The First Battle of Sector 14 was a small battle which took place in August 2259 between the Anla'shok and Shadows near the temporal rift in Sector 14. Sometime after Babylon 4 disappeared into the time rift in Sector 14, Draal used the Great Machine on Epsilon III to close the rift, but did not close it entirely, as the Vorlons believed it still had unique value. However, the Shadows also learned of the rift, and sent some of their allies to the rift with a device that would allow them to seize control of it for their own purposes. Draal did not discover this until the Shadows' forces had already begun the process, and although he immediately attempted to counter them, he was unable to regain complete control.