| This character created by Bart V.
Talon Sh’Narr’s Background
-Mother was Delenn’s 2nd cousin (both had same grandparents but, Delenn’s lineage is down the other side of the family tree in the Moon Shield Clan which is of the Religious Caste ), and was raised in the Religious Caste way. However, through her arranged marriage, she was then introduced to the Warrior Caste. This was done as a way of strengthening ties between the Castes. -Father was of the Warrior Caste, 3rd son of the Stone Pikes Clan Leader, ( two older brothers both have one son that survived the Earth-Minbari War, so he’d have been 6th in line to the top spot of the Stone Pikes Clan; Note that Talon now stands in his father’s position). -Brother joined Minbari Military in 2246. Was killed during an Earth attack against a Minbari research station, bravely sacrificing himself in a Kamikazi style attack against an Earth Destroyer fleet. His daring attack was successful and the sneak attack of Earth’s was thwarted, stopping any chance for the Earth Forces. Arlon was 19 when he died, Talon was 21. Within 6 months The Battle-Of-the-Line began. -Sister joined the Minbari equivalent of the Intel Service, interrogating any humans and studying their technology. She is still with them today. -The Stone Pikes are an influential secondary clan and while they are strong supporters of the Warrior Caste, they firmly believe in the Grey Council and what it stands for. Within the Warrior Caste, they are in strong opposition to the very powerful Wind Swords ( A Militant Warrior Caste Clan). -Childhood Talon, along with his siblings, grew up in a loving household with parents that cared deeply for eachother and their children. Though loved, they were never spoiled and grew up disciplined and independent as opposed to coddled and churlish. Talon’s father, Katan, a computer and electrical engineer, was transferred to the Dronato Colony when Talon was 5. As a child, Talon had access to computers wherever he turned in the house and this soon lead to his developing basic skills in Programming and Hacking. As he was very Agile and well Coordinated, he trained in Acrobatics ( this lead to his developing the Sleight-of-hand skill, as well ). -Development All 3 children, as they reached puberty, were tested for Psi abilities. His brother Arlon tested negative, while Talon kept getting bad headaches, ( This is a defense mechanism that is special to Talon’s DNA & RNA). Lena, his sister, tested postive and soon left the family to live with cousins of theirs who were in the Religious Caste so as to be further trained in her Psi abilities. In 2244, he joined the Minbari Military and began his first tour-of-duty. Prior to Talon’s 1st T.O.D., though, he trained in martial arts as befitting an eldest son of a Warrior Clan; Pike fighting and the difficult Kalan’tha. He flung himself into his studies and soon excelled at them. He also developed an interest in why beings do what they do and this soon lead to him studying psychology ( Minbari ) in general and motivations specifically. This helped him to develop skills in the areas of both Acumen and Investigation, the latter as he had to do a lot of research to support his particular theories in his classes. As with his martial skills, he quickly rose to the top of his class in these fields. During his time before the War, his skilful and daring strategies earned him much praise from his peers and his superiors, so much so that he rose to the Earth equivalent rank of 2nd Lieutenant, just as the war broke out in 2245. -Adulthood He began his 2nd T.O.D. in 2246. His brother joined in 2246, shortly after the war began. During the war Talon distinguished himself many times, receiving of medals and promotions, becoming an Alyt-Dai, the equivalent to a Wing- Commander in charge of 3 flights of 3 fighters, off the carrier Dalshasa. His brothers career was less remarkable. Some say he lived in his brother Talon’s shadow; others, less kind, said he wasn’t good enough. Regardless of the truth, the fact that Arlon wasn’t even close to Talon’s skills caused no small amount of resentment within Arlon himself, a fact which he rarely troubled himself to hide. That Talon was closer to their baby sister didn’t help matters either. Arlon felt quite alone as their parents were dead shortly after the war began in one of the first and only successful forays by Earth Force. The outpost they were attached to was destroyed. The research wing of the outpost was one of the few sections of the outpost still intact and their parents smashed bodies were of a handful that were able to receive a proper funeral back on Minbar. Their deaths, coupled with his lusterless career may have been the joint factors which pushed Arlon over the edge. As the war progressed, Arlon’s assignments grew less and less dangerous. He was stationed at an Observation Outpost as stand-by escort. An attack by Earth Force galvanized Arlon into action as he finally saw his chance to outshine his brother. He sent off two fast recon ships to warn Minbar and launched his fighters to engage the warships. Very quickly the fight turned against Arlon and his forces. His ship damaged, Arlon may have felt he had no options remaining before the lead battle cruiser engaged the station. Arlon made the ultimate sacrifice. His gambit payed off, for whatever quirk of fate, as the lead destroyer must have been more damaged then initailly apparent, when Arlon’s fighter smashed into the engine section, the whole vessel erupted taking with it all of it’s fighters and the few remaining Minbari craft. As luck would have, the explosion caused severe damage to the other Earth Force cruiser and it had to limp back towards the jump gate. It was remarked by those who witnessed the explosion that it was like another sun materializing in the sky. The battle thereafter was referred to by Minbari everywhere as The Battle of the Second Sun. Arlon’s sacrifice is to this day still remembered and he was given a heroes funeral, complete with memorial in the capital city of Minbar, shortly before the war was over. When Talon learned of his brother’s death, he felt somehow responsible. It was due to his sister’s joining him and comforting him, that Talon was soon able to return to duty. It was then that he was determined to wipe out the filthy vile humans from the stars who had taken away so many of his family. (It should be noted that he still had not seen a human being up close yet). One of his first missions after returning to duty in late 2247, was to go to the surface of the Earth Military outpost on Cygnus V and retrieve information from the base they had just destroyed. Just as he had completed his mission, Earth reinforcements arrived in system. Talon was stuck on the surface in the non-functioning Bio-dome, his enviro-suit’s resources slowly dwindling away, while he heard his troops were engaged above from his suit’s radio. He could not break radio silence for help, for fear of giving away his presence. His only hope was that the attackers would realize they were too late and leave. For several hours he was stuck on the wrecked base with no one to talk to but the lifeless bodies of the former inhabitants. He studied them and realized that they weren’t multi headed gorgons of destruction, but rather frail bipedal beings just like himself. As time went on, and the radio chatter from the battle above was slowly fading, Talon feared he might join the ghosts which were now the base’s only inhabitants. An hour later, though, with his life support failing and the Earth Forces beaten off, Talon woke up on a Minbari shuttle heading for home. That mission, combined with the realization that these humans were so similar in appearance, which was in direct contrast to all his previous concepts, started to haunt him. He was beset with nightmares, infrequently at first, but which appeared with geater and greater repetition. He soon began going without sleep as often as possible. This enforced insomnia is still with him in 2256. It was because of the dreams and the thoughts he had while trying to undestand them that resulted in Talon, during the height of the war, to have doubts about the validty and the necessity of the war. In early 2248, at The-Battle-of-the-Line, his forces went head-to-head with the Black Angels squadrons. Talon recorded 4 kills with 3 others unconfirmed. His remaining forces, still 75% strong, went on to smash an attempt by Earth Force to push through to the Minbari Command cruisers. These successes however, were quite hollow to Talon , for though he was quite sure that the war was unjust, he was at a loss to explain why. Coupled with his doubts about the war, Talon, alone in his cockpit, realized the futility of a holy war. As if reading his mind, though Talon latter found out the real reason, the Grey Council, with the Minbari fleet just short of coming into bombardment range of Earth itself, suddenly surrendered. Talon’s only emotion at the sudden shift was one of incredible relief, fore he no longer had to deal with the complexities of his conundrum. At this point he had attained the Earth equivalent rank of Captain, but he felt that his life was meant to follow a different path. Towards this end he sought out Truth and Enlightnement within the Religious Caste. His desire to leave caused no small uproar within the Warrior Caste, creating much unrest within the Caste. The Wind sword’s in particular were quite pissed off at the thought of a Warrior joining the Religious Caste, after the Relgious Caste had surrenedered the whole war. The Worker and Religious Grey Council members were prepared to support whatever decision one of the Minbari’s most recent heroes decided, despite threats from the Warrior Caste to stay out of it’s internal affairs. It was decided that Talon’s choice would undergo the ritual combat known as Traf’lona, (In English, the translation is roughly; Defence of Destiny, or The right of Destiny). Talon’s former C.O. from the Carrier Dalshasa, Renghan Sol’darr of the Wind Sword’s, was to be his opponent and the weapons they would use would be Pikes. The battle lasted 45 minutes, with both warriors beaten, bloodied and still refusing to concede. Finally Talon, in a move that is still spoken of today w/ awe, seemed to walk up into the air, not five feet from Renghan, turn, as if twirled like a baton in mid-air, to come crashing down apon him. For several minutes, with all the witnesses too stunned to react, there was no movement within the arena. Then, very slowly and painfully, Talon raised himself up from the body of Renghan Sol’darr, casting a baleful gaze around himself. His warriors uniform in tatters and flapping in the breeze, Talon cried out, “My choice is made!! Does any here still dare question it??!!!” Needless to say, their were no takers. He then tore off the last of his uniform, a simple task at this point and with only his loin-cloth and Pike, stalked out of the arena and into the waiting arms of the Religious Caste. He was well received by Delenn. Renghan, Talon later learned, recovered from his wounds several weeks after Talon was released from hospital. Now in the Religious Caste, his name Sh’Narr remained the same for while within the Warrior Caste it meant “Hunter,” in the Religious it meant “Seeker.” This was seen as an auspicious omen by the Religious Caste that spoke well of his destiny. After the War, with his parents dead, it befell to Talon, who was the eldest now in peace time, to be the Leader of his clan. With his brother dead, Talon kept in close contact with his sister. In fact, over the last 8 years, though they’ve been apart a lot due to their respective duties, they are in fact very close; Talon sees Lena as his best friend. With his defeat of Renghan Sol’darr, his choice accepted and ratified by the Grey Council, Talon was allowed to remain the head of a Warrior Caste clan. Late in 2249, Talon was choosen to join a delegation to Earth to quietly search out other humans that had Minbari souls within them. Prior to going, he was given training in English; language/literacy as well as gaining some Savvy; in Human Space Culture. The delegation was kept on Proxima 3 for several weeks within a secured compound guarded by Earth Force. Though they were not prisoners and could’ve left for home anytime they had wanted to, their actions were constantly monitored. Talon, having the most adventurous spirit was the first to break the ice as it were. He soon found himself talking to former enemies, the Black Angels, in the EF saloon; he developed a taste for whiskey while he was there and he whiled away many an afternoon and not too few an evening learning to swap lies with the rest of the fly boys, (This resulted in a high resistance to alcohol). Though he had first been met with icy politeness, his obvious sense of honour and his deep rooted integrity, soon melted away the chilling resolve of the EF pilots. The fact that he was also good-natured enough to be the butt of their jokes helped immensely and after several days, and evenings, he was treated as an equal amongst the pilot faction of the saloon. It was due to Talon’s patience and curiousity that he developed a deep interest in all things human resulting in his Savvy of Human Space Culture increasing. He learned to gamble at card games and discovered a hidden talent for Keyboard instruments (his preferences are for ancient Earth styles of Jazz, Blues and R&B; much to the chagrin of some Minbari, for while he is quite proficient, this musical taste runs far counter to many traditional and modern Minbari music types). After several weeks, the delegation was allowed to proceed to Earth. It was on Earth that he met Master Sergeant Donal McCrae, a 49 year old black Scotsman in charge of the supply depots on the British Isles; (McCrae is somewhat of a cross between Don Rickles a la’ “Kelly’s Heroes” and Sgt Bilko). Even long after the mission was over, Talon and Msgt McCrae have still kept in touch and have become very good friends. Upon his return to Minbar, the Religious Caste decided that with a little training in the areas of Hiding and Tracking, Talon would be a 1st rate field operative. Since then his main purvue has been simply to flit about the known galaxy trying to learn as much about humans as possible. He has several contacts and acquaintences around human space. Due to his status and overall mission, he is able to visit his friend Msgt McCrae and his sister Lena regularly. Talon’s fame from the war and the few remainng scars he carries from the battle with Renghan make him one of the most easily recognizable beings on Minbar, but outside of his race, he’s not known. Thanks also to Talon’s mission, he has traveled, not only all over the Minbari and human space, but also gone to other races spheres of influence; these experiences, however, have not overly affected him, unlike the affect that Humans and Earth has had on him. In 2255, Talon's has been attached
to Delenn’s office as part of a very quiet effort by the Minbari to further
bridge the gap between humans and minbari. In late 2256, Delenn finally
arrived there, where she would be in charge of the Minbari Embassy to the
Humans on that station, supplanting the consulate mission on Proxima III.
It was from Proxima III that he continued his last assignment for Delenn,
which had started out on Minbar, to track down and retrieve an important
scroll. This lead him to the lawless frontier colony planet of Tighron,
just past the Markab sphere of Influence. It was here that he ran into
his forth human survivor of the Battle-of-The-Line, one Nigel ‘Ace’ Kellar.
Nigel’s companions were another human, one Della Anne Stephenson, and a
Narn pirate of some repute, known simply as The Black Blade. It was together
with this motly assortment of unlikely heroes that Talon was able to complete
his mission. That was in Aug of 2256.
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