In the Beginning (Babylon 5 - Complete) Pt. 1
Sunset's Isekai
In the Beginning Part One
By Wanderer D
Lena De Spell had taken the table next to the jukebox at the far end of the bar to stack up her books and study. True, she could have stayed in her room in the back of the bar (it was cool, but disconcerting how big this whole place was behind a simple door marked "employees only"), but she had found that it was too easy to get distracted by other things there despite how interesting the literature was.
Case in point, she was currently studying a tome that Douglas Brightglade had obtained from his own master Flarman (with permission, of course) on the study of pyromancy. Sunset herself had studied it at length and vouched for its contents. She had even used its teachings during a visit to a world of elementalist martial artists.
Sure, it wasn't the same type of magic she used, but why should she limit herself to Magica's shadow magic and sorcery when she now had access to so much more? Lena sighed into the silence of the bar. It was slow and very quiet when everyone else was out, except for Sunset's new pet spider, which she had already fed. She had never heard of a spider that ate kale.
In any case, with the bar closed and Danni, Sunset and Rarity out at the moment, she had the place to herself, as she had wanted… and sort of regretted it. Not that it was uncomfortable—the bar was a second home of sorts to her, after all. Sunset and the others were basically a multispecies family. But she really hadn't felt like going out and now… well.
She looked up, startled when the silver bell chimed. It was too early for the others to return. So who—
"Miss Shimmer?" a voice called.
"She's out at the moment," Lena called back, closing her book and leaning back a little. She studied the creature that walked in with some interest. He was bipedal, tall, almost human-like in general appearance, except that he seemed somewhat reptilian and was completely hairless. His red eyes studied her with some amusement as he made his way into the bar, carrying a small box in his hands, which he placed on the counter.
"A pity," he said, "I recently obtained a box of bottles of exquisite Taree. It survived past all the major wars, and also comes from a very good harvest. I had hoped Miss Shimmer would take a few, and perhaps enjoy some with me."
"Eh, she'll be back, and I don't mind the company, if you want to take a seat at the bar. I can always get you a glass."
"That would be most generous of you," the creature said. "And although I've never met you or your species, allow me to make an educated guess and assume you are none other than Miss Shimmer's student, Lena?"
Lena grinned as she walked behind the bar and slid out a glass of wine out of storage for the guest. "The one and only!"
"This is fortunate then, I was hoping to meet you sometime, allow me to introduce myself, I am Citizen G'kar."
Lena blinked as she placed the glass on the counter. "Wait, 'we are one' G'kar?"
The narn—for that was his race if she recalled correctly—smiled warmly. "The one and only. I am touched that the Declaration of Principles made it all the way here."
Lena chuckled and went over to make herself some tea. "It is one of Sunset's favorite speeches of all time. She once recited the whole thing to Danni and I from memory."
"Well, then I am both touched and honored."
Lena's smile didn't recede. "The honor is mine. You left quite an impression on all three of us. Something about that speech resonated with our circumstances, I guess."
G'kar nodded. "It is indeed something that would. You see, from what I've heard we all have many things in common, and when we have reached a stage in our lives when we come to understand the mistakes of our past, and the promise of the future… then the possibility of redemption and forgiveness is not such alien a concept."
"You know," Lena said, pouring the hot water into her mug, then walking around the bar to sit next to G'kar, "She never really told me how you two met. I mean—" she motioned at the bar "—it was probably here but we haven't had a chance to really talk about how she met everyone she did, and surprisingly there's no picture of you there yet."
"Well," G'kar said, glancing at the corner of the room where the pictures were growing in quantity, "she and I did not meet in the bar." He hummed as he opened the bottle of Taree, sniffing it a little then tilting it so that Lena could too.
She was no stranger to wine, but was still surprised by how fresh—and fruity—the aroma was. There were hints of citrus and cinnamon, and other, unfamiliar smells. The color of the wine as it was poured into the glass was like liquid rubies and it was oh, so tempting, but Lena just didn't feel like she should be drinking wine so early in the day.
"So. Then how did you meet?"
G'kar gave her a side look, smirking in amusement. "Are you familiar with the human tale, 'A Christmas Carol'?"
Lena smirked right back. "I live at Uncle Scrooge's mansion, when I visit my world."
"Then you must be familiar with the concept of the Three Spirits?"
"Besties with my uncle if you can believe it."
G'kar chuckled. "The universe, or multiverse rather, is a strange place indeed. To go back to the story, I met Miss Shimmer three times before she even let me into her bar." He leaned back, eyes unfocusing as he remembered.
As you know, young Lena, this bar opens its doors to friendly, or at least non-violent guests when they are stressed and need an ear and a drink. Once you have been to the bar, you are always welcome if you possess a silver business card and a good disposition towards its guests, hence the various individuals from different worlds that have formed... 'Clubs', as the earthers would say. Take the League of Ten Wizards, who met thanks to Miss Shimmer's shenanigans, in order to defeat a certain monstrosity and now gather every month to tell tales of their exploits to each other. I myself come often to meet philosopher warriors from other worlds, and in fact received notification from Miss Shimmer about a possible new member to my growing group of acquaintances across the universes.
But I wasn't always a friend, or non-violent. I was once full of rage and resentment, the result of a century of slavery under the Centauri, the deaths of my parents at their hands, and decades of resentment, fighting and killing, all in the name of peace and freedom. While we achieved our purpose, it is a sad fact that forgiveness and tolerance, do not go hand in hand with bitter victory. In my early years serving as an Ambassador for my people in Babylon 5, I was not very worthy of any sort of friendship.
The first time I met Miss Shimmer, I was not at my best, I was still angry, and even though I had done some things to help, I had also done many to harm. When she appeared in Babylon 5, I didn't see a friend, or a person. I saw someone that I could use for my benefit. An asset.
G'kar watched the proceedings from within the cover of shadows and crates, eyes narrowed, breathing slow and controlled, ears straining to hear every word uttered. When he had witnessed a shaken acolyte from the Minbari Religious Caste basically run into Delen and Lennier whispering many words he couldn't hear, but made Delen almost stagger back before glancing warily around (thankfully missing him) and following the acolyte hastily, he had not even hesitated to follow them in secret.
Now he stood in a mostly empty area of the warehouse, watching them as they argued quietly in front of a door. Just. A. Door. It was made of wood, well crafted, and clearly having no business being inside Babylon 5. It also couldn't possibly be real, since the wall it was attached to only led into space, and there was no way a door such as that would be able to handle that amount of pressure.
It was thus much to his surprise when the door opened without effort and a tall minbari woman stepped out. She was strikingly beautiful, with deep blue eyes. Her dress flowed white and soft, decorated with sapphire inlays on the edges. She looked somewhat surprised and amused by the immediate bowing of Delenn, Lennier and the unnamed religious caste that had brought them there.
Enthralled, and despite his mind warning him, G'kar also creeped closer, kneeling behind more crates to get a clearer view. He was close enough now that when the woman spoke, he could hear her.
"Oh my," the mysterious minbari said, "I had not expected a welcoming committee."
"We are honored by your presence," Delenn said, straightening up. "My mentor often spoke of your Isekai fondly, and claimed that many revelations came to him within. I am Ambassador Delenn, and this is my assistant, Lennier. This is acolyte Yeyani, who happened to see your door. If our legends are correct, and his words true, you must be either Rarity Belle or Sunset Shimmer?"
The woman had grinned and chuckled behind her hand. "Well met, Delenn, I am indeed Rarity, traveler of legend." She turned around and called, "Sunset dear, please do hurry, we have friends here waiting for us!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" another voice said, and to everyone's surprise, the one that stepped out was not a Minbari. It was a human dressed in a long, leather cloak, with a staff on her back. She looked down at herself and blinked, but then saw the surprised faces of Delenn and company. "Oh! Minbari. We must be in Babylon 5 then." She bowed slightly. "Hello, I'm Sunset Shimmer."
"Um, a pleasure to meet you… Sunset Shimmer?" Delenn said warily, "Is that an inherited title?"
The young human woman shook her head. "No, that's always been my name."
"Sunset," Rarity spoke up, "Delenn here is the apprentice of our dear friend Dukhat."
Sunset's eyes shone and she smiled. "Oh! This is Delenn?" she asked turning to face the trio of minbari. "Dukhat spoke of you often, how is he? We haven't—"
"You dare speak his name, human?" The acolyte snarled, surprising Sunset.
"Well, yes," she replied, eyes studying the minbari with a less friendly smile on her face. "He often came to talk with me about politics, philosophy and religion in his universe… what right do you have to question me about it?"
To the alarm of G'kar, Delenn and Lennier, the acolyte stepped forth. "You would dare use the name of Dukhat, human, knowing what your race did! You are as guilty as the rest of your kind for murdering him! I will see you punished fo—"
Her words died when Sunset was enveloped in an unrecognizable aura of energy, the likes of which G'kar had never seen before.
"Delenn, dear," Rarity spoke up, drawing everyone's wide-eyed attention to herself. "I sense much has passed since Dukhat visited us, perhaps we can abscond to discuss this in a more private place?" she then turned to face Sunset. "And Sunset, why don't you conduct our business as planned in the meantime? And please keep yourself in check, this is a space station, if you let loose you'll blow us all into the void."
"Fine, fine," Sunset said. She glared at the minbari acolyte. "Dukhat was a personal friend. Someone who was there for me and had advice and teachings to spare. Someone who knew what I've gone through and someone who carried a lot of weight on his shoulders. I knew him well," she growled, "and I will mourn his passing. But if you dare insinuate anything like that again… I don't need to blow up a station to teach the likes of you a lesson you will never forget."
Sunset straightened up and with a wave of her hand dismissed the door behind her, leaving a completely solid wall and marched past them and into the station.
"Finding this way about Dukhat," Rarity said with a sigh. "That was in very poor taste, Yeyani. Sunset Shimmer might look human, but she is so much more, and don't consider her words an idle threat. She has faced far more powerful foes than a disgruntled acolyte."
"Perhaps Acolyte Yeyani should apologize?" Delenn offered, making the other minbari cringe in place.
Rarity shook her head. "Dukhat was… Sunset Shimmer never had much of a family, or a father. Her mother is… a being of unquestionable power, the likes of which you would not believe, and Sunset herself might achieve much more. But Dukhat was what Sunset always wanted in a father, at least in her mind. He was gentle, but firm in his beliefs. Understanding and open to new experiences. His passing will have affected her greatly. I would advise avoiding her for now. No doubt turning young Yeyani into a turnip would make her feel better in the short term, however I do believe she'd be disappointed in herself if she were to lose her temper in such a manner."
The sound of voices put them on alert as several workers approached the area.
"Perhaps we should do as Lady Rarity said and talk somewhere else?" Lennier offered.
The moment they turned around, G'kar started moving away from them, snaking his way around crates and following in the wake of Sunset Shimmer.
Early in my political career at Babylon 5, I had little interest for peace or tolerance. Hate and anger drove me to do things I am still ashamed of. Political backstabbing that kept my hands physically clean, while my mind justified my actions as necessary and just.
When I heard and saw that this mysterious human not only possessed unknown powers, but was the name bearer of an apparent legend of sorts amongst the minbari, as well as a personal friend of Dukhat… it was too good a chance to ignore.
"Okay then, so this Brivari needs to be at a constant temperature…" Sunset said, "And you only have three bottles? Well, keeping the temperature is not a problem, but can you write down for me which of these are actually consumable by what type of diet? Dextro is not going to go well with a lot of my guests."
"Then I suggest you mark those bottles of Kriul as lethal to humans, Miss Shimmer," G'kar said, leaning over from the seat he had taken next to her. "It is quite delicious for my species, but the alcohol level is decidedly deadly to yours. If a human does insist on drinking it regardless, I would suggest using it as a disinfectant."
Sunset chuckled and glanced at him. "Thanks for the advice, mister..."
"G'kar," he said immediately, "Ambassador G'kar of the Narn Regime."
"A pleasure, I'm sure," Sunset said. "So, ambassador, what brings you here?"
"You must forgive me," G'kar said, "but I heard you were a friend of Dukhat. I hoped to offer my condolences for your loss."
Sunset's eyes had narrowed, but she had taken a deep breath and her shoulders slumped. "Thank you. I wish I had known earlier… I don't even know how it happened."
"Well then, allow me to tell you," G'kar said. "If you want, we can talk about it in my quarters, which serve as my office here in Babylon 5."
"If you know enough of me to know my name," Sunset said, "then you know what I can do."
"I assure you I only wish to speak. I wouldn't want Commander Sinclair to have to suddenly explain why half his station was gone in an instant."
Sunset hummed to herself, pondering his words and G'kar took the chance to sweeten the deal. "I'll arrange for your purchases to be delivered to the area where you arrived, would that be acceptable?"
She rolled her eyes, but nodded at the man behind the counter, who nervously spoke briefly with G'kar to ensure the location in Brown Sector was clear for delivery. After the purchases were done, and the shipping arranged, Sunset followed G'kar to his quarters, where he offered her a seat.
She studied with interest the several Narn artifacts he had from home, and he poured two glasses of wine, setting one before her as he took a seat across. "Please enjoy, this is Taree, a wine from my homeland."
He watched curiously as she wiggled her fingers and the cup glowed a little, before she nodded and picked it up, swirling the wine a little in its glass before taking in the bouquet, humming in appreciation at the complex smells. She sipped it slightly, then looked up at him, noticing his fascinated look.
"What was that with the fingers?" G'kar asked curiously.
"Ah, a simple spell to detect if I could drink this," Sunset explained. "As I was telling the merchant, I know well enough the dangers of drinking things not intended for humans, or indeed carbon-based life forms."
"Are you a Technomage then?"
Sunset laughed. "Nothing so quaint, but we're here to talk about Dukhat, not me." She put her glass down. "Could you please tell me how he passed away?"
G'kar closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to play his cards carefully. "During the Earth-Minbari war, Lennon contacted me, as I had quite a reputation, even back then. He wanted to arrange a meeting with the humans to try and broker peace… the war had gone on for almost three years by then, and he had hoped that through a mutual arrangement it could come to an end," G'kar sighed, "alas, upon the eve of our meeting we were attacked from orbit. Both humans and minbari suspect it was a rogue ship of their fleets, but who attacked us remains unknown even today, eight years after the war." He paused, observing Sunset carefully. "Lennon understood that Dukhat had died as a result of a miscommunication—a misunderstanding of Minbari Warrior Caste traditions. The humans had panicked and attacked preemptively and now were paying the prize as their whole race was being eradicated."
Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes, grimacing. "Dukhat was always optimistic. He always tried to see things from both sides of the argument. Understanding gave him the ability to—" she stopped. "Oh, Dukhat."
"To our mutual acquaintances," G'kar said, lifting his glass.
"To those that we have lost," Sunset said softly, making G'kar hesitate, then nod.
"To those we have lost."
The pair sipped their wine. After a moment of silence, G'kar spoke up again, "Miss Shimmer, I must admit that I also wished to speak to you about possible future endeavors. I know… um, Rarity of Minbar is talking to her government right now, but surely what benefits the minbari should benefit us all, correct?"
Sunset drank a bit more of her wine and gave him a calculating look. "Rarity owes no allegiance to the Minbari. I think she's doing it as a courtesy, because Delenn was Dukhat's aide and apprentice."
"I see…" G'kar cleared his throat. "Still, perhaps—"
"And I'm not someone that really involves herself in the politics of other worlds."
G'kar felt anger welling within him. "The politics of other worlds don't bother with asking if you want to be involved, Miss Shimmer," he said slowly, reminding himself that this was an asset he wanted to use. "You have technology that far surpasses anything I've seen. Perhaps even that of Vorlons. When your powers can save thousands, even millions of lives, can you still say that you will not be involved?"
Sunset sighed. "Fine. Tell me, G'kar, what is it that you really want?"
G'kar clenched a fist. "I want the power to heal my people. To bring them back from the starvation that the Centauri put us through! We might have earned our freedom, but that barely matters! Right now when they are weak we can strike! Pay them back for what they did to us! We used to be free! And peaceful! I want that back!"
"So you want to use Sunset's Isekai to get revenge?" Sunset asked.
"Anything to pay them back! You cannot possibly understand what they put my people through. They deserve the justice that will come to them!"
Sunset shook her head. "I'm sorry for what your people have suffered. You are right, I have no inkling to what they have gone through. But my purpose is to help people heal, or ease their hearts… not to provide a convenient way to obtain revenge against a whole other race."
Seething at her denial, he stood up and started pacing. "But how can we heal when the tyrants that committed so many atrocities laugh and get fat in their complacency?!"
"Since we came here to talk a bit about my old friend Dukhat, let me share some of the wisdom he imparted on me. He said; 'when others do a foolish thing, you should tell them it is a foolish thing. They can still continue to do it, but at least the truth is where it needs to be,'" she said evenly, "so I'm telling you, G'kar, this road of revenge you seek is going to be your downfall. If you've already obtained your freedom, you should rebuild, not embark on a quest for revenge."
G'kar snarled, but held himself back. He remembered well that while she might not look it, she was more than capable of destroying a big chunk of Babylon 5 if Rarity was to be believed. And even if he wasn't about to attack her, if she felt threatened it could end badly for everyone in the station. "Bah, if you're going to refuse aid, then leave."
Sunset stood up and nodded. "I think I will. Thank you for the drink, Ambassador."
Lena stared at G'kar, her tea forgotten. "Wait, what? You wanted to use the bar to fight against another species?"
"Not fight," G'kar said gently. "Destroy. I had allowed my hatred to reach a point where I hung in the balance. You see, when I fought in the war alongside the rebellion to free Narn, I had a cause behind me. An ideal, and a zealousness to see it happen. The Centauri had taken my world, my people… and enslaved us. Turned us from peaceful farmers and families into servants. My mother grew ill attending their plantations, and my father… was left hanging until he died of starvation and exposure to the elements for spilling a drink on the master's wife's dress by accident."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It was not something I could forgive. Not something that should be forgiven. It was an atrocity. Inexcusable. And thus my revenge was for every injustice, every death of a narn under their tyranny. I grew up in rank and prestige and was appointed the representative of all my people to the known galaxy. I thought back then that it was simply an opportunity to find ways to destroy the Centauri. That it was my preordained fate to deliver righteous fury straight to their doorstep.
"It didn't occur to me that it was my chance to ensure it would never happen again, not through violence but through representation. Through bringing justice beyond revenge that would beget revenge." He chuckled. "When my father was left to die, I defied my mother's wishes and went to see him the day before he passed away. He asked me to honor his memory." G'kar lifted his glass and sipped a sample of his wine. "The memory of a man that chose to remain a slave so he could stay with his ailing wife and young child." He glanced at Lena, his red eyes calm. "I chose to honor him through violence despite him not being a violent man."
"Do you regret that?" Lena asked, tasting her tea. She grimaced. It had grown cold during G'kar's tale.
He shrugged. "I regret many things, but I did a lot of good for my people, and I had no choice but to fight or die. In the end, however, I made it through the war and rebellion and the following years, I still ended up in Babylon 5, where I still had a lot to learn." He elbowed her gently. "I have time, go make yourself another tea, or warm this one up."
"I'll warm it up, Uncle Scrooge will never let me hear the end of it if he hears I wasted another teabag." G'kar chuckled as she hurried around the bar. "Do you want to keep talking about this?"
G'kar smirked. "Don't you?"
"I am still pretty curious about how you went from that, to friend and inspiration," Lena said, placing her mug in the microwave.
"Inspiration," G'kar mused, "very well. But let's make sure your tea is ready before we begin and you remember to drink it as we talk."
Lena smiled and nodded, entering the time and pressing the button to start.
To be Continued…
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“Forgive” you writing really cool stuff? Ha, you’re silly.
Ambassador G'Kar: "We Are One"
Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Take all the time and space you need, this is hardly something to rush.
Happy New Year! 🎊🎉🍾
Happy New year!
The only bad thing is that we can't "like" a story more than once. This chapter is amazingly well done. I could hear G'Kar's voice in the story clearly. I'm really looking forward to the other two times he met her.
It's also interesting that the Isekai is zipping around through space/time the way it is. Even if the goal is to remain historically and politically neutral, if you show up enough times in the same reality, word will get around. Eventually, you might wind up woven into local mythology, and attributed to a great many events both real and imaginary, positive and negative. Makes me wonder what influence the Isekai had on Minbari culture, whether intentional or not.
Happy New Year
I don't mind multi-part chapters as long as it is good read.
But of course they are
Well, Scrooge McDuck does know how to enjoy life, unlike the miser in the story.
Ahh. Never saw the series, but he's got a rather spotty past too, doesn't he?
Luckily, Sunset Shimmer is very familiar with that type
Eep. Clearly implying she would have no difficulty at all blowing up a space station
Oh, that's where you're wrong. She's not bound to your petty single universe, and can perfectly remain neutral in all this.
Hee. Nice little callback to the series there.
Uncle Scrooge would not get along well with Uncle Iroh, when it comes to making tea
Remarks and corrections:
> disconcerting how thing this whole thing was behind a simple door
There's a "thing" too much there.
> Sunset and the others basically a multispecies family.
I think there's a verb missing in there.
> If you know enough me to know my name
Seems to be a missing word there. I assume that should be "If you know enough [about] me"?
10013478
We already know she's a skilled pyromancer so that isn't much of a stretch.
10013534
Yeeeah, but... Babylon 5 is big. Eight kilometers long, and, from the sources I found, the internal space of its large green area is a cylinder of roughly 2 kilometers long, with a diameter of about half a kilometer. That's freaking huge
images2.imgbox.com/56/a6/4y8RdtqW_o.jpg
Each pixel in that image is about 17.7 meters, or 58.4 feet, in length. The 20 meter thick soil layer in the garden is barely a whole pixel on that.
10013547
Set the right parts on fire and the rest of it will follow. Trust me, the life-support requirements for this sort of place are extensive.
Fantastic chapter. It's great that we're finally getting some info on how Sunset and G'Kar met, and you captured the late Andreas Katsulas and his voice perfectly. And I love that Sunset's outfit is evocative of a Technomage. Couple minor niggles, though.
You referred to Sinclair as a Captain - he was only a Commander.
Also, I think you didn't quite remember the circumstances behind Dukhat's death, and may have mixed up some details with that of the death of Lennon. Dukhat's death is what started the Earth-Minbari war, after all - Lennon died while trying to end it. Plus I'm pretty sure the war only lasted two years, but maybe that's me misreading things.
10013575 Crap, you're right. I need to fix this. I had a different paragraph written and apparently didn't fix that.
Babylon 5 is one heck of a trip down the memory lane. I remember seeing it with my father, good times.
The effects were awesome for the time, at least to my child eyes. To think it was a rarity of a series that was actually planned before filming, beginning to end.
I admit I know absolutely nothing about Babylon 5 but this makes me intrigued
10013580
Eh, it happens.
🍷Happy New Year.
A Babylon 5 crossover multi-parter!?!? Why oh why can’t I like and favorite again?!
Oh, this was brilliantly done. So good to see G'Kar here, and well-written too.
"And so it begins..."
10013870
A question without an answer I'm afraid. I wish we could like individual chapters too.
10013650
Babylon 5 is a golden gem in the sea of mediocrity that flooded the TV screens at that time.
The one thing that stood out in comparison to the Star Trek series was that it had a storyline that worked itself through several seasons. And most episodes were indeed story and not fillers!
Practically unheard of.
Also: no funny robots or obnoxious kids.
I was pondering why we can't like stories multiple times and then realized I hadn't liked it the first time around.
Needless to say I corrected that particular mistake.
10014095
What's amazing is going back and re-watching the series again. You realize that while the first season seems to have a lot of pointless filler episodes, you only realize many seasons later that every one of them had a reason for being written. Like the MCU, they were establishing backstory and filling in details the story would need later on.
And here I though I was the only one to read the Pyromancer Novels of Don Callander
10014377 Thank you! Yes, I have always been surprised by how very few people I've met that read them! I always enjoyed the series myself.
Hmm.... Not familiar with Babylon 5. Is it a book, and if so, is it worth reading?
10014390
Probable spoilers, but a cursory, look to answer your question: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5
10014390
tv show, 5 seasons atm found at least on amazon prime video and a really overall interesting interlocking story from season 1 to 4. Season five was less planned because they didn't know if they were going to get another season, but season 1-4 are the main overall story arc. I freely admit that the cgi is dated by todays standards but the story is what your looking for rather than pretty.
Can't say I know anything about Babylon 5, but this seems interesting so far.
One minor error I found.
advice -> advise
10014450
Babylon 5's storyline was roughly planned to stretch over 5 seasons. However, they got told at the end of season 3 that the next season will be the last one, so they squeezed all the plot material from two seasons in season 4, which is why that season is going in a breakneck speed and seems to have two finales.
Then they got the ok for season 5 and were left to figure out what to do with it.
My first thought when I saw that this was going to Babylon 5 was, who the hell would Sunset have visit? Garibaldi could almost always use a drink, and I don't recall if Ivanova drank much but she definitely could have used the friendly ear a couple of times. I had forgotten that Sunset already had a relationship with G'Kar so that makes a lot more sense. Looking forward to seeing more about how Sunset helped mellow him out.
10014377
10014381
My first reactions to that part was:
Babylon 5 is one of those stories that I've known as a cultural touchstone but never actually saw for myself since... well, since they were still airing new episodes. I do need to see it. Maybe some time this year. Looking forward to more.
Does the whole thing have to be read in order, chapter wise I mean? I ask cause I see a few stories I am, or already have, read. Your story was recommended by the author of "Rock the Carousel" so I just thought I'd ask since the chapter he recommends is a couple chapters in.
10021044 The premise is fairly simple, so you can skip chapters if you want. Only thing that happens are minor references.
Nice chapter.
And happy new year to you too.
10021070
I intend to read them all but I try to stay caught up on stories still in progress.
I can't quite put a finger on why, but the phrasing here just felt so vividly G'kar-ish
And I love the idea of G'kar having met Sunset at multiple points throughout his life! They both change so dramatically over the span of their respective stories--you just don't get a clear picture of G'kar by looking at him at one particular point in his life, so having him offer a retrospective is a lovely choice. And works well as kind of a subtle reference to the series, too, since the pilot opens with a narration that's clearly someone looking back on the station's history.
It was interesting to see another commenter saying Sunset's outfit was Technomage-ish. The description was sparse, but with how her having a staff was highlighted, that brought to mind... I forget the name, but it was someone who came to the station looking for the holy grail (Not King Arthur, tho).
Aldous Gajic, the wiki tells me his name was. Seems a fitting comparison, since he was so respected by Minbari and Sunset seems to have gotten herself into a similar position.
Talking of Sunset, though. The point where she really started to bug me was probably when it turned out she was close to Dukhat. As a narrative device, I like it, because between that and her magic and all that, it's a fantastic motive for G'kar to approach her. But I think also it's difficult to take seriously, since all we see of Sunset's relationship with Dukhat is Sunset talking about it. So... I dunno, I can see the appeal of it, but it also pulled me out of the story for a bit.
ngl though, this is kinda making me wanna see Dukhat and Celestia sharing stories of how their pupils came perilously close to fucking everything up. Would need some fiddling, since Dukhat died before Delenn cast the deciding vote for the war and all that, but whatever
Sunset's a natural fit for this universe.
Man, Andreas was so memorable as G'kar I can hear every line he says in his voice... Including in one instance changing the dialog as I read it to make it more G'kar. He's just that iconic, was he easy to write or a pain?
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That's one of the better deck plans I've seen for B5. One thing to point out though, yellow sector is all vacuum and cuts a bunch of length off, part of Grey sector is locked off too (mentioned in the episode where Earth Gov hunts the doctor with intel to blow the conspiracy out of the water.)
Also Grey sector is... I forget how many levels but it was less than 30. I think it was 20 but I'd have to dig up the episode where Garabaldi goes looking for the "missing" deck of grey sector. (I think it was Grey 16 or 19)
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I was only trying to convey the scale. The fact one pixel in that image is the height of about ten people stacked onto each other length wise does indicate that nicely
G'kar is written so well in this
Ok, can we talk about how Sunset here is an absolute power house? I mean she can destroy a space station, and she can probably do it without much thought or burden. And let's not forget the fact that a space station is huge. Realistically speaking, a space station that holds i would say a few hundred thousand people, or more, the author didn't go into details of how many creatures live in that space station, but i will presume it's at least a few hundred thousand. So the size of that space station should be huge. The fact that Sunset can destroy it, like i said, with not much power on her part, speaks of how much of a power house she truly is. And let's not forget that she fought and defeated gods and elder beings. Beings who govern immortality and aspects like life, death, the sun or other thing. God damn she is powerful. Rarity is probably on the same level or stronger. I wonder if we'll ever get to hear how strong are they exactly.