White Star
From The Great Machine
By Random Chaos
Ship model: Kier Darby
A sleek ship of both Minbari and Vorlon technology. It was designed and built by the Minbari Religious Caste and the Rangers with help from the Vorlons.
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[edit] Background
At the end of the Earth-Minbari War, the Warrior Caste had turned aside from the wishes of all other organizations of their world, including the Anla'shok, which asked for more ships, soldiers, and materiel to aid in preparations for fighting the ancient enemy. The Rangers then turned to the Religious Caste and Minbar's allies among the Vorlon government. Engineers from the Worker Caste began integrating Vorlon technology into Minbari vessel design, and thus the White Star was born.
[edit] Overview
The White Star wears the designation of monitor, a ship that can be used for battle or patrol duty, and is both well-armed and well-armored.
[edit] Technology
The White Star is a synthesis of Vorlon and Minbari technology.
[edit] Minbari Technology
- Gravimetric Drive - A mainstay of Minbari vessels, all Minbari vessels use gravimetric drive for propulsion and maneuvering. A byproduct of the gravimetric system is a type of localized graviton field that can generate artifical gravity and intertial dampening fields onboard the White Star.
- Ion Engines - Most Minbari vessels, both capital ships and craft, use only gravimetric drive, no classic reaction-based engines like most other races. The White Star is a throw-back to an old era, featuring three high-power antimatter reaction engines. The practical upshot of this is that the ship only uses its gravimetric power for maneuvering, leaving the three engines for all of its acceleration. This makes the White Star possibly the fastest vessel of her size in the entire galaxy.
- Weapon Systems - The White Star has mostly Mibari-style weapons, such as neutron and fusion pulse weapons.
- Crystalline Armor - Beneath the Vorlon bio-armor (see below), the White Star is covered in a crystalline mesh armor like all Minbari vessels. This armor is ablative, scattering the kinetic energy of a weapon hit across a wide area of the vessel.
- Holographic Systems - Within the vessel are many holographic projectors, a most effective form of communicating information.
[edit] Vorlon Technology
- Gravitic Discharge Cannon - While Minbari have the technology to make high-power beam weapons, they do not have the methods of properly channeling gravitons, an unusually "light" particle, into a focused stream of destructive power. The Vorlons, on the other hand, use almost nothing but gravitic beam weapons.
- Techno-organic Hull - The organic hull of a Vorlon is designed to absorb damage and literally heal afterwards. In this way, the ship can "learn" and adapt to different types of weapons. The White Star's hull has been overlaid with techno-organic plating.
- Energy Shields - Vorlon ships posess shields that can refract away energy weapons, deflecting their energy away so only the physical impact is left to be dealt with by the bio-armor.
- Auto-repair Systems - Just like the techno-organic hull, many systems onboard the White Star are capable of repairing themselves, even in the heat of battle. These systems are not restored to 100% effectiveness, requiring that the ship undergo further repairs later.
[edit] Weapon Systems
The White Star features several different types of weapon systems.
- 4 Pulsed Fusion Cannons
- 2 Pulsed Neutron Cannons
- 1 Quantum-Gravitic Discharge Cannon
[edit] "Blue Star"
During S5E22 Sleeping in Light, there were several shots of Sheridan using a smaller, blue coloured vessel bearing some resemblance to an original White Star. On-line fans immediately christened this type of ship the Blue Star, however, this is not canon (see fankwanking):
- T.P.Chai <104674.3064@compuserve.com> asks:
- > JMS, the ship that Sheridan took, is that the new Earth/Minbari ship? is it still a White Star?
- It's a smaller, personal version of a White Star. -- posted by JMS on CompuServe Date: 12/2/1998 7:32:00 AM
Neither JMS, nor anyone else officially associated with the show has ever used the term "Blue Star". This gives it similar status as the fan-term Battlecrab; most B5 people will know what you mean if you use the word, but it's not actually canon.
The personal White Star variant incorporates many technological advances, some of them recovered from what the Vorlons left behind when they departed for the Rim. The entire ship is only about 100 m long (guestimating from the assumption that the White Star is ~500 m long and the two bridge pods are the same size), but is still capable of solo jumps. It is known that the ISA recovered some advanced hyperspace technology from the Vorlons circa 2271, so it is possible that they were able to miniaturize conventional hyperspace equipment. The ship is armed with two fusion pulse weapons, similar to the ones on the White Star's outriggers. Inside, the ship appears to be an abbreviated version of a White Star, with bridge space for three-to-five people. Among other advancements made to the ship are the auto-control system, which fully automates ship's systems. Using this, a single pilot can direct the ship with voice commands to perform just about any function.
[edit] See Also
Groups: White Star fleet
