Earth Alliance (Babylon 5)
The Earth Alliance is a Human government that features in Babylon 5.
Contents |
History
The Earth Alliance was an interstellar government based on Earth after mankind had began to expand through space.
In the election period, incumbent President Luis Santiago was involved in a campaign against challenger Marie Crane. Ultiamtely, Santiago won the election where he promised to keep Earth out of war, form better ties with the Mars colony, reduce the budget and improve human culture in the face of non-Terran influences. As a result of this fact, the administration desired to be neutral among the alien races and not involve themselves in political sanctions or military campaigns. (Episode: Midnight on the Firing Line)
However, despite the successful opening of Babylon 5, trouble was brewing within the Earth Alliance. A growing number of people within Earthgov - including high-level politicians, generals, and members of PsiCorps - became determined to sabotage the Babylon Project. These people were deeply suspicious of alien races (especially the Minbari) and wanted Earth to become more isolationist and xenophobic. Eventually this group was aided by a mysterious man named Morden, who spoke for an ancient and extremely powerful alien race known only as the Shadows. With Morden's help and encouragement, a group of Earthgov officials, led by Vice-President Morgan Clark, conspired to assassinate Luis Santiago, the President of the Earth Alliance. In 2258 Santiago was brutally assassinated with his staff and crew in an "accidental" explosion of his starship, EarthForce One, and Vice-President Clark assumed the Presidency. Clark had abandoned a goodwill tour and left EarthForce One with an alleged viral infection. Once secure in office, Clark secretly but steadily put his loyal followers in positions to control EarthForce and EarthGov. He also began turning the Earth Alliance into a fascist, Orwellian military state, organizing groups such as "Nightwatch", a para-military police force, to spy on "disloyal" humans. He also renamed several Earthgov agencies, so that the Ministry of Defense became the Ministry of Peace, and the Ministry of Information became the Ministry of Truth. However, the Chairman of the EarthForce Joint Chiefs of Staff, General William Hague, suspected foul play in Santiago's death. He covertly formed his own network to uncover the truth. If Clark was implicated, Hague planned to present his evidence to the Earth Senate to have Clark impeached and removed from office. One of the members of Hague's network was Captain John Sheridan, a hero of the Earth-Minbari war and the commander of Babylon 5. Sheridan eventually brought the rest of Babylon 5's command staff into the network, and together they slowly but steadily accumulated evidence implicating Clark in Santiago's death.
By 2261, a number of destroyers blockaded the rebellious Proxima III colony where they kept a line between the planet and the local jump gate to prevent any escape. This led to the colony slowly starving as it was deprived of food and resources. Several civilian ships carrying around 10,000 civilians attempted to breach the blockade but were destroyed. This public act led to Captain Sheridan organizing the offensive against the corrupt Clark regime that had taken control of the Earth Alliance. Among his first act was getting the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to void their mutual defense treaties with Earth but not engage in any hostilities against them. (Episode: No Surrender, No Retreat)
As a final act, President Clark ordered the planetary defense grid to target Earth itself as a final act of spite. This saw a desperate attempt by the Liberation Fleet in destroying the orbital weapons before they could fire on the planet's surface. (Episode: Endgame)
In the aftermath, the Alliance was in chaos as Earth was placed under quarantine as riots erupted and doomsday cults had formed as it was learnt that the plague would kill its inhabitants in a matter of years. As a result, many EA ships on assignment returned to the Sol system where EarthGov had decided to assemble a mission to find a cure among alien worlds. They came to request the use of the ISA Victory-class destroyer known as the Excalibur to be headed by a human captain for this assignment. Ultimately, they chose Captain Matthew Gideon who was tasked with finding a cure for the Drakh Plague. After his crew was assembled, he was dispatched to Ceti IV where an EA destroyer had chased down a damaged Drakh cruiser. The EA ship was destroyed in the pursuit but had managed to force down the enemy ship with the Excalibur moving to capture its crew for interrogation though the Drakh refused to volunteer any information. (Episode: War Zone) To stave off the virus, other efforts were sought to help prolong the life of Earth's inhabitants. Among these included the discovery of rare mineral on Regula IV that had prolonged the lives of its human colonists. Thus, a mining operation was conducted though this brought the EA forces into conflict with the colonists who resented the heavy handed approach made by EarthForce with this compounded by the presence of a Technomage aiding the human inhabitants. (Episode: The Long Road)
Overview
The government of the Earth Alliance was called EarthGov that was based in Geneva, Switzerland. The Earth Alliance was a representative liberal democracy with Earthgov being regulated by the Earth Alliance Constitution. The Chief Executive of Earthgov is the President, who in turn has a Vice-President and other assistants called ministers. The legislature is called the Earth Senate, which consists of representatives from the Earth's nation-states.
The Political Bureau was one division within the Alliance with telepaths sometimes assigned to its ranks. (Episode: Born to the Purple) During the Clarke regime, the Ministry of Peace was established that was used to silence dissent. (Episode: Voices of Authority)
Under Earth medical routine 725IT7, travelers from unknown space were required to undergo a 60 day quarantine period in order to ensure no infectious diseases passed among human populations. (Episode: Strange Relations)
Planets within the Alliance included:
- Earth :
- Mars : As part of joining the Interstellar Alliance, Earth had to recognize the independence of Mars as its own state. (Episode: Rising Star)
- Proxima III :
At Babylon 5, there was a special Gold Channel that provided priority communications following express permission of the station's commander. Only the ambassadors and senior officers knew of the existence of this channel. (Episode: Born to the Purple)
Technology
A secret project code named Tarsier was conducted by EarthForce Bioweapons Division that involved enhancing soldiers with cybernetic enhancements and limbs such as arms but the cybernetics led to dangerous effects to the test subjects leading to the program being abandoned. (Episode: Patterns of the Soul)
Members
- Susana Luchenko : female member of the Russian Consortium who became acting president after the death of Clark in 2261. (Episode: Rising Star)
- Elizabeth Metarie : female senator in 2262 who was part of an ISN panel to discuss the actions of President John Sheridan following his appointment as head of the Interstellar Alliance. (Episode: The Deconstruction of Falling Stars)
- Julia Musante :
- McQuate : a male human Senator who was responsible for assigning Captain Gideon the assignment to find a cure for the Drakh Plague in 2267. (Episode: War Zone)
- Daniels : a male human Captain of the EAS Medusa in 2267 where he was in charge of the mining operation on Regula IV. (Episode: The Long Road)
- Meyers : a young male Lieutenant on the EAS Medusa who in 2267 served under Captain Daniels. (Episode: The Long Road)
Notes
- The Earth Alliance was created by J. Michael Straczynski where it featured in the setting of the Babylon 5 universe.
Appearances
- Babylon 5: "No Surrender, No Retreat"
- Crusade:
External Link
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
