The First Victory: Liberating Proxima III
In August 2261 Clark dramatically escalated the conflict when he ordered the massacre of more than 10,000 civilians trying to escape the starving Proxima colony. The colonists were crammed into unarmed civilian starliners, but they were ruthlessly attacked and destroyed by warships loyal to Clark. Realizing that he could wait no longer, Sheridan called a meeting of the various alien governments on Babylon 5, it was held on September 2, 2261. At the meeting Sheridan declared his intention to remove Clark from office, beginning with the Proxima 3 colony. He told the alien ambassadors that, if they wanted the White Star fleet to continue to patrol their borders and protect alien shipping, their governments would have to declare their treaties with the Earth Alliance "null and void", and they would have to be neutral in the coming war between Sheridan and Clark's forces. The Narn and Minbari delegations supported this action. The White Star fleet and several Starfury fighter wings then prepared to jump to Proxima 3.
A total of six Omega class destroyers had been positioned around the planet. Together they could prevent any ship from leaving or landing on the planet, and they had driven the colony close to starvation and surrender. Sheridan's plan was to surround the Destroyers with his technologically-superior White Star warships and force them to surrender or face destruction. However, things did not go as planned, and when Captain Trevor Hall of the Heracles, the flagship of Clark's armada, opened fire, a brief but fierce battle erupted. In the battle the Destroyer Pollux exploded when a damaged White Star collided with it, and the Heracles suffered heavy damage and surrendered only when Captain Hall was removed from command by his first officer. Sheridan's White Star and several other White Stars were damaged in the battle, and many Starfury fighters on both sides were destroyed. Sheridan gave the surviving captains three choices, he would offer these same three choices to other Earth ships loyal to Clark: first, they could return to Earth and continue to fight with Clark; second, they could stay and defend Proxima 3 and other Earth colonies from future attacks; and three, they could join Sheridan and other rebel Earth warships and liberate Earth. Two Earth Destroyers agreed to join Sheridan, and with their help and those of other anti-Clark warships led by the Alexander, Sheridan began his offensive against Clark's forces.
Read more about this topic: Earth Alliance Civil War
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