This a jointly authored story by Lord of Misrule. Jon Harper and Tyr. It starts between the End of Season 8 and the begging of Season 9 in the Stargate Universe.(before the Daedalus departs for Atlantis.) For the Babylon 5 side, it's set during the opening of Crusade in Babylon 5 during the Movie "A Call to Arms."

None of us claim ownership of Stargate and its spinoff Atlantis nor do we claim Ownership of Babylon 5 and its spinoff Crusade. This story is for entertainment only, and not profit.

Now onto the story

Chronicles of the Crusade

Prologue: To Absent Friends.

Minbar, 2281

Sheridan roared with laughter. "He was no help, he just stood there laughing! It was eating through my uniform!"

"That was the funny part!" Garibaldi countered with uncontrollable laughter, the glass of water sloshing over his hand.

"Where's my PPG!" Sheridan joked reaching for an imaginary gun. "Somebody get me a gun!"

The table dissolved in laughter, all but Delenn who noted concern and a weight on Ivanova's mind. She was thinking of something else, lost in the possibilities of the future and the bonds of the past. She heard Vir talk, his story turning from glee into solemn remembrance.

"I said 'we should go, this is upsetting you!'"

She watched the Centauri Emperor, remembering the round faced and innocent young diplomat from over twenty years ago, so much had changed, so much had happened. They just weren't the same people they had been all those years ago.

"You know despite all the terrible things he did, I still miss him." Vir said gently, the feeling in his voice unhidden and clear to each of them around the table. For a long moment they shared his silence, then Sheridan raised his glass.

"To absent friends, in memory still bright."

"G'Kar." Garibaldi proposed.

"Londo." Echoed Vir.

"Lennier." Intoned Delenn.

"Marc…" began Franklin.

"Marcus." Ivanova ended.

They drank slowly, the faces from the past emerging from shadowed minds like ghosts. They had come so far and done so much, but too many would not be able to share in the fruits of their victory, so many had fallen in the trials needed to form this future, so many deaths to protect what they had clawed away from cold and aloof beings, so many had sacrificed and had not been rewarded.

"We will remember them for as long as we live." Sheridan said. "And for as long as our civilization exists, so will their memories."

"This is the twentieth anniversary of our victory over the Shadows." Delenn said. "And the fifteenth anniversary of our new age, when we made contact with our friends from across the dimensions."

"Hmm." Garibaldi grunted as he swallowed a shot of pre water. "Hell of a time for us, for all of us."

"No kidding," Steven Franklin joined in. "Without those guys, well who can say where we'd be? It would have made this future harder to grasp."

"Transgalactic travel, advanced Starships, teleporters." Garibaldi made a list. "It let us turn the ISA into a multi Galaxy spanning autority. Amazing."

"And the medical leaps we've had, working together to find cures for our diseases and theirs, it benefited us all."

"Not to mention you found another Earth to share your culture with." Vir grinned. "That must have been amazing."

"But look at the cost." Ivanova said quietly. "Hundreds of millions dead, maybe billions, both our galaxies threatened with conquest and extermination. Its amazing any of us lived through it."

"But we did." Sheridan said. "And I've never felt better. Another toast, to the future, and to Stargate Command."

The table raised their glasses once more and drank, this time with greater joy.

"Stargate command." They joined.

"And especially the Daedalus." Ivanova stated. "That little ship turned our galaxy upside down."

"A fine vessel." Garibaldi agreed. "And a good crew."

"The official ceremony will be held at Earth in a day of two." Delenn informed them. "Representatives from the old SGC will meet us there and reflect on the bond we formed in the face of that crisis."

"Fifteen years." Franklin shrugged. "hard to believe where the time goes, and the people."

"So, remember how that day started?" Sheridan smiled. "It could have been better."

"You mean when the Drakh attacked Earth?" Garibaldi scoffed. "Yeah, that was pretty good timing."

Ivanova took another sip of champagne, she looked into the half full glass, watching the bubbles fizzing and popping, constant tiny explosions like a distant battle, something she had seen plenty of. The battle that had happened on this day Fifteen years ago had been something else though, and unbidden and unwanted her mind settled on that fateful day when it had all changed.