The Shadows, three Jedi, Two Minbari Warrior Caste, and a Wormhole - Part 1 By Sunraven Summary: This is a cross-universe story bringing Jedi from The Phantom Menace into the universe of Babylon 5. The time setting in TPM is about four years before the movie, or about twenty-two years before A New Hope begins. The time setting in the B-5 universe is about a year after the Earth/Minbari war ended. The peace negotiations between Earth and Minbar have just been completed and Shi-Alyt Branmer is back on board the war cruiser Ingata. This is a summary on the background information on Neroon's history with Dr. Terra McClare: During the Minbari/Earth peace negotiations, Alyt Neroon found himself reluctantly falling in love with the Human mediator for the talks, Dr. Terra McClare. After a brief and stormy romance, he realized that the successful conclusion to the peace talks would be jeopardized if he stayed there. If the Humans found out that Dr. McClare had fallen in love with one of the Minbari, then her creditability would have been destroyed, possibly scuttling the peace negotiations. To forestall this, he left her and returned to the Ingata, breaking both their hearts in the process. They didn't see each other again for eleven years. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the Jedi were the last best hope for peace. Author's note: Oops, sorry about that. Mixing universes can be a bit confusing. Let's try that again. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the Jedi Knights had been the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy for a thousand years. "Qui-Gon, my special seat, forget it you must not!" "It's been stowed away already, my Master. We've got to be going. Obi-Wan has done the pre-flight checks and he's ready to go." "Always in a hurry are you younglings. Here rush and there rush and never stop to admire the starscapes." Qui-Gon sighed, then patiently explained again to the old Dagoban, "Master Yoda, the Alternians are expecting us to arrive in advance of the peace negotiations. If we don't leave now, the Serelinian Queen will be marrying the Alternian Prefect before we get there. Or more likely they'll be trying to kill each other again. Please, let's go!" Yoda just lowered his ears and sighed a tired sigh. "Yes. Go we must. Too old am I for this." He was right, thought Qui-Gon. Master Yoda was too old for the high pressure mediation job this would be. But the Alternians and the Serelinians would have no one else except him. He had negotiated a treaty between the two planetary governments in the Regush system three hundred years ago when he was still a field Jedi. So it had to be him. Oh well. It was the least Qui-Gon could do to put up with the old being's crankiness. The three Jedi settled themselves into the four man cruiser and Qui-Gon gave his eighteen year old Padawan learner the nod to launch. It was only a day long trip to the Regush system. The two Masters mostly meditated to pass the time. Obi-Wan kept his eyes on the hyperdrive readouts and the nav computer's jump coordinates as well as doing all of the myriad of little adjustments needed for hyperspace flight. Things were going quite smoothly when he saw an anomaly showing up on the space field readout. "Hmm. That's odd." He mumbled to himself. He programmed the sensors to try to scan the anomaly, but the energy-mass relations of the thing were really weird. He'd never heard of anything like this before. Fingers moving rapidly, he requested further tests on the thing. He also put the viewscreen on maximum distance so that he could see if he could get a look at it. It looked like a funnel, only it was colored a strange mixture of oranges and the black of space. "Master Qui-Gon?" Qui-Gon came instantly alert. "Yes, my Padawan?" "Have you ever seen anything like this before?" He showed his master the readings he'd taken, and what was now gaining size in the view screen. "No. It looks like some sort of pocket or wormhole in hyperspace. But I've never seen any wormholes with that coloring before. Master Yoda? Does this look familiar to you?" Yoda came up to them and looked out of the viewscreen. "Looks like a kind of wormhole, it does, Qui-Gon. Odd is the feel of the Force with it though. Very strong, yet somehow different. Feel it, do you?" Qui-Gon closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and answered. "Yes. You are right. It does have an odd feel to it. Distorted, but not the Dark side." "Shall we investigate it?" Asked Obi-Wan. "Time to do so we do not have. On return trip, perhaps. A respectful distance you should keep, Obi-Wan." "Yes Master Yoda." He set their course for enough distance from the thing so that they shouldn't be in any danger from it. Apparently the anomaly had other ideas. As the Tarkesh was passing a respectful distance from it, it suddenly shifted position to within a parsec of the ship! With the power of a black hole it sucked them towards the funnel mouth. Obi-Wan lost control of the ship and the artificial gravity cut out at the same time they were pulled inside. The three Jedi righted themselves easily using the Force, and Obi-Wan sank back into the pilots seat and strapped himself in. But it was a wasted effort, for he couldn't get control of the ship back. "We're tumbling around like a chance cube, and the energy dampers are over maximum! Much more of this and we'll be crushed!" He shouted. "Be calm, my Padawan. Use the Force to try to ease the energy torc on the ship." Obviously he and Master Yoda were doing so already. Obi-Wan followed suit and the energy stresses on the beleaguered ship eased somewhat. After about another ten minutes of that, the stresses abruptly ceased. "What do the sensors read now, Obi-Wan?" For a second the apprentice didn't answer. He was staring out the viewscreen with his mouth open in wonder. They were surrounded by a weirdly fluctuating orange and black environment. Then he looked down at the scopes and said, "The readouts say we're still in a kind of hyperspace. But it isn't anything like our normal one at all." Both men looked at the Dagoban Master expectantly, as though he could wisk them back to their hyperspace with a wave of his hand. He merely said enigmatically, "The will of the Force this is. Find out why, we will, soon enough. Until then, attempt repairs on ship would be wise." Then he closed his eyes and sat where he was strapped and was so still that the only indication that he was alive was the movement of his eyeballs under his eyelids. Master Yoda had zoned out so that he could attempt to read the permutations of the Force. Obi-Wan looked at his Master. "What should we do, Master Qui-Gon" "Exactly what he said, Obi-Wan. Let's get the droid out to start what repairs can be done." "Yes sir." And they did just that. Shi-Alyt Branmer looked out at the odd coloring of hyperspace for a few moments. The almost living movements and currents always produced a meditative state in him. It was tempting to just give into the urge and go with the flow of it like he used to do when he was a priest. Anything was better than reviewing these personnel distribution reports. These things were enough to make a man go back to being a priest again. He sighed. But he knew his thoughts would not be restful if he did give in. They would go back to his same old problem. How to snap his Alyt out of his brooding over that Earther mediator who stole his heart at the peace negotiations. Really! Neroon was acting entirely uncharacteristic for a Warrior Caste and a Star Rider. Of course, he had never really been typical of that caste because he usually used his head for more than a butting ram. It had been unfortunate that it had been he who had accompanied Branmer to the peace negotiations and not one of Branmer's more typical Warrior Caste underlings. He smiled. For instance, he couldn't see Sorat falling for an Earther male. The Windswords Sub-Alyt could kill most of them with one hand tied behind her back. Dr. McClare hadn't meant to take Neroon's heart. No one could have predicted that two such different beings could become lifebonded to each other. But how could he get Neroon out of the grimness that have overtaken him since he left her? It's not like Branmer could chastise him for not doing his duties well. He was extremely efficient at them and rarely made mistakes. But his humor, his lust for life, for battle, for competition, even for skin dancing, all of it seemed to be gone. Had she stolen his warrior soul along with his heart? The comlink bleeped. "Yes?" Neroon's voice came on and his handsome face showed on the viewscreen. "Shi-Alyt, we have spotted a ship of unknown origins here in hyperspace. It is a small one the size of a shuttle, and it appears to be damaged. We have tried to raise the pilots, but so far there has been an unusual interference in the communication rads." "I'll be up there soon, Neroon. Keep trying to reach the pilot, and do not take hostile action." "I have ordered the weapon systems fired up, sir, but we won't use them unless fired upon." "As usual, I trust your judgement implicitly, Neroon." As the Ingata approached the small ship, Branmer stood next to Neroon and looked at it. "Report, Chakur." "It is an unknown style and make of ship, Shi-Alyt. It isn't in our data banks." "Scan report, Mykha." "Our scanners are unable to pierce the shell of it, Shi-Alyt. I'm not sure why, but the metal alloy is distorting our sensor rads." "I'm assuming that is also why you have not been able to contact the pilot, Sorat?" "Correct, Shi-Alyt. I am attempting to compensate though, and I may be able to get through in a short time." "Good work, Sorat. Mykha, aid Sorat in her work, and perhaps we can compensate for the sensor rads also." "Yes, Shi-Alyt!" "Neroon, what can you tell from the shape of the ship about the species inside?" For the first time since the peace talks Neroon's brown eyes again held an inner fire, this time from the curiosity that was a large part of the Alyt's personality. "From the dimensions of it, I would say the creatures must be approximately our size. The alloy it is made of is quite interesting, and contains metals I have never seen before. It does not appear to have a weapons system, but that may be deceptive." "Good reasoning. I agree." "Contact established, Shi-Alyt!" "Very good work, Sorat and Mykha. See to the sensors now, after you connect us with the pilot." The pilot, to everyone's surprise, appeared to be a very young Earther male. "An Earther!" Chakur growled. Angrily, Neroon signaled him to silence. "I am Shi-Alyt Branmer of the Minbari Federation cruiser Ingata. Identify yourselves!" The male spoke, but they did not understand what he was saying. Then a funny thing happened. The Human male was replaced by a green creature. The creature waved his hand? Paw? And suddenly they understood what he was saying. "Jedi Master Yoda am I from the Galactic Republic. Understand me, do you?" Branmer nodded his head. "Are you using a translator?" "The Force is translating between us. Need no mechanical translator do I." "What force? Please explain yourself." The odd being actually had the effrontery to sigh loudly and drop his ears tiredly at Branmer's demand. "Long explanation, it is. Damaged our ship is from a wormhole. Aid from you we request. On an important diplomatic mission are we. Help can you?" Branmer thought about it, but his curiosity, which was even worse than Neroon's, wouldn't let him turn down the request. "Yes, we will look at your ship. But I would like that explanation while we are repairing it. We will tractor you aboard the Ingata." "Thank you, we do." The picture went off then. "Shi-Alyt?" "I know what I'm doing, Neroon. Never the less, have a welcoming committee of our top security people meet our guests. They may look harmless, but looks can be deceiving. Show them to the main guest quarters, and get the mechs on that ship. I want to know everything about these people that we can." "Request permission to meet them myself, sir?" "Fine. Go. Take Sorat with you to guard your back. I will meet with our guests once they have had time to refresh themselves. And our mechs have had a chance to gather some information about them." He smiled at his Alyt. Fist to palm, Neroon bowed and left with Sorat following. Part 2: The Jedi meet the Minbari Warrior Caste, WooHoo!