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168 lines
6.8 KiB
168 lines
6.8 KiB
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<title>Babylon 5 Universe: The Earth-Minbari War</title>
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<h1>The Earth-Minbari War and the Battle of the Line</h1>
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<h3>Originally written by J. Michael Straczynski on GEnie</h3>
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<p>
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The Earth/Minbari war began as a misunderstanding. The first time a
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Terran ship encountered a Minbari starship, they studied each other closely.
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The Minbari ship made a move that they thought would be considered non-
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threatening. It wasn't. Even in the present of our story, no one is quite
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sure who fired first. The Minbari ship was greater in power, but taken by
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surprise, was destroyed, and the Earth ship limped back to base with tales of
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a terrible new enemy. Minbari ships, arriving to investigate, were
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interpreted to be the first wing of an invasion force by the base commander,
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and ships were launched in response before receiving formal authorization from
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Earth Central.
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<p>
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The war put a great strain on the Minbari, who have always been strongly
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divided between the religious caste, and the military caste, who were now
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forced to work together. The religious caste were quietly opposed to the war,
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but were generally vague about their reasons when asked.
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<p>
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The war went badly for Earth, with one loss after another; the Minbari had
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an overwhelming technological advantage. During the entire course of the war,
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Earth scored only one major victory, when a young officer named
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John Sheridan destroyed the Minbari war cruiser Black Star and
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several accompanying vessels. It was all downhill from there.
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<p>
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<h2><a name="line">The Battle of the Line</a></h2>
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The climax of the war was the Battle of the Line. Earth had all but lost
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the war. In a last-ditch attempt to save Homeworld, every available ship left
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in the armada was positioned around Earth itself. It was, everyone knew, a
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suicide mission. And that's, indeed, how the Battle of the Line started out
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to be.
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<p>
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<img src="/lurk/gif/008/line1.gif" align=middle> The Battle of the Line, from
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<a href="/lurk/guide/008.html">"And the Sky Full of Stars"</a>.
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<p>
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In the course of that battle, a lone ship -- a one-man fighter with very
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little in the way of armaments -- took several heavy hits. His instruments
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failing, other ships blowing up all around him, he aimed his ship at the
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nearest Minbari cruiser, deciding to ram it in the hopes of destroying at
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least that one ship. He kept his ship on course for as long as he could hold
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out. Then, abruptly, he blacked out.
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<p>
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When he awoke, he was still in his ship. Drifting. He fired up the
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engines, ready to continue, only to discover two things: first, that he had
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been out of it for a full 24 hours.
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<p>
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Second...the war was over.
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<p>
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<img align=right width=140 height=136 alt="" src="/lurk/gif/line_medal.gif">
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And, incredibly, the Minbari had surrendered. On the very verge of
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success in the war, they had rolled over and sued for peace. No one in the
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Earth Alliance quite knew why, but they weren't about to debate the issue, and
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accepted minimal compensation for the war.
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<p>
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Now, ten years later, the Earth Alliance is no closer to figuring out why
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the Minbari surrendered. It is, in fact, one of the great puzzles of that
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era, debated on a hundred different worlds. Only a few strange clues have
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slipped out. One is that the military genius who led the Minbari into the war
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committed suicide the day of the surrender, though it is unclear if his death
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took place before or after the surrender. And the rift between the military
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and religious castes apparently came to some sort of climax, with the
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religious caste taking complete control. There are rumors of some sort of
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religious vision, of a prophecy of great things, and a prophecy of complete
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doom. But since almost nothing is known of Minbari religion, what this might
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be, no one knows.
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<p>
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<img align=right width=80 height=100 alt="" src="/lurk/gif/chars/sinclair.gif">
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At the conclusion of the war, those Terrans who fought in the Battle of
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the Line were proclaimed heroes. One of these men was Jeffrey
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Sinclair...the pilot who still cannot account for the 24 hours he was out of
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contact with Earth Central. (cf.
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<a href="/lurk/guide/008.html">"And the Sky Full of Stars"</a>)
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<p>
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Commander Jeffrey Sinclair has come far in the 10 years since the war.
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He's had some rough times, but overall he's progressed. And he has at last
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been given a major assignment, perhaps the most important job of his life,
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concomitant with his promotion to Commander.
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<p>
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Command of the newly-built Babylon 5 space station.
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<pre>
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</pre>
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<p nowrap>
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<h5>
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Last update:
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October 8, 1995
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</h5>
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