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
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