With the threat of the Shadows gone, all is quiet on Earth -- too quiet. An alien race vows revenge for the loss of the Shadows and aims its wrath at humans, unleashing a deadly biogenetic plague. Only five years remain for the inhabitants of Earth unless an Alliance ship, The Excalibur, succeeds in discovering a cure for the mutating plague.

Ep #	Episode Title	UK Air Date
101	War Zone	June 2000
102	The Long Road	June 2000
103	The Well Of Forever	June 2000
104	The Path Of Sorrows	June 2000
105	Patterns Of The Soul	July 2000
106	Ruling From The Tomb	July 2000
107	The Rules Of The Game	July 2000
108	Appearances And Other Deceits	July 2000
109	The Memory Of War	August 2000
110	Racing The Night	August 2000
111	The Needs Of Earth	August 2000
112	Visitors From Down The Street	August 2000
113	Each Night I Dream Of Home	September 2000
114	Value Judgements	Not Aired
???	To The Ends Of The Earth	Not Aired
???	Tried And True	Not Aired
122	The End Of The Line	Not Aired

War Zone promo

The Long Road promo

The Well Of Forever promo

The Path Of Sorrows promo

Patterns Of The Soul promo

Ruling From The Tomb promo

The Rules Of The Game promo

Appearances And Other Deceits promo

The Memory Of War promo

Racing The Night promo

The Needs Of Earth promo

Visitors From Down The Street promo

Each Night I Dream Of Home promo

 


 
The Crusade Counter
 

 
 
 

WCW members react when told that
TNT has cancelled Crusade !
 
 

Support the search for a cure,
buy and use Crusade stamps !
 
 

NEWS FLASH :
Upon receiving notice
of Crusade's cancellation, the
Excalibur fired it's main gun on
the TNT executive offices today.
(photo courtesy of Hubble telescope)
 
 

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Captain Picard uses the Excalibur to spring
a deadly trap against the Romulans !
(RealPlayer required)
 
 

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Babylon 5 fifth season ends : 2262
The telepath war: 2264/5
Crusade begins: 2267

        The telepath war is over, Psi Corps has been disbanded, the remaining telepaths are trying to integrate into non-Psi Corps jobs. Currently telepaths have more freedom, but, are also under more control. The mundanes control the telepaths by subjecting them to mandatory scans.

The first officer on the Excalibur is a telepath who, as a result of changes in policy after the Telepath War, is trying to integrate into a non-Psi Corps job.
"In the aftermath of the Telepath War, there are new rules for the telepaths, they're able to go out and mix in society again as long as they can abide by the rules. If it turns out that they can't, there's the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, there might be another force like the Psi Corps organized to contain them." - J.M.S.

        Crusade takes place about a year or two after the events of the B5 arc. The Shadow War is over, but the allies of the Shadows, their dark servants, remain homeless and masterless, now looking for a home, and to become masters of others. Toward that end, they target Earth, to make an example of us, to bring the others into line. But their attempt at conquest and destruction ends badly for them.

        As they retreat, they leave behind a little gift. If you've heard the phrase "poisoning the well", this comes from the old Roman trick of poisoning the wells in villages when they were driven off, making the place unlivable for the victors. The Shadow allies do much the same here: they release a biogenetically engineered virus, a piece of leftover Shadow technology.

        The virus has an incubation period of roughly five years, during which time it adapts to its host species. At the end of that adaption period, it turns lethal. Released into the atmosphere of Earth, it will essentially wipe out every man, woman and child on Earth who was there when the virus was released. Unless a cure is found.

        But the science that made the virus is literally thousands of years ahead of us; we could break it in time, but we don't have time. Our only hope is the Ranger fleet, which goes out to scour worlds on the Rim and elsewhere for leftover First One cities. The First Ones are gone, but in many cases their ancient cities, their sealed vaults, their secrets, still remain. Somewhere, out there, in one of those ancient deserted cities, is the cure we need to save humanity.

        The pilot, "A Call To Arms", deals with the assault on Earth and the release of the virus; the series itself deals with the search, with the crews sent to find it, with the ancient and Lovecraftian secrets they uncover, the forces arrayed against them, the emotional aspects of family members unable to return home to Earth without wearing protective environment suits, and all of Earth under quarantine, and under the threat of death.