![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
jason-bond-69.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
crossoverficCross-posted to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
100stories, crossoverfic, allfandomfics, bsg2003fics, fan_fiction and my own LJ
Thirteen
Chapter Twenty-One
The Rebirth of Hope
When Kara Starbuck Thrace stepped off the Whitestar and onto the hard surface of the spaceport at Tuzinor on the Minbari homeworld, she realized that everything she had become accustomed to was about to go straight into the wastepaper basket. Helo, Anders, and a pregnant Sharon Boomer Valerii followed her off the ship and were met there by a tall, stocky Minbari who stepled her fingers and bowed to them. Entilzha veni. In Valens name, I greet you and welcome you to the Ranger training facility. This way, please. Starbuck shouldered her pack and followed the tall Minbari, looking around at the alien landscape, filled with the crystalline structures that were enigmatic of the Minbari.
They were, in essence, special guests of the Rangers, and would undergo special training in addition to that normally associated with the Anlashok. The quartet had been briefed on what to expect, but even that didnt prepare them for the full aspect of living on an alien world.
Once just a sleepy city, Tuzinor boomed with the arrival of the Interstellar Alliance. Aliens were everywhere: Minbari, human, Centauri, Narn, and so on. Anders walked up beside Starbuck and said, Its like one of those science fiction movies come to life, like in that old movie Space Wars.
How did the prologue go? A far off time in a galaxy a long way away? or something like that? Never really liked that film, especially that cheesy bar scene with all those aliens in it. Starbuck said as she had to dodge the foot traffic that got worse as their guide took them through the heart of the city and out to the training center.
They had walked an hour before they finally arrived there, and Starbuck had wondered if they had gotten the scenic tour or something. The facility looked like any other military base shed ever been on, save for the crystalline architecture. Everything seemed to be in threes and nines here, or multiples of those numbers. The center, from what she had been told, had barracks for twenty-seven thousand Rangers, including nine thousand for trainees. Each large barracks held one thousand Rangers, so the twenty-seven buildings took a lot of the space on the base. There were nine temples, nine training fields (one that had an elaborate obstacle course that made the one Starbuck had in her Colonial basic training look like a walk in the park), and nine large hangers. The classrooms and administrative buildings were also in groups of three and nine as well.
Boomer, whom Starbuck had finally begun to warm to a little, remarked, They have a thing for threes and nines like Colonials have for the number twelve.
Yeah, one of my math teachers back in school once said that she thought the universe had a thing for the number three. Seems like these Minbari have an obsession with it. Helo added.
They fell in with some other human Rangers, all of whom were selected for the special mission that Hollifield was planning, as well as Minbari who were likewise selected for this specialized training. Instead of the normal three months of training, they would go through a rigorous nine-month boot camp that would turn them into a solid team. They would be part of the Rangers, but apart from them at the same time. Some, Starbuck knew, were Rangers already and had signed up to take part in this mission.
Two old Minbari males came out dressed in brown robes. The taller, and what looked to be younger one, spoke first. Entilzha veni! In Valens name! I welcome you all to this special training for the honored Anlashok! My name is Fhursna Sech Durhan, and I teach the martial art of the dennbok. Upon successful completion of training with the weapon, you will each be issued your own fighting pike. He took one out and tossed it to Starbuck. Starbuck noticed that some of the Rangers started backing away from her, and she got a very nervous thought in her head.
I have heard from the human president Garrison Hollifield that some of the best lessons in life are the ones you learn outside the classroom, and the most essential ones are learned, as he put it, the hard way. Ranger Thrace, please open your dennbok and prepare to fight me! Durhan reached into his uniform and took out his own, opening it in a way that mystified Starbuck.
Oh frak! Starbuck thought as she mimicked Durhans motions, and, to her surprise, it opened out with surprising speed. She just had enough time to deflect the oncoming blow, and pushed it to the side. Durhan was clearly stronger than Starbuck, despite his age, and was well trained in the art. But Starbuck had spirit and youth on her side, as well as a take-no-crap attitude that was being brought out in her at the moment, as she did not want to be shown up in front of her friends.
It looked as if Starbuck was going to go down when she suddenly went down to her knees, spun around, and took Durhans feet out from under him. She then pressed the pike against his throat, breathing heavily as she did. Durhan looked up at her and laughed, saying, In all the years I have been training Minbari and humans in the art of the pike, only one other has been able to do that. If you are anywhere near as good of a warrior as Neroon was, you will be a special one indeed!
She had no idea who Neroon was, but she got the feeling he was a very big warrior in the caste of warriors that made up one-third of Minbari society. All the Minbari and most of the humans looked at her in shock, while Helo, Anders, and Boomer werent surprised in the least in seeing her outdo Durhan.
She didnt feel like being cocky, though. In a way, she felt the weight of being called special, and the words that Hollifield told her about being a creature of fate came back to her. She didnt have time to dwell on it as the shorter and older Minbari introduced himself. I am Sech Turval. I will be teaching you, what Anlashok Zha Hollifield calls the mental side of being a Ranger, while Durhan will be in charge of the physical side of your training. We are here because we have a unique opportunity presented to us. In the thousand years of our order, we have held the line against the darkness, but never have we had to fight to revive lost worlds. That is our mission, and we shall achieve it, for we are Anlashok.
The others behind her cried out: I am a Ranger. We walk in the dark places no others will enter. We stand on the bridge and no one may pass. We live for the One. We die for the One. Starbuck and her friends had no idea who this One was, but she didnt dwell on it. She suspected that she would learn in time.
They knew after the assemblage that they were to stay behind, and did so after Durhan had dismissed the others. Welcome, those of the Colonial worlds to Minbar! We hope that you wont be too overwhelmed by we boneheaded aliens! Durhan said with a laugh. The four werent sure whether they were supposed to laugh, so Durhan said, You can laugh at that joke. But its wise not to call any other Minbari bonehead here, especially those in the warrior caste. I fear they still havent come to accept Minbars role in the greater galaxy. But thats for another time! Come now, and let me introduce you to your guides for the course.
David Martel had come a long way since his days on the Liandra. His crew was still together after all these years: Dulann, Sarah Cantrell, Malcolm Bridges, Kitaro Kit Sasaki, and Nafeel. Tafeek, their Drazi comrade, had died during the mission to help free Centauri Prime of the Drakh influence, and his loss still was deeply felt among the sextet. They were now assigned as teachers at the base, but knew that they would get back into space soon enough. Their students walked up to them behind Durhan and Turval.
Durhan introduced them, and Martel sensed that these four would fit in nicely with his crew. They gave curious looks to Nafeel, who bore them surprisingly well. Then again, she was a student of GKar, and had taken his teachings to heart, especially since his death. Before this meeting, she had bet Cantrell thirty credits that they would give her weird looks. So she smiled thinking of the ego blow that Cantrell would get losing the money, even though it was a trifle amount.
David Martel brought the three Colonials and Cylon copy to the special section of barracks prepared for them. They would be integrated with the other humans and Minbari slowly, to allow them more time to adjust to the different customs, as well as for the others to get used to them. Starbuck and Boomer would room together in one bedroom of a suite, while Helo and Anders would take on another. However, a special room was being prepared for Boomer, as she was expecting a baby and would be monitored closely by the human doctors so that she wouldnt risk losing the baby.
When the four Colonials got settled into their new billets, David Martel met his old friend Sarah Cantrell in the mess. Theyll take some getting used to, and Im sure theyre thinking the same thing. Sarah said as David brought over a cup of coffee for her as well as one for himself.
Yeah, but I think theyll be just fine. As soon as this training is done, well get to do the shakedown of the new Whitestar destroyers. Theyre supposed to be five times larger than the original Whitestars and will even have their own fighter bays! I am so looking forward to that! he smiled as he drank some coffee.
About time! Weve been using those Whitestars for over two decades now, and the smaller ones are fine for their purposes, but if Hollifield is going to mount an offensive to take the Colonial worlds back, well need something with teeth. Especially since its no guarantee that Earthforce will go along with this.
So you think hell run again, Sarah? Martel asked her.
I dont know. I think he wouldnt if this hadnt come up, but with the possible threat of the Cylons, hell feel honor bound to run again. What do you think of Sheridan stepping down as president of the ISA?
Martel sighed and said, Well, its not really surprising. Hes been head of it for almost twenty years now, and hell take over EntilZha duties from Delenn soon enough. It should be interesting, to say the least. I mean, learning from the man who won the Shadow War! he shook his head and smiled. I signed up for this just so I could learn from the best!
Youre not the only one! I can imagine that there was a fight for places when they announced it. Luckily for us that Hollifield insisted upon us after all the work we did together back during the Drakh plague. Sarah added as she drank more coffee.
Martel smiled, then sighed, and mused, Do you think hell ever find happiness? It seems as if all you see of him is fighting some new battle to make for a better Earth and a better galaxy. You would think at his age that he would decide to lay down the burden and let someone handle it.
Sarah took a moment to think that over. She then said, I dont think hed know what to do if he wasnt busy with something big to work on. Scuttlebutt says hes going to come here and teach when his time as president is over with. When thatll be she shrugged.
Yeah, I know! Martel said as they drank up the rest of the coffee and went back to their billets.
Late in the evening, in the temple that the humans called the Chapel, Turval and Durhan sat in silent meditation in front of the huge statue of Valen. After a long time deep in thought, Durhan broke the silence and asked his old friend, Do you think he would approve of what we are doing?
Yes, of course! If he were still here, hed be right there with us to take down those Cylons. Too bad hes not. I miss the talks we used to have.
We all miss him, even though he went back in time decades ago. They say hell return in Minbars hour of greatest need. Hopefully that wont involve this conflict thats coming. The two men laughed, then sobered quickly enough.
Im getting too old for this! Durhan finally said after a prolonged silence.
Youre getting too old! What about the rest of us? Turval said, and they laughed again as they got up and exited the temple, still under the watchful gaze of the statue of Valen.
100stories, crossoverfic, allfandomfics, bsg2003fics, fan_fiction and my own LJChapter Twenty-One
The Rebirth of Hope
When Kara Starbuck Thrace stepped off the Whitestar and onto the hard surface of the spaceport at Tuzinor on the Minbari homeworld, she realized that everything she had become accustomed to was about to go straight into the wastepaper basket. Helo, Anders, and a pregnant Sharon Boomer Valerii followed her off the ship and were met there by a tall, stocky Minbari who stepled her fingers and bowed to them. Entilzha veni. In Valens name, I greet you and welcome you to the Ranger training facility. This way, please. Starbuck shouldered her pack and followed the tall Minbari, looking around at the alien landscape, filled with the crystalline structures that were enigmatic of the Minbari.
They were, in essence, special guests of the Rangers, and would undergo special training in addition to that normally associated with the Anlashok. The quartet had been briefed on what to expect, but even that didnt prepare them for the full aspect of living on an alien world.
Once just a sleepy city, Tuzinor boomed with the arrival of the Interstellar Alliance. Aliens were everywhere: Minbari, human, Centauri, Narn, and so on. Anders walked up beside Starbuck and said, Its like one of those science fiction movies come to life, like in that old movie Space Wars.
How did the prologue go? A far off time in a galaxy a long way away? or something like that? Never really liked that film, especially that cheesy bar scene with all those aliens in it. Starbuck said as she had to dodge the foot traffic that got worse as their guide took them through the heart of the city and out to the training center.
They had walked an hour before they finally arrived there, and Starbuck had wondered if they had gotten the scenic tour or something. The facility looked like any other military base shed ever been on, save for the crystalline architecture. Everything seemed to be in threes and nines here, or multiples of those numbers. The center, from what she had been told, had barracks for twenty-seven thousand Rangers, including nine thousand for trainees. Each large barracks held one thousand Rangers, so the twenty-seven buildings took a lot of the space on the base. There were nine temples, nine training fields (one that had an elaborate obstacle course that made the one Starbuck had in her Colonial basic training look like a walk in the park), and nine large hangers. The classrooms and administrative buildings were also in groups of three and nine as well.
Boomer, whom Starbuck had finally begun to warm to a little, remarked, They have a thing for threes and nines like Colonials have for the number twelve.
Yeah, one of my math teachers back in school once said that she thought the universe had a thing for the number three. Seems like these Minbari have an obsession with it. Helo added.
They fell in with some other human Rangers, all of whom were selected for the special mission that Hollifield was planning, as well as Minbari who were likewise selected for this specialized training. Instead of the normal three months of training, they would go through a rigorous nine-month boot camp that would turn them into a solid team. They would be part of the Rangers, but apart from them at the same time. Some, Starbuck knew, were Rangers already and had signed up to take part in this mission.
Two old Minbari males came out dressed in brown robes. The taller, and what looked to be younger one, spoke first. Entilzha veni! In Valens name! I welcome you all to this special training for the honored Anlashok! My name is Fhursna Sech Durhan, and I teach the martial art of the dennbok. Upon successful completion of training with the weapon, you will each be issued your own fighting pike. He took one out and tossed it to Starbuck. Starbuck noticed that some of the Rangers started backing away from her, and she got a very nervous thought in her head.
I have heard from the human president Garrison Hollifield that some of the best lessons in life are the ones you learn outside the classroom, and the most essential ones are learned, as he put it, the hard way. Ranger Thrace, please open your dennbok and prepare to fight me! Durhan reached into his uniform and took out his own, opening it in a way that mystified Starbuck.
Oh frak! Starbuck thought as she mimicked Durhans motions, and, to her surprise, it opened out with surprising speed. She just had enough time to deflect the oncoming blow, and pushed it to the side. Durhan was clearly stronger than Starbuck, despite his age, and was well trained in the art. But Starbuck had spirit and youth on her side, as well as a take-no-crap attitude that was being brought out in her at the moment, as she did not want to be shown up in front of her friends.
It looked as if Starbuck was going to go down when she suddenly went down to her knees, spun around, and took Durhans feet out from under him. She then pressed the pike against his throat, breathing heavily as she did. Durhan looked up at her and laughed, saying, In all the years I have been training Minbari and humans in the art of the pike, only one other has been able to do that. If you are anywhere near as good of a warrior as Neroon was, you will be a special one indeed!
She had no idea who Neroon was, but she got the feeling he was a very big warrior in the caste of warriors that made up one-third of Minbari society. All the Minbari and most of the humans looked at her in shock, while Helo, Anders, and Boomer werent surprised in the least in seeing her outdo Durhan.
She didnt feel like being cocky, though. In a way, she felt the weight of being called special, and the words that Hollifield told her about being a creature of fate came back to her. She didnt have time to dwell on it as the shorter and older Minbari introduced himself. I am Sech Turval. I will be teaching you, what Anlashok Zha Hollifield calls the mental side of being a Ranger, while Durhan will be in charge of the physical side of your training. We are here because we have a unique opportunity presented to us. In the thousand years of our order, we have held the line against the darkness, but never have we had to fight to revive lost worlds. That is our mission, and we shall achieve it, for we are Anlashok.
The others behind her cried out: I am a Ranger. We walk in the dark places no others will enter. We stand on the bridge and no one may pass. We live for the One. We die for the One. Starbuck and her friends had no idea who this One was, but she didnt dwell on it. She suspected that she would learn in time.
They knew after the assemblage that they were to stay behind, and did so after Durhan had dismissed the others. Welcome, those of the Colonial worlds to Minbar! We hope that you wont be too overwhelmed by we boneheaded aliens! Durhan said with a laugh. The four werent sure whether they were supposed to laugh, so Durhan said, You can laugh at that joke. But its wise not to call any other Minbari bonehead here, especially those in the warrior caste. I fear they still havent come to accept Minbars role in the greater galaxy. But thats for another time! Come now, and let me introduce you to your guides for the course.
David Martel had come a long way since his days on the Liandra. His crew was still together after all these years: Dulann, Sarah Cantrell, Malcolm Bridges, Kitaro Kit Sasaki, and Nafeel. Tafeek, their Drazi comrade, had died during the mission to help free Centauri Prime of the Drakh influence, and his loss still was deeply felt among the sextet. They were now assigned as teachers at the base, but knew that they would get back into space soon enough. Their students walked up to them behind Durhan and Turval.
Durhan introduced them, and Martel sensed that these four would fit in nicely with his crew. They gave curious looks to Nafeel, who bore them surprisingly well. Then again, she was a student of GKar, and had taken his teachings to heart, especially since his death. Before this meeting, she had bet Cantrell thirty credits that they would give her weird looks. So she smiled thinking of the ego blow that Cantrell would get losing the money, even though it was a trifle amount.
David Martel brought the three Colonials and Cylon copy to the special section of barracks prepared for them. They would be integrated with the other humans and Minbari slowly, to allow them more time to adjust to the different customs, as well as for the others to get used to them. Starbuck and Boomer would room together in one bedroom of a suite, while Helo and Anders would take on another. However, a special room was being prepared for Boomer, as she was expecting a baby and would be monitored closely by the human doctors so that she wouldnt risk losing the baby.
When the four Colonials got settled into their new billets, David Martel met his old friend Sarah Cantrell in the mess. Theyll take some getting used to, and Im sure theyre thinking the same thing. Sarah said as David brought over a cup of coffee for her as well as one for himself.
Yeah, but I think theyll be just fine. As soon as this training is done, well get to do the shakedown of the new Whitestar destroyers. Theyre supposed to be five times larger than the original Whitestars and will even have their own fighter bays! I am so looking forward to that! he smiled as he drank some coffee.
About time! Weve been using those Whitestars for over two decades now, and the smaller ones are fine for their purposes, but if Hollifield is going to mount an offensive to take the Colonial worlds back, well need something with teeth. Especially since its no guarantee that Earthforce will go along with this.
So you think hell run again, Sarah? Martel asked her.
I dont know. I think he wouldnt if this hadnt come up, but with the possible threat of the Cylons, hell feel honor bound to run again. What do you think of Sheridan stepping down as president of the ISA?
Martel sighed and said, Well, its not really surprising. Hes been head of it for almost twenty years now, and hell take over EntilZha duties from Delenn soon enough. It should be interesting, to say the least. I mean, learning from the man who won the Shadow War! he shook his head and smiled. I signed up for this just so I could learn from the best!
Youre not the only one! I can imagine that there was a fight for places when they announced it. Luckily for us that Hollifield insisted upon us after all the work we did together back during the Drakh plague. Sarah added as she drank more coffee.
Martel smiled, then sighed, and mused, Do you think hell ever find happiness? It seems as if all you see of him is fighting some new battle to make for a better Earth and a better galaxy. You would think at his age that he would decide to lay down the burden and let someone handle it.
Sarah took a moment to think that over. She then said, I dont think hed know what to do if he wasnt busy with something big to work on. Scuttlebutt says hes going to come here and teach when his time as president is over with. When thatll be she shrugged.
Yeah, I know! Martel said as they drank up the rest of the coffee and went back to their billets.
Late in the evening, in the temple that the humans called the Chapel, Turval and Durhan sat in silent meditation in front of the huge statue of Valen. After a long time deep in thought, Durhan broke the silence and asked his old friend, Do you think he would approve of what we are doing?
Yes, of course! If he were still here, hed be right there with us to take down those Cylons. Too bad hes not. I miss the talks we used to have.
We all miss him, even though he went back in time decades ago. They say hell return in Minbars hour of greatest need. Hopefully that wont involve this conflict thats coming. The two men laughed, then sobered quickly enough.
Im getting too old for this! Durhan finally said after a prolonged silence.
Youre getting too old! What about the rest of us? Turval said, and they laughed again as they got up and exited the temple, still under the watchful gaze of the statue of Valen.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}