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A Call to Arms - Pilot to Crusade

© David Ye

The premiere for Crusade has just recently aired which provided a little more insight into the initial makeup of the series including some of the major key players. "A Call to Arms" sets the scene for the coming five year story of Crusade.

It starts fives years after the creation of the interstellar alliance (basically five years after the end of B5 Season 5), the Drahk have grown a little restless, and wants to extract vengence for the loss of the Shadow War, and who else better and more convenient? Why of course Earth! Since it was the humans who led the alliance of worlds against the Shadows, Earth would be the logical target. Unfortunately the Technomages get wind of their intentions (Yes folks, they're back!) and alerts President Sheridan through a series of dreamlike states. Sheridan who is at the time visiting the manufacturing facilities for a new class of warship for the alliance intending to replace the whitestar as the backbone for the alliance.

Mr. Garibaldi (Another old dog from B5) who is overseeing their completion accompanies Sheridan. Only two prototypes have been completed since this is a much more difficult project involving both human and Minbari technologies being merged onto a single ship. The prototypes are named "Victory" and "Excalibur". Unknowningly the Drakh have somehow retained one of the Shadow's planet killers and has already assembled a fleet to level Earth. Sheridan, through a technomage named Galen finds this out and warns Earth through Lochley. He also teams up with a EA captain named Anderson and a woman called Dureena. Hundreds of EA warships with Alliance support is gathered around Earth when Sheridan arrives with the Excalibur and Victory.

In the ensuing battle the planet killer is destroyed along with about two thirds of the Drakh fleet. The Victory is also lost. The remainder of the Drakh sends down alot of transports straight towards Earth, the defence grid intercepts as many as it could but some get through and land on Earth releasing some sort of black mist - a plague. This mist surrounds Earth and the scientists back on Earth cannot figure out how to combat it - it is unlike anything they have encountered before and estimates the people of Earth have five years to live, while the virus adjusts. And so begins the quest to find a cure for the plague aboard the Excalibur.