Season 2, Episode 1: A Call to Order

by Simon-F. Laflamme

The year is 2264, and diplomatic business continues to move away from Babylon 5 to Minbar. The transfer of the Narn embassy is almost complete, and Ta’Lon hires the Goliath to move the most sensitive files. On their way to Minbar, they are waylaid by a Sharlin cruiser which the Goliath dispatches with terrifying efficiency, and as soon as they have set foot on Minbar, Carlson, Enoch, and Ta’Ren are the victims of an assassination attempt by the Dark Knives clan. When they visit the clan’s village to get some answers, the clan’s elder reveals that the Dark Knives do not adhere to common Minbari beliefs. They believe the Minbari were once enslaved and tampered with by the Vorlons. As such, many of the Dark Knives sided with the Shadows in Valen’s War, and many more have fled Minbari space since then. The Dark Knives also believe that the Goliath is a living entity, a Vorlon transport, formerly that of a particularly vicious Vorlon who enslaved the clan millennia ago. The elder also reveals that Zebruune, the new Minbari ambassador to Babylon 5 is a Dark Knife, and so is her attaché, Darzus. Before either side can make amends, the Goliath, powered by a mind of its own, attacks and destroys the Minbari village, using the raw matter therein to complete its maturation into a Vorlon transport. Minbari authorities rule that the Dark Knives attacked first, but nevertheless ban Carlson, Ta’Ren, Enoch and the Goliath from Minbari space.