brennen
/
lurkers-guide



								                            [1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]


								    [3][Guide] [4][Background] ### SYNOPSIS ### [5][Credits] [6][Episode

								                       List] [7][Previous] [8][Next]


								  Synopsis by Katrina Glerum (kat@midwinter.com)


								   In customs, Londo waits impatiently, complaining bitterly about the

								   inefficiency of the Narn security personnel and the stupidity of the

								   fighting between Earthers. Meanwhile that fighting continues as

								   General Hague's destroyer, the EAS Alexander, is under attack by

								   another Earth Alliance warship, the EAS Clarkstown. When there seems

								   to be no other choice, the Alexander destroys her pursuer and jumps

								   toward Babylon 5. As soon as news of this impending arrival reaches

								   the station's officers, they realize their dilemma. The Alexander is

								   being hunted down on charges of treason, but General Hague has been

								   their strongest ally in the fight against the growing darkness at

								   home. In the background, ISN reports that Mars has refused to

								   implement martial law in defiance of President Clark's orders. Trying

								   to protect the crew from the consequences of his action, Sheridan

								   announces in C & C that the arriving Alexander will be given

								   humanitarian assistance, but he has Garibaldi cut all transmissions

								   from the station just in case some of his crew want to report her

								   arrival.


								   Delenn has received chilling news as well. A Minbari Ranger traveling

								   among the nonaligned worlds has discovered that the various races have

								   all been goaded by the Shadows into fighting their neighbors, first

								   for defense and then for conquest. The races believe that alliance

								   with the Shadows is the only way to be safe from Centauri conquest.

								   The Grey Council's only reaction is to comment that "The problems of

								   others are not ours."


								   The commanding officer of the Alexander, Major Ryan, arrives on B5

								   bearing bad tidings. General Hague was killed during their last fight,

								   the attempted coup against Clark is only having marginal success, ISN

								   is on the verge of being shut down, and the majority of Earth Force is

								   either loyal to Clark or intimidated by him. As the crew discusses his

								   report, the news comes that Earth Gov has begun bombing civilian

								   targets on Mars.


								   Delenn leaves to find the Grey Council just as the EAS Churchill

								   arrives with her captain demanding an immediate meeting with Sheridan.


								   Gunfire punctuates the scene of terrified anchors at ISN reporting

								   that Orion and Proxima 3 colonies have declared independence in

								   protest over the bombing of Mars. Apparently ISN has been forced to

								   conceal information about activities in Earth Gov for the past year,

								   but before they can spill the story their final broadcast is cut off

								   abruptly amid falling debris. The Churchill's captain comes aboard to

								   inform Sheridan that transmissions were intercepted ordering elite

								   Earth Gov forces to Babylon 5 to both capture the Alexander, and take

								   control of the station, arresting the command staff and placing the

								   station under the direct authority of President Clark and the

								   Nightwatch.


								   There is no more room to maneuver. Sheridan puts the question to his

								   officers: Fight or Surrender? If they fight and lose, more than a

								   quarter of a million lives might be at stake, and they will be

								   executed. If they surrender, they will be court martialed at the

								   least. Their decision is unanimous. It is time to make their stand now

								   against Earth and the darkness. They spring into last minute

								   preparations. Fighters are scrambled, Medlab is cleared, and ground

								   troops are geared up.


								   An acolyte attempting to bar Delenn from the Grey Council chambers is

								   withered by the force of her purpose. Her words are even more powerful

								   before the Council as she accuses them of abandoning the very prophecy

								   they were created to meet, to stand against the Shadows "between the

								   candle and the star, between the darkness and the light." Berating

								   them for pride and presumption she breaks the leader's staff of office

								   before breaking the Council itself by calling on the Worker and

								   Religious castes to abandon the Warrior caste's indifference and

								   follow her into immediate action.


								   Sheridan takes a moment in the midst of the crisis to call home for

								   what might be the last time. His father urges him not to worry about

								   his parents, and to remember the first lesson he ever taught him.

								   Never start a fight, but always finish it.


								   Ivanova configures Draal's holographic system so the that captain can

								   transmit a speech throughout B5. He announces that warships are

								   enroute to seize the station and that in response Babylon 5 is

								   seceding from the Earth Alliance until President Clark is removed from

								   office.


								   Knowing that one of the officers must be personally present to lead

								   the Star Fury squadrons into battle, Sheridan grants Commander Ivanova

								   permission to drop just in time to meet four heavy warships and

								   assembled fighters jumping out of hyperspace. His final effort to talk

								   the approaching captain out of a fight is ignored, and full scale

								   battle erupts. Joined by Star Furies from the Alexander and the

								   Churchill, the station's squadrons are mostly successful in defending

								   the station. Nevertheless, a breeching pod is able to penetrate their

								   defenses. It latches on to the station's hull, bores a hole, and

								   troops begin to jump through, where they are quickly engaged in

								   bloody, close quarters resistance from Garibaldi leading Narn and

								   human security personnel.


								   The Churchill puts up an excellent fight, until with fire on all

								   decks, she sacrifices herself by ramming an enemy destroyer.

								   Distracted by the sight, Ivanova reacts too slowly to a collision

								   warning and is knocked spinning by another Fury. Sheridan immediately

								   orders her to eject, which she does, an instant before her fighter

								   slams against the hull of a cruiser. The Alexander and the station are

								   able to destroy the other attacking warships, but suffer such heavy

								   damage in the meantime that Lt. Corwin informs the captain that they

								   could not have lasted much longer.


								   Relief is short lived. Three more destroyers arrive through the jump

								   gate and order Sheridan to surrender. Before he has a chance to

								   consider, four more jump points form. Instead of Earth Force ships

								   however, they expel Delenn commanding the White Star and three Minbari

								   war cruisers. She orders the attacking Earth Forces to withdraw. When

								   they refuse, she replies coldly, "Only one human captain has ever

								   survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in

								   front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."


								   They beat a hasty retreat. But they leave a bloody wake of dead and

								   dying both on the station and littered through space where the Minbari

								   take up sentry duty. Sheridan accepts responsibility for some of the

								   Churchill's lost Star Furies. Although he is proud of his crew, his

								   faith in Earth Force is shattered, and he vows not to wear his uniform

								   again until this civil war is over. To the Alexander, he extends a

								   standing offer of assistance, before she departs in search of other

								   allies.


								   In Docking, the known Nightwatch are being deported along with

								   prisoners from the breeching pod, when Delenn comes aboard. John

								   greets her with gratitude, awe, respect and love. Although less

								   personal, most of the station feels the same way about him-as an

								   enormous crowd expresses enthusiastically in the Zocolo. Even so, the

								   respite is uneasy, and surely temporary.


								   [14][Next]


								      [15]Last update: November 9, 1997


								References


								   1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar

								   2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar

								   3. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/054.html

								   4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/background/054.shtml

								   5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/054.html

								   6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php

								   7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/053.html

								   8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/055.html

								   9. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html

								  10. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/054.html#TOP

								  11. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail

								  12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php

								  13. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/053.html

								  14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/055.html

								  15. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html