“Babylon 5: A Call to Arms” is a made-for-television film for Babylon 5. “A Call to Arms” is set in the year 2266 but was released after the series was concluded. It is usually recommended to be watched between season five‘s “Objects at Rest” and the series finale, “Sleeping in Light”. “A Call to Arms” also functions as the introduction to Babylon 5: Crusade.
It starts with an ISN broadcast about how it is coming up on the fifth anniversary of the founding of the Interstellar Alliance. Delenn has been making preparations for the anniversary but no-one has seen Sheridan in several days. There’s also mention of the ground being broken in Earthdome for a monument to the many who died in the recent telepath crisis (the Telepath War, which has been mentioned before, but the war itself has never been covered).
Garibaldi is on a White Star that is near a Minbari cruiser. A Minbari flyer heads to the White Star from the cruiser. Garibaldi mentions that ‘he’ is probably hungry after his long trip. If he isn’t, Garibaldi is.
‘He’ is Sheridan. Sheridan says he hasn’t been as involved in the construction of the new ships as he’d like; Garibaldi points out that he has a galactic empire to run and to leave the nuts and bolts to others. That’s what Garibaldi does for a living. Garibaldi is enjoying Mars. Regarding the construction, the man running it, Drake, is a bright guy, but he’s a perfectionist who won’t sign off on anything until it’s perfect. Nothing is ever perfect, so nothing is ever finished.
They are reverse-engineering Minbari and Vorlon tech to work with human tech. If the other races find out, they will go nuts, but the funding has been hidden and Delenn is holding everyone’s attention back on Minbar. Sheridan says that, even if anyone did know they were here, they wouldn’t be able to follow. Cue something following, transmitting an image to a glass ball.
The person holding the ball is called Galen by another, and is told that the Circle requires his presence. They know of his activities; come to them or they will come to him. Either way, Galen will be called to account. Galen wants to know who he has to explain his behaviour to this time. Everyone involved. Galen thinks it must be a very large room.
Sheridan’s White Star has arrived at the rendezvous. He says he hasn’t seen anything since the initial designs. Garibaldi thinks he’s going to like it. The first two prototype destroyers, as Sheridan mentioned in “Movements of Fire and Shadow”.
Onboard, Drake is honoured to see the president. He seems less honoured to see Garibaldi again. Gravity is slightly less than one G, but Garibaldi thinks that’s fine. The bridge is also laid out in a linear fashion, like a submarine, rather than the more normal circle. Controls have been built along Earthforce lines.
Drake doesn’t know how the ship handles; he was waiting for the president before trying it out. Sheridan thinks it would have been a better idea to test the ship out before trying everything else. He is then told there is a message from Delenn and, after Sheridan leaves the bridge, Garibaldi speaks to Drake. Because he told Drake to try the ship out before he got there. It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to work. They are going to ease out of spacedock. Drake is sure there won’t be any problems. Famous last words. Sheridan’s message, meanwhile, isn’t from Delenn; it’s just a jumble of pictures and sounds. When Garibaldi comes in, Sheridan had been there for half an hour. There’s a comment about how much easier things were on Babylon 5.
Zack is at customs on the station when a female alien comes through and sets off an weapons violation alarm. Zack tells her to remove the weapon. She takes something of her finger. He tells her and the rest. She removes a veritable armoury. Then asks where the lost people go – Downbelow.
Whilst the ship is being fixed, Sheridan is having a rest. He dreams of a planet that is a burned ruin and a man asks if he hears that. Sheridan hears nothing. Because the planet is dead; no life, no technology, no people. A world murdered as a test. No, the man – Galen – says, this isn’t a dream, it’s a nightmare. And if dreams can come true, what of nightmares. Galen introduces himself and tells Sheridan to remember, giving the name Daltron 7. Sheridan wakes to find the ship, the Excalibur, heading out of spacedock.
The female alien on Babylon 5 is following symbols on the walls. This leads her to being kicked down a tube. Whilst she’s unconscious, she dreams of the same place as Sheridan, and sees him too. Only Sheridan turns into a Drakh. Galen tells her it isn’t her world, but it shares the same fate. When the time comes to choose a target, she must pick the right one. When the women awakes, she is chained. The mark on the walls indicated the Thieves Guild, and she is a member. The woman, Dureena Nafeel, says she was captured because she wished to be, and proves herself. When asked what she’s doing there, she doesn’t know.
The Excalibur is heading for a firing test, but there’s a problem with the main guns. They were designed for more advanced ships and drain the ship’s power. Sheridan suddenly sees the Earth and the Moon, but that’s a vision. The main guns are impressive, but afterwards the ship is powerless for a minute. Sheridan has another vision of Galen, who is being questioned. Galen was told to explain to everyone involved, and Sheridan is.
Galen explains more and Sheridan realises he is a techno-mage, and they left in “Geometry of Shadows” during the Shadow War. Galen explains that the Drakh are going to attack Earth; humans made war on their masters. Sheridan can’t tell anyone what, why or how he knows this, because the Drakh have spies everywhere. Sheridan must move, or Earth will be destroyed.
Sheridan wants the ship to head to Babylon 5. He sounds a little crazy. He’s also seen some faces. One is Dureena Nafeel, another is a Drazi and a third is a human. Captain Anderson (Tony Todd) of the Charon. Who is also heading to Babylon 5 for reasons he doesn’t know. There is mention of the Shadows’ planetkiller early on, so you can bet one of those is going to be involved. And that’s bad.