Hague's Coup and Colonial Secession
Before he could be captured, General Hague attempted an unsuccessful counter-insurgency. With five Omega class destroyers Hague tried to escape Earth's solar system at the Io Jump Gate transfer point at Jupiter. However, they were intercepted by Earth warships loyal to Clark's regime. In the ensuing battle Hague's own flagship, the EAS Alexander, was able to escape.in the days that followed all five Omega class destroyers that sided with Hague was hunted down and destroyed.
Meanwhile, the colonial governor of Mars publicly stated that he would defy Clark's executive order and not implement martial law. In retaliation, President Clark ordered the full scale carpet bombing of civilian population centers on Mars. Other outer colonies, such as Orion 7 and Proxima 3 seceded from the Earth Alliance in protest, and declared themselves to be independent, sovereign polities. Soon EarthForce vessels loyal to Clark achieved space superiority over Orion 7 and Proxima 3, which they blockaded in an effort to starve both colonies into surrendering. Earthforce also occupied Mars after the colonial government surrendered following the bombings by EarthForce fighters. However, the Mars Resistance continued to fight Clark's forces through hit-and-run guerilla warfare tactics, and Clark's loyalists never had more than a tenuous control over the Mars colony. Within a few weeks, Babylon 5 had become the only Earth Alliance colony or base that President Clark did not control directly. In a bid to take control of Babylon 5 Clark ordered his "Nightwatch" forces on the station to arrest the station's command staff who were critical of him, but Captain Sheridan lured the entire Nightwatch organization on Babylon 5 into a trap; they were placed under house arrest.
After winning a fierce battle with pursuing EarthForce warships, Hague's flagship, the EAS Alexander, stopped at Babylon 5 for repairs; Captain Sheridan had promised to give the ship's crew "humanitarian aid", despite orders from Clark's government to capture and/or destroy the Alexander. Unfortunately, General Hague had been killed in the previous battle, and Major Ryan had assumed command. While meeting with Ryan to discuss the situation back on Earth, the EAS Churchill, another Hague-loyal Omega-class destroyer, arrived at B5. The Churchill's Captain, Sandra Hiroshi, brought news that a large Clark-loyal EarthForce fleet was headed for Babylon 5, with orders to arrest the entire command staff and place the station under martial law. Sheridan feared that Babylon 5 was under attack because he had given aid to the Alexander, but Hiroshi informed the command staff that the Clark-loyal fleet was given its orders even before the Alexander had arrived at the station. Sheridan and his command staff then made the decision to fight the invading EarthForce fleet; both Hiroshi and Major Ryan agreed to assist Babylon 5 and returned to their ships to prepare them for battle. In a public transmission, Sheridan announced Babylon 5 had declared its independence from the Earth Alliance and was joining with the former Earth Alliance colonies of Orion 7 and Proxima 3. Sheridan stated that Babylon 5 was seceding to "function as an independent state until President Clark is removed from office".
An EarthForce fleet including two Omega class destroyers, the Agrippa and Roanoke, many wings of Starfuries, and a force of EarthForce Marines, headed for Babylon 5. Their mission was to capture the station, arrest the command staff, and place the station under the control of Nightwatch, Clark's fascist-style police force. In the resulting battle the EAS Churchill suffered severe damage and, with fires raging out of control on its decks, Captain Hiroshi rammed the enemy warship Roanoke, destroying both ships. The Alexander suffered moderate damage but was able to fire its forward particle-beam cannons at the destroyer Agrippe, heavily damaging it. On Babylon 5 itself the Marines loyal to Clark boarded the station and engaged in a brutal struggle with B5 Security forces led by Security Chief Michael Garibaldi, who was injured in the fighting. The Narn on the station aided the B5 security forces and proved crucial in defeating the Marines and stopping the invasion. Babylon 5's command center suffered damage during the battle when an enemy fighter was destroyed immediately outside the center's blast doors. The stations' defense grid fired the final volleys to destroy the Agrippe. Just when the battle seemed to be over, a new fleet of EarthForce warships poured out of hyperspace and headed towards the station, and at this point defeat for the anti-Clark forces appeared inevitable. However, three Minbari warcruisers and the White Star, led by Ambassador Delenn, suddenly left hyperspace directly above Babylon 5. Ambassador Delenn threatened to destroy any Earthforce ships that tried to attack Babylon 5; the pro-Clark forces then retreated. Having survived this assault, Babylon 5 would become the bastion of human and alien opposition to Clark's increasingly fascist regime on Earth.
Read more about this topic: Earth Alliance Civil War
Famous quotes containing the words hague and/or colonial:
“We hear about constitutional rights, free speech and the free press. Every time I hear those words I say to myself, “That man is a Red, that man is a Communist.” You never heard a real American talk in that manner.”
—Frank Hague (1876–1956)
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