A Centauri fleet is in combat against the Drazi, batting aside their attack and launching one of their own. With open war against the Centauri now on, things have gotten crazy on the station. As Captain Lochley records in her log, there have been attacks on Centauri on station left and right with several of them being murdered. Franklin is having a time keeping it under control and Lochley thinks, since increased security hasn't done anything, that the next step would be to quarantine the Centauri to areas where they won't run into anyone they're at war with, which is just about everyone.
She's interrupted when President Sheridan comes to give her an update. He's got reports from Mr. Garibaldi that the Centauri have started targeting enemy jumpgates. That makes no sense to Lochley, or anyone else, for that matter. They rely on jumpgates just as much as everyone else; destroying them will cause the hyperspace beacon system to fall apart. Sheridan can only say they're completely out of control, which also increases the chances they'll try to hit Babylon 5 itself. Lochley's already taken that into consideration; they are at an elevated alert status, defense grid is active in case they need it and she's got fighters outside and in hyperspace. But she doesn't think it'll be that big a problem until the White Stars get involved. Which is the other thing Sheridan wanted to talk to her about; he just gave the order authorizing White Stars to engage any Centauri ships attacking Alliance member races.
- Sheridan: Any hope of neutrality Babylon 5 had up until now...just went up in smoke.
He leaves and Lochley calls C&C as a White Star flotilla pounces on the Centauri fleet that has just finished fighting the Drazi.
Sheridan and Delenn are in his quarters having breakfast where Sheridan has something he's reluctant to ask Delenn to do. And it isn't those little things she thought looked silly. He's worrying about the ships, specifically the White Stars. As powerful as they are, they aren't invincible and sooner or later they will run out. Sheridan says they need more ships, and bigger ones too. That might be a problem; the Grey Council authorized their construction to use against the Shadows. Sheridan kind of inherited them along with the Rangers afterwards since there was no Grey Council at the time. But to go back and create an entirely new class of ship from the ground up would take a lot of resources, which Sheridan has the idea to spread around a bit, which he's already floated by President Luchenko on Earth. If the Minbari provide design specs and materials for a destroyer scaled White Star, Earth will handle the finances and construction, and reap the benefits from all that new technology. Luchenko is willing to go for it, provided the Minbari give the go ahead first. She's not going to back something that'll be dead on arrival. Delenn's willing to talk to the Grey Council to propose it, but the thing that has him concerned is that he needs her to do it in person, this needs to be strictly confidential. Travelling is not safe right now, for obvious reasons, and he doesn't want her to take unnecessary risks.
- Delenn: People always say that. They want to find lives in which risk is unnecessary. There's only one problem with that, it's impossible.
They share a kiss and she leaves to get ready as Sheridan gets a call that fresh reports from the front are in.
Vir is in his new rather spartan quarters when Dr. Franklin and Lyta arrive. He has something he wants to ask. The Centauri's biggest losses have been against the Drazi, but when the Centauri destroy a Drazi ship, they make a point of returning their fallen soldiers, but they haven't been returning any Centauri ones. They should be, it's a key point of the Declaration of Principles, which they did sign on with, but they still aren't doing it. Vir's beginning to suspect something else is going on, and wants to ask Stephen and Lyta to look into it and see if they can find out the real story. The Alliance's Chief Medical Officer would have some weight, and a good telepath could see what they're not telling them. Franklin suggests Mr. Garibaldi might be a better choice, but he wouldn't be able to tell which bodies were killed in space and which may have been tortured to death.
All this means going to the Drazi homeworld, but Vir has a Vree transport, who have declared their neutrality in the war, which should be able to pass unmolested. Franklin said he'd have to clear it with the president first, and Vir says he'll abide by what Sheridan says. Lyta is willing, but she wants something in return; 500,000 credits up front. Vir is a little unsure but she's not willing to budge on it. She gives him an account to send it to, a general fund to help telepaths escape the Psi Corps and establish a homeworld for them. She says she'll be in her quarters when he makes up his mind and leaves. Franklin asks if Londo could do anything, but Vir just says he's otherwise engaged.
Londo is still in the cell with G'Kar, who is trying to persuade him to leave.
- Londo: I said where you go, I go. It's become a matter of principle.
G'Kar: You picked a terrible moment in your social evolution to develop principles. Perhaps you could start with something simpler, the moral equivalent of an opposable thumb, for instance.
G'Kar reminds him that his people are at war and he should be out there doing something about it. Londo seems to think he can actually do more here. Stopping the war will mean going up against the regent, and to do that without public support is pretty much suicide. He thinks that the people, when they learn their prime minister is being held in prison without charge, they will be outraged and will put pressure on the Centarum. If they can demonstrate the regent is not behaving rationally, they can find a way to countermand his orders the the military. It may even lead to a cease-fire. G'Kar is dubious, Londo thinks it should occur by morning, so he better get some rest until...
There's suddenly a blinding flash of light and the two of them fall unconscious to the ground. A hidden door opens and some robed figures emerge and cart off Londo. He is wheeled on some kind of gurney through a dark corridor where a series of scans and exams are made. At one points he awakens to see alien faces peering down at him, then another, more scaly looking creature, appears and says, "Yes, he will be sufficient." Some kind of breath mask is placed over his face...
Londo suddenly starts awake. G'Kar, seated nearby says he was having a nightmare. Londo says he needs to leave, something is terribly wrong. And not the war. Beyond that. He has to get out but save face, since he said he'd stay with G'Kar, who has a solution to that little problem. He starts making some odd faces and gurgling. When Londo asks what he's doing, he says he's concentrating on last night's supper. Londo starts protesting, trying to get him to stop, but he's soon brought out of the cell, coughing and loudly complaining about the absolute, burning stench.
Back on B5 Sheridan meets with a group of generals from the member worlds, Na'Tak of the Narn, Daro of the Drazi and Kulomani of the Brakiri. Sheridan asks for an update on the war, Kulomani proudly declaring they've managed to repel several incursions into their space, with the help of the White Star fleet, of course. Na'Tak is also grateful for their help, since Narn forces are still rebuilding from the last war with the Centauri. Lochley tries to ask why they aren't consolidating their forces more, the Drazi for example, sending ships to assist the Brakiri and Narn? Both of them say the Drazi would never take orders from them, and Daro pretty much confirms it when he says Drazi do not need "guidance" from anyone else.
Sheridan tables that discussion for now. He wants to know what their strategy is. Garibaldi shares what Intelligence has found, that the Centauri fleet is divided into two parts, one primarily defending their own holdings and the other conducting the offensive maneuvers. There's been little contact between the two, and they seem to be operating on seemingly separate command structures. Sheridan asks Na'tok if this is consistent with Centauri war doctrine, and he says it's not their usual playbook, but things do change. It's curious, but isn't still dealing with tactics and Sheridan wants to know what the strategy is, what are they fighting towards, their long-term goal? Kulomani admits it has not yet become clear, they don't seem to be striving toward any particular objective. Lochley gets a call from C&C just then and goes to see what's going on.
As she leaves, Na'Tok begins asking why they are not taking a more aggressive stance. They could not only push the Centauri back, they could make offensives against their own holdings. Sheridan wants to contain them for now, hold them off long enough for a break to occur. Daro is not satisfied, and wants to take the fight all the way to Centauri Prime. Sheridan shoots that down outright, he won't sanction an attack on a civilian target. The generals protest, Daro insisting they have their revenge, but Sheridan says this is not about revenge.
- Sheridan: We strike cleanly, surgically, and we do not hit civilian targets. Do I make myself absolutely crystal clear?
The generals seem to relent as Lochley arrives in C&C. They're tracking a solo Centauri warship cruising toward them. Further scans indicate it's weapons are powered down, some odd readings from the jump engines and...no life signs at all. Lochley orders all fighters to attack. That ship is trying to take out the jumpgate. Alpha Squadron moves to intercept and Lochley orders the jumpgate struts moved moved as far apart as possible. The fighters manage to destroy the ship just as it crosses the threshold into normal space. Fortunately the vortex directs most of the blast forward, meaning the gate itself wasn't too badly damaged. Still, that was too close for comfort. Lochley orders probes sent further out, using the Starfurys to boost their signal, she does not want to be caught pants-down like this again.
Daro and Na'Tok regard both that as very sloppy. Daru tells Na'Tok that the humans don't have the stomach for this. If the war is going to end, they need to take matters into their own hands. They will strike the Centauri homeworld themselves, and Na'Tok agrees.
Sheridan calls Delenn to inform her of what's going on. The gate will be down for a couple of days, which is bad news for civilian traffic, but most warships can enter hyperspace on their own. She's still a few days from the Grey Council herself, but will let him know as soon as they come to a decision.
Stephen and Lyta are arriving on the Drazi homeworld, heading to the hotel Garibaldi stayed at when he was here.
- Stephen: He said the room service is good, the food is cheap and the staff are friendly.
Lyta: Meaning the food stinks, the rooms are small and the staff will knife you in the back when you're not looking.
Stephen: Exactly.
He seems to get his bearings and leads them off, as one Drazi is seemingly following them.
Londo is meeting with several ministers trying to drum up support, but to little avail. The minister of defense insists they have only been defending their space from attack, nothing more. Those orders come directly from the regent himself, and as such the Ministry of Defense will not be part of any move against the regent. He gets up and walks out, the other ministers following him.
Sheridan is in his quarters when Garibaldi shows up with urgent news. A significant portion of the Narn and Drazi fleets are missing. they left enough to defend their assets but the rest have gone off somewhere, and Garibaldi thinks they're heading straight to Centauri Prime. There's no time to wait for proof; he tells Sheridan he needs to get there first, or there's going to be hundreds of thousands of dead on their hands, most of them civilians. Sheridan angrily promises to skin them alive if that's really what they're doing, and heads out.
Stephen and Lyta are freshening up in the hotel, when there's a knock at the door. A Drazi Stephen introduces as Dr. Varda comes in. He says he checked, and there are no Centauri bodies here. They're still on the ships, so badly dismembered there's no point in trying to put anything back together. Lyta suddenly demands to know why he's lying, but before he can protest, two Drazi soldiers drop down onto the balcony. Stephen drags Lyta out of the line of fire, and manages to shoot one, but Lyta gets up, walking toward the other one, staring at him. He stares back as his gun hand turns on him, pointing his weapon at his own head and pulling the trigger. Varda tries to get out, but Stephen and Lyta grab him demanding to know what he's hiding. She starts probing his mind then demands he take them to wherever he's thinking of.
Sheridan has gathered as many White Stars as he can ready to intercept the Narn and Drazi. Garibaldi hasn't been able to get a hold of Na'Tok so their best bet is to try and get out in front of them. He gives the order and the fleet flies off.
Delenn's White Star is still en route when it encounters a detachment of Centauri warships. She orders evasive, but the ships open fire, severely damaging the White Star before it can jump to normal space, leaving it adrift in hyperspace.
Varda, at gunpoint, leads Franklin and Lyta to a large warehouse filled with strange black objects. Varda explains that they were found on the Centauri warships. There were no dead crew, no survivors, nothing...except these things. Lyta goes over to one, running her hands over it, saying she knows what it is, as the sounds of Shadow warships echo in her mind. Suddenly someone starts shooting at them. Varda is killed, but Lyta and Franklin escape with one of the objects.
Londo enters his chambers to find Regent Virini waiting for him. He said they'd speak again, before the end. Londo tries to ask him about the ships in the attacks, and Virini admits he did give the order...sort of. He says he always tried to do the right thing, but then start cryptically talking about how his time is almost over and soon it will be Londo's.
- Virini: I have to admit, I'll be glad of it. I'm so tired of it all, Londo. I'm glad...I won't live to see what follows.
Londo: Why? What's going to follow?
Franklin and Lyta make contact with Sheridan aboard the White Star to explain what they found. The object is Shadow technology, used to control ships from a long distance. hook enough of them up and they can fly pretty much on their own. It explains why there were two Centauri fleets and why no one in the Centauri government seems to know anything about the attacks.
That leaves the question of where did they come from? Possibly one of the Shadow allies that escaped Z'Ha'Dum sold them to the regent. They would allow him to run an entire war without anyone in the official military being in on it. Or a third party was using them to set up the Centauri to turn everyone else against them. And the Drazi have always competed with the Centauri for trade, meaning this war actually benefits them. Between that and not having to turn advanced alien technology over tot he Alliance, they wouldn't tell anyone.
- Sheridan: Of Course. Of Course! That's why we couldn't figure out a strategy behind the random attacks. We couldn't see a goal because there was no goal. There was no strategy beyond alienating everyone in the Alliance, turn them against the Centauri so that...so they'd attack.
He asks if they can get out on their own, then tells them to get a hold of Garibaldi as soon as they can to make sure he keep trying to get a hold of the Drazi and Narn fleets.
On Delenn's shattered White Star Lennier crawls over to her prone form. As she wakes up she asks what's going on. It's pretty bad, most of the crew dead, jump engines offline and barely enough power to hold position with navigational thrusters. Distress signal is active, but it's not certain if it's actually doing anything. In addition, Lennier's leg is broken in two places.
The fleet continue on as G'Kar sits in his cell writing and Virini looks out the window musing on how it's his last night. Londo tries to say that isn't so, they can still end this and make peace.
- Virini: Oh, there will be peace, for a while. It never lasts, really. They said so. They said both things actually, that there will be peace and that it won't last. They also said I would be dead by morning, and that tomorrow you will be emperor. They said many, many things...things I didn't want to hear. Things I didn't understand. And things I didn't want to understand.
Londo asks who "they" are, but the regent tells him not to rush his last few free hours. There was something else they told him to do right before he came to see Londo, send away the ships guarding the homeworld, and turn off the planetary defense grid. He says he'll stay and watch from here.
- Virini: The sky should be lighting up any time now. I imagine it will be quite beautiful.
Londo yells, "NO!" and rushes outside just as the fleet jumps into Centauri Prime orbit. He looks up to see their jump points closing. "No."
This episode contains examples of:
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The Regent's sentiments to Londo on their next meeting.
- Big "NO!": Londo, right after the Regent reveals he's sent away Centauri Prime's defense fleet and turned off the defense grid.
- Butt-Monkey: The Regent implies himself to be this.
- Call-Back:
- Obviously, this picks up right after the last episode.
- Stephen and Lyta go to the hotel Garibaldi stayed at on the Drazi homeworld.
- Carpe Diem: The Regent's ominous cryptic message to Londo to enjoy his few hours as a free man.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: The Regent, although his ramblings have cryptic meanings.
- Continuity Nod:
- Although Narn has been freed and the station's conflict with Earth over, some Narns are still working on the station as security guards, as we see at least one among the guards investigating the murder of a Centauri citizen.
- Centauri citizens on the stations are still being targeted, and Lochley had decided to quarantine them for their own good, and Vir has been moved for his protection to new headquarters not as well furnished as his old one.
- Susan Luchenko is still President of the Earth Alliance, although she is only mentioned in this episode, sending a message that Earth will co-operate with the Minbari on the Centauri matter only if the Minbari say yes first.
- When in his dream(?), Londo is spirited away from his cell by Shadow surgeons, in his sleep he cries out for his lost love Adira, no doubt remembering his final encounter with her on the Brakiri Day of the Dead.
- Lyta has raised her rates as she is still to smuggle as many telepaths away from Psi Corps and place them on their own colony as Byron wished.
- G'Kar is still writing in his memoirs.
- Deadpan Snarker: G'Kar is letting the sarcasm fly in this one, albeit out of uncharacteristic concern for the Centauri people.
- Locked Out of the Loop: The Centauri ministers insist they are fighting a defensive war, because the fleets that have been conducting the attacks have been under the Regent's direct control.
- Mind Rape: Essentially what Lyta does to Varda when he fails to co-operate. He is clearly unwilling to go through that again.
- Or Was It a Dream?: Londo and G'Kar are knocked out and Londo is taken to be examined by the Drakh then he wakes up, seemingly having been asleep the entire time.
- Orbital Bombardment: We fade out just as it begins.
- Playing with Syringes: A Shadow "Surgeon" does this to Londo (was it a dream or no?), supposedly to prepare him for the Drakh Keeper that will be put on him next episode.
- Psychic-Assisted Suicide: In what may be the most frightening demonstration of her power yet, Lyta forces a Drazi assassin to shoot himself in the head.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: G'Kar's ploy to get Londo out of prison.Considering the Centauri's reactions, it's probably better this way.
