Between The Darkness And The Light

The Esoterran Ambassador to Rhea, a young woman named Patricia, not a vampire oddly enough, sends a message to Dmitri. "I've just been informed of the attack on Esoteric. We don't know who did it, but I did notice there was some chatter between you and Esoteric. I was told that the Imperial Republic has taken over Esoteric as well. I'm likely to be removed from here. I got a partial message from Lucas. He said I needed to request sanctuary with you. He said, and I quote, that 'Dmitri would not fail'."

"And grant you sanctuary, I will. By the way, what do you make of this message he sent me?"

The message is attached. Just after it's sent, his girlfriend, Svetlana, walks in, reads it, and smacks him for being so oblivious.

The response is quick. "Thank you. I'd say to check the program Legacy for any hidden messages."

And so he does, after looking a bit indignant at the slap.

There is, indeed, a message on Legacy. Once Dmitri accesses it, it pops up. It's a video message from Lucas dated ten minutes after the attack and a few minutes after Rutian forces touched down on Esoteric. He's not hurt, but clearly rattled.

"Dmitri, Thorgood, Jenova, Teresa, I don't know who's going to see this or when, but share it with the others, but not over open or even encrypted lines. Tell them to check Legacy. Whatever attacked us was the same thing that got the Rutians out there. We got the distress call and saw the partial image that came through. It's the same damned thing. I can't say it openly because they're watching. I knew the message would be safe here." He looks over his shoulder, then back at the screen. "I don't know how much longer I'll be free. I can't tell you not to, but I'm urging you, do not attack the Rutians. I think they may have allied with those things. Do not trust Shein. Something's seriously wrong here and I'm not sure what it is. I've already probably told you that the Rutians are here by our request and no other help is needed. They're not here by our request. The only thing you can do is go to the...."

There's a sound like a gunshot in the background and Lucas is knocked out of the camera view. A Rutian troop bearing Shein's personal insignia comes into view. A second later and the video ends.

"Oh, crap."

He rushes out to the Nightwing and makes his way to Selathorn, demanding an audience with Andreus Aaron. He has to repeat himself several times because the speed of his speech makes it incomprehensible. But if and when the audience is granted, he tells him to check Legacy.

The Selathorni officials are surprised at Dimitri's sudden appearance (pretty close to midnight in the Haven), but Aaron, ever willing to do whatever it takes to keep his nation running, arranges an audience with Dimitri immediately.

And then of course Dimitri just says something about checking Legacy, and very little besides, then presumably went to somewhere else. Aaron and the military oblige his request.

After telling Aaron to check Legacy and making sure the message Dmitri received is seen, he makes his way to Burnination.

(OOC: Ahh! Wait before posting so much next time please! )

Teresa had been in the process of requesting a military envoy to Esoteric when the message in LEGACY was decrypted.

Normally, Burnination's official stance is always neutral, and would remain so unless requested to take a side. Even then, neutrality is seen as the best option. However, as Lucas seemed to have been asking for some sort of help, and there is certainly the smell of a fish somewhere, Jenova and Thorgood agree that something must be done.

So they invite Shein to a dinner party. You know, see if he's well...himself. And maybe slip a few hints of questions as to whether or not there has been contact with the alien fleet since last time.

Shein accepts the invitation, though he's pretty quick to state that it will be only himself and one palace guard. Arren and the rest of his family were sent away. He doesn't mention where. He'll show up when he's supposed to, dressed in a formal military jacket, fastened completely.

Sensor Command relays that Shein's message has been received, and dinner is prepared. Quite frankly, Arren's apparent disappearance is all that it took to convince Jenova and Thorgood that something is up, and therefore believe the message left by LEGACY. They will of course, still attempt to manipulate conversation in the manner I mentioned in the previous post, but this is now a secondary role.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ambassador Jackson begins to quietly pull his contacts, looking for information as to the whereabouts of Arren Kelich. He is careful to avoid detection.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Teresa begins quietly pulling her surviving contacts on Esoteric looking for information on the whereabouts of Esteban or Lucas. They are careful to avoid the notice of the Rutians, but a free Esteban would certainly notice that Teresa seems to be looking for him.

She is sent in a wide orbit around the star Esoteric orbits, in her starship, cloaked. The extraction team for Lucas is ready for deployment, should it become necessary.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you recall, Thorgood had given LEGACY a supercomputer when they first made a deal with them. Now, Thorgood asks LEGACY through that computer if it knows anything about the message it was asked to deliver, or the whereabouts of Arren or Lucas.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(HEAVILY ENCRYPTED, Thorgood's Personal Code)
TO: Emperor Dmitri Medvedev
FROM: ProtoConsul Thorgood

We're assuming that you received the message Lucas left for you, since our sources say you're making your way here.

If the Rutians have cracked this encryption, we're already screwed, so don't worry about masking anything here.

I've attached the files on our current activities. We're going to extract Lucas and Arren, hopefully to gain some good information.

Bottom line though, if the Rutians want to turn this galaxy into their personal playpen, there will be nothing we can do about it. We might be able to hold a few places, mount a long term resistance, but it'll be an uphill, essentially unwinnable situation. We're hoping to avoid that.

With enough info, we hope to figure this one out. That alien fleet Shein discovered is connected to this somehow. See if you can figure out how.

Godspeed.

Sincerely,
Thorgood

Prior to the dinner party, Jenova is approached by none other than Arren Kelich. He's located her, though it was no easy task. He's quite alone, though is quick to explain that Shein's family is nearby.

[Heavily Encrypted]
To: Protoconsul Thorgood
From: Emperor Dmitri Medvedev

Thank you. As for those aliens, I am calling in Hagen and asking him what the Hell is going on. Here's hoping it's a species known to the Book of Oa.

- Dmitri

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Inside the ship, he activates the signal for the Imperial Army and Air and Space Force to mobilize. The second Galaxy Gun is being readied, as is Brother Eye and the Zerg. It has gotten desperate enough that they have Anthony Ives looking into the AMAZO android once more.

Recommendation is for the other states to mobilize as well. Meanwhile, he turns continues to make his way to Burnination, where he will rendezvous on the way with Hagen. When he arrives, Hagen will be quizzed on what he knows of those aliens - weapons capabilities, appearances, biology, weaknesses, technology. If Hagen knows anything, Dmitri's reporting it to Thorgood.

(OOC: Up to you if you want them in the ring database. If you do, you should note they rival the Guardians in age, from what I've gathered from the Babylon 5 wiki.)

(OOC: They're millions of years old and have been 'asleep' for a long long time. The last time they were 'awake' was in a different galaxy. They came here and went into 'hibernation', so no, they wouldn't be in the book. The way I'm playing this is that they're not from this galaxy and they're actually older than what the Babylon 5 wiki has.)

(OOC: Hmm. The Guardians are billions of years old, but whatever. It's not the first time there's been an species unknown to the Book of Oa.)

Jenova seems surprised that Arren was able to locate her and arrive at her location. Before anything else, she says, "When Thorgood asks, you were lucky to find me. He'd want to hunt down your sources and have them fired."

Arren made the right call to go to Jenova instead of Thorgood or Teresa. Thorgood would be very interested in Arren's ...unique physiology. Teresa gives sympathy where none is needed. Jenova, on the other hand, is intelligent with her expressions of emotion. She'll display whatever emotion Arren seems to want displayed.

"I'm going to ask you this knowing it's an open ended question," Jenova says, "What in the world is going on?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Burninite sources discover the mobilization of the Rhean armies, and also quietly mobilize the armed forces.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thorgood and Teresa continue to search for Lucas.

(OOC: I really don't feel like RPing this dinner party, which Arren's appearance really makes obsolete. Unless you want to RP it for some reason, I'm just going to assume that Thorgood and Jenova got no useful information out of the conversation.)

Arren shakes his head. "I really don't know. All I know is that Shein started acting strange after meeting with this really weird guy. Kept asking him the same question over and over. 'What do you want?' After he started acting weird, he got really drunk as in too drunk to even walk, then told me to get his family away. I said I'd send them away and stay with him and he told me that I had to go with them. He didn't tell me where to go. I chose to come here. He probably knows I'd be here." Arren shrugs. "I really don't know any more than that."

(OOC: Well, depending on how the dinner party goes, ie how much alcohol is served and allowed, would really depend on whether or not they get anything useful.)

Dmitri finds nothing and says as much to Thorgood. Hagen is sent back to whatever he was doing before.

(OOC: Unless the dinner party is RPed out, Dmitri is going to stay as long as it would for him to figure out what Thorgood has learned.)

(OOC: I'm going to have them locate Lucas next post if you don't mind Rut. Two questions: would Lucas be guarded, and would you have set up any energy barriers to prevent us from just beaming him up?)

Well, when it comes out that Arren doesn't know anything, Thorgood and Teresa are asked to redouble their efforts to locate Lucas.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jenova nods. "This nation owes you much. You may be taken to the Craftworld for protection, or we can take you to a random villa somewhere on the Sister Planet and put it under guard. Unless there was something else you wanted to do?"

She doesn't even look disappointed that Arren couldn't clear everything up.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Whenever Dmitri arrives, he'll be taken to a government building in Burnination, and Thorgood will show up a bit later.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At this dinner party, there would not be alcohol at the table. Now, if Shein asked for some, it would be supplied, though whether or not they let him get 'too drunk to even walk' would depend on how insistent he is.

Which probably means he'll end up drunk!

(OOC: I'll just explain what you'll be facing with Lucas in this one. It's possible to get him out.)

Arren nods to Jenova. "Thank you. All we need is somewhere safe. I'm not going to complain where you keep us. I'm just glad you're willing to do so."

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

Shein does insist on more and more alcohol. Yep. Very insistent. In fact, he says at one point, "If you want to talk to me, I need more to drink." Rather odd.

Well, once he's good and drunk, he actually dismisses his guard. He's still able to talk, though it's a bit slurred. He's sloshed. He'll insist that Jenova and/or Thorgood only remain. Oh yeah, he's also unarmed. Anything he might have been carrying if they hadn't checked him and insisted removal, he's done so himself and given to his guard. Another odd thing.

Meh, once they're alone, Shein removes his jacket and unbuttons his shirt a bit to reveal his left shoulder. Attached to his shoulder where it meets his neck, is a greyish blob. Upon closer look, it's got an eye there, though it's closed. "It can't hold it's liquor." He explains. "It's controlling me when it's awake. When it's asleep, I'm myself. I tried to cut it off. I tried to shoot it off. Damned thing grew back. It always grows back. You have to understand, I can't go contrary to it. Trying to do so caused it to take over completely. I have no control over what it makes me do. I sent Arren and my family away. I couldn't let them watch what this thing is doing to me."

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

On Esoteric, Esteban surfaces since he's found out Teresa is looking for him and Lucas. Esteban is free and part of a resistance movement. Once he's face to face with Teresa, which I'm assuming would be pretty quickly with that beaming technology, he does explain where Lucas is being held. "It's an underground bunker. I don't know if they can stop your beaming him up, but I doubt it. We've got some people there as well. They're under guard completely. They're trying to get the rest of the Esoterran council. So far, they've got Lucas and Ecaterina. From what I understand, they're trying to attach something to them to control them." He'll point out the location of the bunker. "You gotta get them both out of there."

Dmitri arrives.

(OOC: He could try to remove it.)

Well, Thorgood is with Dmitri, and Jenova is with Shein. Separate locations, especially concerning the nature of the meeting with Shein. Jenova sends Arren and Shein's family to a random villa on the Sister Planet. They're guarded lightly, because the only one who knows who they are is Jenova.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the building Thorgood is using to meet Dmitri, there is live footage of the dinner party. It seems to be from the perspective of Jenova's right arm. Jenova insisted on no security cameras, so Thorgood likely bugged her and told her guards not to tell her that he did. Anyway, the only people with access to Thorgood's bug footage are Thorgood and Dmitri at the moment.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jenova leans back in her chair. In case you were wondering, the weapons the guard and Shein were carrying would have been disabled temporarily using a Disarmorour (see the thread 'Progress Since A New Direction' in Regional Happenings). She frowns. "That's decidedly not good. Tell me as much as you know. Start with whether or not I can tell you anything sensitive in this state."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Teresa will ask for the coordinates of the bunker, then find which occupants are vampires using her sensors, then decloak, then beam them into holding cells, then Trans-Warp away within 4 seconds of beaming (assuming that chain of events is possible).

"I'm not totally certain of how safe it would be but I may be able to remove that thing from his shoulder. I did manage to remove Brainiac from Luthor without killing him."

Shein, who hasn't even tried standing up, just shrugs with his right shoulder. "I don't know much about it. It knows what I know, so it'll know that you know when it wakes up, unless I've managed to drink enough that I don't remember this later. Do not tell me anything important or sensitive. Not worth the risk." He keeps drinking through this as well. He may or may not have known about the Disarmorour, but with disarming, he's made it clear that he should be considered dangerous while sober. "From what I can figure out, this thing will only let go if I'm dead. I'd ask Arren to stop my heart long enough for the thing to decide I'm gone, then have a medical team ready to revive me, but it might expect that move and refuse to let go until I'm also brain dead."

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

The chain of events to free Lucas and the other vampires is indeed possible. That quick of a move is not expected. Of course, they'd be seen and recognised. Without Lucas on Esoteric, or the others in the council, getting a signed statement that turns Esoteric over to the Imperial Republic is going to be impossible.

Lucas did have one of those same things on his shoulder, but it didn't stay there. Shortly after being beamed aboard, the creature actually dies and falls off. Lucas just pokes at it with a little smirk.

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

Shortly after Arren and the royal family are hidden away, a Vorlon ship appears and requests permission to land on the same planet and at the nearest base to their hiding place. If asked why that particular location, the only answer is 'for the future'.

"Oh right," Thorgood says. He hands a comlink to Dmitri. "I'm a scientist, not a military man. I want you to check this."

The comlink's screen shows the label: "Defensive overview: Defending Burnination and Rhea from Rutian Aggression."

"If worst comes to worst," Thorgood says, "a good plan will likely mean the difference between being non-existent and having come out with some forces intact."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Well, Teresa succeeded in her mission. Hopefully, being recognized as Burninite won't start problems with Rutia, but if it does...well, that's where Thorgood and Dmitri come in. It was expected that they would be recognized; the cloak, transwarp drive, and beaming technology aren't compatible enough to use simultaneously. There's a noticeable delay as one shuts down and the next starts up.

Teresa asks if Lucas or Esteban want anything, and will grant their requests (within reason). They're being taken to Thorgood's location to decide what to do with Esoteric, specifically the Rutian forces there, and also to hopefully get some much needed info.

That dead organism will probably be useful, so Teresa puts it in a plastic bag to give to Thorgood as a present.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jenova frowns and nods. "This is certainly not a good then. We were...informed ahead of time that something was wrong, which is why we called you here. To witness firsthand. We're going to do our best to figure out how to kill this thing that has attached itself to you. Arren Kelich and your family seem to have vanished, which is good, because if we can't find them, it means you can't either."

Maybe an obvious subterfuge, but if it misdirects attention for a little while, it was worth it.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Jenova asks. "Emperor Shein Darson of Rutia is loved in Burnination for past actions. We owe you much."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Vorlon ship is told to hold position; higher authorization is needed to grant landing at that location.

Really, Jenova told them to report anything unusual and tell her about it before allowing it to proceed. She's very thorough.

After a few minutes, they'd be granted permission to land, but they will not be allowed off the base, and will be trailed by armed guards until they explain sufficiently their purpose.