Battle of the Line

From The Great Machine

Battle of the Line
Conflict	Earth-Minbari War
Date	September 2248
Place	Sol System
Result	The Minbari surrendered to the Earth Alliance.
Combatants Earth Alliance Minbari Federation Commanders EA President and Earthforce Joint Chiefs of Staff Grey Council Strength Starfuries, Hyperion Class cruisers, Nova Class dreadnoughts, Various civlilian ships Sharlin Class cruisers, Nial Class fighters Casualties Approximately 99% Negligible

The Battle of the Line was the last-ditch effort by the Earth Alliance to defend Earth against the Minbari. The EA sent all of their available ships into orbit of Earth to try to stop the Minbari from reaching the planet so that as many civillians as possible might escape to other worlds. Those Earthforce members manning the line knew there was no chance of victory but stood their ground regardless.

At the height of the battle and at Satai Delenn's insistence, the Minbari brought a human pilot aboard the Grey Council's vessel for study. During this time, the Minbari interrogated and telepathically scanned the pilot. During the interrogation, The Grey Council used a device known as a triluminary and discovered that Humans and Minbari shared souls. Upon this discovery, the pilot was mindwiped and returned to where he had been captured.

Other humans were captured and this discovery was confirmed to be true. Since Minbari do not kill Minbari, the Religious caste guided the Grey Council to surrender to the humans, thus abruptly and curiously ending the war. Their reason for this mystifying act was not given until 2259 when it was revealed to several high ranking EarthGov and Earthforce officials.