brennen
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lurkers-guide

<html><center><h1>The Unoffical Babylon 5 Technical Manual</h1><h2>By <a href="#etc">Thomas Chiverton</a></h2>Last updated - 26/10/97, includes Eps. up to Season 4, #1 (HOTW), and Updatenumber 10<br><img width="402" height="256" src="http://www.dungeon.com/~sati/ships.jpg" alt="title"></center>There are no spoilers for the UK in this document. See separate Update file B5.tech.1 or b5-techu.txt for updates. <br>Each update release is numbered.<p><strong>WHAT ISNT IN HERE:</strong><br>Char details, or spoilers (i.e. stuff not shown/published in U.K.)<br><strong>WARNING: THIS MEANS THAT THIS DOC MAY HAVE SPOILERS FOR SOMECOUNTRIES. THESE ARE NOT MARKED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.</strong><br>Story ideas etc.<br>(This is because it is a <strong>tech</strong> manual, small amounts of info on races isincluded, however, to aid in identification)<hr>All pictures are held on a different server. It's very reliable, but please excuse itif it won't give you the pictures. I have no control over it !<hr><h3>NEW / UPDATED</h3><ul> <li>More URL changes</li> <li>URL changes</li> <li>Minor wording changes</li> <li>Rearenged where to get updates, fixed some dodgy HTML</li> <li>Everything, went to Wolf 359 and talked about the manual</li></ul><hr><h1>Index</h1> <a name="start"><ul> <li><a href="#terms">List of Terms Used</a> <li><a href="#b5">I</a> B5 Information and Stats <li><a href="#shad">II</a> Shadow Technology <li><a href="#str">III</a> Strieb Technology                    <li><a href="#lum">IV</a> Lumati Technology                     <li><a href="#narn">V</a> Narn Technology <li><a href="#cent">VI</a> Centuri Technology                    <li><a href="#min">VII</a> Minbari Technology                    <li><a href="#hum">VIII</a> Humen (also know as Earther) Technology <li><a href="#vor">IX</a> Vorlon Technology               <li><a href="#jg">X</a> Jump Gates <li><a href="#whatfire">XI</a> What Ships Fire What Weapons (Partly written by David Engkent) <li><a href="#white">XII</a> The White Star <li><a href="#sigma">XIII</a> Sigma 957 Aliens <li><a href="#ep3">XIV</a> Epsilon 3 (The Great Machine) <li><a href="#misc">XV</a> Misc. (What will *not* fit anywhere else !) <li><a href="#etc">Legal stuff, credits, where to get further updates etc</a> <li><a href="http://www.home.ch/~spaw1791/b5index.htm">Back to main B5 page</a></ul>
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<h3><a name="terms">TERMS USED:</h3>Organic / Non-organic tech: Refers to wether the technology used isorganic ('grown') or metalic ('built') or not.<p>
Hyper-Space: A different dimension/Universe, which maps largedistances in our universe to small distances in the different one,allowing for interstellar travel without bypassing the photonic barrier.Newtonian physics apply, so any inertia created while passing through a gate remains upon entry/exit. <br>Accessed via a <a href="#jg">jump gate</a> or point. Distorts transmissions that past throughit greatly, giving communications a very limited range. <br>Major colour scheme is shades of red.              <br>Trained telepaths rated P12 or better can aid navigation in Hyper-space by homing in on a targets thought emissions.             <br>Ships of a certain size are capable of entering hyper-space withoutusing a gate, with a large cost in energy. It has become commonfor these ships to construct gates after arriving in a new system, inorder to save energy for future trips.                    <br>80% of the Galaxy is outside hyper space beacon range.<br>It is assumed that exposure to HS for periods longer than a few weeks is dangerous to cell/DNA structure.<br>RS to HS is a 1 to many phenomena, whereas HS to RS is a many to onephenomena.<br>(Zathras)... once you come out of hyperspace past the galactic rim, all yourpoints of reference are gone ...and you can't just "keep going" in astraight line in hyperspace. (JMS)<p>
                                                            Tachyon Space: Maps distance travelled within it into a shift in time (butnot position) in the 'real' Universe. Impulses of energy and the timedistortions these create can do 'great harm', such as speeding up atravellers personal time, resulting in death within a short time. The exit is a gradual fade from Tachyon Space to real space, entry is by ahole, edged with glowing blue/white energy, through which a picture ofthe other time can be seen, broadcasts heard etc.<br>Once in the other time zone, care must be taken, powerful energy dischargescan 'unstick' the traveller, sending them forwards or backwards alongtheir time line, where they 'leap' into their future or past self.<br><p>
Hyper-space Engines: The system of guidence computers andbeacon trackers and the like that allow a ship to navigate inhyper-space using a pre-created Jump Gate or Point. Low power consumptionmeans almost all ships, incl. fighters have this system fitted.<p>
Jump point (or Vortex Generator): Entrance to Hyper space. Largepermenant pointshave a focusing system in orbit around them, four seven-mile longgenerators.                                                       <br>These are free floating with a central computer controlling the positionthrusters; these allow the brackets to re-position for larger than average ships and maintain a relative stationary position. The element Quantium-40 (a derivative of which is Duridium) is a vital component of jump gate construction.  As a consequence of the amount of energy a jump gate produces,it takes a long time to shut one down and even longer to start it back up.   Smaller, ship generated gates have no such orbital devices.       <br>The point is unstable, and can be closed by a large energy discharge.Known as jump points when they are unfixed (i.e. generated by a ship)Detecting ships coming out of a jump gate is limited by time. While you canget the frequency identification of a ship a few minutes prior to itsexiting hyper-space, much more information can be gained just as it begins toexit; like silhouette, mass, etc.                            <br>Jump gates (and points) are directional, a yellow gate for entry tohyperspace, and blue for exiting. Travel is not possible in the 'wrong'direction.<br>Jump points broadcast a signal in hyper space that is detectable for 1000kmor so.<br>

(See also <a href="#jg">X Jump Gates</a>)<p>
Jump Point Generator: allows a ship to create its own jump point from itslocation to hyper-space, without using a fixed entry/exit jump gate. Requireslarge amounts of power, and so only carried by larger ships. They alsorequire a stable power source, or they malfunction, destroying the ship.They also require a recharge time before they can bereused. Once shut down, they need time to rebuild their energy levelsbefore they can be resued.  <P>
<strong>NOTE:</strong> Advanced races (First Ones) don't need jumppoints or generators toenter hyper-space (Shadows- phase, or 'ripple', Sigma 957 Aliens- a 'hole',Vorlons are the exception to this. But they introduced the technology tothe current races.     <p>
Beam weapon: As yet unidentified craft weapons, maybe plasma, ion, neutronor laser based, depending on the ship.<p>
Missiles: Miscellaneous launched weapons (mines, missiles, remote controlled shipsetc. as applicable to size of ship.) Including: <br> Mass Driver: Propels mass from ship to the target. Banned by all-race  agreement, but Centuri used them against the Narn home world, 'bombing   them back to the stone age'.                  <br> Energy Mine: Operate as 20th century mines, but can be guided to   target at high speed, releasing a disc of energy when detonated.<p>
Cruiser: Medium sized ship. Sometimes used as ambassadors transport. <P>									<P>Fighter: one or two being fighter craft.<p>
Mother: Home base for fighters. In addition to specifically mentioned     weapons these probably carry 'weapons of mass destruction' (Fusion	bombs, ion cannon, mass drivers, heavy energy weapons).<p>
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I<h3><a name="b5"> Babylon 5</h3>Babylon 5 is the last of the Babylon stations. After the loss of Babylon 4,the station was left with a minimal budget. Even with additional alienfunding, the Earth Alliance kept looking for ways to reduce theirfinancial commitment. Even so, Babylon 5 is a marvel of human engineering,even in the face of more advanced alien technology. It is a cylindricalconstruct nearly five miles long with a maximum capacity of 250,000 beings.While the interior rotates for a gravity positive environment, the spine of the station, housing the zero-g docking bays, and the fusion reactor are relatively stationary. Framing the rear of the station are the blue heatradiator fins.                   <br>Babylon 5 is painted blue, where it is not left as bare metal.<br>B5 has a mass of 2.5 million tons. It is a little over 5 miles long.The main body is 5 miles long, and the docking guides add another.3 miles on to that.    <p> Normal planetary gravity is simulated by rotating the station.  Outwardacceleration at the perimeter is approximately 9.8 m/s2 [1g]. The stationdoes not have engines per se, although there are small thrusters used inmaintaining it's location at the L5 point. It is located 160,000 km from where Babylon 4 used to be, and is 92,000kmfrom the planet.<p> The station is defended by a low level defence grid, as well as severalsmall weapon emplacements located beneath panels on the outer hull, anda complement of more than 48 Starfuries (both original and Thunder Boltversions).                                   <p> The "front" of the station consists of two docking bays, the first allowingsmall craft to enter along the 0g centreline, and be transferred tothe appropriate bay, and the second dedicated to craft remaining in freefall.  The forward section also contains the cobra bays for the fighters.					      <p>Other locations of interest include the Observation Dome, from where thestation is run; the Zocalo, a shopping and entertainment district; andthe Garden, an O'Neill style environment (cylinder with gardens, pools, cafesbaseball etc. in it).                            <p> The station's main computer is based on crystalline human-alien hybridtechnology, and is capable of both written and voice input and outputin several languages. Integrated within its system is the Babcomcommunications network, which handles intastation, ship-to-station, and long-range Tachyon messages.                             <br>All the computer systems on the station are controlled via this centralisedsystem. This system is subject to commands from terminals, and also theexternal communications feed, so Earth Alliance command <strong>could</strong> order the shutdown of lifesupport for instance, although the access codes have now been changed.When the system was originally put on-line an artificial intelligence (orpersonality) was installed as part of the interface, but was later removeddue to compatibility problems with the human staff. However, thepersonality (called Sparky) still surfaces from time to time.<p>
All command crew and diplomatic staff have a 'Link' stuck to the back of theirhand, which acts as a futuristic walkie talkie. These contain a trackingbeacon. Earthforce personal links are bio-coded and can not be used by anyone excepttheir correct owner. Any attempt to use someone else's link triggers a warningin C&C.<p>
Main power is handled by the fusion generator at the tail of the station.							<p>Internal co-ordinates are as follows. First a colour, denoting a ring ofthe station. Then one of, on average, 36 level numbers, and a letter denotingsection. Hence the main corridor passes through blue 15 a for example.<p>
A jump gate is located nearby with the Corridor being the standard approachvector to the station.  Vessels straying off the Corridor's flight path arefined.                                                        <p><pre>
South, Back end                                 North, Front end
		       Radiator Fins		       |		       V                             Tachyon Emitter							 |		   /\ /\ /\                              V		   || || || /\____________  _______      .	 __       _||_||_||//-------------\/--------\___/_____ |\______||______/ || || ||       | |     |  |  \___/   \   ^ ||      ||      | ---------------| |     |  |  |___     |  | ||______||______\________________| |_____|  |  |___\___/   Docking Horns |/      ||        || || || \_____|_|/    |__|__/		   || || ||		   \/ \/ \/
   ^              ^     ^    ^     ^     ^ ^  ^ ^ ^   ^   |              |     |    |     |     | |  | | |   |   |              |     |    |   Green   | |  | | |   Docking bay   |              |     |    |  section  | |  | | Cobra bays   |              |     |    |           | |  | Med lab/Iso lab   |              |     |    |           | |  Blue section   |              |     |    |    the    | Red section   |              |     |    +--Garden---+   |              |     Gray section   |              Brown section   Fusion reactor      (ASCII art by Richard Meikle)     </pre>In the fore of the station is the zero-gravity docking bay entrance. Twodocking horns frame the bay, to help guide and stabilise the huge bulkfreighters. Once parked in front of the area, a freighter is offloaded, refuelled by the 'hose jockeys', and loaded up again.<br>The docking guides have magnetic strips laid into them, so that personalcan walk out on to them easily.<p>
The zero-g bays extent well into the middle of the station, just above redsector. Although the area is stationary, it as accessible from many parts of the habitable sections of the station.                     <p>
Mounted above and between the docking horns is the Tachyontransmitter/receiver and the docking beacon.                <p>
Below the zero-g docking bay, in the rotating section, is the docking bayproper. All ships enter the station dead centre. An incoming ship surrendersits shipboard computer to the Babylon 5 Command and Control, or C&C, locateddirectly beneath the bay entrance. While most pilots can easily match thestation's rotation, however the possibility of pilot error is far greater than computer error. Unfortunately, certain cost-cutting measures in dockinghardware have lead to accidental loss of life and property. A ship is then taken and lowered into one of many bays located toward the hull. The docking areas are divided into sections, with the diplomatic and military bayshaving restricted access.                           <br>Starfuries are housed in separate launch bays in cobra shaped projections along the round front of the station, hence their common name "CobraBays."                                                <p>
Set in the front of the station, beneath the entrance to the dock areas, isa window which looks into C&C. This can be covered with a set of blastdoors, as can the docking entrance. C&C is located 1/3 of the way off the spin axis, and hence is a lowgravity area (1/3g). The C&C main 'Window' is in fact, a huge slab ofarmor glass that can do multiple duty as a controllable filter and digitaldisplay device. The 'window' <strong>can</strong> be transparent when you want it to, andcan also display video images from any source; thus, the C&C window can be looking out through the eye of a camera on the loading bay spines, through a camera mounted on the non-rotating spine, or from any camera-equipped spot on the station, including the Maint-Bots.The only time the view through the C&C "Window" seems to be spinningis when it's been switched to "Transparent Mode" or it is displayingthe view seen from a camera mounted on a spinning part of the station. (Gharlane of Eddore)                   <p>
The interior station is itself divided in to colour coded sectors.Blue sector houses station administration and EA personnel quarters. Also inBlue Sector are the Medlabs, staffed by highly trained xenobiologists totend to the ambassadors and Earth Force personnel.  Medlab One is a smallfacility exclusively used by the Medical Chief of Staff, Doctor StephenFranklin.                                            <br>There are larger medical facilities, resembling proper hospitals, elsewhereon the station.                                       <br>A recent addition to Blue Sector is the Strategic War Room, from which thewar with the Shadows is monitored and directed.           <p>
Red Sector is relegated to business and diplomatic chambers.  <br>Red Sector's highlight is the Zocalo. Hundreds of shops, stands, bars,restaurants, and clubs line the curved passageways, as does the EA postalservices Post Office.                                             <P>
Aliens requiring alternate atmosphere/gravity to generally more commonoxy-nitro combinations live in the Alien Sector.  While most aliens here require special mixes, oxygen breathing aliens tend to gravitate here, awayfrom the overabundance of humans elsewhere. Ambassadors and their entouragesare housed in a separate part of Green Sector, with higher security.<br>The alien sector is not all blank corridors covered in noxious gasses, theHanging Gardens houses various varieties of alien plant life suited to amethane-ammonia atmosphere. The Garden got its name from the various spheresof soils that hang suspended from the ceiling by thick chains. Most of thealien growths are phosphorescent.                                       <br>The Dilgar War Memorial was erected here to commemorate the world and speciesthat fell to the Dilgar.                                <P>
Green sector contains high-security quarters for the various alien diplomats(with adjustable environment quarters for ambassadors that require it).The Vorlon quarters are number 8.                        <br>Unauthorised personnel are not admitted.                     <p>
Both Grey and Brown Sectors were largely unfinished due to budgetaryconstraints.                                                     <br>Grey sector is infamous for the Babylon 5 Triangle -- an area around Grey17 that leads an active imagination to believe the place is haunted.<br>Maintenance crews have reported strange lights, sounds and disappearances in the area.<br>There is a 'extra' level between the levels labelled Grey 16 and Grey 17,resulting in Grey sector having 'only' 29 levels. The real Grey 17 is inaccessible from normal routes, and is filled with junk, a rather nasty alien, and a mad cult.<p>
All sectors (apart from those under the garden) have 95 levels.<p>
The Service Collar is the name for the structure immediately behind thecommand and docking sphere at the head of the station. Immediately "south" of the collar is Customs and Disembarkation. Customs is a hundred-meter widechamber running alongside the collar. While most employees are human,several aliens are employed using hardware translators.<p>
The entire interior of the rotating cylinder is called the Garden. It'smain purpose is to provide food and oxygen reclamation for the station.Most of the food grown here do not require seasonal changes, since there areno seasons in this artificial environment. Foods that do need seasonal variation are grown in separate hydroponic areas. In addition to necessaryinsects cultivated in the zoos below the "ground," birds are also in the Garden all of which are now used to the "new physics" of flying in thisenvironment.  No one is allowed to "camp out" on the interior anyonedoing so is arrested for destroying precious crops. A small percentage of the12 square miles of vegetation is used for recreation. Supporting the park plant life is twenty meters of dirt, under which are four levels of hydrobays, support systems, storage and silage units, water and oxygen reclamation units, chemical processors, farm equipment garages, and insectzoos. There is a train in the garden that runs around the circumference of thestation. The garden is half a kilometer across.   <P>
"Downbelow" is a term used to describe the unused parts of the stationwhere the homeless, or Lurkers, eke out a living.  Trapped on station for various reasons, most die here unknown and unrememberd.<P>
A monorail runs the length of the station, along the axis of rotation, henceit is in a zero-g environment, and so is known as the Zero-G Train.<P>
The hull of Babylon 5 is a double hull to provide an extra layer ofprotection from micrometor strikes and internal explosions. This leaves acrawl space between the two hulls.                               <P>
The rotating sections are mounted on electro-magnetic bearings.<P>
B5 communicates with earth via a faster than light link able to carry many live video feeds to and from B5. This FTL link also allows real-time videocommunication with other races homeworlds and ships.        <br>
B5 is orbited by unmanned maintenance robots (Maint-Bots).       <br>These have colour vision, the feed from which may be patched into the B5video network.                                                    <P>
B5 also has video cameras (Monitors) that can be sent to automatically film anarea. The video recorders are made of an extremely ultralight material, newalloys that in total weigh less than an ounce; it has a visible (andaudible) air propulsion system, a high speed fan with a stabiliser/gyroscopethat keeps it steady, and moves it forward. (JMS)               <P>
The main power source is a fusion reactor, mounted at the rear of thestation. This can be reached, for maintaince purposes, by the Zero-G Train,or via a large set of doors set into the hull. Inside these there is a largeopen space, with the reactor wall forming one wall of this space.<P>
The floors are linked via 'transport tubes' that take the form of lifts,which move radily (that is, from the centre line outwards to thehull).                                                              <P>
<strong>Update to B5 Weapons Grid</strong><br>                                             A visiting platoon of Ground Pounders installed an enhanced Defence Grid for the B5 station. The updated specs are as follows:                      <ul> <li>Pulse cannons <li>Interceptors <li>Mine launchers <li>Upgrade to the tracking system ( x3 speed increase)</ul><br>Distributed in 6 groups along the main back bone of the station.<p>
<strong>B5 Population</strong><br><ul> <li>1,500 Dock Workers <li>6,500 Earthforce personnel <li>42% of population are 'Aliens' i.e. non-Earthers <li>Total Population: 1/4 million</ul><br>When it became operational in 2257, the odds on it lasting six months were500-1 Lloyds of London, 350-1 Las Vegas and 200-1 New Vegas.<br>By 2259 the odds were 250-1 Lloyds of London, 200-1 Las Vegas and 5-1 New Vegas and 41% of people were against the station, as opposed to nearer 30% at the outset.<p>
Each area (such as green-2 or whatever) is split into segments. Thesesegments can be isolated from each other in the event of fire, flood orvacuum. This is achieved by having a transparent door slide down and seal offthe area. The door has strips of the zones colour, and small flashingred lights set into it.<br>In the docking and other areas close to vacuum these are stronger, made out of a beryllium alloy. They are highly resistant to PPG fire, the rebounds being a grave danger to the firer !<p>
<strong>Production Methods</strong><br>Instead of creating new forms and processes in the construction of theBabylon stations, the Earth Alliance altered established mass production.For example, Exploration vessels are nearly five miles long and its rotating section as wide. Production lines required only a minimalalteration to construct sections of the hull and the rotational interface.The pieces were jumped from the stardocks to Epsilon Eridani and assembled.Materials from Sol system's asteroid belt and minerals found in the Tigrissystem were used. In the case of Babylon 4, some of the materials used werethe salvageable remains of Babylon 1 through 3 (see also <Ahref="#hum">Humen Technology</a>).				       <P><strong>Credit Cards</strong><br>Beings entering Babylon 5 are given a credit chit. Any currency held by thebeing is converted to current Earth-value credits according to the currencyexchange rate. The credit chit contains the being's name, ID, additionalpersonal information, including genetic anti-forgery information, and thecurrent amount of credits the being currently has in the Babylon 5 centralcomputer (the chit is also tied to a being's IdentiCard). Employees of thestation have their salaries tied into the chit. It is used as a debit card. Each purchase or transfer runs down the total amount of credits until adeposit is made.                 <p>
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II<h3><a name="shad"> Shadow Technology</h3>These are the oldest race, older even than the Vorlons. At least twice theyhave tried to take over the galaxy. The Shadow's real name is 10,000 letters long.   <br>A 4 foot high spider like organic creature, it is four legged, with a longneck and a pair of pincers. Many eyes that glow in the dark. Invisibleexcept on certain frequencies.             <Br>They seem to prefer to work via agents such as the Centuri, Morden and maybe the Strieb.                                    <br>Some Human agents appear to come from the exploration ship Icarus,which carried Sheriden's wife. It landed on the 'deserted' Shadow home world,Za'Ha'Dum, where it encountered the Shadows. The Humans whodid not agree to help were killed.  Those who agreed to help now travel space corrupting races. These agents are always protected and accompaniedby a 'minder' that is normally invisible, sometimes even the Shadows themselves.                                        <br>At any one time most of the Shadows are on their home world,Za'Ha Dum, they use other beings to pilot their ships. Their whole civilization was moved underground centuries ago (B5 timeline), in interestsof security.  In general the city is shaped like an egg hewn out of the bed rock, with several large skylights set into the roof, to afford a view ofthe sky. Also in the city are huge, 2 or miles deep, shafts.<br>Organic/Bio-technology is used to modify 'donors' to act as Cores fortheir ships, suggesting organic technology             <P>
Like most advanced aliens, the ships have an organic look and are composedof a large number of interlocked pentagons.                   <br>The skin of these are made of a shimmering oily black substanceable to withstand the rigors of space and hyper-space travel. The skin isextremely versatile; able to be in a rigid, flexible, or fluid state seemingly at will. It appears to bond easily with other vessels having similar "skin." Carbon-based lifeforms, not properly prepared, die immediately upon touching this substance.  Being organic in design, damage to the ship acts as it would a living being (for example: severing a spine on the Shadow vessel will put the Shadow vessel in shock or anger, depending on its mental state and "personality.")        <br>'When it flies past you, its like a scream in your mind'.       <br>'Once they target you they never stop, never slow down, never give up. until they have destroyed you- they are nearly invincible'      <br>The mother ship, at least, creates a characteristic trail of neutrinos asit moves through hyper-space. This trail, if found, can be used to findthe ship.                                                           <br>One craft was excavated on Mars, and another of Ganymede.               <br>Only current non-First One ship that stands a chance against it is the White Star (see section <a href="#white">XII- White Star</a>)                 <br>Shadow vessels are vulnerable to telepathic interference. At a cost ofgreat strain a P5 or better can scramble and upset their central operatingsystem, rendering them 'harmless'. In this state several ships can surroundand attack easily.<br>Vulnerable to sustained, very high energy, continuous beam weapons, such asthose carried on the <a href="#white">White Star</a> and <Ahref="#narn">Narn</a> Cruisers, and byVorlon ships. One White Star, with all energy diverted to forward weaponsand a Narn heavy cruiser, or two normal strength White Star forward cannonsand a Narn heavy cruiser is sufficient to explode a 'Crab in 5seconds.<br>All Shadow ships can 'warble' into and out of hyperspace.Shadow Ships require a weapons lock, which can be detected.<P>
<strong>FIGHTER</strong> Shaped like a fat starfish.<br> <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Energy ball of some kind.</li> <li>Impervious to fighter fire, but can be destroyed by ramming them, although they still remain active  for a short time. The <a href="#white">White Star</a> was able to destroy 6 in a short battle.     </ul><p>
<strong>PROBE</strong> Shaped like a cross between aBattle crab, with long curving 'fingers', and a Berserker probe.Stronger than fighters, but not as much as a Ship or Crab,they can withstand the loss of 2 or 3 spines long enough to ram theoffending ship.<dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Hyper-space engines</li> <li>Single shot cannon</li> <li>High power sensor arrays and communications systems</li></ul><p>
<strong>MOTHER AND CRUISER</strong> Shaped like a many legged spider.The Mother is 2-3 miles across, the cruiser about 600 meters in width(spine to spine). Composed oforganic technology the Mother requires a sentient being to operate asits Core. The Core must be properly prepared for insertion. If it is not, the result is a confused, disoriented, and insane ship.  Although mergedwith the ship, the Core can be removed with great difficulty and withpermanent mental damage to the Core.  The Core is neither pilot norpassenger, it is a ready-made thought matrix.  An organic unit can processinformation faster than most computer systems and reacts faster whenformulating strategy. It is much easier and faster to temper an existingbrain than manufacture a complex computer.<br>The Mothers are two-tiered with the lower part housing the weapons.The upper tier houses a wing of approximately seventy-five fighters, with apossible total complement of two-hundred fighters.<br>As for defensive systems, the Shadow Ship can absorb destructive energy, butat the cost of great pain. Many smaller hits, as from many fighters, appearto confuse the ship, to the point where it does not return fire.<br> <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>One very high energy beam weapon, more powerful than most other weapons seen. This device can cut an enemy ship in half in under a second, although it is possible to dissipate this, the energy cost is large. The weapon appears ineffective against <a href="#vor">Vorlon</a> mother ships. <li>hyper-space engines. <li>Impervious to fighter fire. When hit by combined fire power of several enemy mother ships a small portion of one 'leg' was severed. The wound 'healed' itself. <li>Two ships may join to become one larger ship. They same to travel in this paired formation, they are then known as Battle Crabs. <li>Mothers can fire a spiked ball which explodes into many fighters. <li>They can also fire a device into a jump gate that destroys it, along with any ship unlucky enough to be in the gates field, this maybe just a simple cannon blast. <li>They can enter and leave hyper-space <strong>without</strong> using a jump point, instead they just *ripple* into and out of normal space. <li>Although impervious to normal weapons, one was destroyed by an exploding jump gate (See Section <a href="#jg">X- jump gates</a>), and another by an extreme gravitational field. Another technique was used by a Vorlon cruiser- using some form of modulated energy beam the Vorlon ship was able to capture a Shadow Vessel, and then ram it, destroying it.  </li>Telepaths appear to impair the interface between them and their Core.      </ul><p><a href="#start">Back to top</a><hr>
III<h3><a name="str">Streib Technology</h3>This race has so far only been encountered by the Narn, Minbari and theEarthers.     <br>They are assumed to be restricted to their home world. At the moment they are currently engaged in obtaining 'samples' of the technology and creatures of neighbouring space. Their last two raids were into Narn and Earth space.  <br>In both encounters they were followed back to their home world, and firedupon, and, in at least one case, had their ship destroyed.<br>They may be allied to the Shadows. Small figures, large heads and eyes.A minor race.                                           <p>
<strong>SHIP</strong> A huge ship, unsymetrical. Equipped with a torture chamber wherecaptured aliens are forced to fight, and are experimented upon. <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>High energy rapid fire energy cannon.  <li>Tractor beam.  <li>hyper-space engines / jump point generator.</ul>The ships cannon seems to have great difficulty in hitting targets.     <P><a href="#start">Back to top</a><hr>
IV<h3><a name="lum">Lumati Technology</h3>This race has only recently been encountered.<br>They scorn of 'inferior' races, and will not left a finger to helpa lesser species, but they do consider Humens non-inferior, even if theynow have strange ideas about Humen sexual acts. Tall, symbiotic. Deepcrevices on head.                                <p>
<strong>SHIP</strong> Structured from 5-6 spheres, linked by symmetrical sets of fourtriangles. <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Unknown weapon systems, assumed energy cannon / missile. <li>hyper-space engines. Possibly jump point generator, the ship is big enough to hold one. </ul><p>
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V<h3><a name="narn">Narn Technology</h3>One of the Big Four races, lizard like in appearance. 150 years ago theywere almost wiped out by the <a href="#cent">Centuri</a> who strip mined the Narn home world.They eventually managed, after 100 years, to drive them off. For them thewords 'Never Again' have special meaning. Their B5 ambassador, G'Kar,guessed the Shadows are coming. <br>They are possibly much older than almost any other race, but were decimatedin the first war against the Shadows, and now in this one as well, havingonly 10 or 15 ships left.           <br>Non-organic tech.                       <br>They are the only race not to have telepaths, although they used to havethem, they were killed off by the Shadows, resulting in too small a gene poolfor them to breed a telepath.               <br>Home world is called Narn.                      <br>Non-organic technology<p>

<strong>FIGHTER</strong> Flat and rounded. <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul>  <li>Beam weapon.      </ul><p>
<strong>HEAVY FIGHTER</strong> Chunkier version of fighters. Betteramoured / weaponed.<p>
<strong>DREADNAUGHT</strong> Looks like two heavy fighters join base to base by a bridge.<dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Jump point genearator, hyperspace engines. </li> <li>More pwerful version of cruiser.</lI></ul>
<strong>MOTHER SHIP</strong> Larger version of fighter, composed of threedecks. The bridge can be sealed off from rest of ship. One kilometerlong. <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Beam weapons. <li>hyper-space Engines, jump point generator. <li>Missiles. <li>Suffer a comms black out after re-entering normal space.     </ul><p>
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VI<h3><a name="cent">Centuri Technology</h3>One of the big four races. Attempted twice to trick Humens on firstcontact, saying they were a lost Centuri colony, and that theCenturi ruled the entire Universe. Large fan of hair on males. Femalesshave their heads. <br>Earth's first encounter with aliens was with them and the Centuri traded Earthjump gate technology.                                               <br>Home world is known as Centuri Prime.                                  <br>Non-organic tech.              <p>
<strong>BLOCKADE MINES</strong> Squat cylinder, with two cannons revolving around the top.<br>Assumed to be remotely controlled or automatic. Inaccurate, we		have only seen them once, but most shots missed, and it was 		also commented that they were 'beginning to get [the] range',		implying they can not fire straight away upon a target. <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Cannons (see above), but these appear to be very inaccurate.			</ul><p><strong>FIGHTER</strong> Crescent shaped, thin and 'spacialdynamic' <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Beam weapon.  <li>Prob. hyper-space engines.    </ul><P><strong>CRUISER</strong> Cross shaped <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>hyper-space engines and jump point generator, <li>missiles, misc. beam weapons.            </ul><br><strong>Note:</strong> The Centauri appear to be the only race whosecruisers do <strong>not</strong> have somesort of beam weapon.  Centauri cruisers rapid-fire single shots from thecentre point of the front of the ship.  They also appear to have lesser weapons elsewhere on their cruisers, but the ones that seem most effective in battle are the front-and-centre guns that fire some sort of elongated shot.          <p>
<strong>MOTHER</strong> Like two cruisers joined side by side <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Beam weapons. <li>hyper-space engines and jump point generator. <li>Missiles <li>Mass drivers.      </ul><p><a href="#start">Back to top</a><hr>
VII<h3><a name="min">Minbari Technology</h3>One of the big four races. Almost wiped out the Humens in a huge war,driving them back to their 0home system, and then home world, bypassingthe Mars and Io colonies. All remaining Earth ships ordered into Earth orbit.                <br>At the last moment the Minbari surrendered, after examining a captive Human,and discovering that they were reborn Minbari souls, but not before19800 out of the 20000 ships were destroyed.<br>Recognised by bony protrusions on skull.        <br>Home world known as Minbar, the 7th planet from their sun. One quarter ofplanet covered by north polar ice cap. So rich in crystal deposits manycities carved out of crystal formations. Three languages Len'a, Feak andAdrinato (the language of the religious cast). An example of Adrinato is'Ni sec schlect slem wa' Meaning 'I am your friend, in peace'.The Minbari have had artificial gravity for some time, and all Minbari shipsare driven by a garivtio-magnetic system. They are also at the experimentalstage of time travel, having the ability to control certain types of timefields, however this is at a very early stage, horse and carriage comparedto a modern sports car, or the <a href="#ep3">Great Machine</a>.       <br>Semi-organic tech.<P>
<strong>Rings</strong> The Minbari have been observed using small rings to great effect.  Onesuch ring was observed increasing the local gravity a whole order ofmagnitude. Careful observation indicates the presence of a small silverydiscoloration on the ring finger of the Minbari ambassador, probably someform of cybernetic interface. Thus the rings most probably act merelyas transmission devices to much larger units. It is therefore postulatedthat the devices are only usable in certain areas, in this case the quarters of the Minbari ambassador.<P><strong>FIGHTER</strong> Y shaped, like Chigs from Space: Above and Beyond. <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Beam weapon.  <li>hyper-space engines.     </ul><p><strong>FLYER</strong> (Equivalent to Cruiser/Shuttle) Flat, with upright fins at corners. <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>hyper-space engines. <li>Atmosphere capable.      </ul><p><strong>MOTHER</strong> 300m long, 200 M tons, shaped like an angelfish. <br>In the centre of Minbari cruisers there is the Tactical Centre. Over head alarge inverted mushroom hangs. A full 360 degree view is offered here, andcommunication to any ship in range is as easy as speaking to it. Displayson offer range from tactical maps to camera images.
 <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>hyper-space engines, jump point generator. <li>Tractor beam. <li>Highly resilient to fighter weapons.  <li>Some form of stealth tech. that  prevents Earther scanners at least from locking on. <li>12 fusion lasers <li>6 neutron cannons <li>6 missile launches (20M ton per missile) <li>1 forward stasis beam <li>4 attractor breams around launch bay <li>Cargo pay able to hold up to 2000 m tons <li>64 crew <li>150 troops <li>maximum speed of .2 c 	     </ul><p><a href="#start">Back to top</a><hr>
VIII<h3><a name="hum">Earther Technology</h3>The last of the big four. 'Mankind'.<br>Scanner systems can be knocked out using an Electro Magnetic Pulse, as froma fusion bomb.                          <br>Messaging systems stamp all transmissions with a date stamp, and in militarysystems a 'subchannel ID' which allows the sender to be authenticated.<br>Non-organic tech.         <P>
<strong>FIGHTER (SA-23E)</strong><br><center><img width="203" height="143" src="http://www.dungeon.com/~sati/sf-wire.jpg"alt="sf wire"><img width="239" height="164"src="http://www.dungeon.com/~sati/sf-pers.jpg"alt="sf pers"></center>The SA-23E Mitchell-Hyundyne Starfury is a single-seat non-atmosphericfighter craft utilised by the Earth Alliance for short range defenceoperations. It is armed with two Plasma Projection Guns, as well asfour Pulse Discharge Cannons.  Unlike in classic Terran designs,the pilot sits almost perfectly vertically in the cockpit, operating thevessel by a combination of hand, foot, and voice-activatedcontrols.<br>It has an average speed of 15km/s.                           <br>One of the most intriguing facets of Starfury operations is the launchsequence. The pilot enters the cockpit by a short ramp, wearing apressure suit. As he prepares for launch, the bay is depressurized. Whenall is ready, the fighter pivots point-down into launch position, andis launched by the inertial forces created by station rotation. Afterit clears the station, the main engines fire.<br>These engines are the most unusual aspect of the design, being placed onlong wings, forming an X shape.<br><strong>Weapons</strong> <ul><li>Four 20 megawatt pulse discharge cannons (located on thruster pods)       <li>Up to 8 externally mounted missiles with nuclear, frag., jam etc.        warheads as needed.        <li>PDC's may be replaced with unguided missile        launchers.        <li>2 PPG's mounted under cockpit.</ul><p>Four fuel cells mounted on the inboard trailing edge of each wing.<br>Thrust is vectored using a system of 8 flaps mounted behind the engines.<br>Launch rail attach points can be seen on the underside.<br>Long range scanners can detect objects up to 2 hours flight time away, andmix passive and active systems, and feature a multi-level active amp.<br>4.4 m long, 1 pilot. Thrust glows bluw-white. Seems not to haveevolved much since the Earth-Minbari war.<br><ul><li><strong>Variants</strong><ul> <li>Star Fury (Black Omega): Used for infiltration due to advanced stealthcapabilities. Very expensive. Omega decal on underside. <li>Star Fury (two seater): two cockpits, one facing forward, one facing aft.Missiles and heavy pulse cannons, fixed forward mountings, with a turret onthe back. <li>Star Fury (Thunder Bolt (SA-42B) ): <img align="right" alt="tb-sce" src="http://www.dungeon.com/~sati/tb-sce.jpg" width="134" height="286"> <br>1 rapid burst pulse cannon.4x missile rack under cockpit. Wings are more planer and feature swing wingon each of the 4 thrusters. When extended act as aerofoils, else folded overthe body. Better speed and manoeuvrability then the original.<center><img alt="tb pers" src="http://www.dungeon.com/~sati/tb-pers.jpg"width="364" height="254"></center>Next generation of fighters, atmosphere capable- the thunderbolts can do alow-level bombing run and then leave the atmosphere. 2 seater. Minimumspeed in atmosphere is about Mach 2, due to small wing size. Thrustglows orange, maybe they are not as efficent due to having to work inthe atmosphere as well ?</ul>                                 </lu></ul><strong>Control of Ships</strong>A Starfury needs and uses all 6 degrees of freedom.  This means there are twoT shaped joysticks, one for each hand. <br>To yaw right, you might pivot the right hand stick to the right, increasing the angle to increase the speed of the yaw ... as you hold it there you keepspinning until you let go, at which time the ship stops itself. To achieve this the computer would give an initial burst from the correct thrusters toset your roll in motion at a rate proportional to the amount you have depressed the stick ... when you let go, the computer gives another burstfrom the opposite thrusters to stop your spin. <br>This kind of control would be very intuitive and would minimise thepossibility of the pilot becoming disoriented in a fast but complexmanoeuvre. Also a "manual" mode would be included that gave you direct control over the thrusters. In this mode, the control sticks would act more likethrottles .. when depressed, the thrusters activate at proportional intensityand when released, the thrusters turn off.         <br>Another feature is the ability to set the "zero"...  the motion of your baseframe of reference.  Your base frame of reference would be the motion theship would have when the control sticks are zero-ed.  For example, if you want to dock on B5, you need to set your translation to be 0,Vy,0... that'sspeed Vy down the axis of the station and 0,0 lateral motion. Also, you'd need to set your spin velocities to be 0,Ry,0... the core of the stationrotates at a certain velocity which you must match before entering thedocking bay. So, your base frame of reference could be set to 0,Vy,0;0,Ry,0... when you release the control sticks, the computer makes surethat these are your velocities relative to the station. If, as youapproach the core, you notice that you're a little off-axis, you cankeep virtual-active mode on and nudge the stick in the right directiona few times to translate over onto the axis without having to manuallycancel the translation when you get right on the axis. Meanwhile, if younotice that your spin rate is a tad too slow, you could depress the manual button on the spin stick and then twist in just a bit to the right to boost your y-axis rotation rate, setting your new base frameto be rotating a little faster in the clockwise direction. <br>Of course, the computer on a Starfury would very likely have all kinds of support for automatically performing precise manoeuvres since manual docking is needlessly tedious... especially for an exhausted pilotwho's just coming off an adrenaline high. These can be activated by voicecommand, such as 'roll 270 degrees left', 'rotate to track target, continue course', 'set zero reference to target', 'collide with target' or 'maximum thrust' as well as more mundane tasks such as 'dock with target' or 'divert all power to life support'.                  <br>(Scott Silvey)                                           <br>The foot pedals are used to cycle through scanned targets on the HUD.<br>Fire control is similar to modern fighter planes, with weapon selection andfiring combined into a few switches on one of the joysticks.      <br>Ejecting is done by pulling two tabs mounted either side of the pilots head.								 <P><strong>CRUISER</strong> Functional. Rotating mid-section. <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>hyper-space engines, jump point generator. <li>Powerful forward beam weapon.  <li>Prob. missiles.</ul><strong>HEAVY CRUISER</strong> As above <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> </li>As above but more weapon sites, incl. a rear mounted powerful beam weapon, and a fighter compliment.</ul>Hyperion (and similar class) destroyers: 150 metersOmega class ships: 500 meters (excluding guns/atennas)
<strong>B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 STATIONS</strong><ul> <li>Babylon's 1, 2 and 3 were destroyed by various races before completion. <li>Babylon 4 is much more heavily armored then Babylon 5, shaped like atraffic cone, with solar arrays at the bottom, two large rotating sections, the smaller front section framed by 4 very large Y shaped weapons pylons. Painted green, as opposed to Babylon 5's blue.Pulled back in time 1000 years to act as a new base of operations duringthe last Shadow War.The reason for 2 counter rotating sections is to set the total angularmomentum to zero, thus enabling B4 to move much more easily than wouldotherwise be the case. B4 has a certain amount of movement, much morecompared to B5, for instance, but still too limited to make it more thana snack for anything with access to a jump point.It is 6 miles long.It is located 160,000 km from where Babylon 5is now, and is 92,000km from the planet.
 <li>Babylon 5 remains in neutral territory. See also Section <a href="#b5">I- Babylon 5 </a>.     </ul><P>
<strong>Breaching Pods:</strong> A small, limited mobility, transport vessel. Equipped with 4corner mounted cluster pods, egg shaped body. Carries a large number of troops from the assault ship to the target vessel, where it seals its self on to the hull, and cuts an opening for the troops.
<strong>Raiders:</strong> Small one or two man attack fighters. Similar in shape to Cylonattack ships, they present a very small front/back profile. Assumed to have alimited range, and so must operate from a near-by base. Assumed beam weapons.Not very effective in combat, half a dozen or so were wiped out by two starfuries. Most vunrable on their wings. Atmosphere able.
<strong>Raider Base:</strong> A chunky squat life support and engine blocked mounted 'behind'a large wheel like structure that the Raiders dock to. Able to open its own jump point.
All explosives manufactured in the Earth Alliance are laced with specialchemical codes to allow them to be traced to a particular buyer/batch.	<P>The security forces of Babylon 5, unlike the civilian population, areallowed to carry weaponry in the line of duty.  The standard issue weaponis the PPG, a small hand-held weapon which ionisessmall quantities of hydrogen or helium gas, and suspends the resultant product in a magnetic bottle, which is then released by a moving electric charge.  The bottle decays, resulting in an energy discharge.<P>
<strong>Identicards</strong><br>Most likely, the Identicards are an outgrowth of the "smart" cards of thetwentieth century, acting as a combination driver's licence, credit card.passport, and medical file.  A crystalline memory module, similar to theones used in the main computer could hold medical information, accountbalances, immigration status, and possibly even a small personal calendarala the PDA's introduced in the late 1980's.  The technology is simple,but requires a merger of data networks difficult to un-bureaucratize.				<P><strong>Dust:</strong><br>Dust, an addictive manufactured drug, allows non-telepaths of several races to probe the minds of others, experiencing all the victim's memories and thoughts in the space of a few minutes.  Unfortunately, this leaves the victims unconscious, and telepathic victims never recover.  The more often Dust is taken, the more is required to achieve the effect the next time.  Dust was originally developed, and is apparently still being produced, by Psi Corps in an attempt to induce permanent telepathy in normal humans; the experiment has been a failure so far.<P><a href="#start">Back to top</a><hr>
IX<h3><a name="vor">Vorlon Technology</h3><br>The second oldest race.  The ships (and certainly theCruiser) are completely organic, a living being. The pattern on the shipscan be seen to move slightly.                 <br>The ships are as sentient as dogs, and are breed by the Vorlons asships.<br>(JMS)<br>Have an almost unique defence system which can dissipate energy weapons fired at their ships, leaving only the physical impact. This device, however, appears to have a long recharge time, and in this case the ship has to takethe hit, a Vorlon Mother being so far the only ship to survive a direct hit from a Battle Crab. The organic tech. also allows the ships to evolve, andlearn.                                            <br>The Vorlon race is one of the last remaining First Ones.<br>Vorlons appear as humanoid figures cloaked in glowing cloaks of light. Eachrace sees something different, yet the same- an angel or god. Every racethat is apart from the Centuri. However most of the time Vorlon ambassadorswear an organic 'encounter suit'. As well as acting as a space suit, thesuit can tap into local energy reserves and use them to produce telekineticeffects, or deliver a energy 'slap'. The suit may be a living 'being' aswith their ships.                                          <br>When Vorlons are killed, no body is found.                     <br>Have manipulated most races to condition them to see the correct thing, andact accordingly, when they reveal themselves.<br>Vorlons appear to use standard jump point techniques ! This is because theMinbari obtained jump gate technology from them, and they spread it to other races,resulting in the 'standard' looking gates and points.<br>
Very organic technology. <p>
<strong>FIGHTER + CRUISER</strong> (Fighters are smaller version of Mother ships) Eggshaped, with four tendrils extending forward from the point. VorlonCruisers are 60 m in length. <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Beam weapon (energised in the nexus of the tendrils). <li>hyper-space engines  (jump point generator on mother. <li>Method of propulsion unknown. <li>Note also the "petals" which open out and towards the rear of the craft, and may be related to its propulsion (they are always shown being folded towards the craft as it approaches the docking bay of Babylon 5; of course, it wouldn't fit in the approach tunnel if the petals were extended...).   </ul><P><strong>SHUTTLE</strong> Like fighter, but elongated. <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Beam Weapon?  <li>hyper-space engines. <li>NOTE: Talks to Kosh via Vorlon writing. Kosh appears to be a subordinate to either the ship, or the sender of the message.</li> <li>Ship has facility to maintain Humen life for extended periods.</li> <li>Ship has auto-detect and destroy feature active while it is docked. This takes the form of a probe which morphs out of the side of the ship. It is not known what action it would take with persistent attackers.</li> <li>Surface is similar to Shadows', but is yellow with green patches, and can alter its look to generate letters.</lI> <li>Kosh's Shuttle is almost permanently locked in B5 docking bay number 13.</li> <li>Shuttles are made for individual Vorlons, they are part of them, and can not live with out them. When the Vorlon dies, the ship grieves as best it can, for it is some sense alive, this usually takes the form of delivering itself and the personal effects to the nearest sun.</li>     </ul><P><a href="#start">Back to top</a><hr>
X<h3><a name="jg">Jump Gates</h3><strong>Construction:</strong><BR>"Quantium" is a generic term applied to molecules which have been sufficiently stressed by catastrophic events that some of theirelectron-pair bonds reach across (or "tunnel through") the potentialbarrier between normal space and hyper-space.<BR>Quantium ores are normally found on planets which have been closeenough to a supernova to get blasted and irradiated, but farenough out that they haven't been completely vaporised.   <br>Quantium can't be made on purpose, at least by the technologies ofnon-First Ones / Ancients so most starfaring races spend a<strong>lot</strong> of time looking for Quantium.                                   <br>The appended number refers to the isotope involved.              <br>The preferred version of Quantium-40 is the Potassium-40 isotope.  <br>Due to packing-fraction effects and long-term decay effects (Potassium-40has a half-life of about 1.27 x 10 ^ 9 years) natural abundance ofPotassium-40 is low. (On Earth, for example, Potassium-40 is only about .0118% of naturally-occurring Potassium on the planet!)     <br>The problem is that rods of almost any metallic, or transition-metal,Quantium alloy can be put into gate nodes and resonated at very highfrequencies, resulting in a localised juxtaposition of Normspace andhyper-space but most Quantium metals have crystal structures that require<strong>very</strong> high driving frequencies, some up as high as gamma radiation.For some reason known only to the Great Maker, Potassium-40 (in its Quantium form) provides a stable, <strong>very</strong> high energy (and thus hard todisrupt) but <strong>low</strong> frequency, trans-barrier bond. As a result, thedriving electronics used to excite Potassium-40 Quantium Gate resonators are easily achievable by Humen technology.                     <br>Quantum-bonded Potassium 40 is the Gate-node material preferred bymost races, due to the low cost of the necessary support technology.This does <strong>not</strong> mean, however, that other races, oreven humans, <strong>have</strong>to use Quantium-40 for gates. It's just the best and most economicalengineering choice. Quantized Calcium-40 and Argon-40, both stableisotopes, have been used; but both, due to trans-barrier bond lengths,and lower bond energies, require more expensive machinery.(Calcium-40 is inefficient, and tends to vaporise under load, and Argon-40has to be run as a supercooled solid, at liquid Helium temperatures.)Both require <strong>much</strong> higher frequency driverelectronics.<br>Jump points are formed in a particular location within a margin of error;it's not like throwing a newspaper at a door.(JMS)<p>
Each jump point, when viewed from hyper-space, can be thought of as alighthouse, sending out a signal to guide ships to it.          <br>Once in hyperspace, you can ride the navigational beams betweenbeacons, and by corrolating the beacons, know where you have to comeout.<br>(JMS)<br>Ships lock on to this beam to prevent themselves from becoming lost. If thesignal is lost, there is little hope of re-establishing contact, and the ship must attempt to carry on its course on internal gyroscopic measurements only.                                                  <br>This is a high risk manoeuvre, and many ships have been lost without tracein hyper-space.                                         <P>
Aside from simply destabilising the point by firing on it or whatever, thereis another way to use a point as a weapon. If one Gate is opened in anotherGate, the competing energies are impossible to control and the whole thingexplodes. However opening a jump point onto a jump point is impossible dueto the hideous amount of energy required. However, if a convient jump gateis to hand, a jump point can be opened within that instead, the effect isthe same. (JMS)                                         <BR>The energy released is huge, and expands rapidly.           <P>
The Babylon 5 Jump Gate is able to be told to reject certain ships, presumablyon the basis of mass / shape etc. This may not be a common feature, but a function of the generation system used.<p>
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XI<h3><a name="whatfire">What Ships Fire What Weapons</h3>Earth Alliance Star Furies are armed with two PPG's and four PDC's,both of which are white balls. They can carry unguided nuclear rockets.<BR>The two Human mother ships we saw in battle were the Hyperion and theAgamemnon. Hyperion seems to have larger PPG type weapons mounted on turretsand on a forward fixed gun. The Agamemnon has a particle beam-like weapon(That was the only weapon it fired, but I'll assume it has more).						  <P>Narn fighters seem to carry PPG style weapons.       <BR>A Narn cruiser fires both Particle beam and PPG type weapons.							 <P>Centauri Fighters fire a PPG-like weapon only the blasts are red while Narn Fighters and Star Furies have white blasts.                 <BR>Centauri Cruisers have similar red blast weapons. However, Instead of being PPG's they could be ion Cannons (G'Kar mentioned twice that Centauries used ion cannons).                                                   <BR>Centauri Blockade Mines fire orange elongated shots.					      <P>Both Minbari Fighters and Warships have Green Particle beam-style weapons(the Narn's and the Agamemnon fired red particle beams). The Warships havelarger ones.                                     <p>
Note: I use the word "like" because there is no concrete proof that the weapons are Particle Beams or PPG's.						   <br>(David Engkent)                                       <P>
The White Star fires purple elongated blasts from the pods, and white elongated blasts from somewhere near the front. Also on the front is rapidfire pulsed green energy weapon (Fusion cannon).         <p>
Vorlon mothers energise a ball of yellow/green energy in the nexus of theirtendrils. From here a beam of energy is release.            <br>Vorlon cruisers have some form of large scale energy weapon as well, whichcan be modulated, and act as a 'net' for larger vessels.        <br>Vorlon fighters have yellow/green sparks of energy from their tendrils'nexus.                                                          <p>
Shadow fighters fire white balls of energy, and pulse as they fire.<br>Shadow probes fire elongated purple blasts, looking like mini versions ofthe Shadow ships main weapon.Battle Crabs, Cruisers and Mothers have a continuos pinky-purple ray.    <p>
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XII<h3><a name="white">The White Star</h3><img align="right" alt="ws sch"src="http://www.dungeon.com/~sati/ws-sce.jpg" width="217"height="123"><br><img align="right" alt="ws sch 2, upside down :-)"src="http://www.dungeon.com/~sati/ws-sce2.jpg" width="159"height="83"><br>
The White Star is a ship created by a melding of Vorlon and Minbaritechnologies, and is to date the only non-Vorlon ship that has escapedthe Shadows. The surface is 'pearl, so its got a weird refractive quality'.It has a kind of manta look to it, almost Minbari like flowing lines. The pods are each attached to the body by two intertwined 'wings', and glow when the ship manoeuvres, as does a single underslung pod.<br>
It is attached to the B5 station, just like a shuttle or transport ship,and is under the B5 commanders control. It was, however, commissioned by theMinbari religious caste, without the knowledge of some on the Minbari HighCouncil (The Grey Council).                                   <br>The White Star uses local drive engines based on magnetic andgravitational principles; in a sense, it doesn't so much push itself towardother worlds as <strong>pull</strong> itself or <strong>repel</strong> itself.One side effect of creating a powerful gravitational system is the ability tocreate artificial gravity.                                                          <br>(JMS)                                                                 <br>This allows it to alter its internal gravitational field to enable a smoothtransition from the White Star to, say, a large rotating space station thatit has grappled on to and burnt through the hull of.     <br>The ship is <strong>extremly</strong> manoeuvrable, it has dodged multiple shotsfrom a Battle Crab, whereas almost all other ships fired upon have been hit1st time.                                                    <br>It is smaller than other ships of its power, and faster than any other ship of the same size, certainly faster than any Humen ship.        <br>The controls mix coloured crystal/sonic controls with more standard displaysand can display hi-res. maps and other displays above the forward windows.However, the weapons on the ship are not able to directly damage a fullycapable Shadow ship.                                            <br>Named to coincide with the Black Star, a Minbari battle cruiser destroyed by Sheriden in the Earth-Minbari war, and now kept in orbit around a WhiteDwarf.                                                           <br>The outer skin is very tough, only slightly less able to withstandextremes of pressure and temperature than a Shadow ship.       <br>Equipped with the Vorlon-style skin, enabling the ship to learn fromexperience, to change, to evolve. This enabled it to learn from previousencounters with the shadows, and adopt the Vorlon Defence System, whichdeflects most of the energy of a shot away, leaving only the physicalimpact.                                                            <br>Weapons may be controlled by computer or by hand, hand firing is more usefulat extreme range. The White Star's forward battery is powerful enough to destroy a BattleCrab, however the energy demands of using this as a continuous burst means the jump engines have to be taken off-line, leaving the ship with no hyper space ability for 20 minutes. The beam cuts a tunnel through a Battle Crab in the space of a few seconds.<br>The White Star is one member of a fleet of similar ships.<br>It is 130 meters long, and has an escape pod mounted on its back.
<center><img alt="ws-pers" src="http://www.dungeon.com/~sati/ws-pers.jpg"width="264" height="181"></center>
 <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>hyper-space engines, jump point generator (almost certainly		two, mounted one aft and one forward). <li>3 arrays of weapons (forward, left pod and right pod)  <ul>  <li>1 heavy fusion laser (green, pulsed) (forward array)  <li>3 banks of rapid fire heavy neutron cannon (one to each array)  <li>3 power stasis beams (one to each array)  </ul>               <li>Attractor beams, based on magnetic attraction, causing a	     mottled blue coating on the attracted ship. <li>Grapple legs, and hull cutters.      </ul><p><a href="#start">Back to top</a><hr>
XIII<h3><a name="sigma">Sigma 957 Aliens</h3>Their real name is 15,000 letters long, and they can be summoned bybroadcasting this signal close to planets where they 'walk among thestars' (JMS)  <br>Their ship is huge, from a hemi-sphere base, a long cylinder emerges,tipped with a black globe with 70's style computer graphics on it(mono-chromatic squares and lines of dots mostly). This stalk is rimmed atthe base by bony protrusions that extend over the lip of the base.There is some 'bad blood' between them and the Vorlons, but they have agreedto help in the War.<br>Semi-organic tech.     <P>
 <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Prob. beyond our understanding, i.e. 'magic' <li>Non stnd. hyper-space tech.      </ul><p><a href="#start">Back to top</a><hr>
XIV<h3><a name="ep3">Epsilon 3 (The Great Machine)</h3>From the outside, just some nova blasted desolate planet, but it actuallyhouses a huge machine, built long ago by a gone race. It is now run by aMinbari, who has offered its services to Babylon Five.<BR>Tunnelled through a large part of the planet Euphrates, a planet orbitingEpsilon Eridani, the Great Machine is powered by massive banks of fusiongenerators (the largest are 5 to 10 miles across).        <BR>Highly advanced technology is housed within; including the time distortiondevices used to "hijack" Babylon 4.                           <p>
The Great Machine is controlled by the Heart - a control room where theCustodian is bodily hooked up to the machine. The machine itself chooses who may control it. Once installed, the Great Machine's operations are tied to the life signs of the Custodian. By entering the Machine, theCustodian's life is greatly extended, mostly by rejuvenating the physiologyof the individual. The previous Custodian was the member of an unknown race named Varn who described that by being the Heart you "see all the futures,hear all the songs, and touch the edge of the universe with [one's] thoughts."  The Heart allows anyone hooked into the Machine access to an"Ethernet."  The Ether Interface allows a being to travel along the pathswoven between all lifeforms.  Within the Ether, time and space are irrelevant.  Travelling the pathways can bring the traveller to the past,present, and future, allowing the Custodian to see into distant worlds and togain greater understanding of the universe. A race of aliens live inside,acting as caretakers.                                        <P>
 <dt>Capabilities</dt><ul> <li>Can gather all forms of information from a large area,		project a hologramatic image of its operator large		distances, and to astronomically distant places by tapping		the paths, or energies, that link all life together.  <li>Has		many energy based defence systems to prevent unauthorised 		craft landing on the planet, and presumably weapons to use		against orbital craft.  <li>Heavily armed with missile launchers,		planetary-scale slicer beams, electronic debilitator wave 		generators.  <li>The Machine has the ability to record 		transmissions found on the Etherweb from the past, and 		possibly future.   <li>The Custodian can also utilise the		Machine's holographic projection system, allowing the		receiver real-time interaction with the golden holo-image of		the Custodian.   <li>The massive computer banks contain reports		regarding the First Ones and their haunts: Tales of encounters 		with alien forces beyond description and stories of vast and 		nameless forces that prowl the ruins of ancient cities. <li>At a great cost in terms of strain and energy, can create		and control a stream of Tachyons, which can control time		rifts, and use them as entries to Tachyon Space.     </ul><p><a href="#start">Back to top</a><hr>
XV<h3><a name="misc">Misc.</h3> (What will *not* fit anywhere else !)<BR><strong>How does a changeling net work?	</strong><br>This piece of technology is on the restricted list, so a sample was notavailable for study.  However, similar technologies have used a hologramto mask the wearer in a form of high- tech camouflage.  The key questionis how does the onboard computer know which image to project.  The imagesare usually of the immediate background, or pre-programmed.  But then,there must be someone who knows the image....		     <P><strong>Metaphysics:</strong><BR>The Babylon 5 universe seems to behave according to the Copenhageninterpretation of Quantum Physics, with a number of 'ghost' futuresco-existing until a choice is made which makes one of them 'real'. Messagesmay be passed 'backwards' from these ghost realities, though not forwardfrom 'now' to the 'future'.      <BR>Time travel is possible in both directions, but at great strain, and costin terms of energy. So far the only thing to do this feat is the GreatMachine, however it seems likely that the Vorlons, Shadows, Sigma 957 andother First Ones have this technology, as do the Minbari to some smalldegree.                              <P>
<STRONG>Data Crystals:</STRONG><br>Much as 3.5" inch disks are the common storage media world-wide today, sodata crystals are the common inter-race storage medium. Shaped like a verysmall (2cm) long transparent crystal they can store large amounts of data.As with disks this can be anything from text, to video, to sound, evenpersonalities can be encoded.     <br>The data is encoded as a pattern of refracting light, and the crystalaltered to produce this pattern when illuminated.<P>
<strong>Berzerker Probes:</strong><br>These low-intelligence probes were sent out by the hundreds by an unknownrace. They have no crew or weapons.  Their seamless hull suggests they are (atleast partially) organic ships.  The probes are programmed to seek outintelligent life.                     <br>Once a suitable subject is found, the probe transmits alphabet and languagecodes (in all possibility not even the tongue of the Berserkers).  If thesubject figures out the code within a set amount of time, the probe transmits aseries of over 600 questions relating to physics, quantum mechanics, molecular biology, genetics, and other advanced sciences.  In return for correct answers, the probe promises to give the subject cures for every known disease, improved jump gate data and other advanced technology; if thesubject fails to answer correctly, the probe will self-destruct with the force of 500 thousand megatons.           <br>The subjects have twenty-four hours to respond.  Unknown to the victims, theprobe will detonate if the correct answers are given, failure to answer willprompt the probe to move on to another target. <br>In the event that the probe queries beings living on a planet, the blast isgenerally sufficient to wreak havoc with most incoming and outgoingcommunication systems (also further damaging the planet's ecosystem by throwing up a dust curtain) giving the Berserkers enough time to send more probe ships and finish the job.                    <P>


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<h3><a name="etc">Legal, contact etc</h3><center><h4>Maintained by Thomas Chiverton, <a href="mailto:Falken@Bigfoot.com">Falken@Bigfoot.com</a> </h4>	</center> <dt>Thanks to:</dt>  <li>Odarka Stefanyszyn, Andy Thomas, Gharlane of Eddore, Boris Skrbic,Zathras, Voltayre, Julian Graham, Mark Kochte, Bill, David Engkent,Robert Kaiser, Andy Dunn, J M S ( how could I forget ! ), Scott Silvey.<br>Also to the newsgroups R.A.S.T.B5.M, U.M.S.T.B5 and U.M.S.T.B5.M .<br>Special thanks and praise to Mario Di Giacomo, the original technical FAQ author of old, on which this is based.					     </ul><p>I retain the copyright on all original parts, 3rd party articles arecredited where known, and (c) remains with author unless stated otherwise.<P>
Where to get a new copy of this document, or the update file (order ofusefulness):-<ul><li>WWW: <ul> <li><ahref="http://www.home.ch/~spaw1791/b5index.htm">htttp://www.home.ch/~spaw1791/b5index.htm</a> (main site)          <li><a href="http://www.mk.dmu.ac.uk/guests/b5/">          http://www.mk.dmu.ac.uk/guests/b5/</a> (mirror)	</ul>    <li>E-Mail: mail <ahref="mailto:falken@bigfoot.com">Falken@Bigfoot.com</a> andask to be added to the mailing list    <li>FTP: <a href="ftp:ftp.midwinter.com/pub/babylon-5/">ftp.midwinter.com/pub/babylon-5/</a> (file name b5.tech andb5.tech.1 for text, appened .htm for HTML adition of manual)</ul><P><strong>Please note:</strong>  Manual will soon aquire more pictures, but will remain as a single file untill the end of season 5, when itwill be split. The update will stay as text only.<BR><strong>Please also note:</strong> This document is not in anyway officially endorsed by JMS,Warner Brothers or anyone else involved in anyway with the B5 TV show.However, as this is a copyrighted document, I'd like to be informed if itis used by anyone in an official capacity, or is distributed beyond therealms of E-Mail, the Internet and BBS's (such as magazine disks, PD/Shareware, CD-ROM etc.). Please also keep this file together with the update.				  <center><strong>All trademarks etc. acknowledged, (C) 1996-1997 Thomas Chiverton						  </strong><center><a href="#start">Back to top</a><hr><hr> </html>