Orion VII is the seventh planet in the Orion System in the Earth Alliance and the site of one of several Earth Alliance colonies in the system. Since the system is near the border with the Centauri Republic, Orion VII quickly became one of the key trade centers between the Alliance and the Republic since the colony's founding in 2178.[1]
History[]
In 2260, at the onset of the Earth Alliance Civil War, Earth Alliance Resistance leaders stayed at the colony. The EAS Alexander under General William Hague met with them; however, upon leaving the ship he was ambushed by loyalist forces by the EAS Clarkstown. Hague did not survive, and Major Ryan took command. He attempted to flee without returning fire with the main batteries, resorting to interceptors and a fighter screen only. When the Clarkstown persisted, inflicting damage that threatened to cripple the ship, Ryan was forced to open up with aft batteries, destroying the Clarkstown completely. After retrieving its fighters, the Alexander jumped out of the system bound for Babylon 5.
Shortly afterwards, under orders from EA President Clark, Earthforce began bombing civilian targets on the Mars colony in retaliation for Mars Provisional Government head Xavier Montoya's refusal to enact Clark's Martial Law Decree. In protest, Orion VII, along with Proxima III, declared independence from the Earth Alliance, setting themselves up as independent states until such time as Clark was removed from office. Just after the announcement the EAS Churchill also left Orion VII for B5 after intercepting transmissions relayed to the EAS Agrippa and EAS Roanoke to seize B5 and arrest the command staff.
ISN received word of Orion's and Proxima's secessions but was ordered by Earthgov not to report it. However, Clark later sent GROPOs to seize the ISN Broadcast Center in Geneva as part of a crackdown intended to avoid losing control of more colonies and outposts, leading to anchor Rick interrupting Jane's program to break the gag order before the station was forced off the air. By the end of the day, Babylon 5 had also declared its independence.[2]
In 2267, General Thompson ordered the Excalibur to rendezvous with the Destroyer EAS Anubis at Orion VII, though ultimately events at Theta 49 meant the rendezvous did not take place.[3]
Lifeforms[]
- Flame birds: The symbiotic race called Vindrizi claimed that these creatures existed on the planet at some point in the last half million years.[4]