A Thin Veneer
This is a Crossover written by committee. It can be found on Spacebattles and Fanfiction.net.
It describes a war between the Minbari Federation and the United Federation of Planets. In the beginning, a ship from the Earth of Babylon 5 and a Minbari ship chasing it go through a space anomaly. Captain Kirk's Enterprise finds them. The consequences extend into the next century, and the Vorlons get involved as well -- also as enemies of the Federation.
It can be found here.
Tropes used in A Thin Veneer include:
- Abusive Precursors: Vorlons march up one side of this trope and down the other. If it wasn't for helpful precursors on the Federation's side, this would be a much darker, and much more terrifying fanfic.
- The Shadows also have a bit of this, as part of their backstory. However, as their style is more "Infiltrate and learn," rather than "appear as gods", they more quickly learn about the Federation and its benefits, and leave not that long after they're introduced.
- Alternate Universe: An alternate universe Admiral Janeway from the future, Voyager, and a Minbari warship travel to the ATV universe to deliver a warning about the Vorlons and provide weapons and technology from over one hundred years in the future. This scares Kirk, as Starfleet has strict rules against this sort of thing, and if Janeway is willing to break them, things must be very serious.
- Always a Bigger Fish: At the start of the climactic battle around Minbar, the narrative voice notes that this is a lesson the Minbari forgot, or never learned, in the millennium during which they were the pre-eminent power in their part of the galaxy.
- Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: The Minbari as a whole are this in their portion of the galaxy. They have been the most powerful civilization in the quadrant for a thousand years, are the chosen agents of the Vorlons (whom they view with an almost religious regard), and fancy themselves the unstoppable warriors of the Light. Anyone who opposes them is simply steamrolled -- until they meet the Federation. They simply cannot comprehend at first a civilization that is larger than theirs, more advanced technologically, and doesn't automatically kowtow to them.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Inverted with the Gorn. While the first four ships listed are almost certainly an attempt to tease the Federation, being named Smaug, Fafnir, Mothra, and Rodan, the last is registered as the GCF Fires Of Regulus.
- Bilingual Bonus: A Federation commander derided for doing something stupid that got his entire strike group wiped out by the Minbari is named "Baca".
- Bullying a Dragon: The Minbari (and Vorlon) attitude toward the Federation and other Alpha Quadrant civilizations, even after the Federation wipes the floor with them several times. It essentially boils down to "How dare they be stronger and better equipped than us? We must punish them for defeating us so easily!"
- Crossover
- Curb Stomp Battle: Well, just about every single time the allies go against the Minbari, and even sometimes the Vorlons. The B5 powers are just that outmatched in terms of speed, firepower, durability (at least while the shields are up), and actual combat experience. It's hard not to feel sorry for the Minbari.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: A protest in the Minbari capital against the war -- and the means used to suppress it -- very deliberately echo Tiananmen Square, right down to a column of tanks being halted by a single protester.
- Even First Ones Have Standards: None of the other "elder races", or "first ones" -- such as the Metrons, Medusans, Organians, or even the Q -- like the Vorlons. The Shadows don't like them either, but they have a history to back it up.
- Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: The Federation classifies Gorn ships by Dinosaur name. The flagship of the Gorn group that arrives at Beccara Alpha One is a Tyrannosaurus Rex class dreadnought.
- External Retcon: The Vorlons led the Dominion into the Dominion War. The Vorlons and the Dominion are for Order, and the Federation and its allies are sheer chaos just a wormhole away.
- Also, the Vree's "Dimensional Slip" technology came from reverse-engineered tech from an abandoned Iaconian outpost.
- Foregone Conclusion: The events of this story are interspersed with occasional looks into the future of the ATV-verse, including passages by Sisko and Picard. The war ends with the remnants of the Minbari Republic signing an agreement with the Federation/Klingon alliance, followed by close to a century of cold war with the Vorlons, who eventually lead the Dominion to war with the Federation and help along the Ciona Imperex in their attempt to dominate the Alpha Quadrant races in the name of order. Meanwhile, the Narn Regime and the Centauri Republic join the United Federation of Planets.
- From Bad to Worse: The prologue reveals that the Vorlons are responsible for the Dominion War, an event that nearly wiped out the combined forces of the Federation, Klingons, and the Romulans. In addition, it's highly suspected that they provided aid to the Ciona Imperex, which nearly destroyed the Klingon High Council and the Federation secretly. So now, the Federation is aware that the god-like aliens are still pissed at them for the events of the fic (ninety years ago), but they can't risk fighting back due to the Vorlon's sheer power and the fact that the Borg are still trying to destroy the Federation as well, not to mention that the Alpha Quadrant races are still licking their wounds from the Dominion. Things do not look good for the Federation's future.
- How Unscientific: When the crew of the Earth Alliance ship realize for the first time that the new ship has warp drive -- which is strictly forbidden by Babylon 5 physics, but which is the only way to explain the sensor readings.
- Humanity Is Infectious: The fic continues the Babylon 5 tradition of making humans community builders, and the prologue reveals that the Narn and the Centauri have joined the Federation in the future.
- Someone at Starfleet decided to classify Gorn ships with dinosaur names. When the Gorn find out, the Gorn ambassador thinks that this is an honor, and their battleship program is rumored to be called Godzilla! Four of their ships that come to the Earth Alliance's side of the galaxy are named after dragons or monsters: Mothra, Rodan, Fafner, and Smaug.
- I Do Not Own: And neither does anyone else. Explicit permission is given for anyone to copy this story as long as they leave the credits. The credits mention many works, including all vs. of canonical Star Trek extant at the time.
- Moral Myopia: The Minbari attitude toward their defeats.
- Later, the Minbari are shown up at this by the Ashen.
- Mythology Gag: Sheridan, when he first appears, is surprised that he doesn't feel disgust at the idea of half-human hybrids in the Federation, or at humans mating with aliens. In the canon Babylon 5 timeline, he eventually married and had children with Delenn, a Minbari.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Many Federation technologies are considered normal, even weak for the setting, but are very effective against the Minbari simply because they have had no exposure to these technologies.
- Of particular note are tricobalt explosives. While they've been largely phased out in the Federation due to the prevalence of more effective antimatter explosives, the tricobalt devices have the unique benefit of royally screwing up Minbari gravity drives.
- Tyrannosaurus Rex: The Federation has labeled a Gorn dreadnought design as the Tyrannosaurus Rex-class ship.
