Io (Babylon 5)

Io is both the third largest and the closest moon orbiting the planet Jupiter in the Sol system. The other three Gallilean moons are Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Io is also the most volcanic active body in our Solar System.

Station Io
The transfer point on Io is an important outpost for the Earth Alliance since the primary jumpgate of our star system orbits the moon. Space Station Io also orbits nearby; the base is second in size only to the Earth Alliance colony on Mars, and is the one most generally used by Earthforce. Similar in some ways to Babylon 5 itself, Io functions both as a civilian and military way-station for most out-of-system traffic, especially those ships too small to have their own jump engines. The area is always heavily patrolled since any damage to the jumpgate could cripple or seriously harm Earth's interests.


 * "Yes, this is the primary jumpgate for Earth. It's positioned at Io (most of the base is actually in orbit outside Io, some of it on the surface, as we showed in Chrysalis) to keep Earth a bit safer by removing it some distance, and because putting it near the huge energy field of Jupiter makes it more difficult for weapons to target it from a distance.  It's mainly a tactical decision."
 * -- posted by jms on America Online 96-03-27 04:20:09

Travel Time
To outside observers, it takes three days in hyperspace to travel from the jump gate near Babylon 5 to the jumpgate near Io.


 * "Three days is the time to the jumpgate off Io. Once you're within our solar system, it takes another several days or more to reach Earth itself. It's fairly common to keep your jumpgate a bit removed from your "core" planet so you have warning if any aggressors come out of it."
 * -- posted by jms on CompuServe Date: 22 Aug 1996 12:28:18 -0700

Construction
According to some sources Earth Force constructed the jumpgate at Io in 2198 and deactivated the Centauri jumpgate (built in 2156) in Earth orbit, due to Earth Alliance security concerns.

Earth-Minbari War
As the war neared its final conclusion in 2245, Earth did lose all contact with her colonies, including Io (Mov2 In the Beginning) before the Minbari fleet bypassed Mars and jumped straight to Earth at The Battle of the Line. However, it is unclear whether Io was actually destroyed or merely had its communications and defences disabled. Either way, we can clearly see that Station Io is clearly fully functional at the end of 2258 (S1E22, Chrysalis).

History
On December 31, 2258, Station Io was the site of an official visit from President Luis Santiago prior to departing on a goodwill tour of the outer planet colonies. According to ISN at the time, "sources close to the President have hinted that he'll give a major policy speech New Year's Day from the jump point on Io. The speech is likely to concern human-alien relations over the remainder of his five-year term."

At the same time, a shipment of jammers set to broadcast static at a location near Io was discovered on Babylon 5 by Security Chief Michael Garibaldi when he was shot in the back. He was able to warn Commander Jeffery Sinclair only as he lost consciousness, but there was no time to warn the President.

Just as it was about to dock with Space Station Io, Earthforce One was utterly destroyed by a massive explosion, killing President Luis Saniago along with many others. The explosion was broadcast live across the galaxy on ISN, who reported that Vice President Morgan Clark had previously disembarked "suffering from a viral infection, and had been hoping to catch up with the tour as it returned from Io." According to JMS, Chief of Presidential Security Major Lianna Kemmer also survived since "she would've been handling the advance work on Io prior to Santiago's arrival."

Susan Ivanova had served under John Sheridan for a time at Station Io prior to 2258, allowing him to quickly re-form a friendship with her, due to his great respect and professional admiration for her.

Some unverified sources suggest that Sheridan took command of the EarthForce base on Io at the conclusion of the Earth-Minbari War in 2248, and was transferred in early 2251 after helping to suppress the Martian Food Riots. Sheridan met and married his wife Anna in 2249 on Io. The same sources suggest that after graduating from Officer Training School in 2279, Ivanova was posted to Io in 2250 where she worked with Sheridan for the first time. Susan was then transferred from Io to Earth in 2253.

In 2259, General Richard Franklin used the official story that his 25,000 EarthForce troops arriving on Babylon 5 were travelling on to Io to cover the fact that they were really being deployed on [Operation Sudden Death]] to attack the rebel stronghold at Matok, on the planet Akdor in the Sh'Lassen Triumvirate, at the request of the Sh'Lassen government.

In mid-2260, the transfer point on Io was again in the news when President Morgan Clark declared Marshal Law, ostensibly because of the nearby confrontations between the insane Shadow vessell discovered on Ganymede, Sheridan's White Star, and the EAS Agamemnon (S3E08 Messages from Earth).

Shortly after, Io became the scene of the first space battle in the )Earth Alliance Civil War when five rebel Earthforce ships led by General Hague attepted to flee the Solar system via Io's jumpgate, but were ambushed by a superior force loyal to Clark (including the EAS Schwarzkopf and EAS Excalibur ). Three of the rebel ships were destroyed (or four according to ISN). After disabling or destorying their pursuit, the two surviving ships, including General Hague's flagship EAS Alexander continued onwards to a rendevous at Orion 7.