Uncovering A Conspiracy and Clark's Declaration of Martial Law
EarthForce's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General William Hague, had suspected for a long time that President Clark had been involved in the death of his predecessor, President Luis Santiago. To uncover the truth behind the mysterious explosion of EarthForce One and Santiago's death, Hague had started a covert counter-conspiracy that included Captain John Sheridan. General Hague realized that Sheridan was a perfect leader for the counter-conspiracy, as based on his record from the Earth-Minbari War Clark considered Sheridan to be a hard-line anti-alien soldier. However, what Clark failed to realize - and Hague did realize - was that Sheridan was by nature a truth-seeker and considered aliens to be potential allies. Sheridan eventually persuaded the Babylon 5 command staff officers to join the counter-conspiracy.
A year after Clark's ascension to the presidency, Hague and Sheridan's "Conspiracy of Light" began to uncover the truth behind President Santiago's death. Clark's personal doctor gave testimony to Babylon 5 personnel that, contrary to Clark's claims that he wasn't onboard EarthForce One when it exploded due to having the flu, Clark was in fact in perfect health. Additionally, Babylon 5 Commander Susan Ivanova was able to discover and record testimony from then Vice-President Clark stating that he was aware of Santiago's impending death, and smiling over the fact that he would soon be President. When the Earth Senate - armed with this new evidence - began to hold public hearings into Santiago's death, President Clark acted quickly. Citing the destruction of an Earth Alliance base on Ganymede, which he falsely pinned on the then-unknown White Star (see "Messages from Earth"), President Clark declared martial law throughout the Earth Alliance. EarthForce troops stormed the Senate building to put a stop to the impeachment hearings, then stormed the offices of the EarthForce Chiefs of Staff who weren't loyal to Clark. Military patrols were then put on the streets in every major Earth city. In a final show of public resistance, the Interstellar Network News (ISN) attempted to reveal information about Clark's conspiracy to assassinate Santiago on the air, but before they could do so ISN's headquarters and studio were attacked and seized by EarthForce commandos, and the ISN journalists critical of Clark were arrested and/or killed. ISN eventually returned, but under the strict control of Clark's government, and became little more than a mouthpiece for pro-Clark propaganda.
Read more about this topic: Earth Alliance Civil War
Famous quotes containing the words uncovering, conspiracy, clark, declaration, martial and/or law:
“The two most far-reaching critical theories at the beginning of the latest phase of industrial society were those of Marx and Freud. Marx showed the moving powers and the conflicts in the social-historical process. Freud aimed at the critical uncovering of the inner conflicts. Both worked for the liberation of man, even though Marx’s concept was more comprehensive and less time-bound than Freud’s.”
—Erich Fromm (1900–1980)
“America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)
“In the beginning, I wanted to enter what was essentially a man’s field. I wanted to prove I could do it. Then I found that when I did as well as the men in the field I got more credit for my work because I am a woman, which seems unfair.”
—Eugenie Clark (b. 1922)
“Ignorance, forgetfulness, or contempt of the rights of man are the only causes of public misfortunes and of the corruption of governments.”
—French National Assembly. Declaration of the Rights of Man (drafted and discussed Aug. 1789, published Sept. 1791)
“Let the martial songs be written, let the dirges disappear. Let a
race of men now rise and take control!”
—Margaret Abigail Walker (b. 1915)
“Our law very often reminds one of those outskirts of cities where you cannot for a long time tell how the streets come to wind about in so capricious and serpent-like a manner. At last it strikes you that they grew up, house by house, on the devious tracks of the old green lanes; and if you follow on to the existing fields, you may often find the change half complete.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)