What exactly is that ship of your's that Sheridan was talking about?" Asked Delenn, curious. "That ship, is called the *Resistance*. It could be, possibly, the most advanced ship in this part of the Galaxy right now. Why do you ask?" I replied. "I had heard of a unusual ship in the area. I figure it was yours, but I wanted to be sure." Said Delenn. "By the way, what is exactly this, Genesis Corporation I have heard about?" "The Genesis Corporation is the joint buisness group that owns the *Resistance*. It consists of Ayesha, Kira," I said, and Kira looked at me, surprised, "Anteaus, someone named Cathrine, and Jewel," I noted. "Who's Jewel?" "Jewel's the ship's computer. Jewel is a sentient entity, and can bear a contract by Earth Alliance law," I replied. "Oh. I see. Well then, I'll see you tomorrow," Delenn noted. "Why?" I asked. "Breakfast," Delenn reminded me. "You may come also, Kira. Any friend of Hunter's is a friend of mine." "Of course Ambassador." Replied Kira. "You may call me Delenn." She replied. "Delenn" said Kira, correcting herself. "I will see you tomorrow morning." "I'll see you both then," Delenn replied, and walked down the hallway. "What did you mean?" Said Kira, looking at me strangely. "About the Genesis Corporation?" Sitting in my quarters at night. Alone. And sleep did not seem like it was going to come soon. I was thinking. That was all I could do now, was to think. I was thinking one question, that seemed to repeat over and over again in my head. Why was I here? A fair question, certainly, but one I just couldn't anserw. It nipped, and tugged, and pulled on my brain to anserw that I knew that until I could anserw it I was not going to get any sleep. It was during this that a thought came to me. If what Gai'eth, Jewel, and that message told me was true, I could be the only hope for a universe gone mad. And with that thought, I fell into the chair, asleep. END CHAPTER (*)Authers note: the Dia'mek Groed is a type of fighting style that allows you to guage you oppenent, and pick out that oppenents leathal and non-leathal attack points, regardless of the species. It is a very, very complex fighting style. Questions, comments, critics, and concerns, please e-mail me. Believe me, I need them. -- "Drawing myself up, I drew the Nicodemus Hunter darkness around me like a cloak nicodemus@i-55.com and sild silently into the articus@geocities.com night..." www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/9409/ -The Hunter to the Prey, "Silent Thoughts" God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time. -- Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, "Good Omens"