At the end of a
brutal sequence of battles each fleet retired to their bases to
repair, rearm and reinforce. The Shadows summoned a new
scout ship from hyperspace. The ISA were bolstered by the
massive Victory-class destroyer Thunderchild and the
unfortunately named White Star 13. The Centauri
received another brand-new Octurion battleship along with the
message "Don't break it this time."
The Centauri
Admiral and Earthforce commander continued to trade
less-than-diplomatic communiqués:
"The Earth
Alliance would like to remind the Centauri Republic that WE were
attacked and only sought to defend ourselves.
Any further acts of aggression will be responded to with lethal
force."
And the Centauri
response:
"Nonsense - we
asked you to leave our property and when we dispatched negotiators
to discuss this, they find ships full of soldiers in the guise of
merchant vessels - doubtless ready to invade other
worlds. We had no choice but to protect the galaxy from your
aggression - it is our sorrow that there were too many of your
ships and too few of ours............."
And the EA
answer:
"More Centauri
lies.
Those ships contained refugees and was a barbaric act,
however it is to be expected considering the Centauri's
history of aggression and suppression against other species.
The Earth Alliance will continue to rid the Universe of the
Centauri virus."
Only the Shadows
had the will for a confrontation in the third round of battles -
their battle fleet headed for the abundant Miranda Colony.
The Earth Alliance moved on the spacedock, obviously anticipating
significant damage to their ships. The Vorlons considered
carefully and then seized the Miranda IV gas giant. The
Centauri watched and waited before seizing Lilac Research
Station. Finally, wanting to disrupt the war-effort of all
of the other factions, the White Star fleet enacted an embargo
against the trade route.
After some
consideration, the Vorlons decided to conserve their resources and
withdraw from the system.