"It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth-Minbari War. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call, home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs and wanderers; humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5."
"We don't know anything more than you do. We know it's been attacked, but that's all."
"I suggest we contact our governments and see what they know. Then we'll call an emergency session of the Council and the Nonaligned Worlds. We'll do whatever we can to help you."
"Fade. Lieutenant-Commander."
"No. And that worries me. They've had plenty of time to digest the reports, but so far, nothing."
"Not the Minbari. It's not their way. They're too honorable to pull something like this."
"Well, my father always told me the best way to understand someone is to fight him, make him angry. That's when you see the real person."
"The best. The Sinclair's have been fighter pilots all the way back to the Battle of Britain. He taught me everything I know about flying...and combat. He said to ignore the propaganda; focus on what you see. I've never seen the Minbari fight dishonorably. They'd never pull a sneak attack."
"Mm, it's gonna be close. So who are you voting for?"
"Ambassador..."
"Twenty years is a long time. Long enough for your people to come to an understanding."
"I think we have a chance to put together a coalition against the Narn attack."
"I'm sorry."
"Ambassador, I know this is hard for you, but if this escalates into war, you'll give the Narns exactly what they want: a chance to divide us so they can move in."
"There are other ways. Babylon 5 is here to help keep the peace."
"Ambassador Kosh. Commander Sinclair. Can I see you? . . . You weren't in the council room earlier. I wanted to make sure you knew about the emergency session . . . We may need your help to push through sanctions. Does your government have a position on the current situation? . . . Will you attend the emergency meeting?"
"Who? The Narn or the Centauri?"
"And now you plan to return the favor, is that it?"
"Be careful, Ambassador. Not every dream I've heard lately ends well for you."
"Not a chance! You didn't support anyone. Narns will sell to anyone who can afford the credits. But I'll give you points on one thing, Ambassador, we are alike in one respect. We've had plenty of experience with sneak attacks: Pearl Harbor, the terrorist nuking of San Diego, the destruction of our first Mars colony. It's a long and bloody history. Do you know what we learned from it? That the sneak attack is the first resort of a coward."
"You didn't even have the decency to pick a military target; a poorly-armed civilian colony. What a challenge that must have been to the great Narn military."
"What's wrong, Ambassador? Don't have the guts for a fair fight?"
"You want me, you know where to find me."
"See you in council."
"Sounds like someone cracked their data bank."
"Not much time."
"If we don't stop the Narn aggression, they'll just keep coming! The only way to do that is to get the council to authorize military intervention."
"Senator! Colonists are dying out there!"
"But that will damage the Centauri case. If we pull out, others might do the same."
"Well, I hope they are loaded for bear. From what Garibaldi says they're packing some pretty big guns, and --"
"That might be it. Tell Garibaldi to stand down. I'm taking his place with Delta flight."
"No. Look, if I'm at that meeting, I'll have to do something I don't want to do, so let it go on without me. You can take my place on the council. Don't worry. It's all on the agenda, just take the vote and see what everyone else wants to do."
"Lots of them. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find you before I left, so you never heard about any orders from Earth Central. The last thing you heard we were voting for sanctions. Clear?"
"Prepare for jump. All ships stay information when we come out the other side. Delta 7, you're my wing man."
"All right. Check instrumentation. Keep scanning on all frequencies. This sector is the last transfer point for the refugees. If the raiders are gonna hit anywhere, this has gotta be it."
"Locking on. Magnifying. Confirm sighting. Full thrusters. Maintain formation until contact, then break and attack."
"This is Commander Sinclair of Babylon 5. Surrender you vessels or be destroyed."
"Repeat. Surrender your vessels or be destroyed."
"I assume I can take that as a 'no.'"
"And...cut velocity - - now!"
"Negative. The cruiser's hit. We can't afford to leave it alone. Deltas two through six plus eight, assume escort position and ferry her back to base. Deltas seven and nine, with me."
"Activate long-range scanners, wide band search for transmissions."
"Exactly; which is what I'd do if I wanted to decoy fighters away from a command and control ship."
"A C&C transport that looks a lot like that.... Got'cha!"
"We managed to drive the raiders out of this sector. At least for now, but look what I found on the command and control ship?"
"I kept wondering where the raiders were getting their heavy weapons. Then I thought about our conversation: Narns will sell to anyone who can afford to pay. Just like they did during the war. Your government always provides an advisor to show how to operate the weapons and to make sure they aren't resold to a third party. When we tracked the raiders' command and control ship, we disabled her, went aboard and found you're friend here."
"They confirm everything Ambassador Mollari said about the attack on the Centarui colony. That it was unprovoked and that the invitation was made at the point of a gun. Now it seems to me that you have two choices. Tell your forces on Ragesh 3 to withdraw, or we bring this evidence to the council."
"Your choice, Ambassador."
"Well, not to mention Earth Central. We did it without sanctions and the polls haven't even closed."
"Garibaldi, I don't even want to know."
"End. Lights. Goodnight."