Earth-Minbari War
The Earth-Minbari War is a conflict that features in Babylon 5.
Contents |
History
The Earth-Minbari War was an interstellar conflict that erupted in the mid-23rd century between the Earth Alliance and the Minbari Federation.
The seeds of the war were planted when Earth Alliance, flush from their victory in the Dilgar War, was expanding its influence and decided to explore Minbari space. Despite the warnings of Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari that the Minbari are an ancient, powerful species and dangerous if provoked, a flotilla of armed vessels was dispatched and led by Captain Michael Jankowski, who was appointed over the objections of capable officers like John Sheridan who considered the captain unsuited to delicate operations like this. As feared, the war was provoked by Captain Jankowski aboard the warship EAS Prometheus. During the expedition, the Prometheus and her escorts encountered three Minbari cruisers, one of which was carrying the Grey Council, the highest echelon of Minbari society. The Grey Council was en route to investigate reports of sightings of their ancient enemy, the Shadows. Although Jankowski had been given strict orders to not do anything which might be perceived as hostile, Jankowski disobeyed the orders and refused to jump to hyperspace when the Minbari spotted his fleet. He thought that by waiting to the last possible moment to jump, he could gain valuable sensor information about the Minbari cruisers, and this would lead to a promotion and medals from Earthforce Command. Upon seeing the Earth vessels, the Minbari cruisers opened their gunports as a sign of respect and strength – even though Humans would have no knowledge of such a tradition. Realizing this, Dukhat ordered the gunports closed, but it was too late. Captain Jankowski misinterpreted the gesture as a sign of hostility, an impression compounded by the fact that the Minbari scanners were so powerful that they inadvertently disabled the Prometheus' jump engines, thus preventing the ship from jumping to hyperspace and escaping. When told by his first officer that his vessel's jump engines had malfunctioned and that the weapons on the Minbari cruisers were "hot" (active), Jankowski panicked and opened fire on the Minbari ships. Dukhat was killed and his protégé Delenn, in a fit of rage, cast the deciding vote on the Council to wage a war of vengeance against Earth. After calming down, Delenn reconsidered, but found that she was helpless to stop the crusade she placed in motion, even while she remained among the loudest voices pleading for a peaceful solution.
The Earth Alliance made efforts to present official apologies to the Minbari through all possible diplomatic channels, and tried to obtain help (military or diplomatic) from neutral alien races such as the Centauri. However, no alien race wanted to incur the wrath of the Minbari military, and so Earth was left to fight alone. That situation was particularly dire as EarthForce learned that Minbari ships had advanced stealth technology that made anything but short range line of sight targeting of weapons impossible. By contrast, the Minbari had no such problems and were able to easily outmatch EarthForce ships in combat effectiveness. Thus naval engagements in that war proved too often became little more than massacres for Humanity, committed by a fanatical foe determined to exterminate them at any cost. Only suicide attacks by Humans such as their capital ships ramming Minbari vessels were occasionally effective, but even then the Minbari typically considered losses in that situation acceptable since Humans were killed in the process. Immediately following the destruction of Jericho 3, the Minbari struck at half a dozen EarthForce bases in the space of just a few days, leaving no survivors and accepting no surrender. Even ships no longer capable of fighting were targeted and destroyed. All attempts to communicate, including an offer to turn over Michael Jankowski, were rebuffed.
Overview
Participants
- Dukhat :
- Delenn :
- Jeffrey Sinclair :
- John Sheridan :
Notes
- The Earth-Minbari War was created by J. Michael Straczynski where it featured in the setting of Babylon 5.
Appearances
- Babylon 5: "The Gathering"
External Link
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