Between The Darkness And The Light

The Rutian Exploration Fleet recently decided to send a few ships to the opposite side of the known galaxy, all the way to the edge. Granted, they've been there before, but they haven't been there for over a hundred years. The three ships sent to survey the area popped in from no where. The area was supposed to be uninhabited. Instead, the Rutian ships found themselves in the middle of an alien fleet.

***********************

A long range message would be received by all capable of doing so. The location is easily tracked down.

"Rutian Exploration Fleet declaring sector 853 by 75 to be off limits. Alien presence detected. They're... they're... oh gods! Stay away from here!"

The call abruptly ends. Underlying the call is a brief image of one alien ship.

[Encrypted]
To: Shein
From: Dmitri

I'd tell you what they are except all of our little Lanterns are off somewhere else, taking their whole encyclopedia of every damn species in the known universe with them.

Dmitri

P.S. If you need help, just give me a call and I'll be there.

(ENCRYPTED)
TO: Shein
FROM: Thorgood

We've attached this databurst in case you hadn't received it. I'm pretty sure you have, but nevertheless.
(ATTACHMENT)

How were you planning on reacting to this? If there's another alien fleet out there waiting to prey on our little corner of civilization, I swear, I might scream.

Our tech teams are trying to identify the capabilities and anything we can determine about the ship shown in the databurst. We'll notify you on anything we discover.

Sincerely,
Thorgood

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The newly appointed Ambassador Hal Jackson, the very same from the incident with the replicators, is currently stationed on Rutia. Just thought I'd bring that up in case I had to use the embassy later in this thread.

All Encrypted:

To: Dmitri
From: Shein

We've asked the Revans. They have no clue, which means they haven't experienced this. They're just as in the dark as we are. This is an area we've been in before, but it was about a hundred and ten years ago. We sent another fleet about five minutes after we received the call. There was nothing but the debris of our ships there. Five minutes is all it took. I'm not sure if I want to know what it was that they found out there.

- Shein

**************

To: Thorgood
From: Shein

I don't know what it is that they found out there. I asked the Revans and they have no clue either. They haven't experienced this which means things have changed. What I do know is that when we sent another fleet out there to find out what was going on, all we found was debris from our ships. Whatever this was completely obliterated our ships in less than five minutes and cleared out of there. I'm likely going to leave them the hell alone and not go out there even on routine mapping of the areas anymore. I just hope that by going out there, I haven't pissed off something that, quite honestly, scares the shit out of me.

-Shein

*************

Hal Jackson would have been offered Embassy space in the Citadel on Dreva, since that's where Shein is still making his home for the moment. Easier that way.

[Heavily Encrypted]

To: Emperor Shein Darson
From: Director Andreus Aaron

We're willing to send all possible assistance of course, although I can't help but be disturbed by the sudden string of galactic threats.

Dir. A. Aaron

(ENCRYPTED)
TO: Shein
FROM: Thorgood

I was going to suggest that prudent course of action myself.

Sincerely,
Thorgood

To: Director Andreus Aaron
From: Emperor Darson

I'll keep that in mind. Whatever this particular threat is, it managed to tear several of my ships apart and clear out of the area in less than five minutes. I'll get back to you if we discover anything else, though I'm likely going to leave that area well alone from now on.

-Shein Darson

*******************

Just outside of Rutian territory, sensor net alarms go off. Several FTS and Defense ships are sent to their side of the area to check it out. What they find there alarms them enough to send heavily encrypted messages to Dreva. (They can be intercepted, but not broken.)

An hour later, messages are sent out again. All encrypted.

***************

To: Thorgood
From: Shein

Well, this was interesting. We did wake something up. In the process of waking that something up we woke up something else. I can't win. The good news about all of this is that the other thing we woke up by waking up the first thing is friendly. The bad news is that the first thing we woke up is not friendly. This is so fucking confusing! I'll offer your ambassador the chance to get involved with all this. Maybe he can make more sense out of this than I can.

- Shein

**********************

And Hal is offered the chance to get involved with whatever they've discovered out in space and also with what cause the sensor net to go haywire.

TO: Shein
FROM: Thorgood

Well, it makes more sense if you give them names.

"We woke up the Parishmen (evil, mean), who woke up the Spacemen (nice, friendly)."

See, that sounds much easier!

Sincerely,
Thorgood

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ambassaodor Jackson does come over to see if he can help out with what's going on. He doesn't really have any advanced education or anything, but he's got good instincts. He knew something was fishy with the Ashen long before their alliance with the Replicators became known.

(Encrypted)

To: Thorgood
From: Shein

We've got names already at least according to the race we just met. The nice ones call themselves the Vorlons. They call the mean ones the Shadows. I'm still confused. It doesn't seem right. I can't explain it. When I told this Vorlon I didn't understand what he was saying, and believe me if anyone can understand it I'll give them a medal, he told me, and I quote 'Understanding is a three edged sword'. Uhh, right. It's been like this since we've started talking to it. Only name I get is Kosh. Then it came up with 'We are all Kosh', but they call themselves Vorlons. Now do you see why I'm so confused? I am tempted to send an emissary to these Shadows to see what they have to say about the situation. I'm actually thinking that they destroyed our ships because we surprised them. I do have to admit that if something appeared in our borders and we didn't know what it was, we might fire first and ask questions later.

- Shein

**************************

Jackson is brought up to speed on what's happening. One of those Vorlons is in the Citadel on Dreva, though wearing something to hide what it really looks like. It's been talking in riddles rather than being straightforward. Should Jackson want to meet the alien, it can be arranged rather easily.

Vorlon: https://2img.net/h/i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff266/JaydeAmali/Ulkesh.jpg

(OOC: Sela, if you've got an embassy or consulate in Rutianas, you'd have been invited to meet the alien as well. Panzer, same for you.)

The Selathorni ambassador to the Rutians, Marion Clayton, comes to meet the alien with whatever other people choose to come.

Well, Jackson doesn't understand a thing that was said either. He does suggest talking in riddles back to the being. Just to see what happens.

It doesn't understand what's being said when it's talked to in riddles. Should someone utter the phrase 'I don't understand' around it, relating to the Vorlon, it responds immediately, even going as far as interrupting in a clearly masculine voice surrounded by musical tones, "Then listen to the music, not the song." If it wasn't one of the Ambassadors, then it was Shein that got that little gem.

After a bit of discussion with the Vorlon, Shein glances at the other ambassadors. "I can't get anywhere either. It's always riddles and comments like that."

"I have already told you how to understand," comes the response.

"Yeah, yeah. Listen to the music." Shein just shakes his head. "Are you always this confusing or are you just trying to frustrate me?"

"Yes." The Vorlon turns and walks out. Well, more like glides. The outfit he's wearing is bulky, but it does hide what he looks like underneath.

Shein just watches him go. Once he's certain it's out of earshot, he turns back to the ambassadors. "I'd kill him if I could figure out how to get past that outfit of his."

*************************

Meanwhile, each of the Embassies on Dreva and Rutia receive requests from a Rutian for an appointment to talk to the Ambassadors. Shein receives a similar request via datapad about the same time.

(Note: Universal translators will have no effect on it. Either that outfit is blocking the ability for universal translators to translate, or it's the way the Vorlon thinks. Everyone gets the same exact phrases from it.)

(OOC: Out of curiousity, is anyone monitoring the Prill (silicon life that merged with Arren) or Pandati (avian race that Shein shares DNA with) other than the Rutians?)

(EDIT: OOC: To hear the Vorlon: http://greghartwig.com/sounds/babylon5/LstnMusc.wav)

The Selathorni ambassador also shows up.

(OOC: Ooops.)

"Well, I have to admit, that was... interesting. In any case, is it me or has my universal translator been scrambled? Sometimes they decode riddles by accident but this is something else entirely."

(OOC: My post was assuming all ambassadors were present, btw.)

(OOC: No, we do not keep tabs on anyone who doesn't ask us to keep tabs on them. We don't even keep tabs on Rutianas, though since the rulers have historically been friendly, we actually have an embassy.)

"Have you tried checking for sounds that aren't audible to us, as in high or lower frequencies?" Jackson asks. "If you don't mind, I'd like a crack at him," he asks. Looks like his interest has been piqued.

"Hmm... It's times like this that I wish I could bring along a Kryptonian."

Shein nods to Marion. "Yeah, tell me about it. When we asked for their language files, he flat out refused. Probably the only straight response we've gotten, and then it was just a no." He shrugs.

To Jackson, he nods. "We've tried that, yeah. It's just the musical sound, then the words. Take as many cracks as you want. We've tried several methods and we're not getting anywhere."

To Valorum, Shein half smiles. "We've had telepaths try and take a peek. They were completely blocked. That means the Vorlons have some telepathic ability or they've evolved enough to be aware of telepaths and able to block them or that damned outfit is blocking them. They're not sure what it is and when we asked, we got the response 'yes'. When we tried breaking it down, each individual question was met with silence."

He half-smiles back. "The damn rings aren't working either, which either means that they block the translate function or the language isn't in the Book of Oa."

Marion shrugs. "Have you considered having a musician look at it? It might be a musical code. Try to transcribe the music into sheet form, perhaps?"

"Or maybe it's a picture. We know musical notes create images on a surface when certain notes are present," Jackson suggests.

Shein shakes his head. "We've tried. I've looked at the sheet music myself. It's pretty, but it doesn't mean anything to us." He shrugs a shoulder. "Believe me, we've tried everything we can think of to crack what he's said. We got nothing. Of course, you can always look over what we've attempted. Maybe you'll find something else." He looks at his datapad, then raises a brow. "If you'll excuse me, someone's requested a meeting and for some reason it was approved without anyone telling me about it." He heads off, somewhat irritated, though the information regarding the Vorlon language is brought to the Ambassadors a couple minutes later.

The requests by a Rutian citizen are placed again to each Embassy for an appointment with the Ambassadors.

Valorum answers that whoever it is can come in anytime in the afternoon.

Marion says the same thing.

Jackson is similarly free of prior engagements, and will attend.

It's not a group meeting, but a one on one meeting with each Ambassador. First the Rhean Ambassador, once he's back to the Embassy. Then the Selathorni. Finally the Burninite Ambassador. Each one is asked a single question by the Rutian. "What do you want?" Odd, I know, but the man is persistant. He'll keep questioning until he gets an answer that satisfies him.

(OOC: Feel free to post your reactions and answers. If it's not satisfactory, I'll have him ask you again.)