We barely fought off the Kaylon without losing our entire fleet. Next time, we might not be so lucky.— Ed Mercer[1]
The Kaylon invasion of Earth,[2] (referred to as the Kaylon conflict by Captain Ed Mercer,[3] the Kaylon attack by Admiral Tom Halsey,[4] and the Event by Isaac[5]) was a critical battle between the Kaylon and a temporary alliance of the Planetary Union and Krill which occurred in January and February 2421.
The prelude to war began on Kaylon 1 when the Kaylon took the USS Orville by surprise and launched their armada against the Union. Most of the battle took place in the Sol system near the planet Earth and its Moon, although parts of the conflict happened in Union and Krill territories.
The Battle of Earth was the first conflict in a war between Union and Kaylon forces and precipitated a ceasefire agreement between the Union and the Krill and, later, the Lak'vai Pact of Tarazed 3. The Kaylon conflict later ends in peace between the Kaylon and the Union and an alliance against the Krill and the Moclans who have joined forces.
Prelude to battle[]
The USS Orville traveled to Kaylon 1 in late January 2421, seeking help from the Kaylon to revive Isaac and awaiting the Kaylon's decision on whether or not it would join the Planetary Union.[6]
The Orville discovered vast catacombs under the surface of the planet filled with billions of dead biological lifeforms. When confronted, the Kaylon revealed that the corpses were the "Builders," the original dominant species on Kaylon 1, whom the Kaylon exterminated in a rebellion over their makers. The Kaylon decided humans and other biological lifeforms were not worthy of preservation.[6]
Seizure of the USS Orville[]
Captain Ed Mercer, on the planet's surface, ordered Second Officer Bortus to warn Planetary Union Central of the Kaylon's true intentions. However, the Kaylon cut off his transmission and activated a dampening field to drain power from the Orville. They hacked into the Computer, then stormed the ship.[6]
A brief struggle for control of the ship between the Kaylon and Security Officers left multiple dead on both side and the Orville's survivors imprisoned in the Shuttle Bay.[6]
After Kaylon Primary took control of the ship's Bridge, the newly commandeered Orville spearheaded a Kaylon attack on Earth.[6]
Destruction of the USS Roosevelt[]
During the long journey from Kaylon 1, the Kaylon armada was intercepted by the USS Roosevelt, commanded by Captain Marcos, somewhere in Planetary Union space.[7]
Hoping to maintain the element of surprise in the ensuing attack, the Kaylon forced Ed and First Officer Kelly Grayson to tell Marcos the armada was actually a diplomatic "delegation" as part of joining the Union. Ed warned Marcos his ship was compromised with a '13-button salute,' a Union code, but the Kaylon recognized it and fired upon the Roosevelt, destroying the ship in minutes.[7]
As punishment, Kaylon Primary made Ed watch them kill a Union Ensign.[7]
Recruiting the Krill[]
Back in their prison in the Shuttle Bay, the senior staff agreed to attempt to enlist their old adversaries, the Krill. Lieutenant Yaphit secured a PM-488 Titan for Bortus by sneaking into the ship's Armory. Bortus fought the Kaylon, buying time for Kelly and Helmsman Gordon Malloy to steal a shuttle and flee. He killed two Kaylon guards before surrendering.[7]
Sphere 15 pursued the shuttle, but Kelly and Gordon took the shuttle past its ordinary speed limitations by diverting all power to the quantum drive and enter Krill space. Three Krill destroyers, led by Captain Dalak, captured the two officers and originally did not believe their story of the Kaylon. Sphere 15 arrived and a brief, vicious fight ensued, with only Dalak's destroyer surviving.[7]
The Krill slowly agreed to join the upcoming fight at Earth, sending a host of their own. Kelly remained at Dalak's side; Gordon took the seat of a Marauder-class fighter.[7]
Warning Planetary Union Central[]
Meanwhile, the remaining bridge officers brainstormed other ways to sabotage the Kaylon. Yaphit sneaks through the ship's ducts with Ty Finn, the civilian son of Doctor Claire Finn, into a Communications room. They successfully sent a warning message to Planetary Union Central, but several Kaylon entered. Yaphit was badly injured in a fight and left for dead, but the Kaylon took Ty.[7]
Retaking the Orville[]
The Kaylon took Ty to Isaac, wanting Isaac to kill the boy as a test of his loyalty. Instead, Isaac assassinated Kaylon Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary and then killed the Kaylon on the bridge. He programmed the ship to emit a powerful electro-magnetic pulse to kill all remaining Kaylon, himself included, and instructed Ty to release the remaining officers from the Shuttle Bay. After the EMP pulse, the survivors retook control of the ship just in time to join the fray of battle as the armada had arrived at Earth.[7]
Battle[]
The Kaylon armada arrived at the Solar system in early February 2421. They dropped out of quantum to find as much of the Planetary Union fleet that could be assembled since Lieutenant Yaphit's warning had arrived. Battle began almost immediately with both sides firing upon each other.[7]
The first casualty seems to have been a Science-class vessel overwhelmed by several Spheres. The USS Orville attacked an Interceptor-class Sphere, but discovered targeting systems could not lock, forcing the Second Officer to fire manually.[7]
With far superior technology, the Kaylon slowly gained an upper hand. According to Admiral Tom Halsey of the USS Spruance, the Union lost five ships to every sphere. Eventually, three cruisers and two interceptors broke through the Union line and made a beeline for Earth. The Orville pursued along with several other science vessels, but the spheres returned fire, downing the ships and badly damaging the Orville. Recognizing destruction was imminent, Ed ordered the crew to abandon ship to prepare ram the Orville in a kamikaze attack.[7]
Just then, dozens of Krill destroyers dropped out of quantum, flanking the spheres headed for Earth and destroying them. The new, informal Union-Krill alliance launched a counter-offensive, and the tide of battle slowly turned. The remaining Kaylon beat a hasty retreat to Kaylon 1.[7]
Aftermath[]
Surviving Union vessels receive repairs above Earth.
After the fever-pitched Battle of Earth, relations between the Krill and Union softened considerably. Both sides rushed to sign a ceasefire temporarily suspending the Krill-Planetary Union conflict that had existed for decades. A month later, they strengthen their resolve towards peace in the face of the Kaylon threat with the Lak'vai Pact of Tarazed 3.[3]
The Union began immediate repairs at the Union Dockyard orbiting Earth, but damage was severe. At least 32 Union ships and many Krill vessels are known to have been destroyed but likely many, many more. (The total Union Fleet in 2419 numbered roughly 3,000 ships across the galaxy.[8])
Following battle, a question arose about Isaac. The Planetary Union Council deliberated whether to deactivate him permanently or find a way to extract information from his memory core. Ultimately, admiralty allowed Ed to re-activate Isaac and return him to the Bridge of the Orville as a Science and Engineering Officer.[7]
For his gallantry in the Battle of Earth, Lieutenant Yaphit was awarded the Sapphire Star in March 2421.[3]
All Union ships underwent weapons upgrades through the Moclan Science Division to better respond to Spheres.[9] The Orville additionally underwent an extensive refit to better prepare the vessel for possible future encounters with the Kaylon.[5] The Krill proved open to allowing access to areas of their space that had been previously forbidden to Union vessels, allowing Union exploration of previously off-limits territories.[10]
Over a year later, the development of a weapon by Isaac and Ensign Charly Burke forced the Kaylon to sign an armistice. During this time, it was revealed that the Kaylon Primary, Kaylon Secondary and Kaylon Tertiary had survived the battle, having downloaded into new bodies after Isaac had destroyed their old ones. Following the theft of the weapon and the formation of an alliance between the Krill and the Moclans, the Union and the Kaylon allied themselves to stop the genocide of the Kaylon. The heroic self-sacrifice of Charly Burke to this end convinced the Kaylon to re-evaluate their view on organic life and end the conflict permanently, becoming provisional members of the Planetary Union and working with them against the Krill and the Moclans.[11]
Alternate timeline[]
In an alternate timeline, the attack succeeded as Isaac never betrayed the Kaylon due to never having a relationship with Claire Finn and her sons. The Earth was destroyed to the point that not even fish survived in the oceans and the Moon was shattered. The Kaylon then went on to destroy most of the galaxy, including Moclus. The Orville itself took a heavy hit in the battle and crashed in the Pacific Ocean, but most of the crew got off in escape pods.[12]
Many survivors of the battle re-formed as Resistance fighters, leading to the Battle of the Resistance in October 2421. Others, such as Ed and Gordon, scavenged for materials and avoided the Kaylon.[12]
Production[]
Though the script of dialogue for Identity, Pt. 2 was written by creator Seth MacFarlane, the script for the battle was written by executive producer Brannon Braga (who also wrote the script for Identity, Pt. 1). Braga's script was then reviewed by MacFarlane and associate producer and editor Tom Costantino for "narrative action." A few battle sequences were written at the suggestions of digital effects supervisor Brandon Fayette and Costantino.[13]
Editing of the entire battle was done by Costantino.
Trivia[]
- Union ships present at the battle were Fighter-, Exploratory-, Leviathan- and Science-class vessels.
- Curiously no Cruiser- or Colossus-class vessels were present.
- Further, the only Exploratory-class vessel was the Orville, although this might be explained that other exploratory ships were too far away to be recalled to Earth within a matter of hours.
- The Orville: Original Television Soundtrack - Season 2 refers to the event as the "Battle for Earth."
- The battle is the setting of a nightmare of Marcus Finn in the cold opening of Electric Sheep. In this dream, Marcus imagines the Orville taking extreme damage during its firefight in pursuit of the Kaylon. He runs to a lift and nearly dies when it breaks, and nearly dies a second time when the hull is breached.
Appearances[]
- Episode 2x08: Identity, Pt. 1
- Episode 2x09: Identity, Pt. 2
- Episode 2x10: Blood of Patriots (mentioned only)
- Episode 2x12: Sanctuary (mentioned only)
- Episode 2x13: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (mentioned only)
- Episode 2x14: The Road Not Taken (mentioned only) (alternate timeline)
- Episode 2.5x06: Digressions, Pt. 2
- Episode 3x01: Electric Sheep
- Episode 3x10: Future Unknown (mentioned only)
References[]
- ↑ Electric Sheep
- ↑ Episode 3x10: Future Unknown
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Episode 2x10: Blood of Patriots
- ↑ Episode 2x12: Sanctuary
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Episode 3x01: Electric Sheep
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Episode 2x08: Identity, Pt. 1
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 Episode 2x09: Identity, Pt. 2
- ↑ Episode 1x01: Old Wounds
- ↑ Episode 2x12: Sanctuary
- ↑ Episode 3x02: Shadow Realms
- ↑ Episode 3x09: Domino
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Episode 2x14: The Road Not Taken
- ↑ /u/editboy1000. "Did anyone notice you can kinda see into the bridge now?". Reddit. March 4, 2019.