Is the Liandra a military ship?

[Cern]

I was thinking that maybe the Liandra was a civilian ship before being drafted into the alliance navy. that would explaing why its not Blue like all the other Minbari ships we've seen, and why it has pulse guns instead of the yellow beams we are used to seeing.

from the show guide. "David notices another ship, the Liandra. David can't believe she's still flying, but Sarah explains the alliance needs all the ships it can get. "

So my thought is, the Rangers get a hold of a civillian ship, lets say a freighter, refit it as best as possible with new engines and a holographic weapons pod, and put her into service.

------------------
Never start a fight, but ALWAYS finish it.

" The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the occasion. We can not escape history. We will be remembered, in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor, to the last generation. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose our last best hope."

[This message has been edited by Cern (edited November 19, 2001).]

 

[drakh]

Occam's Razor time. I'd think the fact that it's an older design, intended primarily for "covert" missions rather than space combat, is enough to explain it's different look and armament.

------------------
"When I want your opinion I'll beat it out of you, ok?"
-- Ranma-chan, A Leotard is a Girl's Burden, Ranma 1/2

drakh@spamcop.net

[This message has been edited by drakh (edited November 19, 2001).]

 

[Cern]

Well, heres what we know for sure

1 Liandra is about 20 years old.

2 it does NOT have the same blue armor/hull material that all other Minbari ships we have seen use, and they have all been either warships or transports used by government officials (i'm thinking of Delenns Flyer)

3 from the trailer we know the Liandra has pulse weapons of some sort, apparently one on each "wing" and maybe a turret of some sort . All armed Minbari ships have used the yellow beams, except the Whitestar.

------------------
Never start a fight, but ALWAYS finish it.

" The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the occasion. We can not escape history. We will be remembered, in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor, to the last generation. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose our last best hope."

 

[admiraldave]

I guess the question is, when did the Vorlons start giving technology to build the Whitestars? The hull coloration could be a sign that the hull is more "Vorlon", or an earlier type of armour. That's assuming that the ship was a predecessor/prototype to the Whitestars.

Admiral Dave

------------------

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Many Minbari merchant vessels also use the bluish polycrystalline hull material.

I remember noticing this mentioned in "To Dream in the City of Sorrows" -- a Minbari vessel came to accept a cargo of Quantium 40 from Arisia colony (where Marcus Cole lived at that time).

------------------
"We are the universe, trying to figure itself out.
Unfortunately we as software lack any coherent documentation."
-- Delenn

 

[drakh]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by admiraldave:
I guess the question is, when did the Vorlons start giving technology to build the Whitestars?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Long after the Liandra was built. To Dream in the City of Sorrows puts the first Vorlon/Minbari hybrids as being put into use in the latter part of 2259 (the second season). Besides, the Liandra is supposed to be a relatively weak ship, to force the characters to find alternatives to direct confrontation when facing enemy warships.



------------------
"When I want your opinion I'll beat it out of you, ok?"
-- Ranma-chan, A Leotard is a Girl's Burden, Ranma 1/2

drakh@spamcop.net

 

[Quagmire]

Yeah I seriously doubt that the Liandra has anything to do with the Whitestars. It predates them, is not a particularly coveted ship(with the Minbari reverence for history having the ship that enabled the eventual victory over the Shadows and was probably worked on by greats both Minbari and Vorlon would be desired by plenty of Minbari), and the fact that we've already seen the only prototype Whitestars made in to Dream which probably rules out this possibility.

------------------
"I used to be known as Eric, the waiter with hands for hands." The waiter with stubs for hands in The Kids in the Hall

 

[Zoriah]

Hmmm, I missed where it was written that the Liandra was even a Minbari ship. Does it have to be? Don't forget that by now plenty of other races have been accepted into the Rangers, and that according to the Alliance the Rangers have representatives from these other worlds to ensure a perception of a balanced more objective feel to their peacekeeping role.

Surely that means that vessels from other worlds might also supply ships and resources to the rangers, not wanting to be outdone by the minbari contribution?

That would make it possible for the Liandra to both look different and have different styles of weapons from what we are accustomed to seeing with the Whitestars and Minbari ships.

------------------

 

[Recoil]

I'm sure it will all be explained well in the movie. Hell I thought all rangers used Whitestar ships when they were in space originally, but I guess that doesnt make total sense either.

------------------
'I don't believe in the no-win scenario' - JTK

 

[whitestar90]

I suppose one reason why the Liandra doesn't look Minbari same with the whitestars was too fool the shadows and their allies.....

------------------
"When it is time, come to this place, call our name, we will be here" -Walkers of Sigma957

 

[Quagmire]

The Liandra is a Minbari ship, constructed during a time when the vast majority of Minbari, at least the Warrior Caste and in the power structure, was unconcerned about the Shadows returning. Remember from In the Beginning(along with other episodes) that the Rangers were few and numbers and underfunded because many Minbari had ignored the prophecy or interpreted it in a different way. At the time it was built the Rangers were a few old Minbari that many others would prefer to forget.

While at the time of Rangers other races are being accepted they still have a long way to go to be thought of as equals. It was hard enough to get humans excepted when there was an imminant threat of distruction and prophecy backing up their integration. The tradition bound Minbari seem to be in no hurry to allow Rangers of other races to take prominant places let alone to use their ships for regular duty. I believe the non-human/Minbari Rangers on the Liandra are some of the first allowed prominant positions on Ranger ships(it may be that they are the first allowed to serve on ships at all) from descriptions of the show.

The color could be meant to make it more suitable to covert missions but not to hide from the Shadows.

------------------
"Crying isn't gonna get your dog back. Unless your tears smell like dog food. So you can sit here eating can after can of dog food until your tears smell like dog food or you can go out there and find your dog."-Homer in The Canine Mutiny

 

[Kribu]

Besides, I doubt that a member (other than Minbari) of the ISA would give the ISA an old rustbucket... hmmm, sounds like something only the Drazi would do (no offence!).

Seriously though, if anyone does contribute at all, which I somewhat doubt, I would guess that a member world would supply their own ships for the Rangers of their species. Giving something that old (a ship that makes people wonder "does it still fly?) to the ISA sounds a bit insulting to me.

------------------
"Narns, Humans, Centauri... we all do what we do for the same reason: because it seems like a good idea at the time." - G'Kar, Mind War
Kribu's Lounge

 

[Cern]

Its definatly a Minbari ship-its got 3 of those fin looking deely-bobs on the back...the b5tech manual says they are Gravitic Stabilizers. Whitestars and Sharlins have them as well.

------------------
Never start a fight, but ALWAYS finish it.

" The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the occasion. We can not escape history. We will be remembered, in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor, to the last generation. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose our last best hope."

 

[channe]

I'm under the general impression that the Minbari may have said something to the effect of - "Gee, we have all these ships here... some of them aren't that great, but... if you want 'em, here they are," to which the ISA said, "sure, why not? We could at least use them for spare parts..."

I like the design of the Liandra. It's pretty sleek and nice-looking. But, it's from the used-car lot: looks great, but watch out for that nasty transmission...

------------------
The writer's life is not meant to be a happy one. We all accept that going in. -JMS

 

[B5_Obsessed]

The Worker Caste know all about that oily pile of kitty litter under the Liandra.

But seriously folks, some of you are driving me crazy! There have been spoilers released right on this here website about the Liandra and its choice Captain. The answers to a lot of the debates are there, but they are spoilers for the movie.

*biting lip*

Mmmmpphhhh!

MUST! NOT! TELL!

Arghhh!



------------------
"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."

 

[channe]

You know what you have to tell about, though?

VAI!

EXPERIMENTS!

Argh, I'm dyin' here! A lot of what I write depends on what you think up in that little thing. I quake in my boots in expectation, Obsessed

------------------
The writer's life is not meant to be a happy one. We all accept that going in. -JMS

 

[B5_Obsessed]

Oh sure! Now it's MY fault that no one's writin' nuttin'



------------------
"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."

 

[channe]

I'm writing something tonight...

I'll be kicking it up a notch after this week, though - I'm visiting family, and can only get online at strange times.

------------------
The writer's life is not meant to be a happy one. We all accept that going in. -JMS