-
The new B5TV.COM is here. We've replaced our 16 year old software with flashy new XenForo install. Registration is open again. Password resets will work again. More info here.
Rangers Redux (fiction)
- Thread starter channe
- Start date
"Dulann's got me rooming with that ro'gar," muttered Na'feel as she knelt, opened up her toolbox and dissappeared underneath a nearby console.
Kitaro, who had only two minutes earlier been alone on the bridge and using the opportunity to compose a letter to Janice, quickly typed a closing and moved it into the commqueue.
"I think your boots are falling apart," Kitaro asked, craning his neck.
Na'feel's voice was muffled and punctuated by a number of mechanical squeals. "Yeah, well, I'll get a new pair sooner or later. I'm already in with Carla, and this ship is overstaffed as it is."
Kitaro thought of the gorgeous Carla Maru, standing in front of the Liandra's main engine, blonde hair tied back into a rough bun, wrench in hand, and was, as usual, immediately poleaxed. "I like Carla," he said, attempting to sound less than strangled.
"Everybody likes Carla," muttered Na'feel mockingly, accompanied by a sproing, a tink, and a tap-tap-tap.
Kitaro did multiplication tables in his head to rid himself of the visage of the engine-room Venus and attempted to change the subject.
Kitaro, who had only two minutes earlier been alone on the bridge and using the opportunity to compose a letter to Janice, quickly typed a closing and moved it into the commqueue.
"I think your boots are falling apart," Kitaro asked, craning his neck.
Na'feel's voice was muffled and punctuated by a number of mechanical squeals. "Yeah, well, I'll get a new pair sooner or later. I'm already in with Carla, and this ship is overstaffed as it is."
Kitaro thought of the gorgeous Carla Maru, standing in front of the Liandra's main engine, blonde hair tied back into a rough bun, wrench in hand, and was, as usual, immediately poleaxed. "I like Carla," he said, attempting to sound less than strangled.
"Everybody likes Carla," muttered Na'feel mockingly, accompanied by a sproing, a tink, and a tap-tap-tap.
Kitaro did multiplication tables in his head to rid himself of the visage of the engine-room Venus and attempted to change the subject.
It amused Kitaro that he and Na'feel always conversed in the lilting, soft sibilance of Adronato, and never in the guttural tones of Narntok or the impossible shifting grammar of English. It was a sign, he thought, of the fact that he and the consistently cranky Narn had absolutely nothing in common but cold Minbari religious-caste kindness, a job lolling about the galaxy on the same tiny clunker of a ship, and a mutual dislike for the galactic mistake known as flarn submarine sandwiches.
Their conversations usually never went beyond this point, but today was a different story.
"Did you see what went on in the cargo bay, Na'feel?" he asked, innocently, thumbing through the duty roster carelessly.
A moment passed before the Narn answered.
"Yeah."
Kitaro paused, considering delicately. "Must've been great to be involved in some real action," he said, still slightly angry at Martel for taking him out of the picture.
"Shut up, Kit," said Na'feel. "This is delicate work. So you weren't there. Captain sent you up here for a reason."
Kitaro stopped, and against his better angels, went on to defend himself. "I can fight, you know. I passed trials. I beat Truman Vega once. If I keep on getting shut out of the real fighting, though, like I did down there - "
He was interrupted by something that sounded very much like eighteen exobiology textbooks smashing his grandmother's fine antique china. A half-second afterward came Na'feel's howl of pain.
"Um, Na'feel?"
The Narn's legs shifted, and only a second later, Na'feel's angry head bobbed menacingly over the main console. If Narns had something akin to gorge, Kitaro thought, his mouth going dry, Na'feel would surely be feeling it rise.
Their conversations usually never went beyond this point, but today was a different story.
"Did you see what went on in the cargo bay, Na'feel?" he asked, innocently, thumbing through the duty roster carelessly.
A moment passed before the Narn answered.
"Yeah."
Kitaro paused, considering delicately. "Must've been great to be involved in some real action," he said, still slightly angry at Martel for taking him out of the picture.
"Shut up, Kit," said Na'feel. "This is delicate work. So you weren't there. Captain sent you up here for a reason."
Kitaro stopped, and against his better angels, went on to defend himself. "I can fight, you know. I passed trials. I beat Truman Vega once. If I keep on getting shut out of the real fighting, though, like I did down there - "
He was interrupted by something that sounded very much like eighteen exobiology textbooks smashing his grandmother's fine antique china. A half-second afterward came Na'feel's howl of pain.
"Um, Na'feel?"
The Narn's legs shifted, and only a second later, Na'feel's angry head bobbed menacingly over the main console. If Narns had something akin to gorge, Kitaro thought, his mouth going dry, Na'feel would surely be feeling it rise.
To expand on RW's point and make a footnote...
The post-Shadow War Anla'shok, as an organization, attempts to be multicultural to an extent that many would consider ludicrous. Nevertheless, senior Ranger policymakers like Sindell, who still remember a time before Sinclair, have insisted that the organization keep its training centered in Minbari culture and religion, afraid that alien influences from human Earthforce methods might contaminate a proven pedagogy and make it less effective and unitive - a very valid concern for a very unstable time.
Mutually-exclusive philosophies? Basically. Yes, the Rangers are very conflicted at this point in time.
Anyway, if you see a number of Rangers from different races talking together, they're most likely doing it in Adronato, because the old rules say that you have to speak that, Fik, and the other Minbari dialect just as well as you can speak your childhood tongue before you can be given that cute little pin and graduate from Ranger-in-training to Ranger. Kitaro and Na'feel have nothing in common but what had been given them by the Anla'shok, which is why they're speaking in Adronato, and why their training was so unifying (and effective, to repeat myself from above).
David, Malcolm, and Sarah sometimes speak English to one another when they're alone, although for Malcolm, English is also a second language - he was brought up on Beta Colony, a planet whose official language was Spanish.
When Martel speaks in any sort of official capacity - whenever he's giving orders, on the bridge, working somewhere else in the ship or talking to anyone with a funky little pin, he's speaking Adronato.
The interviews, by the way, were in English. Even Dulann's. Dulann was speaking English to Grayson Maddox.
Kitaro speaks ten languages. That's why he's the comm guy.
It can get confusing, which is why I've translated it all for you. Am I not kind? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
The post-Shadow War Anla'shok, as an organization, attempts to be multicultural to an extent that many would consider ludicrous. Nevertheless, senior Ranger policymakers like Sindell, who still remember a time before Sinclair, have insisted that the organization keep its training centered in Minbari culture and religion, afraid that alien influences from human Earthforce methods might contaminate a proven pedagogy and make it less effective and unitive - a very valid concern for a very unstable time.
Mutually-exclusive philosophies? Basically. Yes, the Rangers are very conflicted at this point in time.
Anyway, if you see a number of Rangers from different races talking together, they're most likely doing it in Adronato, because the old rules say that you have to speak that, Fik, and the other Minbari dialect just as well as you can speak your childhood tongue before you can be given that cute little pin and graduate from Ranger-in-training to Ranger. Kitaro and Na'feel have nothing in common but what had been given them by the Anla'shok, which is why they're speaking in Adronato, and why their training was so unifying (and effective, to repeat myself from above).
David, Malcolm, and Sarah sometimes speak English to one another when they're alone, although for Malcolm, English is also a second language - he was brought up on Beta Colony, a planet whose official language was Spanish.
When Martel speaks in any sort of official capacity - whenever he's giving orders, on the bridge, working somewhere else in the ship or talking to anyone with a funky little pin, he's speaking Adronato.
The interviews, by the way, were in English. Even Dulann's. Dulann was speaking English to Grayson Maddox.
Kitaro speaks ten languages. That's why he's the comm guy.
It can get confusing, which is why I've translated it all for you. Am I not kind? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
D
**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
Thank you. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Interesting bits of story.
Not that I abject to either way ... but did you make up the elements about those languages or are they cannon and you just use them, channe? Like are Adranto and Fik two of the Minbari languages / dialects stated by JMS or your own creation? And is Beta Colony really Spanish speaking? I only ask because I wonder who to give credit to for fleshing out important details of a good universe. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I myself try to do that to the worlds of my stories even if such details never find their way into the story itself.
- Adronato is the religious caste dialect (and ranger´s because they were always a very religious influenced group) , being the most complex .
- Fik is the worker caste dialect , being the most simple (and the most employed , given the fact that by far , most of minbari population is worker caste) .
- Lenn´ah is the dialect of the warrior caste , being almost as simple (also described By JMS as vigorous) as Fik .
All of them simply variations of the same basic lenguage , differing only in complexity and modes , according with the difference of social status between both interlocutors .
- Fik is the worker caste dialect , being the most simple (and the most employed , given the fact that by far , most of minbari population is worker caste) .
- Lenn´ah is the dialect of the warrior caste , being almost as simple (also described By JMS as vigorous) as Fik .
All of them simply variations of the same basic lenguage , differing only in complexity and modes , according with the difference of social status between both interlocutors .
There's a fine line between canon and Channe in this particular piece of fan literature, I admit, but wherever there's a nice piece of Channe-ish imaginative extrapolation, there's a good, strong basis for it in the Babylon 5 Book O' Canon Law.
For example: Drazi linguistics, Martel's backstory (Q-40 miner, E-M war bilgeboy, dead girlfriend), the developing plot, Mural, Tuzanorial architecture, the David-Sarah thing, and the reason Martel didn't get kicked out of the Rangers are all my extrapolations, based in (imho) sound reasoning from what we've seen as true in the Babylon 5 universe, necessary for the story.
Fik and Adronato are very canon, concieved of and named by JMS. So is Narntok - it's the language with which G'Kar wrote his book. We've only seen it written, never named. I named it.
3/4 of this stuff comes directly out of my brain, but you'll always be able to trace most everything back to *some* sort of canon rule.
I think the B5 universe is fun to play in and I intend to do just that - without screwing over everything JMS worked to establish.
If you ever have a question about whether something is canon or not, don't hesitate to ask.
*crosses her fingers and hopes she doesn't get sued*
/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
For example: Drazi linguistics, Martel's backstory (Q-40 miner, E-M war bilgeboy, dead girlfriend), the developing plot, Mural, Tuzanorial architecture, the David-Sarah thing, and the reason Martel didn't get kicked out of the Rangers are all my extrapolations, based in (imho) sound reasoning from what we've seen as true in the Babylon 5 universe, necessary for the story.
Fik and Adronato are very canon, concieved of and named by JMS. So is Narntok - it's the language with which G'Kar wrote his book. We've only seen it written, never named. I named it.
3/4 of this stuff comes directly out of my brain, but you'll always be able to trace most everything back to *some* sort of canon rule.
I think the B5 universe is fun to play in and I intend to do just that - without screwing over everything JMS worked to establish.
If you ever have a question about whether something is canon or not, don't hesitate to ask.
*crosses her fingers and hopes she doesn't get sued*
/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
To answer Loadhan's question, hahaha... I do get long, don't I?
The explanation/speculation about the use of Adronato and English on Ranger vessels is mine. It just makes sense to me. Malcolm may speak Spanish, Firell may speak Adronato, the older Minbari we saw fixing things in the hallway as Martel ran by may speak Lenn'ah, Na'feel may speak Narntok, and Kitaro may speak Japanase. But all of them speak Adronato.
They have to. Marcus once told someone that every Ranger had to. I forget the episode. I also remember Marcus consistently giving orders to the Whitestar crew in Adronato. I remember Montoya also speaking Minbari to his Rangers.
I just don't want to write in Adronato. You'd find it boring, and I'm no Tolkien.
Thus, it looks like Martel is speaking English on the bridge, but he's really not.
JMS never said much about this, but my considerable pontification on the subject is based on things he *did* say.
And the Beta-Colony-Spanish thing is something I made up, primarily because there has to be some sort of planet in the universe that speaks mostly Spanish, and that quirk of Malcolm's may come in handy later. Why not Beta Colony?
The explanation/speculation about the use of Adronato and English on Ranger vessels is mine. It just makes sense to me. Malcolm may speak Spanish, Firell may speak Adronato, the older Minbari we saw fixing things in the hallway as Martel ran by may speak Lenn'ah, Na'feel may speak Narntok, and Kitaro may speak Japanase. But all of them speak Adronato.
They have to. Marcus once told someone that every Ranger had to. I forget the episode. I also remember Marcus consistently giving orders to the Whitestar crew in Adronato. I remember Montoya also speaking Minbari to his Rangers.
I just don't want to write in Adronato. You'd find it boring, and I'm no Tolkien.
Thus, it looks like Martel is speaking English on the bridge, but he's really not.
JMS never said much about this, but my considerable pontification on the subject is based on things he *did* say.
And the Beta-Colony-Spanish thing is something I made up, primarily because there has to be some sort of planet in the universe that speaks mostly Spanish, and that quirk of Malcolm's may come in handy later. Why not Beta Colony?
Kitaro was just about to ask the furious engineer about the cause of her rather bestial scream when Na'feel's beeper chimed. She swore profusely, stuck a bleeding finger into her mouth, retrieved the offensive device from her belt, and scanned the message.
"Finish it NOW?" she moaned, her mottled hand picking up a new wrench from the toolkit. "What do I look like, Na'Dru wearing mudwings?"
Kitaro blinked. "No," he added, feeling pathetic.
Na'feel glared at him. "Smart boy," she spat, dissappearing underneath the panel once more.
"What happened to your finger?" Kitaro asked.
Na'feel, muffled, answered in an annoyed voice puntuated with numerous mechanical clangs and the acidity of someone trying to mask the fact that they had been caught with their britches down. "I'm - ugh - installing a privacy shunt between the bridge and the fenbarma guest quarters. The Minbari should know better then to run commlines between the - "
She fell silent, except for the clang of metal against metal.
"You ok, Na'feel?"
"Would you shut up already, gok-swill?" Na'feel answered. "You're being about as unhelpful as you were downstairs. Last thing I need right now is you frittering away your bridge duty in my ear - don't you have things to do?"
It was a good thing she was underneath the panel, Kitaro thought, or else she'd probably make some nasty comment about the fact he was blushing.
He called up his letter to Janice. Janice, he wrote. I'm beginning to think it might have been a mistake to accept this assignment...[/i]
"Finish it NOW?" she moaned, her mottled hand picking up a new wrench from the toolkit. "What do I look like, Na'Dru wearing mudwings?"
Kitaro blinked. "No," he added, feeling pathetic.
Na'feel glared at him. "Smart boy," she spat, dissappearing underneath the panel once more.
"What happened to your finger?" Kitaro asked.
Na'feel, muffled, answered in an annoyed voice puntuated with numerous mechanical clangs and the acidity of someone trying to mask the fact that they had been caught with their britches down. "I'm - ugh - installing a privacy shunt between the bridge and the fenbarma guest quarters. The Minbari should know better then to run commlines between the - "
She fell silent, except for the clang of metal against metal.
"You ok, Na'feel?"
"Would you shut up already, gok-swill?" Na'feel answered. "You're being about as unhelpful as you were downstairs. Last thing I need right now is you frittering away your bridge duty in my ear - don't you have things to do?"
It was a good thing she was underneath the panel, Kitaro thought, or else she'd probably make some nasty comment about the fact he was blushing.
He called up his letter to Janice. Janice, he wrote. I'm beginning to think it might have been a mistake to accept this assignment...[/i]
D
**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
What am I supposed to say? Should I dare to interrupt with my comments? Well, I better keep them limited. Just wanted to thank you for another interesting part. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
All together now: are ya with me? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
-- -- --
Malcolm met up with Martel as he was making quite the inelegant leg across the aft deck towards the guest quarters, waving a flimsy. "Got what you need," he called. Martel snatched it mid-stride, gave it a glance, and handed it back to Malcolm in one fluid gesture.
"You know I'll smack into a girder. Talk to me."
Malcolm cleared his throat. "Saroteg va Degzuz," he read, dropping sentences here and there for an ad-hoc summary. "He's a third-level instructor at a rural archaeological school based around the proto-drazeg settlements at Iron Challor. Easiest analogy is 'assistant professor at a community college."
"A community college," echoed Martel.
"Right," continued Malcolm. "He's been one of the Rangers' best sources on the Drazi since before the Shadow War. About a year and a half ago, the Council pulled strings to have him assigned to an IA inspection team bound to the archaeological dig on Beta Durani 7, which for some reason or another wasn't living up to the expectations of the investors, one, of course, being the Interstellar Alliance. Anyway, the real reason being that they needed to establish an under-the-table pipeline for information that was, shall we speak, not for public consumption."
"Curiouser and curiouser," quipped Martel.
"Not done," Malcolm said, shaking his head. "He went, came back to the Freehold, and occasionally had Dr. Pelham Miller -"
"Pelham?"
"Pelham Miller, an xenoarchaeologist at Oxford, the dig's second-in-command."
"Who names their kid Pelham?" Martel said, incredulously.
Malcolm heaved a sigh. "Anyway, Dr. Miller would do lectures for Saroteg's students from the dig site, in which he would transmit coded messages, because by this time - "
"They had discovered the monolith," finished Martel.
Malcolm took a breath. "Right. The Anla'shok sent in Singh - who became Meligramta, enrolled in the archaeological school, shone like the bright light she was, and was hired by Saroteg as a research assistant."
"And Singh got the information from Saroteg to the Rangers," Martel said.
Malcolm nodded. He found himself hard-pressed to follow his captain, as Martel picked up the pace.
-- -- --
Note: "Flimsy" is the term I invented for those clear sheets Sheridan was always reading in his office during Seasons two and three. They're erasable, recyclable, easy to carry around, and completely customizable. Some Ranger vessels use them for in-house communciations. After all, your PADD may break, a datacrystal can be wiped when placed too close to a proper source of radiation, but a flimsy is forever, if you want it to be...
-- -- --
Malcolm met up with Martel as he was making quite the inelegant leg across the aft deck towards the guest quarters, waving a flimsy. "Got what you need," he called. Martel snatched it mid-stride, gave it a glance, and handed it back to Malcolm in one fluid gesture.
"You know I'll smack into a girder. Talk to me."
Malcolm cleared his throat. "Saroteg va Degzuz," he read, dropping sentences here and there for an ad-hoc summary. "He's a third-level instructor at a rural archaeological school based around the proto-drazeg settlements at Iron Challor. Easiest analogy is 'assistant professor at a community college."
"A community college," echoed Martel.
"Right," continued Malcolm. "He's been one of the Rangers' best sources on the Drazi since before the Shadow War. About a year and a half ago, the Council pulled strings to have him assigned to an IA inspection team bound to the archaeological dig on Beta Durani 7, which for some reason or another wasn't living up to the expectations of the investors, one, of course, being the Interstellar Alliance. Anyway, the real reason being that they needed to establish an under-the-table pipeline for information that was, shall we speak, not for public consumption."
"Curiouser and curiouser," quipped Martel.
"Not done," Malcolm said, shaking his head. "He went, came back to the Freehold, and occasionally had Dr. Pelham Miller -"
"Pelham?"
"Pelham Miller, an xenoarchaeologist at Oxford, the dig's second-in-command."
"Who names their kid Pelham?" Martel said, incredulously.
Malcolm heaved a sigh. "Anyway, Dr. Miller would do lectures for Saroteg's students from the dig site, in which he would transmit coded messages, because by this time - "
"They had discovered the monolith," finished Martel.
Malcolm took a breath. "Right. The Anla'shok sent in Singh - who became Meligramta, enrolled in the archaeological school, shone like the bright light she was, and was hired by Saroteg as a research assistant."
"And Singh got the information from Saroteg to the Rangers," Martel said.
Malcolm nodded. He found himself hard-pressed to follow his captain, as Martel picked up the pace.
-- -- --
Note: "Flimsy" is the term I invented for those clear sheets Sheridan was always reading in his office during Seasons two and three. They're erasable, recyclable, easy to carry around, and completely customizable. Some Ranger vessels use them for in-house communciations. After all, your PADD may break, a datacrystal can be wiped when placed too close to a proper source of radiation, but a flimsy is forever, if you want it to be...
B5_Obsessed
Regular
Are they clear so you can see those girders coming? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
