A Call to Arms
From The Great Machine
- Movie Title: TNT Presents: Babylon 5: A Call to Arms
- Original Air Date: 01/03/1999
- DVD Release Date: 08/17/2004
- Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
- Director: Mike Vejar
- Guest Stars: Peter Woodward, Tony Todd, Carrie Dobro, Tracy Scoggins
When an alien race releases a deadly biogenetic plague on Earth in revenge for the Shadow War, ISA President John Sheridan assembles a fighting force and dispatches the Rangers to find a cure before the human race becomes extinct. Crowning the successful Babylon 5 series, this adventure also launched the not-so-successful sequel series, Crusade. (WB Babylon 5 Made for TV Movie page)
This TV movie sets the stage for the abortive spin-off series, "Crusade." It begins with ISA President John Sheridan and Chief Spook Michael Garibaldi inspecting and testing the Excalibur, a new breed of Vorlon-Minbari-Human ship construction.
During the testing, Sheridan learns that a species formerly loyal to the Shadows, known as the Drakh, has acquired a Shadow planet killer, and plan to use it against Earth.
The Excalibur and her sister ship, the Victory, lead a fleet of ships to destroy the Drakh's Shadow planet killer, at the expense of the Victory. Before the battle ends, the Drakh launch other craft to spread the genetically engineered plague that would launch the Excalibur's proposed five-year mission, and the "Crusade" spin-off series.
In this movie, we meet two people who later become regular characters on "Crusade:" Galen the Technomage and Dureena Nafeel the thief.
