Babylon's Guardian
Chapter 7: The Clown/New Commander, Old and New Problems
Monologue theme: Babylon 5 Season 2 opening title
Season 1 Monologue: "The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. A self-contained world five miles long, located in neutral territory. A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens. A shining beacon in space, all alone in the night. I met Ichigo there, and where he brightened my world again. It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind: the year the Great War came upon us all. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations, and how the Soul Society got involved. My name is Rukia Kuchiki. The year is 2259. The name of the place is Babylon 5."
Opening Theme: Bleach Opening 7
Dramatis Personae, Season 1:
Ichigo Kurosaki, 16 years old: Sent into the future to Babylon 5, and resident substitute shinigami; main character of the story
Rukia Kuchiki, approx. 160 years old during the Winter War: The one who got Ichigo into this mess in the first place. Currently dating Ichigo Kurosaki
Orihime Inoue, 16 years old during the Winter War: Friend of Ichigo, has ability to bend space and time to her will; joined Gotai 13 in 2087 after her death and the formation of the Earth Alliance; younger self ended up on Babylon 5 in attempt to find Ichigo
Uryū Ishida, 16 years old: Quincy, and friend of Ichigo Kurosaki; sent to Babylon 4 during attempt to find Ichigo and rescued from the station
Yasutora 'Chad' Sado, 16 years old: Tall Mexican/Japanese Fullbringer, and Ichigo's greatest friend; sent into the future during attempt to find Ichigo
Captain John Sheridan, 46 years old: Newest CO of Babylon 5 and former commander of the Omega-Class EAS Agamemnon, and the only one to claim an actual victory against the Minbari during the Earth-Minbari War
Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova, 30 years old: Second Executive officer of Babylon 5; (2258-61) has uncanny ability to know everything about what's going on on the station
Chief Warrant Officer Michael Garibaldi, 36 years old: First Chief of Security on Babylon 5; (2257-61) Becomes Ichigo's first friend on Babylon 5 due to Ichigo's comfort in the 20th and 21st Centuries
Delenn of Minbar: Babylon 5's Ambassador of the Minbari Federation; (2257-62) has knowledge into the operations of the Soul Society and befriends Ichigo early in 2259
G'Kar: Ambassador of the Narn Regime; (2257-62) has some spiritual awareness, and learned of the Soul Society during the Earth-Minbari War when he was attacked by a Hollow
Londo Mollari: Ambassador of the Centauri Republic; (2257-62) knows nothing of the Soul Society except legends from the ancient past of his people; has unknowingly sided with the Shadows
Kosh Naranek: Ambassador of the Vorlon Empire; (2257-60) knows more about the Soul Society then even Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto did, and has more spiritual power then all of Babylon 5 combined, excluding Ichigo (simply because NO ONE has more then he does)
The Gotai 13: The guardians of the balance between the worlds, the Gotai 13 (Thirteen Imperial Court Guard Divisions) are featured and seen throughout the story
"Status report: Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova reporting. It is now 8 days since the death of Earth Alliance President Louis Santiago, and 5 days since Commander Sinclair was recalled to Earth without explanation. And the whole place has gone straight to hell."
The doors to the transport tube opened, showing just what Ivanova could do to a bunch of unhappy humans and aliens.
"And as far as I'm concerned, the transports can wait until the SUN EXPLODES! And if you're not happy with the seating arrangements, I will personally order your seats to be moved outside, down the hall, across the station, and into the fusion reactor! Am I absolutely, perfectly clear on this?!"
Watching the whole thing were Ichigo and Rukia, currently in their soul forms.
They needed something to laugh at.
This was perfect.
The group watched her leave, then started yelling at one another again.
"Great. I needed that."
Both shinigami continued their patrol of the station, watching for Hollows.
Surprisingly, there weren't any at the moment.
"No hollows. This is bad."
Rukia looked at her boyfriend.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because life never calms down with me. It just gets worse with a brief interlude of peace."
"That's not a good way of looking at things."
"Can't help it if it's true, midget."
She felt the warmth under that 'insult', so she playfully kicked his shin.
Unlike all the times before, it didn't hurt.
And Ichigo was right.
Babylon 5: Zocalo, 5 hours later
A Senkaimon opened, revealing a man everyone REALLY didn't want to see: Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Captain of the 12th Division, along with his clone/daughter/Lieutenant, Nemu Kurotsuchi.
No one knew that the Clown was here, and if they found out, the bastard was screwed.
Still, anything for science. He had discovered a second reiatsu signature belonging to Orihime Inoue, who was still in the Soul Society.
It seemed that somehow she and Kurosaki's two friends arrived in the future. Perfect opportunity to further his research into Orihime's non-shinigami powers.
"Excuse me?"
Mayuri stopped.
A man wearing a purple jacket was looking at him.
Mayuri knew his kind: a Centauri.
A spiritually aware Centauri, at that.
'I completed my studies of that race 90 years ago. I will ignore him.'
Mayuri walked on, leaving the Centauri Ambassador confused.
Londo chalked it up to lack of sleep.
Soul Society
"Where is Captain Kurotsuchi?"
The Captains looked at one another, not knowing (and in Zaraki's case, not caring) where the Clown was. Yamamoto groaned.
"Send a team to Babylon 5. I am tiring of this. Kurotsuchi is not to assault the Substitute for any reason, and if I must beat it into his skull, I will."
Zaraki cackled.
"Why not let Ichigo kill him? We lose a pain in the ass and the Clown never bothers him again."
Yamamoto looked at the Kenpachi.
"I am extremely tempted to do just that, Captain Zaraki. But if I do, we are down a Captain."
"Pull Urahara out of exile and put him in charge again. At least he won't fuck up his Division."
Yamamoto opened his eyes and blinked twice. Words of wisdom?
From the Kenpachi?
The universe was coming to an end. (AN: Or an Age was beginning...)
Babylon 5: Green Sector
Mayuri arrived just outside the quarters set up for the time travelers.
Unfortunately for Mayuri, his luck had just ran out.
A Senkaimon opened right beside him, and out came Ukitake and Sui-Feng.
'Son of a bitch.'
"Captain Kurotsuchi, the Captain-General's orders were clear: no one goes to Babylon 5 without his authorization. And since you don't have it..."
Sui-Feng was less gentle about it and simply tossed him and his Lieutenant back through.
"Did you have to do that?"
"Yes." She walked through, followed by a sighing Ukitake.
They were seen by a man who was planning on visiting Ichigo: Captain John Sheridan, newest commander of Babylon 5.
"What the hell?"
He shook his head, thinking he was seeing things, then walked on to Ichigo's quarters. (AN: Oh, you wish you were just imagining things)
Babylon 5: Central Corridor
A Hollow had just been killed by Ichigo and Rukia, and no one even noticed.
The couple were VERY thankful for that.
"Another one bites the dust."
"This is insane. Only the weakest Hollows are coming to Babylon 5. What the hell is going on?"
Ichigo flinched.
Rukia looked at him questioningly.
"You know something."
He looked at his girlfriend.
"Just a guess."
"What is it?"
He sighed.
"Remember that asshole, Morden?"
"You told me about him after that Raider attack on B5. What about him?"
"He's working for the real rulers of Hueco Mundo: the Shadows."
"Shadows?"
"That's the name I was given by Delenn. I think I was wrong about her. She had the same look I had."
Rukia blinked in confusion before realizing what Ichigo meant.
'"The one who killed my mother...was me."'
The situation was the same, only Ichigo was replaced by Delenn, Grand Fisher by the Minbari Warrior Caste and Masaki Kurosaki by Ichigo's family.
'And no one took my role to kick her out of her rut.'
"Now she's stuck in a cocoon that might kill her."
"What?"
Ichigo took in a breath.
"She built something that stuck her in a cocoon last week." Before Rukia could say anything, they were noticed by a certain Centauri.
"Ah, Lieutenant Shiba!"
Ichigo looked at the Centauri, then at Rukia.
"He can see us?"
"Remember the Purple File incident?"
"Oh."
Londo walked over to them.
"I saw someone wearing those clothes earlier, Lieutenant. Where did you get them?"
Ichigo smiled.
"Made them."
"Eh?"
Rukia flashed the Centauri with the memory modification device and grabbed Ichigo, shunpo'ing back to their quarters.
"Good job, midget."
She playfully kicked his shin as they walked in and went to their respective bodies.
Just as they got in, the chime sounded.
Someone was there. Ichigo got up, now inside his body.
"Come in."
The door opened, and in came an Earthforce Captain: John Sheridan.
'This is not good.'
'Indeed, Ichigo. If Sheridan is here-'
"Lieutenant Shiba, mind if I come in?"
Ichigo nodded.
"Go ahead, Captain. What's up?"
"Well, I wanted to come see you, see how you were doing, especially after that debacle with the Minbari a few months back."
Ichigo tried to smile.
"Well, I'm fine."
Then Sheridan looked at Ichigo.
"I read Karin Kurosaki's autobiography a few hours ago. She had a brother named Ichigo, and according to descriptions she wrote out, he looks just like you. Are you related to the Kurosakis in any way?"
'Oh, FUCK.'
Ichigo chuckled.
"No clue. At least one of my parents was a friend of the family, so they must've named me after him."
Sheridan clearly didn't believe him, but didn't push the subject.
After all, the Kurosaki family was feared by the Minbari, and they would hunt Ichigo down if they could.
"Well, I have to go to C&C. I've got a speech to give."
"A speech?"
"I give it when I take command of a new assignment. It's for good luck. I'll see you later, Lieutenant."
Sheridan left, and Rukia, who was changing in the back, walked toward Ichigo.
"What's wrong, Ichigo?"
He looked at the midget shinigami.
"Remember that Earthforce captain, the one from the Agamemnon? He's taking command of B5."
Rukia smirked.
"That'll piss off the Minbari. He blew up one of their flagships during the war: the Drala Fi, or Black Star, and disabled three of their heavy cruisers. After that, he fought on the Line." (AN: I saw him holding a case with a medal in it during the end of Points of Departure. It looked just like Sinclair's, so I'm assuming he fought on the Line with Sinclair)
Ichigo whistled.
"He blew up one of their flagships? Son of a bitch."
Rukia nodded.
"His ship, the Lexington, was the only ship that survived. The Minbari call him Starkiller. The Fleet Division calls him 'Nuke 'em All' Sheridan."
Ichigo kissed Rukia, then changed into his uniform.
"There's bound to be trouble, so I should get down to the Cobra Bays."
"What about the Hollows?"
"I think Ishida and Chad can help you with that one. Besides, I'm a Starfury pilot."
Rukia pouted.
"We spend most of our time around one another, Ruki."
He ruffled her hair.
"We're practically married."
He left their quarters, not noticing the blushing Rukia behind him.
'Married. Why am I liking that idea?'
Sode no Shirayuki answered her question.
'Because it makes you happy, and you want to be with Ichigo-dono just as much as I want to be with Zangetsu.'
Rukia's blush deepened to the point where the sun couldn't match her brightness.
15 minutes later: Babylon 5 holding cells
Ichigo, wearing his flight suit under his uniform jacket, ran into Rukia and Ivanova.
"What the hell's going on? Captain Sheridan told me to report here."
"They caught a Minbari trying to kill Ambassador Delenn. They think he's the captain of that Minbari ship that disappeared after the war ended: the Trigati."
Ichigo looked at Rukia.
"Wait, didn't the Trigati get the last ship-to-ship kill of the war?"
Ivanova nodded.
"The Ramses. Nova-Class dreadnought."
Then her tone turned somber.
"General Yuzu Kurosaki died with her."
Ichigo blinked.
"Yuzu?"
Ivanova understood his confusion, as she knew he had a sister with the same name.
"The last Kurosaki Chief of Staff of Earthforce. She went on the front lines on the Ramses and took out two war cruisers. The Trigati destroyed her just before the Minbari surrendered."
Rukia shook her head.
"The Gray Council had a horrible sense of timing."
They entered the interrogation room.
"Let me get this straight: a high ranking member of the Minbari warrior caste no one has seen in nearly12 years suddenly appears and, for no apparent reason, breaks into Ambassador Delenn's quarters, gun in hand. Now, if you were looking of the Minbari Tourist Bureau, you were a little off course, wouldn't you say?"
Ichigo resisted chuckling.
His Hollow had no such issues and was laughing his ass off.
"The curious thing is, you don't finish the job.
You could've killed them in 2 minutes and gotten out of there, but instead we found you there, practically waiting for us!"
"Everyone knows Minbari do not kill Minbari."
"Then why are you here?"
"Perhaps everyone is wrong."
Ichigo tuned out the rest of the 'interrogation', as they wouldn't learn anything from Kalain.
"You!"
Ichigo looked at Kalain.
"Yes?"
"You are Kurosaki."
"No. If I were, your people would've killed me on the Line."
"I have seen your family's face, Kurosaki! You cannot lie to me!"
Ichigo left before he was tempted to unleash Shiro on the bastard, followed by Rukia and the commanders of B5.
"Lieutenant Shiba! Captain!"
The Earthforce officers turned to face Lennier, Delenn's aide de camp.
"I apologize. I was rude earlier. There are things we need to discuss, especially in light of Kalain's presence."
'What is he talking about?'
"It concerns the reason you were sent here, the reassignment of Commander Sinclair, and the reason we surrendered at the Battle of the Line."
Babylon 5: Captain Sheridan's office
Ichigo took Lennier's explanation in stride.
After all, the cycle of reincarnation was old news to him.
So what if Minbari were being reborn in human bodies?
Everyone was reborn, no matter the race, unless, of course, their version of the Quincies killed the soul if it was a Hollow at one point.
"That's not news to me, Lennier. Everyone gets reincarnated eventually."
The young Minbari was expecting to be rebuffed, not casual acceptance, especially from Ichigo.
Sheridan's link beeped.
"Yes?"
"Captain, we've got something major coming through the jumpgate."
"Oh, fuck." Ichigo ran out, expecting trouble.
And he was right: it was a Sharlin-Class war cruiser. To be specific, it was the Trigati, and she was in on an attack vector.
It was a bad idea for Ichigo to go out there, seeing as his Starfury still had the black sun motif on it, but it was either he went out there or the Trigati would destroy Babylon 5 without him doing anything to stop it.
He decided to do something about it.
Sheridan and Ivanova ran out, heading for C&C.
Rukia followed them, as she worked in CIC as a controller.
'I really need to learn how to fly a Starfury. I can't keep letting him go out there alone.'
Babylon 5: Cobra Bays
Ichigo through off his uniform jacket and took a helmet off the rack, then ran to his Black Sun Aurora. "Where the hell were you, Shiba?!"
"Captain Sheridan wanted to see me! Forget it for now!"
The cockpit hatch closed and Ichigo's 'Fury was launched into the vacuum.
"All fighters, intercept enemy craft and engage."
"Confirmed, Babylon Control."
'So, King, ready for a fight?'
'I pray that we don't, but I'm ready if we must.'
"All fighters, hold position. Repeat, do not advance."
Ichigo blinked.
"Babylon Control, are you insane?! If we can't move, we're screwed!"
Seconds later, the Nial-Class fighters flew past.
"What the fuck?"
A few gave his 'Fury a second look, but didn't do anything.
Instead, they turned back to their ship.
"Jumpgate activating!"
Another Sharlin-Class ship came out of the gate, and Ichigo gaped.
One ship was bad enough. Two was worse.
Instead of attacking them, however, the second cruiser, attacked the Trigati, taking out her engines just as she was about to jump without killing anyone on board.
However, the Trigati's crew had the last laugh, scuttling their own ship before the other cruiser could even try to board her, destroying all of her fighters in the process.
"Babylon Control, permission to RTB?"
Ivanova, although shocked, granted them permission to return.
Ending Theme: I Wanna Go To A Place by Rie Fu (Gundam SEED Destiny Closing Theme 3)
Sorry about the lack of proper writing, if you think it's not that great. I'm just having a few emotional problems.
My grandmother's cat, one I have known and loved for 15 years, died recently. He was big, loved to cuddle and acted much like a healthier version of Garfield. We named him Thunder, since when he was younger, he ran around playing with another cat on the second floor of our house, and the thumping sounded like thunder.
Scared the crap out of my grandmother at first.
I'll bet any of my readers that have lost a beloved pet will understand.
But to all good things, there must be an end, even if I absolutely despise it.
I'm updating my episode list. The following will be included:
Points of Departure
Revelations
The Coming of Shadows
GROPOS
In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
The Long, Twilight Struggle
The Fall of Night
In Revelations, Ichigo and Delenn come to terms, and begin forging the links of friendship, and we see more IchiRuki.
Also, we see the SWA visit Babylon 5. That will take up an entire chapter in and of itself. It'll take place during The Geometry of Shadows.
For some reason, I see massive headaches for Babylon 5's command staff, Ichigo and just about everyone else on the station.
I'm sorry. I use humor to distract myself from the bad things in my life, and Thunder's loss is VERY bad.
Next Time on Babylon's Guardian: G'Kar returns to Babylon 5 warning of the coming Shadows, Delenn comes out of the cocoon and the Shinigami Women's Association comes to Babylon 5.
May God have mercy on the people of the station and Babylon 5 itself.