Battle of the Line
From The Babylon Project
| Next: End of war, no further battles | |
| Battle of the Line | |
| Conflict: Earth-Minbari War | |
| Date: 2248 | |
| Place: Sector 100 by 17 by 3, Earth | |
| Result: Near-destruction of Earth, surrender of the Minbari Federation | |
| Combatants | |
 Earth Alliance |
 Minbari Federation |
| Commanders | |
| |
| Strength | |
| |
| Casualties | |
|
Aproximately 19,800 |
Light |
The Battle of the Line occurred on September 7, 2248 and was the final battle of the Earth-Minbari War.
After eliminating the the majority of the Earth Alliance's military, the Battle of the Line was to be the Minbari's final assault on Earth. The Minbari had laid waste to every fleet the Alliance had sent at them, and having destroyed the human bases on Io and Ganymede and skirted past Mars, the aliens were in a perfect position to attack Earth itself. Despite the constant pleas of the humans for mercy and their declaration of surrender, the Minbari were adament on finishing the war, and planned nothing less than the complete annihilation of Earth's population.
With no options left and with the knowledge that their defeat was inevitable, Earthforce prepared a final defense of the planet, assembling what remained of their forces in a massive armada designed to slow the Minbari advance and buy time for Earth's population to evacuate. The Earthforce pilots and naval crew, convinced that annihilation was at hand, still volunteered in droves, rallying together for one last battle to "hold the line against the night."
The assembled Human defenders fought bravely against the superior Minbari forces, but were overwhelmed, the superior firepower of the Minbari and their stealth technology too strong to be overcome. As with every other space battle of the war, the Humans fought bravely but were ultimately brought down, with many humans dying for every Minbari casuality that occurred. Looking for a reason to end the conflict, Satai Delenn had one of the Human pilots brought aboard the Minbari command cruiser for interrogation, under the pretext of learning more about Earth's planetary defences.
Jeffrey Sinclair, his Starfury damaged and his wingman and entire squadron shot down, was chosen for interrogation. During his interrogation, Sinclair was scanned with a Triluminary. The Minbari believed that the Triluminary revealed that Sinclair was the reincarnation of Valen, their revered leader from a millenium past and that Minbari souls had been reborn as Humans. Initially, the Grey Council could not believe it, so other humans were captured and subjected to the same scan, thereby confirming the hypothesis. The Minbari's most sacred law is that "Minbari do not kill Minbari", so the Grey Council ordered an end to the fighting and issued a surrender to the Earth Alliance. Unaware of the true reason for the surrender, any members of the Warrior Caste refused to follow orders and committed suicide, while resentment over the order would fester for over a decade, and eventually lead to the Minbari Civil War in 2261.
The Grey Council had Sinclair's memory of their findings erased and the reason for the Minbari surrender remained a secret for nearly fifteen years after the battle.
Of the approximately 20,000 Human defenders, only about 200 survived. The survivors were awarded the Battle of the Line Medal.
[edit] EA President's Address
Prior to the battle, the Earth Alliance President Elizabeth Levy[1] addressed the remaining Earthforce personnel. A transcription follows.
- This is the President.
I've just been informed that our mid range military bases at Beta Durani and Proxima III have fallen to the Minbari. We've lost contact with our bases at Io and must conclude that they too have been destroyed by an advanced force.
Our military intelligence believes that the Minbari intend to bypass Mars and attack Earth directly, and the attack may come at any time.
We continue to broadcast our surrender and a plea for mercy. They have not replied. We can therefore only conclude that we stand at the twilight of the human race.
In order to buy more time for our evacuation transports to leave Earth, we ask for the support of every ship capable of fighting to take part in a last defense of our homeworld. We will not lie to you. We do not believe that survival is a possibility. Those of you who join the battle, will never come home. But, for every 10 minutes we can delay the military advance, several hundred more civilians may have a chance to escape to neutral territory. Though Earth may fall, the human race must have a chance to continue elsewhere.
No greater sacrifice has ever been asked of a people but I ask you now, to step forward one last time, one last battle to hold the line against the night.
May God go with you all.
[edit] Known Participants
The following people are known to have served on the Line.
- Quinton Orozco: 361st Tactical Fighter Squadron - (KIA)
- Jeffrey Sinclair: 361st Tactical Fighter Squadron - (Survivor)
- Bill Mitchell: 361st Tactical Fighter Squadron - (KIA)
- Robert Black: Earthforce Marine Corps - (Survivor)
- David McIntyre: (Survivor)
[edit] References
- ↑ In the Beginning (Name given in the novelization)
| Wars and Conflicts | ||
| Shadow Wars: | First Shadow War • Second Shadow War | |
| Earth Conflicts: | World War III • War of the Shining Star • Dilgar War • Earth-Minbari War • Earth Alliance Civil War • Telepath War • Drakh War • Second Earth Alliance Civil War | |
| Other Conflicts: | War of 20 Million Deaths • First Centauri Occupation of Narn • Narn-Centauri War • Second Centauri Occupation of Narn • Centauri Wars of Aggression • Minbari Civil War | |
| Limited Skirmishes: | Battle of the Scoria Plains • Battle of Nu'Shok • Invasion of Ragesh III • Operation Sudden Death | |
| Battles of the Earth-Minbari War | ||||
| Earth-Minbari First Contact • Battle of Jericho III • Battle with the Black Star • Battle of Scimtar • Battle of Flinn colony • Battle of the Line | ||||
