“Midnight on the Firing Line” is episode one of season one of Babylon 5.
It’s 2258, the year after “Babylon 5: The Gathering”. There have been a few changes to the station’s staff since then.
The episode opens at Ragesh 3, a Centauri agricultural colony. The orbital station detects a jump port forming and a massive fleet exits it and attacks. The station is destroyed just before they can say who is attacking.
Half an hour later on Babylon 5 the new second in command, Lieutenant Commander Susan Ivanova, is looking for Commander Sinclair and asks Garibaldi where he is. After Garibaldi tells Ivanova where to find Sinclair, he is approached by Londo, who wants Garibaldi to trust him on something. Garibaldi says he will never trust the Centauri – they told a number of porkies when Earth first encountered them. During the conversation, Londo is approached by Vir, his newly arrived diplomatic staff. Vir says that Ragesh 3 is under attack by unknown forces.
A meeting is called of the five major polities and the League of Non-aligned Worlds and Londo suspects the Narn Regime – the Narns do not like the Centauri, as the latter conquered their world in the past. G’Kar denies all knowledge of it. When Londo receives a recording of the attack, he recognises a fighter as being Narn. G’Kar claims he has only just been notified of the attack. Sinclair doesn’t want a war to break out and is trying for a peaceful solution. Londo tells Sinclair that Centauri sometimes know when and how they are going to die. It comes to them in a dream. For London, it will happen 20 years from now, as he and G’Kar choke the life out of each other. Londo is willing to try and kill G’Kar now though.
Sinclair is trying to get resolutions made against the Narn. Ambassador Kosh is making cryptic, and not exactly helpful, pronouncements. The government on Earth doesn’t want to get involved in a war – mostly because there’s an election going on at the moment. The situation may deteriorate further, unless something is done.
Garibaldi is looking into some raider attacks and there is a new commercial telepath, Talia Winters, who Ivanova seems to be avoiding. Later, Garibaldi manages to show Delenn his second favourite thing in the universe. It’s not what you might think.