A probe appears in hyperspace but is destroyed by passing ships. On Babylon Five, Captain Lochley (Tracy Scoggins) is awakened by a message from Lieutenant Corwin (Joshua Cox), who tells her about the destroyed probe. She joins him on the command deck and learns that strange ships are on the way. A tip from the Gaim suggests they are from an advanced race looking for worlds to conquer, so they must be shown that Babylon Five is not vulnerable. She has a lifepod prepared for Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) and Delenn (Mira Furlan), just in case. Starfuries are launched. Meanwhile, two maintenance workers named Bo (Lawrence LeJohn) and Mack (Raymond O’Connor) are going about their jobs, complaining about having to clean up after their bosses.
Bo and Mack are there when Lochley and Sheridan come by, arguing about Sheridan’s and Delenn’s remaining on the station. Lochley convinces Sheridan to prepare to use the lifepod to escape if necessary. Bo and Mack admire Sheridan for being in the trenches. They break for lunch. In Medlab, Doctor Franklin (Richard Biggs) clears space for patients. Bo listens to Franklin talk about why he became a doctor. Mack is repairing a secondary targeting console. The attacking ships arrive from the jump gate. The Starfuries are launched. Mack just keeps working. The problem was an actual bug in the works, and it is removed just in time for the last of the invaders to be destroyed.
Mack and Bo talk about Lochley. Mack likes her because she’s tough, but Bo thinks she was on the Clark side in the Civil War. They head for Brown 9, in the same lift as Lochley and Garibaldi, who argue about the attackers. In hyperspace, the main attack fleet homes in. Bo and Mack fix the water reprocessing system, talking about whether one can shut down the jump gate if necessary. They are then directed to the sanctuary as the attack begins. They talk about their admiration for the pilots. A White Star arrives to help. They notice a breaching pod approaching and an alarm goes off.
They are trapped in a tube which opens onto a battle between Security and the attackers. They join in the fight until Zack Allan (Jeff Conaway) covers them to get out of the fight. They end up with Byron (Robin Atkin Downs) and the telepaths. Byron talks about the energy released when someone dies. They are attacked and the telepaths subdue the attacker. Bo wishes he was out there fighting with the pilots he admires, and Byron lets him experience it.
They wind up in a shelter, where Londo (Peter Jurasik) and G’Kar (Andreas Katsulas) snipe at each other, and then turn to nostalgic reminiscences of their childhood. Mack says, “How long have they been married?” A second wave of ships comes through the gate. Bo and Mack deal with a fire in Red 1. Sheridan tells them to escort Delenn to a lifepod. Delenn calls them Worker Caste.
The White Star fleet arrives, driving back the attackers. Bo and Mack celebrate the victory and go back to their rounds. They pass by Medlab, where Franklin is checking the bodies for lifesigns. That’s one mess they don’t have to clean up. One of the dead pilots is the one that Bo joined with through Byron. Mack tells Lochley she’s okay in his book, and she is pleased. Delenn remembers their names, and Mack loves her smile.
The story was written by J. Michael Straczynski and Harlan Ellison. Mack’s comment that the White Star ships look like plucked chickens was Straczynski’s comment when he first saw them. Someone said this was the Lenny and Squiggy of Babylon Five, or Timon and Pumba. Some reviewers actively hated it, calling it sloppy and patronising, and too cloyingly sweet, but the majority thought it refreshing.