Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 09:18:08 -0400 To: hess@access.digex.net From: Richard Hazlewood Subject: B5 History 1/4 (revised) Hi all, Here is the (slightly) revised history of the B5 universe. JMS doesn't know anything about this and would probably laugh at it if he did. ======================================================================= THE HISTORY OF THE BABYLON 5 UNIVERSE (1994 to present) (version 1.1) PART 1, HISTORY OF THE CENTAURI AND NARN Life developed on a small planet orbiting an ordinary yellow star. Life on this planet followed the standard biology and eventually intelligent life evolved. On this planet however, two different intelligences evolved on separate continents. The two races progressed without knowledge of each other. They developed tools, learned to harnass fire and domesticate animals. These races learned to forge bronze and later iron. They fought amongst themselves, totally unaware of the existence of the other. One race, the Xon, were slightly more technologically advanced than the other. The Xon began to explore their world in wooden ships powered by the wind. Eventually, the Xon encountered the others, the !@#$, who would be later known as the Centauri. At first the two races were separated by a large enough distance that conflict was essentially impossible, but times change, technology improves. Eventually, the Xon were able to wage war on the Centauri. Many Centauri died in the early years of the war. Many more Centauri were enslaved by the Xon. In truth, the war was as much a war for dominance of the planet as it was a war of peoples over land and resources. Eventually, the Xon came to dominate most of the planet. Their superior technology overcoming the inate fighting ability of the Centauri. But the Centauri learned. During their long years of slavery to the Xon, the Centauri learned all that the Xon knew about science and war. Eventually, the Centauri threw off their yokes and revolted against their oppressors. The great war had begun. The Centauri were bitter after centuries of slavery. This bitterness turned into bigotry and racial hatred. The war of freedom for the Centauri quickly turned into a war of genocide against the Xon. The Xon fought for their very lives but in the end the Centauri were victorious. Eventually, the Centauri succeeded in eliminating the Xon from the universe. The war with the Xon had profoundly affected the Centauri psychi however. The Centauri were now a xenophobic race that was very afraid of another race having power over them. Instead, the Centauri were determined to be the strongest race around. Having defeated the hated Xon, the Centauri continued to learn and discover the nature of the universe. Eventually, the Centauri developed the means to travel to their moons, and then to the other planets in their solar system. Then, one fateful year, a scientist discovered a way to create a quantum wormhole on a macroscopic scale. The results, called a Jump-Gate, allowed the Centauri to expand to the stars. For a thousand years the Centauri expanded through the stars unhindered. At first their republic expanded quickly, colonizing new planets, exploiting many rich star systems, contacting new races. Eventually, the Great Centauri Republic controlled a vast region space. The Republic exploited thousands of worlds and hundreds of alien races. The glory of the Republic seemed without end; it's might without equal in the galaxy. The Centauri called their empire a Republic, in fact it was an oligarchy, ruled by the Great Houses. The Great Houses elected the Emperor from their own ranks with little or no input from the masses. Later in the life of the Republic, these elections became very bloody; after the assassination of Emperor Sondidr IV, over a thousand nobles died in a single night. The Centauri Republic was not benevolent to the many races they encountered amongst the stars. In fact, the Republic exploited most of the races they encountered ruthlessly. True, some races were aided and encouraged to learn and adapt to the Republic's ways, but most were enslaved and forced to work for their Centauri masters The Republic had no standard policy on treatment of aliens, the handling of a particular race was at the whim of whichever Great House was given rights to that particular star system. But as with all empires, the Centauri Republic could not maintain it's rapid expansion. The very universe conspired against them, since the number of star systems increases with the cube of the radius of exploration, when the radius of explored space doubled, eight times as many systems were available for exploitation. With such an incredible number of systems to explore, develop and exploit, eventually expansion slowed and then stopped. The Great Houses spent their ducats on developing their existing colony worlds and not on exploration cruisers. Eventually, there were no more exploration cruisers. Several events occurred within a few decades that would forever change the character of the Centauri Republic and the Centauri people. The first was the discovery of a race called the Vorlon. This enigmatic race was much more advanced than the Centauri. The Vorlons controlled a region of space that rivaled the Republic's. The Vorlons were also isolationists, they did not want to be bothered with the Centauri, in fact, Centauri ships were routinely destroyed when they tried to enter Vorlon space. Since the Centauri had not encountered a race more advanced than themselves, the Vorlons were a great blow to their racial psyche. Centauri thoughts began to recoil from expansion and turn inward. The other important event was the discovery of a particularly rich sector. On one of these worlds was a race of peaceful marsupials. The Narn were fairly advanced and had colonized a few nearby star systems. The House that gained rights to this sector had a long history of enslavement and brutality. They subjugated the Narn, strip-mined the Narn worlds and decimated the Narn people. But, the Narn were not as soft as the Centauri had originally thought. The Narn learned how to hate; they learned how to fight, and fight they did. After over a century of brutalization, the Narn rebelled against their Centauri masters and took back their homeworld, pillaged and destroyed though it was. The Narn immediately began rebuilding their industrial base, concentrating on weapons of war and destruction. Eventually they took their war of revenge back the stars, taking back most of the worlds stolen from them by the hated Centauri. While the Narn were re-establishing themselves, the Centauri Republic began to collapse in earnest. Entire sectors were abandoned as resources were devoted to the homeworld. The lesser races were abandoned to their own devices. Many races perished completely, unable to survive after centuries under alien oppression. Others, such as the Dilgar, used this collapse to establish empires of their own. As the Centauri collapse accellerated, a large volume of space was abandoned almost entirely. This region, later known as Neutral Space, was still linked together by the latice of Jump-Gates left behind by the Centauri who were unwilling or unable to remove them. The surviving races of this region were able to maintain contact with each other simply by sending a spaceship through the existing Jump-Gate. Trade, of a sort, was maintained. The Centauri Republic appeared doomed to extinction, their great power supplanted by the Narn, Dilgar and other emerging powers. However, during what could have been the final days of the Republic, a new race was encountered. A race with the fire and drive to build an empire, but lacking the technology to succeed in the post Republic galactic arena. That race was humanity, and the Centauri chose to attach themselves to this race and use them as a vessel to return to the glory-days of the lost Republic. ====================================================================== THE HISTORY OF THE BABYLON 5 UNIVERSE (1994 to 2257) PART 1, HISTORY OF THE CENTAURI AND NARN PART 2, HUMAN HISTORY TO FIRST CONTACT After the collapse of western communism in the 1980's, the major power struggle shifted to an East-West confrontation. Differing philosophies, cultures and physical features, contributed to this conflict. In the opening years of the 21st century, this conflict erupted into open warfare, World War Three. This war, fought with satellites and eventually, nuclear weapons, destroyed large portions of the surface of the Earth. Asia and Europe were engulfed in nuclear fires, neither side won this war, in fact both sides lost. The United States of America, who had remained neutral through most of the war, was left as the only viable industrialized nation on the planet. But, the oil production and distribution network had been destroyed in the war. Until an alternative fuel source could be found, little in the way of recovery could be accomplished. Eventually, hydrogen was developed as a usable fuel source. The HydrOx powerplants were able to replace the Internal Combustion Engines and the recovery could begin. The remains of the human race, led by America, spent the rest of the century recovering from the devastation of the war. Humanity eventually returned to space in 2120, driven by the diminishing supply of natural resources and the need for greater power production. The countries of the 22nd century were divided more by geography than by culture and language. North America dominated global politics. English became the de-facto language of international trade and politics. The United Nations had been replaced by a world body with a little more muscle, similar to the old League of Nations of the early 20th century. The World Alliance controlled all off-world activities, from orbital permits to spacecraft certification. As the importance and number of off-world outposts increased, so did the power of the WA. By the middle of the 22nd century, permanent outposts had been established on the Moon and Mars. Exploration of the rest of the solar system was resumed, America almost completely controlled off-Earth activities. Towards the end of the 22nd century, the Americans developed a fusion propulsion system that allowed near-relativistic speeds to be achieved. In the ensuing decades, most of the rest of the solar system was colonized. The Martian colony grew and became a major supplier to the other colonies, rivaling Earth in product quality and availability of goods. With the rapid growth of the colonies, the World Alliance became the Earth Alliance and the de-facto government for the entire human race. Each country was still autonomous and and could govern itself, within certain broad guidelines. All off-world colonies were controlled directly by the EA. In the first years of the 23rd century, the first star ships left Earth. These ships were designed to explore the nearer sun-like stars and determine the viability of establishing colonies. The first Slower-Than-Light starship was sent to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. Since one of the three stars in this system was a G2v like the sun, the ship headed for this star. Other missions were sent to Barnard's Star, where planets had been confirmed by the old Hubble telescope two centuries earlier; and Tau Ceti, a sun-like star just over 11.6 light-years from Earth. The expedition to Alpha Centauri A, launched in 2205, was searching for Earth-like worlds, instead they found another race. This apparently human race, whom the Earthers quickly began calling "Centauri" after the star system in which they were discovered, had a means of faster-than-light travel employing Jump-Gates. The Centauri claimed to occupy most this galaxy. They claimed that humanity was in fact a lost colony of this strong and powerful race. The humans were skeptical, but given the overwhelmingly superior technology of the Centauri, were not about to argue. The Centauri shared their FTL technology with their "lost kindred" and the human ship used the existing Centauri Jump-Gate to return to Earth years ahead of schedule. Needless to say, the discovery of alien intelligence in the next star system caused a great deal of turmoil and unrest in the solar system. While the major corporations desperately attempted to duplicate the Jump-Gates, every major religion was trying to come to terms with life, superior, and apparently human life, on other worlds. Many religions could not handle the strain and collapsed, many new religions arose to fill the void. However, the Centauri were not what they had represented themselves to be. The Centauri were not human, Earth was not some lost colony, in fact the Great Centauri Republic was but a dim shadow of the empire it had been in centuries past. The fact that humanity was able to evolve on a world barely 4 ly away from a Centauri outpost, shows that exploration had come to a complete stop. Records showed that the Centauri had known about humanity for several centuries, but had been unwilling, or unable to exploit Earth as they had so many other worlds. But now that humanity had come to the stars, the Centauri were interested. The Centauri were drawn to humans by the fact that humanity was willing to expend vast resources to explore and colonize the galaxy using slower- than-light technology. This only served to show how vital and gutsy this race was. The Centauri chose to use this brash young race to return to their glory days. Additionally, the Centauri needed allies against the growing threat of the Narn, Dilgar and others. coming soon... PART 3, THE EARTH-MINBARI WAR ======================================================================== THE HISTORY OF THE BABYLON 5 UNIVERSE (1994 to 2257) Part 1, THE HISTORY OF THE CENTAURI AND NARN Part 2, HUMAN HISTORY UP TO FIRST CONTACT Part 3, THE EARTH-MINBARI WAR After contact with the Centauri in 2205, humanity exploded onto the galactic scene. The first expeditions used the existing Centauri Jump- Gates, later expeditions used Jump-Gates made by Earth Corporations. The EA settled on several of the worlds of the old Centauri sphere, most of these colonies still had the facilities and installations present that had been abandoned by the Republic. These worlds formed the Core of the growing EA presence in space. Since Earth was near the edge of the Centauri sphere and the edge of "Neutral Space", humanity quickly came into contact with the races that had been subjugated by the old Centauri Republic. It was during these first few years of the 23rd century that humanity learned the truth about the Great Centauri Republic, the Centauri people themselves and their place in galactic politics. Using the Centauri Jump-Gates, the EA quickly established a relationship with the Non-Aligned worlds of Neutral Space. These races claimed to be non-aligned between the growing Narn Regime and the fading power of the Centauri Republic. The EA, with it's large, if somewhat primitive, industrial base, became a major supplier to these neutral races. In return, these races shared what technology they had been able to save from the time of the Republic's occupation of their worlds. Humanity became, in many ways, the savior of the Non-Aligned Worlds. In 2221, the Dilgar began pillaging and destroying worlds in the Centauri sphere after their sun went nova. Each of the neutral races fought alone. There was no organized resistance against the small, but ruthless armada of invaders. The Narn refused to engage the Dilgar, after all, none of their worlds were directly threatened. The Centauri had become too weak and insular to aid their former subjects. Humanity, on the other hand, saw the Dilgar as a chance to establish themselves as a major galactic player. Later, the EA saw the Dilgar for what they were, genocides. With the cry "Never Again!", the EA mounted a massive relief effort into the affected sectors. The final confrontation occurred in 2232 when Earth launched a massive fleet against the Dilgar forces. The EA sent ten Heavy Cruisers, over a hundred escorts and almost two thousand fighters. This fleet, called the White Fleet, was joined by the remaining forces of those worlds threatened by the Dilgar. For almost a year, this fleet fought the Dilgar, forcing the Dilgar fleet to retreat. Finally, in 2233, the final battle was fought and won by the EA and it's allies. When the war was finished, every Dilgar ship was destroyed, the few remaining Dilgar were tried, convicted and executed for various war-crimes. Only many years later did humanity find out that not only did they defeat the Dilgar, they had destroyed the entire species. The Dilgar were no more. Humanity had become what it had tried to stop. Since none of the Dilgar ships came anywhere near Earth, the idea that humanity and the EA would come to the aid of another race for no other apparent reason than that it was right had a profound effect on the Non-Aligned worlds. To most of the races, the EA was seen as a savior, and humanity a friend. After StellarCorp succeeded in duplicating the Centauri Jump-Gate, humanity also began exploring the uncharted reaches of the galaxy away from the Centauri sphere. Slowly, over many years, the EA expanded it's latice of Jump-Gate linked worlds outward. The Rim of explored space expanded much slower than the exploration through the Centauri sphere. Two new races were contacted. However, both of these new races were primitive, only having a bronze-age level of technology. Then, in 2247, humanityencountered the Minbari. The EA exploration cruiser OUTWARD BOUND was exploring the Iota Piscius system, about 50 ly from Earth. When the ship entered the system, their sensors detected a VERY large cruiser of unknown design. Their initial attempts at communications were ignored. Detailed sensor analysis indicated that this vessel was VERY well armed. Energy turrets and missile launchers studded the hull. As the human ship approached this fish-like vessel, they also noticed that all of the gun turrets were open. The alien vessel turned slowly, presenting it's flank; exposing even more weapons. The human captain interpreted this broadside maneuver as a hostile act and fired every weapon he had. The Minbari cruiser was caught off guard. While the exploration cruiser was not heavily armed, the EA knew that space exploration was not for the timid and the cruiser did have some offensive capability. The first salvo by the humans was devastating. The Minbari ship had no shields up, no defenses against the sudden, and to them unprovoked, attack. The Minbari were displaying the body of one of their fallen Shai Alyts. Additionally, the current Minbari war leader Dukat was on board. The Minbari reacted quickly and returned fire. By this time, however, the humans were already running for their lives. The human ship was simply trying to get clear and form a Jump-Gate so that they could escape. The weapons systems of the Minbari cruiser were vastly superior to anything the humans had seen before, the OUTWARD BOUND was severely damaged and barely managed to escape through the vortex. After the humans had fled the battle, the true damage to the Minbari was revealed, Dukat was dead. The warriors declared a war against the upstarts who had so cowardly attacked their vessel. The Earth-Minbari War had begun, all because of a misunderstanding. The EA didn't stand a chance against the Minbari. Humans were using primitive laser weapons and fusion bombs, while the Minbari were using fusion lasers, particle beams and anti-matter warheads on their missiles. Additionally, the Minbari had developed a stealth technology that rendered human targeting systems essentially useless. Relentlessly, the Minbari war clans advanced through the newly founded human colonies and outposts towards Earth. The war lasted almost five years. The length of the war was not due to any actions by the humans but merely because the Minbari were forced to find each human outpost. During the entire war, only one Minbari cruiser was lost. Less than a hundred Minbari fighters were lost during the advance; the EA lost ships at a rate of 50:1. Nothing the EA did could stop the Minbari. The Centauri Republic promised to send help, but it was very slow in coming. Many on Earth realized early in the war that the Centauri were not going to help at all. The Non-Aligned worlds were too weak. Many were still recovering from the Dilgar war. The EA was on it's own and it was going to lose. The Minbari eventually made it to the solar system. The EA defended Earth with every ship it had. Every fighter, every escort, every cruiser, was there to defend the Earth. The battle of the Line had begun. The Minbari had not taken any chances in their assault on Earth, in fact, the Minbari war fleet outnumbered the humans almost 2:1. When the fighting began, the EA ships were slaughtered by the thousands. "...and the sky was full of stars... Each one an exploding ship.... One of ours." Then, on the brink of victory, for some unknown reason, the Minbari surrendered. Less than a hundred human fighters remained, but the Minbari surrendered. No human knew why on the verge of final victory, the Minbari quit. The EA did not set surrender terms. They knew they had really lost this war. The Minbari did not pay reparations for the colonies and outposts they had destroyed and damaged. Ambassadors were never exchanged. The war ended simply because the Minbari quit and went home. Humanity had survived, barely, but what about the next time?..... ========================================================================= THE HISTORY OF THE BABYLON FIVE UNIVERSE (version 1.1) Part 1, THE HISTORY OF THE CENTAURI AND THE NARN Part 2, HUMAN HISTORY TO FIRST CONTACT Part 3, THE EARTH MINBARI WAR and now... Part 4, THE BABYLON PROJECT After the Battle of the Line, the EA realized that it could not hope to win a major war with another advanced race. True, humanity could probably defeat the Narn, or the Centauri, but not the Minbari, definitely not the Minbari. Prior to the war, the EA had allowed most of the colonies to essentially govern themselves. True, the EA maintained a presence, and on most of the colonies and outposts the EA WAS the government. But on several colonies, New Jerusalem and the Mars colonies in particular, local governments had basically been running their worlds. After the war, all of this changed. The military became a major force in EA politics, colonies were placed under direct EA control, provisional, military governments were established on all colony worlds. Many of the colonies resisted what they considered to be overt imperialism by Earth. New Jerusalem forcefully resisted reintegration into the mainstream and a brief, but bloody, insurrection followed. Mars colony did not overtly resist, but independence movements sprang up in different cities all over the planet. Following the Earth-Minbari War, the people of Earth were willing to do almost anything to prevent another war. Ensuring the loyalty of the colony worlds was paramount. The most ambitious idea proposed was the Babylon project. The Babylon station would serve as a center for peace. A place were the various races could discuss their differences in peace. The station would be located above a dead world, deep in Neutral Space, making it a non-military target, but near the major trade lines. The Babylon project was designed to prevent another war. In 2249, the construction of the Babylon station was begun. The EA funded the project and humans built the massive station deep in Neutral Space, outside of any one races direct sphere of influence. Representatives of the Centauri, Narn and Minbari were invited to join with the EA in guiding the region into an era of peace for all races. Unfortunately, less than one month into the construction phase of the project, the Babylon station was destroyed when the infrastructure collapsed. At first, the investigation revealed design flaws, later it was proven that the station was destroyed by sabotage. No group took responsibility, no culprit was ever found. Four months after the destruction of the Babylon station, construction of Babylon 2 was started. The purpose was the same, terrorists would not stop the EA from protecting the human race from war. Three months after construction started, Babylon 2 was also destroyed by sabotage. Again, no one was found to be responsible. The EA was not about to give up and less than a year later construction of Babylon 3 was begun under much tighter security. Unfortunately, the increased security interfered with the construction more than it helped. Several key structures were installed incorrectly, after almost less than a month of construction, the station collapsed when spin was induced. At this point the Babylon project was almost scrapped. Support in the EA government and among the people was at an all time low. Just as the project was coming under what would have been it's final review, another major race was encountered. The Vorlon proved to be the most advanced race that humanity had met. Very insular, every attempt to contact the Vorlon was met with silence. Ships that entered Vorlon space never returned. The Minbari apparently knew a little about this enigmatic race and eventually a limited form of contact was established. But, the Babylon project was now fully supported as the realization came to the human race that the Minbari were not the only major threat to humanity. In 2254, Babylon 4 construction began. Unfortunately, the project was plagued by delays and cost overruns from the very start. Six months late and millions of credits over-budget, Babylon 4 became operational in June 14th, 2255. Twenty-four hours after becoming operational, it disappeared without a trace. Reports from a shuttle leaving the station at the time indicated that the station had not been sabotaged as had the earlier stations. No known cause for the disappearance of Babylon 4 was ever found. The EA had almost bankrupted itself in financing the Babylon projects to date, many regions on Earth were openly questioning whether humanity should even be in space at all. However, the EA seeing the technological advantage of the Vorlon, saw an even greater need for something like the Babylon project. Assistance from the other major races was sought. The Centauri and the Minbari were the only races to respond. The Centauri supplied a little money and resourses, but the majority of the aid came from the Minbari. In return for their financial help, the Minbari wanted the right to choose the commander of the station. The EA agreed and construction of Babylon 5 began in December 2257. Babylon 5, using pieces of the first three stations, was completed on schedule and became operational on January 23rd, 2258. The Minbari rejected over two hundred names before accepting Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair, a survivor of the Battle of the Line, as the commander of Babylon 5. Many questions remain about the Babylon project: why did the Minbari surrender at the Battle of the Line, who sabotaged the first three Babylon stations and why, what happened to Babylon 4, why was Commander Sinclair the only person the Minbari would allow for the command of Babylon 5? All of these questions remain to be answered. Stay tuned.... ========================================================================== Well, there you have it. My version of the future history of our favorite SF show. As more information is given in the show, I hope to update and correct this history. If anyone missed any of the other parts, let me know and I'll Email them to you. Constructive criticism is very welcome. If I have screwed up on, or forgotten, any of the facts, PLEASE let me know. Virtually Yours, Richard Hazlewood RHAZLWD@KUHUB.CC.UKANS.EDU Do not assume malice when stupidity will suffice. -Flame War Comment