02x15 - And Now for a Word

[bunniefuu]

We interrupt our regular evening schedule to bring you the following special program.

September 16, 2259 and the Interstellar Network News presents 36 Hours on Babylon 5 with your host, Cynthia Torqueman reporting live from the ISN News Center in Geneva.

Good evening, I'm Cynthia Torqueman.

In the hundred or so years since humanity went to the stars we've established outposts and colonies on over two dozens worlds in 14 solar systems.

Out of all those far

-flung outposts only the Mars Colony, plagued by scattered groups of separatists who have used acts of terror to intimidate the Earth

-Ioyal majority has proven more controversial than the Earth Alliance Station Babylon 5.

Located in a sector of space near Epsilon Eridani designated neutral territory Babylon 5 has defied the odds and continued to operate as a free port a center for diplomacy and a showpiece for the Earth Alliance Resources and Technologies Division.

From its highly publicized debut three years ago recent polls indicate a growing dissatisfaction with the time, money and effort consumed by this space

-borne community.

So tonight, we take you to the center of the controversy.

An ISN crew and I recently spent 36 hours aboard Babylon 5 asking hard questions, and on occasion, getting in a little over our heads.

In the process of putting this report together, it didn't take us long to learn the most important rule of survival aboard Babylon 5: Expect the unexpected.

This footage was sh*t from our position on the bridge of the Earth Transport Hyerdol on final approach to Babylon 5.

Roger, Babylon Control.

The voices you are hearing are the ship 's captain and B5 Command and Control.



- Mark.



- Confirmed, Hyerdol, we Narn transport Na'Tan, return to your holding position.

I repeat, return Centauri vessel Molios, break off.

A terrible expl*si*n a conspiracy involving several of these individuals lies, deception and the deaths of hundreds of people.

All this and more in 36 Hours aboard Babylon 5 here on the Interstellar Network News.

We'll be back with our story right after this break.

exploring the past to create a better future.

The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace.

A self

-contained world, five miles long, located in neutral territory.

A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens.

A shining beacon in space, all alone in the night.

It was the dawn of the Third Age of mankind.

The year the Great w*r came upon us all.

This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations.

The year is 2259.

The name of the place is Babylon 5.

a Narn vessel opened fire on a Centauri transport without warning.

The bodies of the dead and wounded are being brought here for transfer to various Medlab facilities on Babylon 5 which are already working beyond maximum capacity.

Behind me is Dr.

Stephen Franklin, chief of staff.

Doctor?

Prep for immediate surgery and full CAT scan.

I need more regen packs! Dr.

Franklin, Cynthia Torqueman, ISN News.

What happened?

Somebody said something about an ambush.

Keep his head elevated 30 degrees, or he'll choke on his own blood.



- Can you explain what the reason was?



- I'm sorry.

Captain Sheridan, Cynthia Torqueman, ISN News.

Do you have a comment on what happened?

No, no comment at this time.

Doctor What about the Narn vessel that att*cked the transport?

We sent a fighter wing to apprehend them.

We won't know more until they're in custody.

If you will excuse me, please.

This is exactly the kind of behavior that endangers the very purpose of Babylon 5.

This place is dedicated to finding peaceful solutions to our problems.

For the Narn to carry their vendetta against our people into neutral territory like this is reckless and irresponsible.

And though we mourn our own losses we have felt strongly about our friends from Earth ever since we first encountered your world 100 years ago.

To endanger your people for no reason.

Then the att*ck on your transport was completely unprovoked.



- Of course.



- He's lying.

Can you tell us why your ship opened fire?

I'll issue a statement after I consult my government.

Your government sanctioned this att*ck?

No.

Do att*cks of this nature put everybody on Babylon 5 in unnecessary jeopardy?

We are already in far greater jeopardy than you can possibly imagine.

For all the apparent danger in this part of space it seems to have had little effect on travel.

Nearly a quarter of a million humans and aliens are here at any given moment.

While most are in transit to distant worlds many others actually live and work here.

What does it take to call a place like this home?

Well, it's It's a job.

I've been in a lot worse places, let me tell you.

It gets crazy here sometimes.

You get 50, 60 ships a day coming through Ioading and unloading, and every last one of them is a priority job.

At least, that's what they tell us.

Watch those crates! Get them over to the side.

No, no, the other side! We had a couple problems here last year, tried to hit us with some budget cuts.

You know, same old song.

But that's the past.

You got to go along to get along, right?

Overall, I've found this to be a good working environment and a valuable experience.

I've learned a lot here.

And you've never felt that your safety has been compromised?

No, ma'am.

So this has been a positive experience for you?

You enjoy working with everyone?

Yes.

It's a calm, pleasant environment.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone get upset here.

I guess it's the old joke.

You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps.

I suppose there is a certain attraction to being out here on the edge like this.

A new frontier.

New frontier is right.

When Babylon 5 went online in 2257 oddsmakers from New Vegas to Lloyd's of London predicted it wouldn't last six months.

Well, I've never been very much on gambling.

Never quite found the time for it.

You were originally a starship captain, correct?

Yeah.

The Agamemnon.

Yeah, she was a real beauty.

One of the first Omega

-class destroyers off the construction line after the w*r.

Our job was part m*llitary patrol, part diplomatic mission.

We went around to most of the nonaligned worlds, put in an appearance kept the peace, that sort of thing.

Babylon 5 has been through some dramatic changes in administration since it became operational.

Would you attribute these changes to bad management?

Or to quote former Senator Hidoshi is this horse just too big for anybody to ride?

Changes are part of the m*llitary life.

Everybody goes into this knowing that tomorrow you could be someplace that you hadn't even heard of 24 hours ago.

I've been stationed so many places over the years I can't even remember most of them.

But you're right.

Some days this is one hell of a big horse.

You know what the folks back home don't understand the ones who've never left Earth, is just how dangerous space can be.

Aside from incidents like this just the everyday reality of living your days and nights in a big tin can surrounded by a vacuum.

I remember my first time on a transport on the Moon

-Mars run.

I was just a kid, maybe 17.

A buddy of mine was messing around and zipping through the halls.

And he hid in one of the air locks.

I don't know, I guess he was gonna try to scare us or something.

I don't know.

But just as I got close he must have hit the wrong button because the air doors slammed shut.

The space doors opened, and he just flew out into space.

And the one thing they never tell you is that you don't die instantly in vacuum.

He just hung there, against the black like a puppet with his strings all tangled up or those old cartoons where you run off the cliff and your legs keep going.

You could see that he was trying to breathe, but there was nothing.

And one thing I remember when they pulled in his body his eyes were frozen.

A lot of people make jokes about spacing somebody about shoving somebody out an air lock.

I don't think it's funny.

Never will.

Although the air locks on Babylon 5 are considerably safer the last three years have shown that the station itself is anything but secure.

In its first year, there were half a dozen murders three acts of sabotage, including a b*mb that blew out two levels and a barely averted att*ck by the Vorlon Empire.

Since then there have been 50 deaths by v*olence, so the question remains: Given its cost in lives and money, is Babylon 5 serving any useful purpose?

Or as we're about to see, is the whole thing falling apart at the seams?

I've just been briefed by my government, and I'm prepared to issue this statement: The Centauri ship that was att*cked by one of our vessels was not simply a commercial transport.

It was secretly transferring weapons of mass destruction to ships bound for the front lines where they were to be used in the w*r against our people.

They have turned Babylon 5 into a weapons supply post and we cannot allow this to continue.

Even if it means shutting down Babylon 5 completely.

According to figures released by the newly formed Office of Public Morale President William Clark has risen to dramatic new levels of popularity because of his administration's emphasis on addressing the needs of Earth.

As a result, recent hearings in Earth Dome have openly questioned how much time and money should be invested in a project that seems perpetually bogged down in non

-human conflict.

So we took that question to Senator Ronald Quantrell.

Well, obviously Babylon 5 is something President Santiago believed in very strongly and I think we owe it to his memory to try and make it work.

That doesn't exactly sound like a ringing endorsement.

Well, clearly, we've taken a lot of heat.

And the cost overruns have been appropriately astronomical.

Let's remember the Babylon Project was conceived after the Earth

-Minbari w*r.

At that time, the idea of a diplomatic station to keep anything like that from happening again was very appealing.

And now?

Now?

Well, it's still too early to tell.

We've rebuilt our m*llitary forces to a point far in advance of where they were 14 years ago.

If the Earth

-Minbari w*r started today, things might have gone a little differently.

So while I'm not sure how much concrete benefit we really derive from Babylon 5 any longer I suppose it still does keep us in a highly visible position with other races.

And of course, it's very important to interstellar commerce and trade.

Well, with all due respect to Senator Quantrell speaking as someone who did his part in the front lines I'd have to say we still haven't fully recovered from the Minbari w*r.

And we haven't anywhere near the level of technology we would need in the event of another major conflict.

And anybody who thinks that we could hold our own against the Minbari, the Centauri and, God forbid, the Vorlons is just plain kidding himself.

You sound angry about it.

No.

I'm not.

It just It just sounds to me like jingoism and self

-deception and armchair quarterbacking.

Anytime you lose a w*r you just wait a few years, and you'll hear from everyone who thought we could have won if they'd have done the fighting.

Except of course, captain, we didn't lose the w*r.

The Minbari did surrender.

Of course.

Who are the people who run Babylon 5?

And what do they do here?

What are their hopes and dreams?

I'm standing in what's called the Observation Dome or C & C short for Command and Control.

When the captain is otherwise engaged with diplomatic or business affairs this place is under the watchful eye of its perky and energetic Commander Susan Ivanova.

Make one more sweep, pulling in whatever you got then head for the barn.



- Commander Ivanova would you tell us what you're doing here?

Investigating Ambassador G'Kar's allegations that the transport was carrying weapons, justifying his government's att*ck.

The HAZMAT team is checking the debris for unusual levels of radiation or trace elements that could indicate unauthorized weapons.

While we wait for the analysis, would you tell us a little about yourself?



- How you got here?



- Well, there's really not much to tell.

I was born in the Russian Consortium but spent most of my life at school abroad.



- Graduated from OTC 10 years ago.



- How did you come to join Earthforce?

After my brother was k*lled in the w*r I felt that I had to try and finish what he started.

But of course as my luck runs, the w*r was over before I saw any action.

Now, commander, I'm sure there's more to your story than that.

Yes.

What do I hope for?

To get through this interview without getting fired.

How's that for a start?

It's one of those questions I don't think about in words.

Maybe because so many times it seems like if I say what I want it never comes.

There must be something.

Yeah.

There are little hopes, I guess.

Every day I get up, and I hope nothing'll happen.

I'd love to be just bored out of my skull for 24 hours.

And I guess I keep hoping that someday, somewhere I'll make a difference.

That at the end of the day everything that we've gone through here for the past few years will mean something.

Yeah?

Garibaldi, we just got back the HAZMA T report.

We've got a problem.

See what I mean?

Always something.

So far we've spent most of our time here talking to the humans.

But aliens make up roughly 42 percent of Babylon 5's population.

Many of them live here in the so

-called "alien sector" which provides alternate atmospheres for 14 different species.

Ironically, the alien sector is how the aliens here refer to the human part of the station proving once again that beauty and the beast are in the eye of the beholder.

Probably the most elusive of all the aliens is Ambassador Kosh Naranek a representative of the Vorlon Empire sent here roughly two years ago.

Nothing is known of the Vorlons.

In fact, three expeditions sent into Vorlon space over the years have never returned.

The Vorlon government said they had met with accidents and suggested no further expeditions.

Even their appearance is a mystery compounded by the fact that he can only leave his quarters in an encounter suit which contains his atmosphere and other life

-support equipment.

A moment ago while we were setting up this sh*t we got our first glimpse of the Vorlon as he was leaving his quarters behind me.

This is an ISN exclusive presented here for the first time.

It's Ambassador Kosh over here! Mackie, quick, the camera.

Ambassador Kosh.

Ambassador! Cynthia Torqueman, ISN News.

Can we ask you a few questions?

Ambassador Kosh! Did we get that?

Tell me we got that.

Did we get it?

Second in elusiveness to the Vorlon is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari Federation.

After initially refusing several requests for an interview she finally agreed to talk to us.

Since very few humans have ever been allowed on Minbar perhaps you could start by telling us a little bit about your world.

We are the seventh planet from our sun.

Almost one quarter of Minbar is covered by our north polar icecap.

Because our world is rich with crystalline deposits many of our cities are cut directly out of crystal formations.

During the spring, the patterns of color caused by the light are breathtaking.

Let's see, what else?

We have three basic languages: Lenn'a, Feek and Adronato, which is the language of the religious caste.

Can you give us an example of Adronato?

I am your friend in peace.

Your appearance, though, isn't typical of your people, is it?



- No.



- According to station records you looked quite different a year ago.

I volunteered for this change in the hope of a better understanding between our peoples.

Over a quarter of a million humans were k*lled in the w*r with your people.

How do you think the families of those victims will feel about your change?

L I don't know.

L I would hope I think they would feel hurt.

Betrayed.

That by assuming a human face, you're taking a part of us you're not entitled to.

What would you say to them?

To all the husbands and wives and children and brothers and sisters of the people who were k*lled in the w*r with your people and now see a Minbari with a human face?

I'm I'm sorry, can we?

Can we stop this?

Please?

Ambassador Delenn, you're needed in the Council Chambers.

Ambassador?

Ambassador Delenn?

We've been informed of a development in the Narn att*ck.

The Advisory Council and the League of Non

-Aligned Worlds have convened to hear this.

We've been given permission to record these proceedings.

Now, thanks to Commander Ivanova's investigation we have proof of what we've been saying all along.

An inspection of the destroyed Centauri has found conclusive proof that she was carrying fusion bombs and support equipment for ion cannons mass drivers, and heavy

-energy weapons! We have already filed a complaint with the Centauri government on the grounds that Babylon 5 is neutral territory and is not to be used as a staging ground or a munitions depot.

If I may make It is this kind of irresponsible activity, ambassador that endangers this station and everyone here! Classified shipments are transferred outside the station, ship to ship.

The risk to Babylon 5 is minimal.

Oh, we've already seen your minimal risk, ambassador.

Caused by their att*ck on one of our vessels! Our ships have the right to carry any cargo they choose.

We will not surrender our sovereign rights.

The sovereign rights of any race end when they thr*aten innocence.

Enough! They're doing what they always do! Using details to distract us from doing what must be done! There are seven more Centauri vessels berthed outside and I have reason to believe they also carry weapons of mass destruction to be used against our people.

My government demands that these ships be impounded and their weapons seized.

No, no, no! We will not allow this! This is Babylon 5 space, and here we have sovereign rights.

Our ships will defend themselves against any who try to seize them! Perhaps if the transports return to Centauri space We cannot allow those ships to leave with their weapons.

They'll just turn right around and use them against us.

Then how do you intend to?

What the hell?

Captain, we need you in C & C.

We've got a sh**ting w*r going on out here.

The sounds you hear are weapons on the Narn and Centauri vessels doing battle just outside Babylon 5.

The station is on a priority one alert, and people are being evacuated to shelters.

We're en route to C & C to try and cover the battle.

Now our vid systems are being plugged into the station's external cameras and communication systems, and we should be seeing Coming in.

Reading five, repeat, five incoming hostiles.

No reply.

Got the beacon.

Targeting systems online.

Delta Leader to hostile vessels, you are ordered to cease fire at once.

Do you copy?

You are ordered to surrender, or we will open fire.

Damage report.

Levels Brown 90 through 92 report damage.

Hull breach in Blue 70.



- Dropping pressure doors.



- Get a repair crew down there!

- Aye, sir.



- Any reply yet?

Hostile forces continue to fire.

They're targeting our ships.

Delta Squadron requesting permission to fire.

Ambassadors Londo and G'Kar are saying if we open fire they'll consider it an act of w*r.

We have a quarter million people to defend.

If they won't stop this, we will.

All fighters, open fire.

Fire at will.

Roger, Babylon Control.

Delta Squad, open fire.

Target engines and navigation if possible but if you have to take them out, do it.



- Roger, leader.

Four, five and eight

- Come on.

Come on.

Heater's lit.

No window?

Come to papa.

Got it! Box away.

This is seven.

Target splashed.

Two Narn vessels destroyed.

Two damaged and out of the fight.

Centauri vessels are offering to surrender.

All right, pick them up and throw them in the brig.

And I want every one of those ships scanned for weapons.

Tell Ambassadors G'Kar and Londo I want to see them now.

What if they refuse?

Then you can throw them in the Then invite them again, as firmly and as politely as you can.

This nonsense has gone far enough.

The "nonsense" Captain Sheridan referred to is the Narn

-Centauri w*r which over the past months has grown into a conflict which threatens to spill into other systems and lead to an escalation of hostilities.

Prior to the battle we witnessed ISN spoke with representatives from both sides in order to better understand the history of this conflict.

Roughly 150 of your years ago, the Centauri came to our world.

Narn was a green and fertile place then.

We greeted them in peace, and spent the next 100 years in chains.

But we never gave up hope.

We formed a resistance, learned their secrets turned their own machines against them and finally drove them from our world.

How did you become involved with the resistance?

My family lived in G'Kamazad, one of the larger cities on Narn.

My father served in a Centauri household during the last years of the rebellion.

I was barely a pouchling at the time.

My mother was ill, unable to escape through the underground, so we all stayed.

It was a difficult time.

We were striking deep into Centauri resources.

Things were tense.

One day my father spilled a cup of hot jala on the mistress of the house and And she had him k*lled.

They took him out, tied his hands together and hung him from a jalwah tree for three days.

I came to him the last night, against my mother's orders and he looked down at me.

He said he was proud and to go and fight and be all the things he never was.

Then he d*ed.

The next morning I ran away and k*lled my first Centauri.

Why do you think they invaded back then?

Why does any advanced civilization seek to destroy a less advanced one?

Because the land is strategically valuable because there are resources that can be exploited but most of all, simply because they can.

You have experienced much the same on your own world.

There are humans for whom the words "never again" carry special meaning, as they do for us.

How do you respond to reports that your m*llitary has lost six out of the last seven engagements with the Centauri forces?

And now the w*r consists mainly of holding actions and forced retreats.

Centauri propaganda.

We will never fall back.

We will never surrender.

When we first met the Narn, they were what?

A primitive people.

We gave them technology centuries ahead of their own took them with us to the stars, taught them laws, civilized them.

They repaid us with terror and death.

So you're saying that the Centauri originally came to help the Narn?

Of course.

And at considerable expense, I might add.

Which is why we finally left.

We wished them well, but the cost, you see Then you weren't driven off the Narn Homeworld?

Please.

The Narn have rewritten history enough, don't you think?

If they wanted us gone, we were hardly going to force the issue.

But ever since, they have grown more and more irrational have gone out of their way to harm us, to seize Centauri territory.

Finally, we had to take a stand.

They were the ones who declared w*r, remember?

Not us.

We want only peace.

"We want only peace.

" Both sides say the same thing, but as we've just seen the reality is anything but peaceful.

With the skirmish outside concluded and the captured Centauri vessels about to undergo a search things seem to have calmed down.



- What is it?



- Jump point forming in Sector 7.

Are they crazy?

That's practically on top of us! Reading one Centauri battle cruiser.

Do we still have a feed from the external monitors?

Are they online?

I've got Ambassador Mollari on the link.

Put him through.

Ambassador Mollari, what's going on here?

I'm sorry this has come as such a surprise, commander but I warned you not to interfere.

You have no right to search or detain our ships.

If we don 't act in our own defense, we invite the same from others.

Centauri cruiser is arming weapons, opening g*n ports.

The cruiser will blockade Babylon 5 until our ships are returned to Centauri custody, intact and unopened.

Any ship attempting to enter or leave Babylon 5 will be fired upon boarded and sent back.

We will use the minimum possible level of force but if provoked, we are prepared to use deadly force even against Babylon 5 itself.

ISN, the galaxy's most important network.

John?

Why aren't you outside playing with the other kids?

They hate me.

Now, John It's true.

I'm just I'm different, Mom.

I can feel what they think about me, and they know I can.

I called one of them a liar because I knew he wasn't telling the truth somehow.

And he just kept hitting me until I said I was the liar.

I just don't know what to do anymore.

Don't worry, Johnny.



- We'll take care of it from here.



- Look! A Psi Cop! That's right, Johnny.

There are a lot of other kids who feel just the same way you do.

They're confused and afraid, but they don't have to be.

The problem isn't that other kids don't like you.

It's that they don't understand you.

But we do.

You're special.

You're a latent telepath about to come into full bloom.

My Johnny?

A telepath?

Probably.

But to be sure take him down to the Psi Corps Testing Center first thing tomorrow.



- How do I find one?



- We're everywhere.

For your convenience.

We have offices in schools and children's hospitals.

We even have mobile testing centers that travel the country.

And if he qualifies, we'll give him an education, a job, a purpose.

And, we'll pay all his bills for life! John, I can't believe it.

You've come so far.

Just look at you.

We're all so proud.

And I'm proud to be part of the Psi Corps.

So remember, if you know someone who might be a telepath or think you might be one yourself help them get the help they need.

Call the Corps.

Call Government Information for more on a Psi Corps Center near you.

This message is from the Ministry for Public Information and your local Psi Corps Recruitment Office.

As we enter our 30th hour aboard Babylon 5 the Centauri

-Narn crisis has not diminished.

The various parties to the dispute have gathered in council chambers behind me in closed session to discuss the crisis.

Meanwhile, all traffic in or out of Babylon 5 has come to a halt due to the Centauri blockade.

Captain, any progress in the negotiations?

All sides are still talking.

That's all I can say for now.

Is it true some of the Senate suggested that you accommodate the Centauri by releasing their vessels without searches?

As the commander of record on Babylon 5 I doubt the Senate would undermine my position in these negotiations by armchair quarterbacking.

Ambassador G'Kar, do you have anything to say?

This should prove once and for all that the Centauri are a menace to more than just our world.

This kind of thing cannot be allowed.

We will take whatever steps necessary to make that perfectly clear to them.

Well, what does that mean?

Ambassador G'Kar?

The events on Babylon 5 which took place during your recent visit are emblematic of what many of us in Earth Dome have worried about.

By placing an Earth installation between warring factions we risk being drawn into a conflict that has nothing to do with us or Earth interests.

If we had not been in that place, at that time the terrible loss of life might have been avoided.

On the other hand, senator, they are at w*r with one another.

People die in w*r.

Yes, but it wouldn't have happened in our back yard.

What happened next came with the reluctant support of Earth Dome but the hundreds of deaths I don't see how we can support that sort of thing.

I'm only glad you made it out alive, Cynthia.

We need all the good reporters we can get.

Ten minutes ago, Captain Sheridan received a transmission from Earth Dome on the current crisis.

After considerable negotiations, we've been allowed back into C & C Captain John Sheridan, Babylon 5 to Centauri cruiser.

My government has rejected your demand that we release your ships.

We will not consider any demand made under t*rror1st thr*at.

We have activated our defense grid and are prepared to defend all ships coming through here.

Any hostile action taken by you against ships entering or leaving this station will be considered an att*ck on Babylon 5 itself and we will respond accordingly.

If they send back a reply, don't acknowledge it.



- Aye, captain.



- We'll let them sweat for a while.

I know the new defense grid can hold them off but the repercussions

- They're bluffing.

I can't believe they'd take on the whole station.

No, that'd bring Earth in the side of the Narns and the last thing the Centauri want is a w*r on two fronts.

Docking Bay 9 just linked in.

The transport's ready to go.

Bring her up.

Activate autopilot.

We'll run the transport from here, make sure no one gets hurt just in case they're not bluffing.

Bring the maintenance bots around for a closer look.

Move Secure Cab 23 to high overhead and Main Bot 914.

At 12 click intervals and transport If they att*ck the transport they'll turn around and fire on us next, figuring we'll have to retaliate.

I know.

All tracking stations if you see their weapons targeting us open fire.

Any reply from the cruiser?

Negative, sir.

No response.

Their weapons system is still on.

I don't like this.

The transport's through.

Getting a signal from the Centauri cruiser.

They want to talk.

Open a channel.

Let's be gracious.

Captain, any thoughts on the?

Second jump point forming in Sector 10.

Hell! Babylon Control to Narn cruiser, we do not, repeat, we do not require assistance.

Do not interfere! We have the situation under control.

Narn cruiser powering up weapons systems.

No! Listen to me.

We do not need All civilians to the shelters.

Get me that cruiser, and I don't care how you do it! Close blast doors now! Narns destroyed the cruiser.

They're opening a jump point.

Can they make it?

I don't think so.

They're hit bad.

Jump engines are malfunctioning.

As journalists, we would be remiss in our responsibilities if we suggested these events you've just witnessed were typical of the situation on Babylon 5.

Like anyone else, they have good days and bad days.

There can be no question that it's a flash point that can only grow hotter as time passes.

And yet growth only comes through pain and struggle.

So perhaps we should allow Babylon 5 time to realize or one day even exceed the dreams we have invested in it.

We'll be back with some concluding thoughts right after this message.

After the crisis was over, the debris cleared and the bodies counted we asked each of the people involved in this story one question: Given the danger, at the end of the day, as Mr.

Garibaldi said, is it worth it?

Absolutely.

Sure, when things get tense out here, we have to be careful.

Our search of the Centauri vessels proved they were bringing in weapons offloading them outside the station and sending them to the front lines.

Now that we know that, we can make sure it doesn't happen anymore.

We learn.

It's what humans do.

Misunderstandings aside, yes.

I definitely think it's worth it.

We must simply work harder to make sure we communicate with one another to prevent this sort of tragic situation from ever happening again.

A violent att*ck by Narn forces is an unacceptable response to a peaceful protest by my government.

And with the intervention of Earth, perhaps we can keep them from making a similar mistake in the future.

I don't know anymore.

I used to think so, but now Yes.

Of course it is.

For the simple reason that no one else would ever build a place like this.

Humans share one unique quality: They build communities.

If the Narns or the Centauri or any other race built a station like this it would be used only by their own people.

But everywhere humans go they create communities out of diverse and sometimes hostile populations.

It is a great gift and a terrible responsibility, one that cannot be abandoned.

Well, I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?

All right, Med 2, go.

Go! Look, if we weren't here right now half the people in this room would be dead.

Now that should be a good enough answer for anyone.

Sure.

What, are you kidding?

I have a retirement pension to make, you know?

Yes.

But not for any of the reasons that you've probably been told.

The job of Babylon 5 is not to enforce the peace.

It's to create the peace.

And this place was built on the assumption that we could work out our problems and build a better future.

And that, to me, is the key issue.

See, in the last few years we've stumbled.

We stumbled at the death of the president the w*r and on and on.

And when you stumble a lot, you start looking at your feet.

Now we have to make people lift their eyes back to the horizon and see the line of ancestors behind us saying: "Make my life have meaning.

" And to our inheritors before us saying: "Create the world we will live in.

" We're not just holding jobs and having dinner.

We are in the process of building the future.

That's what Babylon 5 is all about.

Only by making people understand that can we hope to create a better world for ourselves and our posterity.

I'm Cynthia Torqueman, ISN News.

Good night.