Turn 5: Day of the Dead

The ultraviolent action of Turn 4 is at an end and Turn 5 has officially begun. While this turn appears to be largely a rest and rebuilding phase after the factions tore into each other last turn, it has been marked by three important events.

First, the Drazi withdrew their claim to all the planets they had colonized in this sector and returned to their own space…but not before savage fighting between Green and Purple factions rendered the surfaces of those worlds entirely uninhabitable. In leaving they mentioned something about a “War of Light” about to take place, possibly some crazy plan John Sheridan and the rest of those wacko Babylon 5 separatists have cooked up and probably not very important.

Secondly, the Comet has arrived and the Brakiri have begun celebrating the Day of the Dead. The Great League Offensive has ground to a halt while they unload the huge boxes of skull-shaped candies and prepare to speak to relatives or friends who will arrive from beyond the grave to resolve emotional issues or impart cryptic but eerily prophetic information. EA Sociologists have yet to confirm the presence of any perky Goth girls ushering these souls back and forth, but remain “really hopeful.”

Finally, the Vorlons in their ineffable wisdom have ordered the Minbari to assault the League world of Newport for purposes unknown. Perhaps a Shadow agent or long-abandoned base lies somewhere in the system. Perhaps the Vorlons hope to disrupt the Day of the Dead. Or perhaps the Elder Races are just massive pricks who enjoy getting the Younger Races to do senseless tasks for them. Either way, disruption of the Brakiri religious festival is sure to bring a new wave of League aggression upon the sector.

So in practical terms, we’re one player down, and in the midst of random event enforced inactivity from one of the two main contenders. Day of the Dead means the League can’t attack, but that anyone who attacks them invites a Brakiri jihad and faces extra ships whenever he faces them. Thus most of us decided to stay clear…except for poor Gary who was forced by his Vorlon Imperative to attack anyway.

As you can see, the clear/white pins of the League have driven deep into Minbari territory and only the Centauri approach them in numbers of systems controlled. Earth picked up the last three neutral systems on the map, and the two Narn empires remain at the same compact sizes.

There are two battles this turn:

Newport (E10, Minbari/League): The Minbari attempt to carry out their Vorlon Imperative.

Defiance (F8, Centauri/Tza’sol Narn): A Centauri fleet attempts to seize a Narn system in reprisal for the Narn attack on Sparta Hill.

Both battles are slated for the early weeks of the New Year.