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Ragesh 3, a Centauri agricultural colony comes under attack by ships coming out of a jump point in nearby space and are quickly overwhelmed before word of the perpetrators can be sent out. On a sideline, there are raiders attacking ships in the area of Babylon 5, and Garibaldi is very interested in finding and stopping them.
On Babylon 5, we are meeting our main characters again, some of them for the first time, and establishing personalities. Susan Ivanova is the second in command, and obviously takes her job very seriously, while Vir Cotto, Londo's aide, comes across as a somewhat ineffective and foolish character.
Also being introduced is Talia Winters, the new telepath from PsiCorps, replacing Lyta Alexander from "The Gathering". She is to make contact with Lieutenant-Commander Ivanova, who is very adept at evading her. She can't figure out why Ivanova is avoiding her, and so asks Garibaldi's advice on how to approach Ivanova.
There is an election going on back on Earth, foreshadowing the events in the next four years, and when asked who she is going to vote for, Ivanova replies, "I think I'll vote for Marie Crane. I do not like Santiago. I've always thought that a leader should have a strong chin - he has no chin, and his vice president has several. This to me is not a good combination."
Londo finds out the attack on Ragesh 3 was the work of his people's old enemy, the Narn. He is outraged at the loss of civilian life, and worried about the fate of his nephew, Carn Mollari. It was Londo who arranged for him to work on Ragesh 3, thinking that it would be safer than the Centauri military service. "If Carn is dead, there will be war," he tells Commander Sinclair. "Today, tomorrow, the day after, it doesn't matter... There will be war." This, too, is foreshadowing future events and for a first episode it really is a remarkable one to watch over again to see where so many events have come from.
Londo, getting no help from the Centauri government, decides to hide this fact from the rest of the council and ask for sanctions against the Narn Regime. Sinclair receives instructions from Earth to abstain from voting on the matter, and to avoid being put in a difficult spot decides to take Garibaldi's place as leader of the squad in search of the raiders. He leaves Susan with the instruction to take his place in the council meeting, to take the vote and see what everyone wants to do. When she asks if there are any further instructions, he replies, "Lots of them. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find you before I left, so you never heard about any orders from Earth Central. The last thing you heard, we were voting for sanctions - clear?" "Yes, sir, clear as crystal," said Susan.
At the council meeting G'Kar tries to establish that Ragesh 3 had been a Narn colony before the Centauri invasion a hundred years before and so that they were merely taking back property that had previously been under their claim. To "prove" this, he shows Carn Mollari reading a prepared statement saying that the colony had asked the Narn Regime for assistance, and that they had chosen to align themselves with the Narn government. Obviously this was a forced statement, but when Londo goes to dispute it, G'Kar brings up the fact that the Centauri government will not take action against the Narn, and why is Londo using the Babylon 5 council to take action that even his own government considers inappropriate?
Meanwhile Sinclair is out battling the raiders, managing to drive them away from the cruiser. He sets most of the squadron to escort the raider back to Babylon 5, while he and two others go after the raider base.
As Londo is getting no help in dealing with the Narn from either his own government or from Earth, he decides to take matters into his own hands. On his way to kill G'Kar, he bumps into Talia, who is able to read Londo's intentions and notify Garibaldi in time to stop the murderous act. Garibaldi reminds him that if he kills G'Kar, none of the colonists will get out alive.
When Commander Sinclair returns from driving off the raiders, he brings with him a Narn weapons consultant who had been on the command ship to instruct the raiders in the use of the weapons that the Narn had sold them. Sinclair confronts G'Kar with this, and with evidence that the attack on Ragesh 3 had been unprovoked, and that the "invitation" by the colony had been made under duress. He then offers G'Kar two options - tell the Narn forces to withdraw from Ragesh 3, or the evidence will of the attack will be brought before the council.
Talia tracks Susan down in the bar after her shift, where it is disclosed that Susan's mother was a telepath, and since she wasn't trained or part of PsiCorps, she was taking the blockers to inhibit her abilities so she could stay with her family. Susan's mother died a little each day, finally committing suicide, and Susan blames the PsiCorps for the loss of her mother. As such, it colors everything to do with her dealings with Talia.