EAS Hyperion

Earth-Minbari war

The Hyperion was one of the ships which formed the convoy with the mission of exploring the Minbari frontier to gather information. Other ships included the EAS Prometheus, the EAS Amundsen, and some other ships. The convoy encountered a Minbari convoy, and the captain of the Earth fleet panicked and ordered all ships to fire. When the Minbari ships returned fire the Hyperion was hit hard, her observation bridge and upper plasma turret were damaged. She nevertheless managed to escape to hyperspace along with the rest of the fleet. The Hyperion fled with the fleet to the Vega space outpost for repairs. It is not clear whether the Hyperion was only slightly damaged or was put into drydock on Earth for the repairs, but she was not at the Vega outpost when the Minbari fleet destroyed the outpost in retaliation. There is no information of the Hyperion's performance during the war apart from that she survived and was present at the Battle of the Line surviving it too.

"A Voice in the Wilderness"

In 2258, Babylon 5 crew discovered the Great Machine underneath the surface of Epsilon III, the planet the station was in orbit of. Varn, who served as the CPU for the machine was dying. He was rescued by Commanders Jeffrey Sinclair and Susan Ivanova.

As Sinclair, Ivanova, and Varn were returning, the Hyperion came through the jump gate. Captain Ellis was determined to secure the planet and its technology for the Alliance. Pierce attempted to assert his authority over Grid Epsilon, despite the fact that Sinclair had Presidential authority over the region. Due to riots on Mars, Sinclair was unable to contact President Luis Santiago to confirm his authority.

The crew on Babylon 5 learned that if the correct safeguards were not used the planet would automatically self-destruct, which would also destroy the station. They also learned that Varn would soon die, and that the planet would explode following his death. Shortly afterward, Sinclair found that Pierce was going to send an expedition down to the planet. Pierce was unwilling to believe that the planet would self-destruct. To keep the Hyperion from sending anyone down, Sinclair activated Babylon 5's defense grid and aimed it at the Hyperion. Not willing to risk his ship, Pierce stood down.

After these tense moments, an alien vessel jumped into Babylon 5 space. The ship was crewed by people from Varn's race who were criminals and had been banished years ago. The alien ship downloaded the language banks of Babylon 5 so they could communicate. They ordered the station and the Hyperion to leave within 10 hours. Afterward, Pierce told the aliens they had nine hours to leave.

The aliens then began to battle with Babylon 5 and the Hyperion. Meanwhile, the Minbari Draal, Ambassadors Delenn and Londo Mollari took Varn back to the machine. Michael Garibaldi joined them on the surface. Draal then proceeded to join with the machine as Varn's replacement.

In the space above the planet, the battle was not going well. The alien ship had broken up into three component pieces, and had out-flanked the Earth Alliance forces. Draal then appeared to Commander Sinclair, Captain Pierce, and the alien Captain. Draal said that the Great Machine was off limits, and that any who approached would be destroyed. The aliens ignored the warning, and Draal destroyed them.

Aftermath

President Santiago confirmed that Sinclair had final authority over Babylon 5 and the surrounding area of space. This fact was made clear to Captain Pierce. Pierce took the Hyperion and departed from the area. EAS Hyperion was not seen in any further episodes or the following television movies, so her fate is unclear. It appears that Matthew Gideon, who would become captain of the IAS Excalibur, served on the Hyperion after his former ship, the EAS Cerberus was destroyed.