After eliminating the majority of the Earth Alliance's military, the Battle of the Line was to be the Minbari's final assault on Earth. The Minbari had laid waste to every fleet the Alliance had sent at them, and having destroyed the human bases on Io and Ganymede and skirted past Mars, the aliens were in a perfect position to attack Earth itself. Despite the constant pleas of the humans for mercy and their declaration of surrender, the Minbari were adamant on finishing the war, and planned nothing less than the complete annihilation of Earth's population.