b5lr ship

will the ship for the movie or the possible show be a whitestar class ship or a completely new ship that we havent seen yet?


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I understand it's a completely new ship. Something like nothing done before in SF television (like the show itself), if I recall the post of JMS correctly

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It takes a very logic and precise mind...

What if it's a carrier? Now, before everyone dogpiles on me, let me explain.

So far in "Babylon 5" and "Crusade," we've seen destroyers, frigates, dreadnoughts, heavy cruisers, and the White Stars themselves, which I always thought of as a combination of gunships and attack subs. So if you look at today's navy, a carrier would be the only option left.

Also, both shows have always taken the "Star Wars" approach to a fleet, where any capital ship can dock and launch fighters. So why bother using a carrier at all?

The answer is this. I read in USA Today a while ago that carriers are effectively like mobile command bases for the military. You send one to a potential hotspot, and a fleet can base all their operations there.

During "Crusade," the Excalibur had, what? Two, three squads of Starfuries and some shuttles? Think of how many more ships a full carrier could field. A carrier could combine the fighter coverage that Babylon 5 had with the offensive firepower of the Excalibur, even without that "main gun" it used.

Also, watch "The Final Countdown" sometime. Carriers use all kinds of ships, from fighters, bombers, and shuttles to utility ships like refuelers, helicopters, spy planes, you name it.

I think that's what the Liandra's going to be, a type of ship that can help guard trade routes and set up camp in potential trouble spots to help enforce the InterStellar Alliance's laws. Besides, how many shows have there been that used a carrier but didn't last? "Battlestar Galactica" and "Space: Above and Beyond" both tried that route, and they didn't last because they didn't have jms in their corner.

And the last, best reason I can think of for having a carrier? Because NONE of the "Star Trek" shows ever DARED to do it. And something tells me this new "Enterprise" thing won't be any different.

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The Liandra isn't a new ship, it's a banged up 20 year old one, the B5 equivalent of the Millenium Falcon. I think the new design ship is going to be the Valen, and I think that either during the movie or at a later point in a subsequent series, the Liandri crew get to control the Valen. Interesting thoughts about a carrier, I would like to see carriers, though I am not sure if the current ships mentioned will fulfil that role. The rangers are like police, they investigate and keep order. Speed is of the essence, and I don't think a carrier would fit the bill. Like I said though, I am not opposed to seeing a carrier. Just throwing in wildcard, but what about a super-carrier. A mobile base for Whitestars, that acts as a C&C and repair facility as well as combat ship, but launches a small squad of Whitestars to investigate. It might be impractical in terms of energy and resources, but... Alliance Member planets where Rangers are stationed, are not always going to be near areas that need policing, so it would make sense to have a mobile police station. It would be a behemoth or leviathan to behold though. It would dwarf B5 so I doubt my dreams will come to fruition.

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"We Live for the One. We die for the One!"

Drakh mobile bases would dwarf Babylon 5, Babylon 4, Minbari and Narn space stations and be comparable (in size, not power output) to Vorlon planet killers.

If you have no homeworld you'll quickly start building 50 km ships. If you have a homeworld or colonies, you'll consider such ships a waste of resources.

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Canned flarn is a sacrilege.

[This message has been edited by Lennier (edited May 26, 2001).]

I reckon the new ships could be the fighter class whitestars that sit in the bigger whitestars or maybe another type of alien ship that gets encountered..

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Emporer Turhan-"How will this end"
Kosh-"In fire"

I like the idee about the carrier. It fits with the Alliance needing all the ships it can get.

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"I don't watch TV. It’s a cultural wasteland filled with inappropriate metaphors and an unrealistic portrayal of life created by the liberal media-elite."

I personally got the idea of it being somewhat like a minesweeper.

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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." -- Captain Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie (The Drumhead)

Mind you if you need to mobilize while on the move they'd be usefiul. Minesweeper, wher's that idea come from. Not doubting you, just wondering where that rumour came from.

What race will the Liandra come from? If it is 20 years old, it is too old to be comparative to Alliance tech... unless it comes from an OLDER race????????

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"We Live for the One. We die for the One!"

A carrier type vesel would be the logical way to go, considering the role the Rangers have to play. My thought is that the Drakh couldn't have been the only shadow servants to survive the War, and they'd want revenge at least. A mobile base allows for swift deployment of forces. It also has another advantage, that of being able to get out of harm's way. Unlike a planet, which would be a sitting duck for hostile forces.

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" Beauty in the midst of darkness."

The name Valen could sort of imply a craft of quite some significance. You'd hardly name, a middle of the road ship after the Minbari's most esteened historical figure. Especially if the Minabri had a large hand in building the thing.

Thing is is it significant in size, or power or both.

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"We Live for the One. We die for the One!"

I can't really see the Earth Alliance or the Rangers, who are more interested in speed and stealth than full scale military deployment, using carriers. Probably the closest thing seen to a carrier would be the Explorer ships. By sheer definition they'd have to have wider mission capabilities.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Galahad:
Mind you if you need to mobilize while on the move they'd be usefiul. Minesweeper, wher's that idea come from. Not doubting you, just wondering where that rumour came from.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I just thaught it would be underpowered and poorl armed, being assigned to duties a larger ship should be performing (I was thinking af this short story about the Royal Indian Navy minesweeper HMS Bengal).


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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." -- Captain Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie (The Drumhead)

Oh I see, nice thought. I think they might make it's origins a bit mysterious, so no-one knows exactly where it comes from, it just IS. However, you are talking about the Liandra, I reckon the newly designed ship will be the Valen.

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"We Live for the One. We die for the One!"

I think that the Liandra will be a smallish ship, while the Valen could well be a carrier. After all, isn't it the Valen that's been described as being like a brick with engines on it? As to use of carriers before in B5, didn't Psi Corps have carriers / mobile bases that it kept in hyperspace, waiting for the Telepath War that they knew was coming?

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I think the Liandra will be a type of organic ship. Remember that the whitestars are part vorlon tech. The Minbari had to have at least a base model to study.

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Perhaps the Liandra was from when Vorlon and Minbari tech where first being intergrated. They built it first to test the new technology and fix any problems, and then built the Whitestars. The Liandra would still be more powerfull than most ships, but not as much as a Whitestar. It might also have some technical problems.

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"Nonono. Is not Great Machine. Is...Not-So-Great Machine. It make good snow-cone though." - Zathras

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Talyn:
Perhaps the Liandra was from when Vorlon and Minbari tech where first being intergrated.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Not if it is 20 years old.

I still reckon the Liandra is a red herring, I think it is a plot device for the good guys to get their hands on the Valen, when the Captain has redeemed his name. Maybe he was given the Liandra as an enforced Morad Dum (application of terror). Hey lets throw our rogue Captain to the wolves, with a banged up milk float, if he survives and reclaims his name, we'll give him a decent crate to cruise the galaxy in!

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"We Live for the One. We die for the One!"

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Maybe he was given the Liandra as an enforced Morad Dum (application of terror).<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Let me guess... the ship has been made on Earth somewhere around 2001, has a history of reactor coolant leaks and a computer named Hal. Mora'Dum indeed.

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Canned flarn is a sacrilege.