At the request of a friend… well mainly a challenge. I was told to write a story based on the ill-fated space station Babylon 2.… well here it is. To all those fans out there? I may get names and dates wrong but I hope I can tell an interesting story based on from the view point of two main characters. Since nothing on the station was said except for it's fate, I thought I would attempt to tell this short story.
Babylon 2:
An Eye Witness Account
(Revised)
"The Babylon Project is a dream given form. It is a community which we build to create a lasting peace in the galaxy: a place where diverse populations can gather calmly without the threat of war and discuss their differences with the hope of understanding each other and settling their disagreements peacefully. Today we gather here in neutral space, in the shadow of a war that nearly cost us our civilization, to dedicate a place for all sentient beings to meet and interact openly. The Babylon Station will be built here in this orbit as a monument to those who have died in wars of misunderstandings: a place where the differences of our past can be overcome and we can live in peace with all inhabitants of the galaxy."
Senator Calvin Natawe, 2249, at construction commencement ceremony for the Babylon Station
After the destruction of the Babylon Station in 2250, the Earth Senate decided the program was too important to leave alone, so a second station was commissioned shortly after with the name BABYLON TWO.
2262
After the signing of the second Declaration of Principles for the newly formed Interstellar Alliance, Citizen G'Kar and Ambassador Londo Mollari slowly returned to the council chambers to review the meeting at hand, the once enemies had grown closer over the past months even to a point where they referred to each other as possibly even 'friends'as Michael Garibaldi had once called them, the 23rd centuries version of Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, a joke that was lost on them both however, further research by Londo had revealed something unusual an animated Duck and Rabbit from Earth's 20th century Earth.
"You know G'Kar when I heard I was posted here I thought it was the greatest posting I could have received until I found out about what happened to the other Babylon Stations… I became a joke"
"I know Molari…" Pointing towards his head as he continued. "Dust, remember?"
"Of course, I still owe you for that! That's a debt I intend on collecting… now"
"Ohh?"
"How did you get this appointment in the first place?"
With a smile he looked up to the ceiling of the chambers and laughed while he looked back at the Centari beside him as he remembered that just three years ago, had he gotten this close to him in private, he would have broken his neck without a second thought. Yet, now they share a drink together. With a dark look in his eyes he turned back and nodded.
"I was originally assigned to Babylon 2, but it went… what is the human word Commander Ivonova is so fond of? BOOM?"
With a nod the Centauri Ambassador repeated 'BOOM'
"I remember seeing some of the designs for the station it looked remarkably similar to the first .I was excited about the opportunity to begin this posting until…"
"Boom?"
"Boom! I was on Earth at the time I remember seeing it live on ISN. With Earth's military still recovering from the Mimbari War and most of the planet's finances directed to rebuilding her fleet? The station originally took up a large portion of the human credits… after it's destruction I went to the congressional hearing where one of the surviving construction workers was giving evidence, he said he saw the explosion. As we now know, it was an act of sabotage by a dissident human group…"
G'Kar's mind trailed off as he spoke and he tried to imagine what happened on that fateful day all those years ago, almost as if he could see through the man's eyes.
Many years ago…
He found himself looking down a long corridor, familiar yet also not, as the layout on most Earth Force Installations followed the same Spartan design to only the barest essentials needed being present. Most of the panels and bulkheads yet to be installed into the corridor, he took a moment to look around before he picking up a welding torch and began to seal the deck plating calmly and with the expert hand of a seasoned engineer and construction worker while a person he recognised as his supervisor walked towards him with a deep sigh echoing from the man.
"Brian. Brian? Hey snap out of it will you? The shuttle is ready in the main hanger, you're the last one to report in"
His voice was human as was the rest of his body and clothing, as he removed the welders mask he caught a glimpse of himself in the glass, he was human, tall and slender approximately 45 Earth years of age with short cropped blonde hair and five days of beard growth on his chin and jaw line.
"Thanks, I'm just about finished here on the final plating I'll be along shortly"
"Now Brian… you've got five minutes or it'll leave with out you. They've got a schedule to keep. Listen? I'll finish off here. Go Home, kiss your wife and hug your kids. That's an order"
"It has been a long time Frank. You're on the next transport out, right?"
"I am. One hour before I go home"
"Well then, stop by the house. Susan and the kids would love to see you then drinks at the 402 Club?"
"Drinks it is, but the day after. Say hello to my sister for me Brian. Get outta here, see you next week"
Quickly he handed his supervisor and brother-in-law the plasma torch, mask and gloves as he picked up his small bag containing what little items he had brought with him as he ran down the corridor towards the awaiting shuttle. With a smile he took his seat and strapped in as the engines roared into life before slowly leaving the station construction project, once clearance was granted. From the window he could see the frame of the yet to be constructed areas of the vast, miles long station with the bow of the station complete construction workers in standard issue space suits welded plates and outer bulk heads as the shuttle made it's way towards the large spherical starship waiting for the last shuttle near the jump gate.
Before the shuttle docked a vast shockwave slammed into the shuttle sending it adrift into space as alarms echoed throughout the small transport shuttle, he couldn't believe his eyes as large explosions rippled along the completed sections of the station tearing huge holes across the sides of the station. Everyone on the shuttle watched in helpless horror as the construction workers closest to the outer hull of the construction project had either been vaporised or blown into space as the fusion reactor on the enormous construction project over loaded to devastating effect. Debris flew in all directions as somehow a large section of the station remained intact as smaller pieces flew out into space yet one large piece of debris slammed into the awaiting starship and punched a large hole into the spherical hull of the vessel causing the internal air atmosphere to escape into the vacuum of space, and the ship to violently explode, stranding the last and crippled shuttle to leave the ill-fated Babylon Two station adrift and powerless close to the jump gate.
G'Kar looked up and slowly regained his composure before looking back towards Londo Mollari and smiled slightly, as he took a sip from his drink.
"An interesting story my friend, I am just glad I wasn't around back then"
"Had you been there? I would have killed you without a second thought. Well the hearing into the destruction of the Second Babylon Station, went on for almost half an Earth Year and I only managed to access a few of them, three more Stations and Trillions of Earth Credits later? they got it right eventually"
"Ten years is a long time… G'Kar"
The young Interstellar Alliance, an alliance forged from blood, sweat and tears from the flames of hatred, mistrust and deadly ancient enemies and onetime friends of all species across the Galaxy, along with the dissolution of the former League of Non-Aligned Worlds. Temporarily based at the once United Earth Alliance Diplomatic space station known as Babylon 5 until a new and permanent base of operations would be created on the home world of Minbar, a station at the very heart of a once deadly Earth Civil War. An Alliance created to endure into the distant future would soon face a deadly enemy, the remnants of the allies of the so called 'Shadows' an ancient race of beings, one of the oldest of the old in the galaxy now, long since left for beyond the rim of known space, beyond the boundaries of the Galaxy itself.
"I can not help but ask one question, G'Kar. After everything which has happened since this… Place… first came on-line in the Earth year 2256. What would have happened to either of the previous Babylon stations, had they survived?"
"Uncertain, is the past my friend. Would history have played out in a similar fashion, our would the Dark-Ones and their Armies have swarmed the galaxy without the involvement of the Humans?"
"Humans, are like no other species that I have ever encountered. They can be as reverent and logical as any Minbari, and as terrifying as… an angered Narn, high on Dust… as Mister Garibaldi would say"
"Humans, have a great destiny ahead of them… and I am honoured to have been a small part of such a destiny. Well, my old enemy? I must… return to my quarters. Until tomorrow Ambassador, the dawn of a new Era awaits us"
"Until tomorrow… Citizen G'Kar"
The End?
