HISTORY
"Not much is known about the Vorlon. But I intend to change that."
In December, 2259, Captain Sheridan was forced
to destroy a Centauri war cruiser that was
attempting to destroy Narn cruiser that had sought
shelter there. When the Centauri fired on B5, Captain Sheridan responded
in kind, destroying their vessel. Ordered by the Ministry of Peace and
Earthdome to make a formal apology to the Centauri, Captain Sheridan was
on his way to the Zen Garden to make his apology before the Babylon 5 Advisory
Council when a bomb, planted by a Centauri, was found by the Captain. To
save himself, he jumped from the shuttle into free fall. Weightless, he
was safe until he reached the ground, which was moving at 60 mph. To save
the Captain's life, Kosh left his encounter suit and flew up to the Captain,
lowering him safely to the
ground. When Kosh left his suit, he was seen
by all those assembled to hear Sheridan's speech.
However, each individual to see Kosh saw him
not as the ambassador from the Vorlon Empire, but
as a "being of light" or, if you will, an angel.
To the Drazi ambassador, he was Droshalla, to G'Kar,
he was G'Lan, to Lennier, he was Valerian, to
Londo Mollari, he was invisible.
The Vorlons have visited almost every inhabited
world in the galaxy, and manipulated those who live
there to see Vorlons as "beings of light" or,
if you will, angels. Given that Kosh was able to leave his
encounter suit in the Zen Garden, it is possible
that the Vorlons might not breathe a methane/carbon
dioxide atmosphere. Also, it is worth noting
that while others were seeing Kosh as a servant of their
local deity/prophet, Sheridan saw him, even in
the form of a classic western angel, as Kosh. The
Vorlons are able to project the image of a being
of light, although it causes them some strain.
In August of 2260, tragedy struck the Army of
Light. After surviving intact through the declaration of Babylon 5's independence
from the Earth Alliance, the kidnapping of one of their number by the
NightWatch, and the Shadows attacking openly,
Ambassador Kosh Naranek was struck down by
the Shadows because of a victory. Needing a show
of equal strength against the Shadows to forge
an alliance with the members of the Non-Aligned
Worlds, Captain Sheridan asked Kosh to press
his government to move against the Shadows. Kosh
responded to this request with what Sheridan
thought was anger, but was in fact fear. Fear
for his own life. The Vorlons agreed to attack the
Shadows, and in a short battle were able to destroy
several of their battle cruisers, while taking few
losses. After being informed of the Vorlons'
victory, almost every one, if not all, of the Non-Aligned
Worlds was ready to sign on with Sheridan. However,
informed of their loss, Morden led three Shadows into Kosh's quarters and
watched as these ancient beings fought once again. Though powerful, Kosh
could not stand against them. He spoke to Captain Sheridan in the form
of the Captain's father, admitting that he was wrong to try and delay the
Vorlons' direct intervention, and that he was simply afraid of this moment.
His last words to Captain Sheridan were simply,
"As long as you're here, I'll always be here." At
the moment of his passing, a massive energy wave
passed along the length of the station. What this
was is unknown, though there is some speculation
that this might have been his soul.
After the demise of Kosh, the Vorlons sent a new
ambassador to take his place. To avoid the panic
that would result from the assassination of the
first Kosh being known, he was to be referred to in
public as Kosh. However, when asked about his
real name, he simply replied, "Kosh". When
pressed further, he calmly informed Sheridan
and Ivanova that, "We are all Kosh". This new
Vorlon turned out to be rather different from
his predecessor, being a much more subtle and quick to anger. However,
after Captain Sheridan's action on Z'Ha'Dum, he became more secretive than
ever, shutting out even those the first Kosh had kept relatively close.
The reason for this was rapidly
apparent, however, when Commander Ivanova and
Marcus were searching for more First Ones to
aid them in their fight against the Shadows and
found some. An entire fleet of them, in fact.
Thousands of Vorlon fighters, gunboats, and cruisers
along with two (or more) ships several miles in
diameter - the Vorlon planet killers.
Successfully avoiding the Vorlon's notice, the
White Star crew scanned the area of normal space
near where the Vorlons had been hiding in hyperspace.
They found only one thing of note - the
planet Arkada 7 was gone. The site of a Shadow
base, it had been destroyed by the Vorlons. After Captain Sheridan went
to Z'Ha'Dum and successfully attacked it, the Vorlons took this as a sign
that the rules of engagement had been totally suspended. Arkada 7 was only
the first Shadow-influenced world to fall. The Vorlon Empire had gone to
war, and there was nowhere to hide.
Upon his return to Babylon 5 with Lorien, Captain
Sheridan informed the "inner circle" as to what
was really going on, and began to plan how to
end the war between the Shadows and the Vorlons
not just for the next thousand years, but forever.
But first, they need to deal with the new Vorlon
ambassador. He had to go. Sheridan ordered Security
Chief Michael Garibaldi to lead a team to
escort the Vorlon to his ship, using force if
necessary. This, however, was simply a mask for a more
direct method of dealing with the ambassador.
Once the security team had been proven ineffective
as an incentive for him to leave, Lyta Alexander
went to his quarters to lead him to Sheridan so that
he could recover the last of Kosh from him. In
fact she led him into a trap. After his encounter suit
had been shorted out and cracked open, the Vorlon
began to strike back directly against the humans attacking him. When he
tried to attack Sheridan however, he encountered a surprise. The last of
Kosh, bolstered by some of Sheridan and some
of Lorien, revealed itself and struck back. With the
new ambassador's ship having left the station
so that it could be used to flee into hyperspace, the
Vorlons departed Babylon 5 and went to the ship.
When Kosh was able to cause the new
ambassador's ship to self-destruct, both were
killed. With the ambassador out of the way, the War
Council began to plan a response to the Vorlons'
attacks.
The opportunity for such a response revealed itself
when it was discovered that the Vorlons were
headed for Coriana 6, a planet with a population
numbering over 6 billion. At the same time that the
War Council learned this, they also learned that
the Shadows had deployed a planet killer of their own.
Taking advantage of this knowledge, Sheridan decided upon a simple, direct plan - lure the Shadows to Coriana 6 with false information saying that the Army of Light has built a base there, and let the two sides confront each other directly. It worked. With the help of the 6 other remaining First Ones, the Army of Light forces were able to destroy the Vorlon planet killer before it fired on Coriana 6. When this happened, however, the Vorlons and Shadows decided to take advantage of the fact that almost all of the younger races were present, and confronted Sheridan and Delenn personally, trying to make them choose between Order and Chaos. To Sheridan, the Vorlons represented themselves as a woman frozen in a block of ice. To Delenn, the Shadows appeared as people she knew, quickly confronting her and then moving away. Through all of this, Sheridan and Delenn both held strong to the fact that the First Ones were no longer needed. After Lorien pulled them both out of their visions, a suited Vorlon and a Shadow both appeared on the White Star's bridge, giving the Army of Light one last chance to choose between them. When they refused to, the Shadow planet killer moved into range and started its attack, with the both the Shadows and the Vorlons claiming that nobody would follow them if they were dead, and that the others didn't share their decision. They were proved wrong, however, when a Drazi Sunhawk put itself between the White Star and the first missile. The second missile was blocked by a Minbari War Cruiser. Upon seeing this, Lorien explained to the Vorlons and Shadows that it was time for them to step aside for the younger races, as he had stepped aside for them. With the assurance that Lorien would join them, and that the other First Ones were indeed waiting there, the Shadows and Vorlons headed for the Rim, to pass beyond the Veil of Stars, leaving this galaxy to the younger races.